Clark and Lois The Lost Years Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 3 35/46
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary] / telepathic communications /
(#) footnotes
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Reminder:
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Previously:
“Of course.” Turning to Lois he bowed again and said “Thank you madam for the dance. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening.” Luthor turned and left joining another party in conversation off the dance floor. Shortly he called over the coordinator. “Who is she?” He indicated Lois.
“The princess Adelinde.”
“That’s what I thought she said. Okay. Send my secretary to me.”
A few minutes later Mrs. Cox showed up.
He led her out onto the balcony, leaving the French doors open in the process. “I want a team at the Honeymoon Suite of the Lexor, tonight. I want the woman brought to me. I don’t care what happens to the man, I just want the woman.”
“But Lex, right out in the open?”
“We can claim that enemies from their country unhappy with the current rulers made the hit. Just do it. I *must* have her.”
“Alright Lex, if that’s what you want.”
“See to it.”
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 35 – The Attack
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As Lex moved away, Clark took Lois in his arms and she moved in close as they continued the dance. She whispered to him “Thank you. You were just in time. That weasel was starting to make a move on me and I didn’t like it. I can’t understand it. It was like he couldn’t wait to get me into bed. I was just about to let him have it when you cut in.”
“I know. I was watching. I know how he feels! I can’t wait to get you to bed either. I hurried to finish planting the bugs so that you wouldn’t be pushed beyond your limits.”
The music ended, there was some polite applause for the band and they moved over to the refreshment area.
About this time a ‘news crew’ from LNN arrived to document the evening. It consisted of two women, a camera person and a reporter. They were apparently planning to interview Luthor and were setting up on the other side of them. Clark didn’t think much of it until it looked like they were ready to start.
As Clark and Lois started to move out of the way Clark’s superhearing picked up a sound, the sound of a capacitor charging. This was not a sound usually associated with a video cam. He used his x-ray vision to check out the camera. He instantly saw that this was, in fact, a weapon and was worried for Lois.
He heard “Ready Nell? Shoot.” As he heard this he placed himself between the ‘news crew’ and Lois and shielded her with his body, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against him.. Instinctively he knew that they weren’t the target of this attack, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
A red beam sprang out from the lens of the ‘video cam’ and struck Luthor on the arm. Lucille shouted “Now it’s your turn to suffer, Luthor!”
He heard his name and jerked away. When he did it was with a hole through his right arm the size of a pencil.
The guards were rushing the shooter and she was knocked off balance. The beam from the laser swung wildly. It hit Clark at his right shoulder and traversed his back diagonally to his left hip. As it did so Clark’s aura flared bright red and expanded to envelop Lois completely. As this happened Lois also manifested an aura of bright blue which expanded and merged with Clark’s red one. At the same time the Star Sapphires she wore began to glow with an inner light brighter and brighter as the laser continued to stimulate their auras. Before the laser beam had passed beyond Clark’s body the red of Clark’s aura had completely overcome Lois’ blue aura and merged with it until its character was changed. It was now a blend of her blue aura and his red aura manifesting itself as purple for a brief moment before the laser moved on.
Just as the laser had passed beyond Clark there was a small explosion and a puff of smoke from the weapon. Nell was slightly injured by the explosion and, being startled by it, dropped the weapon. She and her sister were both captured by security after a short pursuit.
In the confusion, after assuring himself that Lois was safe if just a little dizzy, since no one was looking that way, Clark scooped up the weapon and supersped out the open French doors to the balcony, flipped the weapon up onto the roof and returned all in the blink of an eye.
The attack effectively put a damper on the evening and the attendees rapidly departed.
As the last of the guests were leaving Luthor asked “Who has the weapon?”
Everyone started looking at everyone else. “Find it! I want that weapon! Search everywhere. Was there anyone missing during the excitement?”
“We were all engaged in apprehending the culprits. It looked like everyone was here though.”
He addressed the head of his security detail, “Pull the security tapes. I want to examine the footage. Have them in my office in half an hour. Mrs. Cox, get my doctor up here to take care of this injury.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark made it back to the Lexor. Lois was still feeling more than a little dizzy.
Clark brought her a glass of water. Lois reached out and took the glass. When she did it shattered in her hand. She stared at her hand, dumbfounded. “How did that happen? Was the glass flawed?”
Clark grabbed her hand to check for injuries. There wasn’t a scratch there. He looked back up at her face. She had a scared look. “Clark, I don’t know what’s happening to me. All of a sudden I feel better than I’ve felt in my entire life.”
Calmly he said “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
She clapped her hands over her ears as she got a pained expression and said “Ouch, don’t shout so loud! That hurt my ears!”
“What????”
“Ouch!”
In a whisper now “Lois, can you hear me?”
“Yes, but you’re still shouting. Just not as loud.”
Without saying another word, Clark, using gestures, indicated that he was going to pack up. Lois nodded her understanding. She started to change. Clark handed her the dark outfit. She nodded her understanding again. She started removing her jewels and placing them back in their case. As she finished and set the jewel case down it was like she had suddenly put on ear muffs. All the sounds around her were suddenly muted. She stopped Clark and said. “Say something to me.”
He whispered “Can you still hear me?”
“Just barely. Try a normal tone of voice.”
“Can you hear me now?”
“Yes, I can. What happened to me Clark?”
“I don’t know. It was almost like you had my powers there for a while.”
“Wow, is that what it’s like to have your superhearing? How do you handle it?”
“Practice, when it first ‘kicked in’ it was kinda embarrassing. I could hear some noises coming from my parent’s bedroom that I shouldn’t have. I wonder how you got my power and how you lost it again.”
“Maybe it had something to do with that laser. What did you feel when it hit you?”
“I could see my aura start to glow as it protected me from the beam. That’s never happened before. I also saw your aura glow … and … change. I don’t know what color is normal for either of our auras but mine was red and at first yours was blue. I don’t know how but yours changed from blue to purple like the red of my aura combined with the blue of yours making it a hybrid. I wonder what that could mean?”
“There was something I noticed. Reflected in the white of your shirt I saw a bright light. It seemed to be coming from me, or more specifically my jewelry! It was almost like they were glowing!”
Clark went over and pulled out the jewel box and handed it to her. As soon as it was in her hands she gasped as she felt a surge of strength and her hearing and eyesight became very acute again. Clark went over and turned out the lights, plunging the room into total darkness since the drapes over the windows were closed. Knowing what had to be done Lois started to open the box. As soon as there was a sliver of an opening, light sprang forth. She then threw the lid completely open and the room was lit by a lambent, phosphorescent or almost a bioluminescent light which pulsed and moved across the surfaces of all of the jewels. Lois couldn’t resist the temptation to reach out and touch the stones. As soon as she did a feeling of power swept through her. Suddenly her hearing became more acute as did her eyesight. It was almost as if she could look past the surface of the stones and see the power stored in them. She stood there marveling at the feeling of power and the other sensations which accompanied it. Suddenly her hearing locked on to a steady lub – dub sound which she instantly recognized as a heartbeat. She knew it wasn’t her own because she could feel hers and the rhythm was different. With wonder in her voice she said “I can hear your heartbeat. Now I know what you were talking about. It’s a comforting sound and puts me at peace. Clark, how is this happening?”
“Whatever that weapon was, it seems to have somehow copied my powers and stored them in the Star Sapphires. When I gave it to the jeweler he said that it was a unique stone. He had never seen another like it. It has a twelve point asterism instead of a six point. It looks like it’s acting like a battery, storing my powers and transferring them to you as you touch them.”
“Wow, I could be super powered just like you as long as I wear them?”
“I don’t know. This is all speculation. I think we need to do some tests. What do you say we head out to the farm for a few days? That was why I was packing. If you were being bothered by the noise I was going to take you where it was nice and quiet.”
“I think that’d be a good idea. We need to test this out. Imagine, you wouldn’t need to worry about protecting me all the time anymore. No more being shot and almost dying. You won’t have to fly me, I could fly myself! Wheeeeeee!” Still in contact with the stones she floated a foot off the floor and spun around. “Did I just do that?”
Laughing at her exuberance he said “You sure did! Wow, now you’re a ‘super’ wife in more ways than one! Let’s finish packing so that we can get to the farm. I want to spend the night in ‘our’ bed.”
“Should I try flying myself?”
“I don’t think so. Let’s do some tests first. We need to know what the extent of the copy is and how long it will last. We don’t know if it can be renewed or not. These are all the things we need to discover.”
Since they had found the cause of the problem, if problem it actually could be called, they stayed in their ball finery, finished packing and checked out of the Lexor. Taking a taxi to the airport they unloaded their luggage and moved into the men’s and ladies rooms to remove their disguises. There they changed into their dark clothes and met back at the entrance where they hailed a taxi to return to 348 Hyperion Ave. From there they could leave for the farm in Smallville with the confidence they were not being tracked.
Five minutes after they checked out of the Lexor a team of toughs arrived outside the door to the Honeymoon Suite. They used a general access key to achieve entry. They entered like a team clearing a building in a combat zone. They passed through the sitting room and burst into the bedroom only to find it empty and the bed still made.
The leader pulled out a cell phone and made a call. A female voice answered. “Report.”
“The birds have left the nest.”
“What?”
“We were too late. They’re gone.”
“Try to pick up the trail.”
“Roger.”
To his men “Head back to base. I have some checking to do.”
The team leader went down in the elevator to the desk. He pulled out police credentials and asked about the couple in the Honeymoon Suite.
The clerk checked the book and said “They just checked out. They had a reservation until Monday, but they left early.”
“Thanks.” He went out to the doorman.
“Anyone leave within the last hour?”
“Why?”
He pulled out his police credentials again and showed them to the doorman.
“Those are fake! I know the real thing when I see it.”
“Okay, how about this.” He pulled aside his jacket so that the doorman could see the butt of his gun. “Is this genuine enough for you?”
The doorman blanched. “Okay, don’t get hasty. Yeah, a couple left a few minutes ago. They seemed to be in a hurry. I called them a cab and they asked to be taken to the airport.”
The thug handed the doorman a fiver and said, “Thanks. Get yourself a cup of coffee.”
He signaled and a car that had apparently been waiting for him drove up and he climbed in. “Airport and be quick about it.”
“Airport. Roger.”
When they got to the airport he asked around at the ticket counters to find out where they had purchased tickets and where they were going to. He came up empty.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number again. A female voice answered “Report.”
“The quarry has disappeared.”
“What do you mean ‘disappeared’?”
“Just that, it’s like they vanished into thin air. I followed them to the airport but they didn’t purchase a ticket on any airline and they are not here in the terminal. They just simply disappeared.”
“Report to the office. I’m *not* going to be the one to tell Lex.”
With a fearful tone he replied “Roger.”
He returned to his car and told the driver “LexTower.”
“Uh oh. Bad news?”
“You could say that. They disappeared.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go in the opposite direction?”
“It wouldn’t matter. He’d find me sooner or later anyhow. Let’s go and face the music.”
When he arrived back at LexTower he took the service elevator to the one hundredth floor and moved through the corridors to the office door. He let himself into the atrium and greeted Mrs. Cox. She looked at him and said, “I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. Go on in, he’s expecting you.”
Taking a deep calming breath he reached for the doorknob and opened the door.
As soon as Luthor saw him he shouted “Report!”
“We lost them. It was like they disappeared into thin air.”
“What did you say?”
“It was like they disappeared into thin air.”
“That’s what I thought you said. He leaned over and hit a switch on his intercom “Mrs. Cox, bring me the cards from the ball, immediately.”
His underling stood there fidgeting. After a few minutes Mrs. Cox entered and handed Lex a stack of invitations. He immediately sorted through them. He quickly found the one he was looking for. He read Princess Adelinde and Prince Charlot of Kongō.
“I can’t believe this! They were right here! Right under my nose and I didn’t know. I had her in my arms!
“Who Lex? Who was here?”
“Don’t you see? It’s all right here! Adelinde is the French for Linda! Charlot is the French for Charles and Kongō is the old spelling of Congo! It’s them … the couple from the Congo that followed the shipment. That laser! They must have it. Somehow they got it out of the ballroom. Search for it. Look everywhere.”
“They’re both supposed to be dead but they are very much alive and she … she is a vision of loveliness that I can’t get out of my senses. I had her in my grasp and she slipped away! I still need to find her. She must be mine. I must have her. No other woman will do. Get out of here and find her!”
Not needing to be told twice and happy to be getting out with their skin intact both Mrs. Cox and the strike team leader exited rapidly.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Once back home they repacked. While Lois worked on that Clark flew up to the roof of LexTower. He looked through the roof and watched while a very thorough search was performed. It was obvious that they were looking for the laser. He retrieved the laser and substituted a voice activated recording device which would receive the transmissions from the wireless bugs. It was securely hidden from casual observation. He returned home with the weapon which he promptly concealed in the hidden compartment which he had planned to use in the future for his uniforms.
Once all of this had been accomplished they headed out for the farm, taking off from the back yard.
Over the next couple of days they tested her powers with the jewels. They found that depending on how many of the jewels she was in contact with at any time determined the level of her powers. They also determined that she didn’t have to be in physical contact. All that was needed was that they be within her aura. They also determined that there was an interaction between the gems and the sun. The power stored was being replenished by exposure to the sun in just the same way as Clark’s were. To be on the safe side they decided that she should probably limit her use of the powers at night until they had a better handle on how long they would last and how long it would take to recharge them if they were depleted. They ran an experiment where after dark she used her various powers until the gems were almost drained of power.
Performing such tests can make for some exciting times. While flying around the farm at an altitude of about a thousand feet the gems reached a particular energy level and suddenly she started falling out of the sky.
Unfortunately, it happened very suddenly and Clark was some distance away. Lois was startled and mentally was preparing to scream for /Clark!/. She was just starting to take a breath to call him, but before she could actually vocalize the words he was at her side and he caught her. When he did suddenly he felt rather than saw his aura manifest and the gems began to glow again. It only took a minute for the gems to be restored to their former power and Lois was able to fly on her own again. They both landed. Lois asked “Why did you come catch me? I didn’t call you.”
“Yes, you did. I distinctly heard you call my name.”
“No, I didn’t! I was about to but had only gotten as far as thinking about doing so. I hadn’t even opened my mouth!” She stopped talking and thought /Clark! Can you hear me?/
Clark looked at her with a open mouth and said “Yes, I can. Your lips didn’t move. Are you practicing ventriloquism?”
Lois stared at him and thought /No I’m not practicing ventriloquism. I’m thinking at you. You try it./
Clark, with a serious expression, stared at her and tried to think at her. /Can you hear me?/
Lois with a big smile on her face thought back, /Yes, I can!/
Clark spoke “Wow, I never expected anything like this. Neither the other Clark nor Lois ever told me anything about this power. I wonder if he even knows. It sure looks like we can communicate telepathically. I wonder if there is a range limit. We’ll need to try that out. How about this, you stay here and I’ll start flying and we’ll talk for as long as we can. When I can’t hear you anymore I’ll come back.” With that Clark took off in a straight line first gaining altitude so that he wouldn’t be observed from the ground and moving north. He was over the crown of the Earth and starting down the other side when he lost contact. He immediately retraced his path. “Well, it looks like we could be on different sides of the continent and still ‘talk’.”
“That could sure come in handy. Wow, that was unexpected and it also looks like I can get an immediate recharge from you if I need it.”
“I didn’t notice any drastic change in my energy level. It only took about a minute. I bet if while flying we held hands we could go on forever.”
Lois wanted to wear her jewels at all times and Clark was not averse to this so it was decided that this would be the case. She would wear them under her clothes and expose them to sunlight as opportunity presented itself to recharge them. She would be able to wear everything but the earrings and tiara under her clothes. The tiara being the largest stone it would be the greatest source of her energy. They finally devised a method of removing the large central stone and placing it in a pouch around her neck so that it rested in the valley between her breasts. She would not be wearing any low cut necklines until they came up with a better method, but this would do for now.
After their weekend they returned to Metropolis, holding hands as Lois flew under her own power.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 36 – Continuing the Investigation
