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the floor.
    C
    he found first, then …
    O
    M
    E
    B
    A
    C
    K
    In The Whisper, this mutant message was like a gold thread running through a silk rope. As Puck laid the letters down, black against white, its meaning was bright and strong. The children saw glimpses of the hands of the monkey, black eyes, white boots, glass, and guns.
    COME BACK.
COME BACK TO THE FORTRESS AND SLEEP UNTIL YOU’RE NEEDED.
COME BACK TO YOUR POD FIGHTERS AND YOUR FRIENDS,
AND THEN WE’LL FIGHT OUR WAR — A WAR AGAINST WAR.
     
    The children looked at each other. They would never have considered going back to the fortress, but it made total sense and their decision was made instantly. In the fortress they’d be close to their Pod Fighters and their friends. The medical staff would treat their wounds. They wouldn’t be shot by snipers, or hunted by Creeper Nets, or have to face their parents’ questions.
    They would sleep in those dormitories again, but this time because they wanted to sleep in them, and when they awoke for the second time, they would know what to do.
    Without speaking a word, they began to wade through the litter down the side of the dark arcade. When they reached the town square, they lay down on the ground a few footsteps from the great glass doors. And then they obeyed the call of their implants and fell into a deep sleep.
    Their gowns soaked up the puddles. The girls’ hair whipped in the wind. But for the first time since their implants were fitted, their pained expressions melted away and they looked as if they were sleeping in their own warm beds. Like on a Fridaynight with no school in the morning. As if when they woke up, they’d be doing something they wanted to do, rather than something they’d been told to do.
    In the moment before Tom closed his eyes, he remembered Luc and wondered what had happened to him. Now he hoped he’d been caught by the Creeper Net and taken back to the fortress.
    “The implants have started working again.”
    The engineers gathered around Gorman’s desk while he shuffled views of Sandwood Seven. For almost an hour, he’d been staring at a deserted town with Creeper Nets crawling all over it. Now there were gowned bodies lying in the streets, where they could be seen easily from the air.
    “Excellent,” Gorman said. “Get the freighters down quickly and collect them before they get too cold. Are they all asleep? Are the children in the fortress sleeping too?”
    “Yes, sir. They all dropped within seconds of each other.”
    “Good. Very good. Well done.”
    The engineers left the office, knowing this turn of events had nothing to do with them. But they weren’t going to tell Mal Gorman that.
    Awen lay at Mika’s side, snoozing on his paws. Puck sat on Mika’s shoulder, poking an inquisitive finger in his ear. Mika hunched; it felt horrible, but this new monkey friendship was important to him, so he tolerated it.
    “Just tell him,” Ellie said, grinning.
Or think it
.
    If he can read my thoughts, he would have stopped by now. I feel like I’ve got a maggot in my ear
.
    He’s taking advantage of you because you’re trying to please him. He’s smart. Tell him again. Be firm with him. He knows who you are now, so don’t worry about upsetting him
.
    OK
.
    “That’s enough now,” Mika said. “Get your finger out of my ear.”
    Puck dropped into Mika’s lap and opened the pocket where he had kept the holopic.
    “You’ve already found it,” Mika said. “There’s nothing in there now.”
    “He’s an optimist.” Ellie grinned.
    He needs to be
, Mika thought.
    Then Puck dropped from Mika’s lap, scattering the letter tiles. The words
COME
and
BACK
hurtled like asteroids across the shiny floor.
    “Help me put them away,” Ellie said, holding up the bag. Then the monkey scampered back and forth, picking up the letter tiles and placing them in her hand. When they were all tidied up, she pulled the drawstring tight. The game was over.
    The men stood by the glass,