Chapter 22: Just Like the Movies

Emily reached groggily for her phone and checked the time before answering. She swore: it was 4:18 AM, and she wasn’t even on call. I’d really like to get an uninterrupted night’s sleep one of these days… “Hello?”

“Dr. Jordan? This is Fred Douglas, DHS.”

“Oh,” said Emily, biting off the choice words she’d planned for the fool who’d woken her up. “Um, hi Mr. Douglas. What’s up? I mean, what… I mean, why are you calling?”

“I apologize for disturbing you but we need Supergirl.”

Emily sat up in bed. “What do you need her for?”

“There’s a fairly large chunk of space debris on a collision course with the International Space Station. Usually, we just move the ISS out of the way, but we need 24 hours notice to plan a maneuver for that. That’s not normally a problem because we keep pretty good tabs on space junk. Somehow, though, this one got deflected slightly into a new orbit, and that wasn’t detected until about four hours before the projected collision. The chance of collision is about 70%. The astronauts can evacuate using the docked Soyuz capsules, but…”

Emily sighed. No one was at risk of death or injury. On the other hand, the destruction of the ISS would be a major loss to the entire world. It was an international project. She rubbed her eyes; this had slippery slope written all over it.

Then again, they’d taken the exit for “Slippery Slope” some time ago, and were looking to buy a condo and settle down there.

“What do you want her to do?”

“All she needs to do is intercept the debris and slow it so it falls from orbit. It’ll burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.”

All she needs to do, he says. “Is this safe for her? How high is the ISS anyway?”

“About two hundred sixty miles.”

Emily bit her lip. “That’s a lot higher than she’s ever been before. How long will she need to be out of the atmosphere?”

“We estimate it will take about thirty to forty minutes for this mission.”

“Frankly, I’m worried, Mr. Douglas. She may be Kryptonian but she’s only eleven. This sounds like it could be dangerous.”

“We’ll be taking precautions. She’ll be supplied with an oxygen mask and a communications system. If she starts to feel any ill effects we’ll abort the mission. Based on what she said her father’s first mission was to lift a transport to their own space station. We feel she’ll be safe.”

Emily closed her eyes and planted her face on her knees. Sorry about your daughter, Superman… But she couldn’t think of any concrete reason to say no. “I’ll discuss it with her. Where do you want her to go?”

“We have a team standing by here at Dover Air Force Base, in the building we met in before. Just tell her to go there. We’ll brief her.” He paused. “There’s only about two hours left now.”

Emily sighed. “Mr. Douglas… if anything happened to her… I…”

“I understand, Dr. Jordan. We have her best interests at heart as well.”

Emily sat there for a few moments, unsure she believed that. “Very well. I’ll go talk to her.”

“Thank you, Dr. Jordan. Goodbye.” There was a click.

Emily put on her robe and slippers and left her bedroom.

Kara was curled up on the sofa in her robe, a closed book in her hands. She looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. I’ve been waking up around three-thirty recently. I don’t feel sleepy and I can’t get back to sleep.” She shrugged.

Emily nodded. “It’s OK, sweetie. Did you hear that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“Well, they’re right that Dad lifted a space shuttle to Space Station Prometheus.”

Emily nodded. “He’s a full-grown Kryptonian.” She smiled. “You’re a kid-sized Kryptonian.”

Kara giggled. “I guess.” She grew sober. “Dad didn’t just save the space station. A few months later he stopped a huge asteroid from hitting the Earth. It would’ve killed billions of people, maybe everyone.” She looked down. “He actually got hurt that time, but that asteroid was ginormous. I don’t think this will hurt me.” She sat up straight. “I think I can do it.”

Emily goggled at Kara’s description of her father’s feats, all the more because she knew they were real and not something out of a movie. And because Kara could do things like that herself. She shook her head and tried to focus on tonight’s problem. “How sure are you?”

“Pretty sure. I’ve already flown to China and back and been up where there’s almost no air. I don’t think this is that different.”

Emily sighed. “All right. Did you hear how to get there?”

Kara nodded, then blurred into the bedroom and out again dressed as Supergirl. Emily went and hugged her, then kissed her on the forehead. “Please be careful, honey. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t, I promise,” said Kara. Emily released her, and Kara opened the door, then closed it gently behind her. There was a soft whoosh.

Emily knew Kara couldn’t promise anything of the sort. When she’d made the costume, she’d never had anything of this scope in mind. That night seemed years ago.

She picked up her phone and called Mr. Douglas back. “Yes, Dr. Jordan?”

“She’s on her way. Can you… I don’t know… ‘patch me in’ or something? I can’t bear to just wait.”

“Of course. I’ll call your Secret Service detail; they’ll bring over some communications gear.”

• • •


“OK, this is a special headphone that works using vibration. You should be able to hear us even when there’s no air.” Kara nodded. Lt. Col. Mendoza hung it on Kara’s right ear.

“Here’s your oxygen mask; it has a microphone built in. This is a special mask for very high altitudes. An ordinary person couldn’t use it in a vacuum but you should be fine. Still, we’ll test it before you need it. Have you ever been on an airplane?”

“A few times.”

“Well as they say, just breathe normally — when you need to. The tank is small but it should be enough for this trip.” Mendoza hung the mask around Kara’s neck; the tank was in a harness on her back.

“We’ve only got about ninety minutes left. Fortunately, the debris is on this side of the Earth at the moment so you won’t have to travel all the way around. Still, you’ve got thousands of miles to cover. We’ll guide you to the debris based on a tracker we have in your communications gear. We have some goggles with a built-in display showing you the course, range, and bearing.”

“The what?”

The officer smiled. “Sorry, how far away it is and what direction you should be going. In fact, let’s test that now.” She took something that looked like a cross between huge sunglasses and goggles and put them over Kara’s head. It was made for an adult and so covered most of her face. Between that and the mask she looked like a junior fighter pilot.

Intellectually, Mendoza knew the girl had fantastic powers, but she felt like she was dressing a child for Halloween.

She tried to focus. “Now, can you see the display?”

“Umm, yes, but there’s a problem. I can’t see through these goggles.”

Mendoza frowned. “I can see your eyes. What do you mean?”

“Oh, I can see the regular way. I just can’t see. I mean, with my extra stuff.”

Mendoza sighed and rubbed her eyes. “That’s not good; they must have lead in the glass or something. Theoretically you shouldn’t need your vision powers for this trip, but we don’t want you operating with a handicap.” She put her hand to her chin. “I think we need to go with the backup plan.” She pulled the goggles off Kara’s head. “The backup is audio. Instead of a visual display we’ll use three tones to give you the same information. Let’s try it out.”

She nodded to the technicians. “The first tone will tell you if you’re at the right altitude.” Kara heard one repeating note that rose in tempo, merged into a continuous tone, then reversed. “The second tone tells you if you’re going the right speed.” There was a different note that went through the same changes. “This tone tells you if you’re pointed in the right direction.” Kara heard yet another note. “The goal is to keep all the tones continuous; then you’ll be on course. Can you keep all those tones straight?”

“Sure,” said Kara. “It’s easier than listening to everyone talking all the time.” It was kind of like someone saying, “you’re getting hotter… you’re getting colder…” Well, three different people saying it at the same time and about different things.

“Space is awfully big and that debris is pretty small, so you need to follow the directions or you’ll never find it in time. It’s a needle and haystack thing. OK?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“In that case let’s go.”

They walked outside; the sky was still dark. “Let’s get your mask on.” Mendoza pulled the oxygen mask over Kara’s mouth and nose and made it tight. It would have been uncomfortable for anyone else. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Her voice was muffled by the gear.

Mendoza held out her hand. “Then good luck, Supergirl.”

Kara shook the officer’s hand, then looked up, raised her right fist, and shot upward, quickly vanishing into the darkness.

Mendoza’s jaw fell open. Unbelievable… just like the movies. She wondered why something felt off, then realized it was the absence of music: some part of her had expected a soundtrack. She shook her head and went back inside.

• • •


Kara kept her speed subsonic as she plowed through the thickest part of the atmosphere. After a minute she was ten miles up and started to accelerate rapidly.

“Supergirl, this is Dover. Do you copy?” It was Mendoza.

“Yes, ma’am. Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear. We’re going to start your tracking tones now. Can you hear them?”

The three tones started beeping at her. “Yes, I hear them.”

Kara continued to accelerate upwards, heading higher than she’d ever been before. She followed the directions of the tones, pitching over from her vertical path and starting to accelerate to orbital velocity. It was pretty easy, actually; she’d been going faster when she flew to Huozhou and London. She was high enough now that the sun had risen over the horizon; she was flooded with its raw energy. Yum!

She was trying to decide which was better, sunlight or chocolate, when she heard, “Supergirl, Dover here. How are you feeling? Is your oxygen OK?”

“I feel fine. I haven’t needed to breathe yet.”

“Could you try it? Remember, we want to test it before you need it.”

Kara took a breath; it felt fine. “The oxygen is working, I think.”

“Copy that. You’re still on course.”

The Earth continued to fall away. About twenty minutes later Kara was marveling at the view. The curvature of the planet was obvious and she could see a large portion of it. She was in space, just like an astronaut! Just like her dad!

A thought popped into her head: how long would it take her to get to the moon and back? She wondered if her dad had ever been there. She thought she could probably fly fast enough to get there in a few minutes, but was too nervous to try it before talking to her dad. Her musing was interrupted by another transmission.

“Supergirl, Dover here. You should be closing on the debris now. It should be dead ahead.”

Kara peered ahead with her vision and saw something. It looked like a mangled chunk of rocket or satellite, tumbling end over end. “I think I see it. Can I just zip over to it?”

“Affirmative.”

She closed the remaining distance in a moment. “Is this the one you want?”

“Affirmative, that’s it. There is one hour until collision. Probability of collision is now 93%.”

“It’s spinning.”

“That shouldn’t matter, but if stopping it makes it easier to grab then go ahead.”

Kara felt the slight onset of a need to breathe. It wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable yet, but she took a breath from the mask anyway and the feeling went away.

She squinted at the spinning junk, unsure what to do. It was kind of like catching a baton, but she’d never gotten the hang of twirling when Kayla Irig had tried to teach her in Smallville. “Where should I grab it?”

There was a short pause. “In the middle, the axis of rotation — I mean, the point it’s spinning around. That should be the easiest place to grab it, because it’s moving the slowest.”

Kara nodded; she remembered Kayla saying something similar. She maneuvered around the object, reached out, and grabbed it with both hands. It stopped spinning almost immediately, and without making her spin in reaction, oddly enough. “I’ve got it. Now what do I do?”

“OK, we want you to rotate until the single tone you’re hearing becomes continuous instead of a series of beeps. Got that?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She turned around as directed.

“You’re now facing against the orbital motion of the object. All you have to do is slow it down, so accelerate back the way it was coming.”

“Couldn’t I just give it a push?”

“We don’t know how big a push that would be, so we don’t know what the object would do. It’s safer this way.”

“Oh, OK.” Kara started to head in the direction indicated, taking the space junk with her. “So, like this?”

“Perfect. Just continue that for three… two… one… done. You can let go of the object now.”

Kara backed away from it. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. Our tracking shows that you and the object have slowed enough to drop out of orbit. It’ll definitely miss the space station.”

“Are we all done?”

“Affirmative, Supergirl. Thank you. You can come home now.”

Kara looked around her, then down. She wasn’t quite sure where she was since she’d been focused on other things. She was over a land mass she didn’t recognize. “Umm, OK. Which way is that?”

• • •


As always, Kara checked the surroundings of the cottage before landing; it wouldn’t do for anyone to see Supergirl coming and going. She felt bad at peeking into the surrounding houses, but someone might be looking out a window so she had to at least check those. Caitlin had thought of that.

The coast was clear so she darted down to the door and let herself in, closing it quickly behind her. Emily was sitting alone on the sofa — Jarrod had left as soon as Supergirl had returned to Dover AFB. “Hi… I’m home.”

Emily rose quickly. “Are you OK, honey?”

Kara smiled. “I’m fine. It was pretty easy, except I got a little lost on the way home. But it wasn’t a big deal.”

Emily came over and hugged her foster daughter tightly. “I was so worried. I’m so glad you’re OK and everything went well.” Kara hugged her back.

The two separated and Emily put her hands on Kara’s shoulders. “It may have been easy for you, but it’s not every day you send your eleven year old into outer space.” She lifted her right hand to Kara’s cheek and smiled. Kara smiled back.

• • •