The Pyramid Chronicles: Fortuna Guard (#2)

Chapter Seven: Return

The morning after the meeting with the Newmans, Veronica and the others held their first training session with a mostly recovered Summer.

"I did a few laps around the deck this morning," Summer said as she stretched an arm across her chest. "I'm not as close to my old time as I'd like to be, but it wasn't terrible." She switched arms.

Veronica frowned. "What? What time were you up?"

"I dunno. Six-ish?"

Eric snorted. "Unbelievable. Even after getting shot, you get up at six a.m."

"What time did you get up?" Summer asked as she bent down to touch her toes.

"Half an hour ago."

Veronica lifted an eyebrow. She couldn't imagine dragging herself out of bed at six, but she also couldn't stand the thought of laying around until ten-thirty.

Sam, who'd been watching a group nearby dodge fireballs from another pyro, turned to Summer. "Did you want to start with combat, or practice electrokinesis first?"

Something flickered across Eric's face at the mention of Summer's ability, but Veronica didn't get a chance to decipher the expression.

Summer lifted her hands. Electricity arced between her palms. She grinned. "I think a few minutes getting a feel for this again would be nice. Oh!" The electricity fizzled out as she clapped her hands together. "I need someone to film me."

"Film you?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, I need videos of me in action for my Defenders Alliance application!" Summer explained. "They've started a new program for high school interns, and they're taking applicants for summer."

"Really? They're letting high schoolers intern?" That didn't sound...safe.

"It's a much more limited capacity than the graduates, but it's better than nothing." Summer lifted a hand and let electricity return to her palm. "Honestly, the description makes it sound like we'll just be sitting around their headquarters watching them train."

Veronica supposed an organization approved by the government would have to have extensive safety measures in place if they were going to let high schoolers hang around. "If you want to apply, we can totally help you," she said.

"For sure," Eric added. "Just don't forget about us when you're a famous superhero."

Summer pressed her hand to her chest in mock sincerity. "I could never forget you, Evan."

"Ouch," Eric said with a laugh.

Summer wanted to get back into the swing of things before filming anything for her application, so they didn't bother setting up cameras today. The four spent the next couple of hours taking it slow with some basic dodging drills and target practice. Adam joined them midway through.

Around noon, Beth arrived on the ship's deck. She watched the scattered groups of altered train for a few minutes before approaching Veronica and the others. One by one, they released their hold on their abilities and turned to face her. The heightened gravity Veronica had put into place faded.

"We found another altered," Beth said. "A boy named Zeke. He's currently in Oregon with his cousins. We're not sure what ability he has, but he did get a dose in the pyro and electrokinetic range, if what Sam pointed out to us yesterday is correct."

Veronica glanced at Sam. Yesterday evening, he'd explained to the Newmans that he'd noticed a pattern in the list of altered. When Veronica questioned why he'd been looking at the list in the first place, he said he'd simply been bored while waiting for the meeting.