Aurora Borealis
By Ken Janney
This story is rated G.
Comments are always welcomed at ken.janney@kjanney.com
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
This story originated with a single scene that I had written as a suggested plot device for another author. It was rejected in favor of another one. I still liked the idea so I wrote a story around it. This is only loosely related to my Matchmaker series.
I wish to thank Artemis and Morgana for the beta on this.
< > denotes thoughts
* * denotes emphasis
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The place is Centennial Park in Metropolis and the time is the distant future. There is an individual sitting on a park bench as numerous people and couples are passing by. On his face is a sour expression as couples holding hands, obviously very much in love, walk by and children are on skates or hoverboards or are simply running and playing nearby. There were even families picnicking on blankets on the grass. As he watched he saw a child scream in delight as she found a four leaf clover and plucked it to show to her less fortunate siblings. Then to his surprise the child’s siblings, all five of them, found four leaf clovers of their own in the same patch. In a disgusted tone he muttered to himself, “I bet there aren’t even any ants.” It was an annoyingly pleasant scene.
There was the occasional Peacekeeper, but usually all they did was stroll around, smiling and greeting those they passed. In this society there was little need of the Peacekeepers, what used to be called police, because in this society war and crimes of all kinds had virtually ceased to exist; the super family had seen to that.
It was an idyllic scene. The park was perfectly maintained and the grass almost looked manicured it was so perfect. There wasn’t even a single piece of litter on the ground. A few minutes ago he had seen a child miss the litter basket with a candy wrapper, but before he had even had time to smile the child had realized what he had done and turned to pick it up and properly place it in the receptacle. All of this … this … utopian existence … grated on the sensibilities of the person on the bench.
Wearing glasses as a disguise even though they had really not only gone out of style, but with advanced surgical techniques to correct faulty vision had been rendered worse than useless, Tempus fumed over the current state of the world. He had recently managed, through the use of a simulacrum to escape from his prison, a hospital for the criminally insane, and ‘acquired’ a time window device.
While sitting on the bench he was racking his brain for a new plan to prevent Utopia.
Whatever he came up with, it just had to have an element of irony. God how he loved irony! The more ironic it was the better as far as he was concerned.
As he was pondering he wondered, just what was the *key* event in the creation of Utopia? Suddenly it hit him, almost like a physical blow, of course, the *product* of the union of Lois Lane and Clark Kent! He had to disrupt that union. In the past he had tried to kill Clark Kent as a baby and had been foiled by Lois Lane and his old nemesis, Herb. He had tried trapping Superman in time. Again he had been rescued by Lois Lane and … Herb. He had had a modicum of revenge, albeit short lived when he had abducted Lois from Prime, as Herb had dubbed it, and used her to create Superman in that alternate universe so that he could expose Clark Kent for the alien that he is. That time not only had Lois and Herb interfered but his idiot underlings had let him down.
This time whatever he did, he needed to remove any possibility of Lois Lane interfering. That meant that she had to be totally removed, but in order for Herb not to be alerted to the problem she had to still remain in that universe. Ah, but when? That was the question. What if she was there, but …
That led to the thought, what if he allowed the union, but prevented the consummation of that union. That would eliminate the possibility of offspring and therefore Utopia. How ironic it would be if …
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It had been a lovely and intimate ceremony. Their closest friends and their families had been there and Mike had officiated. After the ceremony they had returned to Metropolis and now they were back home, well, they were now in what used to be Clark’s apartment. Just as they were finishing their preparations for their honeymoon, they had been interrupted by Herb. Of all things, there had been a curse put on them and if they consummated their union Lois would die from a mysterious illness.
Herb had taken them on a tour of their previous lives and they had succeeded in defeating the curse and returning the timeline to where it needed to be.
Now, they were back in Clark’s, no their, apartment and it was time to follow through on what they had waited so long to do, consummate their marriage.
She had been laying on the bed with her new husband, who was still in his Superman Suit when she made up her mind. There was no way she was going to wait until they were in Hawaii. She wanted him and she wanted him *NOW*.
She extricated herself from his arms and said in an alluring tone, “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” After standing she scurried into the living room, picked up the small bag that had her black teddy in it. Then she scampered back through the bedroom, bag in hand, and headed for the bathroom. It was time to set the mood, she just hoped that she would have the patience she would need to actually get dressed and not just run out of the bathroom naked and jump his bones.
Unnoticed, as she set the bag down, a time window opened behind her. She was only able to release a brief yelp of surprise as Tempus grabbed her from behind and pulled her through the window. The window was closed before Clark could respond.
He had heard her yelp of surprise and then there had been nothing but silence. Her heartbeat had disappeared. When he opened the door to the bathroom all that was there was her bag. He shouted, “Lois!” and the profound anguish in his voice was plain. He collapsed to the floor, overcome by his grief and loss.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ninety years had passed and Clark had never found Lois even though he had scoured the globe for decades. The years hadn’t been kind to Clark. As a result of Veda Doodsen’s machine and the transfer of a portion of his life force to Jimmy he had aged, perhaps not as rapidly as an Earth human but his age was very apparent. His hair was gray and he was balding. His face was etched with lines from years of worry and sorrow. His physique had suffered the ravages of time. He wasn’t as robust as he had been formerly. He wasn’t quite as fast as he had been and his legendary strength had started to wane.
As Clark Kent, he had retired from the Daily Planet a number of years ago and had lived as a recluse ever since. All of his close friends as well as his parents had passed away a number of years ago. Now completely alone and bereft, with the loss of his soul mate he had been unable to bring himself to form any close relationships and especially hadn’t ever considered any intimate relationships. When he died there would be no super children to take his place. The world would lose its lone superhero.
Clark still lived in the same apartment. Years ago he had purchased the entire building so that he could prevent it from being demolished. It was the last place he had seen Lois and he was loathe to give it up in case she would reappear as suddenly as she had disappeared. That hope was the one thing that had kept him going all of these years.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tonight was a special night. Every year on this date, their anniversary, he would make a dinner and after eating he simply sit on the bed and reminisce about that night. He would go over it again and again in his mind and wonder what he had missed and if he could have done anything differently.
He knew that somehow Tempus had to be involved, but in the last ninety years he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him or Herb and he had no idea as to how to contact Herb to enlist his aid.
Clark ate his solitary dinner and then because that was what he had been wearing when she had disappeared, he put on the Suit and went into the bedroom to sit on the bed.
He was weary and finally after musing for a while he lay down to rest.
Suddenly his superhearing caught a sound he had never given up hope of hearing again. He was instantly alert as he sat up on the bed and then slowly, forcing his weary bones and muscles to comply with his wishes, he stood.
A few seconds later Lois came stumbling into the room. She was still dressed in the burnt orange dress she had been wearing when she had gone into the bathroom to change all those years ago. She was shaking her head as if she were dazed and he shouted, “Lois!” It came out as a wheezing croak.
She looked up and seeing the Suit she shouted, “Clark!” and launched herself in his direction. When she hit him he wasn’t able to continue standing. Between his surprise and his age he was weak and she bowled him over.
In her exuberance she started kissing him. Suddenly she realized that he was moving more slowly that she expected and she pulled back to take a good look. When she did she asked, “Clark, what ... what has happened? Why do you look so … old? While I was in the bathroom were you exposed to some red Kryptonite that did this to you?”
In reply Clark asked, “Lois, what happened to you? You disappeared ninety years ago today. You went to change and that was the last I saw of you.”
Stunned by his statement, Lois replied, “Ninety years ago?!?! It was Tempus! He dragged me into a time window and then shoved me out again. I thought I was only gone a minute and couldn’t figure out why Tempus would do anything that silly. Now I see what he was up to. How can I get back?” she wailed.
“I don’t see how you can. This timeline is already fixed. You were missing from it for ninety years, there’s no going back.”
Frantically sesrching for a way to correct the situation she asked, "What about Herb? Maybe he could take me back and we could fix this timeline.”
“I don’t see how. I haven’t heard from Herb in almost a century.”
With a note of despair in her voice she said, “Well, this is a fine fix. It’s still my wedding night and my husband is too old for us to consummate our wedding.” At this point Lois broke down and started crying.
Clark put his arm around her shoulders and tried to console her.
There was just a touch of fear as to what his answers would be to her next questions, but she had to ask them. She looked at him and asked, “What did you do when I disappeared? Did you get married? How many kids do you have? Why are you so old? What gives?”
“Whoa, one thing at a time; what did I do when you disappeared? I searched for you. I scoured the globe, east, west, north and south, for decades I searched for you. Did I get married? Yes, I got married, once, to you. You were missing but, you were my wife. The only woman I would ever marry. I guess that answers your question about children. Why am I so old? Remember Veda Doodsen and her machine?”
She was incredulous and asked, “Veda Doodsen? Who’s Veda … Doodsen?
“Oh, that’s right. You weren’t here. Shortly after you disappeared we were on a bank robbery story. The robber got away even though he was trapped in the vault with his hostages. It turned out that he aged while he was in the vault so no one recognized him when they were let out. He had been made younger, temporarily, by a machine created by Veda Doodsen. Her machine transferred the life energy from young subjects to old people to make them young again. The problem was that her young victims aged rapidly. We got started on the case when a young friend of Jimmy’s died of old age in the bullpen. Jimmy went off on his own and wound up being one of her victims. In order to save his life I had to make her transfer some of my life energy to Jimmy. The nice thing is that while we were doing the investigation, when we took some samples to Bernie for analysis, he told me that because of my dense molecular structure I would probably live many normal lifetimes.” Ruefully, he finished up, “It hasn’t turned out just that way. When I gave up some of my life force for Jimmy it shortened my life span. I aged, maybe not as fast as an Earth human, but I aged. I’m over a hundred and twenty years old.”
Her relief was palpable as she threw her arms around his neck and started to cry. She blubbered, “You waited for me. All these years, you waited for me. Clark, I love you, I really do. You’re so special.”
After a time she calmed down and asked, “What are we going to do now?”
“When you disappeared we were just getting ready to go on our honeymoon. Would you still like to go to Hawaii?”
With a smile she said, “I’ll go anywhere with you, any time you want.”
“You won’t mind being seen in the company of a man that looks like he could be your grandfather? Everyone will think I’m rich and you’re after my money.”
“Let them think what they want, you’re my husband and I love you.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Before they went on their much delayed honeymoon they jumped through all of the hoops needed to reestablish her identity. Since Clark had never discarded any of her things it was easier than it would have been. The rest of that summer they spent together on one long vacation. Eventually they returned to Metropolis and Lois started getting anxious at all of the inactivity. She was happy to be spending time with the love of her life, but her constitution was not such that inactivity would satisfy her. She needed to be out there investigating, exposing the seedy underbelly of society and bringing corrupt officials to account.
Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to be there for her all of the time, Clark reluctantly agreed to Lois going back to the Planet.
Once she had a paycheck coming in they decided to move out of the apartment. They found a house out on Wisteria lane for sale and made an offer which was accepted.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They had been in the new house for about six months when one morning Lois woke up and found that his side of the bed was empty and the sheets were cold.
She thought, <I hope he wasn’t called away on a dangerous mission. He really isn’t up to those anymore.>
He had been in the habit of leaving her a note whenever he was being called away, letting her know what it was and about how long he expected to be away, but this time his bedside table was empty. Seeing this she thought that he must simply be downstairs, perhaps fixing the morning coffee. She took a sniff and didn’t smell coffee. This started to concern her. What was going on? Where was Clark?
She went downstairs and started looking around. She found his note on the counter near the coffee maker.
“Lois,
I came down to get something to drink and I heard a broadcast asking for Superman’s assistance.
Star Labs wanted a research packet delivered.
There have been some very strong and unusual Solar flares which are creating a spectacular aurora borealis. They wanted to examine the phenomenon and wanted an electronics package flown through the effect to record the strength and composition of the anomaly.
It would appear that this is a once in a lifetime event. The last time the flares even approached this intensity was in 2013.
I expect to be back before you get up.
In case I’m not, I love you and will be back soon.
Your husband,
Clark”Lois was relieved. This was a simple science mission. It was nothing that would tax his abilities. She just had to wait for him to get back so that she could get the details to write up for the paper. She went back upstairs to get dressed for work while she waited for him to return.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That had been six months ago and she hadn’t seen Clark since. She couldn’t get over the fear that somehow Tempus was involved.
For the first weeks she had been almost frantic in her efforts to locate him. She had been calling STAR Labs several times a day, but they were no help at all.
As time went on she became more and more discouraged, but she determined that if Clark could wait for her for ninety years she could do the same for him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
One day Lois was at STAR Labs doing some follow-up on another story and was in the Solar Energy lab interviewing the head of the lab when a tech shouted from the other side of the room, “Dr. Branson, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we just started receiving telemetry from that electronics package that we asked Superman to deploy six months ago.”
“What? How can that be? That signal terminated unexpectedly when Superman flew into the aurora.”
“All I know is that all of the sudden we are receiving a signal.”
“Send the recall signal. Use the audio link to ask Superman to bring the module back here.”
Lois was a very interested observer to all of this. She looked at Dr. Branson with an hopeful expression. Could it be possible? Could Clark be alive? She remembered his note and this fit. She asked, “What does this mean?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out. Let’s finish this interview while we wait.”
When they finished the interview Lois said, “Dr. Branson, I’d like to be here when Superman returns. He’s been gone for six months and if he’s back, it’s newsworthy.”
As he was exiting the lab he replied, “I understand. Right place at the right time and all of that. Sure, you can wait here in the lab.”
After a short wait the lab door opened and Dr. Branson hurried back in. He had a shocked expression on his face as he did. He sped across the room, picked up a radiation detector and started for the door again.
Seeing this, Lois was apprehensive and blurted out, “Dr. Branson, what’s going on? What has happened? What have you heard about Superman?”
He said, “This is highly unusual. It will require a significant amount of study. I just hope he allows it.”
Lois couldn’t understand what was going on but his reference left little doubt that Superman had returned. Her heart was screaming for him and she had difficulty restraining herself. She clamped down her emotions and asked, “Would you please inform him that I’m here and ask if he would grant me an interview?”
He nodded in understanding and stepped to the door. Holding up the detector he said, "Just let me check a few things first." He stepped out for just a few seconds and then the door opened again. When Branson stepped back in he was standing directly between Lois and the door opening but Lois still caught a glimpse of a familiar blue leg and red boot as it came through the doorway.
Lois was instantly on her feet and almost running to the door but stopped abruptly when he stepped around Branson. This wasn’t Clark, the Clark she knew. Not the Clark that had left her six months ago. This was a younger version of him. She found her voice and choked out, “Dr. Branson, is this a clone or what?”
This apparition turned to Branson and said, “Please clear the room. I need to speak with Ms. Lane … privately.”
Nodding in understanding Branson turned to his support staff and said, “You heard the man. Clear out.” When the last individual had moved out through the door Branson also left, closing the door behind himself.
When the door was closed Superman crossed to Lois, put his arms around her and said, “No, my love, I can prove I’m not a clone. When I left that night, I left you a note by the coffee maker explaining that I had to fly a science package into the aurora.”
His expression became one of joy as he continued, “Something very strange happened. As you know, my powers are derived from sunlight and the fact that these were unusually violent solar flares must be the reason they affected me so. The unusually intense solar radiation hyper excited my body. Since they are an intense form of Solar radiation the flares rejuvenated my body. I’m young again, just like you. We can now have a lifetime together. The life we were supposed to have had ninety years ago!"
Looking up into his young again face she asked, "Why did it take you so long to get back?"
"The reason I was gone was the electronics package they wanted flown through the aurora. The ionization of the solar flares interacted with the electronics I was carrying. That interaction opened a portal right in front of me and I couldn’t avoid passing through. That portal sent me six months into the future.”
With a wicked grin and a raised eyebrow he asked, “Do you think the Planet will let you have time off for your long delayed honeymoon?”
With a wicked little grin of her own and an arched eyebrow matching his, Lois asked, “How can you be so sure I want to spend this lifetime with you?” At his look of dismay she couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. She started to giggle and said, “Come here you lunkhead. There is no one else I’d want to spend every possible lifetime with,” and throwing her arms around his neck she gave him a kiss like they hadn’t been able to share for ninety of years.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the far distant future of this universe, Tempus appeared to pop out of thin air as he stepped through the time window. It was only seconds since he had left and turning around he resumed his seat on the bench. He looked around expectantly. He didn’t know just how the changes would occur he just knew that there should be some changes. At the very least there should be some litter. He had kidnapped Lois Lane and moved her ninety years into her future when there would be no possibility of Clark Kent being able to father any super offspring, but there were no discernible changes. In fact, if anything, the area was perhaps a little more neat and clean than it had been before he had taken his trip.
There were still families picnicking. Wait, didn’t that family have six children a minute ago? He counted noses and came up with a different number, seven??? There were still children playing and couples strolling, hand in hand. It was positively bucolic and nauseating.
<This is going to require some research,> he thought. He pulled out a data-link and performed a historical search for Lois Lane and Clark Kent.
He was surprised at the amount of data that was in the data banks as evidenced by the time it took to collect it all.
He started reading and as he did he simply got madder and madder. It turned out that somehow Superman had been rejuvenated and had reunited with Lois. One result of their later union was that there had been eight children instead of the five they had had before his interference. Instead of preventing Utopia he had only delayed their having children for ninety years but then they had had more than made up for the delay and that fact had actually hastened the creation of Utopia.
He thought to himself, <Now, there’s irony.>
If, instead of going for the irony and returning her to him when he supposedly couldn’t father any children, had he simply dropped her off in another universe, this wouldn’t have happened.
As he looked up from his research he saw a couple of TTEMPO field agents approaching. They were always so easy to identify. They thought that they blended in, but they really stuck out like a sore thumb. They were almost as bad as Herb, who always dressed in that old fashioned suit and bowler hat. <God, what a fashion statement.> If he was going to have another chance at preventing Utopia he would have to leave, quickly.
He pulled out his time window device and keyed in a random number before hitting the execute button and muttered to himself, “Oh well, better luck next time,” as he stepped through.
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