From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9711A" ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 17:38:15 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Writing tips #42: the use of analogies... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" My brother sent me this from a list someone gets. Let's all take this to heart... ;) - Debby, Debby@swcp.com **** [ Welcome to BLAGUES-L. Unsubscription info AT THE END (/jg) ] Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:37:00 -0500 Subject: Analogies probably not from great literature The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. (Russell Beland, Springfield) McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup. (Paul Sabourin, Silver Spring) Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center. (Russell Beland, Springfield) Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\ >aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake. (Ken Krattenmaker, Landover Hills) Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. (Jack Bross, Chevy Chase) Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man." (Russell Beland, Springfield) Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. (Jennifer Hart, Arlington) The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can. (Wayne Goode, Madison, Ala.) John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. (Russell Beland, Springfield) The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. (Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria) His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free (Chuck Smith, Woodbridge) The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon. (Jennifer Frank and Jimmy Pontzer, Washington and Sterling) [how to get on the list that sends out interesting humor...] TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM or SUBSCRIBE TO BLAGUES-L, please DON'T REPLY to this joke! Send a message to: blagues-l-request@reymond.ch (NOT TO ME! and NOT to blagues-l either) with no subject and the word UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE in the BODY (NOT in the subject line) of the message. _________________________________________________________________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 20:22:06 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Debby Stark (by way of Debby Stark )" Subject: Swap-Meet: Burbank--1 of 20! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" [if this message is Too Big... let me know! - Debby, who can cut it in half... but then that will make, um, 39 parts... surprise! a *long* one... :)... I *may* even go back and rewrite a bit... - Debby, who hasn't read this in ages...] This is the mirror half of a story called "SwapMeet: Metropolis," subtitled "We're Not in Kansas Anymore..." by Margaret Brignell, which is available in its entirety in a zipped document called SwapMeet.zip The original idea for this story was by Dory Weiss, who could not participate due to a heavy schedule. Disclaimer for Swapmeet: Burbank - I have only ever shaken Mr. Cain's hand and he wouldn't know me from Eve. I was in the same room with K (three times), and Teri and Justin (once each), and recently (August, 1996) Eddie Jones patted me on the back. However, just about every verifiable "fact" I use to base my writing on has been gleaned or extrapolated from a variety of probably trustworthy interviews. I hope I have not done any harm to any current or past inhabitants of Burbank or environs. Note: in my parts, there are some purposeful typos Swap Meet: Burbank or We're Not in Kansas Anymore... An Alternate Burbank Warner Brothers Studio Wednesday, Day One Approximately 6:30 a.m. 43 EXT. METROPOLIS SUNSET MEMORIAL CEMETERY - NIGHT - DARK AND STORMY Lois hides behind a gravestone. She's lost Clark somewhere but she's not worried; she is intrepid and after a killer story. 44 GRAVE As LIGHTNING FLASHES, mound of moldy dirt STIRS. 45 SUPERMAN LANDS, looks sternly at Lois, frowns at GRAVE and then smiles like he can't believe how ridiculous this is. 46 GRAVE Out of GRAVE RISES KRYPTONITE-COVERED Dracula. 46 SUPERMAN SCREAMS, WETS PANTS, HIDES behind Lois. Lois whips out CRUCIFIX and courageously approaches Dracula, demanding a QUOTE. 46 DRACULA CRINGES and promises FIRST RIGHTS. Dean Cain sat back and shook his head. "I don't *think* so..." Teri Hatcher smiled hopefully. "What? Did I... misspell 'intrepid'?" "No..." "'Courageously'?" "No, it's not that either." She pointed at her screen. "The special effects should be easy on that one part, huh?" Dean rolled his eyes, which gave Teri a chance to grin like he hoped she would; she'd been kidding. Unfortunately, it *was* funny. It would shed a new light on a different aspect of Superman as he... shed. "Look, don't mind *me*, go ahead and submit it. I liked the Vibro Whammy mention in the bit you showed me yesterday, the continuity is good, the fans will love it, and they'll probably... love this, too. It will give me a chance to really stretch my... talents." "Well, maybe..." as though to ease the pressure on him, "Superman is a clone in this one." "Argh--no! We did that out the..." he waved at the screen and by extension the history of his show, "the *kazoo* already!" "Okay... victim of Carbon Copy Man? Power transfer to a hapless nerd who just *looks* like Superman but parts his hair on the other side and walks with a gimp?" "Please... Those critics on the internet will hate it." "No, they just hate meaningless, unromantic arcs, just like we do. Not that this scene *romantic,* exactly, but they're working together, see?" Dean looked to the heavens again and sighed dramatically, then couldn't help but smile a little. "Yeah... I guess I better warn you, spending yesterday afternoon in that damned harness getting nine minutes of useable stock footage did *not* make me a happy camper." She squeezed his shoulder. "You'll recover, you always do, you already have," she said blithely, pitiless, but she could; she'd only had one bad scene in the episode they were wrapping up. She had been up to her knees in and then pushed by the villainess face first into simulated chocolate (two takes)--and Superman hadn't rescued her. He'd jumped into the scene, on dry land, a few moments "too late," after she had rescued herself. He had then withstood a tongue lashing and taken her home to clean up. He bet the fans on the List would speculate on how frisky, creative Clark did *that*. Teri had said something about fearing that after all her work, the scene would end up on the cutting room floor (when Clark's apparent tasteful follow up, for example, hadn't even alluded to, another missed opportunity). However, Dean knew she wouldn't let anyone see her disappointment if she was right. She had only hinted at how disappointed she had felt when the "real" writers had torn into her last script and the network's meddling had caused it to be slotted totally out of place in the show's already-too-tampered-with timeline. That was probably the reason she was sharing bits and pieces of what she had so far with him. It was a nice act of trust--and it made him an accomplice; he'd be bound to support her if she wrote in any of his ideas. Before he could make any concrete suggestions about this scene, though, she promptly changed the subject. "Did your family decide yet? Are they coming back early for the holiday after all?" There was a real downer. "No, they can't make it this weekend. I guess there's something more fascinating about New Hampshire in the fall than LA in the... whatever season we're in now, what with the extra rain." It had made shooting outside difficult at best; a muddy Superman was not a sight for sore eyes. "And Jon?" Talk about sore eyes, and red sometimes, too... Teri smiled bravely. "He's *sure* he'll be done shooting by the *next* weekend. I *know* Caracas is more fascinating than LA, but it's also too far away and complicated for me to just... drop in for a visit. But you, you won't be alone, there's that girl... what was her name? Ah..." "My latest 'luv interest'?" She cringed a little. "I wouldn't have put it *that* way." "I know, I'm just being.... When we had to shoot late Monday, that blew the date we'd planned to some club opening somewhere, and she called and..." He shrugged, trying to feel like he could shrug the whole thing off. "I'm between love interests again." "Oh, I'm sorry..." She patted his shoulder in sympathy. "Well, I'm sure you'll find something to do this weekend, some sport or something. You can wear yourself out having fun." "Yep, probably," he smiled, though he hadn't the faintest idea what he'd do since he had kept his schedule clear in the hopes his family would be back from the film his dad was shooting. Five long days, from Thursday through Monday... Well, it might not be *that* bad; something could come up if he relaxed and let it happen. It wasn't often these days that he had so much unplanned-for free time all in one lump. It was almost scary, as scary as Dracula's unexpected appearance in Teri's script... which maybe she had written just to make him laugh. She was thoughtful that way. Maybe she'd already heard about his getting dumped; things like that got around pretty quickly. He saw her glance at her watch. "Oops, 6:55, time to go." She saved her work, got out of her script-writing program, powered down her computer, and grabbed the last of her the three heavy, whole-wheat honey donuts she had been munching. They left her trailer, Dean holding the door for her, then closing it firmly, making sure it locked this time. She'd come back between shots two days earlier to see a fan just beginning to open it. The distracted tour guide had yelled, rushed to the rescue and dragged the screaming girl away. Teri had been unnerved for a while after that. But she looked in charge now. He admired how she was able to quickly transform herself from would-be writer to excellent actress. She could easily go from being light and funny, like in this latest installment of her script, to a consummate, hard- driven, narrow-eyed professional approaching a shoot. Her walk alone was almost enough to convey all that. She liked the smoothly fitting red dress and high heels she was wearing, and her hair and makeup already looked good and in little need of touch up on the set. He felt more casual about his own appearance, particularly after having survived the day before without losing his lunch. He hadn't eaten much anyhow, making up for it with a big dinner, the last of the skinless roast chicken his mom had prepared and frozen for him. Then he had worked on his idea file and a script treatment and turned in around ten, getting plenty of rest for this early-morning call. He was now in a typical CK-blue shirt, dark jacket, and, earlier on his swing by Wardrobe, he'd requested the eggplant tie (they called it that on the List). They walked down Avenue C towards Sound Stage 14C where the "Daily Planet" set was. Dean glanced up, barely making out through the lights that the cool sky was still as dark and uncertain looking as it had been during his drive in almost two hours earlier. He wondered if it would rain or just be foggy or clear up or what. It rarely rained much this time of year and hardly ever in the morning, but this was shaping up to be an unusual year in many ways. Hey, what if it rained all weekend, just *stormed,* and he had to stay inside and... sleep? Ah, sleep! Catch up over Thanksgiving Day and then start having fun on Friday. The beach--or the mountains. Take the bike, maybe look up some friends, speaking of which, it would be fun to sneak onto the Batman set again and make faces at George and Chris while they were trying to look stoic-heroic in those awful rubber suits. They hadn't laughed at *his* suit in a long time... Well, something interesting was bound to happen. He sighed and, in the interest of keeping his Supermanish figure, unwrapped a piece of gum for breakfast. They entered the set just east of the elevators and looking over the main floor. The place was a typical riot. Teri plunged into it and was converged upon by makeup people and assistants with script changes since besides the final scene with him, she still had a wrap-up scene with Lane to shoot. Dean's scene with her was scheduled and would fall naturally right after that. Waiting gave him the opportunity to stand back and watch, to drink it in and learn, he hoped, more about how to direct television shows. He folded his arms across his chest, leaned back against a file cabinet, chewed thoughtfully, and blocked out the scene. In an hour or so, he, as Clark Kent, would emerge from the elevator and bounce down the ramp, flush with success in another Superman job well done, a hero again in the eyes of his beloved wife (who had entertained some doubts in this episode). He would approach Teri with just the right amount of elan, deliver his brief lines, kiss her passionately, and, then, five days of vacation. An assistant director holding a notepad rushed by, stopped, came back, frowned at him, uncertain, then had it and said: "Gum, Dean." He smiled at the fellow, tongued the wad into his cheek and said, "I know, thanks!" The AD nodded and resumed his rush away. Dean ignored the instructions and moved to an out-of-the-way place behind the camera to watch the scene play out. After twenty minutes of lighting and set fixes, everyone was ready to rehearse, which took about ten minutes. The two shots of the few opening seconds of the scene from Teri's POV (the director didn't like the first take) and then a wide angle encompassing the newsroom and some extras took another ten minutes, typical. The camera was moved, and for five minutes they shot the same scene from Lane's POV. At last, after more lighting changes, everyone was ready for the final, extended version of this scene: Lane came out of Perry's office, copy in hand, and congratulated Lois (Teri *was* Lois now). Her and Clark's latest story would put the Pasta Pirate, Al Dente, and his arch rival in the Metropolis snack food wars, the Praline Princess, in prison for eternity. "I *knew* he was a crook," Lois said, "as soon as we purloined a portion of that over-cooked pasta he was trying to pawn off on the public." "But Clark was right about her, too," Perry reminded her. "She was just too saccharin to be believed." Dean was glad Lois and Clark were getting in some newspaper work: the List was always demanding that and they were right, too. Everyone would be surprised in a few weeks because this detail was unlikely to be mentioned in the spoilers. Lois smiled and said she'd pass the good news on to Clark, and then she and Perry laughed over her strong hint/in joke that both of the Planet's best investigative reporters could use a raise to pay for newlywed expenses, like that new terrarium in which she wanted to raise frogs... The Director yelled, "Cut!" and said they'd go with this shot, "Good work, you two, etc., etc..." Dean noted the man's upbeat attitude was a little too hyper. Too much coffee too early in the morning probably, and probably not quality brew from Priscilla's, from which Dean special ordered when the going got tough. The camera dollied around and the lights were readjusted for the next scene, Clark's triumphant return. This was the last scene either he, Teri, or in this case, Justin were scheduled in, barring reshoots. Dean hadn't heard of any for himself or Teri yet, and he knew he should have by now. Maybe that was the director's problem. Was he debating sending an AD or going himself to reshoot those laboratory/test kitchen scenes for the touchy guest stars? They were demanding more *angst* and more *cringing* from their respective sidekicks, Manicotti and Jellie Beane, and better lighting for themselves. Dean decided he didn't need to sneak in to watch all that. He wound his way through the fast-moving crew. He smiled at the extras, actors playing newsroom staff people who never seemed to talk to Lois or Clark, though during these last four years they had thrilled at Superman's intrepid appearances and dutifully gawked at Lois's dazzling outfits and her show-stopping outbursts. They had also studiously looked elsewhere when the Daily Planet's two top reporters practically made out on one or the other's desk. Now that Lois and Clark were married to each other and rarely did that kind of thing any more, the "newsroom crew" could be directed to look like they were actually working. Dean spotted and high-fived Justin, who was searching for his mark, apparently moved from the day before. "Hey, man," Justin smiled, "I want to talk to you after we wrap up, okay?" "Gotcha, no problem." Just as he hit the bottom of the ramp to head up toward the elevator, Dean heard his name called and he turned back to walk over and consult with the script girl, who was standing at the Clark Kent Desk and who claimed to have a "minor" change in the script. He read it over quickly, agreed it was minor but fantastic, and committed it to memory. It was best to ignore the fact that the dialogue still didn't make much sense given the overall story line and Lois nearly being killed again, but yet another mile on the rocky road of married life had been traveled successfully. The fans would think it was Truly Wonderful and even Steamy. He nodded. "Thanks." "Dean!" He looked up. "Yo?" The Director, who was up on the landing ahead of him, pointed. "Gum." "Oh, yeah, thanks." This was one warning he couldn't "overlook." Only having to be told twice today wasn't much fun; his record was six times. He looked around for someplace to stick the well-chewed wad and chose his usual spot, the missing "L" in Clark's keyboard. Would they never get the hint and buy some real computers for the set? The fans noticed when they toured the lot. Hey, the studio got the cars at a discount rate, surely they could work a deal for some decent-looking computers. Then again, the fans might be responsible for cleaning up after him, for he had yet to return the next day to find his gum where he had "stored" it. "Places, people..." He walked back up to the elevator, only to be attacked as Teri had been earlier by makeup and clothing experts and even more assistant directors. At this time the eggplant tie was fit around his neck and he was given Clark Kent glasses. He frowned at them. "I was wearing the hornrims earlier." "No, you weren't." "Yes, I was, yesterday, around two, for the change-in-the- alley scene, which takes place about two hours before this scene is supposed to. I distinctly remember it." This was mainly because the hornrims were light plastic and pinched less than these frameless-looking ones which actually had metal frames and heavy glass lenses. Also, the hornrims made him look less like either himself or Superman, integral to a subplot of this episode, and, besides, fans noticed such bloopers. "It says here you weren't." A continuity sheet was waved before his face too fast for him to read it. The Director shouted something about hurrying things along. Makeup wouldn't be dissuaded by the truth about the glasses, so Dean sighed and put on the ones he'd been given and stepped into the "elevator." The door closed. All alone, he felt his gut tighten and ordered himself to relax. This was going to be all right, it always was, he was a pro now, or played one on TV. "Action..." Dean squared his shoulders, looked around for the feeling of Clark, and as the elevator doors open and the bright set lights hit him he transitioned into the role. He grinned to himself, practically dancing out of the elevator and down the ramp--and with every right: Al Dente, Manicotti, the Praline Princess and Jellie Beane had been dissuaded from inundating Metropolis with millions of gallons of marinara sauce on the east side of town and caramel sauce on the west; Superman had survived the masticating jaws of a giant, Kryptonite-powered taffy puller; Jimmy had been rescued from the roving, predatory noodle extruder; and Lois had rescued herself from spending the rest of her life as a chocolate-covered cherry. All was well with the world again, until next week. As she had been when Lane had left her, Teri was concentrating on her fake computer screen, fingers dueling with the glued-down, fan-proof keys of her keyboard. Justin, as Jimmy, was sitting on the edge of the desk trying to get her attention without actually interrupting her. Dean snuck up. "I can hear you..." Teri said. Jimmy rolled his eyes, gave up, grinned, and left quickly. "I can't pull one over on you, *sugar*," he smiled. He was glad now they'd added that word to the script. She turned slightly and gave him a loving smile. "Oh, you're so *sweet,* lover." "Candy jokes, ha-ha, just what we need..." and he leaned forward to meet her face to face, lip to-- "Cut, hold it, stop, freeze. Dean. Those glasses..." Dean straightened and looked at the man in charge. "Hey, I *told* them..." The Director frowned at the Assistant Director, who translated the frown and wailed to the crew at large, "Where are the other frames!?" Makeup scrambled. Dean shrugged at Teri, who, as always, looked annoyed at the interruption. It wasn't just that this one had been awkwardly placed, any interruptions annoyed her. Try being suspended 30 feet in the air, he thought at her, facing a broken camera everyone says they can't fix... The right frames were found within two minutes. Dean traded for them and went back up to the elevator to begin the reshoot. The doors closed on him. His gut tightened all over again but less so this time. "Action..." The doors opened. The lights would be up again for the scene, but the light that hit him was a little brighter than expected, blinding him for a second, making him hesitate, probably causing a restart, damn. The cast and crew, every last one of them, took the opportunity of his pause to yell: "Dean! Gum!" Dean staggered back into the elevator, grabbed on to the fake walls to steady himself, then timidly stuck his head around the right-hand edge of the door, opened his mouth wide and pointed into it. "Nah-gua..." he throated. "All right, all right!" the Director screamed. Everyone laughed, even Teri. My god, he thought, and they think *I'm* the joker around here... He wondered if she had thought this up. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 08:24:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Stroh Subject: Re: Writing tips #42: the use of analogies... Debby.....you just made my day! I can't even begin to tell you what a kick I got out of reading those "analogies" ...neither LOL nor ROTFLMAO can adequately describe my feelings. Seriously, I'm not a writer and would never pretend to be one....but I am a reader and I know what's good and what's not and those analogies were not....I mean they were great for a laugh but did someone actually use them in a story? Sheese! Thanks for making my day brighter..... Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 08:32:33 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Swap-Meet: Burbank--1 of 20! oh, i see part 1 has arrived. if you say 39 parts, why does this say 1 of 20? --L (wondering when AOL will bother to deliver the rest) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 08:39:10 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: STORY ANNOUNCEMENT: Metropolis Blue Hi-ya Folcs Submitted for your approval is the story "Metropolis Blue" the first in what will hopefully be a continuing series of Lois and Clark fanfiction stories written in *roundrobin* style by a small group of us. These story are written *live*, i.e. online on the IRC and the various writers must think up material on the spot. However typos have been edited out (Thanks again Georgia :)). There were five participants in this particular story: Nicole a/ka CKGroupie (NKWolke@T-ONLINE.DE ); Chris a/k/a chrispat or patchris (cp13607@aol.com); Doris a/k/a Dorian or Dori (cschmill@zedat.fu-berlin.de); Zoomway (zoomway@aol.com); and myself. Comments can be sent to any of the participants or posted here to the list. I'll be posting the story in 2 parts to avoid (hopefully ;)) the AOL download problem. We hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Eileen Eraygun@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 08:39:32 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: METROPOLIS BLUE Part 1 of 2 Sat Oct 11 15:55:56 1997 METROPOLIS BLUE "Lois! Clark! Get in here NOW!" Perry's voice thundered across the busy Daily Planet City room. Lois exchanged quizzical looks with her partner, best friend, and husband, Clark. "Well, I didn't do anything! At least nothing that the chief could know about," Lois said. "What about you?" NEXT "Lois," Clark smiled. "I'm Superman, I'm always good." Lois nudged him with her elbow. "I know, but have you done anything that would upset Perry?" He shrugged. "Why don't we find out?" Lois nodded. "My plan too." They both took a deep breath and walked into the inner sanctum of the news room. They abandoned all hope. A woman in her early 40s stood by Perry's side. Perry gestured for Lois and Clark to have a seat. "This is Captain Sawyer of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit." "Oh," Clark smiled. "I remember meeting some hopefuls when I did that academy doghouse story..er that academy assignment Perry gave me a couple of years ago. It was just in the working stages then." "That's right, Mr..?" "Kent," Clark said and shook her hand. Sawyer then looked at Lois. "And you're Lois Lane. I've been a fan quite a while." Lois blushed. "Well, I've been partnered with Clark for...years..um how is it you know me and not Clark?" Sawyer shrugged, "I guess I just notice you more." "Well, boys and girls," Perry interrupted. "It seems there's something going on at the SCU and Captain Sawyer needs your investigative skills on this one." Lois folded her arms, "And it's not like a good police scandal would hurt circulation for the Planet." "Hey, hey, hey!" Perry growled. "This is a civic responsibility...and you're right," he relented. "Scandal sells papers." Clark frowned. "What exactly is the problem, Captain Sawyer?" She sighed. "A leak. We figure someone has been bought off on the inside of the SCU and is tipping off Intergang and others." "So when you go to make a bust, there's nothing at the scene?" "Exactly, Ms. Lane." "Not only that," Perry added. "But Henderson said that it's now affecting the Metro force too. Could be a big scandal. Lots of warm bodies on this." "And so we're to...?" Sawyer handed boxes and shields to Lois and Clark, "...be cops." Lois shook her head, "Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" "Please, Ms. Lane," Sawyer said, raising a restraining hand. "Spare me the next verse. Will you and Kent do it?" NEXT Lois took the boxes and handed Clark his. "We'll need more than these uniforms to disguise us, Chief." "Every crook in Metropolis knows who we are," Clark added. "I know that," Perry replied. "But, knowing Lois, I'm sure she can come up with disguises for you both." "That's what I'm afraid of, Chief." Clark shuddered, remembering some of Lois' more creative disguises. "She'll probably make me be the policewoman." Perry laughed. "Now that sounds like a thought." Lois grinned at Clark. "I might just do that." As they left Perry's office, Lois took pity on Clark. "Okay, I won't make you be a policewoman, but how about a visiting Scottish policeman on assignment to observe Metropolis police procedures? You could wear a kilt." Clark looked a little doubtful. "But that's a skirt, Lois." "I know, but you have such cute knees. I've always wondered how you would look in a kilt." "What about you, Lois? I think I should decide on your disguise, since you've apparently already decided on mine." NEXT "Try to find one," Lois said with a grin, "but I'm sure I'm not going to look as nice as you will!" Clark smiled back. "OK, what about another hair color for a start? You know, I really like you in burgundy." "Oh no, Clark, that'll look cheap." "no, no, not cheap. I'm going to make you some leftover from the seventies, you know, with old, dark clothes, cloudy eyes and playing the guitar..." Clark grinned and added, "That'll keep all the other guys from falling for you and well do just fine! Lois wasn't very excited about the idea of playing guitar, but she had to admit that they really needed a disguise, because their faces were two of the best known in Metropolis. They decided to try it. Next morning, they started the work at the SCU. Maggie Sawyer already had announced the arrival of a new cop from Scotland and his partner and so they were greeted warmly, by the director of the SCU. NEXT Sawyer met them at the front gate and asked them to join her in her office. When the door had closed behind them, she looked them over slowly and carefully. "That is quite a disguise you've got there. I may add that this attire is not quite in line with our dress code. But at least nobody will recognize you." Clark shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he looked down at himself at his bare, though incredibly impressive legs. The hand-knitted socks his mother had given him for Christmas just added to the authentic look and left a good portion between his socks and kilt free. When he felt Lois's eyes take in his legs and settle on his legs appreciatively, he blushed. Quickly, he focused his attention to their host. "Well, officer, what exactly do you have in mind we should do here? How do we get started?" Sawyer shrugged. "We'll have you start by a tour of the premises. Then you'll accompany one of our teams. We really don't have an idea yet where to start. We are relying on you to dig up the leads." She let her eyes rest on Lois and Clark for a while, contemplating their disguise, then added, "Your being visitors could actually be helpful. You wouldn't be suspected of having any clue as to what is going on. But we better get you started." With that, she picked up the phone and dialed to the desk outside to call in the young rookie assigned to be Lois and Clark's tour guide. NEXT "You wanted to see me, ma'am?" the young officer said timidly. "Yes, Polanski, these are the visitors I told you about," Sawyer replied. "Constable Macpherson from the Glasgow police department and Officer Leary from the SFPD. They're both here to study SCU methods in hopes of opening up similar units back in their own police forces. I want you to show them around but first, take them down to ordnance and see if we can get them outfitted with something a little less..." NEXT "Sore thumb?" Polanski asked. "That's the idea. Be gentle." Polanski nodded in the direction of the hall and Lois and Clark followed. Lois, for no particular reason other than boredom, blew the ribbons dangling from the back of Clark's glengarry cap. He turned and whispered, "Next time you're in a skirt, a super breeze may catch you off guard." "Here we are. The far row of lockers have some uniforms and gear." He looked at Lois. "There aren't separate facilities yet, but if you want to take turns, the door locks." Lois folded her arms. "We'll manage." "Suit yourself," he said, pulling the door closed. Clark started pulling clothing out of a locker. "Pants!" Lois began removing her Haight-Ashbury togs. "Is that a command?" Clark smiled admiringly as Lois fastened a Sam Brown belt to her trousers. She looked at two empty pouches. "What are these for?" "Speed loaders," Clark said as he buttoned his shirt. "And they would be?" Clark pulled two round objects from the shelf, each containing 6 rounds of ammunition. "These. You put them in the cylinder, twist, and 'voila', you're fully loaded." Lois shook her head. "I have a pistol, not a revolver." "Oops. Okay, then you have the wrong belt." "Ha ha." "Here," he said, snapping narrow pouches to her belt. "You have magazine pouches in that case." Lois placed a cap on her head in the 'low rider' position. "Great, give me Mademoiselle and Popular Mechanics." Clark smacked her rump. "Let's get out and get under, partner." "Seriously, Clark. I'd like the revolver, you take the pistol. I don't know how to work the thing." "Lois, you were born to handle a pistol, I'm speaking from experience here." "Clark--" "Okay," he smiled. "I'll take the pistol, you take the revolver. I hate losing the cool speed loaders though." "Tell it to Santa...okay, how do I look?" Clark appraised her slowly. Lois smacked his chest. "Do I look like a cop or not?" "Honey, remember when I told you about some of my weird dreams about you?" "Forget it," she sighed. "Let's go!" NEXT They gave each other one last inspecting and appreciating look. Then, stepping outside the locker room, they found officer Polanski waiting for them eagerly. Transformed into "real" police officers, they made an even bigger impression on the young officer, who promptly snapped to attention. "At ease, young man," Clark said in his best imitation of a Scottish accent. "Where do we start the tour?" Polanski stepped aside, indicating the door. "If you will follow me, sirs." NEXT "Well I guess we should start at the firing range," Polanski said as he began to shepherd both Lois and Clark down the hallway outside the locker room. "That's where we take all our VIPs. Maybe you'll get to test some of the new hardware the Captain borrowed from Fort McNamara." "New Hardware?" Lois replied warily. "Yes, ma'am, we've got some great stuff!" the young officer said happily. "Why Sgt. Turpin says some of it can stop a charging rhino." NEXT "Here, McPherson, this is a CAR-15. Give it a whirl." Clark grabbed the weapon. "It's light." "Yep, if it's Mattel, it's swell." Clark swallowed. "Aye..um..I assume this is gas operated from a closed bolt rather than blowback like an Uzi?" "Wow, I didn't think men in skirts would know so much about weapons." "We have our moments...laddie," Clark said, and began blasting at a mansize silhouette. "This needs a burst limiter. The cyclical rate is too high and the weapon and round are too light." Polanski nodded. "I'm impressed. Ever fire a real tommy gun?" "No, never." The man pulled out a 1927 A-1 Thompson submachine gun (the cool deluxe model with the fluted barrel.) "May I?" Lois interrupted, taking the tommy gun. She pointed it at the silhouette and started firing. She took out the entire center of the target. Clark whistled, "That's more like it." Polanski shook his head. "Okay, well...I guess we should move on." NEXT Polanski led the way to a patrol car. "I guess we should hit the streets. There's a demonstration scheduled in front of city hall. A bunch of those NRA nuts are protesting that gun restriction law passed yesterday." Lois and Clark glanced at each other. "What does that have to do with police corruption?" Lois whispered under her breath. Clark shrugged. "I guess we'll find out." When they arrived, the protest was in full swing. As they got out of the car, Clark got a look at the ringleader of the demonstration. He grabbed Lois and held her back a little to whisper in her ear. "That guy is a member of Intergang. I saw him with Bill Church before he went to jail." NEXT "Oh, he's a "Costmart official". I've seen him at various functions. I'm sure he's involved with Intergang, sources indicated that, too, but they were never able to prove anything." People were shouting, and suddenly a loud gunshot was fired, only to be followed by several others. The situation seemed to be getting out of hand fast. Polanski pulled the car over to the side of the street. Getting out, he looked at them. "Well, this looks like it may become dangerous. You better stay in the car and watch from a distance. We don't want to put our VIP guests in any danger." "Now wait a minute!" Lois started in protest. "Who do you think you're talking to? We're just as..." "I have my orders, ma'am. Your safety is of utmost importance." Clark could see that Lois was getting into gear really fast. Before she could interject, however, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Officer Polanski is right. And we also have a much better view from here. Thank you officer." Polanski looked at him gratefully, saluted, and then left to disappear into the crowd. When he was gone, Lois glared at her husband. "Is this how we're supposed to get to the bottom of this, just stand at the sidelines...?" Clark briefly touched his neckline, symbolically opening the top button of his shirt. "Services are needed. I could hardly change with Polanski around." As Lois again started to protest, he added, "Besides, one of us needs to observe and take notes. You really have a better view from here. I'll be back shortly. He briefly kissed her, then opened the car door, and when nobody was looking, was gone in a whoosh. NEXT (Continued next post) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 08:39:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: METROPOLIS BLUE Part 2 of 2 Metropolis Blue continued: As Superman made his way through the crowd of angry demonstrators and policemen Lois noticed that Sam Wainwright, the Costmart official, was no longer at the center of the crowd, He was moving rapidly to an alley not far from the City hall building followed by Tarses and Eisner, two members of the SCU. Sneaking behind them Lois made her way to the alley and crouched behind a parked car so she could listen to their conversation. NEXT "Look," Tarses said to Eisner. "This is not a Mickey Mouse operation." Eisner narrowed his eyes. "Look, it's all been as easy as ABC so far. Don't get nervous, or you can be replaced." "Is that a threat, Mike?" Eisner flared his jacket showing his crossdraw holster. "It's a promise!" Lois felt a sneeze coming on. As she drew in the fatal breath, a large hand covered her nose and mouth. She elbowed the intruder and then recoiled in pain. There was nothing like trying to jab the man of steel. He smiled at her, and raised his eyebrows. She loved his mocking expression *except* when it was directed at her. Clark slipped his hand away. "Okay?" Lois nodded, "Thanks." There was the sound of a shot. Clark ==whooshed== to the last known location of Eisner and Tarses, but Tarses lay bleeding in the alley. (the crowd rejoices) NEXT Kneeling down next to Lois, Clark quickly X-rayed the bullet wound. "Remember, Lois, even if she's been a traitor, we have no right to take justice in our own hands. We have to stop that bleeding however." Tearing away Tarses' bloodied uniform, he quickly directed his heat vision at the wound. Tarses winced and seem to be regaining consciousness as the twin beams of heat made searing contact with her flesh. Expecting him to finish or try to wait for his "patient's" pain to ease, Lois was amazed to see that Clark seemed to continue emitting beams of heat at Tarses' wound. "Clark...?" she whispered so close to his ear that only he could hear it. "What are you doing...?" "It was a deep wound. I needed to be very careful and sure I cauterized all of it..." NEXT As the bleeding finally stopped, Clark stopped his heat vision. Her face still contorted in pain and her breathing labored Tarses opened her eyes. "Superman...?" Tarses said weakly. "Is that you?" Clark nodded. "You've got to stop them...,before...its too..late. Intergang has the power.... and it's only a matter of ti..." but before the stricken police officer could finish... NEXT ...she lost consciousness. "Power for what?" Lois asked. "I wonder who else is involved." Meanwhile, in a hidden basement at Cosco, Mindy Church leaned back in her chair, puffing on a huge cigar. "Everything is going just fine, but we can't move on to the next step until we get rid of that party pooper, Superman." Sam jumped up. " We have that all planned, Mrs. Church." "Oh good," she purred. "You know how I can't stand to have my plans ruined by that big spoilsport. It just ruins my hair." NEXT "No prob, Mrs. Church. The man of steel is a real dead deal." "Ooh, I love rhymes!" Her girlish bimbo expression vanished suddenly as she squelched Sam's coat. "But if it doesn't, remember this rhyme; one fish two fish dead fish blue fish" She released his coat and placed the cigar back between her teeth. "Uh..I'll keep that in mind...we have a no lose plan." "I hope so, Sam, I really do, because I hate failures. I see it as a kind of...rejection. "I won't fail!" he shouted and gratefully left Mindy's web. Mindy set the cigar in the ashtray, went to a cabinet and picked up a jar marked 'fish food' she sprinkled some into an aquarium. "Well, Joey, now you feed my pretty fishes. At least I saved you the humiliation of going to trial." NEXT Back at the demonstration scene, the arriving police were using water hoses to break up the crowd. With Wainwright gone without a trace, the crowd having very effectively destroyed every trail that Superman might have come up with, Lois and Clark made their way back to the waiting car, climbing back in before Polanski returned. They used the moment of privacy to explore the options ahead of them and also each other. While they had names now, they still didn't know what power Tarses had been referring to, nor had they any way yet to prove just how Wainwright, Tarses, and Eisner were involved. They would have to rely on Tarses' testimony for that. Thus one priority was to make sure that Tarses lived to give that testimony. For now they knew her to be safe in the police hospital, though. Thus they decided to that their best bet was to stay as unobtrusive as possible until they had further leads. Just as they concentrated on a thorough exploration of each others' mouths, Clark's superhearing focused on his exploration partner rather then the outside, they were surprised by a knock on the car door. Polanski was back and cleared his throat rather noisily. When they drew apart, Polanski looked at them in apology. Clark straightened up to his full height. "Get a move on, laddie, then. I believe the next item on the agenda was the headquarters canteen wasn't it?" "Yessir." Polanski got back behind the wheel, and turning the car around set off back towards headquarters. On the back seat, Lois and Clark made a conscious effort to not snuggle too close together, but their hands soon found each other again as they rode in silence for a while. When Lois' stomach growled loudly suddenly, Clark gave her a big smile. "You *are* ready for lunch, aren't you?" She nodded eagerly. "Yeah, and they told me they had a special on the menu today." Clark had to suppress a grin. "So I heard." She looked at him expectantly. "Oh, so what's for chow then?" "Maybe you want to be surprised, just enjoy it..." "Hey, c'mon. It's not fair that you know what's on, but don't share. She poked his chest playfully. "No secrets, remember?" "All right, it's some dishes honoring visitors from different countries: You have a choice between Blutwurst and Sauerkraut and Haggis." "Is that what I think it is...?" All of a sudden she didn't look that hungry anymore. Clark was torn between amusement and sympathy for his hungry wife as the car passed the headquarters gate and then pulled to a stop before the cafeteria. Placing an arm around her, he smiled reassuringly. "Maybe if you're lucky, they'll also have sandwiches." "Oh...? Probably with leberwurst. I *hate* liver..." Getting out of the car in a hurry, she marched off towards the canteen in a hurry. Clark grinned as he followed her, knowing that Lois would soon cheer up again when she found out that Black Forest chocolate cake was also on the menu. Meanwhile, Wainwright and Eisner were meeting in a secret hideout down by the docks. Wainwright had brought blueprints of the latest version of the quantum disrupter and... NEXT "Look are you sure this thing is going to work" Wainwright asked. "Positive" Eisner said. "I've got the working model out it the car. It's one of those fancy weapons that Maggie Sawyer finagled out of the army. All we have to do is lure Superman here and poof, no more problem. It's just a question of where and when." "Aren't you forgetting something?" Wainwright asked. "What?" Eisner replied testily. "How?" Wainwright replied. "Just how do you intend to get that overgrown boy scout here?" "Simple, all we need is the right bait," Eisner replied smugly. "And while that was a problem a few days ago, *sweet* little Maggie's attempts to find the traitor have given us just what we need. Lois Lane and Clark Kent are at police headquarters right now. All we have to do is capture them. And we've got the perfect bait to attract Superman." "Sounds pretty foolproof," Wainwright agreed. "Exactly. And with Superman no longer able to prop her up, Sawyer will be through as head of the SCU. The job will be mine like it should have been from the start! From there I'll be police chief in no time flat and I'll be able to deliver the entire department to your boss on a silver platter. It's a definite win-win situation." "But what about Lane and Kent?" Wainwright asked. "What about them?" "Are you going to kill them too?" "Of course.." "But won't there be questions, a police probe, something?!" "Look I can handle any probe, I've got friends in *high* places. Besides who's going to miss two noisy reporters? You worry too much." "You bet I worry!" Wainwright replied angrily, "My boss doesn't like slip ups. We've already close to one now with Tares in police custody even if she is in a coma." "I've got a plan for that too." NEXT After they finished lunch, their guide took them to the hospital to check on Tarses. To their disappointment she was still in a coma, so they decided to go back to the crime scene to see if they could find some other clues. Wainwright and Eisner had followed them to the hospital and saw their chance to act when Lois, Clark and Polanski were examining the ground for clues. Eisner grabbed Lois from behind and pointed a gun at her temple. "Okay, you're coming with me or the little lady gets her head blown off." Clark froze. Even with superspeed, he wouldn't be able to get to Lois in time. NEXT "If you all will be so kind as to follow me, the lovely Ms Lane won't have to change the part in her hair, and I won't have to get a big dry cleaning bill." Clark moved forward, Eisner tightened his grip. "Uh huh, boyfriend. I'm sure you look good in black, but I don't think you want Lois in a six handle suitcase." Clark raised his hands. "Okay, okay, just don't hurt her." "Believe me, Kent, my little plan wouldn't work if your wife gave up the oxygen habit just now," Eisner said and tipped his head toward the parking lot. [We have an exposition wipe avoiding having to explain every dadgum move in the van and the ride to the warehouse. We now join our heroes tied to chairs in the warehouse. Lois and Clark are handcuffed back to back.] Eisner smiled. "Now a little call to the Daily Planet, a known pipeline to Superman, and the wait will be over." "Oy," Lois whispered. "Bait again! We're tied up in just one more cosmic tacklebox" "Lois--" "One week I'm a top-water lure.." "Honey--" "the next I'm spinner bait." "Honey, if they're using us as bait, then..." "They have a payoff for Superman, the biggest fish in the sea." "What we have to do is try and find out what that is..." "And put it out of commission." Clark smiled and laced his fingers with hers. "Remember those weird dreams, one did involve handcuffs." "You're turned on by this too, aren't you?" she whispered. NEXT Clark squeezed her hand just a little tighter in response. Then he broke the handcuffs easily, helping her to her feet as he got up with one swift motion. He turned and quickly took her into his arms. Pulling her close, he kissed her and when he looked at her, his eyes held the promise of many a binding activity. "We won't need those," he said, indicating the broken handcuffs. "Once we're through with this, I promise nothing will tear us apart. Have I ever told you about Robinson Island?" Picking up the twinkle in his eyes, she shook her head, "No, but I'm looking forward to finding out all about it." Sighing, she then returned to reality. "We need to get out of here fast. But what do we do with him?" pointing at Polanski who was still oblivious of his surroundings. Clark went over to him quickly, checking his pulse. Then lifting one of the unconscious man's eyelids, he said, "He seems to be OK, but he's probably gonna be out cold for a while still. While he is, I don't think he is in danger. So we just leave him here." With that he adjusted his hearing, and when he knew nobody was approaching yet, crossed over to the door. NEXT Easing the door open Clark discovered an inner office with a set of blueprints on the table. "What are these?" Lois asked as she quickly entered the doorway. "It looks like the plans for the Quantum Disbander/Disrupter." Clark whispered. "Oy, not again, first Lex, then the Presses. Now these clowns!" "Unfortunately, there's more to it than that, honey," Clark said as he picked up a spec sheet for the weapon lying nearby. "Some additional modifications have been made to make it even more effective against me...I mean Superman." "What do you mean?" "According to this spec sheet there is now an optional setting which will allow the Disbander to emit electromagnetic radiation with the same frequency as Kryptonite." "Good lord! Then we have to destroy it and these plans!" NEXT "We can destroy the plans, but they must have a working model, or they wouldn't be trying to lure Superman here." "You're right. We have to get out of here." Clark started to lift Lois to fly them out, but stopped when he heard something in the other room. "I can't fly us out of here. We would have to go past them and they're back in the other room." Wainwright and Eisner were startled to see Lois and Clark gone and the handcuffs in pieces on the floor. "Now how the h**l did they get out of those," Eisner yelled. "Take it easy, Eisner, they have to still be here. They would have had to go past us to escape." Wainwright raised the weapon. "Superman must have gotten the message by now. We don't need them anymore." Clark was watching them with his x-ray vision and saw Wainwright aim the weapon at the office. He turned Lois so that he was between her and the door just as Wainwright fired. NEXT Lois did a nice sweeping kick and knocked Clark off his feet. "For God's sake, Clark, you don't have to use the S on your chest for a bullseye! You can duck, you know! And by the way, my knees *do* bend." Clark shook his head, "You have such a sexy brain." He took her in his arms and flew her through the skylight of the warehouse. "I do know you can't fly, Lois, so wait here!" He flew from the roof in through the office door. He tied up Eisner and Wainwright at super speed and melted the disrupter. "Thanks for the invitation, boys, but I've got a dinner date. I will call Sawyer to come and get you. The jail is serving left over haggis." ***** Sawyer shook Superman's hand, "Thank you, Superman..um, do you have another name?" Clark swallowed, "My Kryptonian name is Kal-El." "Kal-El? Kal-El," Sawyer considered. "Well, anyway, thank you..Superman. I want to present you with a medal of commendation." "Please, Captain Sawyer, that's not necessary," Clark said, and then glanced at Lois. "But I've always wanted a pair of handcuffs." THE END Session Close: Sun Oct 12 01:00:52 1997 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 09:35:01 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Stroh sage dated 97-11-02 05:02:33 EST, debby@SWCP.COM (Debby Stark (by way of Debby Stark )) writes: << This is the mirror half of a story called "SwapMeet: Metropolis," subtitled "We're Not in Kansas Anymore..." by Margaret Brignell, which is available in its entirety in a zipped document called SwapMeet.zip >> Debby or Margaret....Where can I get a copy of "SwapMett: Metropolis"? If I'm gonna read the part of the "mirror" I want to be able to read the other side too :) Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 10:55:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Margaret Brignell Subject: Re: SwapMeet -- The Mirror Fic Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi Laurie:) At 09:35 AM 02/11/97 -0500, you wrote: >sage dated 97-11-02 05:02:33 EST, debby@SWCP.COM (Debby Stark (by way >of Debby Stark )) writes: ><< This is the mirror half of a story called "SwapMeet: Metropolis," > subtitled "We're Not in Kansas Anymore..." by Margaret Brignell, > which is available in its entirety in a zipped > document called SwapMeet.zip > >> >Debby or Margaret....Where can I get a copy of "SwapMett: Metropolis"? If >I'm gonna read the part of the "mirror" I want to be able to read the other >side too :) You can get the SwapMeet.zip file at Debby's ftp site ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark under Stories If you can't ftp...Debby will send you her 20 (24K size) sections [or 39, 12K sections] of SwapMeet: Burbank if you write to her at debby@swcp.com and I'll send you the 16 (approximately 13K size) sections of SwapMeet: Metropolis if you write to me at brignell@capitalnet.com. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I think in total both sides of this story add up to about three-quarters of a MegaByte...so it would really clog the bandwidth to post it all to the list;\ [The zip file is about a quarter of a MB in size] Hope this helps. Margaret ****************************** Margaret Brignell brignell@capitalnet.com Ottawa, Canada %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% My fanfic now available at: http://www.capitalnet.com/~brignell/ ****************************** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 10:04:13 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: to those with "@mcs.com" in their address... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I'm having trouble with nfic people on my N-list who have an address with "@mcs.com" in it (including Joyce). This happens continually. I don't know if it is "mcs" or my provider or what. If you get this message through this venue, please let me know and I'll ask my provider if it is having trouble. If you don't get this message... well, never mind :) (unless you're getting it *and* it's bouncing anyhow...) Debby Debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 10:04:20 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Announcement... ta-da! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" With the uploading of this message to the fanfic list, I'll also be loading D18 on to my site. I've converted it from Word for Windows 6.0a to txt, so the full paragraphing should be in effect. I changed the "smart" quotes to regular ones, so maybe they won't turn into funny stuff. I offer it in txt and in PKzipped txt. If you have any trouble after you've downloaded, let me know. I can also cut it into email pieces and email it, or send it as an attachment :) (txt or WinWord [*starred* words would be italicized], zipped or whole). If it weren't for the help of my creative consultants/editor-proofers, it wouldn't have been possible :) Debby Debby@swcp.com ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark Stories ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 15:03:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peace Everett Subject: Re: FANFIC:Star-Crossed Lovers Redux Part 1 In a message dated 97-10-30 13:49:01 EST, Gary writes: > "Star-Crossed Lovers Redux" By Gary Rudick (gar8434@rit.edu) > > Part 1 - more to come if people like it... Well this "people" likes it! Please continue!! Peace Leaper, FoLC, Trekkie, Slider, Beastie -- so many crossover possibilities... so little time... ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 12:56:39 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Linda Deneroff Subject: Re: Announcement... ta-da! In-Reply-To: <2.2.16.19971102101011.0a5f3590@swcp.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Debbie, Can you just upload it in Word? If not, can you email it to me in Word. I hate to go through all the reformatting when you've already got it set. Linda At 10:04 AM 11/2/97 -0700, you wrote: >With the uploading of this message to the fanfic list, I'll also be loading D18 >on to my site. I've converted it from Word for Windows 6.0a to txt, so the full >paragraphing should be in effect. I changed the "smart" quotes to regular >ones, >so maybe they won't turn into funny stuff. I offer it in txt and in PKzipped >txt. >If you have any trouble after you've downloaded, let me know. I can also cut it >into email pieces and email it, or send it as an attachment :) (txt or WinWord >[*starred* words would be italicized], zipped or whole). > >If it weren't for the help of my creative consultants/editor-proofers, it >wouldn't have been possible :) > >Debby >Debby@swcp.com >ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark Stories > > ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 17:41:08 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Teh Bepster Subject: S5 - Episode 4: In Vitro Veritas (part 1 of 4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit IN VITRO VERITAS Season 5, Episode 5 Written by Betsy with contributions by Kathy Brown and Pam Jernigan Story by Stacey Edited by Kathy Brown Rated PG *********** Clark Kent walked quietly into the bedroom to find his wife laying on her stomach in the middle of their bed. She had their family photo album in front of her and was quietly studying the pictures. He sat gently down beside her and began to rub her shoulders through her satin pajama jacket. "Whatcha' doin', honey?" "Oh, just thinking, really." Lois turned a dreamy smile to Clark, and he smiled back. He looked over her to the page she was studying. The baby picture page. Their mothers had gotten together before last Christmas and compiled this album, taking snapshots of both families and compiling them into the Lane-Kent memorabilia collection. On any given page, you might find a picture of Lois sticking her tongue out at the smiling, chocolate-icing covered face of her sister, Lucy. Or a picture of a toothless, 7 year old Clark, in full cowboy regalia, "robbing" his Uncle Ned. But on this particular page was each mothers' favorite baby picture of their child: a grinning baby Clark and an angelic, sleeping baby Lois. "I wonder where your mom got that shot of you, Lois. I'd have thought you'd find that image-ruining even at that age. Lois Lane, *sleeping*?" Lois turned to rest on her elbow to look up at him. "Ha ha. very funny. Of course, that sly - 'I've got something up my sleeve' grin has been with you since birth, Mr. Kent." "Moi? Sly? Surely you're mistaken." He grinned an identical grin to the one in the picture, and Lois thought to herself how wonderful life could be. Then she noticed the direction his eyes had wandered and the fact that when she changed positions, her top hadn't quite turned with her. She raised one eyebrow at her leering husband, shook her head, and smiled. Clark laughed and leaned down to lightly kiss her on the lips. He picked up the album with one last look at the baby pictures, then put it on the shelf. He turned back to the bed to find Lois turning down the sheets. As they snuggled into a sleeping position, she lifted her head from his chest and asked, "Seriously, though, what do you think our children will be like?" "Seriously? Well, I think they'll have dark hair, beautiful brown eyes, creamy, delicate skin, and elfin noses. They'll be feisty in a fight, but they'll be fiercely loyal. And of course, they'll be smart. In other words, perfect. Just like you." He pulled her a bit more closely to him and kissed her nose. "Perfect?" She raised smiling eyes to him, "Ya really think so?" Suddenly, his eyes turned soft and serious. "Yeah. They'll have to be. They'll be a product of our love, and that's the most perfect thing I've ever known." He proceeded to demonstrate that perfection to her. ********** Dr. Daniels leaned away from his microscope and stretched his back. The work was slow and tedious, but the results could be phenomenal. Perfect children. He would bring to the world the ability to create perfect children. His technique was almost complete. It would take only a few more months of documented research before he would start full-scale testing. He was a man of patience and intelligence, and he knew that he would have to release his work in small stages to the public. He was willing to do this for the important advances he would bring humanity. He looked down at the sample he had just altered. It would be sold to a couple and would produce a genetically perfect baby. The price it would bring would fund two more months of research. He carefully recorded the results before storing the plate in a temporary storing facility. He shut the door of his private laboratory before going back to the main part of the clinic to retrieve another sample. It was late in the evening; he didn't feel the need to be extra cautious of his comings and goings. As he stepped into the storage facility, Dr. Daniels didn't bother to turn on the overhead lights. He knew just where he had an extra embryo frozen. He avoided the areas of the room the security camera was programmed to watch, knowing his path by memory. Often, when couples came in for his services, he performed the fertilization on several eggs, recording the number as a few less than he actually took. This way he had a guaranteed source for his research. He stored all these samples, carefully marked, in a corner cupboard. He was one of only two people with access to this area, so he was sure that his activities would remain undetected. ********** Tracey Jenkins was working late at the clinic on a Friday night. She was a fourth year med student, doing a research round at the clinic; fertility was an area that interested her. This was one of the few quiet times at the clinic, and she was trying to recount some samples she had worked on earlier in the day. She wasn't sure she liked working at the facility by herself, but she didn't know when else she could get the work done. All of the other workers had gone home hours ago, and the place was downright spooky when it was dark and deserted. The only other sound was that of the cooling unit for the storage facility two doors down. Even that sound was eerie. The clinic itself wasn't in the best section of town; frankly, since she had been held up at gunpoint the year before, Tracey had been quite skittish of being anywhere in the city alone this late at night. But she was an adult, and she knew she had to get over her fears. 'My own stupid fault. If I hadn't stayed at that party so late last night, I would have been able to count these samples right in the first place. Now I have to do it all again.' She carefully put the slide back in place. She was about to bend back over the microscope when she heard someone walking through the halls. She froze. 'No one else should be here. It's a Friday night, for goodness' sakes. And I saw everybody leave, and nobody has rung the security bell to get in!' The footsteps seemed to be heading toward her. She had no idea who it could be, but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She could feel fear creeping up from her stomach and constricting her throat, and she tried to force herself to think rationally. 'Whoever it is won't even know I'm here, if I'm quiet. Wait. The light. It'll be visible under the door!' She streaked to the other side of the lab as quickly and quietly as she could, turning out the lights just as she heard the steps coming around the corner. She forced herself to breathe as quietly as she could. Her heart was pounding so loud in her ears that she was sure whoever was walking outside the door could hear it. But the footsteps receded to the end of the hall. 'Get a grip on yourself, girl. You're perfectly safe. That security guard -- is Jeb his name? -- is just at the front desk, if you really need anything. Just calm down.' Tracey took several deep breaths and closed her eyes. Once she got control of her fear, her natural curiosity took over. She strained her ears for more indication of where the stranger had gone. She heard the beeps and realized that he was accessing the storage facility. 'The storage facility? But only two people have the code for that room. I know Dr. Crick isn't here. Could it be Dr. Daniels?' She struggled briefly with her conscience. Should she be brave and try to figure out who was going into the facility, or should she safely mind her own business? 'If it were my embryos, I'd want somebody to protect them. I'll just watch, to see if I can identify the person when they come out.' Tracey made up her mind. She cracked open the door of her lab slightly, and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark before intently studying the door of the storage room for any possible movement. Some moments later, she noticed someone who looked like Dr. Daniels walking quickly from the room with a sample in his hands. 'What on earth?' She quietly shut her door and waited until the footsteps faded into the distance and the hall grew silent. Quickly, Tracey made her way over to the computer and checked the on-line sample inventory list. If Dr. Daniels had just made an entry, she would know it was him and not an intruder. 'It says here that the last entry for sample checkout is mine. Why would Dr. Daniels take a sample without recording it? Unless it wasn't Dr. Daniels . . . Oh, geez. What should I do?' She chewed on her bottom lip in indecision before turning back to her computer. She quickly did a search to see who was on the system, confirming that Dr. Daniels was logged on. She then hacked on to the main system as an administrator, which would allow her to move around undetected. 'Nice to know that John hasn't changed his passwords in the weeks since we stopped dating!' she thought, grateful that her brief fling with the system administrator earned her the knowledge that his passwords were usually just a variation on a theme. Tracey noticed that Dr. Daniels was working on the Fantoni file. She opened a read only copy of the file. The first thing that sprang to her attention was that the file was officially closed. IVF had worked for the Fantonis. They'd just had their second child through the clinic and were listed as having no more embryos in storage. She closed the file and logged out of the administrator session. There was no way she could prove anything she had witnessed. Heck, she wasn't even sure what she had witnessed! She had no right to be logged in as the administrator, and Dr. Daniels could have something private stored in the storage facility. But she smelled a rat. 'I'm just tired. I should probably just get out of here and come in tomorrow morning.' Resigned to giving up her scheduled Saturday morning sleep-in and rollerblading session, she put her sample back into the temporary storage container and turned off her equipment. As she walked to her car, she couldn't have known that someone was monitoring her progress on a security camera. ********** The writers for the Daily Planet found themselves in the weekly staff meeting. As the social columnist raved about a soiree he would attend Friday night, Lois inwardly heaved a heavy sigh. 'I know why they call this a Bull session,' she thought. Clark looked at her and smiled a knowing smile. ". . . and once again, the Star got good box seats for the surprise hit musical Rent, while I was merely on orchestra level. How you expect me to follow all the goings on from that vantage, I'll never know." "Too bad the Star doesn't have a staff opening," Lois muttered under her breath. Perry gave her a sharp look that she returned with an innocent smile before looking down to her notepad and the mindless doodles it contained. At this point, Perry took over the course of the meeting. "That's great. On to the metro section." Miller, the society section manager, gave his editor a brief strangled look before pouting down at his own notes. "Williams, make sure your staff gives adequate coverage to the Mayor's press conference on the new education standards she's putting through. "Kent, why don't you get a background story on how different areas of the country are approaching the President's call for better education? Do a story on Daley in Chicago, the charter schools in Michigan, the Oakland district's recent trials . . . you get the gist. "Lois, I think we should develop the stories you and Clark have done recently into a series. The managed health care story and the expose on corruption in the insurance industry that came out yesterday could fit well into a series on health care. Didn't you say something about having notes on a story about Medicare and uninsured homeless?" "That's been more of Clark's pet project, but I could do some more work on it." "Do it. Any other ideas for the series I want to hear about, pronto. Kent, your story shouldn't take more than a few days, then I want you guys chasing down some more leads for this health care series. In the absence of hardened criminals and insane scientists trying to rule the world, we're going to have to make our own news. "That's it, people. Get cracking. If we don't get a scoop soon, we're gonna have to start printing Elvis sightings, and I'm sure we don't want to get into competition with the Whisper. So get on it! " The reporters moved to their respective areas; Lois and Clark were no exception. It had been a slow few weeks, with the exception of the murderer Lane and Kent had helped catch, and most of the reporting veterans were just biding time until the storm they knew to expect finally landed. Of the team of Lane and Kent, Clark had always been better at the "human interest" stories. Since working with Clark, Lois had developed more patience for stories like the recent health-care series they were working on. Lois hadn't become softer in any way as a reporter, but her field of interest had broadened with the perspective she gained from her relationship with Clark. She had a much broader life outside reporting, and it was affecting her scope, if not her style. She sat down at her desk and grimaced at the cold decaf in her mug. Ever since she had held the baby from the future, she had begun making decisions, conscious and not, to accommodate her life for a child. Drinking decaf was a precaution, a "just-in-case" they did happen to succeed in getting pregnant. 'When we get pregnant. Think positive.' She got up and walked to the break area to get more coffee. Ralph walked up as Lois was pouring more of the steaming liquid into her freshly cleaned mug. "Hey, hey, hey, what's this I see? Mad-Dog Lane drinking decaf?? What -- you knocked up or something? Heh heh, that Kent doesn't waste any time, does he? You two have only been married a year, right?" He winked at her and laughed hard at his own humor. Lois was speechless at this inappropriate and offensive one-sided conversation. She simply laughed a humorless laugh, shook her head and started to walk away. But Ralph persisted and followed her. "Say, seriously, Lois. Since Clark's working on this other story for a few days, do you think I could work with you a bit on the health care stories? I have some contacts down at Mercy who could get some good information." Ralph considered his great-aunt, who volunteered in the lobby of the hospital one afternoon, a good source. "Ralph, the only health care you need to worry about is your own. Don't you have somebody else to harass? It's too early in the week for me." Lois had never worked with a partner she could stand, except Clark. She was sure that Ralph would not be an exception. She turned her back on him and walked away. This time, he didn't dare follow. Lois walked back to her desk, looking at Clark's vacant desk. He probably had to go off and stop a bank robber or something. His absence removed her only excuse for procrastination, so she sat down at her desk to organize all the material she had for the Medicare and the uninsured homeless. It was a human interest story, pure and simple. There were no real fingers to point or criminals to uncover. So, it was, for Lois, a harder story to write. The insurance story had been much more her speed. But, it was a story she had to do, so she set her mind to it. Lois made notes on some NIH reports she needed to order. 'I hate reading those government reports. Nothing's worse!' The shrill ring of her phone startled her, interrupting her bout of self-pity. "Lois Lane," she answered in a professional voice. "Ms. Lane? Hi. I'm, uh . . . a friend of your sister's. Lucy. I was wondering . . . uh . . ." Lois rolled her eyes and waved her hand in the air, silently encouraging the caller to spit it out already. "Yes, Lucy's my sister. Did you want to know how to get in touch with her?" "No, umm . . . I can't really talk right now. But I need to speak to you. It may be important." Lois felt a familiar twinge of excitement in her stomach. There was something in the way the caller was speaking: hesitance and nervousness and excitement all rolled into one. A story. She could feel it. Lois enabled the trace ability on her phone, hoping the stranger would stay on long enough to get a good trace, and turned to a fresh page on her note pad. "What would you like to talk about? Ms. . . . ?" "Tracey. And I don't want to give you details over the phone. But there's something I may be able to toss your way. Lucy always said you were more of a detective than a reporter. Anyway, uh, I was wondering if we could meet somewhere?" "How about if I buy you lunch?" 'If you're Lucy's friend, you're probably unemployed and you'll take a free meal.' "Sure. That sounds great. But I can't get lunch until 1:30 today. And I only have half an hour. Do you know where Athenian's Pizza is?" "Down near James Madison Hospital? Sure. Athenian's at 1:30?" "Great. I know what you look like, kinda, so I'll find you. Get a booth near the back, okay?" "Sure. See you then." As Lois hung up the phone, she smiled to herself. Meeting next to the hospital . . . maybe this could be the next installment in the health care series . . . . She checked her phone and found that the conversation had run just long enough for a trace. Lois decided to check in with Lucy to see if she had a friend named Tracey still living in Metropolis. Her instincts told her this could be a good lead, but she didn't want to waste time. She hadn't talked to Lucy in a while, anyway, and if this "Tracey" was legitimate, Lucy could give Lois some insights and background on this unexpected source. She chatted with Lucy for a while before putting the question of the source's identity to her. "Tracey? Sure. Tracey Jenkins is in med school at Madison. Actually, she should be almost done by now. She's really smart -- reminded me a lot of you. Why?" "Oh, I'm doing this series on health care, and I ran into her, and she recognized me and said hi." Not the truth, but close enough. The conversation continued for a while before Lois begged off, saying she had some other work to do. She hung up and began cross-referencing the number the trace on the source's call gave. It was a pay phone, in the same area as James Madison. 'So I have a legitimate source. I wonder what she has for me?' Clark had not returned to the newsroom by 12:45. Madison was on the other side of town, so Lois knew if she wanted to be there in plenty of time and get a good parking spot, she had better get moving. She put her hand recorder -- stocked with fresh batteries and a blank tape -- in her bag with her memo pad and several pens. Leaving a note on Clark's desk which told where she was, Lois strode to the elevator and was gone. ********** end part 1, continued in part 2 Beppo cyyi@musica.mcgill.ca ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* LnC Season 5: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/mothership/60/season5.htm text only: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/mothership/60/s5text.htm ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 17:41:27 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Teh Bepster Subject: S5 - Episode 4: In Vitro Veritas (part 2 of 4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ********** Lois got out of her Jeep and fed quarters into the parking meter. 'She said half an hour, but I better put in for 45 minutes. These city meter maids are always looking for an excuse . . .' Lois looked around and located the pizza shop down the block. She walked quickly toward it, trying to keep warm; the early November wind was quite chilly. The shop smelled fantastic, with several pies on display at the counter. "Slice, miss?" Her mouth watered at the sausage and onion pizza, and she had to tear her eyes away to answer the question. "Not yet. I'm waiting for a friend." "Seat yourself. Catch the wife's eye when you wanna order." The burly man behind the counter nodded his head toward a stocky woman who was wiping off tables in the back. Lois smiled, thanked him, and made her way to a booth in the back of the shop. She didn't have to wait long. Lois had just begun to read the placemat (titled "a brief history of pizza") when she heard someone approach her booth. "Ms. Lane?" Lois smiled up at the young woman whose face betrayed that she was under a large amount of stress. "Lois. You're Tracey?" "Yeah, Tracey Jenkins." She shook Lois's hand and sat down opposite her. They placed their order with the waitress and looked at each other. "I guess it would be best if I started at the beginning." "Do you mind if I record this conversation as well as take notes?" "No, no. But I don't have a lot of time before I have to get back. So let me tell you everything I know. I'm a med student, doing my fourth year rotations. I'm working at an IVF clinic. Do you know what that is?" "Yes - in vitro fertilization. It's a method of conception for people having trouble, right?" "Right. Well, I've been working there for about 3 months. Two weeks ago, I was working late at the facility, counting some samples. I heard somebody accessing the storage room - where all the embryos are kept. Only two people, the head doctors at the clinic, Dr. Daniels and Dr. Crick, have access to that room. It was very late, and they both had been gone for hours. So I looked to see who it was. It could have been Dr. Daniels, but I wasn't sure. The person hadn't turned on any lights, and they were walking in the shadows along the far side of the hall. The one thing I could see clearly was that he had a sample in this hands. I checked the inventory on my computer, and none of the samples had been checked out. This is where things start to get a little weird. "I hacked on as the administrator of the computer system and checked to see if anybody else was logged on. Dr. Daniels was, in his private lab. We have automatic time-out on our accounts after 25 minutes. It's a security feature. So he must have been there. "I noted the name of the file he was working on. The file was on a couple who had completed the IVF program and supposedly didn't have any embryos left in storage. They had conceived twice -- both of the children were born healthy, even though the parents were at high risk for passing on Tay-Sachs, a genetically carried disease that is 100% fatal. The couple decided not to test fate any more and didn't have any more samples left in storage. So why was he studying their files? And what sample was he working on? What was he doing with it? "I didn't think a lot about it until I heard some of the techies talking about Dr. Daniels later on the next week. They were hinting that he lives well beyond his means, and that he's never really carried his part of the practice. Dr. Crick has about 70% of the patients, yet Dr. Daniels brings in 50% of the financial assets and uses twice as much equipment. "I got to thinking. When we fertilize embryos for implantation, we fertilize many at once, as many eggs as we can harvest from the woman that month. The most viable embryos are implanted, but if there are extras, we freeze them and store them for future use by the couple. You understand?" Lois nodded her head in agreement. She could see where this story was going. "So I figured, what if Dr. Daniels was skimming one or two healthy eggs off the top? They could be sold to other infertile couples -- egg donation is not new technology. I got to thinking that he would have to store those eggs. Then I remembered." She paused as the waitress brought their orders. They both thanked the waitress and waited for her to walk away before Tracey continued. "I've only been allowed into the storage facility twice. The first time was during a tour that Dr. Crick gave me. He referred to one corner section as Dr. Daniels's section, partly for his private clients and partly for his 'private research'. I was never to get any samples from there. Dr. Crick said these samples were volunteered. But what if they aren't? And where is he getting all the extra funding? "Maybe I'm blowing this all out of proportion. He may have a research grant, and it's completely legitimate. I really don't have the time to do any more digging, and if I'm wrong and I *did* do research like that, it could be bad for my career. But if something is wrong . . . ." It was quite obvious that Tracey was worked up over this situation. "I completely understand," Lois said. "And your name will never come into it whether or not I find anything, if that's the way you want it. But if I do run into you while I'm investigating this, just act natural. We have a reason to know each other, so it's okay to acknowledge we've met without feeling guilty, okay?" "Great. I'll keep my eyes open, too. If I see anything else, or if you need me to look for anything else, here's my mom's phone number. I'm still living at home; it's cheaper." They finished their lunches quickly, exchanging news about Lucy and getting to know each other a little. Lois decided that she liked Tracey, and Tracey decided in turn that she was glad she had trusted Lois. They exchanged a brief good-bye as Tracey ran back to work. Lois checked that she had everything, paid the bill with a generous tip, and headed back to her car. She was so deep in thought about how she would investigate this story that she almost ran into the woman who parked her motor-scooter in front of Lois's Jeep. Lois was about to start protesting quite madly when she noticed that the meter was just shy of running out of time. She unlocked her door and started the engine just as the "expired" sign popped up. Rolling down her window, she grinned at the ticket-dispenser. "Better luck next time!" 'This just may turn out to be a great day!' Lois thought to herself, and headed back to the Planet. ********** Bernard Klein looked up from his microscope as he felt a breeze across his head. 'I wish those cleaning people would learn to shut the windows. My samples could be ruined by this temperature differential!' He was about to shout for his assistant to close the window when he noticed someone standing next to him. Not just anyone. Superman. Dr. Klein straightened slowly and mentally prepared himself. "Superman. So good to see you. I realize how busy your schedule has been lately, what with that conference and all, and it's just good of you to take time out to . . . uh . . ." "Dr. Klein," Superman interrupted, "as you have stated, I am a fairly busy man. I know you're very busy, too. I want you to know that I understand and respect that, and I'm truly grateful for your help." "You know I'm always willing to do what I can to help you, Superman." Dr. Klein paused as he tried to phrase the news he had to give to Superman. "That's why it's so much harder for me to give you bad news." "Bad news?" "Well, I assume it's bad news. The second sample you gave me: it was negative." He looked at the so-called "Man of Steel" and saw a look of pure human sorrow. "I'm so sorry. But the tests are quite clear." Dr. Klein walked to a safe and pulled out a small file. "You see, here," indicating a small graph, "the enzyme assay indicates that you are missing the enzyme critical for the fertilization of a human egg. We probably would have seen that with the initial hamster ova fertilization test, but we decided to forgo that in the event that there could be an unforeseen side effect. Although, not so surprisingly, your sperm do seem incredibly human. You, after all, appear to be quite human . . ." Dr. Klein babbled his scientific thoughts aloud to cover his nervous tension. Superman was still stuck a sentence or two back, though. "My sperm act . . . human?" "Well, of course, they have Kryptonian DNA. But to a great extent, your characteristics are quite close to human. Your genome can't differ from ours by more than .5%. Of course, on a genetic scale, that can be quite huge." "But the problem you found . . ." "Actually, Superman, this deficiency occurs even among humans. You see, the rule with human pathology is that if the body makes something, it can and will go wrong. The test we used is one used commonly in human fertility experiments." "Could this test be wrong?" "The chances of that are extremely small. Better odds in Vegas. I'd offer to test them again, but the sample is destroyed in the assay." "I only ask because I have reason to believe they might be wrong." Klein looked up, surprised at this. "Do you mean . . . umm . . . are you . . . uh . . . should I be congratulating you?" Superman looked briefly confused, then shook his head slightly and smiled faintly. "No, no. I just have some alternative sources of information. They indicated that in the future . . . well, anyway, thank you for all your assistance." "It was no bother, Superman. You know, if you ever need anything, I'm glad to help." Superman took his leave, his shoulders hunched slightly as if under a great tension. Dr. Klein watched him fly away, sighed slightly, then turned back to his work. ********** Lois had been working at her desk for about five hours, getting as much information as she could on Dr. Herman Daniels. He was an incredibly bright fellow, according to all she had found. The number of prizes and awards given to him during his tenure as a student and faculty member at Harvard Medical Research Center were amazing. And he had about one hundred papers to his name. Unfortunately, the reasons he had left academia were not all that clear. Lois had already arranged a short phone interview with the head of the department at Harvard. Surprisingly, the man had made time for her that very afternoon. It was Dr. Hubert, the same one who had worked closely with Dr. Winninger on the male potency compounds that scientist had discovered in Brazil. After forgiving the initial "mistaken-identity" accusation Lois had made, he felt Lois had done a good job in exposing the truth about Dr. Winninger's death and work. "It's not often that people in the media actually show the scientific arena in a good light. But you and Mr. Kent seem to," he had said. For that reason, he had granted the interview. Lois was typing up the last of the notes from the interview and cataloging the tapes of that and her lunch interview with Tracey, when Jimmy came up to her desk with a sheaf of papers. "Here you go, Lois. All the papers you requested from Metropolis University's Medical Library as well as some basic journal stuff from our own library. Say, I was looking at the titles to some of these: 'Transplanting the human embryo, the basics of In Vitro fertilization', 'Assisted Reproductive Technology: A comparison of ZIFT, GIFT, IVF-ET and TET' -- geez, that one's a mouthful, 'Successful Embryo Implantation: a Study of Incubation Criteria'. I was wondering. This isn't, uh . . . for personal reasons, is it?" Jimmy smiled, clearly embarrassed, yet curious. Lois looked up from her computer screen. She had just caught the end of what Jimmy had said. "No, no. Of course not! A story, that's all. I got a lead this afternoon . . ." Jimmy's smile began to falter. He coughed slightly and fidgeted. "A story. Of course . . . of course it's a story. I mean, I'm sorry. I just thought, you know, what with the adoption thing you guys looked into a few months ago . . ." Lois had raised an eyebrow at him, crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and waited for him to finish. "Uhh . . . well, never mind." He turned quickly, almost toppling the pile of papers he had just delivered and scurried away. 'Honestly, you'd think people would mind their own business once in a while.' Lois inwardly rolled her eyes and finished her logging. Shortly thereafter, Lois looked up to see Clark walking toward her. She knew he had planned to meet with Dr. Klein earlier in the afternoon, but then she had heard several reports on Superman sightings. Wondering if he had even had time for the appointment, she studied his expression. He looked rather solemn. Since Superman had performed well all afternoon, the meeting with Dr. Klein must not have gone well. Lois felt her heart sink in her chest, but she realized that this was neither the time nor place to deal with such a personal issue. She gave him a brave smile and quietly said, "Just let me shut down my files and transfer them to my laptop. I'm just about ready to go home." Lois powered down her computer, gathered her papers and stood, while Clark waited patiently. She looked up at him then put her arms around his chest in a warm, understanding hug. She quietly broke the embrace, captured his hand, and led him to the elevator. ********** As they walked to the parking garage, Lois began outlining the afternoon's events. She explained her interview with Tracey and all of the other information she had been able to gather that afternoon. By the time she pulled the car onto the main bypass, she was summing it up for him: "So Dr. Daniels left Harvard basically for two reasons. First, his funding sources were becoming increasingly shady, and the institution has its reputation to protect. More importantly, though, was the direction his research was heading. He was working on genetic manipulation. Officials at Harvard believed this was too controversial. They were doubly glad he had left when the new anti-cloning laws were put into effect--" "The ones that were put in place after the president was kidnapped and cloned?" "That would be them. And you'll notice that several of the papers Daniels authored have come out just in the last year. Where's he been getting the money to fund all this research? Maybe it's even more than Tracey suspected. Maybe he's selling embryos, not eggs. Genetically altered embryos." "Have you been able to track down a list of the grant suppliers? Or any of his current funding sources?" "Well, I was hoping my partner could run down some of those lists. I, after all, am going to have my hands full reading all these papers." "You know, Lois, it might be easier if we switched jobs here. I can read a lot faster than you can, and those papers look pretty heavy on the technical side." "Are you implying that they're too complex for me?!" Lois raised an eyebrow to Clark, and he became slightly flustered. "No, of course not. You can do anything you put your mind to. I just thought--" "Well, you can stop right there," Lois interrupted . "I'm doing the reading part because it's an area that interests me. Particularly now. You know, I was thinking we could kill two birds with one stone, here." "Lois," Clark sighed. "I think the story is sound. But I don't want to sign up for IVF just yet." "I'm not saying sign up. I was just thinking we could pose as a couple looking at the method. You know, check out the clinic and maybe get some more information on our own situation in the process. It would be one more test we can run without going to Dr. Klein." Clark looked at her, incredulous. "Lois, I'm not going to risk any strangers handling a . . . sample like that -- let alone a person potentially capable of gene manipulation!" "I'm not suggesting that, either. At least not directly. Look, we need to find out what's going on on a more basic level if we ever want to have children. That's going to involve some risks. I'm not saying that we should just go around taking every lab test in the world. But I think *I* should be tested, to make sure I'm normal. I think we should also look into the procedures used to test male samples. "All, I'm asking, Clark, is that we keep an open mind. We could make sure the sample gets destroyed after the tests are done. Just promise me you'll keep an open mind." She turned pleading eyes from the road to her husband, who was staring out the passenger side of the Jeep. She reached out her hand to rub his shoulder before returning to the gears to downshift as she exited the bypass. "Clark, maybe now would be a good time for you to tell me what Dr. Klein said." Clark took a deep breath. "Well, the results are the same. Dr. Klein had the same tests run and they showed the same deficiencies. Basically, my sample looks normal. But it's missing one enzyme that makes it impossible for me to father children. "As a matter of fact, that's part of the reason he told me the initial tests looked promising back when we started all of this -- he was testing for unusual Kryptonian differences but it turns out the actual problem is a more basic one. Apparently, even human men are sometimes missing this enzyme. It's one of the causes of normal human male infertility. All my life I've wanted to be normal, and now I am in a way I didn't expect." He smiled a tired, humorless smile and shook his head. Clark paused for a long moment before continuing. Finally, he sighed sadly. "I think the hardest part of the whole thing is knowing it's all my fault and there's not a thing I can do to control it." Lois pulled in front of their townhouse but made no move to exit the car. She put a hand on his knee as he started to open his door. He looked at her, his eyes full of sorrow and guilt. "I won't let you think like that, Clark Kent, there is *no* blame here," she said firmly. Then she softened. "Come on, let's treat this like an investigation. We're going to figure it out together. This story on the IVF clinic may just be a good place for us to start. I'm not suggesting that we try IVF. I'm just suggesting we learn about it. Maybe, if the tests aren't too intrusive, we can even have that same basic test run one more time, just to make sure." She gave his knee a reassuring squeeze before getting out of the car. Clark opened the door to the house and allowed Lois to enter before him. She turned and gave him a reassuring hug in the foyer. "Let me go get changed, then we'll fix some supper and watch TV for a while. I'm not quite ready to read science yet. I never liked reading science books. Labs -- they were more fun. Especially when we got to blow things up!!" Lois babbled partly out of habit and partly to lighten the mood between them. It would be a long night of work, and she needed a little bit of a breather or she'd work herself into a good headache. Clark appreciated her attempt to lighten the mood and suggested that some "Mad About You" reruns -- from the first season -- were playing on the local FOX station. They made dinner and watched the show, putting their own problems temporarily to the side. ********** end part 2, continued in part 3 Beppo cyyi@musica.mcgill.ca ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* LnC Season 5: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/mothership/60/season5.htm text only: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/mothership/60/s5text.htm ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 17:41:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Teh Bepster Subject: S5 - Episode 4: In Vitro Veritas (part 3 of 4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ********** The following morning, Lois and Clark walked into the Planet newsroom with a good deal of the background research done for the story. Lois sat down at her desk and brought up her e-mail program to get some administrative work out of the way. Clark brought her a fresh cup of coffee, and they sat together to plan the day's strategies. They knew they needed to get into the IVF clinic to get the rest of their questions answered, but getting an appointment for one of those places could take months. They knew they didn't have that kind of time. Maybe it was time to call the Chief in on this one. As if he had read their thoughts, the voice of the managing editor came booming across the floor. "Lane, Kent. My office. Pronto." Lois looked up at Clark with a furrowed brow. How did Perry always seem to know . . . ? Clark shrugged his shoulders, grabbed his coffee, Daytimer and pencil, and headed to the Chief's office. Lois followed, a bit less organized than her husband. She made it into the office, but at Perry's motion to shut the door behind her, she looked briefly at her dangerously full hands and quickly kicked the door shut with her foot. Perry looked up at the her from the piece he was editing, his eyebrow raised at Lois. She shrugged and sat down. As she carefully put down her coffee cup, Clark caught her planner before it hit the floor. Their eyes met with a smile, and Lois mouthed a thanks as Perry began to speak. "I want to know where you two are with the 'Medicare for the homeless' story." "Well, Perry, something else has come up. Yesterday I got a call from a friend of Lucy's who said she had some information for me. She works at a fertility clinic and thinks that one of the head doctors there is dealing in something shady." "You got anything besides your kid sister's friend's word on this?" "Chief, Lois and I did a lot of research last night. The physician in question, a Dr. Herman Daniels, has a questionable reputation, and certainly has a great deal of mysterious funding sources." "And what was your plan to investigate this further?" "Well, we weren't exactly sure. We figured maybe we'd try to interview the doctor, get a tour of the facility, do a little digging . . ." Clark started. "We were thinking of maybe trying to get my source to let us in after hours . . ." Lois piped in, enthusiastically. "Breaking in?" The two reporters had the grace to look a little guilty. "When you have a perfectly good cover? No, no. That wouldn't do at all. Actually, you have an appointment this afternoon, as a Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kane. You're taking a last minute appointment with Dr. Daniels to get information on the practices of assisted conception techniques." Perry searched his desk for the envelope he had used to jot down the appointment information. "But how did you . . .?!?" In mid-search, Perry looked up at Lois with raised eyebrows. "Next time, make sure Jimmy knows that you're doing background research for a story *before* you have him deliver you articles like that, Lois. He doesn't have the tightest lips on this ship. Fortunately, I figured out where you were going with this and was able to squash any rumors that might be flying around," Perry finished, raising an eyebrow and looking at them pointedly. Lois blushed slightly and started, "Oh, Perry . . . I . . ." while Clark stammered, "Jimmy's always getting confused, Chief. You know . . . you remember the time when . . ." Perry chuckled and waved his hand. "I don't want to know. I just want the low-down on this story. Here's the details for your appointment. If you don't have anything more solid by this afternoon, I want you back on the other story. We can't have this series going cold." "Sure, Chief. You'll get details as soon as we have them." Lois and Clark picked up their things and walked quickly to the door. "By the way, Lois . . ." Lois and Clark stopped before they got out the door and turned to face Perry. He had a slightly wicked glimmer in his eye as he asked: "How's the decaf?" ********** "Mr. and Mrs. Kane. Please have a seat. My name is Dr. Daniels, and, should you decide to go through the ART process, I will be the one in charge of your case." "A-R-T?" "Yes, Assisted Reproductive Technology. That's the latest term we use around here. We think it represents us so much better because there are so many different techniques involved in fertility treatment. IVF is just one of the techniques we use. Besides, ART sounds so much more approachable than 'in-vitro fertilization', don't you think?" He smiled a charming smile and Lois laughed nervously as she clenched Clark's hand. "Before I begin, I have to ask. Do I know you from somewhere? You look so familiar . . ." "No, no. I think we just have those kind of faces, you know." Lois smiled assuredly while Clark nodded his assent. "All right then. Let me give you a basic overview of what we do," Dr. Daniels continued. "First of all, this is just an informational meeting; we're not going to do any type of physical exams today, so relax." The doctor smiled at the couple, demonstrating a polished bedside manner. Lois and Clark each laughed and "relaxed". "Our success rate at this clinic is one of the highest in the entire eastern United States, and we are very proud of our work here. But undergoing fertility treatments is an emotional and expensive procedure, so I want you to feel informed and have time to weigh your options before you make a decision one way or another. So, today, we're just going to run through the various procedures we offer here at the clinic and let you ask any questions you might have. Later, if you do decide to work with us, we'll do complete physical work-ups on each of you, have you fill out some in-depth questionnaires, that sort of thing. Still with me?" At their nod, he continued, giving them some of the history of the clinic, his medical background, and other introductory information. Lois and Clark listened carefully as Dr. Daniels then explained the various fertility assistance methods provided at the clinic. They took notes -- though not as detailed as they would have as reporters, so as to appear as just a "regular" couple. They especially took interest in the types of tests that would be run during the preliminary work up, noting phrases like "sperm count and mobility", "assay tests", and "mucus volume and consistency". They also noted the description of in-vitro fertilization, whereby egg and sperm are combined in the laboratory and the resulting embryos are implanted into the woman's uterus. Lois and Clark exchanged a meaningful look when the doctor mentioned that unused fertilized embryos could be stored for future implantation. "I realize that I'm going through this rather quickly," the doctor concluded as he wrapped up his prepared spiel. "Let me give you this pamphlet: 'A Patient's Guide to Assisted Reproductive Technologies' that explains our processes in further depth. If you decide to go through with the procedure, just contact the front office and we'll set you up with the preliminary tests as soon as is convenient for you." "Dr. Daniels, my wife and I want to thank you for making time for us in your schedule. We know how busy you are, but we're both so anxious to see why we haven't been able to conceive. We've heard such good things about you." "Thank you, thank you. I only do what I can to ease the pain of infertility. " Lois looked at the doctor. "If you don't mind my asking, Dr. Daniels, why did you choose this field?" "Well, Mrs. Kane, I actually came into this field in a round-about kind of way. I was studying genetic disorders and found that work to be so . . . depressing. You see, I was beginning to see what actually caused some of the worst afflictions mankind has yet to overcome. Yet I was powerless to change anything. Technology is advanced enough that I could identify the problem, but not so advanced as to offer a solution. The situation was impossibly frustrating for me. Then I saw a way to put my studies of embryo development to good use. My own brother and his wife couldn't conceive. The wait for most clinics like this one are very long, and the process is so expensive. Here, with several of my own techniques being applied, we have managed to cut the price of the procedure while boosting the efficiency. A win-win situation. And, of course, nothing can beat the joy on the faces of my patients when that baby is born." Clark smiled. "I can certainly understand that. Well, Dr. Daniels, we'd both like to thank you for your efforts. I'm sure your secretary will be hearing from us soon." ********** Dr. Daniels shook hands with the couple and escorted them from the interviewing room to the lobby. As they began putting on their coats, he said his good-byes and walked back towards his lab. Just as he was about to turn the corner, however, he heard Mrs. Kane greet someone in the lobby. Curious, he turned to see who it was. "Tracey? Hi! You probably don't remember me. It's Lori, Lori Kane . . . Lucy's sister." "Lori? Oh, of course! I remember you! How are you? How's Lucy?" "She's fine. Have you met my husband, Charles?" "No, I haven't; Mr. ... uh, *Kane*, it's a pleasure to meet you." "How long have you been working here, Tracey?" "Well, I'm just doing one of my research rotations here. It's not permanent. I've been here a couple of months, and I really like it. How's Lucy doing?" "You know Lucy. She seemed like she was on top of the world when I talked to her a few days ago. Say, it's just about lunch time. How about Charlie and I buy you lunch?" "I guess I can spare half an hour. Let me grab my coat." ********** Tracey got her coat and told her boss that she was going on a short break. She walked out of the clinic and found Lois and Clark. They walked in relative silence until they got to a small yet busy deli. After they placed their orders, Tracey gave Lois with an admonishing look. "Lois, you just about gave me a heart attack in there. I didn't know what to do!" "She's doing that to me all the time. Believe me, you handled it better than most." Clark winked and smiled. "Okay, you two, no ganging up on me." The three laughed a bit before Tracey began to speak again. "Lois, I have some more information for you." Tracey hesitated slightly, looking at Clark. "Oh, you can trust him. He's my partner-in-crime, so to speak. Clark Kent, this is Tracey Jenkins." "Nice to meet you for real, Mr. Kent. I really like your work." "Thanks." Clark smiled down at Tracey. Looking at his handsome face, Tracey knew just what Lucy meant when she said that Lois just seemed to have all the luck. "Listen, I've been keeping my eyes open, just like you said. I noticed something funny." She pulled out two sheets of paper. "I work for Dr. Crick, whose lab is in the east wing. The other interns and I share a small lab at the end of the hall, behind Dr. Crick's office. It connects to her lab, which we also use." Tracey drew a basic blueprint of the east wing with the three rooms annotated. "Now, the basic interview and clinical rooms are in the center of the floor, then Dr. Daniels has the same basic layout in the west wing that Dr. Crick has in the east wing. His office is the same size as Dr. Crick's. His lab is the same and also mirrors hers. And we assistants share his lab with him. The room we have on our side is pretty small, but that space is unaccounted for on Dr. Daniels' side. I went over the other night when I was working late. I checked all over for a door. I even went outside to see if maybe the west wing looked different from the outside. But it didn't. I have a feeling that Dr. Daniels is hiding what ever he's doing in there." "So now we just have to get into his lair." "Actually, I have an idea on that, too. If Mr. Kent submits a sample for us to test, you could easily ask for a tour of the facilities while Dr. Daniels explains the results to you." Lois and Clark exchanged a look. Clark responded hesitantly. "Tracey, we're not sure we trust Dr. Daniels with a sample. Especially if he's selling things or altering them. It's just too . . . personal." Tracey waved her hand. "Don't worry. Dr. Daniels doesn't get involved at that stage. Besides, the first battery of tests destroys the samples completely, and the degraded samples, once tested, are all tossed into the biomedical waste bin. There won't be anything left for him or anyone else to alter." The trio finished their lunches, making plans and warning Tracey to keep an eye out for anything else that could help them. ********** Clark woke from a very light, disturbed sleep to find himself alone in bed. He was about to get up and look for Lois when he noticed her sitting on the window seat, bathed in moonlight. He thought for a second how lovely she was, and how lucky he was to have her in his life. Then he noticed the set of her shoulders, the tension she seemed to be harboring. "Honey, it's late, and I know you're tired. What's bothering you? " Lois got up from the window and walked back to the bed. "I just don't see how Dr. Klein can be right, Clark. I mean, you say he sounds so certain. But I *know* we can have children." Lois eyed her husband with determination. It was 1:30 in the morning, they had a long week at work behind them, and they had to go in the next morning because it was their Saturday to cover the floor. But Clark knew by the set of her jaw that she was not going to let this problem go. "Honey, Dr. Klein says his assistant has gone over the test results of both samples I gave him very carefully. The enzyme I need to fertilize your egg just isn't there. Beyond trying to manipulate my cells, there's no way that we can have children naturally." Lois lay back down with him, resting her head on her pillow so that they were facing each other in the bed. "Clark, I know we've talked about this, but I just can't help wondering if Dr. Klein would be able to work more efficiently if he knew the whole truth." Lois sighed. "I know it's way too risky -- I mean, look what happened when we told my father. But I can't help but wonder. I keep thinking: maybe if he knew it was *me* you were trying to get pregnant, maybe that would help somehow." "I'm just afraid of what could happen to him, honey. He's already under enough pressure being the 'Superman Expert.' Besides, a test is a test. Whether it's performed on Superman or Clark Kent, it's going to come back with the same results." "Yeah, but we have more information than he does. We've seen our descendants, right? And what about that cycle thing? We still don't know exactly what that meant, but it seemed to be important." She took his hand and intertwined her fingers in his. "Clark, we've come through *so much* together. We've already beaten some incredible odds, not to mention several mad scientists, a few aliens, and your random crazy-rich-guy. Do you honestly think I'm going to let one stupid enzyme get in our way?" Clark laughed a tired laugh. She had so much fire, so much life. It hurt him inside to think that he might never see that fire in a child they created together. Although he had held a child that was descended from *a* Lois and Clark, he couldn't help but worry that the people he met were from a different time line or universe, especially given all he and Lois's dealings with the Alternative Metropolis over the last couple of years. There was still no way to *prove* that he and Lois could have children of their own. "Here, roll over," he said, indicating for her to face away from him. "You're so tense. You need to relax and get some sleep." He began to rub her back and shoulders under her night shirt. "It's just that I hate leaving problems unsolved." She stifled a little yawn as she relaxed under Clark's soothing hands. Clark moved closer and began planting butterfly kisses on her neck. "Well, what do you say we run these tests one more time. You know, even baseball players get three strikes." She turned to him in surprise. "Do you mean it? Run a test at the clinic?" "I've been thinking about it, too. Dr. Klein and Tracey both said the tests are destructive. Besides, if we do find a secret room when we go for the test, we're going to have to come back later to investigate it. That would be the perfect time to retrieve or destroy any remaining sample." "Well, I think that's about as foolproof as things can get." "And this way, we get another test without bothering Dr. Klein again." Lois kissed his mouth gleefully and felt him return it hungrily. As their lips parted, she gave him a special grin. "I don't care what any of them say, Mr. Kent. I think your 'samples' are just perfect!" ********** The day of the second appointment with Dr. Daniels arrived quickly. Clark mentioned a bit of apprehension at answering such personal questions, especially under a false identity and to strangers suspected of wrong-doings, so Lois decided to coach him a bit in the car. "Lying is an art form, Clark. The key to success is that you have to stay as close to the truth as possible. So we give them fake names, but otherwise, we tell the whole truth. You see, you get caught when you embellish too much." "Lois, I think I can handle it. After all, I have been living with two identities for five years now." Lois shot him a look of amazement and rolled her eyes, teasing him. "Well, that doesn't prove anything. Look at some of the excuses you came up with before you had me helping you out. Next thing you know, you'll be telling Dr. Daniels that you're a member of the Cheese Of The Month Club." The teasing banter continued until they were in the clinic waiting room and greeted by the doctor himself. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Kane. I'm so glad to see you back so soon. You both look nervous, but just remember, hundreds of couples go through this treatment, and we haven't lost any yet!" His attempt at humor lightened the mood a little, and Lois laughed. "We're ready for anything you have to throw at us, Dr. Daniels." "Well, I trust none of it will be too painful." He led them to a small room in the center of the building, where a young man in a lab coat stood waiting for them. "Mr. Kane, this is Bill, my assistant. He'll show you to a room where you can provide us with the sample we need. Mrs. Kane, you can wait here and fill out this questionnaire with as much information as you can. When Mr. Kane is done, Bill will show the two of you to my office, then we'll sit down and go over some of your history." ********** When Clark returned to the waiting room, Lois was still trying to finish up the medical history questionnaire. She looked at her watch. "Geez, that was pretty fast. No stage fright?" "Lo-is." Clark flushed slightly. "Please." He took a deep breath and tried to relax. "I guess I'm just kinda getting used to delivering these samples in clinical situations, that's all. Of course, the pictures I have of you in my wallet help." "Pictures?! What pictures?!" "Gotcha." He grinned, and it was her turn to blush. "Now, shall we go find Bill?" The lab assistant guided them to Dr. Daniels's office, where the doctor was working on some paperwork. The walls of his office were covered with a mixture of Escher prints and degrees, demonstrating the doctor's intellect as well as his taste. It was obvious that the surroundings were supposed to look professional as well as personal, and the overall effect calmed and reassured many prospective patients. "Now, let's have a look at what you've filled out here. Mrs. Kane, your medical history seems complete, the physical came out completely normal, and your family history seems normal. "Mr. Kane, your information is a bit more sketchy. You were adopted?" "Yes, and I have no idea of my family's medical history." "That's unfortunate. But not tragic. We won't worry about that unless we come back with a negative result on your activity test." "When can we expect that result?" "Well, Tracey Jenkins should be running those tests this afternoon. I believe you are acquainted with her?" "Yeah, kinda. She's a friend of my sister," Lois replied smoothly. Dr. Daniels smiled and nodded. "Well, she said she'd put a priority on it. I guess it is who you know, after all. Anyway, she should have the results in a few days and we'll work from there. In the meantime, are there any other questions you have for me?" Lois looked at Clark, who gave the signal that he had found whatever he was looking for in his super-search of the room. They could leave whenever she wanted. "No, not right now, Dr. Daniels, thank you. We're just anxious to get the test results." They stood up and exchanged good-byes. The doctor led them to the front desk so they could make an appointment for the next phase of the treatment. When they got outside of the building, Clark revealed what he had found. "There's another room, which appears to be a laboratory, connected to his office, just as Tracey suspected. He has all sorts of equipment in there; there's no telling what he's doing." "Or why he's hiding it. By the way, I read through our contract with them, and there is a clause that once we withdraw our samples, our file is to be sealed. Therefore, if the couple Tracey told me about did finish up, their file should never have been signed out to Dr. Daniels. That in itself is illegal." "Well, what do you say we call Tracey tonight and have her let us into the clinic tomorrow night. I saw in Daniels' appointment book that he has some sort of convention out of town tomorrow, so it will be good timing." ********** end part 3, continued in part 4 Beppo cyyi@musica.mcgill.ca ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* LnC Season 5: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/mothership/60/season5.htm text only: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/mothership/60/s5text.htm ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 17:42:10 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Teh Bepster Subject: S5 - Episode 4: In Vitro Veritas (part 4 of 4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ********** The following evening, they met Tracey at the back door of the clinic at the pre-arranged time. "Come on in, guys. Hurry. The camera swings back this way in 5 seconds." They raced through the door and Tracey led them to the lab behind Dr. Daniels's office. "I think there must be a door into the extra room both in this room and in his office, just as there is to our other lab. I just don't know exactly where. On our side, it's where this chemical cabinet is on this side." Lois stepped up to the large cabinet and tried to open it. The cabinet door was locked. She opened her purse and pulled out some devices. After a few seconds, the sound of the lock coming undone echoed through the lab. She opened the door of the cabinet and pulled out two empty solvent jars. She knocked on the back panel of the cabinet and noticed a hollow ring. Training a flashlight on the back of the cabinet, she and Clark both tried to find if the cabinet was hiding anything. As Clark pulled on small lever, the back panel swung aside to reveal the room behind. Tracey overcame her nervousness at the sight of the hidden lab. "Cool! I don't believe he actually hides all this!" The three of them walked through the doorway inside the cabinet into the small room beyond. Clark quickly booted the computer he found while Lois started paging through the file cabinet. Tracey was hesitant to touch anything. Lois, noticing this, tried to keep the girl calm. "Tracey, why don't you go get our files and sample for us from your lab, so we can take them when we leave. Besides, you should cover for us in case anybody comes while we're in here." "Oh, of course, that sounds like a good idea. I'll be back in, say, 15 minutes?" "Yeah, that should give us plenty of time to find anything we need." The room was quiet after she left. Only the sound of rustling papers and a clicking keyboard could be heard. "Jackpot!" Clark said quietly. He removed a blank floppy disk from his jacket pocket and began to quickly download the information. "Clark, what'd you find?" Lois whispered. "This is a log of all the samples Dr. Daniels has 'altered', what was done to them, and to whom they were sold." "Well, check this out. Here's a detailed technique on gene alteration to eliminate genetic abnormalities." Lois laid the notes out and began to photograph them. Neither of them heard the second hidden door to the room open. "Ahh, Mr. and Mrs. Kane. Or should I say Kent . . . Lane and Kent, if I'm not mistaken. I knew you two looked familiar. I suppose it's a good thing I've been monitoring Ms. Jenkins's comings and goings. Otherwise you two might have gone without a greeting party." Both Lois and Clark looked up guiltily from what they were doing. The doctor held a small but deadly handgun, and it was aimed directly at Lois. "Well, Doc, nobody has ever accused you of being stupid. Tasteless, maybe, but stupid, no." Clark looked at Lois, his eyes imploring her not to bait the scientist. "Oh, Mr. Kent, don't worry that I'll lose my temper. I certainly won't use this unless you force me to." Daniels looked back at Lois. "But I *will* use it if I have to, Ms. Lane," he said firmly. "You two are a small snag in my plan, true, but I've come too far to allow you to interfere. However, I'm a humane man. Oh, I'm going to kill you, don't get me wrong. I'd just much prefer your deaths to be quiet and peaceful, wouldn't you? Gunshots can be so painful, not to mention messy." "Well, Dr. Kevorkian, before our untimely demise, I was wondering if you could satisfy my curiosity on one thing." "What's that, Ms. Lane? Why was I stealing these embryos from these couples? Well, not all of them are stolen. But research like mine demands a lot of samples and this was a guaranteed free source. Besides, without my research, many of these couples wouldn't have been able to have normal children in the first place!" "Just what do you deem to be 'normal', Dr. Daniels?" Clark spat out accusingly. He also was slowly maneuvering himself between the gun and Lois. "That'll be far enough, Mr. Kent. I need an unobstructed view of your lovely wife. It really is too bad that you two decided to stake out this clinic tonight. This isn't the safest neighborhood, you know. A lot of bad people come for free treatment at Madison. Some of them might have seen you in your car and decided to rob you. Or maybe you just kept the car running, because it's so cold, and died of Carbon Monoxide poisoning." He indicated a small cylinder of gas next to him. "I don't think that they're going to die of either, Dr. Daniels." "Ah, Miss Jenkins. I was wondering if you'd join the party. Good -- you've saved me the trouble of tracking you down. I'm surprised you have the g