The Pack (2 page)

Her dad wouldn't be home until late. He was working an extra shift because one of the Elite members of the Security Force had disappeared. This troubled both her parents since they were part of the Elite team. The Security Force kept law and order on Mars, and Shamira's parents worked so hard to accomplish this feat that she couldn't help wanting to help them. It was what drove her out into the night. She had her ways of investigating, and it was easy because
most people ignored, pitied or deemed her harmless and helpless. She had heard that there were thugs kidnapping the children of Security Force workers, and she wanted to put a stop to it.

With Shamira's imperfection, it was easy to remain hidden and to collect a lot of information that her parents might never want her to know. She had her ways of investigating, and it was easy because most people ignored or discounted her while thinking her an invalid. She didn't mind, really, because in the end, it made her stronger, or so she liked to think.

She slowed when she approached the house, and the dust and dirt of Mars kicked up when she skidded to a stop at the front door. She took a whiff.
Spaghetti. Mom must have had a good day today.
Her mom only made spaghetti on the good days. The days that Shamira wasn't home to start dinner, her mom always cooked. On the bad days, her mom would order takeout. The pizza delivery driver knew them pretty well, since most days lately were bad ones. Also, lately Shamira was always late. It just seemed to be taking longer to control the burning within.

Her dad used her lack of control for this power within her as an excuse to teach her so much. Everything he taught her, she thirsted for and obsessed to make it perfection. She loved it mostly because it was his gift to her, something that only they did together. Although the raging beast within her was mostly caged, the gift of time and skills her dad gave her were only tools to help her control it. She had gone so far beyond what he had taught her that she had to
dummy it down when she was with him. She didn't want them to fully know this side of her, this hunter that she had become. When she was with them, she would always be the daughter they wished for. She refused to lose their love by revealing her innermost raging urges.

The door opened, and she smelled the garlic bread and her brother's unique, sweet smell. She was now at peace, for the beast was caged, and she was home. David met her at the door. She reached out her hand and tousled his warm, silky head. He laughed, then stood up and said, “I'm getting too old for that, Meera!”

“You're never too old for your big sis to do this,” she said and tickled him. He doubled up and almost fell to the floor.

Then her mom came to the door. Shamira could feel her contempt as it hung deeply in the air. She could feel her mom size her up before she fussed, “Hmm, I wondered when you'd show up. Do you have a death wish? Do you
want
to get hurt? Mars is not safe, yet you roam around aimlessly like you are in some carefree garden. Shamira, I called you on the earlink. Why didn't you answer me?”

“Mom, can I come in please? You're in the doorway, and I really have to go to the bathroom,” said Shamira. She started to move side to side like she really had to go badly.

“Yeah, right. That isn't working this time. Get in here. Now,” said her mom. She pulled Shamira into the house, and then quickly closed the door. Shamira figured she'd tried this tactic too many times now. Her mom had already figured out that she didn't have to
go to the bathroom. She wondered if she should play her story out or just deal with the argument with her mom.

“Mom, you know I hate wearing the earlink. It interferes with my hearing, the one thing that helps me stay balanced and know when someone approaches. If you interfere with that, then I have to concentrate harder just to get around,” Shamira responded. She gave up the bathroom pretense and stood still in front of her mom. She felt David's hand grab hers. He always sided with her in a fight with her parents, and she loved him for that. It was the two of them against the world.

“By the way, where are you coming from? School had no extracurricular activities today. Where do you keep going every night? I'm sick of this. I'm sick of you worrying us to death. It ends tonight. No more side trips from school! No more. Do you hear me?” Shamira knew her mom would be angry. She also knew that she wasn't going to stop what she was doing, at least not until she could find those kids—all of them. So she stood there, bowed her head like she was sorry, and took a deep, soothing breath.

“I'm sorry, Mother. It won't happen again,” Shamira said in the small voice she used when her mom got this way. She kept her head bowed since she didn't want her mom to see the rage within her.

“I've heard that before! It's not working anymore. You will get tagged! That way, we won't have any problems finding you on your long walks home!” her mother added with a pointing finger. Shamira held still when her mother's strong finger pushed against her
shoulder. It hurt a bit with its heaviness and sharpness.

“Mom, I don't want to be tagged like a dog. I promise! Just give me another chance, please? I promise, Mom. I promise,” Shamira said with a broken voice, on the verge of tears. If they tagged her, she would have to stop what she was doing. It was the first time she'd ever felt useful, needed, and free.
Please don't take that away from me, Mom,
she pleaded in her head.

“Fine, but this is the last time. I promise you with every bit of my being that if you get lost or show up late again, no begging or pleading will stop this. You will get tagged if I have to drag you to the doctor myself. Your father won't save you this time. You brought this on yourself.” She turned and walked back toward the kitchen.

“Shamira, why don't you want to get tagged? Mom and Dad are. They couldn't be part of the Security Force if they weren't. I thought you wanted to be on the Force when you grow up? You'll have to get tagged sometime if you want to work for them,” David reasoned while he absently rubbed her arm.

“I'll never get tagged, even if that means not joining the Security Force. I just can't, you hear me? You don't ever let them do it to you either. I'll always find you, and I don't need a tag to do it,” she said and lifted her arm up to rub down the silkiness of his hair.

“I told you, I'm too old for that,” David said, then hugged her. He then tickled her sweet spot under her arm, and she instantly came out of her melancholy. Only David could do this for her. Her baby brother was the most perfect boy of all.

“When you're finished sulking, get in here and eat this great spaghetti I made. I was happy when I got home until I didn't see my little girl,” her mom yelled from the kitchen.
Of course she rubs it in,
Shamira thought with a smile. Besides, she hadn't been a “little girl” for a while now. She was sixteen and felt even older from all the secrets she kept. She headed to the table, knowing that was her cue to eat. In spite of everything, she was still hungry.

She sat down and waited for her mom to prepare her plate. Conforted by this little thing her mom loved to do for her, the only thing, in fact, that her mom did for her. Shamira was sure her mom did this for David, too, but it still felt nice to be so loved sometimes.

“So, how was work today?” Shamira asked. She grabbed her fork and twirled the spaghetti around slowly, teasing her hunger with the smell of the sauce and cheese.

“Today was better than the rest of the week. We got a lead on Lieutenant McCann. It looks like we're dealing with a new secret organization. How they managed to form it without us knowing is beyond me. Well the good part is we now can figure out who the players are and crush them before they get any momentum.” Her mom smiled, and then said, “We're also close to finding McCann. Although there is some interference with the location devices, we're confident he will be home with his family before this coming Monday,” her mom said excitedly. Her mom loved being the key Detective and Agent of the Security Force. She was a hunter just like Shamira; only she got paid for it. Her mom's work was also
something they both liked to share, and Shamira couldn't help but consider her mother's gift of information.

“Well, do you think they hurt McCann? I like him.” Shamira said. She started to think of a way to track him. She decided then and there that she would give the Security Force just two days before she would attempt to find him herself. Her main focus had been on finding the kids, but she didn't like it at all that McCann was now a victim as well. Kids of various Security Force Elite members and the Mars Planet Police were sporadically kidnapped over the years, never to turn up again. Shamira swore she would find them and bring pain to those that took them. As she sat there daydreaming of what she would do to those who hurt the missing kids and Officer McCann, she heard a
crack.
Without realizing she was doing it, she'd pressed her fork so hard onto her plate that the plate snapped in two. She gulped and turned toward her mother, knowing she wouldn't be pleased.

“Shamira! Look at what you did! How did you do that? Oh, never mind. Just clean it up, will you?” her mom said. She knew her mom was disgusted with her now. It was usual for her mom to get angry with her when she appeared clumsy.
Well, it can't be helped now.
She was a bit angry with herself, too, because she was still really hungry. She got up, gathered the mess, and threw it all in the trash. She didn't miss a single piece of glass when she wiped the table clean.

“Shamira, I'll make you another plate,” David said. He got up quickly and scooped a big fresh helping of spaghetti on her new plate.
She heard the heavy metal spoon slide against the glass plate and sat down. She liked letting David feel like he could take care of her.

“Thank you, David. You're the best little brother a girl could ask for,” she said and picked up her drink to take an embarrassed swallow. She didn't need to turn to her mother to feel the woman's angry glare. Shamira quietly picked up her new fork and ate in silence.

“Well, I have to go back in late tonight. You and David will be here with your dad until morning. We need you to watch him until noon. Don't go anywhere but to the park. Do, you hear me, Shamira?” her mom said with an obvious threat in her voice. Shamira didn't hear her all that well since she was concentrating hard at not breaking another plate, but she answered anyway to avoid further wrath and disappointment.

“Sure, Mom. What time will Dad get home?” she added and then put the fork down.

“He's on his way. We have a surprise for you, but we're going to wait to share it, considering your recent punishment,” her mom added. She got up and went to the kitchen cleaner.

“Punishment? What punishment?” Shamira asked. She tried to appear calm.

Her mom hesitated a moment for effect, then said, “Well, you will not be going out without your earlink. If you don't wear it, it's automatic tagging. That's the punishment for at least for one week.”

Shamira couldn't win. “Fine, I'll wear it for the term of my
punishment,” she replied. She didn't want to add fuel to her mom's fire, so it was best to agree quietly.

“Good. Now, come give me a hug,” her mom said. Shamira was temporarily in shock. Her mom rarely had time for hugs.
Something more must be going on at work than she's willing to share,
Shamira contemplated. She stood when her mom came over and gave her and her brother a much treasured group hug. Shamira felt an inner peace and joy when she hugged her mom tightly back. Her mom was slim, packed, and firm, a tall woman with a great inner and outer strength, which she needed to do her job well as a Security Force Elite member. Shamira loved the smell of sweet roses that came from her mom's skin, a smell unique to her.

“You know, it's a little unsettling how you appear to have sight. You look at me and move like you're not blind at all. If it weren't for those extreme pale blue eyes of yours, I'd think you could see. Sometimes it makes me forget that you are,” her mom said and sighed before she continued,”Shamira, I may be hard on you, but I do love you, you know.”

“I know, Mom. I love you too,” Shamira said and then hesitated to let her mom go.

“I love you both! Always,” David added with a tight squeeze.

“Enough of that, you charmer,” Shamira said and then rustled her brother's hair.

Her mom left to put David to bed and read to him about Earth, part of their evening ritual. Shamira didn't remember anything about Earth. They'd come here when she was newborn. Her parents couldn't turn down the chance to work as Elites on newly colonized Mars. They were right under the head of the Security Force Elite Leader on Mars, a coveted position Shamira had heard them mention to others. They'd been chosen from their birth and trained to serve on the Security Force as Elite members since they were children. On
Mars, her parents' organization was the law, the order, and the leading power. It was an opportunity neither of her parents could turn down. They simply had no choice.

Her earliest memories were faded except for one: the day she died. Her parents said the Security Force were the first ones on the planet. They came a year before the other settlers. However, the oxygen management system had bugs in it that caused it to fail. She was asleep in her room when it happened, and her parents lost consciousness before they could get to her. Shamira was the only child on the planet at the time. She had been born healthy, but when the air system failed, she stopped breathing. Her parents told her that when they awoke after the air was regenerated to find her dead, they were frantic. They carried her to a makeshift hospital.

They tried everything on her to revive her and finally experimented with injecting her with the enhancements only used on the Security Elite in hopes of bringing her back to life. Little did they realize it was a double-edged sword that saved as well as doomed her to a life much different than any other. She finally came back to life after being clinically dead for several hours. It took months for her to recover, and when she did, she was blind.