Here's the next part of this story. You know, when I first started writing this, I thought it would be a short story. Then my Muse took the bit between its teeth and ran...
From part 17:
Hours and hours later, as the sky was starting to lighten, she glanced at the stars to orientate herself, then turned toward home. On automatic pilot, she got ready for bed, crawled in, and pulled the covers over her head. She’d thought she was cried out, but once again, tears coursed down her cheeks.
She made no effort to suppress them.-----
The Girl Next Door, part 18:
Lois arrived late at the Daily Planet on Monday morning, to find that Clark had apparently just arrived, too. He’d obviously only just sat down at his desk and turned on his computer; she heard the familiar chime as it booted up. They greeted each other quietly, but made no further effort to talk.
There was a gulf between them that hadn’t been there before, and neither of them knew how to cross it. They worked independently on the Luthor story, each at their own desks. There was none of the familiar bantering give-and-take, no comfortable side-by-side tussle over proper grammar and spelling - and any discussion between them was subdued.
Around noon, Jimmy, passing them with an armload of computer equipment, paused to ask, “What’s up, guys?”
“Nothing.” Clark said it without looking up from where he was sitting.
“Nothing,” Lois echoed, unable to keep her gaze from straying to the downbent head of her partner. Her… brother.
Jimmy was looking back and forth between them. “No, really. What happened? Didja have a fight?”
“No.” Again, Clark’s answer was short and abrupt.
Lois just looked down at her desk.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not Clark’s fault, is it, handsome?” Unnoticed, Cat had approached them and was leaning on the low wall that ran along one side of the two desks. “We all know how difficult Lois is to get along with, don’t we?”
Lois couldn’t summon the energy to respond to the dig; it just didn’t seem to matter. So she was startled when Clark rose abruptly to his feet.
“I’ll thank you not to make unkind comments about my partner,” he said brusquely. “Whether they are made *in* my hearing or out of it,” he added pointedly as all three of them stared at him – Cat with shock, Jimmy with surprise, and Lois with wonder. He continued in a stern voice totally at odds with his usual easygoing manner, “Whatever you are choosing to assume, Lois is without blame. I count myself fortunate to be able to work with her, and I consider her a friend. Leave. Her. Alone.” The last was said with a quiet, almost deadly emphasis, and Jimmy actually stepped back a pace.
Those closest to the little group had given up any pretense at working.
In any other circumstances, the look on Cat’s face would have been amusing; as it was, Lois barely glanced at her. Cat looked from Lois to Clark and then back at Lois again, and her murmured apology actually sounded sincere. Lois nodded absently, her gaze fixed on her partner.
He caught Lois’s eye, and his expression softened considerably. His voice was also soft. “I – need to go out for awhile. I’ll be back later, okay?”
Mutely, she nodded. She watched him all the way up the ramp and through the stairway door, as those in his immediate path quickly and self-consciously refocused on their work. She was still gazing through the door as he gave up any pretense at normal speed and zipped up the stairs.
She didn’t notice when Cat, with a muttered excuse, turned and headed toward her own desk.
“Uh, Lois… I…” Jimmy hesitated, and when she finally turned to look at him, he shrugged helplessly and said, “…If you need anything…” When she nodded absently, he turned and walked away.
---
Clark didn’t return before the end of the day.
By concentrating fiercely on the Luthor story, Lois was able to block the events of the evening at Clark's place from her thoughts – mostly, anyway. She didn’t get much written, but she got through the day.
At one point, Perry asked her where Clark was.
“I don’t know for sure, Chief,” she answered. It was true, mostly. She suspected that Clark might be flying aimlessly – he was more comfortable flying in the daytime than she was, for one thing. And of course, he could fly as Superman.
And if Superman were needed, Clark would have a story when he did get back. She might as well lay the groundwork for that. “I think he was meeting a source… There might be a Superman story in it,” she continued.
That was enough for Perry. “Good. Good.” he boomed, and moved on to motivate someone else.
As the afternoon wound down toward evening and people began to leave for the day, Lois finally managed to write several coherent paragraphs, and even jotted down a few ideas on finalizing the story. She’d discuss them with Clark when she saw him.
When she saw him.
When she saw him, she’d just have to… to focus on the fact that he was her partner and her friend – and could never be anything more. She just needed to be happy with what they had. And really, he was exactly the sort of big brother she’d have wished for, if it had occurred to her to wish for a brother while she was growing up.
Her mouth quirked into a half smile. He’d defended her today just the way she would have wished, if she’d ever needed a knight in shining armor. She could almost imagine him defending her on the playground in grade school. Or defending her from one of the more vindictive groups of girls in high school. There had been a small group of girls in her high school who had been less than kind to some of their classmates, although Lois herself, focused almost single-mindedly on journalism and not any sort of threat to their popularity, hadn’t come under their immediate fire. But if she had…
Anyway, she’d just have to put that Mad Dog Lane stubbornness to work and force herself to ignore any attraction she felt. It probably wasn’t really attraction, anyway. She was probably confusing the heady feeling of true friendship, and a… familial kinship with attraction in the first place. Hadn’t she decided, years ago, that she’d never be able to have a... relationship with anyone? It was just one of those things. She’d… forgotten that for a while.
And Clark had gotten a little… confused, too.
They’d be all right. They had to be. The alternative, to lose him entirely, wasn’t an acceptable alternative at all. She wasn’t going to give that any consideration whatsoever.
---
As it grew later, the room, lights already dimmed to night settings, grew darker. Her desk lamp cast a pool of light around her desk, but much of the rest of the room was in shadow. There were low-level emergency lights at intervals on the walls, and a few of the overhead lights, although dimmed, were not turned off.
Normally, she found the solitude of the newsroom after hours conducive to writing, but tonight, she found herself focusing less on the story - and more on her partner - than she liked. As she wondered for perhaps the hundredth time where, exactly, Clark might be, she heard the elevator as one of the cars began to climb toward the newsroom level.
She didn’t need to look through the doors; somehow, she just knew it was Clark. She watched as he stepped out, and without pausing, made his way down the ramp.
“Hi.” He spoke softly.
“Hi,” she replied, meeting his eyes.
“I thought you might still be here,” he continued.
“Yeah… I’ve been trying to work some more on this story.” She needed - *they* needed – to get past this awkwardness and focus on this story. So she continued, “I think we should go out to EPRAD tonight.”
“Uh…”
“…It’s not so dangerous, really,” she continued, pleased at how brisk and… professional she sounded. “We wouldn’t even have to break and enter, you know.”
He seemed to be taking his cues from her. Good. In no time, they’d be back to the way they’d been… before… Her thoughts faltered for a moment, but fortunately, he spoke.
“We should also… stop by Luthor Towers – maybe Superman should do that - and check on him…”
“Have you been doing that?” she asked.
“Yeah - when I leave work, sometimes. It’s dark, and no one will see me. I’ve been… looking and listening. I haven’t heard much, but maybe we could set up a recorder…”
Really, they thought so much alike that it was almost uncanny. With a more genuine smile, she told him, “I’m ahead of you, there, partner. I put a recorder up there Thursday night - before the launch.” As he quirked an eyebrow at her, she continued slightly defensively, “Well, I couldn’t *tell* you that, you know, because neither of us knew about… each other then, did we?”
He laughed. It was a small laugh, but it was genuine.
She felt some of the tension leave her. They’d be all right; it would just take awhile.
-----
It didn’t take much arm-twisting to convince Clark they should stop by EPRAD to… see what they could see. He’d probably have been harder to convince if she didn’t share both his abilities and his secret. As it was, he’d agreed that they might not even have to go inside.
“Should we swing past Luthor’s place first?” he asked as they went up to the Daily Planet’s roof.
“Well, if he’s there, we’ll have a recording of anything he’s said…” She paused for a moment, thinking. “I’d say let’s go see if Antoinette Baines – nee Luthor – is working late at EPRAD tonight, first. Then go listen in on him.”
“How good is your tape recorder, though?” Clark asked her. They’d reached the roof, and without conscious thought, both rose into the air and angled toward EPRAD.
She smiled. “It’s a small, powerful voice-activated recorder. With a transmitter. I… exploited a small design flaw in Luthor Towers’ construction, to position the transmitter in a location that’ll guarantee we get every word the man speaks.”
He laughed. “Exploited a small design flaw, huh? So you located the man’s inner sanctum…”
“Yep.” Lois laughed, too. “There’s a new, inconspicuous little hole in his office windowsill, and I’ve got a powerful listen-through-the-wall microphone tucked in there. It’s voice-activated, so I’m recording only what he – or anyone else in the room – says. And since his office is on the top floor of Luthor Towers, the likelihood of someone actually *noticing* the little hole, which is on the *outside*…”
“Where did you find something like that? No, wait – don’t tell me. You had Jimmy find it for you, didn’t you?”
“Yes – I used it for one of my stories last year. I was just wishing out loud one night, and a few days later he brought it to me. Got it from some surveillance guy he knows, who has a shop somewhere downtown. I remembered how well the transmitter worked, and decided to try it on Luthor. I only put it up there Thursday night, so I haven’t checked yet to see what I – we – have.”
By now, they were approaching the EPRAD complex.
They hovered above the main facility, scanning and listening. There was very little activity – a few white-coated individuals worked at desks in one or two small labs, and what appeared to be a skeleton crew sat in front of computer monitors in the main command center. A lone janitor was collecting trash from rooms along the main level.
They moved on to the shuttle hangar.
They scanned the building thoroughly; the offices were dark and empty. The hangars were dimly lit, much the way the Daily Planet building was lit at night. The only person in the building was a night watchman making his rounds.
“Nothing. Well… Let’s go see what my recorder has so far,” Lois suggested.
Clark agreed readily, and within minutes they were settling onto the roof of Luthor Towers.
“Is it a tape recorder – you know, with a removable tape cassette?” Clark asked her as she retrieved it from where she’d secured it under the low retaining wall that ran around the edge of the roof. The device was wrapped in two large Ziploc bags to protect it from the elements.
“No, it’s digital,” she answered somewhat absently, as she checked the display. It showed that they had about four hours’ worth of data. “It’s voice activated, and it has a time-stamp function so we can follow a time line; Jimmy got it for me at the same time he got the transmitter microphone.”
“So we need to either listen to it here, or take a chance that we won’t miss anything…” Clark was scanning through the roof as he spoke. “There’s no activity down there; just a couple of people sleeping – different floors... Probably Luthor and his staff.”
“Let’s go ahead and listen to it at your place, if that’s okay,” Lois suggested. “Your apartment is more comfortable, and… Well, I haven’t bought groceries lately…”
Clark laughed. “That’s okay – I can make us coffee, and I’ve got some of Mom’s cookies…”
“Ooh! Yum! …Race ya!” Lois exclaimed, springing into the air. She made it to Clark’s balcony barely a second before he did, and they entered the apartment together, laughing.
-----
With cups of coffee and a plate of cookies on the coffee table in front of them, they settled in to listen to the recording.
Lois pressed ‘play’. An electronic voice announced the time of recording.
<Monday, 7:09 pm.>
She pressed ‘stop.’ At Clark’s look of inquiry, she said, “I put it up there Thursday. But there’s nothing recorded until tonight?”
“Maybe he was out of town. We’ll have to have Jimmy check on Luthor’s whereabouts over the weekend – including Friday.”
“Yeah. Hmmm… Think he was out of town to establish an alibi? I was kinda hoping we’d hear his reaction to the shuttle’s successful… flight -” She grinned at Clark. “Oh – and to your appearance.” She smirked at him. “Wanna bet he wasn’t too happy?”
Clark laughed. “I imagine you’re right.”
Laughing, she pressed ‘play.’
There was the sound of a door opening, followed immediately by an impatient-sounding male voice. <…And get Antoinette over here. Tonight.>
<Yes, sir.> The second voice was also male, slightly accented.
The door opened again, then closed. There was the clink of glassware, and then after a pause, a sudden swell of classical music.
They listened for several minutes. When there was no other sound besides the music, Lois glanced at Clark, eyebrow raised. “Fast-forward a bit?” She asked.
He nodded.
She pressed the appropriate button, held it for a count of five, and released it. The recording resumed with a woman and man singing. She looked at Clark.
“La traviata.” And at her look of inquiry, he elaborated, “He’s listening to La traviata – you know, the opera? Italian - by Giuseppe Verdi?”
“Uh… I’ve heard of it, although I’m not familiar with the actual story,” she said. “Do you know it? Roughly how long is it?”
“Yes, I’ve heard it before. I don’t know – maybe three hours for a live performance… I imagine a recording would be shorter.”
“So if he’s listening to the whole thing…” Lois mused. She pressed the ‘fast forward’ button for a count of ten. The recording resumed with a group of men singing. She looked at Clark expectantly.
“Uh…” He listened for a moment. “I can’t place it, exactly – they’re singing about bullfighters… I think act three. Anyway, it’s toward the middle of the story – maybe the far side of halfway through.”
“Okay.” She fast-forwarded the recording again. It resumed with several people singing, then just the woman – a slower, more deliberate-sounding piece.
“This is the last part,” Clark said, after listening for a few moments.
Lois fast-forwarded the recording again, this time in short bursts by pressing and immediately releasing the button, until the music ceased. Then they both waited. After a short silence, they heard a door open and close again.
“Think that’s the end of that?” Lois asked.
The machine’s electronic voice announced the time. <Monday, 10:40 pm.>
“Yes,” Clark said with a straight face.
She laughed and held one finger to her lips. “Hush, Kent - and listen.”
They heard the sound of the door opening again.
<…Lex, it’s not my fault you couldn’t get those idiots to see it your way, so don’t blame me.> The speaker was a woman.
<And what about that code?> The speaker – Lex - spoke icily.
In contrast, the woman’s reply was light. <Those reporters got lucky; that bit of code should never have been found.>
Lex’s voice was terse. <You told me no one would find it, and yet what do I find on the very morning I had reason to believe the Congress of Nations was going to see it my way? The discovery of an error in the shuttle code, splashed across the front page of my morning paper!>
<They never would have discovered it if Platt hadn’t set them to sniffing around.> The woman laughed. <I still can’t believe they even listened to him.>
<I don’t see the humor in this, Antoinette.> If possible, Lex’s voice was even colder.
<Lex, loosen up.> The woman – Antoinette – sounded exasperated. <We win some, we lose some.>
<I had the anticipation of a very large sum of money to be made with Space Station Luthor, my dear. A very, *very* large sum.>
<So what, Lex? You already have more money than almost anyone else in the world.>
<But with that money would come an even larger amount of power, Antoinette.>
<And we all know how much you like power, brother dear. Well, you’ll think of another scheme; you always do.> Antoinette laughed lightly. <Too bad my little bomb didn’t work, though… I must say, however, that the appearance of this… Superman is almost worth the disappointment.> There was another laugh. <He’s certainly… eye-catching…> Her voice dropped suggestively as she spoke.
<Ah, yes…> Lex’s voice was almost a drawl. <The appearance of that flying freak was certainly unexpected. It’s going to be a challenge to find a way to neutralize it.>
<*Him*, Lex… And quite a him he is, too…> This time, the laugh was low and lingering.
<He is not important at the moment, Antoinette.> Lex sounded angry. <The failure of my plan, however, is foremost in my mind. You know I don’t like failure in the people who work for me, my dear.>
Antoinette’s voice turned deadly serious. <Don’t you threaten me, Lex - I don’t work for you. I work *with* you, and don’t you forget that. …Oh, the tales I could tell…>
Unexpectedly, Lex laughed.
<I’m going back to EPRAD.> Antoinette sounded calmer. <I’ve got an image to maintain, you know… Head of the program, gravely concerned about the targeting of the space program by… Hmmm, shall I suggest terrorists?> There was another light laugh. <Goodnight.>
A door closed; there was a short silence, and then a different voice spoke. <Will there be anything more, sir?> The speaker was a man.
<Ah, Asabi. Yes, as a matter of fact. You know how I feel about failure, don’t you? My darling sister seems to be… less concerned than I’d like… I believe it is time to… do something about that.> In contrast to the words, Lex’s voice was quite light.
<Shall I arrange an accident, sir?>
<Yes, Asabi.> Lex’s laugh was soft. <It’s such a waste; she showed such promise at the beginning of all this. I think… something related to the space program; something quite dramatic - you understand?>
<Indeed, sir. Another failed sabotage?>
There was another laugh. <Exactly. This time… the helicopter.>
“Clark!” Lois leaped to her feet even as Clark was rising to his. “C’mon – this was recorded – what? A couple of hours ago? We have to warn her!”
Clark spun into Superman as she finished speaking, and headed through the bedroom at a jog, with her on his heels. As they both rose off the balcony, he asked grimly, “Can you call the police? Ask for Bill Henderson; tell him what we heard!”
Hanging in the air with him, she pulled her cell phone from her jacket pocket. “Go! I’ll call them and meet you there!”
As she spoke, they both saw a flash of light, followed by the sound of an explosion, from the general direction of EPRAD.
“Oh, God. Go, Clark!” Even as she finished speaking, he was gone.
She made the call, which took only seconds but felt like hours, and then headed at full speed for EPRAD.
She knew as she got close that they were too late. The wreckage of a helicopter – the blades were mangled but still recognizable – was engulfed in flames. It had come down on one of EPRAD’s mobile refueling trucks, and the resultant spill kept reigniting almost as soon as Superman, who was hovering above the wreck, would put it out. Two EPRAD emergency vehicles were parked nearby, and a few small figures plied water hoses. As she watched, Superman directed a stream of frozen air at the flaming fuel. The flames died, but then flared up again almost immediately.
She could hear sirens without the use of any special ability; fire fighters and the police would arrive momentarily.
She moved back from the edge of the building on which she’d landed, then turned and descended along the far wall. She could claim she’d been alerted by one of her sources, but she’d better be down on the ground as if she’d approached by cab.
If the tape were to be believed, Luthor had killed his own sister. Maybe not by his own hand, but certainly by his orders. This particular dragon was getting bolder – or more desperate – and it was up to her and Clark to stop him.
-----
Several hours later, Lois and Clark sat in Bill Henderson’s office at police headquarters. Superman had talked to him at the scene, and had then referred him to Lois and Clark.
In the presence of the two men, Lois had faked a call to Clark on her cell phone. Speaking to Clark’s answering machine, she’d asked “Clark” if he’d had any luck finding out anything from their sources. Then, after a suitable pause where she “listened” to his reply – keeping her back turned to Superman in case he had trouble keeping a straight face – she’d instructed Clark to meet her at Bill Henderson’s office.
Turning back to the men, she’d pocketed her cell phone and stated briskly that she was ready to go. Superman had taken his leave with a small, formal nod to her and Henderson, and had lifted into the air.
“Good thing he’s on our side,” Henderson had commented laconically. “Restores my faith in human nature - at least a little.” Considering what Bill Henderson saw in the normal course of his job, that had been a pretty powerful endorsement.
Lois had accepted his offer of a lift to the police station, and they’d met Clark in the front lobby.
Now they sat listening to the end of the recording.
<Shall I arrange an accident, sir?>
<Yes, Asabi. It’s such a waste; she showed such promise at the beginning of all this. I think… something related to the space program; something quite dramatic - you understand?>
<Indeed, sir. Another failed sabotage?>
<Exactly. This time… the helicopter.>
Lois pressed the ‘stop’ button.
Bill Henderson stirred in his chair. “Is that everything?”
“There’s a bit more… We haven’t listened to it yet. When we heard… what he said about the helicopter… Well, Superman was listening to the recording with us, and he instantly headed toward EPRAD to warn Ms. Baines…” She pressed the ‘play’ button.
The electronic voice gave the time. <Monday, 11:45 pm.>
“We were listening to this just after midnight,” Clark commented.
Henderson nodded, holding up his hand to stop them saying anything else.
Lex spoke matter-of-factly. <What have you to report, Asabi?>
<As you instructed, sir. The helicopter Mrs. Baines travels in will shortly experience an unfortunate and catastrophic engine failure.>
<Excellent. I shall be distraught, of course.>
<Will there be anything else, Mr. Luthor?>
<No, thank you, Asabi. That will be all for the moment.>
<Goodnight, sir.>
Over the faint sound of a door closing, there was a soft, satisfied laugh.
They listened, but there was nothing else. After a moment, the recording shut off automatically.
Henderson sighed, running his hand through his hair. “None of this is admissible, of course.”
“But –“
“Look, Lane - you know it’s him. I know it’s him. We’ve had our suspicions about the guy for a while now, but nothing sticks to him. This is an illegal recording. You already know all this, Lois. Even if it saw the light of day, a good lawyer could easily suppress it.” He held up his hand again as she started to speak. “No judge will issue a search warrant based on this. You need to find me proof.
“Superman said it was clearly sabotage,” she said stubbornly. “He told you he saw evidence of engine tampering…”
“And I believe him. I believed him even *before* I heard this tape,” Henderson replied. “But we’re still stuck.”
He looked at each of them in turn. “Kent. Lane. Find me proof. Get your sources talking; get me a name. But be careful. This guy Luthor is slippery – and he’s dangerous. He’s just killed his own sister – had her killed, anyway. If you can find out who sabotaged that helicopter… If it was some gun-for-hire, whoever it is’ll likely talk. Maybe it was this Asabi guy. Chances are good he’ll talk if it’s his neck. But we need some kind of proof. A reason to haul the guy in for questioning. Get me whoever this was and we’ve probably got Luthor. Unless he’s also disposed of whoever it was that tampered with that helicopter.”
“What about the other information we have?” Clark asked.
“It’s a good start – but I want this guy nailed to the wall so tightly he’ll never get loose. We’re looking, too, you know. I’ve got a couple of my most trusted guys on this, and they’re talking to no one but me.” Henderson flipped through the documents Clark had brought with him. “This is great stuff, but I want to hold off on any search warrants on these companies until we see if we can get the guy who did the sabotage. I don’t want to tip our hand until we can nail Luthor on this entire thing – the sabotage, the money involved, and this murder. Probably more than one; your Dr. Platt was almost certainly another of Luthor’s victims.”
Clark rose to his feet, and offered Henderson his hand. “Thanks, Bill. We’ll keep working on this.”
Lois had also risen to her feet. “We’ll get him, Bill.”
“If anyone can find the dirt on this guy, it’s you two,” Henderson replied. “And you’ve apparently got Superman helping you. He’s a pretty powerful asset, I’d say.”
“Yeah. He’s been invaluable so far,” Lois said with a smile. “C’mon, Clark – we’ve got a lot to do.”
They left Henderson’s office together, and, conscious of possible witnesses, hailed a cab instead of flying back to the Daily Planet.
-----
To be continued
