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Chapter 71: Votes Cast

The confusion didn’t remain long though. They understood pretty quickly his reasons.

Letting one alien wander freely within the spaceship was already a great risk. But it could communicate with them.

Letting a second one in was too dangerous. Especially since it couldn’t communicate.

The crewmates could see that the Paru and the female Granilith were somewhat close. Whether he went, she followed him. By bringing fresh food, she had also proven the ability to be useful. Still,

“Female or male, it remains a Granilith.” Jay continued. “Its kind killed too many for us to bring. Well…” His gaze moved over to the Paru for a moment. “Bringing it is fine, I suppose. As long as it stays away from us.”

“Well-” Roka was interrupted before she could get a word out.

“I-I disagree.” Kris said as he raised a hand. “Not only hasn’t she hurt anyone, but she even brought us food. We can trust her. Putting her in the vault like some kind of..”

The vault was used as a storage unit, but it also had another use.

The crewmates had agreed on that long ago.

If a traitor among the crewmates were to rise, or if someone started having a negative impact on their mission willfully, that person would be thrown into the vault.

As such, it looked exactly like a prison cell, with iron bars delimiting its perimeter.

“Taking it with us is already more than enough. Having it wander where our lost comrades used to be… When its kind killed them… How can you even suggest that?”

“What her kind did doesn’t matter! She isn’t one of those who attacked us! She saw plenty of Granilith die, didn’t she? That proves that she isn’t-”

“It saw its own kind die and didn’t care. Why should we trust it?” Jay waved his hand dismissively. “You think that seeing Graniliths die without lifting a finger makes this one better? Do you think it means that this Granilith cares about us? It doesn’t. It didn’t even care about its brethren, so why should I believe that it won’t attack me, or any of us?”

Kris clenched his fists, unable to find an answer.

‘Well, he’s got a point.’ The Paru thought to himself as he turned to look at the female Granilith’s face for a bit.

“Let’s put it to a vote then.” Roka said, breaking the silence. “I don’t care either way, so I’ll abstain. The seven of you will decide. We’ll take an anonymous vote.”

‘Smart. That way we can’t be mad at those voting -Against- her being free inside the spaceship. Well, I won’t get mad either way, but it’s still a good idea.’

Each took a piece of paper

“The initial idea was for… It? To be free. Against, or for?”

And one by one wrote down their answers.

Liz stared at the blank piece of paper for a while.

She vividly remembered the scene.

Which to vote for? Against the female Granilith’s freedom, or for?

Raya scratched her head.

‘The Paru is different. For Graniliths, we know how they operate. They’re territorial and wild. There isn’t much information about the male and female part… Does their sex change anything in how they behave? That depends on the Species. I’ll go with what my gut tells me then.’

Apart from Kris and Jay, Rea was the third fastest to write down her answer.

‘Against, obviously. I don’t see why they’re even thinking about it. Oh. They don’t want to make him mad by taking away his friendMeh, I’m still against it.’

Minutes later, Roka had been handed all of the answers.

“I abstained, so there are seven votes cast. If the result is three to three, the side voting -For- will win.”

“Why should that be?”

“More precisely, in the case of a draw, the Paru will decide.”

“Huh? Shouldn’t you be the one to cut?”

“As I said, I don’t care either way.” Roka muttered as she started moving the crumped-up pieces of paper together to change their order.

‘Otherwise, we would know who said what by remembering who cast his vote first, second, and so on…’

The Commander peeked at the first vote.

“No matter what, what is decided here will be enforced. One side won’t be happy. You’ll just have to suck it up.”

The crewmates shrugged and nodded.

“First vote, For.”

Bak’s answer.

“Second, For.”

Kris’.

“Third vote, Against.”

Rea’s.

“Fourth vote… Blank.”

Raya had decided to abstain.

“Fifth vote, Against.”

Jay’s.

“Sixth vote, Against.”

Al’s.

Roka cleared her throat.

“Only one vote left. Two abstained. Two voted For. Three voted Against. If this last one votes for the female Granilith’s freedom within our ship, the count will have been equalized and the Paru will decide. Otherwise, the female Granilith will remain inside the vault for the duration of our…”

Liz could barely listen to the Commander’s words or meet her gaze.

She had written her answer, but had no idea why she had chosen that.

Coincidentally, her vote was the last to be read.

“Seventh vote, Against.”

“Wasn’t as close as I thought it would be.” Raya admitted with a sigh. “I abstained, by the way.” She muttered while looking in the Paru’s direction.

“You’re not supposed to tell!” Liz shouted without realizing.

“That’s true! We’re supposed to…”

Jay argued just as loudly as Liz had, which made her sigh.

Two votes for the female Granilith’s freedom. Four against.

The female Granilith hadn’t proven hostile or dangerous at any moment.

Not only that, but she had helped.

Bringing food was an obvious sign that she meant them no harm.

Annoyance started brewing within Liz’s mind, as images of the scene she had witnessed popped inside her mind repeatedly.

She had seen the Paru and the female Granilith going at it.

She had heard the female Granilith’s moans and gasps. She had witnessed her quivers and…

Liz had voted Against.

She couldn’t tell why she wanted the female Granilith away exactly.

Or rather, Liz had trouble admitting to herself why that was.