>>          Heh.  Jeff and his wife don't have any kids of their own. 
I >> bet he's going to end up playing father figure more than he 
   >> anticipates.
 >
 >     More than you can imagine.

    "You see, Corporal?  There are no monsters in your closet.  Or under 
your bed.  Or hiding in the bathroom.  Now go back to sleep!"

 >
 >>          "And if I keep saying that, maybe I'll start believing it."
 >>          Y'know, with all this going on, I can't help but think the
 >> author is
 >> setting these characters up for a classic baptism-by-fire.
 >
 > [blinking with an innocent expression]  ME???

    No, the OTHER G.L. Sandborn.

 >   > placed his thumb on the reader and watched a series of numbers
 >   > appear on the tiny screen.  Entering his own code, he pressed the
 >   > 'decode' button and waited.
 >   >      Moments later, the message appeared.  He grimaced at what he
 >   > was reading.  They couldn't be serious.  This wasn't what his
 >   > people were trained for.
 >
 >          A bit choppy.
 >
 >     Hmmmm, I'll work on it.

    Maybe somthing like:  Moments later, the decrypted message appeared on 
the screen. It was very short, and he felt himself grimace as he read 
it.  Whomever had drafted this simply couldn't be serious -- none of his 
people were trained for this.

 >
 >   >      "Colonel?  Mr. Kidd is here," came Maggie's voice from the
 >   > doorway.
 >
 >          "Bill" Kidd, huh?  Took me this long to get that one.
 >
 >     Yeah, I actually knew someone named Bill Kidd.  His life was a
 > living hell.

    What kind of parents do that to their kidd?  Geez.

 >   >      With a sigh, he pressed the clear button and watched the
 >   > little disk dissolve before closing the decoder.  All this
 >
 >          Dissolve into what?  Nitpick, I know, but wouldn't the remains
 > gum up
 > his reader gizmo?
 >
 >     I was thinking of 'poof'  Mission Impossible stuff.  I guess I
 > need to
 > work on my descriptions.

    Could just say "evaporate."  Maybe Jeff'll have to blow a lingering bit 
of ash out of the slot, or something.

 >   >      "One of my night patrolmen arrived on the scene just moments
 >   > after your people left in their rovers.  The very idea that men
 >   > sworn to protect the new United World Government would accost a
 >   > woman in such a way makes me embarrassed to clam membership in
 >   > such a noble organization," Mr. Kidd said, his hands gesturing
 >
 >     What noble organization?  the UWG?  And "member"?  *He's* got a lofty
 > opinion of himself....
 >
 >     This gets explained a little later.  The UWG is 'rewarding' those who
 > restore some form of 'civilization' to their regions.

    For certain values of "civilization," I see.  Why am I suddenly put in 
mind of those few foster parents who take the kids on and treat them 
like dogs in order to pocket the state money?

 >   >      "That certainly explains their interest in Captain Parino,"
 >   > Bobbi Jo noted with a wry smile.  "Perhaps they were just looking
 >   > for a good time and she appeared willing."
 >
 >     What, doing intel along the AP border makes GMPs hot for Zentraedi
 > chicks?  BJ's two lines here seem mutually contradictory.
 >
 >     I'll check.  You might be right since this episode got hacked and
 > patched
 > more often than I like.

    It's just that she's offering two completely different reasons for the 
Gimps to attack Ona, which are unrelated to each other.  Although the 
second might make a "plausible denial" cover for the first.  If BJ had 
said "Or perhaps..." I wouldn't have stubbed my eye on that paragraph.

 >   >      The last to deplane caused Jeff to sit up.  The visiting VIP
 >   > was obviously a woman.  Dressed in business attire, she adjusted
 >   > her sunglasses and started for the Command Center's door.
 >
 >     No base escort?  She must have been here before.
 >
 >     Base thin on personnel combined with a pushy visitor makes for
 > people wandering around unescorted.  Not good but I think it
 > works here.

    That works, but I was also wondering how she knew where to go.  Unless 
there's a big "C&C THIS WAY" sign.

 >   >      "The room is sterile," Bobbi Jo replied in a low voice.
 >   > Jeff could see her distrust as she scowled at the back of the
 >   > Ambassador's head.
 >   >      "Fine."  Opening her valise, the Ambassador removed a plain
 >   > folder before regarding Jeff with an expression that suggested
 >   > she was a woman used to people obeying her every command.  "What
 >
 >     Must...supress...hentai...comment....
 >
 >     BAD DAVID!  (Where's that rolled-up newspaper I used on Maggie.)

    Well, c'mon, she fits the popular stereotype of a bondage queen...

 >     The New Madrid fault, natch.
 >
 >     Glad you caught that.  Not sure everyone else knows about the
 > fault line considered more dangerous than the San Andreas (sp?).

    Only when it lets go (he said cheerfully).  SA "twitches" a lot more 
often, but when the NM lets go again, everything from Chicago and 
Detroit down to New Orleans may go splat.
    (and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will probably break off and fall 
into Lake Superior, but who's gonna notice?  CNN doesn't even know the 
UP exists....)

 >     Given how badly he needs that chamber, Bokon does not strike me as
 > being very smart.  He's willing to risk an nigh-irreplaceable item for
 > the sake of baiting his enemies.
 >
 >     He's taking a chance here.  Zentraedi are known for 'taking chances'
 > in tactical situations.  Besides, I need it located there for the
 > climax of
 > this episode.  ^_^

    Heh heh.  I'm just wondering what he stands to gain from goading the 
enemy like this.  Could he think that getting the Yorkies to fire the 
first shot would be worth risking the chamber in the resultant crossfire?

 >   >      "A coup?  By whom?"  Jeff glanced at Bobbi Jo and saw her
 >   > eyebrows rise at his statement.
 >   >      "The religious leader of York took control with the help of
 >   > the York Army.  Brother John, or whatever he calls himself, has
 >   > declared he was ordained by some god to assume control of the
 >   > country.  They are no longer the Barony of York.  They are now
 >   > known as the Holy Kingdom of York - the Chosen People of God."
 >
 >     Great Jumping Ayatollah Khomeinei on a pogo stick!
 >
 >     Wait till you meet them.  ^_^

    I can hardly wait....  :/

 >     And *I* want to know how someone Jeff has such a positive opinion of
 > became involved in the Miami Base massacre.  I wouldn't expect a good
 > officer to allow the kind of thing that happened to Missy.  Of course,
 > that assumes he was in any position to stop it...
 >
 >     Next episode....

    You tease.  (:)

 >     Ona really *has* been having lousy luck so far in this series, hasn't
 > she?
 >
 >     Hard Luck Ona, that's her.  ^_^  Of course, she DID get lucky with
 > Cindy.
 > [BAD GREG!  BAD!]

    <snerk>  Hey, now, she and Cindy are just good friends.  Cindi just 
lets Ona use her as a teddy bear.

 >     David, you're a gem.  Outstanding job of C&C.  I can tell you
 > spent a lot of time on this and I appreciate it more than I can say.
 > Thank you.

    <blush>  Just glad I can help a bit.



             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'