I've borrowed a line from a Rabbie Burns poem, with a slight adaption, for the title to this chapter.
Chapter Sixteen,
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men, and Women, Gang Aft Aglae
Darkness hid the scarred landscape from view as Lois led the doctors and the MacDonnells out onto the porch. At her request, Marje and Mac had accompanied her, leaving Matt to watch over his father. This night had been full of traumatic surprises for Lois, and she would have liked to keep Matt by her side, but right at this moment Clark's need was greater than hers. Besides, she knew Matt wasn't above using his superpowers to keep an eye on what was happening outside. Superman might have often disapproved of eavesdropping, but Matt was her son too!
Meanwhile, she was certain the Scottish couple would be very willing to supply any backup she required. There were important decisions to be made, but first she needed more information. Taking the bull by the horns, she folded her arms and swung round on the two doctors. “So, let me get this straight,” she plunged ahead with her interrogation. “Superman was abducted by General Hyesan -- who is now conveniently dead -- imprisoned, operated on and forced to undergo some weird form of conditioning in order to turn him into a one man army?”
“That's an abbreviated version of the facts, but mostly true,” Stephan admitted glumly.
“OK. I also know that for all that to happen Superman had to be vulnerable. So, what did they use?” Lois asked bluntly, reluctant to offer any clues. She had to find out if Clark had been incapacitated in the usual way or if there was another fiendish weapon out there which could be used in the future against her son.
“It was kryptonite.” Again it was Stephan who spoke up. “They delivered it in the form of a gas, pretty much using the same technology as some rogue American Colonel did during the New Kryptonian invasion.”
“I'm surprised the Koreans even knew about that,” Lois huffed, leaning back against the rail of the porch. It had been a very long night and she was beginning to feel heartsick and weary. “And how did they get their hands on kryptonite?”
“The black market,” Adrienne almost whispered. “You can get anything you want if you have enough money and the right contacts. Hyesan had both.”
“But whit wuid the Koreans want kryptonite for?” Mac's gruff burr sounded doubtful. “Superman wisn'ae a threat tae them.”
“No? Think about it,” Stephan said. “North Korea was considered to be part of the 'Axis of Evil', as Western governments termed it.”
“But Superman didn't work for any government. He tried to stay clear of politics!” Lois exclaimed.
Stephan shrugged his narrow shoulders. “Superman chose to make his home in Metropolis; the KWP saw that as a declaration of his intent to support the West against the Communist Block. Simply put, he became their enemy and they were afraid of his power.”
“That's crap! Superman stood for truth and justice. He believed in life and would never have killed anyone. He came to Korea without a qualm to help rescue people from the devastation caused by the earthquake,”Lois cried out, pushing herself off the wooden balustrade to confront Janik.
Stephan recoiled, but he tried to explain patiently. “I didn't say I agreed with them, but the National Defence Commission believed he'd come to spy for a future invasion force. They're a paranoid lot who believe the American government and its allies want to destroy their regime, and Hyesan was the most maniacal of the bunch. He was a megalomaniac who thought he could take over power in Korea and hold the rest of the world to ransom if he could enslave Superman. The superhero was doomed the minute he flew into Hyesan's range.”
“You make it sound like Hyesan was stalking Superman,” Lois said dismissively.
“I don't think that's such a far out idea, Mrs Kent,” Adrienne offered her point of view, but kept her head bowed as if she was too ashamed to look directly into Lois' eyes. “He certainly saw the earthquake as a sign that fate was on his side....”
“And he managed to put his plans for Superman into action almost immediately, even before his superiors knew what he was really up to,” Stephan added. “Mind you, they didn't object to putting Superman out of action, and if Hyesan had managed to recruit him into the North Korean military, the General would have been rewarded. As it was, his plot against Superman backfired and brought about his downfall.” Stephan shoulders drooped tiredly and he rubbed his hand across his eyes. “But all that is ancient history, Mrs Kent. Wouldn't you prefer to know what we can do for Superman in the future?”
“After what I've just heard, what makes you think I'd let you do anything more for Superman?”
Stephan's gaze locked with Lois'. He looked surprised at the barely hidden venom beneath her words. “I didn't realize that would be up to you, Mrs Kent. I know you were a close friend of Superman, but shouldn't he be the one to decide what happens next?”
“Stephan!” In the cover of the shadowed stoop, Adrienne gave him a warning nudge. “I think it's reasonable that Mrs Kent should be concerned for her... friend. After all, we did work for Hyesan....”
“But Letour has vouched for us. We saved his life and helped him escape. Whether she approves or not, if she wants her friend back then she has to put her suspicions aside. You and I are the only people who can return Superman to some form of normality.”
Stephan sounded truculent, but Lois wasn't paying him too much attention. She'd heard the pointed hesitation in the female doctor's words. Did the woman suspect the nature of her relationship with Superman? Lois felt she was walking through a minefield.
“What exactly is it that you can do for Superman?” Marje asked, venturing a question of her own. Though she understood Lois' reluctance to place any faith in these people, she felt there was little to be gained in hashing over the past.
Adrienne looked grateful for Marje's input and found the courage to explain how they planned to treat Letour. “As I said before, I can help him cope with his pain while he rediscovers his past....”
“You can't undo the brainwashing?” Lois demanded and regretted her harsh tone when she saw Dr Ducos quail. Not that she had much sympathy for the woman, but she did realize that Marje was trying to build bridges for Letour's sake. With an effort, Lois softened her voice. “If that's possible?”
“It's highly probable that process has already begun.” Since this was Adrienne's field of expertise, her tone became more confident. “Now that your h... now that Superman is aware of the programming he will very likely fight it himself.”
Lois' mobile eyebrows arched. There it was again; Adrienne's almost mistake, yet Lois forced herself to ignore it for now. “He can do that?”
“It won't be easy for him, but Superman has a very strong will. Our methods might have controlled his conscious mind, but we could never influence his dreams... or his principles.”
“So, that would be why I heard him speak Lois' name while he was dreaming?” Marje mused, somewhat intrigued, in spite of being horrified by the whole scenario.
“Yes.” Adrienne warmed to her subject. “I'm sure he often dreamed about the life he had prior to his kidnapping, but I doubt he had any recall when he awoke.”
“No, he didn't,” Marje admitted. “And if I asked him about the dreams, he'd get sick.”
“The conditioning at work,” Adrienne said with a knowing nod of her head. “But that ought to improve in the future. It will take time, though. Superman is going to need a lot of support in the months ahead.”
“Months?” Lois' voice rose in shocked disbelief. “But you said that now he knew about the problem he'd be able to deal with it.” She realized she'd become so used to Superman's rapid powers of recovery that she'd expected to have Clark back in next to no time. A surge of disappointment threatened to overcome her.
“Unfortunately, the problem isn't only the brainwashing,” Stephan volunteered. “We mentioned the surgery, but we didn't go into detail. Superman has kryptonite coated chips implanted in his brain.”
Again Stephan became the focus of attention.
“Whit are ye sayin', man?” Mac came at Janik, his hands balling into fists. He couldn't remember a time when he'd felt quite this angry.
Lois forgot to breath. The world began to fade around her, but Marje was by her side.
“Courage, Lois!” Marje whispered. “He needs you to be strong.”
That was all the encouragement Lois needed and her spine stiffened. “Would you like to expand on that statement, Dr Janik?” She was surprised by how polite and reasonable she sounded when inside she was raging.
“I'll do what I can. There are two chips; one was placed here, in the temporal lobe....” Stephan tapped the side of his own head, deciding to drop the medical terminology. “The other at the back of his skull. The theory was that the first would block his memory, while the second would change his personality... his sense of identity.”
Swallowing the bile that threatened to choke her, Lois put aside her feeling of dread and asked only one question. “Can they be removed?”
“Yes! That's the reason we've been looking for Letour,” Adrienne answered eagerly. “It's a difficult procedure, but Stephan is confident he can do it, and I have every faith in his ability.”
“But you can hardly expect me to share your faith,” Lois declared with feeling, her foot tapping angrily on the wooden decking. “Somehow I doubt either of you ended up working in North Korea because you had exemplary records.”
“You're correct, Mrs Kent.” Adrienne had the grace to blush again. “We both have made mistakes in our time, but neither of us are killers, nor are we incompetent. In fact, since Stephan assisted at the implantation of these chips, he's probably more qualified than anyone else to remove them.”
“Assisted? What happened to the other surgeon?” Lois jumped on that point, though she wasn't really interested. However, if she was to agree, she would prefer the head honcho.
“Let's just say that Abelev isn't available and even if he was, he's a weasel.” The disgust in Adrienne's voice was evident. “He actually enjoyed working for Hyesan. Mrs Kent, Stephan is your best chance. I believe....”
Lois' hand cut through the air, silencing Dr Ducos. “Don't! It's obvious you are naturally biased towards your partner. But I need to think about this.”
Turning her back on the group, Lois walked along the wooden porch till she reached the corner of the house. Her hands clasped the rail tightly while her eyes stared unseeingly out into the night. For some moments, she prayed for a simpler life where she wouldn't have to make such crucial choices alone.... But Lois never shirked her responsibilities and Clark needed her to be strong.
Bizarrely, she did believe what Ducos and Janik had told her. After all, if they were the bad guys they would hardly have spent their time searching for Clark. That still didn't mean she'd agree to them carrying out any further surgery on him, not without supervision and not in China. If they were serious in their intention to help Clark, then they could come to Metropolis and work with Bernard Klein.
The decision was made, the details could be sorted out later. Lois strode back to the group. With her natural vitality bubbling up inside her, she was anxious to get this show on the road.
“Right, people, this is what we're going to do....”
*****
Regrettably, Lois' plans hit a roadblock the moment she reentered the MacDonnell's house. She was glad to see Clark dozing peacefully in his chair, but the the look Matt sent her was as bleak as the darkest storm clouds. Obviously, her son had been listening in to the conversation on the porch, and just as clearly, he wasn't amused by what he'd heard. Neither was he prepared to keep his opinion to himself.
“You can't seriously be going to allow Dr Frankenstein and his partner to mess with Dad's brain again?” Matt's words were harsh but, thankfully, he kept his voice low. Though his control made him appear more judgmental.
“Matt, I have no choice!” The two doctors had gone to rest in the centre's small bunkhouse where overseas volunteers normally slept, allowing Lois to answer openly. Yet, she surmised, even that fact was probably a case of closing the stable door after the horse had bolted! At least, in Dr Ducos' case; the jury was still out as far as her partner was concerned.
“But they hurt Dad!” Matt's tone rose an octave and he pulled his cowl from his head one more time, revealing the expression of a worried, sullen teenager. “How do you know they won't do the same again?”
“I think that's unlikely,” Lois walked quickly to his side and drew him away from his post by his father, towards the wood-burning stove. Her weariness sapped at her energy, allowing the colder night air to leech into her bones. “I doubt they'd have freed your father only to spend so much time searching for him later....”
“Aye, Jor, laddie, if they'd meant him ony real harm, they'd never hae let him go.” Mac backed up Lois' opinion with his own brand of Scottish pragmatism as he followed mother and son towards the radiating warmth.
“But maybe they wanted to steal him from that General so they could control him themselves,” Matt suggested, hunching his shoulders defensively, while his hands seemed to dig into non-existent pockets. To him the situation was cut and dried. He hadn't yet learned that most people's characters were neither black nor white, but mostly shades of gray.
“That disn'ae mak sense. They could hae escaped intae China at the same time as yer faether to carry on their devilish plans.” Mac lowered himself into his easy chair by the fire, shimmying his hips into the cushions. With a satisfied sigh, he gestured to Lois to take the opposite seat... just where her husband had sat the night before to enjoy a game of chess. God! That seemed like a whole lifetime ago. “Sit yerself doon, Lois, afore ye drop, and, Matt, be a guid laddie and fetch more seats fer Marje and yersel'. I dinn'ae know about anyone else, but I'm fair weary. These past twenty four hours hae been a wee bit hectic.”
“Tell me about it,” Lois said, feelingly, as she began to shiver. “Is it just me, or is it getting more chilly?” At once, her gaze strayed to Clark, concern furrowing her brow. “Do you think we could find a blanket for... Clark?”
“Och, aye. At this time of year, the damp gets intae yer bones. It plays havoc wi' ma lumbago.” Mac pointed at the chair he'd indicated a few moments before. “Ye'll find a tartan rug ower the back o' that chair. Ye can use that.”
Lois nodded, and within seconds was laying the cover gently over Clark's lap. When she was satisfied it would keep him warm, she took up Mac's offer of a seat, and smiled as her son also did as the Scotsman instructed. “Mac, I see we've both done with pretending.”
Mac gave his guest a twinkling grin and a wink. “Well, ye're a very sensible woman and ye know friends dinn'ae play games with ane another.”
Momentarily, Lois let her eyelids droop as she reviewed the situation with the MacDonnells. When she opened her eyes again, they showed acceptance and a fair amount of relief. “You're right, Mac,” she conceded. “I'm truly grateful for your support tonight... and I'd like to thank you and Marje for all you've done to keep Clark safe and happy. Goodness knows what might have happened to him in these last years, if it hadn't been for you taking care of him.” A shudder coursed through her body when she thought of Clark wandering this vast countryside sick and alone.
“No need to thank us,” Marje stated matter-of-factly. “It was our pleasure to help him. That husband of yours is a very likeable man, Lois.” She sat down in the rocking chair which Matt had brought her at superspeed, shaking her head in amusement that he'd managed to find the old rocker in one of the storerooms. “And thanks for this, Matt. I'd almost forgotten I'd stored it away.”
Suddenly, remembering his manners, Matt's cheeks turned bright red. “I'm sorry. Perhaps I was wrong to go looking through your stuff. But there were only the hard dining chairs left, and you look really whacked.... not that you look bad or... anything.” Matt stuttered to a stop.
“I'd quit while ye're ahead, Matt,” Mac said, grinning. “I'm sure we a' look a bit worse for wear.”
At that thought, Marje stood up again. “Perhaps we could all do with a cup of coffee. I don't know about anyone else, but I could do with the caffeine fix!”
“Mrs MacDonnell, I'll do it.”
“You're a guest, Matt. I can manage....” Marje's words ended on another laugh as she realized she was talking to the empty air. Matt was already in the kitchen. “Matt, you'll find a jar of instant coffee in the larder. It's the door to the left of the sink... but the narrow door. The other one leads to outside.” Marje shouted her instructions, then laughed more loudly as the young man appeared before her with four mugs of coffee, cream and sugar on a tray. “My, you must save your mother a lot of hard work.”
“I wouldn't know about that, Marje. You should see his room!”
“Ah, so even superheros forget to keep their rooms tidy?” Marje said, adding a little cream to her coffee and taking a tiny exploratory sip. “But you do serve up a nice cup of coffee.”
Matt finished handing out the coffees. “Mom, I think we've more important things to talk about than the state of my bedroom.” His lower lip pouted and he sighed in annoyance.
“Aw, laddie, just ignore them,” Mac recommended sympathetically, though barely managing to hide a grin. “Women can hold half-a-dozen conversations aw' at the same time. Sit doon and they'll soon be back on track.”
“Forgive me, Matt,” Marje smiled. She couldn't remember when she and Mac had experienced such an amazing night, and following as it did on the horrors of yesterday, she could appreciate how Alice in Wonderland must have felt when she disappeared down that rabbit hole. “It's just pretty overwhelming to discover that Superman has been living with us... and to see how his family deals with normal life. And, just in case you both need reminding,” Marje's glance passed from Matt to Lois, “your secret is safe with us.”
“I think we'd already worked that out, Marje.” Lois finally let the tension ease from her body, but she still had some major concerns. What if Matt was right about Ducos and Janik? Taking a deep breath, she decided to give Clark's new friends a chance to offer their impressions. “And, since you've been looking out for Clark all this time, do you think he's healthy enough to stand a trip home, and should we trust the doctors?”
Mac and Marje exchanged speculative glances, then Marje spoke up. “We've always believed he should go home. Even when we didn't know who he was, we advised him to contact the US Embassy, but because of the attacks we didn't have the heart to push him too much.”
Mac was nodding at his wife's words. “Aye, that's true. If we'd known wha he really wis, we'd hae done more, but....”
“You couldn't know,” Lois said quickly, not wanting this kind couple to feel guilty. Boy, she'd certainly changed her attitude. Just a short time in Clark's company and she was already mellowing.
“And we cann'ae change the past,” Mac said sadly. “More's the pity.”
There was a moment of commiserating silence as all four reflected on that sad fact.
Marje took a larger sip of her coffee, and grimaced a little at its temperature. There hadn't been time for the kettle to boil, so Matt must have used his heat vision. Life with the Kents must be seriously bizarre... and yet, for the sake of the family, she focused her mind on the present problem. “I think it's high time for Clark to stop hiding away in the back of beyond and go home. As for the doctors, I'm not sure what to think. I'd say they were telling the truth, but I only met them for a short time while they helped with the injured, before they were whisked off by the government's rescuers. They did seem genuinely concerned by the tragedy, though. Matt, you met them first. What did you think?”
Matt's gaze snapped up from the contemplation of the liquid in his mug. He looked a little surprised that someone was seeking his opinion. He was used to that in his superhero guise, but Mrs Macdonnell had called him Matt... and when did he start thinking of himself as two different people?
“Matt?” Lois smiled reassuringly at her son, silently thanking Marje for her diplomacy.
Clearing his throat, Matt began hesitantly, trying hard to be objective. Mom and the others were waiting for his point of view and they didn't want to hear an outburst from a hurt and bitter kid. “They seemed OK, and they were really grateful that I'd pulled them out of that sinkhole. Actually, I thought they were nice,” he admitted, a little grudgingly. “He was kinda funny... reminded me a bit of Uncle Bernie, only I couldn't laugh because I was in the suit. They told me they wanted to help treat the injured, so I guess I thought they were good people... but that was before I knew what they'd done to Dad.” No matter how hard he tried to be open-minded, Matt found it hard to get past that fact. “And I don't know how you can forget that, Mom!”
“I haven't forgotten, Matt!” Lois hissed, laying her mug carefully on a side table when her instinct was to throw it across the room. Yet, such an outburst wouldn't really help the situation, though it might make her feel better. She hadn't mellowed that much, but this wasn't her house and this wasn't her crockery.... “Believe me, I know exactly where you're coming from, but the fact remains that they are probably the only people who can give Dad back to us. He's the important one here, Matt, no matter that I'd like to see these doctors brought to justice and locked away forever.”
“Aye, laddie, and dinn'ae forget that yer Da does seem to believe in them, so maybe ye should give them a chance,” Mac proposed.
“And it's not like I'm just abandoning your dad to these people, Matt,” Lois said, forcing herself to remain calm. “Whatever they do, they'll work under the supervision of Bernie at Star Labs. Believe me, I don't plan on leaving them alone with him for one second and I'm counting on you to keep an eye on them. We'll take Dad back home with us and if the doctors are telling the truth and they want to help, they can follow us to Metropolis.”
There was the sound of a sudden movement behind them as Letour pushed himself out of his chair and walked slowly towards the group by the fire.
tbc
