(Chapter 41)She Said Yes

Look, I was expecting her to say yes. Obviously I wasn't expecting her to say no. We'd had a conversation about it. But I'm not going to lie that when she jumped into my arms and gave me a very long, fierce kiss that I was not relieved when it ended.

"Of course I'll marry you," she said as I lowered her back to the ground.

"Would've disappointed people if you'd sai-,"

Andromeda put a finger over my lips, "No quips," she said, her voice almost shaking.

I smiled, pulled her against my chest and whispered, "I'm glad you said yes," into her hair. We stood there for a moment, breathing in the smell and the warmth of each other.

"You ready for the press conference?" Andromeda said after a too short forever.

"Hand," I demanded and she put her hand into mine and I slid on a ring. "I love to talk to The People, Andromeda, you know that."

"You're the best of us at it."

That was certainly true. Everybody else had too much of a superiority complex to speak to the masses without seeming hollow.

I held her hand and walked out to the flashing of cameras outside the Triskellion. I waved, totally confident. If there was one thing I trusted in this world, it was my ability to carry off a press conference just fine.

There was a huge chatter and I held up a hand to quiet them, "Let me just start with the most important piece of news for me in the past of couple of days," and I lifted Andromeda's hand into the air, "She said yes!"

That got a polite smattering of applause and laughter.

"Alright, let's get started, hands up for questions."

"Mr. Trent, you've opened up a new front in science yet again. What's the next step for you?"

Gosh the tech press could be fawning at times, "I intend to hand over serious exploration to the nations of the world and support them in the decisions. Personally, I'm working with Nemo on some exciting efficiency improvements on power delivery. Though who knows, maybe next week I'll break out the super soldier serum."

I expected people to laugh at that one. It wasn't particularly funny, but it was such an obviously ridiculous idea that I was waiting for the crowd. Instead, someone meekly put their hand up and I pointed at it.

"Really?"

I put my free hand behind my head and scratched a little, "Ah, sorry. That was a joke. What I'm doing makes sense to me, I guess it must seem pretty incredible to you all. I do not expect to be releasing the super soldier serum any time soon. Another question for the brave fellow who asked that one."

His name was Andrew Keys, big writer for a space news zine. "Do you know anything about what sort of missions are planned?"

"Well, I think we'll try to jump single jumps like I did for the early missions, so they'll be pretty short. I expect there will be lots of news for you all to dig into."

"Mr. Trent, given your conflicts with President Ellis, do you think there will be issues between the two of you on this front?"

Sometimes, it's better not to throw your political rivals under the bus. I had little doubt that Ellis wouldn't be excited about space exploration - He was too small c-conservative for that. But he could pretend and I could make this not a fight if that's what he wanted.

"The United States has long been a country of frontiersmen and people who want to see over the edge of the world. Our flag is planted on the moon with a message of peace from all mankind. We're a monument to the questing, exploring spirit of humanity that's reaching ever outward and upward. I don't think President Ellis will deny that spirit whatever our differences, but even if he does, extra-orbital space belongs to all mankind, and it isn't solely up to him."

Another hand, another question. It went on like that for awhile, talking about the specifics of the ship - it had a mild gravity field that helped it achieve take off, I had designed it personally, all reports of re-appropriated alien tech were rumors as far as I knew, you get the picture. I tried to wear them down but there were too many of them and eventually I just wanted to go eat and change my shoes.

"Alright, that's a good set of questions. You guys are too tough for me! I'm going to make one final comment and then I'm going to go have a celebratory dinner with my fiancée."

The reporters smiled at that.

"Two days ago, I looked down upon an alien world and I thought, not of how strange and marvelous it was, but of how strange and marvelous this world of ours is. I thought of the freedoms that I had gotten, the education I had received, the kindnesses that had been done, this country that I love and this love that I have found," I held up Andromeda's hand like a trophy and she laughed a little. "Such wonders make the marvels of planetary rings and alien stars seem small. There are those who will insist that this proves how small we are. But they are wrong, these are just our first trembling steps into a wider world. There is reason to be cautious, to be careful, to be wise. But there is no reason to feel small and pathetic, I have every conviction that our light will expand to fill a thousand stars with all the wonders I have found here. Nothing can stop it. But because I want that light to spread brighter and faster, because I feel an even stronger bond today with my fellow countrymen and sojourners on this earth. It clarified some things for me. That I want to serve my fellow Americans in the best way that I can. So tonight, I want to announce my candidacy for the position of Senator of the great state of California where I hope to bring my own unique perspective and skills to advancing our nation and the world."

The chatter broke out again, but I grabbed Andromeda and rushed through the crowd to the limo waiting for us, climbing in grinning like a maniac.

"Wow, you almost sounded like you believed that," Andromeda whispered from her seat next to me after we told the driver where to go.

I kissed her forehead and didn't say that I did believe it. Who knows, maybe I didn't.