Clark and Lois – Two Universes - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 7 28/32
By Ken Janney
Rating PG-13
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.
This particular story takes place after Lois and Clarks.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ “denotes telepathic communication”/
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]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
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Common name – Alt 2
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
Seeing where the sound was leading him Superman saw the reason for his difficulty. Apparently Jack was underground. The signal was strongest directly in front of the stair opening. It would appear that the ground was muffling the signal, but that the tunnels and stairwells were acting as a wave guide conducting the signal above ground. Seeing the object of his pursuit nearby he took off and flew down the stairs landing on the platform. Slowly he spun around and finally located the direction that the signal was coming from. As he flew down the tunnel the volume increased, but just as he thought he must be nearing the source it started to fade again. Stopping, he hovered and turning around discovered that the sound was now behind him so he flew back, more slowly this time and using his infrared vision finally spotted the side tunnel. Flying down this he x-rayed the door. There was nothing behind it but another set of steps. Passing through this door he floated down to the lower level so that there would be no footfalls on the steps or platform. He thought, <I don’t remember this being on that sub-surface map I was looking at earlier. This must have been Luthor’s reason for funding this project.> He sent, /”I’ve found him in a sub level of the abandoned subway.”/
/”How is he?”/
/”I don’t know yet.”/
/”Be careful!”/
/”Always.”/
After landing at the bottom of this second set of steps he was confronted by yet another door. He tried his x-ray vision again looking through the door and this time he saw a room. He tried to scan through the wall, but there his vision was blocked. He thought, <The walls must be painted with lead based paint.> Returning to the door he looked through it and saw a number of thugs, none of whom he recognized. He sent to Lois, /”The room must be painted with lead based paint. The door is apparently new. I can see several gunmen. A few are sitting around a small table playing cards apparently unconcerned.”/ Tuning in with his superhearing what he heard was mostly the conversation concerning the game. He did hear a comment about the kid in the corner which told him that Jack was in there. Suddenly, he heard a voice, “Hey, this kid ain’t lookin’ too good. That shot must not agree with him.”
/”There seems to be a problem with Jack. I have to get to him.”/ Feeling assured that there was not much to fear, ten seconds later Superman pushed the door open and sped into the room.
Since he hadn’t been able to check the room, except for what he could see through the door, before entering he had decided to superspeed in get Jack and speed out. The problem was that he couldn’t locate Jack by looking through the door. Taking the chance that he would have the time he needed he decided to secure the thugs for the police so he had the thugs around the table bound before he realized anything was amiss. As he was about to tackle the remaining thugs he felt the pain of the Kryptonite as the rays tore through his body. Smythe had been standing against the wall next to the cot that Jack was on where he couldn’t be seen and he was holding the Kryptonite.
The noise from Jack’s signal watch was almost deafening at this range and it had masked the sound of the additional heartbeats. His step faltered when looking around he saw Jack on the cot, but before he could move in that direction his strength gave out. As he was collapsing to the floor he only had time to send, /”Kryptonite trap. We don’t both want to be caught. Stay away. Stay safe,”/ before he passed out. He only hoped she would heed his warning.
He had been able to deal with the relatively small piece of crystalline green Kryptonite that Luthor had provided to his muggers because that had been a relatively small piece. The larger chunk in Luthor’s vault had actually knocked him out due to its larger size. This piece was larger than even that.
When Superman collapsed, Smythe stooped and placed the Kryptonite on the floor next to him. Smugly he said, “He fell for it. We only had to say that line twice. As soon as he thought the kid was in trouble he just had to try to rescue him.” Then he turned to Luckabee and said, “Take the limo, go to LexLabs and find Nell Newtrich and identify yourself. She should recognize the name of the owner of the lab. Tell her that she is to pack up the Quantum Disruptor and bring it with her. Bring her and the weapon back here with you. I need her to install this green rock into the power supply. Make sure you blindfold her. There’s no reason for her to know where this place is.”
As Luckabee was leaving with a driver, Smythe turned to two of the thugs who had just finished releasing their bound friends and said, “I have prepared an area for the execution. Drag him over here.”
There were two pillars, probably primary support members for the floor above. Shackles were attached to each and Superman was hoisted up and a shackle attached to each wrist. Superman dangled there between the two pillars, hanging from his wrists with his arms stretched out and back behind him with all of his weight on his arms. Smythe placed the Kryptonite at his feet and stepped back.
Once this was accomplished Smythe moved over and lifted Superman’s head so that he could look directly at him and said, “You’re through interfering with my plans. You’ve been a worthy adversary, but I’ve won. The final act of this opera is about to begin.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After a short time Nell Newtrich arrived with a sack over her head. Luckabee was carrying a large case which presumably contained the Quantum Disruptor. Luckabee set the case down and removed the sack from Nell’s head..
Smythe picked up the Kryptonite and handed it to Nell. “Here, install this in the RTG. Once it is installed, how long until the device is ready?”
“It will take some time to get it into the RTG. Once installed, it will take some more time to build up the power. It will take at least 3 to 4 hours to build up a sufficient charge.”
Smythe ordered, “Get started. When you are finished installing the green rock, let me know.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour and a half and some miscellaneous cuts and pinched fingers later Nell announced that the job was done.
Smythe ordered, “Get her out of here.”
The sack was again slipped over her head and she was led away.
Once she was outside, Smythe said, “Now all we have to do is wait for sufficient charge to accumulate. Let’s allow a generous margin of error and place the call to Ms. Lane in four hours. By the time she is here, there shouldn’t be any question as to the weapon’s status.”
And Now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 26 – The Quantum Disruptor
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 - Local designation – Alt 1
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Jack had been missing for almost eight hours and Clark had gone looking for him over six hours ago. Initially they both had heard the signal watch, the high pitched “Zee … Zee … Zee … Zee” signal. It was loud and clear so with confidence Clark had left with an admonition to Lois to maintain the secret at all costs. He didn’t want anything to happen to her, especially now, in her condition. That had been hours ago and Lois no longer heard the signal watch. Actually it was only a short time after Clark left that she couldn’t hear the watch anymore. She wasn’t sure just what that meant. It could mean that Clark had rescued Jack and the signal had been turned off, although at this point she felt that was highly unlikely, that the battery had died, also unlikely as Dr. Klein had said that the watch battery should last almost a full day, or he had moved someplace that blocked the sound, which was most likely. The problem was that they hadn’t shown up.
What concerned her more was the fact that she was unable to contact Clark telepathically. Even when they were not actively talking that way she normally was able to feel the connection that they shared, but for some time now that had been missing. It left her with an empty feeling. The final communication she had had from him was a warning that he had walked into a Kryptonite trap and that she was to stay clear. That alone was enough to worry her. She felt that emptiness, but it wasn't like what she had felt immediately after Clark, her first Clark, had been killed in that explosion. That, at least, reassured her. She was convinced that he was still alive, but it still left her with a feeling of uneasiness.
In frustration at this forced inactivity Lois paced the bullpen of the Daily Planet. She had on a smartly styled work outfit which had a short skirt, a low cut silk shell and a sleeveless jacket or vest which was long with the tails reaching below her knees. The vest swirled and flared with each turn she made revealing her slender legs.
Lois’s phone rang. In her anxiety about Clark she almost didn’t answer it. When she did she recognized the voice. Leslie Luckabee said, “Hello, Lois Lane?”
“Yes, this is Lois Lane. How can I help you?”
“Well, actually darlin’, this isn’t about how you can help me, it’s about how you can help your partner.”
Relief flooded her instantly; Lois was still on alert because he wouldn’t be saying this if Clark were dead and he obviously knew where he was, but he was still missing. She barely managed to keep her voice calm as she replied, “Oh, just what makes you think that Superman needs my help?”
"I think that if you don't help him and soon the blighter will come to some serious harm. He may even cark it."
She was bewildered by the term, but the context enabled her to figure it out. She said, "If I understand you correctly, that is serious. Just how would Superman 'cark it'? He is invulnerable you know."
"Oh, not any more he isn’t. He will die quite painfully, I assure you."
Knowing that she was going to have to play along she said, "Then it would seem that I have no choice. What are your demands?"
“You can meet me at the Plaza in one hour. If you come, alone, I’ll take you to him. If you don’t show up or if you bring anyone else with you, you’ll never see him again.” There was a click as the connection was cut.
Knowing that there was dirty work ahead she made her plans. She grabbed her bag and headed for the stairwell. Before she reached the door James Olsen stopped her.
“Lois, what’s going on?”
“I just had a call. I have to meet Leslie Luckabee in an hour. He said that he’d take me to Clark.” She lowered her tone as she finished, “I think they have Jack too. I’m going to see Henderson. I’ll let you know.”
“Okay, stay safe.”
With a confident smile she said, “Remember, I’m a surprise package. They might just be getting an unexpected surprise.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As soon as she was in Bill’s office she said, “Bill, Jack and Clark are both missing. Remember what we told you about Leslie Luckabee? We’ve been investigating him as being the one behind the brothel and the kidnapped girls. Well, I just had a call from Luckabee telling me that he would take me to Jack. That means that he’s directly involved. We could have him, as long as we can get incontrovertible proof. I need to be able to record the meeting. Can you arrange that?”
Without answering he picked up the phone and dialed an extension, “Madge, bring a wire to my office and be prepared to set it up.” Hanging up the phone he looked at Lois and said, “Coming right up. The recorder is voice activated so it will record a full two hours of conversation.”
A minute later, Madge entered Bill’s office. Bill pointed at Lois and said, “Set her up.”
Madge was very efficient and had Lois wired very quickly. She showed her how to start the recorder and left.
Lois said, “Thanks Bill. I hope to see you later today, with the proof we need.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Right on time Lois walked into the lobby of the Plaza. As soon as she was through the door Leslie Luckabee took her elbow and led her back out into the street. He pushed her into a waiting limousine and pulled out a blindfold. He said, “Sorry about this, but it is necessary. Turn around so that I can put this on you.”
As he was applying the blindfold he said to the driver, “Ralph, you know where to go.”
Once the blindfold was in place Lois relaxed back against the car seat and used her x-ray vision to watch exactly where they went. The driver took a very circuitous route. When they reached their destination Luckabee helped her out of the car and then led her in a wandering route this time on foot in an attempt to confuse her before leading her to a flight of steps leading down below ground.
As soon as they had stepped out of the car Lois had started to hear "Zee ... zee ... zee ... zee " at 85,000 Hertz, Jack's signal watch. Lois thought, <That has to be Jack's watch. No wonder it was hard to hear, he must be deep underground in this old, abandoned subway tunnel.> To make it look good she had her hands out groping and pretended to lose her footing occasionally. Eventually they reached the bottom of the stairs and he led her around in some circles to make her think that she was traveling a distance before leading her through a door to another flight of stairs. All the while the sound from Jack's watch was getting louder.
When they reached the bottom apparently he had tired of the game and led her straight to the door where they had their lair. Lois thought, <Sub level. I don’t remember this being on the drawings.> Trying to look into the room, her vision was blocked, everywhere, but the door. <Must be lead lined. I hope there isn’t any exposed Kryptonite.> When the door was opened Lois was relieved that she didn’t feel the pain of Kryptonite exposure. It had been a chance she’d had to take. Lois saw that there were several others in the room. She didn't dare move her head around to look because that movement could have given away the fact that she could see, so forcing the sound of Jack's watch into the background her hearing picked out even more heartbeats. When they stopped, Clark was right in front of her. To her relief she also heard one special heartbeat, Clark’s, so she knew for certain that he was alive, just unconscious. She almost blew it right then because all she wanted to do was grab him and fly both of them to safety. Instead she decided that she would wait and see what she could record. She had started the recorder just before she had entered the Plaza.
After Leslie brought her to a halt he removed her blindfold. She blinked as one would after having been blindfolded for a time and then she looked around. Directly in front of her, Clark was propped up between a couple of pillars and shackled to them. He was slumped in unconsciousness. An involuntary, but wholly expected exclamation escaped her lips, “Clark!” Then she looked at Luckabee and asked, “What have you done to him?”
The answer came from off to the side, not from Luckabee, “Nothing much, yet, however shortly I will be ending his life and his interference in my plans. Unless …”
Lois asked, “Unless what?”
“If you promise to be with me, be my wife, I might let him live.”
Looking at Smythe she couldn’t avoid the look of repugnance that took over her countenance. She needed more evidence so she asked, “Who are you, really? It would appear that you aren't really Luckabee's lacky."
Removing the hat that he habitually wore to at least partially conceal his face he said, “You know me as Smythe, however my name is actually … Lex Luthor …”
Lois interrupted him before he could complete his statement, “That’s a laugh! Lex Luthor died years ago! If you’re a clone, I'd say that whoever created you botched it. You don’t look anything like Lex Luthor.”
He was smarting from her comments, but he continued in a civil tone, “Never the less, my name *is* Lex Luthor, Lex Luthor, Junior.”
Lois already had known what to expect. Ever since the interview they had had with Luthor in the other universe, they had known that Smythe had been lying about his name. Playing along, in a hushed tone Lois said, “Lex’s son. Actually, we knew your name wasn’t Smythe. We knew it was an alias because a Freedom of Information search in Australia came back negative.”
He was shaken by this revelation, but after calming himself he replied, “Yes, Lex’s son and the inheritor of all that was his.” He spread his hands to encompass their surroundings and hirelings. “Welcome to my world.”
Getting back to the point Lois repeated, “What have you done to Clark? Why are you doing this?”
“Ah, why indeed? First you ruined my very profitable business run by Mitzie Daphne. That cost me not only income, but influence over numerous political figures.”
“Oh, so you admit that you were behind the brothel. Both the prostitution and the blackmail.”
He thought for a second and then said, “Why not, after all a wife cannot be compelled to testify against her husband.” He let that hang in the air for a second before he proceeded, “Then you cost me the commissions on the women I had captured for a certain businessman in Libya, which individual you could be meeting, however I would spare you that fate if you agreed to my proposal.”
“As to what have I done to Superman, not much as yet. He has been rendered unconscious by exposure to a green rock. In a few minutes he will be executed for crimes against … me. That is, unless you decide to stay with me. If not, I thought you would want to watch. That was why you were brought here. Of course, if you don’t agree, it is the last thing you will see, outside of the four walls of a bedroom in Libya where you will be transported as soon as we are done here. You may have a long life, that is, as long as you continue to attract the attentions of the male patrons of the establishment.”
Lois looked at Smythe, or Lex Junior, with disdain and laughed as she said, “You’ve got to be kidding. You want me to be with you? I’d rather cohabitate with a monkey. He’d be better looking.”
Smythe was smarting from her taunts and said, “You leave me little choice then. You have condemned him to death.”
As she was listening to this she had been trying to contact Clark mentally. She was thinking, <That explains why I haven’t been able to talk to him. He’s unconscious and it must have been quick. Has to have been crystalline K.>, Lois feigned a look of horror as he was saying all of this. As he finished, Luckabee snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists, behind her back. She played along and acted surprised as this was done.
Smythe, or Lex junior, now took a good look at Lois. With her hands secured behind her back her baby bump was uncovered. He said, "Oh, I see that you will have to have a doctor's appointment before you go to Libya. I don't think the bastard of this criminal should be allowed to live. I knew you were his partner at work, I didn't know that you allowed this ... Alien ... to be your partner in bed as well," his tone and look of disgust were evident.
Lois stood up straighter and threw her shoulders back thrusting forward the obvious sign of her pregnancy which her vest along with the subdued lighting had hidden. With an air of pride in her voice she said, "This child is not a bastard in any way. I am proud to say that Clark and I are married."
Smythe was sputtering as he asked, "Married? You married this, this alien?"
Lois' answer consisted of a single word, "Happily."
She saw Jack, unconscious on a cot in a corner. Looking around she noted that there were eight gunmen besides Luthor and Luckabee and all eight had guns in their hands. Two of them were covering her, one was covering Jack and five had their guns pointed at Clark. Realizing that he had probably been kept down here, where the sun could not rejuvenate him and that Clark was probably still vulnerable she knew that it was up to her. She asked, “How can you kill Superman, he’s invulnerable? And if you succeed how can you avoid being tried for murder?”
With a sneer on his face and in his voice Luthor Jr. replied, “There is no murder if there is no corpse.”
“His corpse won’t go away!”
“On the contrary.” He picked up a device that looked like a small beer keg with a spout on one end, a pistol grip on one side and a small targeting laser mounted to the opposite side. “This my dear is a newly developed device. I’ve had MiraLabs working on its development since I bought them. This is called a Quantum Disruptor. It will disrupt molecules and the atoms they are created from at the quantum or sub-atomic level. It is powered by the same green rock that I used to subdue him. One good blast of this and all that will be left is a pile of very fine dust which I can sweep up in a dustpan and put out with the rest of the garbage.” As he was speaking he threw a switch. As soon as this was done she could hear a whine, the sound of capacitors charging. Smythe said, “Ahhh, the sound of power. The power is being shunted into the power cells. It won’t be long now.”
Lois had been doing a slow burn. Hoping that she had gotten enough on the tape she used her x-ray vision to examine the mechanism of the weapon. She saw why she didn’t feel the Kryptonite; it was sealed in a lead chamber surrounded by electronics. She was wondering how he could generate the kind of power the device would need. The switch he had thrown allowed current to flow to bank after bank of capacitors. Seeing this she realized that with this set up the output of whatever it was that was generating the power would be adequate. The power would be stored in the capacitors until needed and then sent as a high voltage burst to the mechanism. The trigger was a two stage affair. The first stage activated the targeting laser. The second would allow the burst of energy to fire the weapon. Lois used her heat vision to fuse the wires on the trigger which would cause a short when it was activated.
As he started to lift the device to firing position Lois glanced around once more. As he started to depress the trigger a red dot appeared in the center of Superman’s ‘S’ crest. Just before the trigger clicked in for the second stage Lois shifted into superspeed.
Everything around her seemed to stop.
She snapped the chain between the handcuffs freeing her hands. Then she moved around the room removing all of the guns from the hands of all of the thugs and crushing them into shapeless masses of metal. She realized that each of the thugs was going to suffer injury as a result, but it couldn’t be helped. They each had a strong grasp on the weapon so that the grip safety was depressed so that the weapon could be fired and when she ripped the gun out of that clasp the bones of the hands and in some cases the bones of the forearm were snapped.
Once that was done she snapped the shackles from Clark’s limbs and scooped him up and then she picked up the unconscious form of Jack from the cot and sped out, closing and blocking the door so that those inside wouldn’t be escaping before the police arrived.
As soon as the door was blocked she slowed to normal speed. As soon as she did she heard a small explosion as the shorted wires of the weapon caused an overload and it destroyed itself mixed with cries of pain from the thugs as their injuries manifested. She thought, <The only one not injured should be Luckabee.>
Lois picked up her two burdens and shifting back to superspeed and depending on her aura to protect both of her passengers flew them out of the abandoned tunnels and into the air hoping that if anyone saw them they would simply see the colors of Clark’s Suit and assume that Superman was active. She flew them to 348 Hyperion Ave and landing in the back yard, carried her burdens inside. She placed Clark in their bed and then carried Jack up to his room. She removed his hand cuffs, turned off his watch’s alarm and placed him on his bed.
Realizing that she would need someone to stay with Jack and being very thankful that Lucy had returned to work that week, she called the Planet and spoke to Lucy. “Lucy, I need you to come to our house. I have rescued Clark and Jack. I need to take Clark somewhere to get sun so I need you here to take care of Jack. Do you think James will mind?”
“No problem, Sis. I’m sure he’ll understand. He may even come over with me. How long do you think you will be gone?”
“Maybe a few hours.”
“I’ll get there as quickly as I can. Where’s Jack?”
“He’s up in his room. Looks like they drugged him. He’s out.”
“I should be able to be there shortly. Why don’t you go ahead and take Clark to get some sun. I’ll use my key to get in. I’ll make sure Denny works on his homework. It’ll be just like old times.” She was giggling as she finished up.
“Thanks, Sis. I’ll see you when we get back.”
Next she called Bill Henderson and gave him explicit directions as to where the perps could be found and gave him a summary of what she had recorded. She also told him that medical assistance would be needed.
As usual Lois quickly packed a backpack with towels and suits and picking Clark up they took off from the back yard. She headed west and after leaving the US behind headed for the south Pacific. Since their beach had been compromised she headed to the area near Pitcairn Island. She used her supervision to find a small island that didn’t appear to have any inhabitants. Landing on the beach she spread out the towels stripped Clark and laid his naked body on one in the sun. Spinning out of her clothes she lay down on the other to drink up the sun’s rays.
A short while later he awoke. Looking around he saw that he was on a beach, but it didn't look familiar. There were no cliffs and no people either. A few seconds later a naked and very beautiful, very pregnant Lois came strolling out of the lush tropical growth onto the beach. All he could do was stare at her.
She said, "Welcome back. You had me worried there for a while," she said as she sat on her own towel.
He asked, "How long was I out?"
"Only about half an hour, once I got you into the sun. What happened? How did he catch you?"
“Before I go into that, what happened?”
“They lured me there by telling me they had you. Smythe was about to blast you with something he called a Quantum Disrupter. I shifted into superspeed disarmed all of them, caused a malfunction in the weapon, picked up you and Jack, took you out of that chamber and blocked them in.”
With a shocked expression he said, “They will know that you’re super! We need to cover that somehow. We need to get back there.”
Lois looked down at her nude self and then at his nude body and said, “Spoil sport. Oh well, I guess you’re right.” She spun into her clothes, he spun into the Suit and they took off for Metropolis.
Superman was carrying Lois in his arms when they arrived on the lower platform just as the MPD was clearing away the last of the debris Lois had used to block the passage.
As soon as the door was open, Bill Henderson said, “You’re all under arrest! Come out with your hands up.”
The gunsels started stumbling out cradling their gun hands and arms in their other hands, moaning in pain.
When Luckabee and Smythe came out, Smythe looked at Lois accusingly and pointing at her said, “She’s as super as Superman! She rescued him! It had to be her. We had incapacitated Superman.”
Lois started to laugh as she countered, “Look at me, do I look super to you,” as she pulled her vest back to display her baby swollen belly and did a slow pirouette. “Just because you are from Australia you think you know everything there is to know about marsupials. Well, I’ve got news for you. Yours isn’t the only country with them. We have one of our own. It’s called an opossum. You know what that smart little animal does when it is threatened? It plays dead so that the predator will leave it alone. When someone plays dead to fool somebody, we say they are ‘playing possum’. That’s what Superman was doing to you, playing possum. At the right time he rescued me and Jack.”
Smythe was sputtering and forgetting himself blurted out, “But my cyber team hacked into STAR Labs database and got the lowdown on his powers and his weaknesses. After we knocked him out we kept him out of the sunlight!”
Clark sent, /”That explains my quick recovery. I wasn’t exposed to the Kryptonite the entire time. I had recovered from the exposure; I just needed to recharge my powers in the sunlight.”/
This news from Smythe was highly instructive and Lois knew she needed to discredit this info so, again Lois started to laugh. She said, “I bet you even found out that he could see through solid objects and hear sounds that others can’t hear. We worked with Doctor Klein to, how shall I say this, embellish his powers somewhat and put in some weaknesses that aren’t really there. You can’t believe everything you read.”
Smythe’s countenance fell as she was speaking. He finally said, in a chiding manner, “False data to lead us into a trap.” He was still shaking his head as he was taken away on a stretcher because of his injuries. When the device had exploded the right side of his face had been damaged.
Lois held no remorse for what she had done and no sympathy for the criminal and taunted him somewhat, saying, “Look at the as an opportunity! When they fix the right side of your face, maybe they’ll give you a discount on fixing the other side at the same time.”
Luckabee strode up to the stretcher that Smythe was on and demanded, “The antidote! What about the antidote?”
Smythe was laughing as he replied, “What antidote? You gullible fool! There was no poison therefore there is no antidote. That was just a story I came up with to keep you in line.” The medic wheeled Smythe away.
Luckabee visibly deflated. His relief was tangible. An MPD uniformed officer came up to him and put the cuffs on.
Before the uniform had a chance to lead him away and seeing that Smythe was out of earshot Lois turned to Luckabee and asked, “You are the one that sent the note about the Toasters aren’t you?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“I didn’t. It was just a good guess. You slipped up and Clark spotted it. Why did you send it?”
“I was mad at Smythe. He had told me that he had poisoned me and would let me die if I didn’t toe the line and do what I was told to do.”
“Would you be willing to let us interview you, after the police have interrogated you, of course?” She nodded in the direction of Henderson.
“Sure, I got nothin’ to hide anymore. Smythe was the one. I was just his puppet, his ventriloquist’s dummy. If not for his threat about the poison, I’d have turned dog.”
“We had basically come to that conclusion already.”
He looked al Lois and said, “Such a shame.”
She replied, “What’s a shame?”
“That I never really had a shot with you.”
Lois pulled off her left glove and brought her hand up and looked at her ring.
Luckabee said, “It means that much to you?”
Lois replied, “Yes … yes it does,” as she clasped her hands together. “It stands for our love, our … forever love.”
“But, isn’t he an alien?”
“He’s no more of an alien than you are. Oh, he might have come from another planet, but he’s more human than …”
He provided the object of comparison, “Smythe.”
Lois smiled and said, “Yeah, Smythe.”
The uniform put his hand on Luckabee’s arm and led him away at this point.
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