Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

STOP , blew the vents open wide, and raced to the hatch. “ David! ”
    He looked up at her scream, dropped his shovel.
    “They’ve abandoned ship! Take your coat. Run, run!”
    He did, scooping up her mantle and his coat. His boots rang against the ladder rungs as he climbed. Though slowing, the engine still huffed, but it was nothing to the pounding of her heart in her ears.
    She took the mantle, dragged it on as they raced down the passageways, up the stairs. She burst up onto the main deck, chest heaving.
    “Oh, sweet heavens.”
    The balloon was sinking in on itself like a swaybacked pony. Phatéon barely skimmed above the waves.
    David gestured to the shore, where black sands stretched back to a low plain, then rose abruptly into cliffs. “It’s not far. Are there any more gliders?”
    “We can’t jump from this height.” They’d just fall into the ocean. Annika pushed her hands into her hair, mind racing. “A lifeboat. The moment Phatéon settles into the water, we’ll swing it over and row to shore.”
    “And the whale?” He looked behind them. “They’re likely waiting.”
    “We’ll row fast. If they’re after cargo, they shouldn’t bother with us.” Annika hoped so, anyway. She studied the familiar shoreline. They’d still be twenty miles from Vik, walking all the way. “We need clothes. As fast as you can, as warm as you can find, only what you can carry. And a weapon, if you have one.”
    She worried more about the dogs than the pirates.
    “How long until we land?”
    “Three minutes, perhaps.”
    “Christ.”
    She hurried with him down to the second deck; she continued to the next. The pack that she’d carried from Hannasvik still lay in the trunk beneath her bunk. She dragged it out, stuffed the sack full of old clothes. Her new outfits would be lost—but she could make more. She grabbed her spark lighter, wrapped it in oilcloth to keep out the wet. The spanners still tucked in her belt would have to serve as weapons.
    David met her at the companionway, a pistol holstered at his thigh and a similar pack slung over his shoulder. Taking her hand, he raced with her to the main deck, then amidships, where the boat was cabled against a mast.
    She stopped, out of breath. “I thought you didn’t run?”
    “Metaphorically.” His quick smile drew a laugh from her. “How do we free this boat?”
    “We have to wait until Phatéon ’s belly is in the water and she’s stopped.” It would be a rough ride until then. She pointed to the pulley and the long arm. “As soon as we do, you heft that rope, I’ll swing her to the side. We’ll get in and drop down by pulling that release.”
    He tossed his pack into the boat, then hers. The engine gave a final huff. The sound of the ocean rushed in, the wind sharp against her face. Annika looked over the bow. Even with the propellers stopped, they still flew quickly over the waves. So quickly.
    She faced David again. “There’s going to be a jolt when we hit those swells! We’ll skip along before—”
    The deck reared, knocking her to the deck. Icy spray crashed over the bow. Annika sat up, wrapped her arms around the mast. David crouched beside her, gripped the timber with his steel hand.
    His gaze searched hers. A fine mist covered his lens, matted his lashes. “Are you all right?”
    She nodded. Another jolt bucked her forward, then backward as the ship bounced off another wave like a stone skipping across the water. Around them, Phatéon shuddered, creaked.
    Another jolt. Pain tore across her shoulder as the force of the impact ripped her away from the mast—threw her toward the bow. A crate skidded beside her and smashed into the bulwark. A heavy wave crashed over the side in a thick wall, pounded onto her back like fists. Salty, freezing water surrounded her, burned her eyes and nose. She couldn’t breathe. The wave receded over the bow, dragging her with it. Her hands scrabbled against the boards, searching for anything solid. A rope slid through her mittens and slithered away too quickly to grasp.
    Her collar pulled tight. David hauled her back onto the deck, features harsh, the edges of his lips white. “Annika!”
    “I’m all right.” She struggled to her feet, coughing. Phatéon rocked beneath her feet, water lapping at her sides. The last crash into the wave had stopped them. “Get the boat.”
    And quickly. She was scared now. She’d have to change clothes as fast as she could while he rowed, and exchange her