Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 35

He's alive!

Yesterday, Captain Keller held up what he mistakenly thought was the genuine Darwin virus strain 5 containment vessel as a symbol of their total dominance of the human race. The fact is, what he had was nothing but a glorified balloon. However, Rome was unwilling to make a move against him until she secured Aason's release. Little did she know that her son was already safe and sound and right nearby:

     Suddenly, Rome heard Aason’s voice in her head. “Mommy, Mommy,” the little boy said excitedly, “I see you.”
     “What?” Rome replied, eyes wide, looking around. “No, my son, you are mistaken. We will look for you very soon.”
     “I will see you first,” Aason answered.
     “What do you mean?” Rome asked.
     Aason did not answer. Rome opened her eyes up even wider.
     “Rei,” she whispered in frightened tones. “Something’s happened.”
     “What?” Rei inquired but before Rome could answer, the air was rocked by twin sonic booms. Overhead, the roar of plasma thrusters, louder than any jet engine, shattered the air. The acrid smell of ozone followed a hot wind blowing over the landing area. The ground started shaking. Rome whirled in place just in time to see a portion of the sky shimmer and out of nowhere MINIMCOM’s sleek black starship appeared in mid-air. His powerful EG lifters whipped the air, scattering the few people who were directly beneath. Landing gear extended, MINIMCOM settled on the tarmac and sat there menacingly with his “roadgrader” cannons extended, their fanned edges bristling with glowing red tips.
     With a whoosh and a pop, MINIMCOM’s all black livetar appeared beside Rei and Rome.
     “You’re alive!” Rome said, jumping up so she could put her arms around his neck. She hugged the livetar. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Suddenly, she slid off and backed away. “What about the virus?” she asked fearfully.
     MINIMCOM leaned his head forward and spoke quietly. “As I told you before I left, immolating myself was not my first choice. Rei’s idea turned out to be a good one. I needed an autoclave and I realized I could just turn my cargo compartment inside-out. I plunged far enough into the photosphere of the sun to burn off a good percentage of my interior before I escaped. I am completely clean now; however, I did sustain some system damage, including my transmitter. It took longer than I expected to rebuild it. Otherwise I would have called sooner.”

Keller is in trouble now. The very thing he feared was MINIMCOM's presence which has now been realized. But at least he has the weapon of last resort. Or so he thought.

The Prize

Yesterday, Keller instructed Rei to land Junior at what Keller referred to as Darwin Base. When you think about their charter, they were tasked with returning to Earth and taking it over. They were to wipe out the remnants of mankind, if necessary, with the Darwin virus strain 5. So when Keller arrived at Darwin Base with the ersatz virus containment vessel, he was all full of himself. He was so wrong:

     The mass of soldiers herded them to the center of the tarmac. Only then did Keller and Ionelli emerge from Junior, Keller holding the ersatz vessel very carefully.
     “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Keller announced. “We got it.” He raised the canister over his head.
     The crowd roared their approval. Keller acknowledged it and allowed them a moment of general hurrahs and cheers. Finally, he tucked the canister under his arm and waved his free hand, motioning for them to settle down.
     “These three are going to be our guests for a while,” he shouted. He turned to Ionelli and spoke in a quieter voice. “We have to figure out where to put them, but we’ll do that later,” he said. “Go get everybody out here.”
     Rei, Rome and Fridone were shuffled off to the far side by two guards who took up positions on either side of them. Ionelli entered the closest hut. When he emerged, he was followed by a few people. He entered each of the remaining huts, each time more followed him outside. The crowd grew in size. Rei estimated sixty or seventy in total. Another small group came up from behind Rei, Rome and Fridone. Rei found the sheer number of people disappointing if not downright depressing.
     When most of the group was gathered around, Keller walked over to the doorway of the nearest hut and hopped up on a metal box sitting there. He raised his voice to address the crowd. “Thanks to these fine folks,” he said, pointing to his three ‘guests’. “We can think about moving up the schedule. Obviously, with starships like this one…” He pointed at Junior. “We don’t need to build Arks. And with this…” He held up the aluminum canister, “we have the ultimate power. They have to do what we say when we say it or they all die. The Earth will be ours in no time.”
     Once again, the crowd cheered and hooted at Keller’s pronouncements.
     “Now these three,” he said, pointing at Rome, Rei and Fridone again. “We have to keep them safe. I don’t know where their pet starship is but he can be a mean son of a bitch. They’ll keep him in check as long as we play our cards right. He turned and looked directly at Rome. “You will, won’t you?” he called out.
     Rome nodded sullenly. Rei, sensing her resignation, draped his arm over her shoulder and gathered her in.

So... Keller thinks he has everything in hand. He thinks he is in control. Like I said above, he is soooo wrong.

Darwin Base

When the Arks were launched, only the US Space Command knew there were actually two different subgroups within the passengers sent to the stars. Those kept in the gray super-armored sarcophagi were part of the secret initiative called Project Darwin. Their sole goal was to breed, build up the population and technology and one day return to Earth and claim it for their own.

The other group, kept in ordinary white sarcophagi, thought their mission was to colonize the target planet, build up the population and ensure the survival of the species by removing our genetic eggs from one cosmic basket. To some degree, the two groups worked in concert but to a much larger degree, their goals were at odds since they were competing for limited resources to accomplish two separate missions.

On top of everything else, the Erklirte, the Ark Lords, kept their mission secret. So they needed a base of operations in the northern woods, far away from New Ark City, so they could work on their plans undisturbed by the would-be colonists. Rei certainly had no idea about this when Keller directed him toward their secret base:

     Up ahead, Rei could see a grouping of six or seven Quonset huts huddled on the edge of a large paved area, mostly blacktop resembling tarmac. The metallic roofs of the huts glinted in the sun to the point where Rei had to tint the windshield a bit. There was a classic two-story tall old Earth-style control tower attached to the farthest building.
     “What is this place?” Rei asked. “I didn’t know it was here.”
     “You can call it Darwin Base,” Keller answered. “And you weren’t supposed to know about it but it’s way too late for that. This is going to be your home for a while.”
     Rei made a guttural sound then shook his head. “Where do you want me to set down?”
     “Over there,” Keller said, pointing. “Past where the two roads merge.”
     Rei slowly drifted across the taxi portion of the landing area, scanning the vicinity as they crossed the first roadway. Parked along the Quonset huts were several flying carts along with the huge transports they had brought from Earth in their Ark. Rei had wondered where those things had disappeared to. He had not seen any of them in over a year. He touched an icon and Junior’s landing gear extended. Rei rotated the craft so that it pointed forward toward the other roadway then set down with the tiniest of bumps.
     Keller unbuckled. “Go join your wife,” he said. “But make sure everything you do is slow. I don’t want you to get shot accidentally.”

This place, Darwin Base, is something that Rei is going to have to check out. There is no way he's going to allow such shenanigans to on, on his home planet.

The Charlie Horse Gambit, part 2

Yesterday, Rome threw herself on the floor, faking a Charlie horse, so that she could concentrate on Aason's PPT signal thus allowing the Overmind of Deucado to triangulate the boy's exact position. Lying on the floor, none of the regular Essessoni had a clue what she was doing:

     “Overmind?” Rome asked.
     “I am on it,” the entity answered. After a moment, it replied, “Your Erklirte are not very imaginative. Aason is located within the caves your father’s people used during their secret resistance phase. I believe they called it The Cathedral. Do you want me to send some troops to rescue them?”
     “Not yet,” Rome replied. “They are not in immediate danger and I must see what Captain Keller intends. Just be ready. If I need you to infiltrate the cave, I will let you know.”
     “Very well. I am here for you if you need me.”
     Rome opened up a channel to Rei and Junior. “Aason is being held in The Cathedral. Junior, do you know where that is?”
     “Yes,” replied the starship. “When I was born, I inherited my father’s database. Do you want me to go there?”
     “Not yet,” answered Rome. Then to Rei, she asked, “Do you agree?”
     “Yeah,” Rei answered while staring at the center viewscreen. “It’s enough that we know where they are. We have to see how Keller is going to play this out. We might not have to do anything.”
     “I want to do something,” Junior replied angrily. “My Dad would have.”
     “Yes,” Rome said, “but he would also have listened to us. Right?”
     “Yes,” the spaceship replied begrudgingly.
     Rome stood up and continued to knead her thigh along the back. “I am alright,” she announced to no one in particular. “Rei, do you need me to take over?”
     “Naw,” Rei said. “I got this. Just take care of yourself.”
     Rome looked at Keller and Ionelli. Keller waved his hand limply toward the cargo bay. Rome took that as her cue and she rejoined her father.
     “Everything will be alright,” she whispered to him. “We know where they are.”

So this whole time, right in front of Captain Keller's nose, Rome and the Overmind ran an investigation into the whereabouts of the boy. Rome and Rei have the advantage of knowing but Captain Keller doesn't know that they know. This is getting exciting!

The Charlie Horse Gambit, part 1

Yesterday, we saw Rome set up Captain Keller so that he would allow her to fly a circumpolar route along the line of longitude where the Overmind determined Aason was being held captive. As they are coming south from the North Pole, Rome needs to create yet another ruse so that she can use her mind to finalize the triangulation:

     “Rei,” Rome called out. “Be ready to come up to the cockpit. I need to work with the Overmind and they think someone needs to pilot the ship.”
     “Whatever you say,” Rei answered.
     As soon as they crossed over the Arctic Circle into the continent proper, Rome yelled out loud, “Ow!”
     She unclasped her belt and threw herself on the ground, grabbing the back of her leg and howling in agony. “Ow, ow, ow,” she said.
     Ionelli raced over to her. “What’s the matter,” he asked.
     “Cramp,” she moaned, “ow, ow.” She grimaced. “Quick,” she said, “get Rei. Ow, he can pilot the rest of the ow, ow.” Rome thrashed around on the floor convincingly.
     “Bierak,” Ionelli shouted out, “Get up here.”
     Rei came racing through the cockpit arch. Upon seeing Rome writhing around in pain, he shoved Ionelli out of the way and knelt down by his wife. “Romey, what’s the matter?” he asked.
     “Cramp,” she moaned. “You know.”
     “Straighten your leg out,” Rei said. “And point your toes forward. That always helps you.”
     “I’ll be alright,” Rome gasped. “Pilot the ship. I put a marker on our destination. I just need to let the muscle stop spasming.”
     “Are you sure?” Rei asked, feigning concern.
     “Yes,” Rome replied.
     Rei stood up and walked around to the pilot’s seat. He sat down and buckled himself in. He grasped the joysticks firmly and banked gently to the right. The central display showed him the proper vector. This part was easy.
     Rome was rubbing the back of her thigh with her hand, trying to knead the muscles to calm her fake Charlie horse.
     “Aason?” she asked.
     “Yes, Mommy?”
     “Overmind?”
     “I am on it,” the entity answered.

OK. The pieces are in place. Now it is up to the Overmind to identify Aason's exact location.

Going south

Yesterday, we saw that the Overmind of Deucado was able to find Aason but only along a line of longitude. They still needed latitude to home in on his actual position. The plan was for Rome to talk Keller into allowing her to take a polar route for landing. This would allow the Overmind to use her connection to identify Aason's exact position.

     “Where are we going?” Rome asked innocently. “New Ark City?”
     “No,” snarled Keller. “Our destination is 100 kilometers due west of there. I’ll show you when we get close.”
     Rome nodded her head at him then looked back at the panel. She twisted the joystick and the ship rolled over until Deucado was upside down.
     “What are you doing?” Keller asked.
     “Preparing the ship for aero-braking,” Rome said. “A polar re-entry is more efficient than an equatorial one from this vector. I assume that’s what you want. Am I correct?”
     “Whatever,” said Keller. “Just make sure you know what you are doing.”
     Rome disengaged the thruster lock and pulsed the plasma jets on and off. She kept the nose of the ship tipped upward so that they pointed directly at the south pole of the planet. As they circled around the dark side, she rotated the craft about the midline. She fired the plasma thrusters in retro mode to slow their forward velocity. Once she was satisfied with the decrease in speed, she rotated the ship so that they were facing forward again. The little starship began to reenter the atmosphere around the isthmus that connected the continent of Sul to Toraode, the northern of the two eastern continents. Just as Junior’s nose started heating up, Rome flipped the small rocker, switching Junior’s controls from space-side to atmospheric mode and applied the EG lifters to push against the gravitational field. The ship headed upward again, almost to the point of a stall then headed back down again. She executed another dip and swoop upward but this time they did not gain nearly as much altitude.
     By the time they crossed the north pole of Deucado, shimmering with the green and red of a spectacular Aurora Borealis, they were fully within the atmosphere. Rome pulled up a map of Asquarti, the western continent and placed a virtual pushpin to the west of New Ark City as Keller had indicated.

Rome needs her full attention to finalize the position so it is time for another ruse. Boy, that Keller is gullible. You'll see tomorrow.

Triangulation

Yesterday, we saw that Rome was able to contact her son, Aason. To her relief, both he and Rome's mother Binoda was safe for the time being and were hidden in a cave somewhere. But where? Rome need to figure out where Aason was located because he could not tell her. The Overmind of Deucado comes to the rescue:

     “So that is the situation,” Rome said. “Can you still find connections using triangulation like you did when you were still seizing babies?”
     “Yes,” replied the Overmind. “Please have Aason open his mind so that we can track him.”
     “Very well,” Rome said. “Aason, can you hear me?”
     “Yes, Mommy.”
     “You remember the Overmind.”
     “Yes but I don’t like him very much,” Aason said. “He was mean to you.”
     “You know he isn’t like that anymore,” Rome answered. “He is going to help us find you. I want you to open up your mind and let him in for a bit. Can you do that?”
     “Yes, Mommy,” Aason replied, reluctantly.
     “Thank you,” the Overmind replied. “Hello, Aason.”
     “Hello,” Aason answered glumly.
     “It will be fine. This is so you will be safe. I will only need a moment.”
     Rome wriggled around in her seat impatiently, waiting while the Overmind performed its magic. Rei scanned the men opposite of them to see if any of them noticed anything unusual. Some of them were watching them but without a keen interest.
     Finally, the Overmind responded. “Not quite there,” it replied. “I need three points of reference. I have used the Vuduri in Vuduri City as one. I used the Vuduri in New Ark City as the second. But I need a third. Aason is closer to New Ark City that much I can tell. But he could be to the north or south, I cannot deduce which. I cannot find any Vuduri far enough on either side to finish the search.”
     “What are we going to do?” Rome asked with just a tinge of fear in her mental voice. “Can you send someone in a flyer?”
     “I could do that but I may not need to,” the Overmind replied. “Will you be able to control the reentry to the planet?”
     “Yes,” Rome said. “They are expecting me to pilot the ship in.”
     “Excellent. Then instead of reentry parallel to the equator, use a polar route. As you circle around the planet, I will use you as the third point of reference. We should be able to pinpoint his location fairly quickly.”
     Rome breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said. “I will let you know as soon as I begin reentry.”

OK. All the pieces are in place. Now we just need to pull the trigger.

The tiny voice

Yesterday, we saw Rome execute an elaborate ruse to force Captain Keller to allow them to remain in normal space. He has no idea she was coaching Junior the whole way and he has no idea of the range of the Vuduri PPT transducers. It is time for Rome to call out to her son:

     “Aason, can you hear me?” Rome called out using her PPT transceivers.
     “Mommy!” came her son’s tiny, frightened voice. “Where are you?’
     “Your father and I are on our way back in Junior,” she said. “Are you and Grandmea all right?”
     “Yes,” Aason said. “But it’s cold in here.”
     “Where are you?”
     “I don’t know, Mommy. I miss you.”
     “I miss you too, Aason. Help me find you. Tell me what you see. Are you in a building?”
     “No. We are in a cave. A big cave,” Aason said.
     “A cave…” Rome shivered thinking about it. “Where is Grandmea? Is she with you?”
     “No,” replied Aason. “They are holding her over there.”
     Rome could not help but smile. “I cannot see where you are pointing,” she said. “Where is over there?”
     “There is another cave off to the side. That’s where they are keeping her. I’m out here on the floor.”
     “Very good. How many men are there?”
     “There are two with Grandmea. And there is one here with me.”
     “All right. Aason, you know what a weapon is, right?”
     “Yes, Mommy.”
     “Do the men have weapons?”
     “I think so. They have long sticks with handles that they carry around all the time.”
     Rome’s eyes widened. “Are they pointing them at you?” she asked anxiously.
     “No,” Aason replied. “And all they gave me to play with are some rocks,” he said petulantly.
     Rome breathed a sigh of relief. “Where are their weapons?”
     “The man near me has his sitting on his lap. I think he’s asleep.”
     “What about the other two? The ones near Grandmea?”
     “Their sticks are resting against the wall. The men are sitting and talking.”
     “All right, Aason. Mommy and Daddy are on our way. We’ll be there soon.”
     “Hurry, Mommy, I don’t want to be here anymore.”
     “We’re coming as fast as we can. I’ll check back with you in a little while.”
     “OK, Mommy.”

Even though I created him, I love little Aason. Despite the fact that he speaks like an adult, to the point where you forget he is only two years old, he is still a child. In the middle of this life-threatening situation, he is complaining that all he has to play with are some rocks. What a kid!

The Game, part 3

Two days ago, we saw Rome instruct Junior, the baby starship, in the art of deceit in order to gain a tactical advantage over Captain Keller and the other would-be Ark Lords. She needs the time to figure out how to rescue Aason and Binoda who have been kidnapped by the Darwin people. Today she executes the final element in her elaborate yet necessary plan to fool Keller:

     A whining sound erupted from the back of the ship as the PPT generators came on line. In front of them, a large black circle appeared, obscuring both Deucado and Tau Ceti and letting the star field behind it shine through. When Rome was certain the tunnel was wide enough, she released the button and activated the plasma thrusters. Keller was shoved back into his chair. Ionelli nearly fell over, grabbing the back of Rome’s seat just in time.
     The little starship entered the tunnel and as soon as it was through, Rome released the plasma jets.
     “How did we do?” Rome asked.
     “We went too far,” Junior whined. “I’m sorry.”
     “What?” shouted Keller. “How far?”
     Rome looked over the front display. “Oh dear,” she said. “We overshot by several light minutes.”
     “Hell,” said Keller, slamming his armrest.
     “Junior, have your PPT generators ever been calibrated?” Rome asked innocently.
     “No, Auntie Rome,” replied the spaceship. “That was something that Dad and I were going to do in a few weeks.” There was a little catch to his voice.
     “All right, then, dear,” Rome said. She turned to Keller. “I think you are better off using plasma thrusters for the final leg. It would seem to be the safest.”
     “How long will that take?” Keller asked.
     “Just a few hours,” Rome said. “I can lay in a course, set the thrusters on auto and we’ll be there soon enough.”
     “OK, do it,” Keller said grumpily.
     Rome’s hands flew over the console. When she was satisfied that all was in the ready, she pressed the icon to engage and the plasma thrusters kicked in.
     “There,” Rome said. “All set.”
     “Get her out of here,” Keller said to Ionelli. “Bring her back when I tell you.”

Rome has him all set up. She has turned to game to her advantage. As it turns out, she needs to be in normal space to reach out to her son. That was the whole reason behind this elaborate charade. Tomorrow, Rome makes contact with Aason.

The Game, part 2

Yesterday, we saw Rome instruct Junior, the baby starship, in the art of deceit in order to gain a tactical advantage over Captain Keller and the other would-be Ark Lords. She needs the time to figure out how to rescue Aason and Binoda who have been kidnapped by the Darwin people. Everything she is doing is calculated to produce a certain effect.

Today Rome elaborates on the ruse to create a convincing case for manual intervention. She exploits Keller's impatience as much as she does his ignorance:

      “Very well,” Rome said, leaning over and looking at the center viewscreen. “Junior, enable manual control.”
      “Enabled, Auntie Rome.”
      “OK then,” Rome said. “I am going to spin you around and use your thrusters as braking rockets. Watch how I do it.”
      “OK.”
      Rome twisted the joystick which fired the trimjets, spinning the starship around its center axis. When she was satisfied they were exactly 180 degrees opposite their forward vector, she depressed the mechanical button to enable the plasma jets and pushed forward on the throttle. She watched the center display intently as it showed their forward speed decreasing until it achieved a velocity of zero relative to the nearest gravitational point of reference.
      “Very good,” she said. She twisted the joystick around again until they were facing forward. Deucado was a tiny blue star glowing in the sky to the left of Tau Ceti. Grentadar was nowhere to be seen. Rome assumed it was on the far side of the sun. Rome twisted the joystick slightly counterclockwise then quickly halted their motion. Deucado was now dead ahead.
      “OK, Junior,” Rome said. “I’m going to active the PPT generators. When the tunnel is large enough, I’ll use the plasma jets to push us through.”
      “I understand the theory,” replied the spaceship. “I have just never done it before.”
      “It isn’t hard,” Rome said. She bent forward and checked the yellow dial mounted on the front of the armrest to confirm that the calibration triangle was upright. Satisfied, she mashed in the center button as hard as she could to make sure the PPT tunnel went deep.

Too deep as it turns out. Rome has situation all set up. She has turned to game to her advantage. Tomorrow you will see what she does with this advantage.