they entered orbit. No reply.”
The radio operator’s report made the general’s decision easy.
“Well, maybe this will get their attention.” General Tragge nodded to his electronics officer as he spoke. “Go ahead.”
The bustling room became quiet as all eyes turned to the monitors above the electronic warfare wizard. A large monitor displayed an image of Tanarac with three layers of shields, each represented as a different color band, in concentric spheres, surrounding the planet.
Outside the last shield, white dots showed the location and size of every vessel in the aggressor fleet where they hovered in geo-synchronous orbit. One dot was noticeably larger than the rest.
As the EW officer worked rapidly at his console, data displays on several screens changed with each keystroke. The outermost shield on the big planetary display began to flicker, and then, without warning, it dissolved.
Lo ud buzzing of a shield failure alarm filled the War Room. Captain Ludic began talking.
“Okay lizards, I got your frequency. Yeah, that’s right . . . you’re still wondering what happened to my top shield, aren’t you?” Ludic laughed, a wicked satisfaction in his tone. He narrated as he sprung his trap.
“Shield projectors sw itched to asynchronous control. Phase frequency singularized. Redirecting surplus power to grid one. Capacitance at maximum.”
Ludic sat back in his chair and poised his index finger above the enter key.
“Here ya go, sir. Three . . . two . . . one. GOTCHA!”
All the display screens blinked, as a bright white line on the big screen marked an instantaneous burst of energy between the second planetary shield and the large ship orbiting above. The missing third shield then re-materialized on the main planetary display and shield failure alarms turned off.
The jubilant weapons officer directed the general’s attention to one of his monitors that had previously shown a steady stream of data. Those graphs were now almost flat, with only a few random spikes rising and falling in irregular sequence.
“I killed their array , sir. That ought to get their attention.”
“Good work, Ludic.”
General Tragge positioned himself in front of the War Room’s holographic transmitter and spoke to the comm system operator.
“Hail the Heptari flag ship. See if they’ll talk to us now.”
After a few tense moments, the reptilian head of the Heptari commander formed into a three dimensional image. The electronic translator crackled for a second before deciphering and translating the alien language.
“I am First Skah, commander of the Heptari battle cruiser, Dehseku. Identify yourself.”
“I am General Tragge, commander of the Military Council of the Tanarac Empire. You are not authorized to scan our planet. You will cease your actions and withdraw your warships beyond the outer Syntic region of our quadrant.”
The Heptari officer disregarded the general’s instructions.
“You attacked a command vessel of the Heptari Empire. Your aggression is an act of war. Until I receive instructions from my Central Directorate, Tanarac is under blockade. We will destroy any ship attempting to enter or leave.”
“I repeat.” General Tragge purposely ignored the Heptari threat. “You will leave our system immediately, or your fleet will be destroyed.”
He knew Heptari leaders only respect strength.
The reptilian image suddenly vanished, the comm link severed by the space ship. Seconds later, it reconnected . This time, the Heptari officer sounded almost conciliatory.
“General, we came in peace. I am willing to overlook your aggression, if you cooperate. Our mission is simply to scan your planet for surviving humans. We have information that they are living in secret colonies on your home world. If you voluntarily surrender them, your planet will be spared. We have no quarrel with the Tanarac people.”
The general replied without hesitation. “There are no humans on our planet. Even if there
The radio operator’s report made the general’s decision easy.
“Well, maybe this will get their attention.” General Tragge nodded to his electronics officer as he spoke. “Go ahead.”
The bustling room became quiet as all eyes turned to the monitors above the electronic warfare wizard. A large monitor displayed an image of Tanarac with three layers of shields, each represented as a different color band, in concentric spheres, surrounding the planet.
Outside the last shield, white dots showed the location and size of every vessel in the aggressor fleet where they hovered in geo-synchronous orbit. One dot was noticeably larger than the rest.
As the EW officer worked rapidly at his console, data displays on several screens changed with each keystroke. The outermost shield on the big planetary display began to flicker, and then, without warning, it dissolved.
Lo ud buzzing of a shield failure alarm filled the War Room. Captain Ludic began talking.
“Okay lizards, I got your frequency. Yeah, that’s right . . . you’re still wondering what happened to my top shield, aren’t you?” Ludic laughed, a wicked satisfaction in his tone. He narrated as he sprung his trap.
“Shield projectors sw itched to asynchronous control. Phase frequency singularized. Redirecting surplus power to grid one. Capacitance at maximum.”
Ludic sat back in his chair and poised his index finger above the enter key.
“Here ya go, sir. Three . . . two . . . one. GOTCHA!”
All the display screens blinked, as a bright white line on the big screen marked an instantaneous burst of energy between the second planetary shield and the large ship orbiting above. The missing third shield then re-materialized on the main planetary display and shield failure alarms turned off.
The jubilant weapons officer directed the general’s attention to one of his monitors that had previously shown a steady stream of data. Those graphs were now almost flat, with only a few random spikes rising and falling in irregular sequence.
“I killed their array , sir. That ought to get their attention.”
“Good work, Ludic.”
General Tragge positioned himself in front of the War Room’s holographic transmitter and spoke to the comm system operator.
“Hail the Heptari flag ship. See if they’ll talk to us now.”
After a few tense moments, the reptilian head of the Heptari commander formed into a three dimensional image. The electronic translator crackled for a second before deciphering and translating the alien language.
“I am First Skah, commander of the Heptari battle cruiser, Dehseku. Identify yourself.”
“I am General Tragge, commander of the Military Council of the Tanarac Empire. You are not authorized to scan our planet. You will cease your actions and withdraw your warships beyond the outer Syntic region of our quadrant.”
The Heptari officer disregarded the general’s instructions.
“You attacked a command vessel of the Heptari Empire. Your aggression is an act of war. Until I receive instructions from my Central Directorate, Tanarac is under blockade. We will destroy any ship attempting to enter or leave.”
“I repeat.” General Tragge purposely ignored the Heptari threat. “You will leave our system immediately, or your fleet will be destroyed.”
He knew Heptari leaders only respect strength.
The reptilian image suddenly vanished, the comm link severed by the space ship. Seconds later, it reconnected . This time, the Heptari officer sounded almost conciliatory.
“General, we came in peace. I am willing to overlook your aggression, if you cooperate. Our mission is simply to scan your planet for surviving humans. We have information that they are living in secret colonies on your home world. If you voluntarily surrender them, your planet will be spared. We have no quarrel with the Tanarac people.”
The general replied without hesitation. “There are no humans on our planet. Even if there
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