The Ruins of Arlandia - By William Wood Page 0,1

there be no limit to your successes. Good luck in your new adventure.”

“To Calvin!” the crowd shouted. Everyone clicked their glasses together and took a drink.

“Thanks, Jax!” Calvin said as Jax took a seat. Calvin’s father stepped forward again.

“Tonight, we have more than one reason to celebrate. I have the privilege of announcing that for the first time in ten years, the council has approved a manned space mission.” There were several gasps, and then a pause. Then everyone clapped and cheered.

“The Sorenia has been cleared to fly a training mission around our solar system, and my son will be on it.” A wave of exuberance overtook the crowd. There were shouts and cheers with raised glasses. Foster nodded to the band, and it began playing again. Everyone went back to talking, eating, and drinking.

“Thanks, Dad,” Calvin said. “This party means a lot to me.”

“I’m very proud of you, Son,” Foster said. “I’m also jealous. Ten years. Who knows if the council will ever let us go into space again? I doubt it.”

“They need to stop letting the past scare them so much,” Calvin said. “It’s been eighty years. We don’t even know what’s out there anymore.”

“That’s true,” Foster said. “That’s why we need to go find out.”

“Right,” Calvin said. “The Dark Terror might not even be out there anymore.”

Foster was about to reply, but he stopped when a tall man in dress uniform approached them.

“Senator,” the man said. “Thank you for inviting me to your home.”

“Thank you for coming, Captain Delik.” The two shook hands. Then the captain offered his hand to Calvin. “Lieutenant Range, it’ll be a privilege to have you on my crew. I hear you’re a natural at navigation.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Calvin said, shaking his hand. “At least in the simulator.”

Captain Delik laughed, and he turned to Foster. “I’m surprised you got this mission cleared. I thought our days in space were over.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Foster said. “But the backup to the Planetary Disruption Shield needs a new power generator.”

“They didn’t tell you to use drones?”

“They did, but this time the work is more delicate. We can’t trust robots to do it. One wrong move and our planet will be visible for any passing spaceship to see.”

“Oh, I see, so that’s how you sold it.”

“Yes, and it didn’t hurt that two senators owed me a favor.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“Trust me, it wasn’t. I had to call in a few favors. Then the security committee threatened me. They said if the Sorenia wanders anywhere near the edge of the solar system, I’ll find myself in a prison cell. I’m passing that threat on to you.”

“Thank you, Senator.” The captain’s smile faded.

“I just don’t want to be alone in that prison cell. Don’t worry. Just stay close to home and you’ll be all right.”

“Can I ask you a question? I heard that the budget for the space program was going to be cut in half next year.”

Several people stopped talking and looked in their direction.

Foster’s expression changed to a sympathetic smile. “We can talk about that later, Captain. You should enjoy your mission. There’s no telling when we will have another opportunity like this one.”

The party didn’t end until late in the evening. When Calvin finally went to bed, he couldn’t sleep. When he got tired of trying, he sat on the balcony and stared up at the stars. What was out there? Was the Dark Terror real or just a story told to scare the population? He had heard the stories his whole life. His father told him they were lies. The problem was that the stories worked. Nobody wanted to go into space. A massive amount of money was spent on the Planetary Disruption Network, a system designed to hide the planet from passing ships. Everyone was scared of space. Maybe Calvin was crazy, but he couldn’t wait to get out there.

Chapter Two: Take Off

Calvin sat in the backseat of the hover car. He stared out the window, lost in thought. It was a beautiful sunny day. There were no clouds in the sky. New Arlandia City was nicknamed the “City of the Sun,” because of the sheer amount of glass that reflected the sunlight. The buildings, domes, moving sidewalks, and hover-car lines were all covered in glass.

The hover car made its way downtown on the central line. Calvin was comfortable in his light-grey utility uniform, but his uniform was bare—only a name tag and rank insignia. His career was just starting. He would have