The Cagliostro Chronicles (16 page)

Mark stopped a moment in thought as he looked at the view screen before him
then turned back to Dan Sledge, “in fact belay that and head for orbit. Keep the reflective skin energized, Mr. President, please come with us, you too General. Red come with us and get yourself looked at.”

“Mark,” Red began, “I’m okay. Let me stay here while you’re in the med bay. I’ll go after you come back, is that okay with you?”

“All right, Red, I’ll make sure you head down there the minute we’re back on the deck, though. Mr. President, with us please?”

The President stopped and looked at Johnson quizzically, “What reason, Mark?”

“We have that little DNA test we were discussing earlier to administer. I think we all should take it to alleviate any doubts to everyone around us we are who we claim to be. Any of us who were captured by these aliens could have been cloned and replaced. Let’s make sure the air is cleared and no one on board has doubts about any of us.”

The General began to argue
, but thought better of it and followed the President, Mark, and Ariel into the maglovator, exiting twenty seconds later in the medical bay.

D
octor, I have a couple of patients for you. First and foremost look to Ariel, then I need DNA tests administered to all of us, to make sure we’re all who we claim to be, if anything, for the peace of mind of the crew.”

“Never mind that, boss.” Troiano began, “you look like hell yourself, get up on an exam table pronto.”

“Ari first,” Mark insisted.

Troiano shook her head disgustedly and heeded his wishes. Ariel painfully slid up onto the med gurney, wincing a few times as she did.

“Johnson, Abruzzi a moment please,” the President called both men to his side.

“What is it Mr. President?” Mark asked
as both men joined him in a corner of the medical facility.

“I have a thought as to how these DNA tests can serve two purposes. Let us have them performed on a live channel feed to the world. Can you do that?”

Mark thought a half second, then replied, “Yes we can bounce the signal off a satellite relay and blanket the world.”

“Good. I can make an announcement about my imposter the instant the test is complete, and we can have both clones arrested on the spot.”

“It may not be that easy, sir. It will be our word versus theirs and they could easily say a video DNA test was rigged.”

“Perhaps, but it will inst
ill doubt, and that could be all we need.”

All three men agreed.

“Excuse me, Mark.” The three men looked up as the doctor approached, her face serious, “I have Ariel stabilized. She’s beat up, but nothing’s broken. She needs rest. Now it’s your turn, I need you on an exam table.”

He nodded
in agreement and turned back to the President and the General, “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me, my Doctor needs to see me. The Doctor will need to see you too, Mr. President.”

“That’s right I will, so don’t go anywhere, Mr. President.” Troiano affirmed.

A nurse walked over and led the President to an examination table. The general stood quietly nearby watching, his face impassive.

“You were very luck
y today, Mr. Johnson.” Troiano began, “You all were. The med scanner doesn’t show any breaks, just a lot of bruising. They held back on all of you.”

He laughed and replied, “It didn’t feel like it.”

“Maybe not, but they didn’t kill you.”

“No they were torturing us, they wanted information.”

He turned and looked at Ariel who was in the bed next to him, her eyes closed. “How is she, really?” He spoke in a lowered voice.

“She’s hurting. They were brutal with her. She’s scarred both mentally and physically. She needs to relax for a few days at least.”

‘
No!
’ Ariel’s voice shouted in both their minds, almost doubling them over with the strength of her psychic voice.
‘I can rest after this is over with. The nation, hell, the planet needs us, all of us, myself included.’

“Ari-” Mark interrupted.

‘
No, no Mark, you will not put me on the sidelines for this one. I can take a nice long vacation after this is all over. For now the Doctor can medicate me or whatever. But I’m not sitting on the sidelines. I’m seeing this through to the end.
’

Johnson nodded finally after meeting her gaze for a moment. “Doc, fix her up. I do need her, we all do. She’s right.”

Troiano shook her head, “I must protest Mr. Johnson, she’s my patient and she needs her rest.”

“She can rest in her
quarters until I need her, then I’ll call for her. That’s the only compromise I’m willing to make. You’re both right, and you’ll both have to sign onto it, whether you like it or not, especially you Ari. Doc, don’t over medicate her, when the time comes I’ll need her sharp. Literally the fate of the world may depend on it.” He turned to Ariel now as both the President and General Abruzzi looked on in interest, “I’m not comfortable doing this Ari. But I do need you and I understand your desire to be in on the rest of this crazy mission we’re on. But I will not allow you to be hurt again. If things start to look bad I’m pulling the plug and taking you out of the action, understood?”

Ariel sighed and nodded affirmatively. “Okay, I agree to your terms
,” she answered, exasperated.

“Good
, now Doctor Troiano, there’s a matter of DNA tests for myself, the General and President Scaleia. We have a broadcast to make to the world.

Video equipment was quickly set up in the medical bay
as the ships engineers, under Dan Sledge’s attention, fed the video feed into the ships powerful communications array.

“We’re all set
, Mark,” Dan called, as he plugged the final connection into the hovering camera, which floated about in front of the three men, while being controlled by Dan.

“All right Dan, thanks.
Gentlemen, it’s show time,” he announced grimly.

“Lighting it all up in 3, 2, 1- You’re live
.” Dan pointed towards them.

“People of the United States of America
, as well as all of the Earth. My name is Mark Johnson. I’m sure in the past several weeks you have heard certain…disparaging rumors about me, and my friends and co-workers here at Johnson aerospace. I am here with President Scaleia as well as General Abruzzi, two of the most powerful men in the nation, and on the planet to dispel those rumors.”

Sledge watched his control panel as the drone camera floated about the three men, concentrating its focus right now on Mark.

Its signal was being streamed off a Johnson Aero satellite and from there, sent all over the world hitting communications satellite after satellite. Even if their enemies shut some of the feeds down they would not be able to sever them all. Someone, somewhere of importance would see this message. At least that’s what was hoped.

“We are here to prove to the American people as well as the world that
we three are the real, true people we appear to be. You see, these two men beside me, President Scaleia and General Abruzzi, have both been captured by forces beyond our world and replaced with clones. We are going to do a live DNA test right now on the three of us to prove we are who we claim to be. Mr. President, you will be first.”

The President nodded stoically and held his arm out as Dr. Troiano quickly took blood and then a culture from
the inside of his mouth. She ran a scanner over them and the results were instantaneous. This was the real President according to information that was on file in the ships database.

“Next
, General Abruzzi,” Mark continued, “and after him I will be tested as well.”

Troiano continued her testing on both remaining subjects with the same result each time.

Then it was the Presidents turn to speak, “My fellow Americans, the man sitting in the White House is not the man you elected. He is a clone of myself, a replacement programmed to destroy our great nation and even further, our great world. There has been a clandestine scheme enacted by an alien race to subjugate mankind. This is not some wild lame-brained tale by some discredited tab-feed. This is reality. Secret Service, I implore you to take the man in the White House into custody. I am calling on my three most trusted personal guards, Jenkins, Shlesinger, and Moroni. That man may wear my skin, but he does not wear my soul. His intentions are dire. Arrest him now, and do not hesitate to do so. I’m ordering the men who are with the imposter claiming to be General Abruzzi to do the same. Arrest him, do not let him escape custody. The fate of the world literally relies on you doing so.”

Suddenly
, Red’s voice interrupted over the ships comm system, “They found us Mark, we have incoming, missiles headed our way, as well as two rapier class war ships.”

“Destroy the missiles, full spread with the solar cannons, do not, I repeat do not fire on the war ships
,” Mark commanded.

The President continued, “This is not a lie, this is not desperate men trying to confuse or befuddle you. Even now the enemies of mankind fire upon us. I am the President of the United States of America, and I implore you to heed my words. The fate of the world’s future is in your hands, and only you can assure that future. I can only guarantee that our world is lost if you do not heed my words at this very moment. Everything relies on what the people of Earth do within the next few scant minutes. This is our turning point as a planet, this is the moment we either climb to greatness, or are forced back into the mud by the boot heel of an enigmatic oppressor who fears us. Seize the future, seize it now, or there will not be a future, for any of us.”

As he was speaking electronic data from the entire mission was being sent on every conceivable frequency across the world.

The ship rocked violently as the missiles shot at it were destroyed, but still they exploded
powerfully and closely.

“We still have those rapier class ships incoming, Boss.” Red barked over the comm.

“Are they arming weapons?”

“They
have been armed, Mark.”

“Continue broadcasting all vital information about this mission, loop it and send the damned information package to every receiver on the planet, I don’t have to tell you to make sure it’s all over the ultranet as well, I’m sure.”

“Already done, boss,” Dan replied.

“More missiles incoming!” Red snapped, the tension in his voice apparent.
“Mark, there’s waves of them heading toward us!”

“Fire at w
ill, destroy them,” Mark ordered as tension filled the ship, and was readily apparent over the video feed.

“Both those ships are moving on us now. They’re trying to cut us off
,” Red shouted.

“Evasive maneuvers
,” Mark replied.

“Boss
, should I keep transmitting?” Sledge asked.

“Yes
, keep it going, I want the world to be watching this right up until our very last minutes if need be. The planet has to learn we are who we say we are and the extent of the trouble that’s coming to us.”

“Those ships are flanking us now and are powering up their weapons.”

“Shields to full!” Mark shouted.

“They’re firing!” Red yelled over the comm.

Then the ship shook slightly as if it was riding a wave, a particularly nasty one, but a wave nonetheless. But nothing beyond that occurred.

“What was that? What
just happened?” Mark asked cautiously.

An instant later Red replied,
“Those two rapier class ships, they shot the missiles out of space and blocked us with their own hulls, I have Captain Tadeo of the ‘Samson’ on the comm requesting to speak to you now, sir.”

“I’m on my way to the
command deck, Red.” A relieved Mark turned towards Abruzzi and the President, “Gentlemen, if you’ll follow me?”

Minutes later Mark, Dan, t
he President and General Abruzzi all entered the command deck from the maglovator. On the view screen was the image of Captain Tadeo, a man of indiscriminate Asian ancestry. The Captain immediately stood and saluted when he saw the President and General follow Mark onto the command deck.

“Mr. President, General Abruzzi
, sirs. So good to see you both.”

“At ease
, Captain,” the President spoke, “This crew and this man, Captain Mark Johnson, saved both our lives on a mission I sent him on several weeks ago. I was taken out of the White house in the dead of night by aliens who had built a secret base in the midst of the Blue Ridge mountain range.”

“I have already forwarded those coordinates with the information package
,” Mark interjected.

“And we have them, thank you Mr. Johnson.” Tadeo replied. “Right now the imposter President has been taken into custody and is undergoing DNA Scans as we speak
, to verify your claims sir. I’m positive they will prove you to be the real President of the United States. The General’s imposter has not been found as of yet, he slipped away when your transmission began, but there are men searching for him right now.”

“Do not let that man get away, he has vital information we will need.”
The president ordered.

“What about that damned base in the midst of our nation
and so close to our capitol?” Abruzzi asked.

“
According to the people on the ground, it looked like it took a pounding recently I assume that was your people?” Tadeo asked.

“Yes,” Mark affirmed, “we broke out of there earlier after being held captive ourselves. Any enemies found within its walls?”

“Not as of yet, it looks to be abandoned according to the information I am reading.” Tadeo replied.

“They cut and ran, but to where I wonder?” Mark rubbed his chin in thought.

“It could be anywhere, chances are they left the planet already,” the General offered.

“True, General. I’ll be taking the Cagliostro down into Washington, I want to drop the President and
you off as close to the White house as possible.”

“I will gladly send two fighters down with you to escort you in.
” Then the Captain added, “That is one tough ship you have Mr. Johnson.”

“Thank you Captain Tadeo
,” Mark replied, saluting. Tadeo returned the salute solemnly then did likewise to the General and the President before saying good-bye and cutting off his communication.

Johnson turned towards the President, “I have to ask sir, why did you tell Tadeo I was the Captain of this ship? I
have no official designation. I own her and built her but in that regard only am I her Captain.”

“That’s not true any longer, Mr. Johnson. As of now you have a special dispensation from the highest o
ffice in the land. Mine. As of this minute, officially you are Captain of this ship in name, and rank as well as every other way shape and form you have already demonstrated. When this is over you will receive an official commendation noting it as well, providing we survive all of this.”

Mark smiled as a look of surprise covered his face, but he worked well at hiding it after only a second or two.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Mark solemnly replied.

“No, Mr. Johnson, Thank you. Without your foresight and thought I would still be trapped in the secret facility that was built on American soil by an alien race.” He thought for a second more then added, “What I want to know is how they managed to build an entire base right under our noses without any of us being the wiser?”

“I have more than a few ideas on that, Mr. President.”

“There’s time for that later. Can you return me directly to the White House?”

“Post-haste Mr. President, Post-haste.”

***

Five minutes later,
still smoldering from re-entry, the Cagliostro set down gently upon the south lawn of the White House. The Star fighters that escorted the Cag flew overhead in a patriotic ‘fly by’.

President Scaleia exited the Cagliostro a moment after its foot ramp touched down, with Mark at his side.

“Mr. Johnson, it has been a pleasure, you are a patriot as well as a brilliant engineer, and I thank you for rescuing myself and General Abruzzi from these alien terrorists.”

“I did exactly what anyone else in my position
would have been willing to do, Mr. President.” The two men shook hands, “I’ll drop off General Abruzzi in Arizona, where he can see to his command,” Mark commented.

“Very good,
Mr. Johnson. Fly safely.” The President turned to walk into the White House as the guards and secret service agents filling the White House lawn looked on impassively, then he stopped and turned back towards Mark, “I have to amend that, not Mr. Johnson, but Captain Johnson.”

Johnson stoically saluted as the President returned the salute, spun on his heel and walked up the front steps of the
White House his guards following him in.

Mark relaxed for a moment as he walked up the ramp of the Cag and pensively looked down its gleaming thousand
-foot length. Then he continued inside.

A moment later the ship was airborne and streaking towards Arizona.

“What’s our ETA at current speed?”

“One hour, Captain.” Red smirked
, “though I could speed it up and have us there in a few seconds at most while in the atmosphere.”

“Very good, Mr. Robinski
, but I think an hour sounds better. We’ve been running around the universe for weeks. Let’s take our time on the last leg of the trip, now that we’ve got some semblance of control back in our lives, at least for the moment. I’ll be in my quarters.” He turned toward his communication officer and spoke, “Ariel, you need to rest. C’mon, time to stand down,” he beckoned to her to join him. Ariel stood and walked to his side leaning on him for support, as she was still shaky from her ordeal hours earlier.

Once on the living quarter’s deck, t
he couple exited the maglovator and entered Mark’s quarters, as the door hissed shut behind them.

***

Moments later they were both lying back on his bed, Mark holding her comfortingly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her quietly.

“I’m hurting, Mark. Let’s not ever do that again, okay?” He touched the black and blue on her jaw and she winced slightly at his touch.

“Sorry
,” he consoled.

“I know. It’s part of the game, I get that. I just don’t know if I’m built for this game.  I-I’ve never been hit like that before, in my life I mean.”