Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image.
Continuing with a scene from Wrath of Empire, a prequel to my first novel, Ghosts of Innocence. Commander Gregor Pavlenko is overseeing maintenance on a giant plasma cannon on board battleship Wrath of Empire.
There was no practical need for Gregor to be here. In fact, he could watch progress on the overhaul far better from his station in the operations room, but from time to time he needed to see the weapon up close. Watching people crawling like ants over its surface brought home the true size of his responsibility. This was military overkill on an arrogant scale. No-one should hold such power without a generous dose of humility and fear. In his five years as Wrath of Empire’s senior weapons engineer, he’d never yet had to point it at anything other than military targets. He prayed, as he did every time he reported for duty, that he never would.
The moment of introspection passed. He steadied himself against the stanchion and pushed off towards the nearest airlock. Outside the weapon bay, and once more in the ship’s artificial gravity, he shrugged on a jacket against the relative chill and headed back to the twilight world of the combat operations room.
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13 comments:
Hi Ian - at least he's aware of the devastation it could cause and is thinking about it - not easy for Gregor ... being 'in charge' of firing such a weapon holds enormous responsibility, which is weighing him down ... good to read another excerpt - all the best Hilary
Great insight into his moral character. He's the kind of guy you want to find in charge of pushing (or not!) the button. Love how you describe the sheer size of the weapon equating it with his responsibility.
I'm glad he understands the magnitude of that weapon and what it can do. Though I worry what it will be used for in the future, and how that will affect him.
Hilary, yes, he's all too aware of the power in his hands.
Nancy, of course, the whole point of the project is to take the control out of the hands of people like him!
Jessica, you are right to worry :)
This is scary. The "what ifs" are horrifying.
Love your descriptions, as always. You have such a knack for setting the scene and really making the reader feel like they're a part of the story. Excited to read more!
I love the descriptions in this snippet! Such great insight!
You really brought out his character. He's an honorable man, it seems. That humongous weapon is worrisome. So much power. A corrupting thing...
When you're searching for opinions, read-throughs, etc, I'd love to!
He seems to be reasonable, but others might not be, and that's a scary thought!
We've learned a lot about him in this excerpt. Well done.
The fact that he understands he could have to deploy the weapon against non-military targets and hopes he won't have to doesn't side-step the fact he doesn't say he won't if ordered to do so. Maybe that will be his struggle, to obey the order or not, if the time comes. I'm really wanting to find out if he has to make that choice! Tweeted.
I like your character and his proper sense of responsibility for the duties he has. Great snippet!
Well done! With relatively few words, you managed to clearly depict both the character, HIS character, and his terrifying responsibility. A very nice piece of writing, dear sir.
Have a super weekend!
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