by LM. Preston
Her mom put a staying hand on her father. “I can’t say this is easy, Shamira. I trust you can do it, but we really want to be there to get David,” her mom said with a softening voice.
“We trust you, Shamira. Bring him back. Bring him home. Send us a signal—two beeps through the earlink when it’s time. We’ll be ready to move to action tonight. I already know who’ll help us, and I’ve a pretty accurate summation of whose loyalties are in question. After we storm the Outlands and recover the prisoners, your mother and I are going to reorganize and restabilize the Security Force and Mars. As much as it hurts to admit, I knew Broc was playing two sides. I was just in denial. We went through training together, and I thought he was still the boy I remembered. That is a mistake I won’t make in the future. We love you,” he said before Shamira’s mother placed a hand to her lips and blew her a kiss as their image faded.
Chapter 23
“Alright, we have no time to waste. Valens, we need everyone outfitted with bullet- and laser-proof enhancements. We also need a lot of firepower if we are going to clean out Olympus Mons. Kurt and Anthony, tell us what you know,” Shamira directed.
Anthony answered, “Kurt was a frequent visitor to the Mons. He would be the greatest source of information. Whenever I ran supplies for the dream factory, I was only allowed on the first level, but let me tell you, it’s heavily guarded with surveillance of the surrounding outer perimeter. It’s definitely a place we have to prepare to attack. Just give me the word, and I’m ready to use my big freakin’ car to blow the joint down.”
Kurt sat on the table near Sharmira. “The place is a fortress but also a living hell for the kids held there. They never see daylight, and they pray the volcano never erupts because they would be the first to go. It’s heavily guarded on the entrance level. The lower level where the kids are held in carved out cells is extremely hot. Since Mars is typically a cold place, the kids can bear it, but not without discomfort. They wake them up early in the morning and work them for fourteen hours straight before slop time, and then they are sent to their cells.”
“How can we move through the place?” Shamira asked.
“There’s an elevator used only for moving the dream, which is in the form of molten rocks, down to the dream collection level. The pre-teen kids sift through the dream at the collection site until their fingers grow raw and bloody. There’s a tunnel that winds around the elevator that has tiny steps leading up to the dream collection area near the mouth of the volcano. The youngest kids are well prized because only the smaller ones can get through the tunnels and gather the dream. Now, the grownups (or ‘dream freaks,’ as we kids call them) work in the lab under the collection floor. They manufacture the dream and get it ready and packaged for sale. There are two possible entrances we can sneak into. There is a sunken hole used for the core heating system just short of a quarter mile from the Mons. Maybe we can find a way to tunnel in that way,” Kurt said, then scratched his hand on his head in thought.
Valens snapped his finger. “I got that covered. Those core heating systems have small tunnels that run completely underground. I can pull up a map of the service tunnels, and I have a device we can use to tunnel in. It would bring us up into the underground cells. We can set the kids free there,” Valens said while pulling up the map of the service tunnels. He mapped out the closest tunnel to the volcano and highlighted the portion of rock they would have to cut through to penetrate the underground prison.
Shamira pointed to the map of the tunnels. “When we send the signal that we’ve recovered the prisoners, we need another group to attack through the front entrance while we plant the incinerators to burn through the openings in the volcano. Devices for stabilizing the guards until the Security Force arrive are needed. After the Security Force arrives to take the guards into custody, we’ll incinerate the place to close it down forever,” Shamira said, crossing her arms while studying the map of the service tunnels.
“Question. How do you plan on moving all these people out of there? Anthony’s big bad car can’t do it. All his car can do is blow crap up,” Mitch asked with his usual pessimistic face showing the beginning of hope.
Hedi smiled and wiped her hands together. “I have that covered. I tapped into the computer system that controls the Mars World Construction distribution vehicles. We can fit over 100 kids in each of the vehicles and take them directly to the Security Force Headquarters. Then we all can hop into Anthony’s car and ride off while watching the Mons close down permanently.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow, and they all laughed at his obvious displeasure at the idea of all of them being in his car.
“That is so not happening. The only person riding shotgun with me is Mitch, my road dog. Yeah, boy,” he said as he slapped hands with Mitch.
“That’s fine. I’m riding on the back of Shamira’s ride so I can cover her. Seems she likes getting shot at,” Valens laughed.
Hedi joined in, “Then I guess I’ll ride behind Kurt since he is a recovering invalid.”
“No I ain’t. I’m already recovered, and I don’t need a mousey redhead covering for me,” he said, looking at Hedi with irritation.
“I’m so far from mousey I’d make your head spin. Lucky for you, I take pity on the weak,” she smiled back mischievously.
“Weak? Girl, I oughtta… well, you’re lucky I don’t hit girls,” Kurt said with the frown softening on his face.
Mitch looked at Anthony with a smirk, then winked. “Hitting doesn’t work on her.”
“Aw, c’mon, guys. It’s not time to play around,” Shamira said, eying Mitch and Anthony sternly.
“Who’s playing?” Anthony said and put his hand behind his back.
“I know I’m not,” Mitch said and also put his hand behind his back.
“Uh, uh. I mean it. Don’t you dare…” Shamira said just as she watched both Anthony and Mitch pull out water guns and point them at both Hedi and her.
“Don’t what?” Valens asked as he caught the water gun Mitch threw at him. She watched as Anthony threw another water gun to Kurt, who caught it perfectly. Unlucky for them, Hedi and Shamira were caught in between the boys.
Hedi just looked at them and laughed. “Take your best shot,” she said through giggles.
Several other kids in the room came and gathered around, enjoying the water gun faceoff and hedging bets. Movement started in the back of the group of kids, and as Shamira suspected, they were passing out more water guns.
“Okay, I’m not playing. You better not shoot me with that! We have business to take care of here,” Shamira said sternly and then burst out in laughter when Mitch squirted her in the face with water.
“If you want me to stop, then lift up your arms,” Mitch said, breaking out in a genuine smile while shooting Shamira with the water gun.
She turned to Hedi and laughed when she saw Anthony shooting her in the face. Hedi looked smug and unaffected while a smirk rose across her face. Valens and Kurt were smiling with their water guns ready to fire. She spied the kids surrounding them and heard their laughter, realizing they all deserved to play a bit considering many of them rarely had the chance before.
Hedi reached out and grabbed her hand, and Shamira went quickly to a squatted kick, causing Mitch to stumble. Hedi gracefully copied Shamira’s move, and Anthony didn’t budge. He laughed, and Hedi quickly recovered to snatch his water gun out of his hand. Shamira didn’t waste time as she tickled Mitch under his arm and grabbed his gun.
“How about you put your hands up, Mitch?” Shamira laughed and squirted him in the face. Hearing the commotion around the room, she looked around to see that all the kids had water guns and pointed them at Valens, Kurt, and Anthony.
“Oh, you boys are in trouble now. We have backup,” Hedi laughed.
“What makes you think I don’t have something up my sleeve for just these types of situations?” Valens asked with fake bravado.
“Um, they look like they’re pointing the guns at you guys, not at
us. I’d say no trick you have will top this treat,” Hedi replied.
“A faceoff, huh? I love it. Well, if I’m going out anyway, I may as well take my best shot. Ha!” Kurt said, firing his water gun at Hedi. The room came alive with water spraying everywhere. Kids were running and spraying water at each other. The room turned into a playground, and Shamira smiled while she took it all in. Mitch took the opportunity to attack by tickling her. She doubled over and held her stomach in laughter as a wet Valens easily lifted her and carried her out of the room through water fights and laughter.
She let him carry her over his broad muscular shoulder, and she held on to his back, feeling guilty from the tingling in her fingers when she felt his firm muscles under his shirt. “Put me down!” she laughed, but his arm just secured her at the back of her knees more snugly.
“Not until I show you something,” he said, his voice turning serious. She stopped fighting. He walked down the hallway and took her to the little girl’s room she and Hedi had hidden in days earlier. He carefully walked with her through the door. The lights flickered on, and she saw that the room was decorated in girly pastel colors. He gently and slowly slid her off his shoulder and down his chest. She closed her eyes as her feet landed on the floor and he held her briefly in a tight, warm hug. His head was tilted, and his lips were so close to her that she could feel the warmth of his breath.
“I want to show you something—something really special to me,” he said deeply. Her eyes remained closed, and the knowledge that she wanted Valens to give her that first wonderful kiss seeped into her thoughts. She pushed those thoughts from her mind, knowing she had to put them behind her.
He slowly turned her around and then placed one hand on her shoulder. Her eyes followed his pointing finger. Her gaze fell on the picture of him tickling his sister, who looked up at him with dark brown hair and sparkling eyes of adoration.
“When I look at Mina’s picture, I want to punch someone for taking her. If I don’t find her, I will have failed. My father tried to train me for the Security Force, and I refused. I wanted to be an inventor. I wanted to leave Mars and live on Earth. And now, I can’t take my selfishness back. If Dad is dead, I’ll never have the chance to tell him he was right. Mars is my home, and building a home safe for everyone is my destiny. I’m not going to fight it anymore. Looking at those kids out there, I realized any one of them could have been me. My sister could be dead from trying to mine dream,” he said, his voice breaking in emotion.
“Oh, Valens, I’m so sorry. We’ll save her,” Shamira said. She softly and hesitantly took his hand and wrapped his free arm gently around her waist. She felt him breathe out slowly.
“Shamira, before we do this tonight, I want to tell you something. I need to say it so you know how I feel about you… what you mean to me,” he rushed out, and for once, Shamira realized Valens wasn’t as controlled as he tried to be all the time.
“Shh. Don’t you say it, Valens. Not now. You give us something to fight for. Save it for when we have saved them,” she said, feeling unfulfilled at putting off his words she selfishly wanted to hear, words that would break the wall she had built around herself. She wasn’t quite ready to totally let it go.
“You’re right. You’re not ready yet, and I’m sorry,” he said and removed himself from her slowly. His presence was immediately missed. She stood and stared at Mina’s picture. Valens’ sister and thoughts of her brother came into her mind’s eye. She heard him quietly leave the room and her while she stared. A silent tear dropped from her eye. It was a tear for David and all the other kids taken like animals by Monev. She would fight and release this raging power inside her if it meant she could save them all.
Chapter 24
Breathing in the scent that was Mina’s, Shamira was ready. She left the room and walked toward the lab. A few kids were still cleaning up water, but she noticed most of them were gone. She looked in the lab to see Valens alone at the computer with his back turned toward her. Just great. I’m not quite ready to face him alone again.
“Hey, where’s everyone?” she asked. She’d expected mayhem and play to still be going on. However, she saw the serious and purpose filled faces of the kids she had passed along the way to the lab.
Valens didn’t bother to turn around. “Hedi, of course, managed to get everyone calmed down and to the training room. I’m upgrading our suits to include protection from firepower and the poison from the laser shots. No one will get shot at or hurt on our team,” Valens said while staring at the screen before him. She inhaled the heightened scent of him and realized he was indeed affected by their earlier conversation.
“Valens, I—” Shamira started, wanting to explain and apologize for her earlier actions.
He lifted a hand to stop her, never turning around, and said lightly, “Go see how training’s going. We can meet in the front room with final directions for our attack. I have to get these finished and tested quickly, before we fit everyone with them. I’ll see you then.” He continued to work as though she wasn’t there. She bowed her head and left with her heart feeling as though it were breaking.
She headed straight to the training room and realized it was rather quiet. Upon walking in, she noticed kids of all ages silently and seriously following through with the ancient martial arts moves, mimicking Kurt, who stood in front of the group. None of the kids missed a step. They acted as though their lives depended on memorizing every move. Hedi quietly made her way through the class and took a moment to wink at Shamira. Shamira smiled back. She couldn’t believe how Hedi had become her best friend, and that was something she definitely needed—a saucy, fun friend to tease out the part of her she only ever shared with David and her father. It felt good to be free. She pondered how she hurt Valens, someone that had come to be a friend and so much more. Hopefully, he would forgive her for pushing him away. One day, she would make it up to him.
She started to walk slowly around the room and was impressed with the kids large and small. A young kid around seven years old was biting his lip and growling slightly when he punched. Shamira reached out and straightened out his arm, then ruffled his hair. The boy smiled up at her with adoration in his toothless grin.
Nothing missed Hedi’s practiced eye, and Hedi nodded to Shamira. She crocked her finger for Shamira to follow. They walked toward the back of the room, and Shamira followed Hedi into the walk-in supply closet. Hedi waited for Shamira to enter, then reached over and closed the door.
“Okay, spill. I know you and Valens are having some problems. I can see it in your face,” Hedi said, looking at Shamira with true concern.
“There is no real problem. I’m just not ready for…” Shamira trailed off.
“Oh? You’re not ready to trust him? Are you crazy! He saved your life! He loves you, and everyone can see it. He looks at you as if you are the last piece of candy on this planet, and you’re afraid? Look, I have seen so much pain in my life, but I have had hope. You’ve got more than just that. You have someone that loved you even when you were blind,” Hedi said. She waited for the shocked look on Shamira’s face to fade.
“How did you know about that?” Shamira asked as she waited to see how much about her had been revealed.
“Oh, Valens told us how he met you and that when he first encountered you, you were being attacked by one of the Monev lowlifes who worked the dream ring, and you were one of his chosen victims. The guy had been tracking you for weeks, and Valens had been tracking him. Valens thought you were helpless because you were blind and seemed to stick to the shadows most of the time. Boy, was he in for a surprise when he realized that in your own way, you could see, and you were strong and well trained in protecting yourself. At first, he thought he would be your champion, but you turned out to be his,” Hedi said and reached over to touch Shamira’s shoulder in support.
“This is all new to me. I’ve always been alone, partly by choice and partly by circumstances. I wonder if this is changed because I can see? It’s a struggle
for me, but I’m getting better,” Shamira replied evenly.
“None of us care if you’re blind, deformed, or flawed. We’re all flawed. I have scars so deep they may never heal, but you have friends here—more than friends, really, because we have become family. We love you any way you are, and we will follow you anywhere. You’ve proven your worth as a friend and a champion, and I don’t doubt Valens will forgive himself for pushing you just a little too hard too fast. His scare with you being shot at shook him more than he could handle. He’ll pull it together, and so will you. Now come here and give me a hug,” Hedi said with her mischievous smile lighting up her face. Shamira hesitated for just a moment and let Hedi give her a quick, friendly hug.
“See! That wasn’t so hard. Now, let’s get out there and whip these kids into shape so we can kick Monev’s butt,” Hedi said and briskly walked past Shamira out the closet door.
She took a moment to ponder Hedi’s advice and nodded her head in agreement before she stood and followed her out the door. Anthony nodded at her when she came out of the room, and she stood in front of the straight line of kids eager to do her bidding.
Shamira closed her eyes, placing herself back to a time when she moved purely on instinct and with her second sight. She started the sequence of moves she wanted them to remember, moves that would save their lives. She showed them the tactics that would bring their opponents to their knees, no matter how large they were, and they followed her every move as quietly as she delivered them.
Chapter 25
She knew he entered the room because his scent tickled her nose. The kids in front of her slipped as they briefly glanced at Valens. Shamira figured it was time to get ready for the attack. Valens walked toward her with the look of a person coming to conduct business. She ended her lesson and stood waiting for him to approach.