The Whisper by Clayton Emma Page A

to realize that the government was lying to you, and you refused to let it exploit you. They tricked you into playing a game that was training you for war! They can’t get away with that, Kobi. I don’t regret coming here for one moment.”
    Kobi was quiet.
    His father tried to see his son’s eyes through his hair. “Are you regretting coming here?”
    “Maybe,” Kobi admitted. He felt compelled to admit it now that the feeling was so strong. “I feel weird. Like I’m in the wrong place.”
    “Try to sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning. We’ve had a really difficult day. This situation will be much easier to cope with after a good night’s sleep. I’m proud of you, Kobi. Really proud. And so are the SLF. There are some of them living in this building. I met them in the bar.”
    Kobi sat up.
    “The SLF are terrorists, Dad.”
    “They fight for liberation, Kobi. They’re the voice of The Shadows’ people.”
    “Since when were you a supporter of the SLF?” Kobi asked sharply. “You hate politics.”
    “I’m not a supporter, I just happened to meet some in the bar, that’s all. One of them bought me a beer and we talked about you. They’re good people. They’re your friends, Kobi. They’re offering you protection.”
    “My friends are somewhere else,” Kobi said. “I don’t even know where my friends are.”
    “Look, just try to get some sleep. You’re very tired.”
    His father climbed into bed and turned off the light. Kobi listened to him trying to settle in the damp bed. A few minutes later he began to snore softly, and Kobi lay in the darkness, alone and longing for morning so he could get up and work and think about something else.
    But Kobi wouldn’t have to wait until morning to have something else to think about. A couple of hours before dawn, he heard people stirring in the rooms around them, doors opening and low voices in the passage. A baby woke up and started to cry.
    Kobi sat up and turned on the light.
    “What’s going on?” his father asked sleepily.
    “I don’t know. Will you go and ask them?”
    “You go.”
    “I don’t want to, I don’t know them.”
    His father sat up slowly and groped around at the end of the bed for his sweater. But before he found it, there was ahard knock on the door that made them both jump. His father clambered hurriedly out of bed and opened it. A man stood beyond, panting as if he’d just run up the stairs. “You’re an industrial robot engineer, aren’t you?” he said quickly.
    “Yes,” Abe replied. “What’s wrong?”
    “We need you,” the man panted. “Have you got any tools with you?”
    “Yes,” Abe said, pointing to his bag on the desk.
    “Then follow me.”
    Abe grabbed his bag, Kobi jumped out of bed, and they both followed the man out of the room.
    The passage beyond was empty. Everyone had beat them downstairs.
    “What’s happening?” Abe asked.
    “I’ll have to show you,” the man panted. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I can’t even describe it, but you could save a boy’s life.”
    “Really?” Abe said, looking scared. They ran hard down the stairs. When they reached the eleventh floor, they followed the man into an area near the buffer zone. A large crowd had gathered there. It parted to let them through and they saw a strange black mass lying on the floor.
    “Oh my odd,” Abe said. “What is it?”
    “We don’t know. But you’ve got to get it off him or he’ll die.”
    It looked like a giant dead spider with its legs contracted around the body of its last kill. A big black cocoon. There was some kind of web stretched between the legs, encasing the body within, and a pair of bloody feet stuck out one end of it.
    Abe and Kobi crouched down next to the dark mass. Through the net they saw a pale face. The face of a boy withshort red hair and a small silver disc in the middle of his forehead. One of the black legs was clamped over the bridge of his nose and he was coated in a viscous