Page 65 of Fighting Words

He glances at me with a gleam in his eyes. “It came to me this morning while I was out walking.”

I scrunch my brow. “You were out walking this morning? It was freezing!” I distinctly remember waking up, feeling the chilly air in my room, and burrowing deeper under my blankets for another half hour of stolen sleep.

“I don’t mind the cold. I had on proper gear.”

I blink and refocus my attention away from his good looks. “So, inspiration struck during your walk? What’d you do, etch your idea into some tree bark?”

He laughs. “I made it back to the cottage in time to write it down. Their fight, I mean.”

“Julian and Amelia?”

“Yes. While the crew is working on Kepler-452b, trying to make it habitable—”

“After they’ve explored the planet and found a few relics from the past civilizations?” I add, to confirm I understand where he’s headed.

“Yes. The crew will detect signals from a nearby star system.”

“Another advanced civilization?”

“They don’t know. It could be a whole host of things. Their telescope array will pick up radio signal activity, meaning the lifeform sending the signal would have to be advanced.”

“What do they do?”

“The crew will be divided, Amelia versus Julian with each of them leading the charge, for or against trying to establish contact.”

“Amelia will want to remain hidden, right? To avoid potential threats.”

He nods. “Yes. She will want to mitigate risk for her crew and avoid interference with their mission.”

“And Julian—adventurous, bold, grab-life-by-the-horns Julian—will want to contact them immediately,” I wager.

“That’s the plan.”

“I like it. More conflict to drive the plot. Will Marcus go head to head with Julian as well or let Amelia fight her own battle?”

“He’s actually going to side with Julian.”

“WHAT?”

IfIwere the one driving, we’d be off the road colliding into a snowbank.

“Marcus is blindly loyal to Amelia,” I protest. “He always has been!”

Nate nods in agreement. “Except for now. It’s the beginning of the end. This, for her, will be a huge sign that things have changed between them. The relationship she has long relied on is no longer steadfast.”

“Wild.” I shake my head. “You know you’re going to piss off so many readers.”

Me. I’M THE READER!

He shrugs, unbothered. “They’ll be mad one way or another. I can’t imagine many of them were pulling for Marcus anyway.”

I throw my hand up dramatically. “Iwas! I’ve been Team Marcus since book one!”

“Well…” He looks over at me with a guilty smile. “Maybe you were wrong.”

“Oh, no. That’s it. Now you’ve really done it. Don’t be shocked when you read a scathing review from Anonymous1093 highlighting all of Marcus’ wonderful qualities.”

“Send it to me. I’ll frame it.”

---