“Isn’t that terribly expensive?” Normally a conversation at the distances involved would create a thirty-minute delay from the time a message was sent to the time it was received. To make it ‘in real time’, the communications would have to be passed through a Displacement Gate . . . hence the expense that P’yxx was referring to. Use of Gates (other than within the confines of a planet) cost big bucks.
“I’ve saved a bit of money from my second job as a window washer so it won’t be a problem.”
The girl sighed loudly. “Since I can’t stop you from going, I guess talking to you every day will make it a little easier. But, you have to promise me one thing.”
“And what would that be?”
“Promise me no more window washer jokes.”
Chapter 6 - Dysmal
Aerianna
“May I come in?”
“Hi, Auntie,” and Syl’kie ran over and gave the young woman a warm hug.
“Director Cracker Jax’x, you do us too much honor,” quipped Ellie . . .
. . . but she still walked over and hugged her aunt as her sister had done. “Why are you all dressed up? That outfit doesn’t look comfortable.”
“It weighs a ton and you’re right, it is uncomfortable.”
“So why are you wearing it? Not just to impress us, I hope?”
“Come on, Ellie. Aunty Jax’x looks very . . . um, very grown up.”
That made the other two smile. “Thanks, Syl. That was exactly the look I was trying to achieve. I have a big meeting with some prominent muckety-mucks and your mom wants me to wow them.”
“With your outfit?”
“Point well taken, Ellie. No . . . well, maybe a little. When I wear this, for some reason people seem to argue less when I make a decision . . . they seem to take me more seriously.”
“So, if your superior logic, extraordinary intelligence, or the power of your position fails to achieve your goals, put on pretty clothes?”
“Funny you should ask that. I was talking to your maternal grandparents who told me how women on Earth are treated differently than men when they achieve positions of power. Apparently, they are held to a different standard though I’m still not sure why.”
“I know,” offered Syl’kie. “It’s because girls are so much better than boys.”
Her sister smiled. “Can’t argue with that,” and she gave her sister a high five.
Now it was Jax’x’s turn to smile. “Someday, you’ll both meet a member of the opposite sex that will challenge that particular notion. When that happens, you’ll know that you’re in love.”
Syl looked at Ellie – then they both looked at Jax’x and pretended to vomit.
The woman laughed. “I pity the fool that makes you fall in love with him. He won’t stand a chance. Anyway, enough of that for now. I brought you that dragonetta your mom told you about.”
“Is it invisible?” asked a confused Syl’kie.
“Invisible? No, why do you ask?”
“I can’t see it.”
Jax’x assumed the girl was joking (she wasn’t). “Your Uncle Skotti (he was Serenity’s husband) is putting the finishing touches on it. He’ll be here any moment.”
“How does it differ from Ziz?” asked Ellie with some interest.
“All of your uncles went crazy adding different capabilities. For instance, it has a magnetic propulsion system so it can fly in space . . . doesn’t need an atmosphere for its wings.”
“Could be useful. What else?”
Before Jax’x could answer, a man’s voice said, “The most important thing is that your dragonetta is male.” It was Skotti and on his arm was the dragonetta.
“If that’s the best you’ve got, I’m not impressed” wisecracked Ellie. She had a secret crush on the ruggedly handsome man so she went out of her way to be tough on him.
“How can you tell it’s male?” asked Syl innocently.
Jax’x and Ellie turned to face the poor guy – each was wearing a smirk.
Skotti glared good-naturedly back at the two. “How stupid do you think I am?” Before Ellie could respond, he held out a finger “Don’t.” Turning to Syl’kie, he said, “Why don’t you ask the dragonetta?”
“Okay. Blue bird, how can I tell that you’re male?”
Greeting the girl, the mechanical creature bowed its head while spreading its wings. “Don’t be silly, Syl. I have a male name.” The voice sounded suspiciously like Skotti’s.
“Oh. What is it?”
“Zani.”
“Stupid name”. That was Ellie, of course.
The dragonetta turned to the other girl and again bowed – but didn’t extend his wings. “I am pre-programmed to disregard any conclusions to the contrary from my flawless logic and to consider you an intelligent and likeable person.”
“Say what?”
“You’re the best,” replied Zani sarcastically . . . to which Syl’kie giggled, Jax’x covered her smile with a hand and Skotti grinned triumphantly. He, of course, knew of Ellie’s crush on him though he never let on.
Ellie turned to the young man. “I will get even with you.” She actually loved it when someone stood up and temporarily got the better of her.
Skotti laughed. “Game on, my honorary niece. Can I assume that you’ll be playing fair or are the rules of a civilized society temporarily suspended?” He stuck out his tongue and the girl couldn’t help herself and she laughed.
“No rules. Unless, you’re afraid?”
“As I said before, I’m not stupid. Of course, I’m afraid. You have a wonderfully devious mind and the smarts to bring evil to life.”
To her embarrassment, Ellie blushed since she took that comment as a compliment. To distract him from her reaction, she said, “Don’t try to sweet talk me, you glorified mechanic.” Skotti had been the head of the Navy’s Engineering Corps.
“Ouch.”
“So what else have you programmed this ridiculous bird to do?”
The dragonetta made a small growly sound. “Hey, I’m right here,” he complained. That earned him an eye roll from the older Princess (don’t forget, their mother was Queen).
“Three things to know. First, the only hardwired command is that Zani will do anything, including sacrificing himself, to protect you and your sister from harm. That can’t be overwritten; you can thank your daddy for that one.”
“I can live with that.”
“You might live because of that,” retorted the bird.
“No one asked you.”
“You look very pretty today,” was the non-sequitur response.
“How about me?” asked Syl’kie.
“If I was a human, I would ask you to marry me,” came the nonsensical response.
“Ohhh. That’s sweet.”
“If you two are quite finished, Skotti what are the other two points?”
“I am about to transfer complete control of Zani to both of you.” He turned to the dragonetta. “Retinal and age scan to confirm the identity of these two young ladies. Please.”
“Working.” A second later, “confirmed.”
“Okay that’s done.”
“Wait a minute. What just happened?”
“Your DNA and the exact moment of your births have been confirmed. As you well know, DNA can be duplicated but not your exact age. No one in this galaxy will have the same two identifications. So, Zani is now under your control.”
In a very Egg-like phrase, the bird squawked, “Shoot me now.”
“If you don’t shut up, I will.”
“Zani, come here,” and Syl’kie held out her arm. The dragonetta flew over and perched. “I’ll protect you from my mean sister.”
His “I love you. Marry me, please” caused the girl to break into more giggles.
Ellie didn’t have the sense of humor of an eleven-year-old girl and sighed loudly at the foolishness. To Skotti she asked, “What’s number three?”
“I will leave it to Zani to tell you about all the upgrades w
e made to him. The reason is that I want you to include him in your plans. His AI is extremely sophisticated even if his sense of humor isn’t. He can tell you if he has any special capabilities that can help with what you’re planning or should be considered before you finalize those plans. He’s part of your team.”
“Barf.”
“I’m about to become your brother-in-law,” replied the loony bird. “Be nice to me.”
“Skotti, please, please tell me there’s an off switch.”
*****
An hour or so later, the girls were deeply engrossed in some final prelaunch preparations, while Zani perched on top of the capsule supervising the activities. The dragonetta had just offered one too many of his unsolicited and unwelcomed suggestions and Ellie had had it.
“If you don’t be quiet, I’m going to stuff you in the baggage compartment under the floor.”
“Sorry,” he replied contritely. “Just let me say one more thing. Pretty please.”
“NO.”
“Then don’t blame me,” he answered mysteriously.
“Surprise.” The word wasn’t so much as heard with their ears as it was more of a thought they felt in their minds. Regardless, both girls screamed in surprise.
“Told you,” said Zani with self-righteous satisfaction.
The girls swung around and there stood another of the legendary Hameggattic Sisters and, therefore, an honorary aunt. It was Spirt, a telepath and the woman who was performing the Thought Weave on the girls’ upcoming trip.
“Nieces, how wonderful to see you again. Look how much you’ve grown.”
The girls jumped up and each gave the woman a warm hug.
“Aunty, I hope you didn’t come all this way just to tell me and my sister about your Thought Weave.” Spirit was from the planet Paradox which was not part of either the Commonwealth or Federation and had yet to be given its own space tunnel to connect it to Aerianna. Because of this, Spirit’s visits were very rare.
“No, Ellie. It’s been a while since my last visit and I wanted to catch-up with my sisters. The Thought Weave was just my excuse.”
“How’s Jynxie and her kids?” asked Syl. “Did they come with you?” Syl’kie thought the Shamie’s (the word was slang for Shameless Mimics) were just about the neatest creatures in all the worlds. They were shapeshifters and Jynx was an honorary Hameggattic Sister though she was not completely sentient.
“Unfortunately, Syl’kie, no. Her family takes up all her time. They are doing wonderfully and I will tell Jynxie you asked about them.”
“Can we come visit sometime? I’ve never been to Paradox.”
“I’m sorry, but again no. The residual radiation from our great war could prove harmful to you. Don’t forget, I am technically a mutant because of that radiation. That is why your mother, in her infinite wisdom, will not allow us to have a space tunnel.”
“If we went, would it give us the ability to do Thought Weaves?”
“Possibly. It could also turn you into a bubbling puddle of amino acids. Probably not worth the risk.”
“Yeah, probably not.”
“Aunt Spirit, not to be rude, but can you tell us about the Thought Weave?” Ellie had butterflies . . . no one had ever looked into her future. It was a scary thought.
“Of course. First, I told your mother that I prefer not to do any more Thought Weaves. I consider it an invasion of privacy and she graciously agreed. Second, I assured her that the chance of grievous physical injury to either of you is infinitesimally small. It is only slightly higher than we all encounter just by waking up in the morning.
Though Syl’kie nodded solemnly, Ellie responded with, “Kind of takes some of the fun out of the trip.” She didn’t mean that for a moment. She was as relieved as her sister and her mother – but she was still Ellie Rose and shocking people was part of her nature.
“Don’t listen to her, Aunt Spirit. She’s just trying to sound crazy. But Mom had her tested and she’s not. On the other hand, she did score really high on the ‘irritating others’ exam.”
“Liar.”
“Zani, am I lying?”
“Not at all, little Princess. Your sister’s score was literally off the scale.” When Ellie stared daggers at the mechanical thingy, the dragonetta opened its mouth like a human expressing mock horror at accidently revealing such personal information. If he had had a tongue, he would have stuck it out.
“Aunt Spirit, how would you like your very own dragonetta?”
“Ellie, you can’t do that?” complained her sister.
“Watch me.”
“I heard about this male version of Ziz. I think he’s charming.”
Zani bowed low. “Beautiful, intelligent and perceptive. I like that in a woman.”
Spirit smiled at the goofy thing. To Ellie she said, “Thank you, but I can’t. Your father would be most unhappy if you did not take Zani with you. In fact, your dragonetta appeared in the Thought Weave.”
“What?”
“Let’s find a place to sit and I will tell you what I’ve seen.”
“Is it good or bad?”
“Yes.” That was ominous.
They chose to go inside the capsule. Syl’kie pulled up one of the fold-down seats for herself allowing her sister and aunt to take the two command chairs. Zani perched on his ‘fiancé’s shoulder.
“You need to understand,” began Spirit, “that I only see probabilities of future events. Those probabilities manifest themselves in threads that glow – the brighter the glow, the higher the chance that it will come to pass.”
“Awesome.”
Spirit turned and smiled at Syl’kie. “In truth, it’s terrifying.”
“Why?”
“No one should know the future. Think on it. If I Thought Weaved Jynxie’s children and saw something horrible that would almost certainly befall them, what would I do? What would you do?”
“Warn them, of course.” That seemed obvious to the girl.
Spirit turned to Ellie. “And you?”
“The future can’t be altered, can it?”
“It cannot.”
Syl’kie was confused. “I don’t understand.”
“In that scenario where I ‘saw’ something horrible befalling Jynx’s children, I would also have seen me warning them. That warning would have appeared as a very bright thread – one with a high probability of occurring. Yet the outcome was not altered.”
“That’s confusing. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry; it is confusing. Let’s get back to your trip, shall we?”
“Please.”
“There is good news. You will probably be attacked by someone who will become a wonderful friend and a Hameggattic Sister.”
Syl looked at her sister with obvious confusion. The other girl suggested, “Whoever it is, the first time we meet, she will think we’re the bad guys and she’ll defend herself. Once we prove how loveable we are, she will become our friend.”
Syl turned to Spirit. “Is that what happens?”
“It is a reasonable assumption. My Weave does not say.”
“Okay, Aunty, what else?”
“The place you visit will be transformed from benign to malevolent while you’re there.”
“What does that mean?” asked Syl’kie.
“Think of a fun house turning into a house of horrors,” offered Ellie.
“Really? Yikes.”
“This malignancy, unless you can contain it, could spread throughout the Andromeda Galaxy.”
“WHAT?” It took a lot to shock Ellie – and this prediction did.
On the other hand, Syl’kie wasn’t buying it. “Aunt Spirit, that can’t be right. We’re just going for a little visit.”
Ignoring that statement, Spirit added “The chances of your success are favorable, though nowhere near certain.”
The young girl in the flying suit was beginning to feel overwhelmed. “Maybe we shouldn’t go.”
“We have no choice,” responded he
r sister. “Aunt Spirit saw the future and we were in it.”
“Well, I’m just not going. This is way past crazy. We’re too young to save a whole galaxy.”
“Mom was younger by two years when she defeated Mobius.”
“I’m not Mom and neither are you.”
“You’re Flying Girl.”
“Ellie, this is nuts. What do we know about being heroes?”
“One does not enter a conflict because they are heroes,” explained Spirit. “One becomes a hero because of their action in a conflict.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“If I may ask a question?” interrupted the dragonetta.
“No.”
“Ellie, be nice. Go ahead Zani.”
“Lady Spirit, you mentioned that I appeared in your Thought Weave. Is it permissible to ask what the circumstances were?”
“Yes.” She hesitated before adding, “There is a high probability – though not a certainty – that you will not survive.”
Syl’kie gasped; and Ellie had the good grace to blanch.
“I am sorry Zani. However, your . . . demise, your sacrifice . . . will save a life.”
“I am programmed to defend my princesses regardless of the outcome to me,” was the stoic response.
“No. The person you save will be neither Ellie nor Syl’kie. However, know this - the decision will be yours.”
That was greeted with dead silence as the twins tried to make sense of the prediction. That silence ended when Syl’kie broke into sobs.
“Maybe this whole exploration thing was a stupid idea,” admitted her sister.
“I don’t think that’s true,” replied Spirit. “I think it will be a very important step in your journey to lead the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”
*****
Ooz’tari World
“It is time. I know you are as excited as I am, but I warn you again to remember the rules. Most important of these are first to obey all commands by the ALF Prime and second do not meddle with any of his activities without permission. Any questions?”
There were none since these topics had been talked about ad nauseam.
“Very good. We will materialize on the outskirts of the main laboratory campus where we will be met by the ALF. He will verify our identities then take us to our accommodations. At that time, he will give us further instructions about the coming days and answer any questions you may have.”
P'yxx - Syl'kie and Ellie Rose's 1st adventure [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood spin-off series] Page 7