On the way back to Metropolis and the Interview of the Century, as she had gleefully dubbed it, Lois had some pointers for her new friend.
“So, when we arrive, we’ll go back in through the conference room window. If we’re really lucky, no one will have even realized that we’ve been gone.”
Clark raised a skeptical brow. “You don’t think at least one of the millions of people in Metropolis will notice a man in a garish suit carrying a beautiful reporter through an open window several stories up?”
Inwardly, Lois’s mind was reeling with one thought: He thinks I’m beautiful! So she was rather proud of the casual shrug she managed while replying, “Most people never look up. And even if they do, so what? Once the story hits the front page tomorrow morning, they’ll just assume that you were taking me for a joy ride as part of the interview.”
Clark rolled his eyes. “Superman gives joy rides now?”
Lois grinned cheekily back. “Only to brilliant ace reporters.”
“Okay,” Clark agreed. “How do you want to play the actual interview? Aren’t there ethical issues about you printing answers that you know aren’t true?”
“Ah, but I’m not going to do that. I’m going to ask Superman the same questions I would if I really thought he’d just arrived on Earth, and he’s going to answer them truthfully.”
Clark was catching on quickly. “Just not necessarily completely?” he clarified.
“By George, I think he’s got it,” Lois agreed. “Do you think you can handle that? I suppose I could help with suggestions for answers, but that would be skirting pretty close to the line.”
“No, I think I can manage,” Clark reassured her. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time, he added to himself. “There are some questions I’m not prepared to answer, though .”
“That’s up to you. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. But I’m not going to throw you softballs. This is going to be a real interview; I don’t do puff pieces.”
The words, “So I’ve heard,” popped into Clark’s mind, but he refrained from saying them aloud.
The conference room was still empty when they returned, the door still locked and the shades still drawn. Lois settled herself at one end with her notepad and tape recorder, caught Superman’s eye to make sure he saw her turn the recorder on, then rose to greet him as if he’d just arrived.
“Superman, thank you for coming. I hope you don’t mind if I record our conversation?”
“I’m very pleased to be here, Ms. Lane. And, no, I don’t mind at all.”
“Great. Please, have a seat. Can I offer you something to drink?”
Clark seated himself back at the table where this entire episode had begun an hour before. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”
“Okay then, let’s get started.” Lois looked him straight in the eye and began.
“You first appeared in Metropolis about two weeks ago at the Prometheus shuttle launch. So let’s start with the obvious question: Why are you here?”
“To help.”
“That’s all? You don’t have any ulterior motives?”
“What other motives would I have?”
“The same motives many people have: money, power, influence.”
“I’m not looking for money. And, due to the nature of my abilities, I already have all the power I can handle. I will admit that I wouldn’t be averse to using whatever influence I might acquire to try to impact the community for the better.”
“Like what? Fighting for truth and justice?”
The corners of his mouth twitched. Lois was pretty good at this inventing a hero business. “You could put it that way if you like.”
“Okay, Superman, next question: Where did you come from? There has been speculation that you are from another planet. Is that true?”
“Yes, Ms. Lane, it’s true. I come from a planet called Krypton.”
“And yet you look like a human man.”
“I am a man, Ms. Lane.” Was Lois imagining things, or was she meant to take that comment on more than one level?
“Just a man from another world?”
“Yes.”
“That’s an astonishing claim, Superman! You’re telling me that you are living proof of the existence of intelligent life on other planets. Every biologist and anthropologist in the world will want to talk with you. I imagine you could tell us marvelous things about your home world—its history, culture, science, how it differs from our own and how it is similar. Are your people in contact with other planets as well? Or are Krypton and Earth it?”
“I’m not sure how much help I can be, Ms. Lane. I’m not an expert on Krypton’s history, nor on its technology. As for culture, I suspect ours has the same elements as any Earth culture—language, music, art, religion, work life, family life, community life. As I’m sure you’ve learned from the wide diversity of Earth cultures, there are many ways of approaching life together, but the basic issues are the same for people everywhere.” That was a pretty vague answer, Clark knew. He could only hope that Lois wouldn’t press him for details that he didn’t have. “As for other planets, Krypton and Earth are the only inhabited planets that I am aware of. That doesn’t mean there aren’t others. I’m no expert, but, given the existence of two, it seems likely that they aren’t the only ones .”
“Are there more of you, or are you the only Krypton man on Earth?”
“Kryptonian,” Superman corrected, “and, as far as I know, I am the only one on Earth.”
“As far as you know? Why wouldn’t you know?”
“I have not been in contact with my people for some time. If they have plans to send other Kryptonians here, I am not aware of them.”
“Why not? Why would they keep you out of the loop? Don’t you keep in contact with whoever sent you?”
“No.”
“So you’re operating independently? Like a deep cover agent?”
“No, Ms. Lane. I am not any kind of agent of Krypton or anywhere else.”
“I’m not sure I understand. Why are you here if you weren’t sent by the Kryptonian government? Are you some kind of explorer? A scientist?”
“No. I am more of a…refugee. My people didn’t want me.” He said it calmly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but Lois caught the pain that hovered beneath the surface of his steady gaze.
“I’m sorry,” Lois answered honestly. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I’d rather not discuss that here, Ms. Lane. It’s rather personal.” Was Lois reading too much into this, or was he suggesting that he might discuss it with Friend Lois some other time?
“All right. You’ll forgive me for asking the follow-up question, though: You aren’t a fugitive from justice, are you? Or are you in exile for political reasons?”
“No, Ms. Lane. I have never been a criminal. And I try to stay out of politics. Next question , please?”
“How did you get here?”
“In a spacecraft.”
“Alone? Or were you dropped off here by someone else?”
“I was alone.”
“So you piloted a personal spacecraft from Krypton to Earth?”
“It was piloted automatically; I was merely the passenger.” Clark had to assume that was the case; he certainly hadn’t piloted anything as an infant.
“How far away is Krypton from Earth? How long did it take you to get here? You don’t sound like you plan on going back.”
“Krypton is many light years from Earth.” Clark thought that was a fair statement, given that the nearest star was four light years away. “The trip took less than a year.” Also true, since his parents said he was only a few months old when they found him. “And, no, I have no plans to return to Krypton. Earth is my home now.”
“So your ship has faster than light travel capabilities? That’s amazing! Will you share your technology with our scientists?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lane, but that won’t be possible. As I said, I am not a scientist. I couldn’t tell you how my ship’s engines worked, and even if I could, it’s unlikely that Kryptonian technology would be compatible with Earth materials. In any case, I don’t think it would be wise to let the ship itself out of my possession.” Or it wouldn’t be, if the ship were *in* his possession to begin with.
“Where is the ship now?”
“In an undisclosed location,” Superman smiled.
“Touche, Superman. You realize I had to ask.”
“Yes, Ms. Lane, but I don’t have to answer,” the smile never wavered. He was enjoying this, wasn’t he?
“Fair enough. Let’s move on, shall we? Given everything that you’ve just explained to me, what do you say to the allegation that you are here as part of an advance party?”
Now the smile was gone. “An advance party? In advance of what?”
“An invasion of Earth.”
His face was now as stern as Lois had ever seen it. His voice was clear and firm as he replied, “I categorically deny it. As I said, I am, as far as I know, the only one of my kind on this planet. I have severed all ties with my home world. There is no invasion, Ms. Lane, and, unless you know something I don’t, no evidence for one, either.”
“Some would argue that your very presence is evidence.”
“I don’t know what else I can tell you, Ms. Lane. As you yourself pointed out, I look exactly like an Earth man. Were I truly a spy for a Kryptonian invasion fleet, why would I make my presence known? The truth is, I am alone here, one man who happens to have some unique gifts by sheer accident of birth. I choose to use those gifts to help as best I can. I have been operating publicly for almost three weeks. In that time I have saved dozens of human lives and harmed no one. I will let my record speak for itself.”
“Okay, Superman, let’s move on.” Lois paused for a moment to give him a little time to calm down. She gave him an encouraging smile as she asked, “Speaking of your ‘gifts,’ as you call them, what can you tell me about your extraordinary powers?”
He seemed relaxed again as he asked, “What would you like to know?”
“Let’s start with what, exactly, they are. I’ve seen you swallow a bomb with no apparent ill effects. Are you physically invulnerable?”
“I haven’t encountered anything yet that could harm me.”
“Of course we all know that you can fly. Can all Kryptonians do that?”
“I have never met a Kryptonian adult who couldn’t.”
“An adult? What about the children?”
“I first flew at the age of eighteen. I’ve never heard of a child flying.”
“Interesting. How about strength? Are Kryptonian children super strong, or does that develop in adulthood as well?”
“Like human children, our strength increases with adolescence.” Clark was generalizing from a sample size of one, but it seemed like a fair assumption.
“An entire society of superpowered beings—that would lead to all kinds of differences; everything from roads to machinery to travel and communication. Earth must seem primitive by comparison.”
“As I said before, there are cultural differences all over the world as well as between our worlds. Technological differences are merely on the surface. The fundamental issues—work, education, spiritual life, relationships between people—are the same. I don’t consider Earth primitive at all. The people here have made me welcome, and I am grateful.” Thinking of Martha and Jonathan, and of all the places he’d lived over his years of researching his novels, Clark realized that this answer, for once, was the simple truth.
Lois brought his thoughts back to the present with her next question. “Exactly how strong are you?”
“I haven’t found anything yet that I couldn’t lift. The Prometheus shuttle is the largest object I’ve lifted so far.”
“So you didn’t know ahead of time that you’d be able to do it?”
“I had no reason to assume that I couldn’t, but, no, there was no way to know for certain.”
“What if you had failed? The colonist’s lives might have all been endangered.”
“If I had felt incapable of continuing at any point in the launch, I would have landed the shuttle immediately. The colonists were not in danger at any point. Had I not attempted the launch, the entire mission would have been a loss. There would not have been an opportunity to try again.”
“Okay, Superman, we’ve established that you are physically invulnerable, very strong, and able to fly. Anything else? I myself have seen you move extremely fast.”
“Yes, if I choose to I can move faster than the human eye can follow.”
“What else?”
“My senses are more acute than a human’s. I can see, hear, and smell things which would be undetectable to anyone else. Also, I can heat objects with my eyes and cool them with my breath.”
“Wow, that’s a lot. Can you understand why all of those abilities would make some humans nervous?”
“Yes, Ms. Lane, I can. I am familiar with the human aphorism that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I can only repeat that I have nothing but good will toward the people of this planet, and, as I said earlier, let my record speak for itself.”
“If our leaders asked you to leave, would you?”
He hadn’t seen that one coming. The thought had never occurred to him. A frown creased his brow as he formulated his answer. Finally, he leaned forward and looked Lois directly in the eye as he responded, “If the elected representatives of Earth requested that I leave this planet, I would do my best to accommodate them.” Superman could disappear as easily as he had appeared. Clark would still be around, of course. “But I sincerely hope that I can convince all of you that I wish only to be of service here. I hope that my actions will earn me your welcome. The truth is, Ms. Lane, I have no where else to go.”
During the entire interview, Lois had been experiencing a strange sort of double vision. She saw and heard the stoic hero answering her questions for public consumption. But she also saw hints of emotion that peeked through his eyes. Some she was sure were meant for her, a sort of private joke between the two of them. Others she thought he’d revealed involuntarily, too overcome with his feelings to hide them completely. Her last question had obviously thrown him for a loop, and the sincerity of his response touched something deep within her .
She turned the tape recorder off with a click. Giving her guest her warmest, most sympathetic smile, she announced, “We’re done here.” The hero façade lifted like a veil and she was back with her friend from the island. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Clark returned her smile with a reassuring one of his own. “Yeah, I’m fine. You sure pack a mean punch, Ms. Ace Reporter. I can see why the bad guys quiver in fear of you.”
“I know I was a little tough on Superman, but it had to be done. If I hadn’t asked those questions, others would have. At least this way you got a chance to respond directly instead of having people whisper behind your back. You did great, by the way. Are you sure this is your first interview?”
“This is Superman’s first interview.”
“But not yours? Interesting…”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t deny it, either,” she grinned. “Stop worrying. I’m not going to torture it out of you. How would I even go about it? Nothing I did to you would have any effect, anyway,” Lois teased.
‘Oh, I don’t know about that,’ Clark thought to himself, ‘I can’t think of another person who has ever had as much effect on me.’ But it was way too early in their relationsh—friendship, he amended,—to tell her any such thing.
“Come on, Superman,” Lois prodded, “the interview’s over and it’s time for you to make a very public exit from this conference room before my colleagues start to wonder what I’ve done with you.”
“Oh?” Clark teased, “Do you have a reputation for devouring your interviewees?”
“Does the phrase ‘Mad Dog Lane’ mean anything to you?” she shot back.
“You’d better cut it out, Lois; I’m supposed to be walking out of here with my stern Hero Face on. How am going to do that if you keep making me smile?”
“I’m sure you’ll manage, flyboy.”
Lois had her hand on the conference room’s doorknob when Clark thought of one more thing. “Hold on a minute, Lois.” She turned to face him, and he asked, “Can I see a copy of the interview before it goes to print?”
“You want a preview?” her frown told him she wasn’t inclined to grant that request.
“Not to edit it or anything. It’s your story.” He gave her a sheepish half-smile. “Truth be told, I don’t think I’ll sleep a wink tonight if I don’t get to see what you’ve come up with before it hits the newsstands tomorrow.”
Lois smiled. He was absolutely adorable—so strong, so confident in the interview, yet with these little glimpses of insecurity. She loved it. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you come over to my apartment tonight at seven and I’ll show you the final write-up. I’ll get Chinese take-out.”
Clark broke into a wide grin. “It’s a date. But let me bring the take-out.”
