Battle Earth VIII

Chapter 2

It was a short journey back to Meaux and an unexpected one at that. Ever since signing up with the European Alliance, they had been at the forefront of the conflict, which until recently had not erupted into total war. Many had been pondering over the frightening thought of nuclear powers facing off against each other once again. All knew from their schooling that such an event could be as potentially cataclysmic as the alien invasion they had lived through. But nobody would ask it openly, not until Acosta and his big mouth was sitting opposite the Colonel.

"Sir, why are we sitting by while we got nukes ready to use?"

Several others shook their heads but still listened in intently. They wanted answers as much as the inquisitive Private did.

"Because we're fighting a nuclear power, and using them only assures mutual destruction."

"Not if we hit their silos first, go tactical on their asses."

"And their allies? Subs? Satellite silos?"

"Well, hell yeah, hit 'em all."

"You're a simple son of a bitch," Silva said.

"Several laughed, and it made him more than a little embarrassed, but he tried to brush it off.

"All been tried before," replied Taylor. "We start throwing nukes, and we can say goodbye to half the World's population. Hell we lost enough to the aliens."

"Yeah, but we're still fighting 'em!"

Taylor couldn't refute it. "You just leave the big decisions to others, Private. Those with the bigger picture and a greater understanding of these things."

"Like you do?" Parker asked.

Taylor smiled in response. He had gained a reputation for insubordination to the level it was now a joke amongst the Corps.

"Hey, when you reach Colonel, feel free to call the shots. Till that time, your ass is mine, and you'll do, think, and say whatever I want you to."

Several of the others laughed at him being put in his place, but all in good humour. They put down in the Meaux base shortly afterwards and found they were being welcomed by General Dupont himself with just a few of his personal staff. Taylor stepped down the ramp and sighed as he awaited the ribbing he was expecting, but to his surprise it never came.

"Welcome back, Colonel," said Dupont.

He was so polite Taylor wondered if he were even the same man he used to know. For just a few seconds, he considered the possibility the General himself was a Krys agent, but he let the thought settle to the back of his mind, realising it couldn't be true.

"You wanted us...me back for something big, what's the story?"

"You'll have to follow me. The rest of your unit can stand down. Canteen is open and awaiting them."

"I'd have a few join me, Sir."

"A handful of your most senior personnel."

He turned and pointed to Silva, Grey, and Parker.

"Better bring him along, too," Dupont said, pointing to Jafar.

They're finally learning to trust him, Taylor thought.

He turned to the others who hadn't bothered to fall in.

"Get some chow, and some sleep if I haven't found a job for you by the time you're done."

There were various grunts of relief and approval. Taylor joined the General as he got up to pace.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"When we get inside, Colonel."

They passed through into one of the administrative buildings that Taylor knew to house some of the research facilities. It was a vast six storey complex, with an array of anti-aircraft weapons fitted along its walls. It was the kind of stronghold many would choose to take shelter, and the last on Earth Taylor ever wanted to be because he knew what a target it made itself.

As they stepped inside, Taylor realised what a hive of activity it was; both researchers and military personnel rushed past them.

"Whatever you had to tell me can't be that much of a secret," said Taylor.

"Not a word leaves this building. Those operating here, live here presently. Until today, only three of my staff and myself have left this facility in the last month. Since you uncovered... and recovered the first Krys agent we have been working to determine what exactly they are."

"And hopefully in what numbers they are, and how we can identify the bastards."

"Yes, and many other questions which we are all asking."

"And have you found those answers?"

"Some of them."

They reached another level of security where three armed guards stopped them. They stood before a heavily reinforced blast door. It clearly had more than a single entry device.

"They're with me. Open the door," Dupont said casually.

The guards hesitated, looking suspiciously at the alien among the group, and then to Taylor who was still coated in dust and with a bloodied face. His rifle slung at his side was another cause for concern. One of the guards tried to talk, but the General interrupted him.

"Well don't just stand there, open the door!"

They jumped to action. Two of them pulled out key cards and held them before a scanner at each end of the door. A green light on a board of three lit up. Next the General stepped forward to a retina scanner, and it immediately flashed a second green light. Lastly, he typed in a passcode onto a small pad beside the retina scanner, and the last light went green. As the doors prised apart, they could see they were foot thick steel, and it was clear the entire section they were entering was proof against all but apocalyptic assault.

Castle within a castle, Taylor thought.

The room was filled with yet more busy personnel, and most of what they worked on went right over the Colonel's head. Dupont led them to a table where a few familiar faces sat, including Reiter. He nodded in a casual welcome and then turned his attention to a man he'd never expected to see again - Major Bryan Weller; his interrogator when he was incarcerated so long ago by Dupont and Schulz.

"What the hell part do you play in all of this?" he asked.

"There was a prisoner to interrogate," he replied dryly.

Taylor didn't hate the man. In fact, he had been remarkably civil during their time, but he still found it hard to forgive and work with him after all he had suffered during his time behind bars. That time cost him Friday's life, and that incident would forever be linked to Dupont and Weller for him.

"We seemed to have stepped past our difficulties for the greater good, Colonel. Can you not do the same?"

In danger of appearing as if he were throwing a tantrum, he righted himself and respectfully nodded. It was at least a relief they were working with him and not against him.

"All right, all this build up, let's hear what the fuck’s going on."

"Colonel, we have assembled here the greatest minds at our disposal to try and answer all the questions we have had this past month and before. There is some chance of stopping this war, if we can prove to all parties that an alien force is pulling the strings here, but we need proof. Proof is the key. I will now hand you over to Marian Rossi, the lead researcher for this project."

Rossi looked to be no older than thirty-five, surprisingly young for the position of power and responsibility she was in. Her hair was tied up and out the way for her work, and thickly applied make up barely hid the weariness in her face; from what was clearly many sleepless nights of work. Despite that, she was strikingly attractive, a fact that did not go unnoticed to Parker as Taylor got lost in her eyes.

"So what are your findings?" asked Eli.

"Quite frankly they are not developed enough, but time is not on our side. I am here to tell you what we know so far. The specimen, K1, who you know as Councillor Armand, outwardly appears and is as human as you are. Internally, K1's organs are an exact to match ours, and dental records even match, assuming the original records were not tampered with."

"So we're no further ahead with it?" asked Taylor cynically.

"Be patient, Colonel," said Dupont.

Mitch grunted for the scientist to continue.

"I cannot say whether K1 is in fact a clone or not. Neither do we yet know whether K1 serves the Krys of his own volition. However, what I can tell you is he is not one hundred percent identical to humans."

Taylor's eyes lit up.

"The retinas are quite different and are lined with a technology we believe records all they see. Additionally, a microscopic transmitting device placed inside the brain is believed to transmit these images."

"Believe?"

"Colonel, you must understand, we are trying to understand technology which is perhaps hundreds of years more advanced than our own in so little time."

He nodded in agreement and appreciation for all she was doing.

"So if he's been transmitting all this time, they know where he is, and what we're doing?"

Dupont interrupted.

"The K1 specimen was immediately quarantined upon arrival and placed within every form of barrier defence against transmission or detection we possibly have."

"As far as we know, the last images K1 could have transmitted were when he arrived here a month ago," Rossi added.

"That's a lot of maybes, Doc."

"I am sorry, Colonel, but we are doing all that we can."

"All right, so tell me more about this transmitter. Is it proof of alien tech and can it be easily identified?"

"Yes, it is not of Earth manufacture. An x-ray can identify this chip, assuming all Krys agents have them."

"And that's a big assumption," added Parker.

"We have to go with what we know, and what we have to work with," said Dupont.

"Anything else?" asked Taylor. "Anything else different about them? Are they stronger than us, see further? Hear better?"

Rossi shook her head. "They appear human in all other attributes."

"But you still can't tell if they're grown in a test tube or what?"

Dupont interrupted once again.

"Councillor Armand was a civil servant before the war, and like many who survived the war in Europe, we have little documentation showing where they were over the last few years. So yes, a man that looked like him existed; whether it is the same man, remains to be seen."

Taylor looked to his former interrogator who was waiting patiently.

"How far have you got with Armand?" Taylor asked him.

"About as far as I got with you."

"Then maybe you should consider a change of career."

"Silva could not help but laugh a little, but he tried to hide it.

"You must have got something out of him?" insisted Taylor.

Weller shook his head. "He's denying any knowledge of Krys agents and claims to be nothing more than his official title."

"Well, it's not like he's gonna give it up easily, is it?"

"My hands are tied, Colonel. There are hundreds of ways to interrogate a prisoner, but just as when I worked with you, our laws restrict me. There is little I can do but talk."

"Talk? You call talking interrogation? You're trying to find out secrets which could be vital to the survival of the human race."

Taylor turned to Dupont who shrugged in response.

"You're okay with this? Abide by every human rights law there is while this bastard sits pretty and gives us nothing?"

"And what would you have said if we broke those rules when you were behind bars?"

"I'd have fought you every step of the way, Weller, and I doubt you'd still be here today. But I don't give a goddamn what might, should, or could have been done. I care about this moment, right now."

"Need I remind you we have built our laws over thousands of years, and while they may not be perfect, it remains necessary to keep them intact to keep our humanity," said Rossi.

Taylor shook his head in disbelief.

"Great, Doctor, good for you. You hang on to those socialist ideals, and go and live in your fairy tale world where everything is just fucking amazing, and aliens don't come and try and fuck your shit up."

It silenced the room for a moment. Rossi's face turned to surprise and then disgust.

"You're a pig, Colonel," she replied defiantly.

"All right, enough!" Dupont shouted.

The room was silenced as he thought on the matter, and they looked to him for the way forward. He was looking down at the projection of Armand's brain still and almost in a daydream, thinking it over in his head until he finally looked up at them all.

"All I care about is ending this war in the shortest time possible, and with the fewest casualties on both sides. Well, human casualties at least. Weller, whatever you are doing isn't working. It's time for a new approach."

"I must protest..." he began.

"Noted, but I'm not interested," replied Dupont.

The General turned to Jafar who had been standing back from the table behind Taylor and had remained silent throughout.

"Do you know anything at all about these Krys agents, or any cloning or reprogramming your people ever did?"

Jafar shook his head and simply replied, "Nothing."

"Well, you can still be useful. Right now, I'm organizing a meet with UEN representatives to try and get them to understand what is going on here, but it isn't going to be easy. We need all the evidence we can get."

"And what if the representatives we meet with are in fact more Krys agents?" asked Taylor.

"That's just a chance we'll have to take. I want info out of Armand, and you are going to get it, you and your alien friend here. You've got until whenever it takes me to organise this meet, probably a few hours, a day at most."

"And you are authorising me to do what, Sir?"

"Anything you have to. We need Armand alive. Besides that, use your own discretion."

"We cannot sink to this level of barbarism," protested Rossi.

"We do what we must. We all have much work ahead of us, and I will hear no more of your argument. I will not be swayed in this matter. Weller, you will show the Colonel to Armand's cell and provide him with any assistance he asks. Any more questions?"

"Yes, Sir," said Parker.

Taylor turned; surprised to hear her speak up.

"What is it, Sergeant? Speak your mind quickly."

"Sir, I only wonder, if Krys agents worked their way into the UEN, why not us as well? How do we know there aren't any of them among us, right now?"

"It is a fair question. This facility utilises an x-ray scanner for security measures at all entry points, initially intended to protect against hidden weapons and data devices being brought on site. Everyone in this room has been scanned and cleared."

"Based on evidence obtained from a single specimen," Reiter added.

It was the first words he had spoken since they had arrived, and it was met with a sigh from Dupont who had clearly been dealing with the scientist’s cynical attitude throughout their work together. Before he could interrupt, Reiter continued.

"One specimen is not nearly enough to make the basis of any results. It does not even begin to scratch the surface."

Taylor looked to Rossi for her input.

"It is true. Other enemy agents may exhibit entirely different identifying features, or God forbid, none at all. But until such time as we have further research subjects, we can only work with what we have."

Taylor couldn't help but feel that after everything they had done to secure Armand, he expected a lot more to have come of it.

"This bastard could be the key to ending the war. I'll be damned if we did all the hard work to get him, just to find it was all for nothing."

His comrades nodded and grunted in approval.

"Far from useless, Colonel," replied Rossi. "This has answered many questions for us, but in science, there is rarely an end to any research. It merely reaches one height and then strives for another."

"I'm glad you find it all so very interesting. It cost us lives to get that bastard, and it'll cost us many more if your work here doesn't end this war."

Rossi was silenced, and it was clearly more weight on her shoulders than she'd ever felt before.

"Enough talk, you all know what needs to be done. Get to it."

"As those around the table split away, Weller approached Taylor to be his guide and aid, but Mitch turned to Parker first.

"You get everyone of our Regiment through that scanner in the next two hours."

"You think some of them could be working for the enemy?"

"I don't want it to be true, but I want to know for certain. Every one of them, you understand?"

She nodded in agreement.

"Oh, and get Acosta to me ASAP."

She nodded in agreement and rushed off to go about her duties. Taylor eventually turned and acknowledged Weller's presence.

"Lead the way."

Weller led the three of them down a few corridors and through yet another security check with armed guards. They passed through the first barred door that was once again an unpleasant reminder of the time he had spent in such a prison. All he could think was to be grateful he was now a free man.

They passed through into a room where half the wall was glass and looked in on the Councillor. Clearly it was one-way glass, for he did not acknowledge their presence in any way. He sat upright on his bed with his back against the wall. Far from a man who had lost everything, he merely looked bored.

"You want the cameras turned off?" asked Weller.

Taylor shook his head.

"No, I'm not ashamed of what we have to do here, and I have the authority to do so."

"Doesn't mean you won't be breaking laws."

"I think we're a little past that. We get through another war, and we can worry about it then."

"That's always your attitude, isn't it, Colonel? Screw the rules now and worry about it later. No wonder you get yourself in so much shit."

"Yeah, and tend to get the job done right, too."

It was hard for Weller to argue with that.

Taylor looked to Grey as if to ask if he had any ideas, but the Captain merely responded with a question.

"You know anything about interrogation?"

"I figure I'll make it up as I go along, like half the shit we've had to do since all this began."

"Great plan," he mumbled.

Taylor turned to Weller. "So what have you tried so far?"

"I've tried to build a rapport with the subject, to become his friend, and offer incentives for his assistance,"

"And how'd that work?"

Weller shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

"Right, so he didn't take the carrot. Time for the stick."

"That won't work, Colonel. Subjects will say the wildest of things under threat or use of physical pain. We need truths."

"A fighter might hold out until such time where they'll tell you anything, but he ain't a fighter. He's a big mouth in a suit. I doubt anybody’s dared ever call him an offensive name, and you've merely carried on that routine. Look at him. He thinks he owns this place and owns you."

Taylor put his rifle down on the desk in front of him and then paced over to the door leading to his cell. He wasn't surprised to see a smug smile on Armand's face when he entered the room. He had the look of a man who was untouchable. Taylor thought back to movies he had seen of wealthy criminals in the same position, who saw them as above the law and would rub it in at every opportunity.

I wonder if he has ever felt pain?

"Good to see you again, Colonel. I am glad to see you keeping well."

His voice was sleazy and insincere, to the point of being a little insulting.

"We both know you are a Krys agent, and soon the world will, too."

Armand shrugged. "And who cares anymore? The UEN and Mech soldiers stand together against you. The war has started now. Nobody cares for the reasons why, only of winning."

"You're wrong. And when we show the world your deceit, you will be done for."

"Then what are you doing here if not bore me to death?"

"You're gonna help me answer a few more questions."

"Because your plan of exposing Krys agents is going so well?"

Taylor reached for his Assegai quickly. He switched off the power so that it was nothing more than a truncheon. To Armand's surprise, the Colonel leapt across the room and smashed the weapon into his face. The baton hit dead on his nose, and the impact was amplified as the wall he was resting against worked as a bump stop. Blood burst out from his nostrils and a deep cut in the centre.

The Councillor recoiled forward and squirmed in pain, cupping his nose and the blood dripped through his fingers. Taylor took a pace back, grabbed the only chair in the room, and took a seat before him as he continued to wince in pain.

"You think you’re protected by our laws, but what you need to know is I have no care for them. I do what I think is right. That is my law, and in my law, you'd be dead. I will happily admit we need you, but we only need you alive. So, you can do this the easy way, and answer my questions to the best of your ability, or you can feel pain until you finally give up and tell me anyway. So what'll it be?"

"Fuck you!" he yelled, blood spewing out from his mouth and over the floor.

Taylor lifted his baton and smashed it down on Armand's right kneecap. The sound it made on impact was stomach churning and made Armand scream at the top of his voice. Taylor took no pleasure in it, and the only thought in his head was that he was glad Parker was not in the room and watching him.

"At some point you will come to realise that I will stop at nothing to protect this world from those who wish to destroy it. The day your people understand that will either be the day they stop trying, or the day there is no longer any of you left to fight."

Armand sat back against the wall again, still in a lot of pain, breathing hard, and not daring to speak another word he knew would lead to more pain.

"So, I'm gonna ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them to the best of your knowledge. If you are lying, or telling half-truths, or if I even think you are bullshitting me, you know I will not hesitate to make you suffer for it. Death would be painless, but that is not what you'll get. At least not anytime soon."

He waited for an answer, but none came. He took it as a sign of acceptance.

"How many Krys agents are operating on Earth?"

He shook his head.

"I really don't know."

"So you may not know totals, I get it. But what sort of ballpark figure are we talking, a few dozen, few hundred, thousands?"

His eyes lit up at the last word.

"Thousands? How many thousands?"

"I don't know for certain, but enough are infiltrated in every level of your society that is needed to fuel this war."

"And what do you think will happen when we show UEN leaders this video of you confessing it?"

"Nothing. It's too late for you, Colonel. Years too late for you to stop this."

He knew he wasn't getting anywhere, so he moved on.

"We found a chip in your head and some modifications to your retinas, are these features shared with all Krys agents?"

"I don't know."

Taylor lifted his Assegai over the man's other kneecap, but he quickly screamed out.

"I really don't know!"

Taylor relaxed.

"Do you know every item of your anatomy?" asked Armand.

Taylor knew he could be lying, but he also knew any answer on the subject could be wrong, whether he believed he was telling the truth or not.

The door to the cell suddenly prised open, and both turned sharply to see why. Weller stepped through into the room, and Armand relaxed back in relief.

"What is it?" asked Taylor.

"It's sterling work, Colonel," he replied. "If a little blood was all it took, you may well be able to rewrite the textbooks yet, just don't expect to win any peace prizes."

"Peace prize? Hell the only peace prize I want is the head of the last alien who would dare step foot on this planet."

"I can take it from here, Colonel," he replied.

"Now that I've done the hard work?"

"Now that you've done what I'm not allowed to. Now please leave us, Colonel. I have a whole host of questions I need answers to."

Taylor was actually relieved to be able to end it there. It wasn't work he liked at all. He got up and stepped up closer to Armand, who cringed at the sight of the marine looming over him with the baton that had dealt him so much pain.

"I'm heading out, but I won't be far away. I ain't going anywhere. You will answer all of Weller's questions no matter what, or I will return, and you don't want me to have to come back. Got it?"

He nodded in agreement, still sheltering his head and expecting to be struck. But Taylor would not. He didn't hurt the man for fun and through sadistic nature. He sheathed the Assegai and walked out of the cell.

"He gave in easy," said Grey.

"Yeah, either he really is as weak as he looks, or he knows the info he has will do us no good anymore."

"We can hope."

Taylor grunted as they stepped out from the room to find Parker and Acosta waiting for him.

"Get what you wanted?" Eli asked him.

"I think I got through, but God knows if anything we get from him will be of any use."

"So what now?"

"Follow me, Acosta with me."

The young Private looked fearful as he stepped up beside the Colonel and they got up to speed.

"That idea you had for taking down drones, it's time to share it with someone who can make it a reality."

"But...Sir...it was just an idea..."

"Every piece of tech we got sprung from an idea. I'm not asking you to design and build it, just share your concept, and we'll see what we can get done."

"But it might not work, Sir. It might be a piece of shit...sorry, Sir, junk, piece of junk."

"Yeah, well you let the experts be the judge of that. We were lucky we didn't lose a lot more last time we faced those things. In open ground or supressed by armour and artillery, they could have made mincemeat of us. We cannot afford, and I will not accept those losses. You came up with something that might save lives. Let's see where it goes."

The Private looked shocked and scared at the idea as he was led back to the research room where they’d had their briefing. He was taken to Reiter, who was busy working on a piece of electronics which none of them understood or recognised. As they approached, he turned and smiled.

"Good to see you are still alive," he said to Taylor, looking at the battle damage of his armour.

"Thanks in no small part to your equipment."

"What can I do for you?"

"The UEN attacked us with drones. They came as a swarm with mostly short-range weaponry. They're light, fast, and agile, but lack any kind of protection. We need a simple way to knock them out of the sky, and this young marine here thinks he has a solution. I'll leave him with you and see how you do."

Acosta's pulse seemed to stop, and he looked even more fearfully at Taylor.

"Sir..."

"You've got nothing to worry about. We improvise and overcome. It is what I expect of every man and woman under my command. You're the kind of new blood I need, and this is the kind initiative I want to see more of. Good luck with it."

He turned and left, leaving the Private speechless.

"Poor lad, he'll never have a clever idea again," said Grey.

Taylor laughed.

"So we have this evidence of a Krys agent and his recorded testimony, now what?"

"Dupont is arranging his meeting with UEN representatives. We just have to hope they're willing to listen."

"And what about the thousands of agents that may be out there?"

Taylor sighed at the very thought.

"I guess we just have to hope he's exaggerating."

But deep down he knew it was almost certainly true. He'd seen the incubation chambers himself, and he'd heard Tsengal's report of the vast quantities Chandra had stumbled upon.

"However many there may be among us, there are still plenty of good people involved in this; every bastard who fought and survived the last war for a start. We just have to get through to them."

"So what now?"

"I haven't sat in a comfortable chair in weeks, and I intend to find one. Followed by something to eat and a few hours of sleep wouldn't go amiss. Whatever happens with this Armand situation, you can be guaranteed we'll be needed before long."

"Always us, isn't it?" asked Parker from behind them.

"Yep," he replied. "That's why we were put on this earth."

They got to the door they had entered the facility from, and Taylor took note of the subtle x-ray frame of the corridor just as Dupont had said.

"Hell of an idea that. If any Krys human can be identified that way, we may have hope yet."

At the doorway was a line of troops from the base being ushered in through the scanners one at a time, and clearly oblivious as to the reason why. They were being led into briefing rooms, most likely the explanation they were given as to being there.

Taylor stepped out into the warm light of day and saw a sight he could not have expected, but always hoped for. Captain Charlie Jones stood before them in fatigues and armour, ready to go.

"Well, well. I guess the farm life isn't for you, after all, Charlie."

"Got that right," he replied.

"You back for good? Back to join the Inter-Allied Regiment. The rogues who are AWOL from their prospective home countries?"

He nodded in agreement. Taylor couldn't believe he had made it. After their last meeting, he never imagined the Captain returning to service and leaving his new life behind.

"Damn good to have you back!"