{Enki}

Tameka refused to give Imminent one more drop of her tears. To solidify the pact with herself, she asked Sagan to apply her makeup and style her hair. It was more for the comfort than the aesthetics, and that’s truly why the others were doing the same. Everyone was preparing.

Meanwhile, Xelan and Pablo waited at Para’s bedside. Bones joined their post-surgery vigil. He looked grave.

As Sagan positioned a few red coils to frame Tameka’s face, she asked softly, “Do you think they had a thing going?”

Para and Bones? “Looks like.” In the same vein, Tameka spared a glance over at Ross, who still held hands with Jack. “They aren’t the only surprise couple today.”

Sagan gave a half smile. “I know. I’m happy they got around to it. You wanna matchmake? I think Iuo and Twenty-One would make a cute couple.”

Tameka rolled her eyes. “I don’t think a Lamian Prince referred to as the ‘Porn Baron’ needs our help getting a partner.”

“I’ve got two thousand credits that say Iuo’s not into his own work.” Kyle emerged from somewhere behind them, rolling a joint.

Andrew came with him, saying, “I don’t know. Iuo walks such a fine, polite line. I can’t tell what’s on either side.” He sat on the floor beside Tameka and patted her leg.

Sagan ruffled the brown mop growing out of Kyle’s head. “I’ll take you up on it. I wonder if any of the Lyriks will test him for us.”

Tameka shook her head, smiling at their incredulous behavior.

That’s right. The four of them together always made her smile. Tameka asked, “You guys remember the gorge in Yosemite?”

With a sigh, Sagan sat her chin in her hand, elbow propped on her knee. “Do I ever. Cleanest water I ever swam in.”

Andrew got a faraway look in his teal eyes. “Yeah. And the food. Elden, I’d give anything to have that picnic again.”

“We can.”

They all turned and looked at Kyle. Tameka raised her brow at the Progeny male as he flipped his hair out of his eyes in a long forgotten gesture. With a joint between his lips, he explained, “I’ve been working on reconstructing memories for multiples, not only individuals. We could return together. All of us but…”

Rayne.

Tameka wished she could hug her best friend. Her sister in all but blood. Until then, she pressed Kyle, “How?”

“I have to touch you and then you touch Andrew and so on. Ready?” He held out his hand to her temple.

With a final glance at the makeshift infirmary, Tameka nodded her assent. Once his fingers touched her skin, she did the same to Andrew and he to Sagan.

Kyle instructed, “Close your eyes.”

Tameka did and took a deep breath. A breeze touched her cheeks, an impossible one.

Sounding a little pleased with himself, Kyle said, “Okay. Open them.”

They were standing on the cliffs high above their secret valley. Red sediment rocks stratified the canyon walls, acting as a basin to the gorge. Their waterfall thundered below in the most pristine lake Tameka had ever seen. Deep green trees stretched out beyond the beach into a vast forest.

The sight of the perfect summer afternoon took Tameka’s breath away. She could even smell their picnic food, replay their fun, and hear Rayne’s laughter.

“We will always remain.”

Kyle slipped his hand into hers. “Damn straight. No matter how much Imminent keeps kicking us and stealing all our hot G.I.L.F.’s.”

Andrew gave him a bewildered look. “What’s a ‘G.I.L.F.’?”

Sagan snickered.

Tameka didn’t need any help to figure this one out. “‘Grandma I’d like to fuck.’ Silence.”

Kyle winced at her name, but managed a goofy smile when Andrew gagged.

“That’s right.” Kyle hit his joint pretty hard before adding, “I slept with Wingmaster’s matriarch. Nox’s, too. Now there’s a bonus. I swear that’s the only upside to this bullshit.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

By now, Sagan almost fell out on the ground, gripping her sides in laughter. Her voice was full of giggles as she squeezed out, “Elden, you’re killing me.”

Tameka rolled her eyes and shook her head. The wind picked up in the high altitude, carrying the scent of pine. It reminded her of their errand. She squeezed Kyle’s hand. “Ready?”

His grin was sad, but he still squeezed back. “Ready.”

Andrew nodded and smiled. “Set.”

Giddy, Sagan cried, “Go!”

The four Progeny—their training, their growth, their lovers, and their grief—jumped off the cliff and chased the waterfall down. Sure, three out of four of them could fly, but that’s not what this jump was about. This plunge invigorated their mortal thrill still attached to their humanity from before this life of nacres, committing to each other despite whatever came next.

They splashed in the water hard enough to lose their grip on each other. After several heartbeats, they surfaced one by one, laughing from the exhilaration. In their combined memories, the water was just as warm in the August sunlight, filtered through Rayne’s Sphere. The smell of spicy fried chicken and sweet potato mash called to them from shore.

Andrew swam over first, clothes drenched and dripping. “Oh, my Elden. It’s been too long.” He bit a chunk out of a chicken leg he’d prepared for this picnic and moaned in satisfaction. “Oh yeah. Replicated food can’t compete with this.”

The remaining three surged from the water and joined him. Tameka ate a forkful of potatoes and groaned. “Does it taste better because we’re eating it here?”

“Yeah, everything tastes better in your memory. It’s a kink I haven’t figured out yet,” Kyle said as he dipped a piece of chicken in ranch dressing. “Too spicy, you fucker. You know I can’t handle spicy food.”

Sagan smiled at him. “I guess we all thought you’d work up a tolerance.”

Tameka added, “Like Rayne.”

It got quiet. Each of them turned to the empty spot around the fire they’d made. Rayne was with them in spirit.

Kyle’s voice carried a heavy weight as he asked, “Do you think she’s left the Martyr Complex yet?”

Andrew pointed a piece of chicken at him. “You know she’s already out in Enki somewhere taking it over, but she’ll need our help.”

“Especially yours, Tameka,” Sagan added.

Tameka frowned. “Why mine especially?”

Kyle finished drinking a glass of milk to say, “Who else would someone team up with to bring down Enki besides the person who already dims its power?”

They all stared at Tameka with an unexpected amount of respect on their faces. She wasn’t sure how to take it. “Does everyone know something I don’t?”

Then they all looked away at once. Sagan muttered at the sand between her toes, “It’s X and Legir.”

“Tempest and Dolor,” Andrew added, drawing circles in the sand with a stick.

Kyle chafed his arm, looking guilty of something. “Tumu and Iuo share a part in it, too.”

Tameka sat up on her knees. “What is it? Why is F8 calling me ‘your majesty?’”

Sagan took Tameka’s hand and squeezed it. Her voice soft with the gravity of her words. “Unfettered, you are the most powerful being in the galaxy.”

Unable to help herself, Tameka scoffed. “Yeah right. Andrew can make us all line dance. You split an entire planet in half. And the memory Progeny can reduce hundreds of soldiers in an instant—”

“You reduced millions on Volcano Day in front of all our allies,” Sagan pressed. “Tumu knows you put Enki through rolling blackouts. Fury, you’re it—”

Tameka made to protest, but Sagan shook her hand, insistent.

“—And you’re an amazing leader. Everyone looks up to your grace and fortitude. Your practical nature. You and Xelan make an unbeatable match. The Vast Collective knows you’ll win against Imminent, and they’re coming to stand beside you for it and for what comes after.”

Swallowing hard to digest this information, Tameka searched Kyle and Andrew for confirmation.

Andrew said, “It’s true. They want you to use all that resilience to lead them.”

“And not just through the battle,” Kyle added. A sudden spike of anxiety hit her, and he must have seen it on her face. “You won’t be alone. We’ll be right there with you. Wingmaster’s ‘got you.’”

Okay. That made Tameka laugh away some of the nervous energy. All of it, in fact.

This was a lot. She said, “It’s too much right now. I need to save Pax, do you understand? We need to rendezvous with Rayne somehow. And everybody’s in line to kill Abresson’s sick ass.”

All three of them lifted their drinks to her. “Cheers to that.” “Here, here.” “Fuck yes.”

Something stronger to drink sounded good right about now. Instead, Tameka looked out at the untouched space which was all theirs. “We need to come back here with Rayne, Xelan, and Pax.”

“Oh my Elden, can I jump down with Pax?” Sagan’s eyes sparkled with violet excitement.

Andrew chuckled. “If he doesn’t leap off on his own.”

Kyle scoffed. “You kidding me? That kid’s going down on my back.”

This warmth. There was nothing like it. Tameka’s family. “I love you all.”

A quiet fell on their group after. Their eyes softened. This battle… It was different this time. They all knew it.

Tameka opened her arms, and Sagan flew in for a hug. Andrew and Kyle followed. They sniffled and squeezed.

Softly, Kyle said, “They need us back there.”

“Can’t wage a war without the Progeny,” Andrew agreed.

Sagan sighed. “It does have a way of finding us.”

“Let’s go back and win this for all the people counting on us. We’ll save Pax and keep Rayne from dying. We swear it?” Tameka shook them a bit.

Kyle, Andrew, and Sagan grunted their assent.

The gorge melted away, and they returned to Enki—

Surrounded by a ton of people. Their friends sat in a circle, protecting their Progeny in their huddle.

Pehton asked Caedes, “So the palm devices will all have the maps installed?”

He nodded.

Devis told Lynn, “I can help you build a weapon which steals memories.”

Her dark brown eyes sparkled. “That would be fantastic.”

Jack, Ross, Iuo, and Twenty-One played a game of cards while Bethany watched. Probably Go Fish.

Outside the protective circle, Korac sat at T.a.o.’s bedside as the First Wave Progeny rested. Tameka wasn’t surprised to see his intense stare on Sagan, who smiled and waved at him.

Tumu and Lamassau smiled from the end of Para’s bed. Pablo waved before stepping aside to reveal Xelan and Bones talking to a conscious Para.

Two wins in one day. Their odds were looking up.

Now, time to plan the mission to recover the others.

Tameka stood and said, “I need volunteers to rescue Chris and Karter.”