The Longest Road:  Belief and Sacrifice
By Raconteur <raconteur27@yahoo.com>
Rated:  PG-13
Submitted:  January, 2005




Prologue:

6000 BC

The Southwestern Present Day United States

"Grandfather!" the young boy shouted as he ascended the hill.  
Out of breath, he stopped at the hill's peak and looked down at 
the village below.  "Grandfather!" he called out once again.  He 
ran barefoot through the dry grass.
  
"What is the matter, little one?" the boy's grandfather asked as 
he caught the boy mid stumble on his barely controlled descent 
down the hill.  

"Grandfather, in the sky, look!" The boy pointed upward at a 
dark, oddly shaped object in the sky.  It moved like no bird he 
had seen.  There was a sudden flash of light that momentarily 
blinded them both.  Others in the village had now stopped their 
mundane work to look up at the unknown object darkening the sky.  
It began to grow in size as it approached the ground.  Soon it 
was as if it blocked out the sky entirely.  A dark shadow was 
cast across the village and the dry, dusty morning was suddenly 
replaced by night.  Another, more intense flash of light 
followed, and the little boy turned away.  He felt his old 
grandfather's arm clutch him close to his body.  He wrapped his 
small arms around his grandfather's waist and prayed that the 
evil spirit that had spread this dark blanket over their sky 
would leave them alone.  

The shadow receded.  The strange object in the sky was gone.  The 
village of mud brick buildings and morning cooking fires stood 
exactly as it had before.

Except now it was completely empty.


6000 Years Later

Palestine

A bright flash of light set the night sky on fire.  Burning as 
bright as day, it illuminated the shepherds' fields and startled 
the sheep.  The men sat in stunned silence, and finally turned to 
each other, as if to assure themselves that they'd not gone mad.  
The light suddenly withdrew, and their eyes no longer hurt.  They 
focused their gazes on the now concentrated source of light, like 
a midnight sun, hanging brightly in the desert sky, its light 
shone directly on an oasis upon a hill in the distance.  Screwing 
up their courage, the shepherds stood and began to follow the 
path to the oasis.  


610 AD

The Arabian Peninsula

In a darkened cave upon a tall mountain, the caravan driver lay 
asleep, protected from the savage desert winds.  A sudden bright 
light roused him.  He sat up quickly, squinting and holding up a 
hand to shield his eyes from the intense light.  

A voice that seemed to whisper and shout at once commanded him, 
"Recite."  The single word reverberated through the cave, causing 
an immense rumbling.  "Recite," the voice repeated, leaving the 
man trembling in fear.  

"What, what do you want me to recite?" he asked timidly.  He 
stood slowly and approached the mouth of the cave and the source 
of the light.  

In a bright explosion of color, both the man and the light 
disappeared.


1477 AD

Milan, Italy

The inventor sat at his table, his head in his hands.  He slowly 
rubbed his temples, trying to rid himself of the intense 
headache.  He'd been suffering these pains for the past few days.  
They attacked unexpectedly each day and he'd begun to live his 
life in dread of the next attack.  He looked up only to be 
blinded by an intense light.  He squeezed his eyes shut and the 
images began to flash through his mind rapidly.  Images of 
strange flying contraptions, chain driven chariots, and other 
things he could neither describe nor name.  Gritting his teeth, 
he willed the pain away, and suddenly the light was gone.


March 17, 1962 AD

Eleven Light Years from Earth

The sullen man paced anxiously in the sterile white corridor.  A 
door opened silently and he turned nervously, his heart weighed 
down heavily.  He had waited for what seemed an eternity for 
news, any news.  Now with a soul filled with dread he lifted his 
eyes to look at the man before him.  "What news?" he asked, the 
words struggling to escape around the lump in his throat.  

"Jor El, my friend," Tao Scion's thin face was drawn, his lips 
formed a slight frown, but his clear blue eyes were full of 
compassion and gentleness.  The news was bad, that much was 
clear.  "There is nothing more we can do for her, save make her 
comfortable in these last few hours."  

Jor El felt his breath escape him as his knees grew weak.  Tao 
Scion immediately extended a hand to steady him.  Tao Scion had 
always been a good friend to him, and the finest doctor in the 
guild.  "May I go see her?" he asked weakly.

"Of course.  She asked for you."  Tao Scion held the door open 
for him and he walked into the colorless, white room, trying to 
keep his emotions in check.  She did not need to see him fall 
apart; she would expect him to be strong.  He didn't need to 
magnify her fear with his own.

She lay still in the large bed, a series of small droids hovered 
around, keeping track of her vital signs.  She looked up at him 
expectantly with those large hazel eyes that had the power to 
melt his stern and intellectual fa‡ade.  She smiled at him and he 
felt the tears well up in his eyes.  

"Father!" she said, her arms outstretched to him.  

"My darling daughter," he spoke in hushed tones, gathering her 
tiny body up in his arms.  She embraced him tightly and he kissed 
the top of her head.  He smoothed the soft strands of brown hair 
away from her face as he looked at his little child.  "I love you 
so much," he said.  

"I love you, father," she whispered seriously.  "Where is mother?  
I want to see her again."

"Your doctor has gone to get her, I sent her to get something to 
eat.  She sat beside you all night and day and neither ate nor 
slept, but now that you are awake, nothing can keep her from 
coming to see you."

"Father, I'm going to go to sleep and never wake up again, like 
your grandmother, right?"

He felt a tear slide down his cheek and shook his head.  "My 
little one, no."  

He watched as she took his large hand in her two tiny ones.  
"Father, you said a lie was a grievous offense, and that it harms 
the person who lies as well as the person to whom the lie is 
told."  He let out a ragged sigh.  Of course his precocious 
little six year old would find this to be the most opportune time 
to respond to him with his own stern lecturing.

He didn't know what to say to her.  He held her little hand 
tightly.  The door opened behind him and he turned to see his 
wife standing in the doorway.  The tears welled up in her eyes, 
the same hazel eyes that his daughter looked at him with.  He 
couldn't stand to see the pain in either of their faces and that 
he could do nothing to relieve that pain was slowly tearing at 
his insides.  

"Mother!"

"My child," Lara whispered, placing her hand to her lips.  The 
tears that had been threatening spilled over.  She walked quickly 
to her daughter's bedside and gathered her little child up in her 
arms.  Lara kissed her daughter's face.

"I love you, Mother, please don't cry.  It doesn't hurt anymore, 
it doesn't hurt."  She looked up at them with an odd mixture of 
the wide-eyed innocence of childhood and an earnest expression 
that belied a wisdom well beyond her years.

"I love you, Keir El, your father and I love you so much."  
Lara's voice quivered as she struggled to reassure her child.

Jor El embraced both his daughter and his wife, silently cursing 
his inability to keep them safe from harm.  His entire world was 
in his arms and he was powerless to prevent the unthinkable from 
happening.

"I don't want to leave you, Mother."

"My little darling," Lara whispered.  She brushed the tears away 
from her daughter's little face.  

"Mother, please, don't cry."  Keir El said, her little plea 
cutting straight to Jor El's heart.  

"Rest, my love," he said, struggling to form the words.  "Rest, 
my little child, don't tire yourself.  Your mother and I love 
you."  He gently encouraged her to lie back down and kissed her 
forehead.  Lara continued to hold her hand.  He took Lara's other 
hand in his and squeezed it gently.  

He watched as his daughter lay perfectly still in the bed.  Her 
heart rate and breathing began to falter and she closed her eyes.  
For hours, she struggled to breathe.  He watched her slip away 
and he felt his heart die with her. With a loud cry, Lara began 
to sob.  She touched the tiny face of her daughter, her 
expression was so calm, so peaceful, as though she was only 
asleep.  Jor El bent down to kiss his little daughter's forehead, 
his body trembling.  He placed his arms around his wife, they 
both shook with sobs as they fell to their knees.  The pain in 
his soul overwhelmed him.  There was an emptiness inside him that 
he knew would never be filled again.  He was drowning in a sea of 
grief, clinging tightly to his wife, unsure whether they'd be 
able to save each other.

********

Two Years Later...

Jor El slammed his fist against his desk.  "This can't be right," 
he muttered.  He felt a pair of hands on his shoulders.  

He hung his head down in defeat.  "What are we to do, Lara?" he 
asked.

She massaged his shoulders gently.  "We need to learn more before 
we resign ourselves to our fate."

He growled, frustrated.  "Lara, what we know damns us.  I've done 
the calculations, you've done the calculations, other scientists 
have confirmed it.  We have to go to the Council with this, that 
is our only hope."

********

Jor El stood in the center of the large room, facing the First 
Ministers of Krypton.  All around him sat the High Council of 
Elders, elevated from ground level and seated behind large 
lecterns.  Jor El stood with his hands clasped in front of him.  
He had aged decades in the last two years.  It was as though his 
soul no longer wanted to continue on with life.  His face was 
creased with lines of worry and his eyes belied a weariness for 
which there was no cure.

"Esteemed councilors," he began, projecting loudly.  "I began 
noticing anomalies in geothermal readings almost one year ago.  I 
have consulted my colleagues who specialize in the field of 
geophysics.  Their news is not good.  Their estimations match 
mine.  Noble ladies and gentlemen, our planet is dying."

"Are you certain of this, Jor El?" one of the councilors he did 
not know asked.

"I am certain, as are the other scientists.  There is no doubt of 
it."

"How can this be?" Jor El turned toward Shai, the councilor and 
jurist who had asked the question.  Shai was a levelheaded and 
sober man, with dark, hard eyes, but this news was more than 
enough to disturb his normally stoic expression.

"Councilor Shai, our small planet consists mainly of a slowly 
decaying radioactive element, covered by a crust of dense, stable 
rock.  The radioactive nature of the planet has for many years, 
been our main source of heat and energy.  Nevertheless it will be 
our undoing.  The particular levels of heat and pressure exerted 
on this element at this time are causing it to decay very 
rapidly.  This more rapid decay will lead to the eventual 
destruction of our planet, and everything on it."

"What can be done about this?" Dar Rhys demanded.  She was an 
elder stateswoman and physician, and one of the most respected 
members of the High Council.  

"If I might be frank, madam," Jor El began.  "This planet was 
singularly ill suited for long term habitation.  We were marooned 
here on this desolate space rock thousands of years ago with 
little concern for the long-term viability of our civilization.  
There is no way to slow or reverse this process.  Krypton is 
doomed.  The planet is dead and it will take the greatest effort 
and good fortune to save its people."

"And what is it that you suggest?"

Jor El turned around again.  Grim faced and tight lipped, he 
fixed his gaze on Rae Et's cold, calculating eyes.  He felt his 
insides churn with anger.  Bitterness crept up in his throat.  
"Councilor, the planet must be evacuated.  It will take the work 
of all of our scientists and this Council to organize the exodus.  
We must begin building ships and preparing for the journey at 
this very moment.  We must also seek out a suitable destination."

"My esteemed brother," Rae Et began.  "You are speaking of the 
movement of thousands of people over millions of miles of space."

"Thousands, madam?" Jor El snapped angrily.

"Well certainly, it would take thousands of individuals to create 
a viable population."

"If it has slipped the councilor's memory, the population of 
Krypton is forty one million persons," Jor El seethed.

"And you are claiming that you'll be able to save all of them?  I 
admire your optimism and your courage, Jor El."  Rae Et barely 
checked her contempt for the scientist.  "But pragmatism will 
best serve us.  How long do you estimate we have left?"

"Twenty six months, maximum," Jor El responded grimly.

Rae Et stood and addressed all of her colleagues.  "And in that 
time, we'll be lucky to save enough people to start a viable 
colony.  If we focus on that, we can ensure the survival of our 
civilization.  If we aim too high, noble though it may be, we 
risk total annihilation.  We thank you for your vigilance and 
your service, Jor El, the survival of our way of life will be due 
in no small part to you."

The meeting was suspended and the councilors gathered in small 
caucus groups to discuss the best way to coordinate their 
efforts.  In an out of the way corner, Jor El fumed silently.  He 
would not be party to the connivances of that woman.  The fate of 
their people could not be left in her hands.  He needed to 
contact Lara.  He would call their students.  He hadn't wanted to 
inform them until after speaking with the Council, but it was now 
time to go to work.  Though they were still ignorant of the fact, 
the people of Krypton were counting on them.

********

One Year later...

Jor El lifted his head from his desk, and glanced around the 
darkened room.  When had he fallen asleep?  And who had placed 
the blanket over him?  He rubbed his bleary eyes and tried to 
stretch his stiff neck.  He pushed his rapidly graying hair away 
from his eyes.  He heard a light tapping sound originating from 
the other end of the laboratory.  He stood from his chair and 
followed the sound.  Lara sat in a corner under the light of a 
single lamp.  She typed away methodically at her terminal, 
transcribing her results from the day.  She stared at the 
display, giving no indication that she knew he was there.  A 
strand of her blonde hair spilled forward and he had to resist 
the urge to reach out and brush it away from her face.  He placed 
a hand on her shoulder and felt her jump.

She turned suddenly to look at him.  "Jor El, you frightened me!" 
she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, darling.  I can see you are quite absorbed in your 
work."

"We did it," she said softly.

He looked at her questioningly, surely she didn't mean?  "Did 
what?"

"We perfected the formula for the fuel source.  We'll be able to 
travel in larger vessels at higher speeds with less fuel.  We 
shall be able to increase maximum distance by fifteen per cent or 
reduce travel time."  She regarded him with a weary smile.

"Lara, that is wonderful!"  He kissed his wife, feeling a sense 
of hope for the first time in months.  She stood up, wrapping her 
arms around his neck and pressing her slender body against his.   
She sighed as he deepened the kiss.

"I love you," she whispered as she buried her face against his 
shoulder.

"And I you, my darling," he replied.  He looked into her eyes, 
seeing a mixture of hope and weariness and love.  She reached up 
to touch his face.  He placed his hand on hers, holding it to his 
cheek.  She looked at him questioningly.

"Jor El, what is bothering you?" she asked.

"It is nothing," he replied, hoping that she would not see 
through his deceit.

"Please, do not hide it from me, my love.  Your pain is mine."  
She took both of his hands in hers.

"Oh Lara, I am afraid," he confessed.  "We still do not know if 
we will be successful.  We have precious little time and there is 
still so much we must do.  I fear that I will fail.  I fear that 
I will let you down, and let our people down."

"If it were not for you, our people would have no hope at all."  
She looked up at him somberly, her expression one of quiet 
determination.  "We will do everything in our power to save our 
people.  I fear that is all that we can ask of ourselves.  You 
have worked night and day for a year, my love, you cannot doubt 
that you are doing all that you can.  Come, let us go to bed."

He shook his head.  "There is still work to be done."

"You have slept in this laboratory every night for weeks.  You 
have had little rest and you are exhausted.  You will accomplish 
more tomorrow if you are well rested."

"Lara..."

"Jor El, I am tired of sleeping without you."

He wanted to protest that he wasn't tired and that he would sleep 
a few hours before morning, but suddenly, there was no conviction 
behind the argument.  He, too, did not sleep well if he wasn't in 
his love's arms.

She stood up on her toes and kissed him again.  It was a long, 
lingering kiss and he felt desire stir up inside him, reminding 
him that his love for Lara was the force that drove him.  In the 
effort to save his world, he had neglected the most important 
thing in his world.  He threaded his hand through her soft hair 
and deepened the kiss.  He felt a sigh escape his lips as she 
withdrew.  He opened his eyes with a start when he felt her kiss 
his neck.

"Come to bed, darling," she murmured.

"Oh Lara," he whispered breathlessly.

She looked up at him and their eyes met.  "Make love with me, Jor 
El," she said softly, almost pleadingly.  It hurt him to know 
that she believed she had to ask.  He kissed her again before 
taking her hand in his, interlacing their fingers.  Wordlessly 
they left the laboratory.

********

Six Weeks Later...

Jor El and his assistants stood in the hangar, examining the 
prototype of the launch mechanism.  In another corner of the 
hangar, Lara and her students were gathered around the 
speculative plans for the fuel lines for the transports.  Beside 
her was the chief design engineer, Mol Dai.  "Because the fuel is 
a gel only in a very limited thermal band," Lara began.  "Great 
care must be taken to control the..." she stopped.  "To control 
the temp...temperatures."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jor El saw his wife falter.  She 
leaned forward on the table to steady herself.  He quickly 
stepped away from the group and rushed to her side.

He placed a hand upon her shoulder.  "Lara, are you all right?" 
he asked.  She closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.  "I 
will call the doctor," he said.

"No," she replied softly.  She placed a hand on his.  She stepped 
away from the table.  "I will be all right," she said before 
turning to leave the hangar.

He followed her through the corridors but she entered a washroom 
and closed the door behind her.  Perhaps she only needed a moment 
to herself.  She had to know that he was concerned for her.  She 
looked so pale.  He had noticed it several days ago, but she had 
dismissed his concerns, claiming that she was fine.  He would 
wait for her; perhaps in private she would tell him what was 
wrong.

He stood silently in the hallway, staring off into the distance 
and allowing his fears to grow and compound themselves.  The door 
opened quietly a few minutes later and she stepped into the hall.  

"Take me home, please, Jor El," she said softly.

He simply nodded and placing a hand on the small of her back to 
steady her, he led her out of the building.  Like many of the 
other scientists, Jor El and Lara had moved from their home to 
smaller residences above their laboratories in the last year.  
"Can you walk, or shall I summon a transport?" he asked.

She smiled faintly at him.  "I'll be all right, and it is a nice 
day, I'd like to walk."

They walked quietly to their quarters.  It was a nice day, but 
Jor El was in no mood to enjoy it.  Of course he'd been in no 
mood to enjoy it for more than a year now.  He supposed that he 
ought not take for granted days such as this one, when the sky 
was a soft rose color and the little red sun shone down warmly on 
their world.  He knew these days were limited, but that only 
caused him to hate nature instead of cherishing it.  How dare the 
world fall apart on them?  He found himself despising its 
transience.  It was not supposed to be like this, he knew that 
for certain.  He held the door to their quarters open for his 
wife.  He immediately insisted that she sit down and she seemed 
amused at his concern.

"I am all right," she assured him.

He knelt beside her.  "Lara, tell me, please what is wrong? Why 
can I not call the doctor?  If you are ill, we should call 
someone."

"I am not ill, Jor El."

"Lara, please," he pleaded with her.  "Tell me what it is."

She placed her hand on his cheek and looked at him lovingly.  She 
smiled, but he could see tears in her eyes.  He took her hand in 
both of his and held it to his lips.  He looked at her in a 
silent plea.

"I am with child, my love."

He felt his breath catch in his throat.  She bit her lip and 
smiling, nodded slightly.  He felt tears spring, unbidden to his 
eyes.  He smiled as he reached up to touch his wife's face.  She 
leaned down to kiss him and took his hand in hers, guiding it to 
her abdomen. Closing his eyes, he held his hand against her 
stomach, thinking of the tiny child that grew within.

After Keir El's death, they had not spoken of having more 
children.  The loss of their daughter had left gaping holes in 
both of their souls and time had done little to heal the wounds.  
As long as he had his wife, Jor El had a reason to continue 
living, but he knew that a part of him had died years ago when 
those little hazel eyes had closed for the last time, part of him 
that not even Lara could revive.

Having another child would require him to relive emotions that 
he'd tried to bury so many years before.  He previously had not 
believed himself capable of becoming a father again.  Now he 
faced the reality of bringing new life into a dying world.  

He looked up at his wife, his lover, companion, and friend, his 
emotions in turmoil.  "I will save this child," he whispered.  "I 
promise you that our child will live a long, happy life."

********

Rae Et brushed an imaginary speck from the lapel of her 
greatcoat.  She adjusted the cobalt cuffs on her wrists, a 
practiced look of boredom on her face.  She drummed her knuckles 
on the polished surface of her desk.  The junior councilors had 
been waiting outside her private office for half an hour now; 
perhaps they had waited long enough.  She pressed a button on the 
console on her desk and the door to her study glided open 
silently.  Two men entered.  Like the other members of the High 
Council of Elders, they wore all black suits with the cobalt 
colored titanium wrist cuffs that signified their commitment as 
servants of the people of Krypton.  They bowed their heads 
slightly in polite greeting as they crossed the doorway.

Rae Et nodded curtly but maintained constant eye contact with the 
two men.  They were young; neither had her experience or position 
on the Council.  "Gentlemen," she began formally.  "I understand 
you have some concerns?"

"The scientists have worked day and night on the evacuation.  We 
have heard conflicting reports of their progress."  Alon looked 
physically uncomfortable.  He was a large, brawny man and he 
shifted his considerable weight from one foot to the other.  
There were several chairs in the study, but Rae Et had not 
offered them a seat.

"We are all aware that there is no way to save everyone, even Jor 
El is not that deluded.  The question remains, who will be saved? 
We must do what is in the best interest of the people of Krypton.  
We serve the whole of our society, gentlemen, that means we must 
ensure the survival of our civilization and our culture.  The 
human sacrifice will be great.  But with steady leadership, the 
standard-bearers of our civilization will carry on."

"Madam Councilor, it appears that you have great confidence in 
the ability to save our society," Shertal interjected.  He was a 
tall, thin man with sharp, dark features.  He regarded his 
surroundings with cold, calculating eyes.

"Mr. Councilor, a person in a position of leadership must plan 
carefully and prepare in times of crisis," she replied.

"So how do you plan to keep the calm in this time of crisis?" 
Shertal inquired, stroking his neatly trimmed, black goatee 
thoughtfully.

"By reassuring the people that all will be done to save 
everyone."

"In direct contradiction to what you previously said," Alon 
added.  She could see beads of sweat forming on Alon's brow.  She 
did keep the room rather warm, didn't she? Rae Et thought to 
herself with an inward smile.

"Technically, yes," she replied nonchalantly.  "But by the time 
it becomes clear that we will be unable to save everyone, the 
pioneers will be long gone, on our way to tame a brave new 
world."  She smiled at the thought.

"And you are confident that those pioneers will be able to leave 
in time?"  Shertal asked, his hands clasped stiffly in front of 
him.

"By Jor El's own estimations, we have twelve months remaining 
before Krypton becomes uninhabitable.  The first prototype 
transport will be finished within two months.  Two months have 
been set-aside after that for diagnostic testing.  That gives us 
a window of eight months."

"And how many people can be transported on each vessel?"  Alon 
asked.

"There will be a certain balance to be determined between persons 
and materiel on board each transport.  The Council's subcommittee 
has been working diligently to determine that balance.  Several 
prospective destinations are being considered, none of which are 
particularly hospitable.  The expeditionary mission will consist 
of two transports, each carrying 5,000 persons and 61 million 
tons of cargo.  On board will be military commanders and their 
families, one hundred members of the engineering guilds finest 
electrical and structural engineers and systems managers.  The 
remaining persons will be soldiers and peacekeepers.  It will be 
the duty of the expeditionary mission to make inhabitable our new 
home.

"In each of the subsequent months, twelve transports will be 
ready for launch.  In order to ensure the viability of our 
colony, those with the most useful skills will be selected first.  
With each launch we will again strike a balance between supplies 
and passengers.  We've calculated how many persons we can save 
while maintaining travel time plus twelve years' worth of 
supplies, my personal estimate for the necessary time to 
establish a viable colony.  We've also determined how many we can 
save with travel time plus two years' worth of supplies, 
Councilor Dar Rhys's suggestion, though I'm certain that Jor El 
was behind it."  She scowled.  "My estimates: 250,000, Jor El's: 
2.1 million.  Additional discrepancies arise due to disagreements 
on appropriate colony size and necessary supplies," she explained 
disinterestedly.

"250,000 out of forty one million?" Alon asked.

"It is a large enough population to ensure the viability of the 
colony, small enough to maintain order and discipline and to 
guarantee us a certain level of comfort while we establish our 
new home," she replied.

"Are your numbers supposed to give us peace of mind, Madam 
Councilor?" Alon asked pointedly.

"I would think so," Rae Et said, amused.  "You are both young, 
healthy members of the High Council, proven leaders.  There will 
be places for you and your families on those transports and in a 
desolate new world, with our people in need of guidance, I'm 
certain you will be propelled into positions of great power."

"Assuming we align ourselves with you?" Shertal replied.

"It never hurts to ally one's self with the force that will be 
victorious," she admitted almost haughtily. 

********

"Five percent," Jor El said flatly.

"The numbers are correct," Nur Bei explained patiently.

"That doesn't make this right!" Jor El yelled as he jumped from 
his seat at the drafting table.  Upset, he began to pace 
restlessly. 

"Jor El, we have determined mathematically that we can obtain the 
highest raw number of survivors in T plus five years with the 
greatest potential for long term colony viability by taking 2.1 
million people."

"And all the others will perish because mathematical statistics 
did not work in their favor," Jor El replied coldly.

"Neither you nor I can change the facts," Nur Bei said calmly.

"You are a damned actuary, Nur Bei, not a god!  How can you sit 
there and calculate how many people we ought to save and what the 
most favorable breakdown of demographics would be?  These are 
human beings, not numbers!"

"Perhaps you are the one who cannot accept your limitations, Jor 
El.  Never doubt that I hate this as much as you do.  I'm haunted 
by the thought of the end of our world, of the millions of people 
we cannot save, but you know that we cannot rescue everyone.  We 
must do what we can."  Nur Bei remained gentle and patient as she 
spoke to her colleague.

"I'm sorry," Jor El mumbled.  "You are correct.  I'm afraid I've 
let my emotions rule most of my judgments as of late."

"Don't apologize for being angry, Jor El, we all are."

Jor El leaned up against a distant wall in the mostly empty 
office.  "How will we decide?  How will select who lives and who 
dies?"

"I suppose that will be the decision of the High Council and the 
Representative Assembly," Nur Bei offered.  "Perhaps a lottery of 
sorts."

Jor El shook his head.  "First people will be eliminated due to 
advanced age or infirmity, then the list will be narrowed down 
further based on desirable skills and then suddenly we'll be 
squabbling over the best genetic traits to determine whether one 
is saved or damned," Jor El spat.  He sighed anxiously.  "You 
know, you have nothing to fear," he said quietly.  "You are the 
finest mathematician on Krypton, your husband is one of the most 
respected geologists.  Your family will be saved."

"The same is true of you and Lara," she replied quietly.

"And part of me is very thankful of this fact.  I find an odd 
sort of peace in knowing that my family will be all right, I 
begin to think that that is the most important thing.  Yet, if we 
go, who will be left behind?" Jor El asked.  "Young students, an 
elderly couple that has already fulfilled its obligations to our 
society, a poet, an architect, a teacher, or other people who are 
more expendable than we, people with fewer useful skills?"  He 
did not try to mask his disgust for the thought.  "Are they not 
people with families as well?  People, who like me, want nothing 
more than to protect those they love?"  "How can I take a place 
on one of those transports, knowing that someone else will not 
live in order to allow me to survive?"

"You will take your place, Jor El, because our society and our 
future generations will be counting on you and the others like 
you on those transports, who will spend the rest of their lives 
ensuring that we have a future."

Jor El raked an agitated hand through his hair and sighed.  He 
had found it easier these past few months to avoid contact with 
the outside world.  He worked in his lab and interacted only with 
his colleagues and Lara.  He tried to focus his mind on whichever 
task was at hand, trying to tackle little problems while ignoring 
the one immense one.  It was easier not to have to ponder the end 
of the world, or to be constantly reminded of just what would be 
ending along with it.

He had reason to be confident that Lara and their child would be 
safe.  That should have given him comfort.  Yet every time he saw 
a child he was haunted by images of his own daughter and his 
conscience was plagued by the knowledge that millions of little 
ones, just like her, would be cut down mercilessly by a cruel, 
indifferent force they could never understand.  And millions of 
parents would suffer the grief he suffered.  They would be 
incapable of protecting their children.  They would fail in that 
ultimate responsibility of parenthood, to keep their children 
safe from harm.  They would suffer a pain that no being should be 
forced to endure and though they would not live long enough to 
mourn, he didn't doubt that in millions of hearts across his 
world, the first stirrings of fear had already made themselves 
known.  As they approached the end, that fear would grow to an 
immense emptiness, the feeling that one's very soul had been 
ripped from them.

********

Five Months Later...

Lara winced slightly as she placed her hands on the small of her 
back, stretching and massaging the sore muscles.  One hand 
drifted to her protruding abdomen.  She felt the baby kick 
vigorously and smiled despite the discomfort.  Like Keir El, the 
baby didn't kick too frequently, but on occasion showed signs of 
great activity.  In a few short months she would be able to hold 
her child in her arms.  Already the little boy or girl that grew 
inside her was the most loved baby in the world.  Both of the 
baby's parents loved him or her with all of their hearts.  Lara 
would have preferred better circumstances in which to bring a 
child into the world.  She already lost a child, and she'd barely 
survived it.  Had it not been for Jor El, had she not had him to 
share her grief or hold her when she cried, she would never have 
lived through it.  The wounds of losing a child never healed.  
The hurt never went away, but she'd learned to live, even with 
the hurt.  The most important thing in her life now was 
protecting and caring for the little life that she and Jor El had 
created.  For this child, she and Jor El had to be successful in 
their work.  They could not fail this little one.

"Lara, you've been working far too long!"  Her husband began his 
chiding the moment he entered the hangar.  He walked briskly 
toward her, a concerned look on his face.

"I am all right, Jor El," she replied.  "I am not made of glass, 
and when I tire, I will rest, I promise."

"You are as stubborn as I am," he teased.  He placed his hands 
lightly on her arms and smiled warmly at her.  "How has the 
testing progressed, today?"

"Very well," she replied.  "The engines and thrusters are working 
properly.  The temperature and pressure tests have also proceeded 
perfectly."

"Finally, fortune turns our way," Jor El murmured.

"We are ready to begin the next phase of production immediately."

He smiled at her.  "And so you're celebrating the same way we 
mark every accomplishment and setback, by working harder?"

"Would you do any different?" she asked with a smile.

"I suppose not," he admitted.  "But I am not overworked, tired, 
and six months with child."

She laughed.  "I can see that."

He merely shook his head and smiled.  "Come now, it is getting 
late, and we have young students we can make to work through the 
night."  He said the last part loudly enough for everyone in the 
hangar.  The young scientists and students all quietly grumbled 
their complaints, but Lara knew how much affection they all felt 
for her husband.  He was adored by his students and all of them 
worked hours as intense as Jor El's by choice.  Her husband was 
no taskmaster, he led by quiet example, only the most dedicated 
students decided to follow.  Lara could not have been more 
pleased with their students.  She knew that the fate of their 
world could not have been placed on more solid and dependable 
shoulders than those of the young men and women who worked day 
and night with them and their colleagues.

"All right," she acquiesced to her husband's insistent requests.  
"Let us go."  Jor El placed a protective hand on the small of her 
back as they walked out of the hangar.

********

They walked into their darkened apartment.  The lights slowly 
illuminated, bathing the entry room in soft light.  Their 
quarters were simple, Spartan, and comfortable.  There was no 
unnecessary clutter, no superfluous elements.  If their apartment 
lacked personality, it abounded in utility.  It was perfectly 
engineered for maximum physical comfort, but Lara had to admit 
she felt no connection to this place, it stirred in her no 
emotions, no feeling of homecoming.  She removed her white great 
coat, the symbolic mantle of her station as a teacher, scientist, 
and formally, a guardian of knowledge and science.  The title of 
guardian was reserved for the most accomplished and dedicated 
members of each guild.  She and Jor El had both earned the title 
and along with it, the responsibility of educating the young 
scientists in their fields.

Lara walked into their bedroom, similarly designed to the entry 
and similarly dull.  She crossed the sparsely furnished room to 
the large windows that dominated one wall.  The sky was dark and 
the distant stars twinkled brightly.  Their new home at the 
scientific institution was near the very heart of Krypton's 
civilization, set upon a hill, from where they could look down 
upon the city.  All around them the lights in thousand of homes 
burned brightly.  In all of those homes, families gathered, 
children and parents, husbands and wives, friends, all gathered 
together, like they had for many nights and many years.  Soon 
those homes would no longer exist, destroyed like everything else 
in their world.  She thought about all those people gathered 
together, wondering if their fears and hopes were the same as 
hers, fairly certain that they were.  She shivered involuntarily, 
though not from any physical cold.

She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind and 
smiled, drawing comfort from her husband's presence.  His hands 
slipped down until they rested on her abdomen.  She more felt 
than heard him sigh.

"It is difficult to imagine an end, isn't it?  We take for 
granted that the world will go on."  His melancholy words echoed 
her sentiments.

"Are you afraid?" she asked quietly.

He was silent for a long moment.  "Angry, frustrated, afraid, 
yes," he said at last.  "But mostly, I feel powerless.  I am 
supposed to protect you and our child, but it is also our 
responsibility to save the whole of our society.  I feel the 
awesome burden of our duty and wonder if I am equal to the task."

"Jor El..." she began sadly, wondering what comforting words she 
could offer him.

"I believe we will succeed, my love.  Even if we do, even though 
we will save millions of lives, there will be many more millions 
whom we cannot save."

"The accidents of life seem too cruel and unfair to believe, even 
if their burdens do not fall directly upon us," she said quietly.

"Cruelty does not begin to describe the malice that nature seems 
to bear toward our people," he did not disguise the bitterness in 
his voice.  "I am sorry, my love.  I should not feel such anger 
and resentment now.  We ought to be joyful at the impending 
arrival of our little child."  His fingers moved in soothing 
circles across the fabric over her abdomen.  She placed her hand 
on top of his, interlacing their fingers.  

"Is it wrong of us to bring a child into this calamity?" she 
asked.

"This child is a blessing," he murmured softly.  "Nothing could 
change that."  He stepped around from behind her and lifted a 
hand to her cheek.  He kissed her lips softly.  "Thank you," he 
whispered.  He began to slowly undo the fastenings to her long 
robe and parted the soft fabric to either side of her protruding 
stomach.  He fell to his knees and placed his cheek against the 
swell of her abdomen.  He turned his head slightly to kiss her.  
Lara wrapped her arms around him and held him close, running her 
fingers through his hair.  Her heart ached with emotions she 
could neither describe nor understand.  She felt such incredible 
love for this man and for the child that grew within her and such 
fear and anger toward the entire universe at the same time.  She 
wanted some assurance that all would be all right, but she knew 
that no such assurances existed.  All she knew for certain was 
that the man she held in her arms would do all that he could to 
protect their child.  She drew comfort from that knowledge.

********

"Esteemed members of the High Council, we submit for your 
approval our selection for colonization."  The old scientist 
cleared his throat as the holographic projections appeared to 
give the councilors three dimensional images of the tiny, 
isolated planetoid that would one day be home to Krypton's 
survivors.  "This particular planetesimal orbits a minor red 
dwarf, similar to our own star.  It is exceptionally dense, 
similar to Krypton, so it has a comparable gravitational pull.  
It lacks a true atmosphere, but over time, this can be remedied.  
There is no evidence of tectonic or meteorological activity and 
it is compositionally stable..."

"I hope the distinguished gentleman will pardon me," Rae Et began 
as she stood from her seat and interrupted him.  "But you say 
there is no atmosphere and no meteorological activity on the 
planet, correct?"

"Yes, madam, but the temperature range of the planet is suitable 
and given time..."

"So am I correct in saying that the lack of an atmosphere will 
make this a most inhospitable environ?"

"Well, yes madam, but it is not an insurmountable problem."

"Sir, how far away is this little planet, say as compared to the 
planet of our origins?"

"They are roughly equivalent, madam, though in different 
directions of course."

Rae Et smiled.  "Of course.  But this planet you are suggesting 
is a far more hostile future home than our previous one, is it 
not?"

Dar Rhys stood up at Rae Et's statement.  "My honorable 
colleague, certainly you are not suggesting..."

"Suggesting that we look at all alternatives?  I must say that I 
am."

Shai rose to his feet.  "Our people made an earnest vow never to 
return there."

"And under all but the most extreme circumstances, I believe we 
would always maintain that vow, Councilor," Rae Et replied 
coolly.  "But these are the most extreme circumstances and we 
must ensure our survival.  We did not voluntarily leave that 
planet for this one.  Our ancestors were taken from their homes 
and transplanted on this desolate space rock.  For millennia, our 
people have struggled to overcome all obstacles and to eventually 
flourish into this great civilization that we have today.  We 
have faced every conceivable challenge, bearing the accidents of 
life with grace and dignity.  But we must be prepared to draw the 
line.  Why jeopardize our chance for survival when there is a 
perfect world we can inhabit, we will not be foreign intruders, 
merely pilgrims returning home after thousands of years of 
exile."

"You are not talking of an empty utopia waiting for us to inhabit 
it."  Dar Rhys's normally unflappable calm momentarily took its 
leave of her.  She spoke loudly and forcefully.  "The planet we 
left behind has its own inhabitants and we affirmed that we would 
have no part in disrupting their world.  We cursed those that 
took us from our home planet and marooned us out here on the 
edges of a seemingly desolate galaxy because they turned us into 
a people without a history.  They stole our past from us through 
their interference, you are suggesting that we do the same to 
them."

"Nonsense!" Rae Et shouted.  "These people are our brothers and 
sisters, we are of the same kind, our return will not jeopardize 
their primitive culture or civilization."

"You scorn them," Shai chastised Rae Et.  "Because you forget 
that our superior technology and understanding are the products 
of outside interference and not of our own progression.  But if 
you are so determined to lord your superior understanding over 
these people, how do you think these primitive beings will react 
to learning that life exists elsewhere in the universe, that they 
are not alone?  You know that it would throw their world into 
turmoil.  They will not be ready to deal with this information, 
nor will they be prepared to welcome millions of their Kryptonian 
cousins as indefinite guests.

"Besides, we do not know what was done to us to allow us to 
survive here.  Returning to the planet of our origins may prove 
dangerous, and somehow I feel that we will not be the ones in 
danger.  We cannot even consider the possibility, it cannot be 
allowed."

A low murmur began to echo through the chamber as it grew 
steadily louder.  Councilors chatted nervously as the dispute 
continued.  The pounding of a heavy gavel suddenly quieted the 
room.  Li Han, the co First Minister stood up.  "We will have 
decorum in the chamber," she announced.  "It is the policy of 
both First Ministers that this line of debate ought to be aborted 
at once.  We will not hear of a return to the planet of our 
origins, it would violate everything for which our predecessors 
stood for us to so thoroughly disrupt that planet as to throw it 
into calamity.  We will put forward an immediate vote on the 
acceptance of the Astrophysics and Aerospace guild's suggestion.  
The First Ministers endorse said plan and hope that the Council 
will as well."

The role call vote was taken and the plan passed without 
objection, though with several notable abstentions.  The co First 
Minister stood once again and turned to the representatives of 
the scientists' guilds.  "Very well.  The High Council has 
accepted your proposal.  We trust that the expeditionary forces 
will be sent out post haste."

The representative of the Astrophysics and Aeronautics guild 
nodded slightly.  "Your excellence, we shall be prepared to 
launch in ten days time."
 

********

Three Months Later...

"Very good, Lara, relax.  Remember you are in control, separate 
mind from body, thought from feeling, good," Tun Lau spoke in 
soft soothing tones.  He'd been the physician present at Keir 
El's birth as well.

Lara nodded as she focused.  She squeezed Jor El's hand tightly 
as she centered her mind, shutting out all external sound and 
allowing her thoughts to focus inward.  She felt the brief 
intense sensation as her mind became fully aware of everything 
around her.  It was a single moment in which every sound was too 
loud, colors and lights, too bright and every physical sensation, 
even the feel of fabric against her skin was far too intense.  
Every nerve ending in her body tingled and fired.  The sensation 
passed immediately, though none too quickly as far as she was 
concerned, and her mind transcended from its state of normal 
consciousness, through absolute consciousness to the 
disconnectedness she was seeking.

It was that moment of absolute consciousness that prevented 
children from learning the skills of meditation and self-control.  
It took years of training and discipline to achieve a state of 
control that allowed one to break through the barrier of absolute 
consciousness to a level of mental consciousness and total 
control over the physical self without being overpowered by 
sensory perception.  No pain could touch her here.  Sounds and 
images in the background faded to nothing.

She was conscious of the fact that Jor El was beside her, holding 
her hand and gently encouraging her, and that Tun Lau was still 
giving patient instruction, but it was as though she was aware of 
these things through her mind alone, without the aid of her 
senses.  She could not feel Jor El's hand with her own, but she 
knew that it was there.  She could not hear the doctor's words, 
yet she knew what he was saying.  She felt no pain, no tiredness, 
no aches.  Instead, her mind was able to exert perfect control 
over her body, with no possible source of distraction.

Tun Lau instructed her to push again, so she pushed.  Her body of 
course, clamored for relief from the pain, but her mind was 
closed off to the desires of her body.  The will of the mind was 
able to subdue the wants of the body.  She pushed again, hearing 
in her mind the encouragements spoken by her husband and her 
doctor.

She was unaware of the passage of time.  It may have been five 
minutes, five hours or five days.  Tun Lau entreated her on.  She 
could discern the excitement in his voice and in Jor El's touch.  
The time was near.  She pushed harder this time and a sound 
filled the room.  Suddenly, she could hear nothing but the cries 
of a newborn.  In a surge of light-headedness, she spiraled back 
into normal consciousness, her mind and body reconnecting.  She 
looked up to see Jor El smiling, he leaned down and kissed her 
forehead.

Tun Lau held their baby in his arms.  He smiled at them before 
handing her the tiny child wrapped up in blankets.  "Your son," 
he said quietly.

She was overcome with joy and knew that Jor El shared her 
happiness and excitement.  She watched as he reached out to touch 
his son gently, a look of wonder on his face.  "Our son," he 
murmured in amazement.  She smiled wearily, her body was tired 
but she cared not.  The tiny form in her arms with his shock of 
dark hair squirmed vigorously, but his loud cries had subdued.  
She rocked him gently.  Pacified, his cries were no more than a 
soft whimper.

"Kal El," she whispered his name.

********

Jor El sat beside his son's crib.  It was late and all was quiet, 
but he could not sleep.  Lara lay exhausted in bed, sleeping 
peacefully.  Their little son had already woken her several times 
tonight, hungry or in need of changing.  Now little Kal El lay 
asleep, his dark little eyes lidded, his tiny chest rising and 
falling with each breath.  He was but a few days old and already 
he'd changed their lives completely.  Tomorrow, Jor El would 
begin work again.  His mother would also arrive to help Lara take 
care of Kal El.  He knew that his wife wanted to spend every 
possible moment with her son, but he also knew that within a few 
weeks, she would be back at work, helping to ensure that their 
son had a future to enjoy.

Kal El fidgeted slightly, his tiny thumb finally finding its way 
to his mouth.  Jor El looked down at his little son.  "I will 
take care of you," he promised.

********

Jor El looked up at his friend nervously.  He felt his stomach 
clench.  The sterile, stark white office began to spin.  "Tao 
Scion, what is it?  Please, tell me?  What is wrong?"

Tao Scion chuckled softly.  "There is nothing wrong, my friend.  
The contrary in fact."  Tao Scion stood beside Jor El's chair.

Jor El sighed audibly.  "Then Kal El is all right?"

"Certainly."  Tao Scion placed a hand on Jor El's shoulder.  
"Your son is fine, Jor El.  I did request a specialist to see 
him, though."  The look of worry returned to Jor El's face.  "An 
empath," Tao Scion explained.   "He's a healthy child, no signs 
of physical or neurobiological problems.  He's alert, happy, and 
from what I can tell, he'll be quite intelligent.  He's a special 
child, Jor El."

Jor El ran a shaking hand through his graying hair.  "So he is 
all right?"

Tao Scion laughed aloud.  "Relax, my friend.  This is something 
to be happy about."

Jor El finally smiled and laughed, somewhat nervously.  The sound 
was odd to his own ears, as though he were out of practice.

"Lara is with him," Tao Scion continued.  "I explained all of 
this to her.  Why don't we go join them?  The empath should be 
here soon."

Jor El stood on shaky legs as the remnants of fear leeched out of 
his body.  His son was all right.  When he'd received Tao Scion's 
message that afternoon he'd been terrified.  From the moment he 
received his friend's call until the present, he'd been reliving 
the pain of losing his daughter, the images and emotions vivid in 
his mind, as though no time had past at all.  The tenseness and 
terror had begun to pass and peace was settling in.  For one 
moment, he was going to savor this contentedness.

********

Lara and Jor El stood beside the crib of their son and watched 
him sleep.  "What does this mean for him?"  Jor El wondered 
aloud.  He thought about what Tao Scion had told him.  The normal 
psychological tests performed in the routine examination had 
yielded noteworthy results, leading Tao Scion to call an expert.

'Your child already shows a remarkable degree of empathy,' the 
empath had explained to them.  'It is the skill we cultivate to 
create great leaders.'

"Nothing," Lara replied.  "Kal El will choose his own future, 
with our support.  He has no predestined fate, just like us, 
he'll have to make his way in the world.  We owe him that 
opportunity."

Jor El smiled as he kissed the top of his wife's head.  She was, 
of course, right.  The empath had explained to them that such a 
trait in a child had to be dealt with carefully, that with 
special schooling and guidance, Kal El could be trained to lead 
his people, but that at the same time, such a child would be more 
impressionable to negative influences.  And every day their world 
grew more perilous.  Nonetheless, it was not their choice how to 
proceed.  When Kal El was old enough, he would decide for himself 
where his path lay.  Until then they could do no more than love 
and protect him the way all parents hope to do.

Jor El smiled.  Their son's shoulders were still far too tiny to 
hold the weight of their world.  For as long as they could they 
would shield him from that responsibility.  Oblivious to all of 
this, their little boy slept.

******** 

"Congratulations."

Jor El looked up from his schematics and turned to look behind 
him at the source of that well-known voice.  The word rang 
completely hollow from her lips, devoid of sentiment and 
sincerity.  "Rae Et," he addressed her coolly.

"A calamitous time to bring a child into the world," she began, 
staring at him through narrowed eyes.  "But a blessing 
nonetheless, especially a child so gifted as yours appears to be.  
He shall be an important man one day."

"If he so chooses," Jor El corrected her.

"As you know, I too, have a young son, and he shows such 
promise."  Jor El thought he saw a hint of motherly pride in her 
eyes, but even if it weren't a figment of his imagination, it was 
gone in an instant.  "It is for their sake that we toil so.  We 
must leave them the best possible world, we both agree on that, 
but where we disagree is how to create such a world."

"You would do so by only saving those you consider worth saving," 
Jor El snapped.

"And you would enter a fool's errand in jeopardizing the entire 
colony out of sentiment."  Her voice was cold and even.  The 
exchange did nothing to disturb her calm demeanor.  "I had hoped 
to convince you to withdraw your proposal and support my own.  It 
seems we shall just have to let the Council decide."

"I have faith in the Council," Jor El replied.

"As do we all."  With a sinister smile, Rae Et silently slipped 
out of the laboratory.

********

The cavernous room seemed to rumble.  A hundred anxious and upset 
councilors argued furiously, forgetting all rules of decorum.  
The tension sat heavy in the air and the last speaker's comments 
had sparked outrage among her opponents.  Debate descended into 
nothing more than a furious din as councilors shouted across the 
debate floor at one another.

"There will be order in this forum!"  Shir Om, the co-First 
Minister demanded as he stood.  Shir Om wasn't a tall man, but 
his features were stern and his presence commanded respect.  For 
him to demand silence during debate was uncharacteristic.  He was 
generally taciturn, allowing his co-First Minister to guide 
debate when necessary.  "The proposals are on the floor.  Discuss 
the merits of both, but I ask that you do not allow the 
conversation to again degrade to this utter chaos."

"If I may?" Shai began, addressing the First Ministers as he 
stood.

Shir Om nodded curtly.

"If it pleases the Council, I suggest we consider again Jor El's 
proposal.  It is incumbent upon us to help as many people as we 
can.  We have no reason to doubt our scientific advisor and the 
figures that he has quoted to us."

"No reason except the fact that Jor El's emotions cloud his 
thinking," Rae Et interrupted.  She stood and faced the First 
Ministers.  "Jor El is an honorable and capable man, but his 
judgment is impaired.  He's lost one child and has just brought 
another into the world, he is guided too much by these emotions 
and incapable of doing what is best for our society as a whole."

"Are you suggesting that one must not have children in order to 
make sound decisions?" Li Han asked pointedly.  Shir Om sat 
silently beside her, his expression guarded and unreadable.  As 
all co-First Ministers before them, they were technically married 
to one another.  They had no children and their personal 
relationship was unknown to all.  They seemed to get along quite 
well, having been raised together since early childhood, but one 
wondered wistfully if both had given up any chance at personal 
happiness in order to take up the mantle of co-First Minister.

"Of course not," Rae Et apologized graciously with a bow of faux 
humility.  "I am merely suggesting that our human emotions may 
lead us to make decisions our hearts demand, but that our minds 
know are wrong.  Passion clouds our judgment.  Level heads must 
prevail."

"And your level head would turn this into nothing more than a 
genetics experiment!" Shai exclaimed.

"Order!" Li Han demanded.

Dar Rhys stood.  "If it pleases the Council, I think we should, 
in fact, consider the population implications of Councilor Rae 
Et's proposals.  The esteemed Councilor has suggested thinning 
the pool of potential colonists through genetics screening."

"It is necessary to maintain the integrity of the colony," Rae Et 
rebutted.  "With such a small pool, the presence of serious 
genetic defects could be disastrous for the viability of the 
colony."

"And what do you suppose we screen out, how will you determine 
who lives and who dies?" Dar Rhys demanded.  A roar rose up in 
the chambers again as councilors began yelling furiously at each 
other.  Shir Om demanded order, to no avail.  The normally 
subdued chamber of the High Council of Elders had spiraled into 
pandemonium.

********

"The child will be a problem," she said dispassionately.

"The child?  But he's merely an infant!"  Alon exclaimed.

Her chair was slightly elevated, allowing her to look down at the 
two younger councilors on the other side of her desk.  "And in 
the new colony, people will be afraid.  They will cling to the 
promise of leadership.  They will demand a savior, and they will 
look to him.  They will put their faith in the promise of 
greatness, however stupid and na‹ve it may be."

"So you wish us to eliminate him?"  Shertal asked.  He stared at 
her unblinking, his cold eyes fierce with a glimmer of cruelty.  
Rae Et smiled to herself, knowing that she'd judged the younger 
man well.

"Precisely," she replied.

"There will be others like him," Alon replied.  "He is not the 
only gifted child in our world."

"No, but he is the son of Jor El.  He will hold a position of 
favor above all else, unless we prevent it."

"Why now?  Why not wait until later, when the opportunity 
presents itself?"  Alon demanded.

"It is too risky.  We must create the opportunity, not wait for 
it to come to us.  The murder of the child could create calamity 
in the colony.  We cannot allow that to happen," Rae Et explained 
forcefully.  She would not be swayed.

Shertal stood abruptly from his seat.  "We will do as you wish," 
he said, his hands clasped in front of him respectfully.  Alon 
quickly stood to join his colleague and they bowed slightly 
before departing.

******** 

Lara worked quietly in her area of the lab.  She glanced up to 
see her husband buried in his work, oblivious to his 
surroundings.  It was late and they had been working without 
pause since morning.

"We should go," he said without looking up from his work.

"I'm sorry?" she replied, caught off guard.

"It's late, and that son of ours is going to grow up without his 
parents there to watch him," he looked up at her and smiled.  She 
marveled at how he always seemed to know what she was thinking.  
"Let us go," he repeated.  Hand in hand, they slipped quietly out 
of the vacant laboratory.

********

"Hello?"  Jor El called as he opened the door to their living 
quarters.  What met his gaze was far from what he'd expected.  
The room was dark and the lights wouldn't turn on.  It took a 
moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.  A soft groan 
broke the silence.

"Mother!" he exclaimed as he raced to his mother's side.  She lay 
motionless on the ground in the middle of their sitting room.  
The furniture was overturned and everything breakable in the room 
appeared to have been broken.  He knelt beside her, pleading like 
a child with her to wake.  She finally began to stir in response 
to his frantic, panicked attempts to rouse her.

"Kal El," she whispered weakly.  Jor El looked up, fear welling 
inside him, but his wife had already raced to the child's room.  
He heard her cry and it pierced his heart.  She raced back into 
the room, holding the still form of their son in her arms.  Their 
eyes met and he could see the tears streaming down her face.

"I'll call for help," he whispered hoarsely.  He stood and raced 
to summon medical help.  His heart pounded and his hands sweat as 
he spoke into the communicator.  The dryness in his throat made 
it difficult to form the words.  "I don't...I don't know what 
happened," he explained agitatedly into the communicator.  "We 
found them this way, please, send help quickly!" he entreated.  
He terminated the communication and immediately called upon Tao 
Scion.  The bile rose in his throat.  He wasn't going to lose his 
son.

********

Jor El paced in the anteroom of the hospital.  He'd grown to 
despise this place - its cold walls, it's antiseptic smell.

"Please, sit down, Jor El," Lara entreated him.  She extended her 
hand to him and he took it and sat beside her on the hard bench 
against the wall.  She placed her head upon his shoulder and he 
wrapped his arm around her, putting his head on top of hers.  He 
closed his eyes and held her tightly.  He prayed silently to no 
one at all, a desperate plea to the fates for intercession.

The sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway as someone 
approached startled him.  He looked up to see Tao Scion walking 
toward them.  His face was grim.  Jor El's face fell as his 
throat tightened.  Lara looked up at their dear friend, her eyes 
bright with unshed tears.  Tao Scion sat down beside her.

"We've stabilized him," he began to explain.

Jor El exhaled the breath he didn't know he'd been holding in.  
Lara sobbed in relief.

"He was poisoned.  So was your mother, Jor El.  We've managed to 
extract most of the poison from their systems, but they are both 
lucky that you found them when you did."

"Will they be all right?" Lara asked tremulously.

"Yes," Tao Scion said simply.  He was silent for a moment.  "Do 
either of you know who would want to harm them?"

"My mother and my son?"  Jor El replied incredulously.  "What 
reason would anyone have to harm them?"

"What if they were doing it to harm you?" Lara asked softly.

"No," Jor El responded forcefully.  "No, this doesn't make any 
sense."  He shook his head.

"Calm down, my love," Lara replied.

"I am perfectly calm!" Jor El snapped.  "I'm sorry..." he began 
almost immediately, regretting the outburst as soon as it had 
occurred.  He placed his hand against her cheek and kissed the 
top of her head.  She embraced him tightly and he held her just 
as fiercely.

After a long moment, he looked at Tao Scion.  "Can we see them?" 
he asked.  His friend merely nodded.  Jor El and Lara stood 
together, hand in hand, they walked toward their son's hospital 
room.

********

In the pre-dawn hours of the morning, Jor El held his wife in his 
arms.  Unsurprisingly, neither had been able to sleep.  Guards 
had been posted outside of the rooms of both his mother and Kal 
El, but given their delicate conditions, Jor El and Lara had not 
been allowed to stay with them.  Tao Scion had arranged for a 
room for them, their own home was still a crime scene that would 
require an investigation.

Jor El absently ran his fingers through his wife's long hair.  
"What if we can't protect him?" he whispered softly, half to 
himself.  It had taken him hours to work up the courage to say 
the words aloud.

"We'll go to the Council.  We'll get help," Lara attempted to 
reassure him.

"What if we can't trust the Council?" he probed.

Lara looked up at him, confused.  "Jor El..." she began.

"I'm beginning to suspect that Rae Et was somehow involved in all 
of this," he explained.

"Are you honestly going to accuse a Councilor of this?" she 
asked, incredulously.

"Not publicly, no.  Rae Et commands too much power and I have no 
proof.  I can feel it though, Lara, the woman is a force of true 
evil.  Other than Tao Scion, and ourselves, only a few members of 
the High Council know what the empath told us about our son.  Rae 
Et is one of them."

"Her personal animosity toward you is no secret, but what could 
she possibly have to gain by trying to kill our child?"  Lara 
asked, her voice wavering.

Jor El was silent for a long moment.  "I don't know.  This world 
is growing ever more unsafe, and I'm afraid the next one will be 
no safer."

"I am so afraid," Lara confessed.

"So am I," he replied.

********

Rae Et moved briskly down the desolate corridor beyond the 
anteroom to the Council Chambers, the two junior councilors 
firmly in tow, as though she had them on a leash.  It was well 
beyond late and approaching early morning.  The exhaustion was 
visible in the countenances of the two young men, but Rae Et 
showed no signs of fatigue.  "You failed," she hissed.

"We offer humble apologies," Alon began.

"Apologies do nothing to rectify the situation," she snapped.  
"Making another attempt before we leave this planet will be too 
dangerous; too likely to draw attention.  We'll have to wait 
until we're firmly ensconced on that damned space rock.  An 
entire generation will be wasted terraforming that vast expanse 
of nothingness.  It will however, provide us with a rather harsh 
environment and the death of delicate ones such as infants will 
become quite commonplace and ordinary.  If something untoward 
should befall the little El, it will hardly draw unnecessary 
attention."

"A wonderful bit of irony.  Jor El succeeds in jeopardizing our 
colony's viability through overpopulation and selection of an 
unsuitable habitat and his own son will be among the first 
casualties," Shertal added.

"Try to contain your enthusiasm," Rae Et responded humorlessly as 
she increased her pace her footfalls echoing loudly in the empty 
hallway.  The younger men struggled to keep up with her.

********

The sun cast long shadows as it slowly descended toward the 
horizon.  Warm rays of light filtered in through the windows.  
Tek Ra, however, was in no mood to enjoy the sunset.  He paced 
agitatedly, wearing a path into the plush carpeting of his 
sumptuously decorated office.  The walls and furniture were warm, 
rich colors and the office was equipped with every possible 
amenity.  He stopped in front of the floor to ceiling windows and 
looked out at the rose colored sky.  A knock at the door 
interrupted his dour ruminations.

"Enter!" he barked.  The doors silently glided open and Jor El 
entered the office.  "Jor El," Tek Ra greeted his visitor.  He 
could see the anxiety etched in Jor El's expression.  Like Jor 
El, he too, had recently become a father and could not imagine 
how he would feel in the other man's place.  If someone had tried 
to do something like that to Zara, suffice to say he did not 
believe that homicidal would begin to describe the emotional 
state in which he would have found himself.

"Tek Ra, how are you?"  Jor El asked, a weary smile on his face.

Tek Ra laughed humorlessly.  "It is odd that we all continue to 
ask each other these questions and exchange pleasantries given 
what is going on," he said as he waved a hand toward his window.  
"But I forget my manners," he continued.  "Please have a seat," 
he said, gesturing toward the couch.  "Can I have anything 
brought for you?"

Jor El sat down on the couch and shook his head.  "I am fine, 
thank you," he replied.  "How are Meiren and your daughter, 
Zara?"

Tek Ra sat beside Jor El.  "They are both well, thank you."  He 
paused for a long moment.  "We do not know each other well, Jor 
El, but we have much in common.  My daughter was read by the 
empath last week."

"So she is..." Jor El began.

Tek Ra nodded.  "Like your son.  The engineers and peacekeepers 
sent in the first wave to our new home have made substantial 
progress.  The next group of colonists will be sent soon to join 
them.  My family will be on that transport.  I know that you and 
your wife have requested to stay behind as long as possible to 
help prepare the other transports, but I am afraid this world 
will descend further into chaos as time passes.  It may not be 
safe for your son here.  I do not know whom, but your little 
child has already made some powerful enemies, people who fear 
what he is and what that means for our people.  That is why not 
even a single member of the Council knows about our Zara.  If you 
will allow it, I will take your son with my family on the 
transport.  We will protect him and care for him as long as it 
takes until you can be reunited."

Jor El remained silent.  Finally, he spoke.  "I thank you, Tek 
Ra.  Your offer means a great deal to me, and it will to Lara as 
well.  I will have to discuss it with her."

"Of course."

Jor El stood.  "Thank you, again.  I am afraid I must return to 
my work."

"I understand," Tek Ra replied.

"Good bye, Tek Ra."

"Good bye, Jor El.  May fortune be with you always."  As Jor El 
began to leave, Tek Ra called out to his retreating visitor.  
"The Council has decided to accept your proposal."  Jor El 
stopped and turned back toward Tek Ra.  "The largest possible 
number of people will be saved, because of you.  This world has 
much to thank you for."

Jor El nodded with a sad smile and departed.

********

Lara gazed up at her husband, anxiety clear in her expression.  
"If you're right, Jor El, that world won't be any safer for him 
than this one," she commented sadly.  She held their son in her 
arms as she fed him in the quiet of his nursery.

"I know."

Lara continued.  "But Tek Ra has a point.  Can we do our work and 
care for our son?"

Jor El sighed and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder as he 
looked down at Kal El.  "If Rae Et is behind this, he won't be 
safe anywhere."

"Have the police had any more success in their investigation?"

Jor El shook his head.  "No.  They have no more information now 
than they did the night it happened.  There is nothing to link 
her to it.  And yet, I cannot be free of the feeling that she is 
behind it."

An awkward silence settled between them.  After a long moment, 
Jor El spoke.  "There is still one thing we have not considered."  
Lara looked at him questioningly.  "Earth," he said simply.

"You know that we cannot..." she began, startling both herself 
and Kal El with the forcefulness of her tone.  Kal El began to 
cry.  "No, darling, I'm sorry," she crooned as she rocked the 
child.  Kal El's cries soon subsided to soft whimpers.

Lara looked back toward her husband.  "You know the vow our 
people made," she said softly.

"And I know the vow I made to you.  I will keep this child safe.  
He will have a long, happy, healthy life, no matter what."

"Then we must begin preparations at once," Lara replied.  The 
gravity of their decision weighed heavily upon her, he knew, just 
as it weighed upon him.

********

One Month Later...

Jor El had gathered his students in the hangar.  It was late and 
the last round of diagnostics had been performed on the latest 
transports.  Everything was going as expected.  "My friends," he 
began.  "Our work is nearly complete.  The colonists have begun 
settling our new home.  The last of the transports have been 
produced and we've all been guaranteed spaces on the final 
transport.  Our society owes you all a debt.  While this is a 
time of great sorrow, our way of life will go on, because of the 
work that you've done."

A tremor interrupted his speech.  Everyone looked around as the 
lighting fixtures swayed and unsecured items fell from their 
places on the shelves, the more fragile of them breaking.  The 
tremors had become normal occurrences and the necessary 
precautions had been taken.  Anything worth protecting in the 
hangar had been firmly bolted down.

Jor El waited for the shaking to pass.  "Good work everyone.  Go 
home, now, and be with your families."  Without fanfare, the 
students dispersed.  Lara was waiting for Jor El at the back of 
the hangar, holding their son.  He approached them with arms 
outstretched and she handed him Kal El.

"It's good to know that they will all be safe," he said quietly.  
Kal El began tugging at his father's greatcoat, pulling a chubby 
little fistful of the material into his mouth.  Jor El looked 
down at him with a good-natured smile.

"As will he," Lara added softly.  Jor El's eyes met hers in a 
knowing look.  "We are doing the right thing, aren't we?"

"I have to believe that we are," he said.

They exited the hangar and walked into their personal laboratory, 
where the project they'd worked on every night for a month 
waited.  Tucked away in a corner sat the tiny blue metal capsule 
with the El family crest on it.  In a few weeks time, they would 
place their son in that capsule and send him off, hoping that 
another world, far from this one would provide him with what they 
could not.  The destination had already been selected and the 
course charted.  All the preparations had been made.

********

Two Weeks Later...

"Jor El, you cannot be serious, you must take your place on this 
transport!"  Tao Scion entreated him.  He looked behind him at 
the platform where the transport was docked.  In a few short 
hours, it would leave, the last of the transports to take the 
survivors of Krypton to their new home.  Its location was secret, 
to prevent those who would not be saved from trying to gain 
access.

The ground underneath them rumbled again but both men ignored it.  
Jor El merely shook his head.  "Lara and I will not be going, 
give our places to others.  Please, my friend, you must do this 
for me."

"Your son..."

"Will be safe," Jor El assured him.  "We've made arrangements."

"So you did send him off ahead, as Tek Ra suggested?"

"Kal El will be safe," Jor El replied noncommittally.

"Please rethink your decision," Tao Scion pleaded with his 
friend.

"We've made our decision," Jor El said gently.  "Take care of 
yourself."

Tao Scion threw his arms around his friend in an uncharacteristic 
display of emotion.  Jor El hugged him back just as fiercely.  
After a long moment, Tao Scion drew back, his stoic mask 
beginning to crack.  "You are a man without equal, Jor El.  Our 
people owe you everything."

"I only wish we could have done more," Jor El replied sadly.  
"Take care of them, Tao Scion.  They will need men like you to 
lead them."

Jor El turned around and quietly walked away from his only hope 
for salvation.  He walked down the deserted pathways toward the 
waiting vehicle that would take him home.  Their world was dead 
already.  The streets were quiet, as people had withdrawn into 
their homes.  In other parts of the city, there were riots, but 
most people were spending their last hours with family.  He made 
his way down the desolate streets as quickly as possible.  He 
wanted to spend every possible moment with his wife and son.

********

In the laboratory that had become more like home than home, Lara 
held her son close, tears streaming silently down her face.  The 
tiny baby gurgled and laughed, unaware of what was going on.  The 
tremors had always upset him, but he seemed to be in a good mood 
at the moment.  Jor El watched them silently, his stomach tied up 
in knots and his chest feeling as though it was going to cave in 
at any second.  She looked up to see him and their eyes met.  She 
walked toward him, still crying and he felt the tears pricking at 
his own eyes.  He wrapped his arms around both of them and 
allowed himself to cry silently.

"There isn't enough time," Lara whispered through tears.  
"There's never enough time."

Jor El stepped back and kissed his wife before kissing Kal El's 
forehead.  Lara handed the baby to his father.  "My darling son, 
forgive us that we cannot make this journey with you.  There was 
only time to build a ship large enough for you."  He handed Kal 
El back to Lara so that he could prepare the capsule.  He moved 
it silently out to the hangar, Lara and Kal El following behind 
him.  He set the controls, opened the lid of the capsule, and 
placed the navigating globe in its position.  Jor El looked at 
his wife, holding their happy little boy.  He felt a cold, steel 
vise tighten around his heart.  

"Be a good little boy for mother," she whispered to him, nearly 
choking on the words.  "We love you so much.  Be a good little 
boy for us."  Kal El wrapped his tiny hand around one of his 
mother's slender fingers and Jor El could see his wife trying to 
fight back the tears.

Jor El nodded toward her.  They both knew that it was time.  She 
lay Kal El down in the capsule, wrapping him in his blue blanket.  
The baby began to cry as Jor El closed the clear lid over the 
capsule.  Lara broke down in tears as she watched her tiny son 
reaching for her.  Jor El too, began to sob as he secured the 
capsule.  The outer lid sealed, the baby's cries could no longer 
be heard.  Lara reached out for his hand and took it in hers, 
squeezing it hard.  They stepped back as the little capsule took 
off, racing their son away from them and this dying planet.  As 
it disappeared, Lara collapsed in Jor El's arms as they both 
sobbed uncontrollably.  They sunk to the ground as the world 
around them began to shake again.  She clung to him as though she 
were drowning, and in a way she was.  They both were.  He wanted 
to tell her it would be all right, but he couldn't bring himself 
to lie.  He couldn't even begin to think or move.  All he knew 
was how much it hurt and how powerless he was to stop it.  The 
tremors grew stronger as the lights flickered and failed.  Soon 
it was dark.  The rumbling continued, more powerful than before.

And in one long moment of chaos and fire, fury and sound, it was 
over.

An entire world ceased to exist.

********

Two Months Later...

A brilliant flash streaked across the Kansas sky on a gorgeous 
May evening that capped a day of rainbows, warm breezes, and the 
scent of spring with a slight hint of summer in the air.

"What was that?"

"Probably a meteor, or something," he muttered as he pulled the 
old, red pickup truck off the dusty road.

"It looks like it landed in Shuster's Field," she said.  "We 
should go see what it is."  She opened her door before finishing 
the sentence.

"Martha," he replied, shaking his head.  He opened his door and 
followed her.

********

Almost Thirty Years Later...

The old man's thin frame shook as another coughing fit gripped 
his body.  He gripped the armrest of his chair tightly.

"Are you all right, sir?" the younger man asked.

"I will be fine, Lieutenant Commander Ching," the old man rasped.  
"Bring Zara to me."

"Of course," Ching replied.  He bowed respectfully before leaving 
the Spartan chamber.  He walked down the dimly lit corridor, his 
heavy boots falling loudly on the metal floor of the barracks.  
Ching made his way through the maze to Zara's private quarters.  
He knocked on the heavy metal door.

"Shir Om wishes to see you, madam," he said when she opened the 
door.  She nodded in response and stepped out into the hallway.  
As was his custom, he walked a step behind her as they walked 
toward the First Minister's chambers.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Not well," he replied simply.  "He hasn't been the same since 
she died.  Their bond was stronger than any of us ever realized.  
He doesn't have much time."    The heavy double doors slid open 
as they approached.

"Come in," Shir Om called to them weakly and they entered the 
well-lit chamber.

"My young friends," Shir Om continued.  "My time is short.  Zara, 
I fear I leave to you a troubled world.  Until a co-First 
Minister is chosen to rule by your side, there will be no peace 
among our people.  Rae Et will not rest until her son is chosen."

"I will not rule with Nor," Zara replied steadfastly.

"If your people so chose, you will.  You must."  Shir Om coughed 
again.  Zara touched his bony hand, but the old man shook her 
off.

"He is a man of no character, or scruples," Ching said.

"There must be another way," Zara insisted.

Shir Om doubled over as the coughing seized him once again.

"You need your rest, sir," Ching said.  Shir Om merely nodded as 
Ching helped the older man out of his chair and to the bed.

"We will leave you in peace," Zara added as she and Ching slipped 
from the room.

"I'll summon my father," she said to Ching as they walked down 
the corridor.  They stopped in front of the door to her chambers.  
Ching turned to walk away.  "Stay," she said.  Zara reached out 
and touched his hand.

Ching looked down at her hand and slowly interlaced their 
fingers.  His eyes darted across the vacant hallway.  Assured 
that they were alone, he followed her into her quarters and 
closed the door behind them.

She reached up to touch his cheek, but he turned away.

"I won't watch you marry him.  I'd rather die than let the 
scoundrel touch you," he said sullenly.

"Let us try to avoid both scenarios."  She raised his hand to her 
lips, never breaking eye contact with him.

"What do you propose we do?" he asked.

She shook her head.  "I'm not certain, but we should speak with 
my father."

"I'll get him."  With that, he left the room.

********

"There must be another way..." Zara mused aloud as she paced in 
her quarters, her agitation was patently clear, but in the 
company of the two people she trusted more than any others, there 
was no longer any need for pretense or dignified detachment.  

"My daughter, you must calm down," Tek Ra chided.  He leaned back 
in his chair.  His tall body still strong, though his hair and 
beard were now thoroughly gray and lines of worry and many harsh 
years were etched into his face.

"If only Kal El had survived," she continued.

"Zara, there's no point in dwelling on the impossible," Ching 
interrupted.  He stood against a wall, his arms folded across his 
chest.

"He may have," Tek Ra corrected.

"What?" Ching gasped, his arms dropping to his sides.  "What do 
you mean?"

Zara and Ching looked expectantly at her father. He shifted 
uncomfortably in his chair and leaned forward to place his elbows 
on his knees.  He looked down at the ground.  "Jor El and Lara 
refused my offer to bring Kal El with us, but I do not believe 
that they allowed him to perish with them.  I believe they sent 
him to Earth."

"Earth?" Zara asked incredulously. 

"Jor El would have done anything to guarantee his son's safety.  
Sending him to the planet of our origin would have been his best 
possible chance of protecting Kal El."

Zara set her jaw sternly, an expression she'd inherited from her 
father.  "Then we'll find him."

"This is a fool's errand!" Ching replied.  "Even if Kal El 
survived and even if we find him, there's no reason to believe 
that he'll come with us or that he'll be accepted by our people 
as First Minister.  He's never been trained or tested."

"He will be accepted," Zara insisted.  She turned to her father.  
"And why did you not tell us about this?"

"Jor El lost one child and nearly lost the other.  Protecting his 
son, both from whomever was trying to kill him and from that."  
He nodded toward the heavy silver cuffs Zara wore around her 
wrists.  "Was paramount.  He did not want his son to be forced 
down a path he would not have chosen.  He could not force that 
upon a child."

"But I chose this," Zara replied.

"Did you?" her father asked.  "You were raised knowing what was 
expected of you.  A great responsibility was placed in front of 
you and you were asked to choose or to walk away and the daughter 
I raised would never walk away."

"If he was chosen, it was for a reason," Zara said softly.  "He 
is our last hope.  If Nor is allowed to take his place, it will 
be the end of our people.  I am going to find him."

"If that is your wish," Tek Ra replied.

Ching stepped forward.  "And I will go with you."

Zara arched a brow.  "I thought you said this was a fool's 
errand."

"I did," Ching replied indignantly.  "And it is.  But you should 
not go alone."

"You will have to leave post haste and in secret.  If Nor learns 
of this, it will go badly for all of us," Tek Ra counseled his 
daughter.

"We will not have much time.  Shir Om will pass soon," Ching 
mused.  "I will arrange for a transport."

"Assemble your crew only of those whom you trust," Zara warned.

Ching nodded curtly and left the chambers.

Zara turned to her father.  "It will not be easy," he told her.

Zara nodded in understanding.  "Kal El will have to decide his 
own fate, as we all do."

********

Two Months Later...

Lois walked down the street at her typical rapid clip.  She 
smiled secretly knowing that her super-powered fianc‚ had to 
hurry to keep up with her.  "Okay, so we've got your parents, and 
my parents, and lord, I wish my parents were more like your 
parents."

With a few quick strides he managed to get ahead of her and hold 
open the door to the Daily Planet lobby.  "And we've got my 
cousins from out of town, my college roommate, half of 
Smallville..." she continued.

"Honey, you're babbling," Clark interrupted.

"I am not," she replied defensively.  "I'm making a list."

"And checking it twice, I know, but please relax."  He pushed the 
elevator button and they waited for the car.  "We're getting 
married next week.  This is supposed to be one of those 
blissfully happy times, not the most stressful moment of our 
lives, and believe me, given us, that's saying a lot."

He gave her one of those boyish half smiles of his that she found 
so irresistible, and not feeling particularly inclined to resist 
it, she leaned toward him and kissed him.  It was a long, 
lingering kiss interrupted rudely by the pinging of the elevator.  
He smiled against her lips as he broke off the kiss.  The 
elevator was empty but the ride to the newsroom on the third 
floor was far too short and she found herself wondering why the 
Daily Planet couldn't be located at the top of some hundred-story 
skyscraper.

********

Same Time, Earth's Orbit...

Zara sat at the controls on the deck of the transport.  "Have you 
found him yet?" she asked impatiently.

"He wasn't particularly difficult to find," Ching replied 
snidely.  He brought an image up on the main monitor of a 
muscular, dark haired man in a rather silly looking blue and red 
outfit with the El family crest on his chest.

"What an odd manner of dress they have," Zara mused.

"They don't all appear to dress like him," Ching explained, 
though when he considered it, even the garments worn by the rest 
of Earth's population were outlandish when compared with the 
simple, utilitarian clothing Kryptonians wore.  "And they all 
seem to know that he's not one of them.  He has powers that they 
don't.  It's quite hard to believe, really.  He's far too strong 
and invulnerable and he flies."

"Flies?" she asked incredulously.

"Indeed.  I wager it has something to do with this planet's sun, 
or its atmosphere.  It has an odd effect on the Kryptonian body.  
Completely harmless, but remarkable.  Given a period of exposure, 
we should develop powers like his."

"What else do we know about him?" she continued.

"He attempts to live as one of them.  Has a life separate from 
all of this," he replied.  Waving vaguely at the red and blue 
clad figure.  "He has a good life," Ching continued as he 
produced more information on the monitor.  "A respectable 
profession, surrogate parents who are, as they say in these 
parts, 'the salt of the Earth,' and he is about to wed.  It will 
be difficult to convince him to leave this place."

"We have to try," Zara insisted.

Ching cloaked the transport and navigated the ship as it entered 
the Earth's atmosphere.  He landed the transport in secluded 
woods, not far from the city known as Metropolis.

"Ensign Parth," he called for his navigator.

"Aye, sir," the younger officer responded as he looked up from 
his station.

"You will take the ship back out into the planet's orbit and 
maintain the cloak.  We will contact you regularly with our 
progress."  Ching turned to Zara.  "We will have to acquire 
proper garments and make our way into the city.  From there we 
will be able to learn more about Kal El and how best to approach 
him."

Zara nodded in response and the two left the command deck of the 
transport toward the air lock.  Zara deftly disabled the airlock, 
there would be no need for it, and opened the cargo doors.  A 
long ramp descended in front of them to the ground.  They walked 
down the ramp and into the brilliant sunshine.

Ching squinted as he looked up at the sky.  The yellow sun of 
this planet was so bright and intense; looking at it hurt his 
eyes and he diverted his gaze.  He stared up at the radiant blue 
sky that stretched out toward forever in front of them.  Thin 
wisps of white clouds were scattered in the sky.  He breathed 
deeply of the oxygen-rich air, laden with the smell of who knew 
how many species of flora.  The region they had landed in was a 
lush green, from the soft grass beneath their feet to the trees 
that towered above them.  It was alive with the sounds of animal 
life and he marveled at what might be waiting for them in this 
world.  It was more beautiful than he could have imagined.  All 
of the passages in all of the books he had read hadn't done it 
justice.

Here it was, in all of its glory.  The original home of his 
people, a place they pledged not to return to for reasons that 
escaped him at the moment.  He contrasted it to the world he 
knew; a world that was hard and harsh and cruel.  It was an 
inhospitable space rock, desolate and merciless.  It provided his 
people with no comfort or succor.  They had clawed and fought 
their way to a meager existence on that little planet, fighting 
an unending battle merely to survive.  But this world, it teemed 
with life, with endless possibilities.

He stepped further away from the ship, Zara right beside him.  He 
turned to her.  "Let us go," he said simply.  "We have much to 
do."

********

"There's too much to do!" Lois exclaimed.  "Why aren't we 
eloping?" she asked him with that plaintive tone that made him 
want to do whatever it was she commanded.

He smiled as he placed his arm around her and surveyed the mess 
that had taken over his living room since the wedding 
preparations had begun.  This was only the secondary mess, the 
primary mess was somewhat contained at Lois's place.  This was 
the spillover.  "Because a wedding with all of our friends and 
family will be more fun," he tried to reassure her.  "Besides, if 
we eloped, your mother would kill both of us."

"You're invulnerable," she grumbled.

"You think that would prevent your mother from killing me?" he 
asked with an arched brow.  She elbowed him in the ribs.  "Hey!"  
He feigned indignation.  She leaned over and kissed him and he 
forgot what he was supposed to be indignant about.

It started as the merest whisper of a kiss, but her arms were 
soon around his neck, her hands in his hair.  He groaned as he 
wrapped his arms around her, effortlessly pulling her into his 
lap.  He could feel her smile against his lips and then she 
started kissing a slow trail to his chin and along his jaw, 
finally pulling his earlobe between her lips.  He moaned, feeling 
as if every invulnerable nerve ending in his body was suddenly on 
fire.  "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he whispered 
breathlessly.

"If it's anywhere near as much as I love you, I'm the luckiest 
woman in the world," she whispered in his ear.  He held her even 
more tightly and kissed her again.   His hands trailed down her 
back and came to rest on either side of her slender waist.  His 
fingers slipped under the hem of her blouse to brush against warm 
skin.  She arched her back pressing her body against his.  He 
more felt than heard her sigh.  The sigh turned into a groan of 
frustration, though, when the phone began to ring.  He glanced at 
the cursed phone and could see Lois giving him a look that 
plainly said 'don't answer it.'

He answered the phone reluctantly.  "Hello?  Hi, 
Ellen...no...it's good to hear from you, too...yes she's here..."  
Clark ignored the fact that Lois was vigorously shaking her head.  
He placed his hand over the receiver and held the phone out for 
Lois.

"How does she know I'm here?" Lois whispered.

"She said she tried you at home and called your cell and your 
pager and then she thought she'd try here," Clark replied.  With 
a dour look, Lois took the proffered phone.  Clark eased himself 
off the sofa and headed toward the kitchen, easily ducking the 
pillow Lois threw at him.

"No, Mother, the seating arrangements are done...no, we can't 
redo them..." He could hear the frustration in his fianc‚e's 
voice as she battled with his soon to be mother in law.  He 
figured now would be as good a time as any to break out the 
triple chocolate chip fudge brownie ice cream and the Lethal 
Weapon movies he'd rented.  He grabbed the carton of ice cream, a 
couple of spoons and the videos and headed back into the living 
room.

"Yes, the flowers have all been taken care of...everything has 
been taken care of, I promise... I'll talk to you tomorrow, when 
we have lunch with the coordinator, all right?  No, I can't, 
Mother, I'm sorry, I have to go, Clark needs help with 
something..."  Clark grinned at her as he placed his peace 
offerings on an empty corner of the coffee table.  "Goodbye, 
Mother."  Lois hung up the phone and threw another couch pillow 
at Clark, which he managed to catch.

"Hey!"

"Hey, yourself, buddy," she replied.  "It serves you right for 
that."

"Well, then maybe I won't share the ice cream I brought," he 
replied with mock petulance.

"Yeah, well if I eat any of it, there's no way I'll be able to 
fit into my dress on Saturday."

Clark took the lid off the carton and dug one of the spoons into 
the ice cream.  He flopped down on the couch beside Lois and 
stuck the spoon in his mouth.  Chocolate was nice, but it was 
just another junk food as far as he was concerned.  Lois, on the 
other hand, seemed to live and die by the stuff.  There was no 
reason he couldn't have a little fun with that, was there?  He 
dug the spoon into the carton again and could see Lois watching 
him out of the corner of his eye.  He relented and held the spoon 
full of ice cream out for her.  She accepted the peace offering 
and closed her eyes and sighed dreamily; his fianc‚e could make 
chocolate ice cream an event.  Her eyes still closed, he took the 
opportunity to steal a kiss.

"Ready for another round?" he asked as he stuck the spoon back in 
the carton.

She hesitated.  "Maybe just one more."

"Close your eyes," he instructed.  She did as he asked and he 
leaned over... and hit her with the pillow she'd thrown at him 
earlier.

"Clark!" she exclaimed as she lunged at him.  She knocked him 
back against the couch cushions and pinned him there.  "I'm going 
to get you for that, Clark Kent," she said as she jabbed a finger 
in his chest.

He stilled her hands with his and kissed her again.  "I'm looking 
forward to it," he replied.  "We should start the movie before we 
get distracted again and all that ice cream melts."

Lois arched a brow as she looked down at him.  "What's wrong with 
being distracted?"

"Everything...nothing..."  He kissed her again.  "How much longer 
'til the wedding?"

"A week," she replied.  "Seven unbearably long days."

"You're right, we should elope," he said before kissing her 
again.

********

Zara and Ching walked through the crowded streets of Metropolis, 
trying to take in the myriad sights and sounds without looking 
too out of place.  Though they did not know it, they were 
fortunate that Metropolis drew so many tourists and so they 
looked like any other wide-eyed visitors to the city.

"You shouldn't walk behind me, Ching," Zara chastised him; using 
the English they'd practiced on the long journey to Earth.  Ching 
obligingly walked beside her, shaking off his usual habit.

"It's amazing," he said quietly.  "All of these people going 
about their lives, taking for granted how incredible their world 
is."

"Then we should start behaving as though we take it for granted, 
too," Zara replied.  She paused.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Communicator," she replied.  She removed the small device from 
her pocket and held it up to her ear.  At a glance, she could 
have passed for any other person talking into a cell phone.  She 
whispered harshly into the communicator and frowned.  After a 
long moment, she terminated the transmission.

"What's wrong?" Ching asked.

"Nor has found out about our mission, his supporters are claiming 
that we're committing treason.  New Krypton is on the brink of 
civil war."

"Then we've little time to test Kal El and determine whether he 
is worthy," Ching mused.

Zara frowned.  "You said yourself that he uses his powers here to 
help others and asks for nothing in return.  Let us hope that is 
an accurate testament to his character.  What else have you 
learned about him?"

"He's regarded as a god in this world," Ching replied.  "Defender 
of the innocent and all that.  He could rule them, but he chooses 
not to."

"Do you fault him for that?" Zara asked.

"It means he is untested as a leader," Ching answered.

"Does it?  He could enforce his will on these people, but does 
not.  There is strength of character in that, Ching."

"In this world, yes.  In ours, he will have to lead.  He will 
have to make difficult decisions; decisions that will cost people 
their lives.  He is untested," Ching maintained.  "We must 
determine what personal sacrifices he is willing to make, if he 
will give up this comfortable life of his for the greater good."

********

Clark found himself in a particularly good mood as he stepped out 
of the elevator and into the newsroom the following morning.  He 
looked around the bullpen but didn't see Lois anywhere.  It was a 
Sunday, but they were both planning on spending the morning at 
work.  A quick glance at her desk told him that she'd already 
been there this morning.  She was probably out chasing a lead, he 
mused.  He hoped that she'd be back by lunch; there was no way he 
would be able to stay awake through a meeting with the wedding 
coordinator and his future mother-in-law without her.  With Lois 
present, there was no question of whether he'd be able to stay 
awake, only whether he'd be able to keep the peace.

Trying not to dwell on a lunch spent discussing seating 
arrangements for the rehearsal dinner, he made his way to his 
desk and turned on his computer.

"Clark Kent," an unfamiliar voice called.  He looked around, but 
already knew that the voice was not coming from the newsroom.  
"Clark Kent, I am speaking to you on a frequency only you can 
hear.  You'd do your best to come find me if you do not want the 
world to know that you are, in fact, Superman."

"Not again," Clark muttered through gritted teeth as he raced 
toward the elevator.

********

Superman flew high above Metropolis, attempting to find the 
source of the transmission.  He scanned the city below him, 
keeping an ear out for further messages.  After several long 
minutes, he found the source of his problem: a patch into a local 
broadcast antenna on top of a skyscraper was transmitting the 
message.  He scanned the building and found his culprit in the 
basement of the building.  A rather irritated Superman made his 
way into the building and into the basement.  He pried open the 
locked door to the broadcast room in which the overzealous radio 
pirate was hiding.

"Took you long enough," the man taunted, his back to the 
superhero as he focused on the controls in front of him.

"What do you want?" Superman demanded impatiently.

"To broadcast this into every home in America."  The man jabbed a 
button on the console and the bank of monitors in front of him 
all began to show a montage of shots from video that had clearly 
been taken of Clark's apartment that morning.  There were clips 
of him showering and dressing at superspeed and shaving with his 
heat vision.  A muscle in Clark's jaw twitched as he watched the 
tape.  How had he managed to bug his apartment?

The man turned around slowly in his swivel chair.  He sneered at 
the superhero.  "You're free to stop me of course, but I don't 
think you will, because of this."  At that moment, all the 
monitors switched from showing Clark going about his rather 
unusual routine to displaying footage of a little girl, shaking 
with tears streaming down her face.  She was strapped to 
explosives in a large, dark, nondescript location.  A large timer 
on the bomb counted down the seconds on the clock.  Only a few 
minutes remained.

"The clock in the background there is accurate," the man 
explained calmly.  Clark noticed the wall clock behind the little 
girl.  "This is live and in real time, Clark.  Save her, or stop 
me..."  Before he could finish, Clark had already left in a 
colorful blur.

Ching calmly removed his communicator from his pocket.  "Kal El 
is on his way," he said quietly before terminating the 
transmission.  He removed the videocassette of Clark in his 
apartment and crushed it to dust in his fist before leaving the 
room.

********

A sense of panic welled up inside him as he flew over the city 
once again.  He focused on the videotape.  A faint amount of 
sunlight had been streaming in through the windows high up on the 
wall behind the little girl.  The size of the room suggested that 
it was a warehouse and with an unobstructed eastern exposure.  
There were two major parts of the city with warehouses, the docks 
on Hobbs Bay and the garment district of West River.  The West 
River warehouses were in the shadows of much taller buildings to 
the east and wouldn't get much sunlight.  He tried to remember if 
he could hear anything in the background of the videotape, any 
sound that could give him a clue of where to go.  He couldn't 
remember anything other than the ticking of the timer.  That 
incessant ticking that was now echoing in his ears.  He had to 
hurry.  It's odd, syncopated rhythm reverberated in his skull.  
Syncopated?  The timer's sound should have been steady, not 
syncopated.  That was it!  Muffled by the timer was the sound of 
the Hobb's Bay bridge gate guard siren.  He raced toward the bay 
at full speed.

Once the warehouses were in sight, it took only a few seconds to 
find the right one.  He burst into the warehouse with a spare ten 
seconds remaining on the timer.  He raced toward the little girl, 
paralyzed with shock only to have her and the bomb disappear as 
soon as he reached them.

"You!" he seethed as he looked up at the same man who had been in 
the radio station.

The man paced in front of him, a condescending sneer on his face.  
"Not bad, Superman," he egged Clark on.  "So there was no bomb," 
he said with a shrug.  "It was just a hologram, the best money 
can buy, though.  I think you'll find that what's behind door 
number two isn't a hologram."  The man stopped in front of the 
thick cinderblock inner wall of the warehouse and it too melted 
away like the little girl and the bomb.

Clark started for him but stopped as soon as he saw what was 
hidden behind the fake wall.  "Lois," he gasped.  She was tied to 
a chair, her arms bound behind her, but she seemed unharmed.  Why 
hadn't he been able to see through the holograms?

"I think that you'll find that she's quite real," the man said 
coldly as he held a gun to Lois's neck.

"Superman, get out of here!" Lois yelled.

"Tsk, tsk," the man chided.  "Bait doesn't get to talk."  Keeping 
the gun trained on Lois, he took a step back.

Immediately, Clark raced toward her, if he beat the bullet out of 
the barrel, they would be fine.  Instead he found himself 
repelled by a wave of searing pain.  He was knocked, back, caught 
off guard.  The man cocked the hammer on the gun.  "Kryptonite, I 
believe you call it," he explained.  "Well, a synthetic, in any 
event.  That's a Kryptonite field surrounding her.  You can't 
pass through it.  The bullet, I assure you, can. "

"Superman, no!" Lois yelled again.

Clark lunged toward her just as the man squeezed the trigger.  He 
threw himself in the path of the bullet, passing into the 
Kryptonite field.  The agonizing pain washed over him as he 
waited for the bullet's impact, hoping that he'd be able to 
protect Lois, but there was nothing.

No bullet.

Clark collapsed to the ground inside the Kryptonite field, his 
body tensing up in pain.  A wave of nausea crashed down on him.  
He heard Lois call his name as she struggled to free herself, but 
it sounded like she was a million miles away.  He tried to call 
to her, but could only cough.

"That's enough," an unfamiliar voice in the distance yelled.  
Then the pain was gone.

"You!" Clark choked out as he lunged at the man with the gun.  
The gunman easily stepped to the side, causing Clark to fall 
unceremoniously to the ground.

"I am sorry, Kal El," the gunman said.  "I truly am."

Clark stared up at him in confusion.

"Untie her at once, Ching," a woman's voice from who knew where 
commanded.  The man in front of Clark promptly began untying 
Lois.

"Kal El, we mean you no harm," the woman's voice repeated, but he 
realized it was coming from behind him.  He struggled to his 
knees and slowly turned to look at her.

"Don't call me that," he said harshly.  "And who the hell do you 
think you are?"

"Superman!" Lois yelled to him as she raced to his side.  He 
turned to look at her and was rewarded with another bout of 
nausea.  Lois helped him stand as he continued to stare down the 
woman in front of him.

"I apologize for our behavior, Clark," the woman continued.  "But 
we had to know if you were ready."  The woman took a step toward 
them.

Lois put herself between the other woman and Clark.  Her fianc‚ 
was still leaning against her for support.   "Stay away from 
him," she growled, barely restraining her own anger.  Clark 
placed a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up at him, concern 
evident in her eyes, with a gentle look, he wordlessly 
communicated that he was all right and she seemed mollified.

"Lois, this does not concern you," Ching said simply.

"Ching," Zara said reproachfully.  She turned back to Lois and 
Clark.  "We are sorry for the pain we caused you, but you were 
never in any danger.  The gun was unloaded and Ching destroyed 
the videotape.  This was a test."

"A test?" Lois spat.

"We had to know if Kal El was ready," Ching explained unhelpfully 
as he moved to stand beside Zara.

"We heard that part already," Lois shot back.

"My name is Zara, of the House of Ra, of New Krypton," Zara 
continued.

"What?" Clark gasped.

"We come seeking your help, Kal El," Ching added with a deep bow.  
"You have shown a willingness to jeopardize your own life for 
others, you are worthy."

"With all due respect, and it's not a whole lot, of all the 
people in this room whose worth might be in question, Kal El 
isn't one of them," Lois retorted.  "Can you walk?" she asked 
Clark quietly.  He nodded.  Needing only the slightest amount of 
support, he walked with Lois toward the door.

"Be that as it may we had to know," Ching replied, blocking their 
exit.  "Our world needs you Kal El.  It needs you to be our 
leader."

"So you try to kill me?" Clark asked him incredulously, still 
trying to shake off the dizziness from the Kryptonite.

"You passed our tests.  You proved your worth.  We had to know if 
you were equal to the challenge, there was no other way," Ching 
replied unrepentantly.

"Whoever you are, you are not Kryptonians, they're all dead," 
Clark said.

"Wrong," Zara replied.  "Not everyone perished when Krypton 
exploded.  We can prove it to you."  She produced a globe, much 
like the one Clark had found with his ship.  It glowed as it 
hovered a few inches above her hand.  She reached her hand toward 
him and the globe floated just above it.  "Take it," she said.

Hesitantly, Clark took the globe in his own hand.  It flashed a 
brilliant white and suddenly a rapid series of images filled his 
mind - images of a dying world, of families being separated, of 
transports leaving a doomed planet, of the survivors arriving on 
their new home: a dark, desolate rock spinning off in space.  He 
could feel the fear, the panic, and the sadness.  With another 
brilliant flash it ended.

"What is it, are you all right?" Lois asked, the concern plain in 
her voice.

"I don't think they're lying," Clark replied quietly.  He turned 
toward the two strangers.  "What if I say I believe you?"

"Then we have much to show you, Kal El," Zara replied.  

********

"How is this possible?"  Lois asked as she surveyed her 
surroundings.  She was standing on the deck of a cloaked 
Kryptonian ship hovering above the Earth.  Crewmembers did 
whatever it was they were doing, oblivious to her presence.  On 
the other end of the deck, a crewman was showing Clark something 
or other; she assumed it was a navigation system.

"The cloaking, the hovering, or the fact that we're Kryptonians 
who've traversed hundreds of billions of miles to find Kal El?" 
Ching asked.

"Yeah," Lois replied.  "All of it, the last part, whatever."

"He was supposed to lead our people.  We all believed he had 
perished when Krypton died, then we discovered that he had been 
sent here.  Our current leader is dying and the succession is in 
jeopardy.  Zara is to take his place, but cannot rule without a 
co-First Minister at her side.  The man who would take Kal El's 
place is a ruthless tyrant who must be opposed at all costs."

"I think I need to sit down," Lois blurted.  

"Certainly," Ching replied obligingly as he directed to her to 
one of the chairs in front of the command console.  

"So what you're basically saying is that Clark is your king."

"Not exactly a king, but close enough," Ching replied.

Lois rubbed her temples.  "This is a joke right?"

"A joke?"  Ching seemed offended.  "Of course not."

"My Clark is a terrific guy," Lois said.  "Don't get me wrong.  
He's a hero, even, but he's no king.  He doesn't want to rule 
anyone."

"Lois is right," Clark interrupted as he approached them.  "I 
have no interest in ruling."

"And we respect that," Zara replied.  

"It is not a perfect situation we find ourselves in, Kal El," 
Ching continued.  "You have missed your training, all of the 
preparation you would have been given to ready you to accept this 
responsibility."

"Look, Ching," Clark began, annoyed.  "I get that you wanted to 
know if I was up to the task, and while we're on the subject, I'm 
still really unhappy with how you decided about figuring that 
out, but what you don't seem to understand is that my life is 
here and I'm not leaving.  What would you have done if I had died 
on New Krypton?  You would have found someone else."

"War is about to break out on our planet.  Our colony is on the 
brink of self-destruction," Ching replied.  "Nor's supporters are 
not above using force to subdue his opponents into accepting his 
rule.  He will seize power and enslave our people.  Only you can 
pose a legitimate challenge to him.  Our people will accept you 
as leader."

"Why?  Why me?"  Clark asked.

"Because you are the son of Jor El," Zara said simply.  "Your 
father was our savior.  He and your mother above all others were 
responsible for our survival.  They sacrificed everything for us, 
giving up even their own lives.  People will trust you."

The words hit Clark hard and he sat down absently in the chair 
beside Lois's, taking her hand in his.  "Why didn't they save 
themselves, and why did they send me here, instead of to New 
Krypton?"

Zara shook her head.  "When it was discovered that you had been 
chosen to lead, an attempt was made on your life.  My father, as 
well as yours, suspected Rae Et, Nor's mother, but there was no 
evidence.  Jor El knew that you wouldn't be safe in that world, 
so he sent you here.  Your parents gave up their places on the 
final transport to New Krypton so that others would live.  We 
thought that you had perished with them, until my father told us 
the truth."  

"And you?" Clark asked, looking at Zara.  

"Like you, I was selected in infancy to lead.  From childhood I 
was raised to accept this responsibility, but the law is plain.  
I cannot rule alone.  It is either you or Nor, and Nor's 
selection will be the end of our people and all of your parents' 
sacrifices will have been in vain."

"Why don't you guys just elect yourselves a president and give up 
the archaic practice of king worship?" Lois asked irritably.  
Clark squeezed her hand gently.

"Our leaders are all elected," Zara explained.  "Except our First 
Ministers.  A pair is chosen when both are still infants, and 
they are raised with the knowledge that it will be their duty to 
watch over their people and serve them.  We serve at the pleasure 
of the people and our powers are largely ceremonial.  Those that 
aren't are well constrained by the Council.  Since the move to 
New Krypton, people have wanted to put their faith in a leader.  
Fear has caused them to cede much of their freedom out of a hope 
for some security.  Our current leader has not abused his power, 
but Nor's selection as First Minister would likely change all of 
that.  There are deep fissures in the Council; a war now will 
likely tear the Council apart.  A unifying force is needed to 
bring the factions back together.  I can see you are still not 
convinced."

"You're asking a great deal," Clark replied.

"We know," Ching said somberly.

"When your strength has returned, retrieve your own globe.  We 
will contact you.  I'm certain that it contains the information 
you'll need," Zara replied.  "Until then, we shall take you 
home."

********

Hand in hand, Lois and Clark ascended the stairs to his 
apartment.  He opened the door silently and they entered the 
apartment.  Before the door was even closed behind them, Lois 
threw her arms around Clark's neck, hugging him fiercely.  He 
felt her shudder and he wrapped his arms around her slender 
frame, one hand threading through the soft strands of her dark 
hair.  He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.  "It's all 
right," he whispered.

"I can't lose you, Clark, I can't," she murmured.  

"I'm not going anywhere," he vowed.  He gathered her up in his 
arms and carried her to the couch.  

He didn't know how much time passed with them simply holding each 
other on the couch.  At some point, they'd both fallen asleep and 
it was now dark outside.  He smiled.  He could tune into Lois's 
heartbeat again; his powers were back.  "You need to get the 
globe," she murmured almost inaudibly.

He hadn't known she was awake.  "Huh?" he asked.

"The globe," she repeated.  "Your globe.  I know it's eating you 
up inside.  You need to know the truth."

"The truth is right here," he said, brushing an errant strand of 
hair away from her face.

"Clark," she said softly.  "You have to know."

"Whatever it says, it won't change my mind," he replied.

She merely nodded.  She took his hand in her much smaller one and 
raised it to her lips, dropping a kiss in the palm of his hand.  
"Go," she whispered.  

He bit his lip, conflicted, but finally he stood up and spun into 
the suit.  "I'll be right back," he said.  Then he was gone.

Bare moments later, he returned.  He spun out of the suit and 
took the globe out of its little wooden box.  He stared intently 
at it, but it did nothing.  With a sigh, he replaced it in its 
box, not bothering to close the lid, and sat beside Lois again.  
She curled up next to him, but as soon as she did, the globe 
began floating.  It hovered over toward an open window and 
remained there for a long moment before darting out.  

"What's it doing?" Lois asked.

"I have no idea," Clark replied before spinning back into the 
suit.  "But we're going to follow it."  He picked his fianc‚e up 
in his arms and they set out after the globe.  

They followed the globe as it flew high over the city in a 
haphazard flight path.  It finally slowed when they were beyond 
the city limits, in a remote area in the forests outside 
Metropolis.  It descended toward the ground, Lois and Clark close 
behind.  It stopped in a clearing, where Zara and Ching and the 
other globe were waiting.  The two globes hovered next to each 
other.  Clark landed, placing Lois back on her feet and stretched 
out his hand.  His errant globe dropped into its master's hand 
after its long sojourn.  Zara likewise reclaimed her globe, 
tucking it away.  

"Hold it out like this," Zara said, gesturing with her palm up.  
Clark complied and she placed her hand on the globe beside his.  

A brilliant flash startled all four of them and suddenly, an 
image of a tall, gray haired man with sad eyes appeared before 
them.  The image began to speak.  The sound seemed to come from 
all around them.

"My dearest son.  If you are seeing this message it is because 
the globe has been activated by your touch as well as that of 
another Kryptonian.  Such an occurrence can only mean that the 
colonists have found you."

A beautiful woman appeared next to the man, long, strawberry 
blonde hair framed her features.  They both wore long, white 
robes, giving them an ethereal look as they spoke to their son 
from across space and time.  "Kal El," she began, her eyes 
seemingly bright with unshed tears.  "By sending you to Earth, we 
denied you the fate that otherwise lay before you - leading the 
people of Krypton.  We believed in our hearts that we were doing 
what we had to in order to protect you from harm.  We also 
believed that whether you would accept the responsibility of 
leading was a decision only you could make.  My son, forgive us 
please, for not being able to live to see the man you have grown 
to be.  And do not doubt, for one moment, our love for you.  
Whatever you decide, know that you have made us proud, my child."

The man put his arm around the woman and in another blinding 
flash the vision disappeared.  

"No, please," Clark whispered.  "Come back."

Lois squeezed his hand tightly.  She bit her lip and fought 
tears, struck by what they had sacrificed to save their son.  
They sent him here to save his life, and many times over he'd 
saved hers, and the lives of everyone else on this planet.  They 
had sent her the greatest gift imaginable and they had never had 
the chance to live to see what a wonderful man their son had 
turned out to be.  They would have been so proud of him.   

"How did you know that message was there?" Clark demanded softly.

"I didn't," Zara replied.  "From your knowledge of your birth 
name, your parents, and Krypton's fate, I knew that they must 
have included messages in the navigational globe of your ship.  
It only seemed logical that they would provide you with the 
information you would need in the event that these circumstances 
came to pass."  

"We must return to New Krypton post haste," Ching added.  "We 
will contact you again in two days' time for your decision."

"I can't leave," Clark replied simply.

"So be it, but we will contact you again in two days, Kal El," 
Ching repeated.

********

Lois sat down at her desk, her stormy expression warding off 
anyone potentially foolish enough to disturb her that morning.  
She had both hands wrapped around her coffee mug, the one with 
all the little Superman shields on a blue background, hoping the 
caffeine would wake her up a bit.  She hadn't slept at all last 
night.  Clark had vowed that he wasn't going with them, that the 
Kryptonians would simply have to find another way to solve their 
problems, but could he ever really turn his back on someone who 
needed him?  

He'd told her about Ching's other tests and she grew even more 
annoyed with the poncy, self-righteous alien.  Who did he think 
he was?  First he'd demanded to know if Clark would save someone 
at the cost of his identity.  Then he'd made Clark choose between 
his own life and hers.  And all of this for what?  Who were they 
to question Clark's ethics, his character?  They came here 
looking for his help and they ask by threatening to expose his 
secret identity and by threatening to kill his fianc‚e.  Yet 
despite it, Clark had listened to them and had refrained from 
tossing their butts off the planet.  She doubted that she would 
have been able to exercise the same control.  

And yet...

An entire world was on the brink of destruction.  Did it matter 
that she didn't like the representatives that they'd sent or 
their methods?  In the end, this wasn't about Zara and Ching.  It 
was about an entire world full of people.  A world of people 
Clark's birth parents had died saving.  Clark's birth parents had 
placed that world above their own lives and Clark's life above 
that world.  They sacrificed everything.  And she didn't like it, 
but Zara was right.  The destruction of that world would mean 
that sacrifice was in vain.

Well too damn bad!  If the Kryptonians were too stupid to know 
what had been sacrificed in order to save their necks, that was 
their fault, not Clark's.  It wasn't his responsibility to save 
them from themselves.  This was problem was of their own making, 
they'd have to find their own solution.  Without her fianc‚e.

But did Clark work that way?  Did he refuse to save people from 
problems that were of their own making?  To him, a life, any 
life, was worth saving, and he always did.  He always did what he 
had to in order to help others.  That was Clark, her noble, 
selfless, often lunkheaded fianc‚.  And she loved him for it.

She sipped her coffee and mused that she ought to switch to tea 
if she were likely to get this worked up before her first cup of 
coffee on a morning following a night of no sleep.  Lois thought 
about the previous night.  She'd wanted Clark to stay so badly, 
and he would have, it seemed, except some emergency had called 
him away.  God, she'd needed to be with him last night, needed to 
know that he was there and that he always would be.  But he had 
been needed elsewhere, and she couldn't stand in the way of that.  
She couldn't be responsible for that.  She would not get in the 
way of his being Superman.  Ever.  

Which meant...what, exactly?  It meant that she would stand by 
whatever decision he made, she realized.  Even if that meant 
leaving.  Even if it meant she would have to let him go.  With 
one word, she could have made him stay.  She knew that.  

One word from her.  

That's all it would take.  But she couldn't do it.  Dammit, she 
wanted to.  She wanted to tell him to stay, to tell the 
Kryptonians to take a hike (well, take a hike was likely the way 
he would put it; her language would doubtlessly have been more 
colorful).  Yet all she could do was support him.  And love him.  
Unconditionally, eternally.

Well this is a mature and self-defining moment you're having, 
Lane, she mused wryly to herself.  She continued to sip her 
coffee as she began sorting through her mail.  

"Lois?" A women's voice that she didn't recognize called her 
name.  

"Yeah?" Lois replied without looking up from her NOWJ newsletter.

"May I speak to you for a moment?"  Suddenly the voice was 
altogether too familiar.  Lois looked up at the last person she 
wanted to see in the newsroom.  Well maybe Lex Luthor had the 
woman beat, but dammit, she was a close second.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded of Zara.

"I wanted to speak with you," Zara replied.

"Yeah, I get that," Lois snapped irritably.  "What about?"

Zara looked around nervously.  "Perhaps it would be best if we 
discussed this in private."

"Conference room," Lois replied evenly as she got up and headed 
in that direction, trusting her not-so-welcome visitor would 
follow.  She ran into Jimmy on the way to the conference room.  
He seemed eager to discuss something but she shot him a look that 
quickly nixed that idea.  

"All right, what's going on?" Lois demanded after closing the 
conference room door behind them.

"I wanted to talk with you about what we're asking of Clark," 
Zara began.  "We understand that we are asking a great deal of 
you as well."

Lois arched a brow but said nothing.

"We know that you two are to be wed this week.  I suppose our 
timing could not be worse."

"Well, you and every super-villain in the world are kinda in a 
neck and neck competition," Lois replied drolly.  At Zara's blank 
expression, she continued.  "Never mind."

"I am truly sorry, Lois," Zara replied earnestly.  "I imagine you 
resent me, a usurper in your life..."

"Usurper?  Wait a minute?  What?!"  Fit of pique did not begin to 
describe Lois's mood.

"Oh dear." Zara sighed.  "The First Ministers of Krypton.  In 
this case Kal El and I..."

"Hypothetically, you and Kal...Clark!" Lois replied.

"Hypothetically, Clark and I, would be married."

"What?!?!"  The entire newsroom heard that and Lois frankly 
didn't care.

"It's a formality, a sham marriage..." Zara continued, a distinct 
look of unease on her face.  "No one expects...no one expects a 
real relationship.  The marriage is designed to prevent divided 
loyalties."

Lois laughed.  It was a frail, hollow sound.  "Well that's rich.  
Is there anything else you want to take from me?  Anything else I 
have that you want?" she demanded angrily.  She felt tears of 
frustration prick at her eyes.  This is no time to get emotional, 
Lane, she thought to herself, unless that emotion is righteous 
indignation.  You've always been good with that one.  

"This isn't an ideal situation for any of us."

"And yet, I'm feeling very little sympathy for you at the 
moment," Lois retorted.  "You come here to take the love of my 
life away from me so you can have a phoney marriage with him all 
the while putting him in danger to stop some war that your people 
have started and you want me to see things from your perspective?  
I'm sorry, I'm having a tough time doing that right now.  You 
wanted Clark to stop your war, now you're expecting him to play 
house with you?  For how long?  Months?  Years?"

"We don't know," Zara confessed.  "Possibly."

"Wow," Lois gasped in amazement.  "The nerve of you people!"

"We're both being asked to give up the men we love for the 
greater good, Lois," Zara replied, frustration creeping into her 
voice.

Lois glared at the woman standing not five feet from her.  Zara's 
posture was tense, but she looked as though she was trying hard 
not to appear uncomfortable.  Was she making Zara uncomfortable?  
Well, good, then, she thought petulantly.  So I guess Clark isn't 
your first choice as a husband?" she asked icily.   

"No!" Zara began, but seemed to regret the outburst immediately.  
"What I mean, is, I am in love with someone else," she confessed 
softly.  "Someone I cannot be with, because of my responsibility 
to my people."

"It's Ching, isn't it."  It was a statement, not a question.  
Lois eyed Zara critically.  She was pretty, she mused.  Tall, 
dark hair, intense eyes, strong, striking features, but too 
formal, too stiff.  Not at all Clark's type.  God, what was she 
thinking!  Clark wouldn't do that to her.  He'd be just as 
outraged as she was.   
  
"Yes," Zara admitted.  "We've known each other since childhood, 
but our duties keep us apart.  I hate asking you to go through 
what we go through everyday."

"But you can still see him everyday.  He's always with you.  
You're asking me to say goodbye to my husband and to wait, not 
knowing if he'll ever return to me.  He could...something could 
happen to him...and I'd never know," Lois's voice was barely 
above a whisper as she finished.  
  
Zara looked away.  Lois was thankful to not have another awkward 
apology or platitude to have to deal with at that moment.  The 
situation itself was too much to bear.

********

"I just don't know what to do," Clark explained, exasperated.  He 
paced restlessly in his parents' kitchen as they sat at the 
table.  He'd explained most everything to them, including Zara's 
last visit just before he'd left for Kansas.  He'd bumped into 
her outside the Daily Planet and she'd explained the whole 
arranged marriage thing to him.  He'd flat out told her that 
there was no way he'd go along with it.  

"You're certain that they're telling the truth?" his father 
asked.

Clark nodded glumly.  "My...birth parents confirmed it."  At 
their puzzled looks, he continued.  "The globe...there was 
another message on it.  Jor El and Lara told me to do what I 
thought was best, but I can't help but feel like I owe this to 
them.  They did so much to save the people who made it off 
Krypton and they saved me.  I feel like...like I'd be betraying 
them if I didn't finish what they started."

"They wanted what was best for you, Clark," his mother counseled 
gently.  "That's why they sent you here.  They wanted what every 
parent wants: to give their child the best life possible."

"And I'm sure that somewhere on New Krypton, there are an awful 
lot of parents wishing for the same thing for their kids."  Clark 
pulled out a chair and sat down.  He put his elbows on the table 
and leaned forward, his shoulders slumped in a defeated pose.  
"How can I even think about this?" he asked quietly, expecting no 
answer.  "How can I even think about leaving Lois?  We're 
supposed to get