Sunday Snippet: Zero Sum

Well, it's the first day of spring and we're getting snow in Ohio. LOL I'm also down with the flu, so not a fun week.

Another light week in television. The Walking Dead had a terrific Carol / Maggie episode that ended up being one of the best ever.

Gotham's episode took an interesting turn. I'm excited to see what happens with Cobblepot back on the loose. Nygma is sliding into total crazytown and I'm loving it. I have a feeling Hugo is lining up a bunch of pieces and I'm very interesting in where all that goes. My other Monday night shows provided excellent viewing. The Magicians went in a direction I didn't really see coming. Lost Girl amped everything up for the finale and Bitten made me cry. LOL

Agents of SHIELD surprised me and that makes me happy. Looking forward to more and seeing where things go. Murdoch Mysteries had a great episode and the finale looks terrific. Fingers crossed there's not a huge cliffhanger.

My shows should be back this week and I'm ready and waiting.

That's it for TV this week.

Tonight's post is from Zero Sum, a novella based on the prompt "Abandoned. Character or characters either feel left behind or are left behind and have to deal with how everyone else is happier than they are. I didn't quite stick with the actual meaning, but I did keep to the spirit.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Sabrina Delft and Carrick Stafford have a zero sum relationship—whenever one gains something, the other has a corresponding loss. But when they're stranded on an abandoned mining colony and forced to rely on each other, they learn to balance the good with the bad and end up with a total win.

And a sneaky peek…

Sabrina Delft gazed out the canopy of the small supply hopper she occupied with Carrick Stafford. The trip to the anchorage to replenish ammunition, medications, and several new entertainment modules should have been a nice respite from flying patrols and providing protection detail to ore freighters on transport runs. Instead, the five day jaunt turned into an exercise of patience.

Carrick drove her utterly mad. On purpose. Just because he could.

Gah! And she let him. Idiot.

The object of her wrath poked his head around the corner of the cockpit. "Hey, if you're done stargazing, I've got a problem up here." He rolled his eyes and didn't wait for a response.

Stargazing? More like maintaining enough distance to keep from strangling him. Ass hat.

Rising from her spot by the canopy, she trudged to the cockpit. "How is your problem any concern of mine—" The flashing red of the instrument panel cut off her scathing statement. "Shit. What the hell did you do?" Warning lights blinked everywhere but the alert klaxons remained silent.

Carrick growled. "Because it's not just mine. It's ours." He shot her an angry glare. "I muted the klaxons as soon as the board lit up. Thought I could handle it." His hands flew over buttons and switches, but nothing diminished the sea of crimson.

He obviously couldn't handle the situation. At least not alone.

Sabrina slid into the empty seat and quickly did a remote scan. "Argh. It's bad, Carrick. Our main cable linking the computer to everything else is fried. We're going to lose control of the ship if we don't land somewhere." A terrible situation quickly on the way to life-threatening.

If they didn't do an emergency drop-down and find a way to fix the ship, they'd drift in space until the life support system shut down, if they didn't die from lack of supplies first. The ration supply for the final two and half days could stretch, but not far.

They didn't have a lot of options. "I'll see if there's any place we can land." She stood up and pulled the star charts down, flipping through panels until she found the right quadrant.

Carrick shook his head. "Are you serious? We can't land the ship. We'll never get it back in the atmosphere." He continued shutting off as much as he could and the panel finally dimmed to a dull scarlet.

She angled her head around. "We can't stay up here. We're lucky we've got minimal control. If we don't land, we can't survive." She traced their journey from the anchorage to their current location with her finger. "We set down, hope the emergency beacon works, and assess the damage." She tapped the star chart. "If we're lucky, we can get close to this mining colony. It's been out of service for several years, but we might find supplies to make repairs." Turning, she met his gaze. "It's our best option. Can you maneuver the ship, or do I need to take over?" She hoped the challenge would quell any argument.

Carrick snorted. "I can get us there. Just mark the damned coordinates." He set his jaw and focused on the helm.

Always fun to put characters at odds into a situation where they have to work together. Can't wait to see where Carrick and Sabrina end up.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye