Aliens Vs. Humans (Aliens Series Book 4) (14 page)

Hilok gripped the jeweled strap that ran across his chest. “That is a matter on which the Arbitor has made a judgment. You Humans have agreed to accept his judgment. You may do as you wish within your home system and among your subject peoples.” The wolf-giraffe scanned past Jack to the captains gathered behind him, Nikola, Blodwen and Maureen. “Do your other Humans wish to Trade with members of the Northern Pack?”

Jack held up one hand. “Before my allies pursue Trade, one more question. Is there any data on the home system of the Arbitors? And what species originated the Hunters system some 3,000 cycles ago?”

Nalik touched her jeweled knob. On the holo of the Orion Arm there blinked a solo star. It lay at the upper end of the arm, near where the arm’s stars faded in the Great Dark that lay between Carina-Sagittarius and Perseus arms. “The Hunter system was begun by the Halicene Hunters. Their star is 5,231 light years distant from Sol. They sent colony ships out to thirty other stars occupied by subject peoples. They still dominate that part of the Orion Arm.” She paused, then gestured to the holo of the Isolated system. “No one knows the location of the Arbitor home star. What is known is that there are at least 50 Arbitor ships roaming the spaces of this arm at any one time. We know this based on Trade data about Hunter-to-Hunter conflicts that have drawn an Arbitor response. You have already seen an Arbitor ship. And the bioforms of the Arbitors. They are fearful predators. No Hunter of the Great Dark wishes to anger them. It is surprising your attack on their ship did not result in the destruction of the attacking ships. I look forward to reviewing the vidcrystal record of your encounter with the Arbitor.”

“May it be a valuable addition to your Trade records,” Jack said. He pulled out a datadisk from his fanny pack and laid it beside the water pitcher. “Pack Leader Hilok of the Northern Pack, on that disk is the design structure and equations for our Magpulse Bomb. Please accept it as payment for the information shared by your daughter Nalik. And in payment for any discomfort we may have caused.”

Hilok grabbed the disk faster than Jack’s eyes could follow. It went into a pouch hanging from a tool loop on a flank strap. The Nasen whinnied low, a sound of amusement. “Your datadisk is a welcome Trade. Perhaps it is time for my son Sator to negotiate with your people for the five space combat games you mentioned in our last neutrino talk?”

Jack caught Blodwen’s attention. “My ship Sociologist will be happy to Trade these games with your Sator. He already knows the value our females place on precious jewels!”

Nikola laughed softly. Maureen, after a pause, gave a dry chuckle. Jack looked back, catching the attention of his fellow captains. “Hideyoshi, Ignacio, Minna, everyone, feel free to visit with any Nasen in this room. Good luck with your Trades! And may someone find some great booze!” He turned back to Hilok. “Pack Leader, on our flight down to your compound we noticed your plaza that lies at the edge of the gorge cut by your great river. My mate and I relish the opportunity to roam through the trees, plants and lifeforms of a new biome. Will you and your family take us down to this plaza? Perhaps each family can then partake of a meal as we listen to the roar of your great gorge.”

“Yes!” Hilok snorted loudly. He rose effortlessly to his feet, his long legs curving like a bow. “Follow. There is much to enjoy in our Clan compound. And perhaps your mother-to-be will share cub news with my mate Vanix.”

Jack, Nikola, Maureen and Blodwen all stood up. He felt relief that their encounter with the Nasen had gone so well. “Lead us to your plaza, leader of the Northern Pack. My Pack is now allied with your Pack.”

Loud snorts and grunts from behind told Jack he had just said the right thing.

Nikola winked at him. “For a male, you sometimes have good instincts!”

Jack had learned long ago to never debate a half-compliment given him by a female. Instead, he followed after their hosts, wondering at how the ferociousness of the Nasen co-existed with the natural beauty of their world Hunt Forever. It gave him much food for thought. Which did not feed his stomach.

“Hilok, do you Nasen have a stimulating drink? Something like the beer we humans make?”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Forty AU north of Zeta Serpentis, the
Uhuru
and the other ships of the fleet gathered in preparation for the trip across 110 light years to the Megurk system. They had just exited their grav-pull drives, rejoining normal space-time, something Jack had heard Nikola refer to as Riemannian manifold space. A term that had something to do with Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. Before his head could start to ache he inventoried the ship IDs as shown on the front screen. Its true-light image showed the black velvet of deep space with the white starry arm of the Milky Way low and to one side. Silvery metal sparkles were the fleet ships. A side split screen image showed Elaine’s Sensor panel ship IDs.

He tagged Hideyoshi’s heavy cruiser
Bismarck
. Next to it was Gareth’s ship
Dragon
. Clustered nearby were Ignacio’s
Badger
, Kasun’s
Leopard
, Aashman’s
Mongoose
, Júlia’s
Caiman
, Akemi’s
Orca
and Minna’s
Wolverine
. Plus the
Uhuru
. That made up the seven ships of his original Belter fleet. They were all ready to head out. But the meeting with the Nasen had brought forth an idea that needed tending to. Looking up at the strip of captain faces, he caught the eyes of Hideyoshi.

“Admiral, I recall that besides carrying ten extra thermonuke torps, your
Bismarck’s
Mech Shop also contains two backup Alcubierre drive pedestals. In case of need. Correct?”

The man lifted thin black eyebrows. “We do. The ship does. Why?”

Jack sat back in his Tech station seat and folded his hands together. He gave the man a smile. “Cause I need a ship with Alcubierre stardrive that is disposable. For my plan to assault the Isolation Globe with a ship traveling in Alcubierre mode. To test the globe’s ability to keep out such ships.” He looked aside to Maureen, who was absorbed with a combat simulation holo that flickered above her Combat station panel. “We can test the normal space exclusion by firing a torp against the globe perimeter. But I cannot spare a ship with people in it to test the Alcubierre exclusion. So. If you will ship over one of your backup Alcubierre pedestals, my good Archibald and Max will have two weeks to fit it to our Lander. Which can be remotely controlled to go into Alcubierre and head for the Isolation Globe that surrounds this Megurk system.”

“Interesting concept,” the older Asian said, his tone musing. He glanced aside. “Ensign O’Donnell, see to it that our Mech Shop loads an Alcubierre pedestal onto our Lander.” The ruler of the largest ship in Jack’s fleet faced him. “The
Rudyard Kipling
will rendezvous with your Lander hold airlock in ten minutes. You will handle the offloading? Or do I need to send some Marines to assist?”

Jack shook his head. “Not needed. I’m sure Archibald and my sister Cassie can unload the device from your Lander and move it to our Mech Shop. They’re not doing anything important right now.”

A chuckle and a harrumph sounded from behind him. Knowing who had chuckled, he gave a Belter finger-talk gesture over his shoulder, knowing Cassie would enjoy the concept. Hideyoshi showed a sudden smile. Perhaps the man had learned Belter finger-talk during his decades of space combat and system patrolling.

“Then it will be done. Is being done now.” The man crossed arms over the Mars red of his uniform, resting them on his modest belly. “Can the
Bismarck
assist you further?”

They had ten minutes to pass before they went super-light. “Yes. Can you spare me some of that Nasen booze you Traded for? When my crew and I got back to our Lander I heard you had acquired several barrels of it. Is it beer? Gin? Bourbon?
Saki
? Some other—”

“Delightful it is,” Hideyoshi interrupted with a half-smile. “I gained six barrels of what the Nasen call
Sharp Roar
. What will you Trade me for one of my barrels?”

Damn
. “Uh, how about one of the yellow diamonds I got on our last star trip?”

“Done!” The normally phlegmatic admiral seemed greatly amused by Jack’s eagerness for a new booze to enjoy.

“Jack,” called Elaine, “the
Kipling
just docked to our Lander airlock.”

Behind him he heard the sounds of Archibald and Cassie unlocking their restraint straps and heading for the airlock. He gave a mock salute to his benefactor. “Admiral Hideyoshi Minamoto, I will pay you for your generosity upon our arrival at the Megurk system.”

The man gave him a sardonic smile. “That works. Since we will have to wait until then for me to send you the barrel of
Sharp Roar
that you so desire!”

Double damn
. The man was right. Unless he were to ask for a second trip by the
Kipling
. Which would be excessive. Anyway, their Refectory cooler was well-stocked with Europa Light Ale, Tuborg, Heineken, Sapporo, Tsingtao, Suntory and Asahi Super Dry. Along with plenty of Johnny Walker Black Label scotch in his roomsuite. And only Nikola had the access code to their rooms. “Very true. Guess I will survive the next two weeks drinking what we have on board. But thank you for the Alcubierre drive pedestal.”

“
Ichi ban
,” Hideyoshi said, knowing that was the limit of Jack’s knowledge of conversational Japanese. The man looked down at his NavTrack panel. “Ah. The
Kipling
has returned. The
Bismarck
can depart upon the activation signal from your Drive Engineer.”

“Thank you, admiral, for your assistance.” Turning away from the front screen, Jack looked back to Nikola. Who sat at her Chief Astronomer’s station, restraint straps over her shoulders and with hands held just above the Astro panel she had pulled over her lap. Wearing a yellow headband like the one worn by Elaine, she tapped on the panel as she stared intensely at a sidearm screen that showed stellar locations within a galactic coordinate system. Beyond her sat Denise, with Max seated further back at his Drive Engineer post. His buddy held his own hands above the Alcubierre drive control panel, his gray eyes twinkling with bemusement. Nearby sat thoughtful Blodwen. Archibald and Cassie entered from the Spine hallway and sat at their stations. Which brought him back around to nearby Nikola and Maureen. Eight other people crewed the
Uhuru
. People who had become family to him.

“Proceed,” he said to his lifemate.

Nikola looked over to Elaine at her Pilot station. “Ready to enter the coordinates for Megurk system?”

“Yes.” Elaine rubbed her narrow chin. “We are all facing towards the direction of galactic rotation. The other ships are in laser comlink with my station. Give me the numbers.”

Nikola looked down at her Astro panel. “Galactic coordinates for Megurk relative to Zeta Serpentis are minus 5.17 light years away from galactic center, plus 26.1 toward galactic rotation and minus 72.5 light years below the equatorial plane of the galaxy. Straight-line distance to Megurk is 110 light years. Relative to Zeta’s position.” She tapped on her panel. “These numbers will bring us to the outer edge of the Megurk system, at 60 AU out from the star’s recorded position. I’m assuming that is far enough out to avoid contact with the Isolation Globe.”

Denise looked to their Chief Astronomer. “Time in transit?”

Nikola raised an eyebrow. “Twenty-seven days.”

“Good!” said Blodwen as she leaned forward against her seat straps, her pale green eyes looking over Max’s shoulder. “That’s enough time for me and Max to prepare our surprise.”

Surprise? Jack wondered just what the Welsh woman was planning with his buddy. Whose nonchalant manner told him nothing. He looked over to Elaine, whose attention seemed to be focused a bit too intently on her Sensor panel. “Pilot, you ready to get yours and Ignacio’s interstellar romance on the road?”

Elaine grinned broadly. “Nikola, I’ve entered those numbers and laser-linked them to the other ships. My NavTrack computer says we are properly oriented. Time for Max to activate our stardrive?”

“Sis,” Jack called to Elaine, unable to resist the chance to poke her once more. “Are we in laser time-lock link with our fleet ships?”

“Of course!” she said, giving him a finger flip that meant nothing good in Belter finger-talk. “Anyway, that link will disappear once we enter our own Alcubierre space-time bubble.” She looked back at Max, who was tap-tapping on his Alcubierre drive panel. “Drive Engineer, any time now.”

“Alcubierre stardrive activated. Signal sent to all ships. Reactor One is feeding power to its module.” Max looked Jack’s way and grinned widely. “Blodwen and I think interstellar romances are just fine!” The man from Lodz gestured ahead. “We’re heading out again. Look at the starfield! It’s shrinking!”

Jack turned back to watch the front screen with its image of local space. The images of his fleet captains disappeared as the laser link bent due to the gravitational lensing that was one part of an Alcubierre stardrive. He recalled that the Alcubierre drive squeezed space in front of them and expanded it to their rear, causing their ship, lying within a drive shell bubble, to jump forward at a speed that quickly exceeded classical lightspeed. But since their ship existed in a warped space-time bubble, they were not subject to the usual gravitational, time and length distortions that Einstein’s Special Relativity said happened when a physical object came close to the speed of light. True, they could not see beyond the bubble shell. But in return for being cut off from normal space-time, their ship and the eight other ships of the fleet were now moving at a speed equal to four light years per day. Fast by any standards.