Jones twitched at the reminder of his experiences but peered into her eyes in surprise.
“Where does this bitterness come from?”
She didn’t respond, as they both knew no good could come of it.
“We’re going to Mars, the only question is when? Few will volunteer for it, so I can guarantee we’ll be involved.”
Jones stared at her for a moment. He wondered what she even wanted in life anymore. She seemed to live to fight.
Is this what we have become? He asked himself.
Taylor stepped into the holding cells where his two friends were being kept. Despite the General’s speech about them assisting the allies in questioning, it still looked as much as a prison as it always had. Every time he saw the bars of a cell, or the guards around them, it left a foul taste in his mouth. He forever linked his incarceration with the far more horrific and mortifying ordeal Jones had endured. He could tell that most of the guards knew of his reputation and were watching him with both a careful and untrustworthy eye.
Good, let them fear me.
He was led to the cell at the end of the corridor, but there were no bars, they had been covered over with a one-way thick glass. He could see the two of them talking to each other, but the sound was completely deadened by the walls of the cell. Then the silence was broken by footsteps approaching; the walk of a confident and arrogant man. He already knew it would be their interrogator.
“Major Taylor, I presume?”
Mitch turned to see that the man was clearly well aware of who he was, but didn’t want to admit it and risk stroking Taylor’s ego. Mitch nodded. He saw no need to open his mouth just yet.
“I am Major Weller, Corps of Offworld Intelligence and Research.”
“That’s a mouthful,” Taylor said quietly.
Weller smiled and tapped Taylor on the shoulder in a gesture of friendship.
“So you’re not with this lot?” Taylor gestured towards the MPs.
“No, formally Naval Intelligence.”
“Then we may just get along swell.”
Taylor’s teeth were gritted, and he had not let his guard down, but he already felt more comfortable.
“You are to be present for all contact I make with these two Krycenaeans, is that correct?”
“Yep, and they are members of 2 ^nd Inter-Allied and should be treated as such. Think of them as marines, and we’ll all be just fine.”
Weller looked into the cell and carefully studied the two of them. It was clear he had never seen one of the aliens alive before. Mitch could see he was a little unnerved by being so close to them and was unable to hide it.
“Have you really never had contact with a live one?”
“No, there’s talk of a few prisoners around the world.”
“Wounded? Were there really so few left behind?”
Weller nodded.
“They took everything they could with them. Most who were left fought to the bitter end. There have been plenty of reports of wounded creatures taking their own lives. Quite honestly, we have little information to go on.”
“So this must a big deal? Why did you get chosen?”
Weller glanced over to Taylor and had a dismissive look.
“Yeah, right, classified information.”
“Let’s just say they wanted someone with combat experience, as well as the other tools of my trade.”
Taylor lifted his eyebrows in surprise.
“Not just a desk jockey, then?”
“Come on, let’s get this started. I’m more than happy for you to be in the room, but please do not interfere with my investigation.”
The two of them stepped through into the room, and the soundproofed door sealed behind them. Taylor looked back to see as he expected. He couldn’t see out beyond the walls of the cell. He knew the guards on the outside were watching in, but it pleased him to know that they couldn’t hear what went on. Taylor’s beach attire was incongruous in the sterile and serious cell, but both were glad to see him.
“I am Major Weller. I am here to try and answer the many questions we have about your… well, race.”
They nodded in agreement. Both were sitting on the bench that ran the length of the wall. They were too tall to comfortably sit on the chairs nestled around the table in the centre of the room.
“Right, well we should get started.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Taylor said. “Any information you can give could help, and once this is all over, you’ll return to our unit.”
“Worried? Why would we be?” asked Jafar.
Taylor crooked his head in surprise.
“Incarceration is never pleasant,” he replied.
“There are many unpleasant things in life. Being locked in a room and asked questions is not one of them,” replied the alien.
At every turn the Major got more an insight into how brutal an existence they had lived among their people.
“We have these things called human rights. Whilst you are not yet covered by such core principles, I hope you soon will be. They will protect you from any harm while you make no offence,” Weller stated.
Taylor turned in surprise.
A moral man, already looking to protect them. Not what I expected at all. I like this officer, thought Taylor. He quickly realised that Weller could be a valuable asset to him in the future.
“Now, the first thing we’d all like to know is where you come from? Where is your homeworld?”
Taylor’s ear pricked up at the word ‘we’, and he looked around to see tiny cameras in every corner of the room. It made him a little uncomfortable to know they could be watched by any number of people. He calmed his nerves and quickly thought he was foolish to think they would be alone. Their investigation would likely answer more questions about the enemy than they got answered during the entire war.
“Outside of our ruling classes, few of our people know much beyond the roles given to them, and explaining much of it in your language will be…challenging,” Tsengal answered.
“Please try,” replied Weller.
Jafar continued on from his associate.
“As protectors to Lord Demiran, we have seen and learned more than most. Do you have a star map?”
Weller tapped a few buttons, and the tabletop lit up. Within twenty seconds, the Major had a map before them. Jafar slowly stood up, and Weller looked up in amazement at the towering figure standing over him. Taylor could see a hint of fear at the realisation that the alien could crush and kill him in seconds. Mitch’s trust of the two made him smile at Weller’s discomfort.
The alien studied the map for a minute, carefully scanning and zooming throughout the display. He appeared to show little recognition or understanding at what he was looking at, but it was difficult to read some of his emotions. Sometimes the two of them appeared utterly deadpan. They waited with baited breath. It was one of life’s great questions.
“All the years humanity has asked is their alien life out there, and if so, where? We might just be the first to hear the real answer to the latter,” whispered Weller.
Taylor looked back to Jafar with a new sense of interest. The alien finally looked up.
“I have never seen your maps before, but comparing them to what I have seen, I would say our homeworld is here. In the system you call… Tau Ceti.”
Weller turned to Mitch in surprise. His eyes were wide. It obviously meant something to him. To Taylor it might as well have been a made up name, for he had little care for anything offworld.
“We have long speculated that life could exist there. Although the living conditions must be unbelievably harsh.”
