“You have thirty seconds to get back aboard your ship, and get out of here before I have you arrested,” the Major replied for him.
Schulz dipped his head in shame. Jones could see he was disillusioned and did not know how to respond to his predicament. Jones had to keep pressing him.
“General, Sir. Will you let this go on, the butchering of the human race? Will you continue to be controlled by the enemy?”
He knew he was pushing his luck now, but he refused to give up.
“Twenty seconds,” the Major continued.
“You know this is not the way. Fighting alongside the Krys and letting them invade and conquer our planet. You have seen what they are capable of.”
“Ten seconds, Captain.”
The Major looked around and waved his hands to usher the troops in and to raise their weapons, which they did reluctantly.
“You have five seconds, Captain.”
Jones could see he wanted nothing more for them to twitch or make a single inclination of resistance.
“Three, two…”
“Stand down!” Schulz suddenly yelled.
The Major was stunned and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Sir, these are enemy combatants. They probably mean to assassinate you and inform the enemy of vital base information.”
“Shut up!” he bellowed.
The General seemed to stand a little taller and a regal presence returned to his posture.
“We cannot help these men!” argued the Major, “They should be killed where they stand!” he screamed.
With that, the General pulled out his sidearm and fired a single shot into the man’s head that killed him instantly. His body slumped to the floor, and despite the shock of seeing it, not one of the soldiers reacted. He turned around and walked along the line of his own people.
“That man was a spy, an alien agent. We know they’re among us. We all have for a long time. It’s time we stood up to them and did what’s right. Does anyone have a problem with that?”
They shook their heads. He looked to the other officer who had arrived with him, a younger man who looked most shocked by what he had witnessed.
“Lieutenant, find this ship that took Captain Jones’ wife. Find out who took her, when they arrived here, and where she is now.”
The man nodded uneasily.
“Now!”
The officer snapped into action, rushing back into the vehicle to sit at a console and get to work.
"I thought we were doing the right thing!" Schulz said quietly, "I thought we were doing the best thing for all of us. But the more time goes by, the more the Krys reveal their hand, and I am losing hope for us all."
"It's not too late."
"For what?"
"Join us. What's done is done, but you can put a line in the sand now and bring an end to it."
"Look around you, Captain. This war is soon to be over, what more can I do?"
"It will be over if those of us who should be fighting for humanity give up."
"And what are you doing here? A war is raging out there, and you aren't fighting it."
Jones nodded; he knew it was true.
"I admit this is a selfish act, but you cannot say I have not given it my all. When I get her back, I'll be taking the fight right back to the enemy any way I can."
"And we are not the enemy?"
"You shouldn't be. You can choose not to be."
Schulz thought on it for a moment. Clearly it was something that had been plaguing his mind for some time. The Lieutenant in the vehicle rushed back to the General and showed him details on a Mappad device. Schulz looked pained even as he looked over the information.
"What is it?" insisted Jones.
"Your wife was here, certainly. But no longer."
He took a deep breath.
"Well, where is she?" Jones demanded.
Schulz hesitated for a moment, not that he didn't want to say it, only that he knew it wasn't the answer Jones wanted.
"She's been taken to the Fatihi, Lord Erdogan's personal ship."
"His flag ship?" Jones asked in surprise.
He remembered seeing the vast ship when it first jumped into the system while they fought to disarm the defence grid.
"Why?"
Schulz shrugged. "I have no idea, and I am sorry."
Jones shook his head. "You are on the side of evil here, Sir. There is still time to come back from it, but I pray you do not leave it too late."
The Captain turned and left without another word. He climbed aboard, and nobody said a word until the engines were running and they were lifting off the ground.
"What are you gonna do?"
"Right now, Evans, there’s nothing we can do. We get back to Taylor. It looks like our missions just became intertwined."
* * *
Taylor sat in a room with almost a hundred officers. He knew this was it, the final briefing on what they were to undertake. He couldn't believe it had come so soon, and he wondered if any of the others had any inkling as to what was being proposed. The room was quiet as they all waited for Dupont to address them. He was the only general who had held his rank since the previous war, and that made most treat him like the grand leader he was. Taylor had managed to clip two hours sleep in before the gathering of officers, and he felt a new man for it.
Dupont began talking and did not stop for fifteen minutes. In that time, he had explained all he had told Taylor previously, as well as some more filler information. None of it provided anything useful to him. Most of the officers were stunned by what he had to say, but he could also see relief in many faces at the realisation they may both survive and get away from the relentless struggle simultaneously. Finally he asked, "Any Questions?"
"How quickly can we get people aboard these barges?" came the first.
"It is already underway, has been for some time. As well as being used as city block structures, the barges have also been utilised as refugee centres. Those nations I am presently in contact with have on average eighty-five percent capacity."
"So it is already decided who will go?" asked another.
"This isn't a lottery," replied Dupont, "Every soul who is aboard one of these barges when they lift off, as well as any other humans who can get aboard a space bound vessel, will be coming with us. I don't like it, and I don't expect any of you to either. But we have to face up to what is before us. We save as many as we can. Additionally, priority will be given to serving military personnel over civilians. We need every fighter we can possibly get, if we expect to have even the remotest chance of survival."
"And this is your plan, your decision?"
Dupont shook his head. "This was a joint international emergency measure established under the guidance of key military officials and world leaders."
"But you were involved in setting it up?"
"Yes, but let me just say now. I do not have time for a hundred questions. Time is certainly not on our side. This is our plan. If you do not like it, stay on Earth, and I wish you every luck. The exact structure of this operation and your orders is being uploaded to your Mappads as we speak, Operation Angel, the largest exodus of the human race in our history. The first vessels lift off in three hours, as you will see on your Mappads. That is all the time you have. Colonel Taylor and Major Moye, will you please come forward? The rest of you are dismissed!"
The room quickly emptied as the officers studied their Mappads. As they left, Taylor approached the General. He had never heard of Major Moye, but he could see a tall black French officer approaching in parallel with him.
"Take a seat," said Dupont.
"The two of you have been selected for the most important of operations, one which all else depends on."
Great, no pressure, Taylor thought.