Superman Fan Fiction (Introduction of Jack Kilroy)
"Kent, get your butt in my office," shouted Perry. Clark hurriedly grabbed his notebook and ran to the conference room. The scene was crazy and several other reporters were now leaving the room; quickly. At that point only Perry, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Clark were in the conference room. Perry pushed a remote control style button on the table and all of the shutters of the glass walls of the conference room closed.
Everybody looked at Clark. "Okay Kent, I want you; only you, to look at these pictures and tell me what it tells you."
"Okay," said Clark.
There was a picture of a revolver handgun on the screen. It had been fired recently and had powder stains around the cylinder, the muzzle, and on the top of the barrel. Clark looked at it carefully for several moments. "Is this the only picture?" he asked.
"There are more but tell me what you can figure out just by this one," said Perry.
"It's not a display piece, nor is it one that was made to show off," started Clark. "This is a professional's gun, and it was purpose built."
"Why do you say that?" asked Perry. Lois looked annoyed and Jimmy looked very pleased.
"You okay Lois?" asked Clark.
"Pay attention Kent," interrupted Perry.
"I'm just checking on Lois," said Clark. The fact that Clark was always checking on Lois had not been lost on everyone at the Daily Planet; everyone knew he liked her. The combined fact that Clark was always touting how smart, and capable Lois was had not escaped the observation of Lois, and of Perry; those two knew he liked Lois; a lot.
Lois ignored Perry's comment and replied to Clark, "Oh, I'm fine; Jimmy just bet me twenty bucks that you'd know more about guns than the rest of us," she said with a reluctant smile. She handed Jimmy a twenty dollar gift card to the coffee shop downstairs.
"Yep," started Jimmy, "I was saying that the guy from Smallville in rural Kansas would know more." Jimmy was quite correct.
Clark, proceeded to tell them a great deal about the features of the revolver and what kind of conclusions they could draw from them. Perry and Lois were both impressed. Jimmy was proud of himself.
"No offense Kent; but we need to have another expert confirm those observations," said Perry.
"No offense taken Mr. Perry," said Clark. Perry was correct.
"Clark knows an expert and professional gunsmith," Olsen stated happily.
Clark grinned, "Yes, I do. I'll call him,"
"Hey buddy!" said the man on the other end of the phone.
"Hey dad, I'm at work; can you look at a picture for me?" asked Clark.
Perry turned his head in disbelief. Perry had spoken to Kent's dad on a couple of occasions and was admittedly impressed with how much the man knew. "Mr. Kent; you're a firearms expert?" he asked.
"I've been doing it part time for twenty years, and then full time when Clark moved to the big city and he couldn't work the farm full time," confirmed Mr. Kent.
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"Hi John," said Lois.
"Well, Ms. Lois; always lovely to hear your melodic voice," complimented Mr. Kent. Clark blushed a little.
"I just sent the picture," confirmed Clark.
"Wow, that's a nice one," said Mr. Kent. "What crime was it used in?" he asked.
"According to Metropolis PD; Lex Luthor is claiming it was used in an assassination attempt against him," said Lois.
"This is not a bad guy's gun," said Mr. Kent flatly. "It's got way too many custom features that are too easy to track. It's a stainless steel gun that looks black because it's got a diamond like carbon surface application on it. That's an expensive finish and while it can be done on stainless steel, it is rarely. Also it's had a lot of custom work done to it and the diamond like finish was applied last," Mr. Kent was just getting started.
"The barrel near the muzzle has been ported, to reduce recoil. Those particular ports are only done by one company who uses a computer controlled electric laser to do the cutting. It has a combat trigger and a target hammer, an extended cylinder release. The custom grip is rosewood and they don't come standard on any gun. They're custom order only. The gun's owner was probably a big guy with hands that are slightly larger than normal, but smaller than usual for a man of his size; if that makes sense."
Lois sent Mr. Kent more photos of the revolver.
"I'm looking at the inside of the cylinder. It was cut for moon clips. The chambers are all beveled slightly to make loading and reloading very fast; and the chambers are also highly polished; before the DLC finish was applied," concluded Mr. Kent.
Perry had an awkward smile on his face, "Yeah, that's basically exactly what your son said."
"That's my boy!" said Jonathan Kent.
There was a slight pause in the conversation.
"Do you know anything about the ammunition used?" asked Mr. Kent.
"Yeah, Lois send him the pictures of the ammo recovered," instructed Perry.
"Just did," confirmed Lois. "Can you tell us anything about it?" she asked.
"Yeah, I know who made it," said Jonathan Kent. "I did."
Everyone was pretty surprised, except Clark, who was more concerned.
"It was a custom order that I shipped out two weeks ago, expensive," said Mr. Kent.
"My dad is a licensed FFL," Clark volunteered.
"You'll need a warrant for me to answer any questions about that ammunition any further," stated Mr. Kent.
"Why?" asked Perry.
"You'll need a warrant for my dad to answer that question," replied Clark. "My dad has some high profile clients for his ammunition; people like special forces," said Clark. This was a revelation for everyone in the room.
"Special forces?" asked Jimmy.
"He's that good," answered Clark.
"Okay Clark, I want you, Lois, and Jimmy on this one. Clark's the lead on this story," concluded Perry.
"I'll get my stuff," said Jimmy.
"I'll call Luthor Corp, and arrange a meeting and interview," said Lois.
"I'll be right back," said Clark.
"Don't be a stranger kiddo!" said Mr. Kent, to his full grown son.
.
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Five minutes later; Clark was in Smallville Kansas.
"Buddy, you gotta be careful on this one," said Jonathan Kent to his son Clark.
"Roger that," said Clark.
"These cartridges are serious stuff," said Jonathan. "The guy who made the order brought the projectiles with him. I supplied the brass, primers, and powder."
"You've meet him?" asked Clark surprised.
"His name's Jack Kilroy. Had top secret security clearance. I checked the clearance and didn't ask any more questions after that. This was a nice guy Clark, you'd like him," stated his dad.
Jonathan Kent was a very, very good judge of character. Clark new it and listened carefully.
"What can you tell me about the ammo?" asked Clark.
"He got two different calibers. 500 rounds in 44 special, and another 500 in 44 magnum. The bullets were similar in design. They both had polymer coating that was optimized for standard lands and grooves. I put them through that scanner thingy we got from the fortress of solitude. Here's where things get interesting." Jonathan handed his son the printout, that was written in Kryptonian.
Clark looked at the readout
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· The 44 magnum rounds are filled with a diamond tip and backed by osmium. They weighed 240 grains each.
· The 44 Special rounds were tipped by osmium and filled with Diamond dust. They weighed 137 grains each.
· The muzzle velocity for both rounds was 1400 fps.
· They both had identical ballistic coefficients.
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"Looks like they're designed to be fired from the same gun and have the exact same point of aim vs point of impact," observed Clark.
"Exactly," said Jonathan Kent. "These projectiles can't be fired from a semi-auto either. They won't feed properly; it's revolver only."
"How many did he order?" asked Clark.
"500 in 44 magnum and 44 special both. At $10 per round," said Jonathan.
"Wow," said Clark.
Clark's dad changed the subject back to the revolver that started the whole conversation. "How did Lex Luthor, and Metropolis PD get a picture of that Smith and Wesson 44 magnum?"
"I assumed it was recovered at a crime scene," said Clark. "Why?"
Jonathan opened a desk drawer and pulled out the exact revolver, "because it has been in my possession for six weeks straight. Jack left it with me as a test gun for the ammo."
"So he has another one just like it," concluded Clark.
"At least one," corrected Jonathan. "He also left he a 1911 for the same purpose." Jonathan produced the 1911. It had an impressive suppressor on it.
"Jack Kilroy put in an order for a batch of 45 ACP; 1000 rounds two days ago. I'm still working on those." Jonathan and Clark walked toward the workbench that was set up for these. "45 ACP, round nose bullet that is definitely copper, and copper jacketed. They got an osmium core with fine grain diamonds mixed in."
"When does he expect these?" asked Clark.
"A special courier is supposed to pick them up next month," said Jonathan.
"Dad, can this guy hurt me with these guns?" asked Clark.
"Yes, the bullets can; especially if you're hit enough times and in the right places. However, I don't think this guy's a threat to you," stated Jonathan confidently. "He's not evil son. Plain and simple."
"Do you think he's ever killed a person before?" asked Clark.
"Yes, he has. Many times. I can tell," said Jonathan.
Clark's phone rings. He answered; it was Lois, "Clark, where are you? I've got an conference call with Lex Luthor in twenty minutes."
"I'm actually pretty close to the building I'll meet you there," said Clark.
"Perfect," said Lois.
Clark walked into the conference room. It was now just Clark, Lois, and Jimmy Olsen. Clark sat down and Lois pulled up facetime with Lex Luthor.
"Now that we're all here; I want to get started," stated Lex. Luthor pulled up a picture of the 44 magnum in extreme detail on the large display. "Here's the weapon in question," said Luthor.
"Where's the weapon now?" asked Lois.
"That's classified," replied Luthor.
Clark knew where it was. "If we understand correctly, you said the weapon was used in an assassination attempt against you." Said Clark. It was not a question.
"Yes indeed," said Lex Luthor.
"You seem remarkably calm for a guy who's just had an attempt on his life," observed Lois.
"I'm the richest man in the world," said Luthor, "I get a few attempts every year." This was true.
"How did the alleged assassin get that close to you Luthor?" asked Clark.
"A legitimate question," admitted Luthor. "Whoever this person is, he's invisible to any form of electronic surveillance," said Luthor. "That makes him damn near impossible to track, or identify."
This made Clark feel easier. Luthor did not know anything substantial about Jack Kilroy; whomever he was.
"Was anyone injured in the assassination attempt?" asked Lois.
"One of my security people was killed," confirmed Luthor.
"Can you tell me more about the deceased?" asked Clark.
"We need to focus on the firearm for now," instructed Luthor; like he was in control of everything and everyone.
Clark wasn't buying Luthor's attempt to brush off the dead security guard. "Luthor do you want our input or not?"
"The deceased is a security contractor who was following up a lead. I believe that the assassin followed him and killed him while trying to get information on how to get close enough to me to actually pull the trigger," finished Luthor. There were a lot of holes in Luthor's explanation but Lois, Jimmy, and Clark dared not talk about those just yet. Clark changed the subject.
"What did the ballistics say about the weapon and the bullets used?" asked Clark.
"That's not ready to be released to the press," stated Luthor; dodging the question.
"Oh, cut it Luthor. You're spewing bull crap like raw sewage from a fire hose," stated Jimmy Olsen. "You're not here to help us do a story, you're hoping the press can help you find the guy; and are just too proud to ask for help." Clark, and Lois were awfully impressed with Jimmy's insight and new found boldness.
Luthor was taken back as well. "Okay, the actual projectiles were manufactured by a company called Solid State Precision. I own it."
"Wait a bloody minute," objected Lois loudly. "Are you telling me that you made bullets for an alleged assassin who's trying to kill you. Come on Luthor; how could you not have noticed that?" ranted Lois.
"I did notice," objected Luthor. "Besides, I'm the largest manufacturer, both industrial and military in the world. The actual projectiles, not the brass, primers, or powder were manufactured by Solid State Precision and they were custom order and very expensive."
Luthor continued, "There were 80,000 rounds ordered in fourteen different calibers. They use a combination of exotic materials like osmium, and industrial diamonds."
Lex Luthor put a spreadsheet on the screen. "The specifications for all of them are extremely detailed and demanding. Solid State Precision is the only company that can manufacture an order like this," explained Luthor.
"Have all of the projectiles been delivered?" asked Clark.
"Yes, their trail disappeared shortly after deliver to a PO box," answered Luthor.
"Are they paid for?" asked Lois.
"Yes," said Luthor.
"How," asked Lois forcefully.
"American Eagles, $32,000 total face value," explained Luthor; like everybody knew what that meant.
"Wait a minute," objected Jimmy, "that spreadsheet said your estimate bid was close to two million; why would take such a loss Luthor?"
"He didn't," explained Lois. "The client paid with gold coins. Specifically one ounce American Eagle gold coins, they are $50 face value per coin; but the gold's worth at least $2,700 per ounce," said Lois.
"Why would anybody pay that way?" asked Jimmy.
"Gold coins don't have serial numbers and no records are kept of how many are actually in circulation. It's the perfect way to pay for something without it being traced; and very easy to launder illegal transactions," observed Clark.
"Why does the government allow that?" asked Jimmy.
"The government are the ones who specifically manufacture gold coins to do that exactly," explained Luthor with a smile. "How do you think the Feds pay for all of their illegal programs?"
"Good luck with your story," said Luthor. "I must return to less interesting business matters." Luthor singed off.
The three reporters sat in the conference room and paused for a few moments. Clark got a cup of coffee from the break room. Jimmy got an expresso with his gift card. Lois spent 10 minutes in the girl's room doing everything except going to the bathroom. She was careful to brush her teeth; which she considered especially important after drinking coffee.
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