A/N Found some more plotholes I can exploit 😈

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When Seulgi says wonderful, she means so busy you will never sit down.  

The rest of the morning, I lead tours of the Nautilus for my classmates, taking only a few at a time. Before each visit, Lisa or I talk to the Nautilus to let her know what's up. Roseanne serves as submarine interpreter, warning everyone to be considerate of the ship's feelings. I'm not sure what our classmates think of this, but they are willing to humor us. Hank tags along, sniffing everything and looking cute.

 By lunchtime, the entire freshman class has been on board at least once. We're all left smelling faintly of mildew and vanilla air freshener. On the plus side, no one has been killed by electrical discharges or mould allergies. Jennie did get sick though, which caused her to cling to my arm the whole time and dump her food on my plate. I consider that a win. 

We all gather to eat in the dining room of Lincoln Base, but I'm so frazzled I can barely enjoy Jupiter's excellent macroalgae-cheese soufflé. Most of my classmates seem to be in great spirits, though. They feel safe, shielded from the outside world by our HP mentors and lots of alt-tech gadgetry. They've had a few good meals. The Nautilus woke up more easily than anyone anticipated. What's not to feel happy about? 

The crew even feels excited about Seulgi's plans to put us to work after lunch. Twenty people can clean a lot faster than one or two. If the Nautilus lets us, we will immediately start hauling out the mouldy furniture, un-gooping the internal wiring and ductwork, and scrubbing ... well, everything. It disturbingly feels like that scene in Tom Sawyer where Tom convinces all his friends to pay him for the fun and privilege of painting his fence, but I guess it'll get the job done. 

The news from the sickbay is also encouraging. Though Dr. Hewett remains comatose, his condition has stabilized thanks to experimental medicines Irene reverse-engineered from the Nautilus's own laboratory.

I ask her privately if she has anything for menstrual cramps. Lisa's have passed for now, but periods are like General Douglas MacArthur in World War II: They shall return.

Irene sighs. 'If Nemo had been a woman? That would have been the first thing he invented. But, alas, no. Just general pain-relief medication. Once the submarine is back to full operations, we will ask her to help us engineer something more specific, yes?' 

During lunch, the only person who looks unhappy is Hwasa. She sits across from us at the dining table, glumly poking her soufflé with a fork.

 'Okay, there, Beyonce?' Lisa asks her. Lisa was the only one who appeared to have been not affected by the pungent smell of the Nautilus. She happily devoured her dinner.

Hwasa frowns. 'You all shouldn't have gone on board the sub without me this morning. What if something bad had happened?'

'Well,' Jennie says, 'I'm sure you would have shot the submarine right between the eyes like a true hero! Fortunately, we survived fine without you.'

Hwasa stares at the table, as if she's saying a prayer for patience. 'I'm going to check on Dr. Hewett.' 

She stands and marches off. 

I put a hand on Jennie's shoulder. 'We don't need to be sniping at one another.'

 She scoffs and shrugs off my hand. 'What sniping?'

 I sigh, get up and follow Hwasa. 

I find her in the sickbay, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, staring at Dr. Hewett'sunconscious form. Yeji putters around, checking the professor's monitors and fluid levels, but when she sees me arrive, she says, 'If you two will watch my patient for a sec, I'm going to grab some lunch.' 

She beats a hasty retreat like she's been dying to get out of there. 

'I'm sorry, Hwasa,' I say. 'I should've waited for you this morning. I'll make sure you're in the loop from now on.' 

The frown lines around her eyes soften a bit. 'I'd appreciate that. I don't know, Jisoo ... Something doesn't feel right. We shouldn't relax.' 

I wish I could brush off her concerns as easily as Jennie does, but I feel unsettled, too, as though I've missed an important warning – like the significance of the security grid flickering the morning Harding-Pencroft was destroyed.

 I study Dr. Hewett's face ... He still looks too pale, his skin almost translucent, but some of the jaundiced yellow seems to have faded around his neck and cheekbones. His hair has been washed and combed so it looks almost majestic – like the mane of an ancient lion.

'He was my advisor,' Hwasa murmurs. 'Also the closest person I ever had to a father.' 

I feel as if we've stepped out onto opposite sides of a quivering tightrope. Hwasa's voice is full of pain. I never would have considered Dr. Hewett a surrogate father figure – for Hwasa, or for Taehyung – but apparently he'd tried to guide them both. Hewett's condition must be worrying Hwasa much more than she's let on. 

I'm not sure how to ask my next question. I'm not sure I should ask it at all, but Hwasa seems to be inviting me to take the risk. 'Did you know your dad?'

She exhales – a humorless laugh. 'My mom and dad are alive and well. Last I heard, they were living in Oregon.' 

My first thought is Oh, that's not so far from HP, but the way Hwasa says Oregon, she might as well be talking about Saturn. 

'They weren't in your life,' I guess. 

She unfolds her arms, then clasps her hands behind her back as if she's not sure what to do with them. As usual, she's wearing no-nonsense commando black: jeans and T-shirt, even her belt and gun holsters – a cowgirl on her way to a funeral. 

'Do you know how I got the name Beyonce?' 

'Because of your voice, right? ' 

She shakes her head. 'I didn't make up that story, but I don't correct people when they tell it. My legal name is Ahn Bey Hyejin. My parents are ... modern-day hippies, I guess you'd call them. They're into horoscopes, crystals, tarot cards, healing music, all that. What they weren't into was being parents. When I was little, they left my brother and me with our grandmother in Provo. Gran raised us, brought us into the church. My brother is six years older than me. When he left for his missionary work in Korea ...' 

She watches the blips on Dr. Hewett's heart monitor. 'I guess what I'm saying is, I don't have many connections. So the ones I do have are important. I've apologized to Jennie several times for embarrassing her that day in the cafeteria. I was just ... I was missing my brother, and looking to make new friends. But I get why she hates me.'

The air in my lungs feels raw, as if I'm breathing from a contaminated tank. Jennie is my best friend. When she hurts, I hurt. But it's terrible that I never considered Hwasa's side of the story. And I had no idea she'd apologized to her about the scholarship kid incident.

'Hate may be a little strong,' I offer. 'Jennie has agreed with you twice just this week. Miracles can happen.' 

Hwasa shrugs. 'I suppose. It's just ... I need this team to stay together, Jisoo. I need HP. I guess in my desperation to do that, I've been neglecting my other relationships. Wheein barely talks to me right now. She's been my one constant since childhood and I just-' Her voice breaks. 

The comment hits a little too close to home. ' I'm sure she doesn't mean that. We're all adjusting to this sudden change. Maybe she just needs some time.'

'Dr. Hewett told me ... he believed the school could rise from the ashes. He gave me the job of protecting you because you're the only one who can make that happen. Instead of doing my job properly, I just ruined my and Wheein's relationship. '

My heart feels as delicate as one of Jupiter's soufflés. 'Hyejin ... I know we're in an emergency situation, but just because I'm a Dakkar doesn't mean I'm a full-time leader.' 

She stares at me. 'You're kidding, right? Jisoo, I was on the bridge of the Varuna when you cracked that code. You focused your team, got results. I watched you manage the crew for three days. You organized us, deployed everyone's talents, kept us from killing one another. You gave us a purpose when we were falling apart. That's not about your DNA. That's about you. I'm glad you're in charge.' 

I imagine my ears are as bright red as Nayeon's, and it's not because I'm about to tell a lie. I have trouble taking compliments. I tend to assume the other person is just trying to be nice or sparing my feelings. But Hwasa isn't like that. She's a straight shooter. And she's just hit my body center mass with some praise I never expected. 'Well ... thank you.'

She smiled thinly. 'You should learn to take compliments more, shortie.'

I opened my mouth in mock outrage. 'Treading on a thin line here, Beyonce.'

Hwasa laughed a real laugh before sweeping me in a hug. It takes me a second of shock to reciprocate. Yesterday I would have laughed at the idea of Hwasa and I hugging of all things. But now I didn't question it.

After a minute Hwasa pulled away suddenly. She jumped back in a hurry, like a deer caught in a headlight. I turned to see Roseanne standing in the doorway along with Jennie. 

Roseanne coughs. 'I'll just-.'

Jennie was wearing a surgeon's mask, but that didn't mask the cold look she was giving me. 

'We need to change Hewett's catheter, unless you two want to stay and help.' Jennie headed straight for Hewett's bed, her eyes fixed on it like the last piece of cake. I turned to go after her when I was stopped by Roseanne, who practically shoved us out of the door.

She shuddered 'Trust me, it is not pretty. Especially when we-'

Roseanne knew how to clear a room. I head back to the dining hall with Hwasa right behind me, and for the first time, I'm glad to have her breathing down my shoulder.

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