Objects may be closer

"Shuttlecraft Asimov, you are cleared for launch."

The heavy bay doors began to slide apart to create an opening for the shuttlecraft.

The bay was already depressurized. Therefore it should not have been possible for any sound to travel from the opening bay doors to the interior of the shuttlecraft. Nevertheless, Green imagined that he could hear a low rumble as they slid apart. Perhaps there was a slight vibration that he was feeling with his feet. That would explain why I think I'm hearing the doors, Green thought. He would test his hypothesis in a moment. When the shuttlecraft lifts off the ground, the vibration in his feet should stop.

Morgan initiated the lift off sequence. Unfortunately, Green was not able to draw any conclusions about his theory - the vibrations of the shuttlecraft engines kicked in and drowned out the slight vibration he had already been feeling.

Morgan piloted the shuttle out of Dawn.

Seeing the cloud from inside the shuttlecraft was a different experience for Green than had been seeing it on Dawn's main view screen. There was something about seeing it with his own eyes, rather than as a projection on a view screen, that amazed him.

Morgan was speaking. "I've plotted a trajectory to follow the probe that we lost. The coordinates are in your monitor. Take the controls, Ensign."

Green was stunned. "Sir... are you asking me to pilot this shuttle?"

"Exactly. You have been trained for this, haven't you?"

"Yes sir." Yes sir, but I was trained on a simulator, where nothing could really go wrong. Yes sir, but we've lost one, maybe two of our probes because of this cloud, and the Captain didn't even want me on this mission, and you're asking me to fly around this thing. Yes sir. Green didn't say any of that aloud. Aloud he only said, "Yes sir," and he took the controls.

Satisfied that the helm of the Asimov was in good hands, Morgan busied himself peering over the sensor readouts. This cloud they were flying around had thrown a few surprises at them and he wanted to be prepared for anything.

Green liked the way the controls felt. They felt the way they should feel. They felt familiar, like the controls in the simulator had felt; only one thing was slightly different. They felt real. It was hard to pin down exactly what the difference was; perhaps it was a slight vibration, or perhaps some sound that the machinery was making.

Whatever exactly the sensation was, Green wasn't sure, but he was sure of one thing - it was exhilarating. It was giving him a rush, and that gave him the confidence to ask the question that was in the back of his mind.

"Mr. Dante, why didn't the captain want me on this mission?"

Morgan noted that in addressing him as "Mr. Dante", Green was modeling the example the senior officers had set on the bridge, and he silently approved. Although the senior staff addressed each other with a casualness that came from familiarity, Arjay preferred a more formal tone to be used on the bridge. Here on the shuttlecraft, a more casual reference would be acceptable - but Green was still too new. Morgan remembered the doctor's words to him - when I have been on the ship long enough to have saved your life, then you can call me Dr. Lucy. Yes, as far as Ensign Green was concerned, Mr. Dante would do for now.

"Captain Walton believes that Ms. Quarette is a more experienced pilot than you and should have been the one to accompany me."

"But you recommended me."

"I want to see that you have a chance to gain experience. Captain has the confidence in me to trust my recommendation."

"I see... thank you sir, for having the confidence in me."

Green piloted the shuttlecraft carefully along the course Morgan had plotted. It occurred to him that the senior officer hadn't really answered his question - he'd merely repeated in different words what the captain himself had said on the bridge. Yet there was something about the way he had said it that had made Green feel more confident about himself.

Morgan returned to peering through his viewfinder. Although the sensors showed that all was clear along the course he had plotted, he felt uneasy. He was certain that they were maintaining a safe distance from the gas cloud - and yet, and yet they had lost contact with one of the probes they had sent out and only intermittent contact with another. Add to that the fact that this cloud somehow distorted their sensor beams. He thought of the old expression, objects in viewfinder may be closer than they appear. A clear sensor reading should have made him feel more comfortable, but instead it made him uneasy.

Green too began to feel uneasy. He looked up from his helm console and out through the shuttle's windshield. There was not much to see visually; the shuttle's sensors were able to depict the cloud in much more resolution and detail than could the naked eye. The course he was following should be keeping them at a safe distance from the cloud. And yet, Dawn had sailed right into the cloud before they even knew it as there, and almost wrecked the ship's engines.

"Sir,"

"Ensign," the two men spoke at the same time.

"Perhaps we should back off."

"Back us off," they finished simultaneously.

That's when something smacked the front of the shuttle.