Sunday Snippet: Specter's Masquerade

Okay, I forgot to mention Strike Back last week. I seriously want the female antagonist to die a slow, painful death. It can happen anytime now. LOL

The Dread Doctors on Teen Wolf are creeping me out. Something tells me Peter is going to be involved, which is actually quite okay with me. He makes a good villain.

Defiance had a great episode. I really love the smaller personal beats paired with the big, somewhat sweeping arcs this season. Great stuff. Killjoys is heating up, too. Can't wait to see next week's episode. And Dark Matter did the impossible by adding a layer of emotional nuance to Three. I'm surprised and thrilled. LOL

The Last Ship took a turn I totally didn't expect and I love it. I enjoy how the new characters are being worked in without taking a lot away from the established ones. And, seriously, Tex rules. Just saying.

Tonight's post is from Specter's Masquerade, a novella with sexy intrigue and a masquerade ball.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Jana Newberry starts her new position as head of security on the Specter Spacestation under fire. She walks into the job two days before the biggest gala event of the solar year, a threat is made on the personnel, including the principal owner of the station, Maddox Specter, all while fighting her attraction for the sexy entrepreneur.

And a sneaky peek…

Jana Newberry squared her shoulders and entered the main security hub of Specter Spacestation. Conversations ground to a halt and weapons were drawn.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Is that any way to greet your new Chief of Security?" Her hand reached for her shiny new credentials. "Jana Newberry, reporting."

Several mouths dropped open and everyone started talking at once.

"No one said we were getting a new chief."

"Who decided to hire a newb two days before a gala event?"

"Holy hell… the wife is going to have a stroke. She thinks I'm the new chief."

Jana's gaze swept over the assembled group, seeking out the last commenter. She found a tall, lanky man with frazzled red hair shaking his head, his eyes closed. Another quick study and Jana got a decent handle on the steaming pile she'd apparently walked into.

Striding across the space, she held out her hand. "Ned Granger? Acting chief?" His firm grip when he grasped her palm kicked her respect up a notch. "I believe we should have an immediate briefing, would you agree?"

He gave a sheepish grin. "Yes, uh…" He lifted a shoulder. "I'm not sure what you want to be called."

Jana jerked her head toward a small alcove in the corner. "How about we start with Jana and figure out titles later?" She ducked into the small room, discovering it served a myriad of purposes.

Interrogation room, witness holding area, secondary comms section, and quite possibly overnight accommodations if the sliding panels on the back wall hid a sleeping berth. Jana admired the ingenious use of space, her keen observation taking in small details along with the broader implications of how the central hub could be used. She liked the set-up, currently the only thing she could put in the plus column.

Ned shuffled in and hovered, clearly uncomfortable. "Jana it is then. I'm so sorry you were greeted with side arms." He frowned. "We had no idea the board filled the position… at the worst possible time if you don't mind me saying so." He pulled out a chair and sank down, his shoulders slumped.

Jana leaned against the wall, one booted foot braced for support. "First, you don't need to apologize. Clearly I walked into a situation where the right hand has no damned clue what the left hand is doing." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll be taking that up with the Chief Station Operator in about five minutes." She met Ned's gaze. "Gala event? Give me the bullet points so I can go in armed with information."

Ned straightened. "It's an annual event. A masquerade affair with the whole station involved. Everyone from level one to the top executives wear costumes." His lips curved in a half-smile. "My wife says it's the one reason she's willing to stay out here with me." His gaze met Jana's. "Living on a spacestation can get lonely, even one as busy as ours. She always looks forward to the big gala."

Jana nodded. "I can understand the appeal even if I'm not a big fan myself." She moved away from the wall. "My first order of business is to straighten out this whole debacle. Why anyone thought bringing me in two days before a huge party boggles my mind. The timing couldn't be worse." Moving to stand by the table, she met Ned's gaze. "I don't want my arrival to be any more awkward than it already is, but I'm ready to kick ass and take names." She squared her shoulders. "Starting with Maddox Specter."

To be fair, Maddox is less than thrilled his board hired someone without informing him, but he'll have to do some fancy footwork to avoid the wrath of Jana.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Damn the Torpedo Flu

So… Orphan Black keeps blowing my mind. Seriously, I would have NEVER dreamed I'd be interested in seeing Vic the Dick again, but playing opposite Allison is such an interesting little twist. Angie, or whatever her name is, kinda continues to irritate me, but I'm totally along for the ride to see what she's trying to pull off.

The whole deal with Helena creeps me out, but keeps me riveted to the screen, too. LOL Then there's Sarah… I have so much love for her. The cold war between Rachel and Sarah and how it's dragging Helena and Cosima into the middle of it keeps me glued to the screen.

And let's talk about Paul. Without revealing too much, I sooooo want to know more about him, but I love the loosely defined loyalties he has and the way he's pulled from all directions.

Enough about television… tonight's post is from Damn the Torpedo Flu and my main characters are in the lurch due to an outbreak of a nasty virus that has their crew members down for the count.

Here's the tagline:

When the Torpedo Flu hit the space station Paisley and Dale are practically the last ones standing. Working through the crisis will bring them closer together, if they don't kill each other first.

And a sneaky peek…

Paisley stood toe to toe with Dale. "Yeah, well, you can suck it. Because I'm not going to fly your stupid CAP."

Dale lifted a brow. "Is that right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you can put me on notice. Throw me in the brig. Hell, you can make me work in the galley. Don't care. But I won't fly CAP."

Dale's lips quirked. "Well, okay, then. I guess we'll have to leave the safety of the fleet to the flying skills of Beehive and Mojo." He turned and headed for the briefing room.

Paisley caught up. "Are you insane?" She grabbed Lee's arm. "Beehive can't hit anything to save his own life, and Mojo just cleared quarantine. Do you want the enemy to attack, 'cause using them is just asking for it."

Dale cocked his head. "They're what I've got, Paise. Unless I pull one of the grunts from engineering." He snorted. "They might have a better chance at actually hitting an enemy raider."

Paisley made a frustrated growl. "Shit. There's no one else?"

Dale jerked his head back. "There's me and you. If you fly with Beehive, I can cover next watch with Mojo. Carper says the worst will be over by then and pilots will be able to fly without heaving in their helmets."

Paisley sighed. "Fine. But I want Mojo. You take Beehive. The guy never shuts up and I'll shoot him if he tells the fish market story again."

Dale agreed. "Whatever works." He glanced at the clock. "Better get suited up. Pre-flight briefing in ten."

Paisley groaned. "I hate you." She started heading for quarters, but glanced back over her shoulder. "Just needed to get it out there."

Dale chuckled. "Duly noted, Paisley. Duly noted."

This one is fun to write. :D

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Star Chasers

November 17, 2013

Hello!

Gotta say, my television shows are eating my brain lately. I'm dying for Walking Dead tonight even though the Governor makes my skin crawl. I got caught up on Sleepy Hollow and totally love the dynamic of the entire show. Reminds me so much of the X-files. Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. is coming together pretty nicely. I'm enjoying the character dynamics. Sons of Anarchy keeps me on the edge of my seat and I so want to hate Gemma, but can't quite go across the line into loathing territory. But I would love to see her get some kind of comeuppance. We'll see what happens.

Again, Arrow and Tomorrow People had me glued to my screen on Wednesday. Arrow truly gets better each episode. Tomorrow People keeps me guessing and I hope it stays that way. I'm really excited to see where Haven ends up going and how they'll resolve the current storyline. I can't remember if this is the last season or not, but I'm almost hoping it isn't.

And hey, I'm currently enjoying a Firefly marathon on the Science Channel. I have much love for that show.

So… tonight's post. The snippet is from Star Chasers, which might end up becoming a series, but the sages are being giant pains and won't decide how much they're going to give me. Evil little trolls. LOL

Here's the tagline:

Marnie Ritoli, a kick ass mechanic for the premier team in the galaxy, is presented with a dilemma: choose a new mate or leave the Chasers. But Marnie knows Luce Carrington isn't dead, and she won't play second fiddle to anyone, so she does what she's best at and finds a loophole in the league rules, picking Luce's best friend… the person who backs her into a corner in the first place.

And the sneaky peek…

Marnie Ritoli tossed and turned. Her mind filled with images of Luce Carrington, friend, lover, the only man for her. His dark hair pulled back, eyes burning for her, mouth descending to steal a kiss. Not that he ever had to steal them. Marnie craved his lips covering hers, their tongues dueling for dominance until they fought for air.

She could almost feel the firm pressure of his mouth over hers, the way his hand always slid up to cup the back of her head, drawing her in and holding her close. Marnie wanted to taste his lips right now, even asleep, she hungered for them. For him.

Rolling to her side, she curled up against the pillow, a very poor substitute for Luce's powerful, solid frame. She wanted to wrap herself around him and drift off in the warmth of his arms. The fluffy pillow didn't offer the deep, rhythmic breathing that usually soothed her overly tired mind.

Then again, nothing did right now.

The annoying buzz from the bedside phone had her giving up all pretense of trying to sleep. She grabbed the handset and pushed herself upright.

"Yeah." Her voice sounded rough, but after 2 am, who cared?

"It's Win. I know it's late, but we gotta talk." His voice lowered. "Canteen, five minutes."

She didn't respond. Didn't have to. Win had already cut the call.

Rolling out of bed, she twisted her hair back and secured it with two pins. She knew, bone deep, whatever Win wanted to discuss couldn't be good. Dragging on a pair of pants, she buttoned the closure and reached for her vest.

The crew's name emblazoned on the back didn't bring the comfort it usually did, but putting it on gave her a boost of confidence. She hoped the mantle of protection remained after she met with Win. If she lost his support, she'd be out in the cold.

She jammed her feet in her shoes and looked at the empty spot in the bed. God, she missed Luce. He'd been gone way too long.

"Dammit, Luce. Where the hell are you?"

Striding across the room, she yanked the door open and started for the canteen.

Marnie won't enjoy her chat with Win, but she'll buy some time. For what? I can't actually say… spoilers.

LOL

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Spider's Webb (A Furlough 99 Novella)

Howdy!

Well, my week in television ended up being pretty damned awesome. Seriously, the Walking Dead kind of caught me off guard, but gotta give it to Rick. When he steps up, he sorta goes full tilt and gets it done. Not sure how I feel about the parting of ways, but I'm leaning towards it being a good thing.

Thoroughly enjoyed Castle, which is a nice change since I've been kind of 'meh' about this season. I love getting to see Rick and Kate together—that kind of never happens and it pisses me off—but the storylines either underwhelmed or made me scratch my head. Sons of Anarchy continues to rip the scabs off old wounds. I love having my smart Jax back. He's always at his best when he's not reacting to and working through shit like watching his best friend die. Very interested to see what side Tara's actions have him landing on. My hope is he'll stay smart, get the Irish out of the way, deal with the DA, and then let the emotional fallout hit. And good Christ, stay away from Gemma so she can't throw gasoline on the fire. *shakes head*

Arrow and The Tomorrow People just make my Wednesday the best day of the week. I can't say enough about Arrow at the moment, and anything I would say would contain spoilers, so *zips lips*. Haven twisted everything sideways again, but hit on a theory I had from the first episode. I kind of can't wait to see how the new wrinkle plays into the mythology. I have more thinky thoughts, but again… spoilers. LOL

So, that's my week in TV. Maybe I should get to the actual post, right? Tonight's snippet is from Spider's Webb, my next installment for Furlough 99. The story features Spider Smith from Finding Home. Spider is fun to write, but his female counterpart, Hailey is an absolute joy. Her voice is very strong and very insistent. LOL

Here's the tagline:

Spider Smith, techno geek extraordinaire, meets his match when Hailey Webb decides she needs his expertise. When her carefully planned escape from a life of crime goes awry, Spider wants to help, but with his team out on a fool's mission, Spider has to fight the battle on his own.

And a sneaky peek…

Hailey Webb let her fingers fly over the keyboards at a comp station, ignoring the four burly men standing behind her. Haj urged her to speed it up. Mal kept asking if she'd hacked in yet. And Dom informed her she'd better crack the system or their plans were fucked. Well, no shit. Taking the time to answer them would only slow her down.

One man remained silent. And he would be the one she worried about. Lou Bonera, their esteemed leader. An ex-enforcer, he tolerated Hailey for her hacking skills, but considered her expendable. Hell, he pretty much thought her only good for sucking his dick, taking his cock, or catering to his sexual whims. Within twenty minutes of meeting the guy, Hailey started referring to him as 'Boner' in her head. And she set him straight on their first encounter. She would not be his semen receptacle… but she would make him as bleeding rich as he wanted to be.

He didn't appreciate her point of view until she flashed her blade and promised to unman him the next time fell asleep. When she proved she could back up the promise of almost unlimited funds, he'd settled back and kept a watchful and sometimes leering eye on her.

Two years and she'd avoided any kind of physical entanglement with Boner. She found money and goods and hacked security systems to get the team in. They grabbed the bounty and split the profits—her share being considerably less than theirs. She could live with the cut. The men did the dangerous stuff. Hailey had the talent and know how. She also had money stashed in slush accounts all over the galaxy.

Lou finally broke his silence. "Come on, we don't got all day."

Fidgety and impatient never equaled a good combination with the crew she worked for.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm almost there. Give me ninety seconds." She prayed she had the time right. Thirty to finish working through the firewall into the vault control mainframe and sixty to lay the trail of kilobytes she hoped would be found on a timed delay.

Her life might just depend on it.

She'd been a master thief since the age of twelve. But at twenty-five, she'd taken a hard fall when her drop cord failed and she barely made her egress point before the ISP hit the scene. Hailey missed the thrill of getting in and out under the nose of authority, but the close call signaled her retirement—at least from the physical end of stealing. She had to keep her hacking skills current, hence the necessity of working with Bonero's team. She knew it would be dangerous, knew Lou to be ruthless, but lately he'd become sloppy, too. He'd left bodies behind on their last three jobs. Bodies that didn't need to be dead. Hailey always worked an op from the angle of no bloodshed unless absolutely unavoidable. And seriously… with the size of the men she worked with, a gloved fist to the face would render most opponents unconscious long enough for them to escape. Why chance leaving trace DNA? So much smarter to get in and out, leave nothing behind. The first two deaths she wrote off as shit luck of a coincidence. But the last heist… she knew, deep in her gut, Boner murdered one of the guards… simply because he could.

Hailey took it as her cue to get the hell out while she could. And she had a plan… a risky one… but she lived for risk. What she didn't live for? A trail corpses. She could totally do without dead bodies.

She hit the last keystroke, laying her plan into action. She'd picked the next target for the team with great care and deliberation.

Her crew's next stop?

Furlough 99.

Her last chance to get the hell out.

For a great introduction to Spider, please pick up Shyler: Finding Home on Amazon.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Shyler: Finding Home (A Furlough 99 Novella)

Greetings!

Whew! I'm relieved to say my favorite characters are still intact on Strike Back and Sons of Anarchy. And I got to see more of Stonebridge than I have in a while. :D

Arrow returns Wednesday and I'm dying to have it back on my TV. The behind the scene teases and brief clips are only serving to whet my appetite. Come on, Wednesday!!

Enough about television. Tonight's post revisits a current release. Shyler: Finding Home is taking up some space in my brain because I'm working on a new manuscript for the Furlough 99 brand and it features a character introduced in Shyler's story.

Here's the tagline:

Inspector Shyler Lumen and entrepreneur Marshton Gray don't have much in common. A manhunt for a brilliantly mad chemist brings them together and sparks fly. Shyler and Marsh can fight the wave of change…or grab hold and go along for the ride.

And another sneaky peek…

Shyler found the spot she wanted—away from the main entrance, but still in her line of sight. She also had a view of the back, in case another entrance existed. Hopefully that covered all the bases.

She nodded and grinned. At least she felt prepared.

"Care to share?" Marsh pulled out a chair.

Shyler directed her gaze to the annoyance who seated himself across from her. "Share what?"

"The knowing little smile and what it's all about."

Shyler looked away, checking the two areas. "Not really. You're Mr. Intelligent. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Marsh let out a frustrated sigh. "It would save time if you just told me."

She shrugged, pleased she'd pushed a button. "Be that as it may, I'm—"

"Shyler Lumen, Inspector?"

Shit. Damn Marshton Grey for being a distraction. She'd completely missed the Guild operative's approach.

Glaring in Marsh's direction, she didn't bother standing, but swung her gaze to greet her new contact's. "Yeah. And you are?" She pushed another chair out with her foot and nodded, inviting the other man to sit.

"Spider Smith."

If his name was really Spider Smith, she'd eat her creds. He looked like one of the low level dealers she used to drag off the streets during a sweep.

But looks could be very deceiving.

Spider dropped down into the empty chair at the table. "I'll be your contact while you're here on Furlough."

Progress. Finally.

"Look, I'll cut right to it—"

"You're here for Baj Dogo aka Doctor X. Responsible for at least 150 deaths with the count still rising. One of those lost was an associate of yours. Went by the name of Glib."

Shyler sucked in a startled breath. "You're very thorough." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you're not a droid?"

Spider cracked a grin. "Yes, I am. And no, I'm not. It pays for me to be as thorough as possible. The Guild needs to know who the players are and how many pieces are involved in the game."

Not a game to her, but she understood. The fewer surprises, the better the outcome.

"I can respect that." She leaned forward. "As I'm sure you've read my jacket, let me assure you right now, I can play nice with others…regardless of how it looks otherwise."

Marsh rubbed the back of his neck and snorted. "I'd like to see that."

Shyler glared. "Shut. Up. You brought that on yourself." She turned her attention to Spider again. "I'm more than willing to cooperate with whomever I have to."

Spider looked from her to Marsh. "You sure about that?"

Slightly offended, she clarified. "I said it, didn't I? I don't want or need the collar. Or whatever bounty there might be on Dogo. I just want to personally interrogate and escort the son of a bitch back to Mars."

Spider looked from one to the other again and it put Shyler's back up. What the hell did he hold back?

Playing it cagey, he lifted a shoulder. "The logistics can be worked out. That's not going to be the issue." His tone clearly indicated something else would be.

Impatient, Shyler all but growled. "Then what is the damn problem?"

Instead of answering, Spider focused his attention on her tagalong. "Marshton Grey, Entrepreneur. Midas touch, growing the already considerable family fortune to greater proportions. On the board of dozens of interplanetary and galaxy wide companies, including the resort section of Furlough. Bachelor, never married, no offspring."

Impressed, Shyler glanced to see Marsh's reaction.

He acknowledged the information. "You are good."

Would that be tension she noticed along Marsh's shoulders?

Spider shook his head. "No, I'm better than good. All that information is public domain. I dug a great deal deeper and uncovered a connection the inspector probably isn't aware of."

Oh yeah, definite tension.

Not taking her eyes off Marsh, Shyler queried. "Oh, really? What would that be?"

Spider shifted in his seat, also keeping Marsh in his sight. "You know Dogo works for Greyswell Industries, yes?"

Shyler inclined her head in agreement. "Yeah. I'm aware of the bastard's employment."

The Guild operative continued. "What you probably don't know is there's a deeper connection, one that might present a problem for you."

Shyler's stomach churned. "Go on. What's the deeper connection?" Her gut readied for a wallop.

Spider shifted again, this time looking at Shyler. "It's familial. Baj Dogo and Marshton Grey share a mother. And from the Guild's point of view, the fact that Mr. Grey wasn't up front about that means he's got a different agenda than you. And that's not okay."

Red. Her anger burned red hot and flashed brightly behind her eyes. Shyler didn't speak…couldn't have if she tried…not until she got it under control.

The son of a bitch had played her. No one's fault but her own. Stupid to feel betrayed by someone she'd just met…but she did. And it sucked. Big time.

Breathing deeply, she swallowed down the rage. When she spoke, her voice came out calm. Cool even. "No. That's definitely not okay. But I'll deal with it." Looking away from Marsh, whose guilty flush didn't help his standing, she turned her attention to Spider. "I appreciate the intel." She decided to focus on more pressing matters. "Moving on. Any assistance the Guild can provide is welcome. I'm assuming you have interview rooms somewhere on this station?"

Spider blinked at the quick change act. "We can probably arrange for one. It might be a holding cell we wire for sound." His cheeks flushed sheepishly. "We don't usually need anything but visuals."

Shyler shrugged. "Whatever works." She thought she'd better clarify a few things. "Look, I don't know how you guys operate, but I need Dogo alive."

Spider tensed for a moment, but relaxed again. "I'll pass the request along…but no promises. The bounty clearly states lethal force is an option."

Shyler leaned forward. "Look, it's important. I need information that only Dogo can provide." She cast a quick glance at Marsh, who had yet to defend himself…or try to. Unsure if she could continue without compromising her case, she opted to throw Spider a bone. "Dig deeper. Into the reports on Mars. Use those mad skills of yours. It might make a difference."

She hoped it would. A person with Spider's ability should be able to ferret out the primo detail being held back from both the press and authorities.

"Please, peel back the layers."

They were racing the clock. 157 dead, but a handful weren't, among them Glib. But they were hanging on by a thread, probably only had 48 hours before they met the same fate as the others.

Spider considered her for a long moment. "Yeah. Okay. I'll see what I can discover." He leaned back in his seat. "Key your creds into any info terminal or droid. It's a link directly to me. It's also how I'll update you with any new intel." He slid his gaze toward Marsh and turned back to her. "Gotta say, I admire your restraint." Referring to the fact her head hadn't completely spun around and popped off as yet.

Shyler didn't acknowledge his comment. Decided it would be best not to. She got to her feet. "Scan my creds to communicate. No prob. Thanks." She leveled her gaze on Marsh. "Let's go."

My next installment for Furlough is going to be Spider's story. Honestly, I'm thrilled about writing it and so far, it's been as much fun as I anticipated. Spider meets his match when Hailey Webb decides she wants his help.

Click to Buy

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Mia's Choice

July 28, 2013

Hello!

It's been a great writing week…for organizational stuff. LOL I've spent almost every day working on taglines, plotting story ideas, adding to characterization charts, and fixing small details in several thisclosetobeing finished manuscripts.

I feel so productive!!

Tonight's post is from one of those almost there stories. Mia's Choice is stretching into a something close to a novel, but I think it'll remain a novella. Especially after I get through the final round and ruthlessly edit unnecessary stuff. J

Here's the tagline:

Mia Sinclair finally got her doctorate and embarks on a work trade assignment to a new space station. But when she runs smack into Hal Manning, and her past, she has to face her demons, which isn't easy because she promised she'd never be under any man's control again.

And a sneaky peek…

Hal Manning sat behind his desk and heaved a sigh. Dealing with a mix of military and civilian crew gave him the worst headache. He wondered, not for the first time, whose bright idea it had been to combine the two and send them out into deep space to construct a new outpost.

Probably someone with a pay grade much higher than his.

He pulled out the log reports and sifted through the pile of complaints. Could the commandos do their drills somewhere else? Could the science geeks conduct experiments that made the ship reek of indescribable aromas in the hold instead of on the same level as living quarters? And could they both just stay out of each other's way?

Maybe he should lock everyone in the cargo hold and let them duke it out.

Better yet, barricade him in and let the inmates run the asylum.

Yeah, wouldn't happen.

Hal worked steadily for the next hour on the logs, writing orders, confirming information and filing memos. The name on the last report caught his attention.

Mia Sinclair.

Check that. Doctor Mia Sinclair. The woman took every opportunity to remind him and his crew of the fact. She had zero appreciation for the common use of last names as a greeting or acknowledgement of presence.

So very different from the girl he used to know.

When she boarded the Queen Amalie he'd been stunned stupid. Sinclair happened to be her married name so it hadn't pinged for him on the manifest.

Hal sat back and let the memories roll through his mind. They'd grown up together. Dated. Fallen in love. They'd had a chance once…a long time ago. But Mia cut it short. Carved him out of her life and sent him packing.

Okay, not entirely true. More like she'd boxed up and checked out.

He'd known her as Mia Furlough. Way back when they'd been wet behind the ears and barely out of primary school. She'd been vibrant, lively, and fun. He'd fallen for her completely and without reservation.

Thought it had been the same for her. But he'd been so very wrong. She didn't come close to being the person he'd thought she'd been. Not after her grandfather died.

Mia went from free spirit to gilded bird in a matter of weeks. She cut herself off from everyone, stopped hanging out with the kids after classes and refused to see Hal or return his phone calls.

A couple of months later, she disappeared. Moved away. Didn't come back. He finally heard she'd left for a position in the prestigious Academy of Science on Mars. Her father pulled some strings to get her in. Or so Hal had been told.

The hometown connection kept him sporadically up to date on Mia. She'd graduated with her degree later than expected due to her marriage to a top scientist. She'd cared for both ailing parents until their deaths three years ago. The nasty divorce that followed apparently set the social and scientific communities on their ears.

He'd been bowled over when she boarded his vessel as the science liaison, newly assigned to Space Station Alpha.

Hal shook his head, clearing the memories, and leafed through Mia's report. About halfway through, he sat up straight in his chair and re-read the last two paragraphs. The ship had what wrong with its water supply? Three weeks into their journey and a major cock up like this?

A bunch of scientific terms he'd probably need a translator for muddied up the page. The part he didn't need a degree to read simply stated one of the reserve water containment tanks had been contaminated and could not be used. How in the hell had that happened?

Could she be wrong?

Hal doubted it. Doctor Sinclair had meticulous down to an art form. She filed her reports on time. Showed up for the daily briefings precisely five minutes before they started and from what scuttlebutt he heard about her, ran a tight ship in the lab.

He sighed. He'd have to talk to her about the contamination. He considered the subject too important for him to delegate. The fact he found himself avoiding her whenever possible didn't sit well with him anyway.

Combing his hair back from his face, he rose, gathered the report and exited quarters.

Might as well get the good doctor in for a visit and get it over with. He was pretty sure he knew where she'd be. Holed up in her quarters or working in the lab. She rarely went anywhere else. He'd find a junior officer and have them escort Mia down from the lab deck.

Wouldn't she just love that?

Heh. Nope. Mia is not going to be thrilled she has to meet Hal in his quarters, but she'll deal. J

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Shyler: Finding Home

Greetings! Another great weather day after dipping back down into cooler temps again. The week is looking good for mildness in our dreary, cold, bleh spring so far. YAY!

Tonight's post is from a current release, Shyler: Finding Home. Here's hoping it'll help me finish up the follow up novella for the Furlough 99 anthology with Ellipses Press. Maybe revisiting Shyler and Marsh will help me get Spider's groove back. :D

To that end, I'll be featuring a snippet of Shyler's interaction with Spider. Seriously, I LOVED writing their dialog. So much fun. :D

Here's the tagline:

Inspector Shyler Lumen and entrepreneur Marshton Gray don't have much in common. A manhunt for a brilliantly mad chemist brings them together and sparks fly. Shyler and Marsh can fight the wave of change…or grab hold and go along for the ride.

And here's the sneaky peek…

Shyler stood in Spider's domain, getting a good peek at what made him tick. Loads of techno-geek equipment lined every wall in ordered chaos. His actual workspace, strewn with keyboards, monitors, touch pads, files and three headsets reminded her of the desk in her tiny office. Shyler had no doubt he knew exactly where to find whatever someone asked for. She could do the same. Her CI called the top of her work unit a monstrous disaster. She referred to it as an organized mess. He stopped demanding she clean it up. Whenever she did, it took her weeks to find anything. Amazing how a missing tox screen or autopsy report could stall an arrest.

Spider entered, whistling an off key show tune and stopped short when he caught sight of her. "You're letting Mr. Moneybags interrogate his brother?" He shuffled around, and cleared off one of the chairs. "Wow. The sex must've been super hot." He pulled out a chair and plopped down in front of the monitor wired into the makeshift interrogation room.

Shyler contained the urge to head thwap Spider and shot back. "Really? You're going to go there?" She waved her arm in a wide arc. "The guy who uses casino babes and porn goddesses as art wants to be a smart ass about my sex life?" She yanked a second chair out and sat down beside him.

Spider shrugged. "You're breaking your own rules. Can't blame me for assuming a great lay is behind that." He adjusted the camera angle, pulling the view back for a wide shot of the entire room.

Shyler didn't have a defense so she changed the subject. "Whatever. How about some sound to go with the picture." She took the headset Spider handed over and ignored the smirk on his face.

Ahhh. I think this will be a huge help in getting back into Spider's head and helping him deal with Hailey Webb—a woman who knows exactly what she wants and how to get…with Spider's help. :D

Maybe I'll have a post about them in the very near future. :D

Click to buy

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

ML Skye