Captain, Douglas Mitchell, of NASA’s space exploration unit had been invited to a hush hush meeting that had him wondering. Normally any developments for a potential mission were telegraphed to an advanced notice, but this was different. A Major Whittier, whom he’d never met had called for an impromptu meeting. Douglas was escorted in by a female officer and entered the mayor's office a bit confused.

“Congratulations, Captain, you’ve been chosen for a crucial mission thanks to your qualifications,” Major Whittier spoke as they shook hands.

“Glad to have been chosen, Sir. What type of mission will this be?”

“A manned orbital rendezvous with another orbiting vehicle.”

“Sounds pretty routine to me, Major Sir. Aren’t I a bit over qualified for this?”

Major Whittier’s expression changed from cordial to intense, “This is a classified mission! You will rendezvous with a foreign vessel!”

“What nation would that be, Sir? If I may ask. China? Russia? The UK?”

“It will be another civilization upon which you will be briefed on shortly if you choose to accept.”

Captain Mitchell frowned at the odd answer. “I will follow my orders, Sir!” Douglas snapped.

You do remember what the Gemini Project was all about?” The Major replied.

“Of course, Sir,” Captain Mitchell replied.

“You’ll be briefed shortly, interviewed, and you’ll have a scheduled simulator run to polish up on your skills before lift-off. This is a high priority launch!” The major spoke. “That is all.”

Mitchell left and the Major gave his receptionist the next invitation, “Kate, send in the next astronaut.”

Lance Ellsworth, Naval Lieutenant Commander entered the office. “Lieutenant Ellsworth reporting, Sir.”

“At ease,” Major Whittier gestured for the lieutenant to be seated. “How would you feel about an orbital docking mission with a foreign vessel?”

“Whatever my country asks of me, Sir.”

“Two things, Lieutenant. This is a highly classified mission. There will be no discussion with friends or family, and you will be under strict surveillance. Is that understood?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Any questions?” Whittier asked not wanting to hear anything else.

“So, I take it that this is not some routine mission to be using the level of expertise I’ve been trained for?” Ellsworth asked.

“You will do as you’re told, Lieutenant. You will be briefed shortly on the mission and you will attend a simulator for an orbital hook up with a foreign vessel. Is that clear?”

“Aye Sir.”

“You’re dismissed, Lieutenant. Good luck!” Whittier pressed a button on his intercom. “Send in the last of the astronauts.”

“Science Officer, Tech Sergeant Bellows, Sir.”

“Have a seat, Sergeant. You are being offered an opportunity aboard a classified orbital mission. This is a high priority with launch preparation ASAP! Are you prepared?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“As you should know, you will not contact any friends or relatives alluding to this mission. That understood?”

The Sergeant almost smirked, feeling like a guinea pig being sent up as expendable, but he fought hard not to express any disagreement. “May I enquire as to what type of mission this will be, Sir?”

“All I am authorized to tell you is that this will be an orbital docking mission with a foreign vessel! Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You’ll be notified shortly of the briefing time and then preparation for the launch. Dismissed and good luck.” Whittier watched the astronaut leave and blew out a sigh of released tension. If they only knew, he thought to himself.

Chapter II

After their briefing and orbital docking mission refresher, the three astronauts were hastily loaded onto a Gulfstream G-V from Houston Space Center to Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California. From there they could see the Celestra, Duckhawk Missile, ready at the gantry ready for launch. The enormity of the mission began impressing them at to the weight of their objective  upon each one of them. “Damn, when the Major said we had to be ready to go! I thought we’d at least have a few days to prepare!” Ellsworth griped.

“Ours is to do or die and not to question why,” Captain Mitchell said with a tone of contempt.

“Even if we’d wanted to tell anybody in our family about this, we wouldn’t have had time!” Griped Tech Sergeant Bellows.

“Just attend to your responsibilities, Sergeant, no time for bullshit on this mission!” Mitchell snapped.

“Okay, okay, just lighten up a little. You’re wound too tight, Captain,” Bellows replied.

“On such short notice, who the hell wouldn’t be wound up too tight?” Lance Ellsworth spoke aloud.

Over the loudspeaker an amplified voice called out “T-Minus 60 minutes and counting,” as base personnel raced to get final preparations ready for launch. The fuel truck had just pulled away from the launch pad and US Air Force officers were re-checking all tracking and telemetry systems. There was already a chase plane up and orbiting the launch facility to observe the missile and make sure there were no outwardly detectable problems. The astronauts were fitted with their space suits. If the atmosphere were considered tense, that would have been an understatement, and even during the briefing the three astronauts had not been informed as to who the foreign entity was that they would rendezvous with!

The launch went smoothly even with a narrow window of planning, and still, thought it all felt odd and way too hurried to be a normal mission, they had settled in and began their normal routine of checking their instruments and interacting with Mission Control over flight data and the gradual approach to the proper orbital altitude. Years of training and preparation along with previous missions had been one thing, but the speed to which this mission had been commenced and the astronauts notified must have been a damn record, “Captain Mitchell thought as he rechecked his final parameters.

“Through their camera the three men viewed the incredible blue sphere beneath them as the command module entered into a higher altitude burn and to be finally level at the same height as their objective, the foreign vessel. “Got a blip on radar,” Bellows called out. “That should be our Baby!” He adjusted his radar screen. “One hundred miles and closing!”

“Forward retro rockets firing now!” Mitchell called out.

“Roger that!” Lieutenant Ellsworth replied. “Preparing to align the docking hatches now!”

From mission control General Reece Manning leaned over the shoulder of the communications officer. “Notify the vessel inhabitants! We are positioned for the docking procedure. All systems are go!”

USAF Com officer Raymond Bradley, hit the translation switch on his instrument panel and typed the instructions to the foreign entities aboard their target docking host. “This is United States Air Force Command. We are prepared to dock!”

The response came, “This is the Reticulan Commander, tell your crew to proceed!”

The two spacecraft linked up with a jolt and preparations were made to pressurize and enter the space craft by either crew, but there was another briefing delay.

General Reece Manning spoke on a loudspeaker on the Celestra spacecraft, “Men I commend you upon your competent performance and your patience over this rushed emergency mission. It is now time to reveal to you the remaining objective of your mission. You are meeting with an extraterrestrial spacecraft and crew as part of a diplomatic objective to make first contact with an alien civilization. We have made prior arrangements for an exchange and in the interests of peaceful intentions you will comply with all things asked of you. Is that understood gentlemen? Your country is proud of you!”

“Shit!” Bellows cursed with a bitter whisper. “I knew something was up!”

“What was that Sergeant?” General Manning cut in.

“Nothing, Sir, I’m just a little bit in shock is all!”

“Please keep your ambiguities to yourself!” The General warned, there was no time to admonish the sergeant now.

Reticulan Commander, Zelos, hit a release lever on his side of the docking hatch and waited until Sergeant Bellows, still in shock, released the pressure lock on his half of the docking hatch. What he was met with shocked him even more. Staring back at him was a being with a head shaped more like that of a horse only flesh colored with an apparent humanoid body. His skin tight fitting uniform almost looked like it was flesh but for where the cuffs around the wrists would cut off. He glared back into the eyes of a being that God only knew how far had come to this point orbiting around the earth at 300 miles in height. The entity extended a hand and Bellows froze up for a moment now knowing whether to shake it or worry about contamination from an alien pathogen of some kind, but he thought, “well prior arrangements had been made, right?”

Captain Douglas Mitchell watched in curiosity, wondering if the right man had been allowed to unlock the docking hatch. He grimaced to himself, “The typical goddam compartmentalization of the armed services.”

Ellsworth moved weightlessly toward the tunnel that connected to the two hatch openings forcing a smile on his face as he moved forward. He was almost dumb founded. He tried a friendly grin and extended a hand as he half floated and crawled into the alien craft interior. These entities were a bit smaller than their earthman counterparts. He didn't know whether he’d cry or pass out, but he entered into an unknown imposed upon him by his superiors like the patriotic officer he was. One of the Reticulans bowed rather than shake his hand, raising an arm directing him to follow deeper into the ship. The lighting was like nothing the crew had ever seen like an orange bluish color. The lieutenant shook his head in disbelief. This was as unreal as anything he could imagine!

A burst of high speed transmission reached the command center at Vandenberg Air Base and was translated by Communications Officer, Raymond Bradley. “A Commander Zelos on the Reticulan spacecraft acknowledges a successful docking procedure and applauds your crew for their proficiency!”

“I’ll need to get on the horn with the President right now son and convey the message!” General Reece Manning said, as he removed a cigar butt from the side of his mouth.

“We have a connection with the Oval Office, Sir!”

“Is that you General?” The President spoke.

“Yes, sir, apparently we have succeeded in contact.” General Manning replied.

“Great work, Sir, Keep me posted so that I can get diplomatic talks arranged with our friends from across the distances of space. This is an historic moment in the history of mankind.”

The President of the United States turned toward his press secretary, “It’s too damned early to inform the American people and the world. So, cool your heals. No announcements until I give the approval, understood?”

“Yes, sir Mister President, and by the way, Congratulations!” The Press Secretary excitedly answered.

The President turned toward his Secretary of State, “We will not be premature here. I’m not convinced that things are copacetic yet!”

“I understand, Mister President, and may I say, a wise move. We should not be impulsive or premature.”

“Right!” The highest ranking executive officer in the US federal government replied. Something did not feel right!

An hour passed as NASA, Vandenberg Airbase command center and the White House waited.

Aboard the alien spacecraft, Commander Zelos was awaiting his orders. The opportunity to examine the human astronauts and learn everything they could about the human race was already underway. He sent a high speed massage out to his world and it would take time for a return response! Told to do whatever they were supposed to comply to was now worrying Lance Ellsworth who was now laying strapped to a table with strange instruments all around him. The Reticulans had been quiet and not very transparent.

In another compartment deeper into the ship lay Sergeant Bellows, a number of wires with suction cups attached to his skin, wondering just what the hell was going on! The interior of the alien craft was clinically sanitized it seemed. Far from being earth-like or cozy, he felt as though he were in a strange dream unaware that his brain was being scanned! He felt like a lab animal in the presence of lab technicians that treated him like an intellectually inferior, a guinea pig! This was so wrong!

NASA flight center in Houston contacted the Vandenberg Air Base Com Center,” Doctor Neely here. We have lost all vital sign monitoring from the three astronauts! This is no coincidence. Their sensors have been shut off, or the astronauts have expired!”

General Manning gritted his teeth, “Thank you Doctor. We will take appropriate action!”

The General turned toward the officer on duty, “Deploy the drone from the Celestra get a remote pilot ready to operate it!”

Meanwhile, Captain Mitchell has resisted entering the alien vessel preferring to monitor the situation from his command chair when one of the Reticulans came through the hatch tunnel. He gestured toward the captain to come with him. In the back of his mind he remembered being ordered to comply! “Damn it!” He swore under his breath.

Drone operator MacPherson at the flight controls of the Celestra drone had moved the craft around on the outside of the Reticulan vessel getting it to peer into portholes to see what was going on! The alien craft was roughly twice the size of the Celestra and there were quite a few viewing windows, but what he eventually viewed shocked him and he activated live camera recording! “General! I have photos and film footage! I think you should see this, Sir!”

The digitized still footage clearly showed Tech Sergeant Bellows bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth hooked up to some array of instruments! The general slammed a fist on the desk in front of him! “Get this film to the White House and Joint Chiefs of Staff!”

After examining the photos and live footage, the President turned toward his science officer, Professor Von Ryan, “What do you think about this?”

Von Ryan was clearly shocked as he reviewed the film, “Sir, we are dealing with a technologically advanced civilization. If we make an impulsive decision here it could be one we regret! You do remember what happened back in 1952 when UAP’s swarmed all over White House air space as our fighters and pilots impotently pursued and we lost fighter aircraft and pilots for many years to come in the 1950’s. Things could get worse!”

“Joint Chiefs are on the phone, Sir!” The Secretary of State spoke.

Five Star General, Collin Thorn, spoke emphatically, “Sir, the consensus among the staff think this is an advanced hostile reconnaissance mission by the Reticulans! They are actively gathering intelligence from our captured astronauts! We’ve been tricked, Sir!”

The President sprang to his feet, “Then what do you and your colleagues propose?”

“Destroy their spacecraft, Mister President! There’s no telling how much their brutal interrogation has revealed!”

“What about our men aboard the alien craft?” The President asked getting a sick feeling in his stomach.

“Sir, we feel that the astronauts aboard the alien craft are probably compromised if not dead already. If this goes on much longer the loss in life for our people could be much greater! “

“Explore all of your firing solutions, General and come up with a plan!” The President slammed down the handset. “This is what we get for being accommodating to another civilization!”

“It wouldn’t be the first time in history, Sir!” The Secretary of State muttered. “We already know how ruthless human nature is throughout military history. Why would we not expect the same from another exo-society?”

Von Ryan spoke, “We have a US Army missile equipped with a particle beam in the nose that after launch can target and destroy multiple bogies. Under the HARP program launched out of Fort Greely, Sir. That would seem to be our fastest response!”

The President got back on the direct line to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “General Thorn, I have a suggestion by my science advisor you might want to consider. It might be the quickest response we can muster!”

“Put him on, Sir!”

Back at Vandenberg Air Force Base, General Manning was getting irate! “What they hell are they doing in DC twiddling their damn thumbs?” He burst aloud. Turning to his officer on duty he asked, “How long have our astronauts been incommunicado?”

“Two hours and 45 minutes. No response from the Reticulan ship!”

Manning contacted Houston Space Flight Center, “Get me a technician or engineer for the Celestra Space Craft ASAP!”

“Doctor Evan Richards here, General, how can I help you?”

“We’re in Dire Straits here, Doctor and I need to ask you an important question because our enemies may have compromised our spacecraft! Does the ship have a self-destruct mechanism and can it be remotely detonated?”

“Yes to both questions, General. May I ask why you’re inquiring?”

“No! This is classified! All I want to have are the instructions on activating the self-destruct mechanism from my location! Can you give me that information?” General Manning waited impatiently.

“This is highly unusual, Sir without the normal protocol,” Doctor Richards replied hesitantly.

“You have the authorization by a Four Star General at Vandenberg Space Force Base! If you refuse to cooperate I’ll have you thrown in the brig! Is that clear Doctor? Now I have my duty officer here and you can give him all the codes and information we will need to pursue this emergency!”

“Y-Yes Sir,” Doctor Richards answered scrambling to locate the file on the proper command sequence.

General Collin Thorn listened to Von Ryan’s description of the missile’s capability, “Yes, I am aware of this weapon but thought the US Army had cancelled the program. Do you know if there’s a Bird ready and standing buy in a silo?”

“I suggest you contact Fort Greely directly, General Collins. I am not fully aware of their currently readiness status!”

“Get me the Bird Colonel on the roster at Ft. Greely,” The General ordered on of the officers.

“I want to see what you people have done with Sergeant Bellows!” Captain Douglas Martin demanded from Commander Zelos, who seemed to take on a weird countenance.

“You were told by your superiors to comply with our requests, were you not?” The words originated inside Martin’s head, not from his ear drums.

“As commander of my crew I demand to see the condition of one of my men!” Mitchell responded.

“I am sorry, Commander, but your demand does not correspond with the conditions of our arrangement with your superiors. I cannot cooperate with you on this. I can assure you he is in the middle of some tests we are running!”

“When is the last time you were in communication with either the Houston Space Flight Center or Vandenberg Space Command Base?”

Commander Zelos hesitated without an answer and pressed a colored membrane at his desk. Another Reticulan emerged from the corridor leading deeper into, raised a pistol shaped object toward Mitchel, and a bright flash left the Celestra crew member stunned and collapsing to the floor.

“Secure him for testing and extraction!?” Ordered Commander Zelos.

General Reece Manning was on the horn with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Capitol Hill, “This is General Manning at Vandenberg!”

“Reece, is that you?” General Collin Thorn replied.

“Yes Sir! As you know we have a situation and if your plans align with my conclusions then we must act now!”

“You always were an impulsive man, Reece,” Collin Thorn almost chuckled in the midst of the uncertainty. He thought of Manning as a bull in a China closet, but that’s what he liked about his colleague. “Go ahead General!”

“I have the coded commands for a self-destruct sequence on the Celestra. We can initiate it from my base and take out our craft along with theirs!” Manning blurted out.

“Then I suggest we go with it General Manning! I have another solution but I have a delay in the command structure over at Fort Greely! You are cleared! I will vouch for anything that happens form this point to the President! Initiate the proper sequence! Destruct!”

“A pleasure, Sir!” Manning dropped the connection and turned to his Duty Officer, Major McKenna. “Are we all set?”

“Prepared to transmit, Sir!” McKenna saluted, and uttered series of numbers and listened for command prompts. The firing order was being delivered.

General Collin Thorn called for the President of the United States, “Sir, I have given the order to activate the self-destruct to detonate the onboard ordnance of the Celestra! I take all responsibility, Sir. We did not have any more time.”

“Fine, General,” The President replied. “When do we get confirmation?”

“I am awaiting observations from our Space Command orbital tracking stations for confirmation. Should be shortly if you care to wait, Sir!”

“I will stay on the line General Collins,” The President replied with a tone of grim finality.

The Celestra space craft and the Reticulan vessel disintegrated in an orange flash of fire quickly extinguished by the absence of oxygen in the upper orbit of earth. Scraps of glowing wreckage showered the lower orbits burning up in the earth’s mesosphere while other fragments were ejected further out into space.

“Pituffik Space Base, tracking center at Greenland, has detected an orbital explosion in the coordinates we know to be where the Celestra space craft and the foreign vessel were!” Major McKenna nodded triumphantly.

General Manning responded to the President.” Sir, we have confirmation. Both space crafts destroyed in orbit! The targets no longer exist.”

“Thank you General,” President grimaced, “But I am afraid there will be new threats. Thank you Reece. You did your job.” The President turned toward his Secretary of State and Science Advisor and sighed. “Well, gentlemen. I regret that we did what we had to do.”

The End