Cat Grant walked down the steps to the lower floor of the newsroom and breathed in the atmosphere. It was a pleasing musk. Lois had recently made some small but noticeable progress in her therapy with Dr. Friskin, the outcome of which was a reporter who was just as focused and determined as she had been a few weeks ago but who smiled a little more easily and a little bit more often. Cat liked to think she’d helped lay the groundwork for those changes, but it was obvious that many of them were directly attributable to the new guy.
And speaking of the new guy, there he was at his desk.
In his brief few weeks on the job, Clark Kent had turned in quality work on time every time and on occasion had even gone beyond Perry’s initial parameters. He and Cat had kept to their agreement to remain professional, and he never referred to their romantic history except for the rare times when Cat or Lois alluded to it first. Even then he was never bitter or snarky. He was honest, hard-working, knew both his job and his craft, and had either brought in a number of Superman exclusives himself or had pointed Lois or Cat at them.
Come to think of it, more of those had gone to Lois than anyone else, including himself. It wasn’t as if he was tossing Cat bare bones, either. Lois was always positive about Superman in her stories but never quite openly worshipful. Cat liked to think she’d had a hand in that, too. Of course, the Superman stories Cat turned in were always high-quality work. Perry had told her so.
She sometimes wondered if the hero had anyone to whom he could unburden himself – and whether or not Cat was a candidate for the position. If things were to go that far, she might even rethink her choice not to be a mother to anyone’s children.
But that was awfully far down a road that probably didn’t exist, might never exist. Time to refocus.
She scanned the newsroom, looking for someone who needed a smile that morning. She had almost decided to go directly to Clark’s desk when she saw Jimmy Olsen put a thick folder onto Lois’ desk, then turn around and nearly run into the desk’s inhabitant. “Wups! Sorry, Lois, just dropping off that research you asked for.”
Lois reached out and lifted the folder. “Is this the water treatment plant, the garbage collectors’ fuel and vehicle mileage logs, or the state senator’s love nest?”
He frowned and put his hands on his hips. “It’s notes and statistics on all three stories, all randomly mixed together, no index markings or identifiers on any of the pages, just the way you like them.”
Before Lois could respond, Cat walked up behind her. “I saw the raw data, Lois. Jimbo did his usual good job, so don’t jump down his throat. He’s just yanking your chain.”
Lois took a deep breath, then said, “Sorry, Jimmy. I’m sure it’s all up to your usual standards of excellence.”
“And if it’s not you’ll shoot me in the leg, right?”
Cat guffawed and walked over to Clark’s desk, leaving Lois searching for a way to respond to Jimmy without shooting him or swearing at him. Cat had watched Lois’ first two weeks at work as she’d filled the newsroom’s cuss jar almost by herself until the redhead had taken the hard-edged rookie to lunch and explained that there were gentler ways of expressing herself without going bankrupt. The Army vet had used far fewer expensive words in her conversations ever since then.
It had been the beginning of a strong friendship.
As Cat walked away and drew the attention of nearly every man in the room, she heard Jimmy ask Lois if her sister Lucy Lane might go out on a date with him. Lois paused, then asked for the results of his last physical, a complete financial statement, tax returns for the last five years, and three positive references from former girlfriends. Cat glanced over her shoulder and almost laughed at his astonishment, then did laugh as Lois pointed an index finger as his nose and said, “Gotcha!” Jimmy gave her an almost-grin as she continued. “Seriously, Lucy’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions on dating or not dating you. Just don’t tell her I encouraged you to talk to her. That would scare her off for sure.”
Jimmy’s reply was lost in the room’s crosstalk. Cat sat on the edge of Clark’s desk and saw that he was reading an article on why some parents gave up their children for adoption. His body language told her that this was not a time for joking with him. “Looking for yourself or for a friend?” she asked gently.
He looked up at her and picked up a pen. “For a feature article I asked Perry for. And for myself, I guess.”
She reached out and touched his wrist. “Want to talk about it?”
He fidgeted for a moment, then said, “Yeah, maybe, I think I do.” He leaned back in his chair and pulled off his glasses to rub his face, then quickly put them back on. “I’ve known adopted kids whose new parents treat them as separate from the natural ones. Most foster kids – at least the ones who make it all the way through the system to age eighteen – spend a lot of time wondering why their biological parents gave them up. Were the kids too hard to handle? Did they come along at an inconvenient time? Did the parents just not care enough to keep them? If they’re lucky and get adopted, they often wonder whether the adoptive parents are sincere or just trying to score brownie points with their neighbors. Questions like that are always in the backs of their minds.”
He turned to face her directly. “The Kents are my adoptive parents, and I’m an only child. When I was about twelve or thirteen, they told me that some unmarried cousin from way west of Smallville – I got the impression she was in Idaho, although if I remember correctly they never actually said so – had had an affair with a married man, and since they couldn’t have any kids of their own, they were thrilled to take me in and share their name with me.”
Cat gave him a soft smile. “I bet they’re still thrilled.”
“That’s what they say.”
She tilted her head to one side. “You sound like you don’t quite believe them.”
He frowned for a moment, then his face lit up. “Do I? I didn’t mean to send that message. I believe them without reservation. They’ve always supported me and treated me as well as any other kid I’ve ever met. In fact, I’m kind of spoiled in the family department.”
She smiled brightly. “That’s great. Sounds a lot like my relationship with my folks.”
Clark’s mouth opened, but before he could reply, an unfamiliar voice from the elevator bank cried out, “Listen up, people! I have a federal warrant authorizing me to confiscate all computers and digital storage media at the Daily Planet.”
Perry popped out of his office as if shot from a cannon. He stepped in front of the group of black-suited men and tried to bar their way. “Hang on a minute! You can’t just barge in here like a pack of wolves and start issuing orders! This is a major newspaper!”
The reference to the “pack of wolves” was a deliberate signal to certain Planet employees. Cat, Lois, Karen, Eduardo, and Myerson all joined Perry in yelling at the men in black as Jimmy slipped to one of the terminals and entered a code, then a double password combination. Cat knew that the contents of the paper’s hard disks and any floppies in drives would be backed up to a secure server offsite, and the same on-line disks would be purged of all files in specific Planet sub-folders. Those employees not in the know joined the ones who knew the drill just on general principles, and together they created a cacophony of confusion which blunted the agents’ advance and appeared to confuse them. They must not be used to this kind of opposition, Cat mused.
If the federal invaders knew about the special backups, they would already have taken steps to block or terminate the process. If not, then they were either poorly prepared or poorly led, or both. It was even possible that they weren’t really Feds.
The man who seemed to be leading the agents tried yelling back at his tormenters to regain the upper hand, but when that didn’t work, he signaled to his men. They, in turn, spread out in a semicircle and pulled out their weapons. Each man jacked a shell into the breech of his pistol. The volume in the room decreased almost immediately.
Lois slowly reached for her purse – where her Beretta lay – but Jimmy intercepted her hand and held it. They engaged in a staring contest until Cat caught Lois’ eye and shook her head. Jimmy didn’t let go until Lois nodded microscopically and stepped away from her weapon.
The presumptive leader of the agents smiled condescendingly as the noise abated, then said, “Much better. As I was about to say, the alternative to our taking your computers and diskettes is for us to interview three of your people right here and right now.” He held out one hand, snapped his fingers, and a small piece of paper appeared in his hand. “I want to talk to Lois Lane, Catharine Grant, and Clark Kent.”
“Fine,” Perry said. “Just give me our copy of the warrant and we can get started.” Then other man glared at the editor, who finally shrugged. “That’s fine, too. No warrant, no search, no seizure, no interviews.” The man reached into his jacket again, and Perry barked out, “That’s not negotiable, mister! We get a copy or you get to ride the elevator back to the first floor!”
The man pulled another piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Perry, who did a quick visual comparison of the two documents. Finally he said, “This better stand up in court, buster, or you’re in for a boatload of bad publicity.”
*****
Cat lifted the Venetian blinds and peered into the newsroom from the conference room where they had been herded. “Nuts. I hate waiting.”
Clark had found a deck of playing cards in one of the desks and was flipping them one by one across the room into an otherwise empty trash can. “They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Cat slapped the blinds shut. “What the freak does that mean, anyway? Who said it?”
Lois surprised Cat by saying, “John Milton. It’s from a sonnet called ‘On His Blindness,’ refers to him having a legitimate function in the world despite losing his vision.”
Clark asked, “How did you know that?”
“Yeah, Lois, that’s not exactly common knowledge. Or the usual high school drivel.”
She settled back in her chair and smiled. “When I was taking my MOS security training, we had a private who hated waiting and doing nothing, just like you. One day the platoon sergeant ordered him to stand a twelve-hour guard post at a walk-in gate nobody used anymore. It was just his rotation, but he voiced his displeasure a little too loudly and the sergeant ordered him to memorize the sonnet by next day’s roll call.”
Cat waited for the rest of the story, and when Lois seemed disinclined to continue, she barked, “Don’t stop there! Did he recite the poem or not?”
Lois’ mouth twitched at the corners. “His alternative was to wash out of school, so yeah, he gave an impassioned performance the next morning.”
Cat chuckled with the other two, then turned to Clark. “Have you missed yet with any of those cards? Or are you using some kind of radar control to hit your target?”
He pulled a joker out of the deck and held it up for Cat and Lois to see. “Nah. Just showing off.” Then he flipped it at the trash can. The card hit the rim of the opening and fell to the floor. He smiled and shrugged.
Lois chuckled again, but Cat gave him a “You did that on purpose” glare. Before she could grill him on his accuracy with the cards or accuse him of showing off for Lois, the conference room door swung open and their boss slipped into the room.
Lois frowned at Perry. “Is that special job finished yet?”
He nodded. “About ten minutes ago. I’m sure glad Jimmy is on our side.”
Cat said, “Aside from that, what’s our legal status with these bozos?”
“Well, boys and girls, this guy – says his name is Jason Trask – tells me that what he really wants to do is polygraph the three of you.”
“All at once?”
Perry almost smiled. “I don’t think that would work, Clark. He says that if the three of you talk to him – individually, I’m sure – he won’t take our computers with him. As far as I’m concerned, it’s entirely your choice. I’ll back you no matter what you decide.”
Cat looked at Lois, who was wearing a grin which made her resemble a lioness guarding her kill. “Oh, I’ll talk to them, Perry,” Lois said.
Perry looked at her and shuddered. “I think we should let Cat go first. That is, if you’re willing.”
Cat crossed her arms, then nodded. “I’ll talk. They might not like what I say, though.”
“That’s up to you, too. How about you, Clark?”
He lifted one Spockian eyebrow. “You are making a logical error when you assume that either Catharine or Lois will leave them both willing and able to ask questions.”
*****
Trask stalked behind Cat and snapped out instructions. “You will sit still and breathe normally. For calibration purposes, you will answer ‘yes’ to the first two questions. Do you understand these instructions?”
She arranged her features angelically. “Yes.”
“Good. Is your name Catharine Grant?”
“Yes.”
“Are you the queen of Florida?”
“No.”
Trask growled softly. “You are supposed to answer ‘yes’ to the first two questions.”
“I did. The one about Florida was your third question.”
He let out an exasperated sigh and spoke to the machine’s operator. “We’ll start over. Answer ‘yes’ to my next two questions. Is your name Catharine Grant?”
“Yes.”
“Are you Superman’s lover?”
A lascivious grin spread over her face. “Oh, yes.”
He looked at the operator, who nodded. “Very well. Are you able to contact Superman at any time?”
“Only at our secret lover’s hideaway.”
Trask spun and leaned into her face. “You will answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to all my questions!”
Cat didn’t respond verbally.
“Why didn’t you answer me?”
“You didn’t ask me a question, you gave me an order.”
He grabbed her chair and turned it to face him. “Then answer this one. Are you able to contact Superman at any time?”
“Yes or no.”
“What?”
“You told me to answer ‘yes or no’ to all of your questions. You left out a preposition in your most recent instructions, by the way.”
Trask stood slowly. “Your level of cooperation will be duly noted. You can leave now.”
She jumped up and nearly pulled the machine off the desk where it was resting. “Wait!” yelled the operator. “I have to disconnect you!”
She stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Men! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to deal with you? First you can’t count the questions you ask. Then I tell you where I meet Superman and you don’t believe me. Next you yell at me for not answering when you don’t ask a question. Then you tell me how to answer and get mad when I answer the way you told me to! You might as well have asked me to make a ham sandwich for you!” She frowned and crossed her arms. “Typical man, doesn’t know what he really wants.”
Trask had the appearance of someone trying very hard not to lose his temper. After a long moment chewing on his lower lip, he forced out, “Please ask Mr. Kent to come in when you leave.”
“Fine! You two should get along very well. He doesn’t know what he wants either!”
She opened the door, stepped through, slammed it shut, and flounced to the conference room.
*****
Clark opened the office door and stepped into the office, then closed the door and stood where he was.
Trask pointed at the chair in front of the polygraph. “I hope you plan to be more cooperative than Ms. Grant was, Mr. Kent. Even if you don’t know what you want.”
Clark drew back. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Trask almost answered, then gritted his teeth and muttered, “Never mind. Just get in the chair.”
“No thank you.”
“What?”
“I believe that I was clear and succinct. I’ll repeat my response: No thank you.”
“What do you mean ‘no thank you?’ You don’t exactly have a choice!”
Clark crossed his arms. “Actually, I do. The results of a polygraph test can’t be admitted into any criminal court proceeding, only in some civil actions with lots of qualifications. I choose not to submit myself to this examination, especially without my attorney present.”
“You said you’d talk to me!”
“See me in front of you right now? This is me, talking. I did not say that I’d take a polygraph without my attorney present.”
“I’m with the government! You must obey any and all orders I give you!”
Clark lifted one index finger. “Only the lawful orders, Trask. And if I ask for my attorney to be present, you can’t question me further until my attorney arrives and we can have a private conversation. That one applies to both criminal and civil actions.”
“I’m only asking for information!”
“Fine. Ask away – when my attorney arrives.” Trask didn’t speak for a long breath, then he pointed to the chair. “Nope,” said Clark. “No attorney, no interview. You make the call.”
For a moment, Clark thought Trask might try to manhandle him into the chair. Fortunately the agent regained a semblance of control and yanked the door open instead. “Please send in Lois Lane.”
“Sure. Just be nice to her.”
Trask’s shoulder twitched and Clark thought he might throw a punch. Instead, he merely made a fist and stepped back stiffly.
*****
Lois had watched Cat do her ‘dimwit redhead’ walk out of the room, then saw Clark stride out after less than a minute. She didn’t think he’d even sat down.
Things were going just right for her.
So when Trask growled at her to take the chair, she did so silently. She crossed her arms as the operator picked up the blood pressure cuff for her arm.
“Um – Ms. Lane – you have to lift your left arm so I can – oh – oh my.”
The operator stepped back as Lois lifted her right hand and extended her middle finger at him. Trask, who was behind Lois and didn’t see the motion, asked, “What’s taking so long?”
“Ah – she – um – she – made a gesture at me.”
Trask moved to her right side. “Miss Lane, are you going to—”
When Lois extended her middle finger at him, Trask straightened and sighed. “That’s just great,” he snarled. “Why are you doing this?”
“See that glass jar on the file cabinet under the clock showing the time in Los Angeles?” Trask nodded. “That’s the cuss jar. If one of us uses foul language, we put a dollar a word in it. Pays for coffee and donuts.” She grinned at him. “I used to keep the coffee supplier in business. Couldn’t afford it, so now I just—” her finger extended again.
“Okay, we’ll play it your way. You wrote that Superman is a good guy, someone who wants to help.”
“Yeah, I remember doing that.”
“Is that what he told you?”
Up came the finger again.
He leaned closer. “How would you like for me to break that finger in three places?”
Lois’ eyes almost glowed and she spoke through gritted teeth. “I’d love to see you try, you son of – you son of a promiscuous chimpanzee.”
Before Trask could respond, another agent stepped into the room and blurted, “Perimeter is breached!”
Trask slapped the desk and snapped at the operator. “Pack up! We’re leaving right now.” To the agent who’d come in with the news about the perimeter, he snarled, “Get everyone together and get out as soon as you can. We’ll regroup at the rendezvous point.”
Lois sat still, wearing a thin smile, as the black-clad agents scrambled to leave. She noticed that not one computer was taken out of the newsroom, and she didn’t think any floppies walked out the door, either. It was either the worst-executed law enforcement operation she’d ever seen or these guys were not who they’d claimed to be.
Her training and experience told her that these guys were pros, just not cops of any kind. Their actions were those of well-trained and disciplined operatives. There had to be at least one weak link, but she hadn’t spotted him. And with the vocabulary they’d used, she strongly suspected that they were or had at some time been military personnel.
But there was no way they were following lawful orders.
*****
Perry gathered his trio of investigators and led them over close to the vending machines, where a feature of the room would partially mask their voices. Clark might not know about that little trick yet, but of the three, he was the least likely to raise his voice.
“First of all, gang, good job on stonewalling those James Bond wannabees. I heard them talking among themselves before they left, and you cooperated just enough to give them hives.” He allowed an evil grin to flash on his face. “And they were ever mad, all of them. You’ll have to let me know exactly how each of you got under their skin.”
Cat grinned. “As soon as we take them down, Chief.”
“I look forward to it. Now for the not-so-good news. They—”
“Were total fakes,” Lois finished for him. “I bet you don’t have any real idea who they are, do you?”
Clark’s eyes widened in respect. “How’d you know? Never mind, you’ll tell me later. Is Lois right, Perry?”
“Yep. Nobody – not the FBI, CIA, NSA, or any other alphabet soup agency – had any idea these guys were coming to visit little ol’ us. Or why they showed up at our door. I talked to one agency that doesn’t have any letters to identify it, and even they were surprised. Usually nothing gets past those characters.”
“So what does this mean for us?” Cat asked.
“Means the three of you are in various undetermined levels of danger,” Perry answered. “You’ve got to disappear for a while, maybe one day, maybe a week, until I get a better handle on these morons.”
“How about Clark and Lois come stay with me? I have that spare bedroom and a foldout couch.”
“No, Cat, that’d be puttin’ all our fish in one barrel. All three of you can’t stay in the same place. You’ll have to split up. Keep your beepers in arm’s reach, and you girls keep your guns handy but don’t shoot anyone if you can possibly avoid it. Now go decide where you’re gonna stay and don’t tell anyone here where you are, me included. That way we can’t lie about it.”
With that, the editor abruptly spun and stalked away. Clark looked at Cat, who shrugged and said, “I guess I can stay with Mayson Drake for a few days. If she doesn’t have room, she ought to have a safe house somewhere. And I think I left some of my clothes over there the last time we did something like this.”
Lois nodded. “Good. Take your Glock with you, or borrow a weapon from Mayson. And I think you should drive the Buick tonight. The Porsche is too conspicuous.”
“What about you?” asked Clark.
“I have an idea about that, assuming you think it’s a good idea too.”
*****
Clark decided once again that he liked Lois’ idea of hiding in plain sight, especially since they’d be hiding together.
He set her down just inside the Lexor’s bridal suite. Wearing a stone-faced blank expression, the young bellhop asked, “Would you like for me to unpack your suitcases for you?”
Lois giggled and wrapped herself around Clark’s right arm. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you. We probably won’t need everything we brought.”
Clark’s face colored and he stage-whispered, “Dear, I think we need to work on our boundaries, okay?”
The bellhop shook his head without changing expression. “Don’t worry, sir. I’m Sergeant Schultz – I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing. Oh, we usually present a complimentary bottle of champagne to newlywed couples. Would you like yours now, later this evening, or some time tomorrow afternoon?”
Clark extricated his arm from Lois’ grip, then pulled out his wallet and extracted several dollar bills. “One of these has a buddy with the number twenty printed on it, along with Andrew Jackson’s face. If you’ll bring that bottle up here around two PM tomorrow, those friends can be reunited.”
The bellhop nodded and took the bills Clark offered him without a flinch. “Yes, sir, two o’clock it is. The TV schedule and remote are in front of the screen, and there are complimentary terrycloth robes in the main closet. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“And not before, right?” bubbled Lois.
“No, ma’am, not before.” With that, he walked out of the suite and gently closed the door.
Lois grabbed her overnight bag and all but sprinted to the bathroom. She laughed and called out, “See you in a few minutes, honey. Don’t start without me!”
Clark glanced through the door to see the bellhop enter the elevator at the far end of the hallway. For a moment, he thought about signaling Lois that the youth was still there, but his sense of self-preservation asserted itself and he knocked on the bathroom door. “We’re alone now.”
The door opened and Lois walked out wearing sweats. “Good. I was beginning to think he’d never get the hint.”
“I don’t think he – what are you doing?”
She pulled a black teddy out of her bag, crumpled it up between her hands, and threw it at an empty corner of the room. “Now if someone comes in unexpectedly, it’ll look more like we’re really newlyweds. Oh, you might want to toss a pair of pajamas on the floor.”
“I’ll throw mine on top of yours and they can make little thongs.”
That almost-grin reappeared on her face. It was much smaller than the one she’d worn to fool the bellhop, but it was far more honest. “You do have a sense of humor, don’t you, Kent?”
“Are you telling me that I’m trying too hard?”
She sat in an overstuffed chair and leaned back. “Who, me, the blushing bride?”
He decided it was time to change the subject before they wandered too far into unknown territory. “It’s seven-twenty in the evening,” Clark said. “If we turn on the TV after your earlier performance, we risk blowing our cover. No one would believe that you’d force your husband to wait to consummate the marriage. What would you like to talk about?”
“Hmm. I think – yes. I want to know a bit more about you. Specifically, I want to know about your travels overseas after you got your degree. And if you’re comfortable telling me, I want to know why you wandered so much.”
He sat on the end of the bed and looked at the floor. After a long minute, he said, “Okay. I’ll tell you why I wandered so much, as long as you remember that, as Gandalf the Grey told Frodo, not all who wander are lost.”
Her expression remained serious and she nodded. “Copy that.”
He thought for a moment, then said, “It’s because I never found a place I could call home. I know I’m always welcome in Smallville, but I wasn’t comfortable as a farmer or a part-time editor-slash-reporter at the town paper. Most of my stories were about crops or emergencies like fires or floods. Once I got to report on a tornado that tore up a few fields and a barn, but it was always local stuff. I wanted – I still want to be a part of the important action and make a significant difference, not compare the number of goats born in April over the ones born over the same time period for the last five years.”
Lois’ voice softened. “So you went looking for a place to call your own.” He looked up at her and nodded. “Have you found it yet?”
He tilted his head to one side. He felt his eyes brighten and he said, “I think so, yes.”
She shifted in the chair and crossed her ankles. “Did you find it in a geographical place or a person?”
“A combination, I think. I enjoy working at the Planet, with almost everyone in the newsroom—”
“Almost everyone?”
He suddenly tasted spoiled lemon juice. “If Ralph has any redeeming features, I’ve yet to identify them.”
They shared a chuckle. “Anyone in particular you enjoy working with?”
“Yes, actually. I really like investigating with you and Catharine. You’re very good doing hard news, she’s slippery and sneaky, and between the two of you, the bad guys don’t stand much of a chance.”
From her chair, Lois dipped her head in a very slight bow. “Thank you, sir. You know, you’re not bad with the touchy-feely stuff. You find angles that I don’t even consider and that Cat might skip over to get to the victim’s throat. You’re a good balance to the team, and so far you’re pulling your weight without being all macho about it.”
“I’m scared to try it around you. I might get beaten to a pulp.”
Lois waved her hand dismissively. “I’m more bark than bite, Clark.”
“Not sure that’s true, but for the sake of my intact skin I’ll let it pass.”
“Smart move.” She shifted position and said, “You haven’t found a woman to share your life either, have you?”
His mouth opened in surprise and he looked away, then said, “No. Not yet.”
“I’d guess that’s one of the things you’ve been looking for.”
“If she’s out there, she hasn’t let me know about her yet.” He paused and took a deep breath, then exhaled through his nose and decided to open up to her a little. “I was a world traveler after I got my degree. I learned ballroom dancing from a Nigerian princess. I lived with a tribe of Australian aborigines for three months to get a story on them, and a girl from Melbourne who was working on her doctorate in native cultures stayed with me. I worked on a deep-sea fishing boat one fall with a woman in Massachusetts. I spent five months with a woman in Argentina who introduced me to a tribe who claimed to be direct descendants of the Mayans. And I got roped into living with a rich banking family in Mexico City who had a daughter they wanted me to marry.”
Lois almost smiled. “You’ve had a hard life, Kent.”
“Every one of those women wanted me to share their beds. I never slept with any of them.”
“Excuse my curiosity, but – why not?”
“Simple. I didn’t want to repopulate the planet.”
This time she did smile. “Ever have any problems with those women or their families?”
He sighed. “Yes. Most of them accused me of disappointing them. At least two of them thought I was gay. One very delicately asked if I were impotent.”
“I take it that you’re neither gay nor impotent?”
“No. You can ask Catharine if you doubt me.” He paused while she snorted daintily. “Oh, I forgot to mention the two young women in Smallville who had a fistfight over me in the middle of town.”
They shared another soft laugh, then Clark asked, “May I ask you a question?”
“I reserve the right to decline to answer, but you can ask.”
“Thank you. Please don’t take offense at this, but I’ve been wondering how you injured your knee.”
Lois went still and Clark opened his mouth to withdraw the question, but she lifted one hand, looked away, filled her lungs, then exhaled deeply.
“It’s not a pretty story.”
“I didn’t expect it to be.”
She looked at him, then away again. “Screwy as this may sound, I think I can trust you with this. Not many people know all the details.” She shifted position, then added, “Cat knows most of it.”
“I’m honored.”
She turned and gave him a sharp glance, but seemed satisfied that he was sincere. “You know I was in the Army, right?” Clark nodded. “I was an E4 – a Specialist, something like a sergeant but in a different level in the chain of command – with dual training in security and field medicine. I was assigned to a forward fire base in the Middle East as support for the garrison stationed there. My CO tasked me to help provide security and medical support for a supply convoy. It was the same kind of mission I’d done a couple of weeks earlier, the one where Sarah Ferguson was shot.”
Clark nodded again. “I interviewed her in Germany. She said the medic who treated her saved her life, but she couldn’t remember the medic’s name. Her doctor told me it was a kind of short-term traumatic amnesia, common in people who suffer life-threatening injuries.”
“I didn’t know she told anyone that. I’m just glad she made it.” Lois closed her eyes in a long blink, then took another deep breath and continued. “Sarah came away from that action with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. The mission where she was wounded was a lot like the one where I – I got hit. Up to a point, anyway.
“Things were quiet for most of the trip until we got to the last turn. Then it seemed like every machine gun in the city started firing at us at once.” Lois touched a spot on the outside of her right leg immediately above her knee. “As I was hauling people into our Hummer, I caught a round right here. It was a 5.56 NATO round, about the same size as our .223 round in the M-16. I really shouldn’t have moved once I got inside.”
It was Clark’s turn to speak gently. “But you did anyway.”
“Yeah. I – uh – I looked up as someone fired through the windshield, I think it was a heavy machine gun, and I saw both drivers get hit at almost the same moment. I knew the main driver was already dead and the one in the other seat grabbed his chest and slumped forward. Everyone else was yelling or shooting or both, and we were the lead vehicle and we were blocking the road, so without thinking about it I gave myself a morphine shot and somehow got into the driver’s seat. The engine was still running, so I threw it in gear and led the other two vehicles back to base.
“They told me I passed out as soon as we cleared the gate and I turned off the engine. I don’t remember that part, though. My counselor says that I might never remember it, and if I don’t that’s okay. Might be the best thing for me. Another case of traumatic amnesia, I guess.” She turned in the chair to face away from him. “My next memory is being on a C-130 flying over the Mediterranean and going straight to surgery after we landed in Germany. I started physical therapy the next day. Then I got my Purple Heart and a Silver Star.” She dropped her chin onto both fists and trembled slightly, then said, “We lost five good men on that patrol, three dead and two badly wounded. I was lucky – I got to keep my leg. It was touch and go for a few days, but that bullet ended my military career. I have a really nice puckered scar on my leg, and I can only walk or run so far before my leg gives out. The three who died and the two others who were hit weren’t so lucky.”
He reached out and touched her wrist. “I’m sorry you went through that, Lois. It had to have been awful.”
She waited for a few seconds, then leaned back out of reach. He didn’t follow. “Thanks,” she said. “Just – just don’t try to fix me, okay? I have a pro working on that.”
He shook his head. “First day we met, I told you I wasn’t a physical therapist. I’m not a psychologist, either. I wouldn’t have any idea how to fix somebody who’s been through combat.”
She nodded. “Good. I mean, good that you won’t try to fix me.”
“Promise. Hey, how did you get a job at the Planet? Given your educational background, I mean.”
“I flirted with Perry at my interview.” She grinned and shook her head. “Just kidding. In between and during my base assignments, I took enough college courses to earn an Associate’s degree in journalism. I met the experience requirements with the pieces I got published in the Army papers and the ones I sold as a freelancer.”
“Sounds a little like what I went through for my experience, just without the military service.” He stood slowly. “I’ll take the couch tonight. You take the bed, which I’m sure is much more comfortable.”
“Thanks.” She stood, then picked up her bag and moved toward the bedroom. “Thanks for not calling me a hero, too.”
He tilted his head to one side. “Why is that? I mean, you sound like you don’t want the label. But why not?”
She stopped near the doorway but didn’t look back at him. “Because I was just doing my job. And because the damage that bullet did forced me out of the Army.” She took a deep, shuddering breath, then said, “I wasn’t planning on an appointment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but I did want to leave the Army on my own terms. I didn’t get that chance.”
“And now you’re a reporter. A very good one, too.”
“I try.” She gave him a hollow-eyed glance over her shoulder. “And even us very good reporters need rack time.”
“Rack time?”
“Sleep. Good night, Clark.”
“Sleep well, Lois.”
*****
Clark’s pager went off the next morning just before eight o’clock. He managed to turn it off before it woke Lois, but it didn’t matter because hers went off before he knew where to look for it. He heard her talking to Perry on the cell phone.
She walked into the front room of the suite fully alert and holding the phone open. “It’s Perry. He’s got something for us.”
He looked over her shoulder at the last number called display. “Same number as on mine. I’ll call in while you get dressed.”
She handed him the phone. “I’ll be ready in five.”
Clark dialed the number on the beeper display. “Chief? It’s CK.”
“Kent. Good. Did you and Lois stay at the same place last night?”
“Yes.”
“Then come in to the paper with her. The warrant that idiot flashed at us yesterday was as phony as an Elvis impersonator. This guy has no idea how much hurt he’s pullin’ down on himself.”
“Who would risk so much using a phony search warrant? And why?”
“It’s your job to work that out, Kent. I’ve already called Cat. Be ready to start on this thing when you come in.”
“Will do, Chief. We’ll get there as soon as we can.”
“Then stop jawin’ and start gettin’!”
Lois opened the bathroom door as Clark closed the flip phone. “It’s back to the salt mines for us.”
“That’s what he told me,” she said. “Perry wants us in the office ten minutes ago.”
“I’m sure glad we’re on his side. I bet he’s madder than a cat whose tail was just stepped on.”
“Sounds like something he’d say. You hit the head while I pack our clothes.”
“Do we charge the room to the Planet?”
“I’ve got a special credit card Perry lets us use if we need to stay off the grid. If anyone tries to track it back to the corporate owner, they’ll end up finding a non-existent dummy corporation.”
“Smart, especially if the story moves as fast as this one.”
She gave him a hard stare. “You just finish getting dressed ASAP, Kent. And don’t yell at me if your skivvies aren’t folded on the crease. We’ve got work to do.”
“Will do. Hey, what about our cover? Wouldn’t the happy newlyweds be sleeping late?”
She paused in the bedroom doorway. “If anyone asks, you’re a cheating louse and I’m getting an annulment.”
He waited until she left the front room before calling to her and saying, “Why is it always my fault?”
Her voice echoed from the next room. “Ask all those women who went after you that question, Kent. I’m sure they’ll each have a really good answer.”
