Part 3
"What the Hell!?" Pete almost screamed.
"I was sent by Dr. Virgil Swann" the man repeated "and unless you want your friends to wonder what that means I suggest you keep your voice down."
As if on cue the two boys started struggling to their feet and moving toward the stranger. Thinking fast Pete jumped to his feet.
"Hey guys, hold up. False alarm. I remember seeing Mr. Justice now. He was here when they installed all this equipment. There's no need to fight."
"What?!" The first guy yelled. "He just kicked our butts and you say 'false alarm'!"
"Yeah," Pete said walking closer to the two guys and stressing his next words, "he kicked your butts and it sure is lucky you don't have to fight him again isn't it?"
The two guys looked at each other for a second and then spoke.
"Yeah," said one of the guys "you're right. We'll go ahead and get out of his way."
"Sorry for the misunderstanding" the second guy said as the two inched around the stranger.
"You coming, Pete?"
"Huh? Pete said, "Uh, no. I think I'd better stay here and help Mr. Justice clean up."
The two boys shrugged their shoulders and after a quick look at "Mr. Justice" hurried from the room as quickly as dignity would allow them.
When they were gone Pete turned back to the stranger.
"Ok, who are you and what's going on here?"
"My name is Thomas Hunter and like I said before, I was sent by Dr. Virgil Swann."
"Who's Virgil Swann?" Pete asked.
"If you didn't know that then you wouldn't have covered for me a second ago."
Pete was quiet a few seconds before answering. "Ok, let's say for a moment that I do. Why would he send you here?"
"He thinks Clark is in danger."
"What?!" Pete asked suddenly alarmed. "How? Why?"
"A few days ago Chloe Sullivan sent an e-mail to Dr. Swann claiming that Clark Kent was missing. She also implied that she knew certain things about Clark and was aware of his relationship with Dr. Swann. Swann told me that as far as he knew no one outside of Clark's parents with the possible exception of one person knew about their connection. He said that he didn't know the name of that other person, but Clark had called him his "best friend" and definitely used a masculine pronoun when talking about him."
"That's how you knew hearing Swann's name would stop me," Pete said.
"Yes. I was able to read though a few of Sullivan's files before you and your friends interrupted me. She had a fairly in depth profile of you and she identified you has Clark's "best friend." That plus how you reacted to hearing Swann's name convinced me that you were the one Clark was talking about."
"Chloe has a profile about me on her computer?"
"Yes, you, Lana Lang, and the Kents as well as a various number of individuals whose names I recognize from local news as being involved in some criminal investigations."
"Why would she have files on all of us?"
"Apparently she's been conducting an investigation of Clark for Lionel Luthor."
"You must be kidding. Chloe working for Luthor? There's got to be some kind of mistake. Chloe loves Clark. She wouldn't do anything to hurt him."
"I don't know about the love part, but I don't see a lot of room for mistakes. When Swann got her e-mail he became suspicious. He sent back a reply denying any knowledge or connection to Clark. Attached to it was a virus of Swann's own design. It was supposed to ferret out any information she had on her computer in regards to Clark, what happened instead was the virus was attacked by some type of security system. It shouldn't have been vulnerable to just any run of the meal anti-virus program. The information it sent back to Swann described a fairly high tech program that's not available to high school newspapers. A couple of days later Swann's system came under attack by hackers unknown and a couple of unknown gentlemen even came for a personal visit. When Swann didn't allow them entry they tried to force their way in but were stopped by Swann's own security."
"That could just be a coincidence," said Pete.
"The only common denominator in these incidents," Thomas replied "is Chloe Sullivan."
"I still say Chloe wouldn't have anything to do with Luthor," Pete insisted.
Thomas sighed and pulled out his laptop, put it on the desk and turned it on.
"I downloaded the contents of her hard drive. Take a look. The password is "pinkisstupid"."
Pete's head came up with a strange look on his face, but said nothing. He turned to the computer and after opening the folder started to read.
"I can't believe this," he whispered. "She's been playing us all for fools. I remember all of these conversations. I thought they were kind of strange at the time, but hey, Chloe goes for strange. All this time I was feeling sorry for her and she was just trying to pump me for information."
"You and others apparently. Doesn't look like she got a lot from you or the Lang girl, but the transcripts of her conversations with some of the others are nothing if not interesting."
"We need to tell the Kents," Pete said suddenly. "They're worried sick about Clark and it's hard telling how Chloe might play them if they aren't thinking clearly."
"Good point," Thomas replied. "Come on, I'll drive and I'll need you to introduce me."
**************************
Twenty minutes later they were at the Kent Farm. Jonathan Kent answered the door and was a bit startled to see Pete with a stranger.
"Pete, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?"
"This is Thomas Hunter, Mr. Kent. He works for Dr. Swann and says Clark might be in some danger."
"What kind of danger?" Martha Kent said rushing out from the kitchen.
"Hold on, Martha," Jonathan said. "Listen, Mr. Justice. I'm not sure who you are, but how do you know anything about Clark?"
"He knows, Mr. Kent," Pete interrupted. "Dr. Swann told him about Clark."
Jonathan and Martha looked at each other for a moment before Jonathan spoke.
"I'm not sure exactly what Dr. Swann thinks he knows about Clark, but."
"Clark's an extraterrestrial from a planet called Krypton. His real name is Kal-El and his parents sent him to Earth to escape some type of danger."
Thomas' matter of fact recitation left everyone in the room a bit stunned.
"Listen, Mr. and Mrs. Kent," he continued, "if we waste our time dancing around trying to find out what the other one knows we'll never get anywhere. Dr. Swann believes Clark may be in danger and the information I have uncovered shows that he's probably right."
"I thought Swann was going to keep Clark's secrets," Martha said.
"He would have ma'am, but when he came to believe that Clark was in danger he needed help and had to confide in me to get it. I don't like to go into things blind."
"You work for Dr. Swann?" Jonathan asked.
"I'm more of a student," Thomas replied. "I was with Swann to learn about communication systems from the best. He knew I had certain other talents and appeared to be the best suited to help out with this."
"That's all very well and good Mr. Hunter," Jonathan said "but you're in possession of information that could place this family in every bit as much danger as you seem to think its in already."
"I know something about secrets, Mr. Kent. That's why Dr. Swann knew he could trust me. I have no interest in Clark or his origins. The last thing I would do is endanger your family. I won't ask you to trust me because I know exactly how ridiculous that would sound if I were in your shoes. All I can do is demonstrate my intentions though my actions. I want nothing from you or Clark. I only want to help."
He held out his hand then and after a moment of meeting Jonathan's unwavering gaze with one of his own Jonathan took the hand in a firm handshake.
"Ok, what do you know about Clark?"
******************************
Thomas outlined the same story for the Kents that he had for Pete earlier and they were just as equally shocked to hear of Chloe's involvement.
"I can't believe Chloe would turn on Clark just for the chance to get a column in The Planet," Martha said.
"She was real mad at Clark just before he left, Mrs. Kent," Pete said. "She was having some trouble with Clark being with Lana."
"Hell hath no fury," Thomas mummered.
"What should we do?" Martha asked.
"Well, first of all I understand from Pete that Clark is indeed missing and he told me a little of why he left. He says that all of you and Lana Lang have been working on the assumption that Clark is somewhere in Metropolis."
"Yes," replied Martha "there have been some reports of someone with incredible powers running around the city and it has to be Clark."
"Is that why you didn't file a missing person's report?"
"Partially," said Jonathan "but mostly because as long as Clark wears that red kryptonite ring it would be too dangerous for anyone to confront him."
"Red kryptonite ring? What are you talking about?"
"Pete didn't explain that part? Before he left Clark was feeling so guilty about everything that he put on a class ring that had a red meteor rock as the setting. We think that this rock is from his home planet like the green ones only this one makes him arrogant and uncaring. He put it on so he wouldn't feel the pain and guilt he was suffering."
"Even though it obviously causes him to not care about bringing pain and suffering to others," Thomas said.
"No," Martha said quickly, "you don't understand. Clark's a good boy. He only did what he did to begin with because he wanted to keep pain and suffering from happening to everyone he loves. He truly believed he was saving everyone. He's just confused now and the ring makes it worse."
"You said that this type of stone makes him arrogant and uncaring. What does the green ones do to him?"
Martha looked at Jonathan before answering. "It might be the only way to stop him Jonathan. The only way to bring him home."
"He has some type of allergy to them," Jonathan said. "They make him weak. It was the only way we were able to get the red ring away from him last time."
"Do you have one around here?" Thomas asked. "I may need it when I find him."
"I'll hold on to it if you don't mind," Jonathan replied. "If you find him, call me and I'll take care of my son."
Thomas paused in thought for a moment before answering, "Whatever you wish, Mr. Kent, but if half of the things I read about Clark in Ms. Sullivan's files are true then you may not be able to handle him alone."
"Wait," Martha said, "Dr. Swann didn't tell you about Clark's abilities?"
"If he knows he kept it to himself. He just told me about Clark's alien origins and how he came to be on Earth, nothing else. You may want to fill me in so I can at least protect myself if it comes to it."
Jonathan and Martha looked at each other once again, but finally told Thomas all they knew about Clark's abilities. When they were finished the four of them sat down at the kitchen table and begin to develop a plan as to how to proceed from there.
"Sullivan's obviously trying to get all of the information that she can about Clark. We need to see to it that she begins to have some reasonable doubts about her findings." Thomas said. "Anyone have any ideas about that?"
"Yeah," Pete said, "I've been kind of avoiding her lately because the last couple of times I was with her she started asking some questions about Clark that struck too close to home. I could let her "find" me again and ask some more. I think I know a couple of ways to throw her off the scent. Make her start doubting her findings."
"And I need to get rid of that hole in the backyard where the cellar used to be," Jonathan added.
"Good," Thomas said, "I'll follow her tomorrow to see where else she goes and then I'll look into finding a way to locate Clark."
"Do you think you can?" Martha asked.
"No man is an island, Mrs. Kent. If Clark is in Metropolis then someone has seen him. And if someone has seen him then it's only a matter of finding that person and making them talk. And trust me, I can make people talk."
End Part 3
"What the Hell!?" Pete almost screamed.
"I was sent by Dr. Virgil Swann" the man repeated "and unless you want your friends to wonder what that means I suggest you keep your voice down."
As if on cue the two boys started struggling to their feet and moving toward the stranger. Thinking fast Pete jumped to his feet.
"Hey guys, hold up. False alarm. I remember seeing Mr. Justice now. He was here when they installed all this equipment. There's no need to fight."
"What?!" The first guy yelled. "He just kicked our butts and you say 'false alarm'!"
"Yeah," Pete said walking closer to the two guys and stressing his next words, "he kicked your butts and it sure is lucky you don't have to fight him again isn't it?"
The two guys looked at each other for a second and then spoke.
"Yeah," said one of the guys "you're right. We'll go ahead and get out of his way."
"Sorry for the misunderstanding" the second guy said as the two inched around the stranger.
"You coming, Pete?"
"Huh? Pete said, "Uh, no. I think I'd better stay here and help Mr. Justice clean up."
The two boys shrugged their shoulders and after a quick look at "Mr. Justice" hurried from the room as quickly as dignity would allow them.
When they were gone Pete turned back to the stranger.
"Ok, who are you and what's going on here?"
"My name is Thomas Hunter and like I said before, I was sent by Dr. Virgil Swann."
"Who's Virgil Swann?" Pete asked.
"If you didn't know that then you wouldn't have covered for me a second ago."
Pete was quiet a few seconds before answering. "Ok, let's say for a moment that I do. Why would he send you here?"
"He thinks Clark is in danger."
"What?!" Pete asked suddenly alarmed. "How? Why?"
"A few days ago Chloe Sullivan sent an e-mail to Dr. Swann claiming that Clark Kent was missing. She also implied that she knew certain things about Clark and was aware of his relationship with Dr. Swann. Swann told me that as far as he knew no one outside of Clark's parents with the possible exception of one person knew about their connection. He said that he didn't know the name of that other person, but Clark had called him his "best friend" and definitely used a masculine pronoun when talking about him."
"That's how you knew hearing Swann's name would stop me," Pete said.
"Yes. I was able to read though a few of Sullivan's files before you and your friends interrupted me. She had a fairly in depth profile of you and she identified you has Clark's "best friend." That plus how you reacted to hearing Swann's name convinced me that you were the one Clark was talking about."
"Chloe has a profile about me on her computer?"
"Yes, you, Lana Lang, and the Kents as well as a various number of individuals whose names I recognize from local news as being involved in some criminal investigations."
"Why would she have files on all of us?"
"Apparently she's been conducting an investigation of Clark for Lionel Luthor."
"You must be kidding. Chloe working for Luthor? There's got to be some kind of mistake. Chloe loves Clark. She wouldn't do anything to hurt him."
"I don't know about the love part, but I don't see a lot of room for mistakes. When Swann got her e-mail he became suspicious. He sent back a reply denying any knowledge or connection to Clark. Attached to it was a virus of Swann's own design. It was supposed to ferret out any information she had on her computer in regards to Clark, what happened instead was the virus was attacked by some type of security system. It shouldn't have been vulnerable to just any run of the meal anti-virus program. The information it sent back to Swann described a fairly high tech program that's not available to high school newspapers. A couple of days later Swann's system came under attack by hackers unknown and a couple of unknown gentlemen even came for a personal visit. When Swann didn't allow them entry they tried to force their way in but were stopped by Swann's own security."
"That could just be a coincidence," said Pete.
"The only common denominator in these incidents," Thomas replied "is Chloe Sullivan."
"I still say Chloe wouldn't have anything to do with Luthor," Pete insisted.
Thomas sighed and pulled out his laptop, put it on the desk and turned it on.
"I downloaded the contents of her hard drive. Take a look. The password is "pinkisstupid"."
Pete's head came up with a strange look on his face, but said nothing. He turned to the computer and after opening the folder started to read.
"I can't believe this," he whispered. "She's been playing us all for fools. I remember all of these conversations. I thought they were kind of strange at the time, but hey, Chloe goes for strange. All this time I was feeling sorry for her and she was just trying to pump me for information."
"You and others apparently. Doesn't look like she got a lot from you or the Lang girl, but the transcripts of her conversations with some of the others are nothing if not interesting."
"We need to tell the Kents," Pete said suddenly. "They're worried sick about Clark and it's hard telling how Chloe might play them if they aren't thinking clearly."
"Good point," Thomas replied. "Come on, I'll drive and I'll need you to introduce me."
**************************
Twenty minutes later they were at the Kent Farm. Jonathan Kent answered the door and was a bit startled to see Pete with a stranger.
"Pete, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?"
"This is Thomas Hunter, Mr. Kent. He works for Dr. Swann and says Clark might be in some danger."
"What kind of danger?" Martha Kent said rushing out from the kitchen.
"Hold on, Martha," Jonathan said. "Listen, Mr. Justice. I'm not sure who you are, but how do you know anything about Clark?"
"He knows, Mr. Kent," Pete interrupted. "Dr. Swann told him about Clark."
Jonathan and Martha looked at each other for a moment before Jonathan spoke.
"I'm not sure exactly what Dr. Swann thinks he knows about Clark, but."
"Clark's an extraterrestrial from a planet called Krypton. His real name is Kal-El and his parents sent him to Earth to escape some type of danger."
Thomas' matter of fact recitation left everyone in the room a bit stunned.
"Listen, Mr. and Mrs. Kent," he continued, "if we waste our time dancing around trying to find out what the other one knows we'll never get anywhere. Dr. Swann believes Clark may be in danger and the information I have uncovered shows that he's probably right."
"I thought Swann was going to keep Clark's secrets," Martha said.
"He would have ma'am, but when he came to believe that Clark was in danger he needed help and had to confide in me to get it. I don't like to go into things blind."
"You work for Dr. Swann?" Jonathan asked.
"I'm more of a student," Thomas replied. "I was with Swann to learn about communication systems from the best. He knew I had certain other talents and appeared to be the best suited to help out with this."
"That's all very well and good Mr. Hunter," Jonathan said "but you're in possession of information that could place this family in every bit as much danger as you seem to think its in already."
"I know something about secrets, Mr. Kent. That's why Dr. Swann knew he could trust me. I have no interest in Clark or his origins. The last thing I would do is endanger your family. I won't ask you to trust me because I know exactly how ridiculous that would sound if I were in your shoes. All I can do is demonstrate my intentions though my actions. I want nothing from you or Clark. I only want to help."
He held out his hand then and after a moment of meeting Jonathan's unwavering gaze with one of his own Jonathan took the hand in a firm handshake.
"Ok, what do you know about Clark?"
******************************
Thomas outlined the same story for the Kents that he had for Pete earlier and they were just as equally shocked to hear of Chloe's involvement.
"I can't believe Chloe would turn on Clark just for the chance to get a column in The Planet," Martha said.
"She was real mad at Clark just before he left, Mrs. Kent," Pete said. "She was having some trouble with Clark being with Lana."
"Hell hath no fury," Thomas mummered.
"What should we do?" Martha asked.
"Well, first of all I understand from Pete that Clark is indeed missing and he told me a little of why he left. He says that all of you and Lana Lang have been working on the assumption that Clark is somewhere in Metropolis."
"Yes," replied Martha "there have been some reports of someone with incredible powers running around the city and it has to be Clark."
"Is that why you didn't file a missing person's report?"
"Partially," said Jonathan "but mostly because as long as Clark wears that red kryptonite ring it would be too dangerous for anyone to confront him."
"Red kryptonite ring? What are you talking about?"
"Pete didn't explain that part? Before he left Clark was feeling so guilty about everything that he put on a class ring that had a red meteor rock as the setting. We think that this rock is from his home planet like the green ones only this one makes him arrogant and uncaring. He put it on so he wouldn't feel the pain and guilt he was suffering."
"Even though it obviously causes him to not care about bringing pain and suffering to others," Thomas said.
"No," Martha said quickly, "you don't understand. Clark's a good boy. He only did what he did to begin with because he wanted to keep pain and suffering from happening to everyone he loves. He truly believed he was saving everyone. He's just confused now and the ring makes it worse."
"You said that this type of stone makes him arrogant and uncaring. What does the green ones do to him?"
Martha looked at Jonathan before answering. "It might be the only way to stop him Jonathan. The only way to bring him home."
"He has some type of allergy to them," Jonathan said. "They make him weak. It was the only way we were able to get the red ring away from him last time."
"Do you have one around here?" Thomas asked. "I may need it when I find him."
"I'll hold on to it if you don't mind," Jonathan replied. "If you find him, call me and I'll take care of my son."
Thomas paused in thought for a moment before answering, "Whatever you wish, Mr. Kent, but if half of the things I read about Clark in Ms. Sullivan's files are true then you may not be able to handle him alone."
"Wait," Martha said, "Dr. Swann didn't tell you about Clark's abilities?"
"If he knows he kept it to himself. He just told me about Clark's alien origins and how he came to be on Earth, nothing else. You may want to fill me in so I can at least protect myself if it comes to it."
Jonathan and Martha looked at each other once again, but finally told Thomas all they knew about Clark's abilities. When they were finished the four of them sat down at the kitchen table and begin to develop a plan as to how to proceed from there.
"Sullivan's obviously trying to get all of the information that she can about Clark. We need to see to it that she begins to have some reasonable doubts about her findings." Thomas said. "Anyone have any ideas about that?"
"Yeah," Pete said, "I've been kind of avoiding her lately because the last couple of times I was with her she started asking some questions about Clark that struck too close to home. I could let her "find" me again and ask some more. I think I know a couple of ways to throw her off the scent. Make her start doubting her findings."
"And I need to get rid of that hole in the backyard where the cellar used to be," Jonathan added.
"Good," Thomas said, "I'll follow her tomorrow to see where else she goes and then I'll look into finding a way to locate Clark."
"Do you think you can?" Martha asked.
"No man is an island, Mrs. Kent. If Clark is in Metropolis then someone has seen him. And if someone has seen him then it's only a matter of finding that person and making them talk. And trust me, I can make people talk."
End Part 3