Chương 17: Ejected

Since the incident, Lila has been unaware of the general opinion on the ship about her. Rumors had soon spread like wildfire after the interrogations of Pace, Kara, and Lila. The crew was happy to take part in any form of entertainment to relieve the boredom of outer space.

Three days after Lila's confinement, she was tormented with banging at her door. At first, she thought it was accidental, but accompanying the banging were words like thief and murderer.

The guards who stood in front of her door had no intention of stopping the people. All day and night, Lila wasn't allowed to catch a wink of sleep or rest. In her room, the pounding and yelling plagued her mind.

This was the first sign Lila knew she was in trouble.

____

In Thomas' office, secretary Jun placed the last of his investigation on the Commander's desk.

"It's true, sir. There is no such Lila Yun on the ticket roster. There is a Lila Yun on the country's census and the room list though. She didn't qualify for a ticket because she had a sickly body, and her skills were mediocre. The room that she was assigned to belongs to Ms. Joy Wu...She was the foster mother at Lila's orphanage."

Thomas picked up the sheets of paper containing all of Lila's, Pace's, and Kara's info. Comparing the three, Pace was the odd one out, so he placed Pace's back on his desk.

Seeing the Commander studying Kara's and Lila's information, secretary Jun thought he made a mistake somewhere.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

"No, all the info you showed me is on point with what we first knew about this two....but for some reason, it doesn't feel right. Something feels off..."

Placing the two sheets of paper down, he moved to the floor to ceiling windows in his office. With hands held behind his back, Thomas closed his eyes going over the last couple of days.

"Why would she ask for Lila?" Thomas' eyes lifted open.

"Umm...she said it was because they use to be friends...You said it yourself, Kara and Lila shared a very close childhood."

"Yes...but Kara had to know that Lila doesn't have much to offer in assistance. Look at the info, only in Lila's last few years in high school did her grades pick up."

"En...maybe she realized too late how much her academics would affect her chances of getting a ticket..." Secretary Jun reasoned as he looked over Lila's info.

"Exactly! A person doesn't just pass every subject in school except physical education after neglecting it for years. Look at the paper again, it said right after she was able to go to school her grades changed for the better...And Kara's changed for the worst."

Figuring out what the Commander was trying to say, Secretary Jun, snatched both papers off of the desk. With the Commander's words ringing in his head, he instantly saw the problem.

"Kara is the thief..."

"Yes, and she recruited Pace to help..." Thomas didn't forget to add the third person into this equation.

"How should we handle this matter? The rumors going around have been against Lila, some have even started being malicious towards her..." Jun hesitated before thinking it's better for the Commander to know the truth.

"...sir..."

"Yes?" Thomas looked at Jun's nervous face.

"Some have been wondering why it's taking you so long to punish Lila...They have started to question your authority and leadership, sir."

"Mmm...seems like someone is feeding the flames, being on these ships for so long has given the crew a boring life. With this news comes the release of pent up emotions, and the perpetrators are using this time to push my hands..."

"Sir, what do we do then? If you wait any longer, your control of the fleet will slip..."

The gravity of the situation hung in the air.

____

On the seventh day, Lila finally got to see the Commander.

Lila walked out of the room with shaky knees and bags under her eyes from all the sleepless days and nights the crew didn't let her rest.

The majority of the crew didn't know what she looked like nor who she was, yet a big crowd awaited her out the door.

Facing all the hostile looks, Lila began to hyperventilate.

"This way, the Commander is waiting." One of the four guards sent to escort her said.

Lila followed the guards, happy to be sandwiched between them, the barrier they created relieved some of her worries.

When they reached their final destination, she realized they were at one of the fleet's docking stations.

Thomas stood to one side, while the crowd she thought she left behind flowed in and filled up the space.

"Lila Yun." Thomas' voice silenced the crowd's muttering.

"Here."

"You have been charged with murder, theft, and acting to destroy mankind. We have investigated, and found these charges to be true..."

"Nooo! I didn't do anything, I swear!" Lila exclaimed, but Thomas continued on.

"...You will be sentenced to death. You will..." The rest of Thomas words left on Lila's deaf ears.

Dazed, Lila happens to notice Kara and Pace standing amongst the crew members. The triumph look on their faces broke the last shred of tolerance in Lila's heart.

Crazed, Lila threw herself at Kara and Pace. Punching, slapping, and biting any part of their bodies she could get her hands on.

"ENOUGH!" This was Thomas first time raised his voice since leaving Country Q.

With everyone frozen, it gave the soldier enough time to pull Lila off of the two.

Sandwiched between two soldiers, Lila looked at Thomas with pleading eyes, but he turned away.

"Bring her sleeper cell." A group of soldiers placed her sleeper cell at the base of the airlock shaft.

When they opened the lid, Lila could see her belongings inside already. Understanding he was serious, Lila started to fight in the two soldiers' restraining hands.

"Please! I'm innocent! Please! Listen to me! It's those two over there! Not me!" Lila was looking for anyone who would listen to her.

Lila fought harder as they pushed her towards the sleeper cell.

"No! I'm not going! I didn't do anything wrong! Nooo!"

Wanting to end this quickly, Thomas signaled the medic on standby.

Taking out a syringe from her pocket, the medic snuck behind Lila and pierced her neck. Lila felt the stinging pain of a needle, but it was too late for her to do anything.

The drugs immediately took effect as all her strength left her body.

Fighting to stay awake as they laid her down into her sleeper cell, Lila was only able to faintly protest against their actions.

Looking Left then right out of the small cell window, the only person Lila could see was Commander General Thomas Sima. Lila kept her eyes locked on to his until they loaded her into the air shaft.

Heart rate picking up as her adrenaline overrode the drugs in her system, Lila's screams could be heard on the opposite side of the air shaft.

It wasn't until that moment that they realize what they were actually watching.

"To all of you here today, let this be a lesson." That was Thomas' last words to the crew before he pushed the released button.

"Aaaahhh!"

The scream was the last they heard from Lila Yun.