Bradley, I have something curious to report. It’s not significant by itself, but I am being cautious. One of my probes has been disabled suddenly.
“Why are you concerned, Sion?”
One of the other probes saw a flash come from its vicinity when it stopped transmitting. It could have been shot. If it was, whatever shot it did so without warning and without requiring significant tracking energy. … Wait, I have just reviewed the probe’s records of its last moments. There was a tracking signal, but the killer had identified the probe and opened up in less than ten minutes, very trigger-happy.
“Are you saying you have encountered alien life?”
I’m saying I’ve encountered a sign of alien life, and if I read the sign correctly, this alien life is dangerous.
“If this is confirmed, you’ve scored another first even more memorable than Z-Rays, but hopefully not as malevolent as this first contact seems to indicate. Is there anything we can do to help?”
No! But I’ll keep you informed. I’ll need to analyze further to see if the killer can find me. The probe’s trajectory was quite flat, but it had been corrected in mid-course. My location should still be a mystery. The killer couldn’t have learned much about me—he was too fast on the draw. So far the other probes are undisturbed.
“Can you send me the probe records?”
Of course, but it’ll take time. The speed of this link still stinks.