This week’s prompt is a free write, so take the seed below and run with it. It doesn’t have to turn into anything (unless you want it to, of course), just let the words flow and see where they go.
Continue this opening sentence:
The wind wasn’t right.
Write as much or as little as you’d like.
Janice, I don't do WP, but, OMG, what a great opening line!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, thank you. In the small world we live in, while following up on an 'interview' on Terrible Minds, congratulating http://dankoboldt.com/ on his release of The Rogue Retrieval (Harper Voyager) discovered one of our new inductees from the Critique Connection knows him, lives in the same city. I'd already asked him to be our next Hangout guest
“ ‘The wind wasn’t right’ … that’s all I could get out of him.” Flanton flipped his notebook lid closed, smiling as he felt more than heard the click of locks protecting his data. He hadn’t expected much more from this assignment. What could a fry cook in Hong Kong possibly know about the deep black?
ReplyDeleteIt was a weird assignment for crash investigators anyway.
“You said he’s an after-burner?” McCormack wasn’t too happy with Flanton’s attitude. There was a reason that Jurgens, the fry cook, was living in the free territory of Hong Kong. Flanton hadn't been abled to find out what it was.
“Yeah, I saw the jacks in his neck. He’s definitely hauled in deep space.”
“A deep hauler, and now he’s a fry cook? That’s a hell of a step down in pay grade and lifestyle.” McCormack didn’t add ‘especially here.’ That might be suspicious.
“He’s got sunken eyes. He’s skittish. I tell you, he’s using nethan vapour or some equivalent.”
“Did you ask what happened?”
“ ‘The wind wasn’t right.’ I’m not kidding, it’s like a mantra with him. Every question got that answer. Look, he’s a textbook after-burner, couldn’t handle the jacks, used something to compensate, failed. Not much left upstairs now.”
“Yeah, but what burned him out? Did you pull his passage log?”
“Two round trips to Jupiter, one to Minerva.” Flanton spoke from memory without any need to look into his notes. “Never left the solar system. How does he know anything about the deep black?”
“He posted four comments on social media. Two contained unreleased details of the wreckage. How’d he know that?”
“Scuttlebutt? Maybe he keeps tabs with his old shipmates? Want me to explore that angle?”
McCormack shrugged his dismissal. He watched casually as Flanton left his office. Then he started a surreptitious bug sweep. Couldn’t be too careful. He found two mics, neutralized them both, then repeated his scan just in case. It came out all clear.
McCormack placed his call to OpSec. It went straight to the General.
“He’s one. Guaranteed.”
“Jurgens smelt him?”
“The wind wasn’t right. Repeatedly.”
“Excellent, thanks. We’ll have Flanton picked up immediately. You keep Jurgens safe. He’s the best alien detector we have.”
Oops, forgot to click "notify me". Hence this post
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