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BRIDGE—HUMANIFORM CRUISER EXCELTOR—COMETARY EARTH ORBIT

0925 EST

As they walked quickly along the interminable corridor, the president and General Price passed several compartments filled with an incredible variety of odd human types on the way to the bridge. The bridge was the same. Numerous beings, all of whom appeared to be humanlike, but who varied widely from Earth normal, stared into three-dimensional images in the bridge.

Due to the fact that Earth had a thinner atmospheric density than any other known populated planet, all of them seemed to have small chests and pale skins. Thicker atmospheres on their home planets allowed smaller lungs and filtered out the UV which selected for additional melanin on Earth. Though they had small chests and pale skins in common, otherwise there was tremendous variety in size, shape and feature. As he looked around, President Rayland thought he saw some with similar variations, as if they might have come from the same sub-species.

A bald young man with a ring of short dark hair just above surprisingly small ears turned to face the president. "President Rayland, I am Captain Leis, commander of the Humaniform Federation's light cruiser Exceltor. We are very sorry to have abducted you, but your world appears to be in grave danger from an alien race known as the Krane.”

Rayland gave the young captain a dubious look, “And I’m supposed to believe this, just on your say-so?”

Leis said, “No, though I fear we may not be able to prove it to your satisfaction. However, we do expect that you’re aware of the arrival of a krane light carrier in Earth orbit a little more than seven of your hours ago. It would have arrived in a flash of energy easily visible at your planet's surface. Currently your planet is bombarding it with microwave radar and other imaging radiations. We expect that your people are trying to figure out what it is. To radar imaging techniques its appearance will be quite dim due to sophisticated absorption and diffusion techniques."

Rayland and the General glanced at one another as they thought about the commotion they’d just left at the White House. Then Rayland looked back at the captain and frowned, “We’re
aware
of such an object. What kind of danger are you claiming it poses?”

Leis took a few moments to explain the presence of LSA and DNA life-forms in the galaxy as well as the ongoing battle between humaniforms and kranes for the small liquid water planets. "Both species are currently surveying star systems for suitable worlds and trying to protect worlds populated with their own life-forms.” Leis shrugged, “Unfortunately, both are also trying to convert worlds populated with non-sentient species to make them suitable for their own life-forms.”

General Price narrowed his eyes, “Convert?”

Leis nodded, “By wiping out all existing life and seeding the world with their own form of life.”

The president’s stomach lurched at the implication, but he didn’t show it on his face. “But they wouldn’t wipe out life on our planet because of the intelligent life there, correct?”

Leis got a pinched expression, “There’s the problem. Defining what’s intelligent or sentient is always open to interpretation. Kranes have been known to wipe planets populated with intelligent humaniforms, claiming that they believed the occupants to be no smarter than monkeys. Recently the Krane Empire agreed to a treaty with our Humaniform Federation protecting worlds belonging to either group. Unfortunately, that treaty does not extend to your planet because you are neither a member, nor a protectorate of our Federation. We think it likely that the krane carrier intends to sterilize your planet and begin seeding it with LSA forms
prior
to any chance that it might become a part of our Federation."

The president listened to both the captain speaking unintelligibly and the small voice translating in his ear with a sense of unreality. He did his best to show an outward calm despite a heart hammering in a chest become too tight. "I suppose that you feel that this krane carrier is capable of such a thing?” He wondered briefly to himself just why he even
began
to believe the captain’s incredible story, but then reflected that, in view of what had just happened to his own person, he must either believe in the incredible—or find himself insane.

“There is no doubt,” Leis responded solemnly.

“We’ve been assuming that some kind of electronic trickery has been making its radar image both dimmer and larger. How big
is
the damn thing in actuality?"

"Seven hundred thirteen meters long."

“Holy shit!"

The general turned and whispered to the president. "Sir that's not too big to nuke."

Making it obvious that he had heard and fully understood the general’s whisper, the captain said "It
is
true that one of your nuclear weapons would readily destroy the krane ship, but the krane will have little difficulty destroying any rocket driven delivery systems. Do you have anything faster?"

An uncomfortable silence reigned while the president considered. He felt as if he was in a situation careening out of control. "Can you help us, and if so, how do we know that you actually
are
the guys in shining white armor?"

The small synthetic voice in the president’s ear queried as to whether “guys in shining white armor” meant “helpful or good beings.”

The president nodded.

Leis said, "Mr. President, we can enter into an agreement between you, as the highest available Earth authority, and myself, as the highest ranking member of the Humaniform Federation. Earth would become a protectorate, subject to later ratification by both sides. For such a protectorate treaty to be held valid requires at least token payment. One nickel iron asteroid of your choice, but greater than fifty-three meters on its smallest axis would be satisfactory. As evidence that we are indeed the good guys, this would come due only upon incontrovertible evidence that the krane intended to damage your planet and our successful intervention to prevent such an outcome."

“And what else would we owe afterward?”

“Nothing more would be owed. Once this immediate crisis has been resolved, you would then negotiate Earth’s entry into the Humaniform Federation with a diplomatic team.”

The president shrugged, "I’m happy to agree to have you protect our planet. A single asteroid which we can't currently use is well worth it. However, I won't agree to anything further until we know more. Can you print up a document for me to sign?"

"Sign? Oh! The computers have recorded your verbal agreement. That’s sufficient.” He got a grim look on his face, "Unfortunately, we may not be able to uphold our part of the bargain. Exceltor is only a cruiser. We are facing a krane light carrier which not only holds a host of smaller flickerships, but undoubtedly is escorted by one to three destroyers or possibly even some cruisers."

The president’s eyes cast about the room for a moment. "Why don't you send for help?"

"I sorely wish that I could. The nearest help is nearly 12 light years away. Our shift inaccuracy of one percent means that a message capsule sent that far would have an average error in its arrival of 43 light days. Thus after arrival, its radio beacon would take weeks to arrive. We could go ourselves, but with shifts, recharging of our accumulators and correcting shifts it would be at least 36 hours before we might be able to return. The krane already know we’re here and they will certainly see us depart. By the time we could return they would probably have destroyed most of your planet’s ability to sustain DNA life-forms."

“Okay,” President Rayland said, pale with dismay. His voice rasped, “Do the best you can for us."

Captain Leis gave a jerky nod then turned to the young woman beside him, “Ensign Mallor, escort our guests to the bridge visitor’s seats and answer their questions."

The president retrieved the hand he had extended for a shake, but which the captain had not noticed. He and the general moved to the rear of the bridge with Mallor.

The crew on the long, narrow bridge all seemed busy at one task or another. The president couldn’t avoid a subliminal feeling that they were all underdeveloped weaklings because of their small chests, but they appeared to be quite efficiently performing their assigned tasks. All had slender metallic halos about their heads, but rather than passing about their brows as with a biblical halo they passed obliquely over both the ears and mouth and presumably were the means by which their constant low volume murmurings were picked up by the computers. The personnel were arranged in ranked seats before the captain, facing away into tanks containing various three dimensional images. The arrangement was such that the captain could see over each of his officers’ shoulders and into the officer’s holocube. An enormous 3-D image hanging out in front of all of them appeared to represent the solar system.

Captain Leis had a hawk-like gaze which flashed here and there, pinning anything or anyone like insects inspected under a magnifying glass. "Lt. Snellen!" he barked, "Extrude an antenna near that moon and prepare to send a message to the krane as follows, 'Any krane vessels within this solar system, be aware that this humaniform planet is now a protectorate of the Federation of Humaniform Systems. Any move against this planet
or
its intelligent, sentient, humaniform inhabitants will be construed as a move against the Federation. Please remain stationary and communicate with us regarding your intentions in this system. Shifting your ships
will
be construed as a move of aggression if carried out prior to an agreement approving your method of departing this system.'"

Close beside the moon a tiny flash of light signaled the opening of a small port-ring through which Snellen extruded an omnidirectional antenna to send the message, both in Human/common galactic and in Krane/spiral. The krane could translate readily, but a double translation left fewer opportunities for error.

"Gunny! This is the captain. We’re about to stir up the krane… Do you have your locator lenses in place on the surface of their ship?

"Yes sir! We have two shift-ring cutters in place and penetrator rings set up over most of their accumulator banks."

"Be ready to fire those rings, on my command, or automatically if they light their shift-ring."

"Yes sir!"

“Azimus. Do you have observation ports behind every meteoroid in our vicinity?” A choked giggle rose from several of the bridge crew.

“All but one sir!”

“Snellen. Send the message.”

WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM

0930 EST

“And then he was just gone?!”

“Yes dammit! How many times do I have to tell you people the same story?”

In the other corner they’d just finished briefing the vice president. He looked at them dubiously, “So will this… thing, whatever it is, be able to get me too, even down here in the bunker?”

“Your guess is as good as ours Mr. Vice President. Do you think we should swear you in as President?”

The VP scratched his balding pate. “You don’t think he’s still alive?”

“Damned if I know.”

“Let’s wait a while…
I
don’t relish explaining
this one
to the press.”

BRIDGE—KRANE FLAGSHIP—LIGHT CARRIER XAJION—EARTH ORBIT

0930 EST

Commander Kinjie again heard the buzz of an alarm message. It was from the same scout ship in the asteroid belt. The humans had moved! Because of the delay for the light signal to reach the flickership’s location in the belt they must have moved 30 minutes ago.

Where the Hell had the Motherless oitons gone? Somewhere within thirty to sixty light minutes by the size of the flash, yet someplace at least 15 light minutes from any of the krane ships or they would have seen the arrival flash already. Why would they go anyplace 15 light minutes away? Were they going to leave the system? If so, why? Any
idiot
could see it was a rich system! They couldn’t know that the krane were already there… Could they?

“Sir! Radio message from behind that moon!”

“Behind the moon? Did that humaniform cruiser jump in back there?”

“Sir, I’ll check sir.” Duot’s head-hands and their cilia were beginning to droop as he hunched over his instruments.

“You’ll check! Why the Mother don’t you know from the observation ports we have back there?”

“Um, Sir, We didn’t have an observation port behind the moon sir.”

“Didn’t have an observation port!” Kinjie screeched, “What in the name of the Mother have you been
doing
?!” A sensation like trickling ice water began to run up inside the Commander’s lower shell. “Did you think this was some kind of a
pleasure
cruise? Have you left out any other standard measures?”

Then the contents of the message popped up on the screens and both Kinjie’s and Quell’s cilia began writhing in fury.

Quell hissed, “They’ve snuck into your hindmost excretory orifice!”

“This is
now
a battle… get off my bridge!” Kinjie spun in his saddle, his head-hands extended to full height, “Duot, where the oiton is that cruiser?
Is
it behind that moon?”

“Just an antenna on line of sight sir!”

“I
said, ‘
Where
the hell
is
it?’”

“Sir, I don’t know.”

“Don’t cower! Find it!”

“Sir! Working, Sir!” Duot and several other junior officers’ head-hands swiveled back to their holocubes.

Cold ice settled in Kinjie’s gut. The Mother-be-damned humans
must
have jumped behind the moon. Why? They couldn’t possibly have known he was here could they? What kind of orbit were they in? Shouldn’t they already be out from behind the moon? Could they have
already
located his ship? No! Xajion was too stealthy, they couldn’t have found her in just 15 minutes, but they might find her soon and he had
no damned idea
where
they
were.

“Gueel! Locate a jump to the side of this damn planet opposite that moon, low orbit.”