Another long and sleepless night. Straker had called for extra operatives to help with surveillance of both the 'clean-up site' at the Irig farm and the Kent farm. Madison and Lupinski had reported back that the two men watching Lane and Kent at the carnival had followed the reporters to the Kent farm. One had stayed to watch the farm while the other went on to the Irig place. There was still no sign of Irig, but the equipment storage areas and temporary crew quarters were under armed guard. Only, officially, there shouldn't be anything there that needed guarding.
Madison was supposed to look for the Element 126 at the Kent farm after everyone there had gone to bed, but with Trask's man watching, Straker deemed it too great a risk. Freeman hoped that Straker, and his own dreams and memories, were right and Trask wouldn't make his move against Clark Kent until the afternoon and that they'd be in a position to rescue Kent if they needed to.
"Why didn't Wells just tell us we needed to be here now to stop Trask?" Freeman asked. "Why all the complication of grabbing us ten years ago?"
"If that's your only question, you're lucky," Straker commented. "I asked one of the Rokan-Shou scientists about it. His best guess was that at that time I was still 'temporally disjointed' enough from my exposure to a time storm and people from the future, that I would have been partially immune to any temporal changes in the event of a problem. Also being a new husband and father, I might be a little more open to his suggestions. But I still don't see how I could be immune to temporal effects that hadn't happened yet."
"Maybe it was that other part that Wells was counting on," Freeman suggested.
"Or maybe he wanted to make sure you were immune then and now, sir," Westcott suggested.
Freeman hadn't even heard her approach. In nightgown and robe and with her hair down, she looked even more like a little kid than she did normally. However, the earpiece half-hiding in her hair belied the impression – a little.
She didn't seem to be aware of Freeman's visual inspection as she continued. "We know the Rokanni were experimenting with time manipulation, sir, and even though they haven't managed actual time travel…"
"As far as we know," Straker interjected.
"As far as we know," Westcott conceded, "but we do know that others have managed it, including your Mister Wells. Doctor Jackson believes…"
"Ah, Doctor Jackson…" Straker said with a bemused tone. "He sent you along as back up? All I asked for was a couple of FBI types and a sharpshooter."
"Well, SHADO's two most senior officers taking off half-way across the country to track down a renegade military unit didn't exactly thrill the security types. Not to mention the General's wife."
"My beautiful, charming and talented wife is ticked off because I didn't tell her that I knew that the pivotal point in time was so close," Straker said. "She and Ginny Lake are working on plan B. With any luck at all they'll come up with something."
"I thought we didn't have technology that could stop an extinction level event object," Freeman said.
"We don't," Straker agreed. "But we may be able to save something."
"Less than a month," Freeman commented. "Not much time, even with a superman on our side."
Westcott frowned and raised one hand in warning. "Perimeter breach," she murmured.
"Local?" Freeman asked.
Westcott shook her head. "Not unless the locals are in the habit of wearing military issue camouflage fatigues and carrying shotgun mikes."
"Do we know how much he heard?" Straker asked.
"Hard to say, sir," Westcott admitted. "Our perimeter barrier distorts sound waves, so he probably didn't get much until he was close enough to be detected. But what he did pick up was transmitted back to his base."
"The Irig farm?" Straker asked.
"From what we can tell, yes, sir."
"I'd wondered how Trask knew about the asteroid," Straker said with a sigh.
"And now we know," Freeman said.
"And now we know," Straker agreed.
-o-o-o-
It took a long time for Freeman to fall asleep. He knew the perimeter was secure but part of him started with every strange sound. He could hear Straker tossing and turning in his own narrow bed, but Straker had always been a light sleeper. Maybe it was fear of the nightmares he was sure to have that was keeping him from drifting off.
He was with young Ed Straker again and Wells was with them. Freeman wasn't sure of the location – maybe Smallville, maybe not. They were standing near a barn.
"And what makes you think I'll go along with your demands that I kill Trask so I can save the world?" Straker was saying.
"I've already shown you what will happen if you don't," Wells said.
"And I'm supposed to simply believe you? How do I know you're not working with the aliens?"
"You know what Trask is capable of," Wells said. "Do you doubt that he will do exactly as I've told you?"
Straker sighed. "I'm simply a soldier, Mister Wells. Not a policeman, lawyer, judge or executioner."
"Pardon me if I don't believe that you are simply a soldier, Commander," Wells said with a sad little smile. "History says you are much more than that."
"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?"
Wells sighed heavily. "Commander, I had hoped I wouldn't have to…" He stopped to listen. Then Freeman heard it – voices coming closer. Wells beckoned them to get out of site.
"And you believe everything that panty-waist collaborator says?" Trask was saying.
"I called someone I know over at the NIA," the younger man with him said. "They confirm there is one, maybe two, ELE size objects headed this way. They couldn't confirm that either of them would hit, but their estimates are that we don't have the ability to divert even one of them. But they also said General Zeitlin was planning to contact Superman if the scientists didn't come up with something."
"Superman!" Trask sputtered. "Zeitlin's a damned fool if he thinks Superman's going to do anything but use this as a chance to subjugate us, make us grateful for his beneficence then make himself a king, inviting all his alien compatriots here to lord it over us. And I would rather the damned asteroid kill the whole planet than have a single human being bow down to some freak!"
"But sir…"
"You know what happened to Thompson when he questioned the mission, don't you?" Trask demanded.
"Yes, sir."
Trask and his man disappeared behind the building.
"Thompson?" Straker said, keeping his voice low.
"The civilian assigned to demobilize Bureau 39. His body was found in Hob's Bay."
Freeman could see the indecision in Straker's face. It was obvious to Freeman that Trask was insane – no reasonable person would condemn the entire world to a horrible death to 'save' it. Straker was dedicated almost to the point of obsession – at least he sometimes seemed so – but even on his worst days, he would never put the entire planet at risk to eliminate one lone alien.
"Trask refused a legal order to demobilize his unit?" Straker asked.
Wells nodded.
Resolve settled on Straker's finely honed features. "I'll do it."
"There is a complicating factor," Wells added.
Straker glared at him but the Englishman didn't seem to notice as he continued. "Trask has in his possession crystals of Element 126. Those crystals must be not allowed to fall in the hands of Superman's enemies, or enemies of Earth."
"And how do you propose we get those crystals away from Trask before he manages to kill your Superman?" Freeman asked.
Wells gave him an enigmatic smile that reminded Freeman of Jackson when he was up to something.
"I'm a time traveler, Colonel Freeman. We'll use time."
-o-o-o-
"Another bad night?" Straker asked over coffee.
"You're telling me that all this doesn't keep you awake at night?"
"I'd be lying if it said it didn't," Straker said.
"Trask has some of that poison. And since we don't have it, I assume we didn't retrieve it."
"I'm not sure what happened to it," Straker admitted.
Freeman had another flash of memory – Straker pressing the button on the 'time controller' Wells had given him and nothing happening…
Time didn't freeze as Freeman had expected. Straker swore under his breath as he picked up his rifle. As if in slow motion the thrown crystal shattered against an exposed stone. The sparkling pieces fell into the pool below.
"Oh, very brave. And very foolish," Trask told Kent with a sneer as he reholstered his gun. "Now, let's see. Who should go first? You, or the human traitors who have sheltered you all these years?"
Freeman heard Straker give a little snort of annoyance as he raised his rifle to aim. Kent had picked himself from the dirt and charged at Trask, knocking the older man off his feet. But the effort seemed to have taken its toll on Kent. Or it could have been the poison.
"You're right, Superman. I don't need a gun," Trask said, picking himself up. Trask was a trained killer, but Kent was strong and desperate – and in Straker's line of sight.
Then, Kent managed to knock Trask down in the pool. Sirens were wailing in the distance and getting louder.
"Go ahead. Kill me. I would have killed you," Trask taunted. Kent let go of him and Trask splashed back into the water.
"That's not how I work," Kent said before turning his back on Trask to stagger out of the water.
Several Lowell County sheriff vehicles skidded to a stop in the barn yard. Uniformed officers piled out along with Lane and a couple of civilians.
But Trask wasn't really down. He'd had a small gun hidden somewhere and was aiming it at Kent's exposed back.
"Clark!" Lane screamed.
"Alec?" Straker's voice broke in.
"Wells's little time gizzy didn't work," Freeman said flatly.
"No, it didn't," Straker said.
"And if that poison ends up in the water and Kent is exposed…"
"It could well kill him anyway," Straker completed for him.
"Is that why we're here?" Freeman asked. "To finish what we couldn't do then? We both saw the poison go into the water, but if Earth is to be saved, there can't be poison in the water. And Trask can't get off his shot even though he was too close to miss."
"Exactly."
"So, what's the plan?"
"If we move too quickly, we create an insurmountable paradox. We'll see our past selves. And they might see us."
"And if we move too slowly, we run the risk of Kent getting killed. You didn't answer the question. What's your plan?"
Straker held up his left hand, showing Freeman what he was holding against his palm – a white electronic device that looked remarkably like the one Wells had given Straker so many years before.
"We have people watching Trask and the Kents," Straker added. "The pond is at the Kent farm. We'll wait for Trask there. I also would rather the senior Kents didn't know we're involved. I'd like to avoid family complications."
Westcott came into the RV. "Trask let Wayne Irig go. His men followed him to the Kent farm. Trask's people have also grabbed Lane and Kent and it now looks like Trask is breaking camp."
"Have Lane or Kent been hurt?" Straker asked.
"Trask bundled Kent into one of the vans and it looks like he intends on taking him with them."
-o-o-o-
Straker and Freeman were in place, hiding in the shadow of the barn when Trask tossed a match onto the trail of gasoline and set fire to the shed where the Kents and Irig were tied up.
They watched as Kent burst from the trailer and extinguished the blaze then went inside to release Trask's captives.
"Clark! Behind you!" Mrs. Kent yelled.
Trask had started for the van but was now returning. From his vantage point, Freeman could see that Trask was holding a green crystal behind his back.
"Don't take another step," Kent warned.
"Fighting words, Mister Kent," Trask sneered. "Or should I call you, 'Superman?'… A secret identity. Very clever."
"You're going to prison. For murder, kidnapping, for abuse of power," Kent said, determination written across his young face.
"But I'll tell everyone your secret."
"I don't care. This ends now, Trask."
"Agreed. But the question is, for whom?"
It was just like in Freeman's 'dreams'. Déjà vu multiplied a hundred times. Kent moved toward Trask only to find that the other man had element 126 in his possession.
A movement caught Freeman's eye. A man in odd clothes was standing and watching the fight. Freeman didn't recall seeing the man before but he seemed to be cheering Trask on. Then Freeman noticed something in the man's hand – a small white, familiar device.
Freeman tapped Straker's shoulder and pointed out the man.
"A member of the opposition, no doubt," Straker murmured.
The fight went on as Freeman remembered. Then Kent was down. Trask was ranting. "You think you're better than we humans, don't you? Flying around, oh-so-perfect and superior. But those days are over, aren't they?"
"You're... wrong."
Trask taunted Kent with the green crystal. Freeman could see sweat beading on the younger man's forehead.
"No. You're wrong. It's over, and I have won. This little piece of home is going to be the death of you, Superman."
There were sirens in the distance. Trask placed the poison beside him and started away toward the van.
Then everything stopped.
Trask in mid step, the watcher, even Kent. Nothing moved. Even the air was still.
Straker hurried over to the crystal, picked it up and replaced it with a similar green crystal from a bag Freeman hadn't realized Straker had with him. The poisonous rock went in the bag as Straker hurried back to the shelter of the barn.
Then Straker pressed a button and time resumed.
Kent, still on the ground, reached out and picked up the rock. Summoning his strength, Kent threw the rock away from himself, toward the pond. The rock shattered into dust, sparkles taken away by the wind and falling into the pond water.
Trask turned back. "Oh, very brave. And very foolish. Now, let's see. Who should go first? You or the human traitors who have sheltered you all these years?"
Kent picked himself off the ground and charged Trask, knocking him off his feet. But the effort seemed too much for Kent and Trask knew it.
"You're right, Superman. I don't need a gun," Trask gloated.
Trask was a highly trained street-fighter. But he wasn't a young man, and Kent, despite being poisoned, still had youth and the strength of desperation on his side. Finally, both men tumbled into the pool.
"Finish him, kid," Freeman urged silently, even though he knew he'd seen this scene before.
"Go ahead. Kill me. I would have killed you," Trask taunted. Kent let go of him and Trask fell back with a splash.
"That's not how I work," Kent said before turning to stagger out of the water.
Several Lowell County sheriff vehicles skidded to a stop in the barn yard. Uniformed officers piled out along with Lane and a couple of civilians.
But Trask wasn't down. He'd had a small gun hidden somewhere and was now aiming it at Kent's exposed back.
"Clark!" Lane screamed.
Sheriff Harris pulled her service revolver. A shot rang out – or was it two shots? Trask fell back in the water. Lane ran to her partner, embracing him. Harris stared at her revolver as if not quite sure what happened.
"Clark!" Lane screamed.
Straker squeezed off a shot and Trask was down. He disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
Sheriff Harris had her gun out and was looking at it oddly. Freeman wondered if she'd managed to get a shot off as well.
"Gentlemen, I think your job here is done," Wells said. Freeman hadn't heard him approach. "If we stay longer, I fear there may be complications."
"Your device didn't work," Straker said with a glower. He made no move to hand it back to Wells. "Time didn't stop. The poison made it into the water."
"There was interference," Wells said simply. "But I have every faith that the problem has been, or will be, solved in time to save the Earth."
A time door opened. Freeman could see Straker's office on the other side. "It's time to go home, gentlemen," Wells said, waiting.
Straker and Freeman went through the time door. It closed behind Wells.
"We've seen the future," Straker said. "What's to stop us from changing it?"
Wells smiled. "Like SHADO, we have ways to make people forget."
Freeman saw a flash and …