Ride Your Wave rating

 Ride Your Wave

8.94/10.

4th November 2020 Writings

 4^th

 

Excerpt from: The Engineer and the Time Lady

She called up the abandoned station.

 

Words: 5

 

 

Excerpt from: Changes in Time and Space (Revision 2.0)

The TARDIS then quarantined the scanner circuitry, stopping the infection from spreading any further.

 

 

“Good, the quarantine is holding,” the Doctor said.

 

“But wouldn't that mean that the scanner is useless?” Sabir asked. He was worried that the TARDIS had lost further functionality.

 

“Not useless,” the Doctor answered. “It just means that it's unable to share the information with the rest of the TARDIS. It also means that we have to rely on ourselves and the computational capacity of the scanner itself to decrypt that file.”

 

 

Within the Scanner, the battle continued. The Dalek AIs continued to attempt to break the TARDIS' quarantine, to no avail.

One of the Dalek AIs decided to do something else to force the Time Lord in control of the TARDIS to give it access to his/her ship (Not knowing that it was the Oncoming Storm).

 

 

Sigrun and Jia'hale waited patiently as they guarded Kellira and her guards. But the monotony was broken by the blaring of an alarm. Sigrun was surprised by Kellira's fearful reaction. “What's wrong?” she asked.

 

“It's a decompression alarm!” Kellira explained. “But how? I didn't order it!”

 

“Maybe your compatriots have decided to sacrifice you, to kill us and the Doctor, without realising that the TARDIS is here.”

 

Words: 208

 

 

Excerpt from: Reverse Map Game 2019

No. 365

31^st Dec. 1849

Moscow

Over the past year, the Romanov Regime has threatened to imprison our correspondents no less than five times for exposing corruption in their administration. Editorial on page 8.

 

Dublin

Ireland is continuing to recover from the Potato Famine. Read on how the Liberal Democrat Ministries in Westminster and Dublin have reformed Irish Agriculture after the repeal of the devestating Imperial-Conservative policies that lead to the Famine on page 9.

 

In Paris, the Velocipede is invented.

 

The Apulian War continues.

 

 

Asia

The republican uprising in the east of Baluchistan is defeated.

 

 

 

Words: 96

 

 

Excerpt from: Star Trek: Stepping into Something New

“Take your station.”

 

Words: 3

 

 

Excerpt from: Daria – A November of Change

Daria Morgendorffer returned to her dorm room after her American Literature class.  ‘Not everthing that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,’ she thought. While she had read some of James Baldwin’s writings back in high school (after moving to Lawndale), the class had re-awakened her appreciation for his work. She had found his moral writings were still rather pertinent, as she could see that there were still divisions in American society along racial lines. She sighed.

 

“Hey, Daria,” her roommate, Natalia Daniels said. “Have you voted yet?” she asked as she stood up.

 

“Yes,” Daria said, guardedly. ‘At least Massachusetts is a Blue State,’ she thought. Even so, she didn’t want to tell Natalia that she voted for Kerry. They had already had arguments earlier in the semester about the impact of Bush Junior’s policies.

 

Natalia brushed her hands through her close-cropped hair. She could see that Daria was agitated. “Sorry.”

 

“That’s ok,” Daria said as she sat at her desk. She wanted to reflect more on Baldwin’s works, but it was obvious Natalia wasn’t giving her the chance.

 

“Some friends and I are going out to Assabet to view the Leonids tonight,” Natalia said. “Do you want to come?”

 

“Um, sure?” Daria said. Viewing a meteor shower seemed like a better idea than re-reading a Baldwin novel she had already read while listening to the Election Night coverage.

 

“Great!” Natalia said. “We’ll leave at seven.”

 

 

Daria returned from dinner to find that Natalia had changed into one of her more colourful and loose outfits. “Wouldn’t it be a bit cold for that?” she asked. She hugged herself, rubbing her velvet covered jumper for emphasis.

 

“No,” Natalia said, shaking her head.

 

 

When Daria and Natalia arrived, Daria could see that Natalia’s friends were drinking beer, whilst listening to the election count coverage on the radio. ‘Aren’t they underage?’ she wondered. She was too, until later in the month. She knew Natalia was a year under her. “Drinking?” she asked.

 

“Yes. Don’t be a square, Daria!” Natalia said. “I’m sure you drink.”

 

Daria sighed. She did, in fact, drink. Occasionally.

 

Words: 357

 

 

Excerpt from: Mysteries of Greenville

“The same,” Alex commented.

 

Words: 4

 

Total: 673

Beginnings of 2020 - Daria - A November of Change

 Daria – A November of Change

Daria Morgendorffer returned to her dorm room after her American Literature class.  ‘Not everthing that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,’ she thought. While she had read some of James Baldwin’s writings back in high school (after moving to Lawndale), the class had re-awakened her appreciation for his work. She had found his moral writings were still rather pertinent, as she could see that there were still divisions in American society along racial lines. She sighed.

 

“Hey, Daria,” her roommate, Natalia Daniels said. “Have you voted yet?” she asked as she stood up.

 

“Yes,” Daria said, guardedly. ‘At least Massachusetts is a Blue State,’ she thought. Even so, she didn’t want to tell Natalia that she voted for Kerry. They had already had arguments earlier in the semester about the impact of Bush Junior’s policies.

 

Natalia brushed her hands through her close-cropped hair. She could see that Daria was agitated. “Sorry.”

 

“That’s ok,” Daria said as she sat at her desk. She wanted to reflect more on Baldwin’s works, but it was obvious Natalia wasn’t giving her the chance.

 

“Some friends and I are going out to Assabet to view the Leonids tonight,” Natalia said. “Do you want to come?”

 

“Um, sure?” Daria said. Viewing a meteor shower seemed like a better idea than re-reading a Baldwin novel she had already read while listening to the Election Night coverage.

 

“Great!” Natalia said. “We’ll leave at seven.”

 

 

Daria returned from dinner to find that Natalia had changed into one of her more colourful and loose outfits. “Wouldn’t it be a bit cold for that?” she asked. She hugged herself, rubbing her velvet covered jumper for emphasis.

 

“No,” Natalia said, shaking her head.

 

 

When Daria and Natalia arrived, Daria could see that Natalia’s friends were drinking beer, whilst listening to the election count coverage on the radio. ‘Aren’t they underage?’ she wondered. She was too, until later in the month. She knew Natalia was a year under her. “Drinking?” she asked.

 

“Yes. Don’t be a square, Daria!” Natalia said. “I’m sure you drink.”

 

3rd November 2020 Writing

 3^rd

 

Excerpt from: Quests of Reality

“We should,” Talnym added.

 

Words: 4

 

 

Excerpt from:  Reverse Map Game 2019

Darien Republic

More than 70% of the population speaks Spanish as a first language.

 

 

South America

 

 

Africa

Bassam takes advantage of the IAA conflict with the Mali Empire to also declare war. They manage to capture a significant amount of territory.

 

 

Europe

The Times of London is accused of being a monoploy, with a readership of 80% within London.

 

Times

Vol. 157

 

The Apulian War continues.

 

 

Asia

The Chinese Civil War continues.

 

The Far Eastern War continues. Beifangxiang tries to push back against the Japanese advances, but fail at every confrontation.

 

The Malayan War continues.

 

 

Oceania

The Burgundians capture more of Otago from Tasmania.

 

Words: 104

 

 

Excerpt from: The Engineer and the Time Lady

She also called up the surveilance footage of the rail motor again. 'Locate the rail motor,' she directed.

 

An icon appeared, indicating that the rail motor had been last spotted at one of the abandoned stations an hour after Aialah's disappearance at the main railway station. She brought up the relevant footage. It showed the rail motor arriving, and Aialah being rough handled off it by several men, including the Mayor's son! She was getting somewhere. 'First, the Guild needs to know. Then I'll try to rescue Aialah from those men!' Nina thought as she saw the rail motor leave again. Probably was stored in a thought abandoned rail shed somewhere, she supposed.

“OK, TARDIS, let the Librarian Guild know. Give them this footage as an anonymous tip.”

 

The TARDIS 'dinged', the the footage had been sent to the Guild.

 

“Lead the coordinates into the Emergency Subset,” Nina cried out as she left the Auxillary Console Room. She stopped by a wardrobe and threw on a concealing outfit.

 

 

Again, the Emergency Subset left the TARDIS.

 

 

The Emergency Subset materialised off to the side of the abandoned station, the sound of that materialisation drowned out by the sound of the poorly maintained rail motor departing. As Nina moved towards Aialah and her kidnappers she could hear the former struggling.

 

“You won't get away with this!” Aialah cried out.

 

“Stop!” Nina cried out as she approached, throwing her voice lower so Aialah wouldn't recognise it.

 

“Get that person!” the Mayor's son called out to his men.

 

The gang pulled out firearms and started shooting. Nina ducked behind a pillar just in time. Her hearts beat faster as she heard the bullets ricochet off it. 'I didn't think they would be armed!' she thought. She looked back towards the Emergency Subset. She would make it. 'But do I have the phaser?' she wondered. She checked her pockets, but it was obvious the phaser was back in the TARDIS. But she did have a spare tricorder. 'I'll retrieve it later,' she decided. She started it scanning and threw it aside as a distraction.

She ran back to the Emergency Subset as the goons shot at the tricorder.

 

 

She returned to the TARDIS and ran back to the Zero Room to try to calm down.

 

 

Having spent the night in the Zero Room, Nina returned to the auxillary Console Room in the morning to find that the leaked footage had caused a media frenzy. Most of the outlets were calling for the Mayor to resign. But the Guild hadn't yet found Aialah. 'I'll have breakfast and go to the Library.'

 

 

Aolare was approaching Nina's motor home when Nina emerged. “Good. I need to talk to you. That leak may have done more harm than good.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The Guild needs to find Aialah before the Police do.”

 

“Right...” Nina considered.

 

“Let's go. I've set up an operations center in the Library.”

 

 

Nina entered the room in which Aolare was coordinating the search for Aialah. “The team are approaching the abandoned station now, Ma'am,” one of the other librarians said.

 

“Good,” Aolare said.

 

Nina breathed deeply.

 

 

It was a long day. Hardly any progress was made, except that evidence from the station indicated that Aialah had been taken elsewhere. “Maybe we should try calling in the Mayor's son,” Nina groused as she left the Library.

 

“No, he'll just stonewall us,” Aolare objected. “We're tracking down the others that were with him.”

 

“Probably.”

 

 

Entering the TARDIS, Nina saw that the download of the network was complete. “I know where Aialah was two nights ago. I can use the TARDIS to rescue her.” But there was a lot of risk in that.

 

Words: 616

 

 

Excerpt from: An Ordinary Wednesday

“The other times may not be applicable.”

 

“Why not?” Dani asked.

 

“They didn’t happen on Earth, or even in the Solar System.”

 

“So, what do we do?” Clara asked. “Go back to the TARDIS?”

 

“Of course!” the Doctor said, almost slapping himself in the face. The scanner can pick up what the sonic missed.

 

“Sonic?” Dani asked.

 

The Doctor showed her the sonic screwdriver. “Sonic screwdriver. It does everything, except wood.”

 

“You use it to scan things, and yet you call it a screwdriver?” Dani asked.

 

“He must have called it that for a reason,” Clara said as she lead the way back to the TARDIS.

 

“I’m not sure why,” the Doctor said. “Probably because that’s what I used the original version for, and I just kept adding functions as I continued to travel.”

 

“I guess that makes sense,” Dani said. ‘But I wonder if such happened with the TARDIS too? A time machine probably doesn’t need to be bigger on the inside.’

 

 

Once they were back in the TARDIS, the Doctor scanned the whole town. “No distortions in space time in Gundagai.”

 

“None right now,” Clara clarified.

 

“Scanning further back…” the Doctor said.

 

“The TARDIS can do that?” Dani asked.

 

“There’s little the TARDIS can’t do.”

 

Words: 207

 

 

Excerpt from: Emily and the Doctor

“So, what would you have me do?”

 

“Pay attention to what I say, Mr. President. Have your staff gather reports on unusual activity in this city, or in Maryland or Virginia,” the Doctor said.

 

“I will certainly do that. But I would like you to be a lot less vague.”

 

“I wouldn’t be if I knew what the threat was.”

 

 

Words: 60

 

Total: 991

2nd November 2020 Writings

2^nd

 

Excerpt from: Changes in Time and Space

The Drahvin soldiers acknowledged the order from the commanding officer and started moving. They immediately began to surround smouldering park, where the TARDIS was standing.

 

 

The Doctor and her companions had not been idle either. They stood around the TARDIS surveying the scene.

 

Words: 43

 

 

Excerpt from: Brittany – Party Time

Brian stuck out his tongue as he got out of the car. Brittany sighed as she drove off.

 

 

Brittany and Daria were in art class. “I’ll be having a party Saturday night,” Brittany said.

 

“Parties aren’t really my thing,” Daria said. “I’ve been fine with making friends with you, Donna and Andrea.

 

Words: 52

 

 

Excerpt from: Q Junior’s Lessons

“They’ll probably break the agreement as soon as they feel Voyager is far enough away.”

 

“That’s why I’ll be bringing some of their neighbours into the agreement,” the Captain added. “Some extra accountability goes a long way.”

 

“Certainly…” Q Junior murmured.

 

“Chakotay tells me you’re bored with the diplomacy lessons.”

 

“I know revision is an effective teaching method, but I’m eager to move on. Especially to the section on accountability.”

 

“Or maybe you can join Neelix and I in the negotiations,” the Captain offered.

 

“Wouldn’t that be a bit quick?” Junior asked.

 

The Captain was about to say more when she was interrupted by Ensign Kim announcing over the comm that the Uj R’baasagbr shuttle was about to dock.

 

 

The Uj R’baasagbr Princess emerged. She looked almost like a typical human of European descent, other than slight ridges on her face that were obviously extensions of the cheekbones.

 

“I’m Elselan Mossezria,” she said by way of introduction. “Princess of the Uj R’baasagbr. Have some of my crew take my luggage.”

 

Words: 170

 

 

Excerpt from: Mysteries of Lawndale 03 – Night of the Coffee House

Meanwhile, Quinn found that Mr. DeMartino was still in the faculty office. “Mr. DeMartino? I’m happy I caught you.”

 

“Ms. Morgendorffer, to what do you owe the pleasure?”

 

“Someone said that you have a book on the history of Lawndale,” Quinn answered.

 

“I do. More than one in fact. It should be here somewhere…” DeMartino got up, dislodging some of the paperwork from his desk.

 

“They also said they are concerned about the increased police presence due to the Coffee House break in.”

 

“With good reason,” the teacher said as he looked through the bookshelf. “Lawndale may seem boring now, but there were racial tensions back in the 60’s, followed by an increase in the White population in the past decade and a half.”

 

“Gentrification, right?” Quinn asked.

 

“Very good, Ms. Morgendorffer, but that is only part of it,” DeMartino explained. “Here it is,” he added, taking a book titled Lawndale in the Post War Years 1945 – 1985 and giving it to Quinn.

 

 

Words: 163

 

 

Excerpt from: Emily and the Doctor

“That’s the status quo, Doctor,” Kirkman said. “Ever since the Capitol Bombing it’s been one thing after another.”

 

“This isn’t a crisis like you have been experiencing, Mr. President. It’s not your mundane conspiracies, threats of war and disease outbreaks.”

 

Words: 40

 

Total: 468

 

Star Trek: Discovery 3.03 People of Earth review

 People of Earth

The third episode of the third season. Burnham catches up with the Discovery crew, and Discovery visits Earth. This catching up was done rather well. But the 'meat of the episode is what happens in the Solar System (as it's not just Earth involved in what happens next.) But first the set-up. Burnham and Book have information on an Admiral who had been to Earth a decade earlier. More on that later. Of course the Spore Drive is used to get to Earth (and also plays a role in the episode's events.)

The changes in Burnham as a result of the past year were believable. (Are there going to be more flashbacks to that year later?) Why Discovery would have so much dilithium isn't addressed. (Perhaps Kirk was reckless with it? That wouldn't be surprising.) The plan to hide the dilithium on Book's ship was sound (and great setup for later). They arrive at Earth to find that Earth is isolationist and no longer a member of the Federation. Starfleet had withdrawn to protect them from some undefined post-Burn threats.

That's certainly in character for Starfleet. But boarding Discovery without much warning? The United Earth Defense Force certainly is paranoid. However there is something else happening, mysterious attackers after Earth's hoarded dilithium. But they aren't who they appear to be. Rather they're from Titan, which had suffered an accident and was no longer self sufficient. (Lack of communication...) The way the dispute was resolved was reminicent of similar storylines in The Next Generation.

The feint, where Burnham and Book pretend to abscond with Discovery's dilithium to offer it to the Titanians, was done rather well. However, an interesting aspect of this episode is Adira. Curiosity about the Spore Drive was done rather well, as was the revelation about being host to a Trill Symbiont who was part of that Admiral. A very good episode. 9/10.

1st November 2020 Writings

 1^st

 

Excerpt from: Doctor Who – An Ordinary Wednesday

“Whatever it was that interfered with the lines has disappeared,” the Doctor murmured.

 

“So, it caused that flicker and then just wandered off?” Clara asked.

 

“Not just wandered off,” the Doctor said, annoyed. “It literally just vanished.”

 

“Like teleportation?” Dani asked.

 

“Pretty much, except I didn’t pick up any of the usual indicators of teleportation,” the Doctor answered. “It’s like whoever, or whatever, it was just shifted dimensions.”

 

“Blimey,” Clara murmured. “Quite difficult to deal with, yeah?”

 

“I’ve rarely come across such a phenomenon.”

 

Clara saw some hope there. “Only rarely?” she asked.

 

Words: 93

 

 

Excerpt from: Mysteries of Lawndale 03 – Night of the Coffee House

“All possibilities I suppose,” Jane said.

 

Daria came to the individual photos for the juniors who were now sophomores. ‘It doesn’t have to be any of my classmates. It could also be any of the upperclassmen.’ She continued looking at each student in turn, noting that Jane had grown her hair out over the past year.

 

Words: 56

 

 

Excerpt from: Q Junior’s Lessons

“And I suppose that you want to be the negotiator?”

 

“Not just myself, but also some of my crew,” the Captain answered.

 

“It’s not my decision, but I’ll see what I can do.”

 

 

Janeway and Q Junior entered the Shuttlebay. “You’re surprised the Uj R’baasagbr took my offer.”

 

“It’s unlikely that they would give up the planets just like that,” he said.

 

Words: 62

 

 

Total: 211