Chapter 93-Want her alive

Chapter 93: 93-Want her alive

The rescue platform descended toward the ocean. Cold seawater splashed against its metal surface as it approached the wreckage.

Aymara watched from the observation deck, her eyes fixed on the three survivors.

Two appeared to be young men, while the third was a woman whose soaked hair clung to her face.

The woman looked barely conscious. The man with the firearm noticed the approaching platform and immediately raised both hands.

"Please! We’re not armed anymore!" He quickly explained.

Aymara’s eyebrows lifted. She wasn’t convinced at all because the system already told her otherwise. Not armed anymore? That was an interesting choice of words.

"System, scan the wreckage around them," she ordered in a voice so cold it felt like it was made of ice.

[Scanning complete.]

[Two additional firearms detected beneath floating debris.]

[One concealed blade detected on the male survivor’s right ankle.]

Aymara’s lips curved into a humorless smile. "How reassuring to know."

The rescue platform stopped beside the lifeboat. A mechanical arm extended, securing the floating debris before the survivors could be pulled beneath it.

The first young man scrambled onto the platform. He immediately collapsed, coughing seawater onto the metal floor.

The second followed, dragging the woman with him. Aymara waited until all three were safely aboard before speaking.

"What are your names?"

The man with the hidden blade looked up."I’m Daniel."

The other young man swallowed. Hard. "I’m Marcus, ma’am," he sounded polite.

The woman struggled to raise her head. She was more tired than the other two and her eyes were growing lucid by the minute.

"Celyn..." she said. Weak.

Aymara nodded. "Good to know. I’m Aymara. You’re on my ship now which means you’ll follow my rules."

Daniel looked beyond her toward the massive cruise ship. His eyes widened with surprise. "Your ship?" He inquired, a greedy look flashing in his eyes.

He had expected a man to own the ship and for it be difficult to seize but to his astonishment,it belonged to a young, clueless woman who was naive about letting anyone aboard her ship.

"Yes, it is mine."

"You’re the captain?"

"No."

He glanced at her again, confused. His eyes darted to the glass windows. He was looking to see if there were other people roaming around.

Aymara smiled at his obvious intention. After getting betrayed once without seeing it coming, her eyes had become sharper and could now sense a scheme from a mile away.

"But I’m the person you need permission from if you want to stay alive on it. So i suggest you stay on my good side."

Marcus hurriedly nodded. "Of course. We understand," he continued with his polite attitude.

"Excellent. First rule: no weapons. Second rule, no wandering around without permission and the third rule: if you try to hurt me, my crew, or damage my ship, you will be removed."

Daniel hesitated. "Removed?"

Aymara tilted her head. "Would you prefer a demonstration?"

"No!" Marcus answered immediately. "I won’t give you any reason for that."

"Wonderful. We’re making excellent progress."

She gestured toward the medical unit waiting near the platform’s entrance. "Take them to the decontamination area B. Check them for injuries and infectious exposure. They can receive food and dry clothes after the medical assessment."

Celyn suddenly grabbed Aymara’s wrist. The movement was so abrupt that the security system immediately sounded an alert.

Aymara looked down at the woman’s hand. Celyn’s eyes were wide with terror. "Please," she whispered. "You have to listen to me."

Aymara didn’t pull away. "What is it?"

Celyn glanced toward the two men, then back at Aymara. "They’re lying."

The air seemed to grow colder and freeze over. Aymara was aware they were lying but she had figured the woman was in line with their scheme so it surprised her when she chose to warn her.

Daniel’s expression changed. "Celyn, what are you talking about?" His voice lost its earlier politeness.

She tightened her grip on Aymara’s wrist. "They weren’t trying to escape the pirates. They were working with them."

Marcus lunged forward. "She’s delirious from floating for too long! Don’t listen to her!"

The security system immediately locked his movements, pinning his arms to his sides with a mechanical restraint.

Aymara’s smile disappeared. She looked from Marcus to Daniel and then she turned her attention to Celyn. "Start talking."

The woman’s lips trembled. "The pirates weren’t attacking your ship because they wanted to steal supplies."

Aymara’s eyes narrowed down at her with sheer suspicion. "Then why did they attack me?"

Celyn swallowed hard. "They were looking for someone."

"Who?"

Celyn stared directly at her and answered with surity. "You."

For a moment, the only sound was the distant crash of waves against the cruise ship. Aymara remained perfectly still before she slowly smiled.

It was not the playful smile she had worn while threatening the pirates or the cheerful smile she had shared with Nathaniel over dinner. This one was cold enough to make Daniel take an involuntary step backward.

"Interesting," she murmured. She turned toward the system display. "System, identify every transmission received from the pirate vessel before its destruction. Recover their communications if possible."

[Searching archived transmissions.]

[One encrypted message recovered.]

[Message recipient: Unknown.]

[Message content partially restored.]

Aymara looked at the screen. A distorted male voice emerged from the speakers.

"Target confirmed. Female. Traveling aboard a heavily fortified cruise ship. Do not destroy the vessel. The client wants her alive."

The recording crackled and then another voice spoke and followed the first.

"Understood. And if she resists?"

There was a brief pause in the recording before the next command sounded. "Kill everyone else. Bring us Aymara Ellington."

The message ended. Aymara stared at the display for several seconds, she said nothing. After what felt like forever, she laughed. It was a soft, almost delighted sound.

Daniel looked horrified and Marcus stopped struggling while even Celyn seemed startled by her reaction.

Aymara brushed a strand of hair away from her face and glanced toward the distant wreckage. "So that’s how it is."

She had expected the apocalypse to bring monsters, desperate survivors, and people willing to kill for food. She had expected danger for sure but what she hadn’t expected was someone knowing her name.

Someone who wanted her alive and was willing to sacrifice an entire pirate crew to get her. Her smile slowly widened.

"System, trace the transmission’s origin."

[Unable to determine the original sender’s location.]

[However, the message contains a secondary signal.]

[Signal analysis in progress.]

Aymara waited for the analysis to end so she could know who she was up against. The screen flickered and a new alert appeared.

[Secondary signal matched to a nearby vessel.]

[Distance: 12.6 kilometers.]

[The vessel is currently stationary.]

Aymara’s eyes gleamed. "Well, well... thats not very far. I’ll soon find out who you are and what you want with me."

She turned toward the cruise ship. It seemed her peaceful dinner would have to wait a little longer.

Someone out there had made the mistake of putting a price on her head and Aymara Ellington was about to teach them that the most dangerous thing in the apocalypse wasn’t a monster, a pirate, or even a ship full of weapons. It was a woman who had already died once who had returned with a second chance and absolutely hated being targeted.

"Give it your best," she sent a silent encouragement to the one who wants her so desperately. "This time around, I won’t be that easy to find."