Hearts United
Table of Contents part 10
by Pam Jernigan
Brenda came into the office just as Lois was raising the phone for one more call. "Do you have a second?"
Lois put down the receiver. "Yeah. Actually, it's good to have an excuse for a break." She leaned back and stretched, rotating her head to work out her tensed neck and shoulders. "It feels like I've been doing this for hours."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, hon, but you have been doing it for hours."
Lois looked at the clock. "Oh, yeah, I guess I have."
"And unless I miss my guess, you totally skipped lunch."
"Lunch?" The thought hadn't crossed her mind, but on cue, her stomach growled. She looked up ruefully. "You know me too well."
Brenda nodded, coming in and plopping down a white paper sack on the desk. "That's why I brought you a burger and fries."
"Ooh! You are a lifesaver, Bren." Lois tore into the bag, dumping the food onto a hastily-spread napkin.
Brenda laughed, producing a soft drink to go with the meal. "Hope you like diet."
"Absolutely."
"We had lunch two hours ago," Brenda commented. "But then I was thinking and figured you'd be stuck in here. Francine left to pursue some sort of mysterious lead of her own, but the only thing I could think of that was useful was to get you some food."
Lois nodded, and took a long sip of soda. "This was definitely useful. I owe you one."
"Honey, you owe me a lot more than one," Brenda said, laughing.
"Put it on my tab," Lois suggested, making a conscious effort to slow her eating.
Brenda grinned. "I'll bill you. One of these years. So, how have things been going?"
Lois lost some of her good cheer. "Not so hot. I've called all the hospitals -- no luck. So then I moved on to clinics and private practices. I think I've got twenty percent done by now -- although a lot of the time, I didn't get to talk to anyone and had to leave a message. God only knows when someone might hear them."
"You never know," Brenda insisted. "And it's worth the effort. Speaking of which, why don't you give me a list and I can help you out with these?"
"You've put so much time into this already!" Lois protested, feeling guilty. "I don't want to keep you away from running the theater."
"Sweetie, we wouldn't even *have* a theater if it weren't for you and Kal. Trust me, this is the least I can do."
Well, if she put it that way... "Okay, fair enough. I've been going through the yellow pages, under Physicians/Psychiatrists." She pondered the best way to share the list, then shrugged and carefully pulled one of the pages right out. "Do as many of these as you can, okay? I've been checking them off as I do them."
Brenda took the yellow page. "Wow. There's a lot of these little suckers."
Lois groaned. "I know. And it's probably a gigantic waste of time, but I can't think of anything better to do. It's either this, or I'll start making posters and sticking them to light poles."
"What?"
"Never mind. Anyway, I appreciate the help."
"No problem. Oh, and I was wondering -- Kal zipped out to space and came back, but did he get anything done while he was out there? What's happened with the asteroid?"
Lois stared at her. "That's a very good question. I've been so busy... I think I'll give the Colonel a call."
"Good. Keep me posted," Brenda said, before walking back across the hall to her own office.
****
"Are you awake?"
Kal felt dizzy, disoriented for a moment, then remembered. Hypno-therapy. "Did you find anything?"
Dr. Porter shook her head slowly. "Not much. You seem to come from a place called New Krypton. Does that seem familiar?"
He searched his foggy memory. "Maybe."
"I've never heard of it." She made a note. "We'll have to follow that up a little later."
"What sort of place did it sound like?"
"I couldn't get a clear picture, Kal. I think you'd better rest for a while. There's a room in the back; it was originally an office but I put in a futon. I use it when I'm working late, or my patients use it if they need a short break. How about you go back there, lie down, and see if you can sleep any?"
He frowned at the blue sky seen through her window. "What time is it?"
"Half past one," she replied calmly. "An excellent time for a rest." She stood, waving him along with her to the door at the back of the office.
Unsure, uneasy, he followed her, and allowed her to show him the converted office. She pointed out where to find pillows and even a blanket for the futon, then left the room, pulling the door gently closed behind her.
The futon was arranged as a sofa right now; she'd shown him how to adjust the frame so that the mattress would lie flat, but he didn't feel that was necessary. He sat, slouching into the cushion.
The picture of his background was slowly gaining coherence -- not that any of it even began to explain why he'd ended up naked in a crater. His mind was releasing information in some areas, but still stubbornly refusing to explain that part.
So... New Krypton. That did sound familiar. Was there an old Krypton? The name seemed to imply so... and he felt a rush of sadness connected to it. A tragedy of some kind, he assumed.
His upbringing had been strict, he was sure of that. He had duties and responsibilities, though he wasn't clear on what they were, exactly. He must never show weakness -- and emotions were weakness. Or at least showing them was, and he had a feeling that feelings were not encouraged.
A memory floated up from deep within the recesses of his mind. He'd been a boy, of about eight or nine, sitting at a large table with five or six grown men. He'd worn a body suit with an over-vest, as had the rest of them. His legs weren't yet long enough to reach the floor, so they swung below him, occasionally kicking the chair supports. It was a meeting, something to do with mining contracts and ore refineries, and he had the sense that he'd been there quite a while already.
"Father?" He thought he'd whispered it. "May I go home now?" There had been some sort of game, with Zara, which had been interrupted.
"No, Kal-El," Mak-Ra had responded calmly -- and loud enough for all to hear. "It is your duty to attend these meetings."
All the men at the meeting looked at Kal, with varying degrees of disapproval at the interruption. He flushed scarlet.
"You are the head of your house," Mak-Ra continued. "You have responsibilities. One day, you will be First Lord of New Krypton. You have much to learn before then. It is time you started learning in earnest."
Thoroughly humiliated, he could only reply, "Yes, Father."
Kal blinked, trying to process all that. He'd been some sort of nobility -- presumably still was. And First Lord? Was that like a king?
Another, female voice intruded, saying, "... I'm assuming you didn't do the 'marry the princess, take over the kingdom' routine..."
That voice was a much more recent memory. At least he thought so. It brought a happy feeling with it, but when he tried to recall some context for the remark, his mind remained stubbornly blank.
****
Lois looked at the phone with loathing. After hours of fruitless calling, she'd be happy if she never saw a phone again. This was different, but... if Nightfall were still on course, would she really want to know?
Well, yes, she would. She picked up the receiver and punched in a number she knew by heart. With a quick friendly stop at his secretary's extension, she was put through to Colonel White.
"White speaking," he answered, sounding distracted and harassed.
"Colonel, it's Lois Lane."
"Lois!" His voice cheered up, and she could almost see him leaning back in his chair. "How are the wedding plans coming along?"
"Uh, well, we've" -- lost the groom -- "run into a few minor set-backs. That's not why I was calling, though."
The Colonel sighed. "I figured not."
"I wanted to ask, sir..." It occurred to her that she should phrase this carefully. It wouldn't do to tell him she was checking up on her fiance's handiwork. "Have there been any developments with Nightfall?"
"Actually, yes. Last night some time -- they weren't looking when it happened, though I'm blessed if I know how they took their eye off that particular ball -- anyway, they've got all kinds of theories, but the upshot is, Nightfall shattered."
Lois closed her eyes in relief. At least Kal's effort hadn't been in vain.
"So that's got them more optimistic about our survival," the Colonel continued, sounding resigned.
"What?" Shock slammed into her gut. "I... I thought it shattered!"
"Well, yes -- but a rock that big still breaks into some pretty good sized chunks. Most of them will miss us now, or burn up in the atmosphere, but a fairly large fragment is still headed in our direction."
If she hadn't already been desperate to find Kal, Lois thought grimly, this would be the time to start. "When will it hit?"
"This weekend, they think -- Monday at the latest. But the brain boys are talking about this missile they want to launch. Even if all it does is break the thing into smaller pieces, that'll help."
In the corner of her brain that wasn't screaming in panic, she could see the sense of that. "Smaller impacts. Right."
"Ah, they're pretty smart over there, Lieutenant," he tried to reassure her. "Just don't tell them I said so."
That drew a faint smile. "Your secret is safe with me. I guess they're probably pretty busy right now." Looking at the phone book, she added, "and so am I."
He took the hint graciously. "You go on and take care of that wedding. I'm looking forward to the reception."
"Yeah, I'll work on that." Her reply came out a little flatter than she'd intended, and there was a pause at the other end of the line.
"Is there anything I can do?"
She was tempted -- having a literal army out searching for Kal couldn't hurt -- but she wasn't yet desperate enough to try to explain that request. Maybe tomorrow. "No, thanks... I'm fine. My friends are helping me out."
"All right then. I'll let you know if I get good news."
"Thanks, sir."
"Take care, Lieutenant."
She heard a click on the other end of the line, and slowly hung up. This was even worse than she'd feared.
Not only did she need to find Kal for her own personal needs. She needed him to save the world. The fate of millions rested on her efforts.
She crossed her forearms on top of the yellow pages, and buried her head. She just couldn't take this right now.
****
Kal startled to wakefulness, grasping at the fragments of a dream. Someone had been searching for him, and had cried out in fear... or perhaps it wasn't a dream, but a reaction to that strange waterfall in his mind. It seemed unhappy and tired. Which he knew was ridiculous -- how could water be unhappy? -- but the impression remained. Even more ridiculous, he longed to be able to do something about it.
He wasn't learning that much from these hypnosis sessions, but the information gleaned from them and from within seemed to indicate that he was a rather strange man. Different. Alone.
This was getting him nowhere. He needed more information, and at the moment there was only one source of that. He stretched and stood, leaving the little converted office without a backwards glance.
"I'm ready," he announced, as he emerged into the main office.
Dr. Porter looked up from where she was doing paperwork at her desk. All traces of lunch had been cleared away; he could barely even smell it.
She smiled thinly. "Good. I'm glad you're rested."
He didn't feel especially rested, but no matter. He would make do with what he had. He frowned, considering that -- the phrase, or perhaps the concept, seemed very familiar. Was he poor, then? Though that didn't feel right. The answer remained stubbornly out of reach.
"We'll do the session in a moment, then. If you'll excuse me, I must finish this work. Merely a few business matters; they won't take long."
For a moment, indignation stirred within him. How dare she put him off? It swiftly faded; a physician should be obeyed. That was the proper order of things. Everyone else, though, should submit to... to... him? He couldn't tell. He frowned.
For lack of anywhere else to sit, he sat on the edge of the couch. For lack of anything to say, he stared at the carpet and kept his silence.
The silence dragged on for a few minutes, disturbed only by the faint scratching of pen on paper. He jumped when the phone rang. Looking up, he saw the doctor frown as she answered.
"Dr. Porter's office." She listened for a moment, then turned her chair away from him, hiding behind its tall back. "I haven't got time for this right now," she said, in a low tone that he could still hear perfectly well.
He felt vaguely that he shouldn't be eavesdropping. Another part of him, however, was hungry for any information.
"What?" she squeaked out. The alarm in her voice riveted his attention. "What do you mean, *was* due to hit..." After a moment, though, she seemed to relax, and to sound interested. "Shattered? Have they any idea why?" Another pause. "Well, that's hardly any improvement. Still... perhaps what happened before will happen again." After a few more terse words, the call was completed.
She swung her chair back around toward him, a speculative look in her eye as she studied him. He dropped his gaze back to the carpet.
"You know," she began slowly. "While hypnosis is, I feel, the best overall approach, it might be useful to try a few different techniques on you, as well. How about a little word association?"
"How would that work, exactly?"
"It's quite simple. I say a word, and then you say whatever pops into your head. Your mind has areas into which it does not want to go -- but we may be able to pinpoint those a little more."
Slowly, he nodded. "Subterfuge, instead of frontal assault."
She blinked. "Yes, I suppose so. Shall we?" Anticipating agreement, she pulled out a clipboard and held it at the ready. "You can sit, but it might work better if you're lying down, and not looking at me for clues."
He'd been doing an awful lot of lying down today, and he was getting restless. However, sitting was no better, so with a mental shrug, he settled himself along the couch. Later, he decided, he would go for a run. Getting out into the sunlight would do him good, and perhaps familiar sights would jog his memory.
"We'll start simply," she said. "And work up to the interesting areas. Green?"
"Blue."
"Dog?"
"Cat."
"Sun?"
"Red." Kal relaxed into the rhythm of it.
"Sports?"
"Football."
"Dancing?"
"Girl." A flash of someone in a yellow costume. Someone important?
"Wife?"
"Zara."
"Flying?"
"Ships."
"Tidal wave?"
"Harrington."
"Authority?"
"Obey."
"Nightfall?"
Kal recoiled as if he'd been struck. There was a brief flash of a mountain-sized rock floating somewhere, then pain and darkness. He blinked and the vision was gone, leaving behind an unfocused sensation of anxiety.
"Kal?"
"Um... deadly." But what the hell was it? "Why would I think that?"
Dr. Porter looked at her notes. "Well, there could be many reasons..."
He sat up, studying her. "You know what it is." He didn't know how he knew, but he was absolutely certain of it.
She looked up, meeting his eyes for a long moment. "Yes. It's an asteroid. It was on course to hit us, and might well have wiped out the human race."
The hand of panic squeezed his chest. "Was?"
"Early this morning, it shattered. However, a sizeable remnant will still hit Earth within a few days."
He lay back on the couch again, feeling stunned. For a brief moment, it was terribly hot, and he couldn't breathe. What was happening to him?
tbc...
