Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Scene: The Worthington Ranch Estate

Lois and Clark passed several more colorful dioramas as they worked their way through the main level of the complex. There were more Egyptian hieroglyphs, namely Amun Ra, the sun god, Tutankhamun, the boy king, and Sekhmet, the Lioness headed goddess of vengeance.

The last display sets included an Ice Age diorama featuring a six foot high mammoth, a four foot long saber tooth cat, and some five foot high cavemen. Lois viewed them with disinterest, and kept checking her watch. They stopped at a dinosaur room that featured several exemplary skeletons.

"Lois, check this out!" Clark pointed wildly at eight new species of dinosaurs that had recently been unearthed in the Arctic, near Alaska. He also hoped against hope that the paleontologists didn’t accidentally unearth his ice fortress! Lois glanced at them and nodded.

"It’s almost 10 o’clock Clark, I guess we should be working our way back to the main hall." Lois urged, clearly growing more impatient as the evening went on. "Should I give Chloe a call to see how she’s doing?" Clark asked, worried that his friend was left at the resort on her own.

"I got it, Smallville." Lois flipped open her cell and phoned the condo. At the moment, there was no answer. "Nothing, maybe she stepped out for dinner?" She asked hopefully. "At 10 PM?" Clark was worried. "Hey, her meal timing could be all screwed up from her captivity."

That sounded logical to Clark. As they entered the main area, and circled around the pool, a whole new set of women wandered by them, casting curious glances their way. "You know, there’s something really odd about all this." Lois winced. "I feel like one of the historical exhibits."

Clark was about to comment, when a new young woman came up to them. She had brown shoulder length hair, was about as tall as Lois, and was dressed in the common flowered blouse, halter top, and cargo shorts. Clark immediately checked her for a heartbeat. She passed.

"Hi, I’m Beth McGuinn, and I was wondering if you were ready to meet with Mr. Worthington?" Lois smiled broadly. "Finally, yes, we would." She quickly unsecured her laptop, and pulled out her steno pad. "Follow me, please. We’ll meet in the Greek Mythology room."

Beth led them back to the primary room they’d investigated earlier. Clark leaned against a five foot bronze statue of Hephaestus, the Greek God of metallurgy. Lois snickered as she compared him to the muscle bound historical representation. "Now there’s a man of steel." She quipped.

Beth guided them to the stadium style miniature auditorium at the room’s center. Lois relaxed in the plush seat, and plugged her laptop into the open connection. Clark waited patiently with a camera, wishing that Jimmy Olsen was here instead of him.

Presently, a bit after 10 pm, Marcus Worthington, and who they assumed was Zara Rolfe, entered the open air auditorium. They smiled politely at the young journalists. Mr. Worthington looked to be about six feet tall, slightly stocky, with a square jaw and short cropped black hair.

The public relations write up they’d received said that he was 31, and obviously a graduate of Yale and Harvard. Zara was about a half a head shorter than Lois, with long flowing reddish brown hair, and a slim yet muscular physique. She had high cheekbones, and a thin chin.

Her piercing green eyes went straight to Clark, who returned a polite smile. They got up and shook hands with their hosts. Marcus thanked Beth who promptly excused herself after pouring everyone some glasses of cold water. "Welcome to my home." Marc began elegantly.

Lois was immediately attracted to him, but she quickly reassured herself that an entanglement with another odd billionaire was not in her best interests, and then there was Miss Rolfe. In Lois’s opinion, she looked every bit the part of a no nonsense wealthy heiress.

Clad in a sensible black mini dress, an expensive looking silver brooch attached to the left side of her chest, and a small, but likely unaffordable pearl necklace draped below her throat, Zara gave Lois the impression of being a presidential first lady.

How had she gotten to the top of the heap of women to snag the heart of the young billionaire? She wondered silently. Lois put away all her romantic notions and got down to business. The wealthy couple seated themselves across the mahogany table from the cub reporters.

"Thank you for inviting us." Clark said diplomatically, surprising Lois with his smooth demeanor. "We must apologize for being tardy." Marcus began, making eye contact with Clark. This is the often written about Clark Kent, simple farm boy turned young journalist? He assessed.

"Not a problem, Mr. Worthington." Lois was all journalistic now. Clark was impressed with the way she flipped the switch into being a professional. She’d only done a few major stories for the Daily Planet, and this was actually her first big break.

"I take it you enjoyed our various hostess’s company?" Zara put in. Clark noted Zara’s decidedly British accent. Lois nodded. "Every one was professional and courteous." She remarked, attempting to adopt Clark’s smooth tone. "I’d expect nothing less." Marcus responded.

"Where should we start?" Lois opened, as she grabbed her steno pad and pen. "The reason I requested this interview, Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, is because Zara and I are tired of the fly by night media of American journalism." Marcus began with the zinger. Zara smiled wickedly.

"I’d heard that the Daily Planet is one of the most reputable newspapers in America, if not the world, despite Lex Luthor’s recent ownership of the company’s flagship periodical." Marc slammed Lex, immediately garnering Clark’s attention. Lex’s rival? He hoped warily.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lois fielded the compliment. No pressure here, she thought sourly. "I can tell you, sparing the gory details, that Lex and I never saw eye to eye, and that is a massive understatement." Clark nodded in agreement. Zara smirked again.

She’s a bit of a maverick, good. The young archaeologist thought. "We believe that Perry White, my editor, is the man with the best chance for success in the business." Lois added the standard company line. "Mr. Kent, what is your role here?" Marcus startled Clark.

Lois mentally crossed her fingers. Please don’t screw up, Smallville. "I’m assisting Miss Lane on the story. I recently joined the Planet staff in I guess you could call it, a probationary role." Superman returned calmly. Good answer, Clark, Lois silently cheered her new partner on.

 Clark considered Bart’s idea. With Jimmy and Lois closing in on his secret anyway, maybe Bart had a point. Bart and Chloe walked Clark back to the condo, and parted ways.

Chloe promised to call Oliver and have him do a background check on Marcus Worthington, and Zara Rolfe. Bart scooped up Chloe and zipped off into the darkness.

Clark headed into the condo, where Lois was sound asleep. He showered and rested, unable to shut his super powered mind down. Fortunately, he didn’t require much sleep. Lois was up early the next morning fine tuning her Marcus Worthington story. Clark offered to take her out for breakfast. She declined, opting to settle for toast, orange juice, and a hefty supply of caffeine.

By 9 AM, there was a buzz at the condo’s door. Clark answered and another woman smiled vacantly at him. "Mr. Kent, Miss Lane, I’m Tara, and I’ll be your driver today." Tara was about a half a head shorter than Lois, and probably in her mid to late twenties. Clark verified her humanity.

"Lois, ready to go?" Clark called into the bedroom. "Just about, Clark, I’m picking my outfit as we speak." He patiently waited, inviting Tara inside. "So you and Miss Lane are reporters?" The chauffer inquired. "Yes, actually, Lois is reporting, I’m just helping her out." He replied.

Tara flipped her long brown hair back, tying it in a neat ponytail. She had a dark tan, probably one of the locals that WorthingtonCo hired. Lois entered presently, wearing the black mini dress that they’d picked out that first day at Bloominghale’s. She looks great, Clark praised.

"Freeze Smallville!" Lois ordered. "You’re not wearing that lame shirt! Go change!" Clark grimaced. "What? What’s wrong with it?" Lois put her hands on her shapely hips. "It’s boring." Clark shook his head. "It’s a plain white dress shirt." Lois tapped her foot. "Exactly my point. Hold on."

Lois stalked into her guest bedroom and returned with a sharp blue and red striped silk tie. "At least you’ll have some color. Honestly, Smallville, what would you do without me? Come here." Like a chastised child, Clark sulked over to Lois, who stood atop her gym bag and attached Clark’s tie. Superman couldn’t help smelling Lois’s flowery perfume. He smirked as she finished.

Tara chuckled as she sat on a stool by the breakfast bar flipping through a Forbes magazine. She gave the impression of a normal working girl that was simply sent to do a job and enjoyed doing it. "Dress for success, Clark." Lois added. "Remember that if nothing else. Let’s roll!"

Lois grabbed her purse, laptop, and steno pad and followed Clark and Tara out onto the resort’s access road. There was a black SUV painted again with the now familiar Worthington Logo nearby. Tara dutifully held the doors open for them smiling brightly. Clark quietly recalled everything they knew about the WorthingtonCo adventure so far. Lois snapped on her laptop.

One, Worthington was one of the wealthiest men in America, and likely in the world. Clark mentally ticked off the items. Two, he hired mostly women, well educated, and annoyingly pleasant. Three, he liked historical artifacts, and specifically well known mythological characters.

Four, WorthingtonCo had created unusually high tech items like the Artificial Intelligence unit, Symone, and the silver sphere that he’d chased down and had hidden in his barn. Kara had since given the sphere back to Worthington personally. It still didn’t all add up…

Soon they reached the Worthington Estate, but this time Tara drove down a previously unseen and heavily secured roadway parallel to the Ranch Bluff. Before Lois or Clark could question her, Tara had produced two sets of brochures. "This is your itinerary for today." She said briefly.

"Mr. Worthington will meet you at the Research and Development’s west wing in the lobby." Tara explained as she pulled the SUV alongside a Security jeep. "You’ll need these access cards. They’re previously coded to prevent you from entering any secured or off limits areas."

She reached back and dropped them into Clark’s hands, and he promptly gave Lois hers. "Not that you reporters would ever think of exploring an area that you’re not supposed to." Tara added sarcastically. Clark didn’t know what to make of her, but Lois found the sarcasm refreshing.

Meanwhile, Marcus Worthington and his Chief of Operations, Trish Van De Mere, were examining the errant S-31 at the Arizona Research facility. "It seems undamaged, Boss." Trish began.

"We have a working theory that an extreme burst of energy, similar to an electromagnetic storm, caused the S-31 guidance system to malfunction. We also found this." She pressed a small remote.

Instantly, a 42 inch plasma screen TV snapped to life. It was showing a large commercial jetliner being hit by what at first appeared to be a small missile.

A shadow quickly replaced the jet engine beneath the wing, as the motor sparked and caught fire. A moment later the fire was blown out, and the plane landed safely. "Maximum magnification." Trish ordered the computer.

"Hello!" Marcus gasped. "That is indeed a flying man with black hair." Trish nodded. "Yes. It could be nothing else. A rival’s advanced android perhaps?" She guessed. "Possibly." Marc agreed. "However given what Zara and I saw at the Kent Farm…"

He glanced around to see who was within earshot. Marc trusted his staff without question, but once the rumor mill got started…

"What the hell is going on here, Marc?" Trish asked in a hushed voice. "Come with me, and we’ll inform Maggie." He beckoned.

"Wait a minute, Marc. Is that wise? I mean we really don’t know what this Clark Kent is. We have no proof that it’s actually him under the plane’s wing."

Marc explained Kara’s unusual strength and all about the Smallville mutant miscreants that he’d read about on the way home. "Genetic manipulation?" Trish guessed after they’d secured the conference room door. "That’s one explanation. We know LuthorCorp has been dabbling in genetic testing of some kind. It’s no coincidence that they have a number of suspicious facilities around."

"Rowland Chemicals in Nebraska has also been experimenting with performance enhancing drugs that allegedly turn normal humans into muscular machines." Marc sighed. "We’ll need to step up all our plans." Trish nodded. "This is getting scary." Marc agreed. "Time is against us."

"Where do we start?" Trish shook her head. "We start with Clark Kent. We need to win his confidence enough to be forthcoming with us. Miss Lane, on the other hand, may need to be kept out of the loop." Trish folded her arms. "How much should we show them?"

Marcus shrugged. "Maybe at some point we can separate Lane from Kent and take them to different areas." Trish paced the length of the conference room. "We’re playing with fire, Marcus." He grinned thinly. "Don’t we always?" They headed toward the outer facility’s entrance.

Tara opened the doors for Lois and Clark, as she nodded towards another woman in security garb, and escorted the young journalists into a plain, but clean lobby via a key card entry way. Clark noted a slight buzzing sound as they passed under a sparsely decorated archway.

To their right was a large paned glass window. Clark used his x-ray vision to investigate. Sure enough, two women in security outfits watched them on view screen monitors like hawks. Tara said her goodbyes and immediately another woman emerged behind them.

Where had she been? Lois wondered silently. "Maggie O’ Bannon, Chief of Security." The woman said gruffly. Maggie was about Lois’s height but stocky and muscular with short black hair. She was dressed in a black and blue security outfit, and carried a small sidearm, a low caliber revolver.

Also attached to her belt was a silver square object that appeared to be metallic. It was about the size of a man’s wallet. "Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, will you follow me please?" Lois flashed Clark a lopsided grin. "You’re not going to do a full body cavity search on us are you? She joked.

Maggie grimaced. "Not unless you make it necessary, Miss Lane. You’re now entering a highly secured area. Items here are not only top secret, they can kill you." The security guard said. Clark nodded his acknowledgement. Lois smirked. "Finally, we get the meaty part of the story!"

"All I have for Perry right now is an intriguing fluff piece." Lois remarked as they followed Maggie into a brightly lighted tunnel. Red and blue lights flashed on and off as they passed, quickly reaching the access tunnel’s end. The door on the other side hissed open.

"Welcome to the Starship Enterprise." Lois commented sarcastically. "Why Lois, I had no idea that you were a Trekkie." Clark teased. "Save it, Smallville. You’re the one with a cousin that chases flying saucers, and has space alien pals." Clark gulped. Lois was right!

The next room was fairly normal looking. It was sparsely furnished, with a few decorative plants, and a common service desk made of some type of hard wood. Maggie guided them into a conference room with a round table at its center surrounded by several plush guest chairs.

Maggie stood stoically by, her eyes darting from side to side, as she checked out the cub reporters. "Mr. Worthington will be here shortly, he’s decided to give you a tour of the facility personally." She informed them. "Conditionally, of course." The guard added smugly.

Lois and Clark read through their itinerary. Superman sped through the documentation in seconds, but stared at the papers for effect. Lois was still turning pages when Worthington arrived. "Thank you, Maggie." Marcus said cordially and dismissed her with a wave as she left.

They all shook hands. "Thank you for coming." Marc added politely. "Today, you’ll see the latest in WorthingtonCo technological research. Feel free to stop me with questions at any time." Marcus led them through another set of doors secured by a key card recognition system.

Three women in security garb walked past them, and Lois wasn’t sure, but one of the women looked familiar. She continued to chatter with Marcus, laying some of the groundwork for her story. Quickly, Lois strutted ahead of them, glancing at a silver and blue vehicle resembling an SUV.

"This is our experimental fuel efficient hybrid SUV called the WC 4" Marc explained. "We’ve had the technology for a few years to run it, but the big dollar auto makers wouldn’t allow us to mass produce it.

By not allow us, I mean they threatened to sue for design infringement. We are in the process of retooling the WC 4 to look like nothing else on the roads."

"May I get a picture of it?’ Clark asked as he pulled out his wide angle digital camera. "Certainly." Marcus smiled. "Lois, care to model for it?" Clark joked. The female journalist snickered. "Sure, Smallville. After all, sex sells." She retorted.

Lois flipped her long hair over her shoulder and struck an exaggerated modeling pose, leaning against the SUV suggestively. Marcus and Clark chuckled as he snapped a few photos. "Now Clark, make sure that you didn’t get your thumb in the picture." She teased.

Marcus grew slightly more serious. "Also, Mr. Kent, please make sure you continue to ask before snapping any more pictures. I have to keep in mind that our competitors don’t out scoop us, to coin a journalistic phrase." Clark nodded. "Understood. Lois, did you hear that?"

"What?" Lois flashed an innocent grin. "No pictures without permission." He repeated for her benefit. "I got it." Lois grimaced. "I mean it’s not as if we’re in Area 51 or something, though."

Marcus playfully sneered. "Miss Lane, I assure you that Area 51 is obsolete compared to WorthingtonCo.s Research and Development facility." He added cockily. "The US government has offered numerous lucrative contracts to us over the recent years."

Lois whipped out her steno pad and pen. "Can I quote you on that?" Marcus smiled broadly. "Absolutely." Clark was beginning to warm up to the business mogul, though he still refused to let his guard down. Lois wrote a series of quotes on her notepad.

They approached a metal catwalk in a dimly lit corridor. "This is truly amazing, Mr. Worthington, I…" Lois said as she was about to fall down a two story metal staircase. "Lois! Stairway!" Clark shouted. "Huh?" She had caught her heel between the top stair’s grids.

Lois was about to fall head first down three flights of stairs. Clark had no choice. He used his super speedy reflexes to grab Lois’s suit jacket and hauled her back up at a forty five degree angle. Superman was faster than a blink of an eye. Marcus gaped, unsure of what he’d just seen.

"Be careful Lois, or I’ll be writing this story alone, as well as your obituary!" Clark chastised her. "Thanks Smallville, I owe you one." She said after catching her breath. "I’ll have Tammy turn the lighting up in this sector. That was partially my fault. We’re not used to having visitors."

In seconds, the lights went from a dim blue to a bright white, illuminating the corridor ahead as well as the ones below the catwalk. There was no doubt that Worthington had seen Clark use his super ability. When he looked back, Clark saw that it hadn’t fazed Marcus a bit.

Did he miss the save? Clark wondered, Is Marcus just playing it cool until he found out about him? It seemed doubtful. For now, Superman assumed that he’d gotten away with it. "Are you sure that you’re all right?" Marc asked. "Oh yeah, just a little misstep." Lois played it off.

"Gracefulness is not in my vocabulary." She joshed. The emergency lamps added an eerie, greenish surreal glow to the corridor. Lois’s eyes widened. Just below them, roughly three stories beneath the catwalk, was what appeared to be a spaceship! Clark audibly gasped.

"Lois and Clark, this is the XS56 Shuttlecraft." Marcus announced proudly. They gawked at the massive delta shaped vehicle. It was nearly the size of a common Lear jet. It had a flat, pancake like profile. At each wingtip were air foil stabilizers similar to the ones on current high speed aircraft.

The craft had a set of spoilers along the wings that presumably acted the same way the ones on race cars behaved. The XS56 was silvery white with a blue and gold stripe ending in a WC just below the cockpit. "Wow!" Clark exclaimed. Marcus smiled. "Boys and their toys…"
more coming

Lois admired the XS56 from a safe distance. "Is there some significance to the 56 number? Did it take 55 tries to get it to work?" She sniped. "No." Marcus snickered. "The XS56 was completed earlier this year, 56 years since my father, Paul, was born."

"He dreamed up the basic pancake shape of it, amid the UFO hysteria of the late 1950’s. My father, as a child, wanted to set foot on the moon. He witnessed the race to space first hand in the 1960’s, though he never followed through on his dream."

"We, however, did." Marcus stated proudly as Lois scribbled the human interest angle to her story on the steno pad. "There are actually seven other experimental space shuttlecraft stored nearby as well as in WorthingtonCo buildings around the world."

"NASA was interested in purchasing one of the prototypes, until budget constraints delayed their plans. They’ll hopefully negotiate a new contract with WorthingtonCo soon, once they mothball the current space shuttle program."

"Meanwhile, we keep upgrading our models with ever evolving technology. We use a new, abundantly available, recyclable fuel source. See the ram scoop beneath the ship’s nose?" He pointed it out. "The XS56 will possess the ability to refuel in space."

"Really?" Clark’s eyes lit up. "Sure." Marc confirmed. "The scoop can pick up any stable source of fuel it comes across, like a space vacuum cleaner. There’s tons of benign debris in orbit around Earth as it is. We expect that it could use comet dust particles, meteors, asteroid pieces, even dark matter, assuming it can be stabilized."

Clark bristled at the mention of meteors. He imagined if the XS56 ran across some floating kryptonite… "Can we go inside it?" Lois interrupted his thoughts. "Yes, conditionally." Marc answered. "Though the XS56 and its sister craft are well known, it’s filled with state of the art classified technology which must remain secret."

"Fair enough." Clark agreed, though Lois was hesitant. "May I take some pictures?" Marcus nodded. "You should only photograph the overall design of it, from the outside." Superman placed his camera on the table opposite the XS56.

"Uh Lois…?" Marcus cut off her access to the shuttlecraft by blocking the stairway leading to the cockpit. "Yes?" Lois asked innocently. The young billionaire held out his palm toward her. "You may not take any recording devices onto the XS56."

"What?" Lois feigned being insulted. "The recorder." Marc said more sternly. Clark unashamedly x-rayed Lois, and sure enough, the sly reporter had taped a small mini-recorder beneath her bra’s front clasp. "Lois!" Clark sounded aggravated.

He should’ve expected it from her. "State of the art technology also includes the latest and very best security systems." Marc pointed out. "Since you entered the facility, you’ve been under physical and electronic surveillance. I have to keep my rivals at bay, not to mention the possibility of any unsavory characters pirating our technology."

"Lois, don’t make me come there and get it." Clark warned playfully. "Try it Smallville and you’ll be wearing them for a bowtie." Lois hissed. "What if I forget something important?" She whined, reaching down the top of her dress.

"I’ll remind you." Clark teased as Marc stifled a chuckle. Eventually, Lois removed her recorder and placed it beside Clark’s camera. "Fine!" she snapped and stood before Clark. "Care to frisk me?" He reddened as Marcus gave the ‘all clear’ call to his security staff. Lois and Clark followed Marcus up the automated ramp leading to the cockpit.

The XS56 was amazingly apportioned with comfortable, plush seats, multiple view screens, and a complicated control panel. There were six seats, three facing the front, and one each at opposing ends of the area. The final seat faced the rear of the craft, and had a movable, state of the art computer keyboard at arm’s length.

"Looks great, doesn’t it Clark?" Marc boasted. "She’ll fly well enough to make hundreds of trips between earth, the international space station, the futuristic watchtower project, the moon, and eventually, anywhere in the solar system within reason."

"Watchtower Project?" Clark echoed with surprise. That hadn’t been referred to in any of the itinerary brochures, he thought. "Yes, it will be a joint project between WayneCo and us. We don’t have that many details on it yet. It’s still on the drawing board."

Lois was investigating all of the buttons and lights on the control panels. None of it rang a bell with her. "Lois, don’t touch anything!" Clark warned. "It’s okay Clark, the XS56 is shut down." Marc defended. "The sensitive power grid controls are at the rear of the craft."

He led them through a large cargo bay, complete with robotic arms of varying height and length. As they entered the rear third of the ship, Clark suddenly felt woozy. Kryptonite! He thought worriedly. But where? Lois noted that he was getting antsy. "Smallville, are you okay?"

"You do look a bit ashen, Clark." Marcus remarked with genuine concern. Superman gulped loudly. "You say that you have a new power source…?" He barely got the words out before the nausea set in. "Yes, I’m afraid that has to remain confidential. We’re awaiting the copyright to the mineral itself and the processing of it." Lois pushed a button and a small compartment opened.

There in the 2 by 2 storage unit was a bucketful of black and silver rocks. To the untrained eye, the rocks appeared to resemble coal. Clark felt the room begin to spin. "How’d you like this in your Christmas stocking, Smallville?" Lois joked, picking up the rocks and sifting through them.

"Miss Lane, please put those back." Marc chastised her. "They do have some radiation content, though certainly no more than a large microwave oven." She placed the rocks back in their bucket, wiped her hands on her dress, and Clark hit the floor with a thud.

"Medical!" Marcus yelled into his nearly nonexistent miniature microphone. The device was no larger than a man’s dress shirt button. Lois reached Clark first, rubbing against him, as she checked his pulse and heartbeat with her hands. She bent her ear over his nose and mouth, and listened to his ragged breathing. His heartbeat seemed to be pounding in her ears.

"Heartbeat’s okay, pulse is slow but steady." Lois assessed as two young paramedic type women entered the XS56. Clark’s eyes began to focus again, as he saw Lois hovering over him. "Are you okay, Clark?" Marcus asked as Superman’s breathing returned to normal.

Lois was still touching his chest with her hands. He felt dizzy, but managed to sit up. "Do you want medical attention?" Marc prodded. "No, thanks…" Clark took a deep breath. "I’m sorry, I must’ve passed out…maybe I didn’t eat enough…the desert heat you know." He added lamely.

"Are you sure?" Marc double checked. Clark nodded. "Sorry to be such a bother." He tried to stand up, but wavered slightly. Lois held onto his arm. "You can go. Thanks ladies. Great response time." Marc praised as the two female paramedics left the XS56.

"Thanks for embarrassing me, Smallville!" Lois hissed quietly and smacked Clark’s shoulder. "Ow!" He protested. I actually felt Lois’s hit! "Don’t be such a baby." Lois snarled and helped him over towards the exit door. "We’ll cancel the rest of the tour." Marc offered, as Lois stared coldly at Clark. "No. Please don’t." Superman waved him off. "I just need to rest a bit, and get some water."

"I’m sorry about this, Mr. Worthington." Lois apologized as she helped Clark down the XS56’s ramp. "Not a problem, Lois. I’m just glad he’s all right." Marc said diplomatically. "That’s a matter of opinion." Lois muttered. She suddenly felt a surge of energy. Caffeine kicked in, she mused.

Once off the craft, Clark felt much better. In moments, he was back to full strength, though he suddenly felt tired. Didn’t get enough sleep last night, he thought sourly, yawning. The rocks in the compartment Lois found had to be kryptonite, or at least a derivative of it. Worthington’s mysterious power source, no doubt. Marc guided them to the nearest rest rooms.

Clark’s eyes were suddenly bloodshot as he gazed into the mirror, and washed his face. Lois waited patiently outside the lounge fine-tuning her latest addition to the story, minus Clark’s fainting episode. Marc brought them the camera and recorder. Superman had taken his shirt off briefly.

He felt that something was burning into his chest, though he saw no markings. Lois glanced up from her laptop and saw Clark bare-chested. Her eyes flared a bright yellow, and she smirked. She hadn’t realized that she’d seen straight through the wall into the washroom!

Clark’s troubles were just beginning.

link to chapter 8 Revelation