{The Heart Of Enki}

Calibrated.

Optimized.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: One hour and twelve minutes until maximum destabilization.

The light cascaded under Rayne’s skin, faster and faster, until it nearly formed one solid beacon. Razor’s screens displayed various views of Enki’s ruin around her. Tameka fed her spine-bending power infusions.

And Rayne barely noticed any of it.

“This last one you should know from sharing my experiences with me. Can you guess?” Plucking it from her bed, Rayne held up a stuffed panda missing one button eye and flattened from her nightly snuggles.

Nox leaned against the far wall, one arm folded and supporting the other while he bit his thumbnail. Like Xelan. Rayne could tell Nox was concentrating on his memory banks because he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He stopped biting his thumb and used that hand to fire a finger gun at the panda. “Galena.”

Rayne giggled hard enough to bounce her bed, sitting on the edge reminiscing of all the times her mom nearly caught her and Sagan making out. Remembering the hours spent stitching a cut or icing a muscle after training with the Progeny and Xelan. Catching Jack ‘borrowing’ her music without permission. All the sleepovers. Birthday parties. So much makeup.

“Now you’ve gone away.”

Rayne smiled under Nox’s gentle scrutiny. After everything they’d been through, he knew her better than Xelan. He knew she’d lied to them, and he was decent enough not to call her out on it.

Rayne needed a hug, and Ms. Galena wasn’t up for the task. She stared at the floor and squeezed the barely stuffed panda, anyway, before asking, “Did you construct the training ground, too?” She met his eyes as she finished.

Nox gave a silent nod and stepped to the side, letting Rayne pass him through her bedroom door with only the slightest of brushes. He was simply too massive for her room to move around him without contact. Even though this was inside her head, the small connection made her pause and glance at him.

The chrome Atramentous flashed in his gaze, granting her a reflection of a young woman with haunted blue eyes and a smile to pity. As the mirror faded, Rayne forced her back straighter, her shoulders squarer, and her chin higher. She would not die a pitiful girl. Rayne was made of better stock than that. She came from a long line of Progeny, Icari, and, somewhere in there, a bit of Tritan, like Tumu. Pride suffused her veins.

Descending the stairs two at a time, Rayne called to Nox over her shoulder, “Shall we?”

Nox followed her like he would do so until the end. A privacy fence separated the Callahan’s property from the trail to the training grounds. It was the same fence Rayne had vaulted the morning of Invasion Day. He dissolved it, and they found the obstacle course Xelan had built in the undeveloped woods beside her neighborhood.

Home.

Rayne sat on the picnic table, where her adorkable guardian had insisted they gather for rests. Butt on the tabletop and feet on the bench, she leaned back and stared at the nothing, wishing for stars—

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The entire table thudded when Nox climbed on, mirroring her. It was jarring enough to make her smile. “Do you think—”

“Hey, War King. This is Wingmaster on your private line. You there, Rayne? Over.”

Optimism radiated from Xelan’s voice, full of hope and relief—Could it be? “I’m here. Please tell me you have good news! Over.”

Again, Rayne heard the grin in his voice. “We have Pax, and he’s safe. Over.”

She and Nox shared the same smile as she said, “That’s the news I wanted to hear. Give him a hug for me. Over.”

“You’ll give him a hug yourself as soon as we finish with Remorse. Until then, I wanted to see how you were doing up there. Over.”

Nox raised a brow.

Should Rayne tell the truth? Lying to Xelan, even to protect him, sucked. She settled for something in the middle. “Wingmaster. Complete evacuation within the hour. I’m nearly ready. Tell Tameka to keep the power surges coming. Over.”

She hated that some of Xelan’s joy left his voice when he said, “Ten-Four. Hang in there, Callahan. I’m not leaving you. Over and Out.”

To keep her promise, Tameka sent another surge through Rayne, and it immobilized her—

How did her arms and legs work? Her brain was full of static. What was the name… the name of…

“Galena.”

Nox’s voice brought Rayne back to her consciousness, followed by a painful needle-tingling in her fingers and toes. Static shocks electrocuted the feeling back into her extremities—

“I’m half-tempted to tell Xelan, myself.” Razor reappeared, violating her intentional self-isolation. “If he knew I was keeping this from him, he’d shut down Enki’s circuitry and kill me properly dead.”

Rayne heaved air into her mouth, gulping great lungfuls of it to make sure she didn’t forget how. It burned, while the rest of her sparked with energy. On a groan, she said, “Don’t. They can’t help me, and all you’d give them is an hour to feel helpless about it.”

The Pain Curator tipped his hat to her, conceding the point. Still, he pressed, “Why not tell them about the great King Nox? Play the Atheneum game and let him speak to Xelan before the end.”

Back on the picnic table inside her mind, Rayne glanced at Nox. She’d hate to admit it, but Razor made a good point. “Is that something you want?”

Nox ran one enormous hand through his long hair in a gesture he’d developed when taxed. “If there’s any love for me left in my brother, then he would suffer twice the loss this day. I find that unkind. Not to mention, an hour is an awfully short time to force him to decide how he feels about me while also negotiating his impending loss of you—No.” He shook his head, then added, “But I appreciate you keeping your vow.”

Rayne spared him an understanding smile before answering the voyeur in their midst. “Nox said no. Bad timing and all that.”

Again, sadness stole Razor’s smile and left his eyes old. “You have much less time to tell them now. Call if you need me.” With that, he flitted away.

For a long moment, Rayne gazed around the cognitive puzzle of her mindscape. Dark in some places, yet on the horizon, a storm harassed an ocean while a volcano cooled in the salt before the segmented scene ended in the training grounds.

She pointed at the three-meter wall of wooden planks. “The first time I vaulted that, I knew I’d defeat you.”

Nox chuckled, shaking his head—Not incredulous, simply happy. “That is quite impressive for your height.”

“Damn straight.”

They carried on this way for a while, discussing training from throughout their lives, personal bests, etcetera. During the conversation, the storm in Rayne’s heart raged with the occasional bolt of lightning from Tameka. It became easier.

Nox made it easier. He made Rayne laugh, and she needed it so badly. When Rayne would give anything to hug Xelan, Sagan, Tameka, Andrew, and Kyle, Nox’s quiet consideration of her was almost enough to make her forget. Forget how they got here, forget what was coming, and forget how little time she had left.

With Nox around, how could Rayne die alone and afraid?

A thought occurred to her. Ashamed of her selfishness, Rayne blurted, “Nox, what would you want to do with your last moments if you weren’t stuck here with me?”

Rayne expected him to look bewildered or startled by her outburst, but Nox simply reminded her, “I’ve had my epitaphs. When I wrote the Verse for you, I knew you would end me only days later. Here with you is no punishment. It’s an honor to finish Enki at your side.”

Rayne swallowed, apparently audibly, because Nox tilted his head curiously at her. Unable to unpack his sentiments right at this moment, she tried for some levity. “Do you think it’s too late for me to start writing my Verse?”

“Rayne, with or without one, the Vast Collective will never forget you. Your legacy will end syndicates and create worlds. Entire solar systems will be named after you. You’ll get your Verse. I promise you.”

Recommendation: Attain minimum safe distance.

Warning: One hour until maximum destabilization.