Page 43 of Solomon's Ransom
“Is it good to be back?” Remma asked.
“Yes,” Sol said, almost too choked up to speak. “Yeah. It’s really good.”
The shuttle glided down toward the ground and settled in a clearing not far from the colony. When the hatch opened and flooded the shuttle with pine-scented air, Sol’s eyes began to water anew. He had tried to keep his spirits up in captivity, but he’d definitely had some dark thoughts, on more than one occasion, about the likelihood of his imminent demise. He hadn’t thought he’d ever get to smell this air again.
As they walked up the path toward the colony, Remma reached over and took Sol’s hand. Sol smiled down at his feet and held on tight. He was happy in a way he’d never been before: going home, and in love.
Halfway to the top, the colony gate opened and people came streaming out. They were too far away still for Sol to make out facial features, but he recognized everyone nonetheless, from their clothes and their size and their hair. There was Turel, and Julen with the baby, and Samae—Samae shouting and waving as he leaped down the path, and behind all of them came Loden.
“There’s your mom,” Remma said, as if Sol hadn’t already seen her, hadn’t been searching the crowd for her from the moment the gate opened. “Is she crying?”
She was. Sol kept his eyes on her even as Samae came running for a hug, even as all the other colonists surrounded them, laughing and clapping him on the back and shoulders, shouting various rude, fond things at Remma and hugging him, too. Sol was glad to see all of them, but most of all he was glad to see his mother.
“My baby,” Loden said, when the crowd finally parted. She opened her arms to him, tears streaming down her face, and Sol went to her and hugged her so tight she made a squeaking noise. She seemed smaller than he remembered. He didn’t mind, in this moment, being her baby.
“Hi, Mom,” Sol managed, and then they both cried for a while, holding each other.
“How in the world,” Loden said at last, “did you get away from that monster?”
Sol laughed. “Mom, it’s quite a story.”
* * *
There wasno good way to get the shuttle back to the ship in orbit. The ship said they could keep it, and Sol was glad to have it; it would come in handy. The colony didn’t have a shuttle, and it would be nice to have one to visit other colonies and go on longer-range scavenging missions.
He said his goodbyes to the ship from the colony’s control room. “Thank you for everything,” he said to the console as it flashed various lights at him. “I couldn’t have done any of it without you.”
“I’m so glad I could help,” the ship replied. “You deserve to be home.”
“Stay safe on your trip back. Message me when you arrive. I want to know that you’ve made it back to your people.”
“Is it normal for humans to worry about ships?”
“Only when the ship is a friend,” Sol said, smiling. “So you’ll message me?”
“Of course,” the ship said. “Goodbye, Solomon.”
“Goodbye, ship. Take care of yourself.”
“Nice ship,” Remma said after Sol ended the call. He’d sat silently while Sol spoke. Now he reached out and rested a hand on Sol’s knee. “You did good to make friends with it.”
“I liked it,” Sol said. “I was using it, kind of, at first. But mostly it was just nice to have someone to talk to.”
“The most useful friend you’ve ever made.” Remma leaned in for a kiss, and Sol welcomed it, leaned into it and kept Remma close for more. “Hmm,” Remma said. “Here?”
“No.” Sol pulled back and grinned. “Later. We have to get through dinner first.”
There was a welcome-back dinner for them that evening, which was mostly an excuse for everyone to get drunk. Sol started the meal next to Samae, who wanted every gory detail of Sol’s imprisonment and eventual escape. Across the room, Remma was probably doing the same thing, based on his hand gestures. They kept making eye contact, watching each other, checking in. Sol was glad to be back with his friends, but he couldn’t wait to get Remma alone.
“So what happened with the two of you?” Samae asked.
“Huh?” Sol asked, redirecting his attention to his friend.
Samae was smiling at him knowingly. “You and Remma. I’ve had suspicions for a while, but now I’m certain. You had somebondingtime on that ship, huh?”
Sol was tempted to play dumb, but honestly, why bother. Everyone was going to figure it out sooner or later. Sol didn’t really feel like hiding what was going on.
“Bonding,” he said. “Yeah, you could say that.”