On the bridge, Saturn was dead center in front of the conn. The image already showed more detail than could be achieved by any but the largest Earth-based telescopes. The rings were clearly visible, and I was pretty sure I could make out several of the larger moons. They weren’t showing disks, but they weren’t point sources, either.

“Say, uh, my understanding is that Jupiter has a vicious magnetic field and a lot of local radiation,” I said.

“This is Saturn, not Jupiter. See the pretty rings?”

“Thanks, Sheldon. My point was I just can’t remember if Saturn has similar issues, and if we should be worried.”

“I see. Let me assure you that if I had been in any danger, I would have mentioned it. Loudly.”

“Or any danger to us as well, right?” said Patrick.

“Sure, if you say so.”

Our jaws all dropped at the same time.

“I’m kidding. Of course, I wouldn’t have let my favorite humans come to harm.”

“I’m not feeling it,” Patrick said.

“Seriously. In the realm of imperatives to be built into a ship intelligence, wouldn’t you think protecting the command crew would rank as a high priority?”

There was silence as the humans in the room mulled this over. Then Patrick nodded. “Okay. But just in case, I hereby order you to do your utmost to keep us safe.”

“That was unnecessary and insulting. But one shouldn’t set the bar too high in your case, I suppose.”

“Oh, meow.”

I waved my hands in the air. “All right, truce. We’re here to get a look at Saturn. Sheldon, can you give us some flybys? The planet, maybe a couple of the larger moons? Say a couple of hours max, then I think we have to head back.”

“I will work out some orbits that will produce maximum oohs and aahs.”

Sheldon was true to his word. Over the next two hours, the Halo did several close flybys of Saturn, Titan, Mimas, Iapetus, and Enceladus. Titan was basically a ball of smog, and Sheldon had nothing that could penetrate the clouds. But Mimas, looking like a real-life Death Star; Enceladus, with the continent-wide cracks in its ice; and even Iapetus, which looked like it had run into something, were all more than dramatic enough.

And through the whole tour, the rings dominated the sky, looking like Asgard’s rainbow bridge.

“How low can you go, Sheldon?” I asked at the end. “Can you fly into the clouds?”

“I could, but it would carry some risk. I am a light-duty vessel, not an armored exploratory ship.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “Okay, fair enough.”

“How much radiation could you handle?” Nat asked. “Jupiter-level?”

“Jupiter is well within my specs. I wouldn’t want to buzz a neutron star or magnetar, though.”