[Intro]
[Low piano chords leave an empty beat where the warp-core pulse should answer.]

[Verse 1]
The bridge has gone quiet; the crew waits below,
Red lamps make a river on glass cold as snow.
My face in the viewscreen looks borrowed and worn,
An officer’s mask with the certainty torn.
I ordered the turn toward the signal’s thin cry,
I refused the queen’s harbor and told them why.
Now time bends the vessel, and people I led
Have seen their own futures among the half-dead.

[Chorus]
There is no clean command, no unstained hand,
No perfect decision where all understand.
There is no clean command when the last systems stand,
Only names in your keeping and fear in the land.
There is no clean command, but I still must command all.

[Verse 2]
I wanted to think that the truth would be clear,
That courage meant speaking while others drew near.
But courage can look like a captain’s conceit
To the worker without any warmth at their feet.
The mutineer’s anger was reckless and raw,
Yet hunger had written a credible law.
I carry their error; they carry my pride—
No rank leaves a human conclusion outside.

[Chorus]
There is no clean command, no unstained hand,
No perfect decision where all understand.
There is no clean command when the last systems stand,
Only names in your keeping and fear in the land.
There is no clean command, but I still must command all.

[Piano Interlude]
[The three-note motif repeats with the final note left unresolved.]

[Bridge]
The queen promised order; I called it a cage.
But certainty comforts the frightened and caged.
Would fewer lie dying had I bent my knee?
Would safety be worth what remained of the free?
So let doubt sit beside me; let fear take its chair.
I will not pretend that command is a prayer.

[Build-up]
Call every station.
Put all voices through.
No polished announcement—
They need what is true.
Tell them we are damaged.
Tell them time has torn.

[Final Chorus]
There is no clean command, no unstained hand,
No road without consequence crossing this land.
There is no clean command—still together we stand,
Not because I am certain, but because you understand.
I will choose, I will answer, I will carry each fall;
There is no clean command—but no one commands alone.

[Outro]
The captain faced the viewscreen; the waiting crew replied,
Not loudly, not as worship—just present at their side.
Then the engineer called through a channel worn and scarred:
“I have one way to save us. Captain, listen hard.”