Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)(78)
There’s a flutter overhead, and I look up to see the faint shades of three large, birdlike creatures silhouetted against the fabric sky. Mathias aims his laser, but his mother says, “It’s all right. They’re friends.”
The bird-shaped devices glide across the street and enter the broken window, merging into darkness. Whatever they are, they seem to absorb almost every photon of light.
“Cancrian Secret Service. Ambassador Sirna sent them.” Amanta parts her cloak, and in the dimness, I see she’s wearing body armor underneath. She draws a fresh laser cartridge from her belt, breaks open her weapon, and reloads it.
“Holy Mother has made enemies here,” she says. “We feared there might be trouble.”
“It was Ophiuchus,” I say.
“We’ll track the shooters down. Trust me, we’ll find out who did this.”
Mathias steps toward her, and they press the backs of their right hands together. Such a simple ordinary gesture, and yet I can almost feel the current of emotion flowing through their touch.
“There may be other snipers.” Amanta steps out to check the street, then motions us to follow. “Keep to the shadows. We’ll need to hide Holy Mother in the safe house tonight.”
? ? ?
Amanta guides us to Sirna’s safe house.
As soon as we enter a side door, we pass through the pale blue rays of a biometric security scan. Then she leads us down a flight of stairs, through a steel gate, and down an elevator to a deep sub-basement. After another bio scan, she opens a pair of thick, heavy doors, and we enter what feels like a vault. It’s strange to see Cancrians using so much stealth technology. It’s not our style.
The common room has a wallscreen, a couple of faded sofas, a kitchen alcove, and a lavatory at the back. Doors on either side lead to small bunkrooms, and in the center of the room, Sirna is waiting.
“It’s good to see you unharmed, Guardian.”
“I need everyone to keep their Ephemerii away from here,” I announce in a loud voice. Now that I’m almost certain Ochus knows I’m on Aries, he might be able to track me down through people using the Psy near me.
“Mathias has already informed us that everywhere you enter must be kept free of devices connected to the Psy,” says Sirna. “He said the people behind the attacks have been using Psynergy against you, and that’s why you can’t do your readings.”
I look at Mathias. His father is tending to his arm. It’s hard to stick to any decision I make about him. Just when I think I can’t forgive him for not believing me, he goes and saves my life.
“About the troops gathering on Phobos,” says Sirna, giving me the briefing she tried to give earlier, when I stormed out of her office. I wouldn’t listen before, but as she shares more details, I begin to understand the wider implications. “My agents have infiltrated their subterranean camp. They call themselves the Marad, and they are being funded by someone with deep pockets.”
“They’re the ones who stirred up the worker revolt on the Sagittarian moon,” adds Amanta, “and they may be behind . . . other terrorist attacks as well.” It’s clear she meant to say what happened to our moons and Virgo, but she doesn’t want to contradict me publicly.
“We think they’ve established cells in every House,” says Sirna.
“Who are they?” asks Mathias. “What do they want?”
“We don’t know their objective yet. The recruits are mostly teenagers. Unemployed Scorp dropouts. Child laborers from the Geminin mines. Impoverished slum dwellers from Phaetonis. Risers from every House.” Sirna touches her blue brooch and gets a faraway look, as if she’s listening to a private message.
A Riser is a person born into the wrong House. It’s a change that happens when a person’s exterior persona conflicts so strongly with their internal identity that they begin to develop the personality and physical traits of a different House. And it can happen at any age.
Most people handle it well and either choose to stay on their home planets and continue living their lives, or move to the House that reflects their rising persona. There are rare cases where the change doesn’t take well, and a Riser can have an unbalanced ratio of personality traits from their new and old Houses. Sometimes it deforms them. Sometimes it turns them into monsters.
“Are they being brainwashed?” I ask.
She drops her hand and looks me in the eye. “They’re being fed, clothed, and welcomed into a group for the first time in their lives. You might call that brainwashing.”
Amanta lifts off her heavy armored vest. “We count fewer than a hundred thousand troops so far, but new recruits arrive daily.”
“The expense to house and train them must be substantial,” says Mathias, his voice distant, like he’s lost in thought. “You don’t know who the backer is?”
After a moment, Sirna says, “We’re trying to track the money flow. No single individual could afford so much. We suspect a wider conspiracy.”
Egon finishes bandaging his son’s arm. He’s been quiet throughout the discussion, but now he asks, “Do you think some of the Houses might be in league, like the Trinary Axis of old?”
“That’s what we fear most,” whispers Sirna.
Everyone falls silent. No one wants to believe that could happen again.