The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict Read Online Free

don’t see any value to increasing strength.  Both of you have enough strength to perform your duties and even the smaller one is stronger than any member of any other race.”
    Paul couldn’t think of a retort, so he raised his arms in the typical body builder pose and flexed his muscles.  The gesture actually made Punami take a step backward.  She recovered quickly though and walked over and touched Paul’s flexed bicep.
    She asked, “What is the point of this stance.  Do you use it to scare off other rival males?
    Ace responded, “It doesn’t scare rival males, but the females really like it.”
    Punami said, “Ah, so it is a sign of fertility.  Females are attracted to a male with bigger arms because it increases their chances of producing stronger off-spring.”
    Ace responded, “Correct.” 
    Paul couldn’t resist any longer.  He started laughing and dropped his arms.  He asked, “Switching subjects, why aren’t you afraid of us like everyone else?  Aren’t you scared that we are going to kill you and eat you or something?”
    Punami said, “I haven’t the time for such nonsense.  This may be my only opportunity to thoroughly examine living, breathing Humans.”
    The doctor turned to leave and Ace asked, “Well Doc, are we okay?”
    She replied, “How should I know?” and left.
    Ace commented, “She reminds me of my doctor on Earth.”
    A few hours later the Guardian and the rest of the Alliance fleet exited hyperspace in Opron.  Admiral Dolen ordered the fleet to increase its speed to .15 light and proceed in real time across the system to the Opron – Conron hyperspace lane.
    Admiral Dolen also ordered both Ace and Paul to commandeer fighters and fly back to the Sunflower .  Then he ordered all humans on the Dandelion to return to the Sunflower .  Next, he ordered all of the Guardian’s fighter pilots to return to the ship.
    Now, the part Dolen had been dreading.  He had openings for three officers.  One was from Ella’s death and the other two were from the disappearance of the two Solarian officers at the Spindle Station.   One was a communications officer and two were navigational officers.
    Dolen had 5 spare officers from the cruiser Attendant .  The Attendant had been badly damaged during the initial battle and they were forced to leave it in Influenla when they escaped.  Dolen ordered the Attendant’s former communications officer to fill the opening on the Dandelion and the navigator to fill the opening on the cruiser Champion .
    This left only an opening for a pilot on the Sunflower .  Dolen decided to leave the position unfilled for now.
    …………………
    For once, Jack Dogbarks was actually interested in something Ella Birdsong had to say.  If Jack had been Hiriculan, his ear stalks would have risen to their highest point and stayed there.  As it was, Jack was staring at her like she was the most fascinating person in the galaxy.
    Ella just told Jack the story of their daring rescue mission and something she said caught his attention.  Oh sure, the story was entertaining on its own merit, but she had said one unusual word that Jack found particularly interesting.
    She had said the word marine. 
    She had only said it once, but Jack was certain that he had heard it.  There were only a few beings in the galaxy that knew what a marine was.  Well, not counting the residents of the planet Earth, quite a few officers on the battleship Guardian , the crew of the Sunflower , and the captain of the Dandelion .
    Perhaps better stated, Jack was one of the few beings in the galaxy that knew exactly what a marine was because he had been to Earth.  Jack used to be part of a team that secretly monitored Earth’s communications from high in Earth’s orbit.  However, the Alliance ended the monitoring program when the hyperspace lane between Earth and Conron became corrupted. 
    Jack was traversing the hyperspace lane from Earth to Conron when it was ‘accidentally’