by William Wood
He looked down over the side. The ground was five feet down, and there was no ladder that he could see. How was he supposed to get down? Jump? He could do that, but how would he get back up when it was time to take off again? Suddenly he had a terrible thought of the Goremog attacking and not being able to get back in his fighter.
Calvin looked around and found a small panel with a picture of a ladder on it. Curious, he opened it and found a button inside, which he pressed. A small retractable ladder slid from a small panel on the side of the ship, all the way to the ground. Wow, the Alerians had thought of everything!
Calvin stood up and stretched. For a moment he felt woozy from sitting still for so long. He carefully climbed down the ladder and walked to the bottom of the boarding ramp. Astra ran down the ramp and wrapped her arms around Calvin. They held each other for several moments.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” She said. “I was worried when you weren’t right behind us.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I forgot to charge my hyper- drive,” Calvin said. “I’m kicking myself.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Astra said. “So you must have seen what emerged from hyperspace.”
“It was a space carrier,” Calvin said. “It arrived just after you left. “You were right, it wasn’t a Goremog ship. My sensors couldn’t identify it. I should have stayed. I was cloaked; they wouldn’t have been able to see me.”
“Did it launch fighters?”
“Yes, several, and they were heading right for me.”
“See,” Astra said. “Something’s not right. Our cloaking technology has kept us safe for a long time, but I’ve been afraid for a while that our enemies are going to find a way to see right through it, if they haven’t already.”
“Do you think they saw me?”
“I hope not,” Astra said. “I think they were going to the spot where we went into hyperspace.”
“That’s what I thought,” Calvin said. “But why did they do that? Do you think the Frost was making that much noise?”
“Yes, I do,” She said. “The cloak was doing something really weird; turning on and off. There’s no way they didn’t see us.”
“Is there a chance they were able to compute your trajectory, and follow us here?”
“I don’t think so,” Astra said. “I doubt they were able to lock onto us long enough for that.”
Calvin hoped she was right, but wasn’t convinced. If the Goremog were good at anything, it was tracking down Alerian ships and destroying them. But the carrier didn’t belong to the Goremog, and that worried him even more.
He turned around and looked up and took in the surroundings. The ring of trees that surrounded them was tall and thick. Large white birds wheeled gracefully overhead. A lone, tall mountain loomed above, with a waterfall running down the side of it. The sound was mesmerizing. The sky was deep blue, and the sun was shining above. The air felt nice and cool. Calvin was tired, but the fresh air and sunshine made him feel surprisingly awake and refreshed.
Ion walked down the ramp and joined them. Dev, Wexton and Nils followed him.
“Every system on the ship is about to melt!” Dev said.
“What Mister Sorna means is that the engines overheated,” Ion explained. “We shut everything down, but we’ll have to wait until the temperature drops before we can begin repairs.”
“He makes it sound like it’s a little warm down there,” Dev said. “No one can go near the engine room because it’s way too hot.”
“I thought it was a software problem,” Calvin said.
“It is,” Dev said. “But some of the engine components were damaged from the extreme heat. Melted, I think.”
“What?” Calvin exclaimed. “That’s terrible.”
“Don’t worry Master Calvin,” Ion said. “We can fabricate new parts. It won’t be a problem. But it’s going to be a little while.”
“If you say so,” Calvin said, looking around again. “I can think of worse places to get stuck.”
Petori walked down the ramp, followed by Freks.
“Oh, wow,” Petori gasped when he saw the mountain. “It’s amazing.”
“You just can’t beat real air,” Freks said, taking a deep breath. “And real sunshine.”
Calvin angled his head toward the sun and closed his eyes. The heat felt amazing on his face, like the life was flowing back into his soul.
“What about the Goremog?” Wexton said, joining them in the sunlight. “We’re easy targets here. How will we know if they found us?”
Astra held up a small scanner. “I left a remote sensor in orbit,” she said. “We’ll know if anything arrives in the system.”
“What if it’s not the Goremog?” Wexton asked.
“Don’t worry,” Astra said. “It doesn’t matter who it is, we’ll know they’re coming.”
Wexton nodded reluctantly and walked off.
Everyone stood silently for several minutes. Calvin was content and wanted to stay in the sunshine, but he heard another voice speaking to him, and that voice was getting louder and harder to ignore. It was his stomach.
“Let’s make the most of this,” Calvin said. “While it lasts.”
“Wexton,” Dev said. “Let’s go climb the mountain, see if we can get to the top of the waterfall.”
“OK,” Wexton said. “Let’s go.”
“Let’s arm up first.”
“Why?” Wexton asked. “There’re no large animals on this planet. You saw the scans.”
“I know, but I’d rather be prepared, just in case.”
“OK,” Wexton said with resignation. “Just in case we’re attacked by angry squirrels, I got it.”
“Before you go,” Astra said to everyone. “Make sure you take a communicator with you.”
Dev and Wexton hiked around the lake and disappeared behind the mountain. Petori and Freks wandered off on their own.
Astra retrieved a basket loaded with food and drinks from the dining room on Azure Frost. Together, with Scribbles following after them, they found a spot under a tree with a spectacular view of the waterfall. Astra spread a blanket on the grass. Scribbles sat down between them. Astra opened the basket and handed Calvin a sandwich.
“This planet is amazing,” Calvin said with a smile. “It’s just a little nicer than Doonterria.”
Astra laughed. “Just a little?”
“Well, and a little cooler.”
“I’m so used to living in space, with the artificial air, artificial gravity and synthesized food, I forget how nice it is to walk around on a planet,” Astra said. “This is the most beautiful planet I’ve been on in a long time, maybe the best ever.”
“It reminds me of home,” Calvin said.
“I guess I’m just used to being in space though,” Astra shivered. “Something about this place makes me feel uneasy. There’s too much open space.”
“But you had a lot of open space on Aleria’s Hope. You must have spent time in the city, or walking in the forest.”
“Yes, sometimes,” Astra said. “But that was a long time ago. When our population shrank it didn’t make sense for all of us to live on one big ship so we spread out to hundreds of smaller ones. Even then, there wasn’t this much open space.”
“Yeah,” Calvin said. “I feel a little of that myself. It’s funny what you can get used to. But for me, it’s not that the open space bothers me; it’s that we’ve stopped moving. Every time we sit still for too long, something bad happens.”
“You’re right,” Astra said, suddenly serious.
After they ate, they took a walk in the forest. They strolled under the tall green trees, along a thick patch of grass over gently rolling hills. They walked until they found a wide, noisy stream. They followed the stream until they found themselves at the bottom of the waterfall. The waterfall was magnificent.
Calvin and Astra found a place to sit in the deep grass, near two tall trees, on the shore of the crystal clear lake. A vibrant colored rainbow
reflected in the waterfall.
“Do you know the name of this planet?” Calvin asked, after Astra handed him another sandwich.
“No,” Astra answered. “It’s not listed on our star charts.”
“If we were ever searching for a lost paradise, we just found it.”
“No kidding,” Astra agreed. Calvin was amazed at the perfection around them. He was afraid that any second he would wake up in his bed and it would all disappear. The sad reality was that it would all end. It was coming soon, whether he liked it or not; which he didn’t. They couldn’t hide there forever. At least he had Astra.
“It’s like a dream,” Astra whispered. After ten minutes of silence, Calvin looked over at Astra to ask her if she wanted to walk around the lake and noticed she was asleep. So he laid back and closed his eyes. Gradually he was lulled to sleep by the sound of the waterfall. Two hours later, Astra’s communicator beeped and woke them up.
“Mistress Astra,” Ion said. “The ship has cooled sufficiently. I would like to start working on the computer now.”
“All right Ion,” Astra said. “We’ll be there shortly.”
Calvin sat up and wanted to complain that he wasn’t ready to leave yet, but he kept it to himself. It was a very pleasant walk back to Azure Frost.
Astra, Dev and Ion went right to work. Calvin felt left out. There was nothing for him to do inside the ship, since main power was offline, and he was not a trained engineer. So he walked around outside with the scanner and monitored signals from the remote sensor Astra had left in orbit. He walked around for an hour. He was happy and content, but his eye kept wandering to his fighter, sitting quietly on the ground. It seemed as if it were asking to be flown again; begging to be let loose and free. When it became clear repairs were going to take longer than expected, he gave in to his desire and climbed into the cockpit.
He pushed any doubts to the back of his mind. If they wanted him, they could call him on the communicator. Otherwise, he felt like he needed to get out in space and make sure there were no alien space ships lurking around. He also wanted to check out the planet. That was reasonable, wasn’t it?
He closed the canopy and started the engines.
“Calvin, is that you?” Astra asked.
“Yes, I’m going on a quick reconnaissance flight.”
“Good idea.” Astra said simply.
He took off and flew over the surface at ten thousand feet. It was pure bliss. The planet did indeed remind him of New Arlandia; the rivers and lakes, oceans and mountains. He didn’t rush to leave the atmosphere. The long range scanner showed the star system was clear of any space ships. When he was finished looking around he took one quick trip around the star system.
He lost track of time. A call on the communicator interrupted his thoughts.
“Calvin, we’re ready for take-off.”
“All right. I’m on my way back.”
“Just meet us in orbit,” Astra said.
Calvin turned and headed back to the planet. On the way he recorded the location of the planet, wondering if someday he would ever return.
Landing the fighter was easy. When he was in range, the computer took over. All he had to do was sit back and watch. The hangar bay opening was very narrow, and he wouldn’t want to try and land manually for fear of hitting something.
The fighter passed through the force-field and gently came to rest in the center of the hangar bay. The canopy opened automatically with a soft hum. Calvin shut the engines down and turned the computers off. He took his helmet off and took a deep breath.
“Mission complete,” he said, imitating the female voice he heard after a successful mission in the simulator. He stretched his muscles as he made his way down the ladder that retracted out of the side, just under the canopy. “You are an amazing machine,” Calvin said to the fighter. He ran his hand along the side of the ship.
Calvin headed to the locker room to change out of his flight-suit. After he changed, He took his seat on the bridge. Calvin had mixed feelings. He was ready to get going again on their mission, but very sad to leave the most perfect planet he had ever seen; untouched by anyone.
Two hours later, Calvin and Astra were sitting quietly on the bridge alone. Astra was keeping an eye on the engines and various shipwide systems. Calvin was staring out into space, quite bored. There was nothing else to do.
“We’re nearing Goremog space,” Astra said simply.
Calvin instinctively looked at the long range scanner. He half expected to see it covered with enemy ships, but it was all clear, except for three red dots.
“You might want to see this.” She turned on the main monitor. An image of a very large warship appeared. Two smaller ships cruised alongside it.
“See these two small ships? Those are Goremog battleships.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not. This big one is a Titan. It’s their most powerful class of warship. I haven’t seen one of them in a while.” Astra said, with a quiet respect.
“It looks like they’re patrolling the border.”
“Do you think they’ll see us?” Calvin asked nervously.
Astra checked the cloak. “No,” she said. “The cloak is working perfectly now.”
Time passed slowly as the border approached. “We’ll pass within one lightyear of the Titan.” Astra said. “Crossing the border in five, four, three, two, one.”
As they crossed in invisible frontier border, a red light on the scanner flashed and the alarm rang a single tone.
“What was that?” Calvin asked.
“Hold on,” Astra said. After a moment, she said. “We passed through a highpowered sensor field.”
Calvin checked the long range sensors. The Goremog ships were holding position.
“Did they see us?” Calvin asked.
“No,” Astra said. “I don’t think so. But we might have triggered their alarms. They might have seen that something went through, but they won’t know what it was. Does that make sense?”
“Not really.”
“If I said anything for certain right now I’d be lying.” Astra admitted.
“That’s comforting.”
“All the same, we should drop out of hyperspace in about ten minutes and readjust our course, just in case. We don’t want them trying to follow us.”
“OK,” Calvin said, fearing the worst. “I don’t think I can handle any more excitement today.”
“We’re in Goremog space now,” Astra said. “The excitement just started. I’m afraid I won’t be sleeping very well for a while.”
She was right. Calvin had a hard time sleeping that night. He kept listening for the alarm to go off. Knowing the Goremog Titan was operating nearby would rob him of more than one night’s sleep.
CHAPTER FOURTY-THREE:
GREAT SORROW
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Despite the fact they were now in Goremog space, nothing at all happened the first week. Everyone kept to themselves, continued to do what they had been doing. Calvin experienced a big moment when he finished the last advanced combat course in the simulator. When the canopy rose on the simulator, he felt a deep feeling of accomplishment, and sadness at the same time. It was over; now what was he going to do? He walked back to the bridge, sat down, and stared out at the star field.
Out of boredom, he scanned the nearest planet. It was small and red. There were ruins of cities, but no life signs. The planet did not have an atmosphere. Calvin zoomed in on a flat plain outside a dead city. There were miles of sticks, rising out of the ground. He stared at them for several minutes, trying to figure out what they were. Were they grave markers? There were thousands of them. Then he realized they were trees. He was staring at a dead forest.
He scanned the next one; a large gray rock. This one had the remains of cities too. It once supported life. Calvin could see the evidence, but something burned off the atmosphere and killed everything. Was he seeing evidence of the hundred-year-long space war; planets th
at fought in the war and were destroyed? He was able to scan ten more planets, and they were all the same; radiated, lifeless balls of rock and stone. They were tombs. How sad, Calvin thought, too see the damage that the long war had done. And what good did it do? There was no clear winner, only dead planets that once thrived with life.
Calvin didn’t do much that day. He spent a lot of time in the library looking at books and writing in his journal. The only bright spot came when he met Astra for dinner in the dining room.
“Hey Calvin,” Astra said. “How’s it going?” “Fine,” He said. “I was going to find something to do, but I couldn’t get motivated to do anything. How about you?”
“I spent all day in the lab,” Astra said. “I finished scanning the second segment, and made a copy of it. I have the results ready if you want to send them to your father.”
“Thank you,” Calvin said. “I know a few people who will be very happy. Do you know what it is?”
“It’s a shield generator.”
“Why would the weapon need a shield generator?”
“I’m not completely sure,” Astra said. “But I think to protect it while it’s charging, maybe?”
“Protect itself from what? Light arms, or the main laser cannons of a Goremog battleship? Would it be strong enough for that?”
“This isn’t a standard force-field. Do you remember how strong the power generator is? If it works like I think it will, it will be practically invulnerable while it’s charging.”
“So the designers assumed it would be under attack when they tried to use it?”
“No,” Astra said suddenly. “It could do more than that. It could protect itself from its own beam.”
“What?” Calvin asked, confused. “Why would it need to do that? You said it would only damage specific computers. I assumed it would be safe from itself!”
“Yes, but, no.” Astra seemed to struggle. “I don’t know how to explain this. I’ve studied the information from every hard drive and technical manual we’ve found. They all lead me to believe this weapon has never been tested, the technology has never been proven to work. Individually, each segment worked, but never together as one.”