The Hour of Battle

A telepathic alien species that can usurp human minds prompts humanity to race into a technological defense: scientists create a networked Attison Detector to sense deviations in brain-wave patterns and deploy small Guardian ships to form a protective sphere. The narrative follows sailors watching ever-vigilant dials after an early exploratory contact in which an explorer's mind was subtly altered, and dramatizes the officers' boredom, fear, and argumentative speculation about detection range, effectiveness, and vulnerability. The story explores the uneasy intersection of electronic surveillance, psychological warfare, and the human toll of constant watchfulness.