Chapter 15 (Part I) - Lord Kal-El
He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner.
Hesiod
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Der Motin left Lord Arnken feeling dread for what had happened. He stopped briefly on the bridge, "Lord Arnken demands the ship be turned back toward Earth."
"Der Motin, the ship is still recharging the power cells. The reserves will barely get us there and back we need longer to finish the recharging process. This is irresponsible at best it… "
Lord Kal-El appeared in the open door of his chamber his eyes flashing white sparks. "Do you dare question Lord Kal-El? Do so again and it will be your last action!"
"Ah, uh, we will start the preparations for an immediate return, forgive me My Lord Ka-El." He bowed in fear as he looked to Der Motin for some form of guidance.
Der Motin bowed to Lord Kal-El who stepped back out of the doorway allowing it to swish closed. Der Motin merely said in answer to the crewman's questioning look, "Be wary, it might be best to not annoy him in any way. I will return shortly."
He then headed to a secret rendezvous with Srnken traveling down many darkened hallways and passing through a hatch to the rear backward facing ship he finally came to his destination. Knocking gently he entered the room to find Srnken alone.
"Kal-El may be lost to us. Lord Kal-El risked full exposure and appears highly unstable both in mind and physical being. He is showing signs of power madness."
"Instability, madness, how bad is it?"
"He threatened the helmsman and has insisted the ship be turned around and sent back towards Earth immediately. He is physically glowing and his eyes are like white fire." He let Srnken take in the news before continuing. "Did all go well with your task?"
"Yes it is done."
"Good, at least that went as planned. We may not have a second chance and it might be the only way to save them both."
"The child is very like his father, we must protect him at all costs as promised. He is safely hidden away with highly trusted co-conspirators. We at least owe Kal-El that. There is much other work to do as well, Mer Kaper and I will continue with the backup plans while you continue to serve and watch for signs of Kal-El in Lord Kal-El. You understand what must be done if we find he is truly lost?"
Der Motin nodded a sad agreement. "How could I not. It was after all his own wish as well."
Not long after leaving Srnken, Lord Kal-El once again summoned him, "My Lord Kal-El, you desire something?"
"Yes, I desire new suits befitting this spectacular body. I keyed the specifications into the computer. I will be expecting my new suits soon, make it so." He was admiring himself in the mirror as he spoke. "I had forgotten what it was like to be so young and virile."
Dir Motin noticed the keyboard was scorched and partly melted where it had been touched. Looking around he saw laser scorch marks on the walls and furniture as well as if he had been unable to control the power, or had it possibly been a fit of anger? "Anything else Lord Kal-El?"
"I wish to contemplate my new life vessel until we arrive at the destination." Suddenly he raised his hands to his ears, "The noise from this ship and all aboard is driving me mad. How did he ever turn it off or hear other than black endless irritating noise! Tell everyone to be silent! See to it that I am not disturbed till we are within range of Earth. I desire to conserve my power so it will be at full force as I make myself known to those primitives."
Der Motin stood in place at the final statement, "What are you waiting for, did you not hear me? Leave, I wish solitude!"
As Der Motin left Lord Kal-El continued to admire his form thinking to himself, perhaps on the return trip from intercession on Earth I should pick a mate. I must generate heirs from this magnificent body for the next transfers. His mind went over the available women of the proper age. Several came to mind including Mir Kaper. She would be very suitable, much more loyal than that disappointment of a husband of hers, my son.
Then another possibility came to mind….Lois Lane…I love how the name just runs off the tongue. He looked around, where did that thought come from? "Humph, his wife …how fitting, perhaps I should spare her. Where is that son of theirs? He too is quite a specimen. She's quite a match producing such promising offspring. Yes she must be spared, if for nothing else other than for my entertainment.Ha haa haa." The white fire in his eyes flared up as he continued to contemplate the possibilities.
"Oh, this infernal noise, how do I ever turn it off! I must remain calm preserve my power. Calm, calm, calm….AAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh the noise! Calm… I am Lord Kal-El….the all powerful Lord Kal-El." Then he spoke loud enough for the adjoining bridge crew to hear, "The universe is mine to do as I please. Earth will just be the very beginning….nothing can stop the all powerful Lord Kal-El….ha ha ha NOTHING! I will rule the very universe if only I can quell this infernal noise!"
The two men exchanged worried looks as they busied themselves glad their double shift was nearly over. They were anxious to get far away from the new Lord for as long as possible. Then they heard a blasting noise as something shattered. "AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh how do I control these blasted powers. Calm, calm breathe calm."
This continued for the duration of the trip growing worse with each day. Der Motin stood by the door listening wondering why Kal-El did not come forth, it seemed the perfect opportunity. Was he truly lost? Lord Kal-El was being driven totally mad by the immense power he was unable to control. What would happen when they arrived on Earth? Would their backup plan prevent catastrophe for all or was it as hopeless as it now looked? It would soon be made known. Earth was in sight.
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Chapter 15 - Part II - Terror on Earth - The Beginning
The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself.
Robert Ingersoll - US agnostic, agnostic apologist, lawyer, & orator (1833
Lois just sat at her desk in the Planet bullpen staring at the wedding picture showing the four of them all smiling at the camera with not a care in the world. She traced the smiles on the faces of Clark and Jason with her fingertip. How long had it been since she had held them. It seemed like forever. She had tried to keep herself busy, long hours at work with many late nights. Kala was a godsend that she kept close by except when she was at school. Her father was always close at hand as well.
Bruce Wayne had stopped by several times checking in on her while sharing or receiving the latest news. Lois had even loaned him Clark's laptop in order for him to copy the special programming over to his larger PC in the Batcave. She was anxious to get it back feeling it tied her to them in some strange way.
As hard as the days were, the nights were even harder to get through. Her bed seemed so big and cold and the nights were so long. Sleep had become an enemy with nightmares of 'what if' racing into her subconscious trying to take over her days as well. It had become so bad that she would often get up and work till almost dawn finally falling asleep at her desk in the study with only a short nap till time to once again get ready to face the day. She worried about what the stress must be doing to the little one she now carried.
As she sat staring at the picture she realized the world had gone on without him, without Jason how could that possibly be so? As the alien ship had faded from view and the news moved onto new items people simply went on. It had only been a week since the android had been destroyed and the ship went out of range towards Sirius yet both had already been relegated to old news with only sparse continued coverage.
Chloe came running up to her desk breaking her reverie. "Lois, join us in Richards office we just got word from SETI. The ship has just appeared back on the screen heading this way again."
Lois jumped up and followed Chloe shutting the office door behind her. Richard had just managed to get the director on the line, "Dr Kragan, I'm putting you on speaker phone, Lois Lane and Chloe Sullivan are both here with me. We just received your email. Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"The ship just came to our notice within the 5 light year perimeter of our enhanced equipment. It appears to be following the same path as the last time. Which means it will be here in approximately 4 - 5 days. We have alerted the president, EPRAD and the United Nations. NASA also has their eyes on it as I am sure other nations with the capability."
"We're hoping for another message. If one comes across please let us know right away. We have the means to decode it. That is if the same coding method is used." Richard nodded to Chloe as he spoke.
"Well that may be taken out of our hands we are being overrun with government types but I'll do my best. It seems as if our mutual friend trusts you and I trust him, I'll be in touch either way."
Not long after they finished the call word went around the newsroom that the president was preparing to speak from the oval office in just a few minutes. As they prepared to watch the news conference the newsroom was suddenly overrun with federal agents.
"OK, everyone just stay put. No need to get all excited. We are just looking for a Lois Lane, Richard White and Chloe Sullivan."
Hearing their names, Richard opened his office door motioning for Lois and Chloe to stay put. "What's the meaning of this?"
Perry came barging out of his office intent on stopping whatever was happening. "You can't just barge in here like this without a warrant…"
"Under the current circumstances I think we can. The President is just about to declare Martial Law until the intent of that dmn alien ship is known. We just have a few questions to ask as to why Daily Planet Reporters appear to be interpreting messages from an alien warship?"
"We've nothing to hide. We have reason to believe Superman sent that message in a manner we could de-code it so we would know he was ok after that machine tried to impersonate him." Richard answered without hesitation glaring at the man in charge.
"Well, we meet again Miss Lane, or is it Mrs. Lane-Kent," Agent Donald Roberts spoke with dark undertones. "I do hope Mr. Kent recovered from his bout with Pneumonia. Funny how you two keep popping up on the radar, so to speak. Where is Mr. Kent now? We never did have that little talk with him about not trespassing on highly sensitive government property."
"Uh, he's on an assignment, undercover somewhere. He wasn't able to tell me where he was going." Lois gave her best sincere performance thinking, well it was in fact the truth.
"Hmmmm, how very convenient for him." Looking around the entire bullpen he spoke with evident mirth, "I'm afraid we will have to confiscate all the computers in this room. If you will please all just move away from the desks."
"What do you know about this ship that's fast approaching? The three of you have been writing much more in depth accounts than anyone else. Where did you get your information?"
Richard took over hoping to protect Lois who was beginning to show signs of an impending explosion of temper. "We have already reported everything we know. We happen to be acquaintances of Superman. Sometimes he tells us stuff. He seems to trust this paper for getting the truth out when other papers just seem to want to dwell on sensationalism."
"What about you, Chloe Sullivan is it? You've been mighty quiet. What do you have to add?"
"Nothing, we are just reporters. Just as Richard already said we have reported everything we know already. Superman has been gone for almost two weeks. He was our source, without him we have nothing new other than that message which we already fully covered in print and on live TV."
"Hmmm. It should be interesting to see how a paper reports without computers. We will be in touch." He turned and left the agents to complete their task of confiscating all of the computers in the bullpen and adjoining offices.
"You can't just take all of our computers at a time like this, it could put us out of business!" Perry bellowed after them. "Can you believe those bstards. Alright everybody back to work. We'll have replacements brought in as soon as possible. What do you all think they made pen and paper for? Get to it!"
Just as he headed into Richards office the president started speaking catching everyone's attention.
"Fellow Americans we have recently received word that the alien ship is once again approaching earth. It appears it will arrive in approximately 4 and a half days. Since we have no way of knowing their intention I am hereby ordering the United States to be on full Alert. Martial Law has been declared and all citizens are asked to obey all curfews which will soon be announced. All preparations that can be made are underway. In fact they have been continuing since the threat was first made know by Superman just under three weeks ago."
"I repeat, remain calm and keep your activities close to home. Looters will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Food or other shortages will be handled directly as they present themselves. All National Guard members are hereby called to active duty. Present yourselves to your reporting stations immediately. Further instructions will be forthcoming. Be assured that your government is handling this threat with utmost urgency. We are calling on everyone to remain calm and follow orders. No one is to be on the streets after dark without a military escort and there will be no exceptions. I will be taking no questions during this time."
With that he ended the address and the screen went to the Presidential seal then to live commentators who commented and spun the various angles.
People could be heard screaming in the street many floors below as word got out. Horns were blowing as people ran into the street in a hurry to get somewhere. So much for remaining calm, Perry thought to himself as he peered out between the blinds covering Richard's office window.
"We need to get you, Chloe and Kala back to the farm…"
"Wait a minute I can't leave we have to cover this story…"
"No, Lois Richard and I will cover this story from here", Chloe said glaring sideways at Richard. "Clark will expect to find you and Kala at the farm and that is where you need to be."
"I agree I want Kala back at the farm but I need to stay…."
NO Chloe's right! Surely you realize Clark will drop Jason off at the farm if he possibly can. You need to be there if he does. We don't have any idea what all they've been through and Jason will need you there. Remember what happened last time, he doesn't need the distraction. You can write just as easily from there and you'll at least be as safe as possible. Try and get your dad to go with you again. Chloe, please you go too."
"Richard, I'm staying here with you. We'll camp out here at the office if necessary. Believe me It won't be the first time I've had to do that. This has been a piece of cake so far compared to my time covering Afghanistan."
"Alright, I see your point" Lois conceded. "I'll see if Batman can take us in his helicopter. It'll be easier than flying in the seaplane. I'm just glad he has Clark's laptop, at least the Feds didn't get their hands on that."
The next morning Batman flew Lois, Kala, General Lane and Einstein to the farm. The neighbor had taken care of the dog on other occasions but after the incident with the android Lois decided having Einstein around would be a good idea. Shelby was a good dog but he was old and hard of hearing. It might be better to have the young dog with them as well.
The days passed quickly with fear and panic growing by the minute. Even with Martial Law declared and early curfews people had been caught looting and riots had been occurring in some areas as people continued to be horrified of the impending re-appearance of the alien ship. Things just kept getting worse. The United Nations Security Council continued to meet on a daily basis, issuing statements requesting everyone to keep there heads and not panic. They repeated the need to not attack as they recalled to everyone's mind all Superman had said prior to his disappearance.
That only seemed to make matters worse. Commentators began to blame Superman for the whole mess again questioning why he had been taken in the first place. Perhaps he was really just one of them. Or at least was now. Everyone began taking sides either for or against Superman. With fights breaking out as the two sides could not discuss their side rationally as the ship grew closer. Nations were threatening to take matters in their hands with other nations threatening to stop them from doing so. Things got more dire with each passing day.
Interviews were conducted on the street many ending up with in the masses fighting amongst themselves.
One interview in particular was played over and over for several days. The person shook his head, then said with a sarcastic voice, "Yes, let's blame Superman, it's not like he ever saved the whole entire planet several times over, and not like he helps the human race or anything important like that..." then he sighed before continuing. "Hopefully, somehow some sense will get knocked into them..."
(quote from Blueowl taken from Aftermath review used with permission. Hee hee)
The Daily Planet tried to inject some civility into the discussion showing all sides but it seemed the entire world had been polarized to believing one way or the other unwilling to give credence to what was said if it was not their position on the matter.
Lois had grown more concerned as the ship drew closer with no message from Clark. She had been praying for some word to assure her that he and Jason were still safe and on board the ship. As she sat watching the news unfold the final day before the ship was due she couldn't help but think that the world would destroy itself if things didn't improve soon. The alien ship had only to wait. Earth was already in a self destruct mode.
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Next Chapter - Terror on Earth - The Aliens Return
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