“Only fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, sudden invasions, dust storms, droughts, food shortages, and mass pipe breakings. There are seven more I want to get to.”
He stared at her, his eyes wide, several of the remaining officials gathering around and nodding as they looked over her maps, instructions,and plans. “Your talents,” the governor whispered, “have previously beenwasted,Lady Ladrian.”
What… What was this emotion?
Feelingappreciated? She’dfelt appreciated before by Wax, yes, and occasionally Marasi. But to see it in the eyes of virtual strangers, to have her overplanning seen as atalent,not a bizarre character flaw…
By the Survivor. This warmth inside. She’dalways said she didn’t care what people thought of her. And she’dworked hard to build that bubble around herself, a protection against the way she was normally treated.
But this… this was a remarkable feeling. Was this what it felt like to beproudof who you were? Instead of worried you were embarrassing those around you?
Miraculous.
“What is next?” the governor asked. “What else can we do?”
“I want to sink those ships,” Steris said, pointing to the large cargo vessels out in the bay that were waiting to be called in to receive passengers. “After bringing their sailors in safely first, of course.”
“Excuse me,” one of the remaining foremen said. “Sinkthem?”
“I think it might slow the water,” Steris said, “in case of a tsunami. You read what happened to the island of Alicago three years ago? No? Well, anyway, think of speed bumps. Large cargo ships on the surface will glide over the water, or worse be carried with it and slammed into people on the docks. Scuttled on the bay’s floor though, they’ll create drag and slow the force of the wave if one comes.”
Again, instead of objecting or complaining, the foremen simply accepted her explanation—and her orders. Only one seemed concerned. He hesitated as the others began to move off.
“What is it?” Steris asked.
“His Honor the governor,” the man said, “told us there wasn’t much time left. To get those ships sunk might take hours, ladyship. We’ll have to take tugs out to them—not many of the cargo ships have radio yet—and then explain to the captains, probably fight them on it. Then the scuttling process… it’s not as easy as it sounds. I’dguess four, five hours to get this lot sunk. At least.”
Rusts. Well, that wouldn’t work.
Someone cleared their throat behind her. One of the eight people who had approached her first. Oh, right—she still didn’t know who had sent them, or even who they were.
“Perhaps we can help,” the man in the lead said. “You are certain this is legal? The mass sinking of private ships?”
“Yes,” the governor said. “On my authority. If we are so fortunate as to have overreacted, the city will pay for the losses incurred by the ship captains.”
“Ohhh…” Steris said, leaning toward him. “Varlance, that sounded positivelyheroic.”
“Really?” he asked, eager. “Heroic?”
“Decisive,” she said. “Very leaderlike.”
Nearby, the leader of the eight people nodded to her, then launched into the air.
Oh! Allomancers. She had all the official ones working on the main evacuation. But having these to sink ships would certainly help. And then she could use them to help carry the injured or infirm away with Steelpushes.
The others followed one at a time, until only one remained. He nodded to Steris, and on the back of his hand—mostly obscured—she saw a red tattoo.
“Your sister,” the man said, “sends her regards.” Then he launched after the others.
That was the last of the meaningful actions Steris could take. From here, she could only make certain her plans were being executed. Everything else rested on Waxillium. None of this would matter if that bomb reached the city.
You’dbetter be on that ship, Wax,she thought.
71
Clearing the ship proved to be an ordeal. Even worse than that time Wax had decided to teach Wayne “the value of hard work” by making him muck out a stable all on his own. Yeah, he’dlearned the value of hard work—it turned out to be three clips. Least, that was what Jeffy had charged to do the job for Wayne.
This time, there was nobody else to do the job. After locking the door to the room with the bomb, they set out to take control of the ship. Wayne kept the key in his pocket, in case Wax had to face another Coinshot.