“We appear to have started things off with a misunderstanding, I’m afraid, and I would very much like to correct that,” said Chase.

There was silence on the bridge. No one said a word, and the hostile did not respond. Chase wondered how long he should leave it before saying anything else.

Finally, the hostile responded.

“Indeed,” he said.

That was promising. Perhaps they might just be able to de-escalate things and call this back from the brink.

“You are dirtying our language with your use of it,” he added.

What the hell did that mean? wondered Chase. “I don’t think that…” he began.

The alien’s face growled as he struggled to contain his rage. He turned and walked away from the screen, now shouting.

“You continue to defile it,” the alien responded.

Chase thought for a moment. “Great leader, perhaps we could—”

“I ask again,” the Ruler of All Realms responded, “Which of my people betrayed us by teaching you the language?”

“None of them,” Chase curtly replied. “We used technology.”

A murmur appeared to go around the hostile’s bridge. The leader was enraged.

“That is truly disgusting. You have no idea the offence you have caused,” he began.

“Now, look,” said Chase, “you don’t approve of us using your language, and I understand that, but without an alternative way to communicate, I suspect you find us destroying your ships even more so. Perhaps this is something we could step back from?”

The leader seemed genuinely confused by this, turning and consulting with another of his crew. “It is us who destroy your ships. We have no problem with continuing this,” he said. There was genuine puzzlement that Chase would even inquire about them stopping it.

“Now, you see,” said Chase, “I believe it is possible for our two peoples, yours and mine, to put aside these hostilities and become friends.”

And then something Chase had not expected happened: the alien laughed. His entire crew appeared to be laughing uproariously at him. He looked at Wokoma, who just shrugged.

“You’re sure that thing’s working, right?” asked Chase.

“We haven’t changed anything from the tests, and it was working then,” she said with a shrug.

Chase addressed the alien. “Why have you attacked this planet? Our people had done nothing to you. It was a farming community. There was no reason to attack.”

The laughing ceased. The alien stepped back towards the screen as if looking Chase straight in the eye, looking directly into his soul.

“Our claim to this world goes back to the Ruler of All Realms a millennium ago.”

So that explained it.

Their claim had been here generations past and they still thought of it as their property.

“But, you have no inhabitants here. We do not recognise any claim when we landed people here,” Chase said.

“As your words insult our language, so your presence defiles our world,” said the Ruler of All Realms.

Chase was not exactly a trained diplomat, but he appreciated he had to do what he could to stop this situation from getting worse. They had already destroyed the biggest naval position in the cluster and were capable of doing a lot worse. If he could talk them down, it would be a miracle. He had to hold his temper no matter what this creature was saying.

“How about this,” said Chase. “We have a colony on this planet. You want a planet. Surely we could simply offer you a different planet that you could return to, and we keep this one.”

The hostile thought for a moment. Chase looked over to Wokoma, who seemed panicked. “The hell are you doing, Chase? You are nowhere near authorised to make that kind of trade,” she whispered.

Chase knew it. He simply nodded.

The alien replied, “Your terms seem acceptable.”

Well, thought Chase, has this actually worked?

“We claim this world,” said the alien. There was an incoming transmission indicated at Wokoma’s station. On her display, data came across a star map. Wokoma was analysing it. She pulled up a grid showing the sector, and a moment later, she pinpointed its location. It was only a few day’s flight time from Hemera. It had been scouted ten years earlier. She checked the records.

“It’s very similar to Hemera. There’s nothing there. Without further checks, it seems like that would work,” she reported.

Chase stared at the screen, the Ruler Of All Realms eyeing him back.

“We will cleanse the planet for you. Then it will be a fair trade,” the alien leader murmured.

“Our people are still down there,” said Chase, the panic sounding in his voice.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

The Ruler Of All Realms blinked for a moment and stared at him like he was missing something obvious.

“You would not want to deal with a colony of ours, either. We will sort this.” For the first time, he did not sound angry. He turned to another of his crew and gave a gesture with his right hand.

“Oh my God,” said Wokoma. Chase turned to her.

“They’re firing on the surface. Torpedoes,” she said.

“How many?” asked Chase.

“Five,” said Wokoma. “Six,” she counted. “Hang on,” she said.

Chase looked at the viewport beyond the communication screen. Bright lights were heading towards the surface from the hostile ship.

“At least a dozen,” said Wokoma.

“They’re concentrated on [city name]. This is like the previous attack turned up to maximum,” said Chase. He turned back to the screen.

“Disarm those torpedoes. There’s no need for this.”

“Why are you upset?” the Ruler Of All Realms replied with bafflement. “If those weapons don’t impact the surface, there is no peace. You are happy with our agreement. We were being magnanimous.”

“We have people down there. We value them!” Chase begged. Thinking of his former captain on the surface.

“Why did you say you wanted peace when clearly you do not? We have offered you a pristine planet, one of our originals, and you reject it.” Fury was evident in the Ruler’s voice.

Chase stared at him, aware that the ship’s black box recordings would almost certainly be pondered over by scholars in the decades to come.

“You attack people, and for what? There is no reason to do this. There is no reason to kill them. If you desire peace, stand down,” said Chase.

“We were more than prepared to give you peace,” said the Ruler Of All Realms. “We do not understand your reasons for rejecting it, but you are a noble, if underpowered, enemy. Your death shall be swift,” he said.

Wokoma turned around. Chase could see from the read outs what she was about to say. The torpedoes had taken out their targets.

Chase turned around and sat back in the captain’s chair, clicking the communications switch. He terminated the call before putting one through to engineering.

“Mr Dryden,” said Chase, “it’s time to go. Pattern two.”

“You’re sure? Nothing else is on the table?” replied Dryden.

“You heard me,” said Chase, and clicked off. Immediately, the Trafalgar’s engine powered up, and they were on top of the lead, hostile.

“Target the engines,” said Chase,

As Winter did so, the drive kicked in again, this time over the second ship. They were slightly off-kilter and again, the Trafalgar unleashed all its offensive capabilities.

The ship rocked and the bridge's primary lighting dimmed. It took a moment for the backups to kick in.

“The engine is dead,” reported Dryden.

“How long?” asked Chase.

“No, I mean it. I’m not sure we’ll get it back again,” said Dryden.

“Fighters incoming!” yelled Wokoma. Chase could see on the forward viewport as the lead hostile exploded, followed moments later by the second target.

“Tell me we still have weapons?” said Chase, and the Trafalgar broke into offensive manoeuvres, closing in on the first wave of fighters.

This time, they didn’t have a reason to hold anything back. The cannons let rip, and the fighters that had grown overly cocky from their earlier restraint found themselves now easy pickings for their guns. The sublight engines still had enough manoeuvrability to keep up with them and before long they had them on the run.

“Fighters are withdrawing,” yelled Wokoma. Chase looked over the system’s reports. Their hull armour had been severely damaged in the previous assaults.

“Keep firing while still in range, but let them go,” he said.

Wokoma nodded.

“Dryden, let me know the timeframe for repairs,” Chase asked.

“This is out of action,” replied Dryden. “That last manoeuvre did it. We are gonna be in the shipyard for weeks.”

“Wokoma, draft a report for command. Let them know our situation, and I want all stations to give me a full damage assessment.”

“Is there any sign of the hostiles in the area?” Chase asked.

“Nothing on scans,” replied Winter.

“And Hemera?” Chase asked.

“No life signs,” Wokoma said.

No one said anything. They had achieved nothing. Chase wanted to at least be glad he tried, but it didn’t come, only bitterness and anger. They would have to find a way to make these bastards pay for what they’ve done.

“Reply from command. They’re sending the Vanguard, and several tugs to get us back to port.”