The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration (9 page)

“How come we didn’t see that until just
now, and where’d it go?” Eddie asked.

Red shrugged.
“Probably for the same reason they didn’t see us. They’ve got it cloaked somehow.”

“I figured as much
,” Eddie admitted. Then he turned back to Red, “Now what do we do?”

“
We get back to Mark and the others and tell them what we discovered. The enemy is living right under our noses, inside a hollowed out volcano. And from the look of things they have already established a forward base on this world. One that’s within striking distance of Earth.”
 

“Their base is inside the volcano,” Mark repeated.

Eddie and Red looked at each other, then back at Mark and nodded.

“At least we know where it is now,” Mark commented as he slid back into his chair at the conference table.

“That’s not going to make things any easier
,” Red added.

“No
, it’s not. At least the ore and chemicals you managed to acquire seems to be exactly what we need, according to Dan. The final repair parts and coolant are being manufactured as we speak.”

“How long until we’re off this
mudball?” Eddie asked.

“It should only be another day or two at worst
.”

“Yeah
, but then we have to get by that G’Kor class monster out there, the Agalum’s planet killer. That’s not going to be easy you know,” Red advised.

“I didn’t think it would be, Red. But what choice do we have? We can’t stay here forever
. The natives already know we’re here and while they are friendly now, all it takes is one of them getting captured and then interrogated for whatever reason and bam, there goes our secret.”

“That’s for sure. I guess it’
s better to get out of here and take our chances out there.” Eddie waved his hand toward the ceiling and the depths of space beyond.

“I don’t know about ‘better’, but it’s more of the devil we know as opposed to the one we don’t
.”

“Why? You think there may be more to this place than just a base?” Red asked with a furrowed brow.

“It is possible, Red. Though sometimes the most obvious reason is all the reason you need.”

“Yeah, understood
,” the big security chief acknowledged.

“So what do you want us to do in the meantime?” Eddie inquired.

“System checks and training exercises. Let’s make sure everyone is in top shape for our mad escape from this world.”

“I guess that’s one way of putting it
,” Eddie muttered.

“That’s what it’s going to end up being, Eddie.
A mad rush out of here. I’m sure well have plenty to contend with on the way back up to the stars.”

“You
know that’s probably an understatement.” Eddie smiled.

“I’m well aware of that
, Mr. DiGenovese.”

Red held up his hand to silence both of the other
men. “Now that that stuff is out of the way, I have the important question. How’s Ari?”

Mark sighed and
deflated. He looked at the tabletop, then back toward his two friends. “She’s the same. Not good. Dan’s signal blocker did not work or maybe it’s not a beamed in signal and maybe she’s really been possessed. I don’t know. We have to keep her sedated, otherwise that thing inside her begins to rave like a lunatic under a full moon. But how long do I really want to do that for? This gets worse and worse.” Mark shook his head, exasperated.

Eddie leaned forward.
“What? Do you really think this is any worse than anything else we’ve faced the past few years? C’mon, Boss, think about it. We’ve always prevailed before. What makes this time any different?”

“Nothing, except we don’t have Ari and may not again if this goes on. Hell, what if I can
’t sever the ties that Chakix thing has on her? What happens when we head out to space? Is that going to kill her?”

The three men exchanged worried glances and for the first time Eddie and Red actually knew what was bothering Mark, the entire truth of it.

“What does Troiano think?” Red queried.

“She’s not sure. She’s worried that if we leave the planet’s atmosphere Ari will die
.”

“Wait, I think we’re all jumping the gun
.” Red raised his hands up before himself. “We don’t know either way what will happen. The entity or whatever the hell it is may end up being stuck here when we leave the planet.”

That
was
what Mark hoped for deep inside. But he also knew that forcibly separating Ariel and this Chakix thing could be disastrous, especially for Ari.

“
No matter what we do, if it does not want to let Ari go, it won’t, period. We have to work around that conclusion. We have to drive that thing out of Ari, without hurting her.”

“I don’t
think forcing
it out of Ari is going to be any picnic,” Eddie interjected.

“So what
, Eddie? Are you going to ask it nicely to get up and leave Ari’s body?”

“Well, not really. But something did occur to me
.”

“Are you going to share, Di Genovese?” Red asked.

“What if we make it uncomfortable for this thing to stay inside of Ariel?”

“
Hhhmmm, not bad, Eddie,” Mark replied while stroking his chin in deep thought. “The question is how?”

Chakix/Ariel awoke in restraints. Steel bands w
ere wrapped around each arm and leg and bolted to a platform that was in turn secured to the floor of the med-lab.

The creature that commanded Ariel’s
body looked around, perplexed.

“What is this? You seek to trap me here? I cannot be restrained thusly. I am Chakix
.” The alien presence spoke to Mark who was standing staring at Ariel’s body with his arms crossed.

“What you are now is my prisoner. I already proved to you we can keep you sedated indefinitely. But that doesn’t do me any good. I want Ariel back, without your presence. So you’re going to accommodate me and leave her body
.”

“I will do nothing you ask
, MarkJohnson.”

“
Access Ariel’s memories to see how stubborn I can be.”

“Stubborn?”

“Yes, Chakix, stubborn. Pig headed. Single minded. Dogged. Persistent. All of those words have the same definition or meaning. Do you know what those words mean? Can Ariel’s memories tell you that? Don’t bother looking. I’ll explain it for you. I am ‘unreasonably determined’. Meaning I do not give up, ever. I do not bend a knee to a supposed ‘superior’ foe. Ask your enemies the Agalum about that. They thought we were easy pickings. By ‘we’ I mean the Earth, my home world, but you already knew that by going through Ariel’s memories. I find a way to defeat an enemy and I finish the job.”

Chakix/
Ariel cocked her head sideways. “Then why have you not dealt your enemy the Agalum a mortal blow they cannot recover from?”

Mark walked slowly about the room
before answering. “The reason is simple; I’m not trying to eradicate that race, or rather races. There are at least three we know of that are heavily involved in the Agalum empire.”

“Yet as a race against superior forces you fight alone and you hold them off?”

“You have Ari’s memories, you know we do.”

“How?”

“Access Ari’s memories again, so you know what I’m telling you is true. Our technology is better than theirs. This is why they fear us. What we have done as a race in a few hundred years has taken them much longer. Our weapons are stronger, and now our ships are faster.
That
is why they fear us.”

Chakix/Ariel moved her head side to side
in short, quick motions. “They will eventually wear you down and overwhelm you. They have the beings to do so.”

“You mean they have the numbers on us, correct?”

Chakix/Ariel nodded in the affirmative.

“I figure there’s got to be a few races out here somewhere that have had enough of the Agalum and want revenge on them or just want to see them beaten so far back that they never come out of their solar system again
.”

“As they tried to do to you
.”

“Don’t you think that it would be apropos?”

Slowly Chakix/Ariel nodded her head in the affirmative.

“Good. Now leave
Ariel’s body.”

“I will not, not until you comply with my demands
.”

“Your demands hold no meaning
now. You are held captive. I can pump sedative into you with a nod of my head. Not only that, but I came up with a little something that will make your stay within Ariel agonizing. Leave her body and we can speak to each other respectfully as civilized beings should.”

“What is this ‘civilized’?”

Mark rolled his eyes. “This is going to be a long evening, isn’t it?”

“I refuse to leave
,” Chakix snapped.

“Very well.
Let’s see how you do with this new toy.”

Mark touched his sleeve and a virtual pad sprang to life before him, anchored at his right sleeve. He touched a few spots on its surface
and then looked up above Chakix/Ariel’s head.

The creature inhabiting Ariel’s brain followed his stare and her eyes grew wide as a helmet began to lower in place around her head
from above.

“What is t
his?” the strange voice shouted. “I will shatter this device and destroy both you and this vehicle!”

“I don’t think so
, Chakix. Right now you’re still sedated enough to not be able to concentrate sufficiently to use your telekinesis. Once I activate that helmet your brainwaves will be scrambled. You’ll be the helpless passenger inside Ari’s brain and not the other way around. She won’t even be affected. You see, we were able to separate your brain patterns and since we already had Ariel’s on file, it was a simple matter to come up with the correct frequency to neutralize your own. The tables are about to be turned. You’re about to learn what it feels like to be on the receiving end of what you did to Ariel.”

Mark touched a butt
on on his virtual control panel and the helmet instantly hummed to life. Chakix/Ariel began to scream silently then went limp.

Before
Mark could even get to her side, Ariel sprang back upward. “Mark! I-it’s gone, I mean I still feel it within my mind, but it’s now trapped, and it can’t escape.”

Mark rushed to her side and hugged her tightly.
“What is it Ari? What does it want?”

“Mark,
i-it’s frightened. I can feel it. It’s not an act. Chakix is a frightened parent looking to protect its children.”

“What? What children?”

“Everything on this planet is Chakix’s child. At least that’s how Chakix sees things.”

“That’s not good. Mothering instincts are some of the most powerful known to
man. If this sentience is seeking to protect everything on the planet, it only can lead to disaster.”

“It already has. Chakix had no defense agai
nst the Agalum. They had no telepaths with them at all. Not even one of those horrible Quels they used on me, at least none that Chakix recognized.”

“Okay, go on
.”

“
The only reason she attacked was because she realized I was a telepath, or psi. My mind was attainable to her. She was as surprised as I was when she entered my mind. She’s been guiding her children or the beings on this world against the Agalum since they arrived here a few months ago, but it hasn’t done much good.”

“I can see that. What about
‘Red Kong’ out there?”

“She can guide his actions as well. But it’s sort of aiming a bull at a red flag and letting it go. She can basically coerce these beings to do what she wants
, but they are not mindless. It’s different than you would think.”

Mark
nodded. “Okay, are you all right now?”

Ari nodded in return.
“Yes, good looking, I am.” She leaned forward and kissed him, then withdrew slowly, touching the helmet on her head. “Gets in the way, doesn’t it?”

“Afraid so
, honey. Tell your passenger that we mean her no harm and we want off her world as much as she wants us off of it. The
Cagliostro
is almost repaired enough to make a run for it off of this planet.”

“
Mark, she
still
wants us to drive the invaders off as well. She’s adamant about it.”

“Tell her we’re not here to run a suicide mission on her behalf. We have a crew of one hundred people against who knows how ma
ny that the Agalum have stationed here.”