Nothing stirred.
Red took point as they walked, Dan stayed at his shoulder scanning right while Red looked left. They looked at each other and shrugged, then made a right turn down a corridor that led to the command deck.
By now enough power had been drawn from the Stargrazer to operate doors and minor systems before restarting the magno-discs. As they approached the maglovator doors to the command deck they slowly slid open. As with the rest of the ship so far, the command deck was empty.
“They fought to the very end here.” Red commented while he was looking at blaster burn marks along the walls and ceiling.
“Yes, but gratefully I don’t see any bodies left behind.” Mark replied as he seated himself in the Captain’s chair. Dan sat down in the engineers’ seat and began touching virtual controls that dimly sprang to life before him.
“It’s amazing they even drained the emergency energy storage cells with that weapon of theirs. If not for the Stargrazer being hooked up to us, we wouldn’t even have power for the control interfaces.”
“I know Dan, and I purposely gave those their own power supplies when I designed this ship.”
“Let’s try a re-start; we should be able to do it now. It’ll be just like jumpstarting a car, with the ‘Grazer attached.” Dan replied.
Mark touched his sleeve, “Eddie, do you copy? We’re going to restart. Be prepared.”
“Will do, boss,” came his crisp reply.
Sledge touched a few buttons on his slightly brighter glowing control panel and suddenly there was a slight rumble as the great ship flared to life about them.
Instantly everything came online as the magno-discs powered up and began supplying energy to all the systems.
“Air filtration and life support back online.” Dan advised.
“Which brings up another curious point,” Mark noticed, “The air in here was not stale. This couldn’t have happened too long ago.”
Dan and Red both nodded in agreement.
“Eddie,” Mark spoke, “disconnect the Stargrazer from the Cagliostro and proceed to the docking bay.”
“On my way, boss.” Eddie’s voice replied clearly.
“Red, you and General Abruzzi start making a deck by deck sweep of the ship. Holler the instant you see anything out of the ordinary.”
“Danny get down to engineering and make sure everything there is okay. I felt a small rumble when the magno-discs kicked in. Let’s make sure everything is still aligned properly. If you need help, I’ll be there immediately.”
“Eddie, when you get back on board make your way directly to the command deck, I want to go over weapons command with you to make sure everything is okay here as well.”
They all agreed and within a few seconds only Ariel and Mark were left aboard the command deck.
“What do you think happened to our people?” She asked quietly while staring straight ahead.
“Whoever did this took them. That’s what you and I are going to work on right now. Access the command deck’s cameras and begin displaying content from about twenty four hours ago.”
She nodded and touched a few controls. Upon the main view screen a video of the command deck began to play.
“Nothing there.” He fingered his chin and the stubble that had grown upon it the last few days. “Move ahead two hours.”
Silently she complied.
“Still nothing.” He remarked after a few minutes. “Move ahead two more hours, please.” Ariel nodded silently and did so. This happened several more times until finally at the ten hour mark they discovered the command deck had been in a state of bedlam.
They both watched silently as the secondary command deck crew fired weapons against enemies displayed upon the view screen as four of the same war ships that had attacked the Cagliostro previously.
“Every time they hit us, our power reserves were emptied.” Mark spoke quietly. “How long did this go on for?”
“Recordings stopped about six hours ago.” Ariel answered.
“So all power reserves were run dry by then. That means they fought for four hours against four ships. They must have put up a helluva fight,” he remarked grimly.
Eddie exited the maglovator then and quietly took his seat at his weapons console.
“Everything okay, Eddie?”
“Yes boss, at least as good as could be expected considerin’. The Stargrazer is secured and clamped to the landing deck floor. I also checked on the shuttles they’re locked in place as well. They were never touched.”
“All right, thanks for the information. Go over your weapons console. We need to be prepared for these aliens when we encounter them again.”
“What are you going to do about that energy draining ray or weapon or whatever it is?” Ariel asked.
“I’m going to study what information the sensors were able to gather on it as well as the video of its use and come up with a counter measure.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes Ariel, just like that.”
“Pretty sure of yourself again aren’t you? We are out in the great unknown out here.”
“Yes sweetheart, I am sure of myself, I have to be. I have to be damned sure of myself because everyone’s life depends on me now.”
“I wonder where they took our crew?” Eddie asked.
“We’ll find out. The external sensors should have been able to pick up a hyper-warp trail from our friends out there. That should have been done before the fighting even started. If we can find that trail we can follow them right where we need to go.”
Ariel swiveled her seat to face him, “You have this all figured out don’t you? Aren’t you worried about ever being wrong?”
“I was wrong already, Ari. Look about you for the wreckage I left behind by being so wrong.”
She hesitated then and sat up taller in her seat, pushing against the back of it, “Mark I didn’t mean anything- I- I, This isn’t your fault,” she stammered out finally.
He sighed and slumped slightly in his chair, “Ari, of course it’s my fault. These people weren’t military people. Most were scientists and engineers with a small security detail. If my people are dead it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to do this.”
“Boss,” Red’s voice, uncharacteristically hollow and distant came over the internal comm system, “You better get down to the gymnasium.”
Just by the tone of Red’s voice Mark knew it was bad. He ran from the command deck and into the maglovator, which sped him to the recreation deck. As the doors opened he smelled the stench of death. He knew what he was running to face before he even saw it, and he despaired.
The doors to the gymnasium slid open as he approached and he found Red staring at him, while the General looked away, his face a mask of solemn resolve.
Along the walls of the basketball court that comprised this section of the gymnasium were hanging the bodies of forty people. All tortured, all dead. And there, hanging at the foremost spot was the body of Miles Jefferson, his second team commander. Mark sank to his knees; his vision swam as despair washed over him, followed by blackness.
Chapter Twelve
Mark Johnson sat in the commissary of the Cagliostro. There was no one else in the room with him. He was drinking bourbon straight up, in an almost pitch black room staring at a view screen that showed empty space. Normally it piped in an image of the ship at hyper-warp. Now everything was still and unmoving on the view screen. Nothing moved. Not anything in the view screen, not even the Cagliostro itself.
The lights suddenly went to full brightness in the room. Annoyed he covered his eyes. “Shut those damned lights off, and then leave. I told you all I wanted to be left alone.”
“No. I don’t care what you told us. We’re almost a million light years from home, and our Captain and boss is nowhere to be seen. He’s in here hiding and sulking.”
Mark turned towards the sound of the voice behind him, anger oozing from his pores. “Dammit Ariel! I caused the death o
f forty people because I had to be out here playing Captain Kirk or Flash Gordon or whoever. It’s my fault they’re all dead. They were not soldiers. They were all civilians, just a bunch of regular guys.”
“And every one of them knew what they were getting into. You gave everyone on the ship a chance to get off before we left Earth. Those that were afraid did. The rest took their chances and were brave souls who wanted an adventure. Now, like I told you before, there are over sixty people being held somewhere. We are their only chance of survival. So get it together, mister.” She smacked him on the back of the head as she finished. He turned towards her angrily, and then shook his head.
“I’m not abandoning them, Ari; I’ve been sitting here trying to work out a defense to that energy draining ray they used on us. I’ve been going over that data for two days while we did repairs on the ship. Even the General is getting his hands dirty helping out Dan. I haven’t given up, not at all. But we have to defeat that power draining device they have, whatever it is before we go after them.”
“Well how long are you going to wait? My God those people have been in some enemy’s hands, and we don’t even know who they are. We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
He stood up and stared at Ariel, “What would you like us to do? Just go in guns blazing, hoping we take them out before they destroy us? That’s not going to work.”
“What do you think will?” She asked, looking straight into his eyes, her expression neutral.
“Here’s what happens when that energy siphon, which is what I’m calling it by the way, hits us. It establishes a connection through that energy beam through the ship’s hull and drains our energy stores. I believe it acts like a sort of heat sink, just siphoning, in this case, our energy level away.”
“So what happens to that energy? Is it just shunted off into space? Or are they storing it somewhere and re-powering their weapons with it?” Asked Dan Sledge as he walked in the sliding doors of the commissary and sat down with Mark and Ariel.
“You tell me Danny. What do you think? My best guess is they are storing it and re-using it against us.”
“I did see a power fluctuation when I was scanning them as they attacked us with it the first time.”
“Yes, but it just punched through our shields like they weren’t there. So how do we shield ourselves from that?” Ariel asked.
“How about we don’t?” Mark replied, smiling suddenly.
“What do you mean, boss?” Dan reacted, while Ariel looked on with a confused look on her face.
“What if we could generate enough energy to keep us protected from their draining effects by overloading their system?”
“What?” Dan asked.
“Think Danny, You’re a trained engineer and brilliant at what you do. Now, when they depowered the Cag they used three, maybe four ships with that siphon ray being broadcast from each of them. If we come upon them we have to be able to withstand that. One ship, maybe two, I’m not that concerned with. I think we can destroy them if we have to. We have the firepower. But it’s the energy siphon that’s going to be our weakness against these guys.”
“So what are you thinkin’? Don’t leave me in suspense.”
“I’m thinking we take a page from their book and use it against them.”
“What? You want to siphon their power? With only a handful of us I don’t think we could come up with the tech fast enough to do that. We’d need a full crew in the machine shop and science labs.”
“No Danny,” Mark began smiling, “that’s not what I meant. They used more than one ship against us, we’ll do the same to them, but they won’t know it.”
“Huh? How? We don’t have any invisibility device onboard, unless you’re not tellin’ me everything.”
“Nope, not what I meant. Now listen closely, this is what we’re going to do.”
Chapter Thirteen
The Cagliostro hurtled through space, on the trail of their enigmatic foes. All six people aboard the ship were now on the command deck, including General Abruzzi.
“All systems are restored and operating at one hundred percent efficiency, Mark.”
“All right Dan, thank you. Good job, by the way.”
Sledge laughed from behind his console and display, “What’re you thankin’ me for? You did half the work.”
“And I couldn’t have gotten it done without you Dan, so once again, thank you.” Mark answered stoically before turning toward Red, “How are we doing Red? Is the trail still there?”
“Yes the ion component of their engines energy signature is easily readable, Mark. It’s glowin’ like a beacon to the sensors.”
“How long till we intercept them?”
“Hard to tell Mark, we can’t see that far ahead with the sensors, but I’m trying to recalibrate them for that energy signature and not much else.”
“Do what you can Red. If you need help, let me know I designed the damned things, I know how to mess with them better than anyone.
“I’ll help ya out Red. I know those systems, an’ I am the ships engineer.” Dan offered.
Ariel looked at Mark cautiously then turned back to the main viewer, stoically.
“Dan, our speed?”
“One hundred percent of hyper-warp capability Mark. We can’t get an iota more speed out of her.”
“Dan, how are the engines holding up? I mean at this velocity?”
“So far no problems, boss, but that doesn’t mean they can do this indefinitely.”
“They don’t have to. All they have to do is maintain this speed until we overtake our enemies.”
Ariel swiveled her chair around and faced Mark, “How do you know they can’t get away from us? These beings have been flying through space, deep space for who knows how long? I’d guess thousands of years. What makes you think we can catch them? And once we do, then what? They defeated this ship once already, what makes you think they can’t do it again?”
“Because Ariel, Mark began, uncharacteristically grimly, “I wasn’t in command.”
The hours drained by interminably as the command crew sat restlessly, watching the main viewer.
“Eddie, we need coffee up here. Do me a favor and get us each a cup from the commissary. You’ll have to make a fresh pot.”
“No problem, chief.” Eddie replied with a lopsided grin. “Just don’t forget me if you find somethin’; that needs to be shot.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Eddie. When we find those ships, and our people, you’re the only person I want behind the trigger of the Cagliostro’s guns.”
Eddie nodded and smiled, “Okay Mark I got it. Be right back.”
“Hey Mark, can I talk to you a minute?” Danny stood up.
“Uh, who’s flying the ship?” Red asked.
“Auto pilot, following the trail. It’s all fine.” Dan replied as he walked towards the maglovator. “C’mon boss, I need a word.”
Mark rose from his seat, “Ari keep an eye on things?”
“There are six people on the ship and everyone except Eddie is right here,” she replied.
“All right,” he agreed with annoyance, “just make sure we’re flying straight and you don’t hear anything over your comm console.”
Mark joined Dan as the doors shut behind them.
“What?” Mark asked, annoyed, and showing it.
Dan halted the maglovator before it went anywhere.
“We need to talk.”
“We’re doing that now. What is it?”
“You’re pushing, badly, man. You have to stop. It doesn’t even sound like you talking up there.” Dan jerked his thumb towards the command deck.
“It’s me, you know that.”
“Obviously Mark, but you sure ain’t actin’ like yourself. What’s goin’ on here?”
“You know what’s going on. We’ve had this conversation before.”
“I thought you went all through that with Ari? C’mon man, you have to be yourself.”
Mark tur
ned and looked Dan directly in the eyes, “I am myself, more than ever, trust me buddy, and I know what I’m doing.”
“I do trust you, definitely. I just wanna make sure you’re straight in the head with this. It’s us against maybe an army.”
“Dan, I know what I’m doing. Believe me.”
“See? This is what I’m worried about. You’re not even really listenin’ to me. You’re ‘yessin’ me an’ ignorin’ me at the same time. What is wrong with you?” Dan asked wide eyed.
“Listen to me Danny; I was taking this whole thing too lightly. I got so caught up in the adventure, the thrill of going where no one had gone before. It was amazing stuff. Who wouldn’t be? But for once the General was right about something, hell,” He cocked his head sideways and smirked, “I’m sure he’s been right about a lot of things in his military career, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten where he is now. The man is a professional soldier, and that’s what I was missing when we took off, the right attitude. The business-like attitude to do what had to be done, no matter what it takes.”
“What are you talking about, man? You took out one of those star ships that attacked us.”
“No Danny, you’re wrong. I didn’t take it out, I damaged it. If I had been a soldier, a man like Abruzzi is, I’d have destroyed that ship and sent a message.”
“Mark you can’t think like that man.”
“No Danny, I have to think like that, exactly like that. We were attacked and they would have killed us all, and we know that for a fact now, because of the message they sent and left just for me. Message received. Clearly. If I had thought like that forty people, whose names I know personally would still be alive. Hell, Danny, there’s another sixty out there who may be dead already too. This stopped being a game and just became deadly serious. In fact it always was, and it’s my fault for not treating it that way to begin with.” He exhaled and started the maglovator returning to the command deck, then turned back toward Dan, “I knew what we were getting into and I treated it like a video game instead of what it was. I have to not only avenge the people who were killed because of my own foolishness, I have to save the ones who may still be alive, and heaven help those monsters who have them, because if they are hurt, these aliens are truly going to find out what this ship can do.”
The Cagliostro Chronicles Page 9