Free Aliens Vs. Humans (Aliens Series Book 4) by T. Jackson King Page A

humans violated these rules!”
    Jack gave thanks he was not in the same room with the dino Arbitor. He suspected that it had permanently bad breath, due to the meat fragments he could see lying between its teeth. “You oppose us because we are not carnivores like you!”
    The giant dino lowered down, crossed its chest arms and glared at Jack and his crew. “You Humans are omnivores. We know that. Just as we know all human history as compiled by Menoma the Manager. Before he and his species lost their battle to claim your system as their Hunt territory.” It gestured dismissively. “We Arbitors accept any true predator, whether you are omnivore, carnivore or meat-loving herbivore like your BooMak partner. We accept Humans as a predator species. You have acted like a true Hunter in attacking the star systems of other Hunters so as to add them to your territory. We care not for such normal encounters. The Booleans lost the Bizzdaw system to you Humans. It is now part of your Hunt territory. But you Humans must comply with the Rules of the Great Dark. That is our judgment.”
    “And if we violate your rules?” Maureen said, her tone venomous.
    The giant dino tilted its head to one side, inspecting Jack and Maureen and his crewmates as if they were curious bugs on a plate. “Then your star system will be Isolated. As we have Isolated 14 star systems over the 3,0000 cycles of the existence of our system. Ours is a system that works. It makes a place for every spacegoing species. Our rules are simple. Comply or suffer Isolation.”
    “What if we destroy you first?” Jack said, pointing Old Roy at the dino.
    “That cannot be done,” MakMakGor said, his tone a low roar.
    “Gareth, now!”
    Jack watched a third screen image from the spysat that showed their fleet and the Arbitor ship.
    A yellow beam shot out from the Dragon .
    It impacted on the Arbitor ship.
    Rather, it struck a shimmering black ball that had englobed the Alien ship.
    “Fuck!” yelled Maureen from her holo image.
    Jack felt his heart sink. If the Higgs Disruptor beam had no effect on this shield, what would?
    “Maureen, hit it with both your antimatter and particle beams!”
    A black thread and a blue beam shot out from the Uhuru’s Battle Module.
    They too sank into the black globe that glittered with silvery stars.
    “Jack!” yelled Max. “Look! That’s gravitational lensing around that globe! But . . . it’s not the grav-pull lensing. It’s more like an Alcubierre drive shell lensing.”
    The central image of the T-rex had not changed. It still stood there, watching them. Its two red eyes blinked. “You cannot harm us. Nothing of your universe can harm us. Do you accept my judgment?”
    “How many star systems do you Arbitors control?” Jack asked hurriedly as a new idea struck him. “And where is your Hunt star? If you do not control other star systems, like the 113 Hunters known to date, then you have no right to judge any Hunter of the Great Dark!”
    A light chuffing sound came from the dino’s cavernous mouth. “Your persistence is entertaining. We Arbitors do control other star systems. We control subject peoples. We have done so for hundreds of cycles. But we are not stupid enough to give you a . . . a route map to our home star.”
    He grimaced. “You talk to us even with your shield up. How is that possible?”
    Chuffing came from the two dinos in the background. MakMakGor gestured casually with one black taloned hand. “Recall that our neutrino communications pass through another dimension in order to give every species communications not limited by the speed of light in your universe.”
    He’d known that. But it had been something to ask as he churned through options. “Denise! Shut off the audio part of my signal to that Arbitor.”
    “Done,” she said, sounding a bit breathless.
    “Minna, Ignacio and Hideyoshi, close with the rest of us to within 3,000 kilometers of the Arbitor ship. Just inside laser range. Encircle