The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [65]
They also found the seven remaining small rockets equipped with solar-analysis probes at the launching pad behind his main research building. He had received data from the last sensor package he’d launched, but he still intended to send monthly probes to monitor the red giant’s fluctuations. Donodon had offered his assistance….
Now, though, the Sapphire Guards took them all away. “These are potential weapons, clearly precluded by Kryptonian law.” Though the guard captain seemed somewhat awed, even intimidated, by the great scientist’s presence and his technology, he instructed his men to load the rockets onto a transport platform. “I am sorry, Jor-El. They are to be confiscated.”
Jor-El tried to explain. “They are scientific probes used to study Rao. They go above the atmosphere to take readings!” He drew a deep breath. “The Council gave me express permission to study the sun so that we can prepare if it enters its final supernova phase—”
“That is not my decision to make.” The big-shouldered man seemed apologetic. “You will have to appeal to Kandor.” The guards finished loading the apparatus without a further word to Jor-El, though they continued to give him sidelong glances. Angry, he watched them depart. They were only following the orders of the frightened, misguided Council.
From Argo City, even as rescue crews combed through the wreckage and tended the injured, Zor-El sent a supportive message on the communication plate. His dark hair long and loose, Zor-El looked drawn, his exhaustion and shock barely kept at bay by sheer adrenaline and determination. “I would be there at your side if I could, Jor-El. You know that.”
“Yes, I know it. And I also know that Donodon’s technology could have scanned the core and gotten the data we needed to convince the Council. The seismic penetrator would have changed everything. But now it’s too late.”
“I’ll still get the data, Jor-El. Even after the tsunami, I am sending a team to the southern continent. We were doing it before the alien arrived. We can achieve this ourselves.”
Jor-El looked intently at his brother’s face on the screen. “You need my help. Saving Argo City should be our priority, not my personal troubles—”
Zor-El cut him off. “Don’t worry about me. Many workers from all across the world responded to our need with all the willingness and enthusiasm I could hope for. I just have to give them guidance.” His image grew larger and more intimate as he leaned closer to the viewer. “You know you did nothing wrong, Jor-El. Don’t surrender without a fight. I believe in you, just as you believed in me when I told you about the core instabilities.”
Jor-El found the strength within himself. “Yes. I have to make the Council see beyond their fear.”
Not wanting his disgrace to rub off on her, Jor-El urged Lara to return home to her parents and brother in their Kandor studios, but she responded with cool stubbornness. “You need me, Jor-El, more than at any other time in your life.” She tossed her amber hair and looked him directly in the eyes. “You need me.”
“Of course I do, but you shouldn’t be with me. You know that, Lara.”
“Why? For the sake of appearances? For a genius, you can be incredibly dense sometimes.” She placed both of her hands on his shoulders, stood close enough that he could feel her warmth, smell her scent, see the bright sunshine on her skin and hair. “I don’t care what anyone thinks, as long as you have faith in yourself. I believe in you, and I intend to stay for as long as you need me.”
Jor-El let out a strained laugh. “You may be stuck here for quite some time, then.”
“Then that’s the way it will be.”
Sensing that he needed a new perspective, Lara took him by the arm and dragged him out to look at the spectacular murals her parents had painted. He stared with a leaden heart at the last obelisk, the one separate from the other eleven. Lara’s recently completed portrait of him looked so brave and