Lori and Clark: The New New Adventures of Superman: Matchmaker
Chronicles Volume 6

By Ken Janney <ken.janney@kjanney.com>

Rated: PG13

Submitted: July, 2013

Summary: In this story we explore the origins of the baby from
the episode "The Family Hour." We will examine how he came to
be with Lois and Clark and why. We will see what happened while
they had him and the trials and tribulations of new parenthood.
We will also see what happened with his real parents and why they
had to give him up.

Warning: This story has adult situations. This story is rated
PG-13 for some violence.

Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC,
December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No copyright
infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for
a short time.

Author's note:

This is a direct sequel to "Borrowed Time -- Matchmaker
Chronicles Volume 2". If you haven't done so as yet, please
read the previous Volume. You can find it here:
http://www.lcfanfic.com/stories/2012/borrowed.txt. You will have
a better understanding of the fundamental premises of the set if
you do.

I wish to express my thanks to my Beta readers Ray Reynolds and
Artemis for their invaluable help. This was a VERY rough draft
when it first landed in their hands.

Lois and Clark's children have been introduced in earlier
stories and their spouses were introduced in the "First Love"
series of stories in the archive here:
http://www.lcfanfic.com/stories/2012/firstlov.txt

One *absolutely* critical point: In this entire series I will be
dealing with time travel and multi-universe travel. It is
therefore critical that you have the concept of alternate
universes and be aware of which one the story is currently in at
all times. I try to make sure you know where you are by using the
"Universal Locator Designation". Some of the differences in
ULDs will be very slight, changing only at the Tau value. If you
don't keep this in mind you will easily become confused as to
what is happening and think I am simply changing the story
already presented in an earlier volume when it is actually
another universe. As far as times, I will attempt to ensure that
time markers are always present.

This particular story takes place during and immediately after
"Family Hour".

** denotes emphasis

< > denotes thoughts

(#) footnotes

/ denotes telepathic communication/

*[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]*

For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout:

Universal Locator Designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 -- Canon Lois and Clark universe
also called -- Prime

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 -- future Lori and Clark
universe also called -- Alt-Prime

As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)

***

Prologue -- 2086

Final chapter of Volume 2 titled Borrowed Time

***

Alt-Prime should not be confused with the canon Alt universe.
Alt-Prime is a continuation of the Prime universe created when
Lois Lane's life was not extended by her exposure to the
Kryptonian aura. In Alt-Prime she lived a normal Earth human life
span, dying of old age. In this new universe her soul essence
moved to a new vessel, Lorelei Lois Lane.

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 -- Alt-Prime

%%%

In 2086 Lorelei Lane started working with her husband, Clark Kent
at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Lori, since she technically
had not had a large portfolio of major stories, had started as
office gofer and then moved to research assistant. Clark had
requested that she be detailed to assist him on an investigation
into foreign nationals overstaying their visas which had
blossomed into quite a story involving Islamic extremist
terrorists. Since they had been the ones that had tipped off
Homeland Security they had been given an exclusive on the story.
When the story had been broken ...

The leaders, who were unarmed, both put their hands up. However,
one of them held a small object in his upraised hand and shouted,
"I have a detonator and if you don't throw down your weapons I
will trigger the bomb, now! We are willing to become martyrs --
are you? I will give you ten seconds and then I will detonate the
bomb!"

Clark and Lori were still in hiding. They had been directed to
remain concealed until given the all clear by Mr. Jacobs. Clark
said, "I need to handle this."

"Go!"

Clark spun into the suit and took off straight up so that it
wouldn't be obvious where he was coming from and swooped back
down from a different direction. He snatched up the bomb and sped
away again, straight up until he hit the ionosphere and launched
the device out into space as fast and as hard as he could.

He then reversed course so that he could avoid as much of the
effects of the detonation as possible. He'd hoped that he could
get the device out of range of the detonator so that it wouldn't
go off but, unfortunately that didn't happen and the weapon
detonated. Fortunately, Superman was far enough away that there
was actually not much of a compression wave due to the extremely
thin atmosphere. He quickly returned to Metropolis and landed at
Pier 75.

Mr. Jacobs approached and introduced himself. "Superman, Tom
Jacobs, Homeland Security. I don't know how you happened to be
here when you were needed, but you just saved the entire city."

"Well Mr. Jacobs, I was nearby when I heard gunfire and decided
to investigate. I saw 'Homeland Security' on the vests and knew
that this was a government operation. I was determined not to
interfere. But when I saw what appeared to be a detonator being
held up by one of the individuals, I knew that I needed to help
out."

"That was a nuclear device, but I guess I don't need to tell
you that. What did you do with it?"

"I sent it into space. Fortunately I was able to get it high
enough that the compression wave was almost non-existent and also
high enough that there was no EMP effect, here at ground level.
You probably saw the flash a couple of minutes ago. It was
probably a couple of hundred miles up when it went off. I don't
think that it will be a rainbow bomb but I think that there are a
couple of satellites that might have been affected by the EMP and
will need to be replaced. Geosynchronous orbits aren't all that
high but they could have been within the zone of EMP effect.
There may be communications or GPS outages until replacements are
made. If called upon I am willing to offer my services as a
launch vehicle and I'm sure that the other supermen and
superwomen would be willing to help as well."

Mr. Jacobs replied, "Thank you, Superman. I'll pass that along
to the upper echelons."

Lori had been approaching as Superman had been talking to Mr.
Jacobs. Lorelei had come out of concealment when it went down and
had been using her Reporter's Assistant, taking pictures of the
action including Superman taking the bomb away. She had been
recording the interaction between Superman and Mr. Jacobs. When
he had finished she approached Superman and asked, "Superman,
would you be willing to allow me to interview you?"

The 'Reporter's Assistant' was a combination still camera,
minicam, voice recorder and personal assistant with solid state
memory and internet capability. It could be used to edit and file
their stories within the device to send directly to the editor or
upload the doc to their workstation for final editing.

Superman replied, "I might have time for a question or two. Whom
do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"Lori Lane. I work for the Daily Planet."

"Well, Ms. Lane, what would you like to know?"

"Are we to assume that you are now back with us permanently or
will you be returning to New Krypton?

"As far as I know I will be here for the foreseeable future."

"How will we be able to get hold of you when you are needed?"

"Oh, I'll be around. I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but
I need to go now."

"Thanks for the interview, Superman."

"Happy to oblige. 'Bye."

Superman took off and disappeared into the darkness.

A few seconds later Clark came out from their previous hiding
place. He approached Lori and asked, "What did I miss? I finally
got my assistant working."

"If you hadn't been trying to repair your assistant you would
have been here to interview Superman."

"Oh, which one?"

"No, not one of the supermen, Superman! The original one."

"Oh, he's back?" Clark started looking around as he said,
"Where'd he go?"

"He said he had to go and he just flew off."

Clark turned to Mr. Jacobs. "Did Superman say anything to you?
Can we get a quote?"

"Superman said that the device was nuclear and that he launched
it out into space where it wouldn't do any harm when it
exploded."

"Thanks, Mr. Jacobs. Can we do some more interviews?"

"Sure, help yourselves."

Seeing that the threat of the bomb had been removed the terrorist
leaders both surrendered. All those alive were taken into
custody.

Mr. Jacobs used a communicator to call in the police, emergency
and Coast Guard personnel who had been on standby at another
location. They all arrived, code 3, lights and siren, and took
custody of the perpetrators. Emergency personnel treated the
wounds of the injured, placed them on stretchers and loaded them
into ambulances for transport to the hospitals, each wounded man
accompanied by a police officer. A group of police accompanied
Coast Guard personnel as they boarded the ship and took the crew
into custody. All the unwounded perps and the crew from the ship
were loaded into detention vehicles and taken away.

Lori identified her previous 'acquaintance' as one of the
leaders. In fact, he was the one with the detonator.

Clark was by her side as she approached him. He recognized her
and in a threatening tone said, "You are a worthless female who
should be confined in your husband's home and beaten by him
until you are more submissive."

Lori retorted to his rhetoric with a confident, "I work for the
Daily Planet. Can I quote you on that? Oh, and by the way, this
is my husband and he would never do that to me!"

The terrorist responded with a threat, "May Allah destroy you
and your house!" he cursed as he was dragged off.

After things had calmed down they each interviewed some of the
people involved. The perps all refused to comment but Lori and
Clark did get some good quotes from the HS personnel, the
Emergency personnel, the police and the Coast Guardsmen.

When things had all been wrapped up, Mr. Jacobs said, "Well,
there you go, Kent. There's your exclusive."

"Thank you, Mr. Jacobs. You'll see it in the morning
edition."

Mr. Jacobs said, "By the way, Kent, how were you so easily able
to get a recording of that meeting? We had one heck of a time
bugging that apartment."

Clark laughed and then said, "I guess that will have to remain a
trade secret."

"Okay, but if you ever decide to change vocations, keep HS in
mind. We could use people like you and your partner."

Lori replied with a laugh, "We'll keep it in mind."

Lorelei and Clark went straight to the office and finished the
write-up of the story. Clark was about to submit it to the night
editor when Lorelei stopped him.

There on the screen was a full color photo of Superman taken as
he grasped the bomb preparatory to launching into space with it,
followed by the headline:

"SUPERMAN RETURNS -- SAVES METROPOLIS FROM NUCLEAR
DESTRUCTION"

By Clark Kent and Lorelei Lane

"In the early hours of the morning while most of the inhabitants
of Metropolis were either in bed or preparing for slumber,
Homeland Security was protecting the citizens of Metropolis. A
plot to detonate a nuclear device under the city had been
uncovered and an operation designed to capture the perpetrators
and prevent the disaster was underway when one of the leaders
attempted to perform a suicide bomb attack with the nuclear
device. The only thing standing between the city and total
destruction was Superman. Superman swooped in at the last second
and launched the bomb into space. In an exclusive interview your
reporters were told that the 'original' Superman had returned
from his mission and would again be protecting the city." (Story
continued pg A2)

"You're sharing your byline with me?!?! I'm not back in the
reporter ranks yet; I'm your research assistant."

"I'm sure our editor, Frank, will agree that you deserve it.
You did just as much work on this story as I did. Besides you're
the one that got the interview with Superman. Maybe this will
move you from researcher to reporter." He gave her a wink.

"Wow, Okay but, that byline, there's just something wrong with
it. I don't like it -- By Clark Kent and Lorelei Lane. I think
I'll use a 'professional' name." She thought about it for a
few seconds then snapped her fingers and said, "I know, I think
I'll go with my middle name. I didn't know until I started
doing some family research that I *was* named after a famous
relative."

She reached over and deleted the name on the byline and then
retyped it as:

By Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

"There, that more accurately reflects who I am now, at least
professionally."

Clark smiled. He hadn't known what her middle name was. It just
hadn't seemed important. It was almost like old times and he
looked forward to the day when she insisted on top billing.

It had been early in the morning when they had arrived at home
and since they had been out on the story they had left word with
the night editor that they would be in later in the morning the
next day.

The next day when they arrived at work, Lori and Clark were
talking over what had happened the previous night as the elevator
took them from the lobby to the newsroom floor. A ding sound
announced their arrival and the doors parted. That ding had
alerted everyone in the bullpen that someone was arriving and
they had all turned to see just who it was. Knowing the hour
everyone in the newsroom expected it to be the Kents since they
had worked late the night before. As usual Clark was dressed in a
neatly tailored business suit, and today Lori was also dressed in
a well tailored women's business suit in an off white color with
matching pumps. When they exited the elevator Clark allowed Lori
to precede him and as they did so there was a round of applause.
Their front page story of the attempted terrorist strike and the
save by Superman was the buzz of all the newsnets. It had been
picked up by all of the agencies and their byline had gone
worldwide.

Inevitably there was a backlash to the story originating in the
Middle East. Lori and Clark weren't too concerned about it
because no one knew what they looked like and they would just
keep a low profile until a later news cycle knocked them off the
front page.

Clark was not terribly surprised to see that Lori had her own
name plate and that it was situated on the desk near Clark's. He
said, "I told you that you wouldn't have to wait too long
before you moved up to reporter again." He started chuckling as
he finished, "All it took was a front page byline."

Lori walked over and just ran her hands over the top of 'her'
desk. She sat down in the chair, pulled out a drawer and propped
her feet up on it and leaned back. She said, "Feels just like
old times."

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

***

Interlude From Volume 2

***

As was stated in Volume 2, years ago, in the 2040s after retiring
from the Planet the first time, Lois and Clark had written a
number of books detailing some of their major investigations and
also a book documenting some of Superman's adventures and major
rescues. Between the royalties from those and movie and TV show
rights for their Superman stories they had become
multi-millionaires. That money had been wisely invested and their
fortune had grown even more.

***

Chapter 1 -- Lori

***

%%%

Smallville, Kansas

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

One evening in September 2087 as Lori and Clark were cuddled up
on the couch and looking around, Lori took in the ambiance of the
old farmhouse. Memories of her time spent there with Clark, his
parents and the children came flooding back.

Thinking about the last year, Lori started voicing her thoughts,
"You know, it has been no small chore getting to know all of the
family. There have been some other things which were harder to
overcome than others. One was the memory of Lois' aversion to
firearms. That was a difficult integration. It was difficult
because Lois, Loisette, Lulu and all the others, they are
separate people and yet, they're still me, just different
aspects from different times. It's hard to explain to someone
that hasn't been through it."

"As Lulu, I frequently had needed to depend on my sidearm for
survival. This was also the case when I went on the trail ride
during camp. My accuracy with my revolver was the thing that
saved me and Withers in that encounter with the rattler. I feel
that it was fortunate that the Lois side of my personality
hadn't been manifesting itself strongly at that time because her
aversion to firearms could have caused a delay which could have
been serious if not fatal. I have succeeded in submerging that
part of Lois and allowed Lulu and my own inclinations to
dominate."

"I know it's been difficult, Honey. You've been a real
trouper. I hope I've been supportive enough."

Lori looked up at him and said, "You've been my pillar of
strength getting me through this and I love you for it." She
moved up and kissed him.

She remembered back to that time, when she had gone to the riding
camp before her fifteenth birthday. As far as she had known at
the time it had been her first time on horseback; however, with
the realization that she had Loisette's and Lulu's memories of
riding, it made a lot of sense that she loved to ride.

Looking around the room again she had started thinking about the
farm and asked about it. "You know, I have this twenty year gap
in my memory and some of Lois' memories are kinda fuzzy. Why
don't you tell me about the farm? I mean, here we are, but how
did we get here?" She giggled as she continued, "I mean aside
from the obvious, you flying us. Jon's son Bernie and his family
recently built a new house and moved in. Lara's son Greg is over
in the Irig farm house but the farms are merged?"

With an extra little squeeze, Clark started to tell the tale,
"Yes, well, you see, there are things that even Lois didn't
know. In the late 1960s Wayne Irig, Dad's best friend and
neighbor had lost his wife Nellie. At the same time he lost his
first born when Nellie had a breech delivery and the midwife
didn't have the skills or equipment to perform an emergency
C-section."

With emotion in her voice and a tear on her cheek at this sad
story, Lori said, "That is so sad. Did he ever remarry?"

"I guess that's the saddest part of all, no he didn't. He
lived the rest of his life missing his wife."

Clark pulled her in closer as he continued, "It wasn't all bad
though, many years later, in 2010, something happened, which
became a comfort in his old age. His brother's grandson, at the
age of ten, started expressing an interest in farming and when
Wayne agreed to take him for the summer the two of them really
hit it off. The boy became like the son he had never had and he
spent every summer and a lot of holidays with his great uncle."

"That would be Lara's husband, Mike, right?"

"That is correct, Mike Lee, Lara's husband is Wayne Irig's
grand nephew. That was another thing that pleased Wayne very much
aside from the time that they spent together. Wayne was also
happy about the fact that when Michael became engaged it was to
Lara Kent, one of Jonathan Kent's granddaughters. They had met
in 2013 and were married nine years later in 2022, uniting the
long time friends' families. Wayne wasn't around to see it or
be at the wedding, but he could see the way things were headed
back in the twenty-teens."

Lori turned in his arms so that she could look more directly at
Clark as he continued.

"It was no wonder that when Wayne passed away, his grand nephew
Michael Lee was listed as his sole heir. The problem was that his
interests had changed radically. He was no longer interested in
farming and became a lawyer. Mike's father helped with the
management and hired a company to rent the farm out while Mike
was in school. That continued until Mike and Lara's son Greg got
his degree in Agriculture. Greg spent time with the people that
had been renting the Irig farm and observing what they had been
doing. When their lease ran out in 2050 he moved in and took over
the management of the farm. He paid strict attention to trends
and decided to take the farm the organic route."

"Now, our grandson, Bernie was also interested in AG Business.
He was more interested in the business side while Greg was more
interested in the techniques side. Desiring to keep the farm in
the family it was a no-brainer to let Bernie take over the Kent
farm, so in 2055 Bernard Kent assumed management of the Kent farm
and Bernie had moved into the old Kent farm house. After
twenty-five years, in 2080, the new house was built for his
growing family and they moved out of the original farm house,
leaving it vacant once more."

"2058 was when the two farms were officially merged making the
Kent/Irig farm the largest in Small County. Between Bernie
managing and Greg directing they have turned it into a thriving,
very profitable business."

Lori decided that the time was right to bring up her plans with
Clark, "In view of all of that, since we have the farm, why
don't we use it? It doesn't all need to be put to crops, does
it? I want a place where we can ride and I'd like to take the
kids riding. They'd love it, I'm sure. Here's what I'd like
to do ..."

That was when Lori had come up with the idea of remodeling the
farm.

The idea for activities at the renovated farm where she would be
able to deal with smaller subsets of the family most of the time
was very appealing. The idea for fun activities was based on her
experiences as Lulu and Loisette. As a result they had the most
fun at the farm, which was most weekends, usually with only a few
families at a time. She was determined to share her love of
riding with her family.

This project took next to no time to complete. The entire super
family joined in. The plans were drawn and construction materials
ordered and delivered. It was going to be a boon to the local
economy. Even though the super family could have done all of the
construction at super speed, how could that have been explained,
so local tradesmen were hired and the super family assisted with
the non-skilled menial labor. The plan called for a separate
building joined to the main house by what could be called a large
Florida Room. This was glass enclosed on three sides with tables
and chairs as well as lounges. In one corner was a large HV for
the kids and along the one wall was a large fireplace for those
long cold winter nights..

The final plan was for a three-floor wing with many four-person
rooms like a college dorm. They could hold younger families with
a few small children in each room or else act as girls or guys
dorm rooms. In this way, for large family gatherings they had the
accommodations to handle the growing family.

Part of the plan also called for the addition of a new stable.
This would adjoin the new corral and would have adequate space
for as many as sixteen horses.

When the new stable had been put up a number of horses needed to
be purchased. Naturally, when it came time to pick out the
horses, Lori had taken the lead. Clark, remembering his time as
the Lone Rider, presented no objections. Clark could see how
these activities couldn't help but aid in deepening the family
unity. The shared activities and even the competitions that could
be introduced could result in fun times.

It seemed like Lois' competitive nature had been passed down
through the generations and as a result nearly all of the
children and grandchildren were highly competitive. Finding ways
for them to express that competitiveness in an atmosphere of love
was not only important but highly entertaining.

Once the basics were ready and in order to put her plan into
effect they went to a horse auction and Lori knew just what she
was after.

Fifth on the block was a three year old Appaloosa mare. She
looked just like Withers, only younger, and Lori wouldn't stop
until the mare was hers. As soon as the auction was finished Lori
looked at the list and saw some quarter horses would be going
off, but she had some time before they would go on the block so
she moved to the paddock.

She found her purchase and walked up to her holding out a sugar
cube in her hand. The horse was wary at first but the gentle
approach that Lori made reassured her and when she saw the object
in Lori's hand she touched it with her tongue. Sensing the sweet
treat she grabbed it with her lips and pulled it into her mouth,
savoring it. She then nuzzled Lori's hand looking for more. Lori
reached out a calming hand and slowly started stroking the
horse's nose. When the horse didn't shy away she brought her
other hand up and started patting her on the neck and talking to
her in a crooning, soothing voice which the horse responded to.
She said, "I think I'll call you Withers just like my friend
from riding camp. Think you'll like that, Withers?" She gave
her a few more strokes before turning away. As she did the horse
nickered. Lori turned back and said, "You like me already, huh?
Okay, I'll only be gone for a while. I'll be back." She gave
her a few more pats and turned away.

When they had built the stable Lori had asked for sixteen stalls
to be built. She now had Withers and wanted at least five or six
more horses. She was looking for at least five quarter horses.
She also wanted to find one for Clark. That one would have to be
strong and sturdy because of Clark's dense molecular structure.
She was determined that he was going to ride with her.

When she got back to the auction there was a Tennessee Walker on
the block, a chestnut gelding. She liked his looks as soon as she
saw him and didn't stop until she owned him. She decided to name
him Whistler. Next up was a string of quarter horses. Of the ten
that went on the block she purchased six.

They had made arrangements for a large transport to move the
horses to the farm from the auction in Tennessee. Lori insisted
on having a two horse trailer to pull behind her Jeep. Into this
went Withers and Whistler. After the auction they loaded the
trailer and headed out for the farm. Lori insisted on stopping
every so often so that they could take the horses out for
exercise.

Clark had grown up on the farm, but aside from a few cattle they
hadn't really had any livestock. The Langs had had a stable
though, so he was no stranger to horses. It was a pleasant trip
and the horses, because of how they had been treated, were not
skittish when they arrived. They went into side by side stalls.
When the rest of the mounts were delivered they saw to their
disposition. The quarter horses were raw and would need to be
broken before their training could begin. That task fell to
Clark. Buck as they might, they just couldn't seem to get rid of
their rider and in no time at all they were saddle broken.

A corner of the farm had been landscaped so that there was a
twenty foot berm as a backstop for a shooting range. There were
benches set up and targets set out at different ranges. There was
a partition down the center. One side was for firearms and the
other side was for archery. Lori had a selection of firearms,
most of which fired sub-caliber ammunition so that the younger
members of the family could handle them. For the archery range
she had a selection of longbow, semi-recurve, recurve and
compound bows to pick from in different weights.

After some months had passed, Lori approached Clark with an idea.
"Now that we have everything in place and the kids are working
on their riding, archery and shooting, let's start some
contests. It'll be fun! We can make it a big affair patterned
after a medieval tournament! The kids could all dress up in
period costume as nobles. The grandkids could dress up also,
perhaps as peasants, and we could have archery competitions like
the one Robin Hood participated in. I wonder how many of the
grandkids could duplicate his feat. We could make it a pot luck
picnic."

Clark started to get into the spirit, "That might be fun. We
could also offer prizes. You could be the Queen of the Tournament
and I could be the King. It's a shame that we are teaching them
rodeo riding rather than jousting."

"No, It's not! Jousting is just too dangerous. I know, all but
the youngest children are invulnerable, but I just couldn't
imagine a couple of guys jousting without armor. Regular people
can really get hurt doing that even with full armor. Besides that
gives us another activity that we can do that requires skill and
not powers; we can hold our own rodeo. We could all dress up as
cowboys and cowgirls. Like I said, it'd be fun!"

That had started a couple of annual activities that the entire
family participated in.

From then on any particular weekend would find Clark and Lori at
the farm. It had literally become their second home. The weekends
had become Lori's favorite time. Usually there were at least
four or five of the younger grandchildren there with Lori and
Clark and Lori was teaching them to ride and shoot. For this
purpose a large corral had been fenced in and some of the girls
were learning the Rodeo art of barrel racing while some of the
boys were learning calf roping. She was even able to get Clark up
on Whistler for some pleasure riding.

All of the grand- and great-grandchildren liked going to the
range with 'grandma' Lori. A number of them were showing a
considerable talent with firearms as well as the bow. Lori had
had a hard time convincing Clark. She said, "I know that
firearms are somewhat outmoded nowadays, but I think that this
would be beneficial training. It helps to develop discipline; it
sharpens the senses and develops a keen eye. This along with the
karate training will develop the discipline and control they will
need when their powers develop."

"Okay, you've demonstrated how handy a bow can be. As long as
they will be safe you have my blessing."

***

Chapter 2 The Emerald Archer

Flashback May 2087

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Lori and Clark were investigating a break in at STAR Labs. Jon,
who was now Chief Researcher, had given them a call. It was
particularly important that they be notified.

STAR Labs had been robbed. The "most secure" vault had been
opened and a very valuable and dangerous piece of mineral had
been removed. Accessing the computer security logs, it had been
discovered that it had been an inside job. One of the techs who
had been with the lab for a period of time and had worked his way
up the ladder to a level of responsibility where he had greater
access had been the culprit. He had been able to hack the system
and elevate his privilege on the system enabling him to access
areas that should have been blocked.

Jon and the HR Department at STAR Labs started checking his file
and delving into his history and found flaws, indicating that it
was a fake. He had been a plant, a sleeper, getting this job and
simply being patient until the correct time. He had developed a
level of trust and used that trust to access the facility after
hours to do his dirty work.

He had stolen a fairly large chunk of crystalline green
Kryptonite, the most virulent and dangerous kind. The theft had
occurred on a Friday night and it hadn't been discovered until
that following Monday.

The MPD were all over it but really it was going to be up to the
supermen and superwomen to find and retrieve the errant mineral.
Unfortunately the thief had a sixty hour head start on them which
was going to make it very difficult.

Clark called a council of war at the Kent homestead that evening.
Once all of the super members of the family groups were there he
started, "Well, I guess you all know why we are here. There is a
large chunk of Kryptonite that is no longer under our control."

Lara asked, "That brings up a point. Why is that stuff still
around? Why wasn't it dispatched into space a long time ago?"

Jon answered, "Sis, you know that I'm trying to find a green
Kryptonite antidote. If I don't have samples to work with, how
am I going to determine if I'm on the right track?

"Actually, when I first took over this project from Bernie, it
looked like it would be easy. With Sean and Cele's help I
thought it would be a piece of cake. That hasn't been the case,
though. More and more it looks like there will be none, but I
still have a few things to try."

Lara insisted, "I'll repeat my original question, why do we
need such large pieces of a dangerous mineral lying around?"

Jon replied, "That's a good question Sis. Aside from the fact
that I'd be exposed while trying to acquire a smaller sample ...
I guess I could have the staff take the samples, but we've tried
to keep their presence low key. The less they are handled the
less chance of pieces walking out the door. "

Celeste butted in, "Well, guess what Bro, it has! If we got rid
of it all we wouldn't have to worry about it walking out the
door *or* developing an antidote."

"I know Sis, I know, but we are in the situation now and we have
to deal with it. There should be no way that anyone outside of
our small group should even know of the existence of the green K.
Jimmy, I think I need to get your team in to do a check of our
systems. I need your forensics team to examine our access logs to
see if you can find where the leak occurred."

Jimmy responded, "I'll have a team in there first thing in the
morning. They will need clearance."

"They'll have it. We need to get to the bottom of this. If you
can find how the access was accomplished I will need to know the
source."

"If they were smart enough to access your systems they were
probably smart enough to bounce off of several servers between
here India and China to cover their trail. We'll have to use
some sophisticated sniffers."

"Use whatever you need to and check our intrusion detection
system. They had to be able to get around that somehow."

"It had to be a sophisticated operation. They also had to fake
the history of that tech."

Sam, the businessman of the family replied, "Statistically, the
odds against being able to dispose of every piece of green
Kryptonite that exist are astronomical. There has to be a lot out
there that we don't know about. That being the case we need to
continue to pursue the antidote, if there is one, or actually,
Jon does; therefore there will be a continued need of samples. At
least until such time as he has exhausted all avenues of
research."

Jessica added, "So, in view of that, we still need to have some
available, but, why so much? A very small quantity should be
sufficient."

Sean, being practical added, "The amount of green Kryptonite
kept in the vault at STAR Labs at this point is irrelevant. What
is relevant is the fact that there is a chunk out there that
could be a problem for us. Why don't we concentrate on that fact
and getting it back under control?"

Clark said, "Sean is right. Everything but getting this piece
back under control isn't important. We can debate these side
issues later. Since the thief has a long head start the trail is
pretty cold. At this point I guess we're just going to have to
wait and see what happens. If the purpose of the theft is for an
attack on one or all of us we will have to be cautious about
being close together when we are on a job."

Lucy spoke up for the first time and you could hear the worry in
her voice, "What about our spouses? We have never really tested
to see if they are affected by Kryptonite."

Lori answered that question, "When I was Lois, there were a
number of times I was exposed to green K, before and after my
physiology had been changed and I didn't feel anything. I guess
the fact that I started out as an Earth human kept me safe. In
view of that I would hope that it would be the same for each of
the Earth human spouses, but until we test that theory we can't
be sure."

Lucy replied, "That's a relief. I was worried about Rob. The
kids would all be in danger though."

Jon answered, "I'm afraid so. We still need to keep them
safe."

Clark said, "Okay, I guess it's business as usual. Just be sure
to keep an eye out and shout if you need help."

The kids all returned to their homes and everything was peaceful
for two weeks.

Lori and Clark were at the Planet when their editor, Frank, came
busting out of his office, and using the remote he had gripped in
his hand, turned on the volume of a HV in a corner of the room.
In the holoprojection could be seen a larger than life size robot
made in the likeness of a man, but lacking anything resembling
skin, breaking into an underground vault which contained atomic
weapons. The feed was coming from a news helicopter flying over
the repository in a remote section of New Troy.

Lori looked at Clark. He gave the flying hand signal and Lori
nodded her head. They both got up from their desks and headed for
the stairwell.

Their editor, Frank Edwards, stopped them, "Where do you think
you're going?"

As if stating the obvious, Lori threw her hand in the direction
of the HV and spoke up, "Frank, that's a story just waiting to
be written and we're going to write it!"

"How can you get there before it's all over?"

Shading the truth, just a little, Lori replied, "Clark can fly.
We're going to the airport." She didn't finish the statement
and just allowed Frank to fill in the blanks.

Frank said, "All right, go!"

Clark said, "We're on it, Chief."

Frank shouted, "Don't call me Chief!"

They were at the stairwell door as Lori said, "Anything you say,
Chief," and laughed as they disappeared through the doorway.

As the door was closing behind them they could hear him shouting
in frustration, "Don't call me Chief!" Then with his
superhearing Clark heard him mutter, "If they weren't the best
damn reporters ..."

As soon as the door was closed Clark picked Lori up and flew her
up the stairs. As they exited the roof door, Clark was in
uniform. They flew to the scene of the break in.

When they arrived over the area they saw the robot trying to dig
through layer after layer of reinforced concrete and steel. Of
the military detachment stationed at the site as guards some were
scattered around either unconscious or dead while others were
using their small arms in an attempt to put the robot out of
commission. It had apparently been equipped with a gas of some
kind which had knocked some of them out. Since there were still
active troops Superman hoped that it was a non-lethal gas and
that the breeze had blown the remnants away from the area.

Landing, Clark set Lori on her feet at a safe distance, behind a
building, and out of sight and then he started flying toward the
robot. When the troops spotted him they stopped shooting and
allowed him to handle the robot. He was travelling quickly and it
wasn't until he was too close to slow and change direction that
he started feeling the pain of the green Kryptonite. He was
almost unconscious when his momentum carried him into the side of
the robot causing it to stagger. Clark fell unconscious at its
feet.

The head of the robot turned and tilted down so that the video
sensors could see what the disturbance had been. After
ascertaining that Superman was there at its feet, the robot
appeared to contemplate then it actually moved closer, as if to
increase his exposure. For a time, it simply stood there over
Superman which increased his exposure even more. Peeking around
the corner Lori could see that even in his unconscious state
Clark was writhing in pain as the robot stood over him. Finally,
as if deciding that it had wasted enough time the robot pulled
back one foot and kicked Superman sending him sixty feet through
the air, landing almost at Lori's feet.

Fortunately the robot turned away as Lori was about to step out
of her concealment. She glanced up and saw the newscopter and
knew there was a risk. They hadn't seen her as yet but as soon
as she went to Clark everyone would know of her presence, but she
decided that it was more important to help Clark, they'd just
deal with the fallout later. She stepped out of her concealment
and quickly knelt at his side, grabbed his arm and started
dragging him around the corner of the building, away from the
robot. Lori was somewhat concerned as she dragged him that she
might be aggravating some injuries. If his invulnerability had
been cancelled he could have broken ribs and internal injuries
from that kick in the side. As it was, he was as limp as a rag
doll as she tried to move him.

As soon as she had Superman out of the way the troops resumed
their shooting.

Knowing that she had to do it but not relishing the prospect,
Lori grumbled to herself in frustration as she was dragging him
away, "I really wish that the three years were up so that I had
my superpowers. Then I wouldn't have to depend on anyone else
and I'd be able to get Clark out of here by myself."

Once it had kicked Superman away the robot had apparently lost
interest and returned to its assault on the bunker. Lori finally
got Superman behind the building. She felt further frustration
that the three years hadn't elapsed as yet because she had to
rely on electronic means to summon help. It would have been so
much easier and quicker if she had telepathy.

Lori tapped her earphone which activated her Reporter's
Assistant and she heard, "Say a command." Lori had coded her
speed dial numbers so that it wouldn't give anything away so she
said, "Dial Superman Foundation 2." Then she heard a series of
beeps. She knew that as soon as the phone on the other end
started to ring, the ringtone would tell Jon that the call was
from first a family member, second that he should respond as
Kam-El if possible and most importantly third it meant trouble.
When Jon answered she could hear concern in his tone as he said,
"Who needs Kam-El?"

Since there was no one close by to overhear, Lori cut him off,
"Jon, help. Your father needs you. We're at the weapons bunker,
west of Metropolis. Stay away from the robot!"

Because she was checking Clark for injuries, she hadn't had a
chance to even touch her earphone again to hang up before a black
and red blur arrived and picked up Clark. Lori threw her arms
around his neck from behind and held on as Kam-El lifted off and
headed for the Kent homestead.

***

Meanwhile back in the newsroom

***

The newscopter from a news network had been broadcasting all of
this action and everyone in the newsroom had seen Superman go
down. When that had happened, a gasp of despair could be heard
all over the bullpen. Cries of anger and frustration could be
heard as they saw him writhing on the ground, obviously in
extreme pain. When they saw the robot kick him there was another
gasp. Then when they saw Lori pop out from her concealment behind
the building a cheer went up.

Watching the body language of the people in the bullpen it was
like everyone was trying to pull with Lori as she tried to get
Superman behind the building. Fortunately the newscopter was too
far away to pick up sound nor did the watchers see her tap her
earphone. They could see her speaking but, she could have been
speaking to herself as she exerted her muscles to pull Superman
away.

Suddenly while they watched Kam-El entered the frame. As he did
another cheer went up from the entire crowd. A mass sigh of
relief could be heard when he picked up Superman. They saw Lori
throw herself on Kam-El's back and another cheer went up as they
all disappeared from view when Kam-El took both of them away from
the scene.

In the excitement of the action a fact that obviously had been
overlooked by the rest of the staff suddenly hit Frank. Frank
thought, <How did she get there so quickly and where is Clark? I
guess they'll have a good explanation when they return.>

They did too. Lori said that they had encountered Superman as he
was responding and he had offered to take one of them with him.
Since Clark was the one that could fly, Lori had gone with
Superman while Clark went to the airport so that he could pick
Lori up at the scene.

***

When they landed behind the house on Wisteria Lane, Lori dropped
off while Jon carried Clark into the house. Lori said, "Take him
into the Sauna." The Sauna was a special room fitted up with
banks of high-intensity sun lamps. Jon carried Clark in and
placed him on a bed in the middle of the room. After Lori donned
protective eyewear, she hit the switch turning on the lights so
that she could check on her husband before leaving the room. She
noticed that as Jon was placing him on the bed, Clark started to
stir.

Before Jon exited with Lori he patted Clark's shoulder and said,
"Rest easy, Pop." Then as they were exiting he said to Lori,
"That should restore him in less than an hour. I take it he was
exposed to Kryptonite. Where was it?"

Lori said, "It must be inside that robot. That's why I warned
you to stay clear of it."

Jon said, "Thanks for the warning, Mom. How are we going to stop
that thing? We can't get near it."

Lori snapped her fingers and said, "I've got an idea. I'll
need your help. By the time your father is recovered I may be
ready. We should have time. It'll take a while for that thing to
get through those reinforced walls. Let's go."

Lori led the way to a locked room which held all of her firearms.
She picked up a compound bow and a quiver of arrows. She said,
"Jon, I need your help to modify some of these arrows. Here's
what I need ... "

They were busy for the better part of the hour. While Jon was
modifying the arrows to her specifications she went upstairs and
pulled out a dress and some other clothing which with the help of
a pair of scissors she quickly modified to suit her needs before
donning the outfit.

When she made her appearance downstairs Clark was just coming out
of the sauna. When he saw her he stopped dead in his tracks and
asked, "Just what do you think you are going to do in that
outfit?"

She answered, "We have a robot to take out and it has to be done
at long range. This is where my training will come in handy."

Clark chuckled and said, "What are you going to do, sprinkle
pixie dust on it? You look like Peter Pan."

Lori replied, "I was thinking more along the lines of Robin
Hood."

Lori was wearing a pair of green tights under an A-line dress she
had cut off so that it was a tunic. She had on a wide black belt
that accentuated her narrow waist and black knee high boots. A
few seconds later when Jon showed up she added her largest black
quiver of arrows on her back. She finished it off with a mask of
green cloth, a remnant from the hem of the dress and an old
Halloween costume hat that was like what Robin Hood would wear.
She picked up her compound bow and said, "Okay boys, let's go
corral a robot."

Clark was impressed by the size of the quiver. He thought it
could easily hold fifty arrows, yet he only saw something like
half that number sticking out. He asked, "How do you plan to
stop that robot with some arrows?"

With a smirk she replied, "Just you wait and see. Jon modified
some of my arrows for me. Let's go! Time's a wastin'!"

Clark, bowing to the inevitable said, "Okay, I'd like to see
just what you have up your sleeve."

They took off from the back yard. Clark and Lori had their arms
around one another as he took off. He flew her this way so that
it wouldn't look quite so intimate. They landed just as the
robot was exiting the bunker with an atomic weapon in its grasp
after tearing its way into the underground storage.

***

Chapter 3 -- Emerald Archer Takes Charge

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

They landed far enough away that they were out of range of the
Kryptonite. Apparently, when those in control of the robot saw
them arrive they wanted to see just what was going to happen and
as if daring Superman to attack they stopped the robot. It looked
very human just standing there.

After they had all landed, Lori said, "Well, here goes
nothing." She reached into her quiver and selected an arrow.
When she pulled it out Clark could see that there was a fiber
bundled on the side. A quick twist released it. Lori handed the
end of the carbon reinforced polymer filament to Kam-El and said,
"Hold on to this." She nocked her arrow and took aim. When she
let fly the CRP filament played out behind the arrow. Superman
thought that she had missed her target because the arrow flew
wide of the robot but then as he watched the arrow caromed off of
a piece of brick and angled around behind the robot at ankle
level. Since it was moving now right to left, when it reached the
end of the filament that Kam-El was holding it started curving
around in a circle because of its momentum. It made a couple of
circles before finally banging into the leg of the robot. While
this arrow was still in flight Lori selected another shaft and
handed the end of the filament to Superman who held on while she
took aim and loosed. This arrow followed a similar trajectory
only from the other side.

These arrows had been launched so rapidly that there was hardly
time for anyone to respond and by the time the controllers had
issued a command for the robot to move the damage had been done.

When both arrows had completed their travel Lori shouted,
"Pull!"

In response to her command, Kam-El and Superman pulled on their
CRP filaments and the robot's legs were dragged together and it
stopped moving again.

Lori reached back and selected another arrow. She nocked and let
fly. As this one was in flight she quickly selected another of
the same type and let fly.

Both of these arrows had little bags attached to the heads. The
targets of these were the shoulder joints, left and right. When
they hit, the bags burst and emery dust was deposited in the
joints. It only took seconds for the joints to freeze and the
arms hung immobile. Unfortunately it didn't lose its grip on the
bomb.

While this was happening Lori had still been busy. Selecting
another arrow she let fly. This time at the head was a vial of
liquid. While this shaft was in flight she nocked and let fly
another of the same. The targets of these two were the optical
sensors, the liquid was paint. Now the robot was immobile and
blind. After a short struggle however, it broke the graphite
filaments binding its legs and it started to move off, at a rapid
pace, with the bomb still clutched in its unmoving arms.

Lori said, "So far so good. Now we can follow it back home.
It's blind so whoever is controlling it will have to depend on
GPS and mapping to direct it back. I think it's time to call in
the reserves. Maybe they can get close and capture the one behind
this. The robot isn't much of a threat at this point."

What they didn't know was that the crew of the helicopter had
captured all of the action just before they had to return to the
heliport due to lack of fuel. Their raw feed went to their
network which went to all of their video outlets and then the
wire services. The Planet picked up the feed and put together a
story.

The news copter that had been orbiting the site and broadcasting
the action was turning away and lost them when the superheroes
took off in pursuit of the robot which ended the video feed.

Clark and Jon had sent out a summons to Mike, Bill, Rich and Rob
asking them to join the effort. This was the first time that
these particular family members had been called on to help and
they were all thrilled at the prospect of getting in on the
action. All of the female spouses had the pendants. All of the
male spouses had simple medallions similar in appearance to a
good luck charm which they carried in their pockets. Mike was
unable to get away because he was in a meeting with the senior
partners of his firm, but within minutes Bill, Rich and Rob
joined Clark, Lori and Jon in the air, far above the robot. They
watched it move into a tunnel which was apparently an old
abandoned mine.

As a group all six entered the same tunnel and flew down it until
they came to a junction. Clark said, "There must be lead ore in
these tunnel walls, it's blocking my x-ray vision."

Jon, Bill, Rich and Rob all replied in unison, "Yeah, mine
too."

"That means that we are going to have to check all of the drifts
and galleries the old fashioned way. They go off in all
directions so we'll need to split up."

Jon took the rightmost tunnel. Lori and Clark the next one to the
left, while Rich took the next and Rob and Bill took the final
one. After a short distance Rob and Bill ad to split up at yet
another junction. Clark flew Lori down the tunnel and they all
were proceeding slowly and cautiously.

Just shy of a large gallery as they were going around a curve in
the tunnel Lori spotted light. They landed before they got too
close to the gallery. Clark sent, /We found them. They are in a
gallery down the second tunnel. We will wait for you here./

When they were all gathered Clark and Jon led the way as they
started to move ahead. As they rounded a curve, Jon and Clark
stopped abruptly when they started feeling the pain of the
Kryptonite and prevented the others from proceeding. As a group
they moved back around the last corner they had turned.

As soon as they stopped they had a quick, whispered conference.
Clark was inclined to be cautious while Lori wanted to charge
ahead.

Clark said, "We don't know how many are in there and we don't
know if they're armed. Jon and I definitely can't go past the
corner because we'd be exposed to the Kryptonite. We still
don't know if Rich, Rob or Bill would be affected. Did you guys
feel anything?"

They all shook their heads in the negative.

Jon said, "That really doesn't prove anything. We were farther
ahead and we were just starting to feel it. They might not have
been close enough, plus there is lead in these tunnel walls."

Lori said, "I guess that leaves it up to me." Clark gave her a
look which was meant to discourage her, but it didn't work. She
said, "Look, I'm the only one we can be sure won't be affected
by the Kryptonite, so I have to be the one to go in."

Jon objected, "They could be armed!"

Lori held up her bow and said, "News flash, so am I!" She
pulled out another arrow and nocked it. This one had a golf ball
sized globe on the end in place of a sharp arrowhead.

Clark looked at it and asked, "What can you do with that?"

"Depending on where it hits, whoever is on the receiving end is
going to be hurting, but he'll get over it. Wait here, I'm
going in."

Suiting her actions to her words, Lori pressed on ahead with her
bow at the ready. She peeked around the corner, being careful not
to expose more than part of her head. She saw that no one was
looking in her direction so she moved forward. When she rounded
the corner she saw two men in lab coats working over the robot.
She took aim at the guy off to one side and loosed. The blunt
arrow hit him in the left deltoid numbing his entire arm. He let
out a cry of pain and fell back. This startled his accomplice who
was frozen in place.

While the first arrow was still flying she nocked another arrow,
this one with a target point and, seeing an opportunity to take a
clear shot, let fly. The arrow pierced the sleeve of the other
man and lodged in a gap in the robot's body, pinning his arm
there. The first man was recovering. He whirled and using his
good arm pulled a weapon.

The second man jerked his arm free of her arrow and reached for
his gun. Lori quickly faded back around the corner and a shower
of rock dust accompanied her as a slug from one of the guns
ricocheted off the stone wall behind her. She took off at a dead
run.

Not being able to see anything because of the lead, the
superheroes had all followed the action with their superhearing.
Hearing what was happening and the shouts of her pursuers and the
explosions of the guns, they prepared for them. Before they came
in sight Bill spun out of his uniform to become Detective Bill
Davidson and the rest of the spouses disappeared down the tunnel
and around another corner.

As they watched, Lori came around the corner and toward them at a
dead run and didn't stop until she was behind Clark. She was
starting to breathe heavily but she still pulled another ball
arrow out and nocked it. She aimed out from between Clark's
right arm and Kam-El's left.

The perps were chasing after Lori and as they rounded the corner
they ran into the arms of Superman and Kam-El who disarmed and
detained them.

In an angry tone one shouted at the other, "I told you it
wouldn't work, but, no, you were convinced that they wouldn't
come anywhere near that chunk of rock! I told you it would only
make them mad! Now look where it got us! We could get life for
this!"

The other perp, apparently the brainy one, said, "It would have
worked if it hadn't been for that female William Tell."

Lori started laughing and said, "Don't you know anything?
William Tell used a crossbow! Robin Hood used a regular bow."

Sarcastically, the brainy one replied, "Sorry, I didn't mean to
insult you."

Lori was laughing as she said, "Apology accepted anyway."

The first perp was irritated, "How does that change anything? My
arm is still sore where she shot me. "

The second said, "Quit your bellyachin'! Just be glad that
arrow didn't have a hunting head instead of that ball. Yeah,
you're hurt, but it isn't serious."

"Hurt! I'll say it hurts! Nothing serious?!? I'll be bruised
for a week! What was in that anyway?"

Lori replied, "That was just an impact head. Think of a golf
ball propelled with the force of the bow."

Bill said, "You both might as well save your breath. You're
going to need it for the judge."

While Superman and Kam-El restrained the men Bill read them their
rights and put cuffs on them. He took charge of them and started
them back down the tunnel. When they reached the mouth of the
tunnel Bill used his cell phone to contact a local police
department and requested an assist with a pick up.

Once they were out of sight Rob, and Rich came back out of
hiding. Clark asked, "Are you feeling the Kryptonite?"

Rob said, "No, nothing."

Rich asked, "What would it feel like?"

Clark replied, "If you were feeling it, you'd know. No one
would have to describe it to you."

"I guess the answer is no then."

Clark decided, "Okay, I guess we give it a try. You guys can go
in and look for the Kryptonite."

Before he had a chance to object Lori included herself in the
party and Lori, Rich and Rob moved ahead into the chamber with
the latter two fully expecting to feel pain or at least a
diminishing of their powers however, neither of these occurred.
Rich recovered the bomb that had been stolen while Rob started to
dismantle the robot itself. Finally opening the chest, they found
the green Kryptonite. Lori located the original lead lined box it
had been in, at STAR Labs, and Rich placed the Kryptonite back
inside. As soon as the box was closed, Lori called, "All
clear!" After they heard this Clark and Jon moved into the
chamber.

Lori pulled out her Reporter's Assistant and documented the
equipment making sure that her sons-in-law were not in any of the
pictures.

Superman took off with the bomb and turned it over to the
military while Jon took the carrier with the Kryptonite and took
off for STAR Labs. Rich and Rob waited until Clark returned for
Lori. When he returned he gave a report, "The soldiers at the
bunker are recovering. Apparently it was a knock-out gas."
Hearing this, they were all relieved. Rich and Rob took off to
return to work.

Lori threw her arm around Clark's waist and whispered in his
ear, "Home James."

Clark put his arm around her and laughing they took to the air.

***

That evening they were flabbergasted when the evening edition of
the Planet was published because front and center, above the fold
was a picture of Lori with her bow drawn ready to let fly and the
caption:

"New Hero in Town!"

"Even with the supermen and superwomen that protect Metropolis
there are cases that they can't handle alone. A new hero joined
them to help with just such a problem. An archer all dressed up
in Lincoln green like Robin Hood appeared on the scene. This
Emerald Archer with some trick arrows enabled the Supermen to get
the upper hand on a robot that for some reason they couldn't get
near. Story continues 2A"

Clark said, "Well, whaddya know. Lori, you made the front page
and this time it wasn't with your byline! This story is *about*
you."

She grabbed the paper as she said, "Let me see that!" Quickly
reading the article she got a smug look on her face as she did.
Laying the paper down she said, "I'm waiting."

Realizing that he had lost the point, Clark said, "Okay, you
were right. As old as the technology is, bows and arrows do have
their place. You did really well with that. You'll never hear
another complaint out of me about your archery."

"And don't you forget it." She couldn't hold it in any longer
and she burst out in peals of laughter.

***

End flashback

***

The Emerald Archer, as she had been dubbed, made a couple of
other appearances to assist the supermen before her powers began
to manifest to the absolute delight of the grandchildren who all
knew who she was. Needless to say, they were all disappointed
when she stopped using her bow in favor of her superpowers.

***

Chapter 4 An Engagement

August 2089

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Now it was 2089 and Lori and Clark had been reporting partners
all that time and as a team had already won two Kerth awards.

Over the last three years Lori had had to deal with the memories
that the Soul Tracker device had installed in her brain while she
slept, every night from the time she was six months old. The
integration of the various personalities, Lady Loisette, Lulu
Kent, Lois Lane and of course her own predominant among them, had
not been the easiest thing she had ever handled but Clark had
been very patient and supportive. Knowing the source had enabled
them to adapt to the new circumstance.

The largest part of the integration was the memories of Lois and
the children that she and Clark had had together. Even though her
memories from the Soul Tracker included the birth of each of Lois
and Clark's eight children there were problems. One problem was
that the memories stopped short of including all of the members
of the family. There was a twenty year gap that needed to be
overcome. Clark had been doing his best to fill in that empty
chapter in her past. Coupled with that there was the physical
reality of dealing with eight separate families and that
sometimes overwhelmed her. Only the core of the family had been
at their wedding which had made it a little easier to handle.
When they all got together at the Wisteria Lane home or on the
farm, it was indeed a village. Parts of the families rotated in
and out of the original homestead as their individual lives could
accommodate it. Nonetheless, there were usually batches of small
children about.

By this time all of the first generation children were married
and they all had children. They were a very close knit clan.

At this point the family consisted of the following.

Head researcher at STAR Labs and eldest son, Jon, had married
Jennifer (Jen) Jenkins, an elementary school teacher. Their
children were Bernard, Jacob, Maria, Kathryn, Clayton, George,
Kirk, Gabrielle and Kristin.

Lawyer, eldest daughter and first wed was Lara. She had married
Michael (Mike) Lee who was also a lawyer in the same firm. Their
children were Louise, Gregory, Andrew, Sophia, Robert E., Mary
and Dean.

ER Physician and eldest twin, Sean, had married Heather MacLeod,
an Environmental Engineer. Their children were Maggie, Lauren,
Daniel, James, Conner, Leonard, Duncan and Lydia.

Sean's twin sister and Family Practice physician, Celeste, had
married William (Wild Bill) Davidson, an MPD Detective. Their
children were Jeffrey, Jared, Agnes, Heather, Duncan, Erin and
Cassia.

Jessica, the OB/Gyn of the family, had married Richard (Rich)
Stuart, an Anthropo-Archeologist. Their children were Linda,
Joseph, Charles Edward (Charlie), Archibald (Arch), Mary
Elizabeth and. James E. B. (Jeb)

The computer whiz of the family, James, had married Margaret
(Peg) Dennis who was also a computer whiz. Their children were
Erin, Josiah, Kenneth, Donna, David, Marie Louise (Marylu) and
Tiberius (Ty).

Youngest daughter and Child Psychologist, Lucy had married Robert
(Rob) Jackson, a Biochemist. Their children were Thomas J.,
Natasha, Andrew, Lance, Teri, Edward, Julia and Reginald
(Reggie).

New Director of the Superman Foundation and the youngest of the
first generation, Sam had married Alice. Alice was the only other
fully Kryptonian member of the family, at least at this time,
because she was from New Krypton Their children were Franklin,
Margaret, Jeremy, Karen, Anne, Donald, Loraine and Julie.

Because of their extended life expectancy all of the families
were taking a break from having children while they pretended to
age. The pendants that all of the spouses wore guaranteed the
same long life and superpowers as their Kent family spouses. It
was important that they appear to age to keep the family secret.
They would all, eventually, assume new identities and start a new
generation.

***

Knowing that it took about three years for the changes to occur
in her physiology and that they were nearing that time Lori had
taken to wearing the pendant all the time. Gradually, Lori's
powers had started to manifest, so slowly that at first she
hadn't noticed.

Gradually her hearing became more and more acute. It really
didn't hit her until she suddenly realized that the background
thump, thump that she was hearing all the time was actually
Clark's heartbeat.

The next thing she noticed was that it was taking her less and
less time in the morning to get ready for work. One morning while
she was in the shower, realizing that she had overslept and had
to rush if she was going to be ready on time, she started to
hurry and unexpectedly it was like the water from the showerhead
stopped in mid air. She was startled and stopped to look at this
phenomenon and when she did the water started moving again. She
started to hurry again and the water stopped again. She soaped
herself quickly stopped to allow the water to flow again and
rinse her off. She reached over and turned the water off and then
grabbed her towel and started drying off. When the towel started
to smoke she stopped and looked at it in amazement.

She let out a whoop and without stopping to put any clothes on,
ran out of the bathroom. She spotted Clark in their bedroom and
barreled into him, knocking him onto the bed. Using her new found
superspeed she took his clothes off of him. Lying on top of him,
she started kissing him.

When he realized just what was happening he rolled her over on
her back. This started a period of marital intimacy.

He said, "Wow, my little speed demon! What got into you this
morning?"

She laughed and with a sly grin said, "Oh, something special."

It wasn't until she responded that he had really realized just
what he had said and he started laughing as well. He said,
"Well, your powers are obviously coming on. What do you have?"

"Well, let's see, so far I have superhearing, and," she had a
broad smile as she said, "superspeed." She chose that second to
demonstrate this by spinning into her work clothes and then
finished, "I think my strength is coming on but I don't know
about the vision thingies yet."

Clark spun back into his clothes and laughed as he said, "Vision
thingies, huh? Let's try something." He walked over and picked
up a safety pin off the dresser. He opened it and said, "Hold
out your hand."

She did and he brought the open pin in and gave her finger a
little prick. It didn't break the skin so he tried a little
harder. Still nothing. He said, "I think that your
invulnerability is kicking in as well. It shouldn't be too long
until," he started to chuckle, "the vision thingies kick in and
then shortly after that you'll be able to fly. Have you decided
on a costume yet?"

"I really haven't given that much thought. I don't think I'll
use the old one. That pink just wasn't my color. Actually, none
of the girls have used your color scheme and most of the spouses
have decided to use the same colors schemes within families. Jon
and Jen both use black, red and yellow. Lucy and Rob both use
white. Jessie and Rich both wear hazel and red. Celeste and Bill
use red and green. It looks like I should use your red, blue and
yellow for mine. I like the length of Angel's cape; it only
comes down to her waist. I don't think I want a two piece like
she wears though. I'm thinking something like a Speedo with a
pleated miniskirt; calf high boots a waist length cape, elbow
high gloves and a mask." As she was describing her new uniform
they headed downstairs for breakfast.

Once they were in the kitchen and making breakfast, Clark
offered, "You could start working on it this weekend, in the
evenings. I think Jessie and Rich, Jimmy and Peg are going to be
at the farm with the kids. Do you think I should pick up your
sister Liz for the weekend?" Clark put the coffee on to drip.

Surprised, Lori asked, "Is it that obvious?" Lori started
making some toast.

With a serious expression, Clark replied, "You would have to be
blind not to see it. I'm sure it's mutual. To see the two of
them together, it's like watching Jon when he first met Jen.
I'm glad we brought Liz in on the family secret. At least she
knows what she is getting into."

Lori asked, "Remember our first day? When we walked in and Liz
got a look at you she asked if you had any brothers. How was I to
know that she would be attracted to one of our grandsons? She and
Jeb make a cute couple though. I wonder how long it's going to
be before he gets up the nerve to propose. Liz is in her early
twenties and Jeb is twenty-seven. He started working for the
Superman Foundation as Sam's assistant almost as soon as Sam
became Director, a few months ago." Lori started buttering the
toast that had just popped up.

"I hope they don't make us wait too long. As entertaining as it
is to watch them as they court, I'd like to see them together."
He took the piece of toast she offered and started drizzling
honey on it.

Lori replied, "You and me both. Maybe I need to have a talk with
my little sister."

Still smiling, Clark replied, "You do that and Gramps will have
a talk with Jeb. After all, Liz is my sister-in-law. Wow, do you
realize just how complicated this is going to be? Your sister may
marry your grandson so she will be your granddaughter-in-law as
well as your sister." He considered this for a second before
continuing, "Maybe we should discourage this match. It's going
to strain my super memory keeping our relations straight." Clark
raised a teasing eyebrow at Lori and then poured two mugs of
coffee and handed one to her.

Not realizing that he was kidding while Lori added her sweetener
and non-dairy creamer she thought about his statement before
saying, "Nah, I don't think we need to interfere. Let them be
happy."

Clark said, "I was just kidding about discouraging them! I want
them to be happy too. Let's let nature take its course. Okay,
why don't you give Liz a call and invite her to the farm for the
weekend. Actually, she probably already knows that he's going to
be there."

After a few seconds Clark continued, "There is one nice thing
about this. You won't have to suffer the loss of your sister the
way Lois did with Lucy. You won't be outliving all of your
family this time." Because of her association with Clark, Lois
had lived longer than her sister even though she was the older
sibling.

Lori thought about this and then said, "You know, I hadn't
thought about that. It will be nice to have Liz around for a long
time." She took a sip of her coffee.

As if on cue the phone rang. Lori looked at the caller ID and
said, "Right on schedule." She had her coffee mug in one hand
and with her free hand picked up the phone and said, "Hi Liz, we
were just talking about you. Uh huh. Sure he is. Friday? Clark
can pick you up. Five thirty Pacific, got it. See ya Friday,
Sis." She hung up the phone and started laughing.

She said, "You have an appointment Friday to pick up your
sister-in-law to bring her to the farm."

"I suppose if I don't she'll call Jessie and beg her for a
lift." He thought for a couple of seconds and then said,
"Actually, Jeb has had his powers for a little while now and he
will soon be joining the rest of the family in the family
business. He could pick her up. Hmmmm, you know, that's not a
bad idea." Setting down his coffee mug, Clark picked up the
phone and dialed Jeb's number. When the phone was answered he
said, "Hi Jeb it's Gramps. Oh we're doing fine, looking
forward to the weekend at the farm. You're planning on being
there aren't you? That's what I thought. You know, I'm not as
young as I used to be, could you do me a favor? No, nothing
serious. I need you to do taxi duty. Yeah, well you see it's
this way, there's somebody on the west coast that needs a ride
to the farm. Yeah, that's right. Would you mind doing your old
Gramps a favor and doing the taxi duty for me? You will earn my
undying gratitude. You will? Thanks. I know that I'm really
putting you out. I'll repay you sometime. Oh, this is the
repayment? Okay, if you say so. She wants to be picked up at five
thirty Pacific time. You'll be there, good. See you guys at the
farm." He started laughing as he hung the phone up.

Lori was already laughing as she said, "Talk about matchmaking!
'Do your old Gramps a favor.' 'Not as young as I used to be.'
Hah, I might believe that if we didn't have so much fun in
bed."

"Okay, well we won't need to worry about Liz getting in the way
in the costume making and I don't think we'll have to worry
about keeping Jeb occupied. I think Peg, Jessie and the girls
would all love to help make it. Jimmy, Rich and I can keep the
guys busy."

***

That weekend, at the farm, the girls and guys split up. The girls
spent most of their time on the horses. Raven, daughter of Josiah
Kent and the youngest granddaughter of James and Margaret Kent,
was showing a lot of talent in the barrel race, consistently
beating her older sisters, Leslie and Emerson as well as her
cousins, Susan, Angela and Rachel by several seconds.

Raven, like a few of her cousins had become a very enthusiastic
and serious rider. Jimmy and Peg had given in to her pleadings
and finally bought her a horse of her own. She had a gray
quarterhorse that she called Smokey. Smokey was stabled at the
farm along with the rest of the mounts. Slowly but surely the
stalls were being filled and it wouldn't be long until another
stable would be needed.

On a daily basis the horses were pastured or sent into a corral
for exercise. On the weekends the owners of each of the mounts
mucked their stalls. They might technically be children of
privilege, but that would not keep them from fulfilling their
responsibilities. This was one of the fundamental qualities that
Lois and Clark and now Lori and Clark and all of the kids tried
to instill in all of the children and grandchildren. A
fundamental work ethic, a respect for life, loyalty and a desire
to help wherever they could were their guiding principles. The
good, solid Midwestern principles that Jonathan and Martha had
lived out and modeled for young Clark still stayed with him to
this day.

Under the supervision of 'Gramps' the guys were working on
their calf roping and this was where Kenneth Junior really
excelled. Kenneth Junior was another one with his own horse, a
palomino quarterhorse he called Hunter. Hunter was the best calf
roping horse in the stable and Kenneth on Hunter became an
unbeatable pair.

The guys were all working diligently to get ready for their rodeo
later in the summer.

That night Peg, Jessie and their daughters adjourned to the hobby
room with Lori and got out the sewing machines, fabrics and
patterns. The hobby room had now expanded to a very large space
with a big worktable and bolts of spandex cloth in a rainbow of
colors displayed along one wall. All of the girls contributed to
the design and Peg, who was a skilled seamstress, went to work on
the big serger. It wasn't too long before Lori was modeling the
results of her work. The girls all agreed that the suit was
becoming and that her identity would probably be safe.

While the girls were busy in the hobby room the guys were in the
great room playing board games.

While the cousins played, Clark, Jimmy and Rich talked.

Clark asked, "Jimmy, how are things with the business?"

Jimmy replied, "The computer forensics business is booming, but
I just got an offer for a position that is going to be hard to
turn down. I'm seriously considering it."

Rich asked, "Oh, what kind of offer could you get that would
pull you away from your business?"

Jim started to smile as he replied, "Sam has asked me to bring
my entire staff with me and take over the Foundation's network.
There have been a number of attempts to disrupt the Foundation's
business. It should be a seamless move since the Foundation was
one of our principal clients anyhow. This way the Foundation will
be able to start offering computer network security services. It
will broaden the business. It's a tremendous opportunity and
besides, I won't have the headache of all that paperwork and
government forms. For me it's a win -- win."

Clark was pleased with this comment because Jimmy was just the
latest family member to start working for the Foundation. Clark
was aware of the way things were going. Slowly Sam had been
recruiting family members, moving the foundation in the direction
of a family owned and operated business. Clark turned to Rich and
asked, "Well, we can see that things are looking up for Jimmy.
How are things with you? Has Sam offered you a position yet?"

Rich laughed and replied, "No, not yet, but I wouldn't be too
surprised if he did in the near future. Actually, I don't see
how we could. How could we justify moving Jessie's practice to
The Foundation? I don't think OB/GYN services would fit too
well."

"I don't know about that. A free OB clinic sponsored by The
Foundation could do some important work. Look at Celeste and
her-Foundation sponsored clinic in Metropolis. They are doing a
lot of good."

"You might be right at that. Jessie and I will have to talk
about it, if he asks us."

Clark smiled and said, "I think you can count on it. Sam's a
shrewd businessman. He can see the advantage of having the family
all working together and what better place than the Foundation
where they can do the most good?

"Just look at what he did with the old Luthor Tower when he
renamed it The Foundation. Remodeling the old underground shelter
and turning it into a shopping mall was a stroke of genius. It's
become a tourist attraction. Slowly, as businesses move out, he
has been expanding the Foundation's office space. Eventually the
whole building could be exclusively Foundation offices."

They were talking for a little over an hour when they were called
for the unveiling.

When Lori modeled her new uniform for Clark, she did a slow
pirouette and his first response was a wolf whistle and then with
a glint in his eye he said, "Well, the eyes are certainly drawn
away from the face."

The top of the suit was in Clark's dark blue spandex material,
designed like a tank top with medium wide straps and a deeply
scooped neckline which continued down and finished off like a
swim suit. Over this was a pleated miniskirt in red which came
down barely far enough to cover her derriere. Just below the
neckline, centered on her chest was the El family crest, in a
size slightly smaller than Clark's. There was a yellow belt with
a hollow buckle within which she placed the pendant. Attached to
the shoulder straps was her cape which fell to her waist just to
the level where the skirt started. The cape was a little fuller
or wider than Clark's was in relation to their sizes and if she
chose to she could bring the sides around and cover her arms and
most of her upper body. The mask was little more than a half mask
which in effect was a wide band which covered her face from the
hairline to a point just below her eyes and allowed her hair to
flow freely except for where it circled her head and was made of
the same blue material. Boots that came up to mid-calf and gloves
which came up almost to her elbows, both in red, finished off the
ensemble.

A few minutes later Liz and Jeb came in and Liz didn't recognize
her sister.

Jeb said, "Like the new Suit, Grams!"

Aghast, Liz burst out, "*Lori*?!? Why are you wearing that?"

Lori started to laugh, "This is my new uniform. I'm going to be
helping out. I thought you knew that all of the spouses have
powers too."

Liz was speechless for a minute then she looked at Jeb and said,
"I hope you don't expect me to dress up in something like
that." As soon as the words were out of her mouth Liz clamped
her hands over it and she flushed bright red.

Jeb looked like he had just been thrown to the lions or into a
Kryptonite cage. With an embarrassed smile he turned to the
family and said, "Mom and Dad, Grams and Gramps, I guess the
secret is out now, I asked Liz to marry me while we were out on
our walk."

Chagrined, Liz said, "I didn't mean to say that ..." She
stopped because all those gathered around burst out in laughter
at their discomfiture.

Lori stepped over and put her arm around her sister's shoulder
and pulled her into a hug as she said, "Sis, we knew it would
happen, sooner or later and frankly we had been *hoping* for
sooner." She turned to Jeb and asked, "What took you so
long?"

Jeb said to Liz, "I guess you can show them." As Liz reached
into her pocket and pulled out an engagement ring and put it on
he continued, "I just started at the Foundation and I wanted to
make sure Liz would be willing to relocate to Metropolis. As soon
as she let me know it would be okay, I went out and got the ring
for her before I asked." Liz held her hand up for inspection.
All of the girls gathered around as Liz showed off her engagement
ring, oohhing and aahhing as they did so.

Rich walked over and put a fatherly arm around his son's
shoulders. Turning to Liz, he said, "Welcome to the family. This
guy takes after his grandfather in a lot of ways, so, if this
lunkhead gives you any problems, you call me, okay?"

Liz laughed and looking into Jeb's eyes said, "I think I can
handle him."

Jessica laughed and said, "If you're anything like your sister,
I can believe that."

Lori and Clark both laughed at that and then Lori asked, "When
do you plan to tell Mom and Dad?"

Jeb replied, "We were planning to tell them when I flew her home
tomorrow."

Clark asked, "I have a suggestion, don't tell them. Ask them.
Ask if you can marry their daughter, that's the proper way to do
it. Once that's done, when do you plan to have the ceremony?"

Jeb looked at Liz and asked, "How soon?"

Liz replied, "I don't want to wait any longer than necessary.
Sis got married the same day as she and Clark met."

Lori jumped in and said, "Whoa, hold on a minute there, Sis.
That is a horse of an entirely different color. We had memories
of being together for a long time."

Liz retorted, "Jeb and I have known each other for almost three
years now. How much longer do we need to wait?"

Clark said to Lori, "She's got you there, Honey. How long do
they have to wait?"

Lori gave in, "Alright, why don't you let Mother and Daddy
decide. Go on, get out of here and go tell them. You can let us
know what the decision is when you get back."

***

Chapter 5 -- Wanda

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

While everyone was waiting for Liz and Jeb to return from LA,
Lori made a decision. She decided that she was going to still use
the name Ultra Woman. After all, she was used to it and there
wouldn't be any confusion with Lara because of the different
uniforms. Lara had made a copy of Lois' original uniform in
reversed colors from her original. It was teal blue with a pink
cape and other trim. Lori's new uniform was in Clark's color
scheme.

When Liz and Jeb returned Lori could tell from the expressions on
their faces that it had gone well. Liz said, "Mother and Daddy
are happy and think that a short engagement would be okay since
we've known each other for so long. Mom wants at least two
months to plan the wedding, so three months from today, November
12."

"Congratulations Sis, all of the girls will want to help with
the planning, I'm sure. That'll make it easier on Mom."

***

That following Monday, Lori wore her new uniform under her
business attire. The skirt of her uniform was so short that it
wouldn't be a problem for her to wear any type of clothes. Today
she was wearing a skirt that came to the knee with a slit to mid
thigh on the left. The slit ended several inches below the skirt
of her uniform.

When Lori and Clark got to the bullpen they settled down at their
desks and started their daily routine of checking e-mail and
voice-mail. They were waiting to hear back on some feelers they
had put out.

Finally, later in the morning one of their snitches contacted
them. Initially they had sent out requests for information
because they had heard about a dramatic increase in drug usage in
the suburbs. But, when he called he told them about Zombie, a new
drug on the street. It was a so-called designer drug which was so
new that no samples had been obtained as yet for analysis and the
DEA had no information on it as a result.

Based on his lead they started searching the recent archives and
found some reports of unusual behavior in the most unlikely
citizens. The reports that they found said that the people had
been ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations. The
apparent perpetrators had been apprehended by the police after
committing crimes which ranged from muggings to bank robbery. In
all cases they were identified by the victims or from videotapes
from the facility.

When the police picked up the perps, they all claimed to have no
memory of the activity. Blood tests were not able to identify a
causative agent but that really had no meaning since there was no
clue as yet as to what to look for. Various chemicals had been
isolated from the blood samples and analyzed at STAR Labs but it
was a set of extremely complex components and there was no way to
relate how the various components interacted. Aside from the
presence of the same chemicals in the blood stream of all of the
subjects, the descriptions of their behavior were consistent. All
of the victims of the robberies had described the perpetrators as
zombies, the walking dead. No expression, no communication, just
a purpose. That was the limit on what Lori and Clark were able to
find. Somehow they would need to get a sample of the drug.

It was a rather uneventful morning. They had to do some
interviews and after those they had gone out to lunch. Since they
were out in what used to be the Suicide Slum area, they had
chosen to visit a club that they suspected of being a front for
organized crime. After they were seated Clark nonchalantly pulled
his glasses down his nose and scanned for the office. When he
found it he sent Lori a thought, /The office is over your left
shoulder. Looks like some kind of meeting going on. See if you
can hear anything./

They both tried to tune in with their superhearing. It took a few
seconds to filter out the ambient noise and pick up on the
conversation. What they heard confirmed their suspicions. Clark
hadn't said anything about who was in the office, but all Lori
heard were male voices.

(Voice 1) "We just heard from Detroit. The operations there are
proceeding as planned. So far we have prostitution, drugs,
gambling and protection."

(Voice 2) "We need to ramp up our efforts here if we are going
to stay on top. If we're not careful they could challenge us for
control."

(Voice 1) "They've got it lucky. They don't have any of the
supermen or superwomen to contend with. We have to be constantly
on the lookout for them. They could shut us down in no time."

(Voice 2) "We do have one thing going for us. We have money
coming in and we don't have to risk any of our people. We just
slip a pill in someone's drink and ten minutes later we tell
them what they have to do. They do it and turn the proceeds over
to us. They leave and don't remember anything about what they
have done so they can't lead the cops back to us."

(Voice 1) "That coupled with our regular drug trade is keeping
us on top. When is the next shipment due in from Mexico?"

(Voice 2) "It should be making its way over the border in a
couple of days. That's another sweet deal. The cartel loads it
onto a truck coming into the States from Mexico and the driver
doesn't even know it. When it arrives we get it as regular goods
under a false name and address. We can't be traced and if the
driver is stopped he doesn't know squat. We are clear both
ways."

Lori sent, /Wow, there's a lot there. We have a couple of days
until the drug shipment. Do you want to take a road trip? We'd
be less likely to be recognized in Detroit. Besides, I hear
Detroit is lovely, this time of the year./

***

The next day Clark and Lori went to their editor, Frank Edwards,
and told him that they had a lead on organized crime and would
like to follow up on it. It might involve going undercover for a
time. "Frank, what we have could be really big, but in order to
do it right we might have to be out of the office for a while.
Would you be okay with that?"

Frank asked, "Can you give me an idea of what you've got?"

Lori replied, "Yeah, we have a multi-city organization. They
have their fingers in several pies, prostitution, protection,
gambling and drugs at the very least. We need to find out just
how many things and just who is behind it all. We're convinced
they have ties to a group here in Metropolis. It sounds like they
are all parts of one larger organization, but there appears to be
a competition to see which division is in control. We want to get
to the bottom of it. We were planning to start in Detroit."

Frank said, "Okay, sounds interesting. How long do you think it
would take?"

Lori replied, "It could take at least a few weeks."

"Try to keep it as short as you can. Keep me posted and I'll
expect to see you in here at least occasionally, just so that I
know you're still alive. Clark, I expect you to take care of
Lori."

Showing a little irritation, Lori replied, "Now just you wait a
minute. I *can* take care of *myself*, thank you." Realizing
that she might be saying too much she added, "I am a black belt
in Tae Kwan Do, you know."

Frank put up his hands in a defensive gesture and said, "Hey, I
didn't mean anything by it. Those kind of guys don't play by
the rules, you know. They use guns."

With a smirk Lori replied, "So do *I*, occasionally."

Frank said, "I had forgotten about that. Still, be careful out
there, okay?"

Clark said, "We will be. Don't worry."

***

Later, as they were preparing for their undercover assignment,
Lori said, "You know, Frank gave me an idea. We might just be
able to infiltrate the mob easier if we show some muscle, and no,
I don't mean brute strength. I have my concealed carry permit. I
could carry one of my guns. It should be easy to convince them
that I can shoot. With that on my resume, we might just have an
entree."

"Okay, I can be the strong silent type enforcer. I can use the
karate that you've been teaching me. With the moderate use of
superspeed I should be able to make it look convincing."

"Sounds like a plan. Where should we start?"

"I think we should let them come to us. If we start our own
little protection racket by taking some of their customers away
we should be able to get their attention. We can tell the
businesses we deal with that we are setting up a sting to get
them to cooperate."

"How do we start?"

"Those kind usually collect on a weekly basis and depend on fear
to keep the 'clients' in line. I think we start by staking out
a couple of businesses and see if they are visited."

Lori said, "I guess I'll need to wear something flashy, at
least when we meet the organization. Until then I'll be
conservative. I think a business suit, like I normally wear."

"I'll do the same. When we are going to meet them I'll
probably wear leathers. Are you ready to start the
surveillance?"

With a chuckle, Lori spun into her uniform and said, "Am I ever!
It's just a shame that my vision thingies and flight haven't
come on yet. At least I'm invulnerable, strong and fast. You'll
have to fly me there and I might as well be in uniform."

Clark spun into his uniform and they exited the back door heading
for the trees in the back yard. Instead of picking Lori up in his
arms he stood next to her and put an arm around her as they took
off. They landed in an alley in Detroit and spun into their
business clothes. Once they exited the alley they headed for the
outskirts so that they could observe some businesses.

They found a cafe that had a decent view of the street from a
table near a window. It was nearing closing time for a lot of the
businesses so they settled at a table and ordered. While they
waited for their order they watched the street. Clark saw a man
dressed casually enter a shop up the street. When he came out his
hands were empty, indicating that he hadn't made any purchases.
The guy entered another shop two up from that one, was inside a
short time and came out. Again he was empty handed. Clark said,
"I think I've got one already. Across the street, blue polo
shirt and khaki pants. He's gone into a couple of shops but he
hasn't purchased anything."

He was just coming out of a third shop and Lori said, "I see
him. He doesn't look like a crook, but, who does now days?"

When their order was delivered they quickly ate and Clark paid
the check. He sent a thought, /Let's get started. I know the
shops he visited. Let's go right down the line./

She thought back, /Lead and I'll follow you anywhere, husband
mine./

They exited the cafe and Clark led them to the first shop. When
they entered they saw that it was a florist shop and when they
entered the owner was behind a counter. As they entered Clark
closed the door and turned over the sign to read 'closed'.

Seeing this, the shop owner started to get worried. He said,
"What are you doing? Why are you here? I just paid!" He was
starting to sweat and fear was etched into his face the closer
they got to him.

In a soothing tone, Clark said, "Please, relax, we are not here
to do you any harm. Can we have a few minutes of your time to
talk? We want to help you."

Still not sure just what was going on the shop owner was still
worried, after all this could be a trick.

Clark pulled out his Daily Planet ID and showed it to the shop
owner. As he was perusing this Clark said, "My partner and I
work for the Daily Planet and we would like to ask if you would
be willing to participate in a sting so that we can put the
people behind this protection racket where they belong."

The shop owner was stunned and still somewhat wary as he asked,
"Sting? Put them in jail? You really think you can do that?"

Lori replied, "We sure intend to try."

The shop owner asked, "Okay, how do you plan to do it?"

Clark could see that they had their foot in the door at least. He
said, "We plan to take some of their customers away so that they
come to us to try to make us stop."

The shop owner said, "Hmmmm, that might just work. By the way,
my name's Dan, Dan O'Brien."

"Pleased to meet you, Dan. How often do they collect?"

"Once a week."

"Wow, we really caught a break on that one. Was the guy in the
polo shirt doing the pickup?"

"Yeah, that was one of the pickup men."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Next week, when he comes
in you refuse to pay. When he threatens you, you say that you
have subscribed with another agency for your protection. If he
asks who you tell him Charlie King and Wanda Detroit are the
representatives. Got that? Charlie and Wanda."

"Charlie and Wanda, got it."

"Okay, we're going to go visit a few more of his clients. Do
you have any names for us?"

"Sure, there are five on this block alone. Jim's Re-upholstery,
Frank's Corner Market, Mary's Crafts, Jake's Cakes and my
shop."

"Okay, we're going to visit each of them. Thanks. If things go
the way we plan, we should have them within a couple of weeks."

"I hope so, because of them I'm barely making a profit."

"We'll do what we can. Just be patient. Do you want your sign
turned back over?"

"No, don't bother. I'm closed for the night. I've had enough
for one day. Thanks."

They went down the line and the same scene was repeated, with
some minor variations, at each shop in the block.

By the time they'd finished they felt that they were ready to
muscle in on the protection racket.

***

Chapter 6 -- Drug Interdiction

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Back in Metropolis the next morning they talked over how to go
about taking on the drug trade. They also talked about how to get
a sample of Zombie.

Clark said, "Okay, from what we overheard they put the drug in
someone's drink. I'd speculate that they do it right there in
their club. They can cause the victim to forget everything so
they would feel safe in doing so."

Lori said, "All of the victims so far have been men."

"I think I'm due for a night on the town. I'll pretend that
I've been to several clubs already which should make me a good
candidate."

"How are you going to get the sample?"

"As soon as they spike my drink, I'll down it but hold it in my
mouth. I'll go to the men's room and spit it into a jar. Star
Labs should be able to isolate the drug from the alcohol."

"What about the zombie thing?"

"I'll pretend that I threw up and they'll think that it
wasn't in my system long enough to take effect."

"Okay, so much for Zombie, what about the influx of drugs into
the area?"

"We know how they are doing it so we can intercept the
shipments."

Lori thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "Why
don't we cause them some trouble with the cartel? If we could
remove the shipment without the driver knowing ..."

"Yeah, that could work. They would contact the cartel and claim
that the cartel never sent the goods and the cartel could accuse
them of trying to get the goods without paying for them. We could
substitute powered sugar for the cocaine and a mixture of parsley
and sage for the marijuana."

Lori speculated, "You know, if they are using this ploy to get
drugs into Metropolis they could be doing the same thing to other
cities. Maybe we should call for some help."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Let's get all of the family in on it. If we can interdict
eight to ten shipments a night, we could put a real dent in the
drug trade."

"The problem is that this isn't the only way they are bringing
in drugs. The real solution to the drug problem is not to remove
the supply; it's to remove the demand. If nobody wanted drugs
the supply would dry up of its own accord. We would have a harder
time of that, but, it may come in time."

"It's still fairly early. Do you want to call a meeting for
this evening?"

"Let's do that."

After Happy Hour had started, at about 7 P.M. Clark went to the
club and succeeded in acquiring the sample of Zombie. Later he
gave it to Jon at the meeting.

That evening all of the super members of the family and their
super spouses arrived for the meeting.

Clark and Lori laid out the plan and received overwhelming
support. The entire family was anxious to deal with this scourge.
Supplies of the replacements were obtained and they all set out.

They hoped that Zombie would be taken care of when the whole
story broke and the gangs were rounded up.

***

The next day Jon put a team on the analysis. The analysis took
some time, but, once done the results were be turned over to the
FDA. They said it would be classified as a dangerous drug and
placed on the prohibited list as a controlled substance. Jon's
team also came up with a counter agent.

***

Rather than their uniforms, the supermen and superwomen wore
their snooping clothes. While Lori and Clark concentrated on
routes into Detroit, the rest concentrated on routes to major
cities on the east coast, the exception being Lara and Mike. They
looked for trucks on the Pacific coast.

After examining over fifty trucks, most of them possessing
Mexican plates, Lori and Clark found a Mexican truck at a rest
stop on the highway to Detroit. Clark used his x-ray vision to
check the contents. He saw some suspicious boxes in the
mid-section of the truck. Since the back was unlocked they let
themselves in and at superspeed swapped the contents of the
packages for the fakes that they had with them. When they exited
Clark picked up Lori and they zoomed up and out of sight. Clark
landed them on a wooded area and built a campfire ring. They
placed the drugs in the fire ring and Clark used his heat vision
at its highest intensity to vaporize all of it. The heat was so
intense that there wasn't even any smoke, it just seemed to
cease to exist. The ground below the pile actually fused into a
form of glass. It would be a mystery for the fire service if they
came across it.

Clark sent out a thought, /We just intercepted a shipment. Anyone
else have any luck?/

Jon replied, /Jen and I found a truck headed for New York. We had
just about given up. She and I must have checked seventy-five
trucks. When we found one it was north of Metropolis.. How should
we dispose of this stuff?/

/I used my heat vision to destroy it. Use enough heat so that no
smoke is created./

/Got it, Pop./

Sam was next, /Alice and I must have checked close to a hundred
trucks before we found one. The one we found wasn't on an
interstate. It was on US 40, the Baltimore Turnpike, between DC
and Baltimore. We'll get rid of it the same way./

Lara replied, /Mike and I found two. One headed for the bay area
and the other headed further north, maybe Seattle. We must have
checked two hundred between us. We'll do the same thing./

/Is that everyone?/

Sean replied, /We found one headed for Metropolis./

Jessie replied, /We found one headed for DC. It's taken care
of./

Celeste, Jimmy and Lucy all replied in the negative.

Clark sent, /I'd say this was a good night's work. Let's do it
again tomorrow night. In the meantime Mom and I will follow up
and see what effect we've had. The nice thing is that this
should be the last time we do it this way. From now on we can
stake out the border crossings to ID the trucks. There are a
limited number of border crossings and there are more than enough
of us to cover them./

The super family followed this procedure every night for a week,
then they started staking out the border crossings. They all
agreed that it was much more efficient. Some of the grandkids
wanted to help so their parents took them out and trained them.
Then they were able to share the burden of the searches.

While this was happening Clark and Lori monitored the club where
they had gotten the initial lead and made occasional trips to
Detroit.

***

In order to monitor conversations in the office a wireless mic
had been attached to the window frame for recording the
conversations. Most of the time there was nothing of any
consequence.

Finally after a week they got results on the drug interdiction.
When they listened to the recording, they heard.

(Voice 1) "We finally heard back from the cartel."

(Voice 2) "It's about time. Whadda they say?"

(Voice 1) "They claim that they sent the full shipment, five mil
worth and they expect their payment."

(Voice 2) "They gotta be kiddin'. What we got was sugar and
leaves and those sure don't look like pot. Did you tell them
that?"

(Voice 1) "Yeah, I toll them, but, they doan wanna hear it. They
claim they sent tha goods and they want their moola."

There was the sound of a door opening and closing and then a
third voice was added.

(Voice 3) "Jake, what is our status? Where do we stand on the
shipment?"

(Voice 1 Jake) "Hi Naomi. It doan look too good. We got nuthin.
We checked the stuff and what we got was sugar and cooking
herbs."

(Voice 3 Naomi) "Did you inform the cartel?"

(Voice 2 Rich) "Yeah, we let them know. They claim they sent the
real McCoy. According to them we're runnin' a scam, tryin' to
get twice the product for the same money."

(Voice 1 Jake) "I think they're the ones runnin' the scam.
They're tryin' to get twice the money for the same amount of
product."

(Voice 3 Naomi) "Jake, I'll be the one to do the thinking. You
just do what I tell you to do."

(Voice 1 Jake) "Okay, whatever you say, Naomi. You're the
boss."

(Voice 3 Naomi) "Just keep that in mind and we'll continue to
get along. Personally, I think there is a third alternative. What
if the shipment was intercepted en route?"

(Voice 1 Jake) "Who would know about it?"

(Voice 3 Naomi) "One of the other distributors."

(Voice 1 Jake) "Yeah, why didn't I think of that?"

(Voice 3 Naomi) "Because you're not the brains of this outfit,
that's why. Just be quiet for a couple of minutes and let me
think."

(Voice 3 Naomi) "Okay, I figure it this way. If it isn't the
cartel stiffing us then one of the other distributors could be
trying to get twice the product for the same amount of cash.
Jake, you and Rich wait here. I'm going to call some of the
other distributors. I may be able to pick up something from the
conversation."

There was the sound of the door opening and closing again. There
was some small talk between the two, mostly grumbling about
dealing with the cartel.

They stopped the tape playback. Lori said, "Okay, so far we
have," she read off of a list she had made, "Naomi, who is
obviously the boss, Jake, who isn't too bright and Rich the
quiet one."

Clark hit play again. There was a bit of silence then suddenly
Naomi was back. Since the recorder was voice activated they
couldn't tell just how much time had elapsed.

(Voice 3 Naomi) "Okay, here's the story. We aren't the only
ones that got stiffed. I called ten other distributors. All
together there were five or six shipments that were bogus. We
won't know until tomorrow about number six. It is still in
transit. It seems like it only happened on the east and west
coasts. Shipments into Santa Fe, Boise, KC and Chicago made it
through. This begins to look like an orchestrated effort by
someone or some group to cause problems between us and the
cartel."

(Voice 1 Jake) "How could it have been done?"

(Voice 3 Naomi) "It would be ridiculously easy. Those idiot
truckers don't take any precautions with their trucks. They
aren't even sealed or locked. Anybody could let themselves in at
a fuel stop or rest area while they are asleep."

(Voice 2 Rich) "What are we gonna do 'bout it?"

(Voice 3 Naomi) "First I'm going to notify the cartel exactly
what has happened. Then I'm going to make arrangements for a new
shipment. I am going to specify that each truck, if it isn't
going to be sealed and locked, have at least two drivers so that
when they are stopped there is a guard on the trailer. I think
the cartel will understand since we aren't the only ones this
happened to."

(Voice 1 Jake) "How many shipments will they front us?"

(Voice 3 Naomi) "That's going to depend on how many make it
through. They don't expect every shipment to make it through,
but, if this continues they will have to find another means."

This was the first indication of just how effective they were
being. As soon as they had listened to the recording Clark called
a meeting. As soon as everyone was gathered he started, "Okay,
we've hit them and we've hit them hard. According to our group
each shipment was worth about five million dollars. The first
night we prevented about thirty million dollars in drugs from
hitting the streets and that figure has been growing ever since.
The problem is that now they are wise to us. They've figured out
how we are doing it so we need to change our tactics. They are
going to be guarding the trucks at stops now, so, we will have to
hit them while they move. There should be another shipment within
the next couple of days. Let's be on the lookout."

***

The family followed this procedure every few days for several
weeks. They intercepted almost a half billion dollars in drugs
preventing them from hitting the streets. The problem was that
this was requiring a lot of time and effort. They didn't know
just how long they would be able to keep up this level of effort.
In addition to this, in between the drug interdiction flights,
Lori and Clark worked on the protection racket in Detroit.

***

Chapter 7 -- Infiltrating the Rackets

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

The Monday following the first week's drug interdictions Lori
and Clark decided to let the kids handle that task while they
took a few days to pursue other phases of the problem.

They discussed what they would do until Wednesday when the
protection money pickup would be refused. Clark said, "Okay, we
have a start on protection and drugs. I think we can hit gambling
tonight. Do you feel lucky?"

Thinking about the times as Lois she had played poker with the
guys, she smiled with confidence. No one could out-bluff her.
Lori started to laugh as she said, "I was always good at poker.
I'm sure you remember those games we had at the Planet with
Perry. Well, now, with my superhearing, I can hear the heartbeats
of my opponents. I always could tell a bluff a mile off, now
I'll be even better."

Clark replied, "Much as I hate to admit it, I've never been
really good at poker. Of course, I never used my powers when I
played. I was tempted a time or two, but I just couldn't bring
myself to use that advantage. This is different. Being able to
read their cards and knowing what their hands are should help.
Why don't we double team them? You can be there as my good luck
charm and you could feed me your impressions of the strength of
their hands. Between what I can see and your impression we can't
miss."

"We'll need some seed money."

"Since we can't miss let's pull out some savings. Five
thousand should be sufficient to get us started. It won't take
too long until we are playing with their money."

***

It was a warm August night, so that evening Lori put on a slinky
backless evening gown in silver with sequins all over it so that
it sparkled as she moved. The dress was floor length with a slit
up the left side to mid thigh. She paired this with diamond
earrings and a flashy bracelet, ring and necklace. She grabbed a
fur stole to drape across her shoulders. Clark dressed in a black
suit with a charcoal gray shirt with a black tie and dark
glasses. He spun into the Suit and picking up Lori, they took off
from the back yard for Detroit. They landed in an alley; he spun
into his disguise and arm in arm they left the alley looking for
a club. Clark was planning to use his hearing and vision to find
a gambling establishment. They were strolling arm in arm through
a well-to-do section of the theater district when Clark found
what they were looking for.

They climbed the steps up to the entrance and were accosted by
two security guards. The guards were dressed in nice suits and
not uniforms because this was a high class establishment. The one
asked, "Where's your pass?"

Trying to sound bored, Clark replied, "I'm afraid I don't have
one. We just got into town and were looking for some
entertainment. Thought I'd try my luck. Vegas can get so ...
boring. I heard that this was where the action is. Perhaps I was
mistaken." Clark turned to Lori and said, "Come my dear,
perhaps we can find some decent action, elsewhere." She threw
her stole over one shoulder carelessly and put her arm back
around his as they started to turn away.

The guard said, "Wait a minute. Maybe we can arrange a temporary
pass. Let's see your green."

Clark reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a
billfold which he opened to display a stack of hundred dollar
bills.

The guard reached out and took a 'C' note and said, "Your
temporary pass is in effect as of now." Stepping back he opened
the door for them. He entered right behind them and stepped
around them to lead the way to the back where the gaming was
located.

Before they moved away from the door however, he frisked Clark to
make sure he wasn't armed. The guard took one look at the
formfitting dress that Lori was wearing and decided that there
was nowhere for her to hide anything. Her clutch purse was too
small to really hold anything, but to his surprise, without his
asking she flipped the catch and opened it for his perusal. All
he saw was a gold toned compact, a tube of lipstick and a hanky.
What he didn't see was the hidden pocket within which, in its
form fitted padded compartment, was her .380 automatic. After
glancing into her clutch he took another look. To him she simply
looked like arm candy. And that one look told him what nice candy
she was.

The guard opened the door at the back they entered and strolled
around looking at what was offered. Clark was planning on playing
Black Jack or poker. Lori sent, /The poker table is over there to
the right./

In a leisurely fashion they strolled in that direction and just
as they arrived one of the players got up. Clark indicated the
empty seat and asked the dealer, "Open?"

The dealer nodded, so Clark sat down with Lori standing behind
him. He asked, "What are the stakes?"

"Five hundred ante and a thousand limit on raises."

Clark threw in his ante and the dealer started the deal. Clark
pulled a pair of sevens and when it came to him he checked.

The guy two down opened with five hundred. Clark looked and saw a
possible straight. When it came around to him he saw his bet. He
discarded two and drew a third seven. He checked the guy that had
opened and saw a busted straight but he still raised. Lori sent,
/He's bluffing./

Clark replied, /I know. He missed his straight./

At this point, since everyone had covered the initial raise the
pot was over six thousand dollars. The two to his right dropped.
Clark saw the bet and raised five hundred. The next two dropped.
The guy with the busted straight decided to drop as well and
Clark raked in the pot.

Lori draped herself across Clark's shoulders and kissed the side
of his face.

The evening progressed like that for several hours. Once they had
a good stake they put their original five thousand away and moved
over to Black Jack.

By x-raying the cards he knew when to hit and when to stop and
managed to win deal after deal. He thought to Lori, /The deal is
rigged. I can 'see' through the rigged deal though. I won't
bust when they expect me to./ When a new shoe was brought out he
was able to cut the stack to his advantage and immediately won
the first five hands. By the time they decided to call it a night
they had one hundred and eighty thousand of the house's money as
well as their own five thousand. Clark sent, /This will reimburse
us for the expense of the sugar and herbs. It will even give us
some money to flash around in the other operations if we need
it./

Lori sent back, /Seed money. It's a shame that we can't do this
for a living. We'd be rolling in dough./

As they were starting to move toward the door a security guard
got in their way and said, "The boss would like to speak with
you. This way please."

Clark sent, /Looks like we struck a nerve./

Lori returned, /One hundred and eighty thousand dollars worth of
nerve. I have my .380 in my purse. Here's where we establish our
bona fides./

They were ushered into an office. Lori was carelessly dragging
her stole from the hand that was also holding her purse, her
other arm through Clark's. There was a well dressed gentleman
sitting behind a desk. As soon as the door was closed he
addressed them. "I'm Buzz McCracken and I run this place. You
had quite a string of luck this evening. Somehow, I don't think
it was luck. I don't know how, but I think you were cheating. In
view of this I think you need to return the money and also
whatever you came in here with." As he was speaking the toughs
on either side of him behind the desk ostentatiously reached
inside their jackets to where shoulder holsters would be
located.

Clark sent, /Ready?/

Lori responded, /Sure am. Let me at them./ Lori threw her stole
over her left shoulder and opened her clutch purse. The toughs
both reached deeper into their jackets. Nonchalantly she pulled
out her compact and opening it, looked at herself in the mirror
and powdered her nose. She took her time doing it making it look
like she hadn't a worry in the world. After applying the powder
she reexamined herself in the mirror before closing her compact.
As she was doing all of this the toughs relaxed.

Clark said, "Well, Buzz, I don't think so. You can't prove
that I was cheating any more than I can prove you were."

Buzz said, "I don't need to prove it. I just have to suspect
it. Turn over the money ... now. Or do we have to get rough?"

Clark laughed, "Rough? Buzz, are you sure you want to do this?
You really don't know who you're up against."

Lori was putting her compact back in her purse as Buzz raised his
hand. As he did, both thugs drew their firearms.

Lori had her hand inside her purse and had the butt of her .380
automatic clutched in her hand. There were two muffled reports,
BLAM, BLAM. She used just enough superspeed to snap off two
shots, each of which impacted the barrels of the guns in the
tough's hands, knocking them out of their grips.

After shooting the guns out of their hands she pulled her gun out
of her clutch. She held the clutch up and putting her other hand
in, stuck her finger out through the hole and said, "Darn,
ruined another one." She hadn't been fast enough so that they
would tumble to the superspeed but fast enough to accomplish her
ends. With the gun now visible in her hand she lined up on Buzz
who put his hands up.

Clark said, "Sorry about the purse, Wanda."

She replied, "It's okay, Charlie, replacing it won't even put
a dent in the haul we made tonight."

Buzz said, "That's some fancy shooting." He turned to Charlie
and asked, "Okay, what do you want?"

Clark replied, "Not much, just your whole operation. I figure
this one eighty thou is a good start."

Buzz replied, "That ain't happenin'."

Clark said, "We'll see about that," as he and Lori started
backing out of the office. Buzz started to reach for his intercom
and BLAM, Lori snapped off another shot which took out his
intercom before he had a chance to hit a switch.

They exited the office, Lori tucked away her gun and they were
immediately accosted by two more toughs that had been attracted
by the gunfire. Clark dealt with them by using Karate, knocking
both of them out before he and Lori calmly exited.

As soon as they were outside they rounded the corner of the
building and Clark spun into his uniform. Wrapping her up in his
cape he picked Lori up and took off, straight up. At five hundred
feet he came to a hover. They watched as the toughs came boiling
out of the building like fire ants after an animal that had
stepped on the mound. A group actually followed the right path
into the alley and they were disappointed when they came up
empty.

Chuckling, Clark said, "I'd say that this evening was something
of a success. Shall we go home?"

Lori turned so that she was facing him and put her arms around
his neck as she gave him a kiss. She asked, "Did I tell you how
good you look in black?"

Not needing any further incentive, Clark shaped his course for
home and a few minutes later they were landing in their own back
yard. Clark spun back into his undercover outfit and they started
for the house.

After they moved into the bedroom Lori stepped up to Clark and
putting her arms up around his neck, initiated another kiss.

As she did Clark's hands found the zipper at the back of her
dress and he lowered it all the way to her waist which was only a
few inches as it was a backless dress. As she stepped back she
peeled the dress off her shoulders and allowed it to pool on the
floor at her feet. Standing there in her thong and hose she
reached up and started to undo his tie. Once she had that off she
started to unbutton his shirt. Finding only flesh beneath instead
of spandex she pushed both hands inside and started tracing his
chest with her fingertips with a dreamy expression on her face as
she did so. It only took a couple of seconds of this to get her
juices flowing and she started moving faster as she divested him
of his shirt. Once she had him naked to the waist she moved in
and putting her arms around his neck started rubbing her breasts
back and forth across his chest. Since she was wearing a thong
when he reached down he was able to take her bare cheeks in his
hands. He was surprised and she giggled at his response. She
said, "In that dress I didn't want to show a panty line." It
only took a few more seconds of this before he threw her on the
bed and started to peel her thong and hose from her body. When
this was done since her feet were the last part of her that he
touched he started to massage them and suck on and lick her toes.
It wasn't long before her hips were moving of their own accord
and she started to moan with desire.

They then had a period of marital intimacy.

***

Chapter 8 -- Taking Over the Rackets

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

On Wednesday they returned to Detroit. This time Clark was
dressed in a leather jacket and jeans. Lori was dressed in a
short skirt and a bolero top with knee high boots. They returned
to the cafe that they had been in the week before. They saw the
pickup guy when he arrived and watched as he entered O'Brien's
Flowers. When he came out he had an angry look on his face. They
exited the cafe and headed for Frank's Corner Market which would
be the pickup guy's last stop on this block. They went in and
reassured Frank that things were going according to schedule and
faded into the background. When the pickup guy came in he went up
to Frank and said, "Okay Frank, do you have your
subscription?"

Frank started to reply, "Sorry, I've ..."

He interrupted, "You've subscribed with another service
provider, is that it?"

Frank said, "Well, you see ..."

Just then Clark stepped up to the pickup guy and said, "Yeah,
all of the businesses around here have subscribed with another
company. We plan to sell our services to a lot more of your
customers as well."

The pickup guy stuttered, "Y, you? You're the one selling them
protection?"

"What are you, deaf as well as dumb? I said that they were
subscribed with my company. They don't need you anymore. You can
tell your boss that Charlie and Wanda are taking over."

When the thug heard the names he got a shocked expression and
started to sweat. He said, "Charlie and Wanda? Are you the same
ones who ..."

"What? Visited Buzz the other night? Yeah, that would be us. You
can go back and tell Buzz that his days are numbered. As I told
him, we're taking over. Oh, I almost forgot, tell him for me
that his girls might as well stay home. We are going to move in
on the prostitution game and my girls will be taking over."

He was shaken. "You're going to move in on our prostitution
racket as well?"

Clark replied, "Yes we are. My lovely ladies are going to take
all of the prime clients and leave just the dregs for his
girls." He thought to Lori, /Looks like we've struck pay dirt!
Looks to me like Buzz is the local kingpin./

Lori thought back, /Sure sounds like it. I wonder what other
rackets they're into. There could be smuggling, kidnapping and
blackmail as well as drugs, protection, prostitution and
gambling./

/Let's follow him and see what other businesses he visits and we
can add them to our list for next week. The more we have the
sooner they will want to negotiate. I think we need to start a
surveillance of his establishment. Maybe we could bug his office,
that sure helped on our first case. I'm starting to wonder if
this organization might not be more complicated than it appears.
There appears to be a loose association, but, what if they all
are operating under a larger head the way Intergang did?/

/We'll have to follow through and see what we come up with./

/I wonder who that woman, Naomi, was./

/She seemed to be someone in charge and she had contacts all over
the country. She could be the local boss. She could be the boss
in Metropolis the way Buzz's is here./

/We'll have to keep an eye out for her to show up again./

***

The operation continued in this fashion for several weeks, slowly
removing customers from the clutches of the protection racket and
also interdicting the drugs.

It was becoming harder to get the drugs. They were finding fewer
and fewer trucks. It was possible that alternate routes were
being used so the super family spread a wider net. Still finding
fewer shipments the super family started interdicting those
headed into the Midwest.

Because of their efforts drug prices on the street were
skyrocketing, making it almost impossible for a lot of users to
make their buys. The clinics were being flooded with addicts
going through withdrawal symptoms. There was also a spike in
petty crime such as muggings and robberies. The family divided up
the cities on the east coast and started doing patrols, foiling
many of these.

Finally, after several weeks, on a pickup day in Detroit, one of
the customers that Lori and Clark had taken away from Buzz's
organization was asked to pass on a message. Buzz wanted a
meeting. Arrangements were made to meet out in the country, at an
abandoned farm. In order to prepare for the meeting the super
family brought in some furniture and cleaned up the area to make
it look occupied.

The disguise Lori chose to wear was designed to distract. Lori
put on a pair of hip rider 'Daisy Dukes' with an Amerindian
style metal link belt, western style boots and a midriff baring
cut off baggy t-shirt. The shirt only came down far enough to
cover the butt of her gun, exposing her abs and belly button. She
had a bra holster which clipped to her bra in the center, between
her breasts and held her gun, butt down. Its bulk was concealed
by the natural swell of her breasts and the likelihood of it
being found even if she were being frisked, which wasn't about
to be allowed, was significantly reduced by her attire. They
wouldn't believe her to be carrying a weapon. Clark was wearing
jeans a t-shirt and a leather vest.

Buzz drove up with his two enforcers. Clark signaled to them from
the barn door that they should join them there.

When they entered the barn, Clark called to them from the loft.

When they climbed the stairs they found a desk and some other
furniture. Lori was leaning against the sill of the loft doors,
which were open. As Buzz and his cronies arrived at the top step
they all gave Lori an appreciative stare.

As soon as they saw Lori the duo heard the heartbeats of the
gunsels accelerate. Clark sent, /I think they like what they see.
You are showing a lot of skin./

With a mental chuckle, She sent back, /I think it's because they
are afraid of me./

Buzz tried to get right down to business, "You really think you
can take over? Okay, you *are* picking up *some* of my customers.
There is still plenty there for both of us."

Clark said, "I don't think so. I've taken a lot of your
protection customers and I happen to know that your drug trade is
suffering. You are having a hard time holding on. I have other
resources than the cartel you are dealing with and I want them
all under one roof."

Lori and Clark could both hear the heartbeats of the goons pick
up even more. Lori stood and put her hands on her hips. She sent,
/I think they are getting ready to act./

Clark sent, /I agree, I think they are planning something./

She replied, /I'm ready./ She started to pout, in a sexy way and
brought her left hand up and put a finger in her mouth and sucked
on it as a distraction. The goons were both looking at her mouth
and what she was doing with her finger when Buzz gave the signal.
She was sliding her hand across her belly so that it was in
position to grab her gun.

The goons distracted by Lori, were slow to react. When they
finally started to move, Lori's hand was already under her
cutoff T and she had her gun in hand. As the goons started to
pull their firearms she pulled out her gun, getting the drop on
them and said, "Uh, un, boys. We could do this the easy way or
the hard way. It could be a repeat of the last time or you could
just drop them now."

Standing there dumbfounded, they goggled at the gun in her hand.
It was that same deadly looking little automatic she had used the
last time. It was unlike most automatics they were familiar with.
It was small like a .22 or a .25 caliber but looking down that
barrel it looked like a train tunnel by comparison. This was no
popgun; it had to be at least .38 caliber or 9mm. They just
couldn't believe what their eyes were telling them. Where had
that gun come from? Was this chick a magician or something? She
was standing there, practically naked and she was still packin'.
Deciding that they didn't care for a repeat of their last
encounter they both dropped their weapons.

With the tone one would use when talking to a three year old,
Clark said, "You know, Buzz, I gave you the benefit of the
doubt. I thought that nobody could be so stupid as to try the
same thing twice. I guess I was wrong. Frankly, you're too
stupid to be left in charge of the rackets here. When word of
this gets around, and I can assure you, it will get around;
you'll be laughed out of town. Now, here's the plan, you're
going to turn over control to me. I want all of your records.
Names, dates, amounts. In turn, I'll let you go. If you're a
good boy, all you'll do is lose control, if you know what I
mean."

Buzz looked over his shoulder at his goon squad and said, "What
good are you guys, letting one little girl take you down."

One of them said, "What was the use? She had the drop on us. The
way she can shoot, we didn't have no chance. I'd like to know
where she had that gun hidden."

Clark looked at them and said, "Are you guys looking for a new
boss?"

They both looked at Buzz and back at him and the leader said,
"Not anymore, we ain't."

Clark spoke to the two goons, "I want you to escort Buzz back to
his office. I'm sure Buzz will cooperate by showing you where
all of his records are. I want you to pack them up and bring them
here. This is the new office." He looked directly at Buzz as he
continued, "Buzz will give you both sets of books, won't you
Buzz? If you're a good boy and cooperate, I may even make a
place for you in the organization." Turning to the two goons
Clark said, "Your salary just went up."

Lori kept her gun in her hand and used it to indicate that the
two goons could pick up their weapons. They obediently bent down
and picked them up and put them away.

Smiling at this promise of higher pay the lead goon said, "Okay,
Buzz, let's get this over with."

Clark stopped them and said, "Remember, I don't want Buzz
harmed. He could be useful."

The lead goon said, "Gotcha boss, let's go Buzz."

After Buzz and the goons left Clark and Lori changed into their
normal clothes. Knowing that they were going into the local FBI
office, Lori left her gun hidden in the loft. They both spun into
their uniforms and Clark flew them to the local FBI field office.
They chose the FBI because there was less chance of agents being
on the gang's payroll and since they were dealing with a
multi-state organization, some of the crimes crossed state lines,
so they fell under FBI purview anyhow.

Spinning back into their working clothes, Clark and Lori appeared
at the local FBI office and identified themselves. At their
request they were taken immediately to the field director's
office and were introduced.

"Mr. Dickson, we are Lane and Kent, reporters with the Daily
Planet. We have been working undercover investigating the rackets
here in Detroit and we've managed to infiltrate their
organization. In a couple of hours the documents detailing all of
their activities are to be delivered to us. We'd like some
agents to be there to accept the documents when they are
delivered. The agents should look like they are members of
another gang to allay any suspicion in case they are spotted.
Once the documents have been turned over you will be free to make
the arrest, all we ask is the exclusive for our paper."

Mr. Dickson hit a switch on his intercom and said, "Davis, come
to my office. You've got to hear this." He turned back to Lori
and Clark and asked, "Whose gang is this?"

"The head of the gang is Buzz McCracken."

Mr. Dickson slapped his desk and said, "You've got the goods on
McCracken! We've wanted to nail him for a while now."

Just then Special Agent Davis entered the office. Mr. Dickson
said, "Hold on to your hat, Bob. These two," he indicated Lori
and Clark, "are about to hand McCracken to us on a silver
platter. I don't know how they did it, but, they've done
something we haven't been able to do." He turned back to Lori
and Clark and asked, "How did you do it?"

Lori spoke up, "We pretended to be representatives of a rival
gang that wanted to take over their action. The final concession
happened a little while ago. We won over some of his stooges and
they are bringing all of the documents and books to us." She
picked up a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote down an
address. Handing it to him she said, "The books and documents
are being delivered to this address in a little over an hour. Do
you think you can have some men there before they arrive?"

Mr. Dickson looked at the address and handed it to Agent Davis.
He said, "Bob, grab three or four agents and head out."

Clark said, "We're going to head back and get back into
costume. We'll meet you when you get there. There's space
behind the barn to park your cars. Once you are parked we will
position everyone in the barn."

Davis said, "Okay. We'll get there as quickly as we can." He
turned and exited the office to marshal his resources.

Clark and Lori left right behind him and finding an alley spun
into their uniforms and flew back to the farm.

Half an hour later the FBI agents arrived and Clark positioned
them in advantageous spots in the barn.

An hour later a car drove up and the two goons and Buzz exited.
They opened the trunk and removed the ledgers and other books as
well as a couple of computers and they carried it all into the
barn and up to the loft. While their arms were still occupied
Lori pulled her gun and Clark relieved them of their weapons. As
soon as Lori had the drop on them they started swearing and
complaining of a double cross.

Once they were relieved of their weapons, Clark called Agent
Davis. "Agent Davis, you can come out now. They have been
disarmed. You may take custody of them as well as all of the
evidence."

The FBI agents swarmed out of their hiding places and took
custody of the gang members.

McCracken addressed Clark, "What's with this double cross? You
just want us completely out of the way? Who are you really? What
syndicate are you with?" He turned to Agent Davis and said,
"These two came in and shot up my office. They run their own
rackets."

Agent Davis laughed and said, "Really? McCracken, you've been
had. These are a couple of reporters. They work for the Daily
Planet."

McCracken sputtered, "But, but, she's packin'!"

Lori reached into her back pocket and pulled out her concealed
carry permit and displayed it to Davis. He glanced over it and
said, "She's legal, which is probably more than I can say for
you and your cronies. Let's go. I can't wait to get you into a
cell. I'm sure all of these books and documents are going to
make interesting reading. The nice thing is I didn't even have
to get a warrant." He started chortling, "You handed the stuff
over of your own free will and there are ample witnesses to that
fact." He said to the other agents, "Get 'em outta here."

Lori and Clark did do some interviews of the field agents before
they left. Lori suggested that Davis look for a connection to the
group in Metropolis and they made arrangements for follow-up
interviews and story details and headed home.

When they got back to Metropolis they wrote up the story and gave
it to Frank with the stipulation that it be held until the FBI
completed the investigation and followed any links back to
Metropolis from Detroit.

***

Three days later there was a call from the local FBI office.
"Daily Planet, Clark Kent."

"Hello Kent, this is Special Agent John Gilly. I'm director of
the Metropolis Field Office. We just got a pile of information on
the local rackets which I was told you had a hand in delivering.
All you asked for was the exclusive. Well, we are going to do the
bust in about an hour. Do you want to be there?"

As the conversation had been going on Lori had drifted over and
perched on the corner of his desk. Clark winked at her and
replied, "We sure would! What time and where?"

Agent Gilly named the club that had given them their initial
lead. Clark said, "We'll meet you there." He hung up the phone
and smiled. He said, "Let's go wrap this story up."

Lori said, "It'll make Frank happy. Now we can publish."

They were there for the roundup which included the mysterious
Naomi who in fact was the boss here in Metropolis.

While the bust was going down Special Agent Gilly had been in
communication with the office. After it all went down, Gilly
pulled Lori and Clark aside and gave them some more information.
"Based on the information collected in Detroit we didn't just
bust this group. This was a synchronized operation. We've had
teams hitting all of the local headquarters at the same time.
Apparently three of them were warned. They cleared out before our
people got there. There was information in the files collected
from Buzz which compromised the operations in twelve cities
besides Detroit and Metropolis. We missed in Chicago, Atlanta and
Santa Fe."

After adding the new details to the initial story they filed it.

The news of the capture of the gangs was front page news for over
a week as more and more details were revealed and the Planet's
top reporting team was on top of it the entire time.

As a sidebar there was a note that the prices for illicit drugs
on the street had spiked. In some places they were ten times
normal.

When things were finally settling down, Clark flew Lori to Rome
for dinner to celebrate. When they arrived back home they settled
in the living room.

They settled on the couch and snuggled up together. Lori said,
"Well, another story, maybe another Kerth nomination. Will it
ever end?" She started to giggle.

Chuckling, Clark said, "I sincerely hope not!"

Looking up at him she asked, "Well, what do we do to top this
one?"

He replied, "I don't know. We might have to save the world."

"Well, I don't know about saving the world, but, right now I
want us to go upstairs and go to bed."

"Yeah, a good night's sleep will do wonders."

With an arched eyebrow and a wicked little grin she asked, "Who
said anything about sleep?"

The next thing she knew they were upstairs.

***

Chapter 9 -- A Romantic Dinner

March 2090

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

In November Elizabeth Lane and James E. B. Stuart were married in
the church that the Lanes attended in LA. It was a lovely
wedding. Lori was Liz's matron of honor and Clark was Jeb's
best man.

After the honeymoon, Liz moved to Metropolis and joined Jeb in
working for the Superman Foundation.

In January, after they had wrapped up the Detroit syndicate
story, Lori and Clark had gone in to see Jon for her check up as
she had been doing every six months since their wedding. This
time there was no question. Slowly her aura had been changing
color and this time it showed up as a rich wine purple.

Jon said, "Okay, Mom. Let's pull up the results from Lois'
tests and compare them." He hit a few keys and brought up the
stored data. Doing a side by side comparison it was evident that
the color of Lori's aura matched that of Lois when she was first
pregnant with Jon. Jon pointed to the screen and said, "I don't
know, but to my eye, the colors look identical. I'd say that at
this point the physiological changes have progressed to the point
that you can have children."

Lori looked at Clark and said, "That confirms what we already
discovered. The changes have reached the point where the pendant
now has given me all of your powers." She turned to Jon and
said, "Thanks, Sweetie." She moved over and gave him a hug and
a kiss.

Jon said, "You're welcome, Mom." All of the kids had gotten
into the habit of calling Lori Mom when it was only family
around. If they were in public since they all looked like
contemporaries, age-wise because of their Kryptonian physiology,
they called her Lori like she was a sister-in-law.

***

One month later

***

Lori was pregnant, she was sure of it. Wearing the pendant kept
her from feeling the nausea and all of the other early signs,
but, she had been tracking her cycle and she knew that she had
missed. It had to have happened after they finished working on
the Detroit rackets story.

Clark was out on a rescue and Lori was scheduled to meet with a
source so she left a little early and stopped at a drug store to
pick up a home test kit. These kits had been improving over the
years and there was very little question, if it indicated a
pregnancy, you could be sure you were pregnant. Before she was
scheduled to meet her source she stopped in a ladies room and
used the tester. Sure enough, that test confirmed what she
already knew. She couldn't wait to tell Clark, but she wanted to
do it the right way. In the past, her first pregnancy had come as
a total surprise. Sam, their youngest, had been conceived on her
birthday many years ago. This was going to be the first of the
next generation. She was determined that this time, if it was a
boy, his name would be Clark Junior.

After meeting her source and getting the low down on the latest
city government corruption story she headed back to the Planet.
Clark was there when she returned and he was typing up the story
on the latest Superman rescue. She walked over and perched on the
corner of his desk. Today she had dressed in a rather long skirt.
It reached all the way to her ankles but it was a wrap skirt and
when she sat on the corner of his desk and crossed her legs,
which she did slowly and sensuously, the skirt fell open at the
slit revealing her leg almost all the way to the hip.

So engrossed was he in what he was doing, Clark hadn't noticed
Lori's approach. When he didn't immediately react, Lori felt a
flash of disappointment. She had gone to all of this effort to be
sexy and seductive and he hadn't even noticed. It wasn't until
she addressed him that Clark stopped typing and looked at her.
She decided to forgive him when he did, because his reaction was
all that she had hoped for. His mouth opened in a gasp and all he
could do was sit there looking at this very shapely leg display
and enjoy the view. Lori leaned in and stroked the side of his
face in that special way that they shared and then, cupping his
chin, lifted his head and face to look at her. She asked, "How
did it go? What was the emergency?"

He swallowed and replied, "It was a capsized sailboat about ten
miles out." He pulled back slightly so that he had a nice view
of her legs again before continuing, "After I righted the craft
and made sure it was seaworthy I picked up the crew, which turned
out to be a family, and put them back aboard. I pushed them in
and helped them to a mooring in a slip at the marina in Hobbs
Bay." His eyes traveled from her legs, taking in her whole form
before finally reaching her face again as he concluded, "They
got wet, but, no one was harmed."

Lori said, "I'm glad to hear that." She looked around to make
sure that there wasn't anyone within earshot and then leaned in
and said with a conspiratorial tone, "I want to give my flight
power a real tryout. What say we go to Paris for dinner?"

He whispered back, "Are you sure you're ready for that long a
flight?"

She replied, "No, but, you'll be there to catch me if there's
a problem. Come on, be a sport. Nothing ventured, nothing
gained."

He chuckled and said, "When could I refuse you anything? Okay,"
he switched to a whisper, "dinner in Paris it is."

As she slid down off of his desk she had a Mona Lisa smile. So
far so good. Her plan was to tell about the pregnancy while they
were finishing a romantic dinner. She moved over to her own desk
and typed up her notes from the meeting she had had with her
source in city government. It was already late in the day when
this exchange had occurred so it wasn't too long till they were
ready to quit and head to dinner.

When it was time to leave they both locked their work stations
and Lori picking up her bag, they headed for the elevator. They
took the elevator to the basement garage and moved over to
Lori's Jeep. Lori unlocked the car and they got in and drove
home. On the drive she asked, "Do you have any favorite places
in Paris?"

"There's this little sidewalk cafe on the left bank of the
Seine. They serve a Boeuf a la Bourguignonne that is to die
for."

Lori said, "My mouth is watering already. I can't wait."

When they got home they both dressed for the occasion and then
spun into their uniforms. They took off from the back yard where
the trees gave them some privacy. First they went straight up
until they were out of sight from the ground and then they headed
east. It didn't take all that long to reach Paris and Lori's
powers didn't falter in the slightest. She was smiling in
triumph as they landed in a park behind a screen of bushes. They
spun back into their dinner clothes and strolled to the cafe that
Clark had mentioned. It was a balmy evening in Paris and the
atmosphere was perfectly romantic with La Tour Eiffel in the
distance and the Seine nearby. The candle flickered in the light
breeze as they had their Boeuf a la Bourguignonne. For dessert
Clark suggested a Chocolate Souffle and was surprised when Lori
opted for a raspberry crepe instead.

As they were eating their dessert Lori asked, "Do you know why
I'm having the crepe instead of the Souffle?"

With his tongue obviously planted firmly in cheek Clark replied,
"You're getting tired of chocolate."

She gave him a look of disbelief before saying, "As if that
would ever happen. Guess again and this time, be serious."

Clark replied, "Was the rest of the meal too rich for you?"

She tried again, "I had something to tell you and I decided to
just give you a clue so that you could figure it out on your own.
I want you to think back. What is the only reason that I would
willingly give up chocolate?"

With a look of dawning comprehension which turned to pure joy, he
asked, "Are you ..."

With a grin so big it threatened to split her face she said,
"Yes!"

A herd of elephants couldn't have kept him in his seat. He
sprang up and knelt by her side taking her hand in his. He pulled
her hand to his lips and kissed it. Then he stood and pulled her
up into an embrace and kissed her soundly.

When he broke from the kiss he looked around and the other
patrons were all looking at them. Still holding her he said to
them, "We're having a baby!"

The other patrons started to clap.

Clark called over the waiter and said, "A glass of wine for
everyone." When the wine had been distributed he said, "To
babies," and lifted his glass in toast. Lori lifted her glass of
Perrier as her toast.

After he was seated again Lori softly said, "I need to set up an
appointment with Jessie when we get back."

Clark said, "Wow, yeah, she's going to be your OB of course.
She'll have the privilege of delivering her baby brother or
sister."

She said, "If this is a boy, I want to name him Clark Junior."

Leaning back in his chair and giving her an ornery look Clark
said, "Okay, but, if it's a girl, I want her named Lois."

Lori laughed, "Tit for tat. Okay, if that's what you want. Lois
it will be."

Clark paid the check and they exited and took a stroll along the
Seine, occasionally stopping to watch the barge traffic.

Finding a rather secluded area under a bridge they spun into
their uniforms and took off for home with Lori flying under her
own power.

***

The next day Clark called a family council for 7:30 that evening.
When everyone had arrived they all gathered in the spacious
living room, which was becoming increasingly crowded as the
family grew.

Clark started things off. "We have a number of things to
discuss. Jon, why don't you fill us in on your progress on the
antidote?"

Jon stood up and said, "Sean, Jessie and I have been working on
that ever since they got their MDs. I still don't see any
possibilities along the line of an antidote. If it were like an
infection there might just be a possibility, but, this problem is
one of radiation. It increasingly looks like the only antidote is
avoidance, either by disposal of any sample we come across or
just steering clear. At least we have empirical evidence that the
spouses, presumably because they were originally Earth human, are
not affected and continue to be immune even when their physiology
has been modified by exposure to the Kryptonian aura. They
continue, through the use of the Star Sapphire Kryptonite/red
Kryptonite pendants, to have their powers and their powers are
unaffected even during exposure. At this point I would suggest
that if any of us come into contact with green Kryptonite -- call
in the 'reserves' and let your spouse handle the Kryptonite.
The use of the sauna room is effective in facilitating the
recovery process. We used it with Pop after he had that encounter
with the robot."

Clark said, "Thanks Jon. What are we going to do with those
samples currently in storage?"

Jon replied, "Already taken care of. Jen came in and helped me
remove them all from storage. First we sealed all of the
containers with our heat vision so that there wouldn't be any
leakage then we took them up and launched them all out of the
system. My suggestion would be that if any of us encounter any
Kryptonite and have to call in the reserves that they don't even
bother to wait until they have a lead enclosure, just throw it up
high and fast in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the
ecliptic so that it goes out of the system and not into the
sun."

Clark said, "Well, so far we have been able to keep the powers
of our spouses our secret, but, it may be time for them to come
out into the open. Lara has been covering LA. Mike, do you want
to come out in the open and start helping? By the way, I liked
your uniform. Teal blue suits you."

Mike started to laugh, "Yeah, we had all talked it over and
decided that we would keep the same color schemes within family
groups, but, I couldn't feature a pink cape like Lara's so I
stuck with teal for everything."

Clark, with a chuckle, said, "No arguments out of me on that.
I'm just glad that my Suit came first. If it had been Lois I
would have died of embarrassment if my Mom had tried to set me up
with a pink outfit to match hers. Who would have taken me
seriously? Have you chosen a name?"

Mike replied, "No, not as yet. I'll have to wait and see what
strikes me."

Taking the floor again, Clark said, "Lori has something for us,
Lori."

Standing up Lori said, "Well, I guess the simplest way to do
this is to ask. Jessie, when can I come in for an office
visit?"

Pandemonium broke out. All of the girls mobbed Lori and took her
off to another room.

The guys all stood there mystified, looking at each other with
questioning expressions. After a couple of minutes Clark took
pity on them and said, "Guys, Jessie's the Obstetrician in the
family." He gave that a few seconds and then added, "Guys, this
isn't a routine office visit, we're expecting!"

Now that he had told them plainly, they all understood and all
gathered around to congratulate Clark.

***

When Lori went in to visit Jessie it was determined that there
were no problems and that on the next visit they would do an
ultrasound to check on progress.

Jessie said, "Well, Mom, you remember the drill. Go easy on the
alcohol and caffeine. Even though there is a lot of caffeine in
chocolate, just go easy on it. Next month we should be able to
tell if it's going to be a boy or a girl. What are you hoping
for?"

"Well at this point it's evenly split between boys and girls.
Neither of us cares what it is as long as it's healthy. We did
decide that if it's a boy he'll be named Clark Junior and if
it's a girl she'll be named Lois."

***

Clark went with Lori when she went for her next appointment.

Jessie's assistant, who just happened to be Maria, Jon Kent's
eldest daughter and therefore Lori's granddaughter, prepared her
Grams for the ultrasound. A minute later Jessie came in and said,
"Okay, let's just see what we can see." She took the emitter
and applied the gel and started running it over Lori's lower
abdomen. The picture was displayed on a monitor as she did this.
When she found the baby she moved the emitter around to get
different angles. She was speaking as she was doing this, "Okay,
it looks like we are right on track. I'd say we are at about ten
weeks. Let's see ... ahh ... there ... there we are ... yep ...
I guess you're going to be using the name ... Clark Junior.
Congratulations Mom, it's a boy."

Lori had been holding Clark's hand the entire time the procedure
had been underway and she squeezed his hand when Jessie gave her
determination. She looked at Clark and said, "I just knew it
would be a boy."

Clark looked at Jessie and Maria and said, "Let's keep this a
secret, okay? We want to tell everybody ourselves."

Chuckling, Jessie said, "Don't wait too long. I don't know how
long I'll be able to keep this a secret." She leaned down and
gave Lori a hug.

Maria started cleaning Lori up and a few minutes later they left
the office.

That Friday Clark called a family conference. When everyone had
been gathered he said, "You're all probably wondering why we
called you all together. We have an announcement to make."

Lori took over and said, "The next generation is on the way and
will be started with a boy. We've decided to name him Clark
Junior.

A cheer went up and all gathered around to congratulate Lori and
Clark.

***

Chapter 10 -- CJ

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Lori was into her fifth month and her baby bump had made her
retire her Ultra Woman outfit. Ultra Woman being pregnant at the
same time as Lori Kent could potentially compromise their secret.
They could foresee a time when there would no longer be a need of
their secret identities, but, that time had not come as yet.

She just couldn't get over Clark. She could remember when as
Lois, she was pregnant he had been so careful of her, seeing to
her every need and making sure that she didn't place herself
into any unnecessarily risky positions. She looked over at him at
his desk and started to smile. He was still the same way. <He's
such a dear. I guess old habits are hard to break. He needs to
realize that I may be pregnant, but, I'm still super and nobody,
but, nobody is going to harm me or this child. Especially now,
not only am I super, but, I have the whole clan looking out for
me. If for some reason Clark isn't around, there's always one
of the kids or one of their spouses around and they're always
looking out for me. I *think* it's a *conspiracy*! Clark *must*
have put them up to it! I really don't know why. What does he
think I'm going to do anyhow? I'm not about to take on any
super robots like we did some time ago and even if I did, the
Kryptonite wouldn't affect me! Oh, *wait* a minute, the *baby*!
The Kryptonite *could* harm the *baby*. Yeah, I'd better not do
something stupid like that. I *really* don't want to hurt the
baby. Maybe it is a good thing they are looking out for me. They
could just keep me from doing something I really shouldn't do.
But, why am *I* so special? It has to be related to my being Lois
and *our* offspring are *more* Kryptonian than our *grandkids*
with the exception of Sam and Alice's since Alice is the only
other fully Kryptonian spouse. Since I'm now more than half
Kryptonian our children are more than three quarters Kryptonian.
Sometimes it feels a little smothering. Sometimes I just want to
put on the Suit and take off for a while, but, how much good
would that do. I might be able to go somewhere that they can't
see me, but, they can still 'talk' to me, I can't get away
from the telepathy.>

She got up from her desk and moved over to beside Clark's and
said, "I'm going to cover the Mayor's Press Conference. I
understand His Honor is going to be making an announcement about
some award for Superman and he's supposed to be there to accept
it. I'll see you back here afterwards."

Clark looked up at her and said, "Be careful out there. I won't
be there with you. Although, if you get into trouble all you'll
need to do is yell for Superman and he should be there, within
seconds."

Lori gave him a loving pat on the cheek and said, "I'll keep
that in mind. See you later." She turned to her desk and picked
up her bag which had her reporter's assistant as well as other
necessities as she headed for the elevator.

Once outside she hailed a cab. She was amazed at the rapidity
with which a cab pulled up. It didn't occur to her until the
cabby jumped out of the driver's seat and ran around to open the
door and assist her to enter the cab that the reason for the
solicitous attitude was her expectant condition. It registered in
the back of her mind that this could become useful, especially as
her condition advanced. It wasn't that she thought that she
needed special treatment, after all she was an extremely
competent reporter and business woman, but, her condition could
just give her an extra edge when she needed it.

When she arrived at the press conference she was early and as she
was being greeted by reporters from other papers who recognized
her, she used her condition to have the others make way for her
so that she could move to the front of the pack. Of course they
had good reason to recognize her, as Lois Lane she routinely beat
them out of big stories. She and her partner actually didn't
leave much of any consequence for them and that kept the Daily
Planet the premier paper on the planet.

Shortly after Lori reached the front of the pack where the
reporters were queued up for the press conference, Superman
landed and the mayor moved to the microphone, beginning his
statement.

Suddenly, Lori grabbed her abdomen because she started to feel
the baby within her womb writhing in pain and then she felt a
knife in her back.

She heard someone hiss in her ear, "The famous Lois Lane. We
have been looking for you and that pig of a partner of yours for
years. Praise Allah it has been my good fortune to be the one to
at last find you. Ever since the fatwa was issued against you we
have been searching. You brought dishonor on the name of the
prophet and now it is time for you to pay. I see that you are
expecting, even better, now your devil spawn will never see the
light of day. I may cut it out of your belly before I kill you so
that you can see it die. You will come with me. You will make no
sound or I will kill you immediately. Move toward the back of
this crowd, slowly." He prodded her in the back with the point
of the knife.

Lori was worried. The baby was still moving, causing her pain and
she didn't know why. She wasn't worried for her own safety
because she had her pendant securely hidden on her person so
there was no fear of losing her powers. Just to be on the safe
side she sent a thought to Clark, /"Clark, I'm being abducted
by a radical Muslim that says there is a fatwa out against us
because of that plot we busted up and there is a problem with the
baby. I can feel him moving. The Muslim has a knife in my
back."/ She sent all of this before she turned away to follow
his directions and saw Superman look up and scan the crowd.

Clark had been following her progress with his eyes and retained
a neutral expression. As he continued to watch, he sent to her,
/"When he has you away from the crowd I'll deal with him."/

The mayor was droning on and on about how much good Superman had
done for the city and how the city wished to honor its favorite
superhero. Watching the progress of Lori and her abductor,
Superman saw when they reached the outskirts of the crowd and
started moving toward an alley. He reached out and touched the
mayor's arm and said, "Excuse me for a minute Mr. Mayor. I have
something to deal with." Not waiting for His Honor to
acknowledge, he took off straight up and then arced down,
interposing himself between Lori and her abductor. Grabbing both
of his hands, Superman squeezed the wrist of his knife hand until
he dropped the knife. Even as he accomplished this he could feel
himself weakening. He sent a thought, /"Kryptonite! That must be
why there is a problem with the baby. I don't know how much
longer I'll be able to hold out. You need to help."/

The Muslim started spouting curses in Arabic and almost literally
foaming at the mouth he was so angry and frustrated that he had
been foiled.

When Lori had stepped away the baby had settled down. Immediately
after receiving his thought Lori x-rayed the Arab and found an
explosive vest under his jacket. Lori sent, /"He's wearing a
bomb."/ There were overtones of fear and worry in the rest of
her communication, /"You've got to keep him from triggering
that bomb! That Kryptonite would be sent right into you. I have
to disarm that bomb!"/

The Arab could see that Superman was weakening and started
struggling that much more. He was trying to reach his detonator
switch.

Clark sent, /"What about the baby?"/

/"I'll just have to be quick."/

Aloud she said, "I need to open his coat so that I can de-vest
him. Apparently he was going to try to kill a number of people at
the Press Conference, possibly even the Mayor himself, but I
think you were the primary target."

Moving as quickly as she could without giving away the fact that
she was super powered now and also wanting to minimize the
baby's exposure, Lori used her x-ray vision and ripped the
bomber's coat open. Quickly she pulled the blasting caps out of
the explosives and severed the wires from the trigger.

She sent, /"Okay, we're over that hurdle. At least now he
can't trigger the explosives. We still need to deal with that
Kryptonite though."/ After disarming the explosives she reached
into her bag and came up with a Swiss Army Knife which she used
to carefully cut the shoulders and front of the bomb vest so that
she could remove it. Once it was removed, as quickly as she could
she moved the vest away from Clark. The further she got the less
Clark was affected by the Kryptonite.

The baby within Lori was still writhing as she examined the vest
and found pellets of Kryptonite strapped to one of the explosive
charges. The design was such that they would have been propelled
like shrapnel by the detonation of the explosive. If the bomber
had been close to Superman at the time, it might have killed
him.

She ripped the offending mineral out of the vest and since she
was around a corner and out of sight she hurled it as hard as she
could up and out of the atmosphere. Immediately, the baby settled
down and stopped moving any more than normal.

Once this had been done she walked back around the corner and
checked on Clark. He appeared to be back to full strength so she
touched her earphone and heard, "Say a command."

She said, "Call Homeland Security." This was another number she
had pre-programmed when she had gotten the Reporter's Assistant,
just in case. When the call was answered she heard, "Homeland
Security. How may I direct your call?"

She said, "Mr. Jacobs please."

She heard, "Hold, please."

A few seconds later she heard, "Homeland Security, Tom Jacobs,
how may I help you?"

Lori said, "Hello Mr. Jacobs, this is Lori Lane. My partner and
I helped you a few years ago on that Muslim terrorist nuclear
bombing."

"Ah, yes, Ms. Lane. What can I do for you?"

"I hate to say it, but, I've got another one for you. I was at
the Mayor's Press Conference and he tried to abduct me at knife
point."

"Well, Ms. Lane that would seem to me to fall into MPD's
bailiwick, not Homeland Security."

Smugly, Lori replied, "That might have been the case if that was
all there was to it, you see, he had a bomb vest strapped to his
body. He was apparently going to martyr himself at the press
conference."

She heard him gasp and ask, "Where are you?"

"Corner of Tenth and Shuster. Superman has him in custody
waiting for you to take charge."

"I'll be right there with a squad. Give me five minutes."

Lori replied, "We're not going anywhere." She touched her
earphone to hang up and touched it again and heard, "Say a
command." She said, "Call Twelfth Precinct."

When it was answered he heard, "Twelfth Precinct, Sergeant
Vincent."

Lori said, "Sgt. Vincent, this is Lois Lane. Could you put me
through to Inspector Cardona?"

She heard back, "Hold on." There were a series of clicks and
then she heard, "Cardona here."

"Inspector Cardona, this is Lois Lane. You may want to check on
your security at the Mayor's Press Conference. Superman just
apprehended a radical Muslim terrorist bomber. He caught him
before he had a chance to martyr himself, but there may be
others."

She heard back, "I'm on it," followed by a click as the
connection was severed.

A few seconds later they could see the police officers at the
press conference forcing everyone back away from the podium and
stand, and another group moving all of the dignitaries into the
building. Additional police seemed to be coming out of the
woodwork, so to speak, and they started checking all of the
attendees. Fortunately it appeared as though the terrorist that
Superman had in custody was the only one.

It was actually less than five minutes after her call that Mr.
Jacobs and his squad drove up. They saw Superman and hurried over
to him. Lori asked, "Mind if I document this for the paper?"

All he could do was shake his head and say, "Sure, go ahead. Who
am I to stop you? It's your story, this time even more than the
last. How do you do it?"

Laughing, Lori said, "This time the story came to me. He must
have heard someone say my name. It appears as though there is a
fatwa out against me and my husband because of our involvement in
that other plot. He was trying to abduct me when Superman
intervened."

Mr. Jacobs said, "I'm glad that Superman was here again.
That's twice that I know of that he has saved you from something
like this."

Lori said, "Yes, Superman does always seem to be there whenever
I need him."

Mr. Jacobs noted her baby bump and said, "When you see Mr. Kent
tell him that I pass on my congratulations. Your first?"

Proudly, Lori said, "Yes, the first of many we hope. We want a
large family."

Clark, as Superman, had a hard time suppressing a proud smile at
her comment.

Mr. Jacobs' men had relieved Superman of his captive and had
taken the vest as evidence for the trial. Mr. Jacobs turned to
Superman and said, "Thanks again, Superman. If not for you,
there would have been a lot of people injured or killed here
today."

Now Clark could let the smile blossom. "It was my pleasure, Mr.
Jacobs. I definitely don't want anything to happen to Mrs. Kent
and especially her baby."

Lori giggled and said, "I got that. Can I quote you?" She took
a breath and smiled back at Superman, "Both of you?"

Superman smiled wider and said, "Sure, why not. Let the world
know I'm watching out for you and every innocent person that
others want to harm."

For his part, Mr. Jacobs chuckled and said, "Sure, why not?
It's the truth."

As his people hauled the terrorist away Mr. Jacobs said, "Well,
I guess we're done here. Are you sure you and your husband
don't want to change careers? After what you did for us before,
we could use you in Homeland Security."

Lori smiled and said, "Like I said last time, we'll keep your
offer in mind."

The next edition of the Planet carried the complete story of what
had occurred at the press conference, scooping the other papers.
The other papers carried what they knew, which wasn't much, and
what they could speculate about, which was a lot, as the reasons
for what had happened.

***

A few months later

***

Frank Edwards was amazed at how well Lori was handling her
pregnancy. Her condition didn't seem to slow her down at all.

As she was nearing her term he asked to see her and Clark in his
office. Her belly was so large that he was surprised that she
didn't practically waddle into his office. She seemed to be
light on her feet even at this advanced state.

When Frank called them into his office she had a good idea why.
She was getting near her term and he was probably worried.
Conversely, she could remember when she had been pregnant as Lois
and how it had been, without the powers. She silently thanked
Herb, almost every day, for the pendant. Being superpowered had
distinct advantages.

When they had entered the office and settled into chairs, Frank
asked, "Just how long do you plan to work? Don't you think that
you should, you know, take some time to rest and prepare?"

Lori looked at Clark and at his nod she answered. Knowing that
she needed to seem like any other woman, Lori replied, "I'm not
due for another month so I'll probably work a couple more weeks.
We have that story we're working on about the city manager but I
can work on that here in the office. If there is any field work,
Clark can handle it."

Frank said, "As long as you're comfortable with it, it's okay
with me. I'm glad to have you here as long as you feel up to
it."

***

Lori worked until Friday, October 13, 2090 which was two weeks
before her due date. On Tuesday, October 24 Lori had an urge to
give the whole house a thorough cleaning. Then she decided that
she didn't like the color of the nursery. Going to a paint store
she purchased three gallons of a periwinkle blue. She moved the
furniture to the center of the room, taped the ceiling corners
and molding and laid down a drop cloth. By Thursday, October 26th
she had the room done and the furniture back where it belonged.

That night Clark made dinner and after they ate they relaxed and
watched a movie. It was a holographic recreation of "Lethal
Weapon 3".

About 11 PM they went up to bed. At 1:30 Lori felt a flood of
warm water as her water broke and a heavy pressure on her hips as
her back began to expand. Fortunately, having been through this
eight times before, they had prepared the bed with a waterproof
sheet. She was gasping for breath as another contraction came.

She nudged Clark and said, "Wake up, Papa, it's time to head to
the hospital."

Clark was instantly awake and sent a thought, /"Jessie?!"/

The groggy reply came back, /"What?"/

He sent, /"Jessie, it's time."/

Jessie sent back, /"It's 1:30 A.M.. Take two aspirin and call
me in the morning."/

Frantic now, Clark sent, /"Jessie!"/

Jessie replied, /"Just a little doctor humor there, Pop. I'll
be at the hospital when you get there. Don't worry, there won't
be any problems. Remember, Mom's super now."/

They did the trip to the hospital the 'old fashioned' way, in
Lori's Jeep and shortly after they arrived, Lori was taken to
Labor and Delivery. Clark gowned and joined her as her labor
coach.

At 8 AM on October 27, 2090, Clark Jerome Kent Junior announced
his arrival by emitting some lusty cries when his sister gave him
a light swat on the bottom.

***

When the newest member of the Kent clan had been cleaned up,
weighed and measured, he had been swaddled and placed in Lori's
welcoming arms.

Lori immediately put him to her breast and he started to suckle.
Lori felt the first rush as her colostrum started to flow.

After a short time they were transferred to a room and the next
morning Clark took mother and son home.

***

Chapter 11 -- The Request

February 26, 2090

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Lori had been on maternity leave from the Planet for six weeks.
When she had returned to work she had placed CJ in the child care
facility on the second floor. She felt very comfortable with
this. After all, she had done his with each of his eight
siblings. With him being so close she could go down whenever she
needed to nurse him. The security was exceptional and she had
made sure that all of the children were on the access list.
Rarely a day passed that one or another of his siblings didn't
visit at some time of the day. The staff was very impressed with
all of the attention that this one child received, but, they were
happy to see the involvement of this large family knowing that
this child had a wonderful support system. As the Day Care
workers had come to know the family members they had found out
that there were quite a few doctors in the mix and occasionally
when one of them stopped in the staff would have questions about
their charges and the Kent family members were always happy to
give appropriate advice.

One evening about two months after Lori had returned to work they
were relaxing in the living room. Lori had just finished nursing
CJ and Clark was burping him when suddenly a thought intruded,
/"Kal-El, we need your help."/

Clark was startled and looked over at Lori. He asked, "Did you
hear that?"

Lori replied, "Yeah, I heard it. Who could have sent that
thought?"

"It obviously wasn't one of the kids. It has to be someone from
New Krypton. Let's see who." /"Who needs Kal-El?"/

The return thought carried along with the message a feeling of
relief, /"Kal, is that you? Thank Rao. This is Ching! I have
Zara here with me."/

Clark sent back, /"Ching, my old friend. How are you?"/

His reply was disturbing, /"I'm fine but we are in desperate
need of your help. New Krypton is under attack. We need your
leadership if we are to survive. Can you help us?"/

Clark sent, /"Where are you now?"/

Ching replied, /"We are in low Earth orbit, In a Lagrangian
point (1) over North America. You should be able to reach us
without any trouble. We would appreciate it if you would join us
for a council of war."/

Clark asked Lori, "Feel up to a flight up to low Earth orbit?"

Lori with some apprehension replied, "I've never flown that
high before." Then the excitement of the adventure took over and
she had a smile as she said, "Should be fun! We will need a
sitter. Let me call Lucy." She sent, /"Lucy?"/

She got back, /"Hi Mom! What's up?"/

She sent back, /"Is Teri free to babysit for CJ for a little
while?"/

/"Let me check."/ ... /"She just finished her homework so
she's free. How soon do you need her?"/

/"ASAP. We just got a call from Ching."/

/"I know. I think we all heard that call."/

/"Okay, so you know where we are going, up into orbit. I'm
looking forward to the trip."/

/"I'll bring Teri over right away. See you in a few
minutes."/

/"Thanks Luce. Tell her grandma really appreciates it."/

/"She said she knows and she's looking forward to having some
one-on-one time with CJ."/

Now that the arrangements had been made Clark sent, /"We will be
there shortly."/

Zara replied, /"Will Lois be with you?"/

Clark replied, /"Yes and No. Her name is Lori now. It's a long
story. We'll explain it to you when we get there."/

/"Should we send a pod down for you?"/

/"No, that won't be necessary. We'll come up under our own
power."/

The reply carried overtones of confusion, /"You'll both come up
under your own power? Will you be carrying Lois, uh, Lori?"/

/"No, she will fly herself. Again, we'll explain when we are
aboard. We will be departing shortly. Have an airlock open for
us."/

Lori got an amused smile on her face as this exchange went on.

/"Depressurizing now. The outer port will be open for you when
you arrive. Once inside hit the green button to close the outer
port and pressurize the airlock."/

/"Green button, got it. See you shortly."/

Clark finished burping CJ and laid him down in his crib.

A few minutes later Lucy and Teri arrived. After Lucy had spent a
few minutes with Clark, Lori and CJ, Lucy said her goodbyes and
returned home leaving Teri playing with CJ.

Lori told Teri, "I just fed CJ and papa burped him so he should
be good for quite a while. This shouldn't take too long but, if
we are gone longer than I expect, there's some breast milk in
the refrigerator already in bottles. Just warm it a bit. You know
where everything else is already."

Teri leaned in and picked up CJ and held him in her arms. "No
prob, Grams. CJ and me'll get along just fine, won't we CJ?
Wave, CJ." She picked up his arm and caused him to wave his
pudgy little hand.

Lori leaned in and kissed him, and then it was Clark's turn.
Teri said, "Don't worry about a thing Gramps. We got it
covered. Piece of cake. Go have some fun."

Clark couldn't help but laugh. His fifteen year old
granddaughter would soon be a supergirl and was so nonchalant
about her status as a member of the Kent clan that she was
refreshing. So many members of the family were overly serious at
the prospect. It was probably due to her mother's influence. As
a child psychologist, Lucy's kids were among the best adjusted,
self-confident and comfortable with just who they were of all the
Kent kids.

He turned to Lori and said, "Well, you heard her, let's go have
some fun."

They both spun into their uniforms and as they did Teri held CJ
so that he could watch. She provided a running commentary, "See
that CJ? See them spin! Ohhh look at the bright colors! Aren't
they pretty! Red and blue and yellow. That's Mommy and Daddy!
There they go!" She said this as Clark and Lori headed for the
door. "Say, Bye, Mommy and Daddy! Wave!"

Once Lori and Clark were out of the house they moved to the back
of the property where it was wooded and took off from there.

Clark sent to Lori, /"Okay. While we are still below 10,000
feet, take a deep breath and hold it."/ Then he projected to
Ching, /"We're airborne. We should be there in a matter of
minutes."/

They used their supervision to scan the heavens. As they gained
altitude Clark sent, /"Ching, can you flash some lights so that
we can get a fix on your position?"/

He got back, /"Starting rainbow flash."/

Suddenly, about thirty degrees to the left and twenty degrees
below they saw lights start to flash. They started as red and
moved through the rainbow spectrum through orange to yellow to
green and blue before returning back in reverse order before
starting over again.

They altered course and headed for the lights. As they got nearer
the actual size of the craft became apparent. It was huge. It was
larger than the ship that had been used when they had come to
Earth back in the 1990s. It took a minute to find the open
airlock but, find it they did and as soon as they were inside
Clark hit the green button. The outer hatch closed quickly and
they could feel the pressure build which was a comforting feeling
after the vacuum of space. It took a couple of minutes to bring
the pressure up to normal and they simply floated there until the
inner hatch opened. Ching was standing there with Zara to welcome
them aboard.

As soon as they floated through the port they were taken by
surprise as they entered the zone of artificial gravity and they
ceased to float and staggered as they dropped suddenly to the
floor. Embarrassed at being caught off guard like that, they each
had a chagrined expression as they caught themselves. Ching and
Clark gripped their right arms together in a forearm shake. Lori
took off her uniform mask and Zara said, "Lois, you're as
lovely as ever."

Lori laughed and said, "The name's Lori now. We'll explain
later."

Ching said, "Let's go to the salon. There are some people that
wish to welcome you. After that we can be comfortable there while
we discuss what brought us here."

Ching led the way through a labyrinth of corridors and a lift,
finally arriving near the center of the ship in a large lounge
area. Trey and several other members of the Council of Elders
were there to greet them. They all gave the closed fist striking
the chest salute as Kal-El entered. Even though he had chosen to
abdicate in favor of Zara and her chosen mate Lt. Ching, many of
the Elders still considered him the rightful ruler because he had
saved them from Nor's rule.

Clark returned the salute and then walked over and grasped
Trey's arm, asking, "How are you, my old friend?"

Trey relaxed and said, "I am fine, for an old man. It is good to
see you again, Lord Kal-El."

Clark performed the introduction, "Lord Trey, I'd like to
introduce Lori-El, my bond mate."

Trey had a quizzical expression as he asked, "Is this not the
same woman we met previously?"

Clark replied, "No, well, yes and no. Physically she is not the
same woman, however, memory wise she is. It's kind of hard to
explain."

Trey replied, "There is no need to explain. It is enough that
she is your bond mate." He turned to address Lori, "Lady
Lori-El, I am pleased to meet you, I just wish it were a happier
occasion." At Clark's quizzical look Trey turned to address him
and concluded, "I am confident that Lord Ching and the Lady Zara
will fill you in."

Trey turned to the other members of the Council and said, "We
have welcomed Lord Kal-El. Let us now leave so that Lady Zara and
Lord Ching can brief him on our difficulty." The members of the
council filed out and Ching, Zara, Lori and Clark settled on a
couple of couches facing each other.

Zara, her curiosity getting the best of her asked, "You said
that your name is Lori now. What did you mean by that?"

Lori replied, "I am not the woman that you met the last time.
That woman, Lois Lane, was the previous vessel of this soul. When
she passed away her soul took up residence in this body, but,
rest assured, I have all of her memories. To all intents and
purposes I am Lois Lane, but actually, I am more than Lois, I am
Lori. It's complicated."

Zara continued, "Obviously you are more than Lois Lane, you now
have Kal-El's powers. How is that possible?" Turning to Clark
she asked, "Have you found a way to duplicate your powers in the
Earth humans?"

Clark replied, "The answer to that question is no, we have not.
A very special form of Kryptonite was found by accident which
endows the Earth human mates of Kryptonians with the powers once
their bodies have been transformed by exposure to the Kryptonian
aura."

Lori pulled out her pendant for Zara to see as she said,
"Contained within this pendant is a fragment of a blue Star
Sapphire Kryptonite meteor and a fragment of a red Kryptonite
meteor. The red Kryptonite energizes the Star Sapphire Kryptonite
and that gives me the powers."

Turning to Clark, Zara asked, "Would that work for us under a
red sun?"

Clark replied, "We have no way to know. It would have to be
tried. We don't even know if Lori would have the powers under
those conditions. It has never been tested. I must admit to being
very curious. It isn't every day that you visit Earth. What is
the purpose of your visit?"

Ching spoke up, "Kal-El, we need your help. There is a great
probability that New Krypton is going to come under attack. We
were approached by a new space-faring race. They call themselves
'The People' as if they are the only ones that are people. They
consider all other races as inferior. So far we have encountered
only a scout ship but our long range detectors have detected a
fleet of ships in route. Even with our Kryptonian technology we
had a hard time defeating a single scout ship. After the
encounter we found that same scout ship severely damaged by a
collision with a small asteroid. The crew was all dead. We don't
know if they were able to notify their home base of how little we
were able to do to them. We have been a peaceful culture for so
many years that we have neglected the military. We were hoping
that you could come and give us the benefit of your knowledge of
Earth weapons and tactics. If we are incapable of defeating this
threat it is only a matter of time before they will be a threat
to Earth as well." After this introduction to the problem, Ching
went into greater detail, finally finishing up with, "There you
have it. We are unsure of exactly what we are facing, but, if our
worst fears are realized we are facing possible extinction."

Lori and Clark both had shocked expressions as they listened to
Ching. Clark was the first to speak, "How long do we have until
they are in close enough proximity of New Krypton to be a
threat?"

"If we were able to leave immediately we could be back at New
Krypton in time to have a New Krypton month, roughly equivalent
to forty-five Earth days, to prepare."

"That's not very much time. We have to talk it over." He
looked at Lori and said, "We have a big decision ahead. Let's
head home." To Ching he said, "We'll let you know by tomorrow,
will that be okay?"

Zara spoke up, "Kal, Lori please keep in mind that the continued
existence of New Krypton rests on your decision. If we cannot
defend ourselves we will have to evacuate and abandon what we
have created. It will be the same as when Krypton exploded. We
will be homeless vagabonds in space."

Clark said, "We could hardly forget. We will inform you of our
decision shortly." Ching exited with them to guide them back to
the air lock.

Before they entered the air lock, Ching held out his arm and
Clark grasped it. Ching said, "I know that you will make the
right decision. Watch the pressure indicator. The outer hatch
will open automatically when the pressure is at zero." Knowing
that they would be leaving the zone of artificial gravity they
started to float and as Ching stepped back they floated into the
air lock and Ching sealed the door. They each took a deep breath
and held it while they watched the pressure gauge drop. When it
reached zero the outer hatch opened automatically and they flew
out and shaped their course for Metropolis. They managed to
control their reentry so that they didn't appear as a couple of
streaks across the sky and landed in the Kent residence back
yard. They spun into their casual attire and walked to the
house.

As they walked Clark said, "I think we need to call a family
council. What do you think?"

She replied, "I don't think we have the time for that. I think
we have to go, but, what about CJ?"

Clark said, "CJ could be a problem. He isn't fully Kryptonian
and might not survive under the red sun and higher gravitation of
New Krypton. Can we leave him with one of the kids? We actually
need to make this time away look like we are away on vacation.
How would it look if we left him with one of the kids?"

"More importantly, how are we going to explain the time away
from the Planet?"

"We could say that since NK is a trading partner we were invited
to come and report on the conflict since it could affect that
trade."

A few seconds later they entered the back door of the house and
Lori called, "Teri, we're home!"

Hearing concern in the voice of their granddaughter they heard
Teri call from the living room, "Grams, you better come in here,
NOW! There's someone here to see you."

***

Chapter 12 -- Guess Who

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

As they hastened toward the living room Lori called out, "Teri,
you know you're not supposed to let strangers in while we are
away!"

As they rounded the doorway into the living room they saw Teri,
holding CJ in one arm and a lamp like a club in the other while
standing in a far corner facing a gentleman in a suit that was
somewhat out of step with the times. He had his hands up in a
defensive posture.

As soon as they saw the bowler hat they stopped dead in their
tracks and in unison shouted, "Herb!"

The nattily dressed, somewhat short gentleman in the wire rimmed
spectacles and bowler hat turned when he heard his name.

Teri in her own defense said, "I didn't let him in, he just ...
appeared ... out of thin air ... here in the living room ... a
couple of minutes ago."

Relieved, Lori said, "Oh, Honey, it's okay. This is an old
friend of ours."

With a relieved smile, Herb said, "I was starting to explain
when you came in. I was hoping that she wouldn't *bash* me with
that *lamp*."

Clark had started chuckling at the scene. Their granddaughter was
threatening Herb with the lamp defending her little uncle. He
walked over and relieved Teri of her weapon as she slowly
relaxed.

CJ appeared to be none the worse for wear, in fact he was cooing
and gurgling happily at all of the excitement.

Lori walked over and reclaimed her son. Seeing that he was fine,
she gave him a kiss and handed him back to Teri and asked,
"Teri, could you please take CJ up and get him ready for bed?"

Teri was still giving Herb a wary eye as she took CJ back and
said, "Sure Grams, happy to." She exited with her little
charge.

After Teri exited the room, Lori and Clark turned to Herb. Clark
asked, "Okay, Herb, what brings you here this time?" As they
turned to him they could see that this was the 1917 or maybe 1918
version as opposed to the 1912 version.

Herb took off his bowler hat and started shuffling his hands
around the rim, spinning the hat in his hands. He asked, "Can we
sit down? This could take some time."

Clark nodded and with a relieved sigh, Herb sank into a chair
while Clark and Lori took seats on the sofa.

Herb started, "Well, it's this way, you are about to travel to
New Krypton on a mission at the request of the New Krypton ruling
council. You need to find a place for CJ, where he will be safe
and well cared for and loved."

Clark said, "If I didn't know you so well I'd ask how you
know. To you, it's history, right?"

"Quite so my boy, quite so. CJ will need to be there for the
same period of time that you will be away so that he ages
appropriately. I have a solution for you."

Lori asked, "Okay, let's hear it, what's your solution?"

"My dear, I'm going to ask both of you to search your memory.
Back to before Jon was born, when you thought that you couldn't
have children."

Clark and Lori were both obviously concentrating on dredging up
the memories of that time when a look of dawning comprehension
came over both of their faces. With awe in their voices, almost
simultaneously they both said, "CJ!"

Heb said, "Right you are, CJ, the child you found in your house
at the time when you were so despondent over having been told
that you couldn't have children. I propose to take CJ back and
give him to you as guardians while you are away."

In a resigned way, Clark said, "Well, I guess that it really is
inevitable. It happened so it has to happen." He turned to Lori
and said, "There's our answer. CJ will be taken care of by his
own parents and we already know that he will be loved and cared
for very well, because we remember taking care of him."

Lori had a terrified expression as she said, "We had him for
over eight months. Is this mission going to take that long?"

"Yes, my dear. This mission will take quite some time."

Clark asked, "Will we succeed?"

With an unreadable expression on his face Herb replied, "My boy,
you should know better than to even ask that. If I were to tell
you the outcome it could perhaps prejudice your thinking and
change the outcome, creating yet another universe. Remember my
motto, 'Too much information, too soon, is not good'. It does
not carry any indication as to the outcome of the mission for New
Krypton, but, if you think about it, I did come to retrieve CJ
and return him to you."

Lori said, "I guess we'll have to be satisfied with that
consolation. We make it back and we get back a happy, healthy,
little boy. It's going to be hard leaving him behind."

At this point Teri came walking in carrying CJ who was now in his
sleeper. Lori took the bull by the horns and as she reached for
her son said, "Teri, Honey, I need you to do something else for
me. I need you to pack the diaper bag for me. Enough supplies for
a couple of days." She put CJ on her lap and looked very
intently at his face as if committing every nuance to memory as
she finished up, "CJ's taking a little trip."

Teri asked, "Where ya goin' Grams?"

Somewhat distractedly, as she was looking intently in her son's
face, Lori said, "He's not going with us. He's going with
Herb. Herb has to take him to us, in the past."

Teri was confused, "He's taking CJ to you in the past?"

Lori finally gave her granddaughter her full attention, "I'm
sorry, you don't know. Herb is a time traveler. Gramps and I are
going away on a mission. Herb is taking CJ into the past so that
we can take care of him and love him and protect him from what is
going to happen."

Teri, finally understanding somewhat asked, "Do you want me to
go with him? I could go to help take care of him."

Lori said, "No, not this time, Sweetie. I appreciate the offer,
but, it didn't happen, so it can't happen."

Teri was mystified and said, "Huh? It didn't happen so it
can't happen?"

Understanding just how confusing the situation could be Lori
said, "That's right, Sweetie. You being there didn't happen.
You see we, Gramps and I, we took care of CJ, back before your
Uncle Jon was born. It is our history. It happened. It's
happening now."

Lori gave this a couple of minutes to sink in and then said, "I
need you to pack that diaper bag for me, please. Can you do that
for me? Here, I'll let you take CJ with you. He's going to be
gone for over eight months."

Being practical, Teri replied, "I can't pack that much supplies
in the diaper bag."

"No Sweetie, you don't need to. We will be buying what we need,
in the past. I know, I'm mixing my tenses, but, that's what
happens with time travel. It's confusing."

"I'll say. We will buy the things we need in the past. Why not
say, 'we bought the things we needed in the past?"

"Because, CJ isn't in the past yet. Wait a minute, he was in
the past he just hasn't left yet. My head is starting to hurt.
Herb! What's the right way to say it?"

"I don't know, my dear. I'm just as confused as you are. The
English language is too limited to express the situation
properly. Yes, quite. Too limited. I say, jolly good."

"Okay, Grams, I'll stuff as much as I can into the diaper bag.
Come on CJ, let's go get you packed for your trip." She put CJ
on her hip and headed for the nursery.

Lori stopped her, "Teri, please include his blanket with the
shield on it. He'll need that to keep him warm."

"You got it, Grams, I'll grab it."

Once Teri had walked out of the room Lori turned to Herb and
said, "I think that Clark should write the note. Clark, do you
remember what was in it?"

"Like it was yesterday. Herb, if I recall correctly, you came by
the next day with a fake birth certificate and a letter from my
'cousin'. You're going to take care of those, right?"

"That is correct, my boy, I have them right here," he said
patting his breast pocket, "There will be no questions. I'll
take CJ directly to 1997 and see that he is safely delivered to
348 Hyperion Ave. Since it is near his bedtime I will drop him
off at night and then I will simply skip ahead to the following
morning and deliver the papers. This is really the best way. You
already know that he is loved and cared for because you are the
ones doing it and you can relax in that knowledge. That is one
less thing that you will have to worry about."

"We can see that Herb. Still, we are going to be away from him
for eight long months."

"Ah, but the beauty of this solution is that you do not miss
those eight months. You already have the memory of him during
that period so you will not miss out on that period of his
development. I'm sure you have all the memories of his
milestones, his first word, crawling, first step and all of that.
You see, by doing this you are able to have him safely protected,
he will age appropriately and you get to have all of the memories
associated with his development. It is almost like you are not
separated at all."

"I just wish that we had been able to include more information
in the note that we send with him." Clark stepped into another
room and prepared the note, returning in just a short time.

A few minutes later Teri came back into the living room with CJ
on her hip and the diaper bag over her shoulder. She said,
"Grams, I packed as much as the bag would hold but it's only
going to be enough for a couple of days at best. The way he's
going through diapers they might not even last that long. I also
packed all of the breast milk; it would just go bad if he didn't
take it with him."

Lori said, "That's very thoughtful of you, Sweetie. I had
forgotten all about that. It was critical and that way we had
enough to get started."

Still confused by all of this and the concepts involved with the
time travel, Teri said, "Huh? You sound like you know."

"I do, Honey. Remember, it's our history. Herb is taking CJ
into the past and giving him to Gramps and me and we are going to
be taking care of him ourselves. You see, we can remember taking
care of him because it already happened, uh, is happening, well,
will happen, uh, did happen. It's really confusing. It's about
to happen, but it already happened."

Lori reached out for CJ and pulled him into a close embrace. She
wasn't crying, at least not outwardly. She held her son and
looked intently at him for a couple of minutes as she said,
"Well, little guy, Mommy is going to miss you. You need to be
good for Mommy and be a good boy for Mommy, your other Mommy, the
one in the past."

Clark came over and folded both Lori and CJ up in his strong
arms. They both gave CJ kisses on the forehead as Clark stepped
back.

As Lori was about to hand CJ to Herb, Herb started as if he had
suddenly remembered something. He said, "Oh my, I nearly
forgot." Herb reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendant.

He handed it to Lori as she handed him CJ. He said, "My dear,
this pendant is for you to wear when on New Krypton. According to
our calculations on New Krypton with your current pendant you
would be able to survive the higher gravitation, but, that would
be all. This pendant has a double sized piece of the Star
Sapphire Kryptonite and a correspondingly larger piece of the red
K. If our calculations are correct you should, with this, retain
your powers even on New Krypton. It is our belief that you may
have need of them."

As soon as the pendant hit her hand Lori felt her powers surge.
She was careful, when she closed her hand on the pendant that she
didn't crush it in the process. She said, "Thanks, Herb, this
is greatly appreciated." She turned to Clark and said, "Well,
it sure looks like role reversal. On New Krypton, I'll be the
superhero. At least I won't have to worry about maintaining a
secret identity."

Herb said, "I will return CJ to you as soon as you return from
your mission." Herb pulled his TaDT from his pocket and entered
the space and time coordinates. A portal opened in front of him
and he stepped through, carrying CJ with the diaper bag over his
shoulder. The portal closed itself as soon as they had passed
through.

As the portal was closing behind Herb another memory from that
time suddenly hit Lori and she started laughing hysterically.

Clark and Teri looked at her like they thought that she had lost
her mind.

Noting their expressions, Lori started laughing that much harder.
After a couple of minutes she started to settle down and she
said, "Clark, think back to when we had CJ! Do you remember the
prescription?"

For a moment Clark stood there thinking back and suddenly he
started to laugh and Lori joined in with him. By the time they
settled down they both had tears running down their cheeks.

Observing this behavior Teri started to have some doubts about
the sanity of her grandparents. She asked, "What
prescription?"

Walking over and putting her arms around her granddaughter Lori
said, "It's a prescription that Herb has to deliver to us in
the past when he drops CJ off with us."

Mystified, Teri asked, "What prescription? CJ doesn't take any
medicine! He's very healthy."

"Honey, the prescription isn't for CJ, it's for me."

"Are you sick, uh, were you sick, back in the past, I mean?"

Lori started laughing again, "No, Sweetie, I wasn't sick and
the prescription wasn't for medicine, at least, not exactly and
Gramps and I had to work on it together. It was just ... a
surprise, that's all." She gave Clark a sidelong glance and a
wicked little grin as she finished, "A very pleasant
surprise."

Lori had an inscrutable smile which totally mystified Teri, but,
as she watched her grandmother and grandfather put their arms
around each other and kissed. This put all of her fears at rest.
Her grandparents loved each other and all was right with her
world as a result.

***

Chapter 13 -- Into the Past

June 13,1997 -- 11 PM

348 Hyperion Ave., Metropolis

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

It had been a very eventful day in which Lois and Clark defeated
Mensa. Even though Ellen Lane had been made aware of Clark's
secret identity as a result of Mensa's machinations, the
malfunctioning 'Bummer-Be-Gone' had wiped that knowledge from
her mind.

Now, it was later at night and Lois and Clark were in bed. Lois
was lying on her side with her head on Clark's chest as they
discussed the day's events.

With a relieved sigh Lois said, "Well, my parents are back to
normal, clueless that their son-in-law moonlights in tights."

Clark smiled at that vision and then he said, "I guess knowing
that I'm Superman brought them nothing but unpleasantness. So
now that memory is gone."

Lois nodded her agreement before she added, "I don't think
mother remembers being mad at Daddy either."

Clark had felt her nod against his chest and kissed the top of
her head before replying. "Apparently not, because I caught them
kissing on the terrace."

Lois smiled, lifted her head and kissed his bare chest. This was
such good news. For years she had had to deal with the bickering
and animosity between her parents and now it looked like that
might just be coming to an end.

Even with this good news Lois was still bothered about other
things, namely the meeting they had had that afternoon with the
social worker about the possibility of adoption. Clark had been
given a score of 97 while Lois had been scored, lower, 17
actually and that included 5 points for being an American
citizen. The social worker had called her a thrill addict who
dangled over the jaws of death on nearly a daily basis, most of
the time needing to be rescued by Superman.

With a deep sigh Lois said, "I'm sorry," as she played with
the hairs on his arm.

Clark was bewildered by this statement coming apparently out of
the blue, not related to the current topic of discussion. He
raised his head from his pillow, looked down at her and asked,
"For what?"

Lois repeated, "I'm sorry that Daddy can't find anything wrong
with STAR Labs' data. He doesn't think we'll be able to have
kids."

Clark, always ready to comfort her, looked at her and assured
her, "Honey, I have not, for one second," as he was speaking
Lois raised her head from where it was lying on his chest so that
she could look him in the face as he spoke, "doubted in us. We
live the impossible. A child is something brought about by love,
isn't it?"

Lois gave a small, hesitant nod of assent as he continued, "Then
that, above all else has got to be possible for us."

Lois started to shift her position, moving up so that they could
share a kiss, but just then Clark's superhearing kicked in and
he got a startled look on his face.

Lois saw the look and asked worriedly, fearing that he was going
to be called away from her for an emergency, "What, what are you
hearing?"

With a mystified expression on his face he said, "I'm not
sure."

Lois anxious now asked, "What, what does it sound like?"

With a look of uncertainty he said, "I can't actually believe
what it sounds like," as he started to get up out of bed.

They both got up and put on robes and moved downstairs. Clark
flipped a switch at the head of the stairs which turned on the
lights. Clark had a look of concentration on his face as he
followed the sounds he had been hearing. He led Lois through the
living room and into the dining room where they had placed
Clark's old bassinet.

As they opened the sliding door a look of wonder came over their
features and Lois put her hand up to her heart as Clark reached
into the bassinet and picked up a note.

Lois just stood there staring as Clark read the note, "Lois and
Clark, this child belongs to you."

Lois was stunned and simply stood there gawking as she looked
down and saw a three or four month old infant under a blue
blanket with the El family crest on it.

Lois, without realizing it, had been holding her breath. She
suddenly took a gasping breath. As the baby started to cry she
moved over, leaned and pulled back the blanket. As she did she
started to smile. Then she reached in with both hands and picked
the baby up.

Just then they heard Jonathan call, "Son?" as he and Martha,
Sam and Ellen all came trooping downstairs because they had all
heard Lois and Clark move downstairs. They were all tying on
their robes as they descended the stairs. Jonathan continued,
"Is everything all right?"

Sam asked, "Is everything okay?"

Ellen said, "We saw the light. Lois???"

Clark came around the sliding door and let out a sigh and then
said, "Yeah, yeah, everyone, everything is absolutely fine. Uh,
Mom and Dad and ah, Mom and Dad, ah, we have something to tell
you."

As he had been speaking Lois had been moving out of the dining
room and had been coming out behind Clark so that she couldn't
immediately be seen. When she stepped around Clark they could all
see that she was cradling the baby in her arms. There was wonder
and joy on all of their faces when they all saw the baby.

Martha was the first to come out of her stupor and ask, "Where
did he come from?"

Clark answered, "We don't know, he just appeared in the
bassinet with this note."

He handed the note to Martha and she gave it a close examination
before saying, "If I had to guess, I'd say that this was your
handwriting."

Startled, Clark said, "Let me see that," as he reached for the
note again.

As he looked at it more closely a look of wonder came over his
features and all he could do was stand there, transfixed, staring
at the note. Lois, seeing his reaction moved into a position
where she could look at the note herself. Now that they were in
better light and Lois could make out the note clearly she said,
"Yeah, that sure looks like your handwriting, but, how could
that be?"

Clark snapped out of his stupor and used his microscopic vision
on the note. When he did he could make out additional writing but
not really writing, just the impressions of letters, like someone
had written on the top sheet of a pad and the impression of what
had been written was impressed on the sheet underneath. His look
of wonder turned to one of surprise as he said in a whisper to
Lois, "There's more. We'll look at it later."

Not content to wait, Lois carried the baby over and handed him to
Martha and asked, "Can you watch him for a few minutes?"

Martha, with a look of pure joy on her face said, "I'd be happy
to." She turned to Ellen and said, "How about it Ellen? Let's
go over and sit a spell." Martha and Ellen moved over to the
couch with Jonathan and Sam following to stand behind them and
watch.

Clark moved over to a secretary in the corner and picked up a
pencil and then he and Lois moved back into the dining room.
Using the side of the pencil point he ran the lead over the sheet
to bring out the impression. After he did this he showed the
results to Lois.

It read, **"PLEASE TAKE CARE OF 'OUR' SON. HIS NAME IS CLARK
JUNIOR. WE CALL HIM CJ. HERB WILL EXPLAIN."**

In a hushed tone so that their parents wouldn't hear Lois said,
"That figures! We should have known that Herb would be mixed up
in this somehow. Wow, Clark junior? What could that mean? It has
to mean that we can have children. Bernie's data must be wrong
somehow. Oh, Clark, could it be possible?" She clutched his arm
in hope and expectation.

Clark said, "I don't know, Sweetheart. Look closely, there are
quote marks around the word, our. That has to mean something.
There are a couple of possibilities. First he could be adopted or
second it could be almost like a sharing, his and mine. The
'him' in this case obviously being me in the future. Like I
said, children are a product of love and we have enough for a
large family. I guess we just won't give up hope, but, still, he
could have been adopted."

"The note said that Herb would explain, but, it was written that
way probably so that Herb wouldn't know that we had that extra
information. If he shows up we can't let on how much we know.
Let's get back in there with the rest of them."

Clark put the note in the pocket of his robe and Lois removed the
blanket and stuffed it in a drawer before they both moved back
into the living room.

Clark spoke to Jonathan and asked, "Dad, would you mind helping
me move the bassinet upstairs to our bedroom?"

Jonathan, realizing that this was simply an excuse to get him
alone, probably to talk said, "Sure thing, son," and he moved
over with Clark to the dining room.

Clark pulled the blanket out of the drawer and showed it to
Jonathan before putting it in the bassinet with the shield down
so that it wouldn't be visible. Upon seeing this Jonathan gave a
start and gave Clark a questioning look. Clark shook his head and
reached to pick up the bassinet as Jonathan did the same. They
carried it upstairs and once in the bedroom Clark took the
blanket and placed it on a shelf in the linen closet. Then he
showed Jonathan the note.

Jonathan asked, "Just what does this mean?"

"It was obviously written by me in the future and sent with the
baby which means that he is *my* child, either with Lois or by
adoption. That might mean that Lois and I can have children. All
we can surmise at this point is that he comes from the future and
for some reason had to be sent into the past for protection.
There's no way to tell just how far in the future though. I just
wonder what we were going into that made it necessary to place
him in the past for safety."

"Well, son, it sure looks like one way or the other he is yours.
I'm sure that you will take good care of your son." Jonathan
had a little catch in his voice as he finished, "My grandson."

Clark said, "I guess we need to get back downstairs with the
rest." Clark walked over to the closet and stuffed the note into
the folds of the blanket and then turned and followed Jonathan
downstairs.

Lois had gone back into the dining room while the grandmothers
were watching their charge, had found the diaper bag and started
going through it to see just what it contained. She found enough
supplies for a couple of day's worth of diaper changes. Not
recognizing the brand name or even the design, she realized that
it wasn't too different from what was available to her. After
all, how radically would something like that change over time?
She even found some bottles of breast milk that were still cold
because of the packing around them. Feeling how cold they were
she knew that virtually no time had elapsed in transit. She took
the bottles into the kitchen and placed them in her refrigerator
until they would be needed. She silently thanked whoever had
packed that bag for thinking about that little item. It would be
hours yet until they would be able to pick up any formula.

Lois walked back into the living room and simply stood in the
doorway watching the two grandmothers doting over their
grandchild. She had to believe that he was her and Clark's
child, that note said so in almost so many words.

She saw CJ yawn and realized that he must be tired and so she
walked over and addressed Martha, "I think I need to put him to
bed. We can spend some time getting to know him tomorrow."

Martha, somewhat reluctantly, nodded and passed him over to
Lois.

Lois led the procession as they all ascended the stairs with
Clark bringing up the rear and closing up. At the top they all
separated with the grandparents returning to their separate rooms
and she and Clark entering their bedroom. Lois walked over to the
bassinet and laid CJ down. She turned to Clark and asked,
"What'd you do with his blanket?"

"It's in the closet."

She walked over and pulled out the blanket and when she did the
note fell to the floor. After she tucked CJ in she retrieved the
note and took another look at it. She asked, "What do you think
the actual story is?"

"We really won't know until Herb shows up, but, it sure looks
like he is our child, so he's obviously from the future. I just
wonder what we were getting into that made it necessary to send
him into the past for safety."

Lois was standing at the side of the bassinet and Clark was
behind her with his arms wrapped around her as they both stared
down at the sleeping child with awe in their eyes. Lois said,
"Well, I guess when the time comes we'll recognize it.
Obviously Herb knows all about it so we aren't going to have to
send out an SOS. Clark Junior, I just can't get over it. Our
son. He's a little miracle. Are we going to be able to handle
it? I mean, are we ready? This is so sudden! We didn't have nine
months to get ready for this. What kind of a mother am I going to
be?"

With a light chuckle at her babble, Clark replied, "A totally
amazing one. You know, we could stand here all night and stare at
him, but, if we did we wouldn't be any good to him tomorrow. We
need to get some sleep."

"You're right, but I just can't get over it. Here he is! Proof
that we can have children or at least that you can have children.
What if he's your son, but not mine? The way that note was
written, it could be that way too."

"Let's not worry too much about that just yet. Let's wait
until we hear from Herb. Maybe he'll give us more information
when he gets here." Clark released his arms from where they had
been wrapped around her waist and started to untie the belt of
his robe.

With a sigh, Lois started doing the same thing as they headed for
the bed. Lois threw her robe over the foot of the bed and lifting
the covers on her side, slid in and snuggled up to Clark with her
head on his chest. For a few minutes she lay there just enjoying
cuddling and she started drawing little figures on his bare
chest. Slowly after a few minutes her fingers stopped moving and
Clark heard her mutter, "A little miracle," just before she
fell asleep. Hearing this Clark started to smile as he pulled her
in closer. A few minutes later he was also asleep.

***

Chapter 14 -- Lois' Prescription

June 14, 1997

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

At 6:30 Lois was awakened by CJ crying. She snapped awake
instantly and reached for Clark only to find his side of the bed
empty, but still warm. She frowned, thinking that he had been
called away on an emergency. But then her countenance brightened
and she started to smile when, looking over where the bassinet
was she saw Clark as he was reaching in to pick up CJ.

Her smile broadened even more as she watched him holding CJ.
Slowly she got out from under the covers and asked, "Well, Papa,
how is Junior? Does he need a change or is he hungry?"

Clark took a sniff and said, "I think a change is in order."
Lois cleared the top of the chest of drawers and laid out a
towel. Clark laid CJ down and said, "Okay Sport, let's see just
what we have here." He opened the diaper to find quite a mess.
He said, "Oh boy, look at what we have here. Uh, Lois, you want
to take over?"

Lois laughed and said, "Not on your life. You started, you
finish. I'll get the diaper bag and see what's in it." She
started rooting around and pulled out a container of baby wipes.
She laid them down next to CJ and said, "Here's some tushie
wipes. Do a good job on him." Clark leaned over CJ as he reached
for the wipes and CJ chose that second to pee straight up.
Fortunately, Clark was able to use his superspeed to cover him
with the diaper. Lois started laughing as she said, "You are
soooo lucky. If you didn't have superspeed he would have gotten
you. With little boys you have to keep them covered until you
have everything ready. You'll learn. I didn't have your
advantages. I learned the hard way while I was babysitting." She
placed the clean diaper next to CJ and said, "As soon as he is
changed he's going to be hungry. I'll go downstairs and warm
his bottle."

Clark said, "You go ahead and do that, we'll be down in a
jiff."

Lois went downstairs and took the bottle out of the refrigerator
and put on a pot to heat some water. In her babysitting years she
had learned from some parents that they had a good reason that
they preferred warming the bottle this way. It was better as
compared to the microwave because it didn't cause hot spots and
by gently warming the milk the enzymes present were not
denatured, destroying their efficacy. While the bottle was still
warming, Clark came into the kitchen with CJ. A few minutes later
the bottle was ready and he handed CJ over to Lois to feed.

Taking CJ from Clark she said, "Here you go, CJ." When he heard
his name in Lois' voice he started to smile and coo. As soon as
the nipple of the bottle was presented he reached up and put his
hands on the bottle, latched on and nursed hungrily. Observing
this Lois said, "Did you see that? He recognized his name when I
said it. Wow, he's a good eater. He's going to grow quickly."

Martha, who Lois didn't even realize was downstairs, responded,
"I don't know about that. Clark was a big eater too, but he
didn't grow at an unusual rate. It must have something to do
with his metabolism."

Smiling, Lois responded, "Thanks, Martha, that's the kind of
information we need." Lois looked up at Clark who was
'hovering' around them and said, "He must take after his
father. There's one point in favor of him not being adopted. How
old would you guess he is?"

Watching CJ nurse, Martha said, "I would say somewhere between
three and five months. What are you guys going to do about
work?"

Without even looking up Lois said, "We don't have to worry
about that till Monday. Today we need to pick up some supplies, a
changing table, formula, baby bath, more diapers, and those kinds
of things. Plus we have to wait and see when Herb shows up."

Martha replied, "I was actually thinking about Monday and the
rest of next week. I think you guys are going to need a
sitter."

Just then Ellen Lane walked into the kitchen and said, "I heard
that." She turned to Lois and said, "You have two sitters
available." She turned to Martha and said, "He's my grandson
too, you know."

Flustered, Martha replied, "Oh, Ellen, I wasn't trying to shut
you out. I just hadn't had the opportunity to talk it over with
you as yet. How are you this morning?"

Ellen replied, "I'm just fine, loving life and looking forward
to spending some time with *my grandson*, just like you."

Just then, Jonathan and Sam joined the others in the kitchen.

CJ had just finished his bottle so Lois set it aside, put a
pacifier in his mouth and said, "It's getting a little crowded
in here. Why don't we go into the living room?" As she was
saying this she handed CJ to Ellen.

When they were all in the living room Ellen and Martha sat next
to one another on the sofa and played with CJ while Jonathan and
Sam looked on.

It was just about 7:30 by this time and there was a knock on the
door. Clark pulled his glasses down and scanned with his x-ray
vision. He nodded to Lois and said, "I wonder who's at the
door? Honey, why don't we check?"

Lois got up and joined him as he headed for the door. When they
opened it, Herb was standing on the threshold. Clark said,
"Well, Herb, we were kinda expecting you. Won't you come in?"

They moved into the living room and Lois performed the
introductions, "Mother and Daddy, Martha and Jonathan, this is
our friend Herb, Herb, our parents."

Tipping his hat, Herb said, "Pleased to make your
acquaintance," then he turned to Lois and Clark and said, "Can
we speak, privately?"

Clark said, "Of course, Herb. Let's go into the office."

Once they were in the office, Lois turned to Herb and said,
"Okay Herb, what's the story?"

Herb began his explanation, "That child is the son of a super
couple from another universe. They are going on a dangerous
mission and needed a safe, loving home for their child.
Naturally, I thought of you. When they return, their child needs
to have aged appropriately for the period of their absence so
that it at least appears as though they have been together all of
that time, so the period of time that you will have him will
correspond to the duration of their mission."

Lois challenged, "This, super couple, are they related to us?"

Herb, somewhat chagrined, replied, "My dear, I really cannot
answer that question. I have begun living by a motto of sorts,
'too much information too soon is not good' and answering that
question would be giving you too much information." Reaching
into an inner pocket Herb pulled out some papers. He continued,
"Here are the documents you will need. Here is a birth
certificate staring that this child is the son of Lorelei and
Jerome King. The birth date has been adjusted to reflect his
actual age which is four months old, stating he was born on
February 10, 1997. The indicated name is Charles Jerome King, not
his real name, of course."

Clark blurted out, "Charles *King*!! That's the name I usually
use when I go undercover."

Lois added, "Jerome is your middle name. I smell something
fishy. Why did you give him *that* name?"

Herb didn't answer. He just stood there, wearing a look of
inscrutability.

After a few seconds he continued, "The request is that you use
the nickname of CJ. Here is a letter asking you to become his
temporary guardians while his parents are away on the field as
medical missionaries. These are the guardianship papers approved
by the court. Lastly, here is a prescription."

Interrupting, Lois asked, "Is CJ sick? He looks healthy."

With a look of extreme embarrassment on his face, Herb replied,
"Actually, my dear, the, uh, the prescription, uh, the
prescription, well, it is not for CJ, it, uh, actually, uh, it,
it's for ... you."

Stunned, Lois asked, "Me?!?!?! What do I need a prescription
for?" She started to open the document. As she did so she looked
over at Herb and noticed that he was very flushed. She stopped
opening the document and continued to address Herb, "What is
this, some kind of joke?"

Herb stammered, "No, uh, no, no, this is not a joke. Tha that,
that uh that prescription is uh, we uh, it is serious.
Actually," Herb cleared his throat, "Actually, that is one of
the reasons that you were chosen to be his guardians. You see,"
Now that he was getting into the more clinical aspects, Herb was
a little less uncomfortable, "there are certain proteins,
enzymes and other nutrients and also immunizing agents which CJ
needs and which because of your unique body chemistry only you
can provide."

Lois was stunned as she asked, "Me? Unique body chemistry!?!?!
Why am I so special?"

Herb replied, "My dear, the situation is this, you are in very
fact married to Superman and that makes you very unique indeed.
Through your close association with Clark, how shall I say this,
you have picked up certain, elements which are absolutely crucial
to CJ's development. Without them he would die. The diagnosis
would be 'Failure to Thrive'. These elements cannot be obtained
through the use of baby formula, soy based or otherwise. He will
survive for a certain period of time on those, however, not for
as long as you will have him. It is all explained in the
prescription and the accompanying documentation. To go along with
the prescription," Herb reached into his pocket and brought out
a vial of pills, "Here are some pills which will facilitate the
process. I had one of the doctors at TTEMPO prepare this
medication and the explanation."

Starting to get an inkling of what he was saying and not liking
the implications, Lois was almost in panic mode by this point as
she asked, "If he will die on formula, what can we do?"

Herb replied, "Perhaps you should read the prescription."

Lois finally opened the prescription and read silently to
herself, "Proper nutrition of a super child consists exclusively
of breast milk from the mother or host mother." Her worst fears
had been realized! Lois let out a gasp and blurted out, "Herb,
do you know what this says?" Lois could see the color in his
face go to a bright red. Lois said, "Yes, you do. How can I do
that? I didn't just give birth. Isn't that a prerequisite?"

Embarrassed, Herb replied, "Uh, no my dear, it isn't. It is all
explained in the documents."

Clark was mystified at the conversation that was going on in
front of him and he had no clue as to just what it was about.

Lois put her hands on her hips and challenged, "Why don't you
give me the Reader's Digest version?"

Herb's flush became an even darker red, even though it hadn't
seemed to be in any way possible. He replied, "Uh, I'd rather
not. Please just read the directions. I really must be going."

Taking one hand off her hip and pointing a finger at Herb in an
almost threatening manner, Lois said, "Now, you wait, just a
doggone minute. You're not going anywhere. You need to explain
this!" She started shaking the documents he had given her in the
air between them.

Worried about Lois' reaction to this information, the apparent
threat to CJ, and with his curiosity finally getting the best of
him, Clark asked, "Lois, what does it say?"

Exasperated, Lois barely managed to keep her voice just low
enough so that the neighbors wouldn't hear her as she almost
shouted, "I have to breastfeed him!"

Startled by this turn of events, Clark burst out with, "What?
Let me see that." Lois handed him the prescription and the
accompanying documentation while she put her hand back on her hip
and pinned Herb with her eyes like a bug under a biologist's
dissecting microscope.

Clark speed read the document and as he did he started to laugh.
Lois turned a withering stare on her husband. Her anger and
exasperation barely contained, she challenged, "What's so
funny? I don't see anything to laugh about!"

Clark handed her the documentation and indicated the particular
paragraph that she should read. "The bullet points and the two
paragraphs after them."

She read. Occasionally she would glance over the top of the
papers to make sure Herb stayed put.

"## Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and
effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the
baby.

## Mother and baby need to be together early and often to
establish a satisfying relationship and an adequate milk supply.

## In the early years the baby has an intense need to be with his
mother which is as basic as his need for food.

## Breast milk is the superior infant food.

## For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only food
necessary until the baby shows signs of needing solids, about the
middle of the first year after birth.

## Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the
baby outgrows the need.

## Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is
a help in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.

## Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by
the loving support, help, and companionship of the baby's
father. A father's unique relationship with his baby is an
important element in the child's development from early
infancy.

## Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of
foods in as close to their natural state as possible.

## From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects
acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity to their
feelings.(2)

Even a woman who has not recently given birth can bring on her
milk supply. A slight elevation of certain hormones such as
Prolactin along with the stimulation of other hormones which
result from the active participation in sexual intercourse and
the stimulation of the mammary glands by the active suckling of
the infant can stimulate the production of breast milk even in a
woman that has not recently given birth and ensure an adequate
supply of milk.

By taking the included medication, participating in intercourse
at least three times a day and having the child suckle at least
an hour a day within a two week period you should begin to
lactate. Once you start as long as the child suckles your milk
supply should continue. Keep in mind that the more the child eats
the more milk your body will produce."

Lois lowered the booklet and with a stricken look stared at
Clark. She challenged, "Do you think they are serious? Do you
think this would work?"

Still chuckling, Clark replied, "I don't know, but it should be
fun trying."

During this exchange they had almost forgotten about Herb. Lois
looked up at Clark and asked, "Did Martha breast feed you?"

Clark thought for a second before saying, "I don't think so. I
think that's one of the reasons we had cows."

Lois turned on Herb again and challenged, "Okay, Clark wasn't
breast fed, what's the difference? Why do *I* have to breastfeed
*him*?"

Herb stood a little straighter and assumed the attitude he used
when in front of a class, "My dear, I have already given you the
answer to that question. If you think back I said that as a
result of being married to Superman your body chemistry is
unique. Because of that association you have certain proteins,
hormones and enzymes which have been changed and are no longer
exactly what you would call Earth human normal. You see CJ is not
fully Earth human or fully Kryptonian human, he is a hybrid
child, approximately three quarters Kryptonian. Clark, since he
was fully Kryptonian was able to assimilate the proteins, enzymes
and hormones contained in cow's milk without harm and thrive.
Such would not be the case with CJ because of his hybrid status.
Because of your unique body chemistry your body will produce milk
that he will thrive on."

One statement that Herb had made stuck in Lois' mind and she
blurted out, "He's three quarters Kryptonian? How did that
happen?"

Herb replied, "I guess I'm not saying too much by saying that
his mother is a little more than half Kryptonian and his father
is fully Kryptonian."

Lois looked at Clark and said, "There you go, he's not adopted.
This super couple, are they related to us?"

Herb replied, "Now I must fall back on my motto, 'too much
information too soon is not a good thing'."

Lois asked, "Okay mister time traveler, tell me, did it work?"

Herb, back on a firm footing now said, "Well, I will go so far
as to say I took a happy, healthy little boy back to his parents
who were very happy to get him back."

Resigned to accept this answer Lois opened the vial and popped a
pill in her mouth and swallowed. She turned to Herb and asked,
"Is there anything else?"

Herb replied, "No, I don't think so. I should be back for him
in approximately eight months."

Lois had a pained expression as she said, "Oh, I can't help
feeling sorry for them. They're going to miss so much, his first
word, his first step and all."

Herb had a strange expression on his face as he said, "Oh, I
don't know about that. Uh, not to worry, there are 'ways'
around those problems."

"What do you mean by that Herb?"

Herb replied, "Too much information ..."

With a pained expression, Lois interrupted and finished for him,
"Too soon is not good. I know. That's just a convenient excuse
for hiding information."

Herb said, "I really must be going. Please express my regrets to
your parents for me." Herb pulled a TaDT out of his pocket and
after entering the time and space coordinates he said, "Ta,
ta," and stepped through.

Lois turned to Clark and said, "Well, if we're really going to
do this thing, I suggest we take a two week vacation, just the
three of us. Where shall we go?"

Clark thought for a second and then said, "There's this little
island in the Pacific, off the travel lanes, uninhabited. Give me
an hour or two and I could fix up some accommodations for us."

With a dreamy expression Lois said, "That sounds perfect. We'll
need enough supplies for a couple of weeks, diapers and such. Oh
my God, I just thought of something. Wait here."

Lois went into the kitchen and retrieved two bottles of breast
milk before returning to the office. After closing the door she
turned to Clark and held a bottle up next to each breast as she
said, "I'm going to need a nursing bra. Just imagine, I'm
going to be carrying this around in here," she indicated her
breasts.

With an exaggerated leer Clark said, "I can't wait."

Lois wailed, "I'll look like a cow!"

Clark put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug as he
said, "No you won't, you'll look lovely. A woman that is
breastfeeding her child is among the most beautiful women in the
world. I love you and your willingness to do this for 'our'
child."

"Oh, Clark, am I going to be able to do this?"

"I'm sure you can. Just keep in mind that you're doing it for
CJ, *your* baby."

"I can make sure we have everything we need before I pick you
and CJ up. What are we going to tell our folks?"

Lois said, "What else, we're going to take some time off to get
to know our child."

They rejoined their parents in the living room. Martha asked,
"What happened to your friend?"

Clark said, "Uh, well, uh, he uh, he had somewhere else he had
to be. He left, uh, ..."

Lois finished for him, "He left through the back door. While you
guys are watching CJ we're going to go get dressed, okay?"

Ellen replied, "That's fine dear. You go ahead. We'll take
care of him. You called him CJ?"

Lois replied, "Yeah, that's why Herb stopped by. He dropped off
the guardianship papers. His name is Charles Jerome, CJ for
short."

Lois and Clark turned and ascended the stairs to the master
bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, Lois turned to Clark and
put her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss. She
whispered into his ear, "I think we need to start working on
that prescription, don't you? Let's go take a shower ...
together." She kissed his ear and then the side of his neck as
she reached in and untied the belt of his robe. Two seconds later
she found herself naked and in the shower with Clark. He stood
between her and the shower as he turned on the water. Once the
water was hot he moved so that she was in the stream. When the
water started cascading over her skin she felt his hands as he
used the body scrub gel to wash her body. As she was rinsing that
off he started washing her hair for her and she almost melted
into a puddle of goo it felt so good. After rinsing her hair she
grabbed the gel and after squirting some in her hands she started
washing him. He quickly washed his own hair and after rinsing off
picked her up. Her arms were around his neck holding herself in
close so that her breasts were in contact with his chest. They
had a period of intimacy and then Clark reached over and turned
off the water. He still held her close as he reached for towels
to dry them off.

With a dreamy, languid tone she said, "That was wonderful! Just
think, we're under doctor's order to do that at least three
times a day. Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I can't wait. I'm really going to
enjoy this vacation. It'll be like a second honeymoon. Let's
get packed. Let's see, uninhabited tropical island, about all
I'll need is sun tan lotion, right? How much else would I need?
We are going to be spending a lot of time doing what we just did
and I'm going to be spending time with CJ nursing, or trying to
nurse which also means, no clothes. I understand that babies like
that skin to skin contact so aside from his diaper he probably
won't be wearing anything else either."

As he was dressing, Clark suggested, "We will be near Hawaii. We
may go out to dinner or a movie so you may want to pack a dress
or two."

While Lois started the packing Clark went downstairs. He sent
Perry an e-mail telling him that something had come up and that
he and Lois were taking the next two weeks as vacation. He added
that they would be out of cell phone range so Perry wouldn't be
able to contact them.

After doing this, Clark went into the living room. Addressing
their parents he said, "Lois and I have decided to take the next
two weeks as vacation. We decided that we need to get to know our
new son, so, the three of us are going to go away, together,
alone."

He could see that Ellen was about to object so he cut her off by
repeating, "We are the ones that really need to get to know him
quickly and this is how we have decided to do it."

Martha, knowing her son the way she did, didn't offer any
objections. Actually she was happy to see how seriously he was
taking this new situation. She knew that he always had a soft
spot for children so this was not really anything new. She simply
nodded her acceptance of the situation and then asked, "What
arrangements are you going to make for when you return?"

Clark replied, "We have really lucked out on that. There have
been enough workers at the Planet that have children for them to
add an in-house daycare center on the second floor. When we get
back we will enroll him there. We may need sitters if we go on an
assignment or if we just want to go out, so, if you don't mind,
you guys will be our first choices as far as sitters go."

The faces of Ellen and Martha both lit up with that. They would
each be able to have time with this new grandchild.

About this time Lois came down the stairs and asked, "Martha,
could I impose on you to make breakfast? We have a lot to do to
get ready for our vacation."

Martha handed CJ off to Ellen as she stood up and headed for the
kitchen. Sam and Jonathan both moved from where they had been
standing behind the couch and sat down, one on each side of
Ellen.

Lois pulled Clark aside and said, "I packed some casual clothes,
swim suits and a couple of dresses as well as toiletries. What do
you want me to pack for you?"

"I'll take care of it when we finish breakfast. Right now I
need to plan our accommodations. I think I'll talk it over with
Dad and see what we can come up with."

***

Chapter 15 -- Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

June 14, 1997

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

After breakfast Clark took off and headed for the island. While
he was gone all of the grandparents took turns holding CJ while
one or another went to get ready for the day. Ellen had the
pleasure of giving him a bottle which left them with three.

While Martha and Jonathan were watching CJ, Sam and Ellen went
upstairs to get dressed. When they came downstairs they pulled
Lois aside and Sam said, "Princess, your mother and I have
decided that we are going to move back in together so, if you
don't mind, we're going to take off so that she can pack up. My
place is bigger so she's moving there. You'll probably be gone
to start your vacation by the time we are through, so, we'll see
you when you get back."

"Daddy, Mother, that's wonderful news. You guys go ahead. As
soon as we're back we'll call and you can come over."

Ellen said, "That's fine, dear. We'll look for your call."

Sam went upstairs and grabbed their overnight bags, brought them
downstairs and joined Ellen at the door. They said their goodbyes
and exited, Sam giving Lois a wink as he was going out the door.
Lois closed the door behind them and heaved a relieved sigh.

She walked over and plopped down on the couch next to Martha and
said, "You have no idea how much of a strain it is keeping the
secret with them around. It's so much easier with you and
Jonathan."

Continuing, she said, "Okay, here's the story. This child,"
she looked lovingly at CJ, "is from another universe and he is
the child of a super couple. We suspect that he's from the
future as well. Herb wouldn't give us a whole lot of information
but we got that much."

Hearing her voice, CJ's head and eyes swung her way and he
started to smile around his pacifier. His smile got so big that
the pacifier fell out of his mouth and Martha had to grab it
before it hit the floor. Martha picked him up and held him in a
standing position with his little feet in her lap as he reached
for Lois. Martha said, "He recognizes you. From what you guys
have told us about this Mr. Wells and alternate universes and
such his mommy has to be a Lois or else he wouldn't take to you
so."

Martha held CJ out to Lois along with the pacifier and Lois
reached for CJ as she said, "You're probably right, but, we
couldn't get any kind of confirmation out of Herb on that." She
sat CJ in her lap and gave him his pacifier and a close perusal.
Then she lifted him up and nuzzled his belly and gave him a
raspberry and as she did he squealed in delight and started
laughing, losing his pacifier again in the process, obviously
enjoying this. Lois lowered him back down to her lap reinserted
the pacifier again and asked, "Just whose little boy are you? I
wish you could talk and answer that question. Your grandma is
probably right though and I'm just like your mommy." As she had
been speaking she had unconsciously been rubbing her hand in
little circles over his tummy which had him giggling and smiling
around his pacifier as he brought his pudgy little hands in and
placed them over hers.

Lois continued, "Oh, and, something else, I have to breast feed
him."

Martha gasped and asked, "Oh, Honey, is that really necessary? I
looked into that when we found Clark and it looked rather
daunting. Fortunately we had a couple of cows and we were able to
give him raw cow's milk."

Lois reached into her pocket and pulled out the pills Herb had
given her, the prescription and the accompanying document and
handed them to Martha.

Martha glanced at the prescription and started reading the
pamphlet. After she got into it she started chuckling. The
further she got the louder she got until she was outright
laughing. She said, "I wish it had been explained to me this way
when we looked into it." She gave Jonathan a look and continued,
"It would have been fun!"

Jonathan had a quizzical expression as she was saying all of
this. Martha took pity on him and said, "The prescription is for
Lois to take these hormone pills then she has to have CJ suckle
at least an hour a day." She lost her control and started
laughing again as she finished, "Then she and Clark have to have
sex at least three times a day!"

Jonathan smiled and said, "Yeah, you're right. If we'd been
given those same directions, we might have tried it ourselves."
Martha jabbed him in the ribs and they both started laughing
while Lois blushed.

Jonathan continued, "So, that's why Clark and I were discussing
a bungalow. He's going to build you a place to stay while you
work on this prescription. When you guys get back, maybe you and
Clark would let us use your getaway for a while."

Martha gave him a look, and he said, "Or, maybe not."

It was Lois' turn to burst out laughing. She said, "I can't
wait to see what he came up with. He found an uninhabited island
in the South Pacific. That's where we're going. I hope we
don't have any hurricanes while we are there."

Martha gently corrected her, "Honey, in the Pacific they are
called typhoons."

Laughing, Lois said, "Martha, that *must* be where Clark gets
that from. His fund of trivia never ceases to amaze me."

Martha started to laugh as she said, "Guilty as charged!"

Lois looked at CJ and in a teasing tone asked, "Are you going to
do that to your wife? Drive her crazy with trivia?" As she
started nuzzling his tummy again he started chortling happily and
holding the sides of her face and then started squealing in
delight.

Lois keeping her face in his tummy looked up with her eyes and
asked, "What are you guys going to do? We'll be gone for two
weeks."

Martha looked at Jonathan and then at his nod turned back and
said, "Oh, I think we'll head back to the farm. That'll save
us some money on an apartment here in Metropolis ..."

Lois interrupted, "Now Martha, you guys know that you can always
stay with us. You don't need to rent ..."

Martha interrupted her in turn, "We know, but we also know that
you guys need your privacy and if we were just down the hall,
you'd be self conscious and not consider doing what you guys did
a little while ago."

Lois blushed bright red and gasped out, "How, what, did, were
we, how did, did we make some noise or something? How?"

Martha started chortling as she said, "No, nothing like that.
When Clark came down, I could just tell. He had the *satisfied*
look. A mother knows."

Lois looked back at CJ and asked, "Is Mommy going to know things
like that about you little guy? Huh?" Then she blew another
raspberry on his tummy. He started flailing his arms and
squealing in delight.

When she pulled back she could see a look take form on his face
and Lois said, "Ah *ha*, I think I recognize that look. Is that
what you're talking about Martha?"

Martha looked and said, "Yeah, something like that, but not
quite the same."

Lois said, "I *know* what this one is. It means it's time for a
change." Lois stuck a finger in the leg hole of his diaper and
felt the lining. She said, "Yep, I've got that one pegged."

Martha started to laugh. She asked, "Want me to do the honors?
You'll be changing plenty of diapers over the next two weeks."

Lois picked CJ up and handed him to Martha as she said, "Thanks,
Martha. I do have some things to do to get ready for our trip.
The supplies are in our bedroom. He might want a bottle when
you're finished. They're in the fridge. The pot's already on
the stove."

Martha stood and placed CJ on her hip and headed for the stairs.
Jonathan asked, "What can I do to help you guys get ready? Is
there some shopping I could do for you?"

"Oh, Jonathan, you're a life saver! Yes, there is. We're going
to need formula to carry us until my milk comes in. Probably a
two week supply, diapers; that should probably be a large economy
size box and a baby bathtub. We can get the rest of the furniture
when we get back."

Jonathan walked over to the secretary and picked up a pad and
pencil and started writing. He looked at Lois and asked, "What
about baby wipes, talc and things like that?"

With a pained expression Lois replied, "Oh, Jonathan, what kind
of mother am I going to be, forgetting things like that?"

Jonathan reassured her, "You're gonna do just fine. I have the
advantage of experience. I've changed a few diapers in my time
and," he started chuckling as he finished, "powdered the tush
of that big lug you're married to."

Lois picked up his laughter and said, "I just might have to
remind him of that."

Jonathan made some additional notations on the pad. He moved over
and shouted upstairs to Martha, "Martha, I'm going out
shopping. Do you need anything?"

Martha appeared at the head of the stairs with a freshly changed
baby and said, "Yes, get one of those harness thingies for Lois
to carry CJ in. You know the kind that has a seat and a bunch of
straps to secure him in front. That way he can see her face and
know she's there for him. I don't like that papoose kind where
they are on the back. It could be the back of anybody's head. I
think that the baby will be reassured by seeing her face."

Jonathan wrote that down and said, "Baby carrier, check. Got it.
Anything else?"

"No, unless you can think of anything else."

Jonathan said, "I already have quite a list. Okay, I'm off."
He headed out the door.

While Jonathan was away getting the supplies Martha came back
downstairs with CJ. She took Lois by the hand and led her over to
the couch and when she was seated handed CJ to her and asked,
"How do you plan to encourage him to suckle?"

Lois was intently looking at CJ as she held him. From the tone of
Lois' voice, Martha could tell that her daughter-in-law was on
the verge of despair. This whole thing was threatening to
overwhelm her. She looked at Martha as she said, "Oh, Martha, I
hadn't even given that a single thought. What should I do?"

Martha placed a calming hand on Lois' arm as she suggested,
"You still have three bottles of breast milk in the
refrigerator. Here's what I would do if I were you. Save those
to use as treats. As soon as Jonathan gets back, you'll have
formula to feed him. What you do is when you want him to suckle,
once you're ready, you know, bare breasted, place a few drops of
the breast milk on your nipple so that he will taste it. That
should encourage him to suck. Every few minutes apply a little
more. If you're careful, those three bottles should last for as
long as you need them."

A look of relief spread over Lois' face as she took in what
Martha was suggesting. She said, "Yeah, thanks Martha! That
should work." She turned back to CJ and lifting him up so that
she was looking directly into his face she said, "Did you hear
that CJ? Momma's going to trick you into suckling, but, it's
for your own good. The more you suck, the sooner my milk will
come in and the sooner you get the real thing. How about that?
Are you going to help Mommy?" She pulled him up into a hug and
kissed the side of his face. "Well, there's no time like the
present. Let's go give this a try." Lois stood up and put CJ on
her hip, went into the kitchen and pulled out one of the bottles
and headed upstairs.

As she was passing through the living room Martha asked, "Will
you need any help? I might not have done it myself, but, I have
been active with La Leche and helped other young women with
breast feeding problems."

Lois responded, "Thanks for the offer Martha, but, we're going
to be away for two weeks and I need to be able to do this on my
own." She looked at CJ and said, "CJ's going to be a good boy
and help Momma, aren't you CJ?" CJ responded to her saying his
name by gurgling and smiling around his pacifier. Lois proceeded
upstairs and into her bedroom.

Once she was in her room she closed the door and went over to her
vanity and sat in her chair. She laid CJ on her lap while she
removed her shirt and then her bra. She took the bottle and by
pinching the nipple on it managed to get a few drops out and on
her nipple. The cold liquid hitting that tender area had the
effect of causing her nipple to harden which she figured was
probably a good thing. Lifting CJ up she put him to her breast
and immediately he latched onto her nipple and started to
suckle.

There had been occasions when Clark, as part of their foreplay
had sucked and nibbled on her, but this was different. CJ didn't
have any teeth and she could feel his toothless gums as he
squeezed down on her nipple. She had half way expected that once
the effect of the cold liquid hitting her nipple had left that it
would soften and he would have a hard time but just the opposite
happened. As he latched on and started to suck she could feel her
nipple become somewhat longer and larger in diameter. She found
that she enjoyed the feel of him suckling and thought, <If this
is what it means to mother this child, I can't wait until my
milk actually comes in and I can do this for real.> She said,
"CJ, It won't be too long until your efforts will be rewarded.
I am looking forward to the day that I'm really feeding you.
Keep it up, little guy. Momma needs your help in this." After a
while she applied a few drops of milk to the other nipple and
moved him over to that other one to suckle a while. He wasn't
nursing yet, that wouldn't happen until her milk came in. As it
was she spent a pleasant hour with CJ at her breasts. He had
recently eaten and he wasn't really hungry so this was more like
her nipple was simply replacing his pacifier for a time. She
crooned some little songs to him as he suckled and occasionally
he would stop and almost fall asleep, but even those times he
continued to suckle, just not as forcefully. It was a lazy
pleasant hour for both of them.

A little while later Clark arrived. He needed some help so
Jonathan flew off with him and they were gone for several hours.

When they returned they both had smiles on their faces. Clark
said, "All set. You're gonna love this place. Almost all of the
comforts of home. Dad let us have the bed from the spare room to
use while we are there. We managed to pipe in running water and
we overcame the sanitation issue. We put in a septic system so
you'll have a flush toilet and running water in the kitchen and
bathroom. I'll use my heat vision to cook and my supercold
breath for the refrigeration. I picked up a sofa, a table and
chairs and miscellaneous bedroom furniture at a used furniture
store in San Francisco. I even got a crib and changing table for
CJ."

As he had been going on Lois had been getting more and more
excited. She said, "While you were away the first time your dad
did our shopping for us and this time I got it packaged up.
You'll need to make a couple of trips. When you're ready for
us, we'll be ready to go."

While Clark was ferrying their supplies and luggage to the
island, Jonathan and Martha got packed up to return to
Smallville. When he was ready to take Lois and CJ his parents
were ready to go, so they all said their goodbyes and Clark
lifted off with Lois having CJ in the baby carrier on her chest.
She was able to stroke CJ's hair, what there was of it, and talk
to him the whole way.

***

Lois was amazed at the sight that greeted her when they landed.
Here was what looked like a log cabin, but this wasn't something
out in the Maine woods, this was bamboo in place of pine and
there were palm and bamboo trees all around. Clark had built the
cabin in a clearing up from the beach and near to a small lake
under a waterfall.

Clark pointed out what he had done. Under the falls he had
constructed a railing for use when using the falls to shower. He
had run a framework of hollowed out bamboo which acted like pipe
to take water from the falls to the cabin where it fed a tank on
stilts. This tank supplied water to the sinks in the cabin. If
hot water was needed he would use his heat vision.

Lois took CJ out of his carrier and handed him to Clark, "Here
ya go, Papa. Take junior so that I can get comfortable. As soon
as Clark had CJ Lois removed the baby carrier and then started to
unbutton her blouse. Once the blouse was off she reached back to
unhook her bra.

Clark looked at her and asked, "Should you do that in front of
CJ?"

She gave him a look and said, "CJ and I have had a very pleasant
hour with him suckling so it's not like I'm showing him
anything he hasn't seen before." She finished taking off her
bra and then started on her pants as she said, "Besides, we have
a doctor's order that says you owe me two more romps before the
day is over." She pushed her pants off, wiggling her hips in
order to do so, leaving only a thong.

She said, "Okay, while you hold him, I'm going to take that
onesie off of him. All he needs is his diaper." Once she had
that off of him she took CJ in her arms and held him close to her
chest. She said, "Your turn."

Clark spun and when he stopped he was standing there in his red
briefs. Lois licked her lips and asked, "Where's the crib?"

He replied, "In the bedroom, through that arch."

"I need to put him down for a nap. We could try out the bed."

She led the way to the bedroom, Clark just couldn't resist and
since he was behind her he put his hands on her cheeks and
squeezed. She jumped and looking back over her shoulder said,
"Ooooooo, you want to play, huh? Well it looks like we've come
to the right place. After we play some I'm going to want to try
your shower."

She put CJ down in his crib and turned to her husband and asked,
"Do you like my choice of attire? Or should I say, lack there
of?"

With a distinct leer he said, "I love your choice. Brown is your
color."

Surprised she said, "This thong is red."

With an arched eyebrow he asked, "Who said anything about your
thong?"

With a chuckle she said, "Oh, so you want me to change?"

Kneeling in front of her he grasped the waist band of the thong
and started sliding it down her long legs kissing her belly as he
did. As his hands reached the floor she lifted a leg out of the
thong and this was what he had been waiting for. After a period
of marital intimacy Lois rolled off of Clark and they lay in each
other's arms for a while, cuddling.

After a time Lois said, "Now, I want to try that shower of
yours." Lois went over and picked up the sleeping baby and
carried him with her as they exited the cabin.

They took the path up to the side of the falls and Lois handed CJ
to Clark while she moved out under the falls. The water was cool,
but not cold and very refreshing and she enjoyed every minute.
When she came out from under the water she took CJ back and Clark
got under the water. While Clark was under the falls CJ woke up
and Lois was cuddling him to her breast while they waited.

They took the path down and came to a small beach of sorts. Clark
used his hands to dig out a small pool to use as a baby bath.
Clark used his heat vision to warm the water slightly and then
Lois took CJ's diaper off and gave him a bath. He was cooing and
gurgling happily the entire time.

When they got back to the cabin Lois put a fresh diaper on CJ and
decided to have another suckling session. Lois pulled a bottle of
breast milk from the cooler and Clark sat down to talk with Lois
while CJ suckled. She would occasionally apply some of the breast
milk to encourage CJ and afterward she gave him a bottle of
formula. When he finished this he went down for another nap.

After they were back in the living room they snuggled together on
the sofa. Lois asked, "Do you really think this is going to
work?"

"I think all we have to do is think back on what Herb said. He
said he picked up a happy and healthy little boy to take back to
his parents, so, I'd say, yeah, it's going to work."

"So far this hasn't been anything like a chore. I'm really
enjoying this time alone with you ... and CJ."

"I'm enjoying the time with you too, Honey. Just think, we have
two weeks alone, together, just the three of us."

"Once I'm nursing, I'll be doing all of the feeding, but,
until then, buster, we're sharing the duties. Last night he was
a good boy and slept through the night. That was probably because
we interrupted his sleep cycle. I would guess that he's going to
be hungry in the middle of the night. I expect you to take care
of him for that mid-night feeding. I'll be doing it all soon
enough."

Clark was chuckling as he said, "No problem. I look forward to
the one-on-one time with him, without his mother's
interference.

"*Interference*!!! What do you mean, interference?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just, if you're asleep, I'll be able to
start teaching him how to throw a ball." He was no longer able
to keep a straight face as he finished up and started laughing.

Lois joined in and asked, "Don't you think that is a little
premature?"

"You never can tell with these super babies. They could be
capable of just about anything."

"Did Jonathan teach you to throw a ball at his age?"

"I honestly don't remember. I'll have to ask him the next time
I see him."

She started making little figures on his chest as she thought and
finally voiced her wonder, "Super baby, a *super* baby, *three
quarters* super, three quarters *Kryptonian*. How can that
happen?"

"Remember what Herb said, 'Too much information too soon is not
good.' We're just going to have to accept that as fact."

"I can accept it. I don't have to like it, but, I can accept
it."

***

Chapter 16 -- Success

June 14, 1997

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

After a while Lois said, "Okay, here's the thing, I've been
giving this some thought and I think that, just so Lois and Clark
being away doesn't correspond to Superman being away, you need
to go back and do some patrols. Now would be a good time. I can
relax a while and when CJ wakes up we can have another suckling
session. Why don't we plan on you doing a couple of patrols a
day like that?"

"If you won't mind, okay, but, what if I get tied up with
something. Will you be okay?"

Lois moved over and picked up her purse. She opened it and
reached inside. When she pulled her hand out she was holding an
oversized watch. As soon as Clark saw it he nodded in
understanding. She said, "You obviously remember this."

Clark replied, "Of course, Jimmy's signal watch. I haven't
seen that in years."

"Jimmy stopped wearing it when it didn't appear to be
effective. You never explained what happened when he used it. A
long time ago I got him to loan it to me, just in case. I don't
know if the hypersonic signal will carry all the way to
Metropolis or not, but I have it, just in case."

Clark spun into his Suit and said, "Okay, this shouldn't take
too long."

"Hurry back. We'll miss you while you're gone."

Clark started to smile at the use of the plural. He said, "I'll
hurry back to my family." He stepped out the door and with a
whoosh he was gone.

***

When Clark arrived in Metropolis he did a loop over Suicide Slum
and then did a loop around Hobbs Bay before moving over center
city. All seemed quiet, perhaps too quiet.

He was flying past the Planet when he heard an alarm suddenly go
off. Turning his head he located the source. Changing course he
increased speed and swooped down just as a robber was exiting a
jewelry store. He had his gun pointed into the store. Clark could
hear him saying, "Think you're smart, setting off the alarm?
Take this." He pulled the trigger.

With a burst of speed Superman crashed through the display window
and intercepted the bullet in flight. He reversed course and
exited the building. When he did he spotted the robber only a few
paces away and running. Superman arced over him and landed in
front of him. Spotting him, the crook stopped and not knowing
what else to do he aimed and fired, repeatedly, until he
exhausted all of his ammo.

When Superman saw him aim his gun he stopped and stood still,
deciding that as long as he allowed himself to be the target he
could control the situation. As the crook fired Superman's hands
became a blur as he intercepted each slug, snatching it out of
mid-air. When the crook had expended his last round Superman
opened his hands and allowed the slugs to fall to the sidewalk.
With a look of disbelief on his face the crook dropped his gun
and put his hands up. The patrolman on the beat came running up.
Superman looked around and saw the jewelry store owner running up
and said, "I think that jewelry store owner will press
charges." To the owner Superman said, "Are you all right,
sir?"

"Yes, I am, thanks to you! If you hadn't stopped that bullet
I'd have been hurt, if not killed. He had aimed right at me."

Superman said, "I'm sorry about the window."

"Don't worry about that! It's a small price to pay for my
life, besides, I'm insured."

The patrolman put the cuffs on the perpetrator and read him his
rights. As soon as he had done this he keyed the mic to his radio
and requested a black-n-white to come pick up the prisoner. He
left the gun lay where it was until the car would arrive with an
evidence kit.

The patrolman said, "Thanks, Superman. He might have gotten away
if not for you."

"You're welcome. That's what I'm here for. I do what I can to
help."

"That you do and we appreciate it."

"I can see that you have everything under control now, so I'll
be on my way."

As Superman was lifting off the shop owner shouted again,
"Thanks, Superman!"

Superman looked back and waved to hi. Then he put on a burst of
speed. The people on the west side of town heard a sonic boom as
Superman left the vicinity of Metropolis.

When he reached the area of Smallville, Clark checked and saw
that his parents had arrived back home safely from Metropolis so
he decided to stop. Landing, he spun into his jeans and top and
jogged onto the porch. Entering the house he closed the door and
walked to the kitchen.

When he entered the kitchen, Martha was surprised and said, "Oh
no, what's happened? Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. We decided that I should do some patrols of
Metropolis so that Superman isn't away at the same time as Clark
Kent. I just broke up a robbery and was on my way back. When did
you guys get back?"

Jonathan answered, "Just a little while ago. We got lucky. There
was a flight out almost as soon as we got to the airport."

Clark replied, "I'm glad it went okay. If you guys hadn't had
to pack up and all of that I would have given you a ride back. As
I was passing I had an idea, Dad; don't you have an old
generator that the motor quit on?"

"That old rust bucket? Yeah, I still have it. I've been
thinking about replacing the motor so that it would be available
in case a tornado took out the power lines. It's out in the
barn. I'll show it to you," Jonathan said as they exited the
kitchen door.

"Could I borrow it for a while?"

"Sure, what are you going to do with it? That motor won't
run."

"I don't need the motor. I thought that it might be nice to
have a power source to recharge our battery operated appliances.
I can take a laptop to the island and we can use it to play
movies and also type up a diary of our time with CJ so that we
could send it back with him when he goes home."

Jonathan said, "That sounds like a good idea. Let's go out to
the barn and get it out."

They went out to the barn and after uncovering the generator
Clark removed the motor leaving only the generator portion and
the armature free. He would be using his hand to spin the
armature to generate power.

Spinning back into his Suit he took off and flew back to
Metropolis. Landing in the back yard he let himself back into the
house. He picked up their camera and a laptop which along with a
CD player and a selection of CDs which he placed into a backpack.
Closing up the house again, he took off for Smallville. Arriving
there he thanked his dad. Picking up the stripped-down generator,
he headed for the island again.

Lois was sitting outside the cabin in a lounge chair with CJ at
her breast when he landed. Clark set the generator down and just
stood there looking at her for several minutes, marveling. It
just looked so natural and wonderful. He could feel an outpouring
of love for her because of what she was doing.

His emotions must have been visible because she said, "Yeah, me
too. I never would have thought that I'd enjoy this, but I do.
It just feels so ... natural. What's all that?"

"That's an afterthought. I thought I'd bring us some
entertainment." He shrugged the backpack off and revealed the
camera, laptop, CD player and CDs. "I also thought it would be
good to keep a diary of our time with CJ, for us and also so that
we'd have something to send back, along with him. We can include
pictures as well as notes. I know I'd want something like that
if I were in this position." He picked up the camera and
threatened to take her picture, naked with CJ at her breast.

She glared at him and said, "You do that and we might just have
to depend on the pills and him sucking to get my milk started. If
you were doing all of the processing and printing that might be
one thing, but, I don't want anyone else seeing me like this."

Clark immediately didn't care for her veiled threat of "No
sex." So he hastily he put the camera down and said, "I don't
want anyone else seeing you like this either. The camera is
strictly for pictures of CJ. Now, if you had your bikini on and
were holding him, then maybe. That way we can send pictures along
with a diary to his parents."

"Okay, but only if I get a chance to take pictures of you in
your Speedos with him. Tit for tat!"

"Are you sure his parents would want to see pictures of me?"

At the mention of the parents Lois got a look of compassion on
her face, "You know, I'm glad you thought of that. I'm sure a
diary and pictures would be appreciated."

***

That night CJ woke up at about 3:30 AM. Lois woke up and felt
Clark's side of the bed which was empty. She looked over and saw
Clark picking up CJ. He said, "I'll take care of him. Soon
enough you'll have to be the one to feed him in the middle of
the night. You go back to sleep."

"I've got news for you, buster, once my milk comes in I will be
expressing extra so that you can take care of at least some of
the mid-night feedings."

Giving her a leer Clark replied, "I look forward to it,
especially watching as you collect it."

The look on her face was one of pure love as she rolled over and
pulled the sheet over herself. She said, "Thanks." A couple of
minutes later her even breathing told him she was asleep again.
He carried CJ into the other room and prepared his bottle. When
the baby had finished eating and had been burped, Clark rocked
him to sleep and then carried him back and placed him in his
crib. Returning to bed, Clark pulled Lois over into an embrace.
She mumbled something unintelligible but, didn't awaken. CJ
slept through the rest of the night.

They enjoyed playing with and taking care of CJ, sharing the
duties. There were few distractions so they were able to devote a
majority of their time to getting to know CJ's little quirks.

Clark did his daily patrols, not all of which wound up in his
having to intercede in problems,

A lot of time was spent on the beach. Lois would lather CJ up
with sun screen and Clark would lather up Lois and they would,
all three, lay out for a time. Occasionally they would take CJ
into the gentle surf to play. They put him on his belly where his
hands could just touch the waves as they came in.

Several times Lois put on a dress and Clark flew them to Hawaii
for a movie and dinner.

Through the course of the next ten days they maintained an
aggressive schedule with CJ suckling more than an hour a day and
she and Clark coming together, in more ways than one, many times
more than three times a day.

Lois could literally feel the changes as they were occurring in
her body. Her breasts were becoming more and more sensitive and
both she and Clark could tell that they were enlarging.

Suddenly on the tenth day when she put CJ to her breast for a
suckling session she could feel a flow of liquid through her
nipples and a look of intense pleasure swept over her features.
Excitedly she said, "Clark, he's feeding! I'm feeding him! It
worked, I'm nursing! It feels wonderful. I don't know if I'll
be able to fill him yet, but, it's a start. Now, I'm really his
mother. Go ahead CJ, take as much as you can."

Both Clark and Lois were surprised that Lois had an increased
appetite for sexual encounters with the successful nursing. It
just seemed like nursing and sex went together. Fortunately,
Superman was happy to oblige her.

By the time they went home, Lois was able to provide all that CJ
needed and Lois was feeling very fulfilled in her role of a
nursing mother, something she would never have considered
possible, previously.

They returned to Metropolis on Saturday. They evaluated the rooms
in the house and decided that the room next to theirs was best
suited to be used as a nursery. Lois had CJ in his carrier the
entire time they were discussing colors and decorations, deciding
on a theme as they looked over the room. Clark wanted a football
theme while Lois wanted teddy bears. They came up with a
compromise. The lamps and such would be teddy bears, but, the
wall would bear a mural of a football team made up of teddy bears
with teddy bear fans in the stands.

The first purchase was paint for the walls. Clark taped, spackled
and prepped the walls and then painted. He used his heat vision
to hasten the drying process and then they went out to purchase
the rest of the furniture they would need. By the end of the day
the room was all put together. Lois was able to use her new
rocking chair to feed CJ and then she changed him and put him
down in his own crib for his nap.

Lois just stood in the doorway of *his* room and marveled at his
very presence. She looked around and had to chuckle when her eyes
fell upon the mural that Clark had come up with. There was an
amused look on her face as she contemplated it. The teddy bear
quarterback, who was wearing a white Metros jersey, was back with
his arm cocked to make a pass while he was being rushed by two
teddy bears wearing the green of the Philadelphia Eagles. She
flicked the light switch and the night light came on providing a
gentle glow. The baby monitor was turned on and she could hear
CJ's gentle breathing on the base station.

Clark stole up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
She leaned her head back against his chest and released a happy
sigh. She placed her hands over his and moved them up until they
cupped her breasts and then she said, "I'm actually feeding him
with these. I'm actually able to be his mother. Do you know how
good that feels?"

He gave her breasts a gentle squeeze and said, "I think I have
an idea, but, it is impossible for me to really know. I am happy
for you. What you have with him is a very special relationship,
unlike anything I could ever have. I can change him, burp him and
play with him, but, I could never feed him. That is something
only you can do. I'm happy for you, that you can do this for
him."

"It really is special. It makes me feel so ... fulfilled ... as
a woman. I really hope that he is ours, that we can have
children. I know he's ours, but only for a little while. I have
to look forward to the day ... the day that we can have our own,
if that day ever actually happens."

"Honey, he has to be proof that we can. Look at him. He looks
just like my baby pictures with one exception. He has your
smile."

Lois giggled and said, "Yeah, he kinda does, doesn't he?"

"Come on; let's let him get some sleep." Clark took her hand
and led her to the living room. They settled on the couch and
Lois snuggled up to him as he played with her hair.

Lois asked, "What are we going to do when it's time to give him
up?"

"Well, when Herb comes to pick him up we just hand him over so
that he can go home. We aren't going to have to worry about that
for a while. We've only had him a couple of weeks. We have
plenty of time for that."

"But, what if we really get attached to him? I mean, I can feel
this connection, this bond that is forming. Every time I put him
to my breast it gets stronger. It's going to get to the point
that I'm not going to want to give him up."

"Honey, we can't afford to get that attached. Sooner or later,
he has to go back to his parents. We have to maintain some
distance."

"I don't see how I'm going to be able to do that. Every time I
feed him ... that's me that he's drinking ... me he's feeding
on ... my body that is sustaining his life."

"Yeah, I can see that, but, we still need to keep a distance."

"I can't. I just won't be able to. It's just too much to
ask."

Suddenly they both became aware of tiny baby snores coming out of
the monitor. Lois pointed at the monitor and said, "Listen to
that. That's our son. I don't care what Herb says, that has to
be our baby." She saw the look on his face and she said, "I
know, we can't be sure. He might not be. It might just kill me
if he isn't. Now that I'm feeding him, he just has to be
mine."

"Lois, Honey, you know that isn't possible. He belongs to
someone else. When the time comes he will have to go back to
them."

Resignedly Lois said, "I know, I just hope I can do it. What are
you making for dinner?"

"How about spaghetti with meatballs?"

With a wicked little grin Lois asked, "Sounds good to me, but,
are you sure you want to make pasta? You know what that does to
you."

He gave her a leer as he said, "Yeah, well, we are back to work
on Monday so we need to taper off but we don't need to stop cold
turkey."

***

Chapter 17 -- Back to Work

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

It was a typical Monday morning at the Daily Planet, controlled
chaos. Perry White was out of his office, in the bullpen shouting
orders when everyone heard the ding of the arriving elevator.

Perry was expecting Lois and Clark to be back from their
unscheduled vacation and he was ready to tear into them for
taking off so abruptly, no warning, no explanation. He knew that
there must be a good reason and he was hoping that they had been
doing an off the cuff investigation. If they hadn't been, they
were sure going to get a piece of his mind.

At the sound of the arrival of the elevator everyone turned to
see who the occupants were. Secretly, or maybe not so secretly,
everyone was hoping that it would be Lois and Clark because ever
since they had disappeared Perry had been really out of sorts
with everyone. He had been demanding big stories from everyone
and unfortunately, the Star had been scooping the Planet
routinely in their absence. So it was with breathless
anticipation that everyone turned to face the elevator.

When the doors opened the first one out of the elevator was Lois
looking tanned, fit, relaxed and very happy.

There was an audible sigh of relief from the staff.

Then Clark stepped through the doors and the sigh turned into a
gasp as they saw the baby car seat and diaper bag that he
carried.

Perry was the first one to vocalize his surprise, "What ... in
... Elvis' ... name? Clark, what do you have there?!?!"

Clark looked down and said, "What, what do I have? Oh, this?
It's just our baby."

Perry was dumbfounded. He dropped the papers that he was holding
and in a strangled tone asked, "Baby???" He turned to Lois and
gasped out, "Lois, Honey, how did you keep this a secret?
Usually, something like that, well, it's kinda hard to hide, if
you know what I mean, and you guys have only been gone two weeks.
The last time I checked it took a lot longer than that."

Lois, with a look of contrition said, "Yeah, really it does, we
took a shortcut."

Perry was still reeling as he asked, "Shortcut, how can you
shortcut something that takes nine months?"

Lois asked, "Can we go into your office? Have we got a story for
you."

They moved into Perry's office and Clark put the car seat on the
corner of Perry's desk.

CJ and awakened now that the motion had ceased and he was
starting to look around at these new surroundings. When Perry
bent over him he started to smile and his pacifier fell out.
Before Lois or Clark started the story Perry just stood over the
car seat and peered at the child it contained. He gave him a very
close appraisal. He looked back and forth between the child, Lois
and Clark. Eventually he stood back and said, "I don't know how
you did it, but, there's no question, this is your child. I can
see both of you in his features. Clark, he has your eyes,
definitely. Lois, he has your mouth and your smile. Some of the
weirdest things have happened to the two of you but this tops
them all. How in Elvis' name did you shortcut the nine month
term of a normal pregnancy. Now, don't tell me that this child
is a clone." Perry snapped his fingers, "Did your friend Herb
take you away and then bring you back after you delivered?"

CJ started to fuss. Lois said, "I think he's getting hungry. I
need to feed him." Clark moved over and started to unbuckle his
safety straps while Lois delved into the diaper bag and pulled
out a drape. While Clark was lifting CJ out of his seat, Lois
snapped the drape around her neck. Then she started opening her
blouse and nursing bra. Clark handed CJ to Lois and she took him
under the drape and put him to her breast.

Perry was dumbfounded by all of this. He said, "That does it! As
far as I know you need to deliver a baby in order to breastfeed
one. Come on, 'fess up. How did you do it?"

Lois replied, "That's what we thought, too. It turns out that
with the proper supplements and, um, activity, any woman can
bring on her milk and nurse a child. That was why we needed the
two weeks. We had to work on, uh, things, so that I could nurse
him." They could all hear the slurping sounds CJ was making
while he nursed. "As you can see, it worked."

Clark jumped in and said, "To answer your question, no, he's
not a clone. That's for sure. Actually, he belongs to my cousin
and his wife."

Lois picked up the narrative, "You see, they're medical
missionaries and they are on a mission trip. They decided that it
would be too dangerous to take CJ with them so they asked us to
take care of him."

Perry was still marveling at the fact of Lois nursing and asked,
"Why do you have to nurse him? Why not feed him formula?"

Lois had prepared for this question and had come up with an
easily accepted and almost completely true answer, "He's
allergic to formula. Besides, I like to feed him. It makes me
feel, I don't know, fulfilled, as a woman. If we ever have
children of our own, I'm definitely breastfeeding them."

"How is this going to affect your time on the job? What if you
have to go on a stake out? What if you have to go out of town?"

Lois replied, "We plan to put him in the daycare on the second
floor. Whenever I need to feed him, I'll just go down. If we
have to go on a stake out, we take him with us in his car seat,
if we have to go out of town, same thing. It's not like I'm
home bound just because we have a baby. There are other women
working here that have babies. Come on, Perry, we can handle
this."

Perry double pointed at her and said, "Okay, but, you just
remember, you've got somebody there depending on you. Don't go
jumping in without checking the water level. You hear me?"

Lois was moving CJ over to the other breast as she rolled her
eyes and said, "Chief, I haven't done anything dangerous
recently."

"No?!?!?! What about Mensa or did you forget about him? Well,
actually, you *are* right, of course you haven't gotten yourself
in over your head for a *while*, since you've been on vacation
for the last two weeks and that reminds me I need you two
working! I've got page space to fill. Get outta here and get me
a story."

Clark asked, "Who handled the follow-up on Mensa?"

"Nobody. That's why I need you guys back. We've been running
wire service leads to fill space. "

"What about Ralph or, or, or, Jimmy?"

"Ralph? Really? Come on, I'd give it to Jimmy before I'd give
that to Ralph. I've got him on the dog show. He just finished
the car and boat shows. He's even screwing those up." Perry
started shaking his head. "I wish there was some way to get rid
of him, but, with his uncle on the board, there's just no
way."

Clark said, "Okay Chief, we'll get on it."

Lois pulled CJ out from under the drape and readjusted her
clothing. Lois was wishing that they had taken some time to pick
her up some new blouses. Since she was nursing, she really needed
to wear button up tops and with her breasts enlarged, she was
straining the buttons on what she was wearing. Clark placed CJ
back in his car seat and he promptly fell asleep. After buckling
him in Clark picked him up and headed out to their desks. Lois
finished buttoning up and removed the drape and put it back in
the diaper bag. Picking that up, she also headed out after Clark.
She turned to Perry as she was about to exit the office. She
said, "I'll contact my snitches and see if they have heard
about anything."

Perry said, "I hope they have something for you."

***

When Lois got out into the bullpen she couldn't even get near
her desk because of the crowd of people around it. Diane and
Denise from research, Jimmy and Eduardo, and even Steve from
Sports were all around oohhing and aahhing over CJ.

Ralph was an exception. He was on the outskirts and was leering
at *her* rather than looking at the baby. Noting how he was
looking at her, Lois started intensely regretting not having
gotten the larger blouses.

Ralph said, "Hi Lois, lookin' good there. I like the new look.
Motherhood fits you better than your blouse. Don't inhale too
deeply until I'm out of the line of fire when those buttons go
flying. Are you feeding Clarkie boy as well as the baby? You look
like you could."

Lois was doing a not-so-slow boil at his crude comments but
before she had a chance to disembowel him, Clark stepped in
between them. He said, "Ralph, I think you've said just about
enough. If I hear any more out of you there will be a sexual
harassment charge leveled against you. Your rude and crude
comments are not wanted."

Just then Perry shouted, "Ralph, where's that dog show report?
It was supposed to be on my desk ten minutes ago."

Ralph ducked away from Clark and headed for his desk.

Clark moved over to Lois and took her in his arms. Lois said,
"Thanks, you just saved me from another murder charge, the only
difference would be that this one would actually be real."

Clark kissed her forehead before he started chuckling and said,
"He was right about one thing. We do need to get you some new
blouses."

Lois buried her head in his chest and asked, "Can we stop on the
way home? I don't want to wait another day and possibly have to
put up with more of that."

CJ had woken up from his brief nap and was cooing and gurgling
and smiling at all the attention and everyone around him was
touching his nose or offering their finger for him to grab.

"Definitely. What do you want to do with CJ?"

Just then Denise from research turned to Lois and asked, "Can I
take him to my cube and watch him for a while? He's so cute I
just want to love him."

Hearing this Diane asked if she could have a turn. Lois said,
"Okay, you can each have a turn. We need to go down and register
him in the day care center. We'll be back in a few minutes."

As Denise picked up his car seat she said, "Take your time. CJ
and I are going to get to know each other." She turned away and
headed for her desk.

Lois watched her go and turning to Clark said, "I hope I can do
this."

"Do what?"

There was just a touch of hysteria in her voice as she started to
babble, "Put him in day care. I mean I know that I need to, but,
wouldn't it be just as good if I kept him here in his car seat,
here by my desk? I could watch him myself and if I need to feed
him, I could just take him into the conference room, no, too many
people go in and out of there, I know I could take him into the
ladies room and feed him there. I wouldn't even need the drape;
I could take him into one of the stalls, and, and then that way
he'd get the attention that he needs from his mother and not
some stranger who doesn't care if he lives or dies. I mean, he
could be pushed off in a corner somewhere and nobody would check
on him. He'd be crying his little eyes out wanting his mama and
nobody would even think to come and get me and when we got there
to pick him up he would be dead." Lois grabbed the lapels of his
jacket and almost wailed, "We can't let that happen! What kind
of mother would do that to her baby, let someone kill her child
like that? Only one that doesn't have a motherly bone in her
body and couldn't care less if her child lives or dies. Well, I
care and I'm not about to let those people down there kill my
baby. Clark, we have to do something, we can't let that happen
to our baby! We have to save him!"

Clark pulled her into an embrace as he said, "Lois, calm down.
Nothing like that is going to happen to CJ." He lowered his
voice to just above a whisper and said, "I would never allow
anything like that to happen. Remember, I can keep an eye and an
ear on him all the time."

Lois had been sobbing after her rant and slowly she started to
settle down and she asked, "You promise?"

He held up his hand in the Boy Scout salute and said, "Super
scout's honor. I'd never let anything happen to CJ."

Lois sniffled a couple of times and said, "Okay, but, I'm going
to hold you to that buster," as she poked him in the chest to
emphasize her point. "Let's go downstairs and get him signed
up." She looked over at Denise's area only to see Denise
bending over the car seat, unbuckling CJ's restraints so that
she could lift him out and actually hold him. Lois didn't budge
until she had assured herself that Denise was holding him
properly. When Lois heard him cooing and gurgling happily she
finally turned. Grabbing Clark's tie, she started dragging him
toward the elevator as she said, "Okay, let's get this done,
before I change my mind." Clark had to almost run to keep up
with her. As they neared the elevator she released his tie and he
smoothed it back down, tucking it in under his jacket.

Lois hit the button to summon the elevator and while they waited
her eyes were glued to CJ.

When the elevator arrived they got in and as the doors closed
Clark hit the button for the second floor. When he turned back
around to her he could see tears in her eyes. He put his arms
around her and asked, "What is it, Honey? Why are you crying?"

"Oh, Clark, This is the farthest I've been away from our baby
since we got him. My arms ache to hold him." She reached up and
brushed away a tear as she said, "I can do this. Really, I can.
I have to." She straightened up and put on a brave mask.

When they arrived on the second floor, Lois exited the elevator
with a purposeful stride and headed directly for the day care
center. Clark held the door for her and ushered her in. She moved
over to the counter and addressed the receptionist, "We need to
enroll our baby."

The receptionist recognized Lois and asked, "I'm Georgiana,
aren't you Lane and Kent?"

Lois smiled at this recognition and said, "Yes, we are."

Georgiana said, "I've read everything you've written. That
recent story about Mensa was something."

Thinking back on it Lois said, "Yeah, that story sort of came to
us instead of us finding it. That was just before the baby
arrived."

Georgiana had a surprised expression as she asked, "I remember
seeing you in the lobby and I don't remember you being pregnant.
You recently had a baby?"

Lois hesitated, "Well, yes and no. I mean, no, I wasn't
pregnant and yes, we have a baby."

Georgiana brightened and said, "Oh, I get it, you adopted. How
wonderful for you."

Lois had a funny expression as she replied, "Well, not exactly.
We didn't adopt, we are acting as guardians for Clark's cousin
while his parents are away. We need to enroll him in the day
care. If you don't have any openings, we'll understand. We'll
just wait for an opening."

Lois' hopes were dashed when Georgiana said, "Oh, no, we have
openings. How old is he? What's his name?"

"His name's CJ and he's about four months old."

Georgiana's face lit up, "Ooooo a real little one. I bet he's
a cute as a button. How soon do you want to bring him down?"

"Uh, well, you see, it's this way. We brought him in with us
today and this is the first time and everyone in the newsroom is
taking turns with him. I guess we could bring him down tomorrow.
I'll need to come down and feed him."

Georgiana was taken aback with this statement. She said, "That
will be okay, we can feed him. What formula are you using?"

"Well, you see, that's the thing, I'm breastfeeding him."

"You did say that you didn't just give birth, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then ... how? I didn't think that was possible."

As she replied Lois looked at Clark and shared a secret smile,
"Neither did I, but, I found out differently. I'll bring a
supply of breast milk for him if we will be gone on a story."

Georgiana was surprised by the breast feeding, but, accepted it
as fact. The evidence was very obvious. She could see the buttons
on Lois's blouse straining to keep it closed.

Lois noted her staring at her enlarged bust and turning to Clark
said in an exasperated tone, "We definitely are stopping on the
way home for me to get some new tops." Turning back to Georgiana
she asked, "Okay, where are the forms we need to fill out?"

Georgiana handed her a clipboard with the forms on it. Lois took
a form off the top and handed the clipboard back. She said,
"I'll take this with me and fill it out. Clark can bring it
back down later. I want to get back upstairs to CJ." She turned
to Clark and said, "Let's go, partner."

They both exited and headed for the elevator. He said, "Let's
take the stairs."

She responded, "Huh, why?"

He pointed to his ear and she nodded her head. They changed
direction and as soon as the door had closed behind them he
picked her up and super sped them up to the bullpen floor.

As they were approaching the door Lois started to hear CJ crying.
She rushed through the doors and almost dashed down the ramp as
she headed for Denise's desk. Denise was holding CJ and bouncing
him trying to get him to stop crying. As Lois approached she said
in a tone calmer than she felt, "CJ. CJ, mama's here darling."
She reached for him. As soon as CJ heard her voice he stopped
crying and looked toward the sound of her voice. When he saw her
he started to smile and coo again.

Seeing how he was responding to Lois' voice, Denise shifted him
so that Lois could take him easily and she relinquished her
temporary charge. As Lois took him she gave him a kiss on the
cheek and pulled him into a tight embrace. She was saying, "I
know baby, I know. Mama's here now. How is mama's boy?" She
turned to Clark and asked, "How am I going to be able to do
this? He wants to be with his mama. He's not going to be happy
down there in the day care. Isn't there some other
alternative?"

Concerned about just how this was all going to play out he said,
"I don't see any alternative. We're going to have to at least
give it a try. Tell you what, why don't we take him down there
after lunch? That way he'll only have to be there a few hours.
In the mean time, why don't you let Denise try again? You'll be
right here."

With a hurt expression bordering on panic Lois looked up at him.

Clark looked at her, trying to encourage her and nodded his head
in Denise's direction. Reluctantly, Lois pulled CJ up and gave
him another kiss and as she was handing him back to Denise she
said to him, "Mama's going to be right over there, okay? You be
a good boy for mama and let Denise take care of you for a while,
okay?" Reluctantly, she handed him back to Denise.

Denise smiled and said, "I think he'll be okay. Give it some
time."

Lois nodded her head and turned away, at least her body turned
away. Her head stayed turned so that she was watching CJ. When
she bumped into a desk she realized that she needed to pay
attention to where she was going.

Clark took her hand and said, "Come with me." He started to
lead her to the conference room.

She started to object so that she could move to her desk, but,
Clark kept a firm hand in the small of her back directing her to
the conference room. When they entered the room he closed the
door. Lois stood there staring out the window until, with a snap,
Clark closed the blinds then she looked at him with a hurt
expression. She started to complain, but he stopped her by gently
placing a finger up in front of her lips. He said, "I think I
have an idea what the problem is."

She retorted, "Oh, great, now you're also a child psychologist.
Okay, I'll bite. What do you think the problem is?"

Clark pulled her over and indicated that she should sit in a
chair. Once she was seated he said, "I think that the problem is
separation anxiety."

She spluttered, "Separation anxiety?!?!?! Then we can't put him
in the daycare! I need to keep him with me." She started to
stand up.

Clark gently put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in the chair
as he started to chuckle.

"What are you laughing about? It's not funny. Why should he be
forced to go through that?"

"I wasn't speaking about CJ, Honey. I was talking about ...
you."

She spluttered again and said, "*ME*? What do you mean?"

"I think that you're afraid to let anyone else take care of him
and he picked up on that and reacted to your unease."

She gave that some thought and then said, "Okay, maybe, but, I
just thought of something else. What if somebody notices
something? He is a superbaby, after all. What if somebody notices
something ... different about him?"

"Lo -- is, you've seen my baby pictures. You've talked to my
mom. Mom and Dad didn't know that I was anything other than a
normal child until my powers started to come on and that wasn't
until I was about ten years old. Nobody is going to notice
anything. You have to let go and you can't let CJ know how upset
you are leaving him. He's a smart little guy. He'll sense that
there is a problem. He won't know what it is, but, he'll know
you're upset about something and he'll react, just like he did
earlier."

Clark moved over and peeked through the blinds to see Denise
holding CJ and nuzzling his belly and he could see him laughing
as a result. He called Lois over and said, "See? He's just
fine. Let's let Denise have him for an hour or so. I don't want
to strain Perry's patience too far, after all she does have a
job to do and it isn't being a baby sitter. Then we can let
Diane have him for a while. Let's let him get used to some other
people while we are here to watch over it."

"Oh, I guess we have to, don't we."

"Yes, we have to. It's the only way we will be able to do our
jobs, unless you want to become a stay at home mom." He smiled
as he watched her reaction. She was actually seriously
considering his suggestion. Finally, the tug of war ended and she
nodded.

She said, "Let's let him get used to other people. That is the
only way I'll still be able to work." She peeked out through
the blinds. She saw Denise apparently singing to CJ. She turned
back to Clark and said, "Do you think he'll remember me?"

He put his arms around her from behind and soothingly he said,
"I'm sure he could never forget you. Just wait, you'll see."
They stood there for several minutes watching Denise with CJ.
Finally Clark asked, "Ready to get back to work?"

She turned in his arms so that she was looking up at him. She
nodded and said, "I guess so. How do you always know just what
to say?"

He kissed her and said, "Just lucky I guess. It also helps that
I know you so well."

She nodded and stepped back slightly. She said, "Let's go,
partner. We've got work to do." She turned to the door and
opening it led the way back to their desks.

***

Chapter 18 -- The Werewolf Robber

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

As she was about to sit down she saw Denise holding CJ and moving
his little hand in a waving motion and she heard her say, "Look
CJ, there's mommy! Wave to mommy!"

Seeing that Lois got a pleased smile on her face which almost
morphed into disgust as she reached to turn on her computer,
muttering, "Ugh, two weeks of e-mails and voice-mails to catch
up on."

After a while Clark came over to her desk and asked, "Anything
earth-shattering in your e-mail?"

"A couple of notes from Bobby and one voice-mail from Henderson.
You?"

"About the same. What do you want to do?"

She asked, "Could you start the follow-up on Mensa? I'll call
Henderson and Bobby and see what they have for us."

"You got it." Clark returned to his desk and started making
some calls to MetGen, Metropolis prison and the police, following
up on Mensa.

Lois called Bobby first. "Hi Bobby, Lois, whatcha got for me?"

"Lois, I thought you'd dropped off the face o' the Earth.
Where've you and that husband of yours been?"

"We just needed some time off."

"How's the baby?"

Lois was flabbergasted! "Whaa?? How, how did you know about
him?"

"Oh, it's a boy? I didn't know that. I have my sources. You
should know that by now."

"Well, Bobby, you have succeeded in surprising me."

"Anytime, Lois, anytime. I guess you're calling because of my
messages. Shortly after you guys disappeared, a series of strange
robberies started happening. This guy has attacked and robbed a
number of women but only a couple have even gotten a look at him.
They have a partial description from them. Based on that
description they've started calling the guy the Werewolf Robber.
I really don't have anything concrete on him, just that I think
he's from LA. The cops out there were closing in on him so he
took it on the lam. Like I say, he showed up here just under two
weeks ago. You may want to talk to Metropolis' finest for more
detail."

"Thanks Bobby, Check Burger Palace later. There'll be a gift
certificate waiting for you."

"Thanks Lois! Say hi to that husband of yours and take care of
that baby. Bye."

"Bye, Bobby. Thanks."

Before calling Henderson she checked with Clark. "How's the
follow-up going?"

"Not really anything there. Mensa is still practically
catatonic. He apparently lost most of his memory when the
Bummer-Be-Gone malfunctioned. He's been in the hospital ward of
Metropolis Prison ever since. What'd Bobby have for us?"

"He said that there's someone called the Werewolf Robber who
came here from LA."

"Mensa's going to be a dead-end. We might as well work on
that."

She lowered her voice and asked, "Why didn't you know anything
about him? You were doing patrols."

He replied in the same hushed tones, "I was only here for short
periods a couple of times a day."

"Okay, I'm going to call Henderson. You want to listen in?"

With a chuckle he said, "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it.
You and Henderson get along so well."

She arched an eyebrow as she said, "I just like to keep him
honest."

"Lo-is, he's the most honest cop we know."

"Yeah, and I want to keep him that way."

While he laughed out loud, she picked up her phone and dialed a
number that through frequent use she had long ago memorized. When
the phone was answered she heard, "12th Precinct."

"Lt. Henderson, please."

"Hold on."

There was a series of clicks, then, "Homicide, Henderson."

Lois said, "Bill, Lois."

She could hear the surprise in his voice as he said, "Lois as in
the famous Lois Lane?"

"Yeah Bill, Lois Lane. What do you have for me?"

"You're finally returning my call? I left that message almost
two weeks ago. Where did you go?"

"We took a couple of weeks off so that we could get to know our
baby."

It was a good thing that Bill was just reaching for his cup of
coffee to take a sip when she dropped this bomb because if he had
just taken a sip it would have been all over his computer
monitor. He spluttered, "Baby??? Did you say, baby?"

"Yes, Bill, I said baby."

Bill's surprise was in his voice, but it became evident that her
was teasing her as he continued; "Let me get this straight. Lois
Lane, *the* Lois Lane that works at the Daily Planet, the one
married to Clark Kent, that Lois Lane said that she has a baby.
This isn't someone impersonating her voice and pretending to be
her just to give me a hard time?"

"Yeah Bill, it's really me and yes, I said baby."

"The Lois Lane that I know would never speak a sentence having
her name and baby both in it."

"Bill, people can change, you know."

"I'm just having a hard time believing that the Lois Lane I
know could change that much. How did it happen? Well, besides the
obvious."

"It's a long story Bill. Clark's cousin's family was going on
a medical mission and they asked us to take care of their baby
for them while they were away. Soooo, instant motherhood."

Lois couldn't see it, but she could just imagine Bill shaking
his head as she heard him sigh, "Leave it to Lois Lane to figure
out a short cut to motherhood. I'll bet you're obsessing over
the child, not wanting to let it out of your sight."

Lois started to flush and sputtered out, "No, no, no I'm not!
Not, not really, no. Well, maybe a little." She could hear Bill
laughing on the other end as she tried to defend herself. It
didn't help any that Clark, who had heard every word, was
grinning from ear to ear at the banter. She elbowed her husband
as she glared at him. Returning to the conversation, she asked,
"Well, what do you have for us?"

Henderson's teasing tone changed to one of seriousness as he
replied, "Okay, I guess you can take only so much truth. Shortly
after the two of you disappeared a crook showed up. He has an
unusual MO. Only picks on young women, mostly waitresses. It
hasn't crossed over to homicide as yet, but, the way he's
going, it might not be long. You need to talk to Inspector
Backstran, Ed Backstran over at Broadway Division. He's Chief of
the Robbery detail. Ben Romero, Sergeant Ben Romero has been
working the case. He can fill you in on the details."

Lois had been writing as Bill had been speaking. She said,
"Thanks, Bill. We owe you one. Ever since we got back, Perry's
been on our case to get him a big story."

The easy banter stopped as Bill's tone became serious, "You
want to know how to repay me? Keep your distance on this one. You
have a baby to worry about now. It'd also be nice if you'd
bring him by some time so that I can get a look at him."

"We'll do that. Thanks Bill. Bye." She hung the phone up.

Clark could almost literally see the wheels turning in her head
as she placed the phone in its cradle. He said, "No. Now Lois,
Bill had a point. We have a baby to consider now. What if you got
hurt?"

She lowered her voice to a whisper only he could hear, "How
could I be hurt with Superman watching over me?"

He also lowered his voice as he responded, "What if I'm called
away for an emergency?"

"Then I get to practice my Tae Kwan Do." She put her hands on
her desk and pushed herself back in her chair and stood. She
headed for Denise's desk and checked on CJ. He wasn't making a
fuss but when he saw her his smile got a lot bigger. She looked
at him and asked, "How's my baby? Are you being good for Auntie
Denise?"

Denise smiled and said, "He's a good baby. I remember when Ben
was this age. He fussed a lot."

Lois asked, "Do you want to give Diane a turn?"

Denise looked at CJ as if to say that she didn't but then
thought better of it and said, "Yeah, I guess I need to. I've
got work piling up. Here you go." She shifted him around so that
Lois could take him.

As soon as CJ was in Lois' arms she could feel him relax as if
he had been tense the entire time Denise had held him. She rubbed
his back in a soothing motion, in a way that she had learned he
liked, and decided that she would need to talk this over with
Clark later. She carried him over to Diane's work area and asked
if she still wanted to hold CJ for a while.

Diane readily agreed and took CJ from Lois' arms and started
getting to know him.

Lois walked away and CJ started to fuss. She turned back around
and talked to CJ, "It's okay little guy. It'll only be for a
little while. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right over
there." She patted his tummy which elicited a smile and said,
"Now, you be good for Auntie Diane, okay?" She turned away
again and this time when she walked away, CJ was okay.

When Lois got back to her desk she looked up the number for the
Broadway division and called.

"Broadway Division. How may I direct your call?"

"This is Lois Lane with the Daily Planet. Inspector Bill
Henderson suggested that I call Ed Backstran. It's about the
Werewolf Robber."

"Hold please." There were a series of clicks and then finally,
"Backstran."

"Inspector Backstran, Lois Lane, Daily Planet. Bill Henderson
said I should call you about the Werewolf Robber."

"Lois Lane, huh? Look, I know all about you and how you get in
the middle of our investigations."

"Yeah, well, I've helped Bill more times than I can count."

"To listen to him you've been more problem than help."

"Bill and I have a complicated relationship."

"I'll say. Okay, whaddya want to know?"

"Can we come see you? We'd like to get as much detail as
possible about this case."

"How about 10 AM tomorrow?"

"Ten will be fine. We'll see you then, inspector."

After Diane had had CJ for a time Lois reclaimed her son and took
him into the ladies room to breastfeed him. When she came out she
said to Clark, "That's a relief. It's a good thing he was
hungry. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. How are we going to
do this? I need to feed him every three to four hours or I start
to hurt." As Lois was carrying him back to the bullpen CJ had
fallen asleep so Lois put him back into his car seat and buckled
him in.

"That'll be one of the nice things about having him in the
daycare center. All you need to do is hop into the elevator and
in a few minutes he's being fed and you are getting relief."

Perry opened the door to his office and saw Lois and Clark at her
desk talking so he called them. He watched as Clark picked up the
car seat and carried it with him as they moved to the office.

Once they were inside and the door closed Perry asked, "Okay,
what do you have to work on?"

Clark said, "I started the follow-up on Mensa, but that looks
like a dead end. He's in the hospital and it looks like he will
be there for the foreseeable future. We thought we'd work on the
Werewolf Robber. We have a meeting scheduled with the police for
ten tomorrow."

"Yeah, the Star has done a couple of hit pieces against the
police about that. You guys weren't here and I didn't have
anyone I could assign it to. Eduardo has been on assignment and
Jimmy went along to get pictures. I couldn't trust it to Ralph.
That boy could screw up a ... well, you know what I mean. Okay,
keep me posted." He had been eyeing CJ asleep in his car seat
and said, "Alice and I are going to have to have you guys over
for dinner so that Alice can meet CJ. What are you doing
Friday?"

Lois laughed and asked, "Don't you think you ought to check
with Alice first?"

Perry looked like a wily fox as he replied, "I'll have you know
that I already have. Can you make it?"

Lois looked at Clark and smiled as she said, "Sure Perry, we'd
love to."

Perry hadn't taken his eyes off of CJ the entire time they had
been talking. He said, "How much more do you need to do to get
ready for your meeting tomorrow?"

"We should make a few more calls and plan our questions."

"Why don't you just leave him in here with ol' Uncle Perry for
a while? You can go make your calls and I'll watch him for
you."

Lois said, "Why, Perry, you old softie! I never knew you were
into babies."

"It's been an awfully long time since either one of my boys was
this age."

"Okay, we'll leave him with you. Let's go partner and let
Perry have some one-on-one time with his honorary nephew." They
were both chuckling as they left his office.

After they had finished their preparations they went back to
Perry's office to retrieve CJ. Through the door Lois could see
Perry playing peek-a-boo with CJ. CJ was squealing with delight.
Perry had his back to the door so Lois opened it quietly. She
pulled out her mini-camera and when the flash went off Perry
realized that Lois had caught him at an unguarded moment. Lois
chuckled and said, "I'll have Jimmy print this up so that we
can post an 8x10 on the bulletin board.

Perry huffed at her and then asked, "Everything ready for
tomorrow?"

"As far as we can be. We'll have to just wing some of it."

"Okay, that's settled. Why don't you two get out of here? I'm
sure there are still some things you need to do because of him
that can't be done while you're around here. I guess I'll see
you tomorrow morning."

***

Chapter 19 -- The Werewolf Strikes

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

The next day they went by the Planet and dropped CJ off in the
daycare. Lois spent a few minutes with him, comforting him and
reassuring him as she handed him over to Brenda, one of the
workers. The night before she had expressed some milk and gave
that bottle to Brenda who put it in the refrigerator. Lois said,
"We expect to be back shortly. We're just going over to
Broadway Division to see Inspector Backstran. I'm probably going
to want to feed him as soon as we are back."

When they presented themselves at Broadway Division the desk
sergeant sent them back to Inspector Backstran's office.

After introducing themselves, Lois pulled out her notebook and a
sharp pencil while Clark started the interview. "We just got
back from a vacation and we would like everything you have on the
Werewolf Robber."

"Okay, well, it appears as though he came here from LA. He gave
the LAPD fits for over a month. They felt they were getting close
to him when he relocated. Now he's our headache."

Interrupting her note taking briefly, Lois prompted, "What's
his MO?"

"First off he steals a car. Then he parks in the street. He
waits for a young woman to come along. It's usually between 2
and 5 AM, when the clubs are closing. Most of the girls are still
in their wait staff uniform. He grabs them and puts his hand over
their mouths so that they can't call for help. He must be
exceptionally strong or else he's just skilled at picking
defenseless women. Anyhow, he drags them to the stolen car and
renders them unconscious by beating them severely. He doesn't
just knock them out; he beats them to a bloody pulp. Almost all
of them are still in the hospital recovering. Some of them will
require reconstructive surgery. He robs them of their cash and
jewelry then he dumps them. Most of the time he doesn't even
stop the car when he pushes them out. Invariably in addition to
injuries already sustained the girls are injured more when they
are dumped. The last one hit her head on the curb. She's still
unconscious. She may not make it. This guy works fast. She was
number 18 in just under two weeks."

Clark was having some difficulty controlling his anger, mostly at
himself for not being here when the perp had been doing his
damage. He asked, "Have any of the victims been able to give a
description?"

"Yeah, that's how he got the moniker -- Werewolf Robber. A
couple of the girls have recovered enough to give a description.
There was also an independent witness to the last assault. One of
your Daily Planet newsboys was out on his corner waiting for his
delivery of the morning edition. He saw a blue Ford drive by and
dump the girl. He saw her being pushed from the car, hitting the
street and bouncing and rolling until her head hit the curb. As
he started to run to her aid the car did a 'U' turn and came
back at him. The kid jumped up on the sidewalk behind a light
standard. Because of the light he got a good look at the perp.
Here, here's an artist's sketch."

The picture he handed her looked like a cross between the Lon
Chaney Wolfman and Michael Jackson's Thriller character. Long
hair, lots of facial hair, slightly pointed ears, hairy hands on
the steering wheel and an almost animal snarl at being unable to
run down the witness.

Lois shuddered involuntarily and handed the drawing to Clark. She
asked, "Is it a makeup job or is that his natural look?"

"That's something we need to find out. It could be a disguise.
For all we know he could be your partner here in make-up. No
offense."

Lois said, "Trust me, it's not Clark."

"Honestly, I didn't think it was. I was just trying to make the
point. This description is consistent between what we got out of
a couple of the victims, those that got a look at him before they
were knocked out and what we got from the newsboy."

"No leads other than this drawing?"

"Nothing. Either he turns into the Werewolf when the sun goes
down and he holes up during the day or he puts on the disguise,
if it's a disguise, just before he starts his activities."

Clark asked, "What about fingerprints from the cars?"

"Nothing. Clean as a whistle."

Clark followed up with, "Wouldn't that lend credence to the
supposition that he could be wearing gloves that look like hairy
hands?"

"Yeah, we thought of that too."

Clark said, "That would lend some weight to the disguise theory,
wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, but we can't make that assumption. He could simply be
very good at wiping the surfaces to eliminate fingerprints."

Lois chimed in with, "Bottom line ... you don't know."

Backstran agreed, "We don't know."

"What have you done so far to catch him?"

"This will have to be off the record. We don't want to let him
know what we are doing."

They both nodded their agreement.

"We started with increased patrols, extra cars, calling in off
duty personnel. Nothing. Now we have police women out pretending
to be waitresses on their way home. Each one is followed by
plainclothes officers in shifts. We've been doing this for a
week. He must have a sixth sense about our decoys because he's
passed every one of them up in favor of the real thing."

Just then his phone rang. Picking it up he said, "Backstran. Ah,
Romero. What d'ya have? Uh huh. Another one? But, it's broad
daylight! That doesn't fit the MO. Oh, I see. Where?" He
scribbled and address which Lois read upside down and copied. It
was a street address near Centennial Park. "Who found her? Uh
huh. ID? Uh huh. Have you followed up? Uh huh. Condition? That's
a shame. Okay, make a full report when you get back."

Lois asked, "What was that inspector?"

"That was Sergeant Romero. It was apparently another victim of
what is now the Werewolf Murderer. Some kids found a woman's
body near the jogging track through Centennial Park. Very badly
beaten. Dead. She must have been there since last night, or
rather early this morning. She was dressed as a waitress. Ben
found her ID and followed up. She was a young woman, just over
thirty. She has, uh, had ... had ... three small children. She
was so badly beaten she was hardly recognizable."

Lois and Clark were both badly shaken by this revelation. Lois
looked at Clark and said, "We need to do whatever we can to
catch this guy."

Clark only nodded.

Turning back to Backstran, Lois said, "Okay, thanks, inspector.
Please keep us posted on any new developments and anything we can
print."

"The department is coming under tremendous pressure. Everyone
from the Commissioner and the Mayor on down through city
councilmen are demanding that we get this guy. I just got
authorization from the Chief to request assistance from the State
Police and the Sheriff's office. We plan to spread a dragnet
across the city. By the way, I was just giving you a hard time
earlier. After your call yesterday, I talked to Bill. He
reassured me that you are the most fair in your reporting of any
reporters in the city. The people at the Star have been raking us
over the coals over this. Whatever we get I'll make sure you
have it."

Clark reached for his hand and said, "Thank you, Inspector. We
always try to be fair and impartial, reporting the news as
factually as possible."

As the Inspector was shaking his hand he said, "I trust Bill's
judgment. He said you guys were okay and that's good enough for
me."

Lois also shook his hand and said, "We'll try to live up to
your trust."

The first thing Lois did when they got back to the Planet was to
feed CJ then she joined Clark upstairs.

She plopped down in her chair and said, "Well, I guess it's
going to work out. He was fine. He was happy to see me but he
didn't make a big fuss when I left."

"See, I knew it would work out. Now you don't have to worry so
much."

"I guess." She looked over at the conference room. Seeing it
was empty she said, "Let's go into the conference room." She
picked up her notes and headed in that direction.

Once in the conference room with the door closed Lois asked,
"Well, what do you think we should do?"

"I could fly extra patrols. He strikes usually between 2 and 5
AM. That's why I missed him while we were on vacation. My
patrols were almost exclusively during daylight hours."

Lois said, "I think I need to go undercover."

Clark had more than half expecting her to suggest that. Thinking
about the danger and also about the added responsibility that CJ
represented he shook his head no as he pointed out, "Lo-is, what
about CJ?"

"We can make arrangements for my folks or yours to watch him
while we're out. You could fly your parents in for a few days
until we wrap this thing up."

Knowing Clark as she did, she could see that this didn't satisfy
him. His body language told the story. He was frowning and then
he forgot himself and did something he usually reserved for when
he was in the Suit. He crossed his arms and in an exasperated
tone asked, "A few days? How can you be so sure it will only
take a few days? The MPD has been working on this for two weeks
and they've had their decoys out for a week."

"Ah, but, there's the difference. They had a plainclothes
detective trailing their decoys. He probably saw them and shied
away. You, my dear husband, will be out of sight, overhead,
keeping an eye on me."

"Like I said before, the flaw in that plan is what if I get
called away on an emergency?"

With an air of confidence Lois rebutted, "I could simply defend
myself with my karate."

Shaking his head, Clark said, "No. I don't think so. He strikes
without warning and knocks his victim out before they even know
something is happening."

"Okay, how about this, you can swoop in and pick me up and take
me to the emergency so that I can report on it."

"Then if he is watching and he sees me he'll know it's a
trap."

"Ooooo, how many emergencies occur between 2 and 5 AM anyhow?"

"A lot, mostly at other parts of the globe. There's no way I'd
be able to be there for you. I don't want you putting yourself
in that kind of danger."

"Look, how about we try it for two nights. We'll see how it
goes. If you wind up with an emergency, maybe, depending on what
it is you could ignore it." Lois could sense that Clark was
weakening. Just a little more and she would win.

"Look, Lois, let's start by my doing extra patrols. If that
doesn't work within a couple of days, we'll try your
suggestion."

"Clark, we're taking chances with more women's lives. He's
already killed once. We can't afford to put this off."

"Lois, I want to do this my way, at least for a couple of days.
I don't want to take a chance on you being hurt. Remember, we
have CJ to think about. I couldn't take care of him alone."

"Here's a case where we have some significant information that
helps us. Remember what Herb said? He said that he picked up a
happy and healthy little boy to take back to his parents. That
means that I am going to be around to feed him."

"Lois, I don't think we can make that assumption. You could be
badly beaten or even paralyzed in a wheel chair and still feed
him. I don't want that to happen."

Properly chastened, Lois said, "I hadn't thought about that,
but, we *have* to catch this guy. He's killed once now and may
kill again. We can't let that happen. Besides, think of the
*story* we'll have."

"What good is the story if I have to write it because you're in
the hospital?"

"Alright, alright, we'll try it your way for two days. After
that we try it my way."

His reluctance was evident in his voice as he replied, "Okay. I
just hope I can catch him within that time."

***

Unfortunately Superman was only a single individual and a single
individual, even a super individual, cannot be in more places
than one at a time.

The first night into early morning he patrolled during times he
would normally have been in bed with Lois. All to no avail. He
kept a mental schedule and after the first night they checked
with Inspector Backstran and found that while he had been
patrolling the downtown area the Werewolf had struck again in the
Suicide Slum area. The problem was that the first thing he did
was silence his victim. They didn't have a chance to call for
Superman and this only served to increase Clark's frustration.

The next day the Inspector had some new information for them.
"We've narrowed down the list of cars that he might be driving.
Statistically, 95% of stolen cars, if they are going to be
recovered, are found within 24 hours. Two days ago the list was
six vehicles long. This morning's report has three of those
vehicles having been recovered. We are looking for a dark blue
Ford sedan, a yellow import convertible or a late model gray Ford
Mustang convertible. We have alerted all of our prowl cars and
all beat cops to be in the lookout for any of those cars. As soon
as one is spotted they will call in with its location. This gives
us a better chance of nabbing this guy."

The second night Clark made an error in judgment and concentrated
his time in the Suicide Slum area. The Werewolf struck again,
this time downtown.

The next day Clark flew Martha in to sit for CJ. Lois had been
expressing extra milk so that there would be a supply, just in
case.

That night as Lois was donning her disguise as a waitress she
said, "Two nights ago, Suicide Slum. Last night, downtown. I
have a hunch that he will hit Hobbs Bay soon. What say? Shall we
stake out the Hobbs Bay area?"

Clark replied, "I guess that will be as good as any area. We
really have no idea where he will strike next."

When Lois finished putting on her costume they went into the
living room where Martha and CJ were. Lois picked up CJ and said,
"Okay little guy, you be good for Grandma, you hear me." She
pulled him into a tight embrace and kissed him several times.

When Lois took CJ, Martha got up and pulled Clark aside. In a
very intense voice only he could hear she said, "Can't you talk
her out of this?"

"I've tried, Mom. She insists on doing this."

"Mind if I try?"

"It's your funeral. Go ahead."

Involved in holding CJ and loving him, Lois wasn't paying much
attention to what Clark and Martha were doing. She was actually
worried about this mission. She was more worried about this than
any other assignment she had ever gone on. The reason was CJ.
What Clark had said had really hit home. How would she be able to
take care of CJ from a wheel chair? She tried to hide her
apprehension behind a cheerful facade. Just as Martha returned
from her talk with Clark, Lois gave CJ another kiss and handed
him to Martha.

When she did, Martha spoke up, "Lois, Honey, are you sure you
want to do this?" Seeing Lois' look of determination she
continued, "I mean, I guess you feel you need to, but what about
CJ. If anything happened to you ... what would happen to him?"

Lois replied, "Martha, I appreciate it that you are concerned
about me, but really, I *can* take care of myself, and besides,
Clark will be watching over me. What can happen?"

"Then I guess there's no talking you out of this?"

"No, Martha, we need to do this. Too many girls have been hurt
for us to give up now."

Turning to Clark and putting on a brave front she said, "Let's
go catch us a murderer," and with purposeful stride she headed
for the back door.

As soon as they were outside they moved to the sheltered spot in
the back yard and they took off and headed for Hobbs Bay.

Lois knew one of the cafes in that area and she went in to talk
with the proprietor. After she had explained why she was there he
was very cooperative. She actually worked a shift as a waitress.
At 3 AM after clean-up had been done she, along with the rest of
the wait staff, left. Most of the girls walked together to a
nearby parking lot where they all entered a couple of vehicles in
which they had car pooled and drove off. Lois started walking the
other way down the street.

Knowing the man's MO she knew that he would either be in a car,
try to snatch her and force her into the car, or else the car
would be parked and he would be lurking nearby ready to grab her
and drag her to the car. Her self-defense training told her to
walk on the side of the sidewalk near the street. That way, if he
was lurking in an alley or doorway he would have to cross some
open space to get to her, giving her a chance to prepare to
defend herself.

She walked a circuitous route which took her into some sparsely
lit areas. She was constantly on the lookout for the three
suspect vehicles.

It was about 4:30 AM when she heard footsteps behind her. She was
instantly on alert but she maintained her pace, trusting her
husband to intercept any trouble. She could hear the footsteps
getting closer and closer and then suddenly they stopped.
Startled by this outcome she stopped and turned to see if it had
been her husband that had intercepted the man. What she saw
however, was a rather large individual who had stopped at a shop
a short way behind her and he was opening the door. She looked at
the sign and saw that it was a bakery. She breathed a sigh of
relief as she realized it was just the baker there to start the
day's baking to prepare for the early crowd.

She turned on her heel and resumed her journey. She had been
walking for over an hour and was very thankful for the foresight
she had used in selecting her footwear. She was wearing
comfortable walking shoes as part of her waitress role and not a
pair of heels. She continued walking. She walked until 5:30 AM
when she whispered, "I'm going to duck into this alley. Come
pick me up. I need to go home. It's past time for me to feed
CJ."

She walked into the alley and Clark was already there, waiting
for her. She threw herself into his arms and said, "I don't
think he's going to show. Let's go home."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth then he picked her up
and took off. A couple of minutes later they landed in the back
yard and moved to the house.

Martha had already given CJ a 3 AM bottle so Lois expressed some
milk to take the pressure off and they all went to bed.

CJ awoke at 7:30 and a bleary eyed Lois got up to feed him. As
soon as he was done she put him down for a nap and she went back
to bed. A little later in the morning Clark called Perry and
explained what they had done the night before and Perry told him
to take the day to recover.

When Lois got up they called Inspector Backstran and were told
that the Werewolf Murder had struck again, this time in the
Suicide Slum section. The girl was seriously injured but she
would be okay.

Disappointed at her perceived failure, Lois said, "Well, I
guessed wrong. I think we need to repeat in the same area. If we
move he could go into Hobbs Bay when we move away from there."

Clark replied, "Okay, after all, you're the top banana."

She smiled and poked him in the chest and said, "Just you
remember that and we'll do just fine." Then she broke down
laughing at the old joke. He always knew how to lighten her
mood.

A little later in the morning they had a call from Inspector
Backstran. "Clark, a report finally made it to my desk. Last
night a woman walked to a local post office box to mail a letter.
As she was turning to return to her apartment our subject pulled
up and tried to grab her. She got lucky. The pavement was uneven
and he tripped on the broken sidewalk and she was able to run
into her building. There's one good reason to thank the city for
being derelict in their duty of repairing the infrastructure.
Anyhow she called in to report the incident. It was our man all
right. The nice thing we got out of it was a description of the
vehicle. He's driving the gray Ford Mustang convertible. Now we
know what to look for. We are putting out a description to all
officers, uniform and plain clothes, to be on the lookout."

Clark said, "Thanks, Inspector. We will withhold that
information until you have him so that he doesn't know that you
have a description of his vehicle. None of our snitches had any
information. If we hear anything, we'll let you know."

***

Chapter 20 -- Winner and Still Champ

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

That night Lois went back to the cafe and worked a shift. At 3:00
a.m., when the clean-up was finished, they all left and again the
rest of the staff stayed together to the parking lot while Lois
headed off on her own.

About 4:30 Lois saw a gray Ford Mustang convertible parked down
the street in front of her. She was instantly on the alert and
started scanning the area. She saw an alley adjacent to where the
car was parked. She continued walking hoping that the Mustang
driver hadn't noticed her hesitant step.

Her nerves were at fever pitch. She knew that she was only
seconds from the confrontation. She thought about CJ. When she
did she almost turned around and ran. Almost, but, not quite. She
steeled her nerves. She had to do this; after all, she was Lois
Lane. She had to put this scum behind bars before he hurt or
killed any more women. <Besides,> she thought, <I've got the
best backup possible.> Nodding to herself her steps firmed up and
with deliberation she moved ahead.

Afraid that if she turned her head to look into the alley she
would give herself away, she started to cross the alley opening.
She concentrated on her hearing and was rewarded for her effort.
She heard a heavy shambling tread which rapidly turned into a
run. She turned her head when she knew he was nearing and seeing
him barreling towards her, she spun to her left which initially
took her into the same direction of travel as her assailant.

Seeing this, her assailant tried to put on a burst of speed
thinking this was going to be a simple foot race. He saw her veer
to the left as she continued her spin and he tried to change his
direction but his bulk was such that quick movements were not
possible. His rush carried him beyond her. As he was passing her
she completed her spin which took her to his left side, beyond
the stretch of his arms and performed a snap kick taking him in
the side of the near leg, at the knee. His leg collapsed and he
fell forward on his face. Unnoticed by Lois, just as she
unleashed her kick, Superman landed behind her. Lois danced
around the man like a prizefighter in the ring. Her hands were
clenched into fists and were up in guard position. As he started
to get up she kicked him again, this time knocking his arm out
from under him causing him to fall on his face again.

Superman crossed his arms over his chest and simply watched.

Her assailant was still on his belly, but he reached with his
right hand and pulled a sheath knife out and rolling over,
attempted to threaten Lois with it.

Lois closed with him and used her feet again. The kick impacted
his arm between elbow and wrist sending the knife flying. It
impacted a telephone pole about ten feet away with a solid thwack
and embedded itself in the wood.

After kicking the knife away she danced away again and flipped
her head so that her hair swished around and fell back out of her
face. He snarled an invective and this time reached for a gun.

Before it cleared its holster Lois closed with him again. This
time her kick took him under the chin. His head snapped back and
he lost all interest in the conflict as his gun went flying from
his nerveless fingers.

Lois danced over and kicked the gun out of reach. Once she had
done this she suddenly realized that Superman was there acting
for all the world like this was a spectator sport. She stopped
and put her hands on her hips and asked, "Well, are you just
going to stand there?"

He gave her that megawatt smile and said, "You're doing just
fine all by yourself. I just like to watch you work."

She gave him a hard stare and reaching into her pocket pulled out
her cell phone and dialed 911. "911. What is the nature of your
emergency?"

"This is Lois Lane. I just caught the Werewolf Murderer."

She instantly had the dispatcher's attention. She asked,
"Location? Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?"

"Bay Street half way down the block from Windsor. I'm not hurt,
but he's a little the worse for wear. I don't think he needs an
ambulance, just a police car." Before she was even finished, she
heard the dispatcher on the radio sending the police. Lois added,
"You might want to send Bill Henderson and Ed Backstran." Lois
could hear sirens in the distance and approaching.

The Werewolf came to and started to stir and Lois moved over and
kicked him again, this time in the stomach. He let out a grunt of
pain and said, "Superman, don't just stand there, do something!
Save me from her."

Superman could hardly keep a straight face as he replied, "You
brought this on yourself. I think she has made a Citizen's
Arrest and who am I to interfere in the course of justice?"

The Werewolf collapsed back to the sidewalk.

Less than a minute later a black-n-white screeched to a stop. The
patrolman jumped out of his car, with his gun drawn. He shouted,
"Freeze!" Then he looked around and took in the complete scene.
He saw Superman standing off to one side. He saw a petite
brunette dressed as a waitress in a fighting stance and a large
man sprawled out on the sidewalk. As he started to move over
closer he could see the woman relax, dropping her arms to her
sides. He addressed Superman, "What's going on here,
Superman?"

Superman inclined his head in Lois' direction and said, "I
think you need to talk to her. She just caught your Werewolf
Murderer for you. That's him on the sidewalk."

The cop did a double take and asked, "Are you serious? She took
him out?"

Superman said, "The she to whom you are referring happens to be
Lois Lane of the Daily Planet and yes, I'm serious. She made a
Citizen's Arrest."

The man held his hands up for the cop to put the cuffs on and
said, "Please, take me into custody. Get me away from this
b*tch."

Superman said, "If you have no further need of me I need to
finish my patrol."

The cop said, "That's fine, thanks, Superman. I think we can
handle it from here."

Superman flew off. A minute later Clark came running up
apparently breathless, from running. He gasped out, "Sorry Lois.
I had car trouble. What happened?"

"You missed all the action, Clark. Fortunately Superman was
here," her tone began to hold a scolding tone as she continued,
"But all he did was stand there watching while I did all the
work."

In a somewhat defensive tone he said, "I'm sure that if there
had been any problem he would have intervened. He wouldn't have
let you be hurt. I'm sure he felt that you were competent to
handle the situation so he chose not to interfere."

Just then two more cars pulled up. Out of one stepped Bill
Henderson. Ed Backstran exited the other. They both approached
slowly, taking in the scene. Bill was shaking his head and
chuckling. He said, "Lois Lane, I should have known."

Ed turned toward Bill and said, "I should have taken your
warning more seriously. Now I see what you were talking about."

Bill said, "I'm curious, but, I'm going to wait until we have
some pictures before I satisfy my curiosity." He turned to the
officer and asked, "Did you read him his rights?"

"Not yet. I was told that she'd performed a Citizen's Arrest.
What's the procedure?"

Bill turned to Lois and asked, "Lois will you turn your prisoner
over to MPD?"

Lois got a mischievous look as she asked, "Do I get credit for
the collar?"

Bill chuckled and said, "I should have known. Yeah, we'll give
you credit for the collar."

Lois jumped up and down and clapped her hands. After a few
seconds she stopped and said, "Yes, I turn my prisoner over to
the MPD." Then she got an ornery look and said to the officer,
"Read him his rights and book him!"

Bill, Ed and Clark all started laughing. Lois said, "I've
always wanted to say that!"

Bill nodded to the patrolman and said, "You heard the lady, uh,
arresting officer. Read him his rights and book him."

More black-n-whites and a few plain cars had been arriving all
the time this had been going on. The officers had all exited
their cars to see what was happening.

The patrolman told the man to roll over on his stomach and put
his arms behind him. He cuffed him and then helped him to stand.
While Lois, Clark, Bill and Ed stood there as witnesses the
patrolman read him his rights and then assisted him in getting
into the black-n-white.

Lois called him over and said, "Over there, in that telephone
pole you will find the knife he pulled on me and over by the wall
you'll find his gun."

As she was saying all of this Bill and Ed had startled
expressions. Bill was the first to speak, "He pulled a knife and
a gun on you? Why didn't Superman do something?"

Her expression was one of self-satisfaction as she said, "He
didn't want to spoil my fun."

Bill nodded to the patrolman and said, "Evidence kit. Collect
everything."

As the patrolman was going into his trunk for the evidence kit he
was looking at Lois with even more respect.

Bill turned to Lois and asked, "When can you come in and give us
a statement and the whole story? I can't wait to hear the
details."

Lois said, "Clark and I will stop on our way in to work.
Considering the time, that won't be until afternoon. We'll
bring CJ with us. The story might be in the afternoon edition
before we get there. I'm going to file it as soon as we get
home, but, it's after the morning edition deadline."

Bill chuckled and said, "I can't wait to read it. Okay, I'll
look for you tomorrow afternoon."

Clark put an arm around Lois and they started to walk away. Bill
stopped them and asked, "Can I give you a lift home?"

Clark said, "Thanks Bill, yes you may. I'm sure Lois has walked
enough for one night."

Lois and Clark amused Bill by discussing the write-up of the
article that they would be submitting to the paper while he drove
them home.

After he dropped them off, they thanked him and went on in. Lois
headed for the computer while Clark went to check on CJ. He was
fussing so Clark picked him up and carried him downstairs. When
CJ saw Lois he settled down.

Holding out her hands, Lois said, "There's my boy. Come to
Momma." Clark handed him over and Lois prepared to feed him.
While she did that Clark typed up the article. When she was
finished she handed CJ to Clark so that he could burp him and she
proofed the article. After making some minor additions she sent
it off to the Perry's e-mail account.

Finally, at 6 AM they put CJ back in his crib and they went to
bed for a few hours sleep.

The next afternoon the headline of the Daily Planet read:

"Werewolf Killer Nabbed"

By Lois Lane and Clark Kent

"The so-called Werewolf Killer was arrested in the early hours
of the morning. The individual was captured while attempting to
assault and rob what would have been his twenty-first victim. He
was subdued and a Citizen's Arrest was performed. The individual
was held until the police arrived and assumed custody. ..."

***

Early that afternoon Lois, Clark and CJ entered the Twelfth
Precinct and were immediately sent back to Bill Henderson's
office.

It took some time to get down to the business of the arrest
because Bill was becoming acquainted with CJ.

Finally Lois asked, "Okay Bill, what do you have for us?"

Bill reached into his top drawer and pulled out a manila folder.
He handed it to Lois who opened it and started flipping through
the pictures it contained. Clark was looking over her shoulder
and he let a whistle escape from between his teeth.

The first few pictures were of the man at his initial entry. In
the light of day he looked even weirder than he had when he had
accosted Lois. He had black hair which was rather long. He had
bushy eyebrows and a full beard which was long and scraggly. His
hands were also covered with hair.

The next pictures were of a clean shaven individual with close
cropped blond hair. Lois blurted out, "What's this?"

Tapping the picture with his forefinger Bill said, "That's your
capture. After we took the first series of pictures we discovered
that all that hair was false. The guy had been an actor and was
down on his luck. He used his skills at makeup to change his
appearance when he went out to assault the women. He had been
thrown over by a girlfriend who happened to be an aspiring
actress working as a waitress until she would be discovered. He
was attacking waitresses to get back at her and robbing them
because he didn't have a job. Problem is, he may try to cop an
insanity plea."

Lois looked over at Clark with a look of pure fury then looked
back at Bill, "Don't let him get away with that Bill. There's
no excuse for what he did to those women."

"We may need you to testify when this goes to trial, if it ever
does. His public defender has already been to see him. I know
this guy. My guess would be that he'll dissuade the perp from
the insanity plea because if he tries that the state will go for
capital murder, first degree. In previous cases that this guy has
handled he has plea bargained to a lesser charge. The state could
realistically go for murder one because the death occurred in the
course of a felony. That would make the killer eligible for the
death penalty. I don't think his lawyer will want to chance
that. He could plead down to second degree and go for life in
prison. Okay, so much about him. I need to hear the story. Let me
start the tape."

When Lois finished Bill sat back in his chair and applauded.
"Wow, that's some story. I'll get it typed up and you can stop
by and sign it, oh, how about tomorrow?"

Lois said, "Sure, tomorrow will work."

Clark started to reach for CJ's car seat. Bill stopped him and
said, "You know Lois, believe it or not, this is the first
really important Citizen's Arrest we've had in this city. I've
heard rumors of a citation and certificate from the mayor's
office. Don't let on that I told you. Act like it's a
surprise." Bill held out his hand and said, "Put 'er there,
champ."

Lois giggled and shook his hand.

***

***

Chapter 21 -- New Krypton

Lori and Clark, 2090

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Lori knew that sending CJ into the past was the right thing to
do. It had to be, since it had been what they had done and she
remembered it being done. She wondered why her memories of that
time were so fuzzy, but attributed it to all of the memories that
had been crammed into her brain as a child by the soul tracker.
That didn't lessen the impact of the loss of her baby. Herb had
just stepped through the portal and already her arms ached to
hold her baby. She tried to hide her disappointment from Clark,
but, he knew her too well and took her in his arms to comfort
her. He didn't need the telepathy to know how she was feeling
because he was feeling the same thing. She appreciated Herb's
thoughtfulness in providing the medication to assist in stopping
her milk, but, she knew that if not for her invulnerability she
would have been in agony stopping so abruptly.

Clark used his Reporter's Assistant to place a video call to
Frank. "Hi Frank, Clark and Lori here."

They could see a look of surprise on his face as Frank answered,
"Well, Clark, I certainly wasn't expecting a call on Friday
night. This is your weekend off, isn't it?" They could see a
more eager expression come over his face as he continued, "There
is only one possible reason that my top reporting team would be
bothering me on their time off, you've got something big that
can't wait until Monday, don't you? Come on, don't keep me in
suspense. What is it?"

Clark continued, "Yeah Frank, this is big. We've been contacted
by representatives of the New Krypton government and they request
that we travel there to document the encounter with a new
space-faring race."

Frank was skeptical and Clark could see it in his expression,
"Just what does that have to do with Earth?"

"Look at it this way, this could be the exclusive of the
century! We will be the only journalists there."

"Just why are we being given this privilege?"

Warming to the topic now Clark continued, "Back when the New
Kryptonians first arrived the Daily Planet was very involved,
even going so far as to be the headquarters for the resistance
effort here in Metropolis. This is a tremendous advantage! We
will not only be able to document this encounter, we can also do
some stories of life on New Krypton. It could give our readers a
new perspective on them."

Frank looked thoughtful as he asked, "How can we do this? You
say that you'll be gone for an extended period. How long?"

Stepping into the frame so that Frank could see her, Lori tried
to minimize the problem. Putting the best face on it so that
hopefully Frank would agree, she replied, "We don't know just
yet, but it shouldn't be too long."

Frank kept bringing it back to the practicalities of the
situation so he asked, "What about your pay?"

Clark offered, "We can take this as a leave of absence. When we
return you can adjust our salary based upon the stories we turn
in."

Frank, still concerned about losing both of his best reporters at
the same time, asked, "What am I going to do with the city desk
while you're away?"

Trying to offer an acceptable solution and yet protect their
positions, Clark suggested, "You could hire a couple of temps or
do a lateral move of a couple of other reporters, with the
understanding that those seats are ours when we return."

They could see Frank's face as he thought this through before he
replied, "I guess I could move Sullivan and Schultz over
temporarily. I'm sure they won't have your style, but maybe
they could learn to work together."

Utilizing the video link to its fullest Lori added hand and arm
motions to emphasize her points as she said, "Frank, if this
turns out the way we expect it to, it could be Pulitzer material.
Just think of it ... a world fighting for its survival and we'll
have a ringside seat. This could be bigger than WW I and WW II
and all the other smaller wars we've seen put together."

They could see from his expression that Lori had scored some
points. Finally Frank replied, "All right, all right, we'll
make this work somehow. Get back as soon as you can."

With a sincere look, Clark promised, "We won't stay away a
minute longer than is necessary, count on it."

With a look of concern on his face, Frank said, "Do me one more
favor. Stay safe and by that I mean stay alive. This newsroom
wouldn't be the same without you."

Lori put her arm around Clark's and moved in close to him so
that they were both in the frame as she replied, "We'll be
back, Frank. Count on it," before closing the link.

They each packed a few necessities and after saying goodbye to
the kids and grandkids they took off for the ship.

***

The trip to New Krypton was taking longer than Clark had
anticipated. The FTL technology that had been developed and
implemented for the colony ship was not as advanced as the drive
that Jor-El had developed for the small ship he had used to send
Kal-El to Earth.

On the tenth day Ching and Clark were together in a room near the
command deck and the topic of the FTL drive came up. Clark said,
"I wasn't aware that the trip between New Krypton and Earth
would take so long. What are the distances involved?"

Ching replied, "Why don't I call in the chief astrogator and
our chief engineer? They can probably explain it better than I
can." He placed the call and outlined the request.

When they arrived Clark posed his question, "Is there a way to
increase our speed when in FTL drive?"

The engineer explained, "Lord Kal-El, the speed we move when in
FTL drive is constant and is determined by the design of the
engines. The technology we use warps the space around us at a
constant rate allowing us to move between the folds rather than
along them. The size of the fold is determined by the design of
the engines."

"What is the distance from the location of Krypton's star to
New Krypton?"

This question was fielded by the astrogator who had come prepared
for just such a discussion. He placed a small device on the desk.
When activated a small holographic projection of a volume of
space appeared above it. As he spoke he hit some keys on a
controller in his hand. When he made a final keystroke a pair of
pinpoints of light glowed brighter. As they watched the pattern
shifted. When they finally stopped he hit another key and a line
connecting the two points appeared. After reading the display on
his device, he said, "New Krypton orbits the star you call
Arcturus. That distance from Krypton is, was 225.8 light years,
based on Earth years. In the display I started with a current
starmap and moved back in time to Earth date January 1963, which
was our launch date."

"What is the distance from the location of Krypton's star to
Earth?"

He hit a few keys and one of the points of light faded and
another lit up. Then the lights shifted briefly. Again a line of
light joined the two and after reading his display he said,
"That distance would be 227.9 light years, again based on Earth
years. I moved ahead to February, 1966 Earth date.
Astronomically, the difference in the distances is only
approximately 2.1 LY."

"What is the distance from Earth to New Krypton?"

Making more entries, the astrogator caused the map to shift
again. Once the display firmed the first pinpoint had faded and
the other two flared brighter and were connected by the line.
After consulting his read out he said, "These are New Krypton
and Earth at the current time. That distance would be 36.7 light
years, based upon Earth years."

"What will be the duration of this trip?"

"This trip will last 30.88 days."

"Wow, that long to cover that short a distance? My Earth parents
found a flight chronometer in my ship and they told me that it
showed a flight duration of 30.25. Presumably this was days and
not hours. How does that compare to your drive?"

The astrogator used the device in his hand to do a computation
before saying in an awed tone, "That would be 7.53 times faster
than our drive."

"What would be the duration for a trip between New Krypton and
Earth with the Jor-El drive?"

After a quick calculation the astrogator looked up in amazement
and announced, "Only 4.87 days, twenty-six days less."

The engineer said, "If that is indeed the case then the FTL
drive developed by Jor-El after we left represents a quantum leap
in FTL drive technology. The state of the art at that time had
power sources adequate to the task of a size to be installed in
your ship. The drive unit would have had to be smaller than that
which we developed. Our FTL drive occupies a space comparable to
a small dwelling and is distributed in compartments throughout
the outer areas of the ship so that the warp field is uniformly
distributed. The size of your ship would only require a single
field generator. Even so the field generator itself must be very
small in order to accommodate your person and the life support
systems that would be necessary within so small a craft."

Ching said, "I'm sure our scientists and engineers would like
to get a look at your ship and Jor-El's drive."

"Perhaps that can be arranged. We'll talk more about that
later."

It was apparent that Jor-El, as Krypton's leading scientist, had
made a breakthrough with the new star drive. It was just a shame
that he hadn't had time to build a ship larger than the
experimental craft he and Lara had sent off with Kal-El aboard.
The fact that their FTL drive was not as efficient and the
unknown destination of Kal-El's ship accounted for the fact that
Clark was in his twenties before Zara and Ching had found him.
All things considered this trip actually took longer than
necessary had they been using Jor-El's drive.

***

During the trip Zara, Ching, Lori and Kal spent almost all of
their waking hours together. Zara and Ching were bringing Lori
and Kal up to speed on the level of preparedness of New Krypton
for dealing with the impending threat. Lori had taken the family
name of El and was therefore given all of the respect that name
afforded as the bond mate of Kal-El.

During one session Ching said, "We have their scout ship. After
it fled it was damaged by a collision with a space rock, a large
granite meteor. Since the hull integrity was broken the internal
atmosphere was released in an explosive decompression. There were
no survivors. By salvaging their ship and bringing it to New
Krypton we have been able to do some analysis of their
systems."

"They have a FTL drive; however, it is not nearly as efficient
as ours which is why we were able to make the trip to pick you up
and return before they arrive in our space. We have also
determined that at sub-light speeds their vessels are not nearly
as maneuverable as ours. From our time on Earth I believe that I
can give you a comparison. It would be like a speedboat compared
to a tug boat. Their ships are designed for power rather than
speed and maneuverability. Their thrust to mass ratio is
significantly lower than ours. Their ships tend to be larger than
ours overall. They seem to depend more on the FTL drive even in
system than using maneuvering thrusters."

"As for their weapons, they rely on energy weapons which really
pack a punch. For defense they have energy shields which are
effective against all but our most potent energy weapons."

Clark asked, "What about projectile weapons? Have you tried them
against that shield?"

"Yes, Kal, we have. They are also ineffective. Projectiles do
not penetrate the barrier."

Lori asked, "Do you have an idea as to just how many ships are
on the way?"

"Our long range sensors are able to detect a large, a very large
mass headed this way. At this distance, however, we cannot
determine if it is a single, moonlet size vessel or a cluster of
smaller craft."

Clark asked, "Do you have any way to communicate with them?"

"We have a limited sub-set of their language upon which to base
a rudimentary translation. We found some technical manuals and,
of course, the markings on the controls on the consoles. Some of
those we were able to determine the meaning of by observing the
result of activating the control."

His concern over the situation was evident as Clark asked, "Is
there any way to check on the progress made in translation while
you have been away? If we could communicate with them we may be
able to avoid a conflict."

Ching replied, "We have two teams of linguists working on the
translation. One team is on board and I receive daily updates.
The other team is on New Krypton. They are working on different
sub-sets of the language. They will compare notes when we return.
The hope is that we will be able to develop a sufficient
understanding of their language by the time they are within
communications range that we will be able to negotiate with
them."

***

When they arrived the first thing they did was to check with the
linguists still on New Krypton and compare notes to see how far
they had gotten on developing a working vocabulary of the alien
language and combining their findings. They were disappointed at
the limited extent of what had been accomplished. Clark said,
"At this rate we might be able to say, 'We surrender' when
they get here, but then it might also mean, 'I take mine with
sugar'. This is very frustrating."

While Clark had gone with Ching to see the linguists, Lori had
gone with Zara to the residence they would be sharing with them.
Zara had given Lori a tour and showed her the rooms that she and
Kal-El would be using. It was a suite of rooms consisting of a
bed chamber, bath with shower, sitting room and kitchenette. The
main meals would be shared by both couples in the main dining
room and would be prepared by the wait staff.

After the tour Zara and Lori had moved into a common lounge area
which had large windows giving a view of the landscape and part
of the city. The city had lofty spires with delicate, or at least
what from this distance appeared to be delicate, bridges at upper
levels to be used for crossing from one building to another
without the necessity of descending to ground level first. There
was a total absence of smog so there was a crystal clear view. In
the distance, several degrees above the horizon, two moons could
be seen. One moon was larger than the other and was about to pass
between New Krypton and the farther moon.

Turning to Zara, Lori asked, "I can see two moons. How many does
New Krypton have?"

Zara's reply surprised her, "We have ten moons and moonlets
altogether. Some of the moonlets are little more than large
asteroids. There are, actually, only six true moons."

Lori was amazed at how different things looked. She could see the
sun riding high in the sky. Its apparent diameter nearly five
times that of Sol as seen from the Earth yet it wasn't any
hotter than Metropolis in the summertime. Zara had told Lori that
they were currently in what would correspond to late summer,
approaching fall although the differences between the seasons
were not as marked as those on Earth. It was more like the
environment experienced in Central America with the highs and
lows only being separated by the equivalent of forty degrees
Fahrenheit, the highs being around ninety degrees and the lows
being around the fifty degree mark.

Lori was surprised that what she was seeing looked just about the
colors she expected even though the sun was a red giant. She had
expected reds to dominate. Zara explained, "The human brain,
Earth or Kryptonian, is a marvelous device. It takes in the input
from the optic nerve and interprets that input based upon the
expectations from years of experience. For instance look at your
cape. You expect it to be red so you see red. When you look at
your uniform you expect to see blue, so blue it is. Compared to
Earth as you can see our sun is huge. It is approximately five
times Sol's diameter. That's why it looks so big, it actually
is. Because it is a red sun it isn't as hot as Earth's star so
even though we are only slightly farther away in our orbit we are
still in the habitable zone where we have liquid water which is
necessary to the existence of life. Because of the size of New
Krypton's sun we do have some rather spectacular sunsets."

Lori saw what appeared to be a bird fly by and even though she
got a pretty good look at it she thought it looked familiar but,
failed to recognize the species. She asked, "What kind of bird
was that?"

Zara replied, "That was a Grocker. It is a native species from
Krypton similar to your mocking bird even to the extent that it
mimics other bird calls. From almost all of the native Kryptonian
species we brought with us we have hatched at least a few birds.
Even though they are technically wild species, since they were
hatched and raised in captivity they are really tame. They depend
on us to feed them since there are still insufficient Kryptonian
foodstuffs available. We will be negotiating for some compatible
female mammalian Earth animal specimens to act as host mothers
for our animals. Once we have sufficient numbers of breeders of
our own in sufficient quantity the Earth animals will be
sterilized and become pets."

Lori asked, "Why sterilization?"

Zara replied, "Our environment will be difficult enough on adult
Earth animals. New born would not survive. We are a humane people
and would prefer to have them as pets to euthanization."

She gave Lori a few seconds to absorb all of this information
before she continued, "You see, ours was a colony ship. It was
our intent to colonize a new world."

This was new information for Lori. She asked, "Before your
arrival on Earth we had thought that Kal-El was the last survivor
of Krypton. How is it that there even was a colony ship?"

Zara decided to give Lori the whole story, "Not all of Krypton
ignored Jor-El's warnings of a core instability. Some of us took
him seriously. We had developed a star drive, not one as advanced
as the one Jor-El invented, so we built our colony ship."

Lori interrupted her, "How do you know that the drive Jor-El
developed is more advanced?"

"Ching told me about a conversation he and Kal-El had early in
out voyage here. They talked with our chief astrogator and made
that determination. Our colony ship used cryogenic units,
freezing us for the duration of the trip. This reduced the
supplies that would be needed to sustain the colonists during the
trip. Kal-El's and my marriage was arranged even before either
of us was born. I was actually born three years before Kal-El and
due to my rank was selected as one of the colonists. It was
deemed that Kal-El was, as a newly born infant, in fact too young
to survive the rigors of the trip and so was left behind.

During the trip only a maintenance crew remained awake to watch
over the sleepers and the ship's functions. Those of us that
slept did so for three years. In that time the maintenance crew
examined and rejected a number of planets as unsuitable for
colonization, finally finding New Krypton. They calculated that
if we had been able to go directly there the trip would have
taken about one hundred-ninety days."

Zara continued her explanation, "During our earlier visit to
Earth we examined Kal-El's ship and we discovered that it did
not have a cryo unit installed. This called for further
examination. When we did we found that since Jor-El had also
determined that baby Kal-El would not survive the rigors of the
cryo process, he had used an alternate method for putting baby
Kal-El to sleep. There was an herb found only high in a mountain
range in a remote part of Krypton which when crushed produced a
vapor like essence reminiscent of Earth's pine forest odor. This
vapor had a unique property. In sufficient concentrations it
produced a state of suspended animation similar to hibernation
which your Earth bears experience. This vapor had been stored in
a small tank and mixed with the air in Kal-El's ship. The
effects of the gas mixture would have been counteracted
immediately when his capsule was opened. The fresh, untainted air
would have awakened him immediately without the prolonged process
we had to go through. Since I was in cryo-sleep for three years
Kal-El and I are now the same physiological age."

"Kal told Ching that his Earth parents found a trip chronometer
and from that timer they determined that his flight had lasted
only a month whereas ours would have been closer to a year. That
tells us that the drive Jor-El developed is at least ten times as
efficient, read that as fast, as ours."

Zara gave a few seconds so that Lori could digest that
information.

Zara continued her narrative, "The team behind the construction
of the colony ship knew that the trip could consume a lot of time
and that when we arrived at our new planet we would need to
Kryptoform it so when they built it they stocked it with the eggs
of as many species of native Kryptonian avian, aquatic and
reptilian species as we were able to carry. One thing we did not
bring were insectoids. They could have become pest species if
their predator species were not available, the exception being
pollinators. Since we took eggs rather than juvenile or adults of
the various species we were able to accommodate almost the entire
genome of the planet. The scientists have estimated that it will
take some time yet to complete the Kryptoforming of the planet.
Modifying the eco-structure of an entire planet is a slow
process. We carried considerable quantities of condensed and
dehydrated foodstuffs to carry us; however, the trade with Earth
has been critical to our survival."

Thoughtfully Lori commented, "Just about like the biblical story
of Noah and the Ark."

Zara agreed, "Ah, yes. I remember. While we were on Earth that
was one of the books I read. I noted that there were numerous
similarities between it and the Book of Rao."

Lori asked, "The Book of Rao. Just how similar is it to the
Bible? Is it a guidebook for living a good and spiritual life
pleasing to God?"

Zara replied reverently, "Yes, the Book of Rao contains stories
which tell us how to live good lives. It also contains a
pre-history of our world and a full description of Rao's time on
Krypton."

Lori was astounded, "Rao lived among the people of Krypton?"

Zara replied, "Yes, he did. The parallels between Rao and the
Hebrew Christ are striking."

Deciding that the discussion of religion could be put off for a
later time, Zara returned to the subject of the colony ship. "We
also brought with us female ova and male sperm from donors from
across Krypton. We will use in vitro fertilization techniques.
Once we have a thriving ecology we will be asking our women to
act as host mothers so that we can increase the population more
rapidly. We have complete records as to the source of the zygotes
and the names would maintain the family lineage."

Zara continued her explanation, "We didn't limit what we
brought to animals; we also brought seeds of plant species. We
hope that eventually we will have a completely Kryptonian
environment. We have planted many experimental plots of
Kryptonian shrubs and trees, both fruit bearing and ornamental
and the results are promising. We have also set up sod farms
where we are attempting to grow Kryptonian grasses. We have
examined the local species and although they are similar there
are differences in the native proteins which make them slightly
incompatible with our physiology. Don't get me wrong, they are
not poisonous, it's just that some of the proteins that we
require are missing."

With pride, Zara indicated the shelves that lined one of the
walls, indicating the books held there. "These are all classical
and scientific tomes which have been reprinted from the archives
stored in the ship's data banks. All of the classical heritage
of Krypton survives."

They returned their attention to the scene outside, looking out
of the windows. They stood there for some minutes, in silent
contemplation. Before Zara turned to look at Lori, "Fortunately,
Earth commodities are sufficiently compatible. Our trade with
Earth has been life saving. Once our Kryptonian species are
growing in sufficient quantities we will be able to reduce our
imports. The problem causing us to rely on trade with Earth this
long is the reduced growth rate we have experienced. Our
Kryptonian foodstuffs grow, but not as quickly as they did on
Krypton itself. It has taken many years to get to where we are
able to start harvesting some foodstuffs and those are being
tested to see if the native soil is acceptable."

"It has taken over seventy years to get this far, but converting
a planet, modifying the plants and the animals establishing the
new species is a very slow process, especially with a planet as
large as New Krypton and will take many more years yet."

Lori asked, "Why did you choose this planet to colonize? Why not
a planet more like Earth?"

Zara replied, "If you had a choice of, oh, perhaps your own
neighbor planet, Mars or a more earthlike planet circling Alpha
Eridani, which would you chose?"

Lori countered, "That probably isn't a fair question. Comparing
Mars to Earth isn't like comparing Krypton to Earth. For one
thing Mars doesn't have a breathable atmosphere. It's too
thin."

Zara pressed her point, "In essence it is. Mars is smaller than
Earth so even a non-superpowered individual would have enhanced
strength and agility. They might not be able to leap tall
buildings at a single bound or be faster than a speeding bullet,
but you get the idea."

Zara continued, "We are used to the environment of Krypton. Our
plants and animals were adapted to that same environment. That is
why we found a planet that simulates the Kryptonian environment
as closely as possible. I'm sure you would do the same, perhaps
Epsilon Eridani 4."

Lori laughed and said, "I think I'll stay on good old Earth.
Epsilon Eridani 4 might be a nice place to visit, but I'm not
sure I'd want to live there."

***

Chapter 22 -- The Defense of New Krypton

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Stepping away from the window and with a gesture, Zara invited
Lori to take a seat. She asked, "How many of Lois' memories do
you have?"

Lori replied, "All of them."

Zara had a worried look on her face as she asked, "Do you
remember everything about me and Kal-El?"

Lori tried to put her fears at rest, "I remember that you were
forced into a marriage that neither of you wanted because it had
been arranged when you were infants. I remember that I got a
message that said, 'In the absence of a member of the house of
Ra, you are acceptable' which was basically, Jor-El's
permission for me to marry Clark, oh I mean, Kal-El. I really
need to get used to that, calling him Kal-El I mean. Then you
showed up and all bets were off. Ching almost killed himself and
Clar, uh, Kal-El, Kal-El, Kal-El, Kal-El. Isn't that what they
say? Say something a few times, over and over. Ching almost
killed Kal-El, hah, I got it that time, in his attempt to prove
that he wasn't worthy. I remember Ching smuggling me on board as
one of Cla ... Kal-El's concubines. I remember Kal-El fighting
Nor and almost dying along with him when the Earth military used
Kryptonite gas on them. I remember Kal-El abdicating in favor of
you and Ching. I also remember you being happy that Kal-El
released you from your vows. That all happened a long time ago
and now you are happy with Ching and I am happy with Clar ...
oooohhh, Kal-El. It's going to take some time for me to get used
to that. How have you and Ching been?"

"As you probably know, at the time of our last meeting, as a
military officer, Ching, used his military rank rather than his
family name. Now he has retired from the military and has taken
his family name which is Ka. When we were wed I became Zara
Ching-Ka or simply Zara-Ka. Genealogy is very important to our
people. My name means Za of the family Ra married to Ching of the
family Ka. We have three sons and a daughter. The boys are named,
Ram-Ka, Tel-Ka and Su-Ka while the girl's name is Loka. We
wanted to honor Kal-El with one of our children and you with
another one."

"Where are your children?"

"They each have families of their own, but, we plan to have a
feast once this situation is resolved and you will meet them at
that time, if not before. How many children do you have?"

"Kal-El and I only have one, but, as Lois we had eight. I'll
give you the Kryptonian names. They are Kam-El, Myel, Dan-El,
Noel, Hazel, Zar-El, Angel and Ben-El. They are all married and
we have over sixty grandchildren. My sister just married one of
our grandsons. We haven't decided on the Kryptonian name for CJ
yet. CJ is the nickname for Clark Junior."

Zara said, "Wow, such a large family. Do they all have your
powers?"

"All of the children do, yes. Through the use of the pendant,
all of the spouses have the powers as well, which reminds me, I
have something for you to try." Lori pulled out her 'old'
pendant, the one with the single strength Star Sapphire
Kryptonite and handed it to Zara.

Zara held it in her hand and Lori asked, "Do you feel
anything?"

"What should I feel?"

"Oh, I don't know, a sudden feeling of well being, strength,
better hearing, x-ray vision. The same way you felt on Earth
under the yellow sun and lower gravitation."

Zara thought and searched herself for several seconds before
saying, "No, I don't feel any different."

With something of a frown, Lori said, "That's such a shame. We
were hoping that you would get your powers back with that. It
looks like it will only work with Earth humans that have been
changed by exposure to the Kryptonian aura." Lori took the
pendant back and secured it.

Just then Ching and Clark walked in. Each of the men walked over
and greeted their respective wives with a kiss.

Zara was shocked, "Ching, in front of our guests?"

Ching replied, "That was a small celebration."

Zara looked at him and said, "Celebrating what exactly?"

Clark spoke up, "We just broke the language barrier. We should
be able to communicate with them. We plan to record a message and
send a drone vessel to meet them. We just need to decide on the
content of the message"

Lori spoke up, "I think that we need to determine if we have a
chance against them before we try to communicate with them." She
turned to Ching and asked, "What kinds of weapons do you
possess?"

Ching started going down a list, "We have some energy weapons.
We also have some rather primitive projectile weapons, very
similar to what exists on Earth."

Clark asked, "What about missiles, explosives, or atomic
weapons?"

"We gave up on reaction drive missiles a long time ago. They are
mostly ineffective against FTL drive ships, the same with atomic
weapons. They are dependent on a delivery system which would be
defeated by a FTL drive."

Lori suggested, "What about placing a nuclear weapon inside a
FTL driven ship?"

Ching replied, "The problem of control enters the picture. It
would in essence be an unguided missile since any control system
would rely on electromagnetic radiation in the form of radio
waves of some frequency to deliver the commands. The second the
ship went into FTL drive, it would outrun the control signals.
Besides, their shield technology would render such a weapon
useless."

Lori said, "So much for 'smart' weapons."

Clark asked, "Have you tested their defensive shields?"

Zara answered this one, "Yes, we have had our best scientists
studying their defensive shields. They have determined that their
shield is proof against any energy weapon currently in our
inventory."

Clark asked, "Is it proof against their own weapons?"

The wait staff called them to a meal and they moved into the
dining area and continued the discussion over their meal.

Ching answered Clark's earlier question, "Yes, it is. We have
been working on some of our ships, installing copies of their
shield device. The hope is that if we can field a number of ships
that they cannot destroy they may call it a draw and pull
back."

Clark asked, "How far have you gotten on the ships?"

"We have one prototype just about ready to test. We determined
that they concentrated their shields at the front of their craft.
What we decided to do was build a spherical craft and place
shield generating units at equidistant points around the craft.
The decision to go with spherical craft was actually made in
order to maximize our maneuverability. By placing thrusters in
all quadrants, at sub-light speeds, we can apply thrust in any
direction. With our artificial gravity technology the differing
thrust vectors will not affect the occupants. This enhanced
maneuverability can be used either in defense or offence."

Lori asked, "What weapons are you planning to mount?"

"We are mounting our most potent energy weapons as well as some
projectile weapons. If we can disable their shield the projectile
weapons could be effective."

Clark asked, "What kind of projectiles have you tested against
their shields?"

"We tried a number of different alloys as well as spent
radioactives, such as depleted uranium, since they are the
densest, heaviest materials available. All attempts have been
futile. The projectiles simply bounce off."

Lori asked, "Didn't you say that the scout ship had been almost
destroyed? What did it?"

Ching said, "They had crashed into a granite meteor. Why?"

"Aren't most meteors made of nickel/iron?"

Ching said, "Yes. May I ask why that is of importance?"

Clark could see where Lori was going with this line of
questioning and spoke up, "What if their shields are only proof
against refined metals? That granite meteor was unusual and
apparently it pierced their shields."

It was like a light bulb suddenly went on in Ching's head. He
said, "Say, you're right! What if raw materials like granite
can pierce their shields?"

Lori spoke up again, "It would be like the biblical story of
David and Goliath. We could throw stones at them!"

Zara spoke up for the first time, "How would any stone we could
throw pierce their shields and do any damage? It would be far too
small."

Clark asked, "Have either of you ever heard of a rail gun?"

Both of the Kryptonians shook their heads while Lori nodded in
understanding. Clark proceeded, "A rail gun is a device that
uses magnetic fields to accelerate an object to high velocity far
in excess of the velocities produced by explosive charges and in
space there wouldn't be an atmosphere to slow it once it left
the device."

Ching thought he had found a weakness and spoke up, "But, if it
is dependent on magnetic fields to cause the acceleration, the
projectile would have to be made of iron or steel which would be
deflected, wouldn't it?"

"On Earth, there is a French word, sabot, which came into common
usage in the twentieth century. It is the root of the word
sabotage which came into common usage during World War 2 when the
Dutch would use their wooden shoes, sabot, to gum up the works
and delay or prevent the production of war materials by the
Germans. Later it came into use to describe a shoe which
surrounded a projectile. The military took a spent radioactive
projectile of considerably smaller diameter than the gun that
would be firing it and created a sabot to go around it which
built it out to the size of the cannon. As soon as it left the
barrel the sabot fell away and all that was left was the dense
core projectile moving with all of the speed and power of the
larger round. It would punch through the thickest armor. What I
propose is that we create granite projectiles and a sabot of iron
or steel. Once the projectile leaves the end of the rail gun the
sabot will fall away and the granite projectile will do the
work."

Excited, Ching said, "I'll put a team on building one right
away. Can you give me a rough drawing and a description as to how
it works? That would help our engineers get started."

Clark replied, "Why don't we finish this meal, then you and I
can get together with the engineers and I can go over it with
them. Then they can take their own notes."

Ching raised his glass of Kryptonian wine and said, "An
excellent suggestion. To the rail gun and our defense."

They all lifted their glasses in toast and drank.

After the meal Ching and Clark left to meet with the engineers.
As they were leaving Ching said, "We'll be back later. Zara,
why don't you girls go out and you can show Lori some of the
sights?"

Zara looked at Lori and smiled mysteriously as she said, "We
may, but then again we may just stay here and have some girl
talk. Maybe we'll compare our husbands."

Both men were startled by this comment and somewhat
apprehensive.

***

Chapter 23 -- A Surprising Discovery

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

When Kal and Ching returned the girls were both curled up on a
couple of couches facing one another and chatting amiably.

As they entered Ching addressed Zara and asked, "Okay, so, how
did I fare when compared to Kal?"

With a wicked little grin Zara said, "You're the best husband
ever."

A little downcast from hearing this Kal asked Lori, "I suffered
by comparison?"

With a grin that matched Zara's, Lori replied, "No, we decided
that you're the best husband ever, too."

Kal and Ching both gaped and asked, "How can that be?"

The girls laughed and Zara said to Ching, "You're the best
husband ever on New Krypton."

Lori said to Kal, "And you're the best husband ever on Earth.
Now, of course, we might just be a little bit prejudiced on our
evaluations, but, then, what wife doesn't think her husband is
the best ever?"

Kal looked at Ching and said, "Well as one best husband ever to
another I think we have a couple of terrific wives. What do you
think?"

Ching replied, "I would have to agree with that evaluation, but
then, we might be a little prejudiced in our evaluations." They
both ducked as Zara and Lori each launched pillows at their
respective husbands. Ching was able to dodge his easily but, Kal,
since Lori was super powered wasn't fast enough to get out of
the way of the one she launched at him at super speed. He
shouted, "Hey, no fair, you're still super powered!"

Lori started laughing and said, "Serves you right, for making
that comment."

They picked up the pillows and joined their wives on the couches.
Zara asked, "Well, how did it go?"

Ching answered, "Kal was very thorough. The engineers have an
excellent idea of what they need to do and they think they should
have a good drawing tomorrow and a working model within ten
days."

Lori said, "Isn't that going to be cutting it kinda close?
That'll only leave about thirty days before they are here."

Kal said, "We will be working on other items at the same
time."

Ching added, "Tomorrow we're supposed to test the shield
technology. The first spherical ship is just about ready for its
test flight. We are hoping that the maneuverability of the
spherical design will give us a big edge in the upcoming
conflict."

Kal added, "Also, the linguists are going to be preparing a
message for them which will be recorded and placed on a robot
craft. We plan to launch that and have it on station in their
path broadcasting. We still have to decide on the content. Any
ideas?"

Zara suggested, "How about a warning that if they enter our
space they invite their destruction?"

Kal replied, "They could perceive that as either a threat or a
challenge. That may not be the way to go."

Lori offered, "How about an offer to simply negotiate?"

Ching replied, "That might be best. Offer to start a dialogue
rather than a war."

Zara asked "Ching, did you show Kal the battle suits that we
recovered from that scout ship?"

Ching replied, "No, not yet. We've had other things to do. I
was planning to show those to him tomorrow."

Lori asked, "Why don't you tell us a little about them?"

Ching responded, "Okay, well, these are powered environmental
suits. They have an exoskeleton which imparts great strength.
There is a small, personal, shield unit located on the chest and
weapons mounted on the arms. The whole thing is powered by a
power pack carried on the back."

Kal asked, "How effective is the shield device?"

Ching replied, "Don't let the size and portability deceive you.
It is every bit as effective as a ship based device; it just
covers a smaller area."

Lori suggested, "But does it have the same vulnerability?"

Ching replied, "It should, but, it would be difficult to use the
rail gun against an individual."

Smiling, Lori said, "I have something else in mind. I'll need
to talk to an engineer, a metallurgist, an ornithologist and a
geologist."

Kal looked at his wife with a mystified expression before he
said, "That's an odd mix of disciplines. What do you have in
mind?"

Lori replied, "Think back, I think the Emerald Archer is due to
make a comeback. I need an engineer to design a new more powerful
compound bow and the metallurgist to come up with a metal alloy
that will stand up to my super strength. I need the ornithologist
to get me some feathers for fletching and the geologist to locate
some obsidian, flint and quartz for arrowheads. I'll also need a
lot of wooden dowel rods. Since all refined materials are
deflected by the shield I will need arrows made of all natural,
unrefined materials."

Continuing she asked, "The crew of the destroyed scout ship, was
there enough left of them to determine their anatomy and
physiology?"

Zara replied, "I led that team. We found a couple of individuals
that managed to partially don environmental suits before the
catastrophe. We have a pretty good idea of their anatomy. It is
essentially the same as ours. There is some minor rearrangement
of the organs, but, still essentially the same."

Lori said, "I'll need a drawing indicating non-lethal,
disabling targets on their bodies that I can aim for."

Zara replied, "I'll have a med-tech prepare a drawing for you.
It should be ready tomorrow."

Standing, Lori reached for Clark's hand as she said, "Thanks.
If that's all for tonight I think we'll head off to bed."

Following Lori's lead, Zara also stood as she said, "That
sounds like a very practical suggestion." As she stood up she
reached for Ching's hand.

Each couple went to their own suite.

***

The next day Ching arranged the meetings that Lori had requested.
She explained what she needed to the engineer. The design that
came out of the discussion was a compound bow with pulleys for
power and other features that gave it more capabilities than any
bow heretofore created. At the push of a button, locking pins
were released and the bow folded in upon itself into a very
compact shape which would fit in a compartment of the quiver. The
metallurgist knew of a Kryptonian alloy that he felt would hold
up to the strain and when formed into fine wires and braided and
twisted into a cord should make an adequate string. The estimated
pull would be such that only an individual with super strength
would be able to pull it. The speed, the arrows launched from
this bow were travelling at close to Mach 1, and the force
generated as a result of that speed would be such that it should
pierce the heaviest armor.

The geologist knew where outcroppings of various minerals were,
quartz, mica schist, obsidian, and flint among others, each of
which could be given a fine edge and would make formidable
projectiles.

Lori would be depending on her skill with the bow to enable her
to hit her target so precisely that she would not inflict mortal
wounds.

***

On the day of the test flight of the spherical ship they were to
be on hand. They accompanied the prize crew. They had the best
astrogator on New Krypton; his normal assignment was on the
palace ship. Ching took command and directed the trip out of the
atmosphere with Kal-El as his Executive Officer. The rest of the
crew was the cream of the crop as far as the Kryptonian forces
were concerned. The senior astrogator, navigator and helmsman
from the palace ship were at their stations. Engineering was also
the pick of the crews from the fleet.

Ching took his place in the center seat and looked around. Once
assured that all stations were properly manned he addressed the
helmsman, "Helm -- status?"

The helmsman replied, "All systems show as ready, Commander."

The question was understood when he said, "Navigation?"

The Navigator answered, "Course plotted to take us out of
atmosphere and to a position five hundred thousand units north of
the ecliptic, beyond the orbits of all of New Krypton's moons
using conventional power, time to station -- seven point five
hours."

"Acknowledged." Ching pressed a button on his console
activating a communicator. "New Krypton control, NK-SSX (New
Krypton Sphere Ship Experimental) ready to commence testing."

"New Krypton control to NK-SSX, you are cleared for
departure."

"Helm, initiate. Take us up."

"Aye Sir." The helmsman operated a control.

Kal was a little surprised that there was no sensation of motion.
The only way he knew that they had left their berth was the fact
that the view screen went to a star speckled black, thanks to the
artificial gravity technology.

During the trip to the designated test site they performed system
checks and rotated crews so that the primary crew would be fresh
when it came time to start the testing.

Once they reached an area away from all planetary bodies they
brought the ship to a stop. They checked all power systems to
ensure that they were all operating properly.

Ching said, "We are not sure what effect the force fields will
have so we have created a relay which will turn the fields on for
only one tenth of a second. It was felt that so brief an
activation shouldn't result in any possible damage."

Clark said, "I would make the additional recommendation of
donning environmental suits, just to be on the safe side."

After these precautions had all been taken the switch was thrown.
Apparently nothing happened. Ching checked around and all
departments reported that no problems had been encountered. He
said, "That would appear to be a successful test. Let's go for
a longer period this time." He pushed a button on his command
console and said, "Reset the relay for a ten second
engagement."

A few seconds later he saw a green light appear indicating that
all was ready. He pushed a button on his command console again.
This time it was a ship wide call, "Prepare for shield
engagement." He released the button and said, "Execute."

There was a moment of disorientation and then it was over. The
astrogator shouted, "Lords Ching and Kal-El, we have moved."

Clark and Ching both spoke up at once, "What do you mean?"

The astrogator was busily pushing buttons and reading displays.
After several seconds he said, "We have moved approximately one
tenth of an orbit away from New Krypton."

"How could that be? We didn't apply any thrust!"

"I don't know sir, but, there's New Krypton, over there when
it should be here." He was indicating positions on a 3D
holoprojection of a space chart.

Ching said, "Let's return to our starting point."

The crew moved to comply. The ship slowly moved back into
position. Once the ship was where it was supposed to be Ching
ordered a repeat of the test.

When the test was over the astrogator reported, "The results are
identical to the last test."

Ching muttered, "Curious," then louder, "Return to start
point." He hit the button on the command console again and said,
"Increase duration to twenty seconds."

When he saw the green light he ordered, "Execute."

The feeling of disorientation lasted longer. When the shield
effect was turned off again the astrogator reported, "Sir, we
have moved exactly twice as far as the two previous tests."

Ching challenged, "Does anyone have an explanation for this
movement?"

After a few minutes Ching observed as the assistant astrogator
started running some computations. When he finished he had a
broad smile on his face as he called the senior astrogator over
to show him what he had come up with. The senior astrogator
checked what his junior had discovered. Once he had satisfied
himself of the validity of his supposition he turned to report.

With a motion of his hand, Ching silenced him. He pointed to the
junior and said, "He came up with the answer, let him explain
it."

The senior bowed aside and the junior started to speak, "Sir, it
was the vector information that was inconsistent. It we had
stopped in space relative to the orbit of New Krypton we would be
here." He used a glow stylus to indicate a position in the
holo-display. "However, we are here." He indicated a position
south of the plane of the ecliptic as well as behind the orbit of
New Krypton and then continued, "I started to wonder why we
would have moved down as it were. Then it occurred to me that not
only is New Krypton moving in its orbit, but, our sun is also
moving in an orbit around the galactic center. By taking that
into consideration the new position makes sense."

Ching put out a general question, "What could have caused us to
stop in space while the planets and stars continued to move?"

The chief physicist who was on board offered, "The only thing
that could cause us to stop dead in space would be the
cancellation of inertia. A body in motion tends to remain in
motion, but, that is only when the body has inertia. The
corollary is that a body at rest stays at rest until an outside
force is applied to it. I would speculate that somehow the
activation of the defensive shields, configured as they are in a
spherical pattern somehow negate the property of inertia for all
of the mass enclosed in the field. If we were to initiate the
field and apply some thrust a minimal thrust should result in
tremendous speed because it is being applied to an inertialess
mass."

Ching came to a decision, "We are going to initiate the field
and start applying thrust starting at minimum and slowly ramping
up the thrust until we are accelerating enough to maintain
position relative to New Krypton."

The crew jumped to their stations. When the panel was all green
Ching gave the command to execute.

Ching and Clark followed the chatter between astrogation and helm
as they worked together to adjust the thrust. Finally when they
were satisfied they gave a report.

"Astrogation reports stationary position, relative to New
Krypton. Thrust at twenty-three percent. Velocity approximately
300,000 miles per hour. That equates to approximately 22 percent
of light speed. We must be cautious due to time dilation we could
be in essence moving forward in time as we accelerate. It would
be proportional to the speed/duration interval."

Ching ordered, "Cut the field." Abruptly the display on the
screens changed slightly. Ching realized that they were still
applying thrust so he ordered, "Cut thrusters." All motion
ceased.

He came to a decision, "Navigation, plot a course to take us
home."

After running some computations the navigator replied, "Using
conventional power -- time to New Krypton -- one day seven hours.
Using FTL drive -- sixty-five minutes."

Ching ordered, "Helm, initiate FTL, best speed back to New
Krypton. Kal, as soon as we get back we need to talk."

A few seconds later there was the familiar feeling of the FTL
drive kicking in. After a relatively short time they felt the
return to normal space with the shutdown of the FTL drive. The
helmsman reported, "Landing in 25 minutes."

***

Chapter 24 -- First Contact

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

Forty-five minutes later they were in the office where Zara and
Lori met them.

Ching and Clark explained what had happened.

Ching asked, "How can we turn this to our advantage?"

Lori asked, "What would happen if an energy beam or a projectile
were sent against an inertialess ship?"

Clark answered, "Projectiles, at least, depend on inertia to
cause their damage. I would speculate than an inertialess body
would simply react by being moved by the projectile and the
projectile wouldn't penetrate."

Zara said, "Well, that being the case we can tell that they know
nothing of this possibility. If they did then that scout ship
wouldn't have been destroyed by that granite meteor."

Ching said, "We could use the normal thrusters to propel the
ship at tremendous sub-light speed to zoom in on their fleet,
fire a few projectiles from the rail gun and flee before they
knew what was happening."

Clark suggested, "That would only work if they were sub-light.
If they were using a FTL drive we wouldn't be able to get near
them. You have sensors that detect energy usage such as the
thrust of a drive. There is yet another possibility. We could do
the same thing we did in the tests. If we know what direction the
system is moving and at what speed, we could position ourselves
so that if we turn on the shields and stop, the natural motion of
the universe will go on around us, and at the appropriate time we
cut the shields and we are in front of them. There would be no
use of thrust to give away the ship's approach. We fire a few
projectiles from the rail gun and then cut in the screens again.
To them it would look like we zoomed in at tremendous sub-light
velocity and then zoomed out again without a telltale drive
signature."

Lori said, "Then we need to decoy them into dropping out of FTL
drive while they are far enough away that we can engage them
before they are a threat to New Krypton."

Zara said, "I've got an idea. We have the scout ship. Our
engineers have been studying their systems. The engineers have
already duplicated the stranger's FTL drive, weapons,
communications system and shields. Why don't we tow it out and
turn on its distress signal. That should bring them to a stop to
investigate, if nothing else."

Ching said, "That is a marvelous plan, Zara. By the time they
are near the position where we want them we should be able to
have the rail guns installed on at least ten of the sphere ships.
We should be able to give them a bloody nose at least."

Clark spoke up, "I'd still like to negotiate with them."

Lori asked Zara, "Are there any habitable planets in their path
that we could put the scout ship on and we could be there waiting
for them?"

Zara replied, "There is at least one and it has several
moons."

Lori said, "Perfect. The sphere ships could be concealed on the
moons or held on station ready to cut in the shields and go
inertialess at a signal if negotiations fail. I can be on the
planet with the wreck as a welcoming committee. Can the linguists
throw together a translator?"

Clark spoke up, "Now, wait a minute. I don't want my wife
putting herself in danger like that."

Lori said, "How much danger will I be in? I'm super,
remember?"

Clark replied, "Yeah, you're super, but, I'm going to be there
with you." Clark turned to Ching, "I'll need one of those
battle suits, but, *no* weapons. Just a defensive shield."

Ching asked, "Kal, are you sure you want to do that?"

"Perfectly. I need to be there with her."

Ching said, "I mean are you sure you want to go without weapons
or a guard detachment?"

"I'm sure. I'm not going there to start a war; I'm going
there to prevent one. If I'm armed or if I have a large guard
detachment it could be misconstrued."

"I can see your point. I don't know that I agree with you, but
I can see your point."

Clark said, "It has to be that way, Ching. It's the *only*
way."

***

Preparations were pushed forward. A planet was selected fifteen
days travel from New Krypton which lay directly in the path that
the approaching fleet would take. The selection was both good and
bad. Unfortunately it had an almost white sun so Clark would not
have all of his powers; however, it wasn't a giant world so he
would have some of his super strength. This was due to the fact
that an individual's strength is directly proportional to the
gravity of the planet of origin. This was demonstrated adequately
when Earthmen landed on Luna. The muscles of an Earthman were
able to propel him great distances and lift great weights under
the conditions of one-sixth gravity.

The atmosphere of the chosen planet was slightly higher in oxygen
content and correspondingly lower in carbon dioxide, resulting in
a higher barometric pressure at sea level than either Krypton or
Earth. This meant a denser atmosphere. The lower CO2 content was
probably due to a lack of industry since the planet was
uninhabited. This meant that Lori would not need an environmental
suit and Clark could forgo the need of a breathing air supply.

Lori received her bow and arrows. She had a variety of
arrowheads, all natural minerals. The shafts were of a very hard
New Kryptonian wood similar to oak, but it had a golden hue
rather than a whitish color, and they were fletched with
yellow/gold feathers from a fowl which was the NK equivalent of a
turkey. The shafts were fully a meter in length, similar to the
so called cloth-yard shafts used with the English longbow in
medieval times and used to such effect by the English bowmen.

While all of the other preparations were in process Lori
practiced with her bow. She quickly honed her skill with the new
equipment so that she had pinpoint accuracy. Her object was to at
most disable without killing. It was important that she not kill
any of the enemy. Using this new bow she practiced at long
distances. After she loosed a shaft, while it was in flight a
distortion wave was evident just behind the arrowhead indicating
that the shaft was actually moving at super-sonic speed. Anyone
standing to the side, between Lori and the target, would have
heard a sonic boom caused by the arrow's passage.

The linguists worked with the computer programmers to produce a
translator that would pick up sounds or radio frequency
transmissions and convert them to the Lingua Franca used on NK.
This was based on English with some of the original Kryptonian
product names modified to suit an English speaker since they had
become trading partners with Earth. It would also accept input in
English and translate it and either vocalize or transmit as the
case might be, automatically determining the correct frequency.
They prepared two of these devices and made them small so that
they could be handheld, one for Lori and one for Kal-El. They
also built one into the ship's communications system.

A fleet of ten spherical ships was ready and more were being
manufactured. Each was equipped with two rail guns. One unarmed
ship, the original NK-SSX was re-designated and prepared to
transport Lori and Kal on their mission and to tow the scout
ship.

The trap was laid. Five of the spherical ships were secreted on
the satellites of the chosen system and five more were stationed
at intervals so that they could activate their shields and drop
in unexpectedly on the enemy fleet.

Under Kal's direction and orders, the ships practiced their
jumps until the crews were operating at peak efficiency. They
could activate their shields and cut them, dropping into position
within meters of their target, loose several projectiles from
each rail gun and jump again with minimum exposure. Kal insisted
they practice targeting with the rail guns so that they could
adjust their aim to hit a small object at a distance of hundreds
of kilometers. The gunners were strongly cautioned to target
propulsion and shield units which would disable the enemy craft
with minimal loss of personnel. It was fortunate that several of
the manuals they had found contained the specs for various types
of craft within their inventory. These all indicated external
features and locations of beam emitters, shield units and drive
pod descriptions and locations.

***

The world chosen was orbiting a sun which was approaching its
final stages of existence. It had already started to collapse in
on itself and before many more millennia would become a white
dwarf. When that happened, the planets which still encircled it
would become uninhabitable. The planet selected was rather
earthlike in configuration as far as size and atmosphere. It was
warmer than Earth because of its hotter sun which had dried up
almost all of the water turning it to vapor in the atmosphere.
The air was so thick with moisture that it was almost akin to
trying to breathe while underwater; however the higher oxygen
content compensated for that fact.

The day finally came. Lori and Kal were on the planet's surface
standing near the damaged scout craft. They had triggered the
emergency signal when the enemy fleet was soon to be in range.

Kal was an impressive figure clad in his battle suit, his size
and bulk being enhanced by it.

On the other hand Lori was a vision of loveliness, wearing a more
traditional Kryptonian gown of white with gold brocade trim. As
in the Greek tradition the bow arm was bare and the top had a
single shoulder strap. The skirts were long, almost dragging the
ground, but layered and with a slit on the left which as she
moved revealed a shapely leg. She had on golden sandals, a golden
cord held her hair back in a pony tail and she was carrying her
bow and arrows. The alloy used by the NK Engineers to manufacture
her bow was polished to a bright sheen and was of a golden color.
In this gown and carrying the bow and arrows Lori looked like the
Greek Goddess -- Artemis!

The ruse worked. When the distress signal was picked up the
entire fleet dropped out of FTL drive. One craft was dispatched
to the surface to investigate. Before it had gone very far the
emergency signal was turned off and a message from Kal-El was
broadcast, "We of New Krypton greet you. We are a peaceful
people and would be desirous of establishing a trading
relationship with 'The People'. We are a peaceful people,
however, if attacked we are quite capable of and will defend
ourselves. My life partner and I are on the surface and we would
speak with one of your leaders. We await your response."

The ship that had been on a trajectory which would have taken it
to the surface of the planet reversed course and returned to the
formation. A little later another ship, this one somewhat
smaller, separated itself from the fleet and shaped course for
planetfall in the vicinity of the downed craft.

The first individual out of the craft was a warrior in full
battle gear. He easily topped Kal's six foot plus height
reaching a full seven feet three inches to the top of his helmet.
His battle suit would have been intimidating if Kal's hadn't
been similar. Unlike Kal, the warrior wore the helmet and the
tinted visor prevented Lori or Kal from actually seeing his
visage. The visitors had obviously scanned the area and knew that
Lori and Kal were alone. The first thing the warrior did was
raise his arm, target Kal and trigger his forearm mounted weapon.
A bright amber beam of energy burst forth, blinding in its
intensity. There was a coruscation of light as the force beam
from the weapon impacted the force shield of the battle suit that
Kal wore.

Although Kal was confident in the shield device and the fact that
he had a significant portion of his normal super strength he
braced for the impact as best he could. Even so, when the beam
hit him, despite being prepared for it, the force was still
sufficient for it to throw him back against the damaged scout
craft.

Seeing that the warrior was targeting her husband, super-swiftly
Lori nocked an arrow and loosed it, targeting the weapon and
striking it after only a brief burst. The arrow went right
through the shield as if it wasn't even there and pierced the
casing of the weapon, disabling it. The power behind that arrow
carried it completely through the weapon and out the other side.

Wishing to eliminate this new threat, the warrior raised his
other arm. Lori allowed him to aim at her and braced herself for
the impact. He triggered his weapon and again that amber force
beam came from the weapon. Lori stood firm holding up her right
palm to intercept the beam. Because of her invulnerability and
super strength the beam had virtually no effect on her.

Seeing that his weapon was ineffective, the warrior activated a
control by flexing a muscle in his forearm. The intensity of the
beam increased and it became brighter, rivaling the sun for its
brightness. Seeing that it was still ineffective, he twitched
another muscle and the character of the beam changed moving
through the spectrum of color as the frequency changed.

The beam was being deflected from Lori's invulnerable hand and
it was reflected striking a nearby hillside. As it did it created
a tunnel and a small landslide. After several seconds when his
weapon started to overheat because he had pushed the intensity of
the beam to its maximum, he stopped shooting.

As soon as the beam was off, with a look of satisfaction Lori
said, "Okay, now it's my turn." Calmly she nocked another
arrow and loosed. This arrow took out his other beam weapon.

Lori's superhearing picked up a high pitched whine emanating
from the weapon. She saw the warrior act startled, and then try
desperately to remove the weapon, however, the mechanism
attaching it to his forearm was stuck and he couldn't detach it.
Lori seeing his desperation used her super speed and flew to him
and ripped the device from his arm. Nonchalantly she flipped the
device up. She retreated again and took a position between the
warrior and Kal. As the weapon was leaving the atmosphere it
detonated.

The warrior had volunteered for a suicide mission, but he hadn't
expected his own weapon to be the cause of his demise. When his
weapon overloaded he had desperately attempted to remove it. If
he could at least get it outside of his shield he should be okay,
but his attempt was doomed to failure. He realized that he was
running out of time and was preparing himself for his death when
this being moved faster than he could follow and removed the
weapon that was threatening to explode and remove it from the
immediate vicinity. That, almost negligent, toss of the weapon
which resulted in it leaving the atmosphere was startling with
the power it displayed. He was relieved that this being had saved
him but, he still had a mission to complete and he would do so.
Even the gratitude he felt would not prevent him from completing
it. Seeing both of his primary weapons disabled and seeing also
that Kal was back on his feet, he pulled out a wicked looking
bladed weapon similar to a two handed broadsword having
serrations along one side and sharp projections along the flat
sides. The sharp edges would cause a lot of damage when used for
striking while the side projections would cause additional damage
when the weapon was used in a thrusting motion.

Lori pushed a switch on her bow and it folded itself into a
compact form which slid into her quiver. She advanced on the
warrior.

Kal shouted, "Lori, no!"

Back over her shoulder Lori said, "I'm finishing this the only
way he'll understand."

She was bare handed and apparently defenseless, yet, as she
approached, the warrior raised his weapon and started to swing an
overhead blow at her head. Lori reached up with one hand and
caught the warrior's arm, stopping it in mid descent. The
warrior was startled. His exoskeleton powered suit gave him the
strength of twenty men and this slight female with no suit or any
other means of boosting her strength had stopped his blow as if
it was nothing. She then calmly reached up with her other hand
and ripped the blade from his grip even though he put all of his
power boosted strength into his grip to prevent it from
happening. He felt like a child in her grasp. He had flashes of a
small animal and a very large predator; he was the prey helpless
in the jaws simply awaiting death.

To his utter surprise, now that she was in possession of his
blade she stepped back, releasing his arm. He was relieved that
she hadn't used his own weapon to thrust him through and he was
amazed to see what she was doing. Apparently she could do things
he had never conceived of. As he watched somehow the metal of his
sword started to glow red and then using her bare hands on this
obviously hot metal with impunity, she started to stretch it like
taffy. This warrior had his shield unit mounted on the back.
Knowing that while his shield unit was active she wouldn't be
able to do what she wanted to do, she swiftly floated up and over
her opponent. When she came down she reached out and grabbed the
shield generator crushing it with her hand. Then she used the
metal band she had created from his weapon to bind his arms to
his sides.

Once he was secure she pulled out her translator and said, "You
are now my prisoner. You could just as easily have been dead,
but, that is not our way. We value life, all life. We would
welcome friends, but, if you chose to be enemies we will deal
with you as such. You have seen my power. You are powerless
against me. If you chose the right path I can be your friend,
but, you would find me an implacable enemy. Who among you can
make the choice? What will it be, peace, or war?" The translator
was synthesizing her message into their speech so that the
warrior could hear and was also broadcasting on a range of
frequencies, their emergency frequency among them. The entire
fleet was listening.

Kal moved over and stood by Lori as they waited.

A minute later they saw the port in the ship open again. Lori
reached back and grabbed her bow. As she hit the button, the bow
automatically unfolded itself into its ready position. She
reached back and pulled an arrow out and nocked it without
drawing, allowing the bow to hang down in her left hand, her
right hand on the string, fingers spread with the arrow nestled
between them. She could raise, aim and loose in less than a
second if needed.

As they watched a smaller individual emerged. He was smaller only
in comparison to the warrior; his suit was not a battle suit but
one like Kal's, defensive only. The exoskeleton would only be
adequate to support him under a higher gravitational pull than
what he had grown up with. He, like Kal, was without a helmet.

When the scout ship had been found some of the crew had managed
to at least partially don environmental suits, giving the NK
medicos a chance to examine at least that much of the stranger's
physiology. This was the first time that they had seen an intact
head. This individual's head was somewhat larger than theirs
with a high forehead with a ridged bony plate which would afford
additional protection to the brain when in conflicts and
projected out over his eye sockets giving his eyes a sunken look.
His hair was somewhat long and unkempt. His moustache and beard
were full, but trimmed neatly.

As he approached the defeated warrior moved to kneel and bow in
reverence. Lori handed her bow to Clark and assisted the warrior
by removing the metal band she had bound him with. Finishing this
she recovered her bow. The smaller individual reached out and
touched his helmeted head and the translator picked up and
translated what he said, "Arise, Goroth. You have done well."

Goroth stood to his feet and moved to stand behind the other,
like a servant or bodyguard.

The leader spoke again, "Please excuse Goroth for attacking you,
but, we had to test you and your resolve. We have never met such
a formidable race. How and why did you destroy our scout
craft?"

Kal spoke up, "We did not. We found the ship floating in space
and recovered it. We discovered that the crew had all died in an
accidental collision with an asteroid."

"Ah, I see. My name is Golosselei and I am High Minister of
'The People'. We heard your words about being peaceful, but, we
saw you with one of our craft which had been destroyed and was
emitting a distress call. We needed to know what your intentions
*really* were."

"The same way that we needed to discover your real intentions,"
said, Kal. "We had deciphered some of the documents carried on
this craft and thought that we had discovered you to be a
hostile, conquering race."

"We conquer only those races that are themselves hostile. We are
explorers. If we find a race that is extremely backward we will
establish a relationship with them and assist them to move toward
a more modern, civilized society. If they are exceptionally
aggressive we will take steps to quarantine them and contain
their influence. In many cases they eliminate themselves as a
threat by wiping themselves out with global warfare. We then
colonize the planet, if it is still habitable."

Clark said, "We represent the remnant of an advanced society.
Our planet destroyed itself. There was instability in the
planet's core which caused it to explode. A small colony ship
survived and the passengers settled in a nearby system." Kal
informed. Indicating Lori he continued, "As my bond mate said,
we are a peaceful society. We already have peaceful relations and
trading relationships with other cultures. We would welcome a new
trading partner, but not a conqueror. It would be necessary to
conduct those negotiations with our Council of Elders."

"The fact that your bond mate would have been just as capable of
killing Goroth as she was of subduing him has shown me the truth
of your statements. The act of preserving his life by removing
the weapon when it went on overload, thus sparing his life, also
told us much. I will order our fleet to immediately return to our
space. I will return with it and bring a proposal to our
governing council for establishing a trade relationship with your
planet. How can we contact your Council of Elders to set up the
meetings for negotiations?" As the translator finished
converting his words into English he stopped and looked at
Lori's bow. He said, "Please, I am an old man and not much of a
threat; could your bond mate please put away her most formidable
weapon?"

Clark and Lori had both forgotten that Lori had her bow prepared.
She put her arrow back in the quiver and hit the button to cause
the bow to fold into its compact form, which she stowed away.

Answering his question, Clark said, "We know the frequencies
that you use and are now able to translate your messages. When
you are ready you can send a signal. I would suggest that this
planet be used as a meeting site. We will arrange for shelter and
meeting space. We would request only a small delegation."

Suddenly Kal's com link chirped an alert tone. Ching's voice
came over it, "Kal, one of their ships has broken formation and
is headed your way."

Kal looked at Golosselei and asked, "What's going on?"

The translator had converted the message and spoken it aloud to
Golosselei. He replied, "I'm not certain. Perhaps they think
I've been down here too long. It could be a ship from the
Hangaresi. That is the war party within our government. At times
they are difficult to restrain."

"Why would they be approaching the planet?"

"I could be the target. I am with the Caregeigh or peace
party."

Kal pushed a button on his com link and said, "Deploy ship one.
I want that ship disabled. Target shield generators, weapons and
propulsion systems."

"Acknowledged."

A minute later, Golosselei's communicator started to sound.
Golosselei listened intently for a minute and then turned to Kal
and with a tone of awe said, "A ship appeared from nowhere and
launched projectiles against our ship and then disappeared again.
How did you penetrate our shields?"

Clark replied, "I'm afraid that will have to be our secret. Be
assured that we will keep the knowledge confidential, unless and
until you demonstrate an aggressive nature. If that were to occur
we would be forced to reveal our secret to any sentient race that
you would attack. Keep in mind that we value life; however, we
will not stand by and see other races attacked without
provocation. We will act in our own defense and the defense of
others. Our respect for life called for restraint in this
encounter; however, I'm sure you are aware that we were quite
capable of utterly destroying that craft and any others that you
might chose to send against us. We are a peaceful people, but, do
not mistake our desire for peace to be weakness. Others have made
that mistake and lived to regret it."

"I acknowledge the correctness of your statements. Our ship is
disabled. There were some minor injuries but no fatalities. You
would indeed be a formidable foe."

"As I said, we value life and we could just as easily have
destroyed that craft."

"I can see that. There will be no further tests."

Lori burst out with, "That was another test!?!?"

Golosselei asked, "You didn't expect me to accept your word
that you would be capable of defending yourselves, did you?
Seeing an individual, even one such as yourself, displaying
powers far above that of normal people, how could we trust that
your race would be able to defeat us?"

"You took a big chance."

"Not as big a chance as you would suppose. That was a robot
craft with life synthesizing dummies. In this way we were able to
determine the level of injury that would have been inflicted. If
you had simply destroyed that craft, with little or no concern
for the life on board, we would have known you to be an
aggressive species in need of watching. The fact that you do
indeed value life has now been amply displayed. We now believe
you. Your actions have spoken and shown the truth behind your
words. I will now return to my fleet. We will be returning to our
space and begin preparing for the negotiations to establish a
trading relationship with your people. I, as a representative of
'The People', I bid you adieu."

A second before the translator said 'the people', they heard
Hangaresi and Lori and Clark realized that this was their name
for themselves. With a small formal bow Golosselei turned and
re-entered his ship. Goroth followed him and closed the hatch. A
few minutes later they lifted off.

Kal-El's com link chirped and he heard Ching's voice, "Kal, as
soon as the ship that was on the surface with you lifted off, one
of their other ships broke formation and moved over to take that
ship we attacked in tow. Once the docking was completed and the
disabled ship was secure, the combined vessels returned to their
formation. Now the entire fleet is starting to move away."

Kal touched his com link and in a weary tone said, "That was
expected. You can come and pick us up. Tell the other ships that
they can stand down. This entire encounter was an elaborate
series of tests to determine whether or not we were a hostile
race. I'm happy to say, we passed the test. The decision to
respect their lives and avoid killing was the key. If we had
given in to our baser instincts and simply destroyed that ship we
would have initiated a very costly war. It would have been costly
in both lives and resources. As it is we now have the foundation
laid to establish a trading relationship with them." Wearily he
said, "Come get us, we're ready to go home."

Clark and Lori could hear cheering behind him as Ching replied,
"We'll be there shortly."

Lori turned to Clark and said, "Wow, this really didn't take
all that long. I wonder why Herb told us that we would be gone
for eight months. By the time we get home it will have only been
about three and a half months."

Clark thought for a few seconds before answering, "Maybe we will
have to stay until the negotiations are complete."

Lori's reply was immediate, "I don't see why, unless we might
need another show of force." Before she continued a look of deep
concentration took over her features, "You know, this has gotten
me to thinking. Why don't we propose to the kids that they take
turns taking vacations here on New Krypton? It would give them
the opportunity to learn about the culture and each spouse could
be the local superhero while they are here."

Clark started to smile as he replied, "You know, that's not a
bad idea. Let's bring it up to Ching and Zara when we get back
to NK."

Lori brought it back to the original topic, "If we don't have
to stay here for the negotiations then why did we stay? We might
need to stay for a little while to prepare some things, but that
still doesn't explain how we were gone for eight months. Herb
did say eight months. He should know since he has to bring CJ
back to us. I've got a really bad feeling about this, like
something's going to happen."

***

Chapter 25 -- Memories

***

Lori's bad feeling persisted for some time. While they waited to
be picked up she said to Clark, "What could have happened to
keep us here for the full eight months? It sure looks like we are
finished and I want to get back to CJ. Maybe Herb made a mistake.
Maybe he picked him up from us after eight months but he brought
him to us only a month or two from when we left because he was
held up or something. Oh, what am I saying? Herb is a time
traveler for heaven's sake. There's no such thing as him being
late or making that kind of mistake."

"I don't know, but there had to be something or we wouldn't
have stayed."

Lori said, "You know as time has progressed on this trip it's
like a movie has been playing in my mind. Memories of the time we
had CJ with us back in the past have little by little come to
mind. It's like I'm living that time in my memory as the time
goes by. At least they were some very pleasant memories."

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

1997

%%%

Lois had just finished feeding CJ and he was down for his nap.
They had been compiling their diary and preparing it for when CJ
was to be picked up. Sitting in her rocking chair in his bedroom
she was looking at the pictures and reading the text entries
written in Clark's precise script. Some of the pages were filled
with computer printouts which gave details of incidents or
activities, records of milestones and just general comments not
related to the pictures.

As she looked at the pages, frequently her fingers would brush
over the picture's surface as the scene depicted brought the
memory of the occasion back to her.

She thought to herself, <We're going to need to make another
copy and keep this for ourselves. I just can't send this one.>
The reason that she was thinking this was that on virtually every
page the paper was crinkled from getting wet. It was still in the
process of getting wet every time she pulled it out to look at
it. She knew that it wouldn't be too long before Herb would show
up. When he did, she knew that he would be taking CJ, her baby,
away from her. Yeah, she knew the reason. He would be returning
him to his rightful parents, but, that didn't make it any
easier.

There were a lot of pictures, sometimes several on a page since
they had started making notes and taking pictures, virtually from
the beginning. She decided to turn back to the front and start
over.

Most of the entries were at least a paragraph in length, many
were much longer.

It was a regular journal. The first entry dealt with how CJ had
arrived, surprising them in the middle of the night.

She couldn't help but laugh as she read through the next entry.
It dealt with Herb's visit the next morning and what a surprise
he had dealt them with the prescription. She still wasn't sure
if she should thank Herb for that or hate him. In one way she had
hated the fact that she had been forced into breastfeeding CJ.
Ruefully she had to admit that once she had gotten into it she
had decided that there was no way she would ever consider *not*
breastfeeding any children she and Clark might conceive in the
future, if that ever did happen. It really made her feel
fulfilled as a woman in that role. She was amazed about that.
Until she had married Clark she had never really considered
having children. All she had thought of was her career and being
the award winning journalist that she had become.

This time with CJ had shown her that motherhood and her job were
not mutually exclusive. She could really be a mother and still do
her job.

The turning of the page revealed some pictures that were taken on
their island get away and also in Hawaii during the 'getting to
know you' phase of their relationship with CJ.

The text told all about the efforts to bring her milk on,
skipping the details about her and Clark's activity and
centering on her and CJ.

Looking at a picture of CJ as she held him in her arms with her
in a bikini, she giggled to herself because she had put the
bikini on just for the picture and as soon as it had been taken
she had returned to her regular mode of dress which was complete
undress.

Next there was a picture of Perry White playing peek-a-boo with
CJ in his car seat on the corner of Perry's desk. She couldn't
help but chuckle over this one. She hadn't followed through on
her threat to post it on the bulletin board but she had really
worried Perry when she had threatened to do just that.

There were a couple of pictures of other bullpen staff holding CJ
and of course of CJ in the DP day care center, mostly with
Brenda. Brenda had become almost as attached to CJ as Lois had.

As Lois flipped through the pages the tears flowed freely.

She came to a page where it had been four months since CJ had
joined the family. In that time he had been growing by leaps and
bounds. He was developing a personality and was really attached
to both Lois and Clark, especially Lois, just as she was to him.
He was the love of Lois' life, second only to her husband, and
she relished every minute that she spent with him.

Flipping more pages she came to an entry that she had forgotten
that Clark had put in. As CJ had grown, everyone that saw him for
the first time and hadn't been told the story, complimented Lois
and Clark on their beautiful little boy and commented on how much
he combined their features. Everyone especially remarked that he
had Clark's eyes and Lois' smile. Looking at the pictures it
was very evident that these people we sincere in their comments.
As he had grown it had become even more evident. CJ was a very
happy baby and he smiled almost all of the time and the smile he
possessed was definitely a copy of Lois'. It was unmistakable
and undeniable. The eyes were just as easy to identify as to the
parentage. Their slightly almond shape was distinctive.

Turning some more pages she came to a picture of CJ in his
playpen. She guessed that he would have been about six months old
in this picture. He had been sitting up and grabbing items that
were scattered around him. He would pull the item to him and
examine it thoroughly, feeling it, rubbing it on his face feeling
the soft fleece or fake fur and gurgling happily. His favorite
was a stuffed bunny rabbit, a rather large milk chocolate colored
bunny with big floppy ears and white markings. He would hold that
bunny when he lay down and if his pacifier wasn't in his mouth
the ear of the bunny was.

Next she came to a picture that she wished she had an audio
recording to go with. This one had been taken only a week or so
after the previous picture. Lois was doing most of her work, when
at home, in the living room with CJ in his playpen nearby. One
day Lois had him in the playpen in the living room as she went
about doing some research on her laptop nearby. She was focused
on what she was doing, but, she could still hear him cooing and
gurgling happily as he played with some stuffies scattered around
him. His bunny was in his lap. Suddenly she stopped what she was
doing and gave him her undivided attention. She thought she had
heard something and she wanted to make sure before she made a
fuss about it. After about thirty seconds, during which time Lois
had actually been holding her breath in anticipation she heard it
again. CJ said, clear as daylight, "Momma ... Momma ...
Momma."

Lois looked at him. He actually had his back to her so she knew
that he really wasn't associating the words with the person as
yet, but, he had said his first words. Lois was ecstatic! She
called Clark who had been in the kitchen preparing dinner,
"Clark, can you come here a second?"

His response was immediate, "I think I heard the same thing you
did." He came through the doors and leaned over the back of the
couch to kiss her on the top of the head. Just as he did so, CJ
gave a repeat performance, "Momma ... Momma ... Momma."

Lois couldn't contain herself any longer. She got up and stepped
over to the playpen and picked CJ up. She said, "Momma's right
here Darling. Momma's here."

In reply CJ cooed and then said again, "Momma ... Momma ...
Momma."

Lois whirled him around in an impromptu dance. Clark came over
and put his arms around both of them and joined in while CJ
squealed in delight.

The next page held a picture which had been taken a week later.
The angle was somewhat different from the previous one. In this
one, CJ was in his playpen and Lois was kneeling in front of
him.

It had been a week since CJ had spoken his first words. Again he
was in his playpen while Lois was working on her laptop nearby.
Occasionally, she would say something to herself, out loud and CJ
would babble in reply. Frequently Lois would hear a word spoken
but suddenly it occurred to her that there was a difference. She
looked up at CJ and saw that he had spun himself around and was
looking directly at her, his stuffies forgotten, and he was
talking to her. He was saying, "Momma," over and over. Lois was
frozen in place. She couldn't believe it, but, sure enough,
there it was, he was looking at her and calling her Momma. Clark
had heard and grabbed the camera. Just as Lois moved over closer
to the playpen he had snapped the picture.

***

She remembered that almost as one in a trance she had gotten up.
When she did, CJ had tracked her with his eyes and repeated,
"Momma."

She hastened to him and picking him up hugged him and said,
"Yes, CJ, Momma. I'm Momma. Momma loves CJ."

On some level CJ must have known that he had done something
right. He reached up and put his hands on her face as he
continued to say, "Momma."

Lois was showering him with kisses and interrupted only long
enough to call Clark. She hadn't realized that he was already
there. Her attention had been centered on CJ. Lois was beside
herself. She looked back and forth between CJ and Clark and said,
"He called me Momma. He wasn't just babbling! He was looking
right at me and said, Momma. He's associating me with that
name!"

Suddenly CJ shifted his focus and looked at Clark. He very
distinctly said, "Dadda?"

Lois was astonished. She looked at Clark who was also stunned.
She held CJ out for Clark to take him. As soon as he was in
Clark's arms he started chanting, "Dadda ... Dadda," over and
over.

Clark said, "Well, I guess we know who he takes after! He has to
take after you. Here's an overachiever if I ever saw one!"

Lois laughed and punched his bicep.

***

Still smiling at that particular memory, Lois turned over another
page.

This page contained a picture of CJ sitting in his highchair. His
face was an absolute mess. Lois started thinking about it.

CJ was about eight months old and his metabolism was causing him
to be hungry with less and less time between feedings. In order
to satisfy him and extend the time between feedings Lois had
started him on some solid foods. She had gotten some rice cereal
for him. She would express milk in the evenings and store it in
the refrigerator so that in the morning she could use the breast
milk in the cereal. She would use enough to make a loose paste
and start feeding him with a spoon. Initially he had some little
difficulty adapting to eating from a spoon and he wound up
getting more on him than in him. This particular picture had been
taken early on and he had cereal smeared all over his cheeks and
chin.

The picture right next to it was of CJ, again in his highchair.
This time Lois' hand with the spoon was near his mouth. Now he
was more comfortable with eating from a spoon and he looked like
a little bird with its mouth open for the momma bird to drop a
worm in.

Lois was smiling even as the tears fell at the memory. These were
very special memories, ones she would treasure for all of her
life.

Turning the page again Lois saw a picture that represented the
only time that they had any real problem.

***

It had all started when CJ began crying for no apparent reason.
Lois had been beside herself. Up to this point he had been such a
happy baby and to have him start crying almost constantly she was
worried that she was doing something wrong. She finally decided
that she needed some outside help so after making a phone call
Clark flew to Smallville and picked up his mom and brought her to
Metropolis.

When she came in Lois was carrying CJ and bouncing him and
talking to him and he was crying and crying. Martha calmly walked
over and looked at CJ. Then she asked, "Has he been sticking
things in his mouth?"

Lois replied, "He always has something in his mouth. Is that a
problem?"

Martha then used her finger to explore CJ's mouth. As soon as
she had her finger in his mouth he started to try to chew on it
and he quieted down. Martha said, "I know what the problem is.
He's teething. You need to get one of those things that are
filled with gel that you put in the freezer. Once it's cold you
give it to him to chew on. The cold helps reduce the pain and the
chewing helps the teeth to come through the gums."

Lois let out a relieved sigh, "Thank you Martha. You don't know
what a relief it is to know what the problem is. I was getting
frantic not knowing what the problem was or how to deal with
it."

***

The next picture was of CJ lying in his playpen with his bunny on
his tummy and his teething ring in his mouth.

Turning the page Lois came to another shot from around that time.
CJ was up on his hands and knees crawling, the teething ring
dangling from his mouth. He started crawling around in his
playpen and eventually started getting bored doing that. After
going around a few times he would stop, sit and looking at Lois
start to wail. At first Lois had no idea as to why he was doing
this. Then she made it a point to watch the process. Seeing what
was happening, Lois tried to put herself in his place and decided
that it was time to baby proof the home. Clark went out and
purchased the necessary materials and installed everything in
less than an hour.

Once this was done, Lois was able to take CJ out of the playpen
and placing him on his tummy he could get up and explore.
Crawling was still somewhat new to him so he didn't move too
fast. In fact, he would crawl a few paces and then spin around
and sit on his butt. After looking around, apparently deciding
which way he wanted to go next and what he wanted to see, he
would flip over on hands and knees and crawl to this new and
interesting location to check out what was different about it
from where he had just been.

The next picture brought another smile to Lois' face. CJ had
crawled over to the sofa and using it for support had managed to
pull himself up on his feet and was standing there looking over
his shoulder staring right into the camera with the largest smile
on his face. He knew that he had accomplished something and was
very pleased with himself. As soon as he let go though, he landed
on his butt. Undeterred he had repeated the process and was
standing once more. Eventually, there wasn't a piece of
furniture that he didn't use to pull himself up. It was like he
was testing all of the furniture to see which piece was easiest
to use and which gave him the best view once he was on his feet.

The next picture brought another smile to her lips. CJ in his
highchair with a bunch of lifesaver shaped cereal pieces on the
tray in front of him. He was picking them up, one at a time, and
putting them into his mouth. He had some more teeth coming in and
the hard cereal felt good to him as he crunched down on it, but,
very quickly it softened from his saliva and he was able to
swallow it without any problems. The caption read simply, "CJ
feeding himself."

***

Not believing that there would be any possible problem in doing
so, there were occasions when Clark would spin into the Suit in
front of CJ when he had to respond to an emergency. Apparently CJ
began to associate this act with Clark leaving for a period of
time. One day, as Clark was leaving, he turned to CJ and waved.
To his surprise, CJ waved back. Lois said, "He's waving goodbye
to you."

Clark walked over and picked him up. He gave CJ and hug and a
kiss and said, "Bye Sport, I'll be back before you know it."
He placed him back down on his tummy.

Lois watched and decided that she had to act. She got up and
chased after her son who was following his father as fast as he
could crawl in his footsteps.

***

That was the last page. She knew that there would be more entries
because they had a few months yet before Herb was due to show
up.

She was determined that she would build some more memories before
that happened, because she knew that once he came, there would be
no more memories to build, only the one which would tear her
heart out. The memory of losing her baby.

***

Chapter 26 -- The Accident

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

2091

%%%

Once it had been confirmed that the Hangaresi fleet was indeed on
its way back the way it had come, the order had been given for
all of the ships to make best speed back to New Krypton.

Before lifting off Ching, Clark and Lori met in the Captain's
ready room.

"Tell me about the meeting. I'm very curious. What happened
down there?"

Ching started a recording and Clark dictated the story, minus
that part where he had taken the energy burst. He had been
somewhat disoriented by it so Lori filled in that part.

When he was finished Ching asked, "What are your impressions?"

Lori spoke up first, "They passed all of this off as tests. They
were testing *us* to see if we held life as sacred. Supposedly,
since we disabled that ship without destroying it we passed the
test. I'm still not too sure about this. We really didn't test
them at all. We just took their word for everything."

Clark added, "That was the reason I suggested that we meet for
the discussions on this world. In that way we don't have to
disclose the true location of New Krypton. Invisibility can add
to the safety of New Krypton. I would recommend exercising
caution in the negotiations. They are still an unknown quantity.
I'm still not too sure about them. Their warrior apparently
would have had no problem killing Lori or me at all. The first
thing he did when he exited that ship was take a shot at me and
then as soon as Lori took out that weapon he turned his other
weapon on Lori who was obviously unprotected. There was no way
for him to know that she was super powered. In that gown, and
holding an apparently ancient weapon which could very well have
been ceremonial, she didn't appear to present much of a threat
and yet she was attacked."

Ching replied, "I don't know just how well we'd fare against
them. They apparently have a mastery over energy that we do not
possess. We have laser based energy weapons as Earth does,
however, they apparently have the means of multiplexing
electro-magnetism or some other attractive force with the beam to
form a tether because they did not use a cable or some such other
physical item to attach to the disabled ship. Apparently it can
also be used to draw items to it like an attractor, or tractor
beam. We took some sensor readings and the power being
transmitted through that beam was almost immeasurable. Once they
had initiated the beam that disabled ship was pulled along the
beam until it actually docked with the tow vessel."

Chuckling, Lori added, "I wonder what was going through his mind
when his energy blast had no effect on me. I could feel it as he
ramped up the power output. Then when his weapon overloaded and I
sent it out of the atmosphere before it exploded, he should have
been grateful but instead he pulled a sword. He had to be
surprised when I stopped and disarmed him so easily. That suit of
his gave him the strength of many men. It's because I have a
double strength pendant that I had the strength I needed to
overcome him so easily. I think my regular pendant would have
been adequate, this one just made it that much easier."

Ching replied, "I wonder if we'll need to put on a
demonstration of force the next time we meet. We took them by
surprise with our inertialess ship. It may not work again. We
also have not thoroughly tested the spherical design. We need to
run more maneuverability tests so that we know just what we can
do before they return."

Clark replied, "I think we will have some time. Our FTL drive is
superior to theirs." He paused for a second in thought before
continuing, "You know the FTL drive that my father, Jor-El, used
in my ship was superior even to the one you currently use. When
we return to Earth why don't I give my ship to you so that the
New Kryptonian scientists can duplicate the drive? You already
have an advantage over them in that your FTL drive is faster.
This will increase that advantage."

"I wish we had thought of that, years ago. Our scientists have
tried to improve our FTL drive but they have never made any
significant breakthrough on the technology. They are good, but
sometimes it takes the ability to think outside the box to make
any advances. They have a hard time doing that. Plus, there
hasn't been any great incentive to improve on what we have.
Having the technology that Jor-El developed would give us that
leap that we need and now that we have had this encounter we have
all the incentive we have needed. It would be greatly
appreciated. Any advantage we can have will help. "

"At this point I think we have a couple of tactical advantages.
They know we can penetrate their shields, but they don't know
how. Our use of the inertialess condition, which can bring our
ships into position without emitting a thrust signature, is
another advantage. If we were to have an even faster FTL drive we
could use it to intercept them at even greater distances than
previously."

Once they had finished recording the report and after the other
ships had departed Ching gave the order to lift off of the
planet's surface.

Ching was anxious to do some further testing of the
maneuverability of the spherical design when in an inertialess
state so, once they cleared the atmosphere he ordered the shield
controls to be activated. When he did, suddenly it was like the
planet accelerated past them, narrowly missing their ship. Ching
said, "Wow, that was a close one. I should have had astrogation
double check their figures. I'm just glad that the physicist's
theory wasn't tested." He depressed a com button and said,
"Minimal thrust, one percent. Astrogation, chart a course for
return to New Krypton."

The course was plotted and laid in and the journey began.

That started a series of trials wherein they tested the
maneuverability of the ship, changing thruster direction and
observing the effects. They had been alternating between several
banks of thrusters, performing a zig-zag pattern of movement when
suddenly what was currently the aft thruster ran wild.

Ching hit the button on the comm. panel and said, "Engineering!
Status?"

"Engineering, we have a bank of thrusters that is locked. It is
ramping up to full. We haven't been able to control it or shut
it down."

"Does it pose a threat of explosion?"

"Not at this time."

Can we counter the thrust by applying thrust from the opposite
vector?"

"Initiating."

On the view screens they could observe the flare of the
thrusters. As they built up to a level equal to the aft thrusters
suddenly they cut out.

Ching hit the comm. Button, "Engineering, why did you shut down
thrust?"

"The thrusters in that quadrant weren't designed for that level
of effort for any extended period of time. They were building to
an overload. We had to shut them down before they exploded."

"Understood. Keep working on those aft thrusters." He hit the
button to shut off the intercom. Turning to the crew in front of
him he asked, "Navigation, status?"

The reply he got didn't relieve his anxiety. "Velocity
climbing. We are at point 5 of light speed and accelerating."
Not very many seconds later he said, "Point 6."

"Engineering, we need to get a handle on that thruster. You need
to shut it down."

You could hear the fear entering the helmsman's voice as he
said, "Point 7."

"Engineering, how about shutting down the fuel supply?"

"Working on it."

The helmsman's voice had an edge to it as he in clipped tones,
"Point 8."

"Engineering, status?"

"No effect."

The edge was still there and the tone of the helmsman's voice
was being affected. It was half an octave higher as he said,
"Point 9."

Ching, with an obvious effort to control his voice said,
"Engineering, you need to get a handle on this problem!"

The helmsman had managed to gain some control, perhaps it was the
quiet desperation of one facing a firing squad as he reported,
"Point 95."

Clark had been listening and suddenly had a solution. He stepped
over to Ching's comm. panel and hit a button and shouted, "Kill
the shields!"

A few seconds later the star field stabilized and they heard
back, "Shields off."

Ching heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks, I don't know
why I didn't think of that." He hit the button and said,
"Engineering, Status?"

"Thruster still running wild. We are transferring the fuel that
supplies it to another tank. Once the tank is empty it should
shut down."

After a while they could actually feel the thruster as it started
to sputter and eventually shut down. Ching hit the comm. button
and said, "Engineering, status?"

"Engineering aye. The thruster is shut down. It will hamper our
maneuvering ability at sub-light but we can compensate by
reversing and using the forward thrusters in their place."

"Thank you for that report. We'll want a complete evaluation
once we are on the ground."

"Acknowledged."

Ching addressed the crew in front of him, "Navigation, how far
off course has this sent us?"

"Calculating."

A minute later Navigation replied, "Since we were not on a
direct course for New Krypton when the thruster malfunctioned we
have some distance to make up. Recommend that we use the FTL
drive to return. Course already plotted and laid in."

Ching nodded his head and then issued the command, "Execute."

***

Seventeen ship days later the ship arrived in New Krypton's
space and radioed in requesting landing clearance. Ching hit a
com. button, "New Krypton control, this is Ching on NK1701
requesting clearance to land."

They could hear some confused chatter in the background as the
link came alive. "This is New Krypton control, please repeat
identification."

"This is Ching aboard NK1701. Is there a problem? We have just
returned from the meeting with Golosselei of the Hangaresi."

Suddenly over the speakers was heard another voice, the voice of
Zara, "Ching, where have you been? Did you follow them back to
their space or something?"

"No, we came straight back, well, maybe not exactly, we did some
tests of the ship and we had a malfunctioning thruster. Why do
you ask?"

"You were supposed to be back four months ago."

Startled, Ching blurted out, "Four months ago?"

"Yes, the rest of our ships returned fully four months ago."

Chink looked at Clark and they said, simultaneously, "Time
dilation!"

***

When they landed Zara was there waiting for the hatch to open.
Seeing Ching in the port Zara threw herself into his arms. When
they broke from a kiss she said, "Thank Rao you've returned.
I've been worried sick." She firmed up and stepping back said,
"Don't you ever do that to me again."

Ching pulled her into an embrace and said, "I promise. Never
again. From now on we stay together. Where I go, you go too."

"What happened? Why are you so late getting back?"

Clark asked, "Why don't we go back to the residence where we
can relax and talk?"

Zara wound her arm around Ching's and started walking to the
transport.

Ching stopped and turned around. Spotting the executive officer
he said, "Give the crew a two day pass to be with their
families. When they report back have engineering tear that
thruster apart and find out what caused the malfunction. We
can't afford to have that happen to any other ships."

"Aye, Captain. I'll see to it."

"Thank you. If I'm needed I'll either be at the residence or
meeting with the council. I need to report on the contact." He
chuckled as he finished up, "My report is four months
overdue."

"Aye, Captain. Don't worry. We can handle it."

Ching nodded and turned away, allowing Zara to pull him to the
ground transport.

***

Ching was speaking, "As you can see, my Lord Trey, there are
still a lot of questions that will need to be answered. We do
know from our sensor readings the direction they approached from
and the vector they took when they departed correspond. It would
be logical to assume that if we were to follow that vector
eventually we would enter their space."

Clark spoke up, "Lord Trey."

Trey responded, deference obvious in his voice, "My Lord,
Kal-El. Please, whatever you have to say, we are prepared to
hear."

"Council and Lord Trey, It is my considered opinion that until
these questions have been answered to our satisfaction that the
true location of New Krypton be kept a secret. That was why I
suggested that the meetings be held on that world where we made
first contact. It is fifteen days away using the current FTL
drive and considerably longer for them."

"At this point we only have their word that they are a peaceful
race. I am still disturbed by the fact that the warrior attacked
Lady Lori-El without provocation when she was perceived to be
defenseless. There was no way for him to have known that she was
invulnerable. Anyone else would have been killed by that energy
discharge. When his energy weapon failed he then proceeded to
attack her with a sword."

"I would urge this council to consider them to be hostile until
proven otherwise."

"I would recommend the following. When Lady Lori and I return to
Earth, I will be giving the captain the ship that Jor-El used to
send me to Earth. Its FTL drive is more efficient than the one
you currently use and will be far superior to that used by the
Hangaresi. Once some ships have been fitted with the advanced FTL
drive, send out scouts along the vector that they followed.
Contact any sentient species found along that route. Find out
from them if they have interacted with the Hangaresi and what the
nature of the contact has been."

"Send a small flight of several ships to actually locate their
home world. A single ship would be too vulnerable. Two or three,
but preferably four ships could defend one another. On Earth a
basic tactical formation is four aircraft. There is a flight
leader and his second in command then each has a wingman whose
job it is to protect his leader. With the extra speed afforded by
the advanced FTL drive they would be able to escape if need
be."

"If they do need to flee they should do so in a vector away from
New Krypton until they are far enough away that the Hangaresi can
no longer detect them and then still take a round-about course in
returning home."

"I would also recommend that the NK scientists work on
developing a means of communicating over long distances, perhaps
basing it on the field generated by the FTL drive itself. That
also would give a tremendous tactical advantage. As it is we have
to be in close proximity to communicate effectively."

"When we return home we plan to propose to our family that they
take turns spending time here on New Krypton. In this way each of
their spouses could be your local superhero and assist with
natural disasters and also be available in case of attack from
invaders. I believe that our family will jump at the opportunity
that this will present. They will have the opportunity to become
acquainted with the customs and traditions of New Krypton and you
would have an opportunity to get to know our family better. I
would simply ask that they be provided with housing."

Trey, speaking for the council said, "That will be easily
arranged. We look forward to getting to know the El family."

***

Chapter 27 -- Birthdays

Februasry 1, 1998

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

It was going to be CJ's first birthday and plans had been made
for a big celebration. Both sets of grandparents were going to be
there as well as Uncle Perry, Auntie Alice, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt
Lucy.

Since Lucy had completed her college degree in Computer Science
and returned to Metropolis, she had snagged a position with STAR
Labs. She had become a frequent visitor at the Kent household.
Oddly enough, many times her visits just happened to correspond
to those times that Jimmy was also supposed to 'drop by'.
Recently, Jimmy had also jumped at any opportunity that presented
itself to spearhead any research that involved working with STAR
Labs.

Lois had been slowly adding solid foods to CJ's diet, still
relying primarily on breast milk as the principal component of
his diet, and to her great pleasure he was thriving. He was a
very happy and healthy little boy that was the joy of her life,
second only to her husband.

Since they had been adding solids they had purchased a high chair
for him and it was prominently placed at the table in close
proximity to Lois' chair.

Lois was really surprised with herself. She had actually taken to
motherhood very well. A very great portion of the credit for
that, she had to ruefully agree, was a result of her
prescription. Being forced into breastfeeding was the best thing
that could have happened to her. The mother-child bond that she
had formed with CJ as a result of that activity was stronger than
she could ever imagine was possible.

Today was going to be a happy occasion but, it was tinged with
regret. Today it was almost eight months since CJ had come into
their lives. Lois knew that Herb would be coming in less than a
month to take CJ, who she thought of as her baby, back to his
real parents. She dreaded Herb's appearance. She still didn't
know how she would be able to give CJ up. All she knew was that
it would break her heart. Then she thought about CJ's real
mother and she thought about how she must have felt, giving up
her baby for eight long months, mission or no mission. Her heart
must have been broken just as hers was breaking at the thought of
losing CJ.

Lois had submerged all of these feelings by throwing herself into
planning this event. She had gone out and purchased decorations,
with CJ in an umbrella stroller the entire time. She had shown
him everything that she was purchasing and talked everything over
with him. She would frequently interrupt what she was doing and
just look at him and marvel. Then she would bend down and plant a
gentle kiss on his head. Frequently, when she did that, he would
reach up and put his hands on either side of her face and say,
"Momma, Momma," and she would respond, "Momma loves CJ."

***

The day had finally arrived. As soon as Lois and Clark got home
they started decorating. CJ was an interested observer on the
floor in his walker. He was scooting around on the tile floor
with ease following his parent's movements. Before too long
there were colorful streamers crisscrossing the kitchen. After a
while the guests were gathered and the guest of honor was now in
his high chair with a party hat on his head.

When it came time for the cake, Lois had picked up some cup cakes
for the occasion. She selected a white cupcake with chocolate
icing. She took the paper off and placed it on the tray in front
of CJ. For several minutes CJ just sat there looking at this
foreign object. Lois had been feeding him solid foods as a
supplement to her breast milk but that had always been given him
on a spoon. He had been feeding himself those little circles of
cereal, but, this was very different. CJ didn't know just what
to make of this object, but, in his inquisitiveness he reached
out and touched it. When he did he happened to contact the icing,
some of which wound up sticking to his finger. He pulled his hand
back and looked at his finger. Not knowing what else to do he
stuck the finger in his mouth and licked this foreign substance
off. When he did suddenly his face lit up and a great smile came
into existence. He pulled his finger out of his mouth and with
great deliberation he reached out and 'plop' his whole hand
came down on the top of the cup cake. His little fingers closed
on the icing and so quickly he rivaled Clark for his superspeed
he brought his hand up and tried to stuff his whole hand, icing
and all, into his mouth, winding up with icing smeared all over
his face from nose to chin.

Everyone was watching and Clark was recording with a videocam.
When CJ tried to stuff all of that into his mouth it took
everyone by surprise and they all started laughing.

CJ was enjoying every morsel of the cup cake and icing and kept
reaching down and grabbing more and putting it into his mouth.
Eventually all that was left was a scattering of crumbs and
chocolate smears on the tray and CJ's face. Smiling he shouted,
"Momma, Momma?"

Lois grabbed a washcloth and wet it with warm water. As she
approached she was smiling as she said, "Momma's right here CJ.
Momma's right here." She started cleaning his face. He started
babbling, "Momma, Dada, Momma, Dada." Lois released his safety
belt and lifting him out of the high chair handed him to Clark.
As she did he squealed, "Dada, Dada, Dada," and Clark
responded, "Okay Sport, let's go visit everyone." They started
playing 'pass the baby' as everyone took a turn holding him
while Lois finished cleaning up his high chair.

After the high chair had been cleaned up and everyone had had a
chance to hold the guest of honor, he was placed back in his
chair and buckled in. Lois placed a brightly wrapped package in
front of him. CJ looked at it for a few seconds and then reached
out and started patting it looking around for approval as he did
so. When neither Lois nor Clark said, 'No.' he realized that it
was okay so he started hitting it harder. Lois leaned in and
picked up a loose piece of the paper and pointed it out to him.
He grabbed it with a couple of fingers and pulled. When the paper
ripped he was startled and again looked to Lois to see what her
reaction would be. Seeing her smile encouraged him and he pulled
some more, ripping the paper further. Lois was getting anxious so
she leaned in again and helped him and he was laughing and
saying, "Momma, Momma," while she did.

When the paper was finally off she helped him open the box and
inside was a toy. Lois opened it and dumped the pieces on his
tray. It was a ball with large plastic shapes that fit through
similarly shaped holes in a sphere. He picked up a triangle
shaped piece and tried to push it through a square shaped hole.
Clark helped him find the right shaped hole and when the piece
dropped through, he squealed in delight and shouted, "Dada,
Dada," while Clark beamed his pleasure. CJ picked up another
piece and Clark helped again. This became a game that CJ just
couldn't get enough of. It was similar to another toy he had had
for a while. It hadn't been hard plastic; it had been plush.
After a while he was given another present and another until all
the presents had been delivered.

About this time CJ was yawning but fighting sleep. Lois took him
out of his highchair and put him on the floor and he crawled over
to Clark and grabbed onto his leg. He used this to pull himself
upright until he was standing with just one hand on Clark's leg.
Lois knelt down at a little distance. CJ let go of Clark's pants
and took a hesitant step. As soon as he completed the movement he
plopped down on his butt. Undaunted, he crawled back to Clark and
using his leg got back up on his feet. He fixed his eyes on Lois
and took a step. He wobbled some but stayed upright. Lois held
out her hands to him and he took another step. Lois was smiling
widely as she watched him. He took another step. Lois encouraged
him, "Come to Momma CJ, come to Momma." He took another step.
Everyone was holding their breath. One more and he would be able
to touch Lois' outstretched hands. He took that final step and
everyone released the breath they had been holding as Lois
scooped him up in her arms and showered him with kisses while
saying, "What a big boy! CJ, you can walk! Momma is so proud of
you! Such a big boy!" Clark moved over and wrapped up both of
them in his arms. Everyone crowded around and made a fuss until
Lois said, "It is really past time for his nap. I'm going to go
put him down in the crib. I'll be right back."

Everyone stayed for a while chatting and having a good time over
coffee and tea with left over cake. The party finally broke up
and after cleaning up Lois and Clark moved into the living room.
Perry and Alice had been among the first to leave because Perry
needed to be in the office early. Lucy and Jimmy had followed.
Jimmy was driving Lucy back to her apartment. Sam and Ellen had
stayed a little longer. Last to leave had been Jonathan and
Martha Kent who were staying in a hotel nearby.

After the Kents left, Lois and Clark cuddled up together on the
couch with Lois leaning back against Clark's side with his arm
across her shoulder and his arm crossing her chest and his hand
on her waist. They sat that way silently for a time, both of them
lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly Lois started weeping,
something she had been doing more and more frequently as time
went on. Clark knew the cause, because he was feeling the same
way, although he was concealing it from Lois, presenting a strong
presence to give her something she could draw strength from.

She turned around in his arms and put her arms around his neck as
she gave vent to her grief and pain, her tears soaking his shirt.
He moved his arms so that he held her within their circle. After
a few minutes she asked, "How am I going to do this Clark? How
can I give up our baby? Herb will be here before too much longer
and he's going to take our baby away. Do we have to let him?
Can't we go somewhere and hide?"

He started running his hands over her back in a soothing manner
and spoke in a voice which was also husky with emotion,
"Remember what Herb said, he was able to return a happy healthy
little boy to his parents when they returned from their mission.
He'd find us, no matter where we went, remember, to him it's
history."

As her tears flowed freely she said bitterly, "Yeah, history. I
wish we could change this particular piece of history. We've had
him for the majority of his life. We're his parents in every way
that counts. I might not have bore him, but, I'm still his
mother. Why did Herb have to do this to us?"

Clark was feeling every bit of the pain she was expressing but he
had to put up a front for her. He said, "I know, I feel the same
way. It is bitter disappointment to me to have to give him up,
but, look at it from their perspective; they gave him to us in
good faith. How would you feel if he were actually ours and you
know, he could very well be, and we had to send him off for his
safety and then they, we, refused to return him to us when we
returned home? We would fight to get him back and you know it.
How can we do that to them or possibly ourselves? At this time,
since Herb has not given us any information to the contrary,
there is just as much chance that he is ours as that he isn't.
We have no way to know. On that basis, if for no other reason, we
must return him when Herb comes to pick him up."

With tears still in her eyes she gazed up at Clark and said, "I
know you're right," she pointed at her head, "up here, but,"
she pointed at her heart, "down here, it hurts. We're going to
be losing our baby."

"Perhaps it is only temporary. Herb could be returning him to us
in our future. We just don't know. Until Herb shows up, we have
to continue to be CJ's parents and we can't let him know how
upset we are that he's going to be leaving. He'll know that
there's a problem. He won't know what it is, but, he'll know
and it will upset him."

"I know and I try, but, he's picking up on it anyhow. He's
such a smart little guy, just like you."

"He's inquisitive, just like you."

A wintery smile took over her face as she said, "Yeah, he's
just like what my mom said I was at his age. Must be a chip off
the old block."

***

On February 28th Lois, Clark and CJ went out for a quiet dinner
to celebrate Clark's birthday. Lois had CJ in his carrier and
Clark flew them to Hawaii. Since it was a Saturday they left
early and took the diaper bag and a small bag with them. They
landed in a secluded area and strolled around Waikiki for a
while. They went into a fast food joint and ordered burgers,
fries, drinks and milkshakes. They used the rest room to change
clothes and emerged ready for the beach.

They strolled down to the beach and put out some towels. Lois
lathered CJ up with sun screen and put him down to play. Clark
took his turn and lathered Lois up with the sunscreen. He was on
a towel on one side in his Speedos and Lois was on the other side
in her brown bikini. After a time Lois picked up CJ and took him
down to where the waves made it up the beach. She sat him down
where the wave would wash up to him and knelt down next to him
while Clark stood by. When the first wave hit him he was startled
and watched it retreat. When the next one hit him he tried to pat
it and succeeded in splashing some of the water on his legs. When
the next wave came in he hit it harder. This time he managed to
splash Lois. When she giggled he knew that what he was doing was
okay so he decided that he wasn't just going to sit there. He
got onto his hands and knees and started to crawl out toward the
water. Lois allowed him to get just so far before she said, "CJ,
no."

He stopped and looked back at her. He contemplated what she had
said for a few seconds and then crept one step further. Lois
said, "CJ, no!"

CJ stopped again and looked back at Lois and then very
deliberately took another step forward while continuing to watch
her. She stood and stepped up to him and picking him up gave him
a little swat on his wet diaper and said, "CJ, Momma said,
no!"

Seeing her anger CJ was repentant and put his hands out to her
and said, "Momma, Momma?"

Lois pulled him into a hug and said, "Momma loves CJ, but if
Momma says no, CJ must obey."

Lois sat him down in the light surf again. He looked up at her
and then turned over on his hands and knees and started to crawl
into deeper water again. Lois said, "CJ, no."

This time he stopped and turning plopped down on his bottom and
repeated what she had said, "CJ, no."

Lois was startled. She looked at Clark and said, "Did you hear
that? He said something other than Momma or Dada and it's like
he really knew what I meant. He stopped!" She stooped down and
picked CJ up and gave him a big hug and kiss and twirled him
around almost dancing with him in her arms. Clark came over and
wrapped his arms around both of them.

CJ started babbling, "Momma, Dada, CJ, no. Momma, Dada, CJ,
no."

Lois said, "That's right, Darling CJ. Momma loves CJ."

CJ repeated, "Momma lubs CJ."

With tears of joy streaming down her face Lois said, "Yes, Momma
loves CJ. Momma loves her baby boy, CJ."

Lois continued crying, but, Clark could tell from the look on her
face that they were no longer tears of joy, but sorrow. Sorrow
that it wouldn't be too much longer until Herb showed up to take
CJ away from them and back to his parents. He enclosed both her
and CJ in his arms standing there in the surf and comforted his
wife even though his own heart was also breaking.

***

Chapter 28 -- March Madness

Sunday, March 1, 1998

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

%%%

Spending a lazy Sunday afternoon at home, Lois was on the couch
next to Clark nursing CJ while Clark was going over his picks for
the brackets for the College Basketball Playoffs which were
affectionately called March Madness. As CJ was finishing up Clark
made one final entry on his bracket and gave it a final perusal.
Satisfied he put it down and accepted CJ when Lois handed him
over to his father to burp.

Lois had just finished readjusting her clothing when there was a
knock on the door. She looked at Clark with fear on her face.
Clark slipped his glasses down a bit and checked. He said,
"Jimmy," and got up to answer the door. When he opened the door
he said, "Hi Jimmy, what brings you over today?"

Holding out his hands to CJ to see if he wanted to come to him,
Jimmy said, "I just finished my brackets and thought I'd see if
you were done and how we matched up." CJ held out his hands to
Jimmy and Clark handed him over. Jimmy said, "How are you today,
CJ? Boy, you're getting big. What's your Momma feedin' you,
huh?"

Laughing, Lois chimed in from the couch, "You know what I'm
feeding him. It's a good thing I started supplementing with
solid foods, I don't think my body could produce enough milk to
keep up with his appetite."

Jimmy bounced CJ a few times which elicited squeals of delight
from CJ before turning him over to his Momma. Jimmy turned to
Clark and said, "Okay, let's see whatcha got."

Clark and Jimmy headed into the dining room so that they could
lay out their brackets to compare them.

Lois got up off the couch and was about to head into the kitchen
when there was another knock on the door. She shouted, "I'll
get it.," and proceeded to open the door. Lucy was on the
threshold. Lois said, "Hi, Sis! What brings you over today?"

"Oh, I just had a feeling that I should come over today. Hi, CJ!
Want to come to Auntie Lucy?" She asked as she held out her
hands to him. CJ reached for her and Lois handed him off.

Lucy started nuzzling him and picking up his shirt started giving
him raspberries while he squealed in delight.

Lois asked Lucy, "Do you want to feed him his carrots while I
express some more milk?"

Looking up from CJ's belly, Lucy said, "Sure, glad to help."

Lois said, "Let's go into the kitchen." As they were passing
by she said to the guys, "Lucy and I are going into the kitchen
and I'm going to be expressing some milk so the kitchen is off
limits. If you want a snack or a drink, you'd better get it
now."

Clark looked at Jimmy and Jimmy said, "Nah, I'm good."

Clark said, "Maybe when you're done."

Lois arched an eyebrow and said, "Okay, don't say I didn't
warn you."

They moved into the kitchen and Lucy put CJ into his highchair
and buckled him in. He knew what was coming and started banging
on the tray anxious to have his carrots.

Lois got out her pump and started using it while Lucy started
feeding CJ. They both finished up about the same time and Lois
got herself decent again. Lois put the milk in the refrigerator
while Lucy used a cloth to clean CJ up. Lois unbuckled him and
put him down on the floor. He crawled over to Aunt Lucy and held
onto her leg to help himself vertical and then he started to
toddle around. He would manage a few steps and then plop down on
his butt, get up and try again. Lucy said, "He's getting better
all the time. Before you know it he will be walking all over the
house. Good thing you baby-proofed."

Chuckling, Lois said, "Yeah, it's an entirely different
mindset. He's really becoming the little man," as she leaned
down and scooped him up. She put him over her shoulder to burp
him, rubbing his back in small circles. After he burped he
started yawning so Lois said, "Looks like I've got a sleepy boy
here. Lucy, let's go put him down for his nap."

"Okay sis."

As they passed through the dining room Lois said, "Kitchen's
free now."

Clark was pointing at an entry in a bracket and looking up said,
"Thanks Honey." He turned to Jimmy and asked, "Thirsty?"

Jimmy thought for a second and then said, "Sure, whatcha got?"

"Coke, Mountain Dew or cream soda."

"I'll have a Dew, thanks."

Lois and Lucy went upstairs to the nursery and Lois put CJ down
for his nap. After she covered him up he fell asleep almost
immediately, holding his bunny. She just stood there looking at
him. After a couple of minutes Lucy saw that she was crying. Lucy
moved over next to her and put an arm around her sister. She
asked, "What's the problem, Sis?"

Lois turned to her and tried to control her emotions as she said,
"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Lucy wasn't buying it and said, "Let's go sit down." She led
Lois out of the nursery and into the master bedroom where they
sat down on the bed, before she said, "Sis, you may try to lie
to yourself, but you can't lie to me. I know you too well. Give,
what's the problem? Are you and Clark fighting?"

With a shocked expression Lois looked at Lucy and asked, "No,
Clark and I are NOT fighting. How could you think such a
thing?"

"Okay, if that's not it, what's got you so upset?"

"Oh, Lucy, it's CJ," and she started to cry.

Worried now, Lucy asked, "Why, what's the matter with CJ? He
looks happy and healthy."

"That's not it, I mean, yes, he is happy and healthy. It's
something else."

"What is it then that has you so upset?"

"Oh, Lucy, it won't be too much longer until he will be going
back to his parents."

"What? Why? I thought you were keeping him."

"No, we were only keeping him while his parents were on a
mission trip."

Suddenly remembering the story, Lucy said, "Oh, that's right.
They're medical missionaries. They'll be coming home soon?"
Trying to mitigate the problem somewhat Lucy asked, "Won't you
be able to visit him? I mean, it isn't like he'll be going to
the space station or something."

Lois started crying harder. When she had regained some control
she said, "No, Luce, we won't be able to visit him. He's going
too far away and we won't have any means of getting there."

Lucy was dumbfounded, "What do you mean, 'too far away' and
'no means of getting there'? With what Clark can do, how can
that be?"

Lois was happy that her sister had been brought in on the family
secret so she was able to discuss problems like this with her.
"Luce, that was just the cover story. CJ is really from the
future ... he is the child of a super couple from the future. Any
day, Herb is going to come and pick him up to take him home.
He's going to take my baby away." A fresh flood of tears left
her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me this story earlier, Sis?"

"It was for his safety. That's why I had to breast feed. He
needed the special nutrients only my body could provide."

"Shouldn't you have some say in the matter? You're more of a
mother to him than the woman that gave him birth!"

"That's the problem, Luce. You see, first, she didn't give him
up willingly. They were going on a dangerous mission and they
sent him to us to care for and protect him until they returned.
It's complicated. He couldn't go with them but, Herb couldn't
just move him forward in time because he had to age appropriately
for the amount of time they would be gone and second, I could
very well be the woman that gave him birth. He could really *be*
my child. How could I keep him away from myself?"

"Sis, since that is a possibility, you will have to give him up
when Herb comes for him. If he is yours then you know that you
can have children."

"That's the problem Luce, Herb wouldn't confirm that he was
mine and Clark's child. All he would say was that he was the
child of a super couple. I really don't know what he meant by
that either. Did he mean that both of them were super? If that
was the case, why is he only three quarters Kryptonian and not
fully? We have so many questions and very few answers."

"Well, Sis, all I can say is, enjoy what time you have with him
and hope that Herb takes his time about getting here."

Lois let out an unladylike snort and as she almost literally spat
out her next statement the bitterness and pain were clearly
evident, "Time! Time?? Takes his *time* getting here! Herb has
all of the time in the world! All the time in time! Herb is a
time traveler! He moves through time the way we move through the
house! Whenever or wherever he wants to be he just pulls out his
little box, hits a few keys, a doorway opens in front of him and
zap, he steps through and he's there, whenever and wherever he
pleases. His doorway could open up right here in this room a
minute from now and we'd have no warning and no recourse. He
could be in CJ's room right now picking him up to take him home
and I wouldn't know it until I went in there to feed him."

Lucy had been shaken by the emotion Lois had been revealing and
also by concern for the situations she had described. She asked,
"Lo, would he really do something like that to you?"

Lois was overwrought and replied hastily, "Yes, no, I don't
know, I really don't think he would, but he could, that's the
worst part. He could take him and I wouldn't know it. I
wouldn't even be given the chance to say goodbye to my baby."

Lucy threw her arms around Lois and pulled her into a hug as she
started crying like her heart was being ripped out.

In a matter of seconds Clark was there by her side. Sensing his
presence Lois pulled away from Lucy and threw her arms around
Clark's neck and the floodgates opened.

Lucy could see that this needed to be a personal time for the two
of them so she quietly got up and went downstairs.

***

She found Jimmy in the dining room. He looked at her and asked,
"What's going on? Suddenly, Clark got this concerned look on
his face and he left without saying a word."

Lucy said, "It's a long story, Jimmy. Why don't you take me
out for lunch and we can talk about it?"

Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth and loathe to
turn down such an invitation Jimmy grabbed his brackets sheet and
stuffed it into his pocket. "Do you have any place special in
mind?"

Lucy replied, "Yeah, Travaglini's, they have the best pasta in
town."

Jimmy led the way to the door and escorted Lucy to his car.

***

Lois cried for a time drawing a measure of comfort from Clark's
solid presence. Eventually she pulled back and asked, "Oh,
Clark, what are we going to do? The longer we have him the more I
love him and the harder it's going to be to give him up and the
longer we have him the closer we get to the time when we have to
do just that."

Clark was very somber as he replied, "All we can do is love him
while we have him and miss him when he leaves and hope that
someday, some way we'll see him again."

***

Chapter 29 -- Herb Returns

Thursday, October 27, 2108

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

It was a pleasant mid afternoon in Metropolis. They were
experiencing an Indian Summer day when a portal opened in the
back yard of the Kent residence on Wisteria Lane. Herb stepped
through and as soon as he did the portal closed after him.

He checked his TaDT to confirm the time, 2 pm and date, October
27, 2108, and assuring himself that everything was correct, he
walked up to the back door and knocked.

A few seconds later Lori Kent answered it. When she saw Herb she
said, "Herb! This is an unexpected visit. Is there a problem
somewhere?" Suddenly she realized that they were still standing
at the door and hastily said, "Won't you come in?"

Herb chuckling at her apparent discomfiture entered and said,
"Actually, my dear, I'm here to see CJ. I'd like to ask him to
take a short trip with me."

Lori had a quizzical look on her face as he said this. She asked,
"What is the problem? Are you sure that Clark wouldn't be
better suited to the trip?"

Herb said, "No, CJ is the one best suited to this mission.
Please allow me to assist you in recovering a memory."

Lori was wary, "What memory?"

Herb replied, "A memory that I had to block some time ago but
which it is now time to unblock." Herb pulled out a small device
and punched a button. It hummed for a second and then he saw
Lori's visage change as the memory returned.

As a memory reconstituted itself a look of understanding took its
place. She asked, "Why did you block that memory?"

"For the same reason that your memories of most of the time CJ
was with you as Lois were blocked until the appropriate time.
Most of those memories were time triggered so that you would
remember them a little at a time. That made it a little less
overwhelming."

She nodded in understanding and said, "That's why I didn't
remember everything at once. I understand and I guess I thank
you. I'm not too happy about you messing with my memory, but,
you've been doing just that most of my life. He's in his
office, right this way." She led him into the office where CJ
was studying. He was in the process of completing his college
degree requirements by taking on-line classes. He was going to
complete his masters in Electrical Engineering in about two more
months. There were just a couple of required courses and a thesis
to go.

Lori knocked on the door and said, "CJ, you have a visitor."

He said, "Come on in, Mom."

Lori opened the door and said, "CJ, I'd like you to meet Herb
Wells. Herb is an old friend of mine and your Dad's."

CJ reached out his hand and said, "Pleased to meet you."

Herb shook his hand and said, "Oh, my boy, you don't know it
yet, but, we've met before."

CJ looked at Lori with a questioning expression. She nodded her
head and said, "He's right. It was shortly after you were born.
He's the one that took you back into the past to protect you
when your father and I went to New Krypton. I'd like you to hear
him out and ... it's important that you do what he says and that
you go with him."

CJ asked, "Go with him? Where?"

Lori said, "Into the past."

CJ was incredulous and asked, "The past?"

"Yes, you see he has a mission and you're an important part of
that mission."

Herb said, "My boy, it is necessary that I cause you to recall
some memories, memories of your early life. Please sit down and
relax."

CJ sat back down in his chair as Herb pulled a device from his
pocket. Herb reassured him, "Now, this won't hurt at all. All
I'm going to do is to help you remember. As soon as we are
finished I'll be asking you to accompany me." Herb pushed a few
buttons and the device in his hand hummed a gentle tune for a few
seconds. As it did a smile took over CJ's features.

CJ opened his eyes and said, "Momma. I remember!" He looked at
Lori and said, "She was so much like you that I never realized
the difference."

Lori replied, "I know CJ, you see, I was her or she was me, we
were the same person, I have her memories. Ohhhhh, it's so
frustrating! Herb, what's the best way to say it??"

Herb was chuckling as he said, "You have all of her memories so
to all intents and purposes you are her." Turning to CJ he said,
"Now, my boy, it is time for me to go back and pick you up and
bring you back home. I would like you to go with me. I'd like
you to meet the woman that will become your mother and who was
your mother for that period of your life."

CJ looked at Lori and she said, "Yes, please go with Herb. It's
important." She moved over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

CJ turned back to Herb and said, "Okay, I'm ready."

Herb nodded and pulled his TaDT from his pocket and entered the
desired coordinates. The portal opened and he and CJ stepped
through.

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation -- Prime

1998

%%%

A portal opened in an alley down the street from of 348 Hyperion
Avenue and Herb and CJ stepped through. They walked down the
street. As they did they witnessed a young couple exit the house
they were headed for, get into a car and drive off. Once the car
was out of sight, they approached the door and Herb prepared to
knock.

CJ stopped him and said, "I can hear them, they're upstairs.
She's crying. We might want to wait a few minutes."

They waited at the door and CJ monitored the conversation and
activity upstairs. When he determined that Lois had gotten her
emotions under control he said to Herb, "Okay, you can knock
now."

Herb knocked on the door and they heard Clark's voice say,
"Just a minute."

A few seconds later Clark opened the door. He had checked with
his vision beforehand and knew who was there. In a resigned tone
he said, "Herb, I guess it's that time." He looked at Herb's
companion with a questioning look.

Herb noted this and said, "Let's go inside. We have some things
to discuss."

Clark nodded in resignation and said, "Okay," and led the way
into the living room. He called upstairs to Lois, "Honey, Herb
is here. Is CJ still asleep?"

CJ and Clark could both hear Lois gasp and heard her breathe,
"Not now, not yet. We're not ready." She came to the head of
the stairs and they could see the tears in her eyes. She started
to descend the stairs, slowly, like a condemned prisoner headed
for the gallows, holding onto the banister with both hands as she
moved almost sideways down the steps. When she was half way down
she saw that Herb was not alone. The young man with him was tall
and looked a *lot* like Clark, right down to the glasses. His
appearance shook her. There was a pang of recognition. Finishing
her trip like one in a dream, she moved over and completely
ignored Clark and Herb, her entire focus was on this stranger.

Clark started to say something, but, before he could utter a
word, Herb put his hand on Clark's arm and stopped him.

Lois walked up to the stranger and just stood there for almost a
full minute intently staring at his face. She said, "I ... I
feel like I know you. It's so strange. I've never met you
before, but, I feel like I know you." Hesitantly, with shaking
hands she reached up and took off his glasses. As soon as she did
so they fell from her nerveless fingers. A look of total
recognition overcame her features as she put her hands on either
side of his face and in a voice full of wonder and in a hushed
questioning tone asked, "CJ?"

He put his arms around her and said, "Momma."

At that instant Lois' knees went weak and her legs seemed to
turn to jelly as she almost collapsed but he held her up as she
started crying uncontrollably. He gently pulled her into a tight
hug and said, "Yes, Momma, It's me, it's CJ."

Clark moved over and took both of them in his arms.

After several minutes Lois was finally able to stand on her own,
but Clark and CJ led her over to the couch. Once she was seated
Clark sat on one side and CJ on the other. She was still looking
at CJ's face and her hand was on his cheek.

Clark asked, "Lois, how did you know? Herb hadn't introduced
him to me yet and I didn't know."

Lois, without turning and still looking at CJ answered, "A
mother knows. I just knew he was my baby. My baby's all grown
up."

CJ said, "Today's my eighteenth birthday. Herb brought me with
him as a birthday present so that I could see you again. Also so
that you could see how I had grown up, thanks to you, Momma and
also my Mom."

Lois asked, "How is she? Did they save New Krypton?"

With a sad look he said, "Herb told me that I can't say
anything about that except, New Krypton is still there. Something
along the lines of too much information ..."

Lois interrupted him, "Yeah, I know that line; 'too much
information too soon is not good'. Okay. So you can't talk
about it. What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm just finishing up on my degree and I plan to work at STAR
Labs."

Clark said, "Good for you. I'm sure they are still doing very
important work."

Lois asked, "Do you have a girl friend?"

"Actually, I've been to New Krypton a few times since my powers
started to come on and I've met someone. I think she'll be
joining me on Earth soon. Her name is Elka and she's the
daughter of Tel-Ka and granddaughter of Zara and Ching. Uncle
Ching, when he gave up his military title, took his family name
of Ka. She was named Elka to honor the family of El. Mom and Dad
decided to name me Ka-El. Ka as a dominative of Kal and also the
family name of Uncle Ching and Aunt Zara. When we pair bond she
will be Elka Ka-El. She decided to take the Earth name Laura."

Lois asked, "Do you have any pictures?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. When he
pushed a button a holographic picture of a very lovely girl with
dark hair flowing loosely around her shoulders with dark eyes and
a beautiful smile dressed in flowing robes sprang into existence.
She bore a striking resemblance to Lois.

Lois said, "She's lovely. She looks a lot like me."

"Mom said the same thing. I think, subconsciously, I was looking
for you. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom, but you and she are
a little different, if you know what I mean. I was concerned when
Herb first showed up and suggested this trip. Mom encouraged me
to come. I didn't know how seeing you again would work out. I
just want to say, thank you. I love you, Momma." He looked past
Lois and said to Clark, "I love you too; you have got to be the
best Dad a boy ever had."

***

Herb and CJ spent a good part of the afternoon with Lois and
Clark. Eventually it came time for them to return to the future.

While Lois went upstairs to get CJ and his things Clark got the
diary. As he handed it to CJ he said, "These are our memories of
your time with us. We kept a copy for ourselves, so that ... so
that we can remember you. Now we will also remember the man you
have become."

Lois came down the stairs with CJ in her arms. She handed the
baby to his older self and said, as she handed the diaper bag to
Herb, "Take care of him. I wouldn't want anything to happen to
you. You know, that sounds so weird. He's you. You're who he
will become."

Clark put his arm around Lois and said, "What she's trying to
say is, we're proud of you. The man you've become. We just hope
that at least part of that is a result of the time you spent with
us."

Looking over at Herb who nodded his head, CJ said, "Before I
came on this trip, Herb used a device to restore my memory of the
time I spent with you." He started to tear up as he continued,
"I remember that it was a period of intense happiness and joy.
Your care, your tenderness; I hope I never forget that. I love
you, both of you more than I can express."

Lois looked at Herb and said, "Thank you Herb. This is a
tremendous gift you have given us. It makes it a lot easier to
give him up now that I see the young man he has become."

Herb replied, "You should take comfort in the fact that what he
has become is a direct result of his time with you. A large part
of the most formative period of his life was spent with you and
it was your influence that formed so much of his character. He is
a reflection of you. You should be proud of that."

Lois put out her hand and cupped CJ's cheek and while looking
into his eyes said, "We are Herb. We couldn't be prouder of him
if he were actually ours."

Herb chuckled and said, "In many respects, he is. Yours, I mean.
In every way that counts you are, were, his parents. He is the
living proof of how any child you would parent and nurture would
turn out. You have every reason to be proud."

Clark nudged Lois and said, "See, I told you you'd do a good
job as a mother."

She replied, "Yeah, I guess I did do okay."

***

Chapter 30 -- Back Home

Monday, November 13, 2090

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124

%%%

Lori and Clark were about to take their leave of New Krypton.
Ching and Zara were not going to accompany them on their return.
Zara, after Ching being absent for four months, was reluctant to
allow him out of her sight even though she would have been with
him on board.

Zara asked, "How are you guys going to handle this absence?
It's been longer than you anticipated, hasn't it?"

Lori replied, "No, actually, we knew that we were going to be
gone for eight months before we left."

Zara asked Lori, "Didn't you just have a child?"

Lori said, "Yes, we did. He's about a year old now. I can't
wait to get back to him."

With a sympathetic tone Zara said, "I don't know how I would
handle this much time away from my new born child. You've missed
so much of his development."

Lori replied, "Subjectively, we've only been gone a couple of
months, but I still miss him terribly. As far as missing his
milestones, well, we haven't exactly missed them, you see, we
have this 'friend' ... Herb Wells, he's a ... time ...
traveler. Anyhow, he visited us the night you arrived. He took
CJ, back into the past and gave him to us so that we could take
care of him. That was at a time after your previous visit. Since
we were the ones that cared for him, we have all of the memories
of that time with him. I'm still looking forward to getting him
back though."

Zara said, "I can believe that. Remembering how he grew up is
not the same as being there with him, being able to hold him and
play with him ..."

Lori started to chuckle as she interrupted, "You're right. It
isn't the same. It has been a sacrifice, but it was a sacrifice
we had to make. The survival of New Krypton depended on it. If
there had been any other way ... but there wasn't. I just hope
he remembers me." There were unshed tears in her eyes as she
said this.

Zara reached out and gave Lori a hug. She said, "You have
sacrificed so much for us and that after all that happened in the
past. All of New Krypton will know of your sacrifice. Your name
will be revered as much as Kal-El's is."

Lori looked at Zara and said, "That's really not necessary."

Zara replied firmly, "New Krypton must know what you sacrificed
for them and I am going to see to it that they do. You have
sacrificed so much for us, it's the least we can do."

While Zara and Lori had been talking, Clark had been packing
their things. He came into the room just as Zara was finishing up
and walked over to Lori and putting his arms around her said,
"We appreciate it."

Zara asked, "Is that everything?"

Clark looked at the bags and said, "Yep, all set to go."

Zara said, "Then I will wish you a pleasant and safe trip home.
Ching and I will be needed here to complete the preparations for
the negotiations and also rebuilding our military
preparedness."

Ching walked in and asked, "Are you ready to go?"

Clark replied, "We are very ready. We can't wait to get
back."

Ching clasped Clark's forearm in that forearm shake and said,
"Thanks. Thanks to you and Lori we have a chance. We hope you
can come back soon."

"Depending on how our suggestion is accepted, you may be seeing
some other members of our family pretty soon. We will come back
as needed."

The new throne ship had been retrofitted to have the new shields
installed for protection and had also been armed with a pair of
rail guns. On their return trip they were going to be taking
Kal-El's ship back with them so that the FTL drive that Jor-El
had developed could be analyzed and duplicated. It was estimated
that it would shorten the transit time between Earth and New
Krypton by as much as eighty percent.

They would be able to establish a regular shipment schedule that
would improve trade and also enable the Kent clan to follow
through on the plan of families 'vacationing' on New Krypton.
The New Krypton year was broken down into ten months of
forty-five days each, one orbit taking 450.25 days. Each family
would take at least a portion of one of the months.

The trip back took the same amount of time as the trip to New
Krypton since the speed when in FTL drive was a constant. A
portion of each day, Clark spent in a sauna which used 5400
degree Kelvin lights which simulated a yellow sun spectrum which
started rebuilding his power reserves, preparing him for their
return to Earth.

Eventually they arrived in Earth's space and assumed an orbit in
a LaGrange point as they had done previously. Lori and Clark,
thanks to the sauna treatments, both floated into the air lock
and waited for it to de-pressurize. When the hatch opened they
shaped their course for Metropolis. As they entered atmosphere
Clark sent a broadcast thought, /Kids, we're home!/

A chorus of replies came back, most with side channel emotions of
relief. Finally one cut through. Jon sent, /Welcome back! Shall
we have a gathering?/

Clark replied, /I'll get back to you on that. We have some
things to do first./

Once they had landed they entered the house to check on things.
After a few minutes Clark went out back to the secure storage he
had constructed and pulled out his space craft. He sent,
/Commander?/

/This is commander Zar./

/Commander, this is Kal-El. I will be there with my ship in just
a few minutes. Please see to it that the landing bay hatch is
open./

A few seconds later he received, /Pod bay outer hatch cycling.
Rainbow flash, initiated./

/Thank you commander. I'll be there in minutes./ He picked up
his ship and took off.

When he was dropping the ship off he asked, "How soon must you
leave Commander?"

"We are not on a schedule. Did you have a request?"

"Yes, Commander, I'd like to propose to my family the idea that
we have had for them taking turns visiting New Krypton. I may
have some passengers for you on your return trip."

The commander started to smile as he said, "I will have some
accommodations prepared. We will delay our departure as long as
is needed."

"Thank you Commander. We should know within a day or so. We'll
let you know."

When he returned he found Lori in the bedroom, crying. He moved
over and sitting down next to her put an arm around her
shoulders. He asked, "What's wrong Honey? We prevented a war,
saved a world and made it back in one piece. Why all the
tears?"

She turned and buried her face in his chest as her sobs
increased. He wrapped her up in his arms to try and comfort her.
After a few minutes she was calmed down somewhat. She pulled back
and said, "I was just sitting here thinking, trying to remember
CJ and how he had been when we had him in the past and suddenly
this wave of grief just swept over me. All the time we were away,
little by little things from that time would come to my memory.
You know what it's like. I'd remember what it was like to put
him to my breast and how eager he was to feed. I'd remember that
time, before I knew about the problems with chocolate how I'd
had a couple of Double Fudge Crunch bars and afterward he was
colicky because of the stomach problem it caused and then the
absolute mess he made in his diaper. Actually, believe it or not,
they were happy memories. Now I remember the soul shattering
grief of having *my* baby taken away. How could I have allowed
Herb to do that to me? Why didn't we come up with another
solution?"

"Honey, you know it had to happen this way. I guess that memory
was blocked until now so that we would do what needed to be done.
It was the only way."

"I know that, but, it doesn't make it any easier. Herb should
be here soon with CJ. I need to clean the house. We've been away
for over eight months." Walking over to a table she swiped her
finger across the top and said, "Look at the dust. I'm just
glad I have super speed now. It won't take too long to clean up,
especially if you help." She gave him a hopeful smile.

"How can I resist when you ask so sweetly? Let's get started.
I'd like to call a family conference for this evening. I'd like
to propose the family vacation plan we came up with."

Lori brightened and said, "Yes, let's do that. Right now I feel
that it could be imperative that there be a superhero on planet.
Sam's is the only family that wouldn't provide a hero since
Alice is from New Krypton. All of our older grandchildren and
their spouses, including Liz and Teri, in just a few years, can
take turns as well. Let's get the cleaning done so that we can
have the family over."

***

"So, there it is. How many families would consider taking their
vacations on New Krypton?"

All of the families raised their hands in assent.

Clark said, "I thought as much. Who would be able to leave
within forty-eight hours?"

There was some discussion within families and finally Lara and
Michael, Celeste and Bill raised their hands.

Clark addressed Lara, "How can you justify the absence?"

Lara replied, "You've been gone for eight months. In that time
we have left the LA firm and accepted Sam's offer to work for
The Foundation. We started two months ago. We head The Foundation
office in LA now and we still handle the New Kryptonian trade
contracts. Since contracts with New Krypton is our specialty,
I'm sure Sam can see the advantage of us spending some time on
New Krypton. In fact, Mike and I will have to talk this over; we
might be open to a permanent move." There ensued a conversation
at the speed of thought between them.

This was totally unexpected and shocked Clark and Lori as well as
the rest of the family. There was an excited babble. Finally
Clark asked, "Permanent? Are you sure you would want to move
there, permanently?"

Lara replied, "Well, yeah, why not? We just discussed all of the
ramifications of a move of this sort and we are satisfied that as
long as some details can be overcome, it should be doable. Since
the rest of the family is going to be setting up rotating visits,
it won't be like we won't be seeing everybody. With us there
permanently, they will have at least one full time superhero and
when a second family visits there will be at least two.
Occasionally, when another family comes out, we can come back for
a vacation here. It's a win, win situation."

"For a permanent move, won't you need more than forty-eight
hours?"

Looking over at Sam, Lara said, "As long as we can get some help
settling our house and all, we should be ready."

This had all been happening too fast and Clark and Lori were
perplexed. Something said earlier finally hit them and said in
unison, "The Foundation office in LA?"

There was some general laughter. Finally Sam spoke up, "While
you were away some changes have occurred. The Foundation has
opened some new offices. We now have subsidiary offices in twenty
cities. Some of the offices are primarily medical clinics,
provide security consulting services or perform other necessary
services at reduced prices or free services. Each office is run
by a family member. I let the family members chose what city they
wanted. Each city that has a branch office of the Foundation now
has a resident superhero or team."

"We realized as a result of the drug interdiction that
clustering almost all of us here in Metropolis wasn't efficient.
Now we are spread out for greater coverage. As more of the kids
develop their powers eventually we will go international."

Sam said, "With respect to the move, we can take care of that
detail. Let's see, you have the house in LA. Louise hasn't
chosen a city yet. Louise, why don't you take the LA office and
you can continue to live at home. As long as we know when to
expect you back for a visit, it will be ready for you when you
arrive."

Louise said, "That would be great! All my friends are there
anyhow."

Lara said, "That would be just fine. In the morning we will
start packing what we will need. Sophie, Rob and Mary are all
over ten so their powers are coming on which means that they will
be able to handle the environment on New Krypton. Okay, now that
that is settled, we can be ready in forty-eight hours."

Mike added, "Torque will become the resident superhero of New
Krypton."

Lori snapped her fingers and then said, "When you get there,
make sure you pick up my spare bow and arrows from Ching." She
zipped into the office and back. She held up the bow to display
it. "They made a backup in case this one broke when I was
practicing. It came in very handy when we had that meeting.
You're almost as good as me with a bow and I think that this one
will help you be even better. There will be little need of
compensating for drop. The arrows you loose from this bow will be
moving at supersonic speed. They will have a pretty flat
trajectory as a result."

"Thanks, Lori. I will," said Mike.

Clark looked at Celeste and Bill and asked, "How could you guys
do it?"

Celeste said, "We now head the Detroit office where we have set
up a free clinic. I have an assistant and staff who could handle
the practice for a few months. I've covered for him for a like
period when he's gone on a medical mission to Africa. I'll tell
him I'm going on a medical mission to New Krypton. Agnes, could
you head the office while I'm away?"

Agnes replied, "Happy to, Mom."

Bill said, "I could turn the security consulting function over
to my assistant. The office is so new we don't have that large a
clientele yet."

"Could you guys be ready in forty-eight hours?"

"Easily."

"Okay, why don't we do this, both families will depart with the
transport now in orbit. Cele, Bill and their family will return
in three months. When that transport arrives there will be
another family ready to take their turn. All I can say is thank
you. This means a lot to us and also to New Krypton. With the
threat posed by the Hangaresi the presence of a super hero or two
could mean the difference between survival and extinction. When
Herb returns with CJ we will request additional pendants for each
of the spouses."

Lori spoke up, "Will your unmarried children be going with
you?"

Lara and Mike looked around at their children and receiving nods
from each said, "Yes, they will," Lara laughed and continued,
"Who knows, they might find their soul mates there the way Sam
did."

Celeste had already surveyed her family and said, "Ours will go
too."

Clark said, "I'll notify the commander." He sent,
/Commander./

/Yes, Lord Kal-El./

/You will be having two family groups consisting of thirteen
individuals riding back with you. They should be ready to go in
forty-eight hours./

/We will prepare accommodations. Thank you./

/Thank you commander./ He said, "All set. Lara and Celeste, if
your families could stay so that we can brief them, the rest can
go on home."

There was a chorus of farewells and some hugs exchanged as the
families were leaving.

Clark and Lori briefed both families on what had occurred before
they headed out to prepare for their departure.

***

Mid-afternoon the next day, Herb showed up with CJ.

As he handed CJ to Lori she marveled at how much he had grown and
she started fussing over him. CJ had a somewhat quizzical look on
his face. He asked, "Momma?"

Lori said "Yes, CJ, it's Momma."

CJ looked around and in an agitated tone said, "Momma?"

Lori frantically looked at Clark and said, "He doesn't remember
me."

Clark said, "Here, let me." Clark reached for CJ. CJ readily
went to Clark and CJ said, "Dadda!"

Clark said, "That's right Sport. Clark pulled Lori in and said,
"Momma."

CJ said, "Momma?"

Clark said, "Yes, CJ, Momma."

Lori reached for CJ and he shied away.

Lori started to cry. "Oh, Clark, my baby's forgotten me."

Clark replied, "You're younger than Lois was and you wear your
hair differently. Just give it a little time. Think back.
Remember some of the things you did as Lois."

After a minute's thought she said, "Let me have him. I have an
idea."

Clark handed him over and Lori lifted his shirt and gave him a
raspberry on his tummy. He squealed in delight and put his hands
on the sides of her face and said, "Momma!"

Lori pulled him into an embrace and showered him with kisses, and
said, "Momma loves CJ."

CJ repeated, "Momma lubs CJ."

That's right, "Momma loves CJ."

While this was going on Herb pulled Clark aside. Herb reached
into his pocket and pulled out a handful of pendants. Herb said,
"Each of these pendants is a double strength. On the reverse you
will see a numeral two. That way you can tell them apart. Your
family will need them when on New Krypton."

Clark chuckled and said, "Right, history. Thanks Herb. New
Krypton appreciates it."

With an enigmatic look Herb said, "They may come in handy."

"Oh, are we correct about the threat?"

Herb retreated behind his motto, "Too much information too soon
..."

Clark interrupted and finished with, "Is not good. I know, but
you can't blame me for trying."

Shortly after that Herb left.

After Herb's departure, Lori picked up the diaper bag so that
she could put away the supplies. When she opened the zipper she
was confronted by a brown and white stuffed bunny. When she
lifted it out, CJ saw it and smiled as he reached for it. Lori
handed it to him and he hugged it with both arms. When she put
him down for his nap he wouldn't settle until he had his rabbit
but once in his possession he was content. That rabbit was his
constant companion for several years.

***

When it was time for the families to depart, the ship sent down
some pods to carry what was to be moved to New Krypton.

Clark had a small capsule made of Plexiglas which was airtight
and had an attached air supply and a small heater unit. They put
CJ into this and carried him with them when they went up to the
ship before it departed. When they arrived, Lori took CJ out of
the capsule so that his siblings could all say their goodbyes.

Clark handed the extra pendants to Lara to take to New Krypton
and then hugs, handshakes and kisses were exchanged before Clark
and Lori left to return home with CJ.

After exiting the lock, Clark and Lori hung suspended in space as
the ship broke orbit and they were able to watch it disappear
into the void before heading back home.

***

Epilogue

TTEMPO Headquarters 2042

***

Herb stepped through the portal into the receiving area of the
lobby of TTEMPO HQ. He looked around and saw the motto that he
had insisted be posted over the reception desk. It was emblazoned
in gold letters "Only Time Will Tell". As he was stepping away
from the receiving pad he observed agents arriving and departing
and nodded to himself.

Herb took a tube to his floor and as he approached it his office
door automatically opened for him since it was keyed to his
bioelectromagnetic signature. When he entered he hung his bowler
hat on the coat rack standing just inside the door. He said
"Lights!" and several lamps designed to look like the gas lamps
of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century lit up. He
walked over to an old fashioned roll top desk and sat down. As he
did so the chair actually creaked as it took his weight. He
pushed a button on his desk and speaking into the air said "New
document."

A very human sounding voice replied "Working. Will this be a
letter, or a journal entry?"

"Journal entry, Title ... Universal Locator Designation -- Alpha
023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 CJ's visit"

"Observations:"

"I have just returned from delivering CJ to Alpha 023 x Gamma
004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime. The time spent with Lois and Clark of
Prime, as anticipated was basically uneventful. I was able to
deliver a happy and healthy one year old to Lori and Clark.
Taking the eighteen year old CJ with me when I went to pick
younger CJ up softened the blow of losing the child as I had
anticipated. Prior to our departure I was able to use the memory
blocker on Lois and Clark. It should have sufficiently confused
their memories of the time that they will not remember the
emotional overtones of the time other than being happy having
him. They should have little recollection of the time spent with
the teen-age CJ. I was able to unblock those memories for Lori.

"I returned the teen-age CJ to 2108 before returning the young
child to 2091.

"The mission was successful and everyone back where they
belong.

"End entry."

"Recorded."

***

Thursday, October 27, 2108

***

%%%

Universal Locator designation

Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 Alt-Prime

%%%

CJ was surprised. Herb had just dropped him off at home before
moving back into the past to return his younger self to his
mother and father. It was still his birthday. In fact it was just
a few minutes since he had left with Herb for his visit to the
past, to the woman he could only think of as Momma. The trip had
taken most of a day. It had been a day spent with one of the most
important people in his entire life. Now, he was back in the
office, but he had not returned to his studies.

His siblings hadn't returned from school as yet. Usually he
liked this time because he knew he wouldn't be disturbed by his
brothers and sisters for some uninterrupted study time, but not
today. Today was different.

He was sitting in his chair holding the book he had been given by
his dad, running his hands over the cover. He hadn't opened it
as yet, but, deep down he knew that it was going to be one of his
most prized possessions.

The visit with her and his dad had struck a deeply emotional
chord and his whole being was still vibrating like a tuning fork.
To a certain extent he was torn. He deeply loved his Mom and he
knew that she was also Momma and he deeply loved her as well. It
was so confusing, they were the same person and yet they were
different people. As it had been explained to him, Momma was part
of Mom, but not all of her. There was more to Mom than just
Momma. It was quite confusing.

Composing himself he finally opened the diary of his time with
her, with them he corrected himself.

Thanks to Herb and the memory enhancement treatment he had given
CJ prior to the trip, the pictures actually brought back crystal
clear memories of the incidents portrayed. Some brought a
chuckle; in fact most brought at least a smile to his lips. There
were so many pleasant memories to savor. He knew that, thanks to
their thoughtfulness in preparing this diary, he would never
forget the time he had spent with them.

CJ went through the entire book, slowly, savoring every recalled
memory. He laughed at some of his antics and cried along with
Momma as he could see the pain mirrored in her visage. He could
see that she was trying to hide it behind a facade of
cheerfulness, but he could see right through that to the pain she
was feeling. He knew just what that pain was. She loved him and
she knew that she would be losing him, forever. He could feel
that love poured out through the pictures. If there had been any
doubts as to its existence they would have been instantly
dispelled. He could never doubt her love for him.

Eventually he came to the last page. Attached to the page was an
envelope. On all of the other pages, notations had been made with
the pictures or narratives typed up and attached. This was
separate. On the outside was a simple inscription in a feminine
hand, "CJ". He opened the envelope and extracted a letter. This
was not written in the same hand as the captions. This was the
same as the inscription, a woman's handwriting. He started
reading.

"*My dearest CJ,*

*I am writing this while sitting in my rocking chair in your
room. I've just finished feeding you and you are asleep in your
crib.*

*I hope that when you are older you will read this and think
kindly of me.*

*Herb never told us just who your real parents were. We suspect
that it could be us, but we have no way to know for sure. What we
do know is that for now you are our baby and we love you with all
of our heart. I couldn't love you more if I had borne you. I
hope you have felt that love while you were with us.*

*We really had no preparation for you. We didn't have the normal
nine months to get ready that most couples have. *

*To us, you were a gift from heaven. The day you arrived we had
been told that we could not have children and also we were turned
down for adoption. That news was the death and double death of a
dream. Then you appeared and you were the fulfillment of that
dream, a dream come true in flesh and blood.*

*As soon as I picked you up I just knew I was in love. This
little miracle child had been delivered as an answer to prayer.
It was love at first sight. *

*We had some hurdles to overcome, but, we worked on them and
suddenly the hurdles were behind us.*

*Your presence in our family made it complete. *

*I had dreaded being a mother because of the example my own
mother had set, but, then when I became a member of the Kent
family and got to know Martha, the example she set encouraged me.
It was her example that really convinced me that having children
wasn't the catastrophe I had always feared. That was when I
decided that I wanted a child. *

*Martha was a wonderful role model and I really tried to follow
her example. I think I was at least moderately successful because
you seemed to be a happy baby and so easy to love. *

*I still don't know if I will ever have children, but, if that
miracle does happen and I do, please remember that I will always
love you as my first baby. No one will ever take your place in my
heart. You may at some point have to share it but you will never
lose it.*

*I love you more than words can express and I always will.*

*Momma"*

CJ carefully folded the letter and put it back in the envelope.
He closed the flap and simply sat there with his fingers on the
closed envelope as he thought about what he had just read.

Softly he closed the diary and standing, placed it prominently on
his bookshelf between a treasured copy of "The Time Machine"
and a brown and white stuffed rabbit that showed a lot of love
which he patted before turning away.

He said, "I'll never forget you, Momma."

THE END

Footnotes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Leche_League