FDK goes here.

Next post: Thursday [will likely include epilogue ]

Chapter 18 Preview
Thanks .
Carol [who is almost done editing OTOH *again* and then can send it off to betas [yes parts of it need betaing again :p ] and then Labby]

Stupid Trask, he'll never learn, will he. Apparently not, since he doesn't know those big words! :p Well, from the preview we know Clark's not dead so now we wait! I do like the crawlways to the shelter.

Great part. Love the idea of secret passages
Thanks for the definitions. I'm afraid I needed a couple of them.

ooh - trask strikes again. love how you tied him in to growing up in smallville and having an agenda...love the kissing too!

I love how incredibly happy and relieved Lois was when she saw that Clark was alive. There can be no doubt that she loves him now, can there?

But hey, where is Rachel Harris when you need her?

Ann

Great beginning wrap-up. I loved the underground railroad reference.
Keep it coming!

Artemis

*yay* Happy ending is just a part away.

You know, Carol, I was scared during the green-K references. One can never know just how far a pregnant Lois is from those nasty glowy things

This was really great. It was really engaging and creative how you brought in the elements of the Underground Railroad and Trask's upbringing. The name-calling got a little over the top, but what can you do.

Okay, I have to jump in here and admit that I found the verbal thumping of Trask by Jonathan out of character. Jonathan strikes me as a talk-softly-take-action kind of guy, even with someone he hates. It's true that Jonathan is smarter than a bigot like Trask assumes, but I don't think he'd feel the need to show off about it. If he's stepping out of character in order to distract Trask or rile him up so that he makes a mistake, I think that needs to be made more explicit.

Now, Lois. You've watched enough Ivory Tower and read enough trashy romances. Don't you realize that what a guy says when under the influence is *more* likely to be what he really feels, not less? So take the guy at his word. He loves you! He wants to stay married! Get a clue!

Looking forward to the last part.

Wow poor Clark. Well I hope the next scene is sort of like the show and that Trask is dead. Nice vocabulary lesson. Laura

I, too, thought it was just a little embarrassing that Jonathan called Trask all those names. I thought Jonathan was demeaning himself by talking that way. Then again, what can you do? What could Jonathan do? He couldn't just lie down and die, so he had to oppose Trask somehow. And he didn't have many options. Yes, I wish Jonathan could have put up a more dignified fight, but I don't blame him for not coming up with anything better.

I find it harder to understand why Trask didn't kill Clark and Jonathan right away, when he had them at his mercy. A man like Trask is paranoid and wants to cleanse the Earth from aliens as soon as possible, so why wait? I can see that Trask thought that he might lure Lois out of hiding by leaving Clark alive for a while and using him as a bait, so that Trask could kill Clark's offspring, too, not just Clark himself. But if I were Trask, I think I would consider myself capable of finding and killing a scared pregnant woman, and I would regard her husband as a bigger threat. If I were Trask, I would find it more logical to kill Clark right away and maybe leave him lying on the ground where Lois could see him, which may lure her out just as effectively.

But then again, I'm certainly not asking Carol to put on her Spock ears and have Trask kill Clark and Jonathan right away just because that would be more logical!

Ann

How can you possibly wrap this up in one part? Unless, of course, there's a sequel down the line...

I'm interested to see what the ending brings!

Amber

/me waves

Hey all! Here we go!

Karen - no Trask never learns... Would I really kill off Clark?!

Games - hehe - I had use the thesaurus to make sure I got good words...

Sarah - Thanks .

Ann - Rachel? Why would Rachel be there?

Artemis - thanks! Not sure where the inspiration came from but Cat helped reassure me it was reasonable .

Michael - But if I'd done that 14 or so chapters ago there wouldn't have been a story .

Amy - will see a bit of the explanation for that later.

HappyGirl - Well [and maybe this wasn't clear], he was being held at gunpoint - what else was he supposed to do?

Laura - thanks.

Ann - just curious - how exactly does one put up a dignified fight with a maniac with lots of guns? Trask didn't kill Clark right away on the show either. Here at least, he also thought that Superman had taken over Clark's boday - my thinking is that he doesn't think killing Clark will kill Superman, he'll just find a new host but if Clark's body dies [from Superman's continued weakening by K] then that's different. Not sure if it makes any logical sense but Trask isn't exactly logical .

Amber - Nope, no sequel planned, but an epilogue...

There's a couple areas that need tweaked on the next part so will do that then post .

Thanks again!
Carol

Well, I can't think of a way! Which is what I was trying to say, I guess...

Ann

Hehe - sounds good to me then .