Chapter Eighteen
Clark peered into the ship as soon as he crested the horizon. He saw Lana stumble to her feet and point the machine gun at a man beside a nearby crate. He sped up enough to create a pressure wave against the water which threw up spray on either side of him.
He looked around the hold and saw the man lying in the hatchway with the rifle aimed at Lana. He saw the man’s trigger finger tighten. He saw –
He saw the bullet leave the muzzle!
He blasted through the side of the ship’s hull and reached for Lana.
He moved faster than the fastest jet airplane on Earth.
He moved faster than the human eye could see.
He moved faster than a speeding bullet.
His index finger deflected the bullet less than half an inch from Lana’s head.
He flipped around and wrapped Lana in his cape to protect her from the fragments of the hull he’d blown inwards.
He held her tight.
He sensed the explosion before he realized what was happening.
He flashed up and away from the center of the blast, just ahead of the pressure wave and the heat.
As he burst through the upper deck of the freighter, he felt the secondary blast of the tons of jet fuel igniting all at once. He carried Lana eastwards and higher, away from the site of the conflagration.
He stopped at about eight thousand feet above the sea and looked back. The ship was gone, save for shattered fragments flying through the air, destined to splash down and sink into the ocean. He peered below the surface and saw the larger pieces of the hull sliding down under the depths.
He looked at his wife’s pale face. “Lana? Honey, are you okay? How badly are you hurt?”
Lana blinked and pulled in a shuddering breath, then coughed hard. Blood flecked his sleeve and he gripped her more securely.
“Got – shot. Ohh! So – so sorry.”
“Hang on, babe, I’ll get you to a doctor.”
“Where – “ she gasped. “I’m so glad – cough – to see you.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’m glad to see you, too. Hang on. You have a date with a doctor.”
She smiled for a moment, then her eyes snapped open wide. “No! Lois! She was - where – “
But he’d already spun and headed west at a frantic pace. He’d forgotten about Lois, alone in the life raft.
He saw the submarine as it surfaced. Why an Australian sub was sailing in the north Atlantic was a puzzle he’d consider later. Just beyond it raced the pressure wave from the explosion, a miniature tsunami that would fade out as it traveled further. The wave was over seven feet tall but already losing energy. It was no threat to land or other ships.
But he couldn’t find the raft! It was bright orange, almost fluorescent, and he should have been able to see it at night even without his special vision –
There! It was slowly floating upwards from under the water, about fifteen feet under the surface. The canopy had been torn apart and the emergency supply box had been ripped open. The heavy plastic oars drifted lazily upwards beside the raft.
And Lois wasn’t anywhere near it.
He silently cursed himself for leaving Lois alone there. He silently cursed the criminals who’d kidnapped the two women and shot Lana.
But what could he do? He couldn’t very well abandon Lana on the deck of a strange submarine to search for Lois. Nor could he abandon Lois to drown.
The hatch on the conning tower popped open and two men climbed out. As the second one stood up and looked around, Superman swooped down and shouted, “Here! Take care of this woman! She has a gunshot wound in her back! I’ve got to look for someone else!”
The startled lookout accepted his burden as Superman splashed into the water. He called out, “Jack! Alert the surgeon that she’s got a patient!” He glanced back at the water and saw Superman rise from the depths with another woman in his arms, one who sprawled in his grasp as limply as a marionette with no strings. The lookout saw the expression on Superman’s face and added, “Make that two patients and both are critical! Move it!”
As the lookout handed his burden to one of his shipmates to pass down into the ship, the young woman arched her back and make a harsh croaking sound. Her eyes flew wide open and her limbs tensed.
Then all the breath whooshed out of her and her body went completely slack.
*****
Captain McDunn climbed up onto the conning tower’s exterior deck. The night stars were beginning to twinkle, and their passenger’s profile at the prow of the sub was beginning to fade into the dark, despite the bright colors he wore. McDunn hefted the blanket under his arm and climbed to the deck, careful not to slip on the wet surface.
He draped the blanket around Superman’s shoulders. The superhero looked up for a moment, then muttered, “Thank you, Captain.”
“Mind if I join you?”
Superman snorted slightly. “It’s your ship.”
“Thank you.” McDunn sat beside Superman and crossed his legs. “It’s a beautiful night.”
There was no answer.
McDunn sat silent for almost a minute, then said, “I’d like to ask you a question, if I may.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you know – did you know both of those women?”
Superman hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. I knew both of them.”
“Then at least one family will hear good news from you.”
The hero’s head bent and his shoulders shook. “I should have saved both of them.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
He lifted one spandex-covered arm for a moment, then let it fall limply. “Don’t you read the papers? I’m Superman. I can do just about anything.”
“I doubt that includes looking into the future.”
“I should have anticipated something like that. I knew what the ship was carrying.”
“Did you set off that explosion, young man?”
“No. Not on purpose.”
“Do you know what happened?”
Superman sighed. “I’m not sure. I think the hostages rigged some explosives in the ship’s hold and attached them to some kind of hand-held detonator. After I stopped the bullet fired at – at Mrs. Kent, I picked her up to protect her from being shot at again. She must have – I guess I made her drop – the bomb went off – “
His voice broke and he stopped talking. McDunn hesitated, then put his hand on Superman’s shoulder. “Look, I don’t have any business telling you what to do or how to feel, but you can’t blame yourself for what happened. You had no way of knowing what those women had done. You couldn’t know that you’d set off that explosion, even assuming you actually did so. You have to think of the life you did manage to save.”
“Yeah. The one life I saved. And I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t shown up when you did.” Superman looked at McDunn with liquid eyes that reflected the deepest depths of the ocean. “Out of all the people on that ship, the criminals and the hostages and the innocent crew and officers included, I saved one person. That’s not a very good average. Not in my book.”
The captain drew back his hand and straightened. “No, it isn’t. But you can’t look at it from only that perspective. You said that ship was carrying illegal weapons for sale to the highest bidder, right?” Superman bit his lip, then nodded shortly. “Think of all the people who won’t die in the next six months because those weapons won’t reach the hands of thieves and killers and mercenaries and dictators and gangsters and warlords. Think of the family who will be so thankful to get their daughter back.”
McDunn leaned closer. “We plan to rendezvous with an American aircraft carrier in about an hour and transfer her to them. Dr. Drake tells me the carrier’s sick bay is better equipped to take care of her than we are.”
“Isn’t a night transfer dangerous?”
“More so than in daylight, but the water’s almost flat and the Americans do this kind of thing very well. The lass will be fine, I promise. Also, the young lady would like to thank you personally before she leaves. I told her I’d check to see if you were still aboard. I think it would be a good idea if you did.”
Superman nodded, but didn’t speak.
“Dr. Drake thinks it would be a good idea, too. She won’t show it, but she’s very upset about losing a patient. She’s of the opinion that anyone who makes it to her surgery, whether breathing or not, should leave alive and healthy. She takes death as personally as you seem to.”
“She didn’t have to choose which one to save.”
“Of course she did. She had to decide whether she should spend her time trying to revive a woman who’d drowned or a woman who was dying of a gunshot wound to the back. She tried to help both of them, of course, but even a doctor as good as she is has only two hands. Her staff is well-trained, but even so, no doctor saves every patient.”
Superman gathered the blanket closer. “No doctor has my particular talents, either.”
“So what? Neither do police officers or fire fighters, but they go to work and do their best and put their lives on the line almost daily. And they have to make the same kinds of choices you faced today. You’re incredibly fast, young man, and you’re incredibly strong, but you aren’t all-powerful. You’re not God. There are limits to everyone’s abilities, even yours.”
He shifted his legs and gazed off into the gathering night. “I know what you’re trying to do, Captain, but I’m not certain you understand my situation.”
“Maybe not.” McDunn stood. “And maybe I understand more than you think I do. I’ve never seen combat, Superman, but I’ve had commanders and instructors who have. Every one of them had to make choices that cost lives. The best choice in some situations is often still a bad choice. All you can do is the best you can, and then learn to live with the outcome.”
Superman snorted again. “I’ve had words like that said to me before. They can’t change what’s happened, what I’ve done. Or failed to do.”
“Maybe so, but it doesn’t make the words any less true.” He took a step towards the conning tower. “Doctor Drake says the patient can have visitors. Are you coming? Or shall I tell her you’ve been called away on some emergency?”
The moment stretched on. Then Superman sighed. “I’ll come.”
“I’m glad. It’ll do the young lady a bit of good. And I think it will help you, too. You need to see the evidence of the good you’ve been able to do today.”
The hero stood beside the captain, who gestured towards the conning tower. “After you, sir.”
Superman flipped the blanket from his shoulders and folded it neatly, then handed it to the captain. McDunn caught the faintest flicker of movement from Superman’s mouth. “Thank you, Captain.” They took several more steps, and Superman’s shoulders straightened. “For everything.”
*** The End ***
