ReaderPaul

This story further develops the "Charlie Boone" universe but without the direct involvement of Charlie, Kippy, Adrian, and Ricky. However, it is so well written that one can read it and enjoy without knowing about the rest of the related stories. As Pacha'ka, Mike, Bobby, and Kontus travel together to explore clues about ancient civilizations and events, they discover something which seems impossible to exist. More events happen, and soon they are on an unexpected rescue mission A well-thought-out, rapidly-paced adventure, well worth reading.

Interesting characters, both Rodney Smith and the priest. They may deserve each other.

Fascinating, @Summerabbacat and @chris191070. Interesting speculations. I think Rosemary Cook was being partially sarcastic. I think Rodney Smith was the main killer, but the previous damage to Patrick's body greatly contributed to his death. Also, we may still not have all the suspects who contributed to the death. Some of that might indeed be that Patrick was thought to be Dante. I still think that, @Wombat Bill, TWO person need to be trained in lifeguarding and pool maintenance, and the CCTV power supply should be on a separate circuit from the rest of the pool equipment. On ONE thing I do trust Yashuki. I trust him to ultimately do what he feels best for the long term interests of Yashuki.

@Geron Kees, there is a logical inconsistency in this chapter Here is the passage: Ricky took a step towards the blue cylinder, and every gun in the room came up to point at him. But one of the newcomers immediately raised a hand and yelled, "Neniu pafado! Via municio nur resaltas de ĉi tiu. Vi eble difektos la aparaton!" Ricky swore under his breath. He'd taken out his translator back in the mountain and put it in his pocket. And now he couldn't even touch the pocket! But it seemed clear the man was warning the others not to shoot. Still, Ricky decided to stand still until he better knew what was happening. "Charlie?" If Keerby's change of Rick's state included his clothes, then he could reach into his pocket. If not, they would have shot his clothes off earlier, when he was being shot at but the ammo was bouncing off of him -- but not necessarily his clothes. If there is a logical way of explaining this as written, I would love to see it. If not, I'm just going to say "Emerson" -- as Isaac Asimov used to say when there was a small inconsistency in his writing that would take WAY too much rewriting to fix, and would probably wreck the point he was trying to make. Then I will ignore it.

Chandler wrote forty to sixty books, and some short stories. He lived from 1912 - 1984. Many of his books are available again on Kindle. I hope someday your stories are available on Kindle or in book form.

This is one of your best stories yet, and that is saying a lot, since I have liked every story you have written (at least, the ones you have posted). Now we need to see, in a future Pacha'ka adventure, Ricky popping in and helping Kontus, Mike, and Bobby figure out some of their skwish. Or possibly Erma could do that as well. And if Erma and Ricky worked together, Bobby and company might be able to do almost anything! If not this year, perhaps Uncle Bob and Horace could participate in a Halloween adventure that takes place partially on Engris. After all, Ragal has already participated in Halloween on Earth once. The time loop of the Hartonin reminded me of one of the stories by science fiction author A. Bertram Chandler. In one story, Captain John Grimes gets in a time loop where he is having a sexual orgasm with his current girlfriend over and over. As he finally realizes he is in a loop, he manages to deviate slightly and after one orgasm manages to pull out long enough to vary the loop and escape. This was a sacrifice for him, as he was really enjoying each and every orgasm. While I've read other stories where a time loop was involved, this story and Chandler's have been the most enjoyable reads. Bobby is really learning much in traveling with Pacha and company, meeting Max, Jac, Rufe, Zerfa, and other elves; the elves of Twombly, meeting Auggie; meeting Billy and Will, meeting Casper and Ragal, and who knows which other active, passive, and dormant power users and fascinating others of the galaxy he has met by now. Of your serial stories, on a scale of Zero to One Thousand, I assign the story series which began with "The Odd, Onward Door" a 998 rating, and this series at about a 992 rating out of 1,000. However, I have found ALL of your posted stories well worth reading, even though not all are posted on every website you have used, with the possible exception of one site. Very well done, @Geron Kees.

You mean that you, @drpaladin, and also @drsawzall are the only doctors reading this story?

I have also heard it as -- "a pair of doctors" -- "a pair of docks" -- and "a pair of docs" meaning two documents.

Okay, does SMITH have a twin brother? Interesting, that Yashuki seems now to be with Dante and Thomas, or is that another magic trick?

Yes. They have to go, or else Max and Pacha and the other three will not know to come back and warn them. So they must find out what caused the other structures -- the release mechanism and the support mechanisms -- to disappear, and figure out how to get the right ones back there -- or Max and Pacha must figure out an alternative way to release them. Hopefully, they will warn other Hartonin before they start their looped journey. Or, it is very possible that Geron is going to set us up for the next Pacha'ka adventure.

To quote Lewis Carroll, "Curiouser and curiouser." But at least Dante and Carol are out, or about to be out. I look forward to seeing what my fellow commenters have to say -- @chris191070 and @Summerabbacat and @VBlew. To quote an old saying in my part of the USA, "This is a fine kettle of fish," meaning things are not going right for one or more persons, and implying that getting things straighten out may take some time -- possibly a considerable amount of time. Hopefully Cook will apologize profusely to Mia.

Very interesting. I wonder who -- and when -- the captive ship entered the loop. Wouldn't it be something it it were a group of Ragal's people! Had I been writing the story, I would have had Illia query Murcha and Onglet to see if they had any info about this region of space, since Murcha used to belong to T'ath, who is a Moth who collects information. But Geron didn't need that, since he already knows the answer.

The official explanation from the US government went something like this -- liberally paraphrasing: "Not all of the phenomena we have investigated involve objects. Sometimes it has been unexplainable atmospheric conditions, including unusual sudden pressure changes, visual appearances of things not actually considered objects, and other questionable happenings. Therefore, we feel that Unidentified Arial Phenomena is a broader range of description than Unidentified Flying Object." I pieced that together from several sources. Probably the gobbledegook government version is considerably wordier.

Wow! So much in this chapter I hardly know where to begin. And the teaser for the next chapter -- Virginia to the rescue? I can see her trying to rescue Carol, or Thomas, or maybe Cook, or even Jonathan, but not sure who else (Desmond, of course, but I really don't think he could possibly be involved with this). It is quite possible that @VBlew or @chris191070 or @Summerabbacat may see this much more clearly than I do. @Wombat Bill, I look forward to the next several chapters.

Mike is in his early twenties, and Bobby is about 84 or 85 -- chronologically, though he is about 22 or 23 physically and mentally. (For more on Bobby's situation, see the story by Geron Kees titled: "Light My Roamin' Candle, Charlie Boone!" The same story also explains how Kontus and Bobby became a part of the crew of Pacha's ship.) I tend to agree with you about UAP/UFO activity. (UAP, or "Unidentified Arial Phenomena" is the new US Government code speak for UFOs.)

Nothing was said about them NOT being power users, either. And if they are that secretive, they would not broadcast that fact. No, I am not an elf. Interesting thought, though. In my background, I have British, Swiss, Native American, German, and possibly some Scottish ancestry. According to some people, I have almost always had a very good memory -- sometimes better than some like me to have. Fortunately, I rarely hold grudges. Raiders of the Lost Bark? I am glad you jest! But Charlie can shape shift into a dog, not Rick -- at least so far. But it is about time for Ricky to become more like Pacha, and fulfill Max's statement (a few stories ago) about a magic mechanic's understanding of magic eventually allowing him to do more of it himself. After all, Max also said that Pacha and the Kift could learn almost type of magic/skwish/power use, instead of having gifted tendencies for particular types. Another two questions for future answers, Geron -- has Max met any Kift other than Pacha? Has Pacha taught any other of the Kifta to teleport, stretch time, or any other things Max has taught him? Great comments from all who have participated in the comments on these two chapters.

Interesting. Is it known at all whether the Braunigan are power users, even of a low level? That could add another level of complication to things. Or whether power users are beginning to appear among them as with Casper's people? I can see all sorts of possibilities with these side adventures of Charlie Boone related stories, @Geron Kees. For example, an Illia, Murcha, and Onglet adventure. An adventure with Horace, Amy, Kiernan, Robin, and Ilessa. An adventure featuring Keerby, Durapar, Casper, Ragel, Sefton, Costel, Pilfer, Kiernan, Robin, and Pip. (Keerby could bring Pilfer and Costel to our reality, and give them a tour of Engris and Lyrgris!) Can Engris and Lyrgris be threatened by boojums? I look forward to seeing what was constructed by the Hartonin with the stars in this story. Perhaps the question will be answered in a future chapter.

To paraphrase Lawrence Welk, "This is a wunnerful, wunnerful start to this story." I have long wanted to learn more about Pacha, Mike, Kontus, and Bobby. And Illia -- another gem of a character. Hopefully, we will hear at least a reference to Murcha and Onglet, as well. Does Ricky's "magic mechanic" skill apply to Kifta ka/magic/skwish/power/craft as well as elven and human magic? Or will that be addressed in a future story, @Geron Kees? Who knows? Maybe during Bobby's time on Meergris/Kanthakos he learned something or acquired some knowledge or ability which may come in handy in the future. Perhaps that will ultimately give him the ability to control time, such as speed it up or slow it. Perhaps his brain absorbed the ability to stretch an area into the Cooee during his two weeks/sixty-two years there. (If you don't recognize my references, you need to seek out the story by Geron Kees titled, "Light My Roamin' Candle, Charlie Boone!") I can tell, this is going to be a great story, Geron! But I'm guessing that we will not see Ricky's younger sister or even younger brother in this story. But Uncle Bob could teleport onto Pacha's ship, since he has been there --

Probably irrelevant observation: Getting quite a few "C" names -- Cook, Carol, Connor, Claudia, Crystalline, Chelsea Smidmore, and I'm sure I am missing some. The lack of clear evidence is a point in Dante's favor. Cook is wise to be wary of cats, but I would like to know what her father used to say and the unspecified subject. Another well-woven web of noteworthy narrative, the riveting roiling rolling recorded and reported read just rounded up for us. Thanks, @Wombat Bill.

So a guest had a prison record. Interesting! Lot of stuff in this chapter to think over. I think more stuff will show up to cause doubt on Dante's guilt. I will probably think of more after thinking about this for a few hours. Fascinating chapter, @Wombat Bill.

Some years ago, I worked for a company which had many facilities ranging in size from about 30,000 square feet (2,787 square meters) to 260,000 square feet (24,155 square meters). I worked in a facility of about 114,000 square feet (10,591 square meters). I remarked to a security person who was installing cameras and monitors, "I bet there are 128 security cameras in this building." He replied, "Oh, there are a LOT more than that!" All of them had backup power to the cameras and information storage, and the storage info capacity was four to six months PER CAMERA. If something happened, and security deemed it necessary before the eventual 4 to 6 month erasure, then then into was also transmitted to multiple offsite locations for permanent storage. And that was available 13 years ago! Tech is better now. Info storage and backup power reserve tech is relatively cheap now. And I worked at another location which had outdoor cameras, sensitive enough to tell the color of a car in the dark at midnight. It can be done. Thomas and Lachlan need to upgrade their CCTV system for more security. That is my opinion, @Wombat Bill, @VBlew, @chris191070, and @Summerabbacat.

@VBlew and @Summerabbacat have good observations. I wonder what @chris191070 will observe that we three have missed? Hopefully, the Australian court system is not nearly as backed up as the US court system. A woman was recently convicted of a road rage murder more than three years after it happened. The defense tried to say it was a reaction to cough syrup. The jury did not buy that weak excuse. Chelsea Smidmore is wise to send another colleague to be with Yashuki instead of coming herself. I agree that Yashuki is trying to cover his proverbial bases by trying to attract and/or seduce Thomas. I also think, @Wombat Bill, that Thomas and Lachlan need to get a pool replacement and maintenance replacement for Patrick ASAP (As Soon As Possible). Really, two lifeguards and one machinery person would be better. I guess Dante's helper is suddenly, at least for now, promoted temporarily to head gardener.

@VBlew, @chris191070, @Summerabbacat -- I have to agree with all of you. Yashuki is not looking very likeable at this point. So far, we have not seen why the detective in charge chose to charge Dante. One might guess, but it would only be a guess at this point. @Wombat Bill is very good at keeping us in suspense.

In the US, mortgage insurance is required if dealing with a financial institution, but life insurance is not always required. The companies want to be sure to be paid, whether anything is left over or not. I am way behind on my reading of favorite authors due to some family situations which have arisen, and a couple of injuries. Glad to be reading more again. @quokka, this is starting well.

Could have happened by accident. When Dante kicked Patrick in the chest with both feet, it might have stopped his heart, or thrown the heart wildly out of rhythm, such that not enough blood was pumped, or some ribs might have broken and pierced vital organs. I worry for Carol.