Four Days to Nightfall
By Nan Smith <hachiban@earthlink.net>
Rated: PG
Submitted: July 2002


Disclaimer:  The familiar characters and settings in this 
story are not mine.  They are the property of DC Comics, 
Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions and whoever else can 
legally claim them.  The story is originally based on the 
Lois and Clark episode "All Shook Up" and any recognizable 
parts (of All Shook Up or any other episodes of the series) 
are credited to the writers of the show.  Any new 
characters, scenes and the story itself are mine.



"The Nightfall Asteroid is on a direct course for Earth.  
This piece of space rock is seventeen miles across, 
traveling at close to thirty thousand miles per hour.  If 
nothing stops it, it will hit the Earth in a little more 
than four days."  Professor Daitch, Chief Scientist at the 
EPRAD command and control center based in Metropolis, 
paused at the end of his announcement and added, almost 
under his breath, "The sky, literally, is falling."

"What kind of damage could this asteroid do?"  The inquiry 
came from Phil Morrison of the Star.

Daitch took a deep breath.  "It could knock the Earth off 
its axis, even throw us out of our current solar orbit.  
It's far larger than the meteor that caused the extinction 
of the dinosaurs.  The crater alone will throw enough dust 
into the air to start a new ice age."

Professor Daitch stepped back from the microphone and the 
general who had introduced him took his place.  Lois Lane, 
like the other reporters at the press conference, had been 
momentarily stunned by the announcement.  It was hard to 
absorb the meaning of the astronomer's words -- that the 
entire world could die in four days.  The whole concept was 
unreal to her.  Science had never been her strongest 
subject and the idea that a piece of rock traveling from 
the depths of space could cause the end of civilization, as 
she had always known it, was almost unbelievable.

Frank Madison, from LNN, appeared to recover first.  "Is 
the government doing anything about it?  What's being done 
to protect the Earth from this thing?"

"Of course, the government isn't standing idly by," General 
Zeitlin replied, sounding slightly outraged at the mere 
idea.  "There is no need for panic.  We are confident we 
can handle this challenge with existing resources.  We have 
several delivery systems, notably the Asgard booster, which 
we are in the process of re-programming.  At the same time, 
we're currently attaching nuclear payloads, which, if we 
can deliver them, will eradicate this threat from our 
skies."

The press conference concluded a few moments later.  Lois 
charged out ahead of the other reporters and headed 
straight for the phones, snatching up the receiver of the 
nearest from under the reaching hand of Linda Watkins.  The 
reporter from the Register gave her a dirty look, which 
Lois ignored.  The biggest story of the century was 
breaking, and it might be the last one she would ever 
write.  She was darned well going to be the one to write it 
-- first.

********** 

"Clark, come and see this!"

Clark Kent, the Acting Editor of the Smallville Press, 
turned at the shout from Jennifer Douglas, one of the 
little paper's two full-time reporters.  The small 
television was on in the main newsroom -- a cramped space 
about fifteen by fifteen, crowded with several desks, a 
copy machine, the coffeepot and various paraphernalia 
associated with the publication of the little weekly 
newspaper.

He set down the proof he was scanning and stuck his head in 
the door.  "What's going on?"

"Big press conference at EPRAD!  There's an asteroid headed 
for Earth that might hit us in four days!  They're going to 
try to destroy it with a nuclear missile."

"What?"  Clark was suddenly all attention.  The EPRAD 
scientist was speaking again, and he listened to the 
questions of Metropolis's press, a cold knot gripping his 
gut.  Jennifer glanced at him and back at the screen, 
biting her lip.

The conference concluded and the scene shifted to the LNN 
newsroom, which seemed more chaotic than usual.  The 
strained face of a news commentator appeared on the screen 
looking flustered, rehashing the information Clark had just 
heard at the press conference, but he was no longer 
listening.  This was the scenario that science fiction 
writers had envisioned over and over in various disaster 
novels and movies but it was a different story when it 
might come true.

He turned at the sound of the outer door opening.  Marian 
Rogers, the other full-time reporter for the little paper, 
entered.  Clark brought himself forcibly back to the day's 
business.  "Marian, get on the phone to Kansas City.  I 
want all the information that EPRAD is releasing to the 
papers.  We still have time to get this stuff on the 
asteroid into this week's edition."

"Asteroid?" she inquired, looking blank.

"Just call them.  We have a paper to get out."  Clark 
glanced out the window at the overcast evening sky.  He 
didn't want to say it or even think it, but underneath he 
was aware that this might be the last edition of the 
Smallville Press that was ever printed.

Unless the Asgard rocket did the job the Air Force general 
had promised it would.

The thought wasn't comforting.  The Asgard rocket wasn't 
designed for something like this.  Last year he'd read an 
article about the possibility of Earth being struck by an 
asteroid large enough to do serious damage to the planet.  
The author hadn't been particularly worried.  His article 
had pointed out that it was possible, that such strikes did 
happen every now and then, but the chances of it happening 
in this lifetime were infinitesimally small.  Only, the 
chances were one hundred percent if you happened to be 
directly in the path of a piece of space debris, as it 
appeared they now were.

Clark bit his lip.  After college, he'd traveled the world 
for several years before returning to Smallville for the 
past year.  He had been preparing to make his most 
important career advance in the next few weeks -- a move to 
Metropolis and applications to the big papers that based 
themselves there -- most notably, the Daily Planet.  He 
hoped that between his resume and the experience he'd 
gained while touring the world, it would be enough to land 
him a foothold on the great newspaper.  It would be the 
realization of a dream.

That might all be changed, now.  He frowned, thinking about 
that.  He'd learned a lot about different cultures and 
different countries during his travels but the one thing 
that stuck out was the fact that people were more alike 
than they were different.  How they reacted to an emergency 
would be strikingly similar all around the world.  Some 
would face the approaching disaster with courage, some 
would panic and some would strive to take advantage of the 
situation.  And some would take steps to save themselves, 
even at the expense of others.  Especially, those who knew 
or guessed the true extent of the coming destruction and 
had the resources to do so.

And that was something he needed to find out.  What did the 
people in power really know or think about what was about 
to happen?  Did they really have any faith in the Asgard 
rocket being able to destroy the monster asteroid before it 
hit the Earth -- and if the missile did destroy it, what 
kind of destruction would the shattered pieces wreak on the 
nearly defenseless planet?

First he had to finish getting the paper out and then he 
had a trip to make.  Washington DC was the place to 
discover what the American government was doing to try to 
save the day.

The frightening thing was the probability that they 
couldn't -- that all they could do was to minimize the 
damage and try to make sure that the government survived, 
so that they could pick up the pieces later and keep the 
country alive -- no matter how many individual lives were 
lost in the meantime.

Well, the first thing he needed do was to find out what the 
real situation was.  He threw himself into his work, 
determined to finish ahead of schedule.  Clark Kent and his 
incredible abilities might be the only thing standing 
between the Earth and its destruction.  If he were, there 
was probably only one thing he could do.  The thought 
scared him.

**********

"...So, they're readying the Asgard booster," Clark said.  
He was pacing back and forth in the kitchen of the 
farmhouse where he had grown up.  His mother and father sat 
at the table watching him pace.  "There's only one problem 
with that.  They have to wait until the thing gets close 
and they're only going to have one shot."

"What do you mean?"  Jonathan Kent leaned forward, setting 
his empty coffee cup down with a thud on the table.  "Why 
can't they shoot it now?"

"The Nightfall Asteroid is traveling at nearly thirty 
thousand miles per hour," Clark said, "and it's going to 
hit the Earth in about four days.  That means that right 
now, it's nearly twelve times farther away than the Moon is 
from the Earth.  The rocket hasn't got the fuel to take it 
that far.  Even the moon shots couldn't boost the whole 
way.  They're going to have to wait until the thing is 
almost on top of us before they fire.  And it's armed with 
a nuclear warhead."

"Nuclear fallout," Martha Kent said.

"Probably," Clark said.  "That's bad enough, but that's not 
even the worst eventuality.  If we get fallout, it'll be 
pretty widely scattered.  It probably wouldn't be enough to 
do much lasting damage.  But when the rocket hits the 
asteroid, it's going to be close to Earth.  Some of the 
debris is bound to hit us and this thing is seventeen miles 
across.  The pieces are going to be big.  It's the damage 
that they'll do that I'm worried about."

"And what if the rocket misses?"  His mother's voice was 
very low.

"Even if it doesn't, the Earth is facing a disaster," Clark 
said.

"Clark, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," 
his father said.  "I'm sure the government has it under 
control."

Clark shook his head.  "They don't want panic," he said.  
"They're planning for a disaster of major proportions.  I 
know.  I heard them talking.  They're already sending 
important people to the shelters prepared for them in 
Washington.  They *know* it's going to be bad."

"You heard them talking?"  Martha Kent's hands were clasped 
together.  "How?"

Clark glanced out the window at the nighttime landscape.  
The sky was half-covered by clouds, and here and there were 
clear patches where the stars shone through.  The gibbous 
moon shed white light on the fields, but tonight the 
moonlight was cold and unfriendly.  "I flew to Washington 
and eavesdropped.  I had to know what was really happening 
rather than what they saw fit to tell us.  I've been 
thinking about it ever since.  I can't just let it happen.  
If there's any chance at all that I can stop it, I have to 
try."

The little group of three people around the kitchen table 
was silent for several moments.  Jonathan Kent reached out 
to take his wife's hand.  Clark saw the gesture and 
swallowed.  They knew what he intended -- had intended 
since he had discovered the true situation.

"I don't want to do it anymore than you want me to," he 
said at last.  "But I have these strange powers for a 
reason.  Maybe this is it."

"Clark -- "  Martha began and then stopped.

"Mom, I have to."

"I know."  Her face looked pinched and tight in the warm 
kitchen light.  "But I don't have to like it."

"Clark, how are *you* going to get that far and back?" his 
father asked.  "I know you can hold your breath a long 
time, but that long?"

"I can hold my breath for twenty minutes, " Clark said.  
"It won't be a problem getting there."

"But it might be a problem getting back."  Martha Kent's 
face had taken on a determined look.  "I know you have to 
do this, Clark, but there's no rule that says you can't do 
everything possible to ensure that you'll survive."

Clark surreptitiously let out his breath.  He'd been pretty 
certain that they would support his decision, but it was a 
relief to have his belief vindicated.  "I guess you have 
some ideas on the subject?"

"Air," Martha Kent said.  "You're going to need extra air 
and I know where to get it."

"Where?"

"My scuba gear has exactly what you need.  All we need to 
do is fill the tanks."

He should have thought of it, himself.  His mom was always 
open to new ideas and experiences.  Two summers ago she'd 
taken scuba lessons in town, and in spite of the skeptical 
instructor, had graduated second in the class.  She now 
knew the bottom of the lake south of town almost as well as 
he did.  "That's a good idea."

"Of course it is.  Let's get moving."

**********

"Around the world, panic-stricken crowds are rioting," 
Edgar Martin, the LNN newscaster was saying.  "Churches, 
mosques, temples and synagogues are filled with people 
praying for a miracle.  There is turmoil in all major 
cities.  In downtown Gotham City, a violent mob smashed 
windows, overturned cars and looted stores...."

"I coulda told you that was going to happen," Perry White 
said.  Lois Lane turned from the scene on the newsroom 
monitors to see her boss standing behind her, watching the 
reports of worldwide panic.  "Hell, people even do this 
when their soccer team loses a game."

"I know."  Lois glanced out the window of the Planet.  "The 
Governor called out the National Guard an hour ago."

It was the evening of the day after the press conference at 
EPRAD and conditions around the world were rapidly 
deteriorating.  At this rate, they wouldn't have to wait 
for the Nightfall Asteroid to destroy the Earth.  The 
panicky mobs were going to do it first.  Why couldn't 
people keep calm in a situation like this? she wondered, 
irritably.  Going into a blind panic was more likely to get 
you killed than the actual strike by the asteroid.

Martin turned suddenly away from the camera and from 
somewhere off screen, Lois could hear excited voices.  The 
man remained turned so all she could see was the back of 
his head and the picture jiggled and seemed to tilt for a 
minute.  Perry regarded the scene with raised eyebrows.  
"Must be something new," he commented.

The picture straightened and the commentator turned back to 
face the camera.  "This has just come in over the wire," he 
announced, his voice shaking.  "Observers at EPRAD report 
that the Nightfall Asteroid has apparently exploded.  
Repeat:  the Nightfall Asteroid has been shattered.  So 
far, astronomers have no explanation for this event...."

For the space of several heartbeats, there was a dead 
silence in the newsroom and then someone -- she thought it 
was Jimmy -- raised a cheer.

Perry White moved forward to hear the remainder of the 
newscaster's report over the sudden racket and Lois could 
see his face.  He was frowning, apparently not entirely 
relieved at the news of their sudden and unexpected 
deliverance from danger.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Maybe nothing," he said.

"What?"

"What made it shatter?" he asked.  "The Asgard Rocket 
hasn't been launched yet.  A big chunk of rock like that 
doesn't just blow up for no reason."

"Maybe it ran into something -- another asteroid?" Lois 
suggested, doubtfully.

"Maybe, but why didn't anybody spot it?  And even if it 
did, it's not necessarily such a good thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Lois, that was one huge chunk of mineral.  What could make 
it just blow up like that?  Whatever it was, it's still out 
there -- and so are the pieces of Nightfall."

Why did reality have to intrude itself so unpleasantly on 
her relief?  "You don't think any of them are going to hit 
us, do you?"

Perry didn't answer.  Finally, he said, "I don't like to 
look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have the sneaky 
feeling that it can't be this easy.  Jimmy!  Get on the 
phone to EPRAD.  I want to know if they have any idea what 
happened."  He turned back to Lois, who was gathering up 
her things preparatory to leaving.  "You be careful going 
home, do you hear me, Lois?  People are acting crazy out 
there."

"I will," she reassured him.  At his skeptical expression, 
she felt obliged to protest.  "Perry, I can be careful when 
I want to!"

"Well, you be sure you want to this time!" her boss 
grunted.  "I don't want to lose my best investigative 
reporter.  There are riots going on everywhere.  I've been 
hearing sirens all evening."

**********

The city was eerily quiet when Lois pulled out onto the 
street ten minutes later.  The sun had set and the moon had 
not yet risen.  The sky was thickly overcast and the mist 
off the bay drifted through the air, blurring the glare of 
the city lights.  The windshield of the Jeep Cherokee was 
coated with a thin layer of moisture, too light for her to 
run the windshield wipers constantly but thick enough to 
distort her vision.

The news that the Nightfall Asteroid had been shattered 
might have started to percolate through the population of 
the city.  She didn't see any rioters, although that might 
not mean anything.  It was as if the whole city were 
holding its breath, not yet convinced that it was safe.

And, in truth, she wasn't at all sure that they were safe.  
The spokesman for EPRAD had given no definitive answer to 
the Planet's phone calls.  He had merely stated that the 
asteroid appeared to have shattered due to some unknown 
cause, perhaps a collision with another body, although they 
had not been able to locate any such object.  Questions 
regarding the safety of the Earth had been met with evasion 
and the information that there would be a press conference 
at ten, tomorrow morning, regarding the status of the 
emergency, after the astronomers had had the time to 
evaluate the new situation.  Altogether, it was a very 
unsatisfactory answer and left her almost as worried as 
before.

The route back to her apartment took her past Centennial 
Park.  A light mist was beginning to sift downward from the 
overcast sky.  The streetlights seemed dimmer than usual, 
and there was no sign of anyone merely walking along the 
sidewalk or lovers strolling along hand in hand.  In fact, 
there was no sign of human activity at all and she jumped 
and nearly screamed when a large, white something swooped 
suddenly out of the dark and flapped its way across in 
front of her, barely eight feet away.

It was an owl.  She gulped in air and tried to quiet the 
pounding of her heart.

At that instant, a flash of light at the edge of her vision 
caught her eyes and she looked up, hardly believing what 
she was seeing.

A blazing fireball ripped its way through the cloud cover, 
practically over her head.  Lois had had some experience 
along those lines, however.  If you ran, it seemed that any 
object falling from above was going to land directly on 
you, no matter in which direction you dodged.  She brought 
the Jeep to a dead stop by the side of the street and 
watched.

The fireball seemed to be plunging directly at her, but she 
knew that had to be an optical illusion and indeed it was.  
As it neared her, she saw that it was coming in at a steep 
angle, although she still seemed to be the target.  A 
billboard advertising the Metroliner was directly in its 
path and she ducked involuntarily as the blazing object 
tore through the sign with a crack like a gunshot, passed 
close overhead in a roar of sound and plunged directly into 
a stand of trees.  There was a balloon of flame, an 
explosion rocked the air and the trees shuddered and 
splintered beneath the force of the strike.

Flame was licking at the sign, charring the edges of the 
hole.  In Centennial Park, the trees were on fire.  Later, 
Lois would wonder what could possibly have gotten into her, 
but at the moment she didn't even hesitate.  She scrambled 
from the driver's seat and ran toward the blazing trees as 
fast as her legs would carry her.

The only explanation for the fireball that she could think 
of was that it was a piece of the asteroid that had somehow 
arrived ahead of the others.  She didn't stop to think how 
unlikely the possibility was.  She only knew that she had a 
chance to get there before police, fire fighters or other 
journalists arrived on the scene.

Pieces of flaming debris drifted toward her on the breeze.  
Lois turned to the right to circle the stand of shattered, 
burning trees so that she could approach from upwind.  A 
cinder alighted on her skirt and she slapped at it with her 
bare hand.  It stung and the burning ember left a hole in 
the cloth.  Well, that was the end of her favorite skirt 
but it might be worth it if she got a good story out of 
this.

A flaming branch dropped from one of the trees and she 
dodged farther right.  The branch hit the ground, spraying 
sparks, and lay there, burning.  The grass around it 
shriveled and began to steam but the dampness of the air 
was too much for it.  The flames began to die within 
seconds.  Looking back at the blazing trees, Lois could 
only imagine how hot that fireball must have been for the 
fire to burn so fiercely in the damp conditions.

Circling the flames, she could feel the heat and she lifted 
a hand to shield her face.  Beyond the trees, she found 
what she expected.  The flaming object had struck at an 
angle and ploughed a long trough in the soft ground of the 
park.  Small shrubs were still smoldering and a crater at 
the end of the trough was wreathed in smoke.

Cautiously, she approached the crater, not sure what she 
might encounter.  The smoke was acrid and caught in her 
throat.  Absently, she fished in her handbag and found the 
handkerchief that she had stuffed into the bottom.  
Hastily, she shook out the crumpled wad and held the cloth 
over her mouth and nose, still advancing cautiously toward 
the crater.

A light gust of wind blew a spray of water into her face 
and she realized the falling mist was growing heavier, 
helping to put out the smoldering brush on either side of 
the trough.  The little licks of flame around the crater 
began to go out with sullen hisses of steam.

There was something moving in the trench, she saw, almost 
unwilling to believe her eyes.  Whatever it was must be 
badly burned -- an animal or -- 

He pushed himself up on his hands, coughing, his motions 
hesitant and uncertain.  His face and body were covered 
with black soot -- and nothing else.

In any other circumstance, she would have been embarrassed, 
but embarrassment took a second place to complete shock.  
The man coughed again and managed to make it to a sitting 
position.

"Are you all right?" Lois called.

He heard her.  He turned his head, squinting up at her in 
the darkness, and rubbed his temple.  "Uh -- yeah.  I think 
so."

He didn't sound too certain of that, she thought.  He was 
sitting in the smoldering crater as if not sure what to do 
next.  Lois hesitated and removed her coat.  "Here!  Put 
this on!"

She threw the garment to him.  It landed in his lap and he 
stared at it for an instant and then slowly began to pull 
it over his arms.

It was too narrow in the shoulders, she saw, but he managed 
to get into it and buttoned the lower part of the garment 
around his middle, leaving a wide expanse of chest and 
midriff bare.

"Are you hurt?" she called.

He hesitated and then made an effort to stand.  "I don't 
seem to be.  I don't think I am."  His shoulders came to a 
level perhaps a foot below the rim of the crater.  Lois 
hesitated and then extended a hand.

He took it.  His hand felt hot and the dirt and soot were 
gritty on her palm.  "Come on," she commanded, "you can't 
stay in there."

With her help, he scrambled up the crumbling edge of the 
crater.  As soon as he made it to solid ground, Lois 
dropped his hand and backed away to a safe distance, but he 
made no hostile move, as she was half afraid he might.  He 
simply stood, looking around with a bewildered expression 
on his face.

"What happened?" she demanded.  The circumstances were 
pretty unbelievable.  The fireball had hit and she had 
found a completely naked man sitting, apparently unhurt, in 
the very center of the crater.

"I...I don't know."  He rubbed his face, smearing the soot 
more thoroughly across his features.

"Who are you?"

In the uncertain light of the fire, he looked more lost 
than ever.  "I don't remember," he mumbled.  His voice had 
begun to shake.  "I...I don't know."

Something was very weird here.  Still, she couldn't just 
leave the guy stranded almost naked in Centennial Park, in 
the middle of the night.  He might be hurt more than it 
looked like.  Didn't people die from internal injuries when 
they seemed perfectly fine?  The least she could do would 
be to drop him off at the emergency room.

"Come with me," she commanded.  "And don't try anything.  I 
have a brown belt in karate."

He obeyed without an argument, the confused expression on 
his face growing more pronounced.  Maybe he was in shock.  
Whatever was wrong, he didn't seem to be aggressive.  But 
where were the emergency services? she wondered, leading 
the way back toward the Cherokee.  It would be nice of them 
to show up and relieve her of this particular 
responsibility.

This wasn't such a bright move, she was telling herself a 
minute later as they approached the Cherokee.  Sure, the 
guy looked harmless, but there was still the possibility 
that it was all an act.  Still, what was she supposed to 
do?"

Behind them, the burning trees were beginning to put out 
more smoke than flame.  The drizzle was having an effect.  
It didn't look as if the fire was in much danger of 
spreading -- which was fortunate, because there was still 
no sign of the emergency services showing up.  What on 
Earth was going on? she wondered, still keeping a wary eye 
on her companion.  Hadn't anyone except her seen the 
fireball coming in?

As she and her dazed companion neared the Jeep, two shapes 
rose out of its shadow and approached them.  Lois stopped.  
The figures came closer and she could see the streetlight 
glint off metal in the hand of the one on the right.

"Hey, lady."  The voice was mocking and amused.  "This 
ain't a good place to be walking around at night."

The other man guffawed and she saw that he, too, held a 
knife.  Lois began to back away.

A powerful hand seized her by the arm and swung her around.  
Suddenly her new companion was standing between her and the 
approaching men.  "Leave the lady alone."  His voice had 
lost its confusion and sounded almost threatening.

"Yeah?  Who are you?  Little Bo Peep?"  The man on the 
right showed his teeth in a grin that was half a sneer.

Lois's protector didn't answer.  In the light of the street 
lamp, his soot-smeared face looked grim and determined.  
Lois kicked off her shoes.  If she was going to have to 
defend herself, the last thing she needed was to twist her 
ankle because of a pair of high-heels.

The first man lunged forward, the knife swinging in, 
slashing at her companion's arm.  What happened then was 
almost too fast for Lois to follow.  In a blur of movement, 
he caught the knife hand, twisted the weapon free and flung 
it away.

The second man rushed in at almost the same instant but it 
didn't catch her defender off guard.  He caught the second 
attacker's weapon by the blade and the metal snapped like 
balsa wood.  The attacker howled in pain as his hand was 
twisted backwards and Lois could swear she heard the crunch 
of bone.  Then, both men were running away, fleeing into 
the darkness.  Lois and the unknown man were left standing 
alone in the puddle of light from the street lamp.

"Are you all right?"  The man who had so ably defended her 
turned toward her, his soot-smudged face concerned.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?  Are you cut?"  She 
reached forward to examine his palm but there was no sign 
of an injury.  "Where did you learn that?"

The confused look had returned to his face.  "I don't 
know."

Almost absently, she stooped to pick up her shoes and slide 
them back onto her feet.  "Well, thanks, anyway.  I'm going 
to take you to the hospital.  I think a doctor should look 
at you.  You might have a concussion or something."

Obediently, he nodded.  "All right."

Somewhere in the far distance, she could hear a siren, but 
it didn't seem to be approaching.  More sirens joined it, 
equally distant.  The man raised his head.  "Look."  He 
pointed.

"What? -- Oh."

To the west, she could now see a ruddy glow.  The sounds of 
the sirens had become louder but were not growing any 
closer.  It must be a good-sized fire, she thought.  It 
looked like the emergency services had other things to do 
than to rush to a fire that seemed to be going out on its 
own.

The drizzle was growing slowly but steadily heavier.  Lois 
led the way to her Jeep and unlocked the door.  This might 
be dangerous, but judging by what she had seen, if this guy 
had wanted to hurt her, he could have done it already.  
"Get in," she said.

He obeyed and reached across to unlock the driver's door 
for her.  Lois slid behind the wheel, glancing at him in 
the illumination of the dome light.

Even with his face smeared with soot and lined with 
fatigue, he was remarkably good-looking, with black hair 
and dark brown eyes.  He certainly didn't look like an axe 
murderer, and though looks could be deceiving, after the 
events a few minutes ago, she was inclined to trust him.  
He closed the passenger door and leaned back in the seat, 
closing his eyes.  Lois shut her door.  Starting the motor, 
she pulled away from the curb.  Metropolis General wasn't 
more than a couple of miles away.  Once she got him there, 
she could hand him over to the skilled hands of the 
emergency room staff and be on her way.  Still, she would 
have liked to know how he'd gotten where she had found him.  
Maybe....

He opened his eyes and sat up.  "Do you hear that?"

All she could hear was the patter of raindrops hitting the 
roof and the distant wail of the sirens.  "Hear what?"

He hesitated.  "I'm not sure.  It's coming from up ahead."

Was he hearing things?  Lois glanced sideways at him and 
then turned her attention to the road.  It was starting to 
rain hard enough to make it necessary to turn on the 
wipers.  The asphalt gleamed slickly black in the 
illumination of her headlights.

The street turned ahead of them, leading toward a more 
residential section of town and as she rounded the corner, 
she found herself stamping on the brakes.

Halfway down the block, a crowd of people was advancing, 
blocking the entire width of the street.  Faintly, she 
could hear shouts, screams, and something that sounded like 
gunshots.  Some in the crowd clutched various implements: 
baseball bats, shovels, rakes, and one man in the lead was 
brandishing what looked like a cricket bat.  Many held 
flashlights and a couple actually waved crudely made 
torches.  One woman was carrying a lopsided sign that read 
"Repent!  The End is Near!"  As Lois watched, several 
persons at the forefront of the mob descended upon a truck 
that was parked by the side of the street.  A bat-wielder 
swung at the windshield and there was a shout of approval, 
faintly heard through the glass of the Cherokee.  People 
surged forward, rocking the truck and obviously attempting 
to overturn it.  Lois didn't wait to see more.  She shoved 
the Jeep in reverse and backed up, swiveling the wheel as 
she did so.  In an instant, she had reversed their 
direction and gunned the motor to escape from the rioters.  
No wonder the police hadn't shown up at the park, if this 
was going on around the city!

"What are we going to do now?"  Her companion had remained 
quiet while she executed their escape, but now he spoke up.

She had already decided.  Trying to get through the streets 
to her apartment was taking too big a risk and it looked as 
if a trip to the hospital was going to be equally risky.  
But the Daily Planet was only a few blocks away, back the 
way she had come.  With luck, she and her new acquaintance 
could take refuge there until morning.

**********    

The security bars had been closed and locked at the 
entrance to the Planet's basement parking lot.  The guard 
peered suspiciously out as Lois pulled up at the little 
window and waved her press pass at him.  "Ms. Lane?  What 
are you doing here?"

"It's too dangerous for me to try to make it home," she 
explained, quickly.  "I ran into a bunch of rioters.  I'm 
staying here, tonight."

"Don't blame you.  Just a minute."  The guard turned away 
and a second later the barred gates rolled aside.  She 
pulled the Jeep through.  The lot was much less crowded at 
this time of night and she spotted a parking place almost 
immediately.

Behind her, she heard the clang of the closing gates.  With 
luck, that would keep out anyone who was trying to take 
advantage of the emergency.  Carefully, with hands that 
were starting to shake, she pulled into the parking space 
and cut the engine.

In the sudden silence, she leaned her forehead on the 
steering wheel for a moment, feeling lightheaded from the 
sudden release of tension.  Her companion touched her arm.  
"Are you all right, Miss?"

Slowly, she sat up.  "Yeah.  I'm fine."

He smiled, almost shyly.  "I haven't thanked you for 
helping me."

She gave a short laugh.  "That's all right.  You helped me, 
back there, too."  She extended a hand.  "By the way, I'm 
Lois Lane."

He took the hand.  "It's nice to meet you.  I wish I could 
tell you what my name is."

"It's all right."  She hesitated.  "I need a name for you, 
though.  Why don't I call you Charlie for the moment?  You 
kind of look like a Charlie."

"What does a Charlie look like?" he asked.

"I don't know.  You, I guess.  Maybe you'll remember your 
real name after you've had some sleep.  Do you have any 
idea how you got to where I found you?"

He shook his head.  "I'm sorry -- no."

She opened her door and slid out.  "Let's go upstairs to 
the newsroom.  There ought to be some other people up 
there."

"Okay.  You're the boss."

"Besides," she added, "maybe we can find you some better 
clothes."

He glanced down at himself and she was surprised to see a 
red flush stain his cheekbones.  "I could sure use some.  
I'm surprised you didn't run screaming when you saw me."

She couldn't help a faint grin.  "Oh, it wasn't that 
terrible a sight."

He didn't answer, but his blush deepened.  She locked the 
door of the Jeep and slammed it shut.  "Come on," she 
directed.  "The elevator is this way...."

**********

The newsroom was relatively quiet when Lois stepped out of 
the elevator with "Charlie" following her.  Three or four 
people were moving around and the monitors were on with the 
sound turned down.  There was light in the editor's office, 
which wasn't really a surprise.  She could see Perry at his 
desk.  For a moment, she wondered if the man ever went 
home, but then, tonight was an unusual one, anyway.  After 
all, she hadn't even managed to make it to her apartment 
and Perry lived farther from the Planet than she did.

Jimmy Olsen emerged from the supply closet with a package 
of printer paper in his hands.  He saw her and stopped, his 
gaze going past her to her oddly dressed companion.  Lois 
had to admit that it looked pretty strange, but Jimmy 
hadn't gone through the last hour with her.  She led the 
way down the ramp with a businesslike step and waved at an 
empty chair.  "Wait there for a minute.  I need to talk to 
my boss."

Perry stepped out of his office as she approached.  "Lois -
- what happened?  Who's that guy?  Why's he wearin' your 
coat?"

Her reflection in his office window explained the first 
question.  Her face was smeared with streaks of soot and 
her hair had definitely looked better.  She made an 
ineffectual gesture at it and gave up for the moment.  "I 
can't get home, Perry.  I ran into rioters.  I figured I 
could sleep here tonight."

"Are you all right?  And who's that guy?"

"He doesn't know.  Did anyone report the fireball?"

"We saw it from the window.  There's only been one report 
on the news -- " Perry broke off, staring at her.  "What 
happened?"

"It came down in Centennial Park," Lois said.  "I was there 
when it landed -- "

He was silent while she gave him a quick summary of the 
events of the past hour.  When she finished, he whistled 
softly.  "Honey, if anyone else told me that story, I 
wouldn't believe it.  Okay, Charlie can stay for the night.  
I guess we owe him that, at least.  You write up what 
happened.  At least some people will want to know about 
that crater in the park.  Any idea how he got where he 
was?"

Lois shook her head.  "None.  And he doesn't remember."

"Guy's probably in shock," Perry said.  "Let's hope that's 
all that's wrong.  I guess I better say hello."

Lois nodded and led the way across the newsroom to where 
Charlie sat.

He got to his feet as they approached, pulling Lois's coat 
more closely about his chest, without much result.  Perry 
held out a hand.

"Hello, Charlie.  I'm Perry White, the editor here.  Thanks 
for helpin' Lois in the park."

Charlie took his hand.  "I couldn't let those men hurt her.  
It's nice to meet you, sir."

Perry grinned slightly.  "Wish more people felt that way.  
Are you all right, son?  Lois told me where she found you."

"I think so -- at least, I don't seem to be hurt -- except 
that I can't remember anything."  Charlie ran a hand 
through his hair, making it stand more on end than ever.  
"I don't even know my name.  It's a little scary."

"Maybe you hit your head," Perry said, helpfully.  
"Tomorrow, we'll try to get you to Metro General -- and a 
little sleep might help, too.  In the meantime, maybe we 
can find you something better to wear.  Jimmy!"

Jimmy had been hovering nearby, obviously curious about the 
strangely dressed man.  Perry beckoned him forward.  "This 
is Charlie.  Take him down to the lockers and find him some 
clothes."

"Right away, Chief."  Jimmy grinned cheerfully at the 
newcomer.  "Hi.  I'm Jimmy Olsen.  Come on.  I think I can 
get you something better than Lois's coat.  Mind if I let 
him use the shower, Chief?"

"I think that might be a good idea," Perry agreed.  He and 
Lois watched the two of them leave and then Perry said, 
"You were lucky he turned out to be a good guy, Lois.  He 
could have just as easily been another mugger.  What was he 
doin' in Centennial Park at that hour, anyway?"

Lois shrugged.  "I'm more interested in how he turned up in 
the crater without a mark on him.  Not to mention, how he 
disarmed two muggers and didn't pick up a scratch.  And 
what was that thing, anyway?  Was it a piece of Nightfall?"

"I don't see how it could have gotten here so far ahead of 
the predictions," Perry said.  "There's a limit to how fast 
it could travel."

"Did EPRAD have any idea?"

Perry shrugged.  "We've been trying to phone them, but the 
lines have been jammed.  Evidently, a lot of other people 
have been trying to call them, too."

"Yeah."  Lois glanced down at the hole in her skirt and 
grimaced.  "I think I'll go wash the soot off my face.  
Have you managed to get hold of Alice?"

Perry shook his head.  "She's been visiting the boys for 
the last couple of days.  I tried to call, but the lines 
are pretty much jammed all over the country.  I'm going to 
try again a little later.  Maybe if EPRAD gives us an 'all 
clear' tomorrow, I'll be able to get through."

"*If* they give us the 'all clear'," Lois said.  "This is 
crazy, Perry.  Where on Earth are the police?  A lot of 
people ought to be arrested for what they've been doing 
tonight."

"There aren't enough jails to hold every person who's been 
doing stupid things for the last day or so," Perry said.  
"No police force on Earth could control an entire city in a 
panic."

"I guess not.  It's scary how quickly things can fall 
apart.  I wish people would keep their heads in an 
emergency."

"Most do," Perry said.  "It's the ones who don't that cause 
the trouble.  Let's hope things quiet down by tomorrow.  
I'm lettin' Jimmy stay here tonight, too -- his place is 
over near the spot where they're fightin' that fire.  
Arson," he added, grimly.  "He probably couldn't even get 
through."

"Perry, you're not going to try to go home at this time of 
night, are you?"  Lois tried to sound casual, but she was 
aware that her boss wasn't fooled.  He shook his head.

"No, not tonight.  There's too much goin' on.  I might need 
to be here."  His expression didn't change.  "You can sleep 
on the couch in my office.  It'll give you some privacy."

**********

Lois had finished writing up her article about the fireball 
when Jimmy reappeared with Charlie.  She glanced at them 
and then did a double take.  Dressed in a pair of jeans and 
a T-shirt and without soot covering him from head to toe, 
the man whom she had rescued was definitely worth a second 
and maybe a third look.  Jimmy was talking animatedly to 
him when they emerged from the elevator, and from what Lois 
gathered, he was explaining what a photojournalist's job 
entailed.  Charlie was listening attentively and nodding in 
the appropriate places, apparently absorbing all the 
confusing details that the younger man was throwing at him 
with machine gun speed.

The monitors switched to an aerial view of the street in 
front of City Hall at that moment and someone turned up the 
volume.  A milling crowd filled the screen and a thin line 
of police in riot gear appeared to be holding them back.  
The mayor was speaking, calling for calm, his voice almost 
drowned out by the voices of the crowd.

"What's going on?"  Charlie had deserted Jimmy to stand 
beside her.  His heavy, dark brows were drawn together in a 
frown.  "All those rioters, and this -- what's happening?"

"You don't know?"  Thomas Bailey, one of the reporters on 
the night staff, asked.

"Charlie has amnesia," Lois said, absently.  She turned her 
attention from the monitors to the man standing beside her, 
feeling almost reluctant to explain the current 
circumstances.  Could that be why his memory had 
disappeared? she wondered suddenly.  Didn't that happen 
sometimes?  She knew very little about amnesia, but she 
seemed to recall reading an article at sometime or other 
about someone who had been so upset about events in his 
life that he had literally blocked it all out.  She 
supposed it was possible, but Charlie, or whatever his name 
really was, didn't seem to be the kind of guy who would run 
from danger.  On the other hand, what did she really know 
about him?

The answer, of course, was almost nothing.  She knew he 
seemed to be a decent guy, but there were plenty of things 
about him that she couldn't explain.  If she survived the 
next three days, she might have time to figure out who he 
was and how he had managed all the things she had questions 
about.  But, in the meantime.... 

He was looking directly at her, obviously waiting for her 
to enlighten him.  She put a hand on his arm.  "Come on 
into the conference room, Charlie.  I'll tell you about it 
-- "

**********   

Lois woke for the fifth time, and looked up at the dim 
ceiling of Perry White's office.  The reason she was here 
came back at once and she turned over, trying to get 
comfortable on the office couch.

The blinds were drawn to give her privacy and she could see 
light in the room beyond leaking around the edges.  The 
night staff was still awake, although the lack of noise out 
there seemed to indicate that nothing much was happening.

The clock on the wall said it was three-thirty.  Lois 
squirmed around on the cushions again and closed her eyes, 
trying to will herself back to sleep.  She was tired, but 
at the same time, her brain was active and wide-awake.  
Every time she closed her eyes she could see the fireball 
plunging toward her and in her sleep she had relived over 
and over the moment when she had first seen Charlie in the 
middle of the smoking crater.

The sheer impossibility of that circumstance contrasted 
with the fact that she had seen it with her own eyes.  
Common sense said that Charlie couldn't have been where he 
was, stark naked, and yet have walked away without a single 
scorch mark.  And then there had been the muggers' knives.  
He might have escaped damage by the first one -- maybe, 
anyhow.  It was just possible that some advanced fighting 
technique that he didn't consciously remember was behind 
it, but she had seen him seize the second one by the blade.  
He should have been sliced at the very least and yet his 
hand had been uninjured.

"Lois, you're going to start imagining miracles in a few 
minutes," she muttered to herself.  Either Charlie was some 
kind of supernatural being or he'd been incredibly lucky.  
Since the probability of angels being involved was pretty 
low, she might have to accept the idea of sheer dumb luck 
even if she couldn't imagine any possible way he could have 
escaped injury.

There had been that story last year -- that kid in Texas 
who had been picked up by a tornado, carried fifteen miles 
away and deposited in the middle of a field without a 
scratch and without a stitch of clothing.  Seemingly 
impossible things did happen, but this one....

All her instincts rebelled against that explanation where 
Charlie was concerned, but no other solution presented 
itself for the time being -- at least, none that she was 
prepared to accept.

Finally, she sat up.  She wasn't going to get any sleep 
this way.  Maybe a drink of water would help.
 
The Planet's newsroom was quiet when she opened the door of 
Perry's office.  Jimmy was dozing in his chair and Sara 
Hardesty was frankly asleep with her head on her desk.  The 
monitors were still on, their sound turned down to a 
whisper.  Tom Bailey and the other two members of the night 
staff were sitting around the coffee machine, conversing in 
whispers.

Perry was sound asleep on the conference room table, she 
realized a moment later, his jacket rolled up under his 
head.  Lois winced.  His back was going to bother him in 
the morning.  Maybe she should wake him up and send him in 
to sleep on his couch.  After a moment's consideration, she 
rejected the notion.  He'd given up his office couch for 
her, with his typical Southern chivalry, and taken the far 
less comfortable bed, but at least he was asleep.  If she 
woke him up now, he'd probably be awake for the rest of the 
night.

"Can't sleep?"  Charlie's voice spoke quietly from behind 
her, and she almost jumped.

She turned around.  "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry."  He looked apologetic.  "I thought you'd hear me."

"It's okay.  I guess you were trying not to wake anyone.  I 
just got up to get a drink of water."

"I heard you moving around," he said.  "I couldn't sleep, 
either.  It's pretty hard to think the world might end in 
just a couple of days and my whole life is a blank.  I 
don't know if I have a family that's looking for me, or a 
job or anything."

"You still can't remember how you got to where I found 
you?" Lois asked.

He shook his head.  "It's as if my life started when I woke 
up in that crater and heard you ask if I was all right."

"Well, the fireball couldn't have hit you," Lois said.  
"You'd have been dead in that case.  You say you woke up in 
the crater?"

"Yeah."  He followed her as she walked to the water cooler.  
"I was dreaming -- at least, I think I was.  I couldn't 
breathe and I was running from something, trying to get 
somewhere that I'd be safe -- and then I was waking up and 
you were there."

"And you didn't have a mark on you," Lois said.  "I'd have 
thought you'd have at least picked up a few burns.  The 
ground was hot."

"I know.  I could feel it -- but I must not have touched 
anything too hot because it didn't hurt.  Just dumb luck, I 
guess.  Weird, huh?"

"That's one word for it," Lois agreed.  "Or two, anyway.  
I'd like to get another look at the crater.  Maybe we could 
figure out what happened if we saw it by daylight."

"I suppose."  Charlie looked doubtful.  "Look, Ms. Lane -- 
"

Lois grimaced.  "Call me Lois.  I think we've gone past the 
'Ms. Lane' stage."

He looked embarrassed.  "Considering how you found me, I 
guess.  Okay then, Lois.  There's a lot of stuff going on 
out there right now.  It could get kind of dangerous."

"Charlie, I'm an investigative reporter.  I know how to 
take care of myself."

"I didn't mean you couldn't," Charlie said, quickly.  "I 
just meant, it's more dangerous than usual.  You probably 
could use some backup, just in case.  And I want to find 
out what happened, too.  Would you mind very much if I went 
with you?"

She considered the request for a moment.  Although she 
would never admit it, the idea of having a muscular 
bodyguard along -- one who had already proved he knew how 
to take care of himself, especially considering the 
situation out there right now -- had its appeal.  She 
pretended to hesitate.  "I really shouldn't let you get 
into more trouble.  You've already lost your memory.  But, 
it does involve you, after all."

He looked hopeful.  Finally, she said, "Well, okay, I guess 
it's only fair.  There's a press conference at EPRAD at 
ten, tomorrow morning, to update us on the status of the 
Nightfall Asteroid.  If you don't mind, I'd like to drop 
you off at Metro General in the morning and pick you up 
after the conference.  We'll go back then and look around.  
Besides, maybe you'll have remembered more by then."

He nodded.  "Thank you for wanting to help," he said, 
quietly.  "Not to know anything about myself -- what I've 
done, what I've missed -- "

Lois nodded, feeling a little ashamed of herself.  True, 
she liked Charlie, but her main reason for doing this 
didn't really have much to do with helping him regain his 
memory.  Charlie had confronted her with a situation that 
seemed impossible on the surface, and Lois Lane had never 
been able to leave a mystery alone.  Still, she 
rationalized, if she found out more about how he'd arrived 
where she had found him, she might be able to help him, 
too.  That made her feel a little better.

**********

The first part of her plan was scuttled the next morning 
when a triage nurse informed her over the phone, that the 
emergency room was swamped and the wait for all but urgent 
cases was approximately ten hours.  Since Charlie appeared 
to be in good health except for his memory loss, he would 
not be considered a priority case.

Lois passed on the news.  "Do you want to go there and wait 
for ten hours?"

He shook his head.  "No.  Who's to say they won't get other 
urgent cases they have to take first?  If I still haven't 
remembered anything when this is all over -- if it ever is 
-- then I'll go."

"That's probably sensible," Perry said.  He glanced at 
Lois.  "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," she said.  "I can't help thinking the fireball has 
something to do with Nightfall.  Call it a hunch if you 
like.  Charlie and I are going to go back to the park right 
after the press conference and take a look at the crater by 
daylight."

"Just watch out for muggers," Perry said, dryly.

"We will," Lois said.  "What's the latest on the riots?"

"It looks like things have calmed down a bit, now that it's 
daylight.  Most people aren't as brave about breaking the 
law when other people can see their faces."  Perry fixed 
her with a no-nonsense look.  "You still be careful out 
there, you hear me?  Not everybody is behaving himself.  
I've been hearing sirens all morning."

"I will be.  Charlie will have to wait in the Jeep until 
after the press conference is over and then we're going to 
the park.  He's determined to play bodyguard," Lois said.

Charlie didn't smile.  "It's not safe out there for anybody 
right now," he said.  "I won't let anything happen to her, 
Mr. White."

"I can take care of myself," Lois said.

"I don't doubt it," Perry said.  "Just have mercy on your 
old editor and make sure you come back alive, all right?"

"I will."  Lois glanced at her watch.  "Come on, Charlie.  
We've got an hour to get to EPRAD and there are bound to be 
traffic problems."

Jimmy appeared with a pair of wrapped sandwiches.  "Here 
you are, Lois.  Two cheese sandwiches out of the vending 
machine in the lobby.  It was all they had left."

Lois made a face, but accepted the items and handed one to 
Charlie.  "Here.  This will have to do until we can get 
something else later."

He took the sandwich.  "I'm not really that hungry -- "

"You haven't eaten since last night," Lois said.  "I don't 
want you passing out from hunger.  Eat it."  

He obeyed meekly and Lois took a bite from her own, 
dismissing the subject.

**********

The press conference at EPRAD got off to a slow start.  
Professor Daitch and General Zeitlin were several minutes 
late and the members of the press were not taking it well, 
Lois thought.  When the two men finally appeared and 
approached the microphone, several of the assembled 
journalists began to shout questions before either man had 
been given a chance to speak.

Daitch raised his hands before him, waiting for the noise 
to die down.  When it finally did, he was slow to begin.  
Lois didn't like the expression on his face.  The scientist 
had a grim set to his mouth.  He didn't look like a man who 
had been issued a reprieve.

"We have just completed a briefing with the Federal 
Emergency Management Team.  This meeting was called to 
discuss the new situation regarding the Nightfall 
Asteroid."  Professor Daitch cleared his throat 
uncomfortably and glanced sideways at the general.  It was 
obvious to Lois that he wasn't happy about the information 
that he was going to impart.  Her heart sank.  Daitch 
paused for several seconds and the assembled members of the 
media began to stir restlessly.

"The explosion of the Nightfall Asteroid has changed the 
situation somewhat," the man continued, finally.

"What do you mean by 'somewhat'?" Lois asked.  "Is the 
Earth still in danger?"

The scientist hesitated a long moment.  "Unfortunately, 
yes.  A large portion -- approximately three miles across -
- remains on an impact course with the Earth.  It is 
accompanied by other, much smaller pieces both preceding 
and trailing it, some of which can be expected to miss or 
to burn up in the atmosphere, and some which will reach the 
surface of the planet.  They may cause a certain amount of 
damage, but it will be minor in comparison to the largest 
object."  He paused.  "We expect the meteor swarm to arrive 
approximately fifty-five hours from now."

"Is the government doing anything about it?" Frank Madison 
inquired.

General Zeitlin stepped forward and Daitch seemed relieved 
to surrender the spotlight to him.  The General fixed 
Madison with a stern eye.  "The Asgard booster is still 
available and is expected to be able to eliminate the 
largest object," he said.  "The smaller objects may cause a 
certain level of damage but nothing outside the capability 
of disaster relief organizations to cope with.  The 
situation has improved considerably.  The greatest danger 
the Earth faces at this moment is the panic and civil 
disturbances we've seen over the last twenty-four hours.  
If necessary, martial law will be declared to maintain 
order."  He glanced at his watch.  "Now if you will excuse 
me, ladies and gentlemen of the press, I'm due at a meeting 
in five minutes."

**********
   
"I guess the news wasn't very good," Charlie said.

Lois shook her head.  "There's still a big piece of 
asteroid headed for us.  Some littler ones, too, but the 
one they're worried about is three miles across."

Charlie swallowed.  "How long?"

"Fifty-five hours," Lois said.  "I hate to admit it, but 
I'm scared."

"So am I."  Charlie said, soberly.  "Anyone would be."

They were silent for several moments, waiting while the 
crowd of cars around them maneuvered for the quickest way 
out of the lot.

"What do you want to do, now?" Charlie asked, at last.

Lois took a deep breath and blew it out.  "I guess we'll do 
what we planned on doing.  I don't even know why, you know?  
The fireball still isn't explained and I just have the 
feeling that it somehow has something to do with Nightfall, 
but I can't begin to tell you why.  Even if we do find out 
something about it, it probably won't help."  She looked at 
his expression and felt suddenly ashamed of herself.  "I 
guess I'm not used to being so helpless.  I need to be 
doing something.  If we can just figure out where you came 
from, at least we can get you back to your family, if the 
Asgard rocket doesn't manage to save us.  When I wrote the 
story about the fireball, I told all of it -- finding you, 
everything.  It's on the front page -- a sidebar to the 
Nightfall update from last night.  Maybe somebody will 
realize who you are and come forward."

Charlie met her eyes and smiled.  "Thank you."

She smiled back.  "I'm not really being all that 
altruistic, you know.  If I didn't have something else to 
think about right now, I'd go crazy."

His smile widened a little.  "I know.  I feel a little the 
same way.  But if I have to be in this situation, I'm glad 
it's with someone like you."

**********

The streets were quiet as they drove away from EPRAD back 
toward Centennial Park.  Lois tried not to look at the 
debris left by last night's riots: the smashed windows and 
overturned or burned cars.  Twice they were stopped by 
police checkpoints and allowed to go ahead when Lois 
presented her press pass.  When they finally arrived at the 
place where Lois had been when she had first seen the 
fireball, neither said anything.  She pulled up to the side 
of the street and she and Charlie carefully locked the 
doors before they started for the crater.

The morning was bright and sunny.  It was hard to believe 
that somewhere out in space, growing ever closer, a 
mindless chunk of rock, three miles across, was plunging 
toward them at nearly thirty thousand miles an hour; that 
in slightly over two days it would smash into their world, 
bringing an end to the life that everyone had known.  Of 
course, there was still the Asgard rocket, Lois reminded 
herself.  If they could hit the thing with a nuclear 
payload, the fallout might be something they would have to 
deal with afterwards, but at least civilization would 
survive.

"It came from there," Lois said, pointing in the direction 
of the sign, where a jagged hole, charred at the edges, 
showed the path of the fireball the night before.

Charlie looked, and then followed her pointing finger to 
the shattered stand of trees.  "Wow," he remarked.  "You'd 
think something like that would have made a bigger crater.  
Have you ever seen the one in Arizona?"

"No," Lois admitted.  "I've seen pictures, of course -- " 
She broke off.  "You remember seeing it?"

"Yeah, kind of.  I think I saw it from the air.  It's this 
huge crater --"

"Do you know when?"

The look of discovery on his face faded.  "No."

"Well, at least you remembered something."  She took his 
elbow with one hand.  "Come on.  Let's go look at it by 
daylight."

There was no one visible as they walked toward the broken, 
charcoal skeletons that had been a stand of maple trees the 
night before.  As they rounded the trees, Charlie stared at 
the trough the fireball had ploughed in the soft ground and 
the crater at its end.  "Good grief!  And you found me in 
the crater?"

"Right at the end," Lois said.  She was watching his face 
as he stared at the damage.  He scowled, as if trying to 
recall something that slipped from his grasp as he reached 
for it.  "Are you remembering anything?"

"Just that dream," he said, slowly.  "I remember the 
dream."

"Tell me about it," she said.  "Maybe it wasn't all a 
dream."

He shook his head.  "I don't see how it could have been 
anything else."

"That's okay.  Tell me what you remember about it, anyway."

"All right."  He let her lead him toward the crater as he 
began to speak.  "I was scared; I remember that much.  I 
was trying to get away from something but I don't think it 
was anything alive.  It's funny, you know -- most of time I 
don't remember what I dream, or I just remember bits and 
pieces and then I forget even that after a while."

"Maybe that means this was something more than just a 
dream," Lois said.  She was aware that she was clutching at 
straws but, so far, there didn't seem to be anything more 
concrete to work with.  "Anything else?"

"I remember not being able to breathe," he said.  "I was 
falling and there was no air.  I thought I was dying, and 
then all of a sudden it was hot -- not hot enough to burn 
me, but hot -- and there was air."

"Was the air hot, too?" Lois asked, before she thought.

"Yeah, it was.  I was falling and it was hot, but I could 
breathe.  Then, there was a kind of a crash and nothing for 
a while.  And then I heard you asking if I was all right."  
He paused, his brow still wrinkled with the effort at 
recall.  "Weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Lois said.  "Definitely weird.  Especially since I 
found you in a crater so hot it was still smoking."

He shrugged.  "Maybe I dreamed it because the crater was 
hot."

"Yeah, maybe.  I'd still like to know why you didn't get 
burned, though."

"Believe me, if I knew, I'd tell you."

They were standing at the edge of the crater, now, looking 
down at the scorched, torn earth.  Was it her imagination, 
or could she see the imprint of his body in the blackened 
dirt?  Something gleamed dully amid the ashes, reflecting 
the late morning sunlight.  She glanced at her companion.  
"Charlie, could you give me a hand?  I want to get down in 
there and look around."

He seemed doubtful, but nodded.  "Okay."

Lois kicked off her shoes and set down her shoulder bag.  
She always kept a change of clothing at the Planet, and the 
pantsuit was probably going to need dry cleaning after 
this, but she wanted to look more closely at the crater 
before any more evidence was destroyed by the weather.  
"Okay, I'm ready."

Charlie held out his hands and she took them.  An instant 
later, she felt herself lifted as lightly as a feather and 
lowered over the side of the crater.  Slightly surprised at 
his apparent strength, she almost didn't realize it when 
her feet touched the scorched dirt at the bottom.  She 
almost stumbled as he let her go, and regained her balance 
with an effort.  Wow!  Charlie had a nice build, but he was 
even stronger than he looked.

"Are you all right?"  He was kneeling at the edge of the 
crater, looking at her in some concern.

"Um, yeah.  Fine."  She turned her attention to the marks 
his body had left in the dirt.  There was where he had sat 
up, and that mark looked like a handprint -- which meant 
his head would have been here....  Again, she saw that dull 
gleam as light reflected off something nearly buried in the 
dirt and ash.

Lois leaned down and picked it up.

It came free easily and she frowned at the object in 
puzzlement.  What on Earth was a pair of glasses with half-
melted frames doing here?

"What is it?" Charlie asked.

"Glasses," she said.  "Melted glasses."

"Let me see," he requested.

She held them up to him and he reached out to take them.  
He frowned at the glasses with a look of half-recognition.

"Are they yours?" Lois asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, hold onto them for me a minute."  She looked around 
again, careful not to disturb the marks that Charlie had 
left the night before.  The places where he had lain were 
as scorched as the rest of the crater.

This didn't make sense, she thought.  Every indication said 
that Charlie should have been badly burned, but he 
obviously wasn't.  There was something she was missing here 
-- something important.

"Is anything wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not sure."  She turned and held up her arms.  "Help me 
out, please."

He gripped her hands and hoisted her out with no more 
effort than he had used to lower her into the hole.  Lois 
dusted herself off and slipped her shoes back on.  "Do you 
still have the glasses?"

"Oh, yeah."  He had stuck them into a back pocket, but now 
he retrieved them.  "Here."

She tucked them into her handbag.  Maybe a lab could tell 
her something about them, but the chances were that they 
would remain one more unsolved mystery in this whole 
investigation -- unless Charlie regained his memory before 
it was too late.

********** 

"Find anything, Lois?"  Perry asked.

Lois looked up from her examination of the melted glasses.

"Yeah -- these.  I don't know if they mean anything, 
though.  Charlie seems to see just fine without glasses, so 
they may not be his.  The spot where he was lying was just 
as burned as the rest of the crater, though.  It doesn't 
make sense."

"Any sign of whatever the thing was that came in last 
night?"

She shook her head.  "Nothing.  Just a big hole in the 
ground.  This is really weird, Chief."

"Yeah."  Perry sighed.  "One more mystery to add to all the 
other ones right now.  What shattered Nightfall?  I mean, 
I'm grateful.  An asteroid that's three miles across is 
better than one seventeen miles across.  It may cause a lot 
of damage, but at least the Earth and the human race will 
still be here afterwards."

"Yeah, well another ice age doesn't bode well for 
humanity," Lois said.  "And if what we've seen in the last 
couple of days is any indication, it won't be a picnic."

Her editor shrugged.  "I'll take any pluses that we can get 
right now.  We're not dinosaurs.  We can take steps to 
survive when they couldn't, even if it won't be fun.  The 
human race won't become extinct."

"And there's always the chance that the Asgard rocket will 
do the trick," Jimmy said.  "I don't like having to depend 
on a rocket.  Things break down, people make mistakes -- 
but it's better than nothing."

"Has anyone called about Charlie?" Lois asked.  "I made 
sure to mention him in my piece about the fireball -- just 
in case."

Perry shook his head.  "The lines are still pretty much 
jammed.  I did get a call through to Alice, finally.  She 
hasn't been able to get a flight back to Metropolis."  He 
straightened up.  "Hell, she's probably just as safe where 
she is.  Maybe safer."

"Maybe," Lois said.

"Did you get hold of your parents, Lois?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah.  Mother, Dad, Lucy and I managed to get together for 
a conference call, a little while ago.  Mother and Dad even 
acted as if they liked each other.  It was nice."

Perry glanced at Charlie where he stood looking out at the 
city.  "He's probably the luckiest of us all.  If he can't 
remember what it was like, he won't miss it so much when 
it's gone.  You tell him he can sleep here again tonight, 
Lois.  It wouldn't be right to throw him out with no place 
to go."

**********   

"That was nice of Mr. White," Charlie said a few moments 
later.  "I appreciate it."

Lois nodded.  She looked out the window at the clear blue 
of the sky.  It didn't look as if doomsday was approaching.  
Wasn't it supposed to be covered with clouds and foreboding 
shadows or something?

The elevator doors opened at that moment and Cat Grant 
stepped out.  The Planet's gossip columnist glanced around 
and, as might have been expected, her gaze settled 
immediately on Charlie.  Surprised, Lois found herself 
bristling slightly as the woman came quickly down the steps 
to the newsroom floor, and had to remind herself that she 
had no reason to be jealous.  Charlie was just a guy she'd 
met last night, after all.

"Well, well -- who's this?"  Cat looked Charlie over, and 
Lois could have sworn she was licking her lips.

"This is Charlie," Lois said.  "He has amnesia and he 
stayed at the Planet last night.  Charlie, this is Cat 
Grant, our gossip columnist."

Charlie extended a hand.  "Pleased to meet you, Miss 
Grant."

Cat ran her eyes over Charlie in a way that Lois found 
annoying.  "Pleased to meet *you*, Charlie," she purred, 
eyeing him like a tiger checking over a potential meal, 
Lois thought.  "Now I'm sorry I decided to leave early, 
yesterday.  If you need a place to stay tonight, I have 
room."

"Um -- thanks, but Mr. White already offered," Charlie 
said, looking uncomfortable.

"I can offer a few fringe benefits that Perry can't," Cat 
said, trailing a finger along his arm.

Lois couldn't take it anymore.  "I'm hungry," she 
announced, suddenly.  "Do you suppose it's safe to go out 
for something to eat?  And all you've had since yesterday 
was a stale, cheese sandwich, Charlie.  You must be 
starving.  Come on -- my treat."

He shrugged.  "I'm not really hungry."

"Don't be so noble.  If the Asgard rocket misses, money 
won't mean anything, anyway.  Besides, I'll feel safer with 
you along.  Let's go."

Appealing to his chivalry was apparently the key.  He 
smiled at Cat.  "All right, Lois.  It was nice meeting you, 
Miss Grant."

**********

"The nerve of that woman," Lois was saying, a few moments 
later as they left the Planet via the front door.  "She 
only just met you!"

Charlie wisely said nothing.  Lois fumed silently for a few 
more moments.  How *dare* Cat move in on her territory like 
that!  She'd discovered Charlie!  The woman had absolutely 
*no* class!

The streets were fairly quiet near the Planet, but Lois 
could hear sirens not far away.  Things weren't nearly as 
uneventful as they looked from here.  Uncharacteristically, 
she had no wish to rush to the scene.  One more riot at 
this point wouldn't make any difference or even make news.

"It looks like the coffee shop is open," she said, 
pointing.  "Want to eat there?"

"Sure," he agreed.  "We probably won't find anything better 
right now."

A few moments later, they were seated in a booth by the 
window.  Two other customers were there, one of them a 
police officer who was waiting at the cash register.  As 
they watched, an employee emerged from the kitchen area 
with several bags of food in a large carton that had 
originally held ketchup.  The officer picked it up and 
departed.

"Can I help you?"  A young woman had appeared by their 
table.  "Hi, Ms. Lane."

"Hi."  She looked familiar, although Lois had never learned 
her name.  Her nametag introduced her as Lena.  "Not much 
business today, huh?"

"Not much.  People are afraid to go out anywhere.  We've 
had some police and firefighters in."  Lena sighed.  "If 
that Nightfall thing hits, I wonder if there'll be any 
businesses left.  Well --"  She plastered a smile on her 
face.  "What can I get you?"

For once, Lois ordered a full meal with genuine sugar and 
cream in her coffee and real butter on her toast.  If 
Nightfall hit the planet, she might not be alive long 
enough to get fat, anyhow.  Why should she deprive herself 
in order to stay slim if it didn't matter anymore?

Charlie, in spite of his declaration that he wasn't hungry, 
made a good meal as well.  Lois couldn't quite imagine 
herself eating a full order of steak and shrimp with all 
the trimmings in the middle of the day, but if it made him 
happy, she wasn't going to argue at this point.

Taking a cautious sip of her steaming coffee, Lois watched 
her companion.  He presented a puzzle that was a welcome 
distraction to the larger problem that she couldn't solve.  
Everything about him, so far, was contradictory.  About the 
only thing she was sure of was that he was a decent guy.

She blinked suddenly, realizing what she was seeing.  He 
had picked up his coffee that was certainly as hot as hers, 
since it was steaming vigorously, and took a healthy 
swallow.  He didn't even wince.

"Isn't that hot?" she inquired.  "Didn't you burn 
yourself?"

"It's not that hot," he said, apparently unaware of her 
sudden attention.

"It's steaming," she said.  She put out a hand and felt the 
cup.  The surface was hot enough that she couldn't rest her 
hand comfortably on it for more than a couple of seconds.  
There was no way he should have been able to swallow the 
coffee without scalding his mouth just as there was no way 
he should have been able to lie in that crater without 
being badly burned.  And he obviously didn't realize there 
was anything unusual about it.

Just what was Charlie, anyway?

**********

"Is something wrong?" Charlie asked.  "You've been looking 
at me like I've grown another head ever since we had 
lunch."

They were strolling along the street, back toward the Daily 
Planet.  The street wasn't empty, but there were only a few 
people visible and not all of them were individuals Lois 
would care to meet alone in a dark alley.  The faint smell 
of smoke drifted past them in the light breeze and 
somewhere not far away, sirens were screaming.  She ignored 
them.

"Lois?" Charlie repeated.  "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head.  "No.  I'm still just trying to figure 
you out."

"Well, let me know if you do."

She nodded agreement, suppressing the urge to tell him what 
she'd noticed.  She didn't want to look silly, but she 
didn't think she was wrong.  Charlie was resistant to heat.  
The hot coffee hadn't affected him at all, even though it 
would have burned anyone else.  Somehow, Charlie was 
different and she was determined to figure out how and why.

Unbidden, the thought from last night popped into her mind.  
Either Charlie was a supernatural being or he'd had an 
incredible bout of sheer, dumb luck.  It was beginning to 
look as if it was more the former than the latter.  Did 
angels look like Charlie?  True, he was extremely good 
looking, but supernatural?  That was a harder bite to 
swallow.  Still, wasn't it an incredible coincidence that 
he'd turned up just now, even without his memory?

For a moment, her more practical nature reasserted itself.  
The whole idea made her think that the stress might be 
making her lose her mind.  She didn't really think Charlie 
had been sent to save the Earth from Nightfall.  But that 
fireball...how could it have been part of the shattered 
asteroid?  Nightfall -- or what was left of it, anyway -- 
was still two days away.  If it hadn't been a piece of 
Nightfall, what had it been -- a fluke meteor that just 
happened to crash into Centennial Park while she had been 
there, just missing a man who had miraculously survived, 
and who just happened to be fireproof?

It all seemed, somehow, too much of a coincidence.

Underneath, she was aware that she was clutching at straws 
with a vengeance, but what the heck!  If she was wrong, it 
couldn't do any more harm, that was for sure.  If there was 
the faintest chance that there was some kind of weird 
connection, didn't she owe it to herself to try to find 
out?  Charlie was apparently fireproof -- and possibly 
more.  He'd tackled two men with knives last night; he'd 
actually grabbed one knife by the blade, snapped it and 
come away unscathed.  It was probably temporary insanity on 
her part, but there was a lot about Charlie that still 
needed to be explained.  Maybe it was time to start 
believing in miracles.  Or just hoping for them.

Only, what did she do now with this incredibly crazy idea?  
Obviously, the first thing was to help Charlie regain his 
memory, only how was she supposed to do that?  There was at 
least a ten-hour wait at the hospital for him to be seen.  
Besides, what could an emergency room doctor do?  Refer him 
to a psychiatrist in a month or so?

Well then, how about a private doctor?

"Charlie," she said, suddenly, "I know someone who might be 
able to help you."

"Who?" he asked.

"Her name is Dr. Ruth Friskin.  She's a psychotherapist.  
My sister saw her a few times."

Both his eyebrows went up.  "A *shrink*?"

"Well," Lois pointed out, "it's your memory that's the 
problem."

"Yeah, I guess."  He didn't look enthusiastic, but finally 
nodded.  "So, how do we find this Dr. Friskin?"

"Well, we could try to call her.  Perry said the phone 
lines were jammed, though.  Or, I guess we could just go to 
her office."

"She may not even be there."

"True, but we can only try.  Let's find her address."

There was a public phone a short distance ahead with 
phonebooks available.  Lois took the white pages and began 
to leaf through the businesses in the "F" section.  
"Filbert...Franklin...Ah, Friskin!"  She read the address.  
"She's only a couple of blocks from here.  Do you want to 
walk or take the Jeep?"

"You don't think she'll take me right away, do you?"

"It can't hurt to try," Lois said.  "Let's go."

He nodded reluctantly and they turned in the direction of 
Ruth Friskin's office.  Lois led the way with a confidence 
she didn't completely feel.  She couldn't help wondering 
which of them needed to see the doctor more, Charlie or 
her.  This had to be the craziest idea she'd ever had.  
Still, even if it did no more than help Charlie remember 
who he was, it might be worth it.

**********

Dr. Friskin's office was open, but only one man paced 
distractedly about the waiting room and the receptionist's 
station was empty.  When Lois led Charlie into the room, he 
glanced at them but didn't speak.

"Is Dr. Friskin here?" Lois asked.

"Yeah.  My wife's with her, now."  The man fell silent.  
Lois marched to the receptionist's station and began to 
ruffle through a stack of papers.  After a moment, she 
found what she was looking for.

"Here, Charlie," she said, presenting him with a printed 
form.  "Fill this out."

Charlie accepted the paper and a pen from the 
receptionist's pencil holder and settled down in an 
armchair.

"It wants a last name," he said, after a minute.

"Just fill out what you can," Lois directed.  "They can't 
expect a man with amnesia to know much about himself."

"That's for sure," he mumbled.  A few seconds later, he 
handed her the paper.  He had filled out the name she had 
given him and his gender.  The rest was blank.
 
It was about fifteen minutes later when a thin, determined-
looking woman entered the room, followed by the doctor, 
herself.  The woman glanced at her pacing husband and 
turned to the doctor.  "I still think Norman needs to talk 
to you more than I do."  She advanced and took his arm.  
"Let's go, Norm, before you have a real nervous breakdown."

Dr. Friskin smiled.  "I'll see you Friday."  She turned to 
Lois and Charlie.  "Can I help you?"

Lois stepped forward.  "This is Charlie.  I found him last 
night in Centennial Park.  He's lost his memory and we were 
wondering if there was anything you could do to help."

The doctor's eyebrows flew up in surprise but she took the 
paper Lois handed her.  "Hmm."  She cast a measured glance 
at Charlie.  "You don't remember much, I see."

Charlie ducked his head.  "I'm afraid not."

Dr. Friskin shrugged, lightly.  "Well, since most of my 
patients haven't bothered to show up today, I guess we have 
the time.  Why don't you come in here, Charlie?"

Lois almost followed them, but thought better of it.  She 
sank down in the armchair where Charlie had been seated and 
considered picking up a magazine to kill time, but somehow, 
with the possible end of civilization approaching at 
several times the speed of sound, "Health Tips for the 
Business Professional" didn't seem to be relevant.  After a 
moment, she was on her feet, pacing, and didn't even 
remember standing up.

She had always made jumps of intuition which, more often 
than not, turned out to be right or nearly right, but this 
idea of hers had to be completely nuts.  What did she 
expect Charlie to do, even if he remembered everything when 
he came out of Dr. Friskin's office?  Fly into space and 
stop the asteroid cold?  Just because the man was fireproof 
didn't mean he could produce miracles.

Still, there was so much about him that didn't add up -- 
and besides, she liked him.  Lois Lane never did anything 
out of sentiment, or almost never, but Charlie was such a 
charming guy in an innocent sort of way and he obviously 
trusted her to try to help him.  In the face of that, she 
found herself completely unable to turn him loose to cope 
on his own.  And there were still the questions that she 
wanted answers for.  What had really happened in Centennial 
Park last night?  Who was Charlie and where did he come 
from?

**********

It was over an hour before Charlie returned.  Dr. Friskin 
accompanied him.  "Remember what I said, Charlie.  Once the 
emergency is over, your memory will probably return.  I'll 
just fill Ms. Lane in, now.  If you feel as if you need to, 
call me.  I'll make time to listen to you."

Charlie nodded.  "Thank you."

"Any luck?" Lois asked.

"Not yet."  Dr. Friskin beckoned Lois into her private 
office and shut the door.  "I wanted to speak to you, Ms. 
Lane."

"Can you help him?" Lois asked.

"I don't know."  Dr. Friskin took a seat behind her desk.  
"He's given me permission to give you information about his 
case, so I'm going to speak freely."  She glanced at a note 
pad in front of her.  "Charlie's almost complete memory 
loss is of a type we call 'hysterical amnesia' -- that is, 
it's frequently caused by some event or situation that the 
person desperately wants to forget.  There's nothing 
physically wrong with him that I can see, but he told me 
how you found him, and, of course, I read your account in 
the Daily Planet.  That kind of trauma is more than enough 
of an excuse for the mind to trigger the memory loss.  My 
guess would be that anxiety about the asteroid is a factor.  
Once it's past, his memory will probably return."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lois asked.

"Try to get him to talk to you.  Be a willing listener.  
Since we don't know anything about his past, it isn't 
possible to immerse him in familiar settings or the like.  
If you can find anyone who recognizes him, it will be a 
help."

"Yeah, I figured that," Lois said.  "I'll do my best.  
Now," she added, "about payment -- "

Ruth Friskin shrugged.  "Call it my act of charity for the 
week.  If Charlie's memory returns in the near future -- 
and assuming the world survives past the next couple of 
days -- we can talk about payment, then."

**********

They left Dr. Friskin's office a few minutes later.  Lois 
glanced at her watch.  It was just past two.  In about 
fifty-one hours, the Nightfall meteor swarm would be here.  
What would it be like? she wondered.  She could almost envy 
Charlie his loss of memory, except that he knew about the 
asteroid.  How could it help him to forget everything about 
himself if the cause was still there, *and* he knew about 
it?  Dr. Friskin was probably mostly right, but Lois had to 
think that something else as well lay behind it.  But what?

"Charlie," she began and paused.  What could she ask him to 
talk about if she knew nothing of his past?  "Dr. Friskin 
thought you might have blocked out your memory because of 
Nightfall...."

"Yeah, that's what she told me," he said.  "I don't see how 
that could be it, though.  I mean, I know about it.  What 
difference does it make?"

"That's what I'd like to know.  It's not as if you could do 
anything about it."

He stopped walking, abruptly and Lois turned in surprise to 
see him standing still, an odd expression on his face.  
"Charlie?  Are you all right?"

He rubbed his eyes.  "Yeah, I think so."

"What happened?  You looked funny for a minute."

He shook his head.  "I don't know.  When you said that, it 
was as if -- "  He broke off.

"What?"

"I don't know.  It was like I almost remembered and then I 
had this flash, like -- almost like something hit me."

"What was it?  Do you have any idea?"

He shook his head.  "Whatever it was, it's gone."

Lois looked at him in silence for a long second.  "Well, 
let's head back for the Planet -- no, wait.  My apartment 
isn't that far away.  I'd like to get a shower and a change 
of clothes, as long as there aren't any more riots going on 
by the park.  Come on."

Agreeable as always, he followed her, not speaking.  What 
he might be thinking, Lois didn't try to guess.  Her 
thoughts, however, were racing.

What had happened at the instant Charlie stopped walking?  
Like most casual conversation, she couldn't quite recall.  
She glanced furtively at him as they walked along the 
sidewalk toward her apartment.  She had said something -- 
they had been talking about his memory loss in relation to 
the asteroid and she had made a remark about his not being 
able to do anything about it, anyway.  He had almost 
remembered something and now he couldn't recall what it was 
-- as if his mind wouldn't let him remember.  But that was 
crazy!  What could one man do about an asteroid of that 
size -- even if he could get to it?  I didn't make sense.

But something about that conversation might have made sense 
-- for an instant -- to Charlie.

**********

The street in front of Lois's apartment house was quiet, 
but the rioters had been here.  On both sides of the 
street, windows were smashed and the hulks of three burned-
out cars lay on their sides on the pavement.  The smell of 
smoke was heavy in the air.

Her apartment house showed signs of the violence as well.  
The glass windows at the entrance had been broken but the 
door remained otherwise intact.  In fact, it was locked and 
Lois had to fish out her key for only the second time in 
the five years she had lived there.  When the door swung 
open, she led the way inside and jumped at the sight of a 
man with a shotgun in his hands, watching her narrowly.

"Mr. Tracewski?"

"Ms. Lane!  Don't scare me like that!"  The apartment 
manager lowered the weapon.  "I think more hooligans are 
trying to break in!"

"There's nobody out there, right now," Lois said.

"I cannot reach the police and the television shows riots 
all over the city," Mr. Tracewski said.  "I am taking no 
chances.  Who is this?"  He looked past her to Charlie, who 
was quietly relocking the door.

"This is Charlie, a friend of mine," Lois explained.  "He 
came along for protection.  There *are* a few trouble spots 
still, but most of the rioting seems to be over -- at least 
for now."

The manager of Lois's apartment house seemed to relax 
slightly.  "Good.  Then I go get some lunch.  I worry about 
it tonight, instead.  Be careful, Ms. Lane."  He nodded to 
Charlie and disappeared down the hall, carrying his 
shotgun.

Lois and Charlie looked at each other.  "I guess this is 
what we have to look forward to if that thing in the sky 
hits," Charlie said, finally.  "I don't think I like it."

"You and me, both," Lois agreed.  "Come on.  I need to get 
that shower."

"Are you sure you want me up there?" Charlie asked.  "I 
mean, you don't really know me."

"Come on," Lois said, again.  "I think I've learned a lot 
about you since last night."

"That's more than I have," Charlie muttered, but he 
followed her toward the elevator.  "At least," he added as 
Lois punched the call button, "you're not on the first 
floor.  You won't have rioters climbing in your windows."

"I guess."  The doors opened immediately at her signal and 
they stepped inside.  "I never had to think much about it 
before.  The way things have changed in just a couple of 
days is scary.  And, it could get much worse."

Charlie risked putting a hand on her arm.  "If the worst 
happens, I won't let anything happen to you, if I can help 
it."

She smiled at him.  "Thanks, Charlie.  You're a good 
person."

In truth, she was a little surprised at her feeling for 
Charlie.  She had known him for less than twenty-four hours 
and he was already becoming a friend in her estimation -- 
someone she trusted with her safety.  If she hadn't, she 
wouldn't be bringing him up to her apartment, that was 
certain.  He might not have his memory, but the kind of 
person he was came through loud and clear.  It was too bad, 
really, that she had only gotten to know him when the end 
of the world was looming over their heads.  Charlie was 
someone she wished she had met a long time ago.

**********  

Amazingly enough, there was hot water and she took the time 
to luxuriate in a long, hot shower.  When she stepped out 
of her bedroom sometime later, she found Charlie watching 
the news on LNN.

"Anything new?" she asked.

"No.  President Garner was just on, asking for people to 
stay in their homes and not to panic.  He's 'confident' 
that the Asgard rocket will do its job."

"Even if he wasn't, he wouldn't say so," Lois said.  "I 
wish we had something else to back it up."

"So do I."  Charlie stood up.  "Are you ready to go back to 
the Planet?"

"Not yet.  I thought maybe you'd like a chance to shower, 
too.  You haven't since last night."

He gave a sudden grin.  "Are you saying I need to?"

"Well --  "

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it," he said.  He ran a hand over 
the stubble that coated his chin.  "I tried to shave this 
morning, but there was something wrong with the razor Jimmy 
gave me.  I broke three blades."

"Maybe the pack was defective," Lois reasoned.  "I'm afraid 
the only one I have is an electric ladies' shaver.  I don't 
think that would be something you'd want to use on your 
face.  It's okay," she added daringly.  "I think it makes 
you look sexy."

Charlie turned slightly pink.  "I'll go shower."

**********  

Lois heard the shower come on a few minutes later.  She 
glanced at the television and saw that the picture was one 
of wild confusion, while a voiceover informed her that the 
transmission was coming in from Spain, via satellite.  A 
mob was surging through the streets of Madrid, smashing 
storefront windows, setting fires and overturning cars.  
Looters were running from stores, carrying away everything 
from television sets to bicycles and leaving chaos in their 
wake.  There was no sign of the police.  With a gesture of 
annoyance, she grabbed the remote control and shut it off.  
The last thing she needed to look at was more proof that 
humanity was losing its tenuous grip on civilization.  
Unable to stand the thoughts that generated, she turned and 
hurried into the kitchen to put on the coffeepot.  It 
should be done by the time Charlie got out of the shower, 
she thought, deliberately turning her attention away from 
the destruction she had just witnessed.

As she shoveled coffee into the machine, her mind returned 
to the instant that Charlie had swallowed the scalding 
coffee without a wince.  Charlie was immune to heat and 
didn't know it.  Was the immunity restricted to heat or did 
it extend beyond that?  What had he said?  He hadn't shaved 
because the razor had been defective.  But what if the 
problem lay not with the razor but with Charlie?

"Oh, come on, Lois," she murmured under her breath.  "What 
are you thinking?  If he couldn't shave, he'd have a beard 
down to his knees by now.  He must be in his mid twenties, 
at least!"

But the question wouldn't quite go away.  How could a man 
be immune to heat?  He wasn't a robot or anything.  In the 
first place, she'd seen the prototypes of robots that were 
in the process of development at various centers of science 
and technology.  They were marvels of mechanical and 
electronic engineering, that was certain, but they didn't 
look anywhere near human and, as far as she knew, science 
was years if not decades away from creating a robot that 
could pass for a human even from a distance.  And besides, 
machines didn't grow beards.  Okay then, barring science 
fiction scenarios, what was the explanation for Charlie?

There simply wasn't any.  At least, there wasn't one that 
she could think of.  So, if Charlie defied explanations, 
then she might as well think of him as a miracle.  You 
didn't have to explain miracles, and if that were true, 
then maybe the rest of it wasn't so far-fetched at all.

She had been staring blankly at the coffeepot for some 
time, and the coffee was beginning to pour into the pot.  
At that instant, she heard the shower go off.  Charlie 
would be back within minutes, and she was standing here 
staring at nothing like some kind of loon.  Quickly, she 
turned to her cupboard and found two coffee mugs.  She had 
noticed at lunch that he seemed to prefer real sugar in his 
coffee.  Utilizing her kitchen's small step stool, she 
located her rarely used sugar bowl on the very top shelf of 
the tiny pantry, and discovered that it still contained 
some sugar.

Closing the cupboard with one hand and holding the sugar 
container in the other, she stepped backward and her foot 
missed the step.  She made a desperate effort to save 
herself.  The container flew from her hand as she grabbed 
for support and the step stool tilted sideways.  With an 
involuntary scream, she fell.

A pair of powerful arms, beaded with moisture, caught her.  
Charlie's voice, sounding shaken, said, "Lois, are you all 
right?"

She found that she was clasping him around the neck, 
tightly enough to strangle him.  He set her feet gently on 
the floor and she realized suddenly that Charlie was 
dressed only in a towel wrapped around his waist.  His 
powerful shoulders and chest were still damp and his hair 
was dripping.  Somehow, she forced her arms to release him 
and managed to smile, albeit a little shakily.

"Yeah -- yeah, I'm fine.  Thanks."  By the end of the 
sentence, she had her voice under control.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I missed a step."  She glanced almost furtively at his 
muscular torso and quickly forced her gaze up to his face.  
Wow!  Last night it had been dark and he'd been covered 
with soot, but at this moment, she couldn't imagine how 
she'd managed to miss just how good he looked.

He glanced down at himself.  "I guess I better go get 
dressed," he said quickly and was gone almost on the word.  
It was only then, once the distraction of his appearance 
had been removed and her brain began to function again, 
that she started to wonder.

How had Charlie gotten there in time?  There had been no 
more than a second or two at the most between her scream 
and the instant he caught her.  It was obvious he'd barely 
stepped out of the shower; he hadn't even had time to dry 
his hair, and she couldn't imagine that he'd been on his 
way into the kitchen, dripping wet like that.  Even if he'd 
had improper plans for her, he'd at least have dried off, 
first.  Just how fast could Charlie move?

By the time he returned to the kitchen, she had swept up 
the spilled sugar and her heart rate had returned to 
normal.  His hair was still damp but had been combed 
severely into place and he was, naturally, still wearing 
the jeans and T-shirt with which Jimmy had supplied him 
last night.  She set the whisk broom and dustpan back in 
the little closet.  "I was going to offer you some coffee, 
but I guess I spilled the last of the sugar.  Sorry."

"That's all right.  I'm just glad you're not hurt."

"Charlie --"  She hesitated to ask him about it, but she 
had to know.  "Where were you when you heard me scream?"

He shrugged.  "In the bathroom.  Why?"

"I just wondered."  Should she tell him?  Would it help or 
hurt him?  Lois didn't know and had no way to ask.  Maybe 
Dr. Friskin could tell her if she posed the question in 
such a way as to avoid specifics.  Dr. Friskin would 
undoubtedly think she needed psychotherapy if she were to 
tell the good doctor what was going through her head at 
this moment, but she really needed to know.  Charlie wasn't 
ordinary; that was obvious to her, now.  He had survived 
that fireball, wasn't burned by scalding coffee and now had 
demonstrated, all unknowing, that he could move far faster 
than a normal man should be able to move.  It was 
inconceivable to her that his arrival was merely a 
coincidence.  He had to be here for a reason and what 
better reason than to save them all from Nightfall?  But 
something had gone wrong; something had happened to terrify 
him into the loss of his memory.  What could it be?

A suspicion was hovering in the back of her mind, one that 
she had so far regarded as out of any realm of possibility.  
There was still no explanation for the fact that Nightfall 
had been shattered.  She cast a measuring glance at him.  
Was it possible?  What had the fireball been?  It couldn't 
have been a piece of Nightfall; that had already been 
established.  But what if it had been a ship or something?  
A craft with its own system of propulsion could have gotten 
here ahead of the asteroid swarm.

Wait a minute!  What was she *thinking*?  First it was 
supernatural agencies and angels and now it was little 
green men!  She *must* be losing her grip on reality!  
Besides, there hadn't been any sign of a ship in the crater 
and Charlie looked pretty human to her, even with his 
unexplained abilities and admittedly impressive physique.  
He sure didn't look anything like the drawings of putative 
"aliens" from Roswell or somewhere.  And yet....

She turned off the coffeepot with a resigned sigh.  "I 
guess I'll need to get some more sugar if you're going to 
be around for a while," she remarked.  "I'll try to pick 
some up at a grocery store tonight, if any of them are 
open."  She glanced at her watch.  "I guess we'd better get 
back to the Planet.  We've been gone nearly four hours."

**********

The street was still quiet when they left the apartment 
house, walking quickly.  Here and there, Lois spotted brave 
souls hurrying along the sidewalk, looking around alertly.  
Most people were in pairs or small groups and they moved at 
a brisk pace, as if they were a little nervous about 
staying in one place for long.

Somewhere, not far away, Lois could hear police sirens as 
well as the distinctive sounds of fire trucks and paramedic 
vehicles.  For a moment, she debated the wisdom of making 
her way to the scene but decided against it.  LNN was 
undoubtedly covering it from the air and, besides, what was 
one more end of the world demonstration?  It wasn't as if 
it would do any good, and at present, they all seemed to be 
turning into riots anyway.  If you'd seen one riot, you'd 
seen them all and she had better things to do with her 
time.

"If we cut through the park here, it's ten minutes to the 
Planet," she said a few minutes later, gesturing to the 
little winding path that led through one of the most scenic 
sections of Centennial Park.  In December, of course, most 
of the trees were bare of leaves but enough pines and 
evergreen hedges had been included in the landscaping that 
the park was still respectably green.  "I was lucky to get 
a place this close to work.  If my car is in the shop, I'm 
not stuck with public transportation."

Charlie nodded.  "I usually walk to work," he remarked and 
stopped, staring at Lois.  "I remembered!"

"Where do you work?" Lois asked, quickly.

He was frowning.  "I don't know.  There was just that one 
bit.  Do you suppose it means anything?"

She shrugged.  "It might be some kind of progress.  You 
remembered flying over the meteorite crater in Arizona, 
too.  At least, it means you're remembering a little.  Does 
anything come to mind?  I mean, what kind of work you might 
do or anything?"

He shook his head.  "I don't think so.  I do seem to 
remember flying...maybe I'm a pilot."

"Well -- there's a private field around here.  Maybe we 
should go out there and look around.  Besides, if you're a 
pilot, maybe someone at the field would recognize you."

"That's a thought," he agreed.  "Do you have the time to 
try it?"

Lois made a face.  "I don't see why not.  The only news to 
cover right now is the riots and one riot looks pretty much 
like every other one.  EPRAD isn't giving any more press 
conferences until tomorrow afternoon, just before they fire 
the Asgard rocket.  I'll want to be there for that, of 
course."

"Of course," Charlie agreed.  "I wish I could be there, 
too.  I feel like I'm missing out on all the important 
stuff.  Think what a great story it will make if things go 
the way they're supposed to."

Lois glanced at him, slightly puzzled.  Why would Charlie 
sound so excited over a potential story?  The only people 
who ever did that, in her estimation, were reporters and 
editors.  Charlie seemed a bit too young to be an editor, 
unless it was one of those little one-horse rags in small 
town America.  Was it possible he could be a reporter?

Well, first things first.  She could flounder around trying 
this and that in the way of jobs or she could go at it 
methodically.  She'd follow the pilot thing first since it 
would be sunset, pretty soon.  Maybe she could even get 
someone to take them up in a plane to let Charlie get a 
taste of flying.  Then, she'd take him on a tour of the 
Daily Planet.  Maybe he'd remember something.  But, if he 
were here from -- well, somewhere else -- then, this 
wouldn't do any good.

Again, she shook off the thought.  Who really believed in 
flying saucers, after all?  That was for those UFO flakes 
who congregated in Roswell every year, or went out in the 
desert and sent out signals, hoping to attract aliens.  If 
a flying saucer ever actually arrived, they'd probably run 
screaming into the night.

Charlie caught her arm suddenly, stopping stock still on 
the path.  "Wait, Lois."

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I hear something."

She listened.  The only sound was the occasional birdcall 
and the rustling of the breeze in the evergreens.  "I don't 
hear anything."

"There's somebody up there -- hiding in the bushes."  His 
face was curiously intent.  "Two people.  I can hear them 
breathing.  Let's go back."

She opened her mouth to scoff and shut it again, with a 
snap.  He had heard the riot last night before she had.  
Was this another manifestation of Charlie's differences or 
was he just hearing things?

She didn't have time to wonder.  As she started to turn at 
the urging of Charlie's insistent hand, two men in brand 
new but mismatched clothing, stepped onto the path.

Judging by the types and condition of their clothing, she 
and Charlie were facing a pair of looters.  One held a tire 
iron and the other hefted what looked like an ancient 
battleaxe.  The only thing Lois could think of was that it 
must have come from someone's private collection of 
antiques, or possibly a museum.  In any case, the men were 
advancing toward the two of them with a purposeful stride.  
Charlie shoved her behind him.

"We don't want any trouble," he began.

The man with the battleaxe grinned, showing a gap where one 
of his front teeth should have been.  "That's too bad," he 
said.  "'Cause trouble wants you.  Gimme your wallets!"

"I don't have a wallet," Charlie said.

Lois said nothing.  She had no intention of letting this 
pair have any clue that she might be more of a threat than 
she looked.  As she had last night, she kicked off her high 
heels and let her handbag slide to the ground.  She needed 
to be able to move freely and that didn't include teetering 
around unsteadily in a pair of shoes highly unsuited for 
the purpose.  She made a promise to herself, however, that 
after this, until the current situation was past -- if it 
ever was -- she was not going walking in the open again, 
even with Charlie.  As soon as they got back to the Planet, 
she was going to drive the Cherokee to the nearest gas 
station to fill the tank.  And, she was going to change to 
flat shoes -- the kind with leather soles.  Bare feet 
weren't nearly as effective if you had to kick someone.  
Too many persons were taking advantage of the current lack 
of adequate police presence for ordinary, law-abiding 
people to be out alone.

The man with the tire iron was moving right, circling to 
come at them from the side, while Battleaxe came straight 
at Charlie, his weapon poised.  Lois waited, her knees 
slightly bent.  The last thing she needed was for Tire Iron 
to hit Charlie while he was trying to deal with Battleaxe.

Sure enough, the two of them charged, together.  Battleaxe 
leaped forward with a yell that would have done credit to 
any Viking warrior of old, swinging his weapon with the 
obvious intention of taking Charlie in the head, while Tire 
Iron lunged at him from the side.  Lois didn't even have 
time to think.  The training acquired in Tai Kwan Do class 
took over.  She ducked low, caught the arm of the man 
swinging the tire iron and yanked it forward, at the same 
instant driving her hip into his thighs.  It was one of the 
very elementary throws that had been taught in her martial 
arts classes, but it worked like a charm.  Tire Iron went 
over her body with a yell of surprise and panic, to land 
hard on the path, flat on his back, with enough force to 
drive the air from his lungs.  Behind her, she heard a 
clang and a flurry of motion.  She yanked the tire iron 
from her attacker's suddenly nerveless fingers and spun 
around, fully expecting to see Battleaxe coming at her.

But he wasn't.  The ancient weapon was lying on the ground, 
its metal blade shattered in half a dozen pieces, and the 
man who had wielded it was fleeing from the scene as fast 
as his legs would carry him.

"Are you all right?" Charlie asked.

"Am *I* all right!" Lois burst out.  "Are *you* all right?  
What happened?"

Charlie rubbed his forehead tentatively and glanced at the 
ruined weapon.  "I'm not sure, but I don't seem to be hurt.  
The axe broke.  He hit me on the forehead but he must have 
got me with the flat of the blade instead of the edge.  
That was a close call, though."

Tire Iron was coughing, hunched on the ground and trying to 
regain his breath.  Lois took a step toward him, 
brandishing the tire iron.  "Get out of here!" she said, 
menacingly.

Unwilling to deal with superior force, the man hoisted 
himself unsteadily to his feet and staggered away, still 
coughing.  Lois watched him go, not without a certain 
amount of regret.  It would have been nice to hand him over 
to the police, but they didn't have any transportation to 
take the guy in, and the police were far too occupied with 
the current emergency to have time for lesser problems, 
anyway.  After a moment, she turned back to Charlie and the 
broken battleaxe.

"Come on," she said, her voice beginning to shake.  "Let's 
get out of here."

"You better get your shoes," Charlie said.  "You'll ruin 
your nylons."

"I think they're already ruined," Lois muttered, stooping 
to retrieve the articles.  Charlie gave her a hand for 
balance while she slipped the shoes back on, and as she 
straightened up, he picked up her handbag.

"Here."

"Thanks."  She regarded the tire iron thoughtfully.  "You 
know, I think I'll hang onto this until we're out of the 
park.  You never know when you might need it, now."

"That's for sure," Charlie said, with surprising vehemence.  
"You were great, Lois."

"I told you last night that I studied karate," she reminded 
him.  "In my job, it's turned out to be a pretty handy 
thing to know, every now and then."

"I can see that," he said, admiringly.  "I'm impressed."

"Thanks."  She glanced around.  "Let's get out in the open 
again.  I won't feel safe until I can see everything around 
me."

"I'll go along with that," Charlie said.  "Come on."

They walked along in silence, each alert for trouble, but 
the incident had given Lois considerable new fodder for 
consideration.

Charlie thought Battleaxe had hit him with the flat of the 
blade but before she had turned to deal with Tire Iron, she 
had seen the thing coming straight for his head, edge-
first.  The axe had hit him and shattered into fragments, 
leaving him unscathed.  Just as the knife last night hadn't 
cut him and the razor had broken when he tried to shave, 
the battleaxe had come away second best.  Charlie couldn't 
be hurt -- at least, not by any ordinary weapon.

There was no longer any possibility that this was all a 
figment of her imagination.  Whatever Charlie might be, he 
wasn't an ordinary man.

So, if he wasn't an ordinary man, what was he?

**********

Lois wasn't sure what she expected when they reached the 
end of the parkland and emerged onto the street again.  The 
Daily Planet was only a few minutes' brisk walk away but 
the sidewalk, usually swarming with people late in the 
afternoon, was almost deserted.

"It's like a ghost town," she murmured.

Charlie didn't answer but she saw that he was biting his 
lip.  Determinedly, she started toward the Planet with a 
businesslike stride.  "The first thing we're going to do is 
gas up the Jeep," she said.  "Then we're going to head for 
the airfield.  We need to find out who you are."

"Does it matter?" he asked.  "I don't see why I should be 
so important, with all the rest that's happening."

"Yes, it's important," Lois said.  "If you have family, 
they're probably worried sick about you.  They'll probably 
need you, too, if that thing hits us.  It's going to kill 
an awful lot of people and make it hard for everyone who 
survives to get by afterwards."  She nearly blurted out the 
rest, but at the last minute decided not to.  If he thought 
she was crazy, it wouldn't help the situation.  "If you 
have a wife, or kids -- or even just parents -- they'll 
want to know that you're alive."

"I know," he said.  "But the Asgard rocket will get it -- 
I'm sure of that."  He said it as if he was trying to 
reassure himself as much as her.

"I hope you're right," she said.  "The sheet they handed 
out to us at the press conference yesterday said that 
they're launching it tomorrow afternoon.  It should 
intercept Nightfall inside the moon's orbit.  If it misses, 
we'll only have a few hours to wait."

"It won't miss," Charlie said.

"I hope not."  Lois waited for the WALK signal and stepped 
off the curb.

"Well, they program trajectories for the Mars probes and so 
forth," Charlie pointed out.  "They've got to be pretty 
accurate or the probes would never get where they're 
supposed to."

"True, but do you remember the Mars probe that they lost 
because one programmer used English measurements and the 
other used metric?"

"They *did*?"  Charlie looked appalled.

"They sure did.  People make mistakes -- especially when 
they're under a lot of stress.  I just hope no one makes 
any mistakes this time.  They've only got one shot."

She watched him process that and for a moment, a qualm 
assaulted her.  If Charlie had come to save them and he'd 
lost his ship, somehow, all she was doing was upsetting him 
unnecessarily.  But, she reminded herself, there had been 
no sign of a ship in the crater.  Maybe he'd bailed out, or 
something.  And even if this was somehow all her 
imagination, the rest of what she said was true.  If 
Charlie had a family, they had to be going crazy wondering 
where he was and what had happened to him.  Besides, he 
seemed to be awfully sure, all of a sudden, that the Asgard 
rocket would save them.  If his memory was gone because he 
was afraid of Nightfall, he might be repressing who and 
what he was so he wouldn't have to deal with the huge 
asteroid.  She didn't know much about psychology.  She'd 
only taken one semester of it in college to fill in credits 
in some category or other, but it seemed to make sense.  
Maybe if he weren't so sure about the success of the Asgard 
rocket, he'd be more likely to remember something.  At 
least, she hoped so.

They continued on toward the Planet, walking briskly.  Not 
many cars were on the street.  Lois had never seen downtown 
Metropolis so empty.  The security guard in the lobby gave 
her a hard look as she and Charlie entered via the 
revolving door and then relaxed.  "Oh, hello, Ms. Lane.  
Mr. White will be glad to know you're back.  He's had me 
watching for you."

"Perry was worried about me?" Lois asked.

"Well, sure.  There was a riot over on fifth and -- "

"Yeah, we heard it," Lois said.  "We also almost got mugged 
in the park, but Charlie chased off the guy with the 
battleaxe."

The guard did a double take.  "Did you say a battleaxe?"

Lois nodded.  "I've had enough close calls for one day.  
Charlie and I are going to get my car and drive over to the 
Metro Airfield.  Could you tell Perry for me, Bill?"

"Sure, Ms. Lane."  The man shook his head.  "Things are 
getting worse by the hour out there."

"Tell me about it.  We should be back in a couple of hours.  
Come on, Charlie."

**********

The gas station where she usually filled up the Jeep was 
closed and so was its competitor directly across the 
street.  It took nearly half an hour to locate an open 
station, a small, shabby independent one, several miles 
from the airfield.  Lois glanced at the rates and her jaw 
almost dropped.  "That's highway robbery!"

Charlie shrugged.  "I guess the owner's charging what the 
market will pay.  He's kind of got us over a barrel."

"Yeah, well, if the Asgard rocket succeeds, I'm writing an 
expose of this place," Lois muttered, darkly.  She pulled 
up to a pump.  "Talk about price gouging!"

However, since the Cherokee was more than three-quarters 
empty, she filled the tank and paid the staggering price 
demanded by the owner.  They turned out onto the street 
again and Lois switched on the radio.

Radio LNN was on, reporting the latest on the Nightfall 
Asteroid and the progress with the Asgard rocket.  It was 
all ready to go, according to EPRAD.  All that was needed 
was their launch window, which was scheduled for 
approximately eighteen hours from now.  Professor Daitch, 
the head astronomer for the space agency, expressed 
confidence in the prospects for a successful resolution to 
the current difficulty.

"'Difficulty'!" Lois snorted.  "They talk about it as if 
some general misplaced his dress uniform!  The whole world 
is at stake here!"

"I hope he's right, though," Charlie said.  He sounded less 
sure of himself, now than he had a short time ago.  "If the 
asteroid hits, what's happened today will be nothing to 
what it's like afterwards.  It's just *got* to work!"

"That's for sure," Lois said.  She glanced around as they 
approached the entrance to the parkway.  "I've never seen 
the streets so empty.  Everyone must be home, watching the 
television for news bulletins or something."

"I guess most people figure that if the end of the world is 
coming, they'd rather be with their families," Charlie 
said.

"Most would," Lois said.

"But, how about you?" Charlie asked, clearly concerned.  
"You're spending all your time trying to help me.  What 
about your family?"

"You don't want to know about my family," Lois said.

Charlie didn't answer.  Lois guided the Jeep onto the 
parkway entrance.

The parkway was as empty as the surface streets had been.  
It required no skill at all to merge into traffic; there 
was no traffic to speak of, at all.  Charlie still hadn't 
spoken.

"Sorry," Lois said, at last, feeling slightly guilty.  "My 
mom and dad are divorced and my sister dropped out of 
college a few months ago and ran off to California to 
'find' herself."

"Oh."  Charlie looked a little uncomfortable.  "Sorry I 
asked."

"It's all right," Lois said.  "We haven't been a real 
family for a long time.  I'd rather help you than sit 
around just waiting."

"Well, I appreciate it."  Charlie bit his lip.  "I have 
this funny feeling, you know -- as if there's something 
else I should be doing, but I don't know what it is.  It's 
frustrating."

Lois nodded without saying anything.  Underneath, she 
suppressed a small surge of hope.  If Charlie's conscience 
was beginning to prod him, maybe he would overcome whatever 
was keeping his memory from surfacing.  Maybe he would 
begin to remember.  On the other hand, fear was a powerful 
emotion.  If her wild ideas were anywhere near right, it 
might be that if he regained his memory, he would be driven 
to act even at the cost of his own life.  His subconscious 
might be trying to prevent that.  She wished that she knew 
more about the subject.  All the pop psychology she had 
absorbed over the years might not be based in reality; on 
the other hand, if she remembered anything from her 
psychology class in college, a lot of those theories were 
really out there too, so maybe not all official psychology 
was based in reality, either.

The Metro Airfield was actually a private airfield for 
small planes, set on the outskirts of Metropolis.  They 
left the parkway at Aero Drive and Lois turned onto the 
narrow, graveled road that led to the north where the field 
had been built at some distance from housing developments 
or businesses.  This was farmland, and around them were 
open fields where nothing grew, at least so far.  In three 
or four months, with the coming of spring, they would be 
carefully cultivated and turning green as tiny plants began 
to show.  Lois had no idea what might be grown here, but 
Charlie gazed out the window with a certain amount of 
interest.

"What kind of crops do they plant here?" he inquired.

"I don't know.  Luthor Agricultural owns the land," she 
said.  "Lex Luthor is a multi-billionaire who lives in 
Metropolis.  He's supposed to be the second or third 
richest man in the world and has his finger in all kinds of 
business.  I've been trying to get an interview with him 
for ages but he dodges personal interviews like poison."

"I guess I can understand that," Charlie said.  "Somebody 
like him would have every journalist or publicity seeker -- 
or just plain con man -- after him constantly."

"Oh, I know," Lois said.  "Still, it's frustrating.  I'm 
determined to get the first one-on-one interview with him -
- or I was.  If Nightfall hits, it won't matter, anyway."

"Yeah," Charlie said.  "I guess things like money won't 
mean anything if that happens."

They fell silent for a time.  Lois had been forced to slow 
the Cherokee to traverse the gravel road.  She glanced at 
the sinking sun, realizing that they had taken more time 
than she had expected to find a gas station.  It was going 
to be after dark before she and Charlie got back to 
Metropolis.

"Where's the air field?" Charlie asked, after a while.

"About ten miles farther down the road, I think," Lois 
said.  "The owner bought land at a distance from any 
housing so he wouldn't have to deal with irritated 
neighbors.  I interviewed him a few years ago when they put 
in the airport," she added, by way of explanation.  
"Eventually, of course, the developers will build houses 
right up to the edge of his airfield and then the 
homeowners will start complaining about airport noise, and 
he'll have to move, but that's a few years away, yet."

"Why would anyone buy a house right next to an airfield?" 
Charlie asked.  "It doesn't seem fair that he'd have to 
move because people moved in, knowing that the airfield was 
there first."

"It guess it isn't, really," Lois agreed.  "But, since when 
does that have anything to do with it?"

"I guess not," Charlie said.  "Still, it doesn't seem 
right."

Lois had never previously considered the idea, but had to 
agree in principle.  She had discovered since meeting him 
that Charlie had a way of looking at things that made her 
think about them in a way she hadn't before.  It was too 
bad, she thought again, that she hadn't met him sooner.  He 
might have been good for her as a journalist, if nothing 
else.  Coming up with new ways of looking at things was 
important.  As she had been told many times, there were no 
new stories, only new angles.  Being able to look at things 
from those new angles brought freshness to a journalist's 
writing.  Charlie seemed to have a knack for making her do 
just that.  He would have made a good reporter, she 
thought, for the second time that day.

It was another fifteen minutes before they saw a sign 
announcing the Metro Airfield a mile ahead.  Lois glanced 
at Charlie.  "Does anything look familiar?"

He shook his head.  "I'm afraid not."

"We're probably on the wrong track," Lois said.  "Still, 
since you remember flying, it's something we should check 
out, anyway.  I hope Mac is here."

"Mac?"

"Mac Fergusen.  He's the owner.  There's the turnoff."  
Lois took the gravel road to the left.  A few minutes 
later, the fence that surrounded the airfield came into 
view.

The sun was swimming on the horizon, and the sky above it 
was red with the colors of sunset.  Small, fluffy pink and 
gold clouds speckled the western sky and the landscape 
around them had a rosy cast.  Lois drove through the gate 
and turned toward the manager's office.

The shades were closed but light leaked around the edges, 
so someone was probably there -- especially since the gate 
had been open.  They pulled to a stop in one of the parking 
spaces and she cut the engine.  "Shall we go?"

Charlie shrugged.  "I guess.  It doesn't look as if 
business is very good today."  

"Well, let's go see."  She opened the door and got out.

The first reaction to Lois's knock on the door of the 
manager's office was a dead silence.  Then, she could hear 
the sound of footsteps crossing the floor inside.  There 
was a pause.  At last, the door opened a few inches and the 
man she recognized as Mac Fergusen peeked out.  "Yeah?  Can 
I help you?"

"I'm Lois Lane, Mr. Fergusen," Lois said, quickly.  "I 
interviewed you for the Daily Planet when you first opened 
the airfield a couple of years ago."

Slowly, the door opened wider.  "I remember," Fergusen 
said.  "How are you, Ms. Lane?"  He glanced past her at 
Charlie.  "Who's your friend?"

"We're not sure," Lois said.  "Could we come in and 
explain?"

Fergusen hesitated.  "I guess.  I haven't had any real 
customers all day -- just a couple of weirdoes wantin' to 
skywrite stuff about the end of the world.  None o' my 
skywritin' pilots showed up for work today, though.  This 
business with the asteroid is making people crazy, I 
think."  He stood back and held the door open.  "C'mon in."

Lois entered the cluttered little office with Charlie on 
her heels.  Fergusen waved to a couple of chairs with one 
hand and the coffee machine with the other.  "Help 
yourselves if you want some coffee.  What can I do for 
you?"

"Well, you were kind of a long shot," Lois admitted.  "This 
is Charlie -- at least we're calling him that for lack of 
anything better.  Did you read the Daily Planet today?"

Fergusen nodded.  "Yeah, I picked one up on the way here, 
this morning.  Why?"

"Well, Charlie is the man I found in the crater the 
fireball made in Centennial Park.  He can't remember who he 
is, but he says he remembers flying.  I thought he might be 
a pilot or something.  We came out here to see if somebody 
might recognize him."

"Hmm."  Mac Fergusen surveyed Charlie thoughtfully.  "Can't 
say as I do...say, you know who you look like?"

Charlie shook his head.  "No."

"That was a dumb question, wasn't it?"  Mac grinned and 
smacked his forehead lightly with one hand.  "About four 
months ago, we had a plane nearly crash here -- one of 
those private jets, you know?  The whole thing was as close 
to a miracle as I ever hope to see.  Lightning hit the 
plane and the pilot had to bring it in without any landing 
gear.  Somehow, he managed to land without a scratch, even 
though the runway was too short for a jet.  Nobody here saw 
it until it was practically on the ground, 'cause it was 
out on the farthest runway, and the guy's radio was knocked 
out, too.  He said it seemed like he lost control of the 
thing the last few minutes, as if some kind of unknown 
force had taken over from the outside.  Everybody figured 
the pilot must have landed the plane by pure instinct.  
Anyway, there was this guy who showed up and hauled out the 
passengers while the crew was putting out the engine fire.  
Nobody could find him later but I got a good look at him 
when he handed this little kid down to me -- daughter of 
the plane's owner, it turned out.  I remembered him later, 
'cause of the weirdness of the whole thing and the way he 
just appeared outta nowhere and then disappeared later 
without a trace.  It was in your paper, Ms. Lane."

Lois vaguely remembered the incident.  She hadn't paid much 
attention to it because by the time the story was told, the 
excitement was over.  The Hollywood producer who owned the 
plane had issued a short statement and ducked the media, of 
course, and the whole incident had been quickly 
overshadowed by other news.  "And Charlie looks like this 
person?"

"Kind of," Mac said.  "He wore glasses, though -- a pair of 
horn-rimmed glasses -- and his hair was a little longer in 
the back.  I came face to face with him for just a minute.  
Then later, when they were tryin' to find him to thank him, 
he'd disappeared."

"But you don't have any idea who he was?" Lois asked.

Mac shook his head.  "I'm afraid not.  Your friend here 
sort of looks like him, except for the hair and the 
glasses.  And the five o'clock shadow, of course."  He 
glanced at Charlie.  "You don't wear glasses, do you?"

Charlie shrugged.  "I don't think so.  I seem to see all 
right without glasses."

"Guess you're not the same guy, then."  Mac gave an 
eloquent shrug.  "Sorry I can't help you, Ms. Lane."

Lois sighed.  "Well, it was a shot.  Would you mind showing 
Charlie what the
inside of a cockpit looks like--just to see if he 
recognizes anything?"

"Sure.  No problem."  Mac set down his coffee cup.  "I've 
got one in for repairs
in the maintenance shed.  Follow me."

**********

The sun was down by the time they returned to the Jeep.  
Mac Fergusen waved goodbye to them in a friendly fashion 
and followed them out to lock the airfield's gate behind 
them.  Lois glanced at the fading colors of the sunset and 
switched on her headlights.  "It's going to be dark before 
we get back to the parkway."

"We probably shouldn't have come," Charlie said.  "We 
didn't find anything out."

"It was worth the shot," Lois said, noncommittally. "Even 
if you didn't
recognize anything, it doesn't mean you're not a pilot.  It 
could mean that
you don't remember."  She didn't elaborate on her other 
thoughts.  The story Mac had told about the unidentified 
man who looked like Charlie stuck in her mind.  Was it 
possible?  But if the stranger had been Charlie, then he'd 
been here four months ago.  At the same time, a seeming 
miracle had occurred.  It was something to think about.  
How could the pilot have landed a plane successfully on a 
runway that was too short for a jet -- a jet with no 
landing gear, she reminded herself -- with no more damage 
than had already been done by the lightning strike?  On the 
face of it, it was impossible.  But, then, so were a lot of 
things that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, 
ever since she'd met Charlie.  Somehow, she was sure that 
the mystery man had been her new friend and that he'd also 
been responsible for saving that plane.  How he might have 
done it, she didn't know but if he had, it would be 
consistent with the other things she'd seen today.  Did 
Charlie have some kind of invisible ship or something?  Had 
he grabbed the plane with tractor beams like on Star Trek?  
Or was he really an angel, after all?  Did an angel grow a 
beard?

When she got back to the Planet, as soon as she could get 
hold of Jimmy, she was going to have him run a computer 
search of strange happenings like this one.  If Charlie had 
been around for very long, it might explain some otherwise 
unexplainable things.  She was going to need to gather a 
lot of evidence if she was going to convince Charlie, but 
if she could bring back his memory, it might be worth it.

"Um...Lois?"  Charlie's voice interrupted the stream of 
thoughts.  "Aren't your headlights supposed t