"What the hell part do you play in all of this?" he asked.
"There was a prisoner to interrogate," he replied dryly.
Taylor didn't hate the man. In fact, he had been remarkably civil during their time, but he still found it hard to forgive and work with him after all he had suffered during his time behind bars. That time cost him Friday's life, and that incident would forever be linked to Dupont and Weller for him.
"We seemed to have stepped past our difficulties for the greater good, Colonel. Can you not do the same?"
In danger of appearing as if he were throwing a tantrum, he righted himself and respectfully nodded. It was at least a relief they were working with him and not against him.
"All right, all this build up, let's hear what the fuck’s going on."
"Colonel, we have assembled here the greatest minds at our disposal to try and answer all the questions we have had this past month and before. There is some chance of stopping this war, if we can prove to all parties that an alien force is pulling the strings here, but we need proof. Proof is the key. I will now hand you over to Marian Rossi, the lead researcher for this project."
Rossi looked to be no older than thirty-five, surprisingly young for the position of power and responsibility she was in. Her hair was tied up and out the way for her work, and thickly applied make up barely hid the weariness in her face; from what was clearly many sleepless nights of work. Despite that, she was strikingly attractive, a fact that did not go unnoticed to Parker as Taylor got lost in her eyes.
"So what are your findings?" asked Eli.
"Quite frankly they are not developed enough, but time is not on our side. I am here to tell you what we know so far. The specimen, K1, who you know as Councillor Armand, outwardly appears and is as human as you are. Internally, K1's organs are an exact to match ours, and dental records even match, assuming the original records were not tampered with."
"So we're no further ahead with it?" asked Taylor cynically.
"Be patient, Colonel," said Dupont.
Mitch grunted for the scientist to continue.
"I cannot say whether K1 is in fact a clone or not. Neither do we yet know whether K1 serves the Krys of his own volition. However, what I can tell you is he is not one hundred percent identical to humans."
Taylor's eyes lit up.
"The retinas are quite different and are lined with a technology we believe records all they see. Additionally, a microscopic transmitting device placed inside the brain is believed to transmit these images."
"Believe?"
"Colonel, you must understand, we are trying to understand technology which is perhaps hundreds of years more advanced than our own in so little time."
He nodded in agreement and appreciation for all she was doing.
"So if he's been transmitting all this time, they know where he is, and what we're doing?"
Dupont interrupted.
"The K1 specimen was immediately quarantined upon arrival and placed within every form of barrier defence against transmission or detection we possibly have."
"As far as we know, the last images K1 could have transmitted were when he arrived here a month ago," Rossi added.
"That's a lot of maybes, Doc."
"I am sorry, Colonel, but we are doing all that we can."
"All right, so tell me more about this transmitter. Is it proof of alien tech and can it be easily identified?"
"Yes, it is not of Earth manufacture. An x-ray can identify this chip, assuming all Krys agents have them."
"And that's a big assumption," added Parker.
"We have to go with what we know, and what we have to work with," said Dupont.
"Anything else?" asked Taylor. "Anything else different about them? Are they stronger than us, see further? Hear better?"
Rossi shook her head. "They appear human in all other attributes."
"But you still can't tell if they're grown in a test tube or what?"
Dupont interrupted once again.
"Councillor Armand was a civil servant before the war, and like many who survived the war in Europe, we have little documentation showing where they were over the last few years. So yes, a man that looked like him existed; whether it is the same man, remains to be seen."
Taylor looked to his former interrogator who was waiting patiently.
"How far have you got with Armand?" Taylor asked him.
"About as far as I got with you."
"Then maybe you should consider a change of career."
"Silva could not help but laugh a little, but he tried to hide it.
"You must have got something out of him?" insisted Taylor.
Weller shook his head. "He's denying any knowledge of Krys agents and claims to be nothing more than his official title."
"Well, it's not like he's gonna give it up easily, is it?"
"My hands are tied, Colonel. There are hundreds of ways to interrogate a prisoner, but just as when I worked with you, our laws restrict me. There is little I can do but talk."
"Talk? You call talking interrogation? You're trying to find out secrets which could be vital to the survival of the human race."
Taylor turned to Dupont who shrugged in response.
"You're okay with this? Abide by every human rights law there is while this bastard sits pretty and gives us nothing?"
"And what would you have said if we broke those rules when you were behind bars?"
"I'd have fought you every step of the way, Weller, and I doubt you'd still be here today. But I don't give a goddamn what might, should, or could have been done. I care about this moment, right now."
"Need I remind you we have built our laws over thousands of years, and while they may not be perfect, it remains necessary to keep them intact to keep our humanity," said Rossi.
Taylor shook his head in disbelief.
"Great, Doctor, good for you. You hang on to those socialist ideals, and go and live in your fairy tale world where everything is just fucking amazing, and aliens don't come and try and fuck your shit up."
It silenced the room for a moment. Rossi's face turned to surprise and then disgust.
"You're a pig, Colonel," she replied defiantly.
"All right, enough!" Dupont shouted.
The room was silenced as he thought on the matter, and they looked to him for the way forward. He was looking down at the projection of Armand's brain still and almost in a daydream, thinking it over in his head until he finally looked up at them all.
"All I care about is ending this war in the shortest time possible, and with the fewest casualties on both sides. Well, human casualties at least. Weller, whatever you are doing isn't working. It's time for a new approach."
"I must protest..." he began.
"Noted, but I'm not interested," replied Dupont.
The General turned to Jafar who had been standing back from the table behind Taylor and had remained silent throughout.
"Do you know anything at all about these Krys agents, or any cloning or reprogramming your people ever did?"
Jafar shook his head and simply replied, "Nothing."
"Well, you can still be useful. Right now, I'm organizing a meet with UEN representatives to try and get them to understand what is going on here, but it isn't going to be easy. We need all the evidence we can get."
"And what if the representatives we meet with are in fact more Krys agents?" asked Taylor.
"That's just a chance we'll have to take. I want info out of Armand, and you are going to get it, you and your alien friend here. You've got until whenever it takes me to organise this meet, probably a few hours, a day at most."
"And you are authorising me to do what, Sir?"
"Anything you have to. We need Armand alive. Besides that, use your own discretion."
"We cannot sink to this level of barbarism," protested Rossi.