The Depths of Neptune (Imperium #4) - Chapter 1

“It is morning, Commander,” Sophus’s voice echoed in Ky’s mind.

Former Lieutenant Commander Ky, combat and test pilot for the first Terran Empire, opened his eyes. Sunlight was streaming in through the open window onto his face, which his enhanced eyes automatically filtered to keep the sudden influx of light from causing discomfort. He could hear the city outside the royal palace, already in full swing. Saws, hammers, shouts, and animals could be heard in the distance.

All the sounds of a city on the rise. Very different from a space station with the sound-dampening wall panels he’d grown up with. Even with those panels, there had always been a low hum that had been a constant accompaniment to his life. Or rather his old life, which is what he considered the time before the failed faster-than-light test that had sent him into this changed version of the ancient past.

More had changed than the calendar. He had gone from a respected, but not high ranking, pilot assigned to an almost certainly fatal test flight into a leader of the Roman, now Britannian, Empire, responsible for hundreds of thousands of lives and the survival of an entire civilization.

His responsibilities weren’t the only changes he’d encountered, Ky thought as an arm reached over him, followed by a mass of hair, as Lucilla placed her head on his chest. Impossible as it seemed, this was an even greater change than going from a space-faring level of technology to the ancient world. He’d grown up knowing that one day he’d be paired with someone socially and medically compatible with him, with whom he’d do his duty for the empire by having one or two genetically screened children. For the glory of the empire.

Love wasn’t ever in the cards. He’d met his forebearers once. They had been friendly, but distant. He had been, after all, a stranger to them, raised in a genetic batch from birth with others bred and trained to do the same job he did. As far as he understood, they were friendly, but that was about the extent of it. Once their duty to the empire was finished, the breeding pair went their separate ways, to live out their own lives.

‘Things have certainly changed,’ Ky thought as he looked down at the top of Lucilla’s head.

He couldn’t imagine ever being separated from her, living his own life away from her. When he’d looked into her eyes during their wedding ceremony the day before, he knew he’d do everything in his power to never leave her.

He knew it doubly after their wedding night. Ky had already felt things he’d never experienced before. Affection, love, attraction. The night before, she’d awakened new feelings in him, as she introduced him to the more … physical side of marriage.

“Morning,” Lucilla said, the sounds of the city waking her as well.

She turned her head and kissed him gently before snuggling back into his chest.

“Let’s just stay here forever. They can manage without us,” she said, tracing a finger across his skin.

“I can think of some biological complications with that plan.”

“Me too, actually,” she said, pushing herself off of him and running to the corner of the room where a screen separated them from the chamber pot.

He hadn’t had time for it yet, but Ky was keen to improve the palace by adding flushing toilets. The only real complication to doing that was water pressure, at least for the rooms above the ground floor; although if Ky’s position for the next twelve months solidified, he might be able to solve that issue eventually. Until then, it was chamber pots, unless they wanted to go to one of the latrines connected to the city’s sewer system. Since it was basically an opening into a sewer, those facilities were almost always in their own buildings, to keep the stench from overwhelming a household.

“I guess we won’t stay in bed forever,” she said, stretching in all of her nude glory.

Ky’s eyes roamed over her, appreciating every inch in a way he wouldn’t have prior to the night before.

“Besides, today’s a big day,” she said as she started to pull on clothes, much to Ky’s disappointment.

“It’s mostly formal. Between Llassar in Emain Macha and you here with Conchobar’s representatives, all the details have been worked out already. If anyone was going to cause a problem, they would have done it already.”

“I swear, for a superhuman warrior from the future, you certainly are naive at times,” she said, laughing and throwing him his clothes.

Ky looked at the rough wool clothing and longed for his self-cleaning uniform, with its smooth, anti-chafing fabric. His skin was genetically hardened enough to keep from being rubbed raw, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable and scratchy.

“That’s why I leave the politics to you. I’m a soldier and I prefer the straightforward nature of war over politics any day.”

“You can’t dodge the politics forever. Yes, we’ve already worked out all the details, but that doesn’t make this any less important. Today is all about the public spectacle. We will pledge the Empire’s might to protect the Ulaid and make them prosperous, they will pledge their undying fealty, and the masses will eat it up. The Ulaid representatives will go back and tell their people of the wonders they’ve seen, of the reception they received, and our people will see a new ally in the fight against the Carthaginians. Today is for the mob.”

“I understand and I don’t doubt its importance,” Ky said. “It’s just that we have a lot to do. We may have pushed the Carthaginians off the British Isles, but we aren’t done with them by a long shot. They’re not going to sit back and live and let live. The number of subjugated people outnumber the actual Carthaginians a thousand to one, probably more. The only thing that keeps them in line is fear of Carthaginian reprisal, mostly handed out by other non-Carthaginian subjects. If the idea that they aren’t invulnerable starts to spread and enough of those people rise up, the Carthaginians won’t be able to keep them all in check. Take out enough pieces, and the whole house comes down. The Carthaginians know this, which is why they keep throwing men into the meat grinder. They’ll keep escalating. We have to keep pushing while we have the momentum.”

“They can’t touch us anymore. We own the seas.”

“Not yet, we don’t. That stunt with Valdar’s ship was smoke and mirrors, nothing more. Yes, we were picking off their ships steadily, but there’s a limit to the amount of gunpowder one boat can carry, and they won’t let us lead them by the nose into a trap next time. If they’d decided to just land, and take their losses, we would only have been able to sink maybe half their fleet, at the very best. What was left would have been enough to roll over us. Especially with half our legions in Ireland … Ériu.”

“Fine. Then we’ll build more ships. We’ll raise more men. That’s what today’s about. You keep saying we need manpower. This will get us some. Along with resources and more markets to help raise all of our people's fortunes. We can take one day to secure that, and make our people feel a bit of hope. For today, forget about your secret weapons and new technology, those things that are going to help us win. As long as the people believe there’s a chance, they’ll keep fighting. We need today to give them that.”

“Fine, one day. But tomorrow we get to work.”

“See, you’ve learned another lesson about women and men. If you just listen to your wife, your life will be much better,” she said, putting her hands on Ky’s now-clothed chest and leaning into him.

“Right. I’ll make a note of that.”

“See that you do. Keep playing your cards right, and you might have some work to do tonight, too,” she said, her hands sliding down his body.

“I thought you said we have somewhere to be?” he said, reluctantly stopping her hand’s journey south.

“Fine,” she sighed, pulling her hand free and stepping back. “I’ll just have to wait until tonight.”

***

To say the treaty signing was a spectacle would be an understatement. It was a combined celebration of the victory over the Carthaginians and a second public day of celebration of Ky and Lucilla’s wedding. Games had been scheduled for the colosseum in the afternoon, plays sponsored by the Emperor, and bread for every family … taken from the royal stockpiles.

Ky had disagreed with the last part during the planning of the festivities. The harvest hadn’t come in yet and they were still short on food for the long winter to come. Yes, they’d been able to loot the Carthaginian stores here and those stocked for the armies in Ériu, but they really needed all of that to keep the legions under arms fed. Normally, Roman legions disbanded when their duty was done, former legionaries taking the loot and sometimes land, bringing some of the campaign money back to the Empire. Most would blow through their small fortunes and join back up when the next legion was formed, but it allowed the Empire to stop having to feed and pay them.

Ky’s decree that Britannia would have a standing army, funded by taxes and patents, had changed that dynamic. Although the men didn’t have to stay, and would have the option to sign up for set enlistment terms or go back to their homes, many would stay. More for the comrades they served with and because they knew how dangerous the Empire’s position was than out of any sense of loyalty.

One of the side effects of the standing army was that the Empire was responsible for feeding all of these men. It was true that crop yields were going to be higher this year; and with some of the things he had planned, even higher the year after. But that didn’t do anything for their pre-harvest stockpiles. For this, however, the decision had not gone his way. Both Lucilla and the Emperor had thought the bread distribution across the city was politically necessary.

He understood their reasoning, but as populous as Devnum was, it wasn’t the entire Empire. He had to wonder what people living in Caledonia, Londinium, or Ériu would think about the people of Devnum getting a mass handout of food while they did not. Neither Lucilla nor the Emperor thought this would be an issue. In the end, he had to bow to their greater experience in politics. His job was to be present, greet the Ulaid king and his fellow countrymen, and declare a day of celebration.

The ceremony went well. Ky had an interesting moment when he grasped forearms with the Ulaid king after welcoming him to the Empire. Although Ky had met the man the day before at his wedding without issue, Conchobar seemed to feel he had to show his dominance in a public setting like this. Ky could feel the large man’s hand circling his forearm, squeezing hard. If he’d been a normal man, he probably would not have been able to keep from reacting. Unfortunately for the king, Ky was not a normal man. The king’s eyes got large as he began applying more and more pressure to Ky’s arm. Ky imagined that the king must have felt like he was squeezing a piece of granite.

Ky had no need to reciprocate. He knew his capabilities and didn’t feel the need to gain face by showing his physical prowess. Instead, he just smiled as the man looked at him in surprise.

When the ceremony concluded, the five new senators joined the ten current ones for their first session of the Imperial Senate. Lucilla had explained that this was planned to mostly be formalities, since it would take some time for the new members to get used to the way the senate did things. Today was more to show the people that they were working for the Empire. While that was happening, the Imperial entourage, which included both Talogren, who’d come as the third head of state, and Conchobar made their way to the colosseum to see, and be seen by, the crowds while the contests took place in the arena down below.

To Ky’s chagrin, there were still gladiatorial games. No longer slaves, some of the men continued to fight, as their sponsors offered large amounts of gold to the winner to go with the fame and accord. If a man could survive to retirement, he would be a celebrity, known throughout the Empire. Of course, many of those men would die horribly. Eventually, Ky would manage to get rid of the brutal sport, but there were limits to how far and how fast a civilization like this would allow itself to be pushed.

“I was told that you were unlike anyone I’d ever met, but I hadn’t really believed it,” Conchobar said, leaning over to talk quietly to Ky in the Emperor's box. “I wonder what the audience would think if you and I competed in a test of strength.”

“You would not want to do that,” Ky said.

“You believe you could beat me?”

“Do you want me to be honest, or to flatter you?” Ky asked.

“You certainly are confident.”

Ky sighed. He’d met many men like Conchobar since arriving in this time, and he knew the king wouldn’t let this drop until he forced Ky to embarrass him, which Ky was certain Lucilla didn’t want to happen. Already, the king’s voice had raised enough that the other people in the box could hear him, and Ky didn’t miss Talogren’s wolfish smile. The Caledonian leader had faced off with Ky and knew what he was capable of.

“May I see your sword?” Ky asked.

Normally, no one but guards were allowed to be armed in the Emperor’s box, but the Ulaid never disarmed except in their own homes, and so the Emperor had offered a dispensation to Conchobar. Ulaid and Caledonian guards protected the group, so if he decided to use his sword, there were already armed men present anyway. Conchobar looked confused, but pulled the weapon out and handed it to him.

Ky took the handle in one hand and the blade in the other. Gripping it carefully, he began bending the two ends together, holding eye contact with Conchobar the entire time. The weapon was of a lower quality Ulaid iron, far inferior to Britannian steel, but it was still hard enough that even Conchobar, with all his strength, couldn’t have gotten the blade to flex. Ky made it look like a wet reed.

Conchobar’s mouth fell open. Ky handed the weapon back to the king, who took it, turning it over and trying to straighten it back out, like there was some kind of trick involved.

“Your hand,” Lucilla said, pointing to Ky’s hand where blood had started to stream from the cut.

“Give it a moment,” Ky said, holding his hand open as the minor wound began to close before their eyes.

“Witchcraft,” Conchobar said, leaning away.

“The power of the gods,” Lucilla said. “Ky is the Sword of Jupiter, the prophesized avatar of the gods, sent to free us from the Carthaginians and usher in a golden age of prosperity.”

Ky resisted frowning. He understood why Lucilla trotted out the Sword of Jupiter bit again, but he didn’t like it. It gave Conchobar a reasonable explanation for Ky’s abilities and helped the prideful king find a reason to bend to Ky’s superiority. As much as he’d fought it, the Sword of Jupiter business hadn’t gone away. On the contrary, even with his denying it at every chance, he was hearing it more and more with each victory the Britannians achieved. Not from his closest associates, who knew Ky’s dislike for the label, but from everyone else in the Roman portion of the Empire who was buying into it.

Lucilla, however, felt no compulsion to ease Ky’s discomfort and had no problem using whatever she could to gain a political advantage or maneuver people to the places she wanted them to be. Her tenacity was one of the things he liked about her, but sometimes he did wish she had less, at least where the prophecy was concerned.

It didn’t seem to matter that the prophecy had been very specific about bringing back the glory of the Roman Empire, and Ky had ended Rome as an empire, in its own right, when he’d come up with the idea of a wider Britannic Empire with its allies having equal partnerships, which ultimately diminished Rome as a power in its own right. Reality, however, seemed of little consequence to people who wanted heroes. Or martyrs.

Now that she’d said it, he couldn’t directly contradict her, either. He’d have to talk to Llassar, if the Caledonian ever came back to Rome, about trying to quash any rumors the king might spread when he returned to Ériu.

“I should thank you for not taking me up on my challenge,” Conchobar said, looking from Lucilla back to Ky.

“He wouldn’t have,” Lucilla continued, speaking for Ky before he could reply himself. “Besides detesting the arena and blood sports, he only ever uses his abilities against our enemies.”

That might have been mostly true, but the main reason was that even if Conchobar knew about Ky’s abilities, had he gone through with the contest his pride would have been injured, and they needed him as an enthusiastic partner if they were going to get the fullest benefit from their partnership. Ky’s declining the contest because of an unfair advantage gave the king a face-saving out. Lucilla was aware of all this as well but she was more diplomatic than him, which was probably why she’d spoken for him.

“I see. I still appreciate your sound judgment. I’d already heard rumors of your abilities since coming to the city, but I’d dismissed them as the gossip of commoners.”

“Your ship sails in the morning?” Ky asked, changing subject.

“Yes. Llassar is a smart man, but my son is impetuous and young, and I left him with the task of cleaning up the last of the rebel kingdoms, bringing the entire island under our control. My hope is Llassar kept him from doing something foolish, but I am not one to tempt fate.”

“A sound judgment.”

“About these other provisions in the agreement. When can we expect the Empire to uphold its part of the bargain?”

Although the Ulaid hadn’t been offered anything the Caledonians had not, their more precarious condition meant they needed the Empire's resources more than the Caledonians had when that alliance was originally formed. At that time, the Romans had needed the Caledonians and their manpower more than the Caledonians had needed the Romans. Long-term, they were getting good value out of the arrangement, with better technology and the stability the Empire brought, but agreements were rarely forged on long-term considerations.

“We’ve already ordered Faenius to arrange for the first set of Praetorians to travel with you and begin training your guards as the first members of the Ulaid arm of the Praetorians,” Ky said. “When we originally formed the Empire, both Talogren and myself thought it best if we had people policed by their own countrymen, rather than foreign soldiers, even if those soldiers are now allies. I’m certain after several generations, those barriers will break down as our people commingle, but for now, we think it best if the actual manpower is separated according to their homelands. They’ll all have access to the same resources and will be part of the same command structure. Faenius will work with you and your guard commander to identify the man to run your section of the guard. That man will work as Faenius’s lieutenant, with command authority over the entire guard, not just the Ulaid portion, with the exception of Faenius, and the Roman and Caledonian commanders, both of whom already report to Faenius. I know that leaves a Roman at the top, but I believe a military organization needs a strong leader and can’t operate by committee. So far, it’s worked out, and we haven’t had complaints from the Caledonians.”

Conchobar looked across at Talogren who said, “We haven’t had any problems. Once Faenius steps down, the next commander will be appointed by the Emperor and approved by the senate, so we’ll each have an equal say in who the future commanders are.”

“That sounds fair. Now that your legions aren’t fighting the Carthaginians, they have helped get our brigand problem under control, but we’ve already heard the people complain about foreign soldiers occupying the country. It will be some time until they accept our becoming part of a larger Empire, since the average farmer only cares about what he sees every day. The sooner we can have our own forces able to patrol the countryside, the sooner your legions can leave.”

“Agreed,” Ky said. “Hortensius, the man who more or less oversees our manufacturing, especially of our military supplies, has asked who he should talk to in your lands to begin setting up for the expansion of several mines and the opening of new ones. He has a map of extensive deposits of iron, zinc, coal, and a range of other resources we need for the war effort. We would prefer that those mines remain in the hands of Ulaid citizens, but the Empire is willing to fund significant loans at favorable rates to get them up and running quickly. All we ask is that those mines meet imperial demand first before selling any surplus to other manufacturers or exporters. We will, of course, pay reasonable rates, the same as we pay Roman or Caledonian mines. What we need to avoid is graft or complications that will slow down the process, since we are in desperate need of these supplies.”

“Which is why you wanted us to join the Empire in the first place,” Conchobar said.

“We’ve made no secret that we needed you because of what you could bring the Empire. Not just resources, but manpower. I believe we’ve been more than fair in what we’ve offered, however.”

“Yes. It’s still hard to realize that I no longer only answer only to myself and the gods. As for the mines, I can guarantee they will open and operate smoothly, since they will all be owned by the kingdom itself.”

Ky had been worried about that. He knew that most of the best land was owned by Conchobar and his family directly, and worked by peasants, who paid for the privilege. It wasn’t an uncommon arrangement, but it often led to civil unrest. Which is exactly what happened to them, since most of their neighbors had gone over to the Carthaginians.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You’ve taken direct control of everyone on Ériu, most of whom were your adversaries a very short time ago. The last thing you need to do is have a new round of internal strife, which we both know will happen when you take all the money flooding into your kingdom directly into your own coffers.”

“I thought we were free to govern our own lands as we see fit, as long as we don’t violate the agreements passed by the Imperial Senate.”

“You are, and I’m not trying to tell you what you have to do in your kingdom. I am trying to give you advice, which you can ignore if that’s what you want to do. It will, however, be disruptive and expensive to continuously put down civil unrest. Hell, you still have one or two kingdoms openly defying your rule. It won’t take much for their neighbors to decide to join them.”

“That should be dealt with soon by Llassar and my son.”

“I’m sure, but we both know that recently conquered people are not that much less troublesome than rebels. That is where your brigand problem is coming from, after all. That and poverty. If your people feel they had a chance to grow with the country's fortunes, many would attempt to get a part of that growth for themselves, ultimately contributing to that growth instead of slowing it down.”

“Without those lands, how do you expect my kingdom to pay for all of the improvements you’ve ‘suggested’?”

“Taxes. You have the right to tax within your own borders, as long as the import and export taxes are paid to the Empire. Give these lands to loyal and competent men, let them set up the new mines and businesses, and then tax them. There are other options, but I am a soldier and not a coin changer. You should talk to Lucilla. She can arrange for you to talk to the men who’ve devised the schemes that have kept money flowing into the Imperial and Roman coffers, while creating a slew of merchant families willing to take the risk of starting these businesses. The people will be happier, and you will have a long-term source of income. Besides, why would you want to give up being king to become a merchant? I know I have more to do than I can accomplish in three lifetimes. I’d rather let motivated people do the things I need to have done, so I don’t have to pay attention to them.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“It’s just a suggestion,” Ky said.

He caught a sly smile from Lucilla. She covered it fast, but he recognized it. She was proud of him for directing Conchobar where he needed the man to go. She would have probably found a smoother, less blunt way of doing it, although a man like Conchobar tended to react better to blunt, direct exchanges, rather than manipulation, so maybe his way was the best in this situation.

It gave him a warm feeling to know he was able to read her so easily. He’d known her for such a short time, and yet he felt he could tell what she was thinking half the time. He’d been close to many of the other pilots in his old life, but he hadn’t been able to achieve this level of understanding and coordination with even those closest to him. He reached across and took her hand, which she squeezed before looking past him, picking up the thread where he’d left off.

He was happy to let her haggle with the Ulaid king. Although he pretended to watch the contests going on below them, Ky began to interface with Sophus’s databases, having the AI stream data across his vision.

Now that the island was secure and they’d dealt with the threat of a seaborne invasion, it was time to push Britannia to the next stage of his plan for the Empire. There were a lot of steps needed, but Ky could see a path to true industrialization, which was what was needed if he was going to take the fight off the British Isles and into the heart of the Carthaginian empire.