So there is this connection between Trask, Lana and Luthor. Each of them wanted to take down Clark, each for his or her separate reasons. I like how you explained how Lana used Trask more than she helped him, because she was the one who wanted to clone Clark, not Trask.

I guess we need to suspend disbelief a little to be able to believe that a student fresh out of med school would be able to make a human clone singlehandedly, but it is possible, as far as I know. (Okay, so Jory is not a human clone, but...) You know what is impossible, though? Absolutely, totally impossible? It's the presence of meteors from Krypton on the Earth. You realize what that implies? The meteors must have travelled faster than light, or else very close to light speed, across many light years of space until they finally hit Earth - and do you realize how unbelievably tiny the Earth is compared with the mindboggling distance we ask those meteors to travel before they reach the Earth? By which time they had magically transformed themselves from some ordinary mineral into the one substance in the universe that is deadly to Clark Kent, to boot! The idea of the meteors making that journey (and transsubstantiating on the way) is so much more unlikely than the idea of someone pulling off a terrorist act by, say, releasing a couple of kites - perfectly ordinary kites - from Afghanistan, and hoping that they will cross the Atlantic, home in on Washington D.C., zero in on the White House, and explode the White House because they will magically have turned into nuclear missiles on their way! Uh. No, that's not likely.

[Linked Image]
Washington D.C., beware of the kites?

I liked to see how Clark seemed more relaxed around Lois in this chapter, so that he seemed willing to trust her more.

Here are some tidbits I enjoyed:

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I mean, the country certainly doesn't suffer from a lack of billionaires… Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, Bill Church, Simon Stagg, Dick Branson, Doiby Dickles…”
Ha! We sure recognize some of those names. What about the others, though? Doiby Dickles? That's the funniest name I've heard for a while!

I loved this:

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Clark smiled, thankful that she always seemed to be on the same page with him. He slid his chair back and stood up. “I think I'll go take another look…”

“Wait a minute. What about Jory?”

Clark turned to face her – he was almost halfway across the living room. “If the trail leads me to Lana, like I think it will, she should have the information we need to save him.”

“No,” Lois said, crossing the room to stand in front of him. “I meant, who is going to watch him?”

“Oh… Well, if you can't keep him tonight …”

“You think that I'm going to let you confront that woman alone?”
This Lois seems more comptetent somehow than the Lois we saw in the show. I think she should be able to actually give Clark - Superman - a bit more backup than she was usually able to do in the show.

I loved this conversation about a mountain and a doorbell, too:

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Do you see anything else? Maybe a bigger hill?”

Clark blinked and turned to look at her. “No, not a bigger hill,” he said. “A mountain. About another 20 miles further inland from the guard stand.”

“Wow. I don't suppose we can just walk up and ring the doorbell, huh? Do mountains have doorbells?” Lois threaded her fingers through the strands of her ponytail and sighed. “But before we even think about getting *inside*, how do we even get to the door? I mean – 100 miles is too far for most intelligence systems, but what about cameras?” Her eyes grew wide. “What if they are watching us right now?”

“I scanned before we landed. There are no cameras, antennas, or receivers out this far. I think they would be too afraid of what would happen if they were found. No evidence is good evidence.” Clark bent down and picked up a fistful of sandy dirt. “But I think I have an idea for how we can make it to the mountain without the guards seeing – cameras and all.”

Lois looked at the dirt that was streaming from Clark's hand quizzically. “And after that?”

“After that?” Clark repeated. He brushed his hands clean. “After that, I guess we ring the doorbell.”
So funny!

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Lois smirked and stepped closer when Clark stood. It wasn't much of a plan –and usually plans came out better when they were thought through, but then there were times like these when risks had to be taken. Considering the importance of the information they had come out here to find – risk was warranted. “You take the lead.”
Wow! It's Clark who jumps in head first without checking the water level!

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Clark nodded curtly and reached out for her forearm. “Whatever you do, keep your eyes closed. When it starts blowing, sand is like glass.”
Is he going to create a sandstorm and move the two of them inside it toward the mountain? Wowzers. You know, I think that more than Lois's eyes may object to that. What about her breathing?

Fascinating as always, Sonia.

Ann