Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (49 page)

"If we were off the planet, would the Nodac-Liujian warships still attack?" Ron asked.

"I don't know.
 
They may want to attack anyway to make an example out of them.
 
They would like to tell everyone NOT to help you.
 
Word of a planet conquest would definitely limit the number of planets that would trade or help you in any way,"
Kota
said.

"How many warships are coming?
 
Do you have any idea of what kind of armament they carry?" Tik asked gravely.

"If you can direct Auntie to communicate with our ship's computer, I can show you pictures and more details,"
Zibo
said.

Tik directed Auntie and soon they had pictures of three warships up on the view screens.
 
Kota
and
Zibo
liked what they were seeing and decided they were going to retrofit the freighter with the same viewing equipment.
 
Auntie put a list of armament and shield capacities on view screens next to the pictures of each warship.
 
The biggest warship in the middle carried 50 small fighters.
 
They could be used for space-to-planet fighting also.
 
The fighters were very lightly armored because they depended on their speed for protection.
 
The warships were another matter.
 
They had the weapons and the shields to give a lot of punishment without taking it themselves.

"If you are attacked by someone like the Nodac-Liujian ships, do you have the right to retaliate?" Ron asked, as an idea started to germinate.

"Yes, we have every right but there is no way we could do any damage to those ships with all their shields,"
Zibo
protested.

"What about the fighters?
 
How would your space ship fare against them?" Ron asked.

"They wouldn't stand a chance.
 
As long as all 50 didn't attack at once, we would definitely spank them,"
Zibo
stated with conviction.

"Where is the weak spot on those warships?
 
If you had a ship that could fight them, where would you try to hit them?" Ron asked.

"I guess it would be somewhere near the rear, where the power plant is located.
 
Then you try for the engines.
 
If they can't move, they become a sitting duck.
 
Why do you ask?
 
Have you got a warship up your sleeve?"
Zibo
asked with a growing curiosity.

"Auntie, what do you see as their greatest weakness?" Ron asked.

Auntie studied the plans for a few seconds and then said, "Like Zibo said, the power plants.
 
When they are in battle, the shields are heaviest around this area.
 
These ships have several layers of shields in this area to keep them safe."

"Do they keep this shield up during a hyper-space jump?" Ron continued to question.

"No, they take too much power to operate in hyper-space.
 
They would activate the shield shortly after they dropped out of hyper-space.
 
If they are not in battle mode, they may only have minimal shields, just to protect from meteorites or asteroids," Auntie said.

Tik, Gus,
Kota
and
Zibo
were all looking at one another.
 
They were wondering what in the world Ron was up to.
 
It would be suicide to try to attack one of those warships, let alone three.

"
Kota
, can your sources tell us about where the Nodac-Liujian entered hyper-space and where they will be coming out?
 
See if they know when they will get here," Ron asked.

Kota
used his communicator to relay to their ship.
 
He broadcast his request and they waited.
 
In the meantime, Ron started asking Auntie some questions by ESP.

"Auntie, what would be the optimum range to destroy those power plants and engines?"

"If I was 200 miles away; coming in from the rear, I could destroy the power plant and the engines.
 
The solid projectiles would rip through about half of the ship before they were spent.
 
The warships would detect me before I could get anywhere close to 200 miles though."

"What if you popped out of hyper-space right behind them?
 
How close could you come out of hyper-space behind them safely?"

"If I knew their position before I jumped, I could be less than 200 miles."

"How long would it take you to fire your weapons after you came out of hyper-space?"

"It would take only a few microseconds and the projectiles would be on their way.
 
I would need to be on target for almost two minutes to be the most effective.
 
If we did attack like that, I would suggest that I jump right back to hyper-space before they could get shields up or bring their weapons to bear.
 
I assume you want me to fire on all three warships."

"Yes.
 
I don't know what kind of formation they fly in but I would hope they would be close together."

Ron turned back to
Kota
and
Zibo
.
 
He asked, "If you were attacked by the ship sitting in orbit, would that mean you could legally attack those warships coming in here?"

"It would depend.
 
If we saw them preparing to attack and we demanded an explanation, their answer could justify such an action.
 
All they would have to do would be to indicate that this was a planet-wide action,"
Kota
explained.

"What if one of the thugs from last night confessed to a conspiracy with the Bugs?" Ron asked.

"If we had that confession, we wouldn't have to wait for that ship in orbit to make any hostile moves.
 
That basically would be a declaration of war,"
Kota
stated firmly with fire in his voice.

"If we were affiliated with you, that would include us, too, wouldn't it?" Ron asked.

"Most definitely."

"Well, in that case; if my partners agree, we need to affiliate," Ron asserted.
 
He looked at Gus and Tik and they both nodded yes.
 
All of the trio could feel the exultant 'Yes' in
Kota
's mind.
 
They could almost feel him pumping his arm in victory.

"Do you know where any of your attackers are?
 
Do you think they will confess?"
Kota
asked anxiously.
 
"What do you have in mind with those warships?
 
I've seen you studying and I think you have a battle plan."

"I do have a plan but it has to be approved by all of my partners first.
 
We would need your help, too, and there is an element of danger for you," Ron stated.

"If there's danger for us, how much danger will you be in?"
Kota
asked in a very concerned voice.
 
They had just agreed to an affiliation and he didn't want to lose them right away.

Ron continued, "I don't have all the details worked out, but Auntie says it is doable.
 
Basically, we need to disable that ship in orbit and get into space.
 
When we know where the warships are going to pop out of hyper-space, we need you hidden somewhere close to give us an exact coordinate of where they are.
 
We will be out of the area and will make a hyper-space jump back here.
 
We will come out within 200 miles behind the warships.
 
Auntie will be ready with her rail guns and will pepper the back end of those bad boys.
 
She says it will destroy their power plants and engines.
 
You would have to help us take care of the fighters but the warships will be out of commission without power," Ron outlined his plan.

"I've never heard of anything like that.
 
All ships have special overrides to keep you from coming out of hyper-space too close to other bodies.
 
What if you came out of hyper-spacer with another space ship or asteroid coming right at you?
 
You might not have time to react before a crash,"
Zibo
declared.

"That's part of the help we need.
 
You would have to tell us everything is clear where we would be jumping.
 
As for overrides, Tik can work around the one on Auntie.
 
That is, if she agrees to the plan.
 
I, for one, would like to stick it to these Nodac-Liujian warships.
 
It would send a pretty strong signal to everybody that it's not nice to mess with an Alcantaran space ship and her oddball crew!
 
Those Bugs better beware or we will start hunting them and they could come to the same end!" Ron declared angrily.

Tik immediately and vehemently affirmed, "I'll be glad to bypass the override.
 
If we can stick it to the Bugs or their allies, I'm all for it -- no matter how dangerous.
 
I owe them for two years of hell."

Gus joined in with equal vehemence, "Count me in, too.
 
I owe them for three years.
 
It sounds like we have a good chance to cut the Nodac-Liujians down to size.
 
If conquering a planet sends such a strong signal, what will one old trading ship destroying three warships send?"

Kota
and
Zibo
stared in amazement at the trio.
 
They were used to defending themselves and the annals of the Traders had many stories of the exploits of other Traders defending themselves but there had never been anything close to the scale these three were talking about.
 
Kota
and
Zibo
both were glad they were friends with the trio and not being hunted by them.
 
They didn't know if the whole Charter Navy could keep them safe if this trio was after them.

Kota
had a message come through.
 
It said his sources would get the information he needed.
 
His source expected the warships to arrive in about five days.
 
He also said that the Nodac-Liujians were loading troop ships.
 
It looked like they planned to occupy Europaische.
 
He didn't know if more warships were going to move toward them or not, but he would keep them updated.

Ron asked innocently, "Does the Charter Navy ever make 'Calls of State'?
 
Do they visit other planets just as a courtesy and to kind of show off their newest warships?"

"Yes, they do.
 
I can remember a couple of times, I was on a planet they visited.
 
It was very impressive and the whole planet talked of nothing else for weeks afterward,"
Kota
exclaimed.

"Since they won't be able to get here to help us in time, I think now would be a really great time to show off a bunch of their warships at Nodac-Liujia.
 
Do you have a way to make that suggestion?" Ron asked.

"Both of us have a few connections that could make some strong recommendations,"
Kota
responded.
 
"If we had a confession, it would make the recommendations even stronger.
 
The Charter Navy doesn't like galactic wars that disrupt Charter Alliance trade."

"Maybe this crisis could end the planetary war here.
 
If they knew they were about to be attacked from space, maybe they would stop fighting amongst themselves and concentrate on their real enemies," Gus mused.

Zibo
looked at the trio amazement and exclaimed, "You all are natural born traders.
 
You have come up with trades and solutions that even trained and experienced Traders wouldn't have figured out.
 
Here you are being threatened, yet you think of solutions for your trading partners.
 
I hope you have made up your minds to stay with the trading and become full-fledged members of the Charter Alliance."

"Well, it's these
super heroes
here who are doing all the saving.
 
I'm just along to tend the computers," Tik said slyly, as she blinked her eyes like a damsel in distress.

"Who was it that rushed right into the face of danger to warn our friends, the Traders?" Gus retorted with a laugh.
 
The whole group joined in and that helped relieve some of the tension.

"Well, as the trusty side-kicks to all you
super heroes,
what do we need to do now to make this happen?"
Kota
asked.

This brought another chuckle from everyone and Ron stated, "Auntie, could you put this up on a view screen so we don't miss anything?
 
Tik, you need to check how many solid projectiles we have and see if we can substitute something from here if we don't have enough.
 
Gus and I need to find at least one of the attackers.
 
Kota
, we need all of the Intel on these warships you can get us.
 
Keep us apprised about the troop ships too.
 
Zibo
, we need you to find a place to hide your ship close to the entry point for those warships.
 
We need you there for our eyes and ears.
 
What else?"

Kota
added, "I've got to get my groceries loaded and we need to warn the local officials about the danger."