Lady Eloise
Book 6 of Ever After
Another Novel of
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
©Copyright 2016, by Robert Iannone
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1 – First Contact
Chapter 2 – Kon’dee
Chapter 3 – Back to Work
Chapter 4 – Love, Look at the Two Us
Chapter 5 – Sisters in Transition
Chapter 6 – The Honeymooners
Chapter 7 – New Beginnings
Chapter 8 – As Time Goes By
Chapter 9 – A Year in the Life
Chapter 10 – Where Did the Time Go?
Chapter 11 – Queen for a Day
The seven active sisters.
Top left to right: BreeZee, Tee’ka, Bl’azzz and Jax’x.
Bottom left to right: I’za, Serenity and Egg.
Prologue
“What’s going on down there? The video was dark and jumpy?” asked Bree.
“Some seismic activity. Check the tunnel and see if it received any damage,” requested Egg.
“It’s fine. Any monsters?”
“No. Everything seems . . .” but she didn’t finish. The wall on the far side of the cavern rumbled then fell away. And there, in all its horrid splendor, was the last Rak’nex.
“Uh oh.”
“What?”
“We’ve got company.” To Skotti Egg said, “Be sure the ship is getting a video of this thing.”
“Got it.”
“Egg, my love, stand back. I will attend to this creature,” and the idiot (but chivalrous) boy blue pulled Dazzle and attacked. Ignoring Egg’s yells to stop, the Prince swung his sword at one of the creature’s legs. The thing simply lifted the appendage and the glittering blade missed by a foot. Then with amazing speed, the leg came down and pinned Benny to the ground.
Benny yelped as his chest began to compress under the enormous weight.
Egg immediately went airborne and flew straight at the Rak’nex. Skotti watched in horror, as Flying Girl found herself similarly trapped by the creature’s other leg. Like her husband, she too cried out as she felt the deadly force on her chest.
Back on the Gracie the other three girls watched in shock as the strange bug-like beast subdued the newlyweds, apparently crushing them under its legs. Ironically, with bugs, it’s usually the other way around.
Skotti looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. The Prince’s sword was out of reach having been tossed under the creature when he fell. With only the rocks strewn on the ground to use, he picked up the biggest one he could carry and turned towards the monster. In his heart, he knew that this wasn’t going to end well . . . for any of them.
“SKOTTI,” screamed Jax’x over the communicator. “SKOTTI, use the light saber. Use the light saber.”
“Are you crazy?”
Chapter 1 – First Contact
“Point it at its eyes. Hurry.” Jax’x turned to Serenity. “No mouth. It absorbs electromagnetic energy to feed. Probably to communicate,” she hurriedly explained.
Sparky immediately understood. “Lover boy, do as she says.”
Wise men never argue with their women . . . especially if they’re strong women. Skotti tossed the heavy, but functionally useless rock and pulled out the laser pointer. He was so nervous he almost dropped it while fumbling to find the power switch. He turned it on and, feeling incredibly foolish, pointed it at the head of the creature.
The Rak’nex immediately looked up.
“Whoa, that got its attention. Now what?”
Jax’x again looked at Serenity – but this time shrugged. She was out of brilliant ideas.
“Lead him away from the others,” called Bree. Once said, it kind of seemed obvious.
“Skotti, did you hear her? Try to lead the creature away from Egg and Benny.”
“Be careful that it doesn’t attack you to get the light source,” added Jax’x.
“Words to live by,” he replied with a wry (but unseen) smile. He moved the beam slowly to his left – away from the Reverie Glass and his two friends. The creature didn’t react at first. But when the beam had completely moved off its face, it moved to its right to regain contact. Skotti kept up the routine until it had completely cleared Egg and the Prince.
“You two okay?”
Egg had already jumped to her feet. Like she had told her husband, her flying suit did a good job of keeping her safe. She took a moment to steady herself, then scanned the scene. Benny was still on the ground – holding his chest and moaning. Egg rushed over and knelt at his side. “Let me see,” and she moved his hands away from his body. There was no blood but she had a good idea what had happened. She gently probed his chest until she succeeded in making him gasp in pain. “You have a broken rib. Well, at least one.”
“I do not think I can stand.”
“Hang on a second.” She turned to see how Skotti was faring. She had heard Jax’x and Serenity give the young man that bizarre instruction. “Skotti, you okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am. You need to beam the Prince to sickbay.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
He ignored her and instead called the ship. “Transport the Prince and his wife directly to sickbay.”
“Skotti, I said . . .” but Egg didn’t finish. She and her man evaporated into nothing.
“Got them,” confirmed Jax’x. “Bree’s on her way to help.”
“Thanks.”
“Your turn,” said Serenity.
“No. Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“It might try to destroy the Glass. I’m going to keep it occupied until you geniuses figure out a way for me to communicate with it.”
“Dumb idea,” she complained.
“I wasn’t asking for your approval or permission, sweetheart. I’m a naval officer first and securing the Glass and making first contact are too important to the Sky’lords. Now do as I ask and figure out a way for me to communicate with it. Assuming it’s sentient, of course.”
Jax’x tried in vain not to smile. Serenity just got a tongue-lashing – though covered with honey – and it was from a man. Should be interesting to see her reaction so she turned to stare at her friend.
The girl’s mouth was hanging open from the shock. She saw Jax’x looking at her. “What? I like a man with a backbone. Gives me the shivers.”
“Ahhhhh, my little girl is growing up. Makes a mother proud.”
“Shut up and figure out a way to talk to this thing.”
“Already done.”
“No way.”
“Way. The AI can modify the universal translator to interpret the twinkling lights that thing is emitting. The software is being downloaded to Skotti as we speak.”
“You’re really beginning to annoy me. I liked it better when I was the best and brightest.”
“Skotti doesn’t seem to mind that you now share top billing with yours truly.”
Sparky smiled. “True dat.” To her love, she said, “Jax’x just upgraded your communicator so you can understand that thing. I’ll cook up something so you can talk to it.”
“You ladies are the best.”
“Maybe one of us is ‘bester’ than the other.” Serenity was lobbying her man an easy one.
When he didn’t respond, Jax’x told him, “I suggest you ‘best’ answer your woman, sailor boy.”
“What? Oh. Don’t be silly Jax’x. Sparky
knows she’s the ‘bestest’. I was only trying to not hurt your feelings.”
“Nice save. Kudos.”
“If you two will excuse me for a second, I have a rather large monster I need to get chummy with.”
“Be careful.”
His “I’ll do my ‘best” caused the other two to groan.
*****
So how to get the beastie to say something?
The answer seemed obvious and he turned off the light saber.
The Rak’nex looked left and right trying to find the beam. It then looked at Skotti who was holding the pointer in his hand so that it could be seen.
“Please.”
Skotti nearly wet himself. Of all the words he may have thought he would hear, the word please was not one of them. He raised the pointer a little higher. He was curious if the creature would attack him to get the energy source. It wasn’t a particularly well thought out plan.
The Rak’nex took a small step forward. “Please. Need nourishment.”
The young man turned the light saber on, stepped slowly toward the creature, then even more slowly bent down and planted the device in the ground – beam pointing up. He then backed away.
“Gratitude,” and the Rak’nex walked up to the device and let the light bathe its face.
“Well, Egg was right not to destroy you. You’re quite the polite fellow, aren’t you?”
After a minute or so, having fed sufficiently on the concentrated light, the Rak’nex looked up. He turned its weird head and scary eyes toward Skotti. That was immediately followed by a burst of twinkling lights so complex that the translator couldn’t respond.
Then the creature charged.
*****
“Engaging the auto-doc,” announced Bree.
Egg stood next to the surgical bed holding Benny’s hand. “Like I said, it’s probably just a broken rib or two. Piece of cake.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Earth expression – means it’s not a serious problem.”
“What happened down there?” asked Bree.
“My gallant husband attacked the creature.”
“How very brave.”
“How incredibly . . .” but she didn’t finish. No need to say the obvious.
“If I may finish the thought? How very stupid of me. Bree, the creature had not made any threatening moves. My ill-conceived notion of gallantry could have caused our deaths.” To his wife, he said, “Never send a man to do a woman’s job . . . or a Sister’s job at any rate.”
Egg bent over and kissed her husband. “Well said and duly noted.”
“Analysis complete,” interrupted the medical unit.
“Specify.”
“Three ribs sustained hairline but non-displaced fractures.”
“Recommendations?”
“Wrap tightly in elastic bandage. Administer mild pain suppressors. Refrain from all physical activity for two weeks. Longer if required.”
“All activities?” asked the Prince.
“Confirmed.”
“Well, that’s a bummer,” he replied in his best earth vernacular. “Sorry, my dearest, but I do believe the honeymoon is over.”
“Not a chance, my liege. You now have a doctor’s note to postpone your contractual obligations for a fortnight. After that, I expect you to make up for lost time.”
“If you two don’t stop right now, I’ll get the ‘doc’ to give you both sedatives.”
“Sorry Bree.”
“EGG,” came a scream over the intercom. “That thing is attacking Skotti.”
“Sparky, beam me down now.”
“No,” cried her husband to the fading image of his wife. “Bree, help me up. I need to get to the control room to monitor the proceedings.”
“Benny . . .”
“Please don’t argue. Fetch Serenity’s wheelchair. If she’s using it, push her out.” The man was deadly serious.
“Stay put. I’ll be back quickly.”
*****
Egg materialized inside the Sanctum. The monster was on its side under a small pile of rubble. Skotti was kneeling next to it – apparently trying to move the debris off the creature’s body.
“Are you all right? What happened?”
“Give me a hand with this.” He was trying to move one rather large rock.
Egg did as she was told. Together, with a great effort, they succeeded. “What’s going on?”
“He had just fed on the light saber then looked up at me . . . and began giving off an explosion of flashing lights. It charged and I thought I was about to come to a heroic end. But he knocked me out of the way as the ceiling began to collapse,” and the young man pointed up. “Instead of burying me . . . well, you can see what happened.”
“This creature was trying to save you? Why?”
“First, he thanked me for giving him the laser. Apparently, it had been awhile since its last meal. I guess he was trying to repay me for my kindness.”
“Wow. That was pretty unexpected.”
“Oh good. I thought it was just me that thought it was weird.”
“Skotti. Skotti.”
“Hey girl . . . I’m good. No injuries, but our friend down here is hurt.”
“Friend?”
“He saved my life. Now we need to save his.”
“Sparky, beam the three of us to sick bay. First, make sure my husband is moved out. Don’t want to scare the blue out of his skin.”
“Dearest, I heard that.”
Egg smiled. “Hi sweetheart. Feeling better? Hope the pain pills aren’t making you hallucinate.”
“Ah, you’re quite right. I could have sworn I heard you say something that was demeaning to my manhood.”
“Silly man. When it comes to your man . . .” but the rest was cut-off when Bree reached across Serenity and hit the transporter switch.
“Don’t want to hear it. I really don’t.”
*****
“Apparently that creature saved Skotti’s life.”
Kon’dor was as stunned as everyone. “Your compatriot fed this thing with a beam of concentrated light for which it thanked him. Then to show its appreciation, it risked being killed in order to save the young man. How very extraordinary. Please tell Egg that she was correct and I was in the wrong.”
Bree liked the fact that this man would apologize considering all that he had been through. “You’ll find that our dear leader is like no other individual you’ll ever meet . . . no disrespect to L’elle.”
“BreeZee . . .”
“Please, just Bree.”
“As you wish. Bree, I lost L’elle a very long time ago. It has taken me many, many years to come to grips with that. But, I have. No need to defer to her memory . . . though I do appreciate the courtesy.”
“May I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course.”
“Have you found . . . that is to say . . . have you, um . . .” she just couldn’t speak the words.
“If you’re asking have I found someone else, the answer is no. I haven’t felt the need.”
“Oh.”
“May I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Is there someone in your life?”
The girl actually blushed at the communicator. “No.”
“Why?”
“I just never found my soulmate like you did.”
“And you would never settle for something less, would you?”
“No.”
“Bree, I don’t mean to sound impertinent, but I find myself looking forward to meeting you in person. Am I being presumptuous?”
Her blush deepened. “No, Kon’dee. Not at all.”
*****
The Rak’nex lay passively on the floor since the hospital bed was too small by half for its large body. The auto-doc was doing its best to analyze the alien.
“Here you go; your very own human-to-giant-bug talking machine,” and Serenity handed one to both Egg and Skotti.
“How does it
work?” asked Egg.
“Just hold that red button and talk. The universal translator will convert speech to light patterns.”
Egg walked over to the creature. “Can you understand me?” The device twinkled the message.
“Greetings,” came the mechanical voice through the translator.
“Are you in pain?”
“Negative.”
“Can you tell me what type of injury you received?”
“No injuries. Depleted energy reserves.”
“Skotti, point that laser beam at it. Serenity, can you come up with an electronic doohickey that continuously emits a laser light for it to consume?”
“I’ll work on it. Jax’x, meet me in the lab.” Asking the other girl for help was so unlike Sparky that Egg’s eyes went wide in surprise. The gesture went unnoticed.
Egg turned back to the creature. “Is the light helping?”
“Affirmative. Gratitude.”
“Bree, are you getting this?”
“I am.”
“Be sure to relay it to Kon’dor. At some point these two will have to talk to each other. Both will have to set aside their past experiences and concentrate on the here and now.”
This time Kon’dor, duly chastised, responded. “Understood.”
Back to the creature, Egg said, “My name is Egg. The male holding the light is Skotti. He thanks you for saving his life.”
“He showed kindness. I repaid it.”
“Do you feel well enough to talk?”
“Affirmative.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Ix’nay.”
Egg had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the ‘Pig-Latin’ she just heard. She wanted to ask if it was a he or a she but felt too embarrassed to do so. “Are you alone or are there others of your kind on this world?”
“Only I survived.”
“And the rest?”
“One in three died on impact. The others died from lack of nutrients weakened by poor atmospheric conditions.”
“Why did you attack the Sky’lords?”
“What are Sky’lords?”
“The inhabitants of this world.”
“We have encountered no Sky’lords.”
“They took refuge in the Reverie Glass.”
“What is Reverie Glass?”
“That arch you saw down in the cavern. The one you seem intent on finding.”
Lady Eloise [Book 6 of Ever After, an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Page 1
