The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  It sounded like Wexton but he couldn’t understand what it was saying.

  Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at Astra, but it

  wasn’t her hand. Was he losing his mind? Was he finally losing his battle

  with the cold?

  “Carnan, fristal cal taner,” the voice said. It was definitely

  Wexton, but he was invisible. Wait! It was Wexton! What was

  happening? Calvin stood up; Astra looked at him as if to say, ‘what are

  you doing?’ Calvin took her hand and motioned for her to stand. Another

  hand took a hold of Calvin’s and pulled him down the street. Calvin kept

  a hold of Astra’s hand and pulled her along. Astra asked a question. At

  the end of the street they entered a large open space. Calvin was sure

  they would be seen. They were out in the open.

  “Wexton, where are we going?” He asked. “They’re going to see

  us!” Calvin heard the sound of roaring engines, getting louder. The

  fighters were coming back! They kept walking forward, but the ground

  seemed to be going up. Calvin looked down. They were several feet

  above the ground. He just knew he was losing his mind. Is this what

  happens when you die?

  Suddenly the world around them disappeared, and they were

  inside Azure Frost! The air was warm and felt so good. They were in the

  shuttle bay. Outside he heard the fighter scream by at high speed. Wexton appeared in front of them, still wearing his combat suit.

  Then he started talking quickly. The door to the shuttle bay closed, and

  the Frost shook and vibrated. Calvin knew why; the ship was taking off.

  Good, let’s get away from this planet, Calvin thought. Wexton looked at

  him and said something, but of course, he couldn’t understand. Calvin

  heard Ion’s voice over the comm, and Wexton answering back. Wexton motioned for the two of them to follow. A tired,

  exhausted and half frozen Calvin and Astra followed Wexton to the

  elevator, followed by a short walk to the sick bay. It was times like this

  that Calvin was glad the medical section was close to the elevator, so he

  didn’t have to walk far. When they walked into the room, they saw Dev

  on one of the beds. He was plugged into all kinds of medical equipment,

  including a breathing mask. Calvin stopped and stared. Astra gasped.

  MD-71 guided Astra, who seemed to be in a trance, to a medical bed and

  helped her up onto it. Still shivering violently, she rested her head on a

  pillow and closed her eyes. Calvin was next. He was taken to a bed too.

  When he laid down he felt his head swim. The robot said something to

  Wexton, who went to a locker and took out two blankets. He covered

  Astra with one, and then put the other on Calvin. Suddenly Astra stopped

  shivering. In fact, she wasn’t moving at all. That scared Calvin deeply.

  Suddenly, Calvin felt tired and closed his eyes again. He heard voices

  between Wexton and MD-71, and the sound of movement. Calvin felt

  pressure on his upper arm, and in less than two seconds, he was

  unconscious.

  Slowly, Calvin became aware that he was awake. He opened his

  eyes gradually. The lights in the medical section were low and didn’t

  hurt. He looked around. Astra was still lying on her bed, under her

  blanket. It looked like she hadn’t moved. The monitor above the bed

  displayed her life signs, and even though he was not medically trained,

  he could see that her vital signs looked very strong.

  He was relieved beyond words. He’d been very worried about

  her. Calvin lay back on the bed and tried to relax. He was still feeling

  groggy and disoriented. Whatever the medical robot had done, he was

  feeling a lot better; just tired. He opened his eyes when he sensed an

  object move over him. It was Ion. Ion said something and handed Calvin

  a new translator. His head swam for a second; he was glad he was lying

  down.

  “Master Calvin, can you understand me?” Ion asked. “Yes, thanks.”

  “I’m so glad we found you,” Wexton said. “I thought you were

  dead.” For the first time Calvin noticed Wexton standing beside Ion. “That’s what we thought about you,” Calvin said. “What

  happened? How’s Dev?” He was almost afraid to ask, but he had to

  know.

  “The first thing the Goremog did was saturate the city with anticloak tech bombs,” Wexton reported. “We took a direct hit, and were

  instantly visible. Unfortunately, Dev took the brunt of the blast. His

  shields dropped. After that, we were ambushed by a group of hunter

  killer Goremog attack robots. Dev left the concrete barrier he was hiding

  behind and charged the enemy. He was hit several times in the chest, and

  once in the face, with no shields.”

  “The surgery did not go well,” The medical robot, MD-71 said.

  “I repaired most of the damage but he lost a lot of blood. His vital signs

  are weak, and he is in a coma.”

  “But he’ll be OK, right?” Calvin asked. He felt stupid for asking.

  This was the miracle that was Alerian medical technology. “The

  Medcomp can fix anything.”

  “I’m sorry sir,” MD-71 said. “I do not know if he will survive.

  But I will do everything I can for him.”

  Calvin took a deep breath. “Please let me know if anything changes.” “It’s my fault,” Wexton said sadly. “I should’ve gone over

  combat strategies again. I can’t believe he charged into the enemy like

  that.”

  “It’s not your fault Master Wexton,” Ion said. “You trained your

  troops, but you can’t prevent them from making mistakes in battle. Your

  actions may have saved his life. If you hadn’t brought him here as

  quickly as you did, he would have died out there.”

  They couldn’t lose another person. He felt the pain crushing his

  spirit. Next he had to ask another important question. “What about

  Astra? How is she?”

  “The princess is stable now,” MD-71 said flatly. “She was

  dangerously close to freezing to death.”

  “Please tell me she’ll be OK,” Calvin said.

  “Yes sir,” MD-71 said. “She will be OK. She had hypothermia and severe frostbite in her extremities, but no serious damage. She can leave as soon as she wakes up.”

  Calvin sat up. Surprisingly, he felt no pain, only a little soreness in his

  back and legs.

  “Careful sir,” Ion said. Calvin dangled his legs over the side.

  “What about me?”

  “You’re fine sir,” MD-71 said. “Fit for duty. You had minor

  symptoms of frostbite, and your core temperature was dangerously low,

  but no damage. You responded quickly to medication.”

  “Thank you.” A soft sound came from Astra’s bed. Calvin

  looked over, and saw Astra had her eyes open.

  “Ion,” Astra said, rubbing her neck. “What happened?” “Mistress,” Ion said, almost with a sad tone. “I believe the

  Goremog detected our ship when we penetrated the atmosphere. They

  saturated the old Alerian city with anti-cloaking bombs. Azure Frost, and

  your personal cloaking devices were compromised. The landing platform

  was an elevator. It took Azure Frost underground into a disused

  maintenance bay. Once there, we were trapped; sealed behind a giant

  door. I tried to connect
to the landing platform’s computer, but wasn’t

  able to. The only way out was to blast our way out. I am sorry that we

  had to leave you, but when I saw the Goremog ships approaching I felt it

  was best to leave the area; try to draw the enemy away from you. I was

  able to recycle the cloak, and become invisible again. When I was sure

  we had evaded the enemy, we headed back to the ruins and set down in

  the clearing. Wexton went out and looked for you. You know the rest.” “And the Goremog ship stayed over the city because they knew

  we were on the ground somewhere.”

  “Yeah,” Wexton said. “Honestly, I don’t know how you

  survived. They sent out dozens of those little dark terror dog things. They

  ran all over the city. I thought for sure you were dead. So what happened

  to you?” Calvin gave a brief explanation of what had happened to him

  and Astra.

  “You were right Wexton,” Calvin said. “If I had listened to you,

  this might not have happened. We would have been in and out faster.” “Well, I’m just glad nobody died,” Wexton said. “In all honesty,

  I was feeling complacent too, there at the end. We stayed too long, and I

  knew it. But I wasn’t going to force you to leave the lab. It was my fault

  too.” “Thanks Wexton,” Calvin said. “You’re a good man.” “Well, it’s good to feel needed again.”

  “I have something else to report,” Ion said. “The ship sustained

  two direct hits from the battleship while we were escaping. The long

  range sensors were damaged.”

  “How bad?” Astra asked.

  “The array was completely destroyed.”

  “Nothing but good news today,” Calvin said sarcastically. Then

  the information sunk in, and Calvin had to ask, “Hey, how could that

  happen? The shields on this ship should be strong enough to block out

  any Goremog attack.”

  “The shields are not impenetrable, Master Calvin,” Ion said.

  “They never were.”

  “No,” Wexton said. “If you hit a section of the shields hard

  enough, you will get through. In this case, it was the long range sensor

  dish. Be happy it wasn’t the bridge.”

  “Yes indeed,” Ion said. “The bulkheads on the forward section of

  deck three were damaged. Forcefields are in place, but we won’t be able

  to repair the damage until we get to a repair facility.”

  “Very well,” Astra said, not happy. “So, are we on our way to

  the next segment?”

  “Yes, mistress,” Ion answered.

  “How long?”

  “Two weeks,” Ion answered.

  “It’s going to be more interesting without long range sensors,”

  Calvin said. “And not in a good way. Is there any-way to repair them?” “I’m afraid there’s nothing left to repair,” Ion said. “I might be

  able to put something together, but it will have nowhere near the

  capability of the one we lost.”

  “I don’t even want to think about it right now,” Astra said.

  “Right now, I just want to go to my room and take a bath. After that, I

  would really like to talk to you, Calvin. Will you have dinner with me

  later?”

  “Of course,” Calvin said. “I’d love to. Just call me when you’re

  ready.”

  “Thanks for coming to get us, Wexton,” Calvin said. “You’re welcome,” Wexton said. “We were lucky, again.” After MD-71 released her from the medical bay, Calvin walked

  Astra to her room, and then went to his own to get cleaned up. It felt

  good to soak in hot water. When he was finished, he took his time, and

  dressed slowly. His muscles were sore. He sat on his bed, his mind

  running at light speed. He wanted badly to lie down and close his eyes.

  But he knew if he did he would fall asleep. So Calvin got up and sent

  Astra a message that he would be in the library waiting for her.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE:

  TRANSLATION

  Calvin walked to the library, fixed a big glass of hot tea for both of them, and then sat down in one of the big comfortable recliners facing the windows. He used the remote to open the curtains and enjoyed the view. It wasn’t too long before Astra arrived. She sat down in the recliner next to him and smiled.

  “You read my mind,” she said, taking a sip of tea. “I had a feeling you might want some,” Calvin said. It was her favorite tea; a blend designed for stress and tension relief.

  “You know me so well,” she smiled. Calvin smiled back and leaned back in his chair.

  “Our recent mission on Cusendea gave me some ideas. I don’t like that we have to rely on our translators to talk,” Calvin said. “I want to learn your language. Would you teach it to me?”

  “Hey, you really can read my mind. I was going to ask you the same thing. I want to learn Arlandian.”

  “All right,” Calvin said. “I have no idea how we’ll do this, but I’m excited about it.”

  They sat in silence for a minute, enjoying the view.

  “Calvin, when we were in the lab, what were you saying to me? I know you said a lot of things, and most of it I thought I could understand because you were pointing, or telling me everything was going to be OK. But there was a moment; I thought you were saying something really important.”

  Calvin was shocked. She sensed he was saying something important to her? It was amazing to him. Should he tell her now, or wait until later?

  “You’re right; I was telling you something important. You already know how much I love you. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever known. I love how smart you are, how beautiful you are. I love that it seems like we can read each other’s minds and how you always take care of me. We like the same things. I love how your family is very important to you. We have the same values. I love everything about you, and I realized that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve been so worried that when we found all of the segments, you would go off with your family and I would never see you again. Even though you’ve said you would go with me, I’ve still had doubts and fears that you would change your mind. So I want to ask you one question; Astra, will you marry me?”

  “Oh, Calvin,” Astra said. She covered her mouth with her hand and through tears said, “Yes, yes, I will. I love you too.” She jumped out of her seat and embraced Calvin.

  “I was so afraid of what was going to happen too, especially how my parents will react when I tell them I want to go with you. I’m still worried, but now, now I know, I’ll go with you.”

  They held each other for several minutes. Astra wiped her eyes.

  “I hope your parents like me,” she said.

  “They’re going to love you,” Calvin said. “I’ve told them all about you, although, they told me I’m not allowed to marry you until after we get back to New Arlandia. I don’t remember promising them that.” She laughed.

  “I’m more worried about your parents,” Calvin said. “How do you think they’ll react?”

  “They’re going to be happy,” Astra said confidently. “You know this was a setup, don’t you?”

  “What do you mean?” Calvin asked.

  “They did this on purpose. They didn’t tell me that, but I knew. They wanted us to be together. My people have no hope left. They knew there was a reason we found you now. I think they hoped that I could find a better life on your planet. A planet that is safe from the Goremog.”

  “I hope it stays that way.”

  “If our mission succeeds, everyone will be safe.”

  They talked for another hour and ate a small dinner. Calvin wished her good night, and went back to his room. He was so excited he had a hard time fall
ing asleep. She said yes!

  The next morning, they met for breakfast.

  “I had a wonderful dream last night,” Astra said. “I dreamt that you asked me to marry you.” She had a smile on her face, and she looked rested.

  “I had the same dream,” Calvin said. “You said yes in my dream.”

  Astra laughed. “Hey, I said yes in my dream too.” After breakfast, they walked to the bridge to check in with Ion. They found him in his usual seat at the main computer.

  “Good morning Ion,” Calvin said.

  “Master Calvin, Mistress Astra. I’m glad you are here. I have some new information. Two hours ago I was able to translate the message the No’Rath sent just after we escaped from the Seyta-Zun space station. Listen.” He pressed a button and the video screen turned on.

  “This is Krenth, to the fifteen. The space station has been attacked by an Alerian female and an Arlandian male. They infiltrated the station and neutralized my robots. I barely escaped. Please send Zendia Fleet to help me, fast. I don’t know if they are following me or not. Their ship is invisible. I didn’t even know they were here until their invisibility shields failed. How is it possible that the Arlandians and Alerians are working together again? The Arlandians were all destroyed and the Alerians are on the verge of complete annihilation. If they are working together, we are in great danger. Are they looking for their weapon? Please help me. Sound the alarm. They must be found and destroyed at all costs.”

  Calvin and Astra sat in silence.

  “There was a reply,” Ion said. “Listen,”

  “Krenth, you must be mistaken. What you are saying is impossible. Zendia is on its way, rendezvous at these coordinates. We will take measures to protect ourselves. The fifteen must be protected at all costs.”

  “That’s all there is,” Ion said.

  “Now the No’Rath know about us,” Astra said. “This is bad.”

  “And they know about the weapon,” Calvin said. “How do they know?”

  “I have no idea, but we need to hurry and get the last two pieces.”

  “If they know about the weapon, let’s hope it’s not because they found part of it.”

  “Right,” Astra said. “Ion, will you help me? We recovered technical manuals from the lab. Will you help me read them? We need to figure out how to assemble the weapon, and finish repairing the damaged segments.”