The Ides of Metropolis - Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
There ensued a technical discussion that left Lois and Clark in the dust. The class broke up into groups, each having a separate assignment and they all feverishly went to work.
Finally, Eugene pushed back from his keyboard and rubbed the back of his neck. Lois seized the opportunity to ask a question, "What exactly are you looking for?"
Eugene replied, absently, his mind was obviously on other things, "An entry code. We have a sample, but, I could use an unadulterated copy of the original so we can analyze the virus and find a cure. I've tried all the ones Henry ever used. The names of every member of his immediately family, their birth dates etc. Now we're trying number combinations."
Clark suggested, "What about the name of the program 'The Ides Of Metropolis?'
"I don't think that Henry would use the name of the program as the password, but I'll try it." He started typing and when he stopped and hit enter, the screen flashed up, "ACCESS DENIED."
Eugene started muttering to himself as he continued typing, "'Ides' refers to the fifteenth day of certain months. I've tried some letter/number combinations using that factor, but so far ..."
Each try had the same result, "ACCESS DENIED."
Lois was getting into the mood and offered, "What about the dramatic reference? Julius Caesar ... 'Beware the Ides of March?' It's a long shot, but …"
Eugene said, "It's as good as any. I'll give it a try."
Eugene tried, Julius Caesar, Brutus and sever others, each gave the same response.
Lois made another suggestion, "The play was about a conspiracy. Traitors, politics ... maybe there's another connection."
Eugene considered what Lois said and turned back to his computer. Just as he did the door to the classroom burst open and Detective Reed and two plainclothes police charged in. The first thing that they all saw was the gun in Detective Reed's hand.
Reed shouted, "Police! Step away from the desk. Laderman, down and kiss the floor."
Lois moved to interpose herself between Reed and Eugene. In a very agitated tone, she said, "No, you can't. Eugene is working on finding the antidote to the computer virus. He may be close ... he's the only one who can do it."
Reed looked past Lois at Eugene and the computer display. She was only distracted for a second, but Lois saw her chance and took it. Lashing out with her right leg, she kicked Detective Reed's right wrist knocking the gun from her grasp and sending it flying.
The gun flew through the air and second nature caused Clark to reach out and snag it.
His attention was drawn back to Lois and Reed. After that kick, both women assumed martial arts fighting stances. Reed tried to retaliate with a kick which Lois deftly blocked. Lois then attempted to knock Reeds legs out from under her, but Reed blocked the attempt.
Having thus taken the measure of each other they both resumed a defensive stance and glared at each other. It was a standoff and neither one liked it. They were both used to winning and it galled Lois in particular.
Clark interrupted the standoff by asking, "Are you ladies finished?"
When Clark finally took his eyes off of his wife, he saw that Reed and the other cops had their hands up.
Seeing this, Lois looked around and with a snicker said, "Yes, *we* are ... Mr. Law and Order."
It finally dawned on Clark what they were all staring at. He was holding Reed's gun and negligently he had trained it on the cops. He knew just what he had to do then. He dropped the magazine and jacked the slide to remove the round from the chamber. Then he dropped the gun to the floor and put his hands up.
One of the plainclothes men walked over and stooping, picked up the gun and the ammunition.
While he was doing this, Clark walked over to Reed and said, persuasively, "Don't you see what's going on? Have you read the news? Eugene may be our only hope."
Reed had been giving Lois a wary eye, but Clark was a handsome man and Reed reacted to that fact. Clark could see that she appeared to be listening.
Seeing Reed loosen up some, Lois tried to reason with her by making an impassioned plea, "Eugene worked under Harrison. He saw Harrison develop the virus. He's the only one who can find the antidote. For God sakes, let him try."
Reed considered Lois's argument. She looked around. The classroom didn't have any windows, so Laderman couldn't escape that way. There was only the one door. Making up her mind, Reed turned to the plainclothes men and said, "Stay here. Don't let anyone in or out of this room."
The cops nodded in acknowledgement.
Lois asked, "Where are you going?"
Reed finished reloading her weapon and put it in her waist holster before she replied, "HarriTech. I followed Lena there last night. She's got some explainin' to do."
"We were told that they were locking up the building as soon as everyone left. Look, I'm going with you."
Nursing a grudge from their brief fight, Reed said, "In your dreams, Lane."
Refusing to be denied, Lois followed Reed out the door.
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 10
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they arrived at the HarriTech facility all was dark, but upon trying the front door they found that it was surprisingly unlocked.
Lois delved into her ever-present bag and came up with a flashlight. Reed had brought one with her from her patrol car.
Lois stopped her and said, "Wait a minute. I want to try something." Delving into her bag again she pulled out a small box. She explained, "This was a Christmas gift from my father-in-law." She plugged earphones into it and turned it on. She adjusted a knob on the side to increase the sensitivity and then started swinging it from side to side like a radar dish or a directional antenna. When she was sure she had the strongest signal, she pointed and said, "That way."
She led the way down a corridor and to a particular door. She turned off her sound amplifier and put it back in her bag. As she pointed at the doorway, she whispered, "In there."
Lois eased the door open and as she and Reed stepped through they both froze in their tracks as a voice spoke from the dark, "Good evening, Ms. Lane, Ms. Reed." As the final word was spoken the light switch was thrown, flooding the room in fluorescent light glare.
Lois and Detective Reed turned toward the voice to see a man in a trench coat and hat holding a very large Desert Eagle .45 Cal automatic pointed at them.
As he removed his hat he said, "Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Henry Harrison." He paused a second to allow them to absorb that information and then said, "I'll relieve you of your weapons now."
Neither Lois nor Reed had expected this and they exchanged a look of surprise and disbelief.
With a wave of his gun, Harrison commanded, "Take out your weapon. Use two fingers and drop it on the floor."
When Reed had complied, he said, "Okay, now, kick it over here."
In an irritated tone, Reed muttered, "That makes twice in one day."
Harrison was curious, and asked, "Twice what?"
"Two times that I've been disarmed in one day."
Harrison indicated a doorway across the room and said, "Through there."
As Lois and Reed moved through the door, they saw Lena Harrison and Lois blurted out, "You were in on it all along!"
Lena snickered and replied, "Of course! I believe in marital fidelity."
Lois challenged, "What about your loyalty to Eugene? He loved you."
With a wicked smile, she replied, "Yes. Poor Eugene. I thought the legal process would finish him off, now ... I'll have to do it myself."
Reed turned on Henry Harrison and asked, "Why?"
Lois interrupted, "I can answer that. HarriTech was about to fail. His virus will make all software other than his obsolete."
Harrison made a slight bow, "Very astute. Quite correct, Ms. Lane. Billions are at stake. I needed to disappear beyond suspicion. Like dead. Eugene was the perfect foil."
Lois smirked and replied, "Forgive the cliché, but you're not going to get away with this. Eugene is working on the antidote as we speak."
Henry waved a hand negligently and said, "It doesn't matter. Within the hour every computer system in the country will be shut down."
Lois was startled at his statement and blurted out, "The nuclear missile control computers!"
Harrison sneered, "Give me a little credit, Ms. Lane. Surely you don't think I'd destroy all those potential customers. Of course, a few shut downs here and there, medical facilities, control towers, automated machinery ... there's bound to be a few glitches." As he finished speaking, he moved over to a console and pressed a button which started a countdown timer to display.
Reed offered, "I can get you a deal."
Harrison replied offhandedly as he hit a few more switches, "I doubt that, very much."
Lois came to the realization that once again she had jumped in without checking the water level. At least this time she had the excuse of having been
with the police when she had done it and not on her own. In a small voice she asked, "So, what are you going to do now? Kill us?"
Harrison turned toward the two women and his smile was malevolent.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When Lois and Detective Reed left to find Lena Harrison, Clark stayed with Eugene and his students as they all slaved over their terminals. Occasionally he would hear a snort of frustration from one of the students as they worked.
When Eugene looked up from his work, Clark asked, "Is there anything I can do?"
Eugene looked around and chuckled before he said, "I think my students could use some refreshments. Could you get us all some Mountain Dew? Programmer's brains are fueled by caffeine."
Clark nodded and said, "Sure."
"The machine is just down the hall."
Clark went to the machine and brought back enough sodas for everyone, including the policemen.
The students all chugged the sodas and returned to their work.
A few minutes later, Eugene shouted, "Got it!"
At that exclamation, all work ceased and all of the students gathered around Eugene. Clark stood behind them and watched over their shoulders.
Eugene explained, "Lois was right, the play's the thing." Looking back over his shoulder at Clark he said, "'Et tu, Brute' That's the password."
Clark asked, "What now?"
Turning back to his computer, Eugene hit a few keys and on the giant monitor a map of the United States popped up on the screen. Superimposed on the map was a grid of lines and dots. There were dots of several sizes with three dots that were much larger than any of the others and most of the others in some way or another were connected through them.
Pointing to the screen, Eugene explained, "By our calculations, in order for the virus to reach full distribution, it has to pass through these three centers. Those three centers are called the main DNS Nodes. DNS stands for Domain Naming System. There are only three main nodes in the world. They are the masters and for protection they are located in high security areas on U.S. military bases." He hit a button and the three biggest dots began to flash. There was one on the east coast, one on the west coast and one in Middle America.
Clark offered, "So ... we contact the centers and have them apply the antidote." Seeing the look that Eugene was giving him, he answered his own question, "No, huh?"
Eugene explained, "No, the problem is that the fix has to be applied at the source, not remotely." He picked up a three and a quarter inch diskette and said, "I've downloaded the antivirus program to this disk. It has to be put into a diskette reader on the device and run locally. It will clean the virus off the DNS server and prevent re-infection."
Clark asked, "How much time do we have?"
"Virtually none. Like I said, this has to be done locally. I can copy this disk, but by the time we fly a copy to each facility, the damage will be done. The virus is already spreading through the network."
Clark reached out and took the disk from Eugene. He said, "I know a way."
As Clark approached the door, the plainclothesman stiffened. This wasn't just a soda run and Reed had left orders that no one was to leave.
Seeing this, Clark lowered his voice so that it was close to his Superman voice and said, "Don't even think about it. This is life or death."
THE voice had the desired effect. The cop swallowed nervously and then opened the door and stepped back.
Minutes later Superman's sonic boom could be heard north of Metropolis as he headed for the east coast facility housing the DNS master server. Landing at Watervliet Arsenal he quickly explained his errand and was escorted into the facility. He handed the diskette to one of the operators. It was inserted and it was a testament to the trust that reposed in Superman that it was run without question. A copy of the disk was made and Superman was off with a promise that a phone call would be made to the other centers, alerting them to his errand.
As Superman was leaving the Watervliet Arsenal a phone call was in process of being made to the mid-west center. As he flew he flashed past several trains, one of which was a much advertised ‘bullet train'. He passed it as if it were a slow freight. He was so high that no one on the train even suspected that he was overhead. There were telephone lines that paralleled the train tracks and without realizing it he was racing against the call. The impulses of the telephone call were traveling slightly faster than he was so the call was completed as he arrived at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
After Clark left, Eugene and his students all gathered around the large monitor to track the progress of the infection. They had no idea as to how Mr. Kent was going to accomplish the task, but they needed to see if their work had been effective. The virus had been spreading out from the point of infection, which was Metropolis, and spreading like a dark cloud across the map. The cloud had already enveloped most of the east coast. Suddenly, the marker for the east coast DNS servers changed color and the cloud started to disappear around it. Eugene crowed, "He did it. I don't know how, but Kent did it. I just hope he can get to the other centers before it's too late!"
Superman didn't know that Lois was in danger, but even if he had, he would have had to rely on her to get herself out the same way she had so many times before. This was a task only he could perform and the fate of a nation, if not the world, depended on him completing said task.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Back at HarriTech, immediately after Henry hit the button to start the virus propagation he turned his attention back to Lois and Detective Reed. Aloud he said, "Now, what am I going to do with you two?"
Lois took a chance that her taunt wouldn't be prophetic, but would result in a break in concentration as she asked, "'What're you going to do now, kill us?"
Lois was disappointed that this elicited no response that she could see. The gun in his hand did not waver in the slightest. Then she became concerned when the knuckle of his trigger finger began to whiten as he applied pressure to the trigger.
Stopping him, Lena offered, "Henry, not here! We do have one place that they won't be able to escape from. Solid concrete walls ... only one door and that can be securely locked …"
Henry looked at Lena, smiled and said, "My sweet, you are brilliant," turning back to Lois and Reed he gestured with the gun, "okay, both of you, through that door and left down the hallway. No false moves. I'd rather not shoot you, but I will if I have to."
They followed his directions which led to the door in question which was in the basement. Henry opened the door and not taking any chances stood back and said, "Okay. Inside, both of you."
Rather meekly, both of the women entered. As the door slammed closed behind them they both looked around, taking in their surroundings. As Lena had said the walls were made of concrete. They both turned to the door and tried their strength against it, to no avail.
In her frustration, Lois kicked at part of a computer which lay on the floor amongst some scattered trash and railed at Reed, "Great. Now you've done it!"
Reed was abashed, she retorted, "Me! You're the one who said 'What're you going to do now, kill us?' They teach you that in journalism school?"
Lois rebutted with, "Well, I suppose
you called for back- up and told them to burst in if we didn't come out in ten minutes." She paused long enough to observe Reed's response which told her that she had hit home before she continued, sarcastically, "They teach you that in detective school?" Lois had a smug look as she finished.
Realizing that they had each scored a point and were now to all intents and purposes even they each decided that it was time to call a truce.
Silently, Lois walked over and sat down on the floor against one wall. Reed shrugged her shoulders and sat against the wall next to her.
Lois looked around again and voiced the question that was on both of their minds, "What is this place? It reminds me of something out of a movie, but I can't put my finger on it." Lois was looking curiously from side-to-side as if looking around would provide the key to the memory. As she did, her hair flowed free and easy around her face.
Reed had been watching Lois rather than looking at the room and asked, "How do you get it to do that, anyway?"
Lois, having absolutely no idea what Reed was talking about asked in bewilderment, "What?"
Reed was nonplused, "Your hair. That bounce thing. When you turn your head."
Lois was surprised that Reed would be talking about something like that when they were trapped, but decided that she might as well have a friendly conversation. At least it would be better than sniping at each other. "I don't know. It just ... does it." Looking at Reed, Lois could understand her curiosity. Reed's hair lacked body. It was long and frizzy, like a bad Afro, but with less style. It sure looked to Lois as if for Reed a ‘Bad Hair Day' was the norm rather than the exception.
Deciding to throw her a bone, Lois glanced at Reed's hands and then at her own. Because she did so much typing she had nails that were rather short. With envy in her voice, she said, "I wish I had your nails."
Reed smiled and said, "You can. $1.98 at LexSave." Reed held out her hands, inviting closer examination.
Lois was startled, "Get outta here!" She finished in an awed tone as she reached for the hands for a closer inspection, "They look so real."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This time, Superman was flying toward the setting sun. He was traveling so fast that the sonic boom that followed was many seconds behind him. Many people that happened to be outside heard the boom and looking up saw a perfectly clear sky. Occasionally military jets passed through the area, but often if they looked up they could see the jet in the distance. That was not the case this time. In order to maximize his speed, Superman had gained considerable altitude so that he was traveling through the thinner air of the stratosphere. He had no fear of running into other aircraft because that high only a military jet, one with a greater thrust to drag ratio to compensate for the loss of lift, would fly. It was something he hadn't been able to do on the trip between Metropolis and the east coast facility since they were relatively close. As a result of being in the denser atmosphere he had kept his speed to just over Mach 2 so that the sonic boom wouldn't result in broken windows or worse. As it was there were a number of windows that rattled in their frames so violently that they almost cracked. In the thinner air of the upper atmosphere he was able to exceed Mach 5. It was safe to travel at that speed that high up because the thin air didn't compress as much so the sonic wave created was attenuated and would have less effect than the wave created at Mach 2 in the lower atmosphere. As he landed at Whiteman Air Force Base he realized that he was near Kansas. He thought that it would be a good idea to possibly stop on the way back and check on the place.
Superman was doing his best to beat the virus. The operator was just hanging up the phone as he arrived. Without delay Superman was conducted into the center and an operator ran the anti-virus program. Even though time was of the essence Superman waited a minute to insure that the task had been completed successfully before taking off again.
comments go here TBC
