Nighttime in the Daytime Chapter 20/21
Artemis (jumpstick@earthlink.net)
July, 2011
Previously from Chapter 19:Thompson turned away from Pete and got in Sherman’s face. In a deadly monotone, he said, “Let me explain clearly and in simple terms. No one
alive has ever quit Bureau 39.” He gave her a scary smile. “Now, if you're still determined to leave, I'd be happy to accept your immediate and permanent resignation.”
Thompson looked at his agents significantly. The moved their hands to the grips of their rifles. Pete looked shocked and so did Sherman. She tensed and said, “No. I'm fine.”
“Well, then, I assume there was something else you came to tell me.”
Sherman looked over to Pete and then back at the Bureau 39 men. “I just talked to two reporters. A Lois Lane and a Clark Kent from the Daily Planet.”
Thompson smiled and Pete closed his eyes in relief. Clark would come for him if he could signal him somehow. Yelling didn’t seem too wise with the guys with guns staring at him.
Sherman continued, “They're outside.”
“Perfect. If they're here, Superman can't be far behind.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Chapter 20. Don't Give Up the Fight and You Will Be Alright Sherman left the tent to talk to the reporters from the Daily Planet. She knew she had to lie, but she also knew that her life depended on her performance. Being basically honest, she didn’t really like to lie, but Thompson was a really scary person and he was surrounded by other scary men.
Lois stood before her by the table, waved her printout of the EPA sites she got from Jimmy via e-mail and said to her, “Look at this! A working list of clean-up sites from the Environmental Protection Agency. And guess what? Smallville is
not on it .” She picked up another piece of paper from her folder and waved that at her. “And
we know that in the past twenty years, there were no permits and no citations on the Ross property for unsafe pesticides of any kind!”
Taking the papers, Sherman pretended to read them. “Look, if you want to match paperwork we can do that.”
Clark moved closer, just in time to see Sherman open a folder and begin flipping through various official documents. “This is our certificate granting access to EPA Superfund status. This is the property rights waiver. Here's the authorization from Smallville City Hall. And this is the updated list you've got. See? There's Smallville right there.” She pointed at a paper in the same format as Lois’ e-mail, and, sure enough, Smallville was there.
Sighing, Clark agreed that Smallville was on the list. “She's right, Lois,” he said reluctantly. Where was Pete? Could it be as simple as he being inside the large tent? Clark tried to use his X-ray vision, but couldn’t see beyond the simple canvas wall.
Biding for more time to be close to the tent, Lois asked, “May I see those?” Lois took the folder for the Ross Farm and began inspecting the documents in great detail. In her peripheral vision, she saw Clark tilt his glasses down and then minutely shake his head.
Inside the tent, everyone could hear the conversation Lois and Clark were having with Carol Sherman.
Pete thought, ‘There’re right there! Clark’s got to be able to see me inside here! It’s just a tent, after all! Then Superman can come in and rescue me! I’m saved. But why didn’t he find me before now?’ Suddenly, Pete was more worried. It should be so easy for Superman. But he did understand that he couldn’t give away his secret identity, so it might be some time. He shuffled his feet on the dirt floor, apparently nervously.
Thompson glared at Pete, just daring him to shout out or make a noise. The two military men kept still but were still holding their guns by the grip for an easy turn-and-spray fire. Then Pete shuffled his feet and coughed and Thompson cocked his gun and pointed it at Pete’s head, shaking his head ‘no’. Everybody inside waited tensely.
Outside, Clark heard the noise. What concerned him most was that he recognized the sound of a gun cocking. Unfortunately, he had heard that a lot in his time as Superman. Maybe his enhanced hearing was coming back. That had been the first of his abilities to manifest. He remembered overhearing Pete with his first girlfriend in High School and it had almost permanently scarred his youth. This time Pete’s life counted on his hearing ability.
Meanwhile, Sherman was still explaining, “It always takes Washington about six weeks to figure out what the people in the field are up to. I can make a call if you like.” She said the words, but certainly didn’t look enthusiastic about doing that.
Lois replied smoothly, “You do that. And while you're at it, we definitely want to talk to Professor Pete Ross.”
“Professor?”
Nodding in affirmation, Lois replied, “At the University of Kansas. In physics or astronomy or something.”
Inside, Pete heard that and thought, ‘Or something! Lois, you know better!’
Acting like a woman whose patience had run out with a recalcitrant child, Sherman repeated, “I told you. He's been relocated during the disruption.”
“But you didn't tell us where.”
“Because I don't know. Probably one of the motels in Smallville. Or perhaps the next town, whatever that is.”
“We drove through town and all the motels were full.”
“The government has pull.” Sherman replied quickly with a bit of impatience.
“All right. Which motel?” Lois could feel Clark tug on her arm as a hint to leave.
“I don't know. I'll try to find out.”
Lois gave her a “yeah, right” look then started to leave with Clark. She just had to give a parting shot at the woman. “You do that. Meanwhile we’ll talk to the local Sheriff again. She happens to be an old girlfriend of Clark’s here. He grew up here, or didn’t you know that, Miz Sherman?”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Sherman watched carefully as Lois and Clark walked back down the dirt driveway to their truck. When they had driven out of sight, she gave a sigh of relief. But she had an increased feeling of dread. Reluctantly, Sherman went back into the tent. When she entered, she found Thompson with all his attention on a crate that a couple of agents were wheeling over in front of Pete. On the outside of a big long crate was the stenciled marking, "39/ULTRA."
Sherman announced, “They're gone.”
Thompson didn’t turn to look at her. “And ... ?”
“I think they believe me, but they want to see Professor Ross here.
“Tell them he'll be in touch.”
Pete shivered. That sentence had a great deal of menace in it. He had relaxed when the apparent nut case had holstered his gun, but now he was worried again.
Thompson turned back to the crate avidly, mentally dismissing Sherman and her petty concerns. She stopped at the exit, almost looking like she was ready to flee. “Look. If I'm involved in this, I have to know what's at stake, in order to do my job.” She looked over at Pete again, appearing to examine him in detail.
Thompson decided to answer her question for the additional benefit of his “guest.” “Fair enough. I have reason to believe there's a very important meteorite here in Smallville.” He then turned his head and look directly at Pete.
Dumbfounded, Sherman asked incredulously, “Meteorite? Why do you need to keep that such a secret?”
“Because if I don't, I will lose the element of surprise over Superman.”
Pete noticed that Miz Sherman was confused too.
She asked, “What's Superman got to do with any of this?” She gestured to take in the contents of the tent and the men outside.
Thompson stated triumphantly as he pointed to the crate, “This, Ms. Sherman, was retrieved in Smallville, Kansas in 1978, not far from this farm.” He patted the crate almost paternally.
Pete noticed he did not open the crate.
“This crate,” he continued, “contains the very spacecraft that brought Superman to Earth.”
Sherman gasped.
Pete was confused. He knew Clark had taken the spacecraft and put it in a secret underground room below the barn on his farm. Clark had explained to him in great joyous detail how he had done it. He had also told him that Lois had seen it and that a part of it had reacted to her. Since there could be only one genuine spacecraft, Thompson was lying. But for what purpose? To perpetuate his delusion, or to trick someone else?
Thompson was explaining volubly now, almost on a rant. “The meteorite probably landed here at the same time as the spacecraft, but wasn't discovered until a big storm unearthed it. It seems reasonable to assume that it comes from the same source as Superman. The planet Superman says he is from, Krypton.”
‘Oh, oh,’ Pete thought. ‘I warned Clark about revealing too much about where Superman came from, but he was so excited when he heard the message from his real father, that he told Lois and let her publish it in one of her so-called interviews with Superman.’
Thompson then reached for a smaller box sitting on top of the large box and lifted out a metal box inside and opened that. Inside was a green rock that looked a lot like the familiar prasiolite quartz of Kansas, but had a sort of glow to it. He unfolded a piece of paper in the small wooden box.
Triumphantly he came closer to Pete and waved the paper in his face. “It's all here! The proof I need to know that my career, my sacrifices, my life’s work was true and worth it! The report says, ‘This sample is not of Earthly origin. It is made of periodic element 126. It emits an extremely high band radiation that doesn't seem to affect humans.’
Continuing with greater enthusiasm, he said, “However,
my theory is that if a
Kryptonian were exposed to a significant piece for any length of time, the result could be lethal to him.” Thompson smiled in great satisfaction. “And our foreign invader will be defeated and he
will not be able to signal his invading army.”
Intrigued by the tale in spite of herself, Sherman had moved back fully inside the tent and approached the group. She argued, “But why kill Superman? He hasn't done anything hostile! He’s only tried to help people!”
Rounding on her, Thompson screamed at her, “His existence is hostile. Didn’t you hear me! He's the advance man... the public relations guy. He's here to soften us up...for the hoards to come and subjugate the entire human race. They’ll eliminate us or worse, make us their slaves! Do you understand this now?”
Both Pete and Sherman nodded tightly, knowing they were dealing with a maniac, uncertain what they could do about it. Even Thompson’s men turned to each other and looked worried.
But now Pete knew what they were after. It was the meteorite rock and they had a theory that it could hurt Superman, his brother. Could it? Pete didn’t know, but he did know how they had run across it. Pete had sent some unusual looking prasiolite green quartz to a geology lab for analysis just after the big storm four years back. This rock must have been part of that lot. The meteorites could have scattered over a large area, maybe all the way to Wichita.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Meanwhile, back at the Daily Planet, Perry White was expanding on Clark’s advice on paava leaves with soothing rainforest sounds and a newly discovered yoga posture.
Jimmy knocked, prepared to open the door and then heard strange bird sounds coming from the office. Then there was the sound of pounding rain on leaves and insects crunching through the rainforest. Slowly he opened the door and peeked in, then walked in staring at the sight of Mr. White sitting on the floor with crossed legs and holding his hands out to the side, palms up and cupped.
Amazement in his voice, Jimmy queried, “Chief?”
Answering in a low soothing voice not at all like his usual command voice, Perry answered calmly. “The Rain Forest, Jimmy. The sounds of nature promote harmony in all living things. Did you know that there are no wild animals with high blood pressure?”
“Still stressing, huh?”
Calm fled quickly from Perry’s voice. “I am not 'stressing,' he growled. “What do you want?”
“Clark's on the line.”
“Well, bring the phone down here. I don’t get up so quickly as I used to.”
Jimmy set the phone by Perry, punched in the line and handed him the receiver.
“Kent? What have you got for me?”
Clark was sitting at his kitchen table with his cell phone. He was startled by the background sound of chirping and rustling leaves. “Not much. Lois probably ought to head back to the Planet and I can wrap up.”
Cat stuck her head in the open door and saw Perry on the floor. She shook her head at the scene, made a v with two fingers on her right hand and whispered, “Lois on line 2.” With a last glance, she left.
Perry said, “Kent. Hang on a second.” He muted the phone and commanded Jimmy, “Help me up here, Jimmy. I can’t think on the floor. Especially when I’m supposed to be
relaxing.”
Jimmy helped him up and Perry leaned on his desk to go around to his chair. Maybe he was a little past the yoga stage, he reflected. He punched off the rainforest sound on the player he usually used for his Elvis songs. Maybe he should go back to his Elvis songs, he reflected. Finally he got the second line. “Lois, is that you?”
Lois was sitting on the living room couch, working on her laptop and holding her cellphone to her ear. She sounded excited as she told Perry, “Something tells me we got a big one here.”
‘What’s going on,’ Perry wondered. He asked Lois, “Could you hold on?” and put her on hold and punched the line for Clark. “Now, Kent, you talked to Lois about this?”
Clark hadn’t, but he wanted to get Lois out of danger. And he recognized danger in Thompson and his men. “Yeah,” he replied.
“And she agrees with you?”
Clark prevaricated, “Well, you know Lois. Anything she puts time into, she expects to be a big story.”
“I see. Be right with you.” Perry went back to Lois’ line. “Lois, you and Kent, you discussed
all this and he's with you on this story?”
Lois put down her laptop and started wandering toward the kitchen with her phone. “You know Clark, he doesn't have the experience yet to see when somebody's feeding him a line. Smallville’s his home town and everyone is honest in his eyes.”
Perry said, “Lois, I'm going to call you right back.” Then he punched up Clark’s line and said, “Kent, I'm going to get right back with you.”
Just then, Lois walked into the kitchen holding her phone. Clark looked up. They locked
eyes, then said in unison, “Who are you talking to?” Realizing they were both talking to Perry, they listened to their phones and heard busy signals, and then both hung up.
Back in Perry's office, he slowly hung up and turned to Jimmy, who was still standing by.
“Uh, Jimmy, I think I need a photog out there in Smallville.”
“Ready, Chief.”
“Let's see. What's Johnston up to?”
“Johnston's in Utah. But I'd sure...”
Perry snapped his fingers as though a new thought came to him. “I got it. Stephenson?”
“Winnipeg.” Jimmy was deflating. “But I’m…”
“Photographers! Just when you need one, you can't find one!” Perry made sure he wasn’t looking at Jimmy so he wouldn’t see the twinkle in his eyes.
Jimmy protested, “Maybe there's a new guy looking for an opportunity.”
Perry shook his head, “No. Don't want to take the chance. It’s probably a nothing story, anyway.”
“Somebody had to take a chance on you once, didn't they?”
Perry looked up at Jimmy, apparently weighing this small insurrection, but appreciating the desire behind it. Finally he said, “All right, all right. You go.”
Jimmy broke into a big smile, “Thanks, Chief. You won’t regret it, I guarantee.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Lois laid her phone on the table and came up behind Clark and put her arms around him, leaning into him and soothing her arms down his arms. Even though she had serious matters on her mind, she appreciated the feel of his strong muscular arms. He might not be super right now, but he was still one hunk of a man. And he was her hunk, she reflected. He survived Nightfall, he could survive this. She hoped.
For his part, Clark leaned back into her embrace and sighed. Lois’ breath tickled his right ear as she talked softly.
“So what were you telling Perry?”
“That there was no real story and you could go home.”
“Home?”
“Metropolis,” Clark clarified. He could feel her shake her head.
“No, Clark. My home is here. With you. Wherever you are.”
Rubbing his hands along her enveloping arms, he protested. “But Thompson is dangerous and I can’t protect you. I still don’t have any of my abilities back.”
Lois still had her arms around him as she moved to his side. He scooted his chair back so she could sit in his lap. She sat and looked him in the eyes. “Remember Nightfall?”
“How can I forget?” A glint of amusement shone in his eyes, “Or rather, how can I forget that I forgot who and what I was?”
“You came back from that,” she pointed out.
He smiled. “Yes, I did. Thanks to you. But unless I get better soon, we’re both going to have to buy plane tickets to get back to Metropolis.” Lois could feel him shudder at the thought of flying in an aluminum tube in the sky.
Her voice got husky, “Besides, even without SuperClark’s abilities, you are still a strong, tall, dark and handsome man. Didn’t you say something about feeling better while we were waiting for the train to pass? Hmmmm?”
“That I did, Lois, that I did.”
“Could you tell that Pete was in the tent?”
Shaking his head, Clark admitted, “No, I couldn’t see anything. But I did hear a gun cock. So someone is in that tent being held hostage for some reason. Even if it is not Pete, I should go help that person.”
“Well, it’s been a long day. Maybe we should help ourselves. And tomorrow will be better.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Bright and early the next day, Lois accompanied Clark on his old secret short cut to the Ross farm.
Clark stopped them just before crossing over into the Ross farm. “What exactly is our plan?”
“You sound like you're one of those people who has to have his whole life worked out ahead of time before he can live it.”
“Are you kidding? Since I met you my whole life plan has gone up in smoke.”
Lois leaned in for a kiss. Hopefully, not a last kiss. If Thompson had something dangerous to Clark, who knew what could happen next.
Clark eagerly accepted the kiss. “I can tell by that little diversion, that you don't have a plan.”
“Of course, I have a plan.”
Clark just looked at her, and then challenged, “Let's hear it.”
“Clark, as soon as I figure it out, you will be the first to know.”
She patted his familiar broad chest, and then proceeded on to the Ross property. They reached a vantage point at the rear of the property where they could look through some honeylocust trees toward the clean-up site.
Lois continued her early conversation. “Okay, here's the plan. We know that whatever they say they're doing there is not what they're actually doing. So, we stay here until we see them doing it.” She frowned in afterthought, “We should have brought lunch.”
Sarcastically, Clark said, “Great plan. But I don’t have a better one.”
They hadn’t been standing there very long, when suddenly one of the men in fatigues dropped out of a tree, followed by another man from another tree. Clark sized up the situation and in desperation, rushed the first man. He yelled to Lois, “Lois, and get out of here!”
‘As if,’ Lois thought and stood her ground. She began making tae kwan do moves on the second man. But then a third agent appeared and pulled Clark from the first one. That one then took the opportunity to drop him with a punch to the stomach. Clark dropped helplessly to the ground and realized being a normal human sometimes hurt. As Clark looked up at Lois he said wryly, “There goes the picnic.”
Lois and Clark were forced to get into a black unmarked van and were driven down to the tent area. As they were shepherded toward the tent, Lois remarked, “Just in case you're wondering, this was never in the plan.”
‘That’s my Lois. Always with a joke.’ Clark replied, “I had a hunch.”
Lois twisted in the grip of the agents, asking, “Who do you guys work for? Do you know who we are? What are you looking for?”
They were jerked to a halt in front of the tent, right where they tried to information from Carol Sherman. To their total non-surprise, George Thompson came out from the tent and said to them, “So many questions for someone in such a precarious position.”
Lois was shocked, but then she realized she really shouldn’t be. The Men in Black aka Bureau 39 were obviously behind all this. “Thompson?! What are you doing in Smallville?”
Thompson answered her with a smirk. “I was wondering the same thing about you.”
Trying to get attention off of Lois, Clark said, “Our newspaper sent us to investigate an EPA clean-up.”
Giving a bark of not-funny laughter, Thompson replied forcefully to Clark, “You're not here because of your environmental virtue any more than I am. You know it and I know it.”
Lois and Clark traded looks. Their old nemesis was back and in their back yard with Clark in an unsuper state.
Looking Thompson full in the face, Clark cut to the core, “What have you done with Pete Ross?”
Giving a wave off gesture, Thompson said simply, “I let him go.” Explaining further, he elaborated. “Small town ties mean a lot. Anyone else would have given up their source of the material in question in a heartbeat. Then it came to me.” He thrust both arms away from his chest in illustration and said, “Let him go and see where he
goes to.”
Seeing Sherman emerge from the command tent, Lois said to Thompson, “You're not as clever as you think. I knew she was a fake all along.”
“Really? How?”
“She’s too competent to work for the government.”
Lois turned her head to Sherman, “Sherman, how'd you get into working for these armed alien hunter nutcases?”
Thompson’s face turned red. “You are starting to annoy me.” He said to the man holding Lois, “Get her out of my sight.”
Clark strained against the two men in fatigues still holding his arms, but he was, literally, powerless to stop them.
As they began to hustle Lois away to the inside of the tent, she called out to Sherman. “Did they recruit you? Did you think you were getting into nice, safe, government work?”
Thompson yelled, “Shut up! Just keep your mouth shut!”
Of course, undeterred, Lois continued, “Instead, you're a thug. Is that what you went to college for? To be a thug?”
Thompson gestired toward the tent, and Lois was pushed inside. She continued to talk to Sherman as she was pushed inside. “Find the Sheriff. Get the local authorities involved! They’ll sort it out!” The door flap closed over her last word.
Fearing for her life, Clark called out, “Lois!”
Swaggering toward Clark, Thompson got right up in his face. “Relax, Mister Kent. My business is with you.” He glared at him and continued in a threatening voice. “I'm going to make you a deal, trusting that your stay in Metropolis has put some sense in your head. Give up the alien and I'll let you live.”
“Alien? What alien? You mean little green men? I don’t see any around here.”
Muttering, Thompson said, “Smart mouth there. You’ve been hanging around Lois Lane too long.”
“Just what makes you think I could give up Superman even if I wanted to? Do I know him personally?” Clark was beginning to sweat. That bothered him for two reasons. It was uncomfortable and he was giving away his nervousness to his enemy.
“Well, you and Lois sure write enough articles about him. I bet you were investigating him for the FBI before you became a reporter. I bet you even help steal his spaceship away from our warehouse.”
He paced away from Clark and then came back and confronted him again. “All right, I’ll explain it to you in simple terms. Superman came to Smallville around the time you were born. There *has* to be a connection. Tell me and what you know and you will live.”
Swallowing even with a dry mouth, Clark protested.”There's nothing to tell. I'm learning all this for the first time now.”
Slamming the palm of his hand down on the table in front of the tent, he showed his anger.
“I'm trying to save humanity from an alien invader, Kent!”
Clark shook his head in denial. “You have no proof that Superman means to harm anyone on Earth. Or that he is leading some mythical invading army. For all you know, he is the last of his kind, the sole survivor of a dying world and means to help his friends on Earth all he can. He said he stands for truth, justice and fairness for all.”
“And you know this how? Did he give you a long explanation some cozy night as you two hung out together? And is he only helping his so-called friends? And how does he determine his friends? Is he judge, jury and executioner?”
“Well, at least he’d do a better job than you and your minions. You just do the ‘execution’ part with no judgment!”
Not having any of that logical reasoning, Thompson squinted his eyes. “There's another possibility. Perhaps the alien has taken over your mind, infused you with its power.”
‘I only wish I was infused with power.’ Clark denied the allegations, “Nobody's infused me with power. Nobody's taken over my mind.”
Sherman emerged from the tent and whispered to Thompson. Clark could hear her
“We've got a location on Pete. He's heading down the farm road to the home of Clark Kent.”
Thompson looked hard at Clark. “You should have told me it was a family affair. I would have gone easier on you.” Without waiting for a response from Clark, he turned rapidly toward his agents and issued orders. “Put him in the back of the van with me. Make sure the phone lines are cut at the Kent house. I'll take two men with me. The rest of you break camp. Meet at Delta rendezvous at 1800.”
Sherman asked nervously, “What about me?”
Looking at her with contempt, he said “What about you? You'll stay and help move the operation.” Then he turned abruptly in dismissal and shouted, “Let's go.”
Clark had never been so scared in his life, even during the whole Nightfall drama.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Unseen by any of the participants around the tent, Jimmy had been standing in a group of Fraxinus pennsylvanica or red ash trees across the road. Jimmy just knew he was out of sight to the people in the compound and could freely use his long lens camera. At his feet was a pile of food wrappers from the local Dairy Freeze in Smallville. The stake-out had been a long one, but it had paid off handsomely. He had started shooting when Lois and Clark had been hustled in front of the tent by the guys with guns in fatigues. He couldn’t be sure, but they sure looked like the same type as the Men in Black who had invaded the pit at the Daily Planet with a bogus search warrant.
Suddenly, he paid more attention and began firing off a volley of shots, making the shutter click an almost continuous sound. Clark was being roughly manhandled into the back of a van. Jimmy had such a good view he could see Clark’s arms shackled over his head to a beam in the roof of the van. Clark was being treated like a criminal! He saw the man who had led the group into the Daily Planet hop into the back of the van with Clark. What should he do now?
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Inside the command tent, Lois was tied up on a chair. Being Lois, she kept working surreptitiously on her restraints. She couldn’t see the agent behind her, but she knew he was there. Seeing shadows moving outside the tent, she expected Thompson back in any second and tensed for the expected further interrogation.
Most of the shadows left and Sherman lifted the flap and walked in. She nodded to the agent and he left. Then she walked around and faced Lois. So this was to be her interrogator? Sherman she could handle. Acerbically she asked, “Is this a social call or business?”
Unflustered, Sherman said, “You talk like someone who doesn't understand the trouble she's in.”
Confidently Lois replied, “I know exactly what's going on. I know that if Thompson hasn't killed
somebody yet, he's about to. And that'll make you an accessory to murder.” Lois had heard some of what went on between Clark and Thompson, but she wanted to find out what Sherman knew.
Knowing Lois was right, Sherman was torn between her job and her experience here at the farm. Suddenly, she realized her job, such as it was, was not worth that. After a moment’s reflection, she began to untie Lois. “You're right. Thompson is a madman.”
Lois snorted in derision. “You just now figured this out?”
“No. But I've just decided I'm not a thug. Look, he went to your friend’s house, the Kent farm. He's going to make it look like a fire burned the place down. And Pete with it if that is where he went.”
Lois was horrified. “What about Clark?”
“Thompson has other plans for him.”
“Like what?”
“Thompson thinks he knows how to find Superman. He thinks some rock they found here can kill him.”
“What rock?”
Sherman looked around and saw the small box was missing. “I guess he took it with him. He showed the rock to that Pete fellow. Funny, the rock was in a metal box. When he opened the box, the green rock actually glowed. That big crate over there has Superman’s spaceship in it Thompson said.”
Well, Lois knew that wasn’t true. She had seen the spaceship in Clark’s barn and it had reacted to her, so there was no doubt of its authenticity. Were there other things that Thompson said that weren’t true? “Can this rock hurt Superman?”
Shaking her head, Sherman says, “I doubt it. But Thompson thinks it can. And he's a killer. Who knows what he will do to your friend?”
Lois sat there in a quandary. A green rock was involved. The necklace that Rita had given Lois had green stones. And they had seemed to glow. And Clark had fallen to the floor and nearly passed out. What was that green rock going to do to Clark? He hadn’t recovered from the effect of the necklace yet. Could it kill him? It would be a world without Superman again. More importantly for her, it would be a world without Clark. He’d lost his career in the FBI because he tried to protect Earth from the Nightfall Asteroid and lost his memory in the process. Was he going to lose his life now because he was being hunted down by a fringe group? Were they the same people that had fired the nuclear missile at the asteroid *after* Clark had changed its trajectory to miss an impact with Earth? Lois had too many questions and not enough answers. She also knew she didn’t have any power in the town of Smallville.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
To be concluded.
Artemis
