Chương 16: CheckMate

Two days Later...

Lila paced back and forth in her room. It's been two days since the interrogation, she hasn't been allowed to leave her room until the investigation is over.

All her daily meals were bought to her via crew member. Even her bathroom visits were under the watchful eyes of female officers.

She felt like a prisoner, she knew things weren't looking good.

_____

Two Days before...

Lila walked out of the conference room under the escort of two soldiers. She couldn't explain anything that happened today aside from her plan to trap Kara.

Since her interrogation gave no further details, the Commander ordered her to be under "house arrest" until the investigation is concluded.

Walking to her room, Lila acrossed paths with Kara, who was being led by and soldier and a medic officer to the conference room. Lean on the medic's arm, head bandaged, and struggling to walk, Kara made for a sorry sight.

When Kara saw Lila, she directly hid behind the medic's body, making it seem as if she was afraid of her.

Lila smirked at this ridiculous gesture of Kara's, when has Kara ever been afraid of me?

The medic sensing Kara's unwillingness to be anywhere near Lila put his guard up, shouting for her to move quickly.

"Keep walking, why are you taking so long!?"

Appalled by the shouting, Lila glancing at the medic officer and the surrounding soldiers, their eyes held suppressed disgust. Thinking now was not the time to cause a fuss, Lila listened to the medic's orders and walked passed Kara quickly.

When she passed Kara, the soldiers instinctively moved their bodies to protect her. Lila felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach, will no one believe me?

What no one noticed as everyone was blocking Lila, was Kara's eyes lighting up with glee.

Inside the conference room, Kara's heart was steady as a rock.

"Explain, what lead up to your injury?" Thomas could see Kara was deep into her role as a victim.

Knowing the Commander held suspicion about her, Kara moved the attention away from her and onto Lila. What she needed for this plan to succeed was the Commander's sympathy.

"For some time now, I have felt Lila's attitude change, she has become more hostile towards me. At first, I wasn't able to understand why? So I sum it up to be her jealousy.

A tear escaped Kara's eye, followed by another and another until she was full-blown crying.

The medic officer and all the soldiers in the room couldn't help themselves, but to comfort Kara till she was able to calm down.

"I'm sorry...I'll continue..." Patting her eyes, Kara snuck a peek around the room. The everyone's eyes held nothing but compassion towards her plight, all except the Commander and Secretary Jun.

"Continue." Thomas was tired of the game Kara was playing. This stuff might work on her peers, but he wasn't falling for it.

*Sniff*

"Yes..." Kara dry her face, mad that her tears didn't work.

"...I really didn't think Lila would do anything wrong. It wasn't until Pace told me about the engine room being empty yesterday that I got a weird feeling...."

Kara put her hand on her chest, almost as if she was short of breath. The medic officer promptly came over to give her swift checkup.

Thinking this interrogation might be too strenuous and wanting to shield Kara, the medic officer overstepped his boundaries.

"Sir. Don't you think you should continue this interrogation tomorrow when she is better rested."

Everyone in the room stuck in a mouth full of air at the medic audacity. Though they all felt sorry for Kara, they knew better than to speak to the Commander in such a way.

Seeing he had cross a line he shouldn't have, the medic pulled his arm from around Kara's shoulders and bowing in apology before retaking his place behind the Commander's seat.

The medic officer crossing the line, made all the soldiers regain their soldier mentality. Looking around the room, Thomas gave all his soldiers a tense stare, reminding them who their commanding officer was.

Kara saw her plan losing to the Commander's control, so she decided to go for plan B.

"It's okay...I can continue on..." Kara looked at the medic officer, "I would like to get everything off my chest." Sitting up straight, Kara looked the Commander in the eyes.

"Pace and I checked the dialogistic readings, we found discrepancies in the logs. Realizing that Lila has been sabotaging all the work I've been doing, I felt betrayed...I know I had to notify you of what was going on, but I wanted to give Lila a chance to explain herself. I waited til today to speak to her..."

"Why did you wait till today to speak to her?"

"I couldn't find her yesterday after fixing the problems she was causing in the engine rooms."

Thomas nodded his head for her to continue.

"In the early morning, I went to Pace's room."

"Why?"

"I felt I might need extra support when confronting Lila, but he wasn't there. I left a letter, hoping he could let you know about the situation if anything happens..."

"What does that means, "if anything happens"?"

"As I said before, Lila has been getting more hostile towards me. She slapped me in the face when I approached her on another matter..."

"And what matter would this be?"

The conversation was going right where she wanted it to be, it was like taking candy from a baby.

Making it seem like she was put into a sticky situation, Kara paused before continuing on.

"...When I first heard Lila was on a ship, I was surprised...because Lila didn't receive a ticket from what I remember..."

The unspoken implications of Kara's statement, if true, had the room unnerved. They had been out at space for years now, no one bothered to check the tickets again after launching.

"What happened in the engine room today, when meeting Lila?"

Thought the Commander glossed over the last statement, Kara could see the disturbance in his eyes.

"After confronting her, she begged me not to tell you, but I told her that would be impossible..."

"How did you get injured?"

"Lila hit me in the head, I don't know with what cause I blacked out afterward...I don't know what happened later."

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