>>> Wednesday, August 28th
Clark sat down in his hotel room and pulled out his old portable electric typewriter. He’d destroyed the keyboard on his laptop – again – when he’d neglected to hold back on his typing speed. It took almost no time to swap out the keyboard unit, but he’d run out of spares and Lois needed these articles quickly.
He ran through his notes of the press conference, trying to give the article an out-of-towner’s point of view, and then sat down to type. He reminded himself that his battered old portable wouldn’t take much super-speed typing and began.
It took him twelve minutes to type the first draft, edit it, then type what he hoped Lois would consider a final version. He suspected that she’d just have to edit some part of it, even if it was just a little.
Then he started on the hard one: the interview with Superman.
Clark Kent: Superman, thank you for talking to me. I know you’re busy these days.
Superman: My pleasure, Mr. Kent.
CK: What do you think of your attorney team?
SM: They’re honest, hard-working, and interested in seeing that justice is done.
CK: Is there any significance to the fact that they’re both attractive women?
SM: What do you mean?
CK: Did you pick them because of their looks?
SM: I’m surprised you’d even ask me that. I don’t deal with people on the basis of their physical attributes.
CK: My readers want to know, Superman. Ms. Hunter and Ms. Collins make a striking team.
SM: They are both very capable attorneys. Irrespective of their level of attractiveness, I rather doubt that either of them is planning to appear as a magazine centerfold any time soon.
CK: I see. So, did you pick them for their looks?
SM: You’re as persistent now as you used to be. No, neither their gender nor their physical appearance was a factor in my decision to ask them to defend me. I want to see justice done, and so do Constance Hunter and Blair Collins. And let’s not have any more patronizing questions like that, okay?
CK: If you say so. Do you think this trial will interfere with your Superman duties?
SM: My duty as a law-abiding citizen requires me to submit to the judgment of the court, so no, I don’t see a conflict.
CK: What if you have to go rescue someone while the trial is going on?
SM: My attorneys plan to ask the judge about that early on. Whatever Judge Fields decides, that’s what I’ll abide by.
CK: Even if it means not helping at some emergencies?
SM: Yes. In that case, since I’ll be submitting to the authority of the trial judge, it will really be his or decision and not mine. As I just said, that’s Judge Fields’ decision, not mine.
CK: That’s good to know.
SM: You have to understand, Mr. Kent, that I don’t consider myself to be above the law. I welcome this chance to be judged for my actions by a jury of my peers.
CK: Some people are saying that you’re too powerful, that you should be legally constrained from enforcing laws when you’re not a law enforcement official. What’s your response to that kind of charge?
SM: If an ordinary citizen assists the police in an investigation or even an arrest, the main concern of the officers involved is to apprehend the suspect and protect any innocent civilians involved, not necessarily in that order. The second part of that doesn’t apply to me, because the ordinary thug with a gun or a club or even a bomb can’t hurt me. All I want to do is help.
CK: But you killed a man. How can you go on being Superman with that on your conscience?
SM: That’s why this trial is so important to me. I want the people of Metropolis to decide whether or not I should be punished for my actions. I don’t want to be perceived as some super-vigilante who sets his own standard of right and wrong. I only want to help, but if the people of this city decide they don’t want me to, I won’t force myself on them.
CK: What about prison time? If you’re convicted, how will the state hold you?
SM: Simple. They’ll close the cell door and I’ll stay put. I’ll do what they tell me to do. I’ll work where they want me to work and go to my cell when they tell me to. I’ll be a model prisoner.
CK: But there’s no way for the prison system to hold you if you don’t want to be locked up. What kind of assurances can you give them that you won’t just disappear into the air?
SM: I will give them my word.
CK: So you’re saying that your integrity should count for something after all?
SM: In this case, yes. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone.
CK: Oh? What about Bill Church?
SM: You know, Mr. Kent, you’re just a little bit relentless.
CK: Thank you, Superman. Please answer my question.
SM: I can’t. Once again, the decision of whether my actions concerning Bill Church and Intergang were right or wrong, both legally and morally, is not mine to make. That’s why we’re holding this trial.
CK: You mentioned Intergang in conjunction with the deceased, Bill Church. Do you think that will be part of your defense?
SM: It’s a major factor in the entire sequence of events leading up to Bill Church’s death, so I certainly hope information about Intergang is allowed as evidence.
CK: What if it isn’t? What if the prosecution and the judge suppress all mention of Intergang?
SM: Then that’s how Ms. Hunter and Ms. Collins will play it. We will abide by all the judge’s decisions regarding such matters. After we make our case for the evidence, of course.
CK: It seems that you’re willing to go to jail if that’s what the jury decides. Are you really looking forward to spending the next twenty-five years or more behind bars?
SM: Of course not. But if that’s how the trial comes out, that’s what will happen. I will not place myself above the American judicial system.
CK: I see. What do you plan to do between now and the beginning of the trial?
SM: Exactly what I’ve been doing. Helping people. Stopping criminals from preying on the innocent. Assisting people who are in danger.
CK: What about active police investigations? Are you involved in any of those right now?
SM: No, I’m not, nor will I be involved in any active investigations. As you have already mentioned, I’m not a law enforcement official. I’m just a person who tries to help as much as I can. Unless I see someone actually in trouble, or someone asks for help, I don’t simply swoop down out of the sky and intervene.
CK: What are you plans for after the trial?
SM: I don’t have any. What I do after the trial isn’t up to me. That decision will be made by the citizens of this city. I trust that they will do the right thing.
CK: And the right thing to do is?
SM: To listen to the evidence and make a decision based solely on the law. I refuse to advise anyone or try to coerce anyone to decide on my guilt or innocence in this matter. All I expect is that the jury’s collective conscience will guide them.
CK: Thank you, Superman. That just about wraps it up.
SM: You’re welcome, Mr. Kent.
*****
Clark stood and went to the vanity, then toweled off his face and neck. Normally he didn’t sweat, but writing that interview had wrung him dry and worn him out. He hoped Lois would read it and understand what he was trying to say, both as Clark Kent the man and as Superman the hero.
All that was left was to get it to the Planet the next morning. He sealed both articles in a manila envelope and addressed it to Lois, left it at the hotel’s office, and scheduled a messenger pickup for early, early morning. Then he returned to his room and got ready for an early bedtime. Despite the difficulty he’d had in committing those words to paper, maybe Lois had been right about him, that he needed to get back into the swing of things. Writing those two articles hadn’t been all that bad after all, he mused, and the interview had actually been almost a catharsis for him.
Then he picked up an emergency radio broadcast with his enhanced hearing. He listened for a moment, then decided this was indeed a job for Superman.
*****
Judge Fields waved at Connie as she entered his chambers. “Come in, Ms. Hunter, join the party.”
Connie lifted one eyebrow. “I’ve never heard anyone characterize an evidentiary hearing as a ‘party’ before, Your Honor.”
“Well, you have now. Please have a seat and don’t make an old man hurt himself being chivalrous.”
She sat down. “I’m ready if Mr. Reisman is, Your Honor.”
“Good!” boomed the judge. “Now, let’s dispose of this motion and get on with the business of justice, shall we?”
Reisman shifted in his chair. “Your Honor, the people need to show a portion of the surveillance video in court, specifically the scene of Superman killing Bill Church.”
Fields nodded. “Okay. What’s the problem with that, Ms. Hunter?”
Connie didn’t move except to speak. “The problem is that if we show the jury only part of the tape, we won’t have a complete context for Superman’s actions. The rest of the tape supports the affirmative defense we plan to present.”
Reisman shook his head. “Other parts of the tape are incriminating to persons not involved in this trial, Your Honor. We don’t want to prejudice other actions going forward in this or in other jurisdictions.”
Connie leaned forward. “Your Honor, we prefer that the tape not be shown at all, but if the prosecution shows only part of it, it’s analogous to a witness who only tells part of the truth, leaving out vital information. If the people show part of it, we want to show all of it.”
Fields frowned. “Just how gruesome is this tape, Jack?”
Reisman averted his eyes. “Pretty bad, Judge. Worse than any horror film I’ve ever seen.”
Connie interjected, “All the more reason to show it all, Your Honor! If the jury only sees part with the gore, they won’t get the whole story.”
“The rest of the tape isn’t – “
“We’ve got to have it – “
“That’s enough!” Fields’ voice was tempered steel. Both attorneys fell silent. “If the prosecution shows part of the tape, the defense may show the remainder if Ms. Hunter feels it necessary to the defense of her client.”
“Your Honor – “
“No, Jack. In this case, what’s sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose. Either or both of you may use any or all of the tape in presenting your case.” He looked from one to the other. “Well, either I’ve made you both mad or you both have great poker faces.” He stood. “Either way, let’s get moving on this trial, preferably while I’m still young enough to enjoy the notoriety.”
Connie nodded. “Thank you, Your Honor.”
Jack nodded to her. “See you in court, Connie.”
He let Connie walk out first. Fields said, “Jack, a moment of your time?”
“Of course. What can I do for you?”
“Shut the door first.”
Jack complied. “Okay. Now what?”
Fields sighed. “Jack, I get the distinct feeling that Connie mousetrapped you on this.”
Jack shrugged. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Judge.”
“And I also get the feeling that you knew exactly what she was doing.”
“Really?” Jack reached for the door. “That would be a breach of ethics, Your Honor. The prosecution has to disclose all relevant or exculpatory material to the defense, but the prosecution isn’t bound to make the defense’s case for them. That’s not my job.”
“Uh-huh. Just see to it that you don’t do anything else to make me suspicious. And there had better not be any shenanigans in my courtroom.”
Jack smiled coyly. “Why, Judge Fields, how could you even think such a thing of me?”
*****
Lois checked off the last item on her have-to-get-done list for the day and leaned back. The afternoon edition was ready to put to bed and tomorrow’s morning edition was ready, pending any late breaking news that night. She stood, intending to take a five-minute break with a cold cream soda, but the reporters in the newsroom standing and staring at the far wall caught her attention.
She was reaching for the door when Ron burst in. “Lois! C’mere! You gotta see this!”
“What? Where – Hey!”
He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the bullpen, then pointed to the large wide-screen television on the far wall. She forgot Ron’s apparent rudeness as she watched the tragic opera unfold.
The LNN logo was modestly displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, but every eye was riveted on the image of Superman holding a crippled passenger liner steady against a dock in Hobb’s Bay as her passengers and crew poured off. The focus occasionally shifted to Superman’s efforts to control the stricken ship. He had to keep moving and putting pressure on different portions of the ship, which was already settling at the bow, to keep it from capsizing away from the dock.
Lois thought that he must have been working with the ship for some time already. His face showed real strain, and he was either soaked from the spray from the waves or sweating heavily. The storm that had deluged the city earlier had passed, but the water in the harbor was still churning, making navigation tricky, even for Superman. The bow deck was low in the water and visibly settling even as they watched, and the two exits near the stern were now the only ways to get off the ship without getting wet.
Her editorial reflexes kicked in. “Hey! Who’s out covering that for us?”
Catharine called out, “Jim took Brenda with him for pictures, and he sent Ralph and Maureen to get the story from the harbor side. They left about five or six minutes ago.”
“Good. Anybody contact the Coast Guard yet?”
Ron said, “Right before I pulled you out here. At the moment they have no comment, but that’ll change once they actually begin their investigation.”
“Any statements from the harbor master?”
Dead silence greeted her. She put her hands on her hips and turned as she said, “Then I suggest somebody make a phone call! And see if we can get some statements from passengers and crew. Find out how many people were injured. Get some history of the ship and the line she sails for. Find out how many other accidents they’ve been involved in, both that particular ship and the whole company. And find out what happened to that ship!”
Everyone in the newsroom stared at her, waiting for her next command. She lifted her hands in the air. “Why are you all still sitting there? MOVE IT!”
The room erupted into frantic motion as Lois turned back to the TV. A brave – or stupid – LNN reporter was on a tugboat headed for the stern of the damaged vessel. She kept up a redundant running commentary on Superman’s efforts to right the ship as they drew closer, then she began shouting questions at him.
Superman glanced down and shouted, “Get away from here! This is dangerous!” He took his hand away for a moment and motioned them to move back. “Get back! You’re in danger here! Get back!”
The tugboat skipper had apparently been well-paid, however, because they kept plowing closer. The screen split to a dual shot, one from the camera boat and one from the dock just astern of the liner. The second camera showed how difficult the journey from ship to shore was for the passengers, as by now all but one gangplank at the far stern had either broken away or lost its moorings and was hanging down from either the deck or the dock.
Superman yelled something inarticulate at them and turned his attention back to his burden. The liner wallowed and he grabbed the hull, then struggled again to keep it stable.
Lois finally looked at the reporter’s name displayed at the bottom of the boat view. She gasped.
It was Linda King.
“Idiot!” she hissed to herself. “Linda, what are you doing out there?”
“She’s reporting, I think.”
Lois jumped at the sound. “Ron! I – I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud.”
“You did. And I think the intrepid Linda is about to be in some serious trouble.”
Lois turned back to the monitor. There were still several dozen people on the deck waiting to negotiate the shifting gangplank to the safety of shore. By now, police and fire rescue units were on the scene, treating the injured and calming the hysterical and trying to help the last few off the ship.
But in the second view, Lois could see that Superman was having even more trouble holding the ship steady. The huge vessel was bouncing in the waves and currents beside the shore, and it appeared that it was trying to wrench itself out of his grasp. He was running out of intact metal to hold on to. The ship was trying to roll away from the docks, and if it did so while people were still aboard, they’d have little chance to survive, even with Superman close by. Additionally, the camera boat with Linda on it was dangerously close to the stern of the ship. If the ship capsized, it would not only take her remaining passengers with her, it might either swamp or crush the little tugboat beside it.
Lois found herself tightening her fists and quietly saying, “Come on, Superman, come on, you can do it, hold on, that’s it, good, you can do it, just a few minutes more, come on – “
Suddenly the camera boat spun on its screw and churned away from the liner. From the shore view, Lois could see Linda gesturing and screaming at the skipper, who only shook his head and leaned into the wheel. The view from the camera on the boat bounced, spun, and then went dark. A moment later, it vanished from the screen.
The shore camera showed the last people visible on the ship as they made their way to safety. As soon as they were clear, a police officer with a megaphone called out to Superman with the news, and he allowed the ship to settle to starboard as gently as he could. As the water closed over the port railing of the ship, he lifted himself out of the harbor and landed heavily on shore. He bent over at the waist and put his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.
The LNN crew was on him almost immediately. “Superman! That was fantastic! What can you tell us – “
He spun to face them. “Was that your camera crew on that tugboat?”
“Well, yes, they probably had instructions – “
“Do you know they kept coming closer even when I told them it was dangerous?”
“They were only following instructions from – “
“Do you know that they were nearly killed?”
“They have a job to do – “
“My job is to keep people alive and they were interfering!”
“We have to report the story – “
“Report the story!” His face was molten with anger. “They nearly got themselves very dead reporting this story! And they almost killed at least three dozen other people! If I’d been distracted and dropped that ship you’d be screaming for my head on a pike right now for letting those people die! And it would have been some stupid reporter’s fault! Don’t you know when to back off? Don’t you know that bothering me or a police officer or a firefighter in the middle of an emergency is a recipe for disaster?” He brushed more water out of his hair. “What’s wrong with you? Do you care more about the story than people’s lives?”
“No, of course not – “
“I don’t believe you! From now on you stay out of my way when people are in danger! And if you don’t stay away and people get killed I’ll make you attend their funerals myself!”
From the corner of her eye, Lois saw Ron shake his head. “Wow. The man is intense today. Almost like he’s on edge about something.”
“Ya think? Whatever just happened with that ship, it was a tough rescue. A lot of people were in a lot of danger until just seconds ago. He’s got a trial coming up in a few weeks and he might end up behind bars!” She crossed her arms and huffed at him. “Maybe you need to get a new perspective, Ron.”
He looked at her with a blank expression. “Maybe I do. And maybe you need to be honest with yourself and with Clark.”
She spun to face him. “What? What are you talking about?”
He looked around and lowered his voice. “Whether you want to admit it or not, Clark’s got competition. And I don’t know of any man who could stack up against Superman and come out ahead.”
Lois also spoke quietly. “You don’t know Clark like I do.”
“Maybe not, but I can tell he loves you more than he loves breathing. And I’m not sure you feel the same way about him. Right now I wouldn’t put it past you to run to Superman and give him all the comfort a hero can handle.”
She glared at him sideways. “Cut it out, Ron. You’re close to stepping over the line.”
“That’s a line drawn in sand and not stone, and we both know it. If Catharine were saying this to you, you’d listen and nod and take it seriously.”
“You’re not Cath.”
He drew himself upright. “No. I’m not. But I’m still on your side. And you need to settle on which one you want, the hero or the regular guy. Me, I’d advise you to aim for Clark. He may be a little dull at times, but he’s a real person.”
She turned away and murmured, “He’s changed over the past few years. We’ve both changed. But I still love him.”
“Fine. But don’t tell me, tell him. And if my respect means anything to you, do it soon.”
She stood facing the TV as he tromped away. She watched Superman hurry from one aid station to another. Occasionally he’d lift someone and launch himself into the air, then return in moments. She saw how intense he was, how seriously he took every sprain and scrape, and how much emotion he showed with the survivors.
He was taking this very personally. It was almost as if he were in direct, personal competition with the Grim Reaper and was terrified of losing even one person, whether he knew that person’s name or not.
She watched and thought to herself, He really has changed. He’s far more intense, almost angry at the concept of tragedy itself. How he must hate death in all its forms, even more than he ever did before.
He’s not the same man I fell in love with.
Then she thought, Which of us has changed more? And have we changed too much? Do we still have a future?
She picked up the remote and turned off the TV. There was work waiting for her on her desk, and when the reports on Superman’s rescue of the liner came in she’d have to scramble to make sense of them. The afternoon edition would change drastically, and the print room supervisor would have kittens if she waited too long to make the calls she knew she’d have to make.
At least she wouldn’t have time to mope over her personal life.
*****
They had the story before deadline, and it pushed everything else off page one. And she even managed to clean up the print room supervisor’s kittens.
The Queen of Columbia, a seven-hundred-fifty foot five-story passenger liner on a trip through the Florida Keys with nearly two thousand passengers and crew, had grounded itself on an uncharted reef two days before. The captain and executive officer had inspected the damage in the forward holds and decided the jury-rigged repairs would hold until they returned to Metropolis and the company-owned dry dock facilities there.
They hadn’t made it.
The storm that had drenched Metropolis that afternoon had blown up suddenly over the ocean as the Queen was turning from a northerly to a westerly direction to head in to Metropolis Harbor, hammering her damaged starboard side with fifteen-foot waves and ruining much of the repairs the crew had made. They began taking on water immediately and initiated emergency procedures, but the high seas eliminated any thought of lowering lifeboats. They’d managed two calls for assistance, then the ship’s list had caused the improperly secured radio set to fall and break.
Fortunately, Superman had heard the second call and arrived just in time to wrestle the ship to safe harbor with no loss of life. Lois wrote an editorial calling for better enforcement of the safety standards already in place. Catharine contributed a strong piece on the terror the passengers had felt when the ship first began to sink and they had no way off. Ron submitted a hard-hitting and factual piece on the lousy safety record of the line the ship belonged to. Jim had managed some clear shots of the damage to the ship’s hull, shots LNN hadn’t been able to get.
But there were no quotes from Superman, other than the tongue-lashing he’d given to the LNN crew, and Lois didn’t bother to run those. She knew the Star would take them and run from here to Krypton with them, and that the Washington Standard would use them out of context to hammer the superhero once again. She did, however, put together a series of in-context quotes from passengers and crew stating that Superman had saved several hundred lives and that the ship, sunk at the bottom of the harbor, was salvageable and would either sail again or be used for spare parts and scrap, depending on the mood of the line’s directors, the Maritime Commission’s report, and the insurance settlements to come.
Clark’s articles had arrived by messenger, but he hadn’t called her. He hadn’t called the Planet, nor her cell phone, not even left a message on her home answering machine. He wasn’t answering his cell phone or the phone in his hotel room, and his parents hadn’t spoken with him. As far as Lois knew, he’d put himself in high Earth orbit after leaving the dock and was still there.
There was nothing more for her to do but go home and get ready for the next day.
