The Last Days of Krypton - Kevin J. Anderson [92]
She finished her wine in a single gulp and wiped her mouth. “Many of the younger nobles are truly lazy and decadent, but some of us do have ambitions. It’s very different to be told that you don’t have to do anything, as opposed to not being allowed to do anything.”
Now she leaned forward to kiss him, pressing her moist lips firmly against his. He could still taste the heady wine on her mouth. “And how do I take advantage of this unexpected pool of candidates?” he asked.
“Offer them what they hunger for. Bypass the privileged older noble children and promote the lesser ones. Their loyalty will impress you.” Her tunic came unfastened easily, and he roughly pushed the fabric down, baring her shoulders, then her breasts.
Zod’s mind spun with the ideas Aethyr had presented, the tantalizing chance to re-create Krypton from scratch. She tore his shirt in her urgent need to remove it. They quickly moved to the thick sleeping pads, kissing deeply, tasting the exotic flavors of the meal and the spicy allure of the possibilities they both saw. They drank each other in.
CHAPTER 38
Now unexpectedly exonerated, Jor-El began to assist Commissioner Zod in strengthening Krypton. He was wary that the ambitious Commissioner might be taking advantage of the tragedy to gather a great deal of personal power. On the other hand, Jor-El had witnessed firsthand the total paralysis of the old Council, and he couldn’t imagine them trying to deal with the disaster. At least Zod was getting things done.
And Jor-El intended to do the same. He and Lara returned to his research building at the estate, where he assembled all his best ideas for the protection of his planet. First and most important, the Commissioner had decided that Krypton must be vigilant, alert for any alien attack force that might come against them.
With Zod’s encouragement, Jor-El designed a large array of observation telescopes to scan the heavens and provide an early warning about any threats from space. This was a significant turnabout from his previous dealings with the old government, which had never given his proposals much serious consideration. So far, at least, Zod was giving the brilliant scientist free rein. That was a silver lining to the cloud of awful events that had happened.
As an astronomer, Jor-El had always been fascinated with the heavens, other stars, nebulae, black holes. He longed to see what was Out There. Previously, the dour Council had chided him for his preoccupations. “Distant worlds mean nothing to Kryptonians,” old Jul-Us had once pronounced in a ponderous voice from his high bench. “It is best that you keep your eyes toward Krypton.”
Now, everything had changed. Zod wanted him to turn his gaze outward.
“And those small rockets you built, the ones confiscated by the Council?” the Commissioner had said. “Find a way to modify them so they can carry explosives rather than scientific probes.”
“I need to continue my solar studies,” Jor-El said. “We must monitor the fluctuations in Rao.”
“So long as you help create defensive missiles, we can both get what we want out of this situation.”
Jor-El had never meant to “get something” from the situation. He merely intended to devote his work to helping Krypton recover from disaster and to stay safe.
He chose a perfect site for the observation network on the uninhabited plains not far from his estate and mapped out a broad-baseline listening post consisting of twenty-three parabolic telescope dishes. He made only clumsy sketches, but Lara proved to be a remarkable help by cleaning up his drawings until they were precise blueprints. From his command tent at the crater, Zod approved the plans with barely a glance. “You will have all the resources, equipment, workers, and