“You’re amazing.”
“Mostly lucky. I’m going to keep the communicator on so you can eavesdrop.”
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how curious I am. Do you really think it’s a ghost?”
“No. Probably just one of your run-of-the-mill invisible girls. We bump into them all the time.”
“Really?” That was shocking.
“No, you gullible goof.”
“For the record, I’ve just stuck out my tongue.”
*****
Serenity and BreeZee beamed back down with the supplies.
“So what happened?” asked the girl with the butterfly wings.
Egg retold the story. “Obviously, she’s trying to communicate with us.”
“Why us and not the scientists?”
“They were focused on artifacts, not alien beings. Our ghost probably tried but got nowhere. So, she started to sabotage the equipment.”
Serenity looked off into the distance and started muttering.
“What’s she doing?” asked Egg.
“She does that a lot . . . talking to herself.”
“Why?”
Serenity came to her own defense. “I talk to myself because sometimes I need expert advice”
Egg looked at Bree and nodded. She then flew over to the girl in the chair and grabbed her arms behind her. Bree casually walked over and started to tickle her victim.
“I’m not ticklish,” the restrained girl cried through bouts of laughter. “Stop that right now.” Go ahead and insert a string of giggles here.
“Okay, we’ve made our point.”
From the communicator, Jax’x said, “That’s a first.”
“What is?”
“Serenity laughing. Bl’azzz told me it was genetically impossible for her to do that.”
“Tell that toothy T-Rex I’ll get even.”
“I’m right here and no you’re not. If you get within twenty feet of me I just might burp and burn.”
“Oooh. I’d like to see that,” exclaimed the former Librarian.
“Shut up Jax’x or I’ll get you instead.” Most of the faux anger was lost as the girl wiped away the laughter tears from her eyes.
“If you guys are just going to play, I’m coming down,” insisted Tee’ka.
“Sorry, Tee. We’re done.”
“You better be.”
“Promise. Okay, back to work. Serenity, you lay out the food and water for our invisible friend and do some techno mumbo jumbo and try to figure out what she is and how we can communicate with her.”
“Mumbo jumbo?”
“You know, do that voodoo that you do so well.”
“That’s just gibberish. I refuse to ask for a translation.”
“Your loss. Bree, you and I will set up our accommodations. Let’s make sure we do it behind that line in the sand that she drew. I don’t want her to pull my hair again.”
Serenity shouted over her shoulder. “Maybe next time she’ll tickle you instead.”
“Stop being a crybaby . . . you big crybaby.”
“Nothing but gibberish . . . I wonder what Benny sees in you.”
“I’m a heck of a kisser,” Egg responded but blushed at the memory.
*****
Sometime later Serenity came back from her little fact finding trip.
“Find something?”
“First, and foremost, I gave myself some great expert advice. Our invisible friend wants us to stay away from the ship because there’s something in it.”
“I’m guessing it’s more than food and water.”
“Whatever is in there is . . . is technically ‘alive’. I use that term very, very loosely.”
“Darn you,” scolded Egg.
“What?”
“You gave me goose bumps.”
“Ohhh, that’s not good,” added Bree somewhat needlessly.
Serenity nodded. “I’d say that confirms, albeit in a very non-scientific way, that her cargo is incredibly dangerous.”
“So she’s been trying to protect everyone,” came Jax’x’ voice over the comm link.
“Not necessarily her first priority,” suggested Serenity. “It could be that whatever is holding her cargo in place might be failing and she doesn’t want one of us to accidently make it worse.”
As they contemplated the horror that might be within the ship, they were startled by the sound of glass breaking. They turned to see an empty water bottle shatter as it hit the ground.
“She’s obviously thirsty.”
“We don’t know how long she’s been without food and water. She’s probably in a bad way,” speculated Egg.
“Tell us,” demanded Serenity. She knew that her empathetic sister had sensed something in a most intuitive way.
“She dropped the bottle. That tells me her hands are probably shaking from weakness. Why don’t you put out another one?”
“Egg, I don’t understand,” interjected Jax’x.
“Just a gut feel. She wouldn’t thank us for giving her water by destroying the container. It was an accident.”
“Oh.”
Serenity fetched another bottle but gave it to BreeZee to replace. As the girl walked forward, Serenity put her eyepiece in place. Bree returned to the others. A moment later the bottle levitated . . . as if it had been picked up by a ghost.
“Got her,” said Serenity. She passed the image to her computer screen and the other two girls hurried over to see . . .
Jax’x asked, “What wavelength are you using?” It was obvious that the image wasn’t being seen in ordinary light.
“My filter is skewed to the ultraviolet.”
“Serenity, do you have the translation crystal?”
“Here you go,” and she handed it to her sister.
Egg took it and slowly walked forward. “Has she moved?”
“No. You’re heading right toward her. Another ten paces.”
To the invisible entity, Egg said “Hi, again. With the help of my friend over there (she pointed at Serenity) we can see you. You don’t look injured. Do you need more water? We have plenty so if you need more just put the bottle on the ground pointed toward me.”
The bottle floated to the ground but sat upright.
“Okay, no more water for now. How about food? We don’t know what you like. Do you prefer animal protein?”
Nothing.
“Egg, her mouth opened slightly.”
“If you would take this crystal,” and she opened her hand, “it will translate your language into something we can understand.”
“She’s looking at each of us obviously assessing the danger.”
To the invisible girl, Egg offered, “I’m going to place it on the ground then step back.” And she did.
“She’s moving forward,” narrated Serenity. “She’s got it.”
“Great” said Egg. “So, my name is Egg. In the chair is Serenity and the one with those beautiful wings is BreeZee.”
The un-seeable girl opened her mouth slightly and the girls all screamed. “Stop, please,” Egg begged. The girl did. “What the heck was that?”
“No idea,” responded Serenity.
“It’s Skrill, you silly people.”
“Tee, what did you say?”
“I’ve had guests on Laff’Alott that talked like that. They called it Skrill. It’s very high-pitched sounds. They don’t even move their lips – just open their mouths slightly.”
“How did you communicate with them?”
“The central computer figured a way.”
“Nice going, girlfriend.” Egg looked at Serenity. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Fix it.”
“How, pray tell?”
Tee had the answer. “Whatever the central computer did, it became a part of my programming. Just look inside my head.”
“Can you really do that?”
“Actually, yes. Give me about ten minutes.”
“Okay”. Egg turned in the
direction of the invisible girl. “Let me show you the foods we brought. Maybe one will appeal to you.”
That high pitched sound again.
“Please don’t. That hurts. Wait till my friend finds an answer. Bree is going to put out the foods. Just look them over and taste the ones that seem okay.” She nodded to Bree who did just that. “What’s that green goop?”
“It’s called gel’oh. It’s from Earth, you loopy earth girl.”
“Jell-O. It’s called Jell-O. Hey, it’s good.” She went over and used a spoon to take a taste. “It’s mostly water so it’ll probably be okay for you,” she said to an empty space where she thought the alien was.
Much to her surprise and delight, the unseen alien gently took the bowl from Egg’s hands. Egg was about to give her a clean spoon but the bowl tilted and the green goop slid out and disappeared – presumably down the girl’s throat. A moment later the bowl was offered back to Egg.
“Just tap the bowl if you would like more.”
Tap.
“Bree, can you bring her another bowl . . . and a spoon?”
The girl did as she was asked. Rejecting the utensil, the bowl again was tilted back and the contents disappeared.
“Poor kid was obviously starving.” Egg accepted the empty bowl and waited for another tap. None came.
“Egg, I’ve sent the instructions to the crystal.”
“Thanks. Okay, my friend says it’s okay for you to talk. What’s your name?”
“I’za” came a barely audible reply.
“Hang on,” called Serenity. “Okay, try it again.”
“Can you tell us your name again, please?”
“I’za.”
“Nice to meet you, I’za. First, can we get you more food or water?”
“Soon.”
“Okay. Are you injured? Do you need medical attention?”
“No. No, thank you.” Egg liked the polite reply.
“Your ship looks damaged beyond repair. Where do you come from? Can we take you home?”
The alien paused as if deciding how much to trust these beings. Realizing her situation was dire, she had nothing to lose. “I am from a ship called the Ark of Forever. But it was destroyed.”
“I’m so sorry. Are there any other survivors that we might be able to help?”
“Survivors, most likely.”
“What caused the destruction of the ship?”
“The ship was destroyed by the PhoG.” She seemed to think further clarification was unnecessary.
“We are unfamiliar with that term.” Egg assumed she wasn’t saying fog.
“The Phantoms of Grey.”
Egg’s goose bumps did all but explode. Before she could ask what this PhoG was exactly, Serenity asked, “Who was on that ship? Are you explorers?” She didn’t ask, though she wanted to, if they were invaders.
“The Ark is . . . was . . . a prison ship.”
“Oh my gosh.”
Chapter 9 – The PhoG
Bree, Bl’azzz, Serenity and Jax’x all spoke at once. The resultant babble was worse that I’za’s screech. “STOP,” commanded Egg. When the noise finally died down, she said, “I know there are a million questions we want to ask. I’za probably has a few of her own. But let’s attack this logically.”
“You are their leader,” came the disembodied voice. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. We’re called the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”
“To what purpose do you exist?”
“Forgive me because my answer is going to sound very strange. We help people.”
“Like you are trying to help me?”
“Something like that. We can talk about it later. Right now, we have a bigger problem.”
“If you refer to the PhoG, you are correct.”
“Egg”.
“Yeah, Serenity?”
“That might be what she has in her ship.”
Hoping against hope, Egg asked, “Is my sister correct? Is there a . . . PhoG . . . in your ship?”
“Yes. The second one escaped.”
Well, this whole encounter was getting ugly in a hurry. “Are they a danger to us? To you?”
“Oh yes.” The sound of her voice reflected some inner horror.
“We can take you back to our ship. You’ll be safe there.”
“No. Nor will you.”
‘Good grief’ Egg thought to herself. ‘How could this get any worse?’ Naturally, the universe overheard and answered.
“Egg,” called Jax’x. “There’s a ship approaching.”
“Hail them,” instructed Serenity.
“I tried. No answer.”
“Scan them for life signs and weapons.”
It would take a minute or two for Jax’x to comply. While they waited, the ground shook so hard that Bree fell over. “Yikes.”
“Everyone okay?
“I have a small bruise on my knee. Shouldn’t even have mentioned it,” answered Bree.
“How about you I’za?”
“I am fine.”
“I’za, how frequently have the quakes been coming?” asked Serenity.
“Ever since the last ship left, about once every rotation”.
“This planetoid is going to explode . . . maybe within days,” explained the girl in the chair.
“That will solve one of my problems.”
“The PhoG in the ship?”
“Yes . . . assuming the containment field holds long enough.”
“What about the second one? Won’t it be destroyed also?”
“If it is still here when the explosion occurs. Otherwise, it will follow us back to your ship.”
“Why can’t we stop it?”
“Because it is PhoG.” That was actually a terribly scary answer even if it made no sense.
“Serenity, the scan’s complete.”
“And?”
“One life sign, lots of weapons and definitely headed this way.”
“How long till it reaches us?”
“One hour, maybe a little less at its present speed.”
Serenity turned to Egg. “You heard her. We have an hour to get out of here.”
“Why do you think the ship is hostile?”
“Besides the weapons, it didn’t return our hail. That’s against the rules.”
“Jax’x,” said Egg, “keep monitoring that ship. If it does anything differently, let me know.”
“Will do.”
“I’za, you have to leave with us. The only relevant question is how do all of us get off this world without the PhoG following?”
“You must not wait for me. Leave now and I will keep the PhoG from following.”
“Not happening. If that thing doesn’t kill you, this exploding world most certainly will.”
“My ship is destroyed. It was my world and my reason for being. There is no purpose to extend my lifespan. You will go . . . with my thanks.”
“Am I looking you in the face?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Do I look like the type of person that would leave another to die?”
“I have no way of knowing.”
Egg actually laughed. “It was a dumb question. Sorry.”
I’za smiled though no one saw it. “You are a very interesting individual. You all are. I’m sorry that I won’t have the opportunity to know you better. Now, please leave.”
Before Egg could reject that idea yet again, Serenity said, “She’s a chromatophore.”
“What?”
“She is like an earth chameleon. That’s why we can’t see her. She’s not invisible – she just blends in perfectly to her background.”
“Really? How cool is that?”
“There is no temperature fluctuation when I phase with the background,” replied I’za.
Egg shook her head. “It’s just an earth saying. That’s the planet I’m from originally. It means that what you can do is very interesting.”
“It is my nature.”
“I’za,”
asked Serenity, “Why haven’t you reverted to your normal state?”
“I cannot.”
“Not enough ambient energy, I take it?”
“Correct. The sun is far too distant. Also, I used my reserves to protect the occupants of the last ship from the escaped PhoG.”
“I’m sorry, what does that mean?”
“I can release all my body’s stored energy whenever I choose. The resulting bolt is enough to kill a herd of wild Zeppli.”
“Are they big – these zeppli?”
“Very.”
“So without this stored energy, you can’t go from your normal state to the one you’re in. And, vice versa.”
“Correct. Eventually I will absorb enough ambient light and radiation to do so. But on this world, it will take me many revolutions.”
“Can we give you a jolt?”
“What are you talking about, Serenity?”
“Maybe we can provide her the energy to recharge her batteries, so to speak.”
“I’za?”
“Can you provide . . . “and she went on to describe in technical terms exactly what she needed.
“Absolutely”. Into her comm link Serenity said, “Tee’ka, do you still have your staff weapon?”
“Sure. I like to sleep with it.”
Say what? Egg shook her head . . . warning the others not to laugh.
“Beam it down, if you would.”
“Here it comes.”
The weapon materialized and Bree retrieved it for her sister.
Serenity adjusted the control setting. “Ready.”
I’za hesitated . . . a rational and normal reaction. “Oh, infinite irrationality, go ahead.”
“Infinite irrationality?” repeated Egg.
“A saying – from my world.” Egg smiled at the reply.
“Here goes,” and Serenity fired the weapon
“I’za . . . you okay?” No reply. “I’za?” Egg turned to her sister “that thing was set to stun right?”
“Um, no. It was set to kill.”
“WHAT?”
*****
“Her DNA is designed to absorb energy of all forms. This was the quickest way for her to regain her reserves.”
Egg couldn’t think of a reasonable reply. Berating her sister wasn’t going to solve anything. Showing Serenity trust – something she had well earned - would better serve the situation. “I’za. I’za” she called.
“Look,” and Bree pointed to a figure slowly rising from the ground.
Ark - Box Set #6, Part 1 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Page 8