Chapter 27

Layla grabbed hold of the track chain around her neck, smiling smugly to herself as she exited her pod.

"If this doesn't prove I'm useful, I don't know what will," she muttered to herself, making her way toward the weapons compound that she'd studied on the map of Jorvla.

The fact that Zyair didn't trust her to join him on the mission grated on her. No way was she ever going to stay tucked away on the Top Asteroid. Just because she was pregnant didn't mean she was suddenly an inanimate commodity.

The tracking chain she'd taken was a last-minute idea, just so Zyair would know she was there. She was going to prove her worth, and he could watch on if he felt like it. She had images of a confused Zyair seeing a single dot on his comm heading into the building ahead of him and his crew, finding its way to the Desolation Stone, and then clearing the weapons compound before Zyair even had a chance to figure out where the stone was.

Another smug smile crept over her face at this fantasy. She was sure that after this stunt, Zyair would never again question her place on his crew.

The smug smile gave way to a look of determination as she snuck around one of the exterior walls at the back of the compound. A couple of guards were circling the building, and she made sure to stay hidden in the shadows, watching their patterns for a while to establish the best time to make a run for it.

As she watched, though, her eyes were suddenly drawn to a small outbuilding a few hundred yards away. It was unlit and barely visible against the dark sky, but as she stared, Layla recognized what it must be.

Taking care not to make a sound, she snuck to the outbuilding, and a wide grin spread across her face when she got there. It was an unguarded tunnel entrance, and with the digital lock-picking software Astrid had installed on her comm, Layla cracked the combination lock in no time.

The stairs down to the tunnels were lit only by an emergency light, and Layla got the feeling these were service tunnels, crisscrossed by various pipes and wires and permeated by a constant hum. There was little movement down there apart from the occasional rattle of pipes, and soon, Layla was striding confidently through the underground system as if it were her own home.

The glimpse of a uniformed Jorvlen suddenly appearing from an adjacent hall had her scrambling back in a panic, though, ducking into another hallway in the hopes of avoiding detection. Luckily the Jorvlen hadn't seen her, and the sound of machinery had covered her footsteps. When a few moments had passed without sight of the Jorvlen, Layla peered around the corner to see the hallway was empty again.

"Don't get cocky," she whispered to herself before breaking out into another smile.

Despite the close call, she was pleased at her quick thinking and successful concealment. Rather than cow her, it bolstered her spirits until soon she was daydreaming about finding the Desolation Stone again.

First, though, she had to figure out where it was.

She was about to stride back down the hallway when something on the wall captured her attention. It was a level-by-level map of the compound with each room marked.

Layla studied it carefully, running her eyes over each level. Even though they were in Jorvlen, her comm made light work of translating:

Storage Room L, Rec Room, Cafeteria, Inventory, Manufacturing Room…

Her eyes shot back. Inventory. That had to be it—if the Desolation Stone was in that building, it would have had to have gone through inventory. In fact, it may still be there.

Layla quickly snapped a photo of the map and charted a path to the inventory room. This time as she moved, she was more careful, more aware, stealthier. She reached the level above without running into any more Jorvlens and managed to get to the second floor by slipping up the service stairs.

She knew the inventory room was on that level, but the place was bustling with Jorvlens. Only by a series of very lucky breaks did she manage to slip past several would-be captors.

Layla's heart pounded in her chest as she snuck by a Jorvlen general bending to inspect a component, and then she managed to slip into a locker just as two other Jorvlens walked through what appeared to be the safety equipment room.

As they strolled through, one hesitated.

Layla could see through the grills and suddenly realized he was approaching the locker she was hidden in. She willed herself to stop breathing in case he could hear her in there.

"Do we need suits for this?" he asked the other Jorvlen.

"Nah, Jakon's not on duty tonight, and he's the only one who cares about doing things by the book. You'll be fine without."

The first Jorvlen hesitated for another second, his hand suddenly coming to land on the locker's handle. Layla thought her lungs would burst in her chest, but that was still preferable to being caught by the enemy. Luckily, though, it didn't come to that.

"Come on," insisted the second Jorvlen, and the first one reluctantly followed after him, leaving Layla to slowly let out her breath.

The encounter did give her an idea, though.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, she slipped into the safety suit. As long as she kept her face obscured and was still careful to avoid the Jorvlens as much as she could, the suit would let her more or less roam the halls of the compound undetected.

She grinned to herself as she zipped up and slipped on the heavy safety hood. It was entirely too big for her and she looked more like a human beekeeper than a Jorvlen weapons manufacturer, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she knew the inventory room was just at the end of the hall. She didn't have to get far.

With her heart pounding, Layla moved swiftly along the corridor, praying she didn't come across anyone on the way. She was in luck. She only caught a glimpse of a couple of Jorvlens heading down adjoining hallways. Within less than a minute, she was standing inside the inventory room.

Contrary to what she expected, it was not a room full of inventory. Instead, it was lined with dozens upon dozens of filing cabinets. When she opened one, she found only paperwork.

Layla let out a small groan. Somewhere in there, she figured, was information about where the Desolation Stone was being stored, and she had to find it.

"What's Jorvlen for Desolation Stone?" she asked her comm.

A split second later, the Jorvlen text showed up on the small glowing screen. Layla only hoped Jorvlen filing systems were similar to Terran ones.

She pulled off the hood, figuring she'd need her vision unobscured to find the strange symbols in the mass of filing cabinets, but no sooner had she pulled it off than a strong hand grabbed her from behind.

She tried to spin around, but before she knew what was happening, someone had thrown something dark over her head. She screamed. Her legs and arms thrashed, but it was no good.

She had come so close, and now she was done for.

Layla was a prisoner of Jorvla. Fuck.