Short Fiction · Chapter
VII explained
The general, head of Project Mastodon, reflects on the immense potential of time travel for military and civilian purposes, lamenting the shortsightedness of others who failed to see its value.
What happens
The general, head of Project Mastodon, reflects on the immense potential of time travel for military and civilian purposes, lamenting the shortsightedness of others who failed to see its value. He worries about the three men sent into the past and fears the project will be shut down if they don't return soon.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Resilience
The general envisions time travel as a means of national survival through hidden bases and evacuation into the past.
Technology and Morality
Debates the moral implications of using time travel for military advantage versus peaceful expansion.
Characters to notice
- the general
Head of Project Mastodon, frustrated by others' lack of vision, contemplates the strategic and peaceful uses of time travel.
Key passages
“The fools, he thought, the goddam knuckle-headed fools! Why couldn’t they see it as clearly as he did?”
He angrily thought that others were too foolish to understand the obvious potential of Project Mastodon.
Expresses the general's frustration with the lack of foresight among his contemporaries.
“Sanctuary—that had been what Hudson had offered the then-secretary of state fifteen years ago—and the idiot had frozen up with the insult of it and had Hudson thrown out.”
Hudson had proposed using time travel as a sanctuary, but the secretary of state rejected the idea indignantly and dismissed Hudson.
Highlights a past missed opportunity and the general's lingering resentment.