Sunday Snippet: Out of the Box, Into the Burn

Ugh. Still feelingterrible and under the weather. The respiratory yuck that's going around in myarea is awful. I think I'm through the worst. Fingers crossed!

Had a whole slew ofnew projects land in my inbox this week. I'm so thankful for the work and trulyhope I can get back to a normal schedule where I don't crash several times aday and need to rest.

Slow viewing week,mainly due to the aforementioned rest periods. When I only got about two tothree hours of sleep at a stretch, those nap sessions were super important.

I started the fifthand final season of Suspects. Wow, brutal opening episode and kind of aheartbreaker. I have a feeling Jack is going to go completely off the rails.And Charlie needs to have a moment to grieve and wrap her head aroundeverything.

I finished thetenth season of Brokenwood Mysteries. I love this show so much. I'lllook forward to the next season with lots of anticipation.

Caught anotherepisode of Best in Paradise. I rather liked meeting Humphrey's dad andrewatching this episode ended up being a great reminder of how fierce Florence couldbe.

Enjoyed an episodeof Death in Paradise. I'd watched a little of this one and I'm glad I gotto see it from beginning to end. Very twisty plot threads in this one.

Watched another episodeof Elementary. Nice to see Mycroft again. Loved the new dynamic betweenthe brothers. Gotta say I'm on the fence with the whole Watson sleeping with Mycroftdeal, but we'll see if I come down on one side or the other later.

Caught an episodeof The Batman and it's one I remember from my original watch. I likedseeing Dick in school and the double-cross by the Riddler ended up being fun.The ending, though, topped everything.

Enjoyed a ClassicRugrats episode that departed from the normal two to three vignettes. "Finsterella"was such a fun episode of the show.

And that's prettymuch it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Out of the Box,Into the Burn, a novella where the characters face a challenge of briningchange to old-school ways.

Here's the miniblurb:

Parry Thrum, a superior pilot, is sidetracked with aninjury and relegated to planning a mission on an enemy outpost instead offlying in to save the day. When one of her superiors rejects every parametershe comes up with, Blake Bradley, another excellent pilot, steps in and backsher up—the out of the box, into the burn approach is just the thing to taketheir opponent by surprise, and a very Parry plan.

And a sneaky peek…

Blake didn't bother changing intohis uniform before heading for Commandant Wagner's quarters. "I'd like aquick word with the commandant." He made it a request, but he wouldn'ttake no for an answer.The marine guard announced Blake thennodded for him to enter after Wagner gave the okay.Wagner stood at the monitor,watching the gun camera footage. Blake didn't need to see the screen … thecarnage would haunt his dreams for the foreseeable future. They lost anotherhalf of a squadron, which meant they would be a full one down.Wagner didn't speak until thedisplay went dark. "Captain, did you know the dual maneuver the pilotsused out there is one your grandfather came up with?" He shot a quick looktoward Blake. "And it's the first one I learned and executed under histutelage?" His shoulders slumped a little.Blake gave a nod. "I do, sir.Grandpa has a keen mind and isn't afraid to roll a hard run into somethingelse." He chose his words carefully because he didn't like using thefamily connection.But this situation justifiedpulling the card and putting it in play. Kip Wagner went way back with ThomasBradley, first learning then serving under him. Blake also had a sneaking suspicion,the elder Bradley pulled strings to get his grandson a post under Wagner'scommand.Wagner squared his shoulders and narrowedhis eyes. "You saying I'm not capable of doing the same?" His tonesuggested Blake needed to step with caution.Blake shook his head. "No,sir. Not you specifically." He left the rest unsaid, letting Wagner drawhis own conclusion.Kip motioned for Blake to take aseat. "You've got something to say, so spit it out, Bradley." He proppedhis hip on the edge of his desk.Blake settled in the chair oppositethe commandant. "You've seen the carnage. What we're doing isn't working.We're down a full squadron now." He didn't have to tell Wagner, the manalready knew, but saying the words kept the loss close to the surface where itneeded to be.Wagner grunted. "Why are youhere, Captain?" He lifted his chin, indicating Blake should speak freely.Blake unloaded. "If you don'twant to lose more people, you have to let someone—anyone—else plan themissions. Colonel Carbine can't or won't see past standard tactics and procedures."When Wagner didn't bust Blake for insubordination, he kept going. "Thebiggest challenge we face is our enemy knows our maneuvers … because theylearned from the same playbook. We're not fighting against unknown tangoes.We're fighting former colleagues and comrades in arms. They know exactly how tocounter anything we use out there." He stopped because if he continued,Carbine would be next on the list and Blake didn't want to open that avenue rightnow.The loss of fellow pilots stillburned, and the stench of defeat lingered.Wagner shifted slightly from hisperch on the desk and pinned Blake with a steady stare. "You're laying allthis at the XO's feet then? What about me? What's my responsibility here?"He folded his arms across his chest.Blake didn't flinch. "If I mayspeak freely, sir, we're all at fault here. With the possible exception ofLieutenant Thrum. She's been banging the drum of alarm for weeks now." AndParry suffered the consequences of her actions.Wagner's brows rose. "Why am Ionly hearing of this now?" He pushed up to his feet and paced back andforth. "I haven't been informed of any pushback regarding the missionops." He stopped and gave Blake another questioning glance.Blake sighed. "I have toassume the XO is leaving that out of his reports to you then. Because Parry hasbeen very vocal during the mission briefings." Not to mention she'd nailedthe problem on its head.The commandant lifted his chin."So, what's the solution?"Blake shook his head. "Sir,it's not my place—"Wagner cut him off. "Don'tgive me that, captain. You didn't come here without an action plan or use yourfamily connection for nothing." One eyebrow arched, daring Blake to refutethe statement.Blake winced. "You're right,sir. I didn't." He exhaled on a slow breath. "If you want me to offera suggestion … we need to think way outside the box here."

I love this story. Parryand Blake are a great team in the air, and they'll be excellent strategists whenplanning a mission also.

 

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

ML Skye