PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

As Galvin knocked, opened the door, and entered the office, just like he did in the morning, when he turned he saw Zen sitting with legs kicked up on the desk, looking expectantly in his direction toward the door. Samantha had already walked down the hall to her own dorm for “a breath of solitude” and left the men to themselves.

Galvin saluted straight and stiff. The Commander saluted back in a most friendly demeanor, swung his feet swiftly onto the floor, and said, “You are finally here. We have been searching the globe for you.”

Galvin looked at the empty leather chair and then up again at the Commander, searching for some hint of permission, to sit, from his superior. By this point he should have already guessed or known that he is stationed in a much more casual environment than that; the standard of rigorous and contrived behavior in these sorts of scenes isn’t necessarily entertained here particularly. 

“Before I respond, Sir, may I sit?” he said, sticking to the script.

“Of course, sit down. It is time for some chitchat.”

Galvin sat and cupped his palms over his kneecaps with his elbows sticking out a tad winged, eyeballing the Commander with nuanced fear, wonder, and intrigue. When he was fully adjusted to the chair, the Commander said, “What is it you were going to say?”

“Well, about what you mentioned, how you have been ‘searching the globe’ for me. You all keep on telling me that. Like I’m important or something. Commander, I am nothing very special. Just a person trying to busy myself while alive in this maelstrom we dwell. What is with the implication though— of my importance?”

The Commander took a piece of bubblegum from his desk drawer, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. He began to chew, softening the substance, and finally said, “Well, to put it simply, Vinny, you belong here. Can I call you Vinny? Okay good. Anyhow, it is destiny’s way of saying that you are on the path that you are meant to take. Hail to those who become involved in the divine design! To travel space, for you there will be no mistake. Out there, you will find what it is your soul truly yearns for… Would you like some gum?”

“No thank you,” Galvin said, and then, after carefully catching his thoughts, went on, “The words you use, the tone of your voice… It is all very familiar to me; unmistakably similar to language that lingers in my own mind. There is something wonderful about it. And weird.”

“Yes, I know. And you will eventually see why too. We have made these observations long ago, you see, since the dawn of man, but no one has ever had the capacity to recognize such phenomena and further communicate what is faintly figured.” Zen said and paused. He seemed a little distraught.

“Enough hieroglyphs!” he subtly erupted. “We should get to the mission now. Topics like what we are currently engaged in can prove an endless task. That is why we must focus our wits on the more mundane, you know, to quell the brain and find that quiet place.”

“Yes Sir, I am open ears to hear what you have brought me here for.”

Commander Zentrik commenced to open another drawer. The larger, lower drawer of the desk. He used a small key and opened it. There was a bunch of documents that he quickly ran through with his graceful, dexterous fingers. He came to Galvin’s portfolio and with eager eyes slipped the mustard-colored pack out and onto the desk. 

He grabbed his spectacles and put them on. Although to call them goggles would be more appropriate. They seriously looked as if they were for the purpose of fighting a sandstorm. They were made by the Robot Doctor (whose abilities are endless) of LS6000. Zentrik blew a big bubble, pop, and mumbled the following few things aloud.

“It says here your father was a pilot of planes, and that you learned how to fly them before you even reached double digits in age— Amazing! No wonder you became such a specialist in spacecrafts; your influence was always there from the start.”

“Indeed, Sir, but have you really happened to overlook the pages regarding my birth? The details there, I assure you, will no doubt triumph to further enhance your opinions on the matter of my prodigious portfolio,” Galvin said, thinking rather highly of himself. Well, highly enough to self-proclaim himself a prodigy. After he retrieved his breath, he swallowed his saliva soundlessly, but you could still see how he gulped at it a little bit.

The Commander followed his fingers flapping fast back through the sheets. He read a little, shot his eyes to Vinny, and chirped like one of those dainty birds who scores some bread on a restaurant patio, “You were actually born in space?!— Specifically during the discovery of Black Hole Horizon aboard the 67th Odyssey ship of none other than the famous Zip Zapper?!” He paused to gasp in amazement, jaws agape. The bubblegum fell from his mouth. After a frozen moment, he snapped to his senses and picked the gum up off his lap, threw it back in, and continued chewing.

Galvin was patiently waiting for the shock to settle. He elaborated thus, “Indeed, I was born among the stars, Sir, and I hold no hesitation to revisit my origins thither, on this opportunity, before I wither, which would thereby render me unfit for this outfit. I do not have time to waste. We shall chase the nameless nectar, as the bright angels glide about and chant us through the universe. We are invited into soft melodies of ether and mesmerizing rhymes of the divine.”

“Supremely sublime, son— Supremely sublime!

“Now to finally detail your mission. And I will try to be concise, for both our sakes. If you have questions later, feel free to ask our lovely Samantha or perhaps try Kali Robot. Anyways, there is this man named Cardamax. Well, to call him a man is hardly fair. He is quite literally a savage vampire. His embryo was constructed by the constellations and anointed with immortality. He has been harvesting the warm blood of our species since the great dawn of awakening. An unruly parasite. He currently dwells in a tent on planet 12 in the dancing desert of the stellar realm.”

“So then what is to be done, Commander?” It should be noted that the way Galvin speaks is by no means a summary of his character. He has learned to be contrived due to certain circumstances. He is a very fine soldier. However, on the inside, beneath the flexible film of his soul’s skin, he was struck with a hollow magic that made his stomach flutter and his brains bubble. He never thought he would hear of a vagabond vampire camping on the surface of another world.

Zentrik popped a big bubble, then said, “Guess. It’s easy.”

“Yessir, you wish for me to extermi