Man of Steel Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Photo Insert

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  PROLOGUE

  The earthquake struck without warning.

  One minute it was a sunny spring day in downtown Metropolis. Throngs of people crowded the busy sidewalks and outdoor cafes. Honking trucks and taxis fought the lunch-hour traffic. People talked on cell phones as they waited at crosswalks or walked their dogs. A monorail zipped by on an elevated track. A sidewalk vendor hawked hot dogs and cold sodas from his cart. An open beach umbrella protected him from the bright sunlight.

  “Hot dogs!” he called out to passing pedestrians. “Two for the price of one!”

  A minute later, a powerful tremor shook the city. A low rumble rose up from deep within the earth, quickly drowning out the everyday clamor of the street. Towering skyscrapers swayed back and forth like trees in the wind. Startled pedestrians stumbled atop the quaking pavement, losing their balance. They grabbed street lamps and newspaper kiosks to keep from falling. Frantic dogs yapped and tugged at their leashes. Dust and soot fell from the ledges of quivering buildings. A dislodged air conditioner crashed to the sidewalk, narrowly missing a woman pushing a cart full of flowers.

  “Whoa!” the hot dog vendor exclaimed. His name was Tony, and he had been selling hot dogs on this corner since he was old enough to work. He had never felt anything like this before. “What on earth—?”

  He held on tightly to his cart, which was shaking like a washing machine on its spin cycle. A tray of boiled frankfurters slid off the top of the cart onto the sidewalk. Mustard and ketchup bottles crashed to the pavement, which rattled beneath Tony’s feet. At first he had thought that maybe it was just a subway train passing below him, but the unnerving vibration grew in intensity, until he realized what was happening.

  It was an earthquake!

  Scared people ran for cover all around him, seeking shelter in doorways and subway entrances. Cars and trucks slammed on their brakes, rear-ending each other. The crash of colliding metal added to the chaos. Shouts and screams erupted from the panicked people fleeing the streets. Tony wanted to join them, but was afraid to leave his cart unattended.

  He waited a minute too long.

  A truck driver lost control of his vehicle. The large delivery truck swerved toward the sidewalk, jumping the curb. The driver honked his horn urgently as the truck barreled toward Tony and his cart. Brakes squealed, but couldn’t stop the truck in time. Tony froze in terror as he saw the ten-thousand-pound truck bearing down on him.

  “Help,” he whispered. “Help me, please!”

  Suddenly a caped figure dropped from the clear blue sky and landed on the pavement right in front of the oncoming vehicle. A bright red “S” was displayed proudly on the man’s broad chest. His skintight blue uniform and long red cape were world famous. The cape fluttered in the breeze as he stood confidently between Tony and the truck, unafraid of the runaway vehicle speeding toward him.

  Tony’s eyes widened in recognition. His jaw dropped.

  “Superman!” he blurted.

  Everyone in Metropolis knew about the Man of Steel, but Tony had never seen Superman up close before. Once or twice, he had spied a blue-and-red blur streaking through the sky above the city, but that was as close as he had ever come to actually laying eyes on the world’s greatest super hero. Hope flared in the young man’s chest.

  “It’s okay,” Superman said. “You’re safe.”

  The truck headed straight for Superman, who didn’t look at all worried by the rushing vehicle. He threw out his arms and stopped the truck with his bare hands. Metal crumpled loudly as the truck slammed to a halt, as though it had smashed into a brick wall. An airbag exploded in the cab, protecting the driver from the impact. Steam escaped the mangled hood of the truck.

  Superman was unhurt by the collision, which hadn’t even budged him. He scanned the driver with his X-ray vision to make sure he hadn’t been seriously injured, and didn’t see any broken bones beneath the man’s skin. Superman stepped back from the demolished truck and checked on Tony as well.

  “Are you okay?” Superman asked.

  “I think so, yes,” the amazed vendor said. “Thanks to you, Superman!”

  Superman nodded. Confident that both the driver and the vendor were safe for now, he launched himself into the sky like a rocket. The earthquake was still going on, and he was needed elsewhere. The trick was going to be figuring out where he could do the most good while the whole city was shaking.

  Defying gravity, he flew over Metropolis, soaring higher than the city’s many tall skyscrapers. He had been on a routine patrol of the city when the earthquake had hit, endangering persons and property for miles around. He had already rescued several people, including a couple of falling window washers, but he knew that was just the beginning. He could still hear a rumbling deep within the earth’s crust, as well as people crying out in fear and distress all over Metropolis.

  This was definitely a job for Superman.

  His super-hearing alerted him to a sudden loud crack. Glancing down, he saw a carved stone gargoyle break off from the top of a four-story brick apartment building. The grotesque ornament plummeted toward the sidewalk below, where a petrified jogger was clinging to a lamp pole for dear life. She had no idea that she was about to be crushed by a falling gargoyle.

  But Superman saw her danger—and knew what to do.

  His eyes glowed red, like burning coals, and a pair of crimson beams shot from his eyes. The beams converged on the gargoyle, detonating the solid stone with a single blast, so that only ashes rained down on the jogger, who looked up in surprise to see a caped figure streaking away at super-speed.

  That was close, Superman thought. Too close.

  Scanning the shaking city from above, Superman spotted an even bigger potential tragedy. A stretch of elevated track, running two stories above the streets below, had collapsed several blocks away. A speeding monorail, carrying dozens of commuters and tourists, was heading straight for the open gap in the track. Sparks flared as the train’s operator leaned on the brake, but the monorail had too much momentum. It was only seconds away from going over the edge—and crashing nose-first into the street.

  Unless Superman got there in time.

  Pouring on the speed, he dived down from the sky and flew beneath the train, catching it just as it sped off the tracks into the empty air. Screams of terror turned into cheers and applause inside the train as Superman lifted it above his head and kept it from crashing.

  “Got you,” he said.

  He looked around for someplace to put the train down safely. Because he didn’t trust the crumbling tracks, he carried the train thirty blocks north to Centennial Park, where he gently deposited it in the middle of a large, grassy field. Startled bystanders gaped in amazement, despite the ground trembling beneath their feet. Superman hurried around to the side of the train and tore open an emergency exit with his bare hands. The people inside the cars looked dazed, but intact.

 
“End of the line,” Superman said. “Everybody out.”

  By now, the earthquake was beginning to subside, but Superman knew his work wasn’t done yet. Leaving the grateful riders behind, he shot up into the air and once again inspected Metropolis from above.

  Heaps of rubble littered the streets and sidewalks. Smoke and flames rose from gaping cracks in the pavement, some of which were big enough to swallow entire cars and buses. Shaken people were nervously emerging from shelter, gazing around in confusion and dismay. Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances raced to deal with the aftermath of the quake. Spinning red lights flashed on top of the emergency vehicles, while sirens blared across the city.

  Metropolis looked like a disaster area. Superman knew the devastation could have been much worse, but it was still a troubling sight. The widespread devastation reminded him of an even greater cataclysm, many years ago, and the long, winding journey that had led to him becoming Superman.

  A journey that had begun on an alien planet many light-years from Earth. . . .

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I can’t! I can’t go through with it!”

  Lara Lor-Van cradled her newborn baby in her arms. She was a beautiful, dark-haired woman wearing an elegant gown of genetically engineered silk. She held on tightly to the baby boy while pacing inside an observatory on the planet Krypton. The observatory was located within a domed citadel atop a steep black cliff that overlooked an alien wilderness filled with strange, exotic beasts. An aging red sun was setting outside as she pleaded with her husband, Jor-El, their world’s greatest scientist. The family crest of the House of El was printed on the chest of his dark blue skinsuit. It looked like the letter “S.”

  “We have no choice, Lara,” he said gently. “Krypton is doomed.”

  Their planet was home to an advanced scientific civilization. The people of Krypton had thrived for hundreds of thousands of years, but when their society began to run out of energy, they had foolishly tapped into the core of their own planet, triggering a dangerous chain reaction. Jor-El had tried to warn his fellow Kryptonians of the danger, but they’d refused to listen to him. Nobody wanted to believe that the entire planet was going to explode soon.

  “This starcraft is Kal-El’s only chance,” Jor-El reminded Lara. “I’ve found a new world for him, where the people look very much like we do. But that planet’s yellow sun will fill his cells with energy. He’ll be stronger and faster and more indestructible than anyone else on the planet.” He reached for the baby. “He’ll be safe, Lara.”

  “Wait!” she protested. “Not yet! Just a while longer.”

  “There’s no time, Lara. We have to say good-bye.”

  He took the baby from his wife and placed Kal-El inside a space capsule of his own design. The experimental starcraft was the size and shape of a large boulder, with rounded edges like the shell of some gigantic marine animal. He and Lara had raced against time to construct the craft, which was just big enough to carry Kal-El into space. There was no room for Jor-El or Lara. They would have to stay behind to perish with their world.

  But their son would survive.

  Jor-El’s heart was breaking, too. He didn’t want to say good-bye to their child any more than Lara did, but there was nothing else they could do. Krypton’s time was running out. Violent tremors and volcanic eruptions were tearing the planet apart, even as the High Council continued to deny the truth.

  “Sleep, my son,” he said. “Our hopes and dreams go with you.”

  He placed a small black object into the cradle with the baby. The object resembled a polished black spike or nail, with their family crest inscribed on its head. In theory, this command key would someday help Kal-El discover his Kryptonian heritage.

  Jor-El wished he could see the man Kal-El would grow up to be.

  An earthquake shook the citadel. Dust and debris rained down from the domed ceiling. Jor-El stumbled and almost lost his balance. He grabbed hold of a console to steady himself. Lara gasped.

  “It’s happening,” she said, “just as you predicted.”

  He nodded grimly. “The tremors are increasing in intensity. The chain reaction is building. Soon the entire planet will blow apart.” He double-checked to make sure the starcraft’s propulsion and life-support systems were online and functioning properly. Helper robots prepared the craft for launch. “There is no time to lose,” Jor-El said.

  A hatch closed automatically, sealing the baby inside the protective capsule, which filled with a clear organic gel that would insulate the baby from the dangers of space. Lara joined Jor-El, and they hugged each other as the starcraft pivoted into position. Its nose tilted upward toward an open gap in the ceiling, which revealed Krypton’s fading red twilight. They reached together for a control panel and triggered the final launch sequence.

  “Good-bye, Kal-El,” his mother said. “Be safe.”

  Thrusters along the bottom of the starcraft lit up, glowing more brightly than the sun. The craft rocketed into the sky, heading for the stars. Jor-El and Lara watched it climb toward space until it was only a tiny glowing speck in the sky. Within moments, the speck disappeared in the distance.

  Another earthquake, even stronger than before, rattled the observatory. Jor-El knew that the final disaster was beginning. Enormous volcanoes were erupting all over the planet, spewing bright green lava. Entire cities would be engulfed in a burning sea. Soon the whole globe would explode into pieces. All that would be left of Krypton would be chunks of radioactive rubble drifting in space. Jor-El and Lara had launched the starcraft just in time.

  Krypton was dying, but their son would live—somewhere on a distant world.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The starcraft hurtled through space. It sped across the universe through the endless, empty darkness between the stars. Its hard outer shell protected the craft from the hazards of deep space: asteroids, comets, solar flares, and cosmic radiation. Special engines, devised by Jor-El, let it cross vast distances many times faster than the speed of light, while little Kal-El slept peacefully inside his protective capsule. The blast that had destroyed Krypton had briefly shaken the capsule, but Kal-El had not been harmed.

  The baby had no idea of the amazing life in store for him.

  In time, the starcraft approached its destination: a distant solar system many light-years away from the shattered remains of Krypton. Several planets orbited a bright yellow star that was less than five billion years old. The craft passed the system’s outer planets, including a large ringed giant, and made it safely through a crowded asteroid belt before closing in on the third planet from the sun. The blue-green world was largely covered in water, but boasted several large continents and a pair of white polar ice caps. Its cloudy, oxygen-rich atmosphere, although different from Krypton’s, was capable of supporting life. Its brilliant yellow sun was younger and hotter than the aging red star that had witnessed Krypton’s destruction. The yellow sun bathed the planet with light and warmth. Plant and animal life was abundant on this strange new world, whose inhabitants called it . . . Earth.

  The starcraft slowed, dropping out of light speed, as it neared the planet. Still traveling at thousands of miles an hour, it zipped past the planet’s solitary moon and entered Earth’s atmosphere. The heat of friction caused the space capsule to glow red-hot, but its fireproof shell protected the baby inside. Plunging through the clouds, the computerized vessel came in for a landing over the middle of a large continent in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Wide-open plains offered an ideal landing site.

  Kal-El’s long journey was almost over—and his new life was about to begin.

  “Look at that, Jonathan.”

  Jonathan Kent looked to see what his wife, Martha, was pointing at. They were driving home to their farm in Kansas, after picking up groceries and supplies in the nearby town of Smallville. It was a clear autumn night, and the s
ky was full of stars, but he quickly spotted a bright white light falling like a meteor toward the Earth. He expected it to burn out quickly, long before it hit the ground, but it kept getting larger and brighter and closer. His eyes widened in alarm.

  “It’s heading for the farm!” he exclaimed. “Our farm!”

  The Kents had farmed this land for five generations. Jonathan’s heart pounded as he hit the gas and raced their dusty pickup truck at top speed toward their land. He and Martha exchanged worried looks.

  “What if it hits the house?” she asked. “Or the barn?”

  “I don’t know,” he said grimly.

  The Kent family farm came into view. Moonlight exposed the farmhouse, a large red barn, and a grain silo. A tall wooden windmill towered over the farm, while acres of freshly grown corn and wheat waited to be harvested. The meteor came whistling down from the night sky like a missile, trailing fire behind it.

  “Watch out!” Jonathan said. “Here it comes!”

  The meteor hit the cornfields with earth-shaking force, throwing up a huge cloud of dust and dirt. The road shook, and Jonathan struggled to keep control of the truck, which veered wildly across the road. The vehicle almost hit a telephone pole, but Jonathan managed to steer it back onto the road. He slammed on the brakes, and the pickup squealed to a halt. He and Martha scrambled out of the truck, gasping for breath. Wide-eyed, they stared in shock at the billowing cloud above the field. Thick rows of cornstalks blocked their view of the crash site.

  “What—what was that?” Martha asked.

  “Let’s go see,” Jonathan said.