Read Online War of Alien Aggression 5 Cozen's War by A.D. Bloom - Free Book Online Page A

what Harry wanted out of the war. This is why he started it. This is what he’s been gunning for. A job. For us. For all of us. For the species ... He'd like us to be the new enforcers, the new soldiers of a galactic Imperium. They need a replacement species. Or they will...after we kill all the Squidies." She raised her glass to him. "You’re going to be there for the negotiation that will undoubtedly follow our victory. I’m telling you all this because I don’t want dear Harry to be the only one that knows what’s really happening. Perhaps, Mr. Devlin, you might agree that centuries of unbroken war as a soldier or a slave species may not be the optimal future for humanity. It seems I’m not going to be in a position to steer us away from that when the time comes, but if you succeed in your mission and survive, then you might just be."  
    Ram said, " My mission is to make sure the crew of the Boomslang follow their orders and kill 70 billion Squidies."  
    " That’s my fault, I’m afraid. I expressed a certain disdain for the idea of exterminating an entire species without giving them a chance to surrender. It’s certainly not cricket, but I won’t bore you with a debate. I insisted that before we drop all the bombs, we drop one, just to show them we had a knife to their throats. After that, we’d give them one chance. If they didn’t take it, then so be it."  
    Ram said, "I don't understand. You’re bloodier-minded than a Borgia."  
    " Thank you, Mr. Devlin. That’s quite a distinction. Why would I give the Squidies one chance to surrender before exterminating them? Because this is our coming out party. This is Humanity’s introduction to the other species that travel the stars. Will they know us as murderers, Mr. Devlin? Will they know us as assassins that should be feared and hated? Will they understand us to be the kind of species who will exterminate another without mercy? That is how they will know us if this mission should go exactly as Harry plans."  
    " You got to the crew of the Boomslang, didn’t you," he said. "You got to them somehow. That's why Cozen sent me, too."  
    " Actually, no," she said. "They’re really quite an incorruptible crew. I tried to turn them my way and failed. Harry never actually caught me, but he suspects. He erroneously decided months ago that I succeeded based mostly on a single, bad guess."  
    " That’s when he told me I was going along," Ram said.  
    " That’s right. To make sure it all goes off Harry’s way...to make sure we drop those bombs without even a warning peep and exterminate 70 billion Squidies in one fell swoop. To make sure we demonstrate for any other species watching just what sort of a species Humanity is and precisely what we’re capable of."  
    Ram tried to wrap his head around it. He knew there would be more than the Squidies waiting for Humanity out there. He knew that. The universe was too big to be a lonely place, but he’d never imagined the Squidies were part of anyone's Imperium.
    Goddamn her and Cozen both, he thought. Damn them and their secrets. "What is the name of the empire that subjugated the Squidies? How many other species do they dominate? I need you to tell me everything before I go."
    " You know enough to make the right choice when the time comes."  
    " Do you expect me to compromise this mission for your...agenda."  
    " It’s not my agenda. I’ll be dead by the time all this happens. Frankly, I don’t know what you’ll do. But I know you’re a good man. It’s time for you to go down to the bay and the Boomslang . It’s time to end the war, now, so this will have to be our final goodbye, I think." He nodded. "If the Squidies are right, if there’s an afterlife, do you think we’ll be all be friends there?"  
    Ram didn’t have a real answer for her, but he nodded once more anyway. Before he turned and made for the hatch and the launch bay, she raised that crystal of scotch and melting ice in her hand and