Ghost From the Past
Folc4evernaday
Part 20
***
Three Weeks Later…
After his appointment with Dr. Friskin Clark headed over to the Daily Planet to try and catch up with Lois. It was his first day back at work. Thankfully no mobs of reporters were around to follow him around. Ever since they’d returned to Metropolis, all the paparazzi seemed interested in doing was following him and Lois around. There was speculation about everything from his miraculous reappearance to the status of his and Lois’ relationship. It drove him nuts. He hated being the subject of the story rather than being the one writing it.
He stepped into the lobby and headed toward the elevator hoping to make it there without being recognized. “Hey, Kent!”
He cringed as he recognized the voice behind him. He turned and saw Ralph running behind him, “Hi Ralph,” He turned to press the call button, hoping the elevator would come soon. He didn’t want to talk to Ralph. He just wanted to go to work and do his job.
Ralph gave him a once over, “Five years of captivity and you still look the same. What’s your secret?” He shrugged, not willing to respond as he stepped into the elevator car, “I heard there’s a complete media blackout on the story of what happened to you. Why don’t you do a guy a favor and give me a quote?” He asked.
“No comment,” Clark said firmly, turning back toward the elevator doors as he did his best to ignore Ralph the rest of the way up.
“No comment? You can’t be serious,” Ralph shook his head. “What happened to professional courtesy?”
“No comment,” He repeated. One more floor till the newsroom.
“Whatever,” Ralph sneered, “You know you really did a number on Lois. After you left a couple of the guys tried to make their move, but well, needless to say, she got nicknamed a ‘Cold Fish’ …”
He didn’t even remember pulling the emergency stop. He didn’t remember hoisting Ralph into the air or slamming him up against the elevator wall by his collar.
He did remember grabbing him by the throat.
“That…That’s quite a ….grip you got…there, Kent,” Ralph wheezed out.
“Don’t you EVER talk that way about Lois again…” He growled menacingly.
“It’s not like anything ….ha-happened….” Ralph stammered.
“I don’t care…” He snapped angrily, slamming him against the wall once more.
“Like I said she….re-refused to….date,” He wheezed out, “Didn’t know….it’d be such a….big deal,”
“Didn’t think it’d be a big deal? You hound me for a quote then start talking about the mother of my child like that…” He threw him to the ground, “Watch yourself,” He warned before releasing the emergency stop. The elevator hummed back to life, and he could feel Ralph’s gaze on him as he stepped off the elevator, but he didn’t care.
“You’re nuts, Kent…” Ralph said pushing past him and scurrying over to his desk.
***
“You’re nuts, Kent…”
Lois looked up to see Ralph scurrying over to his desk and smiled when she spotted Clark by the elevators scanning the newsroom before meeting her gaze. He gave her small smile before walking down the stairs to meet her.
“Hi,” She gave him a weak smile as he took a seat at her desk.
“Hi,” He said softly, leaning in to kiss her.
She smiled against his lips, “Welcome back,”
She looked over at Ralph who was giving her a dirty look and smirked. She could only imagine what Ralph had been doing harassing Clark for a scoop on his return from the dead. From the guilty expression on Clark’s face, it seemed there had been some kind of altercation between the two of them. Knowing Ralph, he probably deserved it.
“So…” She began looking down at the file in her lap, feeling his gaze on her.
“Uh, what are you working on?” He asked curiously.
She smiled, handing him the file, “Nothing earth shattering I’m afraid.”
“Space Station Luthor?” Clark looked up at her aghast as he read the report in front of him.
“We’re supposed to attend the ‘Luthor Ball’ tonight and find out what we can,” Lois said with a grimace.
“Just like old times,” He commented shaking his heads, “Nice to see some things don’t change,”
“Yeah, I don’t understand why he’s bothering, though. I mean, the U.N. already gave the contract to Prometheus…and it goes up in a week,” She pointed to the screen where the launch of Prometheus was being covered by LNN.
The LNN Newscaster on the television set showed the coverage of Prometheus’ impending launch, The transport vehicle Messenger, piloted by Commander Jack Laderman and carrying the final propulsion module for Space Station Prometheus, is scheduled for lift-off Friday at 9 A.M. Many hopes are riding on the success of this mission, especially in light of the failure of last week's unmanned launch. Space Station Prometheus, an international effort, is still lying in its low orbit, awaiting the arrival of the remaining modules, including the colonist habitation module scheduled to launch next week. Once all are in place, the Station will be lifted into permanent orbit. Dr. Toni Baines, Director of the Extra Planetary Research And Development Agency, reminds us that timing is crucial. A series of delays and launch failures has put EPRAD's back to the wall.”
The coverage shifted over to a young blonde in a lab coat with a ticker at the bottom of the screen reading ‘Dr. Antionette Baines’. “Unless all modules are in place within the next weeks, Space Station Prometheus will lose its orbit and fall back into Earth's atmosphere. That kind of occurrence would surely spell the end to any future projects and the space program as a whole.”
Jimmy approached them with an arm full of files, “Lois, here’s everything on EPRAD….”
“Here,” Clark stood up to help Jimmy with the files, “Let me get those,”
“Thanks,” Jimmy smiled back at him, “Uh, I’m Jimmy Olsen by the way,”
“Clark Kent,” Clark said extending his hand to shake Jimmy’s.
“Yeah, the Chief said you were starting back today,” Jimmy nodded.
There was a silent lull, and Lois cleared her throat, “Jimmy took over Brian’s position a few years ago when he transferred to Central City…He’s your go to for research and photography,”
Jimmy nodded as he beamed happily. “Lois said you and her were partners back in the day. Started out as interns…”
Clark smiled sharing a look with Lois, “Yeah, it’s hard to believe that was FIVE years ago…”
“A long time,” Lois nodded.
“Well, welcome back.” Jimmy patted Clark on the shoulder, “If you need anything I’m right over there,” He pointed three desks down, and Clark nodded watching him leave.
“He seems nice,” Clark mentioned.
“He is,” Lois said softly, giving him a peck on the cheek before standing up to show him around. “You’ve got your old desk back…next to me,” She gave him a wink, “And the new owner Mr. Stern did a lot of updates and expansions as you can tell…”
“Looks like all the desktops got updated to notebooks,” Clark said, pointing at the laptop on his desk.
“And all the faxes come in through email. Less paper waste,” Lois added. “We now have an online and paper edition. You can imagine how well that went over with Perry,”
Clark laughed, “Yeah, I’ll bet,” He looked up, scanning the changes in the newsroom, “Definitely….different,”
“I know it’s a lot,” Lois apologized, stepping toward him.
He gave her a weak smile, “Just a lot of changes,”
She toyed with the lapels of his jacket, “There’s still a lot of things that haven’t changed,” She leaned in to kiss him.
“Hey, you two!” Perry bellowed across the newsroom, “What do you think this is a kissing booth?”
Clark laughed, pulling away slightly, “Well, the more things change…”
“…the more they stay the same…” Lois whispered with a smile.
Perry winked at them with a laugh, “It’s good to have you back, son,”
“It’s good to
BE back,” Clark smiled back at Perry. “Thanks for giving me my job back,”
“Well, I couldn’t lose one of my best reporters to the competition,” Perry smiled, “I might have lost my other right along with you,” He cast a smile at Lois.
“Somehow I seriously doubt that Chief,” Clark smiled, sharing a look with Lois.
“Well, it’s good to have you back…in one piece,” Perry said gruffly, “Did, uh, Lois show you all the changes Mr. Stern made? I still don’t understand most of it, but, uh, subscriptions are better than they ever were so…”
A loud commotion came from the elevators, and they turned to see a middle-aged man in worn clothing and looked like he hadn’t bathed in months. “Lois Lane!” He held up a brown package as he made his way down the stairs, “It’s going to explode!”
“He’s got a bomb!” one of the research assistants called out.
The man shook his head, “It's my credentials. You don't understand! The space station has been sabotaged! The Messenger is going to explode!” Two security guards came up behind him and tried to grab him as the man continued to shout from the balcony, “Ms. Lane! You must tell my story!”
“Sorry, Mr. White, he ran right past reception.” One of the guards explained.
“Wait a minute, don't...” Lois began to argue.
The other guard interjected, “We've had trouble with him before. The guy's a box short of a variety pack…”
“Please! You have to believe me! The space program is doomed!” The man shouted as the security guards tried to pull him away and back into the elevator. Lois noticed Clark lower his glasses, then one of the guards yelled out in pain. The man ran towards them, clutching the brown package.
Perry held up his hands, wagging his finger at him, “Now, look, I don’t know who you are, but you can’t just barge in here and…”
“Here!” the man handed the package to Clark, “They’re my credentials!”
Clark took the package and began to unwrap it, “Wait, Kent,” Perry interjected. He stopped when he saw the disarray of papers inside and sighed, “Whew! You know you took a hell of a chance…”
“Well, it didn’t, uh, look…like a bomb to me, Chief,” Clark smiled back at his editor, sharing a look with Lois before turning to their visitor, “So, Mr. Platt?” He read the name off the letterhead of one of the reports in his hand.
“Yes, Samuel Platt,” He extended his hand to shake his.
“We’re fine!” Perry called out as the two security guards approached with their tasers drawn.
The officer with the burnt hand shook his reddened hand at Platt, “If he gives you any trouble you know where to find us,”
Perry nodded, watching them leave then turned back to the newsroom that appeared to be in audience mode, “What’s everyone standing around for? Show’s over! Get to work!”
Lois pointed to the conference room, “Mr. Platt? Why don’t you come with us in the conference room? You can tell us exactly what’s going on….why you think the space station is being sabotaged?”
***
Asabi knocked on the wood frame door, announcing his presence. “Come in, Asabi,” Lex called from the other side of the door.
Asabi turned the knob and opened the door, “I’m sorry for the intrusion, Mr. Luthor, but there is a Mr. Lewis Honeybraun is here to see you.”
Lex nodded, looking up from his desk, “Yes, Asabi, send him in,”
A short man with a round pot belly and a long gray mustache darkened the doorway as Asabi turned away, leaving them to discuss their agendas in private.
***
Perry sat at his desk, pouring over the latest copy Ralph had given him. The man could smell a scandal a mile away but couldn’t figure out when to say no to the semi-colon. Subscriptions had been wavering the last few weeks with the Planet refusing to print any more of the half-baked theories about the mysterious flying savior, but he suspected with Lois and Clark both back in the newsroom that would soon change. They had a way of accidentally finding front page news wherever they went. He just hoped the month they’d taken to recover was enough.
“Chief, I think there’s a story here, and we should check this guy out.” Lois burst into his office with Clark a few steps behind. Perry looked up at her in shock, casting a questioning glance at Clark who just shrugged as she continued. “The crazy one from this morning? His name is Samuel Platt, and he was an engineer at EPRAD for ten years until…”
He breathed a long sigh, “Lois, can’t you see I’m elbow-deep in red ink here?”
“Oh,” She went quiet for a moment before looking at him curiously, tapping her heel.
“Lo-is,” Perry warned.
Clark walked up behind her placing two hands on her shoulders, causing her to relax visibly. He smiled to himself. Having Kent back definitely had its perks.
Perry picked up the copy he had been looking over before she came in to resume looking over the last paragraph when Lois fumed, “Chief!”
He threw the copy down, “Fine! What is it?” Clark handed him what they’d found out from Samuel Platt earlier, and he scanned it, “Lois, just because one madman’s ravings about …” He squinted as he read the notes in front of him, “ion particles?” He looked at Clark for confirmation who nodded, “check out with STAR Labs doesn’t mean…”
“That is a crock of …” Lois found Clark’s hand clamped over her mouth before she could finish.
“Chief, even if his theories are…out there…isn’t it worth checking out?” Clark interjected. “I mean, with more than a hundred colonists going up in the next launch are you willing to take that chance?”
Perry nodded, “I suppose getting Platt checked out and …looking into his theories wouldn’t hurt.”
“Yesss!” Lois cheered, turning to kiss Clark as she grabbed him by the tie to drag him out of the office as she called over her shoulder, “You won’t regret this, Chief!”
“I better not!” He called after her, “And you better be at that Luthor Ball tonight grabbing me an exclusive!”
***
TBC...
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