The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [37]
She chuckled. “I’d be happy to drink your wine. I assume you’ve brought out a rare and expensive vintage in an attempt to impress me?”
“Absolutely.” Despite what Aethyr said, Zod could tell she was enjoying herself, pleased with the discomfiture she had inflicted. He poured her a glass of the ruby-red wine. She took a large sip without going through the motions of staring at its color in the light, sniffing its aroma, or swirling it around in the glass. He waited for her to make a comment, but she didn’t. “Do you like it?” he finally pressed.
“It’s wine.” She shrugged, then changed the subject. “I understand you’ve been busy, Commissioner. The funeral for your assistant?”
Zod frowned. He never wanted to think about that idiot again. “Poor Bur-Al is gone, and the vicious hrakkas have been destroyed. We have other things to discuss.”
“Do we?”
He was finding this quite amusing. “Most women in Kandor would leap backward off a cliff for the chance to have dinner with me.”
“I’m not most women.”
“I know. That’s why I asked you here.”
She looked down at the meal extravagantly spread out on the private little table. “I don’t like seafood.” She walked to the balcony and looked at the skyline. “I have no interest in the stuffy leaders of Kandor or the clumsy establishment. They always want to change me.”
Zod came to stand next to her. “How do you know I’m not different?”
She finished off her wine in a single gulp. “Since you haven’t proved otherwise, I can only assume that the great Commissioner has much invested in maintaining our stagnant status quo.”
“You might be surprised.” Zod’s eyes were gleaming. “If modern society is so distasteful to you, tell me what you would change. What do you want to do with your life?”
“I do whatever I like. I’m about to go off into the wasteland to study a large set of ruins. I think I’ve found ancient Xan City.”
“Where Jax-Ur made his capital long ago? No one goes there.”
“Exactly. That’s why I have to.”
Zod delicately sipped his wine. “When you come back, return here. Have dinner with me and tell me your adventures.”
“I doubt there would be any point.” She walked back to the door of his penthouse. “You can finish the rest of the wine by yourself. As you said, it’s an expensive vintage. Don’t let it go to waste.”
And then Aethyr was gone. Zod stared after her, and a slow smile curled his lips. The fact that she had so easily dismissed him made her that much more intriguing.
CHAPTER 14
Jor-El arrived back at the estate long after the artists and their crew had retired to their guest quarters for the night. He realized he had hoped to encounter Lara, but then decided he didn’t want to tell her how Commissioner Zod had taken the Phantom Zone from him. He still stewed over this, but he had other important work to do, and he was anxious to dive into it.
He slipped into his private study and worked for many hours drawing up plans and calculating trajectories for the following morning’s solar probe launch. He didn’t even notice when the sleepy chef delivered a quick meal for him, and he ate without looking up from his blueprints.
But he often found himself distracted by thoughts of Lara. Normally, Jor-El resented distractions, but now he didn’t mind. That had never happened before. He was curious to note these unusual feelings.
Forgetting about his equations, he analyzed his growing attraction for Lara as if it were an experiment, but he couldn’t fit his emotions into a suitable framework. And it had happened so quickly! He had a perfectly clear memory of everything she had said during their evening together, each time she had laughed. Not only was Lara beautiful and talented, she was also interesting.
He finally went to bed, but sleep was a long time coming.
Early the next morning he emerged, fully dressed but bleary-eyed. He walked across the quiet, dew-spangled lawns from the manor house to the large research building. He had a two-hour window to launch his probe toward