Page 2 of Capture of Capricorn (The Thirteenth Zodiac #3)

Capricorn crouched behind a wooden crate, waiting. He kept his breathing shallow lest it be heard. Hunting took patience. The slightest movement, sound, even a soft exhalation, could give away his position.

The sword in his hand fit comfortably. Some of his brothers liked to rely on firearms. Capricorn tended to choose what fit the situation.

A gun could be practical in some fights, the long-range missile giving a kill without getting close, but sometimes silence was needed, and for that, a sharp blade did the trick.

The hairs on his nape lifted, and without even turning to look, Capricorn whirled and swung, scything his sword across the creature that crept up behind. He took it out just above the joint for its leg, toppling the oversized hairy beast. Another twirl took its head.

Victory!

The training simulation suddenly faded to show a flashing message midair. Aries wants you in his office asap.

The boss must have a new mission. Sweet.

Training in the safety of Tower was all well and good, but Capricorn preferred to be in the field actually making a difference.

As a Zodiac Warrior, he had a duty to protect Earth and its inhabitants from the monsters that human law enforcement was ill-equipped to handle.

He exited the chamber they used for battle simulation and headed up the stairs, wondering where he’d be going next.

Hopefully, somewhere warm. While the cold didn’t affect the warriors, he preferred the freedom of movement that came with having to wear fewer layers so he didn’t stand out.

People tended to remark on a guy standing out in freezing weather wearing only a T-shirt and shorts.

A brisk knock on the bossman’s door led to a shouted, “Come in.”

Upon entering the office, Capricorn noticed Aries sitting behind his desk looking grim.

Then again, the man rarely wore a different expression.

The sight of Sage, Aries’ wife, sitting in a chair, hands resting over her rounded belly had him tingling in anticipation.

Only one reason she’d be present. Looked like it was his turn to be sent on a mythic quest.

“So, we have a mission for you,” Aries started to say.

“Hell yeah. My turn to Indiana Jones the shit out of the next artifact. Yeehaw.” Capricorn rubbed his hands together. He’d heard the stories of how his brothers had found some ancient relics. Locating long-lost caverns, evading traps, solving puzzles… Capricorn couldn’t wait to crush his mission.

“Not exactly,” Aries replied. “Seems like Cetus already has it in their custody. Your job is to extract it from their secret base in Area 51.”

The statement raised Capricorn’s brow. “Um, isn’t that an old military installation, meaning I can’t beam in—or out.

” Something about the underground base prevented them from using their starbeaming power, a fancy word for essentially dematerializing in one place and ending up in another—hopefully with everything intact.

“Yes. Plus, it’s going to be guarded to the nines,” Aries added, steepling his fingers.

The info brought a frown. “Then how exactly am I supposed to retrieve it? We going in with the whole gang?”

“No, just you,” Aries stated.

It was Sage who next murmured, “I’m afraid, for this next task to work, you’ll have to be captured.”

His jaw dropped. “You want me to lose on purpose?” The very idea made him cringe.

“It’s the only way to win,” Sage replied. “Yours is the most important task, because if you fail, the world dies with you.”

No pressure.

Fuck.

“Are we sure about the captured part? I mean, surely there’s a backdoor I can sneak in, locate the relic, and then hightail it out. Soon as I get it outside, I should be able to beam my ass and the artifact out of there.”

Aries glanced at Sage, who shook her head. “Attempting to enter via subterfuge will fail.”

“But I’ll succeed if I let them nab me?”

“Maybe.”

He arched a brow. “That’s not exactly reassuring.”

Sage waved her hands. “The future is murky beyond your capture. I don’t see if you succeed or not. All I know is, it has to be you who attempts to retrieve it.”

“I have every faith in you,” Aries added. “After all, weren’t you bragging just the other night about being the best on the team?”

He had. In Capricorn’s defense, he’d downed a few shots of whiskey. “How soon should I leave?”

“In the morning,” Sage declared. “But I wouldn’t recommend starbeaming too close to the site.”

“Let me guess, you saw that going bad.”

“Well, you’d still end up where you should be, but how do you feel about a new scar?”

“Chicks dig scars.”

“This one would run from jawline to eye socket and you’d lose part of your left ear.”

Mar his pretty face? “Guess I’m taking a portal then. Anything else I should know?”

Sage stared at him with eyes that swirled with freakiness. “This mission will either make or break the world.”

“In other words, don’t fuck up,” Aries growled.

“Who, me?” Capricorn exclaimed. Then grinned. “Don’t worry. I got this.” Because failure wasn’t an option.

Despite being told he should hand himself over to the bad guys, Capricorn spent some time looking for another option.

A warrior did not simply give up! Although he couldn’t help recalling Sage’s conviction that capture gave him the best shot.

Handing himself over to the bad guys would certainly get him inside, but still, knowing Cetus—a company with nefarious dealings that on the surface appeared to be all about the climate and fixing it, but they were actually seeking the same artifacts as the Zodiacs and had tried to kidnap some of his brothers—he worried about what they’d do once they had him in their clutches.

With the help of Aquarius, their tech guy, they took a peek at Area 51.

Aquarius pulled up satellite images of Area 51, of which there were only few because, imagine that, the government didn’t want plebes spying on their super-secret site.

Although there were plenty who tried via all kinds of means.

Renting a plane to fly over and take pics.

Using drones fitted with cameras. Plenty of shaky video of folks trying to climb the fence and getting caught right away.

What he did learn was the site comprised a few buildings and hangars, but everyone knew the true facility was underground. While they could find no schematics for the base, Capricorn did get a feel for the terrain surrounding it.

Area 51 resembled a barren-ish wasteland.

Scorching heat during the day led to hard-packed dirt and scrubby plants.

Despite its less-than-hospitable climate, the area was popular enough to support a variety of alien-themed restaurants and stores selling related merchandise.

People trekked to the spot from around the world in the hopes of catching a glimpse of something they could post about online.

When it came to infiltrating, Capricorn could easily evade the checkpoints manned by soldiers by climbing the chain-link fence plastered with Restricted Area signs. However, those weren’t the only protective measures being used to keep people out.

Aquarius zoomed in on an image of the perimeter and pointed. “Seems like there are sensors for motion detection not just running along the fence line but also sporadically placed within the secured area. I see cameras as well.”

“What if I starbeamed right outside a ventilation shaft to avoid them?” Capricorn asked, even as he recalled Sage’s warning. He wasn’t keen on a disfiguring scar.

“One, we’d have to find one. Their vents are camouflaged pretty well. Second, I would wager all ingress points have, if not cameras then, most likely, alarms.”

“Can’t you remotely disable them?” Capricorn asked.

“If I had access to their network, yes, but it appears they run everything internally, meaning no one can do shit from the outside. Even if I could divert the cameras and motion sensors and entry point alarms, there’s the AI drones.”

“Bah, drones are easy to shoot down, and given they rely on someone controlling them, surely you can intercept the signal.”

“Not these ones.” Aquarius pulled up some videos he found on the dark web, which showed a dark-colored, military-grade drone.

“They’ve got Skynet two point oh’s roaming the sky.

They don’t require a human operator, as their AI programming has them smart enough to fly themselves.

They are also unhackable, at least according to my hacker peers, as well as bulletproof.

I don’t see how you can avoid being spotted by one. ”

Capricorn sighed. “So what you’re saying is, I’m either going in guns blazing and shooting the fuck out of everything, or I’m letting them capture me.”

“You know Sage wouldn’t have suggested it without reason.”

And usually, the warriors listened. After all, she was rarely mistaken in her advice.

Still, Capricorn couldn’t help but whine. “It just feels so wrong to hand myself over to Cetus. I thought that was the last thing we wanted, given they’ve been trying to get their hands on us to do some sciency shit.” AKA, Cetus wanted to dissect and analyze what made the Zodiac Warriors special.

“I doubt they’ll figure out what makes us special. It’s more than genetics.” A reminder that their powers, given to them by the stars themselves, were astrophysical in nature. Or, as outsiders called it, magical.

“You think it’s true they have the third artifact?” Aquarius asked.

“Sage claimed they do, and she also keeps muttering about a thirteenth Zodiac,” reminded Capricorn, and that wasn’t the pregnancy hormones talking.

A previously blank medallion in the portal room—which until now had only twelve spots for the dozen warriors—was two-thirds full. What would happen when it became whole? Would a new warrior suddenly join them?

“You know, there is some historical basis for a thirteenth, called Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer.”

“Never heard of him.”