The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [61]
Regardless, after this successful test, he would have a wealth of data to share with his brother. Then, working with Donodon, they could figure out how to solve the problem—if it existed.
Donodon was already hunkered down on the grass. The alien’s smile of anticipation made his chin tentacles quiver. He climbed to his feet, checked that all of his pockets were securely fastened. “We are ready.”
A small control pedestal stood next to the blocky base of the dismantled fountain. “Stand here with me to watch,” Jor-El said to Lara.
He rotated one of the crystal rods until it illuminated, and the penetrating scanner began to shine. Shutters and reflective flaps opened to expose a power collector that drank in Rao’s light. The cylindrical body rotated, picking up speed. Mirrors shifted angles to receive the output from the solar battery, added to the power source Donodon had supplied; then they began to revolve about their axes, flashing glints of light.
The alien stepped close to the whirring device and withdrew one of his handheld tools. Pointing the end in the air above his head, he drew a floating rectangle in front of him, then filled it in as if spraying the frame full of information. His ethereal screen began to display data being projected by the throbbing probe, layer after layer of rock, then lava, currents of molten stone as the view rushed deeper and deeper.
Jor-El found it dizzying. Lara laughed in amazement. “This is…beautiful!”
The heavy engine hummed, and the screen hovering in the air showed impossible thermal chaos. “I see, yes…there is your problem. Just a little deeper.” The alien stepped closer, his facial tentacles twitching with fascination.
When Jor-El checked his set of control rods, several of the crystals glowed amber. He pulled them out and reinserted them, but the warning color continued to intensify. “That isn’t supposed to happen.”
The lights from the penetrating scanner flashed on and off. The internal engines began to groan, then emitted a shrieking, tearing whine. Suddenly all the control crystals turned a blazing red. Donodon rushed toward the scanner in an attempt to fix the problem, but Jor-El could see it was already too late. He shouted a warning to the blue-skinned alien and grabbed Lara. He dragged her to the ground behind the shelter of the heavy fountain just as the throbbing device exploded with a scintillating, searing flash.
Jor-El pushed Lara’s head down, tried to cover her with his own body. A shattering, shrieking hail of broken fragments peppered the tilted fountain and sheared off the control rods of the standing podium. In the last instant he saw diminutive Donodon raise his hands to shield himself. Shards of crystal and gleaming metal hurtled into him, propelled with explosive force.
With a crash and a groan, the cylindrical device toppled over, like a mortally wounded behemoth, all its prisms falling in upon themselves. Showers of crystal continued to tinkle around them with incongruously musical sounds.
Wearing a stricken expression, Jor-El noted the blood flecks all over Lara’s slashed clothes, then glanced down to see that he, too, had been sliced by dozens of the razor-edged shards. He didn’t yet feel any pain. “Lara, are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so. At least, not badly.”
Leaving her, he bolted across the purple grass. Broken fragments of crystal crunched under his feet. “Donodon!” His voice was ragged.
The alien lay sprawled on his back. More than twenty spearpoint shards