Sorry to take so long to get this part up. Valentine’s Day, RL and some other issues got in the way. I’m going to work really hard not to have a gap like this again.
And the Truth Will Set You…
Chapter 10
As she rode the elevator up to Lex’s office, Lois felt a very different kind of nervousness than she had felt just over a week ago when she’d rode up this same elevator.
Earlier this morning she’d been discharged from the hospital. Her doctor had offered her the option to stay for another day, but she’d declined. If she could have remained in the room next to Clark, she might have been tempted, but the hospital needed that room in the ICU. Besides, she had too much to do to spend time sitting in a hospital bed. If they were ready to let her go, she was getting out.
She’d gone home just long enough to freshen up and change. While she was home, she did her best to not worry about whether or not the bugs had been replanted in her apartment. Lois stayed only long enough to take care of her personal necessities and call Lex.
In the past twenty-four hours, she’d had plenty of time to look at the problem of how to conduct an investigation into the events at Clark’s press conference. Each time she considered the issue, it was obvious that every approach was simpler if she were on Lex’s good side. Furthermore, whenever she thought about how satisfying it would be to simply blow Lex off for good, she remained convinced that her chances conducting a successful investigation of Lex were much higher if he continued to believe she was almost his girlfriend. So here she was. Her shoulder felt especially painful since she’d deliberately skipped a scheduled dose of her pain reliever. She had to have her head clear for this conversation.
The elevator door opened and there was Lex waiting patiently in the middle of the room. “Good afternoon, Lois,” he said. His voice carried a note of caution that she hadn’t remembered hearing before.
“Lex, I’m so sorry about what I said in the hospital,” she lied. “I barely remember it,” she lied again. “I just remember being so angry and all the anger gushing out. I couldn’t control it. Can you forgive me?” That request was the biggest lie of them all. She was trying her best to duplicate the way they’d interacted before she’d learned the truth about him… and herself.
He seemed to take a long time to consider a reply. Then it hit her, he was calculating possible responses against his goals. “Of course I forgive you,” he answered after what was really only a very short time. “I still hope for a future where we’re together.” She’d expected him to come over and try to kiss her. To Lois’s relief he turned away and walked to the window. “It wasn’t as if there were no grounds for your anger,” he said. After a few seconds spent looking out over the city, he turned to face her. “You know I own many companies…”
She only nodded and he continued. “Your accusations in the hospital were correct. I am responsible for what my organizations do and say. I promise you that I had no idea that LNN had developed an anti-Superman editorial policy.”
Lois almost laughed out loud at such an outrageous statement from a man known to micromanage everything. She started to wonder if anything that either of them said today was going to be the truth. She squelched that thought as Lex continued. “I put an end to that policy last night and I have sent word throughout LNN that anyone who feels the need to push an anti-Superman message is welcome to find employment elsewhere.”
At first, she was surprised at this statement. She knew that it would be too easy to verify this claim, so it was probably true. Then she realized that the LNN propaganda had already achieved its goal. Now the news network could take an apologetic stance for a policy gone awry. With Superman in the hospital and in a coma, there was no upside to being against the city’s hero. This was nothing more than just another calculation. However, Lois didn’t want to reveal that she understood that aspect of the change in LNN policy.
“Thank you,” she said, hoping that she sounded sincere. Her mind raced for what kind of question she’d ask if she really believed that story. “Do you know what happened at LNN that started this … policy? I wasn’t there very long, but I didn’t see anything that would suggest this level of anti-Superman bias.”
Lex sat down behind his desk. “I looked into the source of their position. After the apartment fire last week, there was an editorial meeting where the senior staff reviewed interviews of people who had lost relatives in the apartment fire. From what I understand, some of the interviews were quite moving. It was in that meeting that one of the editors suggested this policy.”
Lois thought she saw an opening here. “May I have that name?” she asked. “I think it would make a good story on the consequences of policy decisions by broadcasters. I promise I’ll be fair. If this person really regrets the decision, it would provide a good chance to get an apology to Superman on record.”
Lex barely hesitated. “The man feels terrible and asked that his identity be kept confidential. I’ve agreed to give the person the chance to redeem himself. I’m going to treat this incident as a misguided attempt to represent some frustration at Superman’s failure to respond.” Lex paused for a moment. Lois was about to reply when he continued. “And let’s face it, this is ratings season. I think there was an element of trying for better ratings.”
As she watched, she had to admit that Lex was an incredibly good liar. At every level – his choice of words, body language and the tone of his voice – he was projecting an image of an executive that regretted what his organization had done. If it weren’t for what she knew from Clark, she would have bought his feeling of regret, hook, line and sinker. She went over and sat down in the chair on the other side of Lex’s desk. “I can’t believe they would attack Superman for ratings.”
“I was shocked myself,” Lex replied smoothly. “To be honest, despite the fact that I own LNN, it isn’t my primary source for news. The first clue I had of LNN’s condemnation of Superman was when you … tore into me at the hospital.”
“Lex, I really am s…”
He cut her off with a motion of his hand. “Lois, I know that what you said to me was a combination of the drugs and your frustration with LNN. I have to admit that in that moment I had no idea what was going on. Your outburst was certainly a wake-up call to my responsibilities as the owner of a major media outlet in Metropolis. But, as unpleasant as it was to be on the receiving end of your outburst, some good may come out of it.”
Lex just paused. He was clearly waiting for Lois to ask. She finally gave in. “What?” she asked with a forced smile.
“This episode has made me realize the real impact of the loss of The Daily Planet. News reporting in this city is out of balance. That must be corrected as quickly as possible. Therefore I’ve initiated the process to re-open that fine newspaper.”
Lois was glad she was sitting down. That announcement might have knocked her off her feet. “That’s great news,” she replied enthusiastically. “Why didn’t you do this when the Planet first closed?”
“When the Planet was bombed, I made a financial decision to close the business based on a simple dollars and cents calculation. Now I realize that there were more factors than I’d accounted for. If the Planet was operating, I’m sure the Superman situation would not have gone unanswered. And of course, had I realized how it would impact you … us, I would have never let it close. Whether or not you let me back in your life, I hope you’ll consider returning to the Planet. The city needs you almost as much as I do.”
~~~***~~~
It was with a feeling of relief that Lois entered the Star building. Lex had kept her for more than an hour talking about the rebirth of The Daily Planet. When Lex had sprung the plan to reopen her beloved newspaper, it had seemed too good to be true. She’d immediately had visions of Perry back in his old office bellowing that she needed more facts before he could print her latest story.
Unfortunately, the more Lex outlined his plan, the more that image faded. He was planning to reopen the Planet all right, but it would not be the newspaper she knew. He was talking about bringing in some senior staff from LNN to serve as the core from which to build. The more Lex talked about his great plan for reviving the Planet, the more Lois became convinced that while this new publication might carry the name of The Daily Planet, it would not be the same paper.
Toward the end, she’d found it difficult to feign enthusiasm for the project. She’d finally escaped by claiming a combination of fatigue and the need to check in at the Star. Lois figured she must have been successful in convincing Lex of her enthusiasm for the Planet project because as she left he said something about continuing the planning next time she stopped by. Then he kissed her hand. Lois hoped she’d managed to hide the level of discomfort – even revulsion – she’d felt when his lips touched her skin.
The elevator door opening to the Star newsroom was like a breath of fresh air. This afternoon something felt different. Lois looked around. The bare desks and fluorescent lights were the same, but the whole place felt… more alive. After another glance around the room, she had it. The Star hadn’t changed, she had. She was beginning to think of this as her place. She’d barely started across the room when her young de-facto assistant Emily saw her and came running.
“Lois, I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m sorry that I didn’t get the chance to see you in the hospital yesterday. I did try to come by in the morning, but the receptionist said you were in ICU and that visiting was restricted.”
The young woman reminded her so much of Jimmy. “That’s okay, Emily. Thank you for trying. I wasn’t very good company most of the day because of the pain killers.”
Emily smiled knowingly. “Well, I still feel bad,” she offered. “It’s been crazy around here. Mr. Petersen has been beside himself. I heard him talking to himself late yesterday. He was muttering something about ‘Lois Lane’ and ‘should have known’ and stuff like that.”
Lois almost laughed at that. A good shaking up was something the Star needed. “So, Emily, what do we know about the man that shot Superman?”
A look of disappointment crossed Emily’s face. “You didn’t read the Star?”
“No,” she replied apologetically. “I’ve been reading it every day but I didn’t get a paper in the hospital. I got out this morning but I’ve been busy since then. If we have the complete story then I can read our paper to get up to speed.”
“We really don’t have much,” Emily said. “The man’s name was Richard Donaldson. He was 43 years old and born in Louisville, Kentucky. He spent some time in the military but was discharged for emotional instability. About ten years ago, he dropped off the radar. We’ve been unable to find any records of him from the time he left the military until he showed up in Metropolis on Tuesday.”
Some elements of the man’s background sounded familiar. Military background… Dropped off the radar… Lois’s remembered Trask and his Bureau 39 crazies. This guy sounded like he might fit that mold. She’d have to find a way to look into that later.
Lois suddenly realized that she’d zoned out while talking to Emily. “How was our coverage of the shooting incident yesterday?” Lois asked.
“I’d say it’s very good. We don’t have all the answers yet but we have as much information as anyone.”
“I guess I have some reading to do. Would you please bring what we have to my desk?”
~~~***~~~
It had taken nearly an hour to review the material from the shooting. Lois had started with the Wednesday morning edition of the Star. She had to admit that the coverage was good. They had all the details and they’d managed to cover the event without having the feel of a tabloid circus show. Petersen really had turned this paper around.
That took her mind back to Petersen’s offer of a full-time permanent position. As part of her breakup speech, she’d told Lex that she was determined to deal with the changes that had been thrown at her and make them her own. Could the Star be part of that future? So much would depend on what Clark wanted to do.
When she realized that she didn’t want to make a commitment without involving Clark, Lois became worried for a moment. She asked herself if it was pathetic to be unwilling to commit to a work decision without knowing what her – maybe boyfriend – wanted. Lois now knew that Lex had been manipulating her in the time leading up to his proposal. She was more determined than ever to avoid letting something like that happen again. In hindsight, she feared that if she had stayed with Lex, she might have turned into little more than a porcelain doll with no will of her own.
Was she at risk of something similar with Clark? Was she making decisions driven by Clark’s needs and not her own? She didn’t think so. Working with Clark was both fun and exhilarating. When they disagreed over courses of action, they made decisions together. Lois had to admit that she usually bullied Clark into going along with her plan, even if he thought it risky. Then it hit her. She regularly told Superman what to do. It’s hard to think of yourself as pathetic when you regularly order around the most powerful man on the planet.
That made her feel better. This wasn’t about being some kind of pathetic dependent little woman. This was about planning a future that included her best friend and work partner.
At that moment she heard the sound of a chair being dragged to her desk. She looked up to see her editor sitting down across from her. “Good afternoon, Mr. Petersen,” she said cheerily.
He shook his head. “Lois, my name is Ernie. Would you please call me Chief or Ernie? When you say Mr. Petersen I keep thinking my dad is behind me.”
Lois couldn’t quite bring herself to calling him Chief. Not yet. That was Perry. “Okay, Ernie, I’ll try. What can I do for you?”
“Well, you can tell me that you’ve decided to join the staff. Any chance of that?”
“Not today,” she replied pleasantly. “But I did talk to Clark. How serious were you about having both of us on staff?”
“I can’t afford to make job offers that aren’t legitimate,” he replied in a no nonsense tone. “I believe that having the Planet’s top investigative team would increase both the respectability and the bottom line of the Star. If I didn’t think it was good for business, I would have never brought it up.”
“Clark is still busy with family issues in Smallville. I told him about your offer but I need to follow up. Have you heard from him?”
“No,” Petersen answered. “So there’s a chance you’ll both come over permanently?”
“We’ve talked about it and… well, no promises but there’s a good chance.”
Petersen looked like she’d just handed him the keys to the city. “I hope we can make it happen. Should I call him myself?”
“No,” she answered, probably too quickly. “He’s busy with family issues right now. Next time I talk to him I’ll suggest he call you as soon as possible.”
“Fair enough,” Petersen answered. “So, Lois, what do you plan to do to follow up on the shooting?”
“I’ve read the coverage that we ran on Wednesday, and Emily brought me the background material. There are some glaring holes in this. I’d like to work with whoever you’ve assigned the story to for a follow up.”
“When I found out you were getting out of the hospital today, I took a chance and didn’t assign anyone. I noticed that you’ve been using Emily for research so I had her collect what you have in front of you. Was I correct in assuming that you want the story?”
“Absolutely!” Lois replied sharply.
Petersen just smiled. “So, what do you need? Is Emily okay or would you like someone else for research?”
“No. Emily has been great. But I will need someone with one other skill. Emily says she’s not much of a computer hacker. Who’s the best you have at getting into – difficult to access – computer systems?”
Petersen was slow in responding. “I’m not sure we have anyone that I can recommend on staff. There was no one here with those skills when I arrived, and I’ve been wary of most of the people I’ve interviewed. Some of them seem to have the right skills but I didn’t trust them.”
“I know a guy,” Lois replied. “He was our top computer researcher at the Planet. I was planning to bring him in as my own assistant and pay him myself. But if you need someone, you might want to interview him.”
“What’s his name?” Petersen asked.
“James Olsen.”
“I remember that name. Wasn’t he listed as a contributor to your exposé of the space program last year?”
“Yeah. He’s been a behind the scenes contributor to several of my stories. When either Clark or I would need deep research, especially if it involved digging out computer information, we went to Jimmy.”
Petersen paused for a moment. “Bring him on for this investigation. I’ll pay him. If I like what I see, I’ll consider bringing him on board. But I need to see him. Your recommendation counts for a lot, but I make my own hiring decisions.”
~~~***~~~
By the time Lois was finished laying the groundwork for her research into the shooting it was late and she was tired. However, due to an afternoon telephone call, she was now entering MPD headquarters instead of her apartment.
She’d stopped by the hospital before coming here. She’d hoped that seeing Clark would lift her spirits. It didn’t. He was still in the coma and, if anything, he looked weaker than before. Lois had hoped to speak with Dr. Anderson, but he was away. Lois’s mind flashed back to the image of Clark lying in the hospital bed. He’d looked so weak. While she was in his room, she couldn’t get the phrase, “you can’t die” out of her mind. Before she left, Lois had made the point to whisper “I love you” in his ear just like last night. She hoped that at some level he’d hear her.
Once she was inside MPD, Lois was passed through to Bill Henderson’s office. When she arrived, Bill was waiting with his door held open. “Lane, please have a seat. I was surprised you were working. I called your apartment first thinking you’d still be recovering.”
As she settled into his guest chair, Lois didn’t remember it feeling so comfortable when she’d sat here in the past. She really was very tired. “Too much to do,” she replied slowly.
“So you are handling the investigation for the Star.”
“Yes. I’ve seen some patterns I don’t like.”
Bill looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds. “I agree with you. We tried to run a background check on the shooter and hit a brick wall. It’s like the man dropped off the face of the Earth about ten years ago.”
Lois thought back to the moment of the shooting. She tried to concentrate on Donaldson but she couldn’t stop thinking about the actions of the MPD officer. “I have an idea about Donaldson, but first I was wondering what you can tell me about how I ended up being shot.” She was nervous about accusing a police officer of anything improper with no real information.
“Lois, you know I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation.”
“C’mon Bill. I promise this is all off the record. I’m just trying to put the pieces together. I won’t print anything and I won’t tell anyone.”
Bill gave her a very stern look. “If I didn’t owe you so many favors…. Okay, I’ll tell you that he submitted his written report today and it is fairly consistent with what you told me in the hospital.”
Lois was surprised. The way Bill had pressed her about the timing of when the officer took out his gun she’d been sure that the stories were not going to match. “So why didn’t he act more quickly?”
“In his report he says that there wasn’t enough time.”
“He’s lying!” Lois insisted. “His gun was out in plenty of time to do something besides shoot me.” She hadn’t intended to be sarcastic, but it leaked through anyway.
Bill looked very stern and several long seconds dragged by before he spoke again. “Lois, are you still sure of what you told me in the hospital? You had a lot of pain killers in your system.”
“Certainly! Your guy was watching Donaldson before the man did anything suspicious. He pulled his gun and had it ready. I’d swear he was waiting for him to shoot.”
“Do you realize what you are suggesting?” Bill challenged.
“Unfortunately, I do,” she said seriously. “I trust you, but I think some of your fellow officers may have been compromised.”
“We both know that happens. So, are you willing to share anything else?”
Lois wondered if this was the time to tell Bill what she knew about Lex. There might be some advantages but it would also increase the risk that Bill might say or do something that might tip off some policeman on Lex’s payroll. After a moment of consideration, Lois decided to keep her information about Lex to herself – for now.
“I’m sure that this was no crazy person acting alone,” Lois finally said. “The whole thing was too organized. Even the crowd… It seemed far too large.”
“You’re right.” Bill replied quickly. “But all I’ve got to go on are the people that were arrested for throwing debris at Superman. They all check out with basically clean records. A few of them have been arrested before for disorderly conduct, but nothing serious. Mostly anti-government rallies and such.”
Bill paused. Lois would have sworn he was going to say something else but nothing came. Lois decided to share her one more piece of information. “Bureau 39,” she said.
“What?” Bill replied.
“Do you remember them from last year?”
“Sure. They were the group that did that fake raid on the Planet then threw you and Kent out of a plane. But I haven’t heard a thing since that warehouse turned up empty.”
“Bill, this all has to be for you only. I’ve got my own investigation but I want whoever was behind this. Anyway, did you see my article about Bureau 39 from Smallville, Kansas?”
“No. Sorry, Lane, but I don’t catch everything you write.”
“Other than me and Clark, they were the only people that knew anything about Kryptonite.”
“Kryptonite?” Bill asked.
“The green crystal that can hurt Superman.”
“So you think the shooter got it from them?”
“Not just that. I think Donaldson was part of Bureau 39 for those years he was missing. If you can find a way to get information about that group, I bet you’ll find out what our mysterious Mr. Donaldson was doing.”
“I’ll do that. And I’ll do it as quietly as possible.”
“Good. In the meantime I hope you’re being careful with the Kryptonite you recovered.”
Bill looked alarmed. “Is it dangerous?”
“I don’t know. But I can practically guarantee that if you take your eyes off it for more than a minute, it will disappear from your evidence locker.”
“Well, I thought it might be sensitive stuff. I have all that we recovered on the scene and all of the fragments that were removed from Superman during the surgery. Right now it’s locked up in a special safe in the evidence room. And if what you say is true, we’re in luck since this safe has a very restricted access list. It’s the heaviest and most secure safe we have. I didn’t like way that green crystal glowed when it was near Superman so I put it behind as much metal as I could.”
“Still, Bill, you need to watch it carefully. The people that set up this shooting can probably take it right out of your safe.”
Henderson just chuckled. “You worry too much. Now you should go home and get some sleep.”
At the mention of home, Lois remembered that her apartment might be bugged again. “Bill, I’m sure that I won’t be sleeping well until this is all over.”
TBC
Bob
