Gracie - Box Set #6, Part 2 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel]

by Robert Iannone

  The winged man steepled his fingers as he gave that some thought. “I’m inclined not to pursue that. We never used the southern hemisphere and it seems morally wrong to claim it now. However, perhaps we can trade with them - lodging and food for as long as we might need to rebuild in lieu of monies for land use.”

  And so it went for another hour. Finally, there remained just one issue to resolve . . . the Reverie Glass nee Cognitron. “I will make a unilateral decision and return the device to the Rak’nex. It was, and is, rightfully yours. Returning it is also a way to thank you for saving our lives.”

  “Ix, you kept saying ‘cease to exist’. What did you mean?”

  “Sentience would be forever terminated.”

  Everyone was silent as they considered his words. It was Serenity who finally asked, “Why would the Mentorians build that function into the Glass?”

  “Not all Rak’nex deserved to be self-aware.”

  Kon’dor understood. “If a member of your society went . . . went rogue, you would return them to their natural state.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “A bit harsh” commented the Prince.

  “Kindliest retribution,” countered Ix.

  “Ah, I see your point. Not that you asked, but I do approve.”

  The Fleet Engineer was curious - “So Ix, how were you planning on returning to your home world with the Cognitron?”

  The answer was lost in a mini-explosion of twinkling lights that couldn’t be translated.

  Skotti smiled. “I hear you, brother.”

  Everyone looked at the young man. “Lover boy, what are you talking about? Actually, what is he talking about?”

  “Ix has been so focused on reacquiring the Cognitron that he gave no thought to what he would do once he achieved his goal. Think of how frustrating that is – win the battle but lose the war.”

  “Immeasurable sadness.”

  Jax’x asked another pertinent question. “Ix, do you have a way of powering the device once you get it home?”

  “Affirmative. Harnessed infinite gravity well.”

  “I’m going to regret this, but what does that mean?” asked Egg reluctantly.

  Whatever Ix replied, it was full of technical references that the translator could not understand.

  “Sparky,” said Jax’x. “Explain it to them.”

  “An infinite gravity well is a black hole. Seemingly, they found a way to capture the energy it generates.”

  Skotti was beside himself. “That is awesome. Ix, do you know how it’s done?”

  “Negative.”

  “And that’s disappointing.”

  Bree offered the most obvious answer to the problem at hand. “We could give Ix a ship. L’elle mentioned in her journal that his ships were a lot slower than hers so it won’t take as long to get home.” And that reminded her “Oh, Kon’dee I’m so sorry,” and she hurried out of the room and returned with the ancient diary. “Here, this is yours,” and she reverently handed him the last written words by the woman he loved.

  He took it from her, his eyes a bit moist. “Thank you. I’ll read this later.” Again, without forethought, Bree squeezed the man’s shoulder.

  “Benny, is that possible? Can you give Ix a ship?” asked Serenity.

  “Of course. But it won’t be designed for his . . . form.”

  “Get Grex and Aero to work on it. They can speed up the propulsion drive and program an AI to interface with Ix’s twinkling lights. Jax’x has plotted a course back to his home world. The trip should take no more than six months.”

  And then Skotti dropped a bombshell. “I should go with him.”

  “Skotti, no. No.” As you would expect, Serenity was shocked and horrified by his suggestion.

  “Sparky, if I can learn how to harness the energy from a black hole, it would be a game changer.” He turned to the Prince. “With your permission, Sire.”

  Benny was about to respond but Egg put her hand on his arm to stop him.

  “You would leave me?” the bitter accusation in Serenity’s voice was uncomfortably evident. “You’d be gone for a year maybe two.”

  “Then come with me.”

  “I can’t. I’m a Hameggattic Sister; I won’t abandon them.” Putting her obligation to the Sisterhood over her longing to be with the first love she had ever known was beyond difficult. It did, however, show the strength of the girl’s character.

  “You’ll always be a Hameggattic Sister.”

  Without thinking, she turned away from Skotti and towards Benny. As she opened her mouth to speak, Jax’x leapt over to the girl and smothered her mouth in her hand. “Don’t,” she said.

  “But . . .”

  “You begged me to keep you from saying something that could endanger your relationship. I’m just doing what you asked.”

  The others had no idea what was happening – but to a person, they did not interrupt.

  Serenity exhaled loudly. “Thanks.” She had been about to ask Benny to order the Lieutenant not to go with Ix. That would have been ‘going over his head’, ‘around his back’ and ‘under handed’ all in one gesture. It would also have been a tragic mistake.

  Trying to convince her with logic, the young man said, “Sparky, if you come with me you could be an emissary for Egg and the Sisterhood.” Her eyes wide and unblinking as she considered his words, Serenity turned from the young man to her sister but said nothing.

  “You don’t need my permission,” said Egg gently. “I would never stand in your way to be happy. Besides, a year or two isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things. You won’t be letting us down; you could never do that. Always remember that we owe you so much – I owe you so much. Giving you a little time is the very least we can do to repay you.”

  “And don’t forget, they still have me,” teased Jax’x. She was sad at the prospect of losing her best friend but was determined not to let on.

  The look on Serenity’s face was total confusion and uncertainty . . . her heart being pulled in opposite directions. But in an instant, that changed to shock and surprise when Skotti dropped yet another bombshell - “But you can’t go unless you marry me first.”

  *****

  Bree, Jax’x, Benny and Egg smiled broadly. Kon’dor nodded his approval while Ix twinkled his confusion.

  On the other hand, Serenity blushed furiously. This whole exchange was totally unexpected, way too public and leagues out of her comfort zone. “Can you guys excuse us for a moment?”

  “NO,” cried Jax’x. “That’s not happening. Answer the man’s question.”

  This time it was Serenity’s turn to drop a bombshell. “I can’t marry you.”

  “Why not?” Skotti was so sure she would say yes.

  “It . . . it seems wrong.”

  Now everyone joined Ix in their confusion. “Why would a marriage proposal seem wrong? I thought you loved me.”

  “I do love you.”

  “But not enough to marry me? Well . . . um . . . well, sorry to embarrass you.” Having his proposal turned down in front of the Prince, Egg and the others was beyond mortifying. It would be like a guy asking a girl at a baseball game – on national TV – to marry him and she laughs at the preposterous idea. Ouch.

  “Maybe you two should finish this in private,” suggested Egg.

  “I know it’s totally inappropriate, but may I say something?” asked Kon’dor. He addressed the question to Serenity.

  “Sure, I guess.”

  “Before I was a flight instructor for the young, I was the Kommander of the Deep Space Exploration Corps. Our task, as the name implies, was to visit very distant stellar anomalies and study them. A typical mission could take three or four years to complete. Before I left on my first – and only – assignment, I asked L’elle to marry me.” Bree’s head snapped up so fast and hard it almost caused an injury. “Since she was in Service, as my wife she could be assigned to go with me. She told me no. Please remember (and he stole a glance at Bree), we were
very much in love.”

  “Why? Why would she do that?” asked a very interested Serenity.

  “She said it didn’t feel right. To her it seemed that I had asked just so I wouldn’t spend all that time alone. If I wanted to get married, it could wait till I returned. I told her she was right – I didn’t want to spend that time away from her. That didn’t make my proposal any less valid.”

  “So what happened?” It was BreeZee asking.

  “L’elle was a very intelligent individual and she could routinely best me in most arguments. Unfortunately, she did in this case even though she was wrong. We didn’t get married. I resigned from the Corps three years later when I returned home. Then it took us more than a year to find the same comfort level with each other that we had before I left. In the end, L’elle died a few months before our wedding was to take place.”

  Bree, Egg and Jax’x went misty eyed. Sparky on the other hand demanded to know, “What’s your point?”

  “If the person you love asks you to marry him – or her – you should look for reasons to accept the proposal rather than to reject it. We can never know how many more tomorrows we have. It’s usually a lot less then we expect.”

  Serenity stared at the gorgeously handsome pink-winged man with great intensity. Her mind was processing his words – looking for flaws in his logic. “Okay, then.”

  No one knew what that meant. Jax’x had to ask, “Okay what?”

  “Okay, then. I’ll marry him.”

  Chapter 4 – Love, Look at the Two of Us

  They celebrated in their now usual fashion of champagne and confetti. Ix, who had no idea what a wedding was, what confetti did or what champagne tasted like stood back and simply observed. Jax’x eventually took pity on him and tried to explain.

  However, sometimes aliens are just that – strangers in a strange land.

  When he responded with, “Apologies; explanation is a null set,” she shrugged at the big bug, smiled and returned to join the others.

  “When do you two want to tie the knot?”

  “What knot?” asked Skotti.

  Benny chose to explain for his wife. “A quaint earth saying – it means to get married.”

  “Of course, it does,” responded Sparky sarcastically. “So, do we have to go back to Aerianna to have the ceremony?”

  “Actually, either Gracie or I can perform the service,” explained the Prince.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, wife. You are technically the Captain of this vessel. It is in your purview to wed anyone onboard. And as a Crowned Prince, I, too, can perform the ceremony for citizens of Aerianna.”

  “Since I don’t think of myself as a captain, I defer to you, my blue-blooded Ben’Edikk.”

  “It would be my pleasure.” To the newly engaged couple he asked, “And when would be your pleasure?”

  All eyes turned to Serenity. She glanced from one face to another . . . then her skin turned white and clammy. “I . . . I can’t breathe,” and she sunk to her knees.

  *****

  Skotti, with the help of Kon’dor, picked up the girl in his arms. “I’ll take her to sickbay.”

  “NO. That was stupid of me . . . sorry. I just need to lie down for a bit.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely,” and she squeezed her man.

  Egg agreed. “Take her back to her cabin. I’ll look in on her in a bit.”

  “If that’s best.”

  “You should also use the time to talk.” Her meaning was abundantly clear.

  He nodded then turned and carefully walked out of the command center with his precious bundle.

  After they left, Kon’dor asked, “She has never been in love before, I take it?”

  “No,” replied Bree. “Why do you ask?”

  “This sudden marriage proposal is obviously causing an internal conflict. She seems like a highly intelligent individual. I’m guessing that the logical part of her brain is having a difficult time with the emotional part of her heart in processing this situation.”

  At this point, there was nothing the man could say or do that wouldn’t get Bree’s heart to fluttering. “That’s a very poetic way of describing it.”

  Egg explained, “She was brought up by her mother who was Serenity’s whole world. An experiment that she was working on went very wrong. Our sister tried to save her but it didn’t work out. There was an explosion. Her mom died and she was severely injured. Even now, she can’t walk without that exoskeleton she wears.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Anyway, by luck or fate, our paths crossed. There was a bit of a misunderstanding at first. In the end, we decided she would make a great Hameggattic Sister. We became her family.”

  “That’s why she was torn about leaving you for an extended period.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Besides being very protective of us,” continued Jax’x, “she is also defensive of herself. Allowing her emotions to run free and thereby making herself vulnerable goes against every fiber of her being.”

  Kon’dor smiled. “First love is truly a reality of its own . . . terrifying and exhilarating. I understand her warring emotions completely.”

  “Well, let’s not waste the time till they return. Bree, why don’t you take Kon’dor to the auxiliary control room and call your dad. See if they can come to an agreement about resettling the Sky’lords on Zynn-Zaz’zia.”

  The girl’s face lit up. “Great idea,” and she grabbed the man’s hand and began to drag him out of the room. Just before they disappeared through the door, Kon’dor turned back to the others and smiled broadly . . . then winked.

  “Speaking of first love,” observed the Prince. “I do believe another sister has been smitten.”

  “Egg,” called Jax’x.

  “Yes?”

  “When I say ‘Bree and Kon’dee’ – does that cause your goosebumps to pop?”

  Egg smiled then held up her arms. “Not a one.”

  “Oh, good.”

  *****

  “Father.”

  “Daughter, what a pleasant surprise. I’m glad you called. Your mother and I wanted to apologize. All that talk of you getting married and having children – well, we overstepped ourselves.” He looked closely at the image of his daughter. “Are you okay?”

  Bree was blushing scarlet. “Father, I would like to introduce you to one of those mythical Sky’lords I went hunting for.”

  “Bree, what are you . . .” then his mouth dropped open as Kon’dor stepped in front of the view screen. “Good grief.”

  “Kon’dor, this is Zephyr – my father and the titular head of the Wind ‘dancers. Father, this Kon’dor, a leading citizen of the Sky’lords of Splendora.”

  “An honor,” said the young man.

  On the other hand, Zephyr simply stared in total disbelief. After a half minute of uncomfortable silence, Bree said, “DAD, you’re embarrassing me. Say something.”

  “What? Oh, sorry. Sorry. I . . . I have to sit down.”

  “OH, Daddy.”

  *****

  “Can I get you a glass of water?” asked Skotti.

  “No. Yes. Thanks.”

  He fetched the water, handed her the glass then sat down on the bed next to her.

  She took a sip – then a bigger gulp. “Sorry about all that.”

  “Nothing to be sorry for. I sprang all this on you and for that I apologize. I warned you that I had little experience with women.”

  She forced a smile to her lips. “I thought you were lying; I was obviously wrong.”

  He smiled back then turned serious. “If you don’t want me to go, then I won’t. The Prince can easily find other volunteers.”

  She stared into his eyes – looking for something. “I still don’t understand.”

  “I’m sorry?” he asked confused.

  “How is it that you love me? I’m physically broken, emotionally grumpy, a boring conversationalist, all around lousy company and I’m hideous to l
ook at.”

  He smiled. “You forgot one other thing – you’re certifiably insane.”

  She didn’t respond; she just stared.

  Figuring she took offense when humor was intended he quickly added, “You’re insane because none of those things are even remotely true. Well, the grump thing can be argued either way.”

  “See. There you go again.”

  He was trying to follow her train of thought but it was getting increasingly difficult. “Sorry, I don’t know what that means.”

  “It means that you never lose your sense of humor, you’re irritatingly nice and I hate you.”

  “Oh.” He kind of nodded his head while he considered her words – then he broke into gales of laughter.

  “Stop that.”

  He didn’t.

  And despite her best efforts not to succumb, she found herself laughing just as hard as she used to . . . all those years before as a young girl with her mother.

  *****

  “My talk with Zephyr went extremely well. He offered us the option of relocating to Zynn-Zaz’zia.”

  “And?”

  “There is no way we can live in the Sun-Seeker Trees as they do since there aren’t enough. However, he described a mountain range that sounds very similar to Splendora that is uninhabited.”

  “That’s great. Do you think your people will agree to relocate?”

  “I can’t answer that. Remember, for them no time has elapsed since they entered the Glass. This world is still very much their home.”

  “Kon’dee, why don’t you and I go down to the surface and survey the damage first hand. That will obviously play into their decision.”

  “Good idea, Bree.”

  “Did you want me to go with you?” asked Egg.

  Kon’dor looked at her quizzically. “I guess I could carry you.” Everyone laughed. “Did I say something funny?”

  “Ring, tend to my suit.”

  At the sight of Flying Girl, Kon’dor gawked. “What just happened?”

  “I am now the legendary Flying Girl – or in Spanish, Chica Volando.”

  “What is Spanish?”

  “Sorry husband, it’s another earth language that I learned in high school. I was just showing off. Not important.”