space-opera

All these years that I had been waiting for him to return, I had been too anxious and somewhat insecure to develop any plan of action. I had scrupulously avoided giving any thought to it until the time to tackle things head-on arrived, so now I was suffering the consequences of my own indecisiveness. But in all seriousness, what steady plan could there be in matters of the heart?

Your wonderful mind has a matching body,_ I heard Eyuran whispering into my ear through a thick veil of bliss, and found myself laying on my side, my spouse behind me, his hot palm slowly caressing my thigh, up and down. __o it__ good to give your body the nice treat it is demanding so explicitly._ His finger slid down my spine, making me tremble. __t wants and needs to be satisfied,_ his low voice soaked into my skin.

As a rule of thumb, it was always safer if the Commander-in-Chief formulated a risky plan.

Never ask a question if you don__ know the answer._ Rhett

... But my voice is too soft. The wind picks up my words and swallows them whole.

He did not have time to wallow, to give a moment__ thought to what may have happened to her or whether she was alive.Turn into the punch, grab hold of the gun, leap into the arena. Attack.He had to move. Now.

Alone for a few precious seconds, he drew in a deep breath. He stood on a ruined street in a ruined city. Destruction stretched for kilometers in every direction, all caused by a single man for whom vengeance had devolved into madness.

Noah gave an exaggerated eye roll. __ust out of curiosity, is this the stupidest thing you__e ever done?___t wouldn__ be fair to rank them._ Caleb gunned the engine.

He made sure his tone remained casual. He was trying to keep his son unaware of the encroaching alien invasion for as long as he could, be it another day or another hour. Once innocence was lost it was never regained.So he took his son fishing and strolled along the river and pretended as though the galaxy wasn__ on fire.

Caleb!_ The sharp, forceful tone demanded he halt. He found he had complied, but did not turn around. His voice sounded low and hoarse, likely because he couldn__ breathe. __lex, I can__.

Semantics, Admiral. I__ appreciate an honest answer._____ appreciate a multitude of honest answers, but I rarely expect to receive them._ Miriam sighed; the verbal tete-a-tete was growing tiresome. Time to bring an end to it with, ironically, honesty.

And there__ no synthetic owners manual?_ His lips twitched, smile threatening to break into a grin. A joke. He wasn__ funny. __o you come with an owners_ manual, Captain? Because I__ like to study your troubleshooting section.___ould you like to strip me down to my nuts and bolts, and figure out what makes me tick?___ knew what made you tick from the moment we first met. That__ why I punched you between the legs.__ #1001 & Caleb

He checked her over while mentally checking himself. __nvironment suits sealed up. Breather masks in hand. Daemons. Blades. Transmitters. Healthy respect for the adversary__ou__e got that, right?__ne corner of her mouth curled up. __bsolutely.

It was killing him, seeing her this way. She was not meant to be uncertain, timid or fearful; the woman he knew exuded confidence so fiercely it might as well be a damn spiritual aura. He needed to fix this. __t__ time to adjust your perspective. You want to show the politicians on Earth they don__ rule the galaxy? Well, let__ show them.

Three men sat around a table. All were muscled and similarly greasy and easily identifiable as scum. As he breached the entrance all three were moving, drawing their own guns in surprise.Only one got off a shot.

Her perception was propelled backward, as if it were being pulled into a vortex. She slammed into her body, and her eyes flew open with a gasp.__lex?__he sat straight up in the chair and grabbed Caleb by the shoulders. __e have to save them.

Why? Why did you kill them?__e laughed, recognizing it bore a frightening coldness. __ecause you walked through the wrong door, and they paid you to do it. You will be a testament to the terror that arrives the moment you or anyone else crosses the invisible line you didn__ know existed until tonight. Spread the word.

A wispy murmur in the blackness. Blackness, where before there was only nothingness. It was dark, inky and thick, but there now existed the palpable sense of tangibility. She gasped in alarm, but no sound came out of her throat. "Where am I?," she shouted, but no words made it past her lips.