Becoming Zodiak Page 9

  Jimmy sat forward in his seat, more to move Shane out of his line of vision than anything else. “So are you able to tell us what the events are?”

  Leo’s smile faded. “Not exactly. That’s part of the test. As Zodiak, we are never one hundred per cent sure of what we’re walking into, so the competition will be much the same.”

  “That sounds fair,” Claire added.

  “Most of what I can say, you already know,” she continued. “There are five competitors and four events, with one person eliminated after each event. That will leave us with the new Taurus.”

  “How is the old Taurus doing?” Shane asked.

  Leo stiffened. “That’s one of the things I’d rather not talk about.”

  She paused, removed the look of concern from her face, and carried on. “The first event is all about speed and accuracy. The second will show your agility, the third your power, and the final one is a combination of all, including your intellect. Brian, you’re the expert—I’ll only cut in if I truly can help. Jimmy, I think you’re in good hands here.”

  Jimmy looked over at Brian with true respect. “I think so too.”

  Leo smacked her hands onto her thighs. “Okay, should we get down to the arena? Get a little training done?”

  “Um, one question,” Shane said, his hand in the air.

  “You don’t have to put your hand up, loser,” Jimmy teased.

  “Whatever… Leo, how did you get selected for Zodiak? I bet you didn’t have to go through this.”

  “No, you’re right. My father, he was a world-class motor racer. Before one of his races, people asked him to lose on purpose, and he said no.” Leo’s expression grew cold, unfeeling. “They put a bomb under his car, detonated it just as my mother was giving him her usual kiss for luck before a race. I was seven. I saw it happen. By the time I was twelve, nearly thirteen, I was a champion gas-powered go-kart racer, and one day Virgo and Lord Crabbe came to see me. They said they recognized my skills and wanted me to be part of a team that would stop crime. After what happened to my parents? I was never going to say no.”

  “I’m so sorry,” said Claire, placing her hand on Leo’s.

  “That was five years ago,” Leo said, her face breaking into something sunnier. “Now I get to hunt down bad guys and drive the fastest street car on the planet. You’re this close to being part of it, Jimmy. Let’s go do some training to bring you even closer.”

  The main arena took everyone’s breath away. The whole place was lit up as cameramen checked out different filming angles and levels of brightness. Shane, Claire and Leo sat in the first row of seats as Brian dug into his kit bag and took Jimmy first through a warm-up and then into a kickboxing sparring session. Jimmy donned the gloves first and Brian pulled on the contact mitts. He offered them up in turn, giving Jimmy instruction.

  “Left, left, right… Left, right, uppercut… Right, left, hook…”

  Jimmy responded to the calls, moving his feet into the right positions, his hands fast and forceful through the air. After four rounds of three minutes, Brian pulled on his own boxing gloves and Shane fastened their head guards into place.

  One of the cameramen picked up on the workout and transmitted the picture onto the massive screens, both easily as big as a tennis court, at each end of the Dome. Jimmy and Brian traded blows without noticing.

  “Time!” Brian eventually called, and the exhausted pair bumped their gloves together. “Good session.”

  “Did you see yourself up there?” Shane asked.

  “Up where?” Jimmy exhaled. He tore off his head guard and sweat dripped to the floor. His hair looked dark and glued to his scalp. Brian looked like he could keep going all day long.

  Leo pointed up at the screens. “You were up on there and your focus was so strong that you didn’t even notice. That is impressive.”

  “Thanks,” Jimmy said bashfully.

  “You look like you’re in great shape,” she told him, nodding confidently. “Now make sure you get plenty of rest. Things get serious in five days’ time!”

  21

  After escorting Jimmy and his family back to his rooms on the top floor of the Dome, Leo returned to the arena where most of Zodiak were waiting. They had been able to take very little rest and relaxation over the recent weeks, and Leo was pleased to see that at least some of them were making the most of it. Only Virgo, Lord Crabbe and Libra were absent. The team, as instructed by Lord Crabbe, wore their Zodiak tracksuits. Although William Walsh had issued strict instructions that cameras were not to be switched on when Zodiak were using the arena for meetings or training, Crabbe did not want the image of Zodiak compromised. He wanted every criminal to know that the team was ready to move at a moment’s notice. Because they were.

  Scorpio had brought his motorcycle inside and was tinkering with the tail. He fussed over the mechanism that brought the protective shell up and over his body, shaking his head as it failed to lock in position. He snapped his fingers and a maintenance robot no bigger than the size of his hand scuttled up atop the motorcycle and adjusted a bolt. Scorpio hit a button and the shell slotted into place. He exhaled roughly in satisfaction and turned his back on the bike. From inside the protective skin, the robot beeped angrily and, with a grin, Scorpio ignored it.

  “Little know-it-all,” he muttered.

  Sagittarius was sat on the floor, adjusting the tension on her bowstring while Gemini, as usual, sat off on his own and observed everyone else. Pisces and Aquarius lay on the floor, arm-wrestling while Capricorn refereed.

  “Come on, Jose,” she laughed. “Emma’s kicking your butt!”

  “Oh, come now,” he said softly. “I am a Latino. We know it is better to let the lady think she is in charge, and then…” He tensed his bicep and pushed with all his might. Emma Sease, better known as Pisces, used his force against him and ended the contest with a holler.

  “Mister Fernandez, you owe me a dinner!” she exclaimed.

  Leo, who had strolled up next to Scorpio moments before, looked up at the arena and asked, “So what do you make of them?”

  Scorpio looked up from his bike. “I want nothing to do with this. Is this how we became part of Zodiak? This freak show?”

  “I’m with Arnold,” Aries stated. “There’s only one way to make us twelve again, and that is to bring Martin back.”

  “You know he’s commentating on the show, yes?” Gemini asked. “I saw the advertisement. ‘The Inside View with the Bull.’”

  “How can you possibly know that?” Aries retorted.

  Libra strode into the arena. “Because he’s Gemini! He’s Mister Janus. And if you know your mythology, the Janus Man sees all. Ain’t that right, Christian?”

  Gemini responded with a single confident nod of his head. “Is my job,” he said simply, and as Libra walked past him they bumped fists.

  “So who did you get sent to talk to?” Leo asked.

  “The French kid,” Libra replied. “Real good athlete. Terrible name.” He put on his worst French accent. “Francois Bove!”

  “Ouch. That’s tenuous,” Capricorn said.

  “I don’t get,” Sagittarius confessed.

  Erica Price, Capricorn, explained. “Bove... Bovine… “

  Sagittarius still looked confused.

  “Cattle!” Erica said. “Like a bull.”

  “Apparently he’s a top-level sprinter,” Libra said, picking up the thread. “But I can tell you now, he doesn’t want to be here. His dad is pushing him, using the memory of his grandparents to keep him going. The poor kid is terrified.”

  Leo ground her teeth in response. She decided to bring some positivity to the discussion. “I saw the Taurus kid. He’s from Wales. I like him. His foster dad is Brian Mills, and he’s putting him through his paces. It looks like he’s been training for this for years.”

  Sagittarius set her bow on the floor and stood up. “I spent twenty minutes with Duane Bullock and his ego. He basically told me he doesn’t need any help because
he’s been getting along fine on his own for years. You know what? I think he’s going to win, but he’ll need to be put in his place.”

  Scorpio marched across the arena, an indignant scowl on his face. “Leave that to me.”

  “I don’t know,” said Capricorn. “She may be little, but the girl from India might be the surprise package in all this. She’s got some moves and she’s not scared to use them. Varsha is quite the competitor.”

  “Who’s the last one?” Leo asked after a few moments of silence. “Who went to see them?”

  No one answered. Leo looked at each member of her team one by one until Scorpio spoke up, the look of disgust on his face making his opinion very clear.

  “Carl Horn, another Brit. But as I’ve said, I don’t want anything to do with this. I’m not helping any of these kids replace Martin.”

  “Arnold, you’re an idiot sometimes,” Emma Sease spat as she made for the exit. “Someone tell Lord Crabbe that Pisces will look after Carl.”

  “Fine by me,” Scorpio snarled.

  “What is fine by you, Scorpio?” Lord Crabbe asked as he slowly pushed his wheelchair into the arena.

  Virgo walked by his side. Her skin was grey and she looked as though she had gone for multiple days without sleep. The assembled members of Zodiak were once more shocked by her decline. Leo stared at Scorpio, and, combined with seeing the condition of Virgo, he wilted under her gaze. The reality of Virgo’s transformation from the powerful woman who looked over each and every one of them into this fragile creature finally hit home.

  “Lord Crabbe—” Scorpio began just as Virgo’s legs gave out from underneath her. Crabbe tried to catch her but only managed to get himself dragged from his wheelchair, and the two of them crumpled to the floor. Amid a rush of noise and activity, Aquarius and Scorpio quickly lifted him back to his chair while Libra hurried to Virgo, taking on his role as her personal bodyguard. He carefully turned her over, and when her eyes met his, he flinched away in fear.

  Her pupils had completely disappeared and her eyes had taken on the dull and lifeless glaze of a reptile egg. Her body shuddered and her mouth opened wide with a hiss.

  “Red eyes,” screamed a voice that was not hers. It was deep, and it resonated around the arena. “Beware the red eyes that watch over you all.”

  Then her mouth and eyes closed, her limbs fell limp, and she collapsed into Libra’s arms.

  22

  Jimmy let the warm water of the shower beat down on the top of his head. He was reminded of the day this had all began for him at the paintball club, and how Dale had pushed him, looking for a fight. Jimmy saw the parallels between Dale and Duane, the two of them doubting Jimmy’s ability—and both, he hoped, being proven wrong. Jimmy hated bullies. He disliked anyone who would try to take advantage of someone else’s weakness. The idea of having come across another Dale in this competition made him all the more determined to succeed.

  There had been a time when Jimmy’s first instinct would have been to drive a fist into both of their faces and ask questions later, but he was different now. He was a better person now, and that was because of the life and the home that Brian and Claire had given him. And then there was Shane. The brother he had never had and a best friend the likes of which could only be dreamed of. Shane was due to arrive any minute—Mister Walsh had, as Peter, his head of security, had promised, organized a private visit to the funfair.

  Heavy knocking on his door dragged Jimmy out of the shower, and he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked through to let his brother in.

  He was shocked to see Leo at the door, and then immediately uncomfortable dressed as he was.

  “Oh—oh, sorry,” he stuttered. “I was expecting Shane.”

  Leo looked more flustered than Jimmy. “He won’t be coming,” she said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. “Something has happened and the building has been locked down.”

  Jimmy saw how pale Leo looked. “What?”

  “Virgo collapsed. She’s going to be okay, but for now the competition is on standby. There’s to be no training, and I’m sorry, you’ve got to stay in your room.”

  Jimmy’s mouth dropped open.

  “That’s not the worst of it,” Leo continued. “One of the cameras had been left on and filmed it all. It seems a member of Walsh’s staff leaked it, and it’s all over the news.”

  “Mister Walsh wouldn’t let that happen,” Jimmy stated. “He’d pull the plug on the transmission, right?”

  “It’s not going out on WWW,” she explained. “The cameraman sold it to Wolf News and they’ve got it on loop.”

  She picked up the remote control to the television, turned it on and selected the channel. She pointed at the screen, which showed a sickly-looking Virgo in Libra’s arms.

  “Beware the red eyes… Beware the red eyes that watch over you all.”

  “What does that mean?” Jimmy asked.

  “We don’t know, but it’s not good.”

  Jimmy backed away from the TV, unable to take his eyes off of Virgo, and he picked up the phone. “I need to phone my family.”

  He punched numbers in. “Shane? Are you all okay? I’m fine. Tell Brian and Claire that I’m fine… Okay… Yeah. I’ve seen it… Okay, I’ll call you when I know more. Take it easy, bro.”

  He hung up and turned back to Leo. “Give me a second to put some clothes on.”

  “Don’t worry, I have to go,” she said. “Zodiak are heading back to our base to make sure Virgo is able to recover properly. When everything is all right, Walsh is going to make an announcement on our behalf, but we’ll make sure you know before then.”

  Jimmy’s eyes flickered to the television again. “I hope she’s okay.”

  “Me too,” Leo said, her eyes suddenly shining with tears. “But if she isn’t, then you have to prepare yourself for the possibility that the competition might be put on hold indefinitely.”

  23

  Back at the briefing room in Zodiak’s underground base, the team sat in silence waiting for Virgo and Lord Crabbe to arrive.

  “This is bigger than any of us could have imagined,” Pisces said sadly. Like the rest of her teammates, she looked stressed and upset.

  “What did she mean by the red eyes?” Libra asked. “Or worse, who did she mean?”

  No one had an answer they were prepared to say out loud, and they were glad when the door slid open and Virgo slowly walked in, followed by Lord Crabbe in his wheelchair. He wore his usual tweed suit and a blue cravat embroidered with his insignia: ♋

  “I think it’s time we told you all what’s been going on,” he announced as Libra gently helped Virgo into her chair. “We did not know how dire the situation had become until just this afternoon.”

  “Ever since the events in Liverpool, when Taurus told us he was leaving Zodiak, I have felt weak,” Virgo began, her voice slow and reedy. “But you all know that. You have seen how I have become.”

  Most of the team were unable to make eye contact with her. For her to voice their concerns out loud made them all the more real.

  “I have felt that my powers, my senses, were being blocked by some force beyond this world.”

  Sagittarius spoke for everyone when she asked, “Do you mean…from your home?”

  “I was unsure, so dark was the shroud that had fallen over me,” Virgo answered. “Now I know. My strength has been drawn from the Twelve, from us being united as a single entity. But now we are eleven… I think the weakness in our numbers has been recognized.”

  “By darkness,” Libra stated.

  “By an agent of The Darkness, yes.” Virgo’s voice was full of sadness and an emotion Zodiak did not expect from her. Fear.

  Scorpio pushed his chair back and stood up, placing his hands on the table in front of him.

  “Arnold! If this is going to be another rant about the competition to find our new Taurus, I suggest you leave now,” Crabbe snapped. “If you cannot see the importance—”

&
nbsp; “Lord Crabbe… Virgo… I am sorry,” Scorpio said, ignoring Crabbe’s outburst. “I have been selfish. I now understand how important it is that we replace Martin immediately. I accept what needs to happen and I swear that I shall give you my full support from now on.”

  There was silence for a moment. Then Virgo smiled benevolently. “Thank you, my son,” she said.

  “Please be seated,” Crabbe instructed.

  “In a moment,” Scorpio said forcibly. “Aries? Are you with us too?”

  “Of course,” she whispered. She looked Crabbe right in the eyes. “But does it need to be done like this?”

  “So publicly?” Gemini chipped in.

  “I sometimes think this situation would be a great deal easier if Taurus had died on that street,” Crabbe said. He raised his hand as members of the team, led by Aries, began to object. “Because the overwhelming feeling you would be suffering would be grief. But now? You feel grief, yes, of course you do. One of your team has gone. But you feel anger. You feel betrayal. Am I right?”

  “And that makes it worse,” Aries croaked. Tears ran down her cheeks.

  Capricorn put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “It’s how we are all feeling,” she told Aries.

  “We have all lost someone so very close to us,” Crabbe continued. “And that loss, because of who we are, has been played out in a very public environment. But we have each suffered loss before, and we have each shown how strong we can be before. We can do it again now. Especially as, this time, it is Virgo who needs our strength.”

  Aries swiped away her tears and stood up with a resolute nod. One by one, the rest of the team joined her.

  “I give you all the strength I possess,” she said.

  Virgo then rose to her feel, the brightness that was her essence returning to her face for the briefest of moments. Her eyes burnt with the intensity of a crack of lightning.

  “Your strength is all I need,” she replied.