January 13, 2006

Ascend Acquisition Corp.
435 Devon Park Drive, Building 400
Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087

EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.
275 Madison Avenue
Suite 1203
New York, New York 10016

          Re: Initial Public Offering

Gentlemen:

          The undersigned stockholder, officer and director of Ascend
Acquisition Corp. ("Company"), in consideration of EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.
("EBC") entering into a letter of intent ("Letter of Intent") to underwrite an
initial public offering of the securities of the Company ("IPO") and embarking
on the IPO process, hereby agrees as follows (certain capitalized terms used
herein are defined in paragraph 13 hereof):

          1. If the Company solicits approval of its stockholders of a Business
Combination, the undersigned will vote all Insider Shares owned by him in
accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the holders of the IPO Shares.

          2. In the event that the Company fails to consummate a Business
Combination within 18 months from the effective date ("Effective Date") of the
registration statement relating to the IPO (or 24 months under the circumstances
described in the prospectus relating to the IPO), the undersigned will (i) cause
the Trust Fund (as defined in the Letter of Intent) to be liquidated and
distributed to the holders of IPO Shares and (ii) take all reasonable actions
within his power to cause the Company to liquidate as soon as reasonably
practicable. The undersigned hereby waives any and all right, title, interest or
claim of any kind in or to any distribution of the Trust Fund and any remaining
net assets of the Company as a result of such liquidation with respect to his
Insider Shares ("Claim") and hereby waives any Claim the undersigned may have in
the future as a result of, or arising out of, any contracts or agreements with
the Company and



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January 13, 2006
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will not seek recourse against the Trust Fund for any reason whatsoever. In the
event of the liquidation of the Trust Fund, the undersigned agrees to indemnify
and hold harmless the Company against any and all loss, liability, claims,
damage and expense whatsoever (including, but not limited to, any and all legal
or other expenses reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending
against any litigation, whether pending or threatened, or any claim whatsoever)
which the Company may become subject as a result of any claim by any vendor or
other person who is owed money by the Company for services rendered or products
sold or contracted for, or by any target business, but only to the extent
necessary to ensure that such loss, liability, claim, damage or expense does not
reduce the amount in the Trust Fund.

          3. In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may
arise from multiple affiliations, the undersigned agrees to present to the
Company for its consideration, prior to presentation to any other person or
entity, any suitable opportunity to acquire an operating business, until the
earlier of the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination, the
liquidation of the Company or until such time as the undersigned ceases to be an
officer or director of the Company, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary and
contractual obligations the undersigned might have.

          4. The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Company will not
consummate any Business Combination which involves a company which is affiliated
with any of the Insiders unless the Company obtains an opinion from an
independent investment banking firm reasonably acceptable to EBC that the
business combination is fair to the Company's stockholders from a financial
perspective.

          5. Neither the undersigned, any member of the family of the
undersigned, nor any affiliate ("Affiliate") of the undersigned will be entitled
to receive and will not accept any compensation for services rendered to the
Company prior to or in connection with the consummation of the Business
Combination; provided that the undersigned shall be entitled to reimbursement
from the Company for his out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with
seeking and consummating a Business Combination.

          6. Neither the undersigned, any member of the family of the
undersigned, nor any Affiliate of the undersigned will be entitled to receive or
accept a finder's fee or any other compensation in the event the undersigned,
any member of the family of the undersigned or any Affiliate of the undersigned
originates a Business Combination.

          7. The undersigned will escrow his Insider Shares for the three year



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period commencing on the Effective Date subject to the terms of a Stock Escrow
Agreement which the Company will enter into with the undersigned and an escrow
agent acceptable to the Company.

          8. The undersigned agrees to be the Chairman of the Board, Chief
Executive Officer, President and Treasurer of the Company until the earlier of
the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination or the liquidation of
the Company. The undersigned's biographical information furnished to the Company
and EBC and attached hereto as Exhibit A is true and accurate in all respects,
does not omit any material information with respect to the undersigned's
background and contains all of the information required to be disclosed pursuant
to Item 401 of Regulation S-K, promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933. The
undersigned's Questionnaire furnished to the Company and EBC and annexed as
Exhibit B hereto is true and accurate in all respects. The undersigned
represents and warrants that:

     (a) he is not subject to, or a respondent in, any legal action for, any
injunction, cease-and-desist order or order or stipulation to desist or refrain
from any act or practice relating to the offering of securities in any
jurisdiction;

     (b) he has never been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any crime (i)
involving any fraud or (ii) relating to any financial transaction or handling of
funds of another person, or (iii) pertaining to any dealings in any securities
and he is not currently a defendant in any such criminal proceeding; and

     (c) he has never been suspended or expelled from membership in any
securities or commodities exchange or association or had a securities or
commodities license or registration denied, suspended or revoked.

          9. The undersigned has full right and power, without violating any
agreement by which he is bound, to enter into this letter agreement and to serve
as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President and Treasurer of
the Company.

          10. The undersigned hereby waives his right to exercise conversion
rights with respect to any shares of the Company's common stock owned or to be
owned by the undersigned, directly or indirectly, and agrees that he will not
seek conversion with respect to such shares in connection with any vote to
approve a Business Combination.

          11. The undersigned authorizes any employer, financial institution, or
consumer credit reporting agency to release to EBC and its legal representatives
or agents



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(including any investigative search firm retained by EBC) any information they
may have about the undersigned's background and finances ("Information").
Neither EBC nor its agents shall be violating the undersigned's right of privacy
in any manner in requesting and obtaining the Information and the undersigned
hereby releases them from liability for any damage whatsoever in that
connection.

          12. This letter agreement shall be governed by and construed and
enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving
effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of
the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The undersigned hereby (i) agrees
that any action, proceeding or claim against him arising out of or relating in
any way to this letter agreement (a "Proceeding") shall be brought and enforced
in the courts of the State of New York of the United States of America for the
Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction,
which jurisdiction shall be exclusive, (ii) waives any objection to such
exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum and
(iii) irrevocably agrees to appoint Graubard Miller as agent for the service of
process in the State of New York to receive, for the undersigned and on his
behalf, service of process in any Proceeding. If for any reason such agent is
unable to act as such, the undersigned will promptly notify the Company and EBC
and appoint a substitute agent acceptable to each of the Company and EBC within
30 days and nothing in this letter will affect the right of either party to
serve process in any other manner permitted by law.

          13. As used herein, (i) a "Business Combination" shall mean an
acquisition by merger, capital stock exchange, asset or stock acquisition,
reorganization or otherwise, of an operating business; (ii) "Insiders" shall
mean all officers, directors and stockholders of the Company immediately prior
to the IPO; (iii) "Insider Shares" shall mean all of the shares of Common Stock
of the Company owned by an Insider prior to the IPO; and (iv) "IPO Shares" shall
mean the shares of Common Stock issued in the Company's IPO.

                                        Don K. Rice
                                        Print Name of Insider


                                        /s/ Don K. Rice
                                        ---------------------------------
                                        Signature



EXHIBIT A

     DON K. RICE has been our chairman of the board, chief executive officer,
president and treasurer since our inception. Mr. Rice was a co-founder and has
been a managing partner of RSTW Partners since 1989. RSTW Partners is a
privately held firm that, through limited partnerships, invests primarily in the
subordinated debt of middle market companies located throughout the United
States. Prior to forming RSTW Partners, from 1986 to December 1988, Mr. Rice was
affiliated with First Texas Merchant Banking Group, a firm which specialized in
providing subordinated debt financing, and was its vice president from 1986 to
1988 and president and chief executive officer from May 1988 to December 1988.
He was also vice president of PruCapital, Inc., an investment subsidiary of The
Prudential Insurance Company of America, from March 1984 to April 1986. Mr. Rice
has served as a member of the board of directors of NationsHealth, Inc. since
its inception in August 2003. NationsHealth is a Nasdaq listed company that,
through its wholly owned subsidiary, NationsHealth L.L.C., provides medical
products and pharmacy benefits to Medicare participants and other senior
citizens. NationsHealth, Inc. was originally known as Millstream Acquisition
Corporation, a blank check company with an objective to acquire an operating
business with significant growth potential. Mr. Rice has also served as a member
of the board of directors of Millstream II Acquisition Corporation, an OTC
Bulletin Board listed blank check company formed to serve as a vehicle for the
acquisition of an operating business, since its inception in September 2004. Mr.
Rice received a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Texas.