The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration (5 page)

Red nodded, then
turned and exited the command deck.

“What do you people want?” Mark asked. The
loincloth clad red skinned aliens looked quizzically at him from the floor of their cell. The five of them sat cross-legged upon the floor and rocked slowly back. They sat in a circle.

Mark turn
ed to Red who stood next to him. “They just sit there rocking. They haven’t said a word since they awoke,” Red affirmed.

“I assumed as much. Let’s leave them for now.
When Ariel is better she can talk to them telepathically. If they start actually talking the ships language system can begin to put together a translation. But they have to speak first.”

“I know
Mark, you don’t have to explain it to me.” Red replied.

“I figured you would Red, I sometimes just like to think out loud
.”

“Understood boss.”
Red quietly answered. He was still feeling guilty about missing the aliens tunneling under the force field, and both men knew it.

Mark turned to the security men who stood on either side of the force field door
. “Make sure at least two of you are on duty at all times. If you think you need more men, then get them down here. I don’t want any surprises with these uninvited guests.”

“Yes
Sir,” A security officer name Jacoby answered.

“C’mon
, Red. Let’s go.” Mark turned and headed back toward the command deck.

The comm unit built into the sleeve of Marks tech suit lit up and
the voice of the comm officer taking Ariel’s place, Lori Westin, called to him, “Mark?”

He tapped it and replied, “I’m here
, Lori. What can I do for you?”

“Mar
k, we have what looks like an Agalum G’Kor class battle cruiser entering the system and heading straight for this planet.”

Mark and Red exchanged stunned and serious glances.
Both men ran down the hall to the maglovator and entered it.

An instant later they barged onto the
command deck.

Mark queried,
“Update us, Miss Westin.” Both men surrounded her console.

“Uh
, Mark, or Captain, it, the big ship I mean, just slipped into orbit. I can’t get any images but tridar readings indicate it’s just parked up there.”

“Are they scanning the planet?” Red asked.

“No, they’re not.” Lori replied.

“Then what are they doing?”
Red questioned.

“N-nothing…
Sir. They’re just sitting there.”

Mark stood quietly a moment and then ordered,
“Okay I need to see this. Let’s send a couple of stealthed probes up there immediately.”

Red nodded in agreement, punching a button on his security console.
Instantly two magno-disc powered probes shot out of the ship’s bow, immediately curving upward and streaking away, disappearing in the sky. Both were no bigger than a softball.

“Are the camera
s live yet, Lori?”

“Yes Captain
,” she replied.

“Lori, it’s
‘Mark’, not ‘Captain’. I may have that title officially, but I like things loose and fast on this ship.”

“Okay
, Mark,” she agreed uncomfortably.
Mark and Red exchanged quick glances, then returned to their respective stations.

The instant Mark sat
down in the command chair the main view screen sprang to life. The images were split in two, one from each probe. The small ball shaped devices used camouflage technology so they blended in with their backgrounds.

“Now that’s curious
,” Mark commented. “That ship is just sitting there in orbit, and it
is
a G’Kor class.”

“We are so screwed
,” Eddie murmured.

“Not yet we’re not
, Eddie. Red, engage the camouflage. Let’s hide the Cag, just in case.” Mark said, “Red, take control of the two probes please. I want them to be hidden. Find floating debris up there they can latch onto or hide behind. I think there were some asteroid pieces in orbit, correct?”

“Yeah that’s right
, Boss. There are. I can maneuver the probes into hiding behind them. We can keep an eye on our unwanted guests from there.” Red
replied
.

Mark nodded approvingly.
“Good, do it.” He sat there quietly a moment staring at the view screen image of the almost two mile long battle cruiser on the screen before them.

“What do they want here?” Mark
stroked his chin and asked quietly.

“Mark?” Eddie questioned.

“Eddie, I don’t think that ship is looking for us.”

“So what’s it here for then?”

Red turned suddenly and barked, “We’re all going to find out. Two ships just launched from that thing heading nearby our position.”

“Explain ‘nearby’.
”

“Mark,
they look to be heading almost right for us, but not quiet on top of us. We could be in trouble if those guys are scouring the area.”

“
Great.” Mark grunted, “Go to full red alert. Be prepared, everyone. Things could be going bad in a big way.”

The crew
stared at their displays and awaited Mark’s next order.

“Here they come
,” Red announced.

A dull roaring could be heard overhead and then disappeared in the distance.

“What the hell? What just happened?” Eddie asked.

“
Those ships flew right past us and kept on going,” Red answered.

“Where are they going to though
? That’s the question.” Mark asked.

Red replied,
“I don’t know, Mark, but I can bet it’s safe to say that these guys are going somewhere they don’t want us to know about. I can definitely tell you one thing though; those ships weren’t looking for us,”

“So they don’t know we’re here
,” Mark surmised.

“
But what are
they
here for?” Red asked.

“I don’t know, Red. But I think it’s safe to say whatever it is, it’s something we’re not going to like
.”

“Mark, what do we do?” Eddie asked.

“For now, until the ship is repaired and fully operational, we lay low. The repairs will continue as fast as humanly possible.”

“What about
those clowns out there?” Red nodded toward the viewer at the red skinned natives. They were now camped out around the ship, actually making fires and cooking over those fires.

“What are they eating?” Lori asked.

“The pterodactyl I think. It’s not exactly a lot of food,” Eddie replied.

“I have an idea
,” Mark announced as he turned and exited the command deck.

***

Five minutes later Mark, Eddie and Red along with a small contingent of security people walked down the boarding ramp toward the natives carrying platters of steaming food.

“You really think this is gonna work?” Eddie asked.

“We won’t know until we try
,” Mark replied.

“Sometimes
, Boss, I think you’re nuts,” Red added.

“Why are we
doin’ this again?” Eddie queried.

Mark shrugged.
“The enemy of my enemy is what?”

“In this case it could be someone who wants to eat us
,” Red offered.

“You know, you are really a glass half full kinda guy
,” Eddie remarked as he placed a platter of food on the ground at the inside edge of the force field barrier next to the others.

Outside the barrier the natives forgot about the small
pieces of the flying creature they had upon their spits and were all pressed up against the invisible shield, ogling both the strange new invaders and the food.

Mark tapped his right cuff
and spoke, “Danny, move the field back in five feet.”

“You got it,
Boss,” Dan Sledge’s voice replied.

The natives suddenly fell to the ground as the force field barrier they were leaning against disappeared.

They slowly, cautiously approached the metal trays of hot food, looking at Mark, Red and Eddie with furrowed brows and almost animal uncertainty.

Slowly on
e of the natives crept forward. He reached a tentative hand toward the platter before him and removed a piece of chicken. He was immediately surprised at the heat of it and juggled it between hands, almost dropping it. But after an instant he cautiously moved it to his nose, sniffing it. Then he licked it. Immediately he was intrigued. He bit down and a smile spread over his face. He waved to his compatriots, and they descended upon the awaiting trays of food like ravenous fiends, devouring everything before them at an almost alarmingly fast rate.

“C’mon gentlemen, let’s go back inside
,” Mark ordered.

Eddie and Red exchanged glances and followed Mark up the ramp and back into the
Cagliostro
. The doors hissed shut behind them and locked.

The three men returned to the command deck
where Dan was awaiting them at his usual console.

Mark looked at his friend and asked, “What’d they do after we left
, Danny?”

“They finished off the food and then looked up the ramp, like they were hoping more would be coming out
.”

“What are they doing now?”
Red asked, his eyes slit.

Everyone watched the monitor as
all the natives turned to stare up the path they had taken to get to the
Cagliostro
in the first place. They dropped whatever scraps of food were left and grabbed their crude spears, chattering nervously amongst themselves

“It’s coming back
,” Red announced.

“Of course it is.
It smelled the food,” Mark agreed.

“Yeah
, you said that was gonna happen,” Danny rumbled.

“You’re up
, Mr. Sledge,” Mark announced.

Dan Sledge nodded his
head. “On my way.”

“You sure you don’t want one of the armored
heavy battle suits?” Eddie called after him.

“
Naah, I’m good. This won’t take long.”

Dan disappeared into the maglovator. Everyone else on the command deck returned their gaze to the
view screen.

The trees shook as the natives began to nervously scatter. An instant later the towering
red furred ape appeared through the thick trees, bellowing madly.

The fearsome red ape-like monstrosity with the v-shaped head bellowed its rage again. The natives fearfully pointed their spears at the towering hundred foot tall creature.

“Gangway!” a voice
roared from behind the beleaguered natives before they could even throw one crude spear at the lumbering monstrosity.

Within the ship Mark commanded, “Now, drop the shield and bring it right back up after Dan clears it
.”

As one the
natives turned toward where the voice had come from in time to see Dan Sledge take three bounding steps then
to
leap at the red furred beast, both fists forward. He hurtled through the air as if he was shot from a cannon and impacted the ape directly under the jaw. The creature staggered immediately, as if drunk
en
. Sledge dropped to the ground in a crouch and immediately charged the beast, again leaping fifty feet straight up, this time swinging his massive right fist into the beast’s chest.

As if
Dan were David fighting Goliath the ape went down with an Earth shaking thud. The impact was so great that the natives were all thrown from their feet.

Dan walked up the giant
creature’s body until he was standing on its chest. He reached his hands up above his head in double clenched fists, prepared to administer the finishing blow.

But the Ape moved like lightning and grabbed Sledge
around the waist with both hands.

“Whoa!” Dan barked in surprise.

Aboard the
Cagliostro
everyone on the command deck immediately snapped into action.

“Eddie
, do you have a clear shot?”

“Not yet
, Mark. I don’t wanna vaporize Dan.”

“
To hell with it! Get out there with a blaster rifle and take that thing out. If the ships guns are too big for something like this we’ll do it man to monster.”