Sunday Snippet: Order of Aggression

Whew. What a week. Wehave some actual fall weather, and I love it. Who knows how long it will last.Pretty sure we'll have at least one more heat-up before December and theofficial start of winter.

Had another busywork week because I'm still playing catch up from being under the weather in lateSeptember. I finished a very challenging copy edit of a 95k-word manuscript.Great story with a lot going on.

Update on ourdoggo. She's doing so much better. She's still a little congested, but shefinished her round of antibiotics and the steroid seems to be helping also. Ofcourse, she's drinking a ton of water, which means we're going out for pottybreaks about two times her normal rate.

Had a very slowviewing week. The challenging copy edit required a lot of focus. But I did makeit most of the way through my regular shows.

Started again with MissFisher's Murder Mysteries. Enjoyed the episode because it's one Iremembered and loved on my original run through.

Caught anotherepisode of Foyle's War and enjoyed watching again. I'd forgotten some ofthe key moments in this one. Sam sure struggled a bit to find another place to stayafter her rooming house got bombed.

Enjoyed anotherepisode of Death in Paradise. Really glad to see Mervin figure out hismom's murder and also so happy to see Mr. Sterling Fox get his walking papers. Smarmyjerk.

Watched anotherepisode of Poirot. I always enjoy when Miss Lemon gets involved in acase. Watching Hasting completely destroy her filing system—after she told himnot to touch anything—made me laugh out loud. In his defense, he'd already halfwaytrashed it before he spoke to her.

Elementary had another solid episode. It's veryinteresting to watch Sherlock interact with Moreland. So much trauma to unpackbetween them.

I didn't get tocheck in with Batman Beyond or Lower Decks this week. I'm hopingto get a full run this upcoming week.

That's it for thelife update. Tonight's post is from Order of Aggression, a novella thatputs a couple in jeopardy when they have to take an enemy outpost.

Here's theminiblurb:

When AmesBraddock is ordered to take out an enemy outpost with possible civiliancasualties, he calls on Parker Hart to be his second, but Parker balks at theidea. Ames isn't thrilled with the mission, but he needs Parker and he's notabove using aggression to bring her in line, which gets the job done, but alsobackfires when she demands satisfaction.

And a previewsnippet…

Ames blinked. "Gonna suck morethan huge hairy balls. You're insane if you think we can get in throughthere." His brain hurt thinking about it.Parker tilted her head toward oneshoulder. "This whole idea is madness personified. Don't bitch at me aboutwhat it's gonna take to pull it off…" She didn't add more.Because she didn't need to. They'dbe very lucky if they walked away. Her way in? Super complicated and wouldrequire intense focus. But … the element of surprise appealed to him on a deeplevel. This wouldn't be a force strike. It would be surgically precise.Parker's voice cut through histhoughts. "What about the normies? You know I don't like letting them getcaught in the crossfire."Ames didn't relish civilian losseseither. "We'll do what we can to avoid loss of life … but you're right.They won't leave unscathed." He paused a moment. "Honestly, Parks. Mostof them know the risks. Hell, that's why a lot of them go to Fifth Street."He got up and paced back and forth. "We'll do the recon, figure out thebest time to hit the place to minimize collateral damage, and strikethen." Grabbing his jacket, he glanced over his shoulder. "Youcoming?" He didn't wait for her reply because she'd want to verifyeverything with her own eyes.She followed him out the door."I'm gonna suggest we plan for a Sunday evening. Most of the normals haveto work during the week. Traffic will be much lighter in the bar then."Crossing the street with him, her gait slowed when they came to the cornerdeli. "Hey, I'm gonna grab some essentials. We could be there for awhile." This time she didn't wait for a reply, pulling the door open andentering the shop.Ames went back over the blueprintsin his mind. The labyrinth of tunnels and duct work they'd have to use foraccess to the Fifth Street Saloon would take hours to get through, especiallybecause they'd have to make sure the black mages hadn't set traps up thereeither.The idea of spending close to afull day then needing the energy to take the outpost down hurt his brain. Hehad a solution to that, but Parker would absolutely hate it. Better keep theplan under wraps for now. Maybe a different alternative would reveal itselfwhile they did recon.Parker exited the deli with twobags of food and drinks. Ames fell into step beside her and enjoyed therelative peace on the walk to the saloon.Because that quiet calm wouldn'tlast once he broke the news about the method they'd be using to achieve theirgoal.

This story is kindof taking on a life of its own, which I'm actually okay with.