Box Set #5: Nemesis: [The 4 book 5th adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood]

by Robert Iannone

“Okay, but you can’t stay once he’s awake. This could get . . .”

  “No. No, don’t say whatever it is you were going to say. Please.” Like many women he met, Kr’eep creeped out Po. Whatever Soo had in mind she definitely didn’t want that image in hers.

  “Your loss,” and the three walked off to the bedroom.

  Less than a minute later Po returned. She looked at the others and shuddered involuntarily.

  “Egg, I can still do my part and get Jay’gar back, right?” asked the bride-to-be.

  “No.” The sudden gasp from the poor guy’s grandparents caused her to raise her hands. “Sorry that came out wrong. No we can’t do it immediately. But yes, we will do it for sure. It just can’t be right now.”

  “Why?” demanded Hay’gar.

  “Because it will let a certain Absolute know that we are a very real threat. Unfortunately, without the key, we’ll have virtually no defense if she should find us.”

  “So what now?” asked Jax’x who was just as impatient as her soon to be (hopefully) grandparents-in-law?

  “Please, just give me a minute to think.”

  *****

  Bridge of Infinite Possibilities

  “Find Grassy Knoll and give her this ultimatum,” and the nasty lady handed him a parchment that materialized in her hand.

  “May I read it first?”

  Forest Green didn’t answer – she just waved her hand in a gesture of acceptance.

  Peak scanned the document and was not surprised by its content. Green called for Knoll to resign from the Absolute Assembly. The reasons were listed in painstaking detail outlining the woman’s transgressions and failures (as seen through the eyes of her adversary). “Of course she will not accept your . . . um, invitation.”

  “Obviously.”

  “Then may I ask what my role will be in the coming confrontation?”

  “You will distract her so I may act in accordance with my divine right.”

  “And the nature of this distraction?”

  “You will terminate her acolyte in as painful a way as possible. The louder she screams in agony, all the better. But be sure it does not end too quickly. You will do this in the center of the bridge.”

  “You wish me to kill Lightning Flash?” asked the horrified young man.

  “Isn’t that what I just said?”

  “And if I refuse?”

  “Then I will use your death as the distraction. Now, deliver the message and be quick about it.”

  *****

  In the Bedroom at the

  Home of Hay’gar and Taysen

  “Hey sleepy head, wake up.”

  “Huh?”

  “Come on, open your eyes.”

  Kr’eep reluctantly did as he was asked. “Soo?”

  “In the flesh.”

  The creepy one tore his eyes off the girl and looked frantically about. “Where am I?”

  “In Jay’gar’s bedroom silly.”

  “But they put me in . . . in that place. It was dark and there was no noise and the blackness felt so heavy it made me choke. I was so scared.”

  “Well, you’re safe now. I saved you.”

  “You? From the Divine Ones? How?”

  “I’m not just a pretty face you know.”

  “I can’t help you. You have to believe me . . . the Divine Ones will put me back in there (he pointed towards nothing). I want to, but I just can’t.”

  “Kr’eep, calm down please.”

  “But the Divine Ones . . . if they catch me again, they’ll . . . they’ll, I don’t know what they’ll do.” He was becoming hysterical.

  “STOP.”

  The poor slob’s eyes went wide and nodded. Strong women both frightened him and well, excited him. He never knew what to do or say . . . so he liked when he was told how to behave.

  “Now listen to me. You are going to help me and my friends put an end to the Divine Ones. We can protect you, I promise. Once we finished what we’re about to do, I’m going to ask you to marry me. And, I expect you to say yes. Understand?”

  “But . . .”

  “NO BUTS. What I’m going to ask you to do is incredibly simple. When the time is right, all you have to do is think a specific thought.” That sounded dumb even to her. What else could a person think but a thought? “And you must really and truly believe it.”

  “What thought?”

  Time to keep it simple. “That you want a machine to turn itself off. And when it does, you and I can get married. And, as an added bonus, the Divine Ones will never, ever be able to hurt you. How does that sound?”

  “I just have to think that and it will come true? I don’t understand.”

  “Come here,” and she opened her arms to him.

  Not too reluctantly he did as he was asked.

  Closing her arms around him, she pulled him close then put her lips to his and gave him the most passionate kiss he had ever experienced. Yes, yes, I know . . . that particular bar was pretty low.

  Thirty seconds passed . . . then a minute . . . then a second. She gently pulled away to take a breath. “Can you handle a lifetime of those?”

  “A lifetime?” he mumbled. Hard to say if it was a question or not.

  “Yup. For as long as the sun shines and the stars twinkle (yes, that was from the oath of the Hameggattic sisters).

  “That’s a long time.”

  “Very, very long,” and she pulled him close and proceeded to kiss the heck out of him.

  *****

  She asked him to wait a minute while she went to get Po. “Can you put him back in that sleepy trance?”

  “Of course,” replied Po. “May I ask why?”

  “If he’s awake as we make our way to the machine, he’ll freak out. This way when he wakes up, he’ll be standing in that control booth.”

  “Very wise,” and she closed her eyes. “Okay, it’s done.”

  “That’s way too cool. Every wife or girlfriend should be able to do that. So, now what?” everyone turned to Egg.

  “Let’s see if we can find Peak and get the key.” Into her communicator she called “Serenity.”

  “Here.”

  “Peak didn’t leave us the key. I need you to send Ziz to look for him.”

  “That’s a pretty big city.”

  “Have her head towards the Crypt but keep her out of sight of any Hoods in the hood.”

  “Say what?”

  “Don’t let her be seen by the bad guys. While you’re doing that, put Xara on.”

  “Here she is.”

  “Hi, Princess.”

  Egg rolled her eyes. “Question. When Jax’x plants the thought in Green’s mind to bring back Jay’gar, can she also tell her where she wants the Cell to materialize?”

  “That’s getting too complicated. The Librarian doesn’t have any experience doing this. Best to keep it simple and just plant the thought to have it return. The cell will materialize wherever the Absolute is at the time.” The first part of this statement was a lie. It was not in the least bit complicated to direct the cell wherever they wanted it. However, making things simple for the Sisterhood was not in Xara’s plan. The more chaos on Chaos ‘mas, the better the chance for her to make an escape.

  “It’s just never easy.” Egg didn’t mean to complain to the woman. It could be construed as a sign of weakness.

  “Ah, you poor baby. Maybe you’re in the wrong line of work. Just get married if anyone will have you and raise babies.”

  “From where I come from, being a mom is a noble profession . . . though I doubt you’ll ever experience it.”

  “Again, I think I’m going to vomit in . . .”

  Egg cut her off. “Setting that woman loose on the universe is not a good idea.”

  “Thinking about not doing it?” asked Po.

  “As much as I promised that I wouldn’t double cross her, I am definitely thinking about it.”

  “Good.”

  Bridge of Infinite Possibilities

  Ziz foun
d Peak at the far end of the bridge. Since this end was void of any other Divine Ones, Serenity chanced talking to the man.

  “Peak, the key. You forgot to give us the key.”

  The man had been lost in unpleasant thoughts and was startled to hear his name. His head snapped to the left and he spotted the mechanical bird. He purposely looked away.

  “She’s watching. Don’t let her see us talking.”

  “Who?”

  “Forest Green.”

  “We need the key otherwise we can’t turn off the machine.”

  The man knew his Absolute was watching. There was no way to toss the key to the bird without being seen. Since it would take these people time to get to, and turn off, MAGEK, he would be as good as dead long before the plan came to fruition.

  “Flash and I need help. On the bridge in about thirty minutes.” He reached the other side and entered the Crypt.

  “Shazbot,” squawked the bird.

  *****

  Home of Hay’gar and Taysen

  “Egg”.

  “Here, Serenity.”

  “I found him at the far end of the bridge. He was being watched by the Green lady and he couldn’t give me the key. He said he and Flash need help in about a half hour or so. Didn’t have a chance to elaborate.”

  Egg exhaled loudly. “This was such a good plan. I should have known it would never work.”

  “What now?”

  “Well, we need to keep moving forward. I want Po, Jax’x, Kr’eep and Xara to make their way to MAGEK. I want you to keep the bird’s eyes on the bridge and let me know when the other two appear. When they do, tell them to jump.”

  “Did you say jump?”

  “I did. I’ll have Bree and Bl’azzz hiding in the rift ready to catch them. Once they do, they can make their way to MAGEK with the key.” To Jax’x she said, “As soon as we have them, you can plant the thought to bring back Jay’gar.”

  “But he’ll materialize wherever Green is. He’ll become her hostage.”

  “Nope. I have a contingency plan worked out. Tee’ka is going to save him.”

  “I don’t understand. How can one person without the gift do that without getting herself captured too? Until the machine is turned off, Forest Green still has her powers.”

  “Ah, don’t forget we have a genius on the team.” Into her communicator she said, “Send her down, Serenity.”

  “Just for the record,” teased the girl in the chair, “I would need to lose about one hundred IQ points to be just a genius. Anyway, here she comes.”

  As Tee’ka began to materialize, Jax’x said unkindly, “That girl has an inflated ego and an exaggerated sense of self worth.”

  “You two are never going to be friends, are you?” asked Egg rhetorically.

  Jax’x responded any way. “Probably not in this lifetime.”

  “Someone call for a super hero?” said the former computer program upon materializing.

  “Ladies, may I present Xena the warrior princess and Wonder Woman all rolled into one bundle of feline feminine ferociousness.”

  “Don’t forget that I’m also adorable.”

  “And she’s also adorable,” complied her sister.

  Chapter 9 – Utter Chaos

  “What are we looking at?” asked Jax’x confused at not seeing an obvious superhero.

  “Tee, tell her.”

  “This thing in my hand,” and she held it out for all to see . . .

  “is a um . . . universal, time-dependent, quantum disruptor and field suppressant.” She smiled at herself then asked, “Did I say it right?”

  “How would we know, you gawky, goofy gadfly?” respond Bl’azzz aka Soo.

  Over the communicator, Serenity said, “Nicely done, Tee. Just like we practiced.”

  “Could you explain that using small words?” asked Po. She was looking at Tee’ka.

  “That’s a joke, right?”

  “I got this,” came Serenity’s voice. “It will dissipate the force of the gift when directed at Tee’ka. It has a very limited lifespan depending on the strength of the spells cast at her.”

  “We’re hoping that in the confusion it will be enough for her to rescue Jay’gar. We’ll only need a few seconds,” explained Egg. “Tell them about that the other thing you’re holding.”

  “And, my staff is now a . . . um . . . magic polar participle. No, No . . . that’s not right.”

  Again Serenity came to her assistance. “That’s okay, Tee. It’s a magnetic dipolar pulsar; it fires a beam of concentrated energy. In Egg’s literature, it’s called a ray gun.”

  Jax’x didn’t like the sound of that. “That thing is designed to kill? That’s despicable.”

  “Jump down from your pedestal, you prissy, puritanical prude,” replied Serenity with a touch more venom than she wanted. “It can’t kill . . . on its low setting.” She mumbled the last part.

  “Egg, I object. I want no killing,” demanded the Librarian.

  “No one does. That’s why Tee will only keep it at its lowest setting.”

  “But why give it the higher settings at all? Modify it so there is only the one.”

  “I can’t do that. I am responsible for Tee’ka’s life as well as everyone else’s on this team. That includes yours. You were once pretty upset with me and my sisters when we fell to pieces because we thought Tee had died. I’ve given it a lot of thought. I still need to explore that whole aspect but in the meantime, I’ve decided that if I give each of us a fair chance to survive, then that’s all I can do as your leader. Tee’ka has volunteered for this particularly dangerous assignment. She now has the means to protect herself . . . and Jay’gar for that matter.”

  “But taking a life . . .”

  “Taking a life for selfish gains – or simply based on your personal political or religious beliefs – is wrong. But protecting yourself from aggression, especially when so many lives are at stake, is an individual choice.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Tee’ka will choose if that moment comes. It’s her principles that matter. I will support her unconditionally.”

  Still not satisfied, Jax’x asked Tee’ka, “What will you do?”

  “I would never hurt someone who is not trying to hurt me . . . or my sisters.”

  “But . . .”

  “Enough,” demanded Egg. “Jax’x, to be blunt, your only involvement from this point on is to get your man back. That’s it. If you want out, just say so now.” She forgot that Jax’x was to check the programming to be sure it did what they wanted it to do.

  The girl took only a second or two to respond with, “I’ll play my part.”

  Serenity couldn’t help herself. “Big surprise”.

  “Shut up,” yelled Jax’x at the communicator. Tensions were beginning to rise.

  “Stop it, you two. I’m not going to tell you again.” To Serenity she said, “Sorry, but I can’t spare you from the ship. In a minute or so, I want you to transport all of us to the landing site, and the mini unit to the ship. Once that’s accomplished, put Soo on automatic pilot because Bl’azzz will be busy elsewhere. Have Bree help her out of the avatar contraption. Then monitor Ziz as we discussed. When you see the other two Divine Ones, send in Tee. Be ready to transport her and Jay’gar back to the ship. While that’s going on, I’ll have one of us take Jax’x back to the rim so she can be brought on board and take care of her man. Got all that?”

  “Yup.”

  “Sorry, Serenity. I know you wanted to be part of the away team. Next time, I promise.”

  “Egg, if you expend one brain cell worrying about my feelings, I’ll create a tickle monster and set it loose on you.”

  “Cruel. So very cruel,” she said through a smile. “Okay, anyone have anything else?”

  “Um, I do,” said Bl’azzz.

  “Yes?”

  Instead of answering, the avatar turned to their hosts. “Hey guys, tell Egg what you told me about gardening and growing your own food.”

 
“It’s not possible,” replied Hay’gar.

  Bl’azzz turned to Egg. “See.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Very soon there’s going to be a lot of hungry people. Why don’t you have Serenity get a message to Meggy and ask her to send as many cargo ships of food and supplies as she can spare? Hate to win the revolution but lose the war.”

  Egg smiled. “A grown-up dragon . . . I’ll never get used to it.”

  “She’s a dragon?” asked a confused Taysen. “I thought they were monsters?”

  “When this is over, I’ll show you something that you would never believe possible,” replied Egg. To the communicator she said “Serenity, do as Bl’azzz suggested please. Also tell her to send some experts in this sort of nation building thing. Let her figure out the details.”

  “On it. Nice going, you big beastie brontosaurus.”

  “I’m much more like a T Rex,” and the girl with blue hair growled.

  *****

  The Crypt

  Jagged Peak walked into the office complex of Grassy Knoll . . . and was greeted by his love, Lightning Flash.

  Following protocol, since he didn’t know who was listening, he said, “I have come on behalf of my mistress, Forest Green.”

  Again, following the strict protocols associated with Chaos ‘mas, the young woman responded with, “For what purpose?”

  “To present her with these demands,” and he handed her the parchment.

  “I will see if my mistress chooses to accept the document at this time. Please wait.” Flash turned, knocked on the inner door, and then entered. She returned a moment later. “Grassy Knoll is reviewing the ultimatum and will have a response for you to take to Absolute Green at her convenience. Do you choose to wait?”

  “I do.”

  “Then please do so outside.”

  “As you wish.” He turned to leave but stopped. With his back turned to the girl he said, “You and I are but pawns in this great struggle and I bear you no ill will. Whatever may transpire on this auspicious day, though it may not be clear at the moment, will surely lead to a greater tomorrow. Please trust in that.” It was the best he could do to warn his love that what was about to happen required her unqualified belief in him if they were to achieve their goals. He hesitated at the door hoping for a confirmation that she understood.