Excellent stuff Bry! When I first read this,I  loved the rush and thrust of the action. As someone who also writes for the Border Service I was very intrigued as to how you would approach and handle it.

Your appproach was simple and direct - lob it at them! And it works. We the readers are immediately propelled into the thick of the crew's fight for survival as they are ambushed. It all ticks along at a frantic pace, very breakneck and this is all very fitting to the chaos of the ambush. And then of course, this rush is suddenly quelled and we have the solemn ending. All very effective.

An interesting C.O. and any hopes of getting to know him better quickly dashed by the end of the story. But his little message was a weird but touching and mad forethought by the old dog. In your response at TrekBBS you said you wanted to make him not your typical Border Dog - though he is different I do think he shares certain unassailable attributes that make him a Border Dog - his foresight and practical and pragmatic message alone atests to it. Nevertheless, he is different too and the touch of religion and of course his alien nature only added to how unique he is.

Now for Letjin there is a legacy passed down to her from her CO. She now is to be the skipper and has the grave responsibilty of commanding the Albacore vessel. We shall see how she fares out. A great introduction to the crew. My only disappointments being the brevity and the lack of expansion on the characters. However, leaving your audience wanting more is often a good thing and of course I am happy knowing there are more stories to follow. P.S. Welcome to Ad Astra Bry and walk on over to the forums too.