Clark and Lois – The Lost Years - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 3
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary] / telepathic communications /
(#) footnotes
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Reminder:
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 –
Claude saw that he probably wasn’t going to be able to worm his way in on the story so with a resentful look on his face he returned to what he had been doing before Charlie had entered the office, thinking as he turned that he needed to find out more about Mr. Charles King.
Derek considered for a minute. He knew some of the hazards Charlie would be facing. He thought that he might be doing him a favor by discouraging him. “Well, Charlie, most of the rebels are located up in the Bantu country. You would have to go there and find them in the jungle in order to get more information about those kinds of things. That would be a difficult trip to start with and could take some time. If the shipment you’re expecting to check on is due within, say, three months, you may not be able to get there, get the information and get back in time, if you can *get* the information *at all* *and* if you can get out *alive*. I don’t think that the rebels are going to be very cooperative in your investigation.”
Charlie chuckled and said, “I have some sources of information that may be adequate to the task. Can I use this office as a home base and do you have access to the internet or fax capability to the Metropolis office when I need it?” He said that knowing that he really was not going to need the fax, but the internet access could come in handy.
Derek replied, “Yes to both. Of course the internet access is done through a trans oceanic telephone line so there is some lag, but it gets the job done.”
Charlie smiled in acknowledgement at the information, and then asked,, “Is there a desk that isn’t currently in use where I can ‘hang my hat’?”
Derek, seeing that Charlie didn’t wear a hat but realizing that it was simply a figure of speech, pointed to a desk in the corner with a telephone and an old typewriter on it and said, “That desk is unoccupied at the moment. You can use it.”
Charlie said, “Thanks. I probably won’t be keeping a strict schedule. It’ll all depend on where the investigation leads. If I’m going to be gone for an extended period I’ll try to let you know in advance. I plan to start trying to establish a group of informants. I’ll keep you apprised of my progress.” He started toward the door and said “I’ll see you later.” And with that he departed.
After Charlie left Derek was called out on business. Claude used this opportunity to compose and send a FAX to the Metropolis office. He was going to find out about this Charlie King.
And now –
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 3 – The Mission Begins
Friday, January 3, 1992
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Friday night Charlie started going around to some of the nightspots in Brazzaville. He planned to listen in on conversations in an attempt to find someone associated with the rebel cause. The first cabaret he went into was something of a disappointment. It was a real dive, which was frequented by a lower class of individual. The tour continued with the quality of establishment varying widely. He had some moderate success in the fifth cabaret he went into. He identified a couple of men in a corner booth speaking in hushed tones. They were talking about arms shipments. He couldn’t determine if they were legal or otherwise, but he decided to follow up on them. Charlie was able to hear every word that was spoken and committed the appearance of each and the names mentioned to memory.
Then Charlie approached the bartender and asked about the men he had observed. Two 1000 CFA Franc bills, about $40, changed hands as a bribe got him the information he was after. It turned out that both men worked at an import company called L&M Enterprises, Inc. Charlie couldn’t get over the fact that he had hit pay dirt so quickly. <I’ll have to see how much information I can find on L&M on Monday.>.
The next Monday Charlie went in to the office and asked, “Derek, I’d like to use a computer to do some internet research. Are there any available?
“We only have a couple and it looks like they are both in use. How urgent is this research?”
“It deals with the gun running investigation but, I guess it really isn’t exactly what you would call urgent. Would you mind if I brought in another computer?”
“No. I wouldn’t mind at all. Would you mind if we use it when you aren’t here?”
“I wouldn’t mind that at all. In fact, when I return to Metropolis, I’ll leave it here for your use.”
“That would be greatly appreciated. We’re like the unwelcome step-child out here. They don’t fund us very well.”
“I promise that when I return to Metropolis I’ll talk to the powers that be about that. Since I’ve been here and seen what you do first hand and they are sitting over there in their ivory tower I can give them an ‘on the scene’ report. I can’t guarantee that it will make a difference, but I’ll see just what I can do.”
“Any help would be appreciated.”
“You’ve got it. Right now I think I’ll go see what I can find in the way of a computer.” So saying, he exited. Charlie went to an electronics store and found a desk top computer for sale and bought it. When he got back to the office Derek helped him get it configured so that he had internet access.
Once the system was set up on his desk, Suzanne brought a chair over beside him and cozied up to him. Today she was wearing a bright red dress with a scoop neck which barely contained her breasts and a skirt so short that when she sat down and crossed her legs a small patch of white lace was visible at the junction of her legs.
The supposedly business-like instructions were conveyed in a husky contralto. She leaned against him as she typed in the number. “Charlot, Zee internet ees accessed wiss zee modem line. Zee number ees” she typed in the international telephone number. “Zee username ees ‘reporter’ and zee password ees ‘Planet’.” Furthermore, because of where she was sitting, next to him, she had to lean over to type in the commands which gave him a view down her top of her breasts. She obviously was there for more than one reason. Charlie was amazed. <Wow, and I thought I moved at superspeed, she’s fast. The way she’s dressed is very distracting. If she was showing me any more leg I would be looking at her hip!> Trying desperately not to react overtly he said, “Thank you Suzanne for helping me get started. I think I can handle it from here.”
With a look of disappointment on her face she said, “Charlot, eef you need anysang, anysang at all, please to let moi know.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. Thanks again.”
Suzanne returned to her desk and pretended to resume her work, but really she was surreptitiously watching Charlie and anticipating a reaction from him.
Now that most of the distraction had been removed he was able to research L&M Enterprises, Inc. Being from 1997 when the information age had really been exploding and it was possible to find just about anything with just a few mouse clicks, it was beyond frustrating to have to search and search and often wind up in a blind alley. To frequently not have the information available at all was really trying his patience. It took a while, but, he eventually found out that L&M was incorporated in the US and he found that they were headquartered in Metropolis. Since the arms shipment had originated in the port of Metropolis this was no real surprise. He continued digging. L&M had an office and warehouses here in Brazzaville and port and warehouse facilities in Pointe Noire. Eventually he was able to get the names of the officers of the corporation. Among the names listed were Lex Luthor and Miranda Michaels, ‘*L*’ and ‘*M*’.
Charlie stopped at this point and thought for a while. <Bingo! Lois told me about the problems she and Clark in the other universe had with Lex Luthor. It looks as though the parallels between our two universes are a lot closer that I thought. Lex Luthor wasn’t a problem in 1995 when I started at the Planet. I wonder what happened to him.> He had had some opportunities while with Lois in both universes for her to tell him some of her and Clark’s history in that universe. Knowing that Lex had been behind most of the rackets in Metropolis and was also involved in some international criminal activities it made sense that he would be behind this. He was convinced that he had hit pay dirt with this particular piece of information. Now he needed to get more definitive information on the shipment in question. For that it would be necessary to find the rebel stronghold.
Charlie made the rounds of the cabarets again that night. This time he didn’t pick up any useful information. <Well, I guess it’s time for *Superman* to do some snooping.>
The next day Charlie spent the day in the office doing more research. He was trying to find a ship date for the arms departing Metropolis without any success.
At lunchtime he was approached by Suzanne. She slinked over to his desk and leaned back against the edge with her bottom on the edge and her hands propped against the top. In this pose because her bottom was on his desk her skirt rode up to a point just below the junction of her legs. She knew that she had a beautiful pair of legs and she wanted to show off their full lusciousness so she crossed them slowly and sensually. She thrust her breasts out and gave him a coy look as she asked “Charlot, Would you accompany moi for zee lunch? I can show you zum of zee nicair places to eat.”
Charlie thought <Why not?> and took her up on her offer. They had a pleasant lunch together. At one point she had slipped off her shoe and used her bare foot to stroke his leg, wiggling her toes up under his pants leg. He had had a startled expression at this contact and she had a sly expression on her face as she watched his reaction. As they finished the meal she leaned over the table giving him an unencumbered view of her plenteous charms as she asked “Af’tair work eef you ‘ave nosing else to do, would you like to come to my apartment wis moi?”
Charlie was flustered as he thought <Wow, these French girls don’t waste any time do they? It’s a tempting offer. However, I need to get ready for Lois. Maybe some other time.>
Charlie said: "Merci, mais j'ai d'autres choses à faire ce soir. Peut-être une autre fois."
(Tr: “Thank you but I have some other things I have to do this evening. Perhaps another time.)
Suzanne looked at him with a startled expression on her face. <Uh oh, he’s not like most of the other Americans I have met. He apparently doesn’t expect everyone to speak English like so many of his countrymen. He speaks French. I thought that like so many he only knew a little like how to say hello.> She said “Charlot, Vous parlez Français! “ (Charlie, You speak French!) <Did he hear Colette and me the other day? His neck was turning red when he turned away. I wonder. Well, if he did, so much the better. Now I can be more open about my intentions.>
Charlie paid for the lunch and they returned to the office.
When they returned it was Colette’s turn. “Charlot, would you like to ‘ave zee eeevening meal wiss moi?”
“Colette, I have something else to do this evening. Perhaps we could have lunch together tomorrow?”
“Tres Bien, we weel have zee lunch tomorrow zen. Merci.”
Suzanne pulled Colette aside and they spoke in whispers occasionally looking over at Charlie as they did. Charlie studiously avoided listening in on this conversation since it was obvious what, or actually *who* it was about.
At close of business he went out and had a meal and then went back to his suite. <Well, I need to find the rebel camp and I’m not going to be able to do it sitting here in the hotel. I really need to start looking, but I can’t afford to be seen.>. After it got dark he changed into some dark clothes - black slacks and a black turtle neck polo shirt. To this he added a black ski mask. Where he was going he needed to be invisible against the night sky. Dressed this way, unless he passed between someone looking up and a star that they were looking at he would be nearly invisible. <This is almost like the pre-Lois days. I had to hide what I was doing so that no one would suspect what I was and what I could do.>
Clark had done his research before coming to the Congo and knew that the Congo River was the ninth longest river in the world, behind the Nile, the Amazon and the Mississippi. That still made it a very long river. It drained the central African rainforest into the Atlantic Ocean. Like the Nile it had its cataracts but unlike the Nile the cataracts of the Congo were all at the Atlantic end which blocked traffic upriver from the sea. Livingstone Falls were not as spectacular as Niagara but they were still formidable.
Taking off from the roof of his hotel, and flew north east until he crossed the Sangha River. Once he crossed the river he started his search. <Let’s see. When I checked the maps of the area today I saw that this tributary of the Congo cuts into the heart of the country. The camp could be anywhere in the interior. It would make sense that they would bring the cargo in by boat so there must be at least some access to a river.> He remembered from his research that the area was predominately jungle so it wouldn’t take much to hide even a large encampment. He established a grid pattern for his search which would thoroughly cover the area. The problem was that in order to thoroughly cover the area, without allowing large swaths to be overlooked would take a considerable amount of time, even at superspeed and superspeed was out of the question. Because of the jungle growth he would be straining his vision powers the entire time. He was limited to less than half his normal superspeed so that he wouldn’t miss anything. Well, there was nothing for it but to get started. First he followed the north bank of the Sangha River from the point at which it flowed into the Congo River North Westward. He figured that if the rebels were going to be shipping in the goods they might be located on the river so that they could move them easily. After crisscrossing the area above the river to a distance of ten kilometers he had to call it a night and return to Brazzaville.
The next day Colette wasn’t going to let him forget that they had a date for lunch. She had decided that since her sister had failed to entice him to her apartment after work that she would have to try harder. Accordingly she wore a dress which was extremely short and had a deeply scooped neckline.
She knew that she looked very attractive and with her legs, which were second only to Suzanne in beauty, shown off to good effect, considerable décolletage and no bra she thought that she had a chance of enticing Charlie back to her apartment after work. Charlie was a prize that she was willing to go a considerable distance to obtain.
When she saw him arrive she made sure that he was looking her way as she crossed her legs which hiked the hem of her dress just that much higher, practically giving him a view of her under garments. Charlie, for his part, was more than somewhat flustered by this and found himself staring.
Seeing him stare at her Colette couldn’t repress a smile. She had made her point. Maybe she would succeed where her sister had failed. She muttered to herself, "Je pense avoir finalement accroché mon poisson... Maintenant, je dois l'embobiner."
(Loosely translated that would be “I think I have hooked my fish. Now I need to reel him in.”)
At lunch Charlie was very distracted. Not only was she making sure that he was noticing her legs but every movement she made showed off not only her cleavage but because she was braless her breasts moved and swayed with every movement of her body. Because of the cut of her neckline a considerable portion of breast was visible as well. Charlie was beginning to sweat by the end of lunch.
As they were finishing up she leaned over, which allowed him an unobstructed view of both breasts.
In a very sultry tone she asked “Charlot, do you like what you zee, mon petit chou? You know, you could zee even more. I would like to show you, everysang. Would you like to come to my apartment wiss moi ziss evening? We could have zum fun, we could make zee love togezaire.”
Charlie had a hard time removing his eyes from the display to look into her eyes, but he finally managed. He stammered out “J … J’aim … J'aimerais beaucoup, mais j'ai déjà quelque chose pour ce soir. Une autre fois peut-être?" (tr: “I would love to, but, I have something else I must attend to this evening. Perhaps another time?”)
Colette was clearly very disappointed. As she spoke she gave several little shimmies which sent seismic ripples through her breasts. "Charlot, tu ne sais pas ce que tu manques. Je pourrais te rendre très heureux."
(Tr”Charlie, you don’t know what you’re missing. I could make you very happy.”)
"Je suis certain que vous pourriez, mais j'ai vraiment quelque chose à faire." (Tr: ”I’m sure you could, but I do have something else to do.”)
Her disappointment was evident in her expression, she had thought that she had succeeded where her sister had failed, but the fish had slipped the hook. Charlie paid for the lunch and they returned to the office.
Suzanne and Colette had another conference in hushed tones. Charlie could tell that they were planning their next moves. <I feel like a gazelle being chased across the Serengeti by a couple of lionesses.>
The first night had been rather frustrating, because he saw that this search could take an inordinate amount of time but lacking any other alternative he need to keep on going.
The second night was a repeat of the first night with the exception being that he travelled along the southern bank of the river and inland for approximately ten kilometers. Again he had no success.
For over two weeks he continued in this manner. Occasionally he would stop in the office to see if he could get a line on the arrival date of the shipment in question. Each day that he did was spent with Suzanne and Collette taking turns trying to get him home and in bed. Each night he would increase the distance from the river so that he would move farther inland. Each night his frustration at not finding the rebel base increased. <Even steel has a breaking point. I hope I’m not reaching mine.>
He was starting to despair of finding the rebel camp before Lois arrived. < In order to cover more ground in the limited time I have available I’ll have to either open out the space between passes, which would mean skipping dozens of square kilometers on each pass or taking a radically different approach. I think it’s time for a different approach. Since I had so much success when I cruised the bars in Brazzaville I think I’ll try that approach farther up river.>
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Friday January 24, 1992
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That night he tried going into Impfondo on the Oubangui River. After landing on the outskirts and walking into the town he started going into the bars hoping to overhear a conversation about the rebels. He didn’t have the same amount of luck here that he had had in Brazzaville, which made some sense since Impfondo was a smaller town.
When he had failed in Impfondo he had decided that the next night he would move further up river to Dongou. Here he hit pay dirt. The third cabaret he went into was a real dive. <This bar is worse than any in Suicide Slum in Metropolis.> Still he stuck it out and was rewarded for his diligence. He overheard a conversation about the rebel’s plans being carried on in hushed tones. <Now we’re getting somewhere. I think I’ll use Dongou as my center point for now. Now I need to find where they transship their supplies. The most logical route is still the river.>
Deciding to try a different approach, Charlie descend to ‘wave top’ level and followed the river north from Impfondo to above Dongou and this time scanned the north west river bank looking for a dock or pier. He was ten kilometers north of Dongou when he found it. It was a small pier and it had a camouflage net strung over it so that it would be hard to see from the air. Once he spotted it he zoomed up higher and looked down on it. Now that he knew what he was looking for it was easy to spot. He then scanned the jungle immediately inland and was able to detect a track or trail through the undergrowth. It looked like it hadn’t been used recently but it had been used frequently enough that it hadn’t grown back over. It hadn’t been made by any vehicles. It was obviously a footpath as it was not wide enough of anything other than a motorcycle. Unfortunately it was time to return to Brazzaville. He would have to return the following night.
Since Charlie had found the pier the previous night and identified the trail he needed to follow he was able to return to it easily. He thought that logically, all he needed to do was follow the trail to the camp. How hard could that be?
Much to his frustration once he had picked it up again, it wasn’t as easy as he had thought it would be. There were a number of side trails branching off of the main trail and it was difficult to know which one was the main trail to follow. He decided to stick to the trail that appeared to be the heaviest traveled. If that didn’t lead directly to the rebel camp he could always come back and follow the side trails.
From altitude it was easier to follow the trail. He followed it west from the river for almost one hundred kilometers, through the jungle and across the grasslands and almost into the foothills where he finally came across the camp. Not surprisingly as it turned out it was the most direct route to the river and the pier was at the point of closest approach. He was relieved. <If I hadn’t heard that conversation in Dongou I might not have found the rebel camp before Lois’ arrival. Okay, now it’s time to do some spying. I’ll have to start that later.> He needed to return to Brazzaville before there was a chance he would be seen as he wasn’t dressed for daytime spying. In his dark outfit he would be easy to spot against the brightening sky.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 4 – Mayson Drake
