Truth to Power pt 2 Chapter 30
"Lois, you mentioned that both Superman and Supergirl stated that they are not above the law." Agent Johnson continued his questioning. "That is correct." Lois confirmed stiffly. "That statement will go a long way towards the universal acceptance of your benevolent alien friends." Johnson added. The mysterious government troubleshooter paced the length of his living room.
Lois and Clark had seated themselves comfortably on Johnson's couch. "Unfortunately, there are and always will be those that consider themselves above the law." The agent segued into his next discussion. "I know of one such group, the evil mega mastermind secret society called the Majestic Twelve. They fear no one, and are the people behind the most powerful people on the planet."
After Johnson paused for effect, he continued. "The Twelve do not fear police departments, government agencies, world leaders, or even armies and militias." Lois and Clark exchanged worried glances. "How can one group of people accumulate so much wealth and power?" Clark asked incredulously. "There have always been secret societies and rogue monarchies that wreaked havoc on Earth." Johnson directly answered Clark's question, again letting it slip that he knew more than he was letting on.
"No one has been able to hold them accountable for their actions." Johnson informed them. Lois was already running numerous scenarios through her sharp mind. Rogue Kandorians? An aggressive off-world species? Darkseid's people? Surviving agents of Checkmate? Just plain power brokers like Lex and Lionel Luthor? She mused. Each scenario she came up with was worse than the one before.
As if reading their thoughts, Johnson continued, his mismatched eyes darted from one reporter to the other. "No one outside of the clandestine world government agents are sure that The Twelve exist. Most of M-12 still remain unidentified to the general public. Authorities like Interpol have occasionally identified them by various nicknames like "A" "J" "K" "Number 7" Otto or Max. They cover their tracks extraordinarily well." Lois sighed loudly. "M-12 simply erase all evidence linking them to any crime."
"Yes Lois, if a problem in one of their schemes arises, they either immediately abandon the plan, or unfortunately, eliminate everyone involved, including innocent people simply doing their jobs, like witnesses, parking attendants, waiters and waitresses, and even police officers and their families." Johnson continued his depressing update. "In short, all loose ends are tied up."
"Picture the old time mafia, like "The Family" only a hundred times worse, with nearly unlimited financial ability." Jack Johnson added to his description. Both Lois and Clark felt a chill down their uniquely different spines. "I can't believe that nobody can touch these people." Lois scoffed.
"Out of all the clandestine and overt intelligence agencies across the world, not one has been arrested or captured?" Clark asked rhetorically, sure that he hated where this was going. "I take it that you'd like Superman and Supergirl to locate and capture these twelve arch-criminals?" He asked.
"Were it up to me, Clark, I would systematically eliminate M-12 permanently." Johnson said with a menacing tone. "You're talking assassinations?" Lois gasped. "Exactly." Johnson admitted.
"No. No way." Clark growled. "I'm sure that Superman and Supergirl would refuse to be anyone's assassins, no matter how much these criminals may deserve it. What if they attack the wrong people? You can't just have them eliminate your problems for you." He gave Johnson a scowl worthy of the Batman. "I understand that Clark, all I ask is that Superman and Supergirl find and capture M-12."
"What happens to The Twelve would not be the Kryptonians concern." Johnson defended. "No blood would be on their hands. I get it, Clark, I really do. Superman and Supergirl should set themselves above the rest of us as good examples, but the reality is that there is evil in the world, and it must be vanquished." Clark sighed, unable to counter Johnson's argument effectively.
"You know what, Clark, I'm not even sure that Superman and Supergirl can do it." Lois commented with disdain. "It would take a lot more than just punching some of M-12 in the face to bring them down." Clark was very disheartened. Lois could very well be right, he mused.
"Lois is exactly right, Clark." Johnson confirmed. "Superman and Supergirl, for all of their obvious strength, special abilities, and good nature, do not have the legal power to bring down M-12." Lois scowled this time. "First of all, who does? Secondly, why tell us? We're just journalists." She pointed out.
"The power of the press still has a lot of pull around the world." Jack Johnson began. "Social media, together with more traditional media, can subsequently shine a light on M-12's dark initiatives. I had heard of a new group of crime-fighting superheroes, named the Justice League I believe. Oliver Queen has admitted to the world that he is in fact, Green Arrow. With Mr. Queen's wealth and power, he may be able to start the unmasking of M-12, thereby diminishing its power."
Clark and Lois nodded. "We're familiar with them." Clark admitted. "What can Queen and his crew do that the NSA, CIA, FBI, or Department of Domestic Security can't?" Lois put Johnson on the spot like a good reporter should. "To be honest Lois, I'm not sure." Jack continued. "I do know that Queen and his unusual companions can operate within the gray areas of legality."
Lois gulped, wondering if she'd said too much. Clark remained silent, considering any options that he could think of that would help Johnson, or Oliver for that matter. "Our various government agencies are too vast and inherently corrupt. Too many agents are easily led astray, either by direct threats from M-12, massive bribes offered to them by the Twelve's more legitimate businesses and political action groups, or a fear of losing their cushy government jobs and pensions." Johnson took a quick breath.
"You see Oliver Queen's group as a type of special forces unit?" Lois inquired warily. "In a way, yes." Jack replied. "You do realize that the entire group is gun shy after the U.S. Government tried to pass legislation in Congress to ban 'the vigilantes' as they called them." Clark pointed out sternly.
"Why do you think the superheroes would consider helping you?" Lois added to the attack. "I don't know that." Jack responded with frustration. "I only hope that they would see fit to disrupt or defeat evil wherever they find it." Jack said sullenly. "They are noble in that regard." Lois conceded the point.
"I would mention all of this to Oliver Queen or for that matter, Superman and Supergirl, the next time you see any of them." Clark concluded. "That's exactly why I'm confiding in you two." Johnson admitted finally. Clark and Lois couldn't shake the feeling that Johnson was manipulating them.
The enigmatic agent strolled over to his home office desk and reached behind it, pressing a square red button that revealed a small hidden drawer beneath the larger, more visible ones. He pulled out a flash drive unit and handed it to Lois. She held it gingerly in her hand before giving it to Clark.
"This flash drive is heavily encrypted, but it contains the info that all government agencies possess on the Majestic Twelve." Jack Johnson explained. "I have no doubt that Oliver Queen's people can break the encryption coding. I added a layer of encryption myself." He shamelessly boasted. "I'm not the best cryptologist in the world, but I can safely say that I'd make the top twenty five."
"To bring down M-12, however, we'll need a lot more evidence than this drive contains." Jack continued. "I hate to admit it, but ultimately, we, meaning law abiding citizens, may have to physically eliminate the Twelve." This brought a brand new scowl to Clark's face.
"I already said that according to Lois's interviews, Superman and Supergirl are not above the law, and I assume that includes mass murder." Clark menaced. "The law is definitely on our side on this one." Johnson began vaguely. He produced a document from the same hidden drawer that had contained the flash drive. This official looking document carried the Presidential Seal of the United States.
"This is Executive Order 719 as officially authorized by the U.S. Government." Johnson explained as Lois quickly paled. "It is signed by the Secretary of Defense, and Vice President Hannah Anders." He waved the still sealed document at Lois. "EXO719 is in fact, a license to kill." Jack paused for dramatic effect.
"EXO719 basically says that if a substantial threat to national or international security is identified, the bearer of this document can use deadly force, up to and including summary execution to remove that threat." Johnson quoted most of the information from memory. "It guarantees that the executor would be free from any legal action or retribution." Lois's eyes widened.
Lois knew from discussions with her father, General Sam Lane that this EXO existed, though she never thought that she'd actually see one. "This order has been frequently used." Jack continued. "This EXO is usually applied to official government drone strikes on American or foreign soil."
"Oh my God!" Lois exclaimed. "Exactly Lois, the power of God." Jack sneered as he spoke. "The power to take a life or lives without any punishment." Clark was furious. "How many of these executive orders are there?" He asked angrily. "As many as we need." Johnson replied vaguely.
The deeper the discussion went the angrier Clark became. How am I supposed to save people from themselves, or their own governments? He thought sourly. "I can safely say that Superman and Supergirl will never kill any human being on purpose." Lois defended, sounding more like a trial reporter than a journalist. "There must be another way to bring M-12 to justice." Clark pleaded.
"I believe Oliver Queen has sworn an oath not to kill anyone unless his life or his wife's life is at stake, and there are no other alternatives." Clark said after forcing calmness into his voice. Johnson shrugged. "If I had another way, I'd certainly have tried it by now." Jack commented out of frustration.
"Agent Johnson, there is nothing that we can do about M-12, but we'll pass your information and dilemma on to Superman, Supergirl, and Oliver Queen's people." Lois said diplomatically. They still had over a half an hour left for their meeting before they could return to the Daily Planet.
"That's all that I ask." Johnson finally acquiesced, as he sighed and returned EXO719 to its hidden compartment. Clark began to feel the secretive agent's frustration. He'd faced this kill or not kill scenario many times before, and would again when he faced Darkseid.
"Can't a drone strike, or a number of them, take out The Majestic Twelve on their own?" Clark asked, shocking Lois into silence. "Believe me Clark, if we had the coordinates of every M-12 member, I would authorize EXO719 in a heartbeat." Jack responded. "That is how big a threat to America, and in fact the rest of the world, M-12 represents."
"Honey, you're not seriously considering asking Superman and Supergirl to locate the M-12 members, and report their positions to a drone strike hit squad?" Lois chose her words carefully, clearly rattled by the turn of the discussion. "That's a little above our pay scale, isn't it?"
"We can pass the information that we received from Agent Johnson to Superman and Supergirl, they can decide how best to handle it." Clark reasoned. What was Clark playing at? Lois wondered silently. "Wouldn't we be considered accomplices to murder?" She gasped as she spoke.
"You or Clark can pass me Superman or Supergirl's response and info as an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen, just like any other police action." Johnson rationalized. "I can squelch any attempted involvement by the NSA, FBI, CIA, or Dept. of Domestic Security to track you both. I have the ultimate authority to invoke EXO719 and call it a covert clandestine security operation."
"How is that different from espionage?" Lois questioned. "First of all, M-12 are not government officials, or some paramilitary group, they are a criminal organization, and can be tried under the RICO statute, also known as the security threat conspiracy law." Jack continued to expand his charges.
"Though the U.S. Government has denied M-12's existence, according to DDS, M-12 is considered a terrorist organization." Jack patiently explained. "Wow! This is heavy stuff!" Lois commented. "You say that M-12 has been around for decades?" Clark double-checked Johnson's story.
"Yes." Agent Jack confirmed. "Back in the early 1940's M-12 was alleged to be involved in forbidden experiments like genetic manipulation, biological and chemical weapons testing on live humans, unauthorized atomic weapon building, and have also been implicated in a number of assassinations, and the cover up of the UFO conspiracies. In short, they have their massive dirty hands into everything evil."
"This will be tough." Clark remarked to Lois. "We'd better get started then." She agreed.