The Pack (22 page)

She looked over at Kurt, who moved to the opposite side of the door and took out his gun. Shamira smiled at him and put on one claw glove with retractable knives and one of the gloves Valens made on her opposite hand.

Smiling back, Kurt whispered softly, “I'll take out the guards, and you get Renu.”

The first bulky guard walked out as the door slid open. Kurt moved with lightning speed and fluency as he attacked. Shamira was impressed at the gracefulness of it. She listened to see if Renu was closely behind. She didn't hear a sound, and she found that odd. Slowly, she moved closer to the door and pushed her eyesight forward in barely enough time to slide out of the way of Renu's lightning attack. A punch landed on the side of her face, and she fought piercing pain unlike any she had experienced before. Her head snapped back as a reflex of her years of training. He stared at her with a slight look of recognition.
How does he know me?
Shamira wondered.

Renu whipped out at her fluidly and grabbed her by the neck before she could sidestep.
Crap! He must be enhanced,
she thought as she rose above him by the neck. A cough stuck in her throat as she let him choke her. Pushing her sight further, through his skin and into his blood, she saw them.
He has nanonytes of the Elite or something! This is too close. Enough playing around!
She punched him in the face with enough power to bust his lip.

His head swung back just slightly, and she heard Kurt fighting with the other two guards. Staring at him, she smiled, and he smiled back, lifting her a bit higher before punching at her face. Shamira's hand came up to grab his fist, but he was too powerful, and his punch landed on the side of her face, knocking her head backwards. Shaking off his punch with a daze of pain, she realized he was much stronger than she had expected. Lifting her knees up as she watched him cock
back to land another punch, she wedged her feet between them for leverage and forced herself back. She landed with a back flip onto the floor, and the two sized each other up.

With the grace of an experienced and merciless fighter, Renu struck forward and landed punch after punch before Shamira could recover. The raging power built inside her and strengthened her, and she lunged back, slicing Renu on the jaw with her clawed glove. He ignored the pain and blood spurting from his wounds. Shamira heard Valens come with their bikes in the distance. She had to get him down. She reached into her belt for a disc and threw it at him to cut him down. It bounced off his shoulder as he slid out of its path. Raising his gun from his hip, his cold brown eyes looked directly at her, and Renu pointed his gun and shot at her heart.

Kurt acted swiftly and jumped in front of her, and she caught him in her arms as Renu fired his gun. The bullet hit him in his chest. She went for her gun, only to hear a shot from behind her. The bullet hit Renu in the head, causing him to drop.

Valens tapped her on the shoulder. “We gotta go! Now! The guards are coming. Slasher's on my bike secured and in a death sleep. You help Kurt to your cycle, and we ride. I'll put his bike on auto control to follow us,” Valens demanded, and for once, Shamira didn't want to argue.

With her anger strong and unleashed, helping Kurt to her bike caused her little discomfort. He walked as best he could, and she dragged him as she ran. Securing him quickly, she heard gunfire in
the distance and wondered how many kids she had caused to die today.

Valens took off, and she followed. She glanced at Kurt's empty bike and held him tightly as she let Pearl drive automatically. A tear escaped as the regret of her recklessness stifled her.
What the heck went wrong? He shouldn't be enhanced. How could that be? He's even stronger than my father
. She knew she had to act quickly, or all of them could die.
He'll track me down until he gets me. We've got no more time. Acting now is our only option
.

“No one else will die because of me,” she affirmed and leaned over a slouched Kurt. “This has to end.”

Valens dropped Slasher in the cylinder after he administered an antibiotic to an unconscious Kurt. Mitch and Anthony met up with them on the way to the hideout. They all rode quickly in silence. Deep in thought, they sped across the sand, and the dismay for Kurt's condition hung in the air. They rushed through the door. Valens easily carried Kurt, who was still unmoving. Running, they went to the lab, and a scattering of kids followed. Her heart raced as she chanted to herself, “Live, live, live, Kurt. Please live.”

“Hurry! Pull back the covers on the bed. Hedi, bring over the stabilizer and activate the antibiotic into his system. Now!” Valens yelled as he carried Kurt over to the bed, waiting impatiently for Anthony and Mitch pulled back the covers. Anthony lifted Kurt from Valens' slightly shaky hands.

Shamira felt the slippage of her control. Her bottom lip started to shake ever so slightly, and she bit it to snap herself back to reality. She needed her edge if she was going to bring them all out of his alive. “How can I help?” she asked steadily.

“Grab that syringe in the wall cooler. It's on the top shelf encased in a clear tube marked SILVEN,” he forced out while furiously keying in a sequence of words on his virtual keyboard. “Hedi, up the dosage of healing agent emitted from the nanos in his system,” Valens directed while he grunted in frustration.

Hedi replied, “Valens, I don't think he can take it. There are side effects, you know. That scum would put poison into his shots.”

“I know, damn it, I know,” Valens said.

Shamira returned with the syringe. “Do it. Save him. He fought this long for his life. He can fight the possibility of the addiction. Do it, but slowly.” She looked at Kurt's sleeping face. Closing her eyes, she walked up to him and touched his chest, then held his hand.

“Okay, give me the SILVEN. The nanos should minimize the possibility of addiction to the latent drug that accelerates the power of the antibiotic. It's a risk, but we have no choice,” Valens said gravely. He took several calming breaths before he started the process of gradually increasing the antibiotic that would fight the poison emitted when Kurt took the shot from Renu's gun.

Shamira bent down to Kurt's ear and said, “Thank you, my friend. Thank you for saving my life. Now we will try to save yours. You have so much to live for. We need you. We can do this together.” A tear fell from her eye and landed on Kurt's ear.

“Let's begin. Mitch, hold his legs. Anthony, hold his shoulders. He may begin to jerk and convulse. If we give him too much, he will
bleed out, so if you see one drop of blood, tell me to stop,” Valens said as he watched Hedi give Kurt the needle connected to the computerized IV which controlled the dosage of the medicine that could save Kurt or take his life.

Shamira looked up at Valens, then reached her hand over and touched his. He returned her gaze, his eyes slightly glassy with unshed tears, and he nodded. Then he began the series of dosages that caused Kurt's body to shake, jerk and foam at the mouth.

After several doses, Kurt started to groan, and his eyes rolled back in his head before closing. His shakes ended, and he quieted for a short while.
Oh no, we're going to lose him
. There was a slight fluttering of his eyelashes. Shamira grabbed his face and forced her sight into his body. She saw his body winning the fight against the poison.

“Stop! Stop! He's recovering. It's working!” she yelled as she held up a hand to get Valens' attention.

“Oh, thank God. Another dose would have landed him into addiction – if he'd lived. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to give it to him. That kind of life is not a life,” Valens said, standing up. He walked toward Kurt, who was still being held down by Mitch and Anthony, and then smiled as Kurt's eyes slowly opened halfway.

“Thanks, dude. Thanks,” Kurt said hoarsely as he slowly closed his eyes to sleep peacefully.

Shamira noted his strong breathing pattern, then took one more look deep within him to verify that his wound was closed from
the inside out. Comfortable that the wound would be completely healed within several hours, she gently put his hand on his stomach and stepped away.

“Anthony and Mitch, take turns staying with him. Hedi, watch his vitals. Shamira and I need to talk,” Valens said, and they all looked at him with understanding.

Shamira looked up and started to follow him out the door. “Hey, guys, get one of the kids you feel will be responsible to watch him after about an hour. We need to question the captives and call in for some backup. We'll meet in an hour to set the plan in motion to bring Monev down. There's no more time to wait. We've opened a can of worms, and we've got to act now.” Then she left the room and closed the door behind her.

She slowed down slightly and noticed he was leading her toward his bedroom. “Hey, wait, uh, I don't think… where are you?” Shamira said as she came to a stop.

“Shamira, you trust me, don't you?” Valens asked while smiling through the pain she saw on his face. He turned back toward her.

Still afraid to expose her feelings, she walked past him and led the way to his room. She heard him as he walked closely behind her, and the door to his room opened upon her arrival. She glanced around when the lights flickered on and gave in to her guilty pleasure of slightly closing her eyes to inhale the overwhelming scent that was distinctly Valens'. She jumped slightly when his hands lightly
touched her shoulders, and swallowed as he slowly turned her around. Looking into his eyes, she saw it. There was longing and desire mingled with something else she was afraid to name—something she was so afraid to hope for that she immediately shut her eyes to regain her composure. She opened her eyes and slowly stepped back out of his reach.

“Valens, I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out. Thank you. I can't believe you'd have killed Renu to save me. I can't fathom Kurt giving his life for me. I won't be that careless again. Not ever,” she affirmed to him.

“Shamira, you were never careless. We just didn't anticipate him being stronger than you. No one else we've encountered was able to completely overtake you. You, though, must realize that you're so worth saving, and I would've done what Kurt did for you in a minute—any minute, every minute.” He returned her gaze with an intensity that made butterflies flutter through her stomach. Then he reached up to tentatively caress her cheek, and she stared at him when his gaze dropped longingly to her lips. He slowly moved his eyes upward from her lips to return her gaze. Moving his hand back to his side, he stepped back slightly.

They stared at each other during that awkward moment. She wanted to give in, but she just wasn't ready to let go of her protection over her heart, knowing that giving it could end in worst pain than dying.

“Valens, I'm so sorry that you lost your family. I can't imagine
being as alone as you are here on Mars with no one to call family until you can reunite with your father and sister,” she said, sadly reflecting how she would feel.

“I do miss them more than anyone could know, but all these other kids have become my family also. You've become much closer to me than anyone, and with you in my life, I have hope to truly rescue my family and to bring down the organization that has done this to us,” he said as a dimpled smile touched his face. “There's one more thing. I know from back there with Renu that you have gifts that could've helped you bring him down. You seemed to have been holding back. Why?” he asked as he studied her.

“To be honest, it's because I'm afraid of what I'll become if I unleash this rage I hold within me. It's been with me since before I can remember. I suspect it's a side effect of the enhancements they injected in me to bring me back to life upon my death during a freak accident when I was a baby. In fighting for my life, I gained a power that can't be explained, unlike any other side effect of the Security Elite Force members that were enhanced in the same manner. I have never pushed myself past the limits of my control,” she said softly, as though she were afraid to acknowledge her fears out loud.

“I know if you had, you'd have brought Renu to his knees. Next time, don't hold back. Just let it go and control it the way I know you can. You're a lot stronger than you know. I've seen a lot since I lost my father and sister, but when I first saw you, I knew you were a fighter. I believed in you and connected with you even though you
fought me. Next time, let go and be the hero I know you are, Shamira,” he said with a direct and appreciative stare.

She felt awkward from his praise and refocused her thoughts on the task ahead. “I believe now is the time to clue my parents in on the situation with Renu. We need to question these guys and get answers fast so we can attack them and get in there to save the kids being held. I'm afraid he may recover and seek me out, which would endanger all of us. My parents will be able to vet out the trusted Security Force members to regain control of the Force and assist us in assuring Monev doesn't have the capability to rise again. I only hope we are not too late. He knows me. I know it sounds weird, but Renu recognized me when we were fighting. Also, he's enhanced in the same way the Security Elite are, and that's nearly impossible. That technology is not available on this planet or outside of Security Force control. Not only that, but I believe you must have certain genetic markers for the enhancements to bond.” She placed her hands on her hips while she thought out loud.

He smiled briefly, conceding to her change of subject, and then frowned in thought. “You said you recognized Renu as Cal, the leader of the Security Force Elite? That cannot be. My father only spoke highly of Cal, and he would never turn rogue against an organization he helped to build. We have to talk to Hedi, who's been researching a possible connection while we were gone. If he does know you, there could be some serious repercussions to him discovering you are partly to blame for Thor's capture, not to mention Slasher and
Fisher.”