By Philip Mogul <phmogul@mindspring.com>
Rated PG-13
Submitted June, 2006
Summary: This is an elsewhere tale like no other. Lois and Clark spend more than a lifetime of exciting adventures on Krypton while only months pass on Earth. Back on Earth, they must finish the work started on Krypton to fulfill the Utopian prophecy HG Wells predicted.
Standard Fanfic Disclaimers apply
Again, many, many thanks to my friend and GE, Jeanne Pare, for her invaluable assistance in assembling this Lois and Clark story into a more readable and interesting tale.
***
During the latter part of the nineteen eighties, three students matriculated at Yale University as freshmen in the university's science division. The appellations of these individuals were Kivi David Liron, Clark Jerome Kent, and Lois Joan Lane.
Although the temperament of CK and Kivi was on the mild side, Lois's disposition was dynamic and feisty, to say the least. While Lois's mannerisms could be explosive when dealing with many of her pigheaded peers, her relationship with Kivi and Clark was rather mild, understanding, and protective. During the university's orientation week, prior to classes, Clark, Kivi, and Lois, for some unearthly reason, bonded into a family unit. They pooled their room and board finances and leased a small house about a half-mile from the main campus of the university.
Clark, because of his mother's kitchen coaching as he grew into manhood, did most of the cooking for the trio of science majors.
Clark and Kivi decided to major in physics and minor in mathematics; Lois also determined to major in the same science areas as her companions, but added courses in journalism which would lead to a minor in that particular academic curriculum. Kivi, instead of journalism, sought classes in Einstein's cosmological view of the universe. Instead of joining Kivi, Clark followed Lois and also acquired a second minor in journalism.
While the cosmological studies would not lead to any useful scientific notions, it did satisfy Kivi's philosophical desires to understand how the older scientific generations viewed the universe.
As the academic year progressed, the university faculty realized that Lois, Clark, and Kivi had intelligence abilities that read above two hundred on the IQ, an unrealistic value. As members of the science division observed these unique individuals, the senior most scientists in the department noticed that competition between Lois and her housemates didn't seem to matter to the trio. Only their understanding of nature's physical laws occupied their joint efforts, and they would share what they discovered with all who were interested.
***
The Snake In The Academic Arena
***
About midway through the academic year, Lyle L. Luthor — the L representing his uncle's first name — Lex — presented himself at "the house of science" as Lois, Clark and Kivi's dwelling became known throughout the Yale campus. Of the three scholars, Lyle offered only Lois an invitation to join Alpha Tau Chi, a prominent Greek fraternity that had much influence on many other organizations on campus.
After Lyle's invitation, Lois asked Lyle, "Why are my two housemates not considered?"
Smiling, the enormously wealthy Lyle Luthor said that Clark was a hack from nowhere in particular, while Kivi was of Hebraic descent, a people who Hitler should have, but failed, to exterminate.
Shocked, but keeping her cool, Lois politely told Lyle that she had much too much work on her schedule to engage in the social activities of Luthor's Frat house. She thanked him again for his invite and then to let him know that ethnic bias was not her thing, she told him that she had a date at the library with her brother Kivi.
That evening Lois narrated her rap session with Lyle. She ended her nauseating tale by saying, "After he left, guys, I took a shower to remove the stench which was covering my body after hearing Lyle Luthor's comments and scrubbed away the terrible feeling that his views caused my psyche."
After she finished her comments of Lyle's convictions, Clark stood and took Lois in his arms. She immediately broke into tears and murmured, "How can people be so vicious?"
Clark just said, "I don't know, Lois," as he pulled her to him and brushed his lips across hers.
After a pause, Clark said, "Never change, my love. You, Lois, I am sure, will be a blessing to all humankind."
That evening Lois talked to Kivi and told him how she felt toward Clark.
Kivi smiled and said to Lois, "You are one lucky young lady. Clark has been in love with you almost since the three of us formed our family."
"I love you, too," Lois said to Kivi, "but my feelings for you are more like a sister's love for a brother."
"Lois," Kivi then added, "you'll have a lifetime partner. He is one of those guys who will never stray once a permanent loving relationship has been established."
Sometime before moonset that evening, Lois and Clark became an item, a lifetime couple.
When Kivi found out about their bonding at breakfast, he seized both Lois and Clark, hugged and blessed them, as Kivi's tears of joy ran down his cheeks.
After the trio's emotional interaction became more rational, Lois said to Kivi, "Wherever Clark and I might dwell, my brother Kivi, you will always have a home. We are a family now and forever."
A small family had just formally formed a lifetime partnership, which only death could annul.
***
*Beyond Undergraduate Studies*
Three Years after they had matriculated at Yale, Lois, Clark, and Kivi were on their way to California, each to pursue a doctorate at Calf. Tech.
Several years later, after earning doctorates in their fields, Kivi did some post doctoral studies at STAR labs in Metropolis while Lois and Clark both decided to earn master's degrees in journalism within the same great metropolis.
After graduating from Metropolis University, the Daily Planet hired Lois and Clark as investigative journalists and also used their physics and math skills to help aid with the science desk when needed.
As the lives of Lois, Clark, and Kivi were settling into a routine, they purchased a small house close to the Planet building, where Lane and Kent, now reporting partners, began to contemplate marriage.
When news in Metropolis was quiescent or nearly nonexistent, Lois and Clark would usually drop by STAR labs and work with Kivi, their spiritual brother. Delving into the mysteries of nature was not only fun, but for Lois and Clark it also relieved stress.
As they delved into Kivi's world, Clark was seized by a fantastic notion. While Kivi worked, at times, on what could be called STAR lab's research obligations projects, Lois and Clark began assembling a new type of computer whose internal components were made of special fiber-like optical glass that could move data near light speed.
From time to time, Kivi would contribute to Lois and Clark's fantastic project. As Lois and CK's computer program progressed into its final phase, Kivi began devoting more than half his time to CK and Lois's new computing device.
While Lois, Clark, and Kivi were determining what to do with their new discovery, the winter solstice holiday season, prior to the beginning of the New Year, was upon them. During this festive time, the Luthor clan again sponsored their White Orchid Ball. In addition to Lois and Clark, many other Planet staffers were invited to Luthor's festive and extravagant gala.
***
*Big City Trouble*
As the intrepid reporters entered the Lexor Hotel's great ballroom, Luthor saw Lois and was straight away enamored with her grace and beauty.
Although Lex Luthor's public guise was always that of a generous philanthropic merchant prince, his popular demeanor was in reality fraudulent. Luthor was a mobster, the leader of a vast criminal organization. Lex was a cunning sophisticated thug, who without remorse would kill or employ assassins to dispatch individuals or business rivals who he believed would attempt to finesse any of his business ventures or desired items he coveted.
Luthor was also a very controlling person. Anybody who knew Lex well understood that his wish was law, especially within his criminal domain.
As the merriment of the White Orchid Ball event went into high gear, Luthor made his way towards Lois Lane.
After introducing himself, Lex invited Lois to dance. Graciously, she accepted.
While Lex and Lois began swirling about the floor to the sounds of the White Orchid Ball's twenty-five piece orchestra, Lois became unnerved as Lex began pressing his body closer to hers. Lois could sense that Lex lusted for her and his body was telegraphing his mounting passion.
As Lois frantically looked about for help, she continuously glared at Luthor. Ignoring Lois's distraught situation, Lex began swirling about the floor to the sounds of the music with Lois more tightly in his grasp. All the while, Lois could sense Lex's growing lust for her and his body was pulling her closer readily as his passion for his dancing partner steadily increased.
Frantically searching for her fiance Clark Kent, Lois flashed an eye-catching help signal to Clark. When their facial orbs met, CK was quickly galvanized into action.
He rushed to Lois's side, and rapidly placed himself between Lex and his fiancee. Luthor, for his part, started to resist as CK moved between Lois and the crime boss. While Clark was driving Lex from Lois, he said, "If you don't want me to make a scene and break your jaw simultaneously, Luthor, let Lois be and vamoose. Just to let your know, Lex, what it will be. Lois and I are a couple, and your actions toward her are lascivious. A libertine behaves as you did towards my love, Mr. Lex Luthor Philanthropist, or should I call you Mr. Licentious Luthor?"
Incensed, Lex hurried away from the Planet reporters and went into seclusion for the remainder of the White Orchid Affair.
As Lex left Lois's and Clark's presence, the reporters exited the Lexor hotel and returned to the bull pen of the Planet, where Clark wrote an article describing the incident between Luthor and his beloved Lois Lane.
Clark then gave his article to Lois and told her to publish his article if anything bizarre were to occur and cause injury or death to his person. Clark was beginning to have uneasy feelings concerning Lex Luthor.
Then Clark cleaned out his desk as a contingency situation saying to Lois that there was something strange about Luthor. "He's not the sole of propriety that he alleges. Always be very wary of that man."
The next day Lex sought out Velmor Nash. Money exchanged hands and later that week Clark was sacked from the Daily Planet. No reason was given to Kent for his dismissal.
When asked later, Velmore's reason for his dismissing Kent was based upon the critical finances of the Planet. These monies had reached low ebb, and to conserve the newspaper's dwindling reserves, several new reporters employed within that year had to be discharged.
Since Clark had not completed his probationary year, Perry was powerless to prevent Clark's dismissal.
Several days after Clark's sacking, he left Metropolis for his boyhood home in Kansas. The day following Clark's departure from the great city, Lois sent a copy of Clark's story to Perry. It appeared in the afternoon edition of the Daily Planet.
That same day Perry asked the suits to attend a meeting in the boardroom. At this meeting, he presented evidence that strongly suggested that Lex Luthor, with the help of Velmor Nash, had conspired to remove Clark Kent, one of the best reporters the Planet had employed in quite some time, from his journalistic position.
Let sleeping dogs lie was the suits' decision. So they stayed with the Kent dismissal episode, although unfair, after, of course, discharging Velmor Nash from the Planet's service.
Perry was outraged, but according to the working rules of the newspaper, Kent was gone, probably for good. At that moment, Perry became aware that Lois would soon follow her boyfriend as soon as CK reestablished himself. What a loss to the Planet and to the people of Metropolis.
While Perry was growling about Clark's sacking and the stupidity of the Planet's board, CK was putting the final touches on his new computer. Also, unknown to the Planet's chief, Luthor, with the help of Nigel St. John and Asabi were developing a plan to ruin the journalistic reputation of Lois Lane, and if he were lucky, kill his intended victim.
However, since Lois's story shattered Lex's so called impeccable reputation, he thought it was best to allow the Planet reporter to remain unscathed for the present, although, in Luthor's view, her slanderous remarks deserved severe punishment, even the termination of her life.
So, for the present, Lois was secure from Luthor's psychopathic urges.
However, when Lex was alone that evening, Lex's anger toward Lois erupted again as he murmured, "There will come a time, Lois, when the crows will peck at your eyes and I will dance around your funeral."
Although Lois was safe for the moment, Clark was well aware that eventually Luthor's paranoia would compel him to injure or kill his fiancee. CK understood that he must quickly act and remove Lois Lane from Metropolis and from harm's way.
***
*Scientific Marvels*
From the information Clark constantly received from his sources, he realized that Lois was in grave danger from Lex Luthor's paranoia and it was only a matter of time before Luthor lashed out at her. With his knowledge, Clark worked day and night to complete his teleportation device. As the devil's disciple's psychotic urges increased daily, Clark knew that he was racing against time when Lex's desire to murder his fiancee would reach its boiling point. Kent figured he had at most a month to achieve his scientific goals and save Lois. With Kivi's help, the two physicists, Clark believed, could fabricate and install a working teleportation unit and place it in Lois's abode before Luthor made his homicidal move.
When Kivi was no longer needed to work on their teleportation project, Clark asked Kivi to stay with Lois until they both could safely leave Metropolis. As the Luthor crisis escalated according to his sources, Clark convinced Kivi to stay close to Lois — live in the same house and even sleep in the same room. Under these conditions, Kivi could accompany Lois to work and accompany Clark's love when she returned home. For Lois's additional protection, Perry kept Lois within the Planet building during her workday — Kivi was always nearby.
Kivi was a good choice to chaperone Lois because as a former special force warrior, anyone who would confront him face to face was in serious trouble and would probably meet his maker. The monies Clark received for his research endeavors after marketing his advanced super computer, a device fabricated from optical glass, which was drawn into fiber-like wires and was capable of moving data at light speed, was enormous. More money that he and his family could spend in a hundred lifetimes.
Realizing that Luthor, through LexCorp, would attempt to block his ability to patent his new computational invention, Clark approached AsCorp, a conglomerate of Asian countries — Japan, Korea, Australia, and Indonesia — to sell his new computer product.
He easily sold the new computer system to the Asian corporate conglomerate for a hundred million dollars and would earn fifteen percent of the corporation's computer profits on a yearly basis.
There was just one proviso. None of Clark's new computing machines could be acquired by LexCorp or any of its subsidiaries. This stipulation caused no problem with the computer transaction. In fact, Clark felt that AsCorp was happy to comply with the inventor's request.
To prohibit Lex and any other objectionable individual or establishment from gaining accesses to his work, Clark devised a coded system that would prevent any of his fiber glass-composite computers from being transferred or signed over to a different site or company. In order for one of Clark's computers to be used by an individual other than the original purchaser, it first had to be returned to AsCorp to be re-initialized by a unique encrypting golem.
When Clark received the money from the sale of his new computer system, Kent set up a Swiss account labeled LCK Foundation emblazoned on the account's checks. Just after the transaction with AsCorp, Lois and Kivi were immediately added to the LCK Swiss account as joint owners and their names added to the Foundation's checks.
When the new computers hit the commercial markets, Lex became furious when he discovered that LexCorp was denied access to these electronic marvels.
What made the marketing sting more disagreeable to Lex was the fact that within a few months LexCorp's profits were down eighteen percent. The Loss sale throughout Luthor's corporate empire was caused by Clark's new computer systems that significantly out sold LexCorp's machine by undercutting Luthor's selling prices by a significant margin.
Trying every trick in the book to acquire one of Kent's new computers by honest or underhanded means, Lex could not acquire a working computer, the type AsCorp was marketing.
While Lex was desperately seeking a way of procuring the new Kent computer system, his lieutenants, Nigel and Asabi were preparing a stratagem, which would repay Lois Lane for her alleged outrage against Lex Luthor — truth nor justice mattered not to Luthor or his sycophants.
The first time Lois realized something amiss had occurred was when she sought to board an aircraft that would carry her to Chicago where the annual national news convention was being held.
As she was approaching the boarding terminal, the aircraft that would take her to Chicago burst into flames without warning.
The passenger schedule for this flight was then transferred to another gate. When Lois was preparing to board the second jet plane, its landing gear suddenly collapsed. The third and final attempt to expedite the departure of the passengers was inhibited by a cockpit control panel malfunction.
After these mishaps, Lois returned home.
Several days later, as Kivi was driving Lois about town, they were stopped from traveling on a particular road that led to a public park where Lois could collect news about a drowning.
When Lois returned to the Planet after the detour incident, she had a serious conversation with Perry concerning the various unusual occurrences, which seemed to be directed at her.
Lois, with her perceptive investigative mind, was relatively sure that Luthor was the prime mover behind her misfortunes. Lois was quite sure that Lex was blocking her efforts to depart Metropolis.
While Perry agreed with his ace reporter, he didn't possess a shred of evidence that would allow him to act against Lex and his associates.
When Perry left the Planet that evening, Kivi arrived with a teleportation unit, which he immediately installed in Perry's office.
The next day, a bevy of masked women stormed the Planet's bullpen. Each hooded female carried an automatic weapon ready for use at a moment's notice. While some of the armed women obstructed the news floor exits, other pistol packing mamas began shooting randomly into the newsroom wounding some ten journalists. None expired due to their injuries, but all causalities required hospitalization.
As soon as the bullets began whizzing about the newsroom, Lois scurried into Perry's inner sanctum and activated the teleportation equipment and was gone in a flash.
Within a blink of an eye, Lois was situated in a grotto below the Kent farm. Looking around, she saw Clark speaking with Kivi.
"Clark," Lois yelled at her fiance.
Hearing her voice, Clark turned and ran to Lois gathering her in his arms. After hearing Lois's tale, CK shaking, murmured, "Thank G-d you're unharmed." Then she placed Clark's head on her shoulder to calm his emotional outburst.
Later that evening, Lois telephoned Perry on a secure line and told him the entire story of what had occurred in the Planet's bullpen that afternoon. The next day a front-page article appeared in the Daily Planet under the Lois Lane byline.
Clark then got on the phone and informed Perry how to use the teleporter hidden in his office. A few minutes later Perry was sipping tea in Martha's kitchen while he questioned Lois for more details about the shooting episode within the Planet's bullpen.
At the end of Lois's and Perry's question and answer session, the chief then informed Lois and Kivi that their Metropolis abode was torched.
Before Perry returned to Metropolis, a damming story had been written by Lois and Clark that inferred that the martial attack on the Planet's newsroom most likely was the result of hoodlums desiring revenge on Lois Lane and other Daily Planet reporters. Included in a list of possible culprits was Lex Luthor and company.
Unfortunately, all the women involved in the Daily Planet assault were killed when several police terrorist units arrived and there followed a shoot-out leading to the death of all the assassins.
To prevent any more such onslaughts on his newsroom, Perry gave Lois an indefinite leave of absence until things in Metropolis cooled down.
The next day, Kivi informed Bernie at STAR labs that he wouldn't be in for a while.
Kivi also told Dr. Klein that he could be contacted at the Kent farm if the need were great.
***
*Fabrication of a Wonder*
While Lois, Clark, and Kivi were having dinner with Jonathan and Martha on the first evening after the assault on the Planet, the scientific chatter focused on the unusual signals, which Clark had been receiving when he modified the teleportation unit.
After Clark, Lois and Kivi studied their altered teleportation equipment, the three scientists realized that a cosmic window had been opened through which the teleportation device had begun to receive a uniform pattern of waves. Clark, Lois and Kivi were well aware that regular arrays coming from the wilds of space were an indication that some sort of special event was occurring in the void.
After several lengthy and intensive discussions, the little family was convinced that electromagnetic radiation was indicative of a signal coming from some form of intelligent life.
As Clark attempted to find the location of the shadowy electromagnetic signals, Kivi and Lois were developing impervious paraphernalia fabricated from stabilized neutronium.
As Clark searched the heavens, Lois and Kivi rapidly created the impregnable material they had called stabilized neutronium. The new material happened to be permeable to light vibrations, and therefore, invisible and possessing a non-reflective nature.
The new material was very responsive to anti-gravity rays that Kivi and Lois would use as the legs for the interstellar spacecraft they were fabricating from their distinctive matter — stabilized neutronium.
As Clark continued his computations, Lois and Kivi also built intelligent droids, which Clark, using his new computer had suggested. These intelligent machines would help with all the manufacturing processes — the construction of their intergalactic spacecraft and the assembly of all the neoteric interstellar equipment.
When Clark asked for assistance with his computations, Lois began working with her fiance. While Lois was helping Clark with reckoning coordinates, Kivi and the droids built two weapon systems and incorporated them into the intergalactic vessel now rapidly being completed. Kivi had secretly developed these weapons at STAR labs when he had access to the Laboratory's secret library. One weapon array was a relatively close range high power laser cannon. It could shred all kinds of matter except for the stabilized neutronium components discovered by Kivi and Lois.
The second and most deadly weapon system was incorporated within the hull structure of the interstellar space cruiser. Essentially it was a dimensional annihilator. Kivi dubbed it the Cosmic Terror. When utilized, the dimensional exterminator, the Terror of the void, would produce a rift in the time — space continuum and connect our cosmic plane to a universe that was, for all purposes, an invalid spatial location. When an enemy vessel entered the Terror's electromagnetic field, the adversary would be dragged through a hole in space to a null dimension where it would promptly cease to exist.
Kivi, with some trepidation, then told Lois and Clark that the engine of havoc, the Terror, must be used with great care because he feared that if it were discharged haphazardly, their cosmic realm could be eradicated.
After dinner early that evening, Lois showed Clark and Kivi her theoretical schematic for a drive that would hurl the intergalactic ship across the cosmos almost instantaneously.
The next day, as Clark and Kivi began to construct Lois's interstellar engine, Lois, during a break, explained how her space drive functioned to her spiritual brother and her beloved Clark.
Prior to activating the space drive, the cosmic coordinates of the initial and final spatial locations would be placed into Lois's interstellar driver. Following this procedure the jump engine would be energized. When the jump mechanism was fully functioning, the two sets of spatial coordinates within the interstellar computer system would commence, drawing the initial and final locations toward one another and moving the cosmic loci into nearly a spatial singularity. When this occurred, the ship would begin crossing the wilds of space from its starting point to its new spatial vicinity. The time to cross a cosmos route using Lois's new drive mechanism would be nearly instantaneous.
Kivi and Clark congratulated Lois for designing such an ingenious device. She blushed, but was thankful that her work had been appreciated, especially by these two.
Hearing her praise being sung in front of Martha and Jonathan by her future husband and her spiritual brother, Lois beamed. A brilliant smile lighted up her countenance.
As Lois and Kivi finished placing the drive engine on line, Clark placed the computed cosmic locations, the Earth star system and the destination coordinates that were interpreted from the electromagnetic signals received from space.
Their destination, Clark informed his family after dinner, was somewhat more than eight billion light years from their home world — somewhat more than halfway across the universe.
At the end of the week, their cosmic project had been completed and been readied for testing. After thoroughly substantiating their work, theoretically and mechanically, Lois, Clark, and Kivi were ready to sail with their interstellar spacecraft across the wilderness of space and locate the source of the electromagnetic pulses received by their instrumentation.
***
*Across the Wilderness of Space*
It took the three humans and the droids another week to position their intergalactic craft into a lift — off orientation.
Then, after loading their spacecraft with the necessary survival provisions and gear, three space sailors — Lois, Clark, and Kivi and a number of their droids were prepared to leave Sol-Three on a journey humankind had dreamed about for untold lifetimes.
With Martha and Jonathan looking on, Lois initiated the launching sequences, and unknown to the world at large, Earth's first star ship was hurled into the void.
Rapidly reaching light speed, the Smallville, the ship's name, rushed toward the edge of the Sol solar system somewhere beyond the planet of Pluto.
As the ship hurried through the depths of space, Clark discovered a tenth planet linked to the Sol star system. Kivi noted its position relative to the sun so if they ever returned it would be reported to the Earth's scientific community.
A day into their trek, the Smallville's detection apparatus indicated that the intergalactic spaceship was beyond the limits of their solar system. It was now time to engage Lois's interstellar jump engine and enter the unknown.
Several minutes just prior to the interstellar flight, Clark had finished preparing a luncheon banquet. As Lois and Kivi began partaking of the delicious Kent banquet, Lois's soulmate triggered the cosmic and interdimentional jump mechanisms.
As the spacecraft began hurtling more and more rapidly across the universe, Clark seated himself with his family and also began relishing the luncheon's cuisine he concocted.
Following the noon meal, three star sailors rested. After their rest period Kivi, Clark, and Lois readied themselves for the final cosmic jump, which would carry their ship close to the location where the electromagnetic transmissions seemed to be occurring.
With Lois and Clark looking on, Kivi activated the intergalactic jump controls for the final time.
Almost instantly from the ship's portals, there appeared a red sun with a solar family of eighteen planets.
When searching for the electromagnetic waves in this strange solar system, the eleventh planet from the system's sun was found to be the source of the high-energy electromagnetic photons.
After some maneuvering, the crew of the Smallville placed their spacecraft in an orbit about the eleventh planet, which to their surprise was about the size of Earth. The atmospheric conditions of this particular planet, which the Terrans later discovered was called Krypton by its inhabitants, was also very similar to their own home world. However, because of Krypton's red hue, the energy bathing the eleventh planet was putting out only thirty-six percent of what Sol supplied to Earth on a daily basis. Therefore, without protective clothing, Lois, Clark, and Kivi could not long survive on the surface of Krypton, a planet they very much wished to explore.
***
*On The Planet Krypton*
After circling about the eleventh planet in this new solar system through several rotations, the three space sailors from Sol-Three readily concluded that the world they were scanning possessed an advanced civilization.
After developing a strategy for exploration, Lois and her male comrades descended to the surface of the eleventh world in this star system in one of the Smallville's shuttlecrafts.
Suiting up in special apparel and arming themselves with personal high-powered laser weapons, Lois, Clark and Kivi cautiously left the confines of their shuttle.
The location of their landing site was in a sparsely populated region where the three scientists could effortlessly collect samples from the planet's surface.
On the fourth day of their first expedition to the new planet's surface, Kivi discovered a huge caldera — a large crater formed by a past volcanic explosion. From his study of the volcanic area, the eruption probably occurred long before the first humanoid life evolved on Krypton — the name of the planet they would later ascertain from the electronic data collected from transmission data produced by the world's inhabitants.
While Lois and Clark studied the topological features of this world, Kivi continued to probe the enormous Kryptonian caldera, and from its remains he computed that this super volcano erupted some one hundred and twenty-five million years in the past.
From other signs near the caldera, Kivi reckoned that the violent eruption of the super volcano he was currently studying would have devastated most of the life on Krypton by blocking radiation from the red sun from reaching the surface of this world. The volcanic debris hurled high in Krypton's atmosphere would have brought about this event. The gigantic explosion, Kivi envisioned, would have emulated a nuclear winter scenario and cause the extinction of many of this planet's living species at the time.
When the trio met that evening, Kivi informed his companions of what he had discovered at the super volcano site, which appeared to be coming active again. There were signs of such an event, but the time line of any volcanic activity was still uncertain.
Since it appeared that there was no activity by the planet's inhabitants near the huge caldera, it was likely that the beings living on this world were unaware of the possible impending danger that the awaking super volcano posed.
Several weeks after completing their initial exploration of the volcanic area, the three Earth scientists returned to the Smallville and began assessing what they'd discovered and discussed what kind of search patterns they would employ on their next sojourn to the planet's surface.
Since the beings on this world were not yet aware of the forthcoming disaster looming in the bowels of their world, it was decided to attempt to forewarn the people populating this planet about the super volcano that could on the verge of awaking after ages of lethargy.
First, the three Terrans needed to devise a linguist device that could translate English and the language used by the living beings populating Krypton. Something analogous to the Rosetta stone was required for this process, but in an electronic format for rapid and direct communication with the inhabitants of Krypton.
During the ensuing months, Lois gathered the sounds of the Kryptonian people and analyzed the sonic frequencies produced by the planet's electronic media and the pictorial imaging codes being transmitted over the planet.
Lois, with her unusual intuitive abilities, was slowly able to create a dictionary between English and the tongue utilized by Krypton's population.
From her lexicon, Lois could establish that the planet they were currently studying was called Krypton and the inhabitants called themselves Kryptonians.
While Lois was busy compiling a dictionary comparing the two languages, English and Kryptonian, Clark and Kivi were fabricating a squawk box, an electronic translator that would allow Lois to prepare a word correlation program in an electronic format. The squawk box would allow the Earth explorers to communicate with the people of this world.
Lois discovered, while working on her language communication undertaking, that the Kryptonians were humanoids like themselves. She had a hunch that the genetics of the people living on Krypton were nearly identical to their own.
Later, during their explorations, Lois, Clark, and their spiritual sibling, Kivi, would confirm that the people of Krypton, as Lois had guessed, were genetically duplicates to Earth humans. However, because Krypton's sun was red, certain inconsequential mutations were noticed, which Kivi suspected developed so that the people of Krypton could exist on their world — a planet bathed in radiation generated by a ruby color star.
***
*Contact*
After the adventurers from Sol-Three had agreed to inform the people of Krypton about their impending peril, they developed broadcasting equipment that would allow Lois, Clark, and Kivi to communicate with Krypton's surface folk.
When the communication instrumentation was complete, the group of scientists from halfway across the universe considered a plethora of options that would allow them to contact Kryptonian's inhabitants without causing their own annihilation.
During one of their deliberations about contacting the Kryptonian inhabitants, Kivi said, "Maybe we should use something that would indicate to the population that we come in peace and that our communiques are truthful and do not conceal an invasion scheme."
"The only thing we seem to have in common," Lois then indicated, "is the electromagnetic waves Clark detected when we were still on Earth."
"That's it," Clark yowled. "We'll send our messages through the electromagnetic pipeline and see what occurs when our signals reach the originators of the electromagnetic signals that led us to this planet."
The next day, Lois, who was most familiar with linkage between English and the Kryptonian lingo, began composing messages to the senders of the electromagnetic energy pulses that had arrived on Earth and originally peeked Clark's curiosity.
When it was resolved how to communicate with the Kryptonian people, Lois began composing the electronic transmitting language while Kivi with Clark fabricated the sending and receiving mechanism — electromagnetic waves propagated on the Smallville and transmitted to the planet the vessel orbited. The messages were to be forwarded from Earth's interstellar spaceship and broadcasted along the demiurgic energy pulse routes coming from Krypton.
About a week after the three scientists began working on their intercommunication undertaking, they were prepared to send Lois's coded electronic dispatches to the senders of the original electromagnetic pulses, which landed on Earth.
Just prior to embarking upon their communication undertaking, Clark launched a reconnoitering probe, which would peruse the surface of Krypton after the three Earthmen began sending their electromagnetic pulses to the planet. Their stealthy missile would not be detected by the Kryptonians and would monitor the reaction of the planet's inhabitants when their electronic messages originating from the Smallville were beamed toward planet Krypton.
After Lois, with the aid of her companions, launched the detection probe and established that the projectile trajectory and its landing were successful, the Earth sailors embarked upon the second phase of their intercommunication game plan.
In less than a minute after the electromagnetic message signals had been transmitted toward Krypton, the signals emanating from the planet's surface abruptly ceased.
The Smallville's probe then indicated that Krypton's military was becoming very active, and Lois, Clark, and Kivi began observing strange machines scanning Krypton's near space — an area above the planet where satellites are usually parked and where the Smallville was now in orbit.
Unable to locate the source of the mystery space signals the Kryptonian search pattern ceased — the planet's quest for the space generated electromagnetic transmissions from the Smallville lasted approximately an hour Earthly time.
Listening to the excited global news broadcasts, Lois, Clark, and Kivi were elated that their communication experiment succeeded. However, the military communiques being communicated across Krypton did alarm Clark and his companions somewhat. They discovered that the bellicose part of the planet's government planned to trap and destroy the invaders by using deceptive tactics.
As Clark and his family considered their next move, Kivi modified their ship's communication device and communicated directly with the originators of Krypton's own electromagnetic signals.
These messages from the Smallville, which were again sent to a specific site on the planet, seemed to agitate the military even more, and a random array of nuclear tipped torpedoes were launched from the planet's surface and exploded near the Smallville, causing alarm among the interstellar ship's crew.
While no damage was incurred to the Smallville, Clark and his family knew it was time to leave the Krypton star system.
Since they did not travel across the wilderness of space to make war, the space sailors from Earth prepared to depart Kryptonian space and maintain the non-bellicose attitude between their two peoples.
A short time later, after leaving a brief but meaningful message Lois, Clark, and Kivi left the Kryptonian star system and headed home.
Their farewell message simply stated that to remain might cause an interstellar incident leading to a conflict, which was not the goal of their expedition. And, the space explorers added that in a war, nobody is a winner. There can only be death and destruction between the antagonists. No amount of mourning will cleanse nor heal the tormented souls of the survivors resulting from two battling interstellar cultures. "Goodbye, whoever you are. We could have learned much from each other."
When the Smallville at last fired up its engines, after exiting the Kryptonian solar system, the star sailors were headed home.
***
Lara And Jor-El
***
After receiving the farewell message from the unknown space rovers, Jor-El began ambulating to and fro, ranting and yelling at times at those imbecilic Norian clansmen — the clan that represented most of Krypton's military elite and unfortunately used their fists instead of their heads.
Lara, Jor-El's soulmate, watched as her husband's demeanor finally reached boiling and finally exploded with all its venom directed at the Nor clan and its bellicose and foolish leader Ri-Nor. While Lara was not often verbose, she never the less felt the same emotional passions as her life-partner.
When Lara's soulmate finally became silent, she suggested that they see Jor-El's bother, Sor-El, now the First Lord of Krypton.
After Lara had made her suggestion, Jor-El replied to his soulmate, Lara, "My beloved wife, Sor-El is not a perceptive man and his dislike of me because of my scientific successes has increased ten fold since our last meeting. This enmity toward our nuclear family appears to have increased as the people of our world publicly acknowledge our triumphs."
"That may be true," Lara replied, "but Ri-Nor appears to be confused. He might have provoked suspicion and potential hostility with another race, an apparently very intelligent people, who came to us initially with peaceful intent. Because Sor-El, spurred on by Ri-Nor, greeted them with hostile intent, I am now fearful of the long-range consequences his actions may have precipitated."
"Although my sibling's and Ri-Nor's foolish actions may have dire repercussions for Krypton in the long run, we can yet avoid a conflict if these space faring people can be located and a dialogue established."
"Jor," Lara said, "Your brother should be made aware of the consequences Ri-Nor's military actions might have brought about unless they can be thwarted by Krypton's naturally rational behavior through you and the Great Council."
Lara continued, "You, my beloved, were sending electromagnetic signals to attract other life forms to demonstrate to our people that we're not alone in the cosmos. You have again triumphed in another of your endeavors, my love."
Jor then said, "It was not I alone, Lara who built the equipment which summoned the aliens to our world. You were my partner in all our ventures. We are called the leading scientists of our world by many on Krypton, and the accolades we've received are as much due to your efforts, Lara, as mine."
Late that afternoon, Jor-El and his wife arrived at the entrance to the First Lord's audience chamber. There, they were made to wait nearly three hours before being informed that his brother could not see him that day and was told to return on the morrow. He was told by the lowest aides-de-camp to Sor-El, as a snub, to inform Jor and Lara that the assembly was nearing the time of adjournment.
Taking Lara by the hand, Jor exited the waiting room adjacent to the audience chamber. He left a note for the First Lord that vented his disgust by saying, "I have limited patience for fools, and especially ones who by any means attempt to boost their egos and demean others. The safety of our world I now leave completely in your and Ri-Nor's hands."
As The First Lord was informed that his brother had left the capital, Jor's note was handed to Sor-El. Seeing the communication, Trey insisted that Jor-El's message was in the public domain and must be read. Jor's note weighed heavily against Sor-El because it accused him of dereliction of duty, and it was well known that all government officials took an oath to support and defend the people on Krypton and to fulfill the obligations to that end. In scorning his noble brother, esteemed by the public and most officials, Sor-El had violated the public's trust. Jor-El was attempting to warn the government about the consequences of Ri-Nor's hasty actions. His reprimand by the leader of the assembly was well deserved. Trey's public condemnation of the First Lord's actions was also broadcast across the planet that evening.
Sor-El's bellicose attitude toward his brother also caused many powerful nobles and councilmen elected to the Kryptonian assembly to reject one of the First Lord's most cherished projects that would have further endeared him to his cousin Ri-Nor.
When Sor-El later met with Trey in private, he asked why his plans were pushed aside. Trey then cast a baleful eye upon the upper crust politician and said to his adversary, "Whenever you attempt to discredit a man who works for the welfare of his people, expect similar reverses in the assembly. We in the assembly may be political rivals, but we are not galactically stupid."
As Trey was leaving Sor-El's private quarters, the councilman further commented, "Don't run for the First Lord position again." Then the door quietly closed before Sor-El could respond."
The next day Jor-El and his Soulmate were invited to the First Lord's audience chamber and given preferential treatment.
Trey could see the disgusted look on Sor-El's countenance as he listened without hearing his hated brother.
Without the usual cordiality between family members, Jor-El stated his case about Krypton's action toward the aliens and then asked that the Norians cease their automatic militant behavior when confronted by almost every unknown situation under the sun.
Trey, the leader of the opposition, noticed the hatred of the First Lord toward Jor-El, his brother, as he informed the scientist that he would take Jor's recommendations under advisement and let him known of his decision later.
As Jor-El and Lara were leaving the audience chamber of the First Lord, Krypton's leading scientist said to his partner and beloved wife, "We'll never hear about this matter again. He will never confront Ri-Nor. My brother is a rabbit."
Raising Lara's hand to his lips as they exited the audience chamber, he said, "My beloved Lara, it's time that we used our own resources in our future endeavors, independent of any governmental support. The management of our world, now under my brother's foolish guidance, I'm afraid, will never again provide us with any financial aid to ensure that our future scientific undertakings would be successful."
That evening, Jor-El and Lara, with their nuclear family, left Kor-El, the capital city of the planet, and took up residence on their country estates.
Once the family had settled in, Lara and her husband set up their electromagnetic signaling device and again made it operational. They were hopeful that their electromagnetic pulses from their signaling device would again be detected by the unknown space explorers who had once visited their world.
***
*Signals To Earth, Again*
Returning to Earth, Clark, his fiancee, and Kivi were faced with an interesting set of circumstances. When comparing the time they were in Kryptonian space with their own space-time values, only a few days had apparently elapsed on their home world.
While investigating this dilemma, the space-time situation became so intriguing that Clark, Lois, and Kivi, Earth's first interstellar travelers, worked for several months to unravel this peculiar phenomenon. They even had a theoretical paper published in one of the most prestigious physics journals on Earth describing the possibility of space-time variations. Years later this discovery would earn for each of them a Nobel Prize in physics.
Essentially what Kivi, Lois and Clark worked out were a mathematical description of the phenomenon that caused the time differences between Sol-Three and the Kryptonian star system. After many discussions and hours of calculations dealing with the curvature of space-time in both galactic sectors, Earth's first space sailors finally understood that the cosmic variations in time were generated by large mass differentials, which were grouped periodically across the expanse of the universe.
After their technical paper had been submitted, Clark and his spiritual kin returned to their subterranean lab and began planning their next adventure into the wilderness between the stars.
Entering their vast cavernous laboratory below the Kent farm, Lois, Clark, and Kivi became aware that electromagnetic waves were again illuminating their space monitor.
This time, however, the repeated wave patterns displayed significant formations, which could be decoded by using Lois's discoveries.
***
A Message From Jor-El
***
Lois, after analyzing the electromagnetic signals with her squawk box mechanism, replied to the incoming waves, "Will contact you when your message has been fully deciphered." She signed off with a single phrase — "Andromeda seven."
Turning toward Clark and Kivi, Lois said, "The people who are sending the electromagnetic transmissions will be able to recognize us when we use the worded phrase Andromeda seven, our hailing call." Clark and Kivi simply nodded and went to work decoding the bulk of the electromagnetic dispatch from Krypton.
Before Lois, Clark, and Kivi returned to Krypton on their second voyage across the universe, they would have in their possession an electronic speaking device, which was embedded within their protective gear. In addition, the power of their hand held laser weapons had been boosted, which increased their destructive capability and extended the weapons' killing range.
Newer items were also created that would protect Clark and his companions on their decent to and once on Krypton's surface.
After four months of preparation, during a period when Lois frequently conversed with the small group of Kryptonians now responsible for the incoming electromagnetic messages, the Smallville was loaded and made ready to sail again across the vastness of space to a planet that was some eight billion light — years distant.
During a particularly dark night that was not moon bright, the Smallville silently lifted-off its home world using antigravity photons that raised their interstellar spaceship into a low space orbit. Once stabilized in its low space orbit the Smallville started its light speed engines and were off to a position just beyond the orbit of Pluto.
A day after the Smallville left Earth with its precious human cargo, it was in position, as before, to utilize the ship's intergalactic jump engines.
A few minutes after the Smallville reached its jump location, the interstellar thrusters hurled the interstellar vessel across the cosmos to a location near the planet Krypton.
As their intergalactic vessel neared Krypton, Clark set their vessel into an erratic non-repetitious parking orbit. While Kivi programmed the droids to care for the ship, Lois sent a message to the Kryptonian creators of the electromagnetic signaling device, with Andromeda-seven subtly concealed in her own message. Hopefully, the people who received Lois's communique were the friendly sort and would dispatch a message coded with an Andromeda-seven phrase also subtly imbedded within their return dispatch. Then CK, Lois, and Kivi settled down and waited for a response from the planet.
Within thirty minutes, a response to Lois's message was received providing those on the Smallville with a set of coordinates where they could safely land.
Lois then sent a short reply with A-Okay embedded in her short message, which informed the Kryptonians that they were indeed communicating with the space sailors who had visited their world in the recent past.
Several hours later, after packing a teleportation device in the bay of their shuttle craft, Clark, Lois, and Kivi put on their protective gear and began their descent toward the planet's surface.
After three hours, roughly, the shuttle observed a small but intense light beam blinking in the general direction of the coordinates that Lois, Clark, and Kivi had received.
Lois adjusted the shuttle's landing approach to compensate for the flashing signal's ground orientation.
As the shuttle slowed and drew closer to the flashing light beam, the crew of the shuttle beheld an open landing portal, which initially covered a tunnel leading to a grotto. Less than a minute later, Lois guided the small spacecraft through the entranceway landing the spaceship within the subterranean cavern. After shutting down the shuttle's power grid and getting into their protective gear, Earth's first intergalactic sailors were ready to debark from a Smallville shuttle.
As Lois and Clark were about to leave the shuttlecraft, Kivi watched the Kryptonian humanoids frantically working to seal the portal of their ship's underground hangar.
When all appeared calm, Kivi gave the all clear, and Clark opened the hatch of the shuttle. Soon thereafter, three Earth space sailors disembarked from their vessel.
As Lois, Clark, and Kivi touched the surfaced of Krypton, two different cultures now faced each other. Each people realized at that point that two civilizations had just reached a critical juncture. It would be up to those beings present in the grotto to ensure that their meeting led to a peaceful joining of their two cultures.
Having set their communicators to the Kryptonian tongue, Clark said, "My comrades and I greet you in peace. They call me Clark." Turning he added, "This woman is known as Lois." Pausing for a moment, Clark added, "The other person in our landing party is known as Kivi."
Then a smiling Jor-El responded by welcoming the Earth party in peace and introduced his family — his soulmate Lara, his youngest girl Kara, and Zara his eldest daughter with her husband Ching holding three of their children.
After the introductions were concluded, Clark requested that their spacecraft be moved to a more secure location.
Kivi then added, "When we visited your world previously, our ship was fired upon by your military. Your leader sounded bellicose and appeared to be somewhat megalomaniacal."
"You're right, unfortunately," Jor-El responded.
"The military personage of whom you speak is a mentally sick individual. I'll have your ship attended to immediately. That military personage of whom you referred to is called, Ri-Nor."
Lara further added, "Ri-Nor has a mind disorder marked by feelings of omnipotence and grandeur. Ri-Nor believes he is endowed with G-D like powers."
Then Jor-El gestured and said that they should go into the main living quarters of their home. As the Earth explorers followed Jor-El and his family, Clark was hopeful that their journey from Sol-Three was the beginning of a great adventure and would be beneficial to both civilizations.
***
*The Jor-El Household*
Once Jor-El's family with Lois, Clark, and Kivi ascended to the main living quarters within the El rustic abode, Clark requested a skin biopsy from a member of the El household.
Without questioning Clark's request, Jor-El performed the procedure upon himself and placed his tissue sample on a slide and presented it to Clark who offered the Kryptonian cellular material to Kivi. Clark's spiritual brother, Kivi, then replicated Jor-El's biopsy procedure upon himself.
Then using a comparator, a small optical instrument that compared biological material, Kivi placed Jor-El's tissue alongside his own cellular material and began comparing their genetic structures.
As Kivi studied the skin samples, he verbalized what he discovered; "Each skin biopsy indicates that there are twenty-three chromosomal pairs in both cellular samples. The chromosomes of the two species are nearly identical. Any slight differences are probably the result of a natural mutation so the Kryptonian people could survive beneath their red sun."
The genome analysis demonstrated that their Kryptonian hosts were beings not unlike themselves. To be more specific Clark remarked to all those present, "I would call our Kryptonian hosts genetically first cousins to the people of Earth. Our two species appear to be compatible, and I sincerely believe that couples who form between our two peoples would be genetically fertile."
Clark added, "I cannot verify the fertility factor until we have experimentally demonstrated the validity of this concept."
Looking at the people within the great room of the El abode, Kivi added to Clark's views by saying, "I must tell you, my family and friends, that I'm greatly mystified that two peoples separated by nearly eight billion light years are found to possess a genetic profile which is nearly identical. We of Sol-Three after traveling an immense distance are rather shocked that we should discover a race of people genetically and physically identical to our own. Let me tell you, it is an incredible discovery."
Jor-El chimed in and commented, "We have a plethora of folk tales that indicate that at some time in the remote past a race of beings similar to ours, from beyond this universe, seeded our cosmic realm with their own genetic material. By this method these people hoped to preserve their genetic essences, which were perishing."
After a sight pause, Jor added, "It is said that these highly intelligent beings apparently had been rendered sterile when an exceedingly radioactive comet suddenly entered their solar system and collided with their home world. The radioactivity brought by this unexpected comet doomed their race by bringing about widespread infertility.
"With the time remaining to them within their plane of existence, they undertook a seeding program within several nearby dimensions containing huge amounts of stellar material. Special robots were created to continue this project after the last of their kind had passed beyond the pale."
"It is said," Lara then mentioned, "that robots created by our forbearers, the Atlantians, are still believed to exist. They are said to be the guardians of the knowledge left in a magnificent city built by the Atlantians who acquired it over aeons — the length of their culturally endowed civilization."
Jor-El then added, "There are many who believe that these robots inhabit a world near the rim of our cosmic expanse."
After the El clan had expressed themselves, Lois said, "On our world, there are tons of folklore also describing a civilization known as to many nations as Atlantis. Maybe we should hunt for the robotic culture you've spoken about. Our search could create a common linkage that binds our two peoples."
"That's a fine suggestion," Lara said, "but none of our spacecraft can exceed light speed velocities, which will limit our exploration probes."
Kivi then said, "My family has developed interstellar vessels that can exceed the light speed barrier and cross the entire universe almost instantaneously."
"If Kryptonian spaceships can't exceed light speed, how did your electromagnetic messages reach Earth?" Lois asked.
Kivi, now pacing to and fro said, "If you will forgive my speculative reasoning, I believe that your electromagnetic waves somehow entered a wormhole which provided the Kryptonian signals with a shorter route to Earth as they crossed the vastness of space.
"A wormhole," Kivi continued, "can be created, according to the concepts within Earth's scientific community. This phenomenon, according to the current scientific views, can be created by an extremely large mass, which we of Earth have named a black hole, that according to current theoretical concepts could cause an extreme amount of space-time warping and produce a tunnel like projection through space."
"My soulmate and I would like to investigate that phenomenon with your aid," Jor-El told Kivi and the others of his family.
"We of Earth have been itching to study the black hole concept and its corresponding wormhole phenomena for some time, Jor-El, but have been delayed for various reasons. So, if you can wait while we explore your planet, hopefully with your help," Lois added, "we'd be happy to form an investigative team with your clan to study the wormhole and black hole phenomena."
At that moment, several of Jor-El's household servants brought the teleportation unit into the great room where the Kryptonians and Terrans were conversing.
After the teleportation equipment had been incorporated into a small wall area in a side room off the great chamber, Zara asked, "What can this device accomplish?"
After a slight pause, Clark's soulmate elucidated what the teleporter was capable of accomplishing.
Then Clark explained that they would like to attempt an experiment with their teleportation device if the El clan was amenable.
"By all means," Jor-El replied.
An experiment that would show all present whether an object could be teleported to Earth and back to Krypton and remain in one piece would be performed sometime within the next two days. Then the experiment would be repeated using a living test animal. If successful, their test would indicate that inanimate objects and living entities could travel between Earth and Krypton without the necessity of a space vehicle.
Of course, a spaceship would be mandatory when contact was initially made with a new celestial body. A teleporter would need to be placed on a new world, with or without life forms, to establish a linkage between Earth or Krypton and the new planetary location without an interstellar craft.
"Don't worry about some belligerent group getting their hands on the teleporter," Lois interjected, "and using it for ominous ends. We can electronically lock our transporter device. Only those within this room will be able to activate the teleporter and cause it to function. Anyone else attempting to force one of us to operate the teleporter will fail. Our transportation device will not operate under any coercive, dishonest, or bellicose conditions."
Then Clark attuned each of their new family members in Lara and Jor-El's household to their teleportation contrivance. After linking the Els to the teleporter, Clark then exhaustively explained how the transportation device functioned.
After understanding the workings of the teleportation unit, Jor's household and his new family successfully teleported to the Smallville. Living beings sent through the transporter over short distances had already been examined and found to be successful.
Transporting the new El Clan was done to allow the ship's droids to recognize the Kryptonians added to the ship's crew and to permit the newcomers to become familiar with the ship's working interior.
As the beings from two planets and cultures wandered about the Smallville, both groups began to realize that a strong relationship had already occurred between the new interstellar groups.
While the El components of the family wandered about the ship, Kivi commented, "You guys should realize that the habitat on this vessel has been formulated for Earth life forms."
Talking to Jor, Clark remarked, "Because your part of our family does not require special equipment to survive within the Smallville's environment, I doubt that you will need special equipment to endure when you visit our world."
"Whether we will be able to leave this interstellar vessel," Lois added, "without our survival gear will depend on your modification experiment, Jor, and the success of our planet to planet teleportation trial and error test we've yet to perform."
***
*The Experiment*
Back on Krypton, Clark placed a message within a metal tube and teleported it to Earth. In less than an hour a plastic transparent box containing a mouse appeared in the teleportation unit, within Jor and Lara's home on Krypton, alive and well.
After thoroughly examining the rodent, which was immediately placed in an Earth environment, it was returned to its travel container and teleported back to its home world, Earth.
A few minutes later, another message arrived which said, "Mouse A-Okay, Love Mom."
Without the Earth party's knowing, Jor-El powered up the teleporter and went through its temporal field to Earth and returned healthy a few minutes later.
Clark had to admit that he turned pale watching Jor-El enter the teleporter and execute his unauthorized experiment.
"Thank G-D," CK murmured, when his examination of Jor-El found him in good heath. Jor just smiled and patted Clark on the shoulder.
When his family and friends from Earth heard what Jor had done, both planetary groups screamed at him. He promised not to do anything that foolish and dangerous again or without consulting his family about his intentions.
Then Lara took him to an adjacent room where she broke into tears. After her emotional outbreak, Lara verbally lambasted her husband, crying as she screamed at him. Then Jor took Lara in his arms and held her till she calmed down.
Because of Jor's foolishness, the Terrans and Kryptonians did not have to perform more experimentation to confirm the safety of the teleportation unit.
Although nothing appeared to afflict Jor-El, Lois, Clark, and Kivi made it a point to watch Jor-El for any long-range teleporting effects upon his life processes. Apparently there was none.
About a week after the teleportation incident, Ching brought a device that was used upon infants to modify their genetic makeup when corrections were needed.
He explained that he wanted to treat his Earth friends, whom he considered kin, so they could function without their protective garments when roving over the surface of his world.
After some discussion with Kivi, it was decided that he would be the experimental subject in this case.
After the genetic modification equipment was applied to Kivi's biological system, the results indicated that the genetic modification process was successful. Ching's instrument also printed out text material that specified that the solar components of Kivi's cells had been activated, and the subject's health was good and unaltered.
When Kivi shed his protective garb with no ill effects, Lois and Clark were also treated by the Kryptonian genetic modification equipment, also with no ill effects.
The only uncomfortable feeling that resulted without their outdated protective gear was the lighting used within Lara and Jor-El's home.
So, with Lara and Jor's permission, Lois and Clark with the help of Kivi replaced the Kryptonian lighting system with an Earth illuminating network — the lighting was very similar to the radiation produced by the Earth's G-type star. The Kryptonians told Lois some days later that her family preferred the G-type radiation generated by the Earth lamps to their own Kryptonian illumination devices.
***
*Surveillance and the Attempted Kidnapping*
Several days after Clark and his Earthly companions had their cellular structure modified, a Kryptonian military unit made a surprise visit to Jor-El's country estate.
Although recognizing Jor-El, Lara, and their nuclear family, they inquired about the three unknown people residing with the El household.
When Lara was questioned about their existence at the El country estate, Lois chimed in at that point, telling the commander of the military detachment that she and the two gentlemen with her were cousins of Lord Jor-El and the tall one, pointing to Clark, was her soulmate soon to be wed at the local chapel.
"Our ancestral home," Lois added, "is in Min-Ra province over the Urdi Mountains to the west."
Lois continued for a while saying, "Our uncle sent us to his cousin Jor-El's home to continue our education. Knowledge is sparse in a home to the west."
As the military troop was about to leave, the unit leader commented about the lighting system within the house. It was different.
"Yes it is," Lara responded, "My husband is experimenting with a new illumination system. As you can see, It's an experimental lighting arrangement," Lara again emphasized.
"I like it," the commander of the military troop, replied. "The radiation is soothing to the eyes."
Then biding the residents of the house farewell, he and his troopers departed the El household.
After the military contingent had moved off, Kivi placed a red crystalline artifact on a table within each room they inhabited of the El dwelling. He suspected more unannounced visits.
Placing a finger to his lips, a gesture asking for silence, he turned a hidden switch that activated all the crystalline items.
Kivi then informed the El family, "While the red statuette appears to be an artistic form of sorts and would enhance the beauty of a room, it is in reality a surveillance detector that will also incapacitate all audio and video reconnaissance devices within a relatively large area of the house."
Then-taking another different kind of detection device from his kit, Kivi discovered three sleuthing contrivances planted within the house and more hidden upon the forested grounds that surrounded the El dwelling.
"I'll make more protective devices and show you how to fabricate more of these surveillance nullifiers, if you feel they are needed."
Clark then added, "I also observed some of the troopers taking pictures of the area within the house and later of the grounds encompassing the estate."
Lois then said, "I guess we can expect unwanted company on some dark night; I would guess in the very near future."
From the look in everyone's eyes, all present agreed with Lois's verbally expressed thoughts.
Clark then added to his fiancee's comment, "We don't have to worry about the video that was taken by our unexpected visitors. The lighting now used within the house will make their pictures unusable."
Smiling after Clark's comments, Jor was satisfied that the house was secure from any kind of unauthorized surveillance. He then contacted his good friend Trey, who as all in the El household were aware, was the leading minister of the Kryptonian assembly.
After they spoke for what seemed like an eternity, Jor-El ended his communication with Trey. As he turned towards the others in the room, his face was grim.
"It seems," Jor said, "Ri-Nor has become rather interested in some of the people who inhabit this house. To be more specific, Kara, our youngest daughter. That military unit which came to our home was not authorized by any government agency. It was sent by Ri-Nor to scout out our premises for a possible kidnapping attempt to procure Kara and possibly you, Lois. Trey was verifying his info before contacting us when I contacted him."
Clark then announced, "We'll position a hidden surveillance system to observe any abnormal traffic or unwanted company approaching this house. Then we'll add an enhanced version of Kivi's surveillance instruments and place them throughout the house. Those mechanisms would immobilize any kind of enemy detection instrumentation, which could be used to find Ri-Nor's quarry if he managed to gain entrance to our house. Kivi's devices will provide our household with a normally functioning appearance."
Jor and the others in the room agreed with CK's plan of protective action.
"Why would Ri-Nor want to abduct your daughter, Jor-El?" Kivi asked with a very concerned demeanor.
Lara quietly whispered aside to her life partner, "Kivi appears to be enamored with our youngest daughter."
"I hope so," Jor responded to his wife. "Kara is a very sweet but shy young lady, and that Earth boy is a jewel and would be a welcome son in our clan."
Turning to Kivi, Jor said, "Please excuse me. I keep forgetting that you have much to learn about the social attitudes of our society. Women who are not married must be protected by their family groups because before a marriage takes place, unmarried females are considered free game and could legally be abducted. While the plebeians in our society have little to fear from such situations, the more sophisticated ladies from our noble houses are subject to kidnapping for several reasons.
"If Kara were taken by Ri-Nor and held in his house for a month or more," Jor indicated, "my daughter would be forced to form a union with either the Lord of the household or with the man the Lord designates as a surrogate to marry in his stead. Once married, to say Ri-Nor's son, Ri-Nor's progeny would automatically inherit whatever his bride was entitled to receive as her inheritance. Since Kara is in the family that claims a First Lord within its members, her husband could assert a claim to the First Lord title after the reigning figure has either passed-on or retired."
"What a terrible social situation," Clark cried out.
"My people are working hard to overturn this terrible law and make it a felony with confinement for life upon a planetary prison world. As you can guess, the opposition to such a change is formidable," Jor informed CK. "The opposition as you probably already have concluded is headed by Lord Ri-Nor's people."
"Which means that Lois as well as Kara are in some danger," Clark commented. His statement was both an announcement and a query rolled into one statement.
"Yes, I'm afraid your assumption is correct," Jor replied.
At dinner that evening, Jor-El commented to both Lois and Clark, "Would you two consider marrying as quickly as possible here on Krypton? When you've returned to your home world, you can repeat the civil union for your friends and relatives if that is your wish."
After Jor posed the question, there was acute silence within the room, while Lois and Clark considered Jor's query telepathically. Then Lois informed Lara and Jor that marriage was a sound solution, and could Jor or Lara make the necessary arrangements for their nuptials as promptly as possible? The Earth couple's union would alleviate some of the stress upon the El household.
After the Earth couple had declared their decision to marry, Kivi jumped in the air and shouted whoopee and adhered to the ceiling of the great room. After willing himself back to the floor, Kivi rushed over to Lois and Clark and hugged and kissed them with tears rushing from his eyes.
In a more formal way, congratulations were quickly given from Lara, Jor-El, Kara, Zara, and Ching.
Lara left the room to begin making the arrangements for Lois and Clark's conjugality, which, with a little arm-twisting of the local priests, was set for early the next evening.
When Lara returned to the dining area, her household was busy attempting to ascertain how Kivi had soared into the air when he wanted to congratulate Lois and Clark.
The Terrans and the Kryptonians decided to put off that question until their daily science meeting early the next day.
Then, the group's attention again focused on Kara.
Kivi suggested that each unit in the current household be armed when they retired that evening.
"While the marriage notion is marvelous," Ching stated, "we don't have sufficient weaponry compact enough to produce the portable means for our protection."
"Just a minute," Clark said to his family, "I'll be right back."
CK then hastened to his quarters, secured his hand laser blaster and quickly returned to the dining area.
After rejoining the family, Clark asked for the strongest material to be procured from the storeroom and taken to the rear of the house.
When Jor secured a block composed of a strange looking substance, he led his household outside and behind his abode.
"Place the block on the ground near that dead tree," Clark directed Jor-El. Then he said to Ching, "You are a military man."
Jor's son-in-law nodded affirmatively.
"Please discharge my laser blaster, as I showed you the other day."
Ching did what Clark requested.
Most of the block of strange material disappeared when Ching discharged his weapon and became a vaporous substance.
Although there was a slight residue that remained of Jor's substance, it vanished completely after a second firing of the laser weapon.
When Ching tried to return the laser blaster, Clark said, "It's yours, my brother. I'll have the droids make more of these hand weapons so that each of us will possess one for our protection. I have a feeling we'll need them before the Lane-Kent conjoining ceremony has been completed."
Later that evening in the privacy of their own quarters, Jor said to his wife, "We and our Earth comrades have become a close group of people — a family."
Lara simply nodded her agreement.
Continuing, Jor added, "What satisfied me that the 'Off Worlders' and our own household had formed a family like unit is based upon my observation that none of the Terrans have carried weapons within our home, and they showed very similar concerns for Kara as did her own biological kin during our mounting crisis."
Lara again nodded her agreement with her soulmate.
Then, Jor added, "Lara, I do believe we and our Earth friends have truly become a close-knit interstellar household."
Early the following morning the Terrans and the Kryptonians together solved the mystery surrounding the black holes controversy and their effect on the immense gravitational fields that existed close to this natural phenomenon. The Terran — Krypton interstellar family fully understood for the first time how a black hole acted upon the bending of space-time, and the mechanisms that formed wormholes.
As they were placing their black hole data into several computers, Lara asked her three Terran family members if she could determine their mental capacities using Krypton's equipment for such measurements. Without a second thought, the three Terrans agreed.
"Sure," was their united response.
After she received a positive response, Lara said, "The reason, my Kin, is just plain curiosity."
Within the hour, the tests had been completed.
The results were not surprising to Lara.
Over breakfast, Lara told them that on Krypton they would be considered Tam alpha primes, a designation implying individuals with superior genius level mental capacities.
Lara then informed her new kin, "The pure Kryptonian part of this household possesses the same kind of mental abilities that our Earth brothers and sister possess."
Jor-El chimed in and informed their Earth relatives, "Those of us in this house all possess Tam alpha prime mental credentials and Lara and myself with my children and Ching are the first such Tam alpha primes to have appeared on Krypton in nearly a hundred thousand years."
Lara added, "You three Earth people, I believe, are probably the first of your kind to exist on your home world. As long as you and your progeny form genetic unions with other Tam alpha prime partners, your mentally superior abilities will appear in each future generation of your people."
"So," Jor further commented, "Lara and I expect your offspring to possess the same mental capacities as their parents. On Earth, you may have to suppress that knowledge to protect yourselves and any progeny you conceive against exploiters of people. On Krypton that kind of exploitation is not a problem. Creative individuals are admired within our culture, and that kind of individual is protected by our society."
As Kara was helping her mother clean the table, she tripped and would have taken a nasty fall if it were not for Kivi, who caught her just before she struck the floor.
As Kivi caught Kara, an unknown biological current appeared to rush through both Kivi and Kara causing a bonding condition between the Terran and Kryptonian.
That evening Kara had a serious conversation with her parents and began her discussion by saying, "Mom, Dad, I believe I've found my soulmate, but there many be a problem."
"Who is this individual?" Lara immediately asked.
"Kivi," Kara informed her parents.
Then Kara explained the events causing their soulmate union. She ended her story by telling her mother and father that she didn't think that Kivi was aware of what had occurred although he, too, felt the bonding event.
"I'll attempt to take care of your dilemma, Kara," Jor-El said to his daughter.
Early the next morning, Jor drew Kivi aside and asked the young Terran to walk with him in the gardens.
During their stroll, Jor-El explained the soulmate concept and the initial bonding experience that two individuals usually perceived when their souls coalesced.
"So," Kivi responded, "that current I felt was a bonding phenomenon between Kara and myself. How does Kara feel about this situation?" Kivi asked. "If she doesn't wish to pursue any kind of relationship with me, please tell her that I understand and accept her feelings."
"Thank you for being so understanding, Kivi," Jor replied.
As the two scientists parted to ready themselves for Lois and Clark's nuptials which would be occurring that evening, Jor-El thought to himself, "What a unique and honest person Kivi has shown himself to be. Kara is a very fortunate young woman."
After the union of Lois and Clark the newly married couple was given Kryptonian names for security protection — Lo-El and Kal-El. Then, using their new appellations, microdots, with all the info that Jor-El could supply, were specially etched onto the back of each new soulmate legally binding them into one entity.
After a honeymoon at a plush vacation spa called the Pleasure Dome of Yorra, Lois and Clark returned to their rustic Krypton home. When Lois and Clark entered their home, the newlyweds were pleasantly surprised by a gala given in their honor by Lara and her soulmate.
Within several days, Lois and Clark had settled into a normal routine. One day, Lois happened to notice that Kara and Kivi were making every attempt to avoid one another. For example, times spent working in the various labs were set up so that Kara and Kivi were never present simultaneously.
Lois finally asked Kivi what was the trouble between Kara and himself?
Taking a deep breath, Kivi said to Lois, "Kara and I are soulmates. We discovered that fact quite by accident. Jor-El told me that the strange feelings that came over me when Kara and I touched signified that we were destined to form a life partnership. After understanding finally came to me, I was noble, but foolhardy. Because of my harebrained utterances, I expressed to Jor-El of my gallantry that provided Kara a way out if she didn't wish to proceed with a close relationship that commenced with our sudden physical contact. Later, I found out through Lara that Kara was relieved when she heard my high-principled declarations releasing her from any obligations to me. Kara informed her parents that she would have found it nearly impossible to play house with an off-worlder."
"Ouch," Lois replied.
"Tomorrow, I'll teleport back to Earth," Kivi told Lois. "From there," Kivi added, "I'll work on our projects from the subterranean location below the Kent farm. It hurts too much to be near someone you love knowing there is no reciprocation of your affections."
By five-am on the following day, Kivi had vanished from Krypton.
***
*The Assault On The House of EL*
Following Kivi's departure, no one seemed to miss the Earth bred scientist for at least twenty-four hours. This lack of the El Clan's usual acute awareness was probably induced by the great excitement concerning the unusual dynamic abilities developing among the individuals living in Lara and Jor-El's abode.
The next day, at the early morning conference, Kivi was not present. Nothing was said because at times one or more of the El research group would over sleep due to a long night of laboratory work or studying the many topics that attracted their interest.
When, at the next research conference Kivi's name was called with no response, there was great concern.
Jor, because a key player was absent twice from the group's sunrise meetings, adjourned the gathering and began searching for the location of his Earth compatriot.
At breakfast later that morning, Jor reported to his extended family that Kivi had left their abode more than a day ago and quit Krypton.
Lois wept and said, "He really left. I didn't believe him when we had a discussion about…love and the understanding that is required to make it work.
"It was during our talk that Kivi informed me that Lara had told him of Kara's dispassionate feeling for him. Since Lara's daughter implied that she didn't possess any great affection for Kivi, he decided that he couldn't remain on this world and watch her form a union with another individual. I believe," Lois added, "it would have stifled his desire to live. Since the command to live is a command among his people, any desire to take his life would violate the bonds between his G-d and himself."
Kara was not present at breakfast that day so she was not privy to the information passed by Lois to Lara and her soulmate.
As Jor-El and Lara returned to their studies into deep space phenomenon, such as wormholes and parallel universes beyond their own, they decided not to tell Kara what Lois had imparted to them. It would only cause their daughter more strife.
Very early in the morning, about a week later, the house was invaded with masked Kryptonians warriors, who dropped from the air in swift helicopter like air ships. They were instructed to capture any unmarried women in the El house. Married women and their mates possessed microdots that sent out a signal which could be tracked and their base of operation located.
As the brigands attempted to overrun the El abode, desperate fighting ensued in which neither side received nor gave quarter.
When the battle ended, all the plunderers were dead except those who escaped with Kara as a captive.
From the remains of a few freebooters, Jor and Lara recognized members of the Norian clan, men who were part of Ri-Nor's personnel retinue.
After the assault on the El household, Jor told his Earth-Kryptonian family to use the Earth laser blasters and completely obliterate the remains of the dead Norians. Lara and Jor feared that government troops would soon arrive, and seeing dead bodies would empower a committee to ascertain who assaulted Lara and Jor-El's home.
The subsequent investigation would be lengthy and would exceed, in all probability, the monthly hiatus in which the abductors could not market or marry-off Kara to another member of the abductor's household. However, without any bodies, no investigation could occur and the El household could start searching for Kara almost immediately.
So, without more rhetoric, Jor, Ching, and Clark, using the laser blasters, expunged the remains of the lifeless Norians.
Within an hour, as Jor predicted, a governmental police patrol arrived. Finding nothing, they departed a half hour later from Lara and Jor's rustic home.
When the last of the police detachment had departed, Jor turned to Clark and said, "I'm sure my brother had a hand in this operation, bless his black little heart."
Then, Clark placed his arm about Jor-El and said, "We'll get Kara back. I don't know how, as yet, but I'm positive it will be accomplished, or your brother will depart this world."
After the evening again quietly descended on Lara and Jor's abode, the El household returned to their individual apartments. As Lois and her husband rested, Clark said, "If we had a daughter and she were abducted, I'd hunt down the thieving varmints and string them up from the nearest tree."
When Lois turned over, she placed her head on Clark's chest commenting that she just liked to hear the sound of his heart beating.
As Clark heard the beating of his soulmate's heart, Clark commented, "Your heart rhythm is such that I can locate you, my love, even at great distances. I think I could find you across the cosmos because of our soulmate bond."
Suddenly Clark sat up. Holding Lois so she wouldn't fall off the bed, he remarked, "Soulmates! Kivi and Kara are soulmates even if she apparently despises Kivi because of his origins."
"I wonder how Kara will treat our kids," Lois murmured to Clark
"I don't know," Lois's husband replied. "I'd bet her feelings wouldn't be very warmhearted to our kids."
Getting out of bed, Clark dressed and was off to find Jor.
Encountering his despondent friend wandering the halls of his home, Clark informed his friend what he and his wife had discerned about soulmate interactions.
"Son," Jor said, "if we can locate Kivi, maybe my daughter Kara can be located by their soulmate connection."
Then Jor said to CK, "We must locate Kivi and it must be now."
***
*Kara's Predicament*
As Clark and Jor sought Kivi on Earth, Kara was brought face to face with her abductor, Ri-Nor. This man had planned and executed Kara's kidnapping for political goals, the most base of reasons.
Ri-Nor, her abductor, with a smirk on his face, said, "Welcome to my home, Lady Kara. You'll find that your new abode will be comfortable, but not as luxurious or as liberal as the El accommodations. Never the less, you better get use to our habitat for your own sake.
"With the help of your uncle," Ri-Nor added, "it will take more than a month for Jor-El to break free from the government interrogators. Thanks to Jor-El's brother, my dear, you shall be lost to your family, permanently. So," Ri-Nor continued, "you will be, shall we say, under my protection forever, since a search will not be mounted before the legal deadline for your return has run-out. Since the time line will soon place you in my custody, I require you to sign this official document."
After perusing the paper set before her, Kara stated, "I guess you are familiar with the amendment to the kidnapping law." Kara smirked. "To remind you, the changes to the abduction rules indicate that the woman taken under such conditions must agree that she wishes to stay with her abductor of her own freewill. That's what your document is specifying — of my own freewill. I will not sign such a fraudulent paper.
"That means," Kara added, "that anything that happens to me will, sooner or later, bring you before the law. And nobody in our society is above the law, not even my stupid uncle whom you will kill to fulfill your mentally warped goals."
"Now, Kara," Ri-Nor said in a threatening manner, "you don't want me to use force to make you sign my document." Ri-Nor then acquired a nerve whip and lashed out at Kara several times causing her excruciating pain. Kara did not utter a sound.
Frustrated, Ri-Nor ordered Kara to be placed in a cell and not be provided with either bread or water until she cooperated with the officials of the Nor clan.
Once a day, Ri-Nor would visit Kara's confinement area and tell her to sign his document. She wouldn't look nor speak with the psychopathic leader of the Nor clan.
One day she spit in his face. Ri-Nor's retaliation was a flogging with a nerve whip. Ri-Nor then repeated his demand and was again greeted with silence. After a few moments, Kara felt the Nor Chieftain's instrument of pain again, his flashing nerve whip.
***
*The search For Kivi*
Teleporting to Earth, Kivi had set about working on a new Smallville class Interstellar vessel.
He was now working with the droids to complete his work on the new spacecraft.
After teleporting to Earth, Jor and Clark left the hidden grotto and proceeded toward the Kent farmhouse.
Meeting his mother along the path to his boyhood home, Clark asked Martha if she had seen Kivi.
"In fact I have," Martha responded. "Jonathan and I break bread with him almost every evening. However, the other day he received a message from his family's home in Philadelphia," Martha said, "telling him that his mother was gravely ill and he should come home right away."
Clark knew the location of Kivi's Earthly abode and after saying adieu to his mother and father, he and Jor appropriated one of Clark's air cars hidden within the grotto and traveled to the city of brotherly love and located Kivi's family's home.
Entering Kivi's home in the city by the Delaware river, they were met by Debra, Kivi's younger sister. She was beautiful and, as they later learned, a highly intelligent and beautiful young woman possessing a similar character as her brother.
After Clark introduced Jor-El as Jordan, he asked Deb what medical problem was ailing her mother.
"The big C," was her reply. "Mom has cancer."
"Cancer?" Jor asked CK.
"It's a disease of the cells," Clark informed Jor.
"A malignancy?" Jor queried Debra.
"Yeah," she replied and burst into tears.
"May I see your mother?" Clark asked Kivi's sister.
Debbie then led Clark and Jor-El to her mother's room.
As they entered Debra's mother's quarters, Kivi looked up, smiled, and remarked, "Hi, guys. Glad you came."
While Clark talked to Kivi, Jor in a tranquil manner examined Sara, Kivi and Debra's only surviving family member.
As Clark and Kivi looked on, they used Kryptonian telepathic methods to maintain a private conversation. Kivi was informed of the assault on the El household and of Kara's subsequent abduction. CK then told Kivi that Lois had devised a scheme to ascertain where Kara was being incarcerated. Kivi immediately asked what was her game plan. Clark replied that Kivi could discern Kara's location from her heart rhythmic beat.
While Debbie was attempting to understand the chatter between Clark and her brother, Jor removed a vile from his person containing an anti-cancer drug and inoculated Sarah with the Kryptonian medication.
By the following day, Sara's ravaged body was improving at a remarkable rate. Her attending physicians were astonished.
Hearing the healer's report, Kivi knew that Jor had given his mother a special medication. Later he would thank his friend.
When Kivi quietly asked Jor, "Will my mother survive?" the reply was an affirmative response.
Several days later day, Kivi's sister was informed that her brother was about to leave and probably wouldn't return for some time. Not wanting to lose contact with Kivi again, she told her sibling that she had decided to come with him. Although he refused profusely, Kivi eventually lost his protractile verbal conflict with his sister.
Debra, knowing that her mother would regain her health and would be well cared for, wanted to travel with her older brother during his next series of adventures. That was the basic reason why she took such an argumentative stance. What she didn't know was that Kivi needed to return to Krypton post haste to begin searching for Kara.
When the four member party reached the teleporter under the Kent farm, Jor-El performed several procedures on Debra. First, she underwent the genetic modification procedure so she could survive on Krypton without protective gear, and second he tested her mental ability and found that, like her brother, she was a Tam alpha prime, and possessed a mental capacity which was above the normal intellectual scale. Finally, she was provided with a communicator and shown how to operate the speech mechanism.
After all was in readiness, Jor and his party went through the teleportation device.
As the party emerged on Krypton, Debra asked, in amazement, "Have we crossed over to a different world?"
After Debra was on Earth's sister planet, Clark said to their newest companion, "Deb, until you understand the lay of the land, you must be very careful and stay close to Lois, my wife, and myself as much as possible." Smiling at his charge, Clark said, "Deb, this can be a very dangerous world especially for unmarried females. One of the reasons Kivi returned to Krypton is to help discover the whereabouts of Kara, your brother's soulmate. She has been abducted and may be in great danger."
Returning to Lara and Jor's country estates, Debra was welcomed and a family bash soon followed celebrating Kivi's return to the El clan.
As the party at the El home continued, Clark disappeared for a while and upon his return announced that the shuttle was ready for lift off. The needed supplies were loaded for the coming adventure.
A half-hour after the loading process commenced, all necessary provisions and weaponry had been placed aboard the shuttle. Within the hour, the ship was airborne and headed for Nor's encampment.
While traveling toward Nor's fortress, all the massive laser blasters, which protected the El Shuttle, were made operational.
***
*The Battle for Kara*
It was night when the shuttlecraft set down within the courtyard of Ri-Nor's strong hold. Since the shuttle possessed a stealthy shield, none of the warriors within the vicinity of the invading ship could see the El Vessel and ascertain where the airship had alighted.
When the night became black as pitch, at moonset, the men from the shuttle disembarked, each carrying enough weaponry to start a small war.
The women — Lara, Zara, and Debra — under Lois's command, stayed in the ship and manned the powerful laser blasters which would be used to cover their men's actions, if needed.
Entering Ri-Nor's citadel, the El warriors made their way toward the confinement area — Trey had supplied Jor and his family with a schematic that described Ri-Nor's fortress's facilities.
Reaching the prison area, Kivi, brandishing a Cherokee tomahawk and a Bowie blade, took out the guards.
"The fates are with us," Clark presumed. "Lady Luck was a good chaperone for this affair, this evening."
A few minutes later they discovered a second guardroom where three troopers were stationed near a particular cell.
Holding up his hand for quiet, Kivi quietly remarked, "I'll take them down. My special military training makes me the obvious choice to eliminate these Norian soldiers."
True to his word, Kivi accomplished what he set out to do. Jor thought to himself, I wouldn't ever question Kivi's comments again as foolish and boastful.
Opening the cell, they saw Kara huddled on the floor of her cage.
Rushing to his daughter, Jor-El picked her up and a few seconds later all members of the rescue team were headed for the exit of Ri-Nor's stronghold post haste.
As the rescue party scooted across the grass and into the secondary corridors leading toward the El ship, they were suddenly intercepted by Ri-Nor himself flanked by a score of his best warriors.
Seeing the enemy force, Jor and his band moved quickly along the auxiliary corridors of the Norian citadel. As they hustled along, one of Ri-Nor's sycophants, a captain of Ri-Nor's troopers, asked Jor and his family, "Just where do you think you're going?"
"Home," Ching said with a smirk.
"This will be your permanent home," Yir-Nor, Nor's captain, mockingly spat as he drew his rapier preparing to attack his intended prey.
"No more talk," Jor-El heard from Kivi. "Take Kara to the shuttle, Jor, and I'll take care of these motley troopers." Then he charged the totally surprised Norian warriors. Following him was Clark and Ching discharging their blasters and bringing down nine of the Norian fighting men.
Reaching the remaining and stunned Norian warriors, Kivi's Tomahawk and Bowie knife began slaughtering the remaining Ri-Nor's military contingent, always pushing his way forward toward Ri-Nor, the Clan's chieftain who had arrived on the scene.
Before he could flee, Ri-Nor came face to face with his greatest antagonist, Kivi, Kara's unwanted soulmate. Drawing in rapier, Ri-Nor rushed towards his advisory. Kivi held his ground and as Kara's abductor raised his weapon, Kivi stepped close to Ri-Nor and broke his antagonist's rapier with his Bowie knife and then severed his head from his torso with one mighty slashing cut from his tomahawk.
After dispatching Ri-Nor, Kivi looked around for more potential advisories.
Stunned by the death of their leader, the few remaining Norian fighting men fled.
As Kivi and the other rescuers reached the shuttle, Kivi momentarily looked over the battlefield and saw a mass of dead troopers. He momentarily stood still until Ching shook him by his shoulder and said, "Kivi, let's get out of here." Then the three remaining warriors boarded the shuttle. Several minutes later the El flying craft was cruising above the Norian encampment firing their big guns randomly and virtually destroying the stronghold and slaying many people during their attack.
***
*Home Again*
On the way back to Jor's home, the women treated what wounds the men had suffered during the raid. Debra cleaned up and bandaged several relatively severe hits on Kivi's body and treated other slightly injured areas on his body with antibiotic ointments. Lois cleaned two wounds after she first anesthetized her husband's mutilated areas. Then, Lois, with Lara's help, dug metal fragments from Clark's damaged tissue.
Others were treated in the same manner during the flight home.
When the shuttle landed and was again stored in its grotto hanger beneath the El house, most of the guys were again functioning, at least to some degree.
When Ching, who believed he was the last to make his way to the main level of the El home, disappeared up the stairway, Kivi slowly appeared from his hiding place and slowly and painfully walked toward the teleporter and entered the device. After a few minutes Kivi crossed into Earth's space.
After returning to his home world, Kivi found his old apartment in the Grotto beneath the Kent homestead and fell exhausted into his sack. Before falling into a deep sleep, he smiled knowing that Kara was safe in her home again and she would find a life partner of her own choosing.
***
The man Who Wasn't There
***
After the El group refreshed themselves with a night of rest, they gathered for breakfast and to the surprise of everyone, especially Lara and Jor-El, their middle child, Dar-El, their only son, had returned from school for a visit.
Extremely overjoyed about their son's visit, Lara and Jor introduced him to their enlarged household. Then they presented Kivi's sister, Debra to the family members who had not met her. As she was introduced to Dar, she and Dar felt a strong emotional interest in one other.
Later that afternoon, Dar and Debra ambulated through the rose garden and became better acquainted. In their discussions that afternoon, Deb and Dar debated the meaning of the emotional attraction that was developing between them.
At dinner, when Kivi's name was again mentioned, Jor realized that the Earth lad had not been seen nor heard from since the El rescue force had come back from the Norian conflict. Because of the commotion over Lara and Jor's boy, the El household had overlooked Kivi's absence. It was not until their present meal that those within the house of El realized that Kivi had not been present for some time.
When Debra became aware that her brother was missing, she started to approach a hysterical state.
Lara, seeing Debra's distress, immediately moved to the young woman's side and attempted to calm Debbie's deep concerns about her brother. Then Lara added, "Remain calm, Debra. We'll find him. Your brother and my youngest are soulmates, and having some difficulty in working things out is interfering with their union."
Looking at Lara, Debbie disclosed, "Kivi believes that Kara has rejected him and is keeping her distance from him."
After a slight pause, Lara added, "Now both my daughter and Kivi are confused. If they are not sure of their feelings at this point in their courting, Kivi and Kara most probably have no future together."
Then Lara took Debra in her arms so that both ladies could console each other. "I hope what you say, Debra, is not valid."
At that point Kara, on the arm of a handsome young buck called Bar-Ra, entered the dining room. He was a cousin by marriage to Sor-El, Jor-El's scorned brother.
As the El clan watched over the next few weeks, to their dismay, Bar-Ra's courtship of Kara-El increased substantially.
Early one morning before Bar-Ra had arisen, Kara said to her mother, "Can be talk?"
Smiling, Lara said, "Of course, my child."
Pausing for a moment, Kara then said, "Bar-Ra if not for me. It seems that all he wants is to ferret information from me whenever either he or I attempt to talk about us."
Kara continued, "I want father to ask Bar-Ra to leave our house. My interest in him has waned over the past week. He's not for me, Mom."
It was almost fortuitous, for late that night, Dar-El discovered Bar-Ra rifling through the research cabinet of the El clan. In the scuffle that followed, Dar was seriously wounded by Bar-Ra.
Hearing the commotion in the space lab, Debra rushed into the room and saw Bar-Ra removing his rapier from Dar-El's side.
Drawing her own blade, Debra ran Bar-Ra through a few seconds later.
As Kivi's sister worked feverishly on her soulmate to check the blood flow from his wound, she signaled for help.
Within minutes, the El family had gathered about Debbie and the partially mutilated son of Lara and Jor-El.
When Lara reached her son, she had him placed on a gurney and rapidly taken to the surgical area. There, Lara, a master physician, helped by Debra, saved her son's life.
When Dar was placed in a recovery room, his soulmate sat by his side holding his hand and crying buckets.
After Dar had stabilized, Jor asked his family what had occurred.
"From what we gathered," Clark said, "Bar-Ra had his weapon out of its scabbard when your son attempted to draw his rapier. Bar-Ra wounded Dar and Debbie, seeing what had occurred, dispatched Bar-Ra and called for help while attempting to stifle Dar's bleeding and suture his injury.
Lara, after hearing the events that occurred, turned to her husband and said, "We should prepare for a wedding."
Jor, taking his beloved's hand, just nodded in agreement.
***
*Uncle Sor-El Comes a Visiting*
The day following the conflict in the lab area, Lois and Clark were preparing a search pattern to locate Kivi.
As preparations were being made, Zara suddenly rushed into the recovery room. She hurriedly went to her father and whispered, "Uncle Sor-El is coming."
"This visit," Jor commented, "is quite an unexpected event."
Lara then added, "His unannounced visit is extremely rude, to say the least."
"Zara," Jor commented, "your Uncle Sor believes that he lowers himself when he has to deal with me face to face. So, my dear, Sor-El always treats me in a very discourteous manner. Coming unannounced is one of those methods. It is one way he attempts to humiliate me in front of my family and friends. Such an attitude gives Sor a feeling of superiority in my presence.
"I believe," Jor commented to Lois, "if Sor-El could get away with an assassination attempt, he would have had me killed and married Lara to one of his cohorts so she could be sexually abused for treating him with contempt."
Lois then voiced her shocked views by saying, "I now understand why Sor visits your home armed and unannounced. He's attempting to show everybody that he has power over you and your household. By acting in this inappropriate manner, he has actually belittled himself and weakened his governmental position. He knows that Trey will oppose him politically, which will lose his bid to serve for a second tour of duty." Angry, Lois made her way to the external exit to the El abode.
Reaching the house door, Lois opened the entranceway of El household and asked, "Who should I say is calling." Then Lois, with Clark next to his wife, waited in silence for a reply.
Sor-El first said nothing. Then becoming enraged at the silence, he said in a loud voice, "Tell the head klutz of the house that Sor-El has arrived and demands to be admitted."
Lois said, "A head Klutz does not live here," and quietly closed the door.
Sor-El then pounded upon the door yelling, "Open this door if you value your life."
When Lois opened the door for the second time, Sor-El said, "Tell my brother that the First Lord has arrived and demands an entrance to his abode."
Lois said, "Whoever you are, you cannot demand entrance to anyone's home without a writ. No one is above the Law."
At that point, Sor-El was about to strike Clark's wife. Then, Clark warned Sor-El that if he harmed one hair of his soulmate's head, he would not see the next sunrise. When Sor-El appeared to be threatened, his military escort moved forward.
At that moment Jor-El stepped in the doorway passage and said, "There is a message for the First Lord. Trey is on the communication band."
As Sor-El moved toward the communication device, Jor-El informed his brother that Trey had heard the entire brouhaha over the info line. "A just retribution, don't you think."
Jor-El stepped outside his home, followed by Clark carrying a concealed laser blaster for their protection. Lois and Ching, also armed, stood at two different windows of the house covering both Jor and Clark.
"Who is that man by your side?" Sor-El demanded of his brother.
"A friend," was his reply.
"I'd like to know his name," Sor-El demanded and waited.
"A name to be used in one of your future retribution schemes," Jor-El stated.
After a few seconds, Sor-El understood the sequence of events that had been occurring and reluctantly asked to enter Jor's home. Although his request was in a softer tone, The First Lord's hatred of his brother was evident on his face.
When the El house door was closed after his entrance, Sor-El asked harshly, "Why, my brother, have you treated me with such contempt?"
"Your memory is short, Sor-El. Let me remind you of all the times you purposely embarrassed me or attempted to do so."
After a pause, Jor-El altered the subject and said quietly to his brother, "The next time you are involved in the abduction of an El family member, I will kill you and drag your carcass through the streets of the capital."
Then, Jor, pointing to Clark said, "This man is a relative from the Min-Ra province over the mountains to the west and is called Kal-El. That also makes him a relative of yours, Sor-El."
The First Lord flinched at the thought of this social barbarian being a relative of his.
"From boyhood, Sor-El, you had always been a social climber, and as you slowly matured as the First Lord, you've evolved into a malevolent snob."
Having learned that Jor-El would not permit any further kind of insolence from this day forward, Sor-El knew that he would have to behave himself in Jor-El's presence forever more.
Although Sor-El had traveled with his palace guard, they were basically for his protection against bandits or political enemies. He knew that protection would most likely not be needed at his sibling's home.
Asking Jor's permission to enter his home in a polite manner would gain him entrance to his brother's dwelling for shelter and food and drink for himself.
Asking Jor's permission to enter his home, it was granted.
While the hostility between the El brothers was occurring within the El house, the First Lord's protective military detachment was being nourished by Lady Lara.
Once the social etiquette between the two El brothers was settled, Sor-El asked Lara whether she had had enough of his dear brother's company and would make a home with him.
"I don't know how frequently your statement has been uttered, Sor, but that answer to your sexual thought will always be same, a negative reply, no."
Then Jor's beloved wife asked, "Why do you persist in this annoying charade?"
"Because, my dear Lara, it is legal to ask my question and it disquiets my dear brother, and I do enjoy giving him the needle."
Looking over the company in the room, he saw Lois. Getting up, he started ambulating toward CK's wife.
As he moved, Clark stood and said, "As I indicated before, place your filthy hands on her and you die where you stand. That's a promise."
Knowing that Lois could take care of herself, Clark had to stop this jerk before Lois took this blockhead apart limb by limb.
Looking at CK, Sor-El then said, "Do you want to sell her? I could use a fresh concubine. The others in my household bore me. I need some fresh meat."
"Disgusting," Clark said in an odious voice.
Clark, then looking as if he wanted to slaughter Jor's brother, said, in a deadly voice, "Sor-El, know that Lo-El and I are soulmates and have a love that will extend beyond time." Pausing for a moment, Clark added, "A forever kind of love is one that will continue beyond our deaths and extend beyond forever and a day."
"You know, Kal-El, if you made a move towards me I would have killed you."
"That may be true, Sor-El," Clark replied, "but my soulmate would have taken your liver from its body and thrown it to the hounds."
Hearing that statement, Sor-El turned an ungainly color.
Looking at Lois, Sor-El knew that what Kal-El had spoken was true.
Lara smiled as her brother-in-law said, "She's not worth it. Too skinny."
"That's a funny statement," Clark said, "I always thought that she had a gorgeous figure."
Just as the verbal conflict between Clark and Jor's imbecilic brother terminated, Kara entered the room.
Turning to see who else was present, Sor-El spied Kara and became somewhat pale. It was obvious to all present that he was surprised to see her and what Jor stated previously about kidnapping was clearly valid.
Recovering his demeanor, Sor said, "My dear Kara, you are one of the reasons I'm here. I'd heard that you were abducted. My information was obviously incorrect. I did come to offer any assistance to my brother's family that I could muster."
Jor said, "Thank you for your concern, but please recall what I said."
As Sor-El was leaving, he stopped aside Debra and asked her what she was doing in this neck of the woods?
Without hesitation Debbie said, "I've come to visit Lara and Jor with my brother, Kivi. He's presently studying a very large caldera situated in the TURSI mountain range. He feels that it should be studied in detail for the safety of the Kryptonian people."
Her statement and the rapidity with which she delivered her reply satisfied Sor-El, who now exited Lara and Jor-El's home and quickly departed their estates with his military entourage.
Jor walked up to his new guest and said, "Well done, my good and faithful daughter. You think well on your feet."
Seeing her uncle Sor jolted Kara from her mental stupor.
Kara then told her family that in her tete-a-tete with Ri-Nor she had learned that her uncle Sor was heavily involved with her abduction. She surmised that The First was involved in her kidnapping for political reasons.
"Your accusation concerning your uncle is almost unbelievable," Jor said. "However," Jor added, "Sor-El wouldn't be the first politico who worked against his own blood. Unfortunately, It's also not the first time that this kind of treachery has occurred in the long history of Kryptonian society."
After Jor's unkindly comments about Krypton's high society, Kara moved closer to Kivi's sibling and asked, "How did you learn of the large caldera?"
"After Kivi's first trip to Krypton, he told me about some of his adventures and discoveries. In our discussions the super volcano slipped into our dialogue. He indicated that if a super volcano became activated, the highest life forms on a planet would probably be eradicated."
"Can you tell me where this caldera is located," Jor asked.
"All that I recall is the TURSI mountain range," Debbie remarked.
"Now, my brethren," Jor said, "let's find our wayward brother, Kivi.
"It's about time," Ching commented. He then added, "Our first destination I believe should be Earth. Kivi is carrying one of our locator devices. If he's there, Kivi should be easy to track."
Within several hours, Jor, Clark, Ching, and Kara, were off and being transported eight billion light years across the wilderness of space.
***
*Finding Kivi*
Choosing Earth as their starting point was fortuitous because as soon as the family from Krypton exited the transporter at its Earth portal their locators went off simultaneously. Finding the source of their locator signal almost immediately, the people from Krypton beheld Kivi busily employed with the droids completing a new interstellar star ship, which would be designated the Smallville II.
Running over to Kivi, each one of the El family members in turn gave him a hug, even Kara managed a hug and added a passionate kiss to her soulmate.
"Hey, guys," Kivi said, "I'm glad to see you all, too."
Then turning and pointing to the new intergalactic vessel, Kivi said, "Isn't the ship a beauty? The droids are now checking out all of her systems. This vessel will soon be joining her sister ship in the cosmic void near Krypton," Kivi told Jor and his family.
Jor smiled and after meditating for a while said, "Genius is the stuff of progress in both peace and war. Without the things produced by such people, a civilization is doomed to perish. Political decisions, as we all have learned, generally stifle progress. That ship which Kivi and his droids have fabricated supports that fact all too well."
After discussing the Smallville II for sometime, Kivi took Kara by the arm shyly and with sensitivity said, "Why did you travel with kin to locate me? I thought you didn't want to see or be in my presence for all time to come. I am confused, my lady."
Kara then grabbed Kivi and brushed his lips passionately with hers. As their lips met, they both felt their lip lock generate a soulmate current, which rushed through their bodies down to their toes. Kivi and Kara's osculation had reestablished their soulmate bond and a forever kind of love, a love without ending.
After the El family group completed looking over the new ship, Jor said, "Krypton awaits us."
Kivi and Kara, however, decided to stay on Earth for a while and visit with Kivi's mom. Jor just told the newly engaged couple to return home when their visit had been concluded. "If I'm correct, Jor said, "your services, Kivi, will be needed expeditiously concerning a trek through the void that the family has been planning for some weeks."
As Jor and his family group headed back to Krypton, Kivi and his new fiancee started their trip towards Philadelphia for a meeting with Kivi's mother.
After a warm visit with Kivi's mom, which lasted several days, Kara and Kivi rejoined the El clan on Krypton.
After the two lovers arrived at the El household, Lara was already planning Kara and Kivi's nuptials with the aid of Lois, Debra, and Kara's sister Zara.
In a quiet discussion, Kara told her mother that she told Kivi's mom that she was welcome to her son's and her wedding. While Lara didn't disagree with her daughter's gracious invitation, there was a major obstacle concerning bringing Ms. Liron to the nuptial ceremonies between Kara and Kivi, which naturally would be held on Krypton. The fundamental criteria dealing with Kivi's mother was keeping her alive after her transport to Krypton. This situation obviously had to be solved if Kivi's mom were to attend the marriage ceremony. So, off Lara went to visit with Lois and Clark, the two miracle workers from Earth, as she often referred to them.
After Lara informed Clark and his wife of Mrs. Liron's problem, Clark asked Lois what was the time needed to complete such a project.
"Seven weeks," was Lois's prompt reply. CK just rolled his eyes and went to find the necessary material for their endeavor.
Fortunately for Lara, Clark and his wife were very gifted creators when it came to producing ideas and devices to work out difficult problems.
Development on the Mrs. Liron's survival equipment began soon, and Lois and Clark struggled with the problem almost day and night for nearly three weeks until they devised a fluid system that would enter Mrs. Liron's body through a vein in her leg and function like a miniature dialysis unit. The fluid would enable Kivi's mom's biological system to be capable of withstanding the Kryptonian environment as long as the special supporting fluid was perpetually flowing through and mixing with her blood system.
When Lara saw Lois and Clark's device she said, "I could kiss you both. You've constructed a magnificent engineering system."
The next few weeks were happy times with one exception. Kara was informed that her uncle Sor-El and his wife had been invited to the most sacred portion of her soulmate union, or wedding, with Kivi.
It took nearly four days to convince Kara that it was politically necessary for Sor-El to attend. Kara was keenly aware that from the scuttlebutt, Jor was still attempting to hold the immediate El family together as a unit. Kara was also cognizant that her father's gesture was useless, but for his sake, she agreed to Sor-El's attendance at her and Kivi's chapel ceremony.
After Kara agreed with the invite, Kara's mother said, "Sor-El's presence at your nuptials is a necessary fact of life." Smiling, Lara said, "You now have the job of informing Kivi about the variation in your nuptial event, and then run for your life, so to speak, when Kivi reacts to your news."
"Mom wasn't fair," Kara wailed after Lara disappeared wanting to avoid a possible confrontation with Kivi.
As Kara moved to tell her beloved husband to be of the changes which were to occur at the wedding ceremony, the question that concerned Jor's daughter most was how would Kivi handle Sor-El's presence at his conjoining with her?
As Kara waited for her soulmate's response, her heart started to beat very rapidly. In reality, Kara didn't really want her treacherous uncle to be present during the most sacred part of the soulmate ceremony.
Looking at his fiancee, Kivi said, "I figured that snake in the grass would conjure an invitation to our wedding."
Pausing, Kivi said to his bride, "It's a political move, my love, by a scheming uncle. Your parents are really in a bind. They are dammed if they do and dammed if they don't ask you uncle Sor and his family to attend our Wedding.
Although your parents will inform you that the decision was theirs, they were somehow coerced into the scheme. Kara, just be cordial with Sor-El and his entourage for your parents' sake."
Then she kissed Kivi passionately. After returning her kiss, Kivi said to Kara, "My concerns now must focus on Sor-El and his intentions, which I'm sure do not bode well for the safety of your parents. Your uncle has always been a scheming individual, and his schemes were never for the benefit of anybody but himself."
Kissing his soulmate on the forehead again, Kivi said, "Kara go to Lois and inform her of the developing situation and then help the ladies with the coming nuptial affair. Your activity will give the impression of all right with the world to Uncle Sor-El. While you're putting up a smoke screen, I'll be speaking with Ching, Clark, and other family members about Jor's changes in the nuptial affair."
Later that evening, Kivi said, "If you keep setting my soul on fire with your searing kisses, Kara, we'll never make our wedding night in a pure state." Kivi then just laughed and gave her another searing peck on her forehead. "Just don't stop kissing me." Kara smiled and fit her head in the crook of his arm.
When Kara saw her mother again she told her mother that everything was moving along swimmingly, the current situation was A-Okay. "Kivi," she said, "was most reasonable." She also informed Lara that Kivi understood Jor's and her motives for the invite. Lara smiled and gave her daughter a big hug and a motherly kiss on her cheek.
After Kara left the vicinity, Lara hastened to find her son-in-law. He was still in the lab.
Lara said, when she came face to face with Kivi, "You're not planning on carrying weapons into the wedding chapel, are you?"
"No," replied Kivi. "Debra will carry the hand held lasers and will stand outside the nuptial canopy as to not profane the sacredness of the event. Others of our family, seated strategically among the other attendees will also possess weapons. Hopefully, Sor-El will not act foolishly, and nothing will occur. Think, Lara, what better chance of eliminating Jor's house in one fell swoop than when all family members are attending the wedding of your daughter and her soulmate. Lara, we will be prepared. G-D grant that nothing happens to mar our wedding day."
Smiling at her new son, she kissed him on the cheek and left. As Lara walked toward the kitchen, she realized that Kivi and Clark thought very much alike. Thank heaven for brilliance and teamwork.
Later in that week, Kivi summoned Jor-El to a private meeting. After greeting his new father-in-law, Kivi showed film taken from a concealed spybot sent to a meeting held in the First Lord's chambers. At this secret meeting with his henchman, Sor-El's ghastly plan was revealed. During this powwow, both Jor and Kivi had ascertained that Sor-El intended to eliminate Kara and the entire El family, as Lois, Clark, and Kivi feared once they learned that Sor-El had finagled his way into the wedding procession.
Jor was somewhat shocked at what he learned, but he didn't panic. The El leader expected treacherous behavior when Sor-El had promised to be supportive of his new projects for an invite to Kara and Kivi's wedding.
Then Jor said to Kivi, "Sor-El will use the social confusion sometime during the wedding procession to get close to my person and in one quick stroke send me to hell. Son, watch my back."
"Father," Kivi replied , "I'll go down before you. Also, you need not have asked such a request. I know what it means to lose a loved one."
Jor then said to his family's retainers, "Set up the detection screens and search for any of Sor-El's people who will be carrying weapons."
Turning toward Clark, He asked his friend, "Keep me informed of the situation as it develops."
"Will do so, Jor. We have already made contingency plans."
Jor nodded and smiled.
As Jor was preparing to exit the lab area, he turned to Kivi and said, "Please call me pop occasionally. You, Clark and Lois have become that close to Lara and me."
"Okay, pop, Kivi said." Jor-El smiled as he walked toward the lab exit.
As the time for Kivi and Kara's civil joining drew near, Kivi constantly hearkened to any changes in Sor-El's insidious plans. His dislike for the First Lord was slowly but surely turning to hatred. Kivi fought against this kind of anger, but Sor-El had pushed him beyond his limit of understanding and tolerance.
As Kivi pondered his emotions, he nearly despised himself for the hatred that was overwhelming his natural like for people. But, anyone that would harm his soulmate and other members of his Kryptonian family made him feel that they were enemies, and enemies who wished to destroy what he loved must die.
Kivi knew that he would gladly trade his life for Kara's any day, and he knew that the reverse was also true. Kara was a part of his soul, as was the case with Lois and Clark. Both couples were lovers; one entity to time's end.
The day of soulmate bonding was now at hand. Those invited entered the chapel to witness the wedding of Kara and Kivi.
As the El entourage made its way to the temple's wedding chamber where the ritual of the marriage was to be performed, each protector of the El household was in his or her proper location scattered strategically throughout the chapel.
Everything moved smoothly, and the happy couple ascended the altar as the marriage ceremony began.
Just after the wedding ceremony had been completed, Sor-El made his ill-fated move. The First Lord had purposely allowed the marriage to be completed in order to include irony in the marriage ceremony, including the placing of official microdots at the proper location on the bride's and groom's torsos.
As the newly married couple started to walk from under the canopy towards the exit of the temple, Sor-El stood and yelled, "Now, my faithful executioners, destroy Jor-El's entire family — I want them destroyed, now."
Debbie immediately tossed Kivi his weapons, while the warriors of the El household surrounded Lara and Jor, and Jor and his wife with their faithful troopers started to dispatch those in Sor-El's party who rose brandishing weapons.
Within a few seconds, all the assassins had been exterminated, except for the perpetrator of this foiled lurid event.
Kivi kissed his bride and walked over to Sor-El and slapped him across the mouth. Blood oozed from Kivi's blow to Sor's face. The wallop Sor-El received from Kivi was a temporary reprieve. The blow allowed The First Lord the right to fight for his life with freedom the prize if he won.
"You're a fool," Sor-El sneered as he drew his rapier and lunged at Kivi. As quick as Sor-El was at drawing his weapon, Kivi was that much quicker. Within several seconds, Sor's rapier was broken. Kivi dropped his own weapons at almost the same moment and lunged forward and grabbed Sor-El. Lifting the First Lord above his head, he broke Sor-El's back on one of the temple wooden pews.
As he lay dying, Sor-El, in a mocking tone, informed his brother Jor, "I almost had you this time around." Then he closed his eyes for the last time and passed beyond the pale as his essence began its journey back to the well of souls, the source of all life.
As the wedding party exited the temple, Jor said, "When you and your helpmate return from your honeymoon, the family must talk about the inordinate strength and other abilities we all seem to be developing at an increasing pace. All of us seem to be experiencing unusual changes in our bodies. Remember, Kivi," Jor said, "the Smallville II will be arriving soon, and we'll need you to give her a series of shake down cruises. We'll also have to update our earlier interstellar vessel — The Smallville."
Kivi nodded at his father-in-law, and then he and his wife Kara were off on their honeymoon. For now, and for some time to come, Kara and Kivi would concentrate on just one another. They were on a special adventure that occurred only once in a lifetime for a soulmate couple.
***
*Kivi and Lara's Trek*
Known only to their immediate family, Kara and Kivi first made a trip to Earth and the groom's mother's home where they had a catered affair in honor of the newlyweds and where they met Kivi's immediate family.
When Kivi's small family gathered and were introduced to Kara, they were enchanted by her grace and beauty. One of Kivi's cousins, Jerry by name, asked Kara in jest, "Are you sure you've married the right man?"
Kara replied, "Yep, we're soulmates and even crossing the vast wilderness of space could not keep us apart."
Wilderness of space, Jerry chuckled. "This girl has my kind of humor." Kivi's cousin laughed.
Although Kivi's Earth family responded with some amusing comments, Kara's remark caused her husband to turn somewhat pale.
As Kivi quickly recovered, his family, like Jerry, presumed that Kara had a terrific sense of humor — just the kind of spouse Kivi would need to calm his disposition. When Kara's phrase "crossing space to find one another" was repeated throughout the festive day, more ripples of laughter could be heard.
"If they only knew," Kivi thought, "if they only knew."
After spending about five days on Earth, Kivi said to his bride, "It's time to return to our campsite we've set up in the TURSI mountains. We'll spend the remainder of our honeymoon near that super caldera's location. We're both interested in that ancient volcano, so we'll do a little probing. While we do a little investigating, the solitude of the terrain will allow us to become better acquainted."
On their way back to Smallville and the hidden teleporter station, Kara said to her new husband, "I wish I'd known you were fond of camping. I'm also a lover of the out-of-doors. If I'd known we had that in common, we could have taken some trips together, and I believe we would have been coupled much sooner."
Kivi kissed his soulmate and said, "Probably so, my dear." Kara then placed her head on his shoulder as they traveled toward Smallville, Clark's hometown.
As they approached the teleportation unit in the Kent grotto, Kara and Kivi could see that a dozen new interstellar ships were now under construction. "I wonder why so many vessels are being fabricated," Kara asked.
"Oh well, we'll discover the reason when we return from our honeymoon," Kivi responded to his wife's remark.
Several days later, the newlyweds flew into the TURSI mountain range and scouted the caldera as they flew to their campsite.
After reaching their encampment, Kara and Kivi enjoyed the serenity of their campsite for the remainder of the day.
At sunrise on the following day, Kivi and Kara began to explore the caldera with several new scientific instruments designed and built at Lara and Jor's home lab.
By the sixth day of their exploration of the super caldera, and after having shifted their campsite at least a dozen times, they were certain that the data they were recording was valid. The super volcano would again explode sometime within the next century.
Transmitting their volcano information to the El house, Kara and her husband continued to enjoy the remainder of the honeymoon by wandering through the TURSI mountain range.
As promised, Kivi and his soulmate, Kara, returned home after a month of leisure and of little work.
Once arriving home, the newlyweds were surprised to learn that the family immediately had reacted to the info they had forwarded to the El house. Two of the El family members had been dispatched to the capital city after the volcanic data was validated. Once Lara and Lois arrived at Krypton's capital, they attempted to see key scientific personnel and members of the political establishment concerning the grave situation that was even now evolving in the TURSI mountain area.
Before sending any of El family to seek help from the authorities, a validation team made up of Ching, Clark, and Jor traveled to the TURSI mountains to gather additional information to corroborate Kivi and Kara's data soon after the newlywed's data had been received at the El house. Checking different sections of the volcanic mountain range area they, unfortunately, very quickly verified Kara and her husband's findings. Jor, after comparing his group's volcanic information with Kara and Kivi's initial report, announced to his companions that when the super volcano exploded, most life on the planet Krypton would be expected to perish. After Clark analyzed the TURSI mountain data, he concluded that a super volcanic eruption could be expected with a century.
After Jor alerted the family of the coming catastrophe, Lara and Lois immediately set out for Krypton's capital. There, the two ladies found themselves being frustrated by the politicians in the governmental assembly who just thought of revenge. The politicos believed it was time to get even for Sor-El's humiliating demise and purposely avoided Lara and Lois, two El family members.
After seeing Trey, who was now the acting First Lord, the only person attempting to help Jor's small clan to acquire the essential materials to build a fleet of intergalactic ships that would be able to move Krypton's vast population to a safe haven, even he could not overcome nor alter the assembly's blood lust against Lara and her family.
Before Lara and Clark's wife left the capital of Krypton, Lois stormed into the assembly and with eyes blazing went to the podium. Standing before the revenge seeking fools, she said to assembly members, "You have frustrated our desire for needed materials to fabricate survival ships that could allow the population of Krypton to reach a save haven before the super volcano erupts."
With a smirk she added, "We shall make do. When the time comes to remove the last of the population from this planet to safety, you and your families will not be among those individuals. The assembly will have the pleasure of experiencing the terror of an exploding world. Furthermore, don't think of overpowering us. I'm afraid your puny efforts will be in vain. Don't even waste your time in searching for the arks that we and our confederates will be constructing. You will not locate them. Once Lara and I leave this chamber of idiocy, you'll not hear from us nor see any member of our family until the well of souls."
Returning home, Lara placed in operation the new force field equipment, which added a protective covering over the El estates. This special force field would seal their home and surrounding grounds within an impenetrable shield of energy.
The next step in their El plan was to build a thousand droids and set them to work constructing as many star ships as was possible before the Krypton catastrophe occurred.
Within the next forty years, any new star ships sent from Earth would be stored in a star system ten light years from the solar system of the red sun. These huge vessels would be capable of ferrying many Kryptonians to safety at a single sailing.
During this period of star ship construction, Krypton's planetary government kept up a steady stream of sarcastic and slanderous rhetoric attempting to discredit the El family. The population of the planet, after a time, became suspicious of the constant negative comments directed at Jor-El and his family.
After planet wide rumblings and tremors began to be experienced throughout the world, the first in a series of numbers appeared on many home video monitors. Several days later, a message appeared on the channel labeled one thousand on the planet wide video system stating, "When a number appears on your home monitor, follow the instructions that follow. They will lead you to a survival location. Numbers have already been presented for their first group to be called. These individuals should appear at the designated location within five days. For each succeeding numerical presentation, a warning will also be posted indicating the time people will have to reach their survival location. If you do not arrive at the specified departure station, your name will be removed from the exodus list. Do not expect another call from the survival committee."
***
*The first Forty Years Toward Catastrophe*
Two years after Lois delivered her warning and ultimatum, Zara and Ching conceived, and two additional children, baby girls, were born to the couple. Lois and Clark, during the same time period, also conceived, and Lois in her time delivered triplets, two boys and a girl. Within a year after Lois and Clark's children were born, Kara and Kivi conceived, and Kara in due time delivered another set of El triplets, two girls and a boy.
The following year, Debra and Dar-El completed their soulmate union and the year following, Debbie and Dar-El became the parents of quadruplets, two of each gender.
The El household population was increasing by leaps and bounds. Lara and Jor were overjoyed, to say the least.
During the following forty yeas the El household was an exceedingly busy place. The new children and grandchildren were home taught, which required the expenditure of tremendous energy and cooperation among the parents. Since each of the offspring was a Tam alpha prime, the plethora of El progeny learned rapidly.
As the children finished their formal studies, they joined the family at large in the main project at that moment, "Operation Save The Krypton People, OSTKP."
Jor-El, after the first indications that the super volcano was awaking, requested that the art galleries and museums of science and history, etc. send their precious items that they wanted preserved to a specific location for transfer to the new safe haven.
To his surprise, precious items poured into the loading locations and were immediately transferred to a ship that carried them to the Master Engineers' planet at the cosmic rim.
When the first of the Kryptonian people came to the El embarkation sites, they were transferred to interstellar vessels and transported to their refuge location, sites prepared by the Master Engineers that Jor and some of his family discovered many years ago. Upon arrival on the Engineers' planet, the Kryptonian people disembarked and were provided with comfortable living quarters.
The Earth constructed interstellar ships were soon carrying more and more refugees with valuable and historic objects created by their ancestors.
Specialized Libraries were next on the El list to be preserved. These archives, mostly electronic in character, also had within their collection some ancient parchment records. These athenaeums were known to be housed within several abandoned clan locations scattered about the desert regions of the planet. The creation of these ancient knowledge preserves probably occurred when many Kryptonian clans were just wandering communities. The task of collecting these precious artifacts was left to the younger members, the children of the Jor-El family group.
In this forty-year period, some children conceived by Lois and Clark, Zara and Ching, Dar-El and Debbie intermarried. The twin girls of the Kents also found soulmates among the academic community on the planet Earth.
During the hectic days, just before the TURSI caldera erupted, each of Zara's twins delivered a set of triplets.
When the birth of these children occurred, a new priority was at hand and the El clan began to feel the overload.
To relieve the stress on Jor's household, the Master Engineers arrived from their home world at the rim of the universe to relieve the El folk from some of the mounting back breaking they faced.
With the added help of the Master Engineers working with the El family, the job of vacating Krypton in time now had a large probably of success. To save the remnants of the population left on the doomed planet, Jor and his people worked increasingly more and more hours per day. As Jor-El toiled with an Engineer at his side, he recalled how many years in the past Clark first encountered those magnificent creations, The Master Engineers.
***
*The Master Engineering Bureau*
It was some time before the super volcano incident was to occur, when Lara, Jor, Lois, Clark, Zara and Ching, took the Smallville and headed for the cosmic rim following a source of strong electromagnetic pulses which had recently appeared from a region near the theoretical edge of the universe. The origin of this dynamic power source was thought to be emanating from the abode of the mythical Atlantians.
Kara and Kivi, with Dar-El and Kivi's sister Debra, remained behind as guardians of the El household and directors of all activities associated with the EL estates, including the education of their children, the latest generation of Lara and Jor's family.
What prompted this journey to the cosmic rim was a telepathic message from some group who called themselves the Master Engineers.
They were told to proceed towards the edge of the universe near the Talces star cluster. Spatial coordinates were then provided.
After a relatively rapid journey, the starship Smallville neared the designated coordinates, which had been provided. There, they saw a shimmering wheel of misty white turning slowly in the distance.
Jor then received another mental message telling him and his crew to proceed through the misty white object they were now observing.
Jor then asked Lara to pilot the ship toward the misty white entity and proceed into and through that entity.
When the ship hit the misty white entity dead center, there were no crunching sounds when contact was made. Instead, the Smallville thundered on until it emerged into a flood of light above a truly prodigious city, a city that was easily projected on the Smallville's navigational monitor.
The city, which heaped height upon height, appeared to create enormous steps soaring towards towers that pointed skyward and looked like some behemoth's digits.
Amazed, the people from Krypton viewed a solid massive city of gleaming white marble that covered mile upon mile of land. An individual could visualize just part of the planet which bore this city and stretched from a horizon to yet another horizon.
As they moved into a landing pattern, the occupants of the Smallville could see three blazing stars in the sky. One of the suns was white, while the other two could be considered a misty blue.
Clark was thinking that the light energy radiating from these stars would make old Sol appear to be a mere candle by comparison.
As Lara was setting up her landing trajectory, a voice in their heads announced that they should do nothing that would move their vessel. Suddenly, the spacecraft began to be slowed as if a soft pillow were acting as a resistant cushion. As they were slowing down, the ship pressed on until the center of the huge city was presently attained.
Then, at the center of this huge metropolis, one that would be equal to a hundred Kryptons and a thousand New Yorks, the Smallville ceased to move in a straight line and began to descend.
As the ship's altitude continued to diminish, Jor and his party could make out spires of stone, winding streets, broad parkways, and boulevards, like tiny ribbons fluttering in the distance.
Lois said, "This city could easily overcome the most ambitious dreams of the greatest architects that now exist on Krypton and upon Earth. They would pale before the magnificent city structures below the Smallville."
Suddenly, they were descending toward one of the sixth floor tiers joined with a massive building. As the Smallville declined still further, the starship came closer to the ponderous blocks of stones that were part of the massive building structures.
As they continued to move downward, a portal on a roof opened. The ship by now was floating on an even keel as it continued to move ground ward through the entrance that the open portal had propagated.
At last, the ship settled with a gentle bump and was still. They had arrived.
Lois commented to her companions, "Well, guys, we're here, wherever that is. Now what are we supposed to do?"
As if in answer to her question, a voice resonating in the heads of the Smallville crewmembers said, "You are in a place that has been prepared for each of you. You will discover," the voice added, "the gravitational field, the atmospheric conditions and other natural surroundings needed for your survival have been provided. Protective space armor will not be required nor any kind of artificial trappings will be needed. Nourishment, if you desire food, awaits you in the adjoining room."
As the other El family members moved about and enjoyed the prepared meals, Jor and his soulmate, Lois and Clark, and Zara and her husband Ching were taken to very comfortable apartments each with living chambers, bedrooms, and dining facilities. In the dining area were a massive oak table and six chairs, and upon the table was a banquet that would do justice to a king and his court.
"From what we have seen," Clark said, "the Master Engineers can produce anything they desire by matter transformation. These beings can apparently arrange atoms to compose anything they desire."
"It seems our hosts can transmute matter, an amazing feat in itself," Zara added.
After the space sailors from the Smallville refreshed themselves, a rather strange appearing individual, a humanoid, with a benign demeanor, entered the room. He introduced himself as A-three, which connoted an artificial life replication made third in his line. The Atlantians had created a line of androids like A-three and his duplicates some four billion years in the past, about a hundred thousand years before their race pasted beyond the pale.
"The Atlantians created a hundred thousand androids of my kind," A-three divulged, "and divided them into two groups. They then sent both groups in opposite directions in our universe. The main objective of both groups was to discover sites where they could establish cities as you have seen, cities that were meant for our masters or their descendents."
Then there was a pause, after which the android said something so astonishing that it left the Smallville's space sailors speechless.
"After studying your species, we believe," A- three said, "you're the heirs to this megalopolis and all its scientific wonders."
"A-three, we are not the Atlantians' biological descendents."
"That may be true, but your resemblance to our masters is uncanny. Even your mannerisms mimic theirs. Our creators were wizards at creating biological systems. Knowing the end of their kind was approaching, they could have seeded certain planetary systems in their formation stage that had favorable conditions for their kind of life sometime in the remote past. In these seeds, I'm sure they created mechanisms that would ensure that creatures such as themselves would eventually evolve. Your two star systems have borne the fruit of their biological experiment in a very young universe aeon ago.
"There might be other planetary systems that harbor your kind of life forms from the Alantians' seeding endeavors; however, that will be for the future to determine. Now my friends, what can I and my kind do for you?"
Clark then informed A-three about the chance meeting of two cultures and discovering that they were genetically compatible. Continuing, Clark added, "Jor-El and his people will soon perish by physical forces from a super volcano. If the people of my home world are exterminated and what you say is true, then half of the Atlantians' seeding experiment would have failed.
"So," Clark indicated, "we need a sanctuary of some sort for the Kryptonian people so they can survive when their planet perishes in the coming catastrophe."
A-three immediately said, "You'll send the Kryptonians people here, of course, but I must tell you there is danger even in our highly protected realm."
"What kind of danger are you talking about?" Lois asked.
"I will begin," A-three said, "with information that is very fundamental to us, although I don't believe you're aware that such a danger exists."
Pausing for a moment A-three then said, "The basic reason you are unaware of what you are about to be told is because your kind evolved far from the edge of our universe. We have lived at the cosmic rim for aeons and found reality long years ago.
"After many long years of existing at the edge of our plenum, some of the Master Engineers began studying the void beyond the boundary of our cosmic space.
"We know that you've decided that there are about fifty billion galaxies within our universe. Because your sciences are so young, we can understand how your scientists arrived at this false premise. I'm afraid the galactic value you established includes but a tiny fraction of the systems, which include stars, nebula, and dust arranged within our cosmic realm.
"Recently, our astronomers have discovered that there are untold billions upon billions of universes which exist in our space-time. Sorry to contradict you, my friends," the Engineer indicated to his guests.
"Don't be apologetic," Jor-El replied, "good science itself is self-evaluating, replacing older and incorrect data and concepts with better or corrected information."
Sort of smiling, A-three added, "We androids have even found that there are as many universes beyond ours as there are galaxies in our own singular cosmic realm. It is believed by some of us that all the universes we've discovered exist in a four dimensional zone within a five dimensional inter-space.
"There is a theory, which is popular among some of our android population, that suggests our universe with other cosmic forms creates a hyper-sphere that generates a super cosmic realm in which each individual universe behaves like a galaxy that exists in each cosmic expanse — like a universe within a universe.
"The logic I've expressed about super universes could easily be extended to other huge structures. For example, one could believe that the super universe of which I speak is merely a super realm within an even greater super universe.
"Ah, but as we speak of theories the danger afoot is closing in on us. Theories are good and interesting for times of peace and security, but, at present, however, we are threatened by two dangerous phenomena.
"Our scientists have discovered that our own universe is about to collide with another cosmic domain."
Jor and his family, after hearing the Master Engineer telepathic words, were stunned into silence.
"Like two stars colliding?" Clark asked.
"Precisely," the Master Engineer replied.
Jor asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," A-three replied. "Beings from that other universe have told us, and we verified their findings. At present, those people in the older cosmos are cognizant about more knowledge, along many research lines, than we are. Also," A-three added, "we have been communicating with the many races in the older universe for years in an attempt to save our own space.
"In the older cosmos," the Engineer added, "only about twenty percent still possess life.
"The people of the older universe," A-three added, "and our own have decided to allow the older space cluster to perish and bring the people from the older universe to our cosmic realm in order to save our own universe."
"Then you've known for quite some time that this collision would occur," Jor said.
"Yes, we've been aware of the impending collision for some time," A-three replied to Jor's query.
"We and the beings from the other universe have tried hard to stop the impending catastrophe, but there seems to be no solution to our dilemma. So, my friends, we summoned, by various means, beings with the best minds in both our universes hoping they could help find a solution to our survival problem. In this endeavor we have failed."
Lois then asked, "Why did you summon us? We're probably not the best or most creative minds you could locate in our universe. Although we are two cultures with a very strong common bond, our people are just beginning their long climb to understanding. You and the other races understand more than we will comprehend for centuries to come."
"That may be so," the Engineer agreed, "but you possess something else. Something greater than all the cultures we've examined: A courage to face an impending cataclysm and attempt to oppose it. Your people possess imagination, which the Engineers do not and could never invent. Each people must have something to contribute that might be useful. Remember we do not possess art; the Engineering community could not invent painting because our minds are different. What matters to us is the destruction that will occur when two universes collide."
After a brief pause A-three continued, "You must know by now that our universe and the cosmic realm we're moving towards will perish long before an actual impact occurs."
The Engineer added, "Our two universes will 'rub,' come so close that they will create a new kind of frictional force or a frictional stress. In the laws that govern inter-spatial events, this friction will produce a new form of energy, a raw energy that has never before existed in time-space. As each universal field rubs across the other, a wave of this unknown energy would be absorbed by each universe in ever increasing amounts. This unloosed and uncontrollable energy will rapidly increase the mass within each cosmic realm."
Clark then exclaimed, "Increasing the mass would alter the bending of space-time in our universe. An empty universe involved in such a collision would possess no space curvature. If a total void were involved, there would be no condition that could truly form space. Totally devoid of mass, space would be entirely uncured. A straight line would have no real spatial meaning. However, the more mass the tighter space would be curved. The more mass there would be the smaller space would exist for matter to occupy."
"Flooding our universe with this type of friction energy from inter-space," Jor added to Clark's thoughts, "and our space will begin to curve back faster and faster upon itself. The bending of space under the influence of this unknown energy would cause the bending to become tighter and tighter, crowding matter in the affected area into an ever-smaller area. The result would be a contracting rather than an expanding cosmic realm."
"Pour enough of the unknown energy into our universe," Zara chimed in, "and the cosmos we know would behave more as if an implosion occurred and all space would rush together. All life forms would be extinguished; galaxies would be expunged. Any existing mass would also be compacted into a tiny area. This scenario might even occur if the compaction happened so fast that galaxies were crushed upon each other. At best, the universe would have to begin again."
"The universe would start again," the Master Engineer stated. "There would be enough new energy to initiate the process after the old universe had reverted to its original chaotic form."
Ching then spoke up, "Our problem now is learning how to control this new inter-dimensional energy."
"Well, we better get to work," Lara said.
As Jor thought about the coming possible catastrophe, he said to A-Three, "We must attempt to bring the people from the older universe into our own cosmic domain before the unknown friction energy destroys them with their universe."
When the conversation petered out, A-three revived the conference by indicating there was a second danger, a race of lizard-like individuals. "They are known as the Vandals. This extremely warlike race has learned how to burst out of our universe or any other cosmic domain and navigate the inter-space between each universal realm. These beings are technologically advanced and may be more further ahead in many sciences than the Engineers."
"Maybe," Jor said, "we can initiate a sort of treaty of peace with these creatures to save our and their cosmic realm and those beings in the older and dying universal domain."
The thought from the Master Engineer went straight to Jor's thought center. "There can be no peace with the Vandals, no treaty nor any armistice!"
The Master Engineer continued, "For a million years or more, these people have thought about and practiced war first among themselves and eventually with races of beings not of their own cast. Their every thought has been directed toward conquest. A word peace to the Vandals is a flaw in the thought processes. Peace to them is an anachronism. War to the Vandals has evolved into a natural condition. To reiterate, peace to a Vandal is an unnatural state and he/she will laugh in your face. Anyway," the Engineer added, "The Vandals see in this collision condition a chance to conquer our cosmic expanse."
"How could they survive the inter-cosmic collision?" Zara asked.
"If our universe is overcome by the inter-spatial frictional energy," the Master Engineer stipulated, "their people would sail upon the inter-spatial sea and establish themselves on a planet in one of the many other cosmic domains and wait until a new universe, which once was ours, starts to cool and life has begun to evolve. Ay that point, the Vandals would be able to control the evolutionary flow of the new life forms and direct them towards their kind of beings with their aggressive behavior, which could lead to all sorts of evil and destructive events. With Vandals on the loose," A-three added, "my fellow Engineers believe that the grand design of the creator of all life would be jeopardized.
"If you'll excuse me," the Engineer then said, "I must attend a conference with the other races waiting to see us. Many have traveled so far, much greater distances than you have journeyed. There are so few life forms in our universe. Life is so seldom found throughout a specific cosmos realm. A universal realm, it seems, doesn't care at all for intelligent forms of life. I sometimes think of life as a strange disease that should not have occurred and is some accidental arrangement of matter that has no right to a permanent existence. Our universe appears so hostile to life that its appearance is almost abnormal. You know, my friends, there are so few places where we have encountered life that has not only occurred but survived."
Clark rebutted the Engineer's premise and said, "In our universe there are millions of galaxies. There may be so many planets filled with life that we know nothing about."
"That's true," replied the Engineer, "but there are so few we can contact. It is difficult to get in touch with them. Some of the races would be useless to us. They might have evolved along completely different lines to achieve a different kind of culture — Races that live without any application of the practicable sciences — Races that have submerged themselves in aesthetics and are untrained in the basic sciences — Races that have sunken into a deep well of philosophy and thought. The only races we could reach are the scientifically minded and could catch our message as you did.
"However, after also talking to the other scientific races," the Engineer informed their Terran-Kryptonian visitors, "they, too, were sent back to their home worlds. They were of little use to the Engineering community at their current point in their mental evolution.
"The races in the older universe, my young friends," the Engineer continued, "have just sent us a method that uses virtual particles, which exist between atoms, and can be used to increase the motion within a particular sector of their space-time to push it faster than other sections of their cosmic realm.
"When the ancient races in the older cosmic domain begin their acceleration process, we'll know soon enough whether the speed mechanism of the old ones will produce a budding phenomenon which will pull away from the remaining older universe at a rate faster than the normal motion of the remaining elderly cosmic realm and allow the budding area to be captured by the enhanced gravitational field generated within the Engineer's spatial domain.
"If the Engineers and the old races are successful, we, the Engineers will be able to draw them into our universe.
"Once the Engineers have transported the old ones into our cosmic realm, the unknown energy, triggered by the rubbing frictional forces between our two cosmic entities, will be captured in a special cylindrical device which will be used to control the new inter-spatial energy. My people," The Engineer told Jor's group, "will also keep the ancient races from the dying universe in quarantine until we can establish whether these beings will not be harmful to our own cosmos.
"Once the inter-space frictional energy has been contained, we will use it to help repel any kind of Vandal attack upon our citadel, the abode of the Engineers. With the new energy in our hands, we feel that any attack by the Vandals would be a disaster for those lizard-like creatures."
***
*The End of the Vandal Threat*
When the time came, and as the Engineers predicted, once the old races had been pulled successfully across the inter-space between our two cosmic realms and freed after a thorough examination of these new beings, the Vandals panicked and foolishly attacked the Engineers' stronghold with all the military power they could muster.
After the vicious battle with the Vandals, a real slugfest, was finished and the lizard folk vanquished, the Master Engineer's grand city was in shambles. However, with the new weaponry produced by the Terran and Kryptonian peoples combined with those of the Engineers, the Vandals were not only crushed but also totally exterminated.
With the victory over their ancient foes, the old races from an older inter-space universe and the Engineers celebrated and simultaneously mourned the passing of a people, the Vandals, because life wherever it is found should be celebrated. Never again will the Engineers and their allies allow a people to become horrible antagonists and wreak havoc on less militant civilizations.
After the battle and the following celebration, the Smallville crew prepared to start for home. As Jor's family group was cleaning their house so to speak, the Master Engineers led them into a storage area and asked the Earth and Kryptonian peoples what they desired from the chamber they had just entered.
"Knowledge," each person within Jor's household gave as a response.
Jor then said, "We would like the knowledge you'll glean from the Vandals' archives and also some of the Atlantians' scientific lore you've guarded over the eons. Of course, knowledge that you believe our people can handle. Our request also includes any information that we might find useful from the old cosmic races as it becomes available."
Then walking over to the enormous jewel case, Clark chose rings composed of precious stones for the El family women.
The Master Engineers said to Jor, "You and your Earth cousins are the true inheritors of the Atlantians' knowledge and their devices. You understand that knowledge is true wealth."
Then A-three bowed his head and quietly murmured, "Our masters' most meaningful experiment has been justified by your noble efforts, my friends."
Jor replied, "The special suits you've presented to us are the most valuable items we're taking home. They will allow my family and friends to explore our universe and other cosmic regions."
Clark added, "The suits function beautifully. Gravity and pressure are normal when encased in your body armor. The suits of the Atlantians are far more comfortable that our own space protection garb. They are like a second skin and move as our bodies ambulate. They are impenetrable like the stabilized neutronium we used to fabricate our star ships."
Lois, putting her two cents into the conversation, said, "You know, Jor, with these suits we even could roam the surface of Jupiter with its extreme habitat that could easily crush a non-shielded Terran or Kryptonian. I think that the Engineers' protective clothing may allow us to penetrate even a star and survive." Lois Lane Kent then concluded, "Someday, we'll have to test my crazy notion." Then Lois giggled and said, "Clark would probably yell at me and say that I'm pushing the envelope again, which would place me in a very dangerous predicament."
Jor just laughed and said, "But that's just you, Lo-El."
Within a month, Jor's people had begun their voyage home. They left behind a teleportation unit so the Engineers could visit Krypton and/or Earth, if they so desired.
It was on their first trip to the inner universe that the Engineers from the cosmic rim told their friends and allies that the people on Krypton and Earth were genetically identical. Of all the seeding the Atlantians had done throughout our cosmic realm, only two planets had thus far been discovered that had produced life forms similar to the Atlantian's genetic scheme.
***
*Return to Krypton*
When Jor and his party returned to Krypton and the rustic El house, there was naturally a great celebration. After the festivities had been concluded, the knowledge cubes that were bought back from the rim of space were duplicated and placed aboard each new Smallville class star ship. The originals were deposited in a hidden grotto enclosure below the El abode.
After returning home the star sailors found some new surprises. Jor and Lara discovered that Dar and Debbie had conceived and were expecting quadruplets. It appeared that many beings born into Lara and Jor's family were soulmates and would wed when the time was right. For those outside the family soulmate loop, their soulmates would be discovered, in time, on Earth or from the general population of Krypton.
Now it was a time of relative peace and the nurturing of the young. All the new offspring upon testing were mentally Tam alpha primes.
During the next forty-year respite, more arks were fabricated on Earth and stored in a solar system ten light- years from Krypton.
Sad events also occurred during this period. The family saw the passing of Kivi's mother in a vehicular accident — but she had lived to a ripe old age and had seen the birth of grandchildren, a blessing to any senior family member. Although other sad events also occurred, they were still minor in comparison with the events that they had observed at the rim of the universe.
When the first emigrants left for the Engineer's world, eventually, to be called New Krypton, the older progeny of the next generation and even some of their own offspring had started working with their family in the labs beneath the El house. It was a time not only of great scientific accomplishments, but also great accomplishments in the arts, music, and many other creative endeavors.
During this forty-year period, followers of the long deceased Sor-El made several attempts to breach the bulwark defending the El estates, but to no avail.
***
*The End Of Krypton*
Sixty-seven years after Jor-El first was informed of the super caldera and reported this information to his brother, the super volcano within the TURSI mountains was building towards its final cataclysmic eruption. Several Smallville class ships were standing by and taking aboard the last goods and materials from the El house. All the inhabitants wishing to leave their home world had long ago departed.
When Jor-El's great grandson, an offspring from a marriage of Lois and Clark's eldest daughter and Zara and Ching youngest son, interrupted Jor, the patriarch of his clan smiled at the youngster who was pulling on his grandparent's arm and saying, "It's fifty-five minutes to the big bang — I think it's time to leave pop — pop."
Jor placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and replied, "Okay, let's go, little one."
From space, as the last star ships were leaving the Krypton star system for the last time in many years, Jor and a few others witnessed a gigantic explosion. An eruption of a super volcano that marked the end of his home world. It also was the demise of the planet's political population, who were deliberately left behind according to Lois's proclamation, and those who chose to stay on their own volition.
When Jor and his entourage arrived on New Krypton, a rebuilt Engineer's planet greeted him. There was a great outpouring of joy followed by a festival which lasted for more than a week.
As the years pasted, the Terran — Kryptonian people learned to fly. It was the solar energy of their new sun system that provided them with the necessary energy that allowed the inhabitants of New Krypton to defy gravity, one of their many new abilities, in addition to enhanced hearing, x-ray vision, laser eyes, and freezing breath. Invulnerability also developed as puberty approached during maturation.
Although the solar powered organic beings were equal to or stronger than the Engineers, the Engineers were and always would be treated with respect and as equals in a society that would endure throughout eternity.
In pondering the years of his life, Jor often thought of the Alantians. That day he wondered had the Engineer creators created more than they realized? Or did they? That question would tantalize his thoughts for the remainder of his life.
About a dozen years after Jor and his family had fully settled on New Krypton, the patriarch of the El clan had several novel ideas. After some thought, the entire clan supported his views.
At a family meeting, Jor informed everybody present that the time characteristics for New Krypton and Earth had been finally been synchronized.
"It is now eighteen months later upon Earth when measured from the time Lois, Clark, and Kivi made their initial trip to the Kryptonian star system. The time stream will now flow at the same rate between New Krypton and Earth."
After a pause, Jor said, "A-three told me that for Earth to evolve more rapidly, certain powerful criminal elements must be removed from that planet's global society."
Looking at Lois, Clark, and Kivi Jor said, "How would you like to return to your home world for a spell? Our brother A-three, who we'll refer to as Adam, thinks your presence there is needed to allow Earth's community to evolve in a positive manner."
Clark looked at Lois, Kivi, and Kara and they all nodded affirmatively.
"Okay," Jor said. "You'll operate out of our hidden workshop near Clark's Smallville boyhood home. The main objective is to remove Luthor and his associates and Lex's rivals, mostly inter-gang people, from society and have them incarcerated in a capsule that will be marooned in inter-space. With our teleporter system, you can return to New Krypton, your home, whenever you wish."
Pausing for a few seconds, Jor said, "I want to see you guys every Friday for dinner and an evening of relaxation. That includes you, A-three, my old Engineer brother."
***
*Back On Earth*
A married Lois and Clark returned to Earth eighteen months after they departed, as measured on the Sol-Three space-time line, with a full complement of super abilities. Their children, having matured and married, did not accompany them.
After having dinner with Martha and Jonathan Kent, Lois said, "The next time we leave Earth, you both are coming with us. Our friends in Smallville will care for the farm. We'll use the Kent homestead as a portal when we come and depart from this world."
"Oh, by the way," Clark told his parents, "Adam, here, is a very close friend to Lois and myself. He doesn't eat nor drink. He'll stay with you until he's needed. Adam draws all the energy he'll need from what he calls solar furnaces and we refer to as stars or suns."
"Tomorrow, I'll call Perry," Lois said. "Let's all get some shut eye."
A-three or Adam said, "I'll go for a walk and become familiar with the Smallville community."
When Perry White received a call from Lois early the next morning, the chief was overjoyed. However, when Lois told Perry that she and Clark were returning to work, Perry said, "I would love to have you both, but Luthor owns the paper. You know what that means."
Lois turned to her husband and telepathically told him what the current situation was at the Daily Planet.
Gathering the official papers that proved Clark had purchased the Planet and created the conditions how it was to be run, Lois and Clark flew to Metropolis and went directly to the offices of Constance Hunter.
Within an hour after their arrival in the big city, Lois and Clark, with their lawyer, were at Metropolis' Municipal Courthouse.
Warrants were issued, and Bill Henderson, who brought them to the central police station in cuffs for interrogation, arrested Luthor and the former Planet entrepreneurs blithely. While Luthor might very well wrangle his way out of the indictment, the embarrassment caused by his arrest would smudge his social status and might even bump him from the registry of Metropolis' finest families.
As Henderson expected, Lex attempted, with the aid of his army of lawyers, to blame the former owners of the Planet for his involvement in Luthor's scandal. His defense was based on a lack of knowledge, and he blamed the past Planet owners of conducting a fraud with LexCorp as the scapegoat. Luthor stated that he purchased the Planet and its electronic affiliates in good faith from Mr. Teasdale and his associates. He didn't believe it necessary to search for the entire record history associated with the past owners of the newspaper.
The judge, looking straight at Luthor said, "I wish that the judicial system, mainly me, Mr. Luthor, could believe your statements, but for an astute businessman, as you have proven to the world so often in the past, your defense is feeble as donkey dust at best."
The Judge then said, "Mr. Luthor will face trial and bail will be set at a hundred million dollars."
"Isn't that rather exorbitant for bail?" Luthor's council said to the judge.
"Yes, it is," was the judge's reply. "He can afford to provide the money for his freedom and Metropolis could use the capital if the accused resolves to bolt."
In the trial that ensued, all the members of the former newspaper board received ten years for fraud. Lex Luthor was given one year for illegally purchasing the Daily Planet property owned by the former proprietors. Luthor also had to pay ten fold for all actions and damages the paper had caused to any employees he sacked or socially injured. Luthor, after his conviction, also had to face a host of other civil actions.
One item that none of the felons would answer nor the court could ascertain was the reason the Kent family in Smallville, Kansas continued to receive interest checks after Luthor supposedly purchased the Planet.
This information led to Lex Luthor's conviction. It indicated that the people at LexCorp were more aware of the Planet transaction than was revealed.
The payments to the Kents, one could suppose, was to keep the Smallville farm family from enquiring what happed to their funds, which Clark told them would be forthcoming every month for the remainder of their lives.
Although the verdicts were appealed, the sentences were straight away upheld.
After the Planet was returned to its rightful owners, the trust fund, which had purchased the paper before Luthor with the help of the past owners perpetrated their scan, was reactivated.
When the Planet was freed from Luthor's claws, Perry sacked all the personnel who were brought on board by LexCorp. Lois and Clark showed up the day following the shake-up at the Daily Planet.
When Perry saw Lois he gave her a big hug. Then, looking at Clark he said, "When you left here, Clark, my boy, your probation period had not ended."
Lois took her husband by his hand, turned and was about to leave when Perry said, "Just funin' with you, Lois, and you, Clark, my boy. Lois, welcome back to the Planet family, and Clark your probation ended long ago."
Later in the afternoon Perry said to Lois, "You were ready to leave, weren't you?"
"Yep," Lois replied and walked back to her desk.
Following her, Perry asked, "Why?"
"Clark's my husband," was Lois Lane Kent's retort, and she then said, "Perry, that info is a classified item."
The chief just nodded his head as he walked toward his inter sanctum.
In his office, Perry murmured to himself, "Lois Lane married, incredible."
Within a month, the byline of Lane and Kent was gracing the Daily Planet's front page nearly every day.
With their exceptional abilities, Lois and Clark zoomed to various parts of the world and helped disrupt or destroy the evil business established by Luthor or inter-gang.
Global prostitution rings and their secret supply base for these enterprises were located, and the directors of such businesses were tried, convicted, and sentenced to life terms.
A business affiliate of LexCorp, allegedly run by Luthor's interests, sold babies worldwide. It was busted by Lois and Clark, and seven of its directors were indicted, tried, convicted and sent to their country's penal institutions where they were incarcerated from twenty-five years to life.
A drug cartel directed by an affiliate of inter-gang, which had branches throughout most of the world's major metropolitan centers, was dismantled and its work force apprehended and sent to prison for long periods. The Churches were irate and decided to act against Lois and her partner. Luthor even sent them a telegram to them wishing them luck in this worthy venture.
Church and his son really appreciated Luthor's sentiments and let him know by sending him a gift in appreciation.
Thirteen months after Lois and Clark reappeared, a super couple, Superman and Ultra Woman, appeared on the Metropolis scene.
Muggers, robbers, rapists, and killers were quickly apprehended and the numbers of such hooligans rapidly disappeared from Metropolis' localities.
Lois and Clark had the byline on most of these stories as the Planet reveled in its greater worldwide reputation. Perry was on cloud nine.
Besides caring for the welfare of Metropolis, the super couple assisted other parts of Earth. Superman and Ultra Woman were there after tsunamis, earthquakes, mud slides and many other forces of nature that at times ran amuck.
During the annual Kerth awards Lois and Clark received many journalistic accolades. The physical kudos for their reporting excellence garnered the couple six eighteen-Karat gold statuettes.
Soon after the formalities and dinner usually associated with the Kerth award affairs had ended one season, the editor of the Metropolis Gazette, honky-tonk daily, received a call from Bill Church, Jr. of inter-gang notoriety, who ordered the editor to liquidate Lois and Clark.
Several weeks later, five masked men invaded the Kent's townhouse with automatic weapons at the ready.
With maniacal laughter from these hit men, they discharged their weaponry, but with no tangible results. While bullets holes defaced much of the living room walls, the bullets had no effect upon the Kents.
When their ammunition had been exhausted, Lois and Clark quickly captured the hired killers.
The superheroes then immobilized the hit men and sent them through a teleporter unit to A-three. Soon after the hired assassins arrived on the Kent farm, Lois messaged the android informing Adam how to dispose of the criminal element now under his control. As requested, the hit men were sent to Jor-El on New Krypton.
When the criminals reached New Krypton, they were tried and found guilty of attempted murder and marooned on a prison ship within inter-space for the remainder of their lives.
After the attempt on the lives of Lois and Clark was known to be thwarted by Superman and his consort Ultra Woman, criminal activities, especially killings, throughout the world acutely diminished.
The complete disappearance of the hit men involved in the Lane and Kent assassination attempt also sent a shock of fear through the underworld minions. The gangsters around the globe believed that the non-killing principle that Superman and his partner had followed had been altered.
During the lull in the criminal activities following the botched killing of Lois and Clark, Lex began concentrating more on his military contracts. The largest contract of the current crop was one that the Air Force most desired. It would require his research and fabrication division at LexCorp to produce a weapon system that would provide the Air Force with a defensive screen similar to the shock wave shield Lex's companies had produced for the Navy except it would be an atmospheric weapon. It would be a fluid directed device.
With Luthor's huge munitions establishment, LexCorp easily acquired the military contract.
After the airborne defensive barrier for the US and Western and Central Europe had been completed, a series of tests was run for the military. These tests posed some problems for LexCorp.
The LexCorp research division was in a dilemma for a while until one of their scientists came up with a feasible, but a very risky solution. A hazard that could produce side reactions that could have potentially perilous consequences for the entire planet.
Due to Lex's insistence, the hazardous military trials were given the go-a-head, although many scientists at LexLabs were having second thoughts about the tests because the results could have dire consequences for the world at large.
It was Lex's view that if LexCorp's new military hardware discharged its pulsed laser into the sun using the US's space technology, the upheaval that would occur could be used to gauge the weapon's potential on Earth. By using the sun as a target platform, Lex informed the Air Force, any side effects would become quite negligible. Lex's surrogates talked well and convinced the military men that what they did not know was so.
A few months after Lex finished serving his one-year prison sentence, the new airborne weapon system was ready for testing.
At the time of the tests, no one was thinking about the ramifications upon the Earth or how the solar activity of old Sol would be boosted.
So, on the day appointed, a rocket was launched toward the solar disk, transporting a high-powered pulse laser, the central core of the new weapon system, to its firing position near the sun.
Entering the void, the launch vehicle headed straight for Earth's solar furnace. Upon reaching a point in space where the temperature of the spacecraft began rising rapidly, the pulse laser was fired repeatedly at the old Sol. A few moments later the rocket detonated.
About four months later, Bernie Klein, the director of STAR labs, called Lois and Clark to his science facility to discuss fundamental solar phenomena that the people at STAR labs had been scrutinizing for some months.
When the Planet's journalists arrived at the STAR labs building, Bernie informed them that solar flares, a product of the sun's nuclear activity, had been increasing in size, and the frequency that these solar eruptions were occurring each month was also increasing.
Lois asked Bernie, "Can I see the your data?" Quietly he gave her the solar info.
Pushing Bernie's evidence toward Clark so they both could study Dr. Klein's scientific information, Lois saw her husband turn pale after studying the STAR data for a little while.
"Bernie," Clark said, "are you aware what this datum implies?"
Smiling, Bernie said. "You tell me."
Lois then picked up Bernie's papers from her spouse, and said, "The lab's data indicate that the storms within the sun will continue to increase in frequency and those flares which the people of Earth are now observing will increase in magnitude over time."
"Lois," Clark said, "we need Kivi and Kara here immediately." She nodded and left for the Kent farm.
While Lois went to expedite her chore, Clark talked with his friend. With a very concerned expression masking his countenance, Clark informed Bernie, "The ever increasing flares are an indicator that the nuclear particles now bombarding the Earth is on the increase. As the power of these storms increases, the nuclear particles produced by old Sol will overpower the Earth's shield, its magnetic field. The increasing intensity of the sun flare activity will also devastate the Earth's ozone layer, allowing the ultraviolet and microwave radiation to cook our planet, destroying the life which inhabits this world."
As Dr. Klein was contemplating Clark's solar analysis, Lois returned.
Bernie, gazing at Lois and her partner with a dumbfounded expression on his face, was speechless for several moments. Then he asked, "Clark, how did you figure out the meaning of what STAR lab's solar information inferred so expeditiously? It took me nearly a week to deduce what you put together within just a few minutes."
"Bernie," Clark replied, "you have been aware for some time that Lois and I are trained scientists working as reporters. Keep that item confidential for the present. Our advanced training in various scientific areas has placed us way ahead of our colleagues on this world."
Forgetting the questions he wanted to ask, Bernie just asked Clark, "Do you know what this solar datum implies?"
"Yes," the reporter said. "We must vacate this planet within four to six months or else."
At that moment Kivi and Kara arrived at STAR labs. Clark handed his kin Bernie's information.
"Good G-d," Kivi declared while Kara just gasped.
Looking at Clark, Kivi said, "Who perpetrated this monstrous act? It dooms this world."
After a pause, Bernie almost became hysterical and said, "Earth doesn't possess spacecraft of any sort. If it did possess solar flight, how could we evacuate six billion people, and where in heaven's name could the people of Earth go?"
***
*The Demise Of Sol-Three*
As Lois, Clark, Kivi, and Kara sought help from their family and the Engineers, Bernie Klein, with no hope, took the data and immediately flew to Washington. There, he met with a host of colleagues and attempted to convince they and the government of the impending doom that was now threatening Earth.
The STAR director was politely received, however, his data when reviewed, were politely refuted by politicians who knew little or nothing about scientific concepts and had used scientific sycophants working for various agencies of the government to support their views.
When people who possess power or great wealth speak, the ordinary person believes that those individuals must be correct because of the lofty or economic position those individuals hold within society.
Because of Luthor's immediate slander campaign to cover up his blunder in this situation, Bernie, supported by Lois and Clark wrote articles that pleaded with people to emigrate to a planet called New Krypton. This emigration program was also strongly supported by Superman and Ultra Woman.
The people of Earth were told continually that great space ships and teleportation devices were ready to be used to save Sol-Three's population from extinction by moving them to a planet called New Krypton.
As the battle for the minds of Earth population continued, Luthor began slandering Bernie using information Lex told the people of Earth he had his scientists obtain from his own research facilities.
Bernie, probably the greatest scientist on Earth, the director of STAR labs, which contained the most prestigious research facility on the planet, was mocked by LexCorp, calling his research trivial at best.
As the Luthor's wave of indignation to subvert the truth began to cause confusion in this life and death situation, Jason Trask, the leader of Bureau Thirty-nine attacked Bernie, supporting Luthor and his so called fallacious facts.
In one of their last articles, Lois and Clark addressed sun storm activity. The two worlds' renowned journalists informed the public that the current sun flair conditions would increase the spewing of more and more nuclear material with increasing power that would strike Earth. In a short time, these sun flares would decimate the Earth.
In their final editorial, Lois and Clark gave the locations where those enlightened people on the planet could obtain transportation to the safety of New Krypton.
Then they listed the last date and the times where an individual could procure transportation from the dying Earth.
Perry and other members of the Daily Planet went to the Metropolis emigration site and were taken to New Krypton to see the facilities for themselves.
When the Daily Planet contingent returned to Earth, Perry told the people on Earth what he and his associates had observed.
Naturally Perry was immediately attacked by Trask and LexCorp for his gullible attitude.
Other newspaper organizations sent groups to see for themselves and when they returned these reporters too supported Perry's views.
Earth's scientific community had long since traveled to New Krypton and sided with Bernie. Also, now the increasing sun storms and solar flares were in line with what Dr. Klein had predicted.
As the time for the planet wide catastrophe approached, more and more of Earth's population, those who had followed the news describing the rising intensity of the solar storms, were now emigrating in great numbers to New Krypton, the home of the Engineers and their Kryptonian cousins.
Many returned to Sol-Three to convince their relatives to follow their example. Some were successful, while others failed in their attempt. Fear, at times, tends to paralyze the best course for action.
Within a week of the cataclysm, Politicians started to appear at the embarkation stations. Most were refused permission to emigrate, sentencing them to death. Those of the political establishment who diligently worked to support Perry White and Bernie Klein were permitted to leave Earth with their families.
Several days before the big bang, A sun flare of such great magnitude occurred, and that part of the protective ozone layer began to disintegrate rapidly.
Panic throughout the world finally set in. Luthor and Trask, who were having lunch, were told of the titanic physical phenomenon. They rushed to a teleportation station, which was about to be disabled, and attempted to emigrate.
Lois and Clark were present, supervising the dismantling of the embarkation device, when Luthor, Trask and a host of their sycophants arrived.
Of course, they were denied passage to New Krypton.
In a state of fury, Trask, followed by Luthor, drew revolvers from the hidden holsters and emptied their weapons at the superheroes with no effect.
Clark grabbed Luthor's and Trask's weapons and crushed them.
A scientist and his family, part of Luthor's entourage, pleaded with Lois to at least allow his wife and child to emigrate from Earth.
At that moment Bernie appeared and informed his friends that it was time to leave. In less than five hours, the most titanic solar storm of them all would occur, enveloping the Earth in a deadly cloud of intense radiation that would completely destroy what was remaining of the protective ozone shield, which still protected Earth from most of the sun's ultraviolet and microwave radiation.
Lois turned to Bernie, and asked, "Can you find it in your heart to allow Allen Stark to come with his family to New Krypton?"
The reply from Bernie was a resounding, "Yes." Compassion and understanding, which Luthor and Trask never understood, was alive and in a man whom they despised.
After Bernie's support of Allen Stark, the last of the Earth people were whisked away from a dying planet.
So after Allen and his family had been transported to a life ship, Lois and Clark with their companions vanished from Luthor's view.
Luthor and Trask, with their followers, started their trek toward a bunker built beneath the Lexor hotel, which Lex had constructed for his own survival benefit if Bernie's views happened to be valid.
However, before Luthor and Trask could make their way to Lex's underground bunker, a crowd of half crazed individuals surrounded Luthor and his associates and beat them to a pulp with baseball bats. Luthor's sanctuary now would remain empty for all eternity.
When the sun's immerse storm system sent its destroying radiation to smash the remaining defenses of Earth and allow the UV and microwave radiation from the solar furnace to devastate the planet, all the Sol-Three individuals who wisely emigrated from their home world were being safely housed in an Earth habitat on New Krypton.
As Lois and Clark with their great grandson Michele and Beth his soulmate looked upon the survivors of Earth's ill-fated event, they felt that a great destiny awaited these people and those who had escaped Krypton before that world's final destruction.
***
*Epilogue*
Over the next ten millennia, the Earth people and the Kryptonians were well on their way to forming a new Society — a people called the Utopians. Since the Kryptonian and Earth societies from the start were essentially identical, the genetic inbreeding through marriage occurred at a rapid pace and the process in the next hundred thousand years would complete the Utopian process — one people along with their android cousins.
From the beginning, the Utopians, the Engineers, and life forms from the old universe agreed to work together for the good of all. One of the primary goals of this association was to protect and help new civilizations in their own and nearby cosmic realms. The life forms as they interacted eventually formed a Federation whose basic directives were aimed at guarding and advancing all kinds of life forms within their universes and those which they could affect in nearby cosmic realms — the goals of the New Kryptonian and other civilizations were incorporated in a document known as the "Constitutional Agreements."
When the Federation's goals had been realized within an inter-space sector, they would move on to other cosmic realms and apply their basic philosophy of doing good for other creatures.
On a quiet evening Adam, A-three, who had become part of the El household for many generations, and a youngster from the clan were having a chat. The boy, now nearing puberty, asked the Engineer about the people who were responsible for founding their Utopian society. He was aware that Adam knew and had worked with these magnificent individuals first hand.
After pausing for several moments A-three began telling the lad about his famous and cherished ancestors.
As this portion of their conversation was ending, the youngster started preparing to return home. Before the lad left for the day, A-three informed his charge and friend, "The souls of Lois and Clark, Kivi and Kara, Zara and Ching, and Lara and Jor-El will all be reborn to the house of El within the coming century."
"Will the soulmates find one another?" The boy asked.
Adam smiled and simply nodded affirmatively. "I was informed," Adam told his companion, "about these new births and where and into what El sub-families they would be conceived by an ancient time traveler who called himself H.G. Wells."
"Hey," the boy said, "this century would place them within the space-time line set for the next cosmic realm our Federation wishes to explore."
"You're right on the money, young man," A-three replied. "They will be on hand when our people make that journey. Their presence indicates that our trek into that cosmic domain should be a most exciting adventure."
"Wow," the young boy said. "I'll be in the middle of those events," he said with great enthusiasm.
"That you will be," A-three replied. "It should be a most interesting time," the android concluded.
Adam was well aware that a great interplanetary conflict could result when the Federation entered inter-spatial domain six.
In that universe there were machines built by an extinct hostile race. Following their creator's psychological profiles these machines were attempting to conquer and liquidate all organic life in their cosmic realm. That was the basic reason why Jor-El and his original warrior El family were appearing from the well of souls.
When they neared the boy's home, his mother appeared at the door and said, "Clark Jerome, dinner is on the table."
As he and Adam were walking toward the entrance way of his home, his mother told him that Lois Joan had changed her mind and said that Clark could come to her birthday bash.
While still ambulating, Clark told Adam that a week ago Lois, being very tactful, told him that she couldn't ask him to her party because Clark was four months younger than she.
"I was hurt," Clark said to his Android friend. "We have been playmates since we were about three years old."
Pausing for a moment, Clark said, "I sort of understood why she was behaving in a somewhat absurd manner. She has a hormone imbalance coupled with the notion that older girls generally don't date younger guys."
Adam asked Clark, "Have you made any physical contact with her this past year?"
"Sure," Clark replied.
Adam just smiled and thought the aura effect has begun.
As Clark went into the dining area, A-three made his way to the lab.
While he was waiting for the data coming from his molecular spectrophotometers be printed, he was thinking that the next few years for Lois and Clark would be turbulent as the soulmate bond bound them ever more tightly together.
What Clark didn't know was that Jor-El and Lara were now about sixteen years of age. They were contemplating marriage at this point in their lives, which would occur in seven years or so. The birth of Zara to Jor and Lara and Ching to a cousin's family within the El clan would occur two years later, and four years after the event of Zara's birth, Kara would be conceived.
Kivi, whom A-three thought the most intelligently gifted of the El group, was also already on the scene, a year younger than Lois and Clark. At present, he was busy consuming like a glutton all the knowledge he could get his hands on.
Adam knew that it was a poor assumption to consider Kivi mentally superior to his peers. All the special El people had mental capacities that were immeasurable even by their societies new psychological instrumentation.
In fifty to sixty years when the exploration to the sixth cosmic realm would begin, Jor's coalition would be fully mature and be a leading part of this great expedition. They would be on hand when the battle for survival of that Universe's organic life forms occurred, and, with their inordinately great military skills, bring that conflict to a successful conclusion.
A-three inwardly smiled when the Engineer knew that he would see Jor-El and his family often through the eternity of his existence. That fact brought immense pleasure to Adam and a feeling of great happiness to his humanoid core.
THE END
May, 2006
Some thoughts by Clifford D. Simak have been used in this Lois and Clark Tale.
If you have comments pertaining to this story, please contact me privately at phmogul@mindspring.com.