The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [77]
But the ominous alien ship wasn’t finished yet. With the deep gouge ringing the core of Krypton’s capital city in a perfect circle, a shimmering curtain spilled out of the invading ship and dropped until it enveloped the metropolis under a hemispherical bubble that sealed itself inside the mammoth groove.
Zod reeled, staring at the enormous artificial dome that now covered Kandor. “It’s like a child’s dollhouse in a terrarium.” Everyone in the city was imprisoned, specimens in a gigantic zoo. Zod’s mind raced, wondering if this might indeed be a retribution force of Donodon’s people, or the powerful police force the alien had mentioned…or something entirely different.
Feeling isolated and helpless, Zod looked at the stranded citizens and vehicles on the nearest main thoroughfare outside of Kandor. A squad of Sapphire Guards rushed forward, firing their weapons to no effect. He wondered if he should take command of that guard contingent and tell them what to do. But he didn’t know what to do, either.
“How do we free them? How do we drive away that enemy ship?” For the first time he could remember, Zod felt completely out of control, unable to do anything. He should never have let Jor-El go to the arctic. Not now.
Suddenly Zod swallowed as he realized that if he had not stayed to perform the wedding, or even if he had left Jor-El and Lara’s estate one hour earlier, then he and Nam-Ek would also be trapped beneath that impenetrable dome. By sheer fortunate coincidence, they had been away from Kandor.
The dome throbbed, and the gigantic angled ship hung overhead, just waiting. He heard the pulse of energy from the containment dome mix with the still-sizzling sound of melted dirt and rock. Every breath he drew was filled with cold static electricity and metallic ozone. Despite his instinctive fear, he couldn’t help but admire the incalculable power the craft possessed. Zod feared that something even worse might be in store.
Finally, after a long moment of building tension, the air itself groaned. The terrarium dome flared and began to contract, like a tightening noose. At first Zod couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Nam-Ek stared, then shielded his eyes.
The dome pressed inward, encapsulating Kandor within a smaller and smaller boundary. Zod realized that the whole enclosed skyline was shrinking. Exotic lenses or condensing fields inside the projected dome reduced the size of the capital city, leaving behind only a ragged crater. As the boundary retracted, the alien ship followed it down above the containment dome.
Nam-Ek urgently tried to convince Zod to fly away to safety, but the Commissioner would hear none of it. Instead, he placed his hand on the mute’s chest, easing him off the landed raft. Nam-Ek retreated onto the open ground, looking forlorn.
Zod’s entire life was there in the capital city: his Commission, his strings of power, his connections, his home. None of the people there were his friends—in fact, he genuinely despised the Council members and many other bureaucrats who had stood against him over the years. Nam-Ek was the only one he really cared about, and the big mute was here with him.
But how could he stand by and simply watch this unprecedented act? He was angry, afraid, and almost wild to realize that he was utterly helpless in the face of this strange attack. Zod grabbed the controls of the flying platform, tried to take off, but Nam-Ek defiantly stood on the ground and gripped the side rail of the raft, holding back the vehicle with brute strength.
Zod spoke sharply from the control pedestal. “Do not challenge me, Nam-Ek! I am going closer, but I cannot do what I must do unless you are out of harm’s way. Otherwise, I will be too worried about you.” He softened his tone. “Besides, if I don’t leave you here, then who will come and rescue me if I need it?”
Unable to argue with