C James

Glad I could help, and glad you will keep writing!

In the real world, you almost never disclose the source or method. However, if the info is extraordinary, the receiving government will likely ask, in order to evaluate the information. For example, SIGINT (signals intelligence and intercepts) is usually given a far higher reliability rating than HUMINT (human intelligence, such as agents and sources). The information itself is most often re-written to protect the source or method. In the scenario above, the receiving governments would certainly ask why, exactly, and how, exactly, the US had broad-based information that went directly against what the US had been claiming (soviet capabilities) for decades. You mention nuclear weapons, and that's a darn good example for this. The US considered (and actually initiated preparations, and came within 48 hours of use) using them in Vietnam. This was based in part on the US having recruited as a source the Soviet Ambassador to the UN, who was also, due to family relations, privy to Politburo strategy and contingency planning. Thus, he was able to tell the US exactly what the Soviet response would be to the US use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam. (it would be political, not military). This information would have been extremely useful to share with our NATO allies under the circumstances, to avoid high-level panic when the US went nuclear. However, to protect the source, it was never done. One of the cardinal rules in intelligence is always, always protect the source. BTW, regarding Yemen, I used "Vietnam" in a similar way above, not differentiating between the then-existing north and south. Many official reports from the era do the same. The US and USSR never used nuclear weapons against each other in the original timeline, but that was meaningless in Davey's, as the events in Davey's had not occurred in the original. The circumstances were different, so the results could not be extrapolated. I've never encountered any type of "official" definition of world war. I think I can safely say that most any historian would agree on this issue. I didn't remember the Soviets using the Suez in DO, but that's probably just my bad memory. OK, for surface vessels, you have a point, *IF* forces could be deployed to the area. If those islands didn't have runways, they wouldn't be of much use, as the US didn't have a deployable land-based anti-ship missile system at that time. For submarines, it would be darn near impossible to close the red sea. It's a rift system so is very deep in the center, with very rugged bottom features, and more importantly has a unique salinity gradient, with much saltier water deep down. The salinocline (boundry) between the water layers, plus the current flowing in opposite directions (which it does, the surface flow is north-westerly and the deep current south-easterly) makes for absolutely horrible sonar conditions. That layer is usually withing the max depth limits of most classes of Soviet attack subs (especially the Alfas of that era) and tracking them in it would be near impossible. The boundary layer is also a thermal difference boundary (thermocline) with the surface water warmer, and this combination makes a standard thermocline (always loved by submarines) easy to deal with by comparison. Another issue in the Red Sea is a multitude of deep hydrothermal vents, which have a nasty habit of mimicking the sound frequency ranges and emissions of a nuclear reactor (one means of locating a slow-moving submarine. A fast moving sub, on the other hand, broadcasts it's position). As for Venezuelan issues, I deeply respect your courage. I know a little about the internal situation, plus I've seen a little of your country (very little). I hope all goes well for you and your countrymen. I just went back and looked at chapter 4 of DiR, and it says the apparent rape. Apparent to me indicates that it was made to look like a child rape and murder, rather than actually being one. If so, there is nothing to indicate that there was anything barbaric done, nor any indication that it was a long-term event. As for how the ID's were made, I have no idea. I don't recall it being mentioned. It could possibly be the use of dramatic licence by DK, or more possibly, as the story is from Davey's POV, he wasn't told, so neither were we. (just guesses on my part). Russia was by no means an ally in recent years, and in any case, you don't need to be working for an enemy nation to be considered an agent. The US has in prison, right now (and often in the past), agents of *allied* nations, as espionage is illegal (for good reason). I'm afraid you are wrong on the classification/clearance issue for research projects. There is no termination of control by termination of funding. Even if there were, he was still using government facilities (Stanford, as I recall). But, regardless, the US government (and this is the law in most nations) retains the right to control what it deems as sensitive technology, regardless of funding. I'll look up the relevant sections of the US code if you like, but I can absolutely guarantee you that the US law is quite clear on this issue. As for Sean, yes, he was culpable in the death (and also the attempted murder of Davey) IMHO. But as I say, the reason for the terminations wasn't about law or justice, it was about saving the lives of billions, a far higher calling IMHO. The scientist had already proven his capacity to become a renegade, and also was insane, so could not be trusted. The goal there was to prevent any knowledge of how to build a time machine from existing, so the safest method was to terminate the scientist. Sean would have probably met a similar fate, had the government known about him. Davey didn't, as Davey didn't know how to build the machine. Also, I just checked chapter 17 of DO, and the scientist in that timline was described as having gone mad, and thing dying while trying to escape. I see nothing to indicate that he was actually trying to warn anyone of anything, but rather he was boasting about how he had achieved time travel, and citing things to prove it. His attempt to escape (By holding a knife to a woman's throat), and method, seems to verify that interpretation IMHO. As for the supremacy of law in all situations, on that we probably have a fundamental difference of opinion. I favor a situational view (based on what is most important in that situation), so to me there would be no issue whatsoever about violating a law when billions of lives were at stake. After all, what right do I have to endanger the lives of so many by quibbling over legalities? I can identify with that, I'm much the same. As for the quotes not working... That could be because there was a mistake somewhere (I often goof by using a { instead of a [) or, it could have been over the limit for the number of quotes. I had to split my post yesterday to get around that.

I was overly tired when I read Ch 5 the first time, but I've finally had chance to re-read it. I liked it even better the second time! I REALLY liked this part! The ref to Virgin Space was great, too! From a literary point of view, I thought that using Garret's speech to the passengers to expound and explain about the ship and its FTL drive and the accelerator was brilliant! That, to me, was a very effective way of helping to establish the future sense, and it's very different reality.

I'm firmly in the "undecided" camp on the Ryan/Connor issue. I could see it going either way. IMHO, It would be great if they got back together, but also great if they didn't but stayed friends (Like Toby and Connor). Sometimes relationships don't work out, especially at that age. I absolutely loved that scene! Connor wasn't just spontaneously listening, he swiped a stethoscope to do it!

Psssst... It was Emoe who told me the part where Garret's Ship is attacked by the 3-masted 18th century sailing schooner that was laying in wait in an Asteroid belt... But don't tell him I told you so... But, I have a science nit-pick for you, DK... Just how, exactly, can they be heard singing "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" while they and their ship are in the vacuum of space, sans spacesuits? Emoe, I hope you like short haircuts; really, really short. Such as neck level.

If you two leak any more info, Garret's ship is gonna sink and they will all drown! (and that's not easy, for a spaceship!) (Just kidding!) Ummmm, Emoe, don't look now, but I think Garret's crew has been infiltrated! :chris: Looks like a Pirate to me! I just hope that DK doesn't go for a stereotypical pirate ship... Somehow, a 3-masted 18th century sailing ship just wouldn't feel right for a space battle... But that's just me...

Oops! Well, Vic, I'm really, really bad at math... That's why I'm still making all these posts, trying desperately to get to 5 so I can read the sneak-peeks forum... I never thought anything could surpass DO in my favorites list... But DoH has. The build-up and setting has been great! Not just the design and "feel" of the ships, but how DK got us here. I've got a hunch that the next couple of chapters will show us a lot more of the setting, but whatever they are, I can't wait! (But, point taken, I will read them in order! )

Conner, those are hilarious!! I laughed so hard my side hurts!!

Hee hee hee hee - OH YEAH! Emoe - Be quiet. I haven't released chapter 8 yet... Errr, WHAT? You mean that Garret didn't acquire a fleet of awesome ships and head for pirate-infested space, to just sit around polishing knobs for the rest of the story? He might actually see pirates? I'm shocked, shocked, I tell ya!!! Seriously, I'm really looking forward to Ch 7... This is even more addictive then the DO series!!!

Bob, thank you!! I will be re-writing the story, turning it into a multi-chapter with the present story re-written (to include some things I had to delete for size) as the first two chapters. I'll be posting a different multi-chapter story before that, though.

I thought it was really good! Please keep writing! BTW, have you seen the other thread for your story? FriendlyFace made on for you in the cafe, and it has detialed comments there, including my own. https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=5129

This story realy has me hooked! The aire of mystery is fantastic. For example, David and the frog. It sounds like David might have killed the frog but we don't really know. One thought occurred to me: Is it possible that this story might have a supernatural element?

As a crazy side note, I once saw a report of an author who was sued for plagiarism: he was accused of plagiarizing his own work! (it was a rights-ownership issue, actually, but the idea struck me as hilarious). I wonder what the limits of a character are? For example, my protagonist, Trevor, was in part inspired by DK's Trevor (a secondary character from the DO series). I did use the first name (but I think that's fair game, it's just a name, and there are "Trevors" in a lot of stories). The only other part of DK's Trevor that I used was a similarity to *my* rough mental image of what DK's Trevor looked like. But, (I checked to make sure) there was no mention of what DK's Trevor looked like in the DO series, so my mental picture of him must have come from my own mind. Therefor, I felt free to use that general image (tan, with brown hair). My Trevor had a totally different personality, background, history, etc, and was a different age, so I felt (and hope) doing that was OK. But, what are the boundaries? Personally, I wouldn't even want to try using someone else's character, even with permission, as a lot of the enjoyment I get from writing is creating and exploring a character and his or her quirks. Using someone elses would, to me, be boring if nothing else. Sort of like using a copy machine instead of painting a picture. Thanks, Kitty! I did send DK a PM a few weeks ago thanking him for inspiring me (his writing has, in a lot of ways), but I made sure to mention that my Trevor was not his Trevor even though it was his story that got me "hooked" on that name. As for general rules, I agree with "if it doesn't feel right, don't do it", but I think I'll also use "When in doubt, ask". I've been learning a lot from Dom, but from many other places as well (including you and your story "Replay".) I don't think I'd be comfortable (either ethically or practically) trying to copy a style in it's totality, but I do find it very useful to look at how various authors handle specific things and scenes.

IMHO, and certainly for my own taste, an internally consistent set of rules are absolutely critical for sci-fi. That was one of the things that made the DO series one of my all-time favorites (of any genre), but I now think I like DoH even more. I liked your FTL concept, a lot. I also liked the way you presented it. BTW I was very glad that you included an inertial damper, otherwise accelerating to 1/2 C in a short period of time would have have left the passengers and crew as a fine, undifferentiated red smear on the aft bulkheads. I've seen that detail overlooked by a many top sci-fi writers. I also really liked the fact that your FTL system HAS limitations: the ships can't simply jump away at the first sign of trouble. One other thing I feel the need to comment on: the mirrored finish of the ship. That's spectacular imagery, as it gives the ship such a unique and spectacular look in my mind (and would probably be very useful in an a space environment, especially in battle). What a combination of beauty and capability! Last time I was on the Indian Ocean coast of Thailand, there were some major incidents in that (straits of Malaca) area, including two sailing yachts that disappeared without a trace. There was also a very recent incident where a tanker was seized, then released, and it appeared as it if was a "dry run" for seizing a tanker. There was much debate as to whether the motive was piracy, or terrorism. Very scary stuff. In space, I could well see how the piracy situation could be even worse. It looks to me like Garret and his crew are in for a very interesting time of it! That is indeed for real. A friend of mine was aboard when it happened, so I got to hear about it from a first-hand point of view as well as in the press. They took both machine gun (probably AK's) and RPG fire, and the pirated did try and board. That ship was darn lucky! The long range acoustic device (sonic cannon) merely incapacitates somewhat, and would have been useless had the pirates gotten men aboard. They were also lucky that the pirates didn't think to aim the RPG's at the waterline or the bridge. A ship like that can take a huge hole just about anywhere, but several small ones in adjoining watertight compartments would sink it. They would have had to choose between surrender or being sunk. I also found it very strange that the press never speculated on what the pirates were after: was this piracy, or a terrorist attack? BTW, IMHO, and the opinion of my freind, the cruise line was insane: They, after the incident, mentioned to the press that their ships carried the sonic device in lieu of firearms. Mentioning that (the lack of guns) was IMHO nuts, under the circumstances (they still do cruises in that area). But, back to Garret: it sounds to me like any pirate going after his ships is in for one heck of a surprise!

MGH, thanks for joining the GA forums so actively! It's great to see posts from people who have just joined GA! The DO series is one of my all-time favorite stories, and I found your analysis very interesting indeed! I am not trying to argue below, but I did want to add my own thoughts on some of the issues you raised.

Thank you! Your advice on letting the story unfold on it's own was instrumental, and it's very unlikely that I'd have ever been able to write this story without it. I did allude to why Jason was traveling with so little: he had lied about traveling (in order to stay with Trevor that first night), and was only minutes from home. (at UCSB). Hence, he had nothing with him, and due to being from close by avoided mentioning his past, both of which Trevor noticed and wondered about. I did originally have that as part of the "discovery" conversation at the end, but I deleted it when i was looking for things to reduce the word count. At one point I was pushing 15,000 words and as it was I was I still ended up a hundred over the 10,000 guideline. There was also, originally, an entire second day before their "discovery", where they went on a surfing safari. That was the biggest thing I cut. But, I'm going to do a re-write, probably multi-chapter, and expand on a lot of this and fix a few errors too. I'm also very curious as to what happens at college: where exactly does Jason live? Will he and Trevor move in together? How do Trevor's parents react? I also think it would be a good lead-in for a college-themed situation I had in mind as a story plot, and Trevor and Jason would make great characters for it. So, I think I'm set for a second multi-chapter story, after I finish the one I have underway. Actually, I'll probably work on both as I like taking a break from one thing to work on another. Thank you so much!! One thing I need to mention about the sex scene: Part of one line (the part in parenthesis) was NOT mine. It's my favorite line of the story, too;

Great news! I hope things continue to go your way! I really hope the new romance works out, he sounds adorable! Way to go LB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This certainly was a monumental chapter, as many, many things were resolved! Cody and Toby back together, and in love! Speaking ow which, Conner swiping one of Maggie's stethoscopes to listed at Toby's door! What an imp! That was so cool!!! I was also intrigued by Cody's comments about Connor. For a few moments there, I thought things were heading for an "invitation" for Connor to join them! I really liked Connor's statement of his feelings toward Maggie. That cleared up a heck of a lot in my mind. I also found his reluctance to go on the trip quite understandable: He would feel awkward. I thought the love scenes with Ben were superbly done. The mix of humor (falling of the couch! )and romance was perfect! The initial nervousness was perfect! I was glad about Ryan, too: He seems like he has finally had his realization, and my fear that he would refuse to be Toby's donor looks to be unfounded. A really superb chapter!

I liked this chapter the best so far! I love the shipboard "feel", and even though it's 3am I had to comment I'll post more in detail Saturday, after I sleep. The FTL system is fascinating! I also liked the exposition of the risks faced by shipping, which at least partially explains Garret's desire for heavily armed ships. (I have a hunch that he might have other motives, too). Philistine, WOW!! First again! I don't know how you do it.

Krista, thank you! I found it very difficult to stick to the short story format, but it was a challenge that I really enjoyed. I do have an upbeat personality most of the time, good call! I had no idea that any of me would show through like that. I'd have never made the connection! Howdy, Goat! Krista, Connor and I both have Goats for avatars, and tease each other incessantly about them. That, plus at least one of us is insane (and no one has ever accused me of being sane!). Thanks, Matt!! I've been perplexed on the commas issue, as I've been getting feedback both ways on that. You live in Hawaii and hate surfing? I guess I can admit this here on GA: One of my prime reasons for starting to surf was to check out all the hot surfers! I grew to love surfing after a while, but it sure wasn't my main motive at first. And that in itself is really rather weird, when one considers the fact that I was even in the closet to myself at that time! (In denial). Yet, there I was, Mr. can't be gay, taking up a sport so I could hang around hot guys!

What I did was perilously close. I re-read the relevant parts of several stories where I thought the author had done a great job in this regard, and Dom's scene in WT was one of them, so it was fresh in my head. HOWEVER, I just pulled up WT to look at it side by side, and what do I discover? That I'm an idiot! The "goosebumps" I was so concerned about isn't in that scene in WT!!! I could have sworn it was, but it's not. I checked all of WT via google, no "goosebumps" at all. So, it seems that what I did was misremember, and thus delete a couple of lines that I liked very much from my story, based on my misremembering! What I tried for was the tactile sensations, mainly of the hands, that was part of what so impressed me about the scene in WT. I certainly didn't try and duplicate the scene itself, though. So, hopefully I'm on safe ground there.... Thanks Rob! I'm not qualified to opine on this, but I shall anyway: I have read your story, and I didn't feel that it was plagiarism because, had you not mentioned it, I'd have never known that it was based on SOOTB. It could equally easily not have been. That's just my opinion, though.

I do the same thing regarding character descriptions and visualizing them. For example, I just can't stand really short (buzz cut) hair, so if that's mentioned I just imagine it a bit longer (hey, hair can grow, right?). Interestingly, I originally envisioned Connor as much smaller, perhaps due to the fact he was being beaten at home. Turned out I was wrong on his size based on later descriptions, and also LB's choice of a "picture of Connor" on the story page. (which is very hot, BTW).

This is a subject that has been puzzling me for a very long time. I'm not speaking of the legal definitions of plagiarism, but rather, what are the moral bounds, and what is acceptable to authors? I think I can best illustrate the question with an example: Dom Luka's "With Trust". I absolutely loved the "first kiss" scene, especially the roaming hands. I loved the style and tactile descriptions, which are the best I've ever seen, and in my anthology story I went for a somewhat similar style. But, Dom used the term "goosebumps", which I really wanted to use, and did originally as it worked so very well. But, I deleted it from my scene as I felt it would have been too close, and "crossing the line" in using too much of someone else's ideas. Could I have actually used it without offending? I'd love to hear what Authors think on this subject. In other words, what is the line between being inspired by an author (and I've been inspired by many here) and offending by taking an idea or concept? To stretch this to it's limit, another example from Dom Luka's work, this time his wonderful "Desert Droppings": I absolutely loved the part where Rory is in the closet to Jase, Eddie, and Luke, and they are in the closet to him. That was both hilarious, and poignant, and could have gone so many different ways! I'd love to write something similar, but how close to that setting could I safely come? A gay single parent and gay son instead of a couple and a relative? Would a gay couple and a straight son be OK, or is the entire scenario off limits? Or, for another example, for a story on time travel, how close could I come to dkstories's time machine from "Do Over" without crossing the line? Obviously the way it was created and the people involved would be different, but what about the specific concept itself? Where is the line? Thanks! CJ