Wow! That doesn't really cover it, but not being an author myself, I can think of nothing better.

I've just finished your 5 story Star Trek arc, and each story was fantastic by itself, and also part of a great series.

Your bio says you enjoy writing part time. In my humble opinion, you could easily make the transition to full time writer if the ST franchise ever regains some of it's past popularity. You may do as well on other series, but I've only read your ST submissions.

Excellent read. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your stories, and I'm a self-described connoisseur of ST books. "I once owned every ST:TNG book published from 1988 to 2003, but have since donated them to the local library."

May I say again, excellent work. After you vacation, I do hope you consider writing another series.

After the other-dimensional threats posed in your last stories, the return to a more prosaic, human-level threat- albeit a time-travelling one- was very enjoyable, particularly given the nature of his threat.

Where your last two stories featured obvious threats that nobody could deny had to be stopped, Soran’s plan to destroy the Borg using the Xindi superweapon was particularly dramatic because people could actually like his goal, appreciating his intentions even if the possible temporal consequences of his attack are far too varied for anyone to feel comfortable with what he’s trying to do.

The secondary plot of Kirk’s investigation into Tholian activities was a bit questionable- it might have been interesting, but it didn’t really play that big a role in the MAIN plot-, but your later idea regarding thems topping Soran by transferring him into an alternate universe that would have been COMPLETELY doomed without his help was not only a neat way to resolve the problem, but was also excused in a manner that avoided making the “Relativity” crew seem like a bunch of hypocrites.

VERY interesting job with your planned ‘origin’ of the Borg, on that topic (I still prefer the origin presented in the ‘Star Trek: Destiny’ novel trilogy- there’s a time-travel element to it that you might appreciate-, but your idea works due to the simple tragedy of good intentions falling apart as well, I assure you), and the resolution and possible redemption of the Borg Queen should also be interesting to see more of.

And as for the final twist about Soran’s role in another historical calamity...

Certainly explains how a comparatively simple natural disaster could become something THAT big, when you think about it; the supernova idea was cool, but how one star could affect the entire galaxy on the implied scale didn’t QUITE make sense.

All in all, another excellent bit of work; keep it up!

First, before I do or say anything, I'd just like to set off a round of applause for you! Fireworks! Odd and gratuitous and random Cardassian-launched-what-the-heck-are-those-doing-there fireworks! I was trying to guess the title of this chapter before I clicked on the email notification (I guessed completely wrong) but I like your choice better. More optimistic.

And, of course, there WERE fireworks.

Scotty would agree that reading technical manuals IS a vacation!

Oh...isn't Reed in (or involved in, or no longer involved in but still speaking to) Section 31? I seem to remember watching that years ago...and going "Malcolm, how COULD you?" at the screen while around me my family are going, "what are you talking about?" I guess I was the only one who got it (we hadn't seen the relevent DS9-episodes anytime recently then, but I'd read about 31). It doesn't make me very happy, knowing they might know about everything that's happened here.

And...now that I've scrolled down a paragraph or two, you knew that. That's the problem with review-as-I-read...I remember everything I wanted to say, but I jump the gun a bit sometimes!

A clock is a traditional Starfleet gift, I approve (and can think of two other gift-giving incidents that involved a clock. Okay, one was a watch and didn't technically happen, but it's a grand old Star Trek tradition nevertheless.

Gossip is the only thing in the universe that travels at warp 10. Proven fact.

Oh lord. (collapses in laughter) A paper airplane competition? A PAPER AIRPLANE COMPETITION! Oh lord! What a sight...

Okay, I thought nothing could top the paper airplanes, but the concept of a captains' campground is right up there with it. Oh the potential chaos...

Oh the madness...

Oh the fun.

And I honestly can't think of a better description for these stories of yours. I'm going to miss them! So many things are ending (sniff). (Explanation: I am coming to the end of several series-long binges, one of which is Voyager, one of which is these stories, and they're all ending pretty simultaneously. If I didn't have Enterprise to start watching I'd be flailing in despair.) Still, I guess I can always go back and reread them, which I plan to do so that I can appreciate how everything ties together.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing these stories. I have had so much fun reading them and responding and reading your replies. I feel so lucky that I've gotten to both read FANTASTIC Star Trek fiction and make a good friend! If you are EVER in the Central Texas area, you MUST drop me a line so I can meet you in person.

LET THERE NOW BE MORE FIREWORKS!

(jumps around conducting the fireworks, making explosion noises, and waving sparklers)

HOORAY FOR SONOFTED AND HIS FANTASTIC STAR TREK STORIES!

(more fireworks are)

Le'letha

An excellent ending to an excellent story and to an excellent series. The really grand stories have allways been my favorites and this is certainly one of them. You have successfully written a series that delves into all five (or should I say six) without any one overshadowing the other. Something that is probably a near impossible task. I don't know of any other story, whether it be canon, literary, or fanfiction, that has placed all five captains in the same room together. I hope I get to read more stories like this someday.

Until then, go ahead and take your long break. You deserve it. I sincerelly doubt that I have the ambition to write something on this scale (though it certainly would be fun).

There really is nothing to complain about. This, along with all of your others, is simply a great Star Trek story, and a great story period. Good luck in all of your future endevors.

Soran just doesn't quit, does he? Every time I think he's been knocked down and learned his lesson, he pops back up again to cause MORE trouble. How many plans can this guy have made? (rhetorical question, obviously) That's a sharp reminder that he's obsessed and angry, not incoherent. I think I may have forgotten that, somewhere along the line.

At this point it's starting to get a little difficult to keep track of who's in whose universe. I'm sure it actually makes sense once I reread the whole thing as a full book (which I WILL do with enjoyment once the final chapter is posted). S'pose it's a little late to institute a numbering system, huh?

Ooh, that's a complicated bomb. Nasty! (Clever!) I think regular time travellers get a little overconfident from time to time (I just said that. I am shamed.) because the Relativity crew, at least, has the paradoxes under control. It's hard for people like that to realize that they've been outclevered.

...oh my gosh. Did you use my idea?

The "Jellyfish"? Really? It's really called that? Can't we call it that in, I don't know, Japanese or Vulcan or... (considers the probability of the Klingon language having a word for 'jellyfish') Maybe not.

I really hate jellyfish. I really, really do. This has nothing to do with the chapter, but it's a comment I made to myself that I thought I'd share.

You did use my idea! (or enough of it for me to recognize it) I feel like I've contributed! (flying tackle hugs you)

Okay. Can't take issue with Soran's fate. It works. I am impressed.

I DID like this chapter! I am very impressed, and I think you've tied up most of the loose threads. Again, once I get a chance to reread it in full, I'll be able to check it more completely. I am very much looking forward to that.

(I think there were no Starfleet timeships in the 2009 movie for a very practical reason...way too complicated for the general audience that ST:XI HAD to reach.) I like your explanation better, though. Much more creative and interesting.

Congratulations, you've just done the impossible. You've combined, explained, and made perfect sense of all Trek canon in one very long series of stories.

This entire series has been absolutely fantastic from the get-go. That's really all I have to say about this. Excellent work.

My trivia resources agree with you about the source of this chapter's name. I really intend to see that "Batman" movie at some point, and when it gets to that line, I will point and laugh, probably badly confusing whoever is watching it with me. ...actually, this begins to sound like more fun than I anticipated. Watching "Batman" movies generally involves me making sarcastic comments at the screen every two or three minutes.

"Lord of Everything" is a hilarious title. I doubt it would have the effect the Scholar would like it to. I'm still not quite sure why Archer and Reed are on the planet with Roberts...except, of course, that all great situations need an audience to exist properly.

If the Scholar just up and admitted that he was wrong, or at least that Roberts had a point and maybe they could compromise, that would be sort of anticlimactic. So I guess he's locked into the course of action he's taking (breaking things). Ooh...structure of plot as metaforce influencing the plot itself. Or technobabble along those lines.

It's a good thing the Sentinel and the Scholar don't actually get along very well. If they were working together and communicating like a Starfleet team would do, they'd realize they're being played. Hahaha! Starfleet and its allies continue to be superior to the superior beings!

Wow! I hope that looked as intense in my head as you intended it to...and it looked pretty darn intense. I have the feeling I should be seeing sparks and little flashing lights inside my eyes.

All in all, I don't think I have anything useful to say. Sorry. I hope it's useful to know that I'm impressed, and that I'm really looking forward to rereading this once the last few chapters are completed.

Meanwhile, what's up with the two versions of Kirk's Enterprise? I wonder I wonder I wonder... It took me a second to realize that there were two versions, since I expected the next section to be moving on to another chunk of the story. Very clever.

I really don't have anything useful to say, do I? At this point in the story, I usually don't. Bring on the last-minute roller coaster twists!

Very interesting. That was a very clever way to defeat the Scholor and the Sentinel. I did not see it coming. I'm also glad that we're seeing more of the Origional series crew. I very curious about what the implications of the changes are, and who (or what) is doing it. Good luck!

This chapter was good, as usual. The cliffhanger for this one was really good. It was just different enough from the average kind to really hold my interest. There's nothing really to complain about. The only thing is that in the last chapter, I noticed that you called the Klingon homeworld Kronos. That is how its pronounced, but its spelled differently. I believe that it is spelled Qu'nos (I've seen enough Klingon words to know that they use a lot of apostrophies). But that's really just a minor complaint. Everything else is just great. Keep it up!

Before I actually start reading, two things I made a note of to tell you:

One: I finally actually watched my way around to "Relativity". I can see why you decided on that ship as your base of operations through so much story! It looks like a nice place to work; clean without being antiseptic, open without being ridiculously large, efficient but still elegant. And it's nice to now have a face to associate with Ducane!

Two: comparing "Infinite Diversity" to "The Lost World"...if you'd rather feel like Michael Crichton, you'd be entitled to baby rexes, too! I haven't seen the movie, but I ran downstairs and reread the book, and it not only legitimately has two adult rexes, but four babies. But that's still a scale-up from "Jurassic Park", which had a 'big rex' and a 'little rex'. So your point still stands. Rawr!

I'm now feeling very intimidated by the Dokimasia. I mean, I felt intimidated last time we ran into it, but standing on the NX-01, it's even more belittling. The sheer SIZE of it, not to mention the power! It definitely looms. I realize that was the idea. Um...it works.

Favorite quote of this chapter, so far: "In the universe where I come from, you don't want to know. Here in your universe… well, you don't want to know…"

The 'instant message' format of Roberts' conversation in the subspace conversation is really helpful. I was prepared to get lost in the shuffle of bold-print conversation, but so far, so good! Admittedly, there are still so many Datas to keep track of! (Okay, I know, the word "Data" is already plural. But you know what I mean.)

I love your plan for the former Borg Collective. I was wondering what was going to happen to them. One of the most important things we learned from Seven of Nine in particular is that it's not their FAULT they're Borg drones, and that the people in all that armor haven't willingly done any of the atrocities they've done.

Briea, most of all, is bringing home to me the fact that this is an alternate universe. (And the duplicate "Relativity" didn't?) Well, yes, but something about Briea strikes me. Perhaps it's because she's in such a different situation from her counterpart back in our universe.

I wonder how many Sentinels there are in how many universes, all planning something, and I wonder how many of them will be derailed somehow. I hope it's most of them. I wouldn't want to live in a universe run by the Sentinel (even if he didn't blow up my galaxy).

Well, this should be an interesting firefight (I should have guessed something like this was coming by the title!) Now I get to sit back and shout 'what have I missed? what have I missed?' for a while. Hm...

And...boiling lava? Really? Fistfight on the Genesis Planet much? (laughs) Okay. Boiling lava! Why not?

I don't think I'd be able to resist peeking at my 'history' either, so I fully sympathize with Trip here. Actually, I think it would be an incredibly easy decision: as a lifelong fiction fan, I'm used to seeing people's histories unfold with the flip of a page. Having my name attached would be odd but not too weird, because I'd instantly stop thinking of 'her' as 'me'. She'd just be another character on the page, so I wouldn't be tempted to go back and meddle. ...I should probably get out more and actually do something with my life, huh?

I vaguely remember T'Pol being annoyed about the concept of time travel. I must have seen that episode at some point, because I think I also remember her being miffed (a la Vulcan) when proven wrong. I think it must have given her a headache. (Join the club, T'Pol!)

Yum, lemonade. I wonder if we've got any...no. I'll have to make some after the sun actually comes up.

LOVE the comment about the precedent for doctors spending more time on the bridge than in sickbay! I've always suspected Starfleet instituted more chairs in the command well because Kirk called and complained!

Ooh, the old question...why don't the powerful people from the future smooth the way of the people from the past ALL the time? I think we both know the answer (Temporal Prime Directive, huh?) but I like that Hoshi's asking. I think I would too.

Well, this latest twist has thoroughly whip-cracked my feet out from under me...if you get the picture...so I can say nothing! Consider the Scholar given a leery Le'letha look and room to explain some more! Or take potshots. Or something else I'm not expecting. Options exist.

Say, I'm having a Soran related thought here, and I need you to tell me why it's not an option. Soran tracked the Nexus; it took him a while, but surely Preserver technology or Timeship savvy could do the work much faster. Why couldn't they just track the Nexus, give Soran a shuttlecraft (if Voyager's any indication, they make 'em in flat-pack models now), and shove him out of a shuttlebay?

Hey, annoyed rogue Preservers! I approve...except they're going to turn around and lash out, aren't they? It would be so much more fun to bait them if they didn't strike back.

Captains' conference! It makes me happy just to IMAGINE what this room full of people looks like!

Awww...an entire season's worth of angst removed. (I'm not disapproving, I'm laughing.) Nepotism is apparently alive and well in the far future...but good for them! Hard work has its rewards, huh?

"Weird is part of the job!" Um...season two..."Deadlock". Janeway to Kim. At the end. GOOD quote.

I think your chapter title "Never Before and Never Again" can stay in; that's an awesome DS9 moment, and besides, it just sounds cool. You're not going to catch me complaining, anyway...

While redemption is a wonderful and enduring Star Trek theme, personally I feel like leaving Queen Rama to live with the recollections and experiences of the nightmare she created would be justice of a kind. I realize that you've got something much more interesting planned for her, though, and that dropping her into a dark hole and throwing away the key would be MUCH too final for this point in the story!

...Okay, okay, I do see Data's point.

I'll be interested to see what happens to the Borg in real-time now that the Queen has been quite neatly scooped out of the Collective and moved elsewhere, unaccessible. I'm imagining billions upon billions of drones frozen in place in weird postures, all across the galaxy. It's kind of a nice image, but I doubt it, somehow.

Oh, wow, you actually called Soran 'evil'! Not that I'd argue with that assessment, but it's not a word you hear often on Star Trek. (Admittedly, the Borg usually qualify.)

I don't think he's going to see reason. How do you debate the Temporal Prime Directive with a man who won't see past the end of his own nose? I guess you don't. I pity the poor crewman who has to sit there and listen to Soran yell until more plot happens to him.

So, are the "Rivals" of the title Soran and Ducane? Or Soran and Queen Rama? I guess it could be both...

A comparatively shorter chapter, but I get the feeling it's the calm before the storm. Except for the screaming, of course. The screaming sort of ruins the whole 'calm' idea...and, of course, now the Enterprise has shown up. I wonder how many ways you can find for different people to say "What are you doing here?"

Somewhere, Data is gloating at his own cleverness. (YOU're allowed to gloat, though. Genuinely clever people are allowed to. I know I'm missing at least one or two more twists!)

(waves) Eh-heh...hi...

I like the word 'scuttlebutt'. It's fun to say and every so often I get to say it in front of people who have no idea what it means.

Music? Hm...I just LOVE the idea of Spock sitting there decoding bits and pieces of heavy metal! I can almost see the non-look on his face. You know the one. The one that says 'you people are all insane but I'm MUCH too polite to mention it'.

I'm really enjoying this ship chase scene you've got going on here. It sounds like you thought it through and came up with plenty of actions that a prepared, experienced starship crew would take. It's not bogged down in description, but I'm still getting a clear picture.

You've got a BIG typo in the scene with Kirk and Picard. Spock's father's name is spelled SAREK...check your spelling, 'cause that's a totally different Vulcan you've mentioned in "Picard sighed, remembering the conflicting array of thoughts he had been exposed to during his mind meld with an elderly, ailing Ambassador..."

The concept of IDIC is one of my favorite Star Trek philosophies, and I really wish more people were able to appreciate it.

Oh no! Not him! Not again! Well, that should make things interesting...

'Starfleet can do a lot of wonderful things, he thought wistfully. But they've never been able to design a shirt that will stay tucked in.' (applauds) GOOD point! Although the jumpsuits on Archer's Enterprise might be an exception. I'll have to check on that. (I have "Enterprise" coming in the mail any day now, I'm very excited. Yay, eBay! But now I have too many new DVDs to watch, and if I watch any of them, it means I'm not watching all the rest...)

I think you kept everyone in character. The starship choreography all made sense, and I certainly didn't take exception to any lines, and I could run most of the scenes through my head with sound and visual without any problems. Except for the ones on the Relativity's bridge, because I haven't gotten to that Voyager episode yet, and don't know what the bridge looks like. (I'm getting there, I'm getting there. But we're having a family nightly TNG marathon,and I have a brand new friend who's an obsessive 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' fan, so I have to be really literate in THAT really fast so we can have fun conversations, and Enterprise is on it's way...life is so much fun!)

You know, I was watching "Voyager" the other night, and I hit "Year of Hell". And after going "ooh" and "ouch!" and "rawr" in appropriate places, I started wondering, how much of your Soran is based on Anorax? Did you look at him while working out how Soran would act and think? They seem to have a lot in common. (Not so much in common that Soran isn't still interesting, but enough so that I noticed.)

At this point, I'm really not sure who's a step ahead. The clever thing you've done is: everyone thinks THEY are (and they all have good reasons to think so), but they can't all be right! That's an awesome way to keep up the suspense, and I'm really enjoying it.

(Personally, though, I'm hoping the Starfleet team has the advantage. But, y'know, I'm biased.)

Oh, no! Not a deep dark mechanical hole in a spacecraft! You know, by the rules of TV sci-fi, you are now obliged to drop someone down it. It's a rule. Think "Star Wars". Think "Firefly".

I'm trying to imagine what a pencil-sized tricorder would look like, and I'm not coming up with much. There's only so far miniaturization can go, right?

Hmm...and now what are you going to do with Soran now that they've "gotcha!" (Bwahahahaha, by the way.) I have some ideas...but which one you'll pick, I don't know...but I suspect Soran's future doesn't look very good...or very long.

Oh yeah, the Borg...for a moment there I almost forget they were in this story, I was so caught up in the NX-01/1701 side plot. I guess that's a good sign!

So, just to clear things up...this Borg queen and collective are alternates? NOT technically the exact one we see in Voyager/First Contact? I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but it's good to be sure (just in case you throw another curveball like that)! (Having read further: o, yah, and it definitely does make a difference!)

If the Borg have a problem, it's certainly arrogance. (Apart from the problem of being Borg, of course, which is a pretty darn big problem.) Star Trek certainly created a menace! I don't expect to see them in the movies any time soon, though, just because "First Contact" doesn't need remaking. I think it's the sheer scale of it that makes them so terrifying; the idea that there will ALWAYS be more, they will ALWAYS keep coming. It's neat to see that confidence turned against the Queen.

That 'other universe' curveball seems to be hitting everyone! It's certainly pulled the rug out from under Soran. (Yes, I am in a metaphorical mood tonight.)

Apart from mixing metaphors, I really don't have much to say for this chapter, because I was reading at such a speed!

So...showdown next chapter, huh? I can't WAIT to be able to read this all in one gulp, I feel like I'm forgetting things. Hopefully I'll have time this summer to sit down and read all 5 of your stories back-to-back, see how things tie together.