Sunday Snippet: Roll the Hard Six

Hello, September.Here's hoping you're not as maniacal as August. I'd love for the weather tomake up its mind and hold for a while. I don't imagine that will actuallyhappen.

Had a lovely dayoff to travel to the Hocking Hills area to meet up with my cousins on my mom'sside of the family. We're hoping to make it an annual event. I couldn't takethe whole weekend, but it was so much fun to spend time with them. Bonus pointsfor being close enough to my daughter's location for grad school that I couldtake some of the things she forgot.

Still insanely busywith work and I'm happy for the new projects coming my way. Also kind ofthrilled they're all a bit different so it's not the same thing for eachmanuscript.

Had an okay week ofviewing. I got to watch a few things when I needed a break from wall-to-wallwords. Sometimes it's nice to have a minivacation to reset my brain.

Caught an episodeof The Batman and enjoyed it. It's a two-parter so I'm hoping to watchthe second half this week.

Enjoyed an episodeof Classic Rugrats. I don't really remember this one, but the laterseasons of the show weren't watched quite as many times as the earlier ones.

Got an episode of MyLife Is Murder watched and loved it. Again, Madison really stole the show.And the wink-wink-nod to Xena at the end was fun and awesome.

Started an episodeof Signora Volpe and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when Sylvia'sundercover assignment is discovered.

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Roll the Hard Six,a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt. I picked up thischallenge and added another spin to it. The phrase is from the reboot ofBattlestar Galactica, but it also has real-world use. I'm trying to blend thetwo and having fun doing it.

Here's the miniblurb:

While serving on a star cruiser, Devin Granger and FosterCordell have a friends-with-benefits relationship. When Foster has to faceenemy raiders while alone on patrol, Devin realizes the depth of her feelingsfor him, which can't be a good thing in the middle of a war zone. The onlything she can do is maintain the status quo … if Foster survives the surpriseencounter.

And a sneaky peek…

"Valance, Nomad.Contact. Seven raiders entered carom four five two."

Devin's breath hitchedin her throat. "What the hell?" Enemy craft entered at an angle …which—shit—put Foster on the other side.Meaning those sevenraiders were between Foster and the Valance.Adrenaline coursedthrough her chased by suffocating fear and worry. She raked a hand through herhair. Her heart pounded and her throat clogged. He didn't have backup. Fosterhad the lone recon patrol this shift.Devin almost doubledover, the crash of reality making it hard to breathe. He's trapped. Alone.Fuck! She had to find someplace quiet and calm the hell down.Dashing into the emptybriefing room, she switched the comm panel to listen to the live feed.The XO barked an order."Launch alert fighters."Devin snorted andalmost choked. She paced back and forth, shaking her hands, trying to relievethe tension in her shoulders. Her stomach heaved and roiled.She raked a handthrough her hair. "What the hell is wrong with me?" I love him.Her feet paused."What? I can't love him." Her skin broke out in a cold sweat."Who falls in love in the middle of a warzone?"Apparently she did.Geez.The alert fighterslaunched, and she resumed her back and forth in the briefing room. The pilot'schatter faded to the background, and her mind bounced between picturing thegrid in her head and calculating the math to get to Foster's coordinates.Another frigid blast oftruth gripped her hard. "Save yourself, Foster. You have to." A heavyweight wrapped around her chest. "No one else is gonna do it for you."Shit. No one elsecould. Out in the soup, trapped with seven raiders between Foster and the Valance.No way would the alert fighters reach him in time.Devin sank down in afirst-row chair, closing her eyes. She envisioned Foster's position, countedmaybe three ways he could get past the enemy combatants. But … two neededanother pilot out there on his wing. The third—his best and only shot—wouldprobably get him killed.At the very least, itwould damage his ship to the point where he'd never make it back to the nest onhis own. But … it might buy him enough time for the alert squadron to get outthere. Maybe.Devin leaned forward."Go for it, Foster." He'd know the maneuver she thought of. Hell, hisdad damn near invented it. "Come on, Nomad. Roll the hard six." Herlips quirked.He liked to claim hehad no idea what people meant when they said the phrase, but Foster absolutelyknew. Fergus Cordell used the combination as a thought exercise in war college.When his instructor told Fergus it couldn't be done, the elder Cordell provedthe other man wrong by staging a demonstration … and cost the military atraining craft.Devin huffed out abreath. "Classic example of just because something can be done doesn'tmean it should be." But in Foster's case, the opposite held true.With her knee bouncing,she pictured the scenario. Foster would wait until the raiders were close. Thenhe'd do an end-to-end flip, hit the reverse thrusters while doing a barrel rollso the ass-end of the ship headed toward the enemy. The best odds were theraiders being caught so off guard they moved the fuck out of the way to avoid acollision. And the genius of the barrel roll meant none of them could get atarget lock on Foster. However … the maneuver always proved to be dangerous asfuck. Imagine, spinning over and over—in reverse—with no way of seeing anythingbehind the ship. If Foster cleared the enemy formation, he might get lucky andbe able to fire at one or two of the other crafts, but probably not. The tollit took on the ship—and the pilot—topped the list of reasons the hard six nevergot taught in flight school.Her knee stopped movingup and down. "Gotta be truly insane to think this is Foster's bestshot." But … she did.Leaning back, shestared up at the dark ceiling, willing Foster to use the move, willing him tocome back to her. And definitely trying not to freak out after realizing sheloved him. She had no idea what to do with her new-found knowledge, especiallywhen it might not matter. Not if—Foster's voice soundedover the comms. "Valance, Nomad. Launch an SAR team. Think I'm gonna needthem."Devin barked out alaugh. "Damn straight you will."An eerie sense of calmsettled deep in Devin's bones. The certainty she'd see him again had herpushing up out of the seat and heading for the hangar deck.

I loved puttingthis scene together. Action mixed with a big emotional moment is a lot of funto write.

 

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

ML Skye