Ball of Silence

Ball of Silence - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

         Sina shrieks. Priar cries "Whoa!" But the exclamations of my human friends pale next to the outcry of the Heelith. The five units in the room scream so loud that I bellow to counter their noise. Hriff and Gorlis shriek too, but with less hysteria.

         The ship bucks. One of Gorlis' Rels on the ceiling loses its grip and falls, crashing into a chair and hurting one of its legs. Yellow Heelith blood drips from the half torn off leg.

         Gorlis jumps out of her chair with a bug-like speed and agility that makes my skin crawl.

         "What's happening?" Sina shouts.

         Inaudible for normal human ears, a siren wails through the ship, far more urgent than the jump announcement.

         "We are under attack. Return to your vessel," Gorlis says tersely, a stiff command that allows no protest.

         "Who's attacking us?" I ask.

         "Parts of the Heelith society who don't like you, possibly. Move."

         I suck in my breath and get up. Sina and Priar follow my example.

         "Hriff, lead them back to their ship," Gorlis says.

         "Yes. This way!" Hriff shouts.

The recreation room has two access doors. Hriff leads us to one as Gorlis leaves through the other. The two Nafl units and one of hers follow Gorlis, and the remaining healthy one takes care of its wounded comrade.

         Hriff scuttles on ahead. I am the vanguard, Sina comes behind me, and Priar brings up the rear. I plop down on my backside and slide down the corridor that we have recently struggled up. Not the most elegant method of motion, but it works well. Despite the speed of my slide, Hriff, just ahead, is faster. Her thin legs move with magnificent efficiency.

         I drop into a horizontal tunnel and wait for Sina and Priar to catch up.

         The moment Priar lands, another tremor hits the ship, as bad as the first one. Somewhere in the distance rumbles an explosion. The whining siren continues to wail and hurt my ears despite the crystal, which hums nervously. We hurry after Hriff, ducking through the low tunnels.

I try to push away the thought that my presence has caused this attack. Someone dares to attack a Heelith battle cruiser because of me? Perhaps someone has a battle cruiser of their own, and maybe more than one.

         Another explosion rocks the ship, worse than the previous two. It knocks us all off our feet, Hriff included. Sina bangs her head hard off the wall and screams. We sit on our butts on the floor for a moment, Sina rubbing her head.

         "You all right?" Priar shouts, and she nods.

I can't be bothered to say anything, because the noise of the explosion rings in my head. I have earplugs in my ears, but that's not enough. I pull out my headphones from the crystal's bag. The explosion cannonades back and forth through my skull, and the crystal whines in protest.

         Hriff scrambles back to her feet. "Get up!"

         We don't need much convincing.

         Despite the earplugs, headphones, and the noise from the explosion, I still hear her real voice. She is scared to death. She's a scientist, not a warrior.