{Enki | Bridge}
Tameka amazed Xelan.
Powering a star and a Weapon. Defeating a hurricane. Diplomacy. Leadership.
All while their son was in the hands of their enemy.
Xelan kept busy while Razor prepared the epic surprise for Primary Rem. The Prince of Cinder monitored the situation, fielded communication, and designed plans for Ishkur, but now and then, he stopped and simply admired the mother of his child.
Empress Fury would suit her just fine, and Xelan knew she’d welcome the role. Maybe with understandable hesitation at first, but she’d take to it so naturally. And as long as Tameka was by his side, Xelan would fulfill his promise to their allies and unite the Vast Collective.
Easily.
“I’m so lucky.”
“You’re damned right you are.” Korac stealth-approached from behind.
Xelan spun with an intentional flare of his coat. He enjoyed aggravating his best friend with it.
After rolling his eyes, Korac said, “Not that I mind hanging out with you and Fury in this mind-fuck…” He pointed to the funnel of Cascading Light below their feet. “But I don’t feel quite copacetic about leaving my soldiers on the front line without their General.”
Xelan grinned. The king of aloofness wanted to fight alongside his mother and needed to know the situation here was under control before abandoning his post to join her. It’s not that Korac was transparent by any means. It’s that Xelan knew him so well. He said, “I understand, but Gait should crash into Enki within the hour. Fighting may not be necessary.”
Sagan joined them, looking a little worse for wear. “That’s a good excuse for me to switch places with T.a.o.”
Concern tightened the corner of Korac’s eyes as he looked her over.
Xelan leaned back against the terminal and bit his thumbnail, considering her strained capacity. “Are you sure you can evacuate everyone on impact?”
Despite her weariness, Sagan nodded, confident. “I’ll drink my vial of Rayne’s blood and scoop them with a conduit to Ishkur, like butterflies in a net. But if I do it before Andrew releases everyone’s volition, then I’ll inadvertently evacuate Imminent’s armies as well. It’s best to wait it out until we can separate them.”
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Korac added, “And if Gait doesn’t collide with Enki, at least we’ll be there to corral Remorse for Razor’s insane plan.”
Pehton sidled over. “I’m game. I’d like to get a few searing kicks in.”
Xelan nodded, agreeing with them. “I hear you loud and clear. Let me check in with Bones.” Over the earpiece, he asked, “What’s the situation, Pantheon team? Over.”
Bones came on the line. “Silence is still deciding how badly she wants to go through us to get to Ishkur. I think she’s waiting to see if Gait will hit Enki. Over.”
Tameka called to Xelan from where she stood at the conduit to the second Dyson’s Sphere. “If Remorse was planning to blow Gait, he would have already, right?”
Xelan looked across the room to Tumu for the answer. The Tritan shook his head. “He has time yet to decide if he wants to let his home be destroyed by Gait or by Rayne.”
Iuo spoke from his equipment. “There are over three hundred thousand instances of Remorse proclaiming his fondness for Enki. It stands to reason with his Imminent foresight into the Probability Matrix that he’s struggling with this decision. We’ll see.”
Razor, in all his three-piece light show glory, appeared on the central gangway. “It’s time.”
Xelan switched the comms to ‘all’ on the main terminal. Everyone in Enki would hear him, including the Primaries. Confident in their team’s ability to pull this off, Xelan announced, “I want my son, Remorse. No more games. We’re rerouting a direct course for you to the Pantheon. I’ll meet you there.”
“I’m coming with you.”
To beautiful effect, Tameka’s clothes swept around her as she walked over. Sagan and Korac stepped to the side, letting her into their huddle. Xelan noted the hint of respect in Korac’s eyes and the naked admiration in Sagan’s. Even Pehton nodded with approval.
Xelan didn’t doubt Tameka, but, like Sagan, he wanted to check her capacity. “You wanna go with me to fight a deity while powering an entire Dyson’s Sphere and Rayne’s nacre?” He stepped close to Tameka until he looked straight down and she looked up to maintain eye contact.
“You got it, mister.”
Unable to help himself, Xelan grinned as he retrieved her weapon from beneath his coat. “Then you’ll need this.”
Tameka beamed at him. “My chain dart!” She jumped up and held on while they kissed.
Around them, several throats cleared, and some people shuffled awkwardly. Xelan couldn’t care less. When he and Tameka broke away, it was still too soon.
“Ahem.”
They both looked up to find Razor waiting. “Endearing and all, but Remorse is nearing the Pantheon.”
Tameka asked, “Is it all right for me to move from this location?”
Razor’s projection nodded with a tip of his hat. “Absolutely. As long as a conduit is open to Ishkur, you can maintain the transfer from any location.”
Tumu rushed down two levels of gangplanks. “We’re all going. Like you said, Wingmaster, you need a Primary to win this fight.”
Iuo frowned. “But how will I monitor Gait’s impact?”
“Ah.” Razor held up a hand before changing the display projection and several of the same image opened on multiple screens all around them. “Satellite feeds. I’ll project these to all parties.” He glanced at Sagan. “Including Rayne.”
With some hesitation, Sagan muttered, “Thank you.”
Korac did not like that. Oh, how tempting it was to needle Xelan’s best friend in payback. Instead, he adjusted the lapels of his coat and nodded at Sagan. She opened the conduit, and they Seamswalked to the Pantheon.
Gait would make planet fall and destroy Enki’s hull. Then Sagan would evacuate them all to their new home, where he and Tameka would raise their son and serve the Vast Collective. It was all working out.
Rayne wouldn’t die alone and afraid this day.