The war with the aliens is over. It's time to get back to normal—at least that's what everyone keeps telling us. Time to forget the things we saw up there, and all the people who died down here. Let's all sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, and take pictures with Santa, and act like the past three years never happened.

I'm the only one who can see that the threat isn't gone. That we didn't win the war—we surrendered. Which means I'm the only one willing to do anything about it.

And I won't let anyone stop me. Not even myself.

This short story is 8200 words long. It is also available in Digital Soul, a science fiction short story collection.