Tales of the Vuduri: Year Three

by Michael Brachman

  “Always,” Rei thought back as he carried her into the bedroom. As he entered, he closed the door behind him laughing slightly at the absurdity of the action.

  “Old habits die hard,” he said.

  “What?” Rome asked as Rei set her down by the bedside.

  He jammed his thumb over his shoulder at the door. “Closing the door,” he said. “Who is going to see us out here?”

  “It is a good habit,” Rome giggled as she began to unclasp the top part of her jumpsuit. “We are Aason’s parents and what we do in here is not part of his business. This is just between you and me.”

  “Right,” Rei said, stepping forward. He enveloped Rome in his arms and squeezed, holding on as if for dear life.

  “What?” Rome asked as Rei was muzzling her neck.

  “I love you so much,” Rei said. “To this day, I still cannot believe I found you and that you are mine.”

  “Not to be too technical,” Rome said, wriggling loose. “But I found you. I am the lucky one. You are the one that set me free.”

  “You didn’t find me,” Rei said. “Your co-workers picked me out my group. They brought me to you. I was the one selected.”

  “No,” Rome said. “I was the one selected to communicate with you. You were selected at random.”

  “Random, my ass,” Rei said. “I traveled 1400 years and 26 light years to find you. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen at random.”

  “What does your ass have to do with this?” Rome asked with a smile on her face. She put her arms around Rei and grabbed his butt with her hands and squeezed. “Although it is a very nice ass, I must add.”

  Please note the sentence in bold. I put it in strictly to be funny. More on that tomorrow.

  Entry 3-278: September 30, 2015

 

  Knock, knock 1

  Imagine yourself some 20 light years from the nearest solar system, that is, interstellar space. And further imagine that you are inside a spaceship which, in turn, is inside yet another spaceship, like Russian dolls. There can literally be no more isolated place in the universe. This is the situation that Rome and Rei found themselves when they were on their way back to Earth in the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution.

  The couple was inside their bedroom, with the door closed no less. I don't think you could possibly have more privacy if you wanted it. So it was this point that I thought it would funny if somebody knocked on their door. Here is that scene:

  "So what do I smell like?" Rome asked.

  "You smell wonderful," Rei replied. "So clean, so sweet. Like vanilla surgical scrub."

  "And what do I taste like?" Rome asked, amused by the whole thing.

  "You taste like heaven, my love. Just like heaven."

  Rome reached up and pulled Rei's head around so that she could kiss him. They were starting to get rather passionate when there was a knock at the door.

  “WHAT THE HELL?” Rei shouted and jumped away from Rome. He looked back at her with a wild look to his eye. Then he looked back at the door.

  “I am frightened,” Rome whispered to him.

  “Get in the bathroom,” Rei whispered back. “And close the door.”

  “What will you do?” Rome asked.

  “Go!” Rei commanded.

  Rome tippy-toed hurriedly toward the bathroom while Rei crept forward toward the entrance. He sidled around the dresser that was to the left of the door and picked up the onyx box that was placed there. The box held the espansors, the bands that Rei and Rome used to connect mind to mind. It wasn’t much of a weapon but it was all he could find.

  “Who is it?” Rei asked, realizing the absurdity of the situation. At their current speed, they were probably one and a half light years away from Deucado by now, traveling faster than any manned ship in the history of mankind and buried inside the cargo compartment of an intelligent and deadly hybrid spaceship/computer dedicated to their safety.

  “A-ma,” came a muffled voice.

  Rei pressed the stud and the door opened. There was no one there. He looked up and down the hall but could see nothing.

  “MINIMCOM,” Rei said. “Are you playing a joke?”

  “Nanhume boete,” answered a ghostly voice from right in front of him. Rei jumped back.

  Rome poked her head out of the refresher. “Beo?” Rome asked in Vuduri. “Is that you?”

  The air shimmered in front of Rei and the disembodied head of Fridone appeared to float in front of him.

  “Fridone?” Rei said.

  Fridone smiled and the rest of his body appeared. Immediately, Rei could see Fridone was wearing one of the Deucadon’s invisibility suits. Fridone was also holding Aason who was smiling. This in itself was disconcerting as he was only a few days old but many things about Aason defied explanation.

  Tomorrow, the second half of this little incident.

  Entry 3-279: October 1, 2015

 

  Knock, knock 2

  Yesterday, I set up the situation in the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution where Rome and Rei were inside their bedroom, with the door closed no less. They could not have had more privacy if they wanted it. Imagine their surprise when Rome's father came knocking at the door. Here is the second part of that scene:

  “Aiee!,” Rome shouted and rushed forward to hug her father. “What are you doing here?” Rome asked him.

  “I told you,” Fridone said. “Somebody has to watch your son while you fight your fight.”

  “But Beo,” Rome said sadly. “If they find you, they will know what is happening on Deucado. And we cannot take you back now.”

  “They will not find me, little Rome,” Fridone said. He pointed to the invisibility suit. “They will not find me if they cannot see me,” he said smiling.

  “But Aason,” Rome said. “What about him?”

  “MINIMCOM and I had some discussions,” Fridone said. “He assured me that that we can do this with absolutely no danger to myself or Aason. I would not have come along if there was any chance of jeopardizing your mission.”

  There was a clicking sound from with the grille mounted to the left of the doorway.

  “Aason will be fine,” MINIMCOM piped in. “Fridone and Aason can remain aboard me. I will eject your space tug well before their detection range. You will fly to Earth within your craft. With my new invisibility shell, no one will know we are here until we are ready to tell them.”

  Rei looked at Rome. Rome shrugged. Rei set the onyx box back on the dresser as he no longer needed the fearsome weapon.

  “What about all the discomfort you mentioned before? About people traveling in you alone?” Rei directed to MINIMCOM.

  “I will make the necessary adjustments. It will not be a problem,” MINIMCOM replied, ending the subject.

  “OK then,” Rei said. “It sounds like a plan to me.”

  A few days back, I basically told you that Rome's father was sneaking aboard. There was no way he was going to let them go back to Earth and not take him. So now he's here. Now the trio has to come up with Plan B.

  Entry 3-280: October 2, 2015

 

  The Four Musketeers

  At the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution, Rome and Rei had taken it upon themselves to travel back to Earth. Their mission was to find a member of the Vuduri that absolutely, positively, could not be a member of the Onsiras, the evil group dedicated to the extinction of mankind. They wanted to replace free-thinking humans with living robots serving MASAL, the master computer.

  Basically, the couple was going to take on the Overmind and by extension, the entire planet of Earth. Now for some people, this may have been a daunting task but Rome and Rei have never shied away from doing the right thing.

  But with the addition of Rome's father, Fridone, to the mix, they realized that maybe they were better off with the numbers:

  Rei looked at Rome. Rome shrugged. Rei set the onyx box back on the dresser as he no longer needed the fearsome weapon.

 
“What about all the discomfort you mentioned before? About people traveling in you alone?” Rei directed to MINIMCOM.

  “I will make the necessary adjustments. It will not be a problem,” MINIMCOM replied, ending the subject.

  “OK then,” Rei said. “It sounds like a plan to me.”

  “And to me as well,” Rome replied, stroking Aason gently on his head.

  “That makes three of us,” Fridone said in Vuduri.

  “Me four,” answered Aason as well, broadcasting to his mother using PPT modulation, to his father using their normal electromagnetic band and to Fridone, compliments of MINIMCOM who relayed Aason’s transmission and played it through his grille. Somehow, MINIMCOM made Aason’s tiny voice sound like it suited his tiny body.

  The group laughed. At least they did until the smiles ebbed from their faces, knowing what lie ahead.

  This sets up one of my most favorite scenes, the reunion between Fridone and Binoda after being apart for ten years. And puts Aason in the position of single-handedly saving the Earth, right when it was needed.

  Entry 3-281: October 3, 2015

 

  Three chairs

  Take something as mundane as a chair. We use it to sit down. It is much more enjoyable to partake in a meal sitting down than standing up. In the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution, Rome's father, Fridone, integrated him into the stealth force heading back to the Earth. Since it was going to be an eight day trip, they decided to build a chair for him so they could all sit together for meals. It seems so innocent:

  Even though it was only an eight day trip, Rei and Rome had to do a little rearranging in the small kitchen to account for their unanticipated passenger. Using the molecular synthesizers, they made an extra chair for Fridone to sit beside the combination carrier/high chair for Aason. Even though he was too young to eat food, Aason had already made it quite clear that he enjoyed being in their company while they ate their meals.

  Fridone and Rome were sitting at the dining table, finishing their dinner. They were approximately one light year away from Earth, roughly one day out from the release point that MINIMCOM had determined was far enough away to avoid detection but near enough to minimize the time that Rei and Rome had to travel in the substantially slower space tug.

  However, that third chair, that most simple object, turned out to be the one clue that got Rome and Rei kidnapped, tortured and nearly killed. Rome's denial of the purpose of that chair got Estar killed.

  Three chairs instead of two. Who would've thunk it?

  Entry 3-282: October 4, 2015

 

  The Big Lie: Part 1 of 6

  Mark Twain once said, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Reality just is. It doesn't need to be constructed. So people who lie compulsively or even just making up a little white lie have to think of everything whereas people who tell the truth do not.

  Nothing could be more apparent when Rome, Rei and Fridone were trying to construct the perfect cover story at the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution. The following is part one of six showing how hard it is to construct a perfect lie:

  Rei turned to Rome. “It won’t hold up,” Rei answered in English.

  “Vuduri, bir vefir,” Rome replied, pointing to Fridone. “What will not hold up?” she asked in Vuduri.

  “Our plan,” Rei replied. “Our explanation as to what went down on Deucado. It is too complex. Lies are best kept simple.”

  “Which part is too complex?” Rome asked.

  “The whole thing,” Rei replied. Rei started ticking off his points with his fingers. “The way we have it, one, we flew to Deucado. Two, somehow we lost the Ark. Three, we met with some kind Vuduri who nicely escorted us their compound. Four, somehow, they kept the whole conspiracy about the prison world a secret even while they reintegrated you into their samanda. Five, you gave birth and never discovered that anything was off there. Six, they just let us go when we decided to return to Earth. Rome, the pieces do not fit together. In my opinion, it just will not fly. It is too complicated and that is a fundamental flaw.”

  “Cannot it be simply that they did not reintegrate me into their samanda?” Rome asked. “That way, I would not be able to detect their deception.”

  “Can you really pull that off?” Rei asked. “There is no way to detect that?”

  “I do not think so,” Rome said. “Their instruments will detect that my body is emanating PPT modulation but they would not be able to ascertain if it was due to reintegration or some sort of natural recovery. Do not forget, I have my wall.”

  “And you think it will hold up?” Rei asked.

  “It held up against the Overmind of Deucado,” Rome countered.

  “But that was an Overmind made up of maybe one thousand Vuduri. You are going to go up against one made up of half a billion.”

  “Nonetheless, I will be up to the task,” Rome said firmly.

  “OK, I am not going to argue with you about that. But what about Aason?” Rei asked.

  “What about him” Rome asked back.

  “Well, we were going to tell them that you gave birth on Deucado and now we are going to hide him on MINIMCOM? How do we explain that?”

  “We will say that we left him behind,” Rome answered back.

  Tomorrow, part 2.

  Entry 3-283: October 5, 2015

 

  The Big Lie: Part 2 of 6

  Mark Twain once said, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Reality just is. It doesn't need to be constructed. So people who lie compulsively or even just making up a little white lie have to think of everything whereas people who tell the truth do not.

  Nothing could be more apparent when Rome, Rei and Fridone were trying to construct the perfect cover story at the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution. The following is part two of six showing how hard it is to construct a perfect lie:

  “With who? With your father?” Rei asked. “We cannot say that because then we would know about the Ibbrassati and that gives the whole thing away again. So we would have to say we left Aason with somebody else. Rome, no offense intended, but nobody is going to believe that you left your baby behind with a perfect stranger.”

  Rome looked at Fridone then back at Rei. “While I admit that there are some holes in our story, I think we can cover them up long enough to accomplish our goals.”

  “Maybe you can,” Rei said. “But I am not such a good liar. I will mess up somehow. My parents taught me always to tell the truth.”

  “You lied convincingly to the Vuduri on Deucado regarding your Ark,” Rome pointed out.

  “No, I did not,” Rei said. “As you will recall, nobody thought enough of me to ever ask me. They thought they were all so clever by reintegrating you and then probing your mind. Nobody ever asked me.”

  “Yes, you are correct,” Rome said. “This is typical of the Vuduri. Given a problem, once they arrive at a solution, it would never occur to them to try a different approach.”

  “Yes,” Rei said. “And look where it got them.”

  Rome nodded. “All right then. If you do not think our story will work, do you have a better suggestion?”

  “I think I do,” Rei said. He walked over to Fridone and handed him Aason. “I think I have a way of us not having to explain what happened on Deucado at all.”

  “How is that?” Rome asked.

  “I think I have a way for us to make it seem like we never even got there,” Rei replied.

  “But we did get there. I am not understanding you,” Rome said.

  “You will,” Rei said, sitting down. “Here…”

  He swept all the dishes and silverware on the table off to the side. Then he started rearranging the plates and flatware that were sitting there one at a time.

  “Let us say that this plate is Tabit,” Rei said. He picked up a small plate and placed it at one end of the table.

  “All right,” Rome said. “Go on.”

  Tomorrow
, part 3.

  Entry 3-284: October 6, 2015

 

  The Big Lie: Part 3 of 6

  Mark Twain once said, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Reality just is. It doesn't need to be constructed. So people who lie compulsively or even just making up a little white lie have to think of everything whereas people who tell the truth do not.

  Nothing could be more apparent when Rome, Rei and Fridone were trying to construct the perfect cover story at the beginning of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution. The following is part three of six showing how hard it is to construct a perfect lie:

  “OK. Our story starts there. The Stareater, the whole thing. We leave that part alone. So now we are traveling toward Deucado. Say that MINIMCOM and our flying house towed the Ark a little past the star, Keid.” With that, Rei put another plate to the right of the first one and laid a fork between the two plates. “That fork is our trajectory. MINIMCOM,” Rei called out. “How long did that take?”

  MINIMCOM replied, “Roughly seven months.”

  “All right,” Rei said. “At that point, let us say you were already three months pregnant.”

  “I was,” Rome said with a smile on her face. “Remember, I was there.”

  “Sure, sure,” Rei said. “So this is where we change what happened. Let us say that at that point, you and I decided we wanted the baby to be born on Earth. We would let MINIMCOM tow the Ark the rest of the way to Deucado by himself.” He pushed another plate, slightly off from a straight line near the plate representing Keid. He took another fork and placed it to show the route taken by MINIMCOM and the Ark.

  “So you and I never arrived at Deucado?” asked Rome.

  “Exactly,” Rei said. “That way there is no issue regarding our interaction with the Vuduri. There is nothing to explain because it never happened. We would not know about the Ibbrassati or anything that was going there.”