TOC----------------------------------------------------
"Wow," Jimmy said, looking around as Alexa ushered him into the loft. Jimmy had brought over a file box of Lois's old files and the archive disks Lane had asked for. "That's some serious security system you've got in this building…"
"So we've been told," Alexa said with a chuckle.
"Plus cops on stakeout outside," Jimmy added.
"You're sure?" Lane asked, taking the box and setting it on the counter.
"Oh, yeah. Front entrance, back entrance and somebody watching the garage entrance," Jimmy said. "I thought the judge tossed out the case."
"Intimidation tactics," Gary said. Gary was 'on evening duty' and playing cards with Perry to pass the time. "They're more likely to be the prosecutor's investigators than MPD though," he added. "I doubt One-PP would authorize a stakeout when they're not sure there was an indictable crime."
"So Clemmons is going to keep at it until he gets some mud that sticks," Lane said. He started going through the box.
"Eduardo pulled some strings and got the warden at Northforest to fax us Sykes' prison records this afternoon," Jimmy added.
"Anything interesting?" Lane asked.
"Jefferson Cole was Sykes' cell mate while Cole was there. He got paroled about six weeks ago."
"Cole? They let that maniac out on parole?" Perry asked.
"Supposedly he was a model prisoner, helped revamp the prison library, active in the literacy program, tutored prisoners who were taking on-line classes. Everything you'd expect from somebody who styled himself 'Professor'," Jimmy reported. "However, five weeks ago, he dropped off the map. Left the place he was staying in the middle of the night, stopped going to work, hasn't contacted his parole officer."
"And nobody thought to notify the Planet that he was out?" Lane asked. "He swore to get even with…"
"He swore to get even with Lois," Alexa reminded him. "But maybe getting even with Perry is the next best thing since Perry represents the Planet which printed the story that kicked off the investigation into Cole's actions. We've both been saying this whole thing smacked of 'psychotic genius devious'. Cole fits that bill."
"Tell me about Cole," Gary ordered. His tone reminded them he was a former MPD detective and hadn't lost any of his instincts.
"Cole was an engineer at S.T.A.R. Labs. His specialty was weapons systems. About three years ago, S.T.A.R. Labs security discovered he'd been stealing and selling weapon designs to foreign powers. He was summarily dismissed from S.T.A.R. Labs without a recommendation," Lane said. "And without that, he wasn't going to get a job at any other research facility in the country. Even LexLabs wouldn't touch him."
"No charges were brought?" Gary asked.
"Not then," Lane answered. "Some of his co-workers were rather miffed that Cole was allowed to just walk away with the millions he'd gotten from stealing their ideas. One of them contacted Lois Lane who looked into it which then forced S.T.A.R. Labs to prosecute him for the thefts."
"He wasn't prosecuted for selling classified information overseas?" Gary asked.
"Neither the DOD nor S.T.A.R. Labs wanted to publicly admit exactly what S.T.A.R. Labs had been working on that Cole might have sold," Lane explained. "S.T.A.R. Labs also didn’t want to admit how easily Cole had gotten his hands on things he shouldn't have. I mean, they're supposed to be one of the most security conscious companies in the world and Cole still got into everything. Anyway, he gave the Feds a list of the people who paid him and so they all agreed to go with state level charges. He was considered to be non-violent and so was sentenced to ten years at Northforest. However, of the millions he no doubt got from those foreign powers, only a few hundred thousand was ever recovered."
"Does Cole know who blew the whistle on him?" Gary asked.
"Lois never told anyone who the whistle-blower was, never wrote it down, had only one face-to-face meeting with them," Lane said. "She knew how to protect her sources."
"I'm only asking because if Cole is behind Sykes' death, he may also go after whoever he
thinks betrayed him at S.T.A.R. Labs," Gary said.
"Doctor Bernard Klein was the one who discovered the security breach and was the one who actually handled Cole's removal from S.T.A.R. Labs," Lane stated. "If it
is Cole and if Perry is a target because Lois is dead, then Klein may be a target because Cole has no way of knowing who really reported him, plus Klein was the one who was in charge of him getting him out of the building."
"Now," Gary said. "Who else might want to set Perry White up on a murder charge?"
"Eduardo had me check into that," Jimmy said. "According to the Planet legal department, Lois had five people threatened to sue her personally and about two hundred threatened to kill her or 'make her pay'. Perry's list is longer. Ninety-nine law suit threats and nearly three hundred death threats. But most of Perry's date from before he became an editor. There's maybe a dozen more recent ones."
"Is there any chance an old threat has come back… say someone just let out of prison or someone who died in prison and a family member wants revenge?" Gary asked.
"I'll check on that tomorrow," Jimmy promised. He headed for the front door then stopped and looked back at Perry. "Chief, everybody knows you wouldn't have shot Sykes, no matter how much a sleazebag he was. You're the one who's always saying that a journalist's weapon of choice must always be his words. That a journalist with a gun is called a 'combatant'. Chief, do you even
own a gun?"
"Two hunting rifles locked in a gun safe at my cabin. No ammo stored there, though," Perry said. "When I'm up at the cabin, I'd rather be fishing… Jimmy, we'll both work on those lists of possibles when I get into the office tomorrow."
Jimmy grimaced. "Mister Stern gave me instructions to tell you that you were on paid leave until this blows over. He said he'd be happy to ship you out of the country on assignment for a while but that would probably make things worse."
"And what am I supposed to be doing instead of working?" Perry demanded.
"Work on your Elvis book," Alexa suggested. "Do some reading, watch TV, pretend it's a planned vacation at a high priced golf resort... with really bad weather."
"I don't do vacation very well," Perry groused.
-o-o-o-
"How's Perry handling this?" Franklin Stern asked Lane and Alexa. To everyone's surprise, he had actually come to the newsroom. Normally Stern stayed in his office in Midtown where he could manage all of his other media properties. He pretty much left the Planet's management alone so long as they didn't cost him too much money.
"As well as can be expected, I guess," Alexa answered. "Clemmons is out to get all the publicity he can, whether it's based on truth or not. Our building in under surveillance by the D.A.'s detectives, which means that there's a
very good chance that other criminal cases are being ignored or back-burnered. And Perry's functionally under house arrest on the advice of our security experts until we can get a handle on this."
One of the newsroom T.V. monitors was tuned to GNN. Clemmons was on the screen, Stewart standing over his shoulder.
"... I won't comment on an ongoing investigation other than to say that we're gathering new evidence all the time and that Perry White remains the prime suspect in this case..." Clemmons was saying. "We hope to have additional evidence and further corroboration of certain facts in the very near future."
"And to think I supported that imbecile," Stern muttered, shaking his head as he headed out.
Later that afternoon, Angela Winters came out of the elevator and looked around.
"Where's Mister White?" she asked, coming toward Lane and Alexa.
"At our place under close protection," Lane answered. "I gather Clemmons is up to something? …I take that back. What is Clemmons up to now?"
"Apparently they've uncovered some new evidence and witnesses."
"That was fast, and convenient. The police have barely started processing the old evidence yet," Alexa said. "So, what new evidence?"
Winters grimaced. "I really shouldn't be talking to you about this but Mister White did say it was okay and that you two were some of the best investigators he knew. I heard something about some woman named Danko and a videotape that had just been turned over."
"Videotape?" Lane repeated with a frown. "Superman waited until the first-responders showed up to secure the scene. Why wasn't the tape turned over then?"
"Maybe she got scared," Winters suggested.
"Maybe," Lane conceded. "But if somebody's brave enough or stupid enough to stand there recording a private conversation that turns out to be a shooting death, why would they hide that fact until the next day? None of the other witnesses with cameras hid them. In fact, most of them had their cameras out to catch Superman in action."
-o-o-o-
As usual, rush hour traffic was at a standstill. Lane walked Alexa and Winters to the subway station nearest the Planet – that was a lot faster than trying to drive and the loft was only a block from its nearest subway station.
"What do you want me to bring home for dinner?" Lane asked before leaving them.
"Perry's making crawfish étouffée," Alexa reminded him.
"Have you
had Perry's crawfish étouffée?" Lane asked. "I'll see if I can find a dessert that can put out a five-alarm mouth fire."
"Gelato, maybe?" Alexa called after him.
Once out of sight, Lane spun into the Suit and took to the air. Traffic was typical for the day and time. Although Metropolis had an excellent public transit system with an exemplary record for passenger safety and the Transit Authority was making a valiant effort to convince people to car pool, too many people chose to drive into the city alone. Then they complained about how bad the traffic was.
Loq-El heard shouting near the courthouse. A woman yelling: "Oh my God… he's got a gun! It's Perry White! He's gonna kill me! Help, someone call the police!"
Loq-El landed on the crowded sidewalk in front of Perry. People were screaming and trying to take cover as Perry raised the gun in his hand, seeming to take aim at someone only he could see.
"Mister White? What are you doing?" Loq-El asked. He stepped forward to take the gun from Perry's hand. There was a high-pitched whistle coming from somewhere nearby but Loq-El ignored it as he tried to take the gun. His hand passed right through the image of Perry and the gun. Then image appeared to step forward, passing through Loq-El's body.
"Panic over, ladies and gentlemen," Loq-El announced. "The gun isn't real. Neither is Mister White." He passed his hand through the image as people emerged from nearby doors. "I think it's a very sophisticated hologram."
"I'm not so sure, Superman," one of the witnesses, a young man, said. "I can see the image, but my camera can't."
"Mass hallucination?"
"Maybe… I don't know… But it's scary weird."
As they spoke, the image passed through several other people, rounded a corner and vanished.
Loq-El pulled out his cell phone and tapped in a number. "Mister Maynard, this is Superman. Is Mister White with you?" he asked when the other end was answered.
"Yes, Superman."
"Has anything odd happened in the past hour or so?"
"As a matter of fact, yes… the D.A.'s team left our location about the time someone called and tried to tell me my team's services were no longer needed. But the order wasn't through normal channels and was a fake. May I ask what's going on?"
"Something very strange has just happened a few blocks from the courthouse," Loq-El answered. "Someone projected a very convincing image of Mister White looking like he was intending to shoot someone. May I speak with Mister White?"
Loq-El heard the phone being handed to Perry. "Yes, Superman?"
"Just checking to verify where you are, sir."
A patrol car rolled up and stopped, disgorging two uniformed officers. "We got a call of someone waving a gun around, making threats. Which way did he go?"
The young man with the camera responded. "We
thought it was a guy with a gun, but it wasn't real…"
"He walked right through Superman and a couple other people like he was a ghost or something…" another person chimed in.
"I didn't hear him say anything…" someone else added, "Did anybody hear him say anything?"
Nearly all the witnesses shook their heads.
"Who called it in?" one of the officers asked.
A woman in a business suit raised her hand. Loq-El recognized her as one of Clemmons' assistants from the botched arraignment. "I did. A.D.A. Patty Logan. Um, I was here with a… getting coffee. The person I was with started screaming then she ran. Only…"
"Only?" Loq-El prompted, stepping closer to her. The officers also stepped closer to hear.
Logan lowered her voice to a near whisper. "Only there was no way anybody could have known we were here unless we were followed from the courthouse
and they knew who she was. And I'm pretty sure nobody followed us."
"This person you were with wouldn't happen to be named 'Danko', would she?" Loq-El asked, keeping his own voice low. "The one who allegedly gave the D.A. a videotape allegedly showing Elroy Sykes' death?"
"How… how do you know that?" Logan demanded.
"Not by listening in, if that's what you're afraid of," he said. "Believe me, I have better things to do than listen in on your boss. Let's just say a
rumor's been going around about the D.A.'s new witness and evidence. And
somebody knew she was here and what she looked like otherwise this… whatever it was… wouldn't have made any sense."
"You mean, whatever happened here just
looked like a guy with a gun?" one of the officers asked.
"Exactly," Superman said. "It passed right through me and a couple of other people."
"So, what do I put in my report?"
"Exactly what all these good people tell you they saw, no matter how weird it sounds," Logan said. She turned to Loq-El. "I'll be looking into this rumor, Superman."
Loq-El's phone buzzed against his back. "Yes?"
It was Bob on the other end. "Lonnigan and two uniforms are here to arrest Mister White on suspicion of harassment with deadly intent."
Logan held out her hand and Loq-El handed her the phone. "This is A.D.A Logan, may I speak with Mister Lonnigan? …Lonnigan, you have about five seconds to explain to me why you are
again arresting someone for an incident the MPD hasn't even started investigating and has not yet established was a crime."
"The D.A. said that he had a witness…"
"Mister Clemmons said his prize witness said…?" Logan interrupted. "Only guess what? There're a dozen other people who are also witnesses, including
me, and what they're reporting doesn't even make sense. So at this moment in time, there is no probable cause to think White was involved in harassing a witness and I'm thinking you and the D.A. are trying to intimidate a
witness because there's no way you could have a warrant on an incident that went down less than five minutes ago."
"Clemmons said the new evidence was good enough for the original charge to stick," Lonnigan began.
Logan interrupted him again. "But that's not the charge you told White about, was it? And your new evidence doesn't explain how you got a complaint on
this incident before the police even got here. Get out of there Lonnigan, before I start considering harassment charges against
you."
With that, she handed the phone back to Loq-El. "Is there a phone number that goes with that?"
"Mister Maynard has it, as you are aware, and Inspector William Henderson will, once I remember to give it to him. There are a few other people," Loq-El answered.
Logan nodded. "A close select circle... If you happen to see Mister White's attorney, let her know I'll be contacting her. My boss is… well, let's just say that even
he isn't stupid enough to pull the same idiotic stunt twice."
"But it seems he did."
"Or somebody wants us to think he did. And by the way, just between you, me, and the lamppost, White's name wasn't mentioned in
my 9-1-1 call."
-o-o-o-
"What in the name of Memphis is going on?" Perry demanded when Lane finally got to the loft. Alexa and Winters were already there.
"Somebody is seriously out to get you, Perry," Lane said. "And it looks like they're leading Clemmons around by his nose." He explained what happened near the courthouse.
Then: "I know that look," Perry said. "Some pieces just came together."
Lane nodded. "The traffic was worse than usual around the courthouse and the police response was a little slow. If the officers had gotten there in their usual time, and if Superman hadn't been there, they would have seen an image of a man with a gun and probably opened fire without realizing there wasn't anybody there. It would have been a very convenient way to dispose of a false witness and an A.D.A. who is not happy about the way the Sykes case is being handled."
"Is it possible we're looking at two different sets of players?" Winters asked. "One set wants to frame Perry and the other wants to discredit Clemmons? Not that he needs much help on that score."
"Or one set who wants to take out both of them and thinks that people are stupid enough to believe whatever they're told to, no matter what the evidence says" Alexa said. "Sounds like Cole."
"But Clemmons wasn't in charge of that prosecution," Lane said.
"But Logan was on the team that sent Cole up and Clemmons was and is her boss," Alexa reminded them. Her eyes widened. "Lonnigan was not expecting to find anyone here or maybe he was expecting Perry to be alone. In any case, without an outside witness, he could have easily had one of the uniform officers take Perry out by claiming he saw a gun. Chances are nobody would have noticed the time discrepancy. But Perry was with a witness who was on the phone with one really angry A.D.A… Logan's in trouble."
"That's an awful lot of conjecture in there," Winters warned. "And as far as I know, Lonnigan has always been a straight up guy."
"Maybe he still is, but I also think Logan is in trouble."
Alexa dialed Henderson's office. Betty Reed answered. "I know it sounds weird but we have reason to believe A.D.A. Logan may be in danger," Alexa said after identifying herself. There was a long pause on the other end.
"This isn't for publication until we give the go ahead, but A.D.A Logan was sent a gun that fired by itself. It's pure luck she's alive."
"You should know we've found links between the Planet, Sykes, and Jefferson Cole," Alexa said.
"Cole was Sykes' cell mate for a while and both had it out for Lois Lane, except Luthor got there first," Reed said. "We're looking for Cole. But you didn't hear that from me."
"An unnamed source in the MPD?"
"We don’t want him to know we're looking," Reed said seriously. "Also, one of the head guys at S.T.A.R. Labs told us that one of the projects Cole had been working on for the DOD before he was caught with stuff that didn’t belong to him was an image projector. All new revolutionary concepts. Very sophisticated, very convincing. Works directly on the brain. Supposed to be able to convince enemy soldiers that opposing forces were overwhelming so they'd run, assuming they got it to work. The researcher who took over that project left on vacation a couple weeks ago and hasn't come back to work. A
lot of people are looking for him, too. It seems S.T.A.R. Labs lost track of the projector about the same time the researcher supposedly left for Hawaii."
"And that researcher's name?"
"Avery Wolcott. He's reported to be some sort of prodigy regarding holographic imaging. We're also told he was very vocal as to his opinion that Cole should never have been indicted, much less convicted, of stealing from S.T.A.R. Labs. That whole
Nietzsche superman thing, I'm guessing. Why is it all the squirrels think
Nietzsche was talking about
them? Oh, and keep White under wraps for a while.
My boss thinks he should be in protective custody, but we'd have to tell Clemmons and considering everything…"
-o-o-o-
Two days later: "This is… impossible!" Winters was all but screaming into her phone. Lane winced as he listened. "Last night Clemmons got a Grand Jury to issue a true bill
and Clemmons managed to get the Superior Court arraignment scheduled for less than an hour from now and he knows there's no way for me or White to get to the courthouse in that time."
"Superman can get you there," Lane said quietly.
That stopped Winters' tirade. "He'd do that?"
"I'm sure he would," Lane assured her. Within moments Loq-El was floating outside the window of Winters' office.
"Ms. Winters, I understand you need a lift to the courthouse?"
Alexa was waiting on the courthouse steps with Perry. Perry was bundled up in an oversized coat and a floppy hat hid his face. He was carrying a cane and Alexa was making a show of helping her 'Papa' up the steps.
Loq-El dropped Winters off around the corner of the building and took off.
Alexa and Perry found Winters seated in the back row of the courtroom and slid in next to her. The arraignment judge was Sandra Green, one of the judges that would occasionally sit down for drinks or coffee with Lois Lane. Most judges wouldn't talk to the press. Green was one of the exceptions.
Again Clemmons was accompanied by three assistants but A.D.A. Logan was not among them.
The court officer called Perry's name. Clemmons started towards the bench. "I'm afraid, your honor, that Perry White has…"
"Your honor, Mister White is right here," Winters called out, walking toward the defense table alongside Perry. "I'm afraid Mister Clemmons has been misinformed as to Mister White's whereabouts and intentions. Of course, it is mildly helpful if the accused is actually notified of the time and place of his Desk Appearance Ticket."
The courtroom doors opened and Alice White hurried over to her ex-husband. Then Jimmy and Franklin Stern walked in, followed by Chief Colbert and several officers from the MPD's major crimes unit – including Bill Henderson and Betty Reed. Loq-El took position by the doors, arms folded across his chest.
"Ms. Winters, are you trying to impress me with Mister White's friends?" Green asked.
"No, your honor," Winters answered.
"Good, because I'm in no mood for grandstanding," Green stated. She looked over several reports from the court officer had handed her. "So, Ms. Winters, you're saying that the District Attorney's office
and the court failed to notify your client of his appointment here today?"
"Yes, your honor."
"Mister Clemmons, I have no time to go into this with you, but rest assured, this matter will be looked into," Green stated grimly. She looked at the reports again. "However, perhaps you
can explain how a Grand Jury came back with a True Bill on an incident where the accused has an air-tight alibi and the police report indicates multiple witnesses to the fact that the alleged assault was perpetrated by an 'illusion'..."
"We have a credible witness…"
"Who apparently claims to have been threatened by someone everyone else says wasn't even there," Green stated. "And I believe one of those witnesses is a member of your staff, not to mention the fact that Superman also made a statement to the effect that this 'person' walked right through him, literally. It also looks like your main evidence in the other charge comes from this same 'credible' witness. Mister District Attorney, until now I had a higher opinion of Grand Juries. I wasn't one of those who believed that a Grand Jury would rubber stamp an indictment against a ham sandwich. Now I have to wonder. I also have to wonder why you are wasting the court's time with this."
"Your honor, Elroy Sykes' murder was caught on videotape," Clemmons protested.
Green glared at him a moment. "I'm dismissing the charge of harassment with deadly intent for lack of evidence. Ms. Winters, how does your client plead on the charge of murder in the first degree?"
"Not guilty, your honor."
Green nodded. "Very well. Mister Clemmons, comments before I set bail?"
"The state requests remand due to the seriousness of this charge," Clemmons stated.
"The defense would like to point out that the accused is a highly regarded member of the community with close and long standing ties to this community," Winter said.
Green looked over the courtroom. "I tend to agree with defense council, especially in view of the fact that Mister White showed up here without anyone besides defense council bothering to ensure his presence. However, in view of the seriousness of the accusation, bail is set at two-hundred fifty thousand dollars."
"Your honor!" Clemmons protested.
Green raised an eyebrow at him. "Too high?"
Clemmons had the good sense not to respond.
-o-o-o-
"I want to thank you two for bailing me out," Perry said once they all got back to the newsroom. "And I mean that literally," he added. "That was a big chunk of change you put out there for me."
"Well, it's mildly helpful that we have that much change," Alexa said with a grin. "Besides, we know you're innocent."
"But it still would have been nice if Green had dismissed both charges," Lane said.
"According to Winters, we should have a chance to debunk the videotape once we get to the evidence hearing," Perry said. "It's even possible the next D.A. will just toss the case out."
"In the meantime, the O'Brien agency will be keeping an eye on you," Alexa said nodding toward Bob who was once again stationed by the elevators. "Whoever's behind this farce isn't going to stop just because Clemmons is out of the picture."
Lovella Lee came over. "Just so you know, Clemmons' ratings have tanked and his party has functionally disavowed him but it's too late for them to field another gubernatorial candidate. Both candidates for Metropolis District Attorney are promising investigations into Clemmons' actions this past week. And Veronica Stewart left her office yesterday afternoon and got on a plane to Washington D.C. My sources tell me she's meeting with people at the Department of Justice. About what, they can't, or won't, say."
"Sounds like Clemmons' entire political career just tanked," Lane said.
"If the new D.A., whoever it is, has his way Clemmons'll be lucky to able to practice law in this state," Lee said. "But the real question is, why rush the case? He had to have known that his evidence was iffy at best without forensics to validate it. It almost like he deliberately put forward a case he knew should have been thrown out."
"Blackmail?" Alexa suggested. "But then we need the who and what and I doubt we're going to get any answers any time soon, unless we find the person who actually murdered Sykes and sent a member of the D.A.'s office a self-firing gun."
-o-o-o-
The weekend was quiet – almost too quiet, like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Alexa could tell that Perry wasn't happy at not being allowed to go back to his own apartment, or even to stay with his ex-wife in his old house, even though he didn't actually say anything. Bob and his team deemed it too dangerous for Perry to be out and about without close protection and Lane and Alexa's loft was as secure as anyplace in the city.
At least Bob and company planned to allow Perry to go to work Monday and Jimmy had configured a laptop so he could work remotely if necessary. It made Perry a lot easier to live with when he had work to do. Alexa was reminded of a neighbor's Sheltie back in Smallville. The neighbor had sold his flock and the dog nearly went crazy without a job. They'd finally had to get the dog some ducks to herd to keep her from trying to herd their grandkids.
Perry had resorted to cooking to keep himself busy. Not that she and Lane objected to Perry's cooking, but sometimes his choice of spices was more than even Kryptonian digestive systems were comfortable with. It was better he went back to work.
-o-o-o-
Monday was still quiet by Metropolis standards. One item in Sunday night's police incident report – a man found dead in an alley. It looked like the death was from a heart attack except for a strange mottling on the skin of his chest. Alexa made a note to check the M.E.'s report on Doctor Terence Tran, M.D. when it came out.
"Except for Clemmons we have nothing…" Lane complained. "And Lee is covering Clemmons. Even Latislan and Podansk are behaving, at least for the time being, although I still don't understand why two countries with such a long shared history can't agree on a simple border."
"A long shared history of tribal and clan feuding, you mean," Alexa said. "The only time that area has been at peace in the last two hundred years was when it was under the Soviet umbrella and the Soviets didn't tolerate that kind of 'unruliness'."
"Have we got anything?" Lane asked.
"Well, President Garner's in town for his last minute pre-election round of stump speeches and mini-mall openings," Alexa said. "Not that he really needs to come to Metropolis. The Planet's already endorsed him. And his approval ratings are... I mean he's a nice guy and all but he was replaced with a clone with the IQ of a zucchini and nobody noticed. So I'm not getting why he's so ahead in the polls."
"Well, remember, the person most likely to notice had also been replaced by a clone. But still, aside from Clemmons and the governor's race, this has got to be the most uneventful election year in memory. If things don't pick up, we'll be doing restaurant reviews."
"Well there is that John Doe third party presidential write-in thing that's going up all over."
"Lee and Baxter both say it's a hoax or a weird publicity stunt," Lane responded.
"But, still, who is this guy?"
Alexa and Lane both heard the emergency call – a jumper at GlobalTel's main satellite station.
Alexa moved first.
Lura Jen-Lo caught the man. He was wearing a GlobalTel security uniform and his name tag identified him as 'Malcolm'. Lura set him on the ground. Once on solid ground, he blinked as though waking up.
"Supergirl? What happened?"
"You jumped."
Malcolm gave her a puzzled look. "Yeah... yeah, I did…didn't I? Wow. That is so unlike me."
"Sir… are you on any kind of medication?"
"What? Oh, no. Uh-uh."
"But you're saying you didn't mean to jump?" she asked.
"No, no, actually…I guess I did."
"Why?"
"Well it, uh, it just seemed like the thing to do."
Lura stared at him a long moment. He didn’t seem to be lying but there was something 'off'. "You'll use the stairs from now on?" she asked.
"I swear. Oh, Supergirl? Thanks."
Lura heard an announcement of a train derailment some distance from the city. Loq-El was already on his way. She watched as Malcolm moved toward the door of the satellite station. "Malcolm, why were you on the roof?"
"Security alarm went off," he answered. "But it was nothing, just a rat."
"Do rats normally set off the security alarms?"
"Uh, no…" he answered slowly.
"Maybe we should see what set off that alarm," Lura suggested.
"It was a rat," Malcolm said, almost as if in a trance.
"Why don't we check anyway?"
"It was a rat," he repeated. She took his arm and led him inside the satellite station.
Being raised on a farm, Alexa/Lura knew what mice and rats smelled like. She smelled neither of those in the building. She did smell ozone and humans and something that was not-quite-human.
She let Malcolm lead the way up the stairs to the upper equipment level. If there was anything out of the ordinary, Malcolm didn't recognize it. He led the way to the roof. The ozone smell was getting stronger. Malcolm opened the door to the roof then stopped. Energy was arcing between the satellite dishes.
"Wait… Those aren't supposed to do that…" he said. Then his face went blank. "John Doe is a darn nice guy. John Doe is a darn nice guy…"
Supergirl looked around the roof to see if she could see anything out of place. Then she spotted it – a small silver device sitting on top of one of the cables. She reached for it then jumped back as a burst of laser light disintegrated the object. She whirled to see… Kal-El. He was standing there, watching her with a bemused expression.
But on closer inspection it wasn't Kal-El at all. This man seemed older, more world-weary and there was something cold in his eyes as he regarded her. He was dressed in black and the clothes had a military feel to them. His one piece of jewelry appeared to be a silver toque around his neck.
"Who are you?" Supergirl asked.
"I should ask you the same thing," the man said.
"I am Lura Jen-Lo of the House of Lo, also known as Super… girl," she stated, trying not to grimace. She still hated the name.
"And I am… someone you don't want to know."
"Did you find it?" a man asked, coming around the corner of the stairway access.
"The Sublimator has been destroyed," the man said. "As has Tempus."
"He should have been brought to trial," the second man stated. He was a small, pale, inoffensive looking fellow dressed in a silvery fabric. "You weren't authorized…" he continued.
Supergirl looked past the walls of the stairwell enclosure. Tempus was lying on the roof and his head was at an unnatural angle. At least the body looked like Tempus. Near the body was an oval 'window frame' of energy and inside the oval there appeared to be different room – a time portal?
"Tempus destroyed billions in his madness.
We were authorized to take whatever measures were necessary to stop him. And remember, I was
your choice of weapon against this monster, little man," the man in black said.
"My name is Andrus…" the little man complained, "and we wanted him alive."
"Don't lecture me on how to deal with monsters. One chooses the weapons one needs for the battle to be fought. You don't need a bomb if you're planning a chess match, little man. Now, you must deal with her and the human."
"She's Kryptonian…" Andrus began.
Supergirl reached out with her mind to the man in black. [Who are you?]
He turned almost too fast for her Kryptonian senses to register. [NO!]
There was a searing pain in her mind then everything went black.
-o-o-o-
Supergirl awoke to find Superman holding her. Relief seemed to be fighting with terror in his expression. "I heard you scream…"
"I… Tempus is dead… I think," she said, sitting up. Her head hurt abominably. "There was a time portal and some sort of device attached to the satellite dishes."
"Um, I don't…" Malcolm began. "You saved me and you said you wanted to see the dishes and then you fainted," he said. "And a few seconds later, Superman showed up."
"I think I broke some windows on the way here," Superman admitted a little sheepishly.
Supergirl managed to get to her feet. She felt a little rocky but that passed quickly as she looked for evidence of the device she'd seen. She spotted the scorch marks marking where the device had been. "There
was something here. They called it a Sublimator."
"They?" Superman asked.
She shrugged. Here was not the place to be discussing time-cops, if in fact that's what they were.
"Do you want to see the doc?" Superman asked.
"I'll be okay," she said, lifting off the roof.
-o-o-o-
"You said you thought Tempus was dead," Lane reminded her when they both got back to the newsroom. The conference room was empty and they shut the door.
"I saw him, at least someone who looked like him, with his neck broken," she told Lane quietly. "There was also someone who looked like Kal-El, only he wasn't, and a human who said his name was Andrus. And I'm pretty sure I saw something like a time-portal. There was a device that was attached to the satellite dishes and when it was activated Malcolm started chanting about John Doe being a 'darn nice guy' like he'd been hypnotized or something. The device got zapped, and then… I got zapped."
"I heard you scream in my head."
"I tried to touch the other Kal-El's mind," she admitted. "It was like touching blackness. Cold and alien. I mean, truly
alien. There was nothing human there. And then… I think if Ching hadn't shown me how to protect myself, he would have killed me."
Lane pulled Alexa's amulet out of her blouse. The stone was dull, lifeless. "I think we need to get you another amulet, too."
-o-o-o-
Garner won the presidential election by a handy margin. The mysterious John Doe garnered a few votes. The pundits seemed to believe those votes came from people who felt disenfranchised by the two major parties, even though the Doe campaign hadn't made a single statement concerning their mysterious candidate's proposed policies.
Alexa wasn't convinced that the pundits had any clue as to the real reason for those votes. Jimmy had told her that while she and Lane were out of the newsroom, for about two minutes everyone there had suddenly become convinced that 'John Doe was a real nice guy'. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, everyone went back to normal. The time coincided with Malcolm's jump from the GlobalTel building too closely to be a coincidence.
