The Shape of Things to Come

19

"Hello, Little One," Astra said as Kara touched down next to her. She was sitting in the same spot Kara had occupied the last time they talked, perched at the edge of the cliff, with her feet dangling. Kara sat down next to her and slipped one arm around her, hugging her gently.

"Hello, Aunt Astra."

Astra slipped an arm around her and returned the hug. "I'm honestly unsure if I should be hugging you or fighting you at this moment, but I find I have little stomach for battle."

"That's good and bad," Kara said. "Good because I don't want to fight you. Bad because there is a war coming and I want you on my side when it arrives."

Astra pulled back, looking at Kara. "What do you know of war, Little One?"

Kara sighed. "More than I want to, Aunt Astra. More than I want to."

"I'm not sure it will matter. Your device does as you said, and none of my scientists can find a way around it. Myriad will not work, and this world is doomed."

Kara shook her head. "No. This world can still be saved and as I said before, Krypton was too far gone before you even realized there was a problem."

"You sound so sure of that."

"Because I know things you don't. Our death wasn't quite the reckless suicide we've been led to believe."

"What do you mean?" Astra asked, and there was a sharpness to her tone. Kara could tell the underlying emotions. Disbelief, curiosity, maybe even hope. The hope Kara understood. Hope that Astra would no longer have to carry this guilt.

"We may have held the knife, but the Brainiac's were the ones who pushed it in. They modified our mining data, sabotaged our equipment and hid what was happening from us, right up until the end. Our leaders were far from blameless, but the death of Krypton was assisted suicide at the very least and I'd call it a bought and paid for murder."

Astra shook her head. "I dislike the Coluan's a great deal, Kara. Especially the Brainiac's. But we cannot push our own guilt off onto others."

"I have proof," Kara said. "I know who paid them. I know why their employers wanted us dead." She turned to look at Astra. "I'm not just offering you a chance to save this world, Astra. I'm offering you a chance to find *justice* for those who orchestrated the death of our race."

Kara climbed to her feet. "The ecological problems of this world are easy to solve. Teach them to make omegahedron's and betahedron's crystals, and we would gain decades to work out the issues with recycling. We even have technologies that could help with that. Give them sub-light propulsion technology and they have enough asteroids to mine that they'd never even be tempted to start core mining."

"You cannot think it would be that simple," Astra said.

"No," she said. "I don't. But I do believe in the humans. This is not Krypton, Aunt Astra. Many of them recognize the harm they've done to their world and work to mitigate and reverse the damage. Even their leaders, at least, some of them, are involved in the effort. We can help them, encourage them, give them the wisdom that can be gained from our mistakes. But taking away their free will... That's not right. You were on the verge of committing a horrible crime. Worse, you were on the verge of attracting the attention of enemies this world is not prepared to fight."

"What do you mean?" Astra asked.

"Did you seriously think that no one would take notice if you turned on a device that could sway the will of an entire species?" Kara shook her head and dug the spy beacon out of her boot. Astra held her own up, and Kara touched them together, turning the light off.