The Rain
The End
Marietta Standlee
Copyright © 2019 Marietta Standlee
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9798710271445
Cover design by: Art Painter
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to my unwavering husband Bruce. I love yuou honey!
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Part 9
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Part 10
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Part 11
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Books By This Author
Part 8
Lost
Chapter 1
Colin and I enter the alien spaceship that will take us home. His arm is lazily slung around me, and I'm snuggled into his chest, dead tired. The tribunal was exhausting on an entirely different level. Physical exhaustion I'm used to, but the tribunal was mentally draining. My mind spins from everything that happened. Words turn inside my head, trying to make sense of the latest information we received.
Vren leads us towards the bridge where she gets busy with the preflight checkup. Three aliens I've never seen before, stand by stations, staring at screens. I'm not sure what their jobs are, and I'm too exhausted to care, but every so often, I feel a glance from one or the other directed at us, even though they are trying to be surreptitious about it. Which I get. We're just as alien to them as they are to us.
Colin gently nudges me towards a chair by an empty station, positioning himself so I can lean against him, while staying alert to our surroundings. A deep sigh leaves my chest, as I'm finally able to rest my eyes.
"I'm proud of you, Viv. You were formidable." He whispers to me.
As always, his words of praise spread a warm glow through me, I'm too tired though to answer. The moment I close my eyes, I see colored dots behind my lids, feel the ship lift, just before my mind goes heavenly blank.
I can't say how much time has passed or what wakes me up, maybe the voices, I'm not sure, but when I open my eyes, Earth's familiar outline comes into view through the huge panorama windows. We're passing through the atmosphere, we're almost home, I smile happily.
The fog in my mind begins to clear and things take on form around me, the first thing I notice is that Colin seems stiffer, his body is tense, I become aware of Vren's absence, which is odd, she is the commanding officer, and always on the bridge. A door opens, expecting to see her return, I'm disappointed when it's one of the other aliens who enters. He gives an imperceptible nod to the two by the instrument panel.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but something is off. My intuition sets the fine hairs on my arms up and I've learned to listen to it. I keep my head down and observe the odd behavior of the three aliens through lowered lashes. When the returned Gorongiath reaches his comrades, I hear their alien chatter, and it takes me a moment to realize what is different. They don't have their little translators on.
One look at Colin confirms he noticed it too. Imperceptibly he nods his chin at me, his eyes warn me to stay quiet. Slowly I stand up.
The pilot keeps course towards Earth, but as the continents take shape, I realize we're not headed for the US. Recalling my more than lacking geography knowledge, I conclude we're headed for Europe. Even I can distinguish the famous boot's outline making up Italy. We're not even close to where we're supposed to be, and the ship is still descending.
Two of the aliens talk to each other, in low hissing voices. Their language is so different from ours, I'm unable to decipher anything. But listening to it now, without the usually ever-present translator to mask the sounds, I suddenly realize why it's so familiar, it's similar to the sound the maniacs make.
While talking to themselves, one or the other lifts his head, occasionally looking at Colin or me. Something is up.
And whatever it is, it can't be good. But if they think we'll go quietly, they better think twice. Colin and I are the psychos, after all. We shoot first and ask no questions later. Which reminds me of another predicament, it sears through my body like a hot lightning bolt. We left our weapons in our rooms. All I have is my little spear, hidden inside my hair. The small thing is handy, but it's not a weapon.
As if reading my mind, Colin moves closer to me, hiding his arm between us, shaking it, before tugging something into my hand. A knife.
I knew he smuggled a weapon or two. I suppress a grin, and stare questioning at him, asking silently: What about you? Do you have more weapons?
Our eyes meet, his face is serious as he nods towards the guy on the right, my target. Again, my eyes ask, do you have any weapons? He smiles arrogantly and shrugs surreptitiously, flexing his muscles underneath his black shirt. I roll my eyes. Whatever.
He pushes three fingers into my hand, I get it. Count of three.
One, I step away from Colin.
Two—two steps bring me right next to the alien Colin indicated—the alien looks up, a question in his eyes.
Three.
I push the knife into his throat. Accompanied by a gurgling sound green blood bursts out. He goes
