Andrei Valentinovich Shmal'ko
Gray Kite [Серый коршун (Seryĭ korshun)]
Nurgal-Sin, the main character, a Babylonian mercenary (“a gray kite”, which is, according to Valentinov, a name for Babylonian elite troops), has almost forgotten his true name, Cleoterus, as well as his native country, Achiyava (Valentinov uses the Mycenaean form of toponym, with digamma). The well-trained and highly-experienced officer has too few good memories of his native land to feel nostalgia: he was sold into slavery as a small child. However, he suddenly finds himself to be(...)