Nick Thomas - Battle Earth V

Weller threw back the last of his beer and laid the bottle down on the bar.

“This is it for me. I have further notes to make, and we both need our rest. I will see you at 0900 hours at the cells.”

Taylor nodded in agreement and lifted his bottle in a sign of friendship. As the Major walked away, Mitch thought hard about their newfound friendship. He’d never come to trust anyone so quickly before, and that still made him suspicious, despite not having any reason to doubt Weller.

He returned to his quarters to rest out for the night. The room was silent, and it was clear Parker had not been back. As much as he’d have liked her there when he returned, he hated the fact she was being so unreasonable.

It had been so much easier during the war, he thought.

Climbing into bed alone was lonely, but it was just the tranquillity he needed to rest and recuperate. Mitch was finally feeling that his body was recovered from the brutal year it had endured.

It was 0901 and the two officers were sat at the table, as they had been the day before. Only this time, Taylor’s shorts and sandals were gone and replaced with more suitable attire. Weller read out his name, rank and others present for the records before beginning.

“Your former Lord Demiran and his kind. How did they get to their position of power?”

The two aliens looked confused, and Jafar finally spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“How did Demiran become a Lord?”

“He was born.”

“Are all Krycenaeans status dictated by birth?”

“Yes, but you must still prove yourself in that class or risk being outcast.”

“So you were both destined to be guards to a great Lord from birth?”

“They nodded.”

“And what dictated that?”

“Our people come from one island on one planet. We are more intelligent than most, faster, stronger and more agile. We have guarded the Council of Lords for thousands of years.”

Taylor sat in shock. He had never thought to ask any of what Weller was doing, but it was explaining a lot of what he had been curious to know.

“I would like to know more about your society, but we will come back to it. The Krycenaeans seemed desperate to conquer Earth at any cost. Under the command of Karadag, what was the purpose of the invasion?”

“The Great Book tells of a world so heavenly that any Krycenaean would die to live on it. Our people have searched for it for hundreds of years since our technology allowed us to do so.”

“And you believe it to be Earth?”

“I believe so. It is the most amazing place we have ever seen. Clean sweeping oceans, free from radiation and meteor showers; temperatures that you can live in without fear of death, and no predators hunting you. This is a paradise.”

Tsengal continued.

“Our Lords have gone from one system to another, destroying all in their path in an attempt to find such a place. Other races have fallen under the onslaught you faced.”

The two men’s faces went blank. It was so much information to take in; they could barely believe their ears. The room went silent for half a minute as they tried to picture what they were being told.

“My God,” Taylor finally spoke. “They’re systematically wiping out civilisations to find their perfect world.”

Weller leaned in towards Mitch and whispered.

“We had suspected something of the sort for some time, but knowledge of other races is something we had no idea of.”

He looked back to the Jafar.

“These other races you have encountered, have they been utterly destroyed?”

“That was before our existence.”

“Damn shame.”

Taylor butted in.

“The technology we have seen so far would suggest it could take hundreds or thousands of years for your ships to reach Earth, is that so?”

Weller initially turned to cut Mitch off, but he let the question stand, as he was inevitably about to reach the same one.

“For the first ships, the pioneers, yes. They left our worlds knowing that their future generations would reach their destinations. We now travel on the gateways they produced.”

“Gateways? What do you mean?” asked Taylor.

“I think he means some kind of gateway through space, folding space, black holes…”

“You believe it possible?”

“Technically, yes.”

“We cannot tell you how these work, only that a gateway was established a little over a year ago in your time, enabling the fleet we travelled with to reach Earth.”

“This space gateway, it is still there now?”

“I do not see any reason why not.”

“And you can travel through these instantly?”

“Yes, but they are built many thousands of kilometres from planets, for reasons we have never been told.”

Taylor could not believe what he was hearing, but he knew it meant that the threat of a second invasion hung over them.

“How long would it take for a fleet to go from your homeworld to reach Earth?” he asked with urgency.

“A few days.”

“My, God,” he replied. “This changes everything.”

Taylor stood up and looked to the nearest camera.

“You hear that? An enemy fleet could come through that gateway at any moment? We must destroy it!”

“Major Taylor!” Weller shouted. “You must calm yourself!”

“Calm? We were not prepared for the last war. Should we make the same mistake again, it could cost us our entire civilisation!”

“And nobody is going to let that happen. We will act upon this, and believe me, the appropriate powers will already be preparing a response, but we must not go into the next war blind.”

Taylor took a deep breath and calmed himself as he sat down once more.

“This gateway threatens us all.”

He looked to his two alien comrades.

“Tell us everything you know about it.”

“Form up!” Jones ordered.

Chandra rushed towards them at a brisk pace. They all knew that a battle was coming. She continued on down the line of the two companies until she reached Jones. He saluted as she approached. She stopped quickly and took a deep breath before balling out the news.

“As of 0700 hours I have been informed that an enemy presence remains in the Solar System; a presence that could threaten our existence just as much as this time last year. This enemy will not, and cannot be allowed to remain!”

She stepped along the line as she took another deep breath and looked at the faces of the troops who could not believe that after all they had been through, more was being asked of them.

“The enemy we face is powerful, deadly and not to be underestimated. If they remain in our Solar System, it is only for one reason, to carry out a second attempt to conquer Earth and our other colonies. I’ll be damned if I’ll let those alien bastards loom over us. We’re going to Mars and beyond to finish them for good!”

Cheers rang out along the line. She knew she had stirred just enough energy among them to dig them out of the hole they all felt they were in. Many of those who stood there had been in the war from the opening week, and they all wondered how much more their luck would hold out.

“We’re wheels up in one hour where we will meet the rest of the Battalion at L2. Grab your gear! We’ve got a war to fight!”

She nodded to Captain Jones. He jumped forward and barked his orders.

“Companies, you heard the Colonel. Fall out! Go, go, go!”

The formation of troops scattered to prepare themselves to leave their homeworld once more. Jones turned to Chandra and had to concede she was right. He never wanted to believe that the enemy remained in their Solar System, but in the back of his mind, he had always feared it.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?” he asked.