Date: 09 Apr 2011 11:18 Title: Chapter 72
A poignant ending to a terrific story!
I thought the admiral pushed Seth too hard, given that the young man had already tarnished his reputation in the fleet and had his command pulled out from under him for six months in the proverbial penalty box. It’s not like Seth needed him to pile on the guilty, for pity’s sake!
And leaving the model behind was a nice way to subtly mark his territory, a little reminder to the acting captain and his crew that Darren Seth will be returning to Dragonfly.
Fantastic work on a complex, intriguing, and harrowing tale!
Author's Response: Yes, I think maybe the Admiral was even at a bit of fault for all of this, too, given that he may have pushed such young and inexperienced officers into command too early. Before writing this story, I basically asked myself 'what would happen if we put a young and cocky Picard into command at an early age? How would he have commanded, and what mistakes and hard lessons would he have had to go through to become the captain that he is?' That's basically how I came up with both Seth and Santiago. Obviously it didn't turn out well, but how else do they learn? Many, many thanks for reading the entire story and for reviewing every chapter! Your feedback has been invaluable, and I've already taken your comments and criticisms into account for my next story. I'm not sure what that is yet, but I love my characters so I really hope to come back to this series some day (maybe in something a little more bite-sized)!
Date: 09 Apr 2011 11:09 Title: Chapter 71
That was a touching scene, and despite the awkwardness of the situation, i think Seth handled it just right. Damn good advice he gave her, too.
Author's Response: Ah, young Ester. I like having a kid on my crew!
Date: 09 Apr 2011 10:29 Title: Chapter 68
A six-month relief of his command is a kick in the teeth to be sure, but Seth obviously needs time to get his head and heart straightened out after this fiasco.
The silver lining on this cloud is that he'll be getting Dragonfly back, and Commander Ariele to boot!
Author's Response: I think Seth and Ariele are a good captain/commander match. I also think it's nice that they're connected through a common friend.
Date: 09 Apr 2011 10:20 Title: Chapter 66
Whew! Not sure exactly what to make of the kisses, but Jenovia’s pep-talk was exactly what Seth needed to hear and precisely when he needed to hear it. The missions that end in medals and accolades are the easy ones. The ones that end in doubt and self-recrimination are the missions that wake a captain up in the middle of the night years later.
Author's Response: Seth has a lot to think about over the next little while; it's a good thing Jenovia will be around to help guide him.
Date: 09 Apr 2011 10:14 Title: Chapter 65
Oh, man. After nearly a century of service to Starfleet, the starship Excelsior is no more. I’m torn between wanting to congratulate Santiago for having the principles to stick with his decision and go down with his ship, and wanting to condemn him for cowardice for not living to face probable court-martial for his actions.
Either way, a great man and a great ship have been lost.
That was a brutal scene, and I thought Seth had actually convinced Santiago to relent and come back with him…
Author's Response: Santiago is not a bad guy...but he is head-strong and arrogant. I think Santiago realized that he made a mistake, and he's owning up to it (more or less). Seth is lucky enough to survive to learn from the mistake, but loses a friend in the process. And don't worry, the Excelsior is not really gone...just in my universe:)
Date: 05 Apr 2011 21:00 Title: Chapter 62
Not only does Commander Ariele make a miraculous reappeaance, but Min actually manages to drop one of the monsters with a 'simple' nerve pinch! Talk about the calvary arriving just in time!
Author's Response: I guess all of that Vulcan training is useful after all!
Date: 04 Apr 2011 05:56 Title: Chapter 61
Oh, man... Seth's just updated the Universal Standard Dictionary's entry for 'Having a Bad Day'...
Date: 26 Mar 2011 10:55 Title: Chapter 59
Ugh... that was a brutal fight, and kudos to Thorn for taking one for the team, literally! I only hope his heroics haven't taken him out of action for the duration, because Dragonfly is certainly going to need it's Chief of Security to make it through this mission.
Author's Response: I'm told Thorn is a favorite among my many characters. What DOES a scream from a Breen soldier sound like?!
Date: 25 Mar 2011 12:41 Title: Chapter 58
Ooof! I hope he gets out in time.
Date: 25 Mar 2011 12:07 Title: Chapter 56
Oh, damn. There will be no mercy shown by the Annecta, and Dragonfly is filled with numerous helpless wounded. Barring some unexpected miracle, Excelsior is truly doomed...
Date: 25 Mar 2011 12:01 Title: Chapter 55
Damn... this is one hell of a situation to be in. Santiago's on a suicide mission, and Seth's in a position where he has to help his friend carry out this terrible mission.
Date: 24 Jan 2011 23:29 Title: Chapter 53
It's crunch time, and the clock's running out for Excelsior. Fortunately for them, Seth and his crew are too stubborn to simply surrender to the inevitable.
Author's Response: Tick tick...tick tick...
Date: 14 Jan 2011 13:20 Title: Chapter 50
Take a bad situation. Sprinkle liberally with worse. Shake well. Add a pinch of worst-case-scenario, and bake at 450 degrees until All Hell Breaks Loose!!!
You're not big on the subtle, are you? ;-)
Author's Response: At least it makes it easy to review! Though you're probably running of ways to say 'wow, what a disaster.' Anyway, now it's time for Seth and the crew of the Dragonfly to step it up.
Date: 14 Jan 2011 12:39 Title: Chapter 49
Oh... goody. 'It' has really hit the proverbial fan now!
Date: 13 Jan 2011 13:20 Title: Chapter 48
Kudos to Dr. Min for a brilliant solution that may have saved Dragonfly from a fate similar to that of Excelsior.
Yup, things are going to get uglier for Santiago and his people, if that's even possible at this point.
Author's Response: Sorry I disappeared there for a while...I've been out of town for the whole month of December. Anyway, hope to get back into the thick of things and finish posting this story! For some reason, I didn't come up with the gene silencing idea until late in the game of writing this thing, but given what I set up about the transporting gene, it made perfect sense. But they're not out of the woods yet...
Date: 06 Dec 2010 23:40 Title: Chapter 47
I'll give Santiago this... the man knows how to go out in a blaze of glory!
Now it's become deeply personal for him, but he's correct... vengence is unbefitting a Starfleet captain.
It doesn't look like he's going to let that stop him, though.
Author's Response: At least Santiago knows it now. We'll see what's still in store for him...
Date: 06 Dec 2010 23:37 Title: Chapter 46
Holy crap! You're not pulling any punches, are you?
That was an intense scene, especially where they discovered the invisible spider-like creatures swarming them. Very unnerving.
I hope Ariele gets through this unscathed, but I've got a feeling that's asking too much...
Author's Response: Glad you're having fun with it! That was my sole intent for writing the story. Maybe I should have filed it under 'Horror' as well...
Date: 30 Nov 2010 17:13 Title: Chapter 45
The Annecta's opening attack was devastating and has nearly decapitated Excelsior's leadership.
Kudos to Ariele for stepping up and reminding Santiago of his place on the bridge in the middle of a crisis. Let's hope she doesn't end up like the others.
Author's Response: I'm with the medical assistant. I wouldn't want to go down there...
Date: 18 Nov 2010 12:16 Title: Chapter 44
Yeah... Excelsior's largely crippled already. A similar fate doubtless awaits Seth's ship unless he gets very clever, or especially lucky.
Author's Response: As a reader, I'm sure you've waited a long time for something to happen! I wanted the Annecta attack to have surprising ferocity...they've just been waiting for the right time. Thanks for reading!
Date: 18 Nov 2010 12:10 Title: Chapter 43
Well, the Annecta sure don't waste any time, do they? Now Seth's hand is being forced by Santiago's ill-advised actions. The behemoths in Excelsior's engine room are on the cusp of breaching the ship's warp core, and this battle has just barely begun.
Date: 10 Nov 2010 09:35 Title: Chapter 42
And *that* is the sound of the other shoe dropping.
Date: 10 Nov 2010 05:19 Title: Chapter 41
Yeesh, this is right out of a horror movie, but in a way Dr. Min and Captain Santiago have brought this on themselves. I envision that this is but the first of the ugliness to come.
Author's Response: Oh yeah, I'm not done with them yet:)
Date: 04 Nov 2010 11:43 Title: Chapter 40
Oh... hell. From the frying pan and right into the damn fire!
Author's Response: Yes. It begins.
Date: 02 Nov 2010 05:06 Title: Chapter 39
Interesting twist, I didn't see that coming. Now Seth feels he owes something to Santiago, which might come back to bite him later on.
Author's Response: At some point, Seth had to come to some sort of decision, and I think Ariele's argument was probably the most convincing (it was weird 'listening' to her as I wrote the chapter, as she began convincing ME!). She is probably the most level-headed out of all three of them. At the end of the day, right or wrong, every species fights for its own survival...and humanity is no different. I think Seth deserves a little credit for trying his very best to do what is right. But you're right, it could come and bite him back later on:)