“Captain Jerico, good to see you.” “Same here Ms. Morganthal. But I mayhave some bad news for you.” Belen frowned. The captain wasstationed at Fort MacDonald, the military installation on the edgeofthe galaxy. If he had bad news, it could be lousy news,indeed. “Go ahead, captain.” “We are on red alert. Our command hasreceived information about a possible invasion from beyond thegalaxy. This doesn’t mean there will actually be an invasion, butthe general here considers the information serious enough, andcredible enough, to sound the red alert alarm. We have probes andscans out, but, as of now all is quiet. How long that will last Ican’t say.” “A galactic invasion? That’s thelast thing we need.” “Yes, but I wanted to get theinformation to you because Vega would be in the direct path of