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

the ways of Hunter combat,” he said. “As you said, we are new to the Great Dark. You have educated us on the nature of its Rules. We will comply with your judgment.”
    The dino scanned Jack’s crew, focused on the holo of an angry Maureen, then nodded slowly. “Perhaps you understand reality. We depart.”
    “Wait!” he yelled, hoping the neutrino link would stay intact. “How do I contact you in the future? If we humans need further guidance on proper conduct in the Great Dark.”
    MakMakGor snorted long and loud. “You Humans are indeed a bothersome predator. Though small and lacking in proper skin colors, you know how to be an irritant. You may contact this ship by neutrino signaling at the wavelength equal to helium’s mass cubed. Do not be a continuing irritant.”
    The dino image vanished.
    On the front screen, the spysat image of the Arbitor ship showed nearby starfield images warping as it entered the Alcubierre space-time manifold. It became a starry teardrop that shot away so fast it vanished in the blink of an eye. Jack turned away from the true-light image of satin black space at the outer edge of the Tau Ceti system and sat in his Tech station seat. He pulled the Tech panel over from his left armrest, nodded to the holo of an impatient-looking Maureen, and looked up at the images of his allied captains that ran across the top of the front screen.
    “My allies, confirm that your AV Come-Back signal to me is encrypted in the Beta Blue Violet encryption.”
    “Confirmed, Fleet Captain Jack,” said Hideyoshi.
    “Pack Leader Jack,” called Benaxis, “we confirm this encryption mode.”
    Every Belter captain and the other four Freedom Alliance captains confirmed their AV encryption.
    “Thank you all.” He smiled. “You are all probably wondering what I intend. Well, defiance of course.”
    “Yes!” yelled Maureen from the holo.
    “Good to hear,” Gareth said, his look thoughtful.
    “Your boina guides you!” Ignacio said sharply.
    He held up a hand to forestall further reactions. “Please. I am not perfect. And we will obey this no-contact with juvenile species Rule of the Great Dark. For awhile. As our master fighter Sun Tzu said long ago, we shall ‘pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance’.” He smiled and gave a shrug. “Sun Tzu also said ‘All warfare is based on deception’. So, we will seek out data on this Arbitor, find its weak spot and then make it come to us. For its final death.”
    “Yes!” cried Maureen from the holo above Jack’s lap. “I want some dino steak!”
    Most of the human captains laughed while the Alien captains showed body language reactions that Jack was still learning to read. “First, every human ship will join me in a jump to Zeta Serpentis system. Clearly there is more our Nasen Trade associates know about these Arbitors, the Rules, this Sentry probe thing and the history of the Hunters system.” He looked over to Elaine, whose amber eyes looked hopeful. “Pilot, compute our vector for the trip to the Nasen home star.” He looked further back, catching the attention of Max, Blodwen and Archibald. “Friends, you may recall I told the Arbitor we could not harm it with any weapon we now have. Now . I need a new weapon. Something that will penetrate that shield, whatever it is. Or something that makes the shield fail to happen.” He faced back to the front. “My Freedom Alliance allies, return to your home systems. Look for a neutrino signal from me that is encrypted in Beta Blue Violet mode. If we need your help, we humans will call you!”
    “Understood,” Defender Tok barked. “May your teeth chew the flesh of this Arbitor!”
    “We agree,” Thoughtful/Progenitor said. “But our herd remains ready to trample that ship into fragments.”
    “May your trap catch this reptile by its tail,” yelped Bulaken of the North.
    “May its food be poisoned,” chittered Mother Prime.
    The Melagun hippo was last. “Our three ships will always