"Victoria."
Victoria jumped at the sound of her name. She'd taken a wrong turn a few hallways back and hadn't noticed, too deep in her own thoughts. To her right, Dr. Newman stood in an open doorway.
"Sorry Dr. Newman, I was just going to bed." Victoria looked around and realized she'd never been in this part of this ship before. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"Don't worry about it. Actually, could you help me with something real quick? I don't know where my assistant went."
"Sure." Victoria followed Dr. Newman through the doorway into a small, white room. A counter ran along one wall, with cabinets hanging above it. He grabbed a blue curtain to the right and pulled it back.
"Oh," Victoria said. She hadn't realized this was Summer's room. She must have wandered into the medical wing of the ship. She'd only been here once, after the battle in D.C., to have her injuries looked at.
Summer was asleep. She was hooked up to several machines, and an IV tube was stuck in her left arm.
"Has she woken up at all?" Victoria asked. Dr. Newman hadn't told them much about her condition, except that it would be a while before anyone could see her.
"A few times, after the surgeries we had to do," Dr. Newman answered. He grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer off the counter and handed it to Victoria. "We transported her to a hospital right after the battle and kept her there for a few days before bringing her back to the ship. We've got medical staff and basic equipment, but..."
"Not good enough for this." Victoria pumped some sanitizer into her hands. "What did you need my help with?"
Dr. Newman opened up a drawer and examined its contents. "She needs more surgery, so we're transporting her to another hospital tonight. A friend of mine who works there is sending a chopper soon. I just need to get some numbers real quick." He grabbed a clipboard off the counter and held it out. "I just need you to write them down. My short term memory isn't the greatest."
"Sure," Victoria said, taking the clipboard from him.
Dr. Newman pointed to the paper clipped on to it. "Heart rate goes here. These two boxes are for blood pressure. The first one is systolic, and the second is—"
"Diastolic," Victoria finished.
Dr. Newman smiled. "That's right. Most kids don't know that."
"I actually wanted to go into the medical field when I was younger," Victoria said. "I mean, I guess I still do, but I don't really think I could with all that's happened.
"I'm sorry," Dr. Newman said with a heavy sigh. "I really do hate this. Every Super on this ship, and even the ones working for Scorpion, deserve so much better. If I could send you back to your old lives and guarantee your safety, I would."
Victoria shrugged. "Should we get these numbers, then?"
"Of course." Dr. Newman wrapped the cuff around Summer's arm.
"You're not a medical doctor, right?" Victoria asked.
"No, I'm a biologist. I do know some basic procedures that the doctors here on the ship have showed me. Usually they take care of this stuff, but I told them to take a break. They've done so much for Summer already." Dr. Newman adjusted the cuff, and Summer stirred.
Victoria tensed as Summer's eyes opened. Should she say something? Apologize for what happened? Or would that be weird?
"Newman?" Summer mumbled.
"It's all right, Summer, we're just getting your blood pressure. You can go back to sleep."
"I'm thirsty."
"You're going in for surgery soon, you can't have anything to drink."
"What about pizza?" A grin tugged at Summer's lips, and Dr. Newman chuckled. Victoria was surprised to find herself fighting a smile.
"Are you ready to write?" Dr. Newman asked.
"What? Oh, yeah." Victoria grabbed the pen tied to the clipboard and tapped it against the page. "I'm ready whenever."
Dr. Newman listed off numbers and she scribbled them down in the appropriate boxes. Blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature. While he put the equipment away, Summer yawned.
"Victoria, what are you doing here? It thought Dr. Newman said no visitors."
"I, uh, got lost," Victoria said, wincing at how stupid she sounded.
"I asked her to help me out," Dr. Newman said. "Speaking of the 'no visitors' thing, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell the others, Victoria. I don't need them any more upset with me than they already are."
"Yeah, sure," Victoria said. She hadn't really planned on telling them, anyway.
Summer ran a hand through her hair. "Ugh," she muttered. "How long til I can shower?"
"The nurse said she could help you wash your hair, but you can't get your stitches wet," Dr. Newman said.
"Right, whatever, can I at least put my hair up?" Summer asked.
"I don't think there are any hair ties in here..."
"Here," Victoria said, pulling a hair tie off her wrist. "You can have this one."
"Thanks." Summer took the tie and pulled her hair back into the ponytail she usually kept it in.
"You can go, Victoria. Thanks for your help," Dr. Newman said. "Oh, and if you wanted, I'm sure the doctors would love to have a little extra help around here. They could show you some things."
"Really?"
"I don't see why not. You're a fast learner."
"Yeah, that would be cool." With one last glance at Summer, Victoria left the room.
~
Ash winced as John dabbed ointment on the burns running up his side.
"It'll probably be tender for a few more days, but the majority of the burns have healed," John said. He took a step back to assess his work on Ash's injuries. "The serum we developed worked excellently."
"Great, I'm so glad." There was a hint of sarcasm in Ash's tone.
"You should be. You're lucky you didn't need skin grafts." John hesitated before adding, "You have to admit, it's impressive."
"What?" Ash asked as he pulled his shirt back on.
"What Ivy did. It was raining, wasn't it? The fact that she was able to—"
"I get it," Ash growled. John fell silent, but there was a hint of smugness in his expression.
The door to the lab opened and Claudia entered. Annoyance flashed across John's face, but he quickly hid it and turned around. "Claudia," he said. "Can I help you?"
"Where's Dr. Rivera?" Claudia asked.
"Right here." Rosa Rivera appeared from behind some shelves and walked over to them.
"Andrew wants you to see you."
"Why?" Rivera asked. She sounded nervous. Ash's gaze darted back and forth between the her and Claudia.
"He didn't say," Claudia said. "Finish up whatever you're working on and go."
"Who's Andrew?" Ash asked.
Claudia, Rivera and John all turned to look at him. Claudia narrowed her eyes. "He works at the labs," she said. "Don't worry about it."
"Oh, Rosa," John said as she moved to leave. "Could you get me a report on Icarus-35?"
Rosa nodded and disappeared into the back of the lab.
"What's Icarus—oh, never mind," Claudia said. "I can't keep track of all the projects you're running over there. Ash, come with me."
"Of course," Ash said. He followed Claudia through the hallways to her office.
"According to my sources," Claudia said, "There's a large group of Altered hiding out near Houston."
What sources?
"I'd like you to go investigate. By yourself, don't take anyone with you. I don't want you to attack them or recruit them, just find them. Confirm they exist."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning. Let me get you the coordinates."
While Claudia printed off the location, Ash looked around her office. "Claudia," he began, his tone hesitant. "When are we going to make our next move?"
Claudia tensed as she pulled the piece of paper out of the printer. "What do you mean?"
"Well, we were unsuccessful in taking Washington and the other cities we were planning on attacking... what are we going to do now?"
"We... have to regroup first. Many Altered are still recovering from injuries. And we have to rebuild our army of soldiers."
"And then what? Are we just going to try again?" Ash sensed he was pushing it a bit, but he didn't understand why. Surely Claudia had a plan. They needed to move forward.
Move forward with what?
Ash shook his head as Claudia handed him the paper.
"I'm working on it," she said. "We can't just throw a plan together in a day if we want it to work. Now get to bed. I want information on this group as early as possible."
As Ash made his way to the dormitories, he wondered why there would be so many Altered hiding out together. Were they just hiding, or were they planning something?
The siblings Seth and Hestia were arguing quietly in the hallway. A few other Altered were roaming about, but almost everyone had gone to bed.
"Move," Ash said when he reached them.
Seth glared at him. "You move."
"You're standing in front of my door."
Seth rolled his eyes and stepped aside. Ash reached for the handle.
"Ash."
Ash sighed. "What, Wren?" He turned around.
Wren was standing at the end of the hallway, her brown hair pulled back in its usual braid. "I want to train with you tomorrow morning. I haven't practiced hydrokinesis in a while."
"Too bad. I have a mission."
"Am I coming?"
"No." Why did all of Ash's teammates have to be so annoying?
Ash frowned when he saw the little girl appear next to Wren. What was she doing here?
In the blink of an eye, she was gone. Ash shook his head. He needed rest. Wren asked him something, but he ignored her and entered his room.
~
Ash left early the next morning. The sun hadn't quite come up yet when he reached the area outside of Houston where the Altered were allegedly hiding out. The soldier he'd brought along to fly the jetchopper stayed behind while he went out to search the area.
Nearly twenty minutes passed before something caught Ash's attention. A fire, flickering in the dark. He crept closer, scanning the area as he did. There was a lot of water nearby, a river or bay of some sort. Ash hadn't paid much attention to the landscape flying in, but he didn't have to see it to know it was there. He could sense its power from where he stood in the trees.
There was a campground in the area, so it was possible the fire belonged to campers, but Ash figured he might as well check it out. It was the first sign of life he'd seen all morning.
Sure enough, there were a few tents just visible at the edge of the firelight. The burns running up Ash's side and chest throbbed as he drew closer to the heat.
Dozens of figures were huddled around the fire. Ash was close enough to see that they were all teens. Altered, he realized. Claudia's sources were right.
Someone grabbed Ash's shoulder. He spun around and found himself face-to-face with a boy that looked oddly familiar. In the light from the fire, Ash could just make out the boy's reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes.
Then something was pulled over Ash's head, and everything went dark.
***
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