Date: 01 Aug 2010 04:09 Title: Chapter Five - Part Four
The mystery deepens. Could they all be authentic? Could the naiskos recovered the the Crux Arm be temporally displaced somehow? Stranger and stranger.
Also, a very poignant look at the Picard Estate, well done.
Date: 30 Jul 2010 05:49 Title: Chapter Five - Part Three
Curiouser and curiouser… a token of her experiences in Nemesis, perhaps? Someone’s gone to a great deal of trouble to bring her here, so is she supposed to be an active participant in the solving of a mystery, or bait to attract the presence of someone else?
Date: 30 Jul 2010 05:18 Title: Chapter Five - Part Two
Hmm. More of the mystery is afoot. Destra handled that well, especially given the delicacy of the circumstances.
Date: 04 May 2010 21:12 Title: Chapter Five - Part Four
Hmmmm that key sounds an awful lot like the one Cassidy wears around her neck. Conspiracies and subterfuge from the most unlikely sources. You have my undivided attention!
Author's Response: I'm glad! I hope to have Chap 6 up soon. As for the key? Huh... ;) :D
Date: 04 May 2010 20:57 Title: Fifth Interlude
Great expression of emotions. Will's anger at his father for not spending time with him rings so true. Very sweet to see his realization that he is a better father to his children than his father was to him. I love how you handle these dialoges, they are beautifuly written.
Author's Response: Thanks Strike10. It's one thing about Riker's personal history that I always wanted to know more about - but since the show didn't really give us more, I had to think it up for myself. I only hope that the emotions are perceived as being true-to-character. I can't thank you enough for reading!
Date: 04 May 2010 19:24 Title: Fifth Interlude
I really love these interlude scenes...they provide wonderful background yet they aren't jarring at all. :-)
Author's Response: I wrote that two ways - once from Riker's POV and the other from Bill's. I had the gang over at the OS vote as to which version I should use and I'm glad they all chose this one. It rings truer to the feel of the book - which is supposedly "Bill's." Since Book Three is really written from Riker's perspective for the most part - this scene definitely belonged to Bill.
Date: 04 May 2010 19:21 Title: Chapter Five - Part Four
I see...Thierry is a plain, simple vintner the way Garak is a plain, simple tailor. ;-)
Author's Response: Well - you know those types that like to work with their hands. Their minds are usually working overtime too!
Date: 25 Mar 2010 09:21 Title: Chapter Five - Part Three
What has Deanna gotten herself into now? Such a strange turn of events...something very odd is going on here.
Author's Response: Poor Deanna...And yes tf - something VERY odd is going on here...And trust me when I say - Deanna won't like it at all...
Date: 25 Mar 2010 09:16 Title: Chapter Five - Part Two
Destra should get some sort of award for handling Laura as well as she did...the situation is stressful for all parties. Though, one must wonder, why it took the computer so long to pull up the info? A plant?
Hmm...
Another cool chapter Terilynn.
Author's Response: Destra is more than just a pro.... :) That's all I will say for now. ;)
Date: 25 Mar 2010 09:13 Title: Chapter Five - Part One
Well, well...seems as though the Thrainn have Starfleet in quite a pickle. Developing new tech to take down the new defenses of the fleet...hmm...
And of course, Bill is still very much his father. Even in sickbay his charms never cease to work. ;)
Cool chapter terilynn.
Author's Response: Bill IS his father in that way - I know I never really wrote specifically about it with Beth - but she is too! She was quite the player before she was promoted to the Panther! (HA!) I know I make mention of it from time to time, but there is an unwritten scene where Beth and her two best friends run into her parents on Risa. Beth is already on the prowl and her parents' presence does nothing to stop her from seeking out her "play time." Bill is the same way - he'll just be more like Riker in that he'll have to age more before he's willing to settle down. As for the Thraiin...well - you'll see. Pickle is putting mildly... Thanks for the comment!
Date: 24 Mar 2010 21:36 Title: Chapter Five - Part Three
Yikes...she sure is in a bad spot!!!
VERY glad to see you writing again! Hope all is OK with you!!!!
Author's Response: NG - It's been so rough. 3 pages last night were a miracle for me. I'm hoping to write more, but we'll see. RL has been busier than I have ever imagined it could be. There's still a little tale about a small girl and a Cardassian man that I really want to move on...
Date: 11 Dec 2009 08:43 Title: Chapter Five - Part Two
Hmmmmm the plot thickens! And by the way I look at your chapters like potato chips.....no one can eat just one....hint hint!
Date: 10 Dec 2009 22:39 Title: Chapter Five - Part Two
Sorry that I don't have a whole lot to say to this chapter, but I DO think it's quite amusing to hear a telepath say she wants to hear herself think aloud. ;-)
Author's Response: So did I! LOL!
Date: 10 Dec 2009 22:36 Title: Chapter Five - Part One
Wow, Beth DOES have a mean right hook...
Awwww, Dr. Lio!!! I love this guy already--I can say my Istep and Hetalc would approve of him! Even in that tiny interaction, you can definitely see his dedication to saving lives and how much it affects him when he loses a patient. Yet that he could come off of that and quickly be ready to help smooth things over for Bill...it says a lot. I think he and Gul Berat would get along well indeed. :-)
I forgot, how was it Bill knew Destra?
Ohhh, and have we ever seen a Tellarite woman before, on the series? How do you picture them looking?
BTW, you wrote "Wolf" in one place where you meant Worf. Though I'm sure Scotty would be flattered... ;)
Author's Response: Oooh - I'll have to go back and fix that - thanks! Wolf. *rolleyes* Yeah - Beth and Bill had a full-on knock-down-drag-out after Lwaxana's funeral. Beth can be a really mean drunk and Bill's no slouch when it comes to being able to pack the drinks away and get stupid either. The two of them merely needed to grease the pan before allowing themselves the excuse to forgive each other...and taking a tip from TNG's "The Icarus Factor" the Riker clan tend to "air out their differences" using conflict - much to Deanna's dismay. Lio is one of my favorite characters to write. I introduced him in a flashback in Book One and he quickly became someone I cared deeply about. He's a physician through and though. He and McGregor have a great relationship. He really appreciates a smart-alecky sense of humor which is why he liked Beth so much. I wrote him to be simply the best battlefield surgeon you'd ever see. Bill just met Destra on the Panther - he had a hard time controlling his attraction to her - but then again, Bill tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve. And re the Tellarite - that's exactly why I wrote her as a female. I had never seen or heard of one before. I imagine them to be similar to the males - porcine noses, hair-covered but maybe just a bit less stocky. Pear-shaped maybe, but not portly. Considering they're founding members of the Federation - I try to get more of them (along with Andorians) into my stories.
Date: 18 Nov 2009 02:28 Title: Chapter Five - Part One
Ha! Given everything that's happened and the crisis that looms in their midst, Bill still finds time to flirt! The Thraiin certainly pack a vicious punch, most especially when they're unexpected.
Author's Response: Oh yeah - that's the other thing Bill inherits from Will. Sex-drive. He loves the ladies. All of 'em.
Date: 18 Nov 2009 02:20 Title: Interlude IV
Cassidy's dark day, this time from Bill's perspective. A harrowing scenario for any crew, made all the more so by the fact that civilian children were thrust into the fray.
Perhaps this is when something within Cassidy broke, a precursor to what we know will come to pass with her.
Dark, gritty, troubling, damn fine story-telling!
Author's Response: Thanks so much! This was indeed the very first time that the children were really caught in the fray. Beth was off-ship of course, and Cassidy's fierce-heartedness makes Beth's look like pussy-footing. It's her best and worst quality, and this day does indeed change her life forever. It also changes the entire Riker family - although they don't know that yet and it's the reflection on that day so many years later that Bill realizes that it may have been the day that allowed something in his little sister to break - leading her to a life...so very different from his own.
Date: 18 Nov 2009 02:03 Title: Chapter Four
A well executed ambush and Lorax enlists the aid of an unwitting ally in his scheme even as he passes over. Wow... things just got very tense very quickly!
Author's Response: Dead Denobulan. It took me 4 months to kill him off. Even named a drink after him.
Date: 18 Nov 2009 01:43 Title: Interlude III
A sweet, life-changing moment in Bill's life as he prepares to strike out into the universe on his own. Very nicely portrayed.
Author's Response: Thanks! I was hoping I could do an interlude which would reflect that while Bill is very much his mother's son - he did inherit something from Riker...music seemed the best fit for him.
Date: 15 Nov 2009 03:20 Title: Chapter Three - Part Two
What a way to get bad news. :-( Beth, Bill and Tristan all together to get the word from Worf. And now due to her family ties, Beth is pulled out of any potential rescue attempts as surely as Will has been.
Deanna's in trouble, but it looks as though she's in the clutches of the Romulan's own version of Section 31. Tough to say how much danger she's in, but who knows how honest they're being with her about their intentions?
Any time Starfleet Intelligence is involved, the stakes increase dramatically, and the potential for things going completely sideways does as well.
Great chapter!
Author's Response: Thanks Sam! Deanna's a tough cookie, you know she'll be all right. *grins & laughs*
Date: 14 Nov 2009 21:07 Title: Chapter Five - Part One
Glad to see you and Bill are getting past your differences! Love the dialoge between Dr. Destra and Bill....looks promising. Seems like Laura is looking to place a little blame in Bill's direction...hmmmm. Was also glad to see Strider made it through safe and sound, nothing like a Labrador to make you smile (I grew up with Labs and German Shorthair Pointers so I have a soft spot for them). Keep up the good work, looking forward to more, please! (Oh no, I'm starting to sound like Oliver Twist!)
Author's Response: Laura has never been exposed to Starfleet life (and especially not a defense ship) before. She's the ultimate civilian - someone who just wants to do her job, do it well and help others. She was rather clueless when it comes to thinking about how Starfleet protects that way of life for her and the lesson was taught to her in the most devastating way possible - actually having someone save her life directly. Lorax may not have been a saint, but he still did his duty as a Starfleet officer and Laura may never know about his crime. We'll see. ;) But she and Bill will make amends...you'll see.
Date: 14 Nov 2009 02:23 Title: Chapter Three - Part One
Sinister actions aboard the Panther, and someone's making trouble already for our heroes. And now Worf's involved? One wonders how galaxy-spanning this chain of events could become?
Author's Response: Stay tuned... :)
Date: 14 Nov 2009 02:21 Title: Interlude II
We've known since the first book that Beth and Bill had a terrible falling out that lasted years, but here we get our first glimpse of what caused that breach and the painful cost of sealing the rift.
Only you could make a fist-fight into a touching family moment! ;-D
Author's Response: Well considering the years of animosity built up between the two - the fact that they are still twins - and taking a clue from the TNG episode "The Icarus Factor" where Riker is faced with his loser father who abandoned him at 15 - who also "take it to the mats" so to speak, I couldn't help but let Beth get a good right hook in on him. :) Thanks so much for the compliment! :)
Date: 09 Nov 2009 09:38 Title: Interlude IV
Oh, no! I knew, based on our conversations during the Round Robin, that Lieutenant Reet was going to die, but that didn't make it any easier to read. :-(
And of course the coldness this brought to Cassidy--a real tragedy in its own right.
A couple of spelling nits. Did you mean "Ops" with a P? Also...I'm curious, which is Reet's first name--"Zhath" as here, or "Pennah" as in the Round Robin?
Author's Response: Hey NG - I'm back and can't thank you enough for the reviews. It's Obs - as in Observation Lounge. And I used Zhath here and forgot. :o
Date: 09 Nov 2009 09:33 Title: Chapter Four
This chapter had an interesting start--I always wondered what happened if Betazoids accidentally broadcast their thoughts. I have to say, if I were in Bill's situation and if I were in Inari's position, I'd be quite uncomfortable.
You've also got me curious about Inari's heritage. The ridges you describe sound almost Romulan, but I'm not exactly sure...
And this, of course, is not a good sign for the safety of the spy's message, now that we have a courier who has no clue of the value (at least, I'm assuming this has a lot of value) of what she has, nor of what sorts of forces might be after the information she's carrying or who all's covers might end up being blown if she fouls up.
Author's Response: Bill is so comfortable with his Betazoid heritage (quite the opposite of his sister Beth) that he never really does keep a guard up. In Betazoid society it's considered almost rude to do so (amongst themselves of course - that societal pressure is never placed on another species.) So Bill always "broadcasts" his thoughts. Inari merely picked up on them. Since she is also only part Betazoid there becomes a certain sensitivity to those of mixed-race heritage to assure that they weren't raised in a different fashion. I wanted it to be clear here that Bill and Inari were both comfortable with their telepathic skills. As far as Inari's other races - that's revealed in Chapter Five, Part One. And for the courier...Laura is indeed a very unfortunate soul. This was her first experience in battle and even though the spy sets her up, he still saved her life. She only knows him to be the perfect Starfleet officer.
Date: 17 Oct 2009 18:38 Title: Inspirations
Well the strength of your writing has brought my to my first review here. I find this and your other works, ok riviting is the only word that works for me! You portray the canon characters with mastery, and your original characters with a depth that flows flawlessly from there, dare I say "Heritage". I am looking forward to the rest of Book II and also Books III and IV. I hope it won't be too long, but it is always worth the wait! Stellar work!
Author's Response: You have granted me no higher honor. I really strive to make the canon characters true-to-form. Thanks so much for your compliment. After a "brain-takes-real-life-beating" I'm gearing up to finish book two. (It didn't help that Bill Riker was "arguing" with me about where he wanted his book to go. Bill always wins his arguments... ;) )