Back Channels (part 18)
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Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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1st August 2013
19:29 GMT
"Will I be meeting them?"
I wince inwardly as I continue scanning his gristly trophies of the kryptonian survivors he's killed. As far as I can tell, most of them were… Karsta Wor-Ul's colleagues. Who all left Krypton well before General Zod's coup attempt. Another couple I don't have records on. Someone who left Krypton well before isolationism, and just sort of wandered around not bothering anyone until… Some guy they'd never heard of had them killed?
"To avoid the appearance of impropriety, I think it would be best if you only spoke to them in the courtroom."
I didn't have any real illusions about Amalak's behaviour, but I'll admit… This is bringing it home. Oh, I don't know, he's probably had plenty of people killed in Vega's various power struggles. I'm probably feeling this strongly about it because Kal-El's been such a benefit to Earth and I can't help but default to thinking of other Kryptonians in the same way.
"No, not Zod and Ursa. The people you negotiated with to secure this trial."
"I'm not completely sure that's a good idea."
"They won't attend?"
"The government of Xudar hasn't actually agreed to host this yet. We might end up with a venue that doesn't allow an audience."
"The court system of my homeworld allowed parties with a vested interest to observe. It was actually compulsory in some cases."
I glance at him with a frown. "Oh? What was the logic there?"
"The intent was that people associated with a criminal, or who were on the edge of events but not directly implicated, could see what awaited with them if they joined in with future crimes."
"Huh. Not a terrible idea."
He watches me as I continue to pick through the debris of the life of someone he ended.
"I know it was irrational."
"Which part?"
"Blaming every kryptonian for the actions of a few. Particularly after Krypton exploded-. Why did that happen?"
"One… Faction in one of their civil wars tried blowing the planet up centuries ago, and while he was stopped, enough radiation got blasted into their core that it started a run away chain reaction in the planet's interior. It started slowly-."
"They did it to themselves?"
"It was more one guy and some cultists, but, yes? Why?"
"I didn't know. All spacefaring civilisations from that region of space know that Krypton exploded, but I haven't ever heard an actual explanation for it."
"I suppose it wouldn't be. There wouldn't be any way to recover the data, and it wouldn't have been widely-."
Realisation dawns. "Their clone war!"
"Ah, yes. I hadn't realised that you'd studied their history so much."
"Kryptonian history was an important part of my people's history, given how long they effectively ruled over us. Besides, the idea that they had a nuclear war because one deranged woman tried marrying her son to a clone of herself…" He chuckles quietly to himself.
"There was a bit more to it than that."
"Yes, yes. Do you know why they used whole body cloning? I admit that I'm not a biologist, but I've seen the bills for cloning replacement organs for my injured employees and it's not that expensive. They can't have been more than a generation from a breakthrough."
"Some cultures or species develop different areas of technology at different speeds. Just because certain breakthroughs come together in one society, that doesn't mean that the association will be there in another." I open another crate. "If I had to guess, their cloning technology might have been an outgrowth of their exo-womb research rather than their research into cellular regeneration. The people involved just didn't consider adding stem cells to a lattice because they only knew about whole body cloning, and no one ever looked into another approach because they had a technique that worked."
"Did they do that afterwards?"
"No, afterwards they switched to-" I pick up a framed image of… A kryptonian male and a younger Karsta Wor-UL. "-cybernetics."
Amalak peers over my shoulder. "Ah. Sub-Commander Karsta Wor-Ul. I hadn't realised that she had a Phantom Zone portal. Or the knowledge of how to make one."
"You don't get to be Sub-Commander of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy by being stupid."
"No, but kryptonians seldom had interests outside of their designated role. Or perhaps she had a database..? Oh, it doesn't matter. When you next see her, please tell her that I'm serious about ending my vendetta."
"Thank you." I close the crate. "I-."
"And…" He thinks for a moment. "Take that crate with you. It doesn't have any further value to me, and she might want it."
I send it to subspace, and stand up. "Okay, thank you, that's everything I-."
He's holding a kryptonian data crystal. "A bit petty of me, but given that you'd clearly been in contact with the woman for a while, I think we're even."
I extend a filament, and-. Ah. This doesn't include a copy of Kem-El's retrovirus, but it does have records on a rejuvenation treatment Kartsa Wor-Ul and… Ro-Kul, went through. Something went wrong, but the basic mechanism… Yes, I see, the clinic wasn't able to duplicate the virus properly. But I can, and I can fix the problems she's having.
"Thank you." I raise my right hand to my forehead. "That's exactly what I need."
1st August 2013
19:47 GMT
I look around at the burned corpses, and float over them towards the bar.
"Do I want to know?"
Karsta Wor-Ul looks up from pouring herself a drink. "Black Circle. I need money, and the local governments suddenly decided they care about piracy."
"Okay, well, I have some good news. And some.. news." I put the crate on the bar. "I believe this is… Yours. Commodore Amalak and I have come to terms, so the bounties on kryptonians are getting rescinded. You can return to Earth if you like, or… Not."
She regards me suspiciously. "How?"
"We're giving him General Dru-Zod and Ursa. Since they're the ones he actually wants, that's it as far as he's concerned. Oh, and… I've learned enough from his records that I can fix your health issues, which I'm happy to do."
She shrugs. "And what do you get out of it?"
"Well, he thinks that you're my kryptonian contact, rather than…" She nods. "And if you've finished this contract, I'd quite like to give you a job."
She looks mildly puzzled. "Who do you want dead that you can't just kill yourself?"
"Have you heard of the Reach?"
19:29 GMT
"Will I be meeting them?"
I wince inwardly as I continue scanning his gristly trophies of the kryptonian survivors he's killed. As far as I can tell, most of them were… Karsta Wor-Ul's colleagues. Who all left Krypton well before General Zod's coup attempt. Another couple I don't have records on. Someone who left Krypton well before isolationism, and just sort of wandered around not bothering anyone until… Some guy they'd never heard of had them killed?
"To avoid the appearance of impropriety, I think it would be best if you only spoke to them in the courtroom."
I didn't have any real illusions about Amalak's behaviour, but I'll admit… This is bringing it home. Oh, I don't know, he's probably had plenty of people killed in Vega's various power struggles. I'm probably feeling this strongly about it because Kal-El's been such a benefit to Earth and I can't help but default to thinking of other Kryptonians in the same way.
"No, not Zod and Ursa. The people you negotiated with to secure this trial."
"I'm not completely sure that's a good idea."
"They won't attend?"
"The government of Xudar hasn't actually agreed to host this yet. We might end up with a venue that doesn't allow an audience."
"The court system of my homeworld allowed parties with a vested interest to observe. It was actually compulsory in some cases."
I glance at him with a frown. "Oh? What was the logic there?"
"The intent was that people associated with a criminal, or who were on the edge of events but not directly implicated, could see what awaited with them if they joined in with future crimes."
"Huh. Not a terrible idea."
He watches me as I continue to pick through the debris of the life of someone he ended.
"I know it was irrational."
"Which part?"
"Blaming every kryptonian for the actions of a few. Particularly after Krypton exploded-. Why did that happen?"
"One… Faction in one of their civil wars tried blowing the planet up centuries ago, and while he was stopped, enough radiation got blasted into their core that it started a run away chain reaction in the planet's interior. It started slowly-."
"They did it to themselves?"
"It was more one guy and some cultists, but, yes? Why?"
"I didn't know. All spacefaring civilisations from that region of space know that Krypton exploded, but I haven't ever heard an actual explanation for it."
"I suppose it wouldn't be. There wouldn't be any way to recover the data, and it wouldn't have been widely-."
Realisation dawns. "Their clone war!"
"Ah, yes. I hadn't realised that you'd studied their history so much."
"Kryptonian history was an important part of my people's history, given how long they effectively ruled over us. Besides, the idea that they had a nuclear war because one deranged woman tried marrying her son to a clone of herself…" He chuckles quietly to himself.
"There was a bit more to it than that."
"Yes, yes. Do you know why they used whole body cloning? I admit that I'm not a biologist, but I've seen the bills for cloning replacement organs for my injured employees and it's not that expensive. They can't have been more than a generation from a breakthrough."
"Some cultures or species develop different areas of technology at different speeds. Just because certain breakthroughs come together in one society, that doesn't mean that the association will be there in another." I open another crate. "If I had to guess, their cloning technology might have been an outgrowth of their exo-womb research rather than their research into cellular regeneration. The people involved just didn't consider adding stem cells to a lattice because they only knew about whole body cloning, and no one ever looked into another approach because they had a technique that worked."
"Did they do that afterwards?"
"No, afterwards they switched to-" I pick up a framed image of… A kryptonian male and a younger Karsta Wor-UL. "-cybernetics."
Amalak peers over my shoulder. "Ah. Sub-Commander Karsta Wor-Ul. I hadn't realised that she had a Phantom Zone portal. Or the knowledge of how to make one."
"You don't get to be Sub-Commander of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy by being stupid."
"No, but kryptonians seldom had interests outside of their designated role. Or perhaps she had a database..? Oh, it doesn't matter. When you next see her, please tell her that I'm serious about ending my vendetta."
"Thank you." I close the crate. "I-."
"And…" He thinks for a moment. "Take that crate with you. It doesn't have any further value to me, and she might want it."
I send it to subspace, and stand up. "Okay, thank you, that's everything I-."
He's holding a kryptonian data crystal. "A bit petty of me, but given that you'd clearly been in contact with the woman for a while, I think we're even."
I extend a filament, and-. Ah. This doesn't include a copy of Kem-El's retrovirus, but it does have records on a rejuvenation treatment Kartsa Wor-Ul and… Ro-Kul, went through. Something went wrong, but the basic mechanism… Yes, I see, the clinic wasn't able to duplicate the virus properly. But I can, and I can fix the problems she's having.
"Thank you." I raise my right hand to my forehead. "That's exactly what I need."
1st August 2013
19:47 GMT
I look around at the burned corpses, and float over them towards the bar.
"Do I want to know?"
Karsta Wor-Ul looks up from pouring herself a drink. "Black Circle. I need money, and the local governments suddenly decided they care about piracy."
"Okay, well, I have some good news. And some.. news." I put the crate on the bar. "I believe this is… Yours. Commodore Amalak and I have come to terms, so the bounties on kryptonians are getting rescinded. You can return to Earth if you like, or… Not."
She regards me suspiciously. "How?"
"We're giving him General Dru-Zod and Ursa. Since they're the ones he actually wants, that's it as far as he's concerned. Oh, and… I've learned enough from his records that I can fix your health issues, which I'm happy to do."
She shrugs. "And what do you get out of it?"
"Well, he thinks that you're my kryptonian contact, rather than…" She nods. "And if you've finished this contract, I'd quite like to give you a job."
She looks mildly puzzled. "Who do you want dead that you can't just kill yourself?"
"Have you heard of the Reach?"
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But ultimately responsible for their stigma against mass cloning.
