You did an excellent job of bringing this part of Kirk's youth to light, kept true to what canon had mentioned, and kept the kids true-to-life. Thanks.

this was the most epic Star Trek fanfic I think that I have ever read! it's well written, well plotted out, and ended well. I would love to see more of your stories and I will definitely check out your profile.

This was a beautiful story. I just want to know how Kodos escaped ! Could you maybe write about Jim's reaction when he finds out that Adam and Co. are dead?

aww that ending was so cute

What a delight this story was! I have longed looked for a Tarsus IV TOS tale and not been able to find any. You can't imagine my surprise to find this one, written so many years ago!

The story unfolded in a wonderfully, realistic way and I enjoyed seeing how Jim Kirk emerged as the strong leader.

My only wish for this story is that you had made it a little darker. Tarsus IV is about two things: starvation and mass genocide. You did a good job explaining why the kids were running for their lives, but I think it lacked an emotional punch by showing, REALLY showing the affects of starvation and emotional trauma on Jim. In the end, it all just seemed like a bad summer camp experience that Jim was ready to shrug off. That was disappointing, but over all, the over all quality of this story still stands.

Thank you for a great tale of adventure for TOS Kirk on an event that very few writers seem willing to write about.

Great, well-written story.

I read this story for the first time quite awhile ago when I first discovered this fan site. It won me over to fanfiction immediately. Your writing talent is nothing short of amazing.

I love the idea of seeing Kirk as a teen and the characteristics that he had that would someday make him (in)famous. Obviously, a true leader and great captain wouldn't just spring into being upon graduation from the academy or at a certain age - and you certainly managed to bring it all to life in amazing detail.

BTW, perhaps someday you could write some stories about the others (Adam, T'Pei, T'Shal, etc.) - you made me curious what they would be like in the future too.

Look forward to reading, re-reading, your other work. You are superb.

I don't even know where to start. Another excellent story! Although Honor Code is my favorite, I like all your stories. I hope you haven't given up on ST fanfic. You are certainly one of the brightest writers! I'd like to read about the year between Tarsus and the Academy and how Jimmy had to cope with the physical and mental abuse and his "grown up" feelings. I'm sure you could make a wonderful story!

you know...at first I wasn't going to read this because I thought there were too many characters (especially ocs) to remember and that it would all run together and become a blur. But I have to say, you did a marvelous job of differentiating characters. I came to love them all (even Thomas, who I hated at first). I especially love the Soran, Stobel, and T'Shal.

This is a really good read. I can definitely say it is one of the best about Tarsus IV I've read. Certainly one of the more upbeat depictions, as he has a method of fighting back and isn't just helpless all the time. And I really feel that responding with mass violence in a situation that may become a genocide is totally natural and justifiable. So in my book, his response rocks!

Okay, whoa. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this before, and frankly I'm in awe. I'm a nu!trek fan so the idea of Jimmy having a father is new and hard to get used to, but thank goodness for the universal constant of Jim Kirk. I'm am thoroughly in awe of how you've portrayed his skills showing even at that young age, and how people rightly fear him/his pent up rage.

I'm amazed at the creativity of the circumstances of Tarsus, even though it may be because normally in nu!trek it's a juvenile camp (Jim has had brushes with the law) and of the wonderful new characters you've created, and would like to know if you're okay with me using them in another fic following Summer Camp, and after I've read it, Honor Code. Like, in the Enterprise days. I've discovered a slight obsession of Tarsus, so yeah.

Either way, I truly love it, and thank you for sharing your generous talent with us,

Love,

Lady Merlin

I'm happy I've refound this story after many years - truthfully I cannot remember when I first read this story, but for me it has become my personal canon for what happened with Jim on Tarsus IV.

You've written such an engaging story fitting into the Trekverse that I kinda forgot that it was a fanfic I read with this story and not a published novelization.

Thank you for sharing this terrific story!

It is now 7:04 am, and I just finished. I hope you're happy, making me stay up all night to read this incredibly well-put-together fic. *shakes fist*

Between the techno babble and the action scenes, I say wow. Well done.

You really did a great job with this story. I love your take on the events of the massacre (though I'm a bit confused as to how they all count as eye witnesses if they didn't see Kodos). You characterization and pace movement was excellent. Thanks for the read.

I always wondered why George Kirk kept going on those long voyages! Now I know.

The one thing about this story is that the chapters, although well-written, were fairly long and jumped around somewhat. It wasn't bad or anything, but that was my personal opinion on the story.

Anyway, now that that's all out of the way, I can now congratulate you on a job EXTREMELY well-done! Probably my favorite story in this fandom.

Wow. Just wow. Fantastic story. I found your story through a Taursus IV fic list, and I'm so glad I did. This just works on so many levels! Amazing job, and thanks for sharing with us :)