PREVIOUSLY...
“How could you do that?” Mayson demanded. “How could you tell him to go?”
Lois spun towards Mayson.
“Because, Mayson,” Lois said angrily, “it’s what he needed me to do! Clark told me you once said that Superman didn’t have guts. That he lacked courage. But in that, you never understood him at all, did you? Clark knows that his life is over if he does this - either because the bad guys wouldn’t have insisted he come if they intended to let him walk away alive or because you intend to tell his secret to the world.
“But he still has to go,” Lois continued. “Because maybe he can help. Because people’s lives depend on him. And because Clark Kent could never sit back and do nothing in a situation like this. It would destroy him if he did. And, unlike you, I love him enough to let him be who he is.” She grabbed her coat. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading down to City Hall on the off chance that I can be of some help to Clark.”
Lois grabbed Shadow’s halter and stormed from the room, leaving Mayson gaping after her.* * * * * * * * *
AND NOW...
Lois pulled the jeep to a stop by the police barriers set up in front of City Hall. The police had already managed to set up a perimeter, blocking off the building. Lois could see sharpshooters taking up positions on the top of several adjoining buildings. A large trailer, which seemed to be the temporary head quarters for this police action, had been set up near her parking spot.
Night was beginning to fall and so large lights were being set up around the perimeter to ensure that City Hall remained well lit.
Lois turned to Shadow, wondering briefly is she should leave him in the jeep, but then decided against it. Shadow had acted anxious during the entire trip here, as if he somehow understood the gravity of the situation. And after what Clark had told her Shadow had done early this morning to protect him, Lois wasn’t about to write him off as a potential ally.
She quickly removed Shadow’s halter and replaced it with a simple collar and leash. Given that she didn’t know how to use the halter properly, and that it was sized for someone of Clark’s height, it seemed the best course of action.
She was just about to disembark when Bill Henderson drove up. As she stepped out of the jeep with Shadow, Captain Maggie Sawyer stepped out of the trailer and waved to Bill who immediately began walking towards her.
Lois quickly slipped between the police barriers - easy enough to do because, since she had been one of the first to be informed of the situation, the inevitable crowd of reporters had not yet arrived and the police were not yet in place to keep people away - and approached the two of them, determined to talk her way into the trailer. Before anyone could say anything, a voice, amplified by a megaphone, could be heard echoing throughout the street.
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In thirty-five minutes, Superman, comes the first death.”
Lois’ eyes went towards City Hall to see an upper floor window open but with the blinds drawn.
“He’s been doing that every five minutes,” Maggie told Bill, but Lois was now close enough to hear. “But as long as the blinds are drawn, the sharpshooters won’t be able to get a clean shot.”
Maggie opened the door of the trailer and stepped inside. Henderson did too.
Going with the flow, Lois followed them in.
“Whoa!” Henderson said. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m coming in,” Lois said.
Henderson looked at her for a long second. “Where’s Kent?” he asked, looking down at the dog by Lois’ side.
“Uhh... he went back to the Planet to bring Perry up to speed.”
“And he didn’t take his dog?”
“Well, he was going to hail a cab and he was worried that no one would stop for him if he had Shadow with him,” Lois said, improvising wildly.
“I thought there were laws to prevent that type of discrimination.”
Oh, damn. Right. “Well, how do you prove that a cab didn’t stop because you have a dog with you? So we decided I’d bring him with me.” She let out a breath. That had sounded plausible. Oh, crap. How was Clark to hail a cab when he couldn’t see the cab coming? “Come on, Henderson,” she said quickly, before he could think too deeply about her excuse. “Let me in. I just want to help.”
Henderson studied her for a moment more before nodding. She looked at him, puzzled by his acquiescence. But he gave no hint of what he was thinking. Still, having received permission to enter, Lois followed Bill into the trailer and closed the door. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she realized that the inside of the trailer was a virtual technological store with high tech equipment in operation everywhere she looked.
“We’ve tapped into the security cameras in City Hall,” Maggie said, pointing to the monitors in the van.
Lois and Henderson both moved closer, looking at the various angles captured on camera. They were good pictures, unlike many surveillance cameras Lois had seen over the years. And they were in color. Only the best for City Hall it seemed.
“For some reason, they haven’t tried to prevent us from seeing what they are up to. We’re not sure why. It might be that they want us to be able to observe the executions,” Maggie went on. She pointed to a couple of men wearing headsets. “We’ve set up shotgun microphones, but so far aren’t having any luck listening in on the hostages. But we’ll keep working on it. As you can see, there appear to be twenty-seven hostages. Six are under the age of sixteen. They are all being held in the mayor’s office. My man over there...” She pointed to an officer who was currently on the phone. “...is trying to get all the names.”
“How many perps?”
“Four as far as we can tell,” Maggie said.
Lois gasped when one man turned towards the camera.
“What?” Henderson asked.
“That’s Steven Baker,” Lois said, pointing at one of the pictures on the screen.
“The missing homeless guy you told me about?”
Lois nodded even as Henderson looked back at the camera.
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In thirty minutes, Superman, comes the first death.” The next announcement blared over the megaphone.
* * * * * * * * *
‘This used to be so much easier,’ Clark thought in frustration as he struggled to get the suits out of the box in the closet. Spinning into one, he put his elbow through the bedroom wall. Ignoring the damage, he concentrated on running the cord for Ata’s microphone up the inside of his sleeve to attach the microphone to the collar of the suit.
He turned his attention to his hair, forming it into the Superman style.
Then he froze, trying to think of anything he might have missed.
The glasses!
He slipped them off his face and dropped them on his bed. If he’d missed those, what else might he have missed? If only Lois were here. He needed to know if he had rid himself of all evidence of Clark. But if Lois couldn’t tell him...
His head snapped up when he realized who he could ask. He spoke to Ata and a moment later was heading at full speed through the skies on his way to Kansas.
* * * * * * * * *
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In twenty-five minutes, Superman, comes the first death.”
It made no sense. None whatsoever. Leit and Munch knew what had happened to Superman. They were the ones who had blinded him, after all. So if they were behind the abduction of the missing homeless men, were the ones who had brainwashed them into taking hostages at City Hall, then why would these men be demanding Superman? Even if they knew that Superman wasn’t dead, they knew that he could never be fully effective again without his eyesight, knew that he’d never be able to catch bullets in his bare hand without the ability to see them, would always be vulnerable to whatever evil plots they might come up with. So what was the point in going after him now?
Lois searched her mind, wondering where she might have gone wrong. Had she missed some clue? Something that would tell her what was going on here.
“So will he come?”
Henderson’s question brought Lois back to the present. “Who?”
“Lois, why do you think I let you come in here?” Henderson asked.
“Because I’m just so lovable?” Lois asked in return.
“Because if anyone has the inside scoop on Superman, it’s you,” Henderson corrected.
Lois stared at Henderson, some part of her mind registering how flattered she would have been by Bill’s assumption two months ago. But now that she actually did have the inside scoop... “Are you asking me... What are you asking?”
“Will he come? Or should we proceed as if he’s not going to show up?”
“If he can be here, I’m sure he will be,” Lois responded. It was the best she could do. In truth, she was slightly surprised that Superman hadn’t already arrived.
* * * * * * * * *
Superman hovered high above City Hall, stretching out with every one of his senses in an attempt to get a clearer view of the situation.
It was a good thing he’d stopped by to see his folks. The thing he’d forgotten was that he hadn’t shaved this morning. He’d taken care of that easily enough since his mother still had an earlier model of his shaving kit. His parents had also warned him of one thing he had not considered. They’d told him that he looked blind and had suggested that, if possible, he might want to try to keep his distance, stay to shadows, do what he could not to be seen too clearly and try to avoid facing people directly. It might not be possible, but it certainly was worth consideration. The fact that Superman tended to stand still, rather than moving around a lot, and folded his arms across his chest, allowing him to easily press the button on Ata, were both a help in that respect.
Taking a deep breath, he directed his mind to the situation. He quickly determined that the hostages and the men holding them were in the mayor’s office.
The sounds coming from the Mayor’s office seemed to indicate a bunch of frightened people, but no one was breathing as if injured and fighting for life. That was good.
He heard the Mayor speak. “Listen to me. You have not gone too far, yet. No one is dead. If you surrender now...”
“Haji yori wa shi wo,” one of the kidnappers responded.
Japanese? What were these men doing speaking Japanese? ‘Death before dishonor.’ A provision contained in the Bushido or warrior’s code of the Samurai sanctioned, even encouraged, ritual suicide which made death preferable to the dishonor of being taken prisoner by the enemy. It was the thinking that had caused the genesis of the kamikaze pilot in World War II. Were the men Japanese? He thought he could hear a faint accent - but it was so faint that he couldn’t be certain.
Putting that question to the side, he continued his survey of the situation, redirecting his attention to the rest of the building. He could hear no heartbeats. The building must have been cleared of people. Contrary to the quiet inside the building, he could hear people all around the City Hall’s perimeter. Police most likely. And he could hear a crowd of reporters gathering near where Lois and Henderson talking in what, from the sounds of it, was a temporary structure of some sort. He directed his attention to the conversation, hoping to get a summary of the situation from their discussion.
* * * * * * * * *
Henderson turned to Maggie. “Okay, I want a plan put together for taking out the perps and saving the hostages. Assume Superman’s not going to show up.”
“Wait a minute!” Lois objected. “You can’t treat those guys like regular perps.”
“What are you talking about, Lane?” Maggie asked.
Lois turned towards her. “Those men in there... They’ve been abducted and brainwashed. They aren’t acting on their own initiative. They’re victims as much as the hostages are.”
“You sure about this?” Maggie asked.
“I’m sure,” she said. There was nothing wrong with her theory. She was obviously missing something here - but not about these men being brainwashed by Munch and Leit. “Steven Baker saved Perry’s life in Vietnam. His daughter said he still called her every week to make sure she was all right. She knew he was missing when he didn’t call. If he had gotten involved in something voluntarily, he would have at least continued to call his daughter right up until the end - to keep her from getting suspicious.”
Maggie turned to Henderson. “We can use rubber bullets and tear gas, Bill. We practice drills that allow for that type of approach. But I will not risk the lives of my men. If we can take them down alive, we’ll do it, but not at risk to my men.”
“Fair enough,” Henderson responded.
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In twenty minutes, Superman, comes the first death.”
* * * * * * * * *
Superman’s head shot up when he heard the announcement echo around the area. The first part of that announcement sounded so familiar. But where had he heard it before? There was something going on here. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
He needed advice. He needed to coordinate his actions with those of the police. But how did he do that without revealing the fact that he was blind?
* * * * * * * * *
Lois stared at the screen in front of her, carefully watching the movement of the men. She was missing something. Something vital. But what? Their demand for Superman to attend made no sense. Unless, of course, Intergang had decided to kill Superman. But although the screens showed color pictures, she could see no tell-tale green glow. There were no lead-lined boxes. So why summon Superman?
“What are you thinking, Lane?” Henderson asked as he waited for Maggie to return with her plans for storming City Hall.
“That I’m missing something. Something important.”
“Like?”
“The means to harm Superman.” She turned to Henderson. “Do you see any booby traps? Anything that they could even hope to harm Superman with?”
“I’ve heard something about a green rock that can supposedly hurt Superman. I just assumed they had some of that.”
“But where?” She gestured to the screens. “Can you get close ups? Zoom in on bulges in pockets, anything like that?”
The men operating the cameras looked at Henderson. When he nodded, they began the slow task of examining the men in greater detail, following Lois’ instructions as she’d insist that they zoom in on one thing after another. But no matter how hard they looked, there was no indication that any of the men had kryptonite.
“So why summon Superman?” Lois said. “If you can’t hurt him if he does arrive, why insist that he come?”
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In fifteen minutes, Superman, comes the first death.”
The announcements were really starting to bug Lois. And speaking of Superman, where was he? Maybe she should have gone with him to get the suit - just to ensure he didn’t get lost.
“We have the lights in place now, Inspector,” one of the officers said. “Should we turn them on?”
“Yes,” Henderson responded. “It’s dark enough now that if we don’t have the lights on, they will have the ability to sneak out of there if they want.”
The officer nodded and proceeded to instruct the men setting up the lights to turn them on.
Maggie chose that moment to return. She unrolled blueprints for City Hall on the table and began running through the plan with Henderson. It was a good plan that would hopefully get everyone out alive. But then she came to the bad news. “I can’t get my men into place in the next fifteen minutes.”
“But according to the kidnappers, they will start killing hostages in less than fifteen minutes,” Lois said.
Suddenly all power went out, plunging the trailer and the surrounding area in darkness.
“We’ve lost power,” Henderson said. “Get men on it immediately! None of those men are to escape!”
“Delay that order, Inspector.” There was no mistaking the commanding voice of Superman. “I turned off the power.”
“Delay that order,” Henderson immediately responded.
“They aren’t trying to escape,” Superman said.
“You’re back,” Maggie said in disbelief.
Even in the shadow that was obscuring Superman, one could see a flash of teeth when Superman smiled. But it was not a wholly happy smile as was evidenced by his tone of voice. “Not really. But I couldn’t let people be killed if there was anything I could do to help stop it.”
“Why do you say they aren’t trying to escape?” Lois asked, drawing the conversation away from the direction it seemed to be taking.
“I overheard one of the men saying, ‘Haji yori wa shi wo.’ It’s Japanese for ‘Death before dishonor.’ I think this is meant to be a suicide mission.”
Lois’ blood instantly ran cold. Men who had no thought for survival were exceptionally dangerous.
“To what purpose?” Henderson asked.
“Maybe they just want to see if Superman is still around,” Maggie suggested.
“Even if that was the reason, why would they be approaching this as a suicide mission. Everyone knows that Superman doesn’t kill,” Henderson said.
“Besides, I’ve been gone for two months now. Why would they wonder now if I’m going to return?”
Lois knew what he was really asking. It was the same question that had caused her to believe she was missing something. Something important. Unless... Oh, god. Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
“Unless for some reason they think you might return,” she said, hoping that he would read between the lines. Since Leit and Munch had been the ones to blind Superman, if they had reason to fear his return it had to be because they knew that there was some way for him to get his sight back.
Her heart began to beat harder. Clark’s head turned slightly towards her, as if trying to interpret the meaning of the increase in her heart rate.
“Unless for some reason they think I might return,” he said after a moment and she could hear understanding in his voice.
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In ten minutes, Superman, comes the first death.”
The announcement got all of their minds back on track.
“Lois, did I hear you say that the kidnappers have been brainwashed?” Superman asked.
“Yes, Superman. Clark and I have been pursuing a story about homeless men who we believe were abducted and then experimented on in such a way that the only information their minds have access to is the thoughts put there by their masters. We heard one of the men quoting Machiavelli.” Lois wasn’t sure why Clark wanted her to repeat the story since he obviously knew it. It must be for the benefit for those listening in.
“Sort of like the leaks you had following your encounter with Dr. Faraday shortly before I left?”
“Yes.”
“That makes sense,” Superman said. “The announcement they make every five minutes... the first part is a direct quote from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.” Superman drew in a breath and then gave a nod. “Okay, well, I guess we give them what they want. They asked for Superman and I’m here. Let’s announce my arrival and see if that can buy you some more time, Maggie, to get your officers in place.”
Both Bill and Maggie gave their grateful agreement.
“No, wait,” Lois said before anyone could put the plan into action.
“What is it, Lois?”
“That’s exactly what they want,” Lois said, suddenly certain she understood what this was all about. “Or, well not them exactly. Not the four men in City Hall holding the hostages. But whoever is controlling them.”
“Why don’t we call him Mr. X?” Bill suggested.
Lois nodded, grateful that he’d just made her theory easier to explain. “Mr. X wants to see if Superman is still around. Once Superman shows up, the reason for the mission is fulfilled. Now, Mr. X knows he can’t allow the police to take the men he sent on this mission into custody - there would be too many questions and it might lead back to Mr. X - so Mr. X has put it in his men’s minds that this is a suicide mission. If Superman doesn’t show up, they are to start killing hostages until Superman does show up. If Superman does show up or they run out of hostages, they are to take their own lives rather than allowing themselves to be captured alive.”
Everyone looked at her in stunned silence.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Lois continued. “It’s why they’ve summoned Superman without having the means to harm him. It’s why their programers put the whole ‘death before dishonor’ concept in their heads. It’s also why they say, ‘in so many minutes comes the first death’ rather than saying ‘if Superman doesn’t show up’ because if you do show up, death will still come. Only in that case... the four kidnappers will take their own lives.
“That seems like a pretty convoluted plan - to go to all this trouble just to find out if Superman is still around,” Henderson said.
“That’s because it’s only the byproduct of the real plan,” Lois said. “The main object is to test the men’s programming, to make sure they will take this as far as they’re programmed to go. A field test of a sort. But it’s also a test of Superman - to see if he’s still Superman.” She dared not say more. They must want to know if Superman’s sight had returned, but she couldn’t say that in this company. Perhaps Clark would still pick up her meaning.
“And,” Superman said, “the phrase they’re quoting: ‘He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.’ Is this a time when I need to know not to fight? One of Sun Tzu’s main ideas is that all warfare is based on deception.” He turned to Lois. “I think you’re right. This isn’t what it seems. If they see me, they will kill themselves.”
“The only problem is...” Maggie said.. “...if you don’t show up, in less than ten minutes, they’re going to start killing the hostages.”
“And if he does show up... they might kill, not only themselves, but the hostages, too,” Lois said. “It all depends on what they have been programmed to do.”
“I have an idea,” Superman said.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois took Shadow and stepped out of the trailer while Superman and Maggie finished up with the details of the plan. It wasn’t a complicated plan. Superman would go in first, too fast for the men to react to his arrival. He would disarm them and tie them up. SWAT would come in as soon as they could to mop up the pieces. In fact, it was so darn simple there was little to discuss.
Except for one small problem. Superman was blind - a detail he hadn’t shared with anyone in the trailer. So as they’d leaned over the blueprint of City Hall, Lois had seemed to become... well, rather a pain. At least she was pretty sure that’s how Henderson and Sawyer had regarded her when she’d started describing the blueprints in detail. How many steps. How many feet. How many windows. What was the distance between these walls, to this door, to this window. Tapping on the blueprints with her finger to show Clark where he should be looking when they were studying the plan.
Finally, Henderson had enough and had thrown her out. She hadn’t minded. After all, it was best for her to be alone when Clark emerged, in case he had any additional questions that he couldn’t ask in front of Henderson and Sawyer.
Lois’ thoughts turned from the mission to Mayson. If this was done right, maybe the public would never even learn that Superman had been involved. After all, to prevent the kidnappers from knowing that Superman had arrived and taking their own lives, it had been decided not to fix the lights and have the whole thing take place in the dark. Given that Maggie’s SWAT team had night vision goggles, it was to their advantage to do this in the dark, anyway. Even now Lois could see police officers moving news crews with their big lights out of the area.
And if the public never knew Superman had been there, would that keep Mayson from telling the world about Clark? Or was the fact that Superman had shown up at all enough to break the deal in Mayson’s mind? Because, given her job, she was bound to eventually hear about the role Superman had played in this operation.
Lois pushed those thoughts from her mind. Right now there were more pressing concerns. Superman had thirty-one lives to save.
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. In five minutes, Superman, comes the first death.”
A shadow appeared beside her in the dark.
“You ready for this?” she asked.
“I’m ready,” Clark responded, reaching down to scratch Shadow’s head.
“You’ll do great.” She tried to inject as much confidence as she could into her voice.
He gave a nod before whispering something to Ata. Obviously not satisfied with the response, he whispered something else. Then, he was gone.
She stood there for a moment, but finding that she couldn’t just stand still, she decided to take Shadow for a walk.
* * * * * * * * *
Ata’s first directions to City Hall had been discarded because taking the time to go down the street and cross at the light had seemed a bit pointless under the circumstances. Fortunately, Dr. Klein had anticipated that possibility and had built override provisions into the program. The other thing Clark was grateful for was that the computer in the navigational bracelet was powerful enough to keep up with his speed.
He breathed out all the way across the street so that Ata’s instructions could be added to the echoes coming back to him from the sound of his breath hitting the building, allowing him to calculate the exact distance to his target.
He ascended the outer wall of City Hall, almost as if he were Spiderman - although rather than using his spider-grip, he was actually flying. But he’d chosen to do it this way because it allowed him to feel each story as he passed it. Once he was on the right floor, he searched for the open window through which the kidnapper’s announcements were being made. The drawn blinds might keep the sharpshooters from seeing in, but it also kept the kidnappers from seeing out. And an open window would allow him to enter the room without the sound of breaking glass.
Now came the tough part. There were four kidnappers. He had to be sure he’d located all four using nothing more than his hearing. With twenty-seven other people in the room, it was not the easiest of tasks. Yet, if he missed one, the consequences would be tragic.
He figured the hostages wouldn’t be moving around much, so he listened carefully for any movement until he was satisfied that he had placed all four kidnappers. Finally, he stepped up on the window ledge and took a deep breath. He could do this. The trick was to just keep moving until all four were tied up. Even if he fumbled a bit, he was still fast enough to do this.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois tried to calm her nerves as she led Shadow past the crowd of reporters which had now gathered on the other side of the police barrier. Ignoring the questions they began throwing in her direction, she crossed the street to walk down the empty sidewalk in front of the buildings across from City Hall. She pulled to a halt when she saw the tell-tale sign of someone lighting a cigarette from a shadowed alleyway up ahead.
Probably just someone from one of the nearby buildings, stepping outside to watch the action. No reason for the hair on the back of her neck to be standing on end.
She squatted down when Shadow began to show signs of objecting to her sudden halt. She wrapped her arms around the animal to whisper reassurances in his ear.
“Still no sign of Superman?” a man asked from the shadows.
“No, boss. Maybe you did more of a number on him than you thought. Maybe his sight hasn’t returned.”
Munch and Leit. She recognized their voices.
“Maybe,” Leit said, sounding skeptical.
Suddenly, there was a commotion happening behind her. Gasps of ‘Superman’ coming from the crowd she’d left behind. Lois jumped up and spun towards the sound, determined to see what was going on for herself. She pulled in a sharp breath when she saw Superman, clearly captured in the bright light of a news helicopter that was hovering nearby.
‘No,’ she wanted to yell, but before thought could give way to speech, her mind was distracted by the sound of footsteps behind her. When she glanced back towards the source of the sound, Munch’s fist was swinging towards her. It connected with her cheek, causing her to fly backwards. Her hands grasped frantically at air as she fought unsuccessfully to regain her balance. She felt her back and head connect with the pavement just before everything went dark.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark paused on the windowsill when he realized that his senses had picked up something else. It took him a moment to figure out what it was. The smell of explosives was coming from each of the kidnappers. Damn! They were wearing explosive vests. How had they missed that? Maybe he should...
Suddenly, he could feel heat and knew that he was the target of a high-voltage light. His hearing picked up the distant sound of a news helicopter that had undoubtedly focused in on him.
“Superman!” someone from the ground shouted and Clark knew he was out of time. Knowing it was now or never, Clark moved.
‘Hoka-hey!” Steven Baker shouted.
Clark’s felt the color drain from his cheeks. He knew that expression. A quotation from the Sioux leader, Crazy Horse. ‘Today is a good day to die.’
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
