Date: 24 Dec 2013 19:05 Title: Chapter 6
Now that was a very good introduction to the good Doctor’s Paul and T’Kel.
You handle their personal interaction in a way that felt realistic and yet did a great job to show more than tell how close their working relationship has been.
I look forward to seeing more of the pair of them in future chapters.
Still Paul reaction to the Captain offer and his inner conflict about what Hank will think if he doesn’t turn up, and Hank subtle attempts to convince him, that the senior officers need to play together to be a better team, is a great idea.
Date: 28 May 2013 09:49 Title: Chapter 6
You know Paul half reminds me of Elias Giger from DS9's In The Cards, Paul is a little bit reclusive and the fact that he finds T'Kel to be such a friend speaks volumes about the man. He's sort of an oddball without having so much of Giger's eccentricity plus he doesn't say 'the soulless minions of orthodoxy'!
As for T'Kel, what fascinates me about her is her willing to go through with a divorce. I've never heard of a Vulcan couple divorcing before! So I can safely say you added something new to the whole Vulcan psyche and their society... Again Vulcan divorcing -- albeit a rare occurrence -- where did you get that idea from I might add?
Date: 01 Feb 2010 04:02 Title: Chapter 6
Paul and T'Kel's friendship is nice. It seems Paul is extremely work oriented and maybe a little reserved, so it makes sense he'd be friends with someone similar. T'Kel is an interesting character. She has a bit of conflict with the home culture, it seems.
Sweet tea. Yum.
I wonder what the holodeck program is.
Author's Response:
Paul and T'Kel are a great study of friendship and tragedy, in my opinion. As you'll see through the book they are a nice pair, though the true fleshing out of their friendship comes in book II.
Date: 23 Apr 2009 22:28 Title: Chapter 6
For a minute I thought Paul would order one of Hank's drinks. He is a strange little fish isn't he. He almost would prefer to be around Vulcans and T'Kel would sooner be around humans. An interesting juxtaposition indeed. I expect plenty of scope for drama surrounding these two.
And Hank's approach is probably quite different to most other ships' commanding officers. A good thing but difficult for people to get use to.
Date: 01 Apr 2009 17:00 Title: Chapter 6
Bearrian's another good character, and his relationship with T'Kel is another one that's a lot of fun to see. You really do write interactions very well. Plus, you've got enough intrigue in there with what T'Kel's gonna do about her marriage to keep it interesting. Good work!
Date: 27 Feb 2009 23:40 Title: Chapter 6
LOL. So, the captain seems to have a unique approach to his ship and crew. It's very refreshing. And I was thoroughly amused reading about the doctor's confusion. Don't think one could blame him though. ;-)
Date: 20 Feb 2009 06:19 Title: Chapter 6
Well, I must say...I'm liking T'Kel! It's very interesting to me to see a boundary-breaching Vulcan who manages to do so while still adhering to some form of Surak's philosophy. It sure goes to show just how insular Vulcan society still is, that she would be a pariah for wanting to stay in Starfleet, and for having a slightly different take on things...
I am also VERY curious to know about this Galor that was destroyed. (Of course, MY first instinct as a "Cardassian writer" was to want to know whose ship it was, but I realize that will not be so relevant to you as it would be in my own writing.) This definitely ups the stakes even further...not only have we got a crazed serial killer with some seriously powerful transporters running around (Dominion transporters?) but we've got a serial killer running around with some VERY big guns. A Galor class may not be a match for, say, a Galazy-class ship, but it's nothing to sneeze at. To be able to take one out before it makes an escape takes a lot.
The only real drawback I'm noticing so far is your portrayal of the Pearl's crew mixture. Granted, the various Trek series are guilty of the exact same "sins," but I noticed that almost ALL of your human characters seem to be of British Isles descent. One would expect that in a world where socioeconomic disparities are no longer an issue, that the human component of the crew would be more reflective of Earth's population as a whole...one would expect to see a lot more Chinese and Indian crew, not to mention many other populous non-European nations. A lot of Latino surnames would be expected, too (among others).
I also may have missed it...but so far T'Kel is the only non-human I've seen aboard your ship. Though the series often did a poor job with crew diversity, this is somewhere where I personally feel fanfic should feel free to make up for that (unless, of course, you are writing a non-Starfleet scenario where diversity is either less likely or even politically impossible depending on where you write).
Still, I know I've been detailed in this but I want you to know that you've got me interested in what happens. I can't wait to get the next piece of this mystery!
(And hopefully see Maxwell dead. And whoever's working with him. ;-) )
Author's Response:
Ch. 7 shall introduce the next alien character and mainstay of the Pearl's crew. As for diversity, it's something I work on throughout the book, but book 2 really expands the character diversity.