As you might have figured out by now, this isn't going to be one of the longer stories -- at least, I hope it isn't. I don't know for sure how many parts, yet, but anyway, here's part 2. I figured I'd better post it now because life could go crazy around here any minute and I might not have time later.
Nan
Home: Vendetta -- 2/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
There was light below. At last, they were coming to the ground floor emergency exit. Lori hung on to the handrail as she descended the last flight of steps and emerged from the stairwell into the open air. A pair of hands seized her and rushed her away from the building. Looking up, she saw John, grim-faced, manhandling her to safety.
"John," she managed, "I'm all right. See about the others."
"Our people are out," he said. "This way. Clark wants you as far away from this as possible. He and the others are doing everything they can. The fire department and police are there. They don't need us."
"I'll stay back," Lori said. "You don't think I'd risk my baby for anything, do you?"
A groundcar pulled up beside them and the window rolled down. A stunner pointed at them from the window. The stunner hummed and John flung himself backward. The stunner beam must have brushed him, though, for he staggered and fell to the sidewalk. "Get in," a voice said. "Move it, Lyons, or I shoot and drag you in."
Lori stared at the stunner and then at the face of the man holding it. "Fred!"
**********
And now, Part 2:
"Never mind the public service announcement." The stunner in Fred's hands didn't waver as he spoke. "And being pregnant won't help you a bit. Hurry up!"
Keeping her hands carefully in sight, Lori moved slowly toward the groundcar from which Fred Harkin was covering her with his stunner. The Daily Planet's former copy boy was grinning nastily at her. "Get in Lyons. No tricks."
"It's not as if I'm able to run," Lori said.
"Shut your mouth! Get in the back seat."
Lori obeyed. In her very pregnant condition, she couldn't run. She would have to depend on Clark at this point. John wasn't unconscious. She could see him stirring and prayed that Fred wouldn't fire again. Slowly, she climbed into the car's rear seat, trying to decide if she dared risk activating the earrings. Fred had turned to face her, and the malicious grin on his features told her that he would be happy to use any excuse to fire the stunner at her.
"Belt yourself in," Fred told her. He nodded to the man in the driver's seat. "Go."
Lori obeyed, and the car moved away from the curb. Fred pushed the stunner into her face. "Go on," he prodded. "Just give me an excuse."
"Sit down, Harkin." The driver didn't glance back. "This isn't about your personal vendetta. She's a war criminal and will be treated as such."
"War criminal?" Lori said. "Are you two out of your minds?"
"You're a war criminal, Ms. Lyons," the driver said, "in our war to save the human race. You and your husband prevented our people from stopping the Mayflower and, as a result, the founding of a colony on the planet of Alpha Centauri will signal the doom of humanity. That's enough of a crime, don't you think, to merit the death penalty?"
Definitely around the bend, Lori thought. "Do you mind taking that thing out of my face?" she said acerbically. "I can hardly fight my way out in my condition."
"Shut up," Fred told her. "I'd love to pull this trigger, Lyons, believe me."
"Sit *down*, Harkin!" the driver repeated. "She isn't to be injured until the court finds her guilty and she's executed."
"You mean you're going to let her mouth off and do nothing?" Fred demanded. "And we haven't even gotten Kent yet."
"The other team will see to Kent." The driver glanced sideways at him. "We aren't to let our personal feelings into this or it becomes petty revenge."
"But --"
Lori glanced at her wrist talker. It had been barely three minutes since her kidnapping but she was quite certain that John had notified Clark by now. She just hoped that he wasn't in the middle of a rescue or something. "You mean you're blaming *Clark*, too?" she said.
"Shut up," Fred answered viciously. "And give me that wrist talker!"
Lori began to fumble with the strap, stalling as well as she could. With any kind of luck, the emergency signal produced by the earrings was being heard by every super hero in the city.
Slowly, she handed the wrist talker to Fred, who shoved it into his pocket. He turned to face forward again but Lori could see him watching her in the mirror. She sat back in the seat, trying to will her pounding heart to slow down. Surely at least one of the supermen could spare a few minutes to answer her emergency signal.
All of this had to have been orchestrated, she thought. The rioting people, the bombing of the Daily Planet, and her kidnapping -- Gaia's Children must have planned to kidnap her, and probably Clark -- only, of course, Clark was in costume, helping out at the disaster they had caused.
"You bombed the Daily Planet just so you could get your hands on me?" she asked.
"Don't flatter yourself," Fred answered. The sneer in his voice was very pronounced. "Our dispute is with the Daily Planet as an institution. You and Kent were its tools. The Daily Planet will be destroyed in retribution. Mother Earth will avenge herself on --"
Oh brother, Lori thought. Fred was more of a lunatic than she'd realized. It was her experience that the leaders of the various cults believed in the actual dogma a good deal less than their flock, but Fred was obviously a believer in this nonsense. He believed that Gaia, Earth, was on his side, demanding her death and Clark's, in payment for aiding and abetting in the destruction of the human race.
She hoped Clark would hurry.
**********
Clark Kent, AKA Superman, lifted his head at the telepathic message that echoed in his brain. The sender was dizzy, and a pounding headache colored the words. *Clark, it's John! Lori's been kidnapped!*
He grimaced in frustration. He couldn't leave now. He was holding up a flight of stairs with several hundred people who were frantically trying to evacuate the Daily Planet building, but if Lori was being kidnapped, he couldn't ignore that, either.
John's "voice" again spoke in his mind. *It was Fred Harkin. That means Gaia's Children is behind it!*
CJ, in his guise as Tan-El, appeared suddenly and braced himself beside Clark, taking the weight of the stairs. "Go!" he said.
Clark whisked in the direction of the "voice" and an instant later he saw a figure on the sidewalk, waving. John's face was pale, but he spoke instantly as Clark's feet hit the ground beside him. "He had a stunner. He hit me with it, but I guess I've got enough of your heredity that it didn't knock me out. I saw him, and I got the license number."
"Give it to me," Clark said. "Can you describe the car?"
John nodded. He turned his head and coughed slightly. "Sorry. My stomach's a bit upset. It was a blue Meteor, license number JKR557NN. It's been about three minutes."
"Thanks. Call Velma Chow. Tell her what you told me. I'm going to try to see if I can spot it from the air."
**********
John Olsen watched as Clark, resplendent in red, blue and yellow, launched himself into the air and rapidly shrank to a tiny, inconspicuous dot. He would find Lori's kidnappers, he told himself. Clark had a bond with Lori, which meant that even though he couldn't communicate mentally with her most of the time, he could sense when she was in trouble and generally could tell direction. Gaia's Children had no idea who they were dealing with. It wasn't just Superman, either, but every member of the Kent clan: super powered, telepathic or just an ordinary citizen -- they would be after Lori's abductors.
He lifted the wrist talker to his lips. "Call Velma Chow," he said.
There was a long moment while the phone buzzed and then an annoyed voice answered. "Chow. This better be important."
"Lieutenant, this is John Olsen, the Managing Editor of the Daily Planet," John said.
"I'm a little busy," Velma's voice said, sounding vastly irritated. "I don't have time for quotes right now."
"Neither do I," John said. "I'm reporting the kidnapping of Lori Lyons by an operative of Gaia's Children."
Silence answered him for a count of nearly five seconds. "Did I hear you right?" Velma's voice said, sounding somewhat less irritated.
"They shot at me with a stunner and forced her into their car," John said. "I recognized the man with the stunner. It was my former copyboy, Fred Harkin, who happens to be a card-carrying member of the group. Superman's in the air looking for the car, but I thought it might be a good idea to let you know what was happening."
"I don't suppose you got the license number," Velma said.
John gave it, as well as the make, model and description of the vehicle in question.
"I'll notify the station," Velma said. "We should have an ID and a trace on the car within minutes."
"If you'll pass the information to me, I can relay it to Superman," John said.
The police lieutenant's voice sounded slightly annoyed. "Why is it that Superman gives his number to everyone but me?"
"Do you mind if I explain that later, Lieutenant?" John said. "My top female investigative reporter is in the hands of a group of lunatics who blame her for the coming end of the world. Time is of the essence."
"Keep your pants on," Velma said. "We're on it."
**********
High in the air over Metropolis, Superman scanned the area below for any sign of the car that John had described. In the back of his mind he could sense his soulmate's fear, so strongly that he could almost hear the actual thoughts that formed it. And then, her emergency signal went off. The sound was loud and clear in Clark's mind, and he zeroed in on it like an arrow going into the bull's eye. From the left he saw Blue Lightning and Superwoman approaching in streaks of color, and an instant later Typhoon and Cyclone appeared.
And the sound cut off abruptly. One second it was there and the next it was gone. All that remained was the silent trace of his wife's mind, echoing back her growing terror.
**********
Lori unconsciously held her breath, aware that every superhero in the city was hearing her alarm, and praying that at least one of them was free to come to her aid.
"There," Fred announced, pointing ahead. Lori followed his pointing finger with her eyes, seeing the big, nondescript truck with a ramp leading up into its vacant interior. The car in which she rode rolled up the ramp and pulled to a stop inside the cargo space, and the rear doors closed. Almost at once Lori felt motion again. The airtruck lifted off, and banked to the right.
"If the cops are trying to track the car," Fred told her smugly, "they won't find a trace of its homing signal. And you can scream all you want. This place is shielded against police trackers, *and* soundproof." He grinned nastily at her. "You get to be our guest until we get our hands on Kent, and then you both go on trial. I don't expect the trial to last long. We all know what you did."
Lori turned her head away and squeezed her eyes shut. Clark had no way of tracing her now, except for that sense that he had told her about, his link with her mind that let him feel traces of her emotions. *Please,* she thought, *please, Clark, be feeling my thoughts now! Come find me!*
And for just a second she seemed to hear his voice inside her head. *Hold on! I'll find you, no matter what it takes; just hold on!*
The ride in the airtruck seemed to go on for an interminable length of time but it probably was only a few minutes, she knew. Then she realized that they were dropping, and felt it when the ground wheels hit the pavement again. The truck rumbled forward over a rough surface that tilted upward slightly, and then came to a stop. The engine died.
"We're here," Fred announced. He pushed open his door and got out, still covering Lori with the stunner. "Give me that jewelry you're wearing. The earrings and the pin. And your wedding rings." He pocketed the items in question. "Now get out. And no tricks."
Lori forbore to answer him. It wouldn't take much to goad Fred into firing that thing in his hands, and she had no idea what effect it might have on her baby. Meekly, she got out of the rear seat and stood on the metal floor of the truck's cargo section.
A scraping sound drew her attention, and the rear doors of the truck swung open. Two men were opening the doors, and Lori allowed herself to be herded out of the truck, down the ramp and onto a synthastone floor. She appeared to be in a garage and for a moment toyed with the idea of screaming for Superman.
"Don't bother screaming," Fred's sneering voice broke in on her thoughts. "This place is soundproof, too. Walk ahead of me."
Lori did so, doing her best to appear cowed. Fred's low opinion of her might be to her advantage, especially if she reinforced it by her actions.
"Through that door."
Lori climbed two steps and opened the door at the top.
She was in a kitchen, but Fred was gesturing her toward another door. "Open it. And go down the steps."
The door led to a basement. It figured, Lori thought as she descended the wooden stairs. She guessed that the intention was to hold her here until they could capture Clark, and then the two of them would be put on trial. At least until then she would probably be kept in good shape -- as long as whoever was running this show kept Fred under control.
"Scream yourself hoarse," Fred invited. "This place was one of the old bomb shelters they built fifty years ago when people were afraid of terror attacks in the city. Nobody's going to hear you. Not even us." He chuckled to himself and slammed the door. Lori heard the lock click.
**********
“Spread out!” Clark ordered. “Look for a blue Meteor, license number JKR557NN.”
Beneath the control that he kept firmly on his thoughts, he could feel Lori’s mind. She was afraid, although she would never admit that to anyone but him. Her emotion came across to him even over the distance that separated them. A century ago, Lois had been able to hear him when the need had been greatest, and he had always been aware of her presence and general direction, even then. More familiar with using his Kryptonian telepathic ability these days, the feel of Lori's mind was more than just a vague sensation.
*Please,* her thought came to him, *please, Clark, be feeling my thoughts now! Come find me!*
The direction was to the north, although, a few moments before, the emergency signal had been to the south of him. She had to be in an air vehicle, and moving fast, he thought. Pinpointing her was going to be difficult. The mental bond they shared was present but lacked the pinpoint accuracy of the earring alarm.
*Hold on!” he told her, hoping against hope that she would hear him. *I'll find you, no matter what it takes; just hold on!* He telepathed the northern direction to Lara, and used his wrist talker to communicate the information to his super-powered but non-telepathic relatives.
*Everyone’s out of the building,* CJ’s voice announced in his mind several moments later. *Coming.* He arrived as he spoke. “Lori’s inside something that’s blocking the signal?”
Clark nodded. “Apparently.”
“Can you still feel her mind?”
“Yes. She’s to the north of us, somewhere. She was moving pretty fast there for a few minutes but now I think she’s stationary.”
“Can you communicate with her?”
“A little. The sense I get is that she doesn’t know where she is. In a house, she thinks, inside a private bomb shelter.”
“Like the ones people built fifty or sixty years ago,” CJ said. “If she’s north of us, that puts her in a fairly circumscribed area.”
“I know. But we can’t go bursting into people’s houses without warrants. And if we go around asking to see their shelters, it’ll alert Gaia’s Children that we have some idea where she is. They could move her -- or kill her.”
*Are you getting all this, John?* CJ telepathed.
*Yes,* the editor replied. *I’m going to pass what I can to Velma. I don’t know how I’m going to tell her what part of town to concentrate on, though.*
Clark met CJ’s eyes. “What should I do?”
CJ looked steadily back at him. “Tell her, of course. Lori could have that baby any minute. We don’t have much time. If anybody can be trusted, it’s Velma.”
**********
tbc
