Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 34

Nothing to worry about

At the end of The Ark Lords, Rome was making herself at home in her new completely-rebuilt Library. She had just received a gift beyond measure from Virga as a token of Helome's appreciation for providing a genetic solution to their problems. Rome had wrapped it up for the day and it was time to go home when she and Rei had this little interchange:

     Rome pointed to MINIMCOM and Junior, parked on the landing strip. Junior’s stealth shield was nearly done. Portions of his outer hull were already completely jet-black. Soon, he would be a perfect replica of his father, just a bit smaller. Rei wondered to himself when his transformation was complete whether he would continue to keep his livetar gray. But for now, that color looked right on the little guy.
     “Mea, Beo, you go on ahead,” Rome said, sweeping her free hand toward the landing pad. “I just want to look one more time.”
     “Of course,” replied Binoda. She took Aason’s hand and Aason took the little gray livetar’s hand and they headed toward the airstrip along with Fridone.
     Rome walked a few feet into the parking lot then turned to inspect the building. Rei came up next to her and placed his arm around her waist. With very few changes, the building was nearly a carbon copy of the first one.
     “I can’t believe how quickly you rebuilt it,” Rome said. “I am eternally grateful.”
     “Well, don’t thank me,” Rei said. “There were a whole bunch of people I had to turn away the first time. They were actually thankful for a chance to do it again.”
     “And you’re sure there’s no radiation?”
     “Nope,” Rei said. “Gone weeks ago, otherwise I would never have let you near it. That’s about the only good thing about the mini-nukes.”
     “There is nothing good about them,” Rome said with a hint of bitterness. She looked around from side to side then up at her husband. “I know you’ve removed all the weapons but do you think we have to worry about any of the remaining Darwin people that have evaded capture?”
     “Naw,” Rei said dismissively. “Most of the ones we missed the first time turned themselves in voluntarily. There might be a couple of them wandering around. Not enough to do anything.”
     “That’s a relief,” Rome said. “I would not want to live my life constantly worrying about them.”
     “They’re done,” Rei said. “And they know it.”
     Rome held up the plastic box. “Clearly Virga appreciates your gift. Do you think Captain Keller and the rest of the Grays will cooperate with her? What about the children born of their union?”
     “I don’t know,” Rei said. “Have you ever heard the expression, ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’?”
     Rome shook her head no.
     Rei shrugged. “I’m pretty sure the Overmind of Helome will see to it that their children are raised as human beings, not murderers but I’ll tell you what. We’ll go back some day and check things out. What do you say?”

Rei couldn't have been more wrong. There is danger lurking in them thar hills. In fact, I wrote an entire novel about it called Rome's Evolution. However, this book is at an end. Just one more twist waiting for you... tomorrow.

Virga's Gift

Now that the Ark Lords had been defeated and Rome's Library was rebuilt, it was time for her to get back to work chronicling the history of the four races of Deucado: The Ibbrassati, the Deucadons, the Essessoni and even the Vuduri. However, there are some things that history books (or data slabs) can never replace, i.e. genuine artifacts. Virga knew this and send along a priceless, one-of-a-kind gift:

     As Rome and Rei turned toward the door, a whoosh and a pop announced the appearance of MINIMCOM’s livetar.
     “MINIMCOM,” Rome said, “we were just leaving. Is there something wrong?”
     “No,” replied the livetar. “There is something right.” He reached into the folds of his cape and removed a small object. He strode over to where Rei and Rome were standing and held it out for their inspection. It was a medium-sized plastic box roughly four by six inches with a white lid that had yellowed somewhat from age.
     Rome took the case from MINIMCOM. “What is this?” she asked.
     “This is a gift for you from Virga and the Overmind of Helome. Virga told me I had to wait until your library was rebuilt before I gave it to you. Now seemed like the proper time.”
     Rome struggled with the lid and finally it popped off. Inside was a schoolboy’s black-speckled assignment book. On the cover, there was some large block printing in English. It said ‘Celestial Observations, Silas Hiram, New Earth, August 2121’.
     “What?” Rome said, looking up at MINIMCOM. “Is this for real?”
     “Yes,” MINIMCOM replied. “I personally observed Virga retrieving it from the storage case. She said what you and Rei have given her and all the residents of Helome is priceless. She said it was only appropriate that she return the favor with something of equal value.”
     “I am speechless,” Rome said, taking the journal out. She set the box down and ran her hand over the cover gently. “This artifact is invaluable.” She turned to Rei. “Can you build a chamber to preserve it?”
     “You bet,” Rei said then he turned to MINIMCOM. “Thank you, MINIMCOM. You don’t know how much this means to us.”
     “You do not need to thank me,” replied the livetar. “It was your actions that have saved three worlds. Virga and the Overmind of Helome wanted to show their appreciation in a way that would truly underscore their importance.”
Rome just shook her head. She placed the journal back into the box and snapped the lid back on it, squeezing out as much air as possible. Looking up at MINIMCOM, she started to speak but no words came out.
     MINIMCOM pre-empted her chance. “Enjoy,” he said. “I will meet you back at the landing strip.” With a whoosh and a pop, his livetar disappeared.
     Rome looked up at Rei and a tear came to her eye. Tenderly, Rei wiped it away with his thumb.
     “Come on,” he said, smiling. “The family is waiting.”
     Rome nodded and picked up the box. Hand in hand, the couple walked down the hallway, gathering up the little ones and Rome’s parents then exiting the building.
     Rome pointed to MINIMCOM and Junior, parked on the landing strip. Junior’s stealth shield was nearly done.

Tomorrow, the irony of Rome's final observation.

Rome's Library, V2.0

Now that the Ark Lords had been defeated and the Darwin group had been shipped off to Helome, there was nothing more do do than to try and get life back to a semblance of normalcy. Since Rei had already built what he considered the ideal libary, there wasn't much point in building it radically differently. The only thing he realized after have used the first version was that he overlooked giving Rome a food preparation area for when Aason was visiting or Rome was working late. He rectified that in Library V2.0:

     Rei stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, as Rome tested the sparkling workstation in her newly rebuilt research lab. The room itself was nearly identical to the previous version with the exception of a small kitchenette that was now built into one corner. Sounds of laughter rang down the hallway as Aason and Junior played under the watchful eye of Aason’s grandparents.
     Rome was putting in an outline of all that they had discovered over the last two months. It would take a long time to fully document the incredibly rich amount of information they had acquired but the details could be fleshed out another day. At last she pressed an icon and the viewscreen shut down.
     “I am satisfied,” Rome announced. “The interface to our new OMCOM works perfectly. I will start my real documentation tomorrow. Thank you for being so patient, mau emir.”
     “You are welcome,” Rei said, straightening up. “But this time around, I’m kind of hoping you won’t stir up yet another interstellar plot to exterminate mankind.”
     Rome laughed cynically. “It was not my intention this time or any of the times before that.” Rome looked off into the distance then turned back to Rei. “Do you remember when we were returning here from Earth with my parents? When you taught us how to make a toast?” she asked.
     “Sure,” Rei answered.
     “Oh yeah,” Rei said, raising another imaginary glass. “I’ll drink to that. But remember what got you into this in the first place. Hell hath no fury like a woman bored.”
Rome cocked her head. “What does that mean?”
     “It means be careful what you wish for.”
     Rome shook her head.
     “Forget it,” Rei said. “It’s just me being silly. Let’s gather up the family, go home and have a nice dinner.” He walked over to where she was sitting and held his hand out to her.
     “Agreed,” Rome said, arising from her chair. After surveying the room one last time, she reached for her husband.
     As they turned toward the door, a whoosh and a pop announced the appearance of MINIMCOM’s livetar.

As you recall, I spent quite of bit of time setting up a safe haven for OMCOM well below the surface of the first Library. I also made sure the mini-nukes leave no residue opening up the way tfor Rei to build the new library on the exact same spot as the first. So what does MINIMCOM have to add? We'll find out tomorrow.

Helium-filled Hard Drives

Just when I think I have a grasp on things, somebody comes out with something new that I never heard of before. We are all familiar with water-cooled engines. We all drive them. But Fiat, Porsche, Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Citroën and Honda have all produced an engine block that was air-cooled but none of these lasted. So water cooling seems the way to go.

The same goes for computer chips. They generate a lot of heat but most are air-cooled. Some over-clocked chips use circuits called Peltier devices which are like electronic refrigerators. But to really get to higher clock speeds, you need to get to liquid cooled. In recent tests, the AMD Ryzen core broke the world's record for clock speed at 5.2 GHz but it generated so much heat, the testers had to dip it into liquid nitrogen to keep it cool enough to run so fast. I was thinking that the next speed test would use liquid helium to cool the core. But I was wrong. Helium has already been employed to improve the capacity and efficiency of hard drives.

As it turns out, hard drive manufacturers have been filling their hermetically sealed hard drives with helium for the last five years. Why? Helium reduces drag on the disk's platters while the seals keep humidity and other contaminates out. Less drag means the drives operate at temperatures that are four to five degrees cooler than the equivalent air-filled drives. Helium is one-seventh the density of air and causes less friction which allows the disk drive to spin faster and more efficiently using less energy. Capacities of these hard drives are now getting upwards of double digit terabytes (TB).

Seagate just announced a 12 TB HDD, which they are calling second generation. Sheesh. I didn't even know there was a first generation. So I guess air is out and helium is in. Seagate promises a 16 TB HDD very soon.

I checked on Amazon and they are selling helium filled 6 TB hard drives for $250. Isn't that incredible? I don't know that I need such a large capacity but since everything is migrating to the cloud, there are certainly tons of companies that can use such devices.

Wonders never cease.

Everybody gets naked, part 3

Yesterday, MINIMCOM and his son Junior took aboard all the Darwin zealots, naked, to ferry them to Helome. It was the happiest of resolutions to what could have been a deadly crisis. This is effectively the end of the action portion of the novel. It is time to wrap up all the hanging threads in the narrative:

     “If that’s the case, Dad,” Junior said, “I’m ready to go. I’ll be standing by.” The little gray livetar vanished.
     OMCOM’s livetar surveyed the area. “Things appear to be under control,” he said. “I shall be waiting for you.” With that, OMCOM’s shell disappeared as well.
     Rome turned to MINIMCOM. “In all of the confusion, I didn’t get a chance to ask you. How did you ever find us? How did you rescue my son and mother?”
     MINIMCOM pointed to the starship which was Junior, sitting on the far end of the blacktop. “I was on my way back from the sun when I saw Junior leaving the Earth. The very fact that he was there meant something was wrong. But I could not alert him to my presence due to my damaged transmitter. Based on his vector I knew he was headed back here. It would not be possible to follow him in null-space so I just came back on my own. I was surprised to find that you had not arrived yet.”
     “You still didn’t answer the question,” Rei said. “How did you find us? How did you rescue our family?”
     “I was hovering over New Ark City. I was close enough to overhear your conversation with Junior after the Overmind discovered their whereabouts. While you were coming here, I was going there.” MINIMCOM brushed his hands along his chest. “I sent this livetar down to the cave and was able to extract Aason and Binoda. Then I removed the guards to prevent them from contacting this group.”
     “Why didn’t Aason tell me?” Rome asked. “I was so worried.”
     “I asked him not to,” MINIMCOM said. “I did not want you to change your behavior and possibly tip off Captain Keller that something was amiss until I arrived.”
     Rei sighed. “Next time, can you just trust us and at least give us a hint?”
     “After he takes these awful people to Helome, there won’t be a next time,” Rome said confidently.
     “Agreed. In fact, I will take my leave now,” MINIMCOM said. “I will see you in two days.”
      “Make sure you warn Virga that they aren’t the nicest people,” Rei said. “It’s OK to treat this first group as prisoners, despite what I told her earlier. But she wanted primitive DNA so this is the best I could do on such short notice. When we get real volunteers, we’ll send them along, too.”
     “And please send my regards to Virga as well,” Rome interrupted. “We could never have accomplished our goals without her help. I want her to know there are no hard feelings.”
     “Absolutely,” replied the livetar and then he was gone.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. See what I did here? I tied up all the loose ends. Rei got rid of the enemies of mankind and provided Virga with some fresh genetic material to pull their race back towards humanity. And I even let a few Darwin nuts run free so I could write Rome's Evolution. Am I clever or what?

Everybody gets naked, part 2

Yesterday, we saw how Rei came up with a completely ingenious solution to both the danger that the Darwin Project members posed along with the desperate need of the Vuduri on Helome for "normal" genetic contributions. He decided he was simply going to ship the Darwin people to the next star system and let Virga figure it out. He knew she was more than capable. However there was one of the co-conspirators that didn't want to go along with his plan. That was Bonnie Mullen who we know was not so secretly in love with Rei:

     “Rei, please,” Bonnie said, taking another step forward. “I’m sorry but I had no choice. You know that.”
     “Everyone has a choice. You made the wrong one,” Rei said harshly.
     Rome turned to Rei. “She seems truly sorry.”
     “It is getting rather crowded in my cargo hold. I do not think I will have enough room for all of them in any event,” MINIMCOM added.
     Rei shook his head. “These people are not human. There is no place for them on this planet.” Rei looked across the tarmac at the little gray starship that had brought them back from Earth, then down at the little gray livetar. “How about Junior?” Rei asked, pointing. “He’s got room. I’m sure he’d love to take a trip with Dad.”
     “I would, I would,” replied Junior’s livetar enthusiastically.
     The mouth slits on MINIMCOM’s livetar curled up.
     “Excellent idea. Junior, seal up your cargo compartment and remove the hatch activator and airlock switches. There must be no manual methods of egress.”
     The little gray livetar stood perfectly still for a moment then nodded and said, “It’s ready.”
     Rei turned to Bonnie. “I’ll give you one chance,” he said, scowling.
     “Anything,” Bonnie whimpered.
     “When you found out the principles behind Darwin, did you disagree with them?”
     Bonnie lowered her eyes to the ground. She sighed then looked up at Rei with a sad expression on her face.
     “That’s what I thought. Goodbye, Bonnie,” he said, flicking his wrist. With a whoosh and a pop, she was gone, her clothes falling to the ground in an unruly pile. The process resumed until only Captain Keller remained. He looked to his left and right, surveying the empty base and his shoulders sagged in utter defeat.
     “Bierak,” he said miserably. “You are a traitor to your country. I hope you’re proud of yourself. You’ve just doomed America to the trash bin of history.”
     “I am proud to be an American,” Rei said. “I believe in freedom for all. But I’m also a human being. Clearly you aren’t. This is a new world. A new universe. It belongs to everyone, not just a bunch of self-appointed murdering zealots.”
     Rome lifted her hand and waved it across her little group. “Cheer up, Captain Keller,” she said with a mirthless grin. “Project Darwin is a success. It is survival of the fittest. It’s just not the group you imagined. You are now relieved of the burden. We will see to it from here.”
     Taking that as his cue, MINIMCOM activated his transporter one last time. With a whoosh and pop, Keller disappeared, leaving only his clothes behind. “Can you use your sensors and tell if anybody is left?” Rei asked MINIMCOM.
     “I believe that is all of them,” MINIMCOM replied. “Even the ones who tried to leave the area.”

Is that it? Can it be that simple? MINIMCOM and Junior mopping up the area? It would seem so. Let's find out.

Everybody gets naked, part 1

It is a beautiful thing when you get to bring in all the elements from a story and integrate them into the climax. You may recall earlier in The Ark Lords that on Helome, Virga tried to kidnap Rei and get him to mate with her. This was a seemingly random scene that had no bearing on anything else. There was nothing random about it. That scene was critical and here you will see why:

     “No,” Rei answered. “You don’t understand. I mean that you are done on Deucado. You are no longer welcome on this planet. You are all leaving.”
     “Leaving? Where are you going to send us?” Keller scoffed. “Back to Earth? That’s where we want to go.”
     “No,” Rei said. “Not Earth. Somewhere else.” Rei looked over the crowd then directed his stare back at Keller. “Let me put it to you this way. All you’ve ever wanted to do since you got here is screw the Vuduri. Well now you’re going to get your chance. For the rest of your life.”
     Rei turned back to MINIMCOM. “Do you mind taking them?” he asked.
     “Probably not but where am I taking them?” MINIMCOM countered.
     “To Helome, of course,” Rei answered.
     “In that case, I would be delighted,” replied the livetar.
     “Can you see to it that they are naked?” Rei asked. “I want to make sure the rest of them aren’t carrying any hidden weapons. And I want Virga to see that I gift-wrapped them for her.”
     “Of course,” MINIMCOM replied. “How many am I transporting?”
     “All of them,” Rei said, pointing to the crowd. “Anyone who is on this base is with Project Darwin. I want every one of them gone.”
     The livetar nodded. Starting near the front, with a whoosh and a pop, one by one, the people standing on the tarmac winked out, the only thing left behind were their clothes. A woman shouted from the back of the crowd. Rei looked over at the commotion and saw Edgar Mullen trying to restrain a pregnant female. She broke free and ran through the ranks, toward Rei, calling out “Rei, Rei!”
     “Bonnie?” Rei asked, surprised. “What do you want?”
     “I don’t know where you are sending us but I don’t want to go,” she said, cradling her belly. “I don’t want to go with Edgar. I want to stay here.”
     “The very fact that you are on this base means you knew about Darwin and yet you did nothing to stop it.”
     “Rei, please,” Bonnie said, taking another step forward. “I’m sorry but I had no choice. You know that.”
     “Everyone has a choice. You made the wrong one,” Rei said harshly.

Poor Bonnie. She was appealing to someone who just had their child threatened. Actually, their entire species if Keller had his way. I would not expect Rei to be very sympathetic.

You've killed us all

Every book has a final, pivotal scene; the culmination of moving all the chess pieces in place until you have the last meaningful dramatic confrontation. Yesterday was the setup for this slam-bam climax. MINIMCOM has disarmed (and in one case dismembered) the Darwin crew. MINIMCOM also gave Rome Jack Henry's handgun. Captain Keller has the fake virus container and still thinks he has the ultimate trump card. So here is the payoff for sticking with The Ark Lords up to this point:

     Keller assessed the situation and simply shrugged. He shook his head and stepped down from the box. “I don’t know how you do it,” he said, “but I guess you win this round. Be careful where you point that gun,” he said with just a tinge of fear in his voice. “You could hit this vessel.” He held it up and away from his body.
     “That is exactly what I plan to do,” Rome said. She brought her left hand up to steady her aim.
     “No!” Keller shouted hoarsely.
     “Yes,” Rome said grimly. She flipped the safety with her thumb then she exhaled and firmly pulled the trigger. With a bang, the gun went off and the bullet flew straight through the aluminum canister. Because it was pressurized, the air shooting out of it made a loud, whistling noise.
     “You crazy bitch!” Keller cried out. He threw the canister to the ground and covered his mouth with his sleeve. “You’ve killed us all.”
     Rome lowered her arm slightly, still pointing her weapon at Keller’s chest.
     “I told you it was a fake,” Rome shouted. “MINIMCOM really did fly the actual vessel into the sun. Virus 5 is no more. The Ark Lords are no more.”
     Keller removed his arm from his mouth. “Damn you,” he spat. “I don’t believe it!”
     MINIMCOM spoke up, directing his comments to Rei. “I still have the soldiers that were guarding your son and mother-in-law in my cargo hold. I rigged it as a containment cell. What would you like me to do with them?”
     “Are they armed?” Rei asked.
     “No,” replied MINIMCOM. “Their weapons remain back at the cave.”
     “Then hold on to them,” Rei said. Balancing Aason on one hip, he surveyed the scene then with his free hand, he snapped his fingers. “I know what to do.” He set Aason down on the ground. “Let me have the gun,” he said, walking up to Rome who handed him the pistol.
     “Captain Keller. You are done here.” Rei raised his voice. “All of you,” Rei said, waving the gun over the crowd. “You hear me? You are all done here.”
     “You’ve already made that quite clear,” Keller muttered.

They won! An utterly complete defeat over the forces of evil. But now that they have won, what do you do with a group of fanatics who are simply going to start their plotting all over again?

The two trump cards

Yesterday, we saw MINIMCOM swoop in to save the day. He is very powerful and a dedicated protector of Rome, Rei and their family. The standoff is complete, at least in the mind of Captain Keller. He believes he still has Binoda, Rome's mother, and Aason captured and hidden away so he feels like he has all the power. But when you come from the 21st century, you make 21st century assumptions. And, as usual, he is wrong.

     “MINIMCOM, can you disarm all of them that way without harming them?” Rome asked.
     “It would be my pleasure,” replied the livetar. The tips of the cannons came alive and the angry red dots went zzt, zzt, zzt so fast, no one had a chance to move. Very quickly, every one of the soldiers now had two pieces of a rifle where there was only one before. Some of the onlookers, at the edge of the crowd, started running away.
     “Settle down, people,” Keller shouted, trying to calm the crowd.
MINIMCOM used the crowd’s confusion as his opportunity. He stepped around in front of Rome, blocking her from Keller’s view. He reached into the folds of his cape and pulled out an object. He slipped Rome the 9mm pistol they had picked up from the armory on Earth.
     “I promised I would return this to you,” MINIMCOM said. “It is fully restored and fully operational.” The livetar bent over and added, “I was able to match the dried blood on the handle to the stain we found back at the Tevatron.”
     “What are you saying?” Rome asked, staring at the pistol in her hand.
     “I believe this handgun belonged to Hanry Ta Jihn,” MINIMCOM replied.
     Rome’s jaw dropped open. The livetar stepped away.
     Seeing Rome holding the gun, Lt. Greer called out, “No, you don’t!” He reached behind his back and brought out another type of handgun. Even as he was drawing his weapon, MINIMCOM waved his arm. There was another zzt sound and Greer screamed. His hand, still holding the gun, fell to the ground. With the stump of his arm bleeding profusely, Greer sank to his knees, moaning.
     In a panic, Keller shouted out, “You’d better stop him! We still have your mother and son. There is nothing you can do about that.” One of the assembled group waved a walkie-talkie in the air. Keller leaned over from his metal platform. The guard with the radio whispered something in his ear.
     “What!?” he exclaimed, looking around frantically.
     A thin line appeared at the top of each livetar which widened and became a crack. The livetars split sideways, almost completely in half, and Binoda and Aason stepped out onto the runway. As the livetars were resealing themselves, Rome shoved the gun into her left pocket and rushed over to pick up Aason. She cuddled and rocked him. “Oh my baby. I was so worried,” she said.
     “I missed you, Mommy,” Aason replied with his little arms around his mother’s neck. Rei came over and stroked his son’s head gently. In the meantime, Fridone ran over and grabbed Binoda. They took turns kissing each other, just relishing the fact that they were together again. Binoda pulled free and came over and hugged her daughter and grandson as well. After a few moments, Rome looked up at Keller standing on the box and her eyes narrowed. She handed Aason to her husband then pulled the handgun out of her pocket. After slowly sliding forward, she shifted the gun to her right hand and aimed it directly at Keller. “Our business here is concluded,” she growled.

Do you think Captain Keller is just going to capitulate! Naw. He from the Killer Generation, after all. He believes he has one more card up his sleeve.

Do not make him angry

Yesterday, MINIMCOM reappeared, seemingly from the dead, just in the nick of time to act as the cavalry when it came to Rome and Rei's safety. Captain Keller thinks he has the advantage both with the fake virus containment vessel and with Aason and Binoda being held captive. Unfortunately for him, he was dead wrong on both counts:

     Rome cocked her head, trying to infer what he meant. The livetar turned and faced Captain Keller. He spoke but used his EG lifters as a super-PA system so that his voice thundered over the crowd.
     “I do not appreciate you holding weapons aimed toward my family,” he said, pointing up to the extrusions on the fuselage. “These cannons can and will slice all of you in half before you can blink.”
     The troops behind Keller backed away several feet, spreading out as they moved. Keller looked at their formation and shouted back, “I knew those two were lying. You, spaceship. You’re forgetting. I still have this.” Keller raised the aluminum canister into the air. “And with all these rifles, I feel certain we can kill Rei or Rome before you get all of us. Besides, Rome knows we still have her mother and child. She won’t let you do anything to endanger them.”
With a whoosh and a pop, two more livetars appeared to Rome’s left, a tall white one and a shorter gray one. The small gray one walked up to Rome with an oddly stiff gait.
     “Hello, Mommy,” a little voice said, issuing from the mouth hole. Rome bent over, looked into the eye holes and found Aason’s eyes staring back at her. She clapped her hands and stood up. She peered into the eye slits of the OMCOM livetar and saw her mother’s eyes peeking out from behind them.
     MINIMCOM leaned over and whispered in Rome’s ear, “I took the liberty of picking up your mother and son on my way over here.”
     Rome hugged the two-meter tall livetar again. “I don’t know what we would ever do without you,” she said.
     Not exactly understanding what was transpiring, the myriad troops shuffled uneasily. The two guards standing next to the little group took a step back and raised their rifles taking dead aim at Rome and Rei.
     The livetar shook his head and wagged his finger at them. Two sounds, like a zzt, zzt, issued from the cylindrical cannons and the two laser pulse rifles were sliced in half. It took the two guards a moment to comprehend what had happened. Frightened, the soldiers dropped the useless hardware and backed away, joining the larger group.

It is clear that MINIMCOM has the ability to disarm the crowd. It is time for Keller to play his final two trump cards.