“Commander,” the AI’s voice prompted. “This is a repeat of your scheduled wake-up time.”
Ky sat up slowly, rubbing his face. In the years since he’d first gotten his implant and been assigned to flight school, Ky had always gotten up at first notice from the AI. It wasn’t like the alarms he’d set as a youn...
2021-06-28 23:00:58 +0000 UTC View Post“So, what was that all about?” Whitaker asked.
“The general wanted to make sure we realized that Davis was here specifically to interfere with our investigation, probably to keep us from making the Army look bad.”
“That was pretty obvious already though, right?”
“Yeah. He’s been ordered to not interfere with Dav...
2021-06-25 19:04:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe last chapter of Playing by Ear is done, but that is far from the end of the story (what with all those hanging plot threads). This will be a long seies and is a serial, so each book should lead into the next.
Book 2, Fanfare, is fully outlined now and you should see the first chapter should be written by next week.
Chef’s prediction that we’d be busy had been right, we were packed. It was mostly people from school, celebrating the end of the semester and the beginning of their vacation, but there were still a fair number of other locals there as well.
Even though Willie was back, we’d kept the same pattern as when he’d been gone. I played the...
2021-06-21 17:29:00 +0000 UTC View PostKat seemed like a totally different person when we left the trailer, bouncy and smiling instead of the introverted girl on the verge of tears who’d first arrived.
“This next part is going to be hard. Hanna is still really pissed at you, and I think you coming in looking like you just won something isn’t going to help that mood. I’m...
2021-06-21 17:09:21 +0000 UTC View PostThings were fairly uneventful for almost a week, which seemed like a major victory of some type, considering how the past few months had gone. I was making progress in my tutoring, thanks to Kat, and had pulled my math grade up to a D. I wasn’t going to be winning any awards, but I wasn’t failing any classes, which meant I wasn’t in immedi...
2021-06-20 15:35:23 +0000 UTC View PostBy Friday, I was starting to get concerned about Rhonda despite what I’d said to Hanna. She hadn’t been to school the rest of the week and I’d started hearing rumors that she was changing schools. I may have been pissed at her, but this had all gone way too far.
What’s worse, her friends had abandoned her instantly. I’d seen Cami...
2021-06-19 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostI was feeling better on Monday, right up until English class. It was the first time I’d seen Rhonda since the party. We’ve moved next to each other early in the year, and normally we sat next to each other. She was already there by the time I got to class, and her desk had a girl I barely knew in it. Rhonda was now on the other side of the r...
2021-06-18 16:47:44 +0000 UTC View Post“Charlie,” Mom’s voice came through my bedroom door.
I didn’t want to hear it. I just pulled a pillow over my head and ignored her.
“Charlie, I’ll give you five more minutes, and then I’m coming in there for you.”
I didn’t get up. I felt numb.
I hadn’t waited for Hanna when I left the party. The house ...
2021-06-16 23:30:24 +0000 UTC View PostRhonda wasn’t thrilled with me skipping our lunch to go to the choir room with Cameron. She accepted it, but made it clear she didn’t want to give up any more lunches this week.
Things had been a little strange between us since the previous week’s blow-up over my friendship with Kat. She’d backed down and had been overcompensating ...
2021-06-14 22:58:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe follow-up to the meeting ended a few minutes later as the doors to the Oval Office opened and disgorged most of the participants.
“You two follow me,” Solomon said as he came out.
He led them down the west wing offices, whose layout Taylor hadn’t figured out yet. Other than the Oval Office, with its distinctive curved walls...
2021-06-12 00:55:51 +0000 UTC View PostWillie and Mom cut the meeting about my future short since he still had to get Cameron back to his car. Even with that, I was groggy when my alarm went off the next morning. Chef had me come in for early morning training before the lunch rush instead of after, and picked me up on the way to the Sunday farmer market, which meant I was seriously s...
2021-06-05 21:17:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe day was getting late by the time Ky got back. He headed straight to the Emperor’s audience chamber, where they’d arranged for the meeting with the military commanders. Ky had gotten the message back from the Emperor, agreeing to his final notes. With that, he was able to work with the AI while they rode, making the last adjustments to th...
2021-06-02 12:58:24 +0000 UTC View PostSince it wasn’t quite dinner time, there hadn’t been many customers in the restaurant, but the staff for the evening shift had already clocked in when Aaron had pulled his little stunt.
The combination of the kitchen crew crowding around the back door and a police cruiser pulling around the back of the restaurant and then leaving short...
2021-05-31 15:32:45 +0000 UTC View PostAfter several hours in conversation with Ramirez, Carus, and Taenaris, Ky finally got to leave the Senate. For now, as long as Ky was always at hand, they could block Silo, but they needed to get more loyal Senators in the city at least until the new laws were passed.
In the spirit of delegating out more responsibilities, Ky spoke to all t...
2021-05-29 13:56:59 +0000 UTC View PostSilver Plains, Texas
“If you look closely, Mr. Dillon, you’ll see all this flooring is hardwood, not that wood paneling you find in new construction,” Britney Stewart said, her hands clasped in front of her, a well-trained smile plastered on her face.
The small two-bedroom house had a musty smell, despite the c...
2021-05-27 18:56:17 +0000 UTC View Post“What do you mean you have plans?” Ronda asked.
Rhonda had met me out by the parking lot and we were trying to work out plans for our next date. She’d suggested Sunday, which was already a pretty busy day for me but really the only day that weekend we could make it work. Saturday she had a family thing that looked like it was going l...
2021-05-25 12:59:02 +0000 UTC View PostMonday I still couldn’t get what happened out of my mind. No matter what I did on Sunday, I kept coming back to Rhonda.
It wasn’t her talking to Aaron, although I didn’t love that. She was her own person and I wasn’t so jealous that I couldn’t deal with her just talking to guys, although I wished she’d picked someone who hated ...
2021-05-21 16:36:20 +0000 UTC View PostKy woke up early once again. He’d spent the remainder of the day going over specifics with the legates who’d remained at the meeting. Ky found he liked Auspex who, unlike Eborius and Pius, had an open mind and was willing to consider the value of ideas before rejecting them. He actually seemed more flexible than Velius and Aelius, who were g...
2021-05-18 15:27:03 +0000 UTC View PostThursday Rhonda went with us to the Blue Ridge as she had planned. My training time didn’t go well. I was distracted and unfocused to the point that Chef made me run laps around the restaurant followed by a whole lot of sit-ups and push-ups to ‘get my head out of my ass.’ Although it didn’t have anything to do with Rhonda being there spe...
2021-05-14 17:47:21 +0000 UTC View PostI wasn’t surprised to find Mom sitting at the kitchen table when Keenan and Willie dropped me off. It was pretty late and she’d been off work for a while, so I knew she’d be home and, despite giving me permission to go, she hadn’t been wildly enthusiastic about the whole thing.
“Hey,” I said, closing the door behind me.
I...
2021-05-10 14:55:47 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day was a whirlwind. Packer could practically taste the PR value of Taylors’ on-air apprehension of a mad bomber. Taylor wanted to tell the man to go screw himself, but Caldwell still somehow convinced him to give one interview after another. Taylor decided then and there that he never wanted to be in the spotlight again. He’d truly...
2021-05-06 17:19:28 +0000 UTC View PostWashington, D.C.
The time for the Senator’s speech at the hotel came and went, and Taylor couldn’t get anyone on the phone to tell him if anything had happened. Thankfully, they at least had working TV on the plane. News coverage was enough to confirm that Hubbard hadn’t taken his shot by the time they landed and had...
2021-05-06 17:13:32 +0000 UTC View PostIt turned out the wait for the subpoena was longer than the wait on the lab. Taylor had spent most of the day out, tracking down leads on his own, and it was already fairly late by the time they started hunting around for a judge to sign off on their subpoena. They knew where they needed to check next, since only one company made Dinitrophenol, ...
2021-05-04 12:49:03 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor made calls on the drive back to D.C. He was familiar with Northbridge Services Group as they were a major defense contractor back when he was in. They specialized in basic equipment like body armor, harnesses, weapons mountings, and the like. Half the shit Taylor carried on him in the field had been manufactured or at least sub-contracted...
2021-05-01 17:56:08 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor and Whitaker were almost outside when their next obstacle showed up. He’d heard Cole mention Caldwell’s campaign manager, but he’d hoped Packer had just talked to Cole over the phone since Caldwell wasn’t home. As usual, Taylor’s luck hadn’t held.
“Mr. Taylor, a word please,” the man said, stomping up to Taylor and W...
2021-04-29 19:22:23 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor took the stairs three at a time, clearing the first floor in seconds, Whitaker’s footsteps echoing close behind him. He’d just made it to the second floor when he heard a crashing sound coming from Kara’s bedroom.
Taylor exploded through the partially opened door, only to find Kara alone, sitting up in bed, the gun he’d give...
2021-04-27 12:33:25 +0000 UTC View PostWhile the commanders went back to their camps to rest and prepare for the meeting that evening, Ky’s work continued. That afternoon he was meeting with the head tax collectors, who assigned tax districts to the workers who did the actual collection.
The Emperor wasn’t needed to add weight to what he said, since generally, the tax colle...
2021-04-19 14:09:11 +0000 UTC View PostI showered, grabbed my stuff, and headed out towards the front porch where Willie normally sat when he wasn’t on stage. Sure enough, he was in his favorite chair, relaxing, when I came out.
Sitting next to him, however, was a guy I hadn’t seen before.
“There he is. Charlie, this here’s my nephew Keenan,” Willie said, gettin...
2021-04-13 12:53:26 +0000 UTC View PostBoth he and Whitaker fell asleep quickly. It had been a long day already with the promise of several longer days to come, at least until they found Hubbard. Normally, Whitaker would have been up worrying about how to deal with their apartment, dealing with the insurance, and finding a new place to live. The fact that she was able to just go to s...
2021-04-07 13:23:26 +0000 UTC View Post