ReaderPaul

I just saw a wrong thing in this chapter. Erva said that none of those with Crowla and Dith had heard the zap guns before. But the Crites with Dith did hear them the first and second times that the guns were fired, because they shot the six with staves. Then Mike shot the one who tried to grab a stave. So, some of them had heard the zap guns. That was in chapter 6. It makes no real difference to the story. Erva might have had a short memory lapse.

Actually, I can think of additional persons who might have made the call, though Bernard is VERY likely. Prism, Desmond, and the fixer; all are possibilities. And no telling who else Jonathan Price might have greatly upset. @Summerabbacat, I certainly agree that religious organizations should NOT to be allowed to discriminate if they take even the smallest fraction of a dollar of taxpayer money. The wrangling over that in the United States irritates me greatly, and that any truly religious organization would ACCEPT any government/taxpayer money galls me. But it happens all too often. I could say more, but it is obvious we are in major agreement on that issue. I predict that @Wombat Bill our own warlock of word weaving, the sultan of script, and the creator of chronicles will tell us, probably within three chapters.

I like Gilden. The more of him I see in the story, the more I like him. I hope that at some time in the future, he can meet Difris.

I am wondering if the anonymous caller is Bernard?

@Wombat Bill, @Summerabbacat, @NimirRaj, I just thought of another possibility. Jonathan buys the newspaper....

In the second Door tale, Difris told them that they would have a ten percent increase in reaction time, and have four times their previous stamina. While ten percent is an improvement, there are some very fast reacting persons here on earth. The stamina increase would be less remarkable, since some persons here on earth already have much greater stamina than some of us.

@NimirRaj and @Summerabbacat have both analyzed the situation well. It might be that Jared and Thomas have sources which could dig up dirt on Tim Shand. Might there be something in Tim's background that he does not wish known? Or perhaps dirt on the media outlet for which Tim Shand works? If Tim is not careful, even Edward and Andy might team up and come up with something about Tim. I don't know what that might be at this point, but both have shown much resourcefulness. Samuel (Mark Twain) Clemens was a world-class wrangler of words. Our own wizard of words is well-endowed with a sense of wittiness, surprise wonderment, and tangents of thoughts as he tells these tales. I am now awaiting @Wombat Bill working more twists and turns in future episodes.

More fecal matter is hitting the rapidly-rotating air moving device. (The *** is hitting the fan.)

Wow! Going to have to analyze this some more.

No need. Nyf has tremendously faster reactions than any human, and if necessary, he could communicate with all three humans simultaneously, but with different messages. (Interpolating based on what has been explained and observed before.) So unless there is a case where another "child mind" is needed, as with the case of Brik being needed at the starport, only Nyf would normally be needed.

Niff is riding with CALLY on this trip. However, Nyf can access the sensors and functions of all three suits, since his mind was a clone of Difris at the beginning. As long as Nyf is not separated from the others by a Door, his ability to access their suit sensors is not hindered until there is considerable distance. Part of the reason to leave Cally and Derry with the others was to protect the others. None of them yet know what happened at the station -- yet.

Because more and more action happens in this chapter, and then is quickly concluded. I can also understand Mike's reluctance to pretend to be Armenti, yet see the necessity. It is very valuable to have Nyf with them, because he can help with identification of various aliens (alien to the humans, anyway. I am guessing that Difris and/or Nyf have not loaded the memory implants which the guys have with the historical and cultural info yet. I'm glad Mike insisted on getting more sleep before continuing to confer with Erva, Inishee, and their groups. That was wise. I predict all will be busy enough as things continue to come together.

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.