Topher Lydon

I am faced with the Doctor Who Companion Conundrum. There comes a point in a Companion's story where they evolve past wide eyed "DOCTOR!" into competent companion, aide, they learn to fly the TARDIS, wield the sonic screw driver, start to embody the Doctor. And the writers (both for the classic, and the 2005 modern who) where the companion is given an out. A chance to leave the TARDIS. If they take it, that's them done, but if they stay... Then they are on a countdown. We saw it with Rose, Donna, Amy and Rory, we saw it again poignantly in Clara, and poor dear Bob. That's all right then. Ezra refusing to take his out. I feel the clock, and I hate it... I am faced with choices as a writer, and my options are narrowing because a dumb kid (on paper no less) won't leave. That's all right then...

HMS Acheron, 300 Meters Under the North Sea Three hundred meters below the tumultuous surface of the North Sea, the HMS Acheron hung suspended in the crushing blackness, a leviathan of silence. There, at its operational test depth, the submarine was less a vessel and more a predatory phantom. The immense pressure of the ocean outside rendered the very concept of sound irrelevant, absorbing all but the faintest internal hum of its machinery. Her sleek, hydrodynamically perfect hull, pai

Oh i thought I wrote that... or did I?

OI !?!

HMS Excalibur - Yeji-Sola System "Aren't we about to break a dozen or so neutrality laws?" Lieutenant Ryerson asked uncomfortably as they rode the elevator up to the newly constructed Propylon chamber. "Think of it as a change in vocation," Masconi replied, ignoring his question, "You've been the Air boss for how many months now?" "Ever since our sortie across the Amsus Lines." Ryerson replied his hands on the yellow rail watching the bulk of the main cannon sweep past him, "But

I just wrote an incredibly impactful (on me) chapter on Enrico and Ezra, again, Ezra doesn't want to just fold up and die, he's flawed, as is Enrico, but it's fascinating to write them both and how they are evolving is... surprising me. there is a dichotomy of two very very lonely people who have found something in each other.

Yes, they are designed to hide, typically they are safe under the sea, and rely on being invisible to defend them. Take that invisibility away and they are much easier targets. They don't have pin-point defenses, or counter measures for missile attack. Or even Torpedo attacks beyond limited decoy countermeasures. They are hit-and-run weapons. In a direct fight between a dedicated ASW(anti submarine warfare) platform, say a type 73 frigate or the like, they are going to have a bad day. If you are able to get aboard said Submarine with a tactical team, close quarter's combat on a Submarine is very dangerous for both sides. Bullets play havoc... as the infamous line from Hunt for Red October: Things in here don't react well to bullets. If a Submarine is being boarded, then something has gone horribly horribly wrong.

Wind, just one possibility, richochet another... Someone steps back at just the wrong time. What if the target moves? I used to go deer hunting with my Uncle Arthur, who was a bow hunter. Educational experience, and a completely different way of hunting than the rifle I was carrying.

I am a firm believer that things go wrong on all sides, at any possible time. It's what keeps a story like this churning. That level of unpredictablity. Enrico is going to have a scene, soon, where he explains this to Ezra. What control do you have over an Arrow AFTER you shoot it.

I am reminded of HMS Bulldog surprising that Uboat to seize Enigma, the real life basis for U-571.

Enrico smiled as he motioned to the three shells on the table, "It's all in the game."

Tomlin Precision Engineering, London, United Kingdom The air in the cavernous workshop was thick with the scent of machining oil, sawdust, and the low thrum of industrial machinery. It was a controlled chaos of metal, tools, and focused labor. Enrico, in a cheap, ill-fitting suit, his hair scruffed, a forced, unconvincing smile plastered on his face, sat on an overturned crate. He watched as a dozen men, their brows furrowed in concentration, meticulously worked on complex, unfamiliar compo

I get the feeling there is more to this story.

Cairo System - Dreknar Confederacy "Article Eight," the digital translation device, squeaked as the small furred creature tapped its claws across the keyboard with remarkable speed and agility, the Dreknar officer looked up with small dark eyes to ensure that she was listening as the translator carried on, "In neutral ports and territories belligerent war-ships may only carry out such repairs as are absolutely necessary to render them space worthy, and may not add in any manner whatsoever

They aren't flawless, the point was both Darien and Lauren made mistakes, as well as Kendrick. I needed to show that there were consequences to actions all around. That these kind of things have repercussions beyond just the gang.

This is possibly the oldest thing I ever wrote. 14 year old me, a decade before this book, wrote a chapter and put it away. I brought it out, dusty as anything, it was on lined A4 paper written in hand. I knew it belonged here, and so I rewrote it, it took forever to work into shape, but it just fit. I learned that never throwing away a bit of writing was important, vital, especially when it finds a home. Oh and I had haters, letters from angry fans demanding to know why I had killed off their favourite character, that I was evil, how dare I, etc etc... and I remind people (as I do for Book 2 *you'll see*) : Do you really think a little thing like death is going to keep Matthew Pierre Elias (Luck God, patron saint of Burritos, and a love god damnit) from his Darien?

I went back over the Hunt for the Red October, and found that scene isn't in the book, just the film. Jack Ryan never sets foot on the USS Dallas in the novelization, and travels to the Red October via DSV from another surface ship instead. Just interesting in how divergent films and books can be sometimes.

Encrypted Two: Northern Encrypted Exposure

Like in Recourse with JTF2, I wanted to show that our folks in uniform are professionals, and do them just respect. I have close friends in the Canadian Army, an ex or two in active service. I know Navy lads, I've been given tours of submarines and an active serving Frigate, they are wonderful and amazing places with such vibrant, friendly and loyal people. My head has a scar from wanging my head off of a panel in a Diesel Submarine, much to the laughter of the COB who observed I was way too tall to be a Submariner. My boyfriend at the time, a short and very determined Australian Seaman (Insert jokes here, the WHOLE crew did) had to stitch me up... That was back in 2010... I was teased mercilessly on that boat, but it was the experience of a life time.... STILL haven't gotten my ride in a helicopter, got to drive a tank(British), done a Sub(Australian), and the Frigate was Canadian. Had to do training with my students in China (mandatory, all staff at the University and all students had to go through it) No matter where I go, what country I am in, the Forces are the same, proud, dutiful, and kind.

Merlin Zero-Seven – Over Newcastle, United Kingdom The roar inside the helicopter was deafening, a churning, violent maelstrom of sound that vibrated through Andrew's very bones. Strapped tightly into the harness, he clung to the webbing with white-knuckled desperation, his eyes squeezed shut against the dizzying sensation of the climb. Below, the sprawling, twinkling lights of Newcastle upon Tyne rapidly receded, turning into a blurred tapestry of urban glow. He could feel the strong, erra

😮 You can't do that. Encrypted 2: Encrypted Goes North

Encrypted 2: Re-crypted Encrypted 2 : De-crypted Encrypted 2: Too Crypted Encrypted 2: Son of Encrypted, the return of the revenge of the Bride of Encrypted. Ooo I am enjoying this

Just for that, I am going to have to squash him with a steam roller that takes an impossibly long time to do the squashing.

You underestimate his power, and Andrew (being under water) has neither height, nor ground.

BC-001 - En-route to Sentinel "Taine!" Sephradon paced through the holographic map, her white silk dress rustling as she walked, her face twisted in thought, "It's always Darien Taine." "Mistress," The Fleet Marshal turned from his monitors, "Highlord Taine is the Empire's most capable commander, and with the death of General Iver observed on intercepted Imperial news feeds, the likelihood of Highlord Taine's involvement in the battle of Sentinel is..." "I am aware of the statis