Colonel George Butterworth
Names: Colonel George ButterworthColonel Butterworththe colonel
First appears in Book 1: We Are Legion, chapter 26 (Riker – April 2157 – Sol)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: We Are Legion
- Ch 26Colonel George Butterworth of the USE Army Corps hails Riker and cautiously opens negotiations.
- Ch 26Butterworth cares for a USE refugee camp of about twenty thousand people in an underground military installation.
- Ch 29Butterworth insists the Bobs not waste effort searching for other survivors, prioritising his own refugees.
- Ch 31Butterworth is angered by schedule slippage but agrees refugees may use the USE compound after his people depart.
- Ch 36Butterworth suggests advancing the third ship by a year, at a delay to his own two ships, to satisfy the Spits.
- Ch 43Butterworth's predictable objection to any plan change has become a running joke among the Bobs.
- Ch 61Butterworth chooses Vulcan for the USE colony because its biocompatible ecosystem will bridge the gap until their own food production.
- Ch 61Butterworth is far more relaxed now that his civilians seem to have a future, and offers to help the Spits when they arrive.
Book 2: For We Are Many
- Ch 2Colonel Butterworth leads the USE enclave; once at odds with Riker, he is friendlier toward Howard.
- Ch 5Colonel Butterworth argues colonists must compete with the raptors rather than leave a zero footprint, and approves decanting the remaining colonists.
- Ch 8Butterworth tells Howard he shows far more patience than Riker ever did.
- Ch 16Butterworth is furious on learning of the Others, who exterminate life on planets and strip their metals.
- Ch 29A weary Butterworth says Cranston and Valter, who settled Romulus, are starting to look like the smart ones.
- Ch 35Butterworth judges Howard and Bridget's whiskey to be genuine, saleable Irish whiskey, but declines to partner due to a perceived conflict.
- Ch 58Butterworth has retired.
- Ch 70Butterworth, now in his eighties or older, is stunned by the replication offer but quickly agrees.
- Ch 72Butterworth advised Bill on battle strategy; Bill acts as his proxy since Butterworth runs on biological time.
Book 3: All These Worlds
- Ch 7George Butterworth, a retired USE colonel, took his own life with a neurotoxin after being diagnosed with incurable degenerative dementia.
- Ch 7Butterworth refused to become a cognitively impaired replicant and revoked consent to be scanned.
- Ch 59Colonel Butterworth went to Vulcan and has since died; Riker privately misses him greatly.
Connections
- member ofUnited States of Eurasia Army Corps
- leadsUSE refugee camp
- ally ofRiker
- related toRikertense negotiating partnersat odds since day one
- member ofUnited States of Eurasia
- leadsUnited States of Eurasia
- ally ofHoward
- ally ofBillstrategy adviser
- friend ofHoward
- friend ofRiker
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 26Contact with Colonel Butterworth
Colonel George Butterworth of the USE hails Riker after the asteroids are averted, beginning cautious negotiations between the Bobs and Earth's survivors.
- Book 1 · Ch 26Plan to leave Earth
Butterworth explains how the war escalated and asks Riker to help build two USE colony ships to evacuate humans; Riker agrees.
- Book 1 · Ch 29Priorities dispute with Butterworth
Riker and Colonel Butterworth argue over searching for other survivors; Riker decides to build more Bobs first and search in parallel.
- Book 1 · Ch 31Transport vessels prioritised
Realising the scale of evacuation, Riker prioritises transport vessels, angering Colonel Butterworth, who agrees refugees can use the USE compound later.
- Book 1 · Ch 34Homer's workaround
Frustrated with Riker's handling of the Spits ultimatum, Homer devises a schedule compromise and calls Colonel Butterworth to pitch it.
- Book 1 · Ch 36Third-ship compromise opens
Butterworth proposes advancing the third ship, and Valter, apparently tipped off, opens negotiations with Riker.
- Book 1 · Ch 38VEHEMENT threat emerges
Riker learns from Butterworth about VEHEMENT, an anonymous group threatening violence to stop humanity from continuing.
- Book 1 · Ch 41Destinations announced
Riker announces Romulus and Vulcan as emigration destinations; delegates erupt with complaints about sharing planets.
- Book 1 · Ch 47Food reserve negotiations fail
Riker fails to persuade wealthier enclaves to share food with groups hit by VEHEMENT attacks.
- Book 1 · Ch 49Kudzu station plan
Homer and Riker devise spinning farm stations growing kudzu; the UN and Butterworth are outraged, but Riker pushes it through.
- Book 1 · Ch 61Butterworth chooses Vulcan
Colonel Butterworth picks Vulcan for the colony, and setup crews begin building homes there ahead of waking the first civilians.
- Book 2 · Ch 2Howard meets Colonel Butterworth
Butterworth reviews Howard's surveillance plan and announces the farming specialists will be decanted from stasis soon.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Raptors kill two colonists
Raptors sneak into camp behind log trucks and kill two colonists, prompting debate over whether they are intelligent.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Opening Day approved
With the fence nearly done and farms ready, Butterworth authorizes offloading the rest of the colonists, and Bert's shuttles begin ferrying them down.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Colony leaders clash
USE, FAITH and Spitsbergen leaders immediately feud; Howard shames them into cooperating and brokers a livestock and artificial-womb trade.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Butterworth learns of the Others
Howard tells Butterworth about the Others' planet-stripping genocide; the colonel erupts, and Howard explains Mario's scouting and Bill's weapons work.
- Book 2 · Ch 20Deadly parasite on Vulcan
An egg-laying insect parasite kills colonists on Vulcan; Butterworth asks Howard for drones, and an adult is eventually caught and examined.
- Book 2 · Ch 35Whiskey approved for sale
Colonel Butterworth tastes Howard and Bridget's Irish whiskey and declares it saleable, launching their liquor business.
- Book 2 · Ch 61Oliver builds a war fleet
Oliver ramps up printer production, designs weapons and the Version 5 Heaven with Bill, and after three years has his first cohort of battle cruisers.
- Book 2 · Ch 69Stéphane's memorial
Howard attends Stéphane's memorial on Vulcan in the android Manny, hugs Bridget, and meets her children, who know him from Stéphane's stories.
- Book 2 · Ch 70Butterworth agrees to be replicated
Howard proposes replicating Colonel Butterworth after death for the war effort; Bill is open to it, and Butterworth agrees and will update his will.
- Book 2 · Ch 72Battle of Delta Pavonis
Bobs attack the Others' armada in three staggered waves plus stealth nukes; they destroy three death asteroids and several cargo ships but lose many dreadnaughts and fail to stop the fleet.
- Book 3 · Ch 7Butterworth's suicide
After a movie date, Howard and Bridget learn from the coroner that George Butterworth has died by neurotoxin; his note to Howard explains his incurable dementia and his refusal to be replicated.