Chapter 30 – Clark and a little Bruce.
Day 44
Planet Fred – Fortress of Solely Two
11:25 hs. AM
Diana had been in orbit for about an hour and ten minutes. The alarm clock went off five minutes ago and Clark was pulling the Lasso for a while now. He began to worry.
The golden lariat started to loosen, sign that the Amazon was already returning. The reporter ("can I call myself that anymore?" he asked himself) exhaled.
When she landed next to him, he wanted to know why the delay.
"An asteroid was approaching at great speed. It would've messed up the rocks in the ring even more, ruining all the work we've put in it so far. Not to mention the potential impact on Fred's surface. I had to deviate it." She explained.
"Well done. Was it big?"
"Roughly a hundred and sixty meters in diameter" was her estimation
"It would've left an interesting crater. Still no trace of the beacon, huh?" He also inquired.
"Nope: Nada". Was her reponse.
"Another day, another miss. I'm hoping still. How about you?" he tried to infuse her of some optimism.
"It isn't over until it's over." She smiled, albeit a little forced.
"I was thinking: did we check if if our Almerachy friends have an emergency beacon in their ship? And, if so: did they launch it?" Clark inquired.
"That's a brilliant idea." Diana kissed his cheek. "I'll go change and refresh myself, you search their ship." Before going, she pointed out. "Kal, the signal is meant to be for other Almerachy ships, not JL."
"Yes, I know. But I don't care who comes, as long as they take us out of here. If they're hostile, we'll deal with that in due time" He answered "Still, it's too early to set our hopes too high: we have to find a beacon first".
"I'll go change" She said, and went inside the Fortress. When she came out, she was wearing one of Clark T-shirts and green shorts. Her hair was divided in two pig tails.
She went straight to the Almerachy ship "Kal?"
"Over here!" He was down the ship, between the twin array of the rear landing gear.
"Any luck?" Diana asked.
"Not yet." He said "Can I ask you to look for a hatch hidden on either side of the fuselage?"
"Of course. On it!" She started roaming her hands and eyes on the metal panels, looking for a uneven union."Nothing here!"
"Damn! Bad luck! I was hop…" Clark was suddenly interrupted by a stumping noise.
"Kal! Are you alright?" The princess went under the ship to see her love's face covered by what looked like a door which just fell on his head. "Melopita, answer me!"
"M'okay. Ouch! I think I've found the compartment we were looking for." He said, holding his nose."Babe: I need your help."
"Yes, what do you want me to do?" Diana asked.
"Can you lift the ship, so I can take the content of this trap door out?" He was crawling out from behind the vessel.
Diana did as requested. Clark stood under the hatch, pulling it completely open and took a 1.5m long cylinder with two turrets, one on top, the other at the bottom. It was about 150Kgs. in weight, give or take, the equivalent to the weight of two average men. He moved from under the ship and deposit the gizmo carefully on the ground.
"Is this…?" Asked the Amazon, putting the ship back down.
"I guess so. Let's hope it wasn't damaged by their attackers' weapons." He lifted it again and took it to their dining table."I'm sorry for the crew, but I'm glad they couldn't launch it on time."
Clark examined the contraption, rotating it over and looking at the different panels "There must be a…" He pulled a lever and solar panels deployed in both sides of the beacon and intermittent lights turned on in both, upper and lower, turrets. "It's alive! We have a pulse!" he exclaimed "The batteries still have some juice in them! Let's not waste it in vain".
He folded back the solar panels. Next, he showed Diana where the lever to activate the apparatus is, because she will be the one to take it into orbit and turn it on once in position.
"I guess this concludes my escapades to Fred's orbit." Said Diana.
"Guess again: who do you think will be responsible of monitoring the beacon remains in a regular trajectory around the planet? I'll give you a hint: she's tall, beautiful and flies." Clark responded.
"Darn it! How often do you think I'll have to go out there?" she asked.
"Not as often as you do now: maybe…twice a week?" he estimated.
"Good. That means we can add another two hours to your combat training!" She maliciously said.
"Yay... " He lamented. Composing himself, he immediately added "On that note, Yed-Salit, we need to start planning our exploration of Fred. What direction do we go first? I think it's best to start going East from here."
"Agreed. That way, we won't have to worry for sudden changes in climate." Diana was thinking in Clark's vulnerability to extreme temperatures being under a red sun.
"Very thoughtful of you, Mom." He joked "I'm also gonna need a weapon, besides the plaser pistol, since you are going to need Eunice by your side to defend us. I think I can forge a spear with the estranium ribs of the Javelin wings. I can heat them with the remaining engine and hammer them into shape. I hope the little fuel left is enough"
He kept staring at the princess and scratching his chin. He grab her waist, shoulders and hips. As if he was measuring her. Then, he entered the cockpit of the vessel and start taking off the safety belts of two of the seats. He took them to their table, along with some tools and began cutting and re-attaching them into a different shape. Diana looked at him with curiosity, wondering what was it all about.
After one hour and a half, Clark showed her proudly the result of his work.
"There!"
"There…what?" Diana said bringing two mugs of tea.
"Can't you see? Now we can fly in tandem, like skydiving instructors do when teaching novices at the beginning, in the first jumps." He explained "I can be hanging under you, while you fly us both, leaving both your arms free! You will need that advantage if something attacks us." He sipped his mug of tea with a smug expression.
"Oooh! I see! That's very clever! I won't need to be constantly holding you. How strong is it?" She asked.
"I'd say pretty strong. I used industrial quality rivets to hold the pieces together. I believe you can carry an elephant in there." He pulled the straps to show how firm they were.
"Melopita: At every step, you keep showing me the necessity of me being constantly jumping your bones. C'mere!" She pulled him to her.
After showing her appreciation, Diana let him collect what was left of himself. It was his turn to go check on Bruce.
As he was washing, Clark thought when will the two of them be on equal terms regarding strength to make love as they should and desire. Not that he wasn't happy, but he wanted to be able to hold her and be inside of her without fear of being crushed by her passion. When will they let their instincts run wild and…?
"Hold it together, Clark. Do not spit into the sky, or it will return to you in your very face. Be glad you are with her and she reciprocates your affection. Have patience and be grateful." He mumbled to himself.
Once inside the Javelin, he went to the stasis pod. He looked at Batman, all geared up in his "working" attire. Diana didn't have time to undress him before putting him on stasis.
"I bet you prefer it this way, old friend. I can almost hear you saying 'I'm Batman'" Clark joked. He checked all the systems on the pod and the charge levels of the batteries. His vital signs, though greatly slowed down to almost a flat line, were stable. Everything was normal. Looking at the cowled face, Clark jumped back. It seemed to him like his friend opened his eyes. After half a second, he noticed no change on the other man's face, his mind was playing tricks on him. It was the beginning of another suppressed memory he had forgotten. It started playing in his mind like a movie.
It was the day he found out Batman had plans to take down each League member, should they go rogue.
"Do you realize how ridiculous this is, right?" Superman asked.
"Somebody has to do something, in case one of us goes violent and becomes a danger to innocent lives" responded Bruce.
"That I understand. The ridiculous part is you think you are the one to do it…and that you can do it alone." The Man of Steel pointed out.
"I don't think I could share my plans with my potential targets. It would be the opposite of what I want to achieve: using the element of surprise." The Caped Crusader explained.
"I believe you seriously underestimate people who can think faster than the speed of light, like Barry, or who can read your thoughts, like J'onn. How long you think the surprise would last for them? Barry can punch you a thousand times in a thousandth second. You are the greatest human fighter, but the operative word here is 'human': you won't be able to stop it nor avoid it. Others have powers that won't let you get close to them to use your gadgets. Others can survive a nuclear explosion. What are you going to do against them?" Clark painted a somber picture so Batman understands.
"And what do you suggest, that I do nothing? That word doesn't exist in my vocabulary." Said Wayne with a hint of sarcasm.
"What I suggest is you get down from your high horse and look for help among your colleagues. First of all, you need to understand you can't do this alone: you are clever, but not omniscient. Hubris was a sin on ancient Greece for a reason, be careful. I myself had beaten smart people like Lex or Brainiac. Smart is not infallible. Thinking you can control the outcome of any situation is insanity. It's the result of a bad written movie script and, in real life, it's doomed to fail.
"What do I mean when I tell you to seek help? Let me explain: Take me as an example. You want to take me down? Okay. You need a plan. You also need kryptonite but, most importantly, you need to work alongside the equivalent of two times me, a.k.a. Wonder Woman and Shazam. Diana and Billy can't take me down individually, because we are closely matched in strength and abilities and in a one on one combat, there's no saying the amount of collateral destruction we could cause. But combined and with one of your plans backing them up and guiding them, chances are they would easily kick my ass. Same with others. You need to recruit at least twice the force and abilities of your intended target or similar, if you want to succeed. To keep it secret, you don't share with anybody else but them you plans against that other hero gone bad. That way, the whole strategy will be in your mind and your mind only, just the way you like it." After Superman's words, Bruce's expression changed to one of surprise.
"And why are you telling me this?" He asked.
"Because I too want a backup plan in case I or others go crazy and we need to stop them. Only I don't think I could do it alone." Clark stated.
"I must admit until now I was scared shitless of the chance this idea wouldn't work and what would we do in that scenario. After this talk, I can see the possibility of taking it to terms successfully. Let me reformulate my plans and then we'll discuss it and you tell me your thoughts." Superman felt a hint of greater respect in Batman's voice. That made him happy.
Clark was eager to tell Diana he had another flashback to the time his memory was wiped out. He could hear her singing outside while doing some chores, and his heart jumped with joy in his chest listening to her crystalline voice.
Slowly, he was coming to almost make peace with his new condition as a "normal" Kryptonian. He'll never be okay about it (who would after being 'Superman'?), but he was coming to terms with it. Diana was of great help regarding his acceptance.
He did another quick check on the stasis pod for safety and returned to their camp.