Lionel!" Martha said in a welcoming tone.
Lionel walked into the room and caught a glimpse of Chloe.
"Miss Sullivan", he said warily. He gave her an insincere smile. "I thought the media were excluded until the conference started tomorrow morning."
Chloe grimaced; he could tell that this was driving her crazy. "Mr. Luthor", she replied, as warily as him.
Clark interjected, "We've been told that security will escort reporters out of the hotel today."
Lionel grabbed his opportunity; it was too delicious to miss. "Well, I've heard that's the case, and I'm certain Luthorcorp Security has those instructions." He gave Chloe a more genuine smile. Take that.
Chloe glared back at him, knowing Lionel had her this time. Bastard.
"Why don't you both tour the island? You could see some of the tourist sites. It would be a shame to come here and miss everything", Martha said, smoothing the waters.
Chloe sighed, bowing to the inevitable. "That's probably a good idea, Mrs. Kent", she said. "Do you think you'd be able to come with us?" She pointedly did not extend the invitation to Lionel.
"I'm sorry, Chloe. Part of my job as Senator is meeting and greeting, and this afternoon is an opportunity to do a lot of that in an informal way without the usual crush of reporters." She smiled at Chloe, easing the sting.
"All right", Chloe said, picking up her bag. "Clark?"
Clark hugged his mother, nodded at Lionel. He was just as happy to leave. Despite the connection with Jor-El, he still didn't trust Lionel. He would definitely prefer that Lionel stay far away from Martha, too, but he deferred to his mother's wishes in this regard. Clark knew that Martha felt they had to keep Lionel close because he knew Clark's secret; what he didn't know was if Martha had feelings for Lionel, and if so, how deep these feelings ran. He definitely did not want to think about that. The loss of his father was still raw. The thought of Lionel Luthor – Lionel Luthor! -- making a move on his mother angered him. The thought of unleashing his anger on Lionel, or an ordinary human, frightened him. He'd been told so often by his parents he had to maintain control. Frankly, he feared what his unrestrained anger could do. The solution to his dilemma was to avoid situations where Martha and Lionel were together in his presence.
Clark and Chloe exited Martha's hotel room. As they left, Clark could hear Lionel saying, "I can introduce you to the chairman of United Technologies. I have hopes that you'll meet the chairmen of the Big Three as well." Clark deliberately did not use his enhanced hearing, letting the rest of Lionel's talk fade out.
Chloe looked at Clark, striding resolutely along the hotel corridor, a frown on his face. "How now, brown cow?" she teased him. Lionel's attraction to Martha had not escaped her; she didn't dare discuss it with Clark. With an obvious effort of will, Clark pasted a smile on his face.
"Why don't we go and check out the tourist attractions?" he said, obviously trying to keep a light-hearted tone.
"Good plan", Chloe replied as she looked behind them. Several security guards unobtrusively followed them, content to leave them alone as long as they were headed towards the exits. Chloe looked back at the security guards. "I think we're as welcome here today as poison ivy at a nudist camp."
They left the hotel, going outside into a wonderfully sunny day. They stopped on the hotel porch to see the lake view. The Grand Hotel, being on a hill, looked over the western side of the island, giving a stunning view of Lake Huron and the Mackinac Bridge.
They walked down the drive, to the street, and to the town. Once again they walked through the crowds of tourists. Chloe stopped at a booth: "Mackinac Island Carriage Tours".
"What do you think, Clark?"
"Sounds fine to me."
They paid for their tickets and sat down on bench seats on the large wagon. Two draft horses pulled the tourist conveyance. The driver introduced himself as Bob, and the two horses as Newton and Milo.
"Newton and Milo are geldings. It happens to all of us married men in time", the driver said, obviously launching into a comedy routine/prepared spiel. "The horses work three days out of every seven. They take people on carriage tours all summer. When it's winter, they're moved to the mainland. There's not enough pasture here on the island to support them."
The driver continued. "Here we pass the Astor house, built for William Astor, who managed the company's fur trade here on the island in the 1800's." Clark and Chloe relaxed in their seats, taking in the sights, enjoying the day. "And on your right you will see the Grand Hotel; it's the only five-star hotel in the world without valet parking." The tourists laughed. It only encouraged the driver.
The tour continued; the driver kept on making horrible jokes: "Yeah, Newton decided that he wanted to go to a bar", the driver said, slapping the reins on the left horse. "So he walked in, and the bartender said, 'Why the long face?'" Groans from the tourists. The carriage moved away from the town, up to the woods in the center of the island.
Chloe looked at Clark. A reluctant smile teased at his lips. The driver continued his patter as the carriage made its way through the forest.
"Eighty percent of Mackinac Island is state park land. On your right you will see a hundred-year-old beech tree; you can tell it's a beech by the sign posted on it." Chloe looked at the sign; it said, in large letters, Beech.
The driver continued. "Notice the seedling next to it; this is a sapling from the original tree. In other words, it's a son of a beech." Groans again. The puns continued throughout the entire tour, mixed with actual historical information. The tour ended at Fort Mackinac, a Revolutionary War Fort now staffed by historical re-enactors.
Clark glanced at Chloe. "I think I'd rather skip this", she said.
"Me too."
The two of them walked down a steep hill. Clark stood at the top of the hill. He was near the west fort entrance; the fort commanded the heights. A switchbacking ramp led from the lake-level shore to the hundred-foot elevation of the fort. He and Chloe walked down the ramp, back to town.
Chloe stopped to get a drink at the public drinking fountain at the small park below the fort. She saw tourists riding bicycles; one couple pedaled a tandem bike.
"That's what I want to do", she decided.
It was a matter of moments to make their way to the bicycle livery and rent a red tandem bicycle. Clark obediently took the rear seat. They pedaled away, avoiding tourists, horses, and horse manure.
"What next?" asked Clark.
"I want to go around the whole island", said Chloe. She started humming, "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true…" Clark joined in, his baritone joining with her alto in a triumphant, "bicycle built for two!"
State Highway 185 ran the circumference of the island. Clark enjoyed the mild exercise in the bright sunshine. The plashing of the waves on the rocky beaches of the shoreline was a constant muffled susurrus. The lake breeze cooled them down as they pedaled. Seagulls perched on boulders, mewling loudly as they passed. Chloe subconsciously expected a salty tang to the air, but didn't get it. Then she realized that the lakes were freshwater, and they smelled entirely different.
"Penny for your thoughts, Clark", she said. They'd both been quiet as they pedaled for about the last three miles.
He remained silent for a moment. "I was thinking about my father", he said quietly.
"Your father?" Chloe prompted.
"I remember how, on days like this, he'd always tell me to appreciate it. I'd want to get doing the chores and he'd be the one to sit back and look at the sunset." Clark's voice rang with the sadness of missed opportunities. Chloe didn't know what to say.
They pedaled on in silence. As Clark viewed the blue lake, the large white clouds in the sky, the tangled undergrowth in the woods on the other side of the road, a small knot in his heart eased. For six months he had been mourning his father's death, stuck in a gray zone of grief. As he rode in the bright sunshine, it was as if some small part of his grief lifted from his soul and dissolved. Life is good, Clark thought, taking a deep breath. He smiled and warned Chloe, "Take your feet off the pedals!"
"Why?"
"Just do!"
She lifted her feet from the pedals, supported them on the bike crossbar. Clark began pedaling with just a bit of superspeed. They shot past other tourists. The breeze tangled Chloe's hair, whistling past her face.
Clark yelled for her to take a left-hand turn at the road coming up ahead. They stopped for a moment at the intersection.
"According to my map, this is British Landing Road, so-called because in the War of 1812, the British made an amphibious landing here and took the fort", Chloe said. "It says specifically not to take this road from here because it's uphill all the way." Clark just smiled.
They got back on the bike. Chloe discovered the map was right – the road was uphill all the way. She also discovered that it didn't matter, not when your bike-pedaling pal was unaffected by such mere matters as a thirty-degree rise. Clark kept them going at a steady pace. Chloe looked back at him; he wasn't even breathing hard. She relaxed and enjoyed the ride.
They came to the approximate center of the island. Mackinac Island had a high central spine. The terrain ranged from a gentle slope to the lake at the southern end of the island, which allowed the two streets of the village to exist, to high bluffs on the eastern and western ends of the island. Expensive mansions dotted the terrain on the East and West Bluffs, each on top of a sheer cliff, looking over the lake below. Chloe wondered how much it would cost to own one of these houses, with its spacious veranda, immaculate landscaping, and incomparable lake view.
They wandered through the maze of roads and paths in the central island, meeting few tourists. Most tourists preferred to stay in the village near the ferry docks. Clark and Chloe pedaled to the tiny airport, looked at the rows of small planes. They stopped at the small military cemetery, containing the graves of soldiers who had died while on duty at Fort Mackinac, before the latter was closed in 1883.
They said little to each other, both lost in their own thoughts. For both, it was a true vacation, a time away from normal cares and responsibilities of daily life. Knowing that you were on an island, that you had to take a boat to get back to your daily routine, was a curiously liberating experience. Chloe found herself slowing down, her mind for once not going full throttle, churning at maximum rpm's. She gave a sigh and began breathing deeper and slower.
Clark sighed too. The bicycle slowed to barely walking pace.
"What?" Chloe asked.
"Do you mind if we stop here?" Clark said.
"OK with me."
They got off the bike in a sun-drenched meadow. The green grass rippled as a light breeze wafted over. Clark sat down, looking at the faint silhouette of the Mackinac Bridge, barely visible in the distance. A light mist arising from the lake blurred its outlines.
"Tell me again why we're here", he said.
Chloe sat down next to Clark. "Well, you're here because Oliver Queen asked you to be my bodyguard. And I'm here because an informant at Luthorcorp gave me some very interesting information about new technology coming out."
"Go on", he said evenly. Chloe looked around – no other person was in sight.
"Clark, do me a favor – look for bugs."
"Bugs?"
"Listening devices! Video cameras! Use your X-ray vision!" She said exasperatedly.
Clark looked around at the empty meadow and gave her an "are you crazy" look.
"Please, Clark", she said pleadingly, her exasperation fading.
He said nothing, but scrunched up his face again, and got the 'using the x-ray vision' look she had come to know. He looked at their tandem bicycle, their bags, the meadow and trees, and last of all, at themselves.
"You know, I've always wondered…" Chloe asked
"What?"
"Can you see inside yourself with your x-ray vision?" She was interested.
"Yes." He said it curtly.
"What's it like?"
"I look human." He still seemed a little short, a little curt.
She smiled. She figured that Clark didn't like looking at her with x-ray vision; one time he'd told her that he felt he was invading her privacy. He didn't like to do that to his friends.
"Any bugs? Are we clean?"
"We're clean, and Chloe, you're paranoid."
"You think so now, Clark, but wait till you hear what I have to tell you."
She quickly filled in Clark on what Saul Stein had told her about the "transporter beam" device. She noted that his reaction was the same as hers had been – e.g., disbelief.
"Come on!" he said sarcastically. "This sounds like something out of a bad science fiction story. Transporter beams! Accelerating nuclear decay! Do you really believe this?"
She stood up and began pacing around. "I'm not sure. It really does sound fantastic. But my informant believed it to be true. And he's never let me down before."
Clark looked troubled. "If it is true, how could any company or country turn down this technology? Luthorcorp would have a monopoly on the greatest technical advance since…since…radio. Or something."
"And even if it's not true…" Chloe tailed off.
"What?" Clark said.
"What Oliver said to me. To make it work, they're using powdered kryptonite, along with nuclear isotopes they get from the Metropolis Nuclear Power Plant."
"Isotopes?"
"Primarily plutonium, but also radium, polonium, uranium, and americium."
"Some of those have pretty long half-lives, depending on the isotope", Clark said. He seemed more concerned now.
Chloe continued. "Oliver was saying that he's been getting rumblings from his network – maybe people don't really know about the new technology, or don't believe it'll work – but they do hear when nuclear material is removed from the safeguards and security protocols at the Power Plant. People tend to hear about things like this that are out of the ordinary. And there are any number of shady groups out there who would like to get hold of radioactive material."
"They couldn't make a nuclear device –"
"Not from these isotopes, I gather, but there would be nothing stopping them from making a grand terrorist gesture like spreading radioactive dust all over. Clark, what if they threatened to dump the isotopes into the Great Lakes?"
"A third of America gets its drinking water from the Great Lakes." He looked pale at the thought. "Chloe, if this is true…"
"My informant told me that the device looks like a brick. He said that the kryptonite and isotopes are in one end, sealed in by lead."
"Did he say anything else?"
"He said that the other end of the brick was computer hardware."
Clark had a sudden bad thought. "Chloe, where is this thing? And is there only one?"
"I think there's only one prototype – my informant led me to believe that."
"Where? Is it at the Luthorcorp plant? What kind of security is there?"
"Oh no…" realization hit Chloe. "Of course Lex would bring it here and show it off."
"If Lex brought it here, that means that he either has more or can make more. He's a cautious guy", Clark said bitterly.
Pieces of the puzzle suddenly came together for Chloe. "I don't think so, Clark", she said slowly. "I got a very strong impression from my informant that he's going to make sure that Luthorcorp won't be able to make any more of these." Clark looked at her in surprise. "Please don't ask me more questions about that, Clark", she said.
Clark stopped pacing and sat down. "So what we have is this device. Everybody wants it, either because of the new technology, or because of what's in it. The only thing keeping it safe right now is that nobody knows all about it, and after Lex demonstrates it, it won't be radioactive anymore."
"Right."
"Except that it's radioactive right now." Clark drummed his fingers.
"But the radioactivity is sealed in lead." Chloe crossed her fingers and wished she had a lucky rabbit's foot to rub.
"Hopefully it'll stay sealed. And hopefully nobody really knows a lot about it." Clark looked more concerned than ever. "Except that you know about it. And maybe a bunch of other people, too, if Oliver is hearing rumors."
"Right."
"So maybe you really need me as a bodyguard after all." Chloe looked at him; once again he had the "weight-of-the-world-responsibilities" look on his face.
"And maybe I don't really need you. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe we should just sit here and enjoy the day, and actually take an afternoon's vacation!" She kept an optimistic tone in her voice.
"Yeah, right…" his voice tailed off.
"Clark, there's not a lot we can do right here and now. We just have to be alert."
"Yeah…."
"And it's not like I like asking you to do this! I hate needing a bodyguard! I woldn't have done it if Oliver hadn't made it a condition of my coming here! And I hate asking you, you've saved me so many times already, I don't want to abuse our friendship…" she stopped, not really sure where her rant was going.
Clark gave her a look. "You know, you've saved me too. I thought we'd stopped counting."
"Well…"
"And I did get a free vacation out of it. Even if it's only a vacation afternoon. And I got to see Mackinac Island, where I never would have gone if you hadn't asked." His voice was joking. Then he spoke more seriously. "Chloe, you're my best friend. You can ask me anything."
Chloe sat down next to Clark. She looked him in the eye. "The same goes for me, you know."
"I know", he said softly. "I said it right at the beginning, when I told you. You're a good friend, Chloe."
Chloe said mischievously, "Well, speaking of asking anything, how about that picnic lunch now?"
"Good idea." They unpacked their lunch from their bags. Somehow, the simple sandwiches and water tasted better when eaten after a long bike ride, in the cool lake air, outdoors in a sunny meadow.
"Take a break before we start pedaling again?" Clark suggested.
"Why not? We've got nowhere we have to be." She looked at the clouds. "God, what a beautiful day it is. Look at that sky."
They laid down, staring up into the blue sky. The thick grass cushioned them. She reached for Clark's hand, grasped it. They both lay in silence, breathing in the northern summer air.
"Chloe?" Clark asked.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you a favor? Kind of a personal one?"
"What?" she asked curiously.
"I'd like to look at you."
Chloe turned and gave him a "You're doing that already" look.
"No, I mean with the X-ray vision." Clark looked embarrassed.
Chloe was intrigued. "Why?"
"Well, you know…" Clark didn't seem able to articulate his thoughts. He continued, "I've noticed that being around me, a lot of people seem to get hurt." He looked sad. "When people get injured, I want to know how bad it is, what their injury is."
Chloe nodded.
"And I realized that to figure out the abnormal, I have to know the normal first. So I'd like to look at you, as a normal woman, and see what things are like."
Chloe was taken aback a little. "It makes sense", she agreed, slowly. Then she said, in realization, more quickly, "You could do that any time, couldn't you?"
"Yes", he said. "I could. But it would be wrong to do that to you without your consent. I mean, an occasional glimpse to check out an injury is one thing, but this…"
Chloe was touched. "I appreciate that, Clark. Of course you can look at me." She chuckled. "Can I charge you tuition for anatomy classes?"
He gave her a small smile. "Sure you're OK with it?"
"I'm OK."
He sat up and focused his vision. He started with her arm, going through the skin, seeing the muscles and tendons. "Could you please move your arm?"
"How?"
"Any motion."
She flexed and extended her elbow, made a fist, released it. Clark watched, awed by the smooth stretching and contracting of the muscles, seeing their attachments to the bone, marveling at the intricate array of tendons and connective tissue in the hand. A roughness in the smooth surface of the radius and ulna – "Did you break your arm?"
"Remember that time I fell out of Lex's window? I broke it then."
"Oh. The kryptonite tattoo walk-through-walls robber gang." He was embarrassed he'd forgotten.
He switched his gaze to her feet, again starting with the shoe and sock, going deeper till he reached the bone. "Can you move your feet, please?"
She pointed all her toes, arched her foot, rotated her ankle. Clark looked at the shock-absorbing connective tissue on the bottom of the foot. He moved his gaze up her leg. Her calf muscles seemed a little more swollen, the blood vessels a little more dilated, than he remembered from previous glimpses. It's probably from riding the bike, he thought.
Chloe lay back on the grass, watching Clark watch her. He looked fascinated. She got a little embarrassed as his gaze moved up to her pelvis, but he said nothing. He looked higher, in the abdomen and chest areas, engrossed in whatever it was he was seeing. She couldn't stand it anymore.
"What?" she asked.
"Chloe…um…you're so cool", Clark said a note of wonder in his voice, turning his head to look her directly in the eyes. "Thanks so much for letting me do this."
"Cool?"
"I wish I could show it to you the way I'm seeing it. I can see your heart beating, and the blood going down the arteries. When you breathe, I see your lungs expanding, the diaphragm moving up and down, your liver moves too. It just all fits together so right…" he trailed off, not having the words to describe what he felt, the beauty of things working just as they should, a compact package that was the body of Chloe Sullivan.
"You know…" she said.
"What?"
"One time I was doing a story, and I got to be there when a vet was doing surgery on a dog that swallowed a sock." Her eyes assumed a distant expression as she remembered. "It was pretty cool seeing the intestines and the organs hauled out on the surgery table." Then she frowned. "The sock smelled pretty bad when they took it out, though."
"How'd the dog do?" Clark asked, interested.
"He was a big goofy Lab – I checked on him the next day and he was romping around", Chloe said. Clark looked relieved.
"So you kind of know."
"Well, not like you, but I can understand the feeling."
Clark grinned. "They say beauty is only skin deep, but you're beautiful to the bone."
"Gee, thanks, Clark." Chloe said, half-mockingly. "Other guys compliment you on your hair; you compliment me on my spleen."
"It's a very nice spleen…"
"Oh, just go ahead." She leaned back and closed her eyes. Strange how you could almost feel someone looking at you. A sense of quiet and peace stole over Chloe. She slipped into a meditative state that soon became sleep.
Clark continued to watch her till she fell asleep. He gazed at her, fascinated by the changes in heartbeat, respiration, blood flow to the brain. He saw her rapid eye movements and wondered what she was dreaming about. He looked at himself; so human-looking and yet so different.
He remembered a passage from the Bible. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made", he said quietly, quoting from the Psalm.
He stared at her a bit longer, then lay down and joined Chloe in sleep.
