Hrunkner Unnerby travels with Victory Smith aboard a supersonic recon bomber to Southmost under fighter escort. Smith works isolated from the flight techs, then responds when the crew detects a high-altitude nuclear pulse over the North Sea. The event knocks out a couple of commercial satellites but appears to be only a probing jab, leaving Unnerby anxious about what it portends.

In polar orbit, Jau Xin completes a brilliant deceleration burn to place the Invisible Hand over Arachna’s north. Ritser Brughel, shedding restraint, directs Bil Phuong’s ziphead teams to synthesize satellite reports and cloak their arrival. Tomas Nau calls from L1 to coordinate timing; Brughel schedules a public network takeover in roughly fifty-one Ksec and, with go codes pending, boasts they will “fry some Spiders” within about twenty Ksec. Xin plays the naive subordinate, hoping for a way to avoid mass killing.

On Paradise Island, Obret Nethering and his assistant Shepry Tripper track the returning object predicted from earlier auroral anomalies. Rushing topside, they witness a vast, dark silhouette—nearly a quarter degree across—cut across the Robber’s Cluster, revealing a squat, cylindrical shape with midships structures. The size and speed confirm a huge craft in low polar orbit.

Tripper attempts to alert Air Defense and post on public nets, but official channels brush them off and the gossips are flooded with crank traffic that buries credible reports. Recognizing coordinated information manipulation, Nethering resolves to start making direct calls.