- Chapter 17 - Ascension -

Crisp cream paper covered by rows of legal jargon, paragraph after paragraph of fine print, sat in a neat stack next to a cup of lukewarm coffee. Jonathan Kent sighed and shook his head at Martha. "I can't believe you even talked me into considering this."

"It's not like you're selling your soul to the devil," Martha said. She used her fork to move her eggs around on her plate before using the utensil to point to the legal document sitting between them. "It's a good deal. We don't lose anything by renting the fields that are off rotation right now. We have nearly one hundred acres sitting around covered in vetch at any one time. LuthorCorp will just be testing their new completely organic fertilizer line. It's perfect, Jon. Admit it."

"Nothing's perfect," Jonathan said. This was pretty close though. It was one thing to be civil to Lex Luthor. This was a big step, making business deals with the man. Lex had shown himself to be an admirable friend to Clark, at least that was what Martha was always saying. She'd had the man over for dinner nearly a dozen times, and Jonathan had been civil. Hell, he'd been cordial. He looked across the table at the empty seat next to Martha, and Jonathan could see Clark there smiling. Trust him Dad. "I'm going to sign it. I just can't find my pen."

Martha reached into her pocket and brandished a black ballpoint. "Stop with the excuses. I'm supposed to deliver a load of vegetables today and I'd like to drop those papers off." This was the right thing. Maybe selling the farm had been an option before, but now it just wasn't. Clark needed to have his home when he made it back. Who knew what he would have had to go through, trapped with that crazy machine? Something needed to stay constant. He shouldn't have to search for his family or his home after he made it back to Earth.

Martha stirred her eggs into a smiley face. Clark used to play with his food when he was little. He was always making potato chickens or string bean cows. Martha sighed and shoveled a forkful of her masterpiece down. Six months was a long time for her baby to be missing. It felt more like six years to her. The Hell of it all was the not knowing. Sometimes Martha would imagine things for Clark to be up to. He would be on some far off planet walking under some strange red or white or blue sun. She wouldn't let herself think about the bad things that might have happened, things the Eradicator might do. It was a household rule. They never talked about the bad things that could have happened to Clark. They discussed things like, how long he'd be gone, or what he might see out there.

"Done," Jonathan said. He signed the document, all three copies and tossed Martha her pen back. "I have to get to work."


Martha nudged a basket of mixed vegetables onto the polished marble countertop and smiled over at the Luthor chef, Martin. The little balding man was elbow deep in yeast and dough so Martha didn't try to strike up a conversation. This mansion, with its brocade and silk, its mahogany furniture and priceless nick knacks, always made her feel a little drab and provincial.

Martha dug her hands down into her pockets and steeled herself to wander through the museum Lex Luthor called home. She poked her head around the kitchen door and spotted Lex making his way downstairs. "Excellent timing," Martha said. She came on out and waved to him. "I was going to have to look for you. Jonathan and I wanted to make sure you got this today." Martha held out the stack of papers finalizing their business partnership.

Lex smiled and took the papers. Sometimes things worked out the way you planned them. The Kent farm was safe. Sure he'd had to instigate the development of a new line of fertilizer to pull it off, but it was worth it. A bittersweet victory, Jonathan Kent trusted him, but now the friendship Jonathan's distrust had threatened was history.

It still made Lex angry when he thought about it. Clark Kent was another unsolved Smallville mystery. It wasn't something that kept him up nights, at least not anymore. Clark had been the first person since his mother that saw something worthy in Lex, but you have to mourn the people you care about when they disappear out of your life.

Eventually Martha and Jonathan were going to have to let go and mourn as well. Something needed to happen to give them the closure. If his expensive private investigators could just solve the mystery, find the Eradicator and give them someone to punish, Lex felt sure they could start healing. "Thank you. Tell Mr. Kent, I'll give him plenty of warning before we send any people out to start the trials."

"We should be thanking you, Lex. That is a very generous offer, and we needed it," Martha said. She smiled warmly and patted Lex on the arm. When Clark made it home and found out about this partnership, he was going to be so happy with Jonathan and Lex too. "Will we be seeing you for dinner tomorrow?"


Chloe slammed her car into park and turned to stare at her psychic. "Well Mr. Fisk, let's see what you can do."

Fisk sighed and pushed his shades up. "This is it?" A little dusty patch of nowhere, with cows, it lived up to the town's reputation. "Introduce me first. I don't want to get shot for trespassing."

"Like Mr. Kent would shoot someone," Chloe said. This joker was a serious jerk. He'd better be a dang good psychic. "Follow me." This was so a mistake. Jason Fisk, super-psychic, was going to upset Mr. and Mrs. Kent and it was going to be her fault. Chloe knocked at the front door and craned her neck around looking for the Kent's Chevy. "You know I don't think they're home."

"A fundamental problem with bringing a surprise psychic," Fisk said. "You run the risk of wasting everyone's time." He walked out into the little yard and leaned against the rail fence. "Is there somewhere we can start without invading anyone's privacy. Did this kid have any place he liked outside?"

Chloe crossed her arms and nodded. If she let super-psychic do his thing while the Kents were away, he wouldn't get the chance to rub salt in any wounds. This was her crazy plan and she should have to deal with it. "Clark spent a lot of time in the barn loft." Leading the way to the big red structure, Chloe rubbed at her arms and tried to rationalize her continued search. Every rational person who wasn't emotionally caught up in the situation knew that Clark was dead and gone. Why couldn't she just accept that? Why was she still following leads and wasting Lex Luthor's money?

Chloe climbed the little ladder into Clark's loft and walked over to stand by the telescope. "This is it, Clark called it..."

"His fortress of solitude," Fisk said. He tossed aside his sunglasses and pulled off his leather gloves. With a deep sigh, he spread his hands and sucked in a deep breath. "Clark Kent is definitely alive. Dead folks don't feel like that."


One chrome door, arched and tall, stood in the path of Clark Kent, alien pilgrim. I walk through that door, bow to the peanut gallery and then I can go home. How many steps beyond that door did he have to go? What kind of aliens would be waiting?

Clark smiled at his reflection in the door. Fortunately, his funky purple disguise had faded as promised. Would the Eradicator be as good as her word about everything else? Would she really roll over and start taking orders from him? If she didn't, maybe this council would help him deal with her. One way or another, it was time to go home.

A glowing blue security blanket, Clark brushed a hand over his Kryptonium. Lola was running a quiet commentary on etiquette, which he was only half listening to. She would warn him if he started a faux pau though and that was comforting.

Without a sound or warning the doors split and rolled back. The room ahead was much dimmer and Clark squinted trying to see what lay ahead. Step forward with confidence and hold your head high. The Eradicator had sent him in without much direction. She was a weapon and didn't dare enter the government building so he was on his own, except for Lola.

Clark took a steadying breath and moved forward into the unknown. He could remember the mad crush of aliens en route, the suffocating smells and the bizarre creatures. This place was going to be full of those same creatures. Wasn't it? Clark's eyes adjusted quickly, but there weren't any aliens. The room was large with a vaulted ceiling but the place was practically empty. The walls, floor, everything was covered intricate swirls in crimson and azure and gold. The patterns seemed to originate from a bank of screens against the far wall. Clark frowned and turned a slow circle. "Is anyone here?" He flinched at the sound of his own voice echoing back. The place almost seemed like a sanctuary, a church.

"Everyone of import has arrived. You may call me Dessa. I sent for you."

Clark turned to face the owner of that clipped cool voice. "You sent for me? Where's the council?" It was a woman, tall and rail thin with thick white hair tumbling past her hips. Pale-white with a tinge of blue, her skin stretched almost translucent across the delicate bones of her face.

"The council is here, young Kryptonian. You stand in front of the Over Council of the galaxy," Dessa said. She lifted one delicate hand and gestured toward the bank of screens behind her. "The council will reconvene soon. You will be here for that."

A bank of screens was the Over Council? Video conferencing, they probably served from their homes. It had to be safer that way. "I see, I think. How much longer until it convenes?" Clark felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Dessa had amber eyes just like a snake's and she didn't ever seem to blink them. She was staring at him and it was making him nervous.

"Relax, there isn't anything to be anxious about. Come, share a refreshment with me while we wait." Dessa approached a wall and tapped it in a rapid rhythm. She turned with a pair of broad shallow cups. "This is a delicacy, Essai."

Clark met her halfway across the room and accepted one of the glasses. Delicacy usually meant disgusting. "I'm really not thirsty. I just want to get this council-business over with." He stared skeptically at the pink frothy liquid and wondered if it would be rude to not drink. Lola had said something about the proper way to refuse a beverage courteously. I have to get though this. I have to get through this. Clark tossed the drink back and tried to swallow without tasting. Slick and slimy, it was like swallowing moldy applesauce.

"You aren't looking forward to the council meeting? I can't say that I'm surprised. The Eradicator contacted me after you were discovered and I've been preparing for a nonconsensual ascension for some time now." Dessa casually tossed aside her glass without drinking. "She said you'd been quite difficult and unwilling to face up to your responsibilities."

Clark flinched and stared at the pink liquid spreading over the floor. "Why didn't you drink? What do you mean by ascension?" Clark felt a sinking in his stomach. He should have known it was too easy. Walk in and face the council and then get to go home? The Eradicator didn't work that way. He should have seen this coming. "Lola, what do I do? What's happening?"

"I don't know. I think perhaps we should run." Lola replied into Clark's mind. "Run now."

Clark meant to head for the door at super-speed. That was what his brain was saying. His legs just didn't seem to understand. After a half-dozen unsteady steps toward the door, Clark stumbled to his knees. Whatever Dessa had slipped him was fast acting. "Why are you doing this?" It had been humbling, trapped on a ship with the Eradicator, a being that could physically dominate him. Now a new alien Dessa was going to have a go with pushing him around?

"Don't be afraid," Dessa whispered. "There will be no pain."

"Am I dying?" Clark whispered. A numbness had begun to spread through his limbs, and he collapsed to the floor. "I don't want to die like this." Clark's eyes drifted shut, and tears traced across his cheeks and down his neck into his hair. He'd promised his parents that he'd make it home. He had never meant it to be a lie. I'm sorry, Mom... Dad. So sorry.

"You're still afraid? You should not fear this. Today you ascend, transcend. Today you become a God."