From Part 34 ...
Tek stood. “I have to go. The super low tide is at first light – that is our only chance to launch the spacecraft. I will be back before then, but I cannot guarantee when. You need to decide what you wish to do.”
He turned and limped across the cave.
“Tek?” Kal said.
“Yes?”
“Did you attempt to start the engine of the spaceship?”
“No. If the engine is fired, the craft launches thirty seconds later.”
“Automatically?” Lois said weakly.
“Automatically.”
He rounded the rock and disappeared from their view.
Part 35
Lois looked at Kal.
Kal looked at Lois.
“What now?” she asked.
“I thought it was hard when we had no choices,” Kal said. “Now we have one, and it’s no easier.”
“We have to go, don’t we?” Lois asked in a voice that grated with grim acceptance.
“Yes, we do,” Kal said quietly.
Lois’s huge breath lifted her shoulders, but she managed a smile for Kal. “Then let’s prepare the best way we can by thinking this through logically,” she proposed.
He thanked her with his smile. “Good idea.”
She pulled her knees high and hugged them. “Let’s assume Nor or his father would have killed you when you were young if they could.”
“Then Ked would have been the Supreme Ruler ten years ago when I didn’t take the mantle at the end of Cabinet Rule.”
“Let’s further assume that Kip realised the danger to you,” Lois said. “Kip was south, as were Nor and Ked. It is reasonable Kip would know them well.”
“And Kip also knew that a leader of mixed blood was crucial to a peaceful future.”
“So, he needed to protect you.”
“Putting me in hiatus gave me a physical protection.”
“Yes, but only if Nor had no way to bring you out of hiatus.”
“I don’t know if he did or not.”
“So let’s say Kip had very legitimate concerns for your safety,” Lois said. “He may not have known exactly what means Ked and Nor had, but Kip probably knew they had no compunction in using anything to gain power.” Lois paused to consolidate her thoughts. “So Kip needed somewhere Nor could never find you.”
“But *another* planet?”
“We know Kip searched for planets – he found New Krypton. Is it such a stretch that he found other planets as well? We know he had amazing expertise in space travel.”
“OK,” Kal said, accepting that. “He found a planet. And ... just left me there? Alone?”
“I’ve thought about that,” Lois said. “When you woke up, you could talk, you could think, you could walk, you could eat?”
“Yes.”
“Kal, I don’t understand how you would know how to walk if all you’d ever done was sleep,” Lois said. “Surely it would have taken time to learn how to balance, how to put one foot in front of the other?”
“I didn’t think about it,” Kal admitted forlornly. “My mind was filled with the need to prepare to become the Supreme Ruler.”
“If you didn’t think about something like walking – it had to be because you’d already walked before.”
“Lois ...” Kal stopped with a shrug. “This blows my mind.”
“What if they *didn’t* put you in hiatus?” Lois said. “What if Kip took you from Krypton and put you somewhere safe? What if you grew up there, learning to walk and communicate and eat and do all the other things children learn to do? What if then, when the time of cabinet rule was drawing to a close, Kip went in the spaceship and brought you back here?”
“That would mean Ked lied to me. Right from the very first day.”
“What about Yent? Did he ever say anything?”
“Yent was there when I first awoke, but I barely saw him after that. He prefers minimal involvement in the matters of state.”
“If Ked told him you’d been in hiatus, Yent would have accepted that without too many questions?”
“That is likely.” Kal pitched back his head and leant it against the rock. “I believed them,” he said. “I believed everything they told me.”
“Not everything,” Lois said. “You always knew what was right and what was wrong and they couldn’t shake that.”
Kal ballooned his cheeks and unleashed a big breath. “It never occurred to me ...”
“They must have done something to wipe your memory of the previous years.”
Kal’s face had gone a grey shade of bewilderment. “Maybe I *did* have a childhood?” he said.
Lois was torn. He looked so lost, she ached to hold him and attempt to bring restoration. Yet perhaps it would be kinder to keep going. “Maybe.”
“You really think it is possible that I had fifteen years of life – and not one memory of it?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe I *did* know my parents?”
“I don’t know,” Lois said. “Maybe Kip sent them with you. Maybe that’s who looked after you.”
Kal shook his head. “My father would never abandon his people.”
“What if he loved someone more than his people?” Lois challenged. “What if he loved his son more than his people?”
Kal slowly shook his head. “No,” he said. “If my father had survived the Transition, he would have been here on New Krypton. He would have protected me here, not asked Kip to do it.”
“You know what?” Lois said. “That doesn’t make sense either. They went to such great lengths to protect you – but were not able to save your parents.”
“I was only told they didn’t survive. I was never given any details of their deaths.”
“I don’t have all the answers,” Lois admitted. “But I think the balance of probabilities is more in favour of Kip taking you to another planet than you sleeping away fifteen years and waking up as a functioning young man.”
“Where?” Kal said. “Where could I have been all those years?”
“Wherever the spaceship is programmed to go.”
Kal started to speak, but no words came.
Lois’s imagination leapt to life. “What if you had a life there?” she said. “What if Kip left you there as a young child and came back to get you years later? That means firstly, the place is liveable and secondly, someone had to look after you.”
“Maybe ... I had a ... a family?”
“If you were very young when Kip left you, I doubt you could have looked after yourself.”
There were long muted moments as Kal tried to fathom that. When he turned to Lois, his face was serious. “Lois.”
She sensed the gravity inherent in his tone. “Yes?” she asked quickly.
“If this happens – if we get in Kip’s spaceship and we arrive safely on a planet – a planet where I have been before – where people know me – where maybe I have a family – and even a life – though I don’t remember it ...”
“If all that happened, it would be wonderful for you,” Lois said. “I don’t want to give you false hope, but that would be just the most amazing way out of this.”
“You would still be a stranger – an alien.”
“I know, but ...” Then she stopped, as the possibilities rifled through her thoughts. What if Kal *did* have a life to go back to? A total life? Family? Friends? Responsibilities? Expectations? How would she fit into that life? After all this time, how would he?
Kal took her hand and rubbed across the metallic circle they had used as a wedding ring. “I want you to know, Lois – I want you to never, ever doubt that *whatever* happens, whatever I may remember, whatever life I may have to go back to ... nothing ... *nothing* will ever be as important as you. Our marriage stands – regardless of *anything* else.”
“Kal ...” Lois stopped as a terrible thought assailed her. “Kal ... what if you’re already married?”
Kal shook his head. “No, Lois, no,” he said, with so much conviction, his voice shook. “If we do happen to arrive somewhere I’ve been before, there is not one part of that life which will be as important as you. Everything I said at our Marriage Ceremony, everything I promised you, it stands. As long as I live, it stands and nothing changes that. Not the past, not the planet, nothing.” He regarded her with steadfast intensity. “Nothing,” he reiterated. “Are we clear?”
She blinked away her tears. “We’re clear,” she said.
“Please never doubt it, Lois,” he pleaded. “Please never doubt me.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
Kal kissed her and his arms closed around her, nestling her into the expanse of his chest. When he lifted his head, he looked around the cave. “We should pack,” he said.
“There was so much we should have asked Tek,” Lois said. “About the practicalities. About how long the journey could take. About food. Oxygen. Water.”
“Tek will have all that worked out,” Kal said. “His father was the greatest space exploration Scientist we have ever seen. I’m confident Kip taught his son well.”
“I hope so,” Lois said.
They washed their clothes and Lois dried them. She wore her white dress and packed her burnt, bullet-damaged gown. She added her wedding bouquet and tried not to care that her bag was pitifully empty. “Are you going to take the globe?” she asked Kal.
“I’m undecided,” he said. “If the spaceship does have some relevance to me, it could be that the globe does too. But it’s more likely it is something Kip left for Tek. I’ll ask Tek when he gets here.”
They put their two bags near the alcove. They looked as desolate as Lois felt.
Kal held out his hand to her. “Will you do something for me, please?” he asked.
She wasn’t sure she could refuse him anything. “Of course,” she said.
Kal brushed back her hair. “We’re in love and we have each other,” he said. “We have tonight and no one can take it from us. Let’s make it special.”
Lois fought against the storm of fear inside her. Was Kal trying to find the best way to say it would be their last night? Is that what he really believed? She didn’t know, but she saw him awaiting her answer and knew she couldn’t fail him. She nodded with a tremulous smile.
“You once told me about love on your planet,” Kal said. “You told me about how a woman would meet a man and fall in love and then they would choose to get married.”
“Yes.”
“What would they do before they got married?” he asked. “What would they do when they still didn’t know if they wanted to marry or not?”
“They would spend time together. Get to know each other. Do fun things together.”
“A date,” Kal said. “You said it was called a date.”
“Yes, it is.”
“And after they are married? Do they still do go on dates together?”
“Certainly.”
“Then that’s what I want to do tonight,” Kal declared. “I want to take my wife on a date.”
Lois loved him for his idea, but she just couldn’t see how they could possibly manage a date. They were stuck in a cave. They had the food from Tek’s bag, but it was hardly anything worthy of a memorable evening. They had a blanket and a lot of sand.
But Kal was looking at her with such hopeful expectation, she couldn’t disappoint him. “All right,” she agreed with a smile. “We have a date.”
Kal smiled, captivating her with a look so young and so happy and so carefree, suddenly nothing mattered except being with him. “What would you like to do, my love?” he asked.
Lois glanced around the dimly lit cave, grappling for ideas, finding none.
“There must be something,” Kal persisted. “There must be something – something we can do. Maybe something you enjoyed doing when you were on your planet.”
“We could begin by dining,” she said. “Many dates begin in a restaurant.”
Kal offered her his hand. Lois crooked his elbow and slipped her arm into it. He led her around the cave. “It’s a beautiful evening,” he said. “And I have a beautiful woman to share it with.”
Lois smiled at him and allowed herself to dream that, one day, this could be possible. She closed her eyes and imagined a balmy Metropolis evening. The steady hum of the cars and the regular blare of their horns blended with snatches of passing conversation. She inhaled deeply and almost convinced herself she could smell the tangy aroma of mustard from a hot dog stand. From deep within her came a giggle of delight.
“What, my love?” Kal asked. “Share with me your memories.”
“We are in Metropolis,” she said. “It is a busy city that never stands still. We’re just two of many people who have come out to enjoy the warmth of a late summer evening. The heat of the day has gone, but still emanates off the buildings. As we walk, we can hear the cars and the bustling life around us ... but it is merely background because all my thoughts are centred on you.”
“Where are we going?”
“Martello’s,” she said. “The food is Italian – creamy pastas and smooth, delicious coffee.”
Kal stopped and spread the blanket on the sand. He took her hand and helped her sit down. When he had settled across from her, he said, “What is first, my love?”
“Drinks,” she said.
Kal reached into the bag and brought out two glasses.
“Only one is needed,” Lois said. “We share.”
He returned one of the glasses and filled the other with blue. “What are we drinking?”
“French Champagne,” Lois said. She took the glass from Kal and very gently blew on it. “It is drunk chilled. It has bubbles that tickle your nose when you lift it to your mouth.”
“What does it taste like?”
“This one has a crispy sweetness. It is the colour of dry sand.” She sipped from the glass and then offered it to Kal.
He took it and drank a little. When he'd lowered the glass, he brushed the underside of his nose.
Lois laughed. “You felt the bubbles?” she asked delightedly.
“Of course,” Kal said with a smile. “What comes next?”
“The main course,” Lois said. “We have ordered fettuccine with chicken and mushrooms and creamy garlic sauce.”
Kal brought a plate from the bag and put the spaghetti-like slice on it. He took a stick and deftly severed a piece of slice and loaded it. He held it towards Lois. “Chicken, my love,” he said.
She took it directly from his stick and closed her eyes. “Uhm,” she said. “It is perfectly cooked – still juicy and so very tender it almost melts on your tongue.” She took the stick from him and loaded it. Lois guided the food between Kal’s open lips. “Good?” she questioned.
He smiled appreciatively. “Very good.”
They continued feeding each other until the slice had gone. “Now, for the fun part,” Lois said.
Kal saw her smile and answered with one of his own. “More fun than the bubbly drink?” he asked.
She nodded. “There is a food that is the perfect pinnacle of every good meal.”
“What food is that?”
Lois took two pale puddings from the bag. “Chocolate,” she said. “Chocolate,” she repeated, because just saying the word felt like a warm stream of melted goodness across her tongue.
“Chocolate,” Kal repeated.
“It is deep brown in colour,” Lois told him. “Sweet and soft and it tastes so good, it massages your tongue and just makes you feel so glad to be alive.” She broke off a piece from the pudding. She placed it in Kal’s mouth and his lips closed over her fingers, trapping them. His eyes found hers and caused a feeling in her that far surpassed the sensation of chocolate.
His perfectly shaped mouth released her fingers and evolved into a smile. “I like chocolate,” he said in husky tones that infused his words with infinite layers of meaning.
“I do, too.”
He held a portion of pudding for her and watched while she ate it. “If I kiss you now, will I taste the chocolate on your lips?” he asked.
Lois nodded.
Kal leant forward and placed an exquisite touch to her mouth. When he withdrew, he licked his lips. “I tasted the chocolate,” he said. “It is delicious ... but it doesn’t taste as good as you do.”
“Thank you for a wonderful meal,” Lois said.
“Would you like coffee?”
Lois thought for a moment. “No,” she said. “I want to savour the chocolate for a little longer.”
“What would you like to do now?”
Lois searched through her memories of dates, quickly discarding most of them as unworthy. What could they do? Then, it came to her. She knew exactly what she wanted to do now. “Do you know what music is, Kal?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No.”
“And you wouldn’t know what dancing is?”
“No.”
Lois laughed with effervescent anticipation. “Well, I’m going to teach you,” she promised him.
“Now?”
“Yes. Now.”
Kal stood and helped her to stand. They moved away from the blanket and into the centre of the cave. Lois took his hands and positioned them - one on her waist and one in her hand. She put her other hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to sing a song,” she said. “And we are going to move to the music. It is called dancing.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Follow me until you get the idea. We move together, but remember, it is supposed to be fun, so relax. Listen to the music and it will guide you.”
He didn’t fully understand, but waited for her without comment.
“Give me a moment to think this through,” Lois said. She needed the right song – something not too hard to sing. Something not too energetic because she was going to have to sing and dance. Something slow and sensuous. Something about love. It had to be something about love.
Then, her mind filled with memories of Perry. The visual came so quickly and struck so forcefully, her breath caught in her throat.
“Are you all right, Lois?” Kal asked. His hand on her waist eased her closer.
She managed a smile. “Yes,” she said. “I just remembered someone.”
“Someone special to you?”
“Someone very special,” she said. “Perry. He was the Editor-in-Chief at the newspaper where I worked. He’s a great fan of Elvis.”
“Elvis?”
Lois nodded, now sure she had the perfect song. “Elvis was a singer.”
“So Perry and Elvis sing together?” Kal asked.
Lois laughed. “Only in Perry’s dreams,” she said. She took a deep breath and tried to locate the opening note. Immediately, she knew this was going to be a lot harder than she had realised. Kal took his hand from her waist and lifted her chin. “You can do it,” he said. “Tonight is about the good times. Don’t be sad.”
In her mind, she saw Perry again, this time with his wise, understated smile and kindly eyes. Lois took another deep breath and began to sing.
“Love me tender,
Love me sweet.”
They moved tentatively through a few steps.
“Is there more of the music?” Kal asked.
“Yes,” Lois said. “Are you ready to go again?”
Kal nodded.
“Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so.”
She stopped singing and her final note died away. Their feet stalled, though their hands stayed in place. “That was beautiful, Lois,” Kal said.
She smiled. “There is more to the song,” she said. “Want to go again?”
“Yes.”
“Love me tender,
Love me true,
All my dreams fulfilled.
For my darling I love you,
And I always will.”
Each line, each step had coaxed their bodies closer. Lois stopped singing, but the slow shuffle of their dance continued.
“Please sing to me again,” Kal asked quietly.
“Love me tender,
Love me long,
Take me to your heart.
For it’s there that I belong,
And we’ll never part.”
Lois felt Kal’s smile where his cheek rested against her temple. She didn’t wait for him to ask for more.
“Love me tender,
Love me dear,
Tell me you are mine.
I’ll be yours through all the years,
Til the end of time.”
“I’m yours, Lois,” Kal said, in a low, husky voice, which even in a crowded room would have been just for her. “I’m yours, always – until the end of time.”
“I’m yours too, Kal,” she vowed. “Always, I will be yours.”
“Will you sing it again?” he asked. “Please sing it to me again.”
Lois sang.
And they danced, barefoot, through the sand.
When she had finished, Kal kissed her, very softly, very sweetly. “What happens now?” he asked.
“Often a couple realises that dancing is very nice, but they’d really rather be alone,” Lois said.
“So they leave?”
“Sometimes.”
“And?”
“And go home.”
Kal smiled and touched the back of his finger to the tip of her nose. “If I’d taken you on a date, if I’d eaten chocolate with you and danced with you, I know exactly what I would want to do when we got home.”
Lois took his face in her hands. “Luckily, we don’t have far to go,” she said.
Kal bent low and swept her into his arms.
He carried her to their blanket and they made sweet, unhurried love long into the night.
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'Love Me Tender' - copyright - Vera Matson and Elvis Presley.
