G Version
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ denotes telepathic communication/
For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Previously –
A few days later they were going out on a trail ride out in the valley. This would be Lori's first chance to carry her revolver and she hoped that she would get the chance to do some target shooting. She made sure that she only loaded 5 rounds and that the hammer rested on an empty chamber before holstering her gun.
They had been riding for a couple of hours and rather than following in line and breathing each other’s dust they were spread out slightly. Lori, on Withers, was near the middle of the group and riding off to the right side.
Suddenly she heard a noise like a baby rattle. She knew exactly what it had to be and only had a second to react before Withers responded to the threat. In anticipation of what Withers would do she gripped the reigns more firmly and leaned forward just as Withers reared up on her hind legs. Lori kept her seat and her presence of mind. She was looking for the threat and just as Withers reached her full height she spotted the snake, it was to the right about five feet and ten feet in front. As soon as she spotted the rattler she pulled her gun, cocked and fired. It was an instinct shot, she didn’t have time to line up the sights.
At the sound of the gun going off Withers panicked, her ears came back almost flat against her head and bringing her fore legs back to the ground she bolted.
Having her revolver in one hand and the reins in her other Lori gripped with her legs to keep her seat. As soon as she had holstered her gun she leaning as far forward as she could, and with the saddle horn gouging her in the stomach she started stroking the mare’s neck and talking to her in a soothing tone.
Jackie had been near the back of the group when she saw Withers rear up. Almost immediately she heard the explosion of Lori’s sidearm and saw Withers bolt. She kicked her mount into a gallop even though with the lead that Lori had, Jackie didn’t know if she would be able to save her camper or just be there to pick up the pieces. As her mount reached a full gallop she kept watching Lori and what she saw amazed her. This, self proclaimed inexperienced rider, had maintained her seat when her mount had reared, had pulled a sidearm and let loose a shot and then managed to keep her seat when the mount bolted. Now she could see that she was leaning far forward in her saddle although she didn’t know just what she was doing. She maintained her pursuit and it suddenly dawned on her that she was catching up.
Lori’s actions were finally getting through to Withers. Her calm voice and gentle hand on her neck was having the desired effect. Slowly Withers ears came to the front and she started to slow her pace. Loir continued stroking Withers’ neck and calmly saying “Whoa,” over and over. The command finally was effective and Withers came to a halt. She started blowing from the exertion of the run as Lori dismounted and, hanging on to the reins, walked to the front and started stroking Withers nose and continued talking to her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sugar cube which she was in the habit of keeping there as a treat for the horse and fed it to her. As she finished the sugar cube Withers nuzzled Lori’s face and with a final pat Lori turned and vaulted into the saddle. Lori pulled to the left on the reins, rattled them and gave the command, “Giddap.” And Withers turned around and started at a slow trot to return to the group.
Jackie, when she had seen that Withers was slowing down, had done the same and just followed and watched. What she saw amazed her. This inexperienced rider was handling this situation in a way that spoke of many years of riding experience. Jackie didn’t think even she could have done better, if so well. She pulled her mount to a halt when she saw Lori dismount and just sat and watched. When she saw her vault into the saddle she was dumbfounded. She waited until Lori was close and then turned her mount so that they could ride back to the group together.
When they got back to the group, they were all clustered around the spot where Withers had reared up. When they got close enough to see what was so interesting what they saw was a rattler about seven feet in length. Lori’s shot had found its mark and the head of the rattler was splattered all around for a couple of feet. Jake, another one of the counselor climbed down off his mount and pulling out a knife cut off the rattle. Walking over to Lori, he presented it to her. “That was some fancy shooting! That wad cutter you had chambered just exploded the snake’s head. Here’s a souvenir of your encounter, you earned it.”
That night the counselors had a meeting and Jackie gave a detailed description of her observations. “If I didn’t know better, I’d have to say that that girl has been riding all of her life. I’m not so sure that I could have done what she did and I’ve been riding for over ten years. I think we need to come up with some way to recognize her achievement.”
There was a general agreement and at the end of the camp Lori received an award as most advanced rider of the season and the counselors had had the snake’s rattle mounted on a plaque with a plate commemorating the event.
And Now –
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Chapter 11 – Lois?
4 years ago, (2081)
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Lorelei was going through the registration process at San Diego State. Her parents had dropped her off the day before and gotten her settled in her apartment. Using a social media outlet she had found a couple of other girls that were starting at SD State. They had hooked up to share the expenses of an off campus apartment. It was pretty close to campus, walking distance actually, so she didn’t even need a car. While registering for classes she had also signed up for some other things. She had signed up for tryouts for the tennis team, had joined the karate club and had joined the school paper. There was one other activity that she signed up for, the Drama Club. In her research into Investigative Journalists she had discovered that many times they had to go undercover pretending to be someone else. Lori thought that learning to act a little could help her with this. She had been in a couple of productions in high school and hoped that she would learn more at the college level.
When she arrived for the first meeting of the karate club she found that there was a mix of styles represented. There were several practitioners of Tae Kwon Do as well as Ischon Ru, Kempo and Jeet Kune Do. This was a real mix of hard and soft styles and she saw it as a chance to broaden her style base so she started working mostly with the people practicing the softer, Chinese Kung Fu, styles, Tae Kwon Do being Korean and considered a hard style.
Tryouts for the tennis team were going to be held the next week so she made sure to put time into her schedule to go to the courts and bang the ball around a bit. She spent a lot of time working on her serve. She won a lot of her matches by being able to serve up an ace so consistently, catching that outside corner and thus forcing her opponent into a backhand return if they could even manage to return it at all. Their backhand usually being weak she could usually close it by charging the net and using a cross court return while they were still fading away.
She brought in her portfolio of articles from her high school paper and was given a ‘cub’ reporter position. With any luck she would be able to bring in a big story and move up the reporter ranks quickly.
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6 years earlier, (2079)
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Sixteen year old Lorelei woke up from her dream with a smile on her face. Her dreams were becoming even more detailed and graphic. Sometimes she wondered how she could remember so much of her dreams. Most people said that they don’t remember their dreams unless they are awakened in the middle of them, but, she very clearly remembered every detail and nuance of hers. At 16 her dreams were starting to become distinctly sexual. Fortunately, so far, they have only involved a lot of kissing and cuddling, always with the same guy, her dream man. If this kept up he would go from that status to that of dream lover. With a wicked little grin she thought, <I can’t wait>.
There was one particular dream that she had had recently; actually she had had it several times. She and her dream man were walking in a park and he had had her sit on the edge of a fountain. He had gotten down on one knee, pulled out a little box and just before he opened it, it started to rain. He had complained to the heavens asking to be given a break but refused to flee the rain and opened the little box with a ring in it and asked her to marry him. Now she just had to wait for that dream to come again. Maybe she would find out what her answer had been. With as much time as she apparently spent with this same guy and as much as she liked spending time with him she didn’t think she would have turned him down.
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Friday, October 3, 2085
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Herb had dropped Clark off in this time period a few months previously. He had taken the time to get himself established in his new identity. Before leaving, Herb had told him who he was looking for and generally where to find her. Lorelei was well into her senior year and would be graduating in the spring. He had researched her movements from a distance and had chosen to observe her for a while before contacting her. He had seen fliers around campus for a musical being done by the Drama Club. They were doing Camelot and staring as Guinevere was Lorelei Lane. Clark decided that he just had to go see this play.
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A month and a half earlier
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Lori was amazed that she had gotten the lead. She was a contralto and the lead was supposed to be a soprano but the difference in voice had been overlooked because of other factors. They had had ‘in costume’ auditions and as the various aspirants had appeared on stage the only one who appeared completely comfortable in the costume and had the grace and poise needed to carry the role was Lori. When she had first put the costume on she had insisted on some changes to the way it draped and was fastened before going on stage. Her stage presence in costume almost literally blew the director away. As soon as she finished he cancelled the rest of the auditions and named her as Guinevere. He directed that they transpose the music to her range and they went into rehearsal.
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The big night had arrived. Clark was fifth row center when the curtain went up. When it came time for Guinevere’s entrance Clark was awed. A memory tickled at the back of his mind. The more he saw her and the way she moved and looked, the memory became stronger and stronger. Finally it hit him, just what that memory was, *Lady Loisette*, he was watching Lorelei play Guinevere but he was seeing *Lady Loisette*. He started to think, <Could she in any possible way have a memory of being Lady Loisette? Watching her in that costume and the way she is handling herself and comparing her to the other women in costume, the difference is blindingly obvious. She acts like that is her normal attire while the others are just a little bit uncomfortable. If she does have some memory of Lady Loisette could it also be possible that she remembers Lois?>
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Friday, November 30, 2085
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It was the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday and Clark had chosen this time and place for ‘first contact’. He went into the coffee shop where he knew she would be studying and stepped up to the counter and ordered a cappuccino.
Twenty-two year old Lorelei woke up from her dream with a smile on her face. The difference was that it was mid day and she wasn’t home in bed. She was in her favorite coffee shop trying to study but had gotten bored and had started to daydream.
What had brought her out of the dream?
There was this feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. It was like, all of the sudden there was a flock of butterflies in her stomach. It was like the feeling of electricity you feel in the air just before a thunderstorm strikes.
It had been such a lovely daydream. She had been wearing a wedding gown and her dream man was at the front of the church waiting for her. Some time ago she’d dreamt about him proposing now she was sure that she had married him. It had been such a nice daydream that she had been having that she had hated being brought out of it but this uneasy feeling just couldn’t be denied and she was metaphorically dragged kicking and screaming from her wonderful dream and back to the reality of the day and the coffee shop.
Looking around she tried to find the possible cause of this agitation. She thought, <What’s changed?> She tried to see what had happened that could explain the sudden onset of this agitation. Nothing seemed to be happening. There was only the usual number of students and teachers in the shop studying or talking in small groups around the tables.
There was a new guy at the counter buying a coffee. He had his broad back to her so she couldn’t make out his features. He was dressed nicely enough, but he didn’t look like a student or even a teacher, being too well dressed to be either one. That nice conservative business suit was unlike anything worn by either students or faculty. There weren’t too many business located this close to campus so she thought that maybe he was someone with business on campus stopping after his sales call or whatever had called him on campus to get a coffee.
Usually she chose to sit alone because she liked to spread her stuff out when she worked and she needed the whole table for that. She looked back down at the table. Her electronic pad was propped up in its stand and the keyboard projector was still active. She preferred to use the keyboard projector because even though she could speak faster than she could type there were too many errors caused in the speech recognition by the ambient background noise of the coffee shop. It took almost as much effort to edit out the errors as it would to simply type to start with, thus the keyboard projector. Retyping her password brought it out of screensaver mode and she tried to get back to her studies. She had multiple research windows open in her browser as well as her word processor and she was flipping back and forth between her research sources and the paper she was working on with the ease of much practice.
This English Lit paper was really giving her a lot of trouble so she was not getting very far with it. The professor had assigned them to prepare a paper on the author, H. G. Wells. In high school she had read at least one of his books so she was somewhat familiar with his work and she knew that he was a popular science fiction author from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The story that she had read was about time travel and she had found it to be utterly unbelievable, at least the part about the future society that his traveler encountered. He had taken a very pessimistic view of the path society was on. However, things were different.
The presence of the supermen had had a positive impact on society in general. After doing more study she had come to the realization of the reason she was having a problem with this assignment, but it wasn’t because of what she had read, it was more what she hadn’t read. There was this gut feeling that there was a lot more to the story, a lot that wasn’t reported. Somehow she just knew that this was an incomplete history. There had been some old pictures of H. G. Wells on the net but even though they were all black-n-white she kept getting full color flashes of an individual in a bowler hat with wire rim glasses, a moustache and a merry twinkle in his eyes. She kept having this vision of him pulling a pocket watch on a gold chain out of his vest pocket, opening the cover looking at it and then looking up with a smile on his face. She couldn’t account for it but she was determined that she needed to limit her report to what she could find on the net.
Making an effort to return to her work she started another search but, that feeling of unease wouldn’t let up. She realized that the way things were going she would never get anywhere on the paper because she was just too distracted. This particular paper wasn’t due until Monday so she had the weekend to work on it but, diligent student that she was, she was just not one to put things off until the last minute.
Still trying to get back to work she sat there staring at the screen and as she did she kind of ‘zoned out’ for a bit and when that happened she started to day dream again only this time it was like all of the dreams she had had over the course of her life coalesced in her mind, sorted themselves out, solidified and became crystal clear in her memory. It was like a thunderstorm all contained inside her cranium with the lightning flashes being flashes of memories, memories that until now had manifested themselves as dreams, some of them barely remembered, while others had been clearly remembered. After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only a matter of minutes she became aware of her surroundings again. She raised her head which had slumped forward and looked around.
When the cappuccino was delivered Clark picked it up and turned around. As he did he saw Lorelei at a table over toward the middle of the seating arrangement and there was a distressed look on her face. Almost like a seizure with her head slumped forward on her chest. It seemed as though he was the only one that had noticed her distressed state and he rushed over to her table.
Lorelei woke up from this dream with a thoughtful look on her face. She felt like a different person. All of those remembered dreams now were as crystal clear as any memory she had formed in her short life. She looked up to see the guy that had been at the counter standing across the table from her looking at her with a concerned look.
The man asked, “Are you okay? The expression on your face … it almost looked like you were in pain.”
One look at that face, the glasses, that little forelock that flopped down on his forehead … there was instant recognition. Slowly she stood up and moved around the table. Reaching up with her hand she caressed the side of his face. Touching him caused a feeling like electricity to pass between them and she whispered, “Clark.” Just that one word, but it carried a world of meaning ... her world.
Stunned at this, Clark reached up and covered her hand with his own and looked at her with all the depths of love he possessed evident in his eyes. He said “Let’s sit down and talk.” Moving back toward her seat she started to sit down while he started to sit down opposite her at the table.
Stopping in mid move rather than sitting down she started to gather up her equipment. Saying, “Let’s get out of here. We need to go somewhere more private.” She stuffed all her equipment into her bag picked it up and slung it over her shoulder then taking his hand in her free one almost literally dragged him out of the coffee shop.
She didn’t stop until she had him at her off campus apartment. She left him standing in the middle of the living room while she dumped her bags in her bedroom but before she returned to the living room she picked up her teddy from HIS place of honor on her pillow and carrying him with her she checked to see that her roommates were not in the residence. Once assured that they were absent she locked the door and turned around and faced him.
“How do you know me?” he asked.
“It’s so confusing. I have all these memories. I just know what I know and what I know is that I have been dreaming about you like forever. It’s been like I have been waiting for this moment for all of my life. All of the dreams I have had all of my life have been preparing me for this meeting. I just *know* you like I have never known anyone in my entire life. I know *ALL* about you. She held her bear out in front herself so that he was facing Clark. “Do you recognize him?” she asked. “I have had this bear for as long as I can remember. I never named him in all this time but, now, I know what his name is … it’s Clarkie Bear *and* I know that you won one just like him for me at the Corn Festival. He has been my companion and confidant ever since I can remember. “I know *ALL* about you ... I know who you are ... I know *what* you are. I know what you can do. I don’t know how this is possible, but I know that we are meant to be together. I have been dreaming about you and me all my life. All my dreams just came true, in one second.”
Clark stood there just staring. <This is Lois in full babble mode, incredible! I can’t let on just how much I know. This could be a fluke or it could be that Mad Dog Lane’s determination actually worked.> “What do you mean you know all about me and we are meant to be together? We just met. Actually, that isn’t even correct. We haven’t even met yet. You do seem to know my name, but, I don’t even know yours.”
Lorelei stared at him for a few seconds. Could she be mistaken? To that she answered herself with a resounding <NO!>. She decided to let it all out. “I know that you are Clark Kent. I also know that you are Superman. Not one of the supermen, *The* Superman. My name is Lorelei Lane, Lois Lane was my cousin, and I have been dreaming about you *all* of my life. All I really know is that when you entered the coffee shop I got this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I started to feel it, it metaphorically dragged me kicking and screaming out of a daydream about you. I didn’t know what or who had done it. I looked around and all I could see was your back so I went back to my studies and another daydream about you. This time it was like every dream solidified and became actual memories. It was like a blinding light went off inside my skull and suddenly, I remembered … I *remembered*. Clark, it’s me. It’s *Lois.*”
Clark reached out and put his arms around her waist as she put her arms around his neck in an, oh so familiar way, tangling her fingers in his hair as he leaned in to kiss her.
There was instant recognition on both of their parts. There was that electrical shock exchange as their lips came into contact. Years ago Lois had told Clark that she would recognize his kiss, no matter what he looked like. When Woody Samms had taken over his body, Lois had recognized him in Samms' body with a kiss. Lorelei (Lois) instantly confirmed for herself that this was *her* Clark and Clark, by the same token instantly recognized Lois’ kiss and lost himself in the moment.
When they broke apart Clark put his forehead to hers and held both of her hands in his. “How is this possible? Lois has been dead, dead and buried for twenty-two years and yet here you are. I should have known, really, I do know. When Lois Lane sets her mind to do something, it gets done. She was determined that when she passed on we would be reunited. We knew that it had happened in the past and she wanted it to happen again in the future – now. I can’t believe she actually succeeded, but I am incredibly happy that she did. It makes this a whole lot easier.”
“I know how happy we were together. I want that now … for us.”
“We were married for over sixty years.”
“They *were* happy years or this couldn’t have happened. She wouldn’t have been able to pass on these ‘memories’ the way she did if she hadn’t wanted it so much. I wouldn’t trade a single day with you for a lifetime with anyone else.”
That statement really hit him. It was a statement that Lois had made a number of times during their long married life. “They *were* extremely happy years. We were *very much* in love.”
“It’s so confusing. I have all these memories, yet, they are her, no, now they are my memories. *I* know. *I* remember. I have been waiting all my life, that is, Lorelei’s life, for you to find me. Where have you been all this time? Everyone thought that you had gone to New Krypton.”
“That is a long story. To make it short, there is this guy I know who has a device that can cross the time barrier.”
“Herb.”
Clark stared for a second then stammered, ”Ye, uh, yes. He offered to bring me into the future so that we could meet and be together again. I took him up on his offer. For me, Lois died two years ago even though you are now about 22 years of age.”
“Right, I *am* twenty-two years old, which means that I don’t need my parents consent to get married. I don’t want to wait. It isn’t like we don’t know each other. We both have all the memories of 60 years of being together. Let’s go get married, today … now! It will be a shock to my family, with a capitol ‘S’,” <Good one.> she thought, “because I haven’t so much as dated all through school or college.”
<Typical Lois impetuosity> “Don’t you think I should at least meet your parents before we do? And what about your schooling? Your parents might object to you getting married if they think it will interfere with that. You don’t graduate till next year.”
“It won’t and you know it and I can convince them. Actually, I think my GPA will improve. I’ll be more relaxed and I’ll have one heck of a tutor.” She threw her arms around his neck and said, “I have missed you.”
“I think you should at least call your parents and tell them something.”
“Okay, yeah, you’re right. I’ll call them now.” She pulled out a cell phone and dialed. “Hello, Daddy? Lorelei … No, nothing is wrong, in fact everything couldn’t be more right! … Uh huh, yes, so far so good. … Yes, we have our next match on Wednesday.. … Well, you see, I’ve met someone. … Uh huh, yes, I’m *sure* he’s the one. … I just know. … Yes, it is sudden. I know I really didn’t date. … That doesn’t mean that I don’t know when I have found the right man. … I was just waiting for the right man to come along. … Yes, of course, you’re going to meet him. … How about dinner, tonight? … We will arrange transportation. … We can be there before 6:30, would that be okay? … Alright, see you then. … What? What was that? … Bring the bear? … Is that what you said? … Why should I bring the bear? … Okay, I’ll bring the bear. … Alright, we’ll see you then. … Love ya, Bye.” Closing the phone she turned to Clark. “Okay we have a few of hours. Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“To get *married*, of course. Get your butt in gear Kent.” She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
“Wait a minute! We do need to do this the right way.”
“I don’t want to wait any longer!”
“This will only take a minute.” As he finished that last word he disappeared at superspeed out her door returning about ten seconds later. Kneeling down on one knee he pulled a velvet box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside of the box was Lois’ original engagement ring which Clark had kept rather than allowing it to be buried with Lois. It had been at his apartment nearby and he had gone to fetch it. “Lorelei Lane, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
When Lori saw the ring she instantly recognized it and a tear came to her eye. Lorelei placed her hand on Clark’s cheek and said in a hushed tone, “You kept my ring. It’s nice to have it back. I always loved this ring. It was always special because it represented your love for me.” Raw emotion had been almost choking her so she had to clear her throat before she could answer. “Yes, I would love to.” He placed the ring on her finger. She admired it for a minute then said “Okay, Let’s go.”
comments go here To Be Continued in Chapter 12 – Herb Paved the Way
