Chapter Six
Perry waited for all of the Monday-morning sleepyheads to get their first cup of coffee down, then he stepped out of his office and onto the news room floor. “All right, folks,” he called out, “y’all listen up. I know that each and every one of you read Lane and Kent’s front-page story on Wonder Woman yesterday, right?” Everyone in the newsroom nodded in agreement. “Good! Then I know that each and every one of you will cooperate with Lois and Clark on Wonder Woman. And here’s how you’ll do it.”
Perry paused and turned slowly, catching each reporter’s eyes in turn. “Anything – and I mean any tiny little thing – you hear, see, read, witness, or think up, you take it to Lois and Clark. They’re responsible for all Wonder Woman reporting until I say different.”
A startled Eduardo lifted his hand first. “Chief, does that mean that we call them if we just happen to be covering something and Wonder Woman shows up? Are you taking our stories away from us?”
Perry lifted his hands over the growing murmur. “Hold up! Hold up, okay? No, I don’t mean that. If you’re covering a liquor store holdup or a bank robbery and Wonder Woman shows up, you write it up. Your name will go under the headline. But after you turn in the story, you let Lois and Clark know everything that happened. They are the Wonder Woman clearinghouse for the Daily Planet. Nobody loses a byline, people, but you have to keep them in the loop.” He paused and glared at the assembly. “Any more questions?”
There were none. “Fine. You people get back to work. Wonder Woman isn’t the only person in the news, you know.”
The crowd slowly dispersed as Perry turned to the hottest team in town. “That really was a terrific interview, you two. What’s next?”
Lois shrugged. “Now we wait for Wonder Woman to do or say something else newsworthy.”
“Assuming, of course,” Clark chimed in, “that the ‘ideal mate’ she mentioned doesn’t call a press conference and scoop us.”
“Yeah, that’s the big loose end in your story. Got any idea who this mystery man might be?”
The reporters looked at each other as if communicating telepathically, then turned back to him and in unison said, “No idea.”
“What about a reaction interview with Superman? I bet he’s got some interesting things to say about her.”
Clark’s mouth twitched as if he were trying not to smile. Lois’ eyes narrowed in seeming vexation. And he couldn’t imagine why the two of them would have such different reactions to his suggestion about interviewing Superman.
“That’s a good idea, Perry,” Clark said. “We’ll try to get something from him in the next couple of days.”
Perry looked from one to the other and back again. Clark looked like he’d just been told a funny joke in church during a sermon. Lois looked like she’d just bitten into an apple and found half a worm. He sighed and said, “Okay, you two, keep at it. I have faith in you. I bet you’ll know who this ‘ideal mate’ character is before next Monday.”
As they strode away to do his bidding, he sighed. Back when he’d known that Clark was Superman but hadn’t wanted either of them to know that he knew, it had been tough at times. Now that they knew that he knew, it was easier, but making sure that no one else picked up any clues from his conversations with them was still stressful.
Still, he’d rather have that stress than wonder why Clark had the bladder control of a gerbil.
*****
She always felt joy when flying through the clouds, but today Diana was frustrated. Despite the broad hint she’d given the reporters – and which they had obligingly printed – Superman had not attempted to contact her. Surely he was not that dense. Surely he could read her meaning in the interview.
Or perhaps it was her fault for not communicating more clearly. She had not been completely open with him at their first meeting. Of course, she really had not had the opportunity to be open with him. The police had arrived before they had spoken of deeper matters.
But surely Superman needed a mate! And who else could fulfill that role so well as she? What other woman was suitable for the Man of Steel?
The reporter for the Daily Planet, for example – Lois, that was her name – was intelligent and talented and dedicated, but she was not Diana’s equal in fighting prowess or in heritage. Diana had investigated her background and discovered that her mother was a recovering alcoholic, that her father was a renowned doctor but was away for months at a time, and that her sister was in the midst of a divorce, which was yet another institution of the outside world which baffled Diana. If this Lucy person disliked her husband enough to dissolve their marriage, why didn’t she simply challenge him to a duel and kill him? It was much simpler that way.
The piece of information which convinced Diana that even a woman such as Lois Lane was totally unsuitable for Superman was her childless state. She and her husband – a decent man, if a bit dull – had been married for half a decade, yet there were no children. In Diana’s mind, that made Lois less of a woman than if she had been a drug addict. A woman who could not – or perhaps would not – conceive a child was somehow flawed, according to Amazonian mores.
She wondered where Superman spent his time when he was not performing his feats of strength. His total time in the public eye over the days since Diana had arrived in Metropolis totaled less than four hours. Diana had another job which took up much of her time, but why would Superman –
She suddenly lost altitude and velocity as the realization struck her. Of course! What a fool she was! It was another way in which they were so very alike! When he was not flying about in his blue-and-red suit, Superman spent his time pretending to be a normal man! Why had she not seen it before?
Because, up until the present moment, she had believed that her idea to masquerade as Diana Prince, public relations director for the Greek Embassy, was a brilliant and original idea. She had never conceived that Superman might wear another set of clothes when he was not fighting for truth and justice, and it was because her pride did not permit her to believe that she was anything less than the most intelligent and cunning Amazon on Paradise Island.
Chagrin filled her mind. She had misjudged not only Superman, but she had misjudged herself. It was difficult to admit that she had made a serious mistake, even to herself, but this mistake could easily be rectified.
And the course she would chart toward that goal was clear. She would discover Superman’s other identity, contrive to confront him in that guise at a time when she wore the aspect of Diana Prince, and reveal to him that she had penetrated his disguise. Surely his respect for her would rise as a result, and she would then be able to suggest that they explore a personal relationship.
It would work! It was a foolproof plan. Even though Superman was super-powered, he was only a man, and was therefore inferior to her, despite her mother’s irritating platitudes about sexual equality. Even the seeming equality between Lois Lane and Clark Kent had to be a false front. Surely Clark, who was in truth merely a cowardly man, attempted to dominate Lois in several important ways when no one might see. It was obvious that he attempted to mask his inferiority by mistreating his wife, and that he attempted to mask that abuse by seeming to treat her as an equal in public. The vile, duplicitous wretch!
She was suddenly overtaken with the urge to prove herself right. She would not only search for Superman in the air and at emergencies and crime scenes, she would eavesdrop on Lane and Kent until she uncovered their hypocrisy. She would then reveal their perfidy to the world and release Lois from her bondage.
Such an heroic action would, in all probability, result in lifting Superman’s respect for her even higher. She envisioned the ecstasy of mating with such a noble specimen of manhood, with the attendant passion and excitement inherent in such a coupling. Their daughter would be the bravest, strongest, most capable Amazon ever born.
Perhaps she could convince the Court of Nine to allow Superman to visit her in the palace following the birth of their daughter. It was a long-standing prohibition that no adult male might stand upon Themyscira and live – a law nowadays more honored in the breach than in the observance – but surely as queen and mother of such a splendid child, she could make certain that the law would be amended for herself and her mate.
Perhaps he might even decide to live there with them. Yes, that would be splendid! She would not only be queen and able to raise her daughter in the finest traditions of the Amazons, she would have her mate at her beck and call both day and night. It would truly be Paradise Island for her.
She increased her speed and angled upward, soaring near the limits of her ability. She let out a cry of victory and joy and pushed herself into an aerial acrobatics routine which she’d performed the day before she had left on her quest. This time, however, she flew not for the judges, nor to demonstrate her skill to her mother, but for herself.
*****
News of the derailed tank car carrying a hazardous chemical mixture had come just as Clark and Lois had walked out of the building for lunch. Instead of a meal at Callard’s, Lois had stolen a quick kiss from him before running back into the garage to take her new Jeep north to the location where the train had jumped the track. Clark, of course, had sprinted into a nearby alley and flown away as Superman.
When he arrived, he saw that the emergency services seemed to have the situation under control. They had already established a safety perimeter, had evacuated the nearby subdivision, had locked down the elementary school just half a mile away, and had designated a fire truck to hose down the tank car to keep it cool since the coolant system was damaged in the derailment.
He landed a few feet behind what he assumed was the command post operating out of the back of a pickup truck topped with an oversized camper shell and nearly a dozen antennae. “Excuse me,” he said. “It looks to me like you have the situation under control.”
One of the officers turned and rolled his eyes at him and spoke in a nasal tone. “Come on, pal, you’re the third Superman to drop by today. Why don’t you go plug a volcano or something?” He turned back to his paperwork.
Superman lifted his feet to sit cross-legged in midair. “If you really don’t need my help, officer, I’ll certainly leave. But I’m here if you need me.”
A blonde woman in a firefighter’s uniform turned and stared. The pinch-faced officer who’d spoken first didn’t look at Superman as he said, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll take it under advisement.”
The woman tugged on the first officer’s sleeve. “Frank. Frank! I think you should talk to him.”
“Stop pulling on my arm, Margaret! I’m busy.”
The woman grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. “Talk to him, Frank.”
Frank opened his mouth to snap at Superman until he noticed that the red boots were not on the ground. “Uh – um – I – I’m sorry. I just – I assumed that – anyway, thanks.”
Superman sat in midair and waited. Margaret finally elbowed Frank in the ribs. “What? Oh, right. Superman, what was it you wanted?”
“I wanted to offer my help if you could use it, although I’m not sure you need me right now.”
Frank blinked several times and made several inarticulate noises. Margaret sighed in apparent exasperation and shoved him to the side. “Thank you, Superman. The car isn’t leaking right now and we’ve got the temperature down low enough to prevent a pressure leak, but it will take several hours to get a crane large enough to lift the car back in place. Could you help us with that?”
Superman nodded. “Of course. I assume you want it back on the track on its wheels?”
Just then a tall, gangly young man ran up to the gathering. “Sir! The railroad technician just gave me some bad news.”
Frank turned to him and snapped. “Can’t you see that we’re busy? Take it somewhere else!”
Superman put his boots back on the ground and raised his hand. “Wait a moment. What’s your name, young man?”
“Wha – uh – name – right! My name’s Thomas Reilly, sir. Uh – Superman, sir!”
“Just call me Superman, Mr. Reilly, and we’ll be fine. Now what’s the bad news?”
“Bad news?”
“Yes. You said the railroad technician just gave you some bad news. What is it?”
“Bad news?” Reilly pinched his forehead in thought for a moment, then his eyes popped open wide. “Oh! Right. He said that one of the trucks is damaged and they’ll have to replace it.”
Frank put his hands on his hips and huffed, “Don’t bother Superman with something so unimportant! We’ll just have someone drive another truck up here and put the broken one on a tow truck!”
Margaret tapped him on the shoulder. “No, Frank, he’s talking about the trucks on the tank car. The trucks are the assemblies under the car which hold the track wheels in place. Right, Reilly?”
“Yes, ma’am. He said it won’t hold the car’s weight. And they can’t replace it here. They don’t have the right equipment or spare parts. He wants to bring another car in and offload the cargo to it.”
“How long will that take?”
“They can’t get a new car here before dark. Offloading will take six to eight hours because of the position of the overturned car.”
Margaret sighed and looked at Frank. “What do we do now, oh brilliant one?”
Frank frowned. Superman thought it made his face even more ferret-like. “Well, I don’t know! Ask the railroad guy!”
A young woman wearing paramedic gear sprinted up to the group. “The tank’s leaking! We have to get away!”
“What!” shouted Frank. “It wasn’t leaking a minute ago!”
“It is now!” she shouted back. “There’s a crack or something on the underside where it’s resting! That stuff is toxic and I’m out of here!”
She vanished before anyone could ask another question. Superman strode forward. “I’ll see if I can seal the leak, but if I can’t I’ll have to get rid of the whole thing.”
“Thank you, Superman,” Margaret said.
He trotted to the end of the car where a short, white-haired man wearing old-fashioned spectacles directed everyone away from the wreck site. From behind the man, he asked, “Sir! How can I help?”
“You can get your sorry self out of here, you stupid – oh, sorry, Superman, didn’t recognize you at first.”
“Never mind that, how can I help?”
“You can get that blasted thing out of here!”
“Where can I put it?”
“Uh – “ the man shook his head. “You can’t put it in any body of water. The chemicals won’t break down, and they’ll kill everything they touch.”
“What about a secure landfill?”
“There’s not one around that will take that stuff!”
“Can I take it to a yard where they can offload the chemicals?”
“No! It turns into a toxic gas when it’s exposed to air!”
Superman thought furiously for a moment. “Then it has to be eliminated.”
“What? No! You can’t burn it like scrap wood! It’s too volatile – it’d go off like a bomb!”
“I was thinking of putting it in orbit.”
“What? Orbit?” The older man’s mouth dropped open for a moment, then he smiled and nodded. “That’s brilliant! The cold will freeze the chemicals and prevent them from escaping! Can you do that right now?”
Superman frowned. “I don’t know. It’s not too heavy for me to lift, of course, but I’m worried about the load shifting before I can get it up high enough. And if I freeze it here, the whole car might burst.”
“Then may I offer my assistance?”
The white-haired man and Superman both turned to see Wonder Woman standing behind them. Her body language said that she was poised for action.
“Yes!” said Superman. “Can you help me lift this car into orbit?”
She frowned. “How much does it weigh?”
The white-haired man answered, “Two hundred eighty thousand pounds fully loaded. And right now it’s fully loaded!”
Wonder Woman tilted her head in thought, then said, “I am not certain I could lift it alone, but I can help balance it. I assume we would not be traveling at a great rate of speed?”
“As fast as we can go and keep it under control.”
“Then let us begin.”
Superman turned to the white-haired man – whose name he hadn’t learned – and nodded. “Thank you, sir. You’d better get to safety.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice! Good luck!” With that, he followed the rest of the emergency workers to what they hoped was a safe distance.
“How should we lift this object, Superman?”
“I’ll lift the center. I need you to give me a boost on whichever end is heavier. I don’t think the load is balanced.”
“Would you prefer to seal the breach now or in the air?”
“I’ll freeze it as soon as I get a clear shot at it. You be careful in case this stuff is toxic to you.”
Her eyes widened for a moment, then she nodded. “I will take precautions.”
Talking time was done – it was helping time. Superman gently lifted the far side of the tank car until he saw the crack, a small jagged line almost four feet long. It appeared that the car had been bent and stressed when it had fallen off the track across a small ditch beside the right of way.
He gently applied his cooling breath until the thin fog seeping out disappeared, then he used his heat vision to flash burn all the bits of toxic fog he could see. He sensed, rather than saw, Wonder Woman run to one end of the rail car and slowly lift until the whole car was level.
“Ready to go?” he called.
“I am ready!”
“Lift on the count of three! One – two – three!”
The railroad car slowly rose into the air, carried by the two heroes.
*****
Wonder Woman was ecstatic. This situation could not be more advantageous for her if she had planned it. She hadn’t, of course – putting innocents at risk would have been a blatant and very serious violation of the ancient Amazon warrior code, not to mention it being something that Superman would surely not view in a positive light.
She glanced down at the people on the ground. Most were staring at them as they lifted the car beyond the range of their limited human vision. Some were shouting and clapping and jumping or dancing in place. And a few made their way through the crowd, asking questions and recording the responses they received.
She recognized Lois Lane speaking to one small group.
The load seemed to shift and she gave her full attention to the matter at hand. The end she was carrying suddenly felt much lighter and she flitted to the far end. “Changing ends!” she called.
“Good. Thought we were going to lose it for a moment.”
They gained speed as they flew higher, and the quality of the light changed. Wonder Woman’s lungs began to labor for oxygen. Apparently she needed more air when she was exerting herself, something she had never done before at this altitude.
“I believe I am – nearing my limit, Superman! Can you – handle this alone now?”
He hesitated, then called out, “It would be better if you could give me another twenty seconds. We’re almost past the stratosphere.”
She blinked. They were higher than she’d first thought. “I will do my best,” she answered.
Twenty seconds. She focused on that and kept lifting.
Nineteen.
Eighteen.
Seventeen.
Sixteen. She felt as if her lungs wouldn’t fill.
Fifteen.
Fourteen.
Thirteen.
Twelve.
Eleven. Her head began to feel light.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six. Her vision grayed out around the edges and she gritted her teeth.
Five. She had to focus.
Four. Focus!
Three –
*****
She felt air rushing past her face and wondered why, then she remembered what had happened in a jarring moment. She tried to alter her flight path and felt arms holding her aloft.
She was in Superman’s arms.
But it wasn’t because he felt tenderness for her. And it wasn’t because he was celebrating. The last count she remembered was – was three.
She hadn’t made it. She’d failed. Not only had she failed to protect the innocents, she’d failed Superman. The shock of sudden shame caused her to stiffen.
His arms tightened ever so slightly beneath her shoulders and knees. “Easy, Wonder Woman. You’re going to be fine.”
She opened her eyes and turned her head to look into his face. To her surprise, he was smiling. “Are you feeling better now?” he asked.
She looked around to see solid cloud cover beneath them. She took a deep breath and realized that they were at an altitude comfortable for her.
She tried to push herself away, but he held on. “Whoa, now, take it easy. I want to make sure you’re ready to fly before I let you go.”
Another deep breath cleared her mind. “What happened to the railroad car? Did I drop it?”
He chuckled. “No. You held on and lifted for almost thirty seconds more, then you just let go and did a reverse swan dive. It was quite graceful.”
“But the car! The chemicals – ”
“They’re in a stable orbit outside satellite height. The car is encased in a block of ice and it will be fine for a few days until the railroad decides what they want to do with it.”
“But – you caught me?”
He smiled. “Of course. I wouldn’t want my assistant to suffer an injury. I caught up to you at about sixty thousand feet and slowed you down until we got to about twenty-five thousand. That’s when your color came back, so I figured you’d be okay.”
She nodded. “I do feel much better now.”
“Are you ready to fly on your own now?”
“I believe so. Please release me.”
He stopped and hovered, then slowly withdrew his support her. She wobbled for a moment, then steadied herself and nodded. “Thank you. I can fly on my own now.”
“You sure?”
She suddenly accelerated away from him, then reversed course and corkscrewed around his position. “Yeah,” he grinned, “I think you’ve recovered nicely.”
She smiled back. “What is our next course of action?”
He shrugged. “I can’t very well tell you what to do, but I’m going back to speak with the railroad people. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few reporters who want to ask both of us some questions.”
“Then I shall accompany you.”
He turned in mid-air as if standing and gestured for her to lead. “After you, madam.”
Her smile grew. “Perhaps we should go together.”
*****
Lois was speaking with the white-haired railroad man – whose name was Sherman Morgan – when Superman and Wonder Woman floated down out of the sky and landed a few yards away.
Everyone turned to look at them, including Mr. Morgan. Lois took the opportunity to release the nervous breath she’d been holding since she’d spotted her husband in the sky. From the look on Superman’s face, it appeared that their joint mission had been successful.
She looked at Wonder Woman and blinked. Her focus was entirely on Superman. And her expression reminded Lois of something – something in her own past –
And then it came to her.
She’d seen that look on another woman’s face before.
Her own.
The look on Wonder Woman’s face matched the one on Lois’ own face in the picture someone had taken when Clark had won his first Kerth.
It hit her like a spinning reverse round kick to the head. Wonder Woman thought she was in love with Superman.
And Superman had to be the ‘suitable male’ they’d written about.
As Superman discussed the particulars of the recovery effort with Mr. Morgan, she examined him carefully. Everything about him said that he’d just helped out at an emergency and the enterprise had ended in a best case scenario. He was conscious of Mr. Morgan’s thanks and made some constructive suggestions on how to recover the chemicals. But to Wonder Woman’s adoring gaze and posture, he was totally oblivious.
Great. Just great. How was she going to tell Clark? And what were they going to do about Wonder Woman?
As if Lois’ life wasn’t complicated enough.
