[Chapter 7: Vindication]Sekou Imani couldn't believe how fast everything was happening. Waking up that morning, he hadn't imagined he would have read a telepathic message out loud for the entire assembly to hear while also gripping the shoulder of Superman before dinner! And now they would be meeting five foreign Kryptonians.
Imani looked at Superman who had just taken a seat at the center rectangular table they had placed in record time. The table was in the middle of the 'C' and would provide the Kryptonians plenty of space. Nothing like this had ever been done before, obviously, so they were making it up as they went, but Imani was hopeful that it would all go well.
Imani once again caught himself staring at Superman, but how could he not? This was Superman! The being who had saved them from Nightfall and had selflessly served them for years before and after being discovered.
He could rule over them all and demand to be treated like a god, but instead he went out of his way to help them.
He glanced down at his hand.
He wondered what his family would say when they learned he had actually put his hand on Superman's shoulder.
Looking back, it had felt natural to do so and he was glad he had not hesitated. Anyone learning for the first time that they might not be the last of their people?! Imani didn't care how powerful someone was, that news had to be hard to process, and Superman had really looked like he needed a physical show of support. So as Superman mentally conversed with the foreign Kryptonian, Imani read aloud what was being written and provided a silent reminder to Superman that he had help.
What had he said during that interview?
"Being the 'only one' doesn't have to mean you're alone.”He hoped he provided some degree of assurance to him.
"They're here," Superman said, standing and looking up at a slight angle before slowly leveling his gaze. They all suspected he was looking through the walls and watching the Kryptonians enter.
After a minute, the side doors of the chamber opened and five individuals were led in by UN security.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the honorable Emissaries of New Krypton," the security guard introduced before swiftly stepping aside and allowing the New Kryptonians to pass.
Three were in layered, formal hooded robes that made them look like pseudo monks, and they were leading a man and woman who were in very form-fitting, dark clothing. The male was in all black, save for red cuffs at the wrists, while the female had a similar suit but with a long formal vest that had a decorative red boundary. The space monks were all men and it was clear the woman, unquestionably Lady Zara, was the most important individual of the bunch.
Superman, with everyone already standing, slowly approached the newcomers and stopped at the edge of the ‘C’ seating.
The oldest looking monk, who was leading the entourage, stopped five yards from Superman and held his hands out, palms up.
"My Lord, I am Trey, Chief of the Elders, and the Elders with me are Jen-Mai and Sel-Nen. We are humbled and grateful to greet you, Kal-El," he said, before he and those with him bowed low, including the man and Lady Zara.
Imani felt as surprised as Superman looked, but before Superman or anyone from the UN could respond, the Kryptonians straightened back up and Trey stepped aside and motioned to Zara.
"My Lord, may I introduce Lady Zara from the House of Ra, and her bodyguard, Lt. Ching," he said.
Zara stepped up and Superman hesitated for a split second before offering his hand.
"Lady Zara," he greeted. "Lieutenant."
"Thank you for agreeing to see us, Lord Kal-El," she said, taking his hand after looking at it in brief confusion before casting her eyes out to the many people standing in the chamber. From those at the ‘C’ to those simply in attendance. "And my thanks to the people of Earth, for providing your place for us to use."
Jones stepped forward and inclined his head. "It is a joy and an honor. I am Benjamin Jones. As Head of the UN's Security Council, allow me to be the first human to formally welcome you to Earth. Welcome," Jones said regally before stepping back once she had acknowledged his words with an appreciative smile.
Soon after, she looked to Superman who motioned to the table. They sat down quickly, with Superman sitting alone on the opposite side, directly across from Zara.
Everyone within the chamber quietly sat down as well, enraptured by those at the center table who seemed indifferent to all the eyes watching.
"Lord Kal-El, I imagine you have many questions, so please allow me to start from the beginning," Zara said. "On the day Krypton exploded, your father launched you into space. As infants, many of us had already been taken from the planet. We were part of an expedition in search of a more stable place to live."
Superman leaned forward slightly, briefly closing his eyes. "So my father's warning was heeded, by some at least."
She nodded stiffly.
"How many of you were there?" Superman asked.
"Roughly a thousand," Trey answered. "The expedition colonized a barren planetoid, which was named New Krypton."
"It wasn't easy, and even now there are challenges," the youngest looking 'Elder', Sel-Nen, said. "Our planet has a red sun like Krypton, so we don't have enhanced abilities there."
Superman straightened. "Is that why you're here? Are you seeking a new home? But if so, why those trials?"
"No, no. We have no desire to make a new home," Zara quickly assured, no doubt noticing the sudden unease from those watching.
Superman frowned. "Then why are you here? And why did you feel the need to test me?"
"Our people are bound together by an alliance between several families," Zara explained.
"The alliances are renewed by marriages between these households," Trey added. "As for the tests, you've been without Kryptonian influence for a long time."
"We had to find out if you were worthy," Jen-Mai, the third monk, stated.
Imani did not like where this was going.
"Worthy of what?" Superman asked.
"Worthy of your heritage, Kal-El. Worthy of marriage. To me," Zara braved.
Superman looked resigned. "So you are the Zara mentioned on my craft. We are betrothed then? You want me to marry you?"
"No, you technically already are," Zara softly corrected. "We want you to accept your place beside me, and come with us to rule over New Krypton."
"
What?!" Kal-El exclaimed.
Superman admittedly wasn't the only one astonished –appalled more like– and many people had to physically stifle their reactions.
“Please-please, Kal-El. You don’t understand the urgency of our plight," Zara pleaded, her regalness slipping slightly. “If you don’t return, Lord Nor will seize power.”
“Who’s Lord Nor?” Superman asked.
"Next in line for my hand, should you annul our union," she explained solemnly.
“And I take it you don’t wish for that?” Kal-El asked, trying to understand.
"Nor is a monster, a soulless brigand who would enslave all who oppose him," Ching stated, speaking for the first time. “We need a leader who can stabilize the Houses and deny him power.”
"Lieutenant, you continue to paint far too bleak a picture of Lord Nor," Trey countered as the two other Elders all but rolled their eyes at Ching. "I still maintain that Nor is, at heart, loyal to the nobility. He knows his place."
Zara pursed her lips, keeping her eyes on Kal-El.
"Do you have the craft that you first journeyed to Earth in?" Zara asked.
"Yes," Kal-El answered slowly. “Do you wish me to retrieve it and bring it here?”
“Please,” she said with a relieved nod.
Superman looked at Jones who nodded his understanding.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Superman promised before vanishing in a blur.
Imani tried not to shift too much in his seat as they waited.
“Lady Zara, would you like for us to bring out refreshments while we wait?” Jones asked after silence had risen.
“Yes, thank you, Benjamin Jones,” she answered.
A minute later, a man brought out a tray with a broad range of drinks to choose from and set it before them.
Ching quickly chose the coffee pot and poured himself a cup, black, while the others tentatively took a bottle or soda can closest to them. They ignored the water.
Trey opened a soda bottle and sniffed it. “What is this?”
“It’s called root beer. It’s a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree,” someone answered.
He sipped it and slowly pulled it back, looking at it appreciatively.
The others had varying reactions, and Jen-Mai clearly did not like his drink, a Mountain Dew, and settled with water.
Lady Zara daintifully tried a cherry coke, and happily kept it.
"Not bad for a primitive culture," Sel-Nen said of his cup of Earl Gray. Fortunately only those seated in the 'C' area heard him, but Zara still sent him a warning glare. He didn't seem to notice.
"So am I correct in that you call Lord Kal-El 'Superman'?" Trey asked Jones after a moment.
"Yes. That was the name we gave him before he revealed his true name, and ironically before we had even seen the shape of his crest," Jones explained.
"And he submits himself to you?" Jen-Mai asked, as if unable to imagine himself ever doing so.
Jones blinked. "I'm not quite sure what you're asking. He follows our laws, if that's what you're asking, but he doesn't work under me, or anyone really."
"Hm. Well I must say that is a relief. It would be unbecoming of a Lord to place themselves under one of a lesser station," Sel-Nen put in.
Imani knew he wasn't the only one taken aback or alarmed. He wasn't sure how Jones kept his expression so calm.
Zara closed her eyes for a long moment, and a peculiar thing happened soon after. Trey frowned before straightening in his seat before the younger Elders gave a long blink together.
Had they just been reprimanded?
"Our apologies. No disrespect intended," Trey stated.
Imani really wasn't sure if he was sincere or not.
Fortunately, they were all spared from having to deal with the awkward moment by a rushing blur. It swiftly coalesced into Superman and what could only be the spacecraft he had arrived in.
It was so . . .
small."I apologize for taking longer than I had anticipated. My mom was home so I updated her since I hadn't gotten the chance to before. She had been worried," Kal-El explained as he carefully placed the ship onto the end of the center table, directly above a support.
"Your 'mom'?" Trey asked, dumbfounded.
"My adopted mom. The human female who raised me," Superman deadpanned.
"Ah, yes. I see," Trey replied, though it was clear he was baffled.
"What?" Superman asked, taking in their reactions.
"It's just astonishing," Jen-Mai answered for Trey. "The Lord of Krypton, taken in by, forgive me, two, low-end landworkers–"
"
Jen-Mai," Trey cut off warningly.
Jen-Mai lifted his hand in surrender and apology, though he didn't look sorry at all.
"My apologies, Lord Kal-El, for any offense. We are just not accustomed to being among . . . well,
different people," Jen-Mai stated.
"Your loss," Superman stated flatly, before looking at Zara. "I believe you asked me to bring my craft here to activate something?"
"Yes," she said, standing up. "A message."
She went to the end of the table with Kal-El as the elders remained behind, watching. Ching kept two paces behind her.
Imani and the other humans leaned forward, trying to make out the characters running along the rim of the little ship. It was a dark blue, elaborate capsule with Superman's emblem on the front. Imani couldn't get over the size, while also knowing
this was what had brought their hero to them.
He had to have been a toddler, if not an infant!
"It says, 'Behold Kal-El the Noble of Krypton, born from the House of Lo and into the House of El'," Superman said, to the benefit of those who couldn't read Kryptonian as he placed his hand into the geometric depression. "'Kal-El, place your hand alongside the hand of Zara from the House of Ra'," he continued, looking up to Zara.
She followed suit, immediately causing the 'S' on the nose of the ship to glow and a yellowish hologram of a man to appear.
"I am Jor-El, the father of Kal-El," he said. "If I am being seen it means that both Kal-El and his birthwife, Zara, are alive and together, for only your unified touch can activate this image . . . just as only your united lives will keep strong the dream of a peaceful Krypton."The room was silent, torn between watching the Man of Steel's reaction and the recording of his father.
"My voice reaches out across the years and galaxies, calling upon my son to keep alive the watchfires of his people, bringing them from the darkness of chaos and into the light of peace." Jor-El turned his gaze to his son, somehow knowing exactly where he would be. "My dear son, that is my legacy, that is your destiny."
His image vanished and the light from the emblem faded.
Superman slowly bowed his head and those who could see his face saw how deeply struck he was.
He pulled his hand away, and no one of the UN knew what to say or think, though many began wiping their moist eyes.
"You see, my Lord? You belong on New Krypton, carrying out your father's will. Please, Lord Kal-El, fulfill your destiny," Trey stated, standing up from the table.
Jen-Mai and Sel-Nen rose soon after, following Trey as he stepped out and joined Ching and Zara.
Superman straightened, and none of those beyond the chamber's center moved.
There were tears in his eyes.
"You passed the tests, Lord Kal-El," Jen-Mai reminded. "It is the Law that you come with us."
"Please, Kal-El," Zara put in.
"Your home is with your people," Ching stated, rigidly standing by Zara's side.
"I have a Treaty with Earth," Kal-El stated. "No matter my feelings on going with you, first you must know that I'm not going to defy or break any part of my treaty with them."
To say the Elders were aghast would be a vast understatement. Zara and Ching stared at him, their expressions blank.
"You made a treaty . . . with them?" Sel-Nen gaped.
"Concessions can be made, my Lord," Trey assured, quickly putting aside his initial reaction and looking at the new problem analytically.
"That shouldn't even be necessary," Jen-Mai scoffed. "Treaties can only be made between those of equal footing, so this supposed treaty is already null and void."
"I agree," Sel-Nen concurred.
Superman frowned, and Imani was instantly reminded of his father faced with an injustice. Imani wanted to duck.
"If the treaty is null and void, then so are all of my promises, past, present and future," Kal-El stated, his tone obvious to any human that he was nearing the end of his patience.
"I understand you feel that way, Lord Kal-El, because being a Noble is new to you, but the fact is, you are above most and equal to the small remainder. Thus, you must concern yourself with your station, with how you appear. You must not degrade yourself by standing among those beneath you when you no longer must do so," Jen-Mai said in a tone that attempted to sound consoling but utterly failed. "Your destiny–"
"ENOUGH!" Superman roared.
His voice thundered through the walls, rattling the windows, and was heard out onto the streets, but it was the least of what silenced Jen-Mai and astonished everyone in attendance.
Kal-El's eyes flashed red.
The air, though still breathable, had instantly become reminiscent of watery sand. Throughout the chamber, from high to low, a pressure – a dense, angry presence – was felt by all.
But it wasn't just angry.
It was disgusted, disappointed and . . . disheartened.
The New Kryptonians were all staring in wide-eyed fear at Kal-El.
And then Imani knew what this was.
Superman's aura.
O o O o O
Zara knew it was over the moment Jen-Mai countered Trey. She knew Kal-El, and Clark for that matter, enough to know he wouldn't tolerate such things.
But she never envisioned this.
Kal-El was more worthy than they ever could have imagined.
And they had lost him.
They had failed a more important test.
Trey fell to his knees in shock and lowered his face to the floor as Kal-El closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
His aura shifted around them, condensing so tightly against and through their frames she wanted to gasp at the force, the power, of it. But she didn't move, she couldn't.
She had never felt so small.
Kal-El's essence, it was so vast, and the depth of his feelings nearly drowned her.
Amid all his fury, disgust, and disappointment was the last thing she expected. Sorrow. But not for himself, or even for all the lives lost–or at least not exclusively. No, it was for
them. For her and Ching, Trey, and even the two insufferable elders who had insulted him. But it went beyond that, he felt grief for the people of New Krypton.
How could one feel this much for a group of people they had never met?
Zara was baffled, and then a second passed and her confusion only expanded as his emotion gave way to what was behind them.
He saw such wasted potential. Such pain that was in vain and only led to more suffering. He was so certain their people could be so much more, and that was why he felt the way he did. He knew they
could be great. But weren't.
And
that unwavering conviction was enough to make her not only question all that she had ever known, but wonder on dreams she had feared to even contemplate. To hope.
She swallowed as she refocused and saw his expression.
"So nothing has changed," Kal-El stated harshly. "Krypton and billions of people were lost due to arrogant elitism and instead of growing beyond that and developing some humility to create a better future, you come here expecting me to shore up a crumbling disgrace for a world empire that had ridiculed and censored my father before turning around and heeding his words just in the nick of time while leaving the 'lesser' population in ignorance to die on Krypton! And if you say your forebears didn't do that, you are either a liar or more of a fool than I already believe you to be!
"My parents constructed a craft for me from scratch, all by themselves in a matter of months
–in secret because they knew they would be stopped if discovered– and the entirety of Krypton's leadership could only save one thousand people!? If they had incorporated the whole of Krypton's population into their efforts, tens of thousands,
millions, would have been saved. But no, the Council and ruling bodies had to save face, concern themselves more about image than life and death! Heaven forbid they admit they were wrong!
“To say the least, your forebears were all guilty of gross negligence in not pursuing the truth in either proving or disproving my father’s theory, and thus damned Krypton and her people, so, as the son of Lord Jor-El, former Head of the Kryptonian Imperial Council, and as the self-proclaimed voice of billions who were killed as a result, I, Lord Kal-El, invoke my Right of Vindication."
His aura pulsed, as if suddenly joined by all the souls of Krypton's damned.
Ching knelt down to one knee, his eyes wide in open hope. Zara joined him beside Trey, who was now sitting up, each now with their right fists against the center of their chests.
Sel-Nen and Jen-Mai clamored to their knees and followed suit, barely able to believe what they were witnessing.
"It is your right. We will obey your Edict for Vindication," they all recited, Kryptonian Law ingrained on their hearts–for good or ill.
"The fate of New Krypton is not in my hands, and it shall no longer be held by a select few. Instead, it will be grasped by the Kryptonian People themselves," Kal-El stated. He turned away from the kneeling Kryptonians and went to the edge of the 'C' table. He retrieved a pen and gratefully took a hurriedly offered notepad secured onto a clipboard from an astonished human representative.
"To that end," he resumed, facing them again as he quickly began writing, "You will carry out what I have written here and ask me to clarify any questions that come up concerning the tasks within."
His hand blurred for several seconds until he finally stopped. He went to Zara and held out the clipboard.
Slowly, his aura pulled back, and the air lightened.
Zara reverently accepted the written Edict and gave a solemn bow of her head.
"It will be done, Lord Kal-El," she swore, getting to her feet.
Ching and the others silently stood up as Zara quickly scanned the page.
“I will contact you once I have the imaging crystals ready for you,” Zara promised.
“Thank you,” Kal-El said.
Zara hesitated before speaking once more, suddenly keenly aware of their audience. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. We never should have come to ask you to support the same body that condemned. . . . I don't understand how, but we failed to see. However, I think your father was right. You were destined to save us, and after experiencing today, I think you will through this.” She brought up the clipboard with Kryptonian written in dark blue ink.
Trey stepped forward while Jen-Mai and Sel-Nen kept their heads bowed low.
"I'm ashamed it took me this to finally see that our people's watchfire had become fading embers, but now that I do, I will do everything I can to see your Edict done, my Lord. Our people have been in darkness long enough," Trey said.
"Good," Kal-El said.
Trey stepped back beside Zara and Ching, and then the five vanished in a blur.
O o O o O
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