Armand sat back against the wall again, still in a lot of pain, breathing hard, and not daring to speak another word he knew would lead to more pain.
"So, I'm gonna ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them to the best of your knowledge. If you are lying, or telling half-truths, or if I even think you are bullshitting me, you know I will not hesitate to make you suffer for it. Death would be painless, but that is not what you'll get. At least not anytime soon."
He waited for an answer, but none came. He took it as a sign of acceptance.
"How many Krys agents are operating on Earth?"
He shook his head.
"I really don't know."
"So you may not know totals, I get it. But what sort of ballpark figure are we talking, a few dozen, few hundred, thousands?"
His eyes lit up at the last word.
"Thousands? How many thousands?"
"I don't know for certain, but enough are infiltrated in every level of your society that is needed to fuel this war."
"And what do you think will happen when we show UEN leaders this video of you confessing it?"
"Nothing. It's too late for you, Colonel. Years too late for you to stop this."
He knew he wasn't getting anywhere, so he moved on.
"We found a chip in your head and some modifications to your retinas, are these features shared with all Krys agents?"
"I don't know."
Taylor lifted his Assegai over the man's other kneecap, but he quickly screamed out.
"I really don't know!"
Taylor relaxed.
"Do you know every item of your anatomy?" asked Armand.
Taylor knew he could be lying, but he also knew any answer on the subject could be wrong, whether he believed he was telling the truth or not.
The door to the cell suddenly prised open, and both turned sharply to see why. Weller stepped through into the room, and Armand relaxed back in relief.
"What is it?" asked Taylor.
"It's sterling work, Colonel," he replied. "If a little blood was all it took, you may well be able to rewrite the textbooks yet, just don't expect to win any peace prizes."
"Peace prize? Hell the only peace prize I want is the head of the last alien who would dare step foot on this planet."
"I can take it from here, Colonel," he replied.
"Now that I've done the hard work?"
"Now that you've done what I'm not allowed to. Now please leave us, Colonel. I have a whole host of questions I need answers to."
Taylor was actually relieved to be able to end it there. It wasn't work he liked at all. He got up and stepped up closer to Armand, who cringed at the sight of the marine looming over him with the baton that had dealt him so much pain.
"I'm heading out, but I won't be far away. I ain't going anywhere. You will answer all of Weller's questions no matter what, or I will return, and you don't want me to have to come back. Got it?"
He nodded in agreement, still sheltering his head and expecting to be struck. But Taylor would not. He didn't hurt the man for fun and through sadistic nature. He sheathed the Assegai and walked out of the cell.
"He gave in easy," said Grey.
"Yeah, either he really is as weak as he looks, or he knows the info he has will do us no good anymore."
"We can hope."
Taylor grunted as they stepped out from the room to find Parker and Acosta waiting for him.
"Get what you wanted?" Eli asked him.
"I think I got through, but God knows if anything we get from him will be of any use."
"So what now?"
"Follow me, Acosta with me."
The young Private looked fearful as he stepped up beside the Colonel and they got up to speed.
"That idea you had for taking down drones, it's time to share it with someone who can make it a reality."
"But...Sir...it was just an idea..."
"Every piece of tech we got sprung from an idea. I'm not asking you to design and build it, just share your concept, and we'll see what we can get done."
"But it might not work, Sir. It might be a piece of shit...sorry, Sir, junk, piece of junk."
"Yeah, well you let the experts be the judge of that. We were lucky we didn't lose a lot more last time we faced those things. In open ground or supressed by armour and artillery, they could have made mincemeat of us. We cannot afford, and I will not accept those losses. You came up with something that might save lives. Let's see where it goes."
The Private looked shocked and scared at the idea as he was led back to the research room where they’d had their briefing. He was taken to Reiter, who was busy working on a piece of electronics which none of them understood or recognised. As they approached, he turned and smiled.
"Good to see you are still alive," he said to Taylor, looking at the battle damage of his armour.
"Thanks in no small part to your equipment."
"What can I do for you?"
"The UEN attacked us with drones. They came as a swarm with mostly short-range weaponry. They're light, fast, and agile, but lack any kind of protection. We need a simple way to knock them out of the sky, and this young marine here thinks he has a solution. I'll leave him with you and see how you do."
Acosta's pulse seemed to stop, and he looked even more fearfully at Taylor.
"Sir..."
"You've got nothing to worry about. We improvise and overcome. It is what I expect of every man and woman under my command. You're the kind of new blood I need, and this is the kind initiative I want to see more of. Good luck with it."
He turned and left, leaving the Private speechless.
"Poor lad, he'll never have a clever idea again," said Grey.
Taylor laughed.
"So we have this evidence of a Krys agent and his recorded testimony, now what?"
"Dupont is arranging his meeting with UEN representatives. We just have to hope they're willing to listen."
"And what about the thousands of agents that may be out there?"
Taylor sighed at the very thought.
"I guess we just have to hope he's exaggerating."
But deep down he knew it was almost certainly true. He'd seen the incubation chambers himself, and he'd heard Tsengal's report of the vast quantities Chandra had stumbled upon.
"However many there may be among us, there are still plenty of good people involved in this; every bastard who fought and survived the last war for a start. We just have to get through to them."
"So what now?"
"I haven't sat in a comfortable chair in weeks, and I intend to find one. Followed by something to eat and a few hours of sleep wouldn't go amiss. Whatever happens with this Armand situation, you can be guaranteed we'll be needed before long."
"Always us, isn't it?" asked Parker from behind them.
"Yep," he replied. "That's why we were put on this earth."
They got to the door they had entered the facility from, and Taylor took note of the subtle x-ray frame of the corridor just as Dupont had said.
"Hell of an idea that. If any Krys human can be identified that way, we may have hope yet."
At the doorway was a line of troops from the base being ushered in through the scanners one at a time, and clearly oblivious as to the reason why. They were being led into briefing rooms, most likely the explanation they were given as to being there.
Taylor stepped out into the warm light of day and saw a sight he could not have expected, but always hoped for. Captain Charlie Jones stood before them in fatigues and armour, ready to go.
"Well, well. I guess the farm life isn't for you, after all, Charlie."
"Got that right," he replied.