Chapter 18: The After-School Conspiracy
“Oh, honey…” came Emily’s voice.
“They hate me,” whimpered Kara into her phone. “I
finally made some friends, and now they hate me. I know I’ll go home eventually, but it was so
nice to make some friends.”
“Honey, they don’t hate you. They’re just upset. I’m sure they’re still your friends.”
“I don’t blame them. I’d be upset too. I feel awful.”
“Honey…”
“Can’t I tell them? They know anyway…”
“They
suspect, sweetheart. That’s not the same thing.”
“It’s pretty close in this case!”
“Kara, we’re not going to resolve this over the phone in the middle of the school day. We’ll talk about it tonight, OK? I promise.” Kara heard a sigh. “This whole thing is getting so out of control.”
Kara felt a pang of guilt. “OK. You promise? Tonight?”
“I promise. Unless something urgent comes up.”
Kara ended the call with a sigh, and made her way to her first afternoon class.
• • •
“I feel awful,” said Bailey.
“Me too,” sighed Megan. “I guess we were too hard on her. I mean, what was she supposed to do, tell us everything in the middle of the cafeteria? And I bet she’s really worried about all the news and getting found out!”
The three of them sat in Kevin’s room at the Tong home, dissecting the way lunch had gone. Poorly, they agreed.
“I mean, maybe she can’t tell us? Maybe there’s some reason? She must
know that we know.” Bailey frowned. “Maybe we’re wrong?”
Kevin snorted. “No, we’re not wrong. Too many things about Supergirl match up with her. That would be a weird coincidence, except now that we know there
is a real Supergirl, it can’t be a coincidence. Especially since Supergirl showed up less than three weeks after Kara. I mean,
come.
on.” He rolled his eyes.
“Yeah,” sighed Bailey.
“So what do we do?” asked Megan.
They sat for a while, without an answer.
“I don’t know about you,” said Bailey, “but I’m going over there right now to apologize and give her a big hug. Even if she can’t tell us for some reason, she needs a friend.”
The other two nodded, and they all got up.
• • •
Kara was sitting on the sofa, staring off into space and anxious for Emily to get home. She didn’t exactly want to jump her foster mother with the issue the moment she walked in — she was getting old enough to know that usually didn’t help — but it was all she could think about.
At the moment she was leaning against Caitlin, while the latter worked on a homework assignment. Caitlin had recognized Kara’s somber mood when they’d started walking home together, and Kara had told her everything. Caitlin knew she couldn’t fix the problem but a hug always helped, or at the moment, a friendly arm.
Kara heard Emily’s heartbeat, then the key turning in the lock; she sat up straighter. She began, “Hi Emily—”
Dr. Penny and Detective Spalding walked in right behind her foster mother.
“Oh,” finished Kara.
Emily looked unhappy. “Sweetheart, Dr. Penny and Detective Spalding want to talk to us.”
The two other adults were staring at Kara the same way Emily and Caitlin had the night she’d returned from her first flight. She felt very uncomfortable, like a bug under a microscope. She averted her eyes in embarrassment.
Caitlin bristled. “She’s not a zoo exhibit!” She squeezed her foster sister.
The adults broke their stares. The detective murmured, “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” asked Emily warily.
Detective Spalding frowned. “Don’t get cute, Dr. Jordan.”
Emily couldn’t meet his eyes. “What… what do you mean?”
“Look,” said the detective impatiently, “I don’t want to play games—” He closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and sighed.
“Detective,” chided Dr. Penny. “Emily, do you know what the most puzzling thing about Kara’s case has been for me?”
“…No?”
“All along, I’ve known she’s been telling the truth as she sees it. What I couldn’t understand is why she would see it that way. After this morning, I think I understand. Are you asking me to believe they’re unrelated?”
“I’d like to ask you to believe that,” said Emily. “I think it would be better for everyone if you believed that.”
Dr. Penny held a hand up to Detective Spalding, who’d opened his mouth again. He shut it. “I’m not so sure. Being a single working mother of two children is hard. Especially if one of them has… special needs.” She quirked a small smile. “You’ve got her, but who’s got you?”
“Believe me, Dr. Jordan, I understand why you want to protect her,” said Spalding more calmly, “but we’re not here to expose you. We just want to help.”
“How do I know you want to help?” asked Emily. “How do I know you won’t get the government involved?”
“If I wanted the government involved I wouldn’t be here. A whole bunch of guys in black suits would be here, pounding on your door. And if you don’t want the government involved, why are you letting her fly around—”
“Detective,” admonished Dr. Penny again. “Emily, we can help. You don’t have to go it alone.”
Emily looked at Kara; Kara looked back, pleading for guidance.
Glum and unsure, Emily looked between the two visitors again. She finally closed her eyes briefly, sighed, and nodded to Kara. “I think it’ll be OK, honey, but it’s your decision.”
Kara also looked between the adults. They looked encouraging, but that didn’t make it any easier. She had to look away before she could say it. “Y-yes, it’s true. I’m… I’m Supergirl.”
“
YES!!” came an exultant shout from just outside the window.
• • •
“Can you do it? Please?”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Kevin, this isn’t cosplay at Comic-Con! We’ve got important things to discuss!”
“But…”
Emily shook her head. “Just go ahead, sweetie.”
Kara nodded and blurred into her bedroom, then back as Supergirl.
“Wicked!” crowed Kevin. “But why did you go in the other room?”
Kara looked around uncertainly. “Because… I didn’t want to change my clothes in front of everyone?”
“I mean, it’s so super-fast no one could see you…”
Kara looked unbelievingly to Megan and Bailey, who looked back, equally unbelievingly.
“Can you—”
“Kevin,” said Emily, not unkindly, “I think that’s enough for now.” She turned to Kara. “Sweetheart, can you change back?”
Kara was back in her normal clothes in an instant. She sat on the couch next to her foster mother, who put an arm around her.
The room was crowded with all eight of them, but Emily only wanted to tell this story once. With the chairs from the kitchen and some of the kids sitting on the floor, they all fit, just.
They listened, rapt, as Emily related the whole tale, focusing especially on why she’d decided to let Kara be Supergirl.
She blew out her breath. “It’s a no-win situation. If she helps, she risks exposure. If she doesn’t, she has to live with letting people die.” She shook her head. “So here we are; this is the choice we made. I guess I’ll have to answer to her parents on whether we made the right one.” She squeezed Kara, who hugged her back.
She looked down at her foster daughter. “We’ve discussed this before, honey, but it bears repeating. Dr. Penny and Detective Spalding and your friends figured it out right away, because they already knew all or part of your story. It will take other people longer, but I think soon, people out there are going to make the connection between Supergirl and Kara Kent. People who may not have your best interests at heart.”
“But my dad…” Kara did some mental arithmetic. “He’s been Superman for eighteen years and no one’s figured it out.”
Emily nodded. “I know. But things are different for you, because here, everyone knows about Superman and Clark Kent, and has since… umm…”
“June, 1938,” supplied Kevin helpfully.
“You’re not him, but your name, and the timing, will lead people to suspect you. And some people know about Supergirl, too.”
Kevin nodded. “I told you: one of her names is Kara Kent. They didn’t use that one a lot, so people won’t see it right away, but if someone really looks…”
Emily continued, “People are going to be a whole lot more interested in Supergirl now, sweetie, and many of the kids at school know your name, even if you’re not close with them.” Kara nodded glumly.
Detective Spalding put his head in his right hand. “Her file…”
“What?”
He looked up. “Her file. It’s gone to the FBI because of the kidnapping. It doesn’t say she’s Supergirl, but it has her photo —
without glasses — her fingerprints, the whole story. Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Metropolis, everything.”
Emily winced. “Ouch.”
“So the government
does know about me?” asked Kara, frightened.
“Well, yes and no,” said Spalding. “The government has your file, but it has billions of files. Did you see
Raiders of the Lost Ark where you come from?”
Kara nodded. Her parents had finally let her watch it at Uncle Jimmy’s, though she’d had to cover her eyes several times during the film. Jordy had teased her about it.
“Do you remember the last scene in the movie?”
“Uh-huh… Oh! The big warehouse?”
He nodded. “Like that. Well, it’s all computerized but it doesn’t matter; they still can’t read ’em all. The thing is, I’ll bet Washington is searching frantically for information about this young lady. When they stumble across her file will depend on how it’s been tagged. But I guarantee they’ll find it eventually.
“Now that Supergirl is out there the next human who reads that file will know
she’s Supergirl, just like we did. Assuming the folks in Wilmington haven’t remembered the case already, though knowing them I’m not too worried.”
“Are you going to tell them?” asked Kara in a small voice.
“Kiddo, informing the government about the secret identity of superheroes isn’t in my job description, and I ain’t never seen a memo about it either. As far as I’m concerned you’re Kara Kent, a kidnap victim, and my job is to find out who did it and get you back to your parents. I don’t see how someone like me is gonna be able to do either, given what I know now, but that’s my problem.
“As for what you do in your spare time, as long as you attend school regularly and don’t commit any crimes, officially, I don’t care. Citizens are allowed to assist emergency services and law enforcement as long as they don’t break the law while they’re at it. If they do it in a costume while flying under their own power, well, the law says nothing about that. So if they ask me why I didn’t bring it to their attention, I’ll ask them where it says I’m supposed to.
“You’re also a minor under foster care in my jurisdiction, and protecting kids like you
is in my job description. So I’ll be looking out for you.”
Kara smiled. “Thank you.”
“Besides, I don’t want your daddy mad at me when he
does show up. And seriously, anyone with the sense God gave a turnip ought to feel the same way. If you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, man, you
definitely don’t touch a hair on his daughter’s head.”
“You don’t have to worry about me either, Kara,” said Penny. “You’re my patient, so everything is covered under doctor-patient confidentiality. I couldn’t tell anyone without breaking the law.
“Which leaves you three,” she continued as she gazed at Kevin, Megan, and Bailey.
“We won’t tell, honest!” said Bailey. Megan and Kevin nodded.
“Kids, it’s more than just not telling. You have to be actors. You have to pretend you
don’t know. If people see you reacting, say, looking at Kara when there’s just been news about Supergirl, they’re going to get suspicious.”
“You mean,” said Kevin, “we have to play dumb. Right, Aunt Penny?”
Penny smiled. “Basically, yes. Just treat her as your friend Kara, the way you did before you found out. Act like you don’t know, even though you do. Can you all do that?”
The kids nodded.
Emily looked around at everyone. “The longer we can keep people from figuring it out, the more likely Kara’s parents will find her before things get crazy.” She shuddered. “Once the government finds us… I have no idea what will happen.”
• • •
Over the next few days the media frenzy continued. Absent any new information most of the coverage devolved into rampant speculation. Who was she? Where had she come from? What were her intentions? Was she an alien? What kind of music did she listen to? Who was her favorite movie star? Was there a boy she liked? What was the impact on world affairs? On the upcoming elections? On religion? What did the copyright owners of the fictional Supergirl think? (They were “studying the matter.”)
Despite the intense interest Kara’s identity remained undiscovered. On the web, references to the fictional character were pushed far down in search rank by new pages dedicated to the real thing. The number of people who knew her well enough at school was limited. All this bought her more time.
After the excitement of her first two big rescues Kara found she enjoyed the quiet of everyday life, though she continued to miss her family. The only reminder of her alter ego was Kevin’s insatiable curiosity about herself, her family, and her life in Metropolis. Any time it was safe to do so he bombarded her with questions. Megan and Bailey were equally curious, if not quite as intense.
He begged her to demonstrate her superpowers. Kara obliged by sitting on the ceiling, lifting furniture, making hot cocoa with her heat vision, and other party tricks. She made her friends laugh out loud by walking upside-down on two fingers, and had to hurriedly drop into a normal handstand when Mrs. Tong stuck her head into Megan’s room unannounced to see what was so funny.
He asked her to describe all the people in her family and whom she knew at the Daily Planet. He grilled her for every possible detail about each person she mentioned. He asked her all about the Daily Planet itself, but she didn’t know much about it as a newspaper or web site, only needing to look at it occasionally for school — she was a kid, after all.
It was just the place her parents worked, where she and Laura hung out when there was no one else to babysit them. It was where she went for Take Your Kids to Work Day.
It was also where she went to sell Girl Scout cookies. Lots of Girl Scout cookies. Uncle Perry alone could be counted on for at least six boxes of Savannah Smiles.
Kevin asked her about “supervillains” Superman had fought, but other than the invasion by the New Kryptonians there’d been no discussion of anyone like that in school. She told him she’d heard of Lex Luthor but thought he was long dead.
He asked her about a whole string of other superheroes she’d never heard of. She knew about Gotham City and she’d heard of Batman, but didn’t know much about him. She vaguely recalled hearing the name Bruce Wayne but couldn’t remember where, or who he was.
Kara thought she understood. She too was curious about a world where one of her favorite heroes was real. She’d finally succumbed to temptation and read the Wikipedia entry on Amelia Earhart; naturally, it was quite different from the one she’d read back home.
It had been interesting to see how this person differed from the character in the book, and how she was the same. It was amazing to see photographs of an actual, real person instead of illustrations — she looked incredibly cool, just as Kara had imagined.
Still, it was hard to get past the unhappy ending. Kara hoped Kevin wasn’t similarly disappointed.
• • •
“Jeff? Could you come to my desk for a second? I have something you should see. Yeah, thanks.” Cory Dreager, a researcher at the CNN Washington bureau, hung up his phone and turned back to the small TV/VCR combo that sat on his desk.
A minute later Jeff Reyes, his supervisor, popped his head over the cubicle wall. “What’s up?”
Cory motioned. “Have a seat and look at this tape.” Jeff sat in the guest chair as Cory pushed play on the VCR.
The video was only about fifteen seconds long, had no sound, and was black and white. Nonetheless, it was very interesting.
“Well?” asked Cory.
Jeff nodded. “It sure looks like her. Where did you get it?”
Cory picked up a padded shipping envelope. “From a Charles Yates in Milford, Delaware. He said a local retiree took out his brand new fishing boat and managed to sink it on the first day. Mr. Yates runs the marina where the boat was berthed. He and his coworker heard someone whistle, then went out only to find the guy soaking wet and unconscious.
“They reviewed their security camera tape later and found this. They thought no one would ever believe them so Yates sat on it. Once the news broke from London, though, he thought he’d try mailing it in to us, see if he could get something for it.”
Jeff frowned. “This is several days before the mine rescue in China. If it’s legit, it’s the earliest appearance so far.” He scratched his head. “A drowning man in rural Delaware? Why start there?”
“There’s something else, too,” said Cory. “I searched the archives of the local paper for the weeks before and found this.” He brought up a web page on his computer.
Jeff leaned in to read it. “Young Girl Found Unconscious on Cedar Beach Road.” He continued silently to the end. “Huh. Probable kidnap victim. Eleven years old. Name and description withheld due to age. Can’t find the parents, so she was placed in foster care.” He turned to Cory. “Maybe this girl was an earlier rescue?”
“Why would Supergirl leave someone she rescued by the side of the road instead of at a hospital?”
“Assuming the tape is genuine, she didn’t leave the guy she rescued from the boat at a hospital, either. Maybe she didn’t want to be seen at that point. Maybe she saw someone coming down the road and left the girl where she’d be found right away.”
“That’s a lot of maybes, Jeff. And again assuming the tape is real, she wasn’t spotted in the area until nearly two weeks later. Why would her first
two rescues be in Milford?”
“Yeah, good point.” They both thought for a while.
“Still,” said Cory, “this is starting to feel a little… odd? I dunno, something. Do you think we should send someone out there to look around?”
“Yeah, I’d say so,” answered Jeff. “She’s still our top story and this is material no one else has. Even if the kidnapping is unrelated we can get details on the marina rescue. But I can’t authorize a trip like that on my own. Let me send this up the food chain and see what the bigwigs think.”
“Do you think we should run this tape on-air?”
“The producers may want to, or they may want to collect more material first. Did he send the tape to anyone else?”
“According to his letter, no.”
“Then we have some time. Tell him we’re working on it and we expect to compensate him. That should help keep him from shopping it around.”
• • •
