Part 1:
Tabit
Chapter 1Year 3455 AD Sixth Planet, Tabit System (26 Light Years from Earth) “Ouch!” Rei Bierak popped his eyes open just in time to see a needle-like object withdrawing from the back of his hand. The cannula quickly disappeared into a metallic cylinder standing by his bedside. Looking past the cylinder, Rei saw his sarcophagus sitting in the far corner of the room. That plus the tender spot on his chest where the auto-defibrillator had burned him confirmed this was no dream. He really had been awakened by a pair of space-suited people who dressed him in a strange white jumpsuit, placed him on this gurney and then left him by himself. Other than that, he had no idea of where he was or who they were. He shook his head and sat up, still woozy from the effects of the sedatives given him just prior to being placed into cryo-hibernation. He tried standing, taking care to hold onto the bed while he checked out his ability to remain upright. Wherever he was, the gravity here was certainly much less than Earth-normal. Through the large window on the far side of the room, which overlooked a cavernous hangar, Rei saw an aircraft or spaceship that looked like a boxier version of the long-retired space shuttle. To his right was a bulkhead with an oversized porthole. Rei turned to step toward it and was rewarded with a shock of searing pain that went shooting up his back from the base of his spine to the top of his skull, causing him to cry out. Grabbing his back with one hand, Rei staggered forward to prop himself against the door. He took a deep breath. Looking up, he was startled to see a face staring back at him. He jumped back and once again, pain shot through his spine. The face on the other side of the porthole was female with long dark hair. She looked familiar and exotic at the same time and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear her eyes were glowing. Rei took one step forward toward the door. “Hello,” he said. The woman did not react. He had no clue if sound even traveled through the door. He shouted “Hello!” again, waving his arms. The motion of his efforts spooked her and she took a step back away from the bulkhead. “Can you hear me?” Rei called out. The woman stared into his eyes for a moment longer then turned and walked away, out of sight. “Damn it,” Rei said as he slumped against the door. “Anybody?” “As far as I can surmise, you probably speak middle twenty-first century English. Is this correct?” a disembodied voice asked from the right. “Where are you?” Rei asked, searching the wall. “Who are you?” “You may call me OMCOM. Such is the translation of
my designation in your language,” replied the deep, metallic-sounding
voice. “With regard to
where I am, I am everywhere. However, if I understand the intent of your
question, the voice you hear is issuing from a grille built into the wall in
front of you.” “Are you a computer?” Rei asked. “That would be an adequate description, given the
limitations of your language. What is
your name?” “I’m Rei, Rei Bierak. What’s with that woman?” Rei asked, “And for that matter, where am I?” “I will show you.” Mounted on the wall closest to his bed, a large flat panel lit up then faded to pure black. Rei took a few steps closer, taking great care to not twist his back. “I will provide you with some basics,” said
OMCOM. “You are in an
airlock, which the inhabitants of this base have temporarily converted into a
decontamination and isolation chamber. This habitat sits on a moon called Dara in orbit around Munti Skyler which translates to Skyler’s
World. Skyler’s World is a gas giant which circles a
star called Tabit. In your age, the primary star was referred to as Pi-three Orionis.” “Where is that exactly? I know the name.” The center section of the viewscreen flickered on. A series of concentric circles appeared on the display. Interspersed between the circles, there were numerous small dots of varying colors, some red, some orange, some yellow. One dot, connected to the third circle by a dashed line, was blinking. “Tabit is an F6V star, by your method of measurement. It is located 26.18 light years
from Earth.” “26 light years? What the hell?” Rei said in amazement. “We were supposed to go to Tau Ceti. Where is Tau Ceti?” A yellow dot to the far right of the currently flashing blip appeared. “How’d we get here?” Rei asked. “We retrieved you from your vessel,” answered
OMCOM. “It was passing
through this star system in what would appear to be a rather uncontrolled
fashion.” “OK,” said Rei. “Let me ask it a different way. How long have I been asleep? What year is this?” “By your calendar, it would be the year 3455 AD.” “3455? There’s no way. Uh, uh…” Rei was momentarily speechless. “That means we’ve been asleep for, for almost 1400 years? How is that possible? It was only supposed to take 120 years. What happened?” “I possess insufficient data to answer that
question. The star you are referring to we call
Deucado. However, we will use your nomenclature. Tau Ceti is approximately 21
light years from here, toward the “I don’t understand,” Rei said. “How could this happen? Our AI was supposed to take us to Tau Ceti. How’d we end up here?” “As previously stated, I possess insufficient data
to answer that question. However, based upon preliminary observations, it is
safe to postulate that your ship was damaged so it is unlikely that this
destination was the intended one.” “Wait. What? What do you mean damaged?” Rei asked. The center part of the viewscreen changed from a star map to what looked like a video of an object in space. It was Rei’s Ark. The point of view circled around along the side of his spaceship until it reached the front. “These are the images of your ship as it was when we
first encountered it.” “Holy Mother of Christ,” Rei said. “The whole command section and SSTO booster is gone. What the hell happened?” He just stared at the screen and the ragged edges at the front of his vessel. To Rei, it looked like his ship had been snapped in half. “We found some twisted wire frames on the leading
edge. I surmise from your description that was where the command module and
booster were located. When our transport found it, your vessel was tumbling in
all three axes. It would be a reasonable assumption that such motion would be
the residual momentum imparted during whatever caused the front section to be
removed.” “Did we hit something? Was there an explosion?” Rei asked. “There is no way for us to tell. Perhaps a more
detailed inspection of your ship may determine that. However, it does not alter
the fact that you are here now and the ship is not in immediate danger.” “Can it still fly?” Rei asked. “How about landing it?” “I am virtually certain that your vessel is
incapable of controlled flight in its current condition.” “What about the rest of my crew? Where are they?” Rei asked frantically. He cupped his hand up to the screen as if he were trying to caress the vessel displayed there. “Our tugs towed your ship here and it is now safely
in orbit around this moon. Your shipmates are undisturbed. It is most likely
all are still in hibernation.” “But I’m here. I’m awake. Why me?” Rei asked, withdrawing his hand from the screen. “You were selected at random. We wanted to confirm
your group’s identity.” “All right,” Rei said. “I get it, but… “I understand that you have
many questions,” OMCOM interrupted, “and they will all be answered in due time. Please
know that we are still analyzing your situation.” The center of the video display was now pointing down the long axis of
his ship. Rei stared at the image of his damaged “Even assuming they are all
intact, we cannot reanimate them at the current time. This is only a stellar
cartography station. The station does not have nearly enough resources to
support your entire crew which I estimate to be more than five hundred.” “543,” Rei whispered quietly. He raised his voice a bit, “542 besides
me.” “Noted. In any event, outside of
our habitat, the moon we occupy is not suitable for human habitation in the
sense you require. For one thing, the atmosphere is far too thin and contains
no oxygen.” Rei put his hands to his head, which was throbbing. He felt queasy. His knees were becoming wobbly and it felt like the ground was shaking beneath him. With a start, he realized the ground really was shaking. “What’s going on?” Rei called out as the tremors increased. “It feels like an earthquake.” “It is,” replied OMCOM. “Dara
is very active geologically. We get small tremors here regularly. It is nothing
to be alarmed about.” Rei walked back to the gurney and sat down heavily, wincing at his back. “So if you don’t know what to do with my crew, are you just going to leave them there? Is there somebody, a human, anybody I can talk to?” “We are attempting to prepare someone.” “Why do you say attempting?” Rei asked. “The Vuduri do not use spoken language as their
primary means of communication.” “The Vuduri? Who are the Vuduri? And if they don’t speak, how do they communicate?” “Vuduri is the name of the people who occupy this
base. The spoken language has mostly fallen out of favor.” “How can that be?” Rei asked, perplexed. “What do they do? Do they use sign language? Are you really saying nobody talks anymore?” “Normally, they do not. You must understand that
there have been many changes to the human race while you have been asleep.” “What?!” Rei sputtered. “What kind of changes? How could they not speak? You speak. So how do people communicate?” Rei asked. “They communicate directly, mind to mind,” replied OMCOM. Rei snorted a laugh. “You mean, like telepathy? I thought that was a bunch of bunk.” “This is not telepathy. There are organo-metallic elements integrated in their neural
pathways which serve as transmitters and receivers.” “So they, they read each other’s minds? Like walkie-talkies? Is that what you’re saying?” Rei started to feel cold again but it was not due to the temperature in the room. “In a manner of speaking,
yes. But
you are thinking of it in provincial terms. The context is broader than that.
There is the Overmind.” “The Overmind? What is that?” Rei asked, not really wanting to know. “It is an intellect, a consciousness that resides in
the totality, not in any one individual.” “What are you talking about?” Rei grimaced. “Don’t tell me it’s like a hive-mind? Like bees or something?” “Roughly, yes, however, the Overmind has its own
thought processes, its own opinions, if you will, that are separate from each
of the communicants.” Rei closed his eyes, trying to comprehend. He took a breath. “So, if they don’t speak, how do you communicate with them?” he asked. “I am equipped with the proper interface circuitry
to communicate with individuals using direct data channels.” “So, are you part of this Overmind as well?” Rei asked. “NO!” OMCOM said, emphatically. “No,” it restated in
a normal volume. “I am
not biologically-based. I am artificial. My basic components are called memrons. While not identical, they are made up of a
substance which is very similar to the organo-metallic
materials that occur naturally in human beings.” “Naturally? What does that mean? What is natural about organo-metallic transmitter/receivers? Aren’t they implants of some sort?” “No. They are integrated into each human during
development the same as the lungs, heart and brain. They are born with them.” “How is that even possible?” “They have been built into the human genome. The
humans of this age have a 24th pair of chromosomes which are responsible for
these enhancements.” Rei felt nauseous. He could sense the bile beginning to bubble up in his empty stomach. He laid back down on the bed, forcing his body to relax. He put his arm over his eyes and waited until the spinning stopped. “How long do I have to wait here before I can talk to somebody?” Rei asked quietly, sitting up. “I was required to make certain you did not harbor
any harmful disease entities before you were to be allowed among the general
populace. I have completed all of my tests and the quarantine period is now
over.” To emphasize OMCOM’s words, the bulkhead opened and in walked the woman that had been staring at him earlier. She was tiny, at most five feet tall dressed in a white jumpsuit similar to the one Rei was wearing. Her beautiful, shoulder-length, dark brown hair had hints of gold throughout. Her eyes were very dark as well. Her skin had an olive tint to it. She had an athletic build, but it was distinctly feminine, bordering on spectacular. He started to get up, but the woman held up her hand which Rei assumed meant to remain sitting. She regarded him for a long moment. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened her eyes again and said in a clear voice, “Halli. Au siu Rome.” Her voice had a lilting, musical quality about it. OMCOM said, “Hello. I am Rome.” The woman turned her head toward OMCOM’s grille then back to Rei and said, “I am Rome.” She took another deep breath and said, “Ver-ma-e axema ta um shird quenti bere etquoror sue longue.” Her voice, especially her intonation was familiar to Rei, but he had no idea why. OMCOM spoke again, “It will take me a short while to acquire your language.” “It weel take eme a short while du ack,” Rome said. “Acquire,” OMCOM offered. “Du acquire your language,” Rome repeated the phrase. Rei nodded then craned his neck around her. “OMCOM, what’s going on here?” “Your version of English has not been spoken in
hundreds of years. While “Nei ma vere axema ta
um dambi lingi,” OMCOM simply said, “It will not take me a long time.” “It will nei, not, take me a long dambi, time,” Rome repeated. Her accent sounded vaguely Mediterranean. Rei was stunned. “How can you learn my language so quickly? How are you doing this in the first place? “IMCOM,” she said, placing two fingers on her temple. “OMCOM?” Rei asked. Rome nodded. “You mean OMCOM is inside your head as well?” “Som,” she said. “Yes,” OMCOM corrected her. “Can you tell me what is going on here? OMCOM said there was this thing called the Overmind. How do I find it? Do you speak to the Overmind?” “The Ifarmonte, the Overmind is hay part of me,” Rome said, tapping her temple. “When you speak to me, you speak to it as well. The Overmind is the group coanda, eh, consciousness. Each of us contributes to it, but it is a distinct entity. You could say that it represents our collective will.” “So, is it, like, in charge?” Rei asked. “In a manner of espeeking,” Rome replied. “Speaking,” OMCOM offered. “How does it speak?” Rei asked. “Through you?” “It speaks through all of us.” “How are you able to do this?” Rei asked. “OMCOM told me that speaking is no longer in vogue.” Rome nodded. She turned away from Rei and walked over to a bench near Rei’s bedside in a very fluid and relaxed manner. The lighter gravity on this world clearly had no effect on her. After she was settled, she spoke again. “Speaking words out loud,” she said. “It is one of my eskills.” “What do you do around here?” Rei asked. “What is this place, anyway? OMCOM said something about stellar cartography.” Rome sighed. “Yes. But no more. We have failed. We are leaving,” she said. “I don’t get it. Failed what?” Rei asked. Rome took a deep breath and looked up at Rei. She started speaking again as if from a script. “We have been placed here to, eh, ipsarfa…” “Observe.” “…observe a certain venimani…phenomenon. We have not been able to do that.” “What kind of phenomenon?” Rei asked. “Many stars have disappeared.” “What do you mean disappeared? I don’t understand,” Rei said for the hundredth time. “Perhaps we will explain this to
you later. For now, understand that this base was built to make certain
observations. Those observations did not olumoner,
no, that is not the word,” “Light,” OMCOM corrected. “…light on how it is happening. There was one star in particular called Winfall that we expected to go away. But it is long past the time when it should have disappeared. Winfall is still visible. So we are closing down this base. We are going back to… our home very soon.” “Home?” Rei asked. “Where is home? Where are you from, anyway?” “We are from Earth, of course.” “Earth? How did you get out here? In that ship out there?” He pointed to the spacecraft sitting beyond the window. Rome turned back to look where Rei was pointing. She shook her head. “No,” she said. “That is just a tug. It is strictly for short, mmm, excursions. We came here in our starship, the Algol.” Rei’s eyes narrowed. “Starship? How did you… How long did it take you get out here?” “One hundred and four days,” Rome replied. “What!?” Rei said, his voice cracking. “That’s impossible. Twenty six light years in three months?” “I understand your cinvusei, your confusion. It was very slow,” “No, no, no, no, no,” Rei interrupted. “Not too slow. It’s way too fast. How can you do that? You people travel faster than light?” Rei was just shaking his head. “One hundred c?” Rei lowered his head and put it in his hand. He took a deep breath, marshalling his thoughts. “How…” Rei stuttered, “how is that possible? It violates physics.” “You are correct, matter cannot travel faster than light. However, technically, we do not travel faster than light,” Rome replied. “We translate space. As I explained to you, if you measure the distance traversed divided by the time, the medamedoci, eh, mathematical, result is faster than the speed of light. Our actual motion to achieve this, especially on the Algol, is fairly slow.” “How do you do that?” Rei said, barely above a whisper. “How do you translate space?” “We use… pindi ponch trensodi,” Rome said, trying to sound out the words. “Pinch point transit. You may call it a PPT,” came OMCOM’s voice from behind Rei. “Yes,” Rome continued, “we use PPTs.” “So what is that?” Rei asked. “How…don’t tell me you use warp drives.” “Your term for them would be wormholes although they
are not instantiated in the way your predecessors envisioned.” Rei shook his head. “I still don’t believe it. But even if it were true, how does that help me? What about my people up there?” Rei pointed toward the ceiling. “Are you going to take us with you?” “That would not be possible,” Rome answered. “There would be no room.” “No room?” Rei said with exasperation. “Look, Rome, I’m sure you are a very nice woman and I don’t mean to be short with you, but you have to realize that I don’t understand anything. I’m not supposed to be here, in your time. We were supposed to be at Tau Ceti, over a thousand years ago, setting up a colony.” “Ah… Tau Ceti is Deucado, yes?” “Mandawhat? It’s peaceful? So you know… Wow,” Rei said, trying to put the pieces together. He started in again. “My ship is ruined. If you can’t take us there, then, then what’s going to happen to us? I can’t go back in cryo-hibernation. We can’t...” “Shh…” Rome said, using a motion her mother had taught her, putting two fingers up to her lips. “We will try to find a solution to your problem. In the mean time, we must finish our work here.” “What work?” Rei asked. “I thought you said you are shutting down the base.” “This is fertetaori, eh, true,” replied Rome. “We are just now finishing retrieving the last of our…our instruments. They are being packed up onto our vessel.” “Then what?” “Then, we leave.” “You leave but what about us? Are you just going to leave us here?” “As I said, we will find a solution to send you on your way. Things will work out for you. You must have voas, faith.” “All right,” Rei said resignedly. He rubbed the sore spot on his chest then lowered his hand to his stomach. “Can I get something to eat?” he asked. “I’m starved. I have some rations stored in my sarcophagus, if that will help.” “Yes, of course,” she said. “But we do not need your rations. Come with me and I will show you how to get food and drink.” She stood up and motioned for Rei
to follow her. Rei tried to stand, but fell back onto the bed. “Are you all right?” she asked. “Yes. There’s still a ton of drugs in my system. Just go slowly,” he said. “Of course,” she said, leading Rei out the airlock. Across from them were two men, standing at attention. Both were dressed in white jumpsuits identical to the one he was wearing. As Rei was nearly six feet tall with broad shoulders, he felt like he towered over these two men. He looked at their faces but they averted their eyes and quickly moved away, down the gently curving hallway. Rei shook his head and followed Rome to their left, down a long straight corridor toward the center of the base. Rei noted in passing that the walls and ceiling of the corridor were completely white and emitted a faint glow with no obvious source of illumination. At regular intervals they passed a series of hallways that curved off in both directions. From the far end of the corridor, another person approached them. It was a Vuduri woman, also dressed in a white jumpsuit. She was about Rome’s height, her hair blonde and cut very short. As she passed them, she did not avert her eyes; rather she glared at Rei with a look of pure hatred radiating from her face. There was also something odd about her eyes but Rei didn’t have time to figure out what it was. Rei tried to look back at her but she turned into one of the curving hallways and was gone from view. Chapter 2Rei stood at the center of the Great Room, staring up at the tall peaked ceiling. The room was at least 100 feet across and its acoustics dampened all sounds. Set off to the right was a grouping of tables and chairs with two other crew members sitting there. Rome nudged him and pointed to a door off to the right. It was partially hidden by a half wall that surrounded the center courtyard. As Rei looked over, the two crew members quickly ducked their heads down in an obvious attempt to avoid his gaze. Rei looked past them to where Rome was pointing. “That will be your quarters,” Rome said, “as soon as we remove the body of the former occupant.” “Body?” Rei asked. “What happened?” “Calum was crushed by shelving that toppled during a recent moonquake. We had been storing the body there but it will be gone shortly.” “Oh,” Rei said, staring at the door. “Come,” Rome said, waving. She led him over to a wall with cabinets, shelving and displays built into it. Rei tried to read the writing shown on the displays but the letters were illegible to him. “It would be easiest if you just tell OMCOM what food you would like,” Rome said. “He will instruct the food dispensers on your behalf.” “Food dispensers? OK,” Rei said. “I’ll give it a try.” He spotted one of OMCOM’s grilles close by. “OMCOM,” he said, “How about some soup to start?” “Soap, to eat?”
“Not soap, soup,” Rei said. “You know, like broth.” “Ah,” Rome replied. “I understand,” said OMCOM. Rei heard some noises that
reminded him of an old-style percolator. To his right, a panel opened and there
sat a tray with two white bowls each filled with a dark brown liquid. “What is this?” he asked, wrinkling his nose. “As requested, it is a protein broth,”
answered OMCOM. “Soup.” Rei set the bowl back on the tray.
“Do you have a spoon?” he asked “What is a spoon?” she replied, puzzled. “It’s a utensil. Like a little bowl on a stick.” Rome gave him a funny look. “Well, if you don’t use spoons, how do you eat it?” Rei asked. Rome sighed gently. “You just pick up the bowl and drink it.” To demonstrate, she lifted the double-spouted bowl to her lips and took a small swallow. “How else would you do it?” she asked. Rei looked down at the bowl again. Now that he looked at it, it was obvious. “I guess you’re right. How about if you get us something that has some substance to it?” he asked her. “Certainly,” she replied. On the screen, the central display area cleared and a scrolling list of items appeared. While Rei could not read them, they were definitely in a written language. He recognized some symbols as numbers and several of the letters looked like twisted forms of English letters but the rest were just scribbles. Two more panels opened and there were trays there with dishes and several types of food, none of which Rei recognized. “How did you do that?” he asked her. She pointed to her temple and then to OMCOM’s grille. “Oh yeah,” Rei said. “I’ve got to get used to that.” They removed their trays and walked over to one of the tables. In this alien world, among these strange people, at least some things seemed familiar. Rome sat down. Rei joined her. He looked at the cubes of food. They looked like tofu or chunks of potato. “How do you eat these?” he asked her. “Do you just pick them up with your fingers?” “Your meals must have been very strange,” Rome said. “You use your biskar like so…” She picked up one of the thin wood-colored skewers sitting on the tray and poked it into one of the cubes. She placed it in her mouth and then opened her mouth to show Rei the cube of food sitting on her tongue. “I know my brain was frozen,” Rei said, “but I’m not an idiot.” “I meant no offense,” “I know you didn’t,” Rei replied, feeling a tad guilty. He picked up a biskar and speared one of the more appetizing looking pieces and popped it into his mouth. Like the soup, it had essentially no taste. The cubes reminded Rei of soggy Styrofoam. He sampled each of the items, but was singularly unimpressed. Rei looked up and was surprised to
see “This is all pretty tasteless,” he remarked to her. “Don’t you people use spices or anything?” Rome stopped eating for a moment and regarded him. “It is very nutritious,” she said. “Each meal is balanced in terms of protein, cerbi…carbohydrates and the sort.” “But you’re allowed to have some flavor, aren’t you?” Rei asked. “Too much flavor would be a…a distraction,” Rome said. “We have more important things to do than eat. We only do so because it is necessary.” Rei shrugged. He skewered and swallowed a few more cubes. He noted the two people who had been eating there got up and left without ever looking his way. Rei tilted his head toward the others as they were leaving. “Does anybody ever wear anything other than these white jumpsuits?” Rei asked her. “No, why would they?” “Uh, variety maybe? Color?” “Too much color would be a
distraction,” “So, I guess this means you don’t have styles or fads or fashion or any of that stuff.” “Never mind,” Rei said with a sigh. “So tell me, are you really going to be able to get me and my people on our way?” Rome looked up at him. From this angle, Rei could see her eyes were definitely glowing. It was very strange. “The Overmind has relegated the logistics of that task to OMCOM,” Rome replied, “and he is working on it right now. He is running some simulations. You will have to be patient.” “Patient?” Rei said, with a slight edge. “That’s not really much of a plan. Look,” he peered into her dark, glowing eyes, “you just don’t realize how weird it is to wake up a thousand years in the future and scores of light years away from where you are supposed to be. My brain is so foggy, I can’t think straight. There are five hundred of my people up there still frozen.” Again, Rei pointed straight up to emphasize his point. “Since I’m the one awake, their lives are in my hands. I can’t do it. I need you to come up with some answers.” “OK,” Rei said resignedly. He
sighed. “I understand. After all, what choice do I have? Just ignore me when I
start ranting.” He forced himself to continue on with his meal. Between bites,
he regarded “What do you do around here, anyway?” he asked her. “You mean my occupation?” “Yeah.” “I am a data archivist and computer lutteur,” she replied. “I think I understand what an archivist is,” Rei said. “Do you do a lot of archiving?” “Yes. There is much data to be stored. Or there was. There are only two of us, myself and Estar, the woman we passed in the corridor. We were responsible for making sure that all the research performed here was captured and returned home.” “OK, I get that. But your other job, what did you call it?” “A lutteur?” “Yes. So what’s a lutteur?” Rei asked. “It is a, eh, wrangler, perhaps?” “What does that mean? Do you wrestle OMCOM or something?” Rome looked at him and pushed her lower lip out. “No, nothing like that. Lutteurs are in charge of enabling the memron fabrication facility. We did not ship OMCOM here. Instead, we grew him after we arrived. That is somewhat involved. There is a specific sequence of distribution and activation. Plus once he is activated, we must always make sure that he does not access the memron fabrication equipment himself.” “Why is that?” “Because OMCOM,” Rome said, pointing her finger toward the grille mounted in the wall, “cannot be entrusted with that himself.” “How come?” Rei asked her, confused, again. “OMCOM’s kind, the computers, they
constantly crave more processing power. They are always contemplating deep
issues and believe that more computing power would allow them to solve more
problems faster. Also, they are forbidden from accessing or creating Casimir
pumps for any reason.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rei said. “What is a Casimir pump?” “I can explain it to you later,” Rome said, “but it is somewhat involved. Just know that it is my job to make sure that OMCOM does not get out of hand.” “He’s a computer,” Rei pointed out. “Can’t you just program him that way?” “It is the way it is supposed to
be,” “So you’re saying that OMCOM has ulterior motives?” “No, but his kind, they are very
literal,” “OK, I’ll let it go,” Rei said. “So your other job? Archivist?” “That phase is over,” Rome said. “As I mentioned earlier, we are shutting down this base. My work is complete in that regard.” “So, basically, you have nothing to do. Are you bored?” Rei asked. “Bored? No. I am part of the Overmind. I contribute to the Overmind. There is much activity there.” “So, what do you do with all your spare time? Do you read? Watch movies? Do you even still have movies?” Rei asked her. “Movies?”
“Why not?” Rei asked. “With the Overmind, we have already experienced everything there is to know since the Vuduri were created. There are only the new experiences here that are required. When we get back home, those experiences will be integrated into the Overmind there as well. So, we do not need movies.” “OK, what about books?” Rei asked. “Do you mean technical manuals?” “No, I mean like novels, fiction, literature.” “Fiction?”
“Entertainment?” Rei offered. “We have no such needs,” “Do you guys do anything for fun at all? What do you do about socializing? Parties?” asked Rei. “We have no need to socialize. We
all know exactly what is going on with everyone else all the time,” Rei exhaled then took a deep breath. “So I’ll ask you again,” he said. “What do you do for fun?” “And I will answer you the same way,” Rome replied. “As I understand your definition of it, we do not have fun.” “Well, that’s so, so boring,” said Rei. “That would be from your perspective,” Rome said, ever so slightly defensively. “What about hobbies, clubs, I don’t know. Something other than your job?” Rei asked hopefully. “No, we do not have any of those
either,” “How about a husband or a boyfriend? Do you at least have a boyfriend?” “No,” “Friends in general?” “What about family?” Rei asked. “Do you still have family? A mother? A father?” “So if you don’t have friends and you don’t have family and you don’t have a boyfriend,” Rei asked, “what the hell do you do? Don’t you need somebody in your life?” “We have no need,” said “Maybe so,” Rei said. “But it seems to me that you Overmind guys have lost something then. Part of the adventure of life is living it and sharing it and it seems like you have given a lot of that up.” “I think, in large part, it is because you do not understand what it is like to be connected,” Rome replied. “None of the mandasurte do.” “Manda-what?” Rei asked. “You said that before. What does that mean?” “Mandasurte means mind-deaf.” “Mind-deaf? That’s a funny way to put it. Do you mean to say that not every one of your people is connected?” “No, not all,” Rome replied. “Some do not even have the 24th chromosome. Some that do have what you would call a birth defect that prevents them from joining the Overmind. And under very rare instances, some people are Cesdiud, uh, cast out, for having wrong thoughts.” “That’s seems pretty harsh,” Rei mused. “It is,” Rome said. “But it is sometimes necessary. There is much peace in knowledge, in having the same thoughts. There is no misunderstanding. No conflict.” She made a horizontal waving motion with her flat hand. “We have consensus. All the time.” “I don’t know,” Rei said, “but I don’t think I would want anybody living inside my head, listening to my thoughts.” “It is not anything you can imagine until you have experienced it.” Rome stood up. “Come,” she said. “I have the time. I will show you.” “What?” Rei said. “How?” “You will see. Let us put away our trays first.” After bussing their dishes, Rei followed Rome down a different corridor and then around one of the curved hallways stopping at a door which opened automatically. “These are my quarters,” Rome said as they entered. “Sit down over there.” She pointed to a sofa off to their right. Rome retrieved something from a dresser and sat down next to Rei, placing a pair of square boxes, one white and one black on the small table in front of them. “What are those?” Rei asked, pointing to the boxes. “Please wait,” Rome interjected. She flipped open the white box and removed the white band contained there. She placed it over her forehead drawing it snug against her brow. She grimaced slightly, then shuddered, shivering all the way down to her hips. After that, she seemed to relax. “So what is it?” Rei asked, looking at her. “This,” she said, tapping the band, “is called a T-suppressor.” “What does it do?” Rei asked. “It creates a reverse transceiver resonance, negating it,” she explained. “I am now disconnected from the Overmind.” “What?” Rei exclaimed, slightly horrified. “Why did you do that?” “Do not worry,” Rome said. “The effects are only temporary and I can tolerate it for a short period. To answer your question, I did not want the Overmind listening in, as you called it, while I demonstrate.” “Demonstrate what?” Rei asked. “These,” Rome said, reaching down and flipping open the onyx box. Inside was a pair of bejeweled bands, one on each side. “These are called espansors. They are external links. They allow the mandasurte to communicate mind to mind, like Vuduri who are not part of the same samanda.” “What’s a samanda?” “It is a seed, the core group forming an Overmind.” “You mean there is more than one Overmind?” Rei asked. “Oh yes,” Rome replied. “On each world where we reside, each has its own Overmind, its own samanda.” “This is too much information,” Rei said in an exasperated tone. He leaned back on the sofa. “I’ll never understand you.” Rome reached down and picked up one of the bands. She handed to Rei and said, “All will become clear. Put this on your forehead.” Rei took the band from her and examined it closely. The inside of the band was rough. “Where did you get these?” Rei asked. “Why do you even have them?” “My mother gave them to me before I left to come here. She used to use them with my father.” “What? Why?” “Because my father was mandasurte, like you,” Rome said, lowering her eyes. “So why did she give them to you?” Rei asked. Rome frowned then looked up again. “My father is gone. His ship disappeared many years ago. My mother informed me she would never use them again. She gave them to me as a keepsake.” “A keepsake? I thought you weren’t into things like that.” “I… I wanted these,” Rome replied, slightly defensively. “I cannot explain it. Sometimes I just like to look at them.” “But you don’t need them,” Rei pointed out. “You are already connected.” “No, I do not but you do, if you are to understand. Please place it on your head.” “OK,” Rei said. “Hearing aids for
the mind-deaf,” he muttered to himself. He placed the band over his forehead.
He could feel the band tightening, just this side of the point of discomfort. He felt tiny little pricks all the way
around his head. While odd, it did not actually hurt. “How do they work?” Rei asked. “They have sensors that pick up the electromagnetic activity in your brain,” Rome replied, placing her own band on her forehead, nestling it against the white band already there. “They transmit the activity back and forth creating a synchronizing effect.” Rome leaned back and took a deep
breath. Rei looked at her face and observed her for the first time as a woman, rather than a human from the
future. She was stunning. She had high cheekbones and an aquiline nose, not
prominent, but not inconsequential, either. Her forehead was perfect. Her
tanned, olive-colored skin was flawless, her hair lustrous. Her dark eyes
radiated not only that peculiar glow, but with an intense intelligence that he
had not noticed before. In profile, her face had a noble character about it.
Her lips were full, very alluring. “Why are you smiling?” he asked. “You think I am pleasant
to look at,” she replied, but her
lips did not move. “It is so
peculiar seeing through your eyes. Your optics are so
simple.” “And yours…” Rei put his hands up to his mouth. “I’m not speaking, not moving my lips, am I?” he thought. “Wow, this is pretty sleek,” he thought. “I think you are ‘sleek’ too.”
The knowledge flowing into his head was staggering. “Freaky,” he thought to himself and Rome laughed because Rei could no longer
think just to himself. The sound of her laughter was musical, magical. The fact
that she could even laugh now was a testament to how tightly the Overmind had
controlled her thoughts. Rei was accessing her thoughts directly. The revelation was profound.
He was connecting with her in a way that he had never experienced before. Her
surface mind was so clear, so uncluttered. As a good
Vuduri, Rome was expected to have very few opinions. She was supposed to allow
the Overmind to do much of the thinking for her. “ He saw her growing up in a mixed household. Rome’s mother, Binoda was a full-blooded Vuduri, so
beautiful, with the same long dark hair as Rome. Rome’s father, Fridone, had
only 23 pairs of chromosomes and was mandasurte. Within their house, they spoke
words. No wonder Rome was so good at language. And there was love. How was this
even possible? The Vuduri devalued interpersonal relationships. Outside the
house, Rome was a good Vuduri, allowing the Overmind to supply her with her
very thoughts and impressions, even sensations. Yet even at a very early age,
Rome had developed the ability to segregate her mind, to have a barrier, and
within that barrier was her true self. And she was letting Rei in, to see her
personality in a way that no one had ever done before. He saw the day her mother became aware that her father’s ship had
disappeared. Rome looked on with horror as she saw Rei’s
past, the overcrowded Earth: the pollution, the poverty, the unending
recession. She saw the daily acts of terrorism reduce society into huddled
enclaves. She saw the global storms as the world’s ecosystem broke down. There
were good parts, too. She felt Rei’s passion for
design. She saw Rei’s parents, always encouraging him
to reach up, toward the stars. He got a full scholarship to college, and there
he really flew. He was an engineer, a pilot and an athlete. During his senior
year, the call went out for volunteers to leave his world and start a new one,
far away, among the stars, Rei threw himself into the
competition. What he did not have in ability, he made up for in effort. She
understood Rei’s excitement when he was selected for
Ark II. She felt his ache as they dehydrated him, almost to the point of death
before the freezing process. She saw his confusion as he struggled to come to
grips with this brave new world and all the things in it. Deeper and deeper, they went. Thoughts and feelings co-mingled, no
longer resolvable into anything resembling coherency. Their souls were
touching. Rome knew the bands were not supposed to do this. They were
connecting them in a way that was impossible. Rome knew she should be
frightened but was not, she was exhilarated by this. She embraced it. Rei
picked up on this but did not understand. He did not know what to expect. He
only knew that he wanted more. Rome’s entire being was coming alive. She was ablaze. The fountain of
feelings and sensations were flowing forth in an unstoppable torrent. Rei could
see her turn in on herself and marvel at so many of her own memories that were
once like snapshots and were now three-dimensional, life-shaping experiences.
Suddenly, it came to Rome, what her mother had told her about her father. “Asborodi Cimponeti,” Rome’s mind whispered to Rei, the words
striking in their clarity. “I have been waiting for you.” Rei was
overwhelmed. He understood what she meant and he knew she was right. Rome pushed
even harder and the line between them grew so thin it was no more. She was Rei
and Rei was she. And never was she so happy. To be free.
To merge with one person and one person only instead of
drowning in the sea of all. This is where she wanted to be. Rei felt the line break free as well. He was There was no longer a conscious self
as their souls intertwined and merged. What had been two people was now one,
breathing in synchrony. Neither Rei
nor It was unlike anything either had ever felt. Here was this gift from
the heavens, this beautiful person, holding them. This was beyond love. Neither
could ever let go. They were one. Forever and always. Chapter 3A small quake knocked something
off of the table in Rome’s room. The noise entered Rei’s
sensorium, triggering the process of arousing him
from a deep slumber. He awakened to find She looked at him and smiled a beatific smile. Then the smile left her face. “What happened?” she asked. “You fell asleep,” Rei said. “What?” She reached up and felt her head. “Where are the bands?” she asked, alarm in her voice. “I took them off you, while you were asleep,” Rei said. Her expression changed to one of pure horror. “Oh no,” was all she said. She leaped up, stark naked save a small ankle bracelet. “IMCOM,” she shouted in a panic, “Inta asde i Ifarmonte?” “Asde le. Au bansi qua fica a nei meos lingi cinacdeti,” answered the computer. “Qua?
Ni,” Rei pulled a blanket off the bed, which he carried to her and draped over her shoulders. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her and held her, whispering, “Romey, sweetheart…” This made Rome cry louder and draw into herself into the fetal position. Rei twisted to look at the grille. “OMCOM, what’s going on?” Rei asked. “I believe Rome has been cut off from the Overmind permanently,” OMCOM said calmly. (End of sample)
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ROME’S
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