I had a family until the Shang killed them. I found a new family during the war. The Peloran gave us new names. Hawk. Snake. Bull. They have a thing for animals and a lot of the names are awful descriptive. Me they called Hart. I bled for the name, so I kept it. My name is Jack Hart. Some have taken to calling me Jack of Harts.
I’ve flown off Alliance ships. I’ve flown off Peloran ships. I’ve flown off Arnam ships. I’ve even flown off Aesiran ships. They made the difference you know. After the Arnam got pounded into dust bunnies it looked like we were going to lose. The Aesiran just didn’t want to get involved. In the end they did, grumbling all the way. In the end, we all survived. I’m awful happy about that.
Sometimes I really dislike choices. Walk away or stand and fight. I really don’t like to stand and fight. Did enough of that during the war. But some people just need to be stopped. Some just need to be killed. And if I can get paid for it, that makes everybody happy. Well, almost everybody…
I’ve heard it said that you can measure a man’s character by the quantity and quality of his enemies. Well, if that’s true, I’ve got an awful lot of character. And that’s the jump alarm. Looks like it’s time for me to build some more character…
Have you ever been to Arkadia? They were real powerful back in the old days, then the Ennead blew them away. Now they have the most unique world I’ve ever been to. Imagine a cloud of gas wrapped around a star. The real estate’s cheap. Drop an asteroid in solar orbit, plant a flag, and take a deep breath of fresh air. Smells like freedom. And a bit of solar wind.