# Mr. Ermine — Short Fiction character guide

> Mr. Ermine in Short Fiction by Algis Budrys.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Ermine

**First appearance:** 0000-riya-s-foundling

## Snapshot

A costumed operative who moves through the powerful unseen, weighing what he owes the Veld against what he owes the men he was made to shepherd.

## Who they are

Ermine belongs to the machinery of the Foundation, a member whose office can forward recommendations that end careers, and he wears his disguises so cunningly that no one could guess the man beneath. What unsettles him is not power but obligation: he has hands yet lacks them, while Charpantier lacks a finger and still acts. As the Veld falters over his pot, Ermine must decide what a voice born of that touch can still say to a sleeping Earth.

## Relationships

### [Mr. Sollenar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters/mr_sollenar)

_professional_

They appear to be colleagues or business associates with frequent, possibly adversarial, interactions.

### [Mr. Sollenar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters/mr_sollenar)

_professional_

They appear to be colleagues or business associates with frequent, possibly adversarial, interactions.

### [Mr. Sollenar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters/mr_sollenar)

_professional_

They appear to be colleagues or business associates with frequent, possibly adversarial, interactions.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/i)

A representative of the I.A.B.'s Special Public Relations Office, who visits Sollenar to advise him of Cortwright Burr's dealings with the Martians.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iii)

Meets Sollenar twice, reveals his nerve-deadened condition, serves a By-Laws notice, and advises on Burr's secret.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/iv)

Recovers from Sollenar's attack, reports to the I.A.B., and follows Sollenar to Mars to witness his death.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/v)

Ermine waits outside the Martian building, shoots Sollenar, and then experiences a sudden, ecstatic reconnection with the physical world, feeling the wind and ground as if reborn.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters/mr_ermine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters