Lois Lane. No one has seen her in the last five years. The Marine at the US Embassy in the Congo looked at her in shock. He looked again at the passport photo and then at the woman standing before him. She was the right height, black hair much longer than in the picture, purple eyes that sparkled when she smiled like she did now. She was very thin, pale beneath her deep tan. She was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and jeans shorts that were frayed at the ends and well-worn walking boots. There were African bracelets on her hands and several beaded necklaces around her neck.
"Well? Are you going to let me in?" And with the same take-no-prisoners attitude he had heard about.
"Yeah, sure." He returned her passport and opened the gate.
Lois smiled and entered the embassy courtyard with a smile and a confident step. Inside she didn't feel so sure of herself. Pastor Johnson warned her that the world had changed, that it would be an adjustment but Lois from the moment she regained her memory only wanted one thing. She dragged the small suitcase that helped her remember everything just a few weeks ago across the mud brick courtyard of the embassy and entered the building. The suitcase was hers and floated one day on the riverbank not far from the mission. Jean-Pierre thought the suitcase must have gotten caught in an underwater root after that boat explosion that took Daily Planet investigative reporter Lois Lane deep into the Congo's black jungle. The suitcase, true to its manufacturer's warranty statement, protected its contents from moisture and Lois, after five years of limbo and unanswered questions, found answers and deep inside the suitcase she found a ring. Now she set off on a journey to the man who gave it to her.
At the isolated farm on the outskirts of Smallville the phone rang. Old dial telephone, yellow. Clark Kent took off his work gloves, wiped the sweat from his forehead and picked up the phone.
"Kent Farm."
"Justice and truth." Clark did not respond. "The nightingale is on its way."
"The nightingale?! But how? The..." He closed his mouth before making a mistake. "Time?"
"Two days at most."
"I understand." He hung up the phone.
He left the kitchen and went up to his room. There, on the dresser stood a picture, the only one he had left, the only one he had managed to sneak under General Lane's scrutinizing eye when he left Metropolis four and a half years before. He stood there hugging Lois from behind and she, her head tilted back to look at him smiled, her hands resting gently on his. He picked up the picture with a trembling hand and caressed her face in the picture, tears streaming from his eyes. After a few moments he sighed, removed his glasses, and wiped the tears with the back of his hand. He took the picture with him to the barn. There he went to the southeast corner and moved the straw out of the way. He lifted two square meters of plank floor, revealing the real barn floor and the hidden door inside. He opened the door and carefully went down the stairs. He returned after a few moments without the picture and closed the hidden door behind him. He didn't put the fake floor back in place, he just leaned it against one of the walls so that it would also hide the door, creating the impression that the space was smaller than it really was. In the remaining space he placed bales of straw up to his waist and then hurried with a slight limp to the field. There is work to do, crops to harvest and people to talk to.
By the time the military plane arrived at Fort Avalon Lois remembered exactly why she hated the military. When they landed this hatred quickly developed into loathing. All the way from the airport to the residence, the officer who accompanied her made it clear to her in no uncertain terms what her father expected her to do. Lois smiled and nodded in the right places, but her eyes took in everything and she started looking for ways to escape. She stubbornly refused to let anyone touch her suitcase. The officer was not satisfied but gave up. When she arrived at the residence she understood why. Military police officers with guns were standing at the door and they wanted to check the suitcase. Lois looked at them with a hostile look and refused to hand over the few possessions she had. She stood there in the midday sun tired, sweaty, and stubborn as a pit bull and refused to hand over her suitcase.
"I was in Africa for five years, deep in the jungle. What do you think I'm hiding in my suitcase?"
"That's the protocol, Miss Lane. All cell phones or satellites phones, all laptops, all beepers, everything must go through a security check."
"So we're in luck. All of these are at the bottom of the Congo River or in the stomach of a passing crocodile."
"And I still have to check the suitcase."
"And I still refuse to give it to you."
"Ms. Lane."
"Corporal Stevens."
"You can't enter the barracks without a security check."
"Wonderful! I wasn't planning on going in at all. Can you arrange a ride for me to Metropolis?" A muscle twitched nervously in the MP's cheek, Lois continued to smile.
"Ms. Lane, the General specifically ordered..." Captain Hernandez began. Lois turned to him.
"Contrary to what you or my father believe, I am not in the army, I do not take orders from my father. I have never obeyed my father's orders and I have no intention of starting now. Am I a prisoner?"
"Of course not!"
"Then I'd love to go back to Metropolis."
"The General arranged for you to live temporarily in Fort Avalon because you have nowhere to live in Metropolis."
"I'm a big girl, I'll be fine." Hernandez gritted his teeth. Lois looked between him and the corporal. "Would one of you arrange a ride for me or should I start hitchhiking?" When they didn't answer, Lois grabbed the handle of her suitcase and turned away from the three towards the gate. She didn't get more than a few feet before Hernandez reluctantly let out.
"Ms. Lane."
"Yes?" Lois said, turning around.
"Where do you want to go in Metropolis?" Lois's smile turned bright.
It didn't take Lois long to ditch her military escort.
The trip to Metropolis taught her a lot, too much, about the changes since she left. The military jeep didn't stand out in a city that was full of military vehicles. Corporal Stevens stopped the jeep near the Daily Planet.
"As you see, Ms. Lane, things have changed." He got out of the jeep and bought her a newspaper. "The world is much less safe today."
"I have no doubt."
Perry no longer worked at the paper, in fact the paper had shrunk by more than half and none of the reporters were known to Lois.
"Where are all the reporters I knew?"
"Who?" She looked at the armed soldiers standing at the entrance to the Daily Planet building, at the frightened looks that people on the street were sending them.
"Kat Grant, Steve Lombard, Jimmy Olson."
"Either they're still in re-education camps in North Dakota or they've been cleared to come home."
"Home?"
"Yes."
"And Clark Kent?" Stevens looked at her.
"I have no idea. Who is he anyway?" Lois forced her anger down.
"It doesn't matter. I'll get off here." She jumped out of the jeep and grabbed her suitcase.
"Ms. Lane, I am under orders to watch over you wherever you go."
"Do you also go into the women's bathroom?" She raised an eyebrow and took her suitcase out of the jeep. Stevens jumped out of the Jeep and followed her.
Lois led the way into the Daily Planet building and to the restrooms at the entrance. Stevens stood by the door. Lois rushed in and found the last seat free. She looked out the window and saw the soldier standing in front of it. She looked at the ceiling with a smile. Amateurs!
Lois placed the suitcase on the toilet seat and with her fingertips she pushed up the vent. She felt inside and found the cigarette box she had left there years ago. No one has touched the vent cover since. She put her suitcase into the vent and then followed her up. She closed the vent cover and began moving through the dusty maze of ventilation ducts until she reached the opening she wanted, an opening that was above the server room. She threw her suitcase in and then jumped into the room, making sure to close the vent.
She looked around. She found a grey overall on one of the shelves and hurried to put it on. She removed all the jewellery and hid it inside the suitcase. She pulled her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and wore a grey brimmed hat that bore the logo of the cleaning company. She rummaged through her suitcase until she found a Sheila Dexter cleaning company tag and hung it on the front of her overalls. She dragged a cart with cleaning supplies and a trash can from one of the corners. She put the suitcase in the bin and emptied the bin in the room and only then went out into the corridor.
Half an hour later she was at the back of the building. She pulled her suitcase out of the bin, cleaned it of rubbish and hailed a taxi.