Man of Steel: The Official Movie Novelization Read Online Free PDF Page A

cliffs overlooking the veldt, the great domed edifice had been Jor-El’s home since the morning he was first harvested. He still remembered the glorious day he had brought Lara home to live with him, after an arranged marriage that eventually yielded a long and loving union.
    They had been truly blessed in their time together. If that happiness was now drawing to a close, he still considered himself a fortunate man.
    H’Raka dipped sharply, then recovered. Pained whimpers escaped her jaws. The injured war-kite was also clearly at the end of her days, but found strength enough to stay on course. An outdoor terrace, at the entrance to the landing bay, served as their final destination. Her wings vibrated one last time, bringing them over the terrace, before gliding in for a crash landing.
    She slammed into the hard, unyielding floor of the terrace and skidded to a stop only a few lengths away from the high arched entranceway. A low moan testified to her ordeal.
    The rough landing jarred Jor-El, but failed to break any bones. He sprang from the saddle, holding onto the Codex, while Kelex detached himself from the docking cradle. Desperate as he was to rejoin his family, Jor-El paused to comfort the dying beast who had given her all for Krypton’s future. He gently scratched her muzzle, just where she liked it.
    “Rest now,” he whispered.
    H’Raka’s large round eyes rolled upward until only the whites were visible. Her labored breathing stilled. The three remaining wings collapsed against her lifeless body. The pulsing lights on her cybernetic implants flickered and died.
    Bruised and bloodied from his struggles with the robots, Jor-El turned away from the carcass and dashed inside. Kelex jetted after him.
    “Lara!”
    He ran straight to the observatory, where he found all in readiness. The starcraft, equipped with a state-of-the-art phantom drive unit, was suspended over an empty cradle module. The craft resembled the calcified heart of a giant, its inner chamber protected by dense bio-engineered plating. The rounded contours of its outer carapace had been crafted to withstand the rigors of deep space, shielding its passenger from everything from solar flares to asteroid strikes.
    Biomechanical hardware surrounded the craft. He placed the Codex in a stasis beam above the cradle.
    An archway on the opposite side of the domed chamber led to the medical suite, where he spied Lara nursing Kal-El, with Kelor hovering attentively nearby. The newborn nestled contentedly in his mother’s arms. Lara looked up as her husband approached. Her face brightened.
    “Jor-El!” she said. “I was so worried—”
    He wished he brought happier tidings, but there was no time to soften the news. She needed to know the truth.
    “Zod’s forces are on their way,” he said. “Did you find the world?”
    “We did, sir,” Kelor reported. “Orbiting a main sequence yellow star, just as you said it would.”
    The display screen on her chest presented an image of a distant solar system, dominated by a vibrant yellow star. Only one-fifth the size of Krypton’s swollen red giant, the golden sun still had billions of cycles ahead of it before exhausting the hydrogen at its core—as Rao had already done—and entering its dotage.
    It burned hotter than Krypton’s sun, and would for eons to come.
    “A young star,” he declared. “His cells will drink in its radiation.”
    The display zeroed in on the third planet in the system, which appeared to be in the grip of an ice age. Vast glaciers covered the surface. Hairless bipedal primates, garbed in furs, struggled to survive amidst the icy wilderness. Jor-El instinctively admired their determination, vigor, and ingenuity. They spread out across the planet, thriving despite the harsh, primitive conditions.
    “There’s an intelligent population there,” he pointed out. “They’re primitive, but... they look like us, Lara.”
    She eyed the images uncertainly, clutching Kal-El to her