by LM. Preston
‘You can’t go back,” Valens said.
“I know. They have my sister and my father – that is, if he isn’t dead already. You don’t know what they’re capable of. I also know where they may be keeping some of the kids and maybe the adults too. If we go, we have to go with guns, or we’re dead,” Mitch said, his eyes now dry.
“Oh, we are going. You can bet on it. But for now, boys, I have to run. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Shamira said sternly.
She heard Valens say to Mitch, “I got a place for you, dude. Follow me.”
“Meet me here tomorrow!” she yelled back. She hopped on Pearl and rode home. She had to go to the training room to exercise away the excess energy from the night’s events. Crap. She hated waiting. As she came up to the house, she let out a breath of relief. Her parents were not home. She climbed off her bike and walked toward the house. “Pearl, go park and clean yourself,” she said.
She walked in the house and straight to her room. Opening up the clothes compacter, she told it to clean her soiled clothes. Then, she walked naked to the shower to wash off the blood and dust from her night out. She couldn’t wait to go to the training room. Sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. She was filled with adrenaline that she had to shave off before she could face her parents when they returned.
Chapter 12
In the training room, Shamira worked herself to exhaustion and slept just a few hours before returning to the training room again. The training room was underground like many of the Elite had in their homes. This fact was unknown to anyone not on the Elite Security Force, including the support staff.
Her parents both worked out in the training room, though her mom did most other training at the Security Force Headquarters for their Sector. Her parents led Sector Five and were virtually the rulers of their Sector. When the Security Force members started turning up missing, the second in command would lead, but those Security Force members were not enhanced, only the Elite few were. The Elite had certain abilities they gained from training at a young age, and their special suits only left them vulnerable on their heads and groin areas. Shamira wondered again how Monev was able to bring the Elites down. The tags or tracking devices they wore were only traceable from the supercomputers at Headquarters, and even she couldn’t break in that deep. It would take her years to get past the barriers to access that information.
She punched the bag in front of her again. Her preference was working with the punching bag and sparring with the android when her dad wasn’t available. Today though, it wasn’t doing the trick. Turning away from the bag, she touched the control on her wrist to activate the fight simulation. The punching bag disappeared into the ceiling.
Besides the punching bag and the sparring android, the training room also had an obstacle course, weights, and a simulation room for learning flight maneuvers and finding information about a particular enemy that would allow her to build a replica and find their weakness. She went to a nearby table to get some dot tags that stuck to the vulnerable parts other face to simulate a punch on either one of those areas. Its purpose was to make the trainee used to accepting pain, which was something Shamira did rather well. The simulation created a virtual reality with the enemies she programmed in with her wrist controller. She knew it would effectively replicate the pain and even the smells associated with being hit, and she was ready. She zipped up her form-fitting simulation suit that covered her from head to toe.
“Multiple fighting sequences with obstacle course,” she said to the computer in the training room. The lights dimmed, and she closed her eyes to get her former rhythm. She readied herself and made sure she was able to sense all things around her. The simulation created a twenty-man attack on her home. She was thrown into a replica of her living room, and bad guy Fisher that she created for the simulation burst through the front door. She ran toward him and front-kicked him in the face, feeling the adrenaline rush she was searching for. His cronies came from behind, and she followed through on a back-kick just as another nameless foe punched her on the side of her face. She smiled. This is what she needed—a good fight. She was just getting started when the simulation suddenly ended.
“What? Restart simulation now!” she yelled.
“Not Today, I need a sparring partner, so I cut off your simulation,” she heard her mom say. Now this is rare, Shamira frowned. I’ve never sparred with her before, so why does she want to do this now! She didn’t want to hurt her mother by turning her down, but she was afraid to let her mother find out what she was capable of. Especially know that she was all keyed up from what she’d seen and heard that evening. She just had so much anger and frustration built up in her that she didn’t think she had the control to hold back from hurting her mother or concealing her hidden strength.
“Mom, I kinda want to do this alone today,” Shamira said as she took off her simulation gear.
Ignoring her, Shamira’s mother said, “Computer, we’re going to the sparring room.”
Great. Her mother was wearing a green form-fitting sparring suit. It had a zipper up the front, and her feet were sticking out at the bottom. Her mom was in better shape than Shamira realized. She had strong legs, a muscled stomach, and firm, yet softly muscled arms.
“Don’t worry, Shamira. I can take anything you can dish out. The question is, can you take what I dish back?” her mother said and squatted into a fighting stance.
Taking off her simulation tags, she tossed them to the floor. Shamira followed her mom’s lead, and the lights in training room lit up brightly. The wood floor beneath Shamira’s bare feet felt cold, and she looked into her mother’s eyes and saw a fighter there. With no hesitation, she lunged and punched at her. Her mother dodged the attack with speed. Her mom followed through with a punch to Shamira’s stomach, but Shamira didn’t flinch. She was used to hits and responded with an uppercut. Her mom quickly moved to the side to escape her punch and landed a punch to Shamira’s face. Shamira was getting tired of holding back, and her threadbare hold on her control started to slip. She dipped and punched her mom hard in her stomach, which pushed her mom back about two feet.
“Shamira, I do believe you are stronger than you let on. Don’t hold back. Push it, girl! Let it go,” her mom said, not a bit out of breath from Shamira’s punch. Shamira released her hold on her strength, and she and her mom did a fighting dance of punching and kicking across the room. Even with Shamira pushing to maximum strength, her mom kept up. Her mother landed more punches, jabs, and kicks than Shamira did just by attacking Shamira’s weak points. At the end of their sparring session, they were both out of breath and Shamira felt much better, having let off the steam of her frustrations.
“Shamira, I’m impressed. You’re a worthy opponent,” she panted, “You even found some of my weak points I had forgotten about. Thank you! It was fun.” She rubbed a sore spot on her shoulder.
Shamira was stunned. She had rarely gotten compliments from her mom, and she felt joy spill over inside her. Now she knew she was ready to do what she had to do. She also realized that the power that was within her grew the more she challenged it. Her mother had taught her to push harder than she would have with her dad.
“Thanks, Mom,” she blushed, “Are you going back to Headquarters? Have you all found some answers?” Shamira asked.
“Well, now you are going to get me all angry again. As we suspected Monev is behind the attacks. Of course, you realize that Monev spells V-E-N-O-M backwards, right? I guess they use that name to describe the drugs they’re pushing. Anyway, we didn’t plan for this type of attack, and a lot of families of the Elite have been lost in the process of the Mars Planet Police efforts to control the crime. Earth wants nothing to do with this, of course, and won’t allow any travel between Mars and Earth until we get control of the problem here,” her mom said while she folded her legs to a crossed-leg sit.
“How are they finding the Security Force Elite members,” Shamira asked, folding her legs in similar fashion to her mother’s.
“Well, we don’t know exactly how they’re doing it, but we figure they are using the Security Force Elite’s tracking devices against them. They’ve obviously found a way to find us,” she answered while stretching.
“Okay, well finding you is one thing, but how do you catch an Elite?” Sharmira asked frowning in thought.
Her mom sighted, “We’re pretty sure they have also probably spent years spying on us and building a device that scrambles the nanos that give our suits their strength. Besides, we’re strong even without our nano boost. So, the truth is, I don’t really know how they’re bringing us down,” her mom said then started to stand.
“How close are you to finding David?” Shamira asked.
“Not as close as I’d like to be—not nearly as close.” Her mother winced a bit at the question. “Hon, I’ve got to go. Your dad is coming home in the morning to check on you. Please take your earlink if you leave the house,” her mom said before she headed out the training room door.
After her mother was gone, Shamira’s thoughts moved to her next meeting with Valens that night. She pictured his face, and her breath caught at how beautiful he was. She knew it was stupid to think of him this way, he was simply too beautiful for her. I just don’t deserve him for myself—not like that, anyway, Shamira’s thoughts teased. But part of her wouldn’t let the desire to have him for her own slip away.
She took a deep breath and thought to herself how things were a lot easier when she couldn’t see. Being blind, she wasn’t captured by a person’s outer beauty. She could stay in the safe shell she created for herself. Now, she had to work harder at not being charmed out of it. She forced her mind to put thoughts of Valens away.
Reminiscing on her brother, she couldn’t help but picture the horrible things that could be done to him if she didn’t find him soon. She didn’t want to involve so many others in her quest, but unfortunately, she realized that for now, she needed Valens’ and Mitch’s help. She needed them as backup and for the information they were easily able to gain from their friendships with other street kids. She put her face in her hands, took a deep breath to relax, and went to change to meet Valens in a few hours.
When she drove Pearl to the designated meeting spot, they were waiting for her. She was not surprised. Valens was always punctual. He was wearing black leather pants and a matching jacket. His wavy blond hair escaped from his black hat. Mitch cleaned up well, too, with jeans and a matching jacket.
“Shamira, we figure we can hit the hideout in the Outlands if you’re up to it. Mitch knows the way there. We’ll have to walk about a mile to get to the place, but I brought something to help us with that too. These shoe tags will help us glide at a faster speed to get there and escape if we have to. They also have guns there, so Mitch and I are wearing bullet- and laser-proof jackets. I brought one for you, too, if you want it,” he said with a sly smile, holding the jacket out to her.
“Sure, I’ll take it. You lead. I’ll follow right behind,” she said and hoped he wouldn’t ask to ride with her.
“Um, Mitch is driving my cycle.” Valens cleared his throat and said, “How about I ride with you and direct you where to go.” He looked back at Mitch who appeared temporarily shocked at the statement before putting back on his angry guy face.
“Oh, yeah, that’s definitely best. Let’s go,” Mitch said flatly as his expression recovered. He got on the motorcycle quickly, as if he didn’t want to catch Shamira’s eye.
Just my luck. This is not going to be easy. Valens climbed on her motorcycle behind her. She took off her jacket and replaced it with the much safer one he had brought for her. He helped her put it on, and Shamira wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or flattered. He leaned in toward her neck to adjust the collar. The skin of her neck tingled as his breath touched it.
His hand left her collar to rest on her shoulder, and she stayed perfectly still, not wanting him to know that he was affecting her. He leaned close to her ear and spoke softly, “That should do it. Mitch is leaving us.” She felt his breath on her ear, and then shivered.
Snapping out of her embarrassment, she grabbed her helmet from the handlebar and put it on her head. Then, she leaned forward and took off at top speed behind Mitch. She drove thinking of how they would get into the facility unnoticed. She had brought some devices that would help. Her heart started to pound when she thought about the fight ahead of her. She was thirsty for it—the hunting, the fighting, and the joy of finally seeing David again. David, David, David. Seeing his face in her mind was the best way to keep thoughts of Valens away.
The Outlands were rarely traveled. They were extremely cold and windy. Sand kicked up at high levels, causing gritty mountains of red dirt to form out of the ground. The visor on Shamira’s helmet protected her eyes, but she replaced them with her shades for their journey to the criminal compound. Getting off their bikes, they took a look around and tightened their jackets.
“Here. Take these and put them on the heels of your shoes. They will allow us to hover a couple of feet above ground to get to their hideout faster,” Valens said while he handed them flat metal plates that hooked into the soles of their shoes.
“Mitch, what do you know about this place? About the security? Where are the innocent people held?” Shamira questioned as she attached the hoverplates to her boots.
Mitch turned toward her with an angry look on his face and said, “Well, from hanging around Fisher, Slasher, and Kimble, I know more than I’d like. The compound is very hard to find. I know the general location, but it’s completely out of sight. We may have to observe the location before we attempt to enter. The security there is very tight. I’ve no idea how we’re going to get in, much less how to get out. You got any ideas, Valens?”
Shamira lifted an eyebrow and said, “I’ll find the hideout. Trust me. I have my ways to get in. I have scrambling devices for all of us that will make us invisible to any surveillance.” She scanned the area briefly. “As far as sneaking up on them, I don’t have anything that will keep us out of the view of any armed guards, but I don’t think they have any in plain sight. If they did, they wouldn’t try so hard to conceal their hideout. I’m willing to bet they don’t have guards posted outside. I bet they’re relying solely on electronic surveillance that keeps them hidden and picks up on any movement outside. Now, let’s go,” Shamira said, then walked past Mitch without sparing a glance at Valens.
Valens looked at Mitch and winked. Mitch didn’t budge, and Valens said, “You heard Warrior Girl. Let’s go, Mitch.”
She stopped when they didn’t immediately follow. Shamira eyed Mitch, who looked her, then to Valens and shook his head. Ignoring his reluctance, she turned away from them to continue.
Shamira knew that Mitch didn’t want to follow her. He seemed to trust Valens more than he trusted her. Valens was good, but he wasn’t her. She knew she was going to save David. Valens was just along for the ride as far as she was concerned. She hoped he had improved his hand-to-hand combat, because they were probably going to have a fair share of it trying to get out of this place.
She stomped down on the sand-packed ground, which activated the hovering mechanisms Valens gave them for their shoes. Her legs bent as she balanced about three feet from the ground. Mitch glided in front of her, and they followed him across the windy terrain. The wind tore at her, causing some hair to escape her braid. The sand hit her face painfully, and she smiled.
She was so angry. I should have taught David to fight better, she scolded herself. If I did, maybe he would’ve been able to escape. I should’ve trained him instead of letting him whine his way out of it. I screwed up. If I had just taken more time with him, he would have been able to fight back, to run and get to safety. She was angry with herself for having failed him. This is my fault, her anger boiled all the more, but I’ll fix it, and I’ll bring them all down to their knees in the process.
Mitch came to a stop, and Shamira and Valens stopped behind him. “How much farther?” Valens
asked. He was looking around for a sign or something to give away the hideout location.
Shamira looked slowly and pushed her sight beyond the wind dunes and what appeared to be the road ahead of them. Then she saw it—a huge building standing right in front of them about half a mile ahead. “The hideout is a half a mile ahead of us. There seems to be a level on the entrance that has guards patrolling it,” she said. She turned to look at Valens and Mitch to see their mouths open in surprise.
“How in the heck can you see that building? We can’t even see it,” Valens said with a surprised look on his face, and he reached out to touch her shoulder.
She sidestepped him and replied, “I just can. Let’s go. Put on the scramblers. We don’t want to alert them. I see a weak point in their facility that we can sneak in through. It will be tricky, and we’ll have two guards to take out, but we can get in. I’ll take care of the guards. You both head inside, and I think we’ll find what we’re looking for on the lower level,” she said and then started to walk toward the complex. They followed and looked around for a sign of what she told them she saw.
“Mitch, what made you stop here?” Valens asked.
“They talked about a small beacon and two sand hills in front of the complex. I saw the sand hills but missed the beacon. Fisher mentioned you’re at death’s door if you pass through the sand hills unaware, so when I saw them, I stopped,” Mitch said while they followed closely behind Shamira. Mitch’s voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the wind kicking up.
“The scramblers seem to be working. They don’t see us. The opening is over there. When we go through the door, there will be a guard on the left and one on the right. I’ll take the guy on the right. You both take the one on the left and follow me down the hall between them,” Shamira said above the wind.
