Sunday Snippet: Roll the Hard Six

Hello, September. Here's hoping you're not as maniacal as August. I'd love for the weather to make up its mind and hold for a while. I don't imagine that will actually happen.

Had a lovely day off to travel to the Hocking Hills area to meet up with my cousins on my mom's side of the family. We're hoping to make it an annual event. I couldn't take the whole weekend, but it was so much fun to spend time with them. Bonus points for being close enough to my daughter's location for grad school that I could take some of the things she forgot.

Still insanely busy with work and I'm happy for the new projects coming my way. Also kind of thrilled they're all a bit different so it's not the same thing for each manuscript.

Had an okay week of viewing. I got to watch a few things when I needed a break from wall-to-wall words. Sometimes it's nice to have a minivacation to reset my brain.

Caught an episode of The Batman and enjoyed it. It's a two-parter so I'm hoping to watch the second half this week.

Enjoyed an episode of Classic Rugrats. I don't really remember this one, but the later seasons of the show weren't watched quite as many times as the earlier ones.

Got an episode of My Life Is Murder watched and loved it. Again, Madison really stole the show. And the wink-wink-nod to Xena at the end was fun and awesome.

Started an episode of Signora Volpe and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when Sylvia's undercover assignment is discovered.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Roll the Hard Six, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt. I picked up this challenge and added another spin to it. The phrase is from the reboot of Battlestar Galactica, but it also has real-world use. I'm trying to blend the two and having fun doing it.

Here's the miniblurb:

While serving on a star cruiser, Devin Granger and Foster Cordell have a friends-with-benefits relationship. When Foster has to face enemy raiders while alone on patrol, Devin realizes the depth of her feelings for him, which can't be a good thing in the middle of a war zone. The only thing she can do is maintain the status quo … if Foster survives the surprise encounter.

And a sneaky peek…

"Valance, Nomad. Contact. Seven raiders entered carom four five two."

Devin's breath hitched in her throat. "What the hell?" Enemy craft entered at an angle … which—shit—put Foster on the other side.

Meaning those seven raiders were between Foster and the Valance.

Adrenaline coursed through her chased by suffocating fear and worry. She raked a hand through her hair. Her heart pounded and her throat clogged. He didn't have backup. Foster had the lone recon patrol this shift.

Devin almost doubled over, the crash of reality making it hard to breathe. He's trapped. Alone. Fuck! She had to find someplace quiet and calm the hell down.

Dashing into the empty briefing room, she switched the comm panel to listen to the live feed.

The XO barked an order. "Launch alert fighters."

Devin snorted and almost choked. She paced back and forth, shaking her hands, trying to relieve the tension in her shoulders. Her stomach heaved and roiled.

She raked a hand through her hair. "What the hell is wrong with me?" I love him.

Her feet paused. "What? I can't love him." Her skin broke out in a cold sweat. "Who falls in love in the middle of a warzone?"

Apparently she did.

Geez.

The alert fighters launched, and she resumed her back and forth in the briefing room. The pilot's chatter faded to the background, and her mind bounced between picturing the grid in her head and calculating the math to get to Foster's coordinates.

Another frigid blast of truth gripped her hard. "Save yourself, Foster. You have to." A heavy weight wrapped around her chest. "No one else is gonna do it for you."

Shit. No one else could. Out in the soup, trapped with seven raiders between Foster and the Valance. No way would the alert fighters reach him in time.

Devin sank down in a first-row chair, closing her eyes. She envisioned Foster's position, counted maybe three ways he could get past the enemy combatants. But … two needed another pilot out there on his wing. The third—his best and only shot—would probably get him killed.

At the very least, it would damage his ship to the point where he'd never make it back to the nest on his own. But … it might buy him enough time for the alert squadron to get out there. Maybe.

Devin leaned forward. "Go for it, Foster." He'd know the maneuver she thought of. Hell, his dad damn near invented it. "Come on, Nomad. Roll the hard six." Her lips quirked.

He liked to claim he had no idea what people meant when they said the phrase, but Foster absolutely knew. Fergus Cordell used the combination as a thought exercise in war college. When his instructor told Fergus it couldn't be done, the elder Cordell proved the other man wrong by staging a demonstration … and cost the military a training craft.

Devin huffed out a breath. "Classic example of just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be." But in Foster's case, the opposite held true.

With her knee bouncing, she pictured the scenario. Foster would wait until the raiders were close. Then he'd do an end-to-end flip, hit the reverse thrusters while doing a barrel roll so the ass-end of the ship headed toward the enemy. The best odds were the raiders being caught so off guard they moved the fuck out of the way to avoid a collision. And the genius of the barrel roll meant none of them could get a target lock on Foster. However … the maneuver always proved to be dangerous as fuck. Imagine, spinning over and over—in reverse—with no way of seeing anything behind the ship. If Foster cleared the enemy formation, he might get lucky and be able to fire at one or two of the other crafts, but probably not. The toll it took on the ship—and the pilot—topped the list of reasons the hard six never got taught in flight school.

Her knee stopped moving up and down. "Gotta be truly insane to think this is Foster's best shot." But … she did.

Leaning back, she stared up at the dark ceiling, willing Foster to use the move, willing him to come back to her. And definitely trying not to freak out after realizing she loved him. She had no idea what to do with her new-found knowledge, especially when it might not matter. Not if—

Foster's voice sounded over the comms. "Valance, Nomad. Launch an SAR team. Think I'm gonna need them."

Devin barked out a laugh. "Damn straight you will."

An eerie sense of calm settled deep in Devin's bones. The certainty she'd see him again had her pushing up out of the seat and heading for the hangar deck.

I loved putting this scene together. Action mixed with a big emotional moment is a lot of fun to write.

 

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

ML Skye