Perspective Part I

Perspective

“Why do you think they call them coffins?” Lieutenant Keefe couldn’t help smirking as the statement flowed across his lips to the new ensign who just joined the ship.

“But it’s not in the literal sense of the word…is it?” The ensign asked in an unsure voice.

“Of course it is,” Keefe said and then chuckled. “Well not exactly,” he admitted. “These coffin-shaped canisters are an older version of an ordnance carrier converted to transport the vampire to target, hence the new name of coffin.”

“Oh I get it,” the ensign chuckled hesitantly. “But sir, don’t you ever get nervous about…well having them around?”

“The vampires? Nah. They’re loaded into the containers in the safe area. Once inside the container it’s locked, then we shove them in the torpedo launch bay and shoot them out. Think of it like loading a cartridge or bullet into the breach of a weapon and then firing it."

The ensign appeared to struggle with the analogy but Keefe went on. “The container doesn’t open until it reaches the surface of the planet—hopefully intact—I hate to lose these containers they're such a pain in the ass to refit.”

“But how do they get back here to the ship?”

“When their mission is done—or when the sun comes up—whichever comes first, they have to return to the coffin.

“Why don’t they just escape?” asked the ensign.

“Ah…good question, Keefe said. “You see, each vampire has a little cylinder imbedded in their bodies. The cylinder contains a tracking device and a small amount of liquid which is poison to them. If they don’t follow orders, such as returning to their coffin, a signal is sent and releases the poison.”

“So they follow orders…or else.”

“Exactly. Later we send a pickup vehicle which magnetically latches on to them from several miles out. By using a strong magnetic field they are able to catapult the ships from the surface and back to the ship.”

“What if something happens and you can’t get them?” the ensign asked.

“Then they just sit there and wait. If they have to, they can go into an extended hibernation period until we can get to them. As long as their coffins stay sealed from the sunlight, they’re okay.”

“Must be one hell of a ride.”

“You bet. The G’s would cause sever damage to the body of a normal man, but the vampire body has amazing recuperative powers, plus the fact that the majority of the organs are no longer used anyway which makes them perfect. So any injury to organs still functioning, mainly the heart, repairs itself by the time they are back on board the main assault craft.”

“What about surface fire?”

“What about it?”

“It still might hit the pickup vehicle or some of the coffins on the way back.”

“Yeah—it might. But so what? The pickup vehicle is unmanned and it’s not like the vampires are alive or anything. They are just tools—another weapon, nothing more.”

The young ensign remained silent as he appeared to contemplate what he had just heard.

Keefe pointed and said, “The status board is completely green. That means that all the torpedo tubes are loaded. That’s 150 coffins ready to go. Call the bridge and report that we’re ready.”

The ensign did as instructed. A few moments later the order came to launch the coffins. Lieutenant Keefe pressed one button and the green indicators for each coffin went from green to black, indicating a successful launch. “Well that’s all for now,” Keefe said, “nothing left to do but wait for the pickup order.”

“Is that all of the vampires?”

“From this ship it is every single one. But don’t forget we have several transports in orbit, all carrying their own contingent of vampires—must be a big mission to send them all at once. Maybe even a complete annihilation of the planet populace.”

“Can they do that?”

“The brass can do anything they want.”

“No, I mean the vampires—can they kill an entire population?”

“I don’t want to know if they do,” Keefe quipped back. “I don’t want to dirty my hands that much. Whoever’s down there on the planet is the enemy anyway. Besides—”

Lieutenant Keefe was cut off by the communication system as an announcement began. “Attention all hands, this is the Captain speaking. There has been an…event on the United Planet Ship Excalibur. The cargo of vampires they are carrying have somehow managed to break free of their confinement area and have taken over the ship. It appears that either the crew was unable to activate the poison cylinders or there was some form of malfunction. It is our understanding that the majority of the human crew has been killed in the process. Our orders are to destroy the Excalibur before the vampires try and escape. I know that many of you have friends and shipmates on the Excalibur. I just want to assure you that if they are alive—killing them now will be for the best. I know if I was there, that is what I would want. Stand by all batteries.”

“Kill the bastards,” Lieutenant Keefe growled as he readied the batteries to fire. “I know many of the officers on the Excalibur.” Keefe switched on a video monitor which displayed the exterior view of space. He played with the controls until the image of the Excalibur filled the screen.

The Captain’s voice came over the announcing system, “Standby. Standby. FIRE!”

Lieutenant Keefe pressed the fire button and held it down as if the additional pressure would result in a more intensive burst of energy. On the screen, the fire from multiple ships came to bear on the Excalibur—in a few moments the ship was engulfed by the rays and exploded.

END PART I