“I still don’t understand,” answered Kon’dor.
“It’s a flying suit – one of a kind. I can go anywhere you can go. In fact, I can fly in space or under the sea.”
“It’s the same outfit you wore down in the cavern. I just assumed it was your traditional attire. May I touch the material?”
“Sure,” and she held out her arm. “It’s made from serpent’s crystals. Very advanced stuff. It’s a thousand years old and the technology to build it has been lost. Even if it wasn’t, it’s against the law on Aerianna to make another one.”
“Why?”
“Bree will explain it all to you when there’s time.”
“Egg, thanks for offering, but I thing Kon’dee and I can manage on our own.” She stared daggers at her sister as she said it.
“Oh. Right. Sorry. Ring, tend to my suit,” and she returned to her other self. “Sparky, beam these two down to the surface.”
“Thank you, sister.”
“Like I had a choice.”
*****
Bree and Kon’dor materialized on top of the volcano. “You lead and I’ll follow,” said the girl.
“I’m terribly curious as to your abilities. Should I fly slowly?”
“You silly, silly man. Try to keep up,” and she spread her wings and lifted off the ground. Catching the strong wind, she sailed away. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw him smile and follow.
As he caught up, she gave him a wink, folded her wings, and dove straight down. His first reaction was of surprise. He quickly regained his composure and dove. However, he couldn’t retract his wings like she could and they created a drag on his speed.
She easily beat him to the ground and waited with a very smug grin. He landed next to her. “That was hardly flying,” he teased. “It was more akin to falling out of the sky.”
“Kon’dee, I would never have guessed you’d be a sore loser.”
He smiled then his expression changed to one of thoughtfulness. “Why do you call me Kon’dee?”
She was stunned by the question. “I don’t. I would never do that.”
“Bree, that’s the only name you call me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. That was L’elle’s special name for you. It would be absolutely inappropriate for me to call you that.” She was deadly serious.
Her response worried him for reasons he couldn’t explain. Not wishing to argue, he responded with, “My mistake. Would you mind terribly if I continue the survey of the damage on my own?”
Bree felt her heart tear in half. “But why?”
“I just have a need to be alone. After all, it is my world that lies in ruin. I want to experience the pain without being distracted.”
“Oh.”
“You do understand, don’t you?”
“Sure,” then, “No. Actually, I don’t.”
“Bree, we’ve only known each other for a short time – but you seem to be a year ahead of me in our relationship. I need time to catch up.”
The girl’s face went crimson red then bone white. “I’m so, so sorry. I . . . well, it’s just that . . . um, I never felt this way,” and she stopped trying to explain. Sometimes you just can’t find the right words. She turned her back on the man then tapped her communicator. “Gracie, one to transport.”
“Which one?” came the sarcastic reply.
“Me, Serenity. Just me.”
*****
An hour or so later, Kon’dor asked to be beamed up. He materialized in the control room with five pairs of eyes staring at him (six if you counted Ix). Glancing from face to face he said, “I can explain.”
“Please remember one of the Sisterhood’s most important rules,” replied Egg. “No one messes with our sister, mister. No one.”
He looked around one more time. “Where is she?”
“In her cabin, crying.”
The winged man exhaled, dropped his head, and slumped his shoulders. “Forgive me. It’s been two hundred years since I’ve been in a relationship with a woman. I could have handled this better. Could we discuss this in private? As the leader of the Sisterhood, I would feel more comfortable if it were just the two of us.”
“At the moment, your comfort is of no concern to me.”
Kon’dor’s eyes went wide in surprise. This was a side of the Sisters he had not seen in action – fierce loyalty. “I phrased that poorly. In truth, I really don’t know any of you that well. For Bree’s sake, I would discuss this in private. At the very least, I would ask Skotti and the Prince to leave.”
That was better – he was concerned for Bree, not himself. “Come with me,” and Egg led him to the conference room. “What happened down there?”
“I asked her why she always called me Kon’dee.”
“It’s your nickname. So?”
“She said she would never call me by the name that L’elle gave me.”
“She was being polite.”
“Egg – she really didn’t know she was saying it. I felt I was becoming a . . . a fantasy of hers. I needed a way to bring her back to this reality from the fantasy she seems to be living in.”
“Bree really didn’t know she was calling you that?”
“She denied it emphatically. She was shocked that I would even suggest such a thing.”
“Oh boy.”
“If it’s not too impertinent to ask, did you and the Prince fall in love at first sight?”
She scrunched her face at the unexpected question – then laughed. “Not hardly. I thought he was a stuffed shirt.”
Kon’dor smiled at the description. “But do you think it’s possible for others to fall in love at first sight?”
“Absolutely. Happens a lot back on Earth.”
“Well, it kind of happened to me.”
“With L’elle?”
Now he laughed. “As you said – not hardly. I was talking about BreeZee. She is beautiful, intelligent, kind, empathetic, gentle and obviously brave beyond measure since she is a Hameggattic Sister.”
“You love her?”
“No. Not yet. Let me explain. I don’t believe it’s really love at first sight. It’s more a type of cosmic attraction that, if allowed to continue over time, results in two people becoming one. Does that make sense?’
“Oh yeah,” she replied with a warm smile. “So, why did you do what you did? Why not let time work its magic?”
“Like I told her, we just met but she’s a year further along in the relationship than I am.”
Egg laughed. “You are one smooth talking man; I’ll give you that.”
“I didn’t want to hurt her. I just wanted to give her pause to consider what she was feeling. Until her conscious mind realizes that she’s been calling me Kon’dee, she’s still in that dream reality.”
“So, what do want to do now?”
“I would have you talk to her as an older sister and friend. Then ask her to accept my invitation to accompany me into the Reverie Glass.”
*****
They returned from the surface – from their excursion to the Sanctum of Reverie. Her friends didn’t want to intrude but they were bursting at the seams to know what had happened – why Kon’dor wanted to take her inside the Glass.
As nonchalantly as she could, Egg asked, “You two okay?”
Bree had already asked Kon’dor to play along with what was bound to be a third degree grilling from her sisters. “Let’s not make this easy on them,” she said with a grin.
“You’re quite the mischievous one, aren’t you?”
“It’s one of my better attributes.”
He looked deeply into her eyes. “You know that year’s difference I mentioned? It’s now only six months, maybe five.”
Her grin turned into a full smile. “Your emotions are just like your flying – much slower than me.”
“Will you wait for me to catch up?”
Instead of a yes, she moved close and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
As
she tried to step back, he reached out and pulled her close. This time the kiss was a tad less innocent.
Now back on the ship, she replied to Egg’s question with, “It was an interesting experience.”
The others waited for more information but Bree pretended to busy herself with some chore. Sparky was having none of it. “Spill it – now. Don’t force me to get grumpy.”
Skotti pleaded, “Bree, please – for all of our sake.” Under his breath, he added, “especially for my sake.”
“Oh, all right. I met L’elle.”
Chapter 5 – Sisters in Transition
“WHAT?” That could have been anybody.
“It was a three-word answer – which part didn’t you understand?”
“I’m going to pluck her feathers,” growled Serenity.
“Kon’dor, care to explain?” asked the Prince who was just as curious as the rest.
“With respect, no,” He gave Bree a wink.
“Jax’x,” called Egg. “Beam her to the infirmary. Maybe we can program the auto-doc to extract the information.”
“It’ll be excruciatingly painful.”
“Not a problem.”
“All right. No need to get your panties in a bunch. Kon’dee . . . sorry, sorry. I mean Kon’dor invited me to share one of his fondest memories. Naturally, the woman he loved was in it.”
“Did you get to interact with her?” asked a fascinated Skotti.
“No. I just kind of eavesdropped on them.”
“Why?”
“I’ll let him tell you.”
Everyone turned toward the Sky’lord. “Bree and I have a mutual attraction. And as you all know, I had a relationship with L’elle that she shared with BreeZee through her diary.” He laughed softly. “It wouldn’t surprise me in the least that she knew it would happen that way. I didn’t want her ghost to come between us. So, I thought if Bree met L’elle and could put a face and a voice to that ghost, it would make it easier for her to see that she’s not in a competition with my past.”
The girls melted at the man’s thoughtfulness while the two other men thought the same thing – is this guy nuts? Why would you ever have your last two girlfriends meet? Men – what do they know?
“She was beautiful and funny,” added BreeZee graciously.
“Now your turn,” Kon’dor told her.
“We switched his magic jewelry and he got to share one of my experiences.”
“I know which one,” replied Egg.
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re my sister. I know exactly how your mind works.” That was punctuated with a smile from which her tongue protruded.
“Wife, I will be monumentally impressed if you get this right.”
“Never bet against our legendary leader,” warned Jax’x.
“Go ahead, miss know-it-all,” said Bree ‘egging’ on her sister. “Tell us.”
“Well, if you insist. It was after the Ascension Storm when you touched your colorless wings to the Ascension Stone and they turned the beautiful colors they are now.”
Both Bree and her new boyfriend stared. Then, the girl ran up to her sister and threw her arms around her. “And that’s why we will always follow you anywhere.”
*****
Grex and Aero finally arrived with the modified spacecraft. It was the Astral, Serenity’s ship. Bl’azzz, I’za and Tee’ka chose to accompany them – all feeling badly for taking time off from the Sisterhood. Upon docking with the Gracie, they made their way to the command center
Before they could say a word to their friends, they spotted the somewhat unusual form of Ix. Egg, still in her giggly phase, had purposely not warned her sisters of the big bug in advance – only telling them of Kon’dor.
What happened next was quite revealing. The two men, even though they had seen images of Ix, took a reflexive step backwards while Bl’azzz and her two sisters stepped in front to protect the men. The Sky’lord found it very amusing and barked a laugh. In truth, had he not been forewarned he would be meeting a dragon, he, too, might have taken a step back.
“What’s he laughing about?” demanded Hot Lips.
“Sorry,” answered Kon’dor. “But I have heard so much about the bravery of the legendary Sisterhood. To see it in action . . . well, sorry. I was rude. By the way, I am Kon’dor of the Sky’lords.”
“Bl’azzz. The pointy-eared one is I’za; the cute one is Tee’ka. This big, beautiful guy over here is Aero and the little one is Grex.” She turned to the others, “What is that?”
She was answered by a burst of blinking lights followed by the mechanical voice of the translator. “Greetings. I am Ix’nay of the Rak’nex.”
“Fascinating,” commented Aero.
“Gentlemen, first things first, status of the fleet, please.”
“Your Majesty, they’re still about a week out,” reported Aero. “If I might suggest, at some point we should upgrade the rest of your ships with the new propulsion modifications.”
“An excellent suggestion . . . and your next assignment when we return.”
“Yes, sir. I could certainly use Mr. Toff’s assistance.”
“What say you, Grex?”
“It would be my pleasure, sir.” The two had grown quite fond of each other – something the human-averse dragon would never have foreseen.
“Let’s go to the lounge so we can bring everyone up to speed,” suggested Egg.
“I did wonder why the doors seem unusually large,” commented Kon’dor. “Now I understand,” and he nodded towards Bl’azzz.
“We also have two sisters who are sea serpents as well as another dragon,” explained Bree.
“Amazing. I look forward to meeting all of them.”
They made themselves comfortable in the lounge. Jax’x and Grex took it upon themselves to offer refreshments. When they got to Ix, Jax’x asked, “May I show the necklace to my friend?”
“Affirmative.”
The big bug bent down so Jax’x could slip it off. She handed it to Grex.
“What is it?”
“Ix feeds off the electromagnetic emissions of these lasers.”
“Really? Can I assumed that you chose to use different wavelengths to give our guest a little variety?”
“Actually, we didn’t know which wavelength was best so we gave him a choice.”
“Ix, can you . . . taste the different emissions?” That was a question neither Jax’x nor Serenity had thought to ask.
“Taste?”
“Can you differentiate between these,” and he held up the crystals.
“Affirmative.”
“Which is your favorite?” asked Jax’x more teasing than curious.
“Green.”
“Hey you guys, come join in the conversation,” called Egg.
Jax’x replaced the necklace and thanked the Rak’nex. Without thinking, she grabbed Grex’s hand and led him to a couch.
*****
An hour later, the newcomers were all caught up. It will come as absolutely no surprise that the men were beside themselves thinking about the technology of Reverie Glass nee Cognitron while the women were equally excited about the discovery of a lost civilization and the new relationship between Bree and the Sky’lord.
There was only one more subject to discuss. “When Skotti heard that the Rak’nex have learned how to harness the energy from a black hole, he decided he should go back with Ix and learn what he can.”
“It’s a game changer for the rest of us. This knowledge could literally jump start the Federation’s next great technological advancement. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“How long will you be gone?” asked Aero who was toying with the idea of joining the young man.
“Roundtrip transit time is a year. I’ll probably be there for at least another six months.”
The three newly arrived sisters turned to look at Serenity.
“What?” she barked – though she was bursting at the seams to tell them what had
transpired. However, why make it easy on them.
“Aren’t you a little upset?” asked I’za.
“About what?”
“Him leaving for that long?”
“I hadn’t really given it much thought.”
“Liar,” declared the dragon. “Or as Soo would say – you’re a flagrant fabricator of falsehoods.”
“How is Soo?” replied the grump.
“Don’t change the subject. If I burp and burn, your butt will be the first victim.”
“And you call me a grump.”
“Spill it, girlie.”
She did . . . and out came the hugs and champagne one more time. Unfortunately, Bl’azzz took the opportunity to play her kazoo.
*****
“Will you gentlemen take Ix’nay, Skotti and Serenity on a tour of the ship? There is still time for last minute minor modifications if they deem them necessary.”
“Yes, Sir.” To the others, Aero said, “This way, if you would?”
Egg turned to Jax’x. “Go on. Grex looks anxious to say a proper hello.”
The girl shrugged as if indifferent. Then a smile broke across her face and she hurried after the others.
“They really do grow up fast,” Egg said to the rest.
“You may have to change the bylaws of the Sisterhood. Only married, engaged or in-love ladies need apply,” suggested Benny jokingly.
“Just the opposite. We all fell in love after we joined.”
“Point taken. Besides, single women are much more fearsome than their happily married or otherwise-in-love counterparts. OW, that hurt.” He rubbed his arm where his wife punched him.
“You’re such a girl. Finish what you were saying.”
“I got nothing.”
*****
They spent a full day trying to create a wedding dress that could fit over Serenity’s exoskeleton and still look attractive. It wasn’t easy . . . and she wasn’t helping.
“I’m bored.”
“Sparky, we’re doing this for you. Get your mind in the game,” demanded Jax’x.
“If I have to try on another dress, I’ll scream.”
“Here,” and Egg handed her another garment. “Scream all you want.”
“This is the last one.”
“It’s the last one when we say it is. Now, go change.”
Gracie - Box Set #6, Part 2 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Page 14