“I’ve done everything you asked of me,” Lex said quietly. “I’ve amassed a fortune, put power players in play, and manipulated the system. What more do you want from me?”
Linderman twisted the fish carefully, breaking its spine. He made a savage cut through the flesh of the fish and a moment later its innards spilled out on the counter.
“You need to stop stalling. The rest of the project is moving along smoothly, and yet you continue to hold things up.”
“There are unexpected delays,” Lex said. “Even the third richest man in the world can’t…”
The older man stopped moving and looked him carefully in the eye. “I’ve tolerated your attempts to grab power within the organization. But there are limits.”
Practicing with a cobra was nothing. Lex found himself looking away first.
The old man continued. “Find Subject Omega and all will be forgiven.”
“How will I know him?” Lex asked. He’d thought Subject Omega was just a myth. The most powerful of all the mutant freaks that had been popping up around the world for the past forty five years.
“According to the precogs, you will know him by his sign.”
Dipping his finger into the mass of effluvia, Linderman drew a simple figure on the table. An s-shaped symbol within a pie shaped section.
“I can work with that.” Lex said. “And when I find him?”
Linderman’s expression turned grim, and he slammed his cleaver down, removing the fish’s head.
******************
“You’re telling me that he’s gone missing?”
The attractive young black woman looked resigned. “He’s not the most dependable person in the world. Isaac is an artist.”
Lois hadn’t been wrong about the needle scars on the artist’s arms. Clark glanced inside the building, and was disappointed to see that most of the paintings inside had been removed, although the mural of a radioactive cloud over Metropolis still remained on the floor.
“If he gets back, have me give him a call.”
He had to get another look at those paintings.
Clark had a feeling hat the future was closer than he wanted to admit.
***********
The police hadn’t been quick enough to stop Lois. Slipping through the police barricade, she was inside almost before anyone noticed her. She felt her mouth go dry at the sight before her.
Frozen bodies, heads with the top of the skulls missing; Lois had a feeling that this would feature in her nightmares for a long time,
She felt a hand grab her shoulder, and she felt herself being pulled from the scene. For once she didn’t resist.
Finding herself in an interrogation room was a surprise. As a journalist she usually worked the other side of the window.
“Am I under arrest?” she asked calmly.
The blonde woman shook her head. The round faced man beside her simply stared at her. He didn’t seem like the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
For some reason his face began to turn red.
Although she couldn’t put her finger on it, his whole appearance screamed cop…and not the detective kind. He looked like the sort of man who was going to spend his entire life pounding a beat while younger, smarter men got promoted over him.
His flushing increased, and he snapped out “What do you know about Siler?”
The woman glanced at him, and then said “You’ve been asking questions about a federal case. We have an interest in prosecuting leaks. We’d like you to tell us who gave you the name.”
Lois shook her head. A reporter had to protect her sources, or risk never having anyone speak to her again.
“Joseph Mendelson,” the soft faced man said.
“Hey!” Lois said quickly. “I can’t reveal my sources, and a fishing expedition isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
“You’ve talked to a secretary in the Bureau, name of Leslie Ann Holtz, to a man in the state department whose name you still don’t know. You’ve also spoken to Jerry Cochran, the local coroner.”
The blonde haired woman was writing the names down quickly.
“You’ve been very helpful, Ms. Lane. I’ll be sure to tell everyone how willing you are to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of investigation.
“What is this?” Lois asked incredulously. “I didn’t tell you anything!”
“You are free to go, Ms. Lane. We’ll be in touch at their trials.”
“You can’t just….,” Lois asked, spluttering. “I have the right to…”
The man seemed to be enjoying her moment of incoherence.
The woman smiled mirthlessly. “According to the Patriot Act, you don’t have a right to anything. Just be happy that you aren’t a suspected terrorist-yet.”
Lois scowled. Being threatened was the worst thing these people could have done to her. The Silar story had been a third tier story for her, something she’d been working on casually. Now, between the frozen bodies and the partial decapitations, along with government threats…
The round faced man looked concerned for a moment.
“How do you think they did it?” Lois said. “Freezing the bodies and cutting off the heads?”
“We’re done here, Ms. Lane.”
The woman stood up, pulled the door open and gestured toward the outside.
Lois sighed. She’d already memorized the woman’s badge number. That would lead him to both their identities.
They’d regret threatening the press.
Lois stood up, and then noticed Clark walking across the police station.
“Where have you been, Clark?” she hissed angrily. “You left me to the Inquisition and…”
“You didn’t tell me you’d be contaminating a crime scene, Lois.”
The ensuing argument as they left the police station felt almost felt good to Lois. Anything to help her forget the sights now indelibly engraved on the inside of her eyelids.
****************
“She’s telling the truth,” Matt Parkman said, turning to his temporary partner. “But that guy with her…there’s something strange about him.”
“Oh?”
“I couldn’t read him at all. It was like he wasn’t there.” Matt shook his head. “It was almost like it was with the Haitian.”
If this man...Clark whatever his name was involved with the Primatech paper company and what had happened to him, Matt wanted to know.
He was going to have to investigate Lois and her partner more thoroughly.
As a mind reader, he shouldn’t have many problems finding out every last little secret in the life of Lois and her companion Clark.
It was only a matter of time.
