Free The Whisper by Clayton Emma Page B

few seconds it dragged them back up, then the wind noise faded and they were falling again, more gently this time, and they watched through the floor of the capsule as the trees reached up to greet them.
    They heard a crunch when the capsule hit the canopy. The scratch of small branches and leaves against it. Then it dropped again, hitting the ground with a soft thud. It rolled forward a short distance because it had landed on a slope, then it jerked to a halt as the lines of the parachute tangled in a tree.
    It was dark inside the capsule. They could see nothing through its wall. They’d landed in North America, five hours behind Europe. It was still the middle of the night.
    A voice spoke to them through their headsets.
    “Are you down?”
    “Yes,” Ellie replied.
    “Turn on your night vision.”
    They blinked at one of the icons on their visors and suddenly the trees beyond the capsule appeared as ghost-gray forms. They were different from those Mika had seen in northern France; these were Canadian redwoods, soft barked and colossal, their trunks rooted in the ground like mountains. As the children looked at the trees, they began to see theirliving light. Soon their new environment turned from gray to gold.
    “What can you see?” the voice asked.
    “Trees,” Mika replied. “Giant trees. And a cluster of red dots. I think there’s a pack of wolf borgs approaching us.”
    “They’re coming to check you out,” the voice replied. “Open the capsule so they can smell you or they might attack it.”
    They undid their harnesses, but as Mika reached toward the lock icon, he saw something move to their left. A huge body of gold light was shifting through the trees.
    “There’s something else here,” Ellie said.
    “What is it?” the voice asked.
    “A big animal,” Mika said. “Massive.”
    “I’ll log into your visual so I can see with you,” the voice told them.
    “It’s coming toward us,” Ellie said.
    A few seconds passed and they watched the red dots of the wolf borgs grow larger as they approached.
    “Ignore the wolves for the moment,” the voice said. “Look at the animal.”
    “We can’t see it now,” Mika replied. “It’s dis —”
    They heard a roar and a cracking thud as something hit the back of the capsule. It jerked forward, throwing them out of their seats.
    “It’s attacking us,” Ellie cried.
    “It must be a bear,” the voice replied. “It’s probably got cubs nearby.”
    “What should we do?” Mika asked. With the night vision and their special sight, they could see the bear standing on its back legs and throwing its full weight against the capsule as ifit were trying to crack it like an egg. Its retinas glowed silver in a mass of angry, red-streaked light and its jaws yawned as it roared at them, its claws scraping down the wall of the capsule.
    “Kill it,” the voice said. “The wolf borgs have nearly reached you. You have to get out of there. If you don’t kill the bear, they’ll attack you as well and they’ll damage the capsule. You know how. Just open the door and look at it.”
    “No,” Ellie said.
    “That’s an order!” the voice shouted. “If you don’t kill the bear, the wolf borgs will kill you!”
    They looked to their right. They could see the giant silver wolves loping through the trees. They stood up, Mika hit the icon to open the door, and they both leaped out. The bear paused, startled by their sudden appearance.
    You deal with the wolves, I’ll deal with the bear
, Mika thought.
    Ellie ran toward the wolves, and Mika turned to face the bear, then pressed the top of the invisibility shield so it whooshed out around him. With a shimmering blink, he vanished and began to run, leading the bear with his scent and sound, away from the capsule. It bounded in his wake, roaring and swiping with an immense, clawed paw. He thought the shield would offer some protection, because the bear could not see exactly where he was, but he felt a blow on his