Alura felt frustration overwhelm her, this was not good at all and not what she planned to happen. Going public with her discoveries might have got her a credit in her classes but it was going to end up getting her thrown underneath a bridge because the Kandorian council wanted their hands on her inventions. She took out one of the honor guards and rushed up the steps, before she barricaded herself inside the lab. Her breath went in and out, very labored and very panicked.
This could go better, much better.
They were coming; she couldn't stop them if they wanted to get their hands on her technology. She looked at one of the necklaces and wondered if she should use it. It was the last one she had made; she needed to acquire some of the minerals that she used to filter the sunlight. She turned it around and put it around her neck, feeling the red solar radiation from inside her lab but it wasn't working.
This necklace was a dud.
Alura could curse her bad luck, before she spun around on her heels and threw her head back, giving a minor scream in frustration. They pounded on her door but suddenly there was a crack from outside.
Someone fell to the ground and Alura watched them, dare she look? Dare she open the door? Dare she tempted fate? Did Rao actually smile on her or was this some cruel joke that the rug would get pulled out from underneath her?
She heard another punch echo from the room outside and her heart skipped a couple of beats when she listened to what happened. The honor guard smashed and threw onto the ground, before they slid down the steps with a solid impact.
Alura, tentatively, reached forward, and turned the knob, opening the door. The door clicked open and she saw Harry and Kara on the outside. Both looked frantic and Kara wasted no time telling her why they looked this way.
"They have a full scale army outside of the estate, we got to go, get all of your technology, and get out of here," Kara stated without taking a breath. She never knew something like this happened but she was ready to take steps preventing a mess from occurring.
"Maybe I should give them the technology, give them what they wanted," Alura responded with a fretful expression and she wished, oh how she really wished that she did not give them that technology in the first place. Her heart skipped a couple of beats when she thought about it and she folded her arms, it was really bad to say the least.
Kara took a step forward but suddenly keeled over, feeling a bit weak and flushed. Harry stepped over and saw it sitting on the table, the glowing chunks of green rock that made her dizzy and faint, quite faint in fact. Harry saw Kara bent over and unable to really move past the most basic movements.
"These rocks...they're called Kryptonite, they make people...like us sick when we're super powered," Kara managed, holding onto Harry for support.
"Not for long," Harry answered when he tapped his finger on the amulet and caused it to glow around Kara, creating a shield around her and thus another layer of protection. The blonde stood up proud and turned her head, shaken a little bit but standing tall never the less. "And you shouldn't give up the technology you helped pioneer. You think it could help people, well it still could."
Alura frowned before she stated one thing in a trembling and nervous voice. "Going against the council now is suicide."
"Not going against them is being a coward," Kara answered when she looked at Alura. An encouraging smile crossed her face. "After all I've heard about you, after all I've known about you, you're not a coward."
Alura blinked wondering how this girl that she recently met could know anything about her. She turned her head around but she thought that Kara had a point. A coward would cave into the Council and jump high in the air when they said jump in the air. The blonde adjusted her expression in her mind and took a moment to really consider what was being said and she nodded, a smile crossing her face.
"You're right."
Kara looked at her younger mother and smiled. "Of course, I'm right, that's how it goes."
Harry mulled over the situation in his mind but he knew exactly what they had to do and he brought it to their attention.
"My shield spells, whilst good, will not hold out forever," Harry responded when he looked back at Kara and Alura. "They will find a way in here. We need to get the technology out of the lab and shrink it, get out of here and lay low. Someone who won't rat us out to the Council."
Alura decided to give him that person, without missing much of a beat. "Jor-El."
Kara raised a quizzical eyebrow at this but turned slowly to Alura, and spoke in a quiet voice. "Are you sure he can be trusted?"
Alura decided to defuse Kara's doubts with a few well placed words. "Jor-El knows what it's like to go head to head with the council. He's butted heads with them over their methods more times than I could count. He understands that they should not be the be all and end all authority of everything."
Kara agreed, she hoped that her mother's judgment was sound. Harry used a shrinking spell to pack up all of the equipment nicely. There was little time to waste for what Harry was doing. He kept working on the spells, packing up the equipment a few jabs of the wand at a time. They were summoned into a bag that Harry conjured.
"There, I've given them their yellow solar powers by charming the walls to give off the radiation," Harry answered when he looked at the two blondes. "I've also left this Kryptonite here so they could get a nasty surprise."
Alura could not resist commenting on everything. "So...you don't fool around, do you?"
"You have no idea," Harry responded when he took both of the girls by either hand before he popped them away.
The council honor guard let themselves in no sooner did Harry leave. They arrived at the lab, half expecting to take the spoils of victory.
The Kryptonite in the lab overwhelmed them and caused them to keel over, dropping to the ground. They hacked and they wheezed from the poison. They struggled back to their feet but there was no getting back to their feet.
Would the effects of this radiation ever wear off, allowing them to get back up?
Yeah, they would, in a sense, in a little bit, but they would learn their lesson, or at least in theory they would.
"Well you have been busy today, you are among the most wanted in all of Krypton."
"Wanted for trying to protect technology that I invented," Alura stated dismally when she, Harry, and Kara sat around in Jor-El's lab.
"My father and Zor-El are in Kandor on business today, so they should not pose a problem," Jor-El stated to the group of them. "Would you want anything to drink?"
"No not now, thanks for the offer," Kara stated, when she shook her head and the other two did likewise.
Alura decided to break a silence that developed. "I suppose you think that I should throw myself at the mercy of the council."
Jor-El shook his head, that was not what he was implying at all and decided to tell Alura that much. Especially given some of the battles he had with the Council.
"Throwing yourself at the mercy at the Council, especially when they have no mercy, would not be an endeavor that I would recommend to anyone. The Council has their own abilities to twist the words of anyone around and cause them to be made fools. I hope you do remember that, Alura and know of the Pandora's Box you may have opened."
Harry was surprised, he assumed that Pandora's Box was an Earth expression but he supposed it had some degree of meaning on Krypton. Jor-El was not finished.
"I believe that your technology has merit but Kryptonians...we are not as high and mighty as we think to be," Jor-El commented when he turned towards the window and remained impassive and thoughtful, when he placed his hands on his hips. "I believe..."
What Jor-El believed was interrupted when someone let themselves inside the family estate. The young scientist stopped, fearing that it was his brother or his father. They would not take too kindly to him harboring fugitives, no matter how much they did not deserve to be hunted down by the people of Kandor. He stood on pins and needles, and Alura, Kara, and Harry made themselves scarce, hiding.
A young fresh faced man appeared before Jor-El.
"Cadet Zod of the Kandorian Army, Jor-El," Zod stated when he stared him down. "I come here to inquire about Alura In-Ze and her whereabouts."
Jor-El decided to break this news to them gently. "Then I'm afraid that you have come to the wrong place, for I know nothing about her. I will say that her technology is being misunderstood with what it is meant for."
"Then I will say that whilst I do think that the yellow sun radiation has military applications, it's not for the ones that my fellow Kandorians think," Zod stated when he stared Jor-El in the eye without blinking. "We do not need to write home to tell people they've lost fathers, brothers, sons, mothers, sisters, daughters, none of that, for if we had access to the yellow sun's healing abilities, we could heal even the most fatal of injuries. I understand that under the red sun, we will be mortal as ever but with the yellow sun's healing embrace, we will be invincible."
Jor-El thought this cadet talked a good game but he had to challenge him.
"And what of our enemies, what if they come across this technology? They might not be as altruistic."
Zod offered a nod at those words. "Then we must remain vigilante and have it remained guarded."
"A faulty concept if the guards themselves become corrupted," Jor-El stated, he wanted to believe that this technology could be used for good. "And any security systems, well the best computers in the universe can be corrupted if someone messes with their core programming."
"Our Brain Interactive Construct would be perfect for the job, it is beyond reproach and would not deviate from its programming," Zod stated but Jor-El had his doubts about artificial intelligence, even if the Council shut him down when he tried to make his claims heard.
They were stubborn and Jor-El felt that they would lead to the planet's destruction.
"I know they're here, Jor-El, I heard voices," Zod stated when he looked at the man, daring him to contradict his answers.
Jor-El was ready to fire back and fire back he did.
"For someone of your caliber, I would think that your talents would be fit for a bit more than eavesdropping," Jor-El answered in a swift voice, not missing a beat with his cutting words. Zod did not back down to his credit. "I'm impressed with what you've done."
"I do not wish you any harm and malice but given the stunt that Alura and her two companions pulled in the lab, they are not going to have any mercy," Zod stated when he looked at Jor-El. "The name Zod holds a lot of weight in the military on this planet, my father and his father before him, they were decorated commanders."
"And you hope to follow in his footsteps one day," Jor-El stated when he looked at Zod.
Kara watched the interplay from the other room, she could easily see through the walls because of her X-Ray vision.
"We do have a problem, there is a mole in our government and I've heard whispers that Black Zero has learned of the technology," Zod stated, and this caused the two blonde Kryptonians in the other room to cringe.
"Black Zero, they're a terrorist group," Kara whispered, she would tell him more, about how they were responsible for the destruction of Kandor and potentially a lot of the deterioration of the planet's core.
Alura closed her eyes, she never should have shared her discoveries with anyone, now she opened up the floodgates for something far more dangerous. The blonde ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, none of this was going her way at all. She felt her knees buckle slightly at the stress but Harry held her up.
"I do not wish to turn them into the Kandorian government for it is has been infiltrated," Zod stated, hoping that they would come out of hiding, wherever they are. This yellow solar technology was his ticket to moving up the ranks in the army and he needed their trust before he could access its secrets.
"But then they would be in your debt and being in the debt of a Zod is not a position that anyone wants to be," Jor-El stated when he looked back him.
Zod swayed slightly but otherwise did not miss a beat when he stated the next part of his statement. "You do wound me Jor-El, I thought...or perhaps that I hoped, that you would consider things from a certain perspective."
"Would I now?" Jor-El stated when he stared him down.
Kara, Alura, and Harry all thought that things were going to get rather tense, rather quick.
"I will return within the next day and you should talk to your friends, but consider your options," Zod stated when he looked at them. "Your father is unwilling to help you, in fact he may decide to turn all three of them in for more political capital from the council. Remember that Jor-El."
"I will remember that," Jor-El stated when he looked at Zod. "Congratulations on the birth of your son."
Zod stopped and nodded. "Thank you; it was the proudest day of my life to become a father. I hope that he will have a long and successful life."
"I'm sure with a father like you, it would be hard for him not to be successful," Jor-El stated and he shook hands with Zod before they parted ways.
Kara raised an eyebrow, she had no idea that Zod was a father, although she wondered what happened to his son. Then again, the history of Zod the man was rewritten when he took a greater control as General Zod.
"He is gone, and I believe we will have no more interruptions," Jor-El stated to the three of them, they all walked out.
Jor-El took a moment to look over the technology, reading it, before a grim expression crossed his face and he turned around to face the group.
"I've got both good news and bad news," Jor-El stated when he properly faced Kara, Alura, and Harry.
Harry blinked for a second and let out a deep breath he held when he faced Krypton's foremost young prodigy in the eye. "Isn't there always?"
In most situations, yes," Jor-El stated without any humor in his voice whatsoever. He turned his head a little bit to the side and thought about everything before he spat out what he needed to say. "The good news is that I've looked over some of the data of your technology and it will work, in fact it works too well."
"So that would be the bad news?" Alura asked Jor-El and Jor-El pondered on this for a moment before he decided to offer his input on the matter.
"The bad news is, allowing this power to the people of Krypton would be a very bad idea. In fact, one could consider that this would lead to the planet's doom. A handful of people with this power, they would work if they could yield it responsibly. That lies the huge issue, there are very few that would be responsible with this power. As much as I wish to show faith in my fellow Kryptonians, I do not wish to be a fool with this situation."
"Understandable," Kara stated in a stoic voice when she held Harry's hand in hers. She feared that there was going to be some kind of problem between the two of them, although she had no idea what it was going to be. The blonde stood by her boyfriend.
"They could create some kind of solar tower and find a way for the crystals to be everlasting," Jor-El concluded when he looked at them. His eyes focused on Harry in particular. "And I trust you've found a way to make the crystals ever lasting with your abilities."
Harry paused, he did not want to blow his big secret but at the same time he had no choice. He inclined his head a little bit but by not saying nothing, he said everything.
"So, you would be a viable commodity for those willing to utilize the technology on a more permanent," Jor-El stated before he offered what he hoped was the worst news yet. "The crystals...are highly unstable."
"Of course they are," Harry let out in a breath when Kara grabbed his arm with a force that would rip it off if he was a normal human.
Jor-El decided that it would be prudent if he would elaborate a bit more than he did previously. He drew his breath before he started to speak. "The crystals, as they are, they are highly unstable. The slightest modification of them...well it could cause disastrous effects to the core of Krypton."
Kara went pale a little bit but she shook off the feeling of incoming dread that she experienced. Could it be possible that her mother and her experimentation were in any way responsible for the destruction of the planet, if if it was small? The more she went over what bits and pieces she knew in her mind, she knew that it was not one major thing that destroyed their planet. No it was a domino effect, as the people on Earth might call it, and the igniting on the core would be the spark that knocked over what was set up.
"I'm sure there's a way to stabilize them," Harry offered when he held his girlfriend's hand tightly, and his heart thumped against his chest before he thought about it. He used the memory crystals at both Alura's lab and Jor-El's to up his knowledge, but he had a lot to learn and the knowledge to be imparted carefully as not to overwhelm him. "But this planet...I'm not sure it has much time left."
"Yes, the activity, I have been keeping a close eye on it, my father believes it to be a folly but I think it's worthy of observation," Jor-El stated when he mulled it over.
He hoped that the planet's destruction was not at hand but he would be a fool not to at least acknowledge that possibility. The people in the Council knew that Krypton would last forever, at least that's what they stated. Jor-El knew better, he knew that nothing was forever, as many planets through the universe proved. His eyes narrowed when he turned around and held his hands together.
"There will be a way, there always is a way to make sure everything turns out for the best."
Jor-El could not say what that way was but he knew there to be a way.
The problem was finding that way before it was too late and that could mean a problem. He ran a few more tests.
"I do wonder with the proper calibrations if channeling the red sun's beams into yellow and drilling a probe into the planetary core will cause some kind of healing factor," Jor-El mused when he spun around. "Perhaps this technology could make sure Krypton is strong but not in the way that the Council intends it to be."
Kara pondered this situation before she nodded and smiled. "It has to work."
"It could very well work," Alura stated when she turned around. She could use her technology to save their planet, although she wondered if that good for nothing council members would want anything.
Kara pondered this over in her mind, wondering if they had any right whatsoever to play Rao. Then she realized one fundamental truth, she would be saving hundreds of innocent lives. They could chance the past and perhaps Krypton would survive for a million years like it was stated when she was younger.
She stood there and wondered if her own existence was in peril but she recalled the theories of time travel. There was another timeline where she ceased to exist the moment her and Harry popped back in this one. Kal-El and the rest were alive in that timeline and they would continue to go forward without her. That might seem mean but it was what it was.
Kara sighed, if they saved the planet, they could be going into the unknown. One of three things would happen and she was at a loss to figure out what was the most likely.
The first thing was that no matter what their best efforts was, Krypton would cease to exist like it did. Perhaps not as soon as it would but perhaps the planet was doomed to fate. The thought crossed Kara's mind and caused her to shiver. That was a depressing instance to think about and one that she did not want to think too much about.
The second situation was that Krypton would survive and go into a new age that would bring some level of peace throughout the universe. To Kara, that was the absolute best thing that could happen to the entire planet.
And then the third scenario, Krypton would survive and decide to become harsh to both it's enemies and their people. There was a certain blind spot regarding certain people and Kara suffered it. Now with the benefit of hindsight, she saw everything clearly now. She saw that the people on the planet were predisposed to a certain type of mania, no matter how high and mighty they thought they were. The so called stoic race was prone to just as many irrational emotions as the so called primitive humans.
Scenario two was the one hoped for which made Kara fear that it was the least likely.
"You wonder if you do the right thing," Harry stated before Kara turned to him.
"If you had a chance...and you could save them, would you?"
She whispered this so only Harry could hear but Harry did not answer, that question. He wondered what she was referring to when she mentioned if he could have saved them. If she meant the people of his world, then he thought that very few of them were worth saving. They were sheep that were lead around by the nose. They changed their opinions on the drop of the dime or at the least article in the Daily Prophet.
If she meant the people of her planet, then that was something that Harry mulled over in the back of his mind. Were they worthy of being saved? Harry had no idea and he shook his head, before he took a moment to think it over.
"It's not an easy answer," Harry stated when he looked at Kara, and cupped her face in his hands, before he pulled her into a soft and tender kiss. Kara returned this, closing her eyes and feeling his strong arms wrapped around her. "There is...there is the easy way to do things and the hard way to do things."
"And there's the right way to do them," Kara offered when she rested her head on Harry's chest and they sat down, resting with each other.
They wondered what they blundered into this time, although both were ready to deal with the challenge. No matter what, there was a lot of problems for them to figure out. He sat down, with his arms wrapped around her, and her head resting on his chest, when she curled up in his lap. It would be a while before Jor-El and Alura returned from their calculations.
Kara sighed when Harry's mouth kissed the side of her neck and ran his hands through her hair.
"I'll be yours forever, as long as you want me to be," Kara sighed, when she rested back on Harry.
"Forever is a long time," Harry answered when he caressed the skin on her neck, before rubbing circles around it.
"Forever is the best time for us," Kara added when she worked open the buttons on his shirt, not caring if they got interrupted. She smiled before she reached down the waistband of his pants. "Is that for me?"
"Yes, it is," Harry responded, pulling her into a kiss when she cupped him around his balls and his manhood.
"Mmm," Kara moaned when Harry unbuttoned her blouse to reveal her mature breasts encased in a lacy red bra. They ran their hands around each other's bodies and got into their intense passions. Harry tugged down Kara's skirt to reveal that she was wearing a lacy red thong and that got his motor running a little bit more.
While they were waiting, they might as well have some fun.
Zod stood in the precipice of information that could allow him to rise to a higher height of Krypton. He knew that he could rise up the army within the next year, maybe two. Many of the younger cadets washed out of the army within the first few months, and some of them died because of the strain. It was a rigorous process and not for the weak at heart or the weak of mind.
And Zod was not among the weak, not at the slightest. He stood strong and tall, along with proud, above most Kryptonians. He would be able to take his moment of triumph. He saw the yellow solar technology as the gateway, that would bring him to his moment of triumph.
And what a moment that would be. Zod knew that if he stepped to the top and rose above all, they would all drop to their knees before him. The term "kneel before Zod" whispered in the back of his head and he thought about it all, before he realized what he would do. The young cadet would rise up the ranks and take control, if he could gain the confidence of those around him.
He did wonder who had decided to tell the tale about Alura's technology and who stirred up Black Zero about it. Zod was curious because it could have been anyone at that demonstration, although there would have to be one who had intimate knowledge of what Alura was planning. It might have been days since the demonstration but it was still much soon for that particular cat to be let out of the bag.
Zod waited and Zod watched. When he had his hands on the technology, they he would be able to pacify the situation. He could not make his move yet, it was a matter of trust that was needed.
Harry and Kara crashed after their activities, with Harry wrapping his arm around Kara and having the blanket that they conjured draped over their bodies. She snuggled her head into his shoulder, when the two of them continued to rest. She shifted against him a little bit with Harry holding her in as tightly as he could. She relaxed against him, feeling at ease and it was a good thing.
"I wonder if Jor-El and your mother have figured out how to adapt the technology to heal the planet," Harry whispered to Kara and she stirred, feeling her curves against him. He wrapped his arms around her lovely body, kissing the side of the neck, causing her to whimper in pleasure.
"Good, we can help the planet...but...I have to admit that it looked a lot more idealistic in my memories, " Kara offered when she stirred against Harry. "Unless you think we can clear up what happened with the Council."
Harry raised an eyebrow towards her before he offered one statement. "What do you think?"
Kara got to her feet and got dressed, which Harry was disappointed about. He got dressed as well.
"I think there's only a small chance that we won't be executed for treason," Kara stated when she turned around and sighed heavily. That was the problem with the government, they only thought about what was the best. "You think...you think we could find another planet. There are other planets colonized by Kryptonians around the solar system. I'm not sure what happened to them after the destruction but I'm sure we could find one of them."
Harry smiled and pulled his girlfriend into a long embrace and a kiss. She returned it, relaxing into his arms.
"I love you," Kara breathed when she looked into Harry's eyes.
Harry paused and smiled. "I love you too."
It was so natural and so right speaking it to her. Harry gave her another kiss and they looked to be having an encore of their activities from earlier but something stopped and stalled them, Kara spun around and saw Zor-El making his way up the steps. She tensed up a slight bit but relaxed when she stood next to Harry.
Her father was not the man she thought he was, she found that out a few years ago. Although the distaste Alura showed to Zor-El, Kara wondered about many things about her life. She supposed that he could have mellowed out in a few years, at least enough for Alura to give him a chance. And maybe her death caused him to revert back into some old and wicked ways.
She really was grasping at straws.
At least that's what Kara determined when she looked at everything around there. She took a moment to allow her heart to skip a beat before she decided to focus on the task at hand. She could hear voices with her super hearing.
"Jor-El, what were you thinking? You're going to make this worse before you make it better."
Harry decided to wait for what was going to happen and he clutched Kara's hand.
"The mistakes that are made cannot be made once again, Black Zero, they know," Jor-El stated in a grim voice. "It may be prudent for all of this technology to be destroyed."
Or if Black Zero knows, it may be more prudent to take this technology before the Council and submit it, while giving your apologies," Zor-El stated when he swung his arms and Harry and Kara listened to the conversation.
They would only step in if things got ugly.
Alura exited the room to see Harry and Kara standing there where Jor-El and Zor-El fiercely argued. The two brothers could get very spirited and Kara began to see that clash of philosophies turning ugly quickly.
"Zor-El could have led them here," Alura stated when she looked over her shoulder in a fretful fashion, sighing and biting down on her lip.
"He could have," Kara agreed, she did not want to believe it but at the same time, there was no denying what happened. She put her hands on her head and thought about it, throwing her head back in the process.
Harry placed his arm around Kara's waist before he spun around slightly to turn to Alura.
"Do you have any progress on the experiment?" Harry asked and Alura paused, as if she considered this matter over in her head. Harry waited for her to answer, making sure she took her time and did not rush into things.
"The probe, well it's close to being done, maybe three to four days, but do we have that long? And even if we do get it done, the Council is watching my estate and Jor-El's estate like a hawk. If they see anything launched from here, they'll shoot it down."
"I wish to save this planet."
"Then you will leave this matter alone, Zor-El."
The tensions heightened form the other room when Harry mulled over the situation in his mind and he turned to Alura and Kara. The two blondes huddled towards him, both of them looking very tense.
"I'll see what I can do to divert the attentions of the Kandorian Council and their army," Harry responded, biting down on his lip. They were cutting this too close for comfort but what is done had to be done. "As for the probe, we'll launch it as soon as we can. And then we need to find a way off this planet."
"Find a way off of this planet?" Alura asked, looking at Harry like he had turned her very world upside down. "Leave Krypton?"
Harry decided that he better elaborate more. "You could do what Zor-El says, offer your apologies, and hand over all of your inventions to the Council. But I don't think they're going to listen to reason. You decided to go against their mighty word and even if the reasons were good..."
"If we could sit down and talk with them maybe..."
Kara cut in for a moment whilst she threw her hands in the air. "They are a bunch of stubborn old fools, reason is not something that they're going to be inclined to listen to. And if they don't come after you, Black Zero will come after you. They'll end up destroying the planet to get this technology."
Alura In-Ze prided herself with being a very observant person and she could see Kara cringing about the planet's destruction several times. And the way she spoke about this matter, it was almost like she knew that the planet was going to be destroyed. How she knew it, Alura did not say. And the fact she turned up out of nowhere with Harry, that was the most interesting piece of evidence at all.
"Let's say I take all of my inventions and we somehow get off this planet," Alura stated, deciding to humor the situation for a moment.
"You should for your own safety," Kara responded, wondering if her mother's death was the accident her father told her it was. Granted the time table might have gotten sped up.
"Maybe," Alura stated but she heard the voices of Jor-El and Zor-El from the outside.
Jor-El opened the door and looked at the trio of them, deep in discussion.
"I believe we have a compromise that might benefit all parties," Jor-El responded when he looked at Alura. "Do not question this until I explain it all to you but I feel that this will be the best."
Alura was curious as was Harry and Kara. Jor-El began to explain his plan and Zor-El had to grudgingly admit that his brother did have some points, even though he was woefully mistaken in the bigger picture.
That technology must be preserved for Krypton, and to take down their enemies, no matter what.