Clark sped back to the bridge. He crossed his fingers and sped to where he had picked up Lars. He was in luck; the device had not yet been picked up by police, and sat there on the bridge decking, right where he'd left it. Clark picked it up, and sped northwards to the lay-by near the northern suspension tower.

As Clark rushed by, he saw paramedics attending to the fallen officer Moilanen. Chloe and Lana stood by the base of the suspension tower, being interviewed by another trooper. Southbound traffic was stopped as the police investigated the crime scene. He saw the two black-suited men in handcuffs.

Clark briefly considered dropping out of super-speed, but then dismissed the idea. Everyone seemed to be OK, and everything was under control. He did take a moment to toast the police car video cameras, just in case they'd caught any of his heroics. That might make it hard in court, but he figured that there was plenty of eyewitness testimony. He'd been around enough to know that cops really didn't like people who shot other cops; they wanted to put them away for a long time.

He sped northwards on the bridge, arriving on the mainland, passing through the toll plaza (not paying a toll). He ran down the road a bit; a sign on his right indicated the entrance to "Straits State Park." He considered the sign briefly, then ran down that road.

The state park had clearings for tent and RV camping amidst its forest. Clark found an isolated spot, and put the device high in a tree, in the cranny formed by the main branches. He walked to the park boundary; it bordered the lake. He stood on the beach, enjoying a spectacular view of the Mackinac Bridge, its cables outlined in light as the summer twilight faded. He looked over and saw the ferry from Mackinac Island pull into the dock.

After what he thought was an appropriate amount of time, he sped to the bridge, avoided the tollbooths once again, but then dropped out of superspeed and walked down to where Chloe and Lana waited. He saw them, momentarily not being questioned by police, and waved to them.

"Clark!" Chloe said, approaching the yellow "Police Line – Do Not Cross" tape. She gave him a significant look. He nodded slightly.

"Clark! It's good to see you!" Lana said, coming up slightly after Chloe.

"I got your call. The ferry just got in. I walked here", Clark said, three individually truthful statements that nonetheless were misleading. Concern in his voice, he asked, "Are you ok?"

"Just a little breathless", Lana said. "Have you talked with the police at all?"

"Why?"

"Nobody here will tell us how Lars is doing." She sounded concerned.

"I'll ask", Clark promised.

A state trooper came up. Before he could shoo Clark away, Clark took the initiative and said, "Clark Kent. Ms Sullivan and I are partners at the Daily Planet. Can you tell us how our friend Lars is doing?"

The deputy said, "Last I heard, he was getting out of surgery at the Cheboygan hospital and was doing OK."

How long will you need to have my friends here?" Clark persisted.

The trooper blinked, and said, "Let me check with the lieutenant, but it won't be long now. You've given your statements, Ms Sullivan, Ms Lang?" He looked at Clark. "Mr…ah, Kent, do you have anything to add?"

"Oh, Clark doesn't need to give a statement. He wasn't here", Lana said. "He came to escort us back to the island." Clark and Chloe exchanged a knowing glance.

The trooper walked away, talked with another policeman, and came back. "We've got pretty much all we need. Ms Lang, you're at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island? Ms Sullivan, at the Murray?"

Lana and Chloe nodded. The deputy continued. "We may need to get another statement tomorrow, but we'll contact you. Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital and get checked out?"

"We're fine", Lana said for both of them. "Clark will take us back." She gave Clark a smile.

A wrecker came by, Chloe's damaged rental car towed forlornly behind. The deputy looked at it, then looked at them. "Let me give you a ride back to the ferry", he said.

After he dropped them off at the ferry dock, Chloe looked at Clark. "There's a tribute to the power of the press", she said, in a satisfied tone. "If it weren't for this Daily Planet ID, we'd still be answering questions."

Then she turned and looked at Lana. "Lars wasn't on the car insurance…."

"I'll take it up with Lex", Lana promised earnestly. They laughed, glad to be alive.

Clark and the women returned to the Grand Hotel. In the lobby, Lex paced restlessly. He turned and saw them.

"Lana!" An unguarded smile covered his face. He went to Lana; they hugged.

"Clark came to get us", she said semi-accusingly. "You weren't answering your phone."

Lex grimaced, then took her in his arms. "There's a story behind that I'll tell you later", he promised. He looked at Clark. "Thanks, Clark", he said, grudgingly.

"You're welcome, Lex", Clark said, guardedly.

Lex turned back to Lana. "I'm sure you must be tired after all that…" he guided her to the elevators, leaving Clark and Chloe.

"Good night, Clark, Chloe!" Lana said, waving at them as she and Lex entered the elevator.

"Good night", they replied. Chloe faced Clark.

"All right – what really happened there?" she demanded.

"It wasn't good", Clark said. "Can I wait on telling you till after I check on my mom?"

"Your mom?"

"You didn't know this, but she was in a hostage situation just about the same time you were. That's why I didn't answer my phone. You got my voice mail then."

Chloe's mouth opened in an "OOhh" of understanding, momentarily speechless.

They walked up to Martha's room. Apparently the word had been passed, because the security let them go through with no trouble. Clark knocked on his mother's suite door.

She opened it. "Clark!" she said roughly, and reached out to him in a powerful embrace. He hugged her back. "Are you OK?"

"I think I should be asking you that, Mom", he said.

"I'm fine now", she said, leading them back into the room. They sat on the comfortable chairs. "We spent hours giving our statements to the police. Lex and Lionel missed their press conference, and I missed meeting a lot of people I'd counted on."

"I'm just glad you're alive", Clark said quietly.

"And I'm glad you're alive too", she said, looking at Chloe and him. "Lex took a call – apparently one of his men was shot? What was going on?"

"That was Lars. I got him to the hospital in time and he's doing ok", Clark said. Chloe nodded as her suspicions were confirmed.

"Some bad guys were trying to steal the Luthorcorp technology –"

"For the radioactive isotopes?" Martha interjected.

"Yeah. They didn't want to take no for an answer", Clark said seriously.

"They didn't count on Clark Kent being there", Chloe said. She turned to Martha. "Clark saved the day once again."

Martha smiled. "He always does." Clark shifted in his chair, embarrassed.

Chloe stared up at the stars in the evening sky as she and Clark walked back to their hotel. This far north, away from the smog and light pollution of big cities, the Milky Way stood out in resplendent glory. Other stars, normally too dim to see, dotted the firmament between the familiar constellations.

"I have a whole lot of questions for you, Clark. The first one is, where's the device?"

"I have it in a safe place, Chloe."

"Did it work?"

"Not the way I thought it would." He turned to her. "It was really weird…"

She laughed. "You're usually the cause of the weirdness."

"Not this time." They paced on in silence. "Before I can tell you the whole story, I have to take it to Jor-El."

She stopped walking, surprised. "Jor-El?"

Clark stopped too, turned to look at her. "It's something I have to do."

She swallowed, accepted it. "Um…"

"I just want to get you safe to the hotel. Then I'll set out for the Fortress."

Chloe repeated, "The Fortress?"

"It's only sixty miles up to Sault Ste. Marie. I can take the International Bridge over to the border to Canada there. Then it's only a hop, skip, and a jump to the Fortress."

"Yeah, right", she mumbled. Seeing Jor-El – that came out of the blue. In the time she'd known about Jor-El and his relationship to Clark, Clark had never been anxious to see Jor-El. She herself thought of him with wary respect, like being in the same meadow with a mountain lion. Maybe the lion didn't want to eat you today, but…

She resumed walking. This was something that Clark felt he had to do, obviously. "Let me know how it all turns out." Then she thought of her pre-conference research on tourist attractions, and said jokingly, "Take a look at the Soo Locks when you pass by."

Lex took Lana in his arms. She was shaking. "I was afraid I was never going to see you again", she said quietly. "Those men were chasing us…they shot the policeman….she shivered. "Then it was funny – I don't know if the police shot back, but all of a sudden those guys stopped shooting and they were down on the bridge. The police said they were unconscious."

Lex looked her in the eye. "Lana? Are you OK? That's what I'm concerned about." He held her closer.

"I'm OK, Lex", she said. They held each other in silence for a moment.

"Lana?" he asked softly.

"Yes?"

"What happened to the box I gave you?" He released her from his hold, stood opposite her, his expression serious.

"The box! Lex, I'm sorry. I got so caught up in all the excitement, and worried about Lars, I forgot about it! It was in my bag. Let me see…" Lana furrowed her brow. "I think I left my bag in the car when we were running from the men."

Lex stared into space, mentally making plans and calculations. Maybe he could send William over there to get it…Lars was out. Cyrus was with Lionel. If the last ferry had already left, could William fly over to the mainland?

Lana went on, her voice fast. "I really hadn't thought about it, you know, because I had my wallet in my pocket and there wasn't really anything else in the purse except for the box and some cosmetics and the book I was reading…" Lex tuned her out.

"I'm glad you're OK", he cut her off, kissing her. He turned from her. Time to make some calls.