Sunday Snippet: Pushing Buttons

Welcome, October. It's been a week with a lot of ups and downs. Work went well and I got a bunch of projects close to being finished. My middle kid needed some help navigating a challenging week of appointments and mild setbacks with health care.

Not a bad week of television either. I caught two episodes of Prime Suspect. Finished up season three and started season four. Four begins single episodes and I'm looking forward to diving in.

Watched two episodes of Peak Practice. Both were pretty interesting and I like where season five is going.

Finished up Master Class with LeVar Burton and started a new course with Brandon McMillan about training dogs.

Completed Inside the Episodes: The Witcher and I'm looking forward to season two so much right now. To tide myself over, I'm going to watch the making of the series next.

Enjoyed watching Adele: Homecoming. I loved getting some insight into how she got her start and how she creates her music.

Started watching Classic Rugrats with the first episode about Tommy's birthday. I'll look forward to getting back into this show for the sheer nostalgia.

Watched two episodes of Chicago Med. Both ended up making me emotional and all teary-eyed. I love this show!

Enjoyed another The Brokenwood Mysteries. Poor Mike being out of commission made an interesting dynamic change.

Started season thirteen of Silent Witness and vaguely remember the episode. The insurance adjuster woman is the reason. Her obnoxiousness rubbed me wrong the first time around also. I mean I literally want to slap her, she's that annoying.

Also began a new episode of Blue Heelers. This one should prove to be interesting and I have a feeling helicopter parents will be the reason.

Caught a two-part arc of Classic Who. Actually enjoyed it for the most part, even the hints about a possible return of the Master.

Watched another episode of UFO Conspiracies. This one had a focus on cold-climate sightings. A neat spin on the usual fare.

Got two more episodes of The Muppet Show in with John Denver and Crystal Gayle as the guest stars. Season four is officially underway.

Caught another episode of Star Trek: Discovery. A lot going on in this one and I liked getting some additional insight in the second in command. I don't have all the names down yet.

Enjoyed an episode of Artist to Icon. This one featured Whitney Houston and I learned a few things I didn't know about her career. I'll probably stick to musicians for this series.

Finally, I caught an episode of Midsommer Murders. Hannah Waddington guest-starred and the episode ended up being such a good one.

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

Here's the mini-blurb:

Chet Vondallson hates complications—integrating two crews when a space cruiser goes down sits at the bottom of his list of fun things to do. Parson Browd, one of Chet's top pilots—and his lover—likes to push his buttons and get a reaction, something Chet knows but finds hard to resist.

And a sneaky peek…

Chet Vondallson stared at his recently promoted superior officer, the new admiral of the small fleet protecting a mining operation. "You know how this is going to look, sir." If he didn't, he should.

The newly appointed admiral gave a short grunt. "Yeah, I do. Don't have time to care." He leaned forward. "Right now, I gotta combine three crews into two and assume command of both. Who else can I trust to coordinate this and get it done the way it needs to be happen?" He pinned Chet with his gaze.

Chet sighed. "Dammit, Dad. It still reeks of nepotism and it'll make the job harder." How could he not see the problem? "There're half a dozen officers with the rank to do this. You could go with one of them and use me in the background."

Frank Vondallson narrowed his gaze. "You're saying you're not up for the job?" His eyebrow arched in the annoying way Chet hated.

Chet ground his teeth together. "Of course not. I'm saying this is gonna bite you on the ass in ways you haven't even thought of yet." Argh … why do I always let him push my buttons?  

Frank's lips twitched. "You think? Trust me when I say I already have. Don't for one moment assume I don't know what I'm doing." He slid a folder across his desk. "This is the starting roster of who I want where. Everything not filled in is your choice." He tapped the file. "There's gonna be some controversy. If anyone tries to be difficult, send them my way."

Chet opened the folder and briefly scanned the names. "Geez, Dad. We won't have time to even engage the enemy if we're fighting battles within the fleet." At least five of the new posts would be in immediate contention.

Frank gave Chet a grim smile. "I'll deal with it. You keep the planes in the air and integrate the crews. Everything else, all the bullshit jockeying and jousting is mine to handle." He pushed away from the desk and stood up.

Chet followed suit, tucking the roster under his arm. "Yes, sir. You can expect the first onslaught by end of first watch tomorrow." He started for the hatch.

His dad got in a parting shot. "Make sure Parson's not one of them. Use her where she works the best … leading the charge in and out of the cockpit."

Chet exited into the corridor and closed his eyes. "Like that won't blow up in my face." As much as he loved Parson Browd, he couldn't use her blunt-object style to get this project off the ground.

He needed a straight-edge razor wielded with finesse.

I have a lot of love for the father-son dynamic in this story. Frank and Chet don't always see eye-to-eye but there's no mistaking they trust each other to do what needs to be done.

 

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

ML Skye