Chapter 7: You’re One of My Heroes
Kara shuffled towards the cafeteria in a fog. What exactly was going on here?
Ms. Maloney had stopped her on the way out the door and gently told her that Amelia Earhart was a real person, so she must have mistaken the book she read for fiction. Kara didn’t try to contradict her.
She reviewed the facts. One: the city she lived in and everything in it, including her own parents, were now the subjects of a series of comic books. Two: Amelia Earhart, whom she
knew was fictional, was a real person. She’d asked Megan to “refresh her memory” since she was “obviously confused.” Megan didn’t know anything about Amelia Earhart but had been happy to pull out her smartphone and look it up on Wikipedia.
Kara had learned that while this person matched up fairly well with the story in the book, there had not been a happy ending. This Amelia Earhart had vanished in the middle of the Pacific Ocean instead of getting a ticker-tape parade in New York City. She felt like crying for having one of her favorite books spoiled.
Feeling like Alice had given her an idea: could this be like
Inkheart? Was she trapped in the book of
The Girl Who Flew? If so, why was the story different? And how could Metropolis be in a book
here if she was stuck in a book herself? And
why would this happen? It didn’t make sense!
It did spark some hope, though. Maybe her family hadn’t vanished. Maybe she and they were just in different worlds, and there was a way home. The concept was familiar enough from books she’d read.
Or maybe that was a completely stupid idea.
Still, it was the only idea she had. If not
Inkheart, was there another story that made sense? Wizard Howl had a door home to Wales, but this wasn’t Wizard Howl’s world — he was fictional here. So was the Doctor, though she supposed that wouldn’t stop him from coming here if he was real
somewhere. She was racking her brains for other stories with similar themes when she ran into someone.
She blurted out “Sorry!” and found Bailey grinning at her.
“Whoa, Earth to Kara! You sure seem to be out of it today. Spacing out in English, not looking where you’re going… Actually, I couldn’t resist standing in your way, so it’s my fault.”
Kara gave her a wan smile. “Sorry, I guess I
am spaced out.” She took a deep breath and decided to set aside her confusion for the time being. “I’m awake now. Want to get some lunch?”
“That
is why we’re heading to the cafeteria.”
Kara smiled at her new friend and followed her in.
• • •
A short time later they’d found a table and saw Megan coming their way, along with an older boy who had to be related.
“Hi Kara — this is my brother Kevin. After I mentioned you Friday night he wanted to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Kevin.” Kara waved at him, but felt a little uneasy as he seemed to look her over thoroughly before he waved back. Then again, she’d noticed boys doing that before.
“Hey Kara, nice to meet you too.” He and his sister put their trays down and took seats. “Megan told me the whole story about how you were kidnapped and then they dumped you here in Milford. So your family lives in Minneapolis?”
Kara had wanted to ask Megan about the wedding, but it looked like that would have to wait. “Um, yes.”
“Are your parents coming to get you, or are the police going to take you there?”
Kara chose her words with care. “They’re having trouble finding my parents. I think when they find them we’ll figure out how I get home.”
Well, that’s mostly true…
“Do you have any brothers or sisters, like Megan and me?”
This seemed a safe question to answer. “Yes, I have an older brother and a little sister.”
“Do you—”
Megan poked her brother. “Kevin! Stop giving her the third degree.”
“Sorry, I’m just curious. You gotta admit, you don’t meet someone who’s been kidnapped every day.” He took a bite of his lunch and continued with his mouth full, “Pluth there’th your nehm.”
Kara put down her spork. “What about my name?”
“You have the same name as Supergirl. One of her names, anyway.”
Kara looked around at her friends. “Who’s Supergirl?”
“Isn’t she like a girl version of Superman?” added Bailey.
Kevin, getting into it, waved his hands impatiently. “No, no. She has the same powers he does, but she’s his… well… they messed around a lot with who she is. First she was his cousin, also from Krypton. Then in one of the cartoon versions she was unrelated. There were even weirder versions of her too, where she was human and got superpowers, but now she’s back to being Superman’s cousin from Krypton—”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Slow down, Kevin. She’s not a comic and Superman geek like you are.”
“Anyway, her name is Kara. Kara Zor-El. She’s got blonde hair and blue eyes like you, and one of the human names she uses is Kara Kent.”
“Oh,” was all Kara could think of to say, in a very small voice.
“Kevin, look at her face! You’re creeping her out.”
• • •
“Kara, I don’t understand why you want to look at this stuff. I mean… eww.”
“What do you mean, ‘eww’? This is great artwork!”
Megan sighed. “Kevin, none of these women look anything like a real person. They’re all sex objects.”
Kara tuned out the bickering between the Tong siblings as she flipped through the pages of Kevin’s comic. She’d been burning with curiosity to see what this “Kara Zor-El” looked like, though part of her didn’t want to. She was sure the similarity with her middle name was not a coincidence.
So Kevin had tagged along with his sister, irking her somewhat, and brought some comics with him. They all sat in the Jordans’ living area; Caitlin was in the bedroom and planned to head out to meet friends once Emily got home.
Kara Zor-El was nearly an adult. She also wore far too much eyeliner and had a body shape that made Barbie look like an anatomical model.
On the other hand, she had Kara’s blonde hair and blue eyes, and there was a vague resemblance if you squinted the right way.
Kara was thankful it was vague, but then again her dad didn’t look much like his comic counterpart either. This was a comic book, and she and her family were real people. Still, it seemed likely this character was somehow supposed to be her. That was
incredibly creepy.
Did that mean she was from Krypton, like Superman? From her earliest memories she’d been part of the Kent family, on Earth. And she hadn’t noticed any powers like Superman’s: she’d certainly skinned her knees a few times when she was younger, and they’d stuck her with needles in the hospital not too long ago.
Was she… adopted?
Her heart tried to slink down behind her pancreas and sulk. Was this
another thing Mom and Dad had hidden from her? Why wouldn’t they tell her about
that?
Maybe the comic was wrong. It was wrong about lots of things: for one, Jordy and Laura were nowhere to be seen. Maybe this was one of those things. Maybe she was her parents’ natural-born daughter.
So why are you the only one in the family with blonde hair and blue eyes?Kara sighed and closed the comic.
“So what do you think?” beamed Kevin.
“It’s… um… interesting.” She handed the comics back to Kevin. “Thanks for bringing them here to show me.”
“You gotta admit, it’s a freaky coincidence that you have the same name and kinda look like her.”
Not as freaky as you think. “Yeah.” An idea struck her. “Umm, is Superman only in comics?”
Everyone was staring at her. “What?” she asked, embarrassed.
Kevin was shaking his head. “Don’t you have a TV in your house? There were TV shows, and there’s been a bunch of movies; one of them came out just a few years ago.
Everyone knows about the movies. You’ve never seen them?”
“Um… no?”
Kevin looked like he was ready to burst, but Megan put a hand on his arm. “Whoa, boy, down. I think that’s enough Superman for today. But yeah, we could watch one later this week.”
“I have a great idea!” blurted Kevin.
The three girls eyed him with suspicion.
“No, really! Halloween is next Monday, right? Kara, do you have a costume?”
“I do back home, but I don’t know if I’ll get home in time for Halloween.”
“You should be Supergirl! It would be epic! I’d even help make it!”
Megan propelled him gently towards the door. “Kevin, I think I hear Starcraft calling.”
“Think about it, OK?” he called over his shoulder as he left.
“Umm, yeah,” said Kara faintly, having no intention of the sort.
• • •
“Are you crying?” Caitlin’s voice drifted softly through the dark room.
“No,” lied Kara.
“Kara…”
“Yes.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Kara thought it over. “I guess.” Caitlin waited silently. “It looks like my parents have been hiding things from me. Big things. Secrets.”
“Secrets?”
“I mean, I’m not 100% convinced Dad is Superman, but… why would there be all these stories about Clark Kent and Superman here, if he wasn’t?” She thought about Amelia Earhart. “Even if the details aren’t exactly right.”
Caitlin cleared her throat. “Well, umm, if it’s true… it’s a big secret.”
“I know, and I guess I know
why it’s a secret, but I thought they trusted me more than that. I’m not a little kid anymore; I wouldn’t have said anything to
anyone. I mean, they shouldn’t tell
Laura or all her friends would know in a week. But she’s only seven. And… I’m not sure, but I think there’s something else they’re not telling me.”
“What?”
Kara hesitated. “I’m really not sure, so I don’t want to say yet.”
“Do your parents love you?”
Kara replied without hesitation. “Of course.” She felt some of her sadness melt away. Despite the secrets, she
knew her parents loved her. They didn’t treat her any differently than they did Laura. Even if she was adopted, she knew Laura wasn’t. “They love me, and I love them.”
There was a short pause. “See? You might have some things to work out with them, but that’s the most important thing.”
There was something in Caitlin’s tone. “Caitlin? I… you never told me about your parents. You don’t have to, but…”
Caitlin sighed. “It’s not a happy story, but I’m OK now.” She was silent for a while, and Kara wasn’t sure if she was going to continue. “Well, Em’s mom died when Em was fourteen and they were living in Seattle. She and Dad moved to Wilmington a year later; I guess he wanted a fresh start. He was a doctor, too; that’s why Em wanted to be one.
“They’d been there a year or so when he met Mom. She was pregnant with me, by her previous boyfriend.” She paused. “I don’t know what Dad saw in her, but they fell in love and got married. Or at least
he fell in love. I’ve never figured out if she really loved him or just wanted someone to take care of her. Or take care of me.
“Anyway, I was born, and when I was only a year old Mom ran off; we never heard from her again. Em was seventeen, in the middle of high school, and she and Dad had to raise me on their own. Dad had money, so he could afford some childcare, but it was still hard.
“I don’t remember Mom and I never knew my birth dad. Em and Dad are the only family I’ve ever known or wanted, even though I’m not related to either of them.
“Then three years ago, Dad was caught in a big pileup on I-95 and k-killed. Children’s Services wanted me to go live with Mom’s sister, but she’s a self-centered b—” Caitlin censored herself, “jerk, like Mom. I wanted to stay with Em. It was a big, long, awful fight, but she managed to hold onto me.
“It’s been really hard on her. She was living in Philadelphia for medical school but had to start commuting from Wilmington because of the custody fight. Then we had to move here for her internship, even though she could have gotten a better position in another state. She’s so busy she has no life of her own.
“She’s managed to take care of me through medical school and her internship and everything. She’s my family, and I love her. And even though Mom used me to take advantage of Dad, Em loves me.” Caitlin was sniffling.
“Caitlin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s OK.” She half-laughed. “I think we could both use a hug, though, don’t you?”
Kara got out of her bed and padded over, and they did just that for a while. She went back to bed feeling much better.
• • •
Clark came into the living room of their townhouse only to find his wife sitting on the sofa, staring into the fireplace, and crying quietly.
“Oh honey,” he murmured, sliding onto the sofa next to her. He put an arm around her, and she turned her face into his shoulder. “We’ll find her, I swear. You’ve been so strong; what’s wrong?”
“I ran out of things to do instead of worrying about her,” cried Lois. “Investigate the scene, check. Get the kids to safety, check. Research creeps who’ve targeted us in the past, check.” She hiccuped. “Now all I can do is think about what might be
happening to her. It’s been
days, Clark! She’s only
eleven! What can we
do?”
Clark tightened his embrace and tried to be strong for her, though he felt like he’d aged ten years in the last couple of days. “I… I don’t know. I spent hours criss-crossing Metropolis. I checked every place I could think of. Either she’s not in the city, or she’s being held somewhere that’s shielded from my senses.
“I guess we have to wait. We have to give Henderson and his team time to process what they’ve found.”
“I almost wish Perry
hadn’t told us to spend all our time on this, so I’d have something to distract me. I can’t stand just waiting. I need to be
doing something! Have you heard
anything from Henderson?”
Clark sighed. “Well, Superman did stop by Met Police headquarters earlier…”
Lois sat up straighter and grabbed some tissues from the end table to clean up. “What have they found?”
Clark shook his head. “Not much or I would have told you as soon as I got home. They traced the car back; it was stolen from near Ridgely, Maryland, the day before.”
Lois sighed, “You’re right, that isn’t much.” She jumped up, full of nervous energy. “We don’t even have a description of the kidnapper! None of the witnesses got a good look.” She started pacing back and forth.
“I wonder…” said Clark suddenly.
“What?” asked Lois, excited.
“The car was stolen the day
before the kidnapping. Unless he pulled over to the side of the road and slept in it, which would be awfully risky in a stolen car…”
Lois nodded. “…he had to have stopped somewhere for the night! How many cheap motels do you think there are between Ridgely and Metropolis?”
“I don’t know, but I think we should find out.”
• • •
The network formed by Kara’s organelles concluded its analysis. Somehow, its host was now in a reality whose subspace had quite different properties from that of the previous reality.
Additionally, this subspace was in a chaotic state, which was dangerous. Only ordered subspaces could be safely controlled. The network searched for a solution.
• • •
Kara was dreaming about the buzzing…
somethings again. Just like her last dream they were everywhere, bouncing around, bumping against each other and her, and changing their appearance periodically, from the mundane to the bizarre.
At the moment they were little flying ice cream cones. She was trying to keep them away with little success; she and her pajamas were getting splattered. It wasn’t even a good flavor of ice cream: it tasted like cauliflower. Kara hated cauliflower.
But as she tried to bat them away the dream changed again. Something inside her, quite on its own and to her great surprise, started to
sing to them. She couldn’t make out the music or the words, but the little ice cream cones seemed to be listening: they reverted to little lightning bolts.
Slowly, then with gathering speed, they changed. First the lightning bolts lengthened into incandescent strings. Then, the paths they followed became less random; they started to dance with each other, weaving in and out as they passed, no longer bumping into everything.
The strings lengthened further into threads, and the threads started to weave a tapestry, a flickering, luminescent fabric that was plain at first, then became rich with detail of all sizes. It looked somehow like both a beautiful work of abstract art and an incomprehensible machine. The tapestry folded in impossible-looking ways to fill all of space as far as she could see.
Then the glow faded, and there was nothing but darkness and silence.
• • •
