Chapter Two

Three days had passed since David Conner and his team had been given the object, and in those three days, he had learned a lot. That first day, David had deduced that the object was some kind of vehicle for interspace travel. The ship was apparently invulnerable, so they couldn't cut off a piece of it to analyze. Instead, David attached a data-read device that had been made especially for the lab, on the orb-like portion of the ship. Almost instantly, information began to flow.

The information in question was given to David in a series of complex algorithms, none of which he had ever seen before. But he was eventually able to assign the data to a series of 00010001 values. This way, the information was easy to read. According to the ship's databanks, it had come from a place called "Krypton". The ship had been designed with Earth as it's primary destination, but why it had left Krypton in the first place was a mystery. And what was even more mystifying was the fact that it was empty. Had it been an unmanned vessel or had it once held occupants? And if so, where were those occupants now?

These questions remained unanswered until the third night.

It was late, almost midnight, and David had worked all day on the ship. It was connected to his computer and spouting out all kinds of weird data, but he hadn't been able to deifier any of it. He leaned back in his chair and massaged his eyes. This was taking such a long time. He hadn't eaten anything in hours, and he was very hungry. And yet, he had to go on. He had to.

"Isto niarrayet otta su Krypton."

David's eyes shot open and he jumped out of his chair. Who had said that?! He was alone in the lab! "Is someone there?" He called out to the empty space around him. He was sweating.

A faint humming noise came from his computer and the screen went dark. The screen had been the only thing illuminating the place, and when it went black, the whole lab was plunged into darkness. Then:

"Earth language. English. You have accessed the Krypton Eradicator program."

The voice coming from the computer was flat and dead. David, who had wanted this kind of contact from the ship since it's arrival, was now terrified. He couldn't speak or move.

"You have accessed the Krypton Eradicator program," the monotone voice repeated. "How do you wish to proceed?"

David licked his lips. "Uh … where …. where …. did you come from?" David asked at last. He knew a place called "Krypton", but other than that, he was clueless.

The computer hummed again. "The planet Krypton. Located in constellation Scorpius. A distance of 7,894 light years away from planet Earth."

David was once again speechless. This thing had come from so far away, almost 8,000 light years! "Krypton," he said, letting the name of this new and beautiful place wash over him. "Krypton. Krypton." He turned his attention back to his computer, which was apparently possessed by the ship. He was as happy as a child on Christmas morning. With this thing, the Eradicator program, he could unravel all of the mysteries of the universe! It was spectacular!

"What is your purpose here?" David asked his dark monitor.

A brief silence and then: "To eradicate all things deemed harmful and retardant to the advancement of Kryptonian civilization and the continuation of Kryptonian life. And to also convert all that which is deemed fit for transformation."

"Transformation?" Asked David, his voice a whisper.

"Correct. Transformation. The process of transforming and changing a non-Kryptonian life form into one that is."

Eradication? Transformation? This was all too much for David. So the ship was really a death weapon? He asked this to the program.

"Incorrect. The vessel which you have in your possession was designed as a mode of transport for a Kryptonian life form to escape the destruction of the planet and arrive on Earth."

Ah, this was news! So the ship had been loaded with an ET and rocketed off the planet before it's destruction so that the inhabitant of the ship could colonize Earth. Fear gripped David's heart. Somewhere, an alien was walking around with the sole purpose to remake the Earth into it's old home world.

"The life form is identical to humans in appearance," the program continued. "However, it may demonstrate inhuman powers and abilities." A pause. "The life form must be located. It is likely that interaction with humans has tainted its true Kryptonian potential. According to the ship's navigational systems, which have been cross-referenced with your computer's internal database, it is certain that the ship landed on Earth. North America. The United States of America. Kansas. Osage County. Smallville."

David was stunned. Basically what the program was saying was that the ship had landed a town in Kansas and that it wanted the "life form" brought to it.

"It is imperative that the life form be located." The Eradicator program said.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" David asked.

The program didn't respond.

David sighed and messaged his temples. His back was turned to the space ship and he didn't see the long, snake-like metal coil spring out of the ship's underbelly. The coil lunged at David. He wasn't aware of any of this until a sharp pain was felt at the base of his neck. He grimaced. It had felt like a bee sting.

The coil silently slithered back into the ship.

David was about to reach his hand to the back of his neck when his vision went blurry. Soon, he was totally blind. Then came terrible stomach cramps. He vomited upon his computer and then lost all control over his nervous system. He tried to call out for help, but it was useless. First of all, he was alone in the lab and secondly, he couldn't move his vocal chords to produce speech anyway.

The scientist collapsed upon the floor, his eyes wide open but without sight. To all outward appearances, he looked dead.

The space ship loomed over him – a silent judge.

…

The next day, very early in the morning, a man entered Luthor International Air Station and bought a ticket for the next available flight to Kansas. There was something strange about the man, and all of the flight attendants noticed it. He never blinked, never smiled and if asked a question, he would speak in a chillingly monotone manner. He never acted in a hostile manner, but when the plane landed in Topeka, everyone was glad to see him go.

…

Meanwhile, in Metropolis, the new day dawned bright and cheery. Clark awoke from a peaceful feeling refreshed. After eating breakfast in the hotel's dining room, he went back to his room and put on his best suit. He had to look good for his interview today. Yes, sir. Today, if everything worked out alright, he would have a job at the Daily Planet.

Clark was halfway out of the door when his cell phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Clark." It was his mother, but something was wrong. It sounded like she had been crying. ""Clark, c-c-can you come home? S-s-ssssomething's come up." Her voice shook and shuddered. Yes, something was defiantly wrong.

"Ma, what is it? What's going on?"

But the phone went dead.

Like a speeding bullet, Clark ran down the hotel's empty halls and found the door to the stairwell. He took the stairs two at a time and when he reached the roof of the building, he simply stretched his arms skyward and took off into the sky as if shot from a cannon. It was reckless to do that, though. Somebody could have been watching. But there wasn't time to think about that now. Ma had sounded so nervous and scared. That wasn't like her at all. Usually, she was the model of strength and fortitude …. so whatever was going on was serious.

The skyscrapers of Metropolis whizzed by Clark as he flew through the city at breakneck speed. In no time, he had left it far behind him and within a matter of seconds Massachusetts gave way to New York and then New York became Pennsylvania. The layout of the land below him morphed and changed from urban developments choked with decrepit buildings to wide sweeping grassy plains.

And in no time Clark had transversed eight states in two minutes.

The Kent farm came into view. Vast fields of corn stretched as far as the eye could see and the only buildings in sight was the old red barn that Jonathan kept his cows in and the simple two-story brick house that Clark had called home for the past 27 years.

Clark touched down and sped toward the house. His heart was racing. What could have happened? Jonathan had heart troubles…. Did he have a heart attack? Was he in the hospital already? Or was it worse than that? Was he already…. No. Clark shoved these unpleasant thoughts from his head as he opened the front door to the Kent house.

The first thing Clark noticed was that the house was a mess. The normally tidy living room was in complete disarray. Pillows from the nearby sofa were scattered everywhere, the reading lamp over Jonathan's recliner had been apparently hurled across the room and the bookcase in the corner had been overturned – something that would have taken a great deal of physical strength.

But there was no time to analyze the mess, because Clark's sensitive hearing was picking up two thudding heartbeats coming from the kitchen area. In a flash, Clark rushed to the kitchen. But he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Martha had flattened herself against the corner of the room, her face a mask of terror. Her eyes were trained on her husband, who was in the clutches of a man that Clark had never seen before. The man was certainly strong, for he was holding Jonathan by up off the floor at least two feet.

No explanation was needed as to who this guy was, or what his motive might be for harassing two innocent people. All Clark knew was that this man was putting his family in danger and that just wouldn't do. No, it wouldn't do at all.

Before Martha, Jonathan or the mystery man had even noticed Clark's presence; Clark was already hurling himself at the stranger. A right hook caught the man completely off guard and sent him and Jonathan crashing to the floor.

"Clark!" Martha ran to her son and hugged him tight. "I don't know what happened! It was just … he …. that man just showed up asking questions about you and Jonathan told him to leave and then he just started to beat up on him and – and – and I called you and…" Her voice broke down into a series of sobs and she sank to the floor beside her husband. "Oh, Jonathan!" She turned to Clark. "Clark, is he ok?! Is he?!"

He was. More scared than anything else, Jonathan enveloped Martha in a gigantic bear hug. Once she had regained her composure, Jonathan turned to his son. "Do you know this guy? Who is he? What does he want?"

Clark looked at the body on the floor. He could detect no heartbeat with his super-hearing. It was just then that a terrible thought struck him. The man was dead and Clark had killed him. That punch had been full-strength. Clark had been so upset at seeing his family in danger that he hadn't held back and now he had killed someone.

He approached the seemingly lifeless body, not sure what he was going to do. The crazy idea of burying him in the backyard popped up, but that was out of the question. Clark would simply have to tell the sheriff what he'd done. He'd killed a man in self-defense. It was all right if it was in self-defense. But, even so, Clark didn't know if he could live with himself now that he had-

The body began to move.

No. No, it was impossible! That had been a full-strength punch! It was a wonder his brains hadn't been splattered all over the room!

The man whom Clark had struck got to his feet with no trouble at all. His face was blank and emotionless, and completely uncut. There wasn't even the faintest bruise.

Clark stood there, stunned to silence. It was clear that this guy wasn't "normal". Who was this guy and what did he want? Clark was going to get the answers, but first…

"Ma, Pa," he said in a stern voice, not taking his eyes off the super-resilient intruder. "Go outside. Go now."

Martha and Jonathan didn't have to be told twice. They fled from the kitchen and into the front yard.

Clark then turned his attention to the mystery man. "Alright," he said through clenched teeth. "I want answers. Who are you? And why have you come here looking for trouble? You better have a good answer, because-"

"I am the Eradicator," the man said, cutting Clark off. His voice was cold and flat. Not human at all. "I have come here to seek you out. That is my one purpose, Kal-El."

The man, the … Eradicator, just stood there and watched Clark's reaction. Clark himself was confused. He had never heard of anybody or anything called "the Eradicator" before and the name Kal-El was completely new to him. Still not moving a muscle, and keeping his gaze focused just on the stranger, Clark told him this.

"I was expecting this," he said. The Eradicator moved closer to Clark and gently put his hand on his shoulder. "After all, you were only a child when you were sent here."

A feather could have knocked Clark over. How was it that this guy knew about the ship?! How could he know that Martha and Jonathan weren't his biological parents and that he himself had been found in a rocket ship? It was all too much. Could this guy be an alien from "the home planet"? He looked human enough – average build, average height, his dark brown hair cut in a dorky 1950's buzz – but then again, so did Clark.

"How do you know about me?!," Clark screamed, his fists balled up. "TELL ME!"

"Alright." The Eradicator put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes. "I will tell you all you need to know. And maybe this will help."

A strange crackling and hissing noise filled the room. The very air felt heavy and hot. Then, with a sudden VOOM, Clark's spaceship, the one that had brought him to Earth as a baby, materialized out of thin air in front of them. "You were born Kal-El of Krypton," the Eradicator said as he stroked the metallic wings of the ship. "You father was Jor-El, and a member of the Council of Ten – the governing force of Krypton. It was he who built this space vessel when he learned of his planet's impending doom. It was his wish that you would continue the Kryptonian way of life on your adoptive planet."

So that was it. After all these years of wondering, Clark Kent knew. True, he had guessed he was probably from another planet (he had always known about the ship, and that was kind of a big clue), but to hear his suspicions confirmed was both reassuring and frightening. Clark wanted to know more, but he wasn't ready to dish out his innermost life-questions to a man who a minute ago was about to use his father as a punching bag. So instead of asking the more personal questions, Clark asked just one.

"If what you say is true, why couldn't Jor-El save himself? Why couldn't he have built his own rocket and went with me?"

The Eradicator patted the ship. "All your answers regarding your father are in here. Inside this vessel is a holographic AI interface that Jor-El created with the sole purpose of answering any questions you have. Apparently, the vessel had been damaged at some point, possibly during entry into the Earth's atmosphere. That is why the said AI interface was unviable to you even though you've had the vessel in your possession for years. I took the liberty of correcting the malfunction for you."

Everything the Eradicator was saying struck Clark as true. He didn't know how or why, but everything seemed like it fit in with what little he knew about his past. But even if this information was true, Clark didn't want the Eradicator in the Kent house for one minute longer. He was more than willing to fight him and punish him for what he had done to his Pa, but that would just lead to the house getting damaged and both Martha and Jonathan could be injured in the duel.

It was better to just tell him to kiss off.

"Well, thanks," Clark said sarcastically. "Since I have this handy dandy AI whatchamagiget, you can just leave."

"There's really no need to access it," the Eradicator responded. "The only thing you should know is that your father sent you here so that you could shape the Earthlings into a purer, more Kryptonian way of life."

"Oh, really? I thought he sent me here to escape the destruction of the planet. That's what you just said."

"That's true. But his hope was that once you arrived on Earth, you would rule the Earth people and guide them into a new future where the House of El still stands strong."

"Fine. But if you'll excuse me, I'll just get this information straight from the source." And with that, Clark moved in between the Eradicator and the ship.

"Very well. I realize that you think of yourself as an Earthling, but just remember that you're not. I will leave you now to ponder your destiny. After you have accessed the AI interface, I will return to you in two day's time."

And without any further words, the man who called himself "the Eradicator" brushed by Clark and left the Kent residence via the front door. Clark watched him go. He felt chilled. So he had two days to accept his "destiny". Whatever that was.

He sighed. Well, there was only one way to find out what that might be.

Clark placed his hand on the ship. A series of chime sounds rung out and a glowing form began to appear to his left side.

He was finally going to know everything.