TOC--------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Lane was seated at the breakfast bar drinking coffee and studying some papers when Alexa came down stairs. Alexa poured herself a cup and joined him at the bar.
"I know we lived together for six months, but this is exactly how I dreamed married life would be," Alexa said. "I'd wake to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and there'd be my… handsome husband. Reading the morning... autopsy reports. I guess there is something very 'us' about that."
"A messenger dropped these by while you were in the shower," Lane said. "There's got to be a way to figure out where Benny Rockland
was during the time he was missing. Look at this... His stomach contents. His last meal was Salisbury steak, over-cooked carrots and tapioca pudding. What does that sound like to you?"
"Like he didn't know it was going to be his last meal?"
Lane shook his head. "Hospital food. Plus he had traces of sedative in his system. It reeks of 'hospital' to me. If we can find one that served this exact meal the night before he died…" He looked over to see Alexa grinning at him. "What? It's not so farfetched."
"Not at all. It's very smart."
"So what are you grinning at?"
"You. You're brilliant, talented, with looks to die for and we're married. So I grin."
"You're not so bad yourself," Lane said, giving Alexa a kiss before getting himself another cup of coffee.
-o-o-o-
Lane tried to keep from glowering as he checked of yet another hospital on his list. "It seems like
every hospital in Metropolis served Salisbury steak and carrots the night before Benny Rockland died," he complained. "But no tapioca pudding. What am I missing?"
Perry stepped over to them. "Lane, Alexa…either one of you heard from Olsen?"
"No, Chief," Lane responded.
"He hasn't been in all morning. It's not like him to just not show up..." Perry explained.
"He was pretty upset about his friend yesterday..." Alexa reminded them.
"Hmmm. Yeah… And he was upset that I wouldn't assign the story on his friend to him… Probably drowned one too many sorrows last night is all."
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Jimmy stepped out and looked around as if a little lost.
"Jimmy!" Perry called. "Where the Sam Hill you been, son?"
"I'm... not sure."
"Jimmy…are you all right?" Alexa asked.
"Hmmm? Yeah, C.K… I mean, Alexa. I'm... fine. I seem to recall… a woman. Tall. And rubber gloves...
"That's probably more information than we need, son," Perry said. "We all deal with grief in our own way. Point is… you're fine."
"Yeah, yeah guess I am," Jimmy said but he sounded vague. "She made me see lights, Chief."
"I'm sure she did, son. You don't have to tell me. I was young once, you know. In fact, I'm not ready for the old folks' home yet."
"That's it," Lane crowed. "Old folks' homes! Nursing homes."
Alexa gave him a blank look.
"They serve the same kind of food hospitals do, don't they? Of course they would. We've just been looking in the wrong place."
-o-o-o-
Leisure Park Retirement Villa was the one institution that served the meal they were looking for on the day before Bennie Rockwell's death.
The home's director styled himself 'Mister Larry'. His real name was Lawrence Rogers. He walked with them across the grounds, past elderly people napping wheelchairs, others being helped along by white uniformed care-givers. It was all very depressing.
"... I'm sorry you made the trip out here," Mister Larry said, "but as I told you on the phone, Missus Alexander, this is a private institution. We're not in the habit of taking in members of the general public.
"My grandfather is fully insured…" Alexa interjected.
"It's not a matter of insurance. The fact is our residents are sponsored through a private foundation."
"What's the name of this foundation? Maybe we'll try them," Alexa suggested.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to give out that information," Mister Larry stated primly.
Lane nodded to the residents. They seemed more vacant than Lois's grandparents had been, even when they were in the nursing home. "Why does everyone here seem so… placid?"
Mister Larry glowered at him. "A necessity, I'm afraid. Without the proper medication, the elderly can become somewhat... unmanageable."
"You mean like…they try to escape?" Lane asked.
Mister Larry pulled himself to his full height – several inches shorter than Lane – and tried to stare Lane down. "This isn't a prison, Mister Alexander. Frankly, were you in their position, you'd be most grateful for this quality of care. Good day."
Lane took Alexa's arm. "Let's get out of here."
"He's not telling us something," Alexa observed as soon as they were well away from 'Mister Larry'. "We need to check out this 'private foundation.'"
An alarm sounded from somewhere in Racine. "Bank alarm," Alexa identified it.
Lane was off almost before Alexa finished her words.
Loq-El landed inside the bank with the blaring alarm. Two MPD patrol cars rolled up and officers ran in.
"He took hostages into the vault and closed the door!" one of the tellers said. "He threatened us not to sound the alarm, but it's been such a long time and there's only a limited amount of air…
"Aren't there vents?" Loq-El asked, scanning the vault. Everyone inside appeared to be okay, so far.
"It's a very old vault," the teller said. "It's supposed to be replaced next month."
"Who can open the vault?" he asked.
"Our manager, but he's one of the hostages, and our senior operations manager, but he's in Midtown. There's no way…"
"His name and location, please."
Within half a minute Superman was back with the bank's senior operations manager.
"I thought you'd just rip the door off," the man said as he spun the combination.
"I'm told that insurance companies frown on things like that," Loq-El said. The officers went into position as the vault door swung open.
Inside the vault nine people were sitting on the floor, heads down, arms up. After a moment they started to raise their heads.
"Which one is he?" one of the officers asked the teller.
"I... don't see him," she admitted, confused.
"Okay, everyone, let's step out of the vault, single file," the officer ordered.
The hostages got to their feet and filed past Loq-El and the teller. "Just let us know when you see him..." the officer instructed.
The hostages walked out, one by one, the teller shaking her head at each one. Finally: "I don't understand it... we all saw him go in..."
Then they noticed a trench coat, hat, and gun on the floor of the vault. It was as if the bank robber had just melted away.
-o-o-o-
"Bank Robber Gets Away; Superman Stumped" the headlines blared. Alexa took the paper away from Lane.
"You're obsessing," Alexa stated. "I thought that was my gig."
"Well, it bothers me," Lane stated. "I mean, my first real interaction with cops at a crime scene and the crook gets right past me and everybody. A
bank robber."
"Sometimes the bad guys really are smarter than everybody else," Alexa stated. "Or they're lucky, this time. And sometimes life ain't fair. But this guy
will try to pull something else and will get caught."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure… In the meantime…" Alexa handed him some research files. "The private foundation that runs Leisure Park is owned by one Veda Doodsen.
Doctor Veda Doodsen."
"And she is...?" Lane prompted.
"One of Metropolis State University's top medical researchers…until last February, that is, when she was drummed out of academia for reasons as yet unknown. One of Clark's old contacts on the university board is looking into it for me. But her area of expertise was gerontology. It seems she became obsessed with aging after her husband of 23 years left her for a younger woman."
"Ouch," Lane said with a grimace.
"I'm thinking it's time we paid Doctor Doodsen a house call," Alexa suggested.
As they got up from their desks to leave the newsroom, a packaged was dropped into Alexa's inbox. She grabbed it, read the label, and headed over to Jimmy's desk,
"Jimmy?
Jimmy…"
Finally Jimmy turned around. Alexa handed him the package. "This is the surveillance tape from that bank robbery yesterday. The police have zilch. The gun the robber left behind was clean. And they still have no idea how he just vanished from that vault. Do me a favor, take a look at this tape and see if you can figure out how anyone could get by Superman."
"Yeah. Sure. C.K. Okay."
Alexa stared at him a moment before rejoining Lane. There was something wrong with Jimmy, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what.
-o-o-o-
Veda Doodsen lived in an older brownstone in one of the more exclusive older neighborhoods in Racine.
"Nice digs," Lane commented. "Not exactly what you'd expect on an academic's salary."
"Well, we don't know what her divorce settlement looked like," Alexa reminded him.
Doctor Doodsen was an attractive woman in her late forties, well dressed and coifed, exquisitely manicured. She invited Lane and Alexa in after they introduced themselves reporters for the Planet.
Doodsen ushered them into the living room. Alexa made a show of looking around. "This really is a nice place you have here, Doctor Doodsen."
"Yes, it's beautiful," Lane agreed. "Turn of the century?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. It's actually got quite a storied history to it… Speaking of stories..."
"Yes. We're researching a story on Metropolis' unsung heroes, and your name came up," Lane explained.
"
My name? Why, I'm just a simple, albeit uncommonly brilliant, medical researcher," Doodsen protested mildly. "Hardly a hero..."
"Oh, it's not your medical research we're interested in, Doctor Doodsen..." Lane said. "It's all the altruistic work you've done for Metropolis' elderly."
"I-I'm afraid I still don't…"
"You do personally subsidize Leisure Park, don't you?" Lane persisted.
Doodsen actually went pale. "How did you… find that out?"
"We're reporters, Doctor Doodsen. We don't just report bad news. We think the good things people do are just as important..." Alexa said prettily.
"That's why we want the public to know about what's going on at Leisure Park," Lane added.
"Well, as flattering as that is, I don't do these good works for the acclaim," Doodsen stated. She moved toward the front door. "But thank you for stopping by."
"Maybe you can help me on another story I'm working on, Doctor Doodsen..." Lane said. Alexa had lowered her glasses to scan the room.
"And what might that be?"
"I understand you had some trouble at Metropolis State. Do you think that had anything to do with your being a woman?" Lane asked.
"I'm bound by law not to discuss that… incident. Terms of the settlement," Doodsen said.
"Then let me ask you this… why is your work focused on youth?"
"You're a man, you wouldn't understand," Doodsen said. "But for women…" She looked to Alexa. "You're a woman. You should know. But then, you're still young. Vivacious. Probably never occurs to you that one day all those pimply faced box boys at the supermarket won't be in such a hurry to carry your bags for you."
"I carry my own bags," Alexa said. "Anyway, I'm married."
Doodsen laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "Let me tell you about 'married.' Don't think a husband's eye won't wander once the bloom has gone off the rose. You'll get old; he'll get 'distinguished.' Success makes men attractive; youth makes women desirable. Success is attained… but youth is lost. And those are the facts of life."
Alexa stared at her. "I know I was blessed with good genes, but if you believe that merely getting older makes you ugly and your self-worth is dependent on how you look and not who you are, then I feel sorry for you. But for what it's worth, I happen to know that my uncle thinks my aunt is the smartest, most talented, and most desirable woman alive."
-o-o-o-
"That is one bitter woman," Lane commented. "Unfortunately, too many women would agree with her."
"Would you have, before?"
"I hope not, but probably. My… Uncle Sam left Aunt Ellen for a younger woman when I was a kid. You don't unlearn that sort of lesson."
"I'm sorry," Alexa said.
"Don't be. We're going to grow old together… Now, that looked like serious machinery behind the wet bar. We should come back tonight and check it out."
-o-o-o-
The lights were low in the newsroom conference room. A computer monitor was on and the table was littered with papers and photos. Alexa poked her head in. "Jimmy…?"
Lane walked in and they looked over the photographs – photos of Connor Schenk. Two of the photos came from the Planet's archives – one of Schenk from the thirties, the other a more recent prison photo of Schenk at eighty. But it was the other two photos that raised Lane and Alexa's eyebrows. They were from the bank security tape and showed Connor Schenk entering the bank as a young man and leaving as an old man.
"Jimmy's really on to something..." Lane commented.
"Yeah…but where is he?" Alexa asked.
There was a moaning sound from under the conference table. Jimmy was curled up under the table and he was obviously ill. Lane rolled him over. Jimmy looked like he had aged sixty years.
Lane called Perry in while Alexa called Bernard Klein at home. Both were in the newsroom within the hour. Klein brought Doctor Blanchard with him.
Lane had moved Jimmy to the sofa in Perry's office and Jimmy seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness.
"Jimmy? Jimmy, Dr. Klein is here. He's going to take a look at you," Alexa said, crouching close to him.
"Sure, C.K." Jimmy reached out to her. "C.K.? I think I figured out that robbery..."
"Yeah, you did great, Jimmy. You nailed it," Alexa assured him.
Jimmy focused on Perry and gave him a weary smile. "Not such a kid anymore, eh, Chief?"
"You rest easy, son. Doctor Klein's going to take care of you. We'll be right outside."
Lane was looking through Jimmy's notes and the photographs.
"I still don't understand any of this," Perry complained. "What in the name of all that's Memphis is going
on?
"It's the fountain of youth, Chief," Alexa said.
"And Jimmy figured it out," Lane added.
Alex put the photos in order on the table. ""See, Chief… these stills Jimmy made from the bank security tape prove it. Here at 4:02, the gunman takes eight hostages into the vault, then enters himself… Then, at 4:04… When the police and Superman arrive, nine people exit the vault. But no robber."
"However, there's a new face…this old man, here. He wasn't in the bank before," Lane pointed out.
Perry stared at him. "Wait a minute… are you saying this old guy… and this young guy…it's the same person?"
Alexa nodded. "Conner Schenk, the old con who was busted out of prison."
"And Olsen figured this out?"
"He sure did…by not ruling anything out… even the impossible," Lane said with a smile.
Lane's desk phone rang and he went to answer it while Perry and Alexa went through Jimmy's research notes. Blanchard joined them, frowning at the 'before' and 'after' photos of Schenk.
"This isn't exactly a fountain of youth if the affect is this unstable," Blanchard mused.
"Well, that seals it," Lane announced after hanging up the phone. "That was my contact on the university board. Veda Doodsen wanted to conduct youth experiments on human subjects. When the university forbade her, she defied them. Did it anyway. And guess who she used as guinea pigs?"
Alexa held up the photo of young Schenk at the bank. "Prisoners..."
"Yep. She lied her way in, told the warden she had the full backing of the university."
"Wait, you said Veda Doodsen?" Blanchard interrupted.
"You know her?" Alexa asked.
"I know
of her," Blanchard said. "A while back she published a paper on her work on augmenting the body's bio-electrical field to strengthen the cells' self-repairing mechanisms. It was an interesting idea but nobody was able to duplicate her results and there were a lot of unanswered questions as to how simply adding energy would repair worn out cells. Most of us just chalked it up to… I hate to say it but a lot of us figured she'd lost it when her husband dumped her for a little chickee."
"So, what could create this 'youth effect' on Schenk, even temporarily?" Alexa asked.
Blanchard shook his head and frowned in thought. "Aging is a complex process. Yes, the root cause is cellular. The self-repairing mechanisms start to break down, cell replication slows and stops, the list goes on. But to have a cosmetic affect like this means that more than adding energy was involved, no matter what its source. In her paper she said that large amounts of electricity would work as a catalyst for the 'youthening process', but a strong existing bio-electrical field could jump-start it as well. But if this is related to the affect we saw on those cells we looked at – then transferring whatever it is she's transferring is potentially deadly to the donor."
Klein came out of Perry's office, a grim look on his face. "He's aging. Rapidly. And there's no sign that it's leveling out. Unless we can somehow reverse this process, or at least stabilize it… he'll be dead in a matter of hours."
"We think Doodsen's involved," Blanchard said.
"Her bio-electric field augmentation idea?"
"If she's siphoning off the field from a young person, that might explain the cellular disruption we're seeing," Blanchard suggested.
"So adding energy back might fix it?" Lane asked.
"Maybe, possibly, but I'd have to analyze the process she's using," Klein said.
The phone on Lane's desk rang again. His eyes widened when he realized who was on the line: Veda Doodsen. He hit the speakerphone button.
"I'll get straight to the point," Doodsen said. "Tell Superman, with his help, I can restore James Olsen. Tell him to bring the boy to me. But to hurry. Even I can't raise the dead..." Then she hung up.
"What does she want with Superman?" Lane asked.
Klein looked troubled. "The accepted explanation of Superman's abilities is that he has an exceptionally strong bio-electrical field. She may be thinking that siphoning off such a strong field will undo the damage done to Mister Olsen."
"Or, since we suspect she's working with Schenk, that field will permanently youthen Schenk," Lane suggested. "If she's willing to cause advanced aging in innocent people, who knows what lengths she'll go to. And if all those people housed at Leisure Villa are her victims, she's done this to dozens of people."
"Is is possible that Superman's super bio-electric field could save Jimmy?" Alexa asked.
Klein shook his head. "I honestly don't know. But I doubt it would permanently youthen a naturally old person. Plus I have no idea what the affect might be on Superman."
Alexa went into Perry's office and knelt down beside Jimmy. He looked even older than he had before.
"C.K. …guess I screwed up pretty royally, huh?" Jimmy said.
"No, you didn't screw up".
"All I remember is... I wanted the story... guess now I
am the story. I must look pretty awful to you, huh?"
"No…"
"I'm not me anymore. Well, one good thing… I probably won't get carded so much…"
"Jimmy… you're still you," Loq-El said. "The outside isn't what's important. That's not why we love people..." He gathered Jimmy up like he would a child and headed toward the office window.
"Doctor Klein and I will meet you there," Alexa said.
-o-o-o-
[I was right,] Lane sent to Alexa. [Schenk has a gun on Doodsen, but she seems a little too cooperative. And that machinery behind the wet bar? I think that's her energy transfer machine.]
[Be careful,] Alexa sent back.
[Aren't I always?]
[Do you want an honest answer?]
Loq-El floated though an open window into the living room. He gently laid Jimmy down on the sofa. Doodsen came around the machine dressed in what looked like a radiation suit.
"Welcome, Superman. I'm Doctor Doodsen."
"I know who you are," Loq-El stated. "You told Lane Alexander that you could restore him… I advise you to do it."
Schenk appeared from the next room, holding an old pistol on Doodsen. "Me first."
"What is this? What's he talking about?" Loq-El demanded.
"The conditions. You give up some of your super lifeforce to him, he allows me to regenerate your friend... and he won't kill me," Doodsen explained.
"Now it doesn't get any fairer than that," Schenk added.
"I can get to him before he pulls the trigger…"
"It won't matter. I'll help him, anyway and you'll allow me to…because you need me to save your friend."
"Even though he has a gun on you?"
"Yes. And as much as he can't be trusted… I'm afraid you
can be. Trusted to take me straight to prison for my crimes. And I can't have that. That's why I'm going to do as he says… and then I'm going to escape with him."
"Smart girl," Schenk gloated. "Well, Mister Blue Pants? Time's runnin' out for all of us. What's it gonna be?"
"I vote prison for both of you," Alexa said. She was in her blue and red uniform, one arm around Doctor Klein as she floated to them both to the floor.
"And who the hell are you?" Doodsen demanded.
"I am called Lura and Loq-El is my husband."
Schenk pointed his gun at Alexa and pulled the trigger – at least he tried to pull the trigger. Loq-El had spot welded the trigger to the pistol body.
"Doctor Klein, can you determine out how this device works?" Alexa asked, indicating the machinery with the two large canisters.
"I'll try," Klein said as he set to work examining Doodsen's device.
After a few moments of studying the control console, looking over the two class canisters and tracing the various wires and tubes, he shook his head. "None of this makes sense. On one side there's a lead container with a remote controlled lid. It may be a radiation source, but I'm not stupid enough to check that out outside of a properly secured lab with lots of shielding. On the other side, more small canisters with remote controlled mechanisms. I have no clue what this is supposed to do besides expose the people trapped in those tubes with things that are probably not approved by the FDA."
"Like you would be able to recognize what it does," Doodsen sneered.
"What
I recognize is that if Mister Olsen dies, you will be facing murder charges, and I'm quite certain the D.A. will cheerfully consider it premeditated murder," Lane stated. Doodsen just glared at him.
Lane stared back at Doodsen. "I also think you do not know how to restore Mister Olsen. I think this machine uses the bio-electrical energy released by exposing your victims to radiation and that combined with drugs, gives the
illusion of reversing aging in the other person."
"Illusion?" Schenk repeated. "I
was younger."
"And when it wore off you felt like you were a hundred instead of eighty," Klein said. "And each subsequent dose lasted a shorter time and took more out of you." He turned to Loq-El. "However, if we're lucky, and we're actually looking at radiation poisoning, I think there might just be a chance to save Mister Olsen here. But we have to hurry."
-o-o-o-
Alexa waited for the police to come for Doodsen and Schenk while Lane flew off to StarLabs with Klein and Jimmy. She gave her statement and promised Loq-El would make his later. Then she headed home and wrote up the story of 'Lura Jen-Lo's' first appearance in Metropolis. She had decided on 'Superwoman' as her 'work' name.
Lane didn't come back to the loft that night.
Alexa went to work alone. It was the first time in months she'd actually gone to the Planet alone. It felt weird. It felt lonely.
Jimmy finally came in. He still looked old but he looked more like a healthy seventy than a dying eighty plus. Perry beckoned him over. "Jimmy! What'd Doctor Klein have to say?"
"He wants to keep a close eye on my progress, but he's real hopeful that in a couple weeks I'll be back to my old young self again."
"Good news. Now, if you'd only listened to me from the start," Perry chided.
"From now on, Chief," Jimmy promised. "Trust me."
"I do…" Perry handed him a file. "…which is why I want you to get on this story."
Jimmy's face lit up. "What is it, Chief? Hostage situation? Social unrest?" Then he read the file label. "Metropolis 10k Run?"
"Now get out there and find me a story among that mass of hopeful humanity," Perry ordered.
"You bet I will, Chief."
Jimmy started toward his own desk but Alexa stopped him. "Jimmy… What did Doctor Klein do?"
Jimmy shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I was kinda out of it."
"Was L… Loq-El there, at StarLabs?"
"I think so."
Lane showed up an hour later. He looked worn out.
"What happened? You didn't come home…" Alexa demanded.
"Jimmy's going to be fine," Lane said.
"I know that… but what
else happened?"
"Klein took a bone marrow sample from me and used that to boost Jimmy's body's ability to repair itself," Lane explained. "Jimmy should be fine. But Klein had to expose me to kryptonite to get the sample."
"He what!?" Alexa nearly screamed.
"I'm already healed up and my powers should be back any time now," Lane said calmly. "And if our positions were reversed, wouldn't you have done the same for Jimmy?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"Then what are you upset about?"
"You being reckless?"
"I didn't walk into Doodsen's donor canister and I waited for backup," Lane reminded her.
"And you didn't let me know where you were last night."
"Oh… sorry…" He leaned in to kiss her. "I won't do it again."
"You'd better not, buster," Alexa said, returning his kiss.
Perry cleared his throat behind them. "So, Supergirl decided to make her first appearance last night."
"Superwoman," Alexa corrected.
Perry shook his head. "The talking heads over at LNN decided on 'Supergirl'. She's all the radio and TV people are talking about right now, or hadn't you noticed?"
--------------------------------------------------------
"
Brutal Youth" was written by Tim Minear.
