Chapter 47 -Hidden in Plain Sight

Agent Johnson walked confidently just ahead of Lois and Clark. "May I?" He gestured towards Clark's chair. "Please." Clark said courteously. "Miss Lane, Mr. Kent...how big of a story would you like?" Johnson teased. "Huge!" Lois responded immediately, smiling brightly.

"You'd better be ready for this." Johnson's tone was more menacing. "Should I be writing this down?" Clark asked half seriously. "Certainly." Johnson said smugly. Clark dutifully grabbed a Steno pad and pen. "Shoot." Lois urged as she settled in behind her computer screen.

"There are aliens living among us." Johnson announced as Clark suddenly went pale. "Okay." Lois snickered. "Is Bigfoot hiding them and selling them false documentation?" She quipped, folding her hands in front of her desktop PC's keyboard. "Did they come across the border, or just swoop in?"

"No, Miss Lane." Johnson dead panned. "They appear quite human, and may even be somewhat helpful, but make no mistake, they are aliens from other worlds, and other dimensions." Lois sighed. There goes my best story lead in weeks, she mentally grumbled.

Clark shifted his weight nervously, pretending to write Johnson's statement down. "Have you seen these aliens, Agent Johnson?" Clark humored him as Lois rolled her eyes. "Yes. Several times." Johnson sounded supremely confident. Clark wondered if he actually believed what he was saying.

"What did they look like?" Clark continued as Lois flashed him a puzzled look. "As I said, they can appear quite human." Johnson baited. "How do you know that they're aliens, then?" Lois asked, quickly wondering why she did so. "I've seen them doing miraculous things." Johnson added.

"Are you sure that they weren't angels?" Clark scoffed, cracking Lois up. Johnson had expected to be ridiculed. He patiently began his explanation. "You could call them that. I doubt if all of their intentions are honorable." Johnson continued. "There was one beautiful blonde female alien that literally flew past my airplane the other day. Apparently, she wasn't watching where she was flying."

Clark reddened. Crap! Kara! He thought silently. I told her to be careful and to stop flying near populated areas. "Did you get her phone number?" Lois chuckled. "Regrettably, no, Miss Lane." Johnson was certainly not out of his mind, Clark mused. How many other passengers had seen Kara's mistake?

"Other aliens possess superior powers, like incredible, blinding speed, strength beyond that of mortal men, and a chameleon like ability to change their appearance." Johnson stated calmly. That sounds like Bart, Laura, and John Jonz! Clark thought with increasing alarm.

"You're talking about Meta Humans, then." Clark said as Lois openly gawked at him. "You believe that they're actually humans, meaning with some forms of mutation built into their physiology?" Johnson was intrigued. Lois gasped. "You mean meteor freaks?" She couldn't believe her own words.

"I've heard that description before." Johnson now made eye contact with Lois. "It's one of the main reasons that I came to Metropolis and by extension, Smallville. There have been many documented cases of mutant humans, but I never thought that I'd actually meet one." He glanced at Clark, making him feel uncomfortable. Clark immediately shifted his gaze to Lois.

"You've met a meteor freak?" Lois scoffed. "Yes. She could move very fast, and was nimble, easily vaulting up two stories to land on a fire escape stairway. I watched her run very fast and leap high into the air, above an alleyway to land on an opposing rooftop. No normal human can do that."

"You mean Gold Wing?" Clark's heart sank. "No, this woman didn't wear a costume at all, though she was dressed oddly, and was, might I say, scantily clad." Johnson remarked. Lois was very interested now. Apparently, Agent Johnson was onto something, she mused.

"What do you think, Smallville?" Lois spun her squeaking chair back and forth, fully aware that it annoyed Clark. "The Blur and Gold Wing are adding to their ranks?" Clark shrugged. "Agent Johnson, are you sure that you saw another being with supernatural powers?"

Johnson glanced around. "Yes, Mr. Kent. I was trained by the CIA to be quite observant. Maybe you ought to start calling me, John. There might be unfriendly agents, or other observers nearby." Lois rolled her eyes. "Paranoid, much?" She grumbled, bringing a frown to Clark's face.

"I don't have the luxury of simply being paranoid, Miss Lane." John calmly defended. "We don't have time to deal with anything but the facts. Let me give you three names to look up on your vast network of public information: Behind The Curtain, The Emerald Wizard, and As Darkness Falls."

"That sounds like some good titles for books." Lois scoffed. "Are you certain that you're not peddling some literature?" Johnson shook his head. "All three titles are clues to vast conspiracies. I already know all the details. It's up to you to find out what you can."
"Even if we did find these titles, our newspaper publisher would never let us run with a non-factual story." Clark pointed out.

"Some information is best kept out of the public's eye." John hedged. "Then why tell us?" Lois asked impatiently. "It's my hope that you two can get these urgent messages to the Blur, and Gold Wing. They're about the only beings that can save us from ourselves." John scowled.

Now Clark was truly worried. Johnson was indirectly asking for his help. Did the self-described government agent know his true identity? Laura's? Oliver's?

Back in Smallville, the Kandorians were growing surly. Fiona grabbed her back as she walked up the front porch steps. Zod and Faora trailed behind, the grit and grime from a day of farming evident on their faces, neck, legs, and arms.

"This isn't right, Major Zod." Fiona complained. "We scrounge around in the dirt like insects and vermin, while the daughter of Zor El soars above our heads."
"I know that, Fiona." Zod snapped. "This is not the existence I envisioned for us." Faora cursed in her native Kandorian tongue.

"This is Kal El's doing! He keeps us beneath the heel of his boot." She added vehemently. As Fiona opened the front door, she stopped and of their fellow Kandorians stood before them. Zod and Faora filed in quickly behind Fiona. "Greetings, Major Zod, Em Zak bowed briefly, and gave Zod the curled arm and balled in a fist gesture, a sign of respect for a superior officer.

"But how?" Zod smiled, but soon assessed that the rest of the Kandorians were not in the mood for pleasantries. "We are here to take you home." Young Vala, Faora's sister said seriously. "Home?" Faora scowled. "Kal El and Kara said that Krypton was destroyed, as were Kandor and Argo."
A short time later, Kara flew in the open door holding a large blue crystal. Before the Kandorians knew what happened, she'd enabled the spinning crystal to envelop the aliens. All sixteen disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. Kara stood alone in the old farmhouse, wondering if she'd done the right thing.