My gaze locks with my Commander’s. I can see approval in his blue eyes. He motions for me to stand next to him. I only have a vague notion of how Silver weddings take place, so just about anything could happen right now.

When I stand next to the Commander, he takes my hand in his and then says to his first officer, “I hate to be rude, but quickly now.”

The first officer stands in front of us and begins the ceremony. “Two people in the fleet, a male and a female, have decided to share their lives together. The fleet recognizes their devotion to one another. Marriage is not only the union of people but the joining of two souls. Their commitment will be both of the mind and the body, which is not something to be taken lightly. Do you, Volunteer 4711, promise to uphold your commitment to the Commander of the fleet to be his first wife and all that role encompasses by fleet law?”

“Yes.”

“Do you, Commander, promise to uphold your commitment to Volunteer 4711 to be her husband and all that role encompasses by fleet law?”

“Yes.”

“As the first officer onboard this ship, I decree to all witnesses here, stands a husband and wife before me,” then he adds, “And just in time to make it official.” The first officer presents me with a contract to make the marriage official with the GC with my fingerprints, then the Commander’s fingerprints, and finally our witnesses’ fingerprints. When all is said and done, he sees that the GC’s receipt of our marriage document is transferred to the government’s Fleet Commander, “I am sure he is not going to like that, but it is as legal as it can get in the galaxy. And the dress was a nice touch. No one would guess this was thrown together in less than an hour.”

I look over at my friend and smile.

She says quietly, “Now you will be in the papers, and I will see my dress there. I will tell you all about it.”

I look up at my Commander. “Do you need to go to the bridge now?”

The first officer replies, “Commander, we’ve just received word that the government fleet has acknowledged your marriage, and the charges of stealing have been dropped. You have been issued a fine for making a Volunteer a citizen without the necessary documentation beforehand, but you have a week to complete the necessary documents and pay the fine.”

“Good work,” my Commander says. “You have the ship. I am going to celebrate with my wife.” He leads me towards the exit, still holding my hand. My friend touches my arm lightly as we pass and smiles at me.

* * *

We walk back towards his quarters. I feel like this is a dream. However, I wouldn’t be tripping on my friend’s dress if it was a dream. We enter his quarters as husband and wife, and the door closes behind us in its usual way. I don’t know what I was expecting, for him to carry me over the threshold? The only difference between now and any other day is that I’m wearing a dress, not my uniform, with his name on it. I reflect that I have his name connected with mine in a different way now. A better way, I tell myself.