TOC Part 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JOURNAL ENTRY #5
EARLY JANUARY TO
LATE MARCH, 1994
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Explaining my decision to the others wasn't easy, but they finally agreed to give Cat a try. So, the next night, Bobby was sent out to the Daily Planet building. She was there, in the lobby, waiting for him. They talked. He didn't tell her everything, of course, but it was enough. They accepted each other.
The next month or two was thankfully routine. Cat helped us keep an eye on the newsroom and around town. We didn't have much contact with her, but she provided helpful information from time to time. She clearly felt good about doing it, too.
The group gained another reserve member. Eugene Laderman, a computer programmer who helped stop a crippling virus from taking over the city, agreed to help us when we needed. We didn't tell him too much, but we gave him enough that he was willing to support us. He even wrote a program to help sort through the information coming in through the camera network.
I went out on regular patrols. It was never as intense as it had been with the asteroid looming overhead, but there was something to do every night. I started to get pretty good at handling muggers and petty thugs.
I also started to see Gina a little more often, as Alan asked me more and more frequently to be the one to return the kids. He'd always been the reclusive type, from what I understood, but I didn't mind. As for Gina, she seemed to appreciate seeing me. She, like many others, had been pretty shaken up by the asteroid. Seeing a familiar and friendly face was good for her.
Then, one day at a group meeting, Phillip said something that changed it all.
"Bureau 39 is developing liquid Kryptonite."
He'd been watching their activities for months, but it was the first time he'd been able to get some idea of what they were up to. He'd seen one of their operatives obtain the Kryptonite months before, but none of us had been able to intercept the deal in time or even track the rock afterwards. The best we'd been able to do had been to keep an eye on one of their warehouses and look out for known agents. Apparently, that had finally paid off.
We went into high gear, trying to find out what they were planning to do with the deadly new substance. Even so, it took us more than two weeks to find the lab, get past their security, and place an invisible camera in a good spot. With the camera in place, it took days to learn what we needed to know.
Despite their change in leadership, the rogue organization was still intent on trying to kill Superman. That much had been obvious to us for some time. Faced with the death of Jason Trask and the need to go even more deeply into hiding, they hadn't managed too much at first. Now, it seemed, they had a plan. They were going to contaminate the Daily Planet's water supply with liquid Kryptonite. Fortunately, they didn't know how to find Superman. Unfortunately, they knew he had an association with the Planet and its staff. If necessary, they would fake a disaster to lure the hero into their trap. They were hoping to avoid that more active and potentially visible involvement, though. Instead, they were gambling that he would be in or near the building before the Kryptonite, which was designed to spread slowly through the building and set into the pipes, was washed away.
It was an even better bet than they knew. Clark would be slowly poisoned while he was at work. Just being in or even near the building would hurt him. Washing his hands, taking a drink... Who knew what it could do to him? At the least, it would make him vulnerable. And expose his identity to the people who knew what to look for.
We had to stop them. Superman still wasn't my favorite person in the world, but he was starting to feel like a colleague. Patrolling the city, stopping crimes, helping people... It was my job, and it was what he did, too. Even better than the Shadows. He'd saved us all from the asteroid when there was nothing the rest of us could do. He deserved better than to be poisoned by those fanatics.
Given how difficult it had been just to get the camera into an isolated corner of the lab, we knew there was no way we would be able to get the Kryptonite out of the building ourselves. We would have to wait until it was taken somewhere more accessible — the Planet building itself.
If we were going to intercept them at the Planet, we'd need a diversion. Something to keep people — especially Clark — out of the way, and to mask any signs of the fight. Phillip's scans had picked up someone interesting a while back. His name was Willie, and he was a recently paroled prisoner. He'd been convicted of murder, but seemed to be very gentle and non-violent. His claims of innocence actually seemed believable. What had caught Phillip's attention, though, was his mention of the Daily Planet. Apparently, Willie thought some old gangster's treasure was in a safe hidden somewhere in the building.
We contacted Willie. Using Cat and some of Bobby's connections, we convinced Perry White to help get him a job as the Planet's nighttime security guard. In exchange, Willie agreed to wait on his plans to dig up the vault until we gave him the go-ahead. Willie assured us that he would find a capable crew who would keep any other Planet employees out of the way, without using guns or lethal force. Their work in digging up the safe would, of course, make plenty of noise. It was perfect. We'd be able to get into the building and take care of Bureau 39's thugs, and everyone else would be distracted by Willie's crew.
We also contacted Eugene. From what we'd heard, Bureau 39 was planning to inject the Kryptonite into the Planet's pipes from underneath the building. It might have been easier for them to put it directly into the water tower on the roof, but they were afraid that the pumping mechanism would be too visible, especially given that their intended victim flew. Eugene got us maps of the tunnels and water system underneath the building. We found the water main access and studied the nearby tunnels carefully.
By the time we got all that ready, the lab camera had relayed the one piece of information we'd been missing — the date Bureau 39 would make its move. We contacted Willie and set about making our final preparations.
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