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PANEL 1: Location: Paa’q Description: On a marble dais sit 5 whale-like creatures (“qen”) of varying coloring. In front of the dais stand two whale-like creature - one wearing a white suit with a collar (“Grey Whale”), one holding a staff (“Striped Whale”). ORCA QEN: Chief engineer, you’re called before the council of five to report on — let’s see here — SLIPSTREAM #27, is it? GREY WHALE: Yes ma’am. That’s the ship that the human primos consulted on. PANEL 2: The GREY WHALE holds a holograph of a Slipstream ship, the light of the holograph casting a shadow on him. ORCA QEN (off-panel): Ah yes. They were most kind to our cause. GREY WHALE: Indeed. But their ship modifications didn’t work out. I’d like to completely rebuild that ship’s drive. PANEL 3: The ORCA speaks from the dais, the grey whale looks up at her. ORCA QEN: Rebuild it? But you just finish it!!? GREY WHALE: We did, but our testing shows that THE DRIVE OF THE OLD ONES is better than theirs. PANEL 4: A view of the dais from the side, showing the two qens looking up at the ORCA QEN. GREY WHALE: See, in order to try the primos’ designs, we had to switch to an air environment. But it turns out that water is CRITICAL for the drive’s operation. Without dense hydrodynamics, the entire ring gets FREEZING COLD. STRIPED WHALE: It froze my churros! PANEL 5: From behind the qen on the dais, we see the STRIPED WHALE wave as the GREY WHALE continues. ORCA QEN: LOVELY. STRIPED WHALE, small: No! Ma’am! We had churros onboard! GREY WHALE: It’s a huge flaw in their drive! That cold is a parasitic energy loss. It drops the efficiency of the whole system! It’s like the humans somehow made it WORSE. PANEL 6: Close up on the ORCA QEN. ORCA QEN: Ah. I see. Then please note for the formal record… that it’s cute when the humans try to help. —— Want to read the full story? Join us at Patreon.com/drive for the *FULL* Tales of the Drive archives, art giveaways, fun community, and more! DRIVE copyright Dave Kellett. Colors by Beth Reidmiller
PANEL 1: Location: Paa’q Description: On a marble dais sit 5 whale-like creatures (“qen”) of varying coloring. In front of the dais stand two whale-like creature - one wearing a white suit with a collar (“Grey Whale”), one holding a staff (“Striped Whale”). ORCA QEN: Chief engineer, you’re called before the council of five to report on — let’s see here — SLIPSTREAM #27, is it? GREY WHALE: Yes ma’am. That’s the ship that the human primos consulted on. PANEL 2: The GREY WHALE holds a holograph of a Slipstream ship, the light of the holograph casting a shadow on him. ORCA QEN (off-panel): Ah yes. They were most kind to our cause. GREY WHALE: Indeed. But their ship modifications didn’t work out. I’d like to completely rebuild that ship’s drive. PANEL 3: The ORCA speaks from the dais, the grey whale looks up at her. ORCA QEN: Rebuild it? But you just finish it!!? GREY WHALE: We did, but our testing shows that THE DRIVE OF THE OLD ONES is better than theirs. PANEL 4: A view of the dais from the side, showing the two qens looking up at the ORCA QEN. GREY WHALE: See, in order to try the primos’ designs, we had to switch to an air environment. But it turns out that water is CRITICAL for the drive’s operation. Without dense hydrodynamics, the entire ring gets FREEZING COLD. STRIPED WHALE: It froze my churros! PANEL 5: From behind the qen on the dais, we see the STRIPED WHALE wave as the GREY WHALE continues. ORCA QEN: LOVELY. STRIPED WHALE, small: No! Ma’am! We had churros onboard! GREY WHALE: It’s a huge flaw in their drive! That cold is a parasitic energy loss. It drops the efficiency of the whole system! It’s like the humans somehow made it WORSE. PANEL 6: Close up on the ORCA QEN. ORCA QEN: Ah. I see. Then please note for the formal record… that it’s cute when the humans try to help. —— Want to read the full story? Join us at Patreon.com/drive for the *FULL* Tales of the Drive archives, art giveaways, fun community, and more! DRIVE copyright Dave Kellett. Colors by Beth Reidmiller
FULL ARCHIVES
Act 5. Pg 094
Act 5. Pg 095
Act 5. Pg 096
JUMP TO:
Act 1Act 4
Act 2Act 5
Act 3Act 6
Tales of the Drive
JUMP TO:  Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Act 5Act 6 Tales of the Drive
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Act 5. Pg 096
Posted on May 7, 2026 by Beth Reidmiller

Did you know I give away a free piece of original art every week on the Drive Patreon? EVERY WEEK! It's just one of the reasons that Patreon is awesome.
Join us on Patreon and get:

  •   200+ pages of bonus "TALES OF THE DRIVE"!
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Patreon Special Offer!

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Beth Reidmiller

Drive readers! It’s SPECIAL OFFER TIME! Join patreon.com/drive/membership by Aug 31 and you’ll get *three* Drive eBooks: 

– The new ACT 5 PREVIEW!

– The entire TALES OF THE DRIVE! 19 stories in one lovely eBook anthology!

– And the updated DRIVE MANUAL! Encyclopedia entires, Artifact of the Empire, maps, updated timeline, and more!

$6-and-up pals get all 3! Jump in by Aug 31, here: patreon.com/drive/membership

DRIVE @ San Diego Comic-Con!

Posted on July 24, 2025 by Dave Kellett

Drive Pals! I’ll be at SDCC all five days, signing and sketching at Booth 1228! I’m happily putting free sketches in all Drive books — and we’ll have ACTS 1-4 in hardcover *and* softcover! The second printing of the ACT 1 softcover is here! Hope to see you there!

Check it out: Dave’s Favorite from *THIS DAY* in the Archives!

Posted on May 20, 2025 by Beth Reidmiller

Pals! Here’s my favorite Sheldon comic from THIS DAY IN 2021! 

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And if you’re not yet a pal on Patreon…JOIN US! You’ll get immediate access to:

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PANEL 1: An orange SCORPION rides of the back of a green FROG, who is wildly splashing in the water. The sky is blue. FROG: OW! Scorpion! Why would you sting me int he middle of the river? Now are both going to die! PANEL 2: The SCORPION looks annoyed, the FROG is angry, but has stopped thrashing. SCORPION: Ah, my friend. Because it is my NATURE to sting. FROG: Your nature is to be a tremendously huge but ahead! THAT’S your nature!! PANEL 3: The sky has turned a darker blue, the FROG looks ill and starts to sink. The SCORPION looks introspective. No text. PANEL 4: The sky is a darker blue now, the frog is head-down in the water, bubbles popping on the surface. The SCORPION is still on the frogs back, his eyes wide. SCORPION: Well that is just hurtful. ——— Want 5,000 more comics like this? Join us at Patreon.com/sheldoncomics for the *FULL* Sheldon archives, art giveaways, fun community, and more! Sheldon Comics copyright Dave Kellett. Colors by Beth Reidmiller
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