A quick intro to the man who will be king of a penal colony in space that dies- or does it? His precursors with a religious figure that saves mankind are frightening. This small piece has insights that might lead the reader towards the exciting Shut Up series.
The Temper of Paper by James M. Marry
Patrick O’Hara sincerely wished that he could have smiled at the memory. He clearly remembered when the man had made his whole world turn. He had adored the man who rebuilt humanity once. Sadness so rich touched him now as he looked at the trophy sized silver shuttle that stood upon his shelf. That one Culture decision, made so long ago, had sent Patrick caroming down a pre-discovered track at light years speed. He remembered the day with bitter sweetness. It certainly was not one of Patrick’s better kept talents. The old man could easily believe that James was going to make him wait just long enough that Patrick would be at the pinnacle of his limit of patience though. The pious old fool had a real knack for it. Not to suggest for a moment that Brother James didn’t have every right to take advantage of his position. I mean, the man had saved the world from internal annihilation. That alone should allow him to play his silly games with Patrick’s tight and endlessly anal schedule. It was still infuriating though. The leader of the free world had summoned Patrick from his most recent campaign for a conversation. That summons had snatched him from the Bengali Mountain country in what once was called Thailand- he thought. That had all been before time had begun again for humanity. When the oppressed citizenry of a destroyed Earth could only imagine Brother James and the Culture, history was reborn. Patrick knew the stories. All of the elders told them. He still would have liked to stay with his troops at the front though. He knew his days were numbered as a Culture military general- mostly because the fighting was becoming less necessary. Culture troops had struck hard throughout the world with weapons that the opposition would never have believed even existed. Plus, Patrick had been there from the beginning. The flavor of the year 2033 would he savor to his old age with great relish. In Patrick O’Hara’s early teens he had run with a gang of twenty called the Pack-a-lopes through the southwest of a land known once as America. The catastrophe had cleansed the land north of his Painted Desert during the catastrophe two years earlier. It was at that time he had originally heard of Brother James. Like so many survivors of the apocalypse, Patrick’s parents had succumbed to a sort of religious insanity. When Brother James turned up, he wanted to fight the demagogue and all his weapons. He wanted to blame the religious man for the troubles he had known in his recent life. Brother James would not allow it though. Patrick might have rebelled against the weapon rich forces from afar like so many who were not chosen had. But he was chosen. He was chosen by Brother James to join the cause and Brother James made sure that Patrick was aware of it. Brother James told all of his neighbors that he was searching for Patrick O’Hara for his forces in the southwest and those who didn’t pass the message on for Patrick to hear- certainly held him suspect. They believed that he had always been a rider for Brother James- always been a member of the Culture. He was trapped in innuendo and forced to meet the strong and mature leader. His anger would keep his fear at bay in lieu of the understanding that Patrick would gain. This comprehension was remarkable still today to the young and able twenty-five year old Patrick. He learned that James had sent spies ahead to search for leaders that fit Patrick’s profile- handsome, structured and intelligent. The handsome part was a given. Structure was proven with the network of warrens and defensive battlements set up by Patrick’s twenty and their subordinates. Brother James had explained the reason he had given in on intelligence. Patrick was the only leader in the southwest that he had found who had subjected himself to the written law he enforced upon his entire community. This fact in itself had sold him to the great leader. Patrick knew that the tactic had endeared many strangers to his cause for mutual survival, but he was surprised that some one else would have noticed. Then he became indoctrinated with the Culture. This council of fifty persons was a nameless entity by individual- known to all as a group. They formed a law that Brother James had elected to follow. Even more so- the Culture provided direction in all things to James’ efforts. They had been the force that motivated his troops to head west while the eastern siege continued. In later years the Culture would direct Patrick to attack in Asia while troops garrisoned in Eastern Europe. O’Hara had questioned their judgement on occasion, but usually surrendered his pride quickly. In the aftermath of the attacks and the subversive undermining of the best of the opposition (as in Patrick’s case), the Culture also forced unbinding charity on people. Hopefully, this offer would prevent the massive forces of the army from being used. Political victories were definitely the choicest goals. The Culture backed religious freedom universally and offered tithes and donations to any organization of weight in any region. They asked only that English be taught and a desire for infrastructure be acted upon- and also for peace under the Culture law also. Given the anarchy of the years following the Darkness and the Cataclysm, people flocked to these causes freely- except the few that Patrick and others would be called upon to annihilate, and quickly. So now, as he waited for the greatest man alive to come to meet with him, he remembered that Brother James is still just a man. He knew it as he saw the land craft hover slowly down and anchor to the jungle floor. He was just outside of a pig sty still know as New Delhi with a band of ten troopers waiting to greet the tardy chieftain. Minutes later, the near fifty year old man exited the hatch unguarded and dressed in a plain brown tunic, long pants and long robe. He smiled widely as he offered an embrace all the way to O’Hara’s arms. The punch line seemed to loom in the thick warm tropical air. “My friend and confidant! It is good to see you well after so much battle! Come to me, Patrick.” In spite of his nature, Patrick was always moved by his inability to NOT love this heroic man. He rushed to the embrace. They kissed each other’s cheeks as only men would ever kiss. “It is so very good to see you, friend.” “And I you, my leader.” Patrick responded. “We will have none of that. I have only moments to speak with you and my request is very severe.” Brother James added. As the two locked arms and distanced themselves from the troops and the land craft, O’Hara wondered where he would be asked to go next. Brother James knowingly smiled. “You see! The Culture was wise to select you for leadership and I think you will appreciate their next task for you.” James chortled on the edge of glee. Patrick knew that it would be a task that James would bring him. Never a goal- since tasks were always met by effort, and goals could be missed as long as they were honestly attempted. O’Hara was expected to succeed in all he endeavored. “As I live and breath, I will always serve you, Master.” James laughed. “Of course, you will my friend. But this job is bigger than all of that too.” “Oh?” “The Culture as chosen you to rule a vast dominion, my friend.” James leered at Patrick. “Only the Culture rules, Brother.” He stated with question. “Ahh. Remember that truth, but they are going to align you with a power that is shadowed only by mine, Patrick O’Hara.” Patrick waited for the shoe to drop. “Our endeavors have enriched the earth of Darkness and Catastrophe a hundred fold my friend and with that comes a cost that has been inherited to each worldly power since eternity began- that cost has always been a need for energy.” “So… I thought we controlled the oil fields and the generators?” He asked. “Yes, my friend, but we know too well the faults that this old time energy will bring. We can’t pollute this world again and we won’t leave the richest lands to control our abilities to make decisions.” James was leading Patrick. “So where does that thinking send Patrick O’Hara then?” Patrick asked. “To a clean source that can prevent all of the sins of our forefathers from coming up behind us to slit our grinning headed throats-“ Patrick O’Hara waited patiently again. “You, my friend, will rule SPACE!!!” Yes. Patrick O’Hara would rule space- as far as humanity or the Culture were concerned. He felt that he knew that Brother James had put an investment in getting him to colonize the solar system. He had put such prideful notions behind him for a long time though. The Culture had played them both so beautifully that it would be difficult for the aging Admiral to avoid tipping his hat. Strange the path when we aren’t aware that we are walking. In following the leader of humanity, Patrick always felt that the situation would improve. It always had improved. But, when the great commander finally realized that his simple devotions were tools for a greater entity being the Culture, he almost balked. That would have meant his own death. The Culture was aware of what Patrick O’Hara knew. So he would send his own sweet wife to Brother James and there the side stepping and lying would end in a way. As Patrick walked to the nursery, he knew that this was just another lie. He knew that he had surrendered a man that he adored for what he was told was a “greater good” or a “sacrifice of one to save the many”. It was all bunk. Brother James had simply outlasted his usefulness and become a liability. He had begun to speak his mind without the seal of Culture approval and in very sensitive areas. Patrick rubbed the bald head of the child in the bassinet. His dear Ryukyu would never know the tender love of a mother because of these perilous choices. The Culture could not afford to be scandalized in Brother James’ death and Mrs. O’Hara would suit this cause nicely- especially with recent history to examine. Patrick was building the second space station to orbit Saturn at a break neck pace. The luminary was two thirds complete and half- manned. Within a year the base would hold more than two million of the Earth’s best engineers and scientists to begin a two year rotation that would continue the power production necessary to vital Culture interests. Hydrogen would be in free supply to humanity and at the expense of Patrick O’Hara and his family. He picked up the toy model of the shuttle carriage from Ryukyu’s crib. The wide bodied shuttle had distinct differences and similarities to the one flown by the astronauts of the 20th century. This one inch toy stood out predominantly for the sixteen balloon like structures hanging in groups of four from its’ outriggers. Another difference was the lack of windows since the crew for a Saturn to Earth transport would not be conscious. Their suspension was for the sake of comfort since humans didn’t recover well from long space trips without the blessings of gravity. Also the inertial dampeners could only do so much for the benefit of acceleration. Six gees could kill a conscious man at a duration of nearly four days. The same force would be realized again on the ending to the voyage. “Pudding” was not a term smiled on by many hydrogen miners. And Patrick O’Hara controlled all of it- just as his mentor had suggested. The death of Brother James, the risk of his wife, and the brutality of his daughter growing into a women without a mother could all be seen as Patrick’s choices. The girl would never understand the values that placed O’Hara here and his sadness grew from that tiny root. The Culture had determined that O’Hara would choose between offering his wife as the assassin or having her publicly tried and executed. They had proven that she had given secrets to a growing underground in the engineering community. Patrick knew that his wife was guilty and he even understood her cause. She would die proudly if she knew the reason that she was being executed. But, without the death of Brother James, the Culture would also prosecute Patrick O’Hara for harboring his wife- knowing the damage she was creating in the Culture. His daughter would be offered up to the cause as well through orphancy- not a positive prospect in her father’s eye from any angle. So Mrs. O’Hara would kill the leader of humanity- Brother James. And Patrick would be allowed to continue his mission in space. The Culture would grow stronger. Ryukyu O’Hara would have a chance to grow up- and Brother James would die.
Utterly Fantastic Occurrences is a collection of 20 science fiction short story novellas existing in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle and Nook e-book formats.
