Previously - Chapter 6 ***
Chapter 7***
November 6, 1995
“And no one has noticed?” Scott asked as he sat at a computer in the laboratory hidden under the church. He scrolled through the data files looking for anything that indicated a problem. Since the meeting they had with Luthor a few days ago, they’d continued running tests as he requested. Jay was handling all of that and leaving mountains of data for Scott to sift through.
“Not yet.” Across the room, Jay worked at another computer. “Um…I think we need to modify circuit 26A. This doesn’t look right.” Scott heard Jay moving around behind him and then set a box of circuit pieces next to him. Jay leaned over a piece of paper nearby and scribbled for a moment before handing over a crudely drawn schematic.
“How many more tests?” Scott took the paper and box and began piecing it together.
“Just a few,” Jay answered, sitting back down at the computer he’d been working on. “There are two scenarios I haven’t tested yet. One, replacing particularly traumatic memories, and two, replacing very long strands of memories. I’ve got a kid I’m rewriting the story of now. Going back a couple of years, replacing the memories and putting him in a new place.”
“Someone’s going to notice that,” Scott pointed out. His conscience didn’t like this part of his job. Not that everything he’d done the past years of his life was much better, but this was an innocent kid. There had to be a line somewhere.
“No, he’s a homeless runaway, been on the streets for years now.”
Scott breathed a small sigh of relief. “So, you’re helping him.” He smirked. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Jay rolled his eyes. “Keep that in mind when I ask this next thing.” Jay made his way to stand behind Scott, watching him work for a moment before asking, “Mind if I ask your sister out?”
“Uh…” Scott would be lying to say he didn’t see that coming. The looks they’d exchanged two weeks ago and the difference he saw in his sister since then was enough notice. Did he want his sister dating someone like Jay? Jay was smart at least and doing well for himself. Even with a sketchy background, he’d be able to support her. But he was getting ahead of himself, Jay just wanted to ask his sister out. Did he mind? “No?”
“Good,” Jay said as he clapped his hand on Scott’s shoulder, “because I’ve already met up with her twice and I got wind of this great little piano bar that is doing a Nat King Cole tribute tonight and I thought, since she’s a fan too, that she might like to go with me.”
Scott’s mouth opened in shock. They’d already seen each other? Why ask, then? He shook his head. His sister was not a child by any stretch of the imagination, but she’d always be his
little sister. Still, Jay seemed to be genuinely excited about this. “She’d …probably like that.” That much was true. “What time will you have her home?”
Jay laughed. “Does she have a curfew?”
“Er … no,” Scott said realizing what that sounded like. “We just have … a thing in the morning …”
“It’s okay,
Mr. Ferguson, I’ll bring her back before midnight.” Jay stood up straight with his hands clasped behind his back, nodding, as if he were a silly high school kid.
“See that you do.” Scott glared, but the goofy look on Jay’s face cracked his resolve and he laughed. He tossed the completed circuit to Jay. “Here’s your circuit.”
***
November 10, 1995
Scott stepped with Dr. Klein out of the elevator and onto the newsroom floor. Someone young and boisterous greeted Dr. Klein with a handshake and they began small talk that Scott didn’t pay any attention to. Instead, he made himself busy scanning the newsroom. He found one of his targets at a desk on the other side of the room.
Lois Lane was seated at the desk shuffling some papers. She took a sip of something that must have been offensive and then poured whatever it was into a very dead plant perched on the corner of what he could only assume was her desk. His eyes roamed the room again and spotted Clark Kent, leaning back in his chair at a desk facing hers, a speculative look in his eyes that were locked onto her as he stroked his chin.
Scott checked to make sure that Dr. Klein was still involved in his conversation with the kid. It sounded like they were discussing the intricacies of the internet and Scott was glad to have the opportunity to merely observe Lane and Kent before he would be present for the impending conversation. His job at this appointment was to sell the story, that Dr. Klein so easily believed, to Lane and Kent.
When he turned back to the newsroom below, he saw Kent determinedly walking toward Lane, but as he approached, he seemed to reconsider his confidence. He leaned closer to her and said something that caused her to smile. She stood up and gathered her things as she responded to whatever he said. He made some sort of gesture that made Lane – and Scott – stop completely.
Was that a
flying gesture?
Scott suppressed an amused laugh. Did he make these kinds of gestures regularly? If he did, Scott was sure it would be easy for anyone paying attention to figure out the man’s secret. They even shared the same face and hair, among other things.
The kid, whom Dr. Klein had introduced as Jimmy, led them around the edge of the newsroom toward the conference room. Once inside, Dr. Klein set his papers down on the table and began pacing. Scott went to the window and looked out at the goings on in the newsroom.
Scott rolled his eyes as he caught sight of Lane and Kent in a what could only be described as a tender embrace. Clark Kent seemed like a … goober. How on Earth did he catch someone like Lois Lane? Of course, he
was Superman. This was ridiculous…and Scott was a little jealous.
He saw Jimmy approach them and clear his throat. Thank goodness he interrupted when he did. They had almost had a chance to kiss, and from the way they’re eyes locked, Scott was sure they were about to. Kent rolled his eyes. Then, after Jimmy said something and pointed the folder he held in his hand in Scott’s direction, he looked directly at him. Jimmy walked off, no doubt to do something for someone and, to Scott’s relief, they finally released their embrace. Kent took her hand and whispered something in her ear before leading Lane to the conference room.
“What can we do for you, Dr. Klein,” Kent asked as they entered and closed the door behind them. Lane took a seat at the large table and Kent propped himself on the smaller shelf against the wall, leaving Dr. Klein to pace between them. Scott stood near the window he’d been looking through and they seemed to be oblivious to his presence.
“Forgive me for interrupting,” he began. Dr. Klein stopped his pacing to introduce him simply, “This is Scott. Lois. Clark.” Scott was caught off guard by this and merely held up his hand to wave. “I was hoping you’d be able to help me contact Superman,” Dr. Klein said with raised eyebrows.
“I can try,” Clark said, confirming Scott’s impression that the doctor did
not know of the superhero’s secret identity. Scott had wondered if Dr. Klein knew, but he’d merely told him that contacting these two reporters always got him in touch with Superman, so Scott played along. His own purpose to be on this visit with Lois and Clark was because he did know and needed to ensure things went according to the plan.
“What’s up?” Lois asked.
“We think we found Krypton.” Bernard Klein was not known for being subtle. Scott had learned this in a matter of days. Sometimes this was to everyone’s advantage, and sometimes it threw everyone for a loop. This time, it was the second.
“Krypton?” Lois nearly choked out. She stood up from her seat and moved to Clark’s side threading her arm under his and around his back. He put that arm about her waist but kept his eyes on Dr. Klein who had gone back to pacing back and forth in the small space.
“Mind you,” he began, “it’s no guarantee that it
is Krypton, but the nature of the object is such that it fits with the description Superman gave us of what happened that made … him leave …” He stopped abruptly and turned quickly to face them, blurting out, “It has kryptonite in its composition.” His hand flew to his mouth and he began chewing his fingernails and went back to pacing.
Lois and Clark exchanged a look before she asked, “When?”
“Just a few weeks ago,” Dr. Klein replied without any change in his pacing.
“What else can you tell us?” Lois asked though her eyes were focused on Clark.
“Why are you telling us?” Clark asked.
Dr. Klein began, accentuating his speaking with his free hand while still pacing. “Well, at first they weren’t planning on telling Superman … or anyone for that matter. I told them they should at least tell him but they said not until they were sure. They wanted more time, they said. I didn’t think that was reasonable. I mean, if I’d lost my home and there was a possibility of finding it …” he trailed off, his pacing slowing down a bit. He stopped again, this time with a sorrowful look in his eyes.
“Is there more?” Clark asked quickly. Lois appeared to be holding her breath while listening to this exchange.
“Yes,” Dr. Klein answered with a hopeful tone. “They are still collecting data and assimilating their information. The presence of kryptonite really got everyone excited. You should have seen it.” He smiled then and went back to pacing again.
“I’m sure it was great,” Clark finally said. He looked at Lois who lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. All this silent communication was cloying, and Scott looked away.
Scott silently chuckled at the doctor’s anxiety as he watched the man wear a path in the floor. It was time to take matters into his own hands. “We think there may be life,” Scott spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him. Scott waved a hand in Dr. Klein’s direction before continuing, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think he’d get to the point any time soon.”
“
Life?” Clark repeated, mouth dropping open. He let go of Lois and stepped closer to Dr. Klein.
“Yes!” Dr. Klein stated with a lift of his eyebrows. “Life! It’s about 38.6 percent possible. Not fully understanding how Kryptonian physiology reacts to the red sun and how kryptonite affects them under those conditions, we couldn’t be completely sure.” Dr. Klein went straight to the table and sat propping his elbows on the large table and placing his fingernails between his teeth. For a brilliant scientist, Dr. Klein certainly was juvenile in expressing his emotions. “It’s not my department, mind you, it’s Scott’s. But they asked me to head the team because I’ve worked with Superman before.”
“So, it
is possible…” The shock on Clark’s face spelled disbelief. But the inclusion of Dr. Klein in this plot was surely helping, that and the validity of the information. Dr. Klein had seen the data himself. Luthor was right – this was a very believable cover story.
“Scott, do you mind?” Dr. Klein looked up at him with pleading in his eyes. They’d discussed this before entering the Daily Planet. Scott was prepared with the details to explain what had happened.
“Not at all,” Scott began. “Based on the information we have so far, it seemed that when Krypton exploded, only about half of the planet must have been demolished. It appears that the smaller chunks were blasted quickly away mostly in the direction of the red sun, based on the movement of the remaining mass. It’s all conservation of momentum.” Scott paused and could see in their faces that only Dr. Klein had any interest in hearing more about that.
He trudged on, “That remaining mass, a substantial piece of the planet, is now moving in a much more elliptical path around the same sun. It is still in that habitable zone but changing its distance from the sun drastically over the period of its year. Now that we’ve discovered water there as well, we’ve been able to confirm that it could support life. As long as the explosion that propelled it off its course wasn’t too jarring to kill everyone on that part of the planet…” He let his words trail off.
Dr. Klein looked at him with a fascinated grin from his seat at the table, his hands fidgeting on top of his folders. Lois continued to lean on the shelf at the side of the room, contemplating this new information. And Clark stood motionless in the middle of the room, an unreadable expression on his face.
Had they bought it?
Clark was the first person to put words together. “What’s next?” he asked simply.
“Superman has to go,” Lois broke in. She stood up and walked to Clark.
While this was exactly the outcome Scott was hoping for, he was surprised it came from Lois, as was everyone else, judging by the confused looks they aimed at her.
“It would be a very risky thing,” Dr. Klein pointed out, “for him to traipse halfway across the galaxy on a 38.6 percent likelihood of finding someone he may not even be related to. The flight alone will require more from him than he’s ever had to give before. We’re talking a trip
light-years away. We don’t even know how fast he can travel, but it
won’t be a quick trip. And who knows what he’ll find there. Could be nothing.”
Scott fought the urge to roll his eyes. Dr. Klein’s tendency to run on and list out all the potential problems was not helping matters. Convenient when working on a million-dollar project with only one shot, but now it could potentially derail this part of the plan from working. But Scott was unsure of its effect because whatever Lois and Clark were discussing, they were doing it silently with their eyes.
“He’d likely need some amount of support,” Dr. Klein continued. “Remember what happened with Nightfall? Our communication devices would certainly have limits… What if once he’s far enough from our yellow sun he ends up … hungry??”
“Dr. Klein,” Clark interrupted, “I’m sure he’ll have plenty of time to think about these things.”
“Actually, due to our current position within the solar system, Superman will have to make this choice within the next eleven days or we’ll lose the ability to use the …” The look Clark was aiming at Dr. Klein stopped him. “Right. Eleven days.”
“Why don’t we give you guys some time to talk about it,” Scott put in. “With Superman of course. And you can get back to us as soon as possible?”
“Yes, that would be great,” Lois and Clark said at the same time.
***
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