From Chapter Five:
"Mom, I need a way to come and go from the farmhouse without people spotting me – especially now that I've blown it. I have an idea. I'll dig an underground tunnel from here to the storm shed. That way, you don't have to worry about Trask or any of his goons spotting me. Wait here, Mom. Stand back a bit so you don't get hit by any flying debris. It'll just take me a few minutes to do this, using my X-ray vision. Don't want to hit any underground pipes or anything, so it'll have to be fairly deep."
Martha watched speechless as Clark, using a clockwise spinning motion, began tunneling into the ground, soon to disappear completely. She found a tree stump and sat down to wait for his return, amazed at her son's abilities, and also aware that as much as she and Jonathan were paranoid for the world to find out about him, Clark's incredible powers could make this world a better place. Maybe it really was time to let Clark find his destiny. He was, after all, now eighteen years old.
About ten minutes later, Clark emerged from his new creation. "Mom, now we're going to find out if you have a fear of deep dark places!" he joked, as he picked her up and flew into the tunnel. "Don't worry, Mom, we'll be at the house in a flash!"
Before Martha had a chance to respond, they emerged from the tunnel into the storm shed. Clark placed his mother on her feet, steadying her. Martha in turn gave her son a warm embrace.
"What was *that* for, Mom?" Clark asked sheepishly.
"I love you, Clark. Always remember that. And, as long as you stay away from those darn red rocks, I trust you to make the right decision for yourself in regards to your powers."
Clark studied his mother's face for a moment before responding. "Well, I *do* remembering feeling really good that I didn't have to hide who I was. But I don't want any nosy reporters bothering you or Dad. Somehow, I'll have to figure out a way to be *me* without it negatively affecting you or Dad."
"Give it some thought, sweetheart. You'll come up with a solution. In the meantime, let's find your father so he knows I survived my first flight with my super-son!" she joked, as they climbed the stairs to ground level, emerging into the May sunlight.
And now, Part 6
The summer passed uneventfully. Trask came back with a literal army of military personnel and equipment, and by the time the crews finally packed up and left, most of Schuster's field had been dug up. Apparently the government had bought the land at a premium. The national news reported that the ground had been contaminated by a weather satellite that had fallen out of orbit, and commented on "how lucky it was that there had been no casualties". Jonathan shook his head at the obvious attempt at a cover-up; Clark vowed that the one career he would never aspire to would be journalism, because it appeared that there was little integrity in the reporting of what passed as "news".
Jonathan, suffering from continual paranoia, nagged Clark to move his rocket ship and the meteor rocks to an off-site location. Even though Clark thought his father was over-reacting, under the cover of darkness one night, using the tunnel, Clark flew the ship and the Kryptonite specimens, encased in the lead horseshoe box, to the North Pole.
Strangely, when he landed on a random glacier, to contemplate *where* he was going to hide everything, the little ship emitted some type of beam, causing the surrounding snow and ice to transform into some type of fortress made of shimmering crystal! Even more bizarre, the only entrance into it was from the roof; it was almost as if the mysterious architect knew that he could fly! Clark left the ship and the lead box inside, comfortable that it was safe from Trask and his investigative cronies. One day he would fly the folks there to show him what his alien craft's technology had apparently built just for him. In the meantime, it became his special "Fortress of Solitude", and he returned there often, pondering how he could possibly use his gifts openly without jeopardizing his beloved parents.
Clark worked full-time at the Smallville General Store to save money for books for his freshman year at Met U, where he would major in Agricultural Engineering with a minor in biology. Lex's tutoring had drawn him toward the sciences, but he always planned to move back to Smallville and take over the family farm some day. He reasoned that if he was ever to use his abilities to help others, living a low-profile life on a farm in the Midwest might be the best way to keep the public from discovering his true identity.
His relationship with Lana had become a bit uncomfortable, because as much as he wanted to share his secret with her, and fly her to all the romantic places in the world – Rome, Paris, San Francisco – for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. He had recurring nighttime visions of a dark-eyed, brown-haired beauty who already accepted him for who he really was. His déjà-vu-like memories of her, possessing a fire that literally burned in her eyes, eclipsed his long-time crush on Lana, who seemed to know intuitively that he was holding back an important piece of personal information. By the end of summer, things between them had cooled considerably. Even though they were both going to be attending Met U, it seemed that they would be going their own ways once school started. Lana was going to major in journalism; her career goal was to be a TV newscaster. They wouldn't have any classes together.
Their longtime friend Pete Ross had also been accepted at Met U, majoring in political science. His father, T.J. Ross, had been appointed Sheriff of Smallville since Jason Trask had left to work for the feds. Pete had bigger plans for himself than to be a small-town sheriff, however. He had always worshipped Lana Lang, and he knew that if he was to win her over, he needed to have a high-profile job. Some day he would be President of the United States, and she would be the First Lady!
As a journalism major, Lana would be required to take some political science courses and as such, she would have several classes in common with Pete.
Lex came by to visit Clark during the last week of the summer. He provided Clark with a truck large enough to haul his, Lana, and Pete's belongings back to their new dorm in Metropolis. Lex introduced all of them to his friend and former protégé, Hank Wells. On the long drive to Metropolis, Clark and Hank spent most of the time discussing his time travel research at Lex's foundation. Clark was familiar with the concept of the "worm hole" and the two had a lively discussion on whether or not one could travel back to the "present" once one had arrived in the "future". Hank advised Clark that his time machine of sorts was almost finished and that he was in the process of registering his invention with the U.S. Patent office. The ramifications of a successful time-travel trip boggled the mind.
"Hank, if I was able to travel to the not-so-distant future, what would happen if I met an older version of myself?" Clark asked excitedly.
"It would disrupt the space-time continuum. I have theorized in one my of papers, based on some of the research my great-great grandfather H.G. Wells started, that if you attempted to meet a future version of yourself, you would be thrown into an alternate reality instantaneously."
"An "alternate reality"? That sounds like the stuff of comic books," Clark snickered.
"Think about it, Kent. It is physically impossible to be in two places at the same time. An inter-dimensional door would instantly open, bringing you to a world you didn't already exist in. You would have to create a new history for yourself, which would be very difficult, because you would have no record of your birth in this new world."
"Ok, so what if I traveled into the future, but went to a different part of the world where there would be no chance I could run into my future self?" Clark countered.
"It might be possible, but it would be very risky. After all, you can't be sure what part of the world your future self might move to."
"When can I see your time machine contraption? This is fascinating," Clark commented. "Does it vibrate at a different speed to create the worm hole?"
Hank smiled. Clark was one of the only guys he'd met that could actually follow his thinking on the subject. For a freshman in college, he was obviously a near genius like himself. "Yes, as a matter of fact it does. You understand microwaves, correct? When you microwave food, it causes its molecules to vibrate, creating friction, and therefore, heat. Microwaves travel at the speed of light. If you want to time-travel, you have to exceed the speed of light. Stepping into my time machine is like putting food in a microwave oven. Your body's molecules vibrate faster than the speed of light – clockwise to travel to the future, counter-clockwise to travel into the past."
"And all this vibration – what effect would that have on the human body?" Clark inquired. After all, it sounded dangerous and very risky.
"Well, so far I have sent guinea pigs 3 days into the future in a small mini time machine. On the third day, they miraculously materialized exactly where they had disappeared. The guinea pigs seemed fine."
"And did you send them back to the past?"
"I did: the day I sent them to the future, they reappeared the same day again – unharmed."
"Wow. This is fascinating. So your future self sent them back in time to your "present day" self. Whew! This really gets confusing. But, hey, if you're looking for a human guinea pig once you get your patent registered, I'm game!" Clark volunteered. He would love to be able to travel back to Krypton to see his parents, but he had no idea what galaxy Krypton was located in, or how many light-years ago it had exploded.
"You're on!" Hank exclaimed. "Thanks, Clark. Lex, you were right about Clark. He really knows how to think outside the box – very impressive."
Lex, who was driving, looked over his shoulder and smiled at the two men. "I have great taste in students, don't I?"
Lana and Pete were sitting next to each other, whispering and looking in each other's eyes. It was obvious to Lana that Pete had been in love with her for awhile. Clark was getting more and more distant. He had plans for his life that just didn't seem to include her, and a great, good-looking attentive guy like Pete might be just what the doctor ordered.
~~~~~
Columbus Day Weekend
Clark was packing a few items, planning on covertly flying home for the long weekend, when suddenly the sound of a low-flying airplane caught his attention. Using his enhanced vision, he was horrified to see that a plane attempting to land at Lincoln Airport, just ten miles away, was in a nose dive with a full slate of passengers on board.
Clark's dorm room was on the fifth floor and thankfully, had old-fashioned double-hung windows with old, rusty screens. Thankful that Pete wasn't around (he was "secretly" out on a date with Lana), Clark threw on some dark clothes and flung himself out the window. While he didn't want to expose his secret to the world and jeopardize his folks, he couldn't let almost 200 passengers perish!!
Clark, flying faster than the naked eye could follow, determined that plane had lost its right engine. Hovering under the right wing, he managed to assist the plane in righting itself from its freefall into the river, and with some strategically placed puffs of super-breath, he guided the plane into its landing strip at the airport. As soon as the plane touched down, he took off, smiling inwardly that he had saved the day. If only there was a way to do this without having to be so secretive!
Slipping back into the dorm, he put on his football jacket, grabbed his overnight bag, and headed down the stairs. He would head out to the park, and then disappear in the thicker brush of the trees to head to Smallville.
As he fled the campus grounds, his heart stopped. There she was – the déjà-vu woman! She was standing outside her dorm, apparently waiting for a ride. She had her hair pulled up in a pony tail, but those eyes were unmistakable. On a whim, he turned around, trying to look as if he had forgotten something, so he would be able to get a better look at her.
Something told Lois Lane to turn her head at the very moment Clark was striding by her. <Omigod! It's him! It's the flying guy. He's a student here at Met U!>
Their eyes locked on each other. Clark stopped dead in his tracks, embarrassed but unable to turn his head away from this beautiful girl who had appeared in his dreams nearly every night.
Lois managed to find her voice first. "It's you – the flying guy at Niagara Falls! It's really you. Look, I have your picture," she said, fumbling with her purse. She managed to locate the worn, wallet-sized photo she had made and showed it to him.
Clark swallowed hard. He barely remembered the incident – he had been high on Red K at the time. But, indeed – there he was, holding his mother in his arms, floating above the railing protecting the pedestrians from the rapids below.
"You've had this picture since June and you never tried to get it published or sell it to one of the scandal sheets? Why not?" Clark was shocked that she hadn't tried to capitalize or profit from this picture in any way. How special was she, anyway?
Lois smiled with a faraway look in her eyes. "Because I wanted to keep the man of my dreams all to myself – any guy that takes his mother to Niagara Falls is A-OK in my book," she gushed. "I knew, somehow, that we'd see each again. I take it that you're a student at Met U, judging by your football jacket – Mr. - Kent, number 16?"
"Clark," he said, smiling broadly. "My name is Clark Kent. I'm an agricultural engineering major here."
"Lois. Lois Lane," she said, butterflies welling up in her chest cavity. Clark's smile was electrifying. She extended her hand and Clark reached out and kissed it. "I'm a nursing student. So you're one of those smart farmboy types, I take it?"
"Well, I *did* grow up on a farm," Clark admitted. "I'm from Smallville, Kansas. In fact, I was heading out there for the weekend. Would you like to take a little trip with me, since you already know I can fly?" Clark asked. The thought of holding this special lady tight in his arms was such a turn-on.
"Well, I am waiting for a ride. Oh, what the hell," she said. "This opportunity doesn't come up every day. Let's go. My friends are late anyway; serves them right! Did you say you're from *Smallville*? For real?"
<There's that fire I saw in her eyes that very first time>, Clark thought to himself. <Quite the babbler. She'll have a great bedside manner some day!> "Yes, that's really the name of the town. Did you know that the famous scientist Lex Luthor graduated from Smallville High School? He's a good friend of mine."
"Really? That's right, I did hear he grew up in some hick town in the Midwest," she snarked. Looking at Clark's shocked expression, she continued. "I'm sorry, Clark. I was an orphan – my parents were killed in an auto accident when I was ten. I've always been a city girl. I'm sure some fresh air will do me some good."
"Let's go then. Sounds like you haven't had a good home-cooked meal in a long time – if ever," Clark remarked. "My folks will love you."
"Are you sure I'm not imposing?" Lois asked. "I mean you don't know me from Adam, and it's kind of crazy of me to go flying with a complete stranger."
"Lois, after this trip, we won't be strangers any more, I promise. Let's head toward the park, and then we can take off, away from prying eyes."
"I must be completely out of my mind," Lois muttered under her breath. Clark just smiled in response. <Wait until Lois finds out I have super-hearing!>
Clark wrapped Lois in his football jacket and within moments, they were airborne. "I never did ask you if you were afraid of heights," he commented. "Should I assume that you're not?"
Lois looked up at Clark as if he were a Greek God. "I actually am, a little, but I feel very safe with you. How can you do this? This is so amazing," she gushed.
"I'm not really sure, but when we get to Smallville, I'll tell you everything I know."
"I'm counting on it," Lois said, enjoying the view of the Metropolis harbor as they headed southeast towards Kansas.
~~~~~
TBC in Chapter Seven - Clark becomes Superboy!
