Flip-Flop

If I had a crystal ball I would tell you this: I feel Mikulsa is playing nice for a selfish reason. He needs the ships crew to help him to get information and cooperation from Bzup to get an upper hand for a preconceived plan of his. He is not about to let these people tell him how to do a job that he has been doing successfully for so many years. It will be for their own good, Like it or not. After all, he is the "Protector."

I like Ana also. I can also see the point of the people feeling safe in their home environments and the quantity of known and unknown species that inhabit this land. Funds are limited, and the sea studies were not a priority and that seemed acceptable, until maybe, right now. Perhaps they now feel a threat that the monsters of the sea can be turned into weapons, and are clueless as what other creatures besides orx, that could be controlled in similar or even different ways. Varin Mikulsa is still a bit of unknown until we get to know him better. Kel a relative, has been a source of some information as to how he can be rude and can stir up things at family gatherings. Being a "runt", he may have a chip on his shoulders? Time will tell, but no one on the ship will let him treat Bzup rudely.

Happy to see Keven was returned to the stage since Alex failed to live up to expectations and was booed on stage. Kevin performed better than last time, and stuck in there despite having food poisoning. The band appears to have gotten over any fall out from his stage fright and skipping out. Not easy probably but I guess getting booed on stage seemed much worse. On to the next venue for Lee's traveling road show.

I have great confidence in Master Terpin at this point due to his experience and knowledge of the rules, aided by senior crew members. Nita has done very well with the somewhat limited equipment available to her. Jem has shown that he has many natural abilities and wisdom in his many new roles aboard ship and is respected and appreciated by the Master and crew, along with Nico, in what is considered a "special package" asset. Our new friend Bzup is learning to communicate very quickly and should enlighten us with needed insight of what to expect and learn about his fellow members of this newly discovered race. The mystery of siffle pack behavior could just be evolution because they are no longer the top of the food chain, or not. But I hope we will get to address that question in due time, We are in the future, and the vastness of space and also this planet Benteen, contains many unknowns to the settlers and us readers, and I love this ride @Geron Kees is providing for us. ❤️

What a Wunnderful!, Wunnderful! chapter! Bzup is learning the language and true communication is starting to occur. We now have alternate ideas about Chregar's fate that Master Terpin wants to investigate. The visitors will arrive shortly, but I hope they will end up on an investigative ship ride, to search for further clues. There could be drama, but my money is on Master Terpin with his crew and of course, Bzup. We will soon see what wise ideas the visitors are bringing with them.

The mystery of the Chregar is still an unknown and may be the key to the attack on the Vespris. Could the Chregar have done something to provoke hostilities, or was it the victim of them. I think we need to know the facts about what was likely first contact between the two races. How and when that could be found out, I have no clue. But I believe we will find out. I enjoyed Til and Bzup's visit and can see that Til has a more open mind towards Bzup now. PS ....We also get Lawrence Welk reruns every week on two PBS channels.

Every one I know, like, and love are imperfect, and I definitely include myself. That is a real world truth. What I meant is he has to make sacrifices if this is his true desire. I did not want to imply he is hopeless. He just needs to put his priorities in order.

I like Andy but his actions reveal that unless he is willing to change his author's ego and selfish ways, any meaningful relationship does not seem likely. Matt's relationship with Ahmet is an attempt to escape the reality of his situation and contains nothing but danger for both of them, and he is wise to that fact. Matt and Ahmet, and Andy and Tony's relationships were/are for all the wrong reasons. Until situations change for both characters any thoughts of a true relationship seems to be nothing but a folly to me. Andy controls his actions, where Matt can not. I feel that the time leap of this chapter reflects the helplessness of Matt's situation.

Neither can I. Reading this story is nothing but pure fun and is the high point of my day. Of course, that could be because I have been sleeping late, and napping, since I can't wait for the next chapter, which drops on this site in the middle of the night. I am lucky to hit the sack by 4 or 5 AM. I am willing to pay that price. It also helps to be retired and not wanting to do anything on these 90 degree days. Love ❣️ this tale.

Happy to see Kevin was fortunate to survive the spectacular accident with only minor injuries. The car was destroyed, but he was very lucky,and should recover quickly. Eric's actions and concerns revealed a lot to an unsure and shell shocked Kevin. We move on to Vegas, where the new base player should take over. This drama may be over but the next chapter's title reveals the @Lee Wilson roller coaster keep rolling on.

I would love to see Bzup included in Jem and Nico's visit to Til. They need introduced anyway and it may help to relieve Mister Majors's boredom, and fears. Who knows?

Bzup reminds of a Swiss army knife in the way he can adapt and produce so many different and useful tools. Snorkel, adjustable legs, mouth with tongue attachment, pseudopods with suction, no problem. He would probably be handy on a camping trip. I can envision Bzup, Nico and Jem sitting around the campfire swapping stories. 🤠

There is still so much to learn about Bzup and his creators/controllers, and his/their capabilities. It is obvious we have been set up to expect drama and a possible conflict of interest with our expected visitors. I believe the crew still have a few days before their arrival to learn what they are able from Bzup, and suspect there will be more interesting surprises ahead for the crew and us readers.

No, I think Nico wants to attach himself to Jem. He saw Jem first. Why would Bzup have to be attached to Jem? He was attached to the outside of the hull of the ship when they thought he was spying through ironwood.

The blob was the focus of all of our attention in this chapter, and how could it not be? The orx hunting was exciting with Jem and Nico's successful joint-effort first "catch", but did you see blob's snorkel come out of nowhere? Jem correctly predicted the orx's next move, but blob and Jem were communicating verbally with each other. Jem and Nico are now showing their relationship in front of the crew, but have you seen the relationship that blob and Jem share. Do you think Master Terpin will continue our orx hunt? Don't know, he just left to go down to talk with Jem and Bzup!

True. I am afraid of how he now views his own reactions, and how he not only feels he has let down the band, Eric, and whether he realizes it or not, himself. Kevin was put so far out of his wheelhouse, the shock was just too much for him to face. Now he will have to face the fallout from his actions. I feel for the guy.

To me this comment sounded so shocking. There is such a vast difference between their realities now. We have been caught up with the risk and danger that Andy took and so concerned about how it would affect him, but now i feel almost guilty about about that, after viewing Matt's new reality. The fact that Matt's whole future and possible chance to continue living, is completely out of his hands, has sunk in, for me, and it is so very disturbing and distasteful, that it will take time to process it all. In the light of day, the reality of being under the complete control of a monster such as Kanaan hit me like a brick wall. A powerful chapter and skillful writing about such a nasty and dark topic.

Well we know on thing for certain.............. Out of the four people that blobby has been "hanging" out with, it definitely finds Jem the most appealing! This reveals another trait. Blobby also has good taste, in humans. 🥰

Until we understand blob communication, it's singing could just be a distress call or a location beacon. It was suspected of being a spy towards the ship and crew, and Jem thought that it had sounded a bit sad to him at times. It also could have stopped singing because it is wary of Jem, for some reason, unknown to us. At this point in time, I have no insight to it's reaction to Jem's touch of the tank. I guess we will learn when it is the right time (in the authors opinion) for us to understand what may be occurring between the blob and Jem.

Beg to disagree. The blobs did appear to use the orx to lure the ship into a trap and was boarded by orx. That is how the blobs were discovered. The ship was also very lucky to escape the vast horde of orx approaching in a very threatening attack maneuver. I will stick with that theory until shown differently.

Good riddance to Chris, deal with him any way you wish. Danny is still on probation with me and his father. It appears that Kevin will get a chance at joining the group as a possible last minute fill-in for Mike. A bit far fetched, but moves us closer to a HEA result. He needs a lift after being dealt with what life has thrown at him.

Nita, picked up on the blob's reaction to Jem's touching of the tank and quickly ran the "touch test" with the other crew there. No reaction was shown. Jem's second touch, confirmed that the reaction had appeared to be exclusive to Jem, out of the four shipmates. Lucky for us that he is the main character of our story, and we will get first hand knowledge on his feelings about this strange blob connection. It may take a while to understand what this connection is all about or what it may entail. but still an exciting surprise development.

How true. As readers of Charlie Boone, we have seen frighting new characters who after further study and understanding of their motives, have become good friends and allies. I can only hope that would be the case here, but that outcome looks very bleak at this time. @Geron Kees is sure to surprise us all, at the time of his choosing and until then, enjoy our comments and reactions, as we try to make some sense of the unknown in his created world. And this chapter just adds more fuel, but not enough, to find the answers that we seek. Clever, are the traits of this author.

This meeting was held two days after the attack on the Vespris. Nita with the help of her shipmates had learned a surprising amount of information about the green blobs, under difficult conditions, during this time. Master Terpin was wise to keep the crew informed and to welcome any input, theories, or speculation in this controlled meeting, to keep possible panic in check, and the crew informed as to what their new mission will be. This is no longer just fishing orx, but the front line on this battle that could affect all settlers. What might the other vessels or scientists be doing now? The more that can be learned now, the better they will be prepared in the future.

Who actually governs Benteen society? If this is actually an alien attack who is in charge of making security decisions? Are the scientists in charge or do they just make rules to follow. I doubt that they have a military or navy. Who will rally a defense if this is an attack on their society?