Disclaimer: I have nothing witty to say, except that if these characters were mine, I wouldn't be a poor college student.
Acknowledgement: Edited by Doranwen, my beta. No, not the Siamese fighting fish.
Chapter 1
"From earliest times, humankind has noticed flurries of meteors that seemed to emanate from particular points in the sky at particular times of the year. These flurries, now called meteor showers, are produced by small fragments of cosmic debris entering the earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed. Each time a comet swings by the Sun, it produces large amounts of small particles which will eventually spread out along the entire orbit of the comet to form a meteoroid "stream." If the Earth's orbit and the comet's orbit intersect at some point, then the Earth will pass through this stream for a few days at roughly the same time each year, producing a meteor shower.
Because meteor shower particles are all traveling in parallel paths, and at the same velocity, they will all appear to radiate from a single point in the sky to an observer below. This radiant point is caused by the effect of perspective similar to railroad tracks converging at a single vanishing point on the horizon when viewed from the middle of the tracks." **
"Hmmm. What else?" Clark stuck the paper back in its folder and set it on the table next to his telescope. Making some fine adjustments to the lens, he leaned forward and searched the sky again. "Let's see, Orion, Pegasus, Taurus, Argo . . ."
"Clark, what are you doing?"
Clark jumped and half knocked over his telescope. "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was up here." It was Lex, in another famous surprise appearance.
"I just came by to drop these off. You asked for them, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. I thought I asked you about those two weeks ago?"
"You did, but I just got around to it." Lex handed him two neatly folded copies of the Daily Planet. "These are both dated October 11, 1989. Two copies . . . interesting."
"They're for a piece I'm working on. Deadline's Monday." Clark grinned and stuffed them into his packed folder.
"You sure those will fit in there Clark?" Lex laughed and walked towards the window. "Mind if I take a look?"
"Sure, no problem. Let me fix it for you." Clark started for the tripod but Lex interrupted him mid stride.
"Don't worry about it. I'm something of an astronomer myself." He smiled as he squinted through the eyepiece.
Lex was a mystery, much like himself. Clark could never tell what he was thinking. They made a motley pair, shrewd billionaire and Kansas farm boy.
"The constellation figures of the northern hemisphere are over 2000 years old. Did you know that?"
"No, I'll put it in my report. Chloe will love it." What does that have to do with anything?
Lex moved the lens over a few inches. "There it is. Magnificent." He smiled and paused to admire the view.
Clark shifted his weight and began to study an interesting crack by his shoe.
"Ancient poets identified the Milky Way as the 'road of the gods.'" Lex turned his head and waited for a response.
Clark looked up and realized Lex had been staring at him for several seconds. He tugged at the edge of his flannel.
Lex went on, "The Universe is a big place, but meteors manage to hit the earth anyways. No small feat; anything that survives a trip through the Milky Way deserves a place in the hall of flames."
Not sure what to think, Clark shrugged and bent his paper clip into an S.
"Well, since it looks like you're busy, I better get going. I have a meeting in Metropolis in the morning. Thanks for the chat." Lex started for the stairs, paused at the top, and turned again. "Oh, and good luck with your report."
Clark turned the folder upside down and stuffed the paper clip in his pocket. "I'll need it. Thanks for the papers."
"See you later, Clark."
Lex disappeared down the steps and Clark refocused his gaze out the window into the night sky. Something was gnawing at the edge of his mind.
Yeah, see you later, Lex. Why was he so curious all the time? It was hard enough keeping things from Lana, his childhood crush, and Chloe, his snarky sidekick. Actually, he was more like her sidekick. Clark was more than happy to indulge that notion. Thank goodness Pete knew. Pete had been his best friend since grade school. It was nice to have someone to confide in. He hadn't always been himself around Pete, but they had worked things out.
Folder in hand, Clark plopped down on the couch and threw his feet on the table. Hmmm, red-—my favorite color. He carefully withdrew one of the old newspapers from his brightly colored folder and opened it to Section C.
It would be in section C. The title was halfway down the page in smallish block print. Meteor shower hits rural town, Smallville, killing 50. Hmm, someone had a flair for dramatic understatements. Too bad this piece wasn't worth a two week wait. What kind of reporters did they have working for them anyway?
Less than amused, he started sifting through another pile of useless information. Just great; I'm never going to get this finished tonight. Maybe Chloe can help me with it tomorrow. Fingering the paper clip in his pocket, Clark recounted the cause of his dilemma.
"Clark, I'm completely swamped. Could you please cover the meteor shower? It doesn't have to be anything huge, just a recap for the Torch? The anniversary of the shower's two weeks from yesterday." She always gave him that look when she wanted him to do something. Half pleading, half "you-better-not-say-no-or-I'm-going-to-eat-your-piece-of-pizza" look. "Come on . . . please?" How could he say no?
Clark tossed the folder back on the table. Unclipped papers flew out and settled to the ground. Tomorrow's Sunday . . . tomorrow's Sunday! No school tomorrow. Just great, what am I going to do now? Clark stumbled around the room trying to make sense of his scattered documents. There was the red file, but where was the blue file? Or for that matter, the black file? So much for the color coding idea. He managed to lose them anyway. Thanks for the stroke of genius, Chloe, but I must be blind. Now I have three different piles of misplaced stuff. Where could they be? Clark was pulling cushions off the sofa when he heard a familiar voice.
"Looking for these, Clark?" It was Chloe. She was standing triumphantly at the bottom of the stairs, folders in hand.
"How did you find those? I've been looking all over." Clark trotted down the stairs and snatched them up. "Have you been hiding them?"
Chloe rolled her eyes and fished through her handbag for her box of Altoids. "Want one?"
"Uh, sure, thanks."
Sheesh, that boy could be so scatter-brained sometimes. He'd handed them over earlier that week, so he wouldn't lose them.
"I was just going to call you."
Right. "Clark, please tell me you finished it? You finished it right, Clark?"
He winced.
"Clark, you didn't." Chloe was beside herself. "I can't believe it. You had like two weeks on this! How could you leave it to the last minute?"
"I've been working on it."
Like you've worked on your comebacks.
"How come you hid my folders?"
Unbelievable. "Clark, why would I hide your folders? You gave them to me the other day. Remember?"
"Huh . . . Oh yeah! Oops." I'm such an idiot.
Chloe shrugged it off. It was just another detail in the mystery known as "Clark Kent." She started through her mental checklist of "Cloxymorons." Never there when you want him, always there when you need him . . . simple, yet complicated . . .
"Chloe, I don't think the color coding really helps. You might as well get red folders from now on."
"Why red?" Chloe was in the mood for pathetic explanations. They amused her.
"It's a good color."
Uh huh—-just what I thought. Chloe glanced nonchalantly at her wrist. "Ahhk!"
"If you feel that strongly about it, we could go with blue."
She was late for an engagement with Dr. Kane, a preternaturally wealthy and very influential research director in Metropolis. She had pulled strings for months to get an interview, and wasn't about to miss it on account of Clark's 'issues.' "I've got to go. Can we finish this conversation tomorrow?"
Clark made a sweeping bow. "Anything for you, Miss Sullivan." It was too much cheese on the cracker for Chloe. He received a prompt thwack in the head with her bag, and fell to the floor, pretending to be unconscious.
"Knock it off, Clark. Don't pretend like that hurt. I'm being serious. You've got to work on this while I'm gone. Promise me you will?"
Clark raised his hand from the floor where he was lying. "I swear to finish the article, the whole article, and nothing but the article."
Chloe could've killed him. "That's it. I'm out of here. Somebody's had a little too much coffee today. I'll come back when the drug's worn off." She climbed into her VW, avoiding the door jam just in time.
Clark picked himself up and leaned against the barn door while the dust swirled up behind the retreating Bug. A few cows perked up as she sped by, but returned to grazing soon after, uninterested.
"Claaark, dinner's getting cold." His mother was a wonderful cook, but heaven forbid it sit too long.
"Coming, I'll be there in a second." And in a second, he was.
** Article gleaned from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia created by user contributions.
A/N: This chapter took me about a week to finish. The next one will probably take at least as long. Please be patient, and no flames, thanks!
TBC in chapter 2
Acknowledgement: Edited by Doranwen, my beta. No, not the Siamese fighting fish.
"From earliest times, humankind has noticed flurries of meteors that seemed to emanate from particular points in the sky at particular times of the year. These flurries, now called meteor showers, are produced by small fragments of cosmic debris entering the earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed. Each time a comet swings by the Sun, it produces large amounts of small particles which will eventually spread out along the entire orbit of the comet to form a meteoroid "stream." If the Earth's orbit and the comet's orbit intersect at some point, then the Earth will pass through this stream for a few days at roughly the same time each year, producing a meteor shower.
Because meteor shower particles are all traveling in parallel paths, and at the same velocity, they will all appear to radiate from a single point in the sky to an observer below. This radiant point is caused by the effect of perspective similar to railroad tracks converging at a single vanishing point on the horizon when viewed from the middle of the tracks." **
"Hmmm. What else?" Clark stuck the paper back in its folder and set it on the table next to his telescope. Making some fine adjustments to the lens, he leaned forward and searched the sky again. "Let's see, Orion, Pegasus, Taurus, Argo . . ."
"Clark, what are you doing?"
Clark jumped and half knocked over his telescope. "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was up here." It was Lex, in another famous surprise appearance.
"I just came by to drop these off. You asked for them, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. I thought I asked you about those two weeks ago?"
"You did, but I just got around to it." Lex handed him two neatly folded copies of the Daily Planet. "These are both dated October 11, 1989. Two copies . . . interesting."
"They're for a piece I'm working on. Deadline's Monday." Clark grinned and stuffed them into his packed folder.
"You sure those will fit in there Clark?" Lex laughed and walked towards the window. "Mind if I take a look?"
"Sure, no problem. Let me fix it for you." Clark started for the tripod but Lex interrupted him mid stride.
"Don't worry about it. I'm something of an astronomer myself." He smiled as he squinted through the eyepiece.
Lex was a mystery, much like himself. Clark could never tell what he was thinking. They made a motley pair, shrewd billionaire and Kansas farm boy.
"The constellation figures of the northern hemisphere are over 2000 years old. Did you know that?"
"No, I'll put it in my report. Chloe will love it." What does that have to do with anything?
Lex moved the lens over a few inches. "There it is. Magnificent." He smiled and paused to admire the view.
Clark shifted his weight and began to study an interesting crack by his shoe.
"Ancient poets identified the Milky Way as the 'road of the gods.'" Lex turned his head and waited for a response.
Clark looked up and realized Lex had been staring at him for several seconds. He tugged at the edge of his flannel.
Lex went on, "The Universe is a big place, but meteors manage to hit the earth anyways. No small feat; anything that survives a trip through the Milky Way deserves a place in the hall of flames."
Not sure what to think, Clark shrugged and bent his paper clip into an S.
"Well, since it looks like you're busy, I better get going. I have a meeting in Metropolis in the morning. Thanks for the chat." Lex started for the stairs, paused at the top, and turned again. "Oh, and good luck with your report."
Clark turned the folder upside down and stuffed the paper clip in his pocket. "I'll need it. Thanks for the papers."
"See you later, Clark."
Lex disappeared down the steps and Clark refocused his gaze out the window into the night sky. Something was gnawing at the edge of his mind.
Yeah, see you later, Lex. Why was he so curious all the time? It was hard enough keeping things from Lana, his childhood crush, and Chloe, his snarky sidekick. Actually, he was more like her sidekick. Clark was more than happy to indulge that notion. Thank goodness Pete knew. Pete had been his best friend since grade school. It was nice to have someone to confide in. He hadn't always been himself around Pete, but they had worked things out.
Folder in hand, Clark plopped down on the couch and threw his feet on the table. Hmmm, red-—my favorite color. He carefully withdrew one of the old newspapers from his brightly colored folder and opened it to Section C.
It would be in section C. The title was halfway down the page in smallish block print. Meteor shower hits rural town, Smallville, killing 50. Hmm, someone had a flair for dramatic understatements. Too bad this piece wasn't worth a two week wait. What kind of reporters did they have working for them anyway?
Less than amused, he started sifting through another pile of useless information. Just great; I'm never going to get this finished tonight. Maybe Chloe can help me with it tomorrow. Fingering the paper clip in his pocket, Clark recounted the cause of his dilemma.
"Clark, I'm completely swamped. Could you please cover the meteor shower? It doesn't have to be anything huge, just a recap for the Torch? The anniversary of the shower's two weeks from yesterday." She always gave him that look when she wanted him to do something. Half pleading, half "you-better-not-say-no-or-I'm-going-to-eat-your-piece-of-pizza" look. "Come on . . . please?" How could he say no?
Clark tossed the folder back on the table. Unclipped papers flew out and settled to the ground. Tomorrow's Sunday . . . tomorrow's Sunday! No school tomorrow. Just great, what am I going to do now? Clark stumbled around the room trying to make sense of his scattered documents. There was the red file, but where was the blue file? Or for that matter, the black file? So much for the color coding idea. He managed to lose them anyway. Thanks for the stroke of genius, Chloe, but I must be blind. Now I have three different piles of misplaced stuff. Where could they be? Clark was pulling cushions off the sofa when he heard a familiar voice.
"Looking for these, Clark?" It was Chloe. She was standing triumphantly at the bottom of the stairs, folders in hand.
"How did you find those? I've been looking all over." Clark trotted down the stairs and snatched them up. "Have you been hiding them?"
Chloe rolled her eyes and fished through her handbag for her box of Altoids. "Want one?"
"Uh, sure, thanks."
Sheesh, that boy could be so scatter-brained sometimes. He'd handed them over earlier that week, so he wouldn't lose them.
"I was just going to call you."
Right. "Clark, please tell me you finished it? You finished it right, Clark?"
He winced.
"Clark, you didn't." Chloe was beside herself. "I can't believe it. You had like two weeks on this! How could you leave it to the last minute?"
"I've been working on it."
Like you've worked on your comebacks.
"How come you hid my folders?"
Unbelievable. "Clark, why would I hide your folders? You gave them to me the other day. Remember?"
"Huh . . . Oh yeah! Oops." I'm such an idiot.
Chloe shrugged it off. It was just another detail in the mystery known as "Clark Kent." She started through her mental checklist of "Cloxymorons." Never there when you want him, always there when you need him . . . simple, yet complicated . . .
"Chloe, I don't think the color coding really helps. You might as well get red folders from now on."
"Why red?" Chloe was in the mood for pathetic explanations. They amused her.
"It's a good color."
Uh huh—-just what I thought. Chloe glanced nonchalantly at her wrist. "Ahhk!"
"If you feel that strongly about it, we could go with blue."
She was late for an engagement with Dr. Kane, a preternaturally wealthy and very influential research director in Metropolis. She had pulled strings for months to get an interview, and wasn't about to miss it on account of Clark's 'issues.' "I've got to go. Can we finish this conversation tomorrow?"
Clark made a sweeping bow. "Anything for you, Miss Sullivan." It was too much cheese on the cracker for Chloe. He received a prompt thwack in the head with her bag, and fell to the floor, pretending to be unconscious.
"Knock it off, Clark. Don't pretend like that hurt. I'm being serious. You've got to work on this while I'm gone. Promise me you will?"
Clark raised his hand from the floor where he was lying. "I swear to finish the article, the whole article, and nothing but the article."
Chloe could've killed him. "That's it. I'm out of here. Somebody's had a little too much coffee today. I'll come back when the drug's worn off." She climbed into her VW, avoiding the door jam just in time.
Clark picked himself up and leaned against the barn door while the dust swirled up behind the retreating Bug. A few cows perked up as she sped by, but returned to grazing soon after, uninterested.
"Claaark, dinner's getting cold." His mother was a wonderful cook, but heaven forbid it sit too long.
"Coming, I'll be there in a second." And in a second, he was.
** Article gleaned from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia created by user contributions.
A/N: This chapter took me about a week to finish. The next one will probably take at least as long. Please be patient, and no flames, thanks!
TBC in chapter 2