Mercenary's Heart

A Wild Geese Science Fiction Novel

With his world of Kodomir overrun by brutal conquerors, Stevar Polrany makes a desperate escape to find allies who can help. But in the 29th Century, the Settled Worlds have plunged into war and few care about the fate of a backwater farming world. Against his own best judgment, he finds the only help he can find is by hiring a small mercenary unit called the Wild Geese. As the Kodomiri form an underground, interstellar maneuvers try to make Kodomir into a pawn on a board measured in light years. In the face of murderous occupation, desperately the fuse of rebellion is ignited. With time and money running out, Polrany faces a terrible choice. How much can he rely on these mercenaries and what will it mean to his people if he makes the wrong decision? Mercenary's Heart, the first of the Wild Geese novels, explores the issues of why humans fight, what loyalty means, and the true heart of courage by following professional soldiers, mercenaries, politicians, and ordinary people as they confront choices of life and death. Steven Silver served as a Marine in combat and as an Army psychologist - in writing Mercenary's Heart, he drew on those experiences as well as his work as a psychologist and historian to give the reader a realistic view of war and its consequences, from the cockpits of human brain-driven war machines to the cells of interrogators to politicians to farmers.