The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [143]
“Oh, he will suspect—but I’ll find ways to deflect him.”
“Lock down our quarters. If anyone asks, tell them I cannot be disturbed, that I’m focused on my cometary calculations. Zod should believe that.” He kissed her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Hold off any questions until then.”
In the darkest, quietest hour of the night, Jor-El crept through a window in their bedroom and furtively made his way out of Kryptonopolis. He dodged the overconfident Sapphire Guards patrolling the streets. After Zod’s recent show of strength, most of the people were cowed and cooperative. But not him.
When he reached the Rao-beam facility high in the mountains, the ever-present smoke and soot in the air made him think of the funeral pyres of burned innocents. He shuddered. This Rao beam had been constructed to save Krypton from the pressure buildup in the core, not to annihilate entire civilian populations. Zod had smeared Jor-El with their blood, and he felt violated.
Though the rig’s solar-generating crystals were dim and the focusing mirrors had been removed, enough charge remained in the central battery for Jor-El to do his work. In his hubris, Commissioner Zod had left the facility empty during his “celebration” in Kryptonopolis, but soon he would surely send a contingent of soldiers to guard the equipment. Jor-El had to act swiftly.
Working alone in the dimness, he knelt to remove the access panel from the central generator. He shifted internal crystals, rewired control circuits, and built a feedback loop. Sparks began to swirl inside the main dangling crystal. Then he climbed up the high derrick, hand over hand on the cold metal bars, to the heart of the Rao-beam projector. After using a prybar to twist the focusing rods into near-impossible angles, Jor-El scrambled back down. The metal handholds were already growing hot as the beam projector built up to an overload.
Zod would never again use this device as a weapon. Jor-El would make certain of that.
He sprinted back toward the empty monitoring shacks as the crystal throbbed. Internal lightning bolts ricocheted in its facets as the giant gem swayed in its cradle. Shards of the scarlet beam flashed off the prisms, then turned in upon themselves. When the buildup reached its critical point, Jor-El expected the mechanism to burn out.
But it was more spectacular than that. Wild and chaotic red beams splashed onto the crystal heart, striking the focusing rods and reflecting at the wrong angles. Spearpoints of light sprayed in all directions. Jor-El ducked into the shelter behind the dented shack moments before a swerving beam melted the roof clean away. The tall derrick began to shudder and thrum wildly. The vibrations increased.
Strafing crimson bolts struck the support girders, cutting off the derrick’s legs, and the whole structure began to topple toward the steep cliffs. With a groan that sounded like a dying scream, the structure tilted farther over. Only one support leg remained fastened to the boulders now. The central crystal dangled, spun, and finally broke free of its support cable. It shattered on a cliff ledge far below in a hail of blazing light and broken glass.
The flurry of beams died away, but gravity and leftover thermal energy continued to take their toll. With a wrenching noise, the last of the support legs tore free. Steel bolts sheared off, and the entire construction scraped down the cliffside like sharp fingernails on a polished slate board. The twisted derrick finally came to rest, while boulders pummeled the wreckage.
Unnerved yet exhilarated, Jor-El went to the edge of the precipice. He could barely make out the tangled ruin wedged into the boulder field far below. At last he felt satisfied. He had disarmed Zod, at least temporarily.
Now he had to race back to Kryptonopolis before anyone noticed his absence. His alibi needed to be perfect.
CHAPTER 67
After the annihilation of Borga City, all those who had signed Shor-Em’s inflammatory declaration knew they could not stand against Zod. They had already seen