“I . . . I . . .”
“Stop already. Do as I ask and the Divine Ones will lose all their power and you and I will get married. Isn’t that worth a few minutes of bravery?” She sealed that thought with a kiss.
“I can do this. You can trust me, Soo. For you, I can do this.” He was hoping that if he said those words out loud, he would actually believe it.
“I know I can trust you. Now my love, step into the booth.”
“One more kiss . . . for good luck?”
“Absolutely,” and she gave him a memorable one.
“Po, take your place,” directed Egg and the girl stepped into the second booth.
“My turn,” said Xara with too much glee.
Egg handed the woman the key and the necklace. “I expect you to do as you promised.”
“Of course you do,” was the snide retort. Then she added, “I promise you that the machine will be turned off. Okay?”
Goosebumps. “If I had another choice . . .”
“But you don’t.” Xara locked the necklace around her neck, inserted the key into its nook then stepped into her booth. “Show time” and the Nemesis of the Sisterhood closed her eyes.
*****
Rim of the Rift
BreeZee landed on the rim in close proximity to the cloaked ship. “Serenity”.
“I’m here.”
“I need to get back to the bridge. Please beam Jax’x into the ship. She’s a bit dizzy so you might want to put her in the infirmary.”
Serenity mumbled something unkind.
“Sorry, what?”
“Nothing. Listen, the other Absolute came out of the Crypt. So be extra careful.”
“Thanks. Bye.” To Jax’x she said, “Serenity will beam you up shortly. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll just sit down and wait. Go. And please, please be careful. If any of you get hurt helping me and my people, I would never forgive myself.” She had grown quite fond of the winged girl.
“Attempting to remedy a terrible wrong is way more important than the life of a single individual. Even so, any one of us would weep inconsolably if another of us was injured . . . or worse. A just cause doesn’t really mitigate the pain when you lose someone very close to you.”
Bree was trying to give her new friend a bit of insight as to why the sisters had reacted so violently to the presumed death of Tee’ka.
The Librarian was a very smart young lady. Not quite the genius of Serenity or K’ssss . . . but she was pretty darn close. “I will forever be embarrassed at my insensitive comments. Thank you . . . and please don’t give me a reason to cry.”
Serenity had eavesdropped on the conversation. When the girls finished, she beamed Jax’x directly to the infirmary. She also decided she had been too mean to the Librarian. She was embarrassed at her own pettiness.
*****
Bridge of Infinite Possibilities
Peak rolled up the parchment . . . and yelled into the darkness, “NOW.”
From the depths of the rift rose a sight never before seen on Spell ‘Bound . . . and Forest Green and Grassy Knoll both opened their mouths in shock and awe and horror. A flame-spitting monster filled their vision and they froze where they stood.
At the same moment, and under the cover of the Bl’azzz’s diversion, Tee’ka stepped out of her hiding place and ran toward the Cell of Transitional Non-Being and the still cowering Jay’gar.
*****
Cave of MAGEK
Xara felt the all-too-familiar power of the great machine surge through her mind. After taking a moment to enjoy the sensation, she turned her attention to executing the final steps in her plan. It was not quite what Egg had expected.
First, she ordered the machine to reconnect to Amber Hearts. Since she was the only one on the planet with the necklace, she effectively was giving herself supreme power.
Next, she searched every mind on the planet to see who had the most potent connection to the machine. She was a bit surprised that only two surpassed the rest by a significant margin. Not surprising, those two were Forest Green and Grassy Knoll.
She then ordered MAGEK to disconnect all Hexes . . . the so-called Divine Ones.
Being a petty and spiteful individual, she found Jay’gar and implanted a powerful thought into his mind. A rare bit of remorse forced her to balance that act with one of kindness.
Finally, she instructed the machine to redirect all the power it was generating in maintaining its levitation above the ground into a surge in its rotational speed. This would guarantee that the unit would self-destruct. Once the spinning mass made contact with the cave floor, it would disintegrate into a billion pieces. All the Kings horses and all the Kings men would never be able to put MAGEK back together again (couldn’t resist, sorry). She considered this as her fulfillment of the promise she made to Egg to turn the machine off.
But why not keep the machine intact and rule this planet any way she deemed appropriate? The simple answer was she didn’t want to. It was now a backward world with a small population. It would take them untold number of years to even start to regain some of its past glory. That sounded like work and mind-numbingly boring. With a spaceship and the mini MAGEK unit, she was about to have an adventure worthy of legends. Now that was a goal to match her ego.
She also wanted to destroy the machine for her mother’s sake. It was never a solution that either of them had ever considered. It would have been perfect . . . defang both sides. It was a missed opportunity and the world was destroyed because of it. Now she had the chance to right the wrong her mother had inadvertently committed.
MAGEK would analyze these commands, as well as the programming in the Key to determine if it should execute them. The only one requiring the Hex and the Ungifted was the self-destruct sequence. All three minds were in agreement . . . the machine should turn off. The methodology was not important.
*****
Xara stepped out of the control booth and turned to face Egg.
“Well?” demanded Flying Girl.
“It’s done. Give it maybe ten minutes . . . then it will self-destruct.”
“What?”
“It’s going to rip itself apart. I suggest you get your little gang out of here as quickly as you can. Bye-Bye.”
“Where are you going?”
“As far from the machine as I can. You really should do the same.” Then to Egg’s shock, Xara touched the Amber Heart stone around her neck, levitated . . . and flew down the tunnel and out of sight.
Epilogue 1 – The Carnage
Bridge of Infinite Possibilities
While Green and Knoll were staring at the fire-breathing dragon, their two acolytes took aim with their hex-ringed hands and fired bolts of energy at their former masters. Both Absolutes were able to react in time to flick the attack away with a brush of their minds.
Tee’ka reached Jay’gar and bent to help him up. Serenity had told her the man seemed in shock and she was prepared for the worse.
But Jay’gar rose to his feet on his own. “And you are?” he asked calmly.
“My name is Tee’ka. My sisters and I are here to help Jax’x. I can’t tell you how happy she’ll be to see you. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, thank you. You wouldn’t happen to know a friend of Jax’x. Her name is Pond Ripple . . . sometimes she goes by Po.”
“Sure. She’s part of this.”
“Is she okay?”
“Jax’x?”
“No. Po?”
“As far as I know, she’s great. Come on, I need to get you away from here. Jax’x is waiting for you.”
“Tee’ka is it? I’ve been . . . away for a while. I really need to see Po. Can you take me to her?”
“I don’t understand?”
“It’s quite simple, really. She and I are in love.”
Yup, you guessed it. Xara did what she had promised herself she would do . . . end the friendship between Po and Jax’x by convincing Jay’gar with a well-placed thought that he l
oved the girl in the red hood. Her act of contrition was to restore Jay’gar’s mental health from the terrible effects of the Cell in which he had been imprisoned.
*****
While this was happening, both Absolutes asked MAGEK for an evaluation of their situation. Both received the same answer – there was a high degree of probability that an alien force was trying to usurp power with the help of the two acolytes. Not quite right, but close enough.
Green and Knoll went on the attack . . . for a moment both allied against a common enemy. They fired their own bolts of energy at the man and woman on the bridge. Not to be left out, they also fired at Bl’azzz who was taking evasive maneuvers to keep from being hit.
Seeing Bl’azzz in trouble, Tee’ka told Jay’gar to stay put as she ran out with her weapon set to stun. She fired at the closest target which was Forest Green.
The Absolute was taken by surprise and only just fended off the effects of Tee’ka’s staff. She returned fire.
Tee’s shield held but the force of the attack knocked her down and out.
Knoll fired a rapid burst at the two on the bridge – concentrating on the traitorous Lightning Flash. One of the bolts hit its target and the girl went flying through the air . . . and over the side of the bridge. Peak reached for her but was too late. He screamed at his loss then started to run at Grassy Knoll.
Green turned her firepower on the dragon. Bl’azzz did well to avoid being hit . . . but that lasted only so long. One energy bolt hit her square in the chest and she let out a loud oomph. She flipped over on her back and began to sink into the blackness of the rift.
Sensing victory, Forest Green began to walk across the bridge towards her principal adversary – Grassy Knoll.
Knoll saw her advance and casually hit Peak with a bolt that spun him around, knocking him to the ground with both arms broken. He lay there, writhing in pain. For him, the battle was over.
The two Absolutes looked like gunfighters from the old west at High Noon (though in this case it was Low Midnight). They stopped perhaps thirty feet from one another.
“Any last words,” taunted Green.
Knoll laughed. “It’s one against five . . . I think your last words will be more appropriate.”
Each raised their ringed hands and fired the biggest bolts of energy they could imagine.
Nothing happened.
As one, they touched their foreheads as if feeling for their connection to MAGEK – but sensed nothing. “What?” cried Knoll.
“I have lost my Gift,” screamed Green. “What madness is this?” she asked the night.
“Hi, girls” came a mocking voice from above. They looked up to see a woman float down and land on the bridge between them. “So, how’s it going?”
“Who are you?” demand Green. “What do you want?”
“My name doesn’t really matter. The what, however, does. For the treachery inflicted on me by your ancestors, I intend to have my retribution. You two are the strongest representatives of the Hex Weavers by virtue of your connection to MAGEK.”
“What are you talking about?”
Xara ignored the questions – more because time was running out. “I sentence you both to a lifetime of companionable companionship. Now . . . off you go.” She touched her Amber Heart and both Absolutes soared through the air and into Jay’gar’s recently vacated Cell of Transitional Non-Being.
Their screams abruptly ended when the door slammed shut and the device melted away – finding its way into the space between universes.
“That was fun,” Xara said aloud though no one heard. She touched her Heart and disappeared.
*****
The Astral
Serenity made her way to the infirmary to check on Jax’x. “You okay?” she asked.
The girl was a bit taken back by the sincerity of the question. “She lied.”
“She who?”
“Xara. She said I would need a week or so to recuperate. It’s been maybe ten minutes and I’m almost back to normal.” Jax’x half-expected a snide retort but none was forthcoming.
“Her lying is no big surprise. If you’re up to it, come with me to the bridge [the control room, not the one over the Rift]. I could use your help.” That wasn’t entirely true . . . but it was the best olive branch Serenity could offer.
They made their way in silence. Just as they were about to enter, the ship shook violently almost throwing Jax’x to floor.
“What was that? Something happen to the ship?”
“I don’t think so. Come on. Let’s go fire up the view screen.”
However, when they opened the door, they were unpleasantly surprised to see Xara standing there. “Ladies, there’s been a change of plans.”
“What are you doing here?” demanded Serenity. “How did you get on board?”
“It was the very last act of MAGEK . . . which is unfortunate.” She couldn’t use the Gift to rid herself of these two.
“You reconnected Hearts to the machine, didn’t you?”
“I did, Jax’x. I did indeed. But, as I promised your princess, MAGEK is no more.”
Serenity understood. “That rumbling . . . the machine self-destructed.”
“Oh, yes. I didn’t stop to count, but I’m guessing there are now a billion or so pieces strewn over the cave floor.”
“Where are Egg and the others?”
“Actually, I don’t know. I told her to leave as quickly as she could. Hope she listened.”
“If anything happened to . . .” but Serenity was cut off.
“Excuse me for being rude, but do shut up. Now, I want both of you off my ship.”
“Your ship?”
“Yeah, isn’t it nice?”
Without thinking through her actions, Serenity did something impulsive that she would soon regret. She wheeled over to a hidden compartment and took out a smaller version of the weapon she made for Tee’ka. Pointing it at Xara, she said, “Let’s go. I’m locking you in a storage closet till Egg decides what she wants to do with you.”
Xara shrugged in apparent resignation and walked towards the door. But as she got close to Serenity’s outstretched hand, she did a forward roll and sprung up kicking. The weapon went flying out of the girl’s hand and into Xara’s. “Thank you. Now, off you two go. I need to get out of here.”
“And if we don’t, what are you going to do . . . shoot me?” challenged the Librarian.
“Never. I’m going to shoot her instead. You wouldn’t mind that since you two aren’t really close, are you?” Xara was many things, but a cold-blooded murderer was not one of them. Even the two Absolutes that she imprisoned were technically still alive. This was all a bluff to get them quickly off the ship.
The other two believed the nutty woman was serious. Without thinking of the futility of the effort, Serenity lunged for the weapon as best she could but Jax’x beat her to it. She wasn’t about to let a Sister die for her cause. In the ensuing struggle, the weapon discharged. Jax’x’s eyes went wide, her face went white and she collapsed onto Serenity’s lap.
“That was just plain stupid,” complained Xara who was as horrified as Serenity. “You fools need to stop trying to be heroes all the time. Unfortunately, we are all out of time. Her especially.” She walked over to the control panel, looked at it for a moment then uttered an “oh, yes.” She pressed a button, turned a dial and just before she threw a lever, she said, “get her medical help if you want her to live.” The lever was thrown and Serenity and the inert body of Jax’x dissolved into a twinkle of lights as they were teleported to the surface.
A few moments later, the Astral’s engines fired and the ship lifted off the surface. Within a minute, it disappeared amongst the stars.
Epilogue 2 – Goodbye Girl
It was chaos. The explosion of MAGEK collapsed part of the Crypt. Former Divine Ones were running around trying to help the trapped and injured.
Jagged Peak was on the bridge writhing in pain and yelling for his lover who had falle
n off the bridge.
Tee’ka was unconscious with a severe concussion.
Egg had evacuated the others from the cave with a couple of minutes to spare. They were on the rim of the rift not far from the still cloaked Astral. She sent Po to the bridge to see if she could help. She told the Soo avatar to take Kr’eep home. No use getting them hurt.
With the others gone, Egg tried to contact Serenity on the communicator to no avail. Then she saw the girl in the chair materialize at the same moment the engines of the spaceship fired. She watched in confusion as the light from the ship faded into the night sky.
She walked toward Serenity calling out “What’s going on. Who’s in the ship?”
“Egg, hurry. Jax’x . . . she’s dying.”
Flying Girl flew to her sister and saw the other girl draped over her lap. There was blood everywhere. “Oh my gosh. What happened?”
“Do something. Don’t let her die. Please.”
Unfortunately Egg didn’t have the healing bracelet that her grandmother had given her so many years before. “Let’s lay her on the ground. Can you come down here and put pressure on the wound?”
Serenity slid gracefully off her wheelchair and sat next to Jax’x, cradling her head while applying pressure. “Find the others. Bree might be able to do something.”
“I will.” She patted her friend on the shoulder and leaped into the air. It took no time at all to reach the bridge.
The first thing she saw was Po being hugged and kissed by Jay’gar. It seemed strange but she wasn’t quite sure why. Regardless, right now it didn’t matter. She needed to concentrate on her sisters. She found Tee lying unconscious. She couldn’t tell where she was hurt or how serious . . . but she was still breathing.
Into her communicator she called “Bree. Bree where are you?”
“Where are you?” came the reply.
“Far end of the bridge. We have injuries. Hurry.”
Seconds later, the girl with wings landed. She was holding the body of Lightning Flash.
Box Set #5: Nemesis: [The 4 book 5th adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 38