Fangs in Space

Chapter 8: Zea's First Kiss

Magnus had showed me around the facility and I must say I was impressed.

Incredible what vampires could do in just a few months time when they were united, I thought sourly.

Word had gone around like fire that the alien’s blood worked as a drug. In response, thousands of vampires solicited to take part in the invasion. In just two weeks time, mother had enlisted 50,000 soldiers and enough scientists and engineers to create the fleet within a few months.

All, just to get to their drug.

Mother had thought it incredibly funny to make the ships resemble bloodsucking insects. And the scientists had loved the idea; the ships would be much more adaptable to both the vacuum of space and air of Roke’s and Earth’s atmosphere if they had wings.

The battle cruisers looked like hives and transported fighter jets called AFDs in honey grate like cells. The cells had an arm-like mechanism on which the AFDs landed and that pulled them into the cell whilst the AFD folded themselves on the rear.

Both the hives and the mosquitoes as I liked to call them were half machine half animals, a sentient machine. Apparently, they adapted themselves to their pilots by matching their neural pathways to that of the user. They could basically fly themselves based on your directions that you transmitted by simply visualizing the trajectories.

I was happily surprised when Magnus asked me to do a test run. From the moment that I laid eyes on the crafts I wanted to fly one.

“We want to test one of its strategic manoeuvres, but all pilots that tried it until now either passed out because of the G forces or killed themselves trying.”

“Huh, killed themselves? How on earth would G-forces kill a vampire???”

Magnus looked at me and grinned.

“Their heads exploded, making an awful mess of the cockpit”.

“They don’t crash?” I asked,

Magnus shook his head, “The AFD takes over when the pilot fails. It can’t do the complex manoeuvres any more, but it is able to find a relatively safe location to land.”

“And how you know that this test run won’t kill me?” I tease him.

He looked uncomfortable.

“Uh, yes well. I tried it and my head is still on my trunk.” He explained.

“But I passed out and the craft needed to make an emergency landing…” he whispered ashamed.

I grinned and hit him on the back.

“That must have been a bummer.” I teased him.

He glared at me. “Not everybody can be a Royal.”

I shrugged, “Yeah, some vamps are just born better than everybody else.” I bragged smilingly.

He stomped me back and laughed.

“Come on, let’s suit you up so that you can fly.”

I nodded enthusiastically and followed him into one of the changing rooms.

He handed me over a can of spray latex and some tubes.

“What is this?”

He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “That’s your uniform.”

I stared. “You are joking, right?”

He shook his head and left the room. “I’ll send you one of the female ground technician to help you spray and attach the tubes in the right locations.”