- Chapter 22 - Scavenger -
Lola.
Library.
Song.
The crystal lifeform clung to her core identity, trapped in an energy sink with only kryptonite to keep her company. No radiant energy penetrated the sealed lead box. No calls reached out. For the millionth time, Lola cursed Jonathan for his betrayal. He took her at her most vulnerable when she had expended her energy talking audibly with him and sealed her off from any source of energy renewal.
Normally a few decades without an energy source would mean little to her, but not when she was already depleted. In her current state she ran the risk of losing the spark of energy that was her life unless she could escape her prison.
Early on, she had envisioned Clark rescuing her, but that hope had long since died. Undoubtedly, her assertion that she was going to step back from him had shored up whatever lie Jonathan had fed him. Clark wasn't coming. This was a problem she had o solve herself.
Or die trying.
Determinedly she radiated her desperation at the seams of the lead container, bleeding away the dregs of her energy in a last ditch attempt to reach Clark.
Sitting on the porch with Chloe, Clark couldn't help feeling completely out of his depth. Going into their first date, he had everything planned and researched. Dinner and a movie hadn't been painful at all. Chloe was a friend first, and they'd had meals and movie nights before. Functional literacy was not a problem.
Now that they were in the endgame of the date, Clark wasn't sure what to do. A kiss was expected, of course, but when would she want to start that? If they were going to make out, his parents' porch wasn't the best spot. Maybe they should relocate to the barn? Or maybe Chloe wasn't ready for that? She was always the one making the moves. She kissed him. She asked him out. Clark knew he was supposed to be taking some initiative...
"So, have you had any word from the Eradicator? Any idea when she'll be returning to check up on her breeding project?" Chloe asked.
"I have no idea," Clark said, "and to be honest, I really don't want to talk about her tonight."
"Of course not." Chloe cut a glance at him, and shrugged. "What do you want to do?"
Clark felt a nervous blush rising up his neck when inspiration struck. "Would you like to see my telescope?"
"I would love to see your telescope." Chloe grinned, barely containing the urge to quip about phallic metaphors. With the nerves that had so obviously descended on Clark, she didn't want to end their date on a negative note.
Ford sat with his back to the wall while his big sister poked her now-peeling nose under the drapes to watch Chloe and Clark swinging on the porch. "Why are we spying on them?" Ford whined.
With a succinct gesture, Luci shushed him. "Onlea sent us here for a reason, and that reason is Clark. Excuse me for being interested."
With a dramatic eye-roll, Ford ducked under the curtains and peeked too. Clark and his human girl were headed for the secluded barn across the yard. "They're leaving. Why don't we leave them alone? They probably saw your red nose and wanted some privacy."
Luci covered her long-suffering nose self-consciously. "My nose is healing. It isn't red anymore."
"You're right, it's maroon-" Ford reached out as though he was going to touch the peeling skin. "-and really flaky."
"AH!" Luci pushed her brother's hand away. "You're impossible."
"Not sure about impossible, but I am hungry." Ford shrugged and headed for the kitchen where Mrs. Kent might be cajoled out of a cookie. For a second, Luci almost followed him, but she slipped outside instead. Outside had been nearly unbearable when they first arrived on Earth, but Luci had mastered her terror of openness. She headed across the yard toward the barn, unsure of what she'd do when she got there. After slipping her fingers into the crevice of the almost-shut sliding door, someone or something grabbed her arm.
Too scared to scream, Luci spun. "Reo," she gasped. "What are you doing?"
Her gray hair twisted messily atop her head, Reo frowned. "I'm working." She pulled Luci away from the barn door. "You don't want to go in there, very stuffy."
"I don't care if it's stuffy," Luci muttered.
Reo's frown turned sly. "You are precocious, aren't you? Well, I need a hand right now, and Onlea left me in charge, so follow me and be precocious on your own time."
"She didn't leave us to be your laborers. You're supposed to be taking care of Clark and making sure he has kids." Luci smiled smugly. "I think I should tell Onlea how little you've done since she left when she gets back."
"You can tell her what you want when she gets back. I won't be here," Reo replied after a long moment. "And if you're nice, I might take you with me instead of leaving you here to be used like a valuable piece of livestock."
Eyes widening, Luci jerked her arm free. "Onlea saved our lives. She wants to protect us and take care of us. She asked for our help."
Psychology in one's own species could be hard to extrapolate. Across species, the concept became ludicrous for a layperson. Reo had no idea how Luci's adolescent mind had reasoned its way into loyalty to the Eradicator and her mission, but there it was. She didn't want to be rescued from her fate. "Fine, respect Onlea's noble mission, and let Clark get on with things. Your presence will only hinder his chances with the human. And if it's jealousy not curiosity that's plaguing you, you'll just have to learn to share. Your savior's mission doesn't leave any room for monogamy."
"You can't actually see Krypton's sun in the fall sky," Clark said. "That's the system Fro where the seat of power in the galaxy is located. That's where the Eradicator took me, to a planet called Azar."
Her eye to the telescope, Chloe tried to imagine the distances Clark had traveled in his life, Krypton to Earth, then Earth to Azar and back again. She used to think Lex was the only really well traveled Smallville resident. He didn't have anything on Clark though. "Was it amazing?"
"It was mostly terrifying that I remember."
Chloe rested her head on Clark's shoulder. "What really happened up there? You let little things slip out from time to time, about Lola or Ascension, but you've never explained. Why did she drag you out there? What did the Eradicator do to you up there?" When Clark didn't answer her, Chloe shifted nervously. "You don't have to say. You may not even remember."
"It's a long story, and I did forget a lot of it. But Lola told me most of what I missed." Clark wrapped an arm around Chloe and considered sharing that story for the first time since making it home. His amnesia was the perfect excuse not to talk about Azar and Kal-El. Maybe he wasn't ready for anyone to know about his mental clone that didn't have any memory problems...or maybe he was? "Lola was my friend. Before you get jealous, she's a blue rock, kind of like a meteor rock only low energy and not dangerous. She was a library for Krypton and a sentient being. The Eradicator bought her to Earth and we bonded on the trip to Azar."
"How do you make friends with a rock?" Chloe asked.
"How do you make friends with anyone? We talked a lot." Clark held out his hand palm up to Chloe. "Every one of my cells has a crystal in it, a battery that resonates to the energy in that rock. It's the closest friendship imaginable. You're in each other's minds."
"Now I am getting jealous," Chloe said with a laugh. "When do I get to meet her?"
"You don't. She left."
Chloe could see the muscles working in Clark's jaw, and feel the tension in his arms. "Her loss," Chloe said.
Clark looked down into Chloe's eyes and the tension melted out of him. "I'll tell you about Azar another time, okay?"
For once her unquenchable desire to know paled in comparison to something she wanted more. She wanted Clark to shut up and kiss her already. "Okay."
"How long have they been in the barn?" Martha asked.
Jonathan looked up from the hand of go fish he was playing with Ford and grinned. "Not too long. If they aren't out in another twenty minutes, I'll go turn on the spotlight and work on the tractor a bit."
Martha nodded seriously and continued rubbing the counter under the window. She was being ridiculous for worrying. Clark could take care of himself and Chloe was level headed. She was good for him.
"The counter is clean," Jonathan said. "Why don't you play a hand with us?"
"I'll go easy on you," Ford offered seriously.
Martha hung up her towel, determined to not be a hovering mother. Just because things were okay for a moment, didn't mean disaster was waiting around the corner. The Eradicator was away and everything was fine if she could just let it be. "Deal me in."
Luci paced around the pile of junk Reo had bought together and concealed under a Tostel dome. "Won't the human authorities come to investigate the energy field?"
"If they had the technology to detect it they might," Reo replied.
"Where'd you get the life-pod?" Luci pushed at the one piece of equipment that didn't look like it belonged in a scrap heap.
"I found it." Reo tapped her pad and continued her inventory.
"On a planet that can't even detect a crappy energy field?" Luci puffed up indignantly. "I bet you stole it from Onlea."
"I didn't steal it from Onlea," Reo snapped. "Now take this-" She shoved a small beeping device into Luci's hand. "-and follow me." Once outside of the energy dome, the devices vanished behind the invisible curtain Reo had constructed.
"What is this?" Luci drug her feet with every step, reluctant to help the fat unpleasant woman do anything, but equally reluctant to defy her and risk making an outright enemy of her.
"I'm looking for more spare parts. Your device is sending out waves and my device is scanning for reflections or responses." Reo tromped through the grass staring at the readout on her device.
"Why not put them together? This is stupid. Two devices when you only need one." Luci watched Reo make her ungainly way forward and quietly imagined her tripping spectacularly into a pile of animal feces.
"Yes, I could spend a day integrating the two components, or I could borrow you for a few minutes and see if there is anything else worth scavenging in the area." Reo grinned and changed directions. "Kryptonian technology, it's a faint reading, but it's there."
"It probably belongs to the only Kryptonian in the area," Luci said. "Maybe you shouldn't steal from him?"
"Clark is more human than Kryptonian. What use would he have for it? He wouldn't mind me having it, assuming it's his."
Reo was watching the readout on her device, not where she was going. Luci on the other hand was paying attention, and considered warning Reo that she was headed for a muddy hole. Instead she kept her mouth shut until three squishing steps mired the woman up to her calves. With Luci laughing her amusement, Reo groused, "I hate planets."
Chloe closed her eyes and let their kiss happen. Three kisses into their relationship, Clark was still inexperienced and tentative. She'd get him out of that soon enough. He tasted like some strange combination of cinema snack food and his toothpaste, Raisinettes and mint. Just as Chloe was wondering if Clark would go for second base, the kiss abruptly ended. Clark pulled away from her. She very specifically hadn't ordered a garlic pretzel with this part of the evening in mind. Did she taste like shrimp alfredo or something?
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked. "Are you okay?"
"No." Clark stared out into the moonless night. His face had gone stony and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. "How could they?"
"Clark?" The rush of wind that stirred her hair and ruffled her shirt, was the only goodbye she got. Clark was gone in a blink, chasing...something. Chloe stared out of the loft, simultaneously offended and worried. The Eradicator had returned? Maybe. After taking a moment to compose herself, Chloe headed back to the farmhouse to bum a ride home and let the Kents know that something was up.
