“Seems a pretty big assumption,” replied Harney.
“Only going on the intel I have and previous experience. It’s been a long day. I suggest you bed down and be ready for the morning.”
“Long day? Hell of a day, more like!”
They spread out across a kilometre wide defence north of the ship that night, with patrols running far and wide to be safe. Taylor sat up against a tree for most of the night, watching the enemy ship. There was not a single light working on it, but the moonlight glinted off the metallic hull. Every half an hour he would look at the site with his night vision equipment just to study it and observe for movement, but there was none.
He heard a branch crack at his side and reacted by reaching for his rifle and twisting around ready to defend himself.
“You should be getting some rest,” a calm voice spoke.
He immediately recognised it as Eli, and his shoulders relaxed as he laid the rifle back down over his thighs. She moved up and sat down beside him. He put his arm over her shoulders but could feel little of her through the armour she wore. It didn’t matter.
“How much sleep have you had?” she asked.
“Enough.”
“I doubt that.”
“Did I hear that straight? You’re concerned for my health?”
He laughed at the idea even though he felt just the same way about her.
“How much longer do you think this can go on?”
“What?”
“The war, the aliens, when’s it all gonna end?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure it ever will.”
“What, how can you think that?”
He took in a deep breath, preparing to explain to her the realisation he’d come to in the time of peace they had enjoyed before recent events.
“Look at our own history. Every time one culture has met another, they have fought wars until one is totally defeated or assimilated. There will be no peace between such powers. We aren’t strong enough to end them, so they will simply keep coming.”
“And they can’t seem to take Earth, so what, we just keep fighting?”
Taylor shrugged his shoulders.
“No, I can’t believe that. This has to end someday. We keep fighting the way we have, and our luck can’t hold forever.”
“No,” he replied solemnly.
She could see the acceptance in his face for the situation he had just outlined.
“You have accepted it, haven’t you? That we’re all gonna die?”
“We are all gonna die. We’re only human. Only when and where are the questions.”
“You know what I mean. We should have years ahead of us.”
“And maybe we will. We have made it this far.”
“I don’t like the way you’re talking.”
He shrugged his shoulders again.
“I don’t want you to throw your life away because you think it’s the only way.”
“Mmm,” he grunted.
With that last sound, the weary Taylor fell asleep with his arm still around Parker. She was deeply dissatisfied with the opinions he had stated, but more than anything she wanted him to rest and recover his full self.
Taylor awoke to the shouting of Sergeant Major Silva strolling down the lines, drawing the 2nd Inter-Allied from the uneasy sleep they were getting. For many, it was a sharp reminder of the conditions they had faced in France during the first war.
It always amazed Mitch that no matter their location, conditions, or morale, Silva was always the first awake and invigorated, as if powered by some superhuman force. It was exactly the reason he held the position he did, and a reminder that he had chosen the right man.
The air was fresh and clean. The blood and strife of war was behind and in front of them. Now they were stationed in a beautiful land untouched by either war. But it was not to last. He remembered Parker coming to him in the night, but she was nowhere to be seen. He reached for the trunk of the tree he had slept against pulled himself to his feet.
“Damn,” he whispered to himself.
It was the best sleep he had gotten since the aliens had come back to their Solar System. He wiped his face and tried to come to his senses. He looked over to the spot where he and Harney had first looked at the enemy positions the night before, just twenty metres along the treeline. Officers of both their units had already gathered, and he could see Jones ensuring they had a sensible representative among them.
Taylor stumbled over towards the officers assembled, and with every step he began to regain his composure until halfway when he finally woke up. He had been fixated on the enemy position for half of the night, and yet slept through the rest like he was back in his own bed.
When he reached the gathering, he soon realised everything was in hand. He looked to Jones for confirmation. Jones nodded to show things were going to plan.
“Colonel Taylor, I hope you slept well?” Harney asked.
Taylor initially felt a little ashamed to be one of the last officers up, but that feeling quickly receded as he remembered the previous day’s events. He turned to look at the enemy crash site in the distance for one last time before joining them. It was still as dead as it was in the night. When he turned back, Jafar was standing there and made him recoil in surprise. He had not heard a sound a second before.
“That ship is empty,” he stated.
“Why would you think that?” Taylor asked him.
“Because if they still occupied it, they would be coming at us by now.”
Taylor nodded in agreement. It was indeed a strange occurrence for the enemy.
“Walk with me,” he said to Jafar.
They continued on to the grouping of officers.
“Colonel, you’re gonna want to see this. We have a strike incoming in two minutes,” someone shouted.
“Looks like we got the best seat in the house,” said Harney.
He turned to look on down the valley at the huge vessel. There was still no movement in sight and that made Taylor uncomfortable.
'Why haven't they come at us?'
'Because we have the high ground and numerical superiority,' replied Harney.
'No, that would not stop them.'
'Then maybe they're just scared.'
Taylor smiled.
'No chance. Any sign of our satellite imaging coming back?'
'I've been promised it before noon.'
Taylor looked through his binoculars one last time at the tranquil scene. The countryside was beautiful, and there was no sign of the war. The crashed vessel was the only evidence the enemy had been there.
'They've gone. Think about it. Everything up to this point has been to facilitate their retreat back to their main force across the sea.'
Harney did not respond, as the possibility would ruin his plan. He checked his watch one last time, and as he did so, he heard the roar of engines approaching rapidly from the north. Before they even had time to look up, missiles were soaring through the sky, and the two aircraft were banking out of sight. Then large missiles hit the
