The trajectory had been determined before the ship had set off from Earth. It was like watching a video clip knowing the inevitable end. Throughout, the rhythm of every breath the General heaved was well-remembered such that there were two silent and in-synced breathing as the ship craned itself towards the darkness of stars ahead.
All the General needed to do was to step on it and watch the fuel gauge drop. He must keep his foot merciless stamped upon it regardless of how the acceleration invades his human body, regardless of the integrity of the ship’s structure. It may be stripped bare to its skeleton until even the skeleton combust and he is left in a vacuum and the accelerator. Still he must step on it. The General of the ship, guardian and master only of the vehicle he pilots.
He had rewatched the ending of the clip on rewind as if he kept missing a vital detail. He had not missed the slow, soundless disappearance of the ship and its General into the blazing light. He did not miss the silent Space that had been crammed into the bottom-left corner of the closing shot. The blazing Sun had lingered across the rest of the screen. And the Sun and its corner of the Universe remain unmoving. For the first-time viewers, the stillness was so complete that they had to shift their cursor to check that the video had not paused.
After a full 8.5 seconds (he had checked multiple times to verify), he tore his gaze from his screen and peered again at the paper before him. ‘To what extent is the General of the Explorer an apt embodiment of Bravery?’
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