The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  “Don’t worry,” Astra said, as if she could read his mind. “There’s no way it can get through the force-field. It’s the strongest on the ship!”

  Without warning, a massive blast rocked the ship, followed by an invisible wave of energy that radiated out, away from the field like a tsunami, causing everyone but the combat robots to fall to the floor. Calvin was certain they were losing control of the artificial black hole, but it was much worse than that. The Dark Terror had punched one of its hands through the force-field and was screaming wildly. It thrashed wildly, trying to force the rest of its arm through the breach.

  “Astra!” Dev screamed. “Shut it down!” Astra scrambled to her knees, pressing buttons on the scanner in a full panic. Calvin rolled over and struggled to stand up.

  Behind him, down the corridor, Nils hunkered down trying to see what was going on.

  “It’s unstable!” Astra cried. “I can’t control it!” Dev crawled to where Astra was kneeling.

  “Scram it!” Dev shouted. “Cut the power!”

  “That’ll cause a rift! It’s too dangerous!”

  “More dangerous than having a full sized black hole inside the ship?”

  Astra jammed her fingers on the controls. “No!” She screamed back.

  Inside the nightmare of the force-field, the growing multicolored swarm that was the black hole burst outward. The Dark Terror shrieked in anger. Never before had Calvin seen one so angry before, and it scared him.

  Then, the force-field failed, and disappeared completely. Calvin was reacquainted with what real fear was. The monster turned, and faced Calvin and Astra.

  “Open fire!” Wexton shouted.

  Calvin tried to order them to wait, but it was too late. Sierra One, Sierra Two, and Wexton opened fire. The Terror struggled under the combined fire power bathing it from both directions. It fell back against the bulkhead and seemed to struggle.

  Suddenly, the monster turned and smashed through the side of the corridor. It pulled the wall open with its bare hands; claws ripped and shredded everything in its path. The weapons fire was hitting it, but didn’t seem to be doing anything other than making the Dark Terror angrier.

  The monster forced its way deeper into the wall, tearing to pieces computer equipment, machines, ducts and conduits.

  In the midst of the chaos, Astra shouted as loudly as she could for everyone to stop firing, but either no one heard her or they chose to ignore her calls.

  Sierra One and Two stepped forward and raised their arms. Tiny missiles shot through the air and impacted the monster. The detonations slammed the Terror into the bulkhead and lit it on fire like a torch. Fires spread rapidly around it. The monster screamed louder.

  Then, the chaos turned to an apocalyptic disaster. A massive explosion ripped through the side of the ship. Calvin closed his eyes and looked away from the bright light. An invisible hand grabbed hold of him and yanked him uncontrollably towards a new gaping hole in the side of the ship. The Dark Terror was sucked out into space, along with oxygen, thousands of pieces of metal and machinery. The fires were extinguished almost instantly.

  Then it stopped almost as soon as it had started. An emergency force-field blocked the breach.

  Calvin’s mind reeled as he struggled to understand what just happened. He turned to Astra, but she was already facing Wexton and the two combat robots.

  “What was that?” she shouted.

  “You saw it,” Wexton said. “It was out of the force-field.”

  “So blow a hole in the side of the ship!” Astra exclaimed. “Is that how you do it?”

  Nils walked up, coughing. He passed the robots and stared open mouthed at the damage. An entire section of the bulkhead was gone. All of the machinery, a considerable amount, was gone.

  “How are we going to repair this?” Nils asked. “There’s no way. We can’t replace what we just lost.”

  “Do you realize what you’ve done?” Astra stood in front of Sierra One. “The only thing protecting us now is a force-field. If we lose power, even for a minute, this deck will decompress. We could lose the entire deck. Do you know what that means? We could lose the bridge!”

  “Can’t you control the ship from the engine room?” Wexton asked quietly, backing down.

  “That’s not the point!” Astra shouted. “Calvin can’t pilot the ship in combat from the engine room. He can only send basic commands.” Astra stepped away and walked down the corridor ten feet.

  “I’m sorry,” Wexton said. “I was afraid it was going to attack us. I had to make a snap decision, and I thought it was better to risk damage to the ship than the death of one or more of us.”

  “I don’t understand how it got through the forcefield,” Nils said. “Nothing should have been able to get through. It was strong enough to hold back a small nuclear explosion. Well, almost.”

  Astra had a revelation, her expression changed to understanding and fear. “It changed. Its skin was changing to match its environment. It was becoming the force-field! Another moment and it would have been able to step right though.” Then she stood in front of Wexton. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That was probably the best thing you could have done.”

  “Thank you.”

  “At least we got rid of the monster,” Calvin offered. “Hopefully.”

  “I’ll run another scan, just to be safe,” Astra said. “But I believe we can be reasonably sure we got them all.”

  “I hope there wasn’t anything important in there,” Calvin said, pointing to the charred empty space.

  “Well, let’s see,” Nils said unhappily. “We lost the starboard thruster, one of the forward shield relays and several backup systems. The shields around the bridge are now going to be a little weaker. Oh, and I detached the Goremog warheads from the engine room and now we have four hull breaches. Let’s hope we don’t lose power.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE:

  NOOR ANON

  The next evening, everyone met in the library. They sat around the table staring at the image of a red planet. Finally it was Dev who broke the silence.

  “That is a big ball of fire,” he said. “Wouldn’t that make it a sun?”

  “There are a few land masses,” Astra said. “Small ones, but they’re more like islands than continents, and most of those are volcanoes.”

  “So how are we going to do this?” Wexton asked. “Because as I understand it, we have enemy ships coming at us from different directions, right? We have two Goremog battleships right behind us, less than ten minutes behind us to be exact. As soon as we drop out of hyperspace we’re dead.”

  “It’s a huge problem,” Calvin agreed. “But Astra and I have a plan. Actually, it was her idea. Astra?”

  “Yes,” Astra said, pointing to the monitor. She zoomed in on a small island, surrounded by a sea of lava. “This is the Alerian base on Noor Anon.”

  “Is that a door?” Nils asked.

  “It’s a landing platform, with a cargo elevator,” Astra answered. “We’re going to land on it. I found the codes that will activate the elevator and take us down into the base.”

  “Under the lava,” Wexton asked. He sounded completely unhappy.

  “Yes, under the lava,” Astra confirmed. “The base is protected inside a land mass. Plus it was re-enforced with a material strong enough to hold back that much pressure, and lava.”

  “The problem is they’re going to see us use the elevator,” Dev said. “Then hover over head with their plasma cannons and blow the island to pieces.”

  “That’s where my idea comes in,” Astra said. “Now, please hear me out. The enemy ships will drop out of hyperspace and begin looking for the Frost, and with the cloak inoperable, they won’t have too much difficulty finding us. When we drop out of hyperspace, Calvin and I will take a shuttle down to the planet, find the lab and get the segment. As soon as you drop us off, Ion will jump back into hyperspace and draw the enemy away. You don’t have to go far, thirty minutes out, and thirty minutes back. Tha
t should give us enough time to get the segment, and meet you in space. With any luck, we can do all that before the first enemy fleet arrives.”

  “You said, we’ll pick you up,” Wexton said. “You make it sound like you’re going down there by yourself.”

  “Yes,” Calvin said. “I would feel much better if you three stayed with the Frost. We’ll take the combat robots with us, but I want you to protect the ship.”

  Wexton shook his head and started to protest, but stopped.

  “There’s no other way,” Astra said, seeing the doubt in his eyes. “We’ll never be able to retrieve the tenth segment with all those Goremog ships around, not in an hour and a half. If you can lead those two battleships away, we’ll have a chance. Plus with the loss of another shield generator, the best we can get is thirtyfive percent. We can’t afford for Azure Frost to get into combat.”

  “I don’t like it,” Wexton said. “In fact, I hate it. We won’t be able to help you if you run into trouble.”

  “You’ll help us by drawing the Goremog away,” Astra stated. “And protecting the ship.”

  “All right,” Wexton agreed. “This can work. I don’t like leaving you there, but I think it could work.”

  “If it makes you feel better, remember we’re taking two combat

  robots with us,” Astra said. “The other two will stay to help man

  the turrets.”

  “Anyway,” Calvin added. “We have a failsafe, of sorts. When we drop out of hyperspace, we’ll be able to scan the base. If there’s a problem, we’ll know immediately. But if everything is fine, you need to get out of there, and make sure the Goremog see you hyperspace out. That way they’ll follow.”

  “Hopefully they take the bait,” Wexton said sullenly.

  “A nice juicy target like Azure Frost? They’ll have to.” Calvin said.

  “That’s what you thought about Aleria’s Hope, remember that? It didn’t work so well, did it?”

  “Yeah, I remember,” Calvin said. He did remember. How could he forget? They almost died when the artificial worm hole swallowed the gas giant, and Azure Frost as well. Like every other mission, the Goremog seemed to be one step ahead.

  The trip to Noor Anon would take one week. Calvin was nervous the entire trip, and a growing sense of dread loomed over the entire crew. They did their best to stay busy, but there was only so much they could do. They repaired what they could, but the ship was in bad shape. The only thing they could do was brood and worry about what would happen when they arrived at Noor Anon. Would things happen the way they planned? Things would happen quickly, that was certain. Two Goremog battleships were right behind them. The clock would start ticking as soon as they dropped out of hyperspace.

  As was their custom, they ate together for dinner. Conversations were muted, not a lot of laughing or joking. Likewise, the planning meeting was short. They all knew what they were going to do. They planned it all out; there was nothing left to discuss. All they could do now was hope for the best.

  Later that evening, alone in his room, Calvin turned on the communication system on the desk and sat in the chair. He only ever connected to one channel; the secret asteroid base near New Arlandia that was run by the Laurites. A young ensign’s face filled the screen. In Calvin’s opinion, he didn’t look old enough to be in an Arlandian Space Command uniform. After a moment of confusion, the ensign ran off to find someone else. That someone happened to be Captain Vinder.

  Vinder was very anxious to speak to Calvin, and asked him how things were going, and if he had anything to report, but Calvin refused to speak to anyone but his father. Unfortunately, Foster was not there. The senate was in session and he couldn’t get away. Vinder offered to pass a message to his father, and as much as he hated to do it, he told Vinder what was going on. He didn’t like Vinder very much. There was something about him Calvin couldn’t pinpoint. Vinder struck him as dark and devious. Something inside told him he couldn’t trust the man. But, Calvin suppressed that, knowing he wanted his father to know what was going on, just in case things didn’t go well tomorrow.

  When Calvin told Vinder they were hours away from collecting the tenth and final segment; Vinder lit up with excitement. He was very keen to make sure Calvin sent the scans and schematic of the final piece as soon as possible. If the request had come from his father, maybe it wouldn’t have felt so wrong. For some reason, sending the plans for the deadliest weapon in galactic history, even to his own people, felt like a mistake. He would do it anyway, just like he’d sent the previous nine, but he wouldn’t be happy about it.

  Knowing he was facing a potentially sleepless night, Calvin had a glass of warm Gluuven, and employed his sleep generator. The combination of the two sometimes helped. Even though he knew better to get his hopes up he tried anyway.

  Despite his best efforts, he had a rough night. He only managed to get a few short restless hours of sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that in the morning they would arrive at the location of the tenth segment. Everything they had been working and fighting for now came down to this one fact; they were in a race against time. They had to get in and out before the Goremog and No’Rath arrived.

  They ate breakfast at staggered times. Calvin ate alone, quickly, afraid that he was running late, but in fact he was early. He was the first person to the locker room. He put on his advanced combat suit and went to the hangar to inspect the shuttle.

  He had to check the clock twice when he thought Astra was late, but she wasn't. Calvin had enough time to walk around the shuttle and perform a basic inspection of the hull and engines.

  He climbed the rear ramp, entered the rear cabin and walked down the aisle past the high backed leather passenger seats. In the cockpit, he sat down in the pilot’s chair, sat back and took a deep breath.

  Calvin decided to make the most of the time and go through the pre-launch checklist. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t hear Astra enter the shuttle, and slide gently down into the seat next to him. She sat silently for several moments and studied the computer monitors.

  “Good morning, sweetie,” she said, smiling. “Looks like you’ve got everything ready.”

  “Good morning,” Calvin said, startled. “I didn’t hear you, sorry.”

  Heavy footsteps announced the arrival of Sierra One and Sierra Two. The door closed and the two massive combat robots took seats in the back.

  “I’m starting the engines,” Calvin said. “And we’ll be ready for the ship to drop out of hyperspace.”

  Even though the shuttle had a functioning cloaking device that would allow them to complete their mission in secrecy, the timing had to be perfect. They needed to depart the hangar bay and cloak before the Goremog battleships arrived. Ion was on the bridge, ready to do his part.

  As soon as the ship dropped out of hyperspace, the shuttle bay doors opened. The planet Noor Anon floated below them, a giant dark red ball rotated below. If there were land masses, Calvin couldn’t see any. The shuttle’s engines were running, and Calvin activated the cloak. Ten seconds later, Ion announced over the communication system, “I’ve scanned the base, and the planetary system. The base is undamaged, and there are no enemy ships in the area.”

  “OK,” Calvin said. “We’re moving out.”

  “Be careful,” Wexton said.

  “We will,” Astra said. “Protect the ship. Don’t worry about us.”

  “Don’t worry?” Wexton said. “Like that’s going to happen.” Calvin pushed the throttle forward and the shuttle darted into space. As soon as they were clear, Azure Frost turned forty-five degrees to starboard and cruised toward the edge of the star system.

  Astra set a timer and sent it to Calvin’s visor. Time remaining: 1:24. That’s how long they had before the Goremog fleet arrived, and shortly after that, the No’Rath fleet would arrive. They would, of course, begin fighting each other, but there would be more than one ship from each side that would kill for the chance to destroy one of the
last Alerian ships; Azure Frost, or the shuttle.

  For the first time, Calvin noticed how close the sun was to the planet. It was bright yellow, and from where they were, it looked like the lava planet was about to fall into the sun’s gravity well and be swallowed whole.

  “No wonder the planet is mostly lava,” Calvin said, pointing to the sun.

  “Yeah, it’s not a very hospitable place. I wouldn’t recommend it for our next vacation. The air is quite toxic.”

  “Yes, and don’t go to the beach without your sunscreen.”

  Astra laughed. Calvin nosed the shuttle down towards the planet. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad was going to happen; it always did. He kept it to himself. Astra would tell him to stop worrying; focus on the mission. That advice was easier to say than follow. He was still tense. They were going after the last piece of the super weapon. Their mission was almost over, and they were more vulnerable than ever before.

  This time, instead of waiting for the Goremog to take the bait, they agreed to proceed with the mission. Calvin piloted the shuttle directly on course for the base.

  There was a loud bang, and a wave of turbulence rocked the shuttle as they entered the planet’s gravity well. Calvin and Astra were slammed forward into their seat harnesses. Several alarms blared stridently.

  Calvin hurriedly checked the instruments, thinking there were multiple malfunctions all over the ship. The status board was green; no red lights. He quickly realized why the alarms were going off; two massive contacts had just exited hyperspace. The Goremog battleships had arrived.

  “Right on time,” Astra said. The shuttle continued down towards the surface, hitting severe turbulence as it ploughed through the stratosphere.

  Calvin tried to focus on piloting the ship, but several worries were running through his mind that he couldn’t dismiss; did the Goremog see a disturbance when the shuttle entered the atmosphere? Would Azure Frost be able to return without being attacked, and would the Goremog follow them?