Elizabeth Cutler

02
May
2014

Review – Ceremonial

Review – Ceremonial

Ceremonial activities tend to be weddings and the like.

Background

Review – Ceremonial

Connor Trinneer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Instead, I decided to show a more secular event. As a result, I decided I wanted to show a citizenship ceremony.

After Reversal was concluded, I had placed the Star Trek: Mirror Universe Tripp and Beth on the surface of Lafa II. And when a prompt came around about ceremonies, I decided against weddings and the like and instead went for an alien citizenship ceremony.

Plot

So after leaving Empress Hoshi far behind, Beth and Tripp (she calls him Charles) want a new life. They are already married, and they have a son, Charlie. Their life on Lafa II is not an easy one. After all, they’re living in a cave. And they are only doing odd jobs in order to survive. When things are really bad, they’re poachers. About the only person who takes pity on them is Doctor Miva.

Therefore, when they get a chance to attain full citizenship, they take it. Since they owe the Empress absolutely nothing, they want to declare their allegiance to the leader of the government, the new High Priestess, Yimar. In a low-level bureaucrat’s office, their lives are changed. So they swear to defend the Calafan government and its people, and denounce the Terran Empire. It is as much of a life-changing event as a marriage or a death.

Story Postings

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot

So I think this short story turned out pretty well. It has one small purpose to serve, and it does so readily. In addition, it is the earliest appearance for Charlie, who eventually weds Takara Sato.

Posted by jespah in Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Review, 13 comments
25
Oct
2013

Review – Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

Review – Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

Gerbil? Yeah. Really.

Background

In response to a prompt about comedy, the idea of fraternity-style hijinks and an all-out prank war gave rise to this silly story.

Barking up the Muse Tree | Jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

Adding to the fun is the fact that the cover comes from a screenshot of Tripp Tucker‘s quarters in the final episode of the series.

These really are his Star Trek: Enterprise canon belongings. Hence the cover and the image mesh perfectly with the action on the page (although that’s actually an armadillo).

Plot

Deb and Chip are alone in his quarters. This is her first time staying overnight. Aidan is in Sick Bay, but it’s nothing serious. Chip has a romantic evening in mind, when Deb finds … Stella.

Stella is a stuffed toy. And so Chip needs to come clean about how and why he’s got Stella (who does not belong to him). Therefore, he begins to tell a story about the early days of the NX program. This was when there was an engineering competition to perfect an incredibly dull but necessary piece of canon equipment, inertial dampers. So a big part of the plot hinges on silly things happening when people are supposed to be ultra-serious.

Story Postings

Rating

The Story is Rated K.

Upshot

I enjoyed writing this story a great deal, and apparently my peers enjoyed reading it. Because I won the monthly challenge! I really like it. This includes how it dovetails with canon personnel, its shout outs to Worcester Polytechnical Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts (a place I have visited several times), and its neat fit into my own fan fiction. Because the story is silly, it covers up a few more difficult issues. These include Aidan being in sickbay, and Emory Erickson reminiscing about Quinn. However, it also works as a means of getting people onto the ship who do not originally belong there. Chip in particular gets a good explanation of why he’s there in the first place.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, In Between Days series, Review, 10 comments