“Beyond the Witherstream is a classy, thoroughly written bit of Sci-Fi. The Witherstream itself is a unique concept, lyrically-developed, yet it fits in the Science Fiction genre. The world of Star Trek expands to include other ships, new worlds to see, and scientific conundrums deeper than I can understand, yet explained in detail by the obviously intelligent, author. I enjoyed reading this tale/adventure story, told in the grandiose tradition of Star Trek!”

-Victoria Bastedo, Author

Engineer Theresa Mathers stared blankly at her monitor and wondered
when the geniuses in charge of this project were finally going to realize that
Sector 140459258 was the most boring region of the entire Alpha Quadrant.
Sixty-six days she had spent on a tiny research vessel no bigger than a Holosuite
with three of the most aggravating personalities ever assembled in a single crew.
Their esteemed leader was none other than Captain Harding– the absolute
quintessence of an Alliance stuffed shirt who thought far too highly of his talents
as a research vessel captain.

Actually, she thought him rather cute at first– that thin little mustache of
his and his black hair and dark, dark eyes. She thought he looked rather dashing
in a rather grim, determined sort of way. Single, too, she noticed, with more than
a little interest. And he did seem so very considerate. He took her to lunch on
the second day of their two weeks of briefing on Starbase Nurana.

“You have the most lovely eyes,” he said.

For a moment she was too stunned to reply. “Why that’s so sweet of you
to say!”

“And listen, if you need any help with the material we’ve been covering in
our briefings, I’d be more than happy to render my assistance.”

“Well thank you Captain– that’s very thoughtful of you. I will definitely
consider it.”

For a microsend, maybe– but no more. Theresa was absolutely certain
that she did not need his assistance with any of the materials. In fact Theresa
had excelled at the Alliance Academy. In fact Theresa was an expert on virtually
every type of known and unknown phenomena that they might reasonably be
expected to encounter on the most boring expedition in Alliance history. No, very
certainly she did not need any help from Captain Harding on any of the subjects
that had been covered.

Still, she found herself thinking that someone at Alliance Command must
have thought he had talent. He was a Lieutenant only six months earlier and
now he was to captain this, the Rim Quest, the first of a new type of research
vessel on its maiden voyage! And they were to explore uncharted regions of the
Rim, the borders of Alliance space. It all seemed so very exciting until, on their
first day out, Captain Harding assembled the three of them in the mess hall and
informed them that he would be in charge of every aspect of the mission, from
setting the course to determining how their research data should be gathered.
And true to his word, Harding took every opportunity to foul up the entire mission
with his tedious, picayune pronouncements on the proper observation of every
minuscule procedure in the entire Alliance rulebook.

It didn’t take long for her to transfer her romantic interests back to the
mysterious, misunderstood detective Swain whose latest adventure, Swain
Spurned, had entertained millions from Goridon to Mindos IV. Besides, Harding
quickly developed an interest in Vena Tularea, Engineer and obedient sycophant
of his every decree– and most recently an occasional late night visitor to his
quarters. Wasn’t she just a wee bit jealous of Vena? Well, perhaps. READ MORE…