{Enki}

“Permitted.”

“Agreed.”

“Denied.”

Could Abresson look anymore smug as he disagreed with Eminent Lance and Eminent Wiw to grant Tameka an audience with the Primaries? With only four of their deities left in the galaxy, the other Tritans guarded them jealously.

Tumu, a demoted Primary, stood at Tameka’s side. She smiled sweetly into the smug Eminent’s dark blue face. “I understand the Primaries sequester themselves to preserve the foundation of the species, but Rem vowed to the Progeny that he would help us if we sought it. I am seeking it now.”

Eminent Lance nodded solemnly. “I witnessed his promise to you.” He glared up at Abresson as he continued, “And I thereby grant you audience with—”

“Primary Rem is unavailable.” Abresson cut off Lance with a wave of his scarred hand. “As are Lon and Xhi. Bol is the only available Primary.” He shot Tameka a nasty smile.

Wiw winced at the name and shook his head. “You’ll find no help with him, Sovereign Ambassador.”

The stagnant ocean stretched to the horizon in all directions, surrounding them on the platform. The gray sky reflected Tameka’s mood. Not quite a storm, but one building beyond the soft exterior. After living the last two years in Enki, she grew accustomed to the smell of brine and seaweed. But something varied here on this marble platform. Less fish, more… rock. Not sedimentary. No, something… igneous. Fire.

Tumu gently pressed his hand to her bare back, returning her from her senses.

Abresson zeroed in on the gesture with a narrowed gaze. “Oh, I say we let her see Bol. Tameka can clearly tame any Tritan. Even the Primaries.” He used “tame” as if it were another four-letter word.

Tameka cut Tumu off to say, “I humbly accept your offer to meet Primary Bol.”

The smug Tritan’s mouth fell open, and Tumu turned aside. A familiar gesture intended to hide his humor at the expense of the snotty Eminent.

Eminent Lance beamed with pride and tapped his staff once.

Eminent Wiw stood. “Very well, brave Progeny. But heed my advice. Primary Bol’s only concern is the preservation of the Tritan species. You face a mighty challenge to draw his attention onto any other matter.”

Tumu indicated for Tameka to follow the wizened Tritan to one edge of the platform where a conduit crackled with electricity. The Officer of the Third assured, “I’ll wait here for your return.”

Abresson rolled his eyes with a humph.

Tameka beamed at the three Eminents. “I look forward to meeting Bol. I hope to meet all the Primaries before I return to Earth with my son.”

Tumu stiffened.

Wiw missed the point, or he ignored it graciously because he gestured for her to follow him through the conduit. “They look forward to meeting you, I’ve no doubt. You are a fine representative to your planet.”

Tameka never got used to the Seam between conduits. A grayscale world of a bone-white hall with cathedral ceilings stretching on forever into an ashen snow fall. Sagan said it smelled like Cinder. As the only person able to step foot in it, the blond Progeny would know by now if it was populated. So sad and so empty. Lost and lonely.

Tameka couldn’t relate. Never lonely. Even mourning Xelan, she knew a wealth of love and kindness only afforded to the fortunate. Friends. Family. Pax. And never lost. She remembered why they fought. The people they freed. More people waited beyond that. Every step she took brought them closer to saving others, and nothing could stop her.

Not even a potentially unpleasant Primary.

“All right, Sovereign Ambassador. I welcome you to meet Primary Bol. Please proceed.” Wiw pointed at the structure beyond the conduit.

Same set up as Primary Rem. White columns climbed high but not as high as the Gargantuan Tritan in the center. Tameka climbed the steps to the glass lift and paused.

In Rem’s temple, the black flames of Cascading Light fell from a waterfall into a fountain base. Here, the light splashed around her in dividing channels. It fell from the edge of the platform, and that’s when she realized the marble slab hovered in the atmosphere over a continent.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The flitting flames pooled around the marble rather than succumb to the fall. It stretched like the infinite cosmos and danced in its most beautiful abandon. A sea of burning stardust in the sky.

“It’s breathtaking.”

Wiw smiled kindly down at her. “It’s the reason I asked for his assignment. It’s the most beautiful view in all of Enki.”

He confirmed one of Tameka’s suspicions. They assigned Eminents to the Primaries. She figured Lance guarded Rem, and now she knew Wiw looked after Bol. Only Lon and Xhi remained. In his Verse, that bastard who murdered Xelan wrote of a Primary that haunted their family. Abresson must guard him.

Lon or Xhi?

“Thank you, Eminent Wiw.” Tameka smiled at him over her shoulder and proceeded to the lift.

The Gargantuan Tritan’s mass writhed in the center of his temple. A deep blue, almost purple, his skin concealed black blood vessels. The striations of his muscles faded in color to a pale silver. Almond-shaped eyes blinked, spanning the size of her.

Tumu compressed and decompressed enough around her that she learned Gargantuans look different in either form. Not for the first time, she wished for a lineup to point the evil one out and have it over with.

“You request my audience?” The depth and volume of his voice popped her ears and resonated in her chest.

“Yes, sir. I am the Progeny, Tameka. Sovereign Ambassador of Earth.” She smoothed down her white skirt.

“The mother.”

Tameka hid her wince. “Yes, sir.”

“You do our race a great service raising your son here.” He blinked again. “He has much to learn and will benefit from his education in Enki.”

Diplomacy. Bureaucracy. Xelan taught them how to fight for the planet, but not how to run it or represent it. Would the father of her son risk a war to remove Pax from this environment? If not yet, then when? As a fighter, she wanted to drain them all dry and evacuate her little family back to Earth. But Elden only knew how many Tritans would rise from the ashes and eliminate her home.

A thought occurred to her. “Primary Bol, Officer of the Third requested my guardianship of Rayne for one week on Cinder. My son has never seen the worlds that bore him. I’d like to take Pax with me and help Tumu. For one week.”

The Primary cocked his head to the side. “How does guarding the Weapon serve Enki?”

Tameka bit back her initial response and tried hard to answer this question respectfully. “It is an educational opportunity for my son, which you implied serves Enki. Guarding Rayne is a favor I do the Tritans.”

They wanted Pax as the son of a Progeny and an Icarus. Not just any Icarus. Xelan’s inventions and capabilities interested Enki. He also spent some time rummaging through some of their most sacred locations for knowledge. Knowledge they feared in his possession, or so Tameka suspected. No doubt they expected Pax to obtain her ability to drain nacre energy. And perhaps, for that reason, they wanted her just as badly.

Tameka found herself, once again, wondering what Rayne redacted in Nox’s Verse regarding the Primary and Xelan. She worried they performed experiments on the Icarean Prince that might affect Pax. But Tameka withheld her pregnancy from Rayne before the Progeny King returned to the Martyr Complex.

What a clusterfuck—

“You may fulfill your duties to the Officer of the Third for one week. Allow one of your men to watch the son.”

Drain his nacre. Experience power unknown. Destroy everyone in the way—

“My son stays with me.”

The Primary shook his massive head. “Those two worlds are unstable. It is unwise for residents of Enki to travel there. When the son is matured and has completed his education, he is free to travel where his adult heart desires. We agree and insist.”

“All the Primaries?”

“Sovereign Ambassador, each Primary will give you the same answer.” He blinked.

For a second, her own reflection in his eyes matched the icy resolve inside her. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Think of Xelan. What would he do? Tameka almost smirked at the thought of what Rayne would do in this situation. Not one structure would remain. She’d level the place.

Tameka missed them both.

“I accept and will plan accordingly.”

The Primary nodded. “Your wisdom will afford you great opportunity. Peace and givings, the Progeny, Tameka.”

The lift took Tameka down where Wiw waited for her. As she stepped off, she stared into the fire that sourced the Probability Matrix. Struck with the sudden urge, she reached out to touch it.

“Tameka.”

She stopped and turned. The Eminent never once called her by her name until now.

Grave. His face was so grave. “Please. Don’t touch it.”

Straightening, Tameka stared at him. She wanted to ask so badly why not, but something in his expression told her the answer wasn’t with him. Wasn’t his to give. He didn’t know. He only knew that she shouldn’t.

“Thank you, Eminent Wiw.”

The old Tritan’s body let out a sigh of relief she couldn’t relate. They made quick work of the conduit paths. She memorized them on the second round. Forty-seven conduits separated her apartments from this Primary’s temple. But the good news was she didn’t notice any guards.

Tumu waited for them alone on the oceanic platform. “How’d it go?”

“I believe Primary Bol liked our Sovereign Ambassador,” Wiw smiled between them before nodding to Tameka. “Good luck.” Then he disappeared through a conduit on the far side of the platform.

Tameka relaxed her shoulders, but the tension lingered in her jaw and temples. “I can guard Rayne for a week, but they want Caedes or John to watch Pax in Enki.”

Tumu smiled sadly at her. “I think Caedes enjoys babysitting duty, at least.” He swept an arm to the conduit, asking her to go first. To test how well she memorized the path.

They walked silently back to the ocean colony as she considered her options. They won the war. Why were there still prices to pay for their peace—

Tameka shook her head. Melancholy wasn’t her thing. It was okay to take a moment and let things process here and there. But a force motivated her to soldier on. To continue fighting until the foundation finally settled, and the rocking stopped for a time. Heal the cracks. Clear the debris.

Yes, the time for that was coming.

But first the Tritans would soon find out that Tameka was their earthquake. And if they stood in her way to freedom, she would bury them.