About the title
The unidentified ships are made of materials whose origin has never been encountered before, making them extremely difficult to counter. They splash down in the Pacific Ocean, in the part of the bay where standard international naval exercises were taking place. A force-field dome covering their entire occupied area also traps three missile destroyers. The destroyers' crews try to make contact with the aliens, but in response receive a weapons volley that instantly destroys two ships and deals the third a devastating blow to its command post, killing nearly all of its officers.