Story: "Hidden Agenda" (38 Pages)

Credits:

Ed Brubaker (plot, script)
Stefano Gaudiona (pencils, inks)
Roberta Tewes (colors)
Wildstorm FX (separations)
Willie Schubert (letters)
Michael Wright (edits)

Feature Character:

Batman (next in JLA: Our Worlds at War #1)

Guest Star:

Superman (last in Superman #171, next in Adventures of Superman #593)

Supporting Characters:

Oracle (next in Superboy Vol. 3 #89)
Michael Akins (next in Batman #593)
Lucius Fox
Lex Luthor (last in Superman #171; next in Adventures of Superman #593)
Talia (next in Superboy Vol. 3 #89)
Hope and Mercy (both next in Action Comics #780)
Sasha Bordeaux (next in Batman #593)
Jimmy Olsen (next in Superman: The Man of Steel #115)
Lois Lane (last in Action Comics #779; next in Adventures of Superman #593)

Guest Appearance:

Strange Visitor (next in Superboy Vol. 3 #89)

Other Characters:

Phil Semant
Bud Wizert (first appearance of both - named in text piece; construction workers; both die)
General Brackley
Dr Ian Hellman
Bart Phipps (an employee of the Metropolis Project)

Synopsis:

Two Gotham construction workers arrive early for work and are blown up in an explosion for their trouble. Commissioner Akins calls Batman in to investigate - the G.C.P.D. have been kept out by federal agents, and he doesn't like it. At the site, Batman spots a general from the Pentagon and a scientist from NASA. He deduces that this is the site of a spacecraft crashlanding. The next night, Lex Luthor is present at a party in Gotham, so Batman decides he should attend as Bruce Wayne. At the party, Bruce spots Dr Hellman, the scientist from the crash site, and distracts him with small-talk while he slips a truth serum drug into the doctor's drink. From the information gleaned from this, Batman is able to gain access to the site, where he sees an alien body removed at the president's orders, and taken to 'the Metropolis Project' - he also learns that there have been a number of crashes and other alien arrivals recently, all of them fleeing for their lives.

Later, Batman copies the contents of General Brackley's hard drive. However, when Oracle attempts to extract the contents, they begin self-deleting - she is able to save only a Metropolis address. Batman naturally makes his way there, where he is spotted by Talia, who leaves him a present in the form of a security-clearance tag for the Project. Disguising himself as the man on the tag, he discovers meta-human research facilities and evidence of something called the Doomsday Contingency. The next day he confronts President Luthor about the existence of the Metropolis Project - he says he won't reveal its existence if Luthor allows the person who set off the explosion in Gotham to face justice. As Batman, he also pays a visit to the Daily Planet in Metropolis, where he alerts Superman to the existence of the Doomsday Contingency.