Degrees of Separation: 5/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Ally, take a deep breath. Why do you think I'm Superman?"
She started to wring her hands again. "Because you're like Ben and me. And Marta and CJ are, too. And so are Linda and Valerie, and your littler kids. Marta and the younger ones can't have come from -- from the New Kryptonians. That means you have to be Superman, because he's the only Kryptonian left on Earth."
Clark held up a hand. "But why do you think I -- and they -- are Kryptonian, Ally?"
"I can ... I can tell. You *feel* different from regular people to me. Just like Ben did."
Clark took a second to digest that. His brain was working furiously, stringing together what he knew or had guessed about Allynda and her brother. Allynda was most likely the daughter of a Kryptonian noble: Nor, and she must have the same mental sense as Linda Lennox. It was the only explanation.
The possible implications of that were something he didn't have time to consider right now. It was, however, obvious that a denial wasn't going to be believed. Besides, Superman didn't lie -- especially to a half-Kryptonian child who badly needed his help.
He nodded slowly. "Yes, Ally. I'm Superman."
**********
And now, Part 5:
Clark mounted the steps toward the Myers apartment for the second time in two days. Allynda glanced nervously at him and he gave her a reassuring smile.
Mrs. Myers must have been watching for them, for the door opened as they reached it and Clark stood aside to let Allynda enter first. He smiled at Tanya Myers as he followed her daughter into the house.
"I needed to talk to you after what happened this afternoon," he said. "And I wanted to let you know what I've done since yesterday concerning your son."
Tanya nodded, but she turned to look at Ally. "The school called me. You were in a fight?"
"It wasn't Ally's fault," Clark said. "There are three girls who go to the school, who have been constant troublemakers --"
Tanya Myers motioned him to a chair, while he went on to explain the circumstances that led up to the fight. "Ally had no choice but to fight back," he explained. "Those girls have pretty much terrorized the children at Metro Elementary for years, and now seem to think that they can carry on the same way at the middle school. They've been suspended from school for the time being after this attack on Marta, Ally and Maria, and they're facing criminal charges. This has been an ongoing problem, and it has taken a lot of effort to get the school district to even recognize that the problem was serious. I think this incident was their first real clue that they can't afford to ignore it any longer. Ally stood up for Marta, and I'm grateful to her."
Tanya nodded slowly. "In that case, I guess I'm glad Ally was there. I'd like to meet your daughter."
"My wife wanted me to ask you and Ally to dinner on Friday," Clark said.
Tanya Myers hesitated. "I don't want to impose --"
"You're not imposing," Clark said. "We like to get to know the families of our children's friends. Besides, we may be working more closely together in the near future. I'd like to update you on what I've managed to do, so far, in the search for your son."
He summarized briefly what he and Jim Olsen had accomplished that day. "Jim got hold of his father, who works for a government law enforcement agency, and we were also wondering if you'd mind if we started circulating the age-corrected picture of Ben, and of his father. Your ex-husband won't have any idea that there's a hunt specifically for him, and it might make it more difficult for him to hide. Someone might recognize him and call in a tip."
Tanya Myers hesitated and then nodded. "Why not?" she said. "My private detective sure hasn't turned up any results."
"I wanted to ask about that," Clark said. "Could you give me the name of the detective you hired, and his business address?"
"I suppose so." Tanya got to her feet and went to her purse, where it sat on the kitchen counter. She rummaged for a moment and then returned to Clark, extending a small, white card to him.
"Thank you." Clark took the card and got to his feet. "So, can I tell Lois that you and Ally will be having dinner with us on Friday?"
"I suppose so," Tanya said.
"Good. We usually eat dinner about six, but if you're held up at work, having it a little later won't be a problem." He smiled at Allynda. "Lois and I like Ally very much," he said. "You should be proud of her."
"I am," Tanya said.
Clark said goodbye and departed. As soon as he was out of sight of the Myers apartment, he stepped into a secluded area sheltered by a row of rather scraggly bushes, and, an instant later, Superman touched down in front of the door to Ally's apartment. He knocked lightly and waited.
**********
The conversation, earlier that afternoon in the Kent den, had gone a little differently than he had anticipated. After his admission that he was Superman, Allynda nodded matter-of-factly. "I knew you had to be," she said. "Can you help me?"
"It depends on what you want me to do," Clark said.
Ally bit her lip. "I don't know exactly," she said. "But --"
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Clark suggested gently. "You say you can tell if someone is Kryptonian."
She nodded again. "They *feel* different. It's hard to explain."
"How did you know that's what you are?"
She shrugged. "I figured it out after a while," she said. "I started hearing things. At first I thought I was going crazy. I could hear people talking that weren't anywhere nearby. And then I started seeing things -- seeing through things, and then --"
"I guess it was kind of frightening, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, a lot." She clasped her hands in her lap. "It started right after Dad ran away with Ben and me. And then, just before I got away, it started to happen to Ben, too. We could hear all kinds of things I guess Dad didn't know we could. But after I got away, more things started happening to me."
"Hold up a minute," Clark said. "Let's take this a step at a time. You started to get super hearing before Ben. That's normal. The powers come in about the time you start into puberty, and that happens to girls before it does to boys. But how did you figure out that they're Superman's powers?"
"I guess I know as much about Superman as most people," she said. "After I got away, and back with Mom, more things started happening to me. I started to see through walls, and after a while I started to get faster than I'd ever been. I read as much about Superman as I could find -- in your newspaper, and online. I found out I could do a lot of the things Superman could do, only not as much. And I read the stuff about the New Kryptonians, and Lord Nor, how they came here and tried to take over, and how Superman led some other New Kryptonians against them, and fought Lord Nor to make them leave. I do a lot of reading," she added. "Mom always took Ben and me to the library, and helped us learn to read, and stuff. I read lots of history and science --" She gulped. "I realized what must have happened to Mom. One of the New Kryptonians must have --"
Clark stopped the flood of words with an uplifted hand. "You were right," he said quietly. "And it didn't happen just to your mom."
She took a rather shaky breath. "I figured that out after while. I knew Ben 'felt' different to me than other people. Then, I met Marta, and I knew she was like me. And Valerie Henderson, and CJ and the rest. When I met you it took me a little while, but it made sense that you must be Superman -- especially after I met him today. I thought maybe you could help me find Ben. That guy Mom hired isn't doing any good, and I don't trust him. Ben's like me, and --"
Again, Clark held up a hand. "I'll do my best," he said. "But first you need to learn to control what you can do. Would you like some help?"
She nodded vigorously. "I figured out a lot," she said. "I know how not to hurt people, and I can keep from hearing all the sounds, all the time. Nothing hurts me, much, either. But there's a lot I don't know how to do, and if I do something wrong I could cause a lot of damage. Like the time I set the garage on fire last year, at our old house, before we came here. They put it out, but I don't want to do that again!"
"I don't blame you," Clark said. "I set a haystack on fire when I was about your age. It scared me so much I hid in my room for two days until my dad made me tell him what the matter was." He regarded her thoughtfully. Allynda was obviously very intelligent if she had worked all this out on her own. Fortunately, she also seemed to be someone who could keep things to herself.
Speaking of which....
"I'm going to take you home at seven, and I'll let your mom know what I've done so far about Ben," he said. "I guess you haven't told her about me?"
Allynda shook her head vigorously. "She doesn't even know I know about *me*."
"I'd appreciate it if you don't tell her. The more people who know Clark Kent is Superman, the more likely it is that the secret will become generally known, and then my family would be in danger."
"I know. I don't want people to know about me, either."
"Well, once you learn a few more things about yourself, you may be able to help me locate Ben," he said. "I can teach you what you need to know -- or, rather, Superman can. But he'll have to get your mother's permission. Is that all right with you?"
Allynda bit her lip. "I guess so. I guess it has to be okay, huh?"
"Well --" Clark smiled sympathetically. "You could keep on trying to do it on your own, like I did, but I don't recommend it."
She smiled back. "I guess I'll go with asking for help."
"All right. Superman will come by after I've talked to your mom, and we'll get down to business."
**********
Tanya Myers opened the door and her eyes widened as she realized who her visitor was. Clark smiled at her. "Mrs. Myers?"
"Yes," she said, a little warily.
"Allynda may have mentioned that I met her today."
Tanya nodded. "Yes, she did."
"May I come in?"
Allynda's mother seemed to gather her wits. "Yes, please."
"Thank you." Clark entered the apartment, smiling at Allynda. "Hello, Ally."
"Hello, Superman," Ally said.
Tanya glanced at her daughter and back at Superman. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not wrong. I needed to speak with you about Ally."
Tanya looked down and then back at him. She swallowed and lifted her chin. "Won't you sit down?"
"Thank you." Clark took a seat.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"No, thank you." Clark leaned forward. "Mrs. Myers, I'd like to tell you and Ally a story."
"A story?"
"A true story." Clark leaned back, trying to look relaxed. "Why don't you sit down, too. This is fairly important."
Tanya hesitated and then took a seat across from him. Clark began to speak.
"Three years ago, a government agency came to my attention. They were involved in what I would call a witch-hunt. They were searching for children who were born approximately nine months after the New Kryptonian invasion."
Tanya's brows rose. "Children?"
"Yes," Clark said. "Children. These people -- who were, as far as I know, rogue agents that were not sanctioned by our government -- believed that, as a result of the invasion, there were children being born that were half-Kryptonian. They believed that these children were intended to infiltrate the human population of Earth and prepare it for an alien takeover."
"That's ridiculous!" Tanya said.
"Well," Clark said, "I think so, and so do a number of other people that I call my friends and colleagues. Anyway, these agents had kidnapped one of the children in question with the intention of dissecting her, to learn how her body functioned. Fortunately, the situation came to the attention of one of the people I mentioned and he alerted me. Between us, we were able to expose the group. Apparently, the organization has been around for several decades, having been formed back during the Cold War. They were intended to protect the world from the possibility of alien invasion. Initially, they targeted me when I first announced my presence on Earth. After Lois Lane and Clark Kent of the Daily Planet exposed them, they vanished for some time only to resurface three years ago with this project. You may have read something about it in the Daily Planet, although there was a good deal that couldn't be published."
"What does this have to do with me?" Tanya Myers asked.
"Mrs. Myers," Clark said quietly, "the problem is that Bureau 39 was correct about one thing. There *are* a number of half-Kryptonian children on Earth. It seems that Kryptonians are more closely related to humanity than many would like to think. There are Kryptonian-human hybrids that came into being because of the invasion and the behavior of the invaders, although there is no grand conspiracy among them to conquer the Earth. I believe I've found most of them and am searching for the others. I doubt there are many, but I'm personally training the ones I've located to use their abilities so they don't become a danger to those around them. I think you would agree that it's necessary for people with such power to know how to control it."
"But --"
"One fact that isn't generally known," he continued, "is that Kryptonians are telepathic among their species, and some of them have even greater extra-sensory powers. One of the children that I am training is in that group. She can sense other Kryptonians. Now we've found a second one with the same power." He looked at Allynda.
Tanya Myers also looked at her daughter. "But Ally doesn't have any super powers," she said. Her voice had begun to shake.
"I'm afraid she does," Clark said quietly. "Allynda is half-Kryptonian."
There was silence in the room for a long moment. Tanya had closed her eyes. At last, she spoke. "I hoped that she wasn't," she whispered. "Morris and I were engaged to be married --"
"No one can blame you for what happened," Clark said as gently as possible. "No human could have prevented one of them from doing anything he wanted. You were smart enough, and lucky enough, to survive. That was what mattered."
Tanya looked at her daughter, and scrubbed a hand across her eyes. "I'm sorry, Ally. I should have told you. But I hoped --"
"It's okay, Mom," Ally said. "I figured it out a couple of years ago."
Clark waited, while Tanya Myers obviously took control of herself. At last, he spoke again. "What I need to ask you, Mrs. Myers, is for permission to teach Allynda how to control her abilities. She's already learned some things on her own, but it will be much easier for her if she can have some instruction before she inadvertently causes an accident and hurts someone, or reveals to everyone that she's super-powered."
Tanya blew her nose on a tissue, wiped her eyes again, and drew a deep breath. "I guess there really isn't a choice, is there?" she said.
"Well, she could try to learn on her own, but it will be a lot easier, and more importantly, safer for her if I teach her what she needs to know," Clark said.
Tanya smiled shakily. "Teach her," she said. "I want my daughter to be safe."
"Thank you," Clark said. He paused. "My friend, Clark Kent, told me about your son. You might like to know that I'm going to be involved in the search for him. Since he's Ally's twin, the chances of him being super-powered are pretty high. He has to be found."
"Do you think you can?"
"I think we have a pretty good chance," Clark said. "I'll do my best, anyhow. And we'll try to keep you updated on what we're doing."
"Thank you," Tanya said. She stood up. "Superman --"
Clark also rose. "Yes?"
"I'd like to thank you, just once, for what you did for us."
"Thank me? Why?"
"I know a lot of other people have already thanked you, but I'd like to say thank you, personally, for saving us from the New Kryptonians. I've wanted to ever since it happened, but I didn't know how to -- to contact you. They were terrifying. And Nor was a monster. You were nearly killed, but you fought him and defeated him. You don't know what that meant to me, to see him brought down."
Clark thought he probably had some idea, but he didn't say so. "You don't have to thank me," he said. "Earth is my home, and the people of Earth are my people. I had to do everything I could to stop him."
"Helping people is what Superman does," Allynda said. She looked very determined, suddenly.
Her mother looked at her and then back at Clark. "I guess it is," she said. "But thank you anyway."
**********
"How did she take it?" Lois asked. She was hovering over the oven, where the roast that Clark had put on somewhat earlier was baking.
"Pretty well," Clark said. "For one thing, she loves her kids, no matter how they got started. She actually thanked me for defeating Nor."
"I can sure understand that," Lois said. "So, what's next on the agenda?"
"Well," Clark said, "I want to find out about this guy." He produced the card that Tanya had given him. "This is the private detective that Tanya hired to find her ex-husband. He hasn't managed to find a trace of Morris Myers in three years, even though they know where he was two years ago, when Ally escaped."
Lois raised her eyebrows. "That seems kind of unlikely," she said. "I mean, Myers could just be really good at concealing his identity, but it seems a bit suspicious."
”That's what I thought," Clark said. "Not only that, but Ally doesn't like the guy, and she doesn't trust him. That makes me even more suspicious."
"That's for sure," Lois said.
"So," Clark said, "first, I'm going to look him up online. Then I'm going to do a little snooping. Want to go along?"
Lois grinned. "Try and stop me!"
He grinned back. "That's what I thought."
**********
tbc
