The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration by Ralph L. Angelo Jr. Page B

anyway. Perhaps Ari is possessed by this thing, this world mind, or whatever the hell it is. Or perhaps she’s just being given commands from afar that are being overwritten onto her mind. It doesn’t really matter either way. I want this thing’s influence out of Ariel’s head as fast as possible.”
    T roiano looked stoically at Mark. “What if I can’t remove it?”
    “Either that thing gets out of Ari’s head on its own or we’re going to force it out of there. I’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means killing that thing.”

Chapter 8
     
     
     
     
    Mark sat alone in the command meeting room, a glass of bourbon in his hand. Slowly he spun the ice around the glass, watching the crushed cubes swirl in the dark colored liquid. Then he took a drink. He clinked the tumbler heavily upon the surface of the meeting room table.
    “Are you all right?” a male voice called f rom the doorway.
    Mark turned toward it, smirking slightly as he did. “Yes, Red, I’m fine. I just needed a few minutes in a quiet place to get my thoughts together.”
    “Good. Get them together, because everyone on this ship needs you .”
    Mark rose creakily from his seat , arching his back as he did. “Do you ever remember stuff like this being easier than it is now?”
    “Stuff like what? Hurtling through space in the fastest ship known to mankind, and maybe the whole damned universe ? No, last I remember it was always pretty tough.”
    Mark grimaced as he rubbed his back. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
    “Got any ideas about Ari?”
    “I’m having Danny fabricate a multi-band signal scanner. I’m hoping that will do what we need in allowing us to discover if there is an outside or controlling force being projected into Ari’s mind. If it doesn’t, then I have to assume something is already living inside of her.”
    “Like something possessing her .”
    “Yes, exactly . He said it’ll be ready in the next few hours.”
    “What about the engine repairs?”
    “Dan said they’ve run into a snag. They need a specific type of ore to smelt down and create a certain component for the magno disc propulsion system. He’s used the ship’s sensors and found some in a volcano about two hundred miles from here.”
    “So under a minute in one of the shuttles or the Stargrazer .”
    “Yeah or whatev er time we want to take getting there.”
    “Okay , so why aren’t they jumping on it?”
    “Because somewhere out there lurks our enemy .”
    “Could you be any more dramatic?”
    “Don’t laugh, Red. This is serious. I’m having a shuttle outfitted with the upgraded camouflage stealth system right now. The problem is we’re not sure where our enemy is. Neither are our newfound friends. We could be flying right past or over them. Not something we want to do.”
    “This turned into a mess really fast ,” the burly security chief sighed.
    “Yes , it did. For once luck was not on our side.”
    “When is it ever? Think about the last two years. We’ve made our own luck every step of the way .”
    “Yeah, l ike I don’t know that.”
    Red sat down at the table and reached for the bottle of bourbon . Mark pushed it toward him, then reached behind himself and removed another glass tumbler from a cabinet. He filled it with ice from an ice machine, which was also inside the cabinet. He handed it to Red, who nodded in thanks.
    Red poured himself a glass of bourbon, then took a pull off of the glass. He placed the glass back upon the table, then looked back at Mark. “I’ve been thinking, maybe we should send the Stargrazer home to get reinforcements.”
    Mark nodded slowly. “We could, if they could get out of the system without getting caught. But there’s no guarantee of that happening.”
    “What about that new camo system you were just talking about?”
    “I don’t know, Red. As a last ditch effort, maybe. But I don’t have any interest in sending anyone to their possible death.”
    “You really think it will come