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

We’ve always prevailed before. What makes this time any different?”
    “Nothing, except we don’t have Ari and may not again if this goes on. Hell, what if I can ’t sever the ties that Chakix thing has on her? What happens when we head out to space? Is that going to kill her?”
    The three men exchanged worried glances and for the first time Eddie and Red actually knew what was bothering Mark, the entire truth of it.
    “What does Troiano think?” Red queried.
    “She’s not sure. She’s worried that if we leave the planet’s atmosphere Ari will die .”
    “Wait, I think we’re all jumping the gun .” Red raised his hands up before himself. “We don’t know either way what will happen. The entity or whatever the hell it is may end up being stuck here when we leave the planet.”
    That was what Mark hoped for deep inside. But he also knew that forcibly separating Ariel and this Chakix thing could be disastrous, especially for Ari.
    “ No matter what we do, if it does not want to let Ari go, it won’t, period. We have to work around that conclusion. We have to drive that thing out of Ari, without hurting her.”
    “I don’t think forcing it out of Ari is going to be any picnic,” Eddie interjected.
    “So what , Eddie? Are you going to ask it nicely to get up and leave Ari’s body?”
    “Well, not really. But something did occur to me .”
    “Are you going to share, Di Genovese?” Red asked.
    “What if we make it uncomfortable for this thing to stay inside of Ariel?”
    “ Hhhmmm, not bad, Eddie,” Mark replied while stroking his chin in deep thought. “The question is how?”

Chapter 11
     
     
     
    Chakix/Ariel awoke in restraints. Steel bands w ere wrapped around each arm and leg and bolted to a platform that was in turn secured to the floor of the med-lab.
    The creature that commanded Ariel’s body looked around, perplexed.
    “What is this? You seek to trap me here? I cannot be restrained thusly. I am Chakix .” The alien presence spoke to Mark who was standing staring at Ariel’s body with his arms crossed.
    “What you are now is my prisoner. I already proved to you we can keep you sedated indefinitely. But that doesn’t do me any good. I want Ariel back, without your presence. So you’re going to accommodate me and leave her body .”
    “I will do nothing you ask , MarkJohnson.”
    “ Access Ariel’s memories to see how stubborn I can be.”
    “Stubborn?”
    “Yes, Chakix, stubborn. Pig headed. Single minded. Dogged. Persistent. All of those words have the same definition or meaning. Do you know what those words mean? Can Ariel’s memories tell you that? Don’t bother looking. I’ll explain it for you. I am ‘unreasonably determined’. Meaning I do not give up, ever. I do not bend a knee to a supposed ‘superior’ foe. Ask your enemies the Agalum about that. They thought we were easy pickings. By ‘we’ I mean the Earth, my home world, but you already knew that by going through Ariel’s memories. I find a way to defeat an enemy and I finish the job.”
    Chakix/ Ariel cocked her head sideways. “Then why have you not dealt your enemy the Agalum a mortal blow they cannot recover from?”
    Mark walked slowly about the room before answering. “The reason is simple; I’m not trying to eradicate that race, or rather races. There are at least three we know of that are heavily involved in the Agalum empire.”
    “Yet as a race against superior forces you fight alone and you hold them off?”
    “You have Ari’s memories, you know we do.”
    “How?”
    “Access Ari’s memories again, so you know what I’m telling you is true. Our technology is better than theirs. This is why they fear us. What we have done as a race in a few hundred years has taken them much longer. Our weapons are stronger, and now our ships are faster. That is why they fear us.”
    Chakix/Ariel moved her head side to side in short, quick motions. “They will eventually wear you down and overwhelm you.