He had no way to track the craft through the air, so he focused on memorizing the irregularities and minor dents on the copter's runners. If he could find the helicopter that made these marks, he'd be one giant step closer to Lois. Of course, given the number of helicopters in Metropolis, that was a pretty huge 'if.' Still, he had no other clues.
Clark looked around carefully and saw no one. He ran behind one of the small outbuildings and spun into the suit.
- Begin Part Five -
"Next session. Start time is twelve-thirty-on PM, October ninth. This time we will begin at seventy-five percent and remain steady throughout. We will also introduce a few innocuous questions to gauge the subject's readiness for interrogation. Ready, MacGillis?"
"Mmph."
"MacGillis! What are you doing?"
"Eating. What does it look like?"
"You're not supposed to bring food or drink in here, you moron!"
"Watch it, Proctor! I don't - "
"These instruments are sensitive! I don't want these readings contaminated by a corned beef sandwich and cheap beer!"
"You kiddin'? The boss paid for this stuff. It's gourmet deli and premium lager."
"I don't care how much it cost! Finish it and get ready!"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh, you're such a grump when you're working."
*****
Lois awoke to searing agony. Her bones seemed to radiate stabbing heat. Her muscles twisted and lurched against each other, adding to the hurt. There was no position to which she could shift which would ease the pain. She grunted and gasped and cried and screamed.
It seemed an eternity before she sensed someone there. Her hope was battered and bruised, but still she called out. "Help me! Aaahhh! Help me! Please! Whoever's there - aagghhh! Help me!"
Superman stood beside her. "I still can't help you, Lois. You have to answer the questions they ask you."
"What questions!" she screamed. "Yaagghh! They won't ask me anything! How can I answer if they don't ask?" She broke down into screaming sobs.
"Would you answer the questions, Lois?"
"Aaagghh! Yes! Yes! Just make it stop! Make it stop hurting!"
Lois heard a new voice. "I have a question for you, Lois."
She panted hard and arched her back. "What? Ask me! Please ask me!"
"What is your favorite snack food, Lois?"
"What?"
"Tell me what your favorite snack food is."
The question engaged her mind for a moment, and she was able to push the pain aside long enough to realize that this new voice was mechanically disguised.
Then the voice asked again, "What is your favorite snack food, Lois?"
"Why? Aaaggghh! You have some double-crunch fudge bars for me?" The pain overwhelmed her reason once again and crushed her in its maw. "Yaaaggghh! Why are you hurting me? Why are you torturing me? Make it stop! P-please make it stop! Aggghhh!"
She dissolved into wet, spluttering sobs and slid back into the blackness.
*****
"Subject responded to one innocuous question before succumbing once again. In the next session, we will lower the stimulus to forty percent and increase by five percent for each question not answered directly. Subject's resistance has decreased along with her stamina."
"You're gonna kill her, man."
"You just keep on talking, MacGillis! That's what you're best at."
"Yeah, right. I'm sure the boss really needs to know what her favorite restaurant is and what color underwear she buys."
"I told you, those questions are just primer questions! They get her accustomed to answering you, and then it's easier for her to answer the important ones later."
"Uh-huh. You're the doctor, Proctor."
"That's right! These are my theories, this is my experiment, these are my techniques! I know what I'm doing!"
"I know, I know, you'd be rich and famous if not for that one cop."
"She was in the wrong place at the wrong time! She got in the way!"
"Lots of people get 'in the way' when you're working, Proctor."
"You - Who's in charge here, MacGillis?"
"You are, Doc, you are."
"You'd best not forget it, either."
"Don't worry, I won't. I won't forget this third question on the 'real important' list, either."
"What are you talking about?"
"The one that asks what Lois Lane knows about you and your connection to the boss."
"It's important!"
"To you, maybe. I'm not sure the boss would understand how urgent this one is."
"Just read it off the monitor, MacGillis, along with the rest of them! Are you hinting around about getting a bigger cut?"
"Naw, of course not. Now that you mention it, though, I wouldn't turn it down."
"You brainless little - Take a break! And get your priorities straight!"
"I'm my number one priority, Proctor, and you'd best not forget it, either."
*****
Superman flew over the Metropolis International Airport, Siegel Field, and Pierce Regional Airport before he found a chopper that seemed to fit the landing skid pattern he'd memorized. It was parked on the west side of town, beyond the industrial district. He landed out of sight, spun back to his 'civvies,' and jogged to the small office beside the copter. The sign on the door read 'Right Now Deliveries.'
As he approached, a tall, muscular woman with short, dark hair, striking features, and wide shoulders stepped out and headed for the chrome-plated motorcycle parked on the far side of the office. She smiled and called out, "I am sorry, Senor, we are closed. Come back tomorrow morning, please."
Clark stopped beside her. "I'm not here to buy anything. I'm a reporter for the Daily Planet."
She smiled wider. "A reporter? Are you so interested in new citizens?"
"What?"
"I am taking my citizenship examination this afternoon at one o'clock. I cannot be late, so I must leave now, else I would speak with you until your ears fell from your head."
"Wait! I just need to ask you if you flew a job last night."
She frowned. "Si, I did. How did you know of it?"
"I found the imprint of your landing struts in the ground."
She stared at him blankly. "You did what?"
"I measured the dimensions of the marks the struts made and called the local LexCorp Avionics office. They gave me three possible models and yours is one of them."
She put her hand on her hip and smiled. "I am impressed. You sought the pilot of a particular type of helicopter, and so you have found me. What do you want to - "
"What time was it?"
"What time was what?"
"When you lifted off from that field in the city!"
She straightened and stared at him. "Are you from the Federal Aviation Administration?"
"No! I told you I'm a reporter!"
"Then I need not tell you anything. Please excuse me - "
"No!" Clark grabbed her arm and held on firmly. "A woman's life may be at stake! Please, just a minute more."
She stared at him. "Release my arm, Senor."
He looked at his hand as if it had grabbed her arm of its own accord. He snatched it back. "Oh. I'm sorry, I don't - Please forgive me."
She frowned and rubbed her elbow. "This woman you speak of. You did not argue with her to make her run away? She is in real danger?"
"No, we didn't argue, and maybe she's in real danger, I don't know. All I'm sure of is that she's missing. Can you tell me about your flight last night? Please?"
"You will describe her to me."
"What? Oh, okay. Lois is Caucasian, very light-skinned, about this tall, slender, very dark hair down to her shoulders and parted in the middle, high cheekbones and exotic eyes - "
"That was the woman from last night." She nodded. "I will tell you what you want to know, but you perhaps will not like what you hear."
"I don't care about liking it, I just need to know what happened."
"As you wish. I flew to the vacant lot of which you spoke and landed just before dusk. I cannot land in such a place without lights. I waited until almost eleven o'clock, and then I saw a car drive into a nearby parking lot. Three people, two men and a woman, got out and carried the woman to my aircraft. She did not speak. I am not certain she was conscious. One other person stayed with the car. I do not know what that person did. I flew to a small field on the south-west side of the city, beyond the city limits. They had placed portable lights on the ground for me to see the landing zone." She frowned. "I did not like this job."
"Why did you take the job if it looked fishy?"
Her face blanked. "What is 'fishy'?"
"Uh, wrong somehow, weird, funky, strange, off-kilter - "
She held up her hand. "I grasp the concept. I accepted the job because they paid me a great deal of money, in cash, before the flight. They carried weapons, which I did not see before the flight, and they did not tell me they would force a woman to accompany them. They said she was ill and required medical attention. I did not believe them, but by the time I realized what was happening, I had no opportunity to refuse."
"Why didn't you call the police?"
"And tell them what? That I had just broken the law by flying from an unlighted, uncertified field in the middle of the city? That my customers might have done something wrong, but I do not know what that might be? I prefer to avoid dealing with the police if I am able to do so. And I do not wish to be deported."
"So why tell me what happened?"
She canted her head to one side. "Because you are not with the police, and I do not believe you will go out of your way to make trouble for me."
He nodded. "Do you think you could tell me where you took them?"
She lifted an eyebrow. "I thought you would not make trouble for me."
"I don't want to. I do, however, want to find Lois."
She frowned in thought. "I am certain that I can locate the field once again."
"How? You said you took off at night."
She pointed to the helicopter. "I have a global positioning monitor on my craft. I know where I landed almost to the meter."
"Great! If you could just give me the coordinates - "
"No."
"What! What do you mean 'no?' Lois may be in danger!"
"I mean that I will take you there. If this Lois is indeed in mortal danger, you cannot spare the time to locate another mode of transportation. You must depart immediately." She put her hand out. "My name is Carmen Avanzano. Your name is?"
He took her hand. "Clark Kent. Look, Ms. Avanzano, I appreciate your willingness to help, but I think - "
She turned to the copter. "Come, Mr. Kent, we are wasting time. We will spend nine minutes to add fuel to my helicopter and then we will go find your lady."
He raised his eyebrows. "Why do you refer to her as 'my' lady?"
"For a good friend, a man would risk much, but for the woman he loves, he will risk everything. You have the appearance of a man who would risk all."
"Yeah, maybe I do at that. Okay, what can I do to help?"
"You will address me as Carmen and I will call you Clark. It will save time."
He nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"Clark, you will now attach this hose to this nozzle on the helicopter. When the fuel is flowing, you may go into my office and call your employer. Tell him you are hiring a helicopter to take you to your Lois. Tell him you should be able to write a very good story about your adventure."
He lifted the hose to the side of the copter and snicked it into place. "Let me guess, you remembered I said I was a reporter."
She smiled. "I am an intelligent woman, Clark. You must learn to deal with it." She opened the valve and fuel began to flow. "And please tell your employer that this intelligent and very unreasonable woman who owns the helicopter and knows where to find this Lois person demands twice her usual fee for this flight."
He smiled back and nodded. "I think Perry will go for that."
She pointed to the office door. "Go. Call. Now."
*****
"Next session begins now, at one-twenty-eight PM on October ninth. We will begin with forty percent stimulant level and increase in five percent increments for each refusal to answer. IV is flowing, subject is awake and responsive."
"Don't kill her yet, okay? Let me get some answers first."
"The whole point of this exercise is to get those answers, MacGillis."
"I just don't want you to forget it. You tend to be a little over-focused on your own stuff, Doc."
"You just ask the questions! I'll make sure she's willing to answer them."
- End Part Five -
