The Return of Ultra Woman
Chapter 11
My trip out of the city core turns out to be mostly a bust. There’s just nothing for me to do. Almost out of desperation, I help a little girl and her mother get their cat out of a tree. It feels corny but it’s nice to do something that isn’t related to a crime. Since I’ll be printing Fred’s description of me as “nice people”, I want to show I can do more than just stop bank and jewelry thieves.
My trip to the outskirts of the city takes only about ten minutes or so. Now that I’m back, I still don’t see much going on. Either I made more of an impression than I thought, or I hit the timing for my appearance perfectly. Since it’s gotten so quiet, I figure I might as well head into work. If I’m gone from the office much longer, I’ll have to start thinking up excuses for where I’ve been. I wonder if Perry will believe I had to return a video Clark had rented or pick up our cheese-of-the-month shipment.
I barely get off the elevator when Jimmy comes running up. “Lois! Did you see her? Could you believe it? Doesn’t she look awesome?”
“Jimmy, calm down. Yes, I’ve seen her and she's very impressive. However, I’m more interested in what she did and who she is. Tell me what you’ve heard about her activities today.”
He takes a deep breath and seems to compose himself. “She’s been all over the news. There were several bank robberies all at about the same time. Several groups hit the four biggest banks in the downtown area. There was also an armored truck that showed up in the jewelry district and a team of men were going from shop to shop taking everything in sight. Everything seemed to happen at almost exactly the same time. Anyway, in just an instant she shows up and takes them all down. I think she must be faster than Superman! It was unbelievable!”
“Jimmy, I’ve got all that. I was near MPD headquarters when she brought in the jewelry thieves. I need to type up my story. When you get the chance, let Perry know I’m here and I’m working on the story. I just wish we had a picture to go with it.”
At this, Jimmy burst into a grin that looks ready to split his face. “We have a picture. A few minutes after she stopped all the robberies, she buzzed the city. When she left the area, she flew right by this building. I was leaning out the window to get a picture and she flew right in front of me.”
“Great, Jimmy! Do you think you got a good shot?”
He’s starting to get over excited again. “This may be the shot that makes my career. I have a picture looking right at her as she flew past. We’ll have the prints in a few minutes but I think I got a good shot. Lois… I think she smiled at me.”
“That's great! Who do you think she is?”
“I don’t know. When I heard the first reports of a super woman, I thought it must be Ultra Woman. Then I heard about the purple costume and I wasn’t so sure. When she flew past, it was too quick to get a good look. It might be the same person but I don’t know. What do you think about the ‘S’? Ultra Woman didn’t wear Superman’s ‘S’. Do you think it means anything?”
“I’m sure it means something but I’d rather not speculate too much just yet. I need to get started on my story.”
As I round my desk and sit down, I need to think about how to approach this. This has to be a good story but I must to be careful about what I write. If I had known Clark was doing this in his early days, I would have realized more quickly how good a writer he is. There are all kinds of details I can't report without running the risk or revealing I have inside information. After Ultra Woman makes her official debut this won't be as much of a problem, but I don't want to show I have a direct line to her just yet.
I was seen at two of the banks, so Lois Lane’s presence as at those places is established. I can use the quotes I have from the customers at the first bank and my interview with Fred for the second. For the other two banks, I need to be more careful. I'm tempted to use the names of the bank guards, but I'm not sure I want to take the risk. If one of them was wearing someone else's name tag today, my use of their name would reveal that I have information that might have come from Ultra Woman. I think the best approach is to write up the two banks in detail and simply identify the other banks and note the general similarities of the robbery attempts and how Ultra Woman handled them. I could note the order they were handled in, but that will be difficult to prove. I think I'll write up the story so it implies an order but I won't present it as a fact. I'll run this by Perry and see how he wants to handle this.
I have the advantage of starting with skeletal story on a disk in my handbag. It has the general outline describing Ultra Woman and gives me a framework from which to start. One of the advantages of using this is the name Ultra Woman never appears. Every reference is simply to ‘the woman in purple’. It will serve as a reminder to me of what I’m not supposed to know.
I feel like I’ve barely gotten started when there is a commotion over by the door. I see Jimmy break free of the people crowded around him and head my way. He’s carrying something that looks like it might be the photos from earlier. From the look on his face, I get the feeling they turned out well.
“Lois, you’ve got to take a look at this!” He opens a folder and… well, there I am. The shot came out better than I would have expected. I was flying with my arms at my sides. They’re near my body but not pressed so close that it looks uncomfortable. What can I say, that seems to be the most comfortable way to fly. Unless I’m reaching or carrying something, that just feels like a natural place to put my arms. The photo is clear and there is no appreciable sign of blurring from either motion or focus errors. Jimmy really did a good job to get this shot! The gold ‘S’ looks great against the dark purple. Finally, in this shot I’m looking right into the camera and smiling. All those things that work to make this a great picture aren’t what I like the most. The best part of all is, despite the quality of this shot, I don’t see how anyone could tell this is me.
“Jimmy, this is a fantastic shot! This picture alone will sell the papers. I’m not sure I even need to write the story.”
“Lois, I know you better than that. With you writing the story, I just hope this picture is good enough. I’m going to take this in and show the Chief.”
As he turns away, I know as soon as Perry sees the photo he’s going to start asking about the story. It’s coming together, but I still need to frame the story correctly. It doesn’t matter how fast I can type using super speed if I haven’t decided what to say. I remember asking Clark about using super speed to turn out a story in less time. He reminded me that it still took time to think of what to say. When we are at super speed, we can think a lot faster. However, it takes so much concentration to stay at high speed and control any physical movements, it’s difficult to focus on complicated issues. Clark is better at this than I am, but he says it took him years to master the art of complex thinking at super speed.
A short time later, I hear Jimmy beside me. “Lois, the Chief wants you in his office.”
“Jimmy, would you please tell Perry the story is almost ready and it’ll be in his in-box in just a minute.”
“Um… Lois, I think you need to see what he wants.”
Jimmy’s tone was a bit odd. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I thought he’d be pleased at having a shot like that for the front page. He kept the picture and just sent me out of his office. He’s been sitting in there just staring at it ever since. A minute ago, I was near his door and he waved me in. He said to tell you he wants to see you in his office. Lois, from the tone in his voice, I’m sure he means right now.”
There’s something going on here that I feel like I’m missing. Whatever it is, I know Jimmy well enough to understand he’s not exaggerating. Perry wants to see me now and he’s not going to be sympathetic to my standard set of excuses.
“Okay, Jimmy. Thanks.” I get up and focus on composing myself as I walk toward Perry’s office. I need to get that story finished. I’m nervous about what might be happening in the city while I’m preparing the article. I haven’t heard any alarms, but I don’t trust my hearing. Maybe if I stress how good the story is going to be, he’ll let me get back to it quickly.
I open his door and address him with as much Mad Dog Lane brusqueness as I can muster. “Chief, can’t this wait! I need to get the story on the purple woman finished. Jimmy got those great shots and we need copy to back them up!”
He looks up at me with a calm that leaves me even more flustered. “Lois. Come in and close the door.” That’s his “we have some very serious issues to discuss,” voice.
So much for the high-energy approach. As I enter the room, he just goes back to staring at the picture. I sit down and just wait. Finally, I can’t handle the silence. Since he’s so interested in the picture, I just have to break the ice. “Quite a day isn’t it? What do you think of her?”
He casually sits the picture on his desk and looks up at me. “Lois, I think the question is, ‘What do you think of her?’”
“Well, she’s, um…”
He cuts me off before I can mutter any more. “Lois, how about if I frame that question a little differently. How do you feel about being her?”
TBC
Bob
