The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  “Whoa, this thing’s got some power,” Calvin gasped. He played with the controls, weaving back and forth, up and down. In only took him a few moments to become comfortable. He slowly descended to the surface of the moon and cruised just a few feet over the white rocky surface. Then he did what he always did at the beginning of a mission, he checked the status of his ship; engines; weapons, cloak and shields were all operating normally. There was just one thing left to do.

  “Time to stretch our legs,” Calvin said to the fighter. He carefully pushed the throttle forward and in a few seconds was screaming along at high speed; the ground was nothing but a blur. Calvin was amazed at how smooth the fighter was, how responsive and graceful. He pulled back, rocketed straight up and leveled off in a high orbit. Then he dropped straight towards the surface. He pulled out at the last second, nearly scraping the bottom of the ship on moon rocks. He continued at full speed, down a long canyon, the rock walls towering above him. It was astounding how tight the fighter could turn.

  At the end of the canyon, Calvin flew back up into a high orbit, and made sure everything was still functioning normally; they were.

  “What an amazing ship,” Calvin said. “Is there anything you can’t do?” He felt confident and relaxed. He checked the weapons. The fighter was armed with four laser cannons and six missiles. If the Goremog showed up, he could take care of them.

  Then he casually glanced at the sensors. There was a red dot on the edge of the star system. He felt a pang of fear and panic. Suddenly, he felt less bold. He toggled the communicator. “Astra, can you hear me?”

  “Yes Calvin, I can hear you.”

  “My sensors are detecting something on the edge of the system, but can’t identify it. I’m going to check it out.”

  “Be careful. Assume it’s hostile. Remember, we don’t have a lot of friends out here.”

  “I will.” Calvin accelerated and steered his X-7 fighter toward the red dot. He relied on the sensors to tell him what it was. But two minutes later, the computer was still trying to identify it. The one thing it did know was that the target wasn’t moving. He had become very skilled at interpreting the Alerian computer sensors, but it was giving off readings he was totally unfamiliar with. Whatever it was, he was still ten minutes away from it at his current speed.

  “I’ve never seen readings like these before,” Calvin said. “The computer can’t figure out what it is.” But Astra didn’t answer. Calvin assumed she was busy. That didn’t stop him from talking to her. “No life signs, but that doesn’t mean anything if the ship is manned by robots.” There were several minutes of silence. Only the gentle hum from the engines and the soft beeping from the computers could be heard. Then he saw it; a large dark object straight ahead. It was hard to tell what it was at first, but even without a computer analysis he knew what he was looking at.

  “The sensors are useless,” Calvin complained. “But it’s definitely a ship. Does that mean it’s never seen this type before?” There was no answer.

  The ship was drifting. The hull was covered with large burned holes and there was debris scattered across the area. It had two drive pods. One was intact; undamaged, but half of the other pod was missing. A large cracked dome on the top caught his eye. Calvin steered close enough to peer inside. In the darkness he could see charred machinery and computer components.

  Several areas of the ship were open to space, and he could see the interior. It was strange; he didn’t see any open rooms or corridors. All space was filled; like he was looking at the inside of a computer.

  “Be careful,” Astra said again. Calvin slowly circled the derelict ship.

  “It looks like it was in a fight,” Calvin said. “And lost.”

  “Is there anything there worth salvaging?” Ion asked. “Can you see any computer components, weapons systems or technology intact?”

  “I don’t know,” Calvin said. “The sensors are still trying to identify the ship. How do I scan for that?

  “Change to mode five, level two, and re-scan.”

  “Alright,” Calvin said, quickly making the changes. Several more minutes passed. Calvin moved to the back of the ship, to get a better look at the engines. When the sensors finished, Calvin reported.

  “The computer reports there is nothing worth salvaging on the ship, however, I’m detecting a faint signal. Give me a second to figure out what it is.”

  The answer came back almost immediately. “The computer identifies the signal as a communication hyper burst. What does that mean?”

  There was silence on the other end.

  Calvin felt a flash of horror as he realized what it could be. “Could it be a distress signal? Does that mean they called for help, that there might be ships like this one on the way here?”

  “Yes,” Ion said, with a lot less emotion than Calvin thought he should have used. “That is what it means.”

  “Calvin,” Astra said. “I need you to get back here, fast. We’re getting ready to take off.”

  “You’re finished with repairs already?”

  “Are you kidding?” Astra answered. “The engines haven’t even cooled yet. We patched a couple of things together. It’ll have to work for now.”

  “Are you sure this is necessary?” Calvin asked. “We don’t have any reason to believe that enemy ships are on their way.”

  “I’ve seen this before,” Astra said. “Someone left that ship here, and programmed it to transmit a signal when it detected activity in the system. It wasn’t broadcasting a message until we arrived. Trust me, this is bad. We’ll have to find somewhere else to repair the ship.”

  “But who would’ve done this? The Goremog?”

  “It’s not Goremog,” Astra said. “The ship type is all wrong. It’s obviously a trap, set by someone hoping to get new technology. It doesn’t really matter. We have to get away from here now!”

  He recognized the urgency in her voice. She was scared, and he needed to respond quickly.

  “I’m on my way back.” Calvin turned and headed back toward the moon at full speed. He nervously watched the scanner the whole ten minutes back, certain at any second enemy ships would arrive.

  It felt like they were fighting the clock. Azure Frost still hadn’t taken off. When Calvin arrived, he took up a position high above the crater, and flew in large slow circles. He also kept a close watch on his sensors. He could still see the red dot, flickering on and off. He stroked the missile arming switch with his thumb, ready in case trouble showed up.

  “We’re taking off,” Astra said. Calvin centered the Frost in the middle of his computer screen, its information displayed on the screen.

  “It’s about time,” Calvin thought to himself. Out loud he said, “I’m right above you. The scanner’s clear, so you don’t have to rush.”

  “That could change very quickly,” Astra said. “I’d rather not be here when it does.”

  The fighter’s sensors enhanced his view of the crater, lighting it up for him like it was fully exposed to sunlight. Azure Frost was still cloaked, but the computer in his fighter was linked to the main computer on the Frost, so he could monitor their engines, life support, shields and cloak. A cloud of dust rose up in the center of the crater.

  “Astra,” Calvin said. “I see a lot of distortion coming from your engines. It’s bleeding right though the cloak.”

  “That’s not good. Add that to the list of emergency repairs.” Azure Frost cleared the crater and slowly made its way into space, much too slow for Calvin’s liking. Once in space, Calvin took up a position above and behind the wounded ship.

  Suddenly space around the Frost flickered, the cloak failed and the ship was fully visible on the scanner.

  “Astra, your cloak just turned off!” Calvin exclaimed. There was silence for a moment.

  “I know. We’re having some major problems here,” Astra said. “The weapons and hyper-drive just went off line. Ion and Dev are working on it, but if they can’t get it working we’re going to be i
n big trouble.”

  “You still think it’s a trap?” Calvin asked.

  “I’d bet my, well, I promise you it is. I’m going as fast as the engines will let me. Let’s hope we get as much distance as possible before hostiles show up.”

  “I’m right behind you,” Calvin said. Then to himself, ‘They’ll have to get through me first, whoever they are.’ He still didn’t believe Astra was right, but then, she usually was right.

  Azure Frost sluggishly moved forward. Calvin watched the data stream coming from Azure Frost, and the engine status worried him greatly. He wasn’t an engineer, but even he could tell the engines were all over the place, fluctuating wildly from overload to power drain and back again. Calvin slowed a little, and allowed a little more distance between them. He had an uneasy feeling. Something was bothering him, but he didn’t know what. Then he remembered. It reminded him of the escort missions he played in the simulator. He hated escort missions; having to protect slow moving defenseless ships. It was the sense of vulnerability that he didn’t like; of being restricted. He couldn’t fly around at top speed chasing the targets of his choice; he had to figure out what enemy ship was the most dangerous to what he was protecting, at the expense of protecting himself. Now here he was again, but not the simulator, this was real, and the people on the slow moving defenseless ship were his friends, and the most important person in his life, the woman he loved. He’d never felt more vulnerable in his life, and he hated it. If Azure Frost’s engines died here, and enemy ships arrived, the situation would quickly turn into his worst nightmare.

  The next twenty minutes were painful, like slow torture. He kept a wary eye on the scanner, praying the one red dot didn’t turn into more. It didn’t. The situation remained the same the whole, nerve-wracking time. Calvin was stressed and on edge. He felt little comfort that his shields were fully charged, and his weapons were ready.

  When the communicator channel opened with a short burst of static, Calvin nearly jumped through the canopy.

  “Calvin, Ion thinks he fixed the hyper-drive. We should be able to get one jump out it at least.”

  “Any idea what caused the problem?”

  “We’ve narrowed it down to the software,” Astra said. “Some kind of glitch is spreading from system to system, corrupting everything.”

  “A virus?” Calvin asked. “Is that why the cloak and weapons failed?”

  “It’s acting like a virus,” Astra answered. “A very malicious one, but I don’t think it is. It caused physical damage to every system. We need to find a safe place to land where we can shut everything down. It needs to be a planet, with an atmosphere. We’re not going to fix this quickly.”

  “Hold on, I’ll check.” Calvin said. He brought up a star map, and began searching nearby star systems. There were several that were close, but only one that supported life. It had a breathable atmosphere, and a lush green temperate zone. That was the one.

  “Astra, I’m sending you some coordinates,” Calvin said. “It’s the closest planet with a breathable atmosphere.”

  “OK, I’ve got it; setting a course.” Azure Frost turned; Calvin followed.

  “Calvin, you can land now. As soon as you’re onboard, we’ll jump to hyperspace.” Calvin carefully lined the fighter up behind Azure Frost, and activated the automatic landing sequence. Nothing happened.

  “Astra, I can’t open the doors from here. Can you open them manually?”

  “Yes, I’ll send someone down.” Calvin saw something out of the corner of his eye.

  “Astra, wait!” Calvin said. “I’m picking up some strange readings on the sensors, near the enemy ship.” It took a second for the computer to decipher it. “Something is coming out of hyperspace. Another ship!”

  “Calvin, jump to hyperspace, now!” Astra shouted. “We’ll meet you there!” Suddenly Azure Frost surged ahead and disappeared. Calvin didn’t waste any time. He quickly set a course and prepared to follow Azure Frost. He tried to activate the hyper-drive engines, but was alarmed when the computer informed him it would take two minutes to charge. He kicked himself for not having them ready, just in case. Clearly Astra had not made that mistake. In the meantime, Calvin pushed the throttle as far forward as it would go. The fighter surged forward. On the scanner, a new red dot appeared. Shortly after, two smaller red dots broke away from the larger one and sprinted forward. Calvin selected the larger red dot with his targeting computer. A ship appeared. It was flat on top except for a small structure and several large laser batteries, which were surrounded by dozens of smaller laser guns. The front of the ship had a large opening. Even on the sensors, it was large enough to see several fighters, which were being moved into position for launch. Then he knew, the two smaller red dots were fighters that had launched as soon as the ship exited hyperspace.

  “It’s a carrier!” Calvin cried. He examined the trajectory of the two fighters. They were heading right towards him! “This is bad,” Calvin said. The new fighters were very fast, closing on him at an alarming rate. They could be scout fighters, Calvin thought. The carrier moved much slower, but was also moving in his direction. Calvin watched as two more fighters launched out of the carrier. They were larger, and had more weapons.

  Calvin looked at the scanner, expecting to see the computer identify the enemy ship as Goremog, but was surprised to see the computer couldn’t identify it. The word, ‘unknown’ splashed across the screen.

  Calvin didn’t get time to ponder what that meant; red lights flashed in the cockpit. Calvin looked at the monitor and read in dismay, ‘warning; scanning waves detected.’

  The enemy ships were scanning the area. “Not unusual,” Calvin said to himself. Just to be on the safe side, Calvin checked the cloak; it was still working, but he was worried that they might actually be able to see him. He crossed his fingers; there was just no way to know for sure.

  ‘Warning, scan in progress,’ the computer reported. What did that mean? Did that mean they could see him now?

  “What does that mean?” Calvin shouted at the computer. The only thing he did know was that they were still heading straight for him. Calvin hoped they saw Azure Frost, and were simply moving to the area where it entered hyperspace.

  To his complete shock, the enemy ships were still closing in on him. How was that possible? The X-7 was the fastest ship the Alerians had made, and they were the masters of technology, weren’t they? Suddenly a beeping sound filled the cockpit. The hyperdrive was ready. Without hesitating, Calvin pushed the red flashing button in the middle of the control panel and he jumped into hyperspace. With any luck, the enemy ships would not be able to follow him. But luck, Calvin knew, was almost never on their side.

  CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO:

  UTOPIA

  Initially, peering directly into the oncoming blue and purple hyperspace tunnel was calming and hypnotic; he loved it. But after the first hour he became uninterested. After the second hour he grew restless. All he wanted to do was get up and walk around, but he couldn’t. There was barely enough room in the chair to shift from one side to the other. When he tried to move, the restraint system prevented him from moving more than an inch.

  By the third hour, Calvin was very bored, tired, and steadily growing anxious. The most amazing space fighter he’d ever flown had become a tiny prison, and the harness that was designed to protect him felt like a tight coat worn by mentally unstable people that were a danger to themselves. He was sick of sitting still with nothing to do but think and worry about whether there would be enemy ships waiting when he dropped out of hyperspace or if they would arrive right behind him.

  Finally, after five hours, the stars rearranged themselves and his fighter dropped out of hyperspace. Calvin was elated when he saw Azure Frost hanging in orbit over a big blue planet off in the distance. Happily, there were no other ships in the area, and no sign that the unknown enemy carrier had followed.

  Calvin took a deep breath and toggled his communicator. “Astra, can you hear me?”


  “Calvin, thank goodness. Are you all right? What took you so long? You should have been right behind us.”

  “I had to wait until my hyper-drive was charged,” Calvin explained.

  “Oh,” Astra said. “I wonder how that happened. It’s supposed to charge automatically.”

  “Well,” Calvin said, a little embarrassed. “I may have transferred the power from that system into the weapons. I thought I was going to need them.”

  “Well, now you know.”

  “Yes. I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “OK. Listen, we’ve found a nice place to land. Just follow us down.”

  “Lead the way,” Calvin said. “I’m right behind you.”

  At full power, it only took a few minutes for the fighter to catch up to Azure Frost. Calvin took up a position above and behind and followed it into the atmosphere.

  The flight down was surprisingly smooth, even in the tiny fighter. There was very little turbulence as they descended through the stratosphere and into the troposphere; just small bumps; nothing major.

  The planet was breathtakingly beautiful. He could see giant oceans, magnificent mountains covered with snow and trees, winding blue rivers and lakes. It looked perfect. He couldn’t see any deserts. Calvin scanned the planet for life signs. The only life the computer detected were insects and small animals; no people.

  Astra landed Azure Frost on a round grassy clearing. It was surrounded by a thick green forest on all sides except one. A tall mountain stood on the other side, with a waterfall that fell from the top down into a crystal clear lake.

  Calvin landed his fighter in the grass next to Azure Frost and with the touch of a single button, shut everything off. He rested his head back on the head rest, closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the engines wind down. He was so tired; he could feel sleep tugging at him. When was the last time he’d slept? He opened his eyes when he heard Azure Frost’s ramp descend. Calvin opened the canopy and warm, fresh air washed over him. It felt very good to breathe real air again; not manufactured oxygen.