Jonathan Kent and Astro walked into the Smallville school building office. School was still closed for the summer, though registration of new students had already begun with labor day just a week away. Miss June Trout had been teaching at the Smallville lower school when Jonathan was a kid, she was now the school's principal.
“Hello Johnny!” she said, still remembering him as a kid.
“Hello Miss Trout” Kent said. “This is my younger brother's kid, Clark, who's living with us now. I'd like to register him for class starting in the fall. He'll be ten years old real soon now.”
Astro smiled at the principal. “Hello” he said softly.
“I didn't know you had a nephew” Miss Trout said.
“Neither did I, until a few days ago.” Jonathan said, mentally crossing his fingers behind his back. He hated to lie, but the truth wasn't an option.
“Well, I guess it's nice to find missing family members reunited.” she answered, handing him a form to fill out. “I'll be glad to see you in school this fall, Clark. Welcome to Smallville.”
That task completed, they walked out of the school building.
“I'm not sure where the Luthor's live.” Jonathan told Clark, but I think the chemist might know.
They headed over to the drugstore and found Mr. Ludwig the proprietor just finishing a prescription for a customer.
“Hello Jonathan!” the chemist said. “How can we help you today? Is Martha's arthritis acting up again?”
“No, Martha is just fine, thank you.” Kent said. “I actually wanted to talk to that whiz kid, Lex. I figured you might know where he lives.”
“That pain in the rear?” Mr. Ludwig laughed. “Yeah, I know where he lives, he almost burned the place down several times with his chemistry experiments. He used to buy most of his supplies from me, until he started needing stuff I couldn't legally buy. I think he's dealing with shady out of town mail order houses now. He lives at the end of main street, near the edge of town.”
“Thank you.” Kent said.
“If you don't mind my asking, what do you need with Lex?”
“Oh, I've got a machine that needs fixing, and I had this idea that he could help.” Kent said.
“He probably could, but you be careful. Lex has been know to fix things so well, that they no longer work as they were intended to. Take my coke machine over there.” The pharmacist pointed to the corner of the store. “It stopped keeping cold and the company wanted quite a few hundred bucks to replace it. Lex told me he could fix it, and he sure did. Only now it gets so cold that the pop bottles are frozen solid, and they take an hour to thaw out after they come out of the machine!”
“I'll keep that in mind.” Jonathan said, as he and Astro walked out of the store.
They headed back to the truck, and were about to get in when the wail of sirens hit their ears. Two fire engines and a the sheriff's car were zooming down Main street toward the railroad station.
“What's going on?” Jonathan asked Patrick Griffin, the Sheriff's deputy who was trying to direct traffic on the street.
“Somethings wrong with the train.” he said. “The station master radioed in that a runaway train was heading into the station. They think the engineer must have had a heart attack, leaving the train running with the throttle wide open.”
“But that's not supposed to happen.” Kent told the deputy, “those engines have a dead-man switch that should prevent that.”
“Well nothing is fool proof.” Patrick replied.
Nine year old Lois Lane had spent half of her summer in the state capital with her father, and the other half in Smallville with her mother. She wished her parents hadn't gotten divorced, and with the new school year about to start she was really depressed. She loved her father, but she didn't want to leave her school friends in Smallville. When the judge had agreed on a joint custody for her, the arrangement that had been finally worked out was for her to spend the school year with her mother in Smallville, and alternate weekends with her father. During the summer, she had gone back and forth between the two, spending a week here and the next week there.
At least it was an easy trip between her father's place in the capital, and her mother in town. It was only an hour and a half train ride, and Lois loved traveling by train. She got to know the conductor and the engineer on a first name basis, and made friends with a lot of the regular passengers as well. She loved looking out the windows watching the scenery go by. It was easy to tell when the train was getting close to her mother's station, that's when the tracks started running parallel to state highway773 which ran right into town. She'd watch the cars go by look at the people in them.
On the last trip into town, she'd seen this dreamy boy looking out the passenger side window of an old Ford pickup who stared right back at her.
As the train turned around the final bend, and the highway came into view, something seemed wrong. Their speed was increasing and the train was zooming past the traffic on the road much too fast. She saw the conductor coming into her car to help take down luggage for the passengers getting off at Smallville.
“Hey mister Jones” she asked the conductor. “Is something wrong, we seem to be going a bit fast.”
“Oh just a bit, maybe.” the conductor answered. “Charlie the Engineer might be trying to make up some time. We had to wait a long time back in Clarksville for the freight to pass, remember?”
“Oh yeah.” Lois said. “Maybe that's it.”
Jonathan parked his truck near the station and he and Clark got out. There was a crowd of people gathered near the station. The Sheriff had a bull horn and was trying to order everyone to leave, he insisted that it might be dangerous if they couldn't stop the train. He saw Mr. Kent and spoke to him.
"Jonathan, maybe you could talk some sense into this crowd. I've got the fire department going up the tracks to try and set up a road block. I doubt they will be able to do anything to stop the train though. If it is a runaway, and hits the station at 90 mph, it will derail and crash into god knows how many houses.” The Sheriff handed the bullhorn to Mr. Kent who started to repeat the warning.
Astro ran back to the truck and grabbed his super outfit from under the seat where he'd left it. He changed into it at lighting speed and started to run toward the station. In the distance he could make out the fire engines which had been parked on the tracks in a feeble attempt at a road block. He discovered that his eyes could operate as telescopes and he now saw the train approaching at high speed. Astro ran toward the pending disaster hoping to prevent it. He ran faster and faster, and suddenly found himself airborne, flying!
The bottoms of Astro's feet opened up and the nozzles of jet engines emerged. He was now jet propelled, and flying toward the approaching train, which was now less than half a mile from where the fire department were making their last stand.
Engineer Charlie Smith, had indeed suffered a heart attack. He had knocked his lunch pail off of the shelf where he had placed it, and the heavy bucket had landed on top of the foot switch that kept the engine running. That foot switch was the infamous, “dead man”, the idea being that an unconscious man would not be able to keep pressure on it. A simple accident had just disabled the function. Charlie lay on the floor of the cab, with the throttle left wide open.
Astro flew along side the engine and saw the problem. He smashed through the front window of the locomotive and threw the throttle back to idle and applied the brakes. The crew on the fire engines had a front row seat, and saw exactly what happened. The train came to a stop inches from the their improvised roadblock.
"Smallville" crossover
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Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
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- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Last edited by Tetsuwan Penguin on Sun Jun 22, 2014 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! 
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I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
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Windswept Cloak
- Banned
- Posts: 2115
- Joined: 11 years ago
- Location: Sitting at my desk, surrounded by books and papers.
"Tetsuwan Penguin" wrote:He's got Saphire and Pinoko as Wonder Woman. Also note Astro is mirror image, his S is backwards.
I think BlackJack would look better as Batman or even the Green Hornet!
I'd like to clean up that scan (the background is dark), and cut Astro out of it onto a new image all by himself. Then I'd flip it left to right to correct that backward "S", and color it in (red boots, blue pants and shirt, red and yellow "S", red cape). Perfect image for posting this story up on FF.NET later.
Then he would have to be called "Black Bat".
I joined this forum in late 2013 when I was 15 going on 16. Ignore my oldest posts, they embarrass me so much that I've considered permanantly leaving the forum more than once. I've grown out of my fangirling phase over Black Jack, Atom and Uran ages ago but the memories still embarrass me at times... 
Though, I try to be more open-minded about it and accept it as an "interesting stage of my life". 
Though, I try to be more open-minded about it and accept it as an "interesting stage of my life". -
Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Lex Luthor had a good view of the railroad station from the window of his third floor bedroom with his telescope. He had seen the crowd gathering in the street from the window, and quickly aimed the high powered telescope to see what was going on. In the distance he could see the train speeding into the station, heading for disaster. Suddenly, a blue and red streak flew across his field of view heading toward the train. Lex twisted the zoom on his eyepiece and watched as Super Boy flew into the locomotive to stop the train. It didn't take the boy genius very long to figure out what this new hero was, the subtle lack of fluidity of his movements gave him away. I've got to meet this being Lex thought to himself. He ran downstairs and jumped on his motorized bicycle.
Engineer Smith's lips were starting to turn blue. Astro felt for a pulse, but there wasn't any. Deep in his computer brain, a store house of general knowledge became available to him, and he realized that unless the man's heart was restarted, he'd never make it to the hospital alive. Without knowing how he did it, Astro's internal power supply built up a charge between his hands. Astro ripped the man's shirt off and placed his palms on Smith's chest, discharging himself. The electrical pulse acted as a defibrillator, shocking Smith's heart back into normal sinus rhythm. Astro placed his mouth over Smith's and blew in. After three breaths, Charlie coughed and started breathing on his own. The color returned to his skin.
Fire Chief Stanley Stokey jumped into the cab of the locomotive just as Smith opened his eyes.
What happened? the engineer asked.
It seems you passed out at the controls, Charlie. Stanley told him, And this lad saved your life, not to mention a good chunk of the town.
An ambulance arrived next to where the locomotive sat, and the paramedics brought a stretcher on board to carry Smith over to the waiting vehicle. It rolled away with its sirens blaring, heading for the hospital. A reporter from the local newspaper held his Graflex Speed Graphic up and snapped a picture of Astro in the Super Boy outfit.
Looks like we have a new hero here in Smallville. the reporter said. He took out his news pad and interviewed the firemen, who had witnessed Astro's heroics, and began to formulate the story that would hit the evening edition.
Astro walked away from the train, and headed back toward the station where Jonathan Kent was waiting. Lex Luthor arrived there about the same moment on his motorized bicycle. The boy genius looked at Astro and asked who are you?
Jonathan looked at Clark and mouthed something, Astro read his lips.
You can call me Superboy he said.
You're a robot, aren't you? Luthor asked.
How did you know that? Jonathan asked.
I watched him carefully. Lex said. He moves with a very slight mechanical gait. I can tell, I've built a few robots, though none with his sentience.
You're Lex Luthor, aren't you? Jonathan asked.
That's me the boy genius nodded.
What do you know about Atomic fuel? Astro asked. Lifting his shirt, he opened his chest panel and pointed to the refueling port inside.
Lex peered into Astro's inner cavity and thought. Liquid deuterium fuel, no doubt. Can be refined from distilled heavy water. I could build a device to recover enough of that from sea water to do the job. Of course I'd need something up front to cover my costs.
I think I could arrange that. Astro said. He walked over to the nearby railroad tracks and picked up a lump of coal from the ground that fallen from the tender of a passing train. Holding the lump of coal between his hands he squeezed it, twisting his fists tighter and tighter together. Smoke wafted from between his fingers. When Astro opened his hands, he was holding a small diamond, he had performed in a few moments a transformation that takes nature thousands of years to do naturally.
Will this do? he asked tossing the rough diamond toward the boy.
Lex held the stone up to let the sunlight pass through it. Wow! he gasped. Must be several hundred carats! Yeah, I can buy enough supplies to build the required apparatus with this!
The Smallville Gazette ran the story about the runaway train on page one of the evening edition. The news also hit the press wire and was picked by the newspapers of several nearby towns. It was mentioned toward the end of the TV evening news in the state capital. Three days later, it showed up in a random search engine cache and ended up toward the end of a large file being compiled by a spider program running on Reno's computer at the Ministry of Science.
The next day, Professor Ochanomizu showed up in his office and mindlessly drank his black tea. He'd been in the dumps for a week after the loss of the prototype escape capsule with Astro on board. Reno entered his office with a bit of a grin on his face.
Ochanomizu Hakase Reno said have you opened your email yet this morning.
I'm sorry, Reno. The professor began. I've been in a bit of a fog for the past week. Every possible search angle has turned up nothing. I feel responsible for Astro's loss. I wish I knew what happened to him.
Take a look at what my spider program dug up last night. Reno said. It may be nothing, but it may be everything.
Ochanomizu opened the email and the attachment. He quickly paged to the end of the file and saw the news item. Runaway train stopped by Superboy. Derail disaster averted. Engineer recovering after hero administers emergency cpr.
The professor looked at the blurry black and white picture of the costumed super hero. The face looked very familiar.
Engineer Smith's lips were starting to turn blue. Astro felt for a pulse, but there wasn't any. Deep in his computer brain, a store house of general knowledge became available to him, and he realized that unless the man's heart was restarted, he'd never make it to the hospital alive. Without knowing how he did it, Astro's internal power supply built up a charge between his hands. Astro ripped the man's shirt off and placed his palms on Smith's chest, discharging himself. The electrical pulse acted as a defibrillator, shocking Smith's heart back into normal sinus rhythm. Astro placed his mouth over Smith's and blew in. After three breaths, Charlie coughed and started breathing on his own. The color returned to his skin.
Fire Chief Stanley Stokey jumped into the cab of the locomotive just as Smith opened his eyes.
What happened? the engineer asked.
It seems you passed out at the controls, Charlie. Stanley told him, And this lad saved your life, not to mention a good chunk of the town.
An ambulance arrived next to where the locomotive sat, and the paramedics brought a stretcher on board to carry Smith over to the waiting vehicle. It rolled away with its sirens blaring, heading for the hospital. A reporter from the local newspaper held his Graflex Speed Graphic up and snapped a picture of Astro in the Super Boy outfit.
Looks like we have a new hero here in Smallville. the reporter said. He took out his news pad and interviewed the firemen, who had witnessed Astro's heroics, and began to formulate the story that would hit the evening edition.
Astro walked away from the train, and headed back toward the station where Jonathan Kent was waiting. Lex Luthor arrived there about the same moment on his motorized bicycle. The boy genius looked at Astro and asked who are you?
Jonathan looked at Clark and mouthed something, Astro read his lips.
You can call me Superboy he said.
You're a robot, aren't you? Luthor asked.
How did you know that? Jonathan asked.
I watched him carefully. Lex said. He moves with a very slight mechanical gait. I can tell, I've built a few robots, though none with his sentience.
You're Lex Luthor, aren't you? Jonathan asked.
That's me the boy genius nodded.
What do you know about Atomic fuel? Astro asked. Lifting his shirt, he opened his chest panel and pointed to the refueling port inside.
Lex peered into Astro's inner cavity and thought. Liquid deuterium fuel, no doubt. Can be refined from distilled heavy water. I could build a device to recover enough of that from sea water to do the job. Of course I'd need something up front to cover my costs.
I think I could arrange that. Astro said. He walked over to the nearby railroad tracks and picked up a lump of coal from the ground that fallen from the tender of a passing train. Holding the lump of coal between his hands he squeezed it, twisting his fists tighter and tighter together. Smoke wafted from between his fingers. When Astro opened his hands, he was holding a small diamond, he had performed in a few moments a transformation that takes nature thousands of years to do naturally.
Will this do? he asked tossing the rough diamond toward the boy.
Lex held the stone up to let the sunlight pass through it. Wow! he gasped. Must be several hundred carats! Yeah, I can buy enough supplies to build the required apparatus with this!
The Smallville Gazette ran the story about the runaway train on page one of the evening edition. The news also hit the press wire and was picked by the newspapers of several nearby towns. It was mentioned toward the end of the TV evening news in the state capital. Three days later, it showed up in a random search engine cache and ended up toward the end of a large file being compiled by a spider program running on Reno's computer at the Ministry of Science.
The next day, Professor Ochanomizu showed up in his office and mindlessly drank his black tea. He'd been in the dumps for a week after the loss of the prototype escape capsule with Astro on board. Reno entered his office with a bit of a grin on his face.
Ochanomizu Hakase Reno said have you opened your email yet this morning.
I'm sorry, Reno. The professor began. I've been in a bit of a fog for the past week. Every possible search angle has turned up nothing. I feel responsible for Astro's loss. I wish I knew what happened to him.
Take a look at what my spider program dug up last night. Reno said. It may be nothing, but it may be everything.
Ochanomizu opened the email and the attachment. He quickly paged to the end of the file and saw the news item. Runaway train stopped by Superboy. Derail disaster averted. Engineer recovering after hero administers emergency cpr.
The professor looked at the blurry black and white picture of the costumed super hero. The face looked very familiar.
[sigpic][/sigpic]
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
-
Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Lois Lane looked with start struck eyes at the boy in the cape who had stopped the train. She ran up to Astro, shoved her way between him, Jonathan Kent, and Lex Luthor, and pulling him towards her planted a kiss on his face.
Who are you? Astro asked in shock.
I'm Lois Lane, and you are my hero! she said.
Astro didn't know what to do, his face turned beet red in embarrassment. Jonathan politely took the young girl by her hand and led her away from his adopted son.
I think Superboy has some important business to take care of, hero stuff you understand. He said.
That's OK. Lois told him as she started walking towards her mother's house. I'll find him again later.
Lex Luthor pocketed the huge diamond. He pulled out a small business sized card and handed it to Astro. Here's my phone number in town. Call me in a few days, I should have some good news for you by then.
Thanks Astro said.
Astro took off, and flew back to the Kent farm. It would have been hard to sneak back to the truck and change out of his super costume and back into Clark's clothing with the crowd hanging around the train station, so he figured just disappearing would be safer. Jonathan let the sheriff thank him for his help with the crowd, and then he got in his truck and headed back home. By the time he got there Clark was helping Martha to put dinner up.
Reno processed the blurry picture of the the costumed superhero the the red S on his chest, trying to get a better view of the face. I'm almost certain that's Astro he told the professor.
Where did that story originate? Ochanomizu asked.
A small town called Smallville, in the middle of the American farm land, somewhere in Kansas I think. Reno said.
If you can find more proof that our missing escape capsule actually came down in that area, I'll go out there and look around. The professor replied. If that superhero in the news story actually is Astro, there are some things that don't make sense.
I agree. Reno replied. If Astro wasn't damaged in the crash landing of the capsule he should have made contact with us some time ago. The fact that he didn't, yet appears to be in working order as that photo would indicate, suggests that he suffered a memory loss.
Astro has suffered from amnesia before. The professor said. Usually as a result of exposure to a very strong EMP field. He did report a nuclear powered freighter with engine trouble just before we lost contact with the test vehicle. That could explain a lot.
Reno's fingers flew across the keyboard of his computer. He quickly cross referenced the facts and did a quick search.
Yes, the space merchant marines have on record that there was a nuclear powered freighter returning from Mars that day. Reno reported. They ejected their reactor core just before it went super critical and exploded. The freighter returned safely, after making an emergency landing in Antarctica.
Now that we now the probable cause for the disappearance of the test vehicle we should be able to back track it's path and compute its likely landing spot. Ochanomizu thought aloud.
I'm already on it! Reno said as he did some quick hacking. A few minutes later he pulled a sheet of paper from the laser printer on his desk and handed the printout to the professor.
Yes, this just about confirms it. Ochanomizu said. Given the reported orbit of that freighter, the ground observations of the explosion in space and the timing of it, plus our own tracking information up the the moment we lost contact with Astro's escape capsule, the predicted reentry path takes it quite close to central Kansas.
I'm coming with you. Reno demanded. If Astro's AI is damaged, you're going to need my help to restore his memory.
I agree. The professor answered. I'll have Yuko arrange our transportation. In the mean while you get what gear you'll need to help Astro, and I'll collect what I need for the recovery of what remains of our test capsule. With any luck we can salvage this test flight and restore Astro's memory as well.
Martha Kent scooped out a generous helping of mashed potatoes and dumped it on Jonathan's plate.
Well, I guess you two had an exciting day today. she said. and Clark got to try out my sewing handiwork.
We sure did, Martha. Jonathan said. We also go to talk to that brainiac kid, Lex Luthor in town. He agreed to help us with Clark's fuel problem. By the way son, after that bit of hero work how long do you have left before that becomes a problem?
Astro opened his chest panel and looked at the indicators. I think it shows me still being a bit more than half full. He said. I should be OK for a while yet.
Did the day's excitement bring back any memories? his father asked.
Only a few vague things. Clark replied. Despite the fact that you found me in what looked like a small space ship I'm certain that I was born here on Earth, but in another country. I think somewhere in Asia, actually.
The Town of Smallville celebrated four holidays in mass. For each of these, the town counsel put aside funds to put together something to bring the town's people together to enjoy the occasion. The 4th of July was probably the biggest bash they put together with an all day bar-b-q, music, and a huge fireworks display after dark. On Thanksgiving day they would have a parade running though downtown, mimicking what Macy's did in NYC, but on a much smaller scale. For Christmas they would set up a tree in the center of the town, right in front of City Hall, all decorated with lots of lights. And then there was the Labor Day celebration. Labor day was not officially the last day of summer, that actually happened about two weeks later. But it was the last hurrah of the summer, with school starting the next day for the local kids.
The Labor Day bash was a miniature version of the July 4th festivities. No fireworks, but a baseball game between the fire department and the police department, free hot dogs, and lots of pop corn and cotton candy. The local 4H club usually held a contest where farm produce and live stock were judged. Things like the biggest ear of corn, or the largest watermelon were put on display. Jonathan Kent had volunteered to help with this year's judging.
You'll enjoy the holiday Clark. he told his son. This town really pulls together on the holidays.
Who are you? Astro asked in shock.
I'm Lois Lane, and you are my hero! she said.
Astro didn't know what to do, his face turned beet red in embarrassment. Jonathan politely took the young girl by her hand and led her away from his adopted son.
I think Superboy has some important business to take care of, hero stuff you understand. He said.
That's OK. Lois told him as she started walking towards her mother's house. I'll find him again later.
Lex Luthor pocketed the huge diamond. He pulled out a small business sized card and handed it to Astro. Here's my phone number in town. Call me in a few days, I should have some good news for you by then.
Thanks Astro said.
Astro took off, and flew back to the Kent farm. It would have been hard to sneak back to the truck and change out of his super costume and back into Clark's clothing with the crowd hanging around the train station, so he figured just disappearing would be safer. Jonathan let the sheriff thank him for his help with the crowd, and then he got in his truck and headed back home. By the time he got there Clark was helping Martha to put dinner up.
Reno processed the blurry picture of the the costumed superhero the the red S on his chest, trying to get a better view of the face. I'm almost certain that's Astro he told the professor.
Where did that story originate? Ochanomizu asked.
A small town called Smallville, in the middle of the American farm land, somewhere in Kansas I think. Reno said.
If you can find more proof that our missing escape capsule actually came down in that area, I'll go out there and look around. The professor replied. If that superhero in the news story actually is Astro, there are some things that don't make sense.
I agree. Reno replied. If Astro wasn't damaged in the crash landing of the capsule he should have made contact with us some time ago. The fact that he didn't, yet appears to be in working order as that photo would indicate, suggests that he suffered a memory loss.
Astro has suffered from amnesia before. The professor said. Usually as a result of exposure to a very strong EMP field. He did report a nuclear powered freighter with engine trouble just before we lost contact with the test vehicle. That could explain a lot.
Reno's fingers flew across the keyboard of his computer. He quickly cross referenced the facts and did a quick search.
Yes, the space merchant marines have on record that there was a nuclear powered freighter returning from Mars that day. Reno reported. They ejected their reactor core just before it went super critical and exploded. The freighter returned safely, after making an emergency landing in Antarctica.
Now that we now the probable cause for the disappearance of the test vehicle we should be able to back track it's path and compute its likely landing spot. Ochanomizu thought aloud.
I'm already on it! Reno said as he did some quick hacking. A few minutes later he pulled a sheet of paper from the laser printer on his desk and handed the printout to the professor.
Yes, this just about confirms it. Ochanomizu said. Given the reported orbit of that freighter, the ground observations of the explosion in space and the timing of it, plus our own tracking information up the the moment we lost contact with Astro's escape capsule, the predicted reentry path takes it quite close to central Kansas.
I'm coming with you. Reno demanded. If Astro's AI is damaged, you're going to need my help to restore his memory.
I agree. The professor answered. I'll have Yuko arrange our transportation. In the mean while you get what gear you'll need to help Astro, and I'll collect what I need for the recovery of what remains of our test capsule. With any luck we can salvage this test flight and restore Astro's memory as well.
Martha Kent scooped out a generous helping of mashed potatoes and dumped it on Jonathan's plate.
Well, I guess you two had an exciting day today. she said. and Clark got to try out my sewing handiwork.
We sure did, Martha. Jonathan said. We also go to talk to that brainiac kid, Lex Luthor in town. He agreed to help us with Clark's fuel problem. By the way son, after that bit of hero work how long do you have left before that becomes a problem?
Astro opened his chest panel and looked at the indicators. I think it shows me still being a bit more than half full. He said. I should be OK for a while yet.
Did the day's excitement bring back any memories? his father asked.
Only a few vague things. Clark replied. Despite the fact that you found me in what looked like a small space ship I'm certain that I was born here on Earth, but in another country. I think somewhere in Asia, actually.
The Town of Smallville celebrated four holidays in mass. For each of these, the town counsel put aside funds to put together something to bring the town's people together to enjoy the occasion. The 4th of July was probably the biggest bash they put together with an all day bar-b-q, music, and a huge fireworks display after dark. On Thanksgiving day they would have a parade running though downtown, mimicking what Macy's did in NYC, but on a much smaller scale. For Christmas they would set up a tree in the center of the town, right in front of City Hall, all decorated with lots of lights. And then there was the Labor Day celebration. Labor day was not officially the last day of summer, that actually happened about two weeks later. But it was the last hurrah of the summer, with school starting the next day for the local kids.
The Labor Day bash was a miniature version of the July 4th festivities. No fireworks, but a baseball game between the fire department and the police department, free hot dogs, and lots of pop corn and cotton candy. The local 4H club usually held a contest where farm produce and live stock were judged. Things like the biggest ear of corn, or the largest watermelon were put on display. Jonathan Kent had volunteered to help with this year's judging.
You'll enjoy the holiday Clark. he told his son. This town really pulls together on the holidays.
[sigpic][/sigpic]
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
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Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Lex Luthor looked at the oscilloscope screen and groaned. He'd been working on his uncle's stock car racer for several hours, and he still wasn't happy with the timing. The car's engine computer was tied into his Macbook computer while Luthor adjusted the engine parameters he watched the real time analysis on the four channel 'scope. It hadn't taken him long to hack into the 'Chevy's firmware, but he gradually realized that he'd missed something, because the engine wasn't running quite the way he wanted. Tiberius Mooney took that moment to walk into the garage and found his nephew still working on the car.
Hey, she sounds real nice. Tiberius said. Thanks Nephew.
Hi, Uncle Mooney. Lex answered without turning to look. Yeah, it does sound nice, but there is still something wrong. I can't seem to get the valve timing optimum. Might cost you a few milliseconds at the finish line.
I would think that would be close enough. Tiberius said. You know, sometimes perfection comes at too high a price. Anyway, I need to take her out on the track. The qualifying runs start in half an hour.
Lex Looked at his watch and sighed. Yeah, you're right. Well I think I've got your car running well enough for you to qualify for a good starting position, but bring it back to me afterwards and I'll get it perfect for the race tomorrow.
Sounds good to me. Tiberius agreed.
After changing planes three times, Professor Ochanomizu and Reno now found themselves on a twin engine turboprop puddle jumper out of Kansas City, Mo., bound for Smallville. Ochanomizu was delighted at first to find that the town even had an airport, until he discovered that there were only two commercial flights a day in and out of there, both connecting with the nearby Kansas City airport. They had a long layover in the prairie city, and spent the time holed up in a nearby movie theater watching a double feature of two B scifi flicks from the 1960's.
The plane was a Basler BT-67, a DC-3 turboprop conversion outfitted for short range passenger service. While the seating was cramped, the flight was only half full and so they had plenty of room to stretch out. The unpressurized aircraft flew below the weather at about 8000 feet, making for a bit of a bumpy ride. By the time they landed, they were both glad to catch a taxi to their hotel.
Tomorrow is the American Labor Day holiday. the professor told Reno. I understand that the entire town will be out in celebration, there will be various activities in progress, including a baseball game and an auto race. It may make it easy to find Atom, though he may not be in that Superboy costume unless something happens.
Donald Hughes stood on the movable platform of the cherry picker inspecting the gas bag of his blimp. He'd bought the thing second hand from an advertising company on the ropes, and had then built a hangar for it out of several surplus military portable buildings that were being scrapped by the government.
Don owned the Smallville airport, and the only airline that served it. It had been his dream to get one of the high technology companies in an expansion mode to locate a division in his town. To do that, he'd have to get Smallville on the map. None of the major airlines were interested in bringing any flights to Smallville, he couldn't even get any of the minor carriers to talk to him. So he started his own airline, using what funds he'd managed to save, and borrowed the rest. Luckily for him some banker thought he was actually related to the famous billionaire with the same last name. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't really the case. Smallville Air, only owned the one airplane, which Hughes was able to buy on credit at a good price when another buyer backed out of a deal. Don's other business was flying crop dusters for the local farmers, and contract work for the USPS.
The blimp was his latest endeavor, he had a managed to get a contract with two of the regional radio and TV stations for aerial camera work, and traffic reporting. He touched up a few paint spots on the outside of the blimp and then lowered the platform of the cherry picker. Earlier, he had topped off the lifting gas of the aircraft. He'd managed to get a good supply of helium from a gray market supplier he'd never heard of before. He didn't question where the material came from, he was glad to get it at the price, and judging from the performance of the blimp, the stuff was good. Tomorrow he would be in the blimp getting good aerial views of the auto race. He was hoping for a good labor day.
Clyde Coch drove his Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 off of the main road leading into Smallville, and took a cow path across a plowed field. After going about 5 miles over the rough terrain he came to a tent set up in the middle of the field. Two of his employees were operating the drilling equipment that had been set up there for several weeks.
Any good news to report? Clyde asked.
Here, take a look for yourself. Poindexter Drake said, handing his boss a printout. The geologist dropped his report off about a half hour ago. He couldn't wait for you to show up, he had business else where.
Hmph. Clyde moaned. He must be working for one of our competitors as well.
Probably. Poindexter agreed. Those egg heads don't take sides, they just work for whoever comes up with the cash.
Coch quickly thumbed through the geologist's report. He gradually developed a smile on his face, which only got larger the further into the report that he read.
Looks very good. He said. I want you two to start setting up the hydraulic fracking equipment. Work all day, and into the night if you have to, I want to see preliminary results ASAP.
But, we're still waiting on the final approval for the go ahead on the fracking from the state commission. Poindexter told his boss. And they are still waiting on signed waivers from two of the holdout farmers, a mister Kent, and a a mister Ford.
Screw the approval! Clyde roared. Besides, this is only a test well, by the time we are ready for full production I'll have the approval from the commission. I've already paid off enough of those SOB's and they will see it our way. They just have to put on a good show for the voters, that's all. Of course we may have to put some pressure on those two farmers.
Poindexter shrugged his shoulders. OK, Boss, consider it done. He said. Just remember you will owe us the overtime.
Cheap at the price. Coch laughed. Considering that in a few months time I'll have quadrupled the output of our gas production. With market prices at an all time high, my company will be showing record profits.
Hey, she sounds real nice. Tiberius said. Thanks Nephew.
Hi, Uncle Mooney. Lex answered without turning to look. Yeah, it does sound nice, but there is still something wrong. I can't seem to get the valve timing optimum. Might cost you a few milliseconds at the finish line.
I would think that would be close enough. Tiberius said. You know, sometimes perfection comes at too high a price. Anyway, I need to take her out on the track. The qualifying runs start in half an hour.
Lex Looked at his watch and sighed. Yeah, you're right. Well I think I've got your car running well enough for you to qualify for a good starting position, but bring it back to me afterwards and I'll get it perfect for the race tomorrow.
Sounds good to me. Tiberius agreed.
After changing planes three times, Professor Ochanomizu and Reno now found themselves on a twin engine turboprop puddle jumper out of Kansas City, Mo., bound for Smallville. Ochanomizu was delighted at first to find that the town even had an airport, until he discovered that there were only two commercial flights a day in and out of there, both connecting with the nearby Kansas City airport. They had a long layover in the prairie city, and spent the time holed up in a nearby movie theater watching a double feature of two B scifi flicks from the 1960's.
The plane was a Basler BT-67, a DC-3 turboprop conversion outfitted for short range passenger service. While the seating was cramped, the flight was only half full and so they had plenty of room to stretch out. The unpressurized aircraft flew below the weather at about 8000 feet, making for a bit of a bumpy ride. By the time they landed, they were both glad to catch a taxi to their hotel.
Tomorrow is the American Labor Day holiday. the professor told Reno. I understand that the entire town will be out in celebration, there will be various activities in progress, including a baseball game and an auto race. It may make it easy to find Atom, though he may not be in that Superboy costume unless something happens.
Donald Hughes stood on the movable platform of the cherry picker inspecting the gas bag of his blimp. He'd bought the thing second hand from an advertising company on the ropes, and had then built a hangar for it out of several surplus military portable buildings that were being scrapped by the government.
Don owned the Smallville airport, and the only airline that served it. It had been his dream to get one of the high technology companies in an expansion mode to locate a division in his town. To do that, he'd have to get Smallville on the map. None of the major airlines were interested in bringing any flights to Smallville, he couldn't even get any of the minor carriers to talk to him. So he started his own airline, using what funds he'd managed to save, and borrowed the rest. Luckily for him some banker thought he was actually related to the famous billionaire with the same last name. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't really the case. Smallville Air, only owned the one airplane, which Hughes was able to buy on credit at a good price when another buyer backed out of a deal. Don's other business was flying crop dusters for the local farmers, and contract work for the USPS.
The blimp was his latest endeavor, he had a managed to get a contract with two of the regional radio and TV stations for aerial camera work, and traffic reporting. He touched up a few paint spots on the outside of the blimp and then lowered the platform of the cherry picker. Earlier, he had topped off the lifting gas of the aircraft. He'd managed to get a good supply of helium from a gray market supplier he'd never heard of before. He didn't question where the material came from, he was glad to get it at the price, and judging from the performance of the blimp, the stuff was good. Tomorrow he would be in the blimp getting good aerial views of the auto race. He was hoping for a good labor day.
Clyde Coch drove his Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 off of the main road leading into Smallville, and took a cow path across a plowed field. After going about 5 miles over the rough terrain he came to a tent set up in the middle of the field. Two of his employees were operating the drilling equipment that had been set up there for several weeks.
Any good news to report? Clyde asked.
Here, take a look for yourself. Poindexter Drake said, handing his boss a printout. The geologist dropped his report off about a half hour ago. He couldn't wait for you to show up, he had business else where.
Hmph. Clyde moaned. He must be working for one of our competitors as well.
Probably. Poindexter agreed. Those egg heads don't take sides, they just work for whoever comes up with the cash.
Coch quickly thumbed through the geologist's report. He gradually developed a smile on his face, which only got larger the further into the report that he read.
Looks very good. He said. I want you two to start setting up the hydraulic fracking equipment. Work all day, and into the night if you have to, I want to see preliminary results ASAP.
But, we're still waiting on the final approval for the go ahead on the fracking from the state commission. Poindexter told his boss. And they are still waiting on signed waivers from two of the holdout farmers, a mister Kent, and a a mister Ford.
Screw the approval! Clyde roared. Besides, this is only a test well, by the time we are ready for full production I'll have the approval from the commission. I've already paid off enough of those SOB's and they will see it our way. They just have to put on a good show for the voters, that's all. Of course we may have to put some pressure on those two farmers.
Poindexter shrugged his shoulders. OK, Boss, consider it done. He said. Just remember you will owe us the overtime.
Cheap at the price. Coch laughed. Considering that in a few months time I'll have quadrupled the output of our gas production. With market prices at an all time high, my company will be showing record profits.
[sigpic][/sigpic]
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
-
Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Out in the middle of Jack Smith's back forty acres, underneath the canvas of an old large tent, lit by a several high powered mercury vapor lamps, Poindexter Drake and his assistant monitored the flow of the fracking fluid into their well head. It had taken them several months to drill the test well and to extract core samples from several layers of the underground strata. The Geologist's latest series of reports had indicated that there were several layers of porous oil bearing rock deep below the corn field. Poindexter had glossed over the parts of the report that dealt with the long dormant fault line that ran trough the oil deposits. He didn't consider it a problem.
“The pressure is building sir!” Montgomery said. “We might be able to start pumping in a few hours.”
“Excellent!” Poindexter smirked. “The boss will be very happy to hear that!”
Labor day dawned bright and early in Smallville. Over in the minor league baseball stadium the police and fire department teams were doing their warm up exercises to prepare for the annual exhibition game. The proceeds from the ticket sales would go to the winning teams charity.
On the other side of town the horse track had been hastily converted into an auto race track. The hard clay field had been tampered down with gravel and tarmac. So long as it didn't rain, the field would probably last long enough for the twenty mile race. Tiberius Mooney was getting his classic Chevy ready for the race. Lex Luthor had finally given up on squeezing out any more horse power out of the big block V8, it was as perfect as he could make it.
Out by the airport, Donald Hughes preflighted his new blimp. The TV news crew from the out of town network station were installing their equipment in the back of the gondola for the coverage of Smallville's Labor Day activities. Don had carefully weighed everything that went on board the lighter than air aircraft, and according to his calculations he was still well under gross weight.
Professor Ochanomizu and Reno sat in the hotel restaurant having breakfast. The professor was a bit miffed at the restaurant's lack of green tea, and he had to settle for an unfamiliar brand of English breakfast black tea. Reno drank his cup of black coffee silently. They both had ordered two egg omelets with a side of toast.
“I hope that we manage to spot Astro in town today.” Reno said. “He's probably been found by one of the local farmers, and there are many square miles of farmland around this town. He could be anywhere.”
“We may be in luck. Most of the residents within a fifty mile radius of Smallville will probably be in town today for the holiday celebrations.” Ochanomizu said. “We just have to hope that our paths will cross.”
Robert Sparks set up his observation booth atop the town water tower. From here he had a bird's eye view of the the baseball stadium and the auto race track on the opposite ends of the town. He had two telescopes set up, one on either side of the tower. It was a bit scary being up on the wire scaffold that surround the ball shaped water tank, but the tower was sound. He could feel the vibrations of the railroad trains pounding the rails as they passed by, the the tower didn't sway much at all. Sparks had a direct voice link between his microphone up on the tower with the local radio station. He'd be broadcasting reports of everything that happened in town that day.
Right in front of town hall, Martha Kent helped set up the bar-b-q equipment. She had volunteered to man the food stand along with a few other wives. While it was still several hours before the concession stand would open, they anticipated a good crowd of hungry townsfolk would be lining up to purchase hotdogs, hamburgers, and French fries. She checked the ice chests that contained packages of frozen meat and blocks of dry ice wrapped in butcher paper. On top of the long tables that lined the sidewalk in front of the town hall building were the warming trays with cans of Sterno, not yet lit. Several members of the Mayor's staff were loading the portable grills with charcoal. The sun was beginning to climb up high enough into the sky to scare away the morning shadows. Anticipation was in the air.
The Mayor gave a short speech and threw out the first ball of the charity game between the fire and police departments. About a mile away the checkered flag dropped and a dozen cars that had been waiting at the starting line roared ahead to begin the annual labor day motor race. Martha Kent had her first customer at the food concession. At the back of the baseball stadium Jonathan Kent was looking over the livestock that had been brought in by the members of the 4-H club for judging. It was a typical labor day in Smallville.
Clark sat in the bleachers just to the infield of the third base line. He was routing for the fire department, having met a few of them a few days ago when he stopped the runaway train as Astro/Superboy. The game was still scoreless in the top of the third inning, although the police team had almost made it on the scoreboard with what would have been a grand slam home run if the fire department's center fielder hadn't been able to leap up and grab a line drive before it went over the center field fence.
The old canvas tent provided only a little relief from the hot noon sun as Clyde Coch arrived to inspect how things were going in the Smith corn field.
“The pressure is almost up to the minimum required to start pumping” Poindexter told his boss. “If it's all right with you, the two of us would like to run into town for some lunch.”
“No, I need you two to get this equipment running fully.” Coch said. He handed Drake a large sack. “I've already got you two a bag lunch from town.” he said. “They have a concession stand with a BBQ going. I spared no expense, got you a good deal of everything on the menu. Enjoy!”
Drake opened the large paper sack and smelled the food. “Not bad!” he said. “Thanks.” Drake and Montgomery each grabbed a hamburger and a large portion of fries from the stash of food, along with a bottle of cola.
“I'll be back in a few hours.” Coch said. “hopefully there will be some black gold flowing into that parked tanker truck over there by then!”
“The pressure is building sir!” Montgomery said. “We might be able to start pumping in a few hours.”
“Excellent!” Poindexter smirked. “The boss will be very happy to hear that!”
Labor day dawned bright and early in Smallville. Over in the minor league baseball stadium the police and fire department teams were doing their warm up exercises to prepare for the annual exhibition game. The proceeds from the ticket sales would go to the winning teams charity.
On the other side of town the horse track had been hastily converted into an auto race track. The hard clay field had been tampered down with gravel and tarmac. So long as it didn't rain, the field would probably last long enough for the twenty mile race. Tiberius Mooney was getting his classic Chevy ready for the race. Lex Luthor had finally given up on squeezing out any more horse power out of the big block V8, it was as perfect as he could make it.
Out by the airport, Donald Hughes preflighted his new blimp. The TV news crew from the out of town network station were installing their equipment in the back of the gondola for the coverage of Smallville's Labor Day activities. Don had carefully weighed everything that went on board the lighter than air aircraft, and according to his calculations he was still well under gross weight.
Professor Ochanomizu and Reno sat in the hotel restaurant having breakfast. The professor was a bit miffed at the restaurant's lack of green tea, and he had to settle for an unfamiliar brand of English breakfast black tea. Reno drank his cup of black coffee silently. They both had ordered two egg omelets with a side of toast.
“I hope that we manage to spot Astro in town today.” Reno said. “He's probably been found by one of the local farmers, and there are many square miles of farmland around this town. He could be anywhere.”
“We may be in luck. Most of the residents within a fifty mile radius of Smallville will probably be in town today for the holiday celebrations.” Ochanomizu said. “We just have to hope that our paths will cross.”
Robert Sparks set up his observation booth atop the town water tower. From here he had a bird's eye view of the the baseball stadium and the auto race track on the opposite ends of the town. He had two telescopes set up, one on either side of the tower. It was a bit scary being up on the wire scaffold that surround the ball shaped water tank, but the tower was sound. He could feel the vibrations of the railroad trains pounding the rails as they passed by, the the tower didn't sway much at all. Sparks had a direct voice link between his microphone up on the tower with the local radio station. He'd be broadcasting reports of everything that happened in town that day.
Right in front of town hall, Martha Kent helped set up the bar-b-q equipment. She had volunteered to man the food stand along with a few other wives. While it was still several hours before the concession stand would open, they anticipated a good crowd of hungry townsfolk would be lining up to purchase hotdogs, hamburgers, and French fries. She checked the ice chests that contained packages of frozen meat and blocks of dry ice wrapped in butcher paper. On top of the long tables that lined the sidewalk in front of the town hall building were the warming trays with cans of Sterno, not yet lit. Several members of the Mayor's staff were loading the portable grills with charcoal. The sun was beginning to climb up high enough into the sky to scare away the morning shadows. Anticipation was in the air.
The Mayor gave a short speech and threw out the first ball of the charity game between the fire and police departments. About a mile away the checkered flag dropped and a dozen cars that had been waiting at the starting line roared ahead to begin the annual labor day motor race. Martha Kent had her first customer at the food concession. At the back of the baseball stadium Jonathan Kent was looking over the livestock that had been brought in by the members of the 4-H club for judging. It was a typical labor day in Smallville.
Clark sat in the bleachers just to the infield of the third base line. He was routing for the fire department, having met a few of them a few days ago when he stopped the runaway train as Astro/Superboy. The game was still scoreless in the top of the third inning, although the police team had almost made it on the scoreboard with what would have been a grand slam home run if the fire department's center fielder hadn't been able to leap up and grab a line drive before it went over the center field fence.
The old canvas tent provided only a little relief from the hot noon sun as Clyde Coch arrived to inspect how things were going in the Smith corn field.
“The pressure is almost up to the minimum required to start pumping” Poindexter told his boss. “If it's all right with you, the two of us would like to run into town for some lunch.”
“No, I need you two to get this equipment running fully.” Coch said. He handed Drake a large sack. “I've already got you two a bag lunch from town.” he said. “They have a concession stand with a BBQ going. I spared no expense, got you a good deal of everything on the menu. Enjoy!”
Drake opened the large paper sack and smelled the food. “Not bad!” he said. “Thanks.” Drake and Montgomery each grabbed a hamburger and a large portion of fries from the stash of food, along with a bottle of cola.
“I'll be back in a few hours.” Coch said. “hopefully there will be some black gold flowing into that parked tanker truck over there by then!”
Last edited by Tetsuwan Penguin on Thu Jul 10, 2014 2:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
[sigpic][/sigpic]
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
-
Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Something didn't feel right out in the bleachers. Clark felt a strange vibration, through the seat of his pants. It wasn't the vibration that the train made when it was highballing it along the main line into town, nor was it from truck traffic down Main Street. It wasn't the vibration of a low flying plane, nor was it coming from the race track. It was something totally different, something Clark thought he might have felt before, but couldn't place where. He looked around, but no one else in the stands seemed to notice anything, every one else was busy cheering for one team or the other. Maybe it was his heightened robotic senses that enabled him to notice what he was feeling, if so then it must have been a very weak vibration, and probably nothing to worry about. Except. Except that it was somehow familiar, and it was not a good memory.
Poindexter Drake watched the flow meters as the pumps operated. Considering how much fracking fluid they had pumped into the well head, the amount of oil and gas being captured by the extraction pump was a bit of a disappointment. Either the geologist's estimate of the size of this field was way off, or their well hadn't been exactly on target.
Clyde Coch poured off a sample of the crude into a large beaker and swirled it around.
“This oil is a bit on the thin side, but it still looks like high quality stuff.” He told Drake. “I've seen far worse from the many wildcat wells I've put in.”
“Yeah but the flow rate is poor.” Drake said. “Take a look at the logs, see how much fracking fluid we've pumped into that well? We should be getting twice the flow out of it.”
“Maybe.” Clyde said. “We might have to relocate the well head. There might be a flaw in the shale down at the level where the well penetrated the deposit. You might not have hit the sweet spot close enough.”
“Then were did all the release agents go?” Drake asked.
“We'll have to get the helicopter and do an aerial search of the area.” Coch said. “Hopefully you guys can spot where the leak is. Somewhere out there, a fissure in the ground may have opened up, releasing the pressure pumped down below. If you spot what looks like a tar pit, that's our leak.”
Bob Sparks was busy moving from one side of the water tower to the other, moving his eye to each of the three telescopes that he had up on the tower gantry walk. He used a portable wireless microphone to report what he was seeing on the air at the local radio station. Bob realized that most of the town was probably somewhere out in the streets, but some of theme were carrying their portable radios with them and were tuned into his broadcast. If you wanted to know what you were missing on the other side of town, you'd be listening to Bob's program on KSVL. As Robert walked on the narrow corrugated metal cat walk he suddenly felt a twinge of instability. It was as if the platform had started to undulate beneath his feet. The feeling quickly dissipated, so Sparks figured it was probably due to a heavy truck going down the street.
Donald Hughes was in the air above the auto race track in his blimp. Behind the pilot's seat were the three camera men from the television stations, and a news reporter with a digital SLR and a long lens. They had a good view of the race, now nearing the 1/4 way point. The makeshift race track was holding up well to the 120 mph traffic of the stock cars with their slick tires.
Tiberius Mooney was a good lap and a half ahead of the driver in second place. His souped up Chevy big block was purring like a kitten, and roaring like a tiger. He was gaining on the car ahead of him, about to increase his lead to two full laps when the Ford he was following suddenly flipped and started rolling across the field. The other cars narrowly avoided colliding with the out of control Ford, when a second automobile disappeared from view at exactly the same spot where the Ford had gone out of control. A large crevasse suddenly opened in the middle of the track, swallowing the second automobile. Mooney braked, spun his steering wheel, and hit the gas in a desperate move to avoid the opening in the track. His left rear tire rode on the very edge of the pit, but he managed to avoid disaster. The driver of the automobile behind him was not so lucky, as that car plunged into the opening right on top of the first.
“Holly Crap!” look at that! Hughes yelled from the cockpit of the blimp. Seconds after the second car fell into the widening opening in the earth, a tongue of flame erupted from the crevasse, making the race track look like a volcano had erupted in the middle of it. Sirens started to wail as the red flags were unfurled on the track by the officials. The remaining contestants managed to slow down and pull over without incident as the race came to a halt.
Up on top of the water tower, Robert Sparks felt the swaying as his perch began to rock back and forth slowly. The up and down undulation that he had felt a few minutes ago started up again, with greater intensity. It now felt like a pile driver was hammering away at the structure and he could visibly see the ground moving below him as the tower rocked a good ten degrees from right to left. In the distance, over by the race track, he could see a column of smoke quickly rising, and could hear the wail of the tracks warning sirens.
Professor Ochanomizu and Reno were walking about on main street, keeping their eyes moving. So far they hadn't spotted Astro, although they realized that he'd probably be dressed in some kind of farmer's clothing. Suddenly they heard the siren wailing in the distance from over by where the auto race was being held. Reno felt the vibration of the ground shaking before the Professor did, and he knew what it was.
“Ochanomizu Hakase, Earthquake!” he yelled out.
The tremor increased. In the distance He they could see the town water tower bouncing around. The radio tower mounted on top of it broke loose and fell toward the ground. Suddenly, panic hit the town, with people running all over the place.
Clark Kent jumped off of the bleachers and landed behind the ball field. He looked around to make sure nobody was looking and ripped off his clothes to reveal the tight fitting Superboy outfit he wore under his farmer brown bib overalls and long sleeve shirt. He quickly exchanged his work shoes for the red boots that were tucked into a pocket in his cape.
Astro took off skyward. Once airborne he saw the water tower, now missing its radio antenna was rocking back and forth beyond the limits of its center of gravity. The tower was falling over. Bob Sparks was hanging over the edge of the railing for dear life. Astro grabbed the tower and pushed it back straight. He grabbed Sparks by his shoulders and lowered the man to the ground a safe distance from the tower.
Reno spotted the costumed hero flying toward the falling water tower. “Hakase, look” he pointed, “That must be Astro!”
Poindexter Drake watched the flow meters as the pumps operated. Considering how much fracking fluid they had pumped into the well head, the amount of oil and gas being captured by the extraction pump was a bit of a disappointment. Either the geologist's estimate of the size of this field was way off, or their well hadn't been exactly on target.
Clyde Coch poured off a sample of the crude into a large beaker and swirled it around.
“This oil is a bit on the thin side, but it still looks like high quality stuff.” He told Drake. “I've seen far worse from the many wildcat wells I've put in.”
“Yeah but the flow rate is poor.” Drake said. “Take a look at the logs, see how much fracking fluid we've pumped into that well? We should be getting twice the flow out of it.”
“Maybe.” Clyde said. “We might have to relocate the well head. There might be a flaw in the shale down at the level where the well penetrated the deposit. You might not have hit the sweet spot close enough.”
“Then were did all the release agents go?” Drake asked.
“We'll have to get the helicopter and do an aerial search of the area.” Coch said. “Hopefully you guys can spot where the leak is. Somewhere out there, a fissure in the ground may have opened up, releasing the pressure pumped down below. If you spot what looks like a tar pit, that's our leak.”
Bob Sparks was busy moving from one side of the water tower to the other, moving his eye to each of the three telescopes that he had up on the tower gantry walk. He used a portable wireless microphone to report what he was seeing on the air at the local radio station. Bob realized that most of the town was probably somewhere out in the streets, but some of theme were carrying their portable radios with them and were tuned into his broadcast. If you wanted to know what you were missing on the other side of town, you'd be listening to Bob's program on KSVL. As Robert walked on the narrow corrugated metal cat walk he suddenly felt a twinge of instability. It was as if the platform had started to undulate beneath his feet. The feeling quickly dissipated, so Sparks figured it was probably due to a heavy truck going down the street.
Donald Hughes was in the air above the auto race track in his blimp. Behind the pilot's seat were the three camera men from the television stations, and a news reporter with a digital SLR and a long lens. They had a good view of the race, now nearing the 1/4 way point. The makeshift race track was holding up well to the 120 mph traffic of the stock cars with their slick tires.
Tiberius Mooney was a good lap and a half ahead of the driver in second place. His souped up Chevy big block was purring like a kitten, and roaring like a tiger. He was gaining on the car ahead of him, about to increase his lead to two full laps when the Ford he was following suddenly flipped and started rolling across the field. The other cars narrowly avoided colliding with the out of control Ford, when a second automobile disappeared from view at exactly the same spot where the Ford had gone out of control. A large crevasse suddenly opened in the middle of the track, swallowing the second automobile. Mooney braked, spun his steering wheel, and hit the gas in a desperate move to avoid the opening in the track. His left rear tire rode on the very edge of the pit, but he managed to avoid disaster. The driver of the automobile behind him was not so lucky, as that car plunged into the opening right on top of the first.
“Holly Crap!” look at that! Hughes yelled from the cockpit of the blimp. Seconds after the second car fell into the widening opening in the earth, a tongue of flame erupted from the crevasse, making the race track look like a volcano had erupted in the middle of it. Sirens started to wail as the red flags were unfurled on the track by the officials. The remaining contestants managed to slow down and pull over without incident as the race came to a halt.
Up on top of the water tower, Robert Sparks felt the swaying as his perch began to rock back and forth slowly. The up and down undulation that he had felt a few minutes ago started up again, with greater intensity. It now felt like a pile driver was hammering away at the structure and he could visibly see the ground moving below him as the tower rocked a good ten degrees from right to left. In the distance, over by the race track, he could see a column of smoke quickly rising, and could hear the wail of the tracks warning sirens.
Professor Ochanomizu and Reno were walking about on main street, keeping their eyes moving. So far they hadn't spotted Astro, although they realized that he'd probably be dressed in some kind of farmer's clothing. Suddenly they heard the siren wailing in the distance from over by where the auto race was being held. Reno felt the vibration of the ground shaking before the Professor did, and he knew what it was.
“Ochanomizu Hakase, Earthquake!” he yelled out.
The tremor increased. In the distance He they could see the town water tower bouncing around. The radio tower mounted on top of it broke loose and fell toward the ground. Suddenly, panic hit the town, with people running all over the place.
Clark Kent jumped off of the bleachers and landed behind the ball field. He looked around to make sure nobody was looking and ripped off his clothes to reveal the tight fitting Superboy outfit he wore under his farmer brown bib overalls and long sleeve shirt. He quickly exchanged his work shoes for the red boots that were tucked into a pocket in his cape.
Astro took off skyward. Once airborne he saw the water tower, now missing its radio antenna was rocking back and forth beyond the limits of its center of gravity. The tower was falling over. Bob Sparks was hanging over the edge of the railing for dear life. Astro grabbed the tower and pushed it back straight. He grabbed Sparks by his shoulders and lowered the man to the ground a safe distance from the tower.
Reno spotted the costumed hero flying toward the falling water tower. “Hakase, look” he pointed, “That must be Astro!”
Last edited by Tetsuwan Penguin on Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
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I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
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I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
-
Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Lois Lane sat with her mother in the grandstands just behind third base. It was the bottom of the fourth inning with the fire department ahead of the police department by two runs. The heart of the police department's batting order was up, and with two outs they now had runners on first and third. Sheriff Reed was up at bat, and the crowd went wild. On a two strike count he hit a blast that went flying towards the score board. At the instant that his bat made contact with the ball the ground under the stands started shaking. The line drive struck the scoreboard just as the crowd started to panic from the earthquake. The scoreboard leaned backwards and started to fall behind the stadium, right where the 4-H club had their livestock contest.
The animals started acting spooky, and Jonathan Kent found himself in the middle of a mini stampede as the cows and goats began to break free from the pen they were in. The ground began to shake under his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the shadow of the falling scoreboard heading right for him. He couldn't get out the way in time, his path was blocked by the panicking livestock. At the last moment Astro-Superboy flew low over the stadium and grabbed the falling scoreboard. He lifted it up into the air, and set it down safely on the ground behind the 4-H exhibit.
Meanwhile the supports for the grandstand by the third base line creaked and groaned under the weight of the crowd as the ground under them turned into quicksand by the vibration of the earthquake. Lois Lane and her mother looked up and saw the overhanging sunroof break loose from its supports as it started to fall on top of the screaming crowd. Astro-Superboy zoomed back just in time to catch the falling roof. He held it up in midair, hovering with the power of his leg jets long enough for the spectators under the effected area to get to safety. Once the crowd was out of the way he lowered the structure to the ground.
Lois couldn't take her eyes off of the flying boy in the red and blue costume. There was love in her eyes, and her heart was beating faster than she had ever felt it before.
Don Hughes started to pilot the blimp from over the race track to the baseball stadium. He was now flying right over Main Street and had a good view of the townspeople running in various directions as the ground rumbled under their feet. Utility poles started falling and wires lay in the street, sparking. Without warning, an explosion underground threw a man hole cover from the street into the air like a Frisbee flung by a giant. The whiling disk grazed the rear of the blimp, tearing a hole in the gas bag. The injured aircraft started to vent gas and was loosing lift, and it started to plummet to the earth over the street. Suddenly, the lighter than air craft burst into flames, as Don realized that the bargain priced helium he had purchased was tainted with flammable hydrogen!
Astro-Superboy saw the aircraft in distress and flew towards it. He ripped the gondola from the burning gas bag and carried it toward the airport where he set it down on the tarmac. Its shaken, but safe passengers slowly crawled from what was left of the blimp. Meanwhile the envelope of the blimp, relieved of its burden drifted away from the town to land in a cornfield, still smoldering.
At several locations around town the ground opened up and belched fire. Underground pockets of natural gas made their way though openings in the earth and erupted into flames. The fire department started to fight a loosing battle against the ten alarm disaster.
Clyde Coch drove his Grand Cherokee over the farm land toward the town airport where he had left his rented Bell 47J parked. He got to the field just as Astro dropped the remains of Donald Hughe's blimp near its hangar. The CEO and his two employees ran toward the helicopter which sat there with its engines idling. Its pilot motioned for the three men to hurry and get on board. He quickly took off just as the earthquake returned to the field. Barely in time, they watched as the ground under the Jeep 4x4 opened up and swallowed the expensive SUV as a tongue of flame belched from the ground.
You guys got here just in time! the pilot yelled over the roar of the helicopter's two piston engines. I was about to leave without you. What the hell is going on here!
Poindexter looked Clyde Coch in the eyes. The geologist's report mentioned an old fault line running through the shale oil deposits. he said. The seismographic images of the strata at that level didn't look very impressive, but I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. At your insistence to try the fracking on this well I ignored my gut, but it looks like I may have been a fool to do so. I think we've released a major earthquake under this area, and have managed to discover a huge natural gas deposit along side the shale oil as well. If this earthquake doesn't stop, the entire county may burn up!
Jonathan Kent ran back towards the center of town to look for his wife. An explosion erupted from underneath the town hall building which set it, and two nearby buildings on fire. The intensity of the heat caused the gas tanks of several parked vehicles in the street to explode, sending people running in all directions.
Astro-Superboy flew back to the water tank and ripped it free of the tower that supported it. Flying over the burning buildings, he punched a hole in the side of the tank, pouring the contents onto the flames to extinguish them. Then, after setting the empty water tank back on the ground, he landed next to his step father and mother who had found each other in the street.
Reno and Ochanomizu arrived at the same spot after running toward the direction where they had seen Astro heading. Just as they got there, the rented 47J flew over the street, heading toward the state line.
That's the scumbag oil baron that threatened me if I wouldn't sell him rights to drill for oil under our farm! Jonathan exclaimed. I recognize the helicopter that he was using to buzz over our field.
Why didn't you tell me about him? Martha asked. We could have used the money.
Not the way they wanted to do things. Kent told his wife. They are fracking wells to extract the locked in oil from the shale. I've read that the process can set off earthquakes. I'll bet they started an exploratory well somewhere nearby without getting permission, that's probably what caused this disaster!
I can't let them get away with this! Astro yelled taking to the sky again. He caught up with the helicopter and buzzed it, flying in front of the cockpit motioning for the pilot to turn around.
Don't you dare head back to town! Coch yelled at his pilot.
Seeing that he was being ignored, Astro ripped the main rotor blades from the aircraft, and then carried the rest of the helicopter back to Smallville. He set it down in front of the town hall where it was surrounded by a crowd of angry looking people.
Clyde Coch was pushed out of the aircraft by Poindexter Drake. Don't even think of using me as your scapegoat! the engineer yelled out.
I assume you didn't get permission to start fracking out over by Smith's farm? Kent asked the CEO.
He didn't Sheriff Reed said as he appeared out of the crowd and slapped handcuffs on Coch.
Not far away another blast erupted from underground as an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town caught fire.
Unless that fault line closes up we're going to have these outbursts of exploding natural gas for some time. Poindexter said. With a large horizontal drilling rig and some high explosives I think I could seal up the rift and stop this, but I have no idea how I'd get that equipment here in time.
The animals started acting spooky, and Jonathan Kent found himself in the middle of a mini stampede as the cows and goats began to break free from the pen they were in. The ground began to shake under his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the shadow of the falling scoreboard heading right for him. He couldn't get out the way in time, his path was blocked by the panicking livestock. At the last moment Astro-Superboy flew low over the stadium and grabbed the falling scoreboard. He lifted it up into the air, and set it down safely on the ground behind the 4-H exhibit.
Meanwhile the supports for the grandstand by the third base line creaked and groaned under the weight of the crowd as the ground under them turned into quicksand by the vibration of the earthquake. Lois Lane and her mother looked up and saw the overhanging sunroof break loose from its supports as it started to fall on top of the screaming crowd. Astro-Superboy zoomed back just in time to catch the falling roof. He held it up in midair, hovering with the power of his leg jets long enough for the spectators under the effected area to get to safety. Once the crowd was out of the way he lowered the structure to the ground.
Lois couldn't take her eyes off of the flying boy in the red and blue costume. There was love in her eyes, and her heart was beating faster than she had ever felt it before.
Don Hughes started to pilot the blimp from over the race track to the baseball stadium. He was now flying right over Main Street and had a good view of the townspeople running in various directions as the ground rumbled under their feet. Utility poles started falling and wires lay in the street, sparking. Without warning, an explosion underground threw a man hole cover from the street into the air like a Frisbee flung by a giant. The whiling disk grazed the rear of the blimp, tearing a hole in the gas bag. The injured aircraft started to vent gas and was loosing lift, and it started to plummet to the earth over the street. Suddenly, the lighter than air craft burst into flames, as Don realized that the bargain priced helium he had purchased was tainted with flammable hydrogen!
Astro-Superboy saw the aircraft in distress and flew towards it. He ripped the gondola from the burning gas bag and carried it toward the airport where he set it down on the tarmac. Its shaken, but safe passengers slowly crawled from what was left of the blimp. Meanwhile the envelope of the blimp, relieved of its burden drifted away from the town to land in a cornfield, still smoldering.
At several locations around town the ground opened up and belched fire. Underground pockets of natural gas made their way though openings in the earth and erupted into flames. The fire department started to fight a loosing battle against the ten alarm disaster.
Clyde Coch drove his Grand Cherokee over the farm land toward the town airport where he had left his rented Bell 47J parked. He got to the field just as Astro dropped the remains of Donald Hughe's blimp near its hangar. The CEO and his two employees ran toward the helicopter which sat there with its engines idling. Its pilot motioned for the three men to hurry and get on board. He quickly took off just as the earthquake returned to the field. Barely in time, they watched as the ground under the Jeep 4x4 opened up and swallowed the expensive SUV as a tongue of flame belched from the ground.
You guys got here just in time! the pilot yelled over the roar of the helicopter's two piston engines. I was about to leave without you. What the hell is going on here!
Poindexter looked Clyde Coch in the eyes. The geologist's report mentioned an old fault line running through the shale oil deposits. he said. The seismographic images of the strata at that level didn't look very impressive, but I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. At your insistence to try the fracking on this well I ignored my gut, but it looks like I may have been a fool to do so. I think we've released a major earthquake under this area, and have managed to discover a huge natural gas deposit along side the shale oil as well. If this earthquake doesn't stop, the entire county may burn up!
Jonathan Kent ran back towards the center of town to look for his wife. An explosion erupted from underneath the town hall building which set it, and two nearby buildings on fire. The intensity of the heat caused the gas tanks of several parked vehicles in the street to explode, sending people running in all directions.
Astro-Superboy flew back to the water tank and ripped it free of the tower that supported it. Flying over the burning buildings, he punched a hole in the side of the tank, pouring the contents onto the flames to extinguish them. Then, after setting the empty water tank back on the ground, he landed next to his step father and mother who had found each other in the street.
Reno and Ochanomizu arrived at the same spot after running toward the direction where they had seen Astro heading. Just as they got there, the rented 47J flew over the street, heading toward the state line.
That's the scumbag oil baron that threatened me if I wouldn't sell him rights to drill for oil under our farm! Jonathan exclaimed. I recognize the helicopter that he was using to buzz over our field.
Why didn't you tell me about him? Martha asked. We could have used the money.
Not the way they wanted to do things. Kent told his wife. They are fracking wells to extract the locked in oil from the shale. I've read that the process can set off earthquakes. I'll bet they started an exploratory well somewhere nearby without getting permission, that's probably what caused this disaster!
I can't let them get away with this! Astro yelled taking to the sky again. He caught up with the helicopter and buzzed it, flying in front of the cockpit motioning for the pilot to turn around.
Don't you dare head back to town! Coch yelled at his pilot.
Seeing that he was being ignored, Astro ripped the main rotor blades from the aircraft, and then carried the rest of the helicopter back to Smallville. He set it down in front of the town hall where it was surrounded by a crowd of angry looking people.
Clyde Coch was pushed out of the aircraft by Poindexter Drake. Don't even think of using me as your scapegoat! the engineer yelled out.
I assume you didn't get permission to start fracking out over by Smith's farm? Kent asked the CEO.
He didn't Sheriff Reed said as he appeared out of the crowd and slapped handcuffs on Coch.
Not far away another blast erupted from underground as an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town caught fire.
Unless that fault line closes up we're going to have these outbursts of exploding natural gas for some time. Poindexter said. With a large horizontal drilling rig and some high explosives I think I could seal up the rift and stop this, but I have no idea how I'd get that equipment here in time.
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I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written!
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
-
Tetsuwan Penguin
- Robot Revolutionary
- Posts: 4727
- Joined: 12 years ago
- Location: Chelmsford, Ma
- Contact:
Reno spoke up immediately. “Astro could do it! He can tunnel through the earth and use his arm cannon to seal up the rift in the fault line.”
“Who's Astro?” Poindexter asked.
A look of confusion, followed by a glint of recall flashed across Astro's face.
“Do you mean me?” He asked.
“Don't you remember?” Reno asked Astro.
“I'm a bit confused.” the costumed hero confessed. “I woke up in Mr. Kent's cornfield inside of some kind of rocket ship, at least that's what I've been told. Then I found out I'm a robot with superpowers. I still don't remember where I came from.”
“Here, let me help you.” Reno said. He pulled Astro's shirt up and opened his chest panel. Reno extracted a cell phone sized device and an interface cable from his jacket pocket and connected the test gizmo to Astro's network socket. He opened a telnet session into Astro's AI operating system and began a memory search.
“Yes, it seems your system made a backup copy of your memory, but it was never auto restored after you woke up from that EMP induced shutdown.” Reno said. “I can fix that quickly!” Reno entered some parameters into the tablet sized computer and hit the execute button. Astro grabbed hold of Reno and Ochanomizu as he became a bit dizzy for a minute, then suddenly his memory was back on line.
“You can disconnect your debug terminal now Reno,” Astro said. “I remember!”
Reno had a worried look on his face.
“Astro, your energy is running low from running around fighting the earthquake in town.” He said. “I don't think you have enough left to repair the damage.”
Lex Luthor zig zagged though the crowd on Main Street on his electrical bicycle. He parked his two wheeled vehicle in front of the downed aircraft and walked toward where the Astro and company were standing.
“Hey, Superboy!” he yelled. “I got the first batch!”
In Luthor's backpack was a large cylinder resembling a propane tank. He wiggled out of the backpack and handed it to Astro. Reno looked at the tank and asked. “Liquid deuterium?”
“Yes” Luthor said. “I've had my apparatus running continuously for several days extracting it from the sea water I had trucked in.”
Reno reached into Astro's chest and extracted his refueling hose, and connected it to the tank in Luthor's backpack. He activated a pump inside of Astro's systems and the tank was quickly drained.
“YES!” Astro cried. “My energy levels are back to full strength! Thank's Lex!”
Poindexter Drake pulled a rolled up map from his pocket. He laid it on the ground and pointed to it.
“Here is where the fault line intersected with the oil shale deposit, and here is where the well entered the strata.” he explained. “Judging by where the eruptions have occurred so far, I can pinpoint with some certainty where the strata needs to be sealed.”
Drake pointed to three spots on the map. “You'll have to dig down to the active area and blast away at where you find the leaks. Be careful you don't want to set off any gas pockets underground and make things worse.”
“Hai!” Astro said. “I think I know what I have to do. Wish me luck.”
Astro peeled off the Superboy costume. Now dressed only in his dark briefs and boots he took off and flew toward Mr. Smith's farm. At a spot about a quarter of a mile from the drill head, between it and the town, Astro dived toward the ground and into the earth. He dug away at the ground in front of him with his hands while propelling himself forward with his leg jets. Like a tunnel boring machine on steroids he rapidly headed downward though layers the layers of earth and rock.
Astro turned his hearing up to 1000x and activated the DSP processors in his electronic brain. He was able to analyze the sound coming from the moving fault line to determine how to navigate through the earth to reach the first breach in the strata levels. Up ahead of him, he could see where the fracking fluid had caused the fault line to move and he morphed his left arm into the particle beam laser. Taking careful aim, Astro fired a blast that melted the rock and sealed the first breach.
He then continued to dig, propelling himself toward the second of the three breaches identified by Poindexter Drake. Once again he fired his arm cannon and locked the earth into position. Now there was only one more breach to seal. After changing course and digging for a few more miles underground, Astro arrived on target and fired his cannon for the last time.
Now he needed to retreat from underground without causing any more damage. He dug down deeper below the shale deposits into the harder granite below it. Guided by his memory of Poindexter's map he set course for a softer area that should let him dig upwards somewhere near the Kent's farm. Propelled by his leg jets, Astro dug his way toward the surface. He broke through to sunlight in the middle of Jonathan Kent's septic tank.
“YUCK!” he thought to himself.
Astro landed back on Main Street right where he had taken off about a half hour before. Reno held his nose at the sight and smell of his best friend.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
Astro just laughed. “Sorry Dad.” he told Jonathan. “You're going to need a new cesspool”
That evening Martha and Jonathan Kent entertained Professor Ochanomizu and Reno as their diner guests.
“I hope you enjoyed my wife's home cooking.” he said. “It's nothing fancy, just good old country fixings.”
“Thank you very much!” the professor said, “this was actually the best dinner I've had in a quite a while.”
Reno nodded his agreement with the professor.
“If it wouldn't be too much trouble,” the professor asked, “I'd like to see what remains of the rocket that you found Astro in.”
“No trouble at all,” Jonathan replied. “After we rescued Astro from the wreckage, I retrieved the ship from where it crashed in our cornfield. I have what's left in the barn.”
Jonathan led Reno and Ochanomizu out the back door of the house and to the barn. Sitting in the corner on top of a pile of hay was the twisted wreckage of the escape pod. The professor carefully picked through the remains and smiled. He extracted a memory capsule from the ship's electronics. “It looks like it survived the crash rather nicely, all considering.” he said. “Hopefully, this memory unit contains the data that we were hoping to obtain.”
“I guess you'll be heading back home now” Martha said as she walked into the barn. “It was nice to have a son, even if only for a little while.”
“You two were so kind to me.” Astro said. “I'll be back to visit once in a while, I promise!”
“Come back anytime!” Martha begged.
From outside in the driveway, a car horn blared. A Blond haired woman and an equally blond nine year old girl entered the barn. “Sorry to intrude, but my daughter wanted to meet the hero who saved us today.” she said. “My name is Alice Lane, and this is my daughter Lois.”
Lois dropped her inhibitions and ran toward Astro. She leaped up at him, grabbed him around the neck and planted a big kiss on his lips. “I love you Superboy!”
Astro blushed. “Actually, my name is Astro, and I'm really a robot.” he told her.
“Gee whiz!” Lois cried out.
Her mother laughed. She walked over to Astro and bent down to kiss him on the forehead.
“Thank's Astro.”
On the plane ride back to Japan, Astro didn't say very much. Ochanomizu whispered to Reno, “I think it may take Astro a while to adjust to reality. I suspect he may need some help from his family to fully return to normal.”
“Don't worry about Astro.” Reno whispered back. “He won't let this go to his head.”
Hidden in his carry on luggage, Astro had secretly packed the Superboy costume Martha Kent had made him. It would become one of his most cherished possessions.
BTW .. This story will soon be posted up on FanFiction.net
“Who's Astro?” Poindexter asked.
A look of confusion, followed by a glint of recall flashed across Astro's face.
“Do you mean me?” He asked.
“Don't you remember?” Reno asked Astro.
“I'm a bit confused.” the costumed hero confessed. “I woke up in Mr. Kent's cornfield inside of some kind of rocket ship, at least that's what I've been told. Then I found out I'm a robot with superpowers. I still don't remember where I came from.”
“Here, let me help you.” Reno said. He pulled Astro's shirt up and opened his chest panel. Reno extracted a cell phone sized device and an interface cable from his jacket pocket and connected the test gizmo to Astro's network socket. He opened a telnet session into Astro's AI operating system and began a memory search.
“Yes, it seems your system made a backup copy of your memory, but it was never auto restored after you woke up from that EMP induced shutdown.” Reno said. “I can fix that quickly!” Reno entered some parameters into the tablet sized computer and hit the execute button. Astro grabbed hold of Reno and Ochanomizu as he became a bit dizzy for a minute, then suddenly his memory was back on line.
“You can disconnect your debug terminal now Reno,” Astro said. “I remember!”
Reno had a worried look on his face.
“Astro, your energy is running low from running around fighting the earthquake in town.” He said. “I don't think you have enough left to repair the damage.”
Lex Luthor zig zagged though the crowd on Main Street on his electrical bicycle. He parked his two wheeled vehicle in front of the downed aircraft and walked toward where the Astro and company were standing.
“Hey, Superboy!” he yelled. “I got the first batch!”
In Luthor's backpack was a large cylinder resembling a propane tank. He wiggled out of the backpack and handed it to Astro. Reno looked at the tank and asked. “Liquid deuterium?”
“Yes” Luthor said. “I've had my apparatus running continuously for several days extracting it from the sea water I had trucked in.”
Reno reached into Astro's chest and extracted his refueling hose, and connected it to the tank in Luthor's backpack. He activated a pump inside of Astro's systems and the tank was quickly drained.
“YES!” Astro cried. “My energy levels are back to full strength! Thank's Lex!”
Poindexter Drake pulled a rolled up map from his pocket. He laid it on the ground and pointed to it.
“Here is where the fault line intersected with the oil shale deposit, and here is where the well entered the strata.” he explained. “Judging by where the eruptions have occurred so far, I can pinpoint with some certainty where the strata needs to be sealed.”
Drake pointed to three spots on the map. “You'll have to dig down to the active area and blast away at where you find the leaks. Be careful you don't want to set off any gas pockets underground and make things worse.”
“Hai!” Astro said. “I think I know what I have to do. Wish me luck.”
Astro peeled off the Superboy costume. Now dressed only in his dark briefs and boots he took off and flew toward Mr. Smith's farm. At a spot about a quarter of a mile from the drill head, between it and the town, Astro dived toward the ground and into the earth. He dug away at the ground in front of him with his hands while propelling himself forward with his leg jets. Like a tunnel boring machine on steroids he rapidly headed downward though layers the layers of earth and rock.
Astro turned his hearing up to 1000x and activated the DSP processors in his electronic brain. He was able to analyze the sound coming from the moving fault line to determine how to navigate through the earth to reach the first breach in the strata levels. Up ahead of him, he could see where the fracking fluid had caused the fault line to move and he morphed his left arm into the particle beam laser. Taking careful aim, Astro fired a blast that melted the rock and sealed the first breach.
He then continued to dig, propelling himself toward the second of the three breaches identified by Poindexter Drake. Once again he fired his arm cannon and locked the earth into position. Now there was only one more breach to seal. After changing course and digging for a few more miles underground, Astro arrived on target and fired his cannon for the last time.
Now he needed to retreat from underground without causing any more damage. He dug down deeper below the shale deposits into the harder granite below it. Guided by his memory of Poindexter's map he set course for a softer area that should let him dig upwards somewhere near the Kent's farm. Propelled by his leg jets, Astro dug his way toward the surface. He broke through to sunlight in the middle of Jonathan Kent's septic tank.
“YUCK!” he thought to himself.
Astro landed back on Main Street right where he had taken off about a half hour before. Reno held his nose at the sight and smell of his best friend.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
Astro just laughed. “Sorry Dad.” he told Jonathan. “You're going to need a new cesspool”
That evening Martha and Jonathan Kent entertained Professor Ochanomizu and Reno as their diner guests.
“I hope you enjoyed my wife's home cooking.” he said. “It's nothing fancy, just good old country fixings.”
“Thank you very much!” the professor said, “this was actually the best dinner I've had in a quite a while.”
Reno nodded his agreement with the professor.
“If it wouldn't be too much trouble,” the professor asked, “I'd like to see what remains of the rocket that you found Astro in.”
“No trouble at all,” Jonathan replied. “After we rescued Astro from the wreckage, I retrieved the ship from where it crashed in our cornfield. I have what's left in the barn.”
Jonathan led Reno and Ochanomizu out the back door of the house and to the barn. Sitting in the corner on top of a pile of hay was the twisted wreckage of the escape pod. The professor carefully picked through the remains and smiled. He extracted a memory capsule from the ship's electronics. “It looks like it survived the crash rather nicely, all considering.” he said. “Hopefully, this memory unit contains the data that we were hoping to obtain.”
“I guess you'll be heading back home now” Martha said as she walked into the barn. “It was nice to have a son, even if only for a little while.”
“You two were so kind to me.” Astro said. “I'll be back to visit once in a while, I promise!”
“Come back anytime!” Martha begged.
From outside in the driveway, a car horn blared. A Blond haired woman and an equally blond nine year old girl entered the barn. “Sorry to intrude, but my daughter wanted to meet the hero who saved us today.” she said. “My name is Alice Lane, and this is my daughter Lois.”
Lois dropped her inhibitions and ran toward Astro. She leaped up at him, grabbed him around the neck and planted a big kiss on his lips. “I love you Superboy!”
Astro blushed. “Actually, my name is Astro, and I'm really a robot.” he told her.
“Gee whiz!” Lois cried out.
Her mother laughed. She walked over to Astro and bent down to kiss him on the forehead.
“Thank's Astro.”
On the plane ride back to Japan, Astro didn't say very much. Ochanomizu whispered to Reno, “I think it may take Astro a while to adjust to reality. I suspect he may need some help from his family to fully return to normal.”
“Don't worry about Astro.” Reno whispered back. “He won't let this go to his head.”
Hidden in his carry on luggage, Astro had secretly packed the Superboy costume Martha Kent had made him. It would become one of his most cherished possessions.
The End
BTW .. This story will soon be posted up on FanFiction.net
Last edited by Tetsuwan Penguin on Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm on Fanfiction.net as Tetsuwan Penguin. Please check out some of the other stories I've written! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4672860/Tetsuwan-Penguin
I can also be found on Deviant Art http://tetsuwanpenguin.deviantart.com/
My home page
http://scharkalvin.weebly.com/about-me.html
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