Save The Darkness

Kienan Ademetria lay sleeping in the cramped sleeping cabin of the ship. The woman beside him sat up looking at him, her elbows resting on her knees and staring at him. Her eyes tracked the large "X" scar on his back and followed the contours of his muscular frame as far as she could in the spare light of the cabin.

He name was Silhouette, and she loved the man beside her more than she could say. But more and more she felt in her heart that she wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, but by his side.

It wasn't an easy decision to make, leaving him. In his arms she felt safe and loved, and she knew he would die to protect her. She owed him so much, but all of a sudden it was all out of balance, the two halves of Kienan were irreconcilable to her.

There was the Kienan who held her tightly, who whispered her name against her neck when they made love, the one who seemed so shy when he would draw her close to kiss her. The one who was like an innocent child.

And then there was the one she had seen today.

She closed her eyes, the thin stream of smoke from her cigarette almost creating the image in the quiet darkness.

It was two days ago now. She and their partner, Toriares had been in a huge crowd on a nearby space colony, listening to a speech by a man named Jonas Merrin. Merrin was an advocate for colonial independence. Earth was too far away to fully address the concerns of colonial peoples, he had said. Thy only wanted to hold onto the ragtag colonies on the Frontier for their strategic value and for the resources on nearby planets.

Silhouette watched the man on stage with a mixture of admiration and dread. Partly because she knew he was right. But mostly because she knew what was going to happen next. She felt the hard cold metal of her pistol in her cloak. After all, that was the reason she was here. To cover the real assassin and spread enough chaos to allow him to make his escape.

Merrin's voice rose as he fanned the enthusiasm of the crowd. They cheered loudly as he made a plea for an emancipation petition. The cheers turned to three loud sounds, like the crack of thunder. Merrin fell backwards, the white of his dress shirt soaked with red blotches. He fell backwards, his shoes finding no traction on the floor and crashing to the floor of the stage. Silhouette drew her gun as one of the lighting technicians abruptly whipped his spotlight around to where the shots had run out from.

She glanced up and saw Kienan caught in the pale white light. His long braid swung like a whip as he turned and angrily shot out the spotlight, not even shielding his eyes. The crowd began to scream and run from the meeting hall. On the other side of the throng of people she could see Toriares, gun in the air, firing off warning shots, trying to get the people out.

Silhouette turned--she wanted to run, and her instincts told her to run, but she couldn't. She felt like she was ripped out of time and put in that spot. He looked at the stage. His wife, whose face was red from screaming and streaked with tears, was cradling Merrin's body. Her voice was raw, and it almost felt like she was screaming higher than the human ear could hear, but Silhouette could hear her just fine.

"WHY?"