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

that ship at three spots separated by 120 degrees.” He looked up at the images of his Alliance allies. “Pack Defender Tok, put your ship Tall Tree next to Hideyoshi’s Bismarck . Mother Prime, put your ship Star Marcher next to Minna’s Wolverine . Guide Benaxis, put your ship Polar Ice beside Ignacio’s Badger . Prepare to fire your lasers, but on varying frequencies, on my command!”
    In seconds the fleet had blip jumped to within laser range of the Arbitor ship. The six ships he had called out took position at the three encircling angles. He gestured back to Denise to resume his audio over the neutrino comlink.
    The giant dino stepped forward, filling most of the screen with its giant head. White teeth, a yellow-scaled neck hood and two red eyes fixed on Jack. The carnivore mouth opened. “You Humans have passed through two of the three stages of Violation. First was denial. Second was defiance. The final stage is acceptance. Do you accept my judgment? Will you never again contact another juvenile species until the Sentry probe alerts you to compete for it with other Hunters of the Great Dark?”
    Jack let Old Roy drop to the deck. He held both gauntleted hands out in a classic surrender gesture. “We accept. If we cannot destroy your ship, and roast your carcass over a fire, we must comply with your judgment.”
    The giant Alien blinked slowly. “You will not fire on me again?”
    “Of course not.”
    The black globe with the gravitationally distorted star images disappeared. The red Arbitor ship now appeared, reflecting distant star light as normal.
    “Now!”
    Green laser beams shot inward from three angles.
    They impacted the starry black globe. Nothing happened. The shield globe had appeared before the lasers fired.
    “Shit!” he said.
    The holo of Maureen turned to him. “I prefer fuck! It is more human-expressive.”
    “It seems you have trouble accepting reality,” MakMakGor said in a growl that sounded impatient.
    Jack showed his teeth. “We humans are stubborn. And persistent. And deadly. They are characteristics that helped us conquer every eco-niche on our planet.”
    The dino shook its massive head. “All Hunter species share such cultural patterns. Otherwise they would not be hungry for new space, would not have created spaceships and would not have traveled to their most distant planet. Nor would they send colonies off to distant stars. Stage Three exists whether you like it or not.”
    Jack grinned. “I pose a challenge to you. Turn your shield on and off at random times. Let us fire our lasers at you. If you are hit, then your shield is not perfect.”
    The T-rex snorted briefly. “Your resistance is boring. But your challenge is accepted. Observe.”
    On screen, in the spysat image, the black globe that glittered with gravitationally distorted star images blinked on, off, on and off.
    Jack waved back at Denise, who knew to shut off his audio. “Captains! Fire your lasers at full strength but at varying wavelengths and duration times. Maybe a few pulses will make it through before the shield blocks them.”
    Six green rapiers struck inward from the six ships.
    On screen, the image of the Arbitor ship appeared, disappeared, appeared . . . showed a brief darkening of its hull, and disappeared.
    “Interesting,” MakMakGor said in the neutrino comlink image. “For the first time in seven hundred cycles, hostile energy beams have touched our hull.” The dino looked up from his control pedestal. Red-scaled eyelids spread wide as the creature’s red eyes showed . . . surprise? “Your wavelength variation is a tactic we have not encountered in prior Violation events.”
    Jack felt intense disappointment. It was clear that whatever sensor the Arbitor ship relied on for detecting the imminent discharge of a lightspeed weapon, it worked faster, almost, than any ship could fire. Even using computerized Auto-Track and Defend mode.
    “Enough,” he called out to his ship allies.
    The green