ReaderPaul

We do not know if the craft was fully assessed or not. But the URP and Sahndrol tend to be rather thorough in these matters. I'm sure @quokka will reveal what we need to know on that. I'm looking forward to those answers also. Great idea, @drsawzall, on the freight charges.

I think each of the crashed crew needs to be thoroughly scanned and examined, including for hollow teeth and micro ear implants, wrist microchips, passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) tech, artificial knee and ankle joints, skull partial replacement, etc. Also they need to be checked for implanted teeth with micro detection and scanning devices, and the men scanned for penile implants which have micro- or nano-devices. (As you can guess, @quokka/Preston, I tend to be somewhat suspicious.) I would also do space scanning to see if any other ships are headed toward Mars, Ganymede, ore any other URP locations. Though earth technology is not up in the same league as URP and Empire tech, lesser technology is still dangerous.

Interesting. Is it a craft from earth which landed heavily, or another spacegoing people? Or a booby-trap of some kind? And whatever happened to Oscar, the friend of the prince who in a previous story could hear telepaths? @quokka/Preston, I am very glad to see this saga continue. On the question of Oscar, please do not immediately answer. It's rare for you to just bring a random, throwaway person into a story, unless there is a good reason to do so. If Oscar does not show up in this story, I predict he will appear in another story, or perhaps in his own story some time in the future.

@JamesSavik is one of the few masters of short and/or flash fiction. There is one other who can equal him, but not as consistently. As he is currently taking a temporary hiatus from writing, I won't mention him further at this time, except to say that he had one flash story of only 11 words.

Some time back, I saw an alternate translation for most of the Old Testament version of the word translated "abomination." One Biblical scholar suggested that in most cases, in stead of "abomination," most of the Leviticus verses should have been translated as "It is not our custom" instead of "It is an abomination." That would greatly change the meaning of the Leviticus translations. Also, in the New Testament, there was a Roman custom, though not common, of plying younger (usually teen) boys with presents in return for sexual favors. The words used by the Apostle Paul and by the Roman Centurion who implored Jesus to heal his servant often were used for those type of relationships, rather than consenting adult same-sex relationships. However, the translators of the King James Version of the Bible were probably, in most cases, unaware of these translation possibilities, and, for sure, against using them. There is much more I could say about Biblical translations and their shortcomings, but this is not the place for it. Thanks for writing this story, @JamesSavik.

@quokka -- Preston, I sincerely hope you consider a sequel to these stories. They are quite good.

Wow, what a chapter! Well done, @R. Eric.

Just re-read this again, 7th or 8th time. Well done, James.

So little information has ACTALLY been revealed in these hearings that I am reminded of the 1964 movie starring Don Knotts, "The Incredible Mr. Limpett." Just as Limpett and his abilities after turning into a super-fish were kept secret by the U S Navy, what information has been revealed is like three small crumbs of a reduced-salt Ritz cracker compared to a complete sleeve of crackers. Some of the information is probably at the lesser known "Area 52," where signs warn "No Trespassing" and also that one might see experimental aircraft.

@Ronyx -- over the years I have read this story several times. It is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking stories I have ever read. I know at least one trans person. This person was born male, but had surgery in Canada to become female. I believe that in this story you have done an excellent job of describing the feelings of a person who was raised in a very conservative environment but instinctively understood that attempts to be understanding are more important that blind acceptance of tradition, as some would have it.

Hopefully, his aunt will be able to give him some good advice on a few of the cultural differences he has to face. It may also be that his name will be a challenge for him, in getting adjusted to being "Hamilton" instead of Yeshe.

I live in an area not technically rural, but not big city, either. It is a very conservative, mostly redneck (though the majority of business owners try to hide that to visitors) area. Most of the area population is either very Bible-belt conservative or just plain opportunists conservative. The closest gay friendly bar is over 40 miles away. I mostly keep my mouth shut, because many (especially females) are vocally anti gay/bi/trans/queer. I have found a FEW open-minded persons -- but only a few. Conservative conditioning is strong here. One of my black friends, C, was followed by the sheriff's department for the first nine months he lived in this area. He happened to mention it to his (white) pastor, and the pastor went over to the sheriff's department and chewed them out enough that they stopped following my friend C. Now, C has lived in the area about 20 years, and has no trouble. But some who are gay or bi are still watched, though in more of a subtle way than it used to be. Some things have improved, but slowly.

On rare times (not recently), I have been blocked on Firefox from getting to GA. Never had a problem with Chrome or Edge, except for a couple of times in fast food places which had parental controls on their wifi. I usually connect direct these days on my phone, since my plan includes 25 gigabytes of data anyway.

In looking up this button, there were three others with somewhat similar sayings, including, for Nixon running against George McGovern, one which said -- "MCGOVERN CAN'T LICK OUR DICK". A poster named "Jonathon" asked something like, "Was there really a Mr. McGovern running against Nixon?" He was thinking about things like "McMansion" and McFlurry and McDouble and other "Mc" things sometimes referred to in modern American culture.

@JamesSavik -- I just ran across this again by accident. Every bit as good -- or better -- than when I read it the first time.

Yes, Max has at least one brother. From the Charlie Boone adventure where Keerby, Frit, and Pip went with Pacha and the guys to Earanar, and found Casper -- "There's A Monster in My Closet, Charlie Boone!" ------ "So what about what you do back home?" Ricky asked. "How can we be here a week and only a little time passes there?" "I just fix it so that our frame slides past the one at home, and is always falling behind it, until I tell it not to. When we get back home, I'll make it stop." The elf laughed. "Uncle Max is really good at it, too. It kind of runs in our family." Kippy's jaw dropped. "You're related to Max?" "Sure. There's actually a couple of greats before the uncle, but my dad is the great, great a few times grandson of Max's brother, Jakos." "I don't see how that can happen," Charlie said, frowning. "I mean the time frame thing, not that you're related to Max...." Now is Jakos pronounced JACK-oss, JAKE-oss, Jack-OS, Jay-KOSS, or something else? Actually, as long-lived as elves are, Max would have several brothers and sisters running around.

A review can make me more likely to read a story. As for the star ratings, my time is so limited that a three star rating is not likely to get a read from me, unless I have already read other stories I really liked by that author. One author who posts here from time to time -- I wrote in more than one chapter comment that his stories needed more dialogue. Another reader chimed in and agreed. Two stories later, he started adding more dialogue, and the over all quality of his stories improved. Another author wrote good stories, but needed an editor. If an author writes a good story, but sucks at spelling and has weird grammar, that would be fair game for a review. To the admins, such as @Myr, @Cia, and others -- You do a very good work through this site, especially when one considers the many factors pushing, pulling, drawing, and repelling everything on the site.

I also voted for the email option. But I could have gone for the "while viewing other stories option." The email option, it seems to me, would allow me to read the stories later, if I didn't have time to read the suggested stories for a day or three.

@Myr, would we be able to opt out if we change our minds later? However, I do like the idea.

So this is the full version of the short story you published in October elsewhere. @drsawzall I just tripped over this, and today realized this will fill in many of the questions I had in the short story version. Thanks!

How could they tell if the boys were virgins?

@AC Benus -- what is that comic panel from? What strip?

My bedroom is much colder in winter than the rest of my home, I often go commando under my sleep pants. The freedom is great, but so is the warmth from the sleep pants without being confining.

Yes. That is what is called the horizontal fly or an H-Fly. I bought my first H-Fly at a Jockey Outlet store in about 1990. It was much more comfortable and efficient than any underwear a fly I had worn up to that time. I'm not sure who had the H-Fly first. I found out about the existence of such about 1990 at a Jockey store.

Something I have not yet seen a comment on-- quoting from this chapter: "See you tomorrow, Amy," Kippy said brightly. Amy was making an effort not to smile too much now. "Would you like any calls forwarded to your phone, Charlie?" "If it's family, yes. Just about anyone else, take a message and we'll get back to them." So, in a future story, I can see Amy saying to one of the parents who calls TPI, "So, how long have the boys owned their shipping company?" and the parent says, "Huh?" And then the guys have to explain a LOT -- especially if it is Kip's mother who is asked that question. But that might not happen, since the parents would probably call one of the guys directly on their cell. Thoughts on that, @Geron Kees? Many of the largest companies are mostly self-insured. If you are making billions, it is often less expensive to form a sub-company to oversee claims up to, say, five or ten million dollars, and then have a re-insurance company for losses over that amount. The premiums for the re-insurance company would thus be much less, since the majority of losses would be less than that. And, @wenmale64, I also prefer cheddar cheese -- mild cheddar.