by Ashley West
They fought hard, and then there was a lull. For a long moment, all was quiet. Silas was sure that there were more Fremeri out there, more headed this way or gone to gather reinforcements. They'd cleared out a whole lot of them, but Silas knew there had to be more. That was how this worked, honestly. There were always more things to fight, more people to protect, more places to go, more orders to issue and orders to follow. It wasn't one of those things that ever ended.
He stared out the window of his the ship, looking at the darkness ahead of him.
It was beautiful, really. Earth was a lovely ball of blues and greens, the white of the clouds swirling over the surface. Silas never wanted to look away. For all people had told him about Earth and the people there, Silas knew that it wasn't something word of mouth could capture.
Going there, being there, and meeting people, that had taught him what living on Earth was truly about.
Somewhere down there was Katia, depending on him to keep her safe. She believed in him, and somehow that meant more to him than having the might of HIMA at his back.
When had his priorities shifted so much?
"You're not coming back with us, are you?"
Cress' voice startled him out of his thoughts and he looked around like he expected to see his friend somewhere close by. "Cress?"
"Silas. You're not coming back."
It was in his headset, and Silas wasn't quite sure how to answer that question, if he was honest. Gathra was his home. HIMA was his life. The people, the Empress. They were all that had kept him going for such a long time. Years, as the humans would say. But now... Now there was something else he wanted, and he didn't know if it was alright for him to want that.
"I don't know, Cress," he replied. "And is this really the best time to have this talk? There are more hostiles out here."
"When else would we have it?" Cress asked. "You've never lied to me before, you know. You always tell me what you're thinking."
Silas sighed. "Is this channel secure?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"If it's not, then it's already too late, isn't it?"
He smiled at that. Cress was coming along nicely. This mission had been good for him and getting him to stand up for himself and take the lead on things. "Fair point. But I wasn't lying, Cress. I don't know what I'm going to do. The Empress...I don't like how this all happened."
"And you're in love with Katia."
If he had been drinking something, he would have choked. As it was, he spluttered on his words. "What? You think I'm...
"I do," Cress confirmed. "I saw how you said goodbye to her before we started this. I saw how you looked at her. You want to stay here with her."
"When did you get so void cursed observant?"
"When you left," Cress said. "I had to."
It had been a rhetorical question, but Silas supposed that made sense. Cress had always been good at following someone else's lead. He'd always had the ability to be a good number two, but now he was showing that he wasn't afraid to take the lead himself. And that he was pretty good at it. Silas was proud of him.
"Alright," he said. "Look, I haven't made any decisions yet, but...it's like this. If I go back to Gathra, I know pretty much exactly how my life will play out. I'll continue to be Captain, maybe one day Ammaline will forgive me for putting her in this position in the first place and she'll make me a General. I'll lead the left arm and probably end up dying in combat. It's what happens to basically everyone who does well in HIMA, you know?"
"I know. And if you stay on Earth?"
Silas was silent for a moment, looking down at the blue planet. "If I stay on Earth, then I have no idea what might happen. It might be wonderful, it might be the worst thing I've ever done. But it will be new, whatever it is."
Cress sighed, a rush of sound over the speaker in Silas' ear. "I understand that. And you're in love with Katia."
"Will you stop saying that? I never said I was in love with her."
"You're not denying it, either. If you stayed, you could be with her."
"...Yes."
"And you want that."
"Yes." There was no question about it in his mind.
"Silas?"
"Yes, Cress?"
"I think you should do what's gonna make you happy. You've given enough of your life to HIMA and to the Empress. You've saved lives. You've done your part. There's always gonna be another fight, but there probably won't be another girl who makes you feel like Katia makes you feel, and even if there was, you’d be too busy fighting to be with her."
For a moment, Silas was lost for words. He never heard such insightful things coming out of Cress' mouth, and he was struck by just how true the things he was saying were. That was exactly how he felt. "So you think I should stay."
"Probably. I mean. I'll. You know. Miss you."
"I'll miss you, too." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a ship with a pointed bow coming around for another pass, a beam of light and energy gathering at the very tip. "Look alive, Cress," he said. "We'll have to get sappy later. For now, there are Fremeri to kill."
Cress laughed. "Always another fight," he pointed out and then Silas saw his ship go speeding by. "Keep up, Captain!"
"I'm on your burn," Silas laughed. "Show them what it means to mess with HIMA."
"And anyone HIMA has chosen to protect."
Silas smiled at that, feeling warm. For now, he had to do this. These people were his family, this mission was his. He fired up his own blasters and knocked two ships back before firing again, blowing them up.
If this was going to be his last run with his team, then he wanted to make it memorable. And if it wasn't, well, they owed the Fremeri plenty by now.
When he finally climbed out of his ship, feet planted firmly back on Earth, Silas was exhausted. His muscles hurt, he was slightly singed, and his head was throbbing from the constant barrage of fire that had passed before his eyes time and again. The truth was he’d been out of practice before he’d gotten stranded on Earth, but he thought he’d done well enough.
There was no trace of the Fremeri left, and the ground troops who had been left behind to defend the humans hadn’t reported any fighting at all.
It seemed like the Fremeri just hadn’t had the numbers. Ambition enough to fill a black hole, but not much to back it up with. Still, they would have been able to hurt the humans plenty if they’d succeeded in their plan, so Silas was feeling that warm contentment that came from a job well done.
They’d fought hard for this win. Hours and hours of flying and shooting, finding hidden pockets of Fremeri and blasting them to the Void. There were still some of his people up there, scouring the darkness to make sure there was no trace of them left.
Silas felt satisfied and ready to take a nap.
But there were still two things he needed to do first.
He’d touched down close enough to Katia’s house that he could walk there, so he did, knocking on the door and smiling at Katia when she opened it and let him in. “You’re alright,” she said in a rush and then flung herself at him.
Silas smiled and hugged her back, smoothing a hand down her back before he tangled it in her hair and tipped her head back to kiss her deeply. It went on for long moments, neither of them wanting to break away. Silas laid claim to her mouth, and Katia surrendered to it, gasping softly and pressing herself closer against him.
From across the hedges they heard a loud gasp, and they both turned to see Mrs. Worthington standing there looking scandalized. Then she noticed that Silas was something other than human apparently, because her mouth dropped open in shock.
Adding fuel to the fire, Silas grinned and saluted her. “Ma’am.”
“Stop that,” Katia said, swatting at him. “And come inside. Or…” Now her expression faltered, and she took a step back, looking unsure. “Or are you leaving?”
And this was the moment. This was the time when he had to make a choice. Either he went back to Gathra
and back to that life that was already laid out for him, or he took a leap here and now and decided to stay. Both were terrifying in equal measure, though in very different ways. But Silas had never been someone who ran away from his fears. He’d never let things like that control him. This was something he wanted, and he was going to take it.
“I’m not leaving,” he said.
“Not now, or…” Katia trailed off.
“Not ever.”
“What?” she gaped at him for a long moment.
“I’ve made my choice,” he said. “I’m staying here. Either with you or just in general, Earth is my new home.”
“Oh my god.” Katia was stuck somewhere between laughing and crying, and she flung herself at him again. “I’m so glad.”
“So am I,” Silas said. “Let’s go make a call.”
"Captain," Ammaline said coolly, and there was no expression on her face. "I hear you wish to resign."
Silas inclined his head, blessing Cress or Hamara or whoever had gotten this ball rolling for him. "That's right, Your Imperial Majesty. I believe my time with HIMA has come to an end."
Those sharp eyes flicked to Katia who was sitting on the couch next to him. She'd insisted, but Silas could tell she wasn't pleased about the way Ammaline was looking at her. That was alright. She wouldn't have to put up with it for too much longer, and if the Empress started yelling, Silas would leave the room with the tablet.
"Do you?" she asked. "And why is that?"
"Because I have given everything I have to give to HIMA," he replied. "My time, my energy. Everything. I have made being in your service a priority for many, many full cycles now, and I...well, to put it plainly, I want to do something else now."
For a long moment, she didn't say anything. She just looked at him, one eyebrow arched. Katia slipped her hand into his and squeezed, and he smiled faintly, pleased at the support. Silas supposed that Ammaline could order him to come back and keep serving, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Someone serving unwillingly wasn't good for anyone.
"Very well," she said shortly. "Then you are relieved of duty and discharged from my service. This is permanent, mind you. Should you change your mind, you will not be allowed back into HIMA. You can return to Gathra, but you will be a civilian."
Silas inclined his head. "That's fine with me."
"Then I will consider this your formal dismissal," Ammaline replied. "Thank you for your service."
And then she was gone, the screen going blank as the call ended. Katia made a noise in the back of her throat. "Rude," she muttered. But Silas didn't mind. He knew that was Ammaline's way, especially when she was upset.
"Honestly, she took it better than I was expecting," Silas said, shrugging a shoulder. He felt lighter than he had in some time. He felt free.
"She was so short with you, though! You'd think she'd have something more to say to someone who served her for as long as you did. Or at least like a thank you or something that sounded sincere. How did she get in power anyway?"
Silas laughed softly and pulled Katia closer against him. "Her kind have been ruling since the beginning. And she's not that bad. I know that she's appreciative. It's fine, really." At this point, he was just glad to be released. Glad to have a chance to seize the opportunity in front of him. And the one leaning against him as well.
"I still think she was rude," Katia grumbled, and Silas silenced her with a kiss. He didn't want to think about the Empress right now. He wanted to think about the rest of his life.
They stepped back outside together, watching as the sun was preparing to sink below the horizon. It was chilly out, and Silas wrapped his arm around Katia, tucking her against his side. As they looked up at the sky, something happened.
One by one, ships began to show themselves, hovering out of reach, but there all the same. They lined up in formation, hovered there, and then began to pull up one by one.
“The farewell salute,” Silas murmured, touched. He saluted them back, even though he was sure they couldn’t see him.
He and Katia stood together, watching as the very last of the ships disappeared.
“Are you sure about this?” Katia asked, biting her lip as she looked up at him.
Silas laughed and inclined his head because yes; he had never been more sure of anything.
Chapter Thirteen: Six Months Later
“Silas! We’re going to be late!” Katia called, annoyance lacing her tone. She’d told him five o’clock, and it was already after that time. She stood by the door, tapping her foot impatiently. “Silas, I swear to god.”
“I’m coming,” he called back, and all she could hear was good humor in his voice. The thing about Silas’ good humor was that it was infectious, and she could already feel herself getting ready to start smiling, even though she was irritated with him. He was just like that, and it was one of the things she liked the most about him. And there were a lot of things she liked.
Part of her always worried that he was going to regret his decision to stay, so she tried her best to make staying seem like a good thing. His habit of not being on time was one of her biggest pet peeves, and she was having a hard enough time getting her parents to accept the fact that she was dating an alien.
The rest of the world was crazy for extraterrestrials, though. The battle that most people hadn’t even seen had taken place just over six months ago, and people were still talking about it. They spoke about how HIMA had been brave to ride to their rescue and how at the end all the ships had dipped down to salute the humans.
Which, of course, only Katia and Silas knew wasn’t exactly how it had gone.
“Let them think that,” Silas had said, shrugging a shoulder. “There’s no harm it in, really.”
“But that was for you,” Katia countered, but he’d been shaking his head and smiling, opening his arms to her as he was so fond of doing.
“I don’t care. I know who it was for, and they don’t need to know that I’m living here anyway. I’ve heard taxes on this planet are brutal.”
They’d ended up laughing over it as the news reported seemingly endless stories and did interviews with people who were claiming to have seen more than they possibly could have. World leaders gave interviews of their own and held press conferences about the incident, answering the same questions over and over again. No, they hadn’t known about the threat or they would have had a plan in place. Yes, they were grateful for the assistance of whoever had come to their aid. No, they didn’t have any information about who the attackers were or who their saviors were, either. No, they didn’t think this would happen again.
“It won’t,” Silas said each and every time.
“How can you be so sure?” Katia finally broke down and asked him.
“Because undoing what HIMA has already done is like committing suicide,” Silas explained. “They aren’t going to risk our wrath.”
She didn’t call him on identifying with the army still. “Didn’t Ammaline wash her hands of Earth, though?”
“Yes,” he said. “But they don’t know that.”
Which was true enough.
They ended up being only a little bit late, which Katia decided she could deal with. When Silas emerged from the bedroom, clutching the tablet Cress had left for him, she decided she couldn’t be angry with him. They were going to spend time with her family, and Silas had left all his friends and the closest things he had to family behind.
“Sorry,” he said, giving her a sheepish look. “Soran was telling me a story, and it would have been rude to disconnect.”
“Who’s Soran, again?” Katia wanted to know.
“She runs The Skip.”
“Oh, right.” She smiled and shook her head. “It’s fine. Mom and Dad won’t lose it over five minutes.”
“I figured they can’t hate me any more than they already do.”
“They don’t hate you.”
“Katia, my dearest, they most certainly do. And I understand. You’re their daughter,
and I’m sure they wanted something different for you. Something better.”
She rolled her eyes at that. “You helped save the entire planet. What’s better than that? And anyway, I don’t care. I’m an adult, and I can make my own decisions. If I want to shack up with an alien, then I will.” Katia stood on her toes and leaned up to kiss him lightly at the corner of his mouth. “And that’s exactly what I want,” she murmured.
“Now we really are going to be late,” Silas murmured back, grinning.
“Brat.”
“Tease.”
“Let’s just go.”
Since she couldn’t afford a bigger house, Katia had compromised by getting a bigger vehicle so Silas wouldn’t be cramped all the time. Ava called it a gas guzzling monstrosity, but when she’d seen Silas, she hadn’t really been able to deny that it was necessary.
In fact her exact words had been “How does he fit anywhere?” Which really was none of her business.
Unlike Katia’s parents, Ava was happy for her. Thrilled, honestly, and every time they crossed paths at work, she asked about Silas and teased her about her alien paramour.
Katia knew it meant that she approved, so she didn’t protest.
Her parents were a different story, though. They had not taken the news that Katia was dating an alien well. There wasn’t really any way to hide the fact that Silas wasn’t human, the skin gave him away every time. She’d put them off for as long as she could, but eventually it had come out that she wasn’t living alone anymore, and when they asked who she had moved in with, Katia didn’t want to lie to them. So she’d been honest and her parents had been upset, and now she took Silas with her when she went to see them because she wanted them to get used to the fact that Silas was a part of her life.
They hadn’t said words like marriage to each other yet, but there was a commitment that came with him staying for her, and she liked it. Silas was always careful to let her know that there was no pressure. She didn’t have to keep him around if she didn’t want to, and he wouldn’t be offended if one day she asked him to leave.