Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

Lucia said quietly. “Come on in where it’s warm. We’ve got a decision to make.”
    The small house wasn’t much warmer than outside, and David thought most of that heat was due to the number of people in it—aviators, and a few women and children who must have been local to Vik. He recognized the ship’s senior staff from the wardroom. Elena caught Annika up in a tight embrace, laughing. Annika returned it, though she only smiled and her posture was stiff.
    He was steered toward a wooden table in the hearth room. Annika sat across from him a moment later, with Vashon at the head, her uniform still pressed, her posture regal. Lucia took the chair beside him, and everyone who didn’t sit crowded around.
    It didn’t take long for Annika to recount everything that had happened after the whale took Phatéon . When she was done, Dooley introduced the owner of the house—a thin Norwegian woman who appeared on the edge of exhaustion.
    “They’ve been almost starved out here. No supply ships have reached them in four months—and most of the men in town are dead. The whale swallows up their boats when they take them out fishing.” He looked to the pale woman again. “They’ve lost others, too. Her husband, then her son. He and five others struck out for Smoke Cove and Höfn, seeking help. That was a month ago. They’ve been getting by on rationed stores, but those are about to go dry.”
    And they’d go faster with an airship crew and passengers here.
    Vashon sat forward. “The coal is about to run out, too. So we put as many people as possible into each house—fewer houses to heat, fewer stoves to fire. And today, Vik received a visit from Lorenzo di Fiore.”
    Around noon, David wagered. He’d seen the airship returning to the rail camp. “Is he coming back with supplies?”
    “No.” Vashon’s gaze held his. “Unless we give you up.”
    Annika drew a sharp breath. “Because we took the troll?”
    “He mentioned nothing of that machine—and I don’t think he knew who was in it. Di Fiore wants Kentewess alone,” Vashon said, before looking to David again. “He said that you shouldn’t have turned him down. He thought that Mr. Dooley lied to him when he said you were lost.”
    Jesus Christ. Stunned, David could only shake his head. He’d known di Fiore had been upset when he’d rejected the man’s offer. But these were the demands of a madman.
    Lucia took his hand. Her face was pale, her jaw set. Red stained Dooley’s cheeks—still angered by di Fiore’s visit, no doubt.
    “If we produce you, we’ll receive all of the cargo in Phatéon ’s hold,” Vashon said. “Di Fiore will keep the engine and the ship, but all of the food stores bound for Heimaey will be delivered here.”
    Before coming into the house, his aunt had said they had a decision to make. It was clear that David had a decision to make…but it wasn’t one at all. Should he refuse and let everyone starve around him? That was no choice.
    And di Fiore, that damned observationist, was probably only forcing the choice on them to see what they would do. To see what David would do. It shouldn’t have been difficult to guess. Leaving with di Fiore would be a small sacrifice. The man didn’t even ask for his life—just to work with his father. Of course David would accept. Only a monster needed to test it.
    “He’s returning tomorrow?”
    “Yes.”
    David nodded. “I’ll go.”
    A chorus of denials rose around him, the fiercest one from Annika. Her chair skidded back. Hands braced on the table, she leaned over and stared him down, her jaw set. “You won’t .”
    God, he loved her. “He doesn’t plan to kill me.”
    “Not now, maybe.”
    “I won’t watch you starve, Annika.”
    A dangerous glint lit her eyes. “There are a lot of dogs.”
    “It’s true,” Vashon said. Her voice rose as she spoke, clipped and furious. “And I’ll be damned if I let him take my ship and hold my food hostage until I beg for mercy, then force me to trade over a passenger under my protection.” On a deep breath, her tone evened out again. “At any rate, once we’ve eaten through those stores, what then? It will be easier to leave on foot in the spring, but there’s still a risk. Di Fiore could have Smoke Cove in his pocket the moment he sees a threat.”
    Annika sank into her seat again. “What of Höfn?”
    “And hope di Fiore hasn’t bought that, too?” Vashon shook her head. “He has five hundred and fifty men in