The Pack (20 page)

“Alright, here is the plan. Tonight I need to get close to Cutter! He will give us some answers about Renu before we break into Olympus Mons,” Shamira said.

Anthony stepped forward. “Okay, but you know that is impossible, right? Cutter cannot be touched. He's a cruel bastard, and we'll get killed trying to get to him. Hmm?” He put his fist under his ching. “Hey, we can go after Cutter's best man, Fisher, and if we're lucky, he will be with Tiger, who runs Olympus Mons. Fisher used to be top dog, but being demoted, he may have a lot more information than the others. They hang together occasionally when Tiger gets a break from running hell.”

Mitch shook his head, and leaned against the door. “There's no way we can get close to Strong, who is a trained assassin for Monev. He's the tracker that brings Tiger his prey. He has a well-trained bastard named Keeper under him. They're good - really good. I believe the only one that can take them is Shamira. They have some nasty weapons, but nothing like what I've seen in Valens' closet. We can take them.” Mitch hit his fist in his hand.

Shamira nodded. “Okay. Then Valens and I'll go after Keeper. Anthony and Mitch, you better bring me Fisher. We need to get some information from them, and we need it before we get into Olympus Mons.”

“Where are we going to put Fisher when we get him?” Anthony asked while grinning and shaking the key to his new car.

“I have a cylinder about two miles from where you put Thor. Drop him there. We need to suit up with our gear,” Valens said.

Shamira looked around the room at the sea of new recruits. “Do any of your newfound friends know where we can find these guys?” She waved her hands toward the many kids that crowded the front room.

“Uh, my name is Kaylin, and I know where Keeper will be tonight. He's meeting with some of Monev's upper-class customers to talk about the organ smuggling to Earth. He was pissed off about this rich guy trying to get him to come down on his prices since Earth shut down all unauthorized space travel from Earth to Mars. He'll be there, and I wouldn't be surprised if Monev wasn't on the prowl for the Elite Security Force members they are bringing down. If you want, I can draw you a map to where the meeting is. I just can't show my face, or he'll kill me,” Kaylin said, then pulled nervously at her long brown pigtails.

“How do you know this?” Shamira asked suspiciously, studying the girl and smelling her fear. She just wanted to make sure the girl wasn't a mole, leading them to a setup.

“I… I was his pet. He was training me,” she stammered.

Hedi walked over to Kaylin and placed an arm around her shoulder. “Monev's gang members select what is called a ‘pet' or a trainee from the new kids when they are kidnapped, blackmailed, or recruited in order to break them or destroy their hope of escape. Some kids don't make it through the training. Look at her arms and
neck, all those fresh bruises and cuts. Kaylin is a new recruit, and if they put her on with Keeper, that means she was a real fighter and very valuable,” Hedi said, her voice dropping in sadness.

Shamira looked at Kaylin closer and saw the girl's look of relief and a bit of anger on her face. She figured the girl was genuine, so she let it rest. “So, is this all we got?” Shamira asked Valens.

“No. We still have a lot of kids on the inside. They're willing to give us access where they can in order to get their freedom after we bring down Monev. They will be loyal, because squealing in Monev means death to the messenger,” Valens said.

“Does anyone here know of Renu or his relationship to his head goons?” Shamira asked the group.

A voice behind Hedi called out. “No one's ever seen him. He runs things from underground, so to speak. It's rumored he changes faces like a chameleon and can switch sides easily. Truth is, only the top three men of Monev know him or what he looks like. They all left Earth together to come to Mars and rehabilitate. Oh, my name is Kurt.” He walked forward and bowed to Shamira.

Shamira took in his dark, handsome face and almond shaped eyes, which looked sharp and assessing. “What about the kids they took? What are they doing to them?”

“You don't want to know. I'm afraid if I tell you, you'll be afraid to fight them, and I need you to lead us in fighting them. I want my life, I want my freedom, and so far you have proven yourself to be the one able to give that back to us,” Kurt said.

“Let's suit up and get going. We don't want the trails to run cold,” Shamira said.

“If you don't mind, I'd like to go with you. I know where the meeting is, and I'm one of their assassins in training, so I can hold my own. I'd love the chance to use what they did to me against them. Vengeance will be ever so sweet,” Kurt said with a solemn look on his face. Then, he pulled up his sleeve revealing an arm riddled with large scars over zigzagging cuts that matched the faint scar on his dark brown cheek.

“Fine. You'll ride with us. Valens, can you enhance those who are coming with us? I think it might get a little dicey tonight if we're going where some high rollers are. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I'm taking no chances,” Shamira said before she went to the training room to get her gear.

“Shamira, I have something for you too. Can you follow us to the lab?” Valens asked and then looked directly at her with a serious expression on his face.

“You go with them. I'll be right there,” Shamira said.

Hedi stood up on her toes and held her finger up high in the air. “I'm taking everyone else to the fitting lab. I have to set their fighting gear to their physiological makeup. Everyone follow me and form a line. Then, we will start training.” Hedi walked down the hall.

Shamira looked at her and smiled, realizing Hedi was a leader in her own right. All the kids followed her silently. Shamira waited for everyone to leave and fell to her knees in the corner that held her
gear.

Taking several deep, calming breaths, she started to shiver. “What have I done? What am I doing?” she asked herself in a whisper. Saving David had been her only plan, and now she was saving hundreds of kids she didn't really know. Not only that, but she had to depend on them and trust them to save her and maybe even David in the end. Being blind was not hard, but being their savior was something she hadn't intended to do. She shook off the feeling of dread, the same feeling she shook off every day of her life when she had been told that being blind was a handicap that wouldn't enable her to have a “normal life,” whatever that was. Her life after this would never be normal, and she would definitely never again be the same.

She leapt up to a stand, warming up her muscles for the fight ahead of her.
So many things to fight, fighting this ball of power that I'm afraid will consume me, and for David—always for David, who is so worth this risk
. She had to focus, drown her fear, and build strength while squashing her doubt in her success. She would win even if she had to lose herself to what raged inside her.
Saving David means this much to me
.

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the labs where the others were getting in gear for the night's capture mission. Bringing back some of Monev's heads would definitely alert them that something was going on. It would also put all of them in danger. They would have to act quickly on their infiltration of Olympus Mons.

“Ouch! That hurt! What is this going to do?” Anthony growled at Valens.

“Remember the tags that I had to stick in your scalp? Well, I perfected it. Now this needle inserts them under your skin, giving you enhanced strength and virtually teaching your muscles all the martial arts moves you've been trained to do. It enhances them by taking memories from your training and making them reflexes throughout your body. I can easily extract them by programming them to come out through your bowels,” Valens said proudly.

Anthony's eyebrow went up with disgust. “Man, that's nasty.” He slowly stepped away from Valens with a frown on his face.

“Hey, all of you are done here. Go to the training rooms and get the weapons and suits I made for you from Hedi. We'll meet you at the door to the garage. I need to talk to Shamira,” Valens said. Shamira watched them leave, and without a smile, she turned to Valens.

“I see you have on your fighting face,” Valens said lightly.

“I'm not in the mood to chat. You've endangered all of these kids, you know. And worse, you've put their lives in my hands!” Her voice rose in her frustration with him.

“Yes, yes I did. I did it because I know they'll be safe in your hands. Besides, Shamira, you're not doing this alone. I'm here, and I'll help you. Hey, I got a device to enhance your strength also,” Valens said as he came toward her with a needle.

“I have enough, thank you. I have more strength than you
could possibly fathom,” she responded and knocked the needle from his hand.

Valens shrugged. “I know. I've seen you. I also know you're afraid of it. You pull back. Why?” He bent down to pick up the needle, which he placed on the table next to him.

“My business, not yours. I'm not your business, Valens. You've bugged me since the first day I've met you. Why were you even there that day?” Shamira asked with her legs spread defensively and her arms folded over her chest.

Valens chuckled softly before adding, “I was following the creep you were luring. He was one of Monev's men that worked the dream trade. You just happened to be there, helpless, I thought. I took you for a victim, but I know now I was wrong. Little did I know you were like a black widow, luring him into your web for a strike.”

“Well, now you know my secret. What's your story? Why do you create all of this stuff? How do you even know how?” Shamira sized Valens up to make sure he was being honest.

“My father. This is… er, was his hobby. He and I would spend hours here working on some new technology or toy. It relaxed him. My sister would sometimes come along, but we mainly played videogames and watched movies with her. After their disappearance and my mother's death, I had nothing else to do to fill this void that seemed to fill my soul—that is, until I met you.” He walked to stand in front of her as his voice lowered and his eyes held hers.

Shamira stepped back. “Well, let's go. The others are waiting.”

Valens reached out to hold one of her hands. He leaned in toward her ear, and she stood stoically still while his soft breath blew lightly when he began to speak. “By the way, thanks for the kiss,” he said, his voice deepening. He hesitated as her hand started to pull away and then added, “And grab the bullet-proof jacket by the door.”

Jerking her hand away, she headed to the door. She felt his gaze on her back. Breathing deeply, she grabbed the jacket and put it on before heading down the hall to meet the others. Her cheeks burned in a blush of humiliation at the not-so-secret kiss she had given to his hologram that morning.

When she got to the door, she pulled on the jacket and saw the guys waiting there in solemn silence. Figuring they were preparing for their attack, she said nothing. Valens came up behind her. She could feel his presence, and she straightened, placing her hand in the jacket pocket. Feeling around, her hand landed on the gloves he'd given her that added electric shock to her punches. She smiled.

Valens walked over to Anthony without sparing Shamira a glance. “Anthony, you can take one of the motorcycles. The car is more difficult to get out of tight spots. Mitch, you grab the gold one. Kurt, there is a black one next to mine for you,”

Shamira went to the garage and called Pearl. She climbed on and let Kurt take the lead as they took flight to Sector Five.

They came up to a large building, which stood taller than the rest on the city block in the business district. Looking around, Shamira realized the building wasn't far from the Security Force Headquarters.
You have got to be kidding me. They're conniving right under the nose of the Security Force, mocking the Force by doing this within a few miles of the Force's home base
. Pulling up behind Valens' motorcycle, she came to a stop and climbed off her bike. She took off her helmet and walked over to the others.

Valens stopped his bike next to Mitch's. “Mitch and Anthony, your target's not far from here. We'll meet you at the location of the cylinders. Stay alive,” he said.

“No one's going to kill me now. Thanks to Valens' implants, I'm one bad mutha. I survived before, but now, I'm going to crush a fool,” Anthony said, pimping his walk as he sauntered over to Valens to get ammunition for his gun.

Mitch smirked while he put his gun in his belt. “Please. You always thought you were a ‘bad mutha'. Remember, you were the one to promise me and Hedi that you'd get us out of there.”

Anthony slapped Mitch on the back. “Well, looks like you were the lethal one, Mitch. Valens told me you took one of them out to save Shamira. That's bad mutha in my book, man.” Then he headed to his motorcycle.

Stonefaced Kurt warned, “We better get going. I contacted Ryan, who is going to let us in the office next to the conference room so we can eavesdrop on that meeting,” Kurt said.

Shamira looked at Kurt and saw a face of cold calmness. She nodded at him, and he nodded back.

“We'll follow you, Kurt. How do you feel, since this is the first time you have used the enhancements?” Valens asked while he watched Anthony and Mitch ride off.

“I feel powerful, and I'm going to use it to bring these bastards down. I hate them for what they did to my family and me. I'll die trying to wipe them off the face of Mars,” Kurt said and then spat on
the ground before taking off.

They parked their rides in a hidden alcove behind the building and went to one of the doors in the back. Kurt knocked lightly on the door. It opened almost immediately, and a boy with black hair streaked with purple stared back at them.