The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration

by Ralph L. Angelo Jr.

  “Let’s hope, Eddie. Red prepare the tractor beam.”

  “It’s been prepared, Mark,” the big Security officer replied. “I’m just waiting on your word.”

  “Its weapons, Eddie?”

  “They’re firin’ sporadically. They’re panicked.”

  “Pinpoint fire control, DiGenovese, take out its guns. Then Red will grab it.”

  The Cagliostro rocked inexplicably. Eddie’s blasts went wide, missing their targets. Everyone looked around in surprise.

  “Red?” Mark asked, tension writ all over his face.

  “We’re being attacked from orbit. It’s one of those G’Kor class ships, the planet destroyers. It’s moved into position above us and is lobbing atmosphere mines at us.”

  As if to punctuate Red’s last sentence the ship rocked again.

  “Shields?”

  “Ninety percent,” Red growled.

  “Eddie, take those guns out before that thing crashes.”

  The Cagliostro dove after the spiraling Predator while it streamed energy and flame from its damaged engine.

  Again and again atmosphere mines were dropped atop the Cag, exploding viciously each time.

  “This is getting’ old fast,” Dan grumbled.

  “Eddie…”

  “I got it, Mark,” Eddie reiterated. This time his aim was true. With a puff of exploding debris and gasses the weapon pods on the Predator disintegrated.

  “I snagged it,” Red announced.

  The Predator hung suspended in the air before the Cagliostro, and was drawn in slowly. All the while death in the form of the atmosphere mines dropped from above.

  “Make sure that thing is not powering up to explode before we bring it onboard,” Mark commanded.

  “Everything is saying ‘no’ right now, Mark. I think we’re in the clear,” Red confirmed. Then a moment later he added, “It’s onboard, let’s get outta here.”

  “Dan, punch it!”

  “I couldn’t agree wit ya more, Boss,” Dan replied.

  He slammed the Cagliostro’s throttles forward and the ship leapt away, arcing invisibly upward toward space.

  Red stood and headed toward a maglovator. “I’m going to the landing deck. I have a full security detail down there already, but I want to see…”

  Mark cut him off. “Go, don’t explain yourself.”

  Red nodded with his usual grim demeanor and was gone.

  Ariel touched a comm control. “Mr. Marek to the command deck.”

  She turned and faced Mark with a slight smile, “I’m psychic, remember?”

  “I know, darlin’, I know.”

  The maglovator door opened and Marek exited.

  “Take the security console, Matt.”

  “Yes Sir,” Matt Marek replied.

  The Cagliostro broke the planet’s atmosphere into the eternal darkness of space.

  “Uh-oh,” Matt almost shouted.

  “I see them,” Dan replied, tension coloring his voice.

  “Evasive maneuvers,” Mark ordered.

  Before the Cagliostro were two G’Kor class planet destroyers and each was bearing down on the Cag’s position.

  Dan stared at the view screen and shook his head. “Out of the fryin’ pan…”

  Chapter 31

  Energy blasts slammed into the Cagliostro’s shields, shaking the gleaming star cruiser mercilessly from both attacking G’Kor class ships.

  “Mark, we’re in trouble,” Matt Marek shouted.

  “Really? How could you tell?” Eddie replied sarcastically.

  “Both of you shut up and just keep the ship together,” Mark admonished. “Eddie, look for any weak spots on those behemoths and fire at them. I don’t care what that is as long as it’s a weak spot we can use to our advantage. Matt, rotate shield strength to where we need it most. Danny, get us the hell out of here.”

  “I can’t, they did somethin’ to local space. I can’t form a hyper-warp funnel. They blocked us somehow.”

  “What?” Mark leapt from his seat and moved to Dan’s engineering and piloting station.

  “Look,” Dan continued. “We can’t form the hyper-warp funnel that the magno-disks create nanoseconds before hyper-warp. They’re doing something to local space to stop us.”

  Mark stood up and stared at the main view screen. The two gigantic G’Kor class world destroyers were closing fast from opposite directions.

  “This was all a trap,” Mark grunted. “All of it. They knew we were here somewhere. They must have planted that Predator alone entering the atmosphere to draw our attention and to expose us.”

  “How’d they see us through the camouflage?” Ariel asked.

  “They didn’t have to. The heat signature we left behind entering and exiting the atmosphere was enough for them to lock onto.”

  “Dammit!” cursed Dan. “They musta been planning this for weeks.”

  “It doesn’t matter if they started planning it yesterday. We’re in trouble if we don’t get out of here.”

  Again and again the Cagliostro rocked with enemy fire.

  “Shields are at sixty percent and holding, Mark,” Dan commented.

  Mark looked around momentarily, his mind racing. “Ariel block and jam their communications between the two ships. I don’t care if you have to sing to them. Block them from talking to one another.”

  She nodded and turned toward her comm console.

  Mark touched his own console’s holographic keys. “Red, what’d you find down there?”

  Red’s voice replied over the command deck’s audio system. “Two purple skinned Agalum, nothing more. Besides the one destroyed engine pod the ship is complete.”

  “Good, stand by.”

  Again the Cagliostro rocked badly.

  “Man, they are doin’ a job on us,” Eddie muttered.

  “Target both of their bridges with a full spread of star core missiles. Fire!”

  Eddie complied. The missiles flew free and exploded upon both ships’ shields above the command decks of each.

  “No damage,” Matt Marek advised.

  Again the Cagliostro rocked.

  “Mark, I’m receiving damage reports from decks one through four and decks eight through ten.”

  “Move all nonessential personnel to decks four through seven. I only want the Med bay, the engineering deck, the weapons deck, and the shuttle deck occupied.”

  “I’ve got them jammed, Mark. They can’t speak to each other,” Ariel confirmed.

  “Good,” Mark acknowledged. The Cagliostro shuddered violently again and again.

  “Dan, Are we venting anything?”

  “No, Mark, we’re not.”

  “We’re in space long enough they shouldn’t be able to track us on a heat signature any longer. The camouflage should still be hiding our movements. Then how…”

  Mark’s face lit up like a light bulb as he stabbed at his control console. “Red, scan that Predator ship completely. There’s a bug onboard it that they’re using to track our movements. Scan the two salad heads you dragged off of it too. The bug may be inside of them.”

  Mark stopped talking and the moment hung pregnant in the air.

  Finally, Red replied, “Mark, this ship is full of bugs, and these guys too. I’m picking up stuff embedded beneath their skin from salad head to toe. We’ll never be able to remove them all from the ship or these two clowns.”

  “Throw them in restraints, tie them down to whatever passes for seats in that thing. Destroy its communications array and add a mark seven welcome package from weapons locker thirteen.”

  Dan began to rise up. “I better go help him.”

  “No, stay put, Danny. I need you here right now. Weapons section can take care of that”

  “Okay, Mark. You’re the boss,.”

  “Mark,” Eddie interrupted, “I have a shield on the port side G’Kor weakening.”

  “Concentrate all fire on that shield.”

  The battered Cagliostro’s weapons lit up
furiously. Its solar cannons fired almost continuously, followed by full braces of star core missiles. Again and again they slammed into the much larger G’Kor ship’s shields, hammering unmercifully at them.

  But all the while the other G’Kor class behemoth pounded the Cagliostro with its own powerful weapons.

  “Our shields are down to twenty five percent,” Marek announced.

  “I don’t care. Keep them up and you, Eddie, keep shooting at that other G’Kor. Dan, fly us the hell out of here, whatever you have to do.”

  “Can’t get away from ‘em, Mark. No matter how much I dodge and weave the ship, we’re getting hit. They keep followin’ the trail left by those bugs they got hidden on that Predator.”

  Red chimed in, “The package is ready and secured, Mark.”

  “Good. Kick that thing out of the landing deck. Use the tractor beam and push it toward that monster out there.”

  An instant later the Predator ship reappeared as if by magic, right into the path of the starboard side G’Kor pummeling the Cagliostro’s shields.

  The Cagliostro was suddenly free of attacks as now the G’Kor’s massive weapons were firing wide.

  Eddie shouted, “Direct hit! We’re through the port side G’Kor’s shields!”

  “Don’t let up, breach their hull now!”

  Again the weapons on the Cagliostro exploded furiously, pummeling the much larger ship’s weak spot over and over.

  Within in seconds the blackness of space lit up in an explosion of blinding light as escaping gasses burned brightly from the breached hull of the first G’Kor.

  “Put some distance between us now,” Mark ordered.

  “Your wish…” Dan replied.

  The Cagliostro shot away from the two G’Kor planet destroyers, putting a hundred thousand miles between them in seconds.

  A second burst of light filled the view screen, this time much larger than the first.

  “Magnify and center on that explosion.”

  Marek complied, and the G’Kor that had been closest to the Predator when it was ejected from the landing deck now hung in space shattered and destroyed.

  “They pulled the Predator inside with their own tractor beam,” Matt Marek announced.

  “Yes and then the bomb we left them inside of it went off,” Mark finished.

  “I almost feel dirty about that,” Eddie commented. “Almost.”

  “I don’t. They would have taken us captive and slaughtered everyone they didn’t deem necessary, worthy or important. They got what they deserved,” Mark concluded.

  Chapter 32

  Two days later, the Cagliostro had reconvened with the other six ships in their small fleet in a dead section of space. An area out of trafficked paths and away from any inhabited star systems.

  “Very impressive work, Captain Johnson,” Captain Nagata smiled.

  “Thank you, Captain. We did what we could, as we were all thinking on our feet.”

  “That seems to be one of your strong suits, Captain,” Captain Jepson offered.

  “Thank you, all of you. But we have more pressing matters to attend to. I have now a full set of scans we acquired from the predator ship we had captured. While we have no idea how its electronics and computer systems are configured, we do know about its engines, shields, and weapons.”

  “Do you think this ship is really that important for our mission?”

  Mark nodded. “I do. That ship is a huge leap in technology for them. A lot is stolen from my own designs of this ship, but we knew they had a plant in my company two years ago when we battled the first Cagliostro clone on our way back to Earth. But this is something more. It’s a huge leap for them technology-wise. There are a lot of these systems which are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

  “And in two years we’ve seen quite a lot of Agalum systems,” Captain Carlson added.

  “Indeed,” Mark replied. “Which brings me to another conclusion. There’s a new player in the game.”

  A stunned silence hung between the seven men.

  “You believe someone else is supplying the Agalum with weaponry and technology?” Captain Brennan asked.

  “I think it’s a foregone conclusion at this point. From the scans we did on that new class of ship we’ve nicknamed ‘Predator’ that ship this is all new technology for the Agalum. Those shields which were so tough are different than anything we’ve seen from them before. Different shield frequencies, different construction. Plus they can now do something to trap us in conventional space, not allowing us to access hyper-warp. There is no doubt, my fine captains, that we have a new hand in the soup pot and it is stirring it with increased vigor.”

  Most of the other six men stared at Mark with a perplexed look upon their faces. Nagata was impassive and Argento smiled, as did Ryan.

  Mark grimaced and shook his head. “There’s a new player, guys, it’s that simple. Someone is supplying the Agalum with new shields and possibly new weapons systems. Hell most of the tech on that Predator was new. We’re going to have to get this information back to EPIC.”

  “So why not just send it?” Carlson asked.

  “Because I don’t trust Admiral Bright.”

  “What?” Nagata leaned forward in surprise.

  “Did I stutter, Captain? I do not trust him. The man is more bureaucrat than warrior. Hell, I’m not even sure he hasn’t been replaced by one of those shape changing things.”

  “I thought you discovered a way to see through their shape shifting?”

  “I did. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t come up with something new.”

  Nagata eased slowly back into his chair, his face pensive. “I suppose you could be right, Captain. What do you suggest?”

  “Right now I want to come up with a permanent plan to free the planet Chakix from our enemies’ grip. Once we do that, we return to Earth and have a chat with Admiral Bright.”

  The other captains looked to each other and then Nagata, and all nodded in agreement

  Nagata turned to Mark and said, “Agreed, Captain Johnson, agreed.”

  “I’ll contact you all in two hours. We’ll come up with something workable at that point.”

  The other men all agreed and shut down their communications except for Nagata.

  “A word, Captain Johnson.” It was a command not a request.

  Johnson turned back toward the view screen in his command ready room, his face twisted quizzically. “What is it, Captain Nagata?”

  “A question really, but a simple one and one that needs to be answered before we can proceed.”

  “Well, what is it?” Mark asked.

  “Why are we following you? I know of your past deeds and the things you and your crew have done, but you have no high level military training, as far as I know you’ve never trained in tactics, and in reality the title ‘Captain’ doesn’t mean all that much where you are concerned. Don’t you believe someone like myself should be in command of this fleet?”

  Mark looked at Nagata, meeting his stare and locking it to his in a grip of iron. “No. I do not, Captain. While I look forward to your input on this battle plan the way I’ve done things has worked for my crew and I. I was looking for help and while I will always welcome positive input, I won’t be looking to give up the lead position on this mission any time soon.”

  “Not even when a trained soldier could take over?”

  “What’s really going on here, Nagata? Why the sudden interest in leading this mission? Yours and five other ships appear out of nowhere offering me exactly what we were looking for, and now suddenly you decide you want to run the show. Perhaps you all were sent here by Bright to keep an eye on the renegade nut job who got lucky a few times out here?”

  “The reason I’m out here, Johnson, is to help, not you, but our planet. I’m here to make sure we win.”

  “Perhaps you are, Nagata, but I find it interesting how after I request Admiral Bright send me a fleet to aid us out here and he refuses me, you suddenly show u
p with five other ships in tow ready to jump right in. That is until you find out basically what’s at stake, then you want to move in and take over. It’s a little too pat for my tastes. A bit too contrived.”

  “So what, you think I’m some kind of spy for Admiral Bright? That we all are? Let’s not beat around the bush, Johnson. Do you think we’re here to somehow undercut you? Or to keep you in line? I have to remind you, we’re all on the same team here, all on the same mission.”

  “Yes, I would like to think so, Nagata. If this was a military operation that we had flown in on to aid you all, not that the little Cagliostro could be so much of an aid to the power behemoths of EPIC’s fleet, I would gladly do what was asked of us and follow yours or whoever’s lead. But that is just not the case. This is a delicate situation. One we’ve been deeply engaged with for the past week plus. I’m asking you to trust me, Nagata. We need a scalpel here, not a hammer.”

  Nagata sighed and seemingly deflated. He leaned back in his desk chair and stared at Mark silently for a moment.

  Nagata pointed at Mark. “You better be right about this. I’m putting my faith and my trust in you. Don’t make me regret this.”

  “I won’t Captain. Trust me. I won’t let you or the Earth down. But I have to ask you one other favor, a minor one at best. I’d prefer to get your word that you or any of the other Captains or crews will not contact Admiral Bright until after the mission is over.”

  Nagata bristled at this, but then relented. “Very well, Johnson. You have my word. We’ll play it your way, because, whether you believe it or not, I do respect you and what you have done.”

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  Chapter 33

  Mark and his command crew sat in the command deck ready room staring at each other across the table.

  “Do you trust them?” Ariel asked.

  “I think I have to. What other choice do I have?”

  Dan shrugged. “Well we could just blast outta here so fast they’d never catch us and go back to Chakix. We could settle things up ourselves once we’re there. Don’t forget, we’re still the fastest ship in the fleet, and so far from what we’ve seen the fastest ship around period. Don’t sell that short.”