Chapter Nine
--- Wednesday, late afternoon
Doctor Watson finished Lois’s checkup and smiled at her. “You’re a fortunate young lady. Hardly a scratch on you, save for a lovely black eye from the other young lady’s fist, and you’re suffering no ill effects from Sergeant Walker’s poor marksmanship.”
Lois zipped up her coveralls. “It was a difficult shot, Doctor. I wouldn’t call it poor marksmanship. Carrie and I were right beside each other, and we were spinning and twisting around. At least he stopped Carrie from shooting me.”
“That he did. Well, young lady, I believe I can release you. Major Vukovich asked that you return to the security office once I was finished poking and prodding my latest victim.”
“Sounds good to me.” She stood and stretched. “I guess the famous Lane luck came through again.”
“Excuse me? The famous Lane luck?”
“That Karen and Matt – I mean, the major and the sergeant found me when they did. I don’t know how much longer I could have held out.”
He gave her an odd look. “Yes, you were – quite lucky. At any rate, you don’t require my services any longer, so off with you.”
“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll try to touch base with you before I leave.”
She strode through the passageway, and as she passed others, invariably their eyes would widen and they’d grow silent. She heard excited mutters behind her, and one woman said something about there being a “new sheriff in town.” Oh, good, mused Lois, that’s all I need, to be viewed as the local Wyatt Earp. So much for her journalistic objectivity. Perry might as well call her back home now.
She pushed through the security office door and smiled at Matt, who gave her a blank glance before he stood and called out, “Captain Kincaid, Inspector Lane is here.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.” A tall, angular man stepped out of what Lois had thought was Karen’s office. “Inspector Lane. I hope the doctor gave you a clean bill of health?”
“Yes, thank you.” Lois frowned and looked past him into the office, but saw no one else. “I’m sorry, Captain, I assumed Major Vukovich would be here.”
Kincaid’s eyes barely flickered. “The Major is confined to her quarters, pending the arrival of her relief.”
“What?” Lois was astounded. Karen had saved her life and she was being punished? Unthinkable! Idiotic! “When did this happen?”
“Her orders came through about half an hour ago, while you were still in sick bay. I’m in temporary command until Colonel Warren arrives.”
She put her hands on her hips and glared at the captain. “And how long will it be before this colonel does arrive?”
“He’s scheduled to be here Saturday morning, local time. He’s taking the next shuttle flight up, which leaves about fifteen hours from now. The rest of the new security detachment is coming up with him.”
“So Karen’s stuck in her little cubbyhole until then?”
Kincaid seemed to run out of patience. “Those are her orders, Inspector, and she knows how to follow them. Speaking of which, I’ve been ordered to release you from your temporary assignment and rank. If you’ll return your identification badge, I’ll – “
“No.”
His eyebrows vibrated for a moment. “I’m sorry, you said ‘no’?”
“I did. Major Vukovich gave me this assignment and I’ll surrender it to her and to no one else.” Lois pulled her necklace out of the top of her coveralls. “Besides, she needs to take this off me. Or are you ordered to do that too?”
Kincaid looked, then turned to Walker. “Tracker?”
Walker nodded back. “Yes, sir.”
Kincaid nodded slightly. “No, ma’am, I can’t remove it. The Major would have to do that in any case. The necklace has a fingerprint sensor that will only allow two people to access the locking mechanism. Those people are the person who put it on you – in this case, Major Vukovich – and the commandant of the United States Air Force Academy.”
Lois frowned. “Okay. I’ll go see the major, then.”
“As you wish. But before you go, Ms. Lane, I’ll have to ask you again for your special identification.”
“And I’ll have to repeat what I said before. No. Major Katrina Vukovich gave me this commission and I’ll be shoved naked out an airlock before I give it up to anyone else.”
Kincaid almost smiled. “Yes, ma’am. There is one other thing I’ve been asked to do.”
“What’s that, reduce my daily rations?”
“No, ma’am, nothing like that. I’ve been asked to convey the honest and sincere gratitude of the United States Air Force and the profuse thanks of the management of Space Station Prometheus for your invaluable assistance in resolving this case. There’ll be an official ceremony later on Earth to recognize your very material contribution, but I wanted to make sure you heard this message as soon as possible.”
“Oh.” She paused, then said, “Thank you, Captain. May I go now?”
“Of course. Sergeant, would you complete the debriefing, please?”
“Yes, sir.” He stood as Kincaid re-entered the inner office and closed the door tightly. “Ms. Lane, the block on your e-mail account has been removed and your communication privileges have been fully restored. You may contact anyone you wish anywhere on the Web.”
“Thanks, Matt.” She lowered her voice and asked, “What’s going on? Why is Karen being replaced?”
He shook his head. “All I can tell you is that Captain Kincaid isn’t responsible for this, ma’am. He’s just following orders, just like me.”
She frowned and crossed her arms. “Yeah, just like good little Nazis. Seig Heil and all that crap.”
He stiffened. “Ma’am, that’s unfair. Please.”
She waved aimlessly. “Oh, Matt, I’m sorry, I didn’t really mean it, especially not you. I’m just ticked off.”
“Yes, ma’am. I haven’t been by to see the Major, and Captain Kincaid has strongly advised me not to see her, especially before Colonel Warren arrives.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “But would you tell that I’m rooting for her? If you should see her, I mean.”
She nodded in comprehension. “I understand. If I happen to see her, I’ll deliver your message.” She leaned back and spoke at a normal level. “I need to be going now, Matt. It strikes me that I haven’t eaten since that can of breakfast early this morning.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She turned to leave, but Walker said, “Ma’am? One more thing before you go.”
She turned back. “Yes?”
He stood and came to attention, then gave her a textbook salute. As he released it, he said, “It’s been an honor serving with you, ma’am.”
Lois was touched. “I’m not in any military, Sergeant, so I can’t salute you, but I can do this.” She kissed him on the cheek, then smiled warmly. “That’s kind of like a civilian salute.”
No part of him moved except his eyes, which twinkled, and his mouth, which said, “Yes, ma’am, a real honor.”
--- Wednesday, early evening
Lois sent the last file to Clark and leaned back against the chair. She’d been typing for almost four hours straight and she needed a break. She wished she’d thought to stock her baby refrigerator with cream soda before all this had happened.
One of the messages had contained her recommendation to Perry that she return before her scheduled time. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that her journalistic usefulness on the station was just about destroyed. Too many people identified her with station security and the story of Carrie Hillman, and her front-page banner in the Planet wouldn’t be published here. Like it or not, she was now Inspector Lane to the residents of the station, and there wasn’t time to shift those perceptions before the celebrations began. If Perry hurried, he could send up a replacement on the next shuttle.
She stood and realized that she felt guilty about not going to see Karen before now. She told herself she had to report everything she could as quickly as she could, and she was certain Perry would have demanded that she do as she had done, but she still didn’t feel good about waiting to visit Karen.
She looked up Karen’s address in the station database and tried calling on the comm. There was no answer. Maybe Karen had blocked incoming calls, she thought. In that case, she should just go to Karen’s quarters and surprise her. Maybe she could cheer her up.
That decided, Lois closed her computer and set out. She arrived at the major’s door in minutes and announced herself over the speaker. “Karen, this is Lois. You there?”
The door remained closed and the speaker remained mute. Miffed, Lois punched the button and spoke again. “Major Katrina Vukovich, this is Special Inspector Lois Lane. If you do not open the door to your quarters, I will call Sergeant Walker for the override for your door and enter without your permission.”
She waited several seconds and was about to repeat her threat when the door opened. Karen waved her in and stumbled over to her bed. She’d shed her uniform coveralls and wore only her regulation underwear. The Marx Brothers’ “A Night In Casablanca” played quietly on the video monitor in the wall.
Lois entered and palmed the door closer. “Nice room. It’s bigger than mine.”
Karen lifted a glass of dark liquid in a mock toast. “Yeah. Big ‘nuff for li’l ol’ me.” She drained the glass, then lifted it unsteadily and squinted at Lois. “Join me?”
“It’s a little small for both of us, don’t you think?”
“Huh?” Karen frowned and looked into the glass for a moment, then smiled. “Oh. Gotcha. Joke, right?”
Lois smiled. “You’re as quick as always, Major.”
“Huh. Major.” Karen fished a bottle from the floor and refilled her glass. She stared at it for a moment, then lifted it towards Lois. “Wanna get drunk with me?”
“I thought alcohol was banned on the station.”
Karen waved. “Yeah, yeah, sure. We got chemicalists, remember? Best in th’ world.”
Chemicalists? “You mean chemists?”
“Huh. Yeah, got them too. They make it, we confistake – we confic – we take it away from ‘em. C’mon, have a slurp.”
Reluctantly, Lois took the glass and sipped it. It stung the inside of her mouth and burned all the way down to her stomach. She coughed and put the glass on the table, out of Karen’s reach. “Wow! What do you call that, explosive ordnance?”
Karen smiled slowly. “Ha. Good name for it.” Then she seemed to shrink in on herself. “They’re shippin’ me out, Lois. I got fired.”
Lois sat beside her on the bed. “I know, but why? I don’t understand.”
Karen leaned her head on Lois’s shoulder and spoke with extreme care. “Three murders. All on my watch. And a civilian solved the crimes. I didn’t do nothin’ right.”
“But you’re the one who ran the investigation! You were in charge of law enforcement! And you caught the killer! Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“Not enough.” She lurched up to a sitting position and might have fallen the other way had Lois not caught her arm. “Whoa. Thanks. Might get hurt fallin’ that far.”
“I doubt it. You’re way too relaxed to hit the floor hard.”
“Maybe.” Karen clouded up again. “But it don’t count.”
The abrupt change in subject was typical of the occasional drunk. “What doesn’t count, Karen?”
“Yeah. We caught Carrie. Caught the killer and let her kill herself.” Karen tried three times to turn her head towards Lois and look directly at her before she succeeded. “Air Force don’t like that. I’m going back down.”
“I’m sorry, Karen. Are they going to prefer charges?”
“Charges? Nah! They don’t need no stinkin’ charges! Where’s my glass?”
Lois pointed. “I left it over on the table.”
“I’ll go get it.” Karen’s head wobbled but she didn’t stand. “Huh. Guess I had enough.”
“It’s okay, Karen.”
“No! Not okay! They stuck me out here ‘cause I embarrassed ‘em! Said I’d get a safe post. No trouble, no worries, no reporters, no chance to screw up again.” She paused and belched loud and long. “But I screwed up anyway. First murders on the station and they happened on my watch.” She sniffed and wiped her nose with her hand. “Some cop I am.” She sobbed once and leaned her head on Lois’s shoulder again. “I’m so sorry, Lois! I’m so sorry you almos’ got killed! I never forgive myself if you get killed! I’m so sorry, so sorry – “
“Hey, hey, I’m okay. See? No holes anywhere in my body except the ones I’m supposed to have. I’m fine, Karen. Really.”
Karen wiped her nose again and looked up at Lois. “Really? You really okay?”
Lois smiled. “Yes, I’m okay. Now I think you need to lie down and sleep.”
“Sleep?” Lois gently guided her head to her pillow as she protested feebly. “I don’ need sleep. Need to talk to you. I gotta tell – tell you – somethin’ important.”
“You can tell me tomorrow. Right now you need to go to sleep.”
“But – “
“Shh. Go to sleep.” Lois gently stroked her hair. “Sleep now, Karen. Sleep.”
“’Kay, Lois. Night.”
Lois smiled and stood quietly. Karen’s breathing shifted to slow and sonorous. All she had to do now was sleep it off. And, thanks to her mother, Lois had lots of experience dealing with other people’s hangovers. The question now was, should she go back to her own cubbyhole or spend the night here? If she left, she wouldn’t be able to get back in without either Karen’s code or the override, and she wasn’t sure Captain Kincaid would give either one to her.
Lois decided to wait in Karen’s quarters. After all, the major still had to remove the necklace, didn’t she?
She pulled the sheet up to Karen’s shoulders and told the lights to turn down. Oh, well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d watched TV until the wee hours and slept in a chair. And Harpo was just as funny now as he ever had been.
--- Thursday, mid-morning
The flush of the toilet awoke Lois from a cramped, intermittent sleep. Karen had turned out to be a loud snorer, at least while she was sleeping one off, so Lois had turned the chair to face away from the bed in the vain hope of blocking some of the noise. At least Karen hadn’t gotten sick during the night. Lois didn’t know what the procedure was to get fresh bedclothes outside of the laundry cycle, and she definitely didn’t want Captain Kincaid to know – at least, not officially – that his former CO was on a bender.
Lois stood and stretched and groaned. Karen abruptly spotted her and shouted, “Yaaerghhahhabwabwa!”
Lois took a step towards the stumbling woman. “Karen! It’s okay, it’s me!”
“Yeah.” Karen took a deep breath and swallowed. “What in the name of all that is sober and steady are you doing here?”
“I thought you might need some help last night.”
“Really.” Her hooded eyes blinked rapidly at Lois. “I was drunk, Lane, not sick and helpless. Haven’t you got something else to do?”
Her tone was both cutting and effective. Lois took a ‘parade rest’ stance once again. “Major, I’m here to surrender my temporary commission to you.”
Karen belched rudely and opened her underwear drawer. “Why didn’t you give it to Kincaid? He’s in command now.”
“I told him I’d gotten this commission from Major Katrina Vukovich and I would surrender it to no one else but Major Katrina Vukovich.”
“Oh.” Karen lost some of her combativeness. “I see.” She peeled out of her underwear and replaced it with fresh garments. “In that case, let me get into uniform so I can take it back with at least some of the dignity you think I still have.”
“Um. Major.”
She grabbed a coverall from the tiny closet. “What?”
“About that – that dignity thing.” Lois hesitated, then continued. “I can’t help but believe that if I’d been a man, you wouldn’t have stripped naked in front of me.”
Karen stopped with her hand on the front zipper of her coveralls. Then she straightened, turned to face away from Lois, and nodded briefly. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have done that if you’d been a man, and I shouldn’t have done it at all. It was very rude of me to treat you as if you were beneath my notice, and having a five-star hangover is no excuse. I apologize. I assure you that it won’t happen again.”
Lois didn’t respond. Karen sighed and turned to face her. “Would you do one last thing for me, Inspector Lane?”
“Of course, Major.”
“Please turn around. I need to take that tracker off your neck.”
Lois turned around. “Of course, Major, and I’ll be glad to get rid – “ She stopped. “Karen, you called this thing a tracker?”
Karen tugged gently on the necklace. “That’s what it is.”
“Captain Kinkaid asked Matt if it was a tracker.”
“Yeah, well, he would know.”
The catch on the necklace clicked open and the whole thing fell down inside Lois’s coveralls. “I thought it sent out a signal that wouldn’t let me off the station.”
“It does.”
Lois pulled her zipper down far enough to fish the necklace out of her bra. “What else does it do, Major?”
Karen sighed. “Oh, great, now you’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
Lois rezipped herself, turned around, and tried to hand the necklace to Karen. “You weren’t honest with me.”
“You were a suspect in a murder at the time, remember?”
Lois shook her head. “You lied to me.”
Karen snatched the tracker from Lois’s hand. “And I suppose that’s the first time anyone’s ever misled you for valid reasons?”
Instead of snapping back, Lois stopped and thought about Clark’s reasons for hiding his dual identity from her. At the time he’d created Superman, they were valid reasons. She would have plastered every iota of information about Superman and Clark and his parents and his origins all over the Daily Planet’s front page without a second thought for the repercussions of that revelation. She would have practically demanded that she receive the Kerth and Meriweather for that year and would have groused had the Pulitzer not also come her way.
And when Karen had first snapped the necklace around her neck, she hadn’t known whether or not Lois was the killer. She was doing the best she could with what she had to work with. And it wasn’t as if she’d had a lot of opportunities to set the record straight. On top of that, Karen hadn’t been completely sure that Lois wasn’t giving an Emmy-caliber performance until she and Matt had stopped Carrie from smacking Lois in the head and dropping her body down a long, long tube.
That brought up another question in Lois’s mind. “Karen?”
The major narrowed her eyes. “Now what?”
“How did you know where Carrie and I were?”
Karen held up the necklace. “There’s a reason it’s called a tracker. We tracked you up there using the radio signal it sends out. Matt called me and told me where you were going, and since I didn’t think there were any suspects up in the Hub, I told him to head that way immediately and I’d follow as fast as I could. He got there about twenty seconds before I did, and, well, you know the rest.”
“Yes. The two of you saved my life. Thank you.”
Some of the angry wind left Karen’s sails. “You’re welcome. Anyway, that’s also how I knew without a doubt you weren’t the killer. You’d been in your quarters since leaving the office the night before, you were inside your quarters at the time I was talking to Ben, and when I saw Ben and Maria I knew you couldn’t have killed them.”
Lois nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry I popped off at you. And I have some experience with people keeping things from me for my own good, so I understand why you did what you did.” She grinned lopsidedly. “I don’t much like it, but I do understand it.”
Karen relaxed and almost smiled back. “Good. Well, I’m sure you have things to do and places to go and all. Why don’t you go change clothes and get some breakfast?”
Lois sniffed her underarm and shuddered dramatically. “Eww. Good idea. You want me to bring something back for you?” She glanced at Karen’s clock. “Or how about lunch, since it’s closer to noon time than getting-up time?”
Karen finally smiled. “Thanks. That’d be nice.”
Lois nodded. “In that case, I’ll see you in less than an hour.”
--- Thursday, mid-day
After a soothing seven-minute shower, a change of clothing (she still thought the coveralls were most unflattering), and a quick visit to the cafeteria, Lois found herself walking briskly back to Karen’s quarters. She knew she’d have to check her return e-mail before too much longer, but even if Perry agreed with her and told her to come back on the next shuttle, she wouldn’t be able to leave before Saturday evening. She might as well enjoy the time she had left on the station.
She pressed the buzzer on Karen’s door and it whooshed open almost immediately. Karen must have been sitting beside the doorway.
Lois lifted the recyclable plastic bags in either hand and said, “Special delivery for Major Vukovich.”
Karen smiled and waved her in. “You made good time.”
“Hey, I was hungry too.”
She palmed the door closer and pointed Lois to the small utility table in the corner of the room. “Best table in the house.”
Lois put the bags down. “Hope you like Chinese.”
Karen’s eyes bulged. “Chinese? You got Chinese food? Where? How?”
Lois winked at her. “If you close your eyes and think of egg rolls instead of gray and green and blue goop, it’s Chinese.”
“That might require some real imagination.”
They sat. “Oh, please. ‘Real imagination’ is an oxymoron.”
“Hey! Watch who you’re calling names here!”
They ate the multicolored goop, they drank lots of water, and they laughed together. Lois pulled out some warm and funny stories of herself and Lucy as children, and Karen related some of the goofy things she’d seen people do on the station, especially the new arrivals. Lois surprised herself by thinking of them as ‘fresh fish.’
A face on the video monitor captured Lois’s attention and she walked to the wall to turn up the volume. The two of them sat still and silent for three minutes while the news channel replayed the story of Claude and Carrie, including some of the gory details of Carrie’s final dive. Lois noticed Karen rub her face as if she were wiping something out of her eyes when the talking head onscreen described how Ben and Maria had died. It appeared that those two deaths would stay with the Iron Major for a long time to come.
After the story ended, Karen turned the volume down and they picked up their banter as if the story hadn’t aired. The meal was over all too quickly. Karen gathered the residue and put it in her recycle bin, then refilled Lois’s water glass. “Here’s to the end of the investigation.”
Lois clicked glasses with her and listened closely, but heard no bitterness or recrimination hiding in the other woman’s voice. “Cheers,” she answered.
Karen put her glass down. “Well, Inspector Lane, I’m going to miss you.”
Lois didn’t make eye contact. “What’s going to happen to you, a court martial?”
“Probably not. After all, we did catch the killer, with your help, of course, and it wasn’t something we were trained to do. No, they’ll probably assign me to some out-of-the-way post and hope I refuse to report and resign my commission.” She shook her head. “I won’t quit. I’ve got seven years until retirement and I’m not leaving all that money and the prestige on the table.”
Lois looked up. “I see. Where do you think they’ll send you?”
Karen shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Wherever I go, whatever I’m assigned to do, I’ll do my job the best way I know how.”
Lois nodded. “That’s as it should be.”
“Yeah.” Karen broke eye contact this time. “Uh, Lois? Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.”
Karen fidgeted in her chair. “It’s a very personal question.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Some people would be – offended by this question.”
Lois nodded. “I promise not to be offended. I don’t promise to answer, but I won’t get upset.”
“You’re sure?”
Lois frowned. “I’m sure, Karen. Now what’s going on?”
“Well, you know why I was assigned here, and I just thought I’d – “
“No.”
Karen’s jaw dropped open. Before she could say anything, Lois went on. “I mean, no, I don’t have any idea why you were assigned here.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“They didn’t tell you?”
“Nobody told me anything about you, Karen. Oh, that’s not quite right. Matt told me yesterday – quite unofficially, mind you – that he was pulling for you and he hoped I’d see you so I could relay that message to you.”
Karen nodded. “That sounds like Matt. But are you sure you didn’t hear anything about me?”
“I’m sure. Why, are you a bank robber in disguise or something?”
“Something, yes. In disguise – ”
Lois waited. Karen twisted in her chair. “I – I thought for sure someone had told you.”
“Told me what?”
“About me, I mean.”
“Told me what about you?”
“I mean, you didn’t say anything to me or warn me off, so I kind of figured you – you felt the same way that I did.”
“Felt the same way about what?”
Karen blushed. “You – you know! About – about men and women.”
“What about them?”
“About – about us.”
“What, Karen? What ‘us’ are you – “ and then the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin dropped and hit her smack in the head. “Oh.”
Karen didn’t look at her. Lois reached out and touched her hand. “Karen, are you trying to tell me you’re – you’re gay?”
Still looking away from her, Karen nodded. “Yes.”
“And you were afraid I’d run away screaming in panic when I found out?”
“Yes.”
“And when I didn’t run away, you thought maybe I was gay too?”
“Yeah, but, um – “ Karen shrugged. “You’re not, are you?”
Lois chuckled. “Sorry, no. Besides, Clark would be very upset if I told him something like that at this stage of the game.”
Karen turned and stared at Lois for a moment, then her smiled matched Lois’s, and they grew into mutual chuckles. “I’ll bet he’d be upset.”
Lois leaned back and sipped her water. “It would be contrary to what I’ve led him to believe.”
Karen laughed out loud. “Yeah. I bet he’s gonna miss you for the next two years. Or does he plan to come up and visit you? A lot of families and – and significant others do that.”
Lois stared blankly at her. “Come up to visit? What are you talking about now?”
Karen gestured to Lois’s coveralls. “You’re a crater, a cargo handler. A little skinny, but you’ll fill out. I doubt you’d be able to afford to break your contract and lose your bonus.”
Lois put her glass down. “Oh, boy.”
“See, that’s another reason I thought maybe you and I might have a shot – “
“I’m not a cargo supervisor, Karen.”
Karen frowned. “That’s what came up on my display when I broke up that fight between you and Claude in the Hub.”
“That’s because someone put my occupation in the database as ‘cargo, super’ in stead of ‘supercargo’ like it was supposed to be.”
“Supercargo? But that’s the term for people – who – who don’t – oh, no.“
“Yep. I’m not here on a long-term contract. I’m – “
“You know the editor of the Planet personally.”
“Yes, I – “
“You know the head of the crack research department, that, that Olsen guy.”
“That’s right, I – “
“You’re on a first-name basis with an investigative reporter with the Planet.”
“Karen, let me explain – “
“I’m really stupid, aren’t I?”
“I don’t think you’re stupid, you’re just – “
“You’re not a crater, are you?” Lois shook her head. “So tell me, what do you really do when you’re not solving murders for the Air Force?”
Lois looked at Karen’s expression and began to worry. “Please, Karen, let me explain before you blow up at me! I’m a reporter for the Daily Planet. My original assignment was to cover the anniversary celebration on the station. Clark was working the EPRAD end of the story, back down on Earth. That’s why we - ”
Karen stared, open-mouthed. “Reporter?”
Lois nodded.
Karen’s voice rose. “You mean I put a freakin’ REPORTER on my staff?”
Lois frowned. “Karen, wait, I didn’t – “
Karen stood abruptly and shouted, “NOW who’s the liar?”
“What? Wait a minute, I never – “
“You let me think you were a crater! You let me think you were up here on a long-term contract! I’d’ve sealed you in plastic and flushed you out an airlock if I’d known the truth!“
Lois stood and yelled back. “You never asked me! I never told you I was here for any reason! You just assumed all that and now you’re ticked off at yourself because you were wrong and you’re trying to blame someone else!”
“Blame?”
“Yes! You screwed up and – “
“I screwed up when I let you walk around without a leash!”
“I found Carrie for you!”
“And you nearly got yourself killed doing it!”
“I’ve survived worse!”
“Yeah? How?”
“I’m a personal friend of Superman!”
“Well he ain’t here and you are and yesterday you were about three seconds from being dead!”
Lois stopped with her nose inches from Karen’s. She forced her voice lower. “Karen, I’m sorry you misunderstood. But I never lied to you. I never told you I was one thing when I was something else. If you’ll accept it, I’ll apologize sincerely and profusely.”
“Apologize?” Karen glared at her fiercely. “Do you not understand me? You’re a reporter! You’re going to report on me!”
Lois stepped back. “What? No! No, Karen, I’m not going to print this! No way!”
“I don’t believe you! Reporting is what reporters do!”
“But – “
“I’m going to see my name splashed all over the front page!”
“No! I wouldn’t print – “
“You’re gonna embarrass me and the Air Force all over again!”
“No I’m not! I wouldn’t – “
“You already lied to me! Why should I believe you?”
“Karen, please, I won’t print any of – “
“I don’t believe it!”
Lois flailed her arms. “It’s true!”
“Prove it!”
Anger forced its way to the forefront. “How am I going to prove it? Blast it, Karen! What can I do to make you believe me?”
Instead of answering, Karen stepped forward and embraced Lois.
Then she kissed her flush on the mouth.
For a moment, Lois was too stunned to respond. Then she put her hands on Karen’s shoulders and gently pushed her back. “Whoa, lady. I’m straight, remember?”
Karen nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry. You just looked – so good just then.”
Lois tilted her head forward. “I like guys, Karen. Particularly one very particular guy named Clark Kent.”
“Yeah.” Karen took a deep breath. “Do you know how attractive you are when you’re angry?”
Lois slowly moved out of Karen’s embrace. “I think I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, it is, believe me.”
“Good. I just have one question.”
Karen sighed. “What is it?”
“You aren’t going to do that again, are you?”
Karen looked up and locked gazes with Lois. Then she smiled. “No. Not unless you invite me to.”
“Fair enough.” Lois nodded. “So? Are you convinced that I won’t report you now?”
Still smiling, Karen said, “Yes. I believe you won’t print it.” She leered at Lois. “Because if you do, I’ll have to tell everyone what a good kisser you are, including your one particular guy, and I’ll also have to divulge how I became aware of that little fact.”
“Ah. Yes, I’d say you have some leverage there, Major.”
“Leverage?” Karen’s smile vanished in an instant. She stepped back and waved at the door. She had the grace to look embarrassed. “Friends don’t leverage friends, Lois. And I don’t want to put any pressure on you to do anything you don’t want to do. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
“Thank you. I have to leave for a while, Karen, but not for the reason you think.”
Karen crossed her arms. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“I know. I’m explaining because we’re friends, not because I think I have to. That ‘no leverage’ thing? It works both ways.”
Karen relaxed and nodded. “Yeah. I guess it does.”
“Unfortunately, real life is calling me rather insistently.” Lois frowned in thought. “I need to check my e-mail. I think my boss may tell me to give it up and head back down. Too many people up here know me as Inspector Lois Lane, spiritual successor to Elliot Ness and Bat Masterson, instead of the intrepid investigative reporter I really am.”
Karen chortled. “That’s funny. Tell you what, you go find out whether you’re staying or going. Maybe we’ll share a shuttle on the way back to Earth.”
“Okay. Besides, I missed my workout yesterday. I’m sure Ms. Lana O’Meara would just love to have another chance to torture me.”
Karen shook her head and laughed again. “Not gonna happen. Our lady of the taut muscles was one of the ringleaders in that drunken party the other night. She’s confined to her quarters for the next week or so, and she can’t get out without starting a fire in her room. Not likely she’ll risk something that stupid.”
Lois grinned back. “Just goes to show you. I’ll see you later.”
“Lois? Before you go – there’s one thing I have to ask you.”
“Okay.”
“And I promise I’ll never bring it up again.”
Lois became wary. “Uh, okay.”
“Um.” Karen shoved her hands in her pockets. “That kiss.”
Lois lifted her eyebrows. “What about it?”
“I liked it. I liked it a lot.”
Lois nodded cautiously. “Okay. What’s your question?”
Karen hesitated, then plunged ahead. “What did you think of it?”
Lois’s mouth fell open and she thought furiously for a moment, then decided on her best response under the circumstances.
“I’m pretty sure I won’t forget it for the rest of my life.”
Karen stared at her for a few seconds, then her face relaxed into a crooked grin. “I think I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
