The Black Coats

Written By: The Ascended Ancient

Chapter II: "New Arrivals"

In rural Smallville, the home of the Kent family is just one of many local farms. It's not that unique. There's a house, a barn, and fields.

It's to this innocuous piece of land that Clark Kent races to at super-sonic speeds. Slowing down as he approaches the house, he notices a humvee in the driveway. The tall, dark-haired teen cautiously opens the front door of his house and steps inside.

"Mom?" Clark calls.

"In here, Clark," Martha Kent replies. Clark walks around a corner and sees his mom and dad sitting at the kitchen table with another man. Clark's eyes widen in surprise when he recognizes him. It's Lieutenant General Sam Lane.

"Well," Clark says, "what brings you here, general?"

"Well, I was passing through town," Sam begins, "and I had to stop by and thank you guys for everything you did for Lois while she was in town."

"And as we keep telling you," Martha says, "it was no big deal."

"Even so," the general continues, "I'll be in town for a few weeks. If there's anything I can do for you, just give me a call. Ok?"

"Of course," Jonathan Kent agrees.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, thank you for the coffe, but I think it's time for me to go." General Lane gets up and walks towards the door.

"Have a safe trip, general," Jonathan calls after him.

"Please, call me Sam." The general opens the door and steps out. The moment he's gone, Clark turns to his parents.

"What was that all about?" Clark asks.

"What do you mean, son?" Mr. Kent asks.

"Look, Lois and I talked a lot about her dad," Clark explains, "and the one thing I got the impression he doesn't do is drop by for a cup of coffe."

"Well, we did help out his daughter while she was here, Clark," Martha tells him. "Maybe he just wanted to thank us?"

"Maybe," Clark admits. The look on his face shows that he doesn't believe this.

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The next day, the bell rings in Smallville High. As it does, Chloe Sullivan, Smallville's aspiring reporter, walks towards the office of the Torch. The Torch is her own little newspaper. Actually, it's the school's newspaper, but with the amount of work she's put into it it's become her own.

As Chloe steps into the room, she sees Clark Kent, one of her fellow reporters, hard at work on one of her iMacs.

"Well, you're here early," Chloe comments. She walks over and looks over his shoulder. "Why are you browsing military websites?"

"Your uncle Sam showed up at my house for a cup of coffe yesterday," Clark tells her.

"You're kidding, right?" Chloe asks.

"No, I'm not," Clark tells her. "I'm trying to find out if there's any kind of unusual military activity in this area, but so far I'm coming up with nothing."

"That's 'cause you're not going to find anything on an open server," Chloe explains. "Here, let me."

Clark stands up and Chloe takes his seat.

"If anything's going on here," Chloe explains as she goes to work, "they'll probably have something about it on a secure message board." She presses a couple of buttons, and a military message board comes up on the screen.

"Wait, you're hacking into a secure military server?" Clark asks.

"Yep," the young reporter replies as she scrolls down the page. "Huh."

"What's 'huh'?" Clark asks.

"Two days ago someone calling himself "Uncle Sam" posted a warning to anyone with family in Smallville," Chloe tells him. Clark leans in for a better look as Chloe reads what's on the screen.

"'The Black Coats are coming. Get your families out.'"

"Cryptic, huh?" Clark comments. "I wonder what he's talking about."

"I don't know," Chloe tells him. "But last night my uncle shows up at my place telling my dad to get out of town."

"Whoa," Clark says. "What'd your dad say?"

"He told him that he wasn't going to jeopardize his new job by leaving town right now," Chloe explains. "And that didn't sit too well with Uncle Sam."

"Well, I guess we should keep an eye out," Clark says. "Knowing this town, whatever this thing is can't be good."

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Later that night, having finally finished the editing of the latest issue of the Torch, Chloe Sullivan walks through the parking lot of Smallville High to her car. As she reaches the vehicle, she notices a man running towards her.

"Chloe Sullivan!" the man calls out.

"Yeah," Chloe replies.

"Thank god I found you," the man tells her as he walks up to the young journalist. "The principal told me you were leaving, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to catch up to you."

"Who are you?" Chloe asks him.

"My name is Joshua Hammond," the man replies, "and I am very interested in your work."

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In the town of Smallville, one of the top teen hangouts is the Talon, a local coffee shop. The Talon, currently run by Martha Kent, is a place where a good portion of the student body goes at some point in time after school.

This evening, at a table in the Talon, Chloe Sullivan and Joshua Hammond are continuing their conversation from the parking lot over some delicious lattés.

"You have got to be kidding me," Chloe tells him with a laugh. "You came all the way from Metropolis just to find me?"

"Of course," Josh tells her. "I read some of your work about the effects that the meteor shower has had on the people of Smallville and I had to come."

"Ah, so your a big fan of the unusual, huh?" Chloe asks.

"Not usually," the blonde man admits. "But your stories are more than the average supernatural fairytales. They're well-researched, and proof of what you're talking about isn't hard to find on my own. Even the most crazy-sounding of your stories had hard facts backing them up." He takes a deep breath. "Miss Sullivan..."

"Please, call me Chloe."

"Well, Chloe, I am a reporter for the Daily Planet," Josh explains. "My editor has asked me to write an article on the weirdness of our small-town neighbor."

"So nice to know the Planet has finally taken an interest in what goes on around here," Chloe remarks. "Even if it is motivated by a desire to mock the very real things that happen here."

"Chloe, I have no intention of mocking the problems of Smallville," Josh explains. "While I can't guarantee what my editor will do, I pomise to do everything in my power to preserve the integrity of this story." They both just stare at each other for a moment.

"Wow," Chloe says with a chuckle, breaking the silence. "Talk about journalistic integrity, huh?"

"I really believe that this is a story that needs to be told," Josh says gravely, "and told in a serious manner. Please, Chloe Sullivan, will you help me?" Chloe smiles.

"Absolutely," she replies. Josh smiles.

"So, um, what do you say to dinner tomorrow night?" he asks. "We can discuss the strangeness of Smallville over the best food that a mediocre reporter's salary can buy." They both laugh.

"I'd love to," Chloe tells him.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, then."

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Elsewhere in Smallville, the soldiers that arrived the previous day drive a jeep down into a meteor crater. When they reach the bottom the doors open and four soldiers get out. They bring shovels and boxes with them and start to dig into the soil. From the dirt they pull out Kryptonite and toss it into the boxes. They dig up more Kryptonite. And more Kryptonite. And more Kryptonite.

End of Chapter II

Author's Note: So far so good. What are these soldiers doing? How will Chloe's interview with Josh go? And when will Clark's secret be revealed? Stay tuned for "Dating", Chapter III of The Black Coats.