“Get them back here.” Salis barked at the bridge crew, but not to anyone in particular. “Open a channel to Command in the Sit Room.”

The captain marched quickly out of C.I.C, trying to figure out what he was going to tell the brass when even he didn’t know what was going on.

His communicator chirped. “Landing party is aboard, Captain.” a deck officer reported.

He raised his wrist to his chin and touched a button on his cuff. “Hold them there. No contact.” Isolation. That’s the protocol. he thought.

Closing the hatch to the Sit Room, Salis approached the wall console which controlled the viewscreen. An amber button was glowing, telling him the channel was already open.

Gently depressing the button, he spoke into the transmitter. “Command. Hammer, Golf Tango Romeo. Encode Pharaoh.”

Immediately, the console light flashed red, followed by Admiral Hayes’ face on the viewscreen.

“Captain.” said Hayes. “Confirm Pharaoh encoding.”

“Pharaoh confirmed, Admiral. Alien incursion.” replied Salis.