"Data insufficient."
"Theorize, then!"
"Data insufficient."
The linked minds concentrated upon the problem for a period of time that might have been either days or weeks. Then:
"Great Brain, advise us," Ynos said. "What is best for us to do?"
"With identical defensive screens it becomes a question of relative power. You should increase the size and power of your warships to something beyond the computed probable maximum of the enemy. You should build more ships and missiles than they will probably be able to build. Then and only then will you attack their warships, in tremendous force and continuously."
"But not their planetary defenses. I see." Ynos's thought was one of complete understanding. "And the real offensive will be?"
"No mobile structure can be built to mount mechanisms of power sufficient to smash down by sheer force of output such tremendously powerful installations as their planet-based defenses must be assumed to be. Therefore the planet itself must be destroyed. This will require a missile of planetary mass. The best such missile is the tenth planet of their own sun."
"I SEE." Ynos's mind was leaping ahead, considering hundreds of possibilities and making highly intricate and involved computations. "That will, however, require many cycles of time and more power than even our immense reserves can supply."