The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  “What can I do?” he asked. “What do you need me to do?” She turned and smiled, “Nothing, just keep me company.” Calvin smiled back, a half smile. So that was enough for her. He didn’t need to do anything, everyone else had everything under control. That wasn’t good enough for him. Calvin needed to do something. He walked over to Nils. He looked terrible. His clothes were shredded and soaked with blood. He had several make-shift bandages on his chest, arms and neck.

  “Is he going to be all right?”

  She shook her head, “Honestly, he shouldn’t be alive. He’s very lucky. He has significant internal organ damage. As I said, he’s lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, I was able to inject him with a fuse pack which clotted his wounds and replenished his plasma.” She put her hands up in the air and pointed at the medical computer. “But that’s only a temporary fix. That’s all I can do. I know I sound like I’m repeating myself, but I’m not a doctor. I treated his life threatening injuries, designed to keep him alive long enough to get him to a doctor. Now we need a doctor.” “And MD-71 was destroyed,” Calvin said. “I don’t get it. The Terror destroyed the engines, main power and every robot on the ship. Why didn’t it attack us?”

  “It attacked Nils.”

  “Yes, but Nils was in the engine room. He got in the way.” “What are you saying?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” Calvin said. “But it can’t be a coincidence. It only attacked our technology.”

  Just then the lights turned on. The sudden change made Calvin jump. He squinted his eyes reactively until his eyes adjusted. Astra moved quickly to the medical computer and turned it on. “They did it,” she said with a sigh of relief.

  A metal arm protruded from the side of the bed and positioned itself just above Nils’ head. A soft blue light emanated from its end and slowly began to scan Nil’s body, starting at his head and working its way down. “Calvin, can you hear me?” Dev’s voice came from a nearby speaker.

  “Yeah, I can hear you Dev,” Calvin said loudly.

  “We got the backup power turned on, but we’re on battery only. The generator was damaged.”

  “How long will power last, running on battery?”

  “Four hours, roughly,” Dev answered. “That’s if we try to conserve.”

  “Well, you better get to it then,” Calvin said. “Are you going to work on the generator next?”

  “No, I want to see if we can fix Ion next. We’ll be able to get more done a lot faster with his help.”

  “Good thinking.”

  Calvin paced back and forth. He was anxious, and had to be useful, somehow. He had to do something. He couldn’t just sit there and watch events going on around him. He wished he had some technical skill. He should have learned a skill other than piloting the ship. He growled and kicked the wall. This was something he should definitely change. He needed to learn a skill, at least how to repair something, anything!

  “Relax!” Astra urged him. “You need to calm down. I know what’s wrong with you. You want to do something.”

  “Yes!” Calvin said, not hiding the frustration from his voice. “Good, then I have something for you to do. Now that we have power, go to the bridge and run a ship wide diagnostic on all systems. We need to track down all the problems and prioritize repairs.” “OK,” Calvin said, then hesitated.

  “What?” Astra asked.

  “Am I the only one that thinks we still have a problem?” “Which problem? There’s a few to pick from.”

  “Dark Terrors,” Calvin stated. “There could be more on board. Don’t you think we should find out before we do anything else?” “Normally, I might agree,” Astra said. “But we can’t do that without the internal scanners. I can’t believe they’re completely invisible.”

  “You weren’t there,” Calvin said. “It was right in front of us and we couldn’t see it. “

  “It was dark,” Astra insisted. “Internal sensors were offline. I’m sure it wasn’t invisible.”

  “Then how did it get on the ship?”

  After a pause, Astra answered. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But if we can get internal sensors back online, we can run a thorough scan.”

  “OK,” Calvin conceded, but not convinced. “I’ll be on the bridge.” He headed off, grateful to have something to do.

  Calvin stepped out and looked down the corridor. Suddenly a wave of fear washed over him. Despite what Astra thought, anywhere between him and the bridge, there could be a Dark Terror standing in a shroud of invisibility. He could either take his time; carefully and cautiously make his way to the bridge. Alternately, he could run the whole way and recklessly collide with a horrible monster.

  “Stop being a baby,” he chided himself. He started slowly. Every noise made him jump, spin around and look for where it came from. Maybe it would be better to just get it over with. So he ran the rest of the way. He forced himself to ignore the noises, and keep his attention on where he was going. Up the stairs, down the corridor, all the way to the bridge. He took some comfort in the lighted corridors, but not much. When he got there, he closed the door and sat down at the computer station in the back of the room. The bridge felt more welcoming too, and though he knew it wouldn’t keep a Dark Terror out, he felt better with the door closed.

  He waited patiently for the computers to start up. They took a few extra minutes because they had to self-calibrate and connect to the main computer system deep in the heart of the ship.

  The main computer station was usually manned by Ion, and Calvin was glad to find he had the diagnostic programs easily accessible and could be performed with the touch of a single button. He selected a quick diagnostic first, to get a rapid overview of the damage.

  The screens came to life as the list of damage scrolled down. It was complete information overload. The screens showed graphs and charts and rows and rows of data. How in the world did Ion make sense of all this? It took Calvin a second to find the monitor that had all of the ship’s systems. Fortunately, there was one, and he found it. It showed every single ship system and function, and next to it was a simple color that represented its status. Every single one had a red light next to it. It was disheartening, but not surprising.

  “That’s a lot of damage,” Calvin thought.

  When the diagnostic was done, he sent it to Astra. Then, all he could do was sit back and wait. He hated waiting, but unfortunately, he was forced to do a lot of it.

  Twenty minutes passed. Calvin was content to sit and stare out into space. At least he was on the bridge. He firmly believed that the bridge should be manned at all times.

  The inter-ship intercom came to life.

  “Calvin!” It was Dev’s voice. “The engines are a mess, but they’re not as bad as they look. With a little bit of work, I think we could go into hyperspace manually, if we had to. It will be tricky, but not impossible.”

  “That’s good to know,” Calvin said, sitting back.

  “I think the Dark Terror knew exactly what to attack, and what systems to disable. It did just enough damage to take the power offline, disable the engines and destroy the robots inside from repairing it.”

  “Yeah, but the question is why,” Calvin said. “Why didn’t it attack us?”

  “I don’t know, unless it’s like you thought. They were programmed to attack No’Rath ships, and there are no life forms on No’Rath ships. Why waste excess programing if you don’t have to?”

  “Hmmm,” Calvin hummed thoughtfully. “That’s a good theory, and the only one that seems to fit so far.”

  He didn’t know how much time passed. Calvin was lost in his own thoughts. For some reason he was thinking about going home, and the reception they would receive. He imagined the streets were lined with people, waving signs and throwing flowers. He’d saved the universe; saved New Arlandia. He ended the threat of the Goremog and the No’Rath forever!

  He and Astra rode down the center of the street in an open hover car, waving and basking in the cheers and adoration.


  A flashing red light, seen out of the corner of his eye, interrupted his day dream, and rudely brought him back to reality. The light was coming from the pilot’s station. He jumped up and hurried to his chair, and looked at the short range sensors. There was a single red dot, two hundred miles away, and slowly closing. Calvin bolted upright in his chair. How long had that been there? What was it? How did they find Azure Frost?

  Calvin selected the object. The computer locked onto it, but couldn’t identify what it was. He tried to change the scanning mode, but nothing worked. The system was very sluggish.

  “Dev,” Calvin called over the intercom. “Are you there? We need to jump into hyperspace.”

  There was a delay, and then Dev answered. He sounded out of breath.

  “Why, what’s wrong?”

  “We have company,” Calvin said. “An unknown ship is approaching. You said you could make the jump manually.”

  “OK,” Dev said loudly, it sounded like he was moving, and rapidly moving things. “I can do it, just give me a second. You realize the battery is going to be drained very quickly don’t you?”

  “I know,” Calvin said. “But the only alternative is to be destroyed by the Goremog. What do you think is better?”

  “You can charge the hyperdrive now; don’t wait for me. Hopefully it will hold enough of a charge to make a jump.”

  “OK.”

  “I’ll have to set a course manually down here,” Dev said. “Where do you want to go?”

  “I don’t care; away from here.”

  “OK, got it.”

  He set the hyperdrive engines to recharge. Normally, the engines charged very quickly. For some reason, maybe it was because they had been damaged? He wondered. But anyway, he had to sit and wait.

  When Calvin looked up, and out the front window, he saw a dark shape approaching. Calvin gasped, and stared in disbelief. He checked the sensors, but the screen was blank. “Oh come on,” Calvin complained.

  He wanted the sensors, but it turned out he didn’t need them. The ship was now close enough for him to recognize it was a scout. It wasn’t a small ship, but it was known to have very accurate sensors, scanners and an annoying habit of calling for larger friends. This could be it, the never ending harassment by enemy ships. This was definitely something they didn’t need right now.

  Calvin stared at the approaching ship. They were totally helpless. There were no engines, no cloak, and no weapons.

  He kept his eye on the status board; everything was still down; all the lights were red. Calvin was angry at his inability to do anything. The scout was getting closer.

  If there was any consolation, it was that scout ships sacrificed weapons for faster engines, and more powerful communication gear. As soon as it was in range, it reached out with light lasers. The bolts splashed against the side of Azure Frost, causing the ship to shake but not enough to penetrate the ships armor. That wouldn’t last long, Calvin knew.

  The ship continued to shake under each volley from the scout. He could feel his blood pressure increase with each shot. They couldn’t just sit there and take it!

  “Dev, what’s going on down there?” Calvin asked loudly.

  “Sir, I’m almost there!” Dev said loudly. “Can you please make the shaking stop?”

  Calvin wasn’t amused. “Hurry up Dev!”

  “Astra, I could use your help down here,” Dev shouted.

  The scout fired its lasers again, at the same spot. Calvin knew the armor wouldn’t last forever. Very soon the scout’s weak lasers would penetrate the hull and start to inflict real damage. Calvin felt vulnerable; naked, and hated sitting still.

  The scout stopped in front of Azure Frost.

  What’s going on? Calvin wondered. Maybe our inactivity has actually been a benefit. They must believe the ship is dead.

  Calvin watched in horror. What were they doing? The two ships faced each other for a very long time, at least, it felt like it, but in actuality, it was only seventeen minutes.

  Calvin stared at the enemy ship, unable to take his eyes away. He wondered how long it would last. Finally, he saw movement. The scout was moving closer to Azure Frost. It was so close he could see two robots sitting behind computer terminals, looking right at him. Escalating panic flooded his brain and filled his arms and legs with adrenaline. Fight or flight?

  “They’re gonna board us,” Calvin said quietly. First quietly, then louder. “They’re going to board us! We can’t just sit here; how fast can you fix the maneuvering engines?”

  “I don’t know,” Dev said. “As long as you’re asking for impossible things, why not ask for a Mark Six battleship.”

  “Dev!”

  “Calvin,” Astra’s voice over the comm was like a breath of fresh air. “I think I can get the engines running, but I’m not sure we have enough battery power for maneuvering engines and hyperdrive. “Would you rather fight Gorebots hand to hand when they come on board?”

  Silence, then, “No, not really.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Calvin said. The scout was now moving alongside Azure Frost, slowly gliding towards the starboard side docking port.

  “Anytime now guys, come on!” Calvin called out. There was a bump, and the Goremog scout attached to Azure Frost. This was it; time was up.

  “Go Calvin, go!” Astra shouted. Calvin was ready. Not caring what would happen when the Goremog docking port was torn off Azure Frost’s hull, Calvin jammed the throttle full forward.

  There was a loud ripping sound, and the scout was left tumbling in the debris of its docking port.

  Calvin laughed out loud, and pushed the engines harder, hoping to put some distance between them and the damaged enemy ship.

  “Why is this happening?” Calvin wondered. “How did they find us? We’re out in the middle of nowhere!” No one answered him, but he really wanted to know why. None of this made sense to him. How did the scout find them? Did it stumble on them by chance? How did the Dark Terrors get on board? Were the two events connected? He wasn’t sure if the others were listening to him, over the internal comm system, but that didn’t stop him from talking out loud.

  “I just had a nasty thought,” Calvin said. “What if the Terror we had on board was able to transmit our location to nearby Goremog ships?”

  “You’re right,” Astra said. “That is a nasty thought. I’ve never heard of Dark Terrors being able to do that. But this is a version of Terror I’ve never seen before. I suppose it might be possible.”

  “Great,” Calvin said, pushing the engines harder. “I was hoping you’d say no, it can’t be that.”

  “Sorry.”

  The scout had turned around and was now chasing after them. The short range sensors showed the scout was slowly closing the gap. Azure Frost was a fast ship, but the scout was faster. It continued to close, and waiting became more painful. Again Calvin was forced to wait, and watch and hope they made the jump soon. If the scout was able to get within weapons range again, they could shoot Azure Frost’s engines and do serious damage. The armor around the engines was weaker than the rest of the ship.

  Calvin was relieved when the engines were fully charged and Azure Frost jumped into hyperspace. The familiar and comfortable blue clouds enveloped the ship and it leaped forward.

  Calvin sat back and relaxed. His muscles were tight. He didn’t realize he was so tense. He relaxed, took a deep breath.

  “We’re back in hyperspace,” Calvin announced over the intercom. He could relax, and feel comfortable in the ship once again. Everything was fine, for the moment, at least.

  It was a relief to see the blue hyperspace cloud wrapped around the ship.

  “Good job Calvin,” Astra said.

  “Thanks,” Calvin said. He sat and stared at the cloud, trying to force himself to get up. For several minutes, he didn’t move; didn’t feel like it.

  Calvin’s stomach rumbled. How long had it been since he ate? Was it time for breakfast yet? He was about to get up and head to
the dining room when the hyperspace cloud exploded in all directions and the stars suddenly appeared.

  Then the lights flickered. Calvin grabbed onto the sides of the chair, prepared for something horrible to happen, but nothing did. The lights stayed on.

  The intercom came to life. “Calvin, what happened?” It was Astra.

  “We dropped out of hyperspace,” Calvin said. “You’re in the engine room; you know more than I do.” The fear hadn’t totally dissipated. Now it was back in force, only stronger. Five minutes, that was how long they had been in hyper space. He didn’t say it, but he knew the scout had watched them leave; knew their trajectory, and Calvin knew they would be right behind them. Calvin decided to focus on one thing at a time.

  “No, I’m back in the medical bay,” Astra said. “What all did we lose, just the engines?”

  “Everything else seems to be OK, as far as I can tell.” Calvin checked the ship’s systems. There were a lot of green lights, and only a few red. Then to his shock, one by one, green lights became red.

  “No, never mind. Everything is going offline. This is bad.” “What’s going on?” Astra exclaimed. “I have to get down there to find out.”

  “No, wait!” Calvin said, his heart started beating faster and he struggled to put his thoughts into words. “Don’t go, stay in the medical bay. Remember what happened to Nils. Dev, can you hear me?”

  No answer.

  “Dev, if you can hear me, please answer.”

  Again, there was no answer.

  Desperation was rearing its ugly head again. Things were falling apart. “Wexton, can you hear me?”

  “Yes sir,” Wexton’s said over the intercom. “I can hear you. What’s going on? Did we drop out of hyperspace?”