From Part 20 ...
Resolutely, Kal took her hand and led her to the door of his room. “We *really* need to go.”
Her smile said she understood completely. “I know.”
At her door, Kal took Lois into his arms. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said.
“Neither do I.”
He kissed her, but drew back before it had deepened. "Good night, my Lois,” he said. “I want the night to hurry, because tomorrow I can be with you again.”
“Good night, my Kal,” she replied.
With a final kiss, Kal walked away from the Concubine Quarters, his anguish at leaving her mixing with his joy that very soon, this would no longer be required of him.
Part 21
A glance outside first thing the next morning told Lois that if she hurried, there was a chance she could get to Kal’s room before he left for his meeting.
Ten minutes later, she knocked on his bedroom door. When he opened it, he was already smiling in welcome.
So was she – a quick peek *through* the door had confirmed Kal was in his room.
She stepped into his embrace – her arms around his neck, his arms snug across her back.
“I missed you, Lois,” he murmured against her ear. “I want to be with you. Nights away from you are awful.”
Lois felt herself smile as she tightened her hold. “I want to be with you too, Kal,” she said.
His mouth found hers with an intensity that caused pulsing darts of heat to carve a canyon through her body. Lois answered his call and moved in closer. He broke away and turned his attention to the desk. “Do you want breakfast?” he said in a voice that wobbled.
“Y.yes,” she replied, still trying to reconcile herself to their separateness when only moments before she had been fully committed to their advancing togetherness.
Kal gestured to the bed, not looking at her. “Sit down,” he offered woodenly.
“What do we have?” she asked, because food represented safe ground.
“Only oatmeal,” he said. “After such a late night, I didn’t think you would be awake early enough to share with me.”
“Salty?”
“No, sweet,” he admitted with a ‘caught-me’ smile.
“Why?” Lois asked. “When you thought it was just for you?”
“Because it reminds me of you.”
He sat down on the chair, but Lois remained standing. She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him. “Have I told you how much I appreciate your honesty?” she said.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face. “I wouldn’t lie to you,” he said solemnly.
“I don’t mean lying exactly.”
“Then what?”
“On Earth, many people hesitate to admit the full extent of their feelings.” As Lois spoke, she gently worked her fingers into the crest of taut muscle that curved from his neck. “They hide what is in their heart.”
She felt him relax under her fingers. “But I trust you,” Kal said. “There is no reason not to tell you what I feel.”
She dropped a kiss into his hair. “Thank you.”
He passed her the remainder of the oatmeal in the bowl and picked up the cup of beverage. “So,” he mused, “If I have a question, I should ask it?”
Lois said opposite him. “Yes.”
“Even if it embarrasses both of us?”
“The wonderful thing about being in love is there is no need for embarrassment between us.”
As he contemplated her, a steady sprawl of colour crossed his cheeks and drifted to the top of his ears.
Lois figured it was a good time for the gentle application of a few investigative skills. “Is your question about something that happened last night?”
“Not specifically.”
“Do you regret anything that happened last night?”
His grin made a momentary appearance. “Oh, yes,” he breathed.
“What?”
“Leaving you in the Concubine Quarters and coming back to my room alone.”
She matched his grin. “Other than that? Do you regret telling me your secret?”
“No,” Kal said. “When I awoke this morning, my first thought was how wonderful is the freedom of you knowing the whole truth about me.”
“Do you regret that we agreed to get married?”
His grin broadened spectacularly. “I regret that we didn’t marry yesterday.”
Again, Lois found herself smiling. “Do you have concerns about being with someone who can see through walls?”
“I love you, Lois,” he said with gratifying conviction. “It doesn’t matter what you can see through.”
“Then what is your question?”
Kal`s glance fell to his beverage as he seemed to gather his thoughts.
Lois leant forward and rested her hand on his. “Kal, the wonderful thing about being together and being in love and trusting each other is that we have the freedom to be completely honest with each other.”
“I don’t want to offend you.”
“Do you think your question will offend me?”
“No ... I don’t think it will offend you ... more embarrass you ... and me.”
“You lost me.”
“I am drawn to do something ... and that action may offend you ... so I need to ask you ... before.”
“Whatever it is, Kal, it will be all right.”
He shifted in the chair; his eyes scanned the room, then settled into hers. “When we’re kissing ...”
Uh-oh. “Yes,” Lois said, trying to keep her tone even.
“When we kiss and it’s a moving kiss and it goes on for a time ...”
Her insides clunked low. “Yes,” she managed through a tapered throat.
“I keep wanting to ... respond in a particular way ... but I fear you would find it totally distasteful.”
She swallowed. “R.respond how?”
His colour deepened a couple of shades. “I ...”
Lois smiled encouragingly. “Just say it, Kal.”
He exhaled deeply, cheeks ballooned. “I want to ... would you totally hate it if when we kiss ... if I touched your lips with my tongue?”
Lois felt her tension discharge on an explosive breath. She leant forward and placed her palm on the flush of his cheeks. “That would be fine,” she said.
Kal’s throat lurched. “It would?”
“On Earth, people who are in love do that.”
“They do?”
“They do.”
Kal studied her for a moment. “But?”
“But ... remember I said kissing is the beginning and the physical contact is the end?”
“Yes.”
“Well, kissing with your tongue is a step further along than kissing.”
“So ... doing that ... would make it harder to stop?”
“Yes.” Lois smiled. “So a part of me would really like you to do that and would really like to do that to you ... but another part of me knows that ...” She stopped, unsure exactly how to word the rest of her sentence.
She didn’t need to. “I understand,” Kal said gravely.
Lois smiled. “What we need to do is work out how we can be married and then ...” She left the promise hanging between them.
Kal grinned. “We’ll meet after lunch to discuss it?”
“I’d like that.”
“Good.” Kal stood from the chair. “I have to go,” he said. “I have scheduled a Water Committee meeting.”
Lois stood and took him into a long hug. She pushed her fingers through the short hair at the back of his neck and felt his hands on her shoulders. When she backed away, Lois smiled at him. “Short kiss?” she offered.
He nodded and lowered his mouth onto hers with the sweetest of touches.
With a smile, Kal turned from her and left his bedroom.
After the door had shut, Lois looked through it and watched him walk away.
Then a thought barrelled through her mind.
If she could see through walls, could she see through clothes?
She leant forward and looked at the lower reaches of her gown. As she gazed, the material faded to nothing and she saw her bare legs.
Lois collapsed onto the bed.
She could see *through* clothes.
She spent many hours each day with the man she loved.
The man who, she already knew, had a stunning physique.
“Lane,” she mumbled to herself. “You’ve just discovered the definitive meaning of temptation.”
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Lois picked up the beverage and willed her thoughts to anything other than the volatile combination of having the ability to see through clothes and being with a man whose body screamed ‘look at me’.
She thought back to her visits with Riz. The latest story was ready to go to Ard. If Lois were to take it to her early enough, there should be time to deliver it to Dom and Kip before lunch.
Lois imagined the children’s eager acceptance of her new book.
Dom was so cute with her dark, steadfast eyes.
Maybe Lois could read the story to the children again.
Then her thoughts skidded to a halt.
She had read the book to Dom and the little girl had *understood* it.
Yet Kal had told her that children did not have translators.
Had Dom *read* the words?
Possibly ... but Lois was sure there had been communication other than the reading of the story.
How could she and Dom understand each other?
Lois put down her unfinished drink and stood with purpose.
She needed to find Tek.
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Half an hour later, Lois had searched every inch of Kal’s building – using a combination of old-fashioned boldness and her newly-acquired skill that converted walls to windows.
The sensation of being an oddity was quickly receding – overcome by the euphoric realisation this was indeed a truly fundamental tool for any investigative reporter.
What now?
She was confident Tek was not in Kal’s building.
Was Tek sick? Had he delivered Kal’s breakfast earlier, then left? Or had he not arrived yet today?
Lois couldn’t remember a meal being delivered by anyone other than Tek.
So where was he?
Lois strode out of the building, through the gates, turned left and went to Riz’s house.
She knocked on the door and Riz opened it. After the briefest of greetings, Lois asked, “Is Tek at home?”
“No,” Riz said. “He’s inside the gates.”
No, he’s not, Lois thought. “Other than bringing food, what else does Tek do?” Lois asked.
“Whatever the Supreme Ruler needs him to do.”
“Does he attend meetings?”
“He’s not allowed to talk about what he does.”
Oh. That rule again. Lois realised her impatience had nudged the borders of rudeness. She paused and took the time to smile. “Sorry, Riz,” she said. “When I get an idea in my head, I forget everything else, including my manners.”
“I do that too,” Riz said.
“Ard is drawing the pictures for the new book,” Lois said. “I’ll bring it for your children later today.”
“They will like that.”
“Can I ask you something else?”
“Yes.”
“Does Dom have a translator?”
“Not a Translator, no.”
“Then how could Dom and I understand each other?”
Riz hesitated. “Have you asked Tek?”
“No,” Lois said, feeling the rise of her frustration. “I can’t find him.”
“Would you like to come in?” Riz offered. “Would you like some beverage?”
Coffee was *exactly* what she needed. And the chance to ask her questions. “Yes. Thank you.”
Lois followed Riz into the warm room. The children were sitting on the floor with some paper and a few pencils. “Hello, Dom,” Lois said deliberately. “Hello, Kip.”
“Hello,” Dom responded. “Book?”
Lois smiled. “Later,” she promised. “Later today.”
Satisfied, Dom turned back to her drawing.
Riz put a cup of steaming beverage in front of Lois and the aroma wafted into her nostrils. “Once we left Krypton, the manufacture of the Translators was no longer possible,” Riz said. “With the destruction of our planet, we lost much of the means for our technology.”
Lois coasted her fingertips through the short hair above her left ear. “The last translator was inserted into my head.”
“Yes,” Riz said. “Those who lived on Krypton and those who had been born in the Transition were fitted with Translators, so we could all communicate. But without the means to produce more, the decision was made to discontinue inserting them.”
“Are the children bi-lingual?”
“Rarely,” Riz said. “Those children – like Dom and Kip – who are born to mixed marriages can speak the language of both the North and the South. But those children born to a North marriage or a South marriage usually only speak the language of their parents.”
“Which will be a barrier to unity.”
“Yes.” Riz sipped from her beverage. “Language differences were becoming a chasm that divided the children into the old sides. Schools had different classrooms for each language. There were suggestions that we should have North schools and South schools.”
“Couldn’t the schools teach both languages?” Lois asked.
“Very few teachers are bi-lingual. The Translators were much needed when our people had to find a way of survival – but the long-term effect is that there is no motivation to learn true communication.”
Lois felt a swell of appreciation for Kal’s desire and commitment to learn her language instead of merely relying on the translators. “I understand how Dom and Kip can speak both Kryptonian languages ... but that doesn’t explain how Dom can understand me.”
“Tek believed that if the children of New Krypton could not communicate, we would again disintegrate into two sides.”
Other than turning off everyone’s translators, Lois could see no solution. “So he ...?”
“The Translator was the invention of Tek’s father. He kept notes ... for everything he did, he kept notes. Tek studied his notes and was able to adapt them and make an annex Translator.”
“An annex?”
Riz called Dom from the floor and the child approached the women. Riz pushed back her daughter’s hair and Lois could see a device similar to a hearing aid attached above the child’s left ear. “This feeds wirelessly off my Translator.”
“So Dom uses your translator so she can understand?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t fully understand the mechanics,” Riz admitted. “You would have to ask Tek.”
“But if Dom is bi-lingual, why does she need the use of a translator?”
“When Tek had developed this, he approached the Cabinet and proposed they be fitted to all school children. Then the children could learn together and there would be no need for separate schools.”
“But the Cabinet didn’t allow it?” Lois guessed.
“The Supreme Ruler was very supportive of the idea, but there was some opposition from Nor and Ching and many parents were wary of allowing a device developed by a lay person to be attached to their children.”
“So?”
“So, Tek was challenged to put the device on our children, and, if our children showed no ill effects after two years and one month, the annex would be passed as appropriate for all children.”
“Who set the time period?”
“The Cabinet.”
“Nor?” Lois asked, her reporter’s instinct twitching again.
“Nor and Ching.”
“That seems an arbitrary length of time.”
“The standard trial period for any scientific advancement is two years. Nor argued that because Tek is unqualified in Science, a longer length of time was justified.”
“But one month longer?” Lois asked. “That would make barely any difference.”
“I know.”
Suddenly Lois knew – whatever Nor was planning – it was going to happen in the month following the two year trial period. That was why he had insisted on the extra time. “When is the trial time complete?”
“In two weeks.”
*Two* weeks. Lois felt a queasiness grip her stomach. Two weeks. Two weeks until ... what? “Tek had them put in Dom and Kip?”
“Not in,” Riz said. “They do not go in the head, they work wirelessly; they sit next to the skull.”
“Why couldn’t I have one, then?” Lois asked, before realising that she didn’t sound particularly grateful.
“They are not allowed to be used on anyone until the completion of the trial period,” Riz explained. “Not without the written permission of the person, or the person’s parents.”
“And I couldn’t give my permission because I couldn’t communicate?”
“Yes.”
“Tek’s father’s notes must have been very detailed,” Lois said, with growing appreciation for the abilities of both Tek and his father.
“What have you been told about the history of Krypton?” Riz asked.
“That the scientists from both sides realised Krypton was doomed and so got together and invented the translators as a means of communication and then oversaw the evacuation and found a new planet.”
“All in two years?”
Lois nodded.
“Did you wonder how something as intricate as a Translator could be developed so speedily that it still allowed the time to organise a mass evacuation and the means to survive between planets and the way to locate a viable planet and then successfully settle in a new home?”
For the first time, Lois gained a full realisation of the enormity of what these people had achieved. She shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “I was dealing with some major changes in my own life.”
“That is understandable,” Riz said. “But the Translator was a radically new piece of technology – something Kip had been working on for two years when the problems of Krypton were discovered.”
“Why? Had he hoped for unity?”
“He always hoped for unity, but that was not his reason for developing the Translator.”
“Then what was?” Lois asked.
“Ard.”
“Ard?”
“Ard’s birth was extremely long and difficult and she was deprived of oxygen for too long. When she was three years, she still made no indication to communicate. So her father developed the Translator for her.”
The more Lois heard about Tek’s father, the more her respect for him grew. “He must have loved his daughter very much.”
“That didn’t translate,” Riz said. “But I assume you mean that Kip had great care for Ard?”
“Yes.”
“Kip trialled the Translator on Ard and she began to communicate. When Krypton’s problems became known, it was a simple task to mass produce the Translators.”
“Ard was the first person to have a translator?”
“Yes,” Riz said. “And Dom is the first person to have an annex Translator.”
Kal had said that they owed a great debt to this family. Lois smiled at Riz. Then she did some quick math. If Ard had been three when Kip had begun to develop the Translator, she must have been at least five when the problems were discovered, and seven at the evacuation and ten at the landing on New Krypton, so she must be thirty-three now. Older than Lois had estimated.
“Ard’s pictures are born from her memories of Krypton,” Riz explained.
“And she is much older than she looks,” Lois said.
“Yes,” Riz agreed. “She still looks like a young woman.”
Thirty-three *is* still a young woman, Lois wanted to say. Instead, she drained her beverage. “Thank you, Riz. I appreciate your willingness to explain things to me.”
“New Krypton is your home now,” Riz said. “You are one of us. You need to know where we have come from – the good and the bad.”
Lois felt her tears well at the simple acceptance of this woman. She brushed them away and tried to think of a way to express her appreciation. “I will return this afternoon with a new book for your children,” she said.
“We would like that very much.”
Lois stood from the table, aware of a reluctance to leave the warm friendliness of this small shack. She said goodbye to the children and headed for Kal’s buildings.
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Back in Kal’s bedroom, Lois opened her journal, though her mind was buzzing with thoughts of Nor. She was sure the culmination of his plan was imminent.
Before she’d written one word, Tek arrived with her lunch. Lois looked up in surprise. “You’re here?” she said.
“Yes.” Tek placed her food on the desk.
“Where’s K- ... will I be eating alone?” she asked.
“The meeting of the Water Committee has been prolonged so I was ordered to bring you lunch.”
“Did you bring breakfast this morning?”
“Yes.”
“Do you attend the meetings with the Supreme Ruler?”
“I cannot discuss any details about the Supreme Ruler,” Tek reminded her. “But I can tell you that I don’t attend meetings.”
Lois had a few other questions she would like to ask, but on impulse, she decided there could be better ways to obtain information. “Thank you for bringing my lunch, Tek,” she said with a smile. She then turned back to the desk and picked up her pencil.
As soon as she heard Tek shut the door, Lois stood and tracked him through the walls as he walked along the corridor. He left the building and crossed the courtyard towards Kal’s gates.
Was he going home for lunch?
As Lois watched, he turned right – the opposite direction to his house.
Lois hurried through the chambers, out of Kal’s building and rushed to the gates. To the right, in the distance, she could see the limping figure of Tek.
Curbing her impatience, Lois sauntered along the dusty street, forcing her attention left and right to the rows of unevenly placed shacks. If someone was watching, she didn’t want it to be obvious she was following Tek. Nor did she want to bring attention to the fact that Tek was not ‘behind the gates’.
Soon the closely-spaced houses gave way to open fields. In the distance, Lois saw scrawny cattle-like animals and scattered patches of crops amongst lonely huts.
She began the gentle climb up a parched hill. The barren terrain – coarse sandy ground with occasional tufts of rough straw - made it easy to keep Tek in sight, but also gave her no cover should he turn around. Lois allowed herself to drop back a little.
He could move surprisingly quickly for a man with a limp.
As Lois watched, Tek reached the apex and then ... disappeared.
Lois raced up the slope. When she reached the top, she stopped suddenly.
A few yards below her, the water of the ocean crashed angrily against the rugged rocks. The cliff continued on both sides, curling back to shape the island. Lois turned, slowly scanning the landscape. There was no sign of anyone. No sign of Tek who had been here just a few moments ago. It was as if she were the only person on the whole of New Krypton.
But Tek *had* been here.
He could not have doubled back to the town – he would have passed her and there was nowhere to hide. He could not have continued forward – Lois approached the edge of the cliff and peered down. The water swirled with unceasing angst around the jagged rocks.
No one could survive being flung against those rocks.
Was this where Tek’s father had died?
Is that why Tek came here? Was today an anniversary or special day and Tek had come to pay tribute to his father’s memory?
Lois’s regret that she may have intruded on a private moment lasted less than a second. Where was Tek? Was he in any danger?
Was it possible he had fallen over the cliff? There was nothing in the water to indicate that was what had happened.
Lois turned her back to the water and perused the land below. In the distance, the three drilling operations loomed large above the dotted shacks. She lowered her eyes to the ground and then continued her gaze below the surface. She followed the drill through the ground and then beyond, quickly realising there was no water in the vicinity.
She checked the other two drilling operations and discovered the same thing. They were never going to be successful in discovering water ... it simply wasn’t there.
Lois began a sweep across the land, looking below ground. She experimented with depths and practised controlling her new skill.
Then, she saw it.
Between two of the drilling operations – there was an aquifer. Under the ground – deep, but no deeper than the drills had already reached - there was a large, potentially life-supporting aquifer. She pulled back her eyes, looking for overground landmarks she could use to direct Kal to exactly where he should order the drills be placed.
Lois felt a stream of excitement flow through her. They had found water! Kal would be so relieved.
But for now, she needed to find Tek.
Lois turned back to the water. She edged forward to the cliff and peered down. She could see that the sharp rocks continued under the water – confirming her belief that a person in the water would not survive being thrashed against the rocks.
Had Tek gone *into* the ground?
Lois looked to her feet and into the ground. Her vision was partial, as if patches had been blotted out. But still, she could see no sign of Tek.
What should she do?
Alert someone?
Was Tek in danger?
She hesitated.
Then she heard a deafening roar approaching from her left.
Lois turned to the noise, but before she had even grasped the danger, the huge wave was upon her and had encompassed her into its folds. It swept her from the cliff and plunged her into the dark choppy water below.
