The Ruins of Arlandia

Chapter Four: Search and Evasion



Calvin and Jax were in the middle of a huge junkyard full of spaceships. There must have been hundreds of them, maybe thousands, all shapes and sizes. They were all piled on top of each other. The junkyard stretched out of sight in all directions except one. There was a large wall that ran off endlessly in both directions. There was a large door built into the wall. The ships must have been pulled in through it. A massive metal arm with long, sharp claws hung on the wall near the door.

“Oh, wow,” Calvin whispered. “Look at that. It’s a spaceship graveyard.”

“Yeah, and look at the Sorenia,” Jax said, walking to the side and looking down. “It looks like it was grabbed by that arm, and pulled into this ship, or whatever it is.”

“So we were attacked, and taken by force,” Calvin said.

“And the crew escaped while the ship was being pulled inside. Look, the cracks down the side of the ship were caused when the claws from the arm cut into the hull.”

Several large lights above him dimly lit the giant chamber. It wasn’t completely dark, but it was hard to see.

Hoping to find a way down without getting hurt, Calvin walked to the edge and looked down.

“It’s definitely too far to jump. Or is it?”

“Don’t even think about it. I think we can get down on the other side. There is a lot of damage, and there should be a lot of things to hold on to.”

They heard a noise that sounded like very loud metallic footsteps.

“What’s that?” Jax whispered. “Is that a robot?”

Calvin looked around but couldn’t see anything. Whatever it was, it was being careful to stay out of view. There was too much debris and damage in the way.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go down there. I don’t want to come face to face with whatever that is.”

“Then we need to find another way.”

Calvin and Jax walked around on top of the ship, and they studied the wall in both directions.

“Do you see that?” Jax asked. Far off in the distance, near the top of the wall, was a row of dark windows.

“They look like windows. Can you see if there is anyone inside?”

“No, they’re too dark.”

“There could be someone watching us right now.”

“Get down!” Jax hissed. They dropped to the deck and lay flat.

“Did you see someone?” Calvin asked, suddenly very scared.

“No,” Jax said. “But think about this for a second. Should we be anxious to meet whoever is in charge? If they were friendly, why did they attack us? If it was an accident, or a mistake, why are we trapped down here with the trash? Wouldn’t they be down here trying to help survivors?”

Calvin thought about it; Jax had a very good point. The claw that tore into the Sorenia was compelling evidence that they weren’t friendly.

Lying on his back, Calvin looked up at the ceiling high above. There was a small grate with a ladder under it, and it looked like it was open.

“Jax, look at that. Do you see that vent up there? Do you think we could get up there?”

Calvin examined the nearest spaceship. It was black and was covered with millions of little bumps. Large holes were spread across one side, as if a barrage of weapons fire had hit the ship. It must have put up a fight, but it clearly lost. It had the same claw marks in its hull that the Sorenia had. It was a much larger ship, and it was sitting on its end. It stretched up almost to the ceiling. It was extremely hard to see, but it looked like the ship was very close to the ladder that led up to the open vent.

Jax crawled to the edge and looked across at the ship. “We can jump over to that ship,” he said, pointing to the other ship. “It’s close enough. There’s a flat space and a door, just on the other side. It looks like an airlock.”

“Can we get across without being seen?”

“No, as soon as we stand up again we’ll be in plain sight,” Jax said. “But the good news is once we get over there, we should be able to climb to the top on the other side.”

“Ok, good,” Calvin said. “On three, let’s stand up and jump across.” He took a deep breath, and got ready to stand.

“One, two, three,” Calvin whispered loudly. On three, they both stood up. Calvin took a few steps back and watched Jax cross over. Then it was Calvin’s turn. He ran and jumped off the edge. It wasn’t very far, and he made it across easily. However, when he landed on the alien ship, there was a loud crack. He felt a stab of fear. Calvin looked down, afraid that the small platform was about to break off and fall. At the same time there was another sound; the metal footsteps moved again, somewhere below. It sounded like it was moving around in a big circle, as if it was trying to find a place where it could see them. Calvin was afraid to move, afraid to make noise. The platform cracked again, and he felt it move.

“Get off of it!” Jax hissed loudly.

The ship was lying at enough of an angle that Calvin was able to climb off of the platform and join Jax on one of the protruding bumps. He sat still for a minute, listening to the footsteps below. They moved very quickly, frantically running in circles. Then they stopped, and total silence returned.

“Is that thing responsible for attacking us and dragging our ship in here?” Calvin asked.

“I doubt it,” Jax said. “I think it’s more like a guard, sent in here to finish off the survivors.”

It was good to be out of view of the dark windows, but Calvin wanted to get out of the open all together. They climbed to the top of the alien spaceship.

Climbing was easy, thanks to the bumps, which weren’t very far apart and were easy to get a grip on. They reminded Calvin of the climbing walls he used to train on in the school gym. Calvin was starting to feel confident. The top of the ship looked very close.

“That was easy,” he said. “I didn’t even break a sweat.”

He let out a giant cheer inside his head as he reached the top. He was about to raise his hands in victory, until he found what was waiting for him. His inner cheer died quickly.

“Yeah, that was too much to hope for,” Jax said. “It’s not going to be that easy.” They weren’t at the top. There was another ship smashed into the top of the one they were on. They looked identical, and they didn’t look very stable. There was another problem. Blocking their way was a giant hole. Debris covered the ground around the hole. Calvin carefully walked up to the edge and looked down, but all he could see inside was pitch-black darkness. He shined his flashlight into it, but there was too much damage to see anything. They would have to jump across.

“What a mess,” Jax muttered. “We’re going to have to be very careful getting across that. The ground on the other side doesn’t look very strong.” There were burned cables coming out of the hole, and several large cracks running across the hull.

“We don’t have a choice,” Calvin said. In his mind the only other option was to go back down, and he really didn’t want to do that. “I’ll go first this time.”

He moved back about ten feet and got a running start. He jumped over the hole and landed on his feet, but the hull disintegrated as soon as he touched it. Calvin screamed as he fell through, and he landed on his back with a loud crash. He was instantly enveloped in darkness. He jumped up, ignoring the pain radiating through his back and legs. Fortunately he was still holding the flashlight. He turned it on, and he shined it around wildly. He was in a long, filthy, dark corridor. When he hit the floor, a cloud of dirt billowed in the air, making him cough violently.

“Calvin!” Jax said loudly. Calvin looked up and saw Jax’s face peeking over the side. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, get me out of here,” he said between coughs. He froze. Far away, down the corridor, he saw two dark red circles. Calvin shined the light toward them, but they were too far away, and dirt in the air was blocking the light.

Calvin stared at the red lights, unable to look away.

“What’s that?” he wondered. He nervously dismissed the idea that they were eyes. There wasn’t something alive in here, was there? Calvin became aware of a soft hissing sound. Then the lights flickered out for a second, and they were back as solid and as red as before. They were eyes, and they just blinked.

“I’m not alone down here,” Calvin whispered. He looked up, desperately looking for a way out.

“Here, use this,” Jax said. A thick cable fell through the hole. He turned off the flashlight and stuck it in his back pocket. Then he jumped as high as he could and grabbed onto the cable.

Without looking back he climbed. From down the corridor he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps. It was running toward him. Calvin frantically pulled himself up, higher and higher. The footsteps were getting louder. The thing was getting closer! Calvin pulled himself up to the top and fell onto his back, breathing heavily. The footsteps stopped below him. Calvin didn’t move. Was it a robot, or some kind of monster? He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to find out. From down below they heard a deep growl.

“Robots don’t growl, do they?” Calvin asked in between gasps for air. He was tempted to peek over the side, to get a good look at the monster. Instead, he crawled away from the hole and stood up.

“That’s not a robot,” Jax said.

“We need to get away from here,” Calvin said. “Quickly.”

Getting onto the second ship was easy. They used debris sticking out of the ship to climb all the way to the top.

An incredible view was waiting for them at the top. Piles of spaceships stretched into the distance, without an end in sight. Some ships looked very old, but all were heavily damaged. They all looked very different. Calvin wondered how far this ship had traveled to collect so many ships. Were there other monsters lurking around in the darkness?

They walked along the top and examined the ladder.

“I was afraid of this,” Jax said. Calvin noticed for the first time that there was a five-foot gap between the ladder and the ship, over open air.

“We’ll have to jump,” Calvin said. “And hope the ladder doesn’t break.”

“Do you want to go first again?” Jax asked, half joking. He didn’t want to, but Calvin was ready. In the back of his mind he knew if the ladder broke he would never survive the fall. It was a very long way down. He got ready to jump, but hesitated. Before he had a chance to go, Jax ran forward and jumped across. He hit the ladder with a loud grunt. His feet slipped, and he almost fell, but he managed to grab middle rungs and hold on tightly. The ladder creaked, but held firm. Jax hurried up the ladder, into the hatch. His head peeked over the side.

“Ok, your turn.”

Calvin took a deep breath, trying to work up the courage to jump. Better not to wait too long, he figured. He moved back a few feet to get a good running start, and he ran toward the edge of the ship. He jumped as hard as he could, but too soon. He thought he was going to miss it and screamed. He barely reached the bottom rung of the ladder, and he held on for dear life until he stopped swinging.

The footsteps down below pounded again, like a hammer, and there was a low humming noise. Calvin recognized the sound. It reminded him of a scanning beam. With a great deal of effort Calvin pulled himself up to the next rung, and then the next. The ladder creaked and moved back and forth. Then a loud crack filled the air.

“Calvin!” Jax cried. Calvin’s arms were getting tired. Finally he stood on the lowest rung just as his strength was about to give out. Calvin wanted to stop for a few seconds to catch his breath but was afraid to. The ladder continued to crack and shake. He scrambled the rest of the way up the ladder. Jax grabbed Calvin’s arms and pulled him up. Just as he got off the ladder, it broke away and fell to the floor with a crash. Calvin got down on his stomach, and he looked down. He could still hear the robot walking around, like it was looking for him. A red light darted across the floor, moving in wide circles.

“Is that the robot?” Calvin asked.

Jax, who was looking down from the other side, said, “I don’t know of anything else that can run that fast.” The robot ran into the distance. He could see the red light darting away rapidly. Calvin listened for a long time, trying to catch his breath. The sound of the robot mesmerized him. Where was it going?

Calvin and Jax stood up. They were in a long, dimly lit air duct that disappeared out of sight in both directions. The top was just out of reach. The duct was made out of a highly reflective metal. Small, narrow slits on both sides let in small amounts of light, but lit up the duct nicely due to the reflection.

“Which way?” Calvin asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Jax said. Calvin picked a direction and started walking.

It was eerily quiet, and their footfalls had an odd “trapped in a tin can” sound. Small hatches were evenly spaced in the duct above. They passed one every ten minutes.

Calvin felt his pocket to see if his medallion was still there; it was. They walked for a long time. Calvin wasn’t sure how long, maybe thirty minutes. Then they reached an opening in the duct. Calvin looked down into the spaceship junkyard. He still couldn’t see the end of it. At the bottom of one pile of spaceships, one silver-and-black one caught his eye. It looked intimidating, but obviously it wasn’t a match for this ship.

Suddenly a line in the wall appeared. It spread from the top to the bottom. A huge door, so massive that most of the wall slid apart. The blackness of space spread out in front them. Calvin was terrified of being sucked out into space, but nothing in the cargo bay was sucked out. There must have been a force field keeping the air inside. A giant arm that had been hidden in darkness extended out through the door and into space. Calvin and Jax were shocked, and they stood frozen in fascination. The arm made several rapid movements—left and right, up and down.

Finally it moved back in. At the end of the arm was a series of claws. All of the claws were wrapped tightly around a strange-looking spaceship. The claw pulled the spaceship in through the door, and dropped it on top of a pile of spaceships. There was a huge crashing sound, and thousands of small pieces of metal flew in all directions as the spaceship crushed everything underneath it. The arm moved back into the darkness and disappeared. Slowly, the massive doors slid shut. The edges of the door blended into the wall around it and disappeared.

Calvin looked down, and he strained to see.

“Can you see anything?” Jax asked.

“No, there is too much in the way.” All he could do was listen and imagine what was happening. There was a loud hiss from a door opening, a loud bang as the door slammed on the floor, and then the sound of people rushing out of the spaceship. Calvin could hear their boots pounding on the metal floor. A metallic voice shouted in a language Calvin couldn’t understand. A laser gun was fired. The voice yelled again. What followed was pure chaos. All of a sudden there was a lot of yelling and shooting. There were several small explosions; the air was filled with black smoke and small metal fragments. The yelling turned to screams. As quickly as it all started, everything went silent. Calvin looked down, but he still couldn’t see anything. He was shaking, terrified at what he had just heard.

“Let’s get out of here,” Jax said, pulling on Calvin’s arm.

“Did the robot kill all those people?” Calvin asked.

“Those weren’t people,” Jax said. “Those were robots too. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Their voices did sound funny. This doesn’t make any sense, robots killing robots? What’s going on here?”

“I don’t know, but if we don’t move the robots will be after us.”

“How do you know they aren’t?”

Calvin felt weak, but forced himself to keep going. He had been hoping to find whomever was in charge of this ship and ask to be taken home or at least send a message to New Arlandia. He knew now that wasn’t going to happen. Calvin and Jax were going to have to stay hidden and try to get a message home in secret. Now he knew how they treated newcomers. If they were caught, the same thing would happen to them.

After thirty minutes of walking, Calvin stopped for a second.

“This duct could go on forever,” he said. “Maybe we should try one of those hatches.” He pointed up.

“You might be right,” Jax said. “Thanks for stopping. I’m getting tired. All this exercise without food, it’s not good. It’s just like that time at the academy when you,” Jax stopped talking, and Calvin saw why. Farther away in the air duct, he could see a small red light.

“How long has that been there?” Calvin asked. “Did it just turn on, or has it been there the whole time?”

Calvin slowly moved down the corridor, toward the red light, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was strangely drawn to it.

“What could it be?” he whispered.

“Calvin, what are you doing?” Jax asked. “Stop!”

Then Calvin realized what the red light was. It could only be one thing: the robot. Terror gripped him, squeezing his stomach like a vice. The light still looked like it was very far away, but it wasn’t moving.

“We need to get out of here,” Jax whispered, too loudly. “Let’s try one of these hatches.” Calvin looked up at the hatch right above them.

The red light changed. The beam narrowed to a small dot. Calvin thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked down. There was a small red dot in the middle of his chest. As he stared at it, the dot got bigger. Then suddenly it disappeared. He looked back up. The red light was still there, but it was moving up and down. Calvin strained his eyes and his ears. There was a soft metallic thump echoing down the air duct.

“It’s coming,” Calvin said.

Jax jumped up, but he didn’t touch the hatch. A loud pounding shook the duct.

“It’s running!” Calvin shouted. The red light was very bright, and it centered on Calvin. The robot ran faster. The pounding hurt Calvin’s head and felt like nails being hammered into his head.

“I can’t get it!” Jax said. “It’s too high!”

Calvin and Jax ran the other way as fast as they could. The robot got closer, and the pounding got louder. Calvin frantically looked for another vent. After a few seconds he found one! He was filled with adrenaline as he jumped as high as he could, throwing himself toward the vent. Miraculously he hit the small door. Calvin jumped and banged his fist against the vent cover. There was a loud clang as the cover swung open. The sound of the robot was close now. Fighting the urge to turn and look at the robot, Calvin grabbed a hold of the edge and pulled himself up. Jax grabbed Calvin’s foot and helped push him up. When he was up, Calvin reached down and grabbed onto Jax, pulling him up through the hatch just before the robot reached them. Calvin quickly closed the hatch, which slammed shut way too loudly. They sat in total darkness gasping for air and tried to be quiet.

Jax turned on his flashlight. In the gloom, Calvin saw him point down.

“It’s still there,” Calvin whispered. He fought hard not to breathe too loudly, but he found it very difficult because he was out of breath.

“I’m not sure,” Jax whispered. “But I think the robot hit my leg on my way up.”

Calvin took the flashlight out of his back pocket and turned it on, relieved he hadn’t lost it.

Looking up, he saw that they were standing in a narrow, round tube, under a ladder that ascended into darkness. Calvin stood up and climbed. He was careful to not make any noise.

“You know,” Jax said after they had climbed for ten minutes. “I’m beginning to think we should have stayed in the ship. We were safer in there.”

“Of course, we would’ve died from dehydration, or starvation, or the robot would have gone inside the ship and taken care of us.”

“It might have been better than dying out here. Now the robot is hunting us.”

“But we have a chance to get home,” Calvin insisted.

“Not a very good one,” Jax said.

“But it’s a chance. Try to stay positive. At least we’re alive. I was thinking, even if we find a communications room, there’s probably a good chance we won’t be able to use it. We might be able to find a shuttle bay, and take a small ship.”

“And if we can’t use their communications gear how do you think we’ll be able to use one of their ships? We won’t be able to read their language, and I highly doubt the controls will be the same as ours. That’s assuming the shuttle bay won’t be guarded.”

“Right,” Calvin said. “We have a problem.” He didn’t want to talk about it anymore, but his biggest fear now was that the robot was circling around and would be waiting for them at the top of the ladder. But there was no choice; they had to climb up. Calvin hoped he was wrong.

Again, the ascent went slowly because they had to use one hand to hold the flashlight and the other to climb. Calvin never caught his breath, and he gasped for air. The sound of it reverberated throughout the narrow passageway. They climbed for a long time before Calvin stuck his flashlight in his back pocket, with it still on. It was a relief to climb without holding it. They had to stop several times for a break, but in the end, it took an hour to reach the top. Calvin’s arms and legs ached, and he was exhausted.

At the top was a closed hatch, with long, thin slits. Calvin tried to shine his light through the slits.

“Do you see anything?” Jax asked, holding onto the ladder just below Calvin.

“No,” Calvin said. “It’s too dark. I can’t tell if the robot is up there or not.”

They both listened intently for several minutes but couldn’t hear anything. Calvin looked at the handle on the hatch for a long time, debating whether to open it or not. He was terrified that the robot was waiting for them on the other side. Would they be able to run away? He doubted that they could after an hour of climbing. The robot was very fast and didn’t get tired. Finally he worked up his courage. He turned the handle and pushed. It was heavier than he thought it would be. Calvin had to push with all of his strength. It flew open. He tried to stop it but was unable to. The hatch fell to the floor with a loud thud. The noise made him jump out of his skin. His first thought was that the robot had found him and was about to grab him. Calvin shined the flashlight around wildly. The robot wasn’t there. However, if the robot was anywhere nearby it probably heard the noise, and Calvin had just told the robot where they were. Once they were both out, they closed the hatch. It took both of them, because it was so heavy.

They stood in the dark and shined their flashlights around to see they were in a long, high-ceilinged hallway. The walls along both sides were lined with doors. All of them were closed.

Calvin was still scared, but he was starting to feel a little better.

“Oh thank you,” Jax said. “I thought for sure the robot was going to be up here waiting for us. Maybe we lost it.”

“I hope so,” Calvin said. “But it hasn’t been that kind of trip so far. This is the robot’s ship. We’re lost, and it’s not. I just hope it doesn’t have too many friends.”

“Now who’s being negative?” Jax said.

“Sorry.”

“So which way?”

“That way,” Calvin said. “I want to see what’s behind these doors.” As soon as he moved away from the hatch the lights turned on. Calvin almost jumped through the roof. He forced himself to relax.

“There must be motion sensors,” Calvin whispered.

“Or maybe the crew just found us.” They both froze in place and looked around. After a moment it was clear they were alone; nobody jumped out to capture them, and there was no sign of the robot.

“I think we’re good,” Calvin said. He walked to the closest door, which opened automatically.

It was a small room with a bed, closet, and dresser. The bed was bare, no linen or blankets. The dresser was empty, but the room was perfectly clean—no dust on any surface.

“This is interesting,” Calvin said. “Look at the bed. It’s normal size. That means the aliens who live here are about our size, and they need sleep just like we do. They’re not all robots.”

“Right, robots don’t need beds. Then what are the robots for, security?”

“I don’t know, but the bigger question is, where is the crew?”

They looked through four more rooms. They were all the same.

Calvin was anxious to see more and continued down the corridor. He passed a dozen more rooms on each side. There was a door at the end of the hallway, which opened for them. The lights turned on automatically. Calvin cautiously entered first, making sure the robot wasn’t in the next room. He didn’t see it. They found themselves in a large room full of long tables and padded chairs. There were small computer terminals evenly spaced along the walls, with small openings next to each one.

“Is this where they eat?” Jax asked. All of the chairs were lined up perfectly. Not a single chair was out of place. They made their way through the middle of the room, toward a set of double doors on the other side.

“This must be a big ship, with a big crew,” Calvin said. “They can feed a lot of people at one time.”

“Yes, but where are they?” Jax asked. “This is starting to feel like a ghost ship.”

Jax followed Calvin through the doors and into another long hallway. The lights came on as they entered. The lights behind turned off when they left.

“This feels very strange,” Jax commented. “And a little spooky.”

“The ship knows we’re here,” Calvin said. “I’m not complaining, but why doesn’t the robot attack?”

They checked rooms as they moved down the next corridor. They found eighteen more bedrooms. “How big is this ship?” Jax wondered.

Calvin was tired, and he trudged along beside Jax. Their pace was slowing, and because they hadn’t seen any people or robots, they were both feeling more comfortable.

“Maybe we should try to find the command deck,” Jax suggested. “Obviously the robot is going to shoot first, but if we can get to the people in charge, we can try to talk to them. Maybe they can be reasoned with.”

“I don’t know,” Calvin said doubtfully. “You want to just give up and hope they have mercy on us?”

“No, not really. But I don’t want to wander around in this ship forever, either.”

“I have a feeling that won’t happen,” Calvin said. “Let’s save that for a last resort.”

On the other side of the next door they found a surprise: a huge open room with a ceiling five hundred feet high. It was layered with balconies all the way up and a central staircase that went to the top. Calvin and Jax stopped and stared at it. The walls were mostly white, except for a few dark gray squares.

“Ok, where is the elevator?” Jax said. A brief search turned up nothing—no elevator.

“Sorry, there doesn’t seem to be an elevator. We’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

“Then it’s going to take a while.”

Climbing the stairs was a painful and eerie experience. The whole way up, their footsteps bounced around in a cruel way. Several times Calvin started to panic inside because it sounded like someone was running down the stairs toward them. He thought for sure they were caught, but it was just the way the sounds were traveling. At every level there were hallways that branched off in different directions, but they kept going up the stairs. After a long, exhausting climb, they reached the top. They were very tired, and Calvin leaned against the railing to catch his breath. While resting, he looked down. It was a very long way down. The ceiling, made of lighted glass, was close now. They went through another set of doors at the top and stepped out onto a grand balcony, completely unprepared for what was waiting for them.

“No way,” Jax gasped. Calvin’s jaw dropped open, and his eyes got big in total shock. They were on the edge of a huge forest that stretched out in front of them. The balcony was just above the tree line.

“Trees,” Jax said. “I don’t believe it.”

It was an incredible sight. A wide elevated walkway led out over the forest. There were staircases to the right and left that descended down into the trees. They were in a dome, with a single massive light in the middle that was too bright to look at. The light was giving off a lot of heat. If he didn’t know better, Calvin would have sworn they were on a planet. The air was fresh, and the artificial light on the dome gave the impression there was a sun in the sky.

Calvin and Jax followed the walkway. After just a few minutes of walking in the sunlight, with the fresh breeze on their faces and the birds chirping in the trees, the fear that had gripped them slowly faded away, and they forget about their problems.

They both lost track of time, lost in the pleasure of the environment. They could have been walking for several hours; they didn’t care. Calvin loved every minute of it. There was another balcony on the other end of the walkway. Calvin and Jax took one last look at the trees, one last deep breath of fresh air before leaving it behind.

In the next room, another staircase greeted them. This one seemed bigger than the last. Calvin felt his stomach rumble.

“How long has it been since we ate?” Calvin asked.

“Dinner, last night,” Jax answered. “And I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” Calvin said. “And thirsty. I think that’s why I’m so tired.” He looked up at the stairs and sighed.

“Better keep moving,” Jax said. For Calvin, climbing was a nightmare. His legs hurt, he was tired, and he was starting to feel sick. Each step was harder and took more effort. Every time they stopped for a rest he could feel his legs shaking.

It seemed like an eternity, but they finally reached the top. Both of them sat on the top stair. Calvin felt dizzy, and he was losing hope that they were going to get home. He looked at Jax, and he looked bad. He was pale and looked exhausted.

“I was thinking,” Calvin said. “Maybe your idea isn’t so bad.”

“Which idea is that?”

“Finding the bridge. It’s just that, if we did find a communications terminal, there’s no way we’re going to be able to use it, or even know what one looks like. If for some reason we were actually able to contact Space Command, what would we tell them? Where would we say we are? We have no idea. What we really need right now is to find some water, food, and a place to rest. The mess hall and bedrooms are far away. Why don’t we explore ahead just a little more and then head back down to where I know we can find sleep, maybe find food.”

Jax nodded, too tired to answer.

Calvin didn’t want to stand up again. However, fear that the robot would find them was all the motivation he needed. He groaned as he stood up. His whole body was hurting now. Jax tried to stand but was having trouble, so Calvin helped him up.

“What’s this?” Calvin asked. He felt a surge of hope as they entered a section that looked like it could be a weapons training area. Off to the right was a long row of windows that looked down into a practice range. There were small, round targets at the far end. On the closest end were stations where a shooter would fire from. Calvin found a set of stairs that led down into the firing range. Jax sat again and leaned his head against a wall. Calvin left him there and searched the room, looking under every table, but sadly there were no weapons. Sad and disappointed, he walked back up the way he had come. Calvin helped Jax to stand again, and they plodded down the hallway, holding each other up. The pain was unbearable; they were hungry, thirsty, and weak. At the end of the hallway, he stepped out onto another balcony. Just when he thought he had seen everything, he was shocked again with the view in front of them.

The balcony was enclosed in glass and was outside of the ship. A long glass tube led from one part of the ship to another. Even the floor was made out of glass. Calvin was reluctant, but he wanted to see what was on the other side so he pressed forward. He had to tug on Jax to get him moving again. They didn’t run, mostly because they were too weak and tired, but also for fear of breaking the glass. Calvin knew it was probably very strong, but it felt strange walking on a glass floor, in a completely glass tube, out in space.

Halfway across, Calvin panicked, losing his sense of direction. Jax hyperventilated.

“Relax,” Calvin said. “Close your eyes and think about the trees. We’re not floating in space. The ground is firm under our feet.” Calvin fought the urge to hold his breath. He kept his eyes focused on the door at the end of the glass tunnel. That helped him to stay calm.

The walk across the glass bridge was an incredible and terrifying experience that he would never forget, but he was very relieved when they reached the other side and the door closed behind them. Calvin took a deep breath, and he tried to find the energy to keep going.

They were on another elevated walkway, over a hangar full of spaceships. They weren’t destroyed ruins of spaceships, but perfectly intact and new looking. There were all sizes and shapes—shuttles, fighters, and bombers.

“There we go,” Calvin said. “I think we just found a way home.”

“Oh, I can’t believe it, finally,” Jax said. “Let’s hurry.”

“I don’t see a way to get down to them. We could jump, but it’s way too high.”

“What’s that?” Jax pointed to a row of dark windows overlooking the hangar. “They look like the ones near the Sorenia.”

“It must be some sort of control room,” Calvin said. “Come on, let’s see if we can get in.”

This is it, Calvin thought. All we have to do is get into one of those ships and fly home.

Calvin was very tired and in desperate need of sleep, but he forced himself on. The door at the end was different; it was red with yellow stripes. Calvin took it to be a good sign.

When they reached the doors, they automatically opened up, and they found themselves face to face with the robot.