Chapter Forty-One
Lois felt as if she were straining to redirect an asteroid as she landed in front of the Metropolis General emergency room entrance. It took all of her concentration to retain a secure hold on Rebecca and not drop her. “Attention!” she shouted. “I have a gunshot victim! She requires immediate medical assistance!”
A uniformed police officer standing beside the entrance gaped at her for a moment, then regained his composure and turned to shout for help. Two nurses ran through the door with a gurney and skidded to a stop beside Ultra Woman.
“Put her down here now!” ordered one nurse
“What happened to her?” the other demanded.
“She has a large-caliber bullet wound in the right side of her abdomen,” replied the costumed heroine. “She has lost a great deal of blood. The bullet penetrated her stomach and is lodged against a rib in her back just below her right kidney.”
One nurse put a mask over Rebecca’s face and began squeezing the bag attached to it. “Trauma four’s open! Get her in there now! Get Doctor Greene! And call for an OR now!”
“Get her vitals!”
A tall blond woman with a hard expression grabbed the end of the gurney. “Get her inside, now! Hang two liters of plasma then type and cross-match!” She put her stethoscope on Rebecca’s chest as they pulled the gurney towards the automatic doors. “I have rapid and breathy respiration – thready pulse! Let’s go!”
As they disappeared inside, Lois stepped back out of the shadow of the building and felt the sun’s rays warm her. She released a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Her powers were all but expended for the moment, and she was glad that there weren’t any children trying to take candy away from each other at the moment. She was sure she couldn’t have settled even that conflict.
It seemed that her demeanor and her reputation for being formal was keeping the public away from her. Good, she thought, leave me alone for a few minutes so I can get word about Rebecca and then maybe I can fly away.
“Hey! Are you Ultra Woman?”
So much for being left alone, she sighed. She turned to face the man calling to her.
Oh, great, it was Bill Henderson. The day was getting more interesting by the minute.
She’d never met Bill as Ultra Woman. Best to be standoffish and act like she didn’t know him from Adam’s pet porcupine. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I am Ultra Woman. Who, sir, are you?”
“New costume, I see. Looks good on you.”
“Thank you. Are you a fashion consultant or have you a legitimate reason for accosting me?”
Her overly formal and prickly manner didn’t faze him a bit. “Did I hear right? You just brought in a gunshot victim?”
“Why do you wish to know this, sir?”
He looked into her eyes for a moment and seemed to step into a more formal character himself. He fished his shield out of his coat pocket and held it up. “Detective William Henderson, Metropolis Police. I need to ask you some questions and I’d like to get a formal statement from you.”
She nodded imperiously to the taller man. “Ask your questions, Detective William Henderson.”
“First of all, who got shot?”
“The woman’s name is Rebecca Connors. She is an employee of LexCorp.”
“How’d she get shot?”
Uh-oh, thought Lois. Ultra Woman can’t know very much about it. “She was on a boat in the ocean. I happened to be close by and offered to convey her here for medical attention.”
Bill’s eyebrows shot up. “You just ‘happened’ to be nearby? Over the ocean?”
Lois crossed her arms and stared at him. “My leisure time activities are none of your concern, Detective Henderson.”
“Right.” He hesitated for a moment, and Lois thought he was going to terminate the interview. But she was wrong. “Who shot her?”
Lois sighed. “You must ask that question of the people who were with her at the time of the shooting. The boat is the Miss Emily, owned and operated by Lex Luthor. The other two passengers aboard were Clark Kent and Lois Lane.”
Bill grinned crookedly. “I see. I should have known that Lois would be in the middle of something this weird. Where are they now?”
“I would imagine that they are returning to Metropolis. Now, if you will excuse me, Detective, I wish to ascertain the young woman’s condition before I leave. And then I have other obligations to which I must attend.”
“Of course. If you want, I can ask about her. They might give a cop that info before they’d give it to you.”
It was a good idea, especially considering that a few more minutes of sunshine wouldn’t hurt her a bit. “Very well. I will await your return here. And thank you.”
He held out his hand. “No, thank you, Ultra Woman. Ever since you came on the scene, a lot of the crooks in Metropolis have either decided to go somewhere else or take up honest occupations. The violent crime rate is down and the bad guys are more scared of you than they are of the police. Or even Superman. So let me thank you.”
She took his hand and gripped it firmly. She was slightly gratified to see his jaw tighten as she squeezed. “You are welcome, Detective Henderson.”
He turned towards the ER entrance and flexed his right hand. Lois crossed her arms again and moved so that her entire body was bathed in sunlight. If he just gave her five minutes, she might be able to fly away without wobbling.
*****
Lex led Clark up to the main deck of the sailboat. “You will have to help me set the sails, Clark. I can coach you.”
Clark looked puzzled. “Okay, but – “
“Please! There is little time to waste. It will take us at least six hours to sail back to Metropolis, and we will probably not head in a straight line due to Nigel’s destruction of the radio and the radar controller.”
“If you say so, but – “
“Clark! Please do as I ask! We are wasting time!”
Clark lifted his hand to placate Lex. “If you really want to sail back, we can, but wouldn’t it be quicker if we took Nigel’s launch?”
Lex’s mouth dropped open for a moment, then he closed it and shook his head. “I cannot believe that I forgot that. Yes, the launch would be quicker and would take us in a more direct path.”
“I bet the radio isn’t shot to pieces, either.”
“I’m certain you are right.” He paused. “The only caveat is that Lois may not be able to find the smaller vessel when she returns.”
Clark nodded. “Good thought. Hang on a minute.” He turned his head and his eyes took on an unfocused look.
Now what? thought Lex.
After a few seconds, Clark seemed to come back to himself. “Lois says that Rebecca is in the emergency room and they’re planning to take her directly to surgery. Bill Henderson is checking on her, and as soon as he gets back Lois will head back this way.”
Lex goggled at him. “How – how could you possibly know – “
“Oh.” Clark smiled sheepishly. “I forgot you didn’t know. Lois and I can communicate telepathically.”
“Ah.” Lex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The day continues to bring me surprises.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”
Lex shook his head. “No matter. We should depart as soon as possible.”
Clark lifted his hand. “Wait. Won’t the Coast Guard need to be able to find the boat?”
“Of course. If Nigel did not disable the homing beacon in the cockpit, I will active it. If we’re fortunate, one of my helicopters can bring me back with a crew before the Guard finds the boat and commandeers it.”
“You do that and I’ll get Lois’s clothes.”
“Her clothes?” Lex almost shouted. “Whatever for?”
Clark lowered his voice at Lex’s outburst. “She’ll have to change back into civilian clothes. And I need to take anything that might reveal her secret identity. Or mine.”
“Yes – yes, once again you are right. My apologies for being so abrupt with you.”
“Not a problem. You’re not used to thinking like this and I am.”
I should be, mused Lex. “Very well. I will meet you at the stern and we will head the launch back to the mainland.”
“Actually, we should meet Lois near those islands where we spent the night.”
Lex shook his head once again. “If that is what she wants, then that is what we will do. Could you at least tell me why?”
“Sure. The islands are uninhabited, and Lois can hide her Ultra Woman costume there. One of us will go get it before anyone stumbles on it. Besides, that launch doesn’t have any private rooms where she can change, and she doesn’t want to risk hiding it on this little boat.”
“Ah. I should have seen that without your explanation.” He grimaced. “I fear I am not operating at peak efficiency at the moment.”
Clark’s face lost much of its animation. “Neither am I, Lex. Can we get going?”
“Of course.”
*****
Lex fired up the launch’s motors and eased the throttles forward as Clark coiled the bow line around the cleats placed there for that purpose. “Are you ready for full speed, Clark?”
Clark skipped over the low railing and swung around to stand beside Lex. “Ready whenever you are, Captain.”
Lex cut his eyes to his companion but didn’t speak. Then he pushed the throttles to the maximum and held on as the launch leapt forward. “I radioed the Coast Guard while you were fetching Lois’s clothing. They will watch for us as we approach the harbor, and they are sending a helicopter to put investigators aboard Miss Emily. They should arrive within half an hour.”
“Did the homing beacon work?”
“Yes. Nigel was confident that none of us would be able to reach it before he dispatched us, so he didn’t bother to disable it.”
Clark nodded and faced forward.
Lex waited a few seconds, then asked, “Has Lois told you anything else about Rebecca’s condition?”
Clark’s expression shifted to guarded once again. “Bill Henderson just told her that Becca’s in surgery and the doctors won’t say what they think.”
“So they have no prognosis at this time?”
“Bill said the doctors used the term ‘hopeful.’ Lois said Bill’s expression was not hopeful.”
Lex watched Clark’s hand tighten around the rail around the launch’s cockpit. “Careful,” he called out over the roar of the engines. “You mustn’t break anything.”
Clark looked down at his hand and released the rail, then gaped at the indentations on it. “Sorry,” he called back. “I’ll fix it in a little bit.”
“Does this mean that your powers are returning?”
“Apparently some of them are. If this follows the same pattern I went through before, I’ll be able to fly short distances by tonight and be back at full strength by mid-day tomorrow.”
“Good for you.”
“Thanks.” They fell into an awkward silence for a few minutes. Clark finally said, “I’m going to watch for Lois. She should be here soon.”
Lex nodded. That should give me some time to think about what to say to her, he thought.
And what not to say to her.
He thought about all the crazy things that had happened today. One of his closest associates had revealed himself as a murderer and a traitor and had tried to kill him, along with three of the people in the world whom he trusted most. His ex-wife was seemingly head of one of the largest and most pervasive criminal enterprises since the glory days of the Mafia. He’d discovered that the woman he loved and ultimately wanted to spend the rest of his life with was actually Ultra Woman. His receptionist, who was one of the most intelligent and most vivacious people he’d ever met, had been shot aboard his private boat and still might die. He’d learned that Lois’s partner and friend, a man whose integrity and honesty was legend in Metropolis despite the brief time he’d lived there, was Superman. That last, though, shouldn’t have surprised him, given Lois’s own super secret.
And he’d killed a man.
He knew he’d had no choice, that Nigel would not have stopped before shooting all of them and leaving them to the unmerciful sea. He knew that he’d saved three lives by his action – four, if Rebecca survived – including his own. No court of law would convict him of any crime, even discounting his political influence and the amount of legal muscle he could call on. It might even rebound positively where his public persona was concerned.
But he couldn’t escape the knowledge that he’d taken some satisfaction in pulling the trigger and shooting Nigel. He’d thought Lois was dead, he knew Rebecca was bleeding to death at Nigel’s feet, he’d seen firsthand the effects of the green crystal on Superman, and Nigel’s pistol was about to spit death at him. There had been no reasonable second choice.
Yet the deed was done, and the impact on him would be great. He hadn’t shot anyone since his days in the military, and the innocent and idealistic youth of that time had given way to an older and more reflective man who deeply regretted the taking of human life, no matter the justification. And this was something that would dog him for some time.
He glanced at Clark again. This man could speak mind-to-mind with Lois. Who knew what they might say to each other? Was this ability part of the entire super-hero package, or did it portend something more serious? Could Superman read other minds? Could Clark communicate with Rebecca also? If not, what did that mean concerning his relationship with Lois? And what did it mean for his relationship with Rebecca?
What did the answers to those questions mean for Lex’s relationship with Lois? He loved her, that was certain, but he was not quite sure that she loved him. He’d thought so the night before on the Miss Emily, but she hadn’t said the words and he’d been afraid to ask her just how she felt about him. Given his previous statements about both Superman and Ultra Woman, he thought he understood why. It was a breach he’d have to work very hard to heal. And he truly wanted it to be healed.
The friendship between Lois and Clark was stronger than any non-romantic relationship he’d ever seen, but did that mean that Lois really loved Clark and was simply getting out of his way to keep him from having to choose between herself and Rebecca? Or did it mean that Clark and Lois had mutually decided not to be romantically involved?
And what should he do about Arianna? She had obviously ordered Nigel to kill him. Should he let the law take its course, or should he take matters into his own hands? And how would Lois respond if he did clear up the matter on his own? Would she help him or turn him over to the police, or simply ignore his actions?
He gritted his teeth and checked his heading, then made a minute course correction. So many questions and so few answers. Perhaps they were heading towards those answers.
And perhaps they were only heading for more trouble.
# # #
To be concluded in “The End of the Road”
