Aphelion

I complimented as well as worked Jeff over a dozen times while he was drafting this, so he's heard a lot from me about it. (And he's still speaking to me, believe it or not.)<br><br>But I will second the motion on Al Harrigan. I thought he was a very pleasant surprise the first time I read this. He was interesting and well characterized. A joy to read.<br><br>I say Jeff did an excellent job on the first part, don't get me wrong, but I was not expecting a performance like his to start off the second part when I finished the first. To me it implied a time delay, one in which Simon became acclimated to the period he was in. I guessed it would start the next morning in the boarding house, but this was a better choice.<br><br>When I first read his intent for the ending, I told him that was so good it gave me goose bumps, and that he shouldn't change that no matter what. I glad he didn't. It brought the whole thing full circle, and I hope he's damn proud of his ending.<br><br>Behind the scenes, Nightwatch writers are a wildly passionate bunch, helping each other with their stories. It is my heartfelt hope that (1), that devotion comes through, and (2), more of you writers want to try this next year. These are great characters, and they're fun to write.<br><br>There's plenty left worth talking about in this one. What do the rest of you think?<br><br>Nate

Nice finish.

It would've been pretty interesting to have Simon speculate on some of the possible outcomes of a McNamara-less world. Then maybe have Simon weigh his options. How compelling, tho maybe out of character, if he had chosen to let the accident occur.

One question: how old is Simon now? I seem to remember him being 70-something in Dan's piece, and isn't he 50-something in Kindness? Am I wrong (again)?

Dan E.

<br>Simon was stuck with the old Time Traveler's dilemma: if you make a significant change in your own past, you can never return to the 'future' you came from. Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" gives the 'chaos theory' version of this (where stepping on an insect changed the course of evolution, not just history).<br><br>As for Simon's age, the Nightwatch 'bible' indicates that he is in his 50's (although I can't remember if it's early, middle,or late 50's). I think it was Tom Darby that was in his 70's in Dan's Nightwatch story.<br><br>Robert M.

...I recall Tom and Simon hitting it off as contemporaries, basically peas in a pod, so for I guess I decided they were the same age.

<br>It's the silver or white hair thing. They probably bonded because people have been assuming that they must be harmless because they look old (in both cases, I suspect the hair went gray long before strength and agility really started to decline). Simon, of course, has a very direct way of proving that he's not as decrepit as his hair might suggest: he beats the living crap out of them.<br><br>Robert M.

I see Dan had the same problem as I did -- when attempting to Post his message, he never got the normal display of the result. So he hit Post again -- and again. When I exited the browser and redisplayed, I found three (or more) copies of my post -- which I subsequently deleted.<br><br>Rob Wynne -- wha' hoppen, man? Problem must be intermittent, since not everybody is winding up with multiple copies of their posts (maybe Dan and I are the only two who keep clicking on 'Post' over and over again?)<br><br>Robert M.