Beautiful mourning scene. I particularly liked Dolphin and T'Lon's first encounter by the bulkhead. Felt very somber but also poignant.

The meal was a nice touch too. As for the ending, I guess what I said before still applies. Everybody grives in their own way.

Author's Response:

Thanks for the kind words about Dolphin & T'Lon - and I'm glad you enjoyed the ending... Of course there's more going on under the surface - as you might surmise from the title of Episode 5...

T'Lon is taking this better than I expected. No doubt her Vulcan side is of enormous help in a situation like that and I'm sure she is grieving in her own way.

In the meantime, Tauk seems to know what he's doing in his new role. He must have been taught well.

Author's Response:

Tauk is into game theory (and what ferengi isn't?)

Gut punch. I had my suspicions it was her by the setup. Minerva's confession is really quite telling, saying to her friend she wishes it had been someone else. As a captain, that's something you would only tell a person you trust immensely. And she feels bad about it. She should, but then again you cannot deny your own feelings either.

I wonder how that other part of the Vulcan duo will take this. Not well, I suspect. Not well at all.

Author's Response:

I wanted to avoid the trope of the expendible red-shirt. You have a good prediction about T'Lon - but there's more going on with her as you'll find in the last few sentences of this episode... And the opening scene for Episode 5.

I was too quick to expect a happy ending here.

Also, brutal how you refuse to name the deceased. Must. Read. On.

Author's Response:

Glad you enjoyed the cliffhanger...

An elegant solution to a complicated problem.

Author's Response:

Thanks again for reading and reviewing! 

I'm not sure if I'd want to serve on this ship with so little space that the crew sleeps in their escape pods. Although, I've got to admit, that practically speaking that is really quite clever in the event the ship needs to be abandoned in a hurry.

Curious how many of these crew members seem to be related to each other.

Author's Response:

I think you called it early on - it's designed after a Coast Guard cutter, which is quite close quarters. Which is why crew prefer to stay planetside or on a star base whenever they can. I didn't get into this level of detail, but I imagine you would walk into the escape pod, lean your back against the accelleration couch/bed and once the pod door closes, the artificial gravity would shift from what was the floor to the bed. There is enough room in the pod for two people - barely...

Wow, 14 billion people on Earth in the 24th century? Might be a little crowded. But I suppose if you have enough energy production, plus replicator tech, feeding that many folks might not be an issue.

Anyway, interesting strategy by Shran. Not quite sure yet what their plan is on actually capturing these mysterious killers.

Author's Response:

According to UN estimates, even if we have a big war, pandemics, etc., we're pretty much on course for a stable world population of 12 billion by 2100. The current distribution is 1 billion in the Americas (north and south), 1 billion in Europe, 1 billion in Africa, and 4 billion in Asia. The 2100 distribution is estimated to be 1 billion in the Americas, 1 billion in Europe, 4.5 billion in Africa and 5.5 billion in Asia. We have already reached peak child - the birth rate is down to replacement population. The reason we will get there isn't more babies - it's the people who are alive today. And we can easily support that population - but it will take revolutions in energy production, environmental management and food distribution. We already produce more than enough food - but an astouding amount of it goes to waste.

A lot going on in this chapter.

I still have a bit of trouble keeping T'Lon and T'Lok apart but that might be because I tend to skip the summaries and character blurbs.

Using a mind meld as a tool to teach people surfing is a pretty novel idea. I really liked the way you described the meld and the affect it had on Dolphin. That was pretty vivid stuff.

As for Dolphin, the man clearly has had quite a career history. He might be working in flight operations these days but it sounds like he'll play a crucial part in catching these peculiar assassins.

Author's Response:

Dolphin plays an absolutely crucual role - but not in any way you might expect..

I wonder if there is more courtroom drama in store for this story. And I wonder, if so, if it'll be less bloody.

Author's Response:

I think you'll enjoy Episodes 7 (The Great Mushroom) and 25 (I Dream of Shiva) - both of which have extended courtroom scenes. But for big courtroom drama.. Episode 22 (Sacrifice)... No blood is shed. Hallucinogens, however...

Looks like you are changing up the formula a little bit and moving to longer chapters. Suits me fine, although the sudden change of location and characters within the chapter itself was a little jarring.

I was going to focus on a light-hearted comment on the irony of having the one officer named after a sea-dwelling animal being uncomfortable in water.

Then things took a very dark turn. This isn't a straight forward homicide investigation, this is far worse. I wonder if the capable crew of the Hunter is up for this kind of challenge.

Author's Response:

I was really still learning how to write this story in episodes 2 & 3. By episode 4 my writing style settled down and finally of got out of the way of the story. I drafted Episode 1 in March 2019 and finished Episode 28 (the final ep) this March. I'm still editing the ending. If I were writing the beginning now I would do a few things differently - but it would still be kaleidoscopic.

Okay, yeah, this is interesting prep work but to be honest, I couldn't think of anything but the ghastly murder-suicide which just took place. Why is nobody talking about that?

Sounds like nothing can go wrong with this plan ...

Dolphin lays down the law!

At first I thought he was a bit harsh here, unnecessarily being a stickler for rules and regs, but it turns out he's making a fairly decent point on what in hindsight was a very dangerous maneuver which could have easily ended in disaster.

Turns out, boring old regs exist for a reason after all, and Dolphin understands this well.