Saga One
Episode I
Chapter Five:
Contact
Emil Hamilton raced down the corridor at a pace that belied his middle-aged waist, wresting as much oxygen from the air as he could. 'What on earth is going on?' He asked himself, wincing at the stabbing jab in his side. The young lab assistant he was following had long since given up on him and was sprinting several feet down the hall ahead. Mere minutes ago the same assistant had burst into the office he was assigned to at Cadmus, with uncertainty and haste written all over his face. Breathless, Hamilton entered through a security door behind the young assistant into a large room filled with countless screens flickering with a kaleidoscope of data. Lex stood next to a stern-faced Amanda Waller, a bemused smirk on his face as he glanced at Hamilton. 'Enjoy your morning jog, professor?' he asked as Hamilton doubled over with his hands on his knees to recover his breath. 'Are you in the habit of forcing physical fitness on your employees Amanda?' said Hamilton, ignoring Lex's quip. 'I think you'll understand our need for speediness in a minute Professor. Lex get a move on and fill Professor Hamilton in on the situation.' 'Look here Professor' Lex began, gesturing Hamilton to look at a large screen that reached from floor to ceiling. Hamilton adjusted his glasses as he peered at the strange sight before him. "What…is that?" he asked choosing not to believe his own eyes. 'That is an anomaly, an unidentified flying object.' Lex replied ''And apparently it thinks our state of the art, extremely expensive, tax-funded satellite is a good place to sit and take a coffee break'. Hamilton leaned in closer to the image trying to distinguish recognisable features on the craft. 'Is the station manned?' he asked 'Five crew members are on board and have already attempted to establish contact with the vessel.' 'And?' Hamilton queried without shifting his gaze from the screen. 'It seems that our 'friend' there thinks that we aren't worthy of holding a conversation with him.' Lex responded. 'Its an incredible piece of engineering, can we get any better shots than these?' said Hamilton finally dragging his vision away from the images displayed before him. 'The satellite crew are working on it as we speak. Let's just hope they don't accidently spark an interstellar war while they're at it'. Lex replied.
Jimmy grinned as revved the engine of his slick and shiny sports car, turning the volume of the car stereo as high as it could possibly go. 'Where are we going?' Clark shouted, trying to make himself heard over the blaring hip hop beat. 'WHAT?' Jimmy yelled back 'I SAID, WHERE ARE WE GOING?' Clark tried again, young people these days have no sense of social etiquette he thought to himself. 'GET SOME SHOTS FOR A STORY.' Jimmy hollered back. Clark turned down the volume, 'What's this story about?' 'Some mothers anniversary for her dead kid, you know, real heartbreaking stuff.' Clark frowned, 'that sounds pretty serious, whose story is this?' 'Geese, I dunno, that Lane chick I think… she does all those social justice kinda stories, you know, poor immigrant kids getting shot up in crappy neighborhoods, like the one we're headed to.'
Jimmy tore through the streets of Metropolis as if he had a death wish, overtaking corners as he attempted drift after drift, his apparent need to show off taking centre stage. Clark noted the stark contrast in the appearance of the streets they flew past, dirtier, worn down, and depressing, they were drawing closer to Suicide Slum he could tell. These same blocks hadn't been so bad when he had first arrived in Metropolis, nearly eighty years ago now, they had been built with hope for a brighter future for their inhabitants. He wondered what they would think if they could see them now. Probably just as he did.
Finally they came to a stop outside a rather run down old home just on the outskirts of the slum. 'Uuuh… could you like… wait here?' Jimmy asked Clark as he began to open the passenger side door. 'Why? I thought you were going to 'show me how things were done'?' Jimmy let out a short nervous laugh 'Yeah, well, it's a rough are… and…well…the car didn't come cheap…so…' 'Yeah, I get it.' Clark replied, unimpressed by Jimmy's conduct so far. 'Thanks, man! I totally didn't ask you to come with me just so that you could watch the car.' Jimmy called as he raced up the dilapidated front lawn to the front door of the house. Clark sighed, turning his head to look around at his new surroundings, drawing another sigh from his lungs. A group of youths in white tank tops and red bandanas stood on the corner of the street staring at Jimmy's shiny new sports car. Clark laughed to himself, imagining Jimmy in his place, 'poor kid would probably be soaked in a cold sweat by now.'
His thoughts were interrupted by a black sedan with tinted windows that came speeding around the corner the group of teenagers were gathered on. Stopping just long enough for the invisible passenger to send a hail of bullets into them.