From last time:
"The last thing I want is to make a big deal
of this. I don't want to drag myself and the Planet through a lawsuit over this garbage."
"All right, we'll do it a different way. What are you thinking? A press release, something like that?"
"That's my thought," she concurred. "Something simple, we'll tell them that Clark and I eloped because the last time we tried to have a normal wedding, we ended up with a catastrophe instead. We did this to make sure the wedding actually happened this time. I mean, it isn't really a lie, is it?"
"You've given this some thought, haven't you?" Perry responded with a wry smile.
"I...yeah," she confessed. "After not very gently breaking the news to my parents I figured I might need an explanation. Although I've been banking on the whole hormonal pregnant woman excuse to get me off the hook with any future weird behavior," she said, a sardonic laugh escaping her lips.
Perry shook his head. "You're something else, you know that?"
"Tell me about it," she replied.
"I'll draft something up, give me a sound bite and it'll be out by close of business." Lois barely heard him; she was too focused on the sight of a glum young man crossing the newsroom.
"Jimmy," she said suddenly.
"Huh?" Perry replied.
"What do I tell him? He already thinks I've been keeping everything from him. And he's done nothing but stick up for Clark and me since this whole thing happened. How do I explain why I didn't tell him?"
"He'll understand. It might take him a while, but he'll figure it out," Perry replied gently. "And if he doesn't, he'll get over it."
********
New Stuff:
Clark sat in rapt attention, listening to Tao Scion recount story after story about his parents. He had no idea how much time they'd spent talking, well, he'd mostly listened, Tao Scion did the lion's share of the talking. Clark had always been drawn to the human angle of every story, so it was rather ironic that when it came to his own history, all he had were a few images and a vague outline, no back-story, no depth, nothing that would help him understand his birth parents as human beings. Tao Scion was quickly filling the gaps. A true raconteur, he spun yarn after yarn, anecdotes that wrapped and wove themselves into a rich tapestry that finally gave some depth to the people who had died saving his life.
He'd offered to tell Clark about the last few years of Krypton's life, but Clark had practically begged him to tell him about his parents first. The history he could get from books and lectures from Ching. Tao
Scion had recounted how he and Jor El had been friends from childhood and had gone to school together, staying friends through adulthood. He was finally getting a picture of his parents from the viewpoint of someone who cared about them very much. Clark noticed the older man begin to look uncomfortable, as though he was equivocating on whether to broach a particular subject.
"What is it?" Clark asked.
"Pardon? Oh, nothing, now where was I? Well, your parents, you see...when your sister..."
"MY WHAT?!?!" Clark felt all the breath rush out of him as he bellowed. The whole world had been knocked off balance and he struggled in great confusion to regain some sense of equilibrium. He looked around frantically, as though expecting somehow to find her here, hiding in this very room. "Why didn't you...where is she...is she here...can I see here... why didn't anyone tell me I had a sister? Where is she?"
Tao Scion opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry..." he began.
"She didn't make it. But why...why didn't they save her, too?" Clark demanded almost angrily. He felt tears well up in his eyes, tears for one more human connection robbed from him without him even knowing it. "Why me, why couldn't they save her, too?" His voice was a bare whisper.
"No one could have saved her, I'm afraid. Please know that I tried..."
Clark shook his head in confusion. "I don't..."
"Your sister, Keir El, died years before you were born, Kal El. She fell ill and there was nothing we could do for her. Her death destroyed your parents. For a long while, I doubted either would ever recover." He regarded Clark mournfully, tears in his own penetrating blue eyes.
Clark closed his eyes, trying hard to assimilate yet another tragedy into his understanding of his birth parents. Tao Scion's gentle voice invaded his dark ruminations. "They did, though. Thanks to you. Neither one of them would have had the will to do what they did, to carry on as they did, were it not for you. Not a day goes by that I do not thank them for what they did and what they gave up for us. When they would not send you here, I knew that they had something else planned, but to hear of your return, it was almost like having my old friend back from the dead. I cannot repay the debt that I owe him, but I hope to try. Anything you need from me, you will have, Kal El."
********
Lois chewed her pencil thoughtfully. She normally wrote at her computer but the words weren't exactly forthcoming today. She thought she'd just try putting lead to paper to see if that helped get the brain in gear. Unfortunately, it didn't. Writer's Block was for novelists and sappy poets, not journalists with deadlines to meet. She dropped the legal pad and half mutilated pencil stub and paced around the den. Martha and Jonathan's den was a perfect place to work most of the time - quiet and full of character. It was a far cry from the newsroom, but it had its own bucolic charm.
She'd left without any fanfare - a farewell party would have been nothing less than obscene and was out
of the question. One day she was there, the next day she wasn't, which was probably for the best. In any event, the newsroom had lost most of its appeal, for her anyway. It was full of well-meaning reporters who were suddenly in the business of treating her with kid gloves and it was driving her nuts. The newsroom was also the predominant haunt of a young photographer whose trust she had betrayed. The entire situation was frustrating. It wouldn't exactly have been eloping in secret if they'd told everyone. That point wasn't entirely fair, she admitted to herself. Once she'd confided everything else in Jimmy, the only reason she'd had for keeping the wedding secret was because she wanted to. It was something that was still just hers and Clark's for the most part - only the people who had to know knew about it.
But that didn't change the fact that her friend felt betrayed. If he was trusted enough to keep Superman and Ultrawoman's secret, why couldn't he be trusted with this? Well this train of thought certainly wasn't going to help her write her column, she noted wryly to herself. Restless, she headed to the kitchen for a warm glass of milk, certain that Bernie would approve. Now that the morning sickness had passed, pregnancy wasn't treating her too badly. Granted maternity clothes weren't exactly Lois's style, but she could cure weird food cravings better than any pregnant woman since our ancestors crawled from the primordial soup and began seeking out watermelon and fried rice when expecting. When you can be anywhere in the world in two minutes flat, how hard is it to get Belgian chocolate, real camembert, or spicy pad thai? Also, no back pain, no sore feet, and no fatigue made her a committed disciple of the superpowered approach to pregnancy.
Remembering stories from friends and acquaintances and their pregnancies, she'd heard time and again just how darn cute the dad-to-be was in his efforts to be helpful. She'd heard all about finding a 24 hour Chinese restaurant, giving backrubs, or reading every single one of those 'What to Expect' books and subsequently driving his wife mad with his newfound expertise on the subject of pregnancy. At the time, the stories, of course, warranted eye rolls, which due to rules of decorum, had been politely suppressed and replaced with feigned looks of interest. But maybe it was just one of those things you had to experience to understand. Frankly, Lois felt any more concern or doting than she was already dealing with would be just plain suffocating, but she didn't doubt that she'd get a kick out of seeing Clark reading baby books and shopping for baby clothes and things for the nursery. She smiled wistfully.
Lois opened the fridge door and found the milk. She heard sounds of footsteps on the staircase, not up to the second floor, but to the attic. It was quite late and Martha and Jonathan were usually asleep by this hour. She frowned slightly and cautiously scanned the attic with her X-ray vision. The frown slowly turned into a tiny, tremulous smile. She drew in a shaky breath, tears welling up in her eyes. Lois exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, willing her legs to stop wobbling like jelly. When it didn't work, she decided to float up the stairs instead.
"Need a hand with that?" she whispered.
"Huh? Lois, I didn't hear you come in," Jonathan replied as he turned around, favoring her with a broad smile.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she responded as she took the cumbersome cardboard box from his hands.
"Well since you're up here, I could definitely use a hand getting some of these boxes out of the way," he said, nodding toward the large stack of boxes piled in front of them. Lois obligingly helped her father-in-law move the storage boxes until the object of their quest was in reach - Clark's old bassinet.
They gently removed it and examined it carefully. The old, white wicker bassinet was in much better shape than Lois would have imagined. "I just remembered this was up here," Jonathan explained. "I figured I'd come up and see if you could use it."
"It's beautiful, thank you," she replied softly. She touched it hesitantly, another gorgeous, tangible, and painful link to Clark. Tears pricked at her eyes.
"You know, I've been thinking," Jonathan mused aloud. "This house could use a nursery. We'll add another room, fix it up nicely for the baby. What do you think? I could use your help."
She was still trying to assimilate the surprise of her own reaction to seeing Clark's bassinet. She'd barely even heard what he'd said. It took a while for it to register. "Wow, I'd love to, I mean, I don't know the first thing about construction, but..."
"Something tells me you'll pick it up real quick," Jonathan replied with a wink.
Lois felt a lump in her throat begin to form. She smiled, certain her eyes were bright with tears.
********
Clark walked down a darkened corridor toward the command room where the Advisory Council had gathered. He'd been called from the other side of the compound and knew that everyone would already be assembled and waiting for him. He passed a sentry who saluted crisply, and rounded a corner to the double doors to the command room. The guard quickly opened the door for him. The assembled group stood as one as he entered.
"Kal El, we have troubling news," General Commander Goren reported.
Clark took his place beside Zara and they all took their seats again. "What is it, Commander?"
"The mining colony at Renmo has been attacked. Commander Talan's forces have been redirected there, but initial reports suggest massive casualties and destruction."
"Scorched earth," Rab Dun said simply, her expression grimly set. "They're destroying our resource base because the colony cannot survive long without it."
Ching suddenly turned toward a bank of monitors against one wall. "We have an incoming transmission," he said. Suddenly, Talan's voice filled the room.
"First Ministers, Commanders, the rebels have abandoned Renmo. They've destroyed the mines and landing pads and blocked the roads. The settlement is completely inaccessible except through the Northwest Pass. Supply stores have been almost depleted. I'm requesting a full scale evacuation."
"Casualties, Commander?" Flad demanded of the disembodied voice.
"Heavy, sir," she replied. "And growing worse by the moment. Approximately two thousand survivors."
"Put your engineers in contact with General Command, whatever you need is yours," Commander Goren responded. "Ching, assemble a team, requisition every transport you can find. Tell General Command to make this priority one and put all forces on high alert."
"Aye, sir," Ching replied before exiting.
"Councilor Shai, please inform the Council of the heightened alert," Zara began. "Commander Goren, we leave the main colony under your command." Zara stood up and everyone else did likewise.
"Ma'am?" Goren looked at Zara questioningly.
"Kal El and I will accompany the escort, I'm certain Ching can use an additional crew."
"But it isn't safe," Flad protested.
"Nowhere is, Commander," Clark replied.
"Rab Dun, go to General Command, see that their extraction plans are suitable."
"Of course, Ma'am." Rab Dun bowed slightly.
"You know your responsibilities, you are all dismissed," Zara concluded.
********
Clark stood at the launch dock, glad to be rid of the heavy mantle of his uniform, but uneasy with what he'd traded it in for - a gun, or the high tech Kryptonian equivalent. He waited anxiously, hands clasped in front of him as Zara was briefed on their flight plan. Around him, other pilots and crews prepared for their mission as mechanics performed final tests on the crafts. Across the dock, he spotted Enza, his legal officer. This was certainly an unusual place for a lawyer. And a lawyer with a little kid, no less. A small girl of three or four accompanied Lt. Enza. She crouched down beside the child and hugged her. The little girl began to cry and only cried harder as Enza let go and stepped back. A guard stepped forward to pick up the sobbing child. Enza waved at the little girl and watched the guard walk away with her.
"Ready?" Zara asked, startling him.
"Yeah," he replied. They began to board their ship. "I didn't know Enza had a daughter."
"She doesn't," Zara replied. "The child is her niece. Enza's family lived in one of the outer settlements. Her brother and his wife as well as Enza's parents were all killed in a rebel raid. The child was the only survivor." Clark glanced back at the young woman, now boarding her own craft, but said nothing.
