Okay, I'm boggled. There's just no way to describe the power which this chapter had on me. All of the chapters before have combined to create a
very "willing suspension of disbelief"; so by the time this one shows up, the reader is ready to emotionally accept that this rescue and its prelude (described in exquisite detail) are
really happening. Great stuff, and more than worth the longer-than-usual wait.
With a reluctant glance toward Lois, who seemed to be holding her own with the government men, Clark began to rise further into the sky.
He’d spent his life flying under the radar, avoiding anything that might lead anyone to even suspect that he was something more than what he appeared to be. He’d helped now and then when he could, but never where it would have jeopardized his secret.
This wasn’t some car accident on a country road where head injured survivors talked about being rescued by an angel. This was something that was happening in daylight in front of the media and the world.
It went against everything Lana had tried to teach him. He’d been attacked the last time he went flying; these people had the means and the motivation to track him wherever he went, unless he flew low enough to cause damage to buildings through his sonic boom, or possibly high enough to go above the reach of their satellites.
Although his trip west should be visible to radar, and especially ground-based anti-ballistic-missile radar systems even though he chooses to fly above near-earth satellite orbits, it's going to be the trip back to Washington D.C. that will create panic, as an unknown object approaching D.C. on a supersonic trajectory would certainly do.
If he does "go public," he will need to ask the government for a portable transponder of some sort, to signal that he is "friendly aircraft."
Taking a deep breath, Clark plunged into the water.
Below, through the darkened water could be seen a massive shape. Born along on what looked like a massive bubble of air was the form of the Celeste Marie.
Presumably we're seeing the result of that deep breath. What a demonstration of super-breath! It provides some buoyancy, it helps empty out the water filling the ship, and it provides cover as he surreptitiosly lifts the ship.
Oh, here's a comment on something earlier in the chapter:
She frowned for a moment as she stared at her window, and then she stepped into her living room to examine the window there.
Both windows had been cleaned from the outside.
There is a fairly recent development called an
LDV (Laser Doppler Vibrometer), which is based on a decades-old technology called laser reflection interferometry. Basically, it allows nefarious indiduals or groups to shine an infrared (thus invisible) laser on your window from outside. Any sounds within the room -- voices, etc. -- cause the window to vibrate microscopically, and as the reflected light from the vibrating glass interferes with the original beam, the shifting interference patterns can be converted back to sound. Spies love it, and Homeland Security could use it to listen in on Lois' apartment.
However, because Clark apparently cleaned the windows (both inside and out) to a sparkling shine, very little light would be randomly scattered back to the laser transmitter. If there had been a high-rise building directly opposite, the spy could have used the direct reflection off the glass; but because of the no-tall-building laws in D.C., this is not an option. Clark (who probably knows nothing of LDV technology, being from 1993) was just being a nice guy -- and in the process, saved Lois from being the target of untraceable, and unstoppable, espionage.
Snave
