From Part 37 ...
Kal sat down and together, he and Lois hurriedly refastened their seatbelts. Tek lowered the canopy lid - shutting out the roar of the engine – and sent home the row of clips.
Riz had already gone. As Tek got to the hole, he turned one final time and looked at Kal. His flattened palm silently met his chest and he hesitated for half a second. Then he dropped to his knees and crawled from their view.
Kal took his wife’s hand. “I love you, Lois,” he said. “Together we are more than enough.”
Lois didn’t reply verbally, but the look in her eyes said much. She squeezed his hand.
Then ... they were pushed back into their seats and the walls of the cave sped by.
Kal saw the flash of water below them as dim light showered over them. They rose steeply and his stomach dropped. He released Lois’s hand and slid his arm across her shoulders, pulling her against him. He leant against her ear. “I love you, Lois.”
“I love you too, Kal,” she said.
Part 38
“Kal?”
Kal turned to her. “Yes, Lois.”
“You’re going home.”
“Home?” he said. “For all of my memory, I thought New Krypton was my home.”
“The Distant Planet may not feel like your home, but it’s where you spent fifteen years of your life.”
“You think Kip really did send me to The Distant Planet?”
“Yes, I do,” Lois said. “I thought that before the globe spoke. Now I’m certain.”
“It certainly seems most likely,” Kal agreed. “Except I have no recollection of it at all. You’d think had it happened, I would have *something* - a memory, an inkling, something other than absolute nothingness. When Ked told me I’d been in hiatus, I believed him because I had no memories – no memories of people, no memories of events, nothing that suggested I had lived. It felt like I had never experienced anything.”
Lois laid her hand over his. “The more I think about it, the more I realise how awful it must have been.”
“It was, but I didn’t have too much time to think about it then. Now ...”
“Have you thought about the people who may know you?”
“It’s impossible not to think about them. But, even if the time differences aren’t significant, I doubt they will recognise me and I certainly won’t recognise them.”
“I think there is every chance you will be reunited with people you knew.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” Lois said. “Tek told us the navigation system was specific. I think that not only will it get us to your former planet, but it will also take us very close to the part of the planet where you were sent the first time.”
“You do?”
“Kip had to know where to come to find you when he took you back to New Krypton. Even if it’s a small planet, it would be difficult to locate one specific person.”
“Unless there was something about my Kryptonian physiology that made it easier for him to single me out.”
“That’s possible, but he left the spaceship for you as a means to return. I don’t believe he would program it to go anywhere other than close to your home.”
“Home,” Kal said again. “Home – yet I have no knowledge of it. No knowledge of the planet, no knowledge of the people.”
“Maybe at first. But however powerful the drug Ked and Nor gave you, or however effective the procedure they performed on you, I think there is a good chance that once you’re there, you will begin to remember things.”
“You once said that we don’t know if we’re going into a situation even worse than the one we left.”
“I don’t think that any more.”
“Why not?”
“Because Kip left a way for you to go back,” Lois said. “Whatever he took you from, he knew it was good. I think you would have talked as you travelled to New Krypton. You still had memories then. You would have told him about the life you’d left.”
“The people I left?” Kal asked. “You think they’re good people?”
“I know so.”
Her certainty surprised him. “How can you know?”
“Because I know you.”
“But I don’t remember them,” Kal said with frustration. “I’ve tried and tried, but I don’t remember them.”
“They have a lot of influence on who you are.”
“They do?”
“Well, the teachings you remember came directly or indirectly from Ked – and you are nothing like him. Someone – or maybe more than one person – moulded your life and whether you remember it or not, it’s still there.”
“My folks are good people,” he said with wonderment.
Lois chuckled delightedly. Kal wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t pursue it. He wanted to think about his family – whoever they were.
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“Lois?”
“Yes, Kal?”
“Why did you ask Riz and Tek to try to say ‘thank you’?”
Lois turned to him with a small grin. “Because they were the first words you said in my language.”
“Why were you starting language lessons as we left New Krypton?”
“It wasn’t about teaching them my words, it was about seeing if they could say them.”
“Why?”
“Because you learnt my words and I wanted to know if they could.”
“They couldn’t,” Kal said. “Their attempts sounded nothing like ‘thank you’.”
She turned the full force of her grin on him. “Exactly,” she said.
Kal smiled – not because he understood ... he didn’t – but because it was impossible not to respond to the glowing excitement in her expression. “You’ve lost me,” he said.
Lois took his hand and enveloped it in hers. “I always thought you learnt my language unbelievably quickly,” she said.
“I had powerful motivation,” Kal said. “I wanted to be able to share everything with you.”
“Even that doesn’t explain your ability to learn sounds and words and syntax so quickly. Every single time you turned off your translator, you had improved immeasurably. So much so, that in the cave I couldn’t tell whether you had your translator on or not.”
“Whenever we were alone, I had it off. Whenever we were with Tek, I had it on.”
She studied him for a moment as a slow smile spread across her face. “By then, you were bi-lingual,” she said. “You spoke my language, you spoke Tek’s language. You shouldn’t have needed the translator to understand either of us.”
“I still needed it,” Kal said. “If I’d spoken Kryptonian without my Translator, you wouldn’t have understood. If I’d spoken your language, Tek wouldn’t have understood.”
“But it was more than that, wasn’t it?” she challenged, her eyes pinning him with captivating intensity.
Kal felt a grin forming, but controlled it. Lois and secrets were obviously not a viable combination. “Yes,” he said.
“You found it hard to understand Tek?” she pressed.
“Yes,” he admitted.
“Because before whatever they did to erase your memory, you’d only had a short time with Kip to learn Kryptonian?”
“So it seems now.”
“So when they woke you and you already had the translator, there was no opportunity to learn the language – and no need.”
“I learnt to read Kryptonian, but once I began turning off the Translator, I discovered that without it, the oral language was very difficult to understand. I had to keep referring back to the written language to try to recognise words.”
Lois grinned at him.
“You keep grinning at me,” he said. “Like you know something I don’t.”
“Why don’t you just ask me?”
Kal grinned. “Because your ‘I’ve got a secret’ smile is just so cute. And it’s not like there is any time pressure.”
She grinned at him again, eyes shining.
Yep, she definitely knew something. Something that made her incredibly happy. An idea slammed into his mind. “You’re ...” Kal swallowed. “You’re not pregnant?”
Her laughter pealed out, but Kal couldn’t discern if it were meant as confirmation or not. He glanced to her abdomen, though he knew it was far too early for it to offer him any assistance.
“Are you?”
“How would you feel if I were?”
“My heart would explode with joy,” Kal said. “My head would wonder if the timing is ideal.”
She stroked the back of his hand. “I’m not pregnant,” she said. “Not as far as I know – it’s too early to tell.”
His disappointment bit sharply. He pushed it away. “Then what?” he said.
“I have a theory.”
Kal lifted his eyes from their hands to her face. “You do?”
“Yep.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Probably,” she said. “But you need to realise it’s only a theory. I try to think about it logically and I realise that it’s impossible. Then I think about it again and everything seems to point in that direction. But I’m trying not to let my emotions get involved, because if I think about it for more than a few minutes, it is going to be impossible to sit still for even another hour, let alone however much longer we are going to be stuck inside this spaceship.”
Kal shook his head, smiling. “How about you just tell me the theory?” he suggested. “That would have to be simpler.”
She grinned. Real, real big. “I think I know the identity of the Distant Planet.”
“You do? You heard of it on Earth?”
Her grin widened. “I think it *is* Earth.”
“Lo ...” He swallowed as his mind struggled to comprehend the enormity of her assertion. “Lois ... I would hate you to be disappointed.”
“It makes sense, Kal,” Lois insisted. “Firstly, the *distant* planet may be distant, but it has to be close enough that you could be taken there and brought back. And I got from Earth to New Krypton. I don’t know how, maybe there’s a wormhole or something, but I came, so it can’t be impossible to get back.
“Secondly, Kip said that you would look enough like the people of the Distant Planet that you wouldn’t be noticeably alien. Just as when I was on New Krypton, there were differences in dress and hair style, but I still had one head and two eyes and two arms and looked fundamentally the same.
“And thirdly, Tek and Riz couldn’t even make the sounds of my language. You could – and you learnt them so incredibly quickly, I believe you weren’t learning at all, but *re*-learning.”
“You think I was on *Earth*?”
“Yes,” Lois said. “And not only Earth, but in an English speaking country.”
“English?”
“That is what my language is called.”
“There are different languages on Earth?”
“Yes. And many different countries.
“What if my country is different to yours? What if my country isn’t Metropolis?”
“Metropolis is my city. And, if we *do* safely make it to Earth, a tiny quibble like differing countries is going to be completely insignificant.”
Kal sank back into his seat, his head spinning.
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“Lois?”
“Yes, Kal.”
“Tell me about Earth.”
“What about Earth? Specifically?”
“Do Earth people live in families?”
“Often they do. In my culture, one man marries one woman. They might have children and become parents. The children grow up and move out and marry and become parents themselves.”
“Tell me about your mother.”
“Mom is difficult, complex, damaged, needy, strong. When she drinks too much, her life becomes unbearable.”
“Drinks?”
“Alcohol. Some drinks become addictive. The alcohol dulls your mind and makes you feel good for a time, so people use it as an escape.”
“Your mother drinks too much – and tries to forget?”
“Yes.”
“Are you worried about her?”
“Yes,” Lois admitted. “I fear that losing me could cause her to drink too much again. I fear she will feel that she needs alcohol to cope.”
“What is that word you called her?”
“Mom.”
“Is that what people call their mothers?”
“In my country, yes.”
“What else? What word is used in other countries?”
“I think people in England use ‘Mum’. Young children sometimes say 'Mommy', or perhaps 'Mama'.”
“Mama?”
“Yes. Or even 'Ma'.”
“Ma?” Kal closed his eyes. “Ma,” he said again. “Ma.”
“Are you remembering something?”
Kal slowly shook his head. “I don’t know. I *want* to remember so badly. I want it to be there, I want to be able to grasp it. But I’m not sure if I’m remembering or if I’m imagining something that isn’t there.”
“It’s possible you called your mother ‘Ma’.”
“You think I had an Earth mother?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because someone had to look after you.”
“But feeding me wouldn’t make them my parents.”
“Remember when you asked me to teach you words from my language?” Lois asked. “The first time we turned off our translators?”
“Yes.”
“You drew a family – and that family had a mother and a father and a boy.”
“What do you call your father?”
“Dad.”
“Dad.” Kal said it slowly. “Dad.”
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“Lois?”
“Yes, Kal.”
“If I did *re*-learn your language, my memories were not completely destroyed. There is something there – I just have to work out how to access it.”
“I think you’ve already been accessing it. You learnt how to smile, how to communicate more with facial expressions, how to cry.”
“Maybe I was copying you.”
She kissed him, lingering on his mouth. “You learnt so much in a short time just by being with one Earth person. Try not to stress about it – just let it happen.”
“It will be hard on my parents – if they recognise me and I don’t remember them.”
“Yes,” Lois agreed. “But no harder than the years since you left.”
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“Kal?”
“Yes, my love.”
“Have you thought about the conversation we saw from the globe? Between your father and Kip?”
“Yes, I have thought about it a lot.”
“You once said that you’d wondered if you were never anything more than a political solution,” Lois said. “But your parents loved you. Your father agonised over making the best choice for you. Even to the point of asking Kip to leave you if New Krypton could manage without you. For them, you were always a person first and a political solution second.”
“Yes. And I learnt something else too.”
“What?”
“My father loved my mother. He gave his life to stay with her.”
“Like father, like son.”
“I didn’t give my life for you.”
“You offered it. That’s the same thing.”
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“Lois?”
“Yes, sweet husband.”
“If The Distant Planet *is* Earth, you can go back to your old life. You can have your job back and your friends back and your family back.”
“That’s possible.”
“I’m very pleased for you.”
“I can’t have everything about my old life back,” she said.
“Yes, you can.”
“No, I can’t,” Lois said. “In my old life, I was single. Now, I’m married.” She grinned at him.
Kal took a deep breath. “If we do go to Earth ... I understand if you ... if you ...”
“If I decided having an alien in tow might just be too much of a drag,” she finished, still grinning.
Kal returned her grin. “Well, I wasn’t going to say it like that.”
“However you said it, it would have been equally ridiculous.”
“It wouldn’t be surprising if a marriage to an alien on another planet is not considered legal on Earth.”
“I don’t care whether it is legal or not,” Lois declared, her smile gone and her eyes glinting fire. “I am your wife and *nothing* is going to change that.”
“What if your parents and friends don’t approve?”
“You married me Kal, and when we thought you could be going somewhere familiar and I would still be an alien, you went to great effort to ensure that I knew the extent of your commitment to me. Now, I’m telling you – wherever we end up, whatever planet, whether I get back to my family, whether you find a family, whatever, our marriage remains the most important thing in my life. Always.”
“That is what you want?”
“That is what I’m demanding.”
Kal’s eyebrows lifted. “Demanding?” he teased. “So I have no choice?”
Her smile was back. “None. You’re stuck with me.”
“That’s all I want,” he said. “More than finding a family. More than finding my memories. More than feeling some scrap of familiarity. More than anything, I want to be with you.”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him. “Well, that’s what you’ve got.”
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“Kal?”
“Yes, my love.”
“I’ve been thinking about your childhood.”
“What about it?”
“I’ve never heard of an alien living on Earth. There was speculation, but nothing ever came anywhere near being proven.”
“So you *don’t* think I was on Earth?”
“Yes, I do. But I think you were kept a secret.”
“Maybe my parents didn’t know I was an alien?”
“Maybe. Or maybe they did know and they decided it was best for you if everyone else didn’t know.”
“Why?”
“Because there would have been a commotion the likes of which has never been seen before,” Lois said. “Some people would have wanted to study you. Others would have been fearful of you.”
“They had nothing to fear from me.”
“I know that. But imagine if Nor had somehow found the way to Earth, or whatever planet. The people of that planet would have had plenty to fear from him.”
“Do you think it would be better if we didn’t tell everyone I’m from another planet? Do you think I should pretend I’m just like everyone else?”
“I think it would be best if you blended in until we know more. I don’t think you could even imagine the attention you would receive if everyone knew. Anything resembling a normal life would be impossible for you.”
“But, Lois, I *can’t* blend in. I know nothing about Earth.”
“You know me – and together we’ll work out something.”
“You think we should lie?”
“Not lie exactly. Just omit certain details.”
“I don’t even have a name,” Kal said. “Not an Earth name.”
“You have a name Kal,” Lois said. “Your parents would have called you something. If we can find them, they will have many of the answers we need.”
“I’m not sure how we can find them. I can’t exactly go knocking on every door and ask if an indiscriminate number of years ago they found a baby who could have possibly been an alien and then who, at some later point, disappeared, possibly without any explanation.”
“If we can’t locate your parents, we will go back to Metropolis. We will say my life pod landed on Earth, in a remote country. We’ll say I met you and you helped me find my way home.” She glanced sideways at him. “In essence, that’s the truth.”
“OK,” Kal agreed with a sigh. “OK.”
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“Lois.”
“Yes, Kal.”
He took her hand and gently ran his fingers over the ‘S’ branded there. “Is it usual for Earth women to be branded?”
“No.”
“This will be hard to explain.”
Lois contemplated it, frowning slightly. “We could always say it was done as part of a ritual on whatever remote country I landed in.”
“Is there any way to get rid of it?”
Lois looked dubious.
“I have an idea,” Kal said.
“What?”
“Your eyes can burn. You don’t feel pain. Perhaps if you were to glare at it, the definition would be smoothed and it wouldn’t be so obvious.”
“I’m not sure that will work.”
“Try. Stop the moment it hurts.”
Lois glared at her hand. She skimmed across the top of the emblem. When she reached the end she stopped. The top of the five-sided shape had gone.
“Did that hurt?” Kal asked, concerned.
“No.” She continued working row by row through the emblem until her skin was clear.
Kal took her hand to his mouth and gently kissed it. “Now, you’re no longer my concubine,” he said.
Lois smiled. “It’s much more fun being your wife,” she said.
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“Lois?”
“Yes, Kal.”
“What did Riz give you in the cave?”
Lois took it from her pocket, unfolded it and studied it. “I don’t know,” she said. “It is written in Kryptonian. Maybe it’s a letter.”
“Can I look?”
Lois handed it to him. His smile exploded.
“What is it?”
“I don’t think I’ll tell you,” he teased.
“Tell me.”
“Or you’ll what?”
“No more neck massages.”
He shrugged. “I can live without neck massages.”
“No more head rubs.”
“I can live without head rubs.”
“No more kisses.”
“I’ll read it.”
Lois grinned.
Kal’s eyes lowered to the paper. “The heading is ‘Register for Women to Become Law.’ It has been confirmed that -.”
“It’s a *newspaper* story?” Lois asked, jiggling excitedly in her seat.
“Seems like it.”
“Who wrote it?”
Kal skimmed the paper. “The main story is written by Riz. There is also a smaller story by Mo.”
“They have a newspaper,” Lois said triumphantly. “They have a newspaper.”
Kal grinned. “Would you like me to read you the story?”
“Yes,” Lois said. “But it doesn’t matter what the story says, the important thing is that they have a newspaper.”
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The spacecraft came to a smooth, easy stop on a patch of green grass.
Kal pushed open the canopy. He stepped out and turned to offer his hand to Lois. He helped her from the capsule, then stretched his achy muscles.
He turned slowly, seeing the flourishing trees and the lush grass. He breathed in and the air rippled through his lungs. It was as if every sensor in his body had been tuned to receive at amplified efficiency. Yet the overall effect was numbing. He felt so much, yet felt so little.
To the north, past a few trees, was a road. Beyond that, more fields.
That was the direction.
He had to go that way.
A voice called him. The voice that was his inner knowledge – the voice that had guided him for so long on New Krypton. It was strong here.
And it was calling him.
“This way,” he said to Lois. “We have to go this way.”
“Do you recognise this?”
“Not here,” Kal said, pointing to his head. “But here.” He pointed to his heart.
His steps quickened as his feet obeyed the call to his heart.
The call home.
