The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  “They look like us, but the gravity on their planet is lighter. Their bodies are smaller and very fragile.”

  “Fragile? They don’t sound very scary. How can they be such a danger to the galaxy?”

  “If you saw one out in the open, without a battle suit on, it wouldn’t look any more dangerous than a baby Tullimar. Oh, and they’re not very nice people.”

  Calvin laughed. “What’s a Tullimar?”

  “It’s a small furry animal with a long soft tail. I used to have one when I was a child.”

  “They don’t sound that bad to me.”

  “That’s because you haven’t had to fight them,” Astra said. “Imagine you’re on an alien planet, and you’re being hunted by a Goremog in a full combat suit. He’s fast, quiet, and covered with powerful weapons. Oh, and he’s not alone. He’s going to have several robots with him. But our intelligence people think there are so few living Goremog left, they’re more likely to send assassins or assault machines after you, lots of them. The Goremog have the most efficient robot factories in the universe. They can crank out robots faster than anyone else. They don’t have the most advanced technology, but they make up for it in numbers, overwhelming numbers.”

  “That’s frightening,” Calvin said. “But you didn’t answer my question. Why are they so hostile?”

  “They believe they have a divine right to rule the universe,” Astra said. “All other races are unclean.”

  “Oh,” Calvin said.

  Astra yawned and rubbed her eyes, which caused Calvin to yawn, too.

  “Well, I think I’ll go back down and do one more mission before going to bed,” Calvin said.

  “Have fun,” Astra said. “Just try to remember it’s just training. I’m going to start building the new power generator.”

  “OK, I’ll see you later.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

  THE FREIGHTER

  Calvin thought he was dreaming when he heard Ion’s voice over the ship-wide intercom speaker.

  “Master Calvin, Mistress Astra, I’m receiving a distress signal. Please come to the bridge immediately.” He sat up in bed and looked at the clock. It was five o’clock. Someone out there was in trouble. It could be a mechanical failure, or worse—someone was under attack. He got out of bed and dressed quickly. It was a short walk to the bridge.

  “What’s going on?” Calvin asked when he got there. Ion was alone, sitting at the computer station in the back.

  “Sir, sensors are detecting a distress call, coming from a ship not far from here.”

  “What does the message say?” Calvin asked, trying to sound relaxed.

  “It’s an automated distress signal on a repeating loop,” Ion said. “Ship in distress. That’s all.”

  “What does that mean?” Calvin asked.

  “It’s a computer recording,” Astra said, entering the bridge. “It probably means they didn’t have time to send out a detailed message.” She sat down in the copilot’s chair.

  “Are there any other ships in the area that could help them?” Calvin asked.

  “No, sir. No other ships.”

  “Ion, please scan the ship,” Astra said. “Let’s see if we can find out what their problem is.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Calvin sat and examined the long-range sensors. There was a small red dot on the screen. Calvin clicked on it, and the image of a spaceship filled the monitor.

  “There it is,” he whispered.

  “I’m not reading any life signs,” Ion said.

  “No one alive?” Calvin asked. “We’re too late?”

  “It could be an all robot crew,” Astra said. “No humans. But either way, the sensors are having a problem getting a complete scan of the ship. Something is interfering with them.”

  “I know I’m the new guy out here,” Calvin said. “But if our signals are being blocked, doesn’t that mean someone is jamming us? It’s obviously a trap.”

  “Not necessarily,” Astra said. “The ship is heavily damaged. A radiation leak could be the cause.”

  “I don’t like this,” Calvin said.

  “Wait, what’s that?” Ion said. “I’m reading a weak energy signature. It doesn’t match anything else on that ship. Give me a second to analyze it.”

  “What do you think, Calvin?” Astra asked.

  Calvin turned around and faced Astra and Ion. “I don’t think we should stop,” he said. “Our mission is too important. I don’t know what happened on that ship. I feel bad for them, but they weren’t able to deal with whatever happened over there. Sensors clearly show no life signs, Therefore, there is nobody to help. We’d be putting ourselves in danger for no reason. I think it’s a bad idea. I say no.”

  “I agree,” Astra said. “I feel bad for them, too, but we need to find the third segment.”

  “I have more information,” Ion said. “It’s a Tryvellen freighter, and I’ve identified the energy signature. It’s the third segment.”

  “The third segment?” Calvin exclaimed. “So that’s how it was moving.”

  “The Tryvellen people were good friends of Arlandia and Aleria.”

  “Did they help create the super-weapon?” Calvin asked.

  “No,” Astra admitted. “I don’t think so.”

  “Now we have to go over there,” Calvin said. “I’m plotting an intercept course.”

  “I don’t like this either,” Astra said. “Something is very wrong here. What happened to the crew?”

  “Maybe they were playing around with it and killed themselves,” Calvin suggested.

  “We should stop and think about this,” Astra said. “Maybe if we just got close, we could get clearer scans. We need to find out what’s going on over there before we rush into it.”

  “If we can get closer, we should be able to get through whatever is blocking our scans,” Ion said.

  “Good, but I still don’t like it,” Astra said, putting on her seat belt. Calvin did the same. “We need to be careful.”

  “We will,” Calvin said, but Astra wasn’t convinced.

  “I’m taking us out of hyperspace,” Calvin said. There was a light storm as the ship returned to normal space. Calvin pushed the throttle forward and changed course.

  They saw it immediately, faraway—a light-gray shape against the dark background of space. It was rolling slowly on its side, tumbling through space. The ship was long and thin and was heavily damaged. Several areas of the ship were open to space, and the inside could be seen through many gaping holes. There was a cloud of debris surrounding it. Calvin was amazed. The ship didn’t look like it was defenseless. There were multiple banks of laser cannons along the sides. The engines were large bulky monstrous things hanging off of the back. Calvin brought the ship in closer.

  “Scanning,” Ion said. “The readings are very strange. Mistress Astra, have you ever seen anything like this?”

  “What in the world?” Astra whispered. “What is that?”

  “What do you see?” Calvin asked.

  “These readings keep changing, flashing back and forth. One second I see two life signs. One is very clear, the other is very strange. It’s almost as if it’s reading as half a life. Then the next second there are eightyfive life signs, all with crazy readings.” Astra looked at Calvin. “I don’t know what it means, but I was right, there’s a lot of radiation, and it’s confusing our sensors. I can say one thing, though, with some certainty, the one life sign that appears normal is Tryvellen.”

  “How about the third segment?” Calvin asked. “Can you see it?”

  “Yes, the signal is very strong,” Ion said. “But power levels on the ship are extremely low. Main power is off-line, and life support is failing. If there is a Tryvellen over there, he won’t last long. I hate to say this, but if we’re going to board that ship, we should do it soon.”

  “Astra,” Calvin said, “I want you to stay on the Frost. Ion and I will go. Stay here, keep an eye on us, and be ready in case we need to get ou
t of there quickly.” Calvin was still shaken from seeing Astra sucked out into space in front of him. He didn’t want to put her in danger again. It made sense to him to keep her on the Frost.

  “What do you think?”

  “OK, that’s fine,” she said reluctantly. “Just be careful over there, all right?”

  “I will,” he said with a half-smile. He tried to hide his nervousness, but Astra wasn’t able to hide hers. “Ion will protect me.”

  “Ion’s not the one I’m worried about.” Astra smiled, but she looked unhappy. “I scanned the exterior of the ship. I found several docking ports,” she said, centering the screen on one. “They look like standard airlocks. We should be able to dock the Frost with no problems.”

  “I recommend we take a shuttle,” Ion said. “We don’t want to expose Azure Frost to whatever might be in that ship.”

  “Good idea,” Calvin said.

  “Master Calvin, are you ready?”

  “Let’s go.”

  As Calvin stood up, Astra held on to his arm.

  “I’m serious,” she said. “Be careful. You have no idea what you’re gonna find over there, and I can’t explain it, but I don’t have a very good feeling.”

  Calvin looked into her eyes. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

  Their first stop was the equipment room, just outside the shuttle bay. Ion didn’t need to prepare or gear up. He was impervious to harsh environments, and all the equipment he needed was built into him. Calvin, on the other hand, needed to get some equipment. First he put a tiny portable shield device in his shirt pocket. On second thought, he decided to take an extra one, just in case. He also took two communication devices. He put on a full space suit but didn’t put the helmet on yet. He would put that on when they were ready to go into the other ship. The suit was bulky and caused him to walk slowly to the shuttle.

  “Master Calvin,” Ion said, handing him a laser pistol. “Better take this, too. Do you know how to use it?”

  “No, I’ve never seen a pistol like this before,” Calvin said.

  “It’s a simple, yet powerful, design,” Ion explained. “The safety lock is here, the power pack is here.” Ion showed him how to change out power packs.

  Calvin put the pistol in a holster, along with several extra power packs. When they were ready to go, they walked out of the equipment room and into the shuttle bay. Ion opened the back door, and they stepped into the shuttle. Calvin made his way to the pilot’s chair and sat down. Ion shut the back door and took the seat next to Calvin.

  Calvin turned on the computer. The preflight checklist appeared on a small monitor on the side of the console. Calvin ran the checklist. He turned on the power generators, fuel pumps, main computer, auxiliary control system, and compressors. He then waited for the engines to warm up. A green light flashed to tell him the ship was ready.

  A high-pitched whine filled the air as the engines started, followed by a deep humming throb that grew steadily.

  While he was waiting for the engines to finish starting up, he ran through the rest of the checklist. All systems were fully operational. Calvin pressed a button on the console, which opened the shuttle bay doors. He was normally excited every time he got to fly the shuttle, but this time he was scared. He didn’t want to show it in front of Astra, but he was very nervous about what they would find on the disabled Tryvellen ship.

  Calvin increased power to the engines and guided the shuttle carefully through the open doors out into space. Once they were clear, he pushed the throttle forward.

  The shuttle sped across space toward the derelict ship. Calvin couldn’t stop thinking about Astra’s last words, about how she had a bad feeling. He hadn’t known her very long, but he was learning that it was a good idea to listen to her. When she had a bad feeling, something bad usually happened.

  “Master Calvin, slow down. The radiation is interfering with the navigation system,” Ion said. “I can’t find the docking port. Give me a second.”

  Calvin pulled back on the throttle. Two thrusters on the front of the shuttle ignited and slowed them down to a crawl. Ion studied an image of the Tryvellen ship on a monitor. Bursts of static lit up the screen. “There are several docking ports, but the two near the bridge are too heavily damaged.” He pointed at them on the screen. “There’s one here near the engines. It looks like our best chance of getting in.”

  “OK, looks good,” Calvin said, pointing the shuttle toward the back of the ship and accelerating.

  “Be careful, sir,” Ion said quickly. “There’s a lot of debris ahead.”

  “No problem,” Calvin said. “I can do this.” But then he saw a huge debris field directly in their flight path. There were pieces of metal everywhere.

  “We have shields, right?” Calvin asked.

  “Yes, and no,” Ion replied. “We have shields, but they’re not very strong. I recommend not running into anything.”

  “Easier said than done,” Calvin muttered, steering the shuttle between two large sections of bulkhead. “I can avoid the big pieces, no problem, but there’s a million tiny pieces. What about them?”

  “Our light shields should protect us,” Ion said, “But you should try to avoid them.”

  “No promises,” Calvin cringed as they passed through a cloud of tiny fragments. The shields flickered angrily.

  “Can’t we go around this?” Calvin asked anxiously.

  “I’m afraid not. The debris field surrounds the ship. There isn’t a clear path ahead.” Calvin dodged a large piece of metal. He flew close around it and almost hit another one hidden behind it.

  “Whoa,” Calvin exclaimed. He had a flashback of his first attempted flight through an asteroid field. It was in the simulator, but it didn’t end well. He slowed the shuttle and carefully turned to avoid another large charred piece of wreckage. He got much closer than he intended, close enough for the shields to flash. He gently and skillfully piloted the shuttle around to the back of the big freighter, weaving through an area with the least amount of objects in their way. It took a long time because they had to go slow, weaving in and out, up and down. Despite slowing down, more than once he hit several small pieces. Fortunately, they were not big enough to cause damage.

  They flew past the big bulky engines on the back of the ship and around to the other side. Calvin tried to scan the hull with the shuttle’s sensors, but the screen flickered angrily and filled with static.

  “This thing is useless,” Calvin complained. He looked ahead out the window, but it was too dark to see.

  “This isn’t going to work,” he said, getting more frustrated. “I can’t see a thing.”

  “Here,” Ion said. “This will help.” A bright light shot into the darkness, lighting up the side of the alien ship nicely. Calvin piloted the shuttle along the charred hull of the freighter. His heart raced when he saw it—the outline of a door.

  “Ion,” Calvin said excitedly. “Is that it?”

  “Yes,” Ion said. “Give me a second to configure the docking connector.”

  Ion worked the controls for a moment then said, “All right, sir, ready.”

  Calvin turned the shuttle around, reversed the engines, and backed up slowly until the connection was confirmed with a soft bump.

  “Master Calvin,” Ion said. “Your piloting skills have improved dramatically. I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you, Ion,” Calvin said. “I’ve been practicing in the simulator.”

  “It shows,” Ion said. “If you were training at the Alerian flight academy, that performance would have earned you a silver rating.”

  “I feel comfortable in the pilot’s seat.”

  “If I were your instructor, I would tell you that you are doing very well, your skills are improving and you seem to have a natural ability, but don’t become over-confident. You have room for improvement.

  “Thank you, I’ll try to remember that.”

  Calvin took off his seat belt and was about to shut down the engines, when he su
ddenly had a thought.

  “Ion, should I keep the engines running, just in case? We don’t know what’s out there, and we might have to leave in a hurry.”

  “Place the engines in standby mode,” Ion said. “They’ll stay warm and only take four seconds to restart.” Calvin did as Ion suggested.

  They went to the back of the shuttle. Calvin put on his helmet. A hiss of air confirmed there was a good seal.

  “Ion, can you hear me?” Calvin said, checking the

  communications gear.

  “Yes, your signal is clear,” Ion said.

  Calvin checked his laser pistol. He turned the safety off and made sure the power pack was locked. It was. He had one hundred rounds available at standard power, fifty at full.

  Ion opened the door and went first, into a small square waiting room. There were rows of seats along the walls, and another door on the other side of the room. Calvin and Ion stepped through the next door and into a very long dark hallway. To the left it stretched off farther than they could see. To the right the corridor stopped at a door, not far from where they stood.

  Calvin took out a small scanner and turned it on.

  “I’m picking up one life sign,” Calvin said. “The signal is strong. I think it’s the Tryvellen. The other life sign is flickering on and off. It’s definitely not human. It’s moving around pretty fast. No, wait, now there are eighty-five of them again. Ion, there’s obviously more than one of those things here, or the scanner wouldn’t keep seeing eighty-five. It hasn’t seen more than one Tryvellen.”

  “Good point,” Ion said. “Can you see the third segment?” Calvin looked into his scanner. He had to change the mode a few times, searching for an energy pattern that matched the weapon segment.

  “There it is,” he said. “It’s right next to the Tryvellen. Does that mean he has it?”

  “Possibly. He might be guarding it,” Ion suggested. “We need to get to that person. He could tell us what happened here.”

  Ion led the way down the corridor. It was dark and cold. The readings on the scanner said the temperature was a chilly thirty-one degrees. Fortunately for Calvin, his suit was heated—he was nice and warm. But to Calvin, the most important part of the suit were the lights built into his helmet. Combined with Ion’s lights, the corridor was lit up around them nicely.