Chapter 5
It had been a slow workday; Lois sat at her desk tapping her pen repeatedly on the smooth surface. She stared at Clark Kent, the new hire of the Daily Planet, who Chief had put right across from her at his own desk. He was typing away on his holo-screen, oblivious to her staring at him. She was trying to figure him out, he seemed too wholesome to her and as a reporter she was always curious.
"So where you from Kent?" she asked with a curious look on her face.
Clark looked up from his screen and fixed his glasses, "Smallville, Kansas."
"Never heard of it" Lois replied as she nodded slowly. She was about to continue with a barrage of questions, but noticed an urgent message blinking on her own holo-screen. She straightened up and opened the message. It was from the Chief telling her to get in his office ASAP and to bring Kent. She looked up and sighed, "Come on Smallville, Chief wants to see us." Lois and Clark strode into the Chief's office.
"Sit down both of ya" gestured the Chief. "Have you two heard the news yet about Superman?"
Lois perked up, "No, what?"
At the same time Clark replied, "Who Sir?"
Perry scowled at Clark, "A formal message was received by the Council's secretaries; they say it was from the Superman himself and that he wants to arrange a public meeting between them."
"Chief I am already there, let me grab a few things and I will be on the next transport to the Citadel" exclaimed Lois standing up from her chair. She was already heading towards the door by the time she had finished.
"Good, now I want you two to be right in front when he arrives" said the Chief as he put a half burnt cigar in his mouth.
Lois stopped in the doorway and slowly turned around, "Wait, two? As in him and me?" she asked looking at Clark.
"Yes, I partnered you two up for a reason; he needs the experience as a reporter and you…well maybe he'll level you out a little bit" chuckled the Chief.
Clark stood up and added, "Mr. White, I really think that something of this magnitude should be handled by a veteran reporter, if Ms. Lane wants to do this by herself it would be fine." Clark really hoped the senior editor would agree to that, because when he sent the message via his crystalline omni-tool to the Council, he did not expect he would be the one to cover it.
He wanted to establish two entirely different personas; the heroic Superman and the mild-mannered Clark Kent. There could be no indication that they were both the same person. It had taken him some to adjust to hiding in plain sight; wearing large clothes, purposefully being clumsy and being someone who just blended into the woodwork. But all the while, he was still Clark Kent, the man raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent and that was something he could never forget. It was just a matter of finding a median and showing that Clark Kent could never be Superman.
"No, no this'll be good for you Kent. The Daily Planet's transport leaves in ten; get moving" barked the Chief as he motioned for the reporters to leave.
Lois went to her desk and grabbed her messenger bag. She looked over at Clark, who was waiting by the elevator with a smile on his face. The two of them got onto the transport which was only half full, with about six people seated throughout the small shuttle. Clark buckled himself in across from Lois' seat and held tight onto the handles.
Lois tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Clark took a deep breath, "I don't really like flying" he confessed.
Lois couldn't help a smile to form across her face, "You're joking?" She shook her head, "Well then hold on tight."
The shuttle bay was located directly underneath the Daily Planet. The tiny shuttle dislodged from its dock and dropped down into the stillness of space. The engines ignited and the shuttle began its way to the nearest Mass Relay.
Clark had to consciously look queasy, no easy feat for a man who could have already made it the Citadel by himself. He looked at Lois who seemed very comfortable in the shuttle, reading messages on her omni-tool while they approached the Mass Relay. The shuttle entered the orbit of the Relay and was coated in the blue energy as it accelerated forwards. While travelling through Relays, the trip was relatively quiet, with only a slight hum through the shuttle.
Clark relaxed himself and looked at Lois, "So what about you, where you from?"
Lois did not look up from her light reddish colored omni-tool, "Born on Earth and then taken all across the world to all kinds of different military bases. Eventually took up into space and lived on pretty much every Alliance space station and dreadnought out here." She looked up to look Clark in the eyes, "And now I am here. I have been reading your articles, you have moderate talent, I can see why the Chief wanted you."
"Thank you, I have actually read a lot of your articles—" before Clark could continue, a voice chimed in over the speakers in the shuttle stating they were arriving at the Citadel.
Lois and Clark unloaded and made their way to the Presidium. There was a special meeting place for all media, which Lois was familiar with, the officials there rounded up all those with the media and briefed them on what was going to happen.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today we are allowing the press into the Citadel Tower to view this momentous occasion. The Superman of Earth messaged Council, hoping to set up a meeting between them. The Council agreed to the meeting while setting up key issues to be brought up. The Council has asked that the press ask no questions and merely record the meeting, nothing more. You will now be escorted to the elevator that will take you up." The turian stepped down of his podium and met up with other officers of C-Sec.
"Ready Smallville?" asked Lois as she and Clark waited in line for the elevator.
"I guess so, how many times have you seen the Council?" Clark replied, pressing up against an elcor standing next to him.
"Not as much as I would like, but what are you going to do?" The door opened and let on about a dozen members of the press, including the large elcor.
As the elevator slowly rose off the Presidium, Clark had time to think. He looked down at the screen on his wrist and noted the time; he messaged the Council saying he would arrive within the next 20 minutes. Clark looked over at Lois, who was doing a jittery dance where she stood. How am I going to slip away?
When the doors opened there were hundreds of people, of all different species, waiting to get a glimpse of the Council and Superman. Lois stood on her toes to try to get a good look and eventually grabbed Clark's hand, "C'mon, we need to get closer." She slipped and slid her way through the crowd, never once saying anything.
As Clark was being dragged by her, he repeated, "Excuse me, pardon me." They made it up some stairs, to a larger part of the Council Chamber. Clark fixed his glasses after moving through the crowd and looked at Lois.
"Okay he'll probably be flying over the crowd, might be able to get a really good shot from up there" Lois pointed to one of the upper areas overlooking where the Council would be appearing. "Okay Smallville, I am going to make my way up there, you stay down here and conduct some interviews with onlookers."
In his mind Clark was ecstatic, that would give him the perfect opportunity to slip away, but he had to maintain the image, "Are you sure Lois?"
"Yea you'll be fine," she then looked around them, "good luck." She then disappeared into the enormous crowd and left Clark standing there alone.
He took a sigh of relief and then began to slip through crowd in the opposite direction. Finally he made it through the sea of people to a clearing near one of the service elevators. He found a back corner that led to a service door into the elevator shaft, which he had to 'force' open.
Clark now hovered in the long elevator channel as he closed the sliding door behind him. He did a quick glance around the shaft, searching for cameras or other motion sensors. Finding nothing, he took his glasses off and secured them in the crystalline wrist compartment. Taking one more deep breath, he began to dive down the elevator shaft. He ripped off his overcoat, revealing the bright red and blue suit underneath. He held both hands out in front of him as he shot down the shaft back to the Presidium Commons. At the bottom, now dressed as Superman, he looked around for access to the open area of the Presidium. Then he saw the perfect way to get in without causing a suspicion when he spotted the water pumps.
Seconds later Superman erupted out of the Presidium lake and into the artificial skyline. Onlookers all around pointed and gaped as Superman floated to the ground towards the main Citadel Tower elevator. He hovered inches off the ground with his feet pointed down as he approached the C-Sec officers. "Good afternoon officers, I have a meeting with the Council."
The two turians quickly looked at each other then back at the man with the giant 'S' on his chest. "Of course, go ahead Mr. Superman" one of the officers managed to say while opening the elevator.
Superman floated into the doorway; "Just Superman is fine, have a nice day gentleman" the Man of Steel smiled as the door closed. He noted in his head that this elevator was not much faster than the media's elevator. Eventually it reached the top and just as he had guessed, the officers below had radioed ahead saying Superman had arrived.
When the doors opened everyone in front of him began to clap and cheer. Superman smiled and shook a few hands before he rose above them and hovered towards where the Council was waiting. A podium was already set up for him as the crowd still cheered and whistled for him. He landed in front of the podium, which was separated from the crowd.
The Council stood over everyone with a gap between where Superman stood. They stood with the turian, asari, salarian and human councilor all lined up left to right. The only one Superman recognized was Udina, the human councilor; he had learned about him back on Earth.
The asari councilor gestured with her hands for the crowd to quiet down. As the applause slowly died down, Superman glanced around looking for Lois. He spotted her on the upper balcony with a small camerabot hovering around her; Superman figured she had it in her messenger bag. Lois smiled when he looked at her and Superman knew he had to play it off and pretend he was just looking around the crowd. After the applause had completely stopped, he focused his attention to the four councilor members.
The asari councilor spoke first, "Superman, welcome to the Citadel."
"Thank you for having me" Superman replied.
"We have watched your heroics on Earth and are glad to have you with us amongst the stars" bowed the salarian councilor.
"Yes, now you were the one that wanted to arrange this meeting, how can we help you?" asked the turian councilor on the far left. Udina just lowered his eyebrows and watched Superman.
Superman straightened up and put his hands behind his back, in a calm demeanor, "Actually, I am here to figure out how I can help you." Whispers broke out in the crowd as Superman continued, "As you may have heard me say on Earth, I am here to join the galactic community, but I wanted to do it right. That is why I am standing before this council."
"So you speak as a representative of Earth?" interrupted Udina.
"No," Superman quickly and sternly replied, "I am not a representative of Earth. I am a visitor there as much as I am here." Udina let out a slight snort and then looked to his fellow councilors.
"What are your intentions then Superman?" asked the salarian councilor.
"To uphold the ideals of truth, justice and the civil way." The crowd talked quietly to themselves; the media quickly jotted down the great quote. "I will continue to do what I have always done and protect life in all its forms. In the future I hope to meet with you all individually to discuss what I can do to help. I promise not to tread on any of your governments business and will do my very best to stay true to the morals I learned on Earth."
The crowd began to cheer and clap again, ecstatic about their new protector. Over the cheering, the turian councilor spoke with an amplified voice, "Thank you Superman."
The Man of Steel noticed a slight grimace on the turians face, clearly being forced for the crowd to be civil with him. Superman got the feeling that all of the Council didn't quite trust him and that the entire meeting was nothing but a publicity stunt to further relations with Earth. He was serious about meeting with the councilors, to get to know them better and show that his intentions are true.
The council departed from the Presidium, as Superman stayed behind to answer questions for the crowd. He didn't really enjoy it, but felt it was necessary to show people that he was a figure to be trusted. Some in the crowd were younger and wanted pictures with the Superman while others just wanted to shake his hand. The crowds followed him as he walked through the Citadel, taking a tour of the enormous station.
Over two hours passed and the crowd had only died down a little. Superman had taken an extensive tour and had ended up at one of the docking bays.
"Superman, one last question I swear," called out Lois as she butted her way through the waning crowd. Superman had of course heard her calling for him amongst the other hundreds of calls for his attention, but had to remain fair. He now turned his attention to Lois and smiled "Yes, Ms. Lane?"
Superman was floating beyond the crowd in the docking bay. Lois and the reporters huddled up against a railing that separated them from the edge. "You remember me?" blushed Lois as she pushed hair behind her ear.
"Of cour-" Superman stopped mid-sentence as a high pitched screech caused him to hold his ears in distress. The screech eventually settled as a modified voice started to speak.
"Behold the Superman; for man is something to be overcome." Superman began to spin around in the air, searching for where the voice was coming from. The screech continued as he figured out it was an underlying transmission, undetectable to the reporters in front of him who looked confused. "I've been watching you and I must say you have my curiosity peaked. I want to arrange a meeting and please do not refuse or I promise your arrival on the Citadel will not be the only breaking news."
Superman lowered his brow, scanning around the room. The reporters stared at him, not knowing what was happening.
"Follow the transmission origin." The screech's frequency changed, only detectable to Superman's enhanced hearing. The transmission shifted in a way that he could trace.
Superman looked back to Lois and the others, "Excuse me; I have to take care of something," he looked right at Lois, "until we meet again." He then turned and flew out the blue barrier that separated the vacuum of space and the dock. Superman streaked towards the middle of the Citadel pedals, searching all around for the source of the screech. He then spotted it; a medium sized frigate with no markings of any kind on the hull. He floated towards the ship and reached the port door. It opened and closed behind him as he stood in the entrance chamber.
"Welcome Superman"