Box Set #3: The Serenity Deception: [The 4 book 3rd Adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood]

by Robert Iannone

  “What?”

  “For my Art and Religion class. We’re studying Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper and I want to see it for myself. Pictures of it just don’t convey its age and majesty. If I can see it in person, I’ll be able to write a better paper. Please.”

  Egg was annoyed but not much. That fact that her sister needed her help . . . well, technically Flying Girl’s help . . . made her happy. She hadn’t done a good deed in a very long while. “Okay, let me wash up. Come back in two minutes.”

  Ashley giggled. “This is so cool.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they had found the city (Milan) and the Church (Santa Marie delle Grazie) and landed.

  They went inside and found what they had come to see . . . the five hundred year old masterpiece by one of the most brilliant minds the world had ever known – Leonard Da Vinci’s Last Supper . . .

  You didn’t need to believe in any one religion to appreciate the genius of the man and his mural. Ashley’s “wow” said it all.

  *****

  Over the next few months, Egg tried her best to dream of Storm or the Myst Tree, but with no luck. And the rings still failed to work, as they should.

  The only thing she could count on was her sister’s requests to visit strange and exotic places. At first, it was fun and she readily agreed to each.

  “Egg, let’s go stand on top of the world.”

  “Where’s that?’

  “Mount Everest, silly.”

  “Egg, I just have to see the Acropolis.”

  “The crop of what?”

  “The Acropolis . . . in Athens.”

  “Egg . . . “

  “Where to now?”

  “There’s a colony of penguins in the Antarctic that we just have to visit.”

  “Penguins?”

  “They’re so cute.”

  But after a while, it stopped being fun and became work. She just had to put her foot down.

  “Egg . . . let’s visit Katmandu.” (pronounced cat-man-do).

  “No can do.”

  A few weeks later, “How about Timbuktu?”

  “No, I’m washing my hair.”

  Then in April . . .

  “The Great Pyramid . . . we just have to go.”

  “No. Ever since K’actus Kiln, I hate the desert.”

  Before she knew it, summer had arrived and nothing had changed. The rings refused to work, no one visited in her dreams, and Ashley kept begging at least once a week . . .

  “Please, please, please . . . take me to Venice.”

  “Did you say Venus?”

  “No, Venice . . . in Italy.”

  “No.”

  In July, the request was “Paris in the summer. Doesn’t that sound so romantic?”

  “Been there, done that. No.”

  As the end of summer rapidly approached – as did her upcoming start to college – Ashley pleaded for trips to such places as Angel Falls in South America, Moscow, Australia, Stonehenge, Easter Island, and the Moon.

  Her last request finally got Egg’s attention. “Little Sis, I leave in two weeks. How about a quick trip to Saturn? Just us gals?”

  “Get your coat.”

  But the next time Ashley came to her room, it was with some very troubling news. “Egg, let me in.”

  “Go away, Ash. Sightseeing tours are over.”

  “No. This is about . . . you know where.”

  “Where?”

  “I can’t say it out loud . . . I promised Gram.”

  That rang a bell. Egg leaped off the bed and unlocked the door. Ashley came in carrying her laptop. “Look at this,” and she played a YouTube video.

  “What am I looking at?”

  “They say that there was some kind of event on Alcyone. That’s Aerianna’s star.”

  “What do you mean an event?”

  “They don’t know. All they can tell is that there’s a huge power emission . . . possibly from a super nova.”

  Now Egg got her goose bumps. “What’s a super nova?”

  “It’s when a star explodes. It destroys all the planets that circle it.”

  “What are you saying . . . Aerianna’s been destroyed.”

  “I’m so sorry, little Sis . . . but that is a very real possibility.”

  Egg stared at her sister then she began to tremble uncontrollably. And then she screamed, “NOOOOO.”

  *****

  They were all sitting in Grammy’s living room . . . Egg, Sylvia, Ashley and Grammy, of course. Everyone was trying desperately to come up with a different explanation as to what was happening back on Aerianna.

  “It can’t be a super nova,” stated Sylvia with absolute conviction.

  “Why not dear?”

  “Because stars just don’t explode like that . . .,” and she snapped her fingers. “They go through years and years of discombobulating behavior. I read that on Wikipedia.”

  “And what is a Wikipedia?”

  “Oh, Grammy. That’s the place where all human knowledge is,” said Egg as if she were talking to a five year old.

  “I see. I didn’t know that.” It was very difficult not to laugh but she managed.

  “Do you think the bad guy . . . that Mobius . . . found a way to come back and take his revenge?” asked Ashley.

  Egg looked at Sylvia who shook her head no.

  “I wonder how long it would be for me to fly there?”

  “No dear one. That’s literally on the other side of the galaxy. I will not permit it.”

  “Well, I have to . . .,” but she didn’t finish. They heard a most familiar popping sound. Everyone looked at the far end of the room where the air had begun to shimmer.

  “What is that?” asked a nervous older sister.

  “It’s the portal. It’s the portal,” screamed Sylvia.

  Sure enough, there appeared a tine black dot that began to expand. A few seconds later, the mouth of the portal was floating in Grammy’s living room . . .

  “Should we go through?” Egg was smiling from ear to ear.

  “No. They’re obviously going to send someone to us,” replied her Feminion.

  Everyone waited expectantly . . . however, Ashley had her hands covering her mouth in nervous anticipation of what might step through. Finally, a head began to appear . . .

  “K’SSSS,” screamed two earth girls.

  “What is it?” muttered a terrified Ashley under her breath.

  “Hi, Egg, Sylvia. Hello, Grammy . . . wonderful to see you again.”

  “I heard of your transformation and marriage. Congratulations on both. How are your husband and the children (referring to the serpents under her care)?”

  “Everyone is fine. Thank you for asking. I apologize for intruding . . . I see you have company. If I might suggest, you may wish to get her a glass of water. Apparently she is finding the sight of a sea serpent a bit unsettling.”

  Ashley had taken to wearing Egg’s translation necklace because . . . well, because it was beautiful and alien. “I . . . I can understand it. How brilliant is that?”

  The serpent looked at Egg. “Is she expecting me to answer that question?”

  “No, silly. Just another dumb earth saying. Anyway, why are you here? What’s going on back on Aerianna? Is everyone okay.”

  “Everything is fine. But shouldn’t you introduce me to your guest?”

  “Sorry. K’ssss, this is my sister Ashley. Ashley, this is K’ssss – one of my Hameggattic Sisters.

  “Pleasure,” said the serpent.

  Ashley was simply speechless. When she was finally able to speak, all she could say was, “She looks like a big eel.”

  Chapter 4 - Jenny and Molly

  “H’sssss”.

  “ASH. That’s mean.”

  “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” Dealing with beings from other worlds was going to take some getting used to.

  “Nothing to forgive. I know earth doesn’t have sentient serpents so it must be a bit disconcerting.” Tur
ning to Grammy, she asked, “May I join you?”

  “Of course. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. Is there something I can get you?”

  “H’sssss. I would love some chocolate if that isn’t asking too much.”

  “Not at all. What kind . . . or in what form . . . do you wish?”

  “I’ll probably not have another opportunity to return to Earth. If it’s no trouble, as much variety as you might have.” She turned to her sisters and said, “This is so exciting.”

  “I can imagine,” replied Sylvia. “Never thought you’d visit our little planet.”

  “H’sssss. Not that . . . I was referring to the chocolate.”

  Ashley followed the conversation with her eyes wide and mouth opened. If she ever thought about meeting an extraterrestrial (someone from another planet), this scene wasn’t it. She felt a great urge to touch K’ssss . . . to feel the skin of an alien creature. “Egg . . .,” her sister looked at her. “Would she mind if I pet her? She doesn’t bite, does she?”

  “Oh my gosh, Ashley. Now do you see why Grammy gave me the flying suit?”

  “What did I say?”

  K’ssss was very amused. “I am a member of a sentient species. My I.Q. if you were to measure it, would be . . .,” she couldn’t remember the Earth phrase so she looked at Sylvia.

  “Off the charts,” the girl replied helpfully.

  “Thank you. Off the charts. It’s actually the reason I’m here.” Turning to Egg, she said, “You know how time runs differently on Aerianna than on earth or anywhere else?”

  “Yeah, the time distortion thingy.”

  “Correct. We on Aerianna age about six years to every one elsewhere. Well, that annoyed me so, with Dazzle’s permission, I fixed it.”

  “I have no idea what that means. How could you fix time?”

  Grammy used that moment to turn to her oldest granddaughter. “Still want to pet her?”

  “GRAM,” growled Ashley. “You’re embarrassing me.”

  “The science is pretty confusing so unless someone wants to review the formulas . . .,” she looked from face to face. “Didn’t think you would. Anyway, in simple terms, our solar system was traveling too slowly. I was able to use the power locked into the Crystal Mountain to nudge everything up to its proper speed. It took almost two years but now it’s done.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “From now on, for every year that you age, we on Aerianna age the same amount. The last time you saw Meggy she was twelve like you. Now you guys are almost fourteen while she’s almost twenty-four. However, in two years you’ll be sixteen and she’ll be twenty-six.”

  “That’s really great. I hated to see Sassi getting so much older than us. And Dazzle too. Nice job you . . .,” she turned to Sylvia for help.

  “You super smart sea serpent.”

  Egg rolled her eyes. “That was just awful. Where’s Soo when you need her?”

  “Grammy, what are they talking about?’

  “I’ll tell you later.” The older Eloise turned to K’ssss and asked, “I presume that the great amount of energy required to move the entire solar system somehow affected the girl’s rings.”

  “Yes. That’s why I’m here. Dazzle was afraid that you guys might be worried. I would have come before I fired off that mountain, but I didn’t think about your rings. Sorry.”

  “You’re forgiven, you loveable, learned leviathan.” Egg turned to Sylvia. “That’s how it’s done.”

  “Pul-leese.”

  “Listen guys, I have to get back. Your scientist will detect the portal and freak out. So, come visit as soon as you can. Oh, Ashley, would you mind terribly if I gave you a hug . . . I don’t bite.”

  The older girl blushed scarlet. “Kill me now.”

  “Why would I . . . oh, stupid earth saying.”

  So hugs were exchanged, Grammy gave K’ssss a basket filled with a dozen different types of chocolate (mostly leftovers from Halloween) and the serpent departed the way she had arrived.

  Once the portal had disappeared, Egg, Sylvia and Grammy turned as one to look at Ashley. They were teasing but the girl didn’t know that. “I said I was sorry. Come on, give me a break. How was I to know she wasn’t someone’s pet? Okay. Okay. Okay. You’re right. I could have caused an intergalactic incident. My bad.”

  “True dat.”

  *****

  It was Ashley’s last weekend before her parents drove her to California. It was also her last chance to visit Aerianna. So it was now or never.

  The little gang of four was back at Grammy’s. “Syl, take Ashley. Grammy, your hand please. Everyone ready? Then let’s do this thing . . .,” and the world winked out.

  A heartbeat later, they were standing on one of the balconies on Q’umulus.

  “OH. OH. OH.”

  “Pretty spectacular, isn’t it?.

  The other girl couldn’t stop gawking at the sights. “How far up are we?”

  “Two miles. Come on, we shouldn’t keep the Queen waiting.”

  Ashley didn’t move . . . in fact she fell to her knees. “I don’t think I can.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s too much.”

  “What is, dear one?”

  “Gram . . . all of it. Floating cities, intelligent sea serpents, a girl that can fly, and a ring that transports us across the galaxy. Egg, Sylvia – how do you do it?”

  “Do what exactly?” asked her younger sister.

  “How do you go back home and act like normal teenage girls when you’ve seen and experienced all this?”

  “It’s really hard for me, Ash. Sylvia handles it much better.”

  Before the conversation could continue, the girls heard a familiar voice.

  “Hi, Egg, Sylvia. And Grammy, it’s wonderful to see you again,” and she hugged the older woman (who had her own translation crystal).

  “And you, Aeri’elle. May I introduce my oldest granddaughter and Egg’s sister. This is Ashley. Ashley this is Aeri’elle.”

  Ashley forced herself to look up at the face of the dragon . . . and fainted.

  Aeri’elle shook her head in disgust .“Humans.”

  Oh my,” cried Grammy. “Quickly, fetch a doctor,” and she knelt beside her granddaughter and held her head in her lap.

  “This young lady (she pointed to a girl standing unnoticed a few yards away) is studying to be a Medicus (Aerianna’s term for doctor)”.

  “May I?” she asked Grammy.

  “Of course”.

  The girl, who appeared to be about the same age as Egg and Sylvia, knelt down and began to examine Ashley. A moment later, she looked up at the anxious faces. “She’ll be fine. The first time you look down from Q’umulus, or see your first dragon, can be quite overpowering. It was for me and my mom.” She stood up, looked Egg in the eyes and grinned.

  But it was Sylvia that came to the right conclusion. “MOLLY?”

  The girl didn’t say anything. She just stepped forward and hugged Sylvia then turned and did the same to Egg who was staring wide-eyed at the girl.

  “Oh my gosh. Little Molly . . . you’re, you’re not little.”

  “I outgrew it,” teased the girl. “It’s so wonderful to see you guys again. My mom’s going to be thrilled.”

  “How is she feeling?”

  “Perfect. She’s inside with the Queen.” Egg and Sylvia had met Molly and her mother Jenny while doing a social science project. The short version of the story is that Jenny had been very ill and dying. So the girls had taken mother and daughter to Aerianna with the expectation that Princess Ss’ong would adopt the girl when the unspeakable occurred. However, the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl intervened unexpectedly and cured Jenny.

  By this time, Ashley regained consciousness. “What happened?”

  “Apparently, I scared you senseless,” teased Aeri’elle.

  And, like before, Ashley was mortified. She stood up and looked at the dragon. “I’m very sorry; that was incredibly rude. Involuntary but
rude. I hope you’ll forgive me. My name is Ashley and I’m Egg’s sister.”

  “I’m pretty used to the weird things humans do . . . so no apology is necessary. And, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Aeri’elle is a professor,” said Egg proudly.

  “What do you teach?”

  “History.”

  “Ash, Grammy . . . this is Molly. Remember the girl I told you about . . . the one whose mom was really sick?”

  “Hi,” said the red-haired girl.

  “Sorry to interrupt . . . but Dazzle’s expecting us.”

  “Lead the way, big bird,” replied Egg.

  Ashley looked at her sister and mouthed ‘big bird’. Her sister just giggled.

  They walked the short way to the Throne Room where two Sentinels opened the door and announced, “Your Majesty, Egg of Earth, her Feminion Sylvia, her Grandmother Eloise and . . .,” he didn’t recognize Ashley, “. . . and her honored guest,” he added smoothly.

  In the past, the girls would have run up to the Queen and given her a big hug. But, they were no longer girls . . . at almost fourteen years, they were young ladies.

  As usual, in respect to the two most famous heroines of the planet, everyone applauded. The girls smiled instead of blushing and waved. Ashley just gawked.

  The party from earth approached the throne and everyone curtsied.

  “My sisters, it is a pleasure as always.” The girls walked forwarded and gave their friend a hug.

  “Where’s Megg?”

  “Off world, I am sorry to say. She sends her best wishes.” The Queen turned to Grammy and said “Eloise, you are looking well.”

  “I am well, your majesty. May I present my oldest granddaughter, and Egg’s sister, Ashley.”

  The girl curtsied again . . . promising herself she would comport herself with more dignity.

  “Welcome to Aerianna, Ashley.”

  “Thanks . . . I mean thank you, your Majesty.”

  “I believe you know this person . . .,” and Rose pointed to Jenny.