Sàmhach, the Silent One
Copyright© 2026 by CaptainPig
Chapter 1
April 12th, 2021.
Sorcha NicAngus bounced excitedly in her seat in the motor carriage. Seated beside her, her best friend Cheryl McCready rolled her eyes at her friend’s barely contained enthusiasm. Seated across the aisle from them, their friend, Sophy Fearghusdóttir, was only slightly less excited than Sorcha. In the seat behind Sorcha, her twin brother, Conall, briefly looked up from his book, then turned his eyes back down to its pages.
Their Grade Twelve geology class was taking a field trip from the Keflavik aership base to view the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The volcano had begun erupting three weeks earlier. It was only a two hour drive by motor carriage and a short hike of two miles to reach the best place to view the volcano and lava flows.
Off to the right, they could see a United World Aership Lines aership, 290 feet of gleaming aluminum body with a wing span of 245 feet and five rows of windows along each side. The aership was a hybrid craft, using both lift from its wings and buoyancy from helium gas filled lifting bladders. Driven by two large counter rotating propellers at its tail, it was climbing out from Keflavik after an overnight rest and refueling stop.
“Look,” Sorcha said. “There’s the Monday flight from Edinburgh to Boston. Imagine it, 600 people flying from Scotland to the United Provinces in only two days.”
Cheryl said, “Someday, I’m going to fly in an aership.”
Cheryl asked Conall what he was reading. He explained at excruciating length and in exacting detail that it was a history of the 1813 French invasion of Ísland ... On the 4th of August, 1813, a French naval squadron blockaded and bombarded the port of Reykjavik and landed marines to occupy the city. They established a puppet government and began a brutal takeover of the island. The French Marines were completely out of control, looting, raping and murdering at will. Sporadic incidents of resistance were ruthlessly crushed. Hostages were taken and executed on the slightest pretext. On the 5th of October, a joint Scottish-United Provinces fleet annihilated the French squadron and landed UP troops to liberate the city. Caught between the UP soldiers and the furious Íslandic people, fewer than a dozen French Marines lived long enough to surrender.
A lasting friendship between the United Provinces and Ísland began. At the request of the Althing, the Íslandic government, the UP entered into a protective alliance with Ísland, stationing a handful of frigates and a mixed regiment of dragoons and light infantry on the island. They quickly established themselves as welcome visitors, mingling freely with the Íslandic people. Marriages between UP soldiers and Íslandic women became a welcome bonding. Ísland became a popular stopover for ships traveling between Europe and North America.
In 1841, Ísland and the UP joined in a commercial cooperative with Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Flanders and Schleswig-Holstein. Ísland’s principal exports of salted fish and wool now had a much broader market. UP manufactured goods rapidly became popular as their price and quality often beat similar products from Greater Scotland, France and Prussia.
Ever since, under the terms of a mutual defense treaty, the United Provinces had kept a squadron of frigates, two flights of patrol aerships and a reinforced regiment of dragoons in Ísland to prevent the French or anyone else from invading again.
Totally engrossed in his lecture, Conall continued to expound, oblivious to his sister’s rolled eyes and the indifference of the other girls.
Losing interest, the girls ignored Conall and resumed their conversation.
A column of armored motor carriages from the 3rd Squadron, City of Baltimore Regiment of Dragoons passed them, the carriage commanders standing tall in the turret hatches.