The Bombshell
Chapter Eight
Only crumbs remained of the cookies. The coffee cups were all but empty. And Robin was wiggling impatiently on her chair. “C’mon, Clark! We gotta go do some more practicin’! You gotta learn me some more stuff!”
Clark smiled at her. “We will, Robin. As long as it’s okay with my wife.”
Clark turned to Lois too soon to catch the narrowed eyes and hardened mouth in the other woman’s expression. And Lois knew that calling Clark’s attention to Robin wouldn’t do any good. Her best hope was for him to spend enough time with her to realize how dangerous she was.
So she smiled to both of them. “Sure. You two go ahead. I’ll make dinner for all of us when you get back.”
Clark lowered his glasses. “You’ll make dinner?”
She forced herself to smile back at him. “Okay! I’ll call for take-out.”
“Thanks, honey. I appreciate this. And I know Robin does too.”
Lois turned to Robin, who ducked her head and nodded. “Yeah. I do, ma’am.”
Lois made pushing motions with her hands. “You two get going so you can get back at a reasonable hour. Have fun. And don’t break anything that anyone will miss.”
Clark laughed and spun into the Suit. Lois watched her husband exit through the patio door with Robin hugging his wake. Within moments, she heard the telltale ‘whoosh’ of super-powered beings leaving the area by air.
Just to be on the safe side, she sat down and turned on the TV. She found a nature program and forced herself to watch it for eleven minutes.
Then she turned off the set and picked up her purse. Star Labs was only a short distance away, and she fervently hoped that Bernie Klein was working this morning.
If he wasn’t already there, she’d make sure he would be soon. She had to talk to him, had to convince him while she still had time.
*****
Superman lifted his hand and called for a halt. “That’s enough for now, Robin.”
The girl giggled. “Come on, let’s do somethin’ else! I ain’t never had this much fun with my powers!”
He smiled in understanding. “They are fun, but you shouldn’t make a habit of using your abilities just to have fun. It’s too easy to seriously damage something.”
Robin floated above the packed ice and gestured around her. “What’re we gonna break at the South Pole?”
He pointed at the ice floe she’d shattered with a single punch. “Well, if we break off too much ice, we’ll interfere with the shipping lanes around the southern tips of South America or Africa. We might also impact the weather patterns in the area by cooling off the water the ice is floating in. Or, we could change the way the southern ice cap is shifting and not cool off the air it would have cooled because we’ve moved so much ice so quickly. We could change the temperature in the local fishing grounds to be too warm or too cold, and if the fish move we might damage someone’s livelihood. Or we could upset the ecology of the area by taking away the fish that the penguins depend on for food.”
She settled to the ice feet first. “Oh. Never thought about it like that.”
“I know. You’ve never needed to before, but if you’re serious about putting on a costume and – “
“I am! I’m real serious about it!”
“Okay, I believe that you’re serious. Then you need to consider the results of your actions as time passes as well as what you’re doing at the moment.”
She frowned and crossed her arms. “Sounds like a lotta work to me.”
“It is, but because we have such power, we have to use it responsibly. For example, not long after I became Superman, someone tried to force me out of Metropolis by making everyone – including me – believe that I was causing a freak heat wave in the city by using my powers. I was ready to pack it in and go back home until Lois proved that it wasn’t me at all, that someone was trying to set me up.”
“Y’mean you was gonna quit? How come I didn’t know about that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It was in the stories Lois and I wrote, and I know they got national coverage.”
“I never seen it. Guess I was busy. But if it weren’t your fault, why was you gonna leave?”
“Because I was ready to take responsibility for what I’d done, even if I hadn’t intended to do it. The safety of the people of Metropolis is more important than my own preferences. It’s one of the things that makes people trust Superman.”
“Huh. Guess I missed a lot, moving around like I did.”
“The positive side of moving is that you have a lot of varied experiences that you wouldn’t have if you’d stayed in just one place. And you’ve met a lot of people you wouldn’t have known otherwise, too.”
She shook her head. “That ain’t all to the good. I done met some folks I’d just as soon not ever met.”
“Me too, but at least you gave those people a chance to know you.”
She snickered. “Yeah. A real good chance.”
He nodded and decided not to pursue that particular conversational thread until later, if he ever did. “Tell you what, Robin, let’s see how well you can control your heat vision.”
She smiled and lowered her arms. “Sure! What ya want me t’ do?”
He pointed at a knob of ice-covered rock inland from them. “Let’s see if you can sculpt that rock using only your heat vision. Think of something you’d like to see and then carve it into the face of the rock.”
She nodded and thought for a moment, then grinned. “Got one! You like chipmunks?”
*****
Bernie Klein shook his head again. “Lois, I don’t care what story you’re working on, the answer is no! I cannot possibly do what you’re asking!”
Lois hadn’t counted on the man being so uncharacteristically obstinate. “Look, Dr. Klein – Bernie – there is a situation.”
He glared at her. “A situation?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of situation?”
“A very serious one.”
He waited a beat, then asked, “Concerning what?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. “I can’t tell you.”
He crossed his arms. “Then there’s no way I’m opening that safe.”
“Bernie, please! It’s really important!”
“It’s important to Superman, too! He trusts me with this material and I don’t plan to let him down!”
She sighed to herself. “Okay. You won’t like this, but here’s the whole story.”
He waited as she turned and paced across the room, but when she didn’t speak, he said, “You do know that I have two experiments to write up for publication before I leave today, don’t you?”
She stopped and allowed herself a small smile. “You told me. Twice.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, here it is. It’s about – about the other Kryptonian on Earth.”
He nodded calmly. “Go on.”
“What do you know about her?”
“I did a physical exam on her and compared it to Superman’s baseline readings. As far as I can tell, she’s within the physical norms for a Kryptonian.”
“What else do you know about her?”
“Isn’t she from New Krypton?”
“No. She isn’t connected to Zara and Ching and the others. She’s from Krypton, the original planet.”
“Really? From Superman’s home world?”
“Yes. In fact, I think she’s from the same city.”
“Oh. That’s – interesting.” His eyes lit up. “In fact, that’s more than just interesting.” He frowned in thought for a moment, then asked, “I’ve been wondering why haven’t we heard about her before now.”
“She’s kept under cover her whole life. She’s discussing with Superman whether or not to go public.”
“I see. What’s wrong with her?”
Lois started. “Why do you think there’s something wrong with her?”
Bernie crossed his arms. “I may not have a good bedside manner, Lois, but I can tell when someone’s not telling me everything. Why are you less than enthusiastic about this development?”
“Because she’s – she’s ethically challenged.”
He didn’t look surprised. “Can you be a little more specific?”
Lois sighed. “She threatened to kill someone.”
Bernie’s mouth thumped his chest and his eyes nearly jumped off his face. “What?”
“Yes, she – “
“Superman didn’t tell me that!”
“No, I don’t suppose he did.”
“Lois, I – wait. Let me think about this.”
Lois waited while Bernie got himself under control, then watched as he thought through the information she’d given him. His eyes widened again, but this time it was in alarm instead of amazement. “I think I understand. This super woman is potentially quite dangerous.”
“Yes. Very dangerous.”
“And she’s actually threatened someone’s life?”
“Yes. Quite plainly.”
“Whose?”
Lois looked away. “Does it matter who she threatened?”
He crossed his arms and frowned. “No, I suppose not. Unless, of course, you were the one who was threatened.”
She caught his eye. “Bernie. Please. Don’t press me on this.”
“Hmm.” Klein returned Lois’s gaze, but not even Superman could stare down Lois Lane in determined mode. He sighed and gave up the contest, then tapped his chin with his finger several times. Abruptly, he dropped his arms and stood straight. “In that case, I think I need to show you something.” He paused. “But let me tell you before you see it that you’re not going to like it.”
“What? Why not?”
He lifted his hand and gestured aimlessly. “First of all, you have to know that what I’m about to show you was built under the direction of my predecessor, before I joined Star Labs, under the guidance of Bureau 39. It – “
“What!” she exploded. “You have some Bureau 39 equipment here? Are you completely insane?”
“Lois, please! This isn’t a device. It’s – well, you’ll have to see it.”
She stared icicles and lasers at him all at once. “This better be good, Bernie, or you won’t have a job on Monday and Star Labs will be boarded up for good.”
He returned the glare with his own furious intensity. “Don’t threaten me with the Daily Planet, Lois! I don’t like playing office politics, but I’m a lot better at the game than people think.” He held her gaze for a long moment, then relaxed microscopically. “Besides, the existence of this – this thing – isn’t something I can control. The military made that decision, and without Federal funding this lab wouldn’t exist in its present form. This is a black project, super-secret, and I could lose a lot by showing it to you. You’re not even supposed to suspect that it’s sitting down there.”
Lois forced herself to calm down. “All right, Bernie, I’ll play nice. We’ll do it your way.” She waited another moment. “Assuming, of course, that I get what I came for.”
He nodded. “If what you say is true, and I’m starting to believe it is, you will.”
*****
Robin leaned back and frowned at Clark. “You wanna do what?”
“I don’t want to hit you, I only want to teach you control of your strength. If you can throw a full-speed punch and pull it at the very last instant and only touch my face, you can grasp anything safely.”
She obviously wasn’t convinced. “I don’t like this game.”
He stepped closer and took her hand in his. “Robin, I promise you that I won’t hit you. I only want to demonstrate what you can do if you practice a little. Okay?”
She didn’t exactly relax, but she did turn to face him. “Awright. What do I gotta do?”
His fist blurred and appeared beside her face, barely tickling her cheek. “Just stand there.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow! I dint even see you move! I thought I could see super-fast stuff!”
“You can. But just like a human fighter has to have time to react, you and I can move fast enough to beat each other’s reaction times if we’re quick enough.”
She grinned impishly. “So if I throw a punch at you – “
He caught her left fist in his hand. “If I have enough warning, I can block it.”
“Pretty good, Clark. How about this?”
She flicked her left hand to draw his attention and then fired a right cross into his chin.
He saw stars he’d never seen before.
*****
Lois stumbled into Bernie’s office and sat down hard. He poured a cup of tepid carbon remover from the coffeemaker on his filing cabinet and handed it to her.
She gulped it down without tasting it. “How – how long?”
“Are you asking me how long it’s been here?”
She opened her mouth to answer but could only nod dully.
He took the empty cup from her cold fingers. “Bureau 39 started the excavation for the area just before the Nightfall Asteroid incident. It took them less than three months to complete it.”
“They kept on even after Nightfall?”
He shrugged. “Paranoia isn’t logical. And fear is a great short-term motivator.”
“Yeah.” She swallowed hard. “And – and the liquid synthetic? Who came up with that?”
He frowned. “I did, although I didn’t know what it was or what it would be used for at the time. I only knew that the powers that be wanted a synthetic version of the mineral. It was one of the first projects I worked on here, back when Dr. Wilson was director of special projects. The whole thing was ready for operation just after Jason Trask died in Kansas. Bureau 39 lost all their special projects then, and the room is now under the control of Special Homeworld Security Operations.”
She lifted her head. “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Almost no one has.” He sat down in the chair next to hers. “There are several ‘spook’ agencies in the government that have to remain unknown in order to function efficiently. This is one of them.”
“And you’re part of it?”
Bernie shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. I’m the civilian head of Star Labs and I’m not a government agent.”
“But you have that – that – thing – down in the basement!”
He sighed. “Lois, you have to know that Jason Trask wasn’t the only xenophobe in the government. Superman still worries some people, and after what happened with the New Kryptonians, some people wonder if there are others out there somewhere who might be even more dangerous.”
“But that thing’s designed for Superman, not a regiment of super-goons! You couldn’t keep more than three or four Kryptonians down there for any length of time!” She stood and paced to the window, then crossed her arms. “This is supposed to be America, not some police state. Superman is a free man. That thing – he’d be a rat in a cage down there.”
“Think about what would have happened to Superman if he’d landed in Russia instead of Kansas. They would’ve tried to make him an agent of the state. At least he has some freedom here.”
She ducked her head. “I know. You’re right about that.” She sighed. “Well, this isn’t getting me what I came for.”
He stood and held out what looked like a cell phone. “Here.”
She took it and almost dropped it. “Wow! How much does this thing weigh?”
“About six pounds.” He almost grinned. “It’s the lead lining.”
Lois examined it more closely. “Press here and it flips open, right?”
“Yes.” He sighed and seemed to shrink in on himself. “I sincerely hope you don’t need it.”
She met his gaze and softly replied, “So do I, Bernie. So do I.”
*****
He drifted up out of the darkness with a throbbing pain in his chin and the feel of a woman’s hands slapping his face.
“Clark! Wake up! I’m sorry! I dint mean to knock you out! Come on, Clark, wake up! Wake up!”
His eyes fluttered open and he lifted his hands to either side. “Wha – what happened?”
Robin sat back and clasped her hands together. “I just done what you tole me to do! I tried to hit you and you stopped me and I done it again and you dint stop me and I thought I’d kilt you!” She shook her head and sniffed hard. “I’m sorry, Clark, I’m so sorry! I dint mean to – “
“Robin!” He reached up and caught her hands. “It’s okay. I guess I wasn’t clear enough on what I wanted you to do. It was my fault.”
“But I’m the one what hit you!”
He sat up. “I know. But you were just doing what you thought I asked you to do. It isn’t your fault my instructions weren’t clear.” He massaged his jaw. “You hit like an asteroid, you know. That was some punch.”
Robin spoke in a little-girl voice. “I promise I won’t do it again. Not never.”
“It’s okay, I believe you.” He took a deep breath and let it out quickly. “Will you help me up?”
“What?” she cried. “You need help? Oh, man, I did hurt you! Oh, no no no no no – “
“Robin! I’m fine. It’s simply polite to help your opponent to stand after you clobber him.”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.” She stood and held out her hand to him and he pulled himself upright. “Guess our practice is done for the day, huh?”
“Not necessarily. You learned a valuable lesson today.” He rubbed his chin dramatically. “And so did I.”
Despite the trembling still dancing around her chin, she laughed.
*****
When Lois stepped into the apartment, Jonathan and Martha were sitting on the couch watching “The Philadelphia Story” on a classic movie station. Martha gestured to her. “Come on in, Lois! This is hilarious!”
Lois hung up her sweater and sat on the armrest. “Oh, Cary Grant! I haven’t seen this movie in years.”
Jonathan waved at the screen and chuckled. “They’re getting to the late night pool scene with Jimmy Stewart and Kate Hepburn. Maybe this time they’ll sell tickets.”
The three of them shared a laugh and settled down together to watch.
*****
Superman and Robin leaned into each other with their hands clasped like pro wrestlers. “Come on, Superman! Push a little harder!”
He grinned and complied. “Okay.”
And Robin went skidding backwards until she bumped into the rock sculpture she’d created earlier. Superman released her hands as she lost her balance and let her slide down to the ice.
“Hey!” she shouted. “Now my butt’s wet!”
He laughed and put out his hand to help her up, but she yanked him down on the packed snow beside her. She rolled over and straddled him. “Now your butt’s wet too!”
“Nice move to knock me down. But I don’t think this is the proper relationship between teacher and student.”
She laughed. “Your fault! You gotta be more careful not to fall on your ‘S’!”
“Okay, Robin, you’ve made your point. Please let me up.”
Instead of moving, her eyes softened and she gently touched his face with one hand. “You know, you ain’t a bad-looking man at all.”
“Uh, I think I should – “
And she leaned down and kissed him.
He was shocked for a moment, then he put his hands on her shoulders and slowly pushed her away. “I don’t think Lois would like you doing that, Robin.”
She rose to her feet fluidly. “Sorry. Just that I ain’t been around many men who treat me nice.”
He stood beside her. “Thank you, but I’m not your type. Besides, I’m starting to think of you as if you were my sister.”
Her eyebrows danced. “Sister? How’s that? We ain’t all that close related.”
His eyes narrowed at her choice of words. “I thought we weren’t related at all.”
Her face turned open and innocent. “Oh, no, we ain’t, not that I know ‘bout. So why you think I’m like your sister?”
He decided to leave the subject of their possible blood relationship for another time. “You’re the closest to family from Krypton that I’ve ever met.”
“What about them New Kryptonians? Wasn’t they family too?”
“Not really. They only wanted to use me for political reasons. Zara and I got to be friends by the time they left, but family? Not really.”
“Too bad for you, I guess.”
He nodded, thinking that she didn’t sound as if she were sorry, either for his lack of family or for what she’d done a few moments before. “I think we’re about finished here anyway. Let’s fly home.”
Her eyes twinkled. “Race ya?”
He held up his hand. “Whoa! Remember what I said about consequences?”
“Yeah? So?”
“So, if we create sonic booms here, we might do more damage to the ice pack.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Didn’t think about that.”
“Not to worry. We’ll just lift slowly up to about fifty-five thousand feet and start from there. If we keep to that altitude, we’ll be above any airliners and below any satellites, and we won’t bother anybody.”
Her grin returned. “Oh, okay! Gotcha! First one to get straight above Prospect Island in Hobb’s Bay wins!”
