The plan called for three men. They were all professionals and dedicated. They approached the target house from the east, using the tall corn stalks as cover. When the point man reached the edge of the field, he signaled the others to stop. He slid his night vision goggles over his eyes and turned them on. His vision went from black to green and grey. The target house was ahead. The target's vehicle was there. Reconnaissance told them that there would be the target and one other to deal with. The target was to be taken alive and as unharmed as possible. The other was to be killed. As the other two glided up beside him, he gave a signal that looked like he was making a gun with his thumb and forefinger, with the thumb pointing toward the ground. The others interpreted this as "target seen". They nodded and spread out along the last row of corn, each choosing their path that offered the best concealment to the house. The leader moved forward, his soft soled boots making little noise on the gravel and dirt drive.

Clark awoke with a start. Some noise had disturbed his sleep. He heard it again, a low growl. Shelby was at the door, sniffing and pawing. Clark focused his x-ray vision, and saw a ghostly skeleton crossing the drive. The skeleton had a wicked looking sub-machine gun cradled in his arms. Clark scanned the rest of the house, and confirmed that the gunman wasn't alone. He saw two others, approaching the house from different directions. Clark moved over to Shelby and quieted him, before he began to bark. He led the dog upstairs and put him in the room with Lois, quietly closing the door. He went back downstairs and levitated to the ceiling. The lock on the kitchen door turned, and the door slowly opened. A man dressed in black fatigues with goggles on his face entered silently. He methodically swept the kitchen and living room, checking all the corners. Clark heard the other two intruders entering the house, one through the back door and one through the window in the dining room. The first put a foot on the landing to the stair, and that is when Clark struck.

He dropped down on the man, tapping him on the head. At super speed, he finished off the others before the first had even hit the floor. He sped them to the loft where he stripped their unconscious forms of weapons before binding them hand and foot with duct tape.

Clark had a moment of inspiration. He went back inside the house and got his mother's digital camera. He took their knit masks off and snapped their picture. He retrieved his cell phone as he booted up his laptop computer. He dialed Chloe's number at the Daily Planet. "Chloe?" he said as she answered.

"Hey, Clark! To what do I owe the pleasure of yet another midnight call?"

"Chlo, I'm sending you some pictures and I need the men in them ID'd."

"Okay, send away. We just got some new facial recognition software loaded on the mainframe. Mostly so we can verify if photos of celebrities are real or Memorex. Hey, just got the pictures in. Just give me a minute…So, anything going on that I need to know about?"

Clark almost groaned. He should've known that Chloe could smell a story. "Well, your cousin Lucy called from Vienna. Somebody tried to kidnap her."

"Oh, God! Please say she is alright?"

"She got to a NATO base, so for the moment she's safe."

"Good, her father can take care of it from there."

Uh-Oh. "Chlo, you have to promise to keep this off the record. Your uncle was kidnapped in North Carolina at just about the same time."

Chloe almost dropped the phone. "No!"

"The three men in the pictures just broke into the house. Judging from the amount of firepower they were carrying, I'm guessing that Lois was a target too."

"Is she okay?"

"Of course, Chlo. I'm not going to let anything happen to her" said Clark.

"I'm coming right there. Shouldn't take more than a few hours…"

"Don't bother, Chloe. We're flying to Vienna in the morning to get Lucy. Lois is pretty shaken with all this, so I'm not going to tell her about these guys I stopped." Clark looked at the three men.

"Clark, the computer's done" said Chloe. "Uh oh. Two of them are unknowns, but one is called Salim Abu-Hamadi. Links to al-Quaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, just about every major terrorist organization. Kidnappings, assassination, Clark this guy is a major player. That's a lot of muscle to use on one girl."

"Chlo, I'm seeing a pattern, and I don't like it. I'm going to call my Mom, and you're going to her in D.C." Chloe started to protest, but Clark cut her off. "Chloe, please don't argue. They don't have Lois or Lucy, they might try to get you. Just leave now and get there. Her security detail will keep you safe. Tell your editor that you have an inside scoop or something."

"What scoop, Clark?"

"How about the Smallville PD capturing a top ten terrorist?"

Chloe smiled, "You got it, farm boy. Clark, please keep Lois and Lucy safe."

Clark grinned, "You got it, city girl. Now get moving."

Clark hung up and looked at the three men. They would be out for several more hours. He reached for more duct tape.