The shuttle fell toward Saturn in complete silence.
Without the fusion drive's constant hum, every small sound became amplified. The faint creak of the hull adjusting to temperature changes.
The soft whisper of the life support system cycling air. The almost inaudible buzz of the orientation thrusters maintaining their rotational stability.
Through the viewport, Saturn filled more of the view with each passing second. The rings resolved into finer detail—individual bands separating into thousands of ringlets, each one a distinct orbital path carved by gravitational resonances.
The Cassini Division cut a dark line through the structure, and within it, fainter rings were visible, proof that even the gaps weren't truly empty.
