Can the right thing to do really be impossible?
Gerhard Wimmer languishes in a concentration camp light-years from Earth. He tries to forget what happened a year ago, when a strange man in power armor, clearly an enemy of his captors, had visited him. Wimmer had dared to hope that his salvation had been at hand!
And then the man was gone, leaving only vague promises behind.
The high point of Wimmer's day is the back-breaking work in the mines. But now, even that was shattered. Moritz Lehner, a Lieutenant Colonel among the ruling elite, paid him a visit. And where the ruling elite go, death follows. Wimmer struggles to find a path forward amid the graves of the fallen prisoners.
A few light-years away, Owen Payne, the strange man who had worn power armor, can't escape his guilt. Or the nightmares. He knows he left Wimmer to die. Having had no other choice didn't matter. He knew he was responsible, and he wanted to do something about it. But with his own corporation struggling to survive at Sirius, and with the colonies they'd founded teetering on the edge of rebellion, Payne found his options dwindling.
How can the right thing to do be the right thing if it's impossible? Does the universe really do that to people?
If you liked The Expanse or Old Man's War,Wayland's Hammer is for you.
Genre: Science Fiction
Gerhard Wimmer languishes in a concentration camp light-years from Earth. He tries to forget what happened a year ago, when a strange man in power armor, clearly an enemy of his captors, had visited him. Wimmer had dared to hope that his salvation had been at hand!
And then the man was gone, leaving only vague promises behind.
The high point of Wimmer's day is the back-breaking work in the mines. But now, even that was shattered. Moritz Lehner, a Lieutenant Colonel among the ruling elite, paid him a visit. And where the ruling elite go, death follows. Wimmer struggles to find a path forward amid the graves of the fallen prisoners.
A few light-years away, Owen Payne, the strange man who had worn power armor, can't escape his guilt. Or the nightmares. He knows he left Wimmer to die. Having had no other choice didn't matter. He knew he was responsible, and he wanted to do something about it. But with his own corporation struggling to survive at Sirius, and with the colonies they'd founded teetering on the edge of rebellion, Payne found his options dwindling.
How can the right thing to do be the right thing if it's impossible? Does the universe really do that to people?
If you liked The Expanse or Old Man's War,Wayland's Hammer is for you.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Terrance A Crow's Duty of Prisoners