The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration (19 page)

Mark nodded
and then continued, “Reconfigure the shields to block against tachyons at that frequency, specifically. Also prepare an internal force field to lock onto our guest should he reappear within the ship.”

The remaining nine people entered the command deck, led by Red and Eddie.

“What happened?” Red barked.

“We were boarded while we slept. It looks like by one
and up to a hundred of these smoky apparitions. They took everyone on the command deck as well as all sections of the ship that were busily in use at the time. Dan and I were locked in our private lab within the engineering deck, and we were ignored or never found.”

“Can we find our people?”
the tech named Maxwell asked.  He was a man of average height and weight with short cut brown hair.

“What are we going to do?” Dr. Troiano asked.

“We’re going to get our people back anyway we have to, Doctor. As of right now we are at war with an unknown foe. Woe be unto them for what they have done here.”

“Battle stations.
All weapons to full power and loaded positions. Magno-discs to full power. Let’s rock this town,” Mark ordered.

All across the
Cagliostro
systems immediately converted to battle ready status. The shields now glowed blue within the purple clouds. Lighting all about the
Cag
shifted to a battle ready state, meaning only lighting necessary for battle was lit and glowing. The ship took on a menacing, angry tone, looking more like a predator itself than a vessel of science or exploration.

Red advised,
“Mark, those tachyon teleportation bursts seemed to be coming from five hundred miles within the cloud cover, or whatever this purple mess is.”

“Dan, take us in
.”

The big Jovian nodded
. “You got it, Boss.”

The
Cagliostro
entered deeper within the swirling miasma of the purple void, covering the five hundred miles in less than a minute. It still seemed like an eternity to those on the command deck.

A warning beacon began to blink on Red’s console. He immediately announced, “Something just impacted on the shields.
Something that was trying to teleport in. I think they noticed us.”

“Good. Drop the shields and prepare to raise them on my mark again
.”

Red nodded and did as he was ordered.
The shields dropped about the
Cagliostro
. The color of the ship’s hull returned to the bright, clean white it normally appeared to be.

Almost instantly a cloud of inky blackness appeared on the command deck, carrying with it a horrible loud thrumming sound
. It began moving instantly toward Mark.

But even faster were the ship
’s containment systems. A glowing force field encased this apparition, holding it in place.

Simultaneously the shields outside the ship sprang
back into place.

Within the command deck the inky cloud of blackness in the force field roiled and turned. After a moment pale white fists began beating against the
force field as the inky darkness seemed to dissipate, seemingly drawn back into the body of the alien perpetrator within the force field.

Within a moment all the cloudy darkness was gone, absorbed
back within the body of the alien creature standing on the command deck.

The creature sent a shiver down the spines of almost everyone
assembled. It was tall and gaunt. Its skin was a bleached white. Its head was shorn of all hair and its eyes were large and luminous. It wore what amounted to jet black rags which covered its body from neck to toes. They seemed to flow and pulse about the creature with a life of their own.

“What the hell is this thing?” Red asked.

It turned toward him, snapping its head quickly his way. Then it cocked its head sideways and mimicked his words in a high pitched, creaking voice, “What the hell is this thing?”

The chilling hands of an unnamed fear spread throughout the remaining command deck crew.

Mark stood and walked up until he was facing it, only the force field and mere inches separated them. He stared it directly in its glowing black eyes.

“Ignore its
circus act. It’s just trying to rattle us.”

The creature stood for a moment as if measuring Mark’s worth, then smiled and bowed slightly, holding the edges of its tattered rags
and spreading them wide.

“Where are my people?” Mark spat.

The chalk white creature sneered at him repulsively, but said nothing.

“Okay, we’ll play it your way. I’m sure there are plenty more of you out there
.”

Mark turned a
nd walked back to Dan’s station. “Did the scanners get a read on its physiology?”

Dan nodded gri
mly. “Yeah, they did. Like nothing we’ve ever seen before, but we got a read, a good solid one.”

Mark grinned
. “Good.” He turned back toward the entrapped creature. “Fill the force field with a gas that will kill this thing, and slowly. I want to see it suffer.”

Ariel and Eddie exchanged nervous glances and then turned back toward the horrible creature within the
force field cylinder.

From above it a sickly green gas began to seep into the force field. Almost instantly its horrifying grin faded
as it tried to teleport out again and again. The black wisps sprouted from its body once more and enwrapped its form, repeatedly and violently exploding off the force field to no avail.

Slowly the tendrils of darkness withdrew into its ghostly pale body and it sank to the floor, clutching its own throat, its eyes distending fro
m its face in pain.

Mark waited a few seconds more until the creature was barely breathing within the tight confines of the force field, and then commanded, “Clear it,
and return the atmosphere.”

Instantly the force field cleared out and
air filled the cylinder of energy holding the repugnant creature. It lay upon the floor grasping at its own throat wide eyed, staring in new found recognition of the man who now knelt down before it. Mark Johnson’s face was unreadable as he stared at the thing trapped in front of him.

For long moments he locked eyes with it, while the creature massaged its own throat, and then Mark
asked, “Where are my people?”

The
Cagliostro
streaked through the void space, following the trail of a vessel that had been hidden by the purple clouds within the void.

“Status on our quarry
, Red?” Mark inquired.

“Estimating two thousand miles out and closing fast
.”

“It wasn’t that hard to find these bums no
w that we know what ta look for,” Dan offered.

In the forward left corner of the command deck stood the alien, still trapped
and sneering angrily within the force field.

“Good idea
keepin’ that thing where we could see it,” Dan remarked.

“Yes, thank you
, Danny. We’re a skeleton crew right now, and I don’t need to have this thing alone in the detention levels. Best to leave it where we can keep an eye on it for the time being. Who knows? It may even get a chance to go home if its people are smart.”

“We’re closing on the enemy vessel
,” Red announced.

“Funny how they rabbited out of there once we had their guy here
.” Eddie jerked his thumb in the direction of the creature within the force field.

“Yes, I know. We have to be careful though. We’re alone in a hostile environment right now
.”

Eddie snorted, “So what else is new?”

Mark nodded. “Point taken, Eddie. When we get within range fire a blast of the solar cannons across its bow. I want their attention.”

“Entering firing range now
,” Eddie confirmed.

“Fire at will
, Mr. DiGenovese.”

Eddie nodded and thumbed his firing
control. Twin blasts erupted from the solar cannons, both passing within fifty feet of the ship they were pursuing.

Almost instantly it slowed to a stop and began to turn to face the
Cagliostro
. The image on the view screen grew clearer the closer the
Cagliostro
drew.

“Holy…” Eddie began

“Why is it that every ship we face off against has ta be bigger than us?” Dan asked.

The ship spun slowly ahead of them and finally faced the
Cagliostro
. It was perhaps twice as long as the
Cagliostro
with a bow that sloped forward from the bottom upward, like a boat’s. It showed hundreds of lit windows along its sides. But the most disconcerting thing about this ship was its make-up and color. It seemed to be a dark burgundy with tendrils growing all about its outer hull. The entire ship seemed to pulse with a light from within, as if it were somehow organic matter and technology mixed together and alive.

The crew sat silently within their stations, repulsed and intrigued somehow at the same time by what they saw.

“We really
ain’t
in Kansas anymore,” Eddie muttered.

“That things gotta have a hundred decks
,” Dan blurted out.

“It’s firing weapons
,” Red shouted.

Mark stood up and
spoke in a commanding voice, “Heads up and eyes front, people. We’re in a fire fight right now, we’re not sightseeing.”

Blasts of energy leapt from the alien ships weapons
and engulfed the
Cagliostro
, spraying across its shields.

“Whoa, shields are down to eighty percent on one shot
,” Dan announced in surprise.

“Eddie, return fire to their weapons systems and engines. I want that thing crippled if we can. Dan, try to pinpoint our people using their
tech suits’ transponders.”

“You got it Mark
,” Dan agreed.

“Ariel, try to make contact. If they answer tell them we want our people back and nothing more. If they don’t answer or refuse tell them we’ll make it a blood bath
.”

“You got it
, Mark.”

Twin blasts of energy arced away from the
Cagliostro
’s guns, this time shattering across the larger ship’s bow shields.

“They felt that, I think
,” Eddie commented.

“Fire the star core missiles at their engines
, Eddie.”

Eddi
e complied without hesitation. Two missiles arced away from the
Cagliostro
and collided explosively with the enemy ship’s rear shields.

“Danny, move us around to their rear, I want a clear shot at those engines
.”

Sledge nodded.
“Working on it.”

The
Cagliostro
vectored away quickly, then spun about, flipping end over end so its forward guns were facing the rear of the much slower turning behemoth.

“That thing is starting to turn
,” Red announced.

“Fire at will
,” Mark ordered.

“With pleasure
,” Eddie agreed.

Star core missiles leapt from the
Cagliostro
’s bow, followed by intermittent bursts of the solar cannons. The enemy ship’s rear guns fired sporadically, splashing against the
Cag
’s forward shields, when they hit them at all. Most of their shots went wide, while Dan continued to move the smaller, more maneuverable
Cagliostro
about, zig zagging it back and forth behind the larger ship.

“Updated status
, Red?”

“Sh
ields are down to fifty percent. But theirs are down to forty.”

Mar
k nodded. “Dan, keep us moving. Red, double up the forward shields if you can.”

“You want to leave the rear unprotected?”

“Yes, for now. We’ll rely on our armored hull for a few more moments at the back of the ship. I want to make sure our forward section is protected.”

“You got it
, Mark.”

“No reply on any frequency, Mark. Though I am hearing a clipped form of static of some kind on one band
,” Ariel advised.

“Put it on speaker
.”

An instant later a clipped sort of clicking sound played through the command deck speakers.