The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  “Is that where we’re going?” Calvin asked.

  “Yes. That’s the Defender, our last battle cruiser,” Rale answered sadly. “Once there were over a hundred of them. Nothing could stand against them. When they entered a star system, enemy ships ran away in terror. You should have seen them! But the Goremog destroyed all the others. It’s manned almost entirely by robots now, with an Alerian crew of seventyone.”

  “Wow,” Calvin whispered. “How many robots?”

  “Over five thousand.”

  “Wow,” he said again involuntarily. Calvin stared at the Defender. It looked intimidating. There were hundreds of small and medium-sized laser turrets all over the ship. What impressed Calvin the most were the three massive sets of laser turrets on the front and the one on the back.

  They flew into a large, cavernous shuttle bay where only one ship was parked. It was dark and beautiful. It’s long, thin hull had graceful curves along the sides and gentle slopes along the top. It was the most elegant design Calvin had ever seen.

  It had wings on the side, but they looked backwards to Calvin. The flat edges faced forward, while the sharp angle was directed aft. Each wing had two sets of engine intakes along the front. The ship looked like it was very fast, despite its size.

  Commander Rale picked out a spot and gently set them down. They walked from the shuttle to the boarding ramp of the other ship, which had its boarding ramp down and its door open. Once Calvin got closer, he realized just how big the ship really was.

  That was when Calvin saw her for the first time. It was a moment he would never forget. She was standing at the top of the ramp, with long brown hair that flowed over her shoulders. She was wearing a white and gray jumpsuit. When she saw Calvin she smiled and walked down the ramp. Her smile captivated him. For a moment he was lost in her gaze.

  “Hi!” she said warmly. “Are you Calvin? I’m Astra.”

  “Hi,” Calvin said. “Uh, yeah, I’m Calvin.”

  Astra stuck out her hand. Calvin took it.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Calvin said.

  “Are you ready to go?” Astra asked. “The search has started already.”

  “Yes, I’m ready.” Calvin followed Astra up the ramp and into the spaceship.

  “Welcome aboard the Azure Frost,” Astra said, smiling. “Let’s go to the bridge, so we can get going.”

  There was an elevator next to the main airlock, which took them to the top level of the ship. They exited the elevator and walked down a long central corridor to the bridge. It was more like a large cockpit than a bridge. There were two seats in the front behind a row of computers, controls, and screens. There was also a row of windows all around the room. Whoever designed the ship made use of every space available. Even the space above their heads had controls and buttons, all lit up with hundreds of lights. There was a smaller computer station in the back of the room. Astra sat in the front right seat, and she motioned for Calvin to sit in the chair next to her.

  “This is Azure Frost, requesting permission to launch,” Astra announced into the communication system.

  There was a pause, and a voice answered, “Frost, you are cleared to launch.”

  “Acknowledged,” Astra said calmly.

  Calvin watched as Astra piloted the ship out of the hangar bay and into space. No matter how many times he saw it, the excitement of flying through space still mesmerized him. He gasped when Arlandia came into view again. There was something amazing about seeing the planet that his people came from, the planet that he’d heard about in all of the old stories. The planet had a strange orange glow surrounding it. He wondered if that was the radiation.

  The ride was bumpy as they hit the atmosphere, but it didn’t last very long. Soon they were flying over the surface of Arlandia. Astra took them in low. Calvin looked down. It felt like they were very close to the ground, when in fact they were several thousand feet above it.

  “Our search pattern has been preprogrammed for us,” Astra explained. “Our sensors should pick up the electronic signature of the weapon segment.” Calvin didn’t like the awkward silence. He wanted to talk to Astra but was afraid of saying something stupid. The only safe thing he could think of was, “How big is this ship?”

  “It’s big,” Astra answered. “It’s about the size of a light cruiser, but designed to carry important people, like my father and mother. It has more powerful weapons and stronger shields. It has all of our most advanced technologies.”

  Astra turned on the sensors. A detailed map of the ground below and around them appeared on a small monitor.

  “Watch the screen,” Astra said. “When we find it, the computer will tell us.”

  They searched the planet for over an hour. Calvin spent most of that time watching the computer screen, hoping they would see the first segment. The entire time the detector never made a sound. Arlandia was beautiful; they flew over huge snow-covered mountains, deep canyons, thick forests, and an uncountable number of rivers and lakes. There were also ruins of many cities, both big and small. They weren’t just ruins; it looked like the cities had been pounded into dust. There was very little remaining of them. Then suddenly, the communication system came to life.

  “We found it! All ships rendezvous at our coordinates.”

  Astra turned off the automatic pilot and turned the ship toward the coordinates given over the radio. The ship was remarkably fast for its size, and soon they were flying over a wide, flat plain. Dozens of spaceships, parked in a circle, were already on the ground in the middle of a small ruined city. Astra set the ship down gently in the center of the circle.

  The excitement in the air was electric. Calvin was about to go outside and set foot on the planet Arlandia! Calvin and Astra took off their seatbelts and left the bridge. There was a small equipment room near the main door. There were lockers and benches to sit on, and the walls were covered with various pieces of equipment, hanging on hooks. Astra showed him how to put on a spacesuit. She said it would protect him from the radiation.

  Astra opened the door and lowered the boarding ramp.

  “This is it,” Astra said. “I can’t believe it. You’re the first Arlandian to return home in sixty years.”

  “I know,” Calvin said. “It doesn’t seem real.”

  “Come on.”

  Astra walked down the ramp onto the surface. Calvin took his time. He wanted to savor the moment. He stepped through a force field and made his way down the ramp. A hot wind blasted him and nearly knocked him down. He was forced to grab the railing and hold on. When he regained his balance, he looked down at the ground. There it was, right below him, the surface of Arlandia. He was about to set foot on it; his emotions rose, and he took a deep breath. The moment wasn’t lost on the Alerians either. Hundreds of them surrounded the ship and watched as Calvin took his first steps on his ancestral home world. They were all wearing spacesuits, and they were all clapping, and some had their hands raised in the air. Calvin was smiling uncontrollably.

  “Welcome home,” Astra said to Calvin.

  “Yes, welcome home,” Commander Rale said, walking up to them. “This is a remarkable moment, one that we’ll never forget.”

  Calvin was astonished. After hearing his dad tell him stories about Arlandia, the home world, he never dreamed he would set foot on it. He couldn’t wait to tell his father.

  “We found the vault,” Commander Rale said. “This way.” He turned and led the way to a large hole in the ground. Astra stayed close to Calvin. A set of decayed concrete stairs descended into darkness, but they made their way down the broken steps with the help of flashlights. The wind howled outside, sounding scary, like a wounded monster. At the bottom was a rust-covered metal door.

  The floor was a combination of eroded concrete and dirt. The walls had large fault lines in them and looked unstable.

  “We scanned the room for traps. We didn’t find any,” Commander Rale said. “We’re going to need both of you for this.”

  Calvin an
d Astra approached the door. It was flat and smooth except for a long horizontal metal bar in the middle.

  “You will each have to place one hand on the bar at the same time,” Commander Rale said. “So you’ll have to take your gloves off, but the doctor has assured me that a few seconds of exposure should be all right.”

  Calvin and Astra smiled at each other. Her smile was warm, and Calvin felt a glimmer of light finally piercing through the darkness that had been suffocating him since Jax died.

  They both took off their gloves, and they placed their hands on the bar. At first nothing happened. Calvin was about to take his hands off and put his gloves back on when suddenly the bar changed color, from gray to dark green.

  There was a collective gasp as a line appeared down the middle of the door, and it cracked open. Calvin grasped the door with both hands and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge. Two Alerians rushed forward, one above and one below Calvin, and pulled. It took the combined strength of all three, but they managed to open it. Calvin peered inside, but couldn’t see anything. It was very dark. Calvin and Astra put their gloves back on and followed the group of Alerians inside, and the flashlights swept the room.

  Broken tables and chairs were spread around the room. There were also computers and lab equipment, but they looked like heaps of corroded, metal-burned wires. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust. In the back of the room was another set of doors, which was open.

  In the middle of the room was a table, with a large silver torpedo-shaped object on top. It too was covered with dust. When the Alerians saw it, they all gasped.

  “There it is,” Commander Rale said excitedly. “Let’s get it moved onto the Frost quickly,” he announced to the room. Four Alerians moved forward with antigravity equipment and prepared the first segment for transport.

  “Everyone else, look around and see if there is anything we should take with us. Pack up all of the computers, and look for books or manuals—things like that.”

  The Alerians went to work. Large shipping containers were moved into the vault. Computers were packed up in boxes. Everything happened very quickly. Dust was kicked up in the air, making it very difficult to see.

  “Remember, we don’t have much time!” Rale said loudly. Then he turned to Calvin and Astra. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention this to you right away. I suppose I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Our sensors indicate that a large fleet of Goremog spaceships is heading in this direction. We need to get done as quickly as possible and get out of here. We can’t be here when they arrive, or it will be the end of us.” The work in the vault was completed very quickly.

  All of the equipment, including the first segment, were taken aboard the Azure Frost and placed in the science lab.

  As Calvin climbed the steps up to the surface, he felt a deep sense of sadness. When he reached the top, he looked at the sky, and then at the ruined city around him. He wondered if, and when, he would ever come back to Arlandia. He wanted badly to have more time to explore what was left of his heritage. The stories he grew up hearing had a lot more meaning now, and he felt sad seeing what was left and wondering what could have been had things been different. Calvin looked at Astra, who had stopped and was watching him. She smiled at him. It was a smile that conveyed sympathy, as if she knew what he was thinking and feeling. Calvin trudged after her, trying to soak in as much of his surroundings as possible. Commander Rale followed them to the boarding ramp of the Azure Frost, and they stopped at the bottom.

  “We’re out of time. A massive Goremog fleet just came out of hyperspace on the edge of the system. The survival of both of our peoples, and the entire galaxy, now rests with you. I’ve uploaded the location of the other nine vaults into your ship’s computer. You also have everything you will need to complete this mission. The Frost is the best ship we have, with every piece of advanced tech that we could put in it. But that doesn’t mean you can be foolish with it. The shields are very strong, and the engines are very fast, but you still need to avoid combat at all costs; that isn’t your mission. Your number-one mission is to find the other nine segments and take them to the outpost at the center of the galaxy. Assemble them there, and you will save us all. Now take off! Ion and two other robots will go with you. We will cover you until you get off of the planet and enter hyperspace.”

  “Wait, we’re going by ourselves? What about my parents?” Astra asked in a shaky voice.

  “Trust me, Miss Astra, we will protect them, and if we had people to send with you, we would, but we can’t. Besides, the Goremog will be chasing us, not you. I promise you, they will be safe. We will communicate with you as soon as possible. Now hurry up, get going!”

  Calvin and Astra ran up the ramp, and it closed behind them. They took off their protective suits as quickly as they could and threw everything on the floor. They raced up to the bridge and jumped into the front seats. Astra started the launch sequence while she was putting her seatbelt on. There was a loud blast, and the ship jumped violently into the air. There was no smooth transition from lifting off to moving forward, and the ship lurched hard and accelerated. The sudden pressure was incredible. Calvin and Astra were smashed into the backs of their chairs until the inertia dampening system compensated.

  “Calvin,” Astra shouted, competing with the loud roar of the engines. “Can you take the controls? I need to upload the new map and charge the hyperdrive engines!”

  “Sure,” Calvin shouted back. He grabbed the flight controls—a half steering wheel with handgrips on each side that worked like joysticks. Both could rotate in all directions and had a trigger and buttons within reach of the thumb.

  “Azure Frost!” a voice shouted over the speaker. “Activate your cloak. I can see you!”

  “It is on!” Astra shouted back.

  “There is something wrong with it. I’m telling you, I can see you!”

  “We have a problem,” Astra said to Calvin. “This will make getting away a little more exciting.”

  “Astra, head to the coordinates I’m sending you. We can cover you there!” a voice said over static.

  “I’ve got it!” Calvin said as a series of numbers scrolled across a center monitor. He pulled the joystick to the left, harder than he’d intended.

  “I’m setting a course to take us to the next segment,” Astra said, busy on the navigation computer.

  There was a loud hiss. Flames enveloped the front of the ship, and the Azure Frost shook violently as they left the atmosphere and flew into space. Calvin gripped the flight controls tightly until his knuckles turned white. He had to force himself to relax his hands.

  One of the most amazing events in his entire life was the very first time he flew into space. It was incredible. At that moment, he was certain that he would never experience anything greater. He was embarking on a training mission to learn how to navigate a spaceship. He was intimidated and scared by the idea of it. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to do it. But today, all that was gone. He was piloting an alien spaceship into a combat zone. It was beyond incredible. It was the most exciting and terrifying moment of his life.

  As they left the atmosphere, Calvin saw something that would haunt his dreams and nightmares for the rest of his life. A large cloud of black spaceships was all around them. The spaceships were unleashing a horrific barrage of laser fire on the planet. Hundreds of Alerian spaceships were trying to escape, flying off in all directions away from the planet. Enemy ships were pursuing them, pounding them with their guns.

  Suddenly two light gray Alerian ships moved up alongside of the Frost, one on each side.

  “This is Broadsword. We’ve got you, Frost,” a voice said over the loudspeaker. “Stay with us, and we’ll protect you.”

  The swarm of Goremog ships closed in on all sides, overwhelming the Alerians as they tried to escape. Several white and red fireballs erupted over the planet, which could only be dying ships. Suddenly several enemy ships appeared in front of them. Calvin yanked the controls hard up
and to the right to avoid hitting them. The Frost shook violently as it took several direct hits. The ships in formation with them fell behind, taking direct hits themselves.

  Bright flashes filled the cockpit, nearly blinding Calvin and Astra. Both had to cover their eyes before the computer darkened the windows automatically. Several of the largest attacking enemy spaceships left the orbit of Arlandia and were headed directly toward the mother ship, Aleria’s Hope.

  “Sorry, Frost, we can’t stay with you, we just lost our—” There was static, and the speaker went silent.

  “Broadsword!” Calvin shouted. “What’s your status?” There was no answer. “Astra, have you set a course yet?”

  “Almost there!” Astra shouted back. Explosions rocked the Frost as the enemy poured on the fire. Calvin could barely hear her.

  Laser shots flew wildly around the Frost. One came so close to hitting the bridge it made him jump in his chair. The room filled with a bright red light for an instant as the laser bolt filled the window in front of them. Calvin pulled hard to the right, trying not to fly in a straight line so they wouldn’t get hit. It wasn’t working. There were so many ships shooting at them, and most of them were hitting their target.

  “I don’t know how much more of this our shields can take!” Calvin shouted. He managed to get a quick glance at the shield indicator. It was bright red and flashing.

  “That’s it. We’re set!” Astra screamed. “Calvin, get us out of here!”

  Calvin pulled down hard on the hyperspace switch. The ship vibrated, the stars disappeared, and the ship entered hyperspace. Instantly, the noise from space combat was gone, and it was quiet. Calvin and Astra sat quietly for a moment, trying to process what just happened. Calvin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, he opened them and looked over at Astra, his new friend and traveling companion. She was sitting quietly, holding her face in her hands. Tears were coming out of her eyes.