The Cagliostro Chronicles (5 page)

Ariel kept quiet but was doing far more than ignoring her comrade’s banter. She gently probed those around them as they walked, listening in with her psychic ability for anything that would be of use to them.

The group walked up to what could loosely be termed as a supermarket, which they entered through the deflector field doors. The doors served two purposes, one the deflector fields kept insects and other vermin out, and it
also kept the air conditioned air in.

“What is this place?” Eddie asked as he looked around.

“What? The town?” Dan answered.

“Yeah, weird place. Lots of different species walking around, most are humanoid, but some
definitely aren’t.”

“Not what I’m talking about Dan. This town
, what is it? I mean it’s a rundown spaceport town, I get that, but something else is going on here. People live here. I’m seeing all run down one story buildings and homes. But there are a lot of ships in that spaceport. Nothing big, mostly ships about the size of the ‘Grazer. But something draws them here. What is it?”

“Good question Eddie,” Mark replied quietly, “Ariel, anything?”

“No. Not a thing. People are curious about us, but that’s about it. I’m not reading any hostile thoughts so far, just curiosity. Oh and by the way, this food here seems to be mostly edible for us, so far. Lots of different fruits here that resemble earthly melons and oranges and the like. Some meats here appear to be this world’s equivalent of cattle. Again, edible. Some other stuff I just came across I wouldn’t touch.”

“Okay Ari, Thanks.” Mark answered
, “Let’s maybe not be so inconspicuous now.”

“Whaddaya got in mind boss?” Red asked.

“What’s the best place to go for information on a new town, to get the lay of the land and what not?”

“
Where else?” Red replied, “A bar.”

“Bingo.” Mark winked as he exited the market.

Ariel paid for the few items they picked up with gold coins Mark had them each carry. Gold it seemed was still the universal coin, literally.

A few seconds later Ariel and Red, who had stayed with her within the shop, re-joined the rest of the crew outside.

“So where‘re we gonna find a bar in this dump?” Dan asked as he moved his big frame through the crowded streets.

“That’s easy Danny-boy,” Mark replied with a sly grin, “Just follow the music.”

              The five adventurers did just that, wending their way through busy, sand covered streets clogged with dusty people. They exited into a wide thoroughfare where what could only peripherally be called music could be heard from a number of establishments. One gathering spot was larger than the rest, and seemed the busiest, with the most raucous crowd.

“What do you think?” Red asked Mark
.

“I think this is the place we want.”

The group of five entered the establishment and looked around. It was a dimly lit, smoke filled place, packed with different aliens. Plenty wore different uniforms, some just dusty work type clothes. A band played something that was barely melodic to say the least, and which seemed mostly ignored by the clientele who sat in small clusters and talked amongst themselves at dark tables. A few of the purple skinned indigenous females were out on the dance floor with a few men of differing species.

Johnson led his people to a round table in a corner of the bar. They all
sat down.

“Now what?”
Eddie looked around the room from under the brim of his hat.

“Now we wait.” Mark Johnson answered.

They did not have to wait long. A waitress finally sauntered up to the table they were sitting at, an electronic pad in her hands. She spoke in a tongue no one understood, but after a second the translators within their suits compensated and the words she spoke were finally heard in English.

“Whadaya wanna drink?” She asked in
a surly tone.

“You have ale?” Mark asked.

She laughed sarcastically, “Yeah I got twenty seven different kinds.”

“Give us the most popular one. Five mugs.” Mark ordered.

She nodded, smiled, and walked off.

“Not sure if she was friendly or not.” Dan commented.

“She was indifferent, as in just doing her job.” Ariel replied.

“I guess that’s better than the alternative.” Red commented.

“So what now?” Red asked in a conspirational whisper.

“Now we wait and take in the show. Have patience. Someone will be interested in us soon enough.” Mark Johnson replied.

“I hate it when you’re right.” Ariel replied, as she turned her head towards the bar itself where two men sat trying not to act like they were staring at the newcomers.

“What have you got?” Mark asked.

“Those two have been watching us the last few minutes. They followed us in from the street. They must have been tailing us for a while, but with all the white noise out there I only heard them clearly when they came in here.”

“That’s funny, I’d a thought it would have been worse in here.” Eddie smirked.

“No it’s more condensed in here. Actually there are less people in here than on that street and the ones here are all interested in finding a mate for the evening.”

“In other words
, hooking up.” Eddie finished.

“You got it ace.” Ariel smiled and nodded.

“So what are they thinking about us?” Red asked.

“They know what we are, where we’re from. I distinctly heard the word ‘Earth’ in my mind. Right now they’re just curious it seems, but I do sense malevolence on their parts.”

“Okay, let’s see how long it takes them to come over and say hello.”

The two men were humanoids, but not f
rom the planet they were all currently on. Both were big beings, with flat faces and bald heads, soft ridges started at their brows and went over the tops of their heads to their necks. Their skin color was a dull red. They each wore a dull brown coverall.

The waitress returned with the mugs of ale
. Mark paid her in a few gold coins. A moment later she returned with change in a coin of a smaller size, then disappeared into the crowd.

“I have no idea what we just paid for these drinks but I have a feeling it was too much.” He commented with a slight laugh as he took a sip and shook his head up and down on an angle. “Not bad actually. I think this’ll do for now
, gents.”

“How long do we wait for our admirers to join us?” Red asked as he drank his ale.

“As long as it takes, we’re explorers enjoying some down time out of our ship. Remember, we’re Earthmen who knew of alien life before but never met anyone of other worlds ourselves.”

Sledge looked at Mark
“That is the truth you know, boss.”

“I know Danny. Let’s just keep all our cards hidden for now and play this hand warily.”

Red shook his head and scowled, “I hate poker analogies.”

“That’s ‘cause your poker game sucks.” Eddie chided Red
, with a quick smirk.

“Quiet,” Ariel hissed,
“they’re coming over now to find out about us.”

“Ari if you hear anything
underhanded in their minds while they’re talking to us, tell us through your telepathy.”

‘
Will do, Mark
.’ Her mental voice rang through their minds in a bell-like tone.

The two burly aliens walked to the end of the teams table and stood there, with what
looked like an attempt at a smile on each of their faces. Finally, the one on the right started to speak.

“Greetings, I am Endorf and this is Credom. We noticed you sitting
here but were unaware of your species. We have never seen anyone that looked exactly like you do. Where do you hail from?”

‘
That’s a lie, they know exactly where we’re from.
’ The bell-like mental voice of Ariel pinged through their minds.

“We’re explorers from a small planet several light years from here. What about you two gentlemen? Where are you from?”

“We are from a world known as Tanzi-7. It is some light years from here. What brings you beings to this place?”

Mark held up his mug and smiled, “The ale. We heard it was good here and decided to check it out for ourselves.”

The alien on the left stared on with a perplexed look upon his face.

“Seriously?” He asked.

His companion nudged him with an elbow, and then resumed smiling at
the team, “I beg your indulgence, you must ignore my friend here, he does not get out much.”

“That’s quite all right, Endorf.
” Mark replied congenially, “Why don’t you and your friend sit down and join us for a drink.”

Both aliens nodded
, after looking to the other and sat at the end of the table, each ordering a flagon of the ale everyone else was drinking.

“So I’m curious, what do you two gents do here? You both have what appear to be work coveralls on, at least to my untrained eye. Are you ship mechanics?”
Mark asked.

“
Yes that we are. We actually saw you land here earlier today.”

“Ah okay, so how’d you like our ship? It’s the first of its kind.”

“It’s very nice.” Credom replied enthusiastically enough that Endorf gave him another nudge in the ribs immediately.

“We like it just fine
,” the seemingly more intelligent of the two replied.

Mark leaned forward, almost surreptitiously, and then asked,. “Have either of you ever seen anyone like us
before? We’re looking for a lost friend. He’s going to look very much like us, with our skin tone and hair type.”

“No, I cannot say that we have
, I must apologize. You are the first of your kind we have ever seen.”

‘
Another lie.
’ Ariel’s voice rang in their skulls.

Mark shrugged and smiled, “Ah well, it was worth a try. So let me ask you two, what passes for entertainment on this world? Is there anything worth seeing here
, while we relax for a few days?”

“Well the matches here are really fun.” Credom answered dully.

“What matches?” Dan replied.

“Those matches.” Endorf replied.

‘
It’s some kind of gladiatorial events within this bar.
’Ariel’s voice sang lightly across their minds.

As she replied
, two bruisers made their way into the ring that was on the left of the bar itself, which had been hidden the whole time by the mass of bodies within the place. Now it was clearly visible as people cleared out of the way to let the two fighters through. Both were surly looking louts. Big and angry with plenty of scars and tattoos across their bodies which could be seen plainly as they entered the ring, pulling the ropes down as they stepped over them on opposite sides of the ring.

“These guys are big.” Red offered.

“That means they really are big, if you’re saying so.” Eddie smirked.

Red shot him a
n annoyed look that clearly said ‘shut up’.

Sitting back in his chair Mark kept one eye on his guests
, and another on the ring behind them. The combatants were clearly two different races. One was a scaled lizard man from God only knew where. The other looked almost like a bear, with a thick coat of fur covering his body from head to toe. His arms were longer than the lizard mans by almost a foot, but the lizard seemed somewhat bulkier looking.

“This should be interesting.” Red sneered.

“Yeah, I’m kinda looking forward to this myself.” Dan agreed.

‘
Don’t lose track of what we are here for.’
Ariel’s thoughts chimed in everyone’s mind.

‘
No chance of that Ari.
’ Mark replied mentally, knowing by her smile that she heard him.

Within the ring the two big combatants circled each other, each looking for an opening.

Suddenly the lizard-man lunged at his hairy opponent, who met the charge head on with a savage grunt. They grappled momentarily, until the bear-like creature ducked below the reptilian one’s slashing arms and caught his foe in a crushing embrace, then stood up quickly and heaved his enemy into the air. As the reptile came down haphazardly the bear-like creature lashed out with two quick blows, left-right in the blink of an eye, even before the reptilian landed upon his back on the canvas of the ring.

Now everyone at their table, including the two strangers were totally engrossed in the battle.

The hairy behemoth charged the reptile again, just as he was getting to his clawed feet, when the reptile grabbed his enemy by the throat and spit some vile venom into his foes eyes. The bear-man stumbled backwards, frantically clawing at his eyes in pain, as he lizard attacked  again, biting the bear-like creature on the shoulder, spraying its blood across the ring as the hairy brute howled in pain and dropped to the mat, unconscious.