It was this experience that made Rome commit to the equivalent to “stop and smell the visual roses.”
I, for one, am very proud of her for her commitment to growing and learning and appreciating all that nature has provided. Even though I created the character, Rome has never failed to impress and inspire me with her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth throughout the series. You go, Rome!
Entry 4-206: July 20, 2016
Slippery when wet, part 1 of 3
Nobody wants to think of their parents as having sex yet it is an unavoidable fact since you were born. Imagine though that not only were you the product of your parents mating but also that mating was a planned genetic exercise. I don’t know about you but I think I would be devastated. However, our plucky heroine Rome not only had the intestinal fortitude to learn about this but also process and come to accept it.
Before I lay out the entire plan to you, I thought I’d give you a little glimpse on how the conversation even came about. Remember, Rome was 27 years old at this point and still had no clue:
“Pegus is at the central sounding rig,” Fridone said. “I will take you out there.” He led Rome down a stairway made of cane-tree wood and along a pier to a medium-sized boat tied there. The all-white boat was about 15 feet long and had an enclosed cabin. Fridone pointed up the gangplank and indicated Rome should go aboard.
As Rome started up the ramp to board the watercraft, Fridone called out, “Make sure you hold on to the handrail tightly. It can be very slippery.”
Rome turned to him and said with a bit of disdain, “I know how to walk up a ramp.”
Fridone laughed. “That’s what your mother thought, the first time we met,” he said. “She did not do very well.”
Rome wrinkled her brow. “What do you mean?”
“Go aboard and I will explain. I need to untie the boat.”
Shrugging, Rome held onto the handrail tightly until she got to the top of the ramp then hopped down onto the deck of the boat. She watched as her father untied the mooring ropes, inspected the port side of the boat then came aboard himself. He drew the gangplank up and secured it in place along the edge of the siding.
Fridone started toward the cabin when Rome called out, “Wait!”
Fridone turned in place. “Wait what?”
Rome came up to him. “What were you saying about Mea?”
“Oh, that,” Fridone said, smiling. “It is rather funny now. But when your mother was sent to meet me, she was trying so hard to impress me that she slipped and fell on the gangplank, chipped a tooth and hit her head. It was not an auspicious grand entrance.”
“Why was she trying to impress you? She has told me that her job was to gather your findings regarding the migration patterns of the red Opah. She told me the Overmind wanted to start a farm.”
“That was the ostensible reason. The reason she tells everyone,” Fridone said. “Not the real reason.”
Sounds pretty mysterious, huh? Tomorrow Fridone will share the true reason to Rome and it is pretty earth shattering.
Entry 4-207: July 21, 2016
Slippery when wet, part 2 of 3
Yesterday, Rome was heading out to sea with her father and somehow the conversation came up about the subterfuge Rome’s mother Binoda used to meet and ultimately seduce her father, Fridone. As I mentioned yesterday, Rome was 27 years old and had never heard any of this. To you and me, we might be horrified but for Rome, this is fascinating stuff:
“That was the ostensible reason. The reason your mother tells everyone,” Fridone said. “Not the real reason.”
Fridone entered the cabin of the boat, pressed a stud and turned a dial. The EG plates mounted on the back of the craft made a slight stuttering noise and the boat inched forward.
“You are being mysterious,” Rome said, entering the cabin. “Please explain.”
Grabbing the wheel with one hand, Fridone pushed the throttle forward with the other and the boat moved out into the harbor.
“What I mean is that she had just spent six months exercising, molding her body into what the Overmind of Earth thought was the mandasurte ideal of feminine perfection. They even created a special jumpsuit for her designed to accentuate her curves. She was sent to Havei specifically to…” Fridone turned to look at his daughter. “Rome, you are a big girl. I can tell you. She was sent to seduce me.”
“What?!” Rome exclaimed. “Why?”
“Your mother did not know. The Overmind never told her.”
Rome shook her head. “You are saying the Overmind instructed Mea to fly to Havei and seduce the mandasurte scientist Fridone and, and mate with him?”
Fridone nodded.
“And she never asked why?”
“Your mother was a good, obedient Vuduri back then,” Fridone said, pushing the throttle forward which caused the craft to pick up speed. “It never occurred to her to ask why.”
“That makes no sense,” Rome said, turning to look out one of the cabin windows as they entered the deeper water. If anything, the color changed to an even deeper, more beautiful shade of indigo. Rome gasped at the stunning beauty in front of her. Reluctantly, Rome tore her eyes away from the water to look at her father. “So I am a direct result of orders from the Overmind to mate with Mea?”
“One could look at it that way,” said Fridone. “But the reality is quite different. Your mother knows.”
“Why did no one ever tell me this? How is it that you and Mea still ended up cesa?”
“I do not think that is what the Overmind intended. I think it wanted her just to use me then be gone.”
So the Overmind just wanted Fridone for his genetic contribution? Sounds pretty clinical to me. However, the Overmind never really understood human nature so even a powerful entity, virtually the ruler of Earth, could not have predicted what happened next.
Entry 4-208: July 22, 2016
Slippery when wet, part 3 of 3
Yesterday, Rome was exposed to the fact that the meeting (and mating) of her parents was orchestrated by the Overmind of Earth. To you and I, we would have found this devastating. But Rome broke through her own agitation and was actually curious about her life and early years since they did not match her father’s original explanation. Fridone took the time to elucidate:
“But the Overmind encouraging interbreeding mandasurte with Vuduri, what…” Rome shook her head. “I do not understand. How did it come about?”
“The Overmind gave Binoda the espansor bands. The ones you used with Rei, yes?”
Rome nodded.
“Well…I was curious. Here was this beautiful woman, sent specifically for me, she was injured and disheveled. I was kind to her, made her comfortable. She revealed to me what she said was her true mission. However, you know the Vuduri. They are always hiding something. Frankly, I did not believe her. She offered to use the bands with me which I accepted. I thought I was so clever. I thought I would use the bands to find out her true motives. But as it turned out, the bands malfunctioned, or maybe they did not. But what happened to you and Rei, it happened to me and your mother. We are Asborodi Cimponeti. After that experience, we were truly in love. That was the end of her being a good, obedient Vuduri. Not too long after that, you came along.”
The boat hit some chop. After nearly falling, Rome looked around the cabin and found a padded bench along one side. She went over to it and sat down.
“But even so, was she not still following orders? You said the Overmind commanded her to produce me?”
Fridone set the auto-pilot and came over to her. He lifted her chin up and looked into her eyes. “No, that is not why. It was inevitable. We had you because we wanted to. And we could not love you more.”
Rome closed her eyes. Her mind was churning. The parallels between her and Rei and her parents were too close. Was there an order to the universe, a plan that was beyond the Overmind? Or was the Overmind behind it all? She thought abo
ut how much she loved Rei, Aason and her parents. She relaxed and smiled then opened her eyes. “Thank you for telling me, Beo,” she said.
“You are not upset?”
“No, if anything, I am even happier. There is a way to the world, to the whole universe. We are just a part. And I love my part. I love you and Mea so what does it matter?”
Fridone nodded. He looked up.
“Come,” he said. “The sounding rig is ahead. I get to show you where I work.”
Rome never fails to amaze me. Even when I intend on having her react one way, she somehow insists on reacting, well, how Rome reacts. It’s one of the neat things about writing these books. The characters drive much of the plot, the action and the interactions. Like I always say, these stories are true. They just haven’t happened yet!
Entry 4-209: July 23, 2016
Mental Health
One of the founding principles in Rome’s Revolution was that Rome brought a new way of thinking to the 24-chromosome mind-connected Vuduri. The assumption was that any extreme is unhealthy and that by bringing balance to the Vuduri way of life, Rome helped foster a healthier atmosphere from an emotional perspective. Never was this made more clear when, at the beginning of The Ark Lords, Rome and Fridone finally tracked down Pegus, the leader of the Vuduri on Deucado. Rome noticed a striking difference in his demeanor and what do you think was the reason?
The sounding rig resembled a cross between a multi-level drilling platform and airport control tower. There was a small landing pad attached to the second level. The lower levels were open but the top level was fully glass-enclosed. After tying off the boat and climbing a ladder to the first level of the rig, Fridone led Rome around to the far side that opened up onto the Eastern Ocean. A tremendous floating platform lay in front of them about a half mile out. Arranged in even rows, there were fifty or more ships, every other one was tied together with a yellow material. The exact nature of the yellow mesh was hard to make out from their vantage point even with Rome’s advanced optics.
“That is the beginning of the planetary fishing fleet,” Fridone said, pointing out across the water. “Although I suppose we should refer to it as a swishing fleet since we only catch swishies. They use EG pods to drag those yellow sieve nets along. We are gauging the proper size holes so that we only capture males and females past reproductive age. Snagging them specifically will leave more food for the breeding pairs and actually grow more swishies. When we are done, it will be the largest sustainable fishing fleet ever built. It will feed millions some day. These tests will give us the final specs. I suspect that is why Pegus is here. To verify our results.”
He pointed to a ladder leading to the upper decks. “Let us go see him.”
He and Rome climbed up several levels to the enclosed control deck. There, standing at the far end, was Pegus, peering through binoculars, a peculiar action for a Vuduri. He heard them arrive and turned to see who it was.
“Rome!” he said. He set down the binoculars and came over to hug her. “It has been so long!”
Rome smiled and hugged him back. “You look healthy,” she said. “The sea air must be good for you.”
“And being disconnected,” he said, winking at her.
The very fact that they hugged was important but even more so, Pegus, representing all the Vuduri, understood the sense of vitality that Rome’s Revolution had brought to the planet.
Entry 4-210: July 24, 2016
How to pick a place, part 1
Once Rome had come up with the idea of building a library, she moved on to concentrate on the mechanics of acquiring the knowledge she needed to make it a worthwhile endeavor. I don’t think she gave any thought as to where she was going to build it. In this little snippet, you can see that where to build her library was a normal and natural thought to others. But Rome was anything but normal:
“The Overmind mentioned that,” Rome replied. “He said that you were spending more and more time disconnected. Any particular reason?”
Pegus shrugged. “It did not take long for us to discover that the Overmind had all the power because we allowed it to. Since we started acting on our own, the Overmind has become a bit needy, cloying almost, trying to chat with people. I, for one, find it increasingly annoying. Sometimes I just need to be away from that.”
“Oh,” Rome tried to suppress a little snort. “I must admit, I am guilty of the same thing.”
Pegus smiled. “So what brings you all the way out here? You wanted to see where your father works?”
Rome glanced over at Fridone then back to Pegus. “I am embarrassed to say but the answer is no. I should have been out here sooner but my schedule did not permit it. I actually came to see you.”
“Me?” Pegus smiled even more broadly. “I am honored but I assume it was not just because you missed me.”
Rome smiled at his comment. She took a deep breath. “I have decided to build a library. I want to compile all of the historical records of the Vuduri, the Essessoni, the mandasurte, the Deucadons and even the Ibbrassati. The OMCOM equivalent here has no historical records to speak of. Even those that normally come with the initialization module.”
“It was not built to be general purpose,” Pegus said. “It does not even have a personality module. It was designed specifically to help us run a prison world.”
Pegus looked over at Fridone who showed him no hard feelings with a simple wave of the hand.
“Beo and the Overmind tell me that you are sending a transport back to Earth soon.”
“Yes…”
“So I wanted to know if you could have someone take the time to bring back data-cubes with the historical archives of the Vuduri. It is important that I have a complete record of the time since the Great Dying and no one here is really qualified to provide such information.”
“Yes, we were all lax when it came to that,” Pegus said. “Of course I will do that for you. It is the least I can do after all you have done for us.”
“Thank you,” Rome said. “I am glad that I caught you before the ship left.”
Tomorrow, part 2 of this conversation wherein Rome’s father poses the fateful question to her.
Entry 4-211: July 25, 2016
How to pick a place, part 2
Yesterday, Rome and her father, Fridone, were visiting with Pegus, the leader of the 24-chromosome, mind-connected Vuduri on the planet Deucado in the very beginning of The Ark Lords. Fridone was helping the Vuduri design the planetary fishing fleet in such a way as to preserve the breeding pairs of swishies while capturing the older ones for food. The idea was to create a 100% sustainable, ongoing method of fishing and feeding the masses. Rome had come along to ask a favor of Pegus. Here is how it came about:
“I am just glad that you came at all. Consider it done. Do you mind if I speak to your father for a bit?”
“No, go ahead,” Rome said.
Pegus led Fridone over to a center drafting table and laid out some charts and sounding maps of the ocean beyond. They began an animated discussion of sieve size in centimeters and areal density. Rome turned away and walked to the large window in front of her, looking out past the fleet to the ocean beyond. Her mind wandered. Even though she had been to several planets, when she got to each new world, she spent very little time exploring. Perhaps when she was part of the Overmind, it would be excusable but this was no longer the case. She had always been just so focused on whatever it was she was doing, she never took the opportunity to look around. She made up her mind that from now on, not only would she do what she came to do, but she would make time to soak up the surroundings and to appreciate each new environment for what it was. Every place in the world, in the universe, was different and she wanted to take in as much as she could for as long as she could.
At last, Fridone and Pegus finished their discussions.
“Rome?” Pegus called out.
Rome turned to look at them.
“The ship leaves in three days. It takes about 28 days to get to Earth. The crew will spend some time gathering the materials we need and it will take another 28 days to return. Is that acceptable to you?”
“Of course,” Rome said, stepping forward. “I am not in a hurry. I will have plenty to do in the meantime.”
“Where are you going to house this library?” Pegus asked. “Are you going to put it in Vuduri City?”
“I do not know yet,” Rome answered. “I want to make it accessible to all.”
“How will you decide?” Fridone asked. “There is a whole planet to choose from.”
“I do not know,” Rome said. “But I will know it when I see it.”
There are a few important things to note here. First, Rome trusted her intuition as to when she would discover the right place for the library. The second thing is the time table for the Vuduri transport. That figures heavily into the plot of The Ark Lords down the line but we'll cover that at a later date.
Entry 4-212: July 26, 2016
The Post Post-apocalyse
As I do every day, I was thinking of ways to market myself. I am ignoring the question of whether my books are marketable. I am also ignoring the question as to whether I am a good writer. I have to assume the answer to both questions is yes otherwise what is the point?
One of my wife's friends suggested that instead of trying to find an agent, perhaps I would be better off with a publicist. An agent is great for getting you a book deal but a publicist is the person who gets your books into the public's eye. So I asked myself, what would I need to say to the publicist to give them a quick insight into what my books are all about.
Since both Rome's Revolution and The Ark Lords take place in the 35th century, I guess you could say they were futuristic. But they really aren't in the truest sense. Futuristic and Jetsons always kind of go hand in hand. I always figured the Jetsons were futuristic steampunk, meaning George and the gang live their lives exactly the same way we do, just using different technology. My books aren't like that. And it would be unfair to call my world of the Vuduri post-apocalyptic because that implies a destroyed world where people are struggling to survive after the infrastructure of society has fallen apart. Rome and Rei certainly don't live in that world.