Page 9 of Shattered Silence

“Exploration drone,” he growled. “Layla, go into the most secure part of the pod and barricade yourself inside. I am coming.”

“What the hell is going on?”

“I have to cloak my frequency now. They can’t know that we’re coming. If they take you, don’t fight back, whatever you do. I am telling you this for your own safety. They will kill you.” Impossibly, his tone softened, yet it also seemed to carry the dark promise of vengeance against whoever—or whatever—was coming to get her.

It was relieving to know that he was capable of feeling some sort of emotion.

“But who are they?”

“Enemies.”

A series of dull thuds made her peek beneath the edge of the makeshift thermal jacket curtain. At the very corner of her view, she saw several of the creepy exploration drones drift inside the damaged body of the SS Malachi.

“Layla…”

“Yes, Enki?”

“Endure a little longer. I am coming.”

Silence.

He was gone.

All of a sudden, she was alone again, and the brief contact she’d had with Enki made it all the more painful. To hear a voice—any voice—was like walking into a rainstorm in the desert.

Utterly refreshing.

She craved contact, but at the very moment she needed it most, he took it away. Not because he was cruel, but because the Universe was cruel.

And now monsters were coming to get her, and Enki—who she really knew nothing about, apart from the fact that he was Kordolian—was coming for them.

Layla could only hope that he could fucking teleport or something, because she was trapped and defenseless and running out of time.

Taking one last look at the menacing looking drones as they floated through the wreck of the Malachi, their searchlights penetrating the inky darkness, she did the only thing she could.

Hide.

She fled to the rear compartment—which was practically just a storage unit—activating the automated door. It slid shut behind her with an ominous click, leaving her in cramped silence.

At least the drones couldn’t scan her anymore, but now she had no way of knowing what was happening outside.

Suddenly, her insides dropped.

Momentum. It was the same sensation she’d felt when the Malachi had gone into rapid acceleration.

The escape-pod was moving. Fast. Something was causing it to move.

How the hell…?

From the compulsory safety training they’d undergone, she knew the pod could be towed or propelled by small spacecraft. She was tempted to go back and look out the port-hole, but she didn’t want to risk being scanned by the drone again.

And even if she looked outside, it wouldn’t make any difference.

There was literally nothing she could do.

“Here we go,” Layla groaned. In that instant, her whole life flashed before her eyes.

How she’d gone from a dirt-poor nobody to obscenely wealthy in half a lifetime.

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