Gracie - Box Set #6, Part 2 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel]
Page 10
“Thank you. Once we’re free of the Glass, I will put it to a vote. However, should we not concentrate on the most pressing issue – freeing us?”
Before anyone could respond, the AI announced, “Life form detected approximately six hundred meters below the surface.”
“Identify,” commanded Sparky.
“Species unknown.”
“How many?”
“One.”
“What’s going on?” asked the disembodied voice of Kon’dor?
“Our computer has found a single, unidentifiable life form about six hundred meters below the volcano.”
“It’s on the same level as the Sanctum. Do you have the technology to locate my transmission?”
“On it,” called Jax’x. “Got it. Computer overlay these coordinates with that of the unidentified life form.”
“Working. On display.”
“Kon’dor, it’s about twenty meters west of your location.”
“As L’elle and I suspected, it wants the Reverie Glass.”
“Can it be moved?”
“Not while it’s powered up. It somehow anchors itself to the space-time continuum.”
Skotti’s head jerked up. “Really? That’s fascinating.”
Sparky beamed. “That’s why we’re in love.”
“Don’t forget I also adore your sense of humor,” quipped the young man. Everyone presumed he was teasing.
“Would you two please concentrate?” moaned Egg. “Kon’dor, if it can’t take the Glass, would it have any reason to enter it?”
“I can’t think of any. It couldn’t hurt us if it did. No one dies inside the Glass.” Not really true but he didn’t know that.
“Well, this is a bit of a conundrum,” observed the Prince. “On one hand, this creature has created an escape route for you and your people. On the other hand, it blocks the way. If we turn off the power, you and whomever is first out will be exposed to the nefarious thing. Worse, we don’t know what powers it has. It might destroy anyone exiting the device then simply take the thing with it.”
“I’m going down. Maybe I can talk to it.”
“Wife, you will do no such thing.”
“Husband, this is Hameggattic Sisterhood business. We’ve had this discussion.”
“Technically, you are wrong. There aren’t seven sisters present.”
“No such rule, but kudos for trying.”
“Egg my dearest, if you go, I go.” Obviously a non-negotiable statement.
“I’m going too,” added Skotti.
“Not without me,” stated Serenity.
“We’ll all go. Please, let’s stop arguing and do something,” insisted Bree.
Kon’dor couldn’t allow these strangers to risk their lives. “I’m sorry. I will not allow you to place yourselves in harm’s way. Cut the power and me and my people will handle this.”
“Maybe I wasn’t clear about the Hameggattic Sisterhood. This is what we do.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what you were telling me. Seven women fight evil and save worlds . . . was that the gist of it.”
Bree was a little offended. “Do you have a problem with that? With women fighting the good fight?”
Kon’dor was silent for a moment, and then said, “My L’elle would have loved to become a sister. She’s just like you. I’m sorry, I mean she was.”
Bree’s hand went to her mouth. She should have realized how he would respond. “I’m so sorry, Kon’dee (she didn’t realize she used that term of endearment though it didn’t escape notice by the others). After reading her diary, I should have known. I feel horrible.”
“Please don’t. I phrased it poorly. You had a right to take offense. Never-the-less, if you want to help – all of you – cut the power and leave the rest to us.”
Egg took charge. “Listen up, everyone. We are not cutting the power until we know the extent of the danger this creature poses. End of that conversation. Second, not all of us are going down. That would be lunacy.”
“But . . .” Jax’x was about to argue with the decision.
Egg raised her hand for silence. “I’m not putting everyone in harm’s way. Besides, if something goes wrong, I’ll need backup. Not only me, but Kon’dor and his people.” It was a fairly obvious argument.
“Who’s going then?” asked Serenity.
“Since my husband insists, I’ll take him. Skotti, you’re going too. Get your girlfriend to fit you out with that remote camera device you two have been working on. This is a great time to try it out. I want Bree to monitor us and to keep Kon’dor updated. You also need to map out that tunnel the creature dug so we can direct the Sky’lords once we free them. Serenity, work on a means to close that iris. If that can’t happen, then you’ll need an alternative plan. Jax’x, analyze that creature as best you can. We need to know if it’s sentient and how we can communicate with it. If that’s not possible, we need a way to disable it without (she emphasized the word) . . . without killing it. Any questions?”
Kon’dor had one. “Why not destroy it? It destroyed my world?”
“We don’t kill . . . and certainly not for revenge. Besides, most conflicts are caused by misunderstandings. Like you said before, the creature was probably trying to get the Glass and your people happened to be in the way.”
“Doesn’t forgive them from what they did.”
“Maybe when you took the Glass, you did terrible harm to them. Maybe they can’t forgive you.”
They couldn’t see Kon’dor’s mouth flop open. Finally, he managed, “Certainly something to consider.” His respect for these people just popped up a couple of notches.
“Okay, then. Ring tend to my suit.” Skotti couldn’t help but smile at the sight. “Sparky beam us down to the Sanctum.” And that caused him to groan.
“Something wrong Skotti?”
“I was kind of hoping that Flying Girl would fly us down there.”
“That’s sweet. What do you think, husband of mine?” She was just ‘egging him on’.
“I believe Lieutenant Tess’lar was teasing. Were you not, Lieutenant?” The message was not exactly subtle.
“You are correct, Your Highness. My apologies, Lady.”
“Skotti, I’ll give you a ride when this is over,” said Egg trying not to laugh at her husband.
“Thank you.”
“Okay, Sparky. Do your thing.”
“Wait.” Everyone turned to the Prince. “I forgot something” and he walked over to a cabinet and pulled out Dazzle and strapped the sword to his waist. He shrugged at the others. “Might need it.”
Egg smiled. “Very dashing in a King Arthur sort of way.”
“A compliment?”
“Yes, my Liege. Okay, now we’re ready.”
“Not so fast,” and Serenity dug around for something. She found what she was looking for and tossed it to her boyfriend. “Might need it,” she said purposely mimicking the Prince.
Skotti caught the object. He examined it, found the power switch and turned it on. A red beam shot out. “Ah, a light saber.”
“Don’t I wish. It’s a laser pointer.”
“Oh. What do I do with it?”
“Shine it in the beastie’s eyes, of course.” She turned back to the controls and called over her shoulder - “Three to beam down,” and they were gone.
*****
They materialized inside the Sanctum and promptly fell. The ground was shaking and rolling, dirt and pebbles were raining down from the ceiling, and parts of the walls were cracking and caving in. All in all, their timing could have been a wee bit better.
Benny threw himself on top of his unsuspecting wife to protect her as best he could. Skotti crawled on all fours to join the other two. If need be, he would do the same to save the Prince’s life.
The seismic activity soon subsided and the three disentangled themselves.
“You okay, my love?”
“Yes, thanks. But in the future, I’m pretty well protected by t
he flying suit. So, not to hurt your feelings, it’s best if I get on top.”
Skotti couldn’t help but overhear and he barked a laugh. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”
The Prince was becoming more and more like a regular ‘joe’ and smiled. “And what were you planning on doing?” referring to the fact that the young man had crawled so close to the couple.
“Thought I’d join the fun and pile on,” he kidded.
“Well thank you . . . for not doing so.” He patted the young man on the back acknowledging the truth of the situation.
“What’s going on down there? The video was dark and jumpy?” asked Bree.
“Some seismic activity. Check the tunnel and see if it sustained any damage,” requested Egg.
“It’s fine. Any monsters?”
“No. Everything seems . . .” but she didn’t finish. The wall on the far side of the cavern rumbled then fell away. And there, in all its horrid splendor, was the last Rak’nex.
“Uh oh.”
“What?”
“We’ve got company.” To Skotti, Egg said, “Be sure the ship is getting a video of this thing.”
“Got it.”
“Egg, my love, stand back. I will attend to this creature,” and the idiot (but chivalrous) boy blue pulled Dazzle and attacked. Ignoring Egg’s yells to stop, the Prince swung his sword at one of the creature’s legs. The thing simply lifted the appendage and the glittering blade missed by a foot. Then with amazing speed, the leg came down and pinned Benny to the ground.
Benny yelped as his chest began to compress under the enormous weight.
Egg immediately went airborne and flew straight at the Rak’nex. Skotti watched in horror, as Flying Girl found herself similarly trapped by the creature’s other leg. Like her husband, she too cried out as she felt the deadly force on her chest.
Back on the Gracie, the other three girls watched in shock as the strange bug-like beast subdued the newlyweds, apparently crushing them under its legs. Ironically, with bugs, it’s usually the other way around.
Skotti looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. The Prince’s sword was out of reach, having been tossed under the creature when he fell. With only the rocks strewn on the ground to use, he picked up the biggest one he could carry and turned towards the monster. In his heart he knew that this wasn’t going to end well . . . for any of them.
“SKOTTI,” screamed Jax’x over the communicator. “SKOTTI, use the light saber. Use the light saber.”
“Are you crazy?”
Lady Eloise
Book 6 of Ever After
Another Novel of
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
©Copyright 2018, by Robert Iannone
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – First Contact
Chapter 2 – Kon’dee
Chapter 3 – Back to Work
Chapter 4 – Love, Look at the Two Us
Chapter 5 – Sisters in Transition
Chapter 6 – The Honeymooners
Chapter 7 – New Beginnings
Chapter 8 – As Time Goes By
Chapter 9 – A Year in the Life
Chapter 10 – Where Did the Time Go?
Chapter 11 – Queen for a Day
The seven active sisters.
Top left to right: BreeZee, Tee’ka, Bl’azzz and Jax’x.
Bottom left to right: I’za, Serenity and Egg.
Chapter 1 – First Contact
“Point it at its eyes. Hurry.” Jax’x turned to Serenity. “No mouth. It absorbs electromagnetic energy to feed. Probably to communicate,” she hurriedly explained.
Sparky immediately understood. “Lover boy, do as she says.”
Wise men never argue with their women . . . especially if they’re strong women. Skotti tossed the heavy, but functionally useless rock and pulled out the laser pointer. He was so nervous he almost dropped it while fumbling to find the power switch. He turned it on and, feeling incredibly foolish, pointed it at the head of the creature.
The Rak’nex immediately looked up.
“Whoa, that got its attention. Now what?”
Jax’x again looked at Serenity – but this time shrugged. She was out of brilliant ideas.
“Lead him away from the others,” called Bree. Once said, it kind of seemed obvious.
“Skotti, did you hear her? Try to lead the creature away from Egg and Benny.”
“Be careful that it doesn’t attack you to get the light source,” added Jax’x.
“Words to live by,” he replied with a wry (but unseen) smile. He moved the beam slowly to his left – away from the Reverie Glass and his two friends. The creature didn’t react at first. But when the beam had completely moved off its face, it moved to its right to regain contact. Skotti kept up the routine until it had completely cleared Egg and the Prince.
“You two okay?”
Egg had already jumped to her feet. Like she had told her husband, her flying suit did a good job of keeping her safe. She took a moment to steady herself, then scanned the scene. Benny was still on the ground – holding his chest and moaning. Egg rushed over and knelt at his side. “Let me see,” and she moved his hands away from his body. There was no blood but she had a good idea what had happened. She gently probed his chest until she succeeded in making him gasp in pain. “You have a broken rib. Well, at least one.”
“I do not think I can stand.”
“Hang on a second.” She turned to see how Skotti was faring. She had heard Jax’x and Serenity give the young man that bizarre instruction. “Skotti, you okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am. You need to beam the Prince to sickbay.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
He ignored her and instead called the ship. “Transport the Prince and his wife directly to sickbay.”
“Skotti, I said . . .” but Egg didn’t finish. She and her man evaporated into nothing.
“Got them,” confirmed Jax’x. “Bree’s on her way to help.”
“Thanks.”
“Your turn,” said Serenity.
“No. Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“It might try to destroy the Glass. I’m going to keep it occupied until you geniuses figure out a way for me to communicate with it.”
“Dumb idea,” she complained.
“I wasn’t asking for your approval or permission, sweetheart. I’m a naval officer first and securing the Glass and making first contact are too important to the Sky’lords. Now do as I ask and figure out a way for me to communicate with it. Assuming it’s sentient, of course.”
Jax’x tried in vain not to smile. Serenity just got a tongue-lashing – though covered with honey – and it was from a man. Should be interesting to see her reaction so she turned to stare at her friend.
The girl’s mouth was hanging open from the shock. She saw Jax’x looking at her. “What? I like a man with a backbone. Gives me the shivers.”
“Ahhhhh, my little girl is growing up. Makes a mother proud.”
“Shut up and figure out a way to talk to this thing.”
“Already done.”
“No way.”
“Way. The AI can modify the universal translator to interpret the twinkling lights that thing is emitting. The software is being downloaded to Skotti as we speak.”
“You’re really beginning to annoy me. I liked it better when I was the best and brightest.”
“Skotti doesn’t seem to mind that you now share top billing with yours truly.”
Sparky smiled. “True dat.” To her love, she said, “Jax’x just upgraded your communicator so you can understand that thing. I’ll cook up something so you can talk to it.”
“You ladies are the best.”
“Maybe one of us is ‘bester’ than the other.” Serenity was lobbying her man an easy one.
When he didn’t respond, Jax’x told him, “I suggest you ‘best’ answer your woman, sailor boy.”
> “What? Oh. Don’t be silly Jax’x. Sparky knows she’s the ‘bestest’. I was only trying to not hurt your feelings.”
“Nice save. Kudos.”
“If you two will excuse me for a second, I have a rather large monster I need to get chummy with.”
“Be careful.”
His “I’ll do my ‘best” caused the other two to groan.
*****
So how to get the beastie to say something?
The answer seemed obvious and he turned off the light saber.
The Rak’nex looked left and right trying to find the beam. It then looked at Skotti who was holding the pointer in his hand so that it could be seen.
“Please.”
Skotti nearly wet himself. Of all the words he may have thought he would hear, the word please was not one of them. He raised the pointer a little higher. He was curious if the creature would attack him to get the energy source. It wasn’t a particularly well thought out plan.
The Rak’nex took a small step forward. “Please. Need nourishment.”
The young man turned the light saber on, stepped slowly toward the creature, then even more slowly bent down and planted the device in the ground – beam pointing up. He then backed away.
“Gratitude,” and the Rak’nex walked up to the device and let the light bathe its face.
“Well, Egg was right not to destroy you. You’re quite the polite fellow, aren’t you?”
After a minute or so, having fed sufficiently on the concentrated light, the Rak’nex looked up. He turned its weird head and scary eyes toward Skotti. That was immediately followed by a burst of twinkling lights so complex that the translator couldn’t respond.
Then the creature charged.
*****
“Engaging the auto-doc,” announced Bree.
Egg stood next to the surgical bed holding Benny’s hand. “Like I said, it’s probably just a broken rib or two. Piece of cake.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Earth expression – means it’s not a serious problem.”
“What happened down there?” asked Bree.
“My gallant husband attacked the creature.”
“How very brave.”
“How incredibly . . .” but she didn’t finish. No need to say the obvious.