“You know, you’re not nearly as mad at me as I thought you’d be,” he said. “How’s your hand?”
She flexed it experimentally. “Nothing broken. And I haven’t decided how mad I am. When I do, you’ll be the first to know. We have some serious trust issues to deal with. Not to mention how the devil I’m going to explain all this to Jason, and Richard, and Perry. This isn’t over yet.” She looked over at the house, into the room beyond the French doors. “We seem to be the floor show.”
Lois II
The couple on the deck seemed to have come to some agreement. Lois saw them glance back at the house, then start for the doors. As they came into the living room the doorbell rang and once again, CJ ran to get it.
“CJ, wait,” Lois yelled. The eight-year-old opened the door instead. Three figures, a man, woman and small child, all dressed in form-fitting black, stood on the porch. The man was holding a metal case about a foot high and wide and two-feet long.
“Kindred in the bonds, I greet thee thrice,” Clark greeted the newcomers with the slightest of bows, hands held out in the Kryptonian fashion. “Lady Zara, welcome to my home.”
Zara smiled, moved forward and gave Clark a hug. “Clark, it’s so good to see you,” Zara said. “But we need to talk privately when this is done.” Lois saw the strain in Zara’s face and wondered at how things were fairing on New Krypton.
Ching had followed Zara into the living room, ushering the child before him. Clark crouched down in front of small boy. “And who is this little guy?”
“This is Jos-Ra, heir to the House of Ra. My son by my consort Ching.”
The boy looked to be Lara’s age with medium brown hair and hazel eyes like CJ. His long hair was secured by a blue headband.
Zara looked around the room, stopping at Richard and Penny. “Mister and Missus White?"
Richard nodded. “Yes, Lady Zara?”
“It is our custom to foster our male offspring to allied Houses,” Zara explained. “However, one of the Great Houses, the House of El, does not currently have a presence on New Krypton and is not readily available for this type of alliance.”
Richard looked to Clark for guidance, or at least an explanation.
Clark gave him a crooked grin. “Among other things, I happen to be the equivalent of the Consul General for New Krypton,” Clark said. “I have been asked to facilitate such fosterage on Earth on behalf of the House of El. I wasn’t going to go into details until they got here.”
“Oh, wow,” Richard muttered. “When you said foreign, you really meant it. The House of El is Superman’s family, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Clark answered.
“Does he, I mean will he, have Superman’s powers?” Penny asked. “He’s so small.”
“Superman has said his powers didn’t fully manifest until he was nearly eighteen years old. So it’s unlikely Jos-Ra will show any powers or anything to mark him as being anything other than human until he’s an adult,” Clark explained.
“Unless he’s under great stress,” Kal-El added. “Strength shows up first and it is possible for that to manifest at an early age if he is under life-threatening stress.”
Zara gave Kal-El a curious look. The tall man pulled to his full height and gave the Kryptonian woman a polite nod.
“Lady Zara, may I present Charles King and Wanda Detroit,” Clark said. “They’re new here.”
Ching had moved closer to Lois and now leaned over to speak with her. “Lady Lois, which house is he with?” Ching asked softly.
“The House of El from an alternate time-line,” Lois said. “It’s complicated.”
Ching stared at her in obvious disbelief.
“Clark and I have had some experience in this sort of thing,” she explained. Ching didn’t look convinced.
Lois’s attention was drawn to Zara crouching down beside her son. “Jos, this is Richard and Penny. Lord Protector Kal-El, Superman, has arranged for you to stay with them.”
The child looked at his mother with wide worried eyes. “But I want to stay with you and father and Suren. Why can’t you stay with me?”
“We’ve talked about this. You will be under Lord Kal-El’s protection and you will learn many things here, many things you can bring back to us when it’s time,” Zara explained patiently. “Mister and Missus White will take care of you just as though you were their child and Clark and Lois will be here for you too.”
Lois wasn’t sure how she would act if their positions were reversed. Her heart broke at the thought of leaving one of her children with strangers, giving them up for treaty obligations, even if it did make political sense. Children shouldn’t be pawns in political games, and if that was the price of being royalty, she wanted no part of it.
Constance cleared her throat. “It’s getting late and we need to get these documents squared away.”
“Yes, of course,” Ching agreed.
The document signing only took fifteen minutes or so. Constance had everything ready and the signature lines were highlighted for them. Legally it was simply an open adoption. In the documents, the child’s name was now ‘Jason Ryan White’.
As soon as the papers were signed, Clark hurried Richard, Penny, Jason, and Constance out the door. “File the rest of the Goldman murder story tomorrow from home then take the next couple days off. Family leave,” Clark ordered with a smile.
Clark I
Aside from meeting Superman/Clark Kent earlier today, Kal-El had never met another Kryptonian. Had never dreamed that such was possible. But now, two Kryptonians who had evaded the holocaust that had brought Krypton low, that had blasted the planet into poisonous shards, were here, on Earth.
They were both a little shorter than he had expected, dressed in black Kryptonian bodysuits with their house sigil emblazoned across their chests. The woman’s outfit was completed by a cape-like coat of a slightly heavier material than the body suit, with a high collar. He wondered a little that Clark had chosen not to dress as a Kryptonian at this meeting, but then Richard, Penny, and Constance obviously didn’t know that Clark was also their world’s Superman.
He recalled from his father’s lectures on Krypton’s social structure. El, Ar and Us were the oldest, most honored of the twelve houses. Those three had been founded first by the three representatives whose efforts had finally brought peace to the warring nations of Krypton. Ra and Et were close in time, and the others evolved from other powerful families. Martha had said something about a civil war. Had the checks and balances that Sor-El, Pol-Us, and Kol-Ar created somehow failed in the new colony?
“Okay, Zara,” Clark said as soon as Richard and Penny had ‘Jason’ well away from the house. “Why are you fostering Jos here on Earth? You know how dangerous it’ll be if the other Houses discover Earth isn’t the hellhole you’ve been telling them it is. You also know how hard it’s going to be to re-assimilate him back into New Kryptonian society.”
Zara looked over at Ching, worry written across both their faces. “We didn’t see that we had a choice, Clark,” Zara said. “For the past year or so, the House of Et has been attempting to reestablish itself and destabilize the other houses. Nor’s nephew, Xon, has been making noises about bringing the House of Et back to its former glory. Trey is dead and several heirs to the other houses have been assassinated, forcing those houses to reconsider their birth marriage contracts and their fostering options. Xon has demanded Suren’s hand in contract.”
“We have no intention of acceding to his demands, of course,” Ching added. “But we need to have Jos safe from Xon’s agents. And as to Earth’s danger – I admit it may be a risk, but we have been successful in getting our people convinced that not only is Earth a barbaric and dangerous place, but the planet is the property and domain of the House of El. Hence your title of Lord Protector. They also know what you tried to do for our people, and how you killed Nor to save us from his madness.”
“That’s just wonderful,” Clark commented. Kal-El wasn’t sure if Zara and Ching heard the sarcasm in his voice. “And how soon before Xon starts gunning for me to avenge his uncle’s death?”
“It’s unlikely he’ll come to Earth, Clark,” Zara said. “He is more cunning than that. And that is what we need to talk to you privately about.”
