Chapter 53: Chapter 52: My Fellow Vestans

“All I want is to make life better for ordinary Vestans! And I promise you that if you elect me to the Vestan Council, things are going to change for the better!”

Alex watched Jenna give her practice speech in Annette’s housing unit later that evening. The election was rapidly approaching, and both Annette and Ellie had insisted on multiple practice runs so they could critique Alex and Jenna’s speeches.

For her part, Jenna had come a long way but Alex suspected that her heart wasn’t really in this. She said the right words and made the same hand movements that had been instructed by Ellie but something was missing, and Alex figured he knew why.

She just didn’t want this that badly.

“Well, how was it?” asked Jenna, looking out to the crowd of three living people (as well as the hologram crowd that had been set up by Annette).

“I’m seeing vast improvement,” said Annette. “You’ve come a long way from when we first started working on your speaking.”

That brought a relieved smile to Jenna’s lips and she came down from the podium to take her seat next to Alex. In the process, he took her place and began his own speech, hitting on many of the same points as Jenna’s but also highlighting his experience with the bears. By the time he was done, Annette stood up and clapped.

“He’s a shoe-in!” she said, looking at her cousin. “There’s no way he doesn’t get in.”

Ellie didn’t look so certain. “He gives a great speech and I love everything that he’s saying but I’m still worried about this. I wouldn’t put it past Belladonna to pull a dirty trick to ensure both her people get those seats. I’m really worried about this.”

“But isn’t it just a simple vote?” asked Jenna. “They hear the speeches and then go vote for who they want? How can she tamper with that?”

“Belladonna could find a way,” replied Ellie. “That woman is incredibly devious.”

“At least it’s Vitale’s software that is counting the votes,” said Annette. “That should add a level of fairness to all of this.”

“How exactly will that work?” asked Alex. “I guess we haven’t had a full rundown of what happens on election day this weekend. Does everyone only get one vote?”

Ellie shook her head. “Two votes per person. The rules state that any one person gets as many votes as open spaces on the Council. Since we have two open spots, that means two votes. Every Vestan gets to vote for their ideal Council. The first thing that will happen is that every Vestan will gather in the open quad that is between Biospheres One, Two, Five, and Seven. It’s the only space that’s large enough to accommodate all of us. It’s also the center of the entire city so it’s the safest and we won’t have to worry about bears.”

“I take it that’s where the speeches are given as well?”

Ellie nodded. “Each candidate will be allowed to give their speech, lasting no more than fifteen minutes. There will be a total of six speeches from each of the six candidates.”

“There are other candidates?” asked Jenna. “I thought it was only Alex and I and then Serrano and Ross?”

“There are two native Vestans that are running for the spots but they don’t have much support,” replied Annette. “From what I can tell, most of the colony is divided into the two factions—ours and Belladonna’s. They suspect—and they will know for certain once you give your speech—that you both are with Ellie and I. Either way, I see this contest as coming down to just us.”

“Once those speeches are given, everyone votes immediately after,” said Ellie. “There isn’t much time to think about it. Everyone will log into the voting app courtesy of their P-com and place their votes. As soon as everyone is done, the totals for each candidate will be displayed to the whole city. That’s all there is to it. The winners will take their seats at the next Council meeting.”

“What about disputes?” asked Jenna. “Or what if Belladonna tries to do something shady? Do we have any recourse to dispute it?”

Annette and Ellie looked at each other first before looking back at Jenna.

“The only recourse we have is vigilance,” explained Ellie. “Once the votes are in, the election is over. No disputes. That’s why we have to keep our eyes on Belladonna and make sure she doesn’t try to intervene in any way. I know it’s not a perfect answer but that’s how our system is set up.”

“You might want to give Vitale a heads-up though,” said Alex. “Just in case anyone tries to tamper with his app.”

“I’ll send him a message right now,” said Annette. “Couldn’t hurt for him to be vigilant too, right?”

That seemed good enough for all of them at that point, and after Ellie explained a few more technical points about the election, Jenna noticed just how late in the evening it was.

“I should probably get to bed,” she said, letting out a yawn. “My work shift starts early tomorrow and I don’t want to be a zombie.”
As both Alex and Jenna made their way to the door, they were stopped by an unexpected request from Ellie.

“Alex, can I borrow you for a few more minutes?” asked the brunette with a pretty smile. “I need something moved in my room that’s rather heavy. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind?”

Thinking nothing of it, Alex nodded. “Sure, I can help.” He then turned to look at Jenna. “I’ll catch up to you shortly.”

Jenna nodded and left the unit, and she was quickly followed by Annette who made an excuse about needing something from her office. In retrospect, it was probably the coy look on Annette’s face that should have warned Alex but he didn’t piece it together until it was too late.

Alex barely arrived in Ellie’s bedroom before she jumped him, attacking his lips with her own.

“I’ve been waiting all night to kiss you,” she mumbled against his lips. “And to do so much more than that.”

Her fingers were instantly rubbing his cock on the outside of his pants. And then they were going for the zipper.

And yet, it wasn’t arousal that Alex felt in that moment.

It was anger.

He grabbed Ellie’s hand and held it in place. “What the fuck are you doing, Ellie?”

She only blinked at him with her stunning blue-green eyes. “I’m making out with you, silly. And I’m hoping to do much more than that if you let me.”

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“I thought you needed my help with something!”

“I do,” she said, a coy smile spreading out on her lips. “I have a little itch in the back of my vagina that only your cock can scratch.”

That only made Alex more angry. “You just lied to Jenna to get me back here. What the fuck, Ellie?”

“Well, I didn’t think she would like it if I made the offer right in front of her,” she replied. “I’m trying to spare her feelings.”

“That is the most fucked up way of sparing someone’s feelings that I’ve ever heard. Have you lost your damn mind?”

Alex released her hand and walked to the other side of the room. Ellie seemed to sense just how angry he was and she went into damage control.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I just thought that a little privacy for us would be nice. Like what we had the other night.”

“What happened the other night was still behind Jenna’s back. I can’t keep doing that. It’s not fair to her. It was a mistake.”

“Alex, this is Vesta. I know you both are from Earth but if she’s going to live here, she’s going to have to learn how to share—”

“We just got here,” interrupted Alex. “It’s going to take time.”

“You may have just got here but you’re already running for a leadership position,” she replied. “You can’t keep your foot in both camps. I’m just trying to make this as easy as possible for everyone.”

“No, you’re just trying to do this as selfishly for yourself as you can,” corrected Alex. “For example, why does Annette know about what we did the other night? Why did you tell her?”

Ellie looked around the room and then shrugged. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“It would be a big deal if Jenna found out!”

“Alex, we keep coming back to the same point, and it’s always Jenna. Yes, I think she’s a great person and a very nice girl but she’s also the youngest of all of us. She’s going to need to be mature about this. This is the way we do things in Vesta.”

That only served to make Alex angrier. He shook his head in disgust and marched toward the front door.

“Alex, wait! Please stop.”

“No, Ellie, this is bullshit,” yelled Alex. “Like it or not, Jenna is tied to me. We’re a packaged deal. You fuck with one of us and you’re fucking with both of us. The fact that you’re orchestrating these little meetings behind her back thoroughly pisses me off.”

Ellie sprinted across the room and placed herself in front of the door.

“I’m sorry, Alex. Really I am,” she said with pleading eyes. “I’m not trying to make you angry. It’s the opposite of that, I promise.”

Alex crossed his arms. “You fucked up, Ellie.”

“I know. I see that now. You’re right, I’m being selfish, okay? I want you. I want you a lot and I’m just tired of waiting. I want to share with Jenna. And I don’t know how we can best have that conversation but I want to have it. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to hurt you.”

Alex just started to shake his head. “This is a mess, Ellie. You have to be more patient.”

She let out a groan of frustration as she stepped away from the door. “I feel like I’ve been incredibly patient. Can’t you bring it up to her? Or let us sit down together to talk about it?”

“I don’t know what good it’ll do,” said Alex, being honest with her. “She already doesn’t trust you, and I can’t say I blame her after what you just did.”

“We can make this work, Alex. We just need to be open about our intentions and talk about it. I’m going to be here to have that talk whenever you want to. I promise you that.”

As tempting as it was, Alex couldn’t do anything about it now. He opened the door. “Another time, Ellie. But for the sake of any relationship with me, don’t try this again.”

He left the unit with Ellie looking like a scolded puppy. Even though he was still angry about it, Alex couldn’t help but feel a little guilty too. Would Ellie have been so brazen tonight if she hadn’t already gotten her way once? Alex remembered that night when she sucked his cock and swallowed his cum. Was Ellie truly in the wrong with her expectations?

And what would give way first—Alex’s guilt or Ellie’s patience?

That question was still swimming around his head as he entered his housing unit only to find the lights down low. Jenna was already in bed, the sheets pulled up to her stomach. She was only wearing a white tank tank top with thin straps, which was straining to contain her large chest.

“Come to bed,” she murmured to him.

Alex changed into his sleeping clothes and joined her in bed. Jenna promptly snuggled up to him and fell back asleep, not even suspecting what had just occurred with Ellie.

Alex knew that Ellie had a point—sooner or later, they would all have to discuss what they were feeling if any kind of arrangement was going to be made. But with the tension between Ellie and Jenna, he suspected that any talk was doomed to fail.

And it would leave him stuck between both women, damaging his relationship with at least one of them, and possibly both at the worst.

But what if there was a way all of them could get what they wanted?

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