Chapter 11 [Five minutes later]

Lex drove his Ferrari into the driveway and over to the farmhouse. He'd spent a great deal of the night and since sunrise checking all of Lana's usual haunts. Nell's house, the Talon and the stables were all empty. He'd wanted to talk with her about what she'd heard of the conversation between him and Hamilton but needed to do so carefully. Having struck out on all fronts, he wanted to see how the Kents were doing. Besides Clark might know something.

As he pulled in, he saw Lana's blazer still parked by the house.

"She's been here all night? Clark, what are you up to?" he wondered. Then he shook his head. This is Clark Kent, Super Boy Scout. No chance that anything happened. He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.

Martha opened it. "Hi, Lex. What brings you out here so early?"

"Hi, Mrs. Kent. I was looking for Lana. Is everything okay?" Lex wondered while trying to seem neighborly. He could already see Jonathan stiffening at the sight of him. Terrific. Here we go again.

"She stayed in the guest room last night. Everything's okay," Martha assured him. "Nell's still out of town. What's this about?"

"Just some numbers she dropped off at the mansion about the Talon. Nothing much," he reported.

Jonathan came over to the door pointedly. "We'll make sure Lana knows, Lex. Meantime everything all right with your father?"

Lex recognized the farmer's attempt at civility. "We're still waiting for the test results. Just let Lana know I'll see her at the Talon later." He turned and stalked back to the car. What is it with them? It's not like they own her! He glanced back at the house and then sped off. I'll talk to her later when they aren't around.

"Wonder what he wanted?" Jonathan inquired testily. Given everything going on about the Ship and Jor-El, the bald billionaire was the last person he wanted to see on the farm.

"He claimed that he wanted to talk over the Talon's budget. That could be true. Still remember that Lana overheard him arguing about the Ship?" Martha reminded him.

Jonathan frowned. "Lex already knows too much, Martha. I won't have him pestering Lana for more information about Clark or the Ship."

"Pestering me about what?" Lana asked from the staircase. "Sorry but what's going on?"

"You just missed Lex. He was looking for you about the Talon's budgetary numbers. I imagine he wants to talk with you about what you overheard too," Jonathan recounted.

"It's probably just the numbers, Dad," Clark chimed in as he took his boots off. "I saw Lex was here. What do you think it was about?"

"Information," Lana presumed from the table. She rubbed her forehead. "Some night." She grimaced.

"Lana, hey, what's going on?" Clark inquired with concern.

"We'd all better sit down," Martha told them while noting Lana's shakiness and headache. "What happened, Lana?"

"Did it happen again?" Jonathan queried.

Lana nodded. "Both happened again. Jor-El, the ghost, showed up again. He's the one who's making me do the floating thing. I followed him to this cave on the other end of town…."

"Cave? Lana, why didn't you get us up?" Jonathan demanded.

"It happened so fast. He insisted I go with him and that no harm would come to any of us," Lana explained.

"What else happened? What did he show you? Did you see Clark's past?" Martha interjected.

Lana nodded. "I saw what Krypton looked like just before it was destroyed." She looked at Clark. "I saw what your birth parents looked like. He showed me how they put you in the Ship and managed to get you away from there just before the place blew up." She trembled and her eyes watered. "I couldn't believe how much pain your mother was in."

"If I had to send my child away like that, I would be too," Martha imagined.

"How do we know it's true?" Jonathan bristled not trusting the spirit for a minute.

"How do we know it isn't, Dad?" Clark countered.

"Now, Son, I know you want to know but…." Jonathan started.

"Sorry, Mr. Kent, but Clark's right. Jor-El didn't force me to do anything. He just wanted me to see. He mentioned an ancestor of mine, Louise MacCallum, that he'd been close to. He also had told his wife that your family had been kind to him on a previous trip here," Lana continued. "Did you know her?"

"Not personally," Jonathan revealed. "I know who she was. She was your great aunt, Lana. She died from a gun shot wound right before I was born."

"So there are some leads," Clark realized. "We can check on his story."

"Just be careful, Kids. We don't need anyone seeing you doing it. I agree with Mr. Kent. Lex already has his suspicions. If he knows about the Ship, it'll be trouble," Martha urged.

"We'll be careful. Meantime, Clark, do you want a ride in or do you…umm….run in?" Lana offered.

Clark smirked. "After we eat, I'll be glad to ride with you. Then we'll see what Chloe has up her sleeve."

"Then dig in," Martha declared while motioning to the pancakes already sitting on the table.

And so the day started…