The Rain: The End by Marietta Standlee (good summer reads TXT) 📕

came before, but this time the Presidents are in the room that looked like a study.

"Sorry about the late hour." McFarland apologizes. "But when Lee told me about your conversation in the bathroom, I wanted to see you right away."

Both men lounge on voluptuous looking couches, glasses filled with amber liquids in hand. Dimitrov offers us each a drink before discreetly excusing himself.

Fedorov invites us to sit, and we do, knowing this will take a while. I sip on my drink, the liquid burns my esophagus as it goes down, but not necessarily in a bad way; it warms me and takes some of the edge off I feel around these powerful leaders.

"You told my wife Ka cannot be trusted?" Fedorov prompts. More of a statement than a question.

I confirm, "Yes, he tried to have us killed. Had his sister murdered."

"Why would he do that? He told us the Council actually found in our favor, thanks to you." He lifts the glass at me, and a surge of hope goes through me; this is the first I hear about the tribunal's outcome.

"What did the Council decide?" Colin asks nonchalantly, but I can tell by the gleam in his eyes that he's just as thirsty for the news as I am.

McFarland puts his empty glass down on the antique looking table. "They found in our favor, thanks to you. The IFC is not to acquire any more land, but they'll keep what they have taken so far."

"They'll keep encroaching. Maybe slowly but they won't be satisfied with what they have." Colin predicts.

Fedorov nods, "That's why a new committee is to be assembled, the Geographical Ethics Committee, GEC for short. It's being assembled as we speak with international members, who will map all the fields carefully, they'll check those once a month and are to report to the Council if any changes occur whatsoever."

I take another sip and think, wow, how fast politicians can assemble committees is astonishing, but I take this as a win for now.

"What else." I want to know, feeling braver after the—scotch? I think.

"They're not allowed to send any more rain or dinosaurs, neither are they allowed to abduct humans, maniac or not. The IFC is ordered to return any human to us and destroy all dinosaurs or dinosaur eggs they might still have."

"Sounds too good to be true," Colin adds apprehensively.

"Exactly," McFarland adds simply, earning himself a sharp glance from his co-council.

"It's not that bad," Fedorov says, and my stomach turns slightly. Here it comes, I think.

McFarland proves me right when he explains, "We're to work together with the Gorongiaths. We are to cross-train and help them in their fight against the Phinaruh."

"The... excuse me... what?" I ask.

"Cross-train?" Colin says simultaneously.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a choice," Fedorov explains, rising and moving towards a chest of drawers by the wall. He pulls out a crystal bottle with more amber liquid inside, looking questioning at everybody, before filling their glasses. I'm just glad it's not the proverbial vodka. I hate vodka.

McFarland shakes his head, "No, we don't."

"Have to play ball with them," Fedorov adds while emptying his glass in one huge swallow.

"What does this all mean?" I inquire.

"From what I understand," McFarland explains, "The Gorongiaths are at war with another race, the Phinaruhs—have been for decades. Inspired by our fighting techniques, they offered to cross-train with us, and recruit us to fight with them, side by side."

"What's in it for us?" I ask dryly, putting my still half-full glass down, before leaning back into the soft sofa.

"Besides peace with the Gorongiaths?" The Russian President wonders out loud darkly.

McFarland rolls the glass in between his fingers, looks thoughtfully at the liquid. "No, Fedorov is right; it's not that bad. We'll learn from them too. We have pilots; they have spaceships we know nothing about. Our fighting men and women will learn from them; this is actually an excellent opportunity for us."

"And then we'll fight back," Colin adds with a grin.

McFarland returns the grin, sardonically, "Then we'll fight back."

"In the meantime, we'll learn as much as we can," Fedorov adds, his eyes ablaze with as much hunger for revenge as we crave. "A few sayings come to mind. The enemy of my enemy..."

"Is my friend." Colin finishes, and for a second, I think he and Fedorov will actually fist-bump.

"Yes, my American friend. And the other one is, keep your friends close...." Fedorov trails off, waiting for somebody else to finish the saying.

"Keep your enemies closer." McFarland finishes this time.

"Steady drop will hollow the rock," I add and gain some surprised looks.

"Yes, and that," Fedorov praises, smiling. "Alright, we told you our news, now tell us about Ka."

So, we do, we tell them about the circus show Ka staged during the tribunal, and I add, "Also the alien President seemed to know Ka, seemed to be almost in awe of him. She called him Kamberlite, which is not the name he gave me, not even close; it sounds more like a title."

"He refused to let us take Claire or any of the other women back home, not even the maniac woman he healed," Colin adds.

"You asked the women?" McFarland clarifies.

"Claire, we only saw her. And yes, I asked her." I answer truthfully. "She has a half-breed daughter, and she thought the aliens would accept her more than the humans would."

"And why would they do that?" McFarland wants to know. "You'd think she would encounter the same problems in both places."

I remember suddenly and snap my fingers, "Before we boarded the ship, Vren confided their species has become forty percent infertile."

Fedorov lifts his glass in a toast. "That would do it."

"Also, Vren told us before she died not to trust Ka," Colin adds.

I remember one more thing, "When we were in Germany, we met a group who mentioned they witnessed aliens taking all the maniacs onto their ships. Does that have anything to do with the peace treaty?"

McFarland and Fedorov exchange a questioning glance with one another before shaking their heads. "Nothing was mentioned."

"Do you