Sunday Snippet: Hand of Fate

Wow. August snuckup on me. I need someone to slow time down a little so I can catch up. I didhave a great week with work projects and I'm hoping that trend continuesthrough the end of the year.

Had an okay weekwith watching television. I'm going through a weird phase where I'm feelingkind of blah about everything I'm viewing. Not because the shows aren'tinteresting … more because my attention is very scattered and it's hard tofocus right now.

I started and endedthe week with episodes of Strangest Things. Seriously, there are sometruly weird and bizarre items featured on this show. People are strangesometimes.

Caught anotherepisode of Classic Rugrats. Both featured fun bits with Grandpa Lou(Lew? I honestly can't remember how it's spelled.) They also had an in lovingmemory of David Doyle, the actor who voiced the character. Nice reminder of hiswork.

Watched anotherepisode of Madame Blanc Mysteries. We're an episode away from the end ofseason two and I'm not sure if I'm interested in whatever the creepy lady hasin store for Jean or not. I'm on the fence about whether I hope there's a resolutionto wrap this part up or if it should continue through season three, if there isone.

Enjoyed anotherepisode of Cannes Confidential. This show is so much fun even with thedark theme swirling in the background. I really hope there's another season ofthis.

Started a newtwo-part Silent Witness. Very interesting premise. I'm not completelysure I have this one figured out, but I think I do.

Caught another Deathin Paradise, which finished out the first season. Looking forward tostarting season two this week.

Continued my rewatch of Battlestar Galactica with "Black Market." I have so much love for this episode even though it has a lot of flaws. Getting action-hero Lee is kind of worth having some thrown-in plot devices.

Watched another FantasyIsland episode and, again, I'm cautiously optimistic with how they'rehandling the personal lives of the characters. Also really enjoyed the fantasyof the three women. Such a great episode!

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Hand of Fate, anovella that brings a couple together after one of the character's has afateful injury.

Here's the miniblurb:

Ada Kurtz and Clark Wellington are great at their jobs,and either could pull off an upcoming mission. But when Ada gets injured, she'srelegated to the sidelines, planning the operation and calling the shots forClark. He has to take out an enemy satellite which won't be easy without Adaflying his wing.

And a sneaky peek…

Clark read over the missionparameters.

"Holy shit. Leave it to Ada tocome up with something completely out of the box." They'd be lucky to pullit off.

The asteroid might be the size of adwarf planet, but its surface was nothing but rock and toxic gases. Blowing therelay station to cut communications had to happen. The first two towerswouldn't be a problem. The darker side of the asteroid had limited defenses andthe comm stations should be easy to destroy.

The other two? "Much more of arisk and harder to blow."

Directly on top of the outpost usedas a base for mining operations, the squadron had fortified armaments to getthrough. The asteroid had pipelines running through at least half of itsinterior. The ore brought out kept the power going and the excess shipped outvia heavy transport every four weeks.

Ada's crazy-ass plan relied on themselling the idea the latest pickup was a week early. Rather brilliant, and theelement of surprise would definitely be on their side, but so many things couldgo wrong.

A pang of guilt settled between hisshoulders. She blamed him for being grounded. Not really his fault, but he gotwhy she did. Their constant back and forth kept them in a state of heightenedemotion. Ada pulled a stunt—one that usually bit him on the ass—and hechastised her for it. Openly, the more people present, the better.

In the air, Ada went unmatched. Herintense skill and razor instincts pulled him and everyone else out of the firemore than once. He could man up and admit the fact.

She challenged him out of thecockpit, too. But on a way different level. Mercurial and often exasperating,he sometimes had no idea where he stood with Ada from one moment to the next.It became part of what made her an easy go-to example. She had zero fear ofrank and stated her opinion whether solicited or not. A prime measuring devicefor exactly how far to not push the CAG.

He huffed out a breath. "Butholy hell, what a brilliant mind." Ada had killer looks, but herintelligence drew him in and held his attention.

Even when she reverted to juveniletactics, the weird mix of never taking herself too seriously combined with anuncanny on-the-spot decisiveness made for a heady attraction. Clark oftenwanted to peel back on the layers and reveal what she hid beneath. Somethingthey hadn't had time for when they'd gone out for a while.

Too bad the timing sucked, and awar needed to be fought right now.

Shaking his head, Clark turned hisattention back to the op specs. He pictured each parameter, watched it play outin his mind, and rewound to start over. Ada left very little room for error.

He'd be lucky to pull it off. He flewby the book. Didn't go for the seat-of-his-pants stunts the way Ada did. Heridea contained a hard mix of both and the whole thing hinged on him. Didn'thelp most of the crew knew Ada could jam this mission out in her sleep. Him … theycouldn't be so certain of. Granted, everyone had doubts, they'd be stupid notto. But he wouldn't, couldn't focus on them. He had to get his head in missionmode. Everything else got shoved to the side.

Sort of. A niggling thought hoveredand wouldn't go away. They could really use Ada out there. And Clark wantednothing more than to have her on his wing. Made him a glutton for punishment,but they'd all be safer with her out in the mix. She drove him mad, took insanechances, but he'd never fault her ability.

His lips twisted. "Too badshe's probably got some grave reservations about mine." The thought stuckand he let it sink in.

Rising, he grabbed the file to headfor the briefing. "I'll just have to prove her wrong, won't I?"

I'm getting closeto having this story wrapped up and ready for launch. I love Clark and Ada somuch!

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye