Thomas Baranovic

“I would caution you—ambition is a deadly disease.”
― John Edgell, Seed of the Defiled

“So, when are you retiring, Turner?”
 
“Officially? About two years.”
 
“What about Chief Dorcell?”
 
“He took early retirement late last year. And get this, they actually offered me the job. No way I’d take it, even if they paid me a million a year. Now, what’s all this about Tutley? As far as I know, nothing ever happens in Tutley, Georgia.”
― Behcet Kaya, Murder at Tutley Brewery: A Jack Ludefance Novel

“With the rum bottle empty, Marsh had moved on to the Guinness in the kitchen cupboard. After a bottle and a half, he’d decided that action was required.the most satisfying sort of action he could think of was ending the little boy’s life.”
― Mark Ellis, Death of an Officer

“We!” he emphasizes, pointing at his crew, “get to be the first link in a new chapter in our history. But I want you all to really consider what is going on here…” He takes the tone of a circus ringmaster. “This is bigger than successfully colonizing Mars and Ganymede. It’s bigger than Columbus or Magellan. It’s even bigger than the first homo sapiens leaving Africa.” He raises his voice even more, waving his arms. “Hell, this is bigger than fish crawling out of the fucking water and growing legs! Think about it!” Everyone is quiet, avoiding eye contact with Calvin. Everyone except Captain Taylor looks at him ambiguously.
“Why not Cook and Vancouver?” Taylor asks.
 “Excuse me, sir?”
“You said Columbus or Magellan, but that’s preposterous. Magellan was a madman who tortured his crew and never made the whole trip, and Columbus, to be honest, is completely overblown. The dignity alone that Captain Cook commanded…”
“Yeah, yeah, OK. Cook and Magellan? Frances Drake? Whoever. The point is…” Calvin walks to the glass and points. “This,” the pudgy showman continues, “is right here, right now. Got it?! Everyone here needs to admit the real reason we want to go down to that mysterious blue planet, figure out the atmosphere, and collect some space plasma. It’s not because it’s our job. No. It’s time we’re all honest and admit we are now part of something much bigger than ourselves. It’s not just our job, it’s our story. It’s our story as human beings, it’s our instinct to explore!”
― Joseph A. Anderson, Eden 2:b