Clark and Lois – Two Universes - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 7 10/32
By Ken Janney
Rating PG-13
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
This particular story takes place after Lois and Clarks.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ “denotes telepathic communication”/
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
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
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Common name – Alt 2
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
“Sounds like a good idea. We are going to need that house sooner than we expected.” Turning to the boys, Lois asked, “You guys want to watch a reporter interview the victim of a crime first hand?”
Denny was eager and grabbed Jack’s hand and started dragging him in Lois’ wake over to Lucy’s desk. Half way there Jack saw who they were going to see and immediately his attitude changed. When he saw Lucy who was only a ‘little’ older that himself he was attracted to her and Denny was no longer dragging him.
When they got nearer Lucy’s desk she introduced them, “Guys this is my sister Lucy, Lucy, Jack and Denny.” She indicated which was which with her hand. “Jack is going to be working here as a copyboy.”
Lucy stood and offered Denny and Jack her hand which they in their turns shook. Lucy noticed the way Jack was looking at her and said, “Nice to meet you both. I’ll have to introduce you to my boyfriend.”
Immediately Jack lost the look of adoration that was on his face and he choked out, “B … b … boy … boyfriend?”
“Yeah, Mr. Olsen.”
That was a name he had just heard and he choked out, “The owner? The owner is your boyfriend?”
“Sorry, yeah, he’s my boyfriend. Tell you what, do a good job and I’ll put in a good word for you. Deal?”
Trying to make the best of a bad situation Jack said, “Deal.”
Lois said, “Okay, Lucy, I need you to tell me everything you remember about your kidnapping.”
Lucy turned away from Jack and faced Lois as she said, “Okay, well, I had been working on that research project for you and, well, you know how it is, a computer geek's brain runs on caffeine, so I decided to go get a large coffee with a shot of espresso. Well, as I left the building and rounded the corner I felt hands on my arms and a rag over my face. I held my breath and started to struggle. I tried to use some of those Tae Kwan Do moves you’ve been teaching me. The problem was that they surprised me and they had a secure hold before I knew what was happening. I heard one of them complain that I was fighting more than any other girl they had taken. The other one said that I was the wrong one, whatever he meant by that, then I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. A few seconds later I was out. The next thing I knew I was in a room somewhere and somebody was jabbing a needle in my arm. Everything is kinda fuzzy after that until I woke up in the hospital.”
With a thoughtful look, Lois said, “I think I can explain one of their statements. I was the target that they were after.”
“Oh, Lois! Why were they after you?”
“Because I’m with Superman and also some time ago we, along with Mayson and Daniel, that couple you met a little while ago, got the evidence needed to bust up a prostitution and extortion racket here in town.”
“Was she a target as well?”
“We believe so.”
Clark joined them and said, “I just spoke to the realtor. We got lucky. The current owner is available and we can sign the rest of the papers and close in an hour.” He turned to the boys and said, “That means that the house will be ours today. The house has been vacant for some time because the previous owner had already moved to a larger house and because of their growing family they wanted to move to the suburbs. That means that this afternoon we have a lot of shopping to do. We need four beds, dressers, curtains, living room furniture and kitchen equipment. Let’s see, we also need to get Denny some school clothes and work clothes for Jack.”
Jack spoke up, “I can’t let you do that. I’ll get us what we need when I have some money.”
Clark said, “Look at it as a loan. You can pay us back a little at a time, but you need these things now.”
And Now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 08 – Doctor Klein Helps Out
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 - Local designation – Alt 1
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
A short time later Mayson and Daniel showed up. When they did Lois, Clark and Lucy led them into the conference room.
Lois asked, “Mayson, what can you tell me about your abduction?”
“I was supposed to be meeting Daniel for lunch. Since I didn’t want to move my car from a choice parking spot, I decided to take a cab. As I was walking to a cab stand I was grabbed from behind and a cloth was held over my face. I took a deep breath so that I could yell and that’s the last thing I remember until I woke up in that hospital.”
“That pretty much checks with what happened to me.” Lois looked at her sister and with a touch of pride in her voice she continued, “Lucy on the other hand didn’t make it so easy for them. She held her breath and tried to fight them off. She almost succeeded. If they hadn’t been able to surprise her she might have done it too.”
Mayson said, “I wish I’d thought of that. Oh well, live and learn. Alright, you said there was more to the story.”
“Clark was following the car that had me and overheard the thugs talking. He stayed far enough away that they didn’t know he was following. I was a particular target, and they had grabbed Lucy thinking she was me. You were also a particular target. It seems as though the person behind the brothel was mad at us for breaking up their operation and they wanted revenge.”
Daniel asked, “So the same people were behind both. Why weren’t any ransom notes sent?”
“We weren’t grabbed for ransom. After I recovered from the chloroform I snuck downstairs and overheard a conversation. We were scheduled to be shipped out of the country. I’m afraid that we were being sold into sex slavery, probably in the Middle East.”
Daniel got a very concerned look as he turned to Mayson and said, “We need to talk.” He turned to Lois and Clark and asked, “Is there somewhere we can talk and can you excuse us for a few minutes?”
Lois looked over at the other conference room. Seeing several people leaving she nodded her head in that direction and said, “The other conference room is open. You can use that.”
As Daniel reached for Mayson’s hand she looked at Lois and lifted her shoulders in an I-don’t-know shrug.
Daniel and Mayson were in the other conference room for a few minutes. Lois and Clark studiously avoided eavesdropping but they did notice some movement. They couldn’t help but notice that there were no raised voices. They did hear one gasp from Mayson.
A few minutes later Daniel had her hand as he led Mayson back into the still occupied conference room. When they rejoined Lois, Lucy and Clark, Mayson was smiling.
Lois said, “I guess he wasn’t mad at you.”
Mayson started smiling even broader and said in a dreamy tone, “No, no he wasn’t. Not mad at all.” She held out her left hand to display a new addition to her jewelry. A one carat solitaire adorned her ring finger.
Lois and Lucy both squealed and Lois threw her arms around Mayson. Clark stepped over and shook Daniel’s hand saying, “Congratulations. I’m happy for you.”
Daniel said, “I decided that if this kind of thing was going to be happening I didn’t want to waste any more time or let her out of my sight any more than necessary.”
Shaking his head, Clark replied in a commiserating tone, “I know how it is. Believe me, I know how it is.”
Looking at Clark, Daniel asked, “I know it’s short notice, but would you be my best man? After all, if you hadn’t introduced us this never would have happened.”
Mayson extricated herself from Lois’ arms and said, “Yeah, we don’t want to wait. Lois, I could use a matron of honor. Lucy could you be a bride’s maid?”
They were both flustered with the rapidity of all of this. They both nodded their assent. Lois asked, “When?”
“Three days. Nothing fancy, just a civil ceremony at the city hall. We’re going to get the license today.”
Lois suggested, “Since you asked Lucy to be a bride’s maid Dan needs a groomsman. Might I suggest your cousin, Tony?”
Mayson only took a second to consider this before saying, “Perfect! Thank you, Lois. That would be perfect and afterward we can go to Travaglini’s for a very private reception. I love it. Thanks for that suggestion!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Since they were in the conference room Lois moved over and dialed the 12th precinct.
The voice she heard sounded almost terminally board. “12th Precinct, Sgt. Cooper. How can I help you?”
“Sgt. Cooper, this is Lois Lane.”
“Oh, hi, Ms. Lane. You want to talk to Lt. Henderson, don’t you?”
“You know me pretty well. Yeah, Henderson, please.”
“Just a sec.”
There was a series of clicks and then they heard, “Henderson.”
“Bill, it’s Lois and Clark.”
“Lois, I see you’ve recovered. Look, the next time I tell you to stay out of something, listen to me, okay?”
“I tried, Bill, I really tried. The problem was that Mayson and I were targeted, specifically. Clark overheard something that we thought would interest you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
Clark replied, “Bill, do you remember the brothel case?”
“How could I forget?”
“Okay, well, this kidnapping was retaliation for that. The same person was behind both situations. While we were in the brothel I overheard a name, just one name … Leslie. Now, we don’t know if it is a first name or a last name, but recently an individual arrived in town and we’ve been investigating him. His name is Leslie Luckabee. We found out that he has a criminal record in Australia. Now, that’s no proof that he is involved in criminal activities, here in the states, but it’s kinda hard for a leopard to change its spots.”
“Well, so far that’s not enough for me to even start an investigation. What else do you have?”
Lois answered, “That’s just it, that’s all we have, at this point.”
“Well, all I can say is, get back to me when you have more. That’s not enough for me to work with.”
Clark replied, “We understand that. We just wanted to give you a heads-up. As soon as we have more, we’ll let you know. Thanks, Bill.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Later that day Lois and Clark signed the papers and took possession of 348 Hyperion furnished it and moved in with Lucy, Jack and Denny.
While Lois decided about the furniture Clark went out and purchased a car. Since they now had three non-super members in the ‘family’ they had decided that a car was needed. Lois had had a Jeep in the other universe so that was what he found for her.
The next day Denny started school with Lois driving him and making the arrangements so that he wouldn’t have the notoriety of being sponsored by Superman.
After taking care of Denny she returned and picked up the rest of the ‘family’ and headed out for the Planet.
Clark personally took Jack around and introduced him to his new co-workers and, showing him where the FAX machines, copiers and the supply closet were, he explained what his duties were to be.
Jack seemed to be eager to get started so Clark, with the offer that if he needed any help to come to him, left him on his own.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Two days later Mayson Drake became Mayson Scardino.
Tony was thrilled that his cousin, Mayson, wanted him in the wedding party along with Superman. He thought that Lucy was very cute and he was very satisfied to be paired up with her.
It was a very small ceremony and afterward the party went to Travaglini’s for a reception meal.
After the meal Tony approached Lucy and asked her out. He was disappointed when she turned him down, but when she explained about her millionaire boyfriend, he understood.
After the meal and before Mayson and Daniel could leave for their honeymoon, Clark and Lois asked that they plus Lucy accompany them to their new house so that they could have a talk.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Once they were all settled in the living room Clark started the conversation. “I think that it is only safe to assume that whoever tried to hold Lois and Mayson in order to have leverage against me will try again. We need to be on extra alert against that eventuality. Mayson, once it becomes known that you are now married and that it isn’t to me, they, whoever they are may drop you from the list; however there still exists the fact that you were part of the team that took the bordello down and that may be sufficient reason for whoever it is to keep you on the list.”
Daniel replied, “Well, you’re just full of good news aren’t you. How are we going to prevent that, added security?”
Mayson answered, “That isn’t going to happen. I think that when Daniel and I move out of our separate apartments and into a larger place they might lose track of me.”
“You can’t count on that. They can pick you up at the court, when you’re coming out of your office, any number of places. We need to come up with a means of you alerting us if there is a problem and also a method for us to track you.”
“Don’t even think about implanting a chip under my skin.”
“I wouldn’t think of it. Maybe we could arrange a regular check in or something like that.”
Mayson looked over at Daniel and said, “Let’s worry about that when Daniel and I get back from our honeymoon. I don’t know about him, but I’m anxious to get started.”
Daniel reached for her hand and pulled her to him as he said, “You and me both,” he turned to Lois and Clark and said, “I think we are going to leave. We’ll call you when we get back.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the penthouse of the Plaza, Leslie Luckabee was again behind the bar pouring a drink while Smythe paced back and forth. In the background the “Ride of the Valkyries” by Richard Wagner was playing. The wild martial music seemed to fit the mood of Smythe.
Luckabee asked, “What went wrong? We had the Sheilas. All we had to do was ship ‘em out.”
Smythe spit his reply out as if it were an expletive, “Superman! Superman, that’s what happened.”
“But, I thought you were ready for him. I guess you weren’t as ready as you thought, were you?”
“Watch it Luckabee, I could dispense with you very easily.”
“Now, don’t get hasty, mate. I didn’t mean nothing by it. It’s just with him you can’t be so cock sure as you can with others.”
“That goes without saying. Somehow the green rock disappeared. He must have managed to get someone in the clink. Perhaps it was one of the guards. We won’t know for sure until I can either get them out of jail or at least get someone in there to talk to them.”
“How sure are you that the blokes won’t turn dog and talk to the cops?”
“They know better than to talk. They are being paid very well not to talk. They also know that if they do talk their lives aren’t worth fleas on a Dingo.”
Luckabee asked, “What about the house you rented? Can’t the cops trace that back to you?”
“No, I used an intermediary, and if they look for him they will come up empty. He is no longer … available. I learned a lot from the secret records I found that my father left behind. Some of the people that he had on his payroll were still available. Some have even moved into jobs of higher responsibility. Most of them were more than happy to deal with Lex Luthor’s son.”
“Fine, so you have some blokes in high places willing to help. How does that keep Superman from interfering in our plans?”
“Our plans? *Our* plans? What do you mean *our* plans? You don’t have a plan in your head! These are *my* plans!”
“Alright mate, don’t get narky. What new plan have *you* come up with?”
“First, you are going to start pressing James Olsen for an answer about the sale of the Daily Planet. We just got a response from ANN that they have accepted our offer. The papers will be signed later this week, and we can change the name back to LNN. We won’t explain that it is Luthor News Network. Let them speculate. They’ll think it is Luckabee News Network. As soon as the papers are signed, we can start working on turning the people against Superman.”
“That’s going to be hard to do if you haven’t got the paper as well. Without the paper you’ve got Buckley’s.”
“That is only one avenue that we are pursuing. I am also negotiating the purchase of MiraLabs. MiraLabs used to be LexLabs. As soon as we have MiraLabs, I will have a research project for them. I want them to build the most powerful, yet portable laser that has ever existed and if I can get my hands on some more of that green rock I’ll use that to power it.”
“But, if that green rock didn’t keep him from rescuing the Sheilas, how is it going to hurt him?”
“Again, you haven’t been listening. I said that he must have had inside help because that green rock was missing. Where it went, I don’t know, but it had to have been one of our hirelings. When I find out which one, he will be dealt with summarily, I assure you.”
“I also have teams out fossicking for more of that mysterious green rock. There has to be more of it around, somewhere. If Tempus hadn’t disappeared, I’d be asking him, but this way I can’t.”
“Where are these teams looking for this here green rock?”
“Anywhere and everywhere. I recently heard a report that a mysterious green rock was sent to the state labs in Kansas for analysis. Once I have MiraLabs, an offer will be made to do an analysis of that rock using equipment that the state lab doesn’t have available. Once we find out what part of the state the sample came from our teams will converge there and do a thorough search.”
“What are you going to do about an office?” he asked as he poured another drink. Then after he downed it he continued, “Not that I’m whingrng about the amenities, but we aren’t gonna work outa this suite all the time, are we?”
“Another thing I found in my father’s documents was plans to use the old abandoned subway tunnels. There are side tunnels with what were supposed to be control stations that could be fitted out. They are so far underground that no one above ground, even someone with super hearing will be able to hear anything said. The first one is almost ready.”
“What about the blokes that are working on setting it up? Won’t they be able to dob on you to the cops?”
“Dead men don’t, what was that, oh yes, dob. Dead men don’t dob to the cops or anyone else.”
“The most galling thing about this failure was the fact that we lost both Lois Lane and Mayson Drake. We could have used them for some serious leverage against our foe even if we didn’t have them here as long as he didn’t know that. We will have to do better the next time we grab them. They must not be allowed to escape us the next time. Part of the problem could have been that we had them above ground. It made it too easy for them to be found. The next time will be different and yes there will definitely be a next time. You can count on it.”
“All right mate, If you say so. Just how are you going to do that little thing? We don’t want to come a gustser like that one again. The next time it could lead him back to us and I’d feel a like a fruit loop if that happened. I for one don’t want to cark it.”
“I’m not sure, just yet, but I’ll do it some way and next time I will not be foiled by Superman.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
On Monday Clark and Lois paid a visit to STAR Labs and Dr. Klein.
When they arrived in Dr. Klein’s office he asked, “Well, Superman and Lois, what can I do for you?”
“Dr. Klein we have a problem that we could use some help with. We find ourselves in a difficult situation. Because of just who I am, there are certain individuals that are subject to kidnap so that they can be used in an extortion plot against me. Recently Lois, Lois’ sister and Mayson Drake were all kidnapped. It was just a fluke that I was able to locate them. They need to be able to alert me to a problem and it needs to be done in such a way that it is done secretly, but I will be able to trace whatever signal is used to their location.”
Dr. Klein leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers as he started thinking out loud, “Hmmmmmm, an interesting problem. A signal that only you can perceive. It would, of necessity, have to carry for some distance, perhaps penetrating solid objects.” He tilted back forward and said, “Several companies have started marketing devices that when triggered will send a signal to a central monitoring station where they alert police, fire or ambulance as needed. It has an audio link for the victim.”
“That might be fine for someone homebound, but we are dealing with healthy, young active individuals. They won’t always be near a base station like that.”
Dr. Klein leaned back again and steepled his fingers as was his wont when thinking. After almost a minute he asked, “It needs to be totally mobile?”
Clark said, “I’d say so, yes.”
“I need to know the extent of some of your powers. Can you sense radiation?”
“No, radiation, at least radiation from sources other than Kryptonite do not affect me in any way.”
“You can’t see, smell or hear radiation?”
“I can’t perceive it in any way.”
“Actually, radiation wouldn’t be a good answer because then the user would be slowly poisoned. How about vision, what can you see?”
I can see at great distances, through solid objects, except lead, and I can see very small things. Oh, I can also see into the infra-red.”
“See into the infra-red, very interesting. How about smell?”
“I can detect very faint odors.”
“We could make a device that emitted a faint odor. The problem with that is the vagaries of air currents could disrupt that kind of trail and following it could take time and be uncertain. I think we can rule out touch and taste as being too limited. How about hearing?”
“I can hear faint sounds at great distances.”
“How about the range of sound frequencies?”
“I’m not certain. I do know that I can hear beyond the range of normal human hearing, for instance, I can hear a dog whistle.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. Normal human hearing is from about 80 to 20,000 Hertz. A dog hears in the range of about 70 to 60,000 Hertz. Let’s do an experiment to see just what your limitations are. I have a tone generator that was used in some animal experiments some time ago. It has a variable oscillator so that I can control the frequency.” Dr. Klein got up and went to a cabinet where he pulled out an electronic device. He returned to his desk and said, “Okay, now when I turn it on I’ll start in the normal human range and then move up. Let me know when you don’t hear the tone anymore.”
“Okay doctor. This could be interesting.”
Dr. Klein turned on the device and all three of them heard the tone. It was in a lower register about in the baritone range. Dr. Klein started turning a knob and as he did the tone got higher.
When he could no longer hear the tone Dr. Klein asked, “Can you still hear the tone?”
“Why, yes doctor. Can’t you?”
Lois had been looking for clues as to when Doctor Klein couldn’t hear the tone anymore because she couldn’t let on that her hearing was every bit as acute as Clark’s.
“No, it went beyond the range of human hearing. We are at about 30,000 Hertz. Here we go, higher. Don’t forget; let me know when you can’t hear it any longer.”
Dr Klein turned the knob some more and stopped. He asked, “You still hear that?”
“Yes, doctor.”
“Amazing! We have passed 60,000 Hertz. That is normally the top of the range for dogs. Let’s proceed with the test.”
He turned the knob some more and then stopped. He asked, “You’re sure you still hear the tone?”
“Yes, doctor. Is that a problem?”
Doctor Klein was almost clapping his hands in glee. This test was working out better than he had expected. He replied to Clark’s question, “No! No, not at all. We have exceeded the range of the dog and are into the range of the mouse. Now the mouse tops out at around 70,000 Hertz.” He turned the knob again. “Do you still hear the tone?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Incredible. We are now at 85,000 Hertz. Well into the range of the bat. My equipment isn’t built to go any higher.” Doctor Klein turned off his machine before he said, “Well, I think we know what we have to do. We need to create a device which will emit a sound in the range something above 60,000 Hertz so that dogs are not affected by the tone. That would alert whoever was near that there was a signal being generated. Mice and bats won’t matter. Now, does size matter?”
“It would need to be small enough that it can be carried and concealed easily.”
“How many would you need?”
“I think six would be a good start. I think that three could be for men. The other three should be something a woman would wear.”
“Let me see what I can come up with. Call me in a couple of days.”
They all stood up and shook hands. Lois and Clark exited and headed back to the Planet.
As they did, Lois sent, /”That went well, but, who is the third device for?”/
/”You, my dear.”/
/”But … I don’t need one! I’m not about to carry around some clunky electronic gadget!”/
/”No matter what it looks like you do need one, if only for appearances sake. We can’t treat you any differently from Lucy and Mayson.”/
/”Oh, right. Secret weapon.”/ As she thought this to him she had a sour expression on her face.
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