Peregrin - 7 May 2000 - H2G2 Fiction

Somebody knocked on the General's door.

The General groaned and turned over. Nobody woke the General from his afternoon nap unless it was something incredibly important.

The person knocked again. The General rubbed his eyes and yawned. Whoever it was, this person either carried an important message or was extremely stupid.

The General checked himself in the mirror. He straightened his medals. He opened the door.

'SIR!' The major was about to knock again but on the sight of the General snapped to attention.

'Uh, what is it, major?'

'Message from bridge, Sir! The Admiral requests your immediate presence on the bridge, Sir!'

'Oh okay. This had better be important. Dismissed.' The General yawned and walked to the nearest transporter. He stabbed at a button and was taken instantaneously to the bridge.

Everybody on the bridge, as soon as they saw him materialising, jumped up and snapped to attention.

'GENERAL ON THE BRIDGE! ATTEEENNN-SHUN!'

'What is it, Admiral?' the General asked the Admiral standing at the ship's controls.

'Sir! We have dropped out of hyperspace early, Sir! Class Sixteen object in region, Sir!'

'Class Sixteen? What's that?' the General stifled a yawn.

'Sir! Small rocky object with no useful salvageable materials, Sir!'

'So?'

'Sir! According to our scanners, this object is home to a wide variety of malicious virus type organisms, Sir! Potentially harmful if contact is made, Sir!'

'Hmm. Okay, destroy it.'

'Sir! Yes! Sir!'

The Admiral pressed a button on his control board. The display panels briefly flashed, and the object they were monitoring winked out of existence.

The General scratched his nose and went in search of a drink.

The Admiral ordered one of his assistants to make a note in the logbook. 'Tuesday. Destroyed potentially harmful Class Sixteen object. Official name: Earth.'