[OLD PREVIEW] The Phoenix Project (#3)

Three

"So, Zodiac," Ivy said, snapping Victoria out of her anxious thoughts about Claire. "Twelve branches. Scorpion is, what, fighting? Their army? And Cancer is science?"

"Those are two of the big ones," Malcolm said. "You've also got Maiden, who supplies them with weapons, and Taurus, which is construction. For example, Cancer designs the soldiers, but Taurus is the one that builds them. Twin does other research, mostly government stuff for Scales, the intelligence organization." He paused before adding, "Scales is probably the group that sent out spies to plant the bombs Scorpion planned to set off in May."

"What about Capricorn?" Victoria asked. "Containment, right? As in prisoners?"

"Yes," Malcolm said. "It's pretty much their prison."

"Do you know why it's abandoned?"

Malcolm frowned. "Abandoned?"

"Yeah. We hiked through the mountains forever to find it and the place was empty," Victoria told him.

"That is strange," Malcolm said. "They must have left it recently, although I can't imagine why."

"Do you know anything about a giant robot?" Spencer asked.

"No."

"What are the rest of their branches?" Ivy asked.

"The rest are smaller. Some don't even have their own building, just a floor at Zodiac. Aries is strategy. Pisces is information—basically just file storage. Lion is management, and Centaur does tech-related work. They collaborate with Cancer sometimes." Malcolm tipped his head to the side. "Oh, and how could I forget Aquarius. Perhaps the most important one of all."

"Aquarius," Dr. Newman muttered. "I saw the name in our files, but there wasn't much information on it."

"Yes, well, Aquarius is the resources division," Malcolm explained. "Where do you think all of Zodiac's money comes from?"

"I thought they stole everything," Ivy said.

"Yes, a lot of it is stolen, but you can't really steal a building. Well, I guess you could, but...never mind. My point is, Aquarius is a front of sorts. They're technically a legitimate company, but all of their profits go toward funding Cancer's experiments and getting weapons for other branches of Zodiac."

"Where do they get their money? What do they do?"

"They own a lot of properties, and sell tech that the other divisions come up with. I believe the military is using a couple of weapons they designed."

"Well if Claire's not at Capricorn, where is she then?" Victoria did her best to keep her voice steady, but she was terrified.

To make matters worse, Dad hadn't answered his phone when Victoria tried calling to tell him what had happened, and in the days since she'd been unable to contact him.

"Honestly?" Malcolm asked. "I'd bet anything Claire's at Cancer. Her abilities are very unique. I'm sure John's team has been dying to study them."

"Are they experimenting on her?"

All Malcolm had to offer was a shrug. Victoria gritted her teeth and dug her fingernails into the table. "We need to find her. Now."

"I agree," Spencer said, standing up. "If she's at Cancer, then who knows what they're doing with her."

Malcolm laughed. "Oh please. Cancer is one of the most heavily guarded Zodiac facilities. Probably third to Zodiac itself and Scorpion, before you blew it up. You're not going to just waltz in there and grab your friend."