Chapter 13 - First Stone
"—and her car was literally flying through the tornado, you should have seen it, and the next thing I know, I'm up in the storm, reaching into the car and pulling her out to save her."
"You were flying?"
"Honestly? I don't know what happened. Neither does she, and I have to keep it that way."
"Wow." Lex shook his head and leaned back in his seat. "What'd your parents say?"
"If my parents knew about half the stuff I do with my powers, I'd never be allowed out of the house again."
"Ah."
Clark took a sip of his soda, glancing out of the window of the jet. They'd been in the air for over eight hours now. Lex had said his jet was a lot faster than a typical airplane, but it still felt like a long trip.
Not that Clark minded. The jet was really cool, for one thing. There were couches and mini-fridges and TV's and a gaming system; Clark finally got to play the games Lex had bought for him at Christmas. But after a couple of games, a couple of movies, and a whole lot of snacks, they'd settled down to just talking. Clark had started telling stories about the past couple of years, stories he'd never gotten to tell Lex before.
It was cool to have an older brother to share things with. A lot of the times he'd encountered Kryptonite-mutants and either fought them off or rescued someone, he'd had no one to talk to at all. Talking to his parents didn't really count, in his mind, since they were always just way too worried about him.
"So," Clark said, "I haven't gotten to hear from you how the research is going."
Lex frowned. "The scientific process is a slow one, Clark. There won't be any real news for awhile."
Clark shifted in his seat. It felt selfish, but it was hard to keep giving blood with only a vague idea that it might someday, hopefully, help someone. At least the needle wasn't bad now, but having to subject himself to the Kryptonite was still excruciating. It still brought memories back of being imprisoned by Lionel. "Oh."
Lex looked up at him. "Ah, I could tell you what we're working on, but it's a long shot. I don't want to get your hopes up."
"My mom thinks it's better to have hope, even if it means disappointment."
"She would say that." Lex half rolled his eyes, smiling. "Alright. My team is working on a universal vaccine to cure all ills."
Clark's breath caught. "It sounds like science fiction."
"It might be. But if anything can make it happen, it's your blood."
"How?"
"You're immune to everything. Your DNA holds the key to unlocking that impossibility."
"So . . . if you succeed . . ."
"Disease, plague, transmitted illnesses. All a thing of the past."
"Cancer?"
"That could be next."
He was quiet for a moment as he thought of his father. Less than an hour ago, now, he'd been telling the story of how it had come about, the fact that it was his fault. "Heart disease?"
"Ah . . ." He stood and began to pace. "I'm not sure your father's condition is any ordinary heart disease."
Clark looked down. He shouldn't have expected his brother to be able to fix the mistakes he'd made, but it had been worth asking. "Okay. I just . . . I worry about Dad, you know?"
Lex put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll keep you updated, okay?"
"I know. Thanks."
The seatbelt lights came on, and both Lex and Clark stood from the couch and went over to the seats with the safety belts. Lex gave Clark a smile that Clark was sure he meant to be comforting, but he was having a hard time feeling it right now, now that he'd started thinking about Dad.
"One thing at a time, Clark," Lex said. "Let's focus on these stones for now."
"Those stones aren't going to save any lives."
"You don't know that. And finding about about you and your home planet, that's important too."
Clark couldn't argue with that, even though it wasn't making him feel any better right now.
They hadn't even landed when he heard the ringing.
It was kind of like the ringing from the spaceship, but that had been excruciating; this didn't hurt. It was closer to a low hum—just enough to let him know something was near, calling to him. It had to be the stone.
"We're in the right place," he said, and Lex gave him a curious look, but he didn't know how to describe what he was hearing and feeling, so he left it at that.
From the jet they walked directly to a rugged jeep. Clark asked about their suitcases, but Lex told him they'd be taken to the hotel, where a suite had been prepared for them. The jeep rode over a rough road that bounced the jeep so much, Clark was half worried it would fall apart.
The ringing became louder, stronger, then it weakened again.
Clark craned his neck, looking back the way they'd come. "No, no, we passed it."
"Driver has a map. We're going the right direction."
"No, I can feel it, Lex. We're going the wrong way."
Lex just stared at him for a moment, then he called up the front, "Hey, driver, double back." He looked up at Clark. "You're gonna have to lead the way."
Clark nodded, and he began to give the driver instructions. When he was sure that the ringing was as loud as it was going to be, and the jeep was right over the stone, he asked the driver to stop.
"Clark?"
"This is it."
"There's no entrance to the tomb here. We should have followed the map—"
"No, this is it." Clark climbed out of the Jeep and did a quick visual scan of the area with his x-ray vision. The tomb was fairly deep underground; Clark could understand why Lex had wanted to use the entrance. In a low voice, he asked Lex, "Can you get the driver to leave?"
Lex nodded and signaled to the driver. Clark resumed scanning the area, taking a few steps in one direction, and then another. He found a space where the rock ceiling of the cave seemed to be thinner than anywhere else. "Here," he said.
"What is?"
"Stand back."
He waited for Lex to take a step back, then he thrust his fist into the rock floor. A large shower of rocks and dust caved into the ground, giving them an entrance. The ringing was louder than ever.
Lex didn't say anything, just allowed Clark to help him down into the tomb. Once they were in the tunnels, which reminded Clark a little of the caves back in Smallville, Clark continued to scan the walls.
Now that the source of the ringing was so close, it was a lot harder to find his way. It was almost as if the ring was coming from everywhere at once, echoing in the tunnels. He glanced behind him, making sure that Lex was still following along, and continued down the labyrinth, scanning as he went.
"What are you looking for?"
Clark looked up at Lex. "I'm not sure," he said. "But I'll know it when I find it."
Lex didn't say anything to that, and Clark was thankful for that much. He knew that would be difficult to swallow if he had been in Lex's place, but he was thankful for his brother's trust in him.
They turned the corner, and Clark scanned a new section of the cave wall—and almost blinded himself. There was some kind of gemstone buried deep in the rock, glowing even though there was no light source for it to reflect.
"It's here," he said.
"In the rock?"
Clark once again signaled for Lex to take a step back, and he jammed his hand into the wall.
Solid wall gave way to dust and rocks, revealing a little opening. But what he found wasn't quite what he was expecting. Hidden in the wall was a little statue of a man, almost definitely an Egyptian artifact, with Kryptonian symbols around the edges. It was hard for him to read the symbols—maybe they were in a different dialect than the ones he had seen in the Kawache caves—but he could make out a few words, like healing and water.
"It's inside," he said.
"The stone?" Lex asked. "It's inside the statue?"
"Yeah." Clark grinned. "We found it."
One down. Two to go.
