Rosetta – Nineteenth Chapter
Jonathan finished nailing wooden boards over the symbol burned into the barn just as Clark and Rory finished sweeping up the glass. Chloe was gone along with her pictures.
"Well, that ought to keep the looky-loos away, at least till I have a chance to patch it up better," Jonathan said.
Clark leaned on his broom and said, "A couple of boards aren't gonna be able to cover up anything anymore."
"Especially after Chloe publishes her pictures," Rory added, mimicking her brother by leaning on her own broom.
"Well, I think I managed to convince her it was just a prank," Martha said.
Clark said, "Yeah, well at least whatever it was that Rory did is easy to get rid of. That-" he gestured to the barn wall, "not so easy to cover up."
"You can't beat yourself up about this, Clark," Rory said.
"Exactly. Your abilities are still developing," Martha continued. "You can't always control them."
"There is nothing uncontrolled about that drawing," Clark said, standing up straight.
"What?" Jonathan asked, confused.
"He's right. It's a symbol from wherever we came from," Rory explained.
"It means hope," Clark told them. Rory nodded.
"How do you know that? Martha asked. "Since when have you been able to read the symbols?"
Rory twisted her hands together, looking guilty. "Since we put the key in the cave wall," she muttered innocently.
Jonathan, who caught every word, said angrily, "Wait a minute. Since you did what?"
"Dad, it was calling out to us," Clark tried to explain. "It led us to where you hid it."
Jonathan looked from Clark to Rory and back again. "I told you not to do that," he said sternly.
"We know, Dad, but it was like we didn't have a choice," Rory told him, trying to calm him down.
"Where is the key now?" Martha asked, having digested all of this information.
Rory glanced at Clark and he at her. "We don't know," he replied. "When we put the key in the wall, there was this blinding light."
"We both blacked out at that point," Rory finished.
"Are you all right?" Martha asked, maternal instinct prompting her.
"Yeah, it didn't hurt us," Rory said.
"But everything's all jumbled up," Clark continued. Struggling a little with his explanation, he said, "It's like it... downloaded us with the language from the cave wall."
"Did anybody see you?" Jonathan asked, concern overriding his objections briefly.
"I don't think so," said Rory thoughtfully, "but Lex and Dr. Walden found us. I don't think they have the key."
"I think it disintegrated or something," Clark added.
"You're not one hundred percent sure?" Jonathan asked them, disapproving. "Clark, Rory, we understand you wanting to know more about your origins, but you're putting your own lives in danger here."
"Some things are worth that risk," Rory argued, her eyes shining.
"Like what?"
Clark and Rory looked at each other, smiling. "Like the truth," Clark replied, his eyes not leaving his sister's.
The Torch, later that day (I think)
"I'd like to thank you for turning our farm into Area 51," Clark announced their presence to Chloe as he and Rory entered the Torch.
"Seriously," Rory continued his line of thought. "We needed a couple of sheriff deputies to keep all the wackos away."
Chloe smiled, and said apologetically, "Sorry, guys." Changing into reporter mode, she continued, "You have to admit, it is really intriguing."
"It's probably just a K.U. frat prank," Rory said casually.
"Or it could be that aliens think crop circles are passé so they've moved on to barn scorching?" Chloe argued back. "Come on, you guys, this is Smallville. I mean, you have to consider the possibility."
She walked back around to her computer and frowned. "That's weird..." she muttered.
"What's weird?" Rory asked her, moving around to look at the computer. There was a long list of unopened emails in Chloe's inbox.
"Someone spammed your email account," Clark said, looking over Rory's shoulder.
"Yeah, but they're all for you guys," Chloe said, puzzled. She pointed to the subject line which read 'For the Kents'.
"From someone called Swann..." Rory said, mystified. "Never heard of him."
"Me either," said Clark.
Chloe opened one of the messages and the screen showed a picture of the symbol burnt into the barn. Above the symbol was a New York address. Below it, the word 'Hope' appeared. Underneath that, it read, 'I have something for you.'
The Kent barn loft, afternoon (same day I think)
Pete entered the barn loft where Clark and Rory were waiting.
"Did our parents see you?" Clark asked him urgently.
"No," said Pete, shaking his head at the same time. He took a laptop computer from underneath his jacket and set it on a bale of hay. Clark hooked it up to a phone cord.
"What's with all this cloak-and-dagger stuff?" Pete asked them, a little confused. "Why couldn't we just go to the Torch and use Chloe's computer?"
"Because we can't have her looking over our shoulders if this Swann guy has information for us," Rory explained.
"Okay, you're on," said Pete a few seconds later.
Clark took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and opened it to reveal Swann's email address. He typed the address in and hesitated before asking Rory quietly, "What should we say?"
"How about, 'We got your message. What do you have for us?'" Rory suggested. Clark typed it in and paused, his finger hovering on the button that would send the message.
"What's wrong?" Pete asked.
"What if our parents are right?" Clark asked, more to himself than Pete or Rory.
"Then we can just pull the plug on this whole thing," Pete told him. He reached for the keyboard and
Clark stopped him.
"We need to know." Rory said what Clark was thinking, and he nodded.
Clark sent the email and a few seconds later, a box popped up on the screen. It said, 'The user "vswann" has sent you an instant message. Do you wish to accept it?'
"Open it," Rory urged him. Clark did so.
The new message said,
If you can read this I have the answers you're looking for.
Three symbols were beneath the message.
"What does it say?" Pete asked breathlessly.
"It says, I'm a friend," Rory told him, excitement in her voice.
The Torch, the next day (finally!)
"Dr. Virgil Swann," Chloe told Clark and Rory as they looked at an issue of Time magazine. On the front was a black-and-white picture of a man with the caption 'Man of the Year'.
"You guys are being stalked by a legend," Chloe said, grinning.
"I've never heard of him," said Rory simply.
Chloe sighed, exasperated. "He was a high-tech Howard Hughes 30 years ago. He graduated from M.I.T. when he was 19. He had his doctorate in math and applied physics."
"Whoa," Rory said, surprised.
"Oh, there's more. He then started his own company, Swann Communications, which quickly rose to international acclaim in the 1970s as the world's largest producer of satellites. I mean, this guy has so much hardware in space that "Scientific American" dubbed him the Man of Tomorrow," Chloe told them.
"Only through communication will people live in peace," Clark read from the article. "Sounds like a remarkable guy."
"He was until he pulled a J.D. Salinger. He sold his company and put his millions toward charitable foundations," Chloe explained. "Rumour has it he devoted himself to searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe."
"And what about the address in the email? How does that fit in?" Rory asked curiously.
"It's the New York Planetarium. What better place to look for little green men?" Chloe asked rhetorically. "Why is this guy so interested in two farm kids from Smallville, Kansas?"
"I don't think he's interested in us – just in our barn," Rory said, trying to brush her concerns off.
"Virgil Swann hasn't made a phone call in thirteen years, and all of a sudden he wants to be your best buddy?" Chloe asked sceptically. "He must think that symbol is pretty important."
"It was just a hoax," Clark tried to convince her.
"Yeah, well," Chloe said in a tone that said she disagreed. "One of the most brilliant men in the world disagrees. If I were you?" She paused, looking both of them in the eye. "I'd find out why."
Kent kitchen, later that day
"This whole thing is very suspicious, you two," Jonathan said as the Kent family sat around their dining table.
"Dad, he could give us some answers," Rory said convincingly.
"He knows how to read the language," Clark offered.
"According to you, he does," Jonathan said distrustfully. "How do we even know that you're reading it right? We have no idea what that cave did to you two."
"Mom, help us out here," Rory appealed to her mother.
"Rory, we don't know anything about this Dr. Swann," Martha said, an apology in her voice as she sided with Jonathan.
"For all we know, the whole thing could be an elaborate plot just to get to you!" Jonathan suggested.
"Now you're just being paranoid," Clark said, standing up.
"Did you ever think for a second that maybe he just wanted to help?" Rory asked angrily.
Jonathan stood up too. "No, Rory, I haven't. When it comes to protecting both you two, and your secret, all I've ever seen are people who want to exploit you for your own personal gain."
"You can't protect us forever!" Rory yelled at him, standing up.
"I'm not willing to give that up just yet!" Jonathan shouted back.
There was a pause as they glared at one another.
"Rory, Clark," Martha began, "we're not trying to keep you from learning about your past. We just don't want to see you get hurt, either."
"It's just –" Rory began. Shaking her head, she said, "Clark, you say it. I need to calm down." She walked a little way away, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.
Clark glanced at her, then looked back at their parents. "What Rory is trying to say is that we have all these questions, and we can't just leave them in the storm cellar anymore," he said, voice growing stronger as he got going in his – well, their – speech. "Why did our parents put us in that ship? What was so bad, that they had to send us away?" Martha and Jonathan looked worried, and he finished gravely, "We have to do this."
Martha and Jonathan looked at each other, tears in their eyes, and Jonathan said, "Then let's go together. We'll go as a family."
Rory had returned, and she said, "Dad, I don't want to shut you or Mom out, but –" she stopped.
"We have to go alone," Clark finished softly. "It's the only way."
Martha stood and took Clark's hand. He smiled at her.
"No matter what we find out," Rory said tearfully, "it is not going to change the way that we feel about you." She looked at Clark, and he looked back at her. "You'll always be our mom and dad."
Martha hugged Clark, reaching out for Rory who hugged her too. Jonathan came over and hugged them all.
New York City, a little while after
Clark and Rory entered the room, having supersped past security to get in. They found themselves surrounded by globes, statues, and many other scientific objects.
"Hello?" Rory called, her voice echoing slightly in the empty room. "Hello? Dr. Swann?"
"Rory, maybe this wasn't the greatest idea," Clark muttered.
"Clark, you can't seriously be having second thoughts now," she said, turning to face him.
"Well, what if Dad was right? What if this guy just wants to reveal our secret?" Clark asked, almost fearfully.
"Weren't you the one that said he was just being paranoid?" Rory retorted.
"Yeah, well, now I'm not so sure," Clark said. "I mean, this place – it's all so... I don't know. Reminds me of a lab, or something..." he trailed off.
"Don't you remember that nightmare we used to have as kids?" he asked her. "Just after we'd found out about our powers, and Mom and Dad told us that if people found out about them they'd take us away, and experiment on us?"
Rory shuddered. "Don't talk about that, Clark. It terrified me. All the lights, and the cold metal table..."
"Exactly," Clark said. "Dr. Swann's a scientist, isn't he?"
"Yeah, but he studied physics. Not biology. Why would he want to experiment on us?" Rory asked him smugly.
"Maybe he'll hand us over to a biologist, and then –"
"Clark, for god's sake!" Rory yelled at him. He motioned for her to lower her voice, and she did, continuing, "Now that is paranoia. I think all Dr. Swann wants to know is if his suspicions are right. All he wants to know is if there's intelligent life out there. Clark, you and me are that proof! That's why he wants to talk to us."
"That may be so," Clark acknowledged. "But what are we doing here?"
"Looking for answers, I assume," said someone down the other end of the room. Rory and Clark jumped, startled, and turned to the voice.
There were several bookshelves in the way, however. The twins walked down the room, neither of them saying a word. They finally reached the end, and saw the man – Dr. Swann – seated at a desk. He was in a wheelchair with a tube running out of his neck.
He smiled at them both, and said, "Hello Clark, Aurora. I've been expecting you."
A/N I finished it there mostly because it was a good place to finish. If anyone thinks it's too short, it's seven pages long in Microsoft Word 2007 and 2 356 words long, so there. :o) I should have an update pretty soon, but I don't really know seeing as I go back to school next Tuesday (I think).
Thanks for reading, and all constructive criticism and/or questions are welcome.
Xx.maddy-sparx.xX