Son of Cadmus

Chapter 1

In nineteen ninety-four in the bowels of Cadmus labs, the pale blue light of a thousand computer screens streamed over the back of Doctor Emil Hamilton, highlighting his short gray hair and black square glasses that flashed in the light.

Standing before a table, Emil rolled a test tube full of blue energy along his tan fingers, sterilized recirculated air filling his nose, "Yes," he hissed in a fevered whisper, "with this I will be able to avenge my beautiful Galatea."

"Are you still whining over that broken weapon?" Sam Lane grunted striding into the room, his polished shoes echoing off the dark blue tile floor.

Emil spun around, an angry snarled twisting his features, his pale white lab coat billowing about him, "She was not a weapon to me, she was my daughter!" He screamed, spittle flying from his mouth.

Sam Lane brushed the shoulders of his dark blue blazer, the metals adorning the breast of his jacket flashing in the bright fluorescent lights of the lab, "I don't care what sick attachments you have to one of your experiments. What I want to know is will this project succeed?"

Wiping sweat from his brow, Emil turned to stare at a circular tank at the far end of the room. Pale green liquid filled the tank. In the center of the tank was a clear orb, "Galatea may be in a coma, but her bodily functions still work perfectly.

As a matter of fact, before her accident, she metabolized solar energy faster than Supergirl or Superman."

Nodding Sam Lane strode forward, his hands folded behind his back. He placed a wrinkled hand on the tank and stared at the embryo that would in nine months be his newest weapon against the alien threat, he glanced back at Doctor Hamilton, "And you're sure that contains Captain Atom's DNA?" He asked, his eyes flicking down to the vial in the doctor's hand.

"Positive," Emil replied walking slowly along the computer screens, "I don't know how it's possible, but the energy he is made of definitely contains his DNA."

"Then let's get on with this."

Walking up to the tank, Emil slipped the vial of light blue energy into a slot. Almost instantly the tank filled with a blue light when it faded the embryo inside was shining a pale blue.

Sam Lane removed his hat, fluorescent light reflecting off his bald crown, "How soon can the embryo be transferred to my daughter?" He asked, a light smile twisting his face as he spun his hat in his hands.

"Are you sure your daughter is okay with being an incubator for a kryptonian baby. We could just use the hyper-growth tank like we're going to do with project KR."

"I do not want Project Titan to be anything like Luthor's clone of the man of steel. This one will be grown naturally and be born from my daughter's womb, from pure American stock."

"And your daughter's okay with this?"

Placing his hat on his head, Sam Lane strode from the room, "My daughter is a good soldier. She'll do what's expected of her."

Shaking his head, Emil Hamilton placed his hand on the tank containing America's newest weapon, "I feel sorry for the future that awaits you my boy, but someone has to defend us from the aliens," his free hand clenched into a fist, "Everyone knows your mother can't do it anymore."

Striding forward, Emil pressed the red button on an intercom, "Prepare to have the tank containing project Titan moved to Metropolis General Hospital."

"Right away Doctor," a feminine voice replied.

Nine months later, screams echoed through the maternity ward of Metropolis General Hospital as Lucy Lane forced her son into the world.

Soldiers in black combat armor line the hallway to Lucy's room. Each of them saluted General Lane as he strode towards his daughter's room.

Sweat poured from her brow as she pushed against the stirrups holding her legs, causing them to break off and fly across the room. They burrowed into a wall beside a pair of sliding glass doors just as general Lane strode in.

"How's it coming Doctor?" He asked ignoring his daughter's presence.

Emil Hamilton removed his head from beneath Lucy's pale green hospital gown, "Everything is going normal, one more push and your grandson will be in the world."

"I'm surprised the only hiccup during the pregnancy was that your daughter needed to be under solar lamps twenty-three hours a day."

Samuel Lane grunted, "Well she is a kryptonian now, it's to be expected."

Pushing his glasses up on his nose, Emil turned back to Lucy, "Alright Ms. Lane, one more push, and you'll be able to say hi to your son."

Lucy collapsed back onto the bed, her blonde hair matted fast to her forehead, "I can't," she panted, her breast heaving, "I'm too tired."

"That's not good enough soldier," Sam Lane growled, causing his daughter's light blue eyes to snap to him, "It is your duty to bring this child into the world, now push."

Screwing up her face, Lucy Lane pushed with all her remaining strength, a strangled scream exploded from her throat, but it was soon drowned out by an infant's wail.

"It's a boy," Emil said cradling the bloody child against his hospital scrubs.

Lucy collapsed back onto the bed a soft smile on her face, "A boy," she choked, tears streaming down her face, "I have a son."

Emil turned to the general, "Would you like to cut the cord?"

General Lane raised an eyebrow, "Is that even possible?"

Emil nodded, "Yes, we've treated a pair of scissors with the kryptonite edge."

Nodding, Sam strode forward. He grabbed the pair of surgical scissors offer to him and stared down at his newest weapon, a small tuft of blonde hair adorned the child's head.

As the general stared, the child opened his eyes, they glowed whitish blue just like Captain Atom's.

Shaking his head, the general clipped the cord.

"Let me hold my son," Lucy said struggling to set up in the bed, a tired smile on her face.

Again Sam Lane ignored his daughter, "How fast will the boy mature?"

Emil rose to his feet, still cradling the boy in his arms, dread settled in the pit of his stomach and every muscle in his body tensed, "With his advanced genetic structure, he should be as smart as your average two-year-old within a year."

Nodding, Sam Lane turned towards the door, "Good, we can start his training within a year." Snapping his fingers, soldiers in combat fatigues flooded into the room, lining the walls in neat rows.

General Lane gestured to Emil, "Take Project Titan to facility number three."

"Wait," Lucy screamed rising from the bed.

Instantly, the soldier stepped forward, glowing rods of green crystal in their hand.

Pale green light washed over Lucy Lane, causing her to stagger. She fell to her knees, one arm on the bed keeping her up right, "Daddy you can't do this, you can't take my son."

Sam Lane glanced at his daughter for the first time, his gray eyes as cold as glaciers, "That thing is not your son, it never was. It is our weapon against all who threaten the American people."

He gestured to a soldier, "Take my daughter back to her cell, she served her purpose."

With that Sam Lane strode from the room, Doctor Hamilton following close behind him. Both ignored Lucy Lane screaming at them to bring her son back, one more so than the other.

In two thousand four, Sam Lane strode down the hallway of Cadmus base three, the shiny silver walls reflecting his image. Pale florescent lights illuminated a few more metals and his dark black dress shoes clicked on the white tile floor.

Functional plastic chairs with metal legs line the walls in sets of three, metal tables setting in between them.

The general strode past them without even a glance, the base having long ago become like a second home. Sterilized air filled his nose as he stopped before an elevator, its sleek metal door sliding open to reveal three mirrored walls.

Stepping inside, General Lane pressed an invisible button set into the black casing of the elevators controls. The door slid soundlessly shut, hissing as the elevator became pressurized.

Gray eyes flicked up to the floor display above the door frame, watching as it went to sublevel one, then two before stopping on three.

The sleek metal door slid open, dim red lights flooded the elevator, shining off the glass walls. The smell of electronics and minerals hung heavy in the air.

Keeping his eyes locked forward, Sam stepped out of the elevator, his legs straight almost like he was marching forward.

Metal tubes ran up the walls and over the ceiling, hooked into computers that displayed ones and zeros that reflected off the metal tubes, causing green light to mix with the dim red.

Two guards and black combat fatigues shouldered their M-16s and nodded to the general, the features hidden by black helmets.

Sam glared at them, his wrinkled face reflected in their black helmets, "Are you stupid or something?" He shouted, getting right up in their faces, "how do you know I'm really Samuel Edward Lane?"

"Never," he poked the soldier on the left in the chest, "let your guard down."

Both soldiers straightened, stiff as a board and saluted, their gloved hands coming up to the top of their helmets, "Yes sir."

The soldier on the right moved aside, revealing a round blue orb set into the sleek metal wall.

Stepping forward, Sam placed his right I in front of the orb. A thin blue laser shot out and ran up and down his pupil, a tiny rectangular light below the retinal scanner blinked green.

"Welcome General Lane," a woman's computerized voice said as a lock inside the doors clicked.

Sam Lane step back, the doors before him slid open with a hiss of compressed air.

He glanced at the two soldiers. Both still stood ramrod straight, "Stay sharp," he grunted.

Sam Lane strode into the rectangular room. One wall was nothing but a large one-way mirror. The others were nothing but computer screens and keyboards.

His footsteps echoed off the dark blue tile floor. Small circles of light decorated the floor thanks to recessed lighting set into the ceiling.

Emil Hamilton stood before the mirror, a clipboard in his hand, his dark rimmed square glasses slid down on his nose. His free hand jotting down notes on the clipboard.

"How is our boy doing Doctor?"

Emil Hamilton jumped, spinning around. Relaxing slightly, the tan man pushed his glasses up on his nose, "Better than we could've ever expected," he turned back to the glass.

On the other side of the glass was a large circular room. In the center of the room stood a ten-year-old boy, electrodes attached to his lean muscular frame. Short blonde hair donned the top of his head, shaped in the square style of a military buzz cut. His glowing blue white eyes scanned the room taking in his reflection in the smooth metal walls.

The scent of metal polish and iron filled his nose.

Black combat pants adorned his legs and a pair of steel toed combat boots covered his feet. Slowly, the boy walked around the room the sound of his boots echoing off the beams that crisscrossed the ceiling above him.

"Over the past ten years," Hamilton continued, "project Titan's cells have absorbed solar energy at an incredible rate. He is smarter, faster, and stronger than anything we've ever seen."

"He has displayed every power a kryptonian's known to possess unlike project KR, and without the psychological problems of project Match."

A light smile twisted the general's wrinkled lips, "So, he's better than your precious Galatea?"

Scowling, Hamilton nodded slowly his clipboard falling to his side and his free hand sliding into the pocket of his white trenchcoat, "Yes, he is Galatea superior in every way."

Still staring at the boy that was technically his grandson, the general nodded, "So the project succeeded, we have successfully created our own kryptonian, who is stronger and faster than Superman?"

The corners of Hamilton's lips turned upward, "Oh we've done something better than that, project Titan's biomatrix is more advanced than any other kryptonian's. He can fuel his cells with almost any other energy source," the doctor turned to the general, "and when he comes in contact with another living organism the results of him absorbing that organisms bio electrical impulses is quite impressive."

Sam Lane raised a white eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

Shaking his head, Hamilton strode forward, running a hand through his short gray hair. Stopping before the mirror, he grabbed a microphone set into its frame, "Send her in."

Metal doors inside the circular room slid open. A woman with pale white skin strode inside, short spiky pale blue hair adorning her head. A black corset covered her waist, her thigh high metal boots clicked on the smooth metal floor as she stopped in the center of the room.

She ignored Connor, her light blue eyes scanning the room for a moment before locking onto the mirror, "I don't know what you guys are trying to pull abducting me, but I want out of here."

Electricity arced around her body, dancing along the floor and snaking up the walls, before sliding harmlessly off the glass.

Emil leaned into the microphone, "You can leave Miss Williams as soon as you defeat the boy in front of you."

LiveWire raised a pale blue eyebrow, "Really, all I have to do is defeat this punk?"

"Yes."

"Too easy," she thrust her hands forward, pale white lightning exploding from the fingertips of her elbow length black gloves.

Project Titan strode forward to meet the lightning, groaning as it slammed into his chest, causing his pale bluish white eyes to flare brighter.

Emil Hamilton looked at the computer screen set into the wall beside the mirror and smiled, "Just like last time."

"What's happening?" Sam Lane asked watching Project Titan stride forward, totally unharmed by the lightning.

"When project Titan comes in contact with another living being be to skin to skin or energy, he temporarily gains that beings power," Emil answered keeping his gaze locked on the computer screens.

"Incredible," Sam Lane muttered watching LiveWire collapsed to the floor panting.

"That's not all. We theorize that project Titan has some minor psychic abilities, because he seems to be able to absorb their skill as well."

Project Titan strode forward electricity arcing around his blue white eyes. His tan skin turned a pale white, and his blonde hair transformed into a pale blue.

LiveWire looked up at him exhaustion written all over her face, "What are you? No one can take that much power."

Project Titan said nothing just delivered a hammer blow to LiveWire that sent her into unconsciousness.

"How long does he keep the powers?"

"Until his cells burn through the energy, but there is some anomalies in his cells that we haven't quite figured out yet."

"What about control, what kind of leash does he have on him?"

"The genomes have instilled a sense of loyalty into him."

Sam Lane nodded, striding towards the door, "Get him ready for a mission."

Hamilton's eyes widened, "we can't. He is just a child."

Sam Lane paused and glanced over his shoulder, "No doctor, he is a weapon."

With that, the general began striding towards the door again.

"Wait!"

Spinning on his heel, his shoes squeaking on the dark blue tile floor, General Lane glared at Hamilton, "What?"

Straightening his shoulders, Hamilton stared back without flinching, "According to the team psychologist it would be best for the boy to have a name. She says if we keep calling him Project Titan, it could cause future psychological problems."

Closing his eyes, Sam counted to ten under his breath then opened them, "Fine then, when the boy is not on missions call him Connor."

Spinning on his heel, General Lane strode from the room before Hamilton could bother him with anything else.

(Author note – here is my new story, please Review)