Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Suddenly Blond(e) 31/35?

TOC


Part 31

"So, who was the last person to see Eric Press before he disappeared?" Lane asked.

Alexa checked her notes as they headed for their desks. "His parents. Sunday night."

"Eliminates kidnapping," Lane reasoned. "They would've gotten a ransom demand by now. And the police don't have any leads?"

"Well, if they do have any, they're not sharing. And I get the impression that missing computer hackers aren't exactly a high priority for them," Alex said. "Plus, there are hints that Eric may have disappeared himself."

"Family problems?"

"There are reports, rumors really, that the older brother Ethan has had multiple run-ins with the police that have all been hushed up," Alexa said. "Witnesses and injured parties paid-off, that sort of thing. The senior Presses are very influential people. Still, people have told people about hearing Ethan threatening his younger brother."

Lane spotted Jimmy nearby. "Jimmy, you're a cyber-guy. Ever hear of Eric Press?"

Jimmy's face lit up. "Eric Press, are you kidding? He's like the Michael Jordan of hackers! Last year, he tapped into the Pentagon's main frame, pulled off the totally coolest prank. It was…" He suddenly picked up on the fact that both Lane and Alexa were far less enthusiastic that he was on Eric Press's prank. "...childish, really immature. Frankly, I was appalled..." he continued.

"See, if he can break into the Pentagon's computer, he can break into anyone's," Alexa commented to Lane. She turned back to Jimmy. "Why didn't the DoD throw the book at him?"

"Plea bargain," Jimmy said. "Eric helped them improve their server security and his parents promised to keep a better eye on him. Plus he isn't allowed access to the internet without someone standing over him, watching."

"Someone like brother Ethan?" Lane asked.

Jimmy shrugged.

"Somebody with that skill set, able to get that kind of access into secure systems can be pretty valuable, especially in the wrong hands..." Lane commented.

"So, you think maybe Eric was kidnapped to force him to hack into somebody's secure system?" Alexa asked.

"It would explain the lack of a ransom demand."

Perry walked in, a hang-dog look on his face. He stopped and looked around as though memorizing the scene.

"Perry?"

"I just spent all morning with the suits upstairs," he said. "Rosen's retiring."

"And they want you for that job?" Jimmy asked. "But you're already a department head."

"Ever hear of the Peter Principle?"

Jimmy shook his head.

"In any large organization, people tend to rise to their highest level of incompetence and stay there," Alexa stated.

Perry chuckled. "Just between you, me, and the lamppost, I think most of the people upstairs are already at their highest level of incompetence. No, Mister Stern wants to talk to the Planet's largest minority stock-holders about the situation."

Alexa stared at him. "How…?"

"Tony Meier over in Financial thinks you guys are 'interesting'. He took notice when a couple of little holding companies started discretely buying up Planet stock. Traced it back to you guys. How much did Luthor really leave you two?"

"We haven't finished locating everything he had hidden away," Alexa admitted. "And we know Mrs. Cox had to have turned over everything she knew about to Luckabee. But between lock-boxes with bearer bonds and keys to other lock-boxes with passbooks and paperwork on bank accounts all over the world, and holding companies within holding companies, it's a lot. And I figure that's just the tip of the iceberg. We're now wondering if Bender actually found much of anything to dismantle after Luthor took his dive considering how much had been siphoned off from his legitimate companies. Even the patents LexCorp allegedly owned actually belonged to shell companies that weren't officially part of LexCorp's assets. We still haven't traced back the actual ownership of most of those."

"It was only matter of time before that whole house of cards came tumbling down," Lane added. "Especially when he started making irrational decisions like buying and bombing the Planet. The arson investigators were already suspicious of the insurance angle. The SEC was looking into the sale of the Planet – they're not great believers in coincidence. But you guys and Henderson's people moved faster than they did."

"We all had a deadline the SEC didn't have," Perry reminded everyone. "Lois Lane's forced wedding… So what are you two working on?"

"Eric Press going missing. We're wondering if someone grabbed him to force him to hack into something," Lane said.

"But question then becomes, what do they want hacked?" Alexa added.

-o-o-o-

A fire alarm at the Advanced Strategies Labs on the outskirts of Metropolis. It was a one of the facilities on the Fire Marshal's list of sites to be handled by hazardous materials specialists due to potential toxins, petrochemicals, and unknown materials that water might not do well to come in contact with.

Superman came to earth near one of the people who appeared to be in charge as coughing people with and without lab coats stumbled out of the main building. Greasy black smoke poured out of the open doors.

"Superman, thank God!" one of the lab-coated people called out. His name tag identified him as Dr. Joshua Welch.

"What happened?"

"Our computers have gone haywire – they over-pressured the chemical storage tanks and… People are still inside, Superman. It could blow any second!"

Superman took a second to locate the people left in the building then super-sped inside to get them. Several trips later, he had everyone to safety. He went back in to see what he could do about the ongoing spills from the safety valves. Suddenly an explosion rocked the building, knocking Superman off his feet. His ears were ringing and he was a bit unsteady as he made his way out of the building.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Welch asked.

"Yeah. Good thing nobody else was in there, though." Superman said. "Have you any idea what might cause your computers to act up like that?"

"Only one thing – sabotage. And there were reports of some 'weird' computer issues over the weekend. But…"

"But…?" Superman prompted.

"After the 'Ides of March' virus three years ago and that thing with the Pentagon computers last year, the DoD brought in cybersecurity experts to secure our systems. Nobody should have been able to break in."

"Except for the people who secured your systems?"

Welch's expression went from startled at the suggestion to thoughtful.

-o-o-o-

Alexa was just hanging up her phone when Lane appeared. She peered at him – he looked tired and for him that was unusual to say the least.

"Highly toxic and explosive chemicals at Advanced Strategies," Lane explained. "MFD is on the scene and handling the cleanup. But get this… the problem was caused by their computers going haywire even though their computer system had been secured just last year by DoD cybersecurity experts."

"S.T.A.R. Labs reports a cyber break-in attempt Sunday night."

"And?"

"And, apparently Virtanen and Laderman both have nasty senses of humor," Alexa said. "Eugene Laderman was recruited by S.T.A.R. labs when LexCorp was dismantled. Anyway, anyone attempting to break-in to their system gets access to falsified data files that have a spy program embedded in them. The program reports back to S.T.A.R. Labs every time the injected computer attempts to connect to an outside network. They're in the process of tracking down the machine as we speak. The one problem they appear to be having is that the machine keeps moving."

"Jimmy," Lane called. "See if you can find out who was on the cybersecurity team that worked on Advanced Strategies Labs computer systems last year."

"On it," Jimmy called.

"And maybe a list of other companies the team was contracted to help?" Alexa added. She turned back to Lane and lowered her voice. "Stern called. He wants to talk to both of us over lunch at the Waterside to fill us in."

-o-o-o-

The Waterside was a steak and seafood house that, as its name suggested, overlooked the West River and the New Town Bridge. They had an excellent lunch buffet that was a favorite for local business people as well as business students from Met U.

Stern was waiting for them at one of the window tables. "My doctor would have a fit if I even thought about having any of that," he commented, staring at Alexa's plate which was piled high with almost everything from the buffet.

"I'm really hungry today," she explained.

"To get down to business," Stern began, shaking his head. "If you two want to play at being newspaper reporters, that's fine. But you're also stockholders and that means you have a vested interest in keeping the paper healthy." He looked to Lane. "According to your bio you have a Harvard MBA."

Lane shook his head. "I never attended a single class at Harvard."

"One of Luthor's ploys?" Stern asked.

Lane nodded.

"Don't ever admit that again," Stern advised. "You've got the fancy paper, now do your homework, earn it, and make it work for you. The next shareholder's meeting is in April. However, I've gotten wind of someone trying to acquire the outstanding Daily Planet stock and putting pressure on current board members to sell what stock they have. The tactics stink of Luthor. I figure it's only a matter of time before whoever approaches you. Business-wise, circulation is down some, but advertising revenue is holding strong, for the time being. The paper's on a fairly good financial footing, considering everything that's happened the past couple years, but…"

"But the paper may not do so well if there's a concerted effort at a hostile takeover that includes damaging the advertising base, again," Alexa filled in. "Is that why Rosen's taking early retirement?"

Stern shrugged. "Circulation's down eight percent in one month. The Planet's still top dog in this town, but down is never a good direction."

Alexa turned to Lane. "You have the MBA."

"But you have the better head for business and managing people," Lane said. "In any case, people are going to say we bought our way into management."

"We did."

-o-o-o-

"So, how did your power lunch with Mister Stern go?" Perry asked when Lane and Alexa returned to the newsroom.

"We found out what he thought of us 'playing at being reporters' instead of actively taking care of the business," Lane said. He grabbed a box and started helping Alexa put her personal belongings in it.

"Now, wait, he didn't fire you, did he?"

"Worse," Alexa said. "He made us decide which one of us was going to take Rosen's job. Rumor has it I'm the better people person." She glared at Lane.

Ralph ran up, excitement written across his face. "Perry, I think we're talking column one here. Everything I've got says the mayor's husband is definitely having an affair with that call girl."

Perry just stared at Ralph.

"Sounds more like a tabloid page one to me, though," Lane commented.

"Yeah, but hubby's pillow talk apparently spills the beans on some major corruption. I'm just waiting for my sources to confirm it."

"Like how many other times your sources have come through on your corruption allegations?" Alexa asked.

"Hey, my sources are as good as yours," Ralph protested. Then he noticed the box in Alexa's arms. "Hey, did old man Stern finally figure out you bought your way here?"

Alexa smiled. The smile didn't extend to her eyes. "Ralph, remember to check your facts before you spout off. Otherwise, you will be moving back home."

"Hey, you can't threaten me!"

"Nobody's threatening you, Ralph," Alexa assured him sweetly. "That will come when your sources don't pan out, again, and the mayor finds out who's been helping her enemies spread tall tales about her and her husband."

"And she's the people person?" Perry muttered to Lane.

"He's still standing," Lane observed.

"Of course, the real story may actually be 'who is out to get Herroner the mayor now', when they didn't have anything to say before the election?" Alexa suggested.

"Or, who gains if Ralph's allegations get out and embarrasses the Planet?" Lane asked, sounding quite innocent. "Or worse, gets sued because Ralph was fed a line of BS and it was swallowed hook, line, and sinker."

"You think my sources…?" Ralph sputtered.

"I think Lane and Alexa have noses for news that say there's an even bigger story behind your story and it's not about the mayor's husband maybe possibly getting some on the side," Perry interrupted. "And I agree with them." He looked to Lane. "If I team you two up on this one…"

"I swear I will not kill him," Lane promised. "At least not without a good alibi."

"No blood in my newsroom, please."

"Understood. Blood is hard to clean up."

"I guess that's all I can ask," Perry said, heading for his office. Alexa headed for the elevator.

"So, where do we start?" Ralph offered worriedly.

"We start by going over absolutely everything you have on the mayor's husband," Lane instructed. "Aside from the statements from this Lainie Johnson person, do you have any evidence whatsoever that Chuck Laslo even knows her? Witnesses? Hotel clerks, cabbies, waiters, bartenders. Paper trail? Phone records, credit card receipts, love letters in his hand writing, e-mails from an account you can prove belongs to him, photographs of them together. Where did they meet? How did they meet? How did you find out about it?"

"She called me…"

"And you didn’t smell a rat?"

"I have witnesses!"

"Show me," Lane ordered.

Ralph went to his own desk and brought back a thick file folder. He handed it to Lane. "I wrote it in code…" Ralph began as Lane started going through the papers and sorting them into piles on his desk.

"Shorthand is not code, Ralph."

-o-o-o-

Alexa arrived at David Rosen's office – now her office – on the thirty-fifth floor, to find Rosen's secretary/assistant, Deirdre McLeod, cleaning out his desk.

"I thought Mister Rosen was supposed to meet me here," Alexa said, catching Mrs. McLeod's attention. McLeod was a wiry bird-like woman with blonde hair turning white.

"Mister Rosen has left," McLeod stated. "I have no idea when, or if, he'll be back." She sounded miffed.

"But…" Alexa began then decided to take a different approach. Whining wasn't going to help. "Do you know if there's a job description for this position?"

McLeod stared at her for a long moment. "Mister Stern appointed you to circulation director without briefing you?"

Alexa nodded.

"Do I even want to know why Mister Stern would do such a thing?"

"It's complicated," Alexa said. "Apparently Mister Stern has decided that if my husband and I are interested enough in the newspaper business to buy jobs here, by jiminy, we're going to learn the entire newspaper business. Even if it kills us, or the paper."

McLeod started to laugh. "Honey, believe me when I tell you that the Daily Planet is the jewel in the Stern Media crown. That man would never do anything that would risk endangering the paper in any way, shape, or form. But leaving it to me and the boys to train you… that sounds like something he'd do to both of us."

"And why would he do that?"

"He offered me the job and I turned him down," McLeod said.

"And why did you turn him down?"

"I don't want the responsibility," McLeod said. "I want to be able to go home at night and not worry about people calling me at ungodly times because they're too insecure to make a decision."

"So, what's my job?"

"The official version or the real world version?"

"Uh, both?"

"Official version: the circulation director manages the various divisions of the circulation department to ensure they are on time and on budget, and that circulation stays level or increases," McLeod stated.

"And the real world version?"

"Keep the department managers all on the same page as to what the circulation department's mission is: get the paper out to as many people as want to read it, and when that doesn't happen, or the number of readers starts to fall, find out why and fast. As part of that, your job is to make sure the chain of command keeps working. Orders go down the chain, complaints and suggestions come up the chain. The only exception is if the complaint is against a supervisor and those are handled by human resources. As a director, you do not have friends down on the loading dock. You can go down and introduce yourself, you can ask questions, you can even learn all the jobs down there so you can pitch in if you want to, but you do not give direct orders unless it's an emergency – that goes through their supervisor. And never, ever, undercut the floor supervisor."

"Okay, respect the chain of command," Alexa said. "I get that. It's like part of Perry White's job is to keep the suits and the advertisers away from the reporters. But why did Mister Rosen decide to leave right now? And why is circulation down by eight percent in just one month? The last time that happened was when the paper was under attack by Luthor…"

Alexa paused when she saw McLeod's wry smile.

"And now you figured out the real reason why Stern assigned one of White's fair-haired prodigies to this job," the woman said with a chuckle.

-o-o-o-

"I can't believe how circulation got so messed up in just six weeks," Alexa complained to Lane as she poured the sauce over the noodles. "It's like everything that could go wrong did and nobody took care of it."

"I can't believe Ralph in general," Lane stated, putting the finishing touches on the salad and carrying the bowl to the dining table.

The doorbell rang and so did Alexa's phone. Lane let Martha and Jonathan in. They’d been in town visiting some old friends courtesy of the ‘Supergirl Express’ and were heading back to Smallville after dinner.

"Hope we're not late," Jonathan said, holding out a bottle of wine.

Lane gave him a hug. "No, you're fine. Come on in. Alexa's on the phone."

"...we've got to get the Evening Edition out there somehow, can't we rent a truck...?" Alexa was saying to someone.

"What, is she running the paper now?" Martha asked jokingly.

"Actually, yeah, kinda," Lane explained. "One of the department heads quit and Mister Stern appointed her to replace him."

"Hey, that's great..." Jonathan started. Then he saw Lane's glum expression. "Isn't it...?"

"Oh, yeah," Lane responded without enthusiasm.

Martha whispered 'Congratulations' to Alexa who smiled and went back to her call. "... Yes, fine, just do it. You've got my approval. 'Bye." She hung up and joined the others at the table. "Sorry, delivery truck broke down and apparently our 24-7 truck maintenance service can't get out until sometime tomorrow, maybe."

"Sounds like a challenge," Jonathan said.

"That's one way to put it," Alexa said as she started dishing out the food. "What gets me is Rosen's department was, as far as anyone knew, running like a well oiled machine up until about six weeks ago. Then kablooey." She waved her hands for emphasis. "Vending machines vandalized and stolen in places where there’s no evidence of gang activity – and only the Planet’s machines were targeted. Vendors not getting their orders, only the Planet’s ordering system says the vendor canceled their standing order. Trucks going down even though we’re on a maintenance plan and all the old trucks were replaced when Stern reopened the Planet. We’ve had three drivers just disappear. Nobody’s filed missing persons on them but nobody admits to knowing where they are, either. And that puts the remaining drivers into over-time which throws the circulation budget out of whack worse than it already is. And, HR hasn't hired any new drivers for us. I mean, how hard is it to find CDL drivers in a city this size?"

"Think it's related to that other thing Mister Stern mentioned?" Lane asked.

"If we're thinking a Luthor-style attack, yeah," Alexa said. "And some of the things indicate one or more people on the inside."

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you," Jonathan commented.

"Is it whining to say I'm not a happy camper?" Alexa asked.

"Starting a new job is never easy," Martha assured her. "Especially when you're called in to be a trouble-shooter and it's outside your comfort zone. But we all know you're more than capable of handling it."

"It's just so aggravating," Alexa said. She sighed and turned back to Lane. "So, your first day working with Ralph?"

"He's still alive," Lane stated. "But the week is still young." Lane turned to Martha. "So, how are we handling Thanksgiving?"

-o-o-o-

Lane and Alexa picked up their usual coffee on their way into work, only today she was heading to the circulation department and he was heading to the newsroom.

Lane mused that it felt unnatural to walk into the newsroom looking for Ralph rather than Alexa.

Lane settled at his desk and started reading through Ralph's files as he waited for Ralph to arrive. Ralph showed up half-an-hour later, munching on a bagel.

"I noticed some of the witnesses' testimonies seem to contradict each other," Lane stated.

Ralph just stared at him.

"Especially the interview with the call girl," Lane continued. "It almost reads like she's setting him up."

"Well, yeah, but... you read that stuff already? That was in code…"

"I told you yesterday, shorthand is not code. I thought you said you had incriminating photographs?"

The phone on Ralph's desk rang and Lane reached for it. Ralph beat him to it. "That's probably my source now... Uh, better let me talk to him alone. You know, he trusts me. Just sit back, watch a real pro go to work here..."

Lane sat back and listened as Ralph spoke into the phone. "Ralph, here... Yeah, I've been waiting for your call. Whadya got...? Uh-huh... Uh-huh... ...Interesting..."

But super-hearing revealed it wasn't Ralph's 'source' on the other end of the line but his mother berating him for not calling so she could report whatever sins his father had allegedly committed. Then Lane heard an alarm – Advanced Rocket Corp's rocket test facility – and headed out.

"Hey, where're you going?" Ralph demanded, hand over the receiver.

"I have an appointment with a source of my own," Lane stated. "Be right back... Say 'hi' to your mom for me."

Ralph just stared at him. "How…?"

-o-o-o-

Advanced Rocket Corp's test center was several miles outside the city. It boasted one of the largest and most advanced rocket engine test facilities in the nation although Lane could only guess at why it wasn't in a more sparsely populated area like Utah or Nevada.

Alarms were screaming in one of the control bunkers and in the main building – one of the horizontally mounted rocket engines was firing full-throttle and appeared to Superman that the technicians in the bunker were frantically trying to regain control of the engines.

"What's wrong?" Superman asked, entering the bunker.

"We can't shut it down! The computer's actually forcing the engine to overheat!" one of the technicians explained.

"Can't you cut off the fuel supply?"

"The external control valves have failed open. The only way is to fuse the internal pump!" the second technician explained. "Superman, we've got a nuclear fuel here, if this thing explodes..."

"I understand. Go!"

The two technicians ran out toward the main building – not that the main building would be safe if the rocket engine exploded.

Superman walked into the exhaust flames. The heat was incredible and he had to lean in to counteract the force of the flames. He spotted the internal pump and crushed it, fusing the ceramic and metal mechanism to keep the fuel from leaking. The rocket engine stopped. The nearby alarms turned off.

Oddly, Superman was feeling the effects of his efforts. It wasn't bad and as he faced the Sun the slight headache and weakness faded. But Kal-El had withstood point-blank nuclear bomb explosions. He had flown closer to the Sun than any Earth made probe. Heck, Kal-El had destroyed an asteroid approaching Earth – albeit with great difficulty. So what had caused the weakness?

He looked around the area and spotted a motor home parked outside the security fence. The vehicle had an odd assortment of antennas on the roof and the interior was filled with racks of high-tech electronic equipment. Also inside were two young men. Superman recognized one of them as the missing Eric Press.

"How'd he do that?! He wasn't supposed to be able to do that!" Eric was saying.

"Yeah, but look how much it drained him," the other one said. Superman presumed he was Eric's older brother, Ethan.

Suddenly Ethan swore and ran to the motor home's driver's seat.

In an instant Superman was standing at the motor home's open driver's side door. "Ethan Press and the missing Eric Press, I presume," he said.

"Kill him!" Ethan screamed. "Shoot him!"

Eric hunkered down in the back of the motor home as far from his brother as he could manage in the confined space.

"You're still just the weak runt of the litter," Ethan spat, glaring at his brother. "No spine. No vision. I should've snuffed you out in your crib the first chance I had."

Superman heard sirens coming closer. He waited at the open door as several MPD squad cars and a S.T.A.R. Labs security car rolled up and stopped. Timo Virtanen and two S.T.A.R. Lab techs got out of the security car.

"Thanks for keeping them busy for us, Superman," Virtanen said as uniformed officers grabbed hold of him and his brother.

"Hey, you got nothin' on us!" Ethan yelled at the officers.

Virtanen ignored him as his two gloved techs entered the motor home and began checking over the equipment.

"That's private property!" Ethan yelled as two officers hauled him out of the motor home and toward the closest patrol car.

One of the techs shrugged. "What I see is evidence and stolen property." The tech reached down next to one of the equipment racks and pulled out what looked like a high-tech gun. "I'm really sure this is one of the items stolen from Advanced Strategies during their computer problem yesterday."

The gun looked a lot like the disrupter Lex Luthor had used to kill Lois Lane and Kal-El, but Loq-El would have no way of knowing that. The public had not been given details of the weapon Luthor had used to murder Kal-El, only that he'd had one.

"Two security people were killed during the robbery," the tech added, directing his remarks to Superman. "According to the security time stamps, it happened just before your arrival. There's nothing you could have done. Even Superman can't be in two places at one time."

"I had not heard of any deaths associated with the emergency at Advanced Strategies."

"The MPD was asked to not release that information until the weapon was secured," Virtanen said quietly. "Plus, the police did not want to warn them that there was incontrovertible evidence of the murders and the murderers."

-o-o-o-

Alexa was used to the background mental 'mumble' from her husband. She mostly ignored it unless the 'tone' changed like it had yesterday while he was dealing with the fire at Advanced Strategies. The 'tone' had changed again for a few minutes then when back to normal, although she could sense irritation through their mental link. Had she been in the newsroom, she would have expected him to report back on what had happened. But she wasn't in the newsroom anymore.

She scanned the reports on her desk once again. The lost vendor orders and truck problems of the past six weeks were still not making sense unless she assumed that one or more persons were actively engaged in sabotaging the Planet's circulation.

"Mrs. McLeod? How do we do requests for additional personnel? Or how do we let HR know we have a personnel problem?"

McLeod hurried into Alexa's office. "We fill out forms on the inter-office system." McLeod explained, bringing up the menu on Alexa's computer.

"Are there copies of the requests so they can be reviewed, and are there receipts, or some confirmation that the request has been received or assigned?"

"Yes." McLeod pulled up another menu showing a list of requests that had been sent to HR. Alexa could see that the items were 'threaded' so that all notes and logged actions related to the request were listed together with dates, times, and the name of the person responsible for the various entries.

"Why do I see termination orders on the three drivers that were no-shows but no new hire requests?"

McLeod frowned and checked the screen. "That's not right. I put in those requests myself."

"Then where did they go?"

McLeod picked up the phone on Alexa's desk and keyed in an extension number. "Hazel? Diedre," she began once the other end of the line picked up. She put the call on speaker-mode. "Could you do me a favor and check on the status of the three CDL driver requests I sent down? I don't have the reference numbers but the dates would match the three terminations Dave Cobb sent down about four weeks ago."

"Sure thing," Hazel replied. There was the tap-tap-tap of a keyboard then after a few moments: "That's weird. I know those were assigned to the new guy, Max. We don't get many requests from Cobb's department so three all together…" More tapping and a long pause. "Those requests aren't here, but there's also a gap in the assigned numbers that shouldn't be there…" Suddenly Hazel swore. "We have a big problem and we need to get IT on this," Hazel said before she abruptly hung up the phone.

"Why do I have the feeling we're not the only department having HR problems?" Alexa asked.

She didn't expect an answer but McLeod answered anyway: "Why do I have the feeling our HR problem and our vendor order problem are exactly the same problem?"

"The Planet's been hacked."

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"Stop the Presses", Written by Brad Kern
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Notes: I never did buy into Perry - a department head - being kicked up to wherever 'up' was.