Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 15: Peter

I decided it was best not to go after the King and the Princess. I figured that when they were ready, they would find me, but they had to deal with their family getting hurt, and that most likely meant that I was out of the picture.

With nothing else I could really do until Shuri got back, I decided to camp out in her lab. A little bit of exploring earned me a pillow and a nice, thick blanket. Honestly, what wasn't better in Wakanda? I found myself a corner, and within minutes, I was out cold.

When I woke up, Shuri was back in the lab, ignoring me, and completely focused on what she was doing. I was kind of surprised she didn't move me somewhere else once she got back, but I decided not to ask about it.

I stood up, groaning a little bit as I did. Must have slept on my neck wrong. "Morning. Did I miss anything?"

Shuri didn't turn to face me, but shook her head in response. "There have been no more attacks since you fell asleep."

"Any news on the victims?" I asked quietly, then immediately regretted it. I was about to apologize, but Shuri was already pulling up something on a screen.

"30 were injured, but their wounds have been treated and most of them are back with their families. 10 people have been admitted to clinics for extended stay." She didn't mention anyone dying, but I was almost certain that there had been fatal casualties. I decided not to push the subject.

"Did you find anything about the float?"

Shuri groaned in frustration and slammed the table with her fists. "No. None of the debris looks like it had been part of a bomb. It's all just one deadly dead end after another. I have nothing, not on the bomb, or the people who armed it."

I really wanted to say something, because I knew better than most people what it was like to blame yourself for someone else's death. I should have said something comforting, or given her some advice, but what came out of my mouth was: "I managed to get a few scans of the debris right after the float went off."

Nice job, Parker. Real helpful. Totally what she needed right now.

"How long after it went off?"

"A few minutes?"

Shuri looked at me for the first time. I realized right then that I probably didn't look that great, but she didn't say anything. "Can I see the scans?"

I nodded. "I uploaded them to your system last night. They should still be there."

She transitioned and started searching for Karen's scans, and I studied my reflection in the window. I tried combing through my hair with my hands, but it was sticking up in all directions, and refused to cooperate, so I gave up after a few tries.

"I hadn't expected this much radiation," Shuri commented behind me, and I turned to face her. "Was all of this coming from the float debris?"

I nodded, walking over to where she was working. "I meant to ask you about that last night, but I decided to wait. Did your brother say anything about the float, like, vibrating right before it exploded?"

Shuri's face contorted, then froze. "The bomb was not on the float, it was the float! All this time, I was looking for the wrong thing!"

Turning back to her work, she began running some new analysis', abandoning the ones she was working on previously. I watched her for a few seconds, before asking, "How did you get this footage? I thought all the cameras were deactivated."

She had a high resolution clip of the explosion, but the angle was a bit odd. I didn't remember seeing this clip from last night.

"I installed an emergency camera on T'Challa's necklace in case something like this ever happened. Your scan and T'Challa's camera are all I have to work with, but it just might be enough." She rewound the video, then paused the clip, so she could see the explosion frame by frame. About half a second before the float went off, the float started looking blurry, even though this was probably one of the highest resolution cameras on the planet. It got blurrier and less definite, right up until it exploded. Then the King's camera was angled away from the bomb, and we couldn't see anything, but it was enough. Shuri had what she needed.

"Something must have been into that float that made it vibrate at a frequency that destabilized the vibranium," I said aloud, even though we both knew it. "Where was that float made at?"

Shuri pulled up a file from the parade, holding all the designs for the floats from last night. She pulled up the blueprints for the front float, and she checked the credits. "The designs were from Sweden, but it was assembled here, in the lab."

"Why was it designed in Sweden?"

"There's an outpost there, since we have good relations with the country," Shuri explained. "It is helpful for trade and negotiations, but perhaps HYDRA managed to corrupt them while they have stayed there."

I looked out the door, even though there wasn't anyone there. "I think your brother ought to hear about this," I advised lowly.

Shuri nodded, loading the designs onto her bracelet. "Even better, Queen Nakia is awake again. She is a spy, and if anyone can help us find these people, it's her. Between the King and the Queen and us, we can find these traitors and make sure this never happens again. Are you ready?"

I grabbed my bag, which was still on the counter from last night, and followed her out the door. "Back to the palace?"

"Back to the palace."