The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [46]
Lara repeatedly leaned over to whisper in his ear, explaining what was happening, pointing out nuances of stage direction, the shifting holograms of the sets, the lighting effects. In the building climax, the conflicting choruses drew together so that Hur-Om’s voice and Fra-Jo’s voice joined into a single song. With his last breath, parched and dying of thirst and heat exhaustion, Hur-Om sang out, admitting his love for Fra-Jo. Meanwhile, the woman, unable to swim any longer, dipping under the water and about to drown, called out her love for Hur-Om.
Then a miracle happened. Clouds broke, and rain poured down upon Hur-Om in the desert. On the other side of the stage, a sleek, gray dolphus buoyed up Fra-Jo; she held on to its fin as it streaked toward the distant shore. Meanwhile Hur-Om followed the run-off water into a canyon, then found a river, which guided him to the nearest village.
Many in the audience were weeping while others cheered. Jor-El just said, “That’s not physically possible.”
Lara chuckled. “But it is metaphorically necessary, and romantically required.”
Jor-El accepted the story for what it was. Once he opened his mind and put aside his skepticism, he began to see an almost mathematical dance in the performance, a perfection to the music that he had never noticed before.
Afterward he took Lara’s arm, and they waited in the mezzanine gallery for the crowds to thin. So many unexpected things in one day! They walked out into the gentle night, where people sat in outdoor cafés or strolled along the boulevards. Atop the Council temple, the flaring image of Rao spilled crimson light over the metropolis, even at night. Jor-El looked up to the speckle of stars that were bright enough to shine even against the glow of city lights.
When he saw a streak of light, he realized it was not one of the usual meteors falling down from Koron. This was a deliberate flaring trail that arrowed down toward the city, moving one way and then another, as if choosing a place to land. “Look! Up in the sky!”
Lara followed his pointing finger. “Is it a bird? Or an aircraft of some kind?”
“No, see the way it moves.” Absently he took her hand. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
In the middle of the great plaza, other people spotted the approaching craft and backed away as it came in for a landing. Jor-El pushed closer, anxious to see. The unusual ship was small, and its curves and fins were unlike any vehicle of Kryptonian manufacture. The markings on the silver and blue hull plates were in a language he could not understand.
Jor-El felt a thrill, certain that this ship came from outside. It had crossed the pathways between the stars and had somehow found Krypton.
After a long and silent moment, a hatch disengaged with a hiss. A metal plate lifted up and a figure emerged—humanoid, through of much smaller stature than a Kryptonian. He had pale blue skin, wide-set eyes that seemed much too large for his face, and a fringe of twitching wormlike blue feelers around his chin, like a beard of tentacles. His flat nose had thin vertical nostrils. He wore a baggy, slick jumpsuit that sported many pockets and pouches, each of which held a small tool or glowing device. He looked wizened, almost comical.
The Kryptonians were terrified. Heavily muscled Sapphire Guards hurried to the scene, but even they were not trained for this.
The alien stepped out, looked around, and twitched his beard tentacles. He startled them all by saying in a language they could clearly understand, “My name is Donodon. I have come to Krypton to speak to your leaders.” He spread his arms in a gesture of welcome. “It is time for you to leave your isolation and join the rest of the galactic community.”
CHAPTER 18
On her own in the wilderness, surviving by her instincts and abilities, Aethyr made her way across the trackless landscape. After weeks of searching, she finally arrived at the majestic ruins of Xan City, the abandoned stronghold of the deposed warlord Jax-Ur.
She had studied historical records,