Lana’s alarm went off at 6:00 am. She had four hours before her first class. It was an economics course. Economics was not a subject she was particularly interested in, but it would fulfill a general education requirement. And it was going to be her first real college class. Of course, she and Pete Ross had taken a drama course at Smallville State University the summer between their junior and senior years, but she didn’t have the same nervous excitement then that she had now when she was actually beginning her freshmen year of college.
She was well-prepared. She’d laid out everything the night before, from the clothes she would wear to her newly purchased copy of A Contemporary Introduction to the World Economy, ready to be deposited in her newly purchased backpack. Fortunately, she had only one class on Tuesdays, the bulk of her courses being Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, except for the economics course on Tuesday and Thursday and a once a week biology lab on Thursdays. She was taking biology primarily as a prerequisite for an entomology course that she really wanted to take next semester. She figured entomology would help her in one of her major extra-curricular activities.
Three years earlier Lana had come across a strange, insect-like alien trapped under a tree on the outskirts of Smallville. The alien seemed friendly enough, so she had helped free him, and, as a reward, had been given a bio-ring that allowed her to transform into various human-arthropod hybrid forms. Using this ring, she had adopted the secret identity of Insect Queen, hoping to finally impress Superboy, though the plan had been less successful than she hoped. Still, she had helped him out on several occasions, and even travelled with him to the far future of the thirtieth century, where she earned a reserve membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes. She had had several particularly rewarding experiences helping out the Legion, such as when several members were trapped in Smallville while hiding out from the evil Sorcerer Mordru two years ago.
Superboy had left Smallville five months earlier, even before Pete and Clark. He had kissed her good-bye. It was their first kiss. He said that it was time for him to leave Smallville in order to learn more about the destroyed civilization on a distant planet from which he came. She hoped he found the answers he was searching for. Clark Kent, the boy next door whom she had ignored for years but whom she had grown strangely closer to over their senior year, had suffered a massive tragedy with the sudden death of his parents shortly after this. Clark had also left to tour the world and to find his place in it. Pete Ross, another long term friend who was, incidentally, also a reserve member of the Legion, had also moved away over the summer, moving to Metropolis where he planned to attend Metropolis University. Even Lex Luthor, the brilliant young scientist who was secretly Superboy’s greatest enemy, had left for Europe shortly after the Boy of Steel had disappeared.
Lana felt lonely in Smallville. She was glad she was staying in town, however. She was sure she would make new friends at the university, and one couldn’t beat the massive tuition discounts she received as a result of both her father and uncle being faculty at the school, and the savings on room and board to be gained by living at home were a big bonus as well. And, secretly, she suspected that Smallville would still need Insect Queen as its protector in the absence of Superboy.
These thoughts of the past occupied much of her morning, as she worked out, ate breakfast, showered and dressed, and did necessary last minute prep for class. And still, she set out on the twenty minute drive to campus an hour earlier than she needed to. The university was actually a few miles outside the town of Smallville proper, with farmland occupying the intervening distance. As she passed the town limits she noticed through her windshield a strange, circular object hovering in the sky. It seemed to pulse with light, and suddenly she felt her car begin to vibrate and then lift slowly into the air. She grabbed her backpack and unzipped the pocket in which she had left her bio-ring and Legion flight ring, slipping both on as quickly as possible. Her car now moved rapidly towards the saucer-shaped vessel in the sky, and, as it neared, an opening appeared in the bottom of the ship. Her car neatly floated through this opening and landed on a platform. A shape could be seen scurrying out of a nearby door. As it came into view, Lana recognized that it was the same alien who had given her the bio-ring.
“Lana Lang of Earth!” said the strange creature. “I apologize for this method of contacting you, but I once again have desperate need of your assistance. My homeworld of Circadia is doomed unless you can save us!”
And so Lana realized she was probably going to miss her economics class.
Posted by razsolo on :
This fills me with excitement!! Looking forward to more!!
Posted by Set on :
Ooh, Insect Queen! I had a quirky love for any character whose powers are a science lesson (in this case, entomology!) every time they use them!
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :