The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  holes in the floor with the ends of his fingers. Bright bursts of light hurt

  his eyes and caused him to jump.

  After the shaking was over, Calvin sat up. He put his hands out

  and felt around, the darkness felt heavy and sudden, yet not complete.

  Residual noises continued from the city below. Calvin wondered if there

  was anything left of it.

  “Astra!” Calvin whispered loudly. “Where are you? Are you all

  right?”

  “Calvin,” he heard her voice from somewhere in the darkness.

  “Ost naver. He’lm sevent.”

  “OK,” Calvin laughed nervously. “Keep talking, or come to my

  voice. Where are you?”

  Calvin was terrified to move until he heard Astra’s voice. They

  kept talking to each other, and Calvin followed the sound of her voice.

  He first found her hands. She gripped his hands, and then grabbed him

  with both arms and held on tight. She talked for several minutes. He

  knew from her tone and the urgency in her voice that she was trying to

  say something very important. He hated that he couldn’t understand a

  word she was saying. The only comfort he found was the fact that he wasn’t alone. Being in the dark didn’t feel quite as bad this time; being with her gave him a sense of hope. Even if he were to die now, he would die with her. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? “Stop it! Stop thinking

  like that,” he told himself.

  It was still pitch black dark, and Calvin was afraid to move. One

  step in the wrong direction and they would fall down a lot of stairs or

  straight down. They were still holding hands, and Astra pulled him

  gently. He resisted at first, but she said something softly, yet firmly. He

  trusted her, and followed. They walked across the platform and to the

  stairs. How could she see? How did she know where they were going?

  Slowly, step by step, they made their way up towards the surface. “There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you,” Calvin said. It

  seemed like an odd time to bring it up, but he had to take his mind off of

  what could happen. “I wanted to ask sooner; for some reason I’ve been

  afraid to. I guess because I’m scared you might say no. You see, I love

  you. You already know that. I’ll never forget the moment I first saw you.

  You were standing at the top of Azure Frost’s boarding ramp in your

  white flight suit. I never really believed in love at first sight before, until

  that moment. I never imagined I would feel this way about anyone. All

  the time we’ve spent together, and every day I think about you more and

  more. I don’t want to lose you. When this mission is over, I’ve been

  worried that you would go off with your family and I would never see

  you again. I know you said you would go with me, but I still worry about

  it. I really worry about it. What I really need to do is ask you to marry

  me. I’ve been wondering what you would say. Actually, I can’t stop

  thinking about it. I love you. So, will you marry me?”

  Silence followed. Of course she didn’t answer, she couldn’t

  understand him. She just held his hand. They slowly plodded on. Calvin

  felt weak and tired. How far were they from the surface? It couldn’t be

  much further, but the climb never seemed to end. He wished he could use

  his battle suit’s Helcomp to scan the way ahead.

  He felt helpless. He hated that they were totally reliant on

  technology. In the blackness, his mind wandered all over the place. He

  coughed, and struggled to take the next breath. What was going on? Why

  was it getting hard to breathe?

  Ten minutes later they stopped.

  “Are you OK?” Calvin asked quietly. He thought he could see something in the darkness, but decided his eyes were playing tricks on

  him. Astra let go of his hand.

  He heard a soft sound, and a gentle banging. There was a

  grinding noise; metal on metal, then a loud creak. Suddenly dark red

  light enveloped them. Calvin instinctively flinched from the surprise. They walked through a doorway, into a wide open room. A

  large, damaged and rusted laser gun stood facing another set of stairs.

  Remains of two skeletons lay on the floor behind the gun.

  Calvin gasped and gulped for air. Why was it so hard to breathe?

  Astra coughed and choked.

  “There’s no air in here!” Calvin shouted between coughs.

  “We’re suffocating!”

  Alarmed, Calvin squeezed Astra’s hand. He pointed to his throat,

  and to the air. She looked at him with a blank look. Then he made

  motions of trying to breath, trying to emphasize pain and difficulty.

  Calvin could see the moment she understood. Her eyes grew wide. She

  said something quickly and pointed to the walls. He took that to mean

  what he’d already been thinking. They needed to find a way out, fast.

  Calvin stood still, confused and lost. His vision became blurry. He

  couldn’t see any way out. This was it, they were going to die! He turned

  to Astra, but couldn’t speak.

  Astra got a firm grip on Calvin’s hand and led him through the

  dark towards the other corner. Calvin staggered at first, pain shot up from

  his knees and into his hips.

  They gasped for air. Weakness and pain filled Calvin from his

  feet to his head, but the dizziness in his head was turning into confusion

  and disorientation. Astra found the other door, which was still cracked

  open. They walked through the door, walked to the bottom of another

  long flight of stairs and looked up.

  Calvin looked up despondently. There was no possible way he

  could get all the way up. What were they doing? The Goremog were

  waiting for them up there! Astra didn’t give him a chance to rest, or

  pause. She pulled him by the hand. Calvin forced himself to move and

  push through the pain. There was no choice. As soon as they started up

  the stairs, they left the dim red glow of the failing emergency light

  behind and it became totally dark again. It took a very long time to work

  their way up because they had to feel their way and go inch by inch. Astra held onto him the whole time. But somewhere during the climb, it became easier to breathe. The stairs kept going up; never turning, just

  going in one direction the entire way up.

  They climbed, slow and steady. Calvin concentrated on one step

  at a time. Astra didn’t seem to have any difficulties, but Calvin felt the

  pain spreading all the way up his spine, and gasped for air.

  As they climbed, higher and higher, he realized he could see.

  Were his eyes adjusting to the darkness? Maybe not, there was a red

  glow coming from up above them that grew brighter the further they

  climbed.

  Ten minutes later, they emerged onto the surface through a

  massive charred hole in the ground. It looked like it was created by a

  massive laser blast, and was a small miracle that the stairs were

  undamaged. Once outside, they walked through a stone archway near a

  metal door that was lying on the ground. It was night time now, and very

  cold. Calvin felt the icy air on his face. The sky was red, and it didn’t

  take long to see why. A quick scan revealed a massive inferno, with

  flames that climbed high above the ruins.

  They were definitely in a different part
of the city. Calvin

  struggled to get his bearings. Where were they? Where was the

  retractable platform that captured Azure Frost?

  Calvin looked up. A thick blanket of stars covered the sky except

  for a large area directly over them. A massive Goremog Battleship

  hovering over the ruined city, its belly glowed red from the fire directly

  underneath it.

  Calvin and Astra darted from building to building, trying to stay

  hidden as best they could as they made their way through the city. They

  weren’t cloaked. How long would it be until they were caught? It had to

  be just a matter of time. Surely the Goremog could see them. Astra pointed towards the biggest blaze. Calvin had a sick

  feeling in his stomach when he realized that was where Azure Frost was.

  His fear over what they would find when they got there dwarfed the pain

  he felt, and how exhausted he was.

  His worst fears were confirmed when he neared the fire. The

  only thing left of the platform was a massive crater. There was nothing

  but burning debris. The light was so bright, he could barely see the

  bottom. Calvin wanted to believe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he knew that wasn’t the case. There was a large crack in the bottom of the crater, and he could see the underground city; it was fully engulfed in flames. The air was choked with smoke and toxic fumes. Calvin felt

  his head spinning.

  Fragments of the metal door were littered all over the area. “What happened?” Calvin whispered. It was a stupid question.

  He knew exactly what happened. The Goremog battleship blasted the

  entire area to pieces.

  “OK,” Calvin said. “Azure Frost has the strongest shields of any

  ship in its class, right? This isn’t as bad as it looks, right?”

  There was no way the ship was destroyed; Calvin believed that,

  even if his eyes were telling him something else. Despite the evidence

  that pointed to the fact that Azure Frost was destroyed, Calvin had to

  focus on their survival right now.

  The Frost was gone, and until Ion found and rescued them,

  Calvin would do everything he had to do to survive. There was no way

  he wanted to be captured by the Goremog again. The Goremog would

  probably kill them on sight, if they were lucky. He didn’t want to think

  about what horror they could treat them to; torture maybe.

  With a heavy heart, Calvin led Astra out of the city. Again

  running from cover to cover until they reached the ruins of a building

  that still had a first floor they could hide under. They sat down on the

  cold hard floor to rest. Calvin didn’t know what to do. They were lost.

  How would he ever get home now? The mission was over. If the Frost

  was destroyed, then so were all the pieces of the super weapon. Even if

  he could get home, eventually the Goremog and No’Rath war would

  consume the entire universe. They would eventually find New Arlandia

  and destroy it. He felt almost totally hopeless. If not for Astra there with

  him, he would have no hope. There was only one thing to do; go to the

  Goremog city and take a ship. They could use it to get to New Arlandia.

  He wanted desperately to talk about it with Astra, and it frustrated him

  beyond words that he couldn’t. She would most likely have some good

  ideas of her own, but he wouldn’t be able to understand. They were

  going to have to find a way to communicate. Maybe he could draw in the

  dirt. He wondered if she could teach him to speak Alerian.

  After a short rest they continued their sprint and stop tactic. At

  the edge of the city they found a dark thick forest. Once under the safety of the trees they were able to slow down. Calvin looked at Astra, she looked tired. They walked under a canopy of trees, up a hill until they came to a small stream. The trees were very thick, and it was getting very

  cold. Astra was shivering.

  “I thought these suits were supposed to protect us from the cold,”

  he said aloud, mostly to himself. “Well, mine’s not working.” He knew it

  was cold, he could feel it on his face. His ears and nose were growing

  numb. He was kicking himself for dropping his helmet in the lab. It

  would have kept his head warm.

  He was exhausted, freezing, and certain that they would not

  survive long out in the open. The Frost was destroyed, and their lives

  would be over soon. He did not care if they were captured, so he made a

  fire. Astra didn’t object.

  They huddled close to the fire and warmed themselves. The heat

  felt so good, but he could only feel it on his hands and face. The suit

  seemed to be effective at blocking out the warm air and keeping the

  freezing temperatures inside. The trees glowed in the soft red fire light.

  Calvin tried not to think about the pure hopelessness of their situation.

  The pleasantness of the fire and the presence of the woman he loved

  were not enough to calm his fears. What was he going to do? It was

  clearly well below freezing, and it was getting colder. He knew there was

  no way they were going to be able to stay there through the night. They

  were also going to need rest and food, or they would die. It was a

  horrible feeling, staring into the abyss.

  Astra brought him back from the brink of darkness. She touched

  his arm and spoke gently to him. Her eyes were soft and warm, just like

  her touch. She spoke softly. Whatever she was saying, he could almost

  understand from her tone. ‘Everything was going to be all right.’ He

  shook his head.

  “Yes, I understand,” he said quietly. He was so grateful that she

  was with him, but he didn’t believe everything was going to be all right. As the temperature dropped lower and lower, the fire became

  less effective. His hands were numb, and he could no longer feel the

  heat. He suppressed the desire to put his hands closer to the flames, for

  fear of burning them and not knowing it.

  It was time to make a decision; he couldn’t put it off any longer.

  They were freezing cold, hungry, tired and scared. He was afraid to keep the fire going too much longer, for fear they would be discovered. They just weren’t prepared or dressed for extreme cold. He held her hands to try and warm them, but her shivering was getting worse. Calvin wondered how much colder it would get. Any colder and they would freeze to death. He knew they couldn’t stay there; they had to find some shelter. Maybe if they went back to the lab. Even if they could only seek shelter at the top of the stairs, the fires would keep them warm for a while. It would be better than freezing out here. Maybe that would give

  him time to think about what to do next.

  Calvin looked into her eyes and said, “We have to find shelter,

  and fast. We’re walking back to the lab. It’ll be warmer there. Plus,

  walking will help warm us a little.” He pointed in the direction of the lab

  while he was talking. She shook her head in agreement, as if she

  understood what he was saying. He helped her stand up, and the two of

  them walked out of the forest, holding each other as they walked. They

  staggered along slowly at first, but began to move a little faster when

  their legs warmed up. But it wasn’t enough; Calvin felt icy cold through

  to his core. When they reached the tree line, Calvin saw, to his dismay,

  the monstrous Goremog ship was still hovering ove
r the ruins. What was

  it doing? Why was it still there? There was no reason for them to wait

  here, unless they thought there was still someone to find. That was a

  disturbing thought. The Goremog were still looking for them. Calvin led

  Astra as quickly as possible down the hill and across the one spot of open

  ground where they had no cover. When they reached the first broken

  wall they took cover behind it. Up above, somewhere in the darkness

  they heard the sound of a space ship fly over. It was close but he couldn’t

  see it. Calvin instinctively dropped to the ground and got as low as he

  could. Astra did the same. The run through the city was more painful and

  difficult this time. Calvin literally had no energy left, and he could tell

  that Astra was in pain just like he was. At each wall they stopped and

  hid. Then Calvin would poke his head around to make sure they weren’t

  spotted. After a few moments, they would do it again; rush to the next

  wall or foundation.

  The wind picked up; a bitter cold gust of icy air that cut right

  through them. Calvin could feel the cold was starting to affect him. It

  was getting harder to move. They stumbled across an open space and at

  the next row of broken concrete they fell on the ground and had to crawl up to it to take cover. It’s not that his legs hurt, in fact they didn’t anymore. They were too numb now and wouldn’t move like he needed

  them to and no amount of willpower could change it.

  The numbness was turning into a warm feeling that was

  spreading through his feet and into his legs. That’s when he knew he was

  in trouble. He looked at Astra, and she had a serene smile on her face. He

  felt it too; a feeling of euphoria.

  Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, he thought he

  heard voices calling his name. He thought it must have been the wind.

  Another enemy fighter roared passed, drowning out all other sounds.

  After it passed, they ran across the street, hoping desperately that they

  were not seen. On the other side of the street they stopped and hid behind

  a low wall. Astra whispered something to him. He desperately wished

  that he could understand what she was saying. She didn’t look or sound

  very good at all. When the sounds died away, Calvin heard a voice. He

  turned around quickly, but didn’t see anyone. He heard the voice again.