Chapter 59: Chapter 58: The Trial of Ellie Vesta

You could have heard a pin drop in that room as soon as Annette dropped her bombshell.

“I’m moving that we drop all charges against Ellie Vesta right away,” continued Annette. “There will be no trial and she will be found innocent.”

Belladonna looked like she just found a turd in the punch bowl. “You can’t be serious! She was exiled for a reason and it’s only because of freak technicality that she was allowed back into the city in the first place! As chairwoman of the Vestan Council, I can’t allow this to stand.”

“It’s not up to you,” replied Annette. “We will vote on it together as members of the Council and the majority will rule.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” asked Cassara. “You’re outnumbered, Annette. Belladonna and I very much see eye to eye on the issues facing Vesta and from what I know about Serrano, he’s of a similar mind.”

Indeed, Serrano wasted no time in letting all of them know where his loyalties were.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to drop charges against Ellie Vesta,” said a smug Serrano. “Like Belladonna said, she was exiled for a reason.”

“Yes! Thank you, Lucius,” said an elated Belladonna. “So you see, Annette, you still don’t have any votes. Even if Alex wants to give his vote to your cause, you’re still outnumbered.”

Annette wasn’t about to panic. She kept her cool head and turned toward Alex.

“Alex, are you in favor of acquitting Ellie of all charges?” she asked sweetly.

“I’m in favor of the motion,” replied Alex. “Ellie Vesta didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” shrieked Belladonna at Alex. “It’s Ellie’s fault that we’ve lost so many people to the bears! She didn’t show any leadership as Vesta crumbled around her.”

“And you have?” replied Alex. “In case you haven’t noticed, bear attacks are still happening. Now that you’re the chairwoman, why don’t we exile you for not stopping the attacks?”

“How dare you?” raged Belladonna. “I’ll have you know that bear attacks have been down ever since I became the chairwoman. This colony needs me!”

Annette snorted. “That’s a crock of shit, Belladonna, and you know it. Attacks are up as well as deaths. Alex has a point. We might have to put that to a motion next.”

Belladonna looked like she was ready to chew through the desk just to get to Annette. “You might try but just like with your first motion, you don’t have the numbers, Annette! So it’ll come to nothing, just like this little charade you’re pulling. I don’t know what’s gotten into you today but you will respect the will of this governing body!”

At that point, Alex thought Annette might just back down. Belladonna was getting increasingly heated and she seemed to have a point. Just going by a simple majority, there was no way they could get Ellie acquitted if Belladonna, Cassara, and Serrano weren’t in favor.

But just when all looked lost was when Annette pulled out her biggest move yet.

“You’re forgetting a key detail, Belladonna,” said the beautiful redhead, a coy smile on her lips. “Ellie is charged with a capital offense. The penalty of which is death or exile.”

“And what is your point, Annette?” barked Belladonna.

“Capital offenses require more than just a simple majority on the Vestan Council for execution, don’t they? How many votes are needed to convict in a capital offense?”

“I hardly think that matters right now—”

“Four votes, Belladonna,” interrupted Annette, holding up her fingers. “Are you beginning to see where I’m going with this? Any conviction against Ellie will need four votes and I’m here to tell you that you’ll never get them. Not with the current numbers on the Council. Both Alex and I aren’t going to vote to convict and that means that Ellie will get off.”

Belladonna was starting to panic. All of her earlier bluster was starting to melt away and her eyes betrayed an anxiety that hadn’t existed moments earlier.

“You’re just talking about the conviction though,” said Cassara. “There might not be enough numbers to convict her but you’re talking about dismissing the charges altogether. Those are two different things, Annette.”

“Maybe so but I’m here to tell you that you won’t convict her, no way, no how,” replied Annette. “So what’s the point in having a trial? It’s a waste of time. You can’t convict no matter what you do so that’s why I make the motion to drop all charges. Let’s save our time for something that actually needs it and end this farce against Ellie before it goes any further.”

“It’s not a farce,” snapped Belladonna. “Ellie has put this colony in grave danger and it’s only your family ties with her that prevent you from seeing that.”

“It’s my family ties with her that tell me everything you say about her is bullshit,” quipped Annette. “I’ve known Ellie longer than anyone in this room. She has a good heart and she doesn’t deserve what was done to her. This is the least we can do to make things right.”

“Spare us the platitudes about saintliness,” said Cassara, rolling her eyes. “It doesn’t matter anyway. She could be a killer and it wouldn’t matter to you. All you care about is getting the charges dropped.”

“Precisely,” replied Annette with a simple smile. “Are we in agreement then? All charges can be dropped? After all, it wouldn’t look good with the Vestan people to be wasting our time on a show trial when so many other problems confront our city. The optics wouldn’t look great for you, Belladonna, and you need good optics now more than ever.”

“Fuck—ahem, screw you!” said Belladonna, temporarily losing her cool.

Annette raised an eyebrow at the sudden outburst and even Serrano made a face. For his part, Alex was trying not to laugh at the sudden turning of the tables.

“All in favor of acquittal then?” asked Annette sweetly.

Cassara was the first to answer, showing the cracks in their defense. “Fine, whatever.”

Belladonna huffed loudly in response.

“It seems a shame that a hot piece like Ellie would have been put to death anyway,” said Serrano, earning a hearty jab from Belladonna before she stormed out of the room.

Annette beamed with a smile. “I’ll take Belladonna’s exit to mean that she votes for acquittal as well. All charges against Ellie have been dropped.”

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Cassara and Serrano didn’t stay to see the celebration. Serrano ran out after Belladonna while Cassara at least had the good sense to call a recess to today’s Council, which was then postponed until the next week after it was revealed that Belladonna was in too much of a rage to appear in public.

Once they were alone, Annette bounded out of her chair and hugged Alex tightly, laughing at their success.

“We did it!” she cheered. “I can’t believe we actually did it! I was so afraid Belladonna was going to force this to a trial just to be a pain in the ass!”

“We did it because you were prepared and because you cornered her in her own game,” said Alex. “Great job, Annette. Come on, let’s go tell Ellie.”

They found Ellie pacing around Annette’s home, terribly anxious to hear the results of the Council. Since neither Alex nor Annette could withhold their jubilation, Ellie knew by taking one look at their faces.

“I’m free?” she asked. “I get to live?”

“You’re acquitted of all charges, cousin!” yelled Annette before rushing to hug Ellie. “We did it! Everything worked just the way we planned it!”

Tears of happiness streamed down Ellie’s cheeks. She buried her head against Annette’s shoulder and hung on tightly.

“Thank you, Annette,” said Ellie quietly. “Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me.”

After Ellie was done hugging Annette, she quickly moved to Alex. She collided into him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

“Thank you to you too. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she whispered in his ear.

Alex rubbed her back gently. “I’m just glad we were able to turn a wrong into a right. You should have seen Belladonna’s face. You would have loved every minute of her anguish.”

Ellie started to giggle. “I would have paid to see that.”

“You know what the best part about this is?” asked Annette. “You’re free to get your own housing unit again! You don’t have to stay here under house arrest anymore. You’re completely free.”

Ellie gave her a strange look. “Are you tired of me living with you already?” she joked.

Annette grinned. “No, but it will be nice to have some moments of privacy again. I haven’t used my vibrator much since you moved in and I’ll be happy to break it in again!”

Alex’s mind turned to thoughts of Annette on her back while her body writhed in passion. It wasn’t an unpleasant thought in the slightest.

Ellie laughed. “Annette, you’re terrible. But maybe you have a point. It’ll be nice to have my own place again. As well as my own privacy. There have been some things I’ve had in mind that have been put on the back burner until these charges were dropped.”

That statement made Alex curious. Just what was Ellie holding back on? And why was she looking at him when she said it?

“We’ll have to find you an open unit to move into,” said Annette. “Actually, maybe Alex can give you his old one? Seeing as he’ll be moving next door to me, his will be on the market then.”

“What do you think, Alex?” asked Ellie. “Can I have your unit?”

There was something about the way she said it that caused him to look at her funny. Ellie wore only a flirtatious smile (the same one he was used to seeing from her) and he couldn’t tell if he was reading too far into it.

“Sure, Ellie,” he replied finally. “You can definitely have it.”

That seemed to settle the matter for now. For the next half hour, they celebrated Ellie’s impending freedom as well as made plans for the future that didn’t involve any sudden changes to Ellie’s status. Finally, it was time for Alex to go home. He said his goodbyes to both women and left Annette’s unit but he soon found that Ellie was right behind him, calling his name.

“I just wanted to say thank you one more time,” said Ellie, giving him another hug. “Seriously, Alex, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. Every time I think about you, I’m grateful that you decided to come to Vesta.”

Alex smiled at her. “Well, it beats spending the rest of my life in prison,” he teased.

“You know, I still think it’s funny that the first time we met, you almost killed me. We’ve come a long way since then.”

“That we have, Ellie. And I can say that killing you is the last thing on my mind.”

Ellie took a step closer until her breasts pressed into his chest. “What’s the first thing on your mind that you want to do to me?”

“Ellie,” Alex warned.

She grinned at him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. Just think about it, okay? Especially now that we’ll have more privacy with my own place.”

“Ellie, that’s not something that—”

She was already backing up though, moving toward Annette’s door. “Just think about it, Alex. Okay?”

She was already gone before he could give his answer. She was persistent—Alex would give her that. He started to wonder whether Ellie would ever take no for an answer.

Or whose willpower will turn out to be stronger? Hers or his?

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