Chapter Three
Clark Kent floated above his living room, trying to watch the baseball game on TV. Nothing could distract him. This last trip to Africa had really bothered him. When he was visiting the children at the hospital, he was gripped by an emotional knot in his stomach. Every time he dropped off supplies to this particular MSF location, he could almost *feel* Lois’ presence there, but yet no one would admit to knowing her.
Scanning the camp with his enhanced vision, it appeared that they were telling the truth. Why, then, did he feel so close to her whenever he traveled there? And how embarrassing was it that the children knew he was looking for his “girlfriend?” He knew that the lovelorn expression on his face had betrayed him. The picture that he carried around with him was of the *other* Lois, the day his secret identity had been compromised. He could never find a clear picture of this world’s Lois Lane. How sad that was, he thought. It was like she never existed. The only person that seemed to care about her at all was Mayor White. Her father was completely worthless.
The knock on his door startled him. X-raying the entrance, he was not-all-that-shocked to see H.G. Wells on the other side. What was rather amazing was that he was wearing late twentieth –century clothing instead of his usual bowler hat and out-of-date suit. <Finally broke down and went shopping>, Clark smiled to himself.
Once he opened the door, Clark didn’t get a word in.
“Mr. Kent! I need to talk to you straight away. It’s about your Ms. Lane! May I come in?” he asked, already inside the apartment.
Clark had rarely seen his time-traveling friend this animated.
“I need you to come back to 1992 with me. But there is something I must inform you of first, and it may change your decision. Please be honest when you consider what I’m about to tell you,” Wells said, most gravely.
“Okay…I will be. What is it that you need to tell me?” Clark said, a little anxious and wary of what was going to come out of the small man’s mouth next. H. G. Wells was always surprising, that was for sure.
“Well, the Lois Lane of this world is, uh, a little *different* than the one in the other universe. Not quite as, uh, *hot* as you 20th century folks like to say,” Wells began.
“Herb, what are you trying to say? She doesn’t wear as much makeup? Doesn’t wear sexy clothing? I don’t care about that. It’s *her* I love,” Clark assured him.
Herb cleared his throat, deeply regretful that he had ever met Tempus and inadvertently pulled the other Lois into this universe. Clark would be married to Lana Lang right now, and even though he might never be as happy with her as the other Clark was with his Lois, *this* Clark’s life wouldn’t have been turned upside down. This world would have never had a Superman…well, that part wouldn’t have been good. Not for the world, anyway. But it would have been good for his marriage to Lana.
“The Lois Lane of your world has always had a weight problem. She’s apparently quite….obese.” Herb put his head down to stare at the floor, because he couldn’t bear to see the expression on Clark’s face.
Clark quietly absorbed this information, and suddenly, her father’s comments to him (“she’s not your type”), Claude’s snide remark (“if she looked like that when I dated her, I might have married her”), and Perry’s description of her doppelganger as “emaciated” made perfect sense.
“Omigod,” he said. “I’m so stupid. No one wanted to come out and tell me this. No wonder she hated having pictures taken of her. And her father…what an absolute jerk he is. He really doesn’t deserve to have her for a daughter. Poor Lois. Her mother died of alcoholism, and her picture-perfect older sister probably cast a shadow on her growing up. And I’m an idiot. No wonder no one at the camp in Brazzaville recognizes her. I’m showing them a picture of the *other* Lois!”
Clark raced over to his nightstand and took out the only picture that he had been able to find of *his* Lois: her valedictory speech at Met U from 1988. It wasn’t a great picture, but clearly, he could now tell that she was a heavier woman than the Lois of the other universe. “This is the picture I need to be carrying around with me,” he said excitedly. He took the photo of the *other* Lois that he carried in his pants pocket and ripped it up.
Herb dared to look up at Clark Kent. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no look of disgust on his face; just a perplexed expression.
“I think if I bring you back to the day she disappeared, you might be able to help me find out what happened to her. But it might be a shock for you to see her. You might not find her attractive. What will you do then, Mr. Kent?”
“I would hope that I’m not that shallow, Herb. I admit, like any guy, I enjoy looking at a woman with a great figure. But there are thousands of women that throw themselves at me every day that have perfect bodies. I don’t fall in love with any of them. I really believe that the inner essence of Lois Lane is my soul mate. We’re just going to have to put that to the test. Let’s go.”
Wells breathed a sigh of relief. He had just seen the “super” part of “Superman” in action.
“There’s one more thing. Where were you back in 1992? You simply can’t afford to run into your 1992 self. That might cause problems with the time stream, not allowing us to come back to the present.”
“I was working at the Smallville Gazette back then. I was engaged to Lana, and she wanted to stay in town after we graduated from Central Kansas U. She knew if I went to the big city, I would end up using my powers covertly to help people, so, controlling as she was, she gave me an ultimatum: get a job in Smallville or we’re breaking up. Per usual, I caved in. Lana was all I had. Her family was like my family. When my folks died, I bounced around from foster family to foster family. After I started dating Lana in high school, my life finally had some stability,” Clark offered in explanation.
Sensing that perhaps Clark needed to talk more about this obviously sore subject, Wells decided to ask a follow-up question.
“And so how did you convince her to move to Metropolis in 1993?”
“Her parents had moved there, and so Lana, wanting to be near her precious Daddy, changed her mind. She thought it would be prestigious for me – really for her, I think - if I landed a job at the Daily Planet. She made me promise not to use any of my abilities before we moved, of course. A promise I ultimately couldn’t keep, as you know.”
Lois’ apartment, 7:00pm, May 16, 1992
The time machine materialized adjacent to the Daily Planet, as before. Herb blurted out Lois’ address, and in seconds they were airborne. Clark landed on the roof of Lois’ apartment, leaving Herb there, while he flew down to her window to see if she was in the apartment. Floating outside, using his enhanced vision to locate Lois, his heart skipped a beat when he saw her sound asleep in her bedroom.
Clark smiled. There she was. *His* Lois. Her face was fuller than the Lois he had met, but the feeling he got just looking at her was the same as when he flew over the MSF camp in Brazzaville. He took a millisecond to memorize her heartbeat. He would be able to find her now, wherever she ended up.
Lois appeared to be completely out of it, as if she had been drugged. Suddenly, Tempus materialized in front of the bed and held a device to her cheek. Lois was completely unaware that there was someone standing over her. Before Clark could break into the apartment to stop Tempus, both of them vanished from the room.
Clark raced back to the roof, picking up Herb quickly. “We have to get back to the time machine! Tempus just abducted Lois! He somehow teleported her out of the bedroom!” Clark shouted.
“My word! I should have known that he had something to do with her mysterious disappearance,” he shouted during the two-second flight back to the alley where the time machine was hidden.
“Herb, can you set the controls for us to come back a few minutes earlier so I can stop him from abducting her?”
“Mr. Kent, we came back here to find out what happened to her. We can’t change the past. All we can do is hope to find her in your present,” Herb replied. “Who knows where he took her? She could be in any time, any place. Oh, dear me.”
“I think I know where she is,” Clark revealed. “Herb, let’s get back to 1997 ASAP.”
Materializing in the alley adjacent to Clark’s apartment, where the paparazzi continually lurked, Herb turned on his mirrored cloaking device to hide the machine. Clark swiftly flew Herb back up to his apartment.
“Why did Tempus take Lois out of 1992?” he wondered when they were back inside. “I wasn’t even in Metropolis yet. We hadn’t even met.”
“It’s brilliant, really,” Herb stated. “As you know, Mr. Tempus is a lover of irony. He knew that the other Lois would be there for your debut. He deliberately created Superman by bringing the other Lois to this world. You were with Lana, a tall beautiful blonde. You would have never noticed the other Lois.”
Clark flinched. “Do you really think I’m that looks-oriented? That superficial?”
“I’m quite certain that you and this world’s Ms. Lane would have become coworkers and professional friends, At some point, though, if the other Lois hadn’t arrived in this world and convinced you to become Superman, you would have ended up marrying Lana. This way, he breaks up your marriage and makes you miserable, pining for a Lois that had to leave this world and go back to hers. Tempus knew that you would search for the Lois of this world, but since they don’t look exactly alike, he figured that you would never find her. Or if and when you did locate her, you wouldn’t be attracted to her. There’s the irony of it all. Very cunning fellow, that Tempus. By the way, did you get a good look at *your* Lois before he abducted her?” Herb asked.
“Yes, I did. That’s why I think I know exactly where she is. I’ve seen her before and didn’t realize that it was her. I never considered how much fuller your face looks when you gain weight. Shame on me for just assuming that she would be exactly the same as the other Lois. I’m not the same as the other Clark. Maybe we look the same, but our experiences have been different. If I didn’t have super-powers, who knows? I might have been a druggie or an alcoholic to get through all of the bouncing around I did growing up. Lois probably suffers from poor self-esteem and eating made her feel loved. I don’t know, to be honest, if we’ll be a love match or not, but I want the opportunity to find out.”
“So where is she?” Herb asked.
“I’m pretty sure she’s a teacher at the “doctors without borders” camp just outside of Brazzaville,” Clark replied. “She must know I’m looking for her, unless she’s confused about who she is. I’m going to have to do a little investigative work before I confront her. If she doesn’t want anyone to know where she is, I need to respect that, I guess.”
“Then I guess my work here is done,” Herb smiled. “Good luck, Mr. Kent. Perhaps I’ll come back in a few months and see how things turned out.”
“Thanks for all of your help, Herb. I know that you mean well, and I appreciate it,” Clark replied, shaking his hand before he left the apartment.
*******
The next day, Lois and Bridget traveled to downtown Brazzaville to the headquarters of Les Depeches de Brazzaville. Her intent was to convince one of their employees to let her use their computer for research. The infrastructure in Congo-Brazzaville was very poor. Phone lines were limited and iinternet connections even scarcer. But a top-notch newspaper would have everything she would need to determine what happened to her family.
Upon reaching the main entrance, Lois asked the security guard if she could meet with their best reporter. She watched as he picked up an intercom and had a brief conversation with someone. She was informed that a “journaliste” would be coming out to meet her in a few minutes.
Shortly Eduardo Cue, a large Hispanic man, introduced himself as an American journalist that had been working as a foreign correspondent in Brazzaville. Noting the two American women in front of him, he spoke in English to them.
“My name is Lois Lane. It’s a great pleasure to meet you, Eduardo. This is Dr. Bridget Crosby. We are volunteers at the MSF camp about 10 miles from here.”
“Not Lois Lane, the missing reporter?” Eduardo said in astonishment. “The world believes you’re long dead.”
“I’m afraid so. But for reasons of my own, I’m asking you to be discreet. No one back home yet knows that I’m alive.”
“Agreed. How can I assist you?”
“I recently discovered that my mother and sister are dead. I was wondering if you would be able to help me research the details. I would be so grateful…, please?”
“Ms.Lane, it would be my absolute pleasure. I’m so sorry for your loss. I greatly admired your investigative reporting style. Journalists across the country were saddened by your apparent abduction. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not yet, thanks Eduardo. I appreciate your kind words. Can we get started? There’s a lot of children back at the camp that need us, right Dr. Crosby?”
Bridget Crosby nodded, amazed that her friend was apparently a big-shot reporter back in the States. It was hard for her to understand why she didn’t want to go home, but at the same time, she and the camp volunteers were very grateful for her assistance there.
*****
Lois cried the entire way back to their camp. She felt directly responsible for her mother’s passing. Through the years, her mother always felt that Lois was the one person she would be able to count on…spend time with. Since Lois never had a boyfriend, Ellen Lane would visit her daughter at least once per month and they would commiserate, Ellen with her wine, and Lois with her double fudge crunch chocolate bars, about how shallow men were. All they wanted was someone with a perfect body. Their brains and personality didn’t matter. Her mother had never gotten over the fact that her father had left her for a younger, thinner woman. Lois had been somewhat brainwashed by Ellen Lane to think that looks were everything to guys. And her own experience, especially with one Claude Michaud, had lead her to believe that it was true.
Lois had been stunned to find out that her mother had died of cirrhosis of the liver two years after she had been abducted. Lucy died in a plane crash six months later. Lois reasoned that even if she had tried to contact her family immediately after her mysterious arrival at the MSF camp, she would have been too late. They were both already gone! What happened to her in those three missing years? And how could she possibly explain these missing years to anyone without them thinking she was crazy? Was she in a coma? Did someone take her prisoner? God forbid, was she kidnapped and no one in her family cared enough to pay the ransom? Horrid thoughts swept over her and she felt sick to her stomach.
Bridget, who was trying to navigate the jeep over the very rough, windy dirt road, tried to offer comfort. “Jane – Lois – whenever you want to talk about what you found out, I’m here for you. You can tell me anything. Anything at all.”
“Three years of my life are missing,” Lois blurted out. “By the time I arrived in your camp, my sister and my mother had already died. My mother drank herself to death and my sister died in a plane crash. She was a flight attendant. I wasn’t around for their funerals. I wasn’t around, period. How do I get those three years back? Where was I?”
Bridget pulled the jeep over, and held her friend of two years in her arms for comfort for the second time in 24 hours. “I don’t know, honey. Weird things happen in life. Would you like to be hypnotized and see if you can remember anything?”
Lois gave it some thought. She had been offered that before, when she had told everyone at the camp that she had amnesia, and she had refused. She didn’t want to blurt out anything that would indicate she was really Lois Lane. But perhaps now, since Bridget already knew…maybe now was the right time to find out.
“Ok. If you can promise that whatever you find out will be kept strictly confidential. Yes, let’s do it,” Lois agreed.
“Of course it will be,” Bridget assured her as she steered the jeep back onto the road. “Doctor’s honor,” she said smiling, trying to brighten up her tortured friend.
“Bridget, you’re one in a million. Thanks so much for coming with me today,” Lois told her earnestly.
“My pleasure, Lois. I *can* call you that when it’s just the two of us, right? Since you’re the famous missing American reporter, Lois Lane?”
“For about five more minutes…then I’m just plain “Jane” again, Lois said, trying to lighten the moment as well. There was nothing like a close girlfriend to share these emotional moments with.
Shortly, when they entered the camp, it was apparent that something special was going on. The minute their jeep was spotted, a crowd of doctors and children rushed around them. They were pointing up in the air. Lois looked up to find Superman floating about 20 feet off the ground. Had he been waiting for them to return?
TBC....Sunday...
