Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)(58)
“I’m not sure who I am, Mathias,” I say finally.
“Then let me help you.” His midnight-blue eyes harden into steel. “He’s forbidden, and I’m too old.”
22
WE’RE APPROACHING VIRGO, and I’m locked in my cabin, mortified. I don’t see how I can face Mathias or Hysan ever again.
It’s only when I remind myself that my people have just suffered the worst disaster in Zodiac history and another House may be assaulted any minute that I snap out of my self-indulgent bad mood and leave the room. Fair or not, I don’t get to be a girl who mopes about boys.
As I approach the front of the ship, Mathias and Hysan are shouting at each other from opposite sides of the nose, while Caasy’s hanging out in the middle, sucking a grape-colored snack from a squeeze-tube, his tunnel eyes large and entranced. When I enter, they fall silent.
“There you are, oh divine one.” Caasy ogles me in an exaggerated impression of a lovesick schoolboy. “Your heavenly splendor is blinding me, your magnificent, Motherly holiness.”
Hysan and Mathias busy themselves with different screens. They set the ship down at the far end of the busy Virgo spaceport, and because we’re veiled, no one bothers us.
Hysan’s changed into a muted black court suit. “Time to dematerialize,” he says, touching his collar.
Mathias frowns. “Why do we need veils here?”
“Do they shield us from the Psy?” I ask Hysan hopefully.
“Unfortunately, no.” He lifts one shoulder. “These collars refract light. They make us invisible, nothing more.”
“In that case, I won’t be needing mine.” Mathias yanks off his collar and drops it on the console.
I lay mine down, too. Partly because I don’t like the secrecy, but mostly to make up with Mathias. Hysan just arches an eyebrow and lays his collar beside mine.
Caasy mutters, “I must update my scoreboard when we return.” I shoot him a death glare so he’ll can it before we get to Moira. He smiles penitently, pretending to get the message.
House Virgo’s largest planet is Tethys, a massive green-and-brown sphere with much stronger gravity than I’m used to. Just walking across the landing pad is strenuous. I feel like I’m carrying another person on my back. If the atmosphere weren’t so highly oxygenated, I’d be gasping for breath.
As soon as we announce ourselves to the Guards and they get word to Moira, she sends out an unmanned hover-car to take us to her capital city. Sleek burnished gold, bearing the green peridot glyph of House Virgo, the self-guided car is more magnificent than any vehicle I’ve ever seen on Cancer.
As we’re getting in, Hysan says, “She’s converted her lesser planets and moons for agriculture. Every House in the galaxy buys Virgo grain.”
“Speaking of food,” interjects Caasy, “we’re running low. You go on ahead. I’ll stay here and check the shops in the spaceport.”
“You don’t want to visit Moira?” I ask, surprised.
“A fine chef prefers to choose his own ingredients.” He gives me a cagey smile. “Go on, please. Moira and I are not the best of friends.”
He snaps a mock salute, then trundles off. He looks so innocent, a tawny cherub with bouncing curls. I wonder what he’s really up to.
The rest of us climb in, and Mathias scans the interior of the car for surveillance devices. Hysan cracks a scornful smirk. “You really don’t have to do that.”
Mathias ignores him. “Center your mind, Rho. Say your meditation chant.”
“Just leave her alone. She’ll be perfect.” Hysan folds his arms and keeps smiling.
Our car whisks out of the spaceport into rolling green fields. I’ve never seen this much tall grass in my life. So much solid land, it doesn’t seem real. Our hover-car skims over the greenery, and I twist to look around. The fields stretch to every horizon.
“Where’s the city?” I ask. Mathias is also craning and searching.
“It isn’t far,” says Hysan. “We’re almost there.”
Ahead, a light glints in the sky, then disappears. Odd. I stare in that direction and see another flash. “Was that an aircraft?”
Right in front of us, a wide swath of sky begins to flash and spark, from the ground all the way up to the clouds. Then our car runs straight into it.
For a moment, we seem to be sliding through the heart of a diamond.
Hysan grins at our reactions. “The city wall. Its mirage technology masks Moira’s capital from uninvited guests. Without a proper key, it’s impenetrable.”
The mirage wall reminds me of Hysan’s veil collars, and I wonder if he borrowed the technology from Moira.
As we cross out the other side, Mathias spins in his seat to keep scanning the wall, but my eyes are only for the city. It’s built like a needle shooting into the sky. “It looks like sterling silver,” I say.
“Osmium-iridium alloy,” says Hysan. “One of the most durable metals in the galaxy. Moira designs her cities to leave maximum acreage for growing grain.”
With a whoosh, our car begins to rise up the face of the needle, and all three of us move to the right side for a better view. The needle is so massive, it fills our window.
We ascend past a series of wide platforms, cantilevered out like leaves. They’re parking lots for hover-cars. We don’t stop, though. We’re still rising, and when I look down, the distance thrills me. Up here, the needle tapers to a point at the top, and I can see the shining gold capstone at the very peak, crowned by Virgo’s green peridot glyph, an emblem of connected lines representing the Triple Virgin.