Chapter 14
Lois looked where Clark was indicating. “No! It can’t be! It actually worked!” Lois shrieked, spotting her older sister in a lip-lock with their boss. “Herb! It worked! It worked!”
“What’s that expression I’ve heard you Americans say? ‘One out of two ain’t bad’?” Wells asked. “I’m happy for you, Ms. La - Lois, I really am.”
Lois started to head towards James Olsen’s office. Suddenly she found two muscular arms restricting her movement.
Clark had prevented Lois from running over to see her sister. “Lois, first tell me about that part of your trip,” he requested. “How could you have possibly prevented your sister from getting on that plane?”
Lois struggled but was no match against a Superman’s strength. “Why don’t you want me to go over there, Clark? I can tell you the story later,” she pleaded. “Let me go!”
“I want you to realize that if you were successful in changing the past, something else might have happened also. Tell me what you did. Give me the Reader’s Digest version… please,” Clark said. “Before Lucy spots you. Just humor me, please.”
Lois conceded. “Ok, Clark Here it is, really quick. So, after I left my mother’s apartment, I met Herb back in the park. We set the time machine for the day before Lucy’s plane crash. My plan was to call the airlines and find out where her layover was, and then get a message to her that her sister had called and needed to talk to her right away. I figured that since I’d been missing at that point for 2 ½ years, she’d be so eager to hear from me that she would forget all about going to work!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lois and Herb arrived in Metropolis on November 4, 1994 and quickly headed towards a phone booth to call Lucy’s employer.
"Yes, this is Lois Lane, Lucy's sister. I'm just in from out of town. Could you please tell me if Lucy's working tonite?"
After being transferred around, and threatening a medical emergency, Lois finally found out from the Coast-to-Coast Airlines’ personnel office that Lucy had a layover in San Diego, and would be staying at the Holiday Hotel - Airport for the night. On the return flight back to Metropolis, leaving at 7am the next morning, there would be a connecting stop in Dallas. Lois knew that the fatal accident would occur upon takeoff in Dallas, An air traffic controller would come to work impaired that morning and would inadvertently assign an arrival and a departure to the same air strip. Therefore, the two airplanes would collide in mid-air, killing over 250 people instantly. There would be no survivors.
“Herb, why don’t we just try to stop that controller guy from reporting to work instead of my calling Lucy? Then we can save a lot more lives than just my sister’s,” Lois suggested.
“Ms. Lane, that’s an honorable suggestion, but again, you’re talking about changing the past, and it is –“
“Very tricky business, I know, Herbie,” Lois finished for him. “What’s the problem?”
“Well, consider that 250 people died that day. Their families, friends, and coworkers were all affected in some way by their deaths. Some inherited life insurance policies, some of their spouses had to change their life styles and go to work. Their coworkers probably received promotions that they would have otherwise have had to wait years to receive. Their friends were forced to make other acquaintances to fill the void that was left by their deaths. If these people live, then some of the good that occurred by their unfortunate deaths won’t happen. It’s the ‘butterfly effect’. One person’s life or death can impact so many.”
“So what you’re saying, Georgie, is that it’s better to only try to save Lucy’s life than the other 249 people that died. That still seems very morbid to me…” Lois said. "I feel like it's something we should do."
“Ms. Lane, I’m only helping you with this endeavor because, as you’ve reminded me so many times, it’s *my* fault that Tempus was unleashed on you and stole three years of your life. Philosophically, I’m opposed to what you’re doing. But in the big picture of the space-time continuum, it's less dangerous to play with only one life than with 249 lives.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. But you’re not the one that lost her sister in a plane crash. I can really empathize with what the families of these victims are going to go through."
"I appreciate the fact that you are a good person, Ms. Lane. Believe me, I've learned the hard way about trying to take information gleaned from the future and applying it to improve the past. It's quite the dilemma. Remember, things happen for a reason."
"Ok, well, here's my plan." Lois felt around in her pocket. “Here it is,” she said. “Clark gave me some cash when we got back to Metropolis, so I could get my hair done and buy some clothes. We’re going to get a room, Mr. Wells. This way, Lucy will have a place to call me back. Don’t worry,” she said with an impish grin, “we’ll get separate bedrooms.”
Herb shook his head. “Ms. Lane, I must say, you’re quite the character. I rather enjoy your company. There’s never a dull moment, for sure.”
Lois studied her British companion. “Ditto, Mr. Wells,” she replied, smiling broadly.
Shortly, the odd couple checked into the Metropolis Hideaway Motel, a real dive, but within Lois’ limited price range. She managed to get the only suite with a shared living room but separate bedrooms. Calling information, she found the toll-free number for the Holiday Hotel in San Diego.
“Good evening, Holiday Hotel, San Diego Airport. How may I help you?” a man with a foreign accent asked her.
“Yes, there are some employees from Coast to Coast airlines staying there. I'm looking for the room of a flight attendant named Lucy Lane."
"We have a Lucy with a different last name. Would you like me to ring that room for you, ma'am? Perhaps she registered under a different name for some reason."
"Yes, please.” Lois replied. <Huh. Did she get married? Change her name?>
“One moment, then.” the desk clerk said. Lois heard the phone ringing. Shortly, the man clicked back on the line. “I’m sorry, but your party is not answering. Would you like to leave a message?”
“Yes, thank you. Please tell her to call her sister Lois at this number." Lois looked down at the phone on the desk and read the number displayed on it to the desk clerk. "Thank you very much.”
Lois hung up the phone. “Now, Herbie, we wait for my sister to get back from partying.”
“I hate to play the devil’s advocate, Ms. Lane – “
“Herbie, please call me Lois. We’re sharing a motel room, for God’s sake,” Lois interjected. “I think we can be on a first name basis!”
“All right, Lois – what if she ends up spending the night with a gentleman and never comes home?”
Lois considered the possibility thoughtfully. “Yes, that *does* sound like Lucy. I guess I’m going to have to keep calling the room all night, if she doesn’t return my call. Hey, want to get some food delivered?” Without waiting for Herb’s reply, Lois opened the drawer of the nightstand next to her bed, where the take-out and delivery menus for the immediate area were kept. “Do you like Chinese?”
Wells stared at her. “Chinese? I’m afraid I’ve never had it, Ms. – Lois. My taste in cuisine is quite limited. I'm more the meat and potatoes sort.”
“Ah, you’re in for a treat, and so am I. It’s been like five years!”
About an hour later, Lois was showing Wells how to eat General Tso’s Chicken with chopsticks. “Oh, this is so good,” she murmured, dipping her egg roll in duck sauce.
“It *is* quite good, isn’t it?” Herb agreed. “We don’t have anything like this back in England.”
“Welcome to the United States! Hey, is there any way that time contraption of yours can fly us to San Diego? If Lucy doesn’t call me back, I’m going to have to show up at the airport to try to stop her in person.”
“Actually, yes, but we would have to travel forward or backwards in time as well.”
“Ok. Let’s set the alarm for 4:00 a.m.. If my sister hasn’t called me back by then, we’ll go to the machine and set it for an hour ahead, to 5:00 a.m. If you can program it to materialize near the airport, I should be able to find her. Okay?”
“Certainly. We’ll try it,” Herb agreed.
Lois fell asleep on the couch in the room, next to the phone. At 3:00 a.m., the phone rang, waking her out of a dead sleep.
“Hello?” she said, her heart pounding furiously.
“Lois? Is it really you? You’re alive?” Lucy answered incredulously. “I thought for sure the desk clerk got the message screwed up. Where are you?”
“In Metropolis. But I’m going to San Diego in the morning. I want you to stay there. I’ll meet you at your hotel tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh, Lois, I can’t. I’m scheduled to fly out of here in four hours, at 7:00 a.m. I’ll be in Metropolis by dinnertime, though. Why are you coming out here, anyway?
“It’s a really long story, Luce. I’ve been away for awhile and I’m only back in town for a day. I’m heading west and I can only see you today, then I won’t be back again for 2 ½ more years. Can you get someone else to work for you? Please? It’s so important that I see you.”
“Lo-is! You’re being very mysterious! What is going on with you? Where have you been all these years?”
“Lucy, listen. Don’t get on that plane back to Metropolis. I’ll be there by dinnertime. Please?” Lois pleaded.
“OK, Lois. I might get fired for this, but I’ll wait for you. What flight are you on, anyway?”
“Oh, it’s a – private plane. I’ll get a taxi and meet you at your hotel. See you soon. Love ya! “
“Love you too, Lois,” Lucy replied, mystified.
Herb had listened to Lois’ side of the conversation. “I’m very surprised, Ms. Lane, that you didn’t ask your sister if your mother was still alive. That would have told you if our last trip was a success.”
“I thought of that, Herb. But frankly, I’d rather find out when we get back home. Does that sound stupid?”
“Not at all. So, I take it that we are going to San Diego?”
“No, Herbie. I’m finally listening to you. The more interactions I have in the past, the greater the chance that things will be messed up. We’re going to stay here until her flight has already left, then I’ll call her room and tell her I had a change of plans. Then we’ll go back to my present – your future – and see how well we fared.”
“Hmmm…. Very well,” Wells replied.
At approximately noontime, 9:00 a.m. on the west coast, Lois phoned Lucy’s room. Again, the desk clerk rang her room and there was no answer. “Would you like to leave a message, ma’am?”
“Yes. Please tell her that her sister Lois apologizes, but won’t be able to make it. Tell her I’ll be back in Metropolis on May 16, 1997 and to meet me in the Daily Planet bullpen.”
“Excuse me, miss… did you say 19*97*?” the desk clerk inquired, astonishment in his voice. “You *do* know that this is 1994.”
“Yes, tell her I’ll be back in 2.5 years. Please leave her the message.”
“Very well, madam.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of flashback~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark had listened to the story and was a bit perplexed. “So you don’t know for sure that she *didn’t* get on the plane, then? Let’s see if there was still a double airplane crash that day,” he said, searching the Planet’s archives.
“Clark – she couldn’t have. She’s right there!” Lois exclaimed. “In a big fat lip lock with the owner of this newspaper, in fact!”
Clark found the article. Indeed, the two planes had collided in Dallas, just as before. It appeared that Lois had truly saved her sister from an untimely demise. “Okay, Lois. Just play it by ear, though. You don’t want to be rambling on with her about time travel and alternate universes. Just tell her you were a secret assignment in Africa for the Daily Planet for the last five years.”
“Hello, Clark. Do you *see* who she’s kissing? Our boss. I’m sure he would have told his – girlfriend – if he had known where I was all of these years, don’t you think?”
“Good point,” Clark conceded. “Okay, then just go over and give her a hug and don’t volunteer any information.”
Lois was already halfway over to James’ office when Lucy spotted her.
“Omigod! It’s really you!” Lucy screamed. “And you’re so – thin! - I mean, compared to what you were...”
The two sisters hugged and cried for several minutes. Finally, James cleared his throat. “Lucy – are you telling me that Lois is your missing sister? What a small world!"
Lucy turned to James. “Yes, she’s my baby sister that I haven’t seen for five years. Do you know, Lois, that you saved my life that day you called me? I was so pissed off at you for making me miss my flight and then blowing me off! If I’d have been on that flight, I would have died with all of those people!”
“Yes, and Lois, ironically, I was supposed to be on that airplane also,” James added. “I got held up in a car accident en route to the airport and missed the flight. Lucy and I both got rescheduled on the next flight back to Metropolis. She waited on me in first class. It was love at first sight. I guess I forgot that your maiden name was Lane, honey,” he said. “Or I just didn’t put it together until right now. I sure would make a lousy reporter, huh?"
Lois was aghast. “*Maiden* name? You mean – you mean – you two are *married*?” <My *boss* is also my brother-in-law? Yikes!>
“Actually, we’re newlyweds, Lois. And - you probably don't know this, but this is my second marriage. One night, about three years ago, I was very depressed about Mom being gone and you missing, assumed dead. I got really drunk - I was in Vegas on a layover - and got married to this pilot. His name was Hal Jordan. I even changed my name to "Jordan" but it didn't last but six months. James knew me as Lucy Jordan when he met me. It took awhile to get the divorce because I couldn't track him down after we split up. It was like he had a secret identity or something! My divorce was final 10 days ago, so James and I just got married in Hawaii.
"Oh!" Lucy turned white. "Do you know about Mom? How she got killed by a drunk driver? Omigod, I'm sorry, it must be such a shock, Lo. She was doing so well, too. She had given up drinking and had signed up for an art class. She was purchasing supplies for the class and this hit and run drunk driver came right up onto the sidewalk and struck her dead. Oh Lo, it was sooo awful."
"I just found out about Mom dying when I got back," Lois replied truthfully. "Thank God you're here, Luce. At least I still have my big sister."
"And I'm so glad my little sister is alive! You're going to have to tell me all about where you've been for the last five years. I would have *loved* to have you as the maid of honor at the wedding!"
"Hey, Did Dad go? To your wedding?" Lois just *had* to ask.
"Hell, no!" Lucy exclaimed. "If I'd asked him, the 'twife' would've gone with him, and she'd probably have brought that brown-nosing daughter of hers, too!"
"Chloe?" Lois asked. "I just found out about her, too. I was rather shocked."
"Yes. Watch out for her. She's very ambitious little bitch and she'll stop at nothing to try to suck you dry. She's been pushing for an internship at the Daily Planet. Once she found out that I was engaged to James, she starting calling me and wanting to come out here to meet with him."
"Yeah, she already called me - said that Dad and the twife are on some cruise and he's coming here as soon as they get back. Then she told me she was a journalism major and that she heard I was a Met U 'legend' there. Lucy, maybe she's sincere. It's not that unusual to use relatives to get your first break. Men do it all the time."
"True. But something about her just rubs me the wrong way. The last time I was in California, I made the mistake of having lunch with Dad, the twife and Chloe. Ugh. It was awful. The twife hangs all over him and Chloe kept complimenting me on how "pretty" I was."
"Well, you can't hear *that* enough," Lois chimed in, smiling at Clark, who was standing right behind her. Clark nudged her playfully in her back.
"Well, I had written down the day that you said you'd be back and I made sure that we were back from our honeymoon in time. I was really going to kick your butt if you blew me off again! Look at you! You’ve lost a lot of weight.” Just then she spotted Clark shadowing Lois. “Are you two together?”
<This is getting to be the “question du jour”> Lois thought. “No Luce, Clark is my good friend. He’s going to let me stay at his apartment until I get back on my feet.”
“Nonsense! You’re going to stay with us,” Lucy exclaimed. “We have a big home on the river with a good-sized spare bedroom. We can catch up. It’ll be fun.”
Lois looked over at Clark, who had disappointment written all over his face. “That’s a great offer, Luce. But I think for now I want to stay in the city.” She noticed Clark’s face brightening up out of the corner of her eye.
“All right, Lois. Somehow, I think there’s more to this than what you’re saying. Can we have dinner tonight?”
“Actually, Perry – Mayor White – invited us over. But tomorrow night’s free,” she offered.
Lucy and James both nodded. “That’s perfect,” Lucy said. “And if Clark’s free, he’s welcome too.”
James winked at Clark. It was apparent that everyone thought they should be together. Lois found that she was getting more comfortable with the idea herself.
Lois spotted Herb standing by her desk, looking very uncomfortable. “Lucy, I’ll be right back. I have to talk to one of my – sources,” she explained.
James chuckled. “Wow, honey, your sister’s reputation is not without reason. Only back for ½ day and she already has sources to talk to!”
“Yep, that’s my sister. Boy, she looks *great*!” Lucy added.
Lois and Clark walked Herb out of the bullpen, and rode the elevator down to the ground floor with him.
“Herbie, I’m going to miss you. Are you sure you have to go back to stuffy old England?” Lois asked.
“I’m afraid so, Ms – Lois. But I’ll never forget you. I shouldn’t think you’ll be needing my services anymore.”
“I consider you a friend, Herbie George. Please come visit us anytime.”
Lois gave her new friend a hug. Clark shook hands with the petite gentleman.
“I couldn’t have done this without you, Herb. I’m forever grateful to you.”
“And all of Utopia will be someday, too,” Herb replied. “Trust me on that.”
He winked at Clark and headed towards the alley where his time vessel was hidden.
TBC…..Sunday or Monday….
