Super: Origins Read Free Page B

“Really? I’d like to see what happened. Could you bring it up on the monitor, Clara?”
    Clara pushed a button Lex hadn’t noticed, which flipped a screen up on the table in front of Sauer, then typed a few things into the keyboard in front of it. Finally, Clara swiveled the screen so that all three of them could watch it. Lex saw herself waiting at the front door and then watched her face turn upwards. Her expression changed, and then it looked as if the camera had suddenly moved away from her. After that, Lex stumbled a little and caught herself from falling with her left hand.
    Oddly, Lex heard Sauer chuckle, almost as if to himself. “Could we see that again, Clara, from the side?”
    After Clara typed a bit more on the keyboard, Lex and the others watched as the scene replayed itself from a different angle. She darted sidelong glances at her companions’ faces and watched as they stared in surprise, blinking and seeming unable to track exactly what had happened. Lex finally looked squarely over to see Sauer nodding to himself, a look of satisfaction on his face. She tried not to let her own expression show how bizarre she found the situation, however, because for the life of her, Lex couldn’t figure out why they’d care.
    “Ms. McKilliam, please have a seat,” he said, and Lex chose a nearby chair at the conference table. As she slid into the chair, she found it difficult to stop herself from petting the buttery-soft leather on the armrests, but tried hard to focus on the interview instead. Clara sat opposite them and opened a laptop that she’d pulled out of a nearby bag. Sauer then went on in a thoughtful way, “You’re Bill McKilliam’s daughter, aren’t you? Do you know I knew your dad?”
    Lex could feel her throat constrict and her stomach clench, but responded quickly. “Mr. Sauer, please feel free to call me Lex.” She paused a moment, trying to think of something else to say. “I don’t remember your name from when I was a child. Are you someone he met in the service?”
    Mentally cursing her father, Lex wondered if she would ever get out from under the man’s shadow. After being out of his house for almost a decade now, she still felt like she couldn’t escape him.
    “Well done, Lex,” Sauer complimented her. “Yes, your father and I met up in the service. We weren’t close pals or anything, but we did work together on several occasions. He seemed a very reliable man.”
    “Yes, I’m sure. He always spoke highly of his military service.” Where they taught the rat bastard to torture people. I’m sure he was very good at his job, even then, Lex thought.
    “Did you train under your father in martial arts?”
    Lex sighed internally. Just about everyone who heard her last name wanted to know about that because of the stupid radio commercials. Anyone who'd lived in the DC area for even a short amount of time had heard the man’s voice on the radio, talking up his string of martial arts studios. She’d considered changing her name, but it had seemed like too much trouble. Instead, Lex avoided listening to the radio.
    “Yes, I trained under him from the time I was 2 until I turned 16. During that time, I earned black belts in tae kwon do and hapkido, and a brown belt in judo.” Which I paid for in bruises, a few broken bones, and a number of scars, Lex thought, her stomach now churning. Which is why I only wear tights and never stockings. Which is why I feel so uncomfortable in these short sleeves and try not to turn my right arm so the hand is up and you can see my compound fracture scar.
    “Why only your brown belt in judo?” Sauer asked, looking at her curiously.
    “That was the highest I could go, since I was under 16 at the time.”
    “May I ask why you stopped training when you were 16?”
    Lex was ready with her stock, semi-truthful answer to the intrusive question that she’d heard too many times. “High school studies just got too busy, so I thought it was more