Three creatures stood before him. One wore ornately inscribed armour that was reminiscent of Karadag’s, and his face was visible. The other two creatures displayed the painted red lines, clearly representing their importance as some form of guard to a senior officer or official. For a moment, the two groups looked at each other in amazement.
“Lower your weapons!” he shouted.
He surprised himself to even say it. He’d never met one of the creatures that he wouldn’t have shot on sight if he could. They hesitated, but he could see they knew there was little other choice beyond death.
“Lower them!”
The two guards looked to their master, who after a few seconds of thought, nodded for them to comply.
“You would let us live?” asked the enemy Commander.
“I’m here to win this war, not eradicate your race.”
Taylor could see the two guards look at each other as if surprised, but he could not see their faces beneath their armour. Gunfire rang out, and plastic shattered as Chandra breached the other entrance and rushed into the room with her rifle at the ready. Taylor held up his hand to stop her. She quickly came to a halt and looked on at the situation in shock.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I believe these soldiers are surrendering to us.”
“Surrender? And what would you have us do with them?”
Taylor lowered his rifle and paced across the room, so he could talk more privately with the Colonel.
“These are soldiers just like us. Wouldn’t you want your foe to take mercy if you were cornered? We’re better than this, Chandra.”
She looked down and cursed. She knew he was right.
“Alright, alright. Find them somewhere secure, and I mean secure. They are to be kept under guard and watched at all times.”
“Alright,” he replied.
“Looks like we’ve got most of the station under control. They can’t have had more than a hundred or two guarding the whole place.”
“Maybe because it was the last thing they ever expected of us?” replied Taylor.
“Alright. Jones, send runners to find Commander Kelly, and notify him we have taken the HQ. 3 ^rd and 4 ^th platoon are to take up positions here. Jones, rally up with Jackson. You’re on sweep and clear.”
She turned and looked at the three aliens who were still stood waiting to hear of their fortune.
“Taylor, they’re your responsibility.”
Chapter 9
Taylor had found a temporary holding cell just a few metres from the command centre and had quickly acquired it for his new prisoners. He sat and watched them through a one way screen. Never before had he been able to so closely study one of the creatures while it was still living. He could tell the one creature was of great importance, and he was more than a little curious to understand how much so. The door beside him opened, and Chandra stepped through with Kelly at her side.
The Commander gasped as he saw the three creatures beyond the screen and just a few metres away. He froze for a moment and was clearly thinking of reaching for a weapon before he calmed himself.
“What the hell are they doing here?”
“They surrendered to me, Sir.”
“Surrendered? There is no surrender in this war, Major.”
Taylor stepped past the Commander and closed the door behind him before stepping back to his previous position.
“If I may, Sir?”
“Go on.”
“This creature is clearly of importance among our enemy. It poses no threat to us, and it makes sense to try and learn what we can while we have the opportunity. We are forever lacking information and understanding of these creatures. Would you not like some information on enemy strength, positions?”
Kelly turned and carefully studied the creature that sat against the wall. Its towering frame made the room look out of scale. The beast appeared humbled for having been captured but still proud.
“What makes you think anything it says will be truthful?”
“No idea, but it costs us nothing to talk.”
Kelly gritted his teeth, and Mitch could see the Commander hated their enemy more than any of them.
“Alright, but you handle this. I want proper security on these creatures at all times. If this goes sour, it’s on you.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Kelly strode out of the room, leaving Chandra watching the creatures in amazement. She turned to Taylor.
“Don’t take any chances with them. They’d just as soon as rip your head from your body if they had the chance.”
“I know,” he replied.
“I’ll admit I am a little curious. Let me know anything interesting that you discover.”
The two of them stepped out of the room where a dozen soldiers were stood either on guard of the room or awaiting the Colonel as her protection. She quickly left with her entourage, leaving Taylor to the interrogation. It was the first communication they’d ever had with the enemy, but it had seemed of little importance once their intentions were clear.
“Hall, get two others and join me. I want you to have your wits about you at all times.”
“On it, Sir.”
Taylor stepped over to the entrance where Parker and another guarded the entrance.
“Watch your ass in there, Mitch.”
“Don’t worry, I will.”
He opened the security door and stepped inside with the three marines at his back, their weapons raised and ready to fire at a moment’s notice. The three creatures sat at the far end of the cell and didn’t respond to the presence of the troops. He couldn’t tell if they had simply given up and accepted their fate, or if they were biding their time for the right opportunity to strike.
The holding chamber was eight by five metres and allowed them to keep a good distance apart. In the centre of the room was a table with four chairs. Taylor strolled forward and took the nearest seat. The enemy officer looked up and into the eyes of Taylor. He could see some kind of pipe rising around the creature’s head from around the suit and into its nostrils. He imagined they couldn’t breathe air alone.
“My name is Major Taylor, 2 ^nd Inter-Allied Battalion.”
The creature still glared at him but had not moved. It finally opened its mouth and spoke in the same deep and coarse voice that Taylor had heard before.
“The slayer of Karadag.”
The creature was relaxed and confident.
“I was there when he was defeated, yes.”
“How? How could you, weak and small, kill a hero?”
Taylor’s eyes squinted, and his face crunched up in anger.
“Your Karadag was a genocidal maniac. It was an honour to see him to his end.”
The beast went silent as it dipped its head and seemed to reflect on his words. Taylor marvelled at how human the creature seemed. They were so different to humans, yet they seemed to have so much in common. Taylor could read the same body language and interaction as if the beast was human.
“Who are you?” asked Taylor.
“Demiran, leader of the 62 ^nd Group, and honoured to be of Karadag’s kin.”
Taylor’s eyes widened. He wondered why the creature had not yet tried to kill him, knowing what he now did. It made him clench his fists and grow more guarded and ready for anything.
“Why did you surrender to us?”
The creature sat up tall and proud.
“You gave us the chance to live, did you not?”
“We don’t kill those who do not fight against us.”
“Then that is your mistake.”