A working alliance with klingons is bound to be problematic. They're actually being fairly well behaved for klingons... At the moment... 

For all of K'Vada's open dismissal of Sandhurst, it seems he understands Sandhurst is definitely a burr in his saddle. 

I liked the image of Pava closing his helmet - it makes sense for Star Fleet tactical units to be helmeted. Hat would make a lot of sense too..

Thanks!! rbs

Wise words from Pava - worry more about the klingons you can't see...

The cardassian resistance session was quite interesting - more democratic than I expected from the Legate. But DS9 mentioned several times that Cardassia had a democratic tradition. 

General K'Vada is a barrel of laughs. Actually quite a well drawn character.

Thanks!! rbs

Good old ramming speed - better with an abandoned ship under remote control. 

I enjoyed Panor's ruminations about Star Fleet captains. It's difficult to keep space battles intersting in narrative - well done!

Thanks! rbs

Very rapid personal growth for Ramirez under fire.

Very intriguing device that protected the Gibralter - perhaps a beneficent side-effect of some nefarious attack? There's the tease into the rest of the story. There's more going on here than just anachornistic cardassians taking on Star Fleet for old times' sake.

Thanks!! rbs

Particularly liked Lar'ragos' musings about the young cardassian recruits. Quite the nasty anti-ship weapon these cardassians have come up with - beaming bioweapons through raised shielding.

I got a bit of a kick out of the reaction to Gul Dien. The cardassians occasionally produce blowhard villains.

Thanks! rbs

Nice portrait of a would-be cardassian strongman - and a ferengi weapons merchant. I like reverse angles that get into such characters and their motivations more or less sympathetically. 

It is all too tempting to create scenery munching villains (the writers of ST TV and movie series have more than occasionally been guilty.) They're so much more satisfying when their motives are underpinned by some believable conviction.

Thanks!! rbs

Looks like 2 chapters here. Pretty gripping chapter on the attack on the Sojourner - would have made for a good 007 jump start. Interesting choice to have a saurian in command. Non-humans are rarely depicted in command.

I like the characterization of Sandhurst - particularly that he is overweight. His abilities as an engineer give him some interesting potentials as a starhip captain. 

Thanks!! rbs

As this story continues, the parallels between Sandhurst and Ramirez are becoming more and more apparent. Ramirez's empathy has surprised me a lot more than Sandhurst's. She initially came off as the type who would take the Cardassian's actions more personally, and who would be more accepting of the Klingon's interrogation.

I've always believed that despite what the TV show presented, enemy races would have delineations in their "gray areas." That Klingons, for example, who were more likely to encounter Starfleet personnel were normally the more "even keel," open-minded sort. K'Vada seems to shake this belief; though presumably the "bad seeds" wouldn't be entirely relegated to the "far side" of the Empire. And of course, he surrounds himself with similarly-inclined ruffians.

Author's Response:

K'Vada is a Klingon patriot, with all the horrific baggage that entails. He respects the Federation as powerful allies, but as we've seen, he can't stomach what he perceives as Starfleet's weak stomach for doing the ugly things that 'have to be done' in order to secure the peace.

This chapter really shows a good deal about Sandhurst's character. It's one thing for a Starfleet Captain to simply refuse to do harm to enemy forces and civilians. It's another entirely for him to feel such concern about what non-Federation forces will do to them. The Cardassians captured by the Kang likely took action that lead to the death (or viral illness) of Phoenix crew. There's no reason for Sandhurst to feel such empathy for them, yet still he does.

I'm hoping the shared frustrations between Sandhurst and Ramirez leads to a higher level of appreciation from both parties. Also, I feel bad for Sandhurst. Commanding one ship was a new enough experience, and now he's acting as a Fleet Captain. Fortunately, Cardassian greed and superiority has driven Panor to make a very unwise set of decisions.

Perhaps now Salk will be more interested in providing Starfleet assistance!

I really admire your ability to still include a lot of detail without detracting from the "urgency" of the story. I also enjoy the fact that there is chaos from every angle: on the planet, on the Phoenix, in Sickbay, and among the engineers. Clearly Sandhurst is getting a baptism by fire.

It looks like Ramirez is the next to end up in that boat. I can only imagine the expression on her face right about now.

Ooooh, bio weapons. So very Cardassian, yet something that doesn't get brought up nearly enough in relation to them. I want Lar'ragos' flechette projectile weapon...

Author's Response:

Yes, the Cardassian insurgents have been busy making bad, bad things.