Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri
February 4, 2024

Rome's Revolution 3455 AD

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything but I am finally adding a new entry here to announce a seemingly insignificant but rather important change. Since 1973, the title of my first book was Rome's Revolution. I had no choice in the matter. This was simply the title. However, in the age of AI, I used a program to give me some feedback on the pilot script for the upcoming streaming series.

Mostly the AI was useless in terms of its feedback. Very generic. But one item it brought to my attention was that the title wasn't "science-fictiony" enough. The AI suggested I change the title to Rome's Galactic Revolution or other even goofier names. But it got me to thinking.

I've always had people tell me when they heard just the title, they figured it was about the Roman Empire. By simply adding the year in which the story takes place, 3455 AD, to the title, knowing nothing else, anyone seeing it would immediately know it was science fiction.

So here's the new title:


My brother Bruce was kind enough to update the cover for me. Take a look at this beauty:



























So... what do you think?


October 26, 2020

Interview with Rome II - Part 9 of 9

As Steve Fisch and I get the scripts ready to sell Rome's Revolution as a streaming series, he asked me for a lot of background information that I did not have. So I took some time out to interview Rome and Rei. Rome was very talkative so I had to break up her interview into two parts. Here is the final part of the second half of Rome's interview, part 9 of 9.
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Rome: I suppose. Anyway, we had a fight over money.
(Perry tilts his head.)
Perry: You mean, like Deucats? Like they use in Ur?
(Rome shakes her head)
Rome: No, not like that. Our argument was over the concept of money. I was trying to explain to Rei why it had no place on this world, on Earth, anywhere. He defended it and claimed why it was necessary under some circumstances. He stated that was what distinguished humans over animals. I told him that I thought his people were less civilized than animals. Before I met him, that is. I hurt his feelings.
Perry: Oof. So who won the fight?
Rome: No one. Our positions were irreconcilable, derived from our upbringing. We just agreed to disagree and dropped it. Like you said, Ur couldn’t work any other way so whatever. As long as it doesn’t lead to harm.
Perry: I hate to diminish your experience but that doesn’t sound like much of an argument.
Rome: It was at the time. But we just don’t bring it up anymore. So, does that satisfy you?
Perry: Yes. Thank you for indulging me. You really are a wonderful woman and I am honored to be able to call you my friend.
(Perry holds out his hand. Rome shakes it.)
Rome: Likewise. And like I said last time, please take care of my Library.
Perry: And like I said last time, I promise that I will.
(Rome chuckles.)
Perry: What’s so funny?
Rome: Nothing. I just remember when my children were younger, every time Rei and I left them alone, we had to remind them not to burn down the house.
(Perry laughs)
Perry: My parents always said the same thing and I expect I’ll be saying that to my children. (Perry nods.) Goodbye, Rome.
Rome: Goodbye, Perry. See you soon.

While this is the end of the interviews, I do have some more material to post. I'll try to get to it in the coming months.


October 25, 2020

Interview with Rome II - Part 8 of 9

As Steve Fisch and I get the scripts ready to sell Rome's Revolution as a streaming series, he asked me for a lot of background information that I did not have. So I took some time out to interview Rome and Rei. Rome was very talkative so I had to break up her interview into two parts. Here is the second half of Rome's interview, part 8 of 9.
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Perry: And you find that satisfying, yes?
Rome: Totally. Since all the threats have passed, I feel like I am contributing more to the future than any of the adventures we had when we were young. And Rei, too. What he has done on this planet is the culmination of his background and training.
Perry: So, given the circumstances, did Rei aspire to fame?
Rome: No. Rei is just a wonderful, decent man. He was doing his part to save mankind simply by climbing aboard that Ark. His Earth was doomed. He didn’t think he would ever love again. Certainly not have children. He just wanted to go to the future and help everyone else. Never did he dream of what was to happen when he got here. Nor did I. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Perry: It’s all so incredibly amazing and Rome, you are an amazing woman. (Perry looks down at his tablet.) Speaking of amazing women, mine is expecting me home now so unless there is something else, I think this is a good place to stop. We can continue some other time.
Rome: I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble because of me.
(Perry stands up. Rome stands up as well.)
Perry: I appreciate that. I… (He stops)
Rome: What?
(Perry makes a big show of closing his tablet to announce they are off the record.)
Perry: This is so inappropriate but…
Rome: What??
(Perry leans over and speaks in a lower voice)
Perry: Don’t tell my wife but you are literally the most perfect woman I’ve ever met. And Rei seems like the most perfect man. And the two of you were stuck together in a spaceship for nearly a year. Did you two ever quarrel?
(Rome laughs)
Rome: Not once during the entire trip. Since then, we’ve had our disagreements over the years but we’ve only had what could be characterized as an argument one time.
Perry: This is horrible but can you tell me what it was about?
Rome: Of course. And let me say first there was alcohol involved. We were at a luau with my relatives and we were drinking kefir, fermented coconut juice. I was a little what Rei would call tipsy at the time.
(Perry sighs)
Perry: Alcohol is often involved…

Tomorrow, the final part of Rome's interview.


October 24, 2020

Interview with Rome II - Part 7 of 9

As Steve Fisch and I get the scripts ready to sell Rome's Revolution as a streaming series, he asked me for a lot of background information that I did not have. So I took some time out to interview Rome and Rei. Rome was very talkative so I had to break up her interview into two parts. Here is the second half of Rome's interview, part 1 of 9.
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Rome: Because everyone now knows that this life is all we have. Once we ascend, we become part of the whole. So the only thing you can do here in this world is live your life to the fullest here, during your one and only lifetime. Everyone is the better for knowing.
Perry: I suppose. Those are two, rather large accomplishments.
(Rome nods)
Rome: Yes. And he and Lupe built the First Contact Academy. That’s been critical in helping us reach out to other species.
Perry: So Lupe. That is her major accomplishment?
Rome: No. You are aware that Lupe prevented the Shell War from breaking out into a full-fledged Armageddon.
Perry: I’m only familiar with it at the most superficial level. What did she do?
Rome: She went behind, what was then enemy lines and established contact with the peaceful minority. She and my grandson Rory were instrumental in convincing them that the two Unions were better off together as friends rather than adversaries.
Perry: Wow. You put that together with your accomplishments and those of your family tree… You really are both figuratively and literally the mother of our civilization.
(Rome blushes)
Rome: I don’t know about that but I am the mother of two beautiful children. And grandchildren.
Perry: Speaking of which, you mentioned during our last interview, you were not supposed to become a parent.
Rome: Right. The Overmind of Earth was in charge of deciding that. And that was to be my destiny or not to be, to be childless. But those days are over. No more. Certainly not here on Deucado. Everyone has the freedom to do as they please, including having children. One caveat, though.
Perry: What?
Rome: When I say people are free to do as they please, that doesn’t mean they can bring harm to others. If we’ve done nothing else, bringing a sense of responsibility and accountability to all living beings, I would hope that would be our legacy.
Perry: Did you ever aspire to fame? To have that legacy?
Rome: Of course not. Had Rei not shown up, I would have served out my time at Tabit, returned to Earth and one day died along with everyone else. He changed the course of history.
Perry: I understand that. But given what you’ve done here. Don’t you think that was your destiny?
Rome: Not those things but if I look at it in the broadest of terms, I suppose what I have done here on Deucado is what I was supposed to have done all along. I look back on my training as a data archivist. I look at my time spent with Rei, to learn from him. I guess you could say that in the absence of other obstacles, I was destined to be a teacher and a librarian. To aggregate knowledge and make it accessible to others.

Tomorrow, part 8


October 23, 2020

Interview with Rome II - Part 6 of 9

As Steve Fisch and I get the scripts ready to sell Rome's Revolution as a streaming series, he asked me for a lot of background information that I did not have. So I took some time out to interview Rome and Rei. Rome was very talkative so I had to break up her interview into two parts. Here is the second half of Rome's interview, part 6 of 9.
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Rome: We positioned our equipment at each of the five Lagrange points in the Tabit system, giving us an effective aperture of nearly 10 light hours across. With our interpolation algorithms, we should have been able to observe the events that occurred at Winfall roughly equal to observing the Sun from inside the orbit of Venus.
Perry: Surely that would have been enough to spot a Stareater.
Rome: You would think so but unfortunately, it couldn’t have been. Nobody knew what to expect. The geometry was all wrong. Based upon what we observed at Tabit, the Stareater would have come up from behind Winfall. All the crew at Escobar would have seen would have been the stars in the background being occluded and then Winfall disappearing. They couldn’t have known what they were looking at.
Perry: So what would you have done? If you were them?
Rome: Well, if we hadn’t packed up our equipment too soon and if Rei hadn’t come along, and we did observe exactly what I described, we would have come to the conclusion that we didn’t really know much more than we did before we left. We would have gathered up our equipment and flown even farther out and deployed our instrumentation with a much greater aperture.
Perry: And that’s what you think they did?
Rome: I don’t know. It’s the only thing I can think of. Space is a dangerous place. The longer and farther out you go, the greater the chance for disaster. That was one thing that the designers of Rei’s Ark got right.
Perry: That disaster is inevitable?
Rome: Exactly. Rather than sink their resources into building a super spaceship, the Essessoni built one as simply as possible and devoted their resources into making sure that each individual survived. The Vuduri are the opposite. If something happens to one of our starships, everyone aboard dies.
Perry: Do you think we’ll ever find out what happened to them? To the Cobol?
Rome: Maybe but for today, it’s just an unsolved mystery. I suppose you would say we were lucky that Rei came along and OMCOM got it into his electronic head to engineer the VIRUS units. While it created Planet OMCOM, it also allowed us to build and exploit the star probes and uncover the secret of the Stareaters.
Perry: Right. So… discovering and eventually making peace with the Stareaters. Do you think that was your greatest achievement?
Rome: No. Not at all. My greatest achievements are my children.
(Perry smiles.)
Perry: Wouldn’t every parent say that?
Rome: I suppose but I mean it literally. If it wasn’t for Aason, we wouldn’t be here right now. The Stareaters would have destroyed the Earth. And Aason went to Heaven to rescue his sister. The word he brought back has given everyone on every planet a renewed sense of purpose.
Perry: And why is that?

Tomorrow, part 7