Well, Superman disappeared trying to stop Nightfall the first time. What better way to return?

Comments here please.

Bob

It doesn't rain but it pours! This Lois and Clark certainly are living on an unlucky planet.

I like that Clark is using Bernie as his mission coordinator without really telling anyone else what he's planning to do. Seems very realistic after everything he went through after the *last* Nightfall mission. It will definitely make for an interesting return of Superman.

Hmmm. Poor Clark. He seems to have a lot of guilt piled up from Nightfall. It wasn't his fault that he lost his memories, but he seems to blame himself for all the damage that occurred on Earth because of lack of powers, or was it because he was the only who destroyed the asteroid in the first place, raining the smaller meteors to Earth?

Will he admit what he told Dr. Klein to everyone else? Or will they believe that he was hurled into space (towards the sun) with the swarm and came back when the rocks did? I can't imagine he would be able to keep secret Superman being on Earth hidden from the general populace because someone is going to learn about this new mission(s) to battle the swarm.

I was hoping to be able to be a bug on the wall to the discussion between the four Kents on where Superman had been. But I guess you have to have some mystery.

What a way to return! I hope his mission is successful.

Having Bernie as mission coordinator is the better choice. I never trusted the General or that mysterious 'advisor to the president' both very sneaky gents.

Looking forward to the rest!

Bob,

Extremely interesting and compelling.

Clark feels responsible and driven to somehow redeem himself by preventing any more damage from Nightfall. I wonder how long it will take him to decide to carry a second pack with him to change out while still in space.

Looking forward to part 4.

Ultra Lucille That’s why they have a Superman! Yeah. The last mission served as a good object lesson in limited trust.


VirginiaR Based on his personality – which has pretty much survived in spite of his memory loss – he tends to feel guilty for everything anyway. This is Clark. BOTH! Ummm… Read and see.


Morgana Well, the first time it wasn’t any of these people. It was Lex. Of course, as several people keep pointing out to me, SkyFall ended with our favorite villain unaccounted for.


Ken Thank you. You wouldn’t believe how long I fought with my muse about a suitable reason for Clark to bring Superman back. Yes, as I said to Virginia above, Super-Guilt is one of Clark’s greatest powers. Well, that certainly did come in handy the first time.


Thanks for the comments.
Bob

I think you want to open that sentance with "there".

I like this story so far. I do worry about Clark returning to space, how will he avoid the problems that developed last time. Although that was mainly due to the kryptonite gas.

Hi, John. Yep. Fixed now. Thanks.

The funny part is that I have great beta readers. I just can't resist tweaking the story right up until I post it. That's where almost all of these kinds of errors come in.

Yes, as long as Bernie doesn't load the Green K gas in the mission survival suit, everything should be good. Right?

Thanks for the note.
Bob

I guess I should be more worried, I mean we are only to part 3.

I am surprised that Dr. Klein has not clued into Ck=SM. All the "like Clark" lines are starting to add up.

John:
You said: Well, I did say at the top of this story that it was NOT B-plot driven.

Bob

Bernie is the right person to help. I just hope that bad guys won't find out about the mission.

KateB Absolutely!

I love writing Bernie. As I said is some other feedback, there are three supporting characters that I LOVE to write. Bernie is one of them.

Thanks for the note.

Bob

Hi Bob!
Asteroids. A whole bunch o’ ‘em.

Yeah, you see, the impact of Superman with Nightfall caused a rip in the fabric of spacetime and linked some of the other dimensions to this one and now all their Nightfall asteroids are coming through to this dimension.


ANUBIS: When at first you don’t succeed…

Oh, okay. So, not asteroids but a Kryptonian invasion fleet hiding in front of the sun as to surprise the military defenders of their designated new home planet.

So, not good then, huh? But hey, Superman now has a new cover story – he was out there, crushing and accelerating asteroids towards Earth.

For starters, they will cancel any and all Superman-rescues-the-world statues due to his role in Earths impending doom.

From a science POV, I’m wondering, wouldn’t the impact of a small projectile that burst the asteroid apart *not* have send the pieces backwards around the sun or accelerated them all that much. Most of the kinetic energy should have gone into the concussive force that broke up the rock and what remained, into driving the pieces apart.

He’s always been a smart one, huh?



Well, he’s be exposed to unfiltered yellow sunlight during the whole time, so, yeah, he should be a go for a whole night with Lois or a couple of thousands of asteroids.

There was a whoosh, and suddenly a bucket was standing next to the control console.

Another whoosh and a 2 gallon bottle of Caf-Pow appeared, with an extra long straw.

So, last night send-off with a Superman fantasy?

Actually, he was assassinated last time, but who’s counting.

What if he takes the second one with him, outfitted with a beacon and leaves it about 600 000 km from the estimated meeting place. That way, he can pick it up when the first one runs dry. He’d need a homing beacon, of course…

Plus, statistically speaking, Lois is probably pregnant by now.

Michael