Tempest: The Renegade

Phase 6, part 2

"So it's like with Castaways," I note. "You have to judge them individually."

The girl nods cheerfully. Yes, she's the polar opposite of her spiteful, vindictive sister.

"Okay, so what happened between you and Petra?"

"As you can imagine, our relationship wasn't exactly good," Lenka sighs. "She often bullied me and my parents didn't even try to defend me. When I complained that Petra hurt me again, dad always told me: 'Learn to stand your ground, Lenka. You'll have to deal with lots of shit throughout your life and I won't be always there to look after your ass.'" The girl sneers. "What great parenting, right?"

Lenka sips on her tea again. "Then, when we turned eighteen, we finally parted ways. I started working as a sales manager for SoulRaven - you know, the shop with Castaway equipment, which is not bad at all. But, of course, my ambitious sister had to do better than that. And so she became the secretary of a man who would later become the prime minister of Czechia. Adrian Bureš."

...

"It seems that she liked this position," I remark.

"Of course she did. Bureš is a rich man and working for him has many benefits. His connection with the Yeomen is a public secret. But, as you could see, Petra didn't mind. She joined the Yeomen and that was the moment I finally disowned her as a sister. She joined that criminal scum and... and... look how did she end." Lenka stirs her tea again and I notice a tear appearing in her eye.

"Despite all of this... she was my sister," she explains. "She didn't deserve to die like this. She was basically killed by the man she trusted."

"So you favor the version that Bureš blew up the pub and everyone inside?"

Lenka raises her eyebrows. "I thought it's the true version."

"It definitely is. I've seen it for myself." The girl has now my full trust. There's still a chance she's no different from her late twin sister, but in that case, she'd have to be a brilliant actress. There are no traces of Petra's slyness in her and all her words seem to be genuine.

To satisfy my manners, I offer her my hand. "It seems we're friends now. I'm Zoya."

Lenka firmly grabs my hand and shakes it vigorously. "Actually, it's an honor to meet you. I was your fan when you were still a Champion. I also liked Ryan Bridger, he was such a dork," she snickers, then immediately puts on a more serious expression. "I'm so sorry you lost him."

"I miss him so much," I sigh. "But now, we have to face the future. You said that you know a way to deal with the Yeomen once for good. Is that so?"

The girl nods. "The thing is... Petra and I never talked about each other. Especially Petra - when she started working for Bureš, she denied having a sister."

I see where this is going. "That means Bureš has no idea there's a person identical to Petra."

When I look into Lenka's eyes, I see fear, but also determination. "I'm going to infiltrate the ranks of the Yeomen," she says. "I presume Bureš had no secrets in front of Petra and I'm going to take advantage of it. I have no idea what did Petra do in his services, but I got it covered. I'll say that I managed to escape when the pub started to crumble, but I banged my head and lost some of my memories."

"That... can work," I admit. "But do you know what would happen if he realized you're not Petra?"

"I'm aware of it, but I hope it won't happen," she stirs her tea again; the drink has to be cold by now. "Without knowing Petra had a twin sister, how else would he explain a girl who looks identical to her? I have to give it a try. It's a great chance to infiltrate the Yeomen and disclose what are they doing."