Lois I
Kal-El handed Wanda the book he’d been skimming through. A Year on New Krypton by Clark Kent. She opened it and glanced through it. It read like something her Clark, Kal-El, would write, except, as far as she knew, he’d never been a war correspondent and this was about a war as vicious as any she’d heard about. The writing was as clear, as understandable, as understanding, as anything she’d ever read. So much like her Clark. But there was so much death, so little hope. This world’s Clark went through all this and came out okay? Jimmy spent three months in Chechnya and almost didn’t make it back at all. He still drank too heavily.
She put the book back on the shelf where it belonged and looked more closely at the other books in the case. Several had Wanda Detroit listed at the author. Wanda Detroit? No wonder Mister Kent had laughed. The titles indicated they were probably romance novels.
She pulled one out and looked at it. It was almost identical to the unfinished novel Wanda had on her computer at home. This Lois had not only finished it, but had gotten published as well. Wanda was struck by a pang of jealousy as she put the book back in its place.
She heard the sonic boom that indicated something – or someone – had broken the sound barrier fairly close by.
“They must have him gotten pretty upset,” Lois said softly. “He doesn’t normally take off that fast from the house.”
“They asked him to do something completely reprehensible,” Kal-El said quietly. “They asked him to kill.”
“They what?” Wanda said in disbelief. “Who?”
“They were talking about a threat to the House of El, a child,” Kal-El said. “Nor-Et’s grandaughter.”
“Clark would never agree to something like that. Never,” Lois said.
“I know,” Kal-El said. “I’m sure that’s why he took off.”
Wanda gave him a curious look.
“He needs to get his head together, before he does something rash,” Kal-El said. “At least, that’s what I would do. I’d head north, to the Fortress of Solitude.”
“Clark doesn’t have anything like that,” Lois said.
“I’ll be back shortly,” Kal-El promised. He blurred into his suit and went out onto the back deck. He looked back at the two women standing in the living room. “They do say that two heads are better than one. We’ll come up with something. I hope.”
With that, he disappeared into the night sky. A second sonic boom echoed over the river.
Lois II
“They asked him to do something completely reprehensible,” said Kal-El. “They asked him to kill.”
Lois was appalled that Zara and Ching would even ask such a thing of Clark. They had to have known what his reaction would be. Superman doesn’t kill, ever. Are they trying to destroy him? “Clark would never agree to something like that. Never,” she said.
“I’ll be back shortly,” Kal-El promised.“They do say that two heads are better than one. We’ll come up with something. I hope.”
With that, he disappeared into the night sky. A second sonic boom echoed over the river.
Lois heard footsteps coming up from the basement, from Clark’s office.
“What the hell do you think you’re playing at, asking Clark to kill a child?” Lois hissed at them.
“Considering the gravity of the situation, we didn’t see another solution,” Ching said. At least he had the courtesy to look uncomfortable in the face of her fury.
“We had hoped that when Kal-El killed Nor ten years ago, that the threat he posed was over, that no one else would make the attempt to overthrow the legitimate government Kal-El and I represent,” Zara said. “Kal-El and I were bred to lead. I was raised to rule. Kal-El, for reasons I still do not fathom, was sent to Earth instead of New Krypton. He does not understand the needs of our ruling system.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Lois said. “I think he understands too well. What you don’t understand is that this planet has invented and discarded more political systems than most people can imagine. Clark spent some time researching that when he came back. And believe it or not, he found precedents in Earth history. I mean, calling you ‘La Princessa’, wasn’t exactly a complement.”
“I was aware of that,” Zara said. “Although I admit I was not aware of the full connotation at the time and I know it annoyed him when I refused to be insulted by the title. If he’d been raised on new Krypton, or just accepted his duties to his home world, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”
“Zara, I’ve met a Kal-El that was raised on New Krypton. The one I met had his Zara and Ching murdered. He was a monster, worse than Nor. His greed and ambition nearly destroyed New Krypton and Earth,” Lois told her. “Remember, in Earth mythology, Satan, the lord of evil, was born an angel.”
“We have reason to believe that the priests may support Xon’s claim that your children, being half-breeds, are not valid heirs to the House of El,” Ching said softly. “We’re not sure where the guilds stand. I know that when Kal-El was on New Krypton, he made allies of many of the guild masters. I admit, that was something I had not considered to be of strategic value, but it was one of the things that helped us, then.”
“And the elders?” Lois asked. When Clark came back, she’d spent many hours trying to understand the political realities of New Krypton. She knew the council of elders was the real ruling power, as it had been on Krypton before its destruction. Each of the twelve major houses was represented on the council. Each had one vote and how the votes went on an issue was usually determined by backroom deals, marriage contracts, ‘gifts’ and just plain schmoozing. Ethics, even in theory, was not part of the process.
“At this time we are fairly certain we have the support of a majority of the elders in the council, but with Trey’s death our position is becoming difficult,” Zara said. “We need for Clark to at least give the appearance of having concern for our position in the council and the threat Xon poses, not just to our Houses, but to the council as a whole.”
“And killing a child will do this?” Wanda wondered.
“This child is a time bomb in our midst,” Ching said. “We don’t know what else to do.”
