USS Kingston DE 7
Lewis, G. L. CMDR USSF, Commanding
USS Kingston geostationary at equatorial, longitude 045:23.10.
Condition II set.
Deployment: 04.23 STD Hours
1320 Hours EDST 0720 UTC

"Captain, CIC: Latest position of the bogey, sir."

Designated Force Command Lead, Lewis, viewed the holo. The bogey was fixed with the terminator and twenty-two degrees above the ecliptic while orbiting slowly about the planet. Strategically, it covered the northern hemisphere where the major launching facilities were.

0827 UTC: "Captain, CIC: DE Station Alfa 2 reports on station and tracking bogey."

"Very well."

0829 UTC: "Captain, CIC: Alfa 3 ETA projected online from LEO at 0849 UTC."

"Very well."

Good. All of the US DEs will bear on the bogey.

The images from both China's FAST and Chile's EELT, Earth's largest radio and optical telescopes, respectively, showed a sphere nearly two klicks in diameter. Monitoring was imperative after it nulled the US National Defense Sceptre and Omega LEO scanning satellites as it passed. Other militaries and civilian systems also reported the anomaly. The units simply stopped transmitting for a period ranging from micro-seconds to several minutes.

"Evaluating capabilities, captain?"

"Might well be. Woomera and GoldStone are checking that, XO."

0850 UTC: "Captain, CIC: Alfa 3 in position, configured and tracking, sir."

'Very well"

0902: "Captain, Com 1: D. N, King, VAdm, Director SpaceCom: "Kingston only--launch neutral scanners to the bogey. Repeat: neutral scanners only."

"Com 1, Affirm. Launch neutral scanners to the bogey.

"Guns."

"Guns, aye Captain."

"Launch scanners 01 and 02. Set neutral; monitor only, passive mode, on converging tracks to bogey. Use self-corrected positioning."

"Launch scanners 01 and 02, set neutral, monitor only, passive mode, on converging tracks to bogey reload. Use self-corrected positioning. Aye Captain."

Weapons Com displayed Alpha--Countdown in progress. Launch in X minus ten.

0913 UTC: "Captain, Guns: O1 and O2 away, running hot true and normal. ETA at scan range, 0958."

"Very well, Guns."

"Com 1, report probes launched 0913 Hours UTC. ETA to scan at 0958 Hours UTC."

"Aye, Captain."

0930 UTC: Captain, Com 1: USSpaceCom has ordered US forces to set General Quarters Condition l."

"Affirmed. US forces to set General Quarters Condition l.

"Make it so, Mr. Dobbins."

"Aye, captain.

"Bridge ... XO."

"Bridge, aye."

"Sound General Quarters."

"Bridge aye, set General Quarters."

The 1JV3 ship-wide com sounded. "ATTENTION, ATTENTION, General Quarters, General Quarters; all hands, man your battle stations. General Quarters, General Quarters. Set Battle Condtion 1." The gong rang for ten seconds then silenced.

0940 UTC: "Captain, CIC: all GQ teams report active."

"Men, this is the captain speaking. An unknown object, possibly a hostile spaceship has entered orbit. We have launched query probes. We will remain at GQ CON I until further orders.

"XO. Button it up."

"Aye, captain."

Chile's EELT optical telescope reported no change. Lewis cursed the idiots in both the Russian Confederation and CCP for their paranoiac offense only orbiting forts.
"They can't attack anything beyond their orbits. At least our planners had a strategic sense to see a need for such firepower if only to destroy a possible wayward asteroid. Now it's for real and they are out of it."

"Captain, launch control: Target acquisition acquired by 01 at 1004."

"Display."

"Aye, captain."

It was a magnified and featureless image that flashed on the CIC holo. No change was seen as the probe orbited the bogey.

Then it blanked.