The transition to the Shard of Silence was unlike any other jump Han had experienced. Usually, the slip-stream between worlds was filled with the chromatic roar of reality friction—the screaming of atoms adjusting to new laws. But as The Echo of Wood approached the coordinates provided by the Silver Key, the noise simply... died. It didn't fade; it was swallowed.
Han checked his sensors. The needles were flat. The hum of the engine, which had been his constant companion, became a ghost of a sound, felt through the soles of his boots rather than heard.
"Variable 89: The Unfinished Symphony," Han whispered. But even his own voice sounded small, like a dry leaf skittering across stone, before being extinguished by the oppressive atmospheric stillness.
The Shard of Silence appeared on the v
