The Power Of Two By Patti O'Shea

This is book was written as part of a multiple author series placed in the time period of 2176. It’s a about the Quandem relationship of Cai Randolph and Jacob “Tuck” Tucker. Both serve as captains in a Special Forces unit and as part of a military experiment. They have been tied together by a set of mind probes that connects them to each other. Cai has an additional probe that allows her to link into any electronic system. This additional probe adds additional risk of brain damage if the probe burns out. During all the time they have been connected Jacob has assumed that Cai was a AI computer. But after someone attempts to burn out Cai when she tries to save Jacob and his team on a mission that went sour. The General in charge of the SF unit decides that it is safer to send Cai out into the field on a mission to raft city. Always in the past the techie side of the Quandem pair stayed on post in there quarters while assisting there partner using advanced computers and mission technology. Cai is given an advanced warning of the mission and musters up the courage to track Jacob down in a bar to introduce herself and help motivate him to accept her on the team. Jacob accepts but only after the General explains the true danger Cai is in. Apparently Cai safety is best insured on a floating rafts infested with pirates and thieves then on a secure SF base. Once they establish a cover story abut Cai being a webrider, they are captured by a business tycoon who has very nefarious plans to use Cai and her brilliant mind to hack military systems. Jacob and Cai romance blossoms even as danger surrounds them. In the end there love and trust in each other helps pull them through the mission. They truly become an inseparable team. I personally like this book because it is a science fiction with a nice romantic twist. Most authors struggle with this combination. Normally you end up with stories heavy in either one or the other.

I rate it: