The Pack (4 page)

“I don't like training. It's boring, and you always win. When are you going to let me win?” He followed her out of the door so quickly he nearly bumped into her. She smiled at his clumsiness.

“Never. I can't make it easy for you. You have to win on your own, because you earn it,” said Shamira. She then reached over to him, mussed his hair and pinched his cheek.

“Great. Then I'll always be a loser. Darn it!” He stomped behind her to the garage.

“Open and send Pearl out,” Shamira said to the garage. Pearl was her motorcycle. When her dad gave it to her and he told her it reminded him of oysters from back home on Earth. It was a smart cycle, computerized and powerful. Her parents always referred to Earth as “home,” but to Shamira, Mars was home. She would never leave, and the thought of going to Earth scared her. Pushing the conversation with her dad away, she waited for Pearl to drive out.

The garage slid open, and her motorcycle revved up its engine automatically and drove alongside her. She swung her leg over, put
her helmet on, and waited for David to follow. She felt his firm, well built arms when they encircled her waist, and she took off. She loved the feel of riding her motorcycle. It was a smart cycle that primarily drove for her, but she knew this territory of Mars so well that she didn't use the auto controls as much. As for her sight, she had what some would call “second sight.” She just
knew
where things were. When other vehicles passed her by or approached her, she sensed them. She could
feel
them, as if their images were pushed into her mind outlined in white with a black background. She felt the change in the temperature or the energy of her surroundings, which further enhanced her ability to interpret the world around her. It freaked her parents out because the truth was, they didn't know how or why she could do the things she did. They'd given up trying to explain it to her or to themselves.

The two reached the playground in record time. The civilization on Mars was built like most all cities on Earth. However, the Sector she lived in was a bit of a distance from the other Sectors. That distance consisted of some barren land in which Sector Five seemed to rise up like an oasis. Her parents said it reminded them of a place on Earth called Las Vegas, a beautiful place in the middle of a desert. They said the only difference was that Mars Sector Five didn't have glitzy lights or the showy feeling of Las Vegas. Her dad said it was grittier, kind of like New York.

“Shamira, can I go on the virtual game board over there?” David asked and barely gave her a chance to answer. He slid off the
motorcycle and threw his helmet on the seat and then took off across the fake spongy grass. The park was the center of three major streets, which fed into it as a place for people to play virtual games, read on the 4D book players, or watch people perform. They also had a track for people who still liked to run outside, though few people took advantage of it anymore. These days, mostly children used the park, but now and then, others appeared, and they often seemed unfriendly. They were most likely the victims of the poison that the crime organization named Monev left behind.

“Sure, but stay there. I'm going to go for a walk!” she yelled behind him. She slid off her motorcycle, took a sniff of the air, and headed toward the center street, Sable Street. She knew where to go. She had followed this lead for a while, and his habits were pretty regular. This Lenny sold scream in an alleyway in the middle of the Sable Street across from the park. Scream was a tag used in virtual reality that gave players an edge, kind of like having a virus on hand to help them win millions in the videogame or gambling hells on Mars, provided they didn't get caught or killed using it. It also contained a highly addictive hallucinogenic drug that ensured its users came back for more. This Lenny was a really bad guy with a really bad habit of getting kids hooked on scream.

“Great, a distraction,” Shamira said sarcastically while she smelled the distinct scent of Kim and her groupies from school. Now she would have to play helpless again since she didn't want the kids from school to consider her even more of a freak than they already
did.
Wonderful.
“I really don't need this right now,” she said under her breath. She felt a change in the wind and knew Kim had stuck out her foot. Pretending to be caught off guard, she tripped quite on purpose, trying to make it look like an accident.

“Hmm… I guess the handicap girl can't find her way. Want some help? Need a seeing eye dog?” Kim asked loudly and with a sarcastic inflection in her voice. She spoke to her like she was born deaf.

“I can hear just fine, Kim. How about you?” Shamira replied loudly like Kim. She couldn't help herself. Playing weak was getting harder and harder the stronger the power grew inside of her.

The energy around her changed again when Kim and her other two friends pushed her between them. Shamira stood in the middle of the circle and tried to appear off balance. Although, when Kim spat on her, the dam of her control broke, and Shamira decided she would play the invalid no more. She punched Kim lightly on the chin and then back-kicked her taller friend Megan in the chest. Megan fell to the ground.

Shamira barely held her anger at bay while she remembered all the times she had allowed them to beat her up just so she could keep her secret abilities hidden. She held Kim firmly by the neck, careful not to choke her. Figuring she would be gentle with Kim, unlike Kim was with her. She felt the air shift when Kim's friend Shannon tried to run away. Shamira threw all pretense of gentleness away and slammed Kim down with the hand that she held firmly to
Kim's neck in order to quickly pull at Shannon's flapping braid.

“Oh, no, we wouldn't want to leave you out, Shannon, now would we?” Shamira asked. Then, she yanked Shannon's braid back, causing the girl's back and head to hit the firm turf.

“Now girls, I don't want to play anymore,” Shamira said. She stepped over Shannon's sprawling body. Dismissing them, she walked in the direction of Sable Street.

“I'll get you..you, Shamira, you stupid blind witch!” Kim yelled.

“I'd like to see you try,” Shamira muttered. Then, she smiled as she crossed the street.

As she placed her foot on Sable Street, it was like she had entered a different world. The scent changed drastically to a pungent, sour odor, like spoiled food. The street keeper androids that cleaned the nicer areas on Sector Five didn't travel on Sable Street or the poor areas of the city. Many of the people who settled on Mars were thrown off of Earth, supposedly “reformed” criminals who sought redemption. The families who supported them moved with them to Mars. “Unfortunately, no matter where people move, they still seem to bring all of their bad habits,” her dad had once told her. And this Lenny was a prime example.

She closed her unseeing eyes and tried to differentiate the smells around her. She adjusted to the foul smell of Sable Street and its inhabitants to follow the familiar scent of her prey. “Lenny” was what he called himself, but Shamira doubted that was his real name. Many of the first-generation settlers changed their names in hopes
that Mars would be a new beginning for them. They always seemed to revert back to whatever got them in trouble on Earth. She was part of the second generation of kids on Mars. Unfortunately, many of the second generation were homeless, forced to live in the gaming hells or the Outlands when their parents got addicted to scream, gambling, or got killed. For all too many of the settlers and their children, Mars was not the Mecca they were promised. Hopefully, in time, it would become that.
At least it will after the Security Force takes out the trash that's infecting this planet.

She sensed that the street was rather empty, which was quite normal for daylight hours. Like most seedy places, Sable Street came alive mostly at night. Shamira knew that her sneaking out at night would be less difficult in the upcoming days with her parents' work schedules so hectic. She wouldn't feel right leaving David home alone, so her adventures into the night would have to take place after she returned from her trip to Earth.

“Hmm,” she said. She sensed him up above in his usual spot just up the alley. She walked over to the store window display and appeared to be looking inside when she heard his customer leave. Figuring it was best to attack him right away, she reminded herself that she was pressed for time and didn't want to leave David alone for too long.

She walked into the alleyway and sensed that Lenny stood alone. He was keying in the credits that his last customer paid him for the scream. She could hear him tap on the mini-computer screen
that most dealers kept on their wrist.

“Looks like you made out pretty good today,” she said and walked toward him. She wasn't in the mood to play victim any longer for the day, so she didn't give him a chance to reply as she breathed deeply to tap into her surge of strength and punched him with enough power to smash his back and head against the wall. His head nodded, and she flexed her gloved hands, which caused the extended claws of the glove to extract.

Cracking his neck to the side, he licked his lips. His voice filled with lust as he said, “Hey! You like it rough, don't ya? I do to, you fine young thing.”

She grinned at him, anger building, and with lightening speed she gripped his neck. He gulped out when she tightened her grip on his neck and her knee jabbed into his groin with great force.

“Don't try to sweet talk me. I want information. You know where the kids are being held, don't you? Tell me, and I'll let you go with memories of Earth,” she said. Switching hands, she held his neck with her clawed glove. Using her other hand, she reached into her pocket to pull out a truth tick that she pierced into his neck. She waited for the flat mini computerized bug to do its job. It sharp legs sunk into the Lenny's skin and the biological replica of many species, inserted a poison into Lenny that forced him to tell the truth. An added side effect was that it erased a portion of the victim's memory, depending on how long it was attached.

“I'm not talking. I ain't getting killed for no one, sweetness,”
Lenny said with a wince from the tick's deepening claws. His speech slurred while the tick started to do its dirty work.

“We'll see about that. Just give it a moment,
sweetness”
she said and promptly spit in his face. He disgusted her. His kind had no morals. He even sold scream to kids, convincing them to trade their souls for the kick of winning games, only to disappear in the end, suffering who knows what kind of torture before meeting their doom.

The scent in the air changed, and she heard someone approaching. One of Lenny's sidekicks, she could smell Lenny's scent on him. She swiftly took the metal ball out of her pocket, waited for the guy to come closer, and without turning from her captive, tossed the ball at him while she faced Lenny as he weakened. The metal web burst from the ball and slammed its running victim against a wall of the buildings they were sandwiched between. She heard him gurgle while the web drew tightly to strangle its victim within an inch of his life. It allowed only enough air into his lungs for him to stay alive.

“Now, where were we? Oh yeah, you were telling me about where those kids are being held—and as a matter of fact, where Security Force Leader McCann of Sector Three may be,” Shamira said. Then she forced him to look directly at her shaded eyes. The drug from the tick finally took effect, and Lenny got the dazed look and grunt of a forced truth teller.

“I don't… I don't know where all the kids are. Some are in the Outlands where the dark isles where built. Some of the kids… uh… I don't know… they didn't survive,” he said, forcing out the words.

“What about McCann and the other Security Force Elite that have been kidnapped?” she asked. She forced her knee further into his groin for added balance.

“I… I'll be killed if I tell you. I… I… they're being held in a secret location. I… I don't know where…” he forced out over a thickening tongue, one of the dreaded side effects of the tick. Sometimes the victim would have an allergic reaction that caused the tongue and then the throat to swell, which could lead to death by suffocation. Shamira frankly didn't care that Lenny was allergic to the tick and considered it his fate. The monster was getting what he deserved.

“Lucky for you, that's all I have time for today. I'll be playing with you soon since you're full of information, sweetness, hmm?” She punched him with such force his head hit the wall and he fell to the ground in a deep sleep. She noticed a new aroma in the air, a scent she remembered.
Just great. That's all I need, a self-proclaimed hero lurking around for me to explain things to.

“Well, I guess you
can
take care of yourself,” the boy from before said. “I'm impressed.” He came up behind her while she bent down and removed the tick from Lenny's neck. She crushed the tick in her hands and placed it in a pouch on her belt. With a flick of her wrist, the sharp claws on her glove retracted.

“What do you want?” she asked sharply while she walked past him to Lenny's flunky.

“I want what you want—answers. I've been tracking this guy
for weeks, trying to find out about my younger sister, who was taken over a month ago,” he said. She could tell from his voice that he was confident and sincere. He was also a bit older, and Shamira noticed the newness in the deepness of his voice, as if he was still getting used to his grownup man-voice.

“Where are your parents? Why aren't they doing this for you?” she asked. Then, she pulled off the hook knives that held the metal web in place, and the victim fell loudly to the ground with a cold
thud.
“If your sister has gone missing, why aren't your parents doing something about it instead of just you?”

“I'm pretty sure they're dead. My dad was a member of the Security Force Elite on Sector One. One day when I came home, I found my mom cut down dead in our living room. My father and sister were nowhere to be found. He loved my mom, and I know he would have killed anyone who harmed either of them. He and my sister were just gone,” he said and walked cautiously toward her.