Chapter 71 - The Vote [https://cdn.midjourney.com/269402f1-a691-4d87-bdf6-8380312349f1/0_0.png]

They had let her put on pants during a break, and for that, Kennedy was grateful. Sitting bare ass on a metal chair offered no dignity, and put a person at a disadvantage when it came to arguing for their life.

They had shown the video, and she had cringed at every motion activated clip. The sordid proof of her stupidity and early awkward changing had been displayed to the entire room. She hated to think what might have happened if Sandy had been at the apartment that day. Even though the distribution of the film had placed her life at risk, she couldn’t help but be glad that it wasn’t a snuff film.

The little girl she had helped lay asleep on the floor next to her parents, nestled on top of a few towels. The gathered Shepherds wouldn’t stop talking, and all Kennedy wanted to do was to lay her head on the table. Exhaustion made it hard to keep herself focused.

The lone Wolf representative rapped on the table, interrupting the various conversations. He said, “I have spoken with my community and received an update. Our tech people are going to change the narrative by promoting the film as a student project by a highly gifted group. In Texas there are two Shepherds in film school that have already agreed to be part of the project. There will be on-line interviews with them. We will piece together a mock set, where a very short clip on the amazing person who did the special effects makeup will be recorded. Of course, the trained bear will need its own social media, at least for a little while.”

“Do you think this can be contained?” Ba asked, seated at the head of the table with her back stick straight.

“No, but we are reframing it. If we vote for the girl to die, that will limit our ability to make a believable campaign.” He looked in Kennedy’s direction, “If she is alive, she can be our talented actress…” His lips quirked, “and trained bear. If she is willing.”

David blurted out, “She is.”

Narrowing her gaze, she interrupted David. “I can decide for myself.”

“And?” the Wolf asked.

“I will help.” She looked toward Ba. “I never meant to bring trouble.” The old woman gave a dismissive snort.

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“We are very lucky that the only one harmed in the images was a couch.” The paster rubbed his thumb along the spine of his bible, “Dead bodies are difficult to pass off as anything but what they are.”

David spoke, one of the few people in the space that wasn’t either part of the council or the accused. “She didn’t know it was being broadcast to her friend’s phone. Because she wanted to protect herself and us, she took the memory card from the Nanny cam. I know she will help in any way she can to minimize the damage. Right Kennedy?”

Kennedy nodded. Her feet were cold. The Shepherds gathered at the table kept talking in circles. Round and round.

The sharp nosed woman pointed her finger in David’s direction. “Don’t think you are free of judgment. What kind of fool were you to let her go back amongst the sheep?”

David shoved his hands through his hair. “She is strong willed.” He’d had to explain their decision to allow her to make her own choices multiple times. If they had caged her, like many at the table believed they should have, she would have hated them.

Ba added, “And pregnant. I can smell her from here. She caught on her first cycle and is currently pregnant.” The words caused a murmur.

One hand on his wife’s knee, their little girl asleep between them, the father said, “I won’t vote to kill her. She saved my daughter’s life today.”

The priest said, “Your daughter would have found her way without help. If it was God’s will.”

David said, “And she might not have.”

The mother leaned forward. “How long… could our daughter have contained her bodily integrity in that place of not being? Misha is only seven. She was terrified. Her other father couldn’t be here with us today, because of the injuries he incurred fighting to get to her. I hold his vote and my own. You have already heard John’s decision.”

Old Joe rested his hand over Ba’s. “I will not vote for her death. Healers are rare in these barren days. Even if she was mad or dangerous. I would want her alive.”

“And contained?” snapped Ba.

“Are we jailers now, wife?”

The Paster’s sour face pinched. “She is too dangerous to live. I vote for her death, but ask that she be contained until the child is born. An innocent shouldn’t be put to death. Then we can send her back to the stars.”

David started to say something, but Ba raised her hand. “You have no vote here.”

Around the gathered circle, each gave their decision. With every no spoken, the thundercloud in Ba’s eyes darkened. Lightning shot across the whites of her eyes. A storm within her gathered.

As each had spoken, Kennedy’s anxiety blurred the count. It was close. Chest aching, she held her breath. In her lap, Kennedy tightened her hands. “And do I have a vote about the future of my existence? I made it through my first change, survived unsuppressed during these weeks of my pregnancy, and even though many of you want my death… I still helped one of your own. Does that have no weight? Perhaps my life is of no value to you, but what about hers?” The little girl shifted in her sleep, dreaming on the floor.