Oronus’s expression tightened.
“They’ll do that, right?” Rei asked sounding earnest. This was his chance to test Oronus’ allegiance.
“Yes, of course,” Oronus said with no hesitation. “It will be taken care of.”
“Good,” Rei replied but he was not convinced. The answer was too ambiguous. If Oronus was one of the regular Vuduri, he would not know about the true purpose of Deucado and would believe his own words. If he were a member of the Onsiras, he would lie about it anyway.
Let's give Rei a gold star for how he has steered his way around having to reveal the whole truth so far. But a lie is a lie. More trouble is looming!
Entry 3-314: November 5, 2015
What's a Stellarator?
As you have read numerous times here, I am all for changing how we produce and consume energy. I proposed limitless, free energy at the core of Vuduri society in Rome's Revolution. I just saw on TV yesterday that some people claim within a single hour, there is enough energy from the Sun bathing the Earth to power the entire planet for a year. Obviously, that is impractical because you'd have to coat the entire surface of the Earth with solar cells. So where would we live?
OK, say you make it practical and only try and capture enough power, each day, to power the world that day, that seems like a more reasonable proposition. In fact, I posted an article about Elon Musk and his PowerWall and showed how a relatively small amount of desert could be used to power the entire US each day.
I also presented a series of articles about hydroelectric power, ocean thermal (OTEC) and other methods of harnessing the Sun. I even presented an article about tokamaks which are big and expensive fusion generators.
Fusion generators are kind of neat because they don't harness the energy of the Sun. They are the power of the Sun. Fusing hydrogen into helium is what makes the Sun so hot and shiny.
Tokamaks aren't the only game in town. There is another kind of fusion generator called a stellarator which is also a fusion generator. They kind of fell out of favor in the 60s because tokamaks are easier to build or at least get working but of the 200 or so that have been built, none have achieved self-sustaining, net-positive energy production.
There was an article published in Science in September describing a stellarator built in Germany called the W7-X, short for Wendelstein 7-X, that could go online before the end of this year. It has been 19 years in the making. If it works, this stellarator can generate net positive energy continuously for 30 minutes and would be the first time that fusion, the power of the Sun, could be used to supply electricity on our Earth. This could be a game-changer.
Hopefully, it will not open a portal to Earth 2 as my brother Bruce suggested.
Entry 3-315: November 6, 2015
Secret Baby Spy
Over the last few days, I've been telling you about Rei's interrogation before the judge named Oronus. After Oronus had extracted all the information he could from Rei, including several trips over The Big Lie, Rei was escorted out to sit in the hallway. I also mentioned to you that they had placed Rome in a T-suppressed Faraday Cage (see the image below) for who knows what sinister reasons? Rei didn't know about the T-suppressors. He wouldn't have access to the gravitic resonance which underlies the Vuduri's mind-to-mind communication. But, he does have a son, his secret baby spy!
“Rome?” Rei called from inside his head. There was no answer.
“Is Rome still in there?” he asked, pointing to the door.
“Som,” replied the soldier. “Eguerta. Wait.”
Rei leaned back against the wall. He closed his eyes and tried another tack. He used his sonar-vision but it gave him no more information about Rome’s condition nor would it if the room they were holding her in was sound-proofed. He opened his eyes. Then it came to him.
“Aason,” he called out using his telephone circuit. “Are you there? Are you close enough to hear me?”
“Yes, Father,” his son replied faintly. “We are in orbit around the Earth. Where is Mother?”
“You can’t reach her either?” Rei asked. “Your connection?”
“No. The connection stopped,” replied the baby. “She told me they were taking her into a room then I heard nothing. I cannot hear any voices, not hers, not anyone’s.”
“Are you OK otherwise?” Rei asked.
“Yes, Father. Grandbeo and I are fine. He awaits word from you but I cannot really explain to him what is happening. Father, what is happening?”
“I am right outside the room where your mother is being held. They are going to let me see her shortly.”
“That is good. Please tell I her I love her and that I miss her.”
“I will,” replied Rei, breaking off the connection. “MINIMCOM, you there?” he asked mentally.
“Yes,” replied the spaceship/computer.
“Can you reach Rome? Why can’t I contact her?”
“No, I cannot contact her,” answered MINIMCOM. “I have created an artificial triangulation receiver but I cannot detect any carrier wave in the vicinity other than yours.”
“I am literally sitting right outside the room where they are holding Rome. What’s up with that?”
“It would appear that room is what you would refer to as a Faraday cage. I presume from Aason’s comments that there is also T-suppression as well.”
“Faraday cage? T-suppressors!” Rei’s expression grew grim. “They are serious about cutting her off.”
Why so serious? I guess I wanted you, the reader, to feel a sense of foreboding but as I have fessed up, this is a major plot hole because the Vuduri on Earth would really have no reason to act this way.
Oh well, more drama! And tomorrow, one of my favorite parts of the whole Rome's Revolution saga.
Entry 3-316: November 7, 2015
My second-most favorite scene
I have lots of favorite scenes in Rome's Revolution but some stand out as my all-time favorites. Oh sure, it was neat to vaporize MASAL under a volcano or climb to the top of The Hand in Rome's Evolution. I love the ramps and guns scenes. But one of the most special scenes, to me at least, was the first time Rei met Rome's mother, Binoda.
He was sitting outside of Rome's interrogation room, minding his own business and he had no reason to expect her. It was really fun watching the gears turn in his mind as he pieced together what he was seeing. Here is that scene:
There was a commotion down the hallway. Rei leaned forward to see three people walking briskly toward him, a woman and two men. Each of the men had a hand on the shoulders of the woman but she marched ahead, oblivious to their attempts at restraint. When they got to Rei, they stopped. The woman looked down at him and smiled. The two men released her shoulders and stepped back.
Rei looked up at her. She seemed very familiar. He racked his brain trying to remember if she was one of the crewmembers on Tabit but no, there was something else. The woman was about a meter and a half tall, standard height for a Vuduri. She had beautiful shoulder length brown hair with strands of gold and grey. She was wearing a regular issue Vuduri white jumpsuit that fit her form perfectly. Rei would have guessed she was in her forties but she looked extremely well preserved. Even though he was hopelessly and completely in love with Rome, Rei found the woman attractive in a way he could not explain. Rei looked into her dark, glowing eyes and found there was something about her demeanor, her bearing, that was almost regal. It gave her an aura of power that Rei could not deny.
Not knowing what else to do, Rei stood up. The woman held out her arms. She reached out and pulled Rei in to hug him, kissing him gently on the cheek. “I am Binoda,” she said.
Rei’s jaw dropped then a great big smile broke out. “Asdiu dei valoz am cinhaca-li,” he said.
“You may speak English to me,” she said. She turned to the other men standing by her.
“Filder ei lergi. Quari brofecoteta,” she said in a commanding voice although it had to be for Rei
’s benefit. The men backed up a little.
“Are you in the Overmind?” Rei asked quietly. “What’s the point of talking in private?”
She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I disconnected from the Overmind the moment your ship landed and I learned where they were taking you and my daughter. I am not connected right now.” She turned and glared at the three men. They took another step backwards.
I thought it was neat that to the extent that he saw Rome within her mother, he was attracted to that part without knowing why. By the way, it has been so many years since I wrote the part of Rome for the actress Kelly Brook, that by the time the movie gets made, she'll be old enough to play Rome's mother. Wouldn't that be a bit of stunt casting!
Entry 3-317: November 8, 2015
IANAL
As everybody knows, that acronym stands for I am not a lawyer. And I never plan to be. Well, that is not 100% true. If tomorrow comes and there is a pill that extends human life span by a factor of five and you have time to learn multiple new professions, then maybe lawyer would be one of them.
I have some sympathy for the profession. The very first lawsuit I was involved with had the other side claiming that a scoreboard my father and I built spontaneously burst into flame. Sadly for them, during the trial, I was able to demonstrate that the flame patterns on the circuit board were bogus because the boards are normally mounted opposite of the way they set them on fire. We won the case.
Another time, I had to sue somebody because they owed me a lot of money and we got to the deposition part. Their lawyer was grilling me about a spreadsheet they had, asking me if it was a copy or an original. I had to call a recess and discuss it with my lawyer because every spreadsheet that comes out of my computer, on a laser printer, is an original. Or is it a copy? Are they all copies? My lawyer finally had it put into the record that it was an original copy. We won the case.
During yet another lawsuit, this one a supposed violation of a non-solicit agreement with a former employer, the other party's lawyer was grilling me and I opened up a phone book (remember those) to demonstrate the point that anybody with fingers and eyes could look me up. She got so agitated she accused me of secretly wanting to be a lawyer. I'm not sure how that was relevant but they dropped the case.
I wanted to wrap up all of these experiences and put them in a courtroom scene in Rome's Revolution so I had to come up with a pretext for a trial. I kind of had one in that Rome was accused of a crime but you know the Vuduri. Because every one of them is mind-connected, they already know if you are guilty or innocent before you are even charged.
That didn't stop me, in the guise of our hero, Rei Bierak. I'll show you how he wangled them into actually giving Rome a fair trial in a couple of days. But no matter how good or bad you think the scene is, remember, I am not a lawyer!
Entry 3-318: November 9, 2015
Silence is not golden
One of the challenges I had with writing Rome's Revolution is that the 23-chromosome mind-connected Vuduri normally do not talk. Why would they?
So a "conversation" between two Vuduri would be rather boring from a stylistic perspective. Just as I had to find ways to get everybody to speak English so that we could follow the dialogue so too, I had to find ways for force the Vuduri to speak even when they normally would not.
Yesterday, I showed you my second-most favorite scene, the one where Rei meets Rome's mother Binoda for the first time. The latter part of that scene demonstrates the issue where normally there would be no words spoken:
“Filder ei lergi. Quari brofecoteta,” she said in a commanding voice although it had to be for Rei’s benefit. The men backed up a little.
“Are you in the Overmind?” Rei asked quietly. “What’s the point of talking in private?”
She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I disconnected from the Overmind the moment your ship landed and I learned where they were taking you and my daughter. I am not connected right now.” She turned and glared at the three men. They took another step backwards. “Sit,” Binoda said to Rei.
Rei sat down and Binoda sat next to him.
“Rome is in that room?” she asked, pointing to the door.
“Yes,” Rei answered. “What are you doing here?” Binoda just stared at him. “I guess that is a stupid question, huh?” Rei offered.
“Wait,” Binoda said. “Quenti a qua bissi fa-le?” she said, turning to Grus.
“Conci monudis,” Grus replied gruffly.
“Very well,” Binoda replied turning back to Rei. “We will be quiet for now.”
“But, but,” Rei said, ineffectively.
“Shh,” Binoda said to him, putting two fingers up to her lips. “There will be time enough for this later. They still have ears. For now, we wait.
You can see that I had Rei serve as the foil for all of us. Binoda's answer made perfect sense but the reality is, I just had her do that to force words to be spoken so we could follow along.
Entry 3-319: November 10, 2015
Was Binoda a model?
There are so many backstories for Rome's Revolution that never made it into the book because there was just no place. I snuck a few in later books, like Rei's last day on Earth became Intermezzo 1 in Rome's Evolution. I squeezed a little bit of Binoda's backstory into The Ark Lords but certainly not the whole thing. I will give you the entire vignette in my compendium of short stories entitled The Vuduri Companion but I haven't actually started the editing process yet.
So here's a synopsis: when Vuduri children are young, they are evaluated according to physical skills and Binoda, Rome's mother, was determined to have excellent speaking skills. Much to her disappointment, she was funneled into the animal husbandry program within the agricultural arm of the Vuduri government because she could speak or shout out to the animals. She did not like this very much but as with all Vuduri, it never occurred to her to protest or follow another path. One day, the Overmind came to her and told her that her assignment was going to be changed. The fact that the Overmind spoke to her directly was rather remarkable.
Anyway, Binoda was a physically stunning woman and one of her major attributes was that she was somewhat bosomy. The Overmind had constructed its Slayer program to flush out the suspected Onsira movment and it needed "good" Vuduri to mate with the most intelligent of the mind-deaf, the mandasurte. The Overmind gave Binoda six months to get her body into perfect physical shape and it created special clothing to accentuate her curves. The idea being that the mandasurte were swayed by such things and Binoda would be able to seduce and mate with Fridone, Rome's father, by attraction and infatuation alone.
After Binoda was ready, she went to Havei to meet Fridone on an ostensible scientific mission. Things went a little south and the end result was that Fridone and Binoda fell in love, not because Binoda's physical attributes, but because they were Asborodi Cimponeti or soul-mates. The fact is, they did produce a child, Rome, and she did go on to slay MASAL beneath the volcano in Havei.
The bottom line is, Binoda was a spectacularly attractive woman and could have been a model if the Vuduri had such things but they don't so she didn't.
Entry 3-320: November 11, 2015
You got what?
Within the world of Rome's Revolution, the Vuduri are the 24-chromosome mind-connected people living in the 35th century. They have eschewed the things we consider part of the joy of life. They do not like music, art or even mingling with other Vuduri. Sexual relations between Vuduri are strictly focused on procreation, not recreation. They never form lasting bonds, parents rarely, if ever, raise their children and the concept of a couple living together is regularly dismissed as silly and inefficient.
The mandasurte, the so-called mind-deaf, are quite the opposite. They typically only have 23 pairs of chromosomes and form communities much like ours. They live, they love and they appreciate all the bounty that life has to offer. They have a ceremony
and couples are bound in a ceremony called Cesa. While it is not exactly the same as marriage, the differences are not even worth highlighting.
The Vuduri find the mandasurte confusing and typically are uncomfortable in their presence. So it is not surprising that one Vuduri would find the fact that another Vuduri would marry a mandasurte disturbing. Here is what the Judge Oronus said upon learning that Rome and Rei are fully committed to spending their lives together:
Inside the court room, Rome sat quietly while Oronus looked at the tablet in front of him. After studying it for a while, he spoke to her for the first time.
“I am Oronus,” he said in Vuduri. “Before we get to your crimes, I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Of course,” Rome replied. She folded her hands in front of her and set them on the table. Her ring sparkled, even in the subdued lighting of the all-white chamber. Oronus noticed it immediately.
“Why are you wearing that, that ring on your finger?” Oronus asked.
“It is called an engagement ring,” Rome replied. “Rei gave it to me as a promise.”
“A promise for what?”
“Cesa,” Rome replied. “He and I desire to be married.”
“Vuduri do not marry,” Oronus said curtly.
“But mandasurte do,” answered Rome. “I was Cesdiud. I am no longer one of you.”
“You appear to be rather proud of that fact,” Oronus observed. “I would think you would be ashamed.”
“I am not,” Rome said. “It has liberated me.”
For reasons which Oronus cannot even articulate, he is already on the defensive. It is time to lurch toward Rome's inevitable trial.
Tales of the Vuduri: Year Three Page 42