How I Spent My Christmas Vacation: 4/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
She shrugged. "What I don't understand is why I'm so important to the future. What is it about me that makes the difference? If anyone could make a difference, I'd think it would be someone like you, not me."
"Well ..." He hesitated. How could he explain it without ruining his chances with her? "According to the little that Herb told me, the key is the two of us together. In the future, you and I apparently promote certain principles that the people in future generations use as the foundation of their society. That's a pretty big job. Neither one of us can accomplish it alone -- not even Superman."
"I guess not." She had turned to look at him again. "You know," she said with forced lightness, "it isn't really fair."
"What isn't?"
"That you know so much about me and I don't know anything about you except your name, and a little of what you can do. Tell me about yourself."
And now, Part 4:
He'd known it was coming, of course, ever since he'd saved her life. It couldn't be avoided, and in a way he was just as happy that she had asked now while they were still just acquaintances. If the subject of the other Lois had come up after they became closer, she might very well have formed the wrong ideas about the whole episode. Now it was just part of the whole story. He hoped.
"Where should I start?" he asked.
"How about where you were sent to Earth?" she asked. "Or don't you know much about it?"
"Not a whole lot," he said. "Apparently Krypton, the planet I came from, was going to explode, so my parents built me a ship and sent me to Earth because the people here look like me -- or I look like them. They wanted me to be able to live like everyone else. Of course, I suspect they didn't realize that I'd have these incredible powers after I grew up. At least if they did, they didn't mention it."
"I'd think that would be something they would think was important enough to warn you about," Lois said. "But if they were able to build space ships, why couldn't they save themselves?"
"I don't know, but I suspect the technology may have been pretty new. The fact that the planet was going to explode might not have been known until it was too late to do much. I can't really answer that, except as an educated guess, because the message they sent with me was pretty short and specific. Naturally, I don't remember anything about it."
"Message? How old were you?"
He shrugged. "Mom and Dad found me when I was somewhere around two or three months old. Anyway, they convinced the town's doctor that I was the illegitimate child of one of her cousins, so he produced a birth certificate for me and I became their son, Clark. From what I understand, that was done a lot at that time, for the sake of the baby. Illegitimate kids had a harder time back then than they do now."
"I know. Go on."
"Well, I was about ten when Mom and Dad were killed in a car accident. I saw it happen, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was pretty fast even then, but not fast enough."
"I'm sorry," she said.
He shrugged. "It was a long time ago. After that, I kind of bounced around between various foster homes. It was kind of difficult because all these weird things were happening to me when my powers were coming in, and I couldn't talk about them to anyone. The only person I told was a girl I went to school with -- Lana Lang. She told me to hide them, or the government would take me away to some laboratory and dissect me like a frog to find out why I could do these things -- so I kept it quiet. When I graduated from high school I won a bunch of scholarships and went to Midwestern State, with a major in journalism. After that, I worked for the Smallville Press for a while, and eventually became the editor. About that time, I asked Lana to marry me." He shook his head. "That was probably one of the worst mistakes of my life. She accepted, and then kind of took over. Her father was a pretty influential businessman, and made us promise to wait until I was established in a better career, and I agreed. I think Lana was kind of relieved that it wasn't going to happen right away, anyhow. Eventually, her dad used his contacts to get me a spot at the Daily Planet. I'd been there about three years when things went crazy."
"That would have been in 1996, right?" Lois had obviously been putting the timeline together from everything he had told her.
"That's right. Lana and her dad were pressuring me to go into her Dad's business at that point. I guess I'd shown that I didn't intend to try to live off her family's money, and that I could hold down a responsible job. Lana had finally set the wedding date, and we were in the middle of all the preparations for the wedding in Metropolis." He shrugged. "I know I sound like kind of a wimp, but you have to know Lana. She's one of these people who manage everything, and I kind of got swept along."
"I think I get the picture," Lois said, and he could swear that she was trying not to grin. "Go on."
"Well, I'd been out talking to her dad at lunch, while he was trying to talk me into coming to work for him. I was resisting, a bit feebly, but I hadn't agreed yet, anyway. I walked back into the newsroom and this absolutely stunning woman, that I'd never seen before in my life, called out my name and came running across the room, threw her arms around me and kissed me." He grinned a little. "If I'd had my wits about me I might have taken more advantage of the situation, but I didn't."
"Who was she?" Lois asked.
"Well, *I* had no idea, but then Perry introduced her as Lois Lane, who had disappeared in the Congo in 1993 and been presumed dead."
"*What*?"
"Yeah. Anyway, she had this little man with her, that she called Herb. She'd just appeared a few minutes before, and Perry was so overjoyed that he could hardly see straight." Clark cast her a quick glance, trying to judge her reaction. She was looking at him with a slight frown, but he thought she looked more as if she were trying to figure out what had happened rather than angry. "Lana showed up somewhere about then and was a little upset to see this unknown woman with me who apparently knew me pretty well. It wasn't until later that I got the whole story."
"And what was the story?"
He gave a faint grin and shook his head. "It's a weird one, but it was true. I saw the proof. You see, she really *was* Lois Lane. She looked like you, only a little bit older, and the man she was with was my friend Herb -- only his name is really Herbert George Wells."
"Herbert George ... *HG Wells*? The *writer*?"
"That's the one. Apparently Mr. Wells did more than write early science fiction in the late 1800s."
"I guess so! On the other hand," Lois said, "I guess it's no weirder than everything else that's happened today. Go on."
"You're taking this better than I was afraid you would," he said, "but it gets even weirder. It turned out that she was the Lois Lane from a parallel universe -- don't ask me, I told you I never read science fiction as a kid -- where things were sort of the same, but not quite. There's another Clark Kent there, too, and another Perry White, and even another James Olsen -- only there he's Jimmy Olsen, the Planet's junior photographer and computer whiz, not a business genius. Go figure."
"I don't know," Lois said. "After what's happened today, I'm not sure there could be anything much weirder, but at least I've heard of parallel universes. It's a pretty common concept in science fiction. I guess it's just another kind of time travel. So then what happened?"
"Well," Clark said, "it all ties in with Tempus."
"I figured it had to." She shook her head. "The guy sounds like a real nutcase."
"I think the term is megalomaniac," Clark said. "It turned out that Tempus had grabbed up Herb and Lois and dropped them in our universe without a way back in an attempt to destroy the Utopia of their universe as well as ours."
Lois was frowning. "Why would he bring a copy of me here after he'd gone to so much trouble to get rid of me?"
"That, of course, is the big question," Clark said. "I'm not explaining it very well, but it seems that he needed you to help create Superman in our universe so he could characterize me as the enemy and destroy me. Tempus has lots of grandiose plans and a nasty sense of humor, but I suspect he's not as smart as he'd like to think he is. He hadn't realized until after he'd disposed of you that apparently Lois Lane is the critical factor -- at least according to Herb -- in the creation of Superman. In both universes. You weren't there, so he had to come up with a substitute."
"But if he was trying to destroy this utopian future, why did he want to create Superman?"
"You're asking me to think like him," Clark said, "which is twisted thinking at best, but apparently in the other universe, that Clark Kent and Lois Lane work as partners, and they have this habit of coming back from certain defeat, no matter what he or anybody else does. I suspect he wanted to be sure both his worst opponents were dead, and put himself in the position of a hero to the people of Metropolis. You might have noticed his tendency to overkill earlier today."
"Dumping me in the past, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and, of course, the shark," Lois said. "It hadn't completely escaped my attention. Anyway, I take it his scheme backfired."
"It did," Clark said. "Lois created Superman as Tempus had intended. Tempus exposed Superman as Clark Kent -- me -- but then things blew up on him. She saved me from him, exposed Tempus for the criminal that he was, and it turned out that people didn't want to dissect me after all. The only thing was, Lana didn't want me to be Superman and told me that it was Superman or her. That was when we broke up."
"She broke up with you?" She asked the question with what sounded more like curiosity than any stronger emotion. "Why?"
He bit his lip. "She didn't want me to be different. She wanted me to join her father's business and not get my hands dirty helping out other people. I think the whole idea of all the public attention scared her." He sighed almost inaudibly. "It scared me too, a little, but I couldn't *not* be Superman, Lois. Once the secret was out, I realized that it was something that I'd wanted all my life -- to be able to use what I could do to help people. Your duplicate helped me to see that, but Lana wasn't willing to accept those conditions -- so she gave me back my ring."
She nodded, her expression impossible to read. "So then what happened?"
"Not much. Wells found Tempus's time machine, and he and the alternate Lois went back to their own universe. Herb came back, though -- once to bring me to the other universe to help when Tempus almost managed to destroy my counterpart there -- and then to help me find you. He'd been responsible for Tempus finding out how to build a time machine in the first place, and so he felt obligated to help undo all the damage Tempus has tried to do since -- in both our universes. And that brings us to where we are now."
Lois was silent a moment, apparently digesting what he'd told her. "Wow," she said at last. "That's some story. If all this stuff hadn't happened today, I wouldn't believe a word of it."
"Do you?" he asked.
"Surprisingly, yes. I kind of feel like I've stepped through the looking glass, and the Red Queen's going to show up any moment, but I actually do believe you -- but tell me this doesn't happen to you very often."
He snorted. "If I have any say, I'll never do this time traveling thing again, after we get back to 1997."
"Let's hope not," she said. "I do have a question, though."
"Okay."
"Why did she kiss you?"
He'd forgotten her talent for picking up on details like that. *The truth, Clark, and just hope she doesn't get mad.* "It turned out that in the alternate universe, that Lois Lane and Clark Kent were engaged to be married, and she'd sort of mistaken me for him."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Married? I guess that's one difference, then. I tend to scare men away."
"Well, they worked pretty closely together," he remarked. "The two universes are similar but not identical. In that one, for instance, my duplicate's parents are still alive. I met them when I was there. By that time Lois was married to the other Clark. I met him, too. That was a really strange experience."
"I guess so," she said. "Did you like her?"
Jealousy, he wondered, or just curiosity? He hoped it was at least a little of the former. "Well, sure." He found that she was studying the hands clasped tightly in her lap, and all he could see was the top of her head. *The truth, buddy. Nothing else will do for this lady.* "I liked her a lot. I only knew her for a couple of days, but she completely changed my life. If it hadn't been for her, I'd have married Lana and spent the rest of my life trying to hide what I can do. As it was, she turned my entire world upside down, but she motivated me to become something a lot more, and I'll always be grateful to her."
She nodded. "I can understand that. I'm glad to know that if we have to work together that there's a good chance we'll like each other."
"Me, too," he said. "Anyhow, after they left, I started asking questions and trying to find out what had happened to you. Perry said you'd disappeared in the Congo in 1993 while trying to track down the source of the guns flooding Metropolis, but I couldn't find any trace of you. Herb guessed that Tempus might be behind your disappearance, since he'd tried so hard to destroy me." He shifted his grip on her slightly. "The other Lois was a very sharp lady. After meeting her, I really wanted to meet the original. I'm not disappointed, either."
"Am I like her?"
He nodded. "In a lot of ways, you are. She looked like you, only a few years older. You're obviously just as intelligent, and you've got courage to spare. I guess there have to be certain qualities that both of you have, or your influence in the creation of the future societies wouldn't be so critical. Still, I can see differences, too. I think you're less high strung than she was, for one. You don't seem to get upset easily, which can't be a bad thing." He grinned. "You don't seem as stubborn, either."
She smacked his hand lightly. "I'll have you know I've won prizes for stubbornness, Kent. It's just a matter of picking the right things to be stubborn about."
"True," he agreed, trying to keep his face straight.
She laughed, too. "I never thought I'd be bragging about being stubborn!"
"That's okay. I'd say it's useful in your job. One thing's for sure, Perry will be happy to see you when we get back, assuming we don't have to become colonists at Plymouth Rock."
"There's that," she agreed. "I don't think I'd make a very good Puritan."
"Neither would I," he said. "In any case, I'm not giving up on Herb. He can be exasperating at times, but he's surprisingly good at getting himself out of trouble. For one thing, people tend to underestimate him."
"That's always useful," Lois said. "How is Perry these days? I know he and Alice were going through a rough spot in their marriage when I left for the Congo. Are they still married?"
"Yes, actually they are -- but he's not the editor of the Planet anymore."
"You mean he retired? He'd be bored stiff!"
"Well, yes and no. A few months after I came to the Planet, there was some kind of corporate scandal and the owner had to sell. You know who James Olsen is, don't you?"
"Sure. The boy genius. He made a fortune in the computer field."
"Well, he bought the Planet from Lex Luthor. He and Luthor have been business rivals for several years, I guess. Anyway, when all that stuff happened, Mr. Olsen convinced Perry to run for Mayor against Tempus. After Lois exposed Tempus, Perry won hands down, and he's the Mayor. Alice has turned into a terrific political hostess. I have dinner with them about once a month."
"Wow," Lois said. She turned her head. "Hey, it's starting to get dark."
"It's night on the west coast of North America," Clark said. "The mainland is coming over the horizon now."
**********
tbc
