nuTrek

02
Sep
2016

Review – Double Helix

Review – Double Helix

The double helix of DNA also refers to the double bond of Eriecho to both Vulcan and Suliban culture.

Background

So after posting Release, there was a call for a sequel. Readers wanted to know what had happened to Eriecho and Saddik. And I was only too glad to oblige. The characters had grown on me, too, and I wanted to give them something beyond just a bewildered start on a new life out of the hell of Canamar prison.

Plot

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Eriecho Series | Double Helix

Eriecho Series

Therefore, a couple of months after arriving at the Martian sanctuary, Saddik and Eriecho visit people who are, in a way, their family.

They meet up with Enkir and his mother, L’Cultura. And these Suliban are the brother and mother, respectively, of Eriecho’s adoptive mother, H’Shema. Hence, by extension, she was also Saddik’s lover while they were in prison at Canamar. H’Shema held great importance for both of these emotionally damaged ex-convict Vulcans. All they want to do is show their appreciation but also to latch onto someone who can be family to them. Eriecho, in particular, could use some gentle taming.

Enkir is a little reserved, but L’Cultura seems overly fragile. It is Eriecho who perks her up and, ultimately, gives her a reason to go on. For L’Cultura, Eriecho gives her the opportunity to be a grandmother and to embrace the good which H’Shema has done in the universe. For a disappointing addict and convict of a daughter, to know that H’Shema did so many kindnesses and was so resourceful, is a source of great wonder to the Sulibans. And some pride as well.

Story Postings

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot

I enjoyed revisiting these characters so much that they got their own series!

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Posted by jespah in Eriecho series, Fan fiction, Review, 1 comment
26
May
2015

Review – Release

. Review – Release

Release constitutes another play on words. Hence it represents both an end to bondage and a sexual act. And Saddik himself considers the latter before the former.

Background

With the destruction of Vulcan, Vulcans are sought in all sorts of remote places. And this includes prisons.

Plot

This was in response to a prompt requiring that we write in the Kelvin timeline (sometimes also called nuTrek or the JJ  Abrams universe). I made a decision to write about how the creation of a sentient endangered species would be handled.

Barking Up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Release

Eriecho and Saddik’s Release from Canamar Prison

Hence the story opens with a pair of Vulcan convicts. They are being called into a commandant’s office at Canamar Prison, a canon institution.

They are about to be freed, yet they scarcely know why. All that Commandant Kerig will tell them is that Vulcans are endangered, and the home world is no more. This unsettles Saddik, the elder of the two.

But not so Eriecho, who  barely knows anything about Vulcans, or what it means to be one.  So as the story continues, her backstory comes to the fore, of her birth on a prison transport. Hence this is the only life she has ever known. Furthermore, the only mother she has ever known was a deceased Suliban woman, H’Shema.

The action follows Eriecho and Saddik off Canamar and to their new home, a sanctuary on Mars. Colonel Jack Shaw is in charge, and he’s ecstatic. Partly it’s because it was his idea to try to find Vulcans in prisons. But it’s also because the rebuilding of the population involves surrogate mothers and as much genetic diversity as possible with the limited remnants of a once-thriving species. Therefore, taking note of the Law of Supply and Demand, Shaw has something that others want. Hence he (and the administrators of the other sanctuaries, on places like Andoria) engages in a barely legal practice – gamete trading.

Story Postings

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot

I loved being able to introduce these new characters. People love Eriecho, and it’s been a joy to find her voice and follow her life as she adjusts to life on the outside.

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Posted by jespah in Eriecho series, Fan fiction, Review, 5 comments
24
Apr
2015

Portrait of a Character – Sollastek

Portrait of a Character – Sollastek

Sollastek is more than just a love interest in the Kelvin timeline.

Origins

I wanted Eriecho to eventually have a love  interest, so that she could have a silver lining from the horrible tragedy that is the destruction of Vulcan in the new timeline.  This man would be markedly younger than her, and not too terribly well-educated. Enter Sollastek.

Portrayal

Sollastek is a purely romantic character so I have him played by Justin Timberlake.

Portrait of a Character – Sollastek

Justin Timberlake as Sollastek

I think Timberlake (who is a better actor than a lot of people seem to give him credit for) would make a pretty interesting Vulcan.

I like the idea of him being a bit guilt-ridden, partly with survivor guilt, but also because he is a witness to a canon event, when Amanda Grayson, Spock’s mother, is killed.

Personality

A bit troubled but trying very hard, Sollastek is attempting to make the best of a bad situation. But the truth is, if Eriecho and Saddik had not arrived at the Martian Sanctuary, it’s likely that he would have been the subject of the matrons’ none too subtle shunning. He is working class and barely on their side of logical and meditative. After all, even on Vulcan, someone has to be a day laborer.

Relationships

Eriecho

Sollastek’s sole known relationship is with Eriecho. In Across the Universe, she learns that he made a deal with Colonel Shaw to change his space in the community garden so that he could be closer to her. He is a calming influence on Eriecho, and grounds her. He’s patient with her when she runs off to Earth with Sybok, too.

Mirror Universe

Portrait of a Character – Sollastek

Justin Timberlake as Mirror Sollastek

There are no impediments to Sollastek existing in the Mirror Universe.

I do not feel that he would be any brighter, but he would probably have more confidence. As for survivor guilt, much like a lot of denizens of the Mirror, he just wouldn’t care all that much.

Quote

“Many of us have seen truly horrible things. I was there when our home world was destroyed, as was Valeris. It was a day I will never forget. Many of the others, I am certain, have suffered their own personal traumas.”

Upshot

As Eriecho goes, so goes Sollastek. He will return.

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Posted by jespah in Eriecho series, Fan fiction, Portrait, 5 comments