# Mr. Sauer — Short Fiction character guide

> Mr. Sauer in Short Fiction by Frederik Pohl.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sauer, Brother Sauer

**First appearance:** 0000-asteroid-of-the-damned

## Snapshot

A smooth-talking opportunist who knows exactly how much everyone else is getting paid, Sauer plays both sides of a hostage standoff while angling for a job on the Major's payroll.

## Who they are

Vern Sauer is the kind of shipmate who negotiates your surrender and his own promotion in the same breath—outraged to learn Sam was offered a hundred and fifty thousand while he only got forty, then cheerfully signing on as the Major's Prosthetic (Human) Maintenance Department Chief. He treats Arthur, the sentient typewriter, as common property to be liquidated, and his calm betrayal of an old friend is delivered with the same reasonable shrug he gives everything. Sauer's cheerful pragmatism turns the story's captivity into a comedy of manners, and his deal-making is what forces Sam to decide what loyalty to a machine is actually worth.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/ii)

A prison wolf in the Greensleeves, known for his loud, maniacal yelling and water-moccasin eyes.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/iv)

Sauer is with Flock in Block O, menacing the bound guards and speaking to the warden with a threatening tone.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/v)

Leads the riot in the Greensleeves, threatens to cut off a guard's ear, and demands a medic for Flock.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/vi)

Demands the medic treat his wounded companion, then confronts Lafon over control of O'Leary but backs down when Lafon displays a gun.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/vii)

A large redheaded inmate who argues with Lafon over the escape plan and attacks O'Leary, but is eventually subdued.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/sauer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters