Secrets Come Out

Avoiding Kal was definitely the sensible thing to do. Lois had no doubts about that. The trouble was, she was no good at being sensible. She paced the corridors, not really paying attention to where she was going. Brenda had thrown her out of their shared quarters with orders to go jog or something, but pacing was better for thinking, and she really needed to think.

She had encountered masculine admiration before. Within days of her entry into the military, it had become clear to her that she would need to find a way to deal with men; they were everywhere and seemed to be always on the prowl. Lois had managed to forge a "just one of the guys" rapport with some of them, and had handled the rest with strict professionalism and occasionally a dose of humor. Her lines of defense were clearly drawn, and those who tried to breach them were swiftly disposed of. She had invited a very few men inside ... but those few had inevitably disappointed her.

So dealing with Kal should be no problem. The question shouldn't be whether he wanted her or not, but whether she wanted him, and as she really didn't care to deal with that question yet, there should be no problem at all. But the contradictions in his manner were eating at her, and Lois had always hated unsolved mysteries with a passion.

A short buzzing sound penetrated her consciousness, and she looked up to realize that her wandering feet had taken her near the ship's bridge. They had glimpsed it briefly on the tour yesterday, but Lois was seized with a desire to see it again.

As she approached the open hatch, she saw that Kal was sitting inside, facing a big display of stars overlaid here and there by patches of what she assumed was Kryptonian writing. Probably the interstellar equivalent of a fuel gauge or speedometer.

He hadn't seen her yet, and she considered trying to slip away as silently as she'd come, but this probably was a good chance to speak to him. She could just imagine what Brenda would say if her friend knew she'd wasted the opportunity. She'd probably never be allowed back into their shared cabin.

Resolutely, she stepped forward, finding a control panel to gently knock on. Not knowing what to say, she fell back on protocol. "Permission to come aboard?"

Kal started slightly, then turned and smiled at her. "Permission granted." His smile faltered uncertainly as he searched her face. "Is there anything you need?"

Lois hesitated, the words 'I wanted to talk to you' on the tip of her tongue. What came out instead was the more cowardly, "Oh, I was just out for a walk, you know, getting a little exercise before-" She stopped just in time to avoid mentioning beds. She cleared her throat, then changed the subject. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Ah, well, I'm working on our plans for tomorrow." He hesitated, then smiled at her. "Maybe you could help me?"

"Oh, um, sure." Moving slightly closer, she asked, "What's happening tomorrow?"

"We'll be reaching the first of Nor's possible hiding places, a small mining station. We'll need to search it to see if Zara's there, or if she had been there. We'll also need to keep an eye out for Nor's ship. If he's kept her on his ship, it will be harder to get to her, but we'll deal with that if we must. Right now, the problem is arranging the search party."

Lois considered this, wondering whether Kal really wanted her help, or just wanted to talk out his options. She hoped he respected her intelligence and training enough to listen to any suggestions she might have. Not that she had any yet. Clearly, she needed to gather more data. "What's the problem? Don't you have enough people?"

He grimaced. "Well, we have them, but ... Lieutenant Ching is insisting that he be a part of the search party. He didn't say why, but he seemed to think it was important, so I'm willing to go with that, for now. But I have to go, and with both of us gone-"

"Sev is unsupervised," Lois finished. "Yes, I can see you'd be nervous about that!"

"Exactly." He frowned into his console, then glanced up at her. "I did have one idea..."

"Well, you and Ching could go over in shifts," Lois speculated, "although that would take longer."

He looked struck by that idea. "Yes, that might work. I hadn't thought of that." He smiled at her. "But I hate to waste time. Actually, I had a different plan ... would you be willing to help us?"

"Me?" Lois was startled, then tentatively pleased. "How could I help?"

"Well, with Ching and I gone, technically, Zak will be in charge. He may need Sev's help for some ship functions, but if Sev decided to try something, I'm not sure Zak would be able to stop him."

"Whereas Sev is afraid of me?" Lois asked, her eyebrows rising in ironic humor.

"Well, um, yes." Kal grinned. "You have an air of authority about you that even Sev responds to, and you have already knocked him out once."

"Twice, actually," Lois corrected, thinking of the self-defense practice. "Although today was an accident."

"See? With you on the bridge, he wouldn't dare try anything."

Doubt and deep satisfaction warred within her. What a gesture of trust ... she only hoped he wasn't overestimating her abilities. "But I don't know what any of these knobs and buttons do, and I don't speak Kryptonian..."

"Zak does," Kal assured her. "He just needs backup."

"Well, if you're sure..." She searched his face and saw only respect. She squared her shoulders. "I'd be honored to help."

Kal let himself relax, smiling broadly. "Thank you, I appreciate it." She smiled back, and Kal was struck once again by her beauty. She was attractive at all times, but at this moment she positively glowed with pride and pleasure. She warmed him soul-deep, and he was very glad he'd thought to ask her help.

Before he could make her uncomfortable with his silence, he turned towards the console. "Let me show you a few basic functions in case of emergency. I doubt Sev will try anything with you and Zak to keep an eye on him, but I've already misjudged him once."

"He is a schemer," Lois agreed, moving next to him so she could see what he was doing. "Though I'm not sure what he thinks he could gain by making trouble at this point. Unless he wants to abandon New Krypton altogether and hide out on Earth."

Kal suppressed a shudder at the thought of a super-powered Sev, and wondered if he should warn Lois of that unexpected danger. But no, she would guard the ship just as fiercely on his behalf as she would on her own, so a warning would not be needed. Besides, it would bring up a topic he wasn't sure how to address. Better to leave that particular revelation for later.

Briefly, he described some of the ship's functions, demonstrating the command sequences. Despite battling with unfamiliar technology and unreadable script, she gained a degree of confidence quickly. "Very good," he said sincerely.

"Well, I wouldn't want to fly the thing myself or anything," she laughed, "but I'll have some idea of what the guys are doing tomorrow. Thank you for teaching me." She turned, smiling, and suddenly he was aware that she was tantalizingly near. He moistened his lips, unable to tear his eyes away from her beautiful face.

Lois watched him closely, then swayed slightly towards him. He jumped up from his seat.

"Okay, what's the deal, here?" she demanded, looking annoyed. "Look, I don't know if it's any of my business, and I suppose if you don't want to kiss me that's fine, but I wish you'd make up your mind about it!" She stood as well, and began marching towards the door. He could feel the embarrassment coming off her in waves and hurried after her.

"Lois, wait..." He touched her on one arm.

She stopped, then glared up at him.

"I'm sorry."

Her scowl deepened. "Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for sending confusing signals. The truth is ... I do want to kiss you. And a whole lot more," he added, smiling wryly. "But I have ... obligations on New Krypton. I can't offer you what you deserve; I wish I could! It wouldn't be honorable to start what I cannot finish."

She regarded him for a long moment while he held his breath in anticipation of her judgment. Finally, she turned to fully face him. "Did I ever tell you how much I hate it when the hero acts all noble?" While he was trying to figure out the meaning behind that, she kissed him.

It was a brief kiss. He'd barely begun to respond when she pulled back from him, a teasing gleam in her eyes. "Mmm, nice. Too bad your 'obligations' won't let it go any further than that." With a laughing glance over her shoulder, she said, "G'night, Kal," and left, looking altogether too pleased with herself.

Lois walked back to her cabin, so pleased that she was almost giddy. He trusted her! He respected her, and he *did* want to kiss her. All questions answered in the most positive way. She laughed softly, remembering the look of shock on his face after she'd kissed him. She'd surprised herself with that move, so it was little wonder that she'd taken him off guard. But at that moment, she'd been filled with a very womanly self-confidence. He valued her, that was clear ... and she'd wanted to show him that she was no delicate New Kryptonian flower that needed to be protected from the world. The world needed protection from her, was more like it!

And my, he did kiss nicely. It had been a short experiment since she'd needed to pull away to make her point, but his lips had been warm and pliant against hers. The brief contact with his upper body had been pretty spectacular, too. She was still tingling where she'd touched him; no man had ever affected her like this before. If only he weren't *quite* so honorable... she laughed at herself at the thought.

Except of course that he was, she reminded herself, calming down slightly. It was one of the things that she admired about him, at least in the abstract, but in practice it was annoyingly inconvenient. They had something here, a connection she could feel ... but for some reason he was convinced they had no future. Well, she wasn't convinced she wanted a future either, but that didn't stop them from having today, tomorrow, and probably the day after. She was going to have to talk to him about that, she decided. Tomorrow, after the search party.

Lois almost hoped they didn't find Zara, she realized with some chagrin. Of course she wanted Kal's mission to succeed, but not quite so soon, not before they'd had a chance to work things out. She might only have a few days with him, and she hated to think of that time being cut short.

Kal woke up early the next morning. He spoke telepathically to Zak, giving the crewman the plan for the day and trusting him to communicate the schedule to Ching and Lois. Kal didn't quite feel up to facing Lois this morning. He was still mulling over last night's kiss.

Obviously, she didn't share his attitude, didn't believe that intimacy between them now would make their parting infinitely harder. Perhaps, a small voice whispered, she knows very well, but finds it worth the risk. That thought was seductive, and Kal felt the pull of it, but told himself roughly that she just didn't understand. She probably harbored some hope that they could, in fact, find a way to be together. It would be kinder to disabuse her of that notion. But not this morning. First, selfishly, he would enjoy the sensation of being her partner.

After a quick breakfast, Kal met Ching in the ship's small docking bay. "Good news, Lieutenant - you'll be accompanying me on the search."

Ching relaxed fractionally. "Thank you, m'lord. But if I may ask ... what provision have you made to contain Sev?"

Kal hid a smile, pleased by Ching's conscientiousness. "I've recruited Lieutenant Lane to supervise on the bridge. Zak will be in command, but she will be there to, as you say, contain Sev."

"M'lord, is this wise?" Ching asked, but at Kal's gesture, he obediently entered the transport pod.

"Certainly," Kal replied, still rather proud of himself for thinking of it. Not only did it neatly solve today's problem, but it had very obviously pleased Lois. "It allows you to join the search party, as you requested."

"Yes, m'lord," Ching said, still clearly uncomfortable with the notion. Together they ran through the brief pre-flight check and opened the bay doors. "I trust you, m'lord," Ching said stiffly. "But this is most irregular." He didn't quite dare to suggest that Lois might grab the ship and run back to Earth, but his doubt was plain.

"Irregular, true. We do what we must with limited resources." It was practically the slogan for struggling New Krypton. "Would you not trust Lady Zara in a similar circumstance?" Kal asked in his blandest manner.

Ching stiffened. "The Lady Zara is eminently honorable."

Kal smiled. "So is the lady Lois." He offered his second in command a crooked grin. "Their culture is very different than ours, I know. But in their own way, these women are honorable, decent, and trustworthy. Lieutenant Lane most of all."

"Yes, m'lord," Ching said obediently, piloting the pod away from the ship and towards the mining station.

Kal caught the thoughtful look in his eye and was content. He didn't blame Ching for suffering culture shock; Kal himself had a bad case. After being away from New Krypton's strict notions of gender roles for so long, Kal was finding them uncomfortable. A division of labor along gender lines made some sense when only one gender was biologically equipped to bear children. The use of birthing matrices and other technology on New Krypton, however, had equaled the gender roles in reproduction.

On Earth, Kal had been appalled at the number of women and children abandoned by men. No Kryptonian lady would ever fear such abandonment ... and yet, as Ching had commented at the court martial, such protection did not necessarily extend to all strata of society.

When he became First Lord of New Krypton, he would do his best to introduce some changes. He felt certain he could count on Zara to help him, and to set a sterling example. Too much change would cause chaos, so they'd have to move slowly, but there were some basic reforms that could make a good start. He would persuade them that they were wasting a valuable resource; waste was a cardinal sin in a society with little margin for error. One step at a time; one man - or woman - *could* change a world.

Lois stepped onto the ship's bridge, her stomach fluttering. She hadn't expected to be nervous about this, but overnight, doubts had begun to seep into her mind. What did she know about running a Kryptonian space ship, for heaven's sake? That wasn't her main function here, of course, but she had been in the military long enough to know that plans were rarely perfect and it was best to be prepared for all contingencies.

Zak was already at his station; he saluted her as she entered. Sev hurried in, fresh from serving a breakfast that Lois had scarcely tasted. He bowed to her, then slid into his seat to look at the controls.

"Good morning, boys." Lois nodded at them both. "Zak, where is our search party?"

"They're preparing to leave the ship now, m'lady," he replied.

She raised an eyebrow. So, Kal was slipping away without talking to her, was he? She grinned. At least he still trusted her to guard his back. Not too bad for a sexist creep. And Lois had never been one to back down from a challenge.

Lois walked closer to where the two men were sitting at the controls. It was almost like a Star Trek bridge, she thought with a grin, if a little more cramped and not as well lit. She moved to Sev's side, leaning down to study his display. He drew in a bit, retreating from her invasion of his personal space. "What are we going to do today, Sev?"

"Hold the ship steady, m'lady," he answered. "We might need to avoid a stray asteroid, but for the most part we simply wait."

That tracked with what Kal had told her last night, and at her glance, Zak nodded agreement. "Keep alert then. And Sev," she leaned a little closer, "don't even think of trying anything."

Sev managed to look offended by the mere suggestion. "M'lady, I assure you I would not dream of it."

Lois gave him a long hard look, which he met with an unwavering expression of aggrieved innocence. She shook her head, then backed off. He was up to something, but wasn't about to give her any clues. She'd talk to Kal about it later.

"The search party is away," Zak announced, and Lois looked up at the main view screen. Sure enough, there was a little dot, tracking away from them and towards the large asteroid that contained the mining station. There were a few other rocks out there, too - none of them were as large as the station, but no doubt they were still capable of creaming the ship in a collision. Sev could probably be depended upon to save his own skin. Well, as long as she could still see the mining station, Lois decided, she wouldn't worry.

This promised to be a long and boring day. At least, so she hoped. "Will we be able to keep in touch with them?" she asked Zak.

He nodded. "Lord Kal-El said that he would report their progress to me."

"Can I contact him?"

"Not directly, no."

He paused for a moment, and Lois wondered if he were searching for the right word in English. His command of the language had improved greatly in the last two days, no doubt due to Melanie's intensive tutoring.

"We Kryptonians can speak mind to mind," Zak explained. "Within certain distances. We have equipment for speaking over longer distances, but for today, we should not need it."

"Oh. Right. Good, then." Just when she thought that New Kryptonians were just like Earthlings, they had to go and spring telepathy on her. She looked around the room, suddenly needing a place to sit. Right in front of her was the captain's chair. Perfect. With a look that dared either of the crewmen to make an issue of it, she settled herself in. She had a good view of the screen, and a psychological advantage over the lower-placed crew. Now all she had to do was wait. She hated waiting.

Ching waited until they exited the mine's main office and he was alone with Kal-El. "M'lord," he said, "I suggest we split up."

Kal-El nodded, contemplating the map-cube given him by the miners. "It is not a large station, but we have no time to waste. Very well then, we'll split up." After a moment's study of the map, he continued. "I'll take these top sections; you cover these others, and we'll meet back at the transport pod. If you find anything suspicious, contact me; I'll do the same."

Nodding briskly, Ching set off towards the nearest access ladder. He'd seen similar stations before; they tended to be even more severely utilitarian than most New Krypton facilities. This one was disused and understaffed, but the station had been built to support nearly a hundred workers at full capacity. Those workers needed support facilities. He expected he would have to search several large bunkrooms, a few more private rooms for the supervisors, along with kitchen and supply areas, while Kal-El was searching the mine tunnels and ore-processing areas.

He resisted the temptation to begin his telepathic sweep until he was somewhat further away from Kal-El. Ching didn't quite know what to think of Zara's birth-husband. The man seemed honorable, and Zara had spoken of him as a friend. He was certainly doing his utmost to find and rescue her. He had been somewhat distracted by Lieutenant Lane, yet he was not treating her as a concubine. He had even gone so far as to compare Lois to the Lady Zara, which had seemed almost blasphemous. Upon reflection, however, Ching could almost understand it. Lady Zara was much more than her public persona allowed - smarter, wittier, more dedicated to the good of New Krypton. If Lady Zara could transcend a role she'd been born to, perhaps Lois - unconstrained by Kryptonian traditions - could also be an honorable ally. It was a radical notion, and Ching was not comfortable with anything that upset the stability of his social order, but logic demanded that he consider it. Perhaps, just perhaps, Kryptonian traditions were less perfect - less logical - than he'd been taught. Yet he couldn't accept the alternative of chaos and war. Kryptonian traditions had kept the peace for centuries. They were too valuable to be thrown away.

Ching reached the first bunkroom and pushed the uncomfortable ideas from his mind. Right now, he needed to concentrate on Zara. Cautiously, after a year of tight control, he opened up his mental senses, closing his eyes in order to listen with his mind. Gradually, he became aware of Lord Kal-El, two levels up and intent on the search. Ching courteously tuned him out, listening for more 'voices.' The station's two crewmen were talking about something, and Ching strained to hear without being detected. They were talking about Lord Nor, and his probable reaction to this invasion by a rival House. There was no hint, however, of whether Nor was nearby or not, so Ching let their mental grumblings fade away.

There seemed to be no other presence on the station. *Zara?* he sent, tentatively, then more firmly. *Zara, I'm on the station, can you hear me?* There was only silence in response.

He walked through his assigned levels, checking every room, and sent telepathic inquiries from time to time, but without hope. Zara was not here. This trip had been a waste of time they did not have.

"Hey, Captain Lois! How's things?"

Lois turned from her hypnotic view of the slowly turning stars, and saw Brenda, Melanie and Francine entering the bridge area. "Hey, guys. Come to be bored with me?"

Brenda grinned. "We were bored separately, so we thought we'd combine resources."

"Hi, Zak," Melanie said, batting her eyelashes at the helmsman. He blushed and stammered a reply. She sat down next to him and began a low-voiced conversation.

"Everything's gone pretty well," Lois reported. "Zak says they're almost done searching the station. They haven't found Zara yet, but at least no one's shooting at anyone."

Brenda winced. "They haven't found her? Man, that sucks."

"For her, or for you?" Francine asked sourly.

"Don't think I'm not enjoying the whole Close Encounter thing," Brenda protested, somewhat half-heartedly. "But sometimes I just want to go home, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Lois said softly, even though she was increasingly conflicted on the issue.

"In fact, I was kinda wondering," Brenda said, lowering her voice and looking around cautiously. "Do you think Sev or Zak know the way back to Earth from here?"

"Brenda!" Lois stared at her friend.

Francine surprised her by frowning fiercely. "Cut that out, Brenda. We are not going to abandon those two here. Kal said he'd take us back, and I believe he will."

"Yes, he will," Lois agreed. "It'll only be another day or two; even if they haven't found Zara by then they'll take us back. Kal *trusted* me with this. Don't ask me to betray a trust, Brenda; I'm just not made that way."

Brenda shrugged in frustration. "Alright, alright, don't kill me for asking. It was just a thought." She turned away, surveying the stars and the asteroid on the view screen.

Lois caught Francine's eye, and they shared a worried look. Lois had expected trouble from Sev, but not from her new friends. Still, it had been only an idle suggestion, and Brenda was the least likely of them to engage in any sort of plot.

"M'lady?" Zak asked, drawing Lois out of her thoughts.

"Yes, Zak?"

"Lord Kal-El and Lieutenant Ching have finished their search, with no sign of Lady Zara. They're returning now."

"Thank you, Zak." As an afterthought, she added, "Give him some room, Melanie; he's working here."

In only a few minutes, Kal would be back on board, and her task would be completed. On the whole, it had been a very quiet morning. Sev had made no suspicious moves. Which in itself could be seen as worrisome, considering his record, but there was no help for that but to keep a close eye on him.

She had a terrible sense of time running out, both for her and for Zara. She hated to think what the other woman might be enduring, and hated to think they were making no progress in their rescue mission. And in only a few days, one way or another, if she couldn't find some way around Kal's vague 'obligations,' she would be forced to say goodbye to him forever.

When Kal and Ching returned to the ship, everyone was ready for a late lunch. They had formed a routine of sitting separately - Earth women at one table, New Kryptonian men at another. Today Kal found himself dining with Zak, which didn't surprise him. Ching had been quite upset over the morning's failed search and had retreated to his cabin. Sev was busy serving lunch to the dancers. As soon as the meal was over, Kal excused himself and approached the other table.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he greeted them. Melanie smiled sunnily at him, while Brenda seemed to find the contents of her plate of absorbing interest. Francine's look was coolly assessing, but Kal really only cared about one reaction.

Lois smiled up at him, warm and friendly. "Hey there! I'm sorry your search didn't turn out better."

Kal shrugged, trying to be philosophical. "It was only our first attempt; we have other places to look. It's just the time factor that bothers me."

"You'll find her," Lois reassured him.

"I won't rest until I do," he replied, then added reluctantly, "but I won't delay your return home much longer."

Brenda looked up at that, her dark eyes troubled. "Yeah, well, about that ... Lois, I'm sorry about earlier-"

Lois shushed her. "Brenda, it's okay, honestly. It was an understandable temptation." She looked up at Kal, then stood. "Could we take a walk? I think I'd like to see that terrace you mentioned."

"As my lady wishes," Kal responded, curious about the byplay with Brenda. Perhaps Lois would explain, away from the others' inhibiting presence. Privacy suited him, as well; he was tempted to tell Lois things that no one else should hear. "We should compare notes about this morning's venture."

She smiled fleetingly at that, but didn't reply.

It was a short walk to the terrace, a long narrow room along the outer layer of the ship. There were benches and some plants, but the focus of the room was the transparent wall that offered an unparalleled view of the surrounding space. Stars shone by the thousand, and a few large asteroids glinted with reflected sunlight.

Lois stopped short in the doorway. "Wow."

Kal smiled in spite of himself. "That was about my reaction when I first saw a view like this. It's incredible, isn't it? If we were facing this system's primary star, the hull material would polarize to protect us from the glare, but as it is, we have ... this." With a deft gesture, he lowered the ambient illumination in the room, making the night outside seem blacker, and the stars even more brilliant.

Lois whispered, "Wow" again, and walked forward until she was almost touching the transparent hull. "It's like being in a glass bubble. I've never seen stars so clearly - it's hard to see them at all from Metropolis." She was silent for another long moment, drinking in the sight. Then she cast him a teasing glance. "Now all we need is a campfire and the sound of crickets."

Kal laughed at that. "Sorry, this is the best I can do."

"Well, I've got to say, this ain't half bad."

Kal watched her watching the stars, enjoying the look of wonder on her face, until she turned and caught him at it.

"What?" she asked, somewhat self-conscious.

"Just thinking," he said, and walked to a nearby bench to sit down. After a moment's hesitation, she followed, and now her attention was firmly fixed on him, not the stars. "It was nothing," he insisted, not wanting to encourage the wrong sort of notions. "Did Sev behave himself today?"

She looked at him for a moment, then appeared to accept his change of subject. "He was as meek as anything, which frankly worries me. But as far as I can tell he didn't try anything."

"The search was a waste of time," Kal confessed. It gnawed at him that he was failing Zara. "The miners were hiding something, I think, but it could be anything. I looked into every room in that station, every tiny cramped storage space, even, but found no signs of her. Not a trace."

Lois blinked. "Well, that was a very thorough search."

Kal looked up, realizing that he'd inadvertently referred to his special vision. Using it had been more of an effort than he'd remembered, which seemed to fit his theory that these abilities would fade, away from Earth. She didn't yet recognize the reference, but it reminded him of his earlier curiosity. And, it dawned on him, he wanted to tell her everything. Not for his own advantage - what he had to tell her about Zara would certainly not win him any points - but just because she was his friend, and he didn't want to keep secrets, to continually guard what he should and should not say.

First, however, he had a few questions. "Yes," he replied belatedly, "It was. Lois, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she replied, looking only a little wary.

"Well, I..." He flashed a rueful grin. "I have to confess that I was listening in on your conversation last night during dinner. All about Superman."

Lois nodded, looking puzzled.

"And I was wondering... you said he had powers ... to what extent? What exactly could he do?"

Lois blinked. "Why do you care?"

Kal flushed slightly, but persisted. "Call it cultural curiosity. I think you said flying, and seeing through things?"

"Yeah, Superman can fly, and he has x-ray vision, which is the seeing through things, although it's not exactly like x-rays, it's just called that. He's invulnerable, so bullets bounce off him, and he never gets injured by ordinary things. He's incredibly strong and can move incredibly fast. He can hear for miles when he wants to, or when something happens. He can blow freezing cold air, or heat things just by staring at them. Even when he was just being Clark, he liked to use the heat vision to cook breakfast," she added with a little laugh.

Kal stared off into space, recognizing every one of the listed abilities. This was too close a match to be a coincidence, so the author must have had contact with a previous Kryptonian visitor, and yet there were no records...

"Are you okay?"

He shook himself slightly, his gaze returning to her face. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just... has anyone like Superman ever actually existed on your world?"

"No, worse luck," she answered lightly, then sobered. "Not that I ever heard of, anyway."

"And if they kept it a secret," he said, almost to himself, "you might not have, of course. But I don't know why the Council was never informed..." After a short pause, he looked up. "When was this story first told?"

"The novel? I think it came out in 1948 - about 45 years ago."

His expression cleared a little. "So then it could have been in the records on Krypton, and just missed in the evacuation ... if it were reported at all."

Lois waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Krypton! Do you mind explaining what you're muttering about?"

"Sorry. I was just trying to figure out how an Earth novelist could know ..." he ran out of steam, then nerved himself to continue, "...how he could know what being on Earth would do to a Kryptonian."

Lois felt her jaw drop as she worked through that statement. "You - wait - you mean to tell me that Superman was based on fact?" It was a heretical thought.

He shrugged. "I first landed on Earth three years ago. I was only there to observe - we like to know our neighbors, even when they don't know us. The Council gave me strict orders not to interfere in any significant way, which didn't seem like a difficulty at first. It was all I could do to figure out how to survive in such a vastly different culture." He flushed, briefly glancing away. "Toni Taylor was a great help to me until I became accustomed to your city. But within a few months, I started noticing some very strange things. I could see through things ... I could hear sounds from blocks away when no one else could. At first, I tried to suppress them." He smiled wryly at her. "I thought the stress of being in such a strange environment was affecting my brain."

Lois smiled back, just a little, unable to avoid remembering the stories of a young Clark Kent, discovering similar powers.

"But ignoring them didn't make them go away," Kal continued, taking a deep breath. "So I learned to control them. Everything that you mentioned that Superman can do, I can do."

"Uh-huh," Lois said, unable to take all this on faith. "Show me."

Kal smiled faintly, and then gently lifted out of his seat.

Lois's eyes widened. "You're flying?"

"It's more like floating, I think," he replied, clearly enjoying her reaction. "Want to try it with me?"

"Sure!"

He straightened and floated to the floor, standing in front of her. Clasping her lightly by the forearms, he gently lifted them both off the floor.

Lois couldn't help herself; she laughed from sheer delight. "I always wanted to know how this felt. It's amazing." They twirled slowly in a circle, then gently landed once more. "Why didn't you tell me you could do this?"

"I haven't told anyone," he answered, sitting down on the bench again. "I don't *think* these powers are permanent; they were caused by something on Earth, and now that I've left, I believe they are diminishing." He looked directly at her for a long moment. "If any other New Kryptonian, say for instance, Sev, were on Earth for a significant period of time, I must assume they would gain similar abilities."

That sobered her, and she sat next to him. "Sev is bad enough without superpowers. So you're saying that a Kryptonian had been on Earth before?"

Kal shrugged. "That's my guess. I've seen no records of such a visit, and the old Kryptonians hated star travel, but how else would your novelist know to describe this particular set of powers?"

"Well, he also wrote a book about time travel," Lois said lightly, to cover her reaction. This whole conversation seemed almost threatening, re-aligning her entire view of the universe and her place in it, yet another shock in a week full of them. "Maybe he had his own time machine."

"Lois, I'm serious here."

"Yeah, I know, sorry. It's just that this is a little much to take in, you know? I mean, I've looked up to Superman since I was a little girl, and..." Her voice trailed off. She was finding this difficult to understand, let alone verbalize. Superman was - had been - real? And yet there was no mention in history of him, or anyone remotely like him. It was a crushing disappointment to think that someone had possessed such enormous powers but had not used them to help others. She looked up at Kal, sharply asking, "You said the Council told you not to interfere. Are you telling me you sat by while people died?"

"Not that I'm aware," he answered slowly. "I admit that I tried to ignore most of what I heard. I told myself that it wasn't my place to interfere, and Toni said it was smarter not to get involved." He looked up at her, clearly uncomfortable with his memories. "I was under orders, you know, and even I have to obey the Council. If they found out that I'd used powers and exposed myself as an alien on Earth, they probably would have ordered the death penalty. And then some of them would start thinking about how *they* might be able to use these powers on such a rich, ripe world. Think of a whole army of super-powered Sevs."

Lois frowned thoughtfully, resenting his logic. It was so cold-blooded, so ... Kryptonian. Kal had seemed better than that, somehow. Then again, he'd hardly had any encouragement to change his attitude; Toni Taylor's self-centered advice was a very poor substitute for the moral guidance of the fictional Kents. Sympathy and disappointment warred for supremacy. "So you just ignored people in trouble."

"Not always," he replied softly. "There were a few times ... there was a fire the day before we left. A man was trapped near the top floor ... I helped him out. I wish I'd done more, though."

That helped tip the balance towards sympathy somewhat, as did the realization that he was now regretting lost opportunities. Kal wasn't exactly Superman, but he could have been far worse. And even the Clark Kent of the novel hadn't been Superman all on his own; he'd been taught by his adoptive parents and inspired by Lois Lane. That sense of teamwork was one of the aspects of the legend that she had always liked best. A stray memory intruded. "Hey, when the Metro Club was on fire and you chased me out, did you...?"

He grinned. "Blow out the fire myself? Yep. It seemed like the least I could do."

Lois laughed shakily, trying to pull herself together. "Right. Only natural." She shook her head and spoke without thinking. "Well, now that I know how much good you can do, I have definitely got to convince you to come back to Earth with me."

Kal looked stricken. "Oh, Lois, I wish I could. But there's something else I need to tell you - something important."

"Idiots. Dimwits. Morons. Men!" Zara paced in her cabin, irrationally furious at the entire galaxy. It had taken her a whole day to first find out that their ship had moved, and then to worm the explanation out of Nor.

As she had expected, someone back on New Krypton had sent a ship out to search for her. But Nor had received forewarning of some sort, and before the search vessel had approached the mining station, his own ship had moved to the opposite side of the system's sun, hiding in the asteroid belt. Now that the so-called rescuers had found no trace of her at the mining station, Nor had gloated, they would move back to their previous position, safe from any further search.

Even at this moment, her allies were blindly moving *away* from her, and she was nearly ready to weep with frustration. She had tried not to pin too much hope on outside intervention, but her early training had always insisted that women were to rely on men to protect them, and this blundering incompetence felt like betrayal.

Rage and fear mixed with a wave of desperate longing for those she loved. **Oh Ching, my love, where are you when I need you?**

Faintly, in a distinctly startled tone, she received an unexpected reply. **Zara?**

Ching's eyes snapped open and for a moment he was disoriented, as if waking from a trance. Maintaining contact with Zara at that distance had been a tremendous effort. That they'd made contact at all was amazing; her strong emotion must have enhanced her range, but if he hadn't been in a receptive state he might not have heard her. Their conversation had been all too brief and he missed her mind's touch already, but there was urgent work to be done.

It seemed an almost impossible effort to open his mind again, but he managed to sense that Kal-El was on the terrace. He abandoned the effort with relief, letting his over-used telepathic centers shut down. It would take some time to recover. He would have to give Lord Kal-El this message in person.

It took only a few moments for him to find his way to the terrace. On the threshold, he paused to allow his eyes to adjust to the relative dimness within. He heard Kal-El before he saw him.

"...there's something else I need to tell you - something important."

As Ching moved slowly closer, he began to make out two shapes on a bench, leaning towards one another. It was with no surprise that he heard Lieutenant Lane's voice replying. "Is this about those obligations you mentioned?"

Ching paused. He hadn't expected Lois to be here. Her presence complicated things, but they could just as easily discuss the matter in Kryptonian. This was internal ship business, despite Lieutenant Lane's previous help. Besides, it seemed that Kal-El was pursuing her, and Ching had no desire to cause awkwardness by mentioning birth-marriages. Before he could overhear anything more compromising, Ching called out, "Lord Kal-El?"

The two figures on the bench jumped apart as if they'd been shot.

"Lieutenant Ching." Kal-El's tone was cool and formal.

"Hey, Ching, what's up?" asked Lois.

"My lord, I beg you will forgive this intrusion," Ching spoke rapidly. "But I have received vital information-"

"In English, please," Kal-El interrupted. "As a courtesy to Lieutenant Lane."

Ching hated to appear insubordinate, but tried to explain. "My lord, this topic may not be-"

Kal-El held up a hand to silence him. Looking oddly resigned, he said, "In English, Ching. I won't keep secrets from my partner."

Ching glanced at Lois, who was looking pleased and wildly curious. He only hoped Kal-El wouldn't blame him for this later.

"My lord," Ching began again, with a small nod to Lieutenant Lane. "I have just been contacted telepathically by Lady Zara."

Lois's eyes grew wide at that, but Kal-El looked skeptical. "How is that possible?" he asked. "There aren't any ships or planets within range."

Ching had thought of an explanation. It seemed unbelievably feeble now, but he had nothing better, so he stumbled into speech. "The Lady Zara and I ... well, that is, when I was acting as her guard, we became accustomed - that is, for security purposes - we developed a telepathic affinity. This gives us a longer than normal range, though this contact was at the extreme edge even of that."

Ching came to a stop and watched Kal-El's face. No dawning suspicion, no stirrings of anger or jealousy ... if anything, he thought he saw a measure of sympathy there. "You were a most dedicated guard," Kal-El finally said. "I commend you. It was most fortunate for Lady Zara that you had that experience."

Ching felt something within him relax. Noble ladies commonly regarded household guards as so much furniture and would not think of mind-sharing with them, no matter what their security needs. So Kal-El either knew or guessed that he had had a closer than normal relationship with Zara ... and he didn't appear to mind. "Thank you, my lord. My only desire is to return Lady Zara to her rightful place."

"I never suspected otherwise," Kal-El replied.

Lois was looking back and forth between the two men, sensing undercurrents but not understanding them. "Okay, whatever ... but Ching, what did she *say*?"

Ching brought his attention back to the problem at hand. "It was a brief contact, but the main point is, the Lady Zara is still on board Nor's ship. It moved across system to avoid us today, but is now once again docked at the mining station."

"The one you guys just searched?" Lois asked. At Ching's confirming nod, she commented, "Sneaky. Though I would like to know how he knew when to duck."

Kal-El nodded grimly. "We'll have to make sure to ask him. Ching, we're headed in the wrong direction; I need you to go up to the bridge and de-activate the computer control."

"Indeed, m'lord. Shall I plot a return course?"

"Not quite yet, no. We need a plan. Start thinking of possibilities for boarding Nor's ship. We'll meet again before dinner."

Bowing slightly, Ching backed out of the room. There was much work to do.

Lois watched Ching leave with wildly mixed feelings. She'd been almost glad of the interruption earlier - it had been a pretty intense conversation. But now he'd added a whole new layer of complexity to an already full plate. She was glad they'd located Zara, and part of her responded eagerly to the military challenge involved in rescuing her from a hostile spaceship. But behind that was the certain knowledge that this time with Kal was coming to an end.

She glanced at him. He had sat down again and was staring at the floor. Probably obsessing over rescue options.

Lois quietly moved away from him, going to stare out at the stars. Kal wanted her to some degree; she knew that. What she needed to decide was whether or not she wanted him, and whether she wanted to risk loving a man who might leave her.

There was no doubt he was the product of a sexist system. Apart from a few lapses, though, he had risen above it. He'd been unfailingly polite to his uninvited guests and had - metaphorically anyway - given her the keys to his spaceship. So he knew how to value women as people, not just sex objects.

She made a face at the thought. She'd just bet he'd had his share of experience with sex objects. Very few human cultures had valued male celibacy, and she doubted New Krypton was that different, so it probably would have been hard for him to avoid. He'd grown up as part of the ruling house, he said, and he was really very attractive - unless New Kryptonian women had unusual standards for eyebrows or something, she thought with a reluctant grin. So there was little chance he was a virgin.

Of course, neither was she, and she didn't consider herself disqualified. The important thing was, he had never treated *her* like a concubine. Whatever it was they had between them, Lois was willing to bet it was as new to him as it was to her.

So did she want to pursue it or not? He seemed convinced that they had no long-term future together; at some point she wanted to find out why, and convince him that he was utterly mistaken ... but there was always the possibility that she would lose that argument, which terrified her. She hated the idea of losing him, but even more she hated the idea of never knowing what it was like to kiss him, at the very least. She didn't know if she wanted to take things further than that, but surely a kiss or two couldn't hurt?

Then there was the whole superhero thing. The flash of anger she'd felt had surprised her. For years she'd idolized Superman, while trying to convince herself that he wasn't real and that she should set her sights a little lower. So finding that he was real, but wasn't perfect, was a bit of a shock. She didn't know if she could forgive him for not being perfect.

And yet ... in the novel and in all the comics revamps, a few things had remained consistent. One of them was that Clark Kent never became Superman before meeting Lois Lane.

So maybe she needed to cut Kal some slack on this; he just hadn't met her soon enough. But now, together, they had the opportunity to create something dazzling.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Kal's soft voice broke into her reverie and she shook herself back to reality. "Oh, I was just thinking ... about us." She smiled up at him briefly.

"I wondered," he said quietly. "You looked very serious."

"Well, I had a lot to think about," she replied, unwilling to share her thoughts just yet. "It looked like you were thinking about Zara ... did you come up with any ideas?"

He shrugged. "A few. I've had some theoretical training about this, but not much practical experience."

"Yeah, that's about where I am, too," Lois said, gladly shifting into military gear. "Do you want to brainstorm? Not that I have any ideas, really, I mean, I was never into science fiction and the authors probably got it wrong most of the time anyway, but there have got to be some similarities to, say, submarines - not that I ever heard of anyone boarding a hostile sub, so that's probably not a great parallel, but still."

Kal turned toward her, reaching out to hold her hand. "Before we get into any of that, I have to tell you something."

Lois's heart sank. She didn't know what he was about to say, but she had a feeling that she wasn't going to like it. "Drat, I was hoping you'd been distracted. Kal, I don't really want to know all the reasons you think you can't be in a relationship with me. We have this moment, right now ..." She gestured around the terrace. "It's a very romantic view, and you know it. Can't we just take advantage of it?" She looked up at him, moving a little closer. "Just a little?"

For a long moment she thought he would be noble and resist her, then suddenly his arms were around her, and his mouth was warm and alive on her own. They broke apart after a moment, then hungrily kissed again, deeper this time. A sense of wonder washed over her, tinged with sadness, and she honestly couldn't tell if she were feeling his emotions or her own.

When she couldn't endure the mingled joy and sorrow anymore, she pulled back. Kal seemed to understand, and shifted them into a hug. Lois closed her eyes, trying to savor every nuance of the embrace, to remember these feelings forever. It was too late to avoid emotional entanglements; in just a few short days she'd fallen hopelessly in love.

And the man she loved was about to tell her why they had no future together. Boy, could she pick 'em.

"Lois, you have to understand." He pulled back from her far enough to see her face. "On New Krypton everything is about honor, and duty, and loyalty to the group. Individual happiness ... is not really considered a good reason to do anything."

Lois frowned, not wanting to hear any more. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Lois, you're going to have to know this sooner or later, and I'd rather tell you myself-"

"No, really." She flashed an insincere smile. "I won't hold it against you if you don't. So what was all that going on with you and Ching? You guys were exchanging information, I could tell, but I couldn't figure out what it was."

Kal regarded her with a mixture of exasperation and regret. "Lieutenant Ching was apologizing to me for being involved with ... with Lady Zara."

"Yeah, I got part of that - what, he's the lower class, so he's not supposed to fraternize with nobility?"

"That was part of it, yes."

Lois rolled her eyes. That was New Krypton all over, with its stupid class system. "Did he think you were going to punish him for finding out where Zara was?"

"No," Kal answered, tightening his arms around her waist ever so slightly. "He had every right to expect that I would be jealous, because when we get back to New Krypton, I am going to have to marry her."

Lois squeezed her eyes shut. She had suspected it was something like this, but the confirmation set her mind pinwheeling into chaos. She wrenched herself out of his arms and turned away from him, blindly staring at the stars.

And that's a great place to leave off, isn't it? :) I'd love a review, if you have a moment... more will be posted in a few days.