Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 21

Life on TRAPPIST-1

As I have mentioned before, as soon as scientists discover intelligent life on another planet, my career as a science fiction writer is over. That doesn't mean I couldn't find a new career as a biographer or documentarian but making up stuff? Game over. So I pay especial attention to whenever we find something that could be interpreted as life on another planet.

So far, on Mars, it's a no-go. Some scientists have speculated that there might be life on one of Saturn's moons called Enceladus but no proof so far. I think I am safe in saying there probably isn't intelligent life in our solar system but there are a lot more star systems out there.

Located in the Atacama Desert in Chile sits a NASA-sponsored observatory called the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope or TRAPPIST for short. A group of scientists from the University of Liege in Belgium, using the TRAPPIST telescope, have discovered a star appropriately called TRAPPIST-1 located 40 light-years from here. What makes this star so special is that it has seven Earth-sized planets circling in orbit, three of which have been identified as in that star's habitable zone, a place where the average temperatures would permit liquid water to exist.

The TRAPPIST-1 star itself is an ultra-cool dwarf star, not a whole lot bigger than Jupiter. In order to be warmed enough to have liquid water, the planets would have to orbit very close to the star. In fact, they would be so close that they would be tidally locked meaning one side would always face the sun and the far side would always face away, like our own Moon. So the only reasonably temperate place would be the median strip circling the planet straddling the terminator between the light side and the dark side. This does not offer a lot of options for life to develop.

To make things even tougher, all of the planets are probably under constant bombardment by radiation and battered by high velocity particles. Scientists studying the planet think the two forces combined would most likely strip the three "good" planets of any atmosphere, further reducing the chances that life might have started or thrived there.

The bottom line is, it's a start but we'll probably have more luck finding life on planets circling a star a little bit more like our Sun. I hope they don't find any at least until I finish rewriting my first novel Rome's Revolution!




Illustration credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Rome is hot, redux

Yesterday, Rome and Rei had determined that Steele and Troutman were most likely headed toward the resort city of Ur on the southern banks of Lake Eprehem. This next little vignette was not integral to the plot but I thought it was important to show how completely invasive Rome's new powers really were. I couched it in humor but still, getting access to someone's inner thoughts might not always be a pleasant experience. I know I have related this section to you before because I thought it was really funny. I think it holds up but now you have a bit more context:

      “Thank you, Paul,” Rome said, rising in place. She stepped behind her chair and pushed it in, under the table. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. She reached over and touched Paul’s cheek. “One other thing,” she said. “Do you know if Troutman or Steele established a relationship with a Vuduri woman?”
     “Not to my knowledge,” Chung replied, ignoring the fact that Rome appeared to be caressing him. “As far as I know, neither of them cared too much for your people.”
     Rome nodded to Rei that it was the truth. “We have enough,” she said. She walked over to April and held her hand out. April Chung took Rome’s hand and shook it. The information flowed like a torrent into Rome’s brain.
     “Everything will be alright,” Rome said reassuringly. “You and your husband and child will be safe. No one will know that you provided this information. And after we capture these two men, it won’t matter in any event.”
     April nodded. “I know you’ll take care of them. We all believe in you.”
     “Thank you,” Rome replied, releasing her grip and they left the house.
     As soon as they got outside, Rome tugged on Rei’s shoulder.
     “What?” Rei asked.
     Rome said, “Do you think I have a fever?”
     Rei bent over and kissed her on the forehead. “No,” he said. “You’re fine. Do you feel sick?”
     “No,” Rome said. She furrowed her brow. “Do I radiate more heat than a regular Essessoni?”
     Rei pulled his head back, confused. “No more than anybody else,” he said. “What’s going on?”
     Rome shook her head. “Even during his most stressful times, Paul kept thinking to himself that I was really hot compared to his wife. What does that mean?”
     Rei and Bonnie laughed.
     “Why is that funny?” Rome asked.
     “It means he thought you were really attractive,” Bonnie said.
     Rei held his hand up. “Yes, Romey. Sexually.”
     “I don’t understand,” Rome said. “I…” She stopped short. “Oh!” She cocked her head. “Do you think I’m ‘hot’?” she asked her husband.
     “Romey, if you were any hotter, you’d be incandescent,” Rei said with a smile on his face.
     Rome nodded definitively. “I don’t know why it matters to me. It shouldn’t but it makes me feel good.”
     “It should, honey,” Bonnie said. “If I had your body and face, I’d be running this world.”
     Rome shrugged. She pointed and they headed toward MINIMCOM.

All right. It is now time for Rome to go forth and conquer!

The Whole Truth

Yesterday, Rome's first foray into her new occupation as living lie detector was a success. She found out just enough information to force Paul Chung into agreeing to spill his guts. From what Rome was able to gather, his silence was perpetrated because of fear of retribution against his wife, April and young son, Perry. Now that he has agreed to talk, Rome need only monitor to make sure he continues to tell the truth:

     Chung looked down at the table. Finally, he raised his eyes up to regard the group. “After the whole Darwin thing went down, Troutman disappeared. That part is true. And at the time, I really did think he was with the group that surrendered. But a few months ago, in the middle of the night, he came here.”
     “Why?” Rei asked.
     “He said they were getting into some things that he no longer wished to be a part of. He asked me if he could hang out here for a few days until things blew over.”
     “I didn’t know that,” April said. “I never saw him.”
     Paul looked up at his wife. “That’s because Steele was at the door no more than an hour later,” he said. “He barged right in and grabbed Troutman. He took him into the other room…” Chung pointed to the living area. “The discussion got pretty heated and in the end, Troutman went with him.”
     “Did they say anything that could help us locate them?” Rome asked.
     “I couldn’t make out most of what they said but they did mention Ur several times.”
     “Ur?” Rei asked. “The resort city?”
     “Yeah, that Ur,” he said.
     “I didn’t think any of the Darwin people ever ventured that far south,” Bonnie interjected.
     “What was their reason for mentioning it? Were they going there?” Rome asked.
     “I can’t tell you. They didn’t know that I heard them and I wasn’t about to ask. As they were leaving, Steele told me to forget that I ever saw them. That’s when he threatened me and my family. He said they needed to disappear and I’d better not be the reason why people found them.”
     “And you didn’t see fit to mention this to anyone?” Rome asked. Chung’s mind churned over his worries regarding the safety of his family.
     “No, I figured what harm could two men do?” he answered. Rome knew better. Chung was conflicted the whole time.
     “That is not the truth,” Rome said. “But I do understand. You cared too much about your family to take the chance.”
     Chung looked at Rome for a long time then down at her hand. “How are you doing this?” he asked. “I mean, I know you Vuduri have your voodoo but it doesn’t work with us Essessoni, does it?”
     “Rome is very special,” Rei said proudly. “Anything else, sweetheart?” he directed to Rome.
     Rome looked at Paul intently then shook her head. “Those are the salient facts we need. That’s all he knows.”
     “OK then,” Rei said, standing up. Everyone else took that as their cue to get up as well.

Paul Chung has divulged a solid lead. The last he heard, Steele and Troutman were headed down to the resort city of Ur which was located along the southern edge of the giant crater lake, Lake Eprehem. I'm pretty sure that will be Rome and Rei's next stop.

It works!

Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie had entered Paul Chung's house. MINIMCOM had not threatened him but somehow the livetar convinced Paul it would be in his best interest to let them come in. Paul took them into his dining room. Rome was sitting to his left. MINIMCOM was standing directly behind Paul to encourage his cooperation. Rome is going to attempt her first real effort at pulling out information from someone's mind using her new-found powers as a telepath:

      Rome leaned forward and put her hand on Paul's shoulder then spoke in a low voice. “Troutman,” she said.
     “Troutman what?” Chung replied but his mind was already awhirl with thoughts and memories. Rome had to fight from grinning. It was like one of Rei’s movies. Chung’s mind played out his history and events so clearly, it was amazing. Finally, Rome understood his reluctance to cooperate.
     “He threatened you, didn’t he?” Rome asked. “No, wait. It wasn’t him. It was Steele! You saw both of them, didn’t you?”
     Chung’s eyes grew wide. “How did you…” he stopped speaking.
     “Is your wife here?” Rome asked, louder this time.
     “Yea…yes,” Paul replied.
     “April?” Rome called out. “Can you come out here please?”
     The petite blonde came into the room from the kitchen. “I thought I heard someone at the door. What’s going on?”
     Rome stood up but kept her hand on Paul’s shoulder. “Your husband used to play hoker, house poker with David Troutman and several others.” Rome looked down at Paul then back to April again. “After the Darwin people were exiled, Paul claims he never saw them again. But both Steele and Troutman were here not too long ago.”
     Chung started to rise. MINIMCOM placed his hand on Chung’s other shoulder and gently pushed him down again. The livetar’s hand was like a steel vise.
     “Paul, is this true?” April asked accusingly.
     “Yes,” Chung said sadly. “Steele said he would hurt you and Perry if I told anybody anything. I’m sorry.”
     Rome looked up at April. “We intend to track them down and apprehend them. We need Paul to give us as much information as possible. It will help facilitate matters.”
     “Steele?” April said, shivering. “I only met him once. He was awful.”
     “Yes,” Rome replied. “We have heard. Once they are in custody, they will be extradited off this world. They would never be a danger to anyone again. The quicker we find them, the quicker this will happen. So for your own safety and that of your son, please encourage your husband to cooperate.”
     April walked over to Paul. MINIMCOM stepped back out of her way.
     “Paul, honey,” she said. “These people have risked their lives ten times over to save us, our world, the whole human race. I think we owe it to them to help them.”
     A tear came to Chung’s eye. “I just wanted to make sure you were safe,” he said. He hung his head. “OK,” he muttered reluctantly. “I’ll talk.”
     “Thank you,” Rome said, sitting back down. However, she did not remove her hand from his shoulder.

So, the first "test run" of Rome as living lie detector worked! It was just as Rei had suggested. No need for pointed questions. Just get the subject's mind going along the lines of interest. Let's see what Chung comes up with tomorrow. The one thing we do know is that it will be the truth!

Interrogation #2

A few days ago, Rei and Rome determined that Rome's Evolution into a true telepath was complete. Well, as complete as they could make it given their set of conditions. The time had come to take Rome into the world and test out her new powers on an unsuspecting subject. And who would that subject be? Why, Paul Chung, of course. Rome, Rei and Bonnie could tell he was hiding something. This would be their best chance to find out what the secret was:

     The Vuduri calendar did not acknowledge such things as weekends. For the most part, they defined their lives in terms of their jobs and there was no reason to take a day off. However, the Essessoni had no such restrictions. Since the Vuduri week was normally ten days long, the Essessoni had arbitrarily picked Iodemi, Nifemi and Tazemi, the last three days of the Vuduri week as their weekend. They used those days to rest, relax and recreate.
     Today was Iodemi so when Rei, Rome and Bonnie went searching, their best guess to find Paul Chung was going to be at his home. MINIMCOM flew them directly there, landing right in the middle of the large cul-de-sac. Thoughtfully, he turned on his stealth shield so as to not frighten the other residents. The starship instantiated a livetar who accompanied the three humans down the cargo ramp and up the walkway to Paul Chung’s house.
     Rei lifted the knocker and rapped three times. This time, it was Paul Chung himself who answered the door.
     “You three again?” he said. “What is it this time? I already told you I didn’t know anything.”
     “May we come in?” Rome asked.
     “Why?” Paul asked, placing his hand across the doorway rather aggressively.
     Rome pointed inside. “While you say that you do not know where Troutman or Steele are located now,” she said, “it is possible that you might have some information that we could use. Information you may not even be aware of.”
     “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can help you,” Chung said, not budging.
     MINIMCOM strode forward, gently pushing Rome aside. He leaned his head down until it was inches away from Paul’s face. “May we come in, sir?” the livetar asked in a loud voice. Somehow it didn’t really sound like a question.
     Chung looked up at the two-meter tall living shell, dressed all in black. There was nothing but darkness behind MINIMCOM’s eye slits and that somehow made him appear even more menacing. Paul decided discretion was the better part of valor. “What the hell,” he said, “come on in.”
     He stepped aside and the party of four entered. Chung led them to the dining room and waited patiently while the humans took a seat. Paul himself sat down at the head of the table with Rome to his left. Once he was settled, MINIMCOM came over to stand by his right side and remained standing. Rome leaned forward and put her hand on his shoulder then spoke in a low voice.      “Troutman,” she said.

MINIMCOM as "muscle" - I love it. Rome's hand is placed upon Chung's shoulder. She has said the name of one of the would-be assassins. It is time for Chung's mind to betray him or at least reveal whatever information he was hiding.

Put the end at the beginning?

As I have mentioned several times, I have decided to rewrite Rome's Revolution. The plan is to completely rewrite Part 1 and called it The Rome's Revolution Saga - Book 1: Rebirth. Part 2 will become Book 2: Rebellion and Part 3 will become Book 3: Redemption. Each book will be around 55,000 to 60,000 words.

The reason for this is very simple. Your first work should be your best work, after all, it is your first book that people use to form a judgment about you. If they like what they read, they will acquire your other books and be a bit more forgiving in terms of content, style or speed. Once I have completely rewritten and polished these smaller books, I will record them as audiobooks and finally bind them all back together into a large volume which will become Rome's Revolution, Second Edition. I will swap out the manuscript in all the places it is currently found. I will also combine the three audiobooks into one and end up with one gigantic audiobook.

My biggest problem to all of this is the legacy inherited from my first attempt, back when this book was called VIRUS 5. I wanted to write a book in a strict "you are there" style meaning everything in the 35th century would be strange and different and mostly inexplicable until you learn of the underlying reasons for things. A great idea for my fifth novel but not my first. It simply drags on too long until something happens. People want more action.

I was struggling on how to get more immediacy with this when it suddenly struck me: move the end to the beginning so that people can see poor Rei Bierak, stranded on Dara, getting ready to destroy the planet. Show them that Rome had to fly the Algol away and leave Rei behind, broken-hearted.

This new approach has actually been used time and again in books, on TV and in movies. You know what I mean, you see the hero or heroine in some precarious, horrible situation then the screen flashes up 12 hours earlier or one week earlier, whatever.

So that's what I did. In the new version, I give you two pages showing the poor man in the most horrible, dire situation and then flash up three days earlier. This way your interest is piqued and you have to read furiously to find out why he is in such bad shape. I have to give away a lot but not too much. It lets you speed through the beginning and get to the actual action feeling rewarded, not wandering aimlessly, wondering where the book is going.

I'm still polishing it and taking feedback from people and trying to get it concise and swiftly moving and written well. In a few weeks, when it's ready, I'll give you a preview. Until then, back to our analysis of Rome's Evolution with the whys and wherefores.

290 at last!

A long time ago, in a basement far, far away, when I decided to write my first book, I read over Amazon's royalty program and incorrectly concluded that I would have to sell a total of 290 ebooks before they would cut me a royalty check. I set up a spreadsheet to track sales and I even named the spreadsheet 290 Units.xlsx so that I never forgot the ultimate goal.

Since that time, I have gained a better understanding of their royalty process and I was way off but I didn't change the name of the spreadsheet. I guess this was to keep me humble. And over the years, Amazon has refined their payment process and now you get your royalties accrued every month, even if it is only 79 cents.

Nonetheless, that magic number of 290 has always tantalized me. I have watched as the sales figures grew and added 9 more tabs to my spreadsheet to capture sales by book by month by marketplace and created a summary front tab.

I am thrilled to announce (well, maybe you aren't thrilled but I am) that as of last week, I finally hit that magic number of 290 units sold, on Amazon, in ebook form. My actual totals are somewhat higher because this number does not include paperbacks, audiobooks or books that I sold for free.

Here is the breakdown of total units to date:

Rome's Revolution: 383 total units
The Ark Lords: 101 total units
Rome's Evolution: 66 total units
The Milk Run: 72 total units
The Vuduri Companion: 9 total units
Tales of the Vuduri: 3107 total units

In all fairness, Tales of the Vuduri is sold for free, an oxymoron if I ever heard one, so of course the numbers seem inflated. There is no cost for people downloading these books so I have no idea if they are even reading them.

All told, 3757 of my books have made their way into readers' hands. Very exciting! I am currently rewriting Rome's Revolution using a more formalized structure and breaking it up into three shorter novels so that I can record them as audiobooks. It will take me a while but I am really stoked about this project. Your first work should be your best work and I am determined to make that a reality.

Teleporter versus transporter

In the world of science fiction, what's the difference between a teleporter and a transporter? Most people use the two interchangeably but the underlying principles are completely different. The following is a brief explanation as to why, even though they sound the same, they are not.

A transporter breaks down your structure, atom by atom and rebuilds you in another place using the reverse procedure. When you are done, you have a perfect replica of yourself, right down to your thought patterns and memories of being transported. The question arises as to whether it is really you on the other end. Tim Urban, an excellent and thoughtful blogger on the web site WaitButWhy.com wrote about what makes you you. You should read it some time. His basic thesis is that if you use a transporter, you are no longer you but a copy of you. He is able to demonstrate this using a series of thought experiments. In fact, I remember reading and seeing more than one Star Trek episodes where the transporter malfunctioned and multiple copies of Captain Kirk were running around. So let's rule out transporters. Their use is too creepy.

A teleporter, on the other hand, physically moves you and exactly you from one place to another instantaneously. There is no discussion about whether it is really you at the other end. It is most definitely is you since it is made up of the very atoms of your existence, not a copy. In the world of Rome's Revolution, MINIMCOM's snap PPT tunnels are used to teleport a person from one place to another. Rei incorrectly refers to it as a transporter because he was a big fan of Star Trek growing up. However, the principles behind it are those of teleportation. The physical atoms that made up you are moved from Point A to Point C directly, the same original atoms, not a copy.

Will we ever see either a transporter or a teleporter in our lifetimes? It turns out, the Chinese have had success in teleporting photons for several years. Most recently, they claim to have teleported a photon over 800 miles into space.

To be fair, this is a long way from you stepping into a booth and ending up somewhere else but it is still pretty neat. It utilizes the concept of quantum entanglement to transport information instantaneously from a ground-based photon to a space-based photon that they beamed up. Now how the heck they got two photons entangled in the first place is beyond me. I do know that the information that was teleported is measured in qubits or quantum bits which could pave the way to quantum computers or a quantum internet. So stay tuned. It seems pretty spectacular to me.

True Feelings

Yesterday, Rome was making great strides in evolving into a living lie detector. She discovered that the way to the truth was not a straight line but rather a meandering path. She has embraced this new approach and is eager to apply it starting with Paul Chung. Today we will see her final "tune-up" before they go out into the world and try to find out who is behind the plot to assassinate Rei:

     There was no evidence that Sussen was ever there. Virga and the rest of the Vuduri gave Bonnie the benefit of the doubt but nothing was ever done.
     “I believe you,” Rome said. “Did you see her ship? Was it large enough to transport all the children at one time?”
     Bonnie cocked her head. “What? How did you? No, I never saw it,” she said. It was crystal clear that she was telling the truth. Again, waves of sadness echoed in Bonnie’s mind as she thought back to how much she missed her babies.
     Rome gave Bonnie a moment to compose herself. “I would like you to try and lie to me now,” Rome said.
     “Huh?” Bonnie replied. “Why?”
     “Rome needs to experiment,” Rei offered.
     “OK.”
     “How do you feel about Gemen?” Rome asked.
     Bonnie tilted her head. “Nothing, really,” she said. “He’s deadly dull as a partner.”
     Rome looked into Bonnie’s heart and saw that this was not the truth. Bonnie actually was very fond of Gemen but only as a friend. They had slept together a couple of times but he was so reserved, he did not fill the void in Bonnie’s heart. That had been fulfilled by taking care of the Onsira babies. Rome watched as the play of emotions swirled around in Bonnie’s brain. Everything in Bonnie’s world led back to that singular event.
     Rei was right. It was all so clear to her now. Rome just had to raise the idea of something and let the person’s thoughts flow naturally. Pointed questions would not work with the Essessoni. But the power of suggestion would.
     Rome looked over to Rei and nodded. “I understand now,” she said to him silently. “This will work.”
     “Awesome,” Rei said mentally. Then out loud, he said, “Ready to get this show on the road?”
     Rome nodded enthusiastically.

This is really exciting. They are about to unleash the newly evolved Rome into the world. There was no stopping her before and now, nobody can lie to her? Look out, Deucado!

A movie in the head

Yesterday, Rome's eyes were opened (figuratively) regarding the difference between asking a direct question and simply getting her subject to think about something when trying to get to the truth. Asking a question allows the person to formulate an answer and respond with a lie. Simply getting a person to ponder something doesn't have the same effect yet Rome can "hear" the person's thoughts surreptitiously. This is a quantum leap forward as Rome becomes a human lie detector:

     Rei pulled his hands out from Rome’s and touched his temple. MINIMCOM’s livetar appeared with Bonnie standing right next to him.
     Bonnie looked around to get her bearings. “What’s the plan?” she asked. “Did it work?”
     “Here,” Rei said, pulling out a chair. “Sit down for a moment.”
     “Sure,” Bonnie said.
     “Do you want a cup of coffee?” Rei asked.
     “I’d love one,” Bonnie said. Rei got up and left the table. He returned a moment later with another cup. After Bonnie prepared her coffee and took a sip, she set the cup down.
     Rome reached forward and held her hands out, palms up. “Will you put your hands in mine?” she asked. “I have found this works best if I am in physical contact with my subject.”
     “Sure,” Bonnie said and she did so.
     Rome looked at her face and said one word, “Edgar.” Bonnie frowned but said nothing. However, what had transpired was vividly clear to Rome, like a movie of the mind. The depth of Edgar’s depravity shocked Rome. It took a moment for her to recover.
     “The first time you went to see him in prison, he raped you,” Rome said sympathetically. “Even after all you had been through. I’m so sorry,” she said.
     “How did you know?” Bonnie said, pulling back. “I never told anyone.”
     “I am practicing my new skills,” Rome answered matter-of-factly. Then, with more sympathy in her voice, she said, “that is why you never went back to see him again.”
     Bonnie sighed. “He was a pig. I hope he rots in that cell.”
     Rome nodded. The images she saw in Bonnie’s mind matched her words exactly.
     Rome squeezed her hands in support. “Now, another name,” Rome said. “Sussen.”
     Immediately, the image of the Vuduri woman with the mismatched eyes became clear. Bonnie thought back to the day Sussen supposedly came to ‘inspect’ the Onsira ranch. Rome felt Bonnie’s overwhelming sadness upon discovering the children were gone the next day. Bonnie knew in her heart that Sussen was responsible for stealing them away. She just could never prove it. Gemen was gone that day. There was no evidence that Sussen was ever there. Virga and the rest of the Vuduri gave Bonnie the benefit of the doubt but nothing was ever done.

Rome is making rapid strides towards getting the information she wants from her subject without them realizing it. These social skills are just as important as the physical skills. You can hand someone a basketball and they might be reasonably good at shooting hoops but there is no doubt they would improve with practice. This is true about all endeavors, including writing!