Aqua

by Jonathan Dakin

  Chapter Eleven

  “So,” Shasa began calmly, “what do you think of our base?”

  “It’s a lot like ours,” the boy began, “except we don’t get to live on a tropical island. We live in the middle of a moor.”

  Shasa frowned. “A moor…?”

  “Oh, it’s a place with lots of hills and it rains a lot,” the plain girl answered.

  “Like a jungle?” Visola wondered. I kicked her with the side of my left foot under the table. She shouldn’t be getting involved. We were the bodyguards: the warriors.

  The three of them laughed at my sister’s question. I growled under my breath.

  “No, not at all! There’s nothing there except grass. And mud.”

  “I see,” Shasa nodded enthusiastically. “It sounds very different from the Equatorial Guinea. Have you ever been to Africa before?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “Have you ever been to Europe?” the boy enquired.

  “No,” Shasa answered sadly, “we’ve never left the country. In fact, we hardly ever leave the island…”

  They smiled politely, but I saw the two girls look towards one another in pity. It made me even more furious with them. I couldn’t wait for the interrogation to begin.

  “So what are your names?” The pretty girl asked.

  “I’m Shasa,” my sister began, “and this is my brother Madzimoyo, my other brother Gamba and my little sister Visola.”

  “That’s such a pretty name!” The plain girl told Visola. Visola smiled and nodded.

  “Why thank you! What’s yours?”

  “I’m Sefarina. This is my sister Aura, and my brother Niyol.”

  “They don’t sound very much like English names to me,” Madzimoyo deduced.

  “They’re not,” Sefarina replied, “They’re really unusual. I don’t know what my parents were thinking! Most people in England have really plain names like John and Bill and Mary…”

  “Well I think your names are really interesting!” Visola told them, and I sucked my cheeks in angrily.

  “Can you all speak English?” Niyol asked ignorantly.

  “Yes, of course,” Shasa said, “we can speak many languages. We grew up speaking Spanish and Bube- Spanish is the nation’s language and Bube is our tribal language- and we can also speak French, Portuguese, Fang- another tribal language- and of course English. We even know a little German!”

  The Ventus Trio looked genuinely impressed, and surprised.

  “Wow! That’s amazing!” the boy said, “Our country’s rubbish. They only teach us French at school, and they only teach it to us badly!”

  Shasa laughed, and Madzimoyo and Visola joined in, as did Niyol’s sisters. I didn’t respond.

  “We are really lucky. Babajide- the leader of the Aqua Cohors who you just met- made sure that we had an excellent education. He wanted to prepare us for the outside world once we were ready to leave the island.”

  “That’s good,” Niyol replied, “Sigwald- the man with the grey hair and the leader of the Ventus Cohors- also wants the best for us too.”

  The name Sigwald made us all fall into silence. Shasa shifted in her seat uncomfortably, and then moved forward so that she could look down the row of chairs, into all of our eyes. I nodded at her indicatively. It was time. We had to discover the truth, and we had to stop the threat.

  Shasa sighed. She was probably terrified. The moment had come. Madzimoyo played with his fingers nervously, and Visola elbowed me, signalling that she was prepared for a fight. Shasa sat up straight, and then cleared her throat.

  “Sigwald…” Shasa mumbled, “I’ve heard that name before…”

  “It’s quite an usual name,” Aura answered, “it’s German. You don’t often hear it in England. Maybe you’ve heard Babajide talk about him?”

  “It’s pronounced Baba-jee-day,” I told her, leaning my hulking body across the table towards her. She opened her mouth in confusion, and then pulled a face at Shasa.

  “I’m sorry, Gamba,” she said in a strange way, indicating that she might be annoyed at me for correcting her.

  “Do you have a problem with me?” I asked her, point blank. She squirmed awkwardly in her seat, and scrunched up her face. She then rolled her eyes and inhaled deeply.

  “Gamba!” Shasa cried out, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m just asking her a question,” I retorted.

  “My sister has a name,” Niyol told me, his voice deep and commanding, “and I would appreciate it if you treated my sisters with the same respect that you would treat yours.”

  I scowled at him defiantly. Who was this… boy… to come in here and dare tell me what to do? I began concentrating, and instantly began to perspire. I was readying myself for the fight that I knew was coming.

  “I’m so sorry,” Shasa apologised, “But Gamba’s a bit on edge. In fact, we all are.”

  “It must be strange, us coming into your base like this, especially since you haven’t left it much…” Sefarina tried her best to diffuse the tension that was now heating up the room, but I wasn’t going to allow her to.

  “It’s not that,” I spat at her aggressively. She shrunk back defensively, and looked genuinely hurt.

  Visola placed her hand on top of my own. “Please, cool down,” she warned me, but I ignored her plea.

  “Just what is going on?” Niyol wondered. “Is something bad happening here?”

  “You tell us!” I yelled.

  He looked towards his sisters and then back at Shasa.

  “Why is your brother being so hostile towards us?” He asked her, thinking that she was the one in charge and that she could tell me what to do. I leapt out of my seat and slammed my hands down on the desk, violently. The crashing sound made everyone jump. I glared at the boy, who looked up at me in fear.

  “You can speak directly to me,” I growled at him, leaning over the table, ready to pounce.

  “Gamba, please!” Shasa cried out, jumping to her feet. “Just wait!”

  “Why should I?” I bellowed in Spanish, “They’re guilty: I know it!”

  “No you don’t!” she told me, and then turned to Niyol.

  “Please, there’s something we have to know. We were only told about it yesterday, and we need to know if it is true.” Shasa gulped, and then continued. “Is Valeska dead?”

  “Valeska?” Aura cried out, shooting to her feet, “What the hell has Valeska got to do with anything?”

  Now it was Niyol’s turn to hurtle up, and within seconds we were all on our feet. Even Madzimoyo. Everyone was watching everyone else carefully, making sure that no one made any sudden movements.

  “Is she dead?” Madzimoyo cried out desperately.

  Niyol’s face dropped, as did Sefarina’s. Aura kept her commanding pout, and stared at us all confidently.

  “Yes,” Niyol answered quietly.

  “Did you kill her?” I launched at them. My question came out so quickly that they didn’t know how to respond to it. Niyol’s face grew even paler, and Sefarina looked down at the table, wretchedly. Aura continued with her emotionless expression, and was now glaring at me. The way they all looked… they were guilty. I knew it.

  A heavy weight dropped from my shoulders, and my muscles relaxed. Now we knew the truth, we could launch our attack. The day I had been waiting for was finally here. And I wasn’t going to take it easy on them. I closed my eyes and continued warming my body. The room was getting hotter, and more humid.

  “I don’t… I don’t…” Niyol stuttered.

  “Why should we answer that question?” Aura asked defiantly.

  “Valeska was our friend,” Visola told them. “We loved her like a sister.”

  “I cared about her.” Madzimoyo said sadly.

  “So did I…” Niyol’s words were full of remorse. He was beginning to sweat quite heavily, as the room heated up. I looked behind his head, and saw perspiration begin to drip down the white walls.


  “Did you kill her or not?” Shasa repeated. “We have to know. It’s important.”

  “I don’t see why we should be talking about this now!” Aura shouted. “Didn’t Babajide tell you about the fight that happened at the docks in Southampton?”

  “Of course,” Shasa replied.

  “So why don’t you know what happened to Valeska?”

  “We only know that there was a big fight, and many people died. We didn’t know until yesterday that Valeska was even involved. We also didn’t know that the Inimicus…”

  “What do you know about the Inimicus?” Niyol interrupted fearfully.

  “Not as much as you do,” I answered coldly.

  “That’s not fair,” Aura interjected. “You don’t know what happened! You don’t know anything!”

  “All we know is that Valeska was murdered by the people who turned against her.”

  “She turned against us first!” Niyol admitted, guilt streaming out of his face along with his sweat.

  That was it. The admission of guilt. It was all I needed to know. It signalled to me that I could make the first move. I looked over at Shasa, pain spreading across her face as her eyes welled up with emotion. The room became even hotter and stickier.

  “So you did kill her?” Madzimoyo wanted confirmation, but I didn’t need it.

  “Yes!” Aura screeched angrily, “Yes we did! Are you happy now??”

  “Not at all…” Shasa replied.

  She then gave me the nod. I could feel that Visola was ready to fight too. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and then opened them as quickly as I could. It was time to take down Team Ventus.