Lois was sitting in the backseat of a Humvee, looking out the window. The sky was dark purple; the stars were only now beginning to fade as dawn approached. It was just after five am. Lois was a little surprised to see squad after squad of soldiers already up and about; jogging, marching, exercising; already well into their morning routines. Her father often told her that the base was already buzzing while she and her lazy sister often slept till seven or so; and he was often gone before five a.m. himself.
This was the first time she actually saw it for herself.
The Humvee made a sharp left and pulled up next to a large rectangular structure with an arched roof. It was dark grey in color and nearly completely featureless, save for the small square sign next to the double doors the read "Gymnasium".
"Let's go." Her father barked as he climbed out of the Humvee. Lois sighed. She watched the driver side door close and her father walk around the front of the vehicle.
He stopped abruptly and turned back towards her.
"NOW!" he snapped.
Lois opened the door and climbed out, slamming the door behind her. She followed her father towards the Gym, having to walk quickly to match her father's steps. They didn't so much as slow down as every soldier they passed stopped and snapped a solute, only moving after he absently returned the gesture.
The gym's interior was dark, the only light coming from the skylight above. It was a large expanse of open spaces. The far wall was lined with various sized free weights. In front of them were a row of weight benches. Along the left wall was a group of heavy punching bags, a smaller speed bag hanging in between each set. The wall to the right held a line of shelves, each one lined with stark white towels. On either side of the shelves was a door. The one on the right said "Men's Locker", the left "Women's Locker".
In the gyms center were a series of square mats; all adjoined, covering the floor almost completely. As near as Lois could tell, it was a thirty by thirty foot square in total.
Her father was now standing in the middle of the mats, the light from overhead casting his features in dark shadows, and simultaneously making his close cut dark hair and salt and pepper mustache gleam ominously.
He was wearing a khaki t-shirt, matching camouflage pants, and his ever present standard military issue combat boots, polished to a smooth black shine. He was also wearing his seemingly ever present scowl. Lois was currently having a hard time remembering the last time she had seen her father smile.
She was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, and a plain white tee. An old pair of tennis shoes covered her feet. Her long hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail.
Her eyes were dark bags, slightly red and a little puffy from tears she cried only hours ago…
"Do you know why you're here?" her father asked.
"Cause of last night…" she mumbled in response.
"No!" he barked. "You here because your too much like me!" She looked at him, a puzzled expression falling over her face.
"See…" he continued, beginning to pace. "I know you Lois." He explained. "You're curious, head strong, stubborn as a damn mule, and don't have the good sense God gave a gold fish when it comes to avoiding danger. You see a group if people running towards you screaming bloody murder, you start running the opposite direction to see what all the fuss is about!"
Lois smiled a little at that.
"And that is exactly why I'm pissed." He barked again. "I know I can't keep you from sneaking out like you did last night. The more I try to put a leash around you, the harder you're going to try to break free. So you win, Lois. You win! As of this moment, you no longer have a curfew. If you want to stay out until three in the morning, hell, if you want to stay out for three days, I'm not going to try to stop you. I won't even get mad when you waltz your sassy ass through the door!"
It was at that moment that Lois caught movement out the corner of her eye. She looked to her left and saw him.
He was around six foot three, maybe two hundred and sixty pounds easy. He was wearing the same outfit as her father; khaki tee and matching camouflage pants. Even his boots were polished to the same gleam. His hair, what little there was of it, was sandy blonde, and his eyes were grey; not that he was looking at her. Sure, he noticed her looking at him, but he kept his eyes firmly affixed on the man in the center of the mats.
She went to turn her attention back to her father, and then she saw the other one.
This one was shorter, maybe five ten, but just as thick and twice as muscular. Where as the bulk of blonde's size was due to farm grown beef and potatoes, "Shorty's" size seemed to be pure muscle, his khaki tee straining to hold in his chest and arms. His hair was jet black, and his eyes were dark brown. Lois then noticed that his skin was slightly darker than the other man's. Not a tan, but dark nonetheless. His features told her that he was of Hispanic decent.
Lois looked around the gym then. There were others. Four others to be exact; men of various size, height, and nationalities. All with the same military buzz-cut, khaki tee, camouflage pants, and polished black boots.
And they all seemed to be trying very hard not to look at Lois.
"The thing you need to understand is this:" her father continued. "You disobeyed a direct order. I specifically told you that you could not go to Maggie Tomkins party! The reason I told you not to go is because I knew her parents were not going to be home. The reason I knew that is because I am her father's CO and I knew he requested leave a month ago so he and his wife could go to the lake and celebrate their anniversary. I also know that Maggie's boyfriend has been down at the general store with a fake ID, trying to score beer all week."
Lois swallowed hard.
"Now lets talk about what you know… or rather… what you think you know…" he stopped pacing and stared hard at her. "You think you know everything! But you don't know squat!" he spat. "But I'm about to change that! I'm about to make sure, that if you don't know anything else in this world, you know how to protect yourself."
Lois tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry.
"Center of the mat!" he ordered. Lois hesitated, looking quickly at the six men that surrounded the area. "NOW!" her father barked.
Lois stepped onto the mat and slowly joined her father at the center.
He stepped in front of her, his dark eyes looking hard at his daughter.
"I love you Lois. You, your mother, and your sister are the most important things in my life. I need you to know that. If anything ever happened to any of you, I don't know what I'd do. But damn it! If you're not going to follow orders, the best I can do is make sure you go out in this world prepared."
Lois began to cry. "Daddy… I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I promise, daddy… please."
General Sam Lane shook his head and took a deep breath. "We both know that isn't true, Lois. As soon as you get your head set on something I'm against, you're gonna disobey me just like you did last night, just like you've done a hundred times before."
"I won't daddy. I promise. I'll listen! I will! Please, daddy... Don't do this!" she pleaded.
General Lane cupped his hands around his daughters face, her eyes red and wet with tears, and brought his own face close to hers. "Lois, there are bad men in this world. Bad people! People who won't care that you're a girl, or that you're only fifteen years old. People who won't care that you're a general's daughter. People who won't care anything about you! People who will want to hurt you just cause they can. And the only person that will be able to stop them is you! Do you understand that? Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
"Yes, daddy!" she cried. "I understand! I'm sorry, daddy. I'm sorry!"
General Lane sighed. He pulled his daughter a little closer, and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry too, honey." he said softly. He released her face and began walking of the mat.
"Private Stinson!" he barked.
"Sir, yes, sir!" the large blonde man answered, snapping to attention.
"Kindly give Lane here a lesson in self-defense and hand to hand combat."
Stinson hesitated. He looked at the fifteen year old girl in the middle of the mat; the little girl that was crying near hysterically; the little girl that was looking at him and the men around her as if they were the boogie men.
"Sir?" he said.
General Sam Lane stormed over to him and put his face an inch away from the other mans.
"DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM FOLLOWING ORDERS PRIVATE?!" he yelled.
"SIR, NO, SIR!" Stinson answered.
"THEN DO AS YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER HAS INSTRUCTED!" he spat.
"SIR, YES, SIR!"
General Lane stepped away, and Stinson began walking forward. "You heard the general!" he shouted. The other five men traded nervous glances, and then slowly began to move forward.
Tears poured from her eyes; stark, naked fear was etched on her face. She looked from one face to the next. She watched as hesitation slowly melted away, and grim determination took its place. "Daddy!" she cried. "I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I'll do anything! Please! DADDY!"
"Lois, I suggest you defend yourself." General Lane advised.
Lois was surrounded now. She tried to run through the circle of men, but was grabbed and thrown back into the center of the mat.
She was turning in a frantic circle, each of them coming into view for a second, before looking to the next. "Please…" she whispered. "You don't have to do this…" Her eyes finally landed on the one called Stinson. While the others seemed resigned to what they were about to do, his face was a mixture of sorrow, pity, and remorse. She focused on him. "Please…" she said again. "Please… don't…"
"Sorry, kid…" he whispered. Then he punched her in the jaw.
Lois jumped in her seat, the thunderous sound of the helicopter engines and the howling wind outside the aircraft roared back to her ears. She looked around, momentarily confused and slightly disoriented. She was inside a helicopter. There were rows of seats. She was sitting next to a window. She looked outside: dark skies and pale ice raced past.
She remembered then. She was in the Antarctic, heading towards a remote nuclear research facility. She was covering a story on a new form of nuclear fusion. Not just cold fusion, but something along the lines of sub-zero fusion…
"Bad dream?" a voice said.
She turned and for the first time noticed the man sitting beside her. He was tall; even seated he was almost a foot over her. His face was thin and gaunt, his eyes pale green. He had a thick mustache and beard. He was smiling at her.
"I was just remembering the first fight I got into…" she answered plainly, wiping her eyes.
"Ouch." the man replied. "How'd that work out for you?" he asked.
"Sent two of 'em to the infirmary for a week." she replied with a slight smile.
"Two of them?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Must have been some fight."
"You have no idea!" Lois mused. "How far out are we?" she asked, looking back out the window. "Have we passed the 'PSR' yet?"
PSR stood for "Point of Safe Return". It was the point in a trip where it was safer to continue forward than it would be to turn back. Pilots calculated distance, weather conditions, and fuel usage when determining the PSR.
"About ten minute's ago." the man answered. "We should reach the research facility in another forty minutes or so."
Lois stretched her arms far over her head. "Good." She said. "I think my butts asleep."
The man laughed. "You have quite a sense of humor, for a scientist." he noted. Lois smiled.
"Actually, I'm a reporter." she corrected. "Lois Lane." She offered her hand. "Daily Planet." He took her hand and shook it gently.
"Lois Lane," he repeated. "I'm familiar with your work. You're one hell of a writer. You won the Pulitzer, didn't you?"
"Twice." Lois corrected with a smile.
"And well deserved." He continued. "I read your piece on the war in The Middle East. Very insightful and profound. Few reporters have the courage to get right in the thick of it. I commend you for that."
Lois actually blushed slightly. "Well, like my editor always tell me:" she began. "The difference between reporters and everyone else is that reporters go out and get the story, everyone else sits on their asses and waits for the story to come to them!"
"Indeed." he replied. "Which I assume is what brings you to Antarctica."
"Yeah." Lois answered, looking out the window again. "Gotta go get the story…" she muttered. She was silent for a long moment.
"Is something wrong?" he asked at last.
"Just wishing I was home in warm bed, next to a warm body."
"Ahh…" he smiled. "I thought I noticed a ring under that glove."
Lois smiled, faced him, removed her glove and held up her hand, showing off her modest wedding ring. The one carat solitaire diamond sparkled in the dim cabin interior. "It's actually Lane-Kent." she admitted.
"And doesn't Mr. Kent worry about his budding bride gallivanting around the globe in search of the next great story?"
Lois laughed. "You have no idea!" she answered. "But he's a reporter also. So he understands… most of the time." She thought for a second. "Honestly, he does a lot more globetrotting than I do!"
"Well," he smiled. "I will say that our Mr. Kent is indeed a very lucky man!"
Lois beamed. "On behalf of my husband, I thank you." she said with a nod. "If you knew my husband, though, you might say I was the lucky one."
The man raised an eyebrow, smiled, but didn't respond.
Lois smiled and found herself lost in thought for a moment. When she looked up the man was smiling at her. She blushed again.
"Where are my manners?" she exclaimed. "You must be one of the scientists."
"I am." The man replied sitting up in his seat. "I'm a nuclear physicist on loan from LexCorp. The boss wants to find out if this new technology is worth his attention." He offered his hand. "My name is Jeremiah. Jeremiah Kuttler."