Changed on 7/19/2018

When the elevator reached the bottom floor, a man in a suit and his entourage trod a series of dimly lit hallways, toward a steel set of double doors at the end. Emblazoned on the doors, the Great Seal of the United States. After saluting the center staff member, two guards stepped aside then inserted and turned two keys, simultaneously, to unlock and open the seal before their VIP guest.

A populated dark room of sundry desks and monitors lay before the VIP entourage. On the other side, waiting, stood a man just past middle age, wizened with a determined look about his aging complexion. He extended his four-star uniform's blue sleeve, greeting the suit in the middle of the entourage.

"Secretary Carter."

The suit, another grey-haired man of wiser years, met his greeter's handshake. His stare came with a natural squint that promptly veered off the uniform.

"David," he coolly returned. "There was something you needed me to see."

"Yes, sir. More than that, I think you'll want to."

Joint Chiefs of Staff member David Goldfein led Secretary Carter across the immediate balcony, and down the stairs toward the busy floor of Air Force fatigues. Everyone's computer screen contained at least one of many images showcased on the wall, where overhead monitors relayed various photo-stills of outer space.

"China provided the earliest reports," Goldfein continued, "but around roughly 0600 hours eastern, NASA recorded several astronomical anomalies traveling past Saturn's rings at uniform acceleration."

Secretary Carter stopped halfway down the stairway. "Anomalies? Where are they headed?"

Chief Goldfein halted at the base of the stairs, bracing the secretary with his sober face. "As you can see," —gesturing towards the monitors— "they disappeared from Saturn's orbit after ten minutes. The president is being briefed in the White House, and I suspect he may cancel today's rally."

The Secretary stared at the monitors, attempting to register the blips by Saturn's asteroids and elsewhere. But, he needed to see more. "So where are they now?" he asked, stepping onto the ground level.

"They're displacing, and fast," replied the chief. They stepped to the foremost row of operational terminals, settling between a pair of subordinates who played their desktop boards like a pair of tuneless instruments. Chief Goldfein pointed at Saturn's rings. "Magnify."

"Sir!" the subordinate acknowledged.

Nearly a dozen distinct shadows, cylindrical in shape, rendered over Saturn's orbit. But the distance was too great for any detail

"Switch to four hours ago..."

Clicking hands brought new images on the monitors, six of them displaying Jupiter's clouded surface. And against its illuminated backdrop returned several floating husks. More prevalent but still distant.

"Two hours ago."

Mars' red surface came onscreen, again the backdrop to a group of floating vessels. Each time, the satellite camera rendered the anomalies more distinct.

"Thirty minutes."

Each photo furrowed the Secretary's brow by deep increments until he could only gawk at the last satellite images of Earth's moon. Likewise flooded by questions, the floor of personnel gawked in the same manner. Larger machines appeared per screen, just outside the moon's craggy surface. More evident than before, they were not asteroids.

Chief Goldfein waited until Secretary Carter breathed before proceeding. And awakening from his stunned vexation, the secretary stammered, "That was thirty minutes ago?" By now, the screens exhibited Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the moon in chronological sequence.

"We determined as much, but we had to be certain," the chief replied. "After checking with NASA, these are in fact the exact same aberrations chronicled across our solar system. And they held firm to their 'empirical' calculation; no celestial body is capable of this acceleration. In conjunction with external measurements, their constancy of shape, then there can be no doubt—"

"They're already here, aren't they?"

Chief Goldfein and the majority of personnel planted disquiet stares on the Secretary of Defense. The silence compounded until Goldfein stepped within close earshot.

"Our atmosphere will be breached within the hour...China, Russia, and the EU have already mobilized. Norad is on standby."

Secretary Carter let out a long, deep breath, deadpanned on the strange, floating ships over the moon's craters.

"The pistol is cocked..."

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