The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [118]
With the cooperation of numerous technicians and engineers and full access to any resources Jor-El requested, the Rao beam facility was completed with astonishing speed. On a high derrick atop the windy mountain peak, the intensifier crystals and lenses were ready to be aligned; once they were shifted into place, the crystals would focus the blinding, penetrating beam. Additional technical stations now occupied several nearby subpeaks, where huge collecting arrays of prisms and mirrors gathered the power of the great red sun each day.
White hair blowing in the stiff, cold breeze, Jor-El sat on a rocky outcropping near the control shack beside the high derrick, waiting for Rao to reach its zenith. “It’s time, Zor-El. Are you ready?”
“I’ve been advocating this for months. Let’s not stand on ceremony when Krypton could explode at any moment.”
Calling for help from No-Ton and the technicians, the two men shifted the lenses into alignment. Drawing from the sun and from the solar generators, the huge central crystal dangled like a pendant within the framework, glowing, charging, until it spat out a razor-sharp beam. Faster than an eyeblink, it struck the crater with pinpoint accuracy, hit the deep bottom, and began drilling into the crust.
A chimney plume of vaporized rock, steam, and smoke boiled upward. Debris flew in all directions; hot rocks showered down, and hellish smoke rose from the drilling site. Although Krypton’s straining core pressure demanded to be released, even the intense Rao beams would take days to penetrate the kilometers of crust to reach the molten mantle.
Hour after hour, the derrick shuddered with strain from the power output. The shaft burrowed deeper, and the two brothers waited side by side, watching from atop the summit.
CHAPTER 52
While Jor-El was gone for weeks setting up the huge Rao-beam project, Lara remained in Kryptonopolis to paint breathtaking new frescoes and assemble mosaics. Commissioner Zod expressed great support for her work. He said the glorious art helped to anchor his capital city’s place in cultural history.
Aethyr’s enthusiasm for Zod’s “new Krypton” seemed boundless, though Lara wasn’t sure exactly what role her friend played in the government. The other woman often slipped away unexpectedly; taking one or two Ring members and some Sapphire Guards, she would disappear for days and come back at odd hours. Whenever Lara asked about it, Aethyr remained evasive. “Sometimes a new government doesn’t run as smoothly as it should.”
Meanwhile, Lara intently studied the numerous buildings being erected or repaired, then sketched out her artistic plans for them. She transformed the blocky walls from plain, ser viceable structures into truly majestic monuments that would surpass anything Jax-Ur had created long ago.
The five immense new crystalline towers had already altered Kryptonopolis, transforming the construction site into a dramatic work of architectural art. On Lookout Hill the tallest monolith gleamed in the red sunlight. Despite Jor-El’s insistence that the gesture was not necessary, Zod had proudly named that structure the Tower of Yar-El.
Lara’s main project was to embellish a structure designated as the new treasury building. She sent detailed plans to armies of her helpful apprentices, then went to inspect the numerous decoration projects under way across the city. In Kryptonopolis, Lara supervised five times as many workers as her parents had ever overseen. All this was entirely new to her, but she was sure Ora and Lor-Van would have been pleased.
She stopped to admire an intricate and colorful mosaic her crew was installing on the new Academy headquarters, to be named after Cor-Zod. The mosaic’s pattern of carefully arranged pieces was still not obvious at a glance, although she had a clear picture of it in her mind.
“Magnificent.” Zod had come up behind