Garcia and Wolf would both mutiny rather than bombard Earth and deserters leave K'ung's fleet. But the Humanists have built a hard cadre over a decade - although not living up to their name. When people say, of a particular atrocity, that it is against Islam or against Christianity etc, I reply that it is against our common humanity which is what should unite us.
Crane reflects that Union personnel are not saints, indeed most had signed on for booty. Booty!
"...the System knew how much treasure was locked in the vaults of Earth's dictators." (p. 81)
But treasure in a physical form that can be looted by a fleet of men who arrive from space, then break military discipline to take and carry away whatever they can find? (Some of this does happen now.)
Although it is not saintliness that makes men like Garcia and Wolf reject the idea of bombardment:
"...the horror of nuclear war had been too deeply graven for anyone but a fanatic at the point of desperation to think of using it." (ibid.)
This horror is a legacy from the opening installments of the Psychotechnic History, "Marius" and "Un-Man," where Etienne Fourre was a fanatic against any further international wars. The Psychotechnic Institute has gone under but not the ideal of the United Nations/Solar Union. This future history series has a direction despite its many twists and turns. The Institute overthrown between installments and the Humanists overthrown in the next installment is two turns for the price of one.
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