Gracie - Box Set #6, Part 2 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Read online

  Another visit to her parents resulted in a more heated argument about getting married and settling down. They meant well, and she loved them dearly, but she was a grown woman and needed to make her own decisions. Zephyr and Azure were having a difficult time in accepting that particular fact of life.

  So with nothing else to do, she decided to find out what she could about the Sky’lords – the alien race of winged beings that supposedly had visited her world hundreds of years ago.

  Her father had no hard information on the legend other than the tribal belief that the visit was cut short by an angry Zynnia who wanted no interference in her fledgling creation. Outside influence might wreck the plan she had for her beloved Wind ‘dancers.

  She decided that she would try Zazzi next. He had been around for a very long time. His home, created by Zynnia, had stopped him from aging. It was conceivable he was here when the Sky’lords came. In fact, he may have met them.

  She went to his home then to the waters off the Tea Kettle where many of his wards liked to swim - but to no avail. Maybe his wife knew where he was so she went to visit K’ssss.

  “Hi, Sister.”

  “BreeZee, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to my humble laboratory?”

  The winged girl looked around at an impressive array of incredibly sophisticated gadgetry and laughed. “Humble?”

  “H’ssss. Maybe not so humble.”

  “I would ask you what all this stuff does, but I doubt I would understand.”

  “There was a time I felt the same way.”

  “Speaking of which, can you remember what you were like before the transformation?”

  “Bits and pieces. Mostly I remember Soo making fun of me.”

  “Isn’t it amazing that Egg chose you to be a sister?” As soon as she said it, she realized how awful that sounded. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean . . .”

  “No need to apologize. I know what you meant. And yes, in retrospect it is beyond understanding. That overweight, dingbat that was me should never have been on the Quest. On the other hand, this version of me would probably have done terribly.”

  “How so?” (Bree chose not to point out that her sister was still on the heavy side).

  “As the earth saying goes – I’m too smart for my own good. Instead of acting instinctively like I did, I would have sat back and analyzed each situation - weighing the pros and cons of every possible solution. It would have been a disaster for all of us. So the dumb me was by far the better choice. How weird is that?”

  “That’s the wonder of our Egg.”

  “You’re right. It was part of her pattern of a non-stop streak of implausibly good luck. So, how can I help you?”

  “Actually I was looking for that handsome husband of yours.”

  “Handsome, ha. He’s way too skinny. I’ve been trying to put meat on his bones as Egg would say.”

  “He doesn’t have bones; he’s a serpent.”

  “You’re right. That’s why it hasn’t worked. H’ssss.”

  “Anyway, do you know where he is?”

  “I do.”

  When she didn’t say anymore, Bree asked, “Could you tell me?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “I rather let him tell you.”

  “What?”

  “Hi, BreeZee.” It was that skinny husband.

  Bree turned around. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Technically, since I don’t have legs . . .” but he didn’t finish.

  “Wow. You two have become a full blown comedy team.”

  “It comes naturally. Just one of our many talents.” Pretty sure he was teasing. “So how can I help you?”

  “I’m trying to find out what I can about the Sky’lords.”

  “I haven’t heard that name in a very long time.”

  “Who are they?” asked K’ssss

  “A race of winged beings much like Wind ‘dancers. Zynnia made them leave before they could corrupt her experiment.”

  “Were you here when they came?” Bree asked excitedly.

  “I was.”

  “Oh my gosh. Did you talk to them?”

  “Only briefly. As I said, Zynnia was pretty adamant that she did not want them around. But, out of curiosity, I found one that would talk to me.”

  “This is so exciting. I have a million questions if you have the time.”

  “Sure. Ask away.”

  “If you two will excuse me, I have a great deal of work to finish.”

  “Of course, K’ssss. Sorry for the interruption.”

  “Don’t be silly. Just do me a favor. See if you can get him to eat something while he’s spinning his yarns.”

  “I will,” and she hugged her sister. She waited politely for the serpent to leave then turned back to Zazzi. “What were they like?”

  “Well, let’s see. They were somewhat taller than your people. Their wings were more feathery and they could be flapped.”

  “So they didn’t sail; they flew.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you know what planet they were from?”

  “No. Sorry.” Then he seemed to get lost in some thought. “When I asked this fellow why he had come to Zynn-Zaz’zia, he said words to the effect that they were in the neighborhood and thought they would investigate.”

  “How is that possible? If their planet was in this section of the galaxy, we would know of them.”

  “Not necessarily. They may have gone extinct.”

  “Oh.” Sadly, that was the most logical explanation. Or was it? “Zazzi, if they did go extinct, wouldn’t someone have found the remains of their civilization? Surely there would be something left of them.”

  “That would seem reasonable. However, planets do explode, natural disasters do occur. It’s still plausible that some catastrophe obliterated all signs of their existence. Sorry.”

  “No, I’m glad you’re taking the other side of the argument. By the way, why don’t you eat more to make my sister happy?”

  Zazzi looked around to make sure his wife couldn’t hear him. “She is such an awful cook. This is the same woman who sped up the entire Aeriannian solar system to bring time back in sync with the rest of the galaxy. But can she prepare eel soup? All you do is boil them in water – that’s it.” If he had arms, he would have thrown them up in a show of great exasperation.

  Bree giggled. “I think we’ll keep that as our little secret.”

  “Thank you.”

  “So, anything else you can think of that might help me track down the Sky’lords?”

  “No, I don’t think so. If I do, I’ll contact you.”

  “Well, thank you for your help.”

  “Didn’t give you much of that, but you’re welcome.” Bree hugged him then turned to go. “Wait.”

  “Yes?”

  “Zynnia was so upset with their visit that she went to Reven. If the mere presence of the Sky’lords caused her experiment to go wrong, she wanted that . . . that . . . thing to go back in time and make it right.”

  “But Reven is gone as you well know.”

  “True. But maybe there’s something in her time castle that might help in your search.”

  “That’s certainly worth pursuing. Thanks.”

  “Be careful. That place gives me the shivers.”

  “You didn’t much like Reven, did you?”

  “She was evil. Zynnia made a huge mistake creating her.”

  *****

  Aboard the Gracie

  “That’s it. No more. We have work to do.”

  “Just one last kiss then I promise we’ll finish the experiment.”

  “Sparky, you are insatiable . . .”

  “Kiss me you fool,” and he did. A minute later – “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “My lips hurt.”

  Serenity giggled (yup, a real girlie giggle). “Me, too.”

  “Come on, no more goofing around. Let’s infuse the avatar with Egg’s DNA.”
He sounded so serious.

  “What’s bothering you?”

  “Nothing. Everything.”

  “That about covers it. Any chance you could narrow it down a wee bit.”

  “That thing . . . the Glimmer. No one knows what it might do if it can’t find its programmed victim. It might turn on the host.” In this case, that would be Sparky.

  The old Serenity would have said something snide. This version of her was in love and his care for her welfare and safety, something that once would have sent her into fits of righteous indignation, now only made her feel fulfilled in some inexplicable way. However, some teasing was in order. “Fess up. You’re afraid that this thing might start taking orders from me then you’d be in real trouble.”

  “Now you’re just trying to scare me.” His smile said otherwise.

  The girl exhaled – from satisfaction – a totally alien feeling. “I just love a brave man.”

  “There’s a fine line between bravery and dumbassery,” he countered.

  She went silent as she fiddled with her computer controls. “Okay, we’re ready.”

  “Wait.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll do it. This might work better if you enter the room and let the Glimmer detect its victim. We don’t know how smart those things are. They might be able to understand that we’re trying to fool them.”

  “Okay. Dumb line of reasoning, but I’m willing to give it a try. Just activate sub-routine A to transfer the DNA, then sub-routine B to activate the avatar.”

  “Will do. Count to ten before you come back in.”

  “How many is this?” and she held out all her fingers.

  “Um, eleven.”

  “Idiot.”

  “Just go or I’ll bite off the extra one to make ten.”

  *****

  Ten seconds or so later, Serenity went back into the lab. The Glimmer immediately detected the Egg avatar – confirming its identity by DNA and face recognition – and attacked. Like a bolt of twinkling lightning it leapt from Serenity’s body and speared its victim.

  “GOOD GRIEF,” cried Skotti.

  “Well, Vyper was obviously less than pleased with our girl.”

  The avatar had disintegrated into a puddle of something gelatinous from the Glimmer’s high voltage shock. With its mission accomplished, the twinkling lights faded out.

  *****

  Reven’s Time Castle

  “Hi, Bree. What brings you to my little corner of the world?”

  “Sorry to bother you. Both of you (Bl’uddd was there also). I’m doing some research and Zazzi suggested that the Time Castle might hold information that could help me.”

  “Really? What are you researching?”

  “The Sky’lords.”

  Aeri’elle stared silently at her sister. “Bl’uddd, would you excuse us for a bit.”

  “Sure. I’ll come back after my rounds.”

  “Perfect.” Big Bird then rubbed the side of her head on the neck of her large friend. Apparently, it was how dragons in love said goodbye.

  When they were alone, Aeri’elle asked, “Why the interest in the Sky’lords?”

  “So you know who they are.” It was not a question.

  “We found references to them while going through Reven’s personal affects.”

  “Did you ever discuss it with Zazzi? He actually met them.”

  The dragon shook her head. “Sometimes we think we’re so smart. It never occurred to me to do that. What did he tell you of his encounter?”

  Bree spent a couple of minutes to bring her sister up to speed. “Your turn.”

  “My staff believes the items came from the Sky’lords home world. There is a medallion of sorts and a map. Based on what Zazzi has said, it sounds like Reven was doing Zinnia’s bidding. She must have sent one of her future or past selves there and brought back these two artifacts. Not sure how they would have helped to accomplish whatever task Zynnia asked them to do.”

  “Is it a map to their planet?”

  “No. It’s a map of a planet. Or, more precisely, part of a planet.”

  “Enough to determine which one?”

  “We tried. But after hundreds of tedious and time-consuming comparisons to known worlds, we tabled the project for another time. There was no urgency.”

  “I’m guessing the medallion tells us nothing?”

  “It is well made and the metal is of the highest quality. It speaks to their workmanship. It is also quite intricate.”

  “Would I be out of line to ask if I could have these artifacts?”

  “Sorry, I can’t give them to you. However, I can hire you as an at-large professor’s assistant while you pursue your investigations. In such a capacity, it is in my power to loan them out for as long as you need.”

  “Oh, Aeri’elle, that’s great. Thank you so much.”

  “As Egg would say, it’s a win-win situation. Are you going to work on this by yourself?”

  “Everyone else is bonding with their male cohorts and I hate to bother them. So, I guess it’ll be just me.”

  “Probably not a good idea. Ask one of your sisters, if no one wishes to join you, I’ll get volunteers from my staff to accompany you.”

  Bree stood up and hugged the dragon. “Thank you, Big Bird.”

  “Please never tell Egg I said this, but I really, really love that nickname.”

  *****

  Aboard the Gracie

  “Hi, Bree. What’s up?”

  “Why are you so flushed? The Glimmer didn’t get you, did it?”

  Serenity’s mouth opened but nothing came out. Skotti stepped in front of the viewer. “Hi, BreeZee.”

  “Ohhh. I withdraw the question.”

  “Then ask another one or go away,” chirped the grump.

  “I need help.”

  “Is it life or death?”

  “No.”

  “Then no.” Skotti’s hand reappeared in the viewer as it flicked Serenity’s ear. “OUCH”.

  “Be nice to your sister.”

  “You always liked her best.”

  “What’s not to like?”

  “Okay, you two. Not sure what you’re talking about and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.”

  “Bree, how can we help you?” The young man emphasized the word we. He also was beaming inside because he could call a Hameggattic Sister by her nickname.

  “I’m looking for a long lost civilization.”

  “Head for Alcyone then make a right. It’s about a million miles from there,” teased Serenity.

  “Alright. If I’m bothering you two, I’ll ask someone else.”

  “Don’t listen to her. It sounds like fun. Do you remember where you were when you lost them?” It was corny but that didn’t stop his girl from laughing.

  “Good grief. Everyone’s a comedian.”

  “Hey, that’s my line.”

  “You guys going to help or not?”

  “Of course, we will. We’ll be there tomorrow to pick you up.”

  “Thank you. I would say that you’re the best, but we both know that would be Jax’x,” joked the butterfly girl.

  “That deserves a punishment.” Her arm went off screen then returned holding her boyfriend. “Watch,” and she kissed him. I mean really kissed him.

  “You really are mean,” and the boyfriend-less BreeZee signed off.

  Chapter 3 – The Honeymooners

  If tradition were a crystal goblet, it would lay shattered – just a million shards glittering in the dawn of a new day. Egg and her hubby were rewriting the rules.

  And the people loved it.

  Custom had dictated that the newly married royal couple should visit each of the capital cities of the other two species – Nautica and Talon’s Perch. There, they would spend a week in the company of their host King or Queen . . . attending lavish banquets and parties for other royals and high-ranking individuals. All the while, the common folks would wait outside hoping to catch a glimpse of the uncommon
folks inside.

  As far as Egg was concerned – not happening.

  Instead, they would visit all nine of the major cities purposely avoiding the capitols until last. There would be no formal anything. Picnics and barbeques – the tried and true Earth custom – had never seen the light of an Aeriannian day. At least, not until now.

  Regardless of the formality of a food event, it would have been assumed that the Royal Couple would bring everything with them . . . a gift to the people as it were. When Benny began to organize these affairs, Egg stopped him.

  “Nope.”

  “Nope what?”

  “We’re not bringing anyone or anything with us – no cooks, no bakers and no candlestick makers.”

  “To what end would we choose to bring a candlestick maker?”

  “Not the point. No one is coming with us.”

  “Then how will these barber cues happen?’

  “Barbeque . . . and we’re going to hire the local town’s folk to supply, prepare and cook everything. It will be a financial boon to everyone.”

  “Ah, how very wise and impressively clever. I do approve . . . assuming my approval was required.”

  She smiled and gave him a kiss. “It wasn’t.”

  Brace yourselves – we need to take a small break as Benny picked up his wife, threw her on the bed . . . and tickled her. And shame on you for thinking something different.

  The first event was at River’s Edge – childhood home to Sassi and the town where the Quest began those many years ago. Bl’uddd delivered the royal company then departed. He would return the next day to ferry them to their next stop.

  On one point, Benny had overruled his wife. He did send a small contingent of his people to help the locals organize, to order the food and beverages, and give instructions on how to construct these barber cues.

  And the rest is much as you would imagine. There were local musical groups, dancing, pie eating contests and various distractions for the children.