“We were better off back in the old days with the Council, before all this friendly crap with the Zarweans.” One of the men turned his head toward the floor to express his feelings and then stopped when he saw the girl. He nodded at her and chugged the spittle down with a swig from his mug.

“But wasn’t the Council bad?” the girl asked. She looked at them with growing confusion, wringing a dirty cloth in her small hands. The men shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of her round, pleading eyes. “Wasn’t the war bad?”

“Sure, it was.” The man waved her off. “Run along now.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t understand.”

The men glanced at each other and then searched for her mother, who wasn’t to be found. “Listen, little lady.” One man leaned forward.

His companion stopped him with a hand. “She’ll kill us.” He turned to the girl and said again, “Run along.”

Stomach churning with disappointment, she shuffled away.

“They’re right, you know.”

Her eyes lifted to see a different man. He was staring into the bottom of his mug. She could smell his breath as he spoke. Her nose wrinkled, and she edged away.

“The man who overthrew the Council stopped one war, but started another. He left Earth to fend for itself. He doesn’t care about anyone.”

“You’re wrong,” she whispered.

“Am I?” He stood and swayed dangerously. “O’Hara is a menace.” He shouted, “A selfish bastard who does what he wants and doesn’t care about anyone or anything.”

----

This series is an illustrated abridged telling of The Young Soldier: Pursuing Dreams, written by MK Clark.

You can buy the full novel on Amazon www.amazon.com/Pursuing-Dreams-Young-Soldier-Book-ebook/dp/B072516QKC or find out not information at https://mkclarkbooks.com.