I absolutely adored this. I've been on the hunt for stories about Pike and Number One, in the vein of my fave TOS novel _Vulcan's Glory_ and this is far and away my favourite Pike story I've foudn thus far. Not only do I recognise these people from "The Cage", but everything feels completely in character as you gave me an all new adventure. And I loved your cast of OCs, particularly Tora.

Author's Response: Thank you very much! I'm very happy you liked the story.:) And special thanks for your words about OCs, they have a hard time competing with canon ones for the readers' attention. :)

And so it ends. And as usual, terrific read. As I said before, I enjoyed immensely watching Spock's journey through the oft-confusing world of human emotion and motivations.

An interesting thought stuck me, though, as I read this last chapter again. This story goes a long way to showing the differences between Sarek and Pike, and how Spock reacts to criticism and discipline from each. Sarek's reprimands made Spock rebel, and yet Pike's reprimand inspired Spock to search his soul and try to understand human motivations in some situations, and how they differ from, but are not necessarily better than, Vulcan motivations. With one well-intentioned reprimand that didn't belittle Spock, Pike was able to accomplish what Sarek was unable to do in eighteen years - earn Spock's respect. This in no way is meant to say that Spock doesn't respect his father, but it is a different type of respect altogether, and one that was inspired, not required. I so love stories that show this type of journey for our heroes...which is why so much of your work appeals to me. ;-) Nice job, as usual!

C.

Author's Response: Considering how much headache it cost you to beta this, I'm awed you found any nice words to say to me when it's over. LOL. Thanks, Cuppy. I only described one episode. I'm glad if it makes sense. ;-)