Sunday Snippet: Event Horizon

Well, April still feels like a mix of winter and summer but not spring. We have hot days then plummet back to cold. I’m hoping May evens it out and we hold steady for a while.

Had a crazy-busy week with work. More projects coming in hot and needing immediate attention. I’m so happy that all of them are absolutely fun and exciting to work on. I love them!

I did have very limited time for viewing this week. I don’t mind the trade off, because I usually have an old standby on in the background like Perry Mason, Columbo, or Murder, She Wrote.

I did finish up Strangest Things and I ended up enjoying the episode.

I also caught another episode in my great rewatch of Battlestar Galactica. This upcoming week, we’re going with a double header to round out season one.

I’ll be starting a new episode of The Mandalorian later tonight.

I also got to listen to my daughter’s radio show. It’s finals week and they get to choose their music. My daughter and her co-DJ picked seventies hits for their time slot. And they made great choices if I do say so. And I do.

That’s pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight’s post is from Event Horizon, a novella where the characters meet and hit it off but one of them has a secret.

Here’s the mini-blurb:

Casey meets Oliver on a transport flight to celebrate his dad's retirement. They hit it off, but Casey has a big secret … she's the reason Oliver's brother didn't pass the flight test and she doesn't want the old man to find out.

And a sneaky peek…

A little fissure of nerves cut through the coffee lining her stomach.

Is he fishing for info? Wouldn't hurt to tell her side, right? Hell, she didn't know.

Tapping her fingers on her thigh, she slouched in her seat a little. "Uh, which time are you referring to?" She'd met Orin twice and both times she'd ruffled his feathers.

Oliver stirred his coffee. "When Orwen almost flunked out." He set his spoon aside and gave her his full attention.

Oh shit. "Well..." She could share some of the details of Orin's first visit to her office. "The first time I met your dad, I'm pretty sure he didn't know what to make of me…"

She'd been in her office, grading papers when the space carrier commander walked into her space without bothering to even knock. She recognized the familial resemblance to Orwen immediately but didn't give anything away. The man cut a fine figure in his uniform with broad shoulders and medals lining one entire side of his chest. He removed his cover and set it on her desk then more or less hijacked her attention by looming over her until she met his gaze.

She set her pen aside. "Did I miss a memo? I don't have a conference scheduled on my calendar." Firmly placing the next move in his hands, she pushed away from the desk and got to her feet.

After all, he did outrank her even if he broke protocol by barging in.

The elder Stephas didn't mince words. "I just reviewed Orwen Stephas's marks. He's skating on the cusp, and I want to know why." Orin folded his arms over his chest. "My boy isn't stupid. He's got flying in his blood." His tone all but dared her to say otherwise.

Orwen really didn't … he grasped the mechanics of handling the multimillion-dollar spacecrafts but had no natural feel for them.

But … Casey opted to partially agree. "Yes, Orwen has keen intelligence." Which he wasted on something he didn't truly love.

Orin flung an arm out. "Then what's the problem?" He stared her down. "Maybe you're not very good at your job."

Casey fought the urge to punch the elder Stephas. The man showed up, didn't bother to even introduce himself, and tried to interrogate her? Or maybe he wanted to intimidate her. Didn't matter. She wouldn't cave under pressure.

Instead of risking a trip to the brig for insubordination, she went to her file cabinet and pulled out her last two years of fitness reports. "You're welcome to review my fitreps, sir." She sat at the top of the instructor list for a reason.

Orin snatched them from her hands. "You have a smart mouth, don't you?" But a gleam of respect entered his gaze.

He'd left without bothering to read the hefty file.

She couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the old man. When reality hit it would bruise hard. Orwen Stephas didn't have what it took to fly. She knew it deep in her bones.

Her gut also said his dad would never accept the fact—unless he saw it with his own two eyes. And that day, she'd fudged Orwen's numbers on his final, giving him passing grades when he'd been just shy of having the score needed for qualifying for test flights. Unethical and, frankly, a court-martial offense. And the one thing she held back when sharing the story with Oliver.

But her dice move paid off. Orwen didn't make it past the first leg of flight testing. He busted too many moves and got tagged with a failure.

Meeting Oliver's gaze again, she lifted a shoulder. "I was disappointed when Orwen didn't make it through the first set of quals. And I even liked your dad despite the ballsy nature of his visit."

And she still liked him after their second meeting, which she wouldn't get into right now.

I love writing a little intrigue into the story. Casey is kind of stuck in a bad spot and she hopes nothing blows up in her face.

 

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

ML Skye