Thanks for your comments so far.
LaraMoon was a great help again, and I can't stop thanking her for being so patient with my efforts to write in English.
I made some mistakes that are just as embarrassing as the typical German mistake in the restaurant:
"Waiter, I want to become a chicken."
( to become looks very similiar to the German word "bekommen", which means as much as 'to get')
From Part 2: Clark thanked her, brushed her cheek with a kiss and left, fumbling with his tie. He searched for a secure place and spun into his suit. A moment later he was flying above the city, following the cries. They came from S.T.A.R. Labs. Clark was worried. They had often been the target of attacks. One of the major reasons for this was that they stored Kryptonite there.
Part 3 Smoke filled the air above S.T.A.R. Labs. The fire fighters were happy to see Superman arriving at the scene. No one really knew what was in the building. They feared an explosion killing people still stuck inside as well as those outside.
A red and blue flash entered the building and returned with people. Superman landed them safely and returned into the building again. He did this several times. When everyone was out of danger, Superman helped extinguish the fire.
Dr. Klein waited for Superman, a secure distance from S.T.A.R. Labs. He was nervous. This was his second nature outside the laboratories. That was the only place where he really felt at ease. He paced around, glancing back at the building repeatedly.
He didn’t know if this fire was a threat to Superman. And he was sure that Superman would ask a lot of questions. But did he know the answers?
Clark had done his job. But he wasn’t too content with the results. He had been too late. It was not the heart wrenching kind of late, however. The fire hadn’t killed anyone, which was a great relief to him. But the damage was there. Dr. Klein’s office and lab, among others, were completely destroyed. And so his hopes of being able to father a child, his hopes of discovering a vaccine against Kryptonite had been seriously diminished. He was quite sure that the work of Dr. Klein’s colleagues was also destroyed. The smoke carried a scent of dead dreams with it. Seconds after Clark had left the building, he landed in front of Dr. Klein.
Bernard Klein stopped pacing. He turned pale, when he saw the hero’s earnest face.
“S-Superman!” he stammered. “Are you okay?”
“I am. But I’m afraid your lab is not. Do you know what happened?”
“I don’t know, there was some kind of explosion in my lab. We ran away as soon as we could.”
“Could it have anything to do with Kryptonite?” Superman asked.
“Was it in the safe?”
“I didn’t check”, Clark said with a wry smile.
“Of course you didn’t, how stupid of me.”
“Can you find out if Kryptonite has been stolen, as soon as the smoke is away? Call Clark Kent as soon as you’ve got any news for me.” Superman requested and said good-bye to Dr. Klein . Then he took off, heading for the Daily Planet.
Had the fire in the S.T.A.R. Labs been arson? Clark would have to wait for the experts to investigate. That was something he needed to keep in mind: the description Dr. Klein had given had made him assume arson, but it was far from being proven. He needed to be careful with accusations. But as long as he didn’t know anything concrete, it was best to believe in arson. It made him more careful. Arson could mean that Kryptonite had been stolen. If this was the case, his life was in danger. He didn’t want to tell Lois, but her finding out about it by accident was always something very hard to deal with.
It didn’t take him long to return to the Planet. Clark went into an empty, narrow street beside the building to change into his street clothes again. He hurried inside and took the elevator. Moments later he entered the newsroom and went over to his desk. Lois was in Perry’s office. He could see the two of them arguing about something.
* * *
Determination was the key to everything. He was a winner, had always been a winner, and would always be a winner. Determination was the key to success. And success was everything that mattered...
His latest project was Mount Everest. Well, not literally; he wasn’t interested in mountains. He wanted to do something important, more important than any stupid mountain could ever be. Something that every now-famous person would be envious of. He would gain a place in the history books. And not just a small annotation, written in small letters next to an asterisk. No, he was going to be on the front page of the history book of crime and genius.
The plan was easy and couldn’t go wrong. The first step was taken and the second step had already followed. But it was only the overture to his opus. Success was guaranteed. This was the key to the complete renewal of his life. It would change the world forever.
The hotel room was dark, just slightly lit by the blinking light of a telephone. Someone was calling him. He waited, patiently, and counted the blinks. Eight…nine... ten.
The light went dark again. Seconds passed then the red light started blinking again. He took the receiver.
“Yes?”
“No one knows about it,” the caller said confidently.
“Are you sure?” he asked harshly.
“I am.” was the answer.
He hated those who thought of themselves as infallible. They weren’t cautious enough and he was the one having to deal with the disasters they produced. He had to be careful with this man before things got out of control.
“You better not take it too easy…” He hung up.
* * *
“Don’t tell Clark!” Martha said firmly.
“As if I would tell him,” Jonathan replied.
He was so tired of this. The sorrows never ended. He had no strength to worry anymore. He had been worried for weeks, he had been anxious and angry. First of all, he was angry at himself. Why had this happened and why hadn’t he prevented it? There was nothing left that could save them. Everything was lost. This was so frustrating. All their dreams! Martha had presented herself as strong during those last few weeks, but it was also hard for her. The fights were over, the battle was lost. There was nothing left to do.
Martha saw Jonathan suffer. She could hardly bear seeing him so hopeless. She had to fight with her own pain, but his pain ached in her heart so much more. Life was cruel, she had to face that fact. It was no reason to bother Clark. He had his own problems. He was the most powerful man in the world, but his powers couldn’t help them. So what was the point in telling him? She knew Clark, he would shoulder the entire world’s misery if someone asked him to. She couldn’t afford that. As much as she wished that he could solve their problems as easily as he prevented disasters. But solving them without putting more effort in it, than he needed to lift cars or trains, was simply not possible.
The two elder Kents were on their way to back to Lois’ and Clark’s house. Silently they walked along the street. The problem had been discussed completely. Another silent agreement was not to speak about it anymore.
* * *
As soon as Lois had reached the Planet, Perry had called her in his office. He wanted to know, where she and Clark had been all morning. She told him about Carla and that she had been murdered. After she had mentioned Henderson, Perry had been silent for a few moments. But his silence served as proof of how angry he was. Perry wasn’t in the mood for their gut feelings. He wanted his two best reporters to work on the existing pile of already “grown up” stories, that needed to be written soon. At the moment he had no interest in those which were still “infants” with little hope to reach just the “teenager years”.
After a pause he explained that to her and Lois had started arguing with him. She told him that she was sure now that Carla had run into something big. Perry wasn’t convinced. The fact that Clark was not in the newsroom and that Lois had no good excuse for him didn’t make it any better.
In the midst of the argument between Lois and Perry, Clark knocked at the office’s door and came in.
Lois gave him a glance that told him more than he had wanted to know. His timing was bad. But on the other hand it was impossible to have a good timing these days. It looked like he had chosen the worst moment imaginable to reappear, this time.
“You better go now, Lois, and I’d like to have some real stories on my desk this afternoon,” Perry yelled and shot an angry look at Clark. “And you follow her, Clark. You better work a whole day through or else you’ll be in trouble. You cannot always leave when it suits you.”
The two left without any further word. Lois looked at Clark and he understood at once.
*No more talking about Carla in the newsroom until the story is indeed a story.*
Clark thought the same, but for a different reason. If Carla was killed for what she knew, everyone close to her was in trouble as well. The killer couldn’t be sure what Carla had told them. He needed to guard Lois, she was vulnerable.
They went back to their desks and sat down to do some of the work that Perry had required.
Perry hadn’t been fair to Clark. He had written stories over the last days and had always submitted them to his editor-in-chief. But one or maybe two of them had been late despite all his efforts. The reason wasn’t even one of his rescues. The system had been overloaded because everyone always submitted their stories short before dead line. But Perry had blamed it on his frequent disappearances. Clark couldn’t be angry at him for this.
He would have to be careful next time. He didn’t know when it would happen again. So he used his super speed to type whenever he could. Clark was just writing an interview with Superman, to please Perry, when his telephone rang.
“Clark Kent,” he said as he took the receiver eagerly, hoping it was Dr. Klein.
“Mr. Kent, this is Dr. Thomas. I’ve heard, that you are a friend of Superman,” a man with a German accent replied.
“Maybe. Why?” Clark asked disappointedly and a bit annoyed that it was again Superman that someone wanted to talk to. Another reminder to his alieness. He should be less irritable concerning his secret identity, but he couldn’t help it at the moment.
“We would like to meet him. He might be able to help us with a problem,” the German answered.
A problem? Why was Superman the one solving problems, when he himself needed help?
“Could you give me anything more concrete?” Clark wanted to know.
“I am afraid not. We need to keep this a secret.”
Secret! Clark felt even more annoyed. His secret identity had secrets with others that he wasn’t allowed to hear. This was so ridiculous. But he himself had built this trap. *Stop complaining!* Clark told himself.
“Okay, I’ll tell Superman. Where should he meet you?” Clark sighed inwardly.
The German gave Clark an address in Cologne, Germany before he hung up. Now Clark was thrilled. Carla had been from Cologne and someone from there wanted to talk to him. That couldn’t be just coincidence. He went over to Lois and told her about it. He also mentioned what had happened at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Lois agreed with Clark that the call from Germany wasn’t just a fluke. She wasn’t happy that Clark would be flying to Germany. Carla had told them not to trust anyone who intended something concerning Superman. The German man’s problem remaining a secret did not ease her mind. But Clark was eager to know more about it. He promised Lois to be careful and offered to take her with him.
Lois knew that Clark would be faster without her. Besides Perry’s mood was so bad, she didn’t dare upset him even more, but Cark convinced her that a short trip to Germany would ease her mind. So she gave in. They would leave in the late evening and arrive when it was day in Germany. Clark was sure that they would be back before dawn.
Clark had really insisted in taking Lois with him, though he usually liked to know that she was at home safe. But for now, Lois was likely to be in danger if she was on her own. His parents weren’t bulletproof.
His parents! It reminded him of the fact that something had disturbed him about their behavior. They were trying to hide something and he wanted to know what it was. But the newsroom didn’t allow him to really stop and think about it.
His telephone rang again and Clark, once more, picked up the receiver. This time it was Dr. Klein who told him that a chunk of the kryptonite was gone. Because of the fire, they couldn’t be sure whether it had become gas or had been stolen.
So they didn’t know any more than before. Clark’s list of worries increased.
