The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [176]
No-Ton seemed almost frantic. “The Council just issued an edict banning all of your supposedly dangerous technology, Jor-El.”
He felt a cold wave of disgust. He had already been afraid of dark and reactionary days ahead. “Just how do they define dangerous technology?”
“Anything invented by you, presumably.” Or-Om shook his head. “Since they don’t understand any of it, they don’t want to take the risk.”
“I wasn’t there for the vote,” Jor-El said. “I didn’t hear any of the discussion. I wasn’t given a chance to speak on my own behalf. I will demand a reopening of the debate.”
“Your vote wouldn’t have made a difference,” No-Ton said. “Tyr-Us has his majority of cronies, and he means to demonstrate how ‘different’ he is.”
Now Jor-El did not try to hide his anger. “They already destroyed my wife’s art in Kryptonopolis without a valid reason. Now they mean to erase everything I’ve done? They can’t just delete me from the historical record. Surely I have more supporters than that? How could they forget so quickly?”
“Right now, people are afraid to speak out,” No-Ton said. “The Council is still vigorously rooting out any remaining supporters of Zod, and no one wants to fall under a veil of suspicion.”
“We could bring Zor-El back to stand by you,” Or-Om suggested. “He won’t put up with this nonsense. He never should have gone back to Argo City.”
“I’m coming to Kryptonopolis. Maybe I can sway them in the next official meeting. I can’t ignore this.”
“It’s more urgent than that!” No-Ton interrupted. “You already know that the Council means to destroy your Phantom Zone. Tyr-Us and Gil-Ex are irrational about it. Korth-Or and Gal-Eth both debated with them, but the six won’t change their votes.”
Jor-El replied with a sigh, “But they can’t destroy it. I’ve already explained that.”
No-Ton was trembling as he spoke. “Tyr-Us has decided to throw the silver rings down the shaft in the crater of Kandor. He thinks the magma should get rid of the Phantom Zone well enough. I…I’m not certain about my physics, but I fear that—”
Jor-El reeled backward, feeling as if a tall dam had just shattered and a wall of foaming white water was rushing toward him. “But if they do that, it will sink to the very core! The Council members don’t understand what they’re doing. They never have. The consequences could be devastating.”
“They have made up their minds, Jor-El,” Or-Om said gruffly. “Tyr-Us has already taken the Phantom Zone up to the crater.”
The valley around Kandor was black and devastated, the once-beautiful landscape now a vast, leprous scar. Lava boulders lay scattered everywhere, as if a giant had tossed a handful of black crumbs across the ground. A smoky haze hung in the sky, trapped by an atmospheric inversion.
At the edge of the crater, Jor-El disembarked and let the floating vessel drift. He began to scramble along the steep rock-strewn path; the group of determined Council members had already picked their way down. Tyr-Us, Gil-Ex, and the other four Council members who had been imprisoned in the Phantom Zone were clearly determined to undertake this ill-advised action.
Work crews had cleared away part of the hardened lava pillar left behind by the eruption, exposing the shaft sealed off by Zor-El’s protective field. The containment barrier held the still-pressurized magma below the surface. The somber self-important men stood next to a large object covered with a draping fabric, the silver rings enclosing the Phantom Zone.
“Wait!” Jor-El sprinted across the hellish ruins of the crater floor, waving his arms. When he stumbled and cut his palm, he ignored the blood running down his hand. “Stop! You must not do this.” Armored guards blocked his way. They seized Jor-El’s arms, but he continued to throw himself forward. “Let me go. I am a member of the Council.” He pulled free. “Do not put the Phantom Zone into the shaft! You’ll never stop the aftereffects.”
The six members of the new Council looked at him with exasperation and resentment. “Once again, Jor-El threatens