Date: 11 Jun 2012 02:00 Title: Chapter 48
Why do I get the feeling when push comes to shove, those captured drones on the Tesseract are going to be dissected for their secrets once the Borg up the ante? Eleanor seems a bit useless in that sense because laws, rights and regulations go out of the window in situations like this...
Date: 20 Apr 2010 20:48 Title: Chapter 48
All right Icheb! Taking a stand, tired of being a pawn. Fight the power man!
And Maren is pretty much right about the mind rapeing of the borg...but the practicality of the situtation may not allow anything else than returning them to the collective. Big old moral dillemma here, nice work.
Date: 15 Mar 2010 21:29 Title: Chapter 48
Well Ryzal certainly takes John to task. He so kindly enough considering that he has grounds for being harsher. However, it strikes me that Ryzal is a fair and decent chief and his aim is solely to ensure the safety of all. John Quigley is a proven officer - albeit befire his tenure on the Tesseract. However, if Ryzal didn't have faith in him, he'd not have given John the solemn task of protecting his own family. His desire to mentor John and shepherd his skills is productive as it keeps John in line and yet reaffirms his skillset. That said, how comes I have suddenly got an ominous feeling about the Sol which is apparently going off for safety purposes. I do hope it doesn't backfire.
Meantime, Maren and Adele are just about keeping it civil. It is a touchy subject for both. Maren can't but help associate the drones with what Icheb once was and the kindness extended to assist his escape from the collective. However, she is under the illusion that they can do this for all drones. For Adele, the drones are only a further reminder of the loss of ehr husband. Her handling of the situation is expert and it shows her diplomatic skills. She wants Maren to do this but only as a means of covering her bases and giving the captain options. Adele doesn't react to the strong language from Maren. Mind rape is a harsh term though from Maren's POV that is exactly what it is. For Adele there is a bigger picture to view and to worry about. Quite an edgy and prickly scene between the two. Normally I'd imagine Maren wouldn't be quite so vocal to the captain but she's had a rough time and of course feels close to the issue at hand. Adele impresses with her own control. She admits to taking some of the trouble out on Maren and takes a certain degree of verbal abuse from the engineer. However Adele doesn't react to it. Her comportment and handling of the unfolding situation is impressive.
Adele doesn't seem to like being backed into a corner with information or her hand being forced. This it seems is something that Icheb is beginning to realise he needs to sort when it comes to his own circumtances. But what to do about seizing control of his own destiny. And what can he do to convince either side? This should prove to be very, very interesting.
Author's Response:
MF, thanks so much for the thorough review!
I like your summation of Ryzal here -- he's fair and decent. Not chummy, though. He mostly just wants the best from the people under him and does what he can to foster that. Sometimes that means being nicer than he would like to be, sometimes it means being a jerk. Depends on the officer and the kind of motivation they require. He's a pretty careful observer of people (goes with the territory of being a security officer), so despite his own alien nature, he's understanding of the characteristics of the species he serves with.
As for the Sol and Luna ... you'll just have to wait and see. ;-)
Maren and Adele are definitely in an odd situation. Their experiences and perspective regarding the Borg could not be more different. Adele is trying her best to manage the conflict in a professional manner, but Maren in her tired, stressed and injured state is not making it easy for her.
I don't think ANYONE likes being backed into a corner or manipulated. Not Adele, and not Icheb. But all of that has been beyond Icheb's control for a long time. He's been used by the Brunali, the Borg, and even Starfleet, and he's tired of it. We'll see how he goes about trying to take responsibility for his own life ... and how those around him react to it. I hope you continue to find it interesting!
Date: 15 Mar 2010 16:28 Title: Chapter 48
Man, Ryzal was for more understanding than I expected, and perhaps even more so than John deserves given the circumstances. I especially liked that he kept referring to Maren as John's 'mate,' regardless of the actual specifics of their relationship, because that's how John's treating her. Ryzal obviously has no patience for trivial labels.
Adele distinguishes herself yet again by offering an olive branch to Maren and admitting some fault in their last, heated interaction. That's certainly something not every captain would do, or perhaps even should do... given the necessary myth of a captain's infallibility.
Now Icheb comes to an important decision to finally take full responsibility for his own destiny. I'm curious to see how this choice will affect other aspects of his life, provided he survives the coming encounter between Tesseract and the Borg Resistance ship.
Author's Response:
Thanks, Gibraltar, for the comments!
No, Ryzal is not a fan of BS overall. He calls it like he sees it. He knows John has potential and did very well at his last posting, and he's not willing to see him throw that potential away over a woman -- partly because it would be a shame, but mostly because it would be detrimental to his entire department not to have everyone, including John, functioning to the best of their abilities. With this chapter I was really trying to show the balance between the no-nonsense, alien/reptilian side of him and his job as a teacher/leader of mostly human(oid) officers.
Adele is a diplomat to her core. The Betazoid part of her craves harmony. But the human part of her (by far the larger part) is more pragmatic. She knows she has to work with Maren; knows that especially now, she really needs her expertise as well as her cooperation. So reaching out to her is part of all that. And I think Maren's made it pretty clear she doesn't believe in the infallibility of the captain, so that ship has already sailed ...
As for Icheb, he's soon going to be making a lot of choices in many areas of his life, for sure. We'll see how that goes ...
Thanks again for reading and reviewing!