From Part 33 ...
Kal freed the last clip and lifted the canopy. Inside the capsule were two seats, side-by-side. He heard Lois’s quick intake of breath and looked up at her. “What?” he said. “You’ve found a hair?”
“No,” she said excitedly. “But I did find your stolen globe.”
His globe? “*Kip* took it?” Kal said, shocked. “Kip wouldn’t have taken it.”
Lois reached into the spaceship, slid back a panel and emerged with a globe. She held it up for Kal to see.
Disappointment swirled through him. “That’s not it,” he said. “My globe was bigger than that.”
“Oh.” Lois rolled it carefully between her hands. “Is it anything like your globe?”
“It is very similar,” Kal said. “But it is not my globe.”
“What happened when your globe spoke? Did you hold it? Did it make a sound? Like an alarm or something?”
“I picked it up and it began to glow ... and then I heard a voice ... a voice that identified itself as my father, Jor-El.”
Lois held the globe towards him. “Take it, Kal,” she said.
He hesitated, looking from her face to hand and back again.
Then slowly, he reached for the globe.
Part 34
The globe was heavier than Kal had expected. It easily sat within his palm, smooth and cold on his skin.
He stared at it. In the silence, he heard the slow release of Lois’s captured breath.
They waited, eyes fixed.
The globe did nothing.
It didn’t glow, it didn’t move, it didn’t speak.
Kal gently closed his fingers around it, willing it to life, urging it to disclose any secrets it harboured.
Each long minute stretched into the next.
Eventually, Kal looked to Lois and managed a small smile. “Maybe my globe was programmed to activate on the day I achieved sixteen years,” he said. “If this was scheduled to speak, there is every chance we have missed it.”
Lois slipped her arms around his neck and her closeness soothed the sharp edge of his disappointment. “Perhaps Tek will be able to tell us something when he comes back and can examine the spaceship,” she said.
“Maybe,” Kal said, trying to sound more hopeful than he felt.
Lois took the globe from him, carefully wrapped it in his discarded jacket and placed it on the sandy ground. When she stood, she trailed her fingers over his bare chest. “Do you think it will be a little disconcerting when I’m an old married woman and can still be brought to my knees by the sight of this chest?”
Kal laughed as her words and her touch worked their magic and nullified his discouragement. “Lois,” he said. “You couldn’t be brought to your knees by a bullet.”
She grinned. “Ah, but that bullet had nowhere near the power of this chest.”
The last dregs of his admittedly-feeble restraint buckled and Kal took exuberant possession of her mouth and clasped her against him.
She kissed him for only a short moment before backing away. “Tek’s coming,” she said in answer to the question he shot her.
“Arggh,” Kal said. “That man’s timing ...”
She kissed his chest. “Put on your shirt,” she advised. “I’ll move those rocks.”
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Kal waited with Lois in Tek’s laboratory, hoping he didn’t look too much like a man interrupted. He looked at Lois and, noticing her dishevelled dark hair, reached over and tried to neaten it for her. “How’s my hair?” he asked.
“Great,” she replied.
“But does it look like I’ve ... you’ve just devoured me?”
“Pretty much,” she said with a totally unconcerned grin.
Kal quickly tried to tidy it, but Lois thwarted his attempt. “Leave it,” she said. “It looks cute.”
There was no time to put forth his case that ‘cute’ was not quite the public image he aspired to. Tek walked in and thankfully, his attention was immediately captured by the hole in the wall. “You got through?” he asked.
Lois nodded casually, as if holes appearing in solid rock warranted no comment. Tek didn’t take the time to notice that either. He dropped low and crawled into the cave containing his father’s spaceship.
By the time Kal had followed Lois through the hole, Tek was staring at the spaceship, awe scribed upon his face. He circled it; his hand raised as if he wanted to touch it, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. Then he became aware of Lois and Kal. “I can’t believe this,” he said unsteadily.
“Is it finished?” Lois asked. “Does it work? Could it -?”
Kal placed a steadying hand on Lois’s arm. “How about we leave Tek alone with the spaceship?” he suggested. “He’ll give us the answers as soon as he has them.”
Lois nodded scant agreement, although Kal could see she was still bursting with questions. “What happened in your meeting with Ching and Za?” she asked. “What did you tell them?”
Tek dragged his eyes from the spaceship. “Nothing,” he said.
“Have they overturned Kal’s offer of his life?” she said.
“No.”
“What about the murder charge?” Kal asked. “Have they retracted that?”
Tek gently stroked the spaceship. “No.”
“Did Ching and Za ask if you know where we are?”
Tek swung his attention to them. “Not yet.”
“Then what?”
The spaceship forgotten for a moment, Tek’s gaze settled on Kal. “They offered my family a seat on the Cabinet.”
“You’d be a Regal Noble,” Kal said.
Tek looked uncomfortable. “Your seat is vacant.”
Kal stepped forward. “Tek, that is wonderful,” he said. “I can’t think of anyone I would rather take my seat.”
“You mean that?”
“Of course,” Kal assured him. “You are a fine man – dedicated to unity and the future of our people.”
“Ching said it was time my father’s contribution to our colonisation of New Krypton was recognised,” Tek said.
“That’s good,” Kal said. “I’m very pleased.”
“I haven’t taken it yet.”
“Why not?”
“I wasn’t sure it would sit well with you.”
“Take it, Tek,” Kal urged. “For the sake of the Kryptonian people, take it.”
“I have to discuss it with Riz first.” Tek’s attention reverted back to his father’s spaceship.
Lois picked up Kal’s jacket and carefully unrolled it, revealing the globe.
“Tek,” Kal said. “Do you know anything about this?”
Lois offered the globe to Tek.
He took it and studied it. “I have seen others like this,” he said. “Usually, they have messages encrypted in them – either verbal or visual.”
“What causes them to activate?” Kal asked.
“Whatever prompt was written into the program,” Tek replied. “It could be time or place or person. Where did you get this?”
“It was in the spaceship,” Lois said.
“It hasn’t said anything?”
“No.”
Tek offered it back to Lois. “It could be something,” he said. “It could be nothing at all. I want to look at the spacecraft first.” He uncovered a section at the back of the craft and peered in.
Lois took the globe. “We’ll wait for you in the other cave,” she said.
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“What happens now?” Lois asked Kal when they reached the cave. She searched through the bag Tek had brought earlier. There was more food, but no beverage.
She *needed* coffee.
“I don’t know,” Kal said. He dragged his hand through his hair. “I know I keep saying that and I wish I had something more to offer you, but I simply don’t know what we should do now.”
“Maybe I *should* go and see Za.”
“No, Lois. It’s too dangerous.”
“I just pushed through solid rock, Kal,” she reminded him. “Even if they see me, I doubt they can hurt me.”
“That’s true,” Kal conceded. “But if they see you coming from the tunnel and they remember seeing Tek in that vicinity, the link is established and it becomes a simple matter to hold him until they eventually starve us out.”
“What are we going to do?” Lois asked. She felt like she’d asked the question a million times and still there was no answer.
Kal slid his back down the wall and landed on the sand with a soft thud. He put a forearm on each raised knee and stared at his hands. “We can’t leave,” he said disconsolately. “And the longer we stay, the greater the risk to Tek and his family.”
Lois heard the wretched defeat in Kal’s voice and pushed aside her own feelings of despair. She sat next to him and put her hand on his arm. “Are you upset about your family losing your seat on the Cabinet?” she asked.
Kal shook his head, though his eyes didn’t waver from his hands. “I knew the moment I was deposed that our seat had gone forever. Without doubt, I failed my forefathers, but as I have no heir, ultimately it mattered little.”
“You didn’t fail anyone,” Lois said staunchly.
He turned to face her. “I didn’t provide the heir,” Kal said disconsolately. “The heir that would have kept Nor from the mantle. He played me so easily and I was too naive to even realise.”
“Kal, you did amazingly well with the limited knowledge you had,” she said.
“I never even considered Ching would work against me,” Kal lamented. “I knew Nor was not to be trusted, but Ching ...”
Lois could see the wounds of betrayal on his face. “If you made any mistake at all, it was in believing the best of people – believing they were like you.”
“I didn’t think about it much ... about whether I was a good leader or not, but I knew that everything I did was meant to make this planet a better place for everyone.”
“And you *did*,” Lois insisted. “New Krypton is a poorer place because you are here and not in the Regal Residence.”
“I could have done so much more.”
“Like what?”
“I could have instituted the Register for Women,” Kal said. “I could have involved Za. I could have been more forceful in correcting the things I knew were wrong.”
Lois could hear the sting of recrimination in his voice. “You did many wonderful things,” she said. “You saved Ard and Mo and Jib. You always did what you thought was best for the people. You were incorruptible and that is an amazing characteristic in one with such absolute power.”
“Ching has achieved as much in a day as I -.”
Lois took his face and turned it to her. “No,” she said firmly as she drove deep into his troubled eyes. “No. Ching has so many advantages you didn’t have. He has memories to guide him and he has Za beside him, he doesn’t have Nor there to oppose him and he has the solid foundation of stability that you built.”
“At the very least, I should have insisted that Tek be accepted as a Scientist.”
“And what would have happened if you’d done that?”
“Nor would have opposed it and ... maybe the Cabinet would have split.”
“And then you would have risked Civil War?”
“That was always my fear,” Kal said. “But maybe I was too worried about that. Maybe I allowed it to paralyse me, when I should have acted.”
“You kept this planet from Civil War for over a decade,” Lois said. “Without you, there would be no New Krypton for Ching to lead now.”
“I hope he can be the leader the people need. I hope he can keep them from Civil War.”
“If he does, it will be because of you,” Lois said. “It will be because you showed the people that those of the north and those of the south could live together in peace. You showed them that a leader could rule with justice. If they pursue unity now, it will be because you showed them the way.”
Kal let out a long breath. “I love you,” he said.
“You know what I’m saying is the truth, don’t you?”
Kal waited a long moment before replying. “Honestly?” he said. “I hardly know what I think anymore. Everything I thought I knew – about life, about leadership, about people, about justice, about loyalty, about what is possible, about the past, about the future – everything has been shaken.”
“I know it seems like that,” Lois said. “But don’t make the mistake of looking at this selectively. You’ve been hurt by Ching’s treachery – but you’ve experienced Tek’s unshakeable loyalty. You were discouraged from interacting with your people - yet Eb took us into her house and lied for us. You fought for justice for all - Nor is dead. He got what he deserved – maybe not in the way we would have chosen, but for this planet to have a future, he needed to be stopped permanently.”
Kal studied her. “Do you really believe it is possible that I was kept somewhere else?”
“Yes, I do,” Lois said. “It is the only possibility that makes any sense.”
“Knowing I’d been asleep for years and years ... that always made me feel ... incomplete ... hollow... lacking,” Kal said. “But I told no one and over the years I became accustomed to it. But being on another planet ... totally alone ... that’s ...”
“Horrible,” Lois said. She caressed his face. “But don’t forget that you will never be alone again.”
“I love you,” Kal said. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” she said. “And I’m sure the spaceship is somehow tied with your past. Kip could not have guarded you all the time. Nor and his father would have looked for opportunities to kill you. Kip had you well hidden and I don’t believe it was on this planet.” She took his hand in hers. “When you saw the spaceship, was there a feeling of connection? Was there anything that felt familiar?”
Kal shook his head. “Nothing.”
“What about being with Kip? Do you remember learning from him? Walking through the town to the Regal Residence?”
“Sorry,” Kal said. “I don’t remember any of it.”
Lois drew her hand lovingly through his hair. “We *will* find answers,” she assured him. “We *will* find answers to the past and we *will* find solutions to the future.”
She kissed him, then leant forward onto his chest and felt his arms close around her. They waited in silence until Lois heard Tek’s approaching footsteps. She straightened with a smile for her husband. “Tek’s coming,” she said. Tek rounded the rocks, crossed the cave and sat next to them. “Well?” Lois said.
“It *is* the spacecraft of the plans – down to the very last detail. It is complete and as far as I can ascertain, functional.”
“It flies?” Lois asked.
“I believe so.”
Lois felt her excitement rise. “I got to New Krypton from Earth. There has to be a way back. Now we have a spaceship, Kal and I can go to Earth.”
“No, you can’t.”
“What do you mean, we can’t?” Lois exclaimed.
Tek hesitated. “The spacecraft has a navigational system that is incredibly complex and includes layers of default systems that make it almost impossible to infiltrate,” he said.
“Meaning?” Kal asked.
“Meaning my father programmed it to a very specific destination and was meticulous in safeguarding that programming.”
“The spacecraft will only go to one place?” Kal said. “It can’t be navigated elsewhere?”
“That’s correct,” Tek said.
“Can’t you reprogram it?” Lois asked impatiently.
“If I had months to decipher the code, it may be possible,” Tek said. “But we don’t have months.”
“Why would your father do that?” Lois asked, unsuccessfully trying to curb her frustration.
“My guess is that he built it for a specific purpose and wanted to ensure that if anyone did find it, they couldn’t use it for any other purpose.” Tek looked at his watch. “I have five minutes before the tunnel floods,” he said. “You have less than a day to decide whether you wish to stay on New Krypton, or whether you are willing to risk the spacecraft.”
The full implications of Tek’s words cannoned through Lois, causing her heart to thrash and her breath to flounder. “You mean you think we should climb into that spaceship, not having the slightest knowledge of where, if anywhere, it is heading and just let it take us? You don’t even know if it will actually fly, let alone find a planet and even if it does find a planet, you can’t guarantee that the planet your father picked from the universe is a planet that will actually support our lives, nor do you know if that planet is teeming with savages even more intent on killing us than the people of New Krypton.”
“If you stay here, you will die,” Tek said. “Kal will die,” he amended. “You will be captured and any means possible will be used to contain you – drugs, confinement, starvation, torture.”
“But the spaceship was programmed over ten years ago,” Lois objected. “This planet ... wherever it is ... is no longer where it was then. It simply isn’t possible its navigation system could work.”
“This spacecraft has a Specific Navigation System,” Tek said.
“Which is?”
“It is navigated by final destination, not by route. It searches out certain very specific characteristics of a place and -.”
“What if that place has changed, or blown up, or imploded, or –.“
“I didn’t say it was without risk,” Tek said quietly.
Lois shook her head. “We need to go to Ching and Za and work out something reasonable,” she said.
“That would not work,” Tek said.
“Why?” she cried. “They’re human ... Kryptonian ... whatever ... aren’t they? How can they just allow a totally innocent man to be killed? How can they -?”
“It is rumoured that Ching and Za have attempted to find a legal way to allow you both to continue to live,” Tek said. “But the people were scared by what they witnessed when Nor died. They don’t know what you can do. They fear you are the first of a large army coming to invade our planet. Ching knows that if he allows you to live, there will almost certainly be a mutiny against his leadership and New Krypton will again be in the throes of war.”
“If our situation was satisfactorily dealt with,” Kal said, “Do you think the people would willingly live in peace under the leadership of Ching and Za?”
“The threat of Civil War will always be there,” Tek said gravely. “But it is my belief that most of the people would not take up arms against fellow Kryptonians if given the choice of peace.”
Kal looked at Lois and her fear erupted as she read his thoughts. “No, Kal!” she said. “No. We cannot get into a spaceship of questionable reliability and let it take us to an unknown destination.”
“We have no choice, Lois,” Kal said. “If we stay, we will die. If we stay and fight death, many other people will die and there will be no future for any of us.”
“I am not a threat,” Lois said as angry, indignant tears began to spill. “I didn’t plan to come here. I am not part of an invasion.”
“I know,” Kal said soothingly. “But in saving me from the soldier’s bullet, you showed a part of yourself that has scared the people.”
“Not all people,” she argued. “Not Tek and Riz. Not Eb. If they can realise I am not a danger, others can too.”
“Lois, I don’t think we have any other options.”
“Kal, have you thought about what happens in the very unlikely chance that we do actually land somewhere safely?”
“No.”
“Not every planet has Kal-El leading it,” she said ominously.
“I think we have to go,” Kal said.
“I think it would be suicide,” Lois countered.
Kal took her hand. “I understand, Lois,” he said with such gentle compassion, her tears erupted. “You’ve already lost one home. You were just beginning to think of New Krypton as a home and now, you will lose that too. I do understand, my love.”
Lois clung to his hand, unable to speak.
“When we were married,” Kal continued, “You said you felt safe because we were together. I am still here. We are still together.”
Lois took a deep, deep breath that sucked the essence of his love into her heart and calmed her raging fear.
She had Kal.
He didn’t speak again – simply waited for her – giving her the time she needed. She forced a wobbly smile. “I’m all right,” she murmured.
Kal squeezed her hand and then turned to Tek. “How much confidence do you have in the spacecraft still functioning? What are the chances it could land safely?”
“I am stunned by the brilliance of my father’s design,” Tek said. “But ten years have passed and I cannot pretend it would be anything other than a great risk.”
“More or less of a risk than staying here?” Lois asked.
“If you stay here, Kal will die,” Tek said with certainty. “This ... me bringing you food ... this cannot continue. Eb was visited by soldiers today. My house is constantly watched. The noose is closing and I believe your safety here cannot extend beyond a day. Two at the most.”
“And if they find us?” Lois said. “What will happen?”
“Kal will be shot immediately,” Tek said. “He offered his life. Nothing can change that.”
Kal looked down. “But that may be nothing compared with what will happen to you,” he said tightly.
Tek stood. “I have to go. The super low tide is at first light tomorrow – that is our only chance to launch the spacecraft. I will be back before then, but I cannot guarantee when. You need to decide what you wish to do.”
He turned and limped across the cave.
“Tek?” Kal said.
“Yes?”
“Did you attempt to start the engine of the spaceship?”
“No. If the engine is fired, the craft launches thirty seconds later.”
“Automatically?” Lois said weakly.
“Automatically.”
Tek rounded the rock and disappeared from their view.
