Brilliant: Book One of the StarCruiser Brilliant Series

by Rick Lakin

  Ava spoke up, “I read about this in History of the Twentieth Century. It was all sugar, salt, butter, alcohol, and tobacco. Obesity, diabetes, alcoholism, and cancer were leading causes of death.”

  They walked around, and Ava described the antiques. “This room is my mother’s design. When she was growing up, she went to summer movies at the Ohio Theater in Columbus. The screening room is a virtual representation of that theater. Built in 1928 the Ohio Theater still stands and has a giant theater pipe organ installed. The movie palaces were built during the silent film era.”

  “You'll need these. The usher will ask you for them.” David handed each person a movie ticket. They got their popcorn with lots of butter and passed through the door to a different time.

  “Tickets, please.” A virtual usher with a bowtie and tails took their tickets. “Gentlemen, please escort your ladies to the fourth row where your reserved seats are located.”

  The two girls walked a few steps from under a ceiling and saw the virtual immensity of the crowded hall. To their right and left were tall gilded arches. The two in front had velvet curtains. Behind and above was a nearly full balcony. Above them was an eight-pointed star with an ornate chandelier hanging down.

  Tayla asked, “This is huge.”

  “The Ohio seats almost two-thousand-eight-hundred. Our virtual theater seats sixty.”

  Jennifer pointed to the right, “Do those curtains over there open?”

  Ava said, “Behind those curtains are the 2,500 pipes for the Mighty Morton Organ. By the way, it was built here in the valley in Van Nuys.”

  “Pipes,” Tayla asked.

  “Have you ever seen someone play the flute?”

  “Yes, the flutist opens the tube at various points to get the notes.”

  “Picture 2,500 flutes each with a single distinctive sound and pitch. The pipes range from just a few inches for the high notes to sixteen feet for the lowest bass notes played on the foot pedals.”

  “It would be fun to hear it sometime. I took piano for five years,” Tayla said.

  “Is there anything you can’t do, Wonder Woman?” Riley asked.

  “Maybe, but for right now, keep wondering, Wannabe,” Tayla teased, and Riley admired.

  Just then, the house lights flashed off and on twice. “Show's about to start,” David said. The crowd quieted, the lights went down and a spotlight shown below Stage Left. An immense sound welled up throughout the theater as the Mighty Morton began to play. At the same time, a gigantic white wooden organ console rose from the floor. The organist was dwarfed by the size of the console.

  Tayla said, “It's beautiful. The sound is all around us.”

  Ava said, “That's the virtual Roger Garrett. He played there for ten years.”

  After eight minutes of music, the lights went down and the curtains opened with a slide announcing, “Previews of Coming Attractions.” The movie screen converted to a modern day holographic presentation, and the six friends saw five movie trailers of two StarCruiser Brilliant motion pictures and two award-winning pictures starring Ellie Masing. David whispered to Jen, “Pay attention, you haven’t seen the next one.”

  Jennifer sat up.

  The final trailer was Attack of the Hoclarth, the film that she was going to start working for on Monday.

  Jennifer sat back and thought, Amazing. I am going to work on that.

  The organ began to play the familiar music of the "Looney Tunes" cartoons.

  “I love the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons,” Riley said.

  At the end of the cartoon, the organ raised again playing the Looney Tunes music and then started playing some classical music. Ava said, “I took a course on Classical Music of the Twentieth Century. The song is from John Williams, one of the greats. He composed music for many motion pictures.”

  Jennifer replied, “This is the Star Wars music.”

  The lights went down. The organ disappeared. Following the familiar Fox intro, the following words appeared, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.…”

  Over the next two hours and five minutes, six viewers became three couples. Armrests were lifted out of the way. They got to know Luke and Obi-wan, the evil Darth Vader, Leia, and Han…and each other. It was a prototypical date movie except that each one had a close connection to the industry, the studio, and a ship called Brilliant.

  After the screen faded to black, David exclaimed, “George Lucas made those movies for people just like those who love our movie. It left us with a high standard to follow.”

  “I was six, and I wanted to start watching the StarCruiser Brilliant movies. My mom made me watch Star Wars first. I'm glad she did.”

  “Why don’t we roll the second movie?” David said.

  “Tayla and I have to get home,” Jennifer said quickly.

  “But it’s only nine p.m.”

  “It’s late, and I want to go home.”

  “But we're having such a great time,” David said.

  All Jennifer could think about was the evil figure clad in black saying, “I am your father.”

  Tayla knew the look of terror on Jennifer’s face, “David, we had fun, but it’s time for us to go.”

  “I’ve never seen The Empire Strikes Back. It'll be fun.”

  “I can’t watch that movie. I have to go home,” Jennifer said.

  “Why?”

  Tayla said, “David, it has to do with her father. We watched that movie a few years ago, and Jennifer was hurting for two weeks. It’s her vision thing. She remembers every single thing forever, and she feels it, too. Just let it go.”

  “Sorry, I hope that you two will come back.”

  “We will. We had a great time. Thank your parents for us.”

  They hugged and the evening was over. As the girls drove home, Jennifer couldn’t think of anything but the man in the black helmet and cape…and her father.

  Eight

  Creative Sunday

  Jennifer got four hours sleep, awakened at three and entered her steveLearn system. She reviewed the apps she created, made some small changes, responded to some user feedback, and made more changes.

  She called up the Brilliant script. She scanned through it on Friday night. This time as she re-read it she took very close notes and suggested changes. She felt it needed something.

  Along the way, she noticed that Pugs was still chasing rabbits in deep REM sleep, but Dandy Lion curled up next to her and was alternatively purring and sleeping.

  It was time to take a break, so she carried her HoloPad into the kitchen. "Starbucks, my regular," she said.

  Jennifer decided that she needed to do a complete rewrite. Jennifer was sure that no one from the studio would see it, but she wanted to do it just to get it out of her system.

  "Good morning, Jennifer. One double-shot caramel Frappuccino coming up," Starbucks said.

  That takes care of the energy. Now for some sustenance. She tossed a chicken tamale in the microwave.

  Dandy followed her to the kitchen and growled hungrily. Jennifer spooned some cat food into his dish, and the cat surveyed his realm and settled into consuming his sumptuous repast.

  As novelist Jenna Seldon, Jennifer could create original text very rapidly. She often created new material at a pace of five-thousand words per day using the HTVR keyboard. Seven a.m. First draft done, Jennifer thought. She concentrated on smoothing and correcting the dialog, character behavior, and content to be consistent with all five previous films, and to assure correct references to the Brilliant Tech Manual. She rewrote a glaring technical error and made a note to herself that she needed to bring this up at work. Ten a.m. A clean second draft. Now, production costs. The finale of Attack was a battle scene scheduled for September in a remote mountainous spot in the Mojave Desert. No one will see this. Let’s play around. Jennifer was going over that scene in her mind when her mother came into the room.

  “Allen and I have Sunday brunch reservations at The Baked Potato at one o’clock. Would you like to joi
n?”

  “I love that restaurant. Do they have music today?”

  “Yes, it’s the small combo in the main room. We'll be leaving a half-hour before.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Brunch's on me.” She returned her attention to the project. She had an hour and ten minutes before leaving for brunch. She realized that this was a good break point and a good time for a power nap. “Sami, set the alarm at twelve-ten.” As she relaxed, her thoughts again focused on the costs associated with the desert battle scene. The flying Cine-Drones to film the scene were horrendously expensive to rent and operate. She tossed and turned and saw dollar signs floating in the air. Then she saw something else floating in the air. She relaxed and escaped her thoughts in sleep. The scene faded to black, and shortly she was awakened by her alarm after a refreshing twenty-minute nap.

  The jazz combo at The Baked Potato played music that Jennifer loved. She was halfway through her Philly Cheese Steak Potato when she shifted the conversation. “Mom, I'm rewriting the script for Attack of the Hoclarth Alliance. I'm sure that none of my changes will make it into the movie, but I'm doing it for practice.” She took another mouthful and continued. “I told you they asked me to look for places to cut costs. The desert battle scene is very expensive. Our biggest expense is renting and operating the multiple aerial cameras for multiple takes and then editing together angles in post-production.”

  “That’s the biggest ticket after talent on every high-budget film.”

  “I have an idea that might cut the costs by thirty percent, and it's scalable to the rest of the industry,” Jennifer said.

  “You have my undivided attention,” Sheila said.

  Jennifer held up her HoloPad. “What if we had two copter rotors on a device like this and then, in the middle, a lens pointing down. Finally, there would be a variable mirror that folds open and can rotate to follow the subject. That way the mini-drone stays horizontal and stable and only the mirror moves to track the image.”

  Sheila asked, “How many of these devices would fly?”

  “I think that forty in the air would give us the coverage and the images to create a realistic three-dimensional scene.”

  “How would you control this array of drones?”

  “GGG would roll two trailers, one would be a standard video production truck with a control room, the second van would carry the hardware and storage.”

  Allen asked, “Does this hardware exist?”

  “No, Dad. Mom, can you help me with a patent and some engineering help?” Jennifer said.

  Sheila thought for a moment. “Patent? Yes. We have some intellectual property specialists in my shop. Engineering? Yes. We have engineers that would be able to handle this project. Also, HumanAI seems very excited to support any ideas that you come up with. Marketability? If you can prove the cost savings, your system would most definitely fill a niche.”

  “The mini-drone is the big-ticket item. Have you thought of applications outside of motion pictures?” asked Allen.

  “Yes, I even have a name for it. Selfie-Drone. It would interface with the HoloPad. Teenagers could upload photos and movies on their social media from this device.”

  “You have obviously thought this through for a long time. It's a huge project,” Allen said.

  “I came up with it a couple of hours ago.”

  “Oh, yeah. The vision thing. I keep forgetting that you aren't human. In either case, the project is very complex,” Allen said.

  “You're going to be creating new technology with three different corporations. Each is going to want to hoard a large share of the ownership, profits, and control. You might consider incorporating. You would still share ownership and profits, but you'd maintain control of your intellectual property,” Sheila said.

  “You mean form a company?”

  “Yes, but what about capital?” Allen said. “Nothing is a sure thing, but this is close. I can pledge five million. I'd then be willing to assign my proxies to Jennifer and the corporation. Sheila, you would probably need to take the executive role for a couple of years until Jennifer is prepared and old enough to sign contracts.”

  “I, too, could invest five million and I'm sure my parents would invest another ten for their granddaughter. Those numbers would offset the investment from the studio, GGG, and HumanAI and Jennifer would maintain control with the ideas that she brings to the project.”

  “I guess I need an MBA. What’s next?” Jennifer asked.

  “Obviously, you need a name for the company,” Sheila said.

  “JennaTech,” Jennifer said quickly.

  After returning home from brunch, Jennifer summoned Sami, “Sami, I want to accomplish three things today: one more pass on the script, create a patent application for the mini-drone, and begin a Master’s in Business Administration. Call up the Attack script,” she said. “Go through all technical references so they agree with the Brilliant Tech Manual,”

  “I have been following along, Sis. The major deviation was on page thirty-six. You found that the current script includes an incorrect release procedure for the STALT. The Weapons officer is required to specify the rules of engagement. There are three available scenarios….”

  “Got it. There was a problem with the Manual at one point,” Jennifer said.

  “With your Jenna Seldon pseudonym, you submitted a correction.”

  “And I got a somewhat sarcastic thank you from the tech writers in return.”

  “Jenna does sound a bit arrogant at times.”

  “Seriously, Sami, you know my rule. You shouldn't be arrogant unless you have something to be arrogant about.”

  “That's why Jenna doesn't have many friends,” Sami said.

  “You are my friend.”

  “Yes, Jennifer, I'm your friend, and because of that I put up with Jenna.”

  “Ok, Sis, do a final look-through of the script and tell me how it looks.”

  “It looks good. The effects direction for the battle scene needs some definition, but that's dependent on the technology that you are developing. The pace, technical reference, and direction of the dialogue are good, in fact much better than the original. Your vision's true to the previous movies but with more edge,” Sami said.

  “Are you an 'LA Times' movie critic now?” Jennifer said.

  “No, but I helped her get her degree at UVN a few years ago.”

  “Touché. I need coffee, and after that, I need to learn how to design the mini-drone and submit a patent.” Jennifer headed to the kitchen. Both Pugs and Dandy popped up from sleep and followed her to the kitchen. “My spoiled pets want treats. Starbucks, I want a double-shot caramel Frappuccino.” She distributed treats to her needy children.

  The Starbucks announced, “Your Frappuccino is ready.

  She grabbed the drink and headed back to her room with Pugs and Dandy in tow.

  “Welcome back, Jen. I created a design palette for your device. Describe it to me.”

  “Good. Same size and form factor as my HoloPad. Along the vertical axis, two rotors at the top and bottom and a high-res video sensor with a four-hundred to one zoom at film resolution in the center. On the sensor, a fold out mirror that rotates from the stable platform to direct the camera.”

  “Can you define the mirror more clearly?” Sami asked.

  “Do you remember that ancient movie I watched a few years ago with the airborne laser weapon? I think it was called Real Genius.”

  “1985. Val Kilmer. They called it the weapon Crossbow. Got it. Tell me about power.”

  “It needs a long-range wireless power receiver and a ten-minute battery for backup.”

  “The battery is going to be the major weight consideration. What about CPU and software?”

  “Operating system with interface, data, and power networking. Autonomous flight control, of course. Camera and mirror control. Room for user features on the consumer version. Can we fit a holo display?” Jennifer asked.

  “Jen, the greatest concern is weight. Your HoloPad we
ighs in at a little over six ounces. If you include the holo feature, the drone weighs nine ounces. With the projector, it goes up to thirteen ounces. That would make your average valley girl walk in circles,” Sami joked.

  “Okay, no-go on the holo….”

  “Not quite so fast,” Sami interrupted. “I extrapolated the current iteration of Moore's Law. In eighteen months, you'll be able to add the display and keep it around ten ounces. In the meantime, software could probably support the display on the accompanying HoloPad.”

  “Version 2 it is. Do we have enough to begin a patent application?”

  “I have done a patent search for similar technology. I found that your device will yield three different patents. Congratulations, you are now an inventor.” Sami said. “You will need help to bring it to completion.”

  “I need engineers. What's the next step?”

  “I can have a preliminary patent application ready tomorrow afternoon. Then you'll need a patent attorney.”

  “I'll run this by Mom tomorrow afternoon,” Jennifer said. “Pugs, would you like to take a walk while there's still light?”

  Pugs was very familiar with the operative word. The wrinkle-nosed dog jumped up from his nap with tail and tongue wagging anxiously at either end. Dandy Lion observed his needy pet pal, raising his cat lip derisively at this lower animal who required exercise.

  Forty-five minutes later, after a brisk evening walk, Jennifer returned to steveLearn to begin her quest for an MBA. “Sami, have you considered the courses I need and the skills I must pursue to lead the drone project?”

  “Yes, I have. For students pursuing management in the high-tech industry, UVN has created an excellent tutor modeled after Thomas Alva Edison. He's credited with one-thousand, ninety-three patents and started over two-hundred different companies.”

  “I read his biography, and he would be perfect, Sami,” Jennifer said.