{Enki}
“Was it The Core?” Matt asked as he set another charge.
Puk chuckled into the earpiece. It was much harder to walk on a rock while it spun at a dangerous velocity through space inside a Dyson’s Sphere. “Naw, my man. But I bet Lucy would’ve guessed right by now.”
“Fuck.” Matt said it more for his friend’s amusement than his own. Puk was all right. He seemed to get Matt and Lucy, or at the very least, stayed out of their way. It was unusual for Matt to work with someone other than her, so this was an interesting exercise in his ability to act like a person. “How many more ya got?”
The Mon3 drone made rustling noises as he searched his bin. “Uh… looks like fifty. You?”
“About twenty.” Matt hovered his bin over to a cemetery in the prison’s backyard. Puk was further down Mercy’s Row, communicating over the earpiece. Into which, Matt asked, “Hey, will this even work? Are these explosives big enough? I thought there’s supposed to be a drill involved.” He tried his best to unlock his jaw and pop it. Handling explosives resurfaced his bad habit of teeth grinding under stress. That or worrying about Lucy’s radio silence up there alone in a shrine with a Tritan.
Over the earpiece, Puk reassured, “Relax, Ginger. There’s some big gun we aren’t privy to because we’re ‘need to know.’ Feel me?”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Yeah. Yeah. He got it.
A few minutes later, the drone returned to the comms. “You hungry?”
Not after his last sandwich only an hour ago, but Puk ate four times as often as a human. “I can take a break, if you want?”
“Yeah. This working around the clock business has my stomach growling—”
“Ginger. This is Morning Star. It’ll be another beautiful day, boys. Over.”
Matt instantly wanted Lucy.
Puk huffed over the comms. “Easy for you to say. You’re not hurdling to your doom on a broken rock at fifty-six thousand klicks per hour, Morning Star. Over.”
Lucy giggled—a sound Matt reveled in—before responding, “I’ll send some more anti-nausea packs before I’m relieved for sleep shift. Yito, do you mind? No? That’s wonderful. Thanks! Hey, Puk, I’m sending down a hundred cases of the stuff and some more charges. Over.”
“Hell. Yes. Thank you, Yito.”
Matt listened with a smirk on his face. Lucy was doing it. Building that support for her coup. Elden, he loved her. Boldly, he asked, “Can I get a kiss before you go to bed? Over.”
Puk exaggerated gagging sounds through the mic.
Again, Lucy laughed sweetly, as much for him as for their audience, who never heard her giggle over bodies ripped apart by her bare hands. “No, but I will pass on Primary Rem’s commendations. Over and Out.”
That was it.
That was the Phase II signal.
Should their little cadre meet with any high-ranking member of Enki or Imminent, they shifted to the next stage in the design. Of course, they expected someone more like Eminent Abresson. A visit from the Primary Rem was a rare treat Matt hoped Lucy savored.
“Did you hear that, Matt?” Puk asked vaguely over the comms.
“Oh, I heard. Kudos to us.”
“Cheers.”
Matt placed another charge even further south before thinking to ask, “Hey, does the movie at least have a decent soundtrack?”
Puk chuckled. “One of the best.”