Chapter 6

Fortress of Solitude – Arctic Circle

Clark sped into the fortress his mind spinning with questions. What had his father been doing with an ancestor of Jack's? Where they really drunk in that picture? And for that matter, how did a Kryptonian get drunk in the first place? Clark was well aware of the fact that his species had immunity to alcohol. He came to a stop in front of the center console made up of crystals and was about to speak when he heard the now familiar disembodied voice of his biological father, Jor-El. "Welcome my son. I have been monitoring Earth's communication and military satellites and have not detected any threats that would warrant a visit from you. What is troubling you, Kal-El?"

Clark ignored the rebuke in Jor-El's voice and began to tell him what he had found. "Jor-El, I found a photo of you from some time near the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries. You were at a saloon in Smallville. What can you tell me about it and the time you were there? You were there with a man who might have the last name of Harkness."

"I do not remember a photo being taken," Jor-El said matter-of-factly. Clark began to wonder if the photo was faked due to the fact that he and Jor-El shared the trait of eidetic memory. Jor-El's next statement floored Clark. "However that does not mean that the photo was not taken. I could have posed for the photo and not remembered. And you are correct, I did have dealings with a man named Harkness then. He was partially to blame for my memory loss."

"Who else was to blame?" Clark asked, afraid to hear the answer. He had a bad feeling that this ancestor of Jack's was just as bad as the version he knew now.

"I was, Kal-El. Perhaps it would be better if I shared these memories with you. Will you permit the sharing?" Jor-El asked. Clark thought for a moment about the intimate nature of what Jor-El had just offered. He would relive Jor-El's memories and they would then be his. Clark wasn't sure he wanted to be closer to Jor-El after what they had been through, but he wanted to know. Clark nodded his head. The control panel glowed and a warm, gold beam engulfed Clark.

(Earth – 1895 – Kansas)

Outside of Smallville near the Kawache caves.

Jor-El was distracted. He had found remnants of yet another non-human species on this planet. The remains were very old, and by the looks of them hostile. These remains were in the Southern- polar region. This was the fifth, separate, distinct species he had found. The remains ranged in age from only a hundred years old to almost 2,000 years old. They were scatted all across the globe. The only thing they seemed to have in common was there total disdain for human life and their total, absolute defeat in a matter of days. He was wondering what other alien influence was taking an interest in his favorite planet when he walked into the clearing where he had hid his ship. He was completely unprepared for what he saw.

Jor-El was having a difficult time comprehending what was before him. Instead of walking into a clearing to find his starship cloaked, his starship was clearly visible and a human male was leaning against a tree near it chatting it up with his ship. Talking with his ship was not surprising, it was sentient after all, but to have a human do it was unnerving. Jor-El hung back and used his super-hearing to ease-drop. He was shocked again to hear that the man was speaking in Galactic trade, the language used for off-world communication. "So, what's a beauty like you, with such a shapely stardrive I might add, doing in this spiral arm?" the man asked Jor-El's ship. Jor-El choked

"By Rao, he just flirted with my ship," Jor-El thought. "Judging from the purple glow coming from her ports, she's enjoying it." Jor-El looked at the man's clothing trying to get a clue as to where the man was from. He was wearing a Victorian, leather duster over a white shirt and black pants. He had some sort of wrist band on his right wrist. Jor-El belatedly used his x-ray vision to confirm that the man was human. Jor-El walked further into to the clearing and cleared his throat. The man spun around and made a motion with his hand as if to indicate to the ship to re-cloak.

When the ship didn't cloak itself, the man looked back and forth from it and Jor-El. "Oh, I get it. He belongs to you."

To test the man Jor-El spoke in English, "Actually it belongs to me, but sometimes I have a hard time convincing myself of that. I am Jor-El. Who are you and what are doing with my ship?"

The man walked forward, his right had extended in the local custom of greeting. He answered Jor-El in English, his accent similar to those on this continent, "Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood Institute of London. Of course we have no jurisdiction here since they lost the colonies, but we never let anything like that stop us." The man smiled at his own joke. Jor-El was about to ask him what the Torchwood Institute was when a female member of Kawache tribe ran into the clearing.

"Jor-El, thank the spirits you have returned. Evil spirits have come from the stars and have taken some of the People to their camp. We were about to attempt a rescue when I saw you talking with Kokopelli here in the clearing," the young woman said.

"Kokopelli?" Jor-El asked as he looked as Jack, who just chuckled.

"It is our tribe's nickname for Jack. The People who live to the south of us have legends of a god who behaves like him. But there is no time for this, the evil spirits are strong and they were in and out of the camp before we could react. They have taken only young members of the tribe. We must hurry!" she implored.

"Where are they?" Jor-El growled. The tribe woman pointed to the North and Jor-El super-sped off in that direction.

Jor–El looked over his shoulder and saw Jack draw his revolver, "Get the rest of the warriors and meet me at the invader's location," Jack said. He ran after Jor-El as fast as a human could. Jor-El was confident that he could handle things before the humans got there.

Jor-El found the other aliens not far from the town of Smallville itself. The ship they had come in was dark brown and giving off foul smelling vapors. It was round with stubby airfoils at the sides and top. Three engines stuck out of the rear. Jor-El estimated that whoever had designed this craft had just recently discovered interstellar flight, relative to his own species. He looked for the interlopers and saw a group of large, brown, bi-pedal reptilians. They were wearing a collection of mismatched uniforms and weapons. The only thing they each carried in common was what Jor-El decided was either a very large knife or a very small sword. He didn't see any members of the Kawache around. He tried to x-ray the ship but found it was shielded. He listened and heard two of the creatures talking in sibilant hisses. They were speaking a dialect of a language he was familiar with. "We are still having problems with the gasses we picked up from the scoop when we passed through that last nebula, Boss. I think we should just vent it and scoop from this system's giants. Now that we have some livestock to restock the larder, we have plenty of extra time."

Jor-El had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach about what the "livestock" was. He was formulating an attack plan when the leader of the group touched a panel on the ship, "Agreed. We will leave as soon as the tanks are empty." A glowing green gas vented from the ship, spilling out from both sides. Jor–El super-sped to the ship and into the cloud of gas that was falling to the ground. Immediately his lungs burned and he felt his strength leave him. He slowed down and became visible to the invaders. The leader yelled something that Jor-El was not able to understand. His mind was afire with pain. He struggled to stay on his feet. The leader back-handed him across the face and sent him sailing into the side of the ship. Jor-El felt his lip had split and tasted blood. The broken skin exposed to the green gas felt like molten metal. He struggled to his feet, knowing that the humans would need his help. Jor-El stumbled towards the aliens he had heard talking and saw 4 others coming out of the ship. He tried to stand straight and square his shoulders as the reptile he took to be the first officer walked over and punched him in the stomach. Jor-El doubled over, coughing up blood. Jor-El went down on one knee, trying to marshal his strength. The invader in front of him drew his long knife and then grabbed Jor-El by the hair. Jor-El set his jaw in defiance and prepared to meet his fate as the head of the house of El should.

Jor-El's ears suddenly rang from the thunder crack of large a caliber revolver being shot from close by. The alien standing in front of him looked surprised and no longer symmetrical as it was suddenly missing an eye on one side. The alien pitched over dead. Jor-El turned his head and saw Captain Jack Harkness standing near the tree line, his right arm extended in a shooting stance, his jacket billowing around his legs. Fanned out behind Harkness were three women from the Kawache tribe, completely nude. Jor-El who was having a hard time remaining conscious was irritated that Harkness seemed to have only one thing on his mind.

"Hello, I'm Captain Jack Harkness and you folks have about 3 seconds to turn over the people you took or all hell is going to break loose. 1…2…3, Ladies they're all yours," Jack said with a smirk, but his eyes had become cold. Jor-El shivered at seeing those eyes, and the cold that he saw could only be found in the Void. Jor-El then saw the women shift and Jor-El's irritation changed to admiration for Harkness' battle strategy. The women he had brought were skin-walkers and where three women had been standing a moment before, three large wolves now stood. The three wolves rushed past the Captain and leapt on the invaders, tearing at throats.

Jor-El was watching the ballet of death the skin-walkers were performing around him when he felt hands pulling his shoulders. Harkness was dragging him away from the ship and the affect of the gasses. Harkness dropped Jor-El as the leader of the reptiles lunged at Jor-El, plunging his knife at his chest. Jor-El saw Harkness throw himself between him and his attacker and saw the blade sink into the center of Jack's chest. Jor-El watched the Captain's lifeless body fall to the side as one of the wolves sank its teeth into the neck of the leader of the invaders. The crack of the reptile's spine as its neck broke was the last thing Jor-El heard before he lost consciousness.

Jor-El felt the yellow sun knitting his cells back together. He kept his eyes closed for a moment reveling in the feeling of being alive and strong again. That thought made him remember the fight he had been in and the carnage he had seen. The invaders had been willing to kill his humans for food. Then his humans had fought back with such bravery against what they thought were evil spirits. The one human who knew they weren't spirits had given his life to protect Jor-El. Jor-El vowed at that moment that no matter what happened he would see that this planet would be protected. He opened his eyes to see one of the skin-walkers standing above him, smiling down at him. She was fully clothed this time. She handed him a cup of water and said, "Welcome back, Jor-El. You have slept for 2 days."

"How did the battle end?" Jor-El asked, afraid to know.

"The sky lizards have one less tribe to worry about feeding," the woman said, smiling a predatory smile. "None of the People suffered any great harm, a few cuts, some bruises, and one broken arm."

Jor-El was disturbed that even after what Captain Harkness had done, they did not think of him as worthy of being mentioned. "What did you do with Captain Harkness' body?" he asked.

The woman blushed a deep crimson, "That is a very personal question and one that does not concern you, Jor-El. What Kokopelli and I do in my tent is our business and ours alone. Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Hey, you're awake! Sweetie, would you give us a minute?"

Jor-El sat up and looked at the man he had been assuming was dead. "Captain Harkness! How? What happened? I saw them stab you," Jor-El stammered.

Jack's eyes shifted to the side for an instant and then back to meet Jor-El's, "Don't know what to tell you. You were lying on the ground. You must have had been looking from a weird angle. I'm here, gorgeous smile and all," Jack said as he held his arms out wide. "I was worried about you. You looked pretty bad for awhile. What happened?"

"I don't know? My only guess is that whatever nebula where those gasses came from must be filled with a type of radiation that is harmful to my people," Jor-El said.

"No matter. You're back from the dead, and take it from me, this deserves a celebration," Jack said as he reached out his hand and helped Jor-el stand. Jack smiled at Jor-El. "We're going out drinking!"

"Captain, I must tell you that alcohol does not affect my species," Jor-El admitted.

Jack's smile only got bigger as he put an arm around the other man's shoulder, "Did I ever tell you that I used to tend bar specialized in serving different species. Give me your specs and an hour and I guarantee I'll come up with a concoction to get you plastered!"

Earth – present day

Fortress of Solitude – Arctic Circle

Clark blinked his eyes several times as the vision ended. "What happened after that?" Clark asked.

"I…don't fully remember. Captain Harkness is a very competent bartender. We ended up naming the drink 'a phantom zone'," Jor-El said.

"Phantom zone?" Clark asked.

"Yes, they snuck up on me and the next day my head felt like the burning sands of the death plains. Not to mention my mouth tasted like several phantoms had been using it as a urinal all night long," Jor-El said matter of factly.

Clark laughed. He would treasure the thought of Jor-El with a hang-over for the rest of his days. Jor-El let him laugh for a few more moments before he interrupted. "Do you think the man you have met is related to the Captain Harkness I knew?" Jor-El asked.

"No. I' don't know how, but I think it is the same person. There is no way two people can not only look the same, but act the same over 100 years apart." Clark then told Jor-El about his encounters with Jack during the day.

"I believe you are correct, Kal-El. I also do not know how a human can live as long as him, but it is definitely the same man. Kal-El, he is an ally that I feel you will be able to trust, within certain limits. You will be able to trust him with your life and your secret."

"Then what are the limits you're talking about?" Clark asked.

"I wouldn't trust him alone in a convent…or a monastery for that matter. And DON'T let him mix you a drink unless you are willing to pay the price the next day."

Clark ran back to the farm smiling and shaking his head in wonder. Had the Fortress actually made a joke, Clark thought. He was happy that he could trust Jack and that he didn't have to worry for Chloe's sake, or at least too much.