Chapter 35 — Plan B: Be Prepared

Chapter Summary

After collapsing at the edge of the JuLai crater, Clark woke in the company of his kidnapper and inquisitor, Zazie the Beast. "Big Brother" is finally stirring.

Now, Lois, Meryl, and Milly's Plan B investigation and planning is interrupted when Jimmy arrives to explain Clark's second disappearance.

Just minutes ago…

Jimmy and Vash knocked on Lois's door. She let them in and then shuffled closer to Meryl and Milly. The two men squeezed into the already cramped dorm room. Lois turned on her heel swiftly, realizing Clark was conspicuously absent.

"Jimmy…? Where's Clark?"

When Jimmy didn't start rambling to explain, Lois immediately knew something was wrong.

After Jimmy's lengthy explanation and Lois mostly cooling off from her scorching tirade…

"What was going through your head? Why in the world would you think sending Clark flying around the planet was a brilliant idea?" Lois paced in tight circuits around the room, each stomp creating mini earthquakes. She struggled to keep her voice low and even, forcing it from creeping higher and louder again. Try as she might, Lois was failing to keep it together.

"I'm sorry," Jimmy sighed, shrinking into his chair. "You're right. I should've never suggested a dumb test at a time like this."

"What's done is done. Let's figure out what could've happened," Meryl interrupted.

Lois exhaled heavily and turned her back on Jimmy, silently admitting that Meryl had a point.

What could have happened?

—

After the Plant room break-in, the guys had gone off with Brad to check out some sort of space shuttle. In the meantime, the gals gathered in Lois's room to compare their notes and look for trends in the alien-robot thieves' movements.

If they couldn't get to the source of the problem with Plan A like Clark proposed, they'd focus on Plan B. First, figure out which cities might next be targeted. Second, have Ship Three's diplomats warn those cities, ensuring they would have time to prepare a defense. Third, maybe even provide backup?

Lois, Meryl, and Milly huddled in front of a holographic conference board that spanned most of the wall. One of Luida's assistants had kindly brought it upon the reporters' request.

Unlike Lois's favorite murder board at the Planet, the holo-board was merely a slim, extendable device that when activated, projected a dense beam of light that could be interacted with like a touchscreen. It was the most advanced tech whiteboard Lois had ever seen. Put AmazoTech to shame. Take that, Dr. Ivo.

A digital map of No Man's Land was pulled up onto the screen. Lois examined the map, reading off town and city names. Many town names were some of the most ridiculous ones she'd ever heard of: Deuce Dump, Stinky Lakeside, New Blue Ball, Consequences Nor Truth, Eastward Ho!. It seemed that these people here had crude yet amusing senses of humor. Many settlements had also been named after locations on Earth: New Miami, Little Jersey, Chongqing, New Colorado, and more.

It took a while for her to notice the peculiar pattern at first. But after staring at the map for a good twenty minutes, Lois realized the tapered clustering of cities followed the space fleet's path as the ships crashed onto the surface of the planet.

The scope of the colonization effort crashed into her heart and mind. This wasn't just a small pocket of humanity but the hopes and dreams of millions and millions of people.

"Any ideas?" Meryl asked, pulling Lois out of her stewing thoughts.

Lois shook her head. "No. It seems so random. If I knew your cities better, maybe that'd help. If this Manga Khan is targeting Plants, we'd also need more information on which Plants they'd go after, wouldn't we?"

"What if we knew how many Plants or what kind are in different cities, Miss Meryl?" Milly asked.

"Good idea. I wonder if Ship Three's database has that information." Meryl grabbed the datapad Luida loaned the group earlier. The smaller, handheld tech worked similarly to the holo-board. "It's truly incredible how much knowledge is stored on this thing. I don't think even November University's library contained half of what's here." Meryl's eyes lit up in awe of having such coveted information available at her fingertips.

"Lost Tech sure is handy, isn't it?" Milly agreed. She swiped a finger across the holo-board, adding notes about the cities that had been pillaged. A window that had saved recordings of recent November Public Broadcasting's news programs sat on the opposite corner of the screen.

While the three women were knee-deep in their investigation, Lois felt at home—in her element. This is where she truly shined.

Although the end goal was of course to go home, everyone seemed to agree helping the No Man's Landers came first.

Knowing Clark was safe and found, Lois's worries and homesickness had practically faded.

Until Jimmy shuffled into the room and meekly explained how Clark was missing. Again.

—

Lois slumped into the chair in front of the holo-board. Resting her chin in her palms, she glared at the map and all the notes and articles Milly and Meryl had brought up onto the screen.

Try as she might, Lois couldn't concentrate on working on Plan B. Everyone seemed wary of setting her off again too. But the silence just irritated her more. Though when she heard Vash whine something about pizza in a not-very-quiet whisper to Jimmy, she had to resist cracking a smile.

Milly stepped around the table and knelt in front of her. "Don't you worry Miss Lois. I know you'll find Mr. Clark again. Like my middle big sister told me once, 'Distance is just a test of how far love can travel.' Even if he flew really far away, your love will still reach him and guide him back."

The much taller woman smiled and somehow just that tiny bit of brightness swept away a little bit of her anxiety.

Lois's agitation shifted to teary assuredness. She nodded, grabbing Milly's offered hands. "Thank—"

A sudden ringing chime behind them cut Lois off and made her jump a little in her seat. Milly looked up and Lois turned around. She saw Meryl and Jimmy glance towards the doorway, then at her. It seemed they all didn't know what to make of the noise.

Just as Lois stood up, Vash took one large step, hunched down slightly, and tapped at the screen of a smaller digital console by the door. It lit up.

"Hello! Miss Lois Lane's room!"

Oh! That's why everyone looked at her first. Realizing the chime was some kind of intercom ringtone, Lois hustled over to Vash.

She saw Luida's face on the small screen. "Oh, Vash?" came Luida's surprised voice.

Lois nudged a grinning and waving Vash and gave him a stink eye for answering her room's comm. She pushed her head into the comm's view.

"Ah, good. I see Lois is there too," Luida added. "I tried all of your friend's rooms, but no one answered. I was starting to worry that you all may have gotten lost on the ship."

Vash stepped aside, letting the comm's camera capture the room stuffed full of reporters. "Nah, the journalists are just busy with their super special investigation. I think this is how they like to party!"

Luida smiled. Lois rolled her eyes. Milly and Jimmy giggled in the background.

"Well, speaking of investigation parties. Is your party still going to join us in the conference room? It's a quarter after already."

"Shoot! Jimmy! We're late!" Lois went to look down at her wristwatch for the hundredth time, forgetting it wasn't accurate.

Jimmy stepped forward, squeezing between Lois and Vash. "Um, Ms. Luida? We've run into another problem…"

"Oh? What's the matter, James?"

"Clark is… gone. Again."

The room and the audio over the intercom went silent for a long moment.

"Pardon?" Luida finally replied.

Lois pushed Jimmy back out of the way.

"Jimmy had this bright idea to send Clark out to test his flight speed. Clark flew out of the ship over thirty minutes ago. But he never came back…" Lois explained, tension tingeing her voice.

Luida's expression turned grim, brows lowering, lips pulled into a thin line.

"I see. This is quite troubling," Luida paused in contemplation.

"He should've been back by now," Jimmy added. "I know something is wrong."

"Perhaps it's best if your party joins us here so we can discuss this face-to-face," Luida said.

"Okay." "Right." Lois and Jimmy replied in tandem with nods.

—

A few minutes later, Lois, the other reporters, and Vash entered the conference room. Luida sat at the head of the round table. Four crew members sat in pairs on either side of her.

"Ah, we're glad you could make it everyone." Luida stood and gestured to the empty chairs. "Please, take a seat."

Lois and the others ambled around the table and took their seats quietly.

"Before we begin, let me introduce you to my colleagues," Luida said.

She first swept a hand toward a fairly short man with a long mustache who looked to be in his fifties. He wore a rather unique headset that looked more like an antique in a museum than an accessory from the future.

"Wilhelm Kaiser is our Communications Operator. We have Kaiser and his team to thank for launching and monitoring our satellite network and deep space communications."

The man huffed. "Fruitless deep space communications, that is. Must say though, I almost had a heart attack when that blasted Clusterfu— ahem worldship appeared out of nowhere." His rough, gravelly voice held a hint of amusement.

Luida gave the man a brief, unamused look, but she shifted her gaze and gestured to the person sitting next to him. The slender woman had shoulder-length auburn hair and thin-rimmed glasses. Her facial features indicated she may have been older than Luida, likely mid-sixties.

"Dr. Shawna Carroll is our Chief Astrophysicist. Well, former chief, she has since retired to become a teacher and novelist. Of course, her knowledge is invaluable, and I'm grateful for her volunteering today."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I was truly fascinated to hear Luida's summary of your expedition. I hope to help with your situation to the best of my abilities."

"I believe you've met Brad Wehkamp, our lead Aerospace Engineer."

Brad waited for Luida to continue. But when he realized she had nothing more to say he mumbled. "Yeah sure, nice to meet you, I guess."

Luida continued, "I just called and asked him to join us. I'm aware Brad was with you when your friend Clark disappeared. I wanted to hear his testimony."

Luida gestured to the final crew member who sat next to Brad. The elderly gentleman sported short, graying hair. He wore black-rimmed browline glasses on his square, wrinkled face. The man's skin tone wasn't dissimilar to Wolfwood's warm, dark tan. (Which reminded Lois that Wolfy had been suspiciously holed up in his room for the last two hours or so.)

"And Dr. Jason Wren, who recently joined us after his tenure at November University. One of the top molecular plant scientists and xenobiologists from Ship Five."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Vash blurted out, "One of the Sinners?"

The term was clearly some sort of group or title, but not one Lois recognized. What kind of reputable scientist would want to be associated with the name "Sinner" she wondered.

Before Dr. Wren could respond, Luida spoke up. "Vash…"

Vash stood and gave a tight-eyed smile. "Apologies. Please excuse me for a moment. Proceed without me." He pushed in his chair, and Vash turned about face without another word.

Lois watched him leave, a mix of worry and confusion filling her.

"Wha— Vash?" Meryl questioned, reaching out as if to grasp his sleeve as he strode past and out of the conference room.

The door clicked behind him.

—T&J—

A weighty air of uncertainty hung in the conference room. Meryl's gaze rested on the sliding door Vash just exited through. Eventually, soft mummers from the crew—as well from Jimmy and Lois—replaced the uncomfortable silence.

Except the other night when Meryl had a chance to sit with Vash one-on-one, they hadn't had much time to reconnect. Meryl hadn't mentioned it to Milly or Wolfwood or Luida, but she still felt out of place—like she was intruding into Vash's world where she didn't understand anything and could never keep up with the trials thrown at her.

Deep within her, an urge to follow Vash roused. To ask him everything she'd wanted to know. All the unresolved questions she'd stewed on for years. To ask what more she could do for him.

Milly placed a hand on her mentor's upper arm, tugging Meryl out of her whirlwind thoughts. Milly hunched down with concern flickering in her eyes. The expression made the newbie look so young.

Milly whispered, "I think Mr. Vash could use a friend right now."

"But—" Meryl hesitated. Wouldn't it be best to give Vash some space? She had no idea what was the matter.

"You care for him, don't you?"

"I…" Meryl's hushed voice caught in her throat.

"Go on. He should know he's not alone. Please?" Milly gently swayed them both, giving Meryl a peaceful smile.

Meryl's hesitance faded just enough to nod back. "Yes. Okay." She collected herself with a deep breath in, then stood and excused herself to Luida and everyone else.

—

Meryl stepped out of the conference room with a sigh. Though she expected to see Vash somewhere nearby in the corridor, he was nowhere to be found.

Great, now they had two people missing from their group. Meryl shoved that complaint aside, realizing she couldn't blame Vash for walking out without knowing what was wrong.

A pair of unfamiliar crew turned the corner and Meryl walked towards them.

"Excuse me, did you see Vash go that way?"

"Yes, he seemed like he was in a hurry. We tried to say welcome back, but he breezed right past us with no more than a brief 'hi'," one woman replied.

Meryl thanked the crew and continued in the direction they indicated, stopping to ask more people along the way. She made it to another wing of Ship Three where Vash's trail went cold.

The doors in this area didn't appear to be dorms or private rooms since they all had small windows to look in or out. Meryl tried to peek through one, but of course she was too short. She let out a frustrated huff, blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

She was about to turn around and head back to the conference room when a nails-on-a-chalkboard screech grated on her eardrums, making her flinch.

"Vash?" she called out, hopeful he was nearby and could hear her. The noise didn't sound again. But no one responded either.

"Can we talk? Please, Vash?"

No response still. The hall was silent.

A wave of worried impatience washed over Meryl. "Vash! I will try every one of these doors if I have to!"

She was upset for him but also didn't want to leave him. Plus, checking each room would take so long, and most were probably locked anyway.

Meryl marched up to one door after another trying to enter each one. Every door had a hand scanner like the one for her room. But of course, each scanner flashed red and gave an error beep, not recognizing her palm.

She was about to give up when she approached one door and instead of remaining shut, it automatically opened. Meryl let out a short eep, startled by the unexpected movement as it slid open.

Inside was dark, but she reluctantly crept closer. With a small gulp, she stuck her head inside.

—L&P—

After Vash bolted out of the conference room, Lois and Jimmy quietly exchanged concern for their new friend.

Lois had even considered going to check on him, but then Meryl had gotten up first. So Lois decided to give the two some space, vaguely aware of their history.

While they waited, Lois tried to make casual small talk with that Kaiser fellow since Jimmy had started pestering Dr. Carrolls about astrophysics stuff that went completely over her head. And both hesitated to talk to Dr. Wren after Vash's startling reaction to the scientist.

Luida cleared her throat, hushing their separate conversations. "As much as I'd hoped Vash could listen and provide input, I insist we carry on without him and Miss Stryfe," Luida said.

Lois, Jimmy, and the crew's focus turned back to Luida. Everyone seemed to agree to carry on. The meeting was already behind schedule and it was getting late.

Before diving into the initially planned discussion, Lois and Jimmy recounted the events of the last hour or so leading up to Clark's latest disappearing act. Knowing his superhuman speed could place him practically anywhere on the planet, they found themselves back at square one.

Kaiser, the comms op, called his assistant back at the satellite receiving hub. If their scanners or broadcasts picked anything up, they'd be informed right away.

Lois then brought up the technology the League used to track Clark using her hair and tachyon analysis. Dr. Carrolls lit up the mention of such a method. Jimmy answered a few of her questions while the scientist tapped away at her personal datapad, a thoughtful smile teasing her lips.

Dr. Wren finally spoke up, eagerly curious about Clark's extraterrestrial characteristics. Perhaps if he knew more, he could propose a solution. Besides reluctantly listing off Clark's ever-expanding power set, neither Lois nor Jimmy had much more information for him. After about the tenth "dunno" and seventh "I'm not really sure but…" the doctor gave up prying them for answers.

Exhausting further means to find Clark for the time being, Lois and Meryl brought the conversation back around to their investigation.

Believing the Intergalactic Shopping Network's arrival was somehow connected to their own presence on No Man's Land, helping with their problem could help the Earthlings with their problem of getting back home.

"Earlier this evening, Miss Lane and her companions provided more information regarding this Cluster ship, Lord Manga Khan's intentions, and the scout's movements.

"Additionally, Kaiser has been keeping us updated with communications over the satellite network. We've compiled a list of all known Plant thefts, with the most recent taking place on our very own ship."

Luida tapped the console on the table and another holographic display appeared along the longest wall. The same map from earlier was brought up—the one indicating the locations of the stolen Plants.

"At first, these invaders seemed to target the largest hubs of Plant populations, such as in December."

"Presumably gauging the cities' defenses at the same time?" Brad observed.

"Indeed," Luida agreed. "In the next few days, more reports came in from smaller towns bordering the Seven Cities. And continually spreading to the less protected frontier regions."

Sliding her gaze from Brad to Dr. Wren, Luida continued, "Dr. Wren, you also mentioned that you noticed something pertinent?"

Dr. Wren nodded to Luida, stood, and stepped over to the board. "So far, it seems they've intentionally targeted various classes of Plants and those programmed for various production types and output levels.

"However, a few days ago, these random but varied thefts suddenly moved in a more distinct pattern."

He brushed a palm on the screen and the map zoomed in on a specific region. The indicators were marked with timestamps for each incident.

Lois read over a few of the town names, noticing something herself. They included two towns that sat between Kasted and Little Jersey, the city they stayed in that second night, Ripmela, and now Ship Three.

"They were… Were they following us?" Lois asked, wide-eyed in disbelief.

"Hold up! Say what?" Jimmy cried. He leaned forward to take a closer look at the map.

"But, how? Why?" Lois's questions came unbidden.

Luida took a deep breath before answering. "Our current hypothesis is that Manga's operatives are tracking Vash."

"Vash? But he's not—" Jimmy began, but quickly stopped. "Oh…"

Luida, Dr. Wren, and the other crew's expressions shifted to different shades of grim understanding.

Dr. Wren tugged at his shirt collar. "Since Vash is the only known Independent Plant to the best of my knowledge, it's logical to conclude that the invaders would target Vash."

Lois frowned, troubled to hear the man say Vash was the only Independent he knew of. "Only Vash? But what about—"

As she began her question, Luida uncharacteristically interrupted, speaking over her. "I'm curious. What led you to that conclusion Dr. Wren?" Luida gave Lois a sharp look and a subtle shake of her head.

"Well… I must say, if the invaders are seeking the most valuable resources, they'd surely set their sights on a Plant with such an extraordinary gate capacity. The energy output we recorded from the… well… Let's just say I've never seen the likes from one of the typical production Plants."

The bang of a fist slamming the tabletop startled everyone. "So these bastards just intend to kidnap Vash?" Brad butted in, voice raised.

Lois scoffed. "They kidnapped all the other Plants, why would that stop them?"

"'Cause! I mean! Because the Dependent Plants aren't…" Brad began to counter. He stopped, biting his tongue before he finished the thought.

"Aren't what? Aren't people?" Lois finished for him, disdain clear in her intonation of the word. "Do you hear the way you all talk? Like Plants are just someone's property or some sort of machinery?"

She saw Brad clench his jaw and his gloved fist resting on the table. He turned slightly, refusing to meet her eye.

Brad mumbled, "I didn't say that." But it was more a statement to himself than a response to her.

Milly stood by Lois's side. "I feel the same way as Miss Lois. All the Plants were kidnapped. But I'm sure everyone here wants to see them return home safe and sound. If we are just going to fight, that won't help us rescue the Plants any faster."

Lois glanced up at Milly, who stood tall and resolute. Her frustration about Clark's absence and with the way the crew spoke about Vash and the Plants became overshadowed by Milly's short speech and glowing smile.

"What the ladies said!" Jimmy announced too. "We're all in agreement, right?"

The young woman's words seemed to cut through the tension in the room. Everyone either nodded or gave audible affirmations. Jimmy beamed, Luida wore a proud smile, Brad a bewildered gape, and even the other crew's expressions grew more relaxed and determined.

And once again, Lois had to admit that someone else was right.

—T&J—