Chapter Text
“I’m telling you, we don’t have any time left!” ” shouted a middle-aged man with black hair streaked with gray, green eyes, and fair skin covered by a salt-and-pepper beard. He wore a black outfit with silver trim; a cape hung from his shoulders, held in place by his family’s symbol—an S-shaped emblem within a diamond-shaped shield. He was addressing a council of five people wearing similar outfits but with gold trim and different symbols, such as an octagon with a red “R,” a circle with a white “W,” a diamond with a black “B,” a triangle with an orange “Y,” and a rectangle with a yellow “J.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Jor-El. If Krypton were truly on the brink of destruction, there would be obvious signs. The council has found no evidence of this in the various reports.”
“That’s because the reports focus solely on what’s happening on Krypton. I assure you that the latest readings I have on our sun’s activity…”
“Enough,” exclaimed the council member bearing the B. “The tools you’re using are obsolete; we stopped using space probes a long time ago.” He fixed his gray gaze on Jor-El’s green eyes. “Space exploration isn’t viable; there’s no point in allocating more resources to it.” ” He hardened his gaze while raising his voice. “We must focus on Daxam and its mining operations on the moons; allocating resources to space exploration would be a waste of time we cannot afford.”
“It’s not a waste of time—it’s a matter of survival! Solar flares are growing in intensity and occurring more frequently. If we do nothing, once the sun reaches critical mass, both Krypton and Daxam will be caught in the sun’s explosion, and there will be nothing left!”
“We’ll consult the Scientists’ Guild at the next Grand Council meeting.”
“It’ll be too late!”
“There’s no point in rushing—the sun isn’t going anywhere anyway.” The councilor bearing the symbol of the B waved his hand, as if to dismiss the argument and cut the discussion short. “Get back to work, Jor-El; we’ll soon need your talents for our drones.” The one bearing the S frowned.
“You’re condemning us to death.”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve been promised an untimely end; I think we’ll pull through once again.” He glanced over, signaling to the two guards wearing a sort of grayish chitinous armor that the discussion was over. They came to surround Jor-El, who clenched his fists.
“We’re not done yet.”
“Of course, Jor-El. This matter will be addressed at the next Grand Council, to be held in the next cycle.” As he was escorted out of the room, Jor-El grumbled.
“It’ll already be too late by then.”
***
When Jor-El pushed open the doors to his home, he let out a groan as he ran his hand over his face. He walked over to the window to gaze out at the reddish plains stretching as far as the eye could see, the trees with leaves glistening in the light of their red sun, the crystalline stones rising from the ground, the crystals piercing the earth, giving it that distinctive color. The sunlight reflected off the red surface of the Kryptonian crystals. He raised his gaze toward the distant star, squinting as if to challenge it. “I’m guessing that didn’t go well.” He felt a hand slide across his hip, while another brought him a glass. “What did the council say?” ”
“That they’ll consider the matter at the next Grand Council—so probably… just a few weeks before the end. Not enough time to save everyone, or… even a majority. ” He took a sip of the drink before turning to face the other resident of the house. A woman with long, greenish hair and blue eyes, she wore a white dress bearing the symbol of an “S” inside a light blue diamond. She furrowed her brow before stroking his cheek. “They wouldn’t listen to me. ”
“What are our options, Jor?”
“We have none.” He rested his forehead against hers and sighed. “I don’t know how to convince them—they’re so obsessed with this… war with Daxam that they’re ignoring the danger Krypton faces.”
“We won’t give up, Jor of the House of El.” She smiled gently at him, resting her hand on the symbol on his chest. “Hope is something we know well.” He set down the glass before placing one hand on his wife’s and the other on her belly. “We’ve already defied Krypton’s laws once… We can do it again.”
Jor-El smiled as he focused on Lara Lor-Van’s belly, almost trying to touch their unborn child—Krypton’s first natural birth in several centuries. A concept that had been abandoned when geneticists realized that shaping children according to a predetermined plan would be more beneficial than leaving the planet’s fate to chance. Everyone’s role is determined at birth. Jor-El was always destined to become a scientist; Lara Lor-Van was always destined to become an engineer. By having Krypton’s first natural-born child, they wanted to give their child what they had never had: choice. The opportunity to fulfill his or her potential however he or she wished.
Now, it’s up to the parents to make sure the child can do just that. If not on Krypton… then somewhere else.
“Lara… I have a plan.” She smiled. “Do you remember Sol?”
“Sol?” she asked, a little surprised; it had been years since she’d heard anything about that project. “My prototype exploration suit?” He nodded. “Yes, I… I remember it; I must still have the blueprints somewhere.”
“…I don’t know if we can save Krypton.” He looked determined. “But we’re going to save our child.”
***
The months that followed were both fleeting and excruciatingly long. Lara dusted off her old research project—an adaptive suit designed to enable exploration across all regions of Krypton—and modified it so it could function in the vacuum of space. Jor-El used the transport and surveillance drones he sent throughout the galaxy to gather data, while compiling all of Krypton’s knowledge.
Lara’s long and tedious work was regularly slowed by her pregnancy, but she never stopped, refusing to waste the precious time that would allow her to save her son. Sol evolved thanks to the combined efforts of his parents, starting with the adaptive suit and eventually reaching its final form—a means of harnessing the network of operational drones sent by Jor-El.
At the same time, Jor-El compiled all the data collected by the probes and was able to identify several planets capable of supporting life and, most importantly, that would not be fatal to his son. It was a difficult mission on which he had no room for failure. It was precisely as he was trying to narrow down one of the last five planets that Lara joined him. “Did you find it?” He turned toward her before jumping to his feet.
“Lara! You should be in bed! You’re in no condition!” She shook off Jor-El’s hand as he tried to turn her around. “Lara!”
“We still have a few days before the due date—let me help you. I’m too tired for manual labor, but if it’s to help you find our next home, then I’m all ears. ” He sighed as she took a seat in his chair; he sat down beside her, placed her feet on his lap, and began massaging them. “Oh, yes, that feels good.” She smiled as she stroked her belly. “Tell me everything.”
“There are five planets still in the running.” He waved his hand over the device to bring up a hologram of five planets. “The first is a planet surrounded by several moons, which gives it stable weather. It has a very good atmosphere and abundant resources, so we won’t lack for anything. It…”
“Jor-El, you’re thinking too much about the planet.” He looked at her, a little surprised. “You’re thinking like a scientist—will he… fit in?”
“You mean… Will we be able to adapt to the environment?” ”
“No, I’m talking about the natives,” she smiled, amused. “What do they look like? If we want to blend in, it’s safer to choose a planet where we won’t stand out, don’t you think?” He looked pensive.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right—if we want to raise our child without any problems, it’s best not to stand out.” He eliminated two planets, leaving only three. “Well… Now we have three choices left.”
“Which of these planets has inhabitants we’re compatible with?” He raised an eyebrow. “…Jor-El, I’m talking about grandchildren.”
“…Lara…”
“Jor-El.” He sighed before pressing a button, revealing one last planet. “Oh, so this is our future home.” She smiled. “What’s its name?”
“Its inhabitants call it: Earth.”
***
The birth of Kal-El, their son, put their project on hold. Although they were still working on developing the Sol shuttle, they took the time to care for their child and introduce him to Krypton. However, this brief period of carefree living came to an abrupt end when Jor-El’s readings revealed some unexpected information. The critical solar flare was no longer a matter of months, but at best a matter of weeks.
The race against time resumed, but with a major problem… Sol was a nanomachine prototype that was difficult to set up and consumed a great deal of energy; the amount of energy needed to power the three of them simply couldn’t be gathered in such a short time. It might potentially be able to protect Lara and Kal-El and maintain their vital signs, but the projection results were far from optimistic for a journey of such a great distance.
“That’s not a problem, Jor-El,” Lara said, studying the test results with their son in her arms.
“Of course it is, Lara! Sol won’t be able to keep you alive over such a long journey. Kal-El probably won’t survive it, and I’m not sure what condition you’ll be in once we reach our destination.”
“I know. Sol won’t be able to keep all of us alive.” She smiled at him before kissing her son’s forehead. “But Kal-El can make the journey. Anyway, it’s the only way to save our child.” He looked at his wife and son before taking a deep breath.
“All right.” He turned toward Sol, now reduced to a moving black mass. “Even if we can’t go with him… we’re not going to abandon him.”
***
Krypton’s final days were marked by fear, turmoil, and chaos. The inhabitants did not realize the extent of the danger until it was too late; the evacuation resources were inadequate for such a large number of people, and in such a situation, order and hierarchy no longer meant anything. Amid the turmoil, no one noticed the disappearance of the Kryptonian Codex, nor the looting of the archives or the theft of the energy crystals.
The El family’s residence was far removed from this chaos and commotion, having already mourned Krypton’s loss months earlier. Jor-El removed the mask from Lara’s head before extracting the blue stone embedded inside. He joined Sol; the structure was levitating above the ground, having taken the form of a flight module large enough to accommodate Kal-El, whom Lara gently placed inside while her father set the blue stone alongside the others.
“The journey will be so long; I hope everything goes well,” she sighed. “I wish I could have kept him for a few more days…” She kissed him one last time before running her fingers through his short black hair with greenish highlights.
“I know, but if we keep him any longer, he might get caught in the blast from the destruction of the sun and Krypton.” He pressed the crystals, causing them to vanish inside the spaceship; the surface of Sol vibrated before closing shut to protect the child inside.
“How long will the journey take?” ” Jor-El watched the spacecraft rise as Lara came to take him in her arms.
“Sol will join the mining drones and use their hyperspace network… It’s energy-intensive, but I’ve added solar energy crystals; they’ll absorb energy from the various celestial bodies along the way so it can make several jumps to its destination. ” He tightened his grip on his wife as the ship tilted, then, in a burst of energy, it shot into the sky and vanished within minutes, becoming nothing more than a speck in the sky.
“Goodbye, Kal-El,” Lara whispered as she buried her face against her husband, wiping her tears on his uniform.
Jor-El remained silent, continuing to gaze at the sky, and closed his eyes when he could no longer follow the tiny speck that was his child.
It didn’t matter that Kal-El would live alone, in a world that would be foreign to him, surrounded by people who weren’t his own… As long as he lived, he could find acceptance and his place, making Earth the home that Krypton could not be. For as his family’s symbol represented… Where there is life, there is hope.