“I could try to send them a command to release the ship,” he said.
“Three of the ships are dead,” she told him. “But if we fire on them to break the beam, I’m afraid ‘we might damage the Acaffeclu.”
“Perhaps the other Khieevi ships in the limb will have a remote mechanism to control the tractor beams of the dead ships,” he said.
“I suppose there’s no harm in trying.”
He transmitted command-style Hacking and klicking using the identification code from the mother ship of the shuttle.
Four ships fell away from the Acaaecki at once and when he repeated the command, so did the fifth.
But the sixth ship sent back a message saying, “This is the driver of the ship designated Fourteen Klaclu aru) Two Klicki). How is it that you escaped the Planet of Doom, Fifty-three Klaclu am) Seven Kliclu, when most of our shuttles were lost?”
Mac shrugged. “What do I say?” he whispered.
Aari had joined them and suggested, “Respond with this message,” and he gave Mac a series of klacks and khcks to transmit.
The last ship immediately released the Acaoecki, which shot away from it and fired a round at each of its captors. Three of the ships were hit at once and flew to bits but the other three maneuvered out of range and returned fire. By then, however, the Acaoecki had cloaked and shielded, as ordered.
“That worked,” Acorna said. “What does it mean?”
“I have no idea,” Aari said. “Except that it is not very polite and those in charge seemed to say it when they were particularly annoyed-although with a Khieevi if was difficult to tell, of course.”
The other three ships accelerated away from both the Aca<)ecki and the Condor along the same route they had been folio-wing, and were out of range before Aari and Acorna could return to the bridge.“I am picking up strange signals, Aari,” Mac said. “They do not sound like any of the Khieevi transmissions I have heard before.”Acorna and Mac heard a higher pitched sound, containing klicking but also something that sounded more like “snip snip” than a klack.“However,” Mac said, as klickklacks began transmitting and new blips appeared on the scanner, “ThoM do. And they are homing in on us. Fourteen Klack) ana Two Kllclu is transmitting data regarding our position.”“I think it’s time to sap Fourteen Klaclu ana Two KUclu,” Acorna said firmly. “They have caused enough trouble for one journey.”The driver of Fourteen Klachf and Two Kllckd -was in agony once more. Behind him the debris of four ships of his limb blew apart. He alone had realized that Fifty-three KlacLf and Seven KUdu was behaving in an irregular manner. But when the driver called him an eater of his own eggs, he thought the driver must be of very high rank, as such an insult to any but the lowliest inferior was an invitation to be devoured. Thus had he been tricked into releasing his prey. His only hope now was that he would leave the nestworld alive once more.And then that last vain hope also was eaten.Another of his crewmembers had become infected while tearing off the legs of one of the previously infected members. Now this crewman crawled up to the driver while the driver was arguing -with the false driver of the shuttle from Fifty-three Klack