It's hard to be the son of genius as Ashok has leared first hand.

He clearly followed his own path eventually, but the question remains, has it made him happy?

A great litte backstory to one of your less high-profile characters.

Author's Response:

Ashok's life is an unfortunate story of repeated themes.  'Failed' son of an engineering genius who has become a capable engineer, but definitely no Scotty.  Now, of course, he's chief engineer on a starship whose captain is twice the engineer he is.  Sandhurst doesn't rub it in his face, quite the contrary, but Ashok knows it to be the truth regardless. 

One love gained, another lost.

A terrific angle for a command story which makes our new captain's proudest day also one of regret. Very nice touch.

Also, a hint of a future love story, perhpas? After all, now that she's not his superior any longer, anything's possible, right?

Author's Response: Hi CeJay! Thanks so much for the review! McGregor is indeed - the love interest for my main character of Beth Riker in my Heritage series...

Sandhurst is a tortured soul all right and it must have been difficult for him to place this call.

It ends up being full of meaning which you bring across perfectly with the use of very few words.

Nicely done.

Author's Response:

Thanks CeJay.  I was aiming for brief but poignant.  Much obliged for the review.

Nice story.

I like how you weaved in the old (pre-TOS) with the new. A relationship between Pike and Number One is very plausible and so are the ambitions she shows here which to her are clearly more important than her relationship with Pike.

Nicely done.

Author's Response: Thanks! I'm glad you liked the story. I wanted to explain why Number One was missing from the movie (aside from the obvious, that Spock and Kirk wouldn't have been able to step up if she'd been there). Is her career more important to her than her relationship? Yes, but it's not like she hadn't tried and ultimately failed in sustaining both.

Oh, wow, missed this one somehow. Great little character vignette on one of Teseract's charming but also more tragic figures. Looks like the poor guy had it tough even in his early life.

Now I'm really hoping he's gonna get a break one of these days.

Author's Response:

Thanks for the review, CeJay.  John has had a tough life in some ways, but he's kept a pretty good attitude about it and he usually pulls through in the end.  I hope I give him a break one of these days, too!

Well I was right about this one being a tough read. And where I likened this to 9/11 before, the much more apt comparison is probably Katrina, especially considering the scenes of desperate survivors fighting for their lives and the cadets doing all they can to bring back a few more souls.

The contemporary feel of this future and of Starfleet makes the story even more effective. At times this does not feel like science fiction at all. This is no far removed tale taking place in the distant future were people and things can be beamed away in an instant, instead you immerse us in a world and a disaster most of us are familiar with at the very least via the images we've all seen on CNN and the movies. Albeit on a much more scary and devastating level.

The ending you chose was interesting and gave us no closure at all which I suppose is alright as you had already opened the story with the aftermath. What we get instead is a sense of the ongoing rescue effort which is going to take it's toll on these young cadets who like most other rescuers are likely going to continue their efforts until long after the point of exhaustion.

Very sad but also undeniably a very powerful story. Well done.

Not a great many answers here, except that we learn that the Federation did exist but does so no longer, it's demise likely connected to that of the human race.

Mr. Africa, besides having an awesome name, is quite the interesting character with an impressively unnatural lifespan.

And yet Kleg seems to be the one holding all the aces here. You known you're in trouble when a Ferengi suggests reviving the Federation.

Curious to see where this goes next.

Okay, that's a lot of build up to something. I'm hoping you're not letting us wait too long to find out about Kleg's amazing discovery.

I remember this story. And I remember the doctor from 'Buried History'. Her experience as a captive here helps to explain her relative coldness in that story.

And while Picard seems to have dealt with his own Cardassian torture much better something tells me that your doctor had much worse to endure than he ever did.

Author's Response:

As yes, you are probably one of the few who remembers her from Buried History [or read it LOL], but you do get a pretty good idea of who she is afterwards from that . Cold is certainly one word to describe her afterwards. This should explain more why she has such a difficulty relating to others. From Buried History you would have garnered some details of what she endured. Some details that hopefully will be explored and fleshed out here. Including her escape and the method of it all. But yes I do intend to put her through more than what Picard went through.

So the Cardassian's reasons fot this ordeal he's putting Ryan through become clearer. He's not after torture or merely breaking a Starfleet officer, he's after revenge for Cardassian was casualties.

As if things weren't bad enough!

Ordinary times on the Kestrel aren't quite so ordinary for a rookie ensign who at first look doesn't really seem to fit into this crew of 'unusual' characters.

I've said it before, the poor kid needs to get a break. He didn't get one here but maybe it's a first step into the right direction.

Author's Response:

hey thanks CeJay for reading. Yeah, Noah does get a little break here - a tiny weeny little one - or at least there's no McGregor around! Hopefully the sage words from Stan and co. will help him get things together. Look out for this again in the story proper when the time comes - but there'll be some extra stuff in it as this was pared down to fit the challenge entry. Really appreciate the reading and feedback.

Interesting look at Section 31's recruiting practices. If they make a habit of getting their personnel from brigs and prisons, it's hardly a wonder that they've become as cold and indifferent as they seem to be.

And the power they seem to have here, being able to wipe people's memories just to recruit a new member, is downright scary.

Author's Response:

Well thank you CeJay! Yes, Section 31 wields alot of power.