Book excerpt: Butch McCrae and Elmer Tepper return to Station Post One after what was supposed to be a routine patrol-but their report shakes the station! A mysterious alien intelligence grabbed their ship and took them on a journey to the Andromeda Galaxy! Now they are thrown into a whirlwind of celebrity, public adulation, and media scrutiny. But all this media attention distracts from the real legacy of their historic journey-an alien probe has stowed away aboard their ship and has now infiltrated the station. And the information it sends to its home galaxy is awakening a vast intergalactic force which could wipe out all intelligent life in our galaxy!