Martha headed back to her room, tired again. Although she had not had to give a speech that day, she had listened to several, and had been approached by numerous people. Last night she had run into Kansas' other US Senator, and the two had broken down the attendees list, each deciding to concentrate on those they felt would be most sympathetic or those who wanted the most. Cajoling, exhorting, pleading, declaiming – Martha had done it all, from one-on-ones to auditoriums-full, in an attempt to get more business investment in Kansas. She had hopes that some seeds would come to fruition, but knew that in politics, nothing was certain.
She had taken a gleeful, yet hidden, pleasure in putting Chloe at her table as her guest. Chloe had been polite, yet had come away with several interview commitments from various VIP's. Martha wouldn't be sorry to see some of them squirm under Chloe's needle-like questions.
She headed wearily to her room, wanting to rest a short time before she dressed for dinner. A charity ball was planned after their gourmet meal, and she had promised to go with Lionel. Once again, she avoided examining her mixed feelings toward Lionel.
Lex headed back to his room, tired. It had been a long day of cajoling, making veiled threats, buttering people up, memorizing names and faces, all for the good of Luthorcorp. He wanted to rest a short time before he was scheduled to make a speech. The speech had a deliberately bland title. But he intended to stun the audience by announcing the news of the new Luthorcorp technology.
He entered his room, took off his shoes, and sighed as he stretched his feet. As he sat down, his phone rang.
"Yes." He was curt. Why were they disturbing him now?
He listened for a few moments. A cold feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. "Partridge is dead? Stein is in ICU? What about the lab?"
More squawking noises from the other end. This was worse than he thought. He ignored the excuses and justifications from his caller. Pieces fell into place like tumblers in a lock.
Luthorcorp obviously isn't the only one who wants this technology. Then, determinedly, But we're the only ones who are going to get it. He thought again. Somebody is prepared to kill for it. And we have to check our computer files. Did Partridge leave a backup? Those genius types never do. I hope that Stein made him keep records – that's why Stein was there. Can we rebuild without Partridge? I wish this had come to my attention before yesterday!
He closed his phone absently. He followed the train of thought down its path. We hadn't made any devices lately, or they've been used up. I remember seeing that in the reports. So what if this is the last device? It's a target. I'm a target. Everyone here from Luthorcorp is a target. Then, with a sinking feeling, Lana is a target.
He pushed a button. Soon, Lars poked his blond head through the open door. "Mr. Luthor?"
"Lars, I want you to get Miss Lang, and a package I'll give you, back to the Luthorcorp jet at the Pellston Airport. Then have them take her and you back to Metropolis, and put the package in tight security at Luthorcorp HQ."
"Right away, sir." Lex liked that. No questions, just a straight Yes, sir. Sometimes he liked it so much he didn't like it when people (like Clark, for example, his wayward brain contributed), didn't do exactly what he wanted when he wanted it.
Lars went off to arrange things. Lex called Lana. She came from the conference – he had thought it would be dry as dust, but she was interested in some of the topics.
"Lana! I have to ask you to trust me", Lex said earnestly. Unlike other times, he meant every word of what he was going to say. "I have reason to believe that people want this package." He pointed to the device, hidden in a white box. The box proclaimed itself to be "Fudge From Mackinac Island".
Lana smiled. "They want fudge? They can't just go to one of the twenty-seven fudge shops we saw and buy their own?"
"It's not really fudge, Lana", he said seriously. The smile came off her face. "We're camouflaging a technical device here. I just found out that our researchers on this project were assaulted and seriously injured."
"Are they going to be all right?" she asked.
"I hope so", Lex replied, carefully not saying anything about murder. "But I want to make sure it's safe, and I want to make sure you're safe. That's why I'm asking you to go quietly with Lars, and take this to the Luthorcorp jet on the mainland, and take it back to Metropolis and get it into the secure vault at the Luthorcorp Building."
Lana looked as if she were going to protest. Then she caught a look of his eyes, and subsided. He must have been more intense than he thought.
"OK, Lex", she said slowly.
"Thanks, Lana", he said, sincerely. He pulled out a thick wad of currency from his wallet. "You'll need to rent a car to get from the ferry back to Pellston. Can you put it on your credit card? I don't want to use the Luthorcorp cards."
"Why can't we just fly back to the jet airport?" Lana asked.
"Because the pilot is at least an hour away, maybe two. And I want to get you safe as soon as possible. And as quietly as possible. Flying would attract unwanted attention." He looked at her, desperately. He did love her, as much as he could love anyone. She knew what he was like (maybe she doesn't know everything, a niggling little interior voice said), and loved him anyway. In a world of women who were attracted to him only for his money, or power, she was a refreshing change. She had been a friend before she was a lover; he had never had a woman be that before.
"Let me change my shoes, and get a jacket, and I'll be on my way." Lana kissed him, then bustled off.
"Lars!" Lex called. Lars came in. "Are you ready?"
"Ready, Mr. Luthor."
Lana came back in. "Hi, Lars", she said.
"Miss Lang. Are you ready to go?"
"All set. Good-bye, Lex." She kissed him again. He hugged her, not wanting to let her go. Life is uncertain, he thought. He sent up a plea to unknown gods for her safety.
As she walked out the door, he had a bad thought. He'd never had much luck with pleas to the gods to save the life of someone he loved.
Chloe came back to Martha's room. Martha had offered her a chance to sit down and relax before Lex's press conference, and Chloe was going to take her up on it. It had been a very busy day; Chloe had enough notes and reminders to write two articles. She had run into Brad and Pete, the other reporters from the Daily Planet; being "upstairs" reporters, they hardly knew her, and she didn't register on their radar.
She couldn't wait to get her shoes off and lie down on the overstuffed chaise longue in Martha's room. If she could only get a fifteen-minute nap, and then a cup of coffee…Her daydreams dissolved in surprise as she saw Lana and one of Lex's hulking security guards (the blond one – what's his name again? Clark would know) coming down the hall at her.
"Lana?" she asked. "What's up?"
"I don't know all the details, but Lex is worried, and wants me and Lars to take this package to the Luthorcorp jet at the Pellston Airport on the mainland." Lana opened her large purse to show a white box amidst her other impedimenta.
Chloe's "weirdar" pinged at the highest setting. "What is it?" she asked casually.
"I don't know", Lana replied. "It's kind of heavy, whatever it is. It feels like I'm carrying a brick."
Bullseye! Chloe exulted silently. "Lana, are you flying back to the airport?"
"No, Lex said that it would take too long to get the pilot and get the plane ready. So we're going to rent a car on the mainland, or get a taxi, and drive to the airport. It won't take long."
Chloe assumed her most helpful expression. "I'll help you if you pay my ferry ticket. Clark and I rented a car, and it's right in the ferry parking lot at St. Ignace. You can avoid all the rental hassle. We just have to stop by my hotel and pick up the keys."
Lana seemed dubious, and looked at Lars. He considered it for a moment, and nodded his head.
"OK", Lana said.
They exited the Grand Hotel. As they walked past the purple lilac bushes, Chloe phoned Clark to update him. "Clark, I ran into Lana and Lars."
"Lars?"
"Yes, Lars. I'm sure you remember Lars. Apparently Lex has asked them to take a package back to Metropolis and Luthorcorp Security." Chloe trusted that Clark was picking up on the significance of the the emphasized words. "I'm going to go with them, and drive them back to the airport in our car."
A moment of silence. "Is this package related to what we discussed yesterday in the meadow?" Clark asked.
"Ah, that would be a yes", Chloe replied.
"Do you want me to come along?" Clark asked, sounding concerned.
"No, right now I think it's more important that you attend the Luthorcorp press conference", Chloe said, cursing the necessity to be circumspect in Lana's presence.
"Are you sure?"
"Very sure. Clark, I'll call you if anything happens." That sounded innocent enough, and only the two of them knew the underlying significance of the words, of help asked for and help delivered.
"OK, Chloe, be careful." He hung up. Chloe caught up with Lana and Lars; they walked faster down the hill.
Lars waited outside her door, Lana inside the room while Chloe quickly changed from her suit to a shirt and jeans more suitable for comfortable travel. It was good to take off her nylons and put on sensible walking socks. On the way out, struck by a sudden idea, Chloe bought a 24-ounce box of fudge. The box looked the same as the one in Lana's purse. She put the fudge into her own bag.
As they boarded the ferry, Lars stood out in his black suit and sunglasses. A six-and-a-half-foot tall, hulking guy exuding a vaguely menacing air tended to give people the willies. A clear zone surrounded Lars, despite the tourist crush. Chloe didn't like the way they were attracting attention, so she motioned to Lars to stay at the back of the boat. She pulled Lana forwards and they sat near the front.