I had seconds to spare to override the authorization of accompanying federal agents. I also had to make sure that McCarthy was on board; literally and figuratively. Working before with McCarthy had its benefits of not having to go into the smallest detail when it comes to getting the job done. McCarthy and I had our own way of communication, in the terms of ‘Money Talks.’
Half the day has gone by, and it seemed like I had just finished concocting my plan with McCarthy over the phone when George came to notify me that General Lane and an agent from the FBI were here. I had George bring them to my study and offer them drinks. Then, I had Frederick come to meet me before we both went in.
“You sure this McCarthy will play ball?” asked Frederick.
“McCarthy hasn’t struck out on me so far,” I said.
I opened the door to the study and took notice of the General and the agent sitting on my imported Italian sofa drinking my twelve year old cognac. Not giving the General the chance to speak, I started, “General Lane, I’m very sorry…” The General placed his glass down on the table in front of him and stood up.
“Save it Luthor. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tear your head off.”
“Sir, you have to know that I loved Lindsay. This was a tragic case of miscommunication between my domestic help and my security. Security was ill-informed that I had guests staying over. The oncoming shift just arrived and they had to quickly deal with the possibility of an intruder setting off an alarm.”
“You expect me to believe such insolence? You want me to accept that your private security would discharge their weapons at a girl wearing ordinary civilian attire.” At this point, the General’s voice was getting louder, and he was moving closer to my direction. He continued to yell, “They thought she was an intruder my ass!”
Just as a man who stumbled across a sleeping lion would do, I crept back from the General. “Sir, I have the security personnel responsible for this atrocious event waiting in the hall to give you his statement.”
Noticing my white flag, the General’s chest deflated and stated, “Good, cause the federal agent here with me is waiting to take him into custody for debriefing.”
I went over to my desk and pushed the button on my intercom, “George, have Mr. Stevens come join us please. We are ready for him.”
Carl was telling his version of events, and I took notice that the General’s expression was now the same as the one at a televised news conference he attended when he found out the terrorists flew into the Pentagon. I figured that I better act now before the General decides to kill Carl himself. I took a glance over to the General’s right and saw that the agent was watching me with much meticulousness. I tapped the face of my wrist watch, and the agent was out of his chair and reached for his gun. The General hadn’t been aware, for his back was to the agent. Carl motioned and pointed in the direction behind the General, and the General quickly turned to his six. The General hit the floor and his body got cold with fear. A moment after the shots had stopped the General looked up to see that the agent, Frederick and I were standing over him. The General found his feet and stood up. Rightly confused, he looked past the three of us and saw Carl’s white shirt soaked with his own blood. He looked over at the agent and watched him holster his service weapon. The General went over to the agent. As if they were having their own private meeting, he said, “What the hell is the meaning of this? You had absolutely no right to take down this man. There was no threat.”
I went over to crash their little club and voiced my own opinion. “Sir, Mr. Stevens was clearly worried that you were going to have him imprisoned and executed. So, he decided to go after you and shoot first.”
The General was outraged, “Shoot me? With what? He had no…”
Frederick interrupted, “Take another look, General.”
When the General looked back at the person who was once alive, he saw a revolver close to the dead man’s hand. He then knew someone had planted the gun.
Still outraged, “You need to start explaining to me the situation here, Special Agent McCarthy.”
“It’s alright, McCarthy,” I said. “General, if you would please take a seat, I will explain everything.”
The General did a double take and looked at McCarthy and me. “Wait a minute!” he yelled. “The two of you know each other? You have men working for you in the FBI, Luthor?”
“Please, just have a seat and I’ll explain. Why don’t you finish your cognac?”
“You got five minutes Luthor before I call the President.” The General sat back down, probably just because of all the confusion. He took his drink to calm his nerves.
“General, as I said, I was in love with your daughter. When I found out what happened, I wanted to kill the stupid s.o.b that did this. I’m sure you felt the same way. However, I keep my house very secure, and my security was merely following my orders. So, if you want to waste your time and bring me up on charges of ‘wrongful death’, go ahead. But I propose that we work together.”
“You’re out of your mind, Luthor. My daughter is dead!”
“So is the person responsible, General.” I countered. “McCarthy and I will say that Carl messed up. That he killed Lindsay, he tried to kill Lois and just now, he went after you.”
“Why the hell would I agree to any of this?” the General wanted to know.
“Your ambitions are the same as mine. With your supporters’ votes and with the aid of my money, the White House is as good as ours.”
Laughing the General added, “You’re more than ten years away from even being able to run for President.”
“I know that General. But with my help, in the next election, I can assure you that you will be the National Security Advisor. And when the President’s, who you are the NSA for, two terms are over, I will be able to make a run for President. I will then appoint you as Secretary of Defense.”
“I’ve been serving my country since I was 17. I’m not about to take advantage of my nations trust.”
Getting serious I said, “Spare me the patriotism, General. We are both men of power. But more importantly, we both want this country to be secure and to stay the power nation of the world. But General, if we lose our place in the world, our personal power won’t mean a thing. And then, you will be the General of a third world nation. In this case, General, the ends do justify the means. The means of survival.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
“I will be the first to donate towards your public election. I’ll also donate to your private account as well.”
Hearing this offer and realizing that the man responsible for Lindsay’s death has been dealt with, the General stood up and simply said, “I’ll have my secretary get in touch with you. McCarthy, let’s go.” The General then left the room.
I handed McCarthy an envelope and he said, “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Luthor.” He took out his own envelope and continued, “My statement to the police all ready to go.”
I saw McCarthy take another look at his new envelope, “No need to count it. It’s all there.”
“I guess I’ll be seeing you in D.C. soon enough.”
“Good day, McCarthy,” I said to let him know it was time for him to leave.
After I was left with Frederick and Carl, I called the police and Ursula. Frederick said, “I can’t believe the old bastard went along with you, sir.”
“To tell you the truth, neither can I.” I dismissed Frederick from my study. With the worry of the General now passed, I was finally able to mourn for Lindsay. I went back to my desk and pushed the button on the intercom once again. “George, did you get all that on tape?”
“Yes sir, every word.”
“Good, now I want you to make a hundred copies.” Releasing the button, I said to myself, “I wouldn’t want to give the old bastard a chance to back out on his word.”
_______________________________________________________________________
Fu used his back to open the doors. Once inside, he called out to Emil. “Where do you want these boxes, Professor?”
Emil had a quick glance around the room for a suitable spot. “Those small ones you could leave on the lab tables, Mr. Fu.”
Molina came barging in and placed a huge box at Emil’s feet. He always enjoyed making a scene where ever he went. Being ignored by his parents as a child, he unconsciously needed to know that people knew he was in the room. “That’s the last of ‘em Emil. You’re officially back at LuthorCorp.”
“When exactly did the company’s name change?” Emil asked curiously.
“About two days before I got into Smallville,” said Molina.
“Well I guess Mr. Luthor can call this building whatever he wants. Anyway, how ‘bout you boys let T.J. and me get back to work.”
“You got it Professor. If you discover anything new, please let us know,” said Fu.
Once all the distractions were gone, the boxes emptied and the lab secure and off limits, he got to work. Emil didn’t waste a moment to start his drawings and sketches for his latest project. T.J. was occupied with recording all the times and measurements of the different experiments that were going on in the lab. Meanwhile, Emil was doing some of his own measurements and recalculations. After some time, Emil was still hard at work with his head buried in his notes and books. At times T.J. could hear Emil yell at himself when he got frustrated. A few more hours had passed and T.J. peeked his head through the open door of Emil’s office. “Just want to let you know I’m back, Professor.”
“Back? Where did you go?” asked Emil.
“I told you over an hour ago that I was going to take my lunch break.”
“Terribly sorry, T.J. However, I’m just about finished working on my project.”
“That’s great. Any chance you can fill me in on the details?”
“Why certainly. Go get a notepad, and as I talk you can write down what supplies I will need.”
Emil went in great detail of all the products that he needed. With practically a full page of medical equipment and supplies jotted down in the pad, T.J. asked, “What do you plan on concocting here, Professor?”
“A defensive apparatus against the meteorites that one can wear.”
“What, like a suit? But you said the meteorites were safe.”416Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXWxAzMozB
“They are safe, T.J. This suit isn’t for us.”
“Professor, the amount of each product you are requiring is a lot of material for just a few dozen mice.”
“It’s not for the mice either, T.J.”
“If it’s not for us and not for the mice, then who or what is this suit for, which by your very own calculations will be extremely heavy.”
“Ironically T.J., this titanium-lead alloy suit will be for a man of steel.”
_______________________________________________________________________
Down in the storm cellar, Martha and Jonathan watched Clark approach his ship with the crystal. The ship was metallic grey that had what appeared to be ancient hieroglyphics engraved throughout the entire body of the ship. The only symbols they could make out were an “S” and an “8.” Martha had originally noticed that it was the same “S” that was sewn into the blanket that came with Clark. The dimensions of the ship was about any such object that could fill up the complete space of an average size bathtub; except for the ship’s three inch wide dorsal fin that would have stood about a foot taller above the tub. However, the massive weight of the ship would prevent the average person from even moving it. The Kent’s kept the ship covered until they thought Clark was ready and able to handle the idea that this is how he got here. They then had him move it to the cellar.
Clark opened the hatch to reveal the four slots on what would be considered the dashboard and control panel. “Clark, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” asked Jonathan.
“Dad, maybe you and mom should go wait in the house.”
“We’re not going anywhere, Clark. Unless your request has something else to do besides our safety,” said Martha.
Clark understood that if he wished to be left alone in private that his parents would not argue. He also knew that his parents would face any danger with him. So, not giving it another thought, Clark carefully lowered the crystal into the specific fitting slot. And without any warning he heard, “Hello my son. I am glad to know that you are safe and that the crystals have found you. I am sure that by now you have reached the age where you have many types of questions, which is why I have programmed these four crystals to guide you throughout your life. You may ask your questions, and if they are within the guidelines of the program, then my son, you will get your answers.”
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