Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two

by Michael Brachman

  Entry 2-231: August 14, 2014

 

  Every little detail

  When you write hard science fiction, like Rome's Revolution, to make it right, to keep the reader in the 'fictive dream' you have to get every little detail right. Take Rei's space walk that was detailed in Intermezzo 2 of Rome's Evolution. I had to consider every element of Rei's actions to make sure I didn't say something that the reader would pick up as wrong. I had to make the Ark II out of a magnetic material just so that Rei's magnetic boots would allow him to stroll along its length. I had to make sure that Rei clipped his screwdriver onto his belt with a little cord so that it didn't float off if he dropped it. I had to act out his scene when he bent over to open up the control hatch. I discovered his boots would have broken their connection with hull of the Ark and he would have started floating off. I incorporated that into the narrative and Rei changed his stance. I even gave him a hand-held thruster gun so that he could get places if he was floating in space.

  In the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, when Rei decided to go with MINIMCOM to rescue Captain Keller, I wrote another space walk scene which in the true timeline was actually Rei's second space walk. I had to choreograph Rei's jaunt around the circumference of the Ark II and discovered he had to unhook his tether. I realized it would drift away so I had Rei secure the tether to the hull with a magnetic hammer.

  Sadly, that entire scene got excised when I crushed VIRUS 5 down into a single book. Instead, I jumped the space-walk into the express lane:

  Rome stepped back out of the airlock while Rei engaged his helmet. The door closed and Rome leaned forward to peer at him through the porthole. Rei turned to look at her and had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. Rome put her hand up to the glass and Rei placed his gloved hand next to hers. Rome nodded. Rei turned and pressed the stud to open the outer door. He could feel his suit stiffen as pumps worked to pull the air out of the airlock, leaving the chamber in a near vacuum. The differential indicator turned red and the outer door opened automatically.

  Not even six feet away, MINIMCOM’s tug hovered in place with the side airlock directly across from Rei, the outer door already open. Rei looked back at Rome one more time then took a flying leap and landed inside the other tug with nary a jolt. Rei closed the outer airlock door then quickly made his way to the archway that served as the secondary airlock and entry to the cockpit, closing the door behind him. As soon as the indicator turned green, the door opened and Rei stepped through.

  Oh well, all that other got thrown into the digital trash can. In any event, I hope you, the reader enjoy and can appreciate the attention to detail in scenes where none of us will ever experience. That is, unless Rome's Revolution gets made into a movie!

  Entry 2-232: August 15, 2014

 

  Lucky Number 600

  Today I posted my 600th blog entry! Amazing. You might think that it is exhausting writing all these blog entries but it isn't. It's actually fun. I am just following the basic outline of Rome's Revolution and find inspiration on every page. I've only just started reviewing Part 2 so I have a long way to go before I get to the end.

  As a published author, I'm also hitting some round numbers on book sales, etc. I just made my 500th book sale and if you include Tales of the Vuduri: Year One, I've now "sold" over 1000 books. My total royalties to date are a whopping $700.00. You do realize this means I can retire now! (JK)

  If you do the math, I have only another 165 blog entries and then I will be able to publish Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two. I am about half-way done The Milk Run. After that, I will release the compendium entitled The Vuduri Companion then on to the Vuduri Knights saga.

  I've also begun the process of gearing up to record my novels as audio books. I will be starting in on recording Rome's Revolution as soon as I finish The Milk Run. Very exciting. More on that tomorrow.

  In the mean time, thanks for all your support. I hope you are enjoying this series.

  Mike

  Entry 2-233: August 16, 2014

 

  My recording studio

  A while back, I had this idea for converting Rome's Revolution into an audio book. I found a professional recording studio in Cherry Hill and a voice artist and the estimate was for around $5000 to create the first book. I don't have that kind of spare cash so I started an Indiegogo campaign to raise the necessary funds.

  The campaign was either an abysmal failure or amazing success depending upon how you look at it. I made about $700 in fund-raising. Obviously, this was woefully short of the $5000 I needed to pay the voice artist and studio to record so I had to come up with a Plan B. While considering the alternatives, I had an epiphany. If I invested in the necessary equipment and software, I could record Rome's Revolution myself! Not only that, I could do The Ark Lords and Rome's Evolution as well for no additional fees! So the first thing I did with the money was to purchase a Blue Microphones Yeti microphone. It is huge. You can click on the picture to see a larger image:

  I then had to build a "studio" but didn't really have the funds or space to dedicate an entire room to record. So I did the reverse. I put the microphone in its own studio which filters out much of the ambient noise. I made it out of a simple Styrofoam cooler:

  Next I would need recording software. My brother Bruce suggested the program Audacity which is awesome and even better, free! It not only records and lets you edit but it also can create sound effects like a robot voice for OMCOM and MINIMCOM.

  A few test recordings showed that the microphone is so sensitive, it picks up moving air and even the fan of my computer so I bought some acoustic foam tiles which I pack around the computer when I am recording.

  Finally, after I have dampened and suppressed all the noise I can, Audacity lets you record "silence" and then electronically, it will subtract out what it hears creating an audio track that sounds like it was recorded in a fully sound-proof booth.

  Audio books, here I come!

  Entry 2-234: August 17, 2014

 

  Rome cracks a joke

  Right at the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, just before they entered orbit around Deucado, tensions were running high because of the unknown number of elements. Rome was unsure of how the Vuduri on the planet were going to receive them. She was also unsure of how they were going to land Rei's crippled Ark. To give her credit though, she decided to kid Rei just a little to ease things a bit. The conversation went like this:

  “A boy!” Rei exclaimed. “I’m going to have a son? Wow. Oh Rome, what did I ever do to deserve you?”

  “I do not know but I must have done the same thing,” Rome said with love in her voice. “We were just meant to be together.”

  “Yes, together. Now more than ever,” Rei said excitedly.

  “Yes, it makes me very happy,” Rome said, patting her abdomen. “I want to be with you in every way possible for now and forever.”

  “Maybe not forever but for a long, long time. Come to think of it, I don’t even know how long the Vuduri live. In fact, Rome, I don’t even know how old you are, exactly. So…how old are you, anyway?” Rei asked.

  “I am 65. Why do you ask?” Rome inquired.

  “What?” Rei said, shocked. “No way! I’ve been in your mind. You’re not that old. Really. How old are you?”

  Rome smiled broadly. “I am kidding you. I am 45.”

  “What?” Rei said. “Please, come on. How old are you?”

  “I am 35,” Rome said with a straight face.

  “All right, that I believe,” Rei replied, equally straight-faced.

  “Rei!” Rome shouted. “I am 25 years old. How dare you? Do I really look that old?”

  “No you don’t,” Rei said. “You look 25. I just figured I’d kid you back.”

  “Tell me really,” Rome said. “I am serious. How old do I look?”

  “You look 25. You act 25,” Rei held his hand up. “I believe you are 25. You are gorgeous, sweetheart. Don’t worry
about it.”

  Rome cocked her head at him. Then she let her features relax.

  “Very well. I thought that wearing my hair in, what did you call it? A ponytail? Perhaps it made me look older.”

  “No!” Rei said. “You look as sweet and juicy as the day I met you. Better, in fact. Come on,” he said, unbuckling and standing up. “Let’s get you into a pressure suit.”

  I thought Rome's attempt to kid Rei got him pretty good. But then I wrote the scene. What do you think?

  Entry 2-235: August 18, 2014

 

  Handwaving

  When I was writing what is now Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, I knew that I wanted the VIRUS units to get loose inside of MINIMCOM's space tug so they could both consume him and also transform him into an intelligent starship. But I didn't really have a way of getting the VIRUS units over there. So I made up what I considered to be a flimsy excuse for the transfer. This is how it went down in both the original long-form and the modern version:

  Original long-form:

  They left the command compartment and entered the foyer of the side airlock, directly across from the gym.

  “Hold on,” Rei said, pointing to the bench. “Wait here.”

  “Where are you going?” Rome asked.

  “Since I’m going over to MINIMCOM, I want to take the VIRUS units over there,” Rei said. “I’d much rather have them sitting on him than our tug. I just never had a chance to take them over before.”

  “I understand,” said Rome. “I think it is a good idea as well.”

  Rei left her only a moment while he retrieved the case containing the nanobots. He moved past Rome to set it down in the airlock then returned to the dressing area. Rome remained seated while Rei wriggled out of his jumpsuit which he set down on the bench. After he pulled his spacesuit from the storage locker, Rome stood up to assist him.

  At last, he was ready with everything but the helmet. He bent forward and puckered his lips. Rome kissed him but it was perfunctory. Rei picked up on this right away. In fact, it was hard not to notice.

  “It’ll be all right, sweetheart. I’ll be fine,” he said.

  “I know. It is just that this will be the first time we will be apart since we came onboard this ship.”

  Modern version:

  Rei hopped up to aid Rome out of her seat. They made their way to the side airlock, where Rome helped Rei get into his pressure suit. He pulled the hand thruster down from the shelf and clipped it to his belt. Looking down, he saw the case containing the VIRUS units and picked it up and secured it to his belt as well.

  “Why are you taking that?” Rome asked.

  “It always gave me the willies to keep those things here,” Rei said. “I’m going to take them over and leave them aboard MINIMCOM. I just never had a chance before.”

  “I understand,” Rome said. “I think that is a good idea as well.”

  Rei picked up his helmet. He leaned forward and puckered his lips. Rome kissed him but it was perfunctory.

  “What?” he asked, peering into Rome’s eyes, glowing with the light reflecting off of her tapetum. Tears were streaming down both cheeks now.

  “Rei,” Rome said. “I am afraid. You will be leaving me alone.”

  You can see in both versions, the idea of Rei transporting the case containing the VIRUS units over to MINIMCOM really doesn't make any sense but I got you involved with Rome tearing up because she was going to be alone for the first time in her life. A little bit of hand-waving was required so that MINIMCOM could evolve to the next level. I hope it slipped by.

  Entry 2-236: August 19, 2014

 

  Foreshadowing

  I had a lot of fun writing Rome's Revolution. A lot of times I would stick stuff in there just to amuse myself. Take this next little scene from the original long-form version. It was just before Rome and Rei arrived at Deucado. Rome is thinking back to her former life as a member of the Vuduri and she notices something odd:

  “You’ve been telling me that there is a large mandasurte community on Deucado. Do you think they live together with the Vuduri or separate like on the Earth?” Rei asked.

  “As far as I know, they mostly live apart,” Rome replied. “At least that is what I would expect. Perhaps they even live on different continents. There is not much interaction as far as I can tell. It is curious, though.”

  “Curious why?” Rei asked.

  “During our trip here, many times I have examined the records concerning Deucado,” Rome replied. “Other than a brief textual description of the geography, climate and indigenous life, there is not very much to go on, compared to the normal fastidiousness that the Vuduri apply to such things.”

  “So why is that curious?” Rei asked.

  “You will recall that before I understood the concept of beauty, I only had impressions from my connection with the Overmind, never integrated or examined,” answered Rome. “After I became Cesdiud, I recollected those impressions. I came to believe that the consensus was that it is quite beautiful there on Deucado. Once we got aboard this ship, I began to reexamine those assumptions and tried to correlate those impressions with the actual data. And therein lies the problem.”

  “What problem,” Rei asked. “What’d you find out?”

  “As it turns out, there are no factual records, no images whatsoever,” Rome said, pointedly. “In fact, if you only go by the formal records we carry, there is essentially no information to be had at all. That I can recall facts and images is entirely puzzling. There is no correspondence to this in the archives.”

  “I assume that your people have been back and forth, right?” Rei asked. “I mean Tau Ceti is not even 12 light years from Earth.”

  “This is correct. That is what I would have expected and yet there is no basis for this assumption. It is very strange,” Rome said. “I had not noticed this before and when I was part of the Overmind, it would never have occurred to me to ask about it.”

  “Well, I’m sure that there is nothing sinister going on,” Rei remarked. “It’s far away. So, one thing we’ll do…we’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and find a way to get them to Earth, OK?”

  The phrase in bold was put in there just to amuse myself. It was a little bit of foreshadowing because of course there was something sinister going on. MASAL was hard at work isolating the mandasurte on Deucado so that when the asteroid hit, the whole sub-species would be wiped out.

  Entry 2-237: August 20, 2014

 

  Deciding to have a baby

  In a previous post, I discussed how Rome got pregnant. But this begs the larger question, how does any Vuduri woman get pregnant? Or more pointedly, who decides when? In the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, Rome and Rei have a brief discussion about this just before they arrive at Deucado:

  Rei looked at Rome, his beautiful Rome, sitting there, as pregnant as a person could be without bursting. He loved her more than life itself.

  Rei took a deep breath. “Rome?” Rei asked.

  “Yes, mau emir?” she said.

  “I know about you and me,” he said, pointing to her stomach. “But I’m curious. How is it that the Vuduri come to have children? How do they decide when it is time?”

  “The Overmind decides when and with whom. It is all planned out for us,” Rome replied.

  “So what about sex?” Rei asked.

  “What about it?” she answered back. “I like it but now is not the right time,” she said, winking at him.

  “Ha, ha,” Rei said. “That isn’t what I mean. Seriously. Do the Vuduri, regular Vuduri, like, ever do it just for fun? Do they even enjoy it?”

  Rome smiled at him. “You already know the answer to that. The Vuduri only have sex to procreate, never to recreate.”

  “Well, what about just being close? Human contact and all?” Rei asked.

  “They would not want that. They are already connected to the Overmind. They already have whatever closeness they can accrue fr
om that connection, never the physical,” Rome replied.

  “Well, at least they’d have to do it a couple of times, right? To get a woman pregnant?” Rei asked hopefully.

  “Absolutely not,” Rome said. “You have studied our physiology. With the aid of the Overmind, Vuduri women can control exactly when they ovulate so it would only be just the one time.”

  “No,” Rei said, disappointed. “Just once? There’s no fun in that. Couldn’t they…what about all the benefits of sex? Men and women, everybody has needs. You mean they never, you know, take care of themselves?” Rei was trying to be delicate.

  “No. When it comes to sex, Vuduri women only serve as receptacles for men and only for the purpose of procreation when it is ordained. That is it.”

  “So how did you…how did you develop the, the, capacity?” Rei asked. “I guess what I am asking is how did you figure out what to do?”

  “Because, mau emir, I am no longer connected.” Rome’s expression changed to one of extreme tenderness. She raised her voice slightly. “Now I am mandasurte. I feel what I feel and it is all mine. No one to share. And I love you. That is something a normal Vuduri could not say. You and I, we do not have sex, we make love. That is the difference.”

  “That we do, honey,” Rei said. “And I do love you. I don’t even remember what life was like without you.”

  Vuduri: definitely not romantic. Rome and Rei: quite the opposite. Nice, huh?

  Entry 2-238: August 21, 2014

 

  All that and now this

  Rome's Revolution was my first science fiction novel. As such, it wasn't my best work. Hopefully, I am improving as a writer. One of the big criticisms I received consistently when the novel was the three-part VIRUS 5 was that my heroes, Rome and Rei, got out of scrapes too easily. They were never really challenged. Said one reviewer: