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Part 13
As soon as Lois's taxi pulled away, Clark dashed back into the alleyway next to Lois's apartment. He was glad she had mostly accepted his explanation about how she got home. He didn't want her to think he carried her all the way, even if that was the truth.
As soon as he was hidden from view, he shifted into hyper-speed and blurred into the air. He performed a high arc over the city, careful to avoid incoming air traffic, and swooped down back to his hotel. Anybody looking would have only seen a momentary blur entering through the hotel window at the Apollo.
A few minutes later, he was showered, shaved, wearing a clean superhero suit, and had his work clothes compressed in the pouch of his cape. He took to the air again, taking less than a minute to get to the Planet. After a few moments, he spotted a taxi pulling up, and Lois stepped out. After insuring that she had safely reached the newsroom, he did a short patrol of the eastern seaboard.
An hour later, during the rescue of a boat stranded off the coast of North Carolina, he began to reflect on how he'd ended up escorting Lois to a formal ball this evening. He had expected her to be a little upset at him this morning for staying up in her living room while she slept, but she didn’t mention it at all. It was silly, but he almost felt cheated by her acting so nice to him this morning.
And Lucy... he had a hard time figuring out half of her reactions to him. On her way out, he'd thought she was trying to flirt with him with that kiss on the cheek, but it turned out to be a cover for her to request that he look out for Lois, and (and this was the strange part) to treat her right. Whatever that meant.
He mentally shrugged, and focused on landing the boat he was carrying near the docks. After setting the boat carefully down in safe waters, he zoomed back into the air, spinning in the morning sun to dry himself off again. He headed back to Metropolis, just in time to prevent a tanker truck from careening off the Hobbs Bay Bridge.
To his chagrin, the police officers who stopped at the scene thanked Superman for the rescue. Obviously, the policemen had had a chance to read the Daily Planet this morning. He took to the air once again, and flew back to the roof of the Planet. He changed back into his work clothes as he sped down the stairs to the second floor, where he got out and took the elevator back up to the third floor.
As he exited the elevator, his ears tuned in to the sound of Lois's voice. He spied her talking on the phone, as she chewed on a pencil. She was the picture of a dedicated journalist, which made him smile as he walked over to the coffee table. He noticed that most of his mom's coffee was already gone. He'd have to make sure the newsroom got some more.
He poured two cups, loaded his with extra cream and sugar and Lois's with non-fat creamer and a pink sugar, and walked over to Lois's desk with them. He placed her cup on the desk, and she looked up and smiled at him as she continued talking. She indicated for him to wait as she finished her conversation, then hung up the phone.
"So what's going..." he began, but she held up her hand to interrupt him. She picked up her coffee cup, and placed it under her nose, inhaling deeply. She then took a long sip of the coffee, and gave out a satisfied moan. Clark's heart almost leapt from his chest at the sound.
"Thanks, I needed that. So, here's the deal. In one hour, we have an appointment with one Dr. Antoinette Baines, head of Shuttle Development, here at the local NASA office. And Perry wants to see us right away to go over what we got. Looks like he might run with the story for tomorrow's edition. It was a good thing we were attacked last night, or Perry might have made us hold on to the story until we got more evidence."
"Yeah, good thing," Clark replied in a wry tone.
Lois gave him a smirk as she rose from her desk. "Come on," she said in an exasperated tone.
"Yes, ma'am," Clark retorted, which earned him another dirty look from Lois.
When they entered Perry's office, they found him reading over a printout with a red pen in his hand. He continued reading, not seeming to notice their entrance. After a few seconds of waiting quietly for Perry to acknowledge them, Lois started to whistle ‘Bicycle Built for Two’, slightly off key.
Without looking up, Perry growled, "Put a sock in it Lois, I know you're here." He made a couple of final marks then put it aside.
"By the way, great job on the Superman story Lois, we sold out by nine this morning. Another Planet coup." Lois just smiled modestly in response. Perry continued. "Now then, how are you kids doing after last night?"
"Fine," they both said in unison, which caused them to give each other a quick look of surprise.
"Good, good. All right then, we can run the whole thing as one story, starting with Platt giving us his notes, then his murder, followed up with your findings from his reports. Then cap the story with the attempt to get the notes last night, and your rescue by Superman." Perry smiled as he said, "Boy, that will really make that story sing, plus we'll have two Superman stories in as many days."
Focusing back on the story, he continued. "But we’ll need to get an official NASA reaction to your findings to add to the story. If they believe your findings it will mean cancelling tomorrow’s test launch until they fix the problem. Do you have an appointment yet?"
"In an hour, Chief," Lois replied.
"Then get to it. I need the finished copy on my desk by two to get it in the morning edition."
Lois and Clark turned to leave, but were stopped by Perry. "Lois, one more thing..."
"Yes, Perry."
"Did you find an escort to the ball tonight? Because if you didn't I have..."
"Is there some rule that says I can't go by myself," Lois interrupted, clearly upset. "Why is it all right for a man to go stag to these things, but it's a sin if a woman does?"
"I didn't say..."
"If I want to go by myself, I will. I don’t need to drag some stranger along just for the sake of appearances. Do I?"
Perry looked duly chastised. "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers. It doesn't bother me at all if you want to go alone."
"Fine. Well, we better get going. Clark is going to need some time to find a tux."
Perry gave her a confused look. "Why does Kent need a tux?"
"Oh, Clark is my escort tonight. See you at two, Chief." She then whirled around before Perry could respond and took off out of the office.
Perry was little dumbfounded and gave Clark a look that said: 'I don't understand'.
Clark couldn't do anything but give him a shrug of surrender. He then left the office himself to catch up with Lois.
As he was leaving the office, he could hear Perry mumble that he'd never understand that woman, even if he lived to be a hundred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
NASA - Metropolis Engineering Development Institute (MEDI) Building
45 minutes later
Office of Dr. Antoinette Baines
Dr. Baines opened the door and invited Clark and Lois into her office. Dr. Baines was a young blond woman, probably in her mid-thirties, which struck Clark as being too young to have a position usually given to seasoned engineers with decades of experience. Clark also noted how neat the office looked, very unusual for an engineering manager. Furthermore, he could see that, underneath the open lab coat, Dr. Baines was dressed in a very fashionable summer dress, more suited to a day out shopping or going to the theater, not to working in an engineering office.
As she walked back to her desk, Clark could hear her saying, "So, you wanted some information concerning Dr. Platt. I thought I already gave the police all the information I had on Dr. Platt. I'm not sure what else I could tell you."
Lois replied," We're actually investigating some work Dr. Platt showed us, where he discovered what he believed to be a fault with the design of the new Shuttle engine. Can you tell me what Dr. Platt's role was here at MEDI?"
"Dr. Platt was one of our chief theorists in rocket propulsion. Brilliant, really. He was one of the most distinguished members of our team, until he developed a drug problem."
"A drug problem?"
"Yes, seems that a large quantity of drugs was found in his desk. Of course we had to dismiss him immediately."
"And just how did the drugs get discovered?" Clark asked.
"I, um, don't know. Security was involved with it. I only heard about it after the fact." She tried to say the last statement nonchalantly, but Clark could tell that she was hiding something.
"So," Lois chimed in, "were you aware of the report Dr. Platt made concerning the Shuttle engines?"
"No, I wasn't aware of any accusations made by Dr. Platt before he left."
"I didn't say he made any accusations. In fact, he told us that he filed a report here at your facility about the fault, but it was ignored. Do you know anything about that?"
Clark could hear Dr. Baines's heart rate increase significantly as she answered.
"Report? No, I didn't receive any report."
"So, you didn't hear about any, um..."
"... cooling devices mistakenly installed in the inlet manifold instead of the correct heating units?" Clark finished for her. Clark heard Dr. Baines's heart rate go through the roof at their question.
"No, nothing like that. But I'll get my staff to look into it right away."
"Before the test launch of the Shuttle tomorrow?" Lois asked.
"Of course, Ms. Lane, I'll have someone on it right away."
Lois eyed Dr. Baines suspiciously as she reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. "Could you give us a call when you finish your investigation?"
Dr. Baines nodded "No problem, I should have some results by early tomorrow morning."
Both Lois and Clark nodded in response, and left the office. When they had walked halfway to the MEDI exit, Lois blurted out, "She's lying through her teeth."
"I agree. I could almost see the sweat forming on her brow." Actually, he could see the sweat forming, but he couldn't tell Lois that. "Hmm... she's very attractive," Clark mused. "And young for a person in her position."
*Snort* "Typical. Is that all men notice?"
"Oh, lighten up, Lois. I just meant that she goes against the demographic for that job."
"I see, so you're saying that beautiful women can't do engineering jobs?"
"No." Clark rolled his eyes. "But it is unusual, you have to admit. And usually engineers aren’t dressed so fashionably for work. The engineers I've known, *male and female*, have a no-nonsense approach to life. They tended to be more subdued in their dress. And she is very young to head up a project like this. Usually NASA is more conservative, and looks for someone with decades of experience. I think it might be worthwhile to look into her background."
"Damn!"
"What?"
"I agree," Lois said grudgingly. "I had the same feeling, but I hated to stereotype her. People have done that to me all my life."
Clark gave her a wry grin. "Believe me, Lois, after meeting you, no one would stereotype you."
That seemed to satisfy Lois for a moment, but after a moment she got indignant again. "Just what does that mean?"
Clark chuckled, and nodded his head in the direction of the exit. "Come on, let's go."
She grunted and followed him towards the door.
"So, Lois, do you think Perry will run the story before we get Dr. Baines's official feedback?"
"I'm not sure. It'll be a close call for him. It will depend on how well we can sell the story, as is."
"I'm sure if anybody can sell Perry on an idea, you could."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Should I take that as a compliment?"
"Definitely. I think Perry has a lot of respect for your instincts."
Lois looked at him appreciatively. "Thanks, Clark." They arrived at Lois's Jeep and she unlocked the doors for them. "We’d better head straight back then, and get this written up."
After getting in the Jeep, Clark hesitantly said, "Lois, I was thinking... If Perry won't run the story in time for the launch, we should share everything we found with the NASA head office in D.C."
"What?! And lose our exclusive?!"
Clark audibly sighed in response. "Lo - is. There could be lives at stake."
Lois grunted and groaned and scrunched her face in frustration. "OHHHHH...." Then grudgingly got out, "I guess you're right, darn it. I hate when responsible behavior gets in the way of an exclusive."
"Lois, you can't..."
"I know, I know. Don't worry, I agree with you. I just don't have to be happy about it."
Clark had to chuckle at her reaction. "Is doing the right thing really so painful?"
"No," she replied with a pout. "I would have thought of it myself. Eventually." As they pulled out of their parking spot, Clark heard her mumble something under her breathe about being saddled with a big boy scout. He shook his head, and then lean backed in his seat to get a bit of rest on the way back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Lois and Clark left, Dr. Baines opened her top desk drawer, and pulled out a walkie-talkie. She pushed the transmit button and said into it, "Get in here, right now."
A few moments later, a surly looking man, wearing blue jeans, and a black t-shirt, entered the office through the back door. With a grim look she said, "Follow those two reporters that just left. I want them both dead within the hour.
He only nodded in response, and left quickly out the back door. She then picked up the phone, dialed a number, and waited for someone to answer
"It's Baines, put him on..... Yes, it's important." Then after several seconds, "I had a couple of reporters in here today causing trouble..... They must have got hold of Platt's notes..... No, I'm taking care of the problem, but I need my payment schedule accelerated..... Yes, I'm sure. I’ll collect any paper evidence tonight, and then call in sick in the morning. After the Shuttle test launch fails tomorrow, they’ll probably come looking for me. So I’ll need my final payment here in my office tonight. Yes, that would be perfect. You can join me after the dust settles..... Me, too. Bye."
She hung up the phone, then got up to walk over to the file safe in the room. She spun the combination, and opened the bottom drawer, then retrieved a file folder from the back. After insuring that it was the correct folder, she closed and relocked the safe. Walking over to her desk, she stuffed the folder into her briefcase, and then locked the briefcase shut.
With a wicked smile, she softly said to herself, "Early retirement, here I come."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lex Luthor hung up the phone, after his troublesome conversation with Antoinette. She was making this matter much too messy for his taste.
He turned to an older man with a goatee, who was standing silently on the other side of the office.
"Nigel, I believe I have grown tired of Antoinette. Would you arrange something... appropriate for her? I do not believe that Shuttle accident will happen after all. It appears that Dr. Baines finds out that she is going to be discovered and tries to cover her tracks by destroying the evidence of the cooling mechanisms. However she will be so distraught over being caught, that she will make a fatal mistake and cause her own demise."
"Indeed, sir. Most tragic."
"And, Nigel, she mentioned something about 'taking care' of some reporters that were causing trouble. Find out if it is the same two reporters, and make sure it doesn't connect its way back to me. If there is any hint of that, you may dispose of them also."
"Understood, sir. And the timing for Dr. Baines's, unfortunate... decision?"
"I promised her the final payment tonight. I believe we should stick to that schedule. "
"Of course, is that all, sir?"
"Yes, Nigel. Make sure you get better help this time, those last two failed me. You will of course have to ‘clean up’ the loose ends.”
“And what of your plans for the Shuttle contract sir?”
“It would seem that Antoinette’s carelessness with cause me to abandon that plan. As they say, ‘you can’t win them all’. However, better to retreat to fight another day. I believe I will begin focusing on the upcoming Space Station contract.”
“Ah, very good sir. Then I will be off to attend to business.”
Nigel nodded and left the office. Lex retrieved a cigar from the box on his desk, and carefully prepared it for use. He then lit it and took a long, slow drag.
He looked at himself vainly in the wall mirror, and with mock annoyance he uttered, "Lex, I’m so disappointed in you. You’re fortunate your many other business ventures don’t end up this way. Oh well, it’s hard to get good help these days."
He smiled to himself in mirror, satisfied that all was right in the world... his world.
-- End Part 13 --
