By KenJ <ken.janney@kjanney.com>
Rated: PG-13
Submitted: February 2012
Summary: Lois and Clark have been married for approximately thirty years when they are visited by Herb who is trying to iron out some discrepancies in the historical record of the Kent family of the L&C canon Universe. This is volume 1 of a larger set which will move through various times and universes.
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Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
** denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
/ denotes telepathic communications./
Please see author’s notes at end for explanations of Sidereal time, TTEMPO, TaDT, Multiverse identification and the Kryptonian naming convention. These are all integral to this story and future stories and will probably be included, in some form, in each.
Lois Lane — Mother of Utopia — Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 1
By Ken Janney
My Dear Readers,
We are about to embark on an adventure. You may wish to be warned as to the nature of this adventure. Will it be in the nature of a Greek Tragedy or a Max Sennett Comedy? Or will it be something along the lines of ‘Lethal Weapon X’ or ‘Love Story’? Perhaps it will be like something from the Bard along the lines of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ — really? We all know just how likely that is, after all we already know who the principles are, and Lois Lane would make a very unlikely Bianca. This adventure will have many aspects of the former four.
Well I will say that this adventure will be presented in many acts. Most plays limit themselves to three, but this will not be like your normal theatrical performance in that there are many more than three acts to this particular play, if you wish to call it that. Beyond this brief introduction I will try to refrain from making comment. I will allow our actors to take care of that.
In the far distant future that, naturally, would be in relation to your current location within the time stream and that is if we can actually use a term commonly used for physical travel and try to apply it to time. That is, so to speak, even though we are now ‘traveling’ in time in that we can ‘move’ backwards and forwards in time like you move backwards and forwards on the highway.
To begin, if we were to look into a particular office, we would be able to observe a somewhat unusual gentleman. He is somewhat short of stature and wears wire rim glasses, a moustache, and clothing which is really out of step with the current time. His outfit could be straight out of a period vid, one set in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, complete in every detail even to the bowler hat hanging on the coat rack just inside the door. Let’s observe this curious individual and listen in to his musings.
Herbert George Wells, the 1917 persona, sat at his desk in his office. As he shifted position in his chair it creaked in response to his movements. He was contemplating a new journal entry, and his thoughts began to drift hither and yon. It was to have the flavor of a history; the only problem was how to describe it …
Speaking aloud so that he could get the full flavor of his thoughts to get an idea as to how they would sound to a reader, he spoke aloud with a British English accent. Herb said, “In the distant or is it not too distant, near, relatively close???? We really need to come up with some new descriptive terms for past and future time.”
Herb continued, “With the advent of time travel, different eras, even if they were separated by eons are no more ‘distant’ than tomorrow or yesterday. In any event in the future, an organization which became, will become (?), known as Time Travel Enforcement and Multiverse Protection Organization, or TTEMPO as I like to call it, was founded. Oh dear, there I go again, mixing tenses. How can I use future and was in the same sentence? I, on one of my early (Speaking subjectively, of course, it was early only in respect to my career as a time traveler.) … I guess I should say it this way, I in my 1895 persona after I had constructed the Time Sled from the plans I received I instigated the formation of TTEMPO.”
Unfortunately I feel I must interrupt Herb’s musings at this point briefly to explain. You could very well be asking the question, “Plans he received? I thought he designed it himself.” Well, actually that is a story for another time. Most of the people familiar with the stories of the supermen, and a few of the supermen in particular, simply think of Herb Wells as a time traveler and the creator of the time machine. They have simply fallen into the mistaken thinking that since Herb wrote about time travel and described the machine, however incompletely, in his book of that name, that he had in fact been the creator. Another reason for this, other than the fact that he was not the designer, is the fact that he wrote the book before he received the plans, and secondly his book was more of a comment on society and his vision of the future that the current society would produce. In actual fact Herb was a zoologist. He was not a physicist even though he had studied in that field as well; however a physicist is what would have been needed for the creation of the device especially with the state of science of that time. The materials of the 1890s were very limited. It took a much more advanced intelligence than his to design the vehicle operating within the limited resources available at that time.
But I stray from the point of the narrative. Herb had built a time machine and traveled to the future, his future, the future of the universe that he inhabited. When he did he discovered a society which to him was a veritable Utopia. In actual fact it was so different from what he had speculated that society would be like in his story that he was dumbfounded. Of course his story had been the product of his imagination, but this … this society was so far superior to anything that he could imagine that it was beyond belief. In his wildest imaginings he could not have conceived of a society such as this. The future that he had proposed had been very bleak and pessimistic whereas this was bright and full of promise. His fascination with this Utopian society was such that he decided that stopping there so that he could do some research was warranted.
He felt compelled to find out just how this society had been founded. His long standing interest in improving society had led him in the past, his past, his personal past, in his younger years (There’s that problem with terminology again!) to read Plato’s Republic and explore socialism in the Fabian Society. What he discovered now, in the future, his future, the future that he was visiting was that it had been the influence of a certain family of super powered individuals in the past, the past of this time but the future from his home time, and that through their moral leadership they had brought about this peaceful Utopian society. He was fascinated by this family and the influence that they had and read all that he could on them, especially the founding couple. Their history which was still in his future and wouldn’t begin until after his death, even though he was reading about it as an actual history, was especially interesting. The adventures that they had had before even becoming a married couple were fascinating to read about.
When he had managed to assuage his curiosity somewhat in regard to this interesting family, he continued to explore, and he encountered several individuals, one of whom he was able to entice to accompany him back through time by way of a proof that time travel was possible, and that he had in fact built a time traveling device. He still couldn’t believe that he had been so mistaken in his selection of a traveling companion. Tempus had presented a real problem, not just on that particular trip but at other times, even times when he was not personally present. His diary, of all things, had created a problem for the founding couple.
The events of this trip and the other problems created by Tempus have all been recorded and added to the annals of the founders, and you may download that information from the public net anytime you wish and read it for yourself or have the speech synthesizer read it to you. You can even choose the voice — male or female in any frequency range you desire from baritone to soprano, but be prepared for a long session; it is quite extensive. You may wish to download it to a portable device so that you can listen to it in shorter sessions, whenever you have a few minutes. It is a fascinating story which only the highlights of are taught in children’s history classes. There are many nuances that are glossed over in the history texts. I guess they were concerned with the size of the file and making sure all of the search links worked appropriately, so they had abridged it.
You really can’t depend on popular myth either. Popular myth places the founding couple on such a pedestal as to be virtual paragons; when in reality they were people just like you and me, well maybe not just like you and me, after all the super powers do make a big difference. But powers aside they were a man and a woman with ‘normal’ human needs, feelings, and failings.
Anyhow, after that nearly disastrous trip, Herb came to the realization that an organization chartered to prevent that kind of problem in the future, well actually, the past, but they wouldn’t know about it until the future, even though it had happened in the past and needed to be corrected in the future, er past, so that the present could remain the way it was, uh, is, uh, should be?!?!? There’s that problem with terminology again.
Today, ah now there was a term he could use without any question, there would be a number of trips, not only into the past but across the dimensional barriers into various universes, conducted by specially trained TTEMPO agents, primarily to do research and document their findings. There were now very strict orders that in no cases were they to interfere with the normal course of events. They were to simply report back their findings, and the board would make the final decision as to whether or not interference was called for. The disastrous changes which had been created by interfering in the course of history were still being documented. Herb himself had been responsible more than once for making changes which had at least temporarily had a negative impact on the course of events. Fortunately the consequences of Herb’s interference hadn’t caused any permanent problems, but he had learned from the experiences. In his personal hubris he had thought that he knew exactly what to do to correct any problem by using the ability to travel through time to key events where a small change could have the desired effect. Unfortunately Herb learned after the fact that he just didn’t know as much as he thought he did and was chagrined to find that he had to undo what he had done to set things right. Fortunately, this subsequent change had brought about the desired state. If it hadn’t, he would have had to keep trying until he did succeed in getting it right because there was really no going back and undoing what he had done, would do, did???
Downstairs, (Now there was another archaic term. Who used stairs in the 2400’s Sidereal?), in an area just off the lobby was the transport area. It was a safe area where time traveling agents could use the TaDT with safety. The pads were designed in such a way that when a TaDT was locked on, it was inaccessible until after the traveler materialized. It simply wouldn’t do to have two individuals occupying the same space at the same time now would it? It was also maintained as a ‘clean room’ so that nothing other than the authorized traveler could move through time or across universes. Untold damage could be done by introducing a foreign species of something as innocuous as a fly if there were no natural controls such as predator species to keep it in check. Once in the new universe, moving around within the time zones was not considered to be much of a problem.
In the time since he had started his travels, Herb had learned a lot. It was just a shame that it had taken so many years to get to where he was now in his understanding of the multiverse, how time travel and history interrelated, and how the universes within the multiverse were, are, have been, will be constantly in the process of being created. There’s that problem with terminology again. Let’s try that one again. The various universes within the multiverse have been, are, and will continue to be created as they have been. Yes, I think that conveys the meaning correctly. One thing that had been determined was that, fortunately, there were only a few key events with key individuals which would trigger a creation event, and these have been, are, were, will be constantly being investigated and reported on. There I go again!
Herb continued musing aloud to himself, “An unusual event was identified as occurring in Prime some time ago and brought to my attention, that is my 1912 persona was notified. I determined that I needed to look into it. It wasn’t so much an event as an inconsistency in the data. Since I had requested that any problems in Prime or Alt1 be brought to my attention as soon as they are identified even if the event occurred three hundred years in the past, well past from this current time frame, they notified me, my earlier self, the 1912 me, self, persona. Actually it wasn’t so much an event as an inconsistency in the approved record, uh, history, uh, family history of the founders in Prime. Since I had left that standing order that I was to have personal responsibility for a few of the universes within the multiverse, it was up to me to investigate. The same would have held true of Alt1, the first alternate universe we had encountered which had led to the discovery of the multiverse.
The discovery of the alternate universes and the composition of the multiverse had actually been a serendipitous event brought about by that sociopath, Tempus, you remember, that miscreant that had caused Herb so much trouble on that first trip. Tempus had been using a poorly made copy of Herb’s time sled which had malfunctioned, causing him to cross from one universe to the next.
Because of Herb’s all consuming fascination with the supermen and a few of the supermen in particular, he had started working on the books. The supermen he had a particular interest in were so widely divergent in their stories that therein lay the fascination. In the past, his past, earlier in his life, there I go again. His 1905 persona had started compiling the books on the universes and the family histories of the Kent family in particular. It was an opportunity too good to pass up, being able to move back in time, into the past, still his future, from the prospective of where he had originated, ah well, to the point in time when the actual events occurred, would occur. Oh my goodness there we go again. The ability to observe events as they happened was an invaluable tool in ensuring that the story was accurate and also complete.
Herb thought, <Unfortunately it has taken me all these years, centuries, no years. Even though I am, am now, will be centuries in the future from my home era, it is still only years that I have been involved in time travel. It has taken years of traveling through time to learn enough about history and universes and how they interrelate to have a good idea when I should and should not act.>
Thinking back on what he had done in previous years, his years, not historical years, his personal years!?!?!?! Thinking back to what he had done in his 1905 and 1912 personas, that’s better, he could now see where he had made some mistakes.
Herb thought, <I am going to have a full time job just correcting the mistakes I made in the past. Yes, this time I can use past because it accurately reflects what I mean. It means both my personal past, 1917 Herb looking back at what 1905 and 1912 Herb had done, and also because he had done a lot of them in the past, past — uh, history, gracious me, there I go again, just when I thought I was safe. When my 1895, 1905, and even 1912 personas thought he was simply doing research or lending a helping hand, there were things going on that he just was not ready to learn, and now it’s up to me, the 1917 persona, to see to it that they, the previous mes, uh, Herbs, uh, personas in fact didn’t find out that they didn’t know just as much as they thought they did.>
The problem was that the acts had already been committed, and now he, his later self, needed to correct them.
Herb finished his musings, “It all started with a letter received on June 1, 2454 at TTEMPO headquarters addressed to me.”
***
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120
Local designation — Prime
June 30, 2031 AD 7:30 PM local time (Sidereal)
Metropolis, New Troy
Herbert George Wells, the 1912 persona to be specific, parked his vehicle around the corner from the house and secured it so that it couldn’t be stolen or inadvertently sent on a trip by someone fiddling with the controls. As he turned away from his ‘Time Sled’, he gave it an affectionate pat and then turned on the cloak. Even though there was a new device, the TaDT, for moving through the time stream and the dimensional planes as well, he still liked his original machine for trips of this type. He liked the ‘feel’ of travel in his old device compared to the new portal device. You could observe changes and adjust your ‘course’ to a certain extent, even stop off for a ‘side trip’. With the new portal device you simply step through from one time or universe into the other, that’s all … about as exciting as stepping through a door. It didn’t have enough of a ‘hands on’ feel for him.
Herb was confident that Lois and Clark were still here; his careful reading of their history had told him that. There were, of course, differences in the time lines of the multiverses, which is why TTEMPO had started using Sidereal time as the standard or Universal time measure since it was based upon the movement of the planets and stars and not based upon some arbitrary event. As he walked the short distance that would take him to 348 Hyperion Ave., he mused about the reason for his being here. There had been some things about this universe’s Kent Family History which had struck him as somewhat … odd, hence his current trip.
Since the founding of the TTEMPO — Time Travel Enforcement and Multiverse Protection Organization — in the mid 2400s by himself and a group of scientists from that era, he had been laboring on producing a new, comprehensive history of the Kent clans, which would document all of the genealogy and list the significant events and contributions of the various members. He had already compiled one for universe Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 called ‘the Alternate universe’ or Alt 1, as if it was the only one, by the ‘Original’ Superman and his family since it was the first one they had interacted with.
As Herb strolled along the walk approaching the house he was thinking, <“I really should have chosen an easier universe to start with. Alt 1 with its missing Lois and all of the trouble that brought about had been a real headache. It came out alright in the end though, with a little help from me, well, not exactly me, a later me, the 1917 me but still me. I don’t know exactly what he did, or I did, will do, he will do, did, will did. He chose to send me on another mission while he dealt with that particular problem. Oh my, this non-linear time travel gets so confusing, especially when you meet yourself, your later self, no, older self because it could be later and be a younger self. I’m even talking about myself in the third person, like he’s someone else and not me, uh, later me. My head is starting to spin. Well, anyhow it all worked out in the end, thank heaven.>
The ‘Original’ Superman’s universe being also Herb’s home universe is simply called Prime, actual coordinates Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120. He had been in the process of updating the Prime universe’s Kent Family History when he had come across the inconsistencies which had caused him to think that there was a mystery here that needed to be investigated. After all, he was a Science Fiction author and didn’t like mysteries, especially those he didn’t create himself. As he finished his musings, he found that he was on the steps of the house which was the object of his trip. <For me it’s been a few years, subjective, since I’ve seen them. I wonder if they will remember me?>
Herb reached up and knocked on the door and waited patiently for it to be answered. <Let’s see, the Lois of this time should be in her early sixties as should Clark. It has been a while since I have seen them, about twenty five subjective years to them. I wonder how they will react to seeing me?>
Just as he finished that thought, he was astonished at the apparition who appeared when the door was answered, and he was greeted by a stunningly, beautiful blond woman of about 25 — 35 years of age. She was wearing a smart dress suit in dark burgundy, a short jacket over a dark red silk, scoop neck blouse (which showed off an ample amount of cleavage), a very short burgundy skirt, and high heeled pumps in red, which showed off her legs quite nicely.
Before speaking she thought, <Uh oh, it’s him. This will be a real test. At least he isn’t carrying the soul tracker. Which one is he? What could be his reason for being here? Is this the one that the 1917 Herb warned us about?> “May I help you?” she said after looking him over coolly.
Herb was speechless for a few seconds. <This definitely is not the individual I was expecting to meet at the door. Who could this be? Have they moved already?> After clearing his throat, Herb removed his Derby hat and held it in both hands in front of him as he replied, somewhat hesitantly, “Uh, Yes, Uh, I would like to speak with Lois Lane-Kent if you please.”. It was evident just how affected he was by this turn of events by how rapidly he started spinning his hat by shuffling his hands around the brim.
“I’m Lois Lane. Am I supposed to know you?” she replied distantly.
Herb’s hands froze in mid motion. <What did she say? She’s Lois? She doesn’t look like Lois. Lois should be in her sixties and a brunette. Could this be her daughter?> To say that Herb was taken aback by this statement is to engage in understatement. Herb was stunned and simply stared at her in disbelief as his hands resumed their shuffle around the brim of his hat moving even faster than previously.
<It looks like it’s working so far. Let’s see just how far we can go.> She put a look of comprehension on her face and suggested, “Perhaps you mean ‘Mama Lois’?”
<Could that be the explanation? Is she simply named after Lois? But, to have the very same name, how could that be?> After clearing his throat again Herb found his voice and stammered his replied, “Uh, if ‘Mama Lois’ is in her early 60s and a brunette, then, yes, I mean uh, ‘Mama Lois’. I, uh, I’m an old acquaintance of hers.”
<This must be the one the 1917 Herb warned us about.> “Won’t you come on in then and make yourself comfortable in the living room while I get her?”
“Yes, quite, thank you.”
She took Herb’s hat and placed it on a table in the foyer. She then escorted Herb into the living room and saw to it that he was comfortable before she exited and proceeded upstairs.
After a wait of something over 15 minutes, an older but still very attractive Lois Lane came down the staircase. She was dressed in a gray pinstripe business suit, which matched the color of her hair, a jacket that came to below the waist, and a skirt that fell well below the knee. A white blouse with a high neck and frilly collar and gray ribbon tie and low heeled shoes completed the ensemble. As she was descending the stairs, she projected a thought, /Clark, he’s here./
The return thought carried with it all of the warmth that she had come to love about this man, /Who?/
Putting all of her love into the return thought, she sent, /1912 Herb. What are you doing right now?/
He replied, /Just finishing up on that wreck. Jon’s here, I’ll let him finish up. I should be there shortly. Keep him entertained until I get there./
With a mental chuckle she replied, /Okay, I think I can manage. Make sure you clean up before you come in./
As she came to the bottom of the stairs Lois approached Herb and held out her hand in greeting.
At the sight of her, Herb thought <This is more along the lines of what I expected.> Herb stood up and took her hand in his. Not too surprisingly her hand was still firm. He really hadn’t known what to expect of someone in her sixties, but what he found was a vibrant woman who even at that age was very attractive and energetic.
She said, “Herb, sorry I had to make you wait, I wasn’t exactly presentable. It’s been a long time since you’ve visited us. If you don’t mind my asking, which one are you?”
“Ah, yes, time travel can be somewhat confusing. I would be, let’s see, actually I would be the 1912 persona. Yes, quite, 1912. It even confuses me at times.”
Lois asked, “To what do we owe the honor of this visit? More trouble in the alternate universe that you need us to help with?”
Herb said, “No, not this time.”
Lois thought, <If that’s not it, what brings him here? Oh, no not…> Getting a worried look on her face she asked, “Is Tempus on the loose again?”
“My gracious no, not this time. This is more on the lines of a social call, if you will.”
At this response the release of the tension, which had been building up in her body, was evident in her posture and the release of the breath which she had unconsciously been holding, <That’s a relief. He called this a social visit. We haven’t seen him since I was pregnant with Jon. Wait a minute … that was the … 1914 version. This non-linear time travel is really confusing. In the past we saw a later version than the one standing here with me. We hadn’t chosen the baby’s name at that time so maybe we can still pull this off.> Releasing Herb’s hand and looking quite relived at this news, Lois explained, “Clark’s out on a rescue right now but should be returning shortly. His activities are more of a ritual now than necessity since the kids have assumed most of his responsibilities. Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”
After they had both taken seats, Herb began explaining the reason for his visit, “I have been in the process of updating the Kent Family History, and I have identified some problems, or inconsistencies, as it were, that I would like to have your help with. Actually, I might have just met the explanation for one of them. The, uh, young lady that answered the door identified herself as Lois Lane. I must admit to being … well … puzzled. I thought you were the only one.”
At that Lois laughed. After a few seconds she began her explanation. “Herb, her name is in fact Lois Lane. Our eldest son, CJ, followed in our footsteps and went into journalism. His fiancée was also a journalist, and they were both slated to start working at the Planet. They decided that the tradition of a Lane & Kent byline at the Planet was something that should be continued so they took advantage of a New Troy law which says that the name you put on your marriage certificate would be your new married name. It saves the cost of going through a legal name change so, when they were married they became Lois Ellen Lane-Kent and Clark Jerome Kent, professionally: Lois Lane and Clark Kent. They intend to encourage their children to do the same thing when their time comes.”
“Ahhh, I seeeeee! That indeed does explain how there is a succession of Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kents at the Daily Planet. I had noted in the Family History that there was an unbroken line of Lois Lanes and Clark Kents at the Daily Planet stretching into the early 2300s and wondered how that could be possible. That would explain it nicely!”
At his statement Lois got a somewhat startled look, <Very interesting,> she thought but quickly controlled it and managed to change her expression into a more neutral one as they heard a whooshing sound, and Superman entered from the kitchen.
Superman appeared to be approximately sixty years of age, graying and showing some wrinkles but still with that killer physique in the spandex. It looked as though Dr. Klein’s prediction that his aging process would “stabilize and sloooowwww”, so that he would age at a dramatically slower rate than Lois had not been borne out. He appeared to be aging at the same rate as a normal earth human. There had been that incident with Veda Doodsen where he had given up some of his life force for Jimmy. It appeared as though that had actually had an effect on him. When he saw Herb he spun out of the suit and into jeans, casual shirt, and running shoes. He reached for Herb’s hand in greeting. “Herb, it’s so good to see you. So, what brings you around? I hope it isn’t another problem in the alternate universe.”
“No, as I have been explaining to Ms. Lane, this is more in the nature of a social visit. I have been in the process of updating the Kent Family History and had some questions. Ms. Lane has been kind enough to have provided the answers that I was looking for.”
Lois asked “Herb, while we chat, would you like a cup of tea?”
“That would be delightful, my dear!”
As Lois disappeared into the kitchen, Herb turned to Clark and asked, “How exactly are things? How many children do you and Ms. Lane have at this point in your life?”
“Well, Herb, as you know, we weren’t sure that we would even be able to have children and, in fact, we didn’t for some time after we were married. We were starting to lose hope of ever having children of our own and were considering adoption. Within our first year of marriage we had asked Bernie Klein to determine if a Kryptonian human/Earth human hybrid pregnancy was possible. Bernie and Lois’ father, Sam Lane, both had looked over the data from the studies that Bernie had done and came to the same conclusion that a Kryptonian human/Earth human pregnancy was not possible. Apparently, at that point in time that was the case. The actual reason for this though was the fact that Lois’ body needed to be ‘conditioned’ by exposure to my aura in order for her to conceive, and it took longer than that for the exposure to prepare her body to accept a pregnancy. The aura actually made some very subtle changes to her physiology.”
Lois called out from the Kitchen, “Herb, do you want Oolong, English Breakfast, or Earl Gray?”
“Earl Gray would be delightful! Thank you!”
“Do you want milk or Lemon for your tea?”
“Milk, if you please. Thank you!”
“Sugar, honey, or artificial sweetener?”
“Sugar will do nicely. Thank you!”
What Herb couldn’t see since the door to the kitchen was closed was that after filling the tea pot with water, Lois simply looked at it for a few seconds, and it started to boil. She was careful to do everything else at normal human speed so that Herb wouldn’t suspect. She projected a thought to Clark, /Be careful on how much you say. Remember what Herb 1917 said. “Too much information too soon is not good.”/
Clark replied in the same fashion, /I’ll be careful. You just be careful you don’t give away the fact that you have powers now./
Clark returned to the conversation with Herb, verbally, “It was just about three years after we were married that we had our first child, Clark Jr. or CJ. A year later we had Jonathan Joel. Two years after Jon we had Lara Martha. Then we had the twins, Celeste and Sean. Then came Jessica, James Perry (Jimmy), Lucy Ellen, and Sam. It may seem as though we have an extraordinary number of children, but we decided that we loved them, and as long as we were able to, we would continue to enlarge our family. The fact that birthing Kryptonian children was exceptionally easy on Lois, physically, was another inducement. Other than being extraordinarily tired for the first two months with only moderate morning sickness, it is an easy pregnancy. Something to do with the aura the child develops after the first two months in the womb.”
“Can you go into any more detail on that? This is just the kind of information that would be important for the history.”
“No, actually, I can’t. I’m really fuzzy on all the details. Bernie Klein would be the person you would need to speak to for those. He ran all kinds of genetic and metabolic studies on all of us. He is retired from S.T.A.R. Labs at this point, but I’m sure he would be more than willing to talk to you.”
Lois came back in with the tea on a tray and placed it on the coffee table. After each had prepared the tea the way that they preferred, the conversation devolved into general topics and about the family. Herb told them something about TTEMPO, how it was founded and what its mission and goals were and the invention of the TaDT. Clark and Lois sat together on the sofa. Clark’s arm was draped casually across Lois’ shoulders, and Lois was leaning into him. Herb was seated in a comfortable wing back chair across the coffee table from them.
Clark said, “You know, Herb, you are lucky you found us in. We’re moving next week. Of course, we will be keeping this house, partly for sentimental reasons, but mainly because Jon and his family will be moving in. We recently purchased the old Delfino mansion out on Wisteria Lane. It had been untenanted for some time and was a real buy. With the royalties we derived from our book sales and movie rights, we were able to purchase and remodel it, and it is just now ready for occupancy. It will give us the room we need for our current family needs, since CJ and his wife will be living with us. It will also give us room for hosting relatives when they come to visit and if the kids return home when they have finished schooling and until they marry.”
Lois took up the narrative, “The nice things about the new Kent homestead are that it is out of the city, privacy fenced, wooded, and will afford easy access from the air for the family with secrecy and security.”
“Jon has been married to a lovely girl, Jennifer, for a little over 3 years, and they are expecting their first child.” Lois said with some delight and a very large smile on her face. “I’m going to have my first grandchild, I’m gonna be a Grandma!! That feels almost as good as when we had our first child. I can hardly wait. I feel like a kid again waiting to open my Christmas presents (which I always found and opened early). This is one present I’ll have to wait for though, she’s due in 3 months. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, but of course you already know, the Kryptonian genes are dominant and will pass down through the generations so we are going to have a super grandchild in more ways than one.”
By way of explanation Clark added, “We had been concerned with the possibility of genetic dilution with succeeding generations and eventually our descendants losing the powers. Bernie relieved us of our concerns on that point some years ago.”
Sitting his cup down on the table, Clark continued the tale, “Each of the children has been given Kryptonian names as well as our family names. For instance Jon is Kam-El and Lara is Myel. We didn’t want the Kryptonian name to be anything like their Earth name. We gave them Kryptonian names because of continued interaction with New Krypton. We have good relations with them now; in fact some trade is carried on, mostly High Tech and commodities.”
“CJ and Lois, the girl that answered the door, live with us.” Lois added, “They started at the Planet just as we retired. CJ is out on a stake out right now, or you could have met him.”
Resuming the narrative, Clark said, “CJ has adopted a suit exactly like mine, and when I retire, he will be Superman. Jon, when he had attained mastery of his powers, adopted a suit very similar to mine, the difference being the main color of the suit is black instead of blue, and he took his Kryptonian name Kam-El as his super identity. I personally can see why he prefers to use his Kryptonian name when in the suit as opposed to ‘Son of Superman’ or something like Ultra Man or Amazing Man especially since neither of those would go with the “S” shield on his chest, and it helps with the separation from his real identity. Since not very many people know my Kryptonian name is Kal-El, they don’t realize the family relationship. Almost everyone thinks that with the improved relations, he came here from New Krypton to help out. He is a research scientist working at S.T.A.R. Labs. He started as Bernie Klein’s assistant and was mentored by him.”
“We are very proud of him.” Lois added as she also sat down her empty tea cup. “He’s every bit as good as Bernie was and is carrying on with his work. One of the things he’s working on is an antidote for Kryptonite poisoning.” After setting her cup down she relaxed back against the couch and leaned in slightly toward Clark who draped his arm tenderly across her shoulder. She reached up and entwined her fingers with his.
Clark resumed, “Lara, who is the spitting image of Lois, on the other hand took on the suit of her mom and the name Ultra Woman II instead of her Kryptonian name. She is proud of being the daughter of the original Ultra Woman and lets everyone know it. She was recently married and is now living in LA. She has a position as a junior partner in a law firm out there. Her husband works for the same firm. Their specialty within the firm is negotiation of trade contracts with New Krypton firms. Her senior partners in the firm don’t know why she has such clout with the New Kryptonians, but she is able to negotiate deals no one else can. All she can do is smile sweetly and claim that it has to be her charm. However, we know that the El family name still carries some clout on New Krypton, and as Myel the daughter of Kal-El, she is given special consideration. As a result of this, we expect she will move up in the ranks within the firm rapidly.”
Lois picked up the narrative at this point, “We expect that they will have the same problem having children even though she is the one with the aura since it is a fundamental genetic incompatibility. At least now we know the cause and that the only thing needed to resolve it is time and physical closeness. When it comes to that when any of us find their soul mate, physical closeness isn’t an issue.”
Clark finished with, “We don’t want to be separated any longer than is absolutely necessary. I am not necessarily talking about sex either. I am just talking about being together, holding hands and exchanging little affectionate touches, that kind of thing. In fact, anything that keeps us within three feet of each other.” Realizing that they had done just that; Clark raised their entwined hands by way of example.
Lois again picked up the story, pride evident in her voice as she spoke. “The other five children are still in various stages of schooling. The youngest, Sam, has just graduated from High School, Valedictorian of his class I’ll have you know. It’s a shame we didn’t know you were coming. He is an Eagle Scout and is away at a Scout Jamboree right now, or you could have met him.” Lois laughed and said as an aside, “We always called Clark the ‘Boy Scout’; now it turned out that all of our kids have been involved in scouting for real! Anyway, he has already been accepted at MetU for the fall semester. He wants to get his MBA and work for the Superman Foundation.”
Herb had been looking back and forth at them as they exchanged leads on telling the tale. He was slowly getting a broader and broader smile as he followed the exchange.
Like receiving the baton in a relay race, it became Clark’s turn so he picked it up at this point, “The twins and Jessie are sharing an apartment near MetGen where the twins are completing their internships and will soon be MDs. Sean has chosen Emergency Medicine as his specialty, he has already been offered a position in the ER at MetGen, and Celeste has chosen Family Practice. They also plan to work with Jon on the Kryptonite antidote problem because of their knowledge of Kryptonian anatomy and physiology.
The conversational baton once more changed hands, and Lois added, “Jessie has just graduated Pre-Med and will be starting an internship at MetGen in September. She has chosen Obstetrics/Pediatrics as her specialty.”
It was Clark’s turn again, “Jimmy is following in the footsteps of his Godfather, namesake, and Uncle, Jimmy Olsen as a Computer Science major. Jimmy Olson married Lois’ sister Lucy, and they have three children of their own; so our kids have some non-super cousins. Our Lucy is a Child Psychology major at MetU. Jimmy and Lucy are both living in the dorms.”
“The only ones that have found their soul mates, so far, are CJ, Jon, and Lara. The rest aren’t in any rush to get married.” Lois finished up, and looking at Herb asked “What do you find so amusing? You have this big smile on your face.”
“Forgive me, my dear, it’s just that, the two of you…It’s like watching a ping-pong match or like observing two people with one voice. It’s like you are finishing each other’s thoughts. Like the two of you are really one!”
Lois looked up into Clark’s face with a very loving look and said, “You know, Herb, we came to that conclusion a long time ago. Would you like to see some pictures of us and the kids?”
Herb nodded in agreement as he finished a sip of his tea and sat his empty tea cup down. “That would be very nice.” Unlike a lot of people when you asked if they wanted to see some of your family pictures, he wasn’t just being polite, he sincerely wanted to see the pictures of the super family.
Lois got up and went over to a book shelf and grabbed a photo album. “There are even wedding pictures from CJ and Lois’, Jon and Jennifer’s and Lara and Mike’s weddings in here.”
She handed the album to Herb who paged through it. Clark got up and joined Lois next to the chair. They stood beside the chair, arms around each other, and explained who was who as Herb went through the album. Giving little anecdotes about the situations depicted as they went. Since most were from the children’s non-super period, it was a lot of ‘normal’ family stuff. Herb was looking closely at a picture of Lois and one of the children and noticed a piece of jewelry which attracted his attention. He asked about it. “I see that you are wearing the El family crest as a piece of jewelry. Aren’t you taking a chance on compromising Clark’s secret identity?”
“Not in the slightest Herb. They are being sold commercially. Anyone can buy one. Each and every member of the Superman Fan Club wears one. I have to admit that mine is not one of those but no one would be able to tell the difference. Here I’ll show you.” Lois pulled a pendant on a chain from under her blouse and displayed it for Herb.
“It is lovely, my dear.”
“Yes, Clark <a Clark> had is specially made for me. The blue stones are Star Sapphires, my birthstone.”
“I rarely take it off. I look on it like it’s my Kryptonian wedding ring.”
Herb asked, “These wedding pictures are very interesting. Who is it in this picture?”
“That is a picture from CJ and Lois’ wedding. They had a small wedding. She simply wore a semi-formal gown, and CJ wore a dark suit. The picture was taken in front of the chapel where they were married. The other kids had formal church weddings.”
Herb asked, “Why the difference?”
“That is something of a sad story.” Lois answered “Cecily, now Lois, was an only child and lost her family in a tragic accident when she was young. She wound up in a decent foster home until she was of age, so it turned out OK. In view of her lack of family, it was decided that they should have a small, private ceremony rather than a large church affair.”
After looking through the album Lois returned it to its shelf, and they resumed the conversation, “Clark and I retired from the Planet three years ago. We had been co Editors-in-Chief for ten years. We had told the suits upstairs that the only way either of us would take the position was if we both did. We had seen what would happen if either of us took it separately, and we didn’t want that to happen again. We were appointed to that position when Perry retired. When we retired, we completed the books we had started while we were there. We wrote a history of our time at the Planet, outlining the major investigations we had done. We actually did a separate book just on the Luthor exposé. Then we did a first person ‘Tell All’ (which really wasn’t) about Superman. We were very careful with that one. It still turned out to be a best seller. That was the one we sold the movie rights to. They have made a couple movies from some of our adventures, and there is talk of a TV series.”
After a while Herb felt that he had enough data to add to their history book, so he bid them good night. As they escorted him to the door, Lois and Clark expressed their pleasure at seeing their ‘old friend’ and extended an invitation for a future visit. As Lois handed Herb his hat, he thanked them and expressed his disappointment that he had been unable to meet any of the children, other than their daughter-in-law and asked that they express to her his pleasure in meeting her, to which they said that they would. Herb had had such a pleasant time and actually had so much information dumped on him that it didn’t even occur to him to wonder that he hadn’t seen the younger Lois after she first greeted him at the door. There was one other thing that really didn’t register because of the information overload. That was the fact that the only picture of CJ in the album was the wedding picture.
After Clark closed the door behind Herb, Lois sagged against him in relief. She hadn’t really realized just how keyed up she had been during the visit. She gave a relieved sigh and asked, “Whew! Do you think we pulled it off?”
Pulling her into an embrace, he replied, “I sincerely hope so.” Then he leaned down and gave her a kiss.
***
A short time later
They lingered in their kiss and continued to embrace for a few minutes. The strain of the visit had told on both of them even though while Herb was there, they had soldiered on. After they had comforted each other for a time, they moved into the living room and in a matter of seconds had cleaned up the dishes from the tea and then raced upstairs. Neither was out of breath, at least not from the exertion of the climb; they entered their bedroom.
After entering, Lois turned to Clark. Clark put his arms around her waist as she put her arms around his neck, and he drew her in for a kiss which started out as a soft touching of the lips but which quickly escalated to soul-shattering proportions. They started floating up toward the ceiling, and it was hard to tell just who was doing it. After a few delirious minutes they separated so that they could catch their breath. After holding each other, forehead touching forehead, for a minute, they floated back down to the floor and broke apart.
Lois walked over to her vanity table and sat down. She started removing her jewelry. She removed her Kryptonian wedding ring and laid it aside before she turned toward him with a troubled look on her face, and said “Clark, I really hated to have to deceive 1912 Herb that way. Don’t you think that he really has a right to know the truth?”
Placatingly, Clark answered, “Now Lois, we’ve already talked about this a few times. We have to conceal this from everyone, and that everyone includes 1912 Herb, and it was 1917 Herb that told us to do it.”
“But, he’s trying to get the correct history of our family”, she protested. She was justifiably proud of her family and wanted the record to be clear. …. If not now then eventually.
“I realize that, but you know what happened when Jason Masick found that copy of Tempus’ journal which revealed my secret. He blackmailed me, tried to kill me and my parents, and because of Nigel, wanted you dead. What if someone like that or someone like Tempus got hold of this ‘corrected’ history? Just think of what could happen.”
“Still, it just doesn’t seem right. After all, what real harm could be done? Especially considering the fact that now I have your powers. As long as I wear the pendant nothing can harm me. In the future everyone will know that you and I were married and that you were Superman and I was Ultra Woman” As she was speaking, Lois began to remove her makeup. As she did so, her wrinkles seemed to disappear, and her appearance became that of a young woman. Then she reached up and removed the gray wig she had been wearing, revealing golden colored tresses.
“I really need to touch up my roots,” Lois muttered as she regarded her blond self in the mirror. “I think next time I’ll be a red head that is closer to my natural shade. At least with the brown wig I have my natural shade when I’m Ultra Woman.”
Clark in his turn removed a wig and some makeup to reveal Clark as he had appeared when he was in his thirties.
“You can have the shower first,” Clark said. “That is of course, unless you want to share,” he continued with a wink.
Lois looked back up at him. “That sounds like fun! It’s been a while since I have had to wear this get up for this long a stretch. Last one in the shower has to do the dishes for a month and no fair using you powers. I don’t have mine right now!” She said back over her shoulder as she started to dash for the bathroom. She felt some frustration at being able to move only at normal human speed. She had really gotten used to having the powers and missed them when she took off the pendant.
Clark cheated and used just enough superspeed to arrive in the bathroom at the same time as Lois.
Clark then used his superspeed to finish undressing Lois and himself even taking her suit to the bedroom and hanging up the gray suit and white blouse next to the Burgundy and red outfit.
Before she got into the shower Lois stood in front of a full length mirror looking at herself, turning sideways to see her body in profile. She said, “What do you think? I think I look pretty good for a sixty something and two months pregnant to boot. I think it’s almost time for ‘Ultra Woman, Mama Lois and senior Clark to head out on an extended vacation. I’m going to start to show in a month or so. The conservative business suits will only conceal my condition for so long. We can’t have a pregnant ‘mama Lois’ running around when the current Lois is also pregnant. We also can’t afford to have a pregnant Ultra Woman flying around when the current Lois is also pregnant. Ultra Woman is not going to be able to hide her condition in that suit at all. What do we do with her?”
“Maybe Ultra Woman should pay a visit to New Krypton. I think we got a request from Zara for some female help.”
“Yeah, that should work. Should we make an announcement in the papers?”
“No, I don’t think that will be necessary. If anyone asks, we can tell them, but let’s keep it low key and unofficial. At this point there are enough of us around that one superhero more or less won’t make much of an impact.”
“Sounds like a plan. Bye, bye Ultra Woman. Have a safe trip.”
Clark stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her placing his hands on her abdomen. Clark was thinking, <another child, how marvelous!>. Then he trailed his hands up over her stomach to her breasts which were already starting to enlarge in preparation for feeding the developing child. He started kneading her soft globes and tweaking the nipples until they stood up firm and proud. Lois in turn leaned her head back and turning slightly presented her lips to him for a kiss. They continued the kiss while she turned around and leaned in so that her naked breasts were pressed tightly against his chest. She started moving her torso from side to side to rake her erect nipples across his chest which had the effect of turning both of them on.
“When do you want to leave, and where shall we go on our vacation?”
“I think that we should tour the Black Hills country for a while. That’s kinda remote, and I don’t think that too many people would try to find us there. You can fly out occasionally and buy some post cards and mail them back.”
Clark was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation because Lois was still wiggling in the circle of his arms and teasing him with her breasts. She was raking her hardened nipples against his nipples.
“Sounds like a plan but right now I’m looking forward to taking a shower with my wife. Do you think she’s ready?”
“Am I ever ready. Let’s go big boy.” She reached out and taking his hand led him to the shower. After soaping up his hands, Clark proceeded to run his hands all over her body, paying particular attention to her breasts.
Lois in her turn soaped up her hands and started washing him. Washing his chest and tweaking his nipples while doing so.
After they had both rinsed off, Clark picked Lois up, and he held Lois in his arms as she had her arms around his neck and her head resting on his left shoulder. Turning his head he started kissing the side of her neck and nibbling on her earlobe. He knew from long experience just how sensitive her earlobes were, and as he did so, she let out another contented sigh.
He changed hands and reached for a towel which he tried to wrap around her head, turban fashion. Then he reached for a large towel and wrapped it around her back. As he was doing this, Lois could feel the love in his touch, and she turned her head to the side and started kissing the side of his neck and his ear and started nibbling on his earlobe. He marveled at her. This woman, his wife, his life partner, the woman that was his, now and forever. The only woman he could ever truly love, his soul mate.
After their shower with both of them at least mostly dried off, Clark floated them both into the bedroom. Over the bed he slowly rolled them inverted so that she was on top, knowing just how much they both enjoyed this position. They had a period of intimacy after which Clark said, between gasping breaths “It’s amazing … after all this time … I still can’t get enough … of you.”
Lois, equally short of breath replied, “That’s what love … is all … about. Not just … wanting to be … together but … enjoying … being … together. I love you, Clark.”
When they had both finished, Clark floated them off the bed again, and they were about five feet above it. Lois was lying on top of Clark with her head on his shoulder; her fingers traced little figures on his chest as they resumed the conversation about the evening.
“Ever since we found out from Bernie what had happened to me, we’ve had to cover it up. When I told Herb that the Kryptonian genes were dominant, I was stretching the truth a bit. I thought that I needed to though, since there were going to be a lot more three quarter Kryptonians than there was any right to be normally, but still he is going to have to know sometime.”
***
20 years earlier
When Lois had become pregnant for the fifth time in her early forties, they had started to wonder just how long she would be able to continue to have children. To answer this question, they had gone to Bernie to have some metabolic studies done. After seeing the results of the studies, Bernie had requested that the studies be re-run because he couldn’t reconcile the current data with the results of the first tests, but those results had been confirmed. When he had called Lois and Clark in to go over the results, he admitted that he was at a loss to explain them.
“According to all the studies, Lois, metabolically you are a very healthy female in your early thirties and at the peak of your fertility. It’s like you stopped aging around the time that you had your first child. I am at a total loss to explain how this could be. Your physiology was modified by Clark’s aura, and you are now more or less one half Kryptonian. Your children are starting off as more or less three quarters Kryptonian. Any spouse they have will be modified in the same way before they can conceive; so any genetic dilution that occurs will be a slow process, and from what I can determine, the Kryptonian genes are dominant and will pass down through the generations. But, even with all of this, the association with Clark’s aura and the modification of your physiology can’t completely explain what is happening.”
While trying to discover a possible cause and thinking about Clark, his powers and aura a thought suddenly came to mind and Lois asked “Bernie, do you remembered Ultra Woman?”
Bernie replied, “Of course I remember her, but how does she enter into this discussion? She was only here for a short visit and then went back to wherever she came from, didn’t she?”
Lois said, “Well, not exactly. Bernie, I was Ultra Woman. There was this incident at the wishing well where someone had placed a baby doll in the well with a tape of a baby crying. It was a lure for a trap. The Newtrich sisters had built a laser using red Kryptonite. Clark detected it at the last second and tried to protect me by throwing himself in front of the beam. We didn’t realize at the time that it was red Kryptonite and that actually he was the target. Clark was hit with a red Kryptonite laser beam, and because he was touching me, his powers were transferred to me, and I had them for nearly a week. Then they tried it again, this time on me, and his powers were transferred from me to Lucile Newtrich. It had all been a scheme so that they could rob a money shipment. You must remember, you helped Clark, Superman repair the laser. We used it to return his powers. I acted as a decoy until you had finished the repairs, and then when Lucile was touching Clark, I hit her with the beam and that transferred the powers back to Clark. She had the powers for about a day while I had them for nearly a week.”
As she had been speaking slowly Bernie got an expression on his face like a light bulb had just gone on, and when she had finished said, “That means that for nearly a week you had a Kryptonian aura of your own! That could explain it! Since your body had a full blown Kryptonian aura of its own, I would speculate that your body was sensitized to that aura, and now as long as you are exposed to a Kryptonian aura, your body reacts just as if it still had that aura with all of the benefits. It isn’t enough to give you Clark’s powers; so the main effect of having the augmented aura is the slowing of your aging process. With our testing we have seen that as long as you are within close proximity of Clark, your aura reacts to his aura, and I would presume that the same would hold true of your children. As long as any part of Clark or the children are within a given distance of your body, your aura reacts positively. I would say that as long as you two stay with each other, you should age at the same rate. Congratulations! It looks like the two of you are going to have a very long and hopefully very happy life together. At this point I can’t say just how long that will be, but it will be a long time.”
***
Present day
Remembering all of this and the earlier meeting they had had with the 1917 version of Herb, Lois said, “We could write Herb a letter and have it delivered to, what did he call it, Tempo(?) in the future. That sounds like an interesting organization. We should have asked him more about it while he was here.”
“I think that the acronym is actually T. T. E. M. P. O. I guess writing a letter could work, like what Doc. Brown did for Marty in “Back to the Future.” Actually, obviously we did since the 1917 version of Herb visited to give you the pendant and warned us about the 1912 version’s visit.”
“Whenever I’m pregnant, like now, the aura of the child in me has the same affect and that ‘kicks in’ after a couple of months. Naturally, while the child is an infant, I’m nursing and the child is rarely more than 3 feet away. Aside from loving you and the children, the additional benefit of not aging is quite an incentive for us to have lots of children. That takes care of the time I am not wearing the pendant. When I am wearing the pendant, I have your powers and longevity.”
“Neither of us has aged perceptibly in the last 30 years.”
Lois was suddenly struck by a thought and with a grin on her face looked at Clark.
Recognizing that look Clark asked, “What do you have up your sleeve?”
She replied, “Absolutely nothing! That’s the point.”
“Huh?”
“Did it ever occur to you that we do most of our life planning and other major decisions naked and in a position like this? Naked and in bed.”
With a leering expression he replied, “Actually, I started doing this some time ago. I’m surprised that it took you this long to notice.”
“Really? I thought I had planned it.”
“I guess great minds just think alike.”
They both got a laugh out of that line.
Lois planted a few kisses on Clark’s chest and then continued, “To resume our discussion, did you know, until we found out what was happening, ever since the time of our encounter with Veda Doodsen, I had been worried about growing old while you stayed young. Part of that was wondering if you would still love me if I was old and wrinkled. Another part was my concern about how you would handle life without me. After I died, I would have wanted you to find someone else to love and be with. It kinda made me jealous to think of it, but hey, I wouldn’t have been around, and maybe you would have found me again as your soul mate. This way, I don’t have to worry about it. You have the original to keep you on your toes.”
“Your observation of what was happening, or more precisely, not happening, is what caused us to go to Bernie and ask him to do the metabolic studies in the first place. When he told us that metabolically, you were a woman in her early thirties — even though at that point you were actually in your mid forties and that was before the pendant — we were shocked.”
“Of course, that presented us with a whole new set of problems. How were we going to explain how neither of us was aging? Your idea of the makeup and wigs was good because it took care of the aging for both of us. That still left us with the problem of how to ‘come back’ again. The idea for the fake birth certificate for CJ, the son that was never born, and finding the name of a girl that was stillborn and creating a complete identity for her was the answer to that problem.”
***
With the help of their brother-in-law Jimmy Olsen and his dad at the NIA, they had created a complete persona for each digitally complete with driver’s licenses and passports.
Then we wrote articles under those names and submitted them to other, smaller papers around the world to build up a portfolio of work for their application to the Planet when the time came to apply for employment.
For CJ the explanation was that he had been managing the Kent farm in Kansas until he had decided to travel as his father had done.
His fiancée had been a ‘big city girl’ and orphan from the ‘Big Apple’ where it is easy to have a very limited number of acquaintances. They had met there during his travels and fallen in love. She had then moved to Metropolis to marry him.
“At the appropriate time you changed your appearance somewhat and assumed her identity. Then I assumed the identity of CJ. We made a show of a courtship, and then we were married taking our original names back under the laws of New Troy. It was absolutely brilliant.”
A sudden thought occurred to her about the conversation this evening. She stopped her finger tracing and placed her hand flat on Clark’s chest for leverage as she lifted her head up so that she could look Clark in the face. “Oh, by the way, Herb told me something quite interesting this evening. He didn’t realize it, but he did give me a piece of information about our future. You know how we’d been wondering just how long we will be together now with the way things are. Well, Herb told me that there will be a string of Lane and Kent reporting teams at the Planet until the mid 24th century.” She gave this a couple of seconds to sink in. Clark whistled. “Do you think you can put up with me for that amount of time?” she asked, raising an eyebrow archly.
Clark simply grinned, pulled her up, and kissed her soundly. “If you can put up with me for that long, I think I can make the same sacrifice.”
She jabbed him in the ribs, and they both broke out in laughter.
***
In the course of time, somewhere in the early 24th century, when the foundation of Utopia had been established and there were sufficient numbers of Supermen and Superwomen, over 50 of them being direct children of Lois and Clark and therefore three quarters Kryptonian, over 500 grandchildren, 2500 great grandchildren and uncounted great great grandchildren (etc.), it was revealed to the world that the Supermen and Superwomen were all from the Kent family, descendants of the original Superman and Ultra Woman. By this time crime and warfare was virtually unheard of, thanks to their influence, and most of what the Supermen and Superwomen were called on to help with was natural disasters.
When it came time for Lois and Clark to pass on, their children had tombstones erected on their graves engraved as follows:
Clark Jerome Kent
Kal-El — Superman
1966 — 2388
The best father on any planet
Lois Ellen Lane-Kent
The original Ultra Woman
1967 — 2386
Mother of Utopia
***
Herb stepped off of the receiving pad in the lobby of TTEMPO Headquarters. Glancing around he saw several of his TTEMPO agents going out on missions. Taking a tube to his floor, he approached his office, and the door automatically opened for him since it was keyed to his bioelectromagnetic signature. When he entered, he hung his bowler hat on the coat rack standing just inside the door. He said “Lights!” and several lamps designed to look like the gas lamps of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century lit up. He walked over to an old fashioned roll top desk and sat down. As he did so the chair actually creaked as it took his weight. He pushed a button on his desk and speaking into the air said “Journal entry.”
A very human sounding voice replied, “Working. Journal?”
“Journal entry, book. title … Universal Locator Designation — Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120
Local designation — Prime
“Ready.”
“Date — June 30, 2454. On June 1, 2454 I received the time capsule letter from Lois and Clark dated July 4, 2031 which outlined what had happened and how Lois’ life had been extended. It also contained a description of a visit by my 1912 persona. That visit was five subjective years ago, but I remember it distinctly. The letter cleared up some questions which still remained. One question was her possession of one of the pendants. That was taken care of on this trip.
“I have just returned from 2010 where I visited with Prime Lois and Clark. The purpose of the mission was the delivery of her pendant. In view of the fact that this particular Lois already had an extended life span due to her body being sensitized to the Kryptonian aura which resulted from her time as Ultra Woman, it was deemed that delaying until she was into her first round of children would be appropriate. The delivery was timed to coincide with the first child starting to develop his powers. I chose to arrive on September 23 to coincide with Lois’ birthday.”
***
Flashback September 23, 2010
As Herb approached 348 Hyperion Ave, he started hearing the typical sounds of a family with small children. He climbed the steps and knocked on the door. From inside he heard a feminine voice call, “Jon, sweetie, could you get the door for mommy?”
After a few seconds the door opened and a ten year old lad stood in the doorway looking at him.
Very politely the lad asked, “May I help you?”
Herb, with a broad smile said, “Yes, you may my lad. My name is Mr. Wells, and I’m here to see your mommy and daddy. I understand it’s your mommy’s birthday, and I have a present for her. Could you let her know I’m here?”
“Who should I say is calling?”
“Mr. Wells.”
“Okay, wait a minute.” Herb couldn’t resist an even larger smile as the lad shouted, “Mommy, it’s a Mr. Wells!”
From farther inside he heard a very familiar voice say, “Did you say, Wells?!?!?!”
“Yes, Mommy! He said his name was Mr. Wells!”
“I’ll be right there!”
Reopening the door the lad announced, “My Mommy says she’ll be right here.”
“Thank you my boy. I heard her.”
A few seconds later a somewhat frazzled Lois appeared at the door with a baby on her hip. “Herb! Come on in.” Turning to her son she said, “Thank you, Jon, for getting the door.”
“You’re welcome, Mommy.” He ran off to play.
“Here Herb, let me take your hat.” She took his bowler and placed it on a table in the foyer as they passed through. “I was in the middle of a diaper change when you knocked. What brings you here this time?” Lois invited Herb to take a seat. Herb remembering a previous visit, which had not occurred as yet since it was a future event that his previous self had made, chose to sit in the wing back chair across the coffee table from the sofa where Lois then sat down with the baby on her lap.
After taking his seat and relaxing into the embrace of the comfortable chair he said, “I have a couple of reasons. First, unless I have my dates wrong, I believe that I have come on your birthday. Am I here on the correct day?”
Chuckling Lois replied, “Yes, Herb, you are in fact correct. You came at just the right time. When Clark gets home, a sitter will be arriving to watch the kiddos while he takes me out for a romantic dinner for my birthday.”
“I don’t wish to delay you significantly from your dinner, but that brings me to the second reason for my visit. I got your letter.” At that statement Lois got a very puzzled expression on her face. “I do have some things to discuss with you and Clark. What time do you expect him?”
Lois’ puzzled tone matched her expression as she looked at her watch then she said, “He should be here within a half an hour. Is it something serious? Do you need us to help out somewhere, because if you do, I really can’t go. I have to take care of the kids. If you won’t be gone too long, you can probably take Clark. I mean, if he’s really needed, I could let him go for a little while. What am I saying, you’re a time traveler! You could take Clark somewhere and stay for a year and come back two seconds after you left, and I might not even realize you had been gone if my back was turned. It isn’t going to be something dangerous, is it? If it’s going to be dangerous, I would really want to be there because Clark might need me, and I’d need time to arrange a sitter. How long would we be gone?” It was like what he had said suddenly hit her, and she said, “You said you got our letter. What letter? We didn’t send you any letter.”
Herb had started chuckling half way through her babble, and when she finished he said, “No, my dear, it’s nothing like that. I have a birthday present for you, and I simply want to give it to you and explain to you and Clark where it came from and how to use it. As to the letter, I’ll explain that when Clark is here.”
“Okay, wow, oh, that’s a relief.” Suddenly she perked up as she realized what he had said. “Did you say a birthday present? It’s so nice of you to remember it’s my birthday. That’s so sweet of you.” The baby in her arms started to fuss a little so she started bouncing her on her knee.
Observing the child dressed up in a pink onesie with pink booties and having brown hair, brown eyes and dimples Herb asked, “Which child is this, if I might ask?”
Proud mama that she was Lois smiled and held up the baby for inspection saying, “This is baby Lucy. She is six months old today and I think she’s getting hungry. If you don’t mind, I’ll go ahead and feed her.”
“That’s quite alright my dear. Go right ahead.”
Lois went over to a changing table located in a corner of the living room and picked up a drape. She snapped the fastener around her neck and allowed it to drape over her upper torso. Reaching under she fiddled around releasing her breast from its confinement and brought baby Lucy under the drape. Lucy immediately latched onto a nipple and began nursing while Lois returned to the couch. “So, Herb, we haven’t seen you in some time. What have you been doing? Solving more time problems?”
“No, my dear, most of my time is being spent documenting your family history in the various universes.”
It didn’t take long for what he had said to register, and she blurted out, “Wait a minute. Various universes? I thought there was only ours and the Alternate universe.”
“Oh, my, my, my. No, no, there are many universes within the multiverse. I would really like to save that explanation until Clark is here, if you don’t mind. That way I only need to go over it once. What has been happening with you and Clark?”
Just as he finished asking that question, two six year old whirlwinds swooped into the living room, one boy and one girl, and the boy asked, “Mommy, can Celeste and me have some cookies and milk?”
“It’s Celeste and I, Honey. Yes, you may.” In a louder tone she called their older sibling. “Jon?!?”
A small voice replied, “Yes, Mommy. I’ll be right there.”
When Jon arrived, he stood in front of Lois and listened attentively. “Jon, could you help your brother and sister get some cookies and milk? In fact, why don’t you get Lara, Jessie, and Jimmy, and you can all have a party in the kitchen.”
All enthusiasm now Jon said, “Wow, thanks Mommy. I’ll go get ‘em. Can we have the choco choco chip?”
Chuckling she replied, “Any kind you want, Sweetie.”
“All right!” He ran off to get his siblings.
She now addressed the twins, “Why don’t the two of you go wait for your brothers and sisters in the kitchen and take your seats at the table.”
“Okay, Mommy!” They chorused and headed for the kitchen door.
Chuckling she said, “They all inherited my love of chocolate. Well, I guess you can see we have our hands full. Lucy is number seven, and it doesn’t look like there is an end in sight. We had some metabolic studies done, and it looks like I am aging at the same rate as Clark. When I was Ultra Woman and had a Kryptonian aura, my body began to behave the same way as his. It looks like we will have a long life together. Can you give me a hint as to just how long?”
“Now, now my dear. Too much information too soon is not good. I must say, your children are a joy to behold. They are very well mannered.”
Looking toward the kitchen, Lois had a very thoughtful look as she replied, “We really love them and they know it, and they love us and we know it. We just act in love all the time, and they are the product of that love.
Just as she was finishing this statement, the baby started to whimper. Lois readjusted and moved her over to the other side to finish nursing, and she settled in again nursing happily. While Lois had been in the process of shifting Lucy around, Clark had walked in the door. He had heard an extra heartbeat and had scanned the house before entering so he was forewarned that Herb was there. He walked toward Herb and stuck out his hand. Herb stood up and grasped his hand and shook it. Clark said, “Herb, it’s been a long time since we saw you. I guess it was, let’s see, late 1999 or early 2000 wasn’t it?”
“Actually I think it was late 1999. You were expecting Jon at the time, and it was very early in the pregnancy.”
“Right, I remember now. We had dinner with Bernie Kline. What brings you here at this time?”
Herb said, “I actually have a couple of reasons for being here at this time. First, I bear a present for Lois for her birthday. This present doesn’t come from me, however; I’m just the delivery boy. Now before I give it to you, I have some explaining to do. This will be a somewhat lengthy explanation, so please bear with me.”
Lois interrupted, “Before you start, would you like some refreshments?”
Herb replied, “No, thank you, Lois, that will not be necessary. I don’t want to hold you up from your dinner any more than necessary. First, I need to explain a little bit about the multiverse. I’m afraid that I left you with a misimpression some time ago when we found ourselves stranded by Tempus in that alternate universe. At that time I also didn’t understand the multiverse in general and alternate universes in particular. I more correctly should have said that we were in *an* alternate universe. You see there are many, many alternate universes in the multiverse. The Clark you know from our previous adventures together is from a universe I’ll call 36 for the sake of convenience. If you recall when you last saw him, we were leaving after having dealt with Tempus. He was lamenting the fact that he couldn’t find his Lois. I attempted to assist in his endeavor. In the course of that adventure, we learned more about alternate universes, and he made a rather unique discovery. His discovery has been made into a pendant to be worn by Lois. I think that you will be very pleased with the result.” Herb pulled a small case from his pocket and handed it to Lois.
As Lois’ hand touched the box she felt a surge of energy. Her hearing and eyesight both became very acute. Startled she gasped and as she opened the box she asked, “Herb, what’s happening to me. I feel like I did when I was Ultra Woman and had Clark’s powers.” Inside the box was a pendant in the shape of Superman’s crest in Sterling Silver with Star Sapphires embedded in it and suspended on a silver chain.
“You do my dear. That is the other Clark’s gift to you. Now you will have the powers you will need to cope with your super offspring. Also, you will now have no need to fear for your continued well-being. No one will be able to harm you. You are now safe from kidnappers and any other criminals that may in some way discover Superman or Ultra Woman’s true identities.”
She looked over at Clark and said, “Wow!! That’s too much! Can you believe this? Now you won’t need to carry me to Paris for dinner, I can fly under my own power. Thank you, Herb and please, thank Clark for us when you see him again.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. One thing I need to tell you about this, you need not worry about criminals gaining access to the pendant. It will only bestow the powers on Lois or any other individual that is at least half Kryptonian due to the physiological changes brought about by exposure to the Kryptonian aura. To anyone else it will simply be a piece of jewelry. Incidentally the Superman Foundation is commissioning the manufacture of like medallions for general sale using various birthstones. In that way it will be unremarkable for Lois to be wearing one. Now secondly, the letter … “
Lois interrupted at this point, “Yeah, the letter. What letter? We didn’t write any letter and how would we get it to you if we did?
“In approximately twenty years my younger self, my 1912 persona, will be paying you a visit. You must at that time conceal from him your abilities and your longevity. It is important that you conceal these things as too much information too soon is not a good thing. We must learn things at their proper time. After that visit you will write a letter, and it will be delivered to me in the future, rest assured. It has happened, it will happen. Again, my best wishes on your birthday and may you have many more.”
Lois asked, “Just how many more?”
“Ah, now if I told you, where would the mystery be?”
Contritely Lois responded, “I guess you’re right. Too much information too soon isn’t necessarily a good thing. But you can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Herb stood up to take his leave. Baby Lucy had finished nursing during Herb’s narrative and had promptly fallen asleep so Lois readjusted her clothing and putting the baby over her shoulder gently rubbed her back. Even though asleep she still managed to burp and continued her gentle snoring.
Clark held out his hand and said, “I don’t know how to thank you Herb. This is a tremendous gift. Now Lois will be safe from harm. It’s a dream come true.”
“I’m happy to have been the bearer of this gift. Now keep in mind, you have to be wearing the pendant to have the powers. As soon as you remove it, the powers are gone.”
Lois replied, “We’ll remember. Thanks again.” Lois with the baby on her shoulder leaned over and gave Herb a kiss on the cheek.
Herb blushed at this and stuttered his goodbyes and took his departure.
After Herb was out the door, Lois put her unoccupied arm around Clark’s neck and pulled him down into a kiss. Then she whispered in his ear “Why don’t you give Luce a call and get her over here. I need to get my old uniform out of the closet and dust it off.” With a wicked grin and an arched eyebrow she asked, “What do you think about joining the ‘Mile High Club’?”
“I don’t know how that will work. When we are ‘active’, I can’t always keep my mind on flying, although I do float occasionally. That might be enough.”
“Well, as long as at least one of us can keep us up, that’s all we will need, right? Let’s try it out over the ocean so that if we are both distracted too much, at least the worst we will get is a dunking.”
Clark had a silly grin on his face as he picked up the phone and called the sitter, Aunt Lucy who was going to bring her children so that they could play with their cousins, and she could watch her nieces and nephews as her birthday present for her sister.
Lois walked over to the crib and gave the baby a kiss on the forehead and after whispering, “I love you, baby girl” she put baby Lucy down for her nap. As soon as she was down and covered, Lois flew upstairs on her quest.
End Flashback
Herb completed his entry, “History shows that they did conceal her status from my earlier self successfully, and they did mail the letter. End entry.
***
Herb had just left after a remarkable visit. Lois had just put baby Lucy down for a nap after feeding her. Clark was calling Aunt Lucy to let her know that they were ready for her to come over to babysit while Clark and she went out to dinner for her birthday. Lois was rummaging around in the back of their bedroom closet as she thought, <Now where is it? I thought it was here in this closet. I know, I put it with Clark’s in the secret compartment.> She flew back downstairs and opened the compartment. Sure enough sealed in plastic like it had come back from the cleaners was her Ultra Woman uniform. She pulled it out, closed the secret compartment back up, and flew back upstairs. She took it out of its plastic cover and held it up in front of herself and checked the mirror. Satisfied with what she saw, she quickly got out her dinner dress and put it on. Then she spun into her uniform. Satisfied that everything went well with the change, she spun back into her dress and shouted downstairs, “Clark, have you gotten hold of Luce yet?”
She heard him hang the phone up as he replied, “She’ll be here in just a few minutes. She has to get the kids into the car.”
“Okay, let’s get the kids together and go over the plan with them.”
Lois flew back downstairs and arm-in-arm she and Clark walked into the kitchen.
Neither Lois nor Clark realized it at that time, but this simple act of togetherness was extremely reassuring to the kids. It was a touchstone for them of the solidity of the relationship that their parents had. They knew that their mom and dad really loved each other and also that they loved them. So when they heard the door open and looking up saw them come into the kitchen that way Jon and Lara both got big smiles on their faces. They were still in the middle of their party and having a really good time. The Choco Choco Chip cookies were almost gone so the party wouldn’t last much longer, but while it lasted, they were enjoying it.
Lois said, “Okay kiddos, you know that Aunt Lucy is on her way over, and she’s bringing your cousins so that you can play together while Daddy takes me out to dinner for my birthday.”
A chorus of cheers went up from around the table. They really liked the time they had with their cousins, and they had been looking forward to this evening for a couple of days.
“As soon as they’re here we’ll be leaving, and you will probably be in bed by the time we get back so we’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
Jon, ever the spokesman for the kids said, “That’s okay Mommy. We’ll be good for Aunt Lucy.”
Lois replied as she stroked his hair, “We know you will sweetie, all of you. I don’t know what we’d ever do without you.” At that thought Lois started to tear up. Speaking to all of them she said, “You all are little miracles, you know that? Little miracles. Your daddy and I were thinking that we were going to have to adopt children because it took so long for you to come to us. But, one day, we knew that we wouldn’t have to because you were on the way, and we were so happy.”
Celeste spoke up, “Mommy, what’s a dopt?”
“Oh Sweetie, it’s adopt not a dopt. When you adopt a baby, it is a baby that doesn’t have a mommy or a daddy, and you then become that baby’s mommy and daddy.”
Sean spoke up, “Mommy, are we dopted?”
“No Sweetie, you are our babies. Part of you is from your daddy and part from me. You are our children, now and forever.”
Lois had been on a six month extended maternity leave after the birth of baby Lucy. She was actually surprised at herself because she wasn’t chomping at the bit to get back to work. She was actually enjoying being a stay-at-home mom. She would be returning to the Planet soon, however, since Lucy was now six months old, she wouldn’t have any problem putting her into the day care facility on the second floor. Actually there were some distinct advantages to that arrangement. First she could visit whenever she needed to feed Lucy, and while there she could also spend some time with Jessie and Jimmy. Second Jon, Lara, and the twins, Sean and Celeste came there directly from school. The after school program was run by an older, grandmotherly woman that the kiddos all adored. She had been talking to Jon and Lara about it, and they were looking forward to going back. They all knew that Mom and Dad would be nearby so it wasn’t like they would be on the other side of town.
One of the reasons that Lois had taken this extended time was so that she could observe the children in general and Jon in particular. Clark’s powers had started to develop at the age that Jon was approaching, and she was watching for any signs of developing powers in her son. As anticipated Lois had been noticing some things and had brought her observations to Clark, and they had decided that it was time that she and Clark had the talk with Jon. Making sure that the kiddos knew that they would be in the next room for a few minutes she said, “Sweetie, can you come into the living room with me and Daddy for a minute?”
Taking a final bite of cookie and washing it down with a drink of milk, Jon replied, “Okay, Mommy.”
After they were in the living room and the kitchen door was closed, Lois began, “Sweetie, you are a very special boy. Did you know that?”
“Yes, Mommy, I’m your little boy. That makes me special.”
“Yes, sweetie, that makes you very special, but, there is more, and we need to talk about that before Aunt Lucy gets here. Sweetie, I’ve been watching you while I’ve been home this time with baby Lucy. I’ve seen how you are a very strong little boy. Have you noticed that?”
With some pride evident in his voice, Jon replied, “Yes Mommy. I’m real strong.”
“Sweetie, you can hear me when I call you even if you’re in the other side of the house, right?”
“Yes, Mommy, I can hear you all the time.”
“Sweetie, there’s a reason for all that. The reason is that you are our little boy. Honey, you know what secrets are. We are going to tell you a secret. This is a very special secret, and you can’t tell anybody, not even your sisters and brothers until it’s their turn.”
Clark took over, “Sport, when I was your age, I was strong and fast too. Then I didn’t know just how fast or strong I was going to be. You’re going to be very strong and you’re going to be very fast and nobody is going to be able to hurt you. Let’s go upstairs for a minute.” Clark took Jon’s hand and headed upstairs allowing Lois to precede them.
They went into the master bedroom and closed the door. “Sport, this is the secret.” Clark spun into the suit. When he stopped, Jon’s eyes were bugged out.
Awestruck he said, “Wow! Superman! Daddy, you’re Superman?”
“That’s right, Sport, I’m Superman.” He turned to Lois and indicated that Jon should watch. Lois spun into her Ultra Woman uniform. He said, “You haven’t seen Mommy in her uniform before, but she will be helping me again as Ultra Woman. You are the son of Superman and Ultra Woman, and that means that you are going to be super too. It’s already starting; you are faster and stronger than other boys your age. We wanted to have this talk because you need to be very careful that you don’t accidentally hurt your cousins while you’re playing. If you start to roughhouse, you need to make sure that you don’t do something that causes an accident. We know how much you love your cousins, and we know that you would never deliberately hurt them, but accidents do happen. Now that you know who your Daddy and Mommy are you know what we stand for. We help people and try to keep them safe. We hope that you will want to do that too.”
“Wow. You mean that I’ll be able to do everything that Superman does? I can go into a burning building and rescue the people?”
“Not yet, Sweetie, but in a few years, yes you will.”
Eagerly he asked, “How long do I have to wait?”
Lois and Clark both laughed at this reaction, “You’re going to have to be patient, Sweetie. You don’t have all of your powers yet, and you may not be able to fly until you’re about eighteen.”
“Aw, I’m gonna have to wait that long?”
“Afraid so, Sport. I didn’t start to fly ‘till I was eighteen, and I don’t see it being any sooner for you. The nice thing is you will have me and your Mommy to help guide you as your powers come in. I didn’t have that. Grandpa and Grandma Kent didn’t know anything about what was happening to me. All they could do was support me as I learned how to handle the powers, but we are here for you.”
“Sweetie, I can see that you are going to be a chip off the old block. When you are ready, we will make you a costume too, maybe Grandma Kent will help. She made your Daddy’s and mine.”
“Wow, will she make it in the colors I pick?”
Enjoying his enthusiasm, Lois replied, “I’m sure she would, Sweetie.”
“Cool!”
“Okay, Sport, just keep in mind, this is our secret and be careful. Help others and help keep them from getting hurt. You know, your cousins aren’t going to have your powers so you really need to be careful with them.”
“I will, Daddy. I’ll be extra special careful. I’ll help protect us.”
“I know I can count on you, Sport. As the oldest it’s your responsibility to help with your younger brothers and sisters, and you’ve been doing a very good job at that. I’m very proud of you.”
Beaming with pride at this obvious praise, Jon replied, “I love my brothers and sisters, and I won’t let anything happen to them.”
Clark spun back into his clothes, and Lois spun back into her dress, and they all headed back downstairs. Jon headed back to the kitchen to see if there were any choco choco chip cookies left.
Lucy arrived a few minutes later with the cousins. She had brought a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate chocolate fudge ice cream for Lois birthday; so before Lois and Clark left, they had pre-dinner desert with the kids and Lucy.
It pained her to do so, but Lois limited herself to a very small sliver of cake and just a dollop of ice cream because she didn’t want to create any problems with baby Lucy since she was nursing. At least this way she was able to celebrate with the kids before they left on their date.
Lois went down the line kissing each of the kids on the head and saying good night and giving a final admonition, “Remember, be good for Aunt Lucy.”
They all chorused, “We will, Mommy!”
Lois stepped over and gave Lucy a hug and said, “Thanks, sis. When we get back, we need to talk.” Seeing the apprehension on her sister’s face, she said, “Nothing bad, good news.”
Relieved Lucy said, “Okay. You two go and have a good time. We’ll be fine here.”
They went out front and climbed into the Jeep and drove off. They didn’t go very far and found a parking lot. Before exiting the vehicle, Lois pulled a couple of pieces of cord from the emergency pack and carried them as they walked off. Clark was somewhat mystified at this and asked, “What is the cord for?”
Lois with a wicked little grin replied, “You’ll see.”
They found a secluded spot to spin change into their uniforms and took to the air and headed east with Lois carrying the cords in her hand.
***
When they were out over the Atlantic, Lois slowed to a hover and with Clark at her side they slowly increased altitude until she reached twenty thousand feet. This was below the normal trans-Atlantic traffic lanes, and therefore they shouldn’t be bothered by any passing aircraft.
Lois unclipped her cape and handed it to Clark, “Here you go. You hold this for a minute. Hold it like it’s a blanket.”
Once he had it open correctly, Lois reached down and removed her left boot and placed it on the cape. Then she removed her right boot, and it joined its partner. She then reached up and unclipped the catches at the shoulders and started to peel the suit off. She did it slowly, tantalizing him by revealing herself a little bit at a time until she floated there in just bra and panties. She added her suit to the boots and took the cape with its contents from Clark. “Your turn,” she said.
Clark removed his cape and handed it to Lois and proceeded to strip down to his briefs.
Lois then tied one of the cords around his cape turning it into a sack and tied it to his ankle, and then he did the same with hers. Uniforms now safe they were able to proceed.
Clark floated around behind Lois and started nuzzling the back of her neck and then kissed his way down her back, unhooking her bra to get it out of the way, and soon it was dangling by one strap wrapped around her wrist. He floated down until he was under her and started first kissing and then sucking on her toes, one at a time. Slowly floating higher he kissed his way up her legs stroking them with his hands and kissing them as he ascended. By the time he was at mid-thigh, she had parted her legs to allow him to access the sensitive inner thigh area. She grabbed him and pulled him up farther, so he started kissing and licking her stomach, dipping his tongue briefly in her belly button before moving even further up.
He proceeded to kiss up her body under the under curve of her breasts and then around and around in ever decreasing circles until he was circling the areola, and then he sucked on and nibbled on her left nipple for a while. In doing this he actually wound up getting some of her milk. When she felt her milk flowing, she grabbed his head and held him there. It was such a sensual feeling that she could feel her core convulse. After a time she released him only to guide him to the other breast for more of the same.
“Give me your right knee to latch on to. You’re too tall for me.”
“You never complained about that before.”
“We’ve never tried this at 20,000 feet in the air before either,”
Not questioning her desires further, he lifted his right leg, and she wrapped her legs around it.
“Anything to make you happy, Honey,” he said as he happily went back to her breast.
When she finally released him from nursing, he continued his upward trek kissing the upper slope of her breasts toward her neck.
They had a period of marital intimacy, and they were so distracted that they lost altitude. As they recovered, they also recovered the lost altitude as they hugged and kissed. After doing this for a while, they both got dressed again and resumed their flight to Paris.
Lois had gotten her wish, and they joined the ‘Mile High Club” before proceeding on to Paris and dinner.
The dinner was very romantic, and the flight had been very satisfying; so much so that on the return flight, they tried it again. It was easier since they had practiced earlier and knew what to do to make things even easier and even more satisfying, as if that was really possible.
***
When they returned home they found Lucy watching TV. The kids were all in bed, and Jimmy had picked up their children and taken them home and put them to bed. As soon as they entered the door, Lucy turned off the TV and turned to them and said, “Okay, give. What’s the news?”
Rather than say anything, Lois started to float and floated over the back of the couch and sat next to Lucy. As soon as she had started to float, Lucy’s eyes almost literally got as big as dinner plates.
She exclaimed, “Sis, how did you do that? I know Clark can do that, but how did you?”
“It was a birthday present from an old admirer. We never told you about this, but do you remember Ultra Woman?”
“Sure, she was here for about a week then she left.”
“Sis, I was Ultra Woman.”
“Get out! You were Ultra Woman? How did that happen?”
“It’s a long story. Because of this birthday present, Ultra Woman is back. I don’t know how she’s going to debut just yet, but something’ll come up that I can help Clark with. The reason we’re telling you this is that we might need a sitter on rather short notice at times. Are you up for it?”
“You can count on me, sis.”
“I knew that we could. Thanks Luce. We appreciate it. We will not abuse the privilege. It’ll only be in direst emergencies.”
That following Monday, September 27, Lois had returned to work.
***
Within a few days the front page headline of the Daily Planet read:
“Ultra Woman Returns”
By Lois Lane and Clark Kent
“To everyone’s surprise as Superman was handling a multi-car pileup on the interstate, Ultra Woman made her return debut. The timing couldn’t have been better as the extent of damage and injuries were taxing even Superman’s abilities to cope. Ultra Woman swooped in and lent a much needed assist to the superhero in his time of need. As with her previous visit, she displayed all of the same powers exhibited by our local superhero fueling speculation that she is actually from New Krypton. There is some speculation that the reason for her return was Superman himself …”
The Whisperer printed.
“Super Bimbo for a Superhero?”
By Melissa Freeman
“Everyone knows that Ultra Woman was here for a while some time ago. Why did she come back? Was it because of her superhunk? Are there wedding bells in their future? …”
***
Two months later.
Ultra Woman had made her debut and worked with Superman or independently on a number of rescues. It was just after Thanksgiving, and there were Santas all over the place.
Superman had requested that the Superman Foundation send a Santa to the Metropolis Children’s Home. When Santa showed up he had three elves with him dressed up in elf costume, a woman, and two men. The woman was wearing a very, very short red dress showing plenty of leg and elf slippers Spock ears and sparkly makeup around her eyes with a red Santa hat. The guys were wearing green tights with a Peter Pan type tunics, elf shoes, Spock ears, and Santa hats. While the orphans sat on Santa’s lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas, the two ‘elves’ were busily taking notes, and the other guy elf took pictures of the kids on Santa’s lap. At the end of the day, they had quite a list.
As they were leaving Santa said, “By Elvis I don’t know when I’ve had more fun. Lois, Clark, I’m glad you talked me into doing this.”
Jimmy who had been the camera jockey chimed in, “Yeah, you guys, it was great. I don’t know when I’ve had such a good time. I need to get back and develop these pictures and print ‘em up. Those kids’ll love ‘em.”
“That’s why we came to you, Chief. We knew you’d enjoy it. We have to get this list over to the Superman Foundation. We’ll be back to the office shortly.”
“Take whatever time you need. It’s a slow news day.” He and Jimmy climbed into his car and drove off.
As soon as they were out of sight Lois and Clark walked into an alleyway, spun into their suits, and flew to the Superman Foundation offices, landing on a balcony. When the offices had been rented, a balcony was specifically requested for just this use. When Superman and Ultra Woman walked in, they were immediately greeted by Leo’s secretary and announced. Murray came out of his office and greeted them then led them back inside.
Superman said, “Murray, some friends of ours just paid a visit to the Metropolis Children’s Home and played Santa for them. Here’s a list of the toys and games that the children asked for. We’d like you to fulfill as many of these wishes as you can. If you need to, hire some temporary staff do so, but since it’s for the orphans, you may have some volunteers.”
As he looked over the list, Murray said, “No problem. We should be able to fulfill just about all of the list. Who’s going to deliver the toys?”
Ultra Woman replied, “I think that the Santa and his elves that went today should be the ones to distribute the toys, what do you think, Superman?”
“I agree with Ultra Woman. I think that they would be happy to see it through. We’ll talk to them. Can you have everything together for Christmas Eve?”
Looking again at the list and doing some mental calculations, Murray said, “Looks like that would be doable, yeah, we can do that. I’ll get everything ready for the twenty-fourth.”
Superman said, “Thanks, Murray. I think it’ll mean a lot to those kids.” They shook hands all around, and Superman and Ultra Woman took their departure.
That afternoon when they arrived back at the Planet, they went into Perry’s office and sat down on his couch. Lois said, “Perry, we have another request.”
Perry replied, “If it’s anything like this last one no problem.”
“Actually, Chief, it just like it. The Superman Foundation is going to purchase the toys and games and get them wrapped. They would like Santa and his elves to make the delivery on Christmas Eve. Are you up for it?”
“Well now, I just might be. Do you think we could use another elf? Alice might just enjoy helping out.”
Laughing Lois replied, “Do you think Alice would be willing to wear that short a skirt?”
Perry replied, “It’s been a while since she’s worn anything that short, but.” He got a wistful expression on his face and continued, “She does have the legs for it.”
Lois said, “If that’s the case, Jimmy may want Lucy to help, and we may just dress the kids up and let them help too.”
Clark said, “I like that idea. Let’s do it. We’ll make it a real family affair.”
***
That evening — at home.
They called all the kids together in the living room, and when they had everyone’s attention, Lois started.
“Kids, remember a couple of months ago when we talked about adoption.” The kids all nodded in response. “Well, today Mommy and Daddy went to the Metropolis Children’s Home. That is the place where children that don’t have mommies and daddies live until they are adopted by new mommies and daddies. Your Mommy and Daddy have a very special interest in them because your Daddy was an orphan. His Mommy and Daddy were killed in an accident, but Grandma and Grandpa Kent adopted him.”
Clark added, “Just imagine how it would be if we weren’t here to take care of you. You are happy because we love you, we feed you, we take care of you, we give you toys, and we do lots of other things for you and with you. If we weren’t here, we wouldn’t be able to do those things for you, and you would probably be sad. Well, the children at the orphanage are sad most of the time that way. Would you like to make them happy, at least for a little while?”
Lara chimed in with a question, “Are you goin’ to dopt them?”
With a smile on her face Lois said, “No, Honey, we couldn’t take care of so many when we have you to take care of. It’s almost Christmas, and we thought that you might like to help make them happy by helping us give them some Christmas presents.”
Jon said, “I’d like to do that. Can I help pass them out?”
Clark replied, “You sure can, Sport. You too, Lara and the twins, I think you’re all old enough. Your Aunt Lucy and Uncle Jimmy and your cousins will be there too. So will Uncle Perry and Aunt Alice.”
Lois added, “We’re all going to dress up as Santa’s elves. Won’t that be fun?”
There was a general chorus of “Yeah!” and it was settled.
***
A couple of days before Christmas Eve, late in the afternoon, Lois and Clark heard fire sirens, and both dashed for the stairwell. Superman and Ultra Woman exited the roof access door and shot into the sky. They saw the smoke almost immediately and streaked in that direction. To their dismay as they neared the site, they realized that it was MCH that was on fire.
Clark thought, /Lois, you start rescuing the kids. I’ll deal with the fire./
Lois replied, /You got it,/ as they both streaked down and into the building.
Lois saw that most of the children were already out. She found one little girl on the floor of a girl’s dorm. She had apparently gone back for a prized dolly and had been disoriented by the smoke and lost her way, eventually being overcome by the smoke and collapsing to the floor. Lois scooped her up, dolly and all, and supersped her out of the building. As soon as she had her out, she handed her to one of the workers, and then Lois went back in looking for others.
Meanwhile, Clark had been busy blowing out the flames. The fire had been started by the lights on the Christmas tree in the common room. The staff had allowed it to dry out by not watering it frequently enough, and it had caught fire. The toys and other gifts which were being provided by the staff and had been under the tree were a loss. The damage to the common room was not really major, but the smoke damage would keep the residents out for a week or more.
Lois joined him and asked, “What can we do? These kids are going to need some place to stay.”
Clark thought about it for a minute and then snapping his fingers said, “Didn’t MetGen just finish that new wing?”
“You’re right! They haven’t started using it yet. They were supposed to have the ribbon cutting right after New Years.”
“We need to get this little girl to MetGen anyway; while we’re there, I think that Superman and Ultra Woman need to go see the administrator to ask if we can borrow that new wing for a week or so.”
They exited the building together and walked over to the orphanage administrator. “In our estimation the building will need a lot of cleanup from the smoke damage. We are going to take the little girl that was overcome to MetGen so that she can be treated, and while we are there, we will ask if you can use their new, unopened Emerson Hatcher wing for the kids until the cleanup is complete.”
Mrs. Richards said, “That would be wonderful. I need some place to get the kids where they will be warm.”
Lois suggested, “Why don’t you call the school district office and see if you can borrow a bus to take the kids over. We’ll head there to make the arrangements.”
As Mrs. Richards pulled out her cell phone, Superman and Ultra Woman flew off with Ultra Woman carrying the little girl. A few seconds later they landed at MetGen and after checking the girl in at the ER asked to speak with the hospital administrator. A few seconds later they were ushered into his office. Superman spoke first, “Mr. Raymond, we have a request to make. We just came from a fire at Metropolis Children’s Home, and we were wondering if they could use your new wing until the home is rehabbed.”
Mr. Raymond replied, “Since that is the new children’s wing and since a majority of the funding for it came from the Superman Foundation, how can I refuse such a request. I’ll send staff in there to get things ready immediately.”
Ultra Woman replied, “Thank you Mr. Raymond. Any additional funding needed to pay staff for this effort will be reimbursed by the Superman Foundation.”
“Thank you, Ultra Woman, but that won’t be necessary. We will do this for the children.”
Superman spoke up, “If you don’t mind we will bring in a tree and some decorations.”
“That will be fine. We’ll clear a corner in the common room for it.”
They thanked him and departed. They flew back to the MCH. When Ultra Woman landed, she was surrounded by the kids. Lois hugged as many of them as she could at one time Superman hovered over them and used his heat vision on low power to warm up the area while they waited for the bus. When the bus arrived, they saw to it that the kids were all on board, and then they returned to the Planet to write up the story.
Lois wrote up the hard story which was a warning to home owners to make sure that they watered their live trees adequately to prevent fires like what had just happened at the MCH while Clark took the human interest side of the disruption to the kids living at the home and how this was going to affect them especially now at Christmas time. He also praised MetGen for their generosity in opening their new wing for the children until the home was rehabilitated. They each edited the other’s copy before they sent their stories to Perry.
A minute later they heard, “Lois, Clark, can I see you for a minute?”
When they got into the office, Perry asked, “Okay, how will this affect our plans?”
Lois spoke up, “Chief, it’s going to be even more important than it was that we do this thing. These kids have now been kicked out of their ‘home’. It’s bad enough that they don’t have parents; now they don’t have a place to call home. I think we need to proceed.”
“I agree. Lois you’ll be happy to know that Alice has agreed to use the dress you provided, and I must say that she looks good in it. Now, mind you, I might be a little prejudiced …”
They both were laughing as Lois said, “Now, Chief, we’d never think that. We do know that Alice is a good sport and we are happy that she’ll be with us. We’ve already talked with the kids, and they are looking forward to helping. Lucy and Jimmy will be there with their kids also. This is going to be soo much fun. I can’t wait.”
***
The big day had arrived. Overnight there had been a light snowfall, and since the temperatures were still in the thirties, it was expected that the snow would remain through Christmas. Superman and Ultra Woman picked up the presents at the warehouse that had been rented for this endeavor and flew the two big bags to the Emerson Hatcher wing of MetGen. When they landed and entered the door, a cheer went up from all of the kids. They carried the bags inside and deposited them on the floor in the common room while the kids all watched. Before they left, Lois turned to the kids and said, “Can you all wait a little while? Santa and his helpers will be here shortly to hand these out.” There were nods all around and an awed silence. She continued, “I spoke to Santa personally, and he told me that he has something here for everyone.” Superman and Ultra Woman walked out the doors and flew off.
When they arrived back at their house, they entered through their bedroom window, and when they came downstairs dressed in their elfin attire, they found Aunt Lucy, Uncle Jimmy, and the cousins all gathered in the living room. Everyone was already in costume so they proceeded to load up. Lois still had her Cherokee, but with the growing family they had picked up first a mini-van and then as it continued to grow a fifteen passenger van. Since they had that, both families could all go in the one vehicle, even with all the car seats.
While they had been in transit, it had started lightly snowing again. They arrived just as Perry and Alice drove up and parked, so they all walked in together. As they all walked in, they could hear the kids singing some Christmas carols.
Cue Jingle Bells — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80CALDCNUrU&feature=relmfu
They all took off their coats in the foyer so that the kids would only see the costumes. Lois carried nine month old baby Lucy in her sling so all you could see was her head sticking out with a little Santa hat and an occasional red clad arm.
The staff had provided a ‘throne’ for Santa who made a grand entrance and sat down with plenty of “Ho, ho, ho’s.”
Alice and Lucy were stationed over at the presents. They would pick out one and hand it to one of the kids as Lois sent them over, and then they would then take it over to Santa. Santa would call out the child’s name, and Clark saw to it that they made it onto Santa’s lap to receive the gift, and Jimmy took a picture of the gift being received and the look of wonder and joy on the child’s face as they opened it.
After the gifts had all been distributed, Perry went over and had a whispered conversation with the staff member that had previously directed the singing. When he finished, he went over to the piano and sat down. The staffer called the kids together and then —
Cue We Wish You A Merry Christmas — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOe1RVuDJDk
After the kids had sung this carol, the staff brought out a large sheet cake and buckets of ice cream, and the elves and Santa were all invited to join in on the refreshments. Lois and Clark both watched on as Jon, Lara, Sean, and Celeste all mingled with the kids from the orphanage apparently making friends.
After a while Lara came over to Lois and asked, “Mommy, can’t we dopt some of them, at least one or two?”
Not really surprised by this request coming from Lara, Lois answered, “Oh, Honey, I’m sorry. We’d love to, but we just can’t do that.”
“Why, Mommy?”
Trying to be upbeat Lois said, “Sweetie, you’re just going to have to be satisfied with your brothers and sisters. When you are older, you’ll find out why.”
With resigned acceptance Lara said, “Okay Mommy.” And she returned to the party.
Seeing that it was getting late, the Daily Planet crew with their families decided to call it a night, and they said their goodbyes.
They all donned their coats in the foyer before exiting, and as they opened the doors, a flurry of snow entered. As they were walking to their cars, the snow started accumulating on their hats and shoulders. As they were about to get into their car, Alice and Perry turned to the rest of the party, and Alice said, “This has been wonderful. I wouldn’t have missed it, but right now I need to get into the car.” She looked over at Perry with a naughty look and said, “My legs are getting cold.” Everyone looked down and realized that her coat fell just a little below the waist. “I’m going to have to have Perry warm them up for me when we get home.”
With a happy smile and a chuckle in his voice, he replied, “My pleasure, my dear,” and helped her into the car.
The Kents and Olsens all loaded into the van. All of the kids were asleep before ever reaching home. This worked out well for the plans. While Jimmy and Lucy watched the kids, Lois and Clark each took a child, child safety seat and all, and flew them two at a time to Smallville and put them to bed in their room at the farm house. Last of course Clark and Lois took the luggage, and Lois had Baby Lucy in her sling as they flew to Smallville.
When the kids got up in the morning, they saw that they were in Smallville but didn’t question it as this happened frequently. They rushed downstairs to find Grandma and Grandpa Kent sitting in the living room waiting for them. They immediately mobbed the grandparents, and they each had three on their laps when Lois and Clark finally made it downstairs with Lois having baby Lucy in her sling.
Lois said, “Morning, Martha and Jonathan. Morning kids.”
Everyone replied in chorus.
Lois took baby Lucy out of her sling and handed her to Grandpa Kent to hold while she turned to Martha and asked, “Martha, may I help you with breakfast?”
Martha replied, “Surely, you may.” With this request Martha knew that something was up and figured that Lois wanted to speak to her on the side. They went into the kitchen together and after a few minutes everyone heard Martha gasp and drop a pan; then they heard her starting to weep. Martha dashed upstairs and rummaged around for a few minutes and finally came back downstairs holding a small package.
A few minutes later Lois and Martha came back into the living room and sat down.
Clark, with a mystified expression, looked back and forth between the two apparent conspirators and finally asked, “Just what do you have up your sleeve?”
Lois replied, “You’d be surprised.” And then in a very cheery tone asked, “Why don’t we open the presents before we have breakfast?”
Jonathan started handing out the presents, and all the kids had a good time opening theirs. Then it came to Lois, Clark, Jonathan, and Martha.
Martha gave Jonathan a sculpture she had made. Jonathan gave her tickets to an Art show to be held in Wichita.
Clark had gotten Lois a necklace. The problem was that this was the last package under the tree. Lois saw the disappointment evident on his face. She knew how much he enjoyed the presents she got him. It wasn’t like the old days when she just got any old thing and sometimes even the same thing that she had previously gotten. She was really putting a lot of thought and planning into her purchases in recent years.
Lois said, “I see that you’ve noticed that I didn’t wrap your present. There’s a reason for that. It’s not here yet.” She reached behind her and picked up the small package Martha had given her and handed it to Clark. She said, “Remember my birthday?”
Clark got first a startled and then extremely happy look as he opened the package to reveal a pair of baby booties.
Clark immediately moved over and picked her up and put her on his lap.
The kids were mystified. Jon asked, “What’s the present Daddy?”
“Sport, Mommy’s present to us all is another little baby brother or sister for you guys.”
Jon was stunned, and all he could say was, “All right! When?”
“Some time next summer, Sweetie.”
“Can we have another boy to make it even?”
Laughing Lois replied, “I’ll see what I can do. But, what if it’s another girl? Are you going to want me to return her?”
“Nah, that’s okay. We can handle it.”
Martha spoke up, “Who wants breakfast?” She got the biggest smile on her face as all of the grandchildren chorused together, “We do!” Even baby Lucy got in on the act chortling and waving her fist.
Clark projected a thought, /It’s a good thing you’re super now. I think that in the future it’s going to take both of us to keep up with this brood of ours./
When Lois felt this communication she marveled at the depth of feeling and meaning that the telepathic communication could carry. If you were to compare telepathic communication to verbal, it would be like comparing sixteen channel surround sound to an old Victoria playing a seventy-eight RPM record. The depths of feeling and love that carried over with the actual communication of the message always astounded her, and she loved it and her ability to communicate with her husband in this fashion. She leaned her head down and placed her forehead against his and thought back, /Together we are stronger than we are separately, and we will be together forever now./
THE END
A/N:
Sidereal (pronounced sai’diera.el) time is a universal constant based upon the movement of the planets and stars. Primarily used by astronomers. In my L&C universe (this and other stories to come), it will be used. Because in other stories I will be having events occur ‘out of sequence’ with the L&C universe of the series, but the ST or UT will provide the touchstone.
TTEMPO (pronounced Tempo) Time Travel Enforcement and Multiverse Protection Organization founded in 2435 by Herb and a group of research scientists working at what was then called Uni (short for Universal) Labs, a descendant of S.T.A.R Labs. They were a multi-disciplinary group with specialties ranging from computer science to particle physics and beyond. When Herb approached them with the method he used for time travel, they were interested enough to hear him out on his proposal. He had seen the affects of uncontrolled time and dimensional travel and saw the need of an organization which would oversee such travel and which would be able to take the necessary steps to correct alterations to the time lines as needed. Thus the organization was formed with several branches, Admin, Research, Documentation, and Enforcement. They approached the Superman Foundation which had assumed certain governmental responsibilities with the establishment of Utopia and were granted a charter for their activities.
TaDT — called a ‘Tad’, actual name — Time and Dimension Transporter. A small device slightly larger than a Blackberry or iPhone type Smart phone with a full keypad (no need to use alt characters to type in numbers) and a large display. It has a tremendous amount of computing power and memory and is powered by a Kryptonian power source of tremendous power for its size. In its initial form it was only capable of moving through time since it was based on the principles of Herb’s Time Sled and was called a TT — Time Transport. After a while the ability to move geographically was added, and the name was changed to TLT — Time and Location Transport. Once this was accomplished and the actual nature of the alternate dimensions was determined, it was a simple matter to use the base algorithms from the geographical movement to add dimensional movement. It is capable of opening a ‘portal’ either within time lines, alternate dimensions or both. The default setting when crossing the time ‘barrier’ is location zero (Please see Herb’s recounting of his initial adventures in his book “The Time Machine”). The default when crossing the dimensional barriers is time zero, current time Sidereal, NOT local. Tempus had managed to acquire one of the later versions which enabled him to cross the dimensional barrier to Alt 1. The one unpleasant ‘side effect’ of using the Tad is that it does tend to create an almost imperceptible weakness in the dimensional barrier and a ‘worm hole’ type effect which has two fixed end points. Tempus use of the device created a paradox of sorts in that it alerted Herb to the existence of alternate dimensions. Herb was able to bring this knowledge to TTEMPO which facilitated the development of the TaDT which device Tempus later stole.
The multiverses are separated from each other primarily by their vibratory state expressed as 3 vectors. The closer the 3 vectors are to each other in total indicates the relationship of one universe to another. For instance universe: Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 040 would be more closely related to and in fact an offshoot of Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 (Alt 1) than Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 (Prime) as can be seen by the similarities in the Gamma and Tau values.
The creation of universes within the multiverse will be explained in a future work.
The Kryptonian naming convention is as follows: The male children carry the family name, or surname, after a hyphen which follows the given name. The female children carry the family or surname as part of the given name without a hyphen. Upon marriage they then adopt the family name of their husband in a format similar to the males it being added after the given name and hyphenated. For instance Zara was Za of the house of Ra (An example of this coming into play is the story “Backwards” by CarolM when Lois Kent ‘hears’ a message from Jor-El when examining Kal-El’s ship telling her “In the absence of the House of Ra, you have my blessing.” which was referring to Zara.) Kal-El’s mother Lara would have been La of the house of Ra indicating that Kal-El and Zara were distant cousins at the time of their birth marriage as infants. Although it is not mentioned in either movies, series, or comics, Lara would most properly have been Lara-El having taken the family name of El upon her ceremony of union to Jor-El as Zara would have become Zara-El if the ceremony had been completed wedding her to Kal-El. In this story Lara Kent’s Kryptonian name is My of the house of El — Myel. In “Luck and Consequences” by Bob Bartholomew, Lois made up a Kryptonian name. At the press conference she said her name was Lor of the house of El as her married name. This would have had to be L of the house of Or prior to her marriage indicating to me that this was a spur of the moment creation or else she would have come up with a longer given name, although this is still perfectly legitimate. This naming convention is an aid to Kryptonian genealogists in tracing family histories. There are cases such as Lt. Ching or Lord Nor where the surname is not mentioned. This could be due to the presence of the title: Lt. or Lord. In the case of Lt. Ching the reason would be the presence of a *military* title. The same would apply to General Zod. With Nor and Trey it could be because they are members of the aristocracy. I seem to recall at some point that Nor is referred to as Zara’s brother which would make his complete name Nor-Ra.
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