--Misplaced in Space - Chapter 18; For the Best--
Mei had been watching the report and grumbled irritably as she watched the doctored satellite footage play. How could Hebi do this? How could Qian Liu and Ming Shao help her? With a strangled scream she whirled around and delivered a mighty kick into a tray of prison rations collecting assorted molds and bacteria, which in turn skidded across the stone floor and upturned upon the barred gate. Mild satisfaction coursed through her as the tray's unscrupulous contents flew in a rotted spray between the bars. The disgruntled cellmates cohabitating the area with Mei were effectively coated in the ghastly stuff, which only furthered her personal fulfillment. However, a nasty urge to retch up cocktail weenies from days before haunted her as rats came to feast upon the upturned rations.
"Ew…"
"Now, why you so up in a tiss, chile?" The voice came from the cell opposite her own, deep and warm with strains of the south rumbling vibrantly through it. She looked up to identify the speaker, a beastly large man that had to at least be in his forties. His face was set with a few laugh lines, his skin a milk chocolate or cappuccino color; his hair bleached a shocking white and combed out like foam to top him off. Adorning his ears were lady's earrings, hoops, beads, and the like, a pearl necklace encasing his throat as he sported the same day-glow orange prison jumpsuit that she did. As he crossed the threshold of his cell he jingled with numerous bracelets and bangles in startling metallic colors that clashed so very badly with the jailhouse attire that Mei-Ling wished only to shut her eyes and make the fashion catastrophe disappear.
The young princess blinked at him a moment before answering his query. "Framed, set up for a crime I didn't commit. So, who the hell are you?"
The man smiled warmly, "Ah'm Sashanku, from a tribe uh lil' Neo-Africa city-state colony. You can call me Sasha doh, chile."
"Ah, right…" she smiled politely, though it was maddeningly difficult to pick through this 'Sasha's' heavy accent to find the English language. "Nice to meet you, Mr…Sasha. So…as cliché and jailhouse-rock as it sounds, what are you in for, Mr. Sasha?"
The chocolate Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man-like fellow smiled again, making the lines in his face all the more apparent, but making his entire massive frame seem less intimidating. "Now y'all cut that 'mistah' stuff, chile. Ah'm a-locked up 'count o' bustin' a man up." He frowned. "Man tried to cheat me out o' mah money, wuz fake money he wuz usin'. He got locked up, too, for the fake money, but I bust him up powerful bad."
She gave the man another appraising look. Yes, despite the tacky women's jewelry he wore, he looked as though he could do quite a lot of damage, if so provoked. "What was the money for? Do you own a shop?"
He noddd , his chest puffing out with pride. "An' it's the best shop in space."
"Really? What do you sell?" she inquired. Yes, keep the big man talking and she knew for sure he would not be able to barrel through his bars and attempt to mangle her for what was passing for soup that had splattered his shoes. Though he had not seemed to notice as of yet. Perhaps he thought it to be a fashion statement?
This fellow needed a lesson in good taste if he intended on wearing women's anything.
"Oh, this an' that, chile, all sorts o' things. Clothes, salvaged ship parts, even mobile suit parts, you bet. Got food, too, lotsa folks work there, too! Mostleh family an' all, but some other folks, too." Sasha grinned from ear to ear, his eyes twinkling like those of a child upon Christmas morning. "Right presenting mah muddah is runnin' the place. She's a real good lady."
"Oh, wow." Glancing here and there the cell, Mei tried to ignore the scrabbling of rat feet, while extending half-attention to Sasha out of sheer societal protocol.
There had to be a way out of this place.
ooo
Nick felt as though he was losing his mind, his profound concern for Shou Mei-Ling was positively exhausting. Following the newscast, the young man had gone on a lovely tirade chock full of stormy curses, anger, and broken objects (or what little he was capable of breaking with his flimsy muscles. He was a bean pole.). Directly following that, he retreated to his room for a bout of sobs and tears.
Now he laid in his bed, the door bottled shut and music blaring from his computer speakers to drown out any sounds he made. He did not want the girls' sympathy. Not right now. If one of them felt sorry for him, his psyche would shatter right now. He propped his lower body on his side, his upper body resting on a large mound of pillows he had fashioned into a sort of mock Greek couch. His head rested on its side in the brook of his arms. He sniffled a bit, his eyes puffy and red from sobs. He felt somewhat comforted by the music and privacy, but there was not much that could be done for his state of mind.
Underneath he felt so…so innately awful; his emotions swirled in a raging torrent. He pressed his hands to his face and took in a deep, shaking breath, murmuring into the fabric of his pillows, "Mei…"
Outside, his conscious female companions congregated at his door. They now could hear nothing, save his pounding music. For a while, none spoke, staring at their grieving friend's door.
"Poor Nick," Kryss broke the pained silence.
"Poor Ashy," Nicole added, thumbing back toward their unconscious friend's direction.
"Poor Mei," Anna sighed.
ooo
Hours later, once Ashley had regained consciousness, the Peace Milion crew had gathered in the conference room. Zechs and his younger sister stood side by side at the head of the table, looking very grave, equally grim faces staring back at them. Nick was certainly the most sour of them all, refusing to even look directly at the co-captains of the large vessel the Earth-bound teenagers had inhabited for the last…how long was it now, two, three months?
How, Zechs thought to himself, had this happened? The arrival of these Earth children had turned the entire ship upside down, and now…now the Peace Milion was in serious political jeopardy. Relena's political play was seriously damaged by the very idea that one of her crew members would do something so very treacherous, which automatically made Shou Hebi even more powerful in the polls, the everything. This was a serious triumph for Hebi, the snake, and now Zechs had had to make a very hard decision to keep both his new crew members safe, as well as his sister and the pilots.
Clearing his throat, Zechs looked over to his sister for her nod. She gave it.
So, out with it.
"…As you all know, we are trapped in a very…delicate situation. Ashley has been accused of something that we know she is not guilty of, but the fact remains that the overwhelming public believes the lie to be truth. Her continual presence upon this ship will brand the rest of us as criminals as well, despite her innocence, and will further endanger our status among the Federation groups. The Preventers will want nothing more to do with us, as we will look like the war-mongers." He raised his hand as Ashley opened her mouth to speak, worry and anger clear on her face. "We do not plan on abandoning you Ashley, but we cannot afford to let you remain here on this ship. Therefore, we propose this course of action. Relena?" He looked to his sister, strands of silvered hair falling over his eyes. Anna melted a little inside as he swept the hair back with a shake of his head. Hey, girls have hormones even in the midst of the most serious crisis.
The shorter girl's face was stern as she spoke the words that would be so hard for her new acquaintance to hear. It hurt her to do this, even though she and the Smith girl had not become at all close. She could not stand to cast people away, in any sense. "We have decided it would be best for Ashley to leave the Peace Milion until this whole situation blows over. We have arranged for her to be kept at the Winner Mansion for the time being, out of the line of fire. Quatre's houseguests are not likely to be questioned by the media. There, she will assume a new identity of her choosing, and the Maganacs and other servants residing there will assist her in assuming a disguise for the time being." She paused, allowing the plan to sink in. Glancing around she saw some surprise, some relief, and some anger.
Nick had finally joined the collective in reference to his attention, but his eyes still appeared distant. Perhaps he knew his friend would be alright where ever she went; it was no surprise that his concern lie for the girl from the Beijing, also being blamed for Hebi's heinous acts. The other girls were full of contempt, and all of the Gundam pilots were visibly on edge as well. All were expected and accept reactions.
Ashley's eyes, however, were the most unusual to catch. They glimmered with something like sadness, yet her face was set in a strong, determined look. She could only nod, and spat out softly, "It's for the best."
ooo
Okay, so that's the first update in a LOOOOOOOONG-ass time. BUT THERE IT IS!! I'm hoping I'll write more before this bout of update dwindles again. I hope someone out there is still reading this crap…oo;