Chapter Nine

I received a call on my QuestCom about a week after the incident. I answered it immediately.

“Hey,” Silas said on the other end.

“Hey.”

“I feel like I always end our meetings by apologizing, but…”

“No, it's okay.” I sighed. “You have every right to be angry. That was selfish and foresighted of the TTA and-”

“Stop, stop. I know, Charlotte. You don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“Oh… sorry.”

“Aaand we’re apologizing again.”

I cracked a slight smile. “So… did you want something?”

“Actually, I was wondering… date?”

I considered. My parents would never allow it, but… “Can you sneak me out? 5 PM?”

“It’s a deal. Or… a date.”

***

He pulled up a borrowed starship at 5 sharp. I smiled and pulled my heavy, pink crossover sweater around me. “Right on time,” I commented.

He smirked. “Could I be any other way?”

“You could be late,” I reminded him as I climbed in, politely refusing his outstretched hand and climbing in myself. “It’s not outside the realm of possibility.” He simply smiled at me. I shoved him out of his seat. “And let me drive! You always drive.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Good.” I turned on the controls, and for a while the ship was silent except for the humming of the engines. “So… where are we going?”

“Just follow the path I set.”

I smiled but did as he asked. We arrived at the location quickly, and I gasped when I got out. “Silas! You did not!”

He smiled and surveyed the land. We were on Kassarim, known as the most popular planet for rock-climbing in the galaxy! “Oh, yes, I did.” He jogged over to an equipment shack we had landed next to. “Pickup for Silas,” he said, waving over a cashier.

A minute later, we were all suited with climbing equipment and had set up at a nearby rock face. The sun was setting. “You ready?” he asked.

I smiled. “Let’s go.”

Most of the time, we climbed quietly. We stopped at the halfway point, though, and sat on a ledge. I started at the ground.

“Wow,” I whispered. We must’ve been a hundred feet up.

“Not scared of heights, are you?” he teased.

“Not a bit,” I replied. Even if I was, the holo-ropes stretching to the top provided plenty of security.

He looked at the sky. “The sunset is beautiful.”

I nodded, and blushed. I could feel him staring at me. I took his hand. “It is,” I whispered.

A few minutes later, he hauled me to my feet. “Let’s keep going if we want to reach the top in time.”

“For what?”

He smiled at me mysteriously. “You’ll see…”

***

“Wow,” I whispered. We were hundreds of feet above the ground, and so close to the sky. It was frosted with stars and planets.

“Just wait,” he said, a hint of a smirk on his face.

No later than he said that then the sky burst into light. Green, pink, blue- all colors of the rainbow, waving and dancing through the sky. “Aurora borealis,” I whispered. “The Northern Lights. Silas, they’re amazing!”

He smiled at me, and I turned to face him. My heart skipped a beat. “This whole night has been amazing,” he told me.

“I agree.” I smiled and clasped his hands.

I stared at him, and in that moment I knew we felt exactly the same. We were both together, and I felt that as long as we kept holding on, nothing could ever separate us. It was the foolish notion of a lovesick teen, but then again, that was what I was.

*cue music intro*