Allerron

Robbie started as a "Marine" as an enlisted man, served enough time to be promoted to E3 when he saved the son of General Thompson. Due to the MOS being fairly stable in an extended time of peace, advancement was limited to attrition by retirement. Robbie would never have considered a commissioned position due to his self-worth issues and found himself "forced" into a position in the Academy as a reward at an age that was far beyond the norm of the other candidates in the Academy at the time. He was still having difficulty being "senior" in rank to older marines. Then again, there is the fact that this takes place in a time when interstellar travel is possible so the Corps has adapted a bit to changing times, like extended average lifespans so spending 2 years instead of the 6 months a PFC could expect before a promotion was not unusual.

Your yearning to write something astounds me. Your descriptive prose is delightfully detailed without being pedantic or condescending. I read the story from start to finish, clicking as fast as I could between chapters (and cursing the internet for being so slow!) until the last one. I can't help but feel that Rover should have gone with Slade, even though I can understand his reasoning. Beautiful story, thank you for sharing it. I hope that there are MANY more to follow...

All I can think of is WOW. The unraveling of the plots is getting interesting and almost painful. I agree with the comment of the "tomorrow" as promised in the story not actually being tomorrow but I will wait (semi-)patiently for the next chapter and I will read it with pleasure as well. The "play" with Candace has been intensifying and this was almost expected, especially with Walker worrying about it too. Great depth of character development, I am feeling so sad by the eventual separation of Billy and David at the end of the summer to the point where I almost don't want the story to end to avoid that. I am enjoying this story immensely and I was happy to see an update, thank you for sharing this with us.

Pronunciation guide and listing of people & places: Natives of Hester-b speak a wonderfully complex language that clearly reflects the frustrating psychology of the natives. I have made no attempt to actually create this language so to clarify when English is used versus the Hester-b language I will use double quotes for “English” and single quotes for the 'Hester-b' language. The names and objects are pronounced pretty much as they appear, with some influence from the

Geh-tril-pah'o stomped across the field, looking desperately for Elder Ol-ya-trin. The added distance between himself and Wind Dancer Bah't didn't have the calming effect he had hoped for. Each step added to his frustration, increased his anger, stoked his fury. By the time he finally found the Elder, she had enough time to try and think of something soothing to say. The anger radiating out from the man was evident enough to cause anyone even remotely in his path to run away and hide behind anyt

July 23, 2417 Robbie jumped with a start and spent a few seconds trying to look around without revealing that he was dozing. He saw the dirty look from Sargent Christopher Clark out of the corner of his eye and realized that his trusty aide poked him before he could start snoring again. Robbie suppressed a groan as he realized that the meeting was still going on, making him wonder at the supposed level of intellectual capacity of the scientists around the room. He thanked his lucky stars th

March 17, 2417, planet Hester-b Li-ria-vuh-ti sighed as she tried to follow the Trainer's instructions. Ot-val'o'o shook his head at the young girl's frustration. He knew that there would be no more progress today so he sent her home to rest up on the condition that she arrive earlier the next day for her lessons. She practically skipped away from the Trainer's yard where she was working on her latest lessons without much success. Ot-val'o'o watched as she made her way through the town, sto

Bee-bee-beep bee-bee-beep bee-bee-beep bee-bee-beep A hand whipped out from under the covers and swatted at the source of the noise. After several hits, the “snooze” button was found and pounded into submission. The arm fell to the bed, landing beside the pillow and remained still for the next 10 minutes. Bee-bee-beep bee-bee-beep The searching arm found the source of the noise much quicker the second time and a groan filled the small room, echoing off of the dull metallic grey wa

Robbie was called to the bridge of the shuttle. The last thing that they expected was to see a contingent of 18 natives approaching the shuttle. Based on the lack of visible technology the anthropologists figured that the natives would be cowering under their beds. Instead two well-dressed people were leading a group of others that were pulling what appeared to be large wooden carts on rollers. Robbie shook his head as he tried to not drop the helmet of his suit. “I have no idea what to thi

Robbie had watched the crew with fascination as they approached the planet. Each day seemed to bring more confusion and more excitement. The scientists were living on caffeine pills and sugar now, sleep had been totally forgotten as the Argos approached the planet. The heliopause was some 18 days behind them now although Robbie knew that the Argos was crawling compared to the speeds it had reached before his brain shut down each time he attempted to understand how fast the ship was travelling no

The meal was fraught with tension. Eldest Syn-dra-val'i took a huge chance by inviting the two men to her table. Of course neither would have even dared to refuse her polite request. And neither one would dare to insult the Eldest by arguing or acting with anything but the utmost civility and politeness. The toll that this enforced civility had was huge on both Geh-tril-pah'o and Bah't. The Eldest was actually enjoying the tension in an evil, vindictive way. Now the two men that had been te

While Gen-tril-pah'o and Ol-ya-trin spent the rest of the day playing kfara, Robbie Blake was dealing with issues of his own. Captain Volod had called and informed him that he had a ship's matter to discuss with him. Right after he finished talking with the Captain over the ship's intercom system, Robbie stowed his mail reader and decided to take a quick shower before his meeting in the Captain's office. Robbie had visited the Captain in his office before, but he had never been called to di

Second Lieutenant Robert Blake found himself in a place where the natives look human but certainly do not act human. He is forced to re-examine his past and make some hard decisions about his life and his future.

From the start, I was feeling almost sorry for Riley and his situation - waiting until he turned 18 to get on with his life. I agree with Nephylim that the ending became expected but it was the perfect ending to a very moving story. Beautiful story, makes me wish I could meet a Cairo of my own, reminds me a teensy bit of Saint-Exup