16 Years Later
Created | Updated Oct 15, 2008
16 Years Later
Acknowledgment: Iolanthe for pointing out in 12 Steps From Smallville that world politics would change as a result of public Superman
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters etc, etc. This is fiction so none of the characters are real.
-----------PLEASE READ THIS---------------------
PG Rating: PLEASE TAKE NOTE. This story does not contain anything that would normally cause it to be PG18. However, it does express very specific views on religion and politics that may be disagreeable to some readers.
----------------------------------
Sarah Palin found herself in Smallville for the second time in her life. She was sat in the hotel with the campaign manager. She was still unable to decide if she was enjoying this country wide campaign. Not all her memories of her previous campaign were good memories, especially the outcome that had caused her to leave politics behind her.
“OK, Jim, what do the locals have lined up for us here?”
“You're not going to believe it. These hicks either have the same people in charge as when you were here, or they've looked up what happened. They want to hold the rally at the high school football stadium. They've included a list of their local celebrities which they want on the podium with the candidate.”
Sarah couldn't help thinking fondly of the candidate, her son-in-law. Many people, possibly most, around the world thought her daughter's wedding had been a shot gun affair. However, the love between the two had been there to start with. It hadn't diminished with time, it had grown. He had discovered he had the knack for business and was ambitious but never put his family second. He now had his sight set very high. It wasn't as important job as it had been. Ever since Superman had appeared international disagreements had diminished to minor spats. Even religion only survived in minor pockets. Sarah still held to her upbringing, still attended church, but she was in a very small minority.
Jim interrupted her thoughts. “Look. They sent us a copy of the Smallville Ledger report from 16 years ago.”
Sarah took the paper and started reading noticing that the bye line was Ted Palmer and Chloe Sullivan. The report was accurate as far as she could remember. More over there was no opinions voiced. Then she got to the final paragraph.
“Sarah Palin's next rally, which was due to happen the same evening, was canceled due to a transport problem.”
She looked at the date on the newspaper cutting. It was the day after her rally here. She thought back to that night, her memories quite clear – nearly dying is not something you forget. She remembered Chloe Sullivan asking some penetrating policy questions. The newspaper report seemed to reflect Sarah's words accurately, but she was sure that Sullivan had said she was representing the Smallville High student newspaper, The Torch. Sullivan must have had a friend at the Ledger, but she must have kept the details of the 'accident' for an exclusive for The Torch. It would be interesting to see that.
“Jim, we'll just go with what the locals want. You can fly back to my son-in-law and brief him. I'm going to stay here until he's due. I need the break.”
After breakfast the next morning Sarah drove to Smallville High. It wasn't difficult to find, the town's population hadn't grown much in the last 16 years. She walked through the main entrance. Where to go? She was just approaching a student when she heard a male voice.
“Mrs. Palin, you are Mrs. Palin aren't you?”
“Yes, I am.” She hadn't expected to be recognised.
“I'm Mr. Hardwick, headmaster.” They shook hands. “What brings you here? Checking out the venue?”
“Yes. I'm surprised you recognised me.”
“Your son-in-law coming here for a rally is a big event. Our older students are interested. I wouldn't look good if I didn't know as much as them so I took the time to do some research. I'll show you around.”
This wasn't what she wanted, but giving up politics hadn't meant she had lost her political skills so she acquiesced and accompanied the headmaster. The pair got some curious looks from students but no one interrupted them. Did the students not recognise her, or were they wary of the headmaster?
The football stadium was the last part of the tour.
“Anything else I can show you?” asked Mr. Hardwick.
“When I was last here there was a student newspaper, The Torch. Is it still going?”
“Yes, although I'm not sure if the quality of its output is as good as it used to be. But don't mention that to the students. Both the current editor and its readers are still very enthusiastic.”
“I'd like to see it.”
The headmaster took Sarah to The Torch's office. As they entered the boy typing at one of the computers looked up.
“John, I'd like to introduce...” the headmaster started to say.
John interrupted “Mrs. Palin, welcome to The Torch.”
Sarah thought the headmaster had been correct, at least one student was interested in politics.
“Thanks, Mr. Hardwick, I'm sure John can answer any questions I have. Thank you for the tour.”
The headmaster took the hint and left.
“What can I do for you?” asked John.
Sarah was impressed. John wasn't overwhelmed by her presence, he showed no nervousness, just a willingness to interact normally. A good trait for a journalist. Her thinking went on “in contrast to.....”. Why had she thought that? Who was she thinking of?
John was waiting for a response.
“When I was here previously The Torch did an article on my visit, or at least thats the impression I had. Would there still be a copy?”
“I'm sure who ever was here would have done so. Let me have a look.”
“Here it is, written by a Chloe Sullivan. I wonder if thats the same Chloe Sullivan that writes for the Daily Planet? Yep, it was printed the very next day.”
“Can you print me a copy?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Sarah took the article from the printer and headed for the door. She paused, glancing back. “I expect to see you in the press box during the rally.”
In her hotel room Sarah sat and read the article. It was different to the Ledger article. More emphasis and importance was put on Chloe's questions. A bit of self aggrandizement, thought Sarah. Not surprising.
As she got to the end she expected to see the details of the helicopter accident. Chloe had been the only reporter. She and the kindly Kents had been there so quickly they must have seen the helicopter come down. A high school reporter wouldn't have been able to resist printing the exclusive details. But all that was there was the same sentence as in the Ledger.
.“Sarah Palin's next rally, which was due to happen the same evening, was canceled due to a transport problem.”
Sarah was intrigued. Yes, there had been secret service personnel there. They might have leaned on the reporter, but they hadn't known the cause of the accident at the time, they probably didn't even know that Chloe was a reporter. Would they have had time to consult their superiors and quash the details? Sarah was pretty sure that they wouldn't have had time. Anyway, Chloe must have worked all night to get both The Torch article and the Ledger article in morning editions.
She phoned Jim.
“Jim, I want you to do something for me. Contact the Daily Planet and offer Chloe Sullivan an exclusive interview with me and the candidate here in Smallville immediately after the rally.”
“Why?”
“Just do it Jim. Oh, you better tell the candidate about it.” As she hung up the phone she asked herself why she kept calling her son-in-law the candidate. Did she see her son-in-law and the candidate as two separate people? Were they different? Was the personality that he showed at home and the personality he showed 'on the road' different? No immediate answer came to her.
She would have to think about the questions that she wanted to ask Sullivan but decided to first relax. She took a stroll around downtown Smallville. There wasn't anything special about this town that she could see. She spotted a coffee house and went in.
“Welcome to The Talon, the only independent coffee house in the state.” were the words that greeted her.
Sarah ordered her coffee. While she waited she had a look at the menu.
The coffee arrived. “These are remarkably good prices. How can you keep the business going?”
“Its not a profit making business” said the waitress. “Its a charity. In the evening its open to anyone who needs a little help, whether its just food, a blanket, or a bigger problem. All the locals support it so they all come in often which means our turnover is high resulting in sufficient profit to cover most of the evening costs.”
“Thats a new idea. How long has it been going?”
“I don't know when it became a charity but The Talon coffee house has been here, off and on, for a good 18 years.”
“You said cover most of the evening costs. What happens when you're short of money?”
“The bank allows us an overdraft.”
“That must be getting steadily bigger.”
“No, it gets paid off almost every month.”
“Oh, who by?”
“We don't know. The bank manager won't say a word. Although a couple of years ago at the end of a long cocktail evening a friend of mine claims he overheard the manager saying to his wife 'the most important person'.”
Sarah finished her coffee and returned to the hotel.
The next day was rally day in Smallville. Jim and the candidate arrived together. After the greeting, the speech, the questions from both the public and the press, the candidate and Sarah made their way to The Talon. It was still too early for anyone requiring the charity side of the operation. They were chatting over coffee waiting for Chloe Sullivan who had to get her copy to the Planet before arriving.
“That was straight forward” said Sarah.
“You might think so. It wasn't so simple for me” complained the candidate.
“Something go wrong?”
“Jim didn't give me a full briefing. I don't think it was his fault. I suspect the mayor made some last minute changes. Jim had told me all about the local worthies who would be on the rostrum. What he hadn't told me about were the ones from your rally! They even had the man who had taken the Smallville High football team to the state championship that year. What was his name? Ah, yes, Clark Kent.”
Sarah's memory sparked up. He was the one who stammered. What was it he eventually said? Was it “I feel like a superhero”? He hadn't stammered when she met him again later that night. The Kents, and Chloe Sullivan, had led the people from the downed helicopter back to the Kent house until new arrangements could be made. They were good hosts, not asking questions about the crash, just giving sweet tea and support. Even Chloe, who couldn't stop asking questions at the crash site, didn't probe. Clark had arrived through the front door after about half an hour. Even though the house was full of strangers he hadn't asked one question about what was going on. Sarah had put this down to his being shy, or maybe he was in shock just like she still was.
Chloe Sullivan arrived.
“Hi Chloe” said the waitress as she came over. “Your usual?”
“Yes, thanks Sharon.”
After getting her coffee Sarah and the candidate let Chloe take the lead on this exclusive interview.
“Thank you.” Chloe had run out of questions. “I expect I'll get this published in the Planet in the next couple of days. I'll send you a copy.”
“Would you go and get some more coffees” Sarah instructed her son-in-law. Chloe immediately became apprehensive. Was Mrs. Palin going to try to affect the way she reported this interview? What came was unexpected.
“Chloe, 16 years ago you were the only reporter there when I nearly lost my life. You saw what happened. It was an exclusive, something a young proto reporter couldn't have resisted. I've looked at both your Ledger and your Torch reports. You resisted, not one printed word. Why?”
Chloe was stuck. She hadn't rehearsed a lie for this. She hadn't thought about it in years. She knew why she hadn't reported it. She couldn't think of any way to do so that sounded real without raising questions that Clark didn't want to answer. She believed what she had seen thanks to Alicia's demonstration. Even without that she would have known some thing was off from the looks that Martha and Jonathon gave her when they thought she wasn't watching. Clark was also unusually quiet. He wasn't aware that she had glanced back as she hurried down the barn steps, but he must know she'd arrived at the crash scene before he'd left. She'd made a conscious decision to protect her friend. What could she say to Mrs. Palin?
“I....I ....uh.....was....uh......pro” she stuttered.
Clark appeared behind Sarah Palin. “I'm in a hurry. You ready to go, Chloe?”
Sarah swiveled around and looked up directly into Clark's face as Chloe said “Yes, right, yes ready to go. Lets get out of here.”
Clark and Chloe hurried out. It was Clark who glanced back and mouthed the word 'Thankyou'.
Sarah Palin sat there quietly. She didn't say a word to the candidate when he asked where Ms Sullivan had gone. She didn't say a word the rest of the evening which worried her son-in-law.
Sarah Palin was noticed by her absence at her local church the following Sunday.
---Definitely the end------
Author's after word: Any and all comments are welcome.
Acknowledgment: Iolanthe for pointing out in 12 Steps From Smallville that world politics would change as a result of public Superman
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters etc, etc. This is fiction so none of the characters are real.
-----------PLEASE READ THIS---------------------
PG Rating: PLEASE TAKE NOTE. This story does not contain anything that would normally cause it to be PG18. However, it does express very specific views on religion and politics that may be disagreeable to some readers.
----------------------------------
Sarah Palin found herself in Smallville for the second time in her life. She was sat in the hotel with the campaign manager. She was still unable to decide if she was enjoying this country wide campaign. Not all her memories of her previous campaign were good memories, especially the outcome that had caused her to leave politics behind her.
“OK, Jim, what do the locals have lined up for us here?”
“You're not going to believe it. These hicks either have the same people in charge as when you were here, or they've looked up what happened. They want to hold the rally at the high school football stadium. They've included a list of their local celebrities which they want on the podium with the candidate.”
Sarah couldn't help thinking fondly of the candidate, her son-in-law. Many people, possibly most, around the world thought her daughter's wedding had been a shot gun affair. However, the love between the two had been there to start with. It hadn't diminished with time, it had grown. He had discovered he had the knack for business and was ambitious but never put his family second. He now had his sight set very high. It wasn't as important job as it had been. Ever since Superman had appeared international disagreements had diminished to minor spats. Even religion only survived in minor pockets. Sarah still held to her upbringing, still attended church, but she was in a very small minority.
Jim interrupted her thoughts. “Look. They sent us a copy of the Smallville Ledger report from 16 years ago.”
Sarah took the paper and started reading noticing that the bye line was Ted Palmer and Chloe Sullivan. The report was accurate as far as she could remember. More over there was no opinions voiced. Then she got to the final paragraph.
“Sarah Palin's next rally, which was due to happen the same evening, was canceled due to a transport problem.”
She looked at the date on the newspaper cutting. It was the day after her rally here. She thought back to that night, her memories quite clear – nearly dying is not something you forget. She remembered Chloe Sullivan asking some penetrating policy questions. The newspaper report seemed to reflect Sarah's words accurately, but she was sure that Sullivan had said she was representing the Smallville High student newspaper, The Torch. Sullivan must have had a friend at the Ledger, but she must have kept the details of the 'accident' for an exclusive for The Torch. It would be interesting to see that.
“Jim, we'll just go with what the locals want. You can fly back to my son-in-law and brief him. I'm going to stay here until he's due. I need the break.”
After breakfast the next morning Sarah drove to Smallville High. It wasn't difficult to find, the town's population hadn't grown much in the last 16 years. She walked through the main entrance. Where to go? She was just approaching a student when she heard a male voice.
“Mrs. Palin, you are Mrs. Palin aren't you?”
“Yes, I am.” She hadn't expected to be recognised.
“I'm Mr. Hardwick, headmaster.” They shook hands. “What brings you here? Checking out the venue?”
“Yes. I'm surprised you recognised me.”
“Your son-in-law coming here for a rally is a big event. Our older students are interested. I wouldn't look good if I didn't know as much as them so I took the time to do some research. I'll show you around.”
This wasn't what she wanted, but giving up politics hadn't meant she had lost her political skills so she acquiesced and accompanied the headmaster. The pair got some curious looks from students but no one interrupted them. Did the students not recognise her, or were they wary of the headmaster?
The football stadium was the last part of the tour.
“Anything else I can show you?” asked Mr. Hardwick.
“When I was last here there was a student newspaper, The Torch. Is it still going?”
“Yes, although I'm not sure if the quality of its output is as good as it used to be. But don't mention that to the students. Both the current editor and its readers are still very enthusiastic.”
“I'd like to see it.”
The headmaster took Sarah to The Torch's office. As they entered the boy typing at one of the computers looked up.
“John, I'd like to introduce...” the headmaster started to say.
John interrupted “Mrs. Palin, welcome to The Torch.”
Sarah thought the headmaster had been correct, at least one student was interested in politics.
“Thanks, Mr. Hardwick, I'm sure John can answer any questions I have. Thank you for the tour.”
The headmaster took the hint and left.
“What can I do for you?” asked John.
Sarah was impressed. John wasn't overwhelmed by her presence, he showed no nervousness, just a willingness to interact normally. A good trait for a journalist. Her thinking went on “in contrast to.....”. Why had she thought that? Who was she thinking of?
John was waiting for a response.
“When I was here previously The Torch did an article on my visit, or at least thats the impression I had. Would there still be a copy?”
“I'm sure who ever was here would have done so. Let me have a look.”
“Here it is, written by a Chloe Sullivan. I wonder if thats the same Chloe Sullivan that writes for the Daily Planet? Yep, it was printed the very next day.”
“Can you print me a copy?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Sarah took the article from the printer and headed for the door. She paused, glancing back. “I expect to see you in the press box during the rally.”
In her hotel room Sarah sat and read the article. It was different to the Ledger article. More emphasis and importance was put on Chloe's questions. A bit of self aggrandizement, thought Sarah. Not surprising.
As she got to the end she expected to see the details of the helicopter accident. Chloe had been the only reporter. She and the kindly Kents had been there so quickly they must have seen the helicopter come down. A high school reporter wouldn't have been able to resist printing the exclusive details. But all that was there was the same sentence as in the Ledger.
.“Sarah Palin's next rally, which was due to happen the same evening, was canceled due to a transport problem.”
Sarah was intrigued. Yes, there had been secret service personnel there. They might have leaned on the reporter, but they hadn't known the cause of the accident at the time, they probably didn't even know that Chloe was a reporter. Would they have had time to consult their superiors and quash the details? Sarah was pretty sure that they wouldn't have had time. Anyway, Chloe must have worked all night to get both The Torch article and the Ledger article in morning editions.
She phoned Jim.
“Jim, I want you to do something for me. Contact the Daily Planet and offer Chloe Sullivan an exclusive interview with me and the candidate here in Smallville immediately after the rally.”
“Why?”
“Just do it Jim. Oh, you better tell the candidate about it.” As she hung up the phone she asked herself why she kept calling her son-in-law the candidate. Did she see her son-in-law and the candidate as two separate people? Were they different? Was the personality that he showed at home and the personality he showed 'on the road' different? No immediate answer came to her.
She would have to think about the questions that she wanted to ask Sullivan but decided to first relax. She took a stroll around downtown Smallville. There wasn't anything special about this town that she could see. She spotted a coffee house and went in.
“Welcome to The Talon, the only independent coffee house in the state.” were the words that greeted her.
Sarah ordered her coffee. While she waited she had a look at the menu.
The coffee arrived. “These are remarkably good prices. How can you keep the business going?”
“Its not a profit making business” said the waitress. “Its a charity. In the evening its open to anyone who needs a little help, whether its just food, a blanket, or a bigger problem. All the locals support it so they all come in often which means our turnover is high resulting in sufficient profit to cover most of the evening costs.”
“Thats a new idea. How long has it been going?”
“I don't know when it became a charity but The Talon coffee house has been here, off and on, for a good 18 years.”
“You said cover most of the evening costs. What happens when you're short of money?”
“The bank allows us an overdraft.”
“That must be getting steadily bigger.”
“No, it gets paid off almost every month.”
“Oh, who by?”
“We don't know. The bank manager won't say a word. Although a couple of years ago at the end of a long cocktail evening a friend of mine claims he overheard the manager saying to his wife 'the most important person'.”
Sarah finished her coffee and returned to the hotel.
The next day was rally day in Smallville. Jim and the candidate arrived together. After the greeting, the speech, the questions from both the public and the press, the candidate and Sarah made their way to The Talon. It was still too early for anyone requiring the charity side of the operation. They were chatting over coffee waiting for Chloe Sullivan who had to get her copy to the Planet before arriving.
“That was straight forward” said Sarah.
“You might think so. It wasn't so simple for me” complained the candidate.
“Something go wrong?”
“Jim didn't give me a full briefing. I don't think it was his fault. I suspect the mayor made some last minute changes. Jim had told me all about the local worthies who would be on the rostrum. What he hadn't told me about were the ones from your rally! They even had the man who had taken the Smallville High football team to the state championship that year. What was his name? Ah, yes, Clark Kent.”
Sarah's memory sparked up. He was the one who stammered. What was it he eventually said? Was it “I feel like a superhero”? He hadn't stammered when she met him again later that night. The Kents, and Chloe Sullivan, had led the people from the downed helicopter back to the Kent house until new arrangements could be made. They were good hosts, not asking questions about the crash, just giving sweet tea and support. Even Chloe, who couldn't stop asking questions at the crash site, didn't probe. Clark had arrived through the front door after about half an hour. Even though the house was full of strangers he hadn't asked one question about what was going on. Sarah had put this down to his being shy, or maybe he was in shock just like she still was.
Chloe Sullivan arrived.
“Hi Chloe” said the waitress as she came over. “Your usual?”
“Yes, thanks Sharon.”
After getting her coffee Sarah and the candidate let Chloe take the lead on this exclusive interview.
“Thank you.” Chloe had run out of questions. “I expect I'll get this published in the Planet in the next couple of days. I'll send you a copy.”
“Would you go and get some more coffees” Sarah instructed her son-in-law. Chloe immediately became apprehensive. Was Mrs. Palin going to try to affect the way she reported this interview? What came was unexpected.
“Chloe, 16 years ago you were the only reporter there when I nearly lost my life. You saw what happened. It was an exclusive, something a young proto reporter couldn't have resisted. I've looked at both your Ledger and your Torch reports. You resisted, not one printed word. Why?”
Chloe was stuck. She hadn't rehearsed a lie for this. She hadn't thought about it in years. She knew why she hadn't reported it. She couldn't think of any way to do so that sounded real without raising questions that Clark didn't want to answer. She believed what she had seen thanks to Alicia's demonstration. Even without that she would have known some thing was off from the looks that Martha and Jonathon gave her when they thought she wasn't watching. Clark was also unusually quiet. He wasn't aware that she had glanced back as she hurried down the barn steps, but he must know she'd arrived at the crash scene before he'd left. She'd made a conscious decision to protect her friend. What could she say to Mrs. Palin?
“I....I ....uh.....was....uh......pro” she stuttered.
Clark appeared behind Sarah Palin. “I'm in a hurry. You ready to go, Chloe?”
Sarah swiveled around and looked up directly into Clark's face as Chloe said “Yes, right, yes ready to go. Lets get out of here.”
Clark and Chloe hurried out. It was Clark who glanced back and mouthed the word 'Thankyou'.
Sarah Palin sat there quietly. She didn't say a word to the candidate when he asked where Ms Sullivan had gone. She didn't say a word the rest of the evening which worried her son-in-law.
Sarah Palin was noticed by her absence at her local church the following Sunday.
---Definitely the end------
Author's after word: Any and all comments are welcome.
