Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two

by Michael Brachman

  On the planet Hades, it is very cold so most of the revived colonists huddled in the crew compartment until their arrival. A team returned back to the cargo compartment with a handful of power rods and began unloading equipment. I’m sure that advanced group went to their lockers and got their coats first, before even unloading one item.

  The first pieces of equipment unloaded were the transports which, as mentioned above, were “inflated” when activated by the power rods. These were flat bed trucks good for hauling the rest of the equipment.

  Here the sequence of unloading deviates a little bit. In Rome's Revolution, Captain Keller and his Darwin brethren were going to go to war so they chose to unload the weapons first. In the case of Ark IV, they were more practical because there was no one attacking them (yet!). They used the transports to return to the crew compartment and retrieve the rest of the colonists and ferry them to the cargo compartment to help with the unloading process.

  The first thing the Ark IV unloaded were the insulated tents, another round of rations, water and thin polymer sacks. The sacks would be filled with leaves (or whatever passed for leaves on that world), humus, detritus, anything to form a kind of mattress. The colonists would set up a tent city in the shadow of the spacecraft as a base of operations.

  Once that was done, one transport was dispatched back to the crew compartment to retrieve the remainder of the power rods. The rest would begin scouting operations to find a more permanent place for the settlement, candidates for farmland, woods if possible and so on. Yet another contingent would be sent out to find a sustainable source of fresh water.

  By the end of the first week, if all went according to plan, they would already have plowed some ground, planted some seeds, set up the animal incubators and placed some thawed embryos in them. The rest of the crew either begin harvesting materials to build more permanent quarters or, an alternative, begin clearing out a section of woods to build cabins and such.

  That takes care of shelter. Tomorrow: food.

  Entry 2-133: May 8, 2014

 

  Secrets of the Lost Ark - Part 4

  Yesterday, we saw how the colonists addressed the issue of shelter. Food is more of a logistical issue. The mission planners only packed enough food to last the colonists one year. The mission planners packed the cargo compartment with a huge variety of seeds. Many of the seeds were fast growing hybrids. It was also assumed that every planet that could sustain life would have available sources of vegetable matter and protein. The protein could come in the form of fish, animals or whatever.

  The thinking was if the colonists could not gear up and start producing their own food or find it within the first year, they probably weren’t going to survive anyway. Anything beyond that would be to just prolong the inevitable.

  If things went well, the colonists would have a crude village, food and water and they would begin survey operations for a more permanent settlement. The homes built here would made of metal and wood (if available) by mining ore or cannibalizing the spacecraft. You will recall from The Ark Lords that the Arks were built of two thirds pig iron and one third martensite. The cargo craft also carried smelters for refining the ore or recasting the pig iron.

  The martensite, if needed, would be used as is. It could be carved into useful pieces by the laser pulse rifles although the cargo compartment did carry a wide variety of more traditional tools to be used as needed.

  After the village was built, the colonists would break up into three groups. There were the miners who, in reality, were the Darwin contingent although nobody knew it. Their goal was long term but the plan was to build up the numbers of people and technology so that they could one day return to the Earth.

  The second group were the farmers. They would spread out as wide as possible and use another section of the seeds and embryos to create farms. If the planet had edible plants or herd animals, they would incorporate these into their repertoire.

  The final section was the “ordinary” folk who went on scouting missions, hunting and gathering, prepared schools for the children who would be coming. Generally, they were tasked with creating a new civilization. Everybody had their role, a place to live and a source of food. They figured out art, music, entertainment, alcohol, interest groups. Think of their goal as building, some day, a landed cruise ship, with all the modern amenities.

  It takes many, many years and many generations but this is how you build a world. Let the colonization begin!

  Entry 2-134: May 9, 2014

 

  The War with the K’val - Part 1

  In the upcoming novel, The Milk Run, you will find that the passengers aboard the Ark IV followed the colonization plan nearly perfectly for the first few years. On the planet Hades, in the Nu2 Lupi system, while it was cold, they made do and things went fairly smoothly for a brief time. However, that all went to hell in their third year when the K'val arrived.

  By the time the inhabitants of Hades encountered the plant people known as the K’val, the colonists were already in the second stage of development. First contact was not expected and the colonists assumed the best of the aliens. However, there was nothing benevolent about the K'val's mission. Without ever saying a word, they abducted one of the colonists and disappeared.

  Nobody knew what to make of it. The people from Earth converted some of the levels to laser pulse rifles and stood guard but it was a year before the K’val returned. This time, the humans were ready. They threatened the K’val but the K’val did not understand. They went to abduct another colonist and the armed colonists opened fire. Their pulse laser rifles just went through the bodies of the K’val and seemingly, they didn’t even notice. The aliens unleashed a "pain" weapon that caused any that were struck with excruciating, agonizing pain that lasted for months. Another person was taken.

  The colonists decided to employ a much more aggressive plan. They moved deeper into the woods, spreading out. The only people exposed would be the farmers. Each block of farmers were assigned a protector armed with the particle beam cannons, mounted on the transports, similar to what we saw in Jack Henry's story in The Ark Lords.

  Sure enough, one year later, the K’val returned but this time the colonists were prepared for all out war. They deployed the cannons and wiped out the K’val ship and all its occupants. This was the only year that a human was not taken. They didn't even have time to take out their pain weapon.

  The following year, a group of K’val vessels landed far beyond the confines of the settlement and approached using a flanking maneuver. There weren’t enough of the mobile cannons to stop them all and the K’val deployed their pain weapon and successfully abducted another colonist. The colonists were able to destroy one of the K'val's ships but that was all. The rest left.

  Tomorrow, the turning point of the "war" with the K'val. And it isn't good.

  Entry 2-135: May 10, 2014

 

  The War with the K’val - Part 2

  Yesterday, I told you about the human's first encounters with the plant people known as the K'val on the planet Hades. Whatever victories they achieved, they were short-lived.

  The following year, the K’val returned with many, many vessels and vastly more powerful armaments. The colonists had set up a defensive perimeter using the cargo compartment as a barricade but to no avail. The K’val were relentless. They used the "pain" weapon relentlessly. They also used an energy weapon built with unknown technology and then went on a hunting mission. They did not stop until they destroyed all of the particle beam cannons and transports. Many colonists died or were left writhing in pain for months. The K’val abducted one colonist and left.

  The following year was one of desperation. The colonists knew roughly when the K’val were returning and where they would be landing. One volunteer stood guard by the cargo compartment, armed only with a mini-nuke. When the K’val did return, they found the single human and assumed this was to be their “volunteer.” The man set off the mini-nuke, destroy
ing the cargo compartment. He sacrificed himself and took out one of their ships but not all of them.

  The K’val were so angry, they swept through the village, dropping everyone they saw with horrible pain. They used detectors and did not stop until they were able to find and remove ALL of the mini-nukes. It might have seemed like spite but they also killed a large number of colonists including some children. Only then did they leave, taking one of the colonists with them.

  The following year, when the K'val returned, they stormed the village and made a gesture which meant give us one of yours, holding the pain weapon in the ready. When the colonists refused, the K’val unleashed the pain weapon and killed more members of the settlement. Finally, one of the settlers crawled up them and volunteered to go with the aliens. At that point, they left.

  That was the end of the settlement. The only thing remaining was a small group of people. The rest spread farther and farther away, becoming reclusive and self-reliant. While they could not stop the K’val, it certainly didn’t help things that they were all bunched together.

  Tomorrow, the abductions becomes "civilized" as sad as that is.

  Entry 2-136: May 11, 2014

 

  The War with the K’val - Part 3

  Yesterday, I described the turning point in the war with the K'val. The human settlers on Hades knew they were overmatched. The pattern was set. The K’val would return once a year and enter the village which became known cynically as Pax and demanded one colonist. Each year, one of the colonists volunteered rather than have the humans subjected to the unrelenting pain.

  As long as they gave up one of their own, there was no more bloodshed or torture. Once the humans accepted their fate, the K’val changed their procedures slightly and turned the exchange into a ceremony. Each year, when the K’val returned, they also returned with the body of the person taken the year before. The body did not look human. It looked like one of the colonists who had died along the long journey to Nu2 Lupi. The bodies were basically mummified. Perhaps it was because the K’val wanted to keep the colonists afraid or perhaps the aliens just didn’t want the bodies around. Or maybe they thought it was a gesture of peace. Nobody knew.

  The K’val also started giving the colonists food, seeds and so on during the exchange. They would dump the body on the ground, place cartons of foodstuffs next to it and make their peculiar gesture meaning send someone with us. The colonists got to be pragmatic about it. Until they were able to build up arms sufficient to fend off the K’val, it was “cheaper” to just give up one person. Babies were made at a faster rate than people were taken so slowly but surely their numbers started to swell.

  The Darwin contingent, decimated by the first “war” began building a secret arms factory. Their mission superseded cooperating in the strange peace arrangement that had been established. They were able to work with some success the first year. They were able to build up even more weapons the second year. But the third year, somehow, the K’val knew of this secret base. Before the exchange ceremony, the aliens went directly to Darwin Base and wiped out the entire contingent, killing everyone involved and they leveled the factories. This effectively ended the Darwin initiative on Nu2 Lupi. It also permanently implanted a pacifist streak in the people who lived on the planet now known as Hades which was the Greek word for Hell. One person a year didn’t seem like much of price to pay for peace and prosperity for the rest.

  When Aason Bierak arrived, 60 years later, this was the colonist's lives. They built, they worked, they farmed, they made babies and every year, they gave up one of their own to the strange aliens from another world. Because there were still one or two of the original colonists left (well into their 90s), Aason was able to get a first hand recounting of how the humans in the Nu2 Lupi system came to live this bizarre lifestyle.

  (Author's note: this back story may change some when I render it into The Milk Run but at least you get the idea.)

  Entry 2-137: May 12, 2014

 

  500 – What’s wrong with me?

  I am over 500 entries into this blog. I am pleased to say that after those first three "hiccups" early on, I have not missed an entry since February 13, 2013 - well over a year. So what's the deal? Why is there so much to talk about?

  The answer is the world of Rome's Revolution and the 35th century. To the extent that this world is "real" then there is literally an infinite amount of things to talk about. Other planets, other cultures, other creatures. Plus the future history leading up to it. I mean just look at an American history book. Look how thick it is. And this is just things that have happened in the past, not the present.

  You will notice a strong drift over the next few months as I work out the details for The Milk Run. For example, tomorrow's article is about why all aliens must look like us. The following day will about the shape of trees. These are just some of the things I have to think about in constructing a realistic novel.

  I think of myself as a storyteller. The sites and sounds are so clear in my head but when I put them down on paper (actually type them into the computer), I often neglect details because I am so anxious to get to the action.

  My brother Bruce is always asking me, what clothes are they wearing? What do the cane-trees look like? Things like that. So in The Milk Run, I am going to pay extra special attention to the people, clothes, ecology, shapes, smells and so on. I want you, the reader, to see and experience things as clearly as I can.

  So in summary, what's wrong with me? How can I write 500 blog posts and not even have scratched the surface? It's because I am a professional liar and the stories come from my imagination and to my knowledge that means there are no limits.

  Entry 2-138: May 13, 2014

 

  Why all aliens must look like us

  Even though I have written about silicon-based life, when I think about so-called aliens, life-forms from another planet, I really mean the classic little green men. The only aliens we encountered in Rome's Revolution were the Stareaters. We came across a few more in The Ark Lords which were the 'falling blankets' and swishies. Of course we found in Rome's Evolution that the 'falling blankets' were part of an intelligent eco-system but they weren't ambulatory, sentient beings in traditional sense.

  So let's restrict our definition of aliens to creatures about our size, roughly, who are autonomous (hive-minds allowed: yes, the Overmind) and intelligent and who have developed technology. In other words, potential rivals. It is my contention that they all will look like us, a la Star Trek.

  Why? Because of convergent evolution. If you are going to develop technology, you need hand analogs. Which means a portion of you has to be upright and another set of limbs or tractors or tentacles would be reserved for moving, i.e. legs. So how many legs do you need? Four seems reasonable. Like a Centaur.

  But four is actually too many. You don't need them. All you need is a powerful gluteus maximus (butt) to stand up straight and two legs suffice. Why have to eat and support four legs metabolically if they are not necessary?

  So already, we're halfway there. We have a bipedal, upright alien with arms and presumably fingers (maybe even an opposable thumb). But what about the head? Well, dealing with the world is all about sensing things. Why put your sense organs on your feet? Wouldn't you want them as high up as possible? So you extend the torso and place the sensing devices on top of a stalk, which we would call a neck. You need to detect sensory data from a variety of energy sources. Electromagnetic (eyes), sound waves (ears), chemical molecules (nose, mouth) and so on. You need to collect the data. You may as well put the collection and decision making organ (the brain) as close to the sensory apparatus as possible to reduce reaction time and increase survival.

  So there you have it. An upright, bipedal organism with a head, eyes, ears, nose and mouth on top, arms and fingers and standing on two legs. How much closer do you want? You'll see that the K'val, the plant people of The Milk Run, have evolved using a similar plan.

 
Entry 2-139: May 14, 2014

 

  The shape of trees

  Why are trees shaped the way they are? Why are leaves the shape they are? As you know, there are deciduous trees, like a maple tree and coniferous trees, like a pine tree. Their shapes and leaves are so different. Isn't their job just to sit there and collect sunlight and grow? In fact, why be a tree at all? Why not just stay a bush? In the rain forest, it was an easy decision:

  There is so much sunlight, you only need a portion of your being to collect light. But there are so many competitors that you need to grow a trunk and get high and pretty soon you have a canopy. You don't have to worry about loss of moisture so your leaves can be big or small but they can stay thin. The trees are called deciduous but they remain green all year round because they can.

  Maple trees have a different problem. They have winter to deal with.

  When the weather is warm, there is plenty of sunshine and moisture so their leaves are large and broad. Other maple trees keep their distance. So they grow big and tall and bushy but when the winter comes, the leaves become a liability so off they go. And I have to rake them up!

  Farther north, the trees have a different problem. It's cold and dry and there isn't as much light, ever.