Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 23

A traitor among them

Yesterday, the Library OMCOM was able to show Rome and Rei a ghostly reconstruction of the burglary that occurred at Rome's Library. It was save to assume that the two men depicted were Troutman and Steele, the would-be assassins. But what took everyone by surprise was that there was a third person, a short woman speaking with a Vuduri accent. How was this even possible? There had to be more information:

     “What?” Bonnie asked. “What’s so special about that woman’s voice?”
     “She’s Vuduri,” Rei said. “Our two would-be killers have a Vuduri woman helping them.”
     Rome strode over to the other workstation and sat down.
     “What are you going to do?” Bonnie asked.
     “I am going to contact the Overmind,” Rome said defiantly. “If she is Vuduri, he will know who it is.”
     Bonnie started to speak but Rome held up her hand. She closed her eyes and put her fingers to her lips to make sure that everyone remained quiet.
     “Hello,” Rome said.
     “Hello, Rome,” the Overmind answered back. Over the last year or so, it had grown in strength and vitality as the number of Vuduri on Deucado had increased and they found a way to work with it without becoming a slave to it. “I was very sorry to hear what happened to Rei. I am glad he is now up and around.”
     “Thank you,” Rome replied. “That is very kind.”
     “Do you know who perpetrated this assassination attempt?”
     “Yes. Two Essessoni,” Rome said. “They were part of the Darwin group.”
     “You have identified them? This is good,” the Overmind replied. “Have you located them yet?”
     “No,” Rome said.
     “Is there anything I can do to help?”
     “Perhaps,” Rome replied. “That is why I am contacting you. There is something I need to ask you.”
     “Anything.”
     “We have reason to believe they were being aided by a Vuduri woman. Were you aware of that?”
     “No,” the Overmind replied, “but if she was disconnected, how would I be?”
     “Please reach out and see if any of your communicants have any knowledge of this or who this woman might be. Whatever her motivation would be for aiding them, it would be impossible to keep it a secret from other Vuduri.”
     There was a small delay and then the Overmind spoke up again. “I am sorry to report to you that there is no hint of such a woman. It is possible that she has remained disconnected since the act was perpetrated.”

This information is very confusing. The third burglar was clearly a Vuduri woman yet the Overmind of Deucado had no knowledge of the woman or the break-in. How would such a thing be possible? Two ideas come to mind. As the Overmind suggested, she might have disconnected but if that were true, eventually she'd have to reconnect and the Overmind would know. The second possibility is that she was not of that samanda. But if that were true, then who is she?

Another culprit!

Yesterday, the Library OMCOM told Rome and Rei that he had reconstructed the motion of the burglar or burglars who had stolen Hanry Ta Jihn's handgun and one of the Deucadon's invisibility cloaks. Rei had assumed that it was Troutman and Steele all along but he kept his suspicions to himself while waiting for actual proof. What OMCOM was about to show them was something that nobody was expecting:

     OMCOM showed them a floor plan of the library. A yellow dot appeared at the front door then extended to become a yellow line, indicating the path the intruders took. They didn’t meander. They headed right for the museum area that Rei, Rome and Bonnie now occupied and went directly to the display cases.
     “As you can see, they were very purposeful in their actions. They came in, they removed the objects then retraced their steps back outside.”
     “Not very useful,” Rei said. “It just confirms your suspicion. They came here to steal and they got the gun and cloak.”
     “I agree that tracing their paths, in and out, of itself, is of no consequence,” OMCOM said. “However, I was able to use the acoustical inputs to create essentially a three dimensional construct of the group as they entered the room. Very similar to your sonar vision, Rei.”
     “What do you mean by group?” Rome asked. “There were just the two of them, right?”
     “No,” OMCOM said. “There were three of them.” The acoustical renditions showed three people moving through the room as gray specters. Two of the shapes appeared normal height or thereabouts. The third person was very short.
     “Three?” Rei sputtered. “The tall one must be Troutman. The medium sized one must have been Steele. But who was the third?”
     “I was able to use a series of transforms to abstract their voices. She did not say much but I can play it for you.”
     “Sh, sh, she?” Rome stammered. “It was a woman?”
     “Yes,” OMCOM said.
     The livetar played the recording. The woman only said two things. The first time OMCOM played the recordings, it was not very clear. After a few adjustments, the sound of the voice sharpened up. The woman’s voice said, “You will only need one cloak.”
     OMCOM’s animation indicated one of the two taller beings reaching in the case. At that point, the woman said, “Please put the handgun back. It belonged to Hanry Ta Jihn. You do not need it.”
     One of the two men growled at her that they did and that was the end of it.
     Rei sat down heavily at the seat by the workstation.
     “You heard that, right?” Rei inquired of Rome. “The accent?”
     “Yes,” Rome said sadly.
     “What?” Bonnie asked. “What’s so special about that woman’s voice?”

What could be so depressing about a woman's voice? It is something from so far out in left field that it is in another ballpark. You'll see tomorrow.

Reconstruction

If you will recall, a few days ago, the Library OMCOM told Rome and Rei that he had important information regarding the whereabouts of their would-be killers. Our intrepid couple sloughed off the assertion thinking they knew better. After their confrontation Paul Chung revealed nothing other than he was afraid of something, they returned to the ship where MINIMCOM quickly built police sketch-type images of Troutman and Steele. Finally, OMCOM will get his opportunity to reveal some startling information:

     When they got to the library, MINIMCOM landed at his own private airstrip and instantiated a livetar who accompanied them across the broad central boulevard and into the parking lot in front of Rome’s building. To their left were the commissary, dormitory and combination lecture hall/theater; the three buildings which were designed to be part of the original complex. Behind them stood the smaller geology lab and off in the distance, the new general science building loomed upwards, nearly finished.
     They walked up the stairs to Rome’s library and entered the main door. MINIMCOM indicated they should head to the left to the wing which was evolving into a small museum. Inside the room, on the right-hand wall were two full-sized Vuduri workstations. On the left hand wall was a glass case holding the Essessoni data slabs, the Deucadon’s memory stick, Trabunel’s journal and a stack of Vuduri data cubes. These original sources formed the foundation of Rome’s historical studies. In a special pressurized case sat Silas Hiram’s journal, a present from the Overmind of Helome thanking them for delivering the genetic material in the form of the Darwin contingent.
     In a case at the back of the room, the hook that had been used to display Hanry Ta Jihn’s handgun sat empty, along with another hook that had been used to hold up one of the Deucadon’s invisibility cloaks. The other cloak remained where it had always been.
     As they entered the room, OMCOM’s livetar appeared with a whoosh and a pop.
     “Thank you for making the time to come see me,” the livetar said. Rei thought he caught a touch of sarcasm in the livetar’s voice. Maybe some of Planet OMCOM’s personality was beginning to seep through after all.
     The all-white being took them over to one of the two workstations.
     “The video cameras and microphones on these two workstations were active the entire time before, during and after the raid or whatever you wish to call it. I think burglary is the proper word although that typically implies breaking and entering. Since the library is never locked, there was no actual breaking in.”
     “Can you get on with it?” Rei asked with a hint of impatience.
     “Of course,” the livetar replied. “Unfortunately, the video feeds themselves were at the wrong angle. I could not get any images that I could present to you. I was only able to get a sense of where the persons were located in the room at any given point in time by the change in lighting and shadows. I have constructed an animation.”

Even though the Library OMCOM doesn't have any actual video, he was able to use sound deflection to reconstruction motion in the room. That is pretty cool. I wonder what the reconstructed motion display will show them.

Meet Paul Chung, Part 2

Yesterday, Rome and Rei finally met Paul Chung, the man who was supposed to have information regarding the whereabouts of David Troutman and Dan Steele, the would-be assassins. These two holdouts from the Darwin roundup were responsible for the attempt on Rei's life. There was no reason that Paul Chung would be evasive yet he yielded no actionable intelligence:

     Rome stepped forward and placed her hands on the counter. “Please,” she pleaded. “It’s very important. We think he tried to kill us. We do not want that happening again. What about Dan Steele? Do you know where he is?”
     Chung’s eyes widened and he shivered. “Sorry,” he said. “Can’t help you.” He turned quickly and moved back into the dark interior of the truck, leaving Rei, Rome and Bonnie just standing there. “Good luck with your search,” Chung called out as he disappeared into the recesses of his mobile kitchen.
     “I don’t understand,” Rome said, craning her neck forward, trying to see in.
     Rei put his finger up to his lips and waved for the two women to follow him. They circled around the outskirts of the power plant’s main building back to where they had left the aircar parked.
     “OK,” Rei said. “Now you talk.”
     Rome searched Rei’s eyes. “He understood that we are in danger. Why would he just push us away? Why not try to help us?” A tear came to her eye.
     Rei just shook his head. “It’s obvious to all of us that he knows something but for whatever reason, he doesn’t want to talk. We have to find another way.”
     “What other ways?” Rome turned to Bonnie. “You knew these men. Do you have any other ideas?”
     Bonnie addressed Rei. “On all the police shows, whenever they were looking for someone, they used a sketch artist to draw pictures of the suspects. Then they canvassed the neighborhood. Do you think we can find somebody who could do that? I could describe to them exactly what Troutman and Steele look like. We could start with that.”
     “I’m pretty sure that can be arranged,” Rei said, nodding.

Well, shoot. Paul Chung was a dead end. But Bonnie's idea of a police sketch just might do the trick. This seems like something MINIMCOM could do in his sleep. We'll have to see.

Meet Paul Chung, Part 1

Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie entered the Essessoni power plant. They finally found the plant foreman who told them they would find Paul Chung's lunch wagon on the far side of the building. At last, Rome and Rei might learn the whereabouts of the would-be assassins, Troutman and Steele. They hurried across the plant and exited the far side:

     In front of them was Paul Chung’s lunch wagon. Rei chuckled to himself how closely it resembled one from his time on Earth. It even had wheels. The entire vehicle was plated in diamond-patterned shiny aluminum and looked fresh and clean. If nothing, Paul had a sense of humor because there was no earthly reason why he would fashion it so, otherwise. They walked up to the large side window and a man stepped forward to greet them. He had vaguely Asian features and although he was hidden from the waist down, Rome could tell he was a bit shorter than Rei.
     “What can I get you folks?” he asked pleasantly. “Oh, Bonnie, hi,” he said, somewhat surprised to see her.
     “Hi Paul,” Bonnie said. “This is Rei Bierak and Rome, his wife.”
     “I know who they are,” he said. He nodded toward them. “So what can I do for you?”
     “We are looking for David Troutman,” Rome said, speaking up. “Do you know where we can find him?”
     A dark fleeting expression passed over Chung’s face. “No!” he said insistently. “What would make you think that?”
     Bonnie spoke up. “Nick Greer said that you guys had a hoker game going back at your house and he and Troutman played with you sometimes.”
     “Yeah, sure,” Chung said, “but that was a long time ago. Right after you guys,” he pointed at Rei, “rounded up those Darwin people, he took off. I haven’t seen him in ages.”
     “Are you sure?” Rei asked. “Do you have any idea where he might have gone off to?”
     “No, none at all,” he said. He looked off into the distance. “I thought that the rest of the Darwins turned themselves in. Wasn’t he with that group?” He directed his question at Bonnie.
     “No, he never made it,” she said. “He’s still here on Deucado.”
     Chung started to speak then stopped himself. His expression soured. “I’m a little busy right now. If you don’t want anything to eat, why don’t you get going? They’re going to be taking a break pretty soon and I have to get ready.”

I don't know about you but certainly to me, Paul Chung acted suspiciously. Why would he do that? What would he have to hide? Maybe we'll find out tomorrow.


 

The Vuduri Power Plant

Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie entered the huge Essessoni power plant in New Ark City looking for Paul Chung. Paul's wife had informed them that he operated a lunch wagon outside the plant but the trio could not find it. They entered the power plant and were overwhelmed by the smell of ozone. That probably isn't right and probably due to the Essessoni engineers adapting the Vuduri method of power generation to their own needs:

     Rei was pleased to see that there were several Deucadons, clearly distinguishable by their distinctive dress, working alongside his fellow colonists. The Deucadons had spent half a millennia perfecting conduit technology and it was heartening to observe them giving of their expertise to his compatriots. At the core of the plant was the hydra-like form of a multi-branched PPT generator.
     “I’ve never been here before,” Bonnie said. “What is that thing?” she asked, pointing toward the waving conduits and tubes that resembled an upside root system.
     “That’s a Vuduri power plant,” Rei said. He turned to look at Rome. “Hey, this is just like the one you had back at Skyler Base. Doesn’t that kind of debunk your centralization theory?”
     “No,” Rome said, still waving at her face. “That was the power plant for that building. If we had another building, we would have built a second plant.”
     “Oh,” Rei said.
     “How does it work?” Bonnie asked.
     Rei pointed to the thick tubes, conduits and dense wires that split into branches which split into branches and so on back to the far wall. “If this were a lung, those thinner branches would be like the capillary system and those tips, the ones that are kind of blurry, would be the alveoli.”
     “I still don’t understand,” Bonnie said.
     “The way the original OMCOM, we call him Planet OMCOM now, explained it to me; the tips of the tubes use Casimir pumps to produce a froth of unstable PPT tunnels. They only last long enough to split the neutral energy into a bit of positive and negative energy then they disappear. The wires and conduits collect the positive energy and run it down...somewhere.”
     “What happens to the negative energy?” Bonnie asked.
     “OMCOM told me they just disperse into the atmosphere. I suppose it just moves air molecules from one place to another. No harm done.”
     “So you get free energy out of nothing,” Bonnie said. “I’d always heard about it but never saw it up close. Isn’t all that negative energy dangerous, though?”
     “OMCOM did say that there would be a price to pay some day but he never told me what it was.”

I still haven't figured out what OMCOM meant by that. However, I trust my characters. When they say something that seems out of place, eventually it becomes clear. Tomorrow, we will finally get to meet Paul Chung, the man who may be able to tell Rome and Rei where they can find their attackers, Troutman and Steele.

The Lunch Wagon

Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie came upon Paul Chung's McMansion. Rome questioned why anybody would build such a big house and Rei explained that people from his time simply could not comprehend the concept of unlimited energy and free resources. They held on to their old values and therefore, given a chance, built a house that they could never afford back on Earth.

Their encounter with Paul Chung's wife yielded the fact that Mr. Chung operated a lunch wagon outside of the New Ark City power plant. Why did he do this? Because he could! So back to the city they go:

     As they were driving back the way they came, Rome asked, “Why do you even have a power plant? Isn’t each house and building self-powered with a PPT generator like ours?”
     “No,” Rei answered. “With the rapid growth of Ibbra City and Deucadia, it was easier to build a central facility and just run cables there. We call our settlement New Ark City but you know it isn’t really a city. Our people just want to help and this was something everybody needed and appreciated.”
     “It still makes no sense,” Rome protested. “It is completely inefficient.”
     “It’s the way they wanted it. I’m sure someday everybody will go back to being self-sufficient but maybe for now it’s the Ibbrassati and Deucadon touchstone, like Bonnie said,” Rei replied.
     Rome shook her head. Rei persisted. “It makes them more comfortable.”
     “It’s still inefficient,” Rome grumbled as she slapped the steering mechanism with one hand. “If there is a single problem or interruption of energy flow, hundreds, thousands are affected instead of just one or two.”
     “Honey, that’s the way they wanted it so that’s the way they got it,” Bonnie said. “To each his own.”
     “I suppose,” Rome said, under her breath, deciding to focus on their destination.
     Rome piloted the little aircar through the central, industrialized, section of New Ark City until they came to the power plant. It was a city block-sized building, built out of white Vuduri aerogel. Huge, thick cables exited from side and disappeared into the ground. The air itself has a faint hint of ozone.
     Looking around, Rei said, “I don’t see the lunch wagon anywhere. Why don’t we go inside and ask where it is?”
     Rome and Bonnie concurred so the three of them entered the building through the wide set of doors on the side. Inside the building, the piercing odor of ozone was overwhelming. Rome fanned herself, trying to blow the smell away. Bonnie inhaled deeply, almost as if she relished it.

Ozone is interesting stuff. In tiny doses, it cannot hurt you. But according to the EPA in larger doses, it can cause all kind of health problems like:
--Make it more difficult to breathe deeply and vigorously.
--Cause shortness of breath, and pain when taking a deep breath.
--Cause coughing and sore or scratchy throat.
--Inflame and damage the airways.
--Aggravate lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
--Increase the frequency of asthma attacks.
--Make the lungs more susceptible to infection.
--Continue to damage the lungs even when the symptoms have disappeared.
--Cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

So be careful, Bonnie!

A Touchstone

Yesterday, Rome and Rei arrive back on Deucado armed with the knowledge that Troutman and Steele are the would-be assassin. They knew that Paul Chung was their best bet in figuring out where the bad guys were hiding. Paul Chung was one of the Essessoni so our heroes head straight for New Ark City (a play on New York City if you haven't gotten it by now) to find Mr. Chung:

     New Ark City wasn’t really a city at all. It only consisted of some 400 individuals and was mostly residential. The Essessoni had the best all-around engineering skills and didn’t mind borrowing liberally from Vuduri and Deucadon technology but nonetheless, it was more of a bedroom community. Its major advantage was that it was centrally located, conveniently placed near Rome’s library. More importantly, Rome simply liked living there.
     As they were leaving the ship, MINIMCOM spoke up through the grille. “Will you be requiring a livetar to accompany you?” he asked.
     Rei looked at Rome who shook her head.
     “Don’t think so, buddy,” Rei said. “This should be pretty easy.”
     “Very well,” answered their friend and protector. “You know where to reach me.”
     The three humans left the starship and it only took a few inquiries to find out where Paul Chung lived. Rei, Rome and Bonnie piled into a community aircar. Rome decided it would be easiest on Rei’s back if she drove. Rei protested mildly but quickly surrendered the driver’s seat to his wife. They traveled down a series of roads until they got to a sequestered area which the inhabitants had come to refer to as Fox Hollow. This was an odd name indeed as there were no foxes on Deucado but there were no rules here. That was what they called it.
     As they drove up the ceramic-laden street, Rome pointed at the houses.
     “Why are these houses so large?” she asked. “What would you do with all those rooms?”
     Rei laughed quietly to himself. “Back on Earth, by the time we left, all the wealth of the world was in the hands of very few individuals or corporations. Most people struggled just to get by. Ever since we got here, everything has been handed to us. Some people had a harder time dealing with it than others. On this world, I guess this group of people wanted surroundings that make them feel rich, even though everything is free.”
     “I don’t understand,” Rome said.
     “Everybody needs a touchstone,” Bonnie offered.
     “What is a touchstone?” Rome asked.
     “It’s a thing, metaphorically, that lets you measure the worth of something. I guess these people measure their worth by how large of a house they own.”

What would you do if you were plopped down on a new planet but could have anything you wanted. Remember that this is a planet where wealth means nothing. You could have three mansions or five house spread around the planet. Would you feel the need to build a McMansion or could you let go of your 21st century values and start a new paradigm?
 

What have you got?

Finally, Rome and Rei and Bonnie are on their way back to Earth armed with the identity of their would-be assassins. The first thing they have to do is track down Paul Chung who, according to Nick Greer, was their best shot at finding Troutman and Steele's whereabouts. However, while they were gone, the Library OMCOM was busy doing his work and stumbled across a shocking and critical discovery. He grabbed the very first opportunity to tell Rome and Rei, or at least he tried:

     Upon arriving in the general vicinity of Deucado, MINIMCOM dropped out of null-fold space and it wasn’t long before he used a single, normal PPT tunnel to close the remaining distance to the planet. They entered into an east-to-west orbit and MINIMCOM instructed everyone to buckle in for re-entry. He was about to use his direct entry method of jumping to the surface when his preparations were interrupted by OMCOM.
     “Rome. Rei,” OMCOM’s voice came from the grille. “Welcome back. While you were gone, I was able to utilize my workstations to piece together most of the details concerning the raid on Rome’s library.”
     “Thanks but we don’t need it anymore,” Rome said. “Our mission was successful. We were able to get the names of the people involved.” She turned and looked back at Bonnie who was strapped into the new chair that MINIMCOM had built for her. MINIMCOM had called it the ‘navigator’s chair’ although Rei was fairly certain it was their computer friend’s attempt at humor. Rome continued, “And Bonnie Mullen has returned with us. She even knows what they look like.”
     “We’re headed to someone’s house right now who might know where to find them,” Rei added. “So we’re good.”
     “Still, the information that I have acquired could be crucial to your investigation,” OMCOM insisted.
     “Thank you, OMCOM,” Rome said, trying to put the computer at ease. “We will come see it right after we stop at Paul Chung’s abode. Our sources tell us this is our best lead in tracking them down.”
     “But you really should look at what I have synthesized first,” OMCOM said, uncharacteristically insistent. “It may have a bearing on what you do next.”
     “Look, OMCOM,” Rei said firmly. “Rome said we’ll come take a peek. Let us do our work first then we’ll come see you.”
     “Very well,” OMCOM replied. Rei could have sworn there was a hint of disappointment in OMCOM’s voice but that would be impossible since their clone did not even have a personality module. A decisive click indicated OMCOM was no longer connected.

Rome and Rei really should have listened OMCOM. It would have made a huge difference in how they went about the hunt. You'll see that down the road.

Where is Sol's twin?

A recent article in the Berkeley News cited evidence that most, if not all, stars are formed in pairs. A theoretical physicist from Berkeley and his buddy, a radio-astronomer from Harvard, have studied the formation of many, many stars and have come to the conclusion that pairs are normal, if not the rule.

So if this is true, where is the twin for our Sun whose formal name is Sol? Understand the twins need not be identical twins. Look at Alpha Centauri A and B. One is very Sol-like and the other is a smaller, cooler, red star. So maybe Sol's twin was a smaller, red star as well. Assuming that is true, where is it?

Our solar system was formed over 4.5 billion years ago. If Sol had a twin back then, it is possible that the twin wandered off and is out there somewhere. It is also possible that the two stars collided and Sol ate his brother. In a human baby, when the dead fetus is crushed up against the uterine wall, it is called a "fetus papyraceus." If the dead fetus is actually absorbed by the living fetus, the result can be a dermoid cyst. My brother Bruce had one of these which manifested itself as a cyst in his eyebrow. When it was finally removed, they decided it was a twin that became absorbed into Bruce's body.

Scientists even have a name for Sol's twin - Nemesis. Some people think this star kicked an asteroid into the Earth and it killed off the dinosaurs. But if this were true, then Nemesis would be close enough that we should still be able to spot it. The fact that we can't means it was probably long gone before the Earth had cooled enough for life to start.

Nonetheless, it is an interesting idea to think that somewhere out there is a star that is a fraternal or even identical twin of our Sun. Maybe there is a twin of Earth out there too!