Astra's Final Surprise
“No, leave her alone!” Jeremiah cried. He reached up and was faced with guns from two alien soldiers. “Take me, please.”
“We cannot let her go running back to her superiors."
“Her friends.” Jeremiah corrected automatically. “She has no 'superiors'. Only friends and fellows. One particularly close friend.”
A solider stepped forward. “How close are we to her friends?”
“I won't betray them. And I will not let Sarrin out of my sight.”
“Then you will come with us. Which way is their camp?"
Jeremiah hesitated. Sarrin stood up.
“No Jeremiah. They are sincere. And I don't think they have any interest in Arias.”
“I can assure you that much is true.” The officer promised.
“Abut 3 miles northeast you'll come to the Western border of Arias.” Jeremiah said, motioning to his forward-right.
“We're heading West. So that works out.”
Jeremiah and Sarrin are brought directly before the female general of the band of soldiers. No identification is offered from either side, at first. It is made clear that Jeremiah is here only because he would not leave Sarrin's side.
“We should learn each-others names. I'm Jeremiah; this is Sarrin.”
“I am Lieutenant Non. This is General Astra.”
“You're not from here either are you?”
“We are not.”
“Okay, so what happens now?”
“Now we learn what your friend knows about a friend of ours.”
“It's been two weeks.” Jeremiah thought to himself. “every time they take her and she's gone for hours. Why don' they ever question me? They must be looking for answers (they think) only another alien can provide. But what are they doing to her? Every time they bring her back, she can barely move. 'no that's not right' he forcefully corrected himself. 'She's dazed and disoriented but it is not fair to say she can barely move.' “Why does she defend them?” He pondered aloud. The guard looked more closely at him but gave no other sign he had even heard him speak. Jeremiah faced the man more directly. “What is it about Astra that has Sarrin so deferential?"
“GENERAL Astra inspires loyalty. Lt. Non commands it. The Atraxi very wisely does not resist their presence. I mean, why would she?”
“Atraxi...You're Kryptonians!”
“What of it?”
“I...assumed you were White Martians...maybe Elana's race. That you were looking for J'onn or one of my other friends. Well, this explains a lot. Not everything __but a lot.”
The guard stepped aside when Lt. Non brought Sarrin back into the compact, comfortable room that served as their cell. “It's alright. I'm just tired. It's been 31 hours after all.”
“I'm not sure I understand. But...I understand more than I did.” Sarrin smiled and instantly fell into the most peaceful, motionless sleep Jeremiah had ever imagined witnessing. He had to admit that was probably normal for Sarrin's race. He sat down against the rear wall of their cell and tried to sort his thoughts. General Astra and Lt. Non might well be married. But they were soldiers first and foremost: they addressed each-other by rank, at least in front of their guests. The outlines they wore on their left breast next to their shoulders was probably military insignia. But they bore no family crests. So either they had been dis-commended, or they were not from one of the great houses, as Sarrin had once described Kryptonian families.
“36 hours. 36 hours.” Sarrin muttered, sitting up.
“I'll ask you about that later. I think I understand why you keep defending them. ALL Kryptonians were your 'superiors' back on their planet, weren't they?”
“Just so.” Jeremiah gave her an entreating look. “If I had been two years older when ...everything happened, I'd still have a dark blue cloth above my elbow indicating which great house I served. They are Kryptonians. It wouldn't occur to me to question their honesty. Unless my empathic abilities told me otherwise. And I sense no such matter.”
Lt. Non returned ten minutes later. Jeremiah stood between Sarrin and the solider, his hand stretched toward non as if putting distance between himself and hideous danger. “Leave her alone.” Jeremiah declared with a forcefulness that caught Non's attention.
“That's a change. We knew you were a good-hearted man and an honest one. Now I see that you have a spine as well as a tongue.”
“And I intend to use both. Please, whatever you want from her, take me instead.” He considered the solider. “Would it do any good to beg for it?” The flat tone of his voice made it hard to determine if it was an inquiry or an assumption.
Non stared at him and he levelly returned the stare. Finally Non shook his head. “That you are willing to do so tells me enough. Come.”
“You seem different today Mr. Danvers.” General Astra prompted him.
“You're Kryptonians. It was the only thing that could explain Sarrin's deference to you. You have no interest in any of my friends do you...the individuals at Arias.”
“Unless one of them is a blonde-haired woman who is energized by the sun, no.” Jeremiah perked up at Non's comment. “We are looking for one of our own; where is she?”
“I don't know who you're looking for.”
Non gave a fierce backhand to Jeremiah's jaw. He didn't flinch. “Where is she?”
“I don't know who you're talking about.” Jeremiah insisted just as fiercely. Non took a threatening step closer. “I don't think you would have me lie.”
“You live in a sanctuary for peaceful aliens.” General Astra interjected.
“For almost 5 years now.” Jeremiah answered. “What of it?” Non did not reply, nor did he need to. “J'onn leads a group of vastly different species some of whom look very closely human, like Sarrin. Some look completely human, either by choice or otherwise. Some have powder blue skin and golden-tinted eyes. Are you looking for one of them?”
“We are looking for one of our own. A woman who would be wearing this symbol.” Non tossed Sarrin's notebook to the ground. It fell open to a very familiar page. Jeremiah's jaw dropped at the sight of it.
“The house of El? Are you FROM the house of El?”
“You know it?” Astra demanded fiercely. “What do you know of it?”
In response Jeremiah held his right hand up, all four fingers bent toward his palm, his thumb against the thick of his hand. He was taking an oath. “My son, Elias would wear this symbol. His Kryptonian name is Kal-El. It was his 10th birthday when we found the ship that brought him to Earth and learned this much. I didn't know the significance of the symbol until I came to Arias and met Sarrin. While she was born on Krypton, she is not herself Kryptonian. She's the one who drew this symbol. A man who wore this on his chest saved her life when she was a child. When Krypton was destroyed, he broke the rules to get her and her mother to safety. She never knew his name or his house.When I told her my sons name she said it made sense that this would be the symbol of the house of El. All of these things I swear to you.”
Astra looked on her human captive with new respect. "I'm looking for Kara Zor-El. She would be Kal-El's cousin."
"And you are her family." Jeremiah surmised.
"Yes, we're related. But neither of us," She indicated herself and Non. "are of the house of El. Kara's mother and I were sisters."
"So neither of you are related by blood to Kal-El."
"We were family, that's all that matters to us." Astra stated harshly. "Kara's mother and I were sisters." She repeated, more gently. "Jor-El and Zor-El, Kal and Kara's fathers...were brothers."
"This is making a ridiculous amount of sense." Jeremiah whispered.
"Kal-El is the only Kryptonian known on this planet?"
"I haven't seen him in five years. Maybe he's learned otherwise. But when I last saw him, he wholeheartedly believed he was the last of his kind."
"How can a father not speak to his son for so long a time?!" Non queried.
"I...I Can Not leave Arias."
“WHAT?” Astra and Non asked, completely in sync with each-other.
“I am under house arrest at Arias. J'onn will not permit me to leave and I would not try to escape. I swore that without his order to the contrary, I would not leave his side. He has told me that I am free to move about Arias as I please,. so long as I do not attempt to leave the place."
“Then what are you even doing outside its borders.” Non demanded.
“It was a favor to J'onn. Sarrin has not set foot outside the village in more than 30 years. She is... precious to him. Perhaps she feels it is her role to take care of one of J'onn's guests. I see it as my duty to protect one of his closest friends. I say to address whom of us is responsible for whom. I don't know if I ever got the chance to say it but I really would rather die than go back to J'onn without Sarrin. I have given you as much of an answer as I have. Will you let us go back to Arias?
“You cannot take us to Kal-El?”
“Kal-El as you know him, believes I'm dead. And it must be so. Hank Henshaw, believes I'm dead, for which I am grateful. Sarrin and I...home for us is Arias, with J'onn and our other friends. And I am telling you, if any Kryptonians other than Superman were known to exist, they would be known to us.”
“How did you come to be, as you are?”
"That is a very long story that I would actually need either J'onn or Sarrin's help accurately relaying."
“What are you doing to Sarrin?” Jeremiah countered. “I won't say another word until I know for certain that she is safe and unharmed.”
“You have the right priorities.” Lt. Non observed.
“I was a solider before I became a citizen of Arias. But that is not an answer.”
“Sarrin is safe. We had no reason to hurt her.”
“She came back exhausted every time you took her away."
“Exhausted because it had been 31 hours. We did nothing to injure her."
“Why are you doing this? What are you up to?'
“Kal-El, there really is nothing you could say or do to change me.”
“Then I'll settle for understanding you.”
Tal crouched down, lifted the necklace off his brothers shoulders and threw it behind him. “You could never hope to.” He whispered fiercely.
“Your father wants something of you. You want his approval. I understand that much. Zeta is here, just as Jor-El lived in my fortress. Fixed in into the column so he can manifest when he chooses. This isn't an act. But it is a demonstration.”
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