Chapter 27
On Brianiac's ship, in the dark windowless Collections Room, Valia and Kal-El scanned their surroundings. The sight of Kandor had been distressing for Valia, looking at the miniature domed city, realizing her friends and family were there, inside, was unreal and unnerving. Honestly, this entire room was unnerving with its multitude of shelves overflowing with stolen treasures.
Valia blinked and swallowed hard wondering how many times Kandor had been an unwitting witness to the ultimate destruction of a planet. First Krypton, but how many more since then?
Kal-El groaned as he tried to force open the large metal door barring their exit. He heaved out a breath and said, "I need sunlight to regain my powers. Without them we are trapped in this room."
"If you can't open the door we'll have to return to Kandor." Valia did not attempt to hide her disappointment. "We don't have much time before Brainiac returns."
A sudden noise drew their attention to the door. Controls were being activated on the other side. Valia cast a worried glance at Kal-El. He stepped in front of her as the door slid open.
A weak Vril stood in the doorway, breathing heavily, and holding onto the doorframe for support. "Superman!" The teen smiled broadly, greatly relieved to see the Kryptonian. "I .. I was coming to open the portal for you, but .. but you're here."
Superman smiled. "Perfect timing, Vril." Superman's smile quickly faded. He jutted his chin at Vril's head wound. "I should never have left you to face Brainiac alone."
Vril waved a wobbly hand swatting away the apology. "No time for that. Brainiac will be back soon. You need to leave the ship immediately."
Superman rested a hand on Vril's shoulder. "You're right." Valia cleared her throat. Superman held out a hand and said, "This is Valia. She will alter the ship's sensor logs so Brainiac will never know the Kandorians have the ability to operate their portal."
"What?" Vril's brow rose in surprise. "The Kandorians can control their portal?"
"Yes," Valia said. "With Kal-El's help we now can." For her, it was strange to hear Kal-El called Superman. He had told her of the other names he was known by on Earth, Superman and Clark Kent. Still, it took a moment to get used to.
Vril looked at Superman in confusion. "Kal-El?"
"My Kryptonian name," Superman explained as he passed through the doorway.
Sunlight streamed through the large viewing window above the control station. Valia exited the Collections Room right behind Superman and made her way to the control station. Vril slowly followed her.
Superman headed to the window, drawn to the sun like a moth to a flame. Already he felt changes taking place within his body. He stopped in front of the window, closed his eyes, and absorbed the sunlight. Let it wash over him. He could feel the molecular changes happening inside of him. Small but significant changes.
Valia was at the controls, and with Vril's help, soon located the sensor logs.
In the interest of time and efficiency, Vril suggested, "I'll take care of the sensor in the Collections Room." Valia nodded agreement and Vril slowly made his way back to the room.
Valia glanced at Superman standing beside her, his head tilted back. Suddenly, he opened his eyes. There was something different about him. She could not say exactly what it was. A newfound power seemed to emanate from him like a heatwave. His transformation had been subtle, but remarkable. Valia felt a warm tingle ripple through her body.
Superman's voice carried an air of authority when he asked, "How long will it take to alter the logs?"
"Not long," Valia replied, staring momentarily at Superman, still awed by the change she had witnessed. That tingling sensation continued to ripple through her. It felt as if every nerve ending had come to life. She shuddered and chalked it up to anxiety and nerves. She was under tremendous pressure and had to work quickly and accurately. Her focus returned to the logs.
Superman aimed his eyes on the wall safe to test his x-ray vision. It worked! But his happiness was short lived. The crystal was gone. Brainiac must have taken it. Anger and sadness rose within Superman.
Valia's voice broke up Superman's thoughts. "Perhaps I spoke too soon. I'm having trouble accessing the sensor logs. Every attempt is being blocked. Brainiac has put several security overrides in place."
"I'm having the same problem," said a frantic Vril hugging the Collections Room doorframe. "We can't change them before Brainiac returns!" His voice bordered on hysteria.
Superman remained calm. "I'll use my heat vision to damage the sensors. Vril, you can tell Brainiac I returned to the ship looking for the crystal and was angry when I discovered it missing." This was not a lie. Superman saw Vril glance at the safe with a perplexed expression indicating the teen had not known the crystal was missing.
Superman looked at Valia, "You will return to Kandor now before I damage the sensors."
Valia was about to protest, but a frantic Vril spoke first, "There isn't time to send her back. You both need to leave the ship, now." His wide fearful eyes pleaded for them to depart quickly.
Valia looked at Superman. "The boy is right. Besides, I can help if I stay with you. I know how Brainiac operates. He will attempt to access Earth's computer networks and systems. I can set up firewalls to stop him or at least slow him down."
In a split-second, Superman ran through options in his head. Given the circumstances it made sense for Valia to stay with him. Plus, he knew a place where she would have worldwide computer access.
"Agreed," he said. "Vril, take cover in the corridor. Valia stand behind me."
Superman waited until Vril was safely in the corridor before aiming his heat vision at the ship's control station. He fired several thin, red-hot beams at the control panel. His eyes moved around the room targeting sensors. Sparks flew into the air at each blast. Small fires erupted and Superman quickly extinguished them with his freeze-breath.
Valia was astonished by the accuracy and precision of each beam. Alarms sounded throughout the ship. Superman moved to the Collections Room and targeted the room's lone sensor with his heat vision. A shower of bright white sparks lit up the dark room before falling harmlessly to the floor. Superman shut the door and blasted its control panel with his heat vision causing it to burst into flames. His freeze-breath quickly solved the problem. With one mighty yank, he ripped the door open so it would appear he had purposefully broken into the room looking for the missing crystal.
Superman took Valia by the elbow and guided her toward the airlock. "Now, we leave," he said.
"What? H . h. how?" Valia was in a state of mild shock at the demonstrations of heat vision, freeze-breath, and strength. She was trying to wrap her mind around all of those and now it appeared Kal-El expected her to simply walk out of the ship and into space.
Superman opened the door leading to the airlock and stepped inside it. Valia gripped the strap of her sling style pack and hesitated as Kal-el motioned for her to follow. She swallowed back her fear and put her faith in Kal-El, er, Superman. He would keep her safe. She had no doubts about that. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the airlock and faced him.
Superman handed her his oxygen tank. "Put this one."
Valia slipped the straps of the small tank over her shoulders while Superman closed and secured the airlock door.
He turned and nodded at the nose/mouth piece of the oxygen tank dangling beneath her chin. "You might need that."
She lifted a hand to push it onto her face. "What about you? How will you breathe?"
He grinned. "I can hold my breath. The distance we must travel isn't far."
She had more questions but no time to ask them. Time was, literally, of the essence. She pushed the nose/mouth piece into place.
"Ready?" Superman asked.
Was she? Before she could answer he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. In a different circumstance she would have welcomed the sudden embrace.
Superman used his free hand to cover her, from head to toe, with his cape.
Valia trembled beneath the cape. What now? She heard the outer door of the spaceship open and every nerve in her body tensed. She wrapped her arms tightly around Superman's back and buried her face in his chest. Her stomach lurked when she felt the floor drop away as Superman flew out of the spaceship. His cape flapped around her legs and pressed against her head indicating just how fast they were moving ― through space! She didn't dare breathe even though she had an oxygen tank.
Initially, they traveled in what seemed to be a parallel to the ground position. Now, Superman slowed and assumed a vertical position. Next, Valia felt their bodies moving downward rapidly. After a few seconds their descent slowed and Superman lifted the cape. Valia peeked out. Golden sunshine stung her eyes causing her to squint. Superman retained his firm hold on her although he needn't have. She clung to him as if her life depended on it.
Superman pushed the cape off of her completely and asked, "Are you okay?"
Valia's senses were on overload. Kal-El had flown, yes, flown them to Earth. His powers were truly astounding. What more could he do? She was sure there was more to learn about Kal-El. However, she switched her focus to the here and now and reveled in her first view of a planet. The sky surrounding her was an amazing azure blue with scattered wispy white clouds. She glanced down and far, far below, spied thin ribbons of rivers snaking through lush green lands.
Superman's cape flapped behind him in the breeze. "Are you okay?" he asked again with concern.
"Y. . yes," Valia nodded and inhaled a deep breath of fresh air. Air produced on a planet as opposed to the artificially produced air of Kandor. Her nerves quieted and she began to relax .. a little.
"You will have all the abilities I have," Superman said.
She didn't even know all the abilities he had.
Superman moved his hands to the sides of Valia's waist. "Concentrate on floating," he said.
"Floating?" she questioned him.
"Yes. Imagine yourself floating on the breeze. Hovering in the air." He moved her body away from his. Held her out at almost arms' length.
She gripped his forearms for moral support and tried to imagine herself floating. In her mind, she was a bird, wings outstretched, gliding on the currents. To her surprise, her body defied gravity. She could feel it and knew it was she and not Kal-El that kept her body hovering in place. She let go of his forearms and his hands fell away from her waist. A big grin lit his face.
"I .. I'm doing it. I'm floating." Indeed, she was hovering, although a bit unsteadily, in the sky. Whenever she felt herself drifting downward, she concentrated and floated up.
High above the Earth, Valia and Superman faced each other. Valia marveled at Superman's effortless steady hover. She was reminded of what he'd told her on Kandor. It had taken years of practice to develop such remarkable control of his abilities.
"We must absorb the sun's energy," he said and took one of Valia's hands in his.
He closed his eyes and tilted his face to the sun. Valia did the same. She felt that warm tingle, much stronger now.
The couple appeared to be two paper dolls, holding hands, floating in a radiant blue sky.
The sun's warmth and energy flowed over and through Valia's body creating changes within. These changes had been happening from the moment she was exposed to the yellow sun on Brainiac's ship. She felt every molecule of her body stiffening, hardening, tightening. The feeling of power that surged forth was undeniable and the strength she felt was incredible.
When Valia opened her eyes Superman gave her a roguish smile.
"I'll take you to my place." In a serious tone he added, "We have two worlds to save."