He continued his involuntary acceleration in a brilliance of starlight. His console had reverted to dormancy, yet the stars, including his guiding light, remained. In the respite from the audio-visual stimuli, he took several calming breaths and his heart rate slowed.
Just then, a small yellow speck began to creep into the corner of his periphery. But before the speck could occupy his full attention, a sunset-laden image of his daughter on the beach illuminated the console screen. A slow-building, stringed melody poured out of the speaker system. And in response, the first real emotion in years took hold and his eye began to swell.
Through a tear, he glanced up to find the former speck now transformed into a colossal yellow planet dominating the celestial landscape. His ship sailed past its sparkling rings, and dozens of moons reflecting in their planet's radiance emerged from the abyss. He had never seen such an awe-inspiring sight. Nothing in his solar system had compared. He un-buckled his safety harness to comfortably soak in the moment. The melody then evolved into a full-fledged symphony, and tears began to flow. He reached for his daughter's on-screen smile.
I wish I could have saved you.
But before he could touch her two-dimensional face, his ship jolted and the sensory roulette began again. Off the screen went the sunset, and flipping across came a diagram of ancient aqueducts, historical weather patterns, and a recipe for his mother's vegetable stew. He whizzed right through the planet's rings, sending icy particles jutting out of their orbital patterns for the first time in billions of years. A painting of an exotic flower, a picture of his wife on their wedding day, and a pie chart representing the chemical makeup of his planet flashed by. Hours, and thousands of images, cycled past.
Through a spinning cockpit window, the sun – glowing brighter than ever – became peppered with thousands of shadows budding by the second. His eye narrowed to gain focus. Then quickly widened.
An asteroid field.
He struggled to re-fasten his seat belt and prayed to his Gods that the autopilot's short-range capabilities were operational as he rocketed past the first asteroid.
