Probe Predators

Introduction

Chapter One
•
Chapter Two
•
Chapter Three
•
Chapter Four
•
Chapter Five
•
Chapter Six
•
Chapter Seven
•
Chapter Eight
•
Chapter Nine
•
Chapter Ten
•
Chapter Eleven
•
Chapter Twelve
•
Chapter Thirteen
•
Chapter Fourteen
•
Chapter Fifteen
•
Chapter Sixteen
•
Chapter Seventeen
•
Chapter Eighteen
•
Chapter Nineteen
•
Chapter Twenty
•
Chapter Twenty-One
•
Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

Books by Saxon Andrew

T
he communication probes traveled for two thousand years to escape the gravitational effects of M87. Their drives were antiquated and only allowed them to move through normal space, just below the speed of light. The Species that originally constructed them knew if they used a jump drive, they could be traced and stopped. They were a last resort communications device that was basically designed to warn other families of their maker’s location just before they died. It was a warning and a call for revenge. They had been designed to ensure they got the message out if everything else failed. However, they were not intended to be launched from deep inside a galaxy. The probe’s builders didn’t consider that the ship that carried them would not be able to jump out to open space before it was destroyed. They also never considered that green space could be disrupted, which would trap ships in normal space with no means of using their jump drives.

So the probes scattered when the last ship launched them and went to light speed. Two thousand years later, they emerged in open space, outside the giant galaxy where the Family had died. Now they only had a year remaining of their long voyage to arrive in clear space with no gravitational effects, where they could broadcast their message.

Some historians would write that the probes were finally satisfied they had completed the task they were designed to perform. However, the stark truth was that the probes didn’t care or feel anything. They simply did what they were designed to do; nothing more; nothing less. Unfortunately, the designers didn’t realize the message they would be sending across the universe would not be received by only other Families; there were others that waited for their messages to prey on those that sent them. Both were a year away from receiving the broadcast.

T
rip sat in class and rubbed his temples. The helmet he had on was in the process of downloading the most recently published, History of the Union, and he was suffering big time. The drinks he put away the night before and the subsequent activities were taking a toll. He didn’t even make it back to his quarters but staggered into class with a monster hangover and a terminal case of sleep deprivation. His breath would back you up about ten feet. Falling asleep would not be an issue; his head hurt too much to allow it, especially with the massive amount of information being force fed into his brain by the helmet.

He held his temples and prayed for a fast and painless death. He hoped that when the download completed he still had a functioning brain. And what really made it worse was this was a history download; he hated history. Cole Driscoll reached over and put a photo in front of him and he lifted his head to look at it; he rolled his eyes. Evidently, his party the night before had not gone unnoticed. The picture was published by the Euclid Nova and the headline was in forty point type, “Trip, Trips Again!” It showed him being pulled out of a bar by a half-naked blonde.

He was a direct male descendant from Ian and Drey Montgomery. Their children had married and he carried the genes of the two most famous legends of the Union. He hated it. Everyone expected him to be a mover and shaker and he had no interest in moving or shaking anything…except his fingers to massage his temples. He smiled for a moment and thought about the woman he had been with the night before; now she was a mover and a shaker. Boy! Was she ever!

He put his head back down on his desk. He felt no desire to live up to his heritage; someone else could take that load. He was in line for the Throne but everyone knew he’d never accept the responsibility. One reporter had commented in an editorial that if he did accept the throne, he’d trip walking to it. From that point on, he was called Trip. Even his best friend, Cole, called him Trip. He looked at Cole and shook his head slightly. Cole sighed and shrugged. Trip wondered why Cole put up with him.

The Prime Genetic teaching the class watched Rey’s suffering and shook his head. He was such a waste of talent. He made the highest scores of anyone in his class of overachievers without putting forth any effort. His brain collected information and processed it in extraordinary ways. That ability had to have come from Dee Montgomery, the wife of the Union’s hero Drey Montgomery. He had tried to generate interest in the young man; unsuccessfully. He did not view his genetics as a gift but as a burden too heavy to bear. This was not the first time he had arrived in deplorable condition. The Genetic sighed; it wasn’t going to be the last either.

The Professor really couldn’t fault Trip too much; his famous ancestors had left a trust fund for their direct descendant that was staggering. Trip was wealthy, handsome, and bored. Those three attributes were not a good combination; everything came too easy. There was nothing he couldn’t buy and like any object one bought, he quickly tired of his purchases. It was just a wasted life. The Teacher thought about making class a little more miserable for him by directing questions at him but knew attempting to embarrass him in front of the other students was a waste of time. He really didn’t care what they thought about him and he would have probably answered the questions in a provocative fashion challenging the author of the text being studied. He didn’t want to do that because he was the one that wrote the text. He’d just let him put his head down and hoped sleep would take him and not a case of nausea.

• • •

The download finally ended and Trip thought, “Thank God!” He didn’t know how much longer he could have handled the double pronged pain. He removed the helmet and glanced at the professor. He thought about straightening him out on several points he had missed in his book but couldn’t gather the energy to do it. Besides, history was decided by whoever chose to write it. He saw the professor glance at him and direct his first question to a young woman on the other side of the classroom. Good, that was a clue he was going to be left alone. He put his head down and let his mind go on autopilot. In an instant he was asleep.

Cole reached in his bag and pulled out a small rag and put it next to Trip’s face to collect the drool starting to flow. He shook his head and wondered when his best friend was going to get a clue. It obviously wasn’t going to be today. Or the next day; they were invited to another party tonight.

• • •

The discussion of the text went on for more than two hours and the students didn’t notice the time. The history of the early Union and the conflicts it fought captivated their interest and the Professor was challenged to answer their questions.

Andi Montgomery raised her hand and the Professor pointed to her. “I’ve always been troubled by the probes the Family’s Senior Grandfather launched before his ship was destroyed.”

“What do you find troubling?”

“You know how advanced their technology was; the Union wasn’t that far ahead of them. Why would they have used a communications probe that didn’t have jump capability? And where were those probes going?”

The Professor frowned, “We really don’t have a good answer for that. There have been many theories to account for it but we have no way of knowing which one was right.”

Andi looked at the professor, “I have really done a lot of research into those probes and I managed to get a look at one of them in the military’s data banks. It was disabled and they were able to take a good look at the interior of the probe.”

The Professor was impressed, “How were you able to get access to that information?”

“My father is a Fleet Admiral and he encouraged me to explore anything that had to do with the military. I think he wants me to follow him into the service.”

“What did you discover?”

“The majority of the probe was a highly advanced pulse communicator. It was designed to send out a series of pulses at a frequency that was above any we’ve ever used. The propulsion system was designed to push the probe close to light speed and keep it there.”

The Professor shook his head, “It really doesn’t make sense, does it?”

Andi shook her head and was silent for a moment; then she said, “I keep wondering if relativity had anything to do with its design.”

Trip’s head came off his desk faster than a rattlesnake’s strike. His eyes were wide and he jumped out of his desk barely catching himself from falling to the floor, before looking across the room at Andi, “Do you know if those pulse generators used physical or energy particles!?!”

The entire class turned and looked at Trip, who had never displayed that kind of animation before. He stood beside his desk swaying as he held on tight to the chair. Andi stared at Trip, “I’m not really sure; would it really make a difference?”

Trip lowered his eyebrows, “What happens to matter when it approaches light speed?” Andi stared at Trip and her eyes grew larger. Trip looked at the professor, “How far inside that galaxy were those probes launched?”

“Whoa, slow down, Mister Montgomery.”

Trip screamed, “HOW FAR!?!”

The professor looked at his tablet and pressed a few buttons. He looked up, “Two thousand light years.”

Trip continued standing and held on to his desk while swaying and said in a voice almost too soft to hear, “And how many years ago were they launched?”

The professor looked at his tablet again and his face turned white. He looked at Trip and knew he already knew the answer. He said, “Two thousand and one years ago in a month.”

Silence descended on the class. The only noise they heard was Trip knocking over his desk as he stumbled out of the classroom. He fell to the floor in the hall and picked himself up as he stumbled out the exit to the building. Andi watched him leave, grabbed her tablet, and ran after him. The professor knew that his text wasn’t complete. Trip saw something about the Family’s Probes that scared him; the Professor knew the face of fear when he saw it. The other students did as well. None of them could figure out what had spooked the talented, lazy High Genetic.

• • •

Trip left the class and was trying his best to run but the alcohol and other additives just weren’t cooperating. The best he could do was stagger toward the parking hangar. Andi caught up to him and said, “Where are you going?”

“I need to take a trip.”

“Where?”

“To M87.”

“We’re not allowed to go there. Just how are you going to do that?”

“I am the proud owner of a String Needle.”

“That’s impossible; only the military is allowed to have those!”

Trip had to slow down. He stopped, grabbed a laser pole, and leaned over; the head was willing but the body was incapable of going further without releasing some baggage. He gagged and Andi turned her head and held him up as he emptied the contents of his stomach into the street. He produced sounds that almost had Andi gagging as well. After a few moments, he straightened up and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket. He took it off and threw it on top of the mess he made. He turned and started staggering.

“How did you get a Needle?”

Trip stopped and swayed slightly, “Where are your legs when you need them?” He looked at Andi, “You must know I have a rather high ranking in the list of Genetics.” Andi nodded. “Anyone higher than a five on the list has access to any discoveries made by the Union. With the String Needles being the most recent military development, I decided to purchase one for the purpose of studying it.”

“Those cost more than a hundred million credits each!” Trip shrugged. “Was it armed?”

“No, but it is now. I purchased them separately and had them installed by an expert.”

“Just what are you going to do?”

Trip sat down on the pavement and held his head, “Oh God don’t let me die!” He looked up at Andi, “Come on, Andi! You did the study; what do you think is going to happen when those probes hit open space?”

Andi shook her head, “If those probes are broadcasting a physical pulse traveling close to light speed, the pulses will expand to the size of the universe.”

Trip nodded, “Which means anyone with a receiver set to that frequency will hear it instantly no matter where they’re located.” Trip looked away from Andi, “How could everyone have missed it? Those probes were not designed to launch inside a galaxy. The Family’s Senior Grandfather was forced to launch them inside M87 because we disrupted null space and he couldn’t move his ship to open space. He knew they would never arrive in time to make any difference to the survival of his Family. They were sent for the sole purpose of revenge. If you think about it, they’re the perfect communication device if launched out in open space. We’ve missed it all these years and soon they’ll be clear of M87’s gravity field.”