Sam was about two minutes from the edge of the danger zone laid out in the evacuation order when another vehicle finally appeared on the road. Once it got closer, he realized it was a familiar gray van.
"Guys, I think that's the Newmans," Sam said.
Veronica leaned forward. "I think you're right." She squinted into the distance, past the approaching van. "And I'm starting to see cars on the side of the road. We've caught up with the evacuation."
Sam drove a little farther before pulling over to the side of the road. His relief at catching a small break was at war with his desperation to find his family, but the ache in his head hadn't subsided much since the lab collapse. He needed a breath of fresh air.
The Newmans passed the Martinezes' van, turned around, and pulled up behind them.
Sam opened his door. "Anyone coming with me?"
"I'll come," Eric replied.
The two climbed out of the van at the same time the Newmans did. "Where have you kids been?" Beth called over the wind as she and Charles approached. "Did you go to the labs?"
"We found out Scorpion was going after the fragment," Sam explained as he threw his door shut. "We tried to get it first, but they showed up early."
Eric pulled out the fragment. "But we were able to take this from them before they left."
Charles stopped in front of Eric and studied the fragment in his hand. After a long moment, he said, "It's good you were able to get this." He looked up. "I'm so sorry. About your home, about everything. I can't imagine how awful you must feel right now."
Sam turned his head toward the horizon, not sure how to respond.
Beth stared at the damaged van they'd been driving with wide eyes. "Are you all okay? Facing SCI and Scorpion was—"
"We know, bad idea," Eric said. "But Scorpion scared off SCI pretty early, and they were mostly focused on getting the Director into the chamber."
"Uh, that being said, SCI did bring in backup as we were leaving," Sam added.
Charles nodded. "We saw. They're probably here to figure out how to deal with the mess Scorpion left behind."
"If you're willing to trust us with it, we can take the fragment," Beth said. "A few of our researchers might be able to learn something useful from it."
Eric turned the fragment over in his hand. "Yeah, I guess that's probably the best option at this point." He glanced at Sam with uncertainty in his eyes, as if to ask if he were making the right choice.
Sam held Eric's gaze for a moment before turning to the Newmans. "What about us?"
"What do you mean?" Beth asked.
"Where are we supposed to go now?"
Charles exchanged a look with Beth. "Well, you'll have to relocate, like the rest of Tyche Point," he said. "I'm sorry, I know it won't be easy, but—"
"And what about Scorpion?" Eric cut in. "How are we supposed to fight them if we all have to go different ways?"
"You shouldn't be fighting Scorpion, anyway," Charles said.
"We succeeded today."
Barely. Sam held back the comment. Despite the exhausting battle they'd fought, they couldn't just walk away from all of this. And he didn't want to say goodbye to everyone. Not after he'd just found them.
He wondered if that was the real reason Eric wanted to keep fighting, too.
"Charles," Beth said. "Let's talk for a minute."
Charles followed Beth to a spot a short distance away, where they spoke in low voices.
"Can you read their minds?" Eric asked. "See what they're talking about?"
Sam shook his head. "Sorry. No way I could handle that right now," he said. "And I'm...not sure I like the idea, anyway."
"Fair enough." Eric rubbed the back of his neck.
After another minute of intense discussion, the Newmans returned to where Sam and Eric waited.
"We feel horrible about everything that's happened. And we want to help you any way you can," Charles said. "Especially if Scorpion is targeting you. We don't want to bring you into this fight, but you'll be safer if you stick together somewhere they can't get to you."
"When we took over the Fortuna, we planned to use it to help kids, anyway," Beth added. "With everything that's happened, we think it makes sense to invite you to come with us."
Sam's eyes widened. "Come with you to your boat?"
"There's a few stipulations," Charles quickly said. "First, we want approval from all of your parents. And second, we're doing this in hopes that you'll be able to return to your normal lives as soon as possible."
"As soon as Scorpion's defeated, you mean," Eric said.
"Something like that," Charles said with a sigh. "With your high school gone, you'll all need to make other educational arrangements, anyway. You could transfer to another school for the last couple of months of the school year, or we could sort something out for you."
"Like, you teach us?" Sam asked.
"Well, not exactly." Beth rested a hand on her hip. "But we do have a team of researchers who could give you a great hands-on learning experience. If we did that in conjunction with accredited online courses, we could hopefully give you a setup that your parents would find acceptable."
Eric nodded. "I'm in."
"I'm interested, too," Sam added. Veronica wouldn't be as eager, but he had a feeling she'd come around to the idea. Convincing their parents was another matter entirely.
"All right. Let's go get this sorted out with your parents, then," Charles said. "Have you spoken to them yet?"
"We were on our way to find them," Sam answered.
"We'll follow you, then."
Eric held out the fragment. Charles took it, and he and Beth headed back toward their van. As they opened their doors, a thought popped into Sam's head.
"Where's that Malcolm guy?" Sam asked.
Beth paused next to the driver's side door. "Still in our RV, not far from here. We were going to handcuff him to keep him out of trouble during the drive back to the ship, just to be on the safe side." She glanced at Charles. "It would be nice to have their help with that, too."
"Good point." Charles stepped into the van and pulled his door shut.
Beth climbed into her seat and leaned out to grab the handle. "How about you kids call us once you've figured out who's coming, and we'll come meet you?"
"Sounds good," Eric told her.
Beth's door closed, the van started, and the Newmans drove off.