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: 01 Feb 2010 03:48 Title: Chapter 5
"Flirtin' with Disaster" seems like the kind of song the superstitious among the crew might want to avoid. Why do I think the title is prescient?
Interesting to see the dynamics of this new, haphazard crew. Continued goodness.
Author's Response:
Yep-needed a good jam to leave dock with and this song fit the mood and the end of the book...so why not, right?
Date: 01 Feb 2010 03:07 Title: Chapter 3
Party in engineering!
So we meet the brothers ... who are appropriately brotherly. I hope Mark has a brotherly plan to get Chris back for badmouthing him in front of the captain, though.
So far, Hank seems like a little bit of a loose cannon. That promises to be entertaining. I only know him from the multiverse and he seems VERY different there, so I'm wondering exactly what kind of events await that could change him so. I'll have to keep reading!
Author's Response:
Hank came from humble beginning and as such, the way he is now isn't the way he will be-lots is gonna happen to him.
As for the brothers, its the one thing I've always wanted in Trek-a brother duo of some sort. Everytime their are brothers in trek one seems good while the other is evil; mine aren't this way at all, though Chris is a tad overbearing and cocky, he isn't evil.
Date: 01 Feb 2010 02:59 Title: Chapter 2
Love the descriptions of the Pearl. Sounds like a beautiful ship.
Also really liked the interactions between the Admirals. It's always fun when there's friction.
It ws good to learn more about Hank here, as well. He's quite young, and a little brash! It will be interesting to see how he develops.
Author's Response:
Yes, the Pearl is a beauty of a shif and the admirals are fracus all their own. As we'll see, Hank starts out brash and young, but by the end of the book he has himself a new view of things.
Date: 01 Feb 2010 02:51 Title: Chapter 1
A murder mystery! Interesting start.
I really loved these lines:
Hank could see that he didn’t like giving out unpleasant answers, which made him wonder how he ever made it to the rank of admiral in the first place. In Starfleet, there is always an unpleasant answer to give.
How true.
“Nothing,” Hank said as he got up and moved closer to the admiral, “I’d be doing absolutely nothing! There’s not a damn thing out there on the front lines to do anymore, and you know it. Space isn’t about the unknown anymore; it’s all about patrolling this, transporting that.” He grew quieter. “There’s nothing out there left to explore.”
I can see why he would feel that way. Space is so huge, but after a while, the technology holds you in a stagnant place if you can't make a breakthrough to go further than before. I can see why Enterprise-D-era people might feel like there was nothing left of the frontier and everything was politics.
Sounds like Hank is a bit of a dedicated drinker ... hopfully that won't be a problem for him.
Author's Response:
Yes, Chaper was filled with rather memorable lines.
Hank himself isn't much of a drinker...actually since he was in dock he figured what the hey. Glad you liked.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 23:26 Title: Chapter 30
Oooh ... ominious warning with war clouds forming. Good stuff and a way to end the first part of the story.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 23:20 Title: Chapter 29
At least he hopes. Talk about your mind games. These ellusive enemies are a deadly sort with the potential to try anything. Hank though may have made allies in his new roommates or possible impersonators. Yeah ... I know, I'm getting quite paranoid. Hee hee.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 23:14 Title: Chapter 27
Nice to catch up with DS9 after these years.Quark's is still doing business.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 23:07 Title: Chapter 26
Well this was the big scene that actually introduced me to the Pearl and Hank. It is tightly written and the novel approach of the captors is quite repulsive and damming for the captain if he falls for the ploy. Throwing her for a loop with his answer is a really neat twist of its own kind.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 22:16 Title: Chapter 1
Oh darn! Well actually, glad I haven't twigged it but still delighted that i was thinking on the same lines you had. Oh that's scary. But you know what they say about great minds, sometimes a fool like me happens to blunder acrossa similar thought to one of theirs. Hee hee. I guess I may keep on reading.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 22:03 Title: Chapter 25
Again, the introspection of the characters is impressive for the fact it doesn't seem to bog down the story. I like seeing the differeing reactions to the crisis and unfolding calamity. From docs leaving the service, to sweeping helmsmen and brooding tactical officers. It all is very good. But the very suspicious nature of me has a very sneaky suspicion about something. namely our deck thirteen survivors. Maybe the tragedy of the story and events is swaying a little at the end but I sort of thought they might be 'impersonators' [No? Maybe?]
Author's Response:
You sir have just revealed what could have been-I had strongly thought about making one of the deck 13 dead or survivors an imposter, but I came across a better solution.
Said solution is revealed in Book II-so you'll just have to keep reading till then. :)
Date: 13 Nov 2009 21:37 Title: Chapter 24
Again more good stuff. You are very adept at weaving in the introspective stuff and have matching dialogue at the same time.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 21:22 Title: Chapter 23
I like how you are handling the crisis and prolonging the coming to grips with the situation. Makes it all the more real to read and feel for the characters. And I particularly liked this little flashback scene we got. It was nicely judged in its placement.
Date: 13 Nov 2009 20:55 Title: Chapter 22
Quite a gruesome aftermath. Worst than the damage is the missing captain, the great mysteries that still abound and of course the devastation of New Haven. And Nick is now mad.
Date: 11 Nov 2009 06:47 Title: Chapter 30
I can't wait to see more of this story! I want to see the fight taken to the enemy--so hurry up and post more soon!
Ohhh, and my personal theory is, it could actually be really striking from the Cardassian perspective, to be approached with full disclosure. If you envision their world and government as having changed any since before the war, to be approached with trust on a matter like this might actually make a positive impression. I would see them as suspicious and distrustful...but it's possible that if you have more people like Nvrell around, that something positive could come out of this awful tragedy.
Date: 11 Nov 2009 06:43 Title: Chapter 29
That is really, REALLY horrible the way she intruded into his mind, and I'd say that qualifies as rape, for sure.
He's very right--at least, according to my own version of it--about the difference between this interrogation and a Cardassian one: I don't see the Cardassians as using mind-sifters and the like, the way Romulans do, or the nanoprobes these people do.
BTW...I am not trying to be crude, but in the time we didn't see, did she actually go as far with Hank as Vedek Tora did with AU Dukat? :-( Or was it simply the fact that he experienced a physical response to her presence that Hank stated he felt ashamed of, during the Round Robin?
Date: 11 Nov 2009 06:39 Title: Chapter 28
Wow, that admiral was a real dickhead at first. No matter how banged-up the Pearl was, he was so completely insensitive to what people who have come out of circumstances like that, that I wanted to punch him! I mean, come on--if this is 2384, that guy HAD to have served during the Dominion War and seen and experienced awful things of his own. So he has no excuse! I'm glad he eventually came around, but still. Major dickhead.
Date: 11 Nov 2009 06:35 Title: Chapter 27
Aha, so it IS that Barash! I was wondering about that before, when I saw that name, if it was the same person. I thought it was very interesting that you picked up on what happened to him after his being found on the Enterprise, and that seems very believable--though it's very fortunate that his species matured at a rate where 18 years under the care of human adults wasn't going to be a problem.
Date: 11 Nov 2009 06:31 Title: Chapter 26
Oh, man...remembering the comparison of Hank's experiences here to those that AU Dukat experienced with Vedek Tora, I knew this was going to be bad--but what a terrible thing to actually read about!
Date: 10 Nov 2009 19:56 Title: Chapter 21
I LOVE the "It's a FAAAAAKE!" reference!!! I also thought it was quite ironic Hekon was complaining about humans "violating" the body when in fact I am suspecting them of reanimating the bodies of the dead with the nanoprobes--I suspect they violated a Romulan and a Cardassian, and who knows how many others.
And the destruction of New Haven--WHOA. That did not happen the way I was expecting! It almost looks like a Borg or Krenim temporal weapon...
Date: 10 Nov 2009 19:50 Title: Chapter 18
A species THAT powerful, and yet to their minds the humans have somehow hurt them badly enough that they want revenge? That's a BAD mix indeed.
Date: 10 Nov 2009 19:40 Title: Chapter 15
Uh-oh...I think I have an idea where this might be going, based on the Round Robin.
Date: 10 Nov 2009 18:21 Title: Chapter 12
Man, I know it's easy for me because my stories predispose me to do so--but as much of a total jerk as that Cardassian commander was, I found myself feeling sorry for him, winding up that way. Even if he was a jerk...maybe he had family that wasn't, and for them to find out it all ended this way, dumped out unceremoniously on some Federation colony world without a proper funeral or even a semblance of respect--very sad.
The twist in the plot--I heartily approve! I can't wait to see if they catch the mole in their crew, and how they uncover the actions of the enemy. Though one that can do all of these things is very frightening indeed...
Date: 10 Nov 2009 18:10 Title: Chapter 10
How nice to meet Daren here after getting to know him so well in the Round Robin! I have to say, I can understand his cynicism towards the Federation, even though mine comes from a different perspective and different reasons.
Sadly for a moment, I had thoughts of what could be, if somehow humans and Cardassians could learn to live and work in close proximity without killing each other or even resenting each other all that much. But then I saw what planet we're on and I'm just hoping against all hope that the responsible parties won't be who I think. :-(
Date: 23 May 2009 14:36 Title: Chapter 21
Damn, indeed!
Hank called their bluff but it has gotten him in just as deep. Crikey. This story keeps takign us places I didn't expect.