The room fell quiet, until Ewan noticed McCormick nodding at someone behind him. When he turned, Shannon had lifted a finger to speak.

She repeated everything she had told Ewan on their journey home: how nobody with any sense would attack her father unless the task would become literally impossible later. With AME just days from being operational, the world had launched a last-gasp attack on her father. And they had failed.

Naturally, the conversation led to the test centre at Oakenfold. The other teenagers – Ewan’s last surviving free schoolmates – looked understandably emotional. For some of them, that building had been the one place in the world where life had made sense. Where Silent Simon had been treated as more than just ‘the Down’s kid’, and recognised for the pleasant, nonverbally sociable person he was. Where Gracie had been more than the girl with Global Development Delay, and people tried to meet her halfway rather than judge her. The place that had accommodated Jack after his suicide attempts. The reactions on their faces reflected the love they had all had for Oakenfold Special School.

Going by the lack of surprise on his face, McCormick still remembered everything he had been told about the matter that morning. That surprised Ewan. His collapse could only have been an hour or so after Alex had broken the news to him.

When Shannon ran out of words, McCormick took centre stage again.

‘If Shannon is right about the deadline being midnight on the twentieth, this doesn’t leave us much time. So make no mistake – this will be an intense few days, involving two missions. The first will be a visit to Oakenfold, to learn as much as we can about Atmospheric Metallurgic Excitation. How it works, how the shield is activated, and most importantly how to destroy it. The strike team will consist of—’

‘No,’ said Mark. ‘You don’t get to decide this one.’

Most of the room shot surprised glances at Mark, who sat in his usual pose but with his hands noticeably tense. Ewan wasn’t surprised at the interruption at all: if Mark hadn’t done it, he would have spoken up himself.

‘This is our school they’ve taken over,’ Mark continued. ‘It’s us who should take it back. Besides, we’re the ones who know the place. We know its layout and its weak points better than any of Grant’s people. There’s only one strike team that can possibly do this.’ He pointed his index finger at each former student in clockwise order. ‘Raj, Gracie, Simon, Jack, Kate, Ewan, and me. We’ll be doing this one.’

The room looked back at McCormick who, in true McCormick fashion, was smiling.