Free The Whisper by Clayton Emma

them.
    “Each fragment of the shield is a tiny screen,” she said. “And each screen has an even smaller camera lens right in the middle of it. The fragments work in pairs, transmitting an image to its counterpart on the opposite side. So whatever angle you look at my body, you see only what’s behind it.”
    Her voice moved as she walked around their desks.
    “The only fault with the shield is its fragility. The linked surface is not very strong. So if you bump into something, it will break apart for a few seconds, and you might be exposed. You must make sure this does not happen.
    “Mika,” she continued, “move your hand in front of you.”
    Mika swept his fingers, and the air stirred like water. They caught a glimpse of the woman’s arm through the hole in the shield’s surface.
    “Do you want to try it?” she asked.
    “Yes,” he replied.
    There was a whooshing sound as the silver orb sucked up the tiny screens, and Rona Strap appeared again. Then she took the chain from around her neck and passed it to Mika, letting Ellie take another one from the case. The twins stood up, put them on, pressed the tops, and vanished.
    It happened so fast that Rona Strap felt a surge of panic, despite the presence of guards at every exit. As if guards could offer protection from mutants like these.
    “That’s enough, children,” she announced nervously, her eyes scanning the room. “Turn them off.”
    The twins reappeared. She held out the case, and they put the silver orbs back.
    “Right, that’s your first piece of equipment,” she said. “Now let’s look at your headsets. They’ve got a navigation system different from the one you’re accustomed to using in Pod Fighters.”
    Mika and Ellie watched her return the invisibility shields to the safe. She shut the heavy door and set the lock. Then her light pulsed with relief, as if she felt safer. As if such things as doors and codes offered protection from children like these.

7 No Time to Be Messing About
     
    A udrey took Mika’s hand and looked into it, at the golden light, at the way he was made. Skin, bone, muscle, blood — she could look atom-deep into his body now.
    It was early morning. They were sitting on his bed again. In an hour he would be taken away and dropped over The Wall.
    “What can you see?” he asked.
    “The patterns in your veins,” she whispered. “I was just thinking they’re the same as those in leaves.”
    “And antlers,” he said.
    “Yes. Like leaves and antlers and branches and rivers.”
    She dropped his hand.
    “I wish you were coming with us,” he said.
    “So do I,” she replied, and he felt her try to suppress her thoughts, but she could not stop him from knowing them.
    The first time Mika had flown over The Wall, Audrey had been with him and they’d nearly died. The Ghengis borgs onThe Wall had almost shot them down. Then they were attacked by an eagle borg and had fallen into a forest, where their Pod Fighter burned in the branches of a tree. It had been a very dangerous way to discover the truth about their world.
    And now Mika was going again, without her.
    And
she
was his game partner.
She
should be with him on the other side of The Wall. Audrey liked Ellie, but she couldn’t help feeling … jealous. This was not a nice feeling. She didn’t want to feel it and she tried hard to make it go away.
    Mika took her hand again. Her fairy fingers were milk pale against his darker ones.
    Ellie’s my sister,
he thought.
You don’t get to choose sisters. I love her, but I didn’t choose her. I chose you
.
    Audrey, Leo, Iman, Colette, and Santos were taken away for a training session. Then the enclosure filled with adults who had come to help Mika and Ellie prepare for their mission. The children stood in the living area, feeling like dressmakers’ dolls while these people rushed around them. They were given thermal suits to wear under their uniforms, and armor to wear over them. The armor was made of a strong, white