Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 17

The House Is Found

Yesterday, Rome figured out a way to turn her mind-reading ability into a kind of human GPS. They would bump into people, flash pictures of Troutman and Steele and Rome would detect whether the person had ever seen them before, maybe even how long before. As the "signal" got stronger, they would know they were getting closer to the would-be assassins' lair. It was a brilliant plan:

     They wandered through the western side of the marketplace with Rei and Bonnie pretending to bump into people. Rei carried a picture of Troutman. Bonnie carried a picture of Steele. Even as they were excusing themselves, Rome was able to get flashes of recognition. No one had seen Steele but Troutman stood out because of his height. Rome had Bonnie switch pictures. They quickly discovered that if they moved in one direction, fewer people showed any recognition. If they turned another way, more people showed flashes of recognition. Rei’s description of Rome as a human GPS device turned out to be more accurate than any of them realized.
     They soon found themselves on the far western side of the city, well out from beneath the shadow of The Hand. Even though the streets were built the same as on the eastern side, the construction technique for the residences here quickly degraded. In fact, while there were many residences here, they steadily decreased in attractiveness as they got closer to the edge of town. Unerringly, their technique took them closer and closer until they got to one of the last streets, right on the outskirts of Ur. Most of the people here hadn’t even bothered to use aerogel to construct their dwellings. They were more like sophisticated shacks. The one or two properly built homes stood out like sore thumbs.
     Rome pulled a Vuduri gentleman aside and even though no words were spoken, mentally, she had a conversation with him. He pointed to the third house on the left. Rome thanked him and returned to Rei and Bonnie.
     “He saw Troutman enter that house this morning,” Rome said. “To his knowledge, he is still in there.”
     “How do we grab him?” Bonnie asked. “If we go right up to his door, he’ll see us and take off.”
     “Yeah,” Rei said. “Let me think about this for a minute.” He surveyed his surroundings. “You ladies stay here,” he said. “Let me scout around.” He drew the Deucadon cloak over his head, drew his hand down the front and promptly disappeared.

Nothing like being invisible for going under cover. Rei will try and sneek a peek inside the shack, hoping he will find Troutman. Let's see what happens.

A Human GPS

Now that Rome, Rei and Bonnie had retrieved all the information Andrea had to offer, it was time to resume the hunt for Troutman and Steele, the would-be assassins. While Rei told Andrea he didn't need any of his winnings, I hope he kept a few Deucats in case he needed them along the way. If he didn't, oh well, he could always make more. So let's see where they go next:

     “Are all men obsessed with sex?” Rome asked Rei mentally as they left the casino.
     Rei laughed out loud and then thought back, “Of course.”
     “That’s what I have come to realize,” Rome replied. “First Paul Chung, then the merchant below and the way the men at the card table were ogling me. What they were thinking!”
     Rei had a hard time holding back laughter. When he was able to compose himself, he said, “If you’re going to dive into people’s heads, you have to be prepared for what you find there. Our people are used to their privacy. They’re not like the Vuduri where somebody is always peeking in. Sometimes we don’t think the greatest thoughts.”
     Rome sighed. “I suppose you are right,” she replied. “I have to keep that in the forefront when I am probing their minds.”
     Rei tried steering the trio toward the elevator but Rome resisted. She looked longingly at the spectacular vista before them. She had vowed several years ago to always take the time to appreciate the beauty that nature provided her. Within her, a tug of war raged on but finally, practicality won. First things first. They had a job to do. Reluctantly, she turned away and followed Rei and Bonnie back the way they came. After the elevator ride back to the ground, the three of them ducked into an alleyway to strategize.
     “Did you find anything out?” Bonnie asked Rei and Rome.
     “One thing, yes,” Rei answered. “The thing we know is that Troutman probably lives to the west.”
     “So that eliminates half the town,” Bonnie said dismissively. “That still leaves us with the entire other half to search.”
     “I think I may have a method,” Rome said. “We now know that even if I am not in direct contact with them, I can still read people’s minds. At least at the superficial level. I think that if we walk toward the edge of town, each of you should take turns bumping into people. This will get their attention. Immediately show them a picture of Troutman and Steele. It will only take me a moment to determine if they have seen them or not. That should help us home in on the proper direction.”
     “That’s a pretty sleek idea,” Rei said. “Like a human GPS.”
     “A GPS?” Rome asked.
     “Never mind,” Rei said. “Let’s get going.”

So they are going to wander the town, bouncing into people, flash pictures and the stronger the "signal", the closer they will come to finding Troutman and Steele.

Voyager

Yesterday, we considered the question as to why the Moon was exactly the right size to create a perfect total eclipse of the Sun. Not too big and not too small but just right. On the day of the total eclipse, I turned on the TV to watch some coverage because I didn't have a pair of eclipse glasses. Also, where we live, it was very overcast so I wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway. Even at the point of maximum eclipse, it just looked gloomy out. Right after that show was a documentary about the Voyager spacecraft which were launched in 1977 making this the 40th anniversary. From watching that show, I found out some astounding facts about these spacecraft that you might want to consider.

Voyager 2 was launched first, on August 20, 1977 and Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977. Now why they were launched in backwards order is a little odd but we'll ignore that for now. Voyager 1 is currently 11.7 billion miles away. It is so far away that by all standards, it has left our solar system and is now in interstellar space. Voyager 2 is "only" 9.5 billion miles away and is still in the heliosphere, a bubble of charged particles and magnetic fields that is considered the outer boundary of our star system. It is expected to leave the solar system in about four years.

Voyager 1 is on a path that will carry it close to a star called AC +79 3888 which is 17.6 light years from Earth. It will take it about 40,000 years to reach that star. If anybody is home and they detect Voyager, they can snag it and listen to the "Golden Record" that was bolted on to the outside of the probe. So if that is all it takes to make intelligent life aware of us, we have 40,000 years to get ready. Voyager 2 is headed for the star called Sirius, only about 10 billion miles away. We have less to worry about that one because it will take Voyager 2 about 296,000 years to reach it.

Of course, if either the Voyager probes run into an alien probe and they merge and the new entity decides to return to Earth to meet its maker, we might have some problems. After all, the was the plot of the first Star Trek movie, with the main antagonist being V'ger. But that story doesn't take place for another 200 years so I think we're OK there as well.

In summary, here is a hearty well-done to the scientists and engineers that designed and launched the twin Voyager spacecrafts, all the science they performed and now their final mission, a message in a bottle to the stars.

The Sun, the Moon and the stars

Unless you are living under a rock (how's the Wifi reception there?), you know that about two weeks ago, on August 21, 2017, we had a total eclipse of the Sun pass over a goodly portion of the U.S. for the first time in 38 years. Sadly, here in Cherry Hill, NJ, we were too far north to see a total eclipse. And what's worse, even if we were, it was so overcast that you wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway. It just looked gloomy out for the duration.

But even though I couldn't see anything, it got me to wondering. How is it that our Moon is exactly the right size to blot out the Sun so exactly? I mean perfectly. So perfectly that scientists use the eclipse to study the corona of the Sun using ground-based instruments. How come the Moon isn't too big to blot out the corona or too small so that a portion of the Sun is visible around the boundaries of the Moon?

The answer falls out of the math. Right now, in our lifetime, the Sun’s diameter is about 400 times greater than the Moon but the Sun is also about 400 times farther away so that their apparent size is nearly identical. The Moon is drifting farther away from the Earth about 1.5 inches every year. That means in the distant past, the Moon completely blotted out the Sun and way in the future, the Moon won't be big enough to totally eclipse the Sun but right now it is perfect. What are the odds?

I guess to figure that out, you'd have to look at other planets with their moons and see whether this is a rare or common occurrence. What planets you ask? To date, scientists have discovered well over 1,000 exoplanets. Unfortunately, they are too far away to determine whether they even have moons, let alone how big they are.

Within our own solar system, all the gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus all have moons but none of them are the right size. Mars has two dinky moons, Phobos and Deimos and they certainly wouldn't blot out the Sun.

To figure out the answer, you would have to turn to math to deduce how many planets are exactly the right distance with exactly the right sized moon to get a total eclipse like ours. And even if you came up with the right answer, how would you know? Nobody even knows if there is life on any other worlds in the entire universe so just consider this happy coincidence among a vast ocean of cosmic coincidences involving our wonderful planet Earth.

Got her!

Yesterday, Rome, Rei and MINIMCOM watched surveillance tapes showing one of the would-be assassins, Dan Steele, meeting with a woman who appeared to be Vuduri. This was important information because their reconstruction of the robbery of the Library showed a woman with a Vuduri accent helping them. Now to put all the pieces back together and figure out their next move:

     “Any audio?” Rei asked. “I need to know what she said to him.”
     “No,” Andrea replied. “Only video. Sorry.”
     Rei stroked his chin. He stared at the image on the screen. “I know it seems like we found something but I don’t think we did. Maybe that he met our mystery woman here.” He turned to Andrea. “Can you tell me who the dealer was? Maybe he or she heard something.”
     “It was me,” answered the Ibbrassati who, up until now, had been standing silently by the door.
     The three people turned toward him.
     “Can you tell us anything about this?” Rome asked.
     “Not much,” replied the man. “The woman was definitely Vuduri. I could tell from her dismissive attitude toward the mandasurte. I, too, found it strange that she would wear darkening glasses. Our casino is not that brightly lit in the first place.”
     “Did you hear what she said to him?” Rei asked.
     “No,” replied the man. “The room was very loud and she was whispering to him. I am sorry but I did not hear a single word. But whatever she said must been interesting to the man you were watching. He left the game immediately.”
     “Did you ever see her again?” Rome asked.
     “No,” replied the man. “In fact, I never saw either of them again.”
     Rei sighed. He looked at Rome.
     “When was the last time you saw Troutman?” Rome asked.
     “I haven’t seen him in over a month.” She looked at the readouts on the screen. “In fact, I probably only saw him once more right after this video was made.”
     “OK,” Rei said. “Thanks, Andrea. This has been sort of helpful. And you said you think Troutman lives on the western side of the city?”
     “Yes,” Andrea replied sadly. “But I’m not sure how I feel about you finding him. He’s not a bad person.”
     “I have no intention of causing him harm,” Rei said. “Unless he gives me a reason. By rights, since he tried to kill me, I should be able to do anything I want to him. But I just want my family to be safe.”
     “I understand,” Andrea said. “I guess in that case, I do hope you find him.”
     Rei turned to his livetar friend. “Thanks, MINIMCOM. We’ll go collect Bonnie and head toward the west. Why don’t you go back to the ship and we’ll stay in touch.”
     The livetar nodded his head and disappeared.

Next, Rome and Rei head west and end up turning Rome into the human equivalent of a GPS or bloodhound.

The Surveillance Tapes, Part 2

Yesterday, Andrea Grenmuller, the owner and manager of the casino at the top of The Hand of Decado, revealed that she had an intimate relationship with David Troutman, one of the would-be assassins who tried to kill Rei. However, even though she had slept with Troutman several times, it had always been at her place and she did not know where he lived. She also told Rome and Rei that she was informed that Dan Steele, the other would-be assassin, had been to the casino earlier in the year but she didn't know exactly when. The only way to find out was to have MINIMCOM review all the surveillance tapes at high speed:

     Andrea pressed a single button and the images started flying by at super-speed. MINIMCOM remained motionless. Rei didn’t even know how the livetar transmitted what came in through the eye slits but however he accomplished it, MINIMCOM seemed to know what he was doing.
     After few minutes, MINIMCOM raised his hand and said, “Stop.”
     Andrea typed on the keyboard and the images froze. MINIMCOM bent his bullet-shaped head forward and pressed a few keys. When he rewound back to where he wanted, he expanded the image in the upper-left-hand quadrant so that it occupied the full screen.
     “This is what you seek,” he said. Rei and Rome came over to join Andrea in front of the monitor. MINIMCOM pressed a key and the video began playing back at normal speed.
     MINIMCOM pointed to a figure dressed in dark clothes, entering the field of vision from the left-hand side. “That is Steele,” the livetar said. “Although he has his face obscured, I was able to get a sufficient match using biometrics.”
     They watched as the furtive figure sat down at one of the hoker tables. He tossed a few coins down and received chips. For a short while, he played the game like a regular person, winning some hands, losing others.
     “Look!” Rome shouted, pointing at the screen. A very short woman, Vuduri most likely judging from the white jumpsuit, sat down next to Steele. “Can you zoom in on her face?” Rome asked.
     MINIMCOM tapped on a few keys and the interaction between Steele and the woman took up the entire screen. However, the woman was wearing a cap and a visor that looked like a wraparound frameless pair of sunglasses.
     “Why would a Vuduri woman be wearing sunglasses?” Rei addressed toward Rome. “Your internal iris would make it unnecessary.”
     “Either she is mandasurte, dressed like a Vuduri, or she did not want anyone to see her face,” Rome answered. “I suspect the latter.”
     In the video, the woman leaned over and whispered in Steele’s ear. He snapped his head back and looked at her intently. She pointed toward the front door. Immediately, Steele grabbed his chips and followed her out of the camera’s field of view.

Ah-hah! The mysterious Vuduri woman who they knew to be helping Troutman and Steele. But why? Who was she and why did she want Rei dead? The mystery deepens.

The Surveillance Tapes, Part 1

Yesterday, Andre Grenmuller dumped a lot of information on us. She was responsible for the creation of the Deucat, the first money on the planet of Deucado. She designed and built the casino at the top of The Hand. She also revealed that she knew David Troutman, one of the would-be assassins, intimately. Rei encouraged her to tell them everything they know but Rome had something to say first:

     Rome lifted her hand from Andrea’s shoulder. “Money is stupid,” she said. “I have only been exposed to it for a short time but I can tell you it brings out the bad in people.”
     Andrea looked up at her. “You’re probably right,” she said. “But I don’t make anybody come in here.”
     “Troutman,” Rei said, drawing her attention again. “Where is he?”
     “I don’t know,” Andrea replied. Rome put her hand back on Andrea’s shoulder. “Speculate. Where do you think he is?” Rome asked.
     “Every time we were together, we went back to my place,” Andrea replied. “If I had to guess, I’d say he lives to the west. He always told me his place was way too sloppy to let me see where he lived.”
     Rome looked at Rei and nodded.
     “What about Steele?” Rei asked. “Do you know where he is?”
     “No,” Andrea replied. “I was told he came in here one night a while back but I wasn’t even around. David said I was lucky.”
     Looking around the room, Rei spotted a tiny video camera mounted in the far corner, where the walls met the ceiling. “I saw you had cameras downstairs,” Rei said, pointing. “Do you keep video records?”
     “Yes,” Andrea replied. “We tape everything.”
     “Can I see the videos?” Rei asked. “Maybe we’ll spot something.”
     “You’d have to go through several month’s worth,” she said. “I don’t really think that’s practical.”
     “Maybe for you and me,” Rei said. He leaned back in his chair. There was a whoosh and a pop and a more normal-sized MINIMCOM livetar appeared.
     “Buddy, can you watch some video for me at high speed and see if you spot something. You know who we’re looking for.”
     “Of course,” the livetar replied.
     “OK,” Andrea said. She stood up and walked around her desk and over to the far side of the room. She pressed a button and a large flat screen display lit up, segmented into four quadrants of video. She tapped a few keys on a keyboard and the display changed. MINIMCOM’s livetar walked over and stood in front of the display.
     “Begin,” he said.

We've all seen enough TV shows to know that working your way through months worth of surveillance tapes would be a herculean task. But when you have an intelligent starship computer that can do it at high speed, it makes the task doable. Let's see what MINIMCOM comes up with tomorrow.

The Origin of the Deucat

Yesterday, Rei finally got his audience before the casino's management. It turns out the owner is an Essessoni named Andrea Granmuller. How and why she was running the place was anybody's guess. It was time for Rome and Rei to dig a little deeper. They need to ascertain whether she knew anything about Troutman and Steele, the would-be assassins. Rei just came out and asked her. Here is her response:

     Andrea narrowed her eyes. “What if I said I didn’t know anything about them?”
     Rei turned to Rome who nodded. She stood up and walked around the desk. Andrea watched her skeptically while Rome gently rested her hand on Andrea’s shoulder.
     “She’s lying,” Rome said. “She knows Troutman very well.”
     Andrea looked at Rome’s hand then up at Rei. “So that’s how you cheat? You read people’s minds?”
     “I can’t,” Rei said. “But she can. You might want to rethink the games you offer by acknowledging that the people here aren’t all like us.”
     “OK. Point taken. What do you want to know?” Andrea asked.
     “Anything. Everything,” Rei said. “Troutman and Steele tried to kill us with a bomb. I want to find them before they take another shot at it.”
     Andrea leaned back in her chair. She sighed. “I heard that, but David’s not a bad person,” she said.
     “He’s bad enough to try and blow me up,” Rei shot back with an edge.
     “That was Steele’s influence,” she said. “David just wanted to…” She didn’t finish the sentence.
     “How do you know Troutman?” Rei asked.
     “He and I, well, we’ve slept together a few times. He used to bring me the silver ingots I needed to make the coins.”
     “You’re minting the money?” Rei inquired. “Why? On this world, we get everything we need for free. Why bother?”
     “When you mix four races,” Andrea said, “not everybody values things the same way. By implementing a simple standard of exchange, the people down there…” Andrea pointed toward the tinted window mounted on the far wall. “…they can agree on what’s what. It levels the playing field. The market down below sets its value. We just use them as a way to get people in here.”
     “Why?” Rome asked, still standing over Andrea. “Why all of this?”
     Andrea looked up at her. “I’m a mathematician by trade. When we got here, nobody needed me for anything. I had to find something to do with my life. On Earth, we had to work just to survive. Here, we don’t. So I decided to do what I’ve always wanted. And I’ve always wanted to own a casino.” She waved her hand outward in a general gesture. “So I built this one. And that’s why we make the money. You can’t gamble if you don’t have anything to gamble with.”

Well, we finally have an explanation for why there is money on Deucado. To Andrea, they were really just another form of chips. To the people below, the Deucat had come to mean something more. I'm not sure this was really a contribution to the betterment of Deucado's society.

Tomorrow, we get to look at the tapes.

How did you know?

Yesterday, Rei had pulled off a huge upset, winning so much money at hoker that the dealer had no choice but to send him up to visit management, presumably to work out a deal. This was Rei's only goal in the first place. Having a mind-reader for a wife is a great advantage at a casino.

So now was the time to go up the stairs and see who was behind the whole affair:

     “That’s more like it,” Rei said, standing up. “My rather large and well-armed friend here…” he indicated MINIMCOM’s larger livetar. “…will make sure you count it correctly.” MINIMCOM took one step forward and lifted the rifle head slightly in response.
     “Sh, sure,” the dealer said. “You go back through that door.” He pointed to the far right rear of the room. “Someone will meet you at the stairs.”
     “OK,” Rei said. “Bonnie, can you stay here and watch him too? Make sure he doesn’t cheat us any more.”
     “Of course, Rei,” Bonnie said, her eyes wide with amazement at what just transpired.
     “Come on, Rome,” Rei said, reaching down to take Rome’s hand. “Let’s go find out what’s going on.”
     He led Rome through a winding path around the rest of the tables until they got to the hallway at the rear. “How did you know this would make the owner agree to see you?” she asked.
     “Because casino owners hate to lose,” he said. “It isn’t anything you could understand but this whole place is about separating people from their money. What happened back there is like their worst nightmare.”
     At the base of the stairwell, an Ibbrassati appeared but this one was dressed in Essessoni-style clothing. The man did not speak while he escorted them up the stairway. He ushered Rei and Rome into a hardwood-paneled office that would have been right at home anywhere on Earth. It looked odd, here on Deucado. At the desk was a woman with dark hair and bangs. She stood up.
     The Ibbrassati closed the door but remained in the room, standing at attention.
     “You two don’t need any introduction,” she said. “But I do. I’m Andrea Grenmuller.” She leaned over the desk and held out her hand.
     Rei reached forward and shook her hand. “Sit down,” Andrea said, indicating the two chairs in front of her desk. “Very impressive display,” she mused admiringly. “I had no idea you were so good at cards.”
     “I’m not,” Rei said, sitting down. Rome sat down next to him. “I cheated,” he answered proudly.
     “And you’re admitting it?”
     “Yeah, sure,” Rei said. “I don’t want your money. You can have it back.”
     “You don’t want it?” Andrea asked incredulously. “Then what do you want?”
     “Information,” Rei said, leaning forward. “About David Troutman and Dan Steele.”

Ah. There it is. Rei kind of has her over a barrel because if he wanted to, Rei could leave with that barrel-full of money. But as he said, he didn't want it. Time for Andrea to spill what she knows.

Getting her attention

Yesterday, Rei had cheated his way to the point where he was going to break the house. The replacement dealer had palmed four cards specifically designed to sucker Rei into betting money that he would lose for sure. Luckily, Rome not only knew that the dealer had cheated, she even knew the cards that had been placed on the top of the deck. Rei bet all of his money that he could name the next four cards. He got the first three correct. Now it was time for the dealer to turn over the final card and for Rei to win a boatload of Deucats:

     Rei reached into his sack of Deucats and dumped the rest on the table.
     “Rei!” Rome suddenly interrupted. “He’s going to take two cards. It won’t be the king.”
     “Right,” Rei answered. Then out loud, he said, “Stop right there and get your hands away from the deck. Get somebody else to turn the card.”
     “No,” the dealer said. “That’s not the deal.” The crowd’s agitation was palpable.
     “Yes it is,” Rei insisted. “I said the next four cards. You already palmed four cards and now you’re going to lift two. If you won’t get somebody else, I’m going to turn the last card over myself.”
     “You can’t do that,” the dealer said. He reached down beneath the table and drew out a weapon. He placed the plasma blaster on the table. “House rules,” he said. “I say how this goes down.” The crowd murmured and quickly moved back, clearing out a wide buffer between themselves and Rei, Rome and Bonnie.
     Rei touched his temple and suddenly, with a whoosh and a pop, MINIMCOM’s livetar appeared. But this livetar was much larger than normal. It was nearly eight feet tall and appropriately proportioned. Across one of the livetar’s arms was a hybrid rifle. The barrel and stock looked normal but the end looked more like a shower head. The business end, the one that resembled a shower head, was studded with little tips that glowed bright red.
     “You think you can threaten me?” Rei said angrily, standing up. “You can shoot me. You can probably kill me. But you can’t kill him,” Rei said, jerking his thumb toward MINIMCOM. “He isn’t even alive. Tell him what you got there, buddy.”
     “This is a PPT blunderbuss,” MINIMCOM said. “It will puncture you with thousands of tiny holes. You will not die right away but you will die as sure as there are stars in the sky. And I am told it is a very painful death.”
     The dealer’s eyes grew wide. Rei took advantage of his frozen reactions and said, “King.” He reached forward and flipped the card over and it was, indeed, a king of clubs. From a distance, the crowd went crazy.
     The dealer leaped up and in so doing, knocked his chair over backwards.
     “Pay me,” Rei said, pointing to the pile of chips and money on the table. The dealer turned back and stared up at the tinted windows in the back helplessly. There was a discernible motion. The Essessoni dealer turned back and said, “The owner would like to see you, first, if you don’t mind.”

Ah! Mission accomplished. Now Rei was going to get a meeting with the owners and if he is really lucky, access to the security footage. But wait until you see how the owner fits into the whole picture.