The Pack (3 page)

These pensive thoughts filled her mind, but Shamira pushed them away. Mars was her home. She loved it here, and it was a part of her. She knew and understood its people. She had survived, and that was all that mattered.
I wonder if they know that in order to save me, they turned me into a freak?
Exhausted after her
reminiscent thoughts, she went to her room to take a quick nap.

“Wake me up in two hours,” she said to the home network system. It would make sure her bed shook at the designated time. She wanted to greet her dad with a big hug when he got home. Unlike her mother, her dad was really touchy-feely with his family and loved to hug and kiss them all the time. He was just that type of guy, and she truly loved that about him. Her dad was the only hero she'd ever need.

The bed shook promptly after two hours passed. Shamira woke up to run to the bathroom and brush her teeth. Throwing cold water on her face, she smiled at the knowledge that her dad would be home in just a few minutes. She brushed her long hair and slipped on the pajamas she was too tired to put on earlier. She walked to the living room and felt the lights come on upon her entrance. Even though she couldn't really see the lights, she could feel their warmth when she walked through the house. She had asked her parents when she was younger why it would warm up slightly when she walked through the house, and they explained that the smart house they lived in tried to make it comfortable for them.

She heard the door open when she entered the room. She instantly smelled her dad, and he smelled like a spicy winter day. She ran into his arms and hugged him. He was built of pure muscle, tall, stocky, and hard with the stubbly beginnings of a beard: the result of being away at work for days. She felt totally safe in his arms. He was her dad, her friend, and her champion. He laughed and squeezed her
back, then kissed the top of her head.

“Hey, pumpkin! I knew you'd be up waiting for me. I missed you all today,” he said. He pushed her away gently to look down at her.

“Sure you did. How did you have time to miss us when you were working so hard?” she asked with a laugh.

“You're right, honey, I was working hard. Your mom—the poor woman—has to get up in about an hour to go into work again.”

He walked past her and put down his suitcase. She heard him walk to the safe and put away his guns, which he rarely ever needed because he was so skilled at martial arts. He could kill a man with his bare hands, and the technosuit all Security Force Elite members wore enhanced his natural strength five times over. He had told her that all of the Elite Force members were fitted with them before they left Earth. The suit was a second skin. She could tell the difference in her parents' skin texture and the feel of other people's skin when she was younger. Yet, they didn't tell her about the suits that only the Elite 200 wore until she was older. She had found out that the Elite leaders of the Force acted as the leaders of each Sector. They were groomed on Earth for the role. The main computer on Earth tracked them until they died and their signal was lost.

As far back as she could remember her father had been training her. He told her it was her job to train her brother. He said she had to learn how to train the next generation of Security Force members since he dreamed of the day her brother and she would
take their parents' places. Also, he used it for a technique to help her control the power. The power was something her mom noticed in her when they brought her home from the hospital after her death. When she came home from the hospital, she was much different than the baby they had come to Mars with. They hadn't told her about the power personally. It was something she dug up on her own out of the home network system database bank that held all the conversations and records in the home. They knew she knew how to use the system, but what they didn't know was that she had figured out how to hack into it. She smiled at the thought.

“Dad, what have you guys been working on? Both of you are working longer hours than before. These last six months, we haven't even been able to train together.” There was a slight whine in Shamira's voice. She lived for those training sessions. When she worked with her father, he was a worthy adversary, someone that pushed her technique by his sheer strength alone. Her dad didn't even realize that he had long stopped holding back with her and that she'd taken him to the limit of the super strength gained by his technosuit.

“I know you miss it. So do I, pumpkin, but we have a major storm brewing at work. This crime organization is a much larger problem than we expected. Your mom left work on a good note today, but that's going to change when she returns to her office. We lost the one so-called lead we had. I, for one, am not going to be the one to spoil that for her, so I guess she'll find out at work.” He sniffed
at the air briefly and asked, “Hey, did she make spaghetti?” He went over to the kitchenaid, a wall appliance that served food and beverages, and then touched the front to go through the food catalogue.

Shamira answered, “You know she always does when she comes home happy.”

“Yeah, and I'm starving,” he said. He got a glass of water from the kitchenaid.

“Sit down, Dad. I'll fix your plate,” Shamira said with a smile.

“You spoil me just like your mom. Sure, I'd love that.” After he took his seat, Shamira walked over to the kitchenaid and pressed in the request for a plate of spaghetti. It came out warm, ready and on a plate. She reached in and grabbed it out of the dispenser door. Placing the plate down in front of him, she sat down and grinned.

“What are you smiling about?” He lifted an eyebrow, and stuffed a fork full of food in his mouth.

“Well, I'm punished, you know. You weren't here today to back me up or to tell Mom that I just require twenty more hours in the training room,” Shamira added with a giggle.

“Your mom's not going to let me get away with that one anymore. I was warned before I got home not to go soft on you,” her dad said while he talked between bites. She could hear the smile in his voice.

“Well, that's okay. I guess I can deal with the punishment. Are you and Mom are going back to work together? She said I have to
watch David in the morning.”

She rested her head on her hand, as if watching him. She did it to goad him, because he often said he was spooked by the fact that she didn't
act
blind.

“Yeah, when I wake her up, we have to go. I was barely able to get away. Look, today you both stay inside. Don't go out. There is a lot going on right now that requires the Security Force's attention elsewhere, and I don't want to risk yours and David's safety, okay?”

“Why? Mom even said we could go to the park. You know David loves to go outside and play with his friends. I don't like being cooped up in the house either, and I know he won't. Dad, you
know
I can protect him. He's starting to take his training seriously. He can fight off most would-be bullies on the playground,” Shamira added. She figured it was best to play naïve. She didn't want her dad to know that she had an inkling of knowledge about the missing kids.

“It's just not safe, okay? I think I've shared too much with you as it is, so just take my word for it. You've been staying out later and later. I have a feeling, from reports of injured bad guys, that you have been on a scene or two. I'm not positive yet, but the injuries some of these guys have sustained—near death in some cases—makes me wonder if it's not someone who has been trained to do the job. The only person besides your mother and I to know those techniques lives in this house. I warn you, Shamira, I better not find out it's you. If I do, your training ends. Do you hear me? You will go back to being a normal girl,” her dad said with seriousness in his
voice. He lay his fork down. She felt his pensive stare, like he was touching her face to find out what she was hiding. She effortlessly displayed calmness and nonchalance.

I'll never be normal.
“Dad, you know I need the training. You know it's a good outlet for me. What else can I do? I'm not hurting people. You didn't teach me to seek out a fight, right? So why would you think I could do those things?” she asked, hoping he believed her lie. She fought to keep perfectly natural since he could read her like a book. Those kids depended on her being able to pull this off. She forced herself to relax.

“I know the training keeps your nervous energy under control. But, you could try more meditation or relaxation therapy. And that's exactly all you'll be doing, Shamira, if I find out you're acting like some kind of vigilante. You understand?” he added, sliding his chair back when he stood and wiped the spaghetti sauce from the corner of his mouth.

“Sure, Dad. Hey, Mom said you had a surprise for me. She didn't get a chance to tell me what it was,” Shamira added, trying to switch the subject. She was more than a bit curious about the surprise.

“Oh? She didn't tell you because you're on punishment. I can't hold it in much longer, so I'll let the cat out of the bag. I'll tell your mom, and she will forgive me, of course. She can't help it. She thinks I'm hot,” Shamira's dad said with a laugh.

“You crack yourself up, Dad.” She stood up and started to
jump up and down like a kid while she chanted, “So tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“We got you an appointment to go to Earth and get your sight regeneration surgery. We had planned on getting it done after the accident… I mean, shortly after you lost your sight… but the colonists were coming to Mars, and your date got pushed back. We never planned on you growing up blind. People don't suffer with those aliments anymore, and we're sorry we kept you this way for so long. It couldn't be helped. Flights to Earth are only once a month, and the surgery is a rare procedure. Not to mention we just couldn't get off work. We have gotten approval to do this.”

He came over and gave her a hug that she sensed was full of regret for all her suffering. Even though her parents felt bad about it, being blind never bothered her. In some way, Shamira felt like she could see more than anyone else could.

“Wow. Well, I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Dad, I just don't know if I'm ready to see. I like myself the way I am. I want to be happy, but I just… well, I don't know,” she said. She pulled out of his reassuring hold to sit back down in her seat.

“I know, I know. This must be hard for you. I thought you'd be happy, though—happy to see my ugly face, your mom's beautiful face, and your brother,” he said, trying to laugh over her discomforting response.

“I already see your faces. I know you. I can really
see
every part of you all that you don't notice yourself. I can find you in a
crowded room. I can tell when you're within a mile. I
feel
you. I
sense
you. I see more than you'll ever know,” Shamira said heavily.

“I know, sweetheart. You'll never stop being able to see in that way. It's a part of you. It's who you are now. But this is a chance to grow - to improve. Just, think about it, okay? I have to go get your mom, so go back to sleep. I don't want her to know I've been talking to you yet. She'll know by the look on your face that I let the cat out of the bag,” he said, then pressed his hand to her shoulder.

“Okay. Goodnight, Dad,” she said and stood up. She didn't turn back but headed straight to her room, where she fell on her bed and cried.
I don't want to change.

Shamira heard her dad clearly when he said not to go out. She also clearly decided right then and there that she would disobey him. She had logged on to the supercomputer based in the Security Force's Headquarters when she visited her parents at work the week before. She had secretly created a secret account that allowed her undetectable access to the system. The greatest part of it all was that she could tap into it from any remote location. She didn't use her earlink for calling her parents anymore because she had rigged it to
be her own personal computer when she was out of the house.

She took a moment to search under her bed for several devices she had pilfered from her parents' weapons case over the years. She never took obvious items and was careful to space their disappearance out over time so her parents did not become suspicious. By augmenting all of these treasures to her own use, she had created an arsenal of weapons that were uniquely useful to her in gathering information and bringing down would-be attackers.

She placed her supply belt on her waist with her stick, metal balls, knives, and such. Walking to her closet, she said, “Open, Level Two.”

The door on the wall opened, and she reached behind her clothes to get the black jacket and boots that she often wore when she searched for a lead. She took her long, silky braid, twisted it into a ball at her nape, and put on her sunglasses. They would disguise her extremely pale blue blinded eyes, a distinctive feature that could give her away. Shamira didn't often think about how she looked since she never had a boy approach her anyway. Most of her peers either ignored or taunted her, so her looks didn't concern her except when it came to her missions.

She finished dressing by placing on her gloves. Adjusting her weapons belt to hide it from David, she walked out into the living room area. David waited there for her impatiently, his distinct smell filling the air around her. She heard his shuffling feet.

“You ready, kiddo?” she asked with a smile in her voice. She
knew he was ready because this was their usual routine when her parents weren't home. Walking past him, she went to the door. He tried to trick her and jump in front of her, but she quickly sidestepped.

“Darn! I can never get you,” he said, then stomped the floor.

“Nope, you never can. So you need to keep trying harder. We really need to get back to the training room,” she said and then turned the knob.