The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [71]
Jor-El looked down at the carefully labeled components spread out across the lawn. “There may be more to this mystery. I just found a foreign residue that seems to be some sort of unstable high-energy chemical. As near as I can tell, it is the same concentrated substance I use to launch my solar-probe rockets. I don’t know how it could have gotten into the seismic scanner, but I intend to run further analyses to identify the compound. That may be the key. What if someone tampered with the device? The explosion might not have been an accident.”
Zod appeared troubled. “Intriguing. It is best if you give me those samples, Jor-El. If there is indeed some suspicious contamination, then you cannot be the one to analyze it. The Council will never believe you didn’t plant this so-called proof yourself.”
“Jor-El would never do that,” Lara said.
“Of course he wouldn’t.” Zod gave a meaningful shrug. “On the other hand, the device should never have exploded, either. Let me take your samples back to Kandor. I will have my own experts study the chemical signature. You are not alone in this, Jor-El.”
Jor-El nodded slowly in reluctant agreement. “That would probably be best.”
The Commissioner turned, looking behind the large estate buildings as another floating vessel approached, this one guided by the burly mute Nam-Ek. On the craft’s open flatbed, large objects were covered with thick cloth, draped and shapeless. As if afraid of being overheard, Zod lowered his voice. “I have brought you something, Jor-El—something you must keep hidden for the time being.”
Jor-El looked at Lara, then back at the Commissioner. “What is it?”
Nam-Ek brought the floating vehicle and its bulky cargo over to where his master stood. With a flourish, Zod removed the tarpaulin to reveal large components, engines, computer systems, and sleek blue-and-silver sections of hull plating. “My Commission team members carefully disassembled the alien’s starship, but it is far too valuable to ignore. Regardless of the Council’s fears, I simply could not allow Donodon’s ship to be ruined.”
Jor-El came forward, breathing quickly. “You kept the components intact? I heard you announce to the Council—you said you had destroyed it.”
“The Council doesn’t need to know.” He smiled thinly. “Someday, Krypton will know the wisdom in this—I know you can see it already.”
Jor-El brought Lara forward. “His navigation system, his database of planets, his starship engines. We can do so much with this!”
“Unless the Council confiscates it again,” Lara warned.
“We will just have to keep them from finding out.” Zod rolled his eyes. “I cannot bear to leave such a technological treasure in their hands, can you? Until this distraction is over with, we must keep these components safely hidden. I trust that sooner or later we will need you to understand those starship systems, Jor-El. Someday I may ask you to build a whole fleet of Kryptonian space vessels to defend our planet. Whom else can I trust?”
Zod walked across the lawn with the big-shouldered mute matching his every step, and Jor-El followed him. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “My Commission offices in Kandor are not safe from inspection. Is there a place that we can hide the craft here?”
“I could haul it into my main research building and get to work even before my inquisition….”
Zod shook his head. “Too obvious, and too dangerous. We need a place where no one will think to look.”
Jor-El turned in a long slow circle, and finally his gaze rested on the prominent tower with its spiraling pearlescent walls. He paced around the perimeter of the structure, running his palm along the smooth wall, tapping and searching for any indication of an entrance. To Jor-El the enigmatic structure symbolized all the undiscovered things that remained in the universe.
“A long time ago, my father said I would know when to open the tower, when