The Cagliostro Chronicles (7 page)

“Let her go,
now!” Mark roared as he threw himself at the creature before them. Obviously the thing, whatever it was, was not prepared for Johnson’s head long rush as he bowled it over easily, tackling it and sending it smashing to the ground. He drew his fist back and began pummeling it relentlessly.

Ariel was instantly
back on her feet, backing away from the creature with fearful eyes. Dan immediately grasped her to him protectively. “What’d that thing do to you?” He asked quietly, fearfully.

“I-I
have never felt anything like that. It just took control of my mind. My thoughts were all its own. I couldn’t form a coherent thought of my own. I-it showed me terrible things. I was helpless.”

“What is that thing?” Red asked as he stood there with his gun drawn on it.

“That is a Quel.” A new voice intruded. They all turned towards its source, back towards the Stargrazer, where a purple skinned being was walking towards them with its hands behind its back. It wore a uniform of some kind. “They are nasty creatures, we employ them when we fear telepaths are involved. They, as your woman now knows, can worm their way into a telepaths mind and gain control of it. They are indeed horrid creatures, but infinitely useful. You may all drop your weapons now, we have you surrounded.”

Mark stopped hitting the foul
smelling creature beneath him and looked around. Eddie and Red continued to hold their guns at the ready, damned sure they weren’t going to go down without a fight. Dan held Ariel steady, who was still shaky on her feet. They were indeed surrounded by uniformed men, whether military or security of some kind Mark could not distinguish.

While all eyes were upon the Stargrazer’s crew, Endorf turned and ran. The man in charge made a quick motion with his hand, his fingers pointing at the fleeing red skinned alien brute,
and then quickly slashing across his throat, as several energy blasts rang out, all connecting with the fleeing mechanics back, dropping him to the cement floor, his body smoldering.

Once more with his hands behind his back the
purple skinned humanoid creature turned to face the crew.

“You will be coming with us, are there any
more questions?”

Mark stood slowly as all eyes were trained on him. The men surrounding them watched him nervously. The Quel lay upon the ground, unconscious and bloody. Mark made eye contact with Red, and then moved his eyes towards the Stargrazer.

“Well? Move along, all of you.” The alien officer ordered.

“Why? What’d we do?” Eddie asked
, stalling.

“You will ask no questions alien. You will simply come with us. Move along now. That is an order.”

“I don’t think so, now drop your weapons. I really don’t want to kill any of you.” Mark replied with a wicked smile.

“You seem to have some misconception based on your situation. We outnumber you and all our weapons are trained upon you.”

“And my ships guns are trained on you. Drop your weapons and stand down now. Or the ship will take you all out.”

“You lie, Earthling.”

“Another guy who knows where we’re from?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah, looks that way, Eddie.” Mark answered while not taking his eyes off their antagonist. “Seems this guy knows who we are, and on that he has us at a disadvantage. But that’s all. Drop your guns now officer, or whatever you are.”

“Prepare to fire.” The purple alien barked. “Your bluff has been called, Earthman.”

“It’s no bluff.” Mark replied, smiling as the gun on the wing of the Stargrazer barked a blue bolt of light, smacking the alien officer in the back and dropping him to the pavement.

The men surrounding the crew all looked towards the ship and prepared to fire when Mark spoke up again.

“All of you lay down your weapons and surrender. Last chance.”

Now all the troops looked around between the crew, who still had their guns drawn and aimed at them, and then back at the ship whose wing guns were
also aimed at the troopers.

Suddenly a
n energy blast rang out at the teams back, shaking the ground, throwing them from their feet and making them cover their heads and faces as chunks of debris and concrete sprayed about them.

Mark was on his feet immediately, grabbing Ariel by the arm and running her directly towards the Stargrazer while shouting, “Run! Back to the ship, now!”

Behind them hovered an open air craft with two big guns mounted on it. Within it behind blast proof twin windscreens, two troopers were ready to fire again. Red and Eddie begin firing their hand guns at the ship, their laser bolts sprayed across the ship’s hull with little damage.

Dan Sledge suddenly start
ed to run towards the small hovering gunship, building speed as he went with each lumbering step, “You heard the Boss, get back to the ship, I got this.”

“What the hell?” Red shout
ed as Dan leaped into the air, sailing forty feet into the sky above the small hovering gunship, then he dropped down onto and through the vessel, feet first with his knees pulled up to his chest. As he landed, he slammed them down into the craft, breaking through it like tissue paper, and turning it to rubble in one explosive maneuver.

Now the troopers begin to scatter and run as the
Stargrazer powered up and lifted off its landing pad, turning towards their enemies in midair.

Dan Sledge walked
towards Red and Eddie, wiping dust from his hands, grinning ear to ear.

Red look
ed at him, grimaced and shook his head side to side, “I hate you, you know that right?”

Dan laugh
ed and slapped his friend on the back, “C’mon, both of you, let’s get to the ship. There’re gonna be more o’ these clowns gettin’ here any sec.”

They r
an towards the ‘Grazer as Red reiterated, “I do you know, I really do,” with a grin.

“Get on board, willya?” Sledge grunt
ed, smiling.

Red, Dan and Eddie r
an up the entry ramp as it started to withdraw into the ship behind them.

“What are we going to do Mark
?” Ariel asked.

“Get out of here for now. That’s
a start.”

The ship power
ed up and streaked skyward as behind them two more of the two seat gunships began to pursue them.

“They’re firing on us Mark.” Red
remarked.

As if to underscore his statement the
Stargrazer rumbled twice as energy blasts slapped against its skin.

“Do w
e fire back on them?” Eddie asked as he readied his weapons console.

“No, these we can outrun. Let’s play it that way, for now.”

Eddie nodded, “Alright Mark. It’s your call.”

“Dan get us out of her
e, fast.”

Sledge nodded
, “You got it, boss.”

The Stargrazer shot away from the planet,
rocketing into space, leaving the two pursuit ships instantly far behind.

The Stargrazer blast
ed away from the planet, and toward a moon, one of four in orbit of the planet.

“Stationary orbit behind the moon, then we contact the Cag. I want the moon blocking us.”

“Okay, Mark.” Dan agreed.

“Ari, get Miles Jefferson on the com
m.”

She nodded
and punched a button, then started speaking lowly. An instant later the screen at the front of the ship shimmered to life and an image of the Cagliostro’s command deck appeared.

“Hey
, boss.” Jefferson greeted them with a forced smile.

“Miles, we’re going to need you here.”

“Don’t know if I can help, boss. Remember that ship we did a number on, on the way here? Well it’s back and it brought friends.”

“What are you talking about?” Mark replied, concern
suddenly written all over his face.

“That big war ship we took out is here, searching for us, and it brought two more just like it. I don’t think we can get
to you, at least not without getting fried out here. We’re playing cat an’ mouse with these guys right now.”

“Listen to me, you get out of here, go to hyper-warp immediately and start heading back toward Earth. That is an order, Mr. Jefferson.”

“Wait—are you kidding me? You want us to bug out and leave you here?”

“I want you to save my crew and ship. The Stargrazer is more than capable of hyper-warp interstellar flight. You can’t do us any good by getting killed or
getting the ship destroyed. Now do as I ask and get out of here. We’ll contact you when we find what we’re looking for.”

“Well
, how far do you want us to go?”

“Go as far as you have to lose any pursuit. I don’t care if that’s right back to Earth itself. Just do it and do it now. Get out of here.”

Miles nodded, despair on his face, “Alright boss, whatever you say. We’re outta here.”

The image on the viewer fade
d back to a starscape and the moon they were hiding behind.

“What do we do now, Mark?” Ariel asks.

“We’re going to have to go back. That’s the only thing we can do.”

“How can we do that?” Red barked, “They have patrols both in space and on that planet’s surface looking for us. If we go back to that space port we’ll be shot on sight, hell the ‘Grazer will be shot down the minute we head towards a landing pad.”

“Oh ye of little faith. The ‘Grazer is a tough little ship, I’m less concerned with going back there then I am of escaping once we find what we’re looking for. Besides, who said we were going back to any landing site?”

The Stargrazer slipped back planet-side over the most unpopulated portion of the desert world. Sliding in under security and sensor scans, before landing in a densely wooded mountain range near where Mark and
the crew suspected the mysterious captive had been taken.

“Invisibility generator is off.” Red affirmed.

“Good. For now the trees can cloak us. Ari, do you sense anything, or anyone?” Mark asked.

“No, but I’m hearing a mental murmur east of here. It may not be who we’re looking for, there’s no way of knowing until I hear thoughts I can make definite decisions on. Right now it’s all
just noise.”

“Alright
Dan, give me a hand back in the hold.”

“Whatcha got?” Big Dan Sledge replied as he unbuckled himself and followed Johnson to the back of the ship.

“Well, we can’t just fly around in the Stargrazer looking for our mystery man, but we can take these babies out and cover more ground a bit more inconspicuously.” Mark pulled the cover off the first item he pulled out of the hold. It was a gleaming black sky-cycle, and there were three more just like it within.

“Only four?” Dan asked.

“Yes, someone stays with the ship.”

“Hhhmmph, Ari’s not gonna like that.”

“Who said it’s Ariel who is going to stay?”

“What? Me? You’re gonna make me stay?”

“You’re the best pilot Dan. You can have the ship out of cover and to whoever needs you in minutes.”

“Yeah but I’m also the guy who can shatter brick and steel with his bare hands.”

“And right now I need you for your piloting skills, not your incredible strength.”

“Alright.
I really don’t like this one bit, but just give me a yell if ya need me.”

“Believe me Danny, you’ll be the first to hear.”

The big man nodded somberly. Everyone exited the ship and met Dan and Mark at the back hatch where they stood there with the four sky cycles. Stylish modern machines with tires just like any other motorcycle, but also an anti-grav magno-disc built into each solid rim. Black flight suits were donned over their regular uniforms and black helmets with a blackened face shield which was actually a HUD or Heads up Display linking first to the sky cycle then to the Stargrazer itself, sharing information across vast distances.

“Search pattern delta to begin with.” Mark ordered, and the four cycles suddenly leaped straight upwards, then away, disappearing into the night sky.
Small horizontal wings slid out of the sides of each to aid in aerodynamics. Below, Dan Sledge shook his head in disgust and re-entered the Stargrazer, sealing the hatch behind him.

“He’s not happy.” Red spoke into the communicator within his helmet.

“Do you blame him? He was just left behind.”

Dan’s voice crackled through thei
r headsets “I can still hear ya, ya know.”

Ariel laughed, “It’s okay Dan, I’m sure we’ll be calling you any minute to rescue us.”

“Haha,” came his crackled his reply.

“All right kiddies, let’s find this guy, whoever he is, and see what’s really going on here.”

Across his helmet’s HUD Mark was watching numbers and heat signatures fly by in quick succession. He hoped the small sky cycles were invisible to the scanners used on this world. There was plenty of shielding built into them for just that purpose, but he had no way of knowing for certain.

“Okay, it’s time to expand our grid
,” he ordered. “Eddie and Red flank right, and begin arcing back towards the ‘Grazer. Ari and I will arc left. If you see anything call out immediately.”

“Ay
e aye, skipper.” Eddie replied sarcastically.

“Watch it there pal, I still sign your paychecks.”

“Yeah, don’t I know it.”

The four sky cycles split up and rocketed through the sky.

The minutes dragged on in silence as the small sky cycles criss-crossed the sky above the designated search location.

“Anything yet?” Mark asked.

“No not yet. Nothing out here but farm animals of some kind that resemble cows.”

“It’s amazing that this is one of the only mountainous regions on this world.” Ariel offered.

“I know, it’s strange. There’s actually some vegetation here as well, and yet signs of habitation are few and far between. Most of these people on this sparsely populated world tend to be near the commerce centers. It’s a dust bowl, but at least they can have some form of a social life.”

“It’s a dreary world. That’s kind of an understatement, I know, but there’s not much other way to describe it.” Ari replied.

“Yes I know, still there has to be something significant about it for them to drag the General here, if that is who it is.”

“Do you really think they have Abruzzi here? Then who was that we’ve been dealing with?”

“Ari, I don’t know. I know it definitely wasn’t him, that much I can tell you. He may be a stodgy pain in the ass, but what he’s been putting us through the past few weeks has been just shy of crazy. Whoever that is taking his place has done his best to confiscate the Cagliostro, which means we would have never made this flight. In fact I have no doubt the ship would have exploded the moment it went to hyper-warp, and that would have ended our deep space program before it started.”

“Wow
,” she murmured, “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“This is a convoluted mess, Ariel, and it’s only likely to get worse before we figure it all out.”

“What’s worse is we have no one to back us up.”

Mark nod
ded as his sky cycle sped over treetops, “I know the Cag is gone now too. We’re really on our own out here, which is definitely something that can bite us if something goes wrong.”

As if in response to his last comment a spotlight suddenly shine
d upon him and Ariel from above, and then a voice boomed, “You will land your vehicles immediately and allow yourselves to be subject to a search. Land now. You will not be warned again.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Mark replied to his crew over the com
m link and suddenly shot his sky cycle straight upwards, past their pursuers. Ariel followed but on a different vector.

“Hell, it’s more of those
two-man gunships that were after us at the space port.” Mark grunted angrily.

“Do you two need help?” Reds voice cut through instantly.

“Yeah you could say that.” Mark replied testily.

“On our way.” Red confirmed.

Mark and Ariel zig-zagged their sky cycles to and fro, avoiding deadly energy beams that lanced out towards them from the two-man gunship dogging their tail.

“Watch out Ariel I’m going to try to draw their attention.” Mark shouted into his microphone.

Sliding his cycle to the right of Ariel’s, he flipped it over in midair, and sped across the bow of the gunship, then dove down and back up, looping around the two-man craft. When he was facing them directly he fired the two small laser blasters equipped on the sky cycle. Scoring a direct hit on the larger ship.

The problem was that the weapons on the sky cycles w
ere small discharge blasters, and could do no real damage to the heavily armored gunships.

Now it was a dance of death over the blackened landscape with the stars twinkling overhead, as the two small sky cycles dove and spun th
rough the night sky, avoiding the attacks of the much more heavily armed, two-man gunship, its bubble canopy showing the helmeted faces of their antagonists within.

First Mark would draw their fire, then Ariel, as each took turns blasting the larger vehicle, their energy pulses splashing off its armored hide like water.

“This is no good; we’re hardly making a mark on that thing.” Johnson lamented.

“I know, but we can’t run
, they’ll shoot us down right away.”

“I know
Ari; we have to hold on until the others get here.”

“Here now.” Red’s voice intruded as his sky cycle dove down between the attacking gunship and Ariel’s sky cycle.

“An’ he ain’t alone!” Shouted Eddie as he raced his sky cycle through the air from above the attack craft, heading towards it and strafing it as he passed over it.

“I’m feeding you all the aiming coordinates. Fire there. Together we can take this thing out.” Red shouted.

“Agreed.” Mark replied as the bigger craft turned again and headed towards them. Each Sky Cycle split off from the others in another direction, Each time the two-man craft would draw a bead on one cycle another would attack it, spinning by it, or sliding through the air sideways above or below the small gunship, all aiming their weapons at the same spot, the side of the engine cover at the rear of the patrol vehicle.

This dance of death went on for several minutes, until at one point Ariel flew too slowly, and too close to the small gunship, when one of its blasters found its mark, tearing through the rear wheel of her sky cycle
disintegrating it explosively and causing the cycle to cartwheel sideways though the sky.

“Ariel!” Mark shouted as he dove
his sky cycle towards her at full throttle through the black sky. “Jump!” He shouted both mentally and verbally, praying she’d hear him one way or another.

Ariel’s sky cycle continued to spin toward the treetops below, now looming much closer in the blackness. Suddenly she was flung free a
s instantly, Mark dove his cycle directly towards her only a heartbeat behind her decent.

The deadly impaling tree tops loomed through the darkness as Johnson, his
sky cycle’s engine screaming, grasped her flailing arm and pulled her up to him. Ariel immediately set herself behind Mark on the long seat and clung to him tightly. ‘
I’m okay,
’ is all she said mentally to him.

He patted her hand and then squeezed it as he looped his sky cycle in a tight circle, as far below the Sky Cycle Ariel had been riding exploded violently
when it finally hit the ground, so far below the trees.

Accelerating madly he climbed his sky cycle towards the battle being played out across his HUD.  Now aiming from his far removed position from the battle he began firing upon the two
-man patrol ship, concentrating his fire on the target Red had directed them to aim at.

The gunship turned towards
Mark and Ariel, but was attacked from above by Eddie as Red arced around it once more and concentrated his fire on the same spot again. Now all three sky cycles attacked the engine cover and within seconds it glowed bright orange and exploded with a horrific grinding of metal. The gunship hurled itself sideways and disappeared within the trees. An instant later a muffled explosion and a burst of flame shot up from below.

“Is everybody all right?” Mark frantically shouted into his comlink.

“Yes,” Eddie replied.

“Ditto
,” answered Red.

“What just happened there?” Ari asked.

“I think we discovered where they’re hiding the General.” Mark replied.

“You think we overflew where they have him stashed?” Red asked.

“Yes, I do. I don’t believe that there’d be a heavily armed patrol ship in the middle of nowhere. Something’s being hidden there. I’m sure it's who we’re looking for.”

“Now all we have to do is remember where the patrol ship came after us and start a search from there.” Red commented.

“Not that difficult a thing to do,” Mark explained, “all we do is recall the data going backwards to the point where the gunship attacked us, and fan out from there.”

Ariel squeezed his shoulder from behind as the sky cycle zoomed low over the treetops, heading back to where they came from.

“That was pretty smart,” she said with a smile, while she patted him on his shoulders playfully.

“Well Ari, you have to remember,”
he began, smiling wryly within his helmet, “I am a genius.”