Tales of the Vuduri: Year Three

by Michael Brachman

  Entry 3-214: July 28, 2015

 

  This is stupid

  Yesterday, Rome and Rei met Lawlidon, the Bridadira, for the first time. This conversation took place at the end of the older, longer version of the middle part of Rome's Revolution. I had painted myself into a corner by creating the mutations so I had to do something with them. Even Rei realized my plan had some serious flaws:

  “You still haven’t explained why the Cecetiras want to kill us,” Rei said. “It makes no sense, given that OMCOM instructed them to protect us.”

  “The term protect is yours, not theirs. It is my designation. It does not apply to the Cecetiras. They believe that death by Asdrale Cimatir is inevitable for all living creatures, humans included. Therefore, they have taken it upon themselves to kill all humans before the Stareater gets there. In their way of thinking, this is preventing humans from dying by exposure to Asdrale Cimatir.”

  “That’s pretty stupid,” Rei said.

  “I did not say they were very smart,” replied Lawlidon.

  “What do we do to stop them?” Rome asked.

  “You do not. I do,” said Lawlidon. “That is my job. I must.”

  “Have you done this before?” Rei asked.

  “No,” replied Lawlidon. “This is my first assignment.”

  “So what happens if you don’t stop them? What if they get past you?” Rei fired back.

  “The Cecetiras are of the deadliest sort. They are made up of pure VIRUS units. It would not be good.”

  “How is it that they would hurt us?” Rome asked.

  “They will strike your world and they will consume it.”

  “But we’re safe here,” Rei protested. “They can’t operate where there is oxygen. They can’t hurt us on this planet.”

  “The individual units making up the Cecetiras have had their oxygen sensors disabled. They are pure consumption. They will eat your world in just a matter of hours or days.”

  Rei looked at Rome and Aason. He had no words.

  “But there is only one of you,” interjected MINIMCOM who had obviously been listening in the whole time. “I can detect several of these Cecetira on their way even as we speak. How do you propose to stop them should more than one arrive at the same time?”

  Things look pretty bleak, huh? Never fear. MINIMCOM is here.

  Entry 3-215: July 29, 2015

 

  Battle plan

  Just because the Bridadira named Lawlidon showed up at the end of the original Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, that did not mean the residents of Deucado were just going to sit idly by and leave their fate in the hands of somebody they just met. They did not panic but they decide to move quickly starting with MINIMCOM:

  “I have certain abilities,” replied Lawlidon. “I must wait until they arrive to adapt my method of defense to their method of attack. I will deal with them in some fashion.”

  “It sounds like a pretty poor plan to me,” Rei thought with disgust.

  “We will find out soon,” said Lawlidon. “I, too, feel them approaching. I must go.”

  With a palpable snap, the communication link was broken. Rei opened his eyes and looked out the window. As quickly as the sky had gone dark, it now was brightening as the sun emerged from behind the shadow of Lawlidon as he moved off, unblocking the warming rays of Tau Ceti.

  ooked around the room at the assembled group.

  “Quick,” he said to the people assembled there, “we have to go.” He got up and held out his arms toward Rome to help her up.

  “Go where?” asked Pegus.

  Rei turned to him. “I, I don’t know,” Rei said helplessly. He looked down at Rome. “Where do we go?”

  Rome shook her head. “I do not think anywhere is safe. I think it is up to Lawlidon to stop the Cecetiras.”

  “Who is Lawlidon?” asked Melloy.

  “He is the reason the sun went dark,” said Rome. “He is here to protect us. He is the one that hurt our heads just now.

  “Protect us from what?” asked Trabunel in Vuduri.

  “From the Cecetiras,” replied Rome.

  “What are Cecetiras?” asked Trabunel.

  “They are what is left of the Stareater,” Rei said. He switched to English. “The VIRUS units killed it then formed some sort of creatures. Bad ones.”

  “Bad ones how?” asked Keller.

  “According to Lawlidon, they’ve made it their mission to kill us before the Stareaters do,” answered Rei.

  “Kill us?” said several people at once, in several languages. The noise level grew to a general hubbub as the people in the room started to talk among themselves. Finally, Keller said “why?”

  “They are compelled to guarantee that no humans die from a Stareater. So they are going to kill us first, just to make sure,” Rei offered.

  “Goddamned insane,” Keller said. “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” Rei answered, shrugging.

  Pegus motioned to the others. In English he said, “Let us launch. We have some weapons. Perhaps they will be effective.”

  “Your tiny weapons against a creature that size?” Melloy spat. He was not a fan of the Vuduri. “What good will those do?”

  “I do not know,” said Pegus. “But we must try.”

  Tomorrow, not only is MINIMCOM going to fight, he also provides a handy set of eyes and ears in space.

  Entry 3-216: July 30, 2015

 

  The Vuduri Armada

  Deucado is about to be attacked by evil mutations created by OMCOM at the end of the old, longer version of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution. The Vuduri had never put together a battle fleet before so this was a learning experience for everyone, including the Overmind:

  Since Rome’s instruction of Pegus on how to withdraw, the Overmind of Deucado was becoming progressively weaker as the mental discipline to separate partially or fully took hold within the Vuduri population. The role of the Overmind was reduced to that of communication and central fact collector. In this regard, even as Pegus and the others were moving, all the Vuduri knew via the Overmind that they were under assault. Troops and pilots scrambled to take possession of the shuttles and ships parked in neat rows at the space port.

  Assembly was slow as each of the Vuduri had to locate and convince their mandasurte counterparts to accompany them. Their training sessions had only begun and while many were not ready to take sole possession of the vehicles, they were inclined to save the lives of their families. Communication was made all the more difficult because most of the Vuduri were not used to speaking and had to learn that skill even while the mandasurte were learning how to operate the spacecraft.

  Many of the Vuduri spaceships were unarmed. Those that were fitted with weapons were equipped with magnetic pulse cannons, electrostatic charge disrupters and PPT throwers. The pulse cannons would react with anything that was metallic or capable of magnet attraction and could vaporize any of those materials with tremendously destructive force. The electrostatic charge disrupters were essentially lightning bolts that could extend over large distances and evaporated most matter with extremely high temperatures and voltage. The most deadly of all were the PPT throwers. They sent a miniature PPT tunnel long distances and could slice through any known substance. They were capable of shredding very large masses into tiny pieces in nearly an instant.

  Once all the ships were manned, they arose in a neat formation, first via their electrogravitic lifters and later by their plasma drives as they flew above the atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, they employed the peculiar method used by all Vuduri when required to fly faster-than-light. They came to a complete halt, opened up their PPT tunnels and stepped through. Just like that, the armada was gone.

  A tremendous space battle is shaping up. Too bad it got excised in the final version of the book. But at least you get to experience it here.

  Tomorrow, MINIMCOM launches.

  Entry 3-217: July 31, 2015

 

  What
’s happening?

  Yesterday, I showed you the launch of the Vuduri battle fleet, getting ready to take on the evil Cecetiras who want to exterminate all humans. This takes place near the end of the older long-form version of Rome's Revolution. Rome and Rei were stuck in Rome's post-birthing room with the infant Aason. They had no way to know what was happening, even though there was a very real possibility that they were going to die very shortly. MINIMCOM came up with a simple solution:

  Back in Rome’s room, Fridone spoke up. “Egire, i qua?” Fridone asked.

  Rome closed her eyes and called up to MINIMCOM. “Do you know what is happening?” she asked.

  “Yes but explaining it to you gives you no better insight. I could improve upon that greatly,” MINIMCOM replied.

  “How?” Rei, who was also listening in, asked.

  “I could show you,” MINIMCOM.

  “Then do it please,” Rome said in her mind knowing full well that the computer/spaceship was usually too literal to take such initiative on its own.

  “Of course,” MINIMCOM replied in her mind. Rei and Aason listened in as well. “Darken the room,” MINIMCOM requested.

  Rome spoke to her father. “Beo, fica feo dorer es cirdones?” Rome asked. Fridone nodded. He walked over to the large, arched window and pulled the draped panels closed. He turned back as there was a humming sound coming from the general vicinity of the low table near the couch. Above the table, the air shimmered and sparkled. Suddenly, there was a whoosh and a popping noise and then there was a small, black conical object which settled on the surface of the table.

  “What is that?” Rei asked out loud.

  “An image projector,” MINIMCOM replied from a speaker built into the object. With that, a portal opened on one side and a beam of light shot out illuminating the far wall with a dark background punctuated by bright points of light. To the human watchers, it was easy to tell that they were looking at a star field. Across the field of vision, a shiny dark form appeared, silhouetted by the stars behind it, looking something like a wishbone but with a concave, parabolic surface on the front.

  “That is Lawlidon,” said MINIMCOM.

  “That’s Lawlidon?” said Rei to no one in particular. “He looks like a giant piece of black coral.”

  “Form does not always belie function,” MINIMCOM replied.

  ield of view panned back and off to the left and top, a twinkling appeared which eventually resolved it into three points of light.

  “Those are the Cecetiras,” MINIMCOM said, highlighting the images with a faint circle.

  “How big are they?” Keller asked. “I can’t tell from the images.”

  “Roughly the size of a space station,” MINIMCOM replied.

  Tomorrow, the space battle begins in earnest!

  Entry 3-218: August 1, 2015

 

  The first blow

  Yesterday, we saw MINIMCOM provide Rome and Rei with "eyes and ears" in space to witness the oncoming space battle between Lawlidon and the Cecetiras. This takes place at the end of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, back when it was three separate novels known as VIRUS 5.

  Lawlidon is poised and ready. The Cecetiras come in for the first attack:

  “Those are the Cecetiras,” MINIMCOM said, highlighting the images with a faint circle.

  “How big are they?” Keller asked. “I can’t tell from the images.”

  “Roughly the size of a space station,” MINIMCOM replied.

  “Ugh!” Rei said with disgust. “And they…” He stopped speaking. As quick as an electrical arc, two of the points of light split off while one flew straight at Lawlidon at an unbelievable rate. The Cecetira struck with such force that L-shaped figure broke into two pieces with the main trunk tumbling backwards. They could see from the cloud of material that jetted off the surface of the Bridadira that a vast part of Lawlidon vaporized.

  “Lawlidon, are you all right?” Rei asked in his mind. Rome and Aason could ‘hear’ the interchange as well.

  “Processing,” was all that Lawlidon replied.

  Keller said, “Is he alive? Is he fighting?”

  “Yes,” Rei answered.

  “Qua sa besse cim es tues qua cimacao evesdeti?” asked Fridone.

  “What about the two that got away?” Rei asked in his mind of the huge creature.

  There was no response from Lawlidon initially. Then, the “leg” of Lawlidon that broke off spouted a plume of exhaust from its rear and began to accelerate in the direction of the two Cecetiras that got away. The leg segment quickly went off screen. Where the Cecetira had struck the body of Lawlidon, the cavity that had been created by the collision was beginning to close, almost encapsulating the glowing killer.

  “Is he winning?” Keller said? “Do you know what is happening?”

  “We do not know,” Rome said, “We must wait and see. Watch.”

  Personally, I think I'd rather do more than just watch but I guess they didn't really have any place to go.

  Tomorrow, the battle for the stars heats up. And here, for the first time, is a fuzzy image of Lawlidon, as he went into battle. Remember, he is the size of a small moon:

  Entry 3-219: August 2, 2015

 

  Indigestion

  Yesterday, we saw Lawlidon swallow up one of the oncoming Cecetiras. I also showed you, for the first time, a actual (although somewhat fuzzy) image of Lawlidon in space. This whole section is from the older version of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution when it was called VIRUS 5. This next part shows you want happened after Lawlidon "swallowed" the first attacking Cecetira (hunter-killer).

  Where the Cecetira had entered, the remaining section of Lawlidon began to glow. The images made it hard to determine exactly what was happening but over time, they could see that where the object had struck it was growing. The glow brightened. The front section became misshapen and started inflating like a dark balloon. The surface roiled as if a great heat were coming from within. The aneurysm swelled and burst. A cloud of mixed grey, black and white matter jetted outward. The other “leg” of Lawlidon’s mass drifted away slowly.

  Lawlidon’s entire log-like shape swelled and bent and bubbled like it was doused in acid. The deformation continued until the center section was nearly spherical, glowing brightly.

  “Eche qua ala asde mirdi?” asked Fridone.

  “Who knows?” Rei replied.

  “He’s done for,” growled Keller, “finished.” To him, the whole method of fighting seemed poorly thought out.

  “Nei, asbara,” said Fridone, pointing.

  The mass that had been Lawlidon’s “body” began to spin. Faster and faster it went until it became a blur. Small glowing pieces started flying off, like sweat off of a horse. The scene lit up with a bright flash then Lawlidon went dark, stopping suddenly and straightening out, approximating his form from earlier. The “leg” that had drifted off came back and reattached itself to the whole. Another section of his body pinched off, extruding until its length matched that of the reattached leg. However, this time, instead of resembling a wishbone, the being looked a bit more like the Greek letter lambda.

  “Sare qua ossi sognovoce qua ala genhiu?” Fridone asked.

  “Yes, I think he won this battle,” Rei answered.

  “But the other two devils,” Keller said. “They’re still loose.”

  “MINIMCOM,” Rome said, can you show us the other two Cecetiras?

  “Certainly,” MINIMCOM replied.

  The scene shifted and the assembled humans could see the two brightly lit Cecetiras moving toward the planet. From the rate the stars were moving in the background, they could tell they were moving at high speed.

  As a rookie, Lawlidon was pretty flawed in his battle plan. Who will step up to the plate to get the rest of them?

  Tomorrow.

  Entry 3-220: August 3, 2015

 

  Diversion

  Yesterday, we saw that Lawlidon, the Bridadira (protector) swallowed one of the hunter-
killers known as the Cecetiras. This is right at the end of the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution back when it was known as VIRUS 5. As we saw, Lawlidon's capture of the first Cecetira seemed too easy. And the fact is, it was. Rome and Rei, were watching from within Rome's birthing room using the image projector that MINIMCOM had rigged up for them.

  The scene shifted and the assembled humans could see the two brightly lit Cecetiras moving toward the planet. From the rate the stars were moving in the background, they could tell they were moving at high speed.

  Within seconds, the plasma-powered detached “leg” of Lawlidon came into view and aimed right at one of the two Cecetiras which made no attempt to evade it. At the last instant, Lawlidon’s “leg” extruded four tendrils which latched onto the Cecetira and began to draw it in. The VIRUS units making up the Cecetira began infiltrating the ‘tissue’ of the Bridadira remnant and tiny, vein-like extensions of white began infusing themselves into the body. All the while, the plasma jet from the ‘leg’ was firing accelerating them ever forward. The image of the two intertwined entities became blurry then began to phase in and out. At first, one would have concluded that the transmission had gone bad but the regularity of their appearance and disappearance undermined that perception.

  “They are using some sort of alternate method of propulsion,” MINICOM said. “I will program the starprobes to predict their locations while they are in our space to track.”

  The image stabilized but the strobing pattern remained as the grappling creatures popped in and out of existence. Whenever they were visible, the black and white swirling patterns showed an ebb and flow of tiny victories and defeats as the combatants tissues commingled. All the while the assembled mess moved farther and farther away from the planet. The star probe point-of-view hung back and the combined entity grew smaller and smaller.

  “Preliminary estimate of their trajectory shows the appendage is aiming them right for the star, Tau Ceti,” MINIMCOM offered.

  “Do you think he’ll get it done?” Rei asked.