The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration (29 page)

Instants later the doors to the maglovator
sighed open and Red along with more security men entered. Red was holding his favorite energy cannon, which was strapped to his back in a harness.

He lifted it
, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion. The blast rocketed from the cannon’s maw and slammed into the nearest robot, sending it careening into another shuttle.

“Wonderful, yet more damage
,” Mark groused.

‘Ariel?’
Mark questioned mentally.

‘I’m here.’
she replied.

‘Get upstairs.
I don’t want you involved in this. This is turning ugly.’

‘No.
I’m part of this command crew. If you’re all here, then so am I.’

Mark shook his head angrily.
‘Okay, just stay out of the way and near a maglovator in case you have to escape from here. If you’re going to stay then link us all up telepathically.’

‘That I can do.’

‘And Ari, be careful. I almost lost you once on this mission. That was one time too many.’

Ariel smiled and blew him a kiss, then ducked low and made her way to the nearest maglovator. From there she reached out with her mind and linked the command crew up.

‘Everyone
here? Check in please,’
she asked.

‘Yeah.
I’m here,’
Eddie answered.

‘
Ditto,’
grunted Dan.

‘I’m a little busy now,
’
replied Red.

‘We all are,
’
Mark finally commented.

Red turned toward Eddie, who was ducking down behind a shuttle, and thr
ew him a rifle.

‘Here
, squirt, try that.’
Red’s mental voice flooded the mental link.

‘Thank
s, big man,’
Eddie replied while catching the rifle deftly from the air.

Spinning it like a toy Eddie brought it up quickly and fired
in a blur. The first blast spun the robot nearest him around, but it did not go down.

Red meantime was hammering at the second robot with his blast cannon aligned with about half of the security force in the
hangar deck. Red’s cannon was making progress, certainly more than the hand blasters were and even more than the rifles. But even so it was a slow uphill battle.

‘I can’t believe Red’s cannon
is not tearing that thing apart,’
Dan critiqued.

‘Neither can
I. All I can think of is that it’s made of our armored hull material,’
Mark replied.
‘Are you okay, Danny?’

‘Yeah
, boss. I just need a minute to catch my breath.’

‘You got it
, pal.’
Mark ran off crouched low across the landing deck toward Eddie and some of the security personnel.

The group Eddie was with fired continuously at the robot
. So much blaster energy was being thrown at the thing that it glowed bright red in spots.

‘How the hell did these things get oils and lubricants inside of them?’
Eddie asked.

‘It’s from the shuttles and what’s stored here.
Don’t forget this is a maintenance bay; everything they need to run on is here. The damned things must have absorbed it slowly somehow.’

‘Mark,’
Ariel interrupted, ‘
what the hell are these things? What kind of science is this?’

‘I don’t know
, baby. I’ve never seen anything like this. This scares me,’
he admitted.

‘Everybody clear away from my target
,
’ Red barked,
‘I’m ramping the cannon up to a hundred and ten percent.’

Mark
answered immediately,
‘Red be careful, you’re bypassing the safeties. That thing could explode in your hands and take out half the landing deck.’

‘Kinda hoping this works out
, Boss,’
was his terse reply.

The cannon hummed dangerously loud in Red’s hands, its sound starting at a low rumble and spiraling upward to a screeching
, ear-splitting crescendo.

“Try this on, tin can
,” Red shouted.

He fired
, and the cannon’s kick back knocked him from his feet and slammed him into the bulkhead behind him. But the blast of energy it emitted was shockingly powerful, akin to a comet being released within the
Cagliostro
’s landing deck. The ball of fury exploded upon the robot’s chest, searing a hole clear through it before dissipating. The robot stumbled a step, then two and finally fell over, a melted heap of scrap metal, totally destroyed.

Red dropped the cannon. It was blisteringly hot to the touch and
ruined by the powerful blast itself.

‘
Red! Are you okay?’
Ariel shouted telepathically.

He waved her off, as he fought his way to his feet, trying to catch his breath and wincing from the pain he was in.

The last robot now moved steadily toward the group of security men Eddie was with. Their weapons were slowing it down, but not doing enough damage to stop it.

“Crap!” Eddie shouted dropping his rifle. It had begun to overheat and glow in his hands
.

‘Clear the deck,
’
Mark commanded through their link.

Everyone
looked around for him but he was nowhere in sight.

‘Move it all of you,
’
he ordered once more.

“C’mon
, back to the maglovator.” Eddie moved the men with him. He met Dan who was holding Red up and the unconscious Phillips in his other arm.

“Where the hell is Mark?” Eddie shouted over the roaring sound of the advancing robot combined with the continued gunfire
.

Before anyone could answer, the
Stargrazer
came to life and lifted up into the air. It spun itself into position between the men and the advancing robot, which stopped in its tracks to assess this new threat.

“Fire in the hole!” shouted Mark over the
‘
Grazer
’s comm system.

The
Stargrazer
’s twin solar cannons fired, obliterating the remaining robot instantly. All that was left was a steaming pile of unrecognizable metal.

The
Stargrazer
hovered slowly back into its landing berth and settled down. Its engines powered down and the ship shut down. Mark exited the ‘
Grazer
’s doors at a run toward his crew.

“Everyone okay?”

“Some bangs and bruises but for the most part we’re all fine,” Ariel answered.

“Good.
I was able to use a low powered setting on the
Stargrazer’s
cannon’s, otherwise that might have turned into more of a mess on this deck then just the robots attack. The last thing I wanted was to blow a hole in the side of the
Cag
. I’m glad repairs on the
Stargrazer
got as far as they did. At least I was able to get it off the ground. I want a cleanup crew down here immediately. Make sure our remaining shuttles and the
Stargrazer
are locked down securely. Then from the landing deck I want those piles of junk sucked out into space. Open the deck doors and force field. Let them all be sucked out. Once that’s finished I want this deck swept for any more surprises the Agalum might have left behind.”

Red nodded.
“You got it Boss, I’ll get right on it.”

“No,” Mark interrupted him.
“You’re going to the medical deck to see Dr. Troiano. You’re hurt from that harebrained stunt you just pulled. Someone else can take care of this. Security team, whoever’s not injured stay down here while the cleanup crew gets this place in order. Let’s move it people, we’ve got a planet to free.”

“That’s what I have for you
, Captain Nagata. This is totally new technology. I have no doubt there’s a new player aiding the Agalum now. Feel free to relay my findings to the rest of the fleet captains. Since you seem to be the leader of our impromptu fleet I wanted to talk to you first.”

Nagata sighed resignedly on his side of the view screen. “That is awful news
, Captain Johnson. I am relieved to hear none of your crew was seriously injured. What about repairs to your ship?”

“Engineering is taking care of that now
. It’s mostly minor damage to the landing deck. I have them reinforcing the deck floor where it was weakened.”

“And you say there’s been no sign of any more of these miniaturized robotic weapons systems?”

“No Captain, none to be seen. The ship is clean.”

“Very well
, Captain Johnson. Are you satisfied with your attack plan?”

“Yes
, I am. I think it’s the most advantageous plan we can put into motion. What are your thoughts, Captain Nagata?”

“No, I have to agree. Use our strengths in the best manner for each situation. I believe your plan is sound
. When our part of the battle is completed we’ll join you with your beachhead assault upon their base. Godspeed, Captain Johnson.”

Mark saluted, “To you as well, Captain Nagata. Be careful out there
.”

Nagata nodded and broke the connection.

Mark slumped back into his chair in his conference room
. He closed his eyes momentarily and breathed slowly.

‘How’d it all come to this?’
he thought to himself.

‘Don’t worry about it
, Mark. We’ll be fine.’
Ariel’s mental voice replied.

‘Sorry
, Ari. I didn’t realize you were listening in.’

‘
I really wasn’t but your last comment sounded almost painful.’

Mark laughed.
‘That wouldn’t be far from the truth, but you understand what I mean.’

She sighed telepathically.
‘I do, Mark. But you are the best man for the job, you know that.’

‘Sometimes I wonder though, Ari. Sometimes I think these big starship Captains should be running this show instead of me.’

‘Mark, you know that the President has the utmost confidence in you.’

‘Sometimes I think Scaleia has more confidence in me than I have in myself.’

‘You not being an overconfident ass is a plus, you know.’
She chuckled softly.

‘Really?
Try telling that to Admiral Bright.’

‘I think he doesn’t like you because you’re not military.’

‘Him and everyone else who wears a military uniform.’

‘It’s not that bad. What about men like Captain Ryan and
Captain Jepson? They both like you and are willing to follow your lead.’

‘Honey, I think they are few and far between. I mean really
, Ari, think about it; what are we doing out here that the military can’t do better? This is a war. I served proudly when I was younger, but that was a decade ago. Since then I’ve become a completely different person. What do I know about battle strategies?’

‘Obviously enough, because like I already said, the President trusts you
. Heck he handpicked you two years ago to lead the mission that changed everything.’

‘
I have to tell you, Ari, that I wonder sometimes if we were better off never leaving our solar system. The Agalum weren’t at war with us and may have never been.’

‘No, they were just infiltrating our governments and replacing key people including General Abruzzi and even President Scaleia.
Think about what you’re saying.’

‘I know, you’re right.
Sometimes I just feel like I’m not in control of anything anymore, let alone my own life. Things were simpler when I just designed spacecraft and weapons.’

‘Som
eday they’ll be like that again,’
she replied.

Mark chuckled silently.
‘I’m on my way back to the command deck. I’ll see you in a minute.’

‘See you then.’
She cut the connection and Mark rose from his chair, and ran his hand through his hair.

“Time to get this show on the road
,” he said aloud, and exited the conference room.

***

Eighteen hours later…

The
Cagliostro
exited hyper-warp into a war zone. Explosions rocked near space around them followed by blindingly brilliant flashes of light.

“Shields at maximum, camouflage on
,” Mark ordered.