บท 25: Scrapyard Station
After an unpleasant journey through space, Jay and Kara found themselves in a place akin to a galactic salvage yard. Surrounded by mounds of debris as far as the eye could see, Jay wondered if they were even on Earth anymore. Everything underfoot, as far as the eye could see, was refuse, and the air itself held the pungent odor of waste. It felt like they had landed on a cosmic "Junkstar"—if such a place existed.
"Feels awful," Kara complained, flicking a sticky substance from her blonde locks. "I feel like I'm turning into a piece of trash."
"It's not too late to go back," Jay pointed upwards towards the violet vortex hovering above them, "Going back through there should retrace our steps."
But Kara stubbornly shook her head, "I said I'd go with you, and I won't back down. Besides, I'm the senior here, I should look after you."
"Then I'm counting on you, senior."
Although Jay felt a little selfish for thinking it, he wouldn't have been happy if Kara had casually decided to leave, caping her way back through the portal.
Focusing his super vision to a microscopic level, Jay scanned their immediate atmosphere, "We can safely assume we're not on Earth anymore. The atmospheric composition here is fundamentally different—some elements are completely foreign to me. It might not affect a regular human in the short term, but prolonged exposure... it's hard to say."
Mid-inspection, a burst of icy blue laser fire shot from behind, trapping them in a net of laser beams before they could even turn. Crumpled on the ground, they looked up to see a group of strange, tentacle-headed aliens with pale bodies and blue stripes, wielding what appeared to be rifle-like weapons. Jay was sure of many things, and one of them was that these beings were not from Earth.
The mysterious aliens advanced, weapons pointed at their ensnared prey, seemingly lowering their guard—typically, those caught in laser nets pose little threat.
Unfortunately for them, today's catch was anything but typical.
With a glance between them, Kara voiced, "It seems they believe they've caught us like fish in a net."
"Looks like we need to reintroduce ourselves," Jay suggested.
"Seems like it."
The aliens, bickering amongst themselves, were utterly unprepared when the pair burst from their bonds. The front-line aliens didn't even have time to react as Jay and Kara each landed blows that sent them flying.
The remaining extraterrestrials were frozen in shock for a moment before their survival instincts kicked in, and they opened fire. The radiant blue beams crisscrossed through the air, leaving an afterimage on the retina. Jay and Kara dodged nimbly; the errant beams exploded on contact with the junk, sending shrapnel in every direction.
Jay snatched a rifle from one of the stunned aliens, crushed the barrel, and flung the dazed creature into a nearby debris hill. But as he did, a laser hit him squarely in the back, sending a wave of pain through him that made him stagger.
Before his assailant could fire again, Jay was upon him, pinning him to the ground. He warned Kara, "Watch out, these weapons are kind of potent, I actually felt that."
Stripping off his damaged outer clothes, Jay's "S" emblem, always worn close to his chest, activated, and his iconic Superman suit unfolded over him. They quickly subdued the alien attackers, and after snapping the last laser rifle, Jay shook his hands out, "What kind of aliens are these? Pretty durable, my fists are starting to go numb."
Kara looked around, her brows furrowed, "My x-ray vision feels like it's being blocked by the air here. My sight is limited."
Jay tried as well, with the same result. Moreover, the stream of auditory information into his ears was becoming increasingly muffled. He usually could hear the rustle of air miles away, but now distant sounds were fading.
"It's not a blockage," he said gravely, "we're on a planet illuminated by a red sun. It's the radiation that's weakening our abilities."
"That's bad," Kara realized, "It means once we use up the solar energy in our cells, we'll become normal humans."
"Maybe it's time to consider the option of flying back," Jay indicated the vortex above, "while you still can."
"And you would go back?"
"Of course not, I have to find my dad," Jay shook his head with determination, "but you don't need to stay here. You could bring this information back and let everyone know Kord Creative Technologies is trafficking people to unknown planets."
"Not a chance. If you're not going back, neither am I," Kara declared resolutely. "We rescue whoever's taken, and then we leave together."
After a brief pause, she asked somewhat sheepishly, "But where do we go from here?"
Indeed, that was a new problem. With their super senses weakened, they were essentially blind without radar.
Jay traced back the route the aliens had come from and pushed aside various items, revealing a large circular tunnel entrance hidden behind the debris.
Kara raised an eyebrow, "You sure about this?"
"Not at all," Jay admitted, crouching to enter the passage, "But do you have a better idea of how to get out of this stinky place?"
Without answering, Kara followed suit, ducking into the tunnel and reminding him, "Just remember the way back, we might need to use that hole above to get home."
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