ReaderPaul

Had I thought about Gorge and his previous statements more clearly, I would have realized Gorge will tell little to his fellow Pertwee, because he will want to maintain some advantage, just as he did when not revealing that he could speak the planet's human language.

I thought Bullwinkle said, "Watch me pull a hat out of a rabbit!"

Great chapter. Marc needed the rest.

@Al Norris -- both you and @Geron Kees make excellent points. I am reminded of the short novel by the late Hal Clement titled "Iceworld," in which a race of breathers of gaseous sulphur visit Earth. They have some problems with the planet being so cold that sulphur can exist in solid form, and water can exist as a liquid. Great story, even to the point of pointing out some dangers of nicotine addiction if aliens got hold of Earthly cigarettes. (Side note: Hal Clement was the pen name of Harry Clement Stubbs.)

I am reminded in the quote below of the "Slingshot Effect" described by Robert Anson Heinlein in "The Rolling Stones": A rocket fired at a 45-degree angle to spinward of the planet gains some small momentum from the rotational energy of the planet. A rocket launched at an angle will follow a parabola, as it's influenced by the gravitational acceleration of the planet below. If the amount of energy applied is insufficient, the parabola intersects the earth, and of course the object will impact elsewhere. Think ICBM. But if acceleration is simply maintained to escape velocity, the parabola doesn't intersect the earth, and the object will escape into space exactly as if it had been fired directly outward. The truth is, we fire rockets straight upwards now because it is the cheapest, most direct way to orbit or escape. It minimizes the time in atmosphere, which equates as drag, and only requires a short amount of time under a high expenditure of energy to attain, which is the way our propulsive technology operates today. When explaining the Slingshot Effect, Heinlein said that some complicated math explains how a rocket may be fired at the correct angle and direction to gain more momentum than seems obvious. Thankfully, Heinlein did not try to EXPLAIN the math. Excellent summary, @Geron Kees.

A sometimes wise sage, perhaps?

I would like to see Horace ask Minerva where hernacki would be on the order scale. I am guessing about eighth order or more. @Geron Kees, concentrate on becoming well, please. If you need to write future chapters in shorter form, and more chapters than you originally planned, we will be "patiently impatient" as they come out. Patient, because your health is paramount; impatient, because we love your stories. I am glad to see Adrian exercising more leadership in this story. Grim is a tremendous addition to the "friends of Charlie and company." I also predict that these experiences greatly enhance the leadership skills of Rorna will be greatly enlarged during and after this adventure.

Can all modern laptops have a second screen?

Recommend desktop for the bigger screen.

Wow, what a selection of good authors.

Hernacki can override almost anything. And the guys forgot Pacha taught Max even more than he already knew, and Max taught Keerby.

How well @Geron Kees has presented the various possibilities involving matrix theory, vector analysis, advanced algebra, quantum telepathy, and multiple dimensional slippage! And Robin even threw in fractals! (I only have a barebones theory of fractals, but loved vector analysis and matrix theory and some algebra.) Browbeat indeed is showing his wonderful world of worth. As to how they could get out, Horace was in the meld with Blinken and Keerby and Rick (see: "Elementary, my Dear Charlie Boone!") so with his affinity for immaterial beings, might be able to ask help from Blinken. Blinken and Esmerelda are obviously, as hernacki, above fifth-order and fourth-order beings. And that is just ONE way they might get out. I think @drpaladin and @Ivor Slipper and @chris191070 and @Flip-Flop are right to be cautious. Further, we don't know how much Rick, in his capacity as magic mechanic, has learned from the various encounters and side dimensional trips. He and Charlie have figured things out before. Or, Charlie and Horace could meld together and call Keerby, Max, or Nicholaas. Lots of options, and I predict Geron has several I have not even thought about!

@Josh Aterovis -- the theory behind the math is somewhat simple. The actual math is, at this point, beyond my ability.

This reminds me of the refraction problem faced by Jamie and company in "The Case of the Short, Short Prince," but they need to approach the problem from a different angle. This might be a super-hypersphere with two or more extra linear dimensions, and one or more extra time axes. I am glad Robin, Horace, and Amy now share the mind-touch with Charlie, Ricky, Kippy, Adrian, and Browbeat. To see if this is a hypersphere or a super-hypersphere, they might be able to use the help of Ripley Shannon. We also do not know how long Browbeat was in the lower level before the Madracorn gave him his bio-mechanism body. As an information merchant of the lower level, plus whatever he already knew from his life on his homeworld, has given him some extra mental connections of intuitiveness. Well done, @Geron Kees. Loved the reaction of Horace when he was told to fill in for Keerby or Max on understanding the fifth-order energy beings.

Quoting from this chapter: Chi Baradee leaned closer over the first captain's shoulder. "You're power users. You . . . you teleported here." Charlie nodded. "Yes." The old women gave a tiny shake of her head. "That should not be possible. Teleporters that I know of cannot go where they have yet to set foot, themselves." Kippy smiled faintly. "Perhaps we are not the sort of teleporters you know. Charlie chuckled inwardly, happy that his boyfriend was getting into the game. "I don't want to lie too much," he sent to Kip. "I do want them to continue to view us as most mysterious, though." That got me to thinking about the types of teleportation mentioned in the stories of @Geron Kees so far. In the Charlie Boone series, there is teleportation by using the elf manual of teleportation; there is teleportation to places one has been so far; there is bilocation, used by the Beltracians to send the whirling creatures down to the auction at Roorapynta; there is teleportation using the telzee route, also from Chapter 3 of "Light My Roamin' Candle, Charlie Boone! where Pacha'ka was still learning teleportation from Max; (and I am glad after that incident that interplanetary and interstellar locations were added to the elf manual); and getting the location via Charlie's second presence, as in this story; plus the type where you can see your location physically but have not been there. (And those do not count the four types of translocation/teleportation in "The Case of the Short, Short Prince" -- a regular translocation spell, for when someone has been to a place before; imaged translocation, where Jamie or someone else with the ability to peer into the mind of another and see where they have been; machine translocation, and ghost mode translocation.) And who knows what our favorite @Geron Kees will invent next? Edit -- and I forgot one. Pacha is able to teleport to places located by Kift communicator, such as when he teleports into Kip's room in (Is That a Monster in the Closet, Charlie Boone?) and when Pacha teleports down to the town of the witches in Chapter 10 of "There's a Devil in the Dark, Charlie Boone!"

Remember, when Robin was first encountered by Charlie and company, plus Pacha and company, Pacha said that Robin Hood was more powerful than Max, but not as powerful as Nicholaas. Considering that Robin has great control of skwish forces, including the ability to sit on his skwish emissions -- an ability shared by Reudi -- and one Robin taught Kippy, as recorded in "Stealing Christmas Wishes, Charlie Boone!" He is also able to latch on and follow a teleport, do trans-dimensional equations, create side worlds in the way of Nicholaas, and trace almost untraceable corporations. Perhaps with his mental powers, he could stimulate this sensors to be more sensitive, since he was wearing them. And who knows what he has learned from linking with Keerby and Blinken, and Nicholaas, Max, Auggie, and Esmerelda (see also "Strange Partridge, Charlie Boone!") Also, we already knew that Charlie and Ricky can contact each other via telepathy without the mind-touch. (See "Elementary, My Dear Charlie Boone!") Kippy and Adrian can can tag along with that, if they are touching either Charlie or Rick. But the mind-touch adds an extra layer to communication.

Well, in addition to skwish, I can think of portle-pruner, narms, florfs, translocation (from Short, Short Prince), orx, gruff as a type of fish, stonefish, ironwood (from Journey Beyond the Sea), "child mind" (from the Doorways series), and I predict I think of more later.

No, following Anna would NOT be overdoing it. This is a major black ops project, on which much of the Alexander-Knight House future will depend. A series of persons investigating her is well worth the cost of keeping an eye on her. I think Martin and Hunter are better suited for each other than Anna and hunter.

According to the Gay Authors word counter, as of this chapter being posted there are -- 1,187,639 Words -- in the Charlie Boone series. Also, there are -- 119,053 Words -- in the Doorways series. There are -- 236,276 Words -- in the "A Charmed Life" series. There are -- 75,256 Words -- in the Amsterdam Tales. There are -- 36,037 Words -- in the Booniverse series --- (so far, only one tale, about Pacha'ka). Geron's longest single story, The Case of the Short, Short Prince -- 372,908 Words in 36 chapters. The Thrift Shop series has -- 61,010 Words so far (Geron, when is the next "Thrift Shop tale tagging into the tale tally?) And the Road Series, 51,742 Words in one story and 115,133 Words in the other. And that does not count the rest of his stories!

The meat Amtapora gave sounds delicious, especially if the mushroom taste is morel mushrooms. A fascinating chapter.

@Geron Kees -- Take care of yourself, first. But this is another great chapter, and I do look forward to reading more.

It would appear that Grim is an ace at helping the original shipmind communicate. I hope we get to peek at Grim's introduction to Murcha, Onglet, and Illia, as well as Ragal, Casper, and Durapar. And possibly Uncle Sefton.

I have to agree with @chris191070 on the new ship. Looking forward to learning more in chapter four.

I really liked this chapter. Glad to see Anna gone, but I think she should be trailed indefinitely. Though not knowing much, she knows more than she should.

I hope that the new AI can get along with Illia, Murcha, and Onglet. Maybe they should have brought Casper along to check out the new AI and the ship, since Casper has such an affinity for machines.