Cross Fire

by Michael Kogge

  Rory nodded. “What’s so great about Superman?”

  This man in the cape and tights was everywhere—on the Internet, the news, and in the daydreams of middle school girls. Yet if Superman was as amazing as everyone said he was, why couldn’t he have stopped the aliens from demolishing Metropolis in the first place? Why couldn’t he find and rescue Rory’s mom?

  “Rory, what was that about Superman?” the history teacher asked.

  All the kids in the class looked at Rory, even Ellie. He sank in his seat, embarrassed. “Nothing, Mister Turner.” He didn’t say another word for the rest of the class.

  Clark Kent joined Lois Lane and the other reporters in a conference room for their daily meeting with Perry White, the editor of the Daily Planet. Being the most recent hire at the newspaper, Clark stayed quiet while everyone else pitched stories.

  Lois went first, putting forward an idea to do a “day in the life” feature on a rescue worker. White approved it straightaway and praised her morning appearance on MNN. Going around the table, he approved most of the other pitches if they dealt with the alien attack on Metropolis, since those headlines were selling newspapers. For the ideas he nixed, he assigned reporters stories from a list on a whiteboard.

  Finally, he turned to Clark. “Got anything for me today, Kent?”

  Clark leaned forward in his chair. He had already pitched his idea to Lois, so he spoke confidently, knowing the other reporters were judging to see if he belonged in their ranks. “After the attack, there’s been a mass exodus of people leaving Metropolis. Not just business owners, but also the criminal element, according to police reports. This has led to a huge spike in organized crime in Gotham City. I’d like to do a series of articles investigating who and what—”

  White cut him off. “Absolutely not.”

  Clark pushed up his Coke-bottle glasses. “I’m sorry, I thought you wanted us to cover the attack and its repercussions.”

  “Our readers live in Metropolis and we write for them. What you pitched is a Gotham City story.”

  “But the criminals are from Metro—” Clark shut up after Lois kicked him under the table.

  White stopped pacing. “You want to work for the Gotham Free Press, Kent, go right ahead. Heaven knows they could use the help. But while you’re on my payroll, you write stories I want.” He looked at the whiteboard. One assignment remained. “You’re covering the MNN telethon for the victims’ families.”

  Clark also checked the whiteboard. The assignment wasn’t even slotted for newspaper publication. “It’s for the website’s blog?”

  “When you show me your name’s worthy of ink, I’ll give you the ink, Kent. Right now, you’re doing digital. Meeting’s dismissed.”

  The reporters all went their different ways. Lois Lane was the first out. Clark stashed his notepad in his shirt pocket and ran after her.

  “Lois—Lois!” He caught up with her in the hallway. “I don’t understand. You told me it was a good pitch.”

  “I told you it was interesting.”

  “And it is. It has everything to do with Metropolis. When crime comes back—and it will, you know it will, Lois—it’ll be worse than ever. This deserves to be in the paper.”

  “Then that’s how you should have pitched it,” Lois said. “If it deserves to be in the paper, you have to prove it to Perry. You’ve got to be resourceful.”

  She turned into her office. Clark followed her. “Can’t you say something to him?”

  Lois shook her head. “That’s not how it works here. You’ve got to learn the system like everyone else.” She went to her desk and packed her voice recorder into a shoulder bag.

  Clark sighed. “I’m just no good at pitching.”

  “Can’t be good at everything.” She grabbed her coat and walked to the door, having to nudge Clark aside to close it. “But if you want to compare notes, I’m free for a late-night pizza.”

  Clark blinked. Pizza was the last thing on his mind. “Ah, sure. How about Giuseppe’s?”

  She gave him a small smile. “Perfect. See you at eleven thirty. Sharp.”

  An elevator chimed and opened. Lois rushed to it, getting inside before the doors closed. For a moment, Clark’s X-ray vision allowed him to see her behind the metal doors. She was still smiling. And so was he. Then the elevator descended.

  “Why in the sweet blazes are you standing there, Kent? You have a deadline!”

  Clark turned. Perry White glared at him from his office.

  “On it, sir.”

  Clark took the next elevator down. If Perry wanted him to do digital, he’d do digital. He’d write Perry the best story about a telethon he’d ever read.

  At lunch in the cafeteria, Rory borrowed a handful of carrots and chips off his friends. It wasn’t much, but it would tide his hunger over for a few hours.

  “Mommy didn’t pack yours today, eh?” taunted a big kid they all called Haus.

  “Forgot it at home,” Rory said.

  “But you buy your lunch every day, Rory,” Ajay said.

  “That’s what I meant,” Rory said.

  Ajay sensed how uncomfortable Rory was and tried to change the subject. “So who do you guys think could win in a one-on-one matchup, Superman or Batman?”

  He was referring to the mysterious vigilante who had fought crime in Metropolis’s twin city for decades. It was a question that hardly needed to be asked at this table. Everyone said Superman, even Ajay. Yet Rory stayed quiet on the subject. Haus leered at him. “Don’t tell me you actually like the guy who dresses up in a bat costume?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Rory said.

  “Batman’s from Gotham City,” said Smitty, another kid at their table. If you lived in Metropolis, anything from nearby rival Gotham City was not cool, especially their sports teams.

  “I know he’s from Gotham,” Rory snapped back. “I just don’t know who would win in a fight.”

  “They say Superman is as strong as a locomotive. And his body’s made of steel,” Haus said, puffing out his own chest, as if it could compare to Superman.

  “But maybe Rory has a point,” said Ajay. “Batman’s tricky, and he has all sorts of gadgets and technology. He could build something to defeat Superman.”

  Smitty laughed so hard his milk nearly came out of his nose. He had to wipe his face before he spoke. “Not even that starship could stop Superman. Batman can’t touch him.”

  “That’s not what I’m getting at,” Rory said. “Why would they even fight? They’re good guys … or they’re supposed to be.”

  “Good guys have to fight, ’cause otherwise no one knows who’s number one,” said Haus. “Don’t you read comics?”

  Rory wanted to tell Haus to back off, that he knew comics better than anyone at this school. He’d been reading them since he was four. Instead, Rory did what he always did when confronted by a bully. He kept quiet.

  The bell rang, and the cafeteria became pandemonium as kids scampered off to class. Rory usually was one of the first in Miss Paiva’s room, since science was his favorite subject. Today he took his time, walking with Ajay.

  “Something up with you?” his best friend asked.

  “No. Why?”

  “You just seem out of it,” Ajay said.

  “Haven’t been sleeping well, that’s all. Hard to after an alien invasion.”

  Ajay laughed. “You sure they were aliens? My mom thinks it’s a government cover-up.”

  Rory shrugged and faked a smile. “You never know.”

  For lab partners in science, Miss Paiva chose names out of a hat. Rory detested random selection. Given his current luck, he’d be paired with Haus.

  “Rory,” Miss Paiva said, “you’re going to be working with Ellie for this project.”

  Rory almost didn’t believe it when he heard it. He felt like he’d won the lottery. Then he heard Mina giggling. He couldn’t see Ellie, but he could guess she was mortified.

  Then Mina stopped giggling when Miss Paiva picked A
jay to be her partner.

  They all went to their assigned lab tables. “Hi, Rory,” Ellie said. She didn’t seem disappointed at all.

  “Hi,” he said. He had so much more to say but that was the only word that came out.

  After reviewing the lesson on the board with her laser pointer, Miss Paiva requested they take out the robot designs assigned for homework so she could check them. The best robot she would use as the school’s entry into the annual Metropolis-Gotham City Young Engineers’ Challenge.

  Rory watched the competition every year on MNN and had always dreamed of being a part of it. Ellie’s design wasn’t going to get them there, however. Hers was a portrait of a metal puppy colored in crayon and stickered with hearts.

  “What do you think?” she asked Rory.

  “It’s … good,” Rory said. But he couldn’t hide his surprise. Ellie was so good at math he’d expected she’d come up with something more sophisticated than a drawing of a dog.

  “I think it’s awesome,” said Jaden, who was at their table with his lab partner. As captain of the soccer team, he was one of the most popular kids in class.

  “Thanks,” Ellie said, smiling back at Jaden.

  Miss Paiva didn’t share Jaden’s opinion when she came around. “Nice artwork, but I fail to see the design elements. How are you going to build your robot dog?”

  It was the same question Rory had. To Ellie’s credit, she never wavered in her answer. “I plan to use paper towel tubes for the legs and neck, a jewelry case for the head, and a shoebox for the body.”

  “That’s a good start,” Miss Paiva said. “But how does it move?”

  “Move?” Ellie asked, surprised. “This is just a preliminary design, I didn’t, er, plan, um …” She trailed off, looking embarrassed.

  Rory had a solution. “There’s plenty of empty space inside the shoebox and the tubes. We could add some gears, maybe a simple pulley system, and could operate it with a remote control. Maybe even add a cheap MP3 player and speaker to make it bark,” Rory said.

  Both Ellie and Miss Paiva stared at him. His explanation came out so quickly, he hadn’t even realized he was talking. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “You did exactly what you’re supposed to do by helping your partner out,” Miss Paiva said. “Where’s your design?”

  “Oh yeah.” Rory pulled out a plastic pencil case from his book bag. Four holes had been drilled into each corner, and a camera lens stuck out from one end. “I still need to get spinner blades so it can hover, and its central processor isn’t completely programmed, but the webcam works in black and white.”

  Miss Paiva opened the pencil box to find a circuit board wired to a camera, a microphone, and other assorted components. “You put this together yourself?”

  “I bought the parts at an electronics store, but the design is mine.” Rory opened his notebook for her to see. It was full of squiggles and sketches. Ellie also leaned over to look, her eyes wide under her glasses.

  “This is quite … incredible, Rory,” Miss Paiva said. A circle of blue LED lights on the side of the case blinked in pattern. “Is that Morse code?”

  “It’s how he communicates,” Rory said. “Voice simulation was too expensive. Plus, even the LED drains the battery really quickly.”

  Ellie took a closer look at the blinking light. “I bet we could wire some solar paneling on here to increase the battery life exponentially.”

  The whole class was quiet. Everyone was watching Rory and Ellie bounce ideas off each other. Ellie took another look at the LED. “What’s it saying?” Ellie asked.

  Rory blushed. “It’s a … preprogrammed test pattern. Doesn’t mean anything.”

  Miss Paiva turned the pencil case around to inspect everything. “Well done, you two. I can see this partnership is going to work out well.” She handed the case back to Rory then went over to the next group. The class resumed its chatter, as if nothing had happened.

  Except that something had happened. Ellie was staring at his robot. “Does he have a name?” she asked.

  “Not really. I hadn’t even thought of that.”

  “How about Arr-Eee-One?” she suggested.

  It took Rory a second to translate RE-1 in his head. “Is that our … initials?”

  “We’re partners, aren’t we?”

  “Yeah, we are,” Rory said.

  After a smile, she resumed talking to Jaden, but for once, Rory didn’t care.

  Rory swore that he had locked the side door to the house before he left for school. But when he returned home, the door was wide open. He left his bike in the garden patch and ran inside.

  “Mom! … Mom?”

  No one answered. He checked the kitchen, the family room, even the basement. Upstairs was also empty. Had they been robbed? It didn’t appear so. The TV, computer, and game console were still there. His mother’s jewelry rack seemed untouched. The only other thing of great value they had was his mom’s car, which should still be in the garage. She only drove it when she worked at the laboratory. If she had to go downtown, she took the train.

  Just in case, Rory looked in the garage. The car was there, as was a figure in a white lab coat, sifting through the dusty file cabinets stored in the back.

  “Mom?” Rory called.

  The figure jumped and turned. It wasn’t his mother—it was her brother, Doctor Babrius Aesop. Uncle Aesop (Rory had always called him by his last name, because five-year-old Rory could never pronounce “Babrius”) looked frazzled in a bad haircut and taped-up eyeglasses, but he was smiling nonetheless. “Hello, Rory.”

  Startled, Rory didn’t move from the top step of the garage. He hadn’t seen his uncle for years. After his parents were divorced, Uncle Aesop had been the one who took Rory to Super Hero movies, the comic book shop, and Metros’ games. Then he had inexplicably left, never to come back. His sudden disappearance had been so painful for Rory that he still hadn’t gotten over it.

  “I know, it’s long time no see, but it’s good to be home, finally. Real good.” Aesop chuckled, in a way that made Rory feel uneasy. “Where’s your mother?”

  “She was in Metropolis during the attack,” Rory said.

  “Attack?”

  “You know, from the alien spaceship.”

  Aesop blinked more than once. “Right. The attack.”

  “I think she’s still trapped in the rubble or in one of the shelters downtown,” Rory said.

  Uncle Aesop scratched the scrub of his beard. “Have you told anyone?”

  Rory shook his head. “On the TV they showed some kids who had lost their parents being moved away … I don’t want that to happen.”

  “Smart,” his uncle said, shutting the top drawer of the filing cabinet.

  His mom had refused to tell Rory why Uncle Aesop had vanished. His disappearance had seemed to upset her, too. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter now. Rory had someone in his life he could trust. He began to feel hopeful. If his uncle could return, so could his mom.

  “You’ll help me find her, won’t you?”

  “Yes, of course I will, of course.” His uncle came toward Rory, grinning again. “Why else do you think I’m here?”

  Rory let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you came back. It’s … it’s hard doing this all alone.”

  Uncle Aesop patted his shoulder. “We’ll find her, don’t you worry.”

  “I can show you what I’ve been building—”

  “Later,” his uncle said. “The best thing right now would be to check my sister’s more recent files, those pertaining to her work. They’ll help me track her possible whereabouts. Might you know where she would have them?”

  “Maybe on her computer? She keeps everything electronically now.”

  “I’d like to see it,” Uncle Aesop said.

  Rory took him upstairs, into his mother’s bedroom where she had her laptop. But a search of the files on her hard drive did not uncover what his uncle wanted. “Could they be somewhere
else? These work files would be very important, so she might keep them in a secret location.”

  Rory thought about it for a moment. “There is one last place.”

  In her closet, Rory pushed back some dresses on the rack, revealing a small locked safe. “That’s it. It must be,” his uncle said. “You know where the key is?”

  “Probably on Mom’s key ring. Let me see if I can find it.”

  Rory checked the hook in the garage. He rummaged through the kitchen drawers. He went through his mom’s desk. He even looked under the flowerpots and the laundry room mat. He found nothing.

  “Sorry,” he told his uncle in the kitchen. “We could try a paper clip.”

  “A paper clip? Are you kidding me?” Uncle Aesop’s smile was gone. “This isn’t some comic book, nephew.”

  “It was just a suggestion,” Rory said.

  The phone rang. His uncle grabbed it and answered. “Yes, hello. No, his mother isn’t around. This is his uncle.” He eyed Rory, who stood a couple of feet away. “He did? Interesting. I can sign the permission slip, yes. I agree, it would be good for him. Nice to talk to you, too.”

  Uncle Aesop hung up. “That was your teacher, Misses Pay—”

  “Miss Paiva?”

  “She wants to enter your project in some engineering contest.”

  “Really?” Rory suddenly imagined Ellie and him at the Metropolis-Gotham City Young Engineers’ Challenge. They would be on TV together, they would be famous—

  His uncle interrupted that dream. “Why didn’t you tell me you built a robot?”

  “I did,” Rory said. “I was going to show it to you before we started to look for Mom’s files.”

  “Show it to me now,” his uncle commanded.

  Rory unzipped his backpack and pulled out the pencil case. “I call him Arr-Eee-One.”

  His uncle snorted, took the case from him, and opened it. He examined the circuits inside. “Simple … but an efficient wiring pattern.”

  “Shortest current means fastest speed,” Rory said.