The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration (24 page)

“How
dare
you!” the Admiral shouted.

“Oh I dare. I dare because humanity is on the line. This is no joke
. If we don’t stop this infestation of Agalum so close to home it will result in a conflagration that will engulf the Earth and burn it and its people to ashes. Why can’t you see that? Are you another Agalum shape shifter? That can be the only explanation I can see at this point.”

“I’ve had abo
ut enough of you, Mister.”

“Get us a fleet out here
, Admiral, or we’re all dead. This is the worst threat since the Agalum surrounded Earth two years ago. Which, may I remind you, I was the reason for victory that day. Myself and my crew. We ensured the Earth’s survival. You may be the leader of EPIC’s Earth-side command, but out here in space, in the trenches we need someone who has gotten their hands dirty and knows how to recognize a threat. You obviously have lost that ability. I’ll deal with things out here, Admiral. Continue to play with your paperclips and other bureaucracies. I’m going to be saving the Earth, again.”

Mark cut off the communication and sat in the command crew conference room seething.

‘That didn’t go too well, did it?’
Ariel’s voice sang through his mind.

‘No, not at all,
’
he grudgingly replied to her through her telepathic link.
‘That man is a bureaucrat first and foremost. I have no idea why the President appointed him to anything, let alone placing him in command of EPIC.’

‘You forget, you refused the honor, remember? The President had to
appoint someone, and Bright seemed like the best candidate at the time.’

Mark snorted lightly.
‘You still think I made a mistake turning down command of EPIC?’

‘I think you would have been good at it, honey.’

‘I think I did more good out here, and still do than I would have done sitting behind a desk somewhere waiting for the next disaster to overtake us all.’

Ariel chuckled mentally.
‘It would have been nice to be out of the line of fire for a while instead of being the Agalum’s public enemy number one.’

‘That’s a pos
ition for a guy like Bright who gets his kicks from going to state functions and cocktail parties where he can push his rather heavy weight around and be impressed by his own stories.’

‘That’s true,’
Ariel giggled.
‘We both know how much you love anything you have to wear a suit or God forbid a tux to.’

Mark grinned.
‘I’ll be right up, and thanks for making me laugh a little. It broke my foul mood up rather nicely.’

Ariel’s voice rang joy
fully through his mind.
‘Glad to have been of help, sailor.’
And then she was gone, the telepathic connection severed.

Mark stood and continued grinning. He left the command conference room
and entered the maglovator. He had a lot to plan and make ready, and he and his crew were going to have to do it alone.

“So what’s the plan?” Dan asked.

Mark grinned,
“A simple one this time, Danny. We camo the ship again and land within walking distance of that base. Chakix has agreed to allow as many of her people as we need as well as the red ape to aid us.”

Seated around the command crew ready room table
were the entire primary command crew.

“That’s not bad except
for one thing,” Red intervened. “It’s still only a handful of us and a bunch of stick wielding savages against a highly trained and fortified army.”

Mark nodded
. “Right, but we do have a hundred foot tall ape to help us.”

Eddie shrugged.
“Yeah, amigo. The only problem is one blast from the
Cag
’s solar cannon can punch a hole through its chest you could fly the ‘
Grazer
through.”

“Well we’re not going to be aiming at it, DiGenovese.
We’ll be defending it.”

“Well ain’t that a kick in the ass
?” Eddie grinned.

“As long as it’s not our asses being kicked, Eddie
,” Mark answered.

Mark turned toward
Dan. “Danny, do you have anything to add on the status of the
Stargrazer
?

“
It’s still under reconstruction, Mark. It was basically destroyed. I’m not even sure we can rebuild it onboard the
Cag
. It may have to be dry docked for a few months back home to get it all right.”

“That’s not the answer I was looking for
, Dan. You and your crew should be able to do anything aboard this ship that can be done at any Johnson Aerospace facility. We need that ship back in working condition as insurance.”

Mark
’s comm unit beeped. He immediately touched the cuff of his right sleeve. “Yes, Miss Wallflower?”

Dan grimaced at the use of her formal name, but said nothing.

“Captain, I’m getting a signal here you might want to see for yourself.”

“On my way
, Wallflower.”

Mark looked at his command crew
. “Are you joining me?”

Everyone arose from the table almost simultaneously and headed to
ward the maglovator.

“What do you think this is about?” Ari asked Mark as they walked.

“You’re the telepath, you tell me.” He smiled.

She
squinted her eyes and reached out with her mind. An instant later she opened them wide and said, “C’mon, someone’s trying to contact us.”

“Well I knew that already
, Ari.”

They all stepped into the maglovator
, then Ari turned back and looked at Mark. “You don’t know the half of it. boy scout.”

The crew stepped onto the command deck
and Mark froze staring at the view screen.

“What the hell?” he whispered.

Arrayed before them in a semi-circle were a half dozen EPIC vessels of various sizes and fire power. The view screen flashed and the image of the captain of one of the other ships filled the viewer. He was an Asian man, most probably Japanese.

“Captain Johnson? I am Captain Nagata.
We heard you were having an issue trying to get back up out here against the Agalum and we’d like to offer you our services. The
Coronado
and its crew are at your service as well as the other five vessels in my fleet.”

Mark smiled.
“Thank you, Captain. Please join me along with the captains of each of the other ships in my conference room in one hour. Oh and Captain Nagata, thank you again.”

***

One hour later the command crew conference room was filled with the captains of each ship that were floating out near the
Cagliostro
.

Mark entered the
room with Dan and Red at his side and smiled warmly. “Gentlemen, first I have to say that I can’t thank you all enough for coming to aid us. I explained what we discovered to Admiral Bright, and I have to assume you all heard either from him or through other channels what is actually out here.”

Nagata spoke first.
“Rumor has it that you discovered a fully functioning Agalum base a day away from Earth. Is that true, Captain Johnson?”

“First, call me Mark. Secondly
, Captain Nagata, yes it is true. They could re-arm their ships as well as maintain them from this world. It is a fully functioning base to stage attacks from.”

Another
captain, a grey haired and balding black man, raised his hand and began to speak. “Captain Carlson, captain of the
Revenant
, How large a force is on this world?”

“Captain, we are not certain. There could be hundreds to multiple thousands
. I just do not know for certain.”

“Did you e
ngage them in battle?” a third captain asked, a gray haired white man who looked inordinately trim and fit for his age.

“We met them in battle at two instances while we were affecting repairs on the
Cagliostro
. I can tell you all that they have a new type of attack craft, one that actually seems to have shields almost as sturdy as a full sized star cruiser’s. My personal craft, the
Stargrazer
was almost fully destroyed in pitched battle with one of those small attack crafts. We nicknamed them ‘Predator’, or rather my weapons officer did.

He was the one who finally shot it
down, at almost the cost of his own life I might add.”

“I understand
,” the Captain nodded thoughtfully.

“What
is your name, Sir, and your ship?” Mark inquired.

“Ah I
apologize, I should have introduced myself I am Captain Brennan of the
Tempest
.”

“Welcome
, Captain. What I can tell you all is that not only is this a fully functional attack and resupply base within a day of Earth, but the planet has a few surprises of its own.”

“What kind of surprises?” Nagata asked.

“The planet is alive.”

“All planets are ali
ve,” answered the fourth captain. “Captain Argento of the
Crossbow
at your service.”

“It’s not alive like that
, Argento. It’s sentient.”

“What?” Carlson barked.
“What kind of line are you trying to feed us?”

“
It’s no line.” Mark tapped his right sleeve’s cuff. “Bring him in please.”

A security officer entered the conference room, and with him was Chakix
, or rather the bare chested, red skinned alien native that housed Chakix’s mind.

Captain Nagata narrowed his eyes and asked, “Who is this?”

Haughtily the red skinned alien looked at him and replied in its strange hollow voice. “I am Chakix. I have allied myself with this man. He is resourceful and I believe trustworthy. He has agreed to cleanse my world of the usurpers who now trod upon my children and use them as slaves. I trust this Captain Johnson. So should you all.”

“What is this? A carnival side show?” Carlson asked angrily.

“No
, Captain. This is the truth. Chakix is the life force, the mind of that world which we have begun to call Chakix as well.”

The alien native nodded, crossed his arms
over his bare chest and smiled, “I am Chakix.”

“Foolishness
,” spat Carlson contemptuously.

Chakix
’s host slammed his fists down on the table. “The only foolishness is you making light of this. I am Chakix. MarkJohnson has told me you will help my children and I will hold you to it.”

Carlson stood, sneering as he shook his head
. “I’ll be returning to the
Revenant
now. When you have something serious to discuss I’ll consider it. Until then I’m going back to my ship.”

“Hold up
, Captain.” Mark stood and held his hand out in the universal stop signal. “Look, I’m not going to try to talk you into anything you don’t want to risk your crews’ lives on. But we do need your help. Whether you believe my friend here or not there
is
a world with a heavily fortified Agalum base on it that is near enough to Earth to be a threat, and we need every ship we can to take that base. But the base is not the only problem. There are ships in orbit of that world now. The
Cagliostro
can get in and out without a problem because of our camouflage field. But we’re the only ship here that has that camo ability. The rest of you are not going to be able to get to the surface without a protracted battle.”

“How many ships are you going to need on the surface?
How many troops?” Nagata asked.

“It all depends on how many natives Chakix is willing to send to aid our cause
.”

“Again with this Chakix
,” Nagata commented. He looked down at the table top and shook his head,

“You better understand
, gentlemen. Chakix is for real, as are his claims. Every member of my crew here has seen Chakix’s power at work. Chakix even possessed Ariel O’Connor, my comm officer for a short time.”

“She’s a telepath, isn’t she?” Carlson asked.

Mark nodded affirmatively. “She is, yes.”

“And also your girlfriend
,” Brennan added.

“You do your homework, Captain
.”

Brennan smiled.
“I have to. I’m a Captain in EPIC, and we are at war, and not with each other.”

Mark grinned as he sat back down
. “You’re right, Captain. We’re not.” Mark turned toward the last two captains who had sat silently throughout the proceedings. “What do you two have to add?”