Cyberlink Cove

Chapter 22

CYBERLINK COVE (REEF’S HEAD)-2078

 

Mina could sense the trepidation expanding outwards in all directions from Es. The willowy twenty year old with hair infused with sunlight and lemons was positively terrified. Mina thought of the notorious Li Chang, and she internally shuddered.

 

However, Es had more of a reason to fear the rogue pirate. Valeriya “Val” Popov was Esmeralda’s older sister by a decade. Mina could remember her clearly; Val’s saffron yellow braid hanging down to her waist (though not as bright as Esmeralda’s), her soft smile and quirky deep blue eyes. Her easygoing attitude, transforming into a ferocious lion if someone dared to harm one of the other pirates. Val’s eyes were the color of the depthless ocean, unlike Esmeralda’s crystalline ones the same shade of the sky on a clear summer day.

 

It was suspected that Li had killed Valeriya. Val had been doing a routine check of the various boats moored on Reef's Head. She never returned, and her body was found with the eyes gouged out. Esmeralda, only ten at the time, had been emotionally traumatized. She officially became a pirate at eighteen, though during her adolescent and teen years, Esmeralda suffered from frequent nightmares and hallucinations, all of them involving the notorious Li Chang. After having the same barbaric fate befall her left eye, Esmeralda's fear of him multiplied as she transitioned from a girl into a woman, and the inevitable confrontation that would take place on the warship wasn't something Esmeralda was looking forward to.

 

Mina and Es arrived at the door that would lead them to Li. "This is it," Mina breathed. Esmeralda swallowed nervously and nodded. Right as she set a trembling hand on the doorknob, the seemingly locked door sprang open, shocking the pair of pirates. Before either of them had any idea of what was going on, there were multiple guns pointed at their heads; one held by Isko, the second-in-command aboard the Iron Maiden, one held by Zander McLeod, one held by Ria Sonawane, and the final one held by the nefarious Li Chang himself.

"Anyone out there, stop where you are and hide," Mina muttered as discreetly as possible into her comm link. Albert and Aki skidded to a halt in Mina's periphery, and promptly turned back the way they came. Gail and Eli also took Mina's advice and stayed hidden.

 

We're in a shitload of trouble, Mina thought grimly. Good thing Francie's job is to get us out of it.

 

Zander McLeod narrowed his eyes into suspicious slits, taking in the sudden appearance of Mina Wistmore and Esmeralda Popov. He definitely recognized Mina-the pirate who'd escaped governmental custody the year before-but he wasn't sure who the blond one was, though her features seemed eerily familiar...was it the way her stance shifted at the government agents wielding the firearms, or was it the golden hair that he could just barely make out under her hood? Was it the way she held herself; like a tiger about to pounce, ready to defend her companion at all costs, or was it the steely glint he detected in her uncovered eye?

 

A memory flashed before his eyes. McLeod hated this one with a burning passion. He recalled a freighter-it could've been any freighter, though, it could've been a mistaken for a warship based upon the number of armaments onboard, but he knew for certain it was a freighter. Zander McLeod had orders to defend the ship, along with Alex McLeod. They weren't given a reason; they didn't need a reason. All they knew was that this freighter must not fall to the pirates. And that was reason enough for the two brothers.