Clark pulled back the thick blast door to reveal a dozen or more men crowded in front of the entrance, their guns trained on them from all angles. Most wore blue jackets with three yellow letters emblazoned on the front and back. Clark remained calm, but ready to act.
"FBI! Put your hands up where we can see them!" One of the gun wielding men hesitated, "Kent?" He lowered his weapon and stepped forward. "Clark Kent, what are you doing here?" Clark's eyes slid to Lois. The man shook his head. "Stupid question. How did you get in here?"
"Agent Kelly." He recognized the speaker as one of his contacts at the Federal Bureau of Investigations. They'd crossed paths a few times when he and Lois's investigations had coincided with Federal interests. Keeping his hands slightly raised, Clark stepped forward. "There's an access point in the garage area."
The FBI field agent pointed at two men. "Go secure that exit." Agent Kelly returned his gun to the holster at his side. Lois and Clark lowered their hands. "Anyone else down there?"
"I left a man by the name of Mako tied up on the lower level. His associate, Sanderson slipped out just before I went down," he answered evenly.
"Sanderson is working with us. He slipped out to alert our team." The sandy haired agent shook his head again. "I don't know if you make the job easier or more complicated Kent." He turned to the remaining group, still unflinchingly aiming their weapons. "Parkman and Richter, stay with me. Jenkins, take the rest of the team and secure the lower level. I'll vouch for Kent and Lane." He motioned at Walldecker, who still had his hands so far up in the air that his light blue, button down, dress shirt pulled out of the waist of his tan pants. "What about this guy?"
Lois answered waving her hand through the air in dismissal. "He's harmless. Mostly," she amended, thinking of the trouble he'd dragged her into. "Mako, who apparently has recently risen in the ranks of Intergang's new leadership, kidnapped Walldecker here," William, his hands still high in the air, waggled a couple fingers and smiled wanly, "with the crazed notion of getting him to make Intergang henchmen into super powered scoundrels."
Clark scowled incredulously, "What?"
The agent merely looked curious. "He really believed someone could do that?"
William nodded, "I have a very good publicist." He winced at the glare Lois shot his direction. "Had. I had a very good publicist. I'm all done with that."
Agent Kelly nodded thoughtfully, but before he could speak, one of the other agents approached. "Excuse me for a moment." He took a couple steps away to conference with someone who had just entered the building. Lois edged a couple steps closer and both she and Clark listened in.
A man dressed in jeans and flannel stammered, "Ah, we've got a situation pertaining to the pick up of Mako's associates."
"What's going on?"
"Seems a couple of good citizens took it upon themselves to detain our suspects prior to our arrival on scene."
"So." Agent Kelly inquired. "What's the problem?"
The agent tugged at his collar nervously. "They rounded up Agent Jarvis as well and neither seems keen on letting any of them go, especially the guy. Insists on waiting for the police, something about how easy fake ID is to come by."
Agent Kelly muttered under his breath, "Damn conspiracy theorists."
"Seeing as Shark took one look at this guy's girlfriend and went nuts, I'm not inclined to blame them for being overly cautious. I wasn't too far away when I saw the whole thing happen. Gerald Mako, aka Shark, took off like a maniac, screaming prophecies of dismemberment. His gang went along to help, just as agitated, with Jarvis trailing behind. I thought we were about to witness murder in the 1st degree when out popped the boyfriend from behind a tractor."
The agent chuckled. "He stretched out an arm and clotheslined Shark and that behemoth went down hard, but his associates were close on his heels."
"The skinny, weaselly one pulled a gun, but the girlfriend swung the bag she was carrying and knocked it out of his hand. Then she wound up again and walloped him across the chest hard enough to cause him to stagger back. He knocked himself out on the grill of the tractor. The third member of Shark's squad tried to turn and flee but boyfriend snagged him by the collar and hooked him on the same piece of equipment."
Kelly looked pained as he asked, "How did Jarvis get caught up in this?"
"I guess when Jarvis saw that one guy pull his gun, Jarvis pulled out his gun and well, his skidded into the group, weapon drawn and since we had him meet with them, posing as the money guy, the couple had previously seen him hanging out with Shark. So, you know, guilt by association."
Agent Kelly glanced around and lowered his voice. "Are you telling me that Jarvis had his weapon drawn and he still managed to be caught by a pair of civilians armed with only a purse?" The agent hung his head and didn't reply.
Clark stepped in, hiding a smile, "Agent Kelly, I believe I'm acquainted with this couple you're talking about."
Kelly set his jaw at an angle and sighed, "Of course you are." He pointed at the two agents that earlier had remained with him. "Parkman, Richter, take Walldecker here and get his story. I'll take Lane and Kent to straighten out this other mess. Contact me via the radio if I'm needed."
Halfway across the show grounds, they saw a crowd gathering. Agent Kelly flashed his badge and worked them past the mass of people. At the center of the throng, four individuals sprawled on the ground with their hands and feet bound by baling twine. Shark was cursing and spewing abuse until a craggy farmer removed a sweaty red bandana from round his neck and stuffed it into his mouth. A small round of cheers went through the crowd.
Agent Kelly held his badge up in the air. "Ok, alright, break it up. Move on. We'll take it from here." A tall youth headed over to challenge him, but the stern look on his face morphed into a grin when he caught sight of Kent and Lane. A pretty and intense blond women looked up from her notebook, abandoned the agent she had been grilling, and rushed to meet Lane halfway.
"Chloe!" The two women embraced as if they were long lost sisters. Agent Kelly caught only snatches of their bubbling exchange. Words like "kidnapped", "dead", "Superman", and "Clark" stood out. The tall youth stood next to Kent and they both looked on, watching with undisguised affection. Kelly motioned his men to free Jarvis and remove the prisoners.
Eventually the tall youth approached and hugged Lois too. A moment later, a grizzled haired man hailed her as he and a younger man pushed through the crowd. Agent Kelly recognized the older man as the editor of the Daily Planet. He took his turn greeting Lane, wrapping her in a bear hug.
"Mr. White, how did you end up contacting the FBI?" Chloe asked after he released her.
Perry laughed, "Olsen and I didn't get a mile down the road before we ran smack dab into a good old fashioned road block. They must have practically set up the barricades right behind us the first time we came through. I flagged down one of the officers and told them what was going on, but they already knew about Shark, his cohorts, and about Lois being held somewhere on the Tractor and Threshing Show grounds."
Clark pushed his glasses up and turned to accuse Agent Kelly. "You knew that Lois was being held prisoner and yet you were planning on going in guns blazing? Mako could have panicked and killed her. What the hell were you thinking?"
Perry laid a hand on his shoulder, "Easy Kent, it all worked out fine in the end, no harm came to Lois."
"Maybe that's because Clark showed up before the FBI," Lois added caustically.
"We had reason to believe we didn't have time for subtlety," Kelly said stiffly.
"Why's that?" Chloe asked.
Kelly saw no accusation in her eyes, just curiosity. It occurred to him he was going have to give a statement or explanation of some kind to the press; no way to avoid that with half the staff of the Daily Planet involved. Kent and Lane weren't looking too sympathetic. He turned to Mr. White and pointed at Chloe who was still holding her notepad and jotting down notes, "Is she working for you?"
White hesitated, rubbing his jaw and sputtering until he caught sight of Lois fervently nodding her head. He could guess just as clearly as Lane that Agent Kelly was looking to talk on the record. He made a quick decision, "She is now."
Agent Kelly grasped her upper arm and would have directed her to a more private spot to talk when the man who'd bested his agent stepped in their path and crossed his arms. Ah, the overprotective boyfriend. Chloe disengaged his grip and made a suggestion. "I'll write your story, but why don't you just tell us all what's going on. I think everyone involved deserves to know."
He saw the resolute steel in the boyfriend's gaze. "Fine," he conceded and answered her earlier question. "We were in a hurry because Sanderson reported Mako was on the verge of engaging his secret weapon."
"What kind of weapon?"
"We didn't know exactly, maybe it was nothing more than what that delusion Walldecker was selling."
"Wait, wait," Perry held up his hand. "I'm already lost. Who's Mako?"
Jimmy chimed in, "Who's Sanderson?"
Chloe shrugged and asked, "Who's Walldecker?"
"Look, why don't I start at the beginning. Louis Mako, Shark's older brother, was a lower level associate at Intergang who came up with a scheme to set up Mindy Church with help from Harold E Sanderson, the chief financial officer at CostMart. Thing is, Sanderson wanted both Mindy and any future Intergang leader gone so he cut a deal with the FBI."
Chloe jotted down a few notes and nodded encouragingly.
"After Mako bragged about having several bolt holes no one would ever find, plus a secret weapon up his sleeve, the FBI decided to wait until Sanderson gained Mako's trust to the point where he would lead Sanderson to his hideout where he controlled the weapon."
Lois jumped into the narrative. "In the meantime, Mako heard about Walldecker and his ridiculous claim to possess the ability to make ordinary people into super powered beings. He completely bought into it and scooped up Walldecker. William didn't dare disappoint Mako and so he insisted on having me delivered to him as payment for his services, never thinking Mako would succeed in the kidnapping. Walldecker figured the aborted attempt would result in us investigating and eventually in his rescue."
Kelly continued his tale, "Today, Mako called Sanderson, high on the success of his kidnapping of Ms. Lane. We didn't know why he wanted her, but," he paused and grinned, "Ms. Lane has a habit of finding trouble so we weren't too surprised. Sanderson went with Mako to where Lane was being stashed and at the first opportunity, he contacted the FBI."
Kent frowned, "So cue the unchecked show of power. From what Lois and Walldecker told me, Mako was half-unhinged already. You would have gotten her killed," he repeated.
Chloe cocked her head to the side. "I gather that Lois's rescue was of secondary importance to securing the base and his supposed secret weapons." Kelly noted a note of censure in her voice this time.
"We were not aware of Mako's delusions at the time and had to take action for what we deemed a credible and immediate threat. He told Sanderson that he was going to use his secret weapon to force Metropolis and New York to their knees simultaneously."
Lois thought for a moment. "William did say Mako wanted him to transform several cohorts tonight, kind of a big finale' to punctuate his taking control of Intergang." She shook her head, "But I don't get where the extra labs come in."
"What labs?" Chloe asked.
"Walldecker said two labs besides his pretend one were in use. One was being converted into a replica of the old control center for the missile silo and one was where the pieces were being reassembled." Lois smiled, but was only half joking when she asked, "Clark, you didn't perhaps fail to notice a 70 foot missile still down there?"
Agent Kelly rolled his eyes. "My men have the area secured. There hasn't been a weapon of any kind down there for fifty years, not since it was decommissioned."
Chloe went pale and grabbed the arm of 'Cal' for support. "What is it?" He asked urgently.
"Dozens of the same kind of facility were built all around the same time and most were decommissioned shortly after. Most, but not all."
Clark pushed up his glasses. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm not sure, but I'd guess that at least two or three are still in the area, fully equipped with armed rocket. According to web site where I found the blueprint for the silo, those facilities barely have any level of security. They rely on alarms and heavy doors rather than personnel to keep the place secure. What if Mako planned on taking control of those facilities?"
Agent Kelly shook his head. "How do you know of those facilities? What kind of web site were you looking at?" His tirade was interrupted by the squawk of his radio. He removed it from his belt and depressed a button. "Agent Kelly here."
A disembodied voice answered. "Sir, we have a major problem. Seems Mako somehow has activated the launch of two nearby armed missiles. We've confirmed their flight plan, one's headed to Metropolis and the other is on its way to New York." Those listening looked grimly around at the faces in their circle. "Sir, the Airforce can't scramble their fighters in time. Kent's come through before. Does he have any way of contacting Superman?"
Author's note: Quick turn around and explanations of oddly convoluted story lines, what more could you ask for? Oh, you wanted what? Well, maybe you'll get that in the next chapter.
