From Chapter 15:
"Oh, it's a rerun honey," Martha replied, taking the remote and shutting off the TV. "What brings you here? It must be important to come this time of night."
"Yeah, it really is," Clark admitted. "It looks like Jason Trask finally got what he always wanted. Apparently there were some survivors of the planet Krypton, and two of them paid me a visit. They were friendly and relatively harmless, but apparently there's another faction that wants to take over the earth. Mom… Dad… they soon will be have the same abilities I have, after they have absorbed sufficient solar radiation. They'll be unstoppable. I'm worried, and so is Lex," Clark disclosed, looking down at his feet. "I don't think you're safe here. Trask knows I'm Superman."
Jonathan, who had always despised Jason Trask, exploded. "How did he found out, Clark? Who told him? How the hell did this happen? Other than us, only Lois, Lana, Pete, Lex and Hank know about your secret!"
"Unfortunately… Lex himself kind of gave it away. Apparently he caught Trask on the phone arranging to have a stash of Kryptonite delivered to him. He was ranting on and on about how I was the front man for an alien invasion force and that UFOs were circling the earth. Lex felt compelled to defend me, and from the passion in his eyes, Trask guessed that Lex's best friend – me – is Superman. Lex never was a good liar."
Martha and Jonathan grew silent. "We always knew that the more people that were aware of your dual identity, the greater the chance that it would someday be compromised. I never thought that it would your very best friend, though," Jonathan said in a somber tone of voice. "Where's that bastard Trask now?"
"Not sure. He disappeared after his run-in with Lex. I'm afraid that he is heading for Smallville. After all, the best way to get to me, besides using the Kryptonite on me, is to hurt my loved ones, now that he knows who I really am."
Martha's eyes were welling up with tears. "Honey, we don't want to leave our home."
Jonathan walked over to his wife and draped his arm over her shoulder. "Neither do I, Martha. But if Clark thinks we'd be safer elsewhere, we should listen to him."
~~~~~
Chapter Sixteen
Jason Trask had spent the majority of his life as an alien-phobic man. When he opened his eyes he found himself standing in a large space craft, surrounding by other Kryptonians. Amazingly, they were identical in looks to earthlings. If not for the strange language and the jumpsuit attire, he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the two races.
"Jason Trask, come forward," he was commanded by Lord Nor.
Irritated that he was being spoken to as if he was a child, Trask scowled at the Kryptonian. "Who do you think-"
Almost instantaneously a psychic blast caused him to scream in agony.
"Jason Trask, I am your superior in every manner. Come forward now or the next one will render you mindless," Nor threatened darkly.
Trask, still reeling from the pain, stepped forward as directed. Two men, standing adjacent to Lord Nor, loomed large as he did so.
"There are my comrades, Ran and Drull," Nor told him. ""Go with them and tell them everything you know about Kal-el and the Kryptonite meteors."
As Trask was led away, Nor smiled cynically. "Stupid earthling, but he'll be quite useful. His hatred of Kal-El almost equals my own."
~~~~~
Clark brought his folks over to Lex's Aunt Lena's house and the five of them began a strategy session.
"There is an underground bunker underneath LFSR, and I believe it's lined with lead. During the cold war, when we were terrified of the Russians dropping the bomb on us, the military built these large bomb shelters in key metropolitan areas of the country – Metropolis being one of them. The lead sheathing was to protect the survivors from the radiation fallout. We could have all of you live there for awhile," Lex suggested. "They can't see through lead lined walls."
Clark looked over at his folks' reaction. His Dad looked as if he were going to burst a blood vessel. "Lex, that's an alternative, but I don't think-" Clark began.
Jonathan piped up. "Look, that bastard Trask has been trying to ruin our lives since Clark came to Smallville. I'd rather die than hole up in some damn bomb shelter while my son puts his life on the line!"
"I feel the same way," Lena said. "Lex, there's no point in staying alive if we have to live like that. I've spent my life enjoying the fresh air of the country. I'm not trading it in for some lead-lined, dark prison."
"Well, I really do have an idea," Clark said, having been previously cut off by his own father. "How about going to my Fortress of Solitude? It's bright and sunny, and it's nearly impossible to travel there without the benefit of Superman Airlines," he joked, trying to lighten the moment, "so it will be safe. Plenty of light – there's this huge atrium ceiling. The scenery is spectacular; you just need to dress fairly warmly."
After much discussion, the group agreed to give it a try.
~~~~~
After flying the four passengers (seated in the Kents' car) up to the fortress, Clark flew back to Metropolis, where Lois was just returning from her emergency shift. He somehow managed to convince her that she was in danger. Begrudgingly she called the hospital and asked for some family leave time, fibbing that her in-laws were ill and she and Clark would have to relocate to Smallville for several months. Shortly, they were flying toward the Arctic, where Lex, Lena, Jonathan, and Martha were waiting patiently for them.
"Clark! You never told me about this!!" Lois squeaked, as the reflection of the sun on the crystalline stronghold nearly blinded her as they approached. "It's fantastic! How – when – did you built this?"
"One of the crystals in my space ship actually built it for me," Clark explained. "It was right after Dad told me about my real origins. I used to come up when I felt lonely, but since we've been together, I sort of forgot about it. I've always imagined that this is the architecture of my home planet, Krypton. Isn't it cool?"
"Yeah – great pun, Smallville! It *is* freezing here in the North Pole. Where's Santa's village, anyway? Have you come across that in your travels yet?" Lois snarked.
As Clark hovered above the roof, an opening automatically appeared, and the pair gently dropped through it, landing adjacent to the others. Martha had prepared tea and cocoa for everyone to warm them up. Clark had apparently forgotten to install a heating system in his fortress, since he was immune to temperature changes.
Between Lex Luthor the genius, and Clark Kent, Superman/near-genius, a solar heating system was devised and made operational in about an hour. The ladies had brought some Afghans and comforters from their homes and began sprucing up the enormous, multi-leveled fortress, giving it a bit of a woman's touch.
Clark made several trips back and forth to Alaska to purchase beds, tables, and food items. Several hours later, the six of them sat around the dining room table, ready to come up with a game plan.
"Lex, where's Bridgette, by the way? Why isn't she here?" Lois asked.
"Unfortunately, she's overseas doing research in some third-world countries and won't be home for several weeks. I guess at this point, she's probably safer over there than back in the States," Lex replied. "My biggest concern is where Trask took off to. I was fairly certain he would head for Smallville, but Clark, you said you didn't see a trace of him."
"No, but I do see the UFO that's in orbit around the earth," Clark said, worriedly. "I wonder if this 'Lord Nor' guy is up there right now. I also wonder if the two Kryptonians that came to see me are with him. I'm not entirely sure who can be trusted right now."
"Clark, can you fly up there in space and check it out?" Lois asked.
"Apparently the ship's made of lead," Clark lamented. "And I would need an oxygen tank to go that far up in the atmosphere. I can't imagine that this 'Lady Zara' and her companion Ching would want to be housed in the same ship as this Nor guy. Did they tell you when they would be back, Lois?"
"No, I got beeped, you had already left, so they just pressed that remote-looking thing and just 'Star-trekked' themselves out of our apartment," Lois replied. "I'm quite certain they'll be back, and since they can read minds, they'll know where you are, Clark."
"OK, true;I forget they can just read my mind to find out where I am. I'm going to have to go back to the apartment and wait for them, then, honey. I don't want us to be apart, but if I hang out here, then there's a good chance that the others will be able to locate you guys anyway," Clark said resignedly.
"Well, at least I'll be with my most favorite people in the world," Lois said, smiling at Martha and Jonathan. "And the food will be good."
"Clark, I have to go back with you," Lex asserted. "I have some experiments in process and if they are successful, they may come in handy down the road if things go awry."
"Huh? Like what, Lex?" Clark asked.
"I don't want to tell you, in case they can read your mind," Lex replied.
"Good point," agreed Clark. "This 'telepathy' thing is going to be a pain in the butt."
~~~~~
TBC
