Tales of the Vuduri_Year Five

by Michael Brachman

  “I will tell you what to say,” Rome said mentally, “Just follow my lead. Tell me you are afraid of running into the planet. Make it convincing.”

  “What is the problem, Junior?” she asked out loud.

  “I am afraid of running into Deucado,” Junior replied through the grille mounted in the front of the control panel. Just the right amount of fear seeped into his voice.

  “When I ask the next question, just answer luck.”

  “How were you able to get to Earth then? Weren’t you afraid of running into that planet?”

  “It was luck,” Junior replied. “I took a good guess.”

  “Do you see how to play this game now?” Rome asked.

  “Yes,” Junior replied.

  “Would you feel more comfortable using a regular PPT tunnel then?” Rome asked out loud in a soothing tone.

  “I would,” replied Junior. “Except I have never done it before.”

  “Tell them you need me to pilot.”

  “Auntie Rome, can you pilot me in?” asked Junior.

  “Of course,” Rome said, patting the grille. Rome turned to Keller. “Is this acceptable to you?”

  “I don’t care,” said Keller. “Just do it.”

  The point here is that Keller and his cronies can't know that Rome is coaching Junior. They have no choice but to believe the baby spaceship really doesn't know what he is doing. After all, he is the very first of his kind. Tomorrow, we'll see how Rome exploits this deceit.

  Entry 5-060: March 1, 2017

  The Game, part 2

  Yesterday, we saw Rome instruct Junior, the baby starship, in the art of deceit in order to gain a tactical advantage over Captain Keller and the other would-be Ark Lords. She needs the time to figure out how to rescue Aason and Binoda who have been kidnapped by the Darwin people. Everything she is doing is calculated to produce a certain effect.

  Today Rome elaborates on the ruse to create a convincing case for manual intervention. She exploits Keller's impatience as much as she does his ignorance:

  “Very well,” Rome said, leaning over and looking at the center viewscreen. “Junior, enable manual control.”

  “Enabled, Auntie Rome.”

  “OK then,” Rome said. “I am going to spin you around and use your thrusters as braking rockets. Watch how I do it.”

  “OK.”

  Rome twisted the joystick which fired the trimjets, spinning the starship around its center axis. When she was satisfied they were exactly 180 degrees opposite their forward vector, she depressed the mechanical button to enable the plasma jets and pushed forward on the throttle. She watched the center display intently as it showed their forward speed decreasing until it achieved a velocity of zero relative to the nearest gravitational point of reference.

  “Very good,” she said. She twisted the joystick around again until they were facing forward. Deucado was a tiny blue star glowing in the sky to the left of Tau Ceti. Grentadar was nowhere to be seen. Rome assumed it was on the far side of the sun. Rome twisted the joystick slightly counterclockwise then quickly halted their motion. Deucado was now dead ahead.

  “OK, Junior,” Rome said. “I’m going to active the PPT generators. When the tunnel is large enough, I’ll use the plasma jets to push us through.”

  “I understand the theory,” replied the spaceship. “I have just never done it before.”

  “It isn’t hard,” Rome said. She bent forward and checked the yellow dial mounted on the front of the armrest to confirm that the calibration triangle was upright. Satisfied, she mashed in the center button as hard as she could to make sure the PPT tunnel went deep.

  Too deep as it turns out. Rome has situation all set up. She has turned to game to her advantage. Tomorrow you will see what she does with this advantage.

  Entry 5-061: March 2, 2017

  The Game, part 3

  Two days ago, we saw Rome instruct Junior, the baby starship, in the art of deceit in order to gain a tactical advantage over Captain Keller and the other would-be Ark Lords. She needs the time to figure out how to rescue Aason and Binoda who have been kidnapped by the Darwin people. Today she executes the final element in her elaborate yet necessary plan to fool Keller:

  A whining sound erupted from the back of the ship as the PPT generators came on line. In front of them, a large black circle appeared, obscuring both Deucado and Tau Ceti and letting the star field behind it shine through. When Rome was certain the tunnel was wide enough, she released the button and activated the plasma thrusters. Keller was shoved back into his chair. Ionelli nearly fell over, grabbing the back of Rome’s seat just in time.

  The little starship entered the tunnel and as soon as it was through, Rome released the plasma jets.

  “How did we do?” Rome asked.

  “We went too far,” Junior whined. “I’m sorry.”

  “What?” shouted Keller. “How far?”

  Rome looked over the front display. “Oh dear,” she said. “We overshot by several light minutes.”

  “Hell,” said Keller, slamming his armrest.

  “Junior, have your PPT generators ever been calibrated?” Rome asked innocently.

  “No, Auntie Rome,” replied the spaceship. “That was something that Dad and I were going to do in a few weeks.” There was a little catch to his voice.

  “All right, then, dear,” Rome said. She turned to Keller. “I think you are better off using plasma thrusters for the final leg. It would seem to be the safest.”

  “How long will that take?” Keller asked.

  “Just a few hours,” Rome said. “I can lay in a course, set the thrusters on auto and we’ll be there soon enough.”

  “OK, do it,” Keller said grumpily.

  Rome’s hands flew over the console. When she was satisfied that all was in the ready, she pressed the icon to engage and the plasma thrusters kicked in.

  “There,” Rome said. “All set.”

  “Get her out of here,” Keller said to Ionelli. “Bring her back when I tell you.”

  Rome has him all set up. She has turned to game to her advantage. As it turns out, she needs to be in normal space to reach out to her son. That was the whole reason behind this elaborate charade. Tomorrow, Rome makes contact with Aason.

  Entry 5-062: March 3, 2017

  The tiny voice

  Yesterday, we saw Rome execute an elaborate ruse to force Captain Keller to allow them to remain in normal space. He has no idea she was coaching Junior the whole way and he has no idea of the range of the Vuduri PPT transducers. It is time for Rome to call out to her son:

  “Aason, can you hear me?” Rome called out using her PPT transceivers.

  “Mommy!” came her son’s tiny, frightened voice. “Where are you?’

  “Your father and I are on our way back in Junior,” she said. “Are you and Grandmea all right?”

  “Yes,” Aason said. “But it’s cold in here.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I don’t know, Mommy. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too, Aason. Help me find you. Tell me what you see. Are you in a building?”

  “No. We are in a cave. A big cave,” Aason said.

  “A cave…” Rome shivered thinking about it. “Where is Grandmea? Is she with you?”

  “No,” replied Aason. “They are holding her over there.”

  Rome could not help but smile. “I cannot see where you are pointing,” she said. “Where is over there?”

  “There is another cave off to the side. That’s where they are keeping her. I’m out here on the floor.”

  “Very good. How many men are there?”

  “There are two with Grandmea. And there is one here with me.”

  “All right. Aason, you know what a weapon is, right?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “Do the men have weapons?”

  “I think so. They have long sticks with handles that they carry around all the time.”

  Rome’s eyes widened. “Are they po
inting them at you?” she asked anxiously.

  “No,” Aason replied. “And all they gave me to play with are some rocks,” he said petulantly.

  Rome breathed a sigh of relief. “Where are their weapons?”

  “The man near me has his sitting on his lap. I think he’s asleep.”

  “What about the other two? The ones near Grandmea?”

  “Their sticks are resting against the wall. The men are sitting and talking.”

  “All right, Aason. Mommy and Daddy are on our way. We’ll be there soon.”

  “Hurry, Mommy, I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “We’re coming as fast as we can. I’ll check back with you in a little while.”

  “OK, Mommy.”

  Even though I created him, I love little Aason. Despite the fact that he speaks like an adult, to the point where you forget he is only two years old, he is still a child. In the middle of this life-threatening situation, he is complaining that all he has to play with are some rocks. What a kid!

  Entry 5-063: March 4, 2017

  Triangulation

  Yesterday, we saw that Rome was able to contact her son, Aason. To her relief, both he and Rome's mother Binoda was safe for the time being and were hidden in a cave somewhere. But where? Rome need to figure out where Aason was located because he could not tell her. The Overmind of Deucado comes to the rescue:

  “So that is the situation,” Rome said. “Can you still find connections using triangulation like you did when you were still seizing babies?”

  “Yes,” replied the Overmind. “Please have Aason open his mind so that we can track him.”

  “Very well,” Rome said. “Aason, can you hear me?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “You remember the Overmind.”

  “Yes but I don’t like him very much,” Aason said. “He was mean to you.”

  “You know he isn’t like that anymore,” Rome answered. “He is going to help us find you. I want you to open up your mind and let him in for a bit. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, Mommy,” Aason replied, reluctantly.

  “Thank you,” the Overmind replied. “Hello, Aason.”

  “Hello,” Aason answered glumly.

  “It will be fine. This is so you will be safe. I will only need a moment.”

  Rome wriggled around in her seat impatiently, waiting while the Overmind performed its magic. Rei scanned the men opposite of them to see if any of them noticed anything unusual. Some of them were watching them but without a keen interest.

  Finally, the Overmind responded. “Not quite there,” it replied. “I need three points of reference. I have used the Vuduri in Vuduri City as one. I used the Vuduri in New Ark City as the second. But I need a third. Aason is closer to New Ark City that much I can tell. But he could be to the north or south, I cannot deduce which. I cannot find any Vuduri far enough on either side to finish the search.”

  “What are we going to do?” Rome asked with just a tinge of fear in her mental voice. “Can you send someone in a flyer?”

  “I could do that but I may not need to,” the Overmind replied. “Will you be able to control the reentry to the planet?”

  “Yes,” Rome said. “They are expecting me to pilot the ship in.”

  “Excellent. Then instead of reentry parallel to the equator, use a polar route. As you circle around the planet, I will use you as the third point of reference. We should be able to pinpoint his location fairly quickly.”

  Rome breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said. “I will let you know as soon as I begin reentry.”

  OK. All the pieces are in place. Now we just need to pull the trigger.

  Entry 5-064: March 5, 2017

  Going south

  Yesterday, we saw that the Overmind of Deucado was able to find Aason but only along a line of longitude. They still needed latitude to home in on his actual position. The plan was for Rome to talk Keller into allowing her to take a polar route for landing. This would allow the Overmind to use her connection to identify Aason's exact position.

  “Where are we going?” Rome asked innocently. “New Ark City?”

  “No,” snarled Keller. “Our destination is 100 kilometers due west of there. I’ll show you when we get close.”

  Rome nodded her head at him then looked back at the panel. She twisted the joystick and the ship rolled over until Deucado was upside down.

  “What are you doing?” Keller asked.

  “Preparing the ship for aero-braking,” Rome said. “A polar re-entry is more efficient than an equatorial one from this vector. I assume that’s what you want. Am I correct?”

  “Whatever,” said Keller. “Just make sure you know what you are doing.”

  Rome disengaged the thruster lock and pulsed the plasma jets on and off. She kept the nose of the ship tipped upward so that they pointed directly at the south pole of the planet. As they circled around the dark side, she rotated the craft about the midline. She fired the plasma thrusters in retro mode to slow their forward velocity. Once she was satisfied with the decrease in speed, she rotated the ship so that they were facing forward again. The little starship began to reenter the atmosphere around the isthmus that connected the continent of Sul to Toraode, the northern of the two eastern continents. Just as Junior’s nose started heating up, Rome flipped the small rocker, switching Junior’s controls from space-side to atmospheric mode and applied the EG lifters to push against the gravitational field. The ship headed upward again, almost to the point of a stall then headed back down again. She executed another dip and swoop upward but this time they did not gain nearly as much altitude.

  By the time they crossed the north pole of Deucado, shimmering with the green and red of a spectacular Aurora Borealis, they were fully within the atmosphere. Rome pulled up a map of Asquarti, the western continent and placed a virtual pushpin to the west of New Ark City as Keller had indicated.

  Rome needs her full attention to finalize the position so it is time for another ruse. Boy, that Keller is gullible. You'll see tomorrow.

  Entry 5-065: March 6, 2017

  The Charlie Horse Gambit, part 1

  Yesterday, we saw Rome set up Captain Keller so that he would allow her to fly a circumpolar route along the line of longitude where the Overmind determined Aason was being held captive. As they are coming south from the North Pole, Rome needs to create yet another ruse so that she can use her mind to finalize the triangulation:

  “Rei,” Rome called out. “Be ready to come up to the cockpit. I need to work with the Overmind and they think someone needs to pilot the ship.”

  “Whatever you say,” Rei answered.

  As soon as they crossed over the Arctic Circle into the continent proper, Rome yelled out loud, “Ow!”

  She unclasped her belt and threw herself on the ground, grabbing the back of her leg and howling in agony. “Ow, ow, ow,” she said.

  Ionelli raced over to her. “What’s the matter,” he asked.

  “Cramp,” she moaned, “ow, ow.” She grimaced. “Quick,” she said, “get Rei. Ow, he can pilot the rest of the ow, ow.” Rome thrashed around on the floor convincingly.

  “Bierak,” Ionelli shouted out, “Get up here.”

  Rei came racing through the cockpit arch. Upon seeing Rome writhing around in pain, he shoved Ionelli out of the way and knelt down by his wife. “Romey, what’s the matter?” he asked.

  “Cramp,” she moaned. “You know.”

  “Straighten your leg out,” Rei said. “And point your toes forward. That always helps you.”

  “I’ll be alright,” Rome gasped. “Pilot the ship. I put a marker on our destination. I just need to let the muscle stop spasming.”

  “Are you sure?” Rei asked, feigning concern.

  “Yes,” Rome replied.

  Rei stood up and walked around to the pilot’s seat. He sat down and buckled himself in. He grasped the joysticks firmly and banked gently to the right. The central display showed him the prop
er vector. This part was easy.

  Rome was rubbing the back of her thigh with her hand, trying to knead the muscles to calm her fake Charlie horse.

  “Aason?” she asked.

  “Yes, Mommy?”

  “Overmind?”

  “I am on it,” the entity answered.

  OK. The pieces are in place. Now it is up to the Overmind to identify Aason's exact location.

  Entry 5-066: March 7, 2017

  The Charlie Horse Gambit, part 2

  Yesterday, Rome threw herself on the floor, faking a Charlie horse, so that she could concentrate on Aason's PPT signal thus allowing the Overmind of Deucado to triangulate the boy's exact position. Lying on the floor, none of the regular Essessoni had a clue what she was doing:

  “Overmind?” Rome asked.

  “I am on it,” the entity answered. After a moment, it replied, “Your Erklirte are not very imaginative. Aason is located within the caves your father’s people used during their secret resistance phase. I believe they called it The Cathedral. Do you want me to send some troops to rescue them?”

  “Not yet,” Rome replied. “They are not in immediate danger and I must see what Captain Keller intends. Just be ready. If I need you to infiltrate the cave, I will let you know.”