“The answer is yes. I will accept the people’s vote and become the next Queen of Aerianna. It should be a hoot.”
*****
“Your Majesty, our long-range scanners have detected the Federation fleet. They should intercept us in about an hour.”
“Thank you, Captain. Bring our ships to a halt and deploy the beam-splitting probes.”
“Yes, Ma’am. As we discussed, I will transfer the seventh disruptor back to the General’s ship.” When Egg went to Peekaboo Prime, the six rebel vessels (and six weapons) would only be able to disrupt ninety of the enemy’s ships. Egg had gotten goosebumps when they had told her but kept that bit of information to herself.
“Please let me know when all is ready.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Egg stood up from the command chair. “General, I believe this is where you should be sitting.”
Zwam took a deep breath then sat down. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. We’ll keep the camera close-up on your face so they can’t see me. I’ll be right here to help you if you need it. Okay?”
“Not really.”
Egg squeezed her shoulder. “Just liked we practiced and everything will be fine.”
*****
Aerianna
“Kru-Ella, thank you for seeing me.”
“I was surprised by the request. You certainly were showing no enthusiasm for my candidacy.”
Rap’tor eeked in pretend amusement. “Sorry to be so obvious but you’re right. I was jealous that you had been so terribly clever about all of this. With everyone else dropping out, it’s just you and Lady Eloise.”
“But we both know how popular that impostor is with the general population. I have no chance to win.”
“Probably true. But as the individual who receives the second most votes, you will be a heartbeat away from the Throne. With all her exploits with the Sisterhood, your opponent is always putting herself in danger. I would say your odds of ultimate victory are more than reasonable.”
“But you think it should be you not I?”
“Well, that’s a bit complicated. On one hand, anyone but that pretender would be better for us nobles. On the other hand, I’m predisposed to believe that it is a dragon’s turn to rule. I will also argue that after two Queens, a King would be a refreshing change.”
The nasty woman stared back at the dragon . . .
“The arrogance of men and of dragons is so tiresome.”
“No need to be rude. I came here to offer my support.”
“I find that hard to believe. Your enthusiasm for Lady Eloise’s little mentor program seems genuine. What changed your mind?” As Egg had observed, Kru-Ella was no fool.
“Come, come, dear girl. It should be obvious. The woman is married to the Prince and is sister and sister-in-law to the Queen. Why would I want to do anything but be in her good graces? If I must get into the muck, so to speak, to win her affection, I am not too proud to do so.”
It sounded quite believable and Kru-Ella accepted that statement on face value. “It is good to have you on my side. You and I are so much alike and I treasure your counsel.”
“You’re too kind. So how can I help?”
“Not much for you to do at this point. As you said, I am the only other candidate. All I need is one vote and I will come in second.”
“True enough. On the other hand, you and I should consider ways to put the Lady Eloise in danger. The sooner she is unable to serve, the quicker you will acquire the Crown.”
The woman gave the dragon a very smug smile. “There-to your assistance is not required.”
“Oh?”
“As we speak, Lady Eloise is in imminent danger of being taken hostage by the creatures from the Outer Reaches. At best, she will be their prisoner for a very long time. At worse – for her – she may not live to be coronated.”
“I have heard none of this.”
“My sources are obviously better than yours.”
“How did this come about? It seems too fortuitous.”
Kru-Ella paused to consider her next words. “Before we continue, when I am Queen, will you serve as my Prime Advisor?”
“Of course. It would be an honor,” he replied in a voice dripping with sincerity.
“Very well. Since there is no proof of what I am about to say, there is no harm.”
“I don’t understand?”
“I had learned that the Outer Reaches were going to rebel. It was I that sent them a message that Lady Eloise was in route to Peekaboo Prime in an unprotected vessel. I suggested that her capture would serve their cause very well.”
“How very clever. Do you know what happened?”
“I have had no further news. I expect to hear forthwith.”
“Well, I am impressed. I always knew you were intelligent. But I never understood the degree of cleverness and ruthlessness. You will rule with an iron fist.”
Kru-Ella gave her ‘friend’ a slight bow of the head as she accepted the compliments. “Thank you, dearest Rap’tor. And my first order of business will be to put the common folk back in their place. We nobles represent less than one percent of the population, but we control the bulk of this world’s wealth and, I dare say, most of its intelligence. The natural order of things must be restored.”
“This calls for a celebration. However, we must keep it small until you obtain the news that you await. Perhaps us two plus any other close friends that you have shared this with – at my place tonight. I promise you an intimate and memorable night.”
“That sounds delightful. I will contact the others.”
“I will see you all at . . . shall we say seven?”
“Seven it is. I am of the understanding that seven has been the Hameggattic Sisterhood’s lucky number. Beginning tonight, it will be ours.”
Rap’tor bowed very low. “Your Majesty,” he said in mock seriousness, “Until this evening.”
*****
Somewhere in Space
“We are being hailed,” announced Kreed.
Zwam took a deep breath. “On screen.”
The face of some dapper, middle-aged, well-decorated officer appeared. “I am Admiral Pythe, temporarily in command of the amalgamated Federation fleet. To whom am I addressing?”
“I am . . . I am General Zwam, leader of the combined forces of the Outer Reaches. What can I do for you, Admiral?”
“Where is Lady Eloise? I would speak with her.”
“Lady Eloise is indisposed. Regardless, I am in charge. If you have something to say, please begin . . . otherwise move your ships out of my way.”
The Admiral’s eyes widened. “My dear woman, in case your crew failed to inform you, there are ninety-four ships-of-the-line surrounding your motley collection of bolts and rust. If I give the signal, all seven ships will be vaporized. However, I would like to avoid bloodshed if possible. Power down your vessels immediately.”
“Or what? Planning on vaporizing the next Queen of Aerianna?”
That gave the Admiral pause. “I will send a shuttle to fetch her to my ship. Have her ready to transport.”
“Actually Admiral, I will give you ten seconds to surrender.”
The man laughed. “Very bold, I’ll give you that.”
“One, two . . .”
“If you open fire, I will be forced to reciprocate.”
“Three, four, five, six . . .”
“Don’t do something stupid, woman,” he said disparagingly. “You are outnumbered fourteen to one.”
“Seven, eight, nine . . .”
“Your last chance . . . power down.”
“Ten,” and the six ships fired their seven disruptors at the pre-planted probes. Instantly, the beams split and each of the Federation ships was rendered inert. “I did warn you, Admiral.”
He couldn’t hear since all his systems had gone dead. And she couldn’t see him – and that was too bad because the look on his face was priceless.
“Well done, Zwam,” congra
tulated Egg. “Kreed, tell the others we’re going. Remind them of their orders. Then head for Peekaboo Prime.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
*****
Aerianna, 7pm
Rap’tor lived in Fire’s Breath, one of the three major castle-cities of the Dragons. As wealthy as he and his family were, they owned a complete spire that towered over most others. Precisely at seven, his guests arrived.
“Welcome, friends. Please come in.”
Besides Kru-Ella, there were three other humans and two dragons. He was not surprised by their identity since all were very close to the would-be queen. He was also not surprised that there were no serpents. Very few of them had any serious complaints about life on Aerianna. Their kind were left to themselves as was their preference and they were afforded every opportunity to learn and to invent – the two passions of his sea brethren.
After the usual greetings and refreshments, they made their way to the main hall to make themselves comfortable as they talked.
“Are we expecting anyone else?”
“No. This is our brain trust, as it were. Speaking for the others, we are very glad you have joined us. We all hold you in such high regard.”
“You are too kind. But, please don’t keep me in suspense. What word of our dear Eloise?”
“I have been sitting on this news for hours waiting for us to gather. The Lady Eloise has been captured by the rebel alliance. I dare say her life is in great peril.”
The others applauded much to Rap’tor’s disgust. He joined in as was expected. “I believe this calls for a toast,” and he passed around a libation. “Please, Kru-Ella, the honor is yours.”
“Thank you, kind sir.” She raised her glass and turned to face each of the others. “To the Lady Eloise . . . may her demise be quick and painless.” She smiled smugly and took a sip.
As she finished her drink, her self-satisfied face turned to surprise then shock as, one by one, her cohorts in crime disappeared into a shower of twinkling lights. “What? What is happening?”
Rap’tor waited a few seconds until the last of his guests were teleported to the waiting naval vessel hovering just out of sight of the city. “They have been taken into custody for treason, of course.”
She was about to suggest that she and Rap’tor make a hasty escape when she realized it was he that had arranged all of this. “Why?”
“You are a disgusting little person who has committed sedition against the Crown. For your crimes, I presume you will pay the ultimate price.” Treason was punishable by death though no one had ever committed the crime.
“You stupid fool. We could have ruled this world for many, many years. Power and wealth beyond imagining would have been ours.”
“Neither is a sufficient excuse nor motivation for such treachery. Time to go, my dear.”
“But you have no real proof. I will be exonerated.”
Rap’tor tapped a control sitting on a table and Kru-Ella’s voice wafted out. “Very well. Since there is no proof of what I am about to say, there is no harm.”
“I don’t understand?”
“I had learned that the Outer Reaches were going to rebel. It was I that sent them a message that Lady Eloise was in route to Peekaboo Prime in an unprotected vessel. I suggested that her capture would serve their cause very well.”
“What is that thing?”
“It is a voice recording device. I am told that they are used on Earth to record messages or singing or music. Jax’x of the Hameggattic Sisterhood created this for me so I could record your confession.”
“But how did you know that I was plotting this intrigue?”
“This is the delicious part. Apparently, Lady Eloise sensed your involvement and asked the Queen-Regent to recruit me to prove either your innocence or guilt. Sadly, for you, it was the latter.”
“I . . . I do not understand. How could she intuit my involvement? That is not possible.” The young woman was stunned and shocked by all that was transpiring. Oh, she was also scared out of her mind at what would happen to her.
“Never underestimate our next Queen. You do so at your own peril.”
Chapter 9 – What Goes Around
Of the hundred Federation ships, ninety-four had intercepted, and fallen prey to, Egg’s little fleet. Of the remaining six, three belonged to the rebels and one was Egg’s yacht, since she represented Aerianna.
Sunnyside, the planet that Peekaboo Prime revolved around, had no navy. If they had a warship, it would have been number ninety-nine.
Egg, in her planning, failed to account for a latecomer. In this case, ship number one hundred was from the Solaxis Amalgamation. The citizens of this world were similar to those on Aerianna – moderate in their beliefs and generous of nature. Their vessel, like the others, was state-of-the-art. However, their space Navy was defensive in nature – designed and manned to protect their cargo ships. Even so, their cannons could still blow a ship out of the sky.
As if to confirm that fact, the vessel fired a flash-bomb that exploded just in front of the royal yacht. The concussion from the explosion rattled the ship and caused a shower of sparks to fall from a power conduit.
“A Federation ship on an intercept course just fired a warning shot,” called Kreed.
“Rats and double rats. Just our luck that they came late to the party. What do they want us to do?”
“They want us to cut power. Should I return fire?”
“No. Full stop.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” A moment later he announced, “They’re hailing us.”
“On screen.” To Zwam she said, “I’ll handle this one.”
“It was your turn, anyway.” The General, for the first time, was teasing her new friend.
Egg looked at the woman and saw the twinkle in her eyes and laughed. “There you go.”
The screen came alive and the face of the ship’s captain appeared. “Lady Eloise, I am Captain Vayder of the Solaxis Amalgamation.”
“Greetings Captain. Why did you fire on us?”
“Following orders. I was made to understand that you have declared war against the Federation. Is that true?”
“Indeed.”
“But why?” The man was truly dumfounded by the idea.
“Do you really care or are you just stalling until the other Federation ships join you?”
“Our sensors indicate that those ships appear dead in space. Did you destroy them?” He couldn’t conceal his disbelief or horror.
“No, we just hit them with a dampening field that temporarily disrupts their systems. The crews are alive and well.”
“I did not know that the Outer Reaches had such technology. Did you provide it to them?”
“No. It’s their own.” Not quite true but close enough.
“I have no wish to cause you harm so I fervently hope that you don’t attempt to do the same to us.”
His surprisingly heartfelt and earnest sentiment gave Egg one of ‘those’ feelings. “I would if I could, but I can’t so I shan’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not carrying the weapon. In fact, your ship most likely is better armed than this one. Under normal circumstances, I would be at your mercy.”
The Captain stared at Egg trying to understand why she was being so honest. “I take it that you don’t consider this a ‘normal circumstance’?”
“No. You see, I have right on my side. The Federation has violated its own constitution and has also flagrantly disregarded common decency.” She took a minute or two to summarize the reason for this conflict.
“Lady, would you excuse me for a moment. I would like to finish this conversation in private and need to go to my ready-room.”
“Be my guest.”
While they waited, Kreed and Zwam turned to look at Egg. They both had the same question. “Did you not ignore common military tactics by revealing our weakness?” asked Zwam.
“It’s just a hunch that this guy meant what he said and doesn’t want to do
battle with us. Solaxis is a pretty mellow place from what I understand.”
“You would risk all of our lives on this hunch?”
“Can’t change the stripes on a zebra.” Translation: Egg had to be Egg.
Kreed couldn’t help it and he barked a laugh. He was all too familiar with the concept of stupid earth sayings. “Apologies, Ma’am.”
At that moment, the Captain reappeared on the screen. “Sorry for the delay.”
“What did you wish to discuss in private, Captain?”
“First, I can’t tell you what an honor it is to meet you. You are a legend among my people. Your exploits with your Sisterhood are followed by every child, and most adults, with great enthusiasm. I have heard my two girls on many occasions pretend to be Hameggattic Sisters battling against the forces of evil. You inspire these young ladies to believe they are the equal of any young man; that they can aspire to do anything their heart desires. As the father of two extraordinary daughters, I sincerely thank you.”
“You are very kind. When this is over, I invite you and your girls to Aerianna. I will personally introduce them to all my Sisters.”
“Truly? They will be so excited that it will be impossible to get them to sleep until this comes about.”
“In fact, I’ll send you home with a selfie of us.” Before he could ask the obvious question, Egg continued with, “If I may finish your thoughts on the matter at hand – you are ordered to stop and arrest me. However, you would rather be fighting alongside of us. But you can’t. So, the dilemma is how to show your superiors that you did all that you could but were unable to complete your mission because of circumstances outside your control. Does that about sum it up?”
The man’s eyes grew wide. “Apparently, the legend of the Heroine of Aerianna is to be believed. Yes, Lady, that is my problem.”
“I believe I may have a solution.” She turned to the dragonetta and asked, “Ziz, can you project an image of anyone or just Mobius and Bl’uddd?”
“I only carry their likenesses. However, given any digital facsimile, I can project it.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say. Take a picture of me. Wait. Ring, tend to my suit,” and a moment later out of the grey fog stood Flying Girl. “Okay, go.”
The Red Queen [Book 7 of Ever After, an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Page 8