A Profitable Little War
Sarge is a character in my latest novella, World of Grey. He starts out a determined hero on Terratech Colony 34 but devolves into a heartless mercenary. Throughout the Hellhounds series I hope to bring the reader into a character most would consider cold-blooded and vengeful. My hope is that you discover the hero within the layers of pain and sacrifice.
Here’s a quote from this year’s NaNoWriMo effort. I realize it’s as likely as any passage to fall to editor red but I like it since it gives the reader a glimpse into the prequel to World of Grey and Voice of Treason.
Somewhere in Terracorp office an accountant calculated that profits from a small conflict would raise revenue enough to cover the loss in productivity. A vice president of colonial affairs would realize a small bounce in his quarterly bottom line which, in turn, would raise his yearly bonus. Thus hundreds of fellow colonist died so a VP could afford that new, luxury ground car.
For the record, the accountant and VP are dead now. They’ll never find the bodies.
So the residents of Terra 34 were left to fight it out. There was an Earth general named Sherman that said war is cruelty. The crueler it is the sooner it’s over. Lucky me, someone on the other side read a history book.
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