I'll probably be off line for about a week, so I'm posting this now.


Belief and Sacrifice Part 2:

Rae Et brushed an imaginary speck from the lapel of her greatcoat. She adjusted the cobalt cuffs on her wrists, a practiced look of boredom on her face. She drummed her knuckles on the polished surface of her desk. The junior councilors had been waiting outside her private office for half an hour now, perhaps they had waited long enough. She pressed a button on the console on her desk and the door to her study glided open silently. Two men entered. Like the other members of the High Council of Elders, they wore all black suits with the cobalt colored titanium wrist cuffs that signified their commitment as servants of the people of Krypton. They bowed their heads slightly in polite greeting as they crossed the doorway.

Rae Et nodded curtly but maintained constant eye contact with the two men. They were young; neither had her experience or position on the Council. "Gentlemen," she began formally. "I understand you have some concerns?"

"The scientists have worked day and night on the evacuation. We have heard conflicting reports of their progress." Alon looked physically uncomfortable. He was a large, brawny man and he shifted his considerable weight from one foot to the other. There were several chairs in the study, but Rae Et had not offered them a seat.

"We are all aware that there is no way to save everyone, even Jor El is not that deluded. The question remains, who will be saved. We must do what is in the best interest of the people of Krypton. We serve the whole of our society, gentlemen, that means we must ensure the survival of our civilization and our culture. The human sacrifice will be great. But with steady leadership, the standard-bearers of our civilization will carry on."

"Madam Councilor, it appears that you great confidence in the ability to save our society," Shertal interjected. He was a tall, thin man with sharp, dark features. He regarded his surroundings with cold, calculating eyes.

"Mr. Councilor, a person in a position of leadership must plan carefully and prepare in times of crisis," she replied.

"So how do you plan to keep the calm in this time of crisis?" Shertal inquired, stroking his neatly trimmed, black goatee thoughtfully.

"By reassuring the people that all will be done to save everyone."

"In direct contradiction to what you previously said," Alon added. She could see beads of sweat forming on Alon's brow. She did keep the room rather warm, didn't she? Rae Et thought to herself with an inward smile.

"Technically, yes," she replied nonchalantly. "But by the time it becomes clear that we will be unable to save everyone, the pioneers will be long gone, on our way to tame a brave new world." She smiled at the thought.

"And you are confident that those pioneers will be able to leave in time?" Shertal asked, his hands clasped stiffly in front of him.

"By Jor El's own estimations, we have twelve months remaining before Krypton becomes uninhabitable. The first prototype transport will be finished within two months. Two months have been set-aside after that for diagnostic testing. That gives us a window of eight months."

"And how many people can be transported on each vessel?" Alon asked.

"There will be a certain balance to be determined between persons and materiel on board each transport. The Council's subcommittee has been working diligently to determine that balance. Several prospective destinations are being considered, none of which are particularly hospitable. The expeditionary mission will consist of two transports, each carrying 5,000 persons and 61 million tons of cargo. On board will be military commanders and their families, one hundred members of the engineering guilds finest electrical and structural engineers and systems managers. The remaining persons will be soldiers and peacekeepers. It will be the duty of the expeditionary mission to make inhabitable our new home.

"In each of the subsequent months, twelve transports will be ready for launch. In order to ensure the viability of our colony, those with the most useful skills will be selected first. With each launch we will again strike a balance between supplies and passengers. We've calculated how many persons we can save while maintaining travel time plus twelve years' worth of supplies, my personal estimate for the necessary time to establish a viable colony. We've also determined how many we can save with travel time plus two years' worth of supplies, Councilor Dar Rhys's suggestion, though I'm certain that Jor El was behind it." She scowled. "My estimates: 250,000, Jor El's: 2.1 million. Additional discrepancies arise due to disagreements on appropriate colony size and necessary supplies," she explained disinterestedly.

"250,000 out of forty one million?" Alon asked.

"It is a large enough population to ensure the viability of the colony, small enough to maintain order and discipline and to guarantee us a certain level of comfort while we establish our new home," she replied.

"Are your numbers supposed to give us peace of mind, Madam Councilor?" Alon asked pointedly.

"I would think so," Rae Et said, amused. "You are both young, healthy members of the High Council, proven leaders. There will be places for you and your families on those transports and in a desolate new world, with our people in need of guidance, I'm certain you will be propelled into positions of great power."

"Assuming we align ourselves with you?" Shertal replied.

"It never hurts to ally one's self with the force that will be victorious," she admitted almost haughtily.

********

"Five percent," Jor El said flatly.

"The numbers are correct," Nur Bei explained patiently.

"That doesn't make this right!" Jor El yelled as he jumped from his seat at the drafting table. Upset, he began to pace restlessly.

"Jor El, we have determined mathematically that we can obtain the highest raw number of survivors in T plus five years with the greatest potential for long term colony viability by taking 2.1 million people."

"And all the others will perish because mathematical statistics did not work in their favor," Jor El replied coldly.

"Neither you nor I can change the facts," Nur Bei said calmly.

"You are a damned actuary, Nur Bei, not a god! How can you sit there and calculate how many people we ought to save and what the most favorable breakdown of demographics would be? These are human beings, not numbers!"

"Perhaps you are the one who cannot accept your limitations, Jor El. Never doubt that I hate this as much as you do. I'm haunted by the thought of the end of our world, of the millions of people we cannot save, but you know that we cannot rescue everyone. We must do what we can." Nur Bei remained gentle and patient as she spoke to her colleague.

"I'm sorry," Jor El mumbled. "You are correct. I'm afraid I've let my emotions rule most of my judgments as of late."

"Don't apologize for being angry, Jor El, we all are."

Jor El leaned up against a distant wall in the mostly empty office. "How will we decide? How will select who lives and who dies?"

"I suppose that will be the decision of the High Council and the Representative Assembly," Nur Bei offered. "Perhaps a lottery of sorts."

Jor El shook his head. "First people will be eliminated due to advanced age or infirmity, then the list will be narrowed down further based on desirable skills and then suddenly we'll be squabbling over the best genetic traits to determine whether one is saved or damned," Jor El spat. He sighed anxiously. "You know, you have nothing to fear," he said quietly. "You are the finest mathematician on Krypton, your husband is one of the most respected geologists. Your family will be saved."

"The same is true of you and Lara," she replied quietly.

"And part of me is very thankful of this fact. I find an odd sort of peace in knowing that my family will be all right, I begin to think that that is the most important thing. Yet, if we go, who will be left behind?" Jor El asked. "Young students, an elderly couple that has already fulfilled its obligations to our society, a poet, an architect, a teacher, or other people who are more expendable than we, people with fewer useful skills?" He did not try to mask his disgust for the thought. "Are they not people with families as well? People, who like me, want nothing more than to protect those they love?" "How can I take a place on one of those transports, knowing that someone else will not live in order to allow me to survive?"

"You will take your place, Jor El, because our society and our future generations will be counting on you and the others like you on those transports, who will spend the rest of their lives ensuring that we have a future."

Jor El raked an agitated hand through his hair and sighed. He had found it easier these past few months to avoid contact with the outside world. He worked in his lab and interacted only with his colleagues and Lara. He tried to focus his mind on whichever task was at hand, trying to tackle little problems while ignoring the one immense one. It was easier not to have to ponder the end of the world, or to be constantly reminded of just what would be ending along with it.

He had reason to be confident that Lara and their child would be safe. That should have given him comfort. Yet every time he saw a child he was haunted by images of his own daughter and his conscience was plagued by the knowledge that millions of little ones, just like her, would be cut down mercilessly by a cruel, indifferent force they could never understand. And millions of parents would suffer the grief he suffered. They would be incapable of protecting their children. They would fail in that ultimate responsibility of parenthood, to keep their children safe from harm. They would suffer a pain that no being should be forced to endure and though they would not live long enough to mourn, he didn't doubt that in millions of hearts across his world, the first stirrings of fear had already made themselves known. As they approached the end, that fear would grow to an immense emptiness, the feeling that one's very soul had been ripped from them.

********

Five Months Later…

Lara winced slightly as she placed her hands on the small of her back, stretching and massaging the sore muscles. One hand drifted to her protruding abdomen. She felt the baby kick vigorously and smiled despite the discomfort. Like Keir El, the baby didn't kick too frequently, but on occasion showed signs of great activity. In a few short months she would be able to hold her child in her arms. Already the little boy or girl that grew inside her was the most loved baby in the world. Both of the baby's parents loved him or her with all of their hearts. Lara would have preferred better circumstances in which to bring a child into the world. She already lost a child, and she'd barely survived it. Had it not been for Jor El, had she not had him to share her grief or hold her when she cried, she would never have lived through it. The wounds of losing a child never healed. The hurt never went away, but she'd learned to live, even with the hurt. The most important thing in her life now was protecting and caring for the little life that she and Jor El had created. For this child, she and Jor El had to be successful in their work. They could not fail this little one.

"Lara, you've been working far too long!" Her husband began his chiding the moment he entered the hangar. He walked briskly toward her, a concerned look on his face.

"I am all right, Jor El," she replied. "I am not made of glass, and when I tire, I will rest, I promise."

"You are as stubborn as I am," he teased. He placed his hands lightly on her arms and smiled warmly at her. "How has the testing progressed, today?"

"Very well," she replied. "The engines and thrusters are working properly. The temperature and pressure tests have also proceeded perfectly."

"Finally, fortune turns our way," Jor El murmured.

"We are ready to begin the next phase of production immediately."

He smiled at her. "And so you're celebrating the same way we mark every accomplishment and setback, by working harder?"

"Would you do any different?" she asked with a smile.

"I suppose not," he admitted. "But I am not overworked, tired, and six months with child."

She laughed. "I can see that."

He merely shook his head and smiled. "Come now, it is getting late, and we have young students we can make to work through the night." He said the last part loudly enough for everyone in the hangar. The young scientists and students all quietly grumbled their complaints, but Lara knew how much affection they all felt for her husband. He was adored by his students and all of them worked hours as intense as Jor El's by choice. Her husband was no taskmaster, he led by quiet example, only the most dedicated students decided to follow. Lara could not have been more pleased with their students. She knew that the fate of their world could not have been placed on more solid and dependable shoulders than those of the young men and women who worked day and night with them and their colleagues.

"All right," she acquiesced to her husband's insistent requests. "Let us go." Jor El placed a protective hand on the small of her back as they walked out of the hangar.

********

They walked into their darkened apartment. The lights slowly illuminated, bathing the entry room in soft light. Their quarters were simple, Spartan, and comfortable. There was no unnecessary clutter, no superfluous elements. If their apartment lacked personality, it abounded in utility. It was perfectly engineered for maximum physical comfort, but Lara had to admit she felt no connection to this place, it stirred in her no emotions, no feeling of homecoming. She removed her white great coat, the symbolic mantle of her station as a teacher, scientist, and formally, a guardian of knowledge and science. The title of guardian was reserved for the most accomplished and dedicated members of each guild. She and Jor El had both earned the title and along with it, the responsibility of educating the young scientists in their fields.

Lara walked into their bedroom, similarly designed to the entry and similarly dull. She crossed the sparsely furnished room to the large windows that dominated one wall. The sky was dark and the distant stars twinkled brightly. Their new home at the scientific institution was near the very heart of Krypton's civilization, set upon a hill, from where they could look down upon the city. All around them the lights in thousand of homes burned brightly. In all of those homes, families gathered, children and parents, husbands and wives, friends, all gathered together, like they had for many nights and many years. Soon those homes would no longer exist, destroyed like everything else in their world. She thought about all those people gathered together, wondering if their fears and hopes were the same as hers, fairly certain that they were. She shivered involuntarily, though not from any physical cold.

She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind and smiled, drawing comfort from her husband's presence. His hands slipped down until they rested on her abdomen. She more felt than heard him sigh.

"It is difficult to imagine an end, isn't it? We take for granted that the world will go on." His melancholy words echoed her sentiments.

"Are you afraid?" she asked quietly.

He was silent for a long moment. "Angry, frustrated, afraid, yes," he said at last. "But mostly, I feel powerless. I am supposed to protect you and our child, but it is also our responsibility to save the whole of our society. I feel the awesome burden of our duty and wonder if I am equal to the task."

"Jor El…" she began sadly, wondering what comforting words she could offer him.

"I believe we will succeed, my love. Even if we do, even though we will save millions of lives, there will be many more millions whom we cannot save."

"The accidents of life seem too cruel and unfair to believe, even if their burdens do not fall directly upon us," she said quietly.

"Cruelty does not begin to describe the malice that nature seems to bear toward our people," he did not disguise the bitterness in his voice. "I am sorry, my love. I should not feel such anger and resentment now. We ought to be joyful at the impending arrival of our little child." His fingers moved in soothing circles across the fabric over her abdomen. She placed her hand on top of his, interlacing their fingers.

"Is it wrong of us to bring a child into this calamity?" she asked.

"This child is a blessing," he murmured softly. "Nothing could change that." He stepped around from behind her and lifted a hand to her cheek. He kissed her lips softly. "Thank you," he whispered. He began to slowly undo the fastenings to her long robe and parted the soft fabric to either side of her protruding stomach. He fell to his knees and placed his cheek against the swell of her abdomen. He turned his head slightly to kiss her. Lara wrapped her arms around him and held him close, running her fingers through his hair. Her heart ached with emotions she could neither describe nor understand. She felt such incredible love for this man and for the child that grew within her and such fear and anger toward all the universe at the same time. She wanted some assurance that all would be all right, but she knew that no such assurances existed. All she knew for certain was that the man she held in her arms would do all that he could to protect their child. She drew comfort from that knowledge.

********

"Esteemed members of the High Council, we submit for your approval our selection for colonization." The old scientist cleared his throat as the holographic projections appeared to give the councilors three dimensional images of the tiny, isolated planetoid that would one day be home to Krypton's survivors. "This particular planetesimal orbits a minor red dwarf, similar to our own star. It is exceptionally dense, similar to Krypton, so it has a comparable gravitational pull. It lacks a true atmosphere, but over time, this can be remedied. There is no evidence of tectonic or meteorological activity and it is compositionally stable…"

"I hope the distinguished gentleman will pardon me," Rae Et began as she stood from her seat and interrupted him. "But you say there is no atmosphere and no meteorological activity on the planet, correct?"

"Yes, madam, but the temperature range of the planet is suitable and given time…"

"So am I correct in saying that the lack of an atmosphere will make this a most inhospitable environ?"

"Well, yes madam, but it is not an insurmountable problem."

"Sir, how far away is this little planet, say as compared to the planet of our origins?"

"They are roughly equivalent, madam, though in different directions of course."

Rae Et smiled. "Of course. But this planet you are suggesting is a far more hostile future home than our previous one, is it not?"

Dar Rhys stood up at Rae Et's statement. "My honorable colleague, certainly you are not suggesting…"

"Suggesting that we look at all alternatives? I must say that I am."

Shai rose to his feet. "Our people made an earnest vow never to return there."

"And under all but the most extreme circumstances, I believe we would always maintain that vow, Councilor," Rae Et replied coolly. "But these are the most extreme circumstances and we must ensure our survival. We did not voluntarily leave that planet for this one. Our ancestors were taken from their homes and transplanted on this desolate space rock. For millennia, our people have struggled to overcome all obstacles and to eventually flourish into this great civilization that we have today. We have faced every conceivable challenge, bearing the accidents of life with grace and dignity. But we must be prepared to draw the line. Why jeopardize our chance for survival when there is a perfect world we can inhabit, we will not be foreign intruders, merely pilgrims returning home after thousands of years of exile."

"You are not talking of an empty utopia waiting for us to inhabit it." Dar Rhys's normally unflappable calm momentarily took its leave of her. She spoke loudly and forcefully. "The planet we left behind has its own inhabitants and we affirmed that we would have no part in disrupting their world. We cursed those that took us from our home planet and marooned us out here on the edges of a seemingly desolate galaxy because they turned us into a people without a history. They stole our past from us through their interference, you are suggesting that we do the same to them."

"Nonsense!" Rae Et shouted. "These people are our brothers and sisters, we are of the same kind, our return will not jeopardize their primitive culture or civilization."

"You scorn them," Shai chastised Rae Et. "Because you forget that our superior technology and understanding are the products of outside interference and not of our own progression. But if you are so determined to lord your superior understanding over these people, how do you think these primitive beings will react to learning that life exists elsewhere in the universe, that they are not alone? You know that it would throw their world into turmoil. They will not be ready to deal with this information, nor will they be prepared to welcome millions of their Kryptonian cousins as indefinite guests.

"Besides, we do not know what was done to us to allow us to survive here. Returning to the planet of our origins may prove dangerous, and somehow I feel that we will not be the ones in danger. We cannot even consider the possibility, it cannot be allowed."

A low murmur began to echo through the chamber as it grew steadily louder. Councilors chatted nervously as the dispute continued. The pounding of a heavy gavel suddenly quieted the room. Li Han, the co First Minister stood up. "We will have decorum in the chamber," she announced. "It is the policy of both First Ministers that this line of debate ought to be aborted at once. We will not hear of a return to the planet of our origins, it would violate everything for which our predecessors stood for us to so thoroughly disrupt that planet as to throw it into calamity. We will put forward an immediate vote on the acceptance of the Astrophysics and Aerospace guild's suggestion. The First Ministers endorse said plan and hope that the Council will as well."

The role call vote was taken and the plan passed without objection, though with several notable abstentions. The co First Minister stood once again and turned to the representatives of the scientists' guilds. "Very well. The High Council has accepted your proposal. We trust that the expeditionary forces will be sent out post haste."

The representative of the Astrophysics and Aeronautics guild nodded slightly. "Your excellence, we shall be prepared to launch in ten days time."