Nightfall

The novel flashes back to show that in the intervening months, Theremon wrote articles that exposed the eclipse predictions and discredited the Saro University Observatory.

Although he had initially been supportive, successfully arranging the meeting between Athor and Folimun, Theremon later learned from Beenay that Athor had asked Folimun for help in deciphering more of the Thombo tablets using ancient scripts in The Book of Revelations. Theremon began to doubt Athor’s credibility. He feared that his support would popularize the Apostles’ outdated conservative values. From this point onward, his attitude toward the scientists became more critical and resentful.

Theremon’s first columns announcing the eclipse were written in a neutral tone, balancing Athor’s pronouncements with expert-backed criticisms. However, when Mondior 71 announced that Athor had subscribed to the prophecies in The Book of Revelations, Theremon was forced to take a stance against Athor and the observatory. He started to ridicule each of the astronomers’ notions in order to deflate the potential for mass hysteria. This successfully vilified them in the public eye, equating them with the Apostles of Flame and turning the public against the idea of an oncoming Darkness.

The novel returns to the present. Athor is upset to see Theremon at the observatory. Theremon claims to have been invited by Siferra, but Athor finds this implausible. He points out that five of Kalgash’s six suns have set, leaving only Dovim behind.

Athor gives Theremon five minutes to convince him to let him stay. Theremon argues that if the eclipse doesn’t happen, he would be instrumental in shaping the public narrative around the observatory’s error. He offers to help influence public opinion, serving as a public relations representative for the observatory. Beenay endorses Theremon’s offer, but Athor refuses. He only relents when Siferra arrives, asking him to let Theremon stay as her guest.

Siferra expresses her surprise upon learning that Theremon accepted her invitation. They clash over differing beliefs about the eclipse. When Theremon mocks Siferra for siding with the Apostles, Siferra walks away, upset.

The novel describes how, between Parts 1 and 2, Siferra and Theremon came to realize a growing mutual attraction for each other. They had been introduced by Beenay, after which Theremon invited her to do dinner-date interviews about the Thombo excavation. He promised not to publish any of his columns on Thombo until Siferra published it first in an academic journal. Siferra obliged Theremon’s requests until he began to denounce Athor in his column. She then confronted him and discovered his skepticism over the Darkness. To convince him of the truth, Siferra extended an invitation to watch the eclipse at the observatory.

Siferra expresses regret over inviting Theremon, but it matters little to Athor. Siferra then tells Athor that she arrived late at the observatory because the Thombo tablets have gone missing, possibly stolen by the Apostles to worship as talismans. Athor reassures her that it will not make much of a difference to their situation. Siferra finds herself affected by Athor’s fatalistic attitude.

Beenay talks to Siferra, who expounds on her suspicions. She recalls that the Apostles had offered to decipher the tablets using their scriptures. Siferra accepted a portion of their scriptures for translation but refused to give them the tablets.

Sheerin arrives, having decided to leave the Sanctuary to witness the eclipse himself. It allays some of Siferra’s worries to know that he is there, having previously experienced total darkness in the Tunnel of Mystery himself. Theremon reintroduces himself to Sheerin and asks him about the Sanctuary. Sheerin explains that it is where the university employees and their families have decided to wait out the effects of the eclipse. In time, the survivors, who possess the records of the observatory’s research on the eclipse, will refute the religious claims of the surviving Apostles.

Sheerin and Beenay take Theremon away from the others when Siferra antagonizes him.

Sheerin, Theremon, and Beenay go to another room, where Theremon admits that the sight of Dovim alone is beginning to worry him. When Sheerin asks why Athor is so anxious, Beenay tells him that he is concerned about Faro and Yimot, who have been absent for several hours.

Theremon realizes that his writing could have convinced the government to build hideout shelters on a massive scale. Sheerin reassures him that the government would have failed nonetheless. Theremon shifts the topic to Siferra’s theories on prehistory, which her own department has discredited out of resentment toward her. Others have come up with alternative theories, which Beenay tries to disprove using Thargola’s Sword. Theremon continues to argue that the eclipse is unlikely to destroy Kalgash. Sheerin answers that people will naturally seek out light during the darkness, which will lead them to resort to fire and thus burn their cities down.

Yimot and Faro finally return to the observatory, where Athor scolds them for their lateness. Faro explains that they had conducted an experiment to simulate the Darkness and the Stars. They had hoped to determine whether an immunity to the darkness’s psychological effect could be formed, but the claustrophobia managed to affect them anyway. What they did discover, however, is that they were able to overcome their claustrophobia and were unaffected when they activated the simulation for the Stars. This shocks Sheerin, whose theory this finding disproves.

Thilanda announces that the astronomers have found Folimun intruding upon the premises. Athor reminds Folimun that he has fulfilled all his agreements with the Apostles. Folimun agrees but notes that in the process of validating their beliefs as natural phenomena, Athor had robbed them of their supernatural importance. He is furthermore aware of Athor’s intention to preserve his findings so that the new civilization can prepare for the next eclipse without the need for religion. Folimun has come, therefore, to destroy Athor’s work.

Folimun presents Athor with an ultimatum: either surrender their attempts to explain the eclipse through science or be destroyed by the mob in an hour’s time. Sheerin vouches for Folimun to stay, threatening to prevent him from witnessing the eclipse firsthand. Sheerin is aware of the Apostles’ belief that Folimun’s absence during the Stars’ appearance would mean the eternal loss of his soul. Suddenly, Theremon points out that the eclipse has begun, breaching the edge of Dovim.

The scientists rush to their stations. Theremon immediately realizes the folly of his skepticism, but he insists on staying to do his job.

Folimun recites the Apostles’ scriptures, forecasting the imminent despair of humankind as it enters the Darkness. Theremon and Sheerin, unfazed, discuss whether they’ll be more affected by the Darkness or the Stars. Theremon asks whether immunity is possible, noting that some Apostles must have survived the previous destructive cycle to preserve their scriptures. Sheerin answers by describing three types of people who likely survived the psychological effects of the eclipse—the blind, children, and insensitive people “whose minds are too coarsely grained to be entirely toppled” (146). Such people likely provided the foundation for the Apostles’ scriptures, which have been refined over each cycle. Sheerin notes, however, that the messages concerning each eclipse have likely been distorted over time.

Sheerin is about to explain his rebuttal to Yimot and Faro when Athor approaches, informing them riots have broken out in the city. Athor is concerned about the threat of the mob. Sheerin says that with the doors locked, there will be nothing to do but wait.

Half of Dovim is obscured by Kalgash Two. Theremon begins to experience difficulty in breathing, which Sheerin says is a symptom of claustrophobia.

Beenay tells Theremon that Siferra is up at the dome, trying to get a view of space through the telescopes. They briefly talk about their symptoms before Sheerin finally explains why Yimot and Faro’s experiment is invalid. They had taken the concept of the Stars as a literal phenomenon, rather than as a psychological illusion. The astronomers’ photographs of space will be able to confirm or refute the Stars’ existence. Beenay advances his own theory: The Stars are other suns in the universe that are too far away to see. These suns will only become visible during the Darkness, thus proving that the universe is much bigger than Kalgash’s solar system. Sheerin reminds him that in the Apostles’ scripture, the Stars are numbered in the millions, a concept none of them can really fathom.

Beenay recalls Sheerin’s hypothesis about a world with only one sun. He posits that the shifts in light and heat would make it impossible for life to develop on such a planet. Sheerin argues that this view is reductive: Life can develop in unimaginably different ways under different conditions. Their resulting squabble amuses Theremon and prompts him to take a walk. He bumps into Faro, who offers to take him up to the dome.

Theremon is embarrassed when he remembers Siferra is there. She does not show any signs of scorn, however, encouraging him to stay. They comment on the strange appearance of the sky. Siferra shares her worry that what happened at Thombo will eventually happen to them. Their private moment is interrupted by the sudden loss of electricity in the building. The power surges for a while before the backup generator activates. It is enough, however, to power only the computers, leaving most of the observatory in darkness.

Athor brings out a set of torch rods and asks Faro and Yimot for help in assembling them. Siferra tells Theremon that they were invented by university scientists as alternative light sources. Theremon starts to feel restless, so he and Siferra return downstairs.

Dusk falls over the observatory. Theremon sees a mob approaching outside one of the windows. He calls Sheerin’s attention, so Sheerin brings Theremon down to barricade the doors. The lower levels of the observatory are already bathed in darkness, however, which triggers breathing difficulty in both of them. Theremon runs back up to retrieve a torch rod. As soon as the two have finished blocking the doors, the mob arrives. They pound at the walls of the observatory, hoping to destroy it, but the observatory’s fortress-like constitution manages to hold them off.

Theremon and Sheerin find everyone assembled in the observatory dome. The astronomers are attempting to capture the last images of Dovim before the Darkness settles, as well as the first images of the Stars. Beenay instructs them to back away once they start to feel uneasy.

Folimun rushes to assault Beenay in the dark and sabotage the cameras. Theremon incapacitates him in a stranglehold. The eclipse becomes total, and the scientists fall into shocked silence. Theremon stands and looks at the vastness of the star cluster in the sky. He immediately starts to feel its distressing psychological effect. Athor cries out over the immensity of the Darkness. The scientists struggle around the light of the torch. Someone topples it over and it goes out, intensifying the light of the Stars. They hear the mob breaking into the observatory downstairs. Over in Saro City, a fire breaks out, marking the start of the long night.