TOC----------------------------------------------------------
"So, Kryptonian organwhatsis?" Perry asked after Zara and Ching left.
"We thought all of Superman's cell samples had been destroyed but it seems that Mamba had access to Kryptonian cells and DNA. Luthor ordered his heir to be endowed with Kryptonian abilities," Alexa explained.
Perry turned to Lane. "And do you?"
Lane nodded.
"So, when does Superman's cousin make his costumed debut?"
"We're still working on that," Lane admitted.
"But when it happens, we'll make sure the Planet gets the exclusive," Alexa added. She gave him a cheeky grin. Her expression turned more solemn. "Zara and Ching? Are they really Kryptonian?"
"You tell me," Perry said. "They
flew in through the window. I wasn't going to ask them for their diplomatic credentials or ID. Now, we three are the ones who've spent the most time with them. Let's write up something that makes sense about their visit here."
-o-o-o-
Later that evening, Lane felt the 'brain tickle' again. From Alexa's expression, she felt it too.
Then the tickle resolved itself into 'words'. "Lane and Alexa," Lane heard Ching's voice say. "As you predicted, Nor has sent an assassin to kill Zara. We need to meet with you."
"How are…?" Lane managed to say.
"Telepathy is another Kryptonian ability," Ching explained. "It does not depend on exposure to a young sun but I was not certain you had it. Please, come to us and I'll explain more." He gave mental directions to a warehouse not far from the building they were having renovated.
Inside the warehouse was a humming, blindingly bright, white orb about twelve feet in diameter. It hovered several inches above the concrete floor.
"Come forward and imagine an entry," Ching's voice said.
Suddenly Lane and Alexa were inside an all-white circular room with glowing walls. Four chairs were arranged around a waist high central pedestal. Zara was seated in one of the chairs. Ching gestured for Lane and Alexa to sit.
"Thank you for coming," Ching began. Zara glowered at him but he seemed to ignore her disapproval. "I fear we may not have been completely forthcoming with the purpose of our mission to this planet," Ching said. "Yes, our original mission was to locate Kal-El and convince him to return with us to New Krypton."
"And then we discovered that he'd been murdered on this loud, dirty planet only weeks before we were to retrieve him," Zara said bitterly.
"My lady, please…" Ching said, pleading. He turned back to Lane and Alexa. "But we still we need to find the craft that Kal-El first journeyed to Earth in. Do you know where it is?" He looked to Lane.
"No," Lane said.
"Yes," Alexa said. "I know where it is."
"Why didn't you tell me you knew where it was?" Lane asked.
"It slipped my mind," Alexa said with a shrug. "Besides, the orb stopped responding to me when
this happened." She gestured to indicate her body.
Moments later Alexa returned with a tiny alien craft with Superman's symbol on it. She set it on the white pedestal as Ching directed.
"This craft was designed specifically for a one-way journey to safety," Zara said. "The symbols are Kryptonian.
Behold Kal-El, a noble of Krypton, born from the House of Lo into the House of El. There are further instructions for Kal-El, had he survived."
"And if he didn't?" Lane asked.
To answer, Zara placed her hand on a panel on the ship.
The panel began to glow and an image of a woman appeared. She was dressed in glowing white. She began to speak. "I am Lara of the House of Lo, wife to Jor-El and mother of Kal-El. If you are seeing this image, it means that my son's craft survived the journey to Earth. It also means that Zara Sen-Ra, his birth wife, has survived to her maturity and has come for him. I have no way of knowing why Kal-El is not with Lady Zara, why they have not both placed hands on the craft as they should. But know this, Zara Sen-Ra, it was no whim that had us send Kal-El to Earth instead of New Krypton. You, Zara, would have been trained from childhood to govern in the Kryptonian way. However, raised on Earth, Kal-El would have been taught their ways and brought with him the knowledge of Earth's history and its many forms of government in hopes that he would be able to help you create an effective yet beneficent government for the survivors of Krypton.
"In Kal-El's absence, Zara, you will need to find your own way. Earth has many examples for you to draw from. But be warned. Krypton's people were proud and foolish. That pride and short-sightedness has doomed us to near extinction. Do not repeat our mistakes. Do not be so proud as to ignore the lessons of our past and the lessons that other worlds, such as Earth, can teach the children of Krypton."
The image blinked out and the panel went dark.
"She was beautiful," Alexa murmured.
"She was a great lady," Ching said.
"What can these…
Earthers… teach us?" Zara spat.
"If you don't want our help, why were we invited here?" Lane asked. "Ching told us that Nor had sent an assassin after you. Was that a lie to get us here, to steal Kal-El's ship?"
Lane stood and Alexa joined him.
"No! Don't go!" Ching shouted. He turned to Zara. "My lady, I have sworn to protect and defend you, with my life if need be, but I cannot stand by and allow you to throw away whatever chance of survival we have. Nor wants you dead and these people are not the mindless organ donors and disposable troops that our ancestors created. Perhaps the lesson Lady Lara was warning us about was that our ancestors made egregious mistakes in how they used their technology, how they used their creations. And whatever you think of the circumstances of their creation,
these are not mindless, disposable creatures. They are Kryptonian. And they may be the only assets we have here. Nor doesn't know about them."
"The law…" Zara started.
"The law got us into this! We have an unworkable government that will allow a tyrant to murder on a whim, to take control of our world, as poor as it is, and destroy our people for his own ambitions." Ching was shouting at Zara who looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. Then her lips began to tremble.
"I touched their minds, Zara," Ching added, coming over to lay a hand on her shoulder. "They have strong minds. They are a blend of Kryptonian and Earther, which is what I would expect of Kryptonians raised on Earth. It is, in fact, what I would have expected to find with Kal-El had we found him. We need them."
Zara took a deep breath. "Nor intercepted what we had believed were secure transmissions to the Council of Elders. He knows that Kal-El is dead and our publically stated mission was a failure. However, as you surmised, a widow in charge of her husband's estates is not obligated to remarry. Among the nobility, it is frowned upon. I told the Council of Elders that I considered myself Kal-El's widow. Lord Nor did not take that announcement well."
"He told us he sent Tez after us," Ching added. "In fact, I suspect he sent Tez even before Zara told him 'no'."
"And Tez is…? Alexa asked.
"Lord Nor's favorite assassin," Ching said. "He is not Kryptonian, but on the other hand, he has never failed."
"And your government puts up with Nor having an assassin on his payroll?" Lane asked.
"Traditionally, each house is considered to be sovereign. It is only the threat of reprisal from the other houses that keep matters from escalating too badly," Zara explained.
Alexa just shook her head. "Maybe Machiavelli was really from Krypton."
"Maybe the rules for being a successful prince are the same all over?" Lane suggested.
'
Onde è da notare che, nel pigliare uno stato, debbe l'occupatore di esso discorrere tutte quelle offese che li è necessario fare; e tutte farle a un tratto," Alexa quoted.
"
The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all," she translated. "When Nor takes Zara out, he'll take out any of your Council of Elders that aren't already with him and as many of the heads of the other Houses as he can as quickly as he can. He has to hurt his opponents so badly they can never come after him. So, assuming you two aren't fronting for Nor for an invasion of Earth… Tell us about this Tez."
"He's an animal from a barbaric planet where assassins are bred and trained and hired out to the likes of Lord Nor," Zara said.
"I doubt an unintelligent animal would be as successful as you claim this Tez is," Alexa commented.
"We believe he is a genetic construct," Ching said. "From reports from those he let live after a killing, he is telepathic but needs to touch a person to read them deeply for memories he can use. He can disguise his appearance to appear as anyone. His weapons of choice appear to be poisoned needles and his claws. If he cannot get close enough to use those, we believe he uses an energy weapon of some sort. I have heard that he learns his opponent's abilities at a phenomenal rate, makes them his own. As I said, he has never failed."
"Makes his opponent's abilities his own," Lane repeated thoughtfully. "Like a martial artist using an opponent's strength against him."
"Pity we can't bring Lin Chow or Grandfather Chow in on this." Alexa said. "A tenth level Yi Chi master sounds like just what we need. Does Tez have any weaknesses?"
"None that we know of," Ching said. "Although… I have been told that those that create his kind imbue them with a 'code of honor'. They will die rather than be captured and they will die before they admit failure. They will adhere to the letter of their contract, nothing more and nothing less. And they never kill without a contract."
"Okay, that gives us something to work with," Lane said, taking a deep breath. He turned to Ching. "I know you know this, but the job of a close protection officer is not to take the bullet for your client but to keep them out of situations where there might be bullets. Keep Zara within close reach at all times and away from other people. A nice wide open area in the Antarctic maybe, or an easily defensible building where you can see him coming."
"And how are we supposed to know it's him?" Zara asked.
"How did Ching know our growth wasn't natural and that we have Kryptonian organelles in our cells?" Alexa asked.
"Your 'aura' was different from other humans, so I looked more deeply," Ching said thoughtfully. "I compared your body and cellular structures to that I had already determined was normal for humans. The match was much closer to what I knew about Kryptonians than to humans." Ching's eyes widened. "Tez can appear as anyone, even imitate their sound, but it would not be possible for him to change his internal structure without losing his own special abilities unless the appearance change is actually a projection. It's not likely that projection will extend much beyond the visible."
"I probably know the city better than anyone here," Alexa said. "In theory, I can scan for anomalous biological signatures from the air."
"But I am probably more likely to recognize Tez," Ching said. "Lane, if you would stay with Lady Zara?"
"Do I look like a bodyguard?" Lane asked, glaring at Ching and Alexa.
"You do now," Alexa said with a grin.
-o-o-o-
Alexa and Ching hovered high above Metropolis. The eastern seaboard spread out below them like a sea of stars.
"You're in love with her," Alexa said, scanning the Earth's surface for non-Earth life forms.
"I was not aware my feelings were so obvious. In any case, it is irrelevant," Ching said. "She is of noble birth. She will do what she must for our people and so will I. To do anything else would be dishonorable."
"You're not a member of a noble house?"
"My father was of the house of El, a distant cousin of Jor-El. My mother was a guildswoman. On Krypton it would not have mattered. My father had no noble aspirations."
"But on New Krypton, you're not considered high enough in rank to be a suitable consort for Zara," Alexa said.
"You are very astute, Kal-El. Or, given the circumstances, Lady Kala Jor-El."
"How…?" Alexa began. She didn't try to cover her surprise.
Ching chuckled. "I touched your mind. Our people are trained from near birth to shield their thoughts. You have not had that training. You and 'Lois' are almost as open as humans in that regard. That's why this world seems so noisy to us. All those unshielded thoughts, all those passions screaming out with no one hearing and no one to tell them to 'shut up'."
"Show me."
Ching reached out with his mind and demonstrated how to block mental touches and shield her thoughts. Alexa was a fast study. Within minutes she had the rudiments down and had credible shields. "At least now Lord Nor won't be able to read you like a book."
"Tell me about New Krypton."
Ching told her about his world while Alexa scanned Metropolis again. "A poor, rocky planet orbiting a red star. It's hard and gray, and it has made us hard. On Krypton, I'm told, there was song and laughter and love. There is little laughter on New Krypton and few songs. Love is a luxury we can't afford."
"Sounds depressing."
"We survive. Krypton survives with us." Ching peered down at the landscape. "There, near the warehouse."
Alexa spotted what he was referring to: a non-Earth native 'aura'. It was approaching the warehouse where Zara and Ching's ship was. Where Lane and Zara were.
-o-o-o-
Lane glowered at Zara. Babysitting a spoiled noblewoman was not what he'd expected to be doing when he and Alexa first entered the alien craft. Fighting off alien marauders maybe, but not standing guard over someone who clearly thought he was little more than a reprehensible mistake.
"Look, I don't like this any more than you do," Lane said. "I'd much rather be out hunting for that assassin you say Nor sent. But somebody has to make sure you make it home. So, you can either sit there and wait for him to show up to kill you or I can show you some things you might be able to use to defend yourself."
"And what can you possibly show me?" Zara asked, glowering back at Lane.
Lane scanned the floor above. "Upstairs looks clear and if we're careful, we can avoid bringing down the building."
Zara stared at Lane. "We are supposed to stay together."
"I'm going upstairs to practice some martial arts moves. Are you coming or not?"
Lane led the way to the next floor. The room was large with high ceilings. "The first thing is to learn to fall. In a dojo there'd mats on the floor."
"I do not need to learn how to fall down."
"Then come at me with your best shot," Lane ordered. Lane went into a crouch, beckoning Zara to come to him. Zara ran at him at a speed faster than the human eye could see. Lane side-stepped easily, tossing Zara to the floor.
"In your case, learning to fall is less to save you than to save the floor. Try it again."
Again Zara came at him and ended up on the floor. "You're stronger than I am!" she complained.
"I'm anticipating your moves and using your strength and speed against you. My strength has little to do with it. I know a couple humans who are quite capable of landing even Superman on his butt."
"Show me."
-o-o-o-
Ching spotted Zara and Lane. "I should never have left her with him!" he said as he sped off to rescue Zara.
Alexa kept pace with him, keeping an eye on the assassin as he entered the warehouse.
"Why is he attacking her?" Ching demanded.
"If Lane wanted to hurt her, she wouldn't be getting up again," Alexa said. "I'd be more worried about that guy on the stairs who looks like
you."
-o-o-o-
The footsteps on the stairs sounded 'off'. Lane looked through the wall to see Ching running toward the door, but Alexa was not with him. He looked deeper at 'Ching' and knew it wasn't a Kryptonian coming toward him and Zara.
"Tez," he said quietly, catching Zara's attention.
Zara froze. The door burst open and 'Ching' ran toward her. Lane intercepted him and a leg sweep brought 'Ching' to the floor. Suddenly, it wasn't Ching at all but a green skin humanoid with vicious looking yellow claws. It spat green bile at Lane, but he side-stepped. The viscous liquid burned the wall where it struck.
"Those who have the strength to resist only die more slowly," Tez said in a raspy voice. He was watching Zara. "I watch the fear in their eyes as the last flicker of life goes dark. The same fear that I see in your eyes."
"I'm not afraid of you," Zara protested even though her voice was shaking.
"You stupid creature, I can feel your fear."
"But to get her, you have to come through me," Lane said. He had been tasked to protect her. And protect her he would. He ignored the arrival of Alexa and the real Ching, concentrating on Tez's next movements. The beginning of an attack almost always signaled the type of attack. Catch the signals and you knew how to defend against that attack.
Tez came at Lane moving faster than before. Lane swept him to the floor again and got Tez into a shoulder hold. Tez struggled, trying to claw Lane with his free hand. All he succeeded in doing was shredding Lane's shirt.
"You are a wizard!" Tez managed to say despite the choke hold. "Who can fight wizards?" Tez stiffened then went limp. Lane felt the life go out of the creature.
"Lane…" Alexa said.
Lane let go the hold and got to his feet. "I swear I wasn't holding him that hard."
"He failed. Among his kind that was unacceptable," Ching said. "You could not have stopped him from ending himself."
"Will Nor send another one?" Alexa asked.
"Considering how easily Lane overcame him, I doubt Lord Nor would be allowed another one," Ching said. He turned to Lane. "I saw you attacking Lady Zara…"
"He was teaching me some Earth techniques that might prove valuable against a physical attack," Zara explained. "But first he had to convince me he had something to teach."
-o-o-o-
Zara reported Lord Nor's attempt on her life to the Council of Elders. In turn, Trey, senior of the councilors, promised to bring Nor before them to answer to the charge of treason for ordering the death of Lady Zara.
Jen Mai, the council's representative from Nor's house, protested the decision to arrest the head of his house. "Lord Nor only wishes what is best for our people. Lady Zara is obviously overwrought from the discovery that her betrothed was brutally murdered on that barbaric, backwards planet…"
"Nor admitted, in front of witnesses, that he had sent Tez to kill me when I refused to accede to his demands," Zara repeated. "Who among you does not know that Tez was Nor's weapon? How many of our people have died at his hands and on whose orders? Yet, Jen Mai, you proclaim Nor's innocence. If he is innocent, then let him come before the Elders and explain himself.
"As for Kal-El's death, his murderer is dead, brought to justice under the laws of this world. Persons born on this world risked their own lives to defend me when I was threatened. We will speak no more about 'barbaric, backwards' planets."
Zara waved her hand over the orb's central pedestal and the ship's view screen disappeared. "We must return to the mothership. Tez has been dealt with but Nor will not willingly submit himself to the Council. I must be present to make sure he does." She turned to Lane and Alexa. "I'm sure you understand why we can't invite you to come back with us. If it is discovered that Earth has the technology… Let's just say that most of the Council will not be as open-minded as Ching and I are."
"Safe journey," Lane said as he and Alexa left the craft. The orb shimmered and vanished, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.
"Do you think they'll be back?" Lane asked.
"I hope not."
"But?"
"
'Perché delli uomini si può dire questo generalmente: che sieno ingrati, volubili, simulatori e dissimulatori, fuggitori de' pericoli, cupidi di guadagno.' - 'Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.' New Krypton is a poor rock of a planet. They're barely eking by even with their advanced technology. They're going to look at this planet with greedy eyes and with Nor humiliated by his public failure in his coup attempt, he'll be looking for an easy victory to bring the Council to his side. Riches to bribe them with."
"I thought you were supposed to be the optimistic one here," Lane said.
Alexa chuckled but there was no humor in it. "I spent a good chunk of my life wondering who my parents were and why they sent me here. Based on what the orb said, I had assumed I was the last of my kind. Then, I finally meet other survivors, they're not thrilled at my existence and there's a would-be tyrant out there. Not a great day."
"Well, hopefully Zara and Ching will take care of Nor."
"I wouldn't count on it. In fact, we need to let someone in authority here know we think there's a potential threat coming this way," Alexa said. "I hope Henderson won't be too upset if we call him, right now."
"And Perry will be livid if we sit on this."
*
Big Girls Don't Fly was written by Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner
