January 24, 1996
\nDaily Planet Newsroom
\nMetropolis<\/b><\/p>\n
No one paid much attention to the old man who slipped into the Daily Planet Newsroom with a manila envelope tucked under his arm. No one, that is, except the ever-curious Lois Lane. She watched him for a few moments without speaking, intrigued by the mysterious envelope and the nervous, chagrined expression on the man’s face. Her eyes followed him as he turned to stare fixedly at something or someone behind him. What ever the old man saw (or didn’t see) caused a great deal of tension to flow out of his posture. His shoulders relaxed, and the arm that had held the envelope tightly to his side now fell to his side. Sensing a possible story, Lois moved quickly to intercept the stranger, coming up behind him.<\/p>\n
“Excuse me, can I help you?”<\/p>\n
He spun, his face taking on a look of surprised, hopeful recognition. “Donna?”<\/p>\n
“No, my name’s Lois Lane. Is there anything I can do for you?”<\/p>\n
Disappointment seemed to sweep over his face. “No…well, could you take this?” He threw a sharp glance over his shoulder, and shrugged, then held the envelope toward her. Puzzled by his strange behavior, she took it.<\/p>\n
“Yes of course, but what is it?”<\/p>\n
“Something that should never have existed,” he muttered. The stranger turned and began to walk quickly toward the open elevator.<\/p>\n
“Wait!” Lois called after him. “Can I ask you–“<\/p>\n
The elevator doors closed behind him before she could finish her sentence.<\/p>\n
Frustrated, Lois turned her attention back to the envelope. It was unmarked, and sealed with duct tape at both ends to prevent it from being opened. Feeling the envelope to try to distinguish its contents, Lois deduced that whatever-it-was was round, three to four inches in diameter, and less than an inch thick.<\/p>\n
A film reel, perhaps? Or a petrie dish? Curiosity battled weariness as she pondered the man’s cryptic description of his strange gift.<\/p>\n
Lois heard footsteps behind her, and glanced back to see Jimmy approaching.<\/p>\n
“You got a package?” he asked.<\/p>\n
“Yeah…I guess so.”<\/p>\n
“Who from?”<\/p>\n
“I don’t know. Someone just walked in, handed it to me, and walked out.”<\/p>\n
The young photographer studied the envelope in her hands curiously. “Do you know what’s in it?”<\/p>\n
“I have no idea.”<\/p>\n
“Did the guy who gave it to you say anything?”<\/p>\n
“Only that it should never have existed.”<\/p>\n
He grinned. “Cool! Let’s open it and find out!”<\/p>\n
“Find out what?”<\/p>\n
Clark had joined them, his own curiosity piqued by watching them examine the envelope.<\/p>\n
Lois held it up. “What’s in this that shouldn’t exist.”<\/p>\n
“Huh?”<\/p>\n
“Some guy walked in here and handed me this. When I asked him what it was he just said it was something that shouldn’t exist.”<\/p>\n
“If it’s something that shouldn’t exist, don’t you think maybe this guy doesn’t want a lot of people knowing about it?”<\/p>\n
Jimmy’s face fell. “Aw, c’mon, CK!”<\/p>\n
“Maybe,” Lois hedged, “or maybe he wants the public to know about something that was being done behind their backs.”<\/p>\n
“Lois, it could be something dangerous.”<\/p>\n
“Why would he bring it into a newspaper office and hand it to a reporter if he wanted to hide it?” she countered, striding back to her desk, opening a drawer and hunting for her scissors.<\/p>\n
“Because he didn’t know you were a reporter?”<\/p>\n
Lois only afforded Clark a brief, skeptical expression, then turned her full attention back to the package, attacking the duct tape with the scissors. As soon as it broke, she dumped the contents onto her desk.<\/p>\n
There was an uneasy silence as Lois picked up the reel tape in one hand and studied the sealed file beneath it. Across the tope were scribbled the words “Blue Book: Case 145-PQ” and the folder was stamped with a bright red “Classified: TOP SECRET!”<\/p>\n
“Project Blue Book…” she murmured. Clark looked suddenly antsy. Lois glanced at him, reading the nervousness in his face, then with a grim smile turned her attention to the label on the tape.<\/p>\n
“‘Sodium Pentathol interrogation of Maxwell Stoddard, age 79, UFO witness. May 24, 1966.’ Sodium Pentathol…that’s truth serum!” She turned to the younger of the two men, whose interest in the mysterious envelope and its contents had made him virtually oblivious to everything else, including her fianc\u00e9’s apparent unease.<\/p>\n
“Jimmy, do you know if we have the necessary equipment to listen to this?”<\/p>\n
He shrugged. “Don’t know. I’ll go look.”<\/p>\n
The photographer disappeared in the direction of the supply room, and Lois turned to Clark.<\/p>\n
“Do you think it has something to do with you?” she asked.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “It’s about the right time of the right year…”<\/p>\n
She nodded. “If there’s anything incriminating in the file, I’ll figure out some way to keep Jimmy away from the tape.”<\/p>\n
He nodded and Lois went back to the file. Breaking the seal with her fingernail, she opened the folder and began to leaf through the papers.<\/p>\n
“Clark…look at this! This can’t possibly have anything to do with the tape!”<\/p>\n
“Why not?”<\/p>\n
“Because this doesn’t say anything about UFOs. It’s about…time travel!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
January 24, 1996 Daily Planet Newsroom Metropolis No one paid much attention to the old man who slipped into the Daily Planet Newsroom with a manila envelope tucked under his arm. No one, that is, except the ever-curious Lois Lane. … Continue reading