Sunday Snippet: Lockdown

With January coming to a close, the first month of the year is in the books. Oddly, I have a good feeling about 2021. I hope I'm right and the year is terrific for everyone.

Ended up with a full slate of work projects this week and I welcomed them with open arms. But they kept me pretty busy so I didn't get a lot of television watched.

I did finish up the second part of the racing episode of Silent Witness. Ended up being very twisty and turny.

I caught a full arc of Classic Who and I'm about halfway through the thirteenth series. I think I like the previous season better than this one so far.

Started a new Queens of Mystery episode and I'm still enjoying this series. I hope they end up doing another one. It's a lot of fun.

As always, I caught the usual mysteries on Ovation and some additional classic episodes of Perry Mason.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Lockdown, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Tod Langkowski and Mitzi Stahl are trapped when a power outage aboard their ship locks them in the training area. The commander and his CAG have a unique opportunity to examine their relationship—and where it should go—with zero interruptions.

And a sneaky peek…

Colonel Tod Langkowski answered when his XO's name flashed on his holo screen. "Major, what's the good word today?" He shuffled through his memos, pulling one from engineering, which she probably wanted to discuss.

Belinda got directly to her point, as she always did. "Did you review the issues we're having with the power conduits?" She didn't wait for confirmation she didn't need. "They're evaluating the problem and should have a sitrep soon."

Tod nodded. "Good. Keep me in the loop." He flagged the communiqué and set it aside. "Anything else?" He assumed there would be when she didn't end the conference.

Belinda gave a brief shrug. "We've got a bit of a Mitzi problem."

Okay, when didn't they? His CAG rarely did anything by the book and she always skated on the edge of standard operating procedure, but she ran tight-knit squadrons and got results. Tod let a lot slide with Mitzi because he'd known her forever—their dad's usually ended up stationed on the same base.

Sitting back, he gave his full attention to his XO. "Is this a general Mitzi problem or a CAG and XO problem?" The two women hadn't found a comfortable groove yet.

Belinda gave him a pointed stare, indicating the former.

Tod sighed. "What happened this time?" He didn't ask who held the blame because his CAG and XO usually split it right down the middle.

He'd never understand why the two women rubbed each other the wrong way. Actually, he totally got why they did, but convincing them would be impossible.

Belinda shrugged. "She left here with blood in her eye and I'm not the person to handle her this time."

He narrowed his gaze at the qualifier but didn't dive into her reason for making it. "Okay, anything I need to know?"

Belinda glanced away, a sure indicator she'd been pushing Mitzi's buttons. "Not really. Just thought you might like to remind her she has an example to set now that she's moved up to being the CAG."

Tod bit back another sigh. Mitzi didn't need an instruction manual—she'd been around the military structure her entire life—but she often pushed against boundaries, which drove his by-the-book XO bonkers. Belinda lived and breathed regulations, unless it suited her not to.

He gave a nod. "Fine. Any idea where she went?" He'd rather not search the entire ship.

Belinda snorted. "She something about pounding a heavy bag. The gym, maybe?" Another line buzzed and Belinda checked the screen. "Gotta take this. It's engineering."

Tod inclined his chin. "Let me know if you need me." He signed off the video screen and pushed away from his desk. "If Mitzi's pissed off, she wouldn't go anywhere there might be people."

That meant she didn't go to the main gym on c-deck. But Tod had a solid idea where she'd be. They had a smaller gym on d-deck tucked between two small arms lockers and across from the target range.

He pushed away from his desk and crossed his quarters. "Guess that's where I'm headed."

This story is a lot of fun. The XO is being a little sneaky and the weird stuff happening with engineering ends up helping her out.

 

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

ML Skye