Ves figured out a fundamental rule in the galaxy. The further away from the galactic center, the lower the average intelligence quotient of the people he met.
Certainly, exceptions to the rule existed. Great leaders and driven individuals such as his uncle Ark, his grandfather Benjamin, Colonel Lowenfield and every Senior and Master Mech Designer he met soared from the muck and mud.
But these exceptions only emerged from one out of a million or one out of a billion people. Such low odds condemned the vast majority of the galaxy to the vagaries of the stupid.
No matter which mech pilots fired those laser cannon beam that almost separated Pier 34 from the main superstructure of the Independent Harbor, Ves had no doubt that the threat could have come from any of their comrades fighting in space.
