The Pack (6 page)

“Fine. Will it hurt?” she asked then straightened her arm. Before her father could answer her, the metal robotic hand held her heavy arm in place, and then she felt a suction of her skin just under her shoulder. She felt tingling when the medicine sank in. Almost instantly, she wiggled her arms and noticed the effect.

“Better?” her dad asked.

“Yep. Just like home,” Shamira added.

Her dad pulled her up beside him and again dragged her forward. She was really starting to get ticked off with his manhandling. He had never treated her like this before, like some kind of helpless ragdoll.
Why is he acting like I'm so helpless all the sudden?
She pulled back from him and jerked her arm away. “Dad, stop it! Stop treating me like I can't find my way, okay? You're ticking me off,” Shamira said. She stood straight and wouldn't budge, and her dad didn't try to pull her anymore.

“I'm sorry, pumpkin. I'm just worried because I know this is all new to you. Just keep up with me, okay? The Earth Security Force has a car waiting for us at the gate. Just follow closely. It's not much safer for us here than on Mars right now, so let's go,” he said and walked toward the exit. She followed him and felt the press of others around them while they ran through the Space Pad. She focused on the scent of her father and the path before her. Earth smells were rather overwhelming to her. The odors were so different it started to
smell acidic instead of pleasant, and she started to feel dizzy from the onslaught of foreign scents. When they arrived at the vehicle, her dad grabbed her hand and pulled her inside its warmth.

“This place has so many smells. It's giving me a headache,” Shamira said. She placed her hand over her nose and shook her head side to side to try to orientate herself to this new environment.

“I'll close the windows. Hey, Jake, I didn't know you were picking us up!” her dad exclaimed. He leaned forward to pat the driver on the shoulder.

“You know whenever you come to Earth, I have to be the first friendly face you see. I nearly tackled the new guy down to get to the car so I could pick you up. Hey, your little girl grew up to be a beauty! Man, her eyes are stunning. I've never seen eyes such a pale blue. She's got that burnt brownish gold hair just like her mother. How is Katherine, by the way? Still a bad ass?” The guy named Jake laughed.

“You know it. That's why I married her. I wanted a woman that could keep up with me. Oh, and Shamira's eyes are a result of the accident. Hopefully, they can fix the color when we get the surgery today. Shamira, this here is my old friend, Jake, one of the guys that started training with me in the Elite Security Force for Mars,” her dad said.
He sounds so happy to see his friend,
Shamira thought. She wondered if he regretted his decision to leave his family and friends to move to Mars.

“Hi, Mr. Jake,” Shamira said in a flat tone. Her thoughts were not on being polite, for she knew that by this time tomorrow, her life
would be changed forever. She took a whiff of the air and realized that Jake had a nice, strong smell to him. It was a bit musty, so she figured he was a larger man. Most large people had a heavier scent.
He must be bigger than Dad.
She sniffed again and also realized he must be rather hairy, too, because his odor held a deeper smell of heavy cologne. It had to have somewhere to linger at this late time in the day, and usually people with hair carried false scents longer.

“Oh, she's a quiet one, I take it. Why did you wait so long to come back to visit? We've been hearing a lot about Mars at Headquarters, and it isn't good. After we drop her off, you only have a short while before the emergency meeting. You'll not want to miss that,” Jake said, his voice growing heavy. They'd been moving at a steady pace and now were coming to a sudden stop. “Here we are—Johns Hopkins Hospital. Let yourselves out and go to the first floor. They're waiting for you. Here on Earth, Security Force members are treated exceptionally well. I'll be back for you in forty-five minutes, Nelson. Don't be late,” he said.

Shamira felt the air pour into the vehicle when the door opened. The overpowering odors hit her at once. She focused on getting out of the vehicle without making a fool of herself and walked around it to the other side where her dad stood.

Jake couldn't believe how well she got around with her disability. “Hey, Nelson, you sure that girl can't already see? I didn't expect a blind person to have that much sense of their surroundings!” Jake laughed.

“She's my girl, Jake. What else would you expect? See you in a few,” her dad yelled back. He grabbed her hand and walked inside the hospital.

“Dad, this place smells nice. Or better yet, doesn't smell so intense like it did outside. You sure this is a hospital?” Shamira asked and then removed her hand from his.

“Oh, it's a hospital alright. We haven't gotten to the prep room yet,” he said. Someone walked up to Shamira, and she instantly knew it was an android because it didn't have any scent at all. It touched her shoulder before she could jerk away.

“Welcome, Shamira Nobel. Come with me, and I'll get you settled while your father finalizes the paperwork. My name is Kylin 5, and I'll be your android for your visit here at the hospital. Please follow,” it ordered. It gently placed a soft hand on Shamira's shoulder and led her toward the operating prep area. Shamira sniffed while walking, concentrating on any smells she could recognize. As she walked further, she smelled a very faint tinge of blood. This was not something most people would notice, but it was an old sort of smell, like it had been cleaned over and over again but never quite completely removed.

“Here we are. Your room is right here. This room is where you will change. After you change, lay down on the bed, and it will move to the room next door where the operation will take place. The operation will only take about thirty minutes per eye. Your father mentioned you are to regain your original eye color of hazel brown.
Is that correct?” Kylin 5 asked.

“I'd like to keep my original eyes and my original color,” Shamira said with a frown. She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, for this was one thing she refused to compromise on. She wanted to remember being blind. It was so much a part of who she had been for all these years. She wouldn't let her parents just try to erase that away like it was something wrong.

“As you wish. In that case, the surgery will last a bit longer per eye since we will have to do a repair instead of a replacement, but that's no problem. We're here to accommodate. Now, please hurry. The doctors are waiting next door,” Kylin 5 said and then moved to the door. Shamira knew the android was still in the room because she could hear the slight
hum
of its internal battery. She didn't care, though. She was ready to get the whole thing over with. The sooner this was done, the sooner she could go home.

She yanked off every stitch of clothing and then jerked up the gown on the bed. Doing as she was told, she didn't have to like it. She pulled the gown over her head and got into the bed like she was told. The lights in the room grew brighter, and heat warmed her from under her gown. She felt a shift on the floor and heard a slight grinding like gears were turning, and her bed moved through a set of sliding doors to a much brighter room than the one she had left. She forced her mind to go numb. Being in this new place was making her feel just a bit out of place.

“Hello. My name is Doctor Hawkins, and I'll be completing
your surgery today. I heard you requested that we repair your actual eyes, and I'll do my best. It won't be that difficult, but it will take a little longer. I'm sure your android already explained. Your father will be here when you wake up in a few hours. Now, we're going to put some tubes in your nose, and they will make you a bit sleepy. Enjoy your nap,” he said. That was the last thing Shamira heard before she felt the tubes going into her nostrils, smelled a strange aroma, and was thrown in total darkness.

She awakened with a start and jerked straight up. She tried to open her eyes, but they were taped shut.

“Oh, great!” she said.
Now I have to wait to open my eyes. What kind of cruel joke is this?

“Shamira, have patience. You can see. They just didn't want you to open your eyes before I got here. I wanted to be the first person you saw when you opened your eyes. I was running a little late, pumpkin, that's all,” her dad said. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Well, are you ready?”

“Dad, just remove it, okay? Take off the tape. I want to get this over with,” Shamira forced out. She bent her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She was shaking slightly as her fear and doubt built.

“Uh, Shamira, before I take these off, I should warn you that your eyes are a bit more advanced than, say, a normal person's. Since I hoped you'd one day be a Security Force Elite, I asked the doctors to enhance your sight. You will be able to see an extreme distance away.
You will also be able to see through walls, but that's our secret, okay? It's going to take you a few days to get your mind used to controlling all of these features your eyes have, but it will be well worth it. Ready?” her dad asked. For once, Shamira was speechless. With all that her dad added to her eyesight, how could she not appreciate his thoughts? This would help her immensely when she got home, and she smiled at the thought and nodded for him to proceed.

Her dad's right hand was on the top of her head. He held her steady while he gently removed the tape from her eyes. She held her eyes closed and waited for him to remove his hands, and then she slowly opened both eyes. She marveled at the light peeking through her eyelids, and opened her eyes just a little. She breathed in deeply, then threw caution to the wind and opened them up to see her dad just an inch away from her. He had dark brown skin, a strong chin with a dimple in it, brown eyes, dark brown wavy hair, and a goofy smile on his face.

“Daddy, you are funny looking!” she said. She reached out and hugged him and laughed out loud. She looked past him and jumped back. The wall of white appeared to be within an inch of her nose. She cautiously put her hand up to her face and then reached it out to the wall that seemed to move. She shook her head.
What kind of eyes did they give me?
“Dad, the room is moving! Ugh! Stop it!” she yelled. She placed her hands over her eyes to take her back to her place of peace, the darkness she had known for so long.

“Shamira, you have to open your eyes. It's the only way you
will adjust and learn to use them,” said Dr. Hawkins.

“How long is this going to take? I want to get out of here and go home! This sucks!” she spat out vehemently and then banged her heel on the bed. The confused vision made her feel helpless all over again. For the first time in over thirteen years, she had no control. She had to start over.

“If you open your eyes, it will only take twenty-four hours for your brain to adjust. But, if you hide in the darkness, it will take longer. Do you want to stay with us for a week instead of just a few days?” the doctor asked in a condescending tone.

“Fine,” Shamira spat out. She opened her eyes to focus on her father's angry face.

“Shamira, your attitude stinks. This is a good thing, and you should be more appreciative. Now, take it slow and concentrate on getting used to managing the images in this room. I hate to leave you, but I've got an important call I have to take in private. I'll just be outside the door.” As he stood to walk away, Shamira tried to focus on him, but he appeared to be moving in a blur toward the door. The doctor was staring at her now with a stern look on his face, and she promptly stuck her tongue out at him.

“Your dad is a good friend of mine, and I know he raised you to be better than this—stronger and willing to fight to improve. Let's show him that you can make him proud. Open one eye at a time. Look at the wall with the open eye and concentrate on looking
through
it to the other side. Push your sight through the wall with
your mind, Shamira,” he said in a deep, forceful voice.

Shamira concentrated with her left eye closed, and her right eye pulled the image of the wall closer. She commanded,
Go, push, go away,
and the image moved back to where it was supposed to be. Taking a deep calming breath, she told her eye to look past the wall, and she saw her dad looking like he was arguing with himself. She figured he was using his earlink, and he clearly wasn't very happy with the way his conversation was going. Switching eyes, she repeated the exercise. Smiling to herself, she opened both eyes and could see through the wall and past her father. She thought,
Further, push inside him,
and she saw blood pumping. The nanonytes that roamed through his body, through his technosuit caught her eye, and she laughed and said, “This is sweet!” In a much mellower, grateful tone, she looked up at the doctor, and said, “Thanks. Thanks for… you know… setting me straight.”

Her father walked in at that moment. She noticed his mood had changed. The look on his face was gloomy for a moment, but he shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled at her.

“You want to see something beautiful, Shamira? I bought this mirror. I want you to see the beautiful little girl I see. Here, take it,” he said, handing her the mirror he held behind his back.

She lifted her hand and hesitantly took the mirror from him. Never having thought much about what she looked like, she didn't
realize that at this moment, it meant something to her. She was scared that she wouldn't like what she saw. In the dark, she could be anything—a warrior, a fighter, and beautiful. But now that she was in the light, would she like what she would see? She held the mirror reflection away for a moment. Closing her eyes, she slowly lifted it up to her face. Opening her eyes cautiously and slowly, she lifted the mirror up higher and looked at her face for the first time. Pale blue eyes looked back at her. She blinked and saw her dark brown lashes flutter, and she poked out her full pink lips in a pouty fashion. She slowly smiled at herself, noticing a chin dimple that she obviously inherited from her dad. Her smile grew, and her full cheeks plumped under her olive skin. She took her hand and smoothed away the wayward golden and chestnut brown curl falling over her face. Then she touched her light brown eyebrow and caressed the side of her face.