The Cagliostro Chronicles (12 page)

“Good point Eddie.” Red replied, “She’s got my attention now.”

Eddie nodded, “It’s still terrible about our people though. But everyone did know the consequences and came along on their own. There’s just nothing we can do about it now.

“Maybe so Eddie, but how long are we gonna be able ta hide behind that one?”
Dan asked quietly, “This is tearin’ the boss up, just like the rest of us.”

“Right now we have to look at the big picture
, and that’s getting back to Earth and warning everyone.” Red interrupted.

“You’re right, Red. How far to the rendezvous coordinates?”

“Another hour at one hundred percent throttle in hyper-warp.”

“Not that bad.” Danny replied.
“Any activity behind us?”

“Not yet, but you know they’ll be coming.”

“I know. Even if the Cag did manage to cripple a few of them, that automated firing pass Mark did had to leave a few ships able to break through the FTL barrier.”

“That’s what I’m worried about, Dan.”

“Yeah, me too, Red.”

Eddie turned and looked back at the people standing behind him in the crowded ship before finally speaking, “Everyone all right back there? Anybody hurt?”

There were few murmurings but finally a young woman pushed her way to the front and began speaking, “There are several hurt back here, boys, but nothing serious. A few broken bones and some scrapes and bruises.” As she spoke she touched her own face, which sported a black and blue bruise on her cheek without thinking. She was a pretty young woman, with long black hair and a slender body. Her face was almost pixie-ish with rosy cheeks despite what she had been through. She stood a mere five feet tall.

Dan turned towards her and smiled gently, “Thanks Dr. Troiano. We’ll have you back in your medical bay in no time. You and your staff
will be able to get to work helping these people as soon as possible.”

She returned his smile
, with a hint of weariness in her eyes. “We’re already on it Dan. Things are cramped back here, but we’re doing what we can. Just get us to the ship as soon as you can, please. A lot of people are uncomfortable.”

Dan nodded, “Understood Doc.”

Eddie looked to his two friends, and then with a sigh asked the one thing none of them wanted to think about, “I wonder how Mark and Ariel are doing?”

“They have us surrounded!” Ariel shouted, as Mark heaved the Cagliostro to starboard.

“I know Ari, I can see
,” he answered hotly.

The Cagliostro corkscrewed through space,
avoiding energy beams from three war ships that each dwarfed it.

“This is not getting to be any more fun the longer we’re doing
it,” Ariel again snorted.

“Ari! Enough!”
Mark barked at her, as he heaved the ship to port feverishly. He was watching sensor readouts before him, and based on computer projections, trying to avoid enemy fire. At times he was successful. More times he wasn’t.

The great ships shields and energy levels were holding this time though, and not being drained.

Mark tapped a panel on his virtual control screen and began to talk, “General, how’re you doing down there?”

“So far so good, Johnson. Just get us to the rendezvous point.”

“That’s just what I’m trying to do General.” Mark hit the comm button again and closed the conversation.

If one were to watch the battle unfolding on the outside of the Cagliostro’s hull it would seem like a video game, as the great manta ray shaped ship spun and looped then returned fire with pin point accuracy, leaving jagged
scars across their hulls.

“I don’t get this,” Ariel began, “How are we doing more damage
to them than they are to us?” 

“Don’t kid yourself Ari, any other ship from Earth would be very damaged right now. When I said our hull and shields were state of the art, I wasn’t kidding around. This is one tough ship. As far as us doing damage to them, we’re Earthmen, we know how to break things
,” he replied with a half grin.

“No kidding
, ace.”

Again the Cag rocked as several blasts raked its hull
. Again the lighting dimmed and then immediately returned to full brightness.

“Hang on tight Ari, things are about to get rough.”

“About to?” She asked, wide-eyed.

The ship spun and dove below one of the war
ships that was approaching them. These ships were akin to mile long blocks of granite. They had no real shape to them, no sleekness. Just weapons and nothing more. They were not made for fast maneuvers, only attacking. Mark dove the Cagliostro in close to the huge enemy ship’s hull, fairly skimming against it.

Once there, he trained all the Cags weapons directly ahead of them and fired, slashing a groove into the war ships length
. As the Cag darted away, he let two missiles fly free, they turned about in space and arced directly back to the ship they had just attacked. The missiles exploded within the deep grooves the Cag’s solar cannons had just cut. An instant later the ship itself exploded into atoms. As it did, Mark hit hyper-warp and the Cagliostro disappeared in an eruption of light.

“Well I’m sure that did it, if nothing else before had.” Ariel commented.

“Did what?” Mark replied.

“Declare
d war on an alien civilization.”

“Sorry honey, they did that to us when they set up a hidden base on our world, kidnapped a very high ranking General and replaced him
with a clone under their control, whoever ‘they’ are.”

She sigh
ed, exasperated, “Mark, I’m not arguing that point with you, believe me. I know they attacked us first, and we had no choice but to respond. Hell they tortured and killed almost half of our crew—the crew of a peaceful, non-military vessel.”

“Exactly Ariel. Our only course was to respond in kind, in at least trying to meet them surreptitiously and finding out the most we could. We both saw how all that worked out with the aforementioned crew.”

“Well, you just blew up one of their ships, and damaged almost forty more. That should piss them off to no end,” she replied.

“No kidding. It should also let them know we are deadly serious and won’t be afraid to respond in kind to whatever they try to throw at us.”

“Again,” she answered, “whoever ‘they’ are.”

“Yes, that goes without saying. But I’m willing to bet they know who we are now.”

“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.”

“No
, you’re right.” A small signal light blinked on his control panel as it began to beep at the same time.

“What’s that?” Ariel asks.

“The rendezvous coordinates. I’m slowing to full stop, but keeping shields raised.”

Ariel nodded
in agreement as the ship dropped out of hyper-warp and slowed to a stop.

“Now we wait for the Stargrazer to catch up.” Mark stated flatly.

“Do you think they’re okay?” She asked, concern written all over her beautiful face.

“Yes, they have to be. Everything is riding on them being ‘okay’.”

As if in answer to his thoughts, the Stargrazer dropped out of hyper-warp practically on top of the Cagliostro.

“I’ve got Dan on the com
m,” Ariel offered.

“Put him on.”

The view screen lit up with Dan Sledge’s face. “Man, am I happy to see you two. Permission to come aboard?” Behind Dan could be seen a great mass of people stuffed tightly together within the confines of the small ship.

“Gladly Mr. Sledge, welcome home. Make it fast though, I’ve no doubt that we’ll have company and soon. After what we just did, it’s not going to be a happy group coming to invite us over
for tea and crumpets, that’s for certain.”

“Okay boss, tell me all about it when we get settled in.”

“Will do Danny, opening the landing bay doors now. As soon as you’re in, we’re out of here.”

As Mark was talking
, the Stargrazer was already coming to a rest within the Cagliostro. The little sixty foot long ship gently touched down as the landing bay doors closed behind it.

Sledge exited the Stargrazer and found Abruzzi standing there next to the powered up and running fleet of shuttles. All th
ree of them had their magno-disc engines running. “How’d this work out?” Dan asked, as he walked over several heavy, thick cables lying on the floor and linking the shuttles to the Cagliostro.

“
It did the trick, son. It’s how Johnson overcame the lettuce-heads power siphoning beam.” As they were speaking, the Cagliostro suddenly powered up and leapt into hyper-warp. They could feel the transition within the landing bay.

“He ran the shuttles?”

“Yes he did, son, and it was a damned brilliant plan too. He said something about shield frequencies and power outputs backing up this ships with the shuttles. Some nonsensical gobbledy gook like that.”

“What he did,
that was pretty ingenious, General.” Dan shook his head as he began to walk out of the landing bay. Behind him all sixty people were out and the ones who were unhurt or with minor injuries were hurrying back to their posts. The more severely injured were lying down in the landing bay, awaiting Dr.Trioano’s and her staff’s ministrations.

She shooed him out of the landing bay as Red and Eddie joined him in running down the corridor and entering a maglovator. “I hope they didn’t waste too much time there waiting fer us.” Sledge began.

“Even if they did, it had to happen.” Eddie replied

“Yeah
that’s right, Dan. But we’re back now. Let’s get to the command deck and compare notes there.”  Red answered.

“Sounds good to me.” They exited the maglovator
on to the command deck, and a moment later the General did likewise behind them.

Everyone
gathered, and began to speak.

“Well, we’re all up to date and on the same page at least.” Mark affirmed.

“Lotta good that’s gonna do us if we can’t get them back home to believe us.”

“That’s going to be up to the General, Danny.”

“Me?” Abruzzi reacted in shock.

“Yes sir, you. You have to convince them the man posing as you is an imposter, and that you are the real McCoy.”

“That’s going to be easier said than done.”

“It doesn’t matter, General. It
has to be done, or everyone on our world is lost to us. I have no doubt those aliens are not too far behind us. I think we’re faster than they are, but that doesn’t mean anything if no one back home acknowledges this threat as real.”

“How far away are we f
rom sub-space range?” Abruzzi asked.

“Ariel’s been broadcasting for the past hour, a recorded loop, when we get a reply
, we’ll go live. But to be honest I’m figuring that it’ll be days before they receive our message.”

Abruzzi puffed out his chest
, then exhaled before speaking, “Well, what kind of message did you leave them?”

“T
hat we have information vital to Earth’s continued survival, and that I don’t want to give any more than that away until we’re face to face.”

“Well, it don’t matter,” Dan began, “We’re so far off it’ll take us three days at one hundred percent power just to arrive at the outer reaches of our galaxy.”

“Don’t worry Dan, the Cag can take it. She’s a tough bird.”
Ariel affirmed, smiling.

“Believe
me, Ariel, I know that better than anybody. Don’t forget, Mark and I designed most of the systems on this baby from his ideas.”

“What if they don’t believe us?”
the General asked.

“
It won’t matter General, I have one other trump card to play yet.”

“What is it?” Abruzzi asked, intrigued.

“In due time General, in due time. For now let’s just concentrate on getting out of this galaxy and evading any ships that may be hiding in wait for us between here and Earth.”

The General ‘
harrumphed’ once, then sat in the same seat he had occupied earlier. “The sooner we get home the better. This whole damned mess has left me itching to see Earth again. It’s been too long. Some of you may have been made for all this otherworldly adventure, but the rest of us are definitely not.”

Mark smiled before replying, “Duly noted
, General, and thank you for all your help, by the way.”

“I have to help, son. I’m not turning my back on planet and country now. Both need this old man. Plus
, I need some payback on those salad heads for keeping me captive all that time.”

“How long did they have you?” Ariel asked.

“I don’t even know for certain, Ariel.”

“When was the last time we met and talked before they took you?” Mark asked.

“You had just started construction on this ship. The frame wasn’t in place yet.”

“That’s impossible.” Mark answered, obviously surprised.

“Why?” the old man replied.

“Because General, that was
three years ago.”