Latest blog post: Redraw of chapter 1 is happening (2024-05-11)

Author's comment:



Add Comment

* Required information
30000
Powered by Commentics

Comments (18)

Avatar
Regular
ANTIcarrot

They're probably safe. Gharr on the other hand...

He falsified a report that lead to the loss of a shuttle, the death of a dozen people, and an unauthorised alien contact situation. He will be lucky if he's only exilled to Earth as a permenant attache.

Though I wouldn't be at all surprised if Nea decks him at some point, and Zhane lets her.

Avatar
New
Takedown275

Guys, your best bet here is to turn yourself over. In all likelihood the military/UN are not going to take Dan's word that he was camping alone in the woods, which means they're going to start looking into his associations; meaning they will find you. Moreover, the military/UN has no reason to be anything but nice to you, making people disappear is a lot more difficult than it seems, and would only add to an already complicated situation; especially given that the best possible spin for the world's governments and the Alliance is that first contact was surprising, but smooth and peaceful.

Avatar
Senior
JoB

Pop quiz: Where is the United Nations office dealing with stuff like First Contact that's the closest to wherever you live?

In my case, it'd probably be UNOOSA in Vienna - only one international border to cross to get there. No such luck for the people in Protagonistan, if it's in the region the author described, and Dan's entourage knows squat about the UN / Alliance already being involved / planetside in the first place, much less of Iskras team / Zanes (so far) diplomatic corps being nearby.

Hence, their choice boils down to domestic military (which Dan has a story to tell of, true or not) or their government (which, as it happens, seems to have given carte blanche to gen. Bahin) ...

Avatar
New
Takedown275

New York, so like a 12-15 hour drive. Though I would probably go to the US government first, not out of trust, but in the interest of having some (small) control over the situation. I would probably also tell as many people I trust as I could manage, at least if Gharr was willing to be proof, but wouldn't bother with any kind of media; it would just end up disregarded as AI generated and anger the people I want in my corner.

That said, I'm not implying they know about the UN, or even that the UN is their friend here, just referring to the military/UN as a singular body for simplicity's sake. In truth, thinking of them as separate entities gives them more reason to turn themselves over. Dan aside, their government has a vested interest in protecting cooperative intelligence assets, especially ones that outside actors can't claim jurisdiction over. And given Dan's paranoia they should assume actors outside Protagonistan know something of interest happened, and that they're the primary threat.

Avatar
Senior
JoB

Hmmmm. Yes, as things stand right now, with the statement of intent we(!) have heard from gen. Bahin, I can see the Protagonistani authorities wanting to give Dan et.al. a decent treatment; even if Zane were to kick Gharr off planet right away for a serious chewing-out requiring a couple thousand miles of hard vacuum for sound dampening, he'd still have to acknowledge that so far, his fellow Raharrs have seen a friendlier attitude from Dan++ than from the military, and Bahin wants to get on the Alliance's good side, so.

Nonetheless, that's again using information that Dan's group currently doesn't have, and would have to trump their background re: Dan's brother + giant cover-up + ... .

Avatar
Regular
Wilson

"Just not go?!" That would be way too easy! What is this supposed to be, normal life?

In other news, his arm healed surprisingly quickly! Is that natural or enhanced by his nanobots?

Avatar
Senior
JoB

Humans take 6 to 8 weeks to heal a broken arm (ruling out complications, and assuming proper treatment (cast or other immobilization)). Gharr and Nea went through several weeks of learning the local language with only their usual implants. Also, building the entire military camp at the crash site, yadda yadda. (I don't have an exact figure, but there's a one-week time skip indicated on page 81, for starters, the time it took Quantum to send their spysat through an unpowered fly-by and scout out the crash site. And page 88 says that two weeks have passed since the crash.)

Avatar
New
DANIEL NOLAN

No good. When the military arrived at the crash site they found the tracks of three people dragging a fourth to their car.

Avatar
New
ShiftySky

No Mr Goverment, that was me doubling back a few times to make sure I didn't leave anything. I changed shoe sizes every time too!

Avatar
Senior
Wouter215

You know... I could go for some of that Alliance medicine.

I bet he took off the brace just to be able to point.

Why do they/does Gharr think the government knows Dan is involved? And if the government knows Dan is involved, they'd also know about Dans associates.

Avatar
Senior
tully

About that alien medicine : How long has passed since Gharr "crashed" first into the landscape then Dan´s couch and until now ?

I get it to about 4 weeks tops , would have thought nano-tech medicine and the brace would have worked faster but I guess mending Calcium takes the time Calcium takes . No magic bullet there.

Avatar
Senior
JoB

Why do they/does Gharr think the government knows Dan is involved?

Look at their body language. I'm getting "I'll go with him" vibes from Dan ...

(Also, the "they will think" seems to suggest the same, in contrast to the situation right now being that "no one knows who took me away".)

Avatar
Senior
tully

Val and Mark are good people....Dan has apparently not been beaten up.

Besides that, I see "political asylum, offworld" written in their future..

They are but little fishes in a big tub of hungry sharks if the wider world learns of their connection to actual Aliens.

Avatar
Regular
Wilson

The three campers who saved Gharr's life should have a pretty good reputation when the story is told. As long as they don't blunder into a patrol of skittish soldiers with itchy trigger fingers and get shot, they'll be due for medals, not asylum. I don't know what the Protagistani government would want to do, but Gharr is a personal friend of the commander of the fleet and actually is in a position to make sure they'll be treated well wherever they end up.

Avatar
Senior
glenn

The other solution would be for Gharr to turn on his communication system or emergency beacon and they can come to him. (Although finding a good parking spot for the shuttle might be tough!)

Avatar
Senior
JoB

Gharr was informed on page 218 that an Alliance ship has come to Earth (well, modulo radius of the Moon's orbit). No matter how much he's prone to forgetting turning his communication implant back on "just in case" aboard the fleet, if he didn't reactivate it then and there, he'll find a dunce hat nailed to his head pretty soon.

Avatar
Senior
charlesw81

Seems plausible. And if something does go wrong, they're the backup... Not that it would probably take long for them to work out Dan's associates and friends.

Avatar
Senior
JoB

This is Dan's house. If the military/government decides that they want to grab control of Dan and whoever else has been involved, they'll be homeless pretty much instantly, and hunted as soon as someone notices the eight plates stained with only two different meals sitting in the dishwasher or somesuch.






Share this comic



TRIVIA
Before becoming a webcomic, Leaving The Cradle was initially developed as a modification for Source engine, back in 2007. It was vastly different back then, much closer to the usual space opera look and feel, and the plot had nothing in common with the webcomic version, sharing only one character.