ReaderPaul

Well, the battle towers could also be used as sightseeing locations. In that case, some of the outside would be, probably, for safety and decorative purposes..

Of the first six chapters of this tale, this chapter is my favorite.

Oh, and @Wombat Bill -- I love your teaser for the next chapter, which might be paraphrased as: "Fecal matter collides with and is scattered by blades of rapidly rotating air-moving device!" I've got to go to bed now. I am exhausted, physically and mentally. It's 3:23 a.m. here.

Jonathan is going to proverbially explode! All his political plans puffed and popped by Virginia's loose lips and loose balloon of a bladder, and her rambling remarks rumbling through rumors resembling only incongruous and incoherent irregular icicles of verbiage thrown at her hapless husband. Now the press will really want to investigate their marriage. I am eager to read the thoughts expressed by @Summerabbacat, @NimirRaj, and anyone else who will comment. Hopefully, our own wizard of words, our weaver of well-woven tales, will over the next two or three chapters tell us some of the thoughts expressed by some of the characters at this dinner. We await, @Wombat Bill. (It has been a long, sometimes frustrating day,. Apologies for all the alliterative allusions, amigos.)

So Nyf is able to read books by osmosis, reading the book when it is closed, without a sensor array? And most non-English dictionaries I have seen include fewer examples of word usage, and more of a lexicon instead of examples of use, than do English dictionaries in this countries. In the next chapter, Nyf could not tell as much of what was going on in the first few paragraphs because the visual sensor array of their exploration suits was line-of-sight. Great story, Geron.

I would be in favor of Nyf visiting Earth. If he attended French or Spanish class with them, however, he would be in the same situation of not having the language files available as he was with the somewhat monkey-like race on the starport moon. However, he and the boys could learn either language more rapidly, since Nyf has a perfect memory. The boys have the memory implants, so they could build vocabulary quickly as more words became available to them.

My guess would be that Difris and Nyf can listen in on all the messages Derry, Cally, and Mike send. But it was established in the second Door tale that any of the three humans in the circuit can narrow their private messaging to only one of the other two humans, if they so wish. What has not been officially established is the range. In the last tale Difris told them that the built-in communicators had "considerable" range. I am guessing some of that might depend on what types of obstructions are in-between two or more that are communicating. It might also depend on what electromagnetic spectrum activity is happening at the same time. I am also guessing that the suits could, in theory boost the range of the guys' communication systems. What about that, @Geron Kees?

I agree with what @NimirRaj said above. I think it is fairly likely that he is right. There is an old saying about "a woman scorned." I see in Rani something as bad or worse -- a woman who thinks she has been scorned, tainted, or other negatives. Rani has come across as bossy and controlling at other times. Now she is also coming across as being petty and revengeful as well. All in her direct or indirect orbit, including Sandra, need to have their proverbial shields up.

Actually, @Wombat Bill it is pronounced DUB-yuh. Compared to tRump, as some call him, or President Bone Spurs, as others call him (because he claimed to have bone spurs in his feet to have an excuse not to go into military service), Dubya is a nicer guy.

Close. The suits are red and the head bubbles' default color is yellow/golden yellow. No blue tights outlining the crotch, however. @Geron Kees -- do the guys wear underwear under the Armenti exploration suits?

Nyf's filtering reminds me or the late great Anne McCaffrey, writing in her "Freedom" science fiction series, of the character Zainal and his comments of "Need to know!" when he felt some were not paying attention to what was going on around them. (McCaffrey is better known for her "Dragonriders of Pern" series.) Sometimes, Nyf and Mike have differing opinions of what is "needed to know" and how quickly.

I remember that one of the set of three doors in the first story led to a world of stone towers and winged/flying people. I am guessing that those people will show up eventually in one of the stories you write. The other one -- the frozen world -- I wonder what life-forms might be there? Was it frozen when the Door was installed? Or did something happen to it after the Door was installed? Good stuff indeed, Geron.

Geron, Nyf or Difris mentioned in the second Door tale that the planed of the moon station had been surveyed by the builders/Armenti when they built the moon starship port. I'm sure the Armenti would have similarly surveyed Earth, and probably in more detail, since Earth already had developed languages and cultures, more so than the developing culture and civilization on the planet of the moon starport. Just my guess, based on what was said in the second Door tale. Why am I calling it a tale instead of a story? Well, in my mind, this Door/Doorways series is above mere "story" level.

In the second Door tale, it was mentioned that Derry and Cally brought a laptop crammed with everything they could find about the English language, and showed it to Difris, who absorbed everything in the laptop in a single afternoon, and suddenly became fluent in English. Then on other visits with Difris, Mike Hamlyn and Difris discussed Earth history and culture enough to come up with the timeline of the Door to Earth having been installed about 1,000 years prior to Mike and the boys finding it -- just about the time the builders/Armenti disappeared. In addition, the laptop and the word definitions would have had cultural and historical references that Difris, with his perfect memory (unless some of it had been tampered with by the Armenti) would have interpolated and "connected the dots" on -- or have asked Mike and the boys.

@Wombat Bill, that sounds too simple to be on a police van. I did find, on a list of acronyms, that DOG means Delusions Of Grandeur, and DOGF is a US military acronym meaning WatchDOG Failure (though not used much). Okay, I'll just laugh about this and go on. Thanks.

@Wombat Bill, @Summerabbacat, and @NimirRaj, I thought I had already commented on this chapter. So DANIEL got arrested? That is interesting. I wonder what Rani thinks of that. What does the acronym DOG mean in NSW (New South Wales)? While I know that FOMO is Fear Of Missing Out, and ICYMI means In Case You Missed It, that DRE means Digital Rectal Exam, and that B&B can either mean Bed & Breakfast or B&B can mean Blow and Bang, and YDKM means You Don't Know Me (said to someone who thinks they know what proverbially makes you tick, but they really do not), I don't know DOG. The more I see of Edward, the more I like him. Again, well done, Wombat Bill.

So glad to see this here, Geron. Will we at some point learn what is in the belts? If not in this tale, possibly a future one? Can the zap pistols be configured such that only one of the three humans can use them, to prevent someone else grabbing them and using them against the guys? The translation ability, I predict, will be very valuable. We know from the last tale that the guy's internal communication system can interface with Difris, Nyf, and Brik, as well with each other. Can the transfer station archive mind and the infirmary mind also speak to the guys, if necessary? What a wealth of possibilities in the tales of the doors!

Thomas has a very unusual qualification as a campaign manager. The qualification is: He has never been in politics before, so he will take nothing for granted. Related to that, he will probably not be inclined to take things at surface value, but will look below the surface on almost everything. Mr. P and Jared need to pay attention to Bernard Johnson. As @Summerabbacat mentioned, Bernard probably knows more than he is saying, and, the fact that is normally very possessed of a closed mouth means, that if he is not happy with his new position that Watson assigns him, Bernard could be a proverbial explosive element in the future. On the other hand, if Bernard has felt abused or insulted or demeaned or feels taken for granted by Mr. P, he may be relieved to no longer be the driver. This could go in several possible directions. I predict that @Wombat Bill will inform us when it is time for us to learn more on that subject. Thomas is no fool. Jared -- and Justin -- will be carefully watched by Thomas for some time. I would predict that Thomas will quietly enlist Craig to unobtrusively watch Justin -- and Jared -- to learn more of what is going on. Perhaps Edward's skills of observation might be useful in addition to the people already mentioned. Thomas could also well think about asking around to see if someone knows more about Nathan. @NimirRaj might have other thoughts of interest. Edit: While I was getting ready to post, @NimirRaj posted his comments. Excellent observation about Jared, Mrs. P, and the condom. I had not thought of that angle. However, I would have expected that some condoms would be discretely be located in Virginia's room, for convenience.

I am going to have to wait and see on the results of the recent happenings. I have been right more often than I wanted to be on upcoming revelations. I'd like to be wrong for a change. Reasonable analyses of the situations has been performed by @NimirRaj and @Summerabbacat I look forward to the soon arriving chapters.

Excellent comments, @NimirRaj and @Summerabbacat. It may be yet some time before we know more of the truth. In the mean time, I intend to enjoy the story. I am wondering if Nathan might appear again. If he becomes a regular, fine. If he makes a cameo appearance once in a while fine. I am good either way. Please, @Wombat Bill, do not become like Charles Dickens, who is said to have introduced more than thirteen thousand (13,000) different characters in the total of his work. We do not really know what happened to Jared in his work with the SAS. Eventually, more of that will come out and could help or hurt his personality and/or character. I was fortunate to have a good father and a good relationship with him. Many men are not so lucky. Brenden was one of the worst fathers someone could have. Good chapter, @Wombat Bill.

@Wombat Bill, I agree with @Summerabbacat. You do not need to apologize for creating momentary discomfort in your readers. Sometimes real life is not comfortable. @Summerabbacat -- I reacted on the responsibility issue because I have seen, in American Courts, defense attorneys trying to minimize or explain away the horrific acts some persons have committed end up making the defendant sound almost like a poor, innocent saint who cannot possibly be guilty because of the abuse suffered and a child and therefore cannot be responsible for anything even if guilty. I have seen too much of that lately, and it has jaded me a bit. I agree Brenden's childhood helped create the person he became.

The problem with victimization is that, eventually, a person must be assigned responsibility for their own actions. One cannot blame victimhood for all reprehensible actions. True, being a victim may explain some of a person's actions. Brenden indeed was a victim in multiple ways. But the same system which victimized him also held the seeds of responsibility for his actions. I think we are mostly in agreement here. Whatever happened, from the beginning of Brenden's life to the end, has happened. It is time to pick up the pieces in the lives he so strongly affected and begin moving on. And yes, I do know that is not always easy. Some aspects will continue to affect lives for months and possibly years to come. Your comment about Brenden not being believed about his own abuse, @Summerabbacat, is right on. I know of at least two cases of abuse where the person abused was not believed, or in another case, one parent refused to admit that the other parent was capable of abuse, even though she knew of it happening. (And later admitted it.) Abuse is a terrible thing.

Jared's calm and reasoned response makes me even more suspicious that Jared directly or indirectly arranged the breathing stoppage, interruption of life, apparent suicide, timely (or untimely) death, or whatever terminology one might use. His military training would allow him to school his emotions in such a way as to appear not have considered the possibility of arranged death in prison. But, we shall see. Our favorite @Wombat Bill may have something even more surprising up his sleeve, along with his arm!

I feel the analyses offered by @chris191070 and @Summerabbacat are interesting, but I feel that "The Fixer" may have had something directly or indirectly to do with Brenden's death. This would explain some of the mystery over that call, and Justin's reactions. I notice Justin did not gloat about the savings to Australian taxpayers by not having to maintain Brenden for a long time in prison, but he may feel that emotion at some point in the future. I think that Justin will take some time to "come down" from his elation over Brenden's death. Jared sounds like he is trying to calm things. Eventually, things will settle down again. soon we can get back to the Jonathan drama, the Virginia-and-Desmond drama, the Edward various dramas, find out what Jeremy and Brett are doing, what is going on with Dean, and so on. I'm loving this story, @Wombat Bill.

@Wombat Bill -- I agree with you. Sometimes I think something or some things are very hilarious, and others just look at me and say, "Why do you find THAT funny?" So far, @Summerabbacat and I often seem to see the same humor in your writing. I further agree that he could be a very good author.