Well, you've managed to rachet up the tension once again, Rac. Rae Et has a good plan in place, but one which still requires a minimum number of people, and I'm not sure she has enough reliable people with her. And the added complication of pulling out two prisoners instead of one will make the mission that much more difficult. Unless, of course, she plans to betray Jen Mai and his brother, which would make Jen Mai unreliable and might mean she'll have him killed before he could betray her. Layers within layers within layers, indeed!
I agree with Maria. This book could be Lois's Pulitzer prize-winner. It might propel her into the top of the elite of Amaerican non-fiction authors, and since she's also Ultra Woman, she might be able to type it up and edit it twice as fast in less than half the time as any other author. Yay for her!
And yay for Clark! He's almost ready to go home, even though Rae Et's diabolical plans will surely interfere. And all the WAFFy stuff going on, like Enza and Lok Sim maybe making a baby (they're sure practicing hard), Ching and Zara getting together and being out in the open (finally), Clark winding up all of his responsibilities, and Talan being so happy with her 'rock collecting' and being reunited with Faral.
Now here's a character who presents myriad possibilities. Faral might be someone who becomes a victim of Rae Et's plan, which might send Talan over the edge, or he might be the one to go postal if Talan is seriously injured or killed in this nasty rescue mission from the rebels. Or, you might put Enza or Lok Sim or Zara or Ching or (gasp!) Thia or one of the other characters you've made us care for in the crosshairs.
I applaud Lois's mental stability and her calm demeanor. The only negative (to me, anyway) is that she seems to have 'moved on' from dependence on Clark. I don't get the impression that she's ready for some other romantic entanglement - as if she'd have time for one - or that her love for Clark has diminished. Nor do I get the impression that she's lost any hope of Clark's eventual return. I just get the feeling that she's mentally and emotionally put Clark in the background, and if that's true, she'll have a hard time when he finally comes back. She'll either find it difficult to allow him deep into her heart again, or his appearance will completely pulverize her world. My bet would be the first option, but I wouldn't rule out the second.
As always, you have tons of great writing here, but this is my favorite passage:
Enza reached up to touch his face. "So maybe we should talk about…being less careful," she said.
"Downright reckless," he replied with a smile as he closed the distance between them and captured her lips in a soft kiss. "Completely irresponsible." He kissed her again.
"Totally incautious," she whispered, inches from his lips. The thought of having a child with him—bringing a life into the world together—made her almost giddy. She'd expected to be nervous, to think about all the reasons why they weren't ready, why the timing was off, why they should wait, but in truth, she wanted this. Badly. Enza had never known if she'd wanted children before Thia came into her life. But raising her niece was the most important thing she'd ever done. She could think of nothing she wanted more than to add another little person to their family.
I only have one thing to say about it.
Awww!
You have my attention still, and you have my support also. This chapter is excellent! I'm waiting for more as soon as you're ready to give it to us.
