Title: Hub 381
Rating: NC17
Challenge: Light, 15000 words in 30 days, due Dec 31st
Approx Length: 16000 words
Notes/Warnings: Inspired by Spacelord by Monster Magnet.  You might not want to know.  Anyway, this is what happens when my mind is given free reign this close to my math finals.  Every length of time, every distance, every constant has been calculated.  Info on Area 51 was taken from the old archive for declassified government documents on the subject, BlackVault.com.  Info on the setting of Hub 381 itself, you'll understand soon, was taken from data found by the Voyager missions.  My cynicsm prevents me from seeing a fully peaceful galaxy and my inner scientist refuses to believe an alien really looks even remotely like Tom Welling. 

HUB 381

Kala-Ai toured the deck of Hub 381.  The Hub was responsible for managing all the wormhole traffic that this system encountered.  What with the several intelligent species inhabiting the moons around the gas giants, that managed to be quite a large amount of traffic.  No wonder Hub 381 was one of the largest in the galaxy, rivaled only by Hub 001 at the Galactic Council and Hub 052 at Krypton.

Kala-Ai was about to give up when her message came through. 

“Jor-El, I almost missed you,” Kala-Ai said to the face on her screen.  “Did they listen?”

“What’s the point of being the premiere scientist of a planet if the local government won’t listen?” Jor-El fumed, dismayed.  “And there isn’t enough time to take up a plea with the Council, they won’t reach a decision in time, you know them.”

Kala-Ai nodded.  “Unfortunately.  What’s the point of a central government if they can’t keep the local governments in line?  So what are you going to do?”

“The only thing I can do.  Lara and I have been forbidden to leave this world-”

“They wouldn’t.”

“They did.  However, they didn’t say anything about Kal-El.”  Jor-El grew a sad, sly grin.  “Expect a small pod to come through, Kala.  You’re the only one there I trust.”

“Wait, why here?  Isn’t there too much risk here?”

“Actually, only 001, 381, and 052 are large enough for a small pod to go unnoticed.  I expect 052 to be destroyed along with the planet and 001 is out of the question.  Besides, I trust you.  You’re Lara’s sister; you’re family.  Please do this, for Kal.”

Kala-Ai sighed.  “Alright, Jor-El.  I’ll do it.  But you’ll have to put him somewhere discrete.  I won’t be able to pick him up directly out of the Hub.”

“I understand, Kala.  I’ll send him to the third planet in the system.  He’ll be safe there, right?”

Kala-Ai shivered.  “Jor, the third planet is continuously bombarded by rays from the yellow sun.  Are you sure you want your son to become a mutant like that?”

“So long as he’s alive, Kala, so long as he’s alive.”  Jor-El looked to his side in fear.  “Kala, I have to go, promise me you’ll do this, please.”

“I promise, Jor-El.”  The transmission ended.  “I promise.”

Nearly seven months later found Kala-Ai staring out a window over the frozen landscape before her.  The faint red light filtering through the thick atmosphere reflected off the chilly ethane lake nearly a mile away.  The ground was covered in a thick tar of organic matter, moving slightly with the oil worms slowly digesting the tar.  A range of icy cliffs glinted in the faint light like rubies.  Through the clouds Kala-Ai thought she could even make out the golden, ringed gas giant planet the Hub’s parent moon circled. 

The shudder of an unexpected arrival shocked her out of her reverie.  The news of Krypton’s destruction had already circled the Hub like a wildfire.  Kala-Ai sighed and made her way toward the control room to hear about the unmarked pod from Krypton, destination unknown.

From the reports, the pod had not come alone.  It traveled with an honor guard of meteors, each bearing the radiation signature of Krypton itself.  Not all had made it out of the Hub, a few stayed within.  These were collected and divided throughout the galaxy to the remaining members of the great Kryptonian race.  Kala-Ai herself kept one, it sat on her desk as a reminder of her promise to her sister’s husband, to family.

Oh, she planned on keeping her promise.  She planned on waiting until after Kal-El had matured and found a mate, otherwise the Council would demand he return to them, leaving behind any friends or surrogate family he had formed.  Finally she figured it to be about time.  After all, Kal-El was going to be 25 years old, Standard.  If he hadn’t yet found a mate he wasn’t going to.  She called in enough of her unused leave to last a 3-year excursion and took her ship, the Silver Star, out of storage.  She was going to the third planet of this system: a warm, wet globe called by its primitive inhabitants “Earth.”  She wondered what she would find.

Kala-Ai crossed the void toward the small blue planet at the speed that the central star pulled her.  She wasn’t sure if the natives of Earth had observation technology and didn’t want to chance it if they had.  The entire system knew of their nuclear arsenal but she was much more worried about energy weapons.  If they had learned how to harness the power of the lightning in their own atmosphere, well, she just didn’t want to end up crashed on a planet so close to the Hub.  It would be embarrassing.

She adjusted her course one more time.  She fell to the surface of Earth, toward a major city in the middle of a northern continent.  She hoped she could find an information archive.  She hoped this planet kept information on meteorites.  She hoped she could finish her task and leave before the planet and the star mutated her.

She landed outside the city limits and observed the locals.  After some tweaking she looked similar enough to pass as native, but she needed to either lift or synthesize some clothing.  She found some clothes hanging on a line and changed into her new outfit.  She walked into the city, marveling at how such a primitive race could build so much.

Kala-Ai didn’t dare speak to anyone.  They all spoke gibberish.  It took less than a half-hour to realize that she wasn’t going to get anywhere without reading or speaking the native language.  She returned to her ship.  She flew off, following her instruments as they locked onto a large source of radiation of a type found only on and around Krypton.


Lex Luthor sat in his office in the castle reading the Daily Planet.  Oddly enough, a front page article was about a suspected meteor strike just outside Metropolis, complete with pictures of the crater and an expert’s report that nothing of whatever impacted remained. 

The Inquisitor was laid out in front of him, turned to a more colorful portrayal of the same incident.  They gave reports of the “meteor” curving in its descent and more reports of an unidentified object flying away from the scene about a half-hour later, towards Smallville. 

“I didn’t know you were a UFO nut Lex,” a voice from behind him said.  Lex turned around to face Clark Kent, who grinned.

“Actually, I’m not.  I just finding it strange that both the Planet and the Inquisitor reported on the same incident and both gave it great importance.  The Planet wouldn’t do that unless there was something serious to the story.”

“Chloe once told me that if a space ship ever was found it would be front page news for the Planet.”

“Well, the Planet put it on the front page and the Inquisitor is calling it a ship.  Headed for Smallville, no less.”

“So should we start making hats out of aluminum foil?” Clark asked jokingly, remembering the movie Signs.

Lex didn’t answer.  He was lost in thought about the piece of what had to be a ship that Hamilton had found last year.  He also remembered the ship that the dead scientist had shown Lionel.  Everything added up, but Lex didn’t like what it was adding up to. 

“Lex?” Clark’s voice shook Lex out of his thoughts. 

“Save the foil, Clark, until we know for sure.  One ship doesn’t make an invasion.”  Lex tried to make it into a joke.

“I’ll let you know if we find any crop circles then,” Clark said before leaving.  “I’ll call you.”

Lex nodded as his friend disappeared.  “Crop circles, right.”  He fell back into thought.


Kala-Ai had been forced to land as the night turned to twilight.  She sat in her ship at the bottom of a pond, waiting for the planet to rotate into night again.  She took the time to disguise herself better, as based on the natives she had passed while in the city. 

She also rigged up a radio receiver.  It picked up the local white noise.  She was not surprised to find almost every frequency of AM and FM length wave filled with native transmission.  Some frequencies held voices, others what had to have been music, still others random noises that were too regular and unfamiliar to be universal white noise. 

As dusk turned to night, she checked the locality for life forms.  Finding nothing of note, she started her engines and left the pond, flying low over the landscape to stay below most forms of radar.  She came to the center of the radiation field and found a town there.  The most notable landmark was the large dwelling of stones on the outskirts.  She figured this was a feudal society and that was where the local government was based.  She saw on her scanner another pond, this one near a pair of wood structures surrounded by fields.  She stopped over one to make a marking of reference for her own benefit as well as to aid anyone who could actually read in assessing the situation.  She then splashed down in the pond and swam to the surface of the water.  She carried with her the clothing she had lifted and some scanning devices.  She set out to find her nephew, Kal-El.


The Kent household was awoken by the sound of something overhead flying low and fast.  Not a half-mile away there was a great gust of wind and almost the sound of jet engines running on badly refined rocket fuel before there was a great splash.  The three of them burst downstairs, still trying to get dressed.  They stood in the kitchen, clad in underwear and yesterday’s t-shirts, wondering what had just happened.  Clark sighed and stepped outside.

At first glance, everything seemed normal.  Clark’s X-ray vision saw a strange pattern flattened onto the near field and a not-human figure climbing from the pond, in which what had to be a space ship sat cooling after its flight.  Clark gasped and headed quickly back into the house, dragging his parents in with him.

Clark stood there, leaning against the door, trying to calm himself.  Jonathon and Martha were looking at him worriedly.  After all, what could possible scare their son to that extent?

“We have a crop circle, the near field.  There’s a space ship out there, at the bottom of our pond.  Something was climbing out of it.  What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to stop panicking and think logically, Clark,” Jonathon said sternly.  “Someone has landed here and has apparently left a calling card.  Why do you think they’d be here?”

Martha nodded.  “Honey, there’s only one ship out there.  Maybe they won’t be here for long.  Your father and I always worried that someday your birth parents were going to come for you, maybe that’s all this is.”

“Your mother’s right, Clark.  Calm down.  Let’s wait this out.  If they’re here for you in any way then we’ll find out about it.”

Clark nodded.  He slowly calmed down. 

“You know what?  I’ll make some hot chocolate,” Martha said as she moved to heat some milk.

“I think we could all use some hot chocolate,” Jonathon agreed.  Clark nodded weakly. 

They talked the night away, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking hot chocolate, and trying yet failing to forget the events of the night.


“Hey, Clark, did you hear?” Lana asked as he entered the Talon the next afternoon.  “There’s a crop circle outside of town.”

Clark gave her a look.  “It’s on one of our fields, Lana.  I heard it as it was created last night.”

Much of the patrons within earshot grew silent.  The silence spread as heads turned.  Clark looked up to find the attention of the entire building turned completely on him.

Clark took a deep breath.  “We were all awakened by the sound of something large flying low and fast, it felt only a hundred or so feet up.  The windows shook under the stress.  We’ve got a few cracked ones downstairs on the north and south sides, like this thing was moving so fast that it stretched the north side of the house and compressed the south side as it passed.  There was just enough time for us to collect in the kitchen before the whining started.  It was loud, like the squeal of a diesel engine when you pump it with octane.  Then the wind hit us.  It was like being near a twister; you could hear the wind circling nearby as the air sucks you toward it.  Then the sound and the wind stopped.  I went outside to look and lo and behold, we’ve got a crop circle.”

Chloe and Pete sat in a booth in a corner.  No wonder he’d been so off today, they thought.

Lex stood just outside the entryway, having heard the whole thing.  Pieces fell together to form a disturbing picture.

“What if it’s a hoax?” asked some guy at the counter.

Clark looked at him.  “Then I must say, that was a damn good hoax.”  He walked slowly into the shop, noticing eyes following him.  He sat down in his usual booth and waited for Lex to appear.

It didn’t take long.  Lex walked up and sat silently across from Clark.  By now most of the Talon had returned to their coffee and conversation took a turn toward close encounters.  Lex couldn’t take his eyes off a preoccupied Clark.  He didn’t even seem to notice the barely concealed glances of nervousness, fear, concern, and curiosity that the patrons kept giving him.  They hadn’t said a word when the both stood as though on cue and walked out the door. 

Lana watched concerned as the crowd parted around them as they left.  It was as though a normal life for Clark was the one thing the fates could never give him.

Outside, Clark and Lex walked resolutely to a destination unknown.  Clark suddenly stopped, startling Lex into stopping as well.  “What does it all mean?” Clark asked softly. 

“I don’t know,” Lex said, just as softly.  “I wish I knew.  It just-” He stopped and sighed, fear visible behind his eyes.

“Nobody is going to believe this even if they had the evidence spread out in front of them,” Clark said sadly.

“I believe it,” Lex said in a quiet voice.  “I’ve seen too much not to.”

Clark nodded as they continued walking toward Lex’s car, toward the castle, to sit and stare into nothingness. 

And from across an intersection, Kala-Ai watched.  She thought about how much the boy with hair looked like Lara-El, then continued her search.  Kal-El was here, she knew it.  If only she could find him.


Lionel tapped his way down the hallways of the castle.  He nearly passed the door of Lex’s office before realizing where he was.  It was so quiet in there, but he was there, Lionel knew it.  He positioned himself in the doorway to appear his most powerful.  “Lex?” he called.  “I feel you’re in here.”

Clark jumped at the sound.  He let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding.  “Hello, Mr. Luthor,” he said with little enthusiasm. 

Lionel raised an eyebrow.  “Clark.  But where would Lex be?  Why so glum, boy?  My son not fucking you hard enough?”

Clark blushed as deeply as his worries allowed him.  Lex spoke up.  “I’m going to let that slip, Father.  Does that tell you anything about the situation?”

Lionel immediately dropped his sarcasm and grew serious.  “Yes, Lex, it does.  What’s happened?  Lexcorp die already?  If so, may I gloat?”

“This is not a business matter, Lionel, nor is it an emotional one.  It is much more serious than that.”

Lionel moved in as quickly as he could and seated himself on the couch next to Clark.  Tell me, if you dare, his stance said. 

They dared.

After their explanation, Lionel gave them disapproving looks.  “Are you two kidding?  This is what’s got you so worked up?  I raised a paranoid clone of Fox Mulder.”

“Says the man who swears on my mother’s grave that he laid his hands on an alien spacecraft,” Lex said dryly.  Clark fidgeted.  “Well, he does.  Hamilton came back about two months ago with news that he had found a spaceship.  I refused him funding, so he dragged Lionel into it.  My father swears up and down that Hamilton was telling the truth, then was killed for it by the alien who landed in it.  So, Father, what did this alien do with it?  Did it fly off with it or is it now hiding among us, waiting for the armada to come help it conquer our tiny world?”

“From your own dubious rantings, you’ve already made up your mind that the armada, as you so called it, is already here.”

“What if it’s a spy?” Clark asked out of the blue, jolting the other two out of their spat.

“What do you mean Clark?” Lex asked.

“A spy could have been sent 13 years ago.  Using the meteors as cover, it could have landed undetected.  The alien might have been a child, sent to be adopted out to some unsuspecting family.  There it would be almost undetectable.  It could learn this planet and its defenses along with the other children, all the while waiting for someone to come, to collect the information learned.  After all, who would suspect a child?”

Lionel and Lex sat silently, contemplating what Clark was saying.  It seemed without flaw. 

Clark was still talking in that dreamy voice as he described himself to them.  “The ship that was found could have belonged to the child, it would be easy for a child to gain the trust of most adults.  Except, the child would look no younger than 13 by now, it probably had to force Hamilton into giving up the ship, that’s why he was killed.  Around here it would be seen as no more than your average mutant, probably strong enough, fast enough to accomplish anything the mission would require.  Smart, too.  Probably top of its class.  And with the population of Smallville, no one would ever question it, not unless they saw it climbing into its ship and flying off.  Even then they wouldn’t believe the truth.  It’s the perfect plan.”

As Clark finished, the silence closed in on them.  Before it grew suffocating, Lionel asked, “Why here?” 

The silence shattered, leaving them all shivering in its wake.  “Close enough to Metropolis to get all the news, far enough away so as to be outside the city’s knowledge.  Perfect place, Smallville.  Always within hearing distance of the major cities, far enough out of reach so as to never be affected by the government.  After all, why would they search out here?”

Lionel looked impressed.  “Clark, you are either a strategic genius or you have too much time on your hands.”

“Trust me, Father, he doesn’t exactly have time on his hands,” Lex said worriedly.

Clark’s spirits fell as the two humans found no fault in his theory, because theory is what that was.  He was worried that maybe he was sent here to conquer.  It seemed plausible, and the appearance of the ship left him shaken.  It felt too much like he knew that ship and the figure he had seen crawling from it.  He tried to put his fears aside, to reassure himself and the humans that it was nothing more than insight, but something in him knew better.

He knew better than to doubt his own mission.


Both were silent that night as Lex drove him home.  They brushed fingertips as Clark got out at the Kent farm as a way of saying goodnight without words.  Clark walked slowly up to the house as Lex watched for a minute then drove off into the darkness.

The figure waited until after Lex was out of sight before striking.

Clark was thrown against the ground too quickly for him to react.  As soon as he landed he shoved himself back up and into a fighting stance.  He stared into the darkness all around him with all his vision, and finding nothing, fell from his fighting stance into one of confusion.

A sound made him look up, just a glance.  The figure floating in midair shocked him into falling over, this time of his own fault.  “How the hell?” he asked.  He stood up.  “Who are you?”

The figure tilted its head but didn’t answer. 

“Who are you?” Clark shouted. 

The figure still didn’t answer.  Then came a stream of melodious gibberish.  Clark stared at it in confusion until he distinctly heard the words “father, Jor-El.”  Clark stared at the figure, now with an unconscious understanding.  It sensed this as it continued.  Clark soon heard “home,” “mother, Lara-El,” “Hub,” “Council,” “Kal-El,” and “Kala-Ai.” 

“Kala-Ai,” Clark repeated.  The figure stopped talking and flew down into his field of human-like vision.  This figure had long, curly black hair, high cheekbones, green eyes, and a beautiful complexion.  Clark was amazed; she looked very much like him.  “You’re the one who came out of the spaceship last night.  You made the crop circle.  You’re related to me, aren’t you?”  Clark’s voice was full of awe.

Kala-Ai looked into the eyes of her nephew.  He looked so much like his mother, but he had his father’s mouth and build.  She had been dismayed to find he didn’t remember his own language but had gained some hope when he apparently remembered bits of his native tongue.  She smiled softly and raised her hands to initiate a telepathy link, just a little one.

Clark didn’t flinch when the woman raised her hands to his head; he didn’t feel it was appropriate.  When her hands touched his head his eyes widened as the images flooded his mind.  Images of family life, of when Kala and Lara were young, of watching Lara as she Pledged herself with Jor-El, of watching Lara laying her egg, of watching himself hatch from that egg, and finally the last few moments Kala had shared with the three of them before Krypton was destroyed.  A single blue-tinted tear rolled down Clark’s cheek.

He looked into the face of Kala-Ai, his biological aunt, and smiled.  And she smiled back.  He led her into the farmhouse to meet the humans he called his parents.

In the house, Martha finished laying out a late dinner when the screen door opened.  She looked up expecting to see her son’s alien eyes, instead locking into a gaze with a different alien.  She was about to protest when Clark silently ushered this newcomer in.  Jonathon came into the room at the silence, wondering why conversation didn’t immediately appear as it usually did.  He stopped in his tracks as he saw the black-haired woman standing next to Clark.

“If I might ask,” Jonathon said cautiously.

“Um, Mom, Dad, you were right.  Family has come, an aunt.  This is my aunt.  Um, we’re going to have to teach her English,” Clark said nervously.  Jonathon and Martha stared in awe in response.

Kala-Ai sensed the awe and fear in the human’s minds even without a link.  She sighed and motioned for the female to come closer.  The human didn’t.  “I’m not going to hurt you, mother of Kal-El, I only wish to speak to you.”  Kala-Ai choked slightly on the word ‘mother’ as she asked the human nicely to come here.  She looked at Clark.  “I want to link with her so she will know my intentions,” she said.

Clark caught a few words, but not enough to understand the nature of the Kala-Ai’s statement.  As she repeated it, Kala-Ai held up her hands as though to cup someone’s head.  Clark’s eyes lit up in understanding.  “Don’t worry, Mom,” Clark said calmingly.  “This is a way of talking without language.”

Martha tried to calm herself as she saw the woman who looked very much like Clark advance on her.  She closed her eyes as she saw a pair of hands raised toward her head.  She tensed when she felt those hands on the sides of her head.  However, her eyes flew open when she heard a melodious voice in her mind.

“Martha Kent?” the voice asked.  “I am Kala-Ai, I am the sister of Kal-El’s mother.  Kal-El is the boy you took in, the one you call Clark.  I made a promise to his father years ago that I would protect him.  I apologize for not coming sooner, but I knew that when the central government of the galaxy, the Galactic Council, learned of Kal-El, they would demand his return.  I didn’t feel it was my place to force him off this world into a galaxy that wouldn’t accept him fully, so I didn’t come until now.  Now he has a mate and the Council won’t be able to legally pull him away from this world.”

“But he doesn’t have a mate,” Martha said faintly. 

As Kala-Ai heard this she quickly broke the link.  She turned to Clark.  “You mean you don’t have a mate?  But, you need to get one quickly or you won’t be able to mate.”  Clark blushed as he picked out the word “mate.”  Kala-Ai watched his blush.  Nope, she thought, he doesn’t have a mate.  Damn.  “This is why we have a language known as Galactic Standard, Kal.  Most intelligent species learn it when they reach the age of 10 standard years.  You’re 25.  Why am I even bothering telling you this?  I’m going to have to start over with you, teach you your native language.”  She groaned as Clark struggled to catch something, anything from her outburst. 

Martha moved to the table.  “Clark, would you ask your aunt to stay for dinner?” she said as calmly as she could.  Jonathon gave her an incredulous look.

Clark half-sighed and attempted to speak to his aunt.  His human parents listened to him list adjective after adjective until they heard a melodious chirping gibberish come from their son.  It was the same type of gibberish that the female alien had spoken.  They looked over to see Kala-Ai suddenly smile, answer, and then sit down in the chair Clark had pulled out for her.  Clark sat down as well, a look of triumph in his eyes. 

Kala-Ai then proceeded to pick up items she recognized and name them properly.  Clark repeated each name.  Jonathon and Martha watched as their son was taught a language no human had ever heard. 

Life in Smallville is officially strange, Jonathon thought.


Clark paid Lex a visit the next day to make sure he was doing all right after the invasion theories of the day before.  Lex was sitting at his desk, research materials spread over the surface.

“Am I interrupting anything, Lex?” Clark asked when he saw Lex bent over the files, his head in his hands.

Lex looked up to see Clark standing in the doorway, looking much more cheerful than the day before.  “Nothing that I should be doing, Clark,” Lex answered wryly.

Clark’s curiosity piqued.  “So this means you’re doing something you shouldn’t be.  I have a feeling it has something to do with yesterday, am I right?”

“It’s amazing the access that good hacking abilities can get you.  These are about half the known files in existence about Area 51 and the experiments that went on there.”

“Went on there?  Did they stop or something?”

“Actually, Clark, there’s quite a story surrounding Area 51.  The land was used in the 40s for nuclear testing.  In the mid-1940s the base was built to study the effect of the radiation fallout.  When the alien craft crashed at Roswell, Area 51 just so happened to be the closest military base with the required secrecy.  Within 6 weeks no less than 2 dozen patents were taken out by the U.S. government on alien technologies, for example, transistors and Velcro.  Eight bodies were found at the site of the crash; these were then autopsied and preserved at the base.  For nearly 50 years the government would find the best and the brightest in the fields of electrical, mechanical, material, and biological engineers, lure them out to the base, lock them in obscure areas of the base, give them things to study, then take their research and drop them back into their original fields.  After awhile, the radiation fallout from the nuclear tests grew worse.  Eventually the radiation grew to be too much of a hazard for the alien technology and the preserved bodies, so the evidence was split into three sections and shipped to three separate, secret bases in Colorado.  There they continue to study the evidence, drawing medical breakthroughs from the bodies and technological breakthroughs from the original ship.”

“So they’re still studying.”

“Of course.  Why wouldn’t they?”

Clark shrugged nervously.

“Don’t worry, Clark, if an armada is coming, I’m sure we’ve studied their technology enough to find a weakness.”

Clark looked at Lex with a scared bunny look.  “That is most definitely not what I’m worried about.”

Lex looked worriedly at Clark.  One day he’s convinced there’s an alien spy lurking around Smallville, the next he seems to think he’s found something more disturbing.  “Then what are you worried about, Clark?” Lex asked.

Clark glanced around quickly.  “I can’t tell you here.  All I can say is a biological family member has shown up and I know for sure that I am related to her.”

Lex’s eyebrows shot up.  “A dream come true, isn’t it?  Finally knowing for sure who you are?” he asked.

“Let’s just say you’re invited to dinner tonight and there is no way you are worming your way out of this.”

“She must be pretty convincing if you managed to get Jonathon to agree to having me at the table.”

Clark smiled wryly.  “Trust me, Lex, this is not something my dad can control in any way.”  Clark walked slowly out of the room.  “You are going to be there or I am sending Mom after you,” he said as he exited.

Lex listened to Clark leave and looked back down at the files.  He raised an eyebrow as he contemplated them, then stacked all the alien-specific files into a pile.  The rest he dumped carefully into his desk.  He settled down to read about the Roswell aliens to try and find a reason for their crash.

After two hours of searching he came across the file he wanted.  He read quickly, interest soaring after every word.  In the middle of the file he set it down, a look of awe on his face.  “Lightning,” he said softly.  The alien ships were extremely sensitive to lightning.  He glanced at the clock, swore softly, and put his files away in a place Lionel wouldn’t find them.  He made his way toward the Kent Farm, only 15 minutes late.


Kala-Ai watched her nephew and his human parents setting the rooms, getting them ready for the evening meal.  She had noticed an extra place set at the table and had asked Kal-El about it.  He had said it was for an Intended.  Kala had remained silent after that, wondering if he really knew what he had just called the mystery guest.

When the knock on the door came, Kala sensed a sudden spike of affection from Kal-El, directed at the man standing outside.  When the bald man was let in, the spike grew, then leveled out at its peak.  Kala read the bald man’s mind as well as the distance would allow.  She felt an answering spike of desire with an undercurrent of affection.

Perhaps this man really was Kal-El’s Intended.

As Lex walked into the house, his eyes instinctually found Clark.  As their eyes met, Lex felt the usual spike of desire coupled with something he might have called love were he not raised by Lionel.  He tried not to feel hopeful when he saw affection reflected in Clark’s green eyes.  He kept their eyes locked as long as friendship would allow, savoring the moment.

All too soon the moment ended.  Lex looked away and into a second pair of green eyes.  The curiosity in those eyes was amusing but the feeling that those eyes could stare directly into his soul quickly squashed any humor.  Lex tried not to shiver.  He mentally pulled away and looked the owner of those eyes over.  She was sitting in a chair, just staring back, almost reading him.  She looked very much like Clark, especially in the facial features.  At that moment, Lex’s intuition failed him.  In only the second time in his life he met an enigma.  The first one was standing next to her.

Clark stood next to his aunt, leaning near her shoulder slightly.  “Lex,” he said very softly in Kryptonian.  “My Intended.  Lex.”

“Intended?  To be Pledged with?” Kala asked at a normal volume.  She watched as the one called Lex stared at her.  She read enough confusion in him to realize he had never heard Kal-El speak in this way.  “Your mate?”

Clark blushed as he correctly translated her meaning.  She grabbed his head to read his thoughts.  She grinned voyeuristically as she found Clark’s thoughts on Lex and watched for a few seconds before he broke away.  “Your future mate,” she said with great conviction.  Clark blushed deeper but did not, could not deny it.  She sat back and nodded knowingly.

“Is there something I missed?” Lex asked Martha as she walked in.

“Oh, Lex, you’re here.  I see you’ve met Kala-Ai.  She doesn’t exactly speak English,” Martha said, slightly nervous.

Lex nodded thoughtfully and tried to place the language.  He had had training in languages from all over the world: Latin, Greek, German, French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.  He knew enough out of each of them to know for sure that whatever Clark and Kala-Ai were speaking it wasn’t based anywhere near them.  Curious.  That meant that they weren’t speaking any major language.  That was nearly an impossibility, especially in the middle of Kansas.  Lex sat in a chair and leaned back into it.  He tried harder to match the language to anything he had ever heard. 

“Lex?” Martha asked, jolting him out of his thoughts.  Damn, he thought.  I’ll try again later.

“Lex, honey, dinner’s ready,” Martha called him again.  He filed his thoughts away and joined the group at the table.

After food was served, Lex broke the ice.  “So what couldn’t you tell me at the castle, Clark?” he asked suddenly.

Clark stopped eating, put his utensils down, and bowed his head.  “It’s about what we talked about yesterday,” he said softly, “and the idea I had of an alien spy.”

At the confused looks they got from the other three at the table, Lex and Clark shared an idea.  Lex turned toward Jonathon and Martha as Clark turned to Kala-Ai.

“I colonize,” Clark said in Kryptonian. 

Kala-Ai’s stare softened.  She placed a hand on his cheek and stroked lightly.  “You want to?” she asked. 

Clark shook his head.  He couldn’t say what he wanted in words so he initiated a link.  “I’m a spy, aren’t I?  I was sent here to prepare this planet for colonization.”

“That is complicated,” Kala-Ai thought back to him.  “You were sent here to be safe.  The Council will want to know why you’re here and will assume you are here to conquer.”

“I don’t want to cause the destruction of this world.  I want to help people.”

“Kal, there are ways around a cover story.  You can help people using all your powers and tell the Council you are gaining their trust.  They don’t plan on coming here unless the natives mature as a species or are sedated into submission.  I’m not saying the Council is anything great, but they do allow a planet to rule itself.  But they would still want you to prepare this world.  I’m worried that if you don’t say you have a mate they will want to take you from this planet, permanently.”

“I don’t want to have to leave.”

“I don’t know if you can leave.  You have an Intended.  You’re as good as Pledged.  Kal-El, we mate for life and you have already chosen yours.  There is no way you can leave and live.  You have to stay.  You have to follow any instructions Council will give you.  You are a Kryptonian, stronger than most of your species because of this planet.  You are too valuable to them, they will make you conquer, it is not going to be an option.”

Clark let his hands fall, breaking the link. 

“What’s this Lex tells us about an alien spy?” Jonathon asked as soon as Clark’s hands hit the table.

“I got worried when Kala-Ai landed.  I didn’t know why she was here, so I threw that idea into the open.”  Clark’s eyes were downcast as he said this.  “I wish it were just an idea but I know better than to doubt my own mission.”

Jonathon and Martha looked at each other.  Lex watched them as the pieces fell permanently into place.  They only showed resignation, no surprise of any kind.  He looked at Clark and felt a surge of sorrow at the sight of his friend, bowed and ashamed.  Jonathon moved to comfort Clark as Martha turned toward him. 

“Lex, about what-” Martha tried to begin.

“They’re not human,” Lex said with great conviction.  “Neither of them.  Clark was sent here to conquer this planet or at least gain a foothold.  His aunt came to check up on him and make sure he was following orders.” 

Martha bit her lip and nodded sadly.  She looked over at Jonathon, who was trying desperately to cheer Clark up through denying it all.

“Clark, there’s no proof you’re here to try to conquer,” Jonathon said.

“Yes, there is, Dad,” Clark said hysterically.  “I was sent here to be safe and allowed to stay here so I would be given this mission.  I didn’t have any choice, just as I don’t have any choice in mission.  I’m here to conquer your world, whether we like it or not.”

“I’m sure there’s something else the galactic government will let you do.”

“Dad, I’m a Krytonian.  This planet has mutated me into the ultimate warrior.  Even if I could leave I’d be transported to some uncivilized planet and told to conquer.  As is, I’m trapped here for life.”

“Why are you trapped here, Clark?” Lex asked, entering the fray.

Clark slumped and closed his eyes.  “I’ve fallen in love,” he said, miserable.  “My species mates for life and I’ve already picked mine.  I can’t leave, not without them.”

“You’re trapped here because you’re going to be in love with Lana for eternity?” Jonathon asked.

Martha elbowed him in the ribs.  “Judging by the pronoun usage, I’d say he might be in love with anyone, possibly a man.”

Jonathon paled and excused himself.  The others watched him exit out the door.  “He can handle the idea of his son being an alien invader but not the idea that he might be gay,” Lex said incredulously.  He turned to Clark and tried desperately to quell his sudden spike of jealousy.  “So, Clark, who’s the lucky man?”

Clark blushed.  He looked deeply into Lex’s eyes.  “Please don’t hate me for this, Love,” he said softly.  He saw Lex’s jaw drop and his eyes go wide.  He sobbed once and buried his head in his arms.

Kala-Ai moved beside Clark and put a hand on his shoulder.  Before she knew it she found herself thrown over the table into the living room. 

Lex snapped himself out of his shock as Kala-Ai sailed over his head.  Despite fearful warning looks from Martha he walked over to Clark.  He sat in Kala-Ai’s newly vacant chair.  “Clark?” he asked.

Clark looked up, his face streaked with crystal-blue tears.  He tried to curl back up when Lex put a hand on his arm.  Clark looked up again.  Lex smiled softly, his eyes revealing the affection he felt.  Clark uncurled and stared into Lex’s eyes, not believing what he was seeing.  He brought his hands up and placed them on Lex’s head, initiating a link.

Lex’s eyes flew open as the flood of thoughts reached his mind.  They were from all over the emotional spectrum, anger and sadness, love and loss, joy and uncertainty.  Many of them felt very alien; he was unable to focus, unable to discern any real meaning.  As realization struck, that these were Clark’s thoughts, he felt them narrowing into something manageable.  He could actually feel words.  “You don’t have to go along with this,” Clark thought in Lex’s mind.  “You were never asked, and I’m sorry I had to lie to you all this time.  If you walked out that door and avoided me for the rest of our lives, I wouldn’t blame you.”

Lex felt shocked and saddened that Clark would even think to feel this way.  “I’m not leaving, Clark,” he said in both mediums.  “I love you, this doesn’t change that.”

“I don’t want you to feel obligated to stay, knowing what I am and how I’m bonded to you,” Clark thought sadly.

“Clark, I am not leaving you.  I swear it.  I’ll bond myself to you if that’s what will make you see.”

Clark broke the link with great reluctance on both sides.  “Do you have any idea what you just suggested?”

“Yes, Clark, I do.  I just suggested something more binding than marriage.  I suggested a Pledge.”  At Clark’s impressed look, Lex clarified.  “You could read my thoughts, I could read yours.”

A sudden whoop from the living room pulled the pair out of their reverie.  Kala-Ai walked in, visibly pleased.  “I sense a Pledge,” she said in Krytonian.  Clark blushed as confirmation. 

Martha still sat in her chair, confused.  “What just happened?” she asked.

“I guess I just asked your son’s hand in marriage, Mrs. Kent,” Lex said. 

“What?” Jonathon asked.  He stood in the doorway, angry with himself for leaving and thus allowing this to happen.

“The words ‘bizarre alien ritual’ come to mind, Dad.  I will not have you ruining this.”  Clark’s voice was laced with Lex’s usual snark.  He gained a few looks at the comment.  “I don’t link well,” was his only explanation.

“I will not have this in my house,” Jonathon nearly shouted.  “There is no way you can do this legally.”

“Since when are alien customs governed by human law?  You don’t have any say in this, there’s nothing you can do.”  Clark stood up to face his father.

“Like hell I don’t.  Lex, I can have you arrested for this.” Jonathon pointed at Lex, trying to blame him for this.

“Arrested for what?  Nothing has been done and nothing can be done for awhile.  My mating season isn’t for another two months, Dad.  Besides, I’m already above the age of consent.  Nothing done even resembles your basic Christian wedding.”

“I will not have my son married to another man!”  There, Jonathon said it, it was out in the open.  He didn’t care really that Clark was quite alien, was here to divide and conquer, what bothered him was his son’s sexuality.

Kala-Ai sensed it then linked briefly with Clark.  “This is why humans are considered unintelligent.  The rest of the planet is very intelligent; some species are even a part of the Council.  Humans, however, are the laughing stock of this arm of the galaxy.”  She broke the link, a look of sad amusement in her eyes.

“What was that all about?” Jonathon sneered.

“It’s official.  I’m staying to conquer this pitiful little planet.  If I am to take you, Dad, as a representation of your species then you cannot be allowed out into the galaxy for safety reasons.  Lex, Kala-Ai, let’s go.”  Clark, Lex, and Kala-Ai turned and walked toward the front door.

“Wait, Clark, where are you going?” Martha asked.

“I have to go to Council to sort out my mission.  We’re going to get Kala-Ai’s ship in the air and then we’re going to leave,” Clark said with great conviction.

“We are?” Lex asked.  One look at Clark cemented the idea.  “Ok, I’ve just got some loose ends to tie up at the plant.  Want to come with, Clark?  I’m sure Kala-Ai can start her ship on her own.”

“Sure, Lex.  What are you going to do?”

“I just need to appoint a replacement, then we’re good to go.”

Martha called after them as the two of them got in Lex’s car.  “Clark, wait, don’t!  You don’t need to do this.”

“Yes, Mom, I do.  I love you Mom.  Tell Dad I love him too, if he’s man enough to accept me as I am.  Goodbye.”  Clark got in the car and they sped off into the darkness.

Martha stood in shock as she watched them disappear.  Realization hit and she started running toward the near field and pond.  “Kala-Ai, wait!  There must be another way.  Please, there must be another way.”  There was no answer.  “Kala-Ai, please, answer me!!”  Still no answer.  She fell to her knees by the pond and begged for an answer. 

Kala-Ai breached the surface of the pond.  Her ship was well in order and ready for liftoff.  She saw Martha on the bank and swam to her.  She linked with her.  “You do know that this is Clark’s choice, right?”

“He doesn’t have to go,” Martha thought sadly.

“The rift between father and son has been growing for years, I sense it in their minds and yours as well.  This was just the last straw.  I’ll bring them back, I promise, but it might be a long time before I can get them home.  Be patient, Martha.  I’m sorry things have to end this way.”

Martha smiled.  “It’s not yet ending, Kala-Ai,” she thought.  “I will see you again.  Until then, take care of them.”  At Kala-Ai’s puzzlement over the change of mood, Martha clarified.  “I knew I’d be letting Clark go eventually.  I’m just glad he’s going to be with people he loves and trusts.”

“I will bring them back, Martha.  I promise.”  Kala-Ai bowed her head until their foreheads touched as a gesture of friendship and understanding.  She broke the link and took her natural form.  She stood taller and more graceful despite the sudden appearance of a mohawk-like crest along her head and neck and the antennae arced from her forehead.  She smiled and dove into the water, long tail following serpentine.  Martha smiled sadly and moved away from the pond so Kala-Ai could lift off.

Clark and Lex returned to find Kala-Ai already out of the pond, engines warm and ready.  She had already collected Clark’s ship and the tablet in the barn and had mapped out the location of the missing piece.  They two of them jumped out of the car and despite yelled protests from Jonathon they climbed onboard. 

As soon as they were strapped in, Kala-Ai took off low over the fields.  They flew fast, pausing for only a few seconds when they stopped for the piece.  With it in hand, Kala-Ai steered the ship upward.  They were soon out of Earth’s atmosphere and out in open space.

Kala-Ai sat back as her ship settled into a planned trajectory that would take them back to the Hub.

“What do we do now?” Clark asked in Kryptonian.

“We wait,” Kala-Ai answered.

“Time?”

“One less two months.”

“Clark,” Lex asked, “what’s the news?”

“We’re on our way, but the trip is going to take somewhere between 1 to 2 months,” Clark answered in English.

“Why so long?”

“Probably so we look like a wandering asteroid in case Earth is watching.”

“Even if we’re just headed to Mars, that’s a little fast for an asteroid, isn’t it?”

“Well, it depends on the asteroid.  Some move pretty fast and our trajectory might imply a highly elliptical orbit, which would force high speeds at this end of the orbit.  Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but human physics is full of holes.  We’re just slipping through one of those holes.”

“Teach me.”

“Sorry, Lex, but even I don’t know it and Kala-Ai won’t teach me.”  Clark paused then asked in Kryptonian, “Kala-Ai, what to do?”

“Learn,” was her one word answer.

“Well, Lex, you just might get your wish.  For the time we’re in here, she’s going to teach us something.  I just don’t know what.”

“Language,” she said to augment her first answer.

“Oh, we’re going to be learning languages, Lex.  That’ll be useful and, wait where are we going?”  Clark switched languages in mid question effortlessly.

“Hub 381, Kal-El.”  Kala-Ai called up a map of the solar system and zoomed in on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.  “There.”

Lex’s eyebrows raised.  He sat down on the deck of the ship.  “Teach me,” he commanded, eager to learn all he could before they landed.  After all, they had time; they were only traveling 900 million miles.  They had a ways to go yet.


The trip was remarkably mundane.  Kala-Ai played professor to both Clark and Lex.  She continued to teach Clark Kryptonian until he had grown quite proficient and then began teaching him Galactic Standard.  She started to teach Lex Standard, however being human he learned at a much slower pace.  By the end of 7 weeks Clark had actually surpassed Lex in his knowledge of Standard. 

Over the trip Clark and Lex shared a bunk, but they didn’t do anything sexual.  During the first week or so they had had sides to the bed but the line in-between blurred quickly until every night was spent wrapped in each other’s arms. 

Kala-Ai in general kept to herself.  She taught the others daily, monitored the ship’s progress, then usually retreated to her quarters to brood.  She avoided any and all questions regarding her behavior.

Clark was getting ready to ask her again when a console started to beep.  At the sound she bolted out of her quarters with all her speed and seated herself in the pilot’s chair.  She tapped several crystals on the console and a holographic screen appeared in front of her.  It showed a detailed readout of her speed, trajectory, and distance from her particular port as well as the location of traffic in the area.  She tapped a different combination and the screen went blank.

“Hub control, this is the Silver Star, requesting permission to dock,” she said in Standard.

A face appeared on the blank screen, a face with a snout, swept back ears, and crystal white eyes with diamond shaped pupils.  “Permission granted, Silver Star,” came the reply, also in Standard.  “Were you successful in your mission, Kala-Ai?”

“I was, Torlak, I bring Kal-El and his mate.”

“Mate?  Kal-El found a mate?  I do not think the Council will like this.”

“The Council will have to accept it Torlak, their Pledging has already begun.”

“I just hope the Council sees it your way, for all your sakes.”  The screen went blank again as the connection closed.

“What do you think-” Lex began in English.

“Standard,” Kala-Ai snapped.

Lex sighed.  “What do you think he meant?” he asked, this time in Standard.

“It means Council will work hard to force Kal-El away from Earth so they can direct his power wherever they wish.”

“What can we do about that?” Clark asked, also in Standard.

“You’ll have to complete the Pledge quickly, almost as soon as I can get together who and what we need.  Kal-El, we’ll also probably need to get you pregnant.”

“What?” asked both Clark and Lex.

“Pregnant.  With child.  Knocked up.  Ready to lay.”

“I understood that, Kala-Ai, but I thought I was male,” Clark said quickly.

“So did I,” seconded Lex.

“You are male, Kal-El.  Both male and female Kryptonians are capable of carrying and laying fertile eggs.  However, males are also capable of fertilizing eggs other than their own.  Females cannot do that.”

“Ok, I’ll deal with that later.  Now, why do I need to get pregnant?” Clark asked, overwhelmed.

“First of all, it will solidify the bond with your mate, preventing the Council from breaking you two apart and sending you elsewhere.  Secondly, it will give the Council a reason to allow you to stay.  Third, the Council would not pass up the opportunity to study a hybrid between such a cross.  Council is very interested in hybrids, especially between a cross between intelligent and primitive parents.  They find such hybrids to be useful in the annexing of the planets of the primitive species.  Also, they’re very curious as to find out what hybrids can and cannot exist.”

“Wait, if I get pregnant my kid is going to be studied?!”

“No child of mine is going to be a lab rat,” Lex injected with great venom.

“The child would not be studied.  The child would either be raised by you two on Earth to help Kal-El take over or would be raised as a Kryptonian while you two stay on Earth waiting for the child to be stationed with you to help Kal-El take over.  After invasion the child would remain on Earth to act as a bridge between humanity and the civilized galaxy.  At that point it is uncertain whether Kal-El would be assigned another planet to conquer or would be stationed on Earth to help the child keep order.  Look, we’ll discuss this later; right now I’ve got to land this thing.  Sit down and shut up, both of you.”

Clark and Lex quickly strapped themselves into the copilot’s seats.  They both thought about what Kala-Ai had said.  She had seemed very adamant about an invasion of Earth, as though she wanted it to happen.  She also wasn’t too worried about their child being an object of study.  Well, they had made it this far out, there was little else to do except forge on ahead, especially since she was their ride home.

The thick atmosphere buffeted the ship as they descended toward the surface of Titan.  As they broke through the first layer of clouds, Clark and Lex were treated with a breathtaking sight.  Just under the cloud tops was suspended a circle of a dull metal.  An energy field within it pulsed with unseen power.  Ships flew around it like flies around a hula-hoop, almost monitoring it, but they never went through.  All of a sudden the ships all clustered around the edges, staying away from either of the open ends.  The circle built up a glow until white beams of energy shot out from crystals embedded every three degrees along the inside.  The energy collected in the center for a half-second and exploded in a starburst of color.  From the starburst grew a hole in space and a ship, dwarfed by the size of the circle, flew out of the wormhole and into the atmosphere. 

“That, boys, is how we travel,” Kala-Ai explained.  “That is the Hub itself, it can connect you to any other Hub in the galaxy through a wormhole, but we’re not headed there.  Look down.” 

The boys looked down as Kala-Ai cleared the second level of clouds and came within view of the surface.  Below them was stretched a vast city of lights.  Ships, mostly of small size were flying in barely detectable patterns around the towers of the crystalline city below.  Windows graced some of the towers they passed, aliens of countless different species behind them.  Toward the horizon Clark could make out a shining lake of something oily and vast cliffs of ice in the distance. 

Kala-Ai flew around the city once more so they could look their fills and then descended toward a docking bay a few levels above the ground.  Kala-Ai took the ship in slowly, passing the force field without incident and settled down on the deck softly.  She powered down the engines and secured her ship for short-term storage.  “We’re going to wait a few minutes,” Kala-Ai said as she finished powering down. 

“Why?” Lex asked as he felt the life support systems fade along with the rest of the power in the ship, including the lights. 

“It’s about 100K outside right now.  For your sake we’re going to have to wait for the temperature of the bay to raise to about 250K before we can even think of heading out there.”

“How can it be so cold?” Clark asked.  “And what will he breathe?  Humans do need oxygen.”

“The atmosphere outside right now is a mix of nitrogen and short chain hydrocarbons.  Neither is particularly poisonous.  It’s required for a ship to power down completely before they start pumping oxygen into a bay because of the high risk of fire.  They also warm the air in the bay so the passengers can exit without freezing to death.  After the passengers have left the bay, the hydrocarbons are removed and the bay opened to the rest of the city.  When a ship prepares for departure, the passengers board, the oxygen is removed, the bay is opened to the atmosphere, and finally the ship can power up and depart.  Oh, and one more thing you need to know.  Despite the fact that the actual Hub is in the upper atmosphere, this entire moon is known as the Hub, specifically Hub 381.” 

A muffled grating sound came from outside as Lex started to gasp for air.  When the sound stopped, Kala-Ai got up and placed her hand on a panel near the hatch.  “Before we go out there, I must ask one thing,” she said.  “Kal-El, will you please remove that human skin and take your natural form?  It’s embarrassing.”

Clark huffed as he took his natural form.  Lex would have huffed if he could breathe.  Kala-Ai opened the hatch, allowing in the first methane-scented breath of an alien atmosphere.  Kala-Ai jumped down to the deck and an alien Clark followed.  Lex looked down to the deck twenty feet below and saw them both standing there, waiting.  “One small step for Neil Armstrong, one giant leap for me,” Lex said cornily and stepped out of the hatch. 

Two-and-a-half seconds later, Lex hit the deck and bounced slightly.  At his questioning look, Kala-Ai explained.  “This is Titan, Lex, there’s a lot less gravity here, about one eighth the amount you’re used to.  There is a no hopping rule so I had better not hear that either of you has been hopping around, you hear?  Walk as you normally do.  Let’s go.”  The three left the bay, Clark and Lex slowly getting used to their space legs.


Zor-La looked up when her lover entered their quarters.  “Kala, I’m back,” she said smugly. 

Kala-Ai stopped her conversation with Clark and Lex and looked at her lover.  Her eyes lit up as she grinned and with a wordless cry of joy jumped into Zor-La’s waiting arms.  Clark and Lex watched from the door as the two of them rubbed against each other in greeting and in love.  After a few moments, Kala-Ai leaned back and gestured toward the door.  “Zor, I’d like you to meet my nephew Kal-El and his mate Lex Luthor.”

“Pleased to meet you, Kal-El, Lex Luthor.  If I might ask, why haven’t I seen you before?”

“I was raised on the third planet of this system by humans,” Clark answered tentatively.  “Lex is a human.”

At Zor-La’s disapproving look, Lex spoke up.  “We’re not all barbarians, despite popular opinion.”

“And what if you find out that your mate Kal-El was sent to conquer your world?” Zor-La asked seriously.

“I already know that,” Lex answered.  “I fully accept that he has his mission and what it means for the future of my planet.”

“Do you?  If so, you are wise.  If not, you are naïve.  Be prepared to be seen as both.”

“I am.”

“Kala-Ai, if I might speak to you a moment,” Clark asked.  They headed to a quiet area to talk.  “You didn’t tell me you were mated,” he began.  “She acts as though she’s never even heard of me.”

“I’m sorry, Kal-El, but your parents and I needed to leave her out of this.  She works for the Council, directly with the representative from Krypton.  If she had found out sooner you would have been taken from Earth before it was time.”

“Then why can she know now if Council can’t know?”

“Council already knows.  Remember the ship that came through the Hub as we flew in?  That was an Ambassador-class ship.  The Council has sent agents to find you.  Now that Zor-La knows I cannot be accused of hiding you.  You’ll need to complete your Pledge within 24 hours otherwise the agents will want to take you with them to Hub 001, the Council itself.  As a member of Council, Zor-La can officiate.  We have a satellite in orbit around Earth, a small station on the asteroid acting as Earth’s second moon, which can bounce a signal so that your human parents may watch.  I know some friends of the family who would be delighted to see you mated and can act as present witnesses.”

“How long is the ceremony?”

“Including proper set up, the ceremony itself, the post ceremony rituals, and the consummation rites, about 20 hours.”

“Then let’s get to work.  I want us to have enough time left over to get used to the idea.”

Kala-Ai snorted.  “Sure.  But you’re right, we do need to get started.  Come on, let’s go see if our mates have killed each other yet.”

“I hope not.”

When they reentered Kala-Ai’s quarters, Zor-La and Lex were sitting companionably.  “I like this human,” Zor-La said, grinning.  “I doubt there are many that good.”  Lex smiled at the complement. 

“Good, Zor, because I need to ask a favor,” Kala-Ai said quickly.  “We need to get these two properly Pledged.”

Zor-La stood up and stretched.  “Very well, then.  Let’s go gather the group.”


Zor-La and Kala-Ai had managed to collect a group of 20 people of varying species who were willing to act as witnesses at the Pledging.  They all gathered with Kala-Ai outside a white door.  “Now remember,” she was explaining, “this is not going to be an expert Pledging.  Kal-El has been raised by humans and Lex Luthor is a human.  I do not want to hear any comments other than those that are requested of you.  One other thing, this ceremony is being recorded for Council purposes and to allow the human families the chance to watch if not take part.”  She paused.  “It is time,” she said and opened the white door.  They stepped inside.

The room was vaguely circular and quite cold.  There were two rows of seats circled around the center, made of a fine crystal, almost like ice.  In the center stood an ice pedestal, about four feet high and large enough for three people to stand on.  In the center of the pedestal stood an altar of ice.  On this altar laid a cloth of very fine silver silk, a chalice of ice with a cold clear wine within it, and a thin metallic feather.  The feather’s pale colors added the only color to the room aside from the people inside.  On the pedestal stood Clark and Lex on either side of the altar.  Zor-La stood on the pedestal, on the far edge away from the altar.  Clark was wearing a blue bodysuit and a draping red cape.  Around his neck hung the symbol of the House of El, an “s” in a shield.  Lex wore a black bodysuit, purple cape, and a rough pendant of the Luthor Family Crest.   Zor-La wore the white uniform of a Council official, a white cloak over a white bodysuit with the symbol of the House of La around her neck, a sunburst in a diamond shape.  She held in her hands a silver staff with a clear crystal at the head. 

As the group settled down and sat in a prearranged pattern, a device about the size of a basketball flew in and hovered silently in the back, recording every sight and sound.  After everyone took their places, Zor-La raised her staff and tapped it on the pedestal three times.  She began her speech.

“In the beginning, it has been said that the gods paired off and mated.  All intelligence in this galaxy is said to be descended of that mating.  As those children, we carry on the traditions of our ancestors.  This day, we join Kal of the Kryptonian House of El with Lex of the Human House of Luthor in the ancient ceremony known as the Pledging.”

Clark began his speech.  “As was done by my ancestors since before the birth of time I do now.  I Pledge myself for eternity to you, Lex of the House of Luthor.”  He picked up the feather and ran it over Lex’s head where his crest would be if he had one.  Lex bowed his head to accept the gentle stroke.  Clark put the feather down and picked up the ice chalice and held it between them.  “Just as this ice and this wine remain in perfect harmony with each other so shall I remain with you.  Separate species but infinitely stronger together than apart.  Just as the ice keeps the wine contained so shall I with you.”  Clark put the ice chalice down onto the center of the altar.

Lex began his speech.  “My ancestors have since before the birth of time forced themselves out of their limitations to become something more.  I am not descended from any gods but from the slime in the seas.  I am honored that you would choose me in any way, much less to bind yourself to.  I love you with all my heart and I always will.  I Pledge myself for eternity to you, Kal of the House of El.”  He picked up the feather and ran it along Clark’s crest.  Clark bowed his head to accept the stroke.  Lex put the feather down and picked up the ice chalice, holding it between them.  “Just as the ice and the wine remain in perfect harmony with each other, so shall I remain with you.  Separate species but infinitely stronger together than apart.  Just as the wine keeps the ice solid so shall I with you.”  Lex put the ice chalice back down in the center.

Clark and Lex raised their hands toward one another.  Their hands clasped, fingers entwining.  “Apart we began,” they said in unison, “together we are, together we shall remain in spirit, mind, and body.  Together we Pledge.”  They bowed their heads, touching foreheads and closing their eyes. 

All around them, twenty voices rose as one.  “As has been done since before the birth of time, as is done today, as will be done beyond the end of time.  The Pledging of Kal of the House of El and Lex of the House of Luthor is done and true.”  All of the observers stood quietly as Clark and Lex straightened and were draped with the silver silk.  They were handed the chalice, Lex with instructions to drink the wine and Clark to eat the ice.  As they did so, a single voice in the back began to sing.  It sounded like the chiming of bells in the wind as the voice sang a wordless tune of love.  A second voice joined in, singing happiness.  A third sang for longevity.  A fourth sang for fertility.  Soon the entire audience was singing wordless songs, each blessing the couple in a different way.  As each ended their song, they left quietly, taking care not to disturb the singing of the others.  After the wine was drank and the chalice eaten there remained only one singer; a tiny insectile creature was singing for luck.  As it finished, it scuttled out of the room and out of sight. 

Zor-La stood behind the altar, motionless.  Kala-Ai flew up behind her.  “Come on, Zor, these two need to consummate.”  Zor-La nodded.  Clark and Lex were led off the pedestal and out of the room through a hidden door.  This next room was warmer than the first, yet just as crystalline.  Hanging from the ceiling dangled a large, deep, soft hammock made of the same silver silk Clark and Lex were draped in.  Zor-La and Kala-Ai left them in the room, dragging the wandering recording device out with them. 

“Well,” Clark said nervously.  “I do love you, you know.”

Lex smiled.  “I love you, too.  We should probably get naked for this.”

Clark blushed.  “I-I’ve never had sex before,” he said bashfully.

“Don’t worry Clark, I’ve never had sex with an alien before.  This is a first for both of us.”  Lex removed his cape and started to undo the bodysuit.  Clark followed suit.  They stood next to the hammock, each marveling at the other’s naked form.

Clark broke the ice by moving closer to Lex, wrapping his arms around the human.  Lex leaned into the warmth of Clark’s chest.  He smiled softly and nuzzled Clark softly, mimicking what he had seen Kala-Ai and Zor-La do.  Clark moaned and ran his hands lightly all over Lex’s bare head and neck.  “Perhaps we should lie down,” Lex said softly into Clark’s chest.  Clark nodded randomly in agreement and picked Lex up.  They rolled onto the hammock and had to marvel at the softness of the strong fabric.  Lex wondered aloud what it was.

“I heard that it is the silk spun by a space-faring moth as it sleeps to keep it from drifting away from the others.  They abandon the silks when they awaken and fly off.”  Clark spoke softly, distracted by the light from the crystals glinting on Lex’s skin.

“Mmm, but what do they do to make it so soft?” Lex asked huskily.

“It’s this soft naturally.”  Clark lowered himself onto Lex, nuzzling his face softly.

“Lucky moths,” Lex said as he captured Clark’s mouth for a kiss.  They wrapped their arms around each other tightly as the kiss deepened.  Into the kiss they poured all the fear, frustration, confusion, and worry they had for the future, taking comfort in the fact that they were together at this moment.

Clark broke off the kiss.  “No,” he said, surprising Lex by using English for the first time since they left Earth.  “Not like this.  We just bonded, we can’t create new life with these feelings.”

“How do you expect me to bury those feelings, Clark?  I am afraid of what will happen.  I’m afraid for you, for me, for Earth, and for our child.  There are too many unknowns for my liking and most are going to be decided by a galactic power that cares little for anyone or anything that is dear to us.”  Lex couldn’t help his little tirade; he was on the verge of panic anyway.

Clark jumped to one of the corners of the hammock.  “You know what?” he asked.  “How about if I sing.”

Lex looked at him oddly.  “You can sing?” he asked.

“Sure.  Music was the original universal language.  It can inspire emotions in people.”

“Ok, Clark, sing.  What song are you going to sing?”

“I actually am not thinking of a particular song.  I sing in emotions, not in words.  Observe.”  At that, Clark sang a single note, a clear soft baritone that left Lex shivering in its wake, shivering with desire.  Clark grinned then sang a tune of the same lust-inducing baritone combined with a love-spell alto, an awe-inspiring tenor, a relaxing bass, and ended it with a counterpoint of a content mezzo-baritone. 

Lex was entirely speechless.  After a few moments of those very emotions warring in his mind, he managed to find a few words.  “Do that again, Clark.  Sing that you love me.”

Clark smiled softly, lovingly, then sang a song of the baritone and the alto entwined together, unable to separate into their original forms.  Like the love they felt for each other, it could not be separated from the desire, the hope, even the fear they felt for and about each other.

Before Clark could properly finish, he was jumped by an enthusiastic Lex.  Lex had forgotten about his worries for the moment, needing only to wrap himself in his lover.  Their lips locked, passionate and hard, Lex’s soft human tongue warring with Clark’s firm forked tongue.  They wrapped their arms around each other tightly, unwilling to let go.

Blinded by the haze of lust, Lex couldn’t help but thrust aimlessly at his lover, his mate.  Clark knew they weren’t going to last long so he didn’t even bother with foreplay.  He spread his legs and guided Lex to the opening to his female organs.  Lex groaned as he slid inside, the slick passage much looser than he had imagined.  He thrust a few times before finding Clark’s smooth, hard headless cock and started stroking it. 

Clark chirped when he first felt Lex enter him, savoring the feel.  He nearly shrieked when Lex started to thrust deeply and couldn’t help but sing his pleasure when Lex started pumping his cock.  He captured the human’s mouth for a kiss before screaming out his first orgasm.

Lex sucked frantically on Clark’s lips until he pulled away and came.  Lex stilled as he rode out the waves trying desperately to milk him of his orgasm.  As Clark calmed slightly, Lex started thrusting again, harder and faster than before.  Before long, Clark had a second, harder orgasm.  The scream was heard throughout much of the Hub.  This one wrought a scream of pleasure from Lex as he spilt his seed deep inside Clark. 

Clark opened sex-clouded eyes to see Lex staring down at him in wonder.  “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Lex said softly.

“What was, Love?” Clark asked hazily.

“When you came the first time it was only deep inside you, like it wasn’t real.  The second time you came with all your being and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

“Mmmm,” Clark hummed softly.  “I liked the second one better, too.  Do we really have to get up?”  A sharp pain in his belly soon broke his sleepy question.  He doubled over in pain, curled up like a child.

Lex was jolted out of his own haze and into a state of confused panic.  “Clark?!  What’s wrong?”  He was still coherent enough to ask in Standard in case someone nearby could answer.

Clark grunted for a second more before the pain stopped as suddenly as it had appeared.  He groaned and rolled over onto his back.  “I have no idea what that just was,” he said, drained.

“I do,” came the voice from the corner.  Kala-Ai walked through the door and gave them both an once-over.  “It was conception.  Congratulations, Kal-El, you are pregnant.”

“You seem bitter,” Clark said.  “Why is that?”

Kala-Ai sighed.  “I had always wanted a family, even after I Pledged with Zor-La.  The problem is, she and I are both female.  We cannot produce fertilized eggs on our own and everyone else we know treats the gift of children with the care it deserves.  I’m bitter, Kal-El, because you will soon have what I have always dreamed of and you’re not sure you want it.  You’re not even sure if you’ll be allowed to keep it.  And you have a mate who will always be able to gift you once more.”  She paused.  “I wish I had that.”

Clark sat back in shock.  “I’m sorry, Kala-Ai, I truly am.  I wish there were something I could do.”

“Yes, Kal, there is.  Do your best to keep that child as your own.  Raise it with love and understanding.”

“We will,” Lex said softly.  “I promise.”

The three of them basked in sad companionship for a few minutes.  Suddenly Kala-Ai jumped up.  “Wait a minute, I had a reason for coming here,” she said absently.  “Yes, that was it.  Kal-El, Lex Luthor, you two need to get ready to leave.  You’re going to have to go to Council with Zor-La.  Come on, get up and get dressed.”  Kala-Ai left the room so the pair could have some privacy.

Clark and Lex looked each other in the eye before leaping out of the hammock, scrambling for their clothes.


They met Zor-La at the one of the launch bays.  In it they found the ship that had come through the Hub that day.   This ship was much larger than Kala-Ai’s, being of an ambassadorial class as opposed to a military type passenger ship. 

“Are you ready?” Zor-La asked as the two newlyweds ran up to her, gasping.

“There isn’t much oxygen here, is there?” Lex asked through gasping breaths.

“About half of what you’re used to,” she said nonchalantly.  Clark and Lex just gasped in response.  “Come, we leave in a few minutes.  They’re ready to start removing the oxygen.”  Clark and Lex followed her into the ship.

This ship was very much unlike the steel and tarnished silver of the Silver Star.  No, this ship, the Black Nova was more akin to platinum edged velvet.  The seats were a soft leather of unknown origin, the walls all around were draped in a coarse red silk, and the crystals of the controls gleamed with untapped energy.

Clark and Lex marveled at the obvious luxury of the ship for a few minutes until an alarm signaled the opening of the bay to the atmosphere.  They took their seats as the engines powered up, ready for departure.

They watched as the city of crystals and lights grew smaller beneath them until it disappeared in the lower level of clouds.  They looked up to see the circle of the Hub.  The small ships monitoring it all swerved out of the range of the circle as the energy beams created the wormhole.  A split second later, the ambassador’s ship was swallowed by the gaping mouth of the wormhole into a dimension unknown.

Zor-La and the ship’s crew all took the wormhole in stride, but neither Clark nor Lex had ever seen anything like it.  Colors swirled around them, inside the ship and outside as their eyes tried and failed to adjust to suddenly becoming 6^th dimensional.  They couldn’t move, as their minds could not understand how or where they were trying to move.  They actually heard each branching wormhole as they passed by, feeling on an instinctual level where these went and how many had passed by in the entire existence of the network.  If they tried they could even pick out the identities of each of those ships. 

After twisting and turning in the network, they started to pick up speed as they flew toward a wall in space.  Clark and Lex tried to scream.

The wall opened up just before they hit it, opened into a Hub.  As they entered normal space, Clark and Lex’s screams became reality.  As the others looked at them strangely, they stopped and blushed appropriately. 

Zor-La leaned toward them.  “Don’t worry,” she said, “most scream after their first wormhole jump.”

The captain of the Black Nova called back to his passengers.  “Welcome to Hub 001, Galactic Council.”  He plotted their trajectory, requested a landing, and steered the ship toward a planet off in the distance.

Hub 001 was free-floating in orbit around a blue giant.  The planets were well populated despite the fact that they boasted no native life at all.  Three planets in the Council system were populated.  They steered toward the outermost of these three, a cool globe with more ice than liquid water. 

The Black Nova fell through the clear atmosphere in a controlled burn.  They leveled off as they cleared the thin cloud layer and came within view of the cities on the surface.  These cities were more of the tarnished silver of the Silver Star than the Crystal of Hub 381.  They were purely functional yet modestly decorated to display their importance in the governing of the civilized galaxy. 

To Clark and Lex’s puzzlement, the Black Nova turned away from the cities, instead heading out over a sea populated by icebergs.  The ship looped up and splashed down into a watery gap between two large icebergs.  It then turned and flew under the ice back towards the city.  The captain turned on a group of running lights, giving the sea around them an eerie blue glow.  The water was disturbingly lifeless, not even algae bits growing on the strangely sharp outcroppings of rock. 

Before Clark and Lex realized it, the ship had entered a tunnel in the bedrock.  They twisted and turned before entering an underground lake.  They rose out of the lake to float lightly on the surface.  The top hatch opened.

The passengers left the Black Nova and were flown to the bank.  The ship closed its hatch and dove under again, flying to an underwater bay for storage. 

“Shit, it’s cold,” Lex couldn’t help saying as he wrapped his arms around himself.

Zor-La gave him a strange look until Clark wrapped his arms around Lex and said something about low metabolisms.  Zor-La nodded then led the way to a door in the cave wall.  She opened it and ushered Lex in.

Lex looked up and saw the tiniest speck of light above him through a tunnel about 3 feet in diameter.  He turned to ask what he was supposed to do when Zor-La closed the door.  It sealed itself.  Lex sighed and looked up again.

The sudden gust of wind took him by surprise. 

Lex was sucked through the tunnel from the cave a quarter mile below the surface to the surface in about 20 seconds.  When he got there, he was spat unceremoniously onto the floor of a blandly decorated lobby. 

As Lex was rubbing his rear where he landed and popping his ears to ease the pressure difference, Clark was spat with the same lack of grace out of the tunnel and onto the floor.  Zor-La followed after, landing softly on her feet. 

“How do you do that?” Lex asked.

“Years of practice, Lex Luthor,” she answered before leading them off to Council.


“Absolutely not,” said Tarok, head of the Council.  “If Kal-El has even half the strength that has been reported, there is no possible way we can allow him to return to that pitiful little planet.”

“There must be something-” Zor-La started before being cut off.

“He is too great a resource to leave to rot on a planet we have little use for.  The intelligent species native to that world have reached a consensus: to allow the humans to destroy themselves so as to not infect the galaxy proper with their barbary.”

At this point, Clark had had enough.  He grew tired of listening through the wall and knew that the Council was going to send him somewhere to die.  He pounded his way through the wall amid heavy gunfire.  As he broke in, attention was turned on him.

“You see now why we cannot allow him to be wasted,” Tarok stated as fact.  “If he is strong enough to destroy the Council Chambers, there is not telling how many planets he might take for us.”

“That’s all that I am to you, a resource,” Clark said angrily.  “You don’t care that I have Pledged myself to and with a human.  You don’t care that I am pregnant with a half-human hybrid.  You only see me as a tool with which you can conquer worlds.  Even my uncivilized human parents saw me as more.  They didn’t care that I wasn’t native to their world, they didn’t care about my strength.  They saw me as their child and they loved me as such.  Perhaps the great Galactic Council, the epitome of civilization, could stand to learn a few things about basic individual’s rights from the human race, the worst example of barbarism in the galaxy proper today.”

He stormed out through the hole he had made.  Lex watched him storm off and sighed.  He walked in slowly through the hole, careful not to get shot.  “I didn’t want to say this while Kal-El was in here,” Lex addressed the Council.  They all looked at him strangely, not sure what he was.  Zor-La tried discretely to shoo him out before he got himself arrested. 

“Who and what are you?” asked Tarok. 

“I am Lex Luthor and I am a human,” Lex answered.  “I am Kal-El’s mate.”

“What is your purpose here?” Tarok asked dismissively.

Lex took to the center of the room and was then visible to all of the Council on the three governmental planets.  “I understand why you want to send Kal-El to conquer worlds.  He is a powerful weapon, capable of doing in days what would take an army years to accomplish.  However, he also has weaknesses.  When I first met him, I hit him with a vehicle with a force that would have snapped a human in half.  I was in the vehicle at the time.  Despite the fact that were he not Kryptonian I would have killed him instantly he still found reason to rescue me from the crash and bring me back to life when it was found I did not survive.  Whatever planet he is on, he cannot stand to see any being in pain.  He will only see the good in someone, completely overlooking the evils.  He is too inherently good to destroy efficiently. 

“I believe if you test him in some way, you will find what I know from direct observation.  There is no possible way to make him a weapon of destruction.  There is one way he might conquer a planet.  However, it would require much time on his part.  He would gain the trust of the people, eventually turning forcing them to become dependent on him in some way.  In that way, when the time came he could simply ask for rule and it would be given to him.  The planet would be peacefully conquered.  By the time the natives figured anything out, they would be too late.  Their world would be completely under galactic control. 

“If you do finally decide to relocate him and somehow force him to conquer worlds, remember this.  I cannot go with him and he cannot survive without his Pledged mate.  Also, he is pregnant with a hybrid child that could take the throne as ruler of Earth after he conquers it, thus allowing him to work his charm on other worlds.  I ask you, consider all this intelligently.  Please make the right decision not just for the galaxy in general, but for him as well.”  Lex ended his speech and exited the Chambers, this time through the door.  At Council’s command, he was not bothered and allowed to go to the one place he knew Clark would be.

“Council will take a short recess to consider the human’s proposition,” Tarok said before Zor-La was escorted from the Chambers and private lines of communication opened up between the three Council groups.


Lex found Clark in front of a large bay window, looking out over the sprawling city below.  Lex slid up behind Clark and rubbed his shoulder lightly.  Clark leaned into the touch.

“I just wish it wasn’t so hopeless,” Clark whispered.

“Things are never hopeless,” Lex answered. 

Clark looked at him strangely.  “I thought you were a cynic,” he said sadly.

“I was, but then I wished for a friend to teach me how to love and fate imported my soul-mate from the stars.”  Lex grinned wryly as he said this.

Clark huffed.  “And fate has just realized her mistake and is going to retract her gift from the heavens so I can die from withdrawal on some distant, primitive world with orders to conquer it.”

Lex pulled his lover down for a light kiss.  “They will never tear us apart, even if I have to stow away in your ship.”

“No, Lex, I don’t want you dying for me,” Clark said, stern and panicked.  “No matter what Council decides I want you to go back to Earth and live a long, healthy life.  Tell my parents I love them, Lex.  Tell my friends I’ll miss them and that I’m sorry.  Promise me, Lex, please.  Promise me you won’t try to follow me in any way, in life or in death.  Know that I love you and that I’ll always love you.”

“Clark, wait, stop,” Lex begged.  “Don’t do this.  You don’t know what Council is going to decide!  Please, Clark, don’t do this.”  There was no answer as Clark sped off toward the tunnel to the ship.  “Clark!  Kal-El!  Stop, please!”  Lex fell to his knees as he realized Clark was gone and for the first time in a decade he cried.


Zor-La ran up to the window, shouting her glee.  She found Lex sitting on the floor, tear tracks on his cheeks.  “Lex Luthor, I don’t know what you two did, but Council has agreed to your proposal,” she started.  “He is to go to Earth and peacefully conquer and, wait, what’s wrong?  Aren’t you happy?”

Lex looked up at her.  “I can’t believe it.  They accepted.  I just hope we’re not too late.”

“Too late?” Zor-La asked.

“Kal-El made me promise to live life to the fullest on Earth then ran off.  I don’t know where he is.  He was so certain Council would send him off.”  Lex looked up at her, another tear sliding down his face.

Her face distorted from joy to fear.  “He wouldn’t, oh please no, tell me he wouldn’t.”  She ran off at the loping gait characteristic of most of the Kryptonian race.

“He would,” Lex said softly as she disappeared into the distance.  He followed as fast as he could.


“Kal-El, stop!” Zor-La called from the ground.  Clark was perched on the top of a tower, ready to fly into space. 

“Any why should I stay?” Clark called down.  “Council is going to force me away from all I hold dear, why should I continue on?”

“Council has accepted, Kal-El!  You can go back to Earth!  You can go home.”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll come down!  You’re just like the others, thinking only of yourself!”

Lex ran out into the open just as Clark leapt.  “Clark, no!” Lex screamed.  Clark paused for a second.  “Council really has accepted!  We can go home!”

Clark looked down and his heart broke as he saw Lex.  “Not you, Lex, please not you,” Clark said sadly.  He flew off as fast as he could manage, off toward the vacuum of space.

“NO!!” Lex screamed.  He ran to Zor-La.  “We have to catch him,” he begged.  “Please, there has to be a way.”

Zor-La hesitated for only a second to consider the laws she would be breaking.  “I have a small fighter ready for launch, come on.”  She picked him up and flew as fast as she could toward one of the aerial hangars. 

Lex and Zor-La flew up through the atmosphere, swerving to avoid traffic as they raced after Clark.  They caught up with him in the upper mesosphere, where the air became too thin to breathe and the blood started to boil, destroying the body from the inside out.  Without preamble they opened the hatch, letting all the air in the ship escape.  Lex managed to stay conscious long enough to grab Clark as he passed out and pull him into the ship.  Zor-La flew them back down to the surface, transmitting a call for a medical team to be ready when she landed.


Clark woke up to the concerned eyes of his lover staring down at him.  “Why did you save me?” he asked softly.  “I’m just going to die anyway.”

“Not on my watch,” Lex answered.  “We weren’t kidding, Clark.  Council agreed to let you come home.  You’ve been stationed on Earth, provided we leave our first born with a Kryptonian family to be raised under their influence.”

“You mean,” Clark put a hand on his belly. 

“Yes, Clark.  Kala-Ai is going to fly us home and is going to look after us until you lay that egg.  She’ll then fly back to the Hub and watch over it for us.  She’s going to try to get custody of the child and I put in a few good words on her behalf.”

Clark held Lex close, nuzzling his neck.  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, words muffled by Lex’s neck.

“I did, Clark.  Next time, listen to me, please?” Lex asked.  He held Clark as arm’s length and stared him in the eye.  “Promise me you will never, ever pull that stunt again.”  Clark looked away.  “No, Clark, look at me.  Please, Clark, promise me you will never try to commit suicide again.  Not over me, not over Council, not over anything.”

“I promise,” Clark said in a small voice.  He wrapped his arms around Lex again.  “I love you so much, Lex, I’m so sorry I tried to do that, please forgive me, I’m sorry, I love you, I just didn’t know what else to do-” Clark babbled before he was silenced with a kiss.

Zor-La and Tarok stood in the doorway.  “I could have you arrested for what you did, you know,” Tarok said conversationally, “but I’m not going to.”  He sighed.  “They really do love each other.  Maybe there is some hope for humanity after all.”  He left, leaving Zor-La to watch over the pair and they ravished each other in full view of the public from the infirmary. 


Epilogue

Four months later found Clark in his bed on Earth, screaming at the top of his lungs.  Lex and Jonathon were pacing outside the bedroom door, jumping at every sound Clark made.  Kala-Ai and Martha were inside the room.  Martha sat by her son, wiping the sweat from his brow between shrieks.  Kala-Ai sat at the foot of the bed, ready to catch.

“Come on, Kal, push,” she said suddenly in English.  “It’s time, Kal, it’s coming, now all you need to do is push.  Come on, I know you’re tired, but this is almost over.  All you have to do is push.  Come on, kid, push.  Push!”

In response, Clark screamed with all his might and bore down, hard.  As it ended, he collapsed onto the pillows and groaned.  Kala-Ai grinned happily as she held up an egg about the size of a large watermelon. 

Clark looked up and all the pain faded when he saw the egg.  He picked it up and cradled it to his chest, a happy grin on his face.  The door burst open.  Lex smiled and sat next to Clark, laying his hand on the egg’s hard, swirled shell.  Jonathon stood in the doorway and said, “It’s an egg.”

Kala-Ai looked up at him.  “Thank you Doctor Obvious,” she said.  He puffed up slightly before Martha led him in to lay a hand on the shell surrounding his grandchild.

Clark took a good look.  “It’ll be a girl,” he said, full of wonder.  He looked up at Kala-Ai.  “I want you to call her ‘Kara.’”

“That’s a lovely name,” Kala-Ai said.  “Kara, Zor after the one who will be acting as her father, and El to denote her true house.  Kara Zor-El.  Well, Kara, are you ready to come home with me?”

Clark held the egg closer at this, then gave it to his aunt.  “Take care of her,” he said, a single tear running down his cheek.

“Don’t worry, Kal, I will.  You’ll see her again, I promise.”  That night, they left for Hub 381, for home.

END