*****
“I thought you said he was a big bully?”
“He is. I guess I should say he was.”
The Big Oh was strapped to a table surrounded by a bevy of instruments. No robots were in sight. The boy’s eyes were wide open and unblinking . . . as if he were in shock.
As well as he should be.
The Big Oh had been shrunk. Miniaturized. He was about half the size as he had been . . . which would make him about a head shorter than the elfin P’yxx. The girls went up to the boy. P’yxx wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. This was truly poetic justice.
“I’m going to release your restraints. Okay?”
“I don’t care,” came the squeaky little voice.
P’yxx and Syl each released an arm. “Here. This is your computer pad. Show me the code you put in.”
“No. Go away.”
“You idiot. The robotics are going crazy. In a few minutes, the ALF Prime is going to sync with every other ALF Prime in the quadrant and your computer code is going to get uploaded to them. There’s going to be chaos. Now, show me what you did.”
“I said no. Go away.”
P’yxx was getting red in the face from anger so Ellie gently moved her aside and took up the conversation. “My name is Ellie Rose.”
“You’re ugly. Go away.”
“I am not,” was her reflexive reaction. Then she shook her head in disgust at herself. “You’re probably right. On the other hand, I know how to reverse the process that shrunk you.”
“Liar.”
“Have it your way. See you around, little boy,” and she turned her back.
“Wait. Can you really reverse this?”
“I already answered that question. Now, you have ten seconds to show my friend what you did or I’m going to cut some wires and otherwise mess up this machine so it will never work. One . . . two . . . three . . .”
“Stop. Give me the pad,” and he rudely grabbed it from P’yxx. He scrolled through the program until he found the subroutine he had created. “There”. He then added, “It should have worked. It was genius.”
P’yxx gave it a quick glance. “Idiot. Your sub-logic routine branches into an infinite loop under certain conditions. That’s why it didn’t.”
“No way,” and he strained to look over the girl’s shoulder at the program. “Oh. Oh, yeah.”
“You are such an arrogant, little amoeba,” and P’yxx turned away. “Come on, we have to find Z’spon before he starts his sync.”
“Hey, what about me?”
Ellie turned around. “I lied. The machine only works in one direction.”
*****
They made it to Z’spon’s lab on the very top floor of the building. With the shades emulating nighttime, and the overhead lights out for some reason, it was pitch black. Then a hazy blue light appeared in the far corner. The Prime had turned on the communications station that he would use to sync with his brethren.
“Z’spon, don’t.”
The large Prime turned around. “P’yxx. Princess. I do not recognize the third member of your group; however, she resembles the Princess to an extraordinary degree. You must be a sister?”
“Hi. I’m Syl’kie.”
“Pleasure. I do not wish to be rude, but I must prepare for my sync. Please wait outside. P’yxx, I do wish to speak to you about your parents when this is complete.”
Forgetting why she was there, she asked “What did you find? Are they in danger?”
“Indeed. They will not survive. I will explain after I have completed the sync. Please wait outside.”
“You can’t do that, Z’spon. The student you dragged away, he modified your programming. You aren’t behaving like you should. I can’t let you upload that change to the other Primes. It would be a disaster.”
“Modification to an ALF Prime programming is not possible without authorization. You are mistaken.”
“Then how can you explain the fact that you tried to use Ellie and another student to switch brains. It would have killed her.”
“A successful test would have proven beneficial for all of humanoid-kind. As I told your professor, I now have a new understanding of the Prime Directive. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. Now, please leave.”
“I can’t. I have to stop you . . . for the good of the many.”
“You cannot.”
And now P’yxx started to cry. She would have to destroy her friend and, without the knowledge he possessed about her parents, they would die too. “Please, Z’spon. I’m your friend and I don’t want to hurt you. Please.”
While this was going on, Syl’kie asked her sister, “What’s she talking about – her parents?”
“They’re on a mission to explore some kind of space anomaly. She was worried for their safety and she asked the robot to analyze their plans. Apparently, something is going to go wrong and they’re going to die.”
“You mean if she stops it from doing this sink thing, her mom and dad are doomed?”
“Afraid so.”
“That ain’t happening. How long do you need to fix the program?”
“Maybe ten min . . .” but before the sentence was complete, P’yxx raised her hand, splayed her fingers and shot a bolt of energy at her robotic friend. Like it had done to Syl’kie, Z’spon flew backwards. Unlike Syl’kie, he didn’t hit a wall. He hit a window and went right through it . . . and began to fall forty-five flights to his death.
*****
A couple of things happened pretty much simultaneously.
P’yxx fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably. Z’spon was right, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Or the one. The many were all the people in the quadrant who would have been at the mercy of the modified Primes. The few were her parents. And she, she was the one who had condemned them to death.
At the same moment, without hesitation or much thought, Flying Girl dove through the shattered window and headed straight down. She reached the big robot, and using her momentum, pulled him out of his free fall and dragged him along beside her.
Ellie followed her sister and peered out the window. “She got him. Yes.” She turned to P’yxx who was so hysterical she had a hard time breathing. “P’yxx, Syl got him. He’s going to be alright. Come on, we need to change the programming.”
“Wha . . . what?”
“It’s going to be alright. Your parents, they’re going to be fine. Come on, we have work to do.”
*****
An hour later, Z’spon had completed his galactic-wide sync. He walked over to his three guests.
“You okay?” asked P’yxx.
“I am well. Thank you for the inquiry. I have reported the programming changes to the appropriate authorities. There will be an official inquiry.”
“That’s great. Can you tell me about my parents please?”
“Indeed. The probe that they intend to launch; its beam is too concentrated. It will bounce back from the anomaly with a much greater intensity and destroy their ship. The beam needs to be diffused by fourteen-point three percent.”
“Can you tell me where they are now?”
“They are approaching the anomaly. If they follow stated protocols, they will launch the probe in forty-one minutes. Communications that close to the anomaly are not possible. I am sorry.”
P’yxx couldn’t keep her tears from falling.
“Z’spon, can you give my capsule permission to use the Displacement Gates?” asked Ellie.
“I will provide you with an emergency transponder that will give you priority. However, the last gate is still too far from their ship to be useful. Your capsule is not very effective in interstellar space.”
“Just help us get there, okay?”
“That is what friends do, I believe.”
*****
Syl’kie was piloting the capsule while P’yxx sat alongside of her. Ellie was busy at her workbench.
P’yxx was still
crying silently. She could see no way that they could save her parents.
Syl’kie reached her hand out and touched the other girl on the arm. “It’ll be fine.”
“I . . . I killed them. To save everyone else, I killed my parents.”
And now Syl’kie began to tear up.
*****
“Approaching the last gate, Sis. You about finished?”
“Just about.”
“What is that thing?” asked P’yxx.
“Reading glasses.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain in a minute.”
They entered and exited the last gate. “Computer, locate the science vessel Stargazer.”
“Confirmed.”
“Okay, according to Z’spon, we have almost an hour once they launch the probe which will be in . . . well, there it goes. Syl, take this thing to the probe. It’s self-adhesive. Just stick it on the probe’s lens. Then get the heck out of there. I don’t know what that anomaly will do to you. Ready?”
The girl took a deep breath. “I can’t believe Mom did this stuff all the time. Okay, let me have it.”
She took the object then scooted to the front glass section. Once inside and sealed, Ellie told her, “Going to release the hatch. Good luck, Sis.”
*****
Ellie had set a countdown counter on the control panel. She had also laid in an intercept course to the Stargazer. They should rendezvous at about the same time that Syl’kie reached the probe.
“So that thing I gave her is like a pair of reading glasses. It will refocus the beam to be less concentrated like Z’spon suggested.”
P’yxx had her head in her hands trying to get control of her emotions. If this failed, she would get to witness her parents’ death. “How long can she stay in space like that?”
“Ten, twelve hours easily . . . that won’t be a problem.”
“Oh, Ellie, what have I done?”
“Just about the bravest thing I ever heard of. To risk your parents’ life to save billions and billions of strangers was the right thing to do. It was also the impossible thing to do. I can’t even imagine what I would have done in your shoes. I’m just so proud of you.”
“Even if they die?”
“Hameggattic Sisters do not let the good people die.” It sounded great anyway.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
*****
About an hour later
“Permission to dock,” asked Ellie.
“Who are you?”
“Momma, Papa . . . it’s me. It’s P’yxx.”
“P’yxx? What . . . never mind. Permission granted.”
Epilogue
P’yxx’s parents sat there dumbfounded. The story they were being told was beyond belief. All three girls retold their portion of what had happened.
“So, I’m so, so sorry, Momma, Papa. You could have died because of what I did.” And that thought set her off again and she began to sob uncontrollably.
Her father rushed to her side and put his arms around her. “My dearest, dearest daughter. We couldn’t be prouder of you. Of all three of you. What you accomplished is the stuff of legends. P’yxx, my little love, you will become the most famous Shazarette to have ever lived. My timid little girl has become a . . . a . . .” but he couldn’t find the right word.
“She’s become a Hameggattic Sister,” said Ellie.
P’yxx finally smiled.
“Can I make a suggestion?”
“I should think so,” replied P’yxx’s mother.
“Your daughter told me she did not enjoy school on um . . .”
“Ooz’tari World.”
“Right. And she didn’t want to go to that other school because she could only visit you once a year. So, I have a better solution. We have an incredibly prestigious university on a planet called Zynn-Zaz’zia and it’s run by one of my honorary aunts . . .”
“Hey.”
“Sorry. One of our honorary aunts. P’yxx can enroll there.”
“In another galaxy?” Her father was horrified.
“Ah, but here’s the thing. She can use our space tunnel to get home every day if she wants. For sure every week. We can deliver her right to your office or to your home. Even better, you could come to our galaxy and visit. A little exchange of science might prove interesting.”
Both concepts intrigued the parents. “And you say your city – Q’umulus, I believe – uses antigravity technology to float two miles above the surface?”
“That’s true.”
“And you can tap the energy from a black hole?”
“Also, true. That’s why we could reach this galaxy.”
“So, my daughter would get a first-rate education, have two wonderful friends, become part of your famous Sisterhood and we get to exchange scientific findings and theories with beings from a different galaxy – doesn’t sound terribly interesting,” he teased.
“Oh, Papa. If your eyes lit up any more, they would burst into flames.”
The man looked at his wife who smiled and nodded. “Well, I have over-indulged you all your life. Why stop now.”
“Oh, Papa.”
*****
Aerianna
“Hello, Parents.”
“Hi Mom, hi Dad.”
“Ladies,” replied their father, “how was your first trip? Not too boring, I hope.”
The girls smiled from ear to ear, then looked at each other and broke into gales of laughter.
Egg and Ben’Edikk watched with amusement. But after a half minute it became less amusing and more obnoxious. “Alright, you two. Let you parents in on the joke.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” replied Syl’kie trying hard not to giggle.
Both parents turned to look at their eldest daughter whom they assumed would do what she always did . . . take charge.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“We’re waiting for an accounting of your trip,” said her father.
“I know that. But, I believe the next leader of the Hameggattic Sisterhood should do the honors. Sister.”
“Thank you, Feminion.”
This was so out of character that Benny had to ask, “What game are you two playing?”
“No game,” answered Ellie. “It’s only right and proper that Flying Girl speak for the two of us. And before we begin, you should know that we did bring back something of incredible value . . . but you can’t have it.”
“And why not?” Benny knew his girls all too well. They were playing at something.
“Do be patient, father,” said Ellie. “We will get to that.”
“If you two don’t get to your story, I’m going to chain you in irons, put you in a dungeon and throw away the key.”
“Come on, Mom. We heard that story about Grandma Rose and her father a million times. You need new material.”
Egg smiled in defeat. “Fine. Just tell us what happened, please.”
Syl’kie took a step forward. “With the help from a new friend we made, your daughters saved the Andromeda Galaxy from civil war between biologics and sentient AI’s. When we finished, having some free time before we needed to head home, we saved the lives of two very famous scientists. That’s about it.”
“Oh, Syl, you didn’t mention the four students we saved. Well, three. We were too late for the fourth – but don’t feel badly about him. He was a bully and the cause of the robots going bonkers.”
Benny glanced at his wife who looked as confused as he felt. Turning back to his daughters, he so eloquently summed his feelings with, “What?”
“I thought my sister summarized our trip very well. Which part are you not understanding?”
This time it was Egg who said to her husband, “They seem to be serious.”
“Or delusional,” was the return quip. To the girls he said, “Could you perhaps start from the beginning and add some pertinent details to your narrative?”
“Daddy, dearest,” said Syl’kie, “You don’t believe us
.”
“Nonsense. On the other hand, you two share a vivid imagination and a propensity for making your parents look foolish. I am completely within my rights to ask for a modicum of proof. You wouldn’t begrudge your old man that, now would you?”
This time Ellie answered for herself and her sister. “Not only are you very wise to challenge the veracity of our story, I . . . we . . . would have been terribly disappointed had you not. Right, Sister?”
“What you said.”
“Excellent. And what proof will you offer?”
“A Shazarette.”
“I am unfamiliar with such an item. Wife, is it an Earth reference?”
“Not from the earth I came from. What is a shazarette?”
Ellie nodded at her sister who (in a very un-princess-like manner) put two fingers in her mouth and produced an ear-splitting whistle. Upon hearing it, the Sentinel on the other side of the door opened it.
And in stepped . . . a Shazarette.
“Mother, Father, may I introduce P’yxx, a Shazarette from the planet Hal’sea-on in the southeast quadrant of the Andromeda Galaxy . . . which, by the way, they refer to as the Pinwheel Galaxy.”
“And our new best friend,” added Syl’kie, “and soon to be the next Hameggattic Sister.”
“Just as Spirit’s Thought Weave foretold,” added their father.
Egg motioned for the girl to advance. “Well, so it begins again.”
“To what do you refer, wife?”
“It’s just how I collected sisters all those years ago. Every adventure brought me a new best friend and another member of the Sisterhood. And they in turn joined me on the next, ever more dangerous adventure.” She reflexively looked at her arms to see if there were goosebumps – a sure sign that there would be trouble.
Benny noticed what his wife was doing . . . and why. “Well?” he asked.
“Rats.”
Look for the 2nd adventure of
Syl’kie and Ellie Rose
Kal ’Li
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P'yxx - Syl'kie and Ellie Rose's 1st adventure Page 15