Authors: saxon andrew
Probe Predators (31 page)
Angela nodded, “That is exactly what they would have done and a lot of our shipbuilding capacity would have been destroyed.”
Drey sighed, “I can see you’re right; we can’t take both of them on.”
“We’re not taking either of them on; M87 will have to fight their own battles from this point forward. They made this agreement without our prior consent and I’ve told them they’re on their own from now on. They assume that if the Threshers can kill the Family’s ships, they can as well. I personally think that’s a little bit of a leap of faith; but it’s their galaxy that will pay the price if they’re wrong. We will not fall back into laziness and not be prepared again.”
Jinx said, “What about M87? They have that new penetrator that is actually more powerful than our Pegs. There’s no way we can match their ship building capacity.”
“I suspect the Family might have an impact on their numbers.”
Jinx’s eyes narrowed, “Why do you believe that?”
“M87 doesn’t have our force fields. Their new penetrator will kill the Family’s ships, but…”
Jinx nodded, “They will be killed as well.”
Angela nodded, “One thing you can count on is that they won’t be doing anything to antagonize us until after the issue with the Family is resolved.” Angela paused, “After all of this is settled, there is still an issue with M87.” Angela looked at Drey, “I want you to discuss their recent intent to invade our galaxy with their leaders.”
Drey smiled and hugged Dee, “I’m looking forward to it.”
“There’s one other thing you’ve missed while looking to make M87 pay for their sins.”
Drey looked at Angela and then at Dee who looked as confused as Drey. “What have I missed.”
Angela looked at Dee, “What happened in the first Family Invasion when the first Family to invade was defeated?”
Dee’s eyes went wide and Drey said, “What?”
Dee shook her head, “How long have you known this?”
Angela shrugged and Drey said, “What! Known what?”
Dee shook her head and smiled, “Drey, when the first Family was defeated, they sent three Families to remove the ones that were a threat to them. If they don’t see the Orange Ships there…”
Drey looked at Angela and blew out a breath. “It looks like I won’t be getting my war.” He suddenly had a thought, “Do you think the Threshers know this?”
Angela nodded, “Yes, I do. However, for the immediate future, the Union will be at peace but building for war. I’ll be curious to see how our former ally fares against the Family without us.”
T
he Family arrived six months later and entered M87 with hundreds of millions of ships. The battle was fierce and hundreds of thousands of civilized planets were destroyed in the fighting. It took four years for the fleets in M87 to finally win and the survivors of the Family’s invasion jumped away. The Threshers came as promised and hauled off the derelicts the Family left behind and went to their domain and waited while they moved to distant galaxies. The Threshers had no intention of sending probes to follow the Family’s survivors; that was a fabrication of the Major Claw to deceive M87; they knew their probes would be detected and the survivors would never return to the other Families once the probes were seen. The Threshers also knew, if they could remain hidden, that the Families would return with a much larger force. Like the Threshers, the Families would not tolerate the existence of a dangerous adversary.
A year later, six Families invaded again and the civilizations in M87 were decimated. The Threshers waited patiently and arrived on the heels of the Families’ victory and ravished their fleets. Many of the planets in M87 that had managed to survive the two invasions were destroyed in the new fighting. The Threshers chased the Family’s survivors away and, for the moment, those planets that were still alive in the giant galaxy named M87 were given a reprieve and time to wonder what would have happened if they had not betrayed a former ally in a distant galaxy.
The End
The Annihilation Series:
Ashes of the Realm:
Lens of Time:
Star Rover-Running Out of Time
Star Chase
Probe Predators
Also an audiobook at
Audible.com
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
Jesse’s Starship
Star Chase-Probe Predators
Trapped in Time-Taken in Time
Copyright © 2014 by Saxon Andrew. All rights reserved. Screen Writers Guild no. VQEA3E380432.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
First Electronic Edition: January 2014
