Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.

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Chapter Nineteen

Departures

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"Ah, Clark! And I see you brought your team-mates!" Zod called expansively as Clark entered the Viewing Gallery, the Protectors in tow. Clark smiled at the sight of Zod with a grin on his face as his wife snuggled into his side.

"Go mingle." Clark laughingly ordered his team before making his way to the Kryptonian General, pausing only to exchange a few pleasantries with various diplomats and celebrities who had come to witness the departure of the Solar Expeditionary Force.

"Hello, Godson." Ursa smiled as Clark stepped up onto the low dias where she and Zod were standing.

"Godmother." Clark nodded back respectfully. "Governor-General."

"Just in time, I see." Zod commented, then he waved to indicate the large holo-screen floating above the three-meter-high viewport with its view of the floating vessels and something that Clark didn't recognise.

"Zod, what is that cylinder?"

Zod followed his gaze to the floating oject. Over four times wider than any of the starships in view and with a depth of twenty meters, the floating structure looked incomplete, metal ribs and columns yet to be covered by an outer shell.

"That is the Gate to Rao." Zod explained. "How did you think we have been able to recover as much of the Kryptonian tech from Rao as we have? Especially the shield arrays that will soon protect our entire system. That Gate is based on the Doors that you and the Asgardians developed. Larger, and with a far greater range, but requiring far more power as well. It is set into a station at the other end and now it is in a defensive position, we will finish installing it into this station too, connecting both stations and allowing us to send ships through as well as simply stepping from one station to the other."

"And the ships are facing it… because?" Clark prompted.

"It will cut their journey time and prevent the Shi'ar forces from simply backtracking them to here." Zod explained. "Should Lillandra fail, the Shi'ar will not have proof of where they should strike back, only suspicions."

"…wow." Clark smiled. "I'm impressed."

"And so you should be." Zod declaimed haughtily before Ursa elbowed him gently.

"And if Lillandra wins?" Clark prompted.

"You have inspired my thoughts for that." Zod said, earning a curious look from Clark. "If Lillandra wins, as we all hope she should, then we will use the station in Rao as a basis for expansion, a station that has the Gate to Sol in the middle and Gates to other systems arranged in rings. It shall be named the Nexus and shall be overseen by the Solarian Defense Force as a place where all sentients may meet and pursue trade or resolve diplomatic issues without the need of recourse to war."

"…have you been watching those sci-fi programs being piped in from the other realities via the Moonbase?" Clark asked suspiciously, earning a hearty laugh from Zod and a giggle from Ursa.

"Ursa… has become quite a fan of that series with the law enforcement officer and his… wolf." Zod said as Ursa nodded. "I prefer the one about the ex-military fugitives. I can empathise with how they were framed for a crime they did not commit… although some of the things they build really should not work."

Clark started to reply, but he was interrupted by a chime that echoed across the gallery. The screen that had been showing the assembled task-force switched views to show the bridge of the lead starship with two command seats. Lillandra sat regally on the primary seat while the slightly smaller one to her left was occupied by Charles Xavier, who had a familiar circlet adorning his brow.

"Is there another Cerebro unit in that ship?" Clark whispered and Zod nodded in confirmation.

"My friends and allies." Lillandra said, her voice sounding from the hidden speakers with perfect fidelity, "It is time for me to return to my homeworld to confront my brother, a task which I could not have dreamed of achieving without help. And help you have given, help beyond that which I could have hoped for.
"As I leave this safe harbor that you have provided, I do so in the hopes of returning in victory, of bringing with me an eternal alliance with the Shi'ar Empire, not of an Imperium to a protectorate, but as true equals willing to move forwards to a brighter future.
"I leave you now with my most heartfelt thanks and gratitude. By the grace of the gods Sharra and K'ythri, I will return to you to present my gratitude, and that of my Empire.
"Fare thee well, people of Sol System, and may you live in peaceful prosperity."

As she finished, the ships visible as distant spots in the viewport started to accelerate and the screen reverted to show the vessels moving into formation to pass through the Gate in turn.

"Good luck." Clark whispered.

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"How did Charles do it?" Eric half-complained as Clark and Raven paused in the doorway. "All that paperwork… at least it's good practise in fine-manipulation."

"He uses his power to write with metal pens." Raven expained quietly to Clark. "He has trained himself to be able to write three different things at the same time."

"Impressive." Clark admitted just as quietly, then he turned back to where Eric was scowling at one particular piece of paper.

"I'm afraid it's time for me to head back to the Moonbase, but I'll be around this evening, should you need help." He said. "Of course, there's always Martha and May to ask."

"Believe me, I have already asked both for aid." Eric sighed. "Storm too. If I thought Sabertooth would do anything other than rip apart the papers, I would ask him too."

Clark paused at that admission. "Sabertooth?"

"He joined me because he enjoys fighting." Eric said with a slight shrug. "Despite his appearance, he is one of the best fighters I have ever met. No real style, but he has admitted to over two centuries of experience. Oh, and he dislikes you. Something about Alaska, I believe."

Clarck snickered at the memories of dropping Sabertooth onto a snowy mountain. "I can see why he'd hold a grudge for that."

"He also enjoys exploring." Magneto added. "The last message I got from him said he was heading to New Krypton to check out the wilderness. I know the whole planet has been mapped out via satellite, but Sabertooth quite likes to find places that no-one has ever set foot in before."

"That'll hopefully keep him out of mischief for several decades, at the very least." Clark mused.

"Given that Kandor has several zoos and QNA-storage areas which the Kryptonians are beginning to use to re-seed the wilderness of New Krypton with Kryptonian plants and animals… slightly modified so that the animals don't develop super-powers, I think he will find quite a bit to amuse himself with." Eric agreed. "The others… I haven't kept track of. I thought that they deserved the chance of a truly fresh start. Of course, should they get into trouble again…"

Clark nodded in understanding.

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"Fascinating… Absolutely fascinating."

Susan Storm and Karsta Wor-Ul exchanged worried looks as Reed's comment drifted out from his lab.

"You check to see he isn't about to blow us up again, I'll round up Ben and Johnny ready to run." Karsta whispered.

"You're stronger than me, and tougher." Susan protested.

"You have force fields for protection and I can carry the two big kids faster than you can." Karsta countered, causing Susan to slump in defeat.

"Fine." She growled as she stomped back to the lab. Stepping in, her eyes darted round, scanning the banks of apparatus and bubbling chemicals until she spotted her husband sat in front of the computer console, his attention on the giant screen in front of him.

"Karsta?" Susan said quietly into her communicator, "It may be a false alarm. Nothing's looking like it's about to go critical and Reed is on the computer."

"Understood." Karsta replied. "Dropping down from Panic Stations to Stay Alert."

Susan fought down a giggle at the Kryptonian's response and deactivated the comm, but not before she heard her brother chortling on the far end of the connection.

"Reed? What is it?"

"Hmm?" Reed turned his head to look at her, then his eyes widened. "HERBIE, why didn't you tell me I was about to be late for the meal?"

"Because you are not, there are still two hours until you need to prepare."

Reed frowned. "Then… what's happening?"

"I came in here to ask you that." Susan countered. "You said something was fascinating, and since that usually precedes an explosion…"

Reed blushed as Susan trailed off. "It doesn't… does it?"

"Analysis of explosions in the Baxter Building indicate that sixty-seven point two percent of them are indeed preceded by Mr Fantastic using the word Fascinating. If the words Interesting and Unusual are included, the percentage rises to ninety-eight pont six percent."

Susan fought down the giggles that threatened to consume her as Reed simply stared at HERBIE's presence indicator in shock.

"So, assuming that this isn't the prelude to an explosion, then what's so interesting?" Susan finally managed.

"Wha… Oh! Right!" Reed shook his head in an attempt to re-focus. "Sorry. Something came in between the sensor arrays without actually triggering them, but I was running a full-spectrum sweep and picked it up. It's power signature is similar to ours, but rotated so that instead of propogating along the dimensions we perceive as reality, the energy emissions are instead flowing through the sub-dimensions in a way that cause the strange and charm Quarks to temporarily switch their polarities…"

Susan raised a hand to halt the techno-speak and Reed face-palmed.

"I know, I know. Dumb it down. Something bypassed our defences and is on Earth. I'm trying to track it, but even with Kryptonian sensors, I'm having trouble. It is strong, though. If it was a Mutant, it would be Omega-class."

"And have you informed the Protectors?" Susan pressed. "You haven't, have you?"

Reed's expression of embarrasment was all the answer that she needed.

"Call. Them."

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"Clark here."

"Clark, it's Reed. There's a situation that you should be aware of."

Clark looked up from the never-ending parade of e-forms he was having to deal with, a chore even with super-speed.

"A situation?" Clark repeated, raising a mental eyebrow. "Define situation."

"Well, it doesn't seem to be an Oh God, Oh God, we're all going to die, but it could be too big for us, so I persuaded Reed to give you a heads-up." Susan Richards interjected, causing Clark to chuckle.

"Can I activate the visual link?"

"Visual… oh! HERBIE, initiate visual communications."

A holoscreen appeared and Clark nodded in greeting to Reed, who was sat in his favourite chair, and Susan, who was standing just behind him, leaning with one hand resting on his shoulder.

"So, you mentioned a situation?"

"Unknown entity of possibly-Omega-level power on Earth." Reed summarised, his hands busy. A set of holoscreens appeared around the one Reed was on, causing Clark to give the scientist a quizzical look.

"Did you just hack the Moonbase?"

"Hm? Oh! Oh no, I simply expanded the visual link to include secondary screens." Reed explained quickly. "Alright, if you look at this screen, you can see the star map showing previous power surges that seem to match the entity. If I do this, you can see that all the planets that the energy-burst was recorded on ceased to radiate soon after, but the timing is slightly off. Now, the screen above it shows the one clear picture of the entity that I've been able to locate."

Clark turned his attention to the screen in question as Reed continued.

"Now, xenobiology is complex. Without a chance to actually study this entity, I can only speculate. Although it seems to fit the masculine portion of the gender spectrum, the lack of any primary sexual characteristics make a true classification almost impossible."

"Reed," Clark interrupted, "Do you have a name for this entity?"

"Based on its apparent means of transportation, I do." Reed admitted. "The file I am creating is headed… The Silver Surfer."