Twilight

Minutes passed, and Vaughn sat quietly, allowing the two ensigns to do their jobs. The deep, solid hum of the engines pervaded the hull of the small vessel, enclosing the cabin in a cushion of steady vibration and sound. The stars swam sideways past the windows as Chaffeecircled above the potential breach in the clouds. Monitors to either side of the two main consoles displayed the images of the constantly stirring atmosphere directly beneath the shuttle.

Vaughn gazed at the monitors, but he could see nothing but the agitated expanse of gray. Still, a quarter of an hour later, Ensign ch’Thane a

“Acknowledged,” Pry

“Twenty seconds until we reach the top of the cover,” ch’Thane said. Vaughn peered through the windows and still could not discern the passage through the clouds. As they descended, though, details of the atmosphere became visible, evanescent structures of air, billows and wisps and swirls. “Ten seconds.” A helical formation curled away to port. With nothing to provide perspective, Vaughn found it impossible to gauge scale. What seemed like a small coalescence of vapor could easily have been kilometers long.

And then the grayness swallowed the shuttle. Chaffeebucked and began to shake as the colorless walls of air shot upward past the windows. Vaughn recalled the mythical tale of Jonah, as well as his own past experiences when he had felt, either figuratively or literally, as though he had been in the belly of the beast.

“I’m getting intermittent energy readings,” ch’Thane said. “No discernible source.” The shuttle began to rattle more strongly, as though the vibrations had reached a point of resonance. Vaughn clasped the arms of his chair, trying to steady himself. The cockpit became a shuddering blur, and the hum of the engines fluctuated, rising and falling as the shuttle made its way downward.

Vaughn looked at the monitor to Pry

“I see it,” Pry

The shuttle trembled as though something had struck it, and a loud boom filled the cabin. Vaughn imagined the fragments of the Vahni moon as they had battered Sagan,incapacitating Dax and robbing Ensign Roness of her life. “That was an energy surge,” ch’Thane called over the rising noise. “I can’t tell where it came from.”

Vaughn looked to his right, to the system status monitor set into the bulkhead there. “Power’s down three percent,” he read, struggling to keep his eyes steady. “The shields are holding.”

“As long as the shields stay intact,” Pry

Then something slammed broadside into the shuttle and sent it plowing through the air. It could have been a current of air shearing into Chaffee,Vaughn supposed, but he suspected that they had been rammed again by a surge of the mysterious energy. He tried to read the status monitor, but found it impossible with the shuttle shaking so violently now. Vaughn saw the clouds now up against the windows; Chaffeehad been pushed from the break in the atmospheric cover and into the cover itself.

Pry

Vaughn saw Pry

“One more time,” Pry

And then stopped. The flight of the shuttle stabilized and quieted, and the view before the windows cleared. Pry

“That’s not bad for the pounding we took,” Pry

Vaughn stood up and stepped between Pry

Vaughn leaned forward and peered out the windows. Above, an unbroken sea of clouds stretched to the horizon in every direction, diffuse sunlight penetrating them from above. Below, a nearly lifeless terrain spread out before them, dark patches dotting the rugged topography, the colors washed out in the gloom.

“Look there,” Ensign ch’Thane said, bringing his hand up and pointing just to the right of their flight path. Vaughn gazed in that direction and saw a series of shapes rising up in the distance from the otherwise barren landscape. As the shuttle drew closer, the shapes resolved into buildings.

“It’s a city,” Vaughn said.

“Captain,” Pry

Vaughn took a last look at the city, then said, “Bring us around.”

“Aye, sir.” She operated her console, and the shuttle tilted to port. Within a few seconds, the city had slipped from view.

“How are sensors functioning?” Vaughn asked.

“There’s some interference from the energy in the clouds,” ch’Thane said, “but we’re getting solid readings.”

“Good,” Vaughn said. “Scan astern for the city, and get what you can. I want to learn as much as possible while we’re down here.”

“Yes, sir,” ch’Thane said, and he worked his controls.