Rose felt a wave of sadness wash over her . . . barely able to keep the emotion from her face. “Of course. Take all the time you require.”
*****
“Thank you for coming, Spirit.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Tell me, your ability to see the threads of the future . . . is there a limit as to how far into the future?”
The girl wasn’t happy with the question . . . it implied that the Queen wanted to use her gift. That’s what the bad guys on Paradox had wanted. “Your question makes me uncomfortable.”
“I apologize. I was asking for a very selfish reason.”
Spirit understood and almost felt sympathy for Rose. “You want to know if . . . or when . . . Egg will forgive you.”
Rose gave a small nod . . . afraid that if she spoke her real emotions might come bubbling to the surface. Queens can’t do that.
“First, I only look into the future when circumstance forces me to. No one should know their fate . . . it’s unnatural. Second, I only see probabilities. There are an infinite number of paths into the future . . . some have a higher likelihood than others of occurring. Lastly, the further out I go, the less reliable are the results. A few weeks or months is the best timeframe.”
“I understand. May I ask you two favors?”
“I won’t look into the future to see if Egg forgives you.”
“A punishment I well deserve. However, if you do look at what is to come for other reasons . . . and if you happen to see Egg and I in that vision, please consider telling me.”
“No promises.”
“As you say.”
“What was the second thing?”
“I would like you to return to Aerianna when you feel you are ready. I . . . that is to say Aerianna will be facing new challenges and having the advice of someone not from our culture would be invaluable.”
“You’re not asking for my Thought Weaving abilities, are you?’
“As you say, no one should know their fate in advance. I, too, find that idea disturbing.”
“Well, I’ll need a lot of time with my family. But after that, it would be nice to come back and see my . . . sisters.” She emphasized the word.
“Thank you. I bid you safe journey home.”
Chapter 4 – A Sad Beginning
An Hour Earlier
Grammy knew the first thing she had to do was to let her daughter know they were about to leave for home. She would also have to make up a story to explain why she had been delayed. Since there was no phone service at the cabin, Ezra drove them down the mountain to town.
“What are you going to tell them?”
“I’ll call Ashley first. She was the one who had to invent a reason.”
“Hope she’s clever.”
“Oh my, yes.”
They continued on in silence until Grammy could find the words to express how she was feeling. “I think I made a serious error in judgment.”
Ezra agreed . . . but then again Egg wasn’t his granddaughter. “I think there was a good argument either way,” he replied diplomatically.
Grammy looked down at her hands . . . not wanting to make eye contact with her friend. “So I was wrong?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Of course you did. You were just being tactful.”
“El, there’s no use in second guessing yourself. You have no way to contact the Queen. Or do you?’
“No.”
“Then just let this play out as it will.”
“But how do I commiserate with her when she cries or mopes around? How do I defend the Queen so Egg won’t hate her? How do I look my grandchild in the eye . . . and lie?”
“I have no advice other than the obvious . . . do what must be done. You set this in motion. Don’t let it go to waste. You have about five years to help Egg grow into the young woman you hope she’ll be. When she graduates high school, you tell her what you did and why.”
“Then she’ll hate me.”
“I seriously doubt it. Five years is a very long time for a thirteen-year-old girl. Whatever anger she feels now is bound to fade away. And, when she turns into that special young woman, she’ll forgive you. Maybe even thank you. If not . . . then maybe you were right all along.”
“This is going to be so very hard . . . for each of us.”
“You are both very tough people. If anyone can handle it, I’d put my money on you two.”
Grammy fell silent for a bit. Then she looked at Ezra who took his eyes off the road for a split second. “What?”
“Have I told you today, that I am madly in love with you?”
“No, m’am. I don’t believe you have.”
*****
About an hour later, Egg, Syl and Tee’ka materialized at the cabin. As unhappy as she was at the circumstances, Tee was still thrilled to be on her friend’s home world. She looked around in wonder . . . not that there was anything that unusual to see.
“Tee . . . thank you. I know we’ll meet again. Until then, you’ve been a great friend and a wonderful sister,” and Sylvia gave her hug.
“Bye, Sylvia. I will never forget you,” and there was another exchange of hugs.
“I’ll go pack,” and the girl left the other two alone so they could have a little privacy.
“She is a very wise Feminion.”
“Yeah, she is. Um . . . Tee . . . you know how much I love you, right?”
“Egg, you were my first friend . . . and . . . and . . .” and she started to cry. A heartbeat later, they were both sobbing and hugging.
More than a minute later, Tee’ka regained a little self-control. “Please let me bring you your ring. Please.”
Egg pulled away so she could look the girl in the eyes. “I can’t. I just can’t.”
“But I will miss you terribly. Please.”
With tears streaming down her face, Egg managed to say, “Bye, Tee. You were the best,” and she turned and ran into the cabin.
The girl stood there and for the first time since she became a real person . . . she wished she was still a hostess. Hostesses never felt this kind of pain . . . and it hurt so badly she couldn’t even stand up. She fell to her knees, and touched the ring.
When she materialized back on Aerianna, Serenity was waiting for her. “Are you okay?”
“I will never be okay. I am so sad . . . I never knew such emotions before. Serenity, take me back to Laff’Alott. I wish to be a hostess again.”
“Tee’ka, absolutely not. What would Egg think? You must be strong for her sake. Can you do that?”
“I’ll try . . . but I don’t think I can.”
“When it becomes too much to bear, and you need to talk about it . . . come to me. I know what it’s like to lose someone close to you . . . someone you love.”
“Oh my gosh, how selfish of me. I forgot about your mother.”
Serenity smiled at Tee’s subconscious use of Egg’s favorite phrase. “There may not be a sisterhood . . . but we will always be sisters. And I’ll always be there for you.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, did you give Egg back the communication/transfer device?”
“I didn’t think she would take it. I asked her to take back her ring and she refused. So, I slipped it into her pocket without her knowing. Is that okay?”
“Perfect.”
*****
Ezra hugged each of the girls. “You guys are probably going to see a lot more of me, so this isn’t goodbye. However, I have a few things I’d like to say before I leave. First, you two are beyond amazing. Your accomplishments really are epic . . . and, by the way, I’ll be using that word as if it were mine.” He was trying to lighten the mood but it didn’t work. “Anyway, thank you for taking me to Aerianna. I can’t tell you what a gift that was. When I can figure a way to repay you, I will. But more importantly . . . I want to remind you what you said, Egg.”
“What did I say?”
“You said Violetta might be able
to disband the sisterhood . . . but not forever. You promised you would find a way to bring it back. Seems to me there’s no difference between Empress and Queen . . . so I expect you to keep that promise.”
“How?”
“Even without the suit, you’re Flying Girl. That’s a state of mind as much as it’s anything else. With the help of your worthy Feminion, you’ll figure it out. But . . .” and he raised a finger to emphasis his point, “. . . if you waste the next four or five years till you graduate, then shame on you. You’re better than that. Take a few days or weeks to feel sorry for yourself – you’ve earned that right. After that, I expect you to rise to the challenge.”
“Ezra, how do you go from being a superhero to a teenage girl?”
The man smiled. “I’ve never been either so I’m probably not the right person to ask.”
“Who then?”
“Well, my suggestion is when you get home, go to your room, walk into the bathroom, look in the mirror and reflect on your reflection.”
Egg didn’t want to be rude for Grammy’s sake . . . and because she really liked Ezra. “Thanks. I’ll try.”
Grammy kissed her man one last time. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Drive safely.”
*****
It was about a six-hour ride home . . . and the first two hours were spent in total silence without a word being spoken.
Finally, Sylvia couldn’t stand it any longer. “I kept the translation crystal.”
Egg stared at her friend. “Why?”
Syl shrugged. “Souvenir I guess.”
“Egg . . .”
“Yeah Grammy?”
“Did you think the Queen was wrong . . . about the way you taunted the Empress?”
“Doesn’t matter what I think now, does it?”
“Of course it does. We can argue that the crime didn’t merit the punishment . . . but that’s a different conversation.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Egg was in no mood to be cooperative.
Grammy wasn’t about to get impatient with her granddaughter . . . not with all the guilt she was feeling. “Rose said she disbanded the Sisterhood because you were reckless in your dealings with Violetta. Though everything turned out well, she suggested it might have had a different ending. Do you agree?”
“If you’re asking if I shouldn’t have been me . . . well, that’s just stupid. Who else could I be?”
“Egg, be nice to your grandmother,” scolded Sylvia.
“Sorry.”
“No need to apologize, sweetheart. I just wanted to put these next four hours to good use. So you’re saying that a confrontational style was the best way to handle the situation?”
“Confrontational?”
“Call it your ‘in your face’ way of reacting to those you consider mean.”
“Why would I be nice?”
“That, granddaughter, is the question. Was there a better way of handling the situation other than trying to provoke the woman?” She was hoping that Egg would question her own behavior and maybe, just maybe, begin to accept that she wasn’t quite ready to be the leader of the Sisterhood.
To her credit, Egg gave the question some serious thought. “Nope.”
“You don’t think there was a better way?”
“Nope,” she repeated. “And I’ll tell you why. First, I wanted Violetta to show the rest of us her true colors. She pretended to be nice and reasonable . . . but that was obviously an act. Second, I wanted her to know that she couldn’t intimidate me or the Sisterhood. We weren’t going to play nice. She would have figured that out soon enough . . . it was better that I looked her in the eyes and told her myself. Third, when you push someone who isn’t used to being pushed, they might do something stupid. If not stupid, they might tip their plans before they were ready. Then the advantage would be ours.”
Grammy was stunned into silence. Egg’s arguments were sophisticated, well reasoned and logical. That’s not to say her way was absolutely right for every situation . . . but for this one it probably was.
“So go ahead and tell me I’m stupid and I did just what you would expect from a dumb teenage girl.”
Sylvia smiled. “I think that was a pretty darn good argument. Nice job . . . for a goof.”
For the first time in what seemed forever, Egg smiled. But that lasted about three seconds. “Well, Grammy?”
“I . . . um . . . I actually couldn’t find a flaw in your argument. I do wish Ezra was here. He’s the military mind.”
“It doesn’t matter. Dazzle was the one who should have asked me why I did what I did. She didn’t . . . and now I’m just a thirteen year old girl whose future is going to be so . . .” she shrugged but didn’t finish.
*****
They dropped Sylvia off at her house and drove the two blocks to Egg’s. “Thanks Grammy.”
“For what?”
“For always being there for me. You’re the only person in this world I can totally trust. Well, you and Syl.”
“And Ashley.”
“Yeah . . . and Ashley.” She got out of the car, fetched her bag from the trunk, then kissed her grandmother through the driver’s window. “I’ll talk to you later.” She started to turn but stopped. “He’s really nice. I hope you guys get married.”
“Would you be my maid-of-honor?”
“Of course, silly.”
Grammy waved to Egg as she drove away. When she was at a safe distance, she began to cry. When her granddaughter found out what she had done, their relationship would never be the same. Never . . . and her crying turned into sobs of despair.
*****
After talking to her parents, Egg went up to her room. Remembering what Ezra had suggested, she walked into the bathroom, turned on the light and looked at her reflection in the mirror . . . and what she saw in her mind’s eye wasn’t a surprise.
Chapter 5 – Tee’s Family
“Dad, this is Serenity, one of my sisters. Serenity, my father Tink’rrr.”
“A real pleasure, Serenity. I’m looking forward to our collaboration.”
“As I am. My sister K’ssss has been telling me of your work. We apparently have many interests in common.”
“Um . . . are you two allowed to call yourselves sisters? What with the sisterhood being disbanded and all . . . won’t that irritate the Queen?”
The serpent turned to the girl then back to her father. “We don’t care if it does. I will be renouncing my citizenship of Aerianna. When that happens, Rose’Alynnia will no longer be my Queen.”
“K’ssss, please don’t do something you might later regret. You’re upset . . . you both are . . . give it a little time to let emotions simmer down.”
“I can’t forgive her, dad. She hurt Egg. I will never forgive anyone that does that. And Egg refused the return of her ring. She can’t visit us anymore.”
“We do have the portal.”
“You know as well as I that if Earth scientists detect it, we could seriously impact their society. They’re not ready to acknowledge that there might be other worlds with sentient life forms.”
“Well, I am sorry that you have lost your friend but . . .”
K’ssss interrupted her father. “Egg is more than a friend. She saved this world twice. She saved everyone on this world twice. You, and everyone else, owe her your lives.”
Tink’rrr bowed his head to acknowledge the truth of what his daughter just said. “Forgive me. I meant no disrespect.”
“Of course you didn’t. Anyway, I have to get back to my husband. The poor wretch is lost without me.” To Serenity, she said, “If you need anything, please let me know.”
“Actually there is something.”
“Yes?”
“I wish to do something for Tee’ka . . . but I’m not sure if it is ethically correct. I would like your opinion. Yours, also, Tink’rrr.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“A few days ago, Tee’ka told me how sad she
is that she has no family memories. When she hears the rest of us talking of our experiences, it makes her depressed. It reminds her that she was once a hostess . . . an artificial life form.”
“How strange that something we take for granted is so important to one that does not have it. What can you do?”
“I asked her to tell me the family memories she wished she had. It took her awhile but she finally did. I recorded it all so I wouldn’t miss any detail. Now, I wish to modify her . . . her thoughts to include these memories.”
Tink’rrr was amazed. “You can do that?”
“I would never try it on a naturally-born sentient person . . . their brains are too chaotic. But Tee’ka was once an artificial intelligence. Her mind is structured in a very logical pattern. It wouldn’t be difficult to give her those memories.”
“Would she know that it was done by you?”
“Therein lies the ethical question. I wish to do it without her knowing. She would simply wake up one morning . . . and her memories would be there. She wouldn’t know that she had never had them. She would not know that something had been changed.”
“Wow. Dad, what do you think?”
“As a scientist, I’d love to see it done. If Tee’ka was a conventional sentient being, I would say no . . . unless there was some extraordinary circumstance and the individual agreed to it. But since she was once an artificial life form . . . and what you’re proposing certainly appears to be a positive change . . . I could argue that the original programming was inadequate and you’re simply correcting the problem. So, I have no problem giving my consent.”
“What about you, K’ssss?”
“I like my father’s reasoning . . . but Tee’ka is a sister. That changes everything. You must ask her permission. If she agrees, then great. She might have been an artificial being before, but she isn’t now. She needs to be treated like the rest of us.”
“Thank you both. Well-reasoned arguments, as I would have expected.”
Box Set #4: Sisterhood's End: [The 3 book 4th adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 14
