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

by Robert Iannone

  “You okay, Tee?”

  “I . . . I think so. Though to be honest, I don’t remember what happened.”

  Egg explained.

  “If you would like, I can return all of us to our rooms. There is no need to participate in this challenge. It is unsanctioned. More importantly, I have been informed that the safety protocols have been set to extreme minimum. This may very well be dangerous for all of you.”

  Before Egg could answer, Mysteria barked, “Go ahead, you freaky thing. Try it. Transport them out of here, I dare you.”

  “Hey, I’m not going to warn you again. Don’t talk to her like that.”

  “Or what?”

  If she had a dodge ball, Egg would have planted one right in the middle of Mysteria’s face. But she didn’t . . . so she just stood there fuming.

  “Thank you yet again, Egg. But please, I beg you; don’t put yourself in harm’s way on my behalf.”

  “Tee, give it a try. See if you can get us out of here.”

  “As you wish,” said Tee’ka. She waved her wand and the tip turned red. “Please enjoy your adventure. I’m sure it will be most entertaining.”

  Egg hadn’t expected any other outcome . . . if for no other reason than it would have been too easy. The reason she had asked Tee’ka to try was so she could watch Mysteria. Tee’ka’s wand had turned red but the masked girl had done nothing to cause it to do so. Someone else had. And another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

  *****

  “Okay, let’s get going. Tee, while you’re a hologram, you can’t get hurt, can you?”

  “Hurt? No, Egg. I know of nothing that could injure me. In this form, I am simply a projection.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, how about you take the lead. You can . . .”

  “STOP.”

  Everyone turned to look at Mysteria. “That would be cheating. You . . .” she pointed at Tee’ka, “take a solid form.”

  “That wasn’t one of your rules,” complained Egg.

  “Technically, it was. As a hologram, she’d be flying, though only a foot or so above the ground.”

  “Now you’re just trying to be irritating. Congrats . . . you’ve got that down to a science.”

  “Never expected you to give me such a nice compliment. However, that doesn’t change anything. Either she becomes solid or I zap her back into her cage. Your choice.”

  Instead of getting mad, Egg felt a wave of calm settle over her. All of her competitive juices were beginning to flow. She was going to beat this masked girl if it was the last thing she ever did. Even Mobius had never made her half as angry as she was now. Well, take that back . . . maybe half.

  “Tee, could you be injured if you turn solid?”

  The answer was yes but the hologram lied . . . it was the first time in her existence that she had ever done that. “No, Egg. Please allow me to take the lead, as you phrased it. It would be my honor.”

  Egg’s goose bumps told her that Tee’ka wasn’t being truthful. However, she couldn’t call her out on it . . . her friend would be embarrassed in front of the Sisterhood. “Okay. But, come with me,” and she started walking away from the others.

  “Where you going?” called Sylvia.

  “Just want to give Tee some advice . . . give us a minute.”

  “If you seven don’t get a move on, I’m going to zap all of you,” complained Mysteria.

  “Oh, shut up, would you please? Come on Tee, follow me.”

  They walked a couple of dozen paces and out of earshot of the others. “Do me a favor. Send a copy of yourself to Spirit’s ship.”

  “Why, if I may ask.”

  “Humor me.” Egg didn’t want to challenge her friend’s statement about being immune from injury. It was obviously important to Tee’ka to feel like she was part of the team . . . to be a sister if only for a short period of time. And though she wasn’t sure what good a back-up copy of the girl would do . . . it made her feel better.

  “Of course. This will take a few seconds” and she winked out of existence then back again. “It is done.”

  “Let me see your wand.”

  Tee’ka held it up. The tip was not red.

  “Let’s go back.”

  “Egg.”

  “Yeah, Tee?”

  “Thank you. That was very considerate of you.” She had understood what her friend was trying to do . . . even if it would probably have no effect.

  Egg smiled but said, “No idea what you’re talking about.”

  They rejoined the others. “Okay, listen up. Tee’ka goes first, me second. Soo next. Syl, Spirit and Bree with Bl’azzz in the rear. Keep your eyes open . . . and don’t ask me for what.”

  *****

  Back on Serenity’s ship, everyone had watched the discussion between Egg and Tee’ka. However, one thing bothered the sisters and Sylvia asked Serenity the unspoken question. “Egg thinks Tee’ka could be harmed in her solid form. Do you know why? Won’t the safety protocols protect her?”

  Lost in thought, the one-eyed girl didn’t answer right away. Why would Egg do what she did? It made no sense. If the hostess was damaged beyond repair, Fair’Giggle would simply replace it. Even if she weren’t, there was no way for her to ever leave this planet. Egg had nothing to gain by having the artificial life form make a back-up copy of herself. The only answer she could come up with was that it was a misguided act of kindness. But . . . but that couldn’t be right.

  “Serenity?”

  “What? Oh. She’s a hologram. Even when solid she is not a natural life form recognized by the central computer. So the safety protocols won’t apply to her. If she were an avatar, then it would be different.”

  “So she could get hurt.” It wasn’t a question, just a statement.

  “Hurt? More than that . . . she could be destroyed.”

  The girls gasped. “Then stop this contest right now. You can’t let that happen.”

  Serenity was confused and that made her angry. “That’s up to Egg . . . not me.”

  *****

  As they headed down the mountain, Mysteria walked up to Egg and fell in step with the girl.

  “What do you want?”

  “Nothing. Just thought I take this opportunity to see the leader of the Hameggattic Sisterhood in action while I have the chance.”

  Egg ignored the remark. “Answer me one question.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Why the mask? Don’t tell me you’re horribly disfigured?” she said half-kiddingly.

  “Sorry. Cute as a button. However, I wanted to make a fashion statement.”

  “You’re not only a whacko; you’re just plain strange.”

  “Now, now. No need to be insulting. Unless . . . unless, it’s a sign that you’re scared. You can tell me, your secret is my secret.” It was such a blatant lie and Egg almost laughed.

  Instead, she replied, “Any time I put my sisters in danger, I get scared.” She turned around to the girls behind her and said, “I’m scared. If any of you get hurt because of the stupid flying suit, I’ll never forgive myself. So, be careful. Don’t do anything dumb.” She turned back to the masked girl. “Now go away.”

  “Words. Nothing but empty words to deceive. It won’t be long till the real truth comes out.” She stopped abruptly and the seven other girls passed her by.

  They walked in silence for a few minutes until Egg turned to Soo. “What do you think? Should I wear a cool mask like hers?”

  “I always thought that a mask was worn over your eyes or your whole face . . . not your mouth. That seems woefully weird and wildly whimsical.”

  “Good point.” After a second or two, she added, “But it really is way cute.”

  *****

  “Egg”. The artificial girl came to a stop.

  “Yeah, Tee?”

  “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  “It sounded like something braying. And there were loud thumps.”

  “I felt the thum
ps,” confirmed Soo who had caught up to them. Since most of her body was in contact with the earth, she was more sensitive to ground vibrations.

  The other girls joined them. “What’s up?” asked Sylvia.

  “Go ahead Tee, tell them.”

  “Of course.” It might have been Egg’s imagination, but it seemed like the girl puffed up with pride. After all, she was now one of them . . . a member, albeit a temporary one, of the Sisterhood. As importantly, she was doing her job as the individual in the lead . . . warning the others of potential danger. “I believe I heard an animal bray . . . followed by loud thumps.”

  “Bray . . . only donkeys bray,” observed Sylvia. “And they’re not dangerous.”

  “Donkey?” asked Bl’azzz.

  “Earth animal, four legs about yea high. Not very bright but can carry a lot of stuff.”

  “That is probably not what made the sound,” suggested Spirit. “If it’s not dangerous, what would be its purpose?”

  “I agree,” said BreeZee. “So what else could make that sound? It almost certainly has to be an Earth creature since this is about you, Egg. Or, maybe something you met in the seven lands.”

  “No idea. Something scary that brays . . . got nothing.”

  “Fiddlesticks”. Everyone turned to Sylvia. “Braying sound, large thumps . . . that could describe a . . . a dinosaur.”

  “Dinosaur?”

  “Think four legged dragon with the brain the size of a grape, a sour disposition and an insatiable hunger for meat. Very mean, very scary.”

  “What do we do?” asked Bl’azzz.

  “I have a suggestion.” They looked at Mysteria. “One of you could distract it while the others make their escape. Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.”

  “Oh, please,” groaned Sylvia. “That bit of ridiculous logic was from Spock in a Star Trek movie. And before anyone asks, a movie is a form of entertainment that you get to watch from the safety of a big, comfortable chair while you eat popcorn and drink a red Slurpee.”

  “What’s she talking about?” Bl’azzz asked Soo “. . . popcorn, Slurpee?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” replied her friend.

  The dragon was about to say “no” but realized she was being kidded. “Now that you mention it . . .”

  “Sylvia,” said Tee’ka, “it may be faulty logic, but it does merit discussion. Egg, I would be pleased to lure the creature away from you and the rest.”

  “Tee, that’s not how we do things. No one sacrifices themselves . . . unless it’s positively and absolutely the last resort. We’re nowhere near that point.” Then she added, “But thanks for volunteering. That’s very brave of you.”

  Tee’ka bowed her head slightly at the compliment.

  “I hate to be a party pooper . . .,” said the masked girl calmly.

  “Yeah, right.”

  “But, whatever was making that noise . . .,” and she stopped just to be annoying.

  “Well . . .,” said an exasperated Egg.

  “I think maybe it’s that time.”

  “What time? What are you talking about?”

  “Last resort time. Look,” and she pointed at a thicket of trees.

  It was a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Somehow, the big, lumbering monster had crept up on the group without making a sound. Until now. It brayed a high-pitch, trumpeting sound . . . definitely not anything like a donkey.

  “Oh my gosh. Run. Everyone . . . run.”

  “Soo can’t outrun it,” yelled Sylvia. Serpents could slither fairly fast . . . but not that fast and not for very long. (Serenity was expecting Egg to tell the sea serpent to stay behind . . . to give herself to the beast to save the others. After all, she was the weakest link . . . at least at this point).

  “You guys go,” and Egg took a few steps toward the creature waving her arms and screaming at the top of her lungs to get its attention.

  But someone pushed her aside and she fell to her knees.

  She looked up to see Tee’ka running straight at the T. Rex. “Egg, make your escape. Hurry.”

  “Tee, NO.”

  “You are more important than I. Please, go.”

  “TEE’KA,” Egg yelled as the beast’s giant head came down . . . its mouth opening wide.

  “I love you, Egg. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my friend. For caring about me.”

  The gigantic jaws of the T. Rex closed on the girl. The beast lifted its head then turned back to the trees with its meal hanging from its mouth.

  Chapter 5 – STOP

  “NOOOOOOOOOOO.”

  The blood-curdling scream stopped the other girls in their tracks. They turned to see Egg on her knees but happily, if unexpectedly, the T. Rex was turning to leave.

  A heartbeat later, they were shocked when Egg jumped up then started to run after the great beast . . . all the while screaming “LET HER GO. LET HER GO.”

  Since the dinosaur was in no great hurry now that it had secured its meal, Egg easily caught up to it. She started to kick at its tail then pound her fist against its huge hind legs . . . but to no avail. It was doubtful the lumbering beastie even knew he was being attacked by the puny human.

  Frantic that it would get away, Egg looked around for a weapon. All she could find was a branch that the creature had broken off one of the trees. She picked it up, swung it with all her might, and hit the T. Rex in its exposed soft belly. Startled, it looked down to see what had caused the pain. To Egg’s horror, Tee’ka was dangling from its mouth like an old rag doll.

  “LET HER GO. LET HER GO.”

  Probably not understanding English, or at least too macho to do as the girl requested, the dinosaur simply flicked its tail and launched Egg about twenty feet in the air. She landed with a thump, the wind knocked out of her and her mind trying not to lose consciousness. Satisfied the pest was not going to return, the T. Rex sauntered back into the trees and disappeared.

  The other girls came running up to their fallen comrade who was face down and not moving. The Sylvia avatar knelt beside her pseudo-friend and cradled her head in her lap. “Egg. Egg. Can you hear me? Egg.”

  “Ohhhhh”.

  “Egg, where does it hurt? Is anything broken?”

  The girl slowly regained most of her wits, looked around and saw only her sisters’ friendly faces. But no T. Rex and no Tee’ka. She startled the girls by sitting bolt upright and shouting, “It’s got Tee’ka. We gotta go find her. Come on.” She tried to stand up but was way too wobbly and fell back down with an oomph.

  “Take it easy. You’re in no condition to be going anywhere.”

  “SYL . . . we have to save Tee’ka. Help me up.”

  The other girl put her hand on her friend’s shoulder . . . both to keep her from trying to do something that was pointless and to offer her a little solace. “Egg . . . Tee’ka is gone.”

  Misunderstanding her Feminion, the girl said with a huff, “I know she’s gone. We have to go get her back. To save her from that monster. Come on, every second counts.”

  No one moved . . . they all looked at the ground to avoid eye contact with their sister. (You just have to give major kudos to Serenity. These avatars were good). Egg saw what they were doing . . . or not doing. But her mind still couldn’t accept the obvious. “What?”

  No one wanted to be the one to say it . . . so Mysteria did. Almost gleefully, but definitely disrespectfully, she said, “She gone as in ‘out to lunch’. Unfortunately, she was the main course. Congratulations, Flying Girl, it took you less than five minutes to lose one of your friends. Of course, she wasn’t a Hameggattic Sister so I guess her loss doesn’t mean as much . . . if anything.”

  Egg took a few seconds to digest what she had just heard. When it finally struck home, she went nuts. Between the loss of Tee’ka and the smug way the girl delivered the news, Egg shot up ignoring the pain in her leg, which was bleeding, and dove at the masked girl.

  Mysteria was so surprised by the unexpected action that she ha
d no time to react. Egg caught her around the waist and knocked her to the ground. She pulled her right hand back, made a fist . . . but she just couldn’t do it. She wanted to pummel the girl but that just wasn’t who she was. Instead, she reached down and pulled off Mysteria’s mask.

  “Cute as a button – Ha. If I had that face I’d wear a mask too.” It wasn’t much of an insult, and it definitely wasn’t as satisfying as administering a proper thumping, but it still felt good.

  “Get off me.”

  “Sure” but as she started to move off the other girl’s stomach, she twirled and grabbed the device from her hand. “Souvenir, thanks.” She tossed it behind her and Sylvia caught it. “I’ll take that stick thing too.”

  “Like heck you will.”

  “Bl’azzz, come over here please.”

  “Yeah, Egg.”

  “Put your foot on her chest. Don’t let her up.”

  “Should I do a little dance . . . just for fun?”

  “No. Don’t hurt her. I need to grab that other thing from her.” The dragon did as she was told and Egg reached over and twisted the weapon from Mysteria’s hand. “Thanks.” Egg stood up, stepped back a few feet and handed the staff to BreeZee. “Let her up.”

  Bl’azzz removed her talon and Mysteria stood up.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said the unmasked girl. “You still have to get your flying suit. Nothing’s changed.”

  “Maybe. However, we can now fly there. Probably avoid all sorts of nasty creatures.”

  “Wow, you are stupid. Look,” and Mysteria pointed skyward.

  “Rats.” Egg was about to say something nasty but then she remembered why she had attacked the girl in the first place. The memory of her friend dangling from the dinosaur’s mouth made her nauseous. “Oh my gosh. Oh, Tee’ka, I’m so sorry.” She fell to her knees, ignoring the gash on her right one, and began to cry uncontrollably.

  The other girls sat down around their friend, about an arms-length away. They said nothing . . . they wanted to give her as much time as she needed to release her grief.

  After a good ten minutes, Egg wiped her eyes with her hand, her nose with her sleeve and turned to the others. “I can’t go on.”