So, one down 2 to go... Acts that is. Chapters I'm still working on.

Indeed.

So Jory? Clark's clone? And by what means?

And does the manuscript mention a woman in that flying man's life?

Michael

Superb and terrific!!!

And the clipping in Lois' wallet... wow, I've said it before and I'll say it again - I *love* your characterization of Lois.

So Clark's unbended enough (even if it's out of spite) to 'show' Lois what he can do..

Hmm, a wild guess could Lana be Jory's mother? Afterall, he was searching for her.

Looking forward to Act 2... hope you don't prolong your posting schedule (you can accelerate it though ) for the next act..

Holy Sh*t! You aren't leaving us here are you. Wow! Powerful and wonderful. Get back here! Laura

Well done.

And Kevin Carter WOW!

Nicely done. However spending sometime looking, Lois may have been too hard on Mr. Carter. It seems he did know the immediate fate but not the long term fate of the child.

A very powerful chapter. Clark is so bitter - I'm looking forward to clearing up the mystery of his attitude and of Jory. And kudos on Lois - you've painted a great picture of a strong but feeling woman.

Wow. So much packed into one segment - and it's only the end of Act 1!!!

The child thing blew me out of the water. Clark's passion for this subject makes more sense now. Maybe his own child was affected. Or could be if not for a Kryptonian heritage. Or maybe one of his friends...

Are the Kents in Smallville? 8 hours seems like a short drive from Metropolis to Smallville unless you're playing with geography a bit. We had some friends just leave who said their house in West VA to STL was 12 hours... Just something that jumped out at me - but maybe they're not in Smallville or Smallville is in Ohio or something...

Love Martha as always .

I'm glad Lois gave the manuscript to Clark. So it wasn't written by Wells after all, but as told by him to whathisname.

More soon .
Carol

Lots of valid points put out there. Kevin Carter- definitely a very strong and impactful situation but I wasn't trying to make Lois sound critical of him, but rather hugely affected by the situation. I wanted to give a basis for how she (in this story) has come to have the perspective on journalism that she has - that there's more to life than the story. Basically, I wanted her to have substantial reason to not immediately want to print the story of the century

Posting schedule accelerated... hmmm. I think I may be able to accommodate that request. I'm feeling pretty good about the buffer and posting has really motivated the muse.

Oh, Wells. The manuscript was written by HG's son, Anthony - not Herb himself. So it's somewhat second hand. I think that what HG would have shared about the future would have been rather abstract so as not to endanger what would come. That said, there was no mention of the flying man's female compatriot

Is right. Wow, that was so powerful. I liked your story before, but now I'm totally enamored by it. I absolutely cannot wait for the next act. There is just soooo much good stuff here.
Go mamma bear! I love Martha and you've written a very intriguing version of her. Lois has always had good instincts, but here we see just how good Martha's are as well. It looks like she's going to trust Lois. And that's just fantastic.

LOL

Clone seems likely. I'm thinking in this universe, Clark probably told Lana about himself and instead of keeping his secret, she told someone with the scientific interest and technology to do it. Bad, bad Lana!

The conversation between Clark and Lois was so wonderfully angsty. It's a bit of a stretch for me to listen to Clark talk with so much anger, disrespect and condescension, but it in in character for the changes you've made. I'm so glad that Lois slammed the brakes and set him straight. Wow on the Kevin Carter story and OMG at that picture. How heartbreaking.
Had to quote the whole thing 'cause it was so freakin' brilliant! So Lois and too right. Methinks that the last line might just inspire the lunkhead to put on the colorful costume and go public, but I'm not sure how the little boy will change things.

I'm hoping that we get just a bit more from Clark's thinking in act two, especially since at some point during the drive he seemed to think Lois deserved to have proof of her suspicions. And of course, to rub his abilities in her nose a little.

Please don't take too long to post the next part.

BJ

You've shown us so much about the characters and yet they still have so many mysteries. Well done.


Elisabeth

YOWZA!!!!

What a part! I somehow missed it the until I read part nine just now and couldn't understand what was going on.

Anyway, Lois finds out that Clark has superpowers. Wow. She drives out to Smallville not to expose him, but to give him Anthony West's lost manuscript and to tell him that he has to stop running. WOW!!! And Lois finds out that there is a small boy in the Kent home who looks exactly like Clark... wow!!!! Would the kid be a clone? Possibly, but that doesn't seem like the most obvious explanation to me. Making a clone isn't all that easy. Who would have made a clone of Clark? And why? Making a baby the old-fashioned way is so much easier. But if the kid is Clark's son, who is the mother? And what happened to her?

I also really, really liked how Lois told Clark off. He hasn't been behaving all that nicely, and someone should tell him off for all the bad things he has done to Lois in the comics and the moives... Okay, I'm kidding! I guess I'm kidding. I'm not altogether sure I'm kidding. I enjoyed seeing Lois tell Clark off, that's for sure!

And Patrick, that Kevin Carter story was true? Incredible! Thanks for telling me. And what a great inspiration that had been to Lois, to remind her not to treat the subjects of her work heartlessly or cruelly.

Well, holy sh*t, altogether! It was a fantastic part.

Ann