The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration (14 page)

“I have my doubts
,” Dan replied.

“I think we all do
,” Troiano agreed.

Mark stood, with everyone else following suit.
But he still gripped the edge of the table top heavily as he did so.

Dr. Troiano stopped him before he exited the room and pulled him to one side.

“Mark, tell me you are not going to do anything stupid in dealing with this creature.”

“Ann
, I couldn’t do anything stupid even if I wanted to. Answer this for me. What is there for me to do? This Chakix thing is some kind of world spirit. It’s alive and inside the planet and its inhabitants.”

“Are you saying it’s a
god of some kind, Mark?”

“Ann
, for all I know it could be a viral infection carried through the air on spores that are breathed in.”

“If that’s the case anyone who’s been outside the ship, including both of us would be infected
. But since we’re both fine I think that shoots down that theory.”

“I think you’re right
,” Mark agreed.

“So what do we do then?”

“We go deal with this thing, this living planet and try to make some sense out of this. In the meantime I’m going to have every scientist on this ship working to figure out what this thing is and how to overpower it.”

“Are you sure you’re all right to go back out there and actually talk to Chakix? Ariel died yesterday, Mark. Not last week, not last month.
This is more than a little soon.”

He turned and looked at Troiano. His lips formed a grimace before he replied
, “No, Ann, I’m not okay. I can’t forgive this thing and if I find a way I
will
kill it for what it did to Ariel. I will not let this living, sentient planet get away with killing Ariel. But right now I do believe we need this creature and her inhabitants if we’re going to drive off the Agalum.”

“Wait, Mark. You are really going to trust Chakix to aid us against the Agalum? Have you lost your mind?”

“Honestly Ann, I’d have to say yes. Since Ariel died, I most definitely have lost my mind, which Chakix is about to discover.”

“Mark, wait…” Troiano called after him
. But he ignored her. He entered the maglovator and descended to the boarding ramp.  He began to walk down it as the maglovator doors sighed shut behind him, only to re-open only a scant few seconds later. Dan, Red, and Eddie followed him down the ramp.

“You three stay on the ship
. I’ve got this,” Mark called over his shoulder.

“Like hell you do,
Mister,” Dan Sledge answered.

Mark looked over his shoulder, his brow furrowed in surprise, “Dan, You’re fired. Red, take him into custody
.”

Red looked at Mark
’s face impassively. “Do it yourself.”

“What? You three are here to what?
Mutiny against me?”

“Not the word I’d a
’ used, amigo, but hey whatever shoe fits,” Eddie replied.

Mark was stunned, but he pointed up the
ramp toward the entry way door. “This is not funny you three. Turn around go back up that ramp and wait for me inside. We’ll work this out.”

“We a
in’t goin’ anywhere without you, Mister,” Dan growled.

“Are you three out of your damned minds? I’ve given you all direct orders
.”

“Yeah, we know. We just ain’t
obeyin’ them.” Dan stepped forward, closing the distance between them in four steps.

“Listen
, Mark, You’re too hot headed for this right now. You gotta relax and give yourself a chance to cool out. Ari dyin’ hurt us all, every one of us on this ship, but especially us.” Sledge waved his hand as if to encompass the four of them. “She was family to us. The five of us were more than crew members, we were a team. Now if you’re goin’ out here to deal with this thing, we’re goin’ witcha. It’s that simple, deal with it.”

Mark stood there, not knowing what to say, or how to respond. Finally after at least half a minute he deflated and sighed, “I don’t know whether to start hitting you three
idiots or hugging you all right now,”

“
No hugging,” Red grunted. “I don’t ‘hug’. Not now, not ever, got it?”

Mark smiled and nodded.
“Yeah I got it, big guy. To be honest, I’m not that big on hugging another man myself.”

“Good
,” Red agreed. “Remember that and we won’t have any problems in the future.” He half smiled as he brushed past Mark and took point down the ramp where the alien natives and the hundred foot tall red ape with the ‘V’ shaped head stood silently.

The four men spread out across the bottom of the ramp
, and then Mark began to speak. “Chakix, show yourself now. I order you to come face me.”

As one a
ll the aliens and the ape spoke. “You order me, human? I who am goddess and world to those who dwell here? You are impertinent, MarkJohnson.”

“No, you monster.
I am angry. How dare you think you can hold my crew here and make us fight your war. How dare you think you can force us to drive your enemy off of this world’s surface, something you obviously don’t have enough power to do yourself.”

“You are wrong
, MarkJohnson,” the strange unison voice replied. “I could drive them off, but many of my children would die.”

“Oh you mean like the way Ariel died? Ariel was special to me, I loved her
. She was going to be my wife someday. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together when this war was over. I hate the Agalum. I despise them for what they did to my world. I have no interest in anything they have to say. I’m not interested in doing anything where they are concerned save forcing them back to their own solar system and closing the door on them, much the way they had intended to do to us.”

Mark paused a moment and walked a few feet
, looking away from the gathered natives and into the sky. Then he returned his gaze to the waiting aliens and through them, Chakix.

“But you?” He continued, “You I hate more than I do them. Infinitely more. You took the love of my life from me. You took my future from me. That’s something I’ll never forgive or forget. Ariel made me a better man just by being in the same room as me. I looked at her and all was right with the world no matter what situation we were in. She calmed me just by being there. I can still see her face smiling at me. That’s something I’ll never be able to do again, because of you. I’m going to drive the Agalum off of this world, but after I’m done with that, I’m going to destroy you, no matter what it takes. For killing Ariel I’m going to kill you.”

If a being who considered herself a goddess
could know fear, than certainly Chakix was feeling that emotion now. But instead of recoiling, Chakix’s minions merely stood their ground and spoke as one once more, every being present replying, “MarkJohnson, you misunderstand. ArielO’Connor is not dead. She is here with me.”

“What do you mean she’s here with you?” Mark exploded, thundering off the ramp and running until he was face to face with the native chieftain.

“When your Eddie shot at her/I
, the pain was awful. I retreated back to my body, back to my world and children, and I took Ariel with me. She is not dead. She is here, all around you.”

“You crazy psychotic thing, you release her immediately
,” Mark roared.

Behind him, Eddie, Dan
, and Red looked at each other and then at Mark, surprise etched across all their faces at Chakix’s proclamation.

“Free
her or I’ll free her myself from your grip. I promise you it will not be pleasant for you. If you know anything about me, I’m a man of my word, and nothing,
nothing
will ever stop me from attaining whatever goal I set for myself. You’ve merged with Ariel. You know what she does. You know I mean every word I say. Release her because I swear if you don’t I’ll tear her mind from your grasp and rip you apart in the process.”

The gathered aliens were silent a moment, as if considering Mark
’s demand. Then as one being they all looked upon him. “I never meant any of you any harm. It is not my way. But these Agalum had hurt my children and had blocked themselves from my wrath, in much the way I cannot affect your ship other than holding it here.”

Danny looked at Red and Eddie and mouthed silently, “The force field
.”

The
y both nodded in silent agreement.

“Release her
,” Mark demanded again.

“Will you help my children? Will you drive these Agalum from my surface?
From my skin?”

“No promises. R
elease your hostage or I’ll force her from your grasp, whatever way I have to. Once you do we can discuss what you want. All you’ve done so far is show us all how much you cannot be trusted. You haven’t been dealing with us from a position of power as you may have thought, but from one of threats, as a usurper would. You have not made us respect you, Chakix. You have made us despise you instead.”

“B-but my children
,” the world mind stuttered.

“You put them in this position, one of danger
. Not us. We were forced to your surface, driven to land here. If the Agalum had not forced us to land here we would have never bothered with your world, with you. You have given us no reason to aid you. All you have done is filled us with contempt for you. But if you release Ariel without any further delay, we’ll begin discussions on aiding you. There are no promises though. I am making that clear to you before we start.”

“Very well
,” were the only words the aliens uttered before they all closed their eyes.

Mark touched the
right cuff of his silver and blue uniform, which immediately began to softly glow and called, “Dr. Troiano, I need you to check on Ariel and tell me what you see immediately.”

Troiano’s v
oice replied without hesitation. “Captain, I was just about to call you. All of Ariel’s life signs have come back all at once. She’s alive, Mark. I don’t know what you did, but she’s alive.”

“Doc, get her out of the suspended animation tube ASAP
.” He clicked his right cuff again, which stopped glowing.

Mark turned toward the closest alien native. “You, you will accompany us onto the
Cagliostro
. Do you understand, Chakix? You’ll be allowed this one body aboard my ship and you will speak through him.”

Mark soften
ed as the realization of what had just transpired seemed to finally wash over him. He turned and headed back up the entry ramp to the
Cagliostro
, calling over his shoulder as he hurried toward the ship’s entryway. “I’ll call for you in few minutes. I’m seeing to Ariel first myself. If she’s fine, you can come up and join us.”

“I understand,
MarkJohnson,” The eerie voices all spoke at once. “I will await your call here.”

Eddie, Dan
, and Red followed in Mark’s wake, which was as powerful as any sea going titan at the moment. The four men burst out of the maglovator and onto the medical deck, walking quickly and purposefully toward the sliding glass doors.

The doors opened as they all approached. A crowd was gathered near a gurney. The heads in the crowd of people turned one by one and stepped aside when they saw who it was that was approaching
. They all parted like the Red Sea at Mark’s approach, without hesitation.

Then Mark saw her. Behind him his three closest friends looked at one another and smiled
.

Mark threw himself at Ariel and wrapped his arms about her, practically smothering her with his affection. They kissed
for several minutes as the crowd turned and left slowly, leaving the two people alone save for their three friends and Troiano herself.

“I thought I lost you
,” Mark choked. He ran his hands through her golden hair.

“No.
Never. I’m still here, and always will be. I’ll never let you get rid of me that easily.”

“Good, because I was about to turn this world to dust to get you back
.”

“Always gotta have the last word, don’t you?” Ariel snickered before kissing him again.

Eddie, Dan, and Red moved closer when Ariel looked up at them and smiled.

The three men hugged her one at a time
. Dan had to turn away and wipe tears from his eyes.

“You’re crying?
You, the big tough super strong Jupiter colony native?” Red teased.

“Watch your mouth
, strawberry, or I’ll forget how fragile you really are,” Dan answered, grinning.

Mark turned toward
his security chief. “Red, show Chakix to the conference room.”