Date: 29 May 2013 18:01 Title: XII. One
Wow! This is as much about Scotty's story as it is about Spock's rise to power! I must say I am becoming rather glued to each chapter and the possible outcome from all of this!
Author's Response: It is that.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:55 Title: XI. Betrayals
I really love these changing politics and loyalties, and how it is all so fragile! Intrigue at its best I say!
Author's Response: It is, at that.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:49 Title: X. Watchtowers
Why do I get the feeling that Scotty has totally misread the situation? I think the possibility that Spock may be making these crew changes is for a plan of good; i.e. reforming the Terran Empire, perhaps or even siding with the Rebellion. But I can fully understand Scotty's paranoia and how Scotty has been so used to believing that everyone who schemes is doing it for their own evil purposes, that Scotty has never considered that in this case, Spock might be acting for good reasons.
Fascinating developments!
Author's Response: Oh no. Scott knows exactly what's going on. He also knows that it conflicts with his own end game -- end the Empire. If not, then hurt it so badly others can. Spock wants to take it and reform it. Scott wants to end it.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:44 Title: IX. Patterns
Another one bites the dust, but this time by Kirk’s hand. You can’t blame Kirk for systematically eliminating everyone around Pike … it’s actually quite a brilliant strategy, especially with Pike in such a messed up state as he is (phaser overload burning half his body, nice work Kirk). I can’t blame Pike for taking out Kirk’s family either (or Scott doing it but he’s just a walking weapon, so maybe Kirk doesn’t blame him either). But there’s a lot of plotting and revenge here and Scott sees an opportunity to do greater things.
Through Kirk, he’ll be able to help end the Empire faster. Once Kirk gets command it’s simply a matter of time before Scott makes his play (as we see in the other chapters) and so, with little debate, Scott does the smart thing, the efficient thing, and joins with Kirk.
I wonder if Kirk is going to end Pike with the Tantalus Field. I wonder if that’s the real endgame here for Kirk or if he’s going to do the deed himself. It wouldn’t surprise me either way, really.
Favorite moment of the chapter had to be when Kirk just waltzed right around the dead body. No big deal, no thing, the deed was done and he was satisfied.
Author's Response: I grew shockingly fond of Jim in this universe. He's bright and passionate, and shockingly idealistic. And he becomes the single only ally Scott ever made, again in part because of what Pike put him through. This Jim is surprisingly compassionate.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:36 Title: VIII. Vanish
Oh, Scott, you have a heart still! I know, maybe I’m reading into this, maybe it’s just me wanting Andy’s sacrifice to have revived some little bit of Scott, but here Scott is doing exactly what David wished he could for his own son: he’s getting McCoy out of Starfleet, sending him to the rebellion to be with his daughter. This was a nice move by Scott. The message about Joanna was for her to disappear. That would lead her father out there to come find her, to come after her, as Scott had to have known McCoy would: he’d been studying him for so long it must have been an easy conclusion to draw, right?
Maybe I’m making too much of this but I can’t believe Scott didn’t plan for it. He had to have planned for it. He knew what McCoy would do and he knew what he had to do to give the man the final push he needed to get out. Bones is going to find there’s a lot more family history for him in the Rebellion than there ever was in Starfleet. Scott has done his good deed and looked damn scary doing it, but it’s done. Now, the endgame has to be afoot … the Enterprise is where things are going down I feel.
Author's Response: Nailed it. Part Andy, part the primeverse. He did plan it, he knew how it would go down, though he didn't know the exact timing. Hopefully before his end game.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:35 Title: IX. Patterns
As I suspected Scotty does pick sides when push comes to shove, and while this jumping back and forth in time is a little confusing, if you can remember it all then it is one great story. What's clever about this is how each scene develops Scotty in a linear fashion but the chronology is non-linear, so that is a snazzy bit of writing on your part!
Author's Response: Thank you; the back and forth is quite intentional. And the last pieces lead back to the first.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:30 Title: VIII. Vanish
Looks like Scotty finally managed to leave the Enterprise and is back with the Rebellion! Full circle and already, though this is a small story, it covers quite a lot and is rather gripping!
Author's Response: Not quite. But a good guess.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:29 Title: VII. Wraith
And so we see the end of Number One. She was Betazoid, that makes sense, and she was Pikes lover, which also made sense. I was wondering where Scott was when he let those people go and he was on Betazed, sadly being laid to waste by the Empire because they were “a threat.” That had to have been tough for Number One to swallow but it she faced the ultimate consequences with dignity.
Pike himself was pretty much a badass here. He knew what she did, knew how she had to be made an example of, and took care of it himself. Ultimately, that’s what it boils down to in this universe … you have to take care of the ones you love at the end. Don’t let monsters like George Kirk do it. Just take care of the ones you love by your own hand.
The interweaving plotlines with the Kirks and McCoys are just great stuff. I love it and enjoy it to no end. Scott killing Sam and George Kirk, then later Kirk transferring aboard to take revenge, as Pike had taken revenge on his family, was just poetic. I know Scott has to be involved with Kirk more … can’t wait to see how.
Author's Response: Kirk is the only person Scott ever allies with. Jim Kirk, that is. If you can stomach it, Shards, Loyalties and Morning all explain why. Pike killed something in himself, when he killed Number One.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:26 Title: VII. Wraith
And that's the problem with bumping off all those people, you make enemies and whilst in the short-term it may keep you alive, in the long term... I really don't know how Scotty has made it through for almost thirty years of serving Starfleet. He did not get caught that helps a great deal, but still, he must be very good at working out which side to pick. Or maybe he gives the impression that he is on no ones side and thus it doesn't matter who is in charge for Scotty will serve them. Clever Scotty!
Author's Response: You got it right on the last point. He has no loyalties, he always follows orders. He does take carefully calculated risks; Number One was one of them. But he looks unassailable. He has no ambition, no greed, no vices. He's a machine, for the most part.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:18 Title: VI. Waiting
And so the two meet, Spock and Scott. I get the sense both are working towards the same goal (if we assume Mirror Spock took Prime Kirk’s words to heart) of bringing down the Empire. But Spock doesn’t know if he can trust Scott and Scott certainly has no indications that Spock is thinking of the same goal as he is. The two are operating with the same idea but are independent of one another.
That’s probably a good thing as seeing if one goes down the other will be completely free of blame. No doubt Spock wanted to come out and say it, right then, what he was planning to do. He obviously was leading up to that, asking Scott on his opinion on the other universe, but predictably Scott had none.
Scott is efficient and it’s inefficient to waste time thinking about a universe you can’t go back to and that can’t help you. These two are the most efficient, logical beings left in the fleet in their own way but Scott is pro at trusting his instincts, well honed I might say, then Spock is at trusting his. Spock’s instincts almost made him take a chance here.
The most disturbing thing about this chapter? Spock in command gold. Man, that’s hard for me to see.
Author's Response: This is a favorite chapter of a lot of people. They are working... at cross-goals, I think, something similar but not quite parallel. Scott means to destroy the Empire. Spock means to tame and reform it. Similar, but not the same.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:17 Title: VI. Waiting
Stalemate again! Scotty must be very good at hiding his true intentions if he can, again and again, keep fooling Spock or not give enough for Spock to suspect he is a traitor. Clever, very clever...
Author's Response: He's been honing that ability since he was captured and shattered, so he is quite good, yes. XD
Date: 29 May 2013 17:12 Title: V. Grace
So I guess McCoy went on a rampage bumping off various members of the crew? So is this perhaps McCoy's attempt at bringing some humanity into Scotty after the engineer had been conditioned (by Kirk) into this uncaring person who would kill anyone to stay alive?
Author's Response: Not quite. David was dying anyway; he chose to have Scott be the one who ends him before the disease he has kills him, thus placing Scott further away from suspicion as a rebel.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:07 Title: V. Grace
And so ends David McCoy. I’m sure you told me about this before or perhaps I read it, but this scene seemed very familiar to me. It seems Scott’s fate in life to kill those who care about him most (wow, what a thought … how horrible that has to be) but clearly David did care. He just did what he had to help end the Empire and sacrificing what was left of Scott to make him into that walking weapon was just what he needed to do. It’s what he had to do.
The regret written here in David’s words, about his son and how much he missed of his life and what he will miss of his life to come, is sad. Despite David saying he has many regrets clear he has a few that hurt more than others. He did his best with what he had but letting his son get sucked into the Empire and turning Scott into that walking weapon are two of the deeper regrets.
Scott here operates as cold and efficiently as ever. I was hoping to see just a flicker of something but Scott’s ultimate move was his only move: complete the objective set before him and in this case that was ending David McCoy. This is before Andy has revived just a little of that humanity left in him it seems.
It’s a sad way for David McCoy to go but it’s a preferred method, especially since he’s dying anyway.
Author's Response: He doesn't give anything away, that Scott. And this takes place close to the first part of One Minute, though after it, so not quite yet. David was the one who fixed his hands after he'd been flashing back and tore them to pieces on the wall.
Date: 29 May 2013 17:07 Title: IV. By the Numbers
Gosh, such patience and dedication on Scotty's part is incredible. From ensuring his engineering crew don't suspect anything, to playing these psychological guessing games with Spock and relying on the Vulcan captain not to trust his gut instinct, to booby trapping his own quarters and encoding information on a toothpick! Either Scotty is one of those megalomaniacs who plan their evil schemes for years, or a man who has suffered a lot and has been carefully planning out his revenge.
I'm surprised how engaging this story is, especially to someone who barely knows TOS and is even less familiar with mirror TOS (though I am familiar with the MU thanks to DS9), and the best bit about it is that you don't go too overboard with the desperate situation or become too melodramatic. I can sense some clear restraint here and it makes the whole situation far more realistic, or as realistic as the mirror universe can be!
Author's Response: He is... what he is. I've never been able to describe him. He is patient and methodical, he is brilliant, and he has spent thirty years planning what he eventually sets into motion. One tiny piece at a time.
Date: 29 May 2013 16:58 Title: III. Merciless
Mirror Kirk sure is one sick psycho, so it turns out Scotty's girlfriend and children did survive the destruction of that ship, and then Kirk tracked them down.
Well that explains Scotty's defiance, it was all out of hope that his family would successfully escape and Kirk -- being this guy who removes all hope from people -- finally got a confession out of Scotty.
Having said that, I think McCoy is being too hard on himself, by telling Scotty the truth McCoy risked an awful lot; indeed Scotty could have spilled the beans. So I think McCoy has more courage than he is prepared to admit, and his situation half reminds me of one of Kira's contacts in the Bajoran resistance; Trentin Fala, the woman who provided secret information about the Cardassians to the Shakaar resistance cell, and she was constantly afraid of being caught.
I'm not sure if McCoy is constantly afraid of being caught, but there do seem to be some parallels.
One more thing, I'm coming to quickly realise that in the mirror universe, all the decent and good people in it are the ones who -- when captured by the Terran Empire -- are tortured until there is nothing left in them; no hope, nothing. It's almost like it pays to be evil if you want to get anywhere in life...
Author's Response: Not quite on the last point. David McCoy wasn't a bad man, though I don't know if you could call him a good one. Even George Kirk believed what he was doing was to protect the Empire, and everything therein, including his own two sons. Jim Kirk, later, is capable of terrible deeds. But also capable of deep kindness. Leonard McCoy is a genuinely good man, here or in the regular universe, but in this one the pain and lies get to him so bad he hides in a bottle.
In the end, they're all people.
Well, except maybe Scott. He's a killer, through and through.
Date: 29 May 2013 16:57 Title: IV. By the Numbers
Mirror Scott and his various sparse living quarters, traps and all. There were a number of really nice nods in this chapter, but the one that made me go “Oh, man,†was Andy. Oh, poor Andy. Scott ended him in a mercy killing and that had to be the man he was referring to. I’m saddened Scott doesn’t really call him by name but maybe that’s his own way of not dealing with the pain. I don’t know, as Andy’s feelings were stronger than Scott’s were and Scott never really reciprocated, but then he really did in other ways … I don’t know. But it made me all sad to remember Andy here and to see Scott remembers him too.
Scott’s toothpick is finally explained here, something that was referenced often in Andy’s tale, and now we finally know what that’s all about: ingenious, I must say, and again this is why he’s Scotty. That’s the mind of brilliance working and I really liked his thoughts on the good engineers, the ones who just wanted to do their jobs.
Scott has a big connection with the McCoy family here, from David to Leonard and now Joanna. What does it all mean? What did Joanna do to him or for him? Questions, questions … all the while Scott’s endgame is playing out. I expect this to get very interesting. Â
Author's Response: Later on, go read 'One' again and look at the program name he gives. I once said that everything in him before 2239 belonged to Jenna. But whatever was left as a human heart in the man belonged to Andy to the very end. As to Leonard and Joanna? Mercy, I think.
Date: 29 May 2013 16:47 Title: III. Merciless
Gods, that was rough. Whatever happened was bad. The details sketched out by George Kirk, about what happened to the Bach, was pretty cut and dry. Their ship got cornered, they couldn’t escape, they self-destructed. George Kirk is a nasty piece of work, a man who takes his job seriously and takes pleasure from it. He’s not a nice man at all … but then, who really is in the Mirror universe. At any rate, it was good to see David McCoy here and it was a nice reference back to Scott’s last line of dialogue to McCoy in the previous chapter.
That’s how he knew David McCoy was a good man. Scott got the crud beat out of him and Jenna was used to break him. I hope she herself wasn’t hurt too badly but knowing George Kirk from what we see of him here, I bet she was hurt in some way. Whatever the case, Scott made a sacrifice here. But David McCoy stepped in and saved him it seems. Taught him how to be as cold and efficient as we see Scott later on.
It’s a tough job, working from the inside and trying to bring down the Empire from there. You have to do a lot of ugly things to get better results … or hopefully better results. We see a glimpse of Mirror Scott became what he is here. And it was a rough glimpse indeed.
Author's Response: ...not quite. Ci Bach survived. Their children survived. Jenna survived. What George Kirk did was far worse than killing her, you can't break a Scott that way. It woulda hurt horribly, but he would have had at least the knowledge she died with her boots on. No, he took her into the next room, and he raped her, and he tortured her, and he made sure Scott could hear it. And that was why he was trying to literally claw his way through the wall in One Minute, until it finally broke him. As for Jenna, she's still wearing the scars in the last part of the story.
Date: 29 May 2013 16:42 Title: II. The Art of War
So typical of the mirror universe, nearly everyone is beyond redemption except for Scotty and McCoy perhaps. I also like the brief reference about Scotty regretting the last time last he got drunk, which was when he was seventeen, and is I think on the day when his girlfriend and two children were killed?
Depressing but riveting stuff.
Author's Response: Not quite beyond redemption, but it would take something neither Scott nor McCoy has to bring it about.
Date: 29 May 2013 16:36 Title: II. The Art of War
And we fast forward a bit to find Mirror Scott, in service aboard the Enterprise, under Spock’s command. We briefly meet Collins who I knew was going to die within the first three sentences. The dude was primed and ready to make an idiotic move and did he ever make one, killing himself by trying to kill Scott. That was unwise. The way Scotty just handled that guy, without any sort of hesitation, was priceless.
Well, at least in terms of figurative speech. In terms of what that cold efficiency cost Scott, it cost him something dear. He hints at it with his interactions with McCoy, who himself here is a wreck like most of the Mirror universe. McCoy has turned himself into a drunkard, an amusing and even more cantankerous version of the prime one, but he’s a sad man. Tired of writing letters, tired of telling lies and by and large Scott seems to have a bit of sympathy for him. These two and their interactions were my favorite part of the chapter overall.
But, the point here is that Scott sacrificed something greatly the last time he drank. Something bad happened the last time he drank. I don’t know, I can’t tell you for sure if it means Jenna and the kids suffered, but whatever it was it taught Scott a hard lesson.
Author's Response: Not quite, with the drinking. He was caught when he was seventeen, but he was dead sober when it happened -- he'd had a few drinks when he had his birthday, but when else would he have time to drink? And, of course, after George Kirk finishes with him, he never touches the stuff again because he needs his reflexes.
Date: 29 May 2013 16:15 Title: I. All Through the Night
Man, what an introduction to a very young Mirror Scott. I’m already clued on what happens to him down the line in some parts and in some ways, so reading this is like getting a glance back at the ghost Andy was talking about. Scott here had a heart, a big one, and his life is noticeably different than his primeverse counterpart. After all, the Empire is here and they’ve made life hell for the rebels.
But there are some constants in any universe and when it comes to Scotty, either Prime or Mirror, he’s two things: a brilliant engineering and one of the kindest human beings you’ll ever come across. Here, we see Mirror Scott functioning as an adult, at seventeen of all things (I’m still trying to figure it out and I’m in my 20s!) raising two younglings in space while trying to build a warp drive from scratch. Scotty is nothing if not an individual who rises to the challenge and he’s got a big one here.
Still, he’s so happy and it’s so sweet the way he deals with the kids. He cares for them greatly, loves them dearly, and loves Jenna just as much if not more. They’re a young brood, a young family operating in dangerous parts of space, but they’re together. I know this can’t possibly end well, based on how Mirror Scott turns out, but I hope they’re a chance at the end that Mirror Scott can find this feeling again.
My favorite part of the chapter (and there’s a lot of really good parts here) is when Scott talks about the orphanages and how the children there just become like shadows. This could be just me reading into it or maybe you mean to do it, but that’s exactly what Scott becomes later … a shadow. I wonder if it was intentional but whatever the case, it stood out to me. Moving on.
Author's Response: He's a lot different than the NV!Scotty at that age; this one had Cait's attention and love, had Robert's attention and love, even peripherally had Jay McMillan's. He knew who his biological father was. And that solid foundation gave him something the other Scotty, AotW!Scotty just couldn't have -- a safe bedrock to stand on. I've always been utterly fascinated on the nature v. nurture study of the two.
Date: 28 May 2013 22:59 Title: I. All Through the Night
Being not all that familiar with TOS Scotty a figure MU Scotty would be a good place to start and gosh is the mirror universe a harrowing one! Scotty is only seventeen but he has a girlfriend and two children! What a crazy life but it does make for a good read.
Author's Response: "Childhood was a short period in the rebellion." He made it good despite the odds, here. A real, ugly shame he couldn't keep it, too.
Date: 18 Sep 2012 06:36 Title: I. All Through the Night
This is so striking. The idea of lost souls coming together and clinging to each other appeals to me, and I find this characterization of Scotty in the middle of all that so realistic. I'm sad about the cliffhanger at the end, though.
Author's Response: No worries about it being a cliff-hanger -- it's a multichapter work. <3 Thanks so much! The Mirror!Scott has always been a tragedy, if nothing else.
Date: 07 May 2009 20:17 Title: XV. The Future
Just a further note to add for the benefit of future readers. Maybe it is just me but I really bougt into the character and others. This story made the mirror universe not a caricature but a living breathing universe inhabitated by conflicting persons, vying motivations, lesser and better morals, good and bad. Not pantomime characters. People with a real story to tell.
On top of which, absolutely bloody great mind games and the best climax to a story I've read. Ever, ever. Like I say, I probably bought into more than others would. But the exploration of this universe seemed valid and worthy and this was an awesome and honest attempt to do so.
It delievered in spades. So many great moments and even in this the epilogue of sorts, a scene is presented that offers something for the future.
If you haven't read and still need convincing just READ IT!
[Report This]Date: 07 May 2009 20:07 Title: XIV. Finality
Ok. So the house is sparkling. Well hoovered at least. And it got a fair ole hoovering too. Ok so not fitting with the review of this chapter, with this story at all. Anyone else at this point, having read it knows fine well that this is mind blowing stuff. Let's add that to the actual review points. Mind blowing. Writing about hoovering may seem out of place. But it's not. You see, I had to go off and think about all of this. I really did. So let's add thought provoking to the review bullets. I really had to go off and dwell over matters. I had to consider everything Scott had done up to this point and his final execution of it all. One moment indeed.
We have here the culmination of everything. We see here why Scott was so silent, so willing to hold his tongue, to trust to himself only, the patience he had in carrying out this plan allowing this moment to come, waiting and biding his time. And of course then, the skill with which he managed to pull it off.
It was ... words do fail. But on the writer's part it shows an absolute crafting of the tale, a honing of the details and the characters. You definitely agonised over writing this. It has the hallmarks of being pared down to the very essential the absolute mark. It is truly skilled, amazing and thrilling writing.
We expected a big climax. We expected Scott was up to something all along but he wouldn't share it with us. You had to consider carefully what it was he planned to do. Was he making an alliance with Spock? Did he want Spock to become Emperor? You tried to get inside his head. And yet it was so frustrating because we got so many insights of his internal working ons but always hidden from his objective. His purpose.
The pay off here is just beautiful. Scotty's execution of his plan is mirrored by the execution of the story and the drama by the writer. Where others might fill pages with verbal tirades exchanged between Scott and Spock, no you don't do that. You remain true to their essential being. You do not melodramatise the event. You let it be. The emotion and the reprecussions play off for themselves.
The entire story just fits together. It becomes a whole. One is amazed and awed by the story telling of it as well as shocked to the core by the lengths, the patience, the planning, execution and the 'sheer f***ery' of Scott's actions.
Amazing. Really and truly. Thank you Steff for this story. It will stay with me. As a character profile. As an example of supreme craftmanship/authorship and story telling.
Author's Response: I'm honored. Plotting has never been my strong point -- I tend to mostly focus on characterization and writer character-driven stories. So, that I was able to weave a good, solid plot here makes me happy. It was originally written on a slight lark -- I was wondering how Scott and Spock would measure up, if you removed Scott's gentle good-nature and left behind his sheer intelligence. I don't know if I found that answer, but I did find a lot of other things. Thank you very much for taking the time to read it, and to comment on it.
Date: 07 May 2009 19:07 Title: XIV. Finality
Am going to have to go hoover and think before I can post an actual review. That was ... I dunno. But everyone, everyone should read it.
Author's Response: Go ahead and breathe. ;-) Looking forward to the percolated thoughts.