The Depths of Neptune - Chapter 5

Devnum Docks

Valdar looked up at the hulking ship and marveled. Part of him wondered how anything so ponderous could ever make it in the choppy waters of the western ocean, which was part of the area he’d have to begin protecting. The seas to the west weren’t anything like the channel between the islands and the continent or the calmer waters of the Bay of Serpents, what the Romans liked to call Mare Suebicum. He’d found it difficult to keep his smaller, sleeker vessels upright in those violent waters. More amazing was the fact that these ships were considered to be the smaller ships that the Britannians were producing. There were even more massive hulks planned for the future.

The Consul had promised that they would be more stable than anything he’d sailed before. The explanation at the time made sense; but seeing this up close, with its row of open cuts in the sides, made his brain swell.

Still, the Consul had also promised weapons that would change the way ships were handled forever, and he’d delivered with the cannons he’d introduced. Valdar had never seen anything like the massive metal tube as it fired, almost pushing his ship backward as it did, or the way the balls it fired cut through the enemy ships as if they were made of paper. Now he was to have a ship with rows of these cannons, which was the purpose of those square holes spaced along either side of the ship. Valdar still thought it would potentially swamp the ship in high waves, even with the doors that could be pulled shut, but again the Consul promised that would not happen. Of course, believing the promise on dry land was a very different thing from believing it when he was on board in ten-foot-high swells.

Still, he had seen what one cannon could do. This ship would have seven cannons on each side, all of which he’d been told would be larger than the single cannon he’d had on his ship. It was mind-boggling, and the Consul had described this as a ‘lightly armed’ vessel and suggested that the larger ships, the ones not used for cargo, at least, could hold more than forty cannons, to this ship's fourteen. With a ship like that, he could have defeated the entire Carthaginian fleet single-handedly.

They had also started to put up the large masts, which traveled down through the as-yet unlaid top deck and connected to the frame of the ship itself. It would have these massive square sails on each mast, as well the same smattering of smaller square and triangular sails that the Consul had directed be added to his existing ships. It had only taken one short trip around the islands to see the massive advantage these smaller sails added, once the Consul explained how to best use them.

He could now cut in far closer to the wind than he’d ever believed possible, giving his ships many more options. The sails also allowed the ship to take advantage of even small gusts for momentum. Once he saw them in practice, he wondered why no one else had thought to go beyond a single, large sail before, but so much of sailing was based on how their fathers had done it and innovation had been slow. Already he’d watched some of the fishing boats begin to fashion makeshift jibs, trysails, and gennakers, like those added to his ship. Although they didn’t have the instructions he’d had from the Consul, these fishermen and ship’s masters had clearly sought out and talked to some of his sailors, because it had taken only a handful of weeks to be put into practical use after his first foray using them had demonstrated the various benefits of the new sails.

Regardless of the Consul’s intentions, he’d ushered in a new era of sailing.

***

Manufacturing Complex, Outside Devnum

Ky and Lucilla walked slowly around what would be their new manufacturing complex, although from the size of the buildings and streets being laid out ‘a town’ would be a more realistic description. Considering the amount of chemicals and ash that would soon fill the air here, Ky doubted anyone would want to live in this place, although he didn’t doubt some enterprising souls would decide there was money to be made, regardless of the risks to their health.

Part of Ky wished they could have found a way to produce what they needed without also introducing the level of pollution that followed the original industrial revolution. However, there didn’t seem to be a way around it. He could mitigate the greatest harm by ensuring the people working with these materials understood the dangers that the original timeline’s workers had not, especially once they began the wider use of acids and things like mercury. Unfortunately, the need to survive outweighed everything else, which meant that soon the air would be thick with billowing clouds of soot, as he shifted the factories from simple metal working to real industrial production.

They’d spent most of the morning with Hortensius, going over the specifics for the new steel manufacturing and how, specifically, some of these new chemical production processes would work. It had not been easy. Hortensius was a clever man who took to change with an ease that amazed even Ky, but he was not always the easiest to work with. Sure of himself, and worse, of Ky’s absolute knowledge, he tended to barrel full steam ahead, trusting everything would work. While Ky knew his information was good, and so didn’t find this trait necessarily a problem, other Britannians did.

The other problem was Sorantius, the philosopher selected by Ky. It was not so much because the man himself was a problem. He was brilliant, if ignorant of the actual workings of the world. Most importantly, he had the capability to change his belief in how things worked, when shown evidence that the old way was wrong. Of all the natural philosophers, this period's name for scientists, he was one of the few Ky had found who was able to challenge his own preconceived notions when given enough evidence. The problem was Sorantius was too much like Hortensius. Both men were stubborn and headstrong and had already had multiple shouting matches when they disagreed.

Ky was not cut out to be a mediator. While he’d been forced into that role several times since coming here, it wasn’t his temperament. He’d much prefer to be out with the legions, leading the fight against the Carthaginians. Of course, that wasn’t practical given everything that was needed, but he found the battlefield much simpler to deal with. There you knew who your enemy was, and your objectives were clear, or at least clearer. If you disagreed with the other side, you simply shot them.

However, he did have a solution for this problem.

“I think it’s a mistake,” Lucilla said when he laid out his plan.

“Why? You’re better at this than I am. Besides being trained for exactly this kind of thing your whole life, you actually seem to like it; which is useful, no matter how strange it is.”

“They’re going to have questions I can’t answer. When it comes to overseeing buildings being built or getting senators to vote on a proposal, that I know how to do. I don't even understand half the instructions you gave them.”

“You don’t need to understand them. None of their arguments have been over technical matters. When it comes to the work, both men are reasonable and will follow wherever the evidence says to go. Their problem is they’re both trying to be the smartest person in the room. You only have to make sure they stay focused, and smooth over disagreements. You’re good at that.”

“Fine. I’ll babysit our geniuses, along with watching the construction, dealing with senators, and making sure the ship-building program is progressing. What will you be doing while I’m doing all that? A nice vacation? Playing dice with your guards?”

Ky knew she wasn’t as displeased as she sounded. The closer they’d gotten, the more joy she seemed to get by teasing him when she got the chance. Although she could be scathing in her teasing at times, he found he liked it.

“I’ll be around. I thought I might take up painting or maybe …”

She gave him a shove before he could finish, causing both of them to laugh.

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Ky said, getting back on task. “You’re just better at this than me. Soon we’ll need to start training Valdar on using the ship’s gunnery, which isn’t something that can be taught by writing it down. Sadly, a lot of my time will still be spent writing instructions. The level of complexity of what we’re asking from Hortensius and Sorantius will soon increase significantly, which means I’ll need to give them as much reference material as possible. I also need to start working with Velius on the invasion plans. We’ll have to redo all of the legions' tactics to work with the new weapons, which is going to take some time as well.”

“Fine, you’ll be busy.”

“I’ll still see you at night, though,” Ky said, putting his arm around her.

“I’m not sure you should,” she said.

Unlike her earlier teasing, she sounded serious, which caused Ky to take a step away and focus on her.

“What?”

“What I mean is, as much as I love having you here with me, I’m not sure we should both be operating out of Devnum for the time being.”

“Why? This is where most of the work is.”

“For now, but it won’t stay that way. Once Valdar’s ships roll off the docks, he’s almost certainly going to want to move south, closer to Isca Dumnoniorum or maybe Glevum, since to really train him to use the new ships, you need to be out on the open seas, and not in the protected waters of Mare Hibernicum. He’ll probably want to do it in the southern seas, since that’s where his ships will be operating for the foreseeable future. There aren’t a lot of Carthaginians to the north of us and he’s not going to waste time sailing up and down half the length of the island every time he needs to come to port. As for the legions, once you start working with them, you’re going to need room to maneuver for them to learn the new tactics, which also means moving south. But more importantly, it’s a waste of resources for us to both be here. Anything you need done here, I can do. Besides being able to speak from wherever either of us is, I have Sophus and the drone for him to see through, at least until you are ready to start the actual invasion.”

“She is correct, Commander. Since returning to Devnum, the two of you have performed most of your duties together. She has watched your military conferences and you have watched her discuss topics with the Senators, neither contributing significantly to the other’s work. As you yourself point out, you have much work still to do before the invasion of the continent, none of which can proceed if you are watching Lucilla carry out her tasks.”

“I should have never introduced the two of you. All you do is gang up on me.”

“I am simply following my programming, Commander. Perhaps if you were in the wrong less often, I would agree with you more.”

“Was that a joke?” Ky asked.

Sophus may have reached sentience, but there were a range of behaviors that Ky had assumed would be beyond the tactical computer. He wasn’t an expert on artificial intelligence, but he’d assumed emotions were something a computer could not have. Yet, several times now, Sophus had exhibited curiosity, frustration, and now humor. It was unexpected.

“I think Sophus was being completely serious, and I agree,” she said, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Seriously though, as much as I’ll miss you in our bed, we can’t take the little bit of breathing room we’ve given ourselves and think we’re free to live our lives. You said it yourself. They’ll never stop coming for us. We’ve got a chance now to push them while they’re on their heels, and we need to take it. Which means we both need to focus on work, for now at least.”

“I still don’t like it. We spent the last several months with you here and me with the legions, and now we have to be apart again.”

“I know. I don’t like it either. Eventually, we’ll be free of the Carthaginians and we can live our lives together.”

Ky made a non-committal sound. In his experience, there was always a new crisis and a new thing to deal with. The empire, his original empire in his original life, had been at peace for more than a decade, and yet as a combat pilot, he was constantly given assignments. He doubted this time would be any different. She was right of course, and he’d do it, but he’d only just found this missing part of himself and they’d only been married a short time. He didn’t like it, no matter how necessary it was.

“Fine, but I plan on finding opportunities to come back and see you.”

Stopping and wrapping both arms tightly around him, she put her head on his chest and said, “I demand that you do.”

***

Devnum

“We’ve received word from Caesius,” Decius said, looking around the room at the dwindling number of men left in the resistance forces.

Ramirus had been brutal and swift in rounding up anyone who dared speak against the Emperor or the demon that was controlling him. They’d lost so many men already, that any direct action to free Rome from the clutches of the despots had all but ended. They’d been relegated to simply collecting and passing off agents to one of the two shipmasters willing to take messages to their contacts on the continent, and eventually on to Caesius.

Worse, Decius had to all but ended recruiting, after losing the second cell of freedom fighters to Ramirus’s agents. As time passed, there were fewer and fewer Romans willing to put their lives on the line for what was right; and worse, even fewer were willing to give up the money they were making under the new regime. Decius had nothing but contempt for all of the men willing to sell their values for a few coins, but that contempt didn’t help his current problem. They’d started reaching out to the Ulaid who’d come here fleeing their new overlords, but while these people had no love for Rome, they didn’t really care for the Carthaginians either. They couldn’t return home without facing at least unofficial persecution for standing up to the Ulaid king, much like his people faced persecution for standing up to the pretender controlling the Emperor. They were almost a stateless people, and it was difficult for any of them to see the necessity of replacing the Emperor with a worthy leader.

Thankfully, Caesius had once again come through for them.

“In my last message to him, I related our manpower problem. Any time one of our people steps even a little out of line, Ramirus hauls them away to his dungeons. Worse, what good we have been able to provide, such as information on what the pretender is up to, is threatened every time we lose someone. Caesius has come through for us again. He is arranging for men to be slipped in with other refugees coming in from the continent to work as our agents for more direct actions. We still have a few cutouts left we can use to contact them without endangering our other agents, although we need to be on the lookout for more people we can use as intermediaries. I know we’ve had some bad luck in that area, but it’s imperative we keep building our network if we are to have any hope of helping Caesius regain his rightful place and to rout this new Empire.”

“Have you seen the postings of the agreement with the Hibernians? The Senate, the fake imperial one that tells our senators what laws they can pass, now has more barbarians than actual citizens in it. We are now completely controlled by men who live in huts and sleep in their own filth.”

“Which is why we need to continue getting Caesius what he needs,” Decius said. “He has made agreements with the Carthaginians to help us, but only if we provide the assistance they need to squash the rogue legions.”

“Won’t that just make us subjects of the Carthaginians?” one of their newer members asked.

“For a time, but look how easily they’ve been defeated on the field of battle. The legionnaires know what’s best for this country, but they don’t have the will to oust their leaders, yet. Once we’ve freed them, they will rally to our cause and we can push out the Carthaginians and reclaim our rightful place.”

Decius made a note to have someone check on the new man. While most of the gathered men nodded or made mumbled agreements, he looked unsure. Decius believed that everyone had a right to their opinion, but this entire enterprise was balanced on the edge of a knife. Doubt and uncertainty could infect others, tearing them down from the inside. If his friends couldn’t convince him that they were on the right path, Decius would have to do something more permanent about him.

“What about the Emperor’s daughter?” one of the old hands asked. “We’ve tried to get her twice and have failed twice. The Consul may be controlling the Emperor, but she’s the one doing all the work. Every day she’s somewhere else, in the foundries, at the docks, with the legions, always giving instructions and making corrections.”

“Obviously, and you all know we’ve tried. Several times.”

“I thought for sure we would have gotten her the last time. Our man left her bleeding on the ground. It’s impossible she survived that,” the younger man said.

“Exactly. We got within blade range and still failed. We’ve all heard tales of the magic the Consul wields, of the green flame he produced that melted the very stones of the palace. It makes sense he was able to use that magic to somehow keep her alive, which means just stabbing her or otherwise injuring her isn’t enough. We have to strike a killing blow. He may have magic, but even he can’t reverse death.”

“What we need are soldiers of our own,” the younger man said.

“Exactly,” Decius, who was normally controlled and reserved, said with a passion that startled several of the other men. “That is exactly what we need. We need to recruit someone with actual military knowledge. Someone who has been trained to fight and to kill, and the Consul has paved the way for us to do just that. When he incorporated members of Pius and Eborius’s old legions, those who survived anyway, into his new legions, he gave a blanket amnesty to every one of them. Some might have turned tail and become followers of the new Empire out of fear or greed, but some should have remained faithful to our cause.”

“I thought you said we needed to keep our distance from anyone involved in the insurrection. That Ramirus would have them under watch,” another man said.

“I did, and just after the insurrection’s failure, that was the smart thing to do, but now we need some of those men. Lucilla trusts the legions, and her guards might allow a legionnaire within sword range of her and that man will know how to actually kill her, instead of simply wounding her.”

“And Ramirus won’t be watching them?”

“He might, but even Ramirus has limited resources. He has to check on all the Ulaid and their families now coming into the country from the continent. He’s stretched thin. Already, we’ve noticed fewer of his agents around town than before.”

“Weren’t you just saying we needed to be careful? That he is everywhere?” the young man asked.

“Yes, because it is wise to always be cautious, even if he’s stretched thin. He might have fewer agents to spread around, but he still has them. I’m not saying contacting legionnaires will be easy or safe, but it is the only way we’re going to get to her. Use cutouts. Men who you can contact but who don’t know your identity.”

“We don’t have a lot of those men left,” the older man said.

“I know, but as our friend here pointed out, killing her is still a priority. We also need the help of legionnaires to carry out some of these new instructions from Caesius, including getting plans or examples of some of the new technology Hortensius is working on. Specifically, we need to obtain samples and diagrams, or better yet, blueprints and instructions of the things he’s been working on. One of our men in the foundries says he’s seen the old fool with stacks of the new paper introduced by the Consul, and he often refers to them. If we can, we need to steal some of those documents or talk to someone who has access to them, so we can make this work to our advantage.”

“So we only need to steal documents they will surely miss, get men into facilities guarded by the new praetorians, a group we have yet to get our own men inside of, convert legionnaires to our cause, and kill the Emperor’s daughter?” the older man said, summing it up, although in a tone that made it clear he didn't think anything on that list was accomplishable.

“No one said overthrowing a government would be easy. I’ll remind you that I’ve sacrificed my own son to ensure our mission succeeds. Most of you haven’t given nearly as much, and yet you complain about the dangers you face every time we meet. This is not a game and it’s time you all take this more seriously.”