I'm with Ann. The bit about the pigeons is very alarming. It means that either the rifts are not only through space but also through time (which would explain the fifteen-year discrepancy between Lois's world and Clark's world), or the rifts are between Lois's world and multiple other worlds.
And if the latter is true, then Ann's reference to the world (if not this entire plane of reality) beginning to fracture might be accurate. And maybe - just maybe - this wasn't the beginning of these transfers. Maybe they've been happening for a while, and "the government" (nice to have a scary faceless villain handy) has been aware of them and is blaming a lot of the disasters on terrorists, when in truth the current social and political climate is the result of the governments of the world trying to keep the truth of these these "leaks" from other worlds from the public. The government is trying to get a handle on the situation, and in the meantime has engendered a pervasive paranoia in the populace to keep the really scary truth from them. They're afraid of world-wide panic and a complete collapse of the world's societies into chaos and mob rule.
If that's the problem, maybe Clark can't do anything about it except take the plane and its passengers back home - along with one jaded and disillusioned and heartbroken CNN reporter. Neat solution? No, but that might be how this one ends.
And it might not. Shayne, this is so very good! I always look for another chapter of Veritas when I sign on to the boards. Keep up the great work!
