Life In Smallville {7}

Chapter 17: Sleeper

Note: Liana will not be in this chapter. 

Clark goes to see Chloe at the Isis Foundation. Clark says, "What's with all these boxes?" Chloe says, "Now that I'm house-sitting Isis Oliver thought it would make a perfect bunker to store all of his troops' equipment. You know, having a gang of superheroes is great in theory but no one ever considers the shipping costs. Were you able to get the Veritas keys away from Lex?" Clark sighs and says, "No. I can't help thinking that it's my fault that Lana's in this catatonic state. I mean, Liana's not the same when I'm around her." Chloe says, "You know Liana doesn't blame you, right?" Clark sighs and nods and says, "Then why can't we find Brainiac?" Chloe says, "If you think that breaking national security laws is my idea of a good time..." Clark sighs and says, "I'm sorry, Chloe, I know you care about Lana just as much as Liana does." Chloe says, "We're just running out of ground to cover." Clark says, "Maybe we need to look to the sky. What about a satellite? Like NASA caliber. Kara and Brainiac, when they left the "Daily Planet" there might be a satellite that picked up their trail." Chloe says, "Is is possible that the velocity of their flight created some sort of ionic displacement in the outer atmosphere. But... hacking into government satellites is light years out of my league." Clark softly says, "You can do it." Chloe says, "Maybe it's time for me to step up to the majors. " Clark says, "Thanks, Chloe. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't our last hope." Chloe says, "Okay, while I'm trying to access outer space with an Intel processor, I think maybe you could contend with the cosmos using the old-fashioned ways. Dr. Swann intercepted all of Jor-El's transmissions from Krypton. Now, it's possible he sent something about Brainiac. I think it's time to sweep the dust off of Dr. Swann's journal." Later, Clark's in Chloe's apartment reading Dr. Swann's journal. Chloe walks in and says, "Hey. I came as soon as I got your message. What's going on?" Clark says, "You need to read this." Clark shows Chloe the pages and Chloe says, "Clark, you know I can't ready Kryptonian, what am I looking at?" Clark says, "That page wasn't there before." Chloe says, "Okay, this entry didn't just magically Rita Skeeter itself into Swann's journal." Clark says, "Look, I know it sounds crazy... but these are the only transmissions Jor-El sent to Earth before I got here. There's no way I missed a single page. Trust me, it wasn't there till now." Chloe says, "You do realize that your greatest superpower is your ability to win me over with just one look no matter how ridiculous you sound, right? Can you translate it?" Clark says, "No, even Swann said these transmissions were distorted and incomplete." Chloe says, "Uh, okay, Clark. Now, that look kills me." Clark says, "This transmission says, "Save Lana at Fortress.'" Chloe says, "Lana? As in Lang? That's impossible. I mean, that passage was written in 1989. Lana would have been barely... four. Why would Jor-El send an SOS out for her?" Clark says, "I think it's time I ask him myself." Chloe says, "Wait a minute, Clark. This could be a trick. Your birth father tried to turn you into a popsicle so you would outlive everyone here on Earth. He's not exactly your best ally right now." Clark says, "The next time I see Liana, I wanna tell her that I did everything I could to save Lana. If that means going up against Jor-El, then so be it." Later, Clark goes to the barn to get the key to the cave. He hears footsteps approaching and sees Jimmy. Jimmy smiles and says, "Hey, C.K." Clark says, "Jimmy, listen, I was just on my way out." Jimmy says, "Yeah, I only had to stop twice for directions to get here, half a tank of gas but... it's not important, you know, it-it can wait." Clark says, "No. What's going on?" Jimmy sighs and turns away from Clark and says, "You know I wouldn't come to you if I didn't think that you could help. I have this... friend who's keeping this... really, really big secret. I mean, i-it's kind of humongous." Clark says, "How'd you find out about this secret?" Jimmy looks at Clark and says, "Well, I, I can't say that I wasn't a little suspicious... It's hard to be around someone with crazy skills like this and not think that something is up. So I... did a little digging. And what I found, C.K., to be honest with you... it's freaking me out." Clark says, "I don't know where you're getting your information, but I can explain." Jimmy says, "The person that I thought I knew isn't who she says she is." Clark says, "She?" Jimmy says, "Yeah. I mean, name me... one good reason to lie to somebody that you supposedly care about." Clark says, "To protect them. If you look at the relationship you have with this friend, do you really need to know everything about her? Or is knowing what's truly in her heart... enough to know you can trust her?" Later, Clark walks into the fortress and yells, "Jor-El! Jor-El, you mentioned Lana in your last transmission! Why? Tell me how to save her!" Clark hears a distorted voice say, "Clark!" Clark says, "Kara. Please, help me." Clark says, "Jor-El, what have you done to Kara? Why are you doing this? Kara, I can't hear you!" Kara says, "I sent the transmission. Help me. Help me save you, Kal-El. Brainiac wants to kill you." Clark says, "Where are you?" Kara says, "I went back. Clark... I'm on... I'm on Krypton." Clark softly says, "Krypton." The next day, Chloe goes to see Clark at his loft. Chloe says, "So, Kara's trying to contact you via the Fortress from Krypton?" Clark says, "I know." Chloe says, "Wait. Krypton's the planet that exploded, right?" Clark says, "It sounds crazy. Jor-El must have done something to her." Chloe says, "But Kara left with Brainiac. What does Jor-El have to do with any of this?" Clark says, "I don't know. But how else could her message come through the Fortress?" Chloe says, "Clark, have you considered the possibility that Kara really is on Krypton and it's just a different time zone? Like, the past." Clark says, "You mean, like time travel." Chloe shows a map of the stars and where Krypton is to Clark and says, "Check this out. I followed the trajectory of two blurs that started from the "Daily Planet" roof. Now, it has to be Kara and Brainiac. What if the vortex that they're flying through... is some kind of intergalactic time portal? I mean, look at this." Clark says, "Looks like a red star." Chloe says, "Right, and next to it is a dot which could be a planet, Krypton. Now, this picture was taken seconds later. The vortex is closed, and the red star is gone." Clark says, "It's impossible. You're saying Kara's actually on Krypton?" Chloe says, "Well, Krypton 1989. Give or take a few light-years." Clark says, "That explains how her message mysteriously appeared in Swann's journal. She sent it to him hoping that I'd read it." Chloe says, "It sounds more like a Hail Mary pass. Clark, if she sent those messages to Swann and the Fortress that means Kara's desperate to get your attention." Clark says, "When I was in the Fortress, Kara warned me that Brainiac was trying to kill me. She must have meant the version of me on Krypton 20 years ago." Chloe softly says, "When you were a baby. Clark, if you really are in trouble on Krypton, you better find a way to get there soon or--" Clark cuts Chloe off and says, "I'll have never existed." Chloe says, "Looks like it's finally time for Kal-El to go home."