Before they left the Solar System entirely, Shane chatted with Shazam for a while longer.
Star systems did not occupy fixed coordinates in the universe. Under the influence of gravitational fields in different regions of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Solar System moved forward in an undulating spiral, constantly weaving above and below the galaxy's disk.
The Solar System traveled at an average speed of seventy thousand kilometers per hour. Combined with Shane's own movement in the opposite direction as he entered faster-than-light transit, this meant that once they left the Solar System, finding Earth again through individual effort alone would be almost impossible without scientific guidance.
So before leaving the Solar System entirely, Shane needed the instrument he carried to record the entire star system's unique signal structure.
If something went wrong on Oa, and Rachel could not bring them back through the Shadow Dimension by dimension-hopping as she had on Apokolips...
They really would be left wandering the universe from then on.
"How's Mia doing now?"
He had originally planned to visit Mia after the test, but later learned that she was not at the Titans Base. Green Arrow had taken her somewhere else for treatment.
To save time, he had simply set off on his journey through space first.
Shazam could still barely keep up with Shane at this point, flying a short distance behind him. He wore a simple oxygen mask that allowed the two of them to communicate by signal.
"I don't know much about medicine. You know, that's stuff you'd only learn in college, after all."
Shazam scratched his head, looking a little ashamed. "They said the viruses inside Mia were really strange. The timing of her infection was too much of a coincidence. The Amazo virus was catalyzing an entirely new virus that