The Origami Dragon And Other Tales (23 page)

“You could have
imagined it, still. Your mind could have been bringing up images of
what you have learned about Nine Veh. It could have happened,” he
says, pleading.

“You know I
wasn’t. My pod was found on the other side of Jupiter from the
storm, travelling there in only three days. That alone was
impossible by our means of travel. But if you still don’t believe
me, then look at this.”

Jonah pulls up
his shirt to reveal patterns of dark pigment. Samuel can identify
every simple pattern and shape produced by the augment to identify
disease, but this is beyond anything that anyone had seen before.
There are no familiar shapes, no familiar patterns.

Instead, there
are only two words, Nine Veh, repeated in thin and irregular
spirals that spin wildly across his side and up over his chest.
Jonah traces them carefully with his fingers. His skin attracts
confused stares from all around the bar, but he no longer cares
what his fellow humans feel for him.

“Convince me
that I am wrong!” he begs, “Tell me that I am mad! We both wish you
could, but we both know you can’t. I see them, brother, digging in
the darkest mines, digging for a death to claim us all. I can’t
promise to stop them, but we must try. You know the ways of the
universe, brother, will you come with me to Nine Veh?”

Samuel stares
at his brother, his mind adrift on a sea of fear and nightmares. He
looks down at his metallic arm, remembers the pain he had suffered
on Nine Veh. He does not want to go back; he will not go back. This
is work for other men, other minds. He has given more than enough
to the cause.

Then Jonah
leans forward and places a cold hand on Samuel’s shoulder. The
brothers share a silent glance, and both can see the fear in the
other’s eyes. They know what needs to be done. They eat their
steak, they talk quietly and they prepare for war on Nine Veh.

Hello! Thank
you for buying “The Origami Dragon And Other Tales”. I hope you
enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did
enjoy it, please take a moment and review it on Amazon. Your
reviews are incredibly important, because other readers want to
know what you think. Good reviews are also the best advertising a
writer can get, so make my day and leave an honest review! If you
enjoy this compilation, check out my full length fantasy novel,
“Wish”.

So why a book
of short stories? Short stories are special, powerful and fun. A
good short story is a beautiful thing, quite different to a novel.
So much as too be achieved in such a small space, so every word
counts. The talented Neil Gaiman taught me that there is a story
behind every story, and he was right. Here are a few of mine:

Mr
Sunshine
was a character who hid in the back of my mind for
months, defying me to make sense of him. I was struggling along
with his story one night when it began to rain heavily outside. I
always work better when it’s raining, and I decided my strange hero
would to. After that the Mr Sunshine story just wrote itself.

Noah’s
Park
is an idea I have had since I was a kid, when I first read
Gulliver’s travels. I always thought tiny animals would be pretty
cool. The environmental message was a consequence of the main
character being an ecologist. I have always enjoyed talking to
ecologists, because they are so grounded and easy going, so I
thought such a person would be perfect for the main character.
Also, Sir David Attenborough is awesome, so who better to lead the
future world of ecology than his descendant.

The Rob
Echosoul
stories were inspired by reading Sherlock Holmes
stories, which is why the narrator is a doctor. I had to decide
what kind of a man would be a freelance monster hunter, and decided
that the clone of Robin Hood would do nicely. Truth in Politics,
featuring Alice the A.I., is how I hope future politics is
conducted (if only!).

The
Anomaly
was written for bored astronauts, because even great
jobs have tedious times.

The Origami
Dragon
was inspired by my attempts to make actual origami
dragons, none of which fly or spit fire (yet). Origami is just one
of my many hobbies that I don’t spend nearly enough time on.

Aventur and
the Griffin
stars Aventur, who also features in my first full
length novel, Wish, which is set in the magical lands of the Seven
C’s.

Don’t Fear
the Reaper
is what happens when I spend my coffee break talking
about cybernetic implants and then spend the rest of the day
working on a machine that runs for ten minutes before restarting.
This story was mostly written in those ten minute periods, and is
dedicated to Terry Pratchett for all his good work.

Long
Shot
is the first story I wrote for this compilation, and I
still like it despite its age.

Grendel
is the end of creatures who haunt the shadows, but from their
perspective. The men we regard as great heroes would have been
monsters in the monster’s eyes.

Jonah And
The Interdimensional Being Named Wail That Swallowed His Escape
Pod
was written to follow on from The Anomaly, and because I
think the story of Jonah being kept alive in the belly of a the
beast is both scary and wonderful all at once.

And now for the
thankyous.

A special
thanks to my brother, Dave, for his suggestions about Noah’s Park.
Your advice was painfully honest and absolutely spot on.

This book would
never have been written without my wife, the lovely lady Lill, who
supported my late night writing habits with tea and kind words.

A big thanks to
my editor Eve (eveproofreads.com) and my cover artist, Malice
Bathory for all their good word. Both Eve and Malice can be found
on Elance, and Eve writes a blog which is worth checking out.

If you like my
work, please rate it online. Maybe even tell your friends and
family: I would appreciate it. I also have a full length fantasy
novel, Wish, which is set in the magical lands of the Seven C’s, so
please check that out.

If you like my
work, but are reading a free pirated version then buy the book.
It’s not expensive, and you will feel better for it. And, of
course, you will be encouraging me to write more.

C. H.
Aalberry