Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 29

QWERTY 1

Yesterday, Rome stumbled across an Essessoni quantum computer. These were very powerful computing devices, millions if not billions of times more powerful that we have today. However, humans are still humans so the form factor can only get so small. In fact, if you look at yesterday's post, you can see a picture of one. They look a lot like an iPad just infinitely more powerful. Here are the specs:

30 cm (11.8 inch) touchscreen display with a resolution of 4096 x 3072 pixels
Optional laser-projection keyboard
1 PB of solid-state storage
Solid state stereo speakers
Rear and front facing 3D cameras
Gigafi (similar to Wi-fi) networking
Weight: .25 kg (8.8 ounces)
Thorium batteries, never needs recharging
Peripherals attach using inductive interface (no physical contacts)
Quad ZX20 quantum computational cores

Rome was a data archivist by training and knew her way around a keyboard or so she thought:

     Rome asked. “Can you turn it on?”
     “Sure,” Rei said. He came over and brushed the chair off and sat down carefully. He moved the translucent slab front and center and blew on it a couple of times to remove most of the dust. He tapped the upper right hand corner twice and the display became opaque, lighting up with tiles and icons indicating the computer had just been in hibernation.
     “Where is the input surface?” Rome asked.
     “It’s a touch-screen,” Rei said. “But if you really need to do some typing…” He pressed the upper left hand corner and two thin laser beams shot out and stroboscopically drew a keyboard on the dust-covered surface of the desk.

Rome is about to discover one of the wonders of the 19th century. A keyboard that looks like it was designed by a mad man yet is very effective if you type using more that your thumbs.

That's a computer!

A few days ago, when Rome and Rei arrived at Darwin Base, Rei had proposed that they split up and each search a hangar alone . Rome protested stating that "Because I am not totally familiar with your culture. I might encounter something important and not know what it is." Rei conceded and agreed to search together. Here you will see that Rome was completely correct in her original assessment of why they should stick together:

     “You’re right,” Rome said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “It’s clear that the Vuduri need to develop a sense of suspicion when it comes to dealing with the Essessoni.”
     “Hey,” Rei said. “I’m Essessoni. It was just these jerks you have to worry about. And now they’re gone. The rest of us are OK.”
     Rome said, “I don’t think there is anything like we seek here. This building seems fully dedicated to the construction of these starships.”
     “You’re right,” Rei said. He pointed to the western wall. “There’s a door that leads to the next building. Let’s check it out.”
     With MINIMCOM leading the way, they entered a much smaller building. It was a well-stocked metallurgical lab with the converted particle beam drillers and smelters. There were racks and racks of raw metal planchets and shelving with assorted parts and electronic gear. There was one shelf piled high with what looked like silver ingots. There were a couple of gold bars, too. Rei thought to himself how his people would have to let go of some of their old habits. Of course, things like valuing material wealth would be hard to give up.
     On the main floor, there were lathes and saws and drill presses. Pasted on the walls were charts and lists, some of them drooped over. From the lack of footprints, it was clear they were the first visitors since the Darwin group had been exiled.
     Rei inspected the equipment and the storage racks. “This is where they were building and machining the parts, I guess for the spaceships next door,” Rei offered finally. “Probably nothing here, either.”
     “I agree,” Rome said. Let us try the next building.”
     The building they were in had no door on the far wall so they had to go out through the front door and enter the next building the same way. This building looked more like a research lab with tubing and vats and burners. There were canisters and barrels with raw materials. The door to this hut had been opened to the outside and the layer of dust and dirt was thicker than in the previous two buildings. There were two desks sitting side by side in the near corner. Rome went over to them and rifled through the papers and equipment lying there. She moved aside a translucent slab, standing upright within two black t-shaped clips. The slab had a thin white border.
     “I don’t see anything,” she said.
     “Uh, you know that is a computer in your hands,” Rei said, pointing to the slab.

Bazinga! Rome was holding one of the Erklirte computers in her hand. Remember, they are trying to find the original crew manifest for the Ark II so finding a computer has got to be a good thing. Let's see what they do with it tomorrow.

The Secret Starships

Yesterday, Rome pronounced that they would search all of Darwin Base but they would do it together. Largely because Rei was still suffering from a concussion and a healing back but also because Rome did not trust her own instincts to recognize artifacts that were uniquely Essessoni. However, what they discovered in the first hangar would have been clear to anybody:

     Rei reached his fingers in the tiny crack between the two hangar doors.
     “Stop!” Rome shouted. “You must preserve your back.” Rei muttered something and stepped back. Rome turned to the livetar. “Do you mind?” she asked.
     “Not at all.” MINIMCOM’s livetar put both hands between the doors and was able to open them easily.
     “I’m not too happy with you treating me like a weak old codger,” Rei said.
     “It’s just until your back is healed,” Rome said, coming over to him. “Then you can go back to being the big strong man in charge.”
     Rei laughed. “OK,” he said and they entered the hangar together. The bright light of Deucado streamed in illuminating the front section. Rei looked around then went over and flipped on a light switch. Bright overheads glowed with a harsh fluorescent white light all the way to the back of the hangar.
     “I guess we know what they did with the power rods,” he said matter-of-factly.
     In front of them were the skeletons of four airships in various stages of construction. The one closest to them was three-quarters complete. The one in the back to the far right was nothing but series of circular spars, like the remains of a space whale. They were all of similar design. They looked like a sleek cross between the long-retired space shuttle and a Vuduri space tug, like MINIMCOM before he became, well, whatever he was now.
     “Starships,” Rei said, whistling. “And really nice ones.” He looked at Rome. He wasn’t sure if he was proud or horrified. He decided righteous indignation was probably the best road to take. “They really were going to go back and conquer Earth some day.”
     Rome walked over and looked underneath one. “EG lifters,” she huffed. “Where would they have gotten them?”
     “You know the Vuduri,” Rei said. “They don’t care about material possessions. Keller’s group probably just asked for them. The Vuduri wouldn’t have even thought to question what they were going to do with them.”

Good thing the would-be Ark Lords were discovered and deported. However, the one thing they were looking for, the crew manifest, is not there so they need to move on.
 

Back to Darwin Base

The final battle in The Ark Lords took place on the tarmac at Darwin Base which was hidden in the woods to the north. During that battle, you got a small taste of the facility but there were many buildings, mostly hangars, that we did not get a chance to explore. This was always something I wanted to do. Finally, in Rome's Evolution, I got a chance to go back and see what the heck the Grays were up to:

     It didn’t take MINIMCOM long to travel the 100 kilometers to the west, well north of the giant crater lake, Lake Eprehem. They flew just a few hundred feet over the tree tops of the intervening dense cane-tree forest. Up ahead, Rei could see a large clearing followed by the grouping of Quonset huts huddled on the edge of the tarmac. There was a classic two-story tall old Earth-style control tower attached to the farthest building but it looked like one or two of the windows had broken out.
     “Darwin Base,” Rome said as they approached. “I don’t know how they thought they were going to keep it a secret.”
     In addition to the buildings Rei had seen the first time he was here, he spotted another long low building set back in the cane-trees with a flat roof. The top of the roof was painted in the yellow/green splotched pattern of the cane-tree vegetation. Obviously, some sort of camouflage.
     “They sure tried,” he replied. “But clearly they didn’t think about much beyond their mission,” Rei added with some disgust. He pointed to the taxi portion of the landing area. “Set down anywhere,” Rei directed to the grille mounted on MINIMCOM’s front console.
     An indicator lit up announcing that MINIMCOM’s landing gear was fully extended. The starship rotated around so that the cockpit was facing away from the base. They felt the slightest of bumps as MINIMCOM settled on the ground. The former computer now space-plane lowered his cargo ramp, raised the hatch and Rei and Rome exited down the back.
     Still parked along one of the buildings were a few of the huge transports they had brought from Earth in their Ark. The rest of the borrowed vehicles were gone. Rei surveyed the area and said, “What if we split up? I can go down to the far end and check the big hangar. You could start here and work your way toward me. Just holler if you find something.”
     “No,” Rome said. “That is a bad plan.”
     “Why?” Rei asked.
     “Because I am not totally familiar with your culture. I might encounter something important and not know what it is. I think we should stick together.” She put her finger to her temple and MINIMCOM’s livetar appeared. “However, we will start with the large hangar as you suggest and work our way back here.”

Thank you, Rome! We finally get to go inside the buildings and see what all the secrecy was about. It won't shock you but you have to know.

Where to next?

Yesterday, Rome and Rei deduced that there were only two members of the Darwin Project running around loose on Deucado. But which two? Of the 104 identified living members, MINIMCOM could eliminate roughly two-thirds. Unfortunately, for the remaining third, only Junior could help them whittle down the list to the essential two and the starship was currently hiding out on Earth with Aason and Rome's parents for safety. Rei threw his hands up and felt they would have to start over. Luckily, cooler (and clearer) heads prevailed:

     “Not completely,” Rome said. “If we can get our hands on a crew manifest, we can get MINIMCOM to at least eliminate the ones he transported beyond the people you have already named. And that is a substantial number.”
     “You’re right,” Rei said brightening a bit. He looked toward the entrance to the catacombs. “I seriously doubt there is anything like that in there but let’s do a quick check.”
     Slowly, carefully, they made their way through the catacombs. They found nothing but cots and blankets. The only unusual room was the one that Keller had set up as a temporary office where he made his plans to storm the Vuduri compound. Rei and Rome carefully inspected the room but the only things they found were some maps and charts spread over the crude desk. As they were getting ready to leave, across the room, a white bottle caught Rei’s attention. He went over and retrieved it.
     “What is that?” Rome asked.
     Rei brought it over to her. “This is the bottle of pills that OMCOM gave me to fix the crew’s backs, remember?”
     “Oh, yes,” Rome said.
     Rei shook the bottle. It seemed too full. He screwed off the lid and held the bottle up so that MININCOM’s shoulder lights illuminated the interior.
     “I guess not everybody took one,” he said.
     “How do you know that?” Rome asked.
     “Besides the two yellow pills that you and I took, OMCOM told me he made 600 doses. The bottle is almost half full. I guess some people refused.”
     “Does that mean anything?” Rome asked.
     “Just that some of them were stupid,” Rei answered. “I bet they wish they had them now.”
     He screwed the lid back on the bottle. He looked around the room one last time.
     “There’s nothing here,” he said. “I didn’t think we’d find anything but we had to look.”
     Rome snapped her fingers, mimicking her husband. “If a crew manifest exists, I know exactly where it would be,” she said proudly.
     “Where would that be?” Rei asked.
     “Darwin Base.”
     Rei’s eyes widened. You’re right,” he said. “Let’s get going.”

I feel like I am writing an episode of 24 because just when you think you've run into a brick wall, a new clue appears. Let's see what Rome does with it.

The Missing Marlins

Yesterday, Rome and Rei were looking for the final three sarcophagi. They had found 105 and needed to find the final three. They were trying to account for 108 total. They decided to make their final push into the bowels of the large cave behind The Cathedral to see what they could see.

The only reason this section is important, besides whittling down the number of Darwin candidates, is that I got stuck thinking of names for the occupants of the sarcophagi and I happened to be watching the Phillies play the Marlins when I was writing it so I just grabbed some of the players and slapped them into their coffins:

     The three beings walked across the length of the cave to the entrance to the catacombs. Off to the side, standing upright, were five sarcophagi; three gray and two white. Rei approached the closest gray one. The nameplate said, “Stanton, G.” Rei peered into the faceplate. The remains of the occupant were still in there. A sizeable crack had caused the rehydration fluid to sublimate out and the vacuum of space had mummified the person inside. It was just a pile of skin, bones and jerky, barely revealing the fact that the remains were once human.
     Rei pulled back and turned to Rome and MINIMCOM. “That does it,” he said. “Not including Keller’s, we’ve seen all 108 of the grays. And we know that 105 of that group survived plus Keller for a total of 106 alive.”
     “And MINIMCOM and Junior transported 104. So we are only looking for two people?” Rome asked with a smile. Somehow, that number seemed much more manageable.
     “As far as I can tell,” Rei said. “MINIMCOM, let’s start a list of people who we know the bombers couldn’t be.”
     “There’s Captain Keller and Bonnie,” Rome offered.
     “Yeah, sure,” Rei said. “Plus Stanton here and Pierre and Wright over there.” Rei pointed to the other cracked sarcophagi. He held up his hand and counted on his fingers. “And we know Ionelli and Greer went. I can probably rattle off about ten or twenty more but…” His shoulders slumped.
     “But what?” Rome asked.
     “Even though we know how many we are looking for, there’s still going to be a huge gap on who else to eliminate.” Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “MINIMCOM, between you and Junior, do you think you could identify who you transported.”
     “I would be able to tell you the ones I carried. I suspect Junior would be able to do so as well. But you sent him to Earth, remember?”
     “Oh, yeah,” Rei said. “So we’re back to square one.”

Actually David Wright played for the Mets and Juan Pierre ended up on the Phillies. Maybe I misled you a little bit.

Nonetheless, Rei is wrong. They are not quite back to square one. They know how many people they are looking for. Now they just need to figure out who the two missing individuals are.

Where are the rods?

One of the neat things about writing a novel is that you know how it ends so it easy to sprinkle in hints and goodies early. I know how they intermingle but you, the reader. do not. This keeps you on your toes because the hints and clues are there and you cannot ignore them. The main characters are trapped in a linear progression so they cannot know either. So here we have Rome and Rei, back at The Cathedral, getting ready to look for cracked gray sarcophagi. We only have five possible Darwin members running around. For each dead one, that whittles down the number:

     Rome pushed past MINIMCOM and Rei and walked to the back of The Cathedral to a tunnel leading even deeper into the cavern. She waited until MINIMCOM caught up to her and passed her, leading the way into the darkness. Rome held out her hand which Rei took and they continued on.
     They came upon another gigantic cave that dwarfed The Cathedral. This was the cavern that the Ibbrassati had used to build the equipment that was going to start their rebellion. They also used it as the staging area when they first brought the crew back from the Ark II still frozen in their sarcophagi. Captain Keller’s red-striped sarcophagus was sitting near the front, just off to the side. Farther back to the far left were stacks and stacks of the white coffin-like chambers and to the right were the gray. The fact that they were segregated was probably a byproduct of the order in which they were retrieved from the crew compartment of the Ark.
Rei pulled his hands free of Rome and walked over to the stacks of gray sarcophagi. He started counting. Finally he spoke.
     “105,” he said. “I’ve counted them three times. Not enough. We’re still short three.”
     “Where do you think they put the others?” Rome asked.
     Rei turned in place and pointed off to the far right. “I remember seeing at least one cracked sarcophagus over there. Those catacombs were where Captain Keller set up shop.”
     Rei started to lead the others across the length of the cave when he stopped suddenly.
     “What is it?” Rome asked.
     Rei whirled in place. “There’s something wrong,” he said. He looked back at the stacks and stacks of sarcophagi and stared at them intently. He returned to the nearest one and stooped down low, being very careful to bend only his knees and not his back. He cocked his head.
     “They’re all missing their power rods,” he said after a bit. He pointed at the twin circular holes in the base of each of the sarcophagi.
     “Is that important?” Rome asked, coming over to him.
     “Only that they are radioactive,” Rei said. He straightened up. “I wonder what they did with them.”
     Rome looked at them and then back across the cave. “Is it germane to our search right now?” she asked.
     “No,” Rei said, shaking it off. “It’s just odd,” he said. “Let’s see if we can track down the missing chambers. We’re still missing three.”

Let's go find those last three and see if the people in them were dead or alive. That will determine the final count. As for the missing rods? You'll find out later.

The Pond

Yesterday, Rome and Rei had arrived at the Ibbrassati hideout called The Cathedral to track down and count cracked sarcophagi. Before they did, Rome noted the ceilings were improperly smooth, a fact she would have to explore later. As Rome and Rei made their way back through the cave, they came across the little alcove where they were married:

     “This is the room where Trabunel performed our Cesa ceremony,” Rome said to MINIMCOM.
     “Very nice,” MINIMCOM observed. “Very picturesque.”
     Rome breathed a short laugh. She reached up and stroked the side of Rei’s face. “Rei, do you remember?”
     “How could I forget,” Rei said, putting his hand on hers. He looked around. “It’s a lot smaller than I remember though. And kind of dirty. I guess time has a way of sweetening the memories, not the reality.”
     “Nevertheless, this is a very special place.” Rome cocked her head. “You know that I love you and I would have married you anytime, anywhere. But looking back, given how my life was in danger, what made you decide to do it in this place, at that time?”
     Rei sighed. “When you’re in love, your brain doesn’t always work logically,” he said. “Now that you mention it, logically, I guess it could have waited. I guess we didn’t really have to get married at all.”
     Rome scowled and pulled her hand down from his face. “Are you saying you are no longer in love with me?”
     “God, no,” Rei said. “I love you more than anything.” Gently, he put his arms around her and drew her close. Not too close, though. He didn’t want Rome to sink into his non-existent chest. “It’s just that I agree, I wasn’t thinking too clearly. The stress of almost being killed when we first got here. The fact that you were suffering. They said you could die. I just wanted to be bound to you forever before things got any worse.” Rei struggled with the words. “I’m just saying that hindsight is always 20/20.”
     “What does that mean?” Rome asked.
     “It means that after all the facts are sorted out, anybody can figure out what you should have done. And after all we’ve been through, I can see now that we could have done it later. But back then, it was all that I could think about.”
     Rome smiled. “I think I am kidding you,” she said. “It was very romantic and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.” She stood up on her toes and kissed Rei on his cheek. “We should get going, though. It was just a nice memory that I wanted to relive.”

When my wife Denise and I got married, we held the ceremony at a restaurant that was called The Pond back then. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony. For our fifth anniversary, I took her back there to revisit old memories. The ownership had changed, the menu had changed, the food sucked, all-in-all disappointing in the present but still it provided us with wonderful memories. That was the inspiration for the scene above. Time has a way of romanticizing certain things but The Pond will always be the way we remember it rather than way it is now.

Smooth Ceilings

Yesterday, Rome and Rei had come up with a preliminary count of Darwin people. There was room in the Ark II for 108 gray sarcophagi plus Captain Keller meant there were 109 members of the Darwin Project on Deucado before Rome and Rei took them down. They knew that MINIMCOM and Junior had transported 104 people to Helome so worst case, there were five members of Darwin running loose on Deucado.

However, Rei remembered that there were some damaged sarcophagi which meant the occupants were dead. If any of them were gray, it would reduce the number of possibilities. They decided to take a trip back to The Cathedral which is where all the colonists from the Ark II were resuscitated. When they got there, Rome observed something that had been bugging her for a long time:

     At last they arrived in the large cave that the Ibbrassati had called The Cathedral. MINIMCOM lit up his shoulder lamps even brighter so they could see their surroundings clearly. Rome looked all around, thinking back to her time here. She shivered. When they first arrived, she was suffering from severe polyhydramnios and had difficulty walking or even breathing. It was here that she and Rei had spent their first night on Deucado, huddled by a fire. She had been in too much pain to spend much time looking around. This time, however, she did. She looked straight up and cocked her head.
     “MINIMCOM, can you make your shoulder lights brighter?”
     “Of course,” replied the livetar.
     Rome inspected the ceiling very carefully. “Rei,” she said. “Look up.”
     Rei complied. “What do you see?” he asked.
     “Don’t you think the ceiling of this cave is too rounded to be natural? It reminds me of the cave we discovered on our way to encountering MASAL.”
     Rei stared at it for a long time. Finally, he spoke. “I agree it is pretty smooth but your father’s people wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to round it out. And why would they?”
     “I don’t know,” Rome said. “You’ve never been to the Deucadon’s underground city but their caves were the same way. It was almost like they were carved out.”
     “Maybe it’s just how erosion works on this planet,” Rei said. “Why would anybody dig them out?”
     “I don’t know,” Rome answered. She turned to MINIMCOM. “When you excavated the storage chamber for OMCOM’s memrons, you mentioned there were already a number of small caves beneath the library. Were their ceilings as smooth as this one?”
     “Now that you mention it, yes,” MINIMCOM replied. “However, at the time, I was preoccupied with the excavation process. I did not think it was important enough to document or measure.”
     “Hmm,” Rome said, “I must think about this.” She shrugged. “It will have to wait for later. Let us continue on our search.”

You have to realize that a novelist doesn't have time to throw things in at random for no reason. So the smooth ceilings theme will arise several more time throughout Rome's Evolution until the mystery is finally solved.

How many are there?

Yesterday, we saw that Rei Bierak was going to have to get used to saying "Yes, dear" to Rome as she was in charge of the investigation. She had MINIMCOM transport them to the rapidly rusting shell of the Ark II so they could count how many of the gray sarcophagi were sent from Earth. The total number of sarcophagi plus one would be the total number of Darwin candidates that might have been trying to kill them:

     “Yes, dear,” Rei said. He knew this was a phrase he was going to be uttering a lot in the upcoming days. Cautiously, he executed a maneuver matching Rome’s who, in turn, guided him as he lowered himself on the other side. Now past the obstruction, they were able to make their way to the front where there was a pair of large metal cages encasing another two sets of shelves, one on the left, one on the right. The shelves within the cage were far more substantial than the flimsy ones in the rear. Rome reached up and took a hold of the metal mesh fencing and shook it with her hand. There was no more give to it now than there was two years ago.
     Rei stooped down, making sure he did not bend at the waist, and mentally counted the stanchions that were used to hold the sarcophagi in place.
     “Three on the bottom, middle and top,” Rei said out loud. He turned and pointed. “Another nine on that side so that makes eighteen per row.”
     He gingerly made his way to the front, stopping short of the edge where a portion of the Ark had been torn away when it hit the asteroid. The lead edges were ragged with shredded sheet metal curled and bound by the inner seal. Even though much of it had dulled with time and rust, many of the metal shards still had razor sharp edges that splayed outward. Rei shivered just thinking about them. He turned to the matter at hand.
     “I count six rows,” Rei said. “So if my math is correct, that makes for 108 of the Grays.”
     “109 counting Captain Keller,” Rome corrected him.
     “Right,” Rei said. “So that’s our upper limit. MINIMCOM said he transported 104 of the Darwin people to Helome so worst case, we’re looking for five people.”
     Rome nodded. “This is an excellent first step but to have that many running loose on Deucado is little bit dismaying.”
     “I know I saw some cracked sarcophagi back at The Cathedral but I don’t remember if they were gray or white,” Rei said. “We’ll need to go there to confirm. That may cut down the number.”
     “Agreed,” Rome said. She put her finger to her temple. “MINIMCOM says he will just transport us back to his cargo bay. I don’t want to take any more chances with your back than we need to.”
     “Yes, dear,” Rei sighed.

Rei seems pretty submissive but you must remember he received a severe concussion during the explosion. It's OK though because by this point Rome has been a very capable leader up to now. We'll see how she fares tomorrow.