Table of contents is here .

Oh, and here is your chance to see the 'tweaking', Hazel (and anyone else who is interested)! smile

LAST TIME ON EMII:

Lois and CJ were holding hands, holding onto a fraction of their earlier physical intimacy, as they stepped off the elevator, onto the news room floor.

"That's ten bucks, Jimmy, thank you very much!" The words hit CJ out of nowhere, and he looked around for Jack, finally catching sight of him over by the coffee machines. Jack, CJ couldn't help but notice, was wearing a particularly self-satisfied grin and looking remarkably pleased with himself. He was also snapping his fingers in front of Jimmy Olsen's face.

Even without his powers, CJ's hearing was abnormally acute; it always had been, even when he was a child. It was, therefore, more or less inevitable that he would overhear the conversation between the two younger men.

CJ heard Jimmy ask, "What for?"

"Our bet," answered Jack, nodding in CJ's direction.

Jimmy turned to that his eyes followed Jack's gaze. "What b—" Then he cut himself off, and CJ could see that understanding had belatedly dawned. "Oh. [i]That bet. So you think they... you know?"

"Don't you?" responded Jack. "I mean, look at the evidence. Kent looks positively haggard this morning, and he's wearing the same clothes as yesterday, which means that he hasn't been home."

CJ glanced down at himself and noted the creases in his jacket and trousers. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

"And Lois!" Jack continued. "She's two and a half hours late for work and have you ever seen her look that relaxed? Plus they both look like they won the state lottery and—"

"And they're holding hands in public." CJ heard Jimmy sigh. He looked up again, just in time to see Jimmy pull out his wallet and pass a couple of bills to Jack. "Remind me never to wager with you again," Jimmy said resignedly. "You have a really nasty habit of winning."

Jack simply grinned.

NOW READ ON...[/i]


CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR


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Friday 9 May, 1997
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Lois cursed inwardly. Why hadn't she checked the Jeep's air conditioning after the last service? It wasn't as though she had any faith in the garage's ability to do anything properly. Every time she took the Jeep in, it would come back with something different wrong with it. She supposed that, once she'd determined that the indicators, wipers and gears all worked, and that the vehicle turned corners on demand, she must have been too grateful to bother checking the little things. Besides, it had been winter then, and the heater had been working... Now, though, it was the cusp of summer, and the air conditioning most definitely was not.

The six lane highway thinned to four lanes as they left the city behind. Roadside factories gave way to housing subdivisions, which, in turn, gave way to farmland and then, as they gained altitude, deciduous forest. The trees, which were renowned for their fall colours, were currently motley shades of green.

Maybe on a short journey, the lack of AC wouldn't have bothered her, but this was a two and a half hour drive, and the heat was sapping her energy and taking away her desire to make conversation and with it any pleasure she might have felt at taking a trip into the country with her boyfriend.

CJ didn't seem to mind the heat, she thought resentfully. Lois guessed that this was a benefit of his alien physiology; there was no twin on his forehead to the thin sheen of perspiration on her own. He'd made himself comfortable in the front passenger seat and he was lounging at an angle, leaning half against the back of the chair and half against the door. CJ was being discreet, but not discreet enough, because Lois knew he'd chosen that position so that he could switch his attention between the passing scenery, the map on his lap and Lois without being too obvious about it. In contrast with the sun, the heat she could feel coming from his gaze was comforting and comfortable. It almost made her want to smile, despite everything.

They were travelling north east, going inland, heading towards Dr Saxon's hideaway. Given that his address and phone number were not listed on any of the databases Lois had been able to access, legally or illegally, "hideaway" seemed the best possible term for his home. That Saxon had given her the address himself told her just how desperate he was to get the rest of his story out.

"Next left," said CJ, eventually, glancing up from the map.

Lois muttered an acknowledgement and nodded before she slowed the Jeep and made the turn. Now they were travelling along a poorly maintained, two-lane road. There were no other vehicles in sight. The trees formed a canopy overhead, casting the road into shadow. The temperature fell noticeably and Lois sighed softly with relief.

"Not far now," CJ said. "The access road should be about five miles along here, on your side."

"Good," Lois grunted and nodded, but she seemed more relaxed than she had done a moment ago, and the faintest hint of a smile played around her lips.

However, half an hour later, she was no longer smiling. They'd pulled over onto the verge and were consulting the map, their dark heads touching lightly as CJ pointed. "That's the railroad we've just crossed. We should have turned all the way back there."

"But I still don't see how we could have missed it! I mean, we were both watching out for it, weren't we? And neither of us saw anything!"

CJ shrugged. "I know, but... We're going to have to turn around."

Lois sighed gustily. She expertly executed a three point turn, slowed down to bump across the railway, then continued back along the way they'd come just minutes before.

It was Lois who spotted it. She jammed her foot down on the brake, taking CJ by surprise. "That it, do you reckon?" she asked dubiously, eyeing a dirt track that vanished off into the undergrowth. She could see why they'd missed it going the other way. There was no mail box, or even a house number, to indicate any signs of habitation. That, and the high grass and weeds growing up around some sizeable potholes in what might once have been a driveway spoke eloquently of dereliction and abandonment. She had visions of a decaying and haunted Victorian mansion lying at the far end, something straight out of the Addams family, or Psycho, she thought. Not that she'd ever seen Psycho, but she thought she could guess what the Bates Motel looked like.

"Well..." CJ sounded doubtful. "It doesn't look very promising, does it? But it's not as though there's any other path along this road, so I guess this has to be it."

Lois's only reply was to press on the gas, shift into drive, and twist the steering wheel. The Jeep juddered as it left the asphalt, jolting along the track, tyres crunching the soil and stones beneath as Lois slowly picked her way up the lane.

Saxon's house, when they reached it, was almost the exact opposite of what she had imagined. It was low slung, hugging the ground, with clean and modern lines, friendly and welcoming, nothing sinister about it at all. Lois liked it at once.

She came to a halt next to the house, put the Jeep into park, and climbed out, carefully easing the kinks out of her back and legs as she did so. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that, on the other side of the vehicle, CJ was doing something similar.

Saxon, who must have been keeping an eye out for them, came of the front door and ambled down the front steps towards them, holding his hand out in greeting.

*****

The interior of the house was as beautiful as its exterior. The room to which Saxon guided them opened straight off the front door and was large, with windows along three walls. The open-plan space was divided into three distinct zones: a dining area at one end, and a desk, filing cabinets and computer at the other, forming a study area. In the middle was something akin to a living room, and this was where the three of them settled.

Lois sank gratefully into the embrace of a deep cream-coloured sofa and sipped on a glass of iced tea that Saxon gave her. CJ sat down next to her, on her left. Opposite, Saxon perched himself on the edge of a wicker chair, eagerly waiting for an opportunity to get down to business. When Lois lowered the glass and looked up at him, Saxon took this as his cue to begin.

"How much do you know about the design of LexPower's nuclear facility?" he asked.

"Not a lot," Lois said. "Actually... make that nothing at all."

"And you, Mr Kent?"

"Barely more, I'm afraid. I remember reading somewhere that it's a pressurised water reactor, but that's about it."

"And are either of you familiar with the design principles of that kind of a reactor?" asked Saxon.

"Not really. I remember learning something about them, back in school, but that's quite a while ago now," said Lois.

"Same here," said CJ.

"Okay. Then I guess it's time for a little revision." Saxon fetched a pad and pen, then sat down, leaning across the table at an angle, so that they could watch as he began to draw. "Nuclear Power Plant Design: 101." He quickly ran through the general design principles, checking from time to time that his pupils were following the impromptu lesson.

Impatient for him to get to the point, Lois couldn't help but ask, "Are you hinting at what I think you're hinting at? That there are design flaws in the reactor?"

"Yes and no. There are design flaws in the plant, Ms Lane, which is what I think you are suggesting. There are not, however, as far as I am aware, design flaws in the reactor core, itself. Even LexPower wouldn't risk a nuclear disaster that close to the city, no matter what else they'd do."

Lois imagined that her relief on hearing that news showed, although she didn't voice it aloud. Instead, she merely asked, "So where is the flaw, then?"

"Here," said Saxon. "In the cooling tower."

CJ leaned in closer, scrutinised Saxon's sketch diagram, and said, "Why? What's wrong with it?"

"The plant's cooling system has one function, and one function only: to remove heat from the water in the condenser, so that it can either be discharged into the bay, without it affecting the water temperature, or so that it can be recirculated and reused. The cooling system is designed to allow water to be discharged straight into Hobbs Bay during the colder months, and when the fish aren't spawning. At other times of the year, though, the cooling tower has to be used. That's common practice, where plants are built on lakes or rivers."

"So what's the problem?" asked Lois.

The ghost of a humourless smile played around Saxon's mouth. "Two problems, Ms Lane," he said. "The first is that the plant doesn't work so efficiently when the tower's used. There are pumps and fans in the tower, you see, and they consume a lot of power. The second problem is that the tower is too small for the amount of water it needs to handle, and that's the design flaw."

"Go on," said Lois. It didn't sound too much of a problem to her, but then this was hardly her area of expertise.

"Aquatic organisms -- especially fish and some amphibians – are very sensitive to changes in water temperature. When water temperatures go up too far, the fish suffer. Spawning rates drop. Fish might even die, if temperature increases are too extreme, and that's what's going on in the Bay.

"Officially, there are regulations to control the temperatures at which water can be discharged. However, I have good reason to believe that they are being ignored. Water is being discharged at too high a temperature throughout the year, because the tower doesn't have the capacity to cope with the necessary water throughput. We're looking at an ecological disaster here, and that, combined with all the pollution coming from the LexChem plants..."

"But... If this design flaw is as serious as you say it is," said CJ, "how come the plant is allowed to operate? I thought that nuclear plants were subject to pretty stringent inspections before they were allowed to go into production."

"They are," agreed Saxon. "And to be perfectly honest, I was somewhat... surprised... when the Environmental Impact Committee gave its final approval.

"I imagine that you've checked my background?" Saxon asked, in what, on the face of it, appeared to be an abrupt change of subject.

Lois nodded. "We know that you used to work for LexPower, if that's what you mean."

"Yes. That saves me some explanation. I'd left the company by the time the approvals were given, of course, but I did hear... rumours... that a few bribes in the right places and offers of advancement had smoothed the approval process." He let the thought linger in CJ and Lois's minds as he went over to his filing cabinet again.

Finally, he returned with a file of paperwork. "These are photocopies," he said. "The originals are somewhere safe. Luthor knows I've got them. They're the only thing that's kept me alive, the last few of years. It's a trade of sorts, if you will. My silence for my life. The thing is, from what you told me on the phone, Ms Lane, it sounds as though Luthor may be rethinking his side of the bargain and I don't really care about it any more; the price is too high. That's why..." He paused, took a deep breath, and said, "... why I'm giving them to you. The only thing I'd ask is that you give me forty-eight hours before you print anything else. I mightn't put much value on my life, these days, but there's Katherine to consider."

"Katherine?" asked Lois.

"My significant other."

Lois nodded vaguely as she took the papers from Saxon's outstretched arms. She began to flick through them idly, but she quickly became engrossed in what she was looking at. She might not grasp the more intricate of the details contained therein, but she could tell that what she was holding was beyond important. "But these... These are plans and memos and—"

Saxon again smiled his humourless smile. "I know what they are, Ms Lane. And when they are made public, there is no way that LexPower will be able to shirk their environmental responsibility any longer."

"I—"

"Now, before you go, let me tell you one last story. About a dump site, planning permissions and a public health disaster just waiting to happen."

*****

CJ stared at Saxon. Thoughts cascaded through his head: relief that he didn't live in the newly-built subdivision of Arcadia... revulsion at the story the scientist had just spun... dismay that he lived in a city with so many environmental ills...

It had been so much better when he'd not known about any of it, he thought. Ignorance really could be bliss.

There was the sound of a door opening and then closing again, coming from the back of the house. Saxon smiled, and for the first time since they'd met, CJ detected a real warmth to his expression. "Ah!" Saxon said. "That'll be Katherine. Back at last." Then, louder, he called out, "We're through here, honey!"

There was the sound of heels clacking against the stripped wooden floorboards, then a sultry voice said, "Ah, so our guests found us all right, then."

"Eventually," said Lois wryly.

CJ gawked in astonishment at the woman as she sat down next to Saxon, elegantly crossing her long legs at their ankles. Dr Saxon's partner was his opposite in everything. She was black; he was white. She dressed with designer chic where he preferred the hand-knitted uniform of an activist. Her hair was carefully styled; his was a bird's nest.

Saxon said, "Katherine, these are Lois Lane and CJ Kent."

CJ was so busy taking in the details of her appearance that he almost failed to realise that he recognised her. He'd seen a picture of her before – or rather he'd seen a picture of her counterpart.

"Ms Lane. Mr Kent. I'd like you to meet Katherine—"

"Cox," CJ finished for him. He felt shell-shocked. Finding Mrs Cox here was unexpected, to say the least.

Saxon frowned and looked at Katherine. "You know him?"

Katherine looked as perplexed as Saxon, but there was a wariness to her expression that his lacked. She shook her head slowly and some of her poise left her. "No. I've never seen him before in my life."

"Then how...?"

How much, CJ wondered, did Saxon know about Katherine's past? Come to that, how much did he know for sure, beyond the fact that she'd once worked for Luthor and, if Tessa Michigan was to be believed, had once witnessed a murder.

He looked at Katherine and said carefully, "We've been trying to trace you."

With equal care, Katherine asked, "Why?"

"We've been carrying out an investigation into..." Lois didn't finish the sentence, and CJ guessed that she, too, was wondering how much she could safely say in front of Saxon. "Anyway, your name came up."

Katherine took a deep breath and said, "I see." CJ wondered whether that was simply a meaningless phrase, or whether she really did have an inkling of what they wanted. Maybe it was the latter, because she turned to Saxon and said, "How about you go make these folks some more tea while I talk to them."

Saxon nodded, stood, then vanished through the same door by which Katherine had entered.

Once the door had swung shut behind him, Katherine spoke. Sombrely, she said, "What do you want?"

CJ and Lois exchanged glances, then Lois spoke for both of them. "Can you tell us what, precisely, you used to do for Lex Luthor?"

Katherine just stared silently at her.

CJ tried. "We know you used to work for him. We'd just like some confirmation about a few things." Actually, they wanted to a lot more than that, but he felt that, at least to begin with, it might be as well to play down the details.

Still Katherine said nothing.

Lois sighed, and CJ could tell that she was working hard not to let her frustration show. "Tell us, does the name Toni Taylor mean anything to you?"

Katherine flinched with obvious shock at the question but still she did not speak.

Exasperated, Lois threw out her arms and asked, "Does Dr Saxon know what you used to do for Luthor?"

"No!" There was definite panic in Katherine's response. "And you can't tell him!"

"Why not?" asked CJ.

"Because—" Katherine broke off abruptly, apparently at a loss as to how to continue. She clenched and unclenched her fists where they lay in her lap, then she tried again. "Because I don't want him to hate me, and if he finds out what kind of person I used to be, he most certainly will."

"And what kind of person were you?" asked Lois.

"A bad one. I did... terrible things." Katherine ducked her head, sniffed loudly as though she was fighting tears, then lifted her head defiantly. "Look," she said. "It's pretty obvious that you have at least some idea of the kind of work I used to do, so I hardly think I need to go into details right now. I'm not proud of what I did, and I don't want Peter to know."

"You've got to tell him," Lois said earnestly.

"Why?" Bitterness coloured Katherine's words. "Why do I have to?"

"Because he's going to find out eventually, anyway. Now that we've found you, we've got to call the police. Surely it's better that he hears everything from you, first."

For a moment Katherine stared wild-eyed at Lois, then slowly her eyes closed and she sighed as all the fight bled from her body. When she spoke again, it was with a quiet, dignified resignation. "I guess I always knew, deep down, that this day would come." She stood, walked over to the window, and stared out at the forest. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was to hurt Peter, and this is going to hurt him so much." She ran a trembling hand across her face. "Why would you want to me to do that to him? What could be so important as to make that necessary?"

"Luthor," said CJ simply. "We want Luthor, and we need you to get to him."

"Saxon – Peter – is just one part of a wider investigation we've got going," said Lois. "We're trying to collect evidence on Luthor, only it's nearly impossible to make anything stick. You... We've got a witness who places you with Luthor at the scene of a murder and we're betting you know quite a lot more about Luthor's activities than just that one occasion. If you could help us..."

The silence that followed was broken by Saxon. "Katherine," he said.

Startled, CJ spun around towards his voice, and saw that Saxon was standing in the doorway, a laden tray balanced in his hands. How long had he been standing there, listening?

"Just tell them what they want to know. Please."

Katherine turned to stare at him blankly as if she couldn't understand the words. "But..."

"You won't hurt me," he said gently. "I know that you weren't simply Luthor's PA." A wry smile flitted across his face. "Or, rather, I know that Luthor's PAs have rather... unusual... duties. There's no need to try to hide it from me any longer."

"You knew?" she said weakly.

He nodded. "I've always known."

"Then why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Because I love you." Saxon put the tray down on a sideboard, then walked over to Katherine. He put his right hand lightly on her left shoulder and drew her around to face him. "I thought," he said, "that if you knew that I knew, you might feel as though I'd got some kind of hold over you. I didn't want that. I didn't want you to stay with me because you thought you needed to. I wanted you with me because you wanted to stay."

CJ could hear her ragged breathing and, just before Saxon gathered her into his arms, CJ caught the sight of glistening tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Shush," Saxon murmured gently, rubbing circles on her back.

"I've always been so, so scared." Katherine's voice was thick with tears. "Scared of what you'd think of me, if only you knew. Scared of what you'd do..." She clung to him, and CJ could see her clutching handfuls of his shirt in her fists.

Saxon shushed Katherine again, soothing her. "It's okay," he crooned. "I love you. And we'll get through this together."

Saxon gently rocked Katherine where they stood. It was too intimate a moment to share, and CJ felt like a voyeur. He tore his eyes away from them, wishing that he could escape the room altogether and let them share some privacy. However, they stood in the way of the front door, and it was not his place to explore the unseen rooms to the back.

He glanced at Lois and saw that she, too, was determinedly not looking in the other couple's direction. CJ and Lois nudged closer to each other on the sofa, and CJ lay his hand over hers.

Katherine's sobs eventually ebbed into silence. It was a long time before she asked timidly, "So what happens now?"

TBC