Tales of the Vuduri_Year Five

by Michael Brachman

  Troutman bristled when she mentioned Steele’s name. “So I figured you’d be easier to track down. You do kind of stand out.”

  “Yeah…but still,” Troutman said. “Really, how did you figure it out?”

  Uh-oh. Bonnie's story is starting to fall apart. How long until Troutman figures it out?

  Entry 5-252: September 9, 2017

  One Capture Down

  Yesterday, Troutman was quizzing Bonnie on how she was able to track him down. Her story wasn't very strong and Troutman was pretty insistent that he knew how she found him. Because if she was able to find him, then others could too:

  “Well, as soon as I heard that somebody tried to kill that idiot Bierak…” There was a rustling sound in the corner of the room. Troutman looked up but saw nothing. He turned back to Bonnie who continued. “I figured it was you two. I remembered that you used to play cards with Paul Chung so I went to his house. He told me where to look.”

  Troutman slammed the table with his fist. “Dammit,” he said. “If Steele finds out Chung said anything, he’s going to be in for a world of hurt.”

  “Yeah, so where is he?” Bonnie asked. “Steele.”

  “Why do you want to know?” Troutman replied back.

  “Because if we’re going to take over this world, we need to band together. I figured three of us have a better chance than two.”

  “Steele doesn’t want to be found right now,” Troutman said with a bit of fear in his voice.

  “Come on, David,” Bonnie said. “You can tell me.”

  “No,” Troutman said. “We have to lay low for a while till things cool down.”

  “Please,” Bonnie pleaded. “It’s important.”

  Troutman’s eyes narrowed. He looked around the room and then back at Bonnie. “You still never told me how you found me. And there’s no way you could know it was me and Steele that planted the bomb. It could’ve been anyone. Something doesn’t smell right.” He meant that literally. From the corner of the room was the odor of a clean, well-groomed person, not the squalid smell he had long since become used to.

  “You can say that again,” Bonnie said, trying to be funny. Troutman didn’t laugh. “No, really,” she said. “There’s nothing going on.” She looked at Troutman but he seemed distracted.

  “Actually, there is,” Rei said, appearing suddenly in the corner.

  “Bierak!” Troutman shouted. He leaped up and took his chair and flung it at Rei who ducked in time. The chair crashed to the wall then the floor. In the mean time, Troutman bolted toward the back of the house. He got to the back door and whipped it open, only to see MINIMCOM’s two-meter tall all-black livetar standing there. Before Troutman could even turn, MINIMCOM lifted his arm, brought his hand down on the crown of Troutman’s head and the Essessoni collapsed to the ground like a broken puppet.

  I kind of like that phrase "broken puppet". I was going for the image of a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Now that they have Troutman captured, let's see what Rome can extract from him.

  Entry 5-253: September 10, 2017

  Spill your guts

  Yesterday, Bonnie and Rei had the would-be assassin, David Troutman, cornered. He made a break for it, trying to escape out the back door, but he ran right into MINIMCOM who knocked him out with a single blow. All our heroes had to do now was wait for him to wake up:

  It took a while but eventually, Troutman came to. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, the would-be assassin looked around to assess the situation. He was seated at his own table but with very tight white restraints binding his hands to the arms of the chair and his legs to the legs of the chair. Standing immediately to his right was MINIMCOM’s imposing bulk. Bonnie and Rei were sitting across from him and Rome sat to his left.

  “I’m not telling you nothing,” he sneered. “You can arrest me. You can deport me. But that’s it.”

  Rome reached out and stroked his hand back and forth but never letting go completely. “We want to find Steele,” she said, pointing to the picture lying on the table with her free hand.

  “Like I said, I’m not talking,” Troutman insisted. Rome said nothing but continued to tap the picture. The images flying through Troutman’s mind were distinct.

  “He is in the forest to the west,” she said, finally.

  “Huh?” Troutman said. “No, he isn’t.”

  “He comes into Ur when he needs supplies. He usually sends Troutman on his behalf and only rarely enters the town.”

  “What are you talking about? How are you doing this?” Troutman asked, slightly unnerved.

  “Who is the Vuduri woman who is helping him?” Rei asked.

  Troutman looked up at Rei, completely rattled. “How do you know all of this?”

  “Look, David,” Bonnie said, reaching her hands out, palms up, across the table. “I was mostly telling the truth. The world of Helome is spectacular and the Vuduri there really do let us roam freely. We aren’t prisoners. They are really committed to building a world with us as partners. Even Keller has given up the fight. He’s made his home there. He’s even taken on a wife.”

  “No way!” Troutman said. “Keller would never do that.”

  “Yes, he did,” Rome said, squeezing his hand gently. “His wife is named Virga and she is already pregnant with his second child. Captain Keller specifically sanctioned this mission, to capture you and Steele because he no longer believes violence is the answer.”

  Troutman looked at each of their faces. MINIMCOM placed his hand on Troutman’s shoulder with just enough pressure to be painful. Troutman squirmed in place trying to wriggle free but was unsuccessful.

  “Look,” he said finally. “If Steele finds out that I’ve told you anything, he won’t just kill you. He’ll kill me, too.”

  Troutman caved too quickly. He would never have been the driving force behind the assassination attempt. Clearly it was Steele who was the true danger. It was time to track him down.

  Entry 5-254: September 11, 2017

  The Mystery Woman

  Yesterday, Troutman broke down under the mildest of questioning. It was clear that Dan Steele, the other would-be assassin, was the main threat. Rome and Rei had to extract his whereabouts from Troutman to get the jump on the bad guy. Troutman feared for his own life but seeing as how he was tied to a chair with a mind-reader caressing his arm, he had little choice in the matter:

  “That’s why we have to stop him,” Rei said, leaning forward. “There’s no place left on this world for the likes of him. Everybody else wants to live in peace. He’s the only one who doesn’t.”

  “All right,” Troutman said, acknowledging defeat. “But I want you to know that none of this was my idea.”

  “He is telling the truth,” Rome said quietly.

  Troutman looked over at Rome then down at her hand. MINIMCOM eased up a little bit of the pressure on his shoulder.

  “When you guys defeated us and sent everybody packing, I actually wanted to go too. But Steele wouldn’t let me. He literally stuck a knife in my side and told me we were hiding out until the coast was clear.”

  “So it was just the two of you,” Rei said. “What did you hope to accomplish?”

  “After the heat died down, the two of us made our way back to Darwin Base. Steele thought if we could finish one of the starships, we could take a run to wherever you guys sent everybody and bring some of them back. I guess he wanted to start some sort of guerilla action. But the ships weren’t nearly ready. Steele’s next plan was to build up an arsenal, then steal a starship, maybe. I wanted no part of it. Not too long ago, I even tried to get away. But Steele found me. He told me if we accomplished nothing else, we had to get you two out of the way.”

  “Where does the Vuduri woman fit in? Tell us about her,” Rome insisted. “Do you know who she is?”

  “No,” Troutman said. “I’ve never even seen her face. She always wore a cap and a visor.”

  “How did you meet her?”

  “One time, Steel
e was, I don’t know, stir-crazy. He got some money and I sent him up to The Hand so he could gamble a little bit. Blow off a little steam. I guess that’s where he met her.”

  “And she wanted to be part of the plan to have us killed?” Rome asked.

  “It was the weirdest thing. I have no clue how she figured it out but Steele brought her back here. She said we had a common interest and, yeah, that was in eliminating the two of you.” He nodded toward Rei, then Rome. “Then she’d get Steele his starship.”

  “Do you know her name? Where she comes from?” Rome asked.

  Any guesses to her identity? I know but then again, I wrote the book. Let me just say that at this late stage of the game, I wouldn't bring in a brand new person, someone you'd never heard of before.

  Entry 5-255: September 12, 2017

  Take me to jail. Please.

  Yesterday, Rome's questioning turned toward the mystery Vuduri woman who had helped Troutman and Steele attempt to murder Rome and Rei. Troutman claimed he didn't know much about her, she always kept her identity hidden. But even the few facts that he did know would help them whittle down the list of candidates. Rome pressed Troutman on this:

  “No,” Troutman said. “Other than breaking into the library, I didn’t spend much time with her. It was her and Steele most of the time. We came back here, I rigged the bomb. We watched you for two weeks and knew exactly what time the two of you were going to be home. They snuck it into your house and set the timer. I still don’t know what happened or even how you survived, Bierak.”

  “Is this woman with Steele now?” Rei asked.

  “She might be. Since the bomb, they’ve steered clear of me. I don’t know what they’re up to. Maybe she left. Maybe she’s still here. I have no way of knowing. I’ve just been hiding out.”

  “Have you ever been at Steele’s encampment?” Rome asked.

  “No,” he replied. “But it can’t be too far away. I would have to guess within a day’s walk, maybe a little more.”

  Rei looked over at Rome. She nodded. He stood up then said, “MINIMCOM, can you rig us a jail cell in your cargo compartment. We gotta go after Steele now and we don’t have time to put this loser any place else.”

  “Absolutely,” MINIMCOM said. He stood perfectly still then bowed his head. “It is done. I have constructed a small room with no entrance or egress. It will hold him until you are ready to release him.”

  “Thank you!” Troutman exclaimed with a great deal of relief in his tone.

  Rome cocked her head. “Why are you thanking us?”

  “I’ve hated every minute of my life here. I hate Steele and I hated what he made me do. Finally, I’ll be able to going back to being human. You’re doing me the biggest favor you can imagine just putting me in jail.”

  Rei shrugged. With a whoosh and a pop, Troutman and the chair were gone as was MINIMCOM’s livetar.

  Rei looked around the room. “Do you think there’s any point in searching this dump?”

  “No,” Rome said. “He was telling the truth. He really did not know where Steele is hiding out.”

  “OK,” Rei said, leading the way to the door. “Then we head west.”

  “Hold on,” Bonnie said. “Steele is rather vicious. Don’t you think we should take your robot with us? For protection?”

  “He isn’t a robot,” Rome offered. “He is, a, well, the thing you see that looks like a person is called a livetar. It’s an animated shell but the intelligence and personality reside up there.” Rome pointed toward the ceiling.

  “Even so.”

  “MINIMCOM will pick us up shortly,” Rei said. “We only need go as far as the edge of town then we’ll ride from there. We’ll look for Steele from the air.”

  Well, at least we have a plan. But before we head into the woods, let take at trip down nostalgia lane to Rei's one and only space-walk, the one where he retrieved his music slab.

  Entry 5-256: September 13, 2017

  The future is not yet written

  I have written many times about the origin of my stories, how they are all true but they just haven't happened yet. Now it's a little silly to claim that the future is preordained and these stories are literally true but it's how I feel. My main timeline, the one where Rei Bierak is launched to the stars and meets Rome, his soul mate, in the 35th century, is very clear to me and forms a continuous future history with no breaks.

  I may not know what happened every minute of every day 14 centuries from now but sometimes, when I need to fill in the gaps, the events that come to me are perfectly consistent with what came before and what comes after.

  I'll give you one example: in my mind, whenever Rei spoke about the events that immediately preceded his induction into the Ark program, it was just a random series of points in time. When I finally sat down to write the story as an intermezzo for Rome’s Evolution, it all came together seamlessly and turned out to be a very sweet (or maybe bittersweet) little story.

  The same is true for how Rei came to acquire his cherished music slab so that he and Rome could enjoy his music during their year-long journey from Tabit to Deucado. I knew that the little slab was not important enough for Rei to risk his life during a spacewalk. It had to be a byproduct of a venture outside for other reasons. I had never really worked out the details but when the time came to write the second intermezzo for Rome’s Evolution, the story came together seamlessly and was deeper and more emotionally resonant that I had even hoped.

  So over the next ten days, I am going to give you the entire story, uncut, so you can follow along Rei's perilous journey to cut loose the damaged propulsion unit of the Ark II and how he realized he could acquire his music. His tender interaction with Rome was very satisfying emotionally and only helped deepen and clarify their unique relationship and bond.

  So buckle in and savor this little story over the week or so. I tried to make it very realistic without getting too bogged down in the technical details. I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it.

  Entry 5-257: September 14, 2017

  Ray’s Space Walk – Part 1 of 10

  Five years before the events that were described in Rome’s Evolution, Rei and Rome had left the Tabit system and were just starting out on their one-year trip to Deucado. At the time, they didn't know it would only take a year, they were planning on more like two-plus years. However, Rei had a burst of inspiration that allowed them to ultimately double their speed. This is a little vignette about Rei's spacewalk which facilitated a vastly shortened journey. This is part 1 of 10:

  Year 3455 AD (1374 PR)

  1.5 Light Years from Tabit, headed for Deucado

  Rei Bierak sat silently in the cockpit of their space tug, along with Rome. OMCOM’s final words of caution were still ringing in their ears. Now they had to worry not only about the Stareaters, but whatever the hell it was that OMCOM spawned was after them too. Rei rocked back and forth, whispering to himself, as if his motion could somehow make them go faster. He looked over at Rome. She was studying the console but the tightness on her face told Rei her mind was elsewhere.

  Rei felt so powerless. He had to do something. Suddenly, his head snapped up. “MINIMCOM, when we were in the galley, you said you had a way of getting us to go even faster.”

  “That is correct,” replied the autopilot computer who was manning the space tug mounted on the far side of the Ark.

  Finding interest in the discussion, Rome looked up from the console. She glanced at Rei. “Can you tell us, please, MINIMCOM?” she inquired.

  “If we could reduce the amount of mass that I must push through each tunnel, I would not have to hold it open for as long. I could extend its reach and increase our effective velocity proportionally.”

  “We don’t have much mass to get rid of,” Rei said. “Do we?”

  “Yes, we do,” replied MINIMCOM who at this point in their journey had never progressed beyond a disembodied voice. “A rather large amount.”

  “What?” Rome asked. Rei co
uld see she was relieved to have something to distract her.

  “The entire propulsion module of Rei’s Ark is superfluous,” MINIMCOM replied. “It serves no purpose. I have done numerous simulations and I believe I could increase our effective velocity as much as 20% further if we could eliminate it.”

  “Hey,” Rei said. “You’re right. The propulsion unit was made to be jettisoned before reentry in the first place. If we could detach it, it would reduce our overall mass a lot.”

  “How would you do that?” Rome asked Rei.

  Rei thought about it for a moment. “We went over this during orientation. I think that it requires a spacewalk.”

  “Why?” asked Rome. A small amount of trepidation crept into her voice.

  “Well, the ship was designed to be in space for hundreds of years,” Rei replied. “There is a separator ring for each section. It’s kind of like an explosive bolt but continuous. Solid-state. It’s made out of some type of meta-stable intermolecular composite…”

  “Thermite,” MINIMCOM interjected.

  “Yeah, thermite,” Rei said. “So it would last forever but the charge to set it off has to be done by hand.”