It's not an S // Superman

Chapter 16

After we parted from each other's arms and continued our journey into the depths of the alien ship I prayed to the stars, to the memories of my parents and Clark's father that they would keep us safe, that they would protect us.

When we eventually came to land the ship was half buried in windblown snow, the only sign of life outside being a lone polar bear that loped along the Arctic mountain range. The bear looked up at the ship, anchored to a remote, inaccessible summit like a fortress. It growled, making me jump even from where I was and then sloped off, giving the ship and us a wide berth. Hopefully that would be the only visitor to stumble on ours and the ship's location. The last thing we needed was someone besides us finding it.

Just a short flight had carried us hundreds of miles away from Ellesmere, or any other human settlement, keeping us well hidden. In theory, we could now explore the ship at our leisure. NORTHCOM was far, far away and there was no imminent threat to stop us finding the ships secrets and discovering Clark's true identity.

Clark led us towards a lifeless bridge, not letting go of my hand for even a second. I wasn't arguing, just being in any kind of contact with him made me feel safer. Once there it was clear to me that Clark had stopped for something. He froze on the spot, his hand reaching around his neck where the pendant once again resided.

"Clark?" I questioned with a furrowed brow as he pulled the sharp, metal object from his neck, took one look at me and then hesitantly let go of my hand, placing me behind him as he stepped forward.

Following his gaze I spotted a port up ahead, it was identical to the one I used to disable the sentry when it attacked Clark earlier.

Clark moved to place the key/pendant into the console, taking a shaky breathe as he did so.

"I'm here Clark. I'm right here," I reminded him, causing him to visibly relax.

"Here goes nothing."

Once again the key fit perfectly. A glowing three-dimensional display appeared above the trunk like cylinder. Streams of alien code spiralled across the screen as the console booted up.

"What the hell is this?" I audibly gasped. I'd never seen anything like it in my life, could never imagine anything like this.

Clark didn't respond. He was awe struck and could only amount to gesturing for me to go to his side again. I didn't hesitate for a moment. He was anxious, I was anxious. You could have cut through the tension with a butter knife.

Only a few seconds had passed and before I even had time to process what I was seeing a figure appeared in my peripheral vision. I quickly turned my head and there he was, the bearded man from earlier who had led us on a chase through the bowels of the ship. He just materialised out of thin air, a holographic projection of someone who once was.

He slowly edged in front of Clark and I, Clark gripping my hand just a little tighter, wanting to silently assure me that I was safe and that he was ok.

The hologram smiled fondly. His deep voice was strangely reassuring.

"You made it," he said looking straight at Clark and not even sparing me a glance.

"We prayed you would, but actually seeing you here, grown into an adult," he smiled ruefully. "Gods, I wish Lara could have witnessed this."

"Who are you?" I jumped in, not giving even Clark time to ask the question I knew he as well would be thinking.

"I am your father Kal," answering Clark and not me. He did give me a slight nod though, that putting me slightly more at ease.

As Clark took in what he had learned, that this man in front of us was his father, a million questions popped into my head. The journalist in me couldn't resist being curious and asking a few.