Sunday Snippet: Bombs Away

November 3, 2019

Hello, November. The temperature dropped significantly, which kind of sucks for my household since we can't get our new furnace until the middle of next week. That said, with some careful placement, space heaters are doing an excellent job of keeping the house comfortable. As long as we don't dip into single digits, we're golden.

Not a bad week for television. I have a heavy workload right now, but still squeezed in some decent viewing.

I started out with Riverdale and, wow, what a great episode. I'm still catching up from last season so this episode featured FP's fiftieth. Cole Sprouse and Skeet Ulrich brought their A games. Also loved the linked montage of Archie's king of the mountain battle with Cheryl and Toni's hot session in the speakeasy. The breakup ended up being a lot more painful than I anticipated but excellent work from the women. Reggie and Veronica's falling out also packed a punch. Reggie is very much growing on me as a character. A few random notes… I absolutely hate the entire farm storyline. I also dislike Hiram with the passion of a thousand suns going supernova. Don't see that changing anytime soon.

I finally got to sit and watch Arrow's season finale. I can honestly say the ugly crying didn't stop after the credits rolled. Everyone acted their collective asses off—Stephen and Emily in particular. Stephen, quite frankly, blew me away. Watching him evolve as Oliver over seven seasons has been a true joy. Seriously… I'm going to miss this show so much. My one main disappointment is not getting any scenes with Oliver and Mia. I'd love to see the two actors interact.

I thoroughly enjoyed Murdoch Mysteries. Nice to see George's family tree expand and with such a terrific character (pun intended). I have so much fun watching this show.

Frankie Drake Mysteries also made me smile. I'm still getting used to the new opening and the somewhat different shift in the show's dynamic. That said, it's growing on me and I like the fabulous foursome and their interactions.

Caught a new story arc on Sapphire and Steel. This show is usually background noise for me when I'm working and I have the horrible feeling I'm really missing a lot. I'm going to make an effort to really focus when I start the third assignment.

Watched the beginning of series nine with Classic Who. The daleks returned to be a huge pain, per usual. I always enjoy episodes that feature them.

Should be catching another episode of Midsomer Murders in the very near future.

That's it for this week. Tonight's post is from Bomb's Away, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

A power struggle, an explosion and communication breakdowns. Sometimes it takes a really big boom to move things in the right direction.

And a sneaky peek…

Kiara couldn't help feeling awkward even though she'd flagged Ronan to her side. They might not be together anymore, but his presence was a welcome gift. Triaged and tagged as low priority—rightfully so—she couldn't move from her spot and it made her insane.

She hated the immobility, but her knee, screwed up and swollen, meant she couldn't do anything anyway. Getting thrown a dozen feet and being trapped under debris would do that. She only heard snatches about an explosion and suicide bomber and wanted some answers.

Ronan would fill her in on the situation, regardless of their off again status. “Hey, is it true? A suicide bomber?” What the flaming hell is going on?

Ronan leaned on the side rail of the cot. “Yeah, it looks that way. Took out half a causeway on SL3.” His eyes searched her from head to toe, concern fading way to relief.

She looked a hell of a lot better than when they had first wheeled her into sickbay. She'd been covered with dust and dirt and appeared more injured than she'd actually been. Not that a busted up knee didn't hurt like a bitch.

Kiara wracked her brain trying to figure out what the bomber could have been after. She couldn’t think of anything.

“What the hell’s on SL3 worth blowing yourself up for? All that's down there is—” Wait a minute… Carmody's special dignitary suite happened to be on that level? He'd chosen the one at the very end of the hub. The possibility of him as a target would bear some thinking on later.

Ronan scanned the chaos before answering. “From what I hear… nothing of huge importance. Carmody isn't on the base at the moment. But the bomber didn't get the intended target.” He looked back at her. “We got lucky. The XO and the big man himself stopped whoever it was before he got where he was going.”

Ronan's comms beeped and he checked his panel. “Listen… I gotta go.” He didn't seem to want to leave, probably knew it killed her to not be in on the action. But at least he'd be involved in getting everyone cleared from the debris and maybe find out what was going on.

Kiara waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze and fought his way through the throng to head back out.

Kiara heaved a sigh. Jesus, look at the mess that son of a bitch left behind. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but it did. Maybe because she couldn't do anything about it, it frustrated her that much more. She already hated having to stay in sickbay, but she'd just be in the way until they fixed up her leg. The swelling hadn't even gone down yet. Hopefully Ronan would come by to see her later and fill in the details.

On the outs or not, she figured he'd at least stop in to give her the rundown of what was happening. They'd always be friends, no matter what. And there was nothing like a bomb exploding to put petty disagreements in perspective.

What did their stupid issues matter in the grand scheme of things? Not a hell of a lot. Kiara looked forward to seeing him later so she could share that with him.

I like this story so much. I'm getting close to having it complete and I'm looking forward to launching it out there to see what everyone thinks.

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

ML Skye