The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  “And if we lose contact with them too?” Wexton asked. “I bet Sipper is fine, we just lost contact. But now you’re powerless to do anything from here. It will be the same thing. We have to go out there, and take care of this personally.”

  “No, there is strong evidence that Sipper was destroyed in the No’Rath ship.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Dev said. “Even if we don’t lose contact, the situation will be fluid, and we’ll need to make rapid decisions. Robots aren’t very good at thinking for themselves.”

  “I’m not sure I agree with that,” Astra said. “That’s one of the most dangerous environments imaginable. There will be zero gravity, shifting magnetic fields, dangerous floating objects; everything around us will be unstable! This is the perfect mission for robots.”

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

  Everyone looked at Calvin. Remembrance of previous missions and encounters with the Dark Terror had given him a healthy fear of death. He didn’t want to go outside the safety of the ship again. Running into scary monsters in confined spaces was a prominent theme in his nightmares. But then, he didn’t think he could trust robots enough to do it. Finally he answered.

  “I think we should go get it,” Calvin said. “Nothing against the robots, but with the exception of Ion, I don’t think they are a good choice for this sort of mission. They lack the ability to apply the right kind of logic. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes, it does.” Astra said.

  “But we don’t need everyone to go on this,” Calvin added. “I’ll go with Wexton, Nils, Petori and Freks. You and Dev can stay here and figure this out.” He pointed to the pieces of the segment all over the bench.

  “I know you’re not going to like this,” Astra said. “But I think I should go with you.” Calvin started to protest, but Astra continued. “You may not know what you’re looking for. If it’s as damaged as I think it is, and there are stray pieces of it floating around. Are you sure you’ll know what you need to take and what not to? Why take the chance again?” Calvin couldn’t argue with her. He didn’t like it, but she was right.

  “OK,” Calvin relented; another argument lost.

  “Um, I’m not going to stay here either,” Dev said. “You’re going to want all the guns you have going on this mission.”

  “We’ll stick to the previous plan,” Astra said. “And take all the combat robots. Only this time we have to search a damaged battleship instead of an Alerian space station.”

  Calvin nodded.

  “If you don’t mind,” Nils said sheepishly. “I would prefer to stay here. I can’t get around in zero gravity.”

  “Aren’t you the one that grew up in space?” Wexton asked. “You can’t get around in zero G?”

  “Never had to,” Nils said. Dev looked at him sideways, opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Calvin.

  “That’s fine,” Calvin said, wanting to move on. “You can stay here. The rest of you, let’s go gear up. We’re going to need spacesuits, aren’t we?” He realized it was a stupid question as soon as he asked it.

  “Yes, we’ll have to go out in full spacesuits,” Astra answered.

  “Can’t we use the advanced combat suits again?” Wexton asked. “They’re much easier to move around in.”

  “Well,” Astra said. “Though there might be pockets of breathable air on that ship, we can’t count on it. The advanced combat gear wasn’t meant to be used in the vacuum of space for a prolonged period, and we have no idea how long it will take us to find what we’re looking for. No, I’m afraid we’ll have to use the spacesuits this time.”

  “Then I’d like to submit a complaint form, please.” Dev said. “Maybe suggest an upgrade to the advanced combat gear.”

  “I’ll make a note of it,” Astra said dryly.

  “Dev, you’re gonna grab your new portable cloaks, right?” Wexton asked.

  “Sorry,” Dev said. “They’re not ready.”

  “Then it’s my turn to complain,” Wexton said. “And this one is on you.” Wexton pointed at Dev.

  Dev smirked and shook his head.

  The process of suiting up for a mission outside the ship was always a pain as far as Calvin was concerned. Even with their advanced technology, the Alerians had not been able to invent a space suit that was easy to put on and move around in. The worst part, in his opinion, was that the restricted movement and bulky suit made him feel

  claustrophobic. It was the perfect setup for a nightmare, being chased by Dark Terrors while trying to escape in the spacesuit. He tried to brush aside memories of the escape from the Tryvellen freighter and focus on the present, which promised to be a whole new nightmare.

  For one person, the process of putting on the suit took twenty minutes plus ten more to make sure each connecting piece had a good, airtight seal. It took an hour and a half for all five of them to suit up, get their weapons and step out into the shuttle bay. Once there, they all gathered around Astra.

  “You may have already noticed these suits are well balanced, and have power assistance for walking and moving your arms. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to move very well. If you’re not familiar with the space suits, I’m sorry you didn’t get more time to practice. But they’re not unlike suits you’ve used before. I want to point out that they have micro-jets built in, so you can travel in a vacuum. The control panel is here, on the top of your left glove. They’re very useful for small maneuvers, but you’re not going to get anywhere in a great hurry so remember that.”

  “That’s perfect,” Freks said sarcastically. “So we’ll slowly float away from danger?”

  “No dummy,” Petori said. “We won’t be running away from anything.”

  “Oh, right,” Freks said.

  “But you will obey my orders,” Wexton said sternly. Neither Petori nor Freks answered.

  “One last thing,” Astra said after a brief awkward moment of silence. “These suits are tough, but not invulnerable to damage. When we go inside the alien ship, there will most likely be sharp objects everywhere. If you puncture your suit, you’ll die. Are you ready?”

  Calvin looked around at everyone; they all looked ready.

  “Are we taking a shuttle?” Freks asked.

  “No, we don’t need a shuttle,” Calvin said. “We’re close enough to float over.”

  “Ion,” Astra called on the communicator. “Open the shuttle

  bay doors. We’re ready to go.”

  CHAPTER FOURTY-FIVE:

  FOOLS RUSH IN

  Calvin stood in front of the shuttle bay doors and waited nervously. The others lined up next to him. He felt totally naked. Normally he was inside a ship, sitting in the pilot’s seat in full control. He wondered what it was going to feel like when the doors opened. He probably wouldn’t feel anything. He was still behind the force-field and his suit would protect him from the vacuum of space. His magnetic boots would keep him attached to the floor when the gravity was deactivated, so he wasn’t going to float away. But still, this was new. Calvin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. For some strange reason, he thought about his family, and how long it had been since he saw them. He wished his father could see him now and wondered what medal they gave for saving the entire planet?

  There was a loud thud that saturated his suit and pulsed through his body. That was followed by a very loud hum. Calvin’s heart began to race. Emotions of fear and excitement battled each other inside from his head to his heart. Then the doors clicked. Calvin opened his eyes to see the bay doors slowly rising. Calvin felt the need to hold onto something, but there was nothing to hold on to. His jaw dropped when he saw the view. No scanner or computer-enhanced vision. No, this was with his own eyes with only the glass visor of his helmet between him and the dead of space. There were trillions of tiny pieces of debris, thousands of destroyed relics of space-ships, but the most astonishing sight was the derelict battleship. The gaping hole in the side of its hull was not far away. From where Calvin stood it looked
like a short jump. But fear tempered his desire to just run and jump without some careful consideration first. Pieces of razor sharp debris floated between Azure Frost and the Battleship. They bounced off the force-field to the hangar bay, causing it to flicker incessantly like an ionic storm that he sometimes saw in the northern hemisphere of his planet.

  “Relax,” Astra said, taking hold of Calvin’s gloved hand. “We’ve got a lot of backup this time.”

  “Yeah,” Calvin said. “But I won’t relax until we’re back on the ship, with the next fragment.”

  “Don’t worry; It’ll be fine,” She said in a calming tone. “Just as long as everyone does what they’re supposed to do.” Then she turned and faced the others and her tone became much louder and stronger. “I’m turning off the gravity now. Remember what I told you. Be careful when you use your suit thrusters; short bursts only! A little will go a long way.”

  That was all the warning they got and the gravity turned off. There was a solid ‘clunk’ when his books locked onto the metal floor. He wondered if anything in the bay was going to float away, but everything was secure. Nothing moved.

  “Ion, extend the shields,” Astra commanded. The shields moved outward, and created a safe tunnel for them to cross over between ships.

  Astra expertly floated up in the air. Blue pulses from her thruster pack flashed briefly, gradually moving her forward. One by one, everyone followed. Calvin lifted his left arm in front of his face so he could see the panel that contained a pair of joysticks that provided easy control of the thrusters. He gave the left joystick a single push, and a burst of energy moved him forward. But he was still on the floor. A gentle push of the right joystick sent him towards the ceiling, faster than he wanted. He hurriedly pulled back in the other direction just before bumping into the ceiling.

  “See,” Astra said. “You don’t need much, do you?”

  “No,” Calvin said. “I see what you mean.” The others had difficulties too, but mostly Petori and Freks. They jammed the controls forwards and backwards, jerking wildly in all directions. Calvin shook his head, and tried to focus on what he was doing. He was able to gently move up beside Astra.

  Calvin gave the thruster one short burst and allowed his momentum to glide him forward. He was convinced he was going to feel pain when he passed through the purple force-field; he was pleasantly surprised that he didn’t feel anything.

  Calvin led the way across open space to the Goremog Battleship. He’d been in space before, but this time was different. Everyone was quiet. The only sound he could hear was his breathing, which was loud inside the helmet. Halfway across, he made the mistake of looking up and down. He was instantly disoriented. Which way was up? What was down? He started breathing rapidly, and he felt sweat drip from his forehead. Then he remembered his training. There is no up or down in space. Calvin focused all his attention on what was in front of him. Suspended in between the two ships, he set his eyes on the Goremog Battleship. He resisted the urge to speed up; knowing that his perception of distance was distorted, as was his speed relative to his target.

  “Calvin, are you OK?” Astra asked. “Your heart rate is increasing.”

  “Yeah, I’m good,” Calvin said. Then to himself, “Come on, you can do this.”

  It only took a few more minutes to reach the Goremog ship. Very gently, he reduced speed and delicately flew through the gaping hole, glaring at the razor sharp edges and that looked more like long swords as he passed them. One wrong move and his suit would be ripped wide open. Calvin hovered over the floor and set himself down as slowly as possible. His boots grabbed the deck and locked him down with a jarring thud. Astra was right. The suit was perfectly balanced. He didn’t wobble or lean.

  He turned around to make sure Astra was still behind him; she was, six feet and following steadily. The Alerian combat robots flanked her on both sides; they looked terrifying. They towered over Astra with their heavy plated armor and large long rifle, missile racks built into their arms and legs and multi-point laser defense system capable of large scale destruction. Starlight glittered off their metal bodies. Calvin was glad they were on his side, because he knew what they were capable of. They still scared him.

  Suddenly, a terrible thought occurred to him; could the Goremog hack into the combat computers and control them by remote? Was that possible? Calvin kept those thoughts to himself.

  Astra skillfully landed on the deck next to him. “I told you there was plenty of room for you to fit. You didn’t need to stress like that.”

  “I wasn’t stressing,” Calvin said, trying to play it off. “Which way now?”

  “There’s a corridor just outside this room,” Astra said. “Follow me.”

  Calvin turned to follow, but Sierra One moved ahead of him and took up a position to Astra’s right. A soft hum from the robot’s scanners reverberated in the air.

  The room they were in was small. Whatever purpose it served was unknown because the walls, floor and ceiling were charred and crumbling. On the other side of the room they found what they were looking for.

  “Another long dark corridor,” Calvin said glumly. “In a bulky space suit, again, but this time on a Goremog ship. Honestly, I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”

  “Don’t worry sir,” Wexton said. “I think we can handle just about anything.”

  Calvin followed Sierra One and Astra down the hall. He couldn’t stop thinking about Wexton’s bold statement. Had Wexton forgotten about the Dark Terror?

  “I hope you’re right,” was all Calvin said. He knew it was crazy making statements like that. When he said they were safe, he was usually proved wrong.

  One by one, they lifted into the air and floated down the corridor. It was pitch black. The only light came from their helmet-mounted lights. Odd shadows danced on the walls. Calvin fought to control his breathing, as a dark cloud of claustrophobia was growing in him. He tried to concentrate on other things; the fact that he wasn’t alone, that the combat robots in front of and behind him were very powerful; capable of inflicting great damage, not to mention taking a lot of damage before they were destroyed. But lurking in the back of his mind were the Dark Terrors, and their ability to overwhelm an entire planet by sheer numbers. They didn’t need oxygen and could survive in the vacuum of space, oh, and they didn’t show up on the scanners consistently.

  ‘Stop it!’ Calvin said to himself. ‘Think of positive things. Well, at least we don’t have to walk; this corridor is extremely long.’

  However; floating down the passageway was a terrifying experience. It reminded him of stomping down the passageway on the freighter where Dev was found. Calvin wasn’t sure if floating quietly was more terrifying than making a lot of noise. He decided this was both. He was happy there were more people, but really that wouldn’t help at all if they encountered the Dark Terror. But, he could be wrong. They were after all heavily armed.

  No, it was worse because there was debris floating everywhere. Several times they had to push things out of the way to get through. There were sharp objects, bent and torn pieces of metal protruding from the walls. All of it made Calvin nervous because any contact with such objects could tear his spacesuit and expose him to the vacuum of space; not a pleasant way to go.

  Then there was the gravity. Astra was right. It seemed the ship wasn’t entirely without power, and in places they encountered small pockets of air inside unstable force-fields, and the main gravity was also trying to assert itself. Several times Calvin felt a tug of gravity pull him towards the ceiling, or into a wall, more than once he hit a wall dangerously close to a row of jagged torn metal. They found several Goremog robots, floating powerless in the corridor, blocking their way. It was a simple thing to move them out of the way, but terrifying at the same time. Even though they were damaged and powerless, Calvin hurried past them quickly, afraid they might come to life, just long enough to fire their weapons.

  Calvin hovered directly behind Astra, four feet over the floor. Suddenly, she
dropped two feet. He heard Astra mutter something unintelligible. When he passed the same spot, he dropped too.

  “There’s a weak gravity field here,” Astra said. Then, without warning, she dropped the rest of the way to the floor. She managed to put her hands out in front of her, but she fell too fast and too hard. Her arms folded back and landed on her face shield with a loud smack.

  “Astra!” Calvin shouted. He gave his thruster an extra boost and hurried towards her. Suddenly his stomach dropped out from under him as he was enveloped by a surge of gravity. He dropped two feet and landed on his boots, but since he was totally unprepared for it, he stumbled forward and fell alongside Astra. He crawled up next to her, afraid her face shield had been broken. He was relieved beyond words to find it was intact.

  “Are you OK?” Calvin asked.

  “I’m fine,” Astra said. “That just took me by surprise. The gravity field is stronger here.”

  “Not just stronger,” Calvin said. “This feels like normal gravity.”

  “Yeah it does,” Astra said, waving her arm in the air as a test.

  There was a very loud bang as Sierra One dropped to the floor on his feet and walked over to Calvin and Astra. He offered a hand to Astra and helped her up. Calvin was next. Once the others knew where the gravity threshold was, it was easier for the rest to get through it and avoid falling.

  Plodding down the corridor, in gravity, Calvin could feel the weight of the suit with each step.

  “Doesn’t the gravity field mean the ship isn’t completely dead, like we thought?” Petori asked, holding his weapon in front of him as if trouble could strike at any moment.

  “Yes,” Astra said simply. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Not yet, at least. It could be residual energy from batteries that haven’t drained completely or a reactor that’s still working. The scanner’s having a hard time isolating the source.”

  “I’m seeing a lot of weird things on my scanner,” Dev added. “They keep appearing and disappearing, all over. Astra, do you see it?”