T – 3 hours — Venus Transfer Ellipse
Contrapunctus skimmed the Sun-side of the Morning Star, sails reefed to slivers. The planet blazed like a molten pearl; at this altitude the sulfuric clouds looked calm, hiding winds that screamed faster than any Earth hurricane.
In the cockpit, Cassie tightened her harness. "Atmospheric entry checklist. Items eleven through fourteen still red."
Aiden faked a sigh. "Lin's tea-grade is red too, but he serves it anyway."
Lin's voice piped from the nav nook. "That's because refinement offends your barbarian taste buds. Item eleven is fine—just re-open the bypass."
Cassie flicked a switch; the panel flipped to amber. "Eleven cleared. Brother miracles."
Aiden grinned. "Item twelve?"
"Item twelve is do not crash," Maya called from the engineering console. "Working on it."
At the hatch Nephis pressed a cloak patch over a hairline seam, needles flashing. "Do it faster. Clouds of acid outside, tease-acid inside." His glance at Maya drew an eye roll, a smile she tried to hide.
Solayna drifted near Dawn-Core and Minuet, constellation features dim under a veil of static. "Venusian resonance strains the quiet weave. We must braid our discord quickly."
Aerobrake
Cassie angled the ship nose-forward. Plasma bloomed violet against the shadow-panels; temp alarms howled, then settled as Nephis's stitches flexed.
Aiden braced for g-loading. "How's the lantern doing?"
Cassie tapped the housing—a warm thump. "Bright enough to scare thunder."
Lin's laughter crackled. "Thunder is quaking at your bedside manner."
"Ha. Still owe me cocoa for Titan," she shot back.
Cloud-Skim
Contrapunctus levelled 60 km above the baked surface, inside a corridor of dusk where day and night winds cancelled for a heartbeat. Visibility: amber haze. Sensors pinged the distress call again—same fractured Möbius looping from ten kilometres below.
Maya pulled it onto speakers: a brittle, tinkling double beat—19-prime chopped into uneven shards.
Nephis studied waveform. "It loops on perfect symmetry, then tears. Prison and plea in one."
Solayna's eyes brightened. "A Clear-shard forced into harmony. We free it with noise, else the storm will keep birthing static."
The Descent Pod "Second Guess"
No heat shield this time; Venus would melt one. Instead, a diamond-mesh drogue flared behind Second Guess, generating drag inside the thick air. Aiden, Cassie, and Solayna crammed in; Maya stayed topside to orchestrate comms, Nephis to run sail shielding, Lin to juggle trajectory maths.
"Give us a safe corridor, Tea-Buddha," Aiden said.
Lin coughed. "I'll pour a cup when you're back, barbarian."
Cassie added, "Make it two. Venus cocoa test awaits."
Thrusters fired. The pod dropped into soup the colour of butterscotch. L-band radar died at once; only lantern scatter mapped swirling eddies.
Solayna held Dawn-Core between her palms. "Prepare your flaws. The prison is woven of silver perfection."
Lightning Cathedral
At 52 km they breached a cloud canyon: a cavern of green-orange glow where lightning arced upward, not down. In the centre hovered the prison—a hollow Möbius torus of mirror-silver two metres across. Inside fluttered a tiny clear-thread figure, limbs frozen in symmetrical loops, eyes wide with silent panic.
The torus crackled, firing harmonic pulses that stung Aiden's teeth. Cassie's lantern dimmed, struggling.
"Noise—now," Aiden shouted.
They sang off-key: Aiden's whistle sharp, Cassie's lantern sputtering random brightness, Solayna plucking silent chords from Dawn-Core. The pulses struck the torus, creating interference scars. But symmetry healed faster.
Cassie cursed. "Needs bigger discord."
Aiden slammed a suit-boot into the pod wall, producing a metallic clang on the same pitch Lin's hated tea kettle whistled. He belted the kettle tune arrhythmically.
Cassie laughed mid-stress and joined, banging a wrench against conduit. Lantern flashed wild.
The torus surface rippled—fractures spreading. The tiny prisoner's eyes focused; its body flickered imperfect, gaining shade and grain. With a shattering chime the Möbius ring fractured, shards dissolving into mist.
Solayna caught the child-shard as it fell, cradling it. The child glowed faint charcoal at the edges—contrast accepted.
Above, Lin's voice cut through static. "Storm cell pivoting—exit now or melt."
Cassie yanked ascent throttle. Second Guess blasted upward on hydrogen jets, skimming the lightning cathedral roof. Amber gusts buffeted but the pod clawed free, docking to Contrapunctus minutes later.
Aftermath in Orbit
In the main bay Maya ran a spectral scan. The rescued shard stabilized—light shot through with playful imperfections, like stained glass left in the sun too long.
Nephis sealed the hatch. "Venus storm receding. Harmony cracked."
Lin handed Aiden a steaming pouch. "Mint-hojicha, barbarian brew. Your whistle ruined my eardrums."
Aiden sipped, grimaced theatrically. "Tastes like victory… and old socks."
Cassie laughed, stealing the pouch. "Needs cocoa." She took a swig, shuddered. "Definitely cocoa."
Maya leaned against Nephis, whispering, "Next stop comet rendezvous. Ready?"He brushed a cloak thread behind her ear. "For more holes, always."
Solayna watched the banter, constellation-face soft. "Contrast thrives."
Dawn-Core pulsed another prime—twenty-three—joining the wandering rhythm.
Contrapunctus trimmed sails for a long arc sunward, crew buoyed by teasing, mistakes, and a tiny shard now humming counter-melody in the cradle. Beyond Mercury's orbit a sungrazer comet blazed, waiting for another imperfect rescue.