Lois tumbled out, and into his arms.
At first, she didn’t realize what was happening. Metal screamed as the door flew off into the clouds and she fell into empty air. A pair of strong arms caught her and a broad blue chest absorbed the impact, cushioning her against a bright red “S.” Glancing down, she saw the scorched remains of the pod slam into the ground like a bullet, exploding on impact.
Flames, smoke, and shrapnel rose into the sky, but Superman shielded her with his body, taking the brunt of the blast without even flinching. He held her high above the ground as clouds of thick white smoke billowed around them. He really was a Superman, she realized. A veritable Man of Steel.
And he had just saved her life… again.
Does this count as our second date? she wondered.
He carried her away from the smoking crater, cradling her in his arms, before descending to the Earth with amazing grace and precision. She barely felt a bump as he landed upon the well-tended lawn of the Smallville Cemetery. He gently put her down on a lonely knoll overlooking the town. A cool breeze provided relief after the overheated interior of the escape pod.
“You’ll be safe here,” he promised. “Are you all right?”
She nodded and looked to the horizon. Unlike the tranquil rural vista she remembered, smoke and flames rose up from acres of burning cornfields. She assumed that Zod was responsible—and felt a twinge of guilt.
“I didn’t want to tell them anything about you,” she said. “But they did something to me, looked inside my mind…”
That was why Zod had insisted on having her brought aboard his ship. He had monitored all those news reports linking her to Superman, and had wanted to find out everything she had learned about him.
Is this my fault? She contemplated the conflagration spreading rapidly below. Did I lead Zod to Smallville?
“Me, too,” Superman assured her. “It’s okay.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked out over burning fields. She guessed that he was seeing—and hearing—a whole lot more than she did. Judging from his grim expression, things were bad.
“I have to go,” he said.
She didn’t want him to, and it seemed as if he didn’t want to leave her, either. He was more than just a story to her now. She felt a connection between them—and an attraction—that was stronger than gravity. They gazed at each other for a long moment, neither saying what they were feeling.
Maybe it was just the adrenaline rush, but she had never wanted to kiss anyone more than she wanted to kiss Superman—no, Clark—right this very minute.
But the moment passed, washed away by the tide of events, and he took to the sky. She watched in wonder as he flew toward Smallville, faster than the eye could follow. Within seconds, he was out of sight.
She wondered if she would ever get used to that.
A siren wailed in the distance. Turning around, she spotted a sheriff’s vehicle, its gumball light spinning, speeding toward the crash site. She ran toward the road, waving her arms to flag the car down.
Jor-El had given her a mission. She knew what she had to do next.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dusty barked furiously at the front door. Martha shut off her vacuum cleaner and crossed the living room to see what had the collie so agitated. Worry lines deepened around her eyes and mouth. Her brow furrowed. What if the government had come looking for Clark? Or someone worse was?
She locked Dusty inside and stepped out onto the front porch. A smoky odor alerted her to a fire somewhere in the vicinity. High-pitched squeals heralded the arrival of two exotic aircraft that bore an unmistakable resemblance to the alien space capsule hidden in the barn. The ships descended out of a sunny sky and landed on the yard in front of the farmhouse.
She stepped down from the porch, ready to face their occupants.
Martha had been dreading a moment like this for over thirty years, afraid that Clark’s alien kin would show up to reclaim him, but now that it was finally happening, she had no idea what she was supposed to do.
Except protect her son, of course.
Four Kryptonians in armored suits, black capes, and helmets exited the ships. Unearthly and intimidating, they resembled futuristic gods of war. One of the intruders was a giant who towered over his companions, while another was shaped like a woman. The strangers spread out and surrounded her, but Martha didn’t bother trying to flee. If they were even half as fast and strong as Clark, she wouldn’t get far.
The leader came forward. She recognized his voice from the broadcast that had panicked the world. A transparent helmet protected his head. A black cape fluttered in the wind.
“The craft he arrived in,” Zod demanded. “Where is it?”
She didn’t like his tone.
“Go to hell,” she said, not knowing if he’d understand the reference.
He scowled behind the shimmering visor of his helmet, then nodded at the statuesque female soldier accompanying him.
“Faora,” he said curtly.
The alien amazon grabbed Martha by the throat and lifted her off the ground with one hand. Martha’s feet dangled in the air as fingers that felt like bands of steel locked onto her throat. A strangled gasp escaped her lips.
“You raised him,” the woman said coldly. “You know what he’s capable of. Now imagine that kind of power in the hands of someone who could not care less about you.”
With that, she hurled Martha to the ground.
I won’t tell you anything, Martha thought angrily. You’re nothing like my son!
But Zod had already lost interest in her. He scanned the farm with eyes that might be able to see as far and deep as Clark’s. Martha’s heart sank as he squinted at the old threshing barn, which had been converted into a tool shed. He pointed at the building.
“There,” he said.
Faora leapt fifty feet into the air, arcing across the farm to crash through the roof of the barn and past its floor as well. Landing in the musty basement, she yanked off the tarp concealing the capsule. Her gloved fingers dug into the blackened hull and she ripped off the canopy. Impatient eyes scanned the interior of the starcraft. Then she snarled in disappointment.
“The Codex isn’t here.”
Zod yanked Martha from the ground and flung her across the yard. She hit the grass hard enough to knock the breath from her. Her whole body felt bruised and sore. She would be lucky if she hadn’t broken any bones.
“Where has he hidden it?” he demanded.
Martha wasn’t sure what a “Codex” was. Maybe that spiked black key they’d found in the space capsule? Last she knew, Clark had taken it with him to the Arctic.
She decided to play dumb.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Don’t lie to me!” he bellowed, losing his temper. An aging John Deere tractor was parked beside the barn. Zod irritably swatted it aside with the back of his hand as he marched toward her. Eight thousand pounds of rusty green metal crashed into the corner of the house. Wooden timbers splintered and a section of roof crumbled. Dusty barked frantically inside, but Zod paid no heed to the frightened animal.
He glared furiously at Martha.
“WHERE IS THE CODEX?”
I wouldn’t tell you for all the tea in China, she thought.