Chapter 9- Bits and Pieces

A/N- I got into a small quandary which you'll see at the end of this chapter.  Which way it ends will have a small impact in the rest of the story.  Instead of flipping a coin I thought I'd bounce it at my readers to see how you prefer this chapter to end.   Now for the bullet…

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

MEANWHILE…

Adam and Lex walked a short distance from Lex's car into the LexCorp plant.  The DoubleHelix had been quickly and quietly retrieved by Lex's people and brought to a special section there.  Lex checked his watch.  It was nearly noon.  Shalimar, Emma and Clark joined them silently as they walked across the parking lot.  A wiry man with close cropped gray-hair, standing at about Adam's height met them at the door with a cheery greeting and led them into the laboratory.  

Lex motioned toward his employee.  "This is Mr. Queu, our lead-researcher in innovations to the everyday conveniences of modern living."

Adam was struck by a sense of familiarity from this man and nodding courteously at the older man asked, "Do I know you from somewhere, sir?"

The grey-haired man stepped closely to Adam, studied him with amused dark eyes, and grinned widely.  "YOU certainly look familiar, Dr. Kane," he replied with a pleasant tenor voice containing a distinct British accent.  He turned to Lex.

"What do you have for us, Mr. Queu?"  Lex asked.  Turning to Adam, Lex added, "We acquired Mr. Queu a couple months ago.  He's a brilliant scientist with a knack for forensics."  Queu smiled modestly at the compliment.

Adam could see the Double Helix in a holding area in the rear of the industrial Laboratory.  The left wing which had sheared off from the main body of the craft had been retrieved and was lying to the side on the floor.  Aside from the gaping hole in its side, the craft seemed in remarkably good shape considering its fall from the sky.

The man bustled about happily.  Motioning to a microscope on the nearby benchtop, he said, "If you will look in the scope, you'll see the cause of your craft's misfortune."

Adam saw what initially seemed to be a bullet in a shallow glass dish on the stage of the microscope.  Closer examination through the scope showed unusual slotted channels in the sides of the small projectile, most of which had been crushed or distorted, but there were still a couple that had recognizable markings.  Adam adjusted the instrument for a closer look at the channels.  Mr. Queu placed a set of fine forceps into Adam's waiting hand and allowed him to move the bullet around.

"I thought you would be interested in the channels.  I believe there are still some of the contents left, although, you will probably see it better in this."  He handed Adam a small flat glass dish that had a tiny sliver of metal lying in the bottom.  Adam replaced the bullet specimen with the metal sample.  Mr. Queu set the small dish with the bullet and the forceps on a glass plate, set it aside and walked toward the Double Helix.

Mr. Queu explained, "the bullet was shot toward the front of the aircraft."  He pointed at the the gaping hole where the left wing had been.  "It impacted here."  Queu indicated a tiny mark that was about one third the distance from the front of the wing.  "The force of the impact opened the 'bullet's' channels and its contents fanned out in the direction of the wind resistance, along the length of the wing."  The man traced a line with his pointer along the length of the bottom of the wing where it was attached to the cabin.  "The channels contained nanoprobes, which are microscopic robots.  These have a limited life span once outside of their protective casing and were designed to eat away at metallic surfaces.  Glass, plastic, and flesh seem unaffected by them.  The nanoprobes ate away at the VTOL's wing and created a seam which quickly became unstable.  The wind pressure against the wing of your craft traveling in the air at high speed did the rest.  The wing sheared off.  If it had impacted closer to the tip of the craft…"  his voice trailed off and he gave Adam a meaningful look.

"The cabin's structural integrity would have been compromised instead and it could have exploded."  Adam finished.

"Your people are very fortunate to be alive.  Whoever shot this missile was well trained and well situated.  They apparently knew exactly where and at what angle to shoot."

Adam nodded his thanks.  Their adversaries had to have been extremely well prepared to have zeroed in on the cloaked Double Helix.  He peered intently at the metal piece under the scope.   Mr. Queu took a glass dropper and placed a drop of liquid so that it touched the metal piece. 

"Dr. Kane, you should realize that the metal is a small piece that was taken from the hull of your aircraft.  I placed a drop of water containing three of the nanoprobes near the metal.  If you will turn the magnification up to 1000, you will see that these little fellows are still active."

Adam's eyes widened in amazement.  He looked up at Mr. Queu.

"Hey, let me get a look at that,"  Lex told Adam, who wordlessly surrendered to scope to their benefactor.  Lex looked into the eyepiece and saw the chunk of metal had developed etchings and ridges that seemed to grow deeper every few seconds.  Suddenly, the piece of metal cleaved into three pieces.

"Did you see the nanoprobe?"  he asked his employee.

"You will need a much higher power magnification to see more detail.  Under this scope, the nanoprobes look like small dots."  Mr. Queu answered.  A small metallic clang from the first plate caught everyone's attention as the needle-like ends of the forceps fell off from the body of the forceps and fell into the plate.

"I lose more tools to these critters,"  the older man said casually.

"Can we neutralize these things?"  Adam asked.

"Our analysis show that the bullet containing the nanoprobes was not totally metal, but an advanced form of plastic-gold alloy.  Extreme heat destroys them and extreme cold seem to inactivate them.  Glass and plastic also shield against them.  They are apparently programmed to destabilize, or eat a certain amount of metallic substance."

Clark considered the information thoughtfully.  "But how would you know that?" he asked.

Mr. Queue shrugged nonchalantly.  "I zeroed in on the broken wing once we had the VTOL in here.  The etchings and condition of the metal at the opening were a dead giveaway to the experienced eye of the presence of nanoprobes.  I quickly found the bullet imbedded in the side of the craft and spent the last few hours studying the little fellows under different conditions.  The fact that the VTOL is still here is proof that the nanoprobe consumption is limited.  I've measured the amount of metal a precise amount of nanoprobes can consume.  It appears that each one can destabilize 10.5 grams of metal."

"That's an admirable study you performed on such short notice," Adam complimented.  Mr. Queu nodded, accepting the compliment.

"The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Kane,"  he replied.  A tiny beep sounded and the man opened his scheduler.  "Excuse me sir," he said deferentially to Lex.  "It seems I have a shipment to supervise.  Would you and your guests care to join me?"

Lex shook his head.  "It's in good hands.  My guests need to check out their aircraft.  I'll lock up after we're finished here.  Thank you for your help."  Mr. Queu nodded his acknowledgement.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesse woke up in a darkened rumbling compartment with a pounding headache.  Pain seared through the back of his skull.  He could hear the girls talking in low voices.

"It's slowing down and we have nothing to lose,"  Chloe was saying. 

"Hey, that may be true for you…."  Lana retorted.

"What's going on?" Jesse rasped.

"Oh thank god he's alive,"  Lana said.

"Where's the others?"  Jesse asked.

Dr. Bryce spoke up in the darkness.  "It appears that we're a little tied up.  We can walk but the motion of this vehicle and the pitch darkness makes it a little difficult.  Our hands are bound behind us.  They took all of us.  I haven't heard a sound from you men until now.  We were afraid you might have been dead or seriously injured since it appeared that they shot you at close range in the back of the skull.  Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Jesse sighed heavily.  It wasn't fair for these innocent bystanders to become involved in this mess.  He wondered how much he should let them know.  It could mean the difference between life and death.  He felt for his com-ring.  It had been removed.  Jesse focused past the blinding pain.  His hands were tied together behind his back, but his feet were free.  He felt a body lying next to him.

"Hey,"  Jesse nudged the body gently with his leg.  The man groaned.  "Brennan?  Frank?  Wake up,"  Jesse said.

"We're stopping," Lana said.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Back at the LexCorp laboratory, Emma motioned Adam away from Lex while Clark asked him a question.  Her face was pale, her eyes glassy.

"Em, are you ok?"  Adam asked, concerned.

"I think I just got a hit off Jesse.  He's in great pain and is somewhere dark.  I can't get a location.  Everything is black."  The Telempath told him, holding her head.

"Anything on Brennan?"  Shalimar asked, her brown eyes registering concern.

Emma's eyes had a faraway look as she focused in on the sickening pain.  "I'm not picking up Brennan.  I fear that something terrible is happening."

Suddenly Lex's cell phone rang.  "Hello?"  he said.

"Listen real good," a brusque voice on the other end told him.  "You and your Mutant friends have friends that are going to die if any of you try to leave."

 "Pardon me?"  Lex replied, surprised.

"You heard me."  The phone clicked and the connection was broken.  Lex Luthor blinked thoughtfully still staring at his phone, trying to understand the strange message.

"You look as if you just got a strange call, Lex."  Clark said, having heard every word with his super hearing.

"Yeah.  You could say that,"  Lex replied looking thoughtfully at Adam, Shalimar and Emma.  Shalimar looked up at him, sensing his sudden fear and suspicion.

Approaching the Mutant X team, Lex demanded, "Tell me what's going on. What do you know about Mutants?"

Adam looked sharply at Lex, his mysterious dark eyes searching the lighter hazel ones that seemed to have a tremendous capacity for knowing. 

"I just got a strange call," Lex continuted, studying the faces of his guests.  "The voice on the other end said, 'you and your Mutant friends have friends that will die if we try to leave.'   If this is not a prank call, then someone is in serious danger." 

"Brennan and Jesse are in the hospital,"  Emma said thoughtfully.

"Helen and Frank would undoubtedly be there by now," Lex added, looking concerned.  Looking at Clark, he asked, "Were any of your friends headed toward the hospital today?"

Clark thought for a moment.  "Chloe said she had a potential lead story.  She and Lana would be checking it out…"  his voice trailed.  His eyes had a worried look.

Shalimar immediately began to pace around the laboratory, trying the doors.  Everything was locked.  Emma started casting her mind outward, looking for signs of the presence of others.

"Do you think the…Tribunal has something to do with this?"  Clark asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Adam replied gravely.

"I want you to tell me about yourself and your friends."  Lex said forcefully, his expression indicating that refusal was not an option.  Adam sat a table.  Lex did the same. 

"Mutants as you know, are people with various deviations from the expected course of nature,"  Adam began.  Lex nodded and his hand went unconsciously to his bald head.

Adam continued.  "I worked years ago for a biogenetics firm.  We had developed a protocol to save lives of countless numbers of children who had fatal diseases.  It involved splicing the child's DNA with that of a corresponding life form that had properties that could counteract the disease.  We were successful,"  Adam said, a faraway look in his eyes.

"But,"  Lex prompted the older man.

Adam sighed and shook his head.   "An unpredicted and unknown side effect to the therapy occurred years later.  Our patients started showing strange abilities.  In brief, they showed any one of the following properties:  super physical powers, Psionic abilites of various kinds, ability to channel elemental properties through their bodies, and ability to alter molecular structure in various ways.  These young men and women were gifted with extraordinary powers, but society in its wisdom chose to persecute them.  I've created an organization to help these people understand what is happening to their bodies and to create a way to help them blend back into society."

Lex glanced at Shalimar.  "Is she a Mutant?  Or is she the highly trained government agent that she claimed to be earlier?  What about Emma?  And what are you, Adam?"

"I'm a scientist."  Adam said quietly.  "My people are not weapons, although they are trained to defend themselves and those who are weak and defenseless.  They have special gifts although not of their choosing and have chosen to use them as needed for the benefit of the human race.  I hope that eventually there will be acceptance of their gifts."  Adam looked at Lex, then at Clark.

"I'm ok with the concept,"  Lex answered, looking at Clark questioningly.

Clark looked down and sighed.  "Yeah," he answered, feigning reluctance.   "I can accept these people."

Emma gasped softly.  "They're being moved.  Jesse is in great pain.  Frank is there too, also in pain.  They feel very near."  The red-head closed her eyes.  Tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks.  As Adam placed a protective arm around her shoulders, Lex stepped closer to Emma and looked intently into her face. 

"Psionic."  Lex said softly, understanding.

Suddenly Emma's eyes opened, they had changed from her normal gray to jet black.  Lex's mouth dropped open in surprise at Emma's sudden change in eye color.  She appeared to be staring through him.  "No Lex, it's poisoned!"  she said urgently.  Looking around wildly, her gaze rested on Clark for a moment, then to Lex, then back to Clark.  Her face contorted with sorrow and she looked away. 

"Emma, what's wrong?"  Clark asked.

Emma took a deep breath and stared at Shalimar.  "Naxcon."  She shook her head and sobbed. 

Adam took her gently by the shoulders.  "Emma, snap out of it."

Emma froze at Adam's touch and stared through him.  "The Tribunal awaits us ADam."  She said in a low voice, her inflections a perfect imitation of Mason Eckhart's voice.  Adam exchanged concerned glances with Shalimar.

"EMMA!"  Adam urgently whispered.  "Focus on the present.  Be here with me, now."

Emma stirred, the struggle showing on her face.

"Breathe, Emma" Shalimar said gently.  "Remember how we practiced in the Dojo?"

"Stay with us, Emma" Adam told her, stroking her hair.

"You're not related to them but you really care about them, don't you?"  Lex said softly to Adam.

"They are my family, my children," Adam replied.  Lex tightened his lips, wishing he had a father like Adam.

Emma quickly regained her composure.  Shalimar and Adam hugged her and welcomed her back. 

"You weren't out for as long this time,"  Adam told her.

"Thank goodness,"  Emma breathed fervently.  "I wish I knew what was happening.  I look into someone and there are so many images….I feel like I'm jumping dimensions or universes.  I need to decompress."

"That's going to have to wait, I'm afraid."  Adam replied.  "Something triggered these episodes- maybe Jesse's pain, perhaps you're evolving, but it looks like you have a better handle on it than you had the last time.  We're depending on you to be here now."  Adam hugged the red-headed telempath and kissed the top of her head.  Adam then strode to the Double Helix, motioning the others to follow him.  The door had been left opened by the research team.  He went directly to the driver's seat and pushed at a hidden console button.  Despite the crumpled console, the compartment door clicked open.  Adam pulled out 2 revolvers with refills and tossed one to Lex.  Clark shook his head.  Emma and Shalimar smiled sweetly.  Holding the revolver close to his body,  Adam squeezed back out of the DoubleHelix.  Looking around at the layout of the lab, he selected a strategic area near the holding area that had visual access to the rest of the lab yet shielded the small group from potential stray bullets.

"As soon as they begin entering, we'll have to knock them off then use their access to see if we can trace the rest of our party," Adam said quietly.  "We use these only if we have to."  Adam said, looking at his gun.

ALTERNATE ENDING #1

In a building not far from the plant, a tall, wiry grey-haired man smiled then carefully peeled the mask from his head, exposing leaner features and short dark wavy hair.  The man exchanged his lab coat for a white leather trench coat while watching the activities of Adam, Lex and friends from his monitor.  He paused for a moment allowing the emotion to pass out of him and then gravely placed the white-haired wig on his head and carefully smoothed the plastic skin membrane over his face.  Next he donned black leather gloves and put on a pair of dark-framed glasses.  He sighed.  Dropping his voice to a lower pitch, he dialed his cell phone.  "Initiate phase three,"  he said.

ALTERNATE ENDING #2

Wild maniacal eyes observed Adam, Lex, Clark, Shalimar and Emma from a monitor.  The eyes stared fixedly at Emma while she had her episode, unable to discern what was happening to her, then narrowed malevolently as Adam and Lex took on the guns.  The eyes had an insane, unblinking quality about them as they studied their prey in the lab. The Justice donned a dark robe as he observed the small group in the monitor.  It was time.  Pulling out his cell phone, the man said in a curt British accent, "Initiate phase three."