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

be their downfall. In thinking of us as a lower species, they underestimated human ingenuity and the will to survive as well as the desire to take our planet back.

And we, the militia, are not deterred by scruples. We've seen our people die firsthand. We aren't politicians; we're soldiers. We understand we can't give any mercy or show any pity to the alien citizens because it is them that will now pay the price for their corrupt politicians and corporations, just like our civilians paid the highest price imaginable.

I have no idea if Claire made it off Cenlar in time or not, and frankly, after the last stunt, she pulled, I really don't give a shit. Yes, I remember she saved my life, but she was also willing to sacrifice Colin, and that's not something I'll ever forget or forgive.

Either way, I learned from master spies; they were the ones who helped to put the plan together. Without Briggs' and Dimitrov's manipulative ways, this would not have worked. But they came up with the brilliant idea to use Claire and Parm and every other gullible alien we could think of to lay the bait.

A brilliant plan, that involved the creation of a rumor about the Phinaruhs assembling a force to attack the Gorongiaths. The imaginary fleet was supposed to assemble far away from Cenlar and its sister planets.

The entire Gorongiath Air Force left a few hours ago, leaving their planets unprotected in order to deal with the Phinaruhs once and for all. Again, arrogance is a huge mistake.

Their AF will be hours away when our forces attack their home planets and lay as much waste and destruction as we can. I didn't tell Claire what would happen; I only advised her to leave Cenlar's major cities. Like I said, I don't know if she took my advice or not. Human lives will be lost; either way, we know that. The Gorongiaths brought human women up to breed and male maniacs for their entertainment. But honestly, if I had the misfortune to be held in one of those groups, I would rather wish for a swift death than being used like that.

I remember once being asked what I would do in this situation, and I remember answering that I would do exactly what we're doing now.

Prophetic words? I don't know. I do know that from this day forward, my dreams will be haunted by the deaths of thousands, if not millions. And I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one. But it's the price we'll have to and are willing to pay for our freedom and the survival of the human race. A price that has to be paid in blood because otherwise, we, the humans, are lost. We'll do to the Gorongiaths what they did to us, maybe a little more merciful, because we won't take any prisoners.

We're also certain that neither President, American nor Russian, would have condoned this act. Neither would their advisors or whoever is left in the two remaining governments. The military might have agreed, but we never asked; we just recruited people straight from their midst. I'm sure they have an inkling something is up, but nobody said anything.

Martin, as the liaison officer, is in the dark for the most part. He knows about Secret Harbor but assumes we'll send out guerilla-like attacks, which we have, but that was only to prevent the aliens—and some humans from thinking we might have another ace up our sleeve.

Of course, Blake knows, and he should be talking to our military heads right now, making an emergency call to the President to have him clued in. Dimitrov, who is not on board the Russian ships, is doing the same thing right now in Russia. The whole plan comes down to timing. And so far, we're doing well.

Once we reach top speed, the alien triple planets are only a couple of hours away from us. I hold on to Colin and pray that our deterrent for the alien AF worked. They should be quite busy for some time. Because it wasn't just a deterrent, the Phinaruhs were clued in about the entire Gorongiaths fleet arriving soon in their neighborhood. We left it up to them on what to do or how to plan, but from what little we know about their species, I think it's fair to assume, they made their own contingency plans on how to welcome the Gorongiath fleet. There is no love lost between the two races. It's not exactly like the Russian President said, Our enemy's enemy are our friends, but having them fight each other plays wonderfully into our hands.

"Five minutes," Briggs announces, startling me.

I didn't notice how my mind drifted, time flies by sometimes. I grab hold of Colin's hand, and he squeezes mine; his eyes are crystal clear, his face set in determination. I look at Briggs, who also wears a set expression on her face. Just like everybody else on the bridge. This is going to be ugly. Nobody enjoys unleashing hell on civilians, but this is where the Gorongiaths pushed us to be, and by God, we will see this through.

My eyes move towards the huge double windows in front of us as the triple planets come into sight. Our ship, as the flagship, is the first. Briggs gives Colin a questioning glance; he nods at her, his mouth set into a grim line. I'm sure we all feel the same way, torn between feeling horrendous for going to kill so many, but also the sweet sense of vengeance. This is what the aliens did to us. I remember tiny bodies in the amusement park and at the elementary school in Bandon. I remember Ben's sister, although I never saw her. This is all on the aliens. They didn't care who they killed as long as they had enough room to plant their devilish plant and enough bodies to feed it.

There is no way to justify the death of millions of people,