Post by redsycorax on Mar 28, 2022 23:20:35 GMT
PROLOGUE:
BOSHWA MEGALOPOLIS: AD 2082:
A woman stood alone, softly singing the old traditional Irish refrain Bonny Portmore over her daughter's grave:
O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.
From the shadows, a familiar figure stepped and cleared his throat:
"Oh, it's you. Hello, Ra's. It's been... I don't know, decades."
"Forgive my intrusion on your grief, Adeline. Was Rose the last of your children?"
"Ah, so that's it. You're returning the favour from that night when you lost Talia."
"It still hurts, Adeline, even though I have grandchildren to cluster around me. Although one of them mortally hates me for not being there when she passed away."
"Why, Ra's? Why do we continue to live on when our children die, unable to take advantage of the genetic quirk that enables us to take advantage of the Lazarus Pit?"
"Hence the song, I imagine. A beautiful refrain, full of longing for what... and who... you have lost. What we have all lost. I don't know how Vandal and the others deal with their longevity."
"I don't regard Vandal as any sort of exemplar for our situation, R'as. Or Lady Me. They seem to regard other human beings as mayflies, their inferiors. I will never go down that road."
"And yet, you and Slade have not rekindled your relationship."
"It's too soon, R'as. Much too soon. I haven't forgiven him for what happened to Grant, nor will I ever do so. Or Joseph."
"Or the Detective, for deserting Talia when she needed him most."
"Thank you for being here, by the way. Dear God, though, Ra's. So many of the people we knew, good and bad, are just files and encyclopedia articles now and their descendants probably don't even know who we are. Apart from Damian, in your case, but he's retired from being the third Batman and even he's in his sixties now."
"My grandson won't talk to me, Adeline. That was a beautiful refrain that you were singing and you have such a resonant voice. I remember you sung it at Talia's funeral. It was a great comfort to me."
"It was Rose's favourite lullaby. I sang it when she was on her deathbed and I know she heard me. Ra's. Have you remarried?"
"No. No, Talia's mother was the only woman that I would ever want to marry."
"Good' And with that, Adeline Kane kissed her fellow immortal long and deeply. After an instant, he reciprocated the kiss and his arms rose to embrace her, as two lonely immortals found solace in each other.
L-5 ORBITAL COLONY: 2262 CE:
"Adeline! Addy Kane!" As Adeline turned, she gasped.
"Rose?! Rose Forrest, of Rose and the Thorn? I never realised..."
"Well, yes, I am an immortal too, Addy. I first realised it in the eighties when I wasn't ageing anymore and I'd had therapy to control the Thorn's wilder side after the 100 and Intergang withdrew altogether from Metropolis. I was pondering whether or not to follow them to Gotham and finish the job, but then the Theocracy War broke out between the Remnant United States and those cruel bastards to our south and I signed up. Did you really never realise?"
"I only became immortal myself after a blood transfusion from Slade and an epigenetic response from me. You're lucky. Some of the others..."
"I take it that means Ra's al-Ghul. Are you and he still together?"
"We were for most of the twenty second century. Then he set off for Tau Ceti to start a new life on the Phosphorus -Tau Ceti IV - colony. Love finds one strange companions sometimes, Rose."
"Oh, I'm not being judgemental, Addy. Hell, who am I to talk? Mort and I hooked up until he joined the Interstellar Exploration Corps. What about you? Involved at the moment?"
"No. It'd be unfair if I was involved with a mortal. I'd have to deal with their ageing and death and after losing my children, I don't want to start another family. The problem is, our genes are recessive and so damned rare."
"Do you encounter the odd time traveller from the past, like Superman or one of the Flashes?"
"I'm currently acting as trans temporal liaison when one of them turns up in the twenty third century. Babs Gordon Grayson bequeathed me the old Oracle mainframe and I've made some improvements on it over the last two centuries centuries. They seemed startled to see me and realise who I am and why I'm still here. I provide them with local background."
"I was at Superman I's funeral. Lois was pleased to see me. By that stage, she was editor of Dailyplanet.com and about to retire. So, I took over when she eventually passed away, about ten years ago after Kal."
"Under a pseudonym and with a distorter, I notice."
Rose nodded: "I couldn't take the risk that descendants of my relatives might be reprisal-targeted by InterStel if I came into the open as an immortal. Although I was glad to see the 100 finally go down over its role in supplying the Theocracy with anti-matter fission weapons during the War. At a convenient time, I faked my persona's death and got off the grid cosmetic surgery. Fingerprints, retinas, facial structure, almost everything down to the genetic level, which I couldn't tamper with. However, the Genetic Privacy Act meant that once someone dies, for real or otherwise, their earlier genetic data is erased from the system. What about you? Planning a trip offworld?"
"Eventually, perhaps. I've been told there's going to be a World War IV sometime this century."
"What? You mean the Confederacy of Australasia and the European Federation...?"
"Afraid so. It's a shame. I spent some time in New Zealand during the Theocracy War. Beautiful place, still is, even with the sea level rise and the desert growth in limited areas. Unfortunately, the regime that now governs it are a pack of ruthless martinets. I think we all remember the outrage and disgust when they moved in on Australia after the WW3 nuclear strikes against Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. The folks in Brussels aren't much better. Or Hanoi , for that matter. At times, I almost despair of the human race."
"Addy, can we sit down and talk? It's so rare for us to meet each other these days."
"Of course, Rose. So tell me, what else have you been doing with yourself?"
EARTH-ST: 2390 CE: INTERSTELLAR SPACE:
Adeline stepped up to the vocarray system and continued her song after a pause for water. She looked around her at and at the El-Aurian Guinan's face, smiling, encouraging her to finish her refrain:
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, "Where will we shelter or where will we sleep?"
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords of Old England would not purchase Portmore.
And around her, there was not a dry eye in the starship's bar. Even the stern, gruff Klingon Worf was weeping openly, a rare occasion indeed. He had told her that it would be likely and she had replied that it was appropriate, and that no-one would think any less of his valour, courage and fortitude as a warrior if he did so. He said to her that if a peerless warrior like her gave permission, he would respect her opinion. Clearly, her song had struck a refrain amongst the assembled crew on the vessel that she'd served for the last twenty years, since she came to this universe after realising her own Earth was probably entering a new dark age after the chaos of World War IV and she had seen enough death and destruction. For some, it was Worf's predecessor Tasha Yar who invited the sorrow; for others, it was the reason that she was here today. Data. Her android lover, the only one she had thought really ever understood her. As she finished the song, Jean-Luc Picard embraced her:
"Adeline, you precious beautiful soul. How can you bear it?"
"I survive, Jean-Luc. It will be years before I can actually call this living again, though."
"We lost a colleague, a treasured officer, a friend. But... he was your lover."
"I will never forget Data. He was more human than many other humans I've known."
As she stepped over to the bar, Guinan met her:
"I take it you're going back home, now?"
"Such as it is, Guinan, yes. It's been challenging here. But I've met some awesome beings. Like you. I only wish you hadn't suffered so much. I remember El Aurian well, its beautiful crystalline towers, its resonant polyphonic music, the gentleness and nobility of its people. I'm glad I was able to partly avenge what the Borg did to your people. I'm not happy about how many lives were lost on the Resolution under my term as captain during the Battle of Wolf 359."
"I will miss you, my friend. You've lived several lives. Of all the others, sometimes I think you're the only one who ever truly understands me."
"I can't keep living here, though, Guinan. It's full of memories of him. And I need to hold it in for Jean-Luc and the others, but I need the time to grieve myself."
"Of course you do. And here's the information I promised you. A transmatter portal, back to your own universe."
"Take care, Guinan."
"And you, Adeline."
CENTRAL CITY: CE 2463:
Seventy years later, Adeline ran toward a particularly secluded basement area in the environs of Central City, hoping to get there before Eobard Thawne did. Instead of that, she saw him retrieve a fateful twentieth century time capsule and residual superspeed energies from an old Barry Allen Flash uniform, as well as gravimetric and electromagnetic readings that would enable him to duplicate the legendary abilities of his obsession (and distant relative). She found herself trapped in a quagmire as she realised that this event was always, already fated to happen and unfortunately, even an immortal cannot win them all.
SMALLVILLE REMNANTS: 2783 CE: WORLD WAR VI:
As she prepared to dress and provide logistical support for the NorAm AIs, Adeline glanced back at the young man sleeping in the bed behind her. A lump came into her throat. Today was the day. She knew what would happen because it was fated to do so. The opposing forces of the Supreme Alliance of Eastern States and Icelandic Alliance had bitterly fought each other for an interminable five years, with massive loss of life. And in the bed was Private Michael Essad, a carefree young man who was doing his duty as he saw it, repelling the Supreme Alliance occupation of Metropolis to help turn the war effort. It was a waste, such a waste. He should have been allowed to survive this, but he couldn't be allowed to. Later today, Mike would report to his squad and they would get into a firefight. Someone would throw a gamma grenade and the selfless, brave, courageous young man would throw himself on top of it and throw away his life to save the men and women in his unit. And in the process of his sacrifice, a lightning bolt would strike and Mike would fall into suspended animation, to be revived to face several members of the Legion of Super Heroes in 2975, two hundred years from now. Superboy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Lightning Lad and Princess Projectra would face Mike, now a damaged resurrected suspended animation victim, two hundred years out of his time, firing psionic energy weapons at his hallucinatory assailants. Iceland had won the war, though and once more, the world was at peace... for now. As she dressed and left for the command centre, she watched him awaken, pull a towel around his waist and pad over to a sonishower to freshen up and prepare. En route to the command centre, she stopped off at the firing range and emptied a volley of shots at a desired figure. Some of her colleagues wondered why she had such unmitigated and consuming hatred for General Slade, the SAES tactical genius on the other side of the war. In the midst of war, records get lost or are easy to forge and several lifetimes had passed for both of them. Because "General Slade" may have had considerable cosmetic surgery, but he was still recognisable to her as her former husband, father of her children and fellow immortal, Slade Wilson. And she resolved, yes, she would stay at her post and help the Icelandic Alliance win this war. Because of Mike and the others who would fall under enemy fire today, on both sides. And then, given that he would elude justice, she would hunt him down and if possible, put an end to his needlessly prolonged life.
When she received the news of Mike's sacrifice later that evening, Adeline drank herself into a stupor and cried herself to sleep. Merely because immortals have endlessly resilient bodies does not mean that their hearts are equally invulnerable to the tragedies of war and the loss of their beloved.
O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, "Where will we shelter or where will we sleep?"
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords of Old England would not purchase Portmore.
NEW YORK: 2895 CE:
"Kristin..."
Kristin Wells, twenty-ninth century descendant of Jimmy Olsen and formerly the hero known as Superwoman, looked up from her hospital bed:
"Adeline. It's good to see you after all these years."
"Why did you do it, Kris? All of that bootleg genetic manipulation that created your Superwoman persona?"
"Because it was historically recorded and I was fulfilling an historical imperative, Addy. You should know that better than anyone."
"So, what happens because of it? This era loses one of its most brilliant scientific minds to accelerated progerid syndrome."
"I met Superman and helped him to survive. That was the most important thing."
"Some would say that the cost is too high. I would."
"Thank you for coming when I messaged you, Addy."
"You deserved it, Kris. But why did you chose to die like this? You could have gone uptime, lived in a future era."
"Because this was always going to be the case. Because I was always going to die relatively young in an historical period where the maximum human lifespan is one hundred and fifty years."
"I'll miss you. And how many times have I said that across the centuries?"
"I know you will. That's what I've always respected about you. You could treat us all as mayflies, lesser and ephemeral beings, but you never have."
"And... you know something about what happens in the thirtieth century, don't you?"
Kristin Wells nodded her head as her breath came increasingly laboured to both of them as Adeline held the dying hero's hand:
"Yes. I know you'll mourn me, Adeline, because you always do. It's because you're committed to protecting humanity as I have always been. But you need to carry on. There will be many changes before the birth of the Legion of Super Heroes, some good. Some ill. You need to be there for the bad times."
"Of course, Kris. Kris? Oh, sweetheart." Tears streaming down her face, Adeline Kane gently kissed the former hero who had been known as Superwoman on her brow. Survivor's guilt never became any easier after all these centuries. Especially saying goodbye to James Olsen's last descendant.
BROK (KHUNDIAN EMPIRE BORDER WORLD): CE 2950:
In her spacesuit, Adeline Kane and Rose Forrest were overlooking the precipice on Nexos, the border world Brok's largest satellite. Rose bit her lip:
"I don't like this. They're too close to United Planets space for my comfort."
"I imagine the Thorn would be more than a match for most of them."
"The problem is, we know how this is going to work out. Superman told us details about this situation from his time as Superboy. A decade and a half from now, Zaryan the Conqueror will attack first Ricklef II in Daxam's planetary system and then several years later, launch an offensive against our solar system and hit Earth, masquerading as an 'interstellar criminal' to divert attention from the fact that he's been provided with assistance from the Khund Empire. In the process, Lightning Lad will be severely injured, ending in his suspended animation in a condition very much like death. He will be revived due to the sacrifice of the Arcturian metamorph Proty I." Rose pointed out.
"I know and that's why this is a surveillance mission only, Rose. We can't do anything that could precipitate Zaryan's exposure, otherwise more Legionnaires and civilians may die and Zaryan may be replaced by someone who's more competent at his task. Or, Zaryan may be forewarned. I don't like it any more than you do, amiga, but we cannot risk collateral and escalated damage as a result of impairment of the existing timeline."
"Oh, the Thorn is loving this. Just as well I've been in control of accessing her for the last nine centuries."
"Tell her to be patient. After all, we have all the time in the world."
MARCH 2973: EARTH:
"Come in, Saturn Girl. What can I do for you?" In a Metropolis hyperscraper, Adeline Kane admired the way that the young woman held herself, with gravity and seriousness belying her age:
"Ms Kane? I'll come straight to the point. I know what you're not whom you seem."
Adeline leant back in her executive chair and smiled: "And what do you think I am?"
"An immortal. Which is odd, because according to everything I know about immortals, their molecular biology renders them psi-null. But you... you've lived over a millennium. You knew the original Superman and the members of the legendary Justice League of America and the Titans. You helped fund Brande Industries through prudent investments. You provided financial assistance for Rokk Krinn- Cosmic Boy - to travel to Earth to assist his family back on recession-hit Braal. You authored a scientific paper on the Lightning Beasts of Korbal after the enhancile cat Ester discovered the existence of that dwarf planet in Winath's planetary system, which meant that it was on Garth, Ayla and Mekt Rannz's star charts when they were forced to land there and were imbued with their lightning abilities by exposure to them. And your retina print is on record in the remnants of the Metropolis 2783 database from World War VI. And Kane Industries was also heavily involved in the colonisation of Titan and Naltor alike, providing sanctuary to telepaths and precognitives during the Great Persecution in the 22nd Century."
"Admirably thorough, Imra. I can see I made a good choice facilitating your Science Police assessment test and consequent scholarship on Earth. Yes. Because the Milky Way Galaxy is convulsed by turmoil and threats and it needs a wise hand and metasapient intervention to protect the weak, innocent and vulnerable from more malevolent entitites out there, like Superman and the Justice League in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. You're definite leadership material."
"I was afraid of that."
"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. And don't forget to relax the self-discipline and precision once in a while. I know you have high professional standards. That's why I suggested to R.J. that he fund the Legion and have you, Rokk and Garth as its steering team."
"How much do you know about our future?"
"You'll have triumphs and tragedies, Imra. That's all I can and all I'm willing to say. And I appreciate you not breaking through my psionic shielding."
"It's okay, Ms Kane. I trust you. Your intentions and purpose is good and honourable."
"That means a lot, Imra. Now get out there and show your mettle, Saturn Girl." The women shook hands and as Saturn Girl left the office, she was startled to see Adeline Kane's pensive expression and wondered, what would the years ahead be like for the Legion of Super-Heroes?
EPILOGUE: TRANSMETROPOLITA, CE 7474:
Offworld, in New Washington, Adeline Kane relaxed in her bath. After the Legion of Super Heroes era in the thirtieth and thirty first centuries and the tenures of their equally storied descendants, she had gone on to provide logistical assistance, funding and armament support to a myriad of consequent figures in those eras, as well as assisting apprehension, surveillance and detection when the figures in question were criminal entities. Assisting a virtuous descendant of Lex Luthor against a criminal Superman descendent, Jimmy Olsen's tenure as a fiftieth century superhero, Hal Jordan's tenure as Solar Director "Pol Manning,", keeping tabs on Abra Kadabra, assisting Lord Ironwolf of the Empire Galaktika in his rebellion, all lay in her past. As a surveillance drone chimed, Adeline sighed to herself as the nested aerial triangles of Transmetropolita came into focus. Somewhere in those structures, Anwn Tak had discovered that a malfunctioning time scanner had led to Superboy's entry to the Legion of Super Heroes being aborted. She arranged temporal transit for Anwn Tek to travel back to the thirtieth century to rectify the distortion, then sat back. It never ends, she mused to herself. And I wouldn't want it any other way. She checked her future scheduler and noted that in several millennia, she would have to take action to assist the temporally displaced Justice League against Ator, as well as provide outlying logistical support for such time travellers as Legionnaire XS, Superman, Justice Legion Alpha and so many, many others. She poured herself another glass of Aldebaran Brandy and toasted the future. R'as, Rose and Mort were still around. She'd check in on them at some point. But at this point in deep time, life was good.
THE END
BOSHWA MEGALOPOLIS: AD 2082:
A woman stood alone, softly singing the old traditional Irish refrain Bonny Portmore over her daughter's grave:
O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.
From the shadows, a familiar figure stepped and cleared his throat:
"Oh, it's you. Hello, Ra's. It's been... I don't know, decades."
"Forgive my intrusion on your grief, Adeline. Was Rose the last of your children?"
"Ah, so that's it. You're returning the favour from that night when you lost Talia."
"It still hurts, Adeline, even though I have grandchildren to cluster around me. Although one of them mortally hates me for not being there when she passed away."
"Why, Ra's? Why do we continue to live on when our children die, unable to take advantage of the genetic quirk that enables us to take advantage of the Lazarus Pit?"
"Hence the song, I imagine. A beautiful refrain, full of longing for what... and who... you have lost. What we have all lost. I don't know how Vandal and the others deal with their longevity."
"I don't regard Vandal as any sort of exemplar for our situation, R'as. Or Lady Me. They seem to regard other human beings as mayflies, their inferiors. I will never go down that road."
"And yet, you and Slade have not rekindled your relationship."
"It's too soon, R'as. Much too soon. I haven't forgiven him for what happened to Grant, nor will I ever do so. Or Joseph."
"Or the Detective, for deserting Talia when she needed him most."
"Thank you for being here, by the way. Dear God, though, Ra's. So many of the people we knew, good and bad, are just files and encyclopedia articles now and their descendants probably don't even know who we are. Apart from Damian, in your case, but he's retired from being the third Batman and even he's in his sixties now."
"My grandson won't talk to me, Adeline. That was a beautiful refrain that you were singing and you have such a resonant voice. I remember you sung it at Talia's funeral. It was a great comfort to me."
"It was Rose's favourite lullaby. I sang it when she was on her deathbed and I know she heard me. Ra's. Have you remarried?"
"No. No, Talia's mother was the only woman that I would ever want to marry."
"Good' And with that, Adeline Kane kissed her fellow immortal long and deeply. After an instant, he reciprocated the kiss and his arms rose to embrace her, as two lonely immortals found solace in each other.
L-5 ORBITAL COLONY: 2262 CE:
"Adeline! Addy Kane!" As Adeline turned, she gasped.
"Rose?! Rose Forrest, of Rose and the Thorn? I never realised..."
"Well, yes, I am an immortal too, Addy. I first realised it in the eighties when I wasn't ageing anymore and I'd had therapy to control the Thorn's wilder side after the 100 and Intergang withdrew altogether from Metropolis. I was pondering whether or not to follow them to Gotham and finish the job, but then the Theocracy War broke out between the Remnant United States and those cruel bastards to our south and I signed up. Did you really never realise?"
"I only became immortal myself after a blood transfusion from Slade and an epigenetic response from me. You're lucky. Some of the others..."
"I take it that means Ra's al-Ghul. Are you and he still together?"
"We were for most of the twenty second century. Then he set off for Tau Ceti to start a new life on the Phosphorus -Tau Ceti IV - colony. Love finds one strange companions sometimes, Rose."
"Oh, I'm not being judgemental, Addy. Hell, who am I to talk? Mort and I hooked up until he joined the Interstellar Exploration Corps. What about you? Involved at the moment?"
"No. It'd be unfair if I was involved with a mortal. I'd have to deal with their ageing and death and after losing my children, I don't want to start another family. The problem is, our genes are recessive and so damned rare."
"Do you encounter the odd time traveller from the past, like Superman or one of the Flashes?"
"I'm currently acting as trans temporal liaison when one of them turns up in the twenty third century. Babs Gordon Grayson bequeathed me the old Oracle mainframe and I've made some improvements on it over the last two centuries centuries. They seemed startled to see me and realise who I am and why I'm still here. I provide them with local background."
"I was at Superman I's funeral. Lois was pleased to see me. By that stage, she was editor of Dailyplanet.com and about to retire. So, I took over when she eventually passed away, about ten years ago after Kal."
"Under a pseudonym and with a distorter, I notice."
Rose nodded: "I couldn't take the risk that descendants of my relatives might be reprisal-targeted by InterStel if I came into the open as an immortal. Although I was glad to see the 100 finally go down over its role in supplying the Theocracy with anti-matter fission weapons during the War. At a convenient time, I faked my persona's death and got off the grid cosmetic surgery. Fingerprints, retinas, facial structure, almost everything down to the genetic level, which I couldn't tamper with. However, the Genetic Privacy Act meant that once someone dies, for real or otherwise, their earlier genetic data is erased from the system. What about you? Planning a trip offworld?"
"Eventually, perhaps. I've been told there's going to be a World War IV sometime this century."
"What? You mean the Confederacy of Australasia and the European Federation...?"
"Afraid so. It's a shame. I spent some time in New Zealand during the Theocracy War. Beautiful place, still is, even with the sea level rise and the desert growth in limited areas. Unfortunately, the regime that now governs it are a pack of ruthless martinets. I think we all remember the outrage and disgust when they moved in on Australia after the WW3 nuclear strikes against Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. The folks in Brussels aren't much better. Or Hanoi , for that matter. At times, I almost despair of the human race."
"Addy, can we sit down and talk? It's so rare for us to meet each other these days."
"Of course, Rose. So tell me, what else have you been doing with yourself?"
EARTH-ST: 2390 CE: INTERSTELLAR SPACE:
Adeline stepped up to the vocarray system and continued her song after a pause for water. She looked around her at and at the El-Aurian Guinan's face, smiling, encouraging her to finish her refrain:
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, "Where will we shelter or where will we sleep?"
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords of Old England would not purchase Portmore.
And around her, there was not a dry eye in the starship's bar. Even the stern, gruff Klingon Worf was weeping openly, a rare occasion indeed. He had told her that it would be likely and she had replied that it was appropriate, and that no-one would think any less of his valour, courage and fortitude as a warrior if he did so. He said to her that if a peerless warrior like her gave permission, he would respect her opinion. Clearly, her song had struck a refrain amongst the assembled crew on the vessel that she'd served for the last twenty years, since she came to this universe after realising her own Earth was probably entering a new dark age after the chaos of World War IV and she had seen enough death and destruction. For some, it was Worf's predecessor Tasha Yar who invited the sorrow; for others, it was the reason that she was here today. Data. Her android lover, the only one she had thought really ever understood her. As she finished the song, Jean-Luc Picard embraced her:
"Adeline, you precious beautiful soul. How can you bear it?"
"I survive, Jean-Luc. It will be years before I can actually call this living again, though."
"We lost a colleague, a treasured officer, a friend. But... he was your lover."
"I will never forget Data. He was more human than many other humans I've known."
As she stepped over to the bar, Guinan met her:
"I take it you're going back home, now?"
"Such as it is, Guinan, yes. It's been challenging here. But I've met some awesome beings. Like you. I only wish you hadn't suffered so much. I remember El Aurian well, its beautiful crystalline towers, its resonant polyphonic music, the gentleness and nobility of its people. I'm glad I was able to partly avenge what the Borg did to your people. I'm not happy about how many lives were lost on the Resolution under my term as captain during the Battle of Wolf 359."
"I will miss you, my friend. You've lived several lives. Of all the others, sometimes I think you're the only one who ever truly understands me."
"I can't keep living here, though, Guinan. It's full of memories of him. And I need to hold it in for Jean-Luc and the others, but I need the time to grieve myself."
"Of course you do. And here's the information I promised you. A transmatter portal, back to your own universe."
"Take care, Guinan."
"And you, Adeline."
CENTRAL CITY: CE 2463:
Seventy years later, Adeline ran toward a particularly secluded basement area in the environs of Central City, hoping to get there before Eobard Thawne did. Instead of that, she saw him retrieve a fateful twentieth century time capsule and residual superspeed energies from an old Barry Allen Flash uniform, as well as gravimetric and electromagnetic readings that would enable him to duplicate the legendary abilities of his obsession (and distant relative). She found herself trapped in a quagmire as she realised that this event was always, already fated to happen and unfortunately, even an immortal cannot win them all.
SMALLVILLE REMNANTS: 2783 CE: WORLD WAR VI:
As she prepared to dress and provide logistical support for the NorAm AIs, Adeline glanced back at the young man sleeping in the bed behind her. A lump came into her throat. Today was the day. She knew what would happen because it was fated to do so. The opposing forces of the Supreme Alliance of Eastern States and Icelandic Alliance had bitterly fought each other for an interminable five years, with massive loss of life. And in the bed was Private Michael Essad, a carefree young man who was doing his duty as he saw it, repelling the Supreme Alliance occupation of Metropolis to help turn the war effort. It was a waste, such a waste. He should have been allowed to survive this, but he couldn't be allowed to. Later today, Mike would report to his squad and they would get into a firefight. Someone would throw a gamma grenade and the selfless, brave, courageous young man would throw himself on top of it and throw away his life to save the men and women in his unit. And in the process of his sacrifice, a lightning bolt would strike and Mike would fall into suspended animation, to be revived to face several members of the Legion of Super Heroes in 2975, two hundred years from now. Superboy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Lightning Lad and Princess Projectra would face Mike, now a damaged resurrected suspended animation victim, two hundred years out of his time, firing psionic energy weapons at his hallucinatory assailants. Iceland had won the war, though and once more, the world was at peace... for now. As she dressed and left for the command centre, she watched him awaken, pull a towel around his waist and pad over to a sonishower to freshen up and prepare. En route to the command centre, she stopped off at the firing range and emptied a volley of shots at a desired figure. Some of her colleagues wondered why she had such unmitigated and consuming hatred for General Slade, the SAES tactical genius on the other side of the war. In the midst of war, records get lost or are easy to forge and several lifetimes had passed for both of them. Because "General Slade" may have had considerable cosmetic surgery, but he was still recognisable to her as her former husband, father of her children and fellow immortal, Slade Wilson. And she resolved, yes, she would stay at her post and help the Icelandic Alliance win this war. Because of Mike and the others who would fall under enemy fire today, on both sides. And then, given that he would elude justice, she would hunt him down and if possible, put an end to his needlessly prolonged life.
When she received the news of Mike's sacrifice later that evening, Adeline drank herself into a stupor and cried herself to sleep. Merely because immortals have endlessly resilient bodies does not mean that their hearts are equally invulnerable to the tragedies of war and the loss of their beloved.
O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, "Where will we shelter or where will we sleep?"
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords of Old England would not purchase Portmore.
NEW YORK: 2895 CE:
"Kristin..."
Kristin Wells, twenty-ninth century descendant of Jimmy Olsen and formerly the hero known as Superwoman, looked up from her hospital bed:
"Adeline. It's good to see you after all these years."
"Why did you do it, Kris? All of that bootleg genetic manipulation that created your Superwoman persona?"
"Because it was historically recorded and I was fulfilling an historical imperative, Addy. You should know that better than anyone."
"So, what happens because of it? This era loses one of its most brilliant scientific minds to accelerated progerid syndrome."
"I met Superman and helped him to survive. That was the most important thing."
"Some would say that the cost is too high. I would."
"Thank you for coming when I messaged you, Addy."
"You deserved it, Kris. But why did you chose to die like this? You could have gone uptime, lived in a future era."
"Because this was always going to be the case. Because I was always going to die relatively young in an historical period where the maximum human lifespan is one hundred and fifty years."
"I'll miss you. And how many times have I said that across the centuries?"
"I know you will. That's what I've always respected about you. You could treat us all as mayflies, lesser and ephemeral beings, but you never have."
"And... you know something about what happens in the thirtieth century, don't you?"
Kristin Wells nodded her head as her breath came increasingly laboured to both of them as Adeline held the dying hero's hand:
"Yes. I know you'll mourn me, Adeline, because you always do. It's because you're committed to protecting humanity as I have always been. But you need to carry on. There will be many changes before the birth of the Legion of Super Heroes, some good. Some ill. You need to be there for the bad times."
"Of course, Kris. Kris? Oh, sweetheart." Tears streaming down her face, Adeline Kane gently kissed the former hero who had been known as Superwoman on her brow. Survivor's guilt never became any easier after all these centuries. Especially saying goodbye to James Olsen's last descendant.
BROK (KHUNDIAN EMPIRE BORDER WORLD): CE 2950:
In her spacesuit, Adeline Kane and Rose Forrest were overlooking the precipice on Nexos, the border world Brok's largest satellite. Rose bit her lip:
"I don't like this. They're too close to United Planets space for my comfort."
"I imagine the Thorn would be more than a match for most of them."
"The problem is, we know how this is going to work out. Superman told us details about this situation from his time as Superboy. A decade and a half from now, Zaryan the Conqueror will attack first Ricklef II in Daxam's planetary system and then several years later, launch an offensive against our solar system and hit Earth, masquerading as an 'interstellar criminal' to divert attention from the fact that he's been provided with assistance from the Khund Empire. In the process, Lightning Lad will be severely injured, ending in his suspended animation in a condition very much like death. He will be revived due to the sacrifice of the Arcturian metamorph Proty I." Rose pointed out.
"I know and that's why this is a surveillance mission only, Rose. We can't do anything that could precipitate Zaryan's exposure, otherwise more Legionnaires and civilians may die and Zaryan may be replaced by someone who's more competent at his task. Or, Zaryan may be forewarned. I don't like it any more than you do, amiga, but we cannot risk collateral and escalated damage as a result of impairment of the existing timeline."
"Oh, the Thorn is loving this. Just as well I've been in control of accessing her for the last nine centuries."
"Tell her to be patient. After all, we have all the time in the world."
MARCH 2973: EARTH:
"Come in, Saturn Girl. What can I do for you?" In a Metropolis hyperscraper, Adeline Kane admired the way that the young woman held herself, with gravity and seriousness belying her age:
"Ms Kane? I'll come straight to the point. I know what you're not whom you seem."
Adeline leant back in her executive chair and smiled: "And what do you think I am?"
"An immortal. Which is odd, because according to everything I know about immortals, their molecular biology renders them psi-null. But you... you've lived over a millennium. You knew the original Superman and the members of the legendary Justice League of America and the Titans. You helped fund Brande Industries through prudent investments. You provided financial assistance for Rokk Krinn- Cosmic Boy - to travel to Earth to assist his family back on recession-hit Braal. You authored a scientific paper on the Lightning Beasts of Korbal after the enhancile cat Ester discovered the existence of that dwarf planet in Winath's planetary system, which meant that it was on Garth, Ayla and Mekt Rannz's star charts when they were forced to land there and were imbued with their lightning abilities by exposure to them. And your retina print is on record in the remnants of the Metropolis 2783 database from World War VI. And Kane Industries was also heavily involved in the colonisation of Titan and Naltor alike, providing sanctuary to telepaths and precognitives during the Great Persecution in the 22nd Century."
"Admirably thorough, Imra. I can see I made a good choice facilitating your Science Police assessment test and consequent scholarship on Earth. Yes. Because the Milky Way Galaxy is convulsed by turmoil and threats and it needs a wise hand and metasapient intervention to protect the weak, innocent and vulnerable from more malevolent entitites out there, like Superman and the Justice League in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. You're definite leadership material."
"I was afraid of that."
"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. And don't forget to relax the self-discipline and precision once in a while. I know you have high professional standards. That's why I suggested to R.J. that he fund the Legion and have you, Rokk and Garth as its steering team."
"How much do you know about our future?"
"You'll have triumphs and tragedies, Imra. That's all I can and all I'm willing to say. And I appreciate you not breaking through my psionic shielding."
"It's okay, Ms Kane. I trust you. Your intentions and purpose is good and honourable."
"That means a lot, Imra. Now get out there and show your mettle, Saturn Girl." The women shook hands and as Saturn Girl left the office, she was startled to see Adeline Kane's pensive expression and wondered, what would the years ahead be like for the Legion of Super-Heroes?
EPILOGUE: TRANSMETROPOLITA, CE 7474:
Offworld, in New Washington, Adeline Kane relaxed in her bath. After the Legion of Super Heroes era in the thirtieth and thirty first centuries and the tenures of their equally storied descendants, she had gone on to provide logistical assistance, funding and armament support to a myriad of consequent figures in those eras, as well as assisting apprehension, surveillance and detection when the figures in question were criminal entities. Assisting a virtuous descendant of Lex Luthor against a criminal Superman descendent, Jimmy Olsen's tenure as a fiftieth century superhero, Hal Jordan's tenure as Solar Director "Pol Manning,", keeping tabs on Abra Kadabra, assisting Lord Ironwolf of the Empire Galaktika in his rebellion, all lay in her past. As a surveillance drone chimed, Adeline sighed to herself as the nested aerial triangles of Transmetropolita came into focus. Somewhere in those structures, Anwn Tak had discovered that a malfunctioning time scanner had led to Superboy's entry to the Legion of Super Heroes being aborted. She arranged temporal transit for Anwn Tek to travel back to the thirtieth century to rectify the distortion, then sat back. It never ends, she mused to herself. And I wouldn't want it any other way. She checked her future scheduler and noted that in several millennia, she would have to take action to assist the temporally displaced Justice League against Ator, as well as provide outlying logistical support for such time travellers as Legionnaire XS, Superman, Justice Legion Alpha and so many, many others. She poured herself another glass of Aldebaran Brandy and toasted the future. R'as, Rose and Mort were still around. She'd check in on them at some point. But at this point in deep time, life was good.
THE END
