Belladonna’s statement caused another uproar in the crowd, this one more vehement than the news about the bear. Several native Vestans began to shout out in response.

“Why does she need to be executed?”

“Ellie Vesta did nothing wrong!”

“What about you? You’re a terrible leader, Belladonna!”

The shouting and jeers continued for several moments while Belladonna and Cassara tried to regain control of the crowd.

“People, please!” urged Cassara. “Ellie Vesta broke our laws by coming back to the city. She needs to be punished for this!”

“We will have law and order in Vesta!” barked Belladonna before pointing her finger at Ellie. “Under her reign, we lost more people to bear attacks than ever before!”

“But the bear attacks haven’t stopped!” said Dave, who wasn’t far from Alex. “If anything, they’re increasing in frequency, even from when Ellie was chairwoman of the Council. And I don’t see anything that you’re doing that’s any different than what we did when Ellie was here.”

“Watch your mouth, Dave,” growled Belladonna. “You need to show the proper respect to the chairwoman. Remember who rules here.”

“The people rule in Vesta,” shouted someone from the crowd. “The Council is supposed to represent the people!”

That earned several rousing cheers of agreement. At that moment, it became obvious to Alex that Belladonna and Cassara were starting to lose their nerve.

“Is this the impression we want to give to the new colonists?” someone else shouted. “That we just coldly execute people for political reasons?”

That was the powder keg that set off the entire crowd. Soon most of the people were coming to put a wall of bodies around Ellie, as if daring Belladonna to break through them to take her. Alex watched the changing mood of the crowd with satisfaction. Though he’d known Belladonna for slightly less than twenty minutes, he could see that she was completely out of her depth.

Finally, she relented.

“Fine, fine, fine!” snapped Belladonna. “Ellie Vesta won’t be executed today.”

Cassara gave her an alarmed look, one that questioned the intelligence of Belladonna’s statement. “Then what the hell are we going to do with her?” she whispered furiously.

Belladonna started stammering. “Well, we’re going to have to figure something else out. Something new.”

“Something new like what?” pressed Annette.

Belladonna thought about it for a moment before a wicked-looking smile appeared on her lips. “We’ll have a trial, that’s what. And the Council will have a vote to decide her fate. We’ll leave it in the hands of the Council, just as our law dictates. That’s a fair outcome, is it not?”

“No, it’s not,” snapped Annette. “Not when you two run the Council. You two will outvote me all the time by simple numbers. Leaving it to the Council is only putting off her fate for longer because everyone here knows how you’re going to vote.”

Belladonna’s mouth opened in mock indignity. “Are you suggesting that I’ll be biased in a trial heard by the Council? It seems you’re seriously questioning my integrity, Annette! You’d do well to remember just who I am.”

“This whole congregation knows exactly who you are,” quipped Annette. “And they know that Ellie won’t receive a fair trial with just the three of us on the Council. We need to hold elections for the two open seats so that the trial is fair and not a foregone conclusion.”

Belladonna shrugged indifferently. “You know as well as I do that we have elections scheduled in two months’ time. We’ll fill the seats then, as we normally do.”

“But when will Ellie be tried?” shouted someone from the crowd.

“I see no reason why we can’t start her trial before the end of the week,” answered Belladonna.

More jeering occurred, especially from the native Vestans who saw what Belladonna was trying to do.

“Ellie deserves a fair trial!”

“We need to have elections first!”

“This isn’t fair!”

Belladonna wasn’t having any of it. “This is the law, people! The law that’s been given to us by our founders, one of which was Ellie’s grandfather. I will carry out the law as it’s written. In two days’ time, we will have the start of our trial to determine the punishment for Ellie Vesta. And not a day sooner. And if anyone has any problems with that, then they’ll find themselves next on the list for mining duty!”

That threat certainly quieted the crowd. Alex had a suspicion as to why that was. He knew the bear attacks were most frequent near the mines, and it was his estimation that the mining detail was probably the most deadly task in Vesta.

With the crowd sufficiently quieted, Belladonna and Cassara regained some of their confidence.

“It’s settled then. For now, I’m going to order the VDF to take Ellie into our prison where she will await the start of the trial.” She then looked at Dave, who was the closest VDF member to her. “Dave, take her to the prison. That’s an order.”

Dave looked defiant. He crossed his arms instead of carrying out the order.

“I gave you an order, Dave!” roared Belladonna. “You will carry out my orders at once. I’m the chairwoman of Vesta!”

“Ellie will not be going to a prison,” said Annette, emboldened by the crowd’s support. “If she needs to go somewhere, she can go to my home.”

“I will not allow you to quarter a suspect that’s awaiting trial,” yelled Belladonna.

“It’s not quartering her,” said Annette, shrugging her shoulders. “Think of it as house arrest. I’ll keep Ellie contained in my house until the trial but she won’t be allowed to leave. I think that’s an agreeable compromise, don’t you?”

It was obvious by the look on Belladonna’s face that she didn’t agree, but Annette’s reasonable offer seemed to be supported by the crowd.

Belladonna and Cassara looked at each other as if trying to decide what to do. Fortunately for Ellie, they caved.

“Fine, but make sure she stays put,” Cassara said to Annette. “If she gets out, then we’ll have a trial for you as well for negligence.”

“Amongst other things,” added Belladonna. She gave one last glare to Ellie before she stomped away, leaving the scene to go back into the main biosphere.

Most of the tension left with their exit. Quite suddenly, many of the native Vestans swarmed around Ellie and Annette, asking them questions about Ellie’s exile as well as offering their support. For a brief moment, Alex and Jenna were left alone. Alex’s body was still sore from the stun gun, and it was only with Jenna’s aid that he was able to stand on his own feet.

“Are you okay?” asked a worried Jenna. “That looked terribly painful.”

“It was no picnic,” grunted Alex. “Those stun guns are more powerful than the ones I’m used to back on the orbital ring. I might be out of commission for the rest of the day.”

They were alone for only a moment before Dave approached them. He was carrying Alex’s knife and he offered it back to him once he was close.

“That was some display,” said Dave, grinning at Alex. “It’s not often that a new colonist sparks up such a hornet’s nest on their first day.”

“I’ve learned that trouble usually follows me,” replied Alex. “It’s hard to avoid when you’re me.”

“I’ll say,” said Dave, chuckling. “That was an impressive display back there. And I have to say, I enjoyed watching you punch the lights out of that Serrano guy. He’s been here for two days and he already walks around like he owns the place. I think that fight was long overdue.”

“A fight isn’t enough,” replied Jenna. “Not for what Serrano did on the Racine. If anyone deserves to be exiled, it’s him.”

Dave shook his head. “I kind of doubt that’s going to happen. Serrano seemed to figure out who’s running things here in Vesta pretty quickly. I doubt anything’s going to happen to him as long as Belladonna’s looking out for his back.”

“And why would anyone want to do something to little, harmless me?”

Both Dave and Alex turned to find Serrano making his way toward them. The man was still bleeding, but his eyes contained a smugness that was hard to ignore. Alex’s fist clenched and he felt the urge to yank his knife across Serrano’s throat.

Serrano noticed when Alex rested his hand on the knife handle.

“Oh, you’re not going to want to do that,” warned Serrano. “Not if you want to stay in Vesta.”

“Maybe what I want more than anything is to see justice served,” growled Alex. “And you deserve to die for what you did.”

Serrano shrugged. “Do I though? Tell me who died? Besides a few of my men when they blew out the reactor on the Racine, but other than that, no innocents died on the ship. I’m not the monster that you think I am, Hawthorne.”

Alex took a step forward. “Thanks to me, no one died. If we hadn’t gotten them on the pods, they would have. You wouldn’t have cared though as long as the ship got to Dangallu.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Serrano with a smirk. “But that’s not what happened. Everyone is alive and I’m certainly not in Dangallu, am I?”

Serrano kicked some of the dust at his feet. “I’m in Vesta now, despite my best wishes. And while it wasn’t my choice to come to this piss-poor colony on the fringes of nowhere, I can still find a way to get what I want here. It sounds like there are some leadership positions open on the Council. And I’ve always wanted to serve my community.”

“You won’t get away with what you did,” grunted Alex. “Not as long as I’m alive. I will make sure you’re punished someday.”

“Maybe, but it won’t be today,” replied Serrano. “And while I’d love to kill you for interfering with my plans, the timing isn’t right. Now, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones as long as you can behave yourself and be a good boy. You stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours. You feel me?”

There was no way that Alex could agree to that offer. The problem was that his hands were tied. He had no desire to be exiled from the city, and he was under no illusions that he wouldn’t be if he tried to attack Serrano again.

Not that he didn’t think he could survive out in the wild but he was also trying to think about someone other than himself. He knew that Jenna wouldn’t stay in Vesta if he left, and it would condemn her to an exile as well. How long would both of them be able to survive out there? Would the bears get them sooner or later? It seemed like the most likely outcome.

While Alex was still thinking it through, Serrano grinned at him.

“I’m going to take your silence as your agreement,” said Serrano as he started to walk away. “It seems you have a brain after all, Hawthorne. Remember the deal—you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

With those final words to Alex, Serrano’s eyes landed on Jenna. “Good to see you again too, sweet peach.” He blew her a kiss before finally leaving.

“I’d still watch your back with that guy,” said Dave once Serrano was gone. “Despite his offer of a truce, it doesn’t sound very sincere to me.”

“That’s because it’s not,” said Alex, looking in the direction that Serrano left. “It just means that I’m going to have to find another way to kill that son of a bitch.”