Superman comics/Smallville - fic - The Last Family of Krypton, PG
You may have already read this as a WIP, in bits, or elsewhere on LJ, last week. I finished it up, for medie.
Fandoms - Superman comics/Smallville
Title - The Last Family of Krypton
Author - laurab1
Rating - PG
Characters/Pairings - Els, Kents
Length - approx 3500 words
Summary - Jor-El and Lara also survive the demise of Krypton
Spoilers - Birthright, misc pre-Crisis stuff, SV pilot, SV 3.6(?) Relic, SV 5.22 & 6.1
Disclaimer - alas, none of these people are mine
Feedback is loved & appreciated :) Enjoy!
Cover - http://www.btinternet.com/~lbeard/pictures/lastfamily.jpg
The Last Family of Krypton
by Laura
(Original drabble, initially posted to wednesday100)
Despite the latest earthquakes, Krypton held itself together. The people were grateful, saying Rao had spared them.
Jor-El didn’t believe in Rao. His computers told him it would not be long before Krypton could no longer stand the quakes. Working tirelessly, he built a ship. His beloved, Lara assisted him when Kal, their baby boy, was asleep.
And then the quakes came. The ship was already stocked with food and equipment; her course set for Earth. Jor-El got his family aboard the ship, and activated the power cells.
The ship hurtled towards her destination, trailing Krypton’s remains in her wake.
***
(Full story)
As the latest quake subsided, and Krypton held itself together, Jor-El waited for his laboratory computers to complete the Richter Scale analysis. He knew what the Raoists would be saying; they’d be praising Rao, exclaiming that it had once again spared them.
Jor-El had never believed in Rao, preferring instead to believe in his computers.
“Analysis complete,” one of the screens then displayed.
The Richter Scale was one of the many things Jor-El had brought back with him from Earth. When the quakes had started, three cycles ago, he had programmed the scale into his computers. He pressed a button and another screen provided him with the severity of this quake:
“Quake severity 5.7 on Earth’s Richter Scale.”
A sequence of controls brought up the scale numbers of the all the other quakes on yet another screen. As the quakes were occurring every mesa, sometimes twice in a mesa, this was a considerable amount of results, and they told Jor-El that the quakes were gradually becoming more severe. Clearly, it would not be long before Krypton could no longer stand the quakes. At the press of a button, he ran the analysis which would estimate the time of Krypton’s destruction.
“Destruction by quakes of Krypton estimated to occur in two cycles,” a fourth screen soon informed him.
Two cycles. That was all they had. The planet was tearing itself apart. They needed a plan. A plan to save everyone. First, Jor-El contacted his brother, Zor-El to tell him what was happening to Krypton. Did Zor believe him? Jor-El was not sure. He then used a fifth screen to write a proposal for the Science Council, detailing just how the population of Krypton could be saved.
***
Hours later, his beloved, Lara came to the laboratory. “Jor, it is past working hours. I have completed my day at the library. Have you finished your work yet?”
“Almost, Lara.” He tapped a few more buttons. “There. Finished.”
Lara read the screens. “What is all this, my love?” She sounded worried.
“Krypton is destroying itself, Lara,” Jor-El stated sadly. He went onto describe all his findings, observing her also becoming upset. “We all have two cycles left. This,” he indicated the fifth screen, “is my idea of how to save us. I will present it to the Science Council at our next meeting, in two days’ time. I just hope they will listen to me.”
“Of course they will listen, Jor, you are a senior and much valued member of the Council.” Lara dryed her tears with her fingers. “Come, now, I wish to visit the gestation chambers to see Kal. Then, we shall go home and eat.”
“That is a wonderful plan, Lara,” he said, taking Lara’s hand. They left the laboratory, Jor-El pressing a combination of buttons to lock the door.
***
Jor-El and Lara spent thirty minutes with Kal, telling him about their day.
Their son was nearly complete, he could be removed from the birthing matrix in a mesa’s time. Despite what they had learned today, they could not contain their joy and excitement at that fact. So, when they went to bed, they did not go to sleep.
Instead, they indulged in the forbidden, in Earth mating practices; kissing, touching and loving all night.
***
At the Science Council meeting, Jor-El gave his presentation:
“Fellow members, Krypton is on the path to destruction. We have two cycles left, before our planet tears itself apart. We must re-instate the space travel and exploration program. The passenger air travel ships must be converted to long term space travel. Please read the complete text on your screens. Earth has a hospitable environment and we have connections to it. The ships’ courses must be set for there.”
The Science Council read Jor-El’s plan. “Your ideas are worthless nonsense, Jor-El.” Num-Van, the head of the Council, instantly dismissed his plan. “Brainiac tells us that Krypton is merely re-aligning its orbit. We have nothing to worry about.”
Brainiac. The all-powerful super computer. Jor-El wished it had never been built. A previous Council had been foolish to agree to its construction. This Council was foolish to not listen to him. Without another word, Jor-El rose from his seat and left the chamber.
***
Jor-El continued to monitor the quakes, and the next three measured 6.0, 6.2 and 6.5. After the third quake, he once again ran the analysis which estimated the time of Krypton’s destruction.
This time, the screen said, “Destruction by quakes of Krypton estimated to occur in one cycle.”
One cycle, before a quake measuring at least 8. Pressing the key that activated his video messaging device, he contacted Num-Van. “Num-Van, I demand that the Science Council meets in one hour. I also demand that it listens to me. Jor-El out.”
***
An hour later, the Science Council sat in its chamber. Jor-El gave his revised presentation.
“Fellow members, Krypton is still on the path to destruction. The quakes have quickly increased in severity and we now have just one cycle left, before it tears itself apart. I demand that we re-instate the space program. The work to convert the passenger air travel ships must be started within the week, if we wish to have any hope of surviving.”
“Your plan is still worthless nonsense, Jor-El,” Num-Van said, “Brainiac still informs us that Krypton is just shifting its orbit. We have nothing to concern ourselves about. Please leave this chamber, Jor-El.”
They still chose to believe Brainiac. They were idiots, the lot of them. Jor-El sighed, and left the chamber.
***
That evening, after they had eaten, Jor-El told Lara about the meeting. “Lara, they would not listen. I have warned them what will happen. What are we going to do?”
With Kal-El, their son of two mesas, in her arms, Lara said, “What we should have already been doing, Jor. We will design and build a ship for the three of us, and set it to take us to Earth. We can at least save ourselves. When Kal is asleep and does not require attention, I shall assist you.”
“I have been so blind, my love. Why did I not think of that before?” Jor-El exclaimed. What was the phrase the humans used? Ah, ‘Can’t see the wood for the trees!’ “I must tell you this, Lara. There are many things which I did not record in my archive about Earth. The sun is young and yellow; it gave me extraordinary powers. I ran like the wind. I soared through the air like a nightwing.”
“That sounds wonderful, Jor. I would love to experience that,” Lara said, her voice full of joy.
Jor-El looked at his beloved and son. “Lara, Kal sleeps. Give him to me, I can place him in his cradle and we can start on the ship”
Lara handed their son to her beloved. “I shall go and open the laboratory, Jor, and activate the computers.”
They parted company for a few minutes. Jor-El carried Kal to the bedroom and put him to bed. “We must leave Krypton, my son,” he told him, “but I am preparing an archive about it for you. Now, I must join your mother so we can design the ship that will take us off this doomed planet.” Switching on the device which allowed them to monitor Kal, and taking one part of it with him, Jor-El left the bedroom and went to the laboratory.
***
Lara had activated the computers and had already accessed the ship design programs when Jor-El entered the laboratory. Placing the monitoring device on a work surface, he sat down beside his beloved at the main console. “Lara, how would you like our ship to look?”
“As long as it can carry all three of us to safety, I do not really care how it looks, Jor. However, I have seen the images of flying vehicles from Earth that you placed in the library. We should take elements from them and from our own passenger air travel ships.”
“Let us begin, then, my love,” Jor-El said, pulling Lara close so he could kiss her. Like himself, his beloved was so intelligent. He loved her so very much.
***
They looked at pictures of their ships, Earth’s so called airplanes and various flying creatures, from both Krypton and Earth. After two hours of work, they were high on creative energy, and they had...something. Their newly designed ship had an egg-shaped main section, with wings sticking straight out from the sides.
Lara looked at the computer screen. Something was not quite right with this design. She turned to her beloved. “Jor, I do not think that will actually leave the laboratory, let alone the atmosphere.”
“Run the launch simulator, Lara. Let us see, before we dismiss it completely.” Jor-El’s eyes were wide and enthusiastic.
Returning to the computer, Lara entered the key sequence, and they watched the little ship leave the laboratory, fly through the sky and leave the atmosphere. Maybe it would work!
Unfortunately, the power cells quickly began to fail, sending the ship into freefall.
This particular design would not work. Not completely, anyway. Maybe they just needed to refine the shape, change the power usage. It had left the atmosphere, but they needed it to take all three of them all the way to Earth - a very long journey.
Lara turned back to Jor-El, with a smile. “It is not a total failure, Jor,” she said. “We just need to work on the design.”
“Yes, my love. Now, I want to work on your design,” he said, with a mischievous smile.
That sounded like a promise of something illicit, and Lara’s heartbeat quickened in anticipation. “Will I have to be quiet, Jor?” she asked.
“Indeed you will, Lara,” he replied, rising from his seat.
Lara got up from her own seat and grabbed the monitoring device. She decided to turn Jor-El’s promise back on him, and took his hand, pulling him to the door of the laboratory. “Come, Jor. Bed. I cannot ravish myself, can I?” She had a gleam in her eyes.
“I could make you something that would allow you to do that, Lara.” Jor-El had an answering gleam. “But this way is so much more enjoyable.”
They left the laboratory, programming the door locked. They were soon in bed, and naked. They ravished each other for a few hours, before falling blissfully asleep. The reality of what they needed to do could wait.
At least until morning, anyway.
***
And in the morning, Lara took Kal-El to the library with her, leaving him in the nursery, as usual. Although Jor-El’s laboratory was in their home, with all the work they had to do, unfortunately, he was too busy to take care of Kal.
Jor-El continued monitorinng the planet’s movements and vibrations with his laboratory computers. He did not anticipate a quake that day. Most of it was spent improving the design of their ship and adding to the archive of Krypton.
When Lara and Kal arrived home that evening, he greeted them with kisses, proceeding to inform them of his progress. “I altered the shape of the main cabin and the wings, Lara. The ship is now more...what was the Earth-English word? Ah! Aerodynamic! It also travelled further, before the power cells failed.”
“You can show me after our meal, Jor,” Lara said excitedly. “Let me feed Kal first, then we shall eat.”
***
After their meal, they all went down to the laboratory, Lara cradling Kal-El. As he activated his computers, Jor-El asked, “How was your day at the library, my love?”
”I spent much of it reading about Earth, Jor, while I filled the data crystals we will take with us. It was most interesting. Although I love Krypton, it is dying and I cannot wait to see Earth.”
He was then able to show her the improved design. “Look, I altered the shape, it flies a little better, now. But it will still not get us to Earth. We have but one cycle, Lara...”
“I know, my love,” Lara said. Jor looked at her, and saw she was sad. She continued, “Let us see what else can be done to our little Seyglor.”
“Seyglor?” Jor-El asked.
“After our fathers, Jor. It would please them, would it not?”
Both Seyg-El and Lor-Van had unsuccessfully attempted to re-instate Kryptonian space travel.
“I believe it would, Lara,” Jor-El replied, smiling. He tapped some keys and began changing the ship yet again. An hour later, they had an improved ship, which had a greater chance of getting them to Earth.
Suddenly, there was a quake, making them all jump. Kal-El cried a little, and Lara held him close. “I did not anticipate this, Lara!” Jor-El exclaimed, as their home shook. “There should not have been another one just yet, the pattern of occurrences has been quite regular.”
When the quake had subsided, Jor-El ran the Richter Scale analysis.
“Quake severity 7.3 on Earth’s Richter Scale,” a screen displayed.
“That is worse than I expected,” Jor-El said. “Lara, I feel I must revise the one cycle I thought we had to just six mesas.”
“Then we must begin building the ship, Jor,” Lara said. “We will just have to hope that it can get us to Earth. That is all we can do.”
“We must acquire parts, first, ” Jor-El said, beginning an investigation on the planet-wide network. They needed the same variety of parts that the air travel ship manufacturers used.
A beep from the messaging device interrupted the quiet of the laboratory. “Jor-El,” a stern man in uniform said.
“Zod. What do you want?” Jor-El replied, trying, and failing, to betray nothing to his former friend.
“Is that any way to greet someone you once considered a friend?” General Zod of the Military Council said. “I just want to help, that is all. My scientists have given me information that I suspect you are also aware of, despite what the Science Council would rather have us believe. The Military Council computers picked up on your recent investigation. I believe we can supply you with the parts you require for your little space ship.”
He’d suspected they could do that. Still, there was bound to be a catch, and Jor-El suspected that Zod would want something in return. “And what do you get out of this, Zod?”
“I want you to arrange for the release from prison of my hounds, Ursa and Quex-Ul,” Zod replied.
Oh, there was absolutely no chance of that happening. Ursa and Quex-Ul had caused untold damage, nearly destroying the planet’s infrastructure, before they were captured and imprisoned. Jor-El had actually been working on a trans-dimensional prison, but it was still in the very early stages of planning, and there was now no chance of it being completed.
“I will obtain the parts myself, Zod,” he said forcefully, shutting down the messaging device, and looking up at his beloved. “I must shield our home, Lara. I wonder just what else the General knows.”
“We can think about that tomorrow, Jor. Let us leave this place, for now.”
They exited the laboratory, locking the door behind them. That night, Jor-El did not sleep.
***
The next day, he put a number of electronic shields in place, protecting their home from any further detection by military and other central computers.
He ran his investigation again, and began to obtain the parts for the Seyglor. Some were delivered that afternoon, and placed in the laboratory.
Ensuring he knew where his tools were, he created the floating keypads and monitor for the ship, by disconnecting one set of keys and screen from the computer hub. They flew away, settling over the boxes containing the parts, still hanging in mid-air.
The rest of the parts arrived the next morning. Jor-El then began to construct the ship: hammering, screwing, welding...
Lara arrived home that day. She dragged him away from the ship, making sure he ate. His beloved knew him too well - when he was too engrossed in something, he would sometimes forget to eat, and go a whole day without food.
***
In the evenings, Lara put Kal to bed. Taking the monitoring device with her, she went to assist Jor-El with the construction of Seyglor. A week later, the hull and wings were complete.
This completion was followed by a quake measuring 7.6. Once the quake had subsided and Jor-El had recorded it, they worked on. Clearly, they now had only weeks.
A week after the outside, the interior was complete. They were now able to stock the ship with nourishment for the body and mind for all three of them for their journey.
***
A few weeks later, the final, fatal quake came, a long time before Jor-El had predicted it would do.
They exchanged their robes for black Kryptonian travel suits, emblazoned with a silver symbol of the House of El. Jor-El got his family aboard the ship, made sure they were all secured in their seats and activated the power cells.
Setting Seyglor’s course for Smallville, Kansas, USA, Earth, he explained, “You know that is where one of the Earth stations is located. When my father sent me to Earth, there was a couple who assisted me. Perhaps they will help us again.”
Exploding through the laboratory windows, the craft flew through the sky and the atmosphere.
Behind them, Krypton exploded.
The ship sped on towards its destination, trailing Krypton’s deadly remains in its wake.
Jor-El and Lara both wept, and tried to hide their tears from the other.
They had a very long journey ahead of them, plenty of time to come to terms with their loss, with being the last of their kind.
The Last Family of Krypton.
Placing Lara and Kal in a mixture of stasis and sleep, Jor-El piloted their ship.
What they did not know was that over in Argo City, Jor-El’s brother, Zor-El had believed Jor-El, all that time ago. He had built a much more sophisticated ship for his fourteen cycles daughter, Kara Zor-El. Zor had placed her in stasis in preparation for her journey, also to Earth.
Unfortunately, the ship became lodged in debris when Krypton exploded...
***
An unknown amount of time later, Jor-El was suddenly awoken from the stasis-sleep Lara had placed him in.
“Jor! We are through Earth’s atmosphere, but I cannot control the ship. Help me, please?”
Going to the controls, Jor-El tried to assist Lara in piloting the ship. But it was too late, and they began plummeting to Earth.
They crashed into a field.
***
“Jonathan! What’s happening?” Martha Kent exclaimed, as the meteors crashed into the fields.
Jonathan lost control of their car. It turned over a few times; they passed out.
When they regained consciousness, they discovered they had ended up in field, still in their car, but upside down. And then Jonathan spotted three pairs of bare feet; two adults and a child. “Martha...”
There was a kind of singing, and the car was then righted.
They scrambled out, to see something out of Star Trek.
The people who had helped them wore black, looked so very lost and were guarding a crashed spacecraft.
What the hell was going on?
***
‘Hiram Kent?’ Jor-El thought, as he looked at the blond man. No, he couldn’t be Hiram; this man was much younger. This must be Jonathan, the child he had seen growing inside his mother, a practice long since dispatched with on Krypton, even then. “Jonathan Kent?” he asked, in stilted English, receiving an unreadable expression in response.
“Yes, but how do you know my name? Forgive me for saying so, but it looks like you three just fell out of the sky!”
“My name is Jor-El.” Indicating the rest of his family, he said, “This is Lara, my beloved, and this is Kal-El, our son. Your father, Hiram, helped me when I was sent here in 1961, as you number your years. Krypton, our planet is dead. We are the very last of our kind. Will you assist us, Jonathan?”
***
Jonathan looked at Martha. The reply they needed to give was written all over her face.
He turned back to the... alien family. “Of course we will, Jor-El.”
-end-
crosspost: sv_fanfic and smallville_au
Fandoms - Superman comics/Smallville
Title - The Last Family of Krypton
Author - laurab1
Rating - PG
Characters/Pairings - Els, Kents
Length - approx 3500 words
Summary - Jor-El and Lara also survive the demise of Krypton
Spoilers - Birthright, misc pre-Crisis stuff, SV pilot, SV 3.6(?) Relic, SV 5.22 & 6.1
Disclaimer - alas, none of these people are mine
Feedback is loved & appreciated :) Enjoy!
Cover - http://www.btinternet.com/~lbeard/pictures/lastfamily.jpg
The Last Family of Krypton
by Laura
(Original drabble, initially posted to wednesday100)
Despite the latest earthquakes, Krypton held itself together. The people were grateful, saying Rao had spared them.
Jor-El didn’t believe in Rao. His computers told him it would not be long before Krypton could no longer stand the quakes. Working tirelessly, he built a ship. His beloved, Lara assisted him when Kal, their baby boy, was asleep.
And then the quakes came. The ship was already stocked with food and equipment; her course set for Earth. Jor-El got his family aboard the ship, and activated the power cells.
The ship hurtled towards her destination, trailing Krypton’s remains in her wake.
***
(Full story)
As the latest quake subsided, and Krypton held itself together, Jor-El waited for his laboratory computers to complete the Richter Scale analysis. He knew what the Raoists would be saying; they’d be praising Rao, exclaiming that it had once again spared them.
Jor-El had never believed in Rao, preferring instead to believe in his computers.
“Analysis complete,” one of the screens then displayed.
The Richter Scale was one of the many things Jor-El had brought back with him from Earth. When the quakes had started, three cycles ago, he had programmed the scale into his computers. He pressed a button and another screen provided him with the severity of this quake:
“Quake severity 5.7 on Earth’s Richter Scale.”
A sequence of controls brought up the scale numbers of the all the other quakes on yet another screen. As the quakes were occurring every mesa, sometimes twice in a mesa, this was a considerable amount of results, and they told Jor-El that the quakes were gradually becoming more severe. Clearly, it would not be long before Krypton could no longer stand the quakes. At the press of a button, he ran the analysis which would estimate the time of Krypton’s destruction.
“Destruction by quakes of Krypton estimated to occur in two cycles,” a fourth screen soon informed him.
Two cycles. That was all they had. The planet was tearing itself apart. They needed a plan. A plan to save everyone. First, Jor-El contacted his brother, Zor-El to tell him what was happening to Krypton. Did Zor believe him? Jor-El was not sure. He then used a fifth screen to write a proposal for the Science Council, detailing just how the population of Krypton could be saved.
***
Hours later, his beloved, Lara came to the laboratory. “Jor, it is past working hours. I have completed my day at the library. Have you finished your work yet?”
“Almost, Lara.” He tapped a few more buttons. “There. Finished.”
Lara read the screens. “What is all this, my love?” She sounded worried.
“Krypton is destroying itself, Lara,” Jor-El stated sadly. He went onto describe all his findings, observing her also becoming upset. “We all have two cycles left. This,” he indicated the fifth screen, “is my idea of how to save us. I will present it to the Science Council at our next meeting, in two days’ time. I just hope they will listen to me.”
“Of course they will listen, Jor, you are a senior and much valued member of the Council.” Lara dryed her tears with her fingers. “Come, now, I wish to visit the gestation chambers to see Kal. Then, we shall go home and eat.”
“That is a wonderful plan, Lara,” he said, taking Lara’s hand. They left the laboratory, Jor-El pressing a combination of buttons to lock the door.
***
Jor-El and Lara spent thirty minutes with Kal, telling him about their day.
Their son was nearly complete, he could be removed from the birthing matrix in a mesa’s time. Despite what they had learned today, they could not contain their joy and excitement at that fact. So, when they went to bed, they did not go to sleep.
Instead, they indulged in the forbidden, in Earth mating practices; kissing, touching and loving all night.
***
At the Science Council meeting, Jor-El gave his presentation:
“Fellow members, Krypton is on the path to destruction. We have two cycles left, before our planet tears itself apart. We must re-instate the space travel and exploration program. The passenger air travel ships must be converted to long term space travel. Please read the complete text on your screens. Earth has a hospitable environment and we have connections to it. The ships’ courses must be set for there.”
The Science Council read Jor-El’s plan. “Your ideas are worthless nonsense, Jor-El.” Num-Van, the head of the Council, instantly dismissed his plan. “Brainiac tells us that Krypton is merely re-aligning its orbit. We have nothing to worry about.”
Brainiac. The all-powerful super computer. Jor-El wished it had never been built. A previous Council had been foolish to agree to its construction. This Council was foolish to not listen to him. Without another word, Jor-El rose from his seat and left the chamber.
***
Jor-El continued to monitor the quakes, and the next three measured 6.0, 6.2 and 6.5. After the third quake, he once again ran the analysis which estimated the time of Krypton’s destruction.
This time, the screen said, “Destruction by quakes of Krypton estimated to occur in one cycle.”
One cycle, before a quake measuring at least 8. Pressing the key that activated his video messaging device, he contacted Num-Van. “Num-Van, I demand that the Science Council meets in one hour. I also demand that it listens to me. Jor-El out.”
***
An hour later, the Science Council sat in its chamber. Jor-El gave his revised presentation.
“Fellow members, Krypton is still on the path to destruction. The quakes have quickly increased in severity and we now have just one cycle left, before it tears itself apart. I demand that we re-instate the space program. The work to convert the passenger air travel ships must be started within the week, if we wish to have any hope of surviving.”
“Your plan is still worthless nonsense, Jor-El,” Num-Van said, “Brainiac still informs us that Krypton is just shifting its orbit. We have nothing to concern ourselves about. Please leave this chamber, Jor-El.”
They still chose to believe Brainiac. They were idiots, the lot of them. Jor-El sighed, and left the chamber.
***
That evening, after they had eaten, Jor-El told Lara about the meeting. “Lara, they would not listen. I have warned them what will happen. What are we going to do?”
With Kal-El, their son of two mesas, in her arms, Lara said, “What we should have already been doing, Jor. We will design and build a ship for the three of us, and set it to take us to Earth. We can at least save ourselves. When Kal is asleep and does not require attention, I shall assist you.”
“I have been so blind, my love. Why did I not think of that before?” Jor-El exclaimed. What was the phrase the humans used? Ah, ‘Can’t see the wood for the trees!’ “I must tell you this, Lara. There are many things which I did not record in my archive about Earth. The sun is young and yellow; it gave me extraordinary powers. I ran like the wind. I soared through the air like a nightwing.”
“That sounds wonderful, Jor. I would love to experience that,” Lara said, her voice full of joy.
Jor-El looked at his beloved and son. “Lara, Kal sleeps. Give him to me, I can place him in his cradle and we can start on the ship”
Lara handed their son to her beloved. “I shall go and open the laboratory, Jor, and activate the computers.”
They parted company for a few minutes. Jor-El carried Kal to the bedroom and put him to bed. “We must leave Krypton, my son,” he told him, “but I am preparing an archive about it for you. Now, I must join your mother so we can design the ship that will take us off this doomed planet.” Switching on the device which allowed them to monitor Kal, and taking one part of it with him, Jor-El left the bedroom and went to the laboratory.
***
Lara had activated the computers and had already accessed the ship design programs when Jor-El entered the laboratory. Placing the monitoring device on a work surface, he sat down beside his beloved at the main console. “Lara, how would you like our ship to look?”
“As long as it can carry all three of us to safety, I do not really care how it looks, Jor. However, I have seen the images of flying vehicles from Earth that you placed in the library. We should take elements from them and from our own passenger air travel ships.”
“Let us begin, then, my love,” Jor-El said, pulling Lara close so he could kiss her. Like himself, his beloved was so intelligent. He loved her so very much.
***
They looked at pictures of their ships, Earth’s so called airplanes and various flying creatures, from both Krypton and Earth. After two hours of work, they were high on creative energy, and they had...something. Their newly designed ship had an egg-shaped main section, with wings sticking straight out from the sides.
Lara looked at the computer screen. Something was not quite right with this design. She turned to her beloved. “Jor, I do not think that will actually leave the laboratory, let alone the atmosphere.”
“Run the launch simulator, Lara. Let us see, before we dismiss it completely.” Jor-El’s eyes were wide and enthusiastic.
Returning to the computer, Lara entered the key sequence, and they watched the little ship leave the laboratory, fly through the sky and leave the atmosphere. Maybe it would work!
Unfortunately, the power cells quickly began to fail, sending the ship into freefall.
This particular design would not work. Not completely, anyway. Maybe they just needed to refine the shape, change the power usage. It had left the atmosphere, but they needed it to take all three of them all the way to Earth - a very long journey.
Lara turned back to Jor-El, with a smile. “It is not a total failure, Jor,” she said. “We just need to work on the design.”
“Yes, my love. Now, I want to work on your design,” he said, with a mischievous smile.
That sounded like a promise of something illicit, and Lara’s heartbeat quickened in anticipation. “Will I have to be quiet, Jor?” she asked.
“Indeed you will, Lara,” he replied, rising from his seat.
Lara got up from her own seat and grabbed the monitoring device. She decided to turn Jor-El’s promise back on him, and took his hand, pulling him to the door of the laboratory. “Come, Jor. Bed. I cannot ravish myself, can I?” She had a gleam in her eyes.
“I could make you something that would allow you to do that, Lara.” Jor-El had an answering gleam. “But this way is so much more enjoyable.”
They left the laboratory, programming the door locked. They were soon in bed, and naked. They ravished each other for a few hours, before falling blissfully asleep. The reality of what they needed to do could wait.
At least until morning, anyway.
***
And in the morning, Lara took Kal-El to the library with her, leaving him in the nursery, as usual. Although Jor-El’s laboratory was in their home, with all the work they had to do, unfortunately, he was too busy to take care of Kal.
Jor-El continued monitorinng the planet’s movements and vibrations with his laboratory computers. He did not anticipate a quake that day. Most of it was spent improving the design of their ship and adding to the archive of Krypton.
When Lara and Kal arrived home that evening, he greeted them with kisses, proceeding to inform them of his progress. “I altered the shape of the main cabin and the wings, Lara. The ship is now more...what was the Earth-English word? Ah! Aerodynamic! It also travelled further, before the power cells failed.”
“You can show me after our meal, Jor,” Lara said excitedly. “Let me feed Kal first, then we shall eat.”
***
After their meal, they all went down to the laboratory, Lara cradling Kal-El. As he activated his computers, Jor-El asked, “How was your day at the library, my love?”
”I spent much of it reading about Earth, Jor, while I filled the data crystals we will take with us. It was most interesting. Although I love Krypton, it is dying and I cannot wait to see Earth.”
He was then able to show her the improved design. “Look, I altered the shape, it flies a little better, now. But it will still not get us to Earth. We have but one cycle, Lara...”
“I know, my love,” Lara said. Jor looked at her, and saw she was sad. She continued, “Let us see what else can be done to our little Seyglor.”
“Seyglor?” Jor-El asked.
“After our fathers, Jor. It would please them, would it not?”
Both Seyg-El and Lor-Van had unsuccessfully attempted to re-instate Kryptonian space travel.
“I believe it would, Lara,” Jor-El replied, smiling. He tapped some keys and began changing the ship yet again. An hour later, they had an improved ship, which had a greater chance of getting them to Earth.
Suddenly, there was a quake, making them all jump. Kal-El cried a little, and Lara held him close. “I did not anticipate this, Lara!” Jor-El exclaimed, as their home shook. “There should not have been another one just yet, the pattern of occurrences has been quite regular.”
When the quake had subsided, Jor-El ran the Richter Scale analysis.
“Quake severity 7.3 on Earth’s Richter Scale,” a screen displayed.
“That is worse than I expected,” Jor-El said. “Lara, I feel I must revise the one cycle I thought we had to just six mesas.”
“Then we must begin building the ship, Jor,” Lara said. “We will just have to hope that it can get us to Earth. That is all we can do.”
“We must acquire parts, first, ” Jor-El said, beginning an investigation on the planet-wide network. They needed the same variety of parts that the air travel ship manufacturers used.
A beep from the messaging device interrupted the quiet of the laboratory. “Jor-El,” a stern man in uniform said.
“Zod. What do you want?” Jor-El replied, trying, and failing, to betray nothing to his former friend.
“Is that any way to greet someone you once considered a friend?” General Zod of the Military Council said. “I just want to help, that is all. My scientists have given me information that I suspect you are also aware of, despite what the Science Council would rather have us believe. The Military Council computers picked up on your recent investigation. I believe we can supply you with the parts you require for your little space ship.”
He’d suspected they could do that. Still, there was bound to be a catch, and Jor-El suspected that Zod would want something in return. “And what do you get out of this, Zod?”
“I want you to arrange for the release from prison of my hounds, Ursa and Quex-Ul,” Zod replied.
Oh, there was absolutely no chance of that happening. Ursa and Quex-Ul had caused untold damage, nearly destroying the planet’s infrastructure, before they were captured and imprisoned. Jor-El had actually been working on a trans-dimensional prison, but it was still in the very early stages of planning, and there was now no chance of it being completed.
“I will obtain the parts myself, Zod,” he said forcefully, shutting down the messaging device, and looking up at his beloved. “I must shield our home, Lara. I wonder just what else the General knows.”
“We can think about that tomorrow, Jor. Let us leave this place, for now.”
They exited the laboratory, locking the door behind them. That night, Jor-El did not sleep.
***
The next day, he put a number of electronic shields in place, protecting their home from any further detection by military and other central computers.
He ran his investigation again, and began to obtain the parts for the Seyglor. Some were delivered that afternoon, and placed in the laboratory.
Ensuring he knew where his tools were, he created the floating keypads and monitor for the ship, by disconnecting one set of keys and screen from the computer hub. They flew away, settling over the boxes containing the parts, still hanging in mid-air.
The rest of the parts arrived the next morning. Jor-El then began to construct the ship: hammering, screwing, welding...
Lara arrived home that day. She dragged him away from the ship, making sure he ate. His beloved knew him too well - when he was too engrossed in something, he would sometimes forget to eat, and go a whole day without food.
***
In the evenings, Lara put Kal to bed. Taking the monitoring device with her, she went to assist Jor-El with the construction of Seyglor. A week later, the hull and wings were complete.
This completion was followed by a quake measuring 7.6. Once the quake had subsided and Jor-El had recorded it, they worked on. Clearly, they now had only weeks.
A week after the outside, the interior was complete. They were now able to stock the ship with nourishment for the body and mind for all three of them for their journey.
***
A few weeks later, the final, fatal quake came, a long time before Jor-El had predicted it would do.
They exchanged their robes for black Kryptonian travel suits, emblazoned with a silver symbol of the House of El. Jor-El got his family aboard the ship, made sure they were all secured in their seats and activated the power cells.
Setting Seyglor’s course for Smallville, Kansas, USA, Earth, he explained, “You know that is where one of the Earth stations is located. When my father sent me to Earth, there was a couple who assisted me. Perhaps they will help us again.”
Exploding through the laboratory windows, the craft flew through the sky and the atmosphere.
Behind them, Krypton exploded.
The ship sped on towards its destination, trailing Krypton’s deadly remains in its wake.
Jor-El and Lara both wept, and tried to hide their tears from the other.
They had a very long journey ahead of them, plenty of time to come to terms with their loss, with being the last of their kind.
The Last Family of Krypton.
Placing Lara and Kal in a mixture of stasis and sleep, Jor-El piloted their ship.
What they did not know was that over in Argo City, Jor-El’s brother, Zor-El had believed Jor-El, all that time ago. He had built a much more sophisticated ship for his fourteen cycles daughter, Kara Zor-El. Zor had placed her in stasis in preparation for her journey, also to Earth.
Unfortunately, the ship became lodged in debris when Krypton exploded...
***
An unknown amount of time later, Jor-El was suddenly awoken from the stasis-sleep Lara had placed him in.
“Jor! We are through Earth’s atmosphere, but I cannot control the ship. Help me, please?”
Going to the controls, Jor-El tried to assist Lara in piloting the ship. But it was too late, and they began plummeting to Earth.
They crashed into a field.
***
“Jonathan! What’s happening?” Martha Kent exclaimed, as the meteors crashed into the fields.
Jonathan lost control of their car. It turned over a few times; they passed out.
When they regained consciousness, they discovered they had ended up in field, still in their car, but upside down. And then Jonathan spotted three pairs of bare feet; two adults and a child. “Martha...”
There was a kind of singing, and the car was then righted.
They scrambled out, to see something out of Star Trek.
The people who had helped them wore black, looked so very lost and were guarding a crashed spacecraft.
What the hell was going on?
***
‘Hiram Kent?’ Jor-El thought, as he looked at the blond man. No, he couldn’t be Hiram; this man was much younger. This must be Jonathan, the child he had seen growing inside his mother, a practice long since dispatched with on Krypton, even then. “Jonathan Kent?” he asked, in stilted English, receiving an unreadable expression in response.
“Yes, but how do you know my name? Forgive me for saying so, but it looks like you three just fell out of the sky!”
“My name is Jor-El.” Indicating the rest of his family, he said, “This is Lara, my beloved, and this is Kal-El, our son. Your father, Hiram, helped me when I was sent here in 1961, as you number your years. Krypton, our planet is dead. We are the very last of our kind. Will you assist us, Jonathan?”
***
Jonathan looked at Martha. The reply they needed to give was written all over her face.
He turned back to the... alien family. “Of course we will, Jor-El.”
-end-
crosspost: sv_fanfic and smallville_au