2.16.2

Team Work

“It’s a good thing,” Tenya told Astrid later. “Boring. But good. He’s right, you’re going to need the practice.”

Astrid sat in the medical lab, curled in a chair Ishioka made her sterilize at the door.

The specialist rested a tablet in her lap, with her thumbs hovered over the screen’s keys. Though it awaited input, and Tenya leaned nearby against one of the exam tables, Dell, instead, held her rapt attention.

“You’re sure he’s going to be okay?” She asked the doctor for a third time.

Doctor Ishioka puffed and showed a monitor screen to Astrid for proof. But the Channeler didn’t know enough to about the machine to decipher the waving lines and fluctuating numbers.

“He’s fine,” Ishioka reiterated. “He’s just unconscious. His brain activity and vitals are all normal. You just gave him a bit of jolt.”

“I’ll say…” Astrid grumbled.

“It’s like hitting the hard reset on a computer,” Ishioka tried. “Mister Davis got a little overloaded in the shut down, and it’s taking a little bit longer to boot up.”

Astrid blinked, far from comforted.

“Yeah…” Tenya finally voiced for her, “She has no idea what any of that meant.”

Ishioka sighed and dropped it altogether. Tired, Astrid presumed, of explaining what she considered to be quite simple.

“Look, I’d be worried, too, Kitten. But if Doctor Ishioka says he’s going to be fine, he’s going to be fine. I know it. If there’s anything Dell knows, it’s his way around a computer. That’s what the brain is. That’s what she’s saying.”

The Channeler scowled down into the screen of her tablet, propped up on her knees.

Tenya leaned over until her curls, still restrained in a tie after their mission, bobbed under the white light. “Are you getting any of this?”

“You said he’s fine. You said it’s good. To do the report,” Astrid repeated back to her mechanically.

But a searing migraine demanded what resilience the Channeler could muster. She hissed and rubbed the heel of her hand at her temple.

Tenya granted her the grace of not commenting. Ishioka, however, did no such thing.

“Hale. Here.” The doctor instantly directed her. She snapped her fingers and pointed to the table opposite Dell.

“It’s fine, really.” Astrid shook her head, but that only served to make her groan.

“I’d rather not have to tell the captain you refused medical advice,” Ishioka threatened.

Astrid hissed again. Half in pain, half to cover a curse that the doctor so quickly jumped for the jugular.

Not her first run in with stubborn patients, Astrid surmised.

The Channeler struggled to her feet and let herself be ordered about like a puppy.

“Sit.”

Astrid sat.

She endured all the usual. Lung and heartbeat check. Nerve reflexes. But then Ishioka drew her finger up for the regular eye check, and following left to right with the doctor’s finger, Astrid’s brain, again, lit up in a painful zap that thrummed her nerves.

“Ah! Shit-!” Astrid winced, unable to stifle herself this time.

“How long have you been having headaches?” Ishioka peered under her neatly shaped, thin brows.

“I haven’t-”

The woman’s narrow lips pursed.

“A few months,” Astrid sighed. “Rahna said it could happen, the stronger my abilities get.”

“How’s the strain?” Ishioka immediately returned another question. Astrid capitulated completely under the pressure forming behind her eyes.

“The flow seems a little smoother. I can pull more than I used to. Almost held one of the pods today. Well, its jet mechanism. I can sustain my power a lot longer. But I also got hit with a pulsar today. Twice. It could be that, too.”

“I’m going to take some blood,” Ishioka decided. “Just to screen for any changes or other possibilities. But my professional opinion is to keep conditioning. You’ll get used to the stress.”

Astrid’s forehead wrinkled between her brows while Ishioka rubbed behind the Channeler’s ears in slow methodical circles with the index finger of each hand.

“Won’t that make it worse? If it is from my abilities getting stronger, then won’t the headaches? Then what?”

“Or, you might have the brain equivalent of a pulled muscle,” Ishioka countered. “This is unprecedented. I can’t say for certain what will happen. Perhaps you will get more sensitive. But there’s only one way to find out.”

Astrid closed her eyes while the woman worked. The shift of pressure did relieve some of the pain, albeit temporarily. It still ached when Ishioka stepped back and divested herself of yet another pair of gloves.

“Call it ego if you want,” the doctor finished her thought. “But with everything going on out there, I’d rather it be you and I that finds the answer first. We might be in a race before too long.”

Astrid blew a long exhale, though her eyes still passed over the sleeping man across from her.

“I’ll wait and get a blood sample after the discomfort passes. Next time you visit Mister Davis. Which should be any minute now.” Ishioka concluded in punctual sarcasm and returned to her workstation to draw up Astrid’s file.

The Channeler resisted the urge to torture them both with an eyeroll and instead clambered down and back to her chair.

She settled back in and pulled her data tablet into her lap. But absently, her fingers mimicked the rotating motion Ishioka showed her. At least, on the worst of it behind her right ear.

Tenya remained where she propped herself against the table, thoughtful. The fine crease in her forehead revealed as much, if not more concern, for Astrid than Dell. And with that, the Channeler took offense.

“I’m not the one to worry about.” She met the woman’s stare. “I’m not going break on you, Tenya, okay? I just need rest. It’s been a long day.”

“Okay, I know you hate attention, but this isn’t about your self-esteem,” Tenya argued. “You’re important. I’m sorry, but you just are!”

“Tenya!” Astrid threw her head back and whined. “Can we not do this now?”

“Captain is grooming you for your own command, you get that, right?”

At that, Astrid gave a start. She turned her face back to the chief, more than surprised. Sick, even, with the thought. Nearby, Ishioka spoke not a word. Suddenly, a passing headache did not seem a relevant issue anymore.

“Me? Command? Soldiers?! There’s no way. My own people, maybe, but I’m only recently in the Service at all! I just took one of our guys out of commission!”

Astrid found the facetious toss of Tenya’s head completely irritating given the added stress she delivered.

“Well shit, Kitten, who did you think was going to head the Channeler Division? Who’s going to train all those nice shiny energy specialists to work in mixed teams? Whoever has the most experience, right?

“That’s why he had you take the lead on the comm to Mercedes. Why he’s taking a step back and letting you and Anders run the show. He’s trying to see how you work together, and whether or not you’ll take initiative yourself!”

The fact Tenya’s explanation made perfect sense, ironically, made anything but sense to Astrid. True, she noted the difference in the captain and how he conducted their mission. But she endured formal training in Magnus, now. Long enough to know how rise to command typically worked.

It required tests, recommendations. A special training regimen that Anders completed for his career path years ago. A whole different set of skills to acquire.

“He’s going to send me back for more training…” Astrid realized.

“Look, it’s still probably a ways down the road, yeah?” Tenya pressed. “But I can’t have you getting so caught up in the now that you’re not looking that far ahead.”

“Right now, I just want to find the rest of the Channelers. And to stop the S.O.’s plan. And for Dell to wake up,” the specialist listed.

“Well, look, let’s get at least one thing off your desk.”

With that, Tenya sidled over to the exhausted Channeler and invited herself into the seat with a scooch. She reached for the tablet and walked Astrid through her report.