Clash of the Aliens, Book 3

After unknown aliens destroy the Hoo-Lii penal colony, the once-decadent world of Hool, under the leadership of the upstart Hive-Mother, Suh-Joh, seeks to reestablish its former heights. Suh-Joh’s scientists detect a faint electromagnetic pulse (EMP) of a fusion weapon, which originates in the Solar System. Believing this is the world responsible for bombing their penal colony, Suh-Joh sends a ship to investigate.

The ship jumps through a space-time gate and enters the Solar System near Pluto and then blunders into a space battle between the humans and the Qu’uda. A laser blast breaches the Hoo-Lii ship’s hull, causing it to lose all of its water and much of its air. The humans attempt to establish communications and give the Hoo-Lii water, which they regard as a symbol of submission. The Hoo-Lii depart, promising to return and “lead them.”