by Dan Swanson
The Avenger emerged from hyperspace approximately twenty light-minutes from a giant red star. Within moments, the ship’s instruments discovered several planets with wildly disturbed orbits. One planet, in particular, drew their attention — a rocky planet, much larger and denser than Earth.
Before the crew could investigate further, two small figures flying at high speed approached the ship. The external viewer showed that they were humanoid and wore spacesuits.
“Looks like a greeting party,” commented Jim Chisholm.
The Avenger’s crew was astonished when a voice sounded in their heads. “Greetings. Please do not be alarmed. I am Captain Karre Orr of the Xenon Science Patrol, speaking to you via telepathy,” the voice said. “I am using English, as a quick scan of your minds showed it to be a language we all share. Please adjust your radio to use carrier phase modulation at this frequency–“ A number came into their minds. “–so we can communicate via the radio, which will be more comfortable for all of us.”
A few minutes later, Valor radioed a response. “I am Vic Valor, of the independent vessel Tiak Avenger,” he said. “We are peaceful explorers and would like to trade information with you. How is it that you speak English?”
“We were wondering the same thing about you,” Major Orr replied. “‘Avenger’ is an unusual name for an exploration vessel. Hold your position until your peaceful intentions can be verified. Please allow me, along with my partner Captain Karys Thal, to board and inspect your ship. We are unarmed. Any attempt to interfere with our inspection of your vessel will be interpreted as an act of war.”
Her words were officious, but her cheerful voice belied the harsh words; she certainly didn’t sound like a military captain.
“You are both welcome to board, and we will be happy to assist with the inspection,” Valor replied. “We are peaceful explorers. Though the Avenger is armed, all of our weapons are locked. Please use the airlock now indicated by the blue boarding light.”
“These two must be pretty brave, entering an unknown and potentially hostile ship,” Jess marveled. “And they were moving fast. I’ve been practicing with a G.P. spacesuit, and their propulsion units are nowhere near that fast. These two are like missiles!”
Jim and Valor looked at each other in alarm as Jess’ words registered. The two of them together would have a tough time if they were forced to battle against the weapons on the Avenger, yet these two Xenonians had approached them fearlessly, almost casually.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if these two have super-powers,” Jim warned Jess. “We should check them out, very discreetly, and be ready for anything.”
Jess nodded, glad that she was wearing a new protective uniform built with G.P. materials to G.P. specifications.
***
The Science Patrol officers entered the Avenger and removed their helmets, revealing two very attractive, entirely human female faces.
“I apologize, but telepathy makes us uneasy,” Jim said, speaking first. “I don’t want to be inhospitable, but I’ve activated mind shields around the three of us. I’m Jim Chisholm, the big guy is Vic Valor, commander of the Tiak Avenger, and this is Captain Jessiat Gazil of the Juneon Space Command.”
Jim and Valor bowed as they were introduced, and Jim was astonished when Jess bowed, too. Having assumed that a bow was the customary form of greeting for her crewmates, she went along with it.
The woman who responded had hair so dark it was almost blue, and Jim and Valor were astonished at how much she resembled Superman.
“I’m Captain Karre Orr of the Xenonian Science Patrol,” the dark-haired woman replied formally. “And this is Captain Karys Thal.”
They both bowed as well, though not as deeply as the visitors had. Captain Thal was shorter than Captain Orr, with a complexion sometimes referred to on Earth as café au lait. She had striking, long white hair and an expressive face with large, deep blue eyes.
“No offense taken, Jim Chisholm,” Captain Orr continued. “Telepathy makes most of my own people uneasy as well.”
The group quickly got down to business, and shortly the Avenger’s crew was giving a guided tour of the large ship. The two Science Patrol officers were very courteous and businesslike, but they closely observed everything they saw and asked many questions that would have been uncomfortable if the space travelers had been hiding anything. During the tour, the group also had the chance to share their various stories.
“When we got back to Xenon, our ‘Kryptonian’ powers faded, of course,” Karre was saying. “But now that we were no longer invulnerable, the comet gases we’d metabolized affected each of us. My father Kell, my brother Larre, and I all gained permanent super-powers, each different from the other. So that’s how I learned English, saved the Earth from Aquarius — with a little help — met Superman, and became a super-heroine!” (*) Karre finished her story as they completed the inspection of the Tiak Avenger. She looked at Karys uncomfortably as she stopped talking.
[(*) Editor’s note: See All-Star: Times Past, 1969: Aquarius Redux.]
“A couple of years ago,” Karys added, “it seemed as if the universe was trying to destroy Xenon, and as a result of one of the ‘attacks,’ I gained super-powers as well. An invention of Karre’s grandfather, Zoll Orr, saved most of our cities and population, but he and his wife Vara both perished.”
Before the others could commiserate with her, Karre changed the subject from the space storm. “Thanks for your cooperation so far,” she said in as formal a voice as she could muster. “The weapons on this ship are certainly very impressive, but with a crew of only three, it seems unlikely that the Avenger is a ship of war. I’m tentatively certifying you as friendly.”
“Now that we’re friends,” Jim asked, “Why are you folks so jumpy? Do you get visitors that you have to certify as unfriendly?”
“As I said, less than two years ago, some kind of incredible storm struck Xenon from space,” Karys answered. “Our astronomers said it was striking the entire universe, but how could they possibly know that? These shimmering pink curtain things, kind of like an aurora, dropped from the sky, and whatever they touched was destroyed! When they receded, they sometimes left behind some terrible menace, such as a space dragon from Krypton. My people don’t trust the sky any longer!”
“On Earth, we called that ‘pink space storm’ the Crisis,” Jim told her. “It hit us hard as well, and the people of Earth are still recovering. Our leading scientists also agree that the Crisis struck throughout the universe.”
“There was massive devastation here, and millions died,” Karre added sadly. “My grandfather, the great scientist Zoll Orr, came out of retirement to help save the planet. He invented a force-field that could protect a city from the storm. The force-field requires a tremendous power source, so he invented the kryptonite-uranium reactor, too. The first K.U. reactor that was built was used to shield Xenonopolis, where Zoll and his wife lived. He was too busy to help build it himself and depended on a team of technicians. They decided that the need was so urgent that they took some shortcuts in the construction to get it finished faster. The reactor worked long enough to prove to everyone that Zoll Orr’s shield could resist the storm, but it eventually overloaded and shut down. The pink curtain it had been blocking touched down for no more than a second, and half of Xenonopolis was gone! Zoll and Vara, my grandmother, were in that half.”
She started sobbing, as her story reopened the fresh emotional wound. “Damn those freepin’ idiots!” she cried. “After that, all the other reactors were built exactly to Zoll’s specifications, and they worked perfectly. Even though we used up most of our kryptonite and uranium, there were no other shield failures!”
Jess put a soothing arm around the weeping Karre. “I’m really sorry to hear about your grandparents,” she said. “I guess we were lucky on Juneo. Our skies turned pink, and our weather was extra-violent for a week, but nobody was injured, and nothing was destroyed by whatever it was. But I know what it’s like to lose grandparents — mine died when the jungle found a way to extend creepers into their turret, and whatever the creepers did inside their jungle blaster cannon made it explode.”
“I wondered why no one on Juneo mentioned the Crisis,” Jim said, trying to change the topic of conversation. He was still dealing with the deaths of his own parents. “I was afraid to ask, worried that I might violate some kind of cultural taboo.”
“No. Compared to our everyday battle against the jungle, it was really not a big deal, at least on Juneo,” Jess replied. “Actually, if pink curtains had swept over most of the surface and destroyed the jungle, it could have been a boon for us.” She turned back to Karre. “Can you tell us more about the effects here?”
Karre took a deep breath before speaking. “Those pink veils were terrible! They would drift down from space, destroying everything that passed through them, then touch down and sweep across the surface, and then simply vanish, or float back into the sky. Our scientists speculated that the veils were some sort of ‘anti-energy’ — but not the kind that makes normal matter explode; instead, it seemed to dissolve molecular bonds, leaving behind dust that we could separate into the pure elements.
“The veils stripped away everything, down to about three feet below the average sea level. Nobody knows why they didn’t penetrate any deeper, but we’re lucky they didn’t. One veil cut a pass through one of our highest mountain ranges, another swept inland off the ocean, and we now have a tremendously large new bay, tens of miles long and wide, but nowhere more than three feet deep.”
Karre paused for a moment to regain her composure. Telling this story brought back strong emotions.
Karys then spoke up, giving her friend time to recover. “Zoll Orr, Karre’s grandfather, postulated that the bottoms of the veils might be sweeping along a specific gravitational contour level. He built a machine that can warp gravitational contour lines, bending them so that the deadly one passes above the machine, not below it.
“Other scientists scoffed at him, but his invention worked! A veil was approaching Xenonopolis. Zoll activated the generator and then went outside and watched as the veil lifted and began to pass over the city. But the poorly-made kryptonite-uranium generator failed, and the veil chopped into the city like the blade of a knife.
“In only a few seconds, a big crater was scooped out of the middle of the city, leaving behind a pool of dust, and the veil then lifted back into space. Unfortunately, the crater included the location of Zoll Orr’s laboratory.” She paused, and there was silence for a few moments.
Karre resumed her story. “We’re still suffering from the aftereffects. There are literally millions of tons of monatomic dust in the air — dust so light that our scientists say it may never settle out naturally. The dust blocks incoming sunlight, and we are experiencing global climate change, perhaps the prelude to an ice age, unless we can find a method to precipitate the dust. And people who breathed a significant quantity of the dust are now experiencing a growing number of previously unknown ailments. Our bodies just don’t know what to do with pure elements in a monatomic state!”
Valor asked Karre, “I’m interested in hearing more about the Kryptonian space dragon. How do you know it was from Krypton?”