The next morning I was busy on the phone informing my contacts that the jobs I had promised them are now ready to be filled. I had acquaintances coming in to meet me in Metropolis for a noon meeting. They were to arrive at the ‘Candlewyck’ and inform the hostess that they had reservations under Luthor, party of 13.
I had my limo drop me off at 12:15. I was taught that a person should never be the first to arrive, nor should they be the first to leave. The former makes the person look desperate, and the latter makes it seem like the person has some place better to be.
“Well Luthor, congratulations on getting your entire inheritance you lucky bastard,” said Bernard Molina sitting at the table with ten others. Molina was a big brawly man. All of them were drinking and laughing as I came and interrupted.
“Luck had nothing to do with it. You really think my father, Alexander the Great, was going to leave me one cent, let alone a fifteen billion dollar company?” I replied.
“Alright then, how’d ya do it?” asked Molina before he took another sip.
“After I had his will confiscated, I told his lawyer that if he forges it that I will reward him when I get the money. My father was going to give half away to some charity and the remainder along with the business to Albert Brooks.” And he was. My father was a well known philanthropist and a democrat. I wasn’t about to let him leave me penniless.
“So, how much did you give his lawyer?” asked Sato Fu another hulking man on my payroll.
Fu was interrupted when our final member arrived, “Sorry I’m late. Traffic’s a bitch.”
“Hey, Morgan, there’s a seat over here!” someone in the group said.
I glanced at the clock above the bar and noticed that he was over thirty minutes late. “Hold it! Edge, you’re late,” I countered.
“Like I said, traffic’s a bitch,” Morgan Edge said sarcastically.
“You’re late, your loss. We no longer require your services, so please kindly excuse yourself,” I said.
Morgan stared into my eyes with absolute hate and disbelief, and I realized that he was one of only a few who could do that without the slightest bit of trepidation. In a way, I kind of admired him for the boldness. “You’re gonna regret this Luthor. No one wastes my time,” Morgan said slamming a fist on the table causing glasses to be knocked over and spilt.
After that brief interruption and without skipping a step, I flagged down a waiter to clean the mess and concluded, “Now that he’s gone, to answer your question Fu, his reward was two pieces of silver.”
“Just two? I bet he was pissed,” joked Fu.
“Yes, but the silver was oddly enough shaped into bullets. One piece was to keep him quiet, and the other was for going against my father. No one crosses a Luthor, any Luthor.”
“You’re a hard man to please, Luthor,” said Molina. “And speaking of being pleased, what is it that you need us to do?”
As I was finishing my drink, I took Molina’s cue and got down to business, “Nine of you will be my board members at LuthorCorp…”
“LuthorCorp, what the hell is that? I thought your father had Luthor Enterprises,” interjected Molina.
I stood up from my seat and went over to the window behind Molina. With a pull on a string, the blinds opened and enabled viewing of the street. “If you all would kindly look across the street, you will notice the construction team changing the sign now. I thought the building could use a facelift. Besides, I don’t want to be compared to that second rate company over in Gotham. Who knows what the hell Wayne is doing over there on the 90th floor.”
“You know, I heard he adopted some kid out of the circus,” laughed Fu.
“That’s right, I read the boy’s parents died in some freak carnie accident,” said another.
Completely not amused, I continued. “Right. Can we get back to business? Fu, I need you to go to Okinawa where my scientists are and have them report to you about their latest findings. It will be easy to get around the authorities since you speak the language.
“When do I leave?”
“Your flight, along with Molina’s, departs at 7:15 tonight.”
“What? Wait just a minute! I got no business in Okinawa,” Molina said jumping in.
To bring that beast of a man back to his seat I said, “Relax Molina; you’re not going with Fu. You’re going to the great plains of this beautiful state. Actually, to be specific, to a town called Smallville.”
“And what am I suppose to do down there, spy on some hick farm boy? What happened, Wayne wants to join the circus and you want to become a farmer?” Molina said laughing.
I thought to myself that if I didn’t need a man of his stature, I surely wouldn’t have put up with his incompetence and ignorance. I just got fed up and shouted, “This is exactly why you will be forgotten but the world will forever remember my name. If you want out then just say the word.”
Molina needing the money, got serious and very attentive, ““Alright, I’m listening.”
“About seventeen years ago there was a spectacular meteor shower that entered our atmosphere. So spectacular that it nearly destroyed Smallville. The government and the National Guard were down there after the final impact of the meteorites. The FBI, OEM, CIA and all the other initials had the town quarantined and investigated.”
“Most of us saw this on the news when it happened, Luthor. I believe you were just starting grade school. Why so interested now?” asked Frangella. Lou Frangella was a short dark haired Italian who spoke with a thick accent. He sat next to me, and he was not one of the ones I wanted on my board.
“After going through some of my father’s old files I had discovered that Luthor Enterprises had a man inside the FBI, and he brought us some valuable information.
I’m not going to disclose that specific information just yet, but the meteorites have alien properties that double the amount of our current periodic table.”
“I’m still not following, Luthor,” said Frangella sounding awfully confused.
Frustrated yet energized I said, “If LuthorCorp can get samples and be the first to put this knowledge to practical use after testing, then I…we could dominate over our competitors. Our stocks will go through the roof and we’ll have investors from all corners of the job market lining up to get a share.
“But if all these government agencies were down there are you sure there are any samples left? Why wouldn’t they have cleaned the place out?” Frangella inquired.
“That is why I have Fu going to Okinawa. At the time, Luthor Enterprises had two satellites in orbit. We used one of them to track the course of the meteors. The photos and results show that one of the meteors combusted. It was as if it was like a rocket and boosters suddenly ignited from nowhere. But this combustion caused a shift and change of course for some of the other meteors that were trailing it. The new trajectory was to a location where our government agencies have no jurisdiction over.”
“Let me guess, Okinawa,” announced Frangella proudly.
After I briefly dismissed the waiter who checked in on us, I continued in a slight quieter voice, “I already have scientists in both Okinawa and Smallville. My people convinced this one farmer down in Smallville that their crops and land might have some radiation, and we would have to do some tests to make sure. This farmer’s land is what I consider to be ground zero. Most of the damage happened there. So Molina, you’re going to go down there and tell this guy that the EPA needs more time to further run geological tests.”
“Who do I ask for?” Molina inquired.
I gave Molina a folder with documents inside. “The guy’s name is Lucas Lang. He and his family are well known and very well liked in the town so be courteous. My scientists will take care of the rest.”
“You got it boss. So, I’m to act like I’m with the EPA, right?”
I rubbed both my temples and asked with skepticism, “You think you can handle that, Molina?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time I went undercover.”
All my assignments were handed out, and my guys knew what they had to do. After lunch, we all went our separate ways and went to work. With Fu on his way to Okinawa collecting meteorites and Molina to Smallville gathering traces of samples and what was left over of the affected earth, I realized that Project Element was underway.
ns 15.158.61.44da2
