Hi everyone. I have to take a moment again to thank my tireless betas, HappyGirl and IolantheAlias. They are making this *SO* much better.
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Chapter 17: Discovery
***~~~***
This morning was one of the few where it wasn’t raining. Unfortunately, it was as grey and dreary as every other day since Nightfall. Lois glanced at her partner—and roommate—riding beside her in her Jeep. He was quiet this morning. It didn’t take a mind-reader to know he was nervous. Instead of heading for the office, they were on their way to meet with a doctor about Clark’s memory. The silence during the drive gave Lois time to think back over the past week.
It had been several days since Lex had left so abruptly after learning Lois would not stay with him. He seemed to have taken the refusal seriously this time. Over dinner one evening, Lois had wondered aloud to Clark if there was any value in asking Lex for all of the duplicate furniture from that fake apartment. The idea didn’t seem likely to result in any furniture, but it did produce the most marvelous spray of tea when Clark burst out laughing.
The morning after Lex finally understood that “No” was going to be her final answer, the attack pattern on Superman changed. Suddenly Lex—and all of the resources of LexCorp—were aggressively pushing the “blame Superman” angle. There was no longer any doubt in Lois’s mind that Luthor’s claim to be fair to Superman was nothing more than an attempt to get in her good graces.
Lois wanted to think that she would have seen through Lex even if it hadn’t been for the disruptions caused by Clark’s memory loss and the disappearance of Superman. Unfortunately, she had to admit that Lex was incredibly good at the deceptions he practiced.
When she and Clark had started digging into the attacks on Superman from non-Luthor sources, the pattern was easy to see. Their investigations revealed that almost all of the attacks, right back to the very beginning, had come from people and companies that had strong ties to Lex.
For Lois, trying to justify her defense of Superman had become an ongoing challenge. She couldn’t even count the number of times she’d heard the allegation that Superman deliberately shattered Nightfall and then went back to his home planet. With the backing of Lex and LexCorp, there were more and more calls not just for the removal of honors, but for records of his positive accomplishments to be purged. It seemed that the main question in the minds of many people was whether it would be more appropriate to have him defined alongside Hitler as a great evildoer of modern times or simply erase his existence. The latter seemed to be the option Lex was pushing. At one extreme, there were even calls to have it be a criminal act to be in possession of anything with his name, likeness or his ‘S’ symbol.
As for Lex, he’d been spending money in relief and recovery efforts as if it were water. There had been an editorial in the Star calling for Lex to run for governor of New Troy. Lois found it hard to believe that just a few weeks ago she might have echoed that call herself.
Progress on the Superman investigation had been much slower than Lois had hoped. Bernie had been able to get some more telemetry data indicating that there had been a malfunction in the targeting system at what appeared to be the same time that communication was lost with Superman. Unfortunately, this information was not that useful without something else to go on. While Bernie had access to all of the mission telemetry and information about the ship and the radar targeting system, he had hit a wall when it came to getting information about the equipment prepared by LexCorp.
If there had been a surprise in the investigation, it was that Fred had also hit a wall. His team had worked on the space suit system for two days. However, less than 24 hours before the mission start time, the entire project had been transferred to a special projects division of LexCorp. At the time, Fred had been under the impression that the equipment was taken directly to the military for system integration. However, there was a discrepancy in the times. Fred reported that the equipment was removed on Tuesday evening at around 7:00 pm while Bernie had records that showed the equipment arriving at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon. Bernie said that he was unaware of any pre-delivery integration that would have been necessary.
Fred had been very careful about what questions he asked within LexCorp. His initial requests to follow-up were met with cold reactions by his superiors and he was told that that information was confidential. Fred’s investigation had evolved into following up on leads based on the information he had access to. Unfortunately, the team that had taken the equipment to do the so-called system integration testing had also taken all of the plans and other documentation.
For Lois and Clark, the evenings had fallen into a comfortable pattern. They would work late and then Lois would drive them to the apartment. They had taken advantage of the few open restaurants once, but Clark’s cooking skills had come through as good as ever and dinner preparation had become one of the highlights of each evening. At the beginning, Lois had only hovered nearby to remind Clark to be careful with knives but Clark couldn’t resist inviting Lois to help and it had quickly turned into a regular ritual of joint meal preparation.
Lois made a point to ask Clark about his memory every day. For good or bad, Clark’s memory seemed to have stabilized. Activities that were heavily oriented toward motor skills, such as food preparation, seemed to have either come back quickly or had never been lost. Clark was especially happy that whatever caused the memory loss had lumped some very useful skills into the “didn’t forget” group. Aside from cooking, he said that his writing and typing skills were intact. He seemed to retain all of the tools to be a reporter except for his memory of events and experiences dealing with people. It would be some time before his reporting skills would be back to their previous level, but Lois was genuinely happy to help him reacquire them.
Unfortunately, Clark’s personal memories hadn’t improved from the night after his accident. There were images of places, some of which could be identified from context. Clark was fairly certain that he could remember some images of Smallville. There were images in the inside of a home that, when he described them for Lois, seemed to be the Kent farmhouse. But there were no people. As far as his memory was concerned, he might have never known another human being before his accident. No matter how hard he tried, there were no images nor were there names. Lois continued to be the lone exception to that rule. For everyone else, all he had was an emotional reaction when he saw their image. It didn’t seem to matter if it was in-person or a picture, but only an image would trigger a reaction.
Clark still wondered about his reaction to Luthor. One afternoon he and Lois had gone through pictures of many people that he had encountered in the time he’d been in Metropolis. For most of these people, there was either no reaction at all or it was so slight as to be imperceptible. Of those that triggered a reaction, most seemed to be associated with mild affection or amusement. A few seemed to have negative feelings attached. It was strange that his negative reactions were so weak because the people that triggered them were, according to Lois, some of the worst villains in Metropolis.
As they were going through photos from the archives, there was one point in particular when he had trouble convincing Lois that he was reporting his reactions correctly. They had been looking at criminals with whom they had personal contact.
“Clark, that’s Jason Trask. He tried to kill both of us.” Lois’s tone was one of disbelief.
“I believe you,” he countered. “I do get a sort of negative feeling when I look at his picture. In fact, it’s probably the strongest reactions I’ve had for anyone except Lex.”
“Sort of negative! You have to be kidding. He threw us out of a plane! He tried to kill you in Smallville!”
Clark had looked at her helplessly. “I can’t help it. I can tell he was a bad person but the feeling isn’t that strong.”
“You’re sure Lex triggers a stronger negative reaction?”
Just the mention of that name sent a shudder through him. “Oh, yeah. Way stronger.”
“I wish we knew what was behind that.”
“You and me both.”
The evenings had come to have a sort of ritual feeling for the two of them. Watching television was again an option now that there was programming other than Nightfall news. Clark wasn’t surprised to discover how much he enjoyed sitting with Lois and either reading or just watching television. Clark’s memory of books was spotty. Some he remembered perfectly while others were a complete blank. He discovered that he was a very fast reader, and that he had retained his ability to read many languages.
When the end of each evening arrived, there was always the walk to the door. Clark insisted on calling it Lois’s room and Lois’s door. There had been no repetition of the kiss on the lips that had followed Luthor’s final invitation. Instead they seemed to be involved in a slow-motion dance of avoidance. The night after that first kiss, Clark quite deliberately and very tenderly kissed Lois on the cheek. The following evening Clark was surprised when Lois seized the initiative and kissed him—also on the cheek. They each knew that this pattern would not continue for long but were satisfied with the more measured intimacy for the time being.
They were both hopeful for some good news today from the doctor. Originally, Clark had feared that it might take weeks to get an appointment to see the memory specialist. It turned out just as well that they had waited. During one of their conversations with Bernie Klein, the subject of Clark’s memory came up. Bernie recommended a different doctor than the hospital had. This was a friend of his that specialized in extreme memory loss conditions. Aided by Bernie’s recommendation, Clark was able to get an appointment much more quickly than would have been possible for a regular patient.
***~~~***
The doctor’s office was empty when they arrived. There were the usual papers to fill out. The fact that Lois had to help answer some of the questions made her feel even more like they were a couple. Even with her help, Clark was completely unable to answer many of the questions relating to drug allergies and medical history. As he scanned through the list of questions, he laughed softly.
“What’s funny?” Lois asked.
Clark smiled back at her. “These questions… ” He pointed at the medical form. “If people come to this doctor because they’ve lost their memory, how does anyone ever answer this stuff?” Lois was considering a reply when Clark hurried on. “I know that people will have family members or medical records and things like that. It just struck me as funny.”
Clark had barely finished the forms when the nurse asked him to come into the office.
“Can my…friend come with me?”
“She can come in after the doctor has completed his preliminary examination.”
He turned to Lois. “Would you mind coming in at the end?”
“No, Clark. If you’d like me to be there, I’ll come.”
“Thanks. I… Thanks,” Clark said as he turned to go into the inner office.
Lois was curious as to what was going on and had to keep reminding herself that it was not really any of her business. Then again, given the way their relationship had evolved over the past days, maybe Clark’s health was her business.
It was hard to believe that it had only been a week since Nightfall and only eight days since Clark had lost his memory. So much had changed in that time. Ten days ago, Clark had just been her partner and she dreamed about a future with Superman while she occasionally dated Lex. Now, the idea of dating Lex was repulsive while Superman was…gone. As for her future—every path she could imagine seemed to involve a certain ‘Hack from Nowheresville.’ She couldn’t help but smile at that thought. But was she getting in too deep too quickly? Could she afford to open up? Even Clark could hurt her if she let down her guard. The opening of the door provided a welcome interrupt to the confusion she was feeling. She set these thoughts aside as Clark sat down next to her.
“Well?” she asked.
“Is it normal to take your pulse and blood pressure and all that?” Clark asked in reply.
“Sure,” she answered. “Every doctor’s visit I can remember started exactly the same way. You go into a small examination room and then the nurse does all that and asks basic questions about your symptoms. Then the doctor comes in and asks some more questions and may do some more tests.”
“That’s exactly what happened,” Clark replied. “He asked some questions and then checked my eyes and head. It seemed very strange. I’m used to not remembering things, but most of the time there is some level of familiarity. This felt completely strange. I must not have been to the doctor for a very long time.”
“So what did the doctor say? Are you done?”
“I’m not done. He seemed to have an idea of what was going on before he asked his first question. I got the impression that the exam was mostly to make sure that there wasn’t something wrong with me that he wasn’t expecting. It seemed like he knew what my symptoms were before I arrived.”
Lois was nervous for a second. “When I made the appointment I gave the nurse a description of your memory problems. I hope that was okay.”
Clark smiled as he reached out and placed his hand on hers. “Of course. And thank you.”
As often happened these days, Clark’s touch sent a pleasant tingle up her arm. Lois’s mind flashed back to her thoughts while Clark was in with the doctor. The touch was so distracting that she almost missed what Clark was saying.
“The doctor asked me to wait out here for a few minutes while he checked something and then we’ll talk in his business office. He asked a lot of questions about what I could remember. When I described the emotional memory thing to him, he acted like that was very important. He also seemed to think that it meant something that you were the only person that I could remember without seeing a picture.”
“Did you tell him that all you remembered was my name and what I look like but nothing else?”
“Yes. Well, there was the other thing I remembered about you.”
“Other thing?”
“How I feel.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Lois cleared her throat. “So, how long do we wait?”
“He didn’t say. I got the impression it would only be a few minutes.”
About a minute later, the door opened and a man came out. He walked over to her and offered his hand. “You must be Ms. Lane. It's nice to meet you. I’m Doctor Plinkton. Would you and Mr. Kent please come into my office?”
They went into a room that was clearly meant for talking with patients, not examinations. The doctor sat behind a desk covered with open journals and papers. Lois and Clark sat in padded chairs facing the doctor.
“Mr. Kent, do you know if you were in or near any military installations around the time of your accident?”
“No, sir. But then, I don’t remember anything.”
“Ms. Lane?”
“As far as I know, his only military-related activity was to relay one message to Superman before Nightfall. Clark was investigating something that day, but Dr. Klein said that only Superman was at the preparation sessions.” After a slight pause, she realized that it might be a good idea to clarify which Dr. Klein this was. “I’m talking about Dr. Bernard Klein of Star Labs. It was him that recommended Clark see you.”
The doctor nodded. “Bernie called me yesterday. He and I go way back.” The doctor turned to Clark. “Mr. Kent, I have no idea how this could have happened, but it’s all but certain that you were exposed to a military nerve gas. Specifically you seem to have come in contact with a gas that I only know as C127S5.”
“Where would I have gotten something like that?” Clark asked.
“Well, unless you deal in classified weapons, you couldn’t get it anywhere.”
Lois was becoming agitated. This doctor clearly knew more than he was saying and she didn’t want to have to drag the information out bit by bit. “Doctor, please tell us what you know. This is very important.”
The doctor turned back to Lois. “When I first read the list of Mr. Kent’s symptoms, I knew they were like nothing I’d seen before. However, they sounded vaguely familiar. I finally remembered reading a report on an accident that happened in a Kentucky chemical weapons facility.” He placed a hand on one of the journals on his desk. “Soldiers were accidentally exposed to a particular nerve gas. Their symptoms were almost exactly the same as those Mr. Kent described. This C127 gas is normally exceptionally deadly. In the Kentucky accident, the gas was mixed with several other gases and most of the men who were exposed didn’t die. Apparently being mixed with certain other gases substantially reduces its lethality. The strange memory loss pattern that you have shown was reported in that incident.”
“How long did it take these other people to get their memory back?” Clark asked.
There was a long silence. “I’m sorry, but they didn't. The gas kills by disrupting the neural pathways that control breathing and other autonomic functions. That part of the process is curtailed by the addition of other gases, which is why the Kentucky workers weren’t killed. However, a secondary effect of the gas is the disruption of the neural connections which store memories. Unfortunately, that process is not affected by the other gases. That's why the Kentucky workers—and you, Mr. Kent—lost their memories. I'm sorry, but there is no way to reverse the process. Once a memory is gone…it's gone.”
Clark just sat there speechless. The idea that he would never get his memories back seemed to have hit him hard. Lois was looking for some good news and on a hunch she asked, “Will Clark have any problems with memory going forward?”
The doctor seemed happy to move on. “In the reports that I have access to, people that survived their initial exposure seemed to suffer no long term effects other than the initial memory loss. There were no reports of subsequent health problems and the data suggests that the people had no problems forming or retaining new memories.” He turned back to Clark. “You’re fortunate to have Bernie Klein involved. He has access to military information that I would have a difficult time seeing. With his help we have a much better chance to see the complete reports on this gas.”
This last part seemed to have snapped Clark back to the present. “Doctor, why do I remember Lois differently than anyone else?”
The doctor picked up one of the journals. “According to this report there were 17 people exposed to the leak in Kentucky. Of these, 11 survived and they all displayed various levels of the same memory loss with image triggered emotional responses that you do. Three of those men also remembered a name and an image. Two of the three remembered their wives. The third was widowed, and his image was of his son. Subsequent investigation revealed that all three had been exceptionally close to the person they remembered. The specialists that handled the case believed that, when they were about to be overcome by the gas, these men thought they were dying and focused their attention on the most important person that they were leaving behind. The theory was that new memories were forming while the old ones were being dissolved.”
“Didn’t any of the other survivors have–someone special?” Clark asked.
“Apparently. But these were special cases. In all three examples, the bond between the men and the person they remembered was exceptional.”
Lois’s mind was racing. Based on everything she’d learned this past week, she knew that Clark thought very highly of her. But from what this doctor was saying, she was probably the most important person in his life. Even more important than his parents, and Lois knew how close Clark was with them. And that was before he lost his memories. The idea was both thrilling and terrifying.
The doctor waited for a response. After several seconds he seemed to sense that something wasn’t quite right. “Mr. Kent, are you telling me that you don’t feel that kind of connection to Ms. Lane?”
There was another second of silence before Clark answered softly, “I do.”
The doctor was clearly flustered by the implied one-way nature of this answer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. When you came in together, I just assumed…”
Lois felt she just had to speak up. “Doctor, Clark and I are close friends and our relationship was… is…evolving. This development has complicated things but I’m flattered that Clark thought of me in that instant.” Even though she was addressing the doctor, Lois hoped Clark realized this little speech was really for him. “Is there anything else we should know?”
The doctor looked considerably more comfortable now. “No. I would suggest a blood sample but this gas only lingers for a few hours. There’d be nothing to see now.” He turned to face Clark. “May I contact Dr. Klein about your case? I’d like to ask him to see if he can discover anything about that gas beyond what was published.”
After a second Clark answered, “Sure. Please see if he can help.” His voice was flat—almost mechanical.
“If you recall any more memories I’d like to know the situation. These may be personal and I’m not asking for details, but there have been so few cases that anything you can share would be helpful. Other than that, could I see you again in a few weeks? I’d like to see how you’re progressing.”
“I’ll make an appointment on the way out.
***~~~***
'When they exited the medical office building, Lois stopped Clark on the sidewalk. “Clark, I know we’ve talked about this before but please try again. Do you have any memory at all before the hospital?
He concentrated. As before, except for some images, emotions and Lois, his life might have begun that night. There was something before the hospital, but it was very limited. “Not much,” he finally replied. “I remember fire and some vague images of the building that I was in when they found me.”
“Where was that?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. We’ve been so busy with Nightfall and everything that I haven’t thought to ask where that was or think about why I was there.”
“It’s time we looked into that,” Lois declared.
A call to Bill Henderson revealed that Clark had been found in an abandoned apartment building at the edge of Suicide Slum. Bill was able to provide the address.
They arrived to find the building cordoned off with safety tape. At several places along the tape and exterior of the building, signs warned of dangerous conditions. Clark looked at the building and whistled. “I’m amazed I survived.”
He watched Lois read a sign attached to the barrier tape. “It says here that the building was hit by a small Nightfall fragment,” she remarked. Lois stepped back and gave the building a visual once-over. “It’s hard to tell what shape the building was in when you were here. I just wish I knew why you were at this building. Does seeing it trigger any memories?”
Clark looked around while searching his memory. “Nothing. It’s just a building to me.”
Lois slipped under the barrier tape. “Shall we take a look?”
“I’m sure it’s dangerous in there,” Clark cautioned.
“So?”
Clark was about to protest when he realized how futile that would be. “Why does this conversation seem so familiar?”
Lois turned and smiled at him. “Because we have it all the time,” she offered. Then she turned and went on into the building. Clark only shook his head slightly as he followed her in through the doorway.
In this case, the demolished condition of the building worked to their advantage. Even though they had a pair of flashlights from Lois’s car, they still would have had trouble seeing as much as they did if the building hadn't been full of holes.
Shortly after they entered, they passed a stairwell. Clark looked at it and asked, “Should we search the upper floors?”
Lois looked up at the stairs. After a second she turned to Clark and asked, “Didn’t Bill say that this building was unsafe and had been condemned even before the fire happened?”
“Yes. He also said that the firefighters searched the building for people. There were some signs of habitation on the ground floor but I was the only person here. Bill said there were no signs of recent use above the ground floor.”
“Then let’s search down here as thoroughly as possible before we look any higher.”
Their search was slow and methodical. Eventually they reached the back of the building. “Look at that,” Lois said. She was pointing to a hole in the ceiling of an interior room. “Does this remind you of anything?”
Clark moved to where Lois was standing. The hole was the last of a series that led up and out of the building at an angle. “This reminds me of the fragment impact that we saw at the Planet building the morning after Nightfall. This one doesn’t seem as destructive. Could this fragment have been going slower?”
“Let’s see if the fragment is here,” Lois suggested as she headed through a doorway. The path seemed to end in a small room that might have once been an interior closet.
She had barely entered the room when she stopped with a gasp. Clark hurried up behind her. “Lois, are you all right?” When she didn’t reply Clark was afraid that they might have stumbled on a body. When he followed the beam of her flashlight, he saw a hunk of equipment. It was burned and dented but had the look of something very complicated.
Clark aimed his flashlight at it and Lois moved in to take a closer look. “Clark, this looks like military equipment. There are tanks of some sort built into the body.”
“Do you think it could be the source of the gas that took my memory?” he asked. When she didn’t reply immediately he got worried. “Lois?”
“Clark, look at it,” Lois said. Her voice was strong but he couldn’t read the emotion behind it. “Think about how Bernie and Fred described the air system Superman wore.”
Clark moved to try to get a better look. “I see your point. But it’s so burned that it’s hard to tell what it was. Besides, if it was the source of the poison gas that I ran into, how could it be Superman’s survival pack?”
Several seconds passed before she replied. For a moment she seemed lost in thought. “You may be right,” she agreed. “Still, whatever it is we should take it to Star Labs to analyze. Do you think we can get it into my jeep?”
“I think we should keep our distance,” he cautioned. “If that was the source of the gas that erased my memory, we’d better not touch it. I think we should ask Dr. Klein to come and get it with a decontamination crew.”
For a second he thought she was going to argue. But she nodded in agreement. “Let’s just call Bernie and ask him to pick this up.”
He was glad not to have that argument. There was no way he was going to risk Lois’s memory. “Now that we’ve found this I don’t want to risk losing it. I’ll stay here and guard the building to make sure that no one suddenly decides to collect this before we can get back.”
“Are you sure you want to stay with it?” Lois asked. “I mean, if our guess is right this thing took your memories once. Do you want to risk being in its vicinity?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t plan to get any closer to it than I am now. Besides, the alternative is for you to stay. If one of us is going to be at risk, it should be me. I hate to be selfish but if you lost your memories then I would be completely lost.”
Lois was gone for about 20 minutes. Clark waited near the front of the building. He couldn’t help but break into a smile as she approached. “Anything happen while I was gone?” she asked.
“No. I did look around some more to verify that there isn’t anything else here. However, I noticed that most of the other buildings in this area were also abandoned and look like they might have sustained some impacts. Whatever was the source of our strange equipment, it might have resulted in impacts to the other buildings.”
“Good thinking, Clark! You stay here and I’ll take a look around.”
“We should both go,” Clark said.
Lois just turned back to him for a second. “Then who will guard the part we’ve already found?” When he didn’t reply, she turned and started toward the nearest other building.
Clark waited nervously as the moments ticked by. He did his best to keep Lois in sight but whenever she went into a building he lost track until she would emerge to head for the next one. He noticed that when she emerged from the second building she had a notepad out and was writing something down.
Lois was still moving around when a large white van arrived. Clark stepped out of the building and was relieved, if not surprised, when Dr. Klein climbed out.
“Hi, Clark. Where would be the best place for us to load the equipment you found?”
“There is a side door where you can back the van right up to the building. That should work the best. Lois told you that this may be the source of the gas that took my memory?”
“The back of this van is sealed,” Bernie answered. “I brought two of my assistants in full air-tight decontamination suits. We have some hazardous material containment bags large enough to hold anything that we could take in this van. We won’t move the part until it’s safe to do so. Where’s Lois?”
“She’s checking other buildings in the area. We figured that whatever this was, there may be other parts in the vicinity. If you don’t mind, I’d like to show you the part and then see if I can find her.”
“Sure,” Bernie replied. “Let me tell the driver where to put the van and you can show me what you found.”
Clark led Dr. Klein to the part. “Here it is. Did Lois tell you that we thought it might be part of the system that Superman used on the Nightfall mission?”
Bernie’s tone was cautious. “Yes. She told me that on the phone.”
Dr. Klein was looking at it carefully but didn’t say any more. Clark’s impatience finally got the better of him. “Well, is it?”
Bernie turned to face him. “It might be. There is a resemblance. The mission pack that Superman wore was larger. This might be part of what survived if most of it burned up in re-entry. I’d rather not speculate. Once I get it to Star Labs then we’ll know for sure.”
Clark had hoped for a more definitive answer. “Okay,” he said. “But Lois and I think this was the source of that gas that took away my memory. You need to be extra careful.”
Bernie nodded. “She told me that too. I have two men in air-tight suits and we’ll assume that it still may leak poison gas as soon as it’s touched.”
In only a moment or two Bernie and his team were working inside the building. Clark knew that Lois had been moving from building to building but he had lost track of her progress when Bernie arrived. Instead of rushing off to look, he watched the buildings just past where he had last seen her. After a moment, he saw her emerge from a building and start his way.
As she approached she said, “I see Dr. Klein arrived.”
“He has a small team with him. They came ready to collect hazardous materials.”
“Good,” she said. Then her voice turned anxious. “So is that part of the Superman mission suit?”
“He couldn’t tell,” Clark answered. “He said that it was possible but if it was, a lot of it was missing. He wouldn’t commit until he can study it in the lab.”
“Okay,” she replied reluctantly. “I guess I understand. Well, when they’re done here, there are some other items that look interesting. In that building,” Lois pointed at the building where Clark had first noticed her taking notes, “there's something that looks like it might be part of the first piece of equipment we found. Then in the next to last building I checked, I found some kind of electronic device. It's small—I wouldn't have noticed it except that it was at the end of one of these impact entry holes like we saw in this building. And, Clark, all three impacts look like they came from the same direction.”
“Let’s tell Dr. Klein about your discoveries. He can take all of the parts with him at the same time.”
They went into the building to find that the original part was already encased in a gigantic plastic bag. It only took another few minutes to finish up there and head for the other buildings. Within half an hour, all of the parts that Lois had found had been collected and were on their way to Star Labs.
***~~~***
For Clark, the rest of the day had turned out to be frustratingly unproductive. He tried to stay busy so he wouldn’t have to think about the implications of his memory never returning. Surprisingly enough, when he did think about it, the missing memories didn’t really bother him. They were so completely gone that there was no sense of loss. Besides, in those moments when he felt down, all he had to do was think about Lois and it was like a jolt of ‘happy.’ It made the day surprisingly bearable.
Neither he nor Lois had been able to focus on other projects while waiting for the report on the equipment at Star Labs. In a way, this proved to be convenient because that afternoon Perry needed someone to cover a Lex Luthor press conference at city hall. Lex was to announce a data link that would allow MPD to tie into the LexCorp data network. Many of the existing computer-based data warehouses had been knocked out by Nightfall and were still off-line. There was a time when Lois would have used her connection to Lex to get more information. Clark was pleased that the idea of doing that never came up.
The announcement had just finished and they were checking their notes. It suddenly occurred to Clark that such a link would be expensive. He bounced that idea off Lois. “I’m surprised that Luthor doesn’t seem to feel any pressure to conserve money. Many other wealthy individuals have helped, but Luthor seems to be spending money much more freely than anyone else.”
Lois shook her head. “You’re right, but the cost isn’t what’s interesting here. If MPD had access to Lex’s computer network, wouldn’t he have a link into theirs also?”
Clark nodded in reply. “I thought of that too, but I didn’t what to seem unfair. I think we should ask Bill Henderson what he thinks of the new arrangement.”
Lois agreed that they should check in with Bill at MPD headquarters. It was near their current location so walking was the quickest option. They were lucky that Bill was in his office. However, Lois was surprised by the way Henderson greeted her. “Lane, I’m glad you got my message. I didn’t expect to see you so quickly.”
She had no idea what he was talking about. “Bill, I don’t understand. What message?”
“Why don’t both of you come on in. Kent, would you please close the door.” Henderson paused long enough for them to get settled before he turned to Lois. “Less than an hour ago I left a message at your office asking you to come on by. Olsen told me that the two of you had just headed out.”
“I never got your message,” Lois replied. “Clark and I wanted to see if you would be willing to express an opinion about MPD sharing data with Lex Luthor.”
She saw a shift in Bill’s expression. Now he looked even more nervous. “On or off the record?” he asked.
“How about both?” Lois answered.
“Ok, on the record first,” Bill said quickly. “The department is happy that Mr. Luthor is helping in these unsettled times. Access to LexCorp computer and communication resources should be a great help to the people of Metropolis.” Bill paused for a moment as if trying to think of something else to say. “Do you need more?”
That was such an obvious press release that Lois was even more interested in his real opinion. “Not for now. Okay, from here on we’re off the record. I gather that you have some reservations about Lex and his help.”
Bill looked back and forth between Lois and Clark. He glanced at the closed door and lowered his voice. “How do you two feel about Luthor?”
Lois looked at Clark and signaled him to go first.
“Bill, do you remember what I told you about my memory?” Clark asked.
“Yeah. You said you don’t remember facts but you remember feelings about people.”
“Right. When I saw you that first time in the hospital on the night I lost my memory, I didn’t remember who you were but I knew I could trust you. Well, when I finally got to meet Luthor… let’s just say that I didn’t have as positive a reaction.”
Lois found herself staring at Clark. She understood that he wanted to be fair to Lex, but he owed it to Bill to tell him what he really thought. “Clark, you know your reaction was stronger than that.”
Clark looked uncomfortable. “Okay,” he said. “Bill, I have a very bad feeling about Luthor. I definitely don’t trust him.”
Bill turned to face Lois. “What about you, Lane? I know you’ve been out with him a few times.”
Leave it to Bill to have noticed her previous association with Lex. She took a second to gather herself. “Between some of the developments related to Nightfall and Clark’s reaction, I’ve come to have a very different opinion about Lex. I mean, you know Clark. What could have happened for Clark to react more negatively to Lex than he does to that anti-Superman wacko Trask?”
Henderson had been nodding. When he heard that last part his eyebrows lifted just enough to indicate that he knew who Trask was and understood the implication of what Lois had said. He digested this for a second before continuing. “Well, I don’t trust him,” he said with more emotion than she’d come to expect from Bill Henderson. “Lane, who are the two people that have the most behind-the-scenes pull in this city?”
Lois paused for only a few seconds. “Lex is on top on the legitimate side of things and The Boss runs the underworld in the city.”
“Correct,” Bill replied. “Since Nightfall, I’ve seen patterns that bothered me. Then I started noticing how both men were taking advantage of the situation.”
Clark spoke up. “Doesn’t that make sense? They are both at the top of what they do in this city.”
“You’re right. But some of the moves almost seem to anticipate the other’s actions. Crime goes up one place and Luthor moves in to help. Instead of getting better, the troubles seem to move around. I can’t prove anything but my gut is telling me that there is some kind of connection between Luthor and The Boss. If there is a connection, the last thing we need is to let him into our computer system.”
“Are you on record as opposing it?” Clark asked.
“I’m on record against any civilian connection of the type being suggested. I didn’t single out Luthor. With no evidence against him it would be foolish.”
“'So it's okay with you if we report your concerns regarding the general connection between MPD and any civilian firm?”
“Sure, I’ve been pretty vocal about the whole thing. If you asked anyone in senior MPD they’d tell you how paranoid I am.”
Lois chuckled at the picture of Bill Henderson being paranoid. “If we use that part we’ll try not to make you sound too crazy.” She was about to finish up when she remembered Henderson’s greeting. “So, Bill, you wanted to see me about something?”
Bill looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. “It may be related to what we’re talking about. Did you know we’ve assigned police to work with the people salvaging the buildings destroyed by Nightfall? An officer is there to discourage looting and provide an official presence if any questions arise. An issue came up that links back to you.”
“Was some of my stuff salvageable?” Lois asked. “I’m glad, but surprised it would warrant your attention.”
“Actually, it wouldn’t. I want to talk to you about your building, but this has nothing to do with your possessions. The officer assigned to your place just took a class about arson investigation. He's so enamored of his new techniques that he applies them to every building he works, even if foul play isn't suspected. In the first building he was assigned, he was able to determine how the Nightfall fragment smashed the building. For your building, he couldn’t find a fragment.”
“It was probably buried in the rubble,” Lois offered.
“Lane, this kid is good. He didn’t find the meteorite but he did find bomb residue.”
Lois felt herself go cold as she stared back silently. Clark voiced the question that she was thinking. “Are you saying that Lois’s building wasn’t destroyed by Nightfall?”
“Yes. Very quietly, I sent a more senior investigator to the scene. There’s no question—someone who knew what they were doing planted bombs at several places on the first floor of your building. It takes a lot to knock a building down completely but whoever did this knew what they were doing.”
Lois had regained some of her composure. “Do you think this had something to do with me?”
Henderson shrugged. “I don’t know. But you’re the only resident with the sort of connections that might trigger something like this. We’ve put some discreet questions to some of our best snitches and there are hints that this was ordered by The Boss himself.”
“The Boss ordered the bombing of my building?” Lois asked, aghast.
Bill was nodding. “Like always when The Boss is involved, the information is sketchy but that’s the word we get.”
She was fighting to maintain some level of composure. “Bill, I don’t understand. None of my investigations have ever gotten close to The Boss. And right now I don’t even have anything going on.”
“Lois, if you think of any reason that someone as highly-placed as The Boss would come after you, please let me know. We won’t be able to keep this under wraps for long and as soon as it becomes public that your building was bombed, it will be that much harder to get any information.”
“Okay, Bill. I’ll let you know if I think of anything. Is there anything else?”
“No. Not for today.”
Lois and Clark left MPD and headed for the office to write up the LexCorp story. They added some quotes from other senior MPD staff to balance out the article. When they were done, it was a reasonably balanced piece that leaned only slightly toward Bill’s “bad idea” perspective.
***~~~***
That evening was fairly normal except for several discussions about Lois’s building. They had just finished dinner and were talking before clearing the table. “Clark, I just don’t know why The Boss would come after me.”
Clark thought for a minute. “Maybe he wanted to initiate something after Nightfall that you might have a lead on.”
Lois shook her head. “It just doesn’t feel right. I guess it’s a good thing that Lex insisted that I not stay at my apartment.”
Clark almost jumped out of his chair. “What did you say?”
“Before Nightfall hit when Lex invited me to stay with him he insisted that even if I didn’t stay in his building, I needed to stay in some shelter. He stressed how dangerous it was likely to be that night.”
Clark dropped back down to his chair. The thought that popped into his head was horrible.
Lois obviously sensed his distress. “Clark, what is it?”
He swallowed heavily. “It’s too terrible.”
“Clark, now you’ve got me worried. Please tell me what you’re thinking,” she pleaded.
Clark offered this as tentatively as he could. “At MPD today, Bill went on at length about a possible link between Luthor and The Boss. What if Luthor is the one that called for the bombing of your building?”
This suggestion seemed to catch her off guard. “Clark, I know you don’t trust Lex. I don’t anymore myself, but I think he was interested in…well, a relationship with me. He wouldn’t kill me.”
“But he didn’t!” Clark pointed out. “He wanted you to stay with him. He built a copy of your apartment. If you had accepted his invitation, it would have been only for a single night. But what if the next day you had no home? You would already be there, and what would be more natural than to continue to stay with him?”
Lois stuttered a reply. “But…he knew I wasn’t staying with him. I might have been at home when the bomb went off.”
“Lois, how difficult would it be for someone with either Luthor’s or The Boss’s resources to know that you stayed at the Planet for that night?”
That seemed to be the wrong question to ask because Lois never replied. After a moment she stood up tiredly and walked slowly to her door. When she reached it, she turned to face him. “I’ll be turning in early tonight.” With a motion that conveyed either stress or fatigue, she stepped through the door. Just before the door completely closed, it stopped and Lois stepped into view. She looked so sad. “Good night, Clark.”
She looked more fragile that he’d seen her before. “Good night, Lois. Sleep well.”
It seemed as though she tried to smile in reply but the positive emotion wasn’t there. She pulled back into the bedroom and closed the door.
Half an hour later Clark thought he heard something from the bedroom. As he neared the door, he could hear Lois crying softly. He wished she hadn’t shut him out. He wanted to hold her so badly that it hurt.
TBC
Bob
