Fiction -Oakums Razor

fHow horrible the sound was of the air venting from his putrid helmet, feeling the vacuum seals of his visor activating with the low hum of EM resonance that signified it's maximum protection from buckling inertial forces.

fLt. Johannes Oakum often believed that it was only by fate that he joined the Galactic Terran Vasudan Alliance's fleet as a lowly pilot of a worn Great War relic on patrol of garbage scows on their weekly exodus from their home warships. What could not be recycled within the massive destroyers such as the Orions and Hecates, and yet was too valuable refuse for vacating into the void, was often shipped to nearby worlds for use in advanced labors and studies. Trace elements within urine, odd trinkets which refused to yield to the infernal smelting and filament weaving furnaces often found themselves within these shipments.

fMore then often however, these were merely patrols of nearly empty Elysium transports to make such persons such as Oakum believe in his part of the grand scheme that formed the GTVA.

fCondemned into this role since the first day of the academy, after refusing the recommended role of infantryman, Oakum found himself unable to grasp the theory and technics behind the craft which his cockpit controls flew. Though with a sharp numerical mind, as well as with honed reflexes, the would-be lieutenant had been crippled by unsatisfactory reports of his "not being a team player" despite the alliance's refusal to allow discrimination to disqualify persons from achieving their dreams.

fDiscrimination was something the alliance these days was never in short supply of, finding new targets of hate with the end of the Vasudan war, and the dissolution of the Terran blocs. Surely the Shivan threat hunt overhead like the pieces of raw meat left to ferment on a hot day in the equatorial regions of New Beaumont on Delta Serpentis IV, however the true aggression and hate always flowed to a minority.

fWhat minority was Oakum? An average boy from a far-flung colony in Laramis, keeping himself physically fit to avoid detrimental effects of his alien birth-world's environment. Too average he was, never against the authorities and always too eager for the status-quo, traits that served well within the GTVA's military forces. However, his focus on physical strength and his education in pure numerical forms and manipulation of raw data proved to be his downfall. A man with pure facts has no true intelligence, as Oakum soon learned, finding himself lacking in spatial relations despite strength with reaction times and calculations. This one area where he faltered was also one so basic for a man of his upbringing, and despite his insisted course for his future career for the alliance, Oakum made his stand and suffered for it.

fSo his past's tale came to an end, with his finally assigned to menial duties aboard the GTD Haiys. Often finding himself pondering over the cause of his assignment, yet never truly grasping the simple reason for it, brewing elaborate conspiracies.

fOver his year of service, the Lt. found much time to learn true philosophy and to ponder. His realization met full circle upon finding the works of a sage at least four centuries prior with a name quite similar to his, perhaps even a relative. The overall statement of this man's "Razor of reason" was to Oakum at least, as follows: "In any given situation, the most simple reason or solution is the most true."

fLt. Oakum at that point learned wisdom, and from that moment on he began to become a threat to the very alliance which he dreamed to serve.