“You are as a brother to us, as Commander Kelly is a brother to me.”
“If he still lives.”
“Whether he lives or not, does not matter. He is a brother of mine. Though between us, if any man on Earth can survive the invasion of Erdogan, it is Kelly.”
“You really believe that?”
“I do, don’t you?” replied Taylor, “Honestly tell me he would just give up or walk into his own death? No. Kelly is a resourceful man. If we ever get back to Earth, I’d bet good money he’ll be the one, still there and standing on the smouldering ashes of his enemies.”
“If we ever do,” Parker sighed.
“We thought this could ever replace Earth?” Taylor asked, “Who were we kidding? We were born to live on Earth. For whatever reason, we were born there, and it is ours. It always will be. And I intend to find a way to get back there and reclaim my home.”
“How?” Parker asked.
“It’s nothing more than a pipe dream,” replied Morris.
Taylor looked over to the three aliens stood awaiting him. The Immortals had formed around him in a standoff against them and their robots. But they all knew they could not stand against the power of what they had seen.
“You saw how they looked at Jafar,” Taylor added.
“And yet they sat by and watched as we fought and took their merry time before joining in?” asked Morris.
“I don’t trust them.”
“They were judging us, Parker. Waiting to see our response to the Krys. And Jafar here probably threw a spanner in the works. No wonder it took them time to come over. Wouldn’t you? Most of our own race don’t trust Jafar, so why would they?”
He turned to Jafar. He was starting to regain his breath but was still at only half his strength.
“They hate your kind, much like our people do. Is that a problem for you?”
Jafar shook his head.
“If they’ll fight with us, I do not care.”
“And if they don’t want to fight with us, and they want to kill and remove us from this world?” Morris asked.
“Then we’re probably fucked, Captain,” replied Taylor.
He turned and looked at the three who seemed to be waiting for him to approach them. He didn’t want to step any nearer than he already was, as he respected and feared their power.
“So here we are. Another alien race to come between us and the enemy we have fought all these years? We cannot afford another enemy. We can only hope they will either let us leave, or they join us.”
Taylor stood up and took a deep breath, realising once again he had become a politician while in the service as a fighter. He was the only one among them willing to go forward, and it was his command anyway.
“We don’t know anything about these…things.”
“No, Eli, and they probably know nothing of us. Perhaps they are as wary as us, as we are of them?” Morris asked.
Parker looked to the robots standing beside them and shook her head.
“Don’t think so.”
“Only one question remains,” Taylor said, “This fighting here today, us and them. We fought together. But were we merely allies of convenience, or are they willing to go further?”
He staggered forward, feeling the pain in his body as he told himself to put one foot in front of the other. Not one of the three aliens moved as he approached by himself.
“I am Colonel Taylor. I want my world back that those creatures took from me. All I want is to see them die and have my world back. I see you hate them just as we do. Will you fight with us?”
They looked at him for some time and then turned to each other. They seemed to communicate with their minds alone. Taylor felt his legs give out and sat down before them.
“I don’t wish to fight you. You tell me when you have an answer. Tell me if you will help us save our Earth.”