The steady drone of the plane’s engines soothed her eventually and she buried her head in the small pillow the stewardess had provided, easing it so that it supported her neck. Her eyelids drooped as she let her mind drift.

A sudden change in engine note jerked her back into consciousness, her heart pounding and her mind instantly alert, conditioned by the traumas of the past weeks. She shuddered and heard again in her head the sound of the tanks as they rumbled down the street towards the hotel.

It had been the silence that had alerted them first. A gradual awareness that the all-pervading back ground cacophony of noise had eased. It was normally an ever present reminder of the sprawling city on their doorstep; a reminder that invaded even the peace of the hotel gardens. It had been the silence - and strangely enough, the smell.

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