The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [10]
Prominent overhead hung the remnants of Koron, one of Krypton’s three moons and once the home of a thriving sister civilization. No Kryptonian could look into the sky without feeling the poignant loss. Jor-El mused as he followed Lara’s gaze, “Have you ever tried to imagine how much power it would take to destroy an entire moon? What kind of science was behind it?”
“Science? Science wasn’t responsible for all that death and destruction—Jax-Ur was. I’ve read about that tyrant in the epic cycles. No single person has changed Krypton’s history more.”
Jor-El was startled by the vehemence of her reaction. Lara certainly wasn’t afraid to state her own opinion. He’d merely been interested in deciphering the physics behind the astonishing weapons. Nova javelins, they’d been called. What sort of device could crack open the core of a world and cause such inconceivable destruction?
More than a thousand years ago, Jax-Ur had attempted to conquer all of Krypton, as well as the other colonized planets and satellites in the solar system. The people of Koron had refused to bow to him, so the warlord threatened to use his doomsday weapons. When they still refused to capitulate, Jax-Ur launched three nova javelins. After the weapons had shattered the whole moon, the warlord revealed that he had at least fifteen more in a hidden stockpile.
But Jax-Ur had spread his forces too thin; his conquests were too swift and too widely separated. Seven rebel generals gathered desperate armies from independent city-states that had survived the warlord’s depredations. The seven armies converged at the great river delta in the Valley of Elders, risking everything to defeat Jax-Ur. One of the warlord’s trusted advisers betrayed him—whether for noble reasons or just to save his own life, no one was sure. The traitor poisoned Jax-Ur before he could launch more of his weapons, and the despised warlord died without revealing where his stockpile was hidden.
Jor-El let his imagination roam. “If I could find one of those nova javelins, I could determine how it worked.”
“Let’s hope nobody ever discovers that stockpile. No one should have access to such weapons. That’s why dangerous technology is forbidden on Krypton.”
He gave her a wan smile. “Oh, yes, I know that too well. I have butted heads many times with the Commission for Technology Acceptance.”
After the defeat of Jax-Ur, the leaders of the seven armies established a long-standing peace, and Kryptonians turned their attention to other ways they could salvage their civilization. Since Jax-Ur had learned how to build his nova javelins from an alien visitor, the leaders of Krypton chose to block themselves off from any outside influence. The Seven Army Conference had banned all interstellar travel, all contact with potentially destructive races, and all dangerous technologies.
Lara stared up at the shattered moon. “I loved reading the historical cycles. In those days every life was part of an epic. Kryptonians had passions and dreams.”
Jor-El could not entirely veil his sarcasm. “But now the Council says we have everything we can possibly need and should be content. No new discoveries. No progress.”
Her thin eyebrows drew together, making a gentle furrow on her forehead. Her green eyes had the most amazing sparkle. She seemed so very alive. “But if we don’t aspire to improve ourselves, it removes the zest from life.”
Jor-El looked at her and smiled. “I couldn’t have said that better myself. I’m hungry for all different kinds of science—physics, chemistry, architecture, optics. Astronomy is my main passion.”
Lara touched her fingertips to his arm, startling him. “Look at us—an artist and a scientist. At first glance we seem completely different, yet we’re more alike than I could have guessed. My parents want me to