Tales of the Vuduri_Year Five

by Michael Brachman

  “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.

  Entry 5-127: May 7, 2017

  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.

  Entry 5-128: May 8, 2017

  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.

  Entry 5-129: May 9, 2017

  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) touch screen 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 lik
e it was designed by a mad man yet is very effective if you type using more that your thumbs.

  Entry 5-130: May 10, 2017

  QWERTY 2

  Yesterday, Rome was ready to access the Essessoni computer and desired keyboard input. Rei accommodated her by activating the laser-driven keyboard. It used dual lasers to sculpt out a virtual keyboard and used infra-red sensors to detect the positions of the fingers and therefore deduce what keys are being pressed. This seems like science fiction but you can actually purchase these devices on Amazon today.

  “Let me look,” Rome said. Rei stood up and Rome sat down in his place. She scratched her head. “The keyboard must have gotten damaged from disuse,” she said in a dead serious tone.

  “Why do you say that?” Rei asked.

  “Look at the layout of the letters,” Rome said, pointing at the glowing red virtual keys. “Q W E R T Y,” Rome read out loud. “A nonsensical arrangement.”

  Rei laughed. “Everybody says that before they learn to touch type,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “They are arranged in the order of convenience.”

  Rome shook her head.

  “In my language, E is the most commonly used letter followed by T and the rest of the vowels. The people who designed the keyboard made it so that you did the least amount of work during the course of the day reaching the keys you use the most.”

  Rome started to speak then breathed a loud sigh. She knew better than to continue even asking. She faced the screen and gently touched it with her fingers. Very quickly, she absorbed the basic principles behind the operating system and was able to navigate her way through the folder structure. It was very similar to that found on the original 19 data slabs she had been given which had caused the whole Darwin mess.

  The computer itself was sparsely populated and contained nothing like the crew manifest they were looking for. It consisted mostly of engineering diagrams, inventory lists and so on. Finally, Rome gave up.

  To figure out information from the Essessoni, you have to think like an Essessoni. Where would Rome get her hands on one of these? Why, he is standing right next to her!

  Entry 5-131: May 11, 2017

  The Reader Appears

  Methodically, Rome and Rei were making their way through each of the hangars, uncovering what nefarious deeds the would-be new Ark Lords were up to. Yesterday, Rome came across an Essessoni super-computer and quickly mastered its operation. She searched through it fairly exhaustively but it is pretty clear that the crew manifest is going to be harder to find. However, she did find one thing that surprised her at first:

  “I don’t think this computer has anything of importance. Most of its contents are designs and layouts for the starships next door as well a guide for managing…”

  Suddenly, she stopped speaking. Pressed against the back of the desk was an assembly that she recognized. Standing upright was a docking block with one of the jet-black Essessoni data slabs mounted within. Rome reached to the back and slid it forward. Her eyes widened.

  “Look, Rei,” Rome said excitedly, shaking the assembly. “Volume 20 – Mission Parameters. So this is where they kept it.” She pointed to the dock. “Is this your data reader?” she asked.

  Rei nodded. “That’s it,” he said. “But I remember Bonnie saying the reader was on the fritz.”

  “I remember that too,” Rome replied. “Can we at least try it? Can you activate it or attach it to the computer?”

  “Sure,” Rei said. He snapped the docking block to the other side of the computer. As soon as he did so, a new icon, like a piston without a rod, appeared on the desktop.

  “I guess it wasn’t on the fritz, after all,” Rome remarked. “Imagine that. The Darwin people lying about something,” she said sarcastically. She tapped the new icon and the cylinder opened up to show a folder and tree structure within. Rome tapped and swiped until she found what she was looking for.

  “Look,” she said. “Here is the orientation video, the VIRUS 5 video, the instructions on how to make more vaccine, specs for the canister we destroyed and so on. It’s all here.”

  She spun in place and looked over the room. She pointed to the vats.

  “They were preparing more vaccine,” she said. “They really were moving up the schedule.”

  “By about a hundred years,” Rei observed.

  Rome furrowed her brow. A dark expression washed over her face. She shook her head and stood up.

  “Well, they are done now but this computer does not have what we need. Let us continue.”

  “I agree,” Rei said. He pointed to the blank wall in front of them. “Let’s check the next building.”

  They left the bio-lab via the front door and waited while MINIMCOM opened the doors to the second to last building. Rome pushed past him and started to enter but MINIMCOM barked out, “Halt!”

  Rome pulled up sharply. “What is it?” she asked.

  Did you notice Rome's sense of humor, highlighted in bold, is becoming much more sophisticated? So what has MINIMCOM all riled up? We'll find out tomorrow.

  Entry 5-132: May 12, 2017

  MINIMCOM - CSI

  Yesterday, Rome had learned how to access the Essessoni computer but to her disappointment, there was no crew manifest on it. Rei had showed her how to attached the slab reader which worked perfectly well even though Bonnie had said "it was on the fritz" - clearly not true. Rome, Rei and MINIMCOM had to walk around to the next hangar when MINIMCOM shouted "Stop!" and Rome wanted to know why.

  “Allow me to illuminate the floor using ultraviolet.” With that, MINIMCOM lifted his hands, palms outward. Rei didn’t see anything but with Rome’s u-cones, she certainly did.

  “Footprints,” she said, pointing to the floor. Rei shook his head indicating he could not see them.

  “Two different pairs,” MINIMCOM observed. “However, they are old. They are buried under most of the dust.”

  Rome surveyed the room. There were open air filing cabinets, white boards, peg boards made out of woven cane-tree bark and several desks. She determined that most of the activity by the parties unknown took place near the two desks pressed up against the side wall. She walked over to the first desk and found another computer frame propped upright. She doubled-tapped the upper-right hand corner of the frame and the computer awakened. She sat down and examined it closely, quickly moving her fingers about the screen. Finally, she turned in place.

  “There’s nothing on this one,” she said. “It has no data, no documents, nothing.”

  Rei came over to where she was sitting and tried a different approach, using a sector editor to examine of the contents of the directory. “It’s been wiped clean,” he said, finally. “Whoever was here, everything has been erased.”

  “Can you retrieve anything?” she asked. “I was able to, I don’t know the proper word in English, ‘un-delete’ things on our storage units. Do you have the same ability?”

  “No,” Rei said. “This thing uses a secure delete which scrambles the sectors when a document is removed. There’d be no way.”

  “What if you deleted something by accident?” Rome asked.

  “You’d better hope it was backed up,” Rei said, knowing that Rome would be disappointed.

  Rome shook her head. She surveyed the desk, moving papers aside. There was nothing of any importance and certainly nothing that looked like a crew manifest. She was about to give up when she looked to the right. The desk had several drawers built in. She pulled on the top one and found it was locked tight.

  “MINIMCOM, can you open this?” she asked.

  MINIMCOM made a noise that sounded like a tsk and with a sharp tug, snapped the lock and drew the drawer open.

  Rome pulled out the yellowing papers stored there, examining each one. Once again, she found nothing of much importance. She was nearly at the bottom of the drawer when she felt something solid. She pushed the remaining few papers aside and found a slab that was similar to the black data slabs e
xcept this one was white. She lifted it up and inspected it from all angles. It was much lighter in weight than the jet-black slabs and had no label on it.

  One of the really fun parts of writing this novel was to include elements of modern detective fiction (novels, TV, movies) so I had to throw in a CSI moment.

  Let's see. Two sets of footprints and two rogue members of the Darwin Project running around. The computer has been wiped clean? Can all of this be coincidence? Of course not. Also note that the "extra" slab that Rome found was white, not black. Hmmm. Could that mean it was read/write, not read-only? And why would that be important?

  Entry 5-133: May 13, 2017

  111

  Yesterday, MINIMCOM helped Rome discover where the Erklirte computer and papers were stored. However, none of the physical papers contained anything like the crew manifest that Rome sought. She did find a white slab that look just like the black data slabs Rome borrowed from Bonnie. In case it seems strange, the title of this post refers to the fact that Rome and Rei were looking for a list of 109 names and so the number 111 is unexpected: