We are due to have a near miss of a hurricane tomorrow. Since I can't be sure of my connection I'm posting a day early.
Clark and Lois - Despair to Hope – Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 4 – 02/22
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording ]/ 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
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
Previously –
The squad leader started to question them. He too was speaking in a Bantu dialect. Charlie understood and Lois knew that he understood since he had conversed fluently with the marina owner, but he pretended not to and she went along with the deception. The squad leader saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere because of the language barrier. He knew that one of the officers still with the cargo train was semi-fluent in English so the he sent a runner for him so that he could do the questioning.
When he arrived they were still kneeling side by side with several of the rebels covering them with their rifles.
The officer walked up and positioned himself in front of them and then demanded in English. “Who are you and what are you doeeng here followeeng our cargo train?”
Charlie replied “We were with a safari group but we got separated from it and we are lost.”
The questioner, Drago, with a look of disdain clearly evident on his face said “Such a fleemsy lie. There are no safari groups anywhere near thees area. You will tell me the truth or else.”
With curiosity evident on his face Drago started looking more closely at them. As he looked closely at Lois a look of dawning recognition slowly came over his face.
“*You* are the woman *from the boat*! I almost deedn’t recognize you weeth your clothes on,” Turning to Charlie he said “and your playmate. The *two* of you have beeen *following us* seence we left *Brazzaville*! *Why* do you follow us?”
“We’ve done nothing to you. Why don’t you let us go?” Lois asked wearily
“You keeled one of my men!”
“It was self-defense; he attacked me with a machete.”
“He ees steell dead and I should keel you for eet.” He said as he fingered and then started to grip his sidearm preparatory to pulling it from its holster.
And now:
Prologue part 2 from Clark and Lois – The Lost Years Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 3
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Chapter 16 – Linda in Danger
May 22, 1992
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036
Local designation – Alt 1
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Charlie was watching Drago’s every move. If he attempted to draw and fire it would be “secret be damned” he would act to save Lois.
But Drago took his hand away from his sidearm and asked “Who are you? Are you weeth the government een Brazzaville?”
Charlie spoke up to take the attention away from Lois. He thought that if they focused on him there would be less likelihood of any further harm being done to Lois. “No, we are not with your government. We aren’t even from the Congo. I’m sure you can tell that from the fact that we don’t have French accents. We’re Americans.”
“What are Americans doing followeeng an arms sheepment eento the Congo?”
“We’re reporters. We’re just following up on a story.”
“What story?”
“We are trying to find out just who is supplying the arms so that we can put them in jail.”
“So, you admeet your geelt! You are here to stop us from geeteeng the arms we need for the revolution! I should exeeecute both of you on the spot, but, the General weel want to know just how much you know and who else knows. I need to take you on to the camp.”
Drago picked two of his men to accompany them and they set off. They marched the rest of that day, passing the cargo train and proceeding on at a faster pace than the cargo train could maintain. They bedded down on the jungle floor for the night. They kept Linda and Charlie separated and stood guard four by four. They started out again early the next morning.
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May 23, 1992
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Between the trip to the river to pick up the shipment and now on the trip back to camp they had been on the trail for close to two weeks. Drago’s underlings by now were feeling the absence of female companionship which they had with the camp followers. Some of those women were very accommodating. Jabin and Bilson had been walking behind Lois most of the time keeping her separated from Charlie. Speaking in a Bantu dialect Jabin in a low tone said to Bilson “Look at that sexy sway of her hips. I wish our women were more like that. I remember seeing her on the boat when she was wearing almost nothing. I’d like nothing better than to show her what a real man is like. Once I finished with her she wouldn’t want to go back to that weakling behind us. I’d make her scream with pleasure like she never has before. I’d screw her bowlegged and she’d be begging for more.”
Bilson replied “Yes, you’re right, she’d be begging for more, a real man, like me. Once she sees me she’ll never be satisfied with the likes of you.” As he said this he looked at Jabin’s groin and held up his hand with the little finger extended.
Jabin retorted “When we stop we’ll see just who can do what with her.”
The two guards talked this kind of trash all day and Charlie had heard every lecherous word spoken and he didn’t like what he had been hearing. At this point he was very happy that Lois didn’t understand what was being said.
What he didn’t know was that Lois was picking up simply from the tone of the conversation what the gist was. She wasn’t sure that she would be able to fend off both of the guards if they worked together to subdue her. She also worried about what would happen to Charlie if he tried to interfere. They hadn’t been together for very long, just a couple of months, but Lois believed that she knew him well enough by this time to know for certain that he wouldn’t just stand by and allow these men to attack her without doing something in her defense and that was where her concern lie. With his hands bound behind his back he would be in no position to put up much of a fight. She was afraid that if he tried to interfere that they would shoot him without any qualms at all. That only steeled her resolve to do whatever she could in her own defense. If she could defeat the attackers herself then there would be no need for Charlie to interfere.
She started planning how she could take out both of her attackers. She decided that in order to be sure she would have to use deadly force. She started going through a picture in her mind of all the vulnerable spots on the human body which when struck would result in death to the individual. Fortunately they had removed her bonds which was something of a surprise since she had been the one to kill one of her attackers in their scuffle. The fact that she was a petite woman was working to her advantage in that respect. They obviously thought that her defeat of her two opponents had been a fluke, discounting her abilities.
She rehearsed many of her moves mentally. She started visualizing all of the kata she had perfected as she progressed through the ranks in Tae Kwon Do. She mentally thanked her Sensei for suggesting that when she sparred that she work with larger and stronger as well as higher ranked opponents. That experience had stood her in good stead in the earlier encounter.
When that thug had come at her with the machete she hadn’t been fazed at all. She had been through any number of exercises using that kind of scenario at the Dojo. That had actually been one of the earliest exercises and had followed through becoming more complex with each iteration. Admittedly, in the Dojo they had been using fake weapons and only making light contact but the principle and the moves were the same. When she had been confronted that way her training had simply taken over. In the actual situation she didn’t hold back and unleashed her full power in the kick with devastating effect. It was afterward that she had come to the realization just how effective the move really was.
She found her arms moving at her sides and had to consciously quell the movements otherwise it would have been very evident to her guards what she was doing. The muscle memory of the blocks and strikes which are practiced so diligently by practitioners of the martial arts can manifest itself unbidden. When one rises to the higher belts the moves have been practiced so much that conscious thought it no longer necessary. Muscle memory kicks in and the body reacts appropriately. The more she thought about it the more confident she became. She was moving into her Chi, that mental state wherein the discipline rules. A preternatural calm began to pervade her mind. She had progressed from her worry about what would happen to herself, to what would happen to Charlie to her Chi which could be looked upon as the calm before the storm. She knew that when the time came she would and more importantly *could* do what needed to be done. She would rescue herself and Charlie from their captors. As long as her situational awareness was maintained, as long as she knew exactly what each of her attackers was doing and that included Drago she felt confident of the outcome of the encounter.
Charlie was afraid that they would actually try something when they stopped. The question was what could he do that wouldn’t reveal what he was? If he couldn’t come up with something that would do the job and yet conceal just what he could do he would have to act overtly. He didn’t want to take the chance of Lois being injured. He had to think of something and do it quickly. It didn’t take too long for him to hit on a plan that he thought would work. In order for his plan to work it would require both of Drago’s underlings to be in relatively close proximity. If Drago himself was near them that would be even better. If it worked it would not only eliminate the threat which these men posed to Lois in particular and to both of them in general but could get both of them away from their captors, completely. If only he had been able to let Lois know his plan but they were keeping them separated.
As they were leaving the jungle and entering the prairie grasslands Drago called a halt. Behind them the sounds of the jungle were fading and the sounds of the grassland were starting to manifest. In front of them they could hear the cry of the big cats as they were in the hunt. There were fewer bird sounds. They could also hear the quieter sounds of the antelopes and other grass feeders as they moved about. Lois’ hands had been untied but Charlie’s were still tied behind his back.
Lois knew that the greatest danger would manifest when a halt was called. In some respects she dreaded this but in others she looked forward to it. Mentally she was as prepared as she could be.
All day Charlie had looked for a chance to put his plan into action. When it did come it came later than he had expected. It was along toward dusk, shortly after a halt was called for, that Drago’s two underlings decided it was time to make their move. They were both walking toward Lois with grasping hands and evil intent in their eyes. Drago didn’t say anything. He couldn’t have cared less if his men roughed up the prisoners and had some fun with the woman in the process, in fact the idea crossed his mind that he might just like to have a go at her himself. He kept remembering how she had looked in that skimpy bikini.
Lois had been waiting for this. She knew that the attack would come very soon. She turned to face her guards and prepared herself. Very subtly she shifted her body into a ready stance but kept her arms at her sides so as not to give away the fact that she was prepared for the encounter. She was surprised when Charlie started moving. All she could do was look on in horror.
Seeing them start to make their move Charlie decided that it was time to put his plan into action. He ran at them and then leaped and twisted in the air so that he sailed into both of them with a flying body block. It was a maneuver that most soccer players could perform so there was no hint that he was actually flying as he did it. Landing on top of them as they hit the ground on their backs, he managed to use his head to head butt the one under the chin to stun him slightly. As he was getting up he kneed the other one in the groin. His objective was to draw their attention away from Lois and pin it on him.
Feeling pretty certain that this was accomplished he got to his feet and ran, drawing the attention of Drago who was shouting at him and at his men. Charlie took off into the grass which was waist high making sure that he was going at a realistic pace and was keeping their attention focused on him. Keeping their attention on *him* and not on Lois was the key. As his men recovered Drago shouted at them to shoot Charlie. As they both shouldered their rifles and fired, Charlie felt the dual impacts and dropped to the ground trying to make it look like he had been hit. He heard Lois wail, “*Charlie!?!?!*” It pained him that he hadn’t had a chance to tell her his plan and had to let her believe that he had been killed.
As soon as he was below the level of the grass he snapped the ropes around his wrists.
Drago ordered Jabin to go look for him and make sure that he was dead. Jabin, holding his rifle at the ready, moved off on Charlie’s trail. When he got to the vicinity of where Charlie had dropped he started looking around, poking into the grass with his rifle barrel. Suddenly Jabin dropped from sight without a sound. Drago didn’t see him go down, it happened so fast.
When Drago noticed that he was no longer visible he ordered Bilson to go look for him.
This time Drago was careful to watch his subordinate while he searched. As he was watching Bilson suddenly disappeared. It looked like he had fallen into a hole in the ground.
Drago thought that this could be a possibility since the practice of digging pits to trap animals was still practiced in this area by the local population. He ordered Lois to get onto her feet and to follow his men.
Lois was distraught at the thought that Charlie had been killed. When she had seen them shoot at him and had seen him go down she had collapsed to the ground in a dead faint. As she was coming to, all she could think about was her anguish at losing him. If he was dead she didn’t know how she would go on. She didn’t react when Drago ordered her to her feet. She screamed in pain as Drago grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her to her feet. Once she was on her feet he released his grip on her hair and gave her a shove which sent her stumbling ahead. She was like an automaton as she trudged up the trail in the wake of Drago’s men.
Suddenly Drago spotted Jabin, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey with his own belt and boot laces. Drago was instantly on the alert and pulled his side arm. When he saw Bilson in the same condition he jabbed his gun in Lois back. He shouted to Charlie “I know you are out there. Give yourself up or I keel her!”
When Lois heard this her despair instantly vanished. <He’s threatening me to get Charlie! He must still be *alive*!> There was an instant surge of joy which filled her heart at the thought. Then the reality of the situation hit her. <Drago has a gun in my back! How can I get out of this? That move that Charlie used on me!> Lois started moving her left arm across her back in an attempt to knock the gun away. She succeeded in moving it to the side somewhat but as she turned and started to reach with her right hand to grab his forearm she missed the grab and Drago was able to bring the gun back to bear.
Charlie had circled wide and around to get behind Drago and was sneaking up on his previous location when he found that Drago had moved. That threw Charlie off. He suddenly saw movement out in the grass. It was Lois starting to use the Windmill. He shouted “Linda, NO!!!” and started to run at superspeed
Drago wasn’t going to put up with this. He pulled the trigger, point blank hitting Lois just under the ribs on the left side in the front.
Charlie realized that Drago was at point blank range and a bullet from his gun would only be traveling inches before she was hit. They were too far away for him to get there even at superspeed to intervene and he heard a shot fired just before he reached Drago.
He heard Lois cry “Charlie!!” and he saw Lois start to crumple like a marionette with the strings cut. Again he shouted “Linda!!!!” and was on top of Drago.
He grabbed the gun and yanked it from his hand, breaking Drago’s trigger finger and crushing the gun in the process. Then he hit him, fortunately he automatically pulled his punch so that he didn't do more that knock him out and possibly break his jaw.
Lois had collapsed to the ground. There was a gaping hole in her upper abdomen where the bullet had entered. The blood was not oozing from the wound it was gushing. Charlie knew that loosing blood that fast would kill a person very quickly so time was of the essence. He ripped off the hem of her shirt and used it to try to staunch the blood flow or at least slow it down somewhat. He quickly x-rayed her. When he did he saw just how seriously injured she was. He knew that he didn’t have much time to get her to a hospital. He had to move her quickly.
She said weakly, between gasping breaths, “Charlie .. it hurts … so … bad. I don’t … want to ... die. Help me … Charlie. Charlie, I lo …” as she passed out.
As he scooped her up Charlie shouted at her, “Don’t you die on me! Come on, stay with me! I love you! I need you!” He cradled her head against his shoulder as he took off with her in his arms and flew toward Brazzaville. He kept talking to her the entire time he had her in his arms. The incident had started at dusk and by the time he was airborne it was dark.
What Charlie didn’t see was the native at the verge of the jungle that was watching as he took flight. He was a runner being sent on to the camp by the cargo party to request a relief party of bearers. He had been attracted by the sounds of gunfire and was approaching the area with caution. When the native saw Charlie take flight he fled back the way he had come in panic believing him to be an evil spirit.
She was in and out of consciousness as he flew. It took almost five minutes to get her to Brazzaville. That was where the nearest quality hospital was located. Because of her condition he had hurried, but he still had to take it slow enough so as not to aggravate the injury.
He landed as softly as he could outside the hospital and carried her in to the Emergency Room. Placing her gently on a gurney he started shouting for help. Immediately a nurse and an ER doctor rushed over and the doctor took charge. The doctor started shouting orders. “We have a gunshot wound people. Two lines – D5W and normal saline. Type and cross-match. The surgeon will need the complete picture, CAT Scan – STAT and prep for surgery.” The ER team was very efficient. The two IVs were started almost before he had completed all the orders. Blood was drawn for the type & cross-match for whole blood transfusions. They sent her immediately for a CAT scan. A CAT scan will give a virtual 3-D image allowing the doctor to follow the path the bullet had taken and more easily determine the extent of the tissue damage, where the bullet was lodged, extent of internal bleeding etc. More information than a simple x-ray would give. In many cases the extra time is worth the benefit. In reality the difference in time is not as great as some would think.
Charlie followed her progress through the rooms using his x-ray vision up until they took her into surgery.
The doctor stopped as he hurried on his way to the surgical suite to get permission to operate. He introduced himself as Dr. M’benga. Charlie gave him permission to operate, calling himself her husband. Doctor M’benga said, “I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not sure she is going to pull through. The CAT Scan indicates sever internal injury. I’ll do my best. I’ll have a better idea when we complete the operation. When I finish I’ll come here and find you.
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In the middle of the surgery.
Imperceptible to human or even superhuman senses there was a disruption of the space/time continuum when there was a problem with the operation. What could most easily be described as a ‘snap shot’ of the current universe - Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau 036 was created, although it was slightly out of phase with the original. This was caused by a difference in the vibratory characteristics of the copy. A later analysis of the data would show that a new universe had been created with vibratory characteristics Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 040. (See Volume 3 to follow the incidents in the Tau 040 Universe.)
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036
Local designation – Alt 1
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Three hours later
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Charlie saw Doctor M’benga and another doctor approaching from the operating theater. They had been operating on Lois for three hours. They were obviously fatigued and they came in through the waiting room doors and looked around. When the doctor saw Charlie he walked over to him. With the fatigue and also concern written all over his face he introduced his assistant, “This is Doctor Bashir.” Then Doctor M’benga said, as if by way of excuse “We did the best we could.”
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 1 – The Outcome
