Home: Vendetta 4/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Well, I have an idea," Meriel said, "but I need somebody who's good with computers, and you're the best person I know, except for my Uncle Aaron, and he's out of town."
"All right," Carla said. "What do you want me to do?"
"I'll come over there," Meriel said. "In the meantime, can you get hold of a list of the membership of Gaia's Children? I know Lori managed to break into it when she and Uncle Clark were working on the 'Mayflower' case a couple of years ago."
"Maybe," Carla said. "I'll see what I can do. I don't suppose you have any of Lori's records or anything?"
"No, but she had all that stuff on her laptop. I can probably get it."
"Well, why don't you come over and we'll decide what to do once you get here," Carla said, sounding suddenly very determined. "I don't think we should be talking about this over the phone."
"You're probably right," Meriel said. "I'll be there as fast as I can make it."
**********
And now, Part 4:
When she walked into the Hobs Fitness Center an hour later, the first person Meriel saw was Deirdre Monitor, who worked as Connor's receptionist. She smiled at Meriel. "How are you today, Ms. Olsen?"
"All right," Meriel said. "Is Carla here? I talked to her a while ago and she said she'd come here after --"
"Wasn't that awful?" Deirdre said. "Barry called me as soon as he got out of the building. Who would bomb the Daily Planet?"
"I guess there are some people with grudges against the Planet," Meriel said. "It could be anybody. Is Carla --"
"She's in Connor's office," Deirdre said. "Is your father all right?"
"Dad's fine," Meriel said. "The newsroom is only on the fifth floor so everybody made it down all right, although Superman and Tan-El had to hold up the stairs until everybody else got out."
"Thank heavens for them," the receptionist said. "Connor said to send you into his office when you got here. I guess Carla's in there trying to get some rest. What a thing to happen! She and Connor have only been married a week!"
Meriel nodded. "How are you and Barry doing?" she asked.
"We're happy," Deirdre said. "You know we had a six month trial marriage, but Barry proposed to me for *life* after only three months."
"So I heard," Meriel said. "I think that's great."
"What's going to happen to everyone that worked at the Planet, though?" Deirdre asked. "They say the building was destroyed. Has everyone there still got a job?"
"The worst damage was pretty much limited to the basement and the lower floors," Meriel said. "Dad said it's going to be in for a lot of repair and stuff but everybody's still got their jobs. They're just going to have to handle business from a different place for a while." She started toward Connor Cooper's "office" -- a 6 foot by 6 foot cubbyhole set against one wall in the refurbished warehouse that Connor Cooper had turned into a successful business. "I'll see you later, Deirdre."
**********
Carla was not, as Deirdre had assumed, trying to get some rest. She was seated at a card table with her laptop computer parked in front of her and she was leaning forward to read something on the screen. She looked around as Meriel entered the room. "Hi, Meri."
"Hi," Meriel said. "I stopped by Uncle Clark's apartment before I came over," she continued immediately. "Lori had a folder on her laptop about Gaia's Children from the 'Mayflower' investigation. I copied it for you. It looked like she set up a way to get into their computer network when she hacked in the first time, That might save you some trouble."
"If they haven't changed it, maybe," Carla said. She took the pin-drive that Meriel held out. "Let's see what I can find."
**********
Mariann Lyons was in the process of paying bills when her doorbell rang. She glanced at the vidscreen. "Front door."
The image on the desktop vidscreen showed a tall, very beautiful woman, her dark hair pulled back from her face in a braid, and, behind her, Jon Kent. "Yes?" she said quickly.
"Jon and Ann Kent," Jon answered. Mariann told the household computer to open the door and hurried into the front hallway, smoothing her hair as the two visitors paused in the entrance.
"I could swear Lori said the barbecue was tomorrow --" she began.
"This isn't about that," Jon said quickly. "Mariann, this is my sister, Ann. We're here to take you and Rob to Metropolis as quickly as we can. We have an emergency."
Mariann felt as if someone had hit her in the stomach. "Lori and the baby?" she faltered. "We heard everyone got out of the Planet building safely. I've been trying to call but I haven't been able to get through."
"They all got out," Ann Kent said. "Lori has been kidnapped by members of Gaia's Children. The Metropolis Police are searching for her and so is every member of our family but Clark thought you should know right away. How quickly can you be ready?"
Mariann stared at her in shock for the actual count of three seconds. "Right now," she said. "I'll call Rob."
"I already did," Jon said. "He's coming now."
Mariann had never before really absorbed how quickly the supermen could move when they had to. In an instant, Jon Kent had gone from a sports coat and slacks to the bronze and gold of Puma, and his sister had changed into the monochrome silver of Shooting Star. Rob came down the stairs behind her as the super woman held out her arm. "Jon can carry Rob," she said. "We'll go straight to John Olsen's home. Marilyn is waiting for you there."
The trip across country was accomplished in minutes. Mariann had expected to feel at least a breeze, but, although they had to be moving faster than one of the passenger shuttles that could cross the continent in less than an hour, they might as well have been standing still. If she hadn't been able to see the ground far below her moving rapidly to the rear, Mariann might have believed that she and Ann Kent were suspended motionless in the air.
At any other time she would have been in awe of what was happening to her. She was flying through the air, faster than the speed of sound, and being carried by a super powered woman who was also a well-known actress. Annabelle Reyes was one of the most versatile and gifted performers in the business, who could pull off drama, romance, comedy, tragedy, and even slapstick -- just about any kind of acting that an adoring public could expect. The tabloids trumpeted her string of romances and her official history mentioned affairs with some of Hollywood's sexiest male stars. Lori had informed her mother that the whole official biography was one of her agent's most imaginative creations. Annie Kent was very happily married, but that kind of reputation didn't sell tabloids and would have disappointed her fans, so the agent, an aspiring novelist, had manufactured a completely fictional past for her.
Unfortunately, Mariann was in no mood to appreciate the circumstances. She was too worried about her daughter.
John Olsen's home in Metropolis was a spacious house in the suburbs with a large back yard that was bordered with tall trees for the benefit of any of his relatives that chose to arrive by air. Ann Kent set Mariann on her feet and led the way up a pebbled walk to the wide patio and the duraglass sliding doors that opened off the living room. Jon Kent and Rob followed.
Marilyn Olsen was in the living room, speaking to someone on the vidphone when they entered. Mariann didn't recognize him, which wasn't surprising. He was a handsome man of about thirty with dark brown skin and eyes of so deep a brown that they looked almost black.
"-- "Tell them when they get there that we've got the whole area covered like a blanket," the man was saying.
"Just find her," Marilyn said.
"We will." The screen went off. Marilyn turned to her visitors.
"Hello, Rob; Mariann."
Mariann dropped her handbag on the floor. "What happened? Have they found her yet?"
"Not yet," Marilyn said. "We know roughly what part of the city she's being held in, and we know she's still alive, but so far we haven't been able to narrow it down."
"*How* do you know?" Mariann found herself near tears and felt Rob's arm go around her waist.
"Clark can feel her mind." Marilyn bit her lip. "I'll explain. Sit down, please." She nodded toward the vidscreen. "That was Jonas Kent. You probably know him by the name of Titan. He flew in from Lower Tanzanika as soon as he heard the news about Lori. We have nearly a hundred super men and women here, searching for her."
Suddenly aware of something, Mariann glanced around, but Jon Kent and his sister had vanished.
"They went to rejoin the others," Marilyn said. "The whole family is looking for her."
"What did you mean that Clark can feel her mind?" Rob asked.
Marilyn gestured at the sofa. "Sit down," she said again. "I'll tell you all about it. First, Kryptonians are telepathic, and some of Superman's descendents are telepathic, too. John is, and so is Clark...."
**********
The light in the room where she had been imprisoned blazed suddenly on and Lori shielded her eyes, waiting for them to adjust. Minutes after she had been shoved into this place, the lights had gone off and she had found herself in pitch-blackness and complete silence except for the sound of the blood humming in her ears and her own breathing. Fortunately, she had seated herself on the room's single piece of furniture before that had taken place. The narrow cot had allowed her to lie down, and that was what she had done. Trying to fumble her way around in the dark, especially in her current condition, was asking for trouble.
Two men were descending the wooden steps. Lori looked around the basement, trying to take in its appearance as quickly as possible. It was small and solid. There were no windows -- not that she had expected any -- and storage cupboards lined the walls. A door opened to one side and through the opening she glimpsed bathroom facilities. Anything that she could possibly use for a weapon had been removed. The door that gave onto the only exit was ten feet above her head, heavy and solid. This had to be one of the old bomb shelters, as Fred had told her when he left.
Her visitors had reached the bottom of the steps and both were regarding her with an intensity that made her nervous. She didn't speak, but watched them warily.
"Is there any reason that you know of, Ms. Lyons, that the supermen would be congregating over Metropolis?" The speaker was the man who had driven the car that had been the kidnap vehicle.
"What?" Lori said.
"The supermen," the driver said. "Several of our observers have reported seeing a number of the supermen, who don't usually appear in this part of the world, in the sky over the city. It seems an odd sort of coincidence that they should do so just now, doesn't it?"
"They're probably here because your goons blew up the Daily Planet," Lori said with her characteristic bluntness. "Everybody knows they help each other when there's an emergency."
"But the emergency is over," the other man said.
"They don't know that," Lori pointed out. "For all they know, there could be another attack any minute."
They looked at each other. The driver shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I suppose it's possible."
"Then why are the police looking for Harkin?" the other man asked.
Lori kept quiet. John must have recognized Fred, she thought. That meant they had a good idea who had snatched her. Trust the former Planet copy boy to be as clumsy at a kidnapping as he was at all the other dirty tricks he had pulled. Finesse wasn't exactly Fred's specialty.
"It's possible someone saw Ms. Lyons's kidnapping and noticed the license number," the driver said. "He borrowed the car from his cousin, so they could find out who had it without any trouble."
"I suppose so." The second man was still watching Lori. "Something doesn't feel right here, but so far the only person they can tie to Ms. Lyons's disappearance is Harkin. That will be convenient for damage control purposes."
That didn't sound very good for Fred, Lori thought. It looked as if Gaia's Children had no more regard for the life of one of their tools than they had for hers. Somehow, at the moment, she couldn't bring herself to care.
"What do you mean?" the driver asked.
"He'll have to be removed as a threat. I have no confidence that he'd keep his mouth shut if he were to be sufficiently pressured."
Lori wondered what the absent Fred would think of this idea. Somehow she doubted that he would consider his involvement in her snatching this morning as worth his life. On the other hand, she doubted he'd be given a choice.
The second man was watching her thoughtfully. "I can't see so many of the supermen showing up here simply because one female reporter was abducted," he said slowly. "Kidnappings happen every day." He continued to watch her. "In any case, they can't see or hear into this shelter. We'll have your husband soon, Ms. Lyons, and then the trial will commence. We will be taping the trial and broadcasting it for the world to see, so that everyone will understand your guilt."
Lori kept her face as expressionless as she could. "In the meantime, do you think I could have something to eat? I'm starved."
The two men glanced at each other. The second man looked back at her. "I suppose it can't do any harm," he said. "All right."
"Thanks," Lori said. In truth she wasn't even slightly hungry but if they brought her food, maybe they would leave the light on. She didn't really expect to find any way out but she couldn't ignore any possible chance to escape. Besides, lying there in the pitch blackness was frightening.
The men turned as one and ascended the stairs. She looked after them until the door at the top slid shut with a soft sound of air; then she went to sit down on the cot again. The tears that she wouldn't shed in front of the enemy filled her eyes. "Oh Clark," she whispered. "Please come and find me!"
**********
"There it is," Carla said, sounding quietly triumphant. "They didn't find it. Their computer security is pretty good but Lori kept it straightforward. She set up an invisible user account with a password."
"What password?" Meriel asked.
"Clark," Carla said. "It was easy to guess. There's the current list of their membership. There's a lot of other stuff here, too. I'm going to look through it. Maybe there's something we can use."
"Make me a copy of the membership list," Meriel said. "I'm going to give it to somebody that can help."
"Sure." Carla produced a pin drive and inserted it into one of the receptacles on the front panel. "This won't take long." She waited a few seconds and removed the pin. "Here. There's something here that looks like financial statements, too, and a bunch of other stuff. You give this to your friend and I'll keep hunting."
"Okay." Meriel took the pin drive. "I need to make a phone call."
"Go ahead," Carla told her. "If I come up with anything else, I'll let you know right away."
Meriel turned the tiny vidscreen toward her and punched in a number. She didn't want to disturb any of the people involved in the search for Lori, but she needed someone who could get things done quickly. The local police weren't likely to take what she said seriously, but there was one cop that she knew who would. Seconds later, a face appeared on the screen. "Houston Police Department."
"Yes," Meriel said, trying to sound businesslike. "May I speak to Inspector Brent, please? It's urgent. This is his cousin, Meriel Olsen."
**********
Velma Chow rubbed her temples and wished that the headache that had been steadily growing since the beginning of the demonstrations this morning, would go away. The map that showed the City of Metropolis on the wall of her office blinked exasperatingly at her. Somewhere in the northern section a pregnant, very scared young woman was being held prisoner and it was Velma's responsibility to locate her.
"Lieutenant Chow?" the desk intercom spoke up, and its tiny vision screen lit at the same instant, showing the face of Sergeant Waring, the current duty sergeant.
"What is it?" Velma asked.
"There's a Police Inspector Brent from Houston here to see you."
*Now* what? she wondered. "Send him in," she said. She rubbed her neck, swearing silently at the knotted muscles. She really had to do something about her stress level before it started affecting her blood pressure.
There was a knock at her door. The man standing there had a familiar look to him that Velma was beginning to recognize. He was a tall, slender man with dark brown hair and Clark's eyes. Those eyes had carried down the generations from the first Superman, she thought irrelevantly. John Olsen had them, and so did the other members of the super-family that she'd met in the course of her job. "Inspector Brent, I presume?" she asked. "Come in."
He obeyed, and extended a hand to her. "Oliver Brent from Houston," he said. "I realize that you have your hands full with this Gaia's Children situation, Lieutenant Chow, so I wanted to offer my assistance."
"Pleased to meet you," Velma said. She got to her feet. "I admit, I can probably use the help but I don't know exactly what you can do."
"I have something for you," Brent said. "My task force in Houston has been keeping tabs on Gaia's Children ever since the 'Mayflower' incident. We've been hearing about something big in the works for several months but couldn't find out what it was. My man on the inside believes now that they intend to stage a trial for Lori and possibly Clark as well. If they try to pick him up we'll have them. He'll be able to tell the telepaths in the family where he is. Then the super powered members of the family can rescue them -- without compromising his identity."
"That occurred to me," Velma admitted. "It's a shot. I don't want to depend on it, though. They may not want him and even if they do, Lori could have that baby at any time, so I'd like another angle of attack as well. If someone can think of one."
"Well --" Brent produced a pin drive for a computer. "How about a complete list of their membership -- one that's not available to the public?"
Velma almost snatched it out of his hand. "Why didn't you say so? I've been trying to get hold of this for hours!"
"I've had it for about twenty minutes," Brent said. "It took a while to get it and it came from a very enterprising young woman who doesn't want her name, or the name of the person that helped her, to get out. She apparently had access to Lori's laptop and thought to look for Lori's files on the 'Mayflower' investigation." He shook his head. "Lori set up a method of getting into their records two years ago. I wish it had occurred to me to ask her about it, but I didn't know as much about her then as I do now. Besides the two who found it, no one knows about it but us." He lowered his voice. "I'd like to keep it that way. Gaia may have informants in the police department as well, since they've apparently been planning this for some time."
"I'm surprised you trusted me, then," Velma said dryly.
"Clark trusts you," Brent said. "That's all I need to know. You do realize, don't you, that you're part of a very select group."
"Oh?"
"Someone not in the family who knows the family secret. I believe that makes you one of four."
Velma wondered absently who the other three were but her attention was focused on the screen of her computer as the list of Gaia's Children's membership appeared.
**********
tbc
