Planet Predators Read Online Free PDF Page A

Colonel in the Alphas.”
    “How did that happen, Jeff?”
    “He tricked me. I promoted him to Admiral and he formally requested the reduction in rank to that position. Regulations forced me to honor his request, Arnold. He is also a wizard at weapon development which is where I wanted him.”
    Hemon smiled, “Perhaps combat is where he will learn those things that will help us most. Like I once told the Pharaohs, making a spear is not the same thing as throwing one.”
    “It would be a huge loss if he was killed.”
    Everyone was silent and Dolly said, “Send the orders.”
    Jeff nodded, “Yes, Sir.”
    * * *
    The Havana was on guard duty at the orbit of Neptune holding position at the edge of the solar system in normal space. Kenny looked up from his panel, “We’ve just been ordered to go into Sierra Space and see if we can find a ship with a specific frequency.”
    Arvolo looked over his glasses and raised his eyebrows, “Exactly what type of ship gives off that particular frequency?”
    “According to the file attached with the download, it’s a Blue Giant Scout Ship.” Kenny continued to read his panel and said, “It’s about three times our size and heavily armed. I’ve sent a picture to your console.”
    Arvolo stared at the image and tilted his head, “That doesn’t sound good. Does the message tell us what to do if we happen to find one of those ships?”
    Kenny continued reading and then looked up slowly, “They want us to pick a fight.”
    Arvolo leaned back in his chair and put his hands on his large stomach, “They do.”
    “Yes.”
    “It’s surprising they’re selected us. They know I’m the peaceful sort?”
    Kenny was taking a drink from his glass of water and sprayed it out of his nose and mouth.
    “Hey, I am.”
    Kenny shook his head and snorted, “You’re about as peaceful as a tiger that just had his backside sandpapered. You are constantly looking for a fight. I’ve had to stop you more times than I care to remember.”
    Arvolo shrugged, “Just checking to see if you were paying attention. Our selection makes sense, sort of.”
    Kenny snorted again, “Dropping into Sierra Space.”
    Arvolo thought about Kenny’s assessment and decided he was only partly right. He didn’t look for a fight on Mondays or Fridays. That’s the days he set aside to recover from the fights he had over the weekend and to rest before the next ones.
    “I’ve found four of those frequencies and one of them is pretty close.”
    Arvolo sat up straight, “How close?”
    “Less than four seconds in Sierra Space from our current position. It just entered normal space.”
    “That could be outside the galaxy, how close?”
    Kenny looked back at his display, “Fifty light years from Earth.”
    “We need to pick one further away to draw them away from this area.
    “There’s one five hundred light years away.”
    Arvolo tilted his head down and looked through his eyebrows.
    Kenny started shaking his head and said, “Switching my board to weapons. You have the ship. Force field and weapons are on line. How do you want to handle this?”
    “Let’s be subtle; we’ll enter normal space and hit them with a fusion missile.”
    “That’s pretty subtle for you. Are you sure we don’t need to kiss them first?”
    “I’ll wait while you do the honors. But I want that missile fired before you get their communications number for a future rendezvous.”
    “Why only one missile?”
    “I’m sure Fleet wants to know what it’s going to take to handle those ships. We need to give them as much information as possible. If the missile doesn’t work, we’ll hit them with a beam. If that doesn’t work, we’ll use both. Make sure a record of this is being sent to Fleet.”
    Kenny nodded and activated the channel, “Just what do you think that ship is going to be doing while we’re playing around with a mix of weapons?”
    “Why, finishing their kiss with you. We’re jumping in three seconds. Pucker