Read Online The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration by Ralph L. Angelo Jr. - Free Book Online Page A

Eddie, off somehow.”
    “Off how?” Eddie questioned in a low voice.
    “It’s nothing , pal. I just have a bad feeling, that’s all.”
    “I don’t like ‘bad feelings’. Mama DiGenovese didn’t raise no superstitious fool, but she always told me what to be wary of, and one of them was normally tightly wound men acting squirrely all of a sudden. Just like you are.”
    Red chuckled in a low, deep tone. “Don’t sweat it, Eddie. Just keep your eyes open. I have a feeling we may run into the unexpected, that’s all.”
    N ow it was Eddie’s turn to laugh. “Dude, we’re out in space battling nasty aliens. Our whole lives are the unexpected now.”
    “Good point actually .” Red agreed.
    The boxy little shuttle approached the volcano and slowed to a hovering halt.
    “I’ll take it from here, Lori.”
    The young red headed woman nodded her head as Red took control of the shuttle.
    “I want to fly around the cone once or twice and check it out before we land, so be aware of anything that might seem suspicious.”
    Everyone nodded and affirmed Red’s orders.
    The boxy little shuttle slowly flew around the cone of the volcano, still maintaining its camouflage, which reflected the ships surroundings back onto its hull so it was seemingly invisible.
    “How are we gonna get down there?” Eddie asked.
    “We’re not. The scientists are going to lower a robotic tool that will scoop out exactly what they are looking for from that thing’s cone and bring it back to the storage compartment below. Once onboard it will be cooled to room temperature, thus allowing it to be handled more easily. Onboard the Cag it’ll be mixed with other ingredients that will be added to that soup. Then it will all be added to whatever other pieces they need to get the Cag back into space at hyper-warp speed.”
    “ Oooff. I don’t even like the sound of that.”
    “Relax , Eduardo, the Cag has a fully fitted and stocked chemical lab. Between that and the other departments on the ship we can recreate any component on the ship.”
    “Yeah I know , Red. Though that doesn’t mean I have to be happy to be in the situation we’re in.”
    Red nodded. “Agreed, buddy. Let’s just get into position and hope this fixes the Cag up. I don’t want to be hanging around this place any more than I have to.”
    “I’ m in total agreement, big man. The sooner we get off this planet the better.”
    “You both are forgetting something ,” Lori Westin admonished.
    “Oh yeah? What’s that Lori?” Red asked.
    “T here’s an Agalum base hidden somewhere on this lush green world and they probably know every square inch of this place.”
    Red nodded. “Yeah, I’m well aware of that Lori.”
    “ I’m keepin’ an eye on things out there Red,” Eddie interjected. “First sign of trouble I see I’ll be blastin’ ‘em with both barrels.”
    “Yeah , just be aware this damn shuttle’s only got the two forward guns. It would be a fantasy to call what’s on this ship ‘canons’.”
    “Understood , Red.”
    Red turned to Lori. “Lori, tell the science geeks to get to work. We’re right over the spot we detected the monotriglicine we need to replenish the coolant. They can start lowering the collector now.”
    Lori talked quietly into her comm microphone to the men in the back of the shuttle who were already controlling the robot arm. It lowered with a great amount of precision, dipping carefully into the molten ore, then removing itself with a full scoop of brightly glowing molten rock and metal. After four more scoops of the stuff the scientific crew announced they had enough.
    Red nodded and began to lift the still fully cloaked shuttle away from the volcano , when he stopped it and turned its nose back around to face the volcano’s side.
    “What is it?” Eddie asked.
    Red said nothing, but pointed to an image on the viewer.
    “What the heck?” Eddie muttered.
    Cut into the side of the mountain was a slot cut into the mountain