Chapter Three: The Pitfalls and Pleasantries of Kryptonian Multiplication

Chapter Three
*Planning, Plotting, and a Personal Favor*

An hour or two later, Clark put his arm around Lois’s shoulder as they sat around the fire with his parents.

“That was delicious,” Lois sighed, patting her full stomach. “The dinners at Scout camp never tasted that good.”

“Oh, that’s probably just the fresh vegetables,” Martha answered modestly. “You ready for dessert?”

“I don’t think I could eat another bite at the moment. Give me a few minutes,” Lois said, “then, bring on the chocolate.”

The four adults laughed, Jonathan grabbing the marshmallow roasting stick Clark had collected for him, and speared a marshmallow, holding it over the fire as he began his own dessert. “Didn’t you say there was something you wanted to tell us?” he asked Lois.

“Oh! Right!” She sat up and looked at Clark. “They must’ve gotten really bored, watching us eat,” she told him.

He looked back and smiled. “Nah, they’d never seen anyone cook over a fire before. Too low-tech. And they liked the ‘fire from the eyes’ thing too.”

“They?” Martha piped up. “Who’s they? Are we being watched?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Lois answered.

Martha and Jonathan looked around them, panicked expressions on their faces. “Who? Where? And how much did they see?” Martha hissed.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Clark said, relaxing on the log he and Lois shared. He prepared his own marshmallow on a stick that looked like a “Y,” with one for Lois when she was ready, while she got the graham crackers and chocolate for him. “It’s okay.”

Lois rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind him, Martha, he’s been cryptic all evening. Clark,” she said as she shook his shoulder. “You’re doing it again.” She turned back to the older Kents. “You won’t believe how long it took for him to tell ME about it all.”

Clark, who had been relaying the conversation to Jor-El and Lara, looked sheepishly at Lois. “Sorry, Honey.”

“It’s okay,” she answered. “But don’t you think you should clue in your parents?”

“Right. Um,” he began. “You remember the globe?”

“The one that’s still in your old tree house, with the messages from your birth father?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah,” Clark answered. “You know it said that Krypton exploded, right?”

“Yes,” Martha said. “Go on.”

“Well, Krypton did explode,” Clark continued. “But apparently, I’m not the only survivor. Lois and I met two other Kryptonians today, and two more have been speaking to me in my head since then.”

Martha and Jonathan stared at their son. “Honey, are you sure they were Kryptonian?” Martha asked.

Lois answered, “The ones we met in person actually flew away, Martha. I’m pretty sure they’re Kryptonian. And Jor-El and Lara confirmed it.”

“Jor-El and Lara?” Jonathan asked. “Weren’t those your parents’ names, Clark?”

“Yeah,” he said. “But apparently, they survived Krypton’s explosion too. They’re in orbit right now, watching via satellite.”

“How do you know that, Clark?” his father asked.

Lois jumped in with enthusiasm. “Get this: Kryptonians are telepathic, but only with other Kryptonians. That look he’s been getting all evening that you probably thought was him maybe hearing something Superman might be needed for? He was just talking to them.”

Smiles broke out on Martha and Jonathan’s faces. “That’s great!” Jonathan answered. “I never would’ve guessed about the telepathy.”

“But,” Martha interjected, “why are they still in orbit? Why don’t they just come down so we can all meet each other in person?”

Clark looked at Lois. Lois looked at Clark.

“Did you think of that one?” Clark asked Lois.

“No,” she answered. “Did you?”

He shook his head and looked at Martha. “Good question, Mom. I’ll ask them.”

Concentrating, and keeping his mouth closed--a bit uncomfortable speaking out loud to the sky in front of all three of them at once whether they knew what he was doing or not--he thought, *Mother? Father? Mom wants to know why you haven’t come down to meet us all in person yet.*

*Since we found you earlier, we have been searching for a place nearby to hide our ship,* came the answer from Jor-El. *But we have been unable to find a place large enough which people do not frequent.*

“He says that they can’t find a big enough hiding place nearby for their ship that isn’t overrun by tourists or scientists,” Clark paraphrased to the trio around the fire.

“Why does it have to be nearby?” Lois asked. “Wherever they land, you can easily fly to get them until they’ve got their own powers.”

“Why wouldn’t they have powers?” Jonathan asked.

“Well, the other two Kryptonians seemed a little shaky in the air when I saw them fly away a few hours ago,” Lois explained. “I don’t think they’ve had them very long, and Sarah--she’s one of them--has only worked at the Planet for about a month or so.”

“So you think it’ll take time for Jor-El and Lara to develop powers like Clark’s then?” Martha summarized.

“Yeah,” Lois answered.

“Then I guess if that’s the case, Clark will just have to go pick them up when they land,” Jonathan said. “Clark, do you know of anywhere around the world that might be good?”

“Not really,” he said. “Even when I was traveling, there were at least a few people near where I stayed. And I never went near any caves or other places large enough.”

“Just how large are we talking?” Jonathan asked as he peeled the outer crust off of his roasted marshmallow and put it in his mouth. “Could their ship maybe fit in the barn?”

Clark, uncertain how much larger than two people the ship would need to be, asked Jor-El, and relayed the answer. “No, Dad. It’s about as big as an average yacht, from what I can tell of Jor-El’s description. They had to fit food and supplies for eight waking months, plus thirty years in cold sleep.”

“Jimmy!” Lois interjected.

“What?” Clark asked, startled.

“Jimmy might know where they can land,” she explained. “And if he doesn’t, he’ll be able to find somewhere.”

“Are you sure, Lois? Do we really want to get Jimmy involved?”

He watched as his fiancee rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not like we have to tell him the secret, Clark, and even if we did, you know he’s trustworthy,” she taunted, licking marshmallow and melted chocolate off of her thumb. “You could ask him as a favor to Superman.”

“She’s right, you know,” Jonathan said. “If Jimmy can help, then let him help.”

“Good.” Martha nodded, almost as if to herself, popping the last of her final S’more into her mouth. “Now that that’s settled, let’s pack up the rest of these marshmallows and things, and go inside.”

-----

The next day, Clark walked down the ramp into the Daily Planet newsroom with a bounce in his step, looking for Jimmy.

He found the young photographer at his desk a few moments after he made it into the pit. After booting up his computer, Clark went to retrieve some coffee for him and Lois, and then made his way to Jimmy’s desk, setting Lois’s mug onto her desk as he passed.

“Hey, Jimmy,” he said taking a sip from his own mug. “Got a minute?”

“Sure, CK, what’s up?”

“Let’s go into the conference room,” Clark invited. “This isn’t the kind of thing to say in an open room.”

The bewildered Jimmy followed him into the conference room, and as he closed the door behind them, Clark gestured for him to take a seat.

“So, what can I do for you?” Jimmy asked once he was settled into a chair.

“Actually,” Clark replied, “I have a favor to ask you--for Superman.”

The young man stood and ran both hands through his hair as he started to pace. “Superman? What’s wrong? Is someone in trouble? What are we sitting around in here for?”

Clark reached out and grabbed Jimmy’s arm, gently pulling him back into his seat. “Nothing’s wrong, Jim,” he said. “If there was anything wrong, he’d have come here to ask you himself, like he did when Lois was stuck in cyber space. As it is, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to disrupt the newsroom to ask you for a PERSONAL favor.”

Jimmy let out a relieved sigh at the news that all was well--or as well as it could be in Metropolis, anyway. “Oh, well I guess that makes sense then. Sure, I can do a favor for Superman.”

“Don’t you want to know what it is first?” Clark chuckled, steepling his fingers in front of him.

The photographer’s eyes widened. “Oh, right.” Jimmy sat back in the chair he had vacated with a muffled “thump.” “I guess that would help, wouldn’t it?”

Clark nodded before explaining with a smile, knowing he did not have to swear the younger man to secrecy. “Here’s the thing.” He sat forward in his chair, leaning his elbows on the table so he could make gestures while he talked. “Superman’s parents are in town, and they kind of need a place to . . . park.”

One eyebrow climbed Jimmy’s forehead. “But there are parking lots all over the city, CK.”

Clark shook his head. “You don’t understand, Jimmy. SUPERMAN’S parents are here, FROM KRYPTON, and they need somewhere to park THEIR SHIP where it won’t easily be found--by scientists, tourists, or even just by random hitchhikers--until they’ve figured out what else to do with it.”

“Oh!” The younger man slapped his forehead with his own left palm. “Why didn’t I see that before? Of course! They need somewhere to hide their SPACESHIP!”

“Right,” Clark agreed. “Do you think you could find somewhere large enough to hide a good-sized yacht which isn’t easily accessible to humans?”

“Around Metropolis?”

“Anywhere. Kryptonians CAN fly, after all.” Clark didn’t feel he needed to mention to Jimmy that Superman would be escorting his parents to Metropolis, since they wouldn’t be able to fly yet.

“Oh, yeah,” Jimmy nodded, distracted. It seemed to Clark that the computer whiz was already formulating a plan to do just that. “I’ll get right on it, CK.”

“There’s no rush, Jimmy,” Clark partially lied. “They’ve been in the ship for thirty years already,” he explained. “What’s a couple days more? Besides,” Clark elaborated, clapping a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “Like I said, this is a personal favor, and Superman wouldn’t want you to get into trouble with Perry for doing personal things on Planet time.”

“Well, I guess I could start on it after hours then,” the young man responded, seeming to deflate slightly, but only slightly. Clark could tell that, although Jimmy knew the news that Superman’s parents were around was not for public consumption, he was still very eager to begin searching for a place to hide the ship.

“Sure,” Clark answered. “Come on. Let’s get back to work.”

Jimmy stopped him just as they were about to leave the room. “Wait, CK. If they’re trying to hide the ship, how will they get it past the radar systems and spy satellites?”

Clark took up a thinking pose while he shot a quick thought to Lara. *Are you going to have trouble hiding your descent to Earth, Mother?*

*No,* came the answer. *As long as no one sees us from the ground with their own eyes, we should be able to block the technology of these satellites and any other detection systems.*

“If I remember correctly,” Clark reiterated to the younger man. “Superman said that they have stealth technology of some kind, but they’ll still be visible to the naked eye.”

Jimmy nodded. “Avoid large cities and daylight. Check.”

Chapter Four