Date: 07 Jun 2012 17:39 Title: Chapter 44
Wow Maren is in some serious dire straits! Can the young woman really fool the advisory board? No chance; John already admitted to Taran that he loves Maren, and Maren loves Icheb. So I feel really sorry for Maren because she is going to try and lie, but Taran knows the truth, and Maren's and Adele's attempts to deceive the advisory board are going to fail miserably. Awesome plot by the way; plus I wonder what Julian is up to...
Date: 20 Apr 2010 20:24 Title: Chapter 44
Oh boy...Johnny, Johnny, Johnny...you really have fudged this up. He revealed everything Adele was trying to keep covered up, and now Maren is in a far worse position with the advisory board. I feel, hard for these two.
[Report This]Date: 01 Feb 2010 09:30 Title: Chapter 44
Hey Kes!
First of all... Yay! Good to see this posted, since I know how you struggled with it. Double yay to you! :)
I really enjoyed this, nice to see John trying to work everything out with Maren as much as he can, and good to see him turning to counselling for help. I think he has some major issues he needs to talk out, and this may be just the thing to get him to finally take the plunge and get it over with (telling Maren how he feels, I mean)
As usual, you manage to make us care about the 'lower decks' characters in a few short brush strokes, one of your greatest strengths in characterisation, so well done.
Look forward to seeing this conversation between Bashir and Adele.
Good work, well done, great stuff!!!
Joel
Author's Response:
Thanks for the commentary, Joel! John definitely has some issues. Whether he'll lay it all out for Maren remains to be seen. I'm glad you liked the Ten Forward scene. We'll see what happens with Julian and Adele. Thanks again!
Date: 31 Jan 2010 07:33 Title: Chapter 44
I’m glad John finally unburdened himself to a professional. It’s good to see a Starfleet officer for once who’s willing to take advantage of the mental health resources that have been put in place for them.
Maren, on the other hand, is worrying me with her daydreaming near-encounter with the Borg drone in Sickbay. She’s clearly straddling a very thin line between holding it together and coming apart at the seams emotionally. Given all that’s transpired, I wonder if Icheb being rescued or returned from his captors will cause more problems than it solves in respect to the triumverate relationship going on here.
Author's Response:
Thanks for the comment, Gibraltar!
John may feel better for having gotten it off his chest (for now, anyway), but the problem isn't actually solved. Baby steps, though. Now that Taran knows more or less what's going on, hopefully she can help.
Maren is definitely right on the edge of losing it. All at once, she's had a trial by fire as chief engineer of the biggest mission in Starfleet, been thrown back in constant contact with someone she loves but thought she'd never see alive again (and is very angry at), gotten drunk and kissed their mutual best friend, had the one she loves kidnapped and held hostage, come in very close contact with the Borg (about whom she has extremely mixed feelings, to say the least), been seriously injured, gotten yelled at by her best friend and the captain, and maybe lost her job. That's a lot for one person to handle at one time. Bad dreams and walking around in a daze are pretty understandable.
I'm very curious how you think Icheb's potential return will make her situation worse, though.
Thanks again for the review and for reading!
Date: 30 Jan 2010 20:18 Title: Chapter 44
Oh genius and wonderful. John and Taren worked really well - with John playing off the mind-reading thing but at the same time opting to open up to the counsellor. He had to give at some point and this is the best safety valve way for him to do so without saying so to Maren or Icheb. He has to feel a little shitty feeling this way about one of his best friends and felling that way about his friend's almost wife. He is at least a true friend, but one in quite a bind. Poor John.
Poor Maren. A freakish and scary nightmare. Her impluse to investigate is something that likely to land her in trouble. I wonder about the ethics of the Borg drone cortical implant transplant? A possible sticky point.
This came off really well balanced and no where near mushy territory you were worried about. A great oversight of different pieces in play. As well as continuing to hide Icheb away somewhere. We're left wondering what is happening with him. Not to mention the Admiral.
Just loved the ten forward scene with Telek, Alex, Iden and T'Pring. Again, T'Pring brings the funny and I've already advocated that I think Iden and T'Pring have the potential to be a great comedy act.
Bashir is going to talk to the Captain - yeah! Can't wait for that. Looking forwards to more of the same. Great job kes.
Author's Response:
Thanks, and thanks for your help trying to sort these scenes out. It was just what I needed!
John definitely feels more than a little shitty. He knows Maren was/is like this little ray of happiness in Icheb's otherwise incredibly messed up life. Stealing that from his best friend, even after Icheb walked away from her, was never going to be an easy thing for John to do ... but now that he knows the real reason Icheb left, he feels even worse.
Maren has had that stupid recurring nightmare since almost the beginning of her relationship with Icheb. She doesn't allow herself to even look at the things that subconsciously scare her about his past, so it's like her mind finding a way to let it out somehow. As for her dark thoughts about a cortical node switch ... it has to be tempting, but I doubt even she would actually do something like that. She might indulge in a quick daydream about it, but that's about it. She's pretty ethical and idealistic.
Iden and T'Pring are fun because they are such polar opposites. Comedy act ... hmm, maybe after Awards Night, we should do a Talent Show round robin! Hehe.
And of course, we'll have a Bashir and Adele chat, coming up pretty soon. :)
Thanks for the review and all the help.