Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 041 - Mission Gamma 1 - Twilight by David R. George III

Author:David R. George III [III, David R. George]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780743445603
Google: 9DFuSQAACAAJ
Amazon: 0743445600
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2002-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

The shuttlecraft Chaffee hied to port and down. The great, veiled mass of the planet swung into view in the forward windows, implying the movement that the inertial dampers denied. Vaughn scanned the clouds for breaks and saw none. Already, the shuttle had descended toward the planet twice, only to have to pull back when the transitory routes through the cover had been swept closed.

“The depression is increasing,” Ensign ch’Thane reported. He sat at the front starboard console, working the shuttle’s sensors; Vaughn sat directly behind him. Their scans could not penetrate the clouds and the energy surges contained within, but they could visually detect where the cover had parted in an area; ch’Thane tracked such an area right now. “It seems to be stretching far down.”

“If it opens all the way through, I’m ready for it,” Prynn said at the flight-control console. “I’ve put us into a tight spiral course around the central point of the hollow.” Vaughn watched as her hands moved fluidly across the panel, operating her controls like a conductor leading an orchestra.

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 Chaffee circled 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 announced that a route completely through the cover had opened. “It’s the same point we’ve been focused on,” he said.

“Acknowledged,” Prynn said. “Bringing us in.” She worked her controls, and the nose of the shuttle dipped toward the planet. Ahead, the horizon rose in the windows until it was lost from sight, the planet filling the view.

“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. Chaffee bucked 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.

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