On the Rocks

by Peter Rhodan

  Valerius thought about this for a bit. His son joined the conversation. “I think I follow what you are saying Dominus Sandus. The greater heat gets rid of more of the extraneous material that one always gets in iron. And the resulting iron won’t break so easily I imagine. That could be quite important father.” Julianus commented.

  “Yes, I gather that. So what other ideas do you have?”

  “Lots, I’m afraid. Probably my biggest problem at the moment is a lack of paper. It is something that is being worked on down at Wern but I haven’t heard whether they’ve got something in quantity yet.”

  “Paper is your biggest problem? Why is that?”

  Arturo looked at the Rufanig officer, which is what he clearly was, unsure of how much he should say. “Well I want to introduce something we have called a book. A book is like one of your scrolls but composed of lots of rectangular flat pages glued on the edge. And a machine is used to impress the image of the text onto successive sheets of paper repetitively. It makes duplicating them in quantity much easier and far quicker than copying by hand.”

  “I understand what you are saying, I think.” By this time they were approaching the fort. Two of Arturo’s men were outside the gate on guard duty. The snapped to attention in the manner Arturo had introduced which was based on his ship’s Marine drill. Valerius appeared intrigued by the performance but said nothing, merely glancing at Arturo, but then showing more interested in seeing what had been done inside the fort.

  Much of the rubble from the fallen down buildings had been removed and several of the more intact buildings refurbished. The main building at the far end of the courtyard was being rebuilt in sections with the new bricks that were coming in increasing numbers from the oven Arturo had introduced. Indeed one of the villagers was copying the oven design to go into competition with Arturo and Ceri’s brick making.

  “Our stables are over there gentlemen. Ensign Meries, this is Valerius Drusus Claudius, his son Julianus and their armsman Aurelius Gervonius. Please show our guests to the stables. They will be staying in the main building so bring them up there when you’re done.”

  “Yes sir.” Answered Meries who had come up to them from the main building. “If you will follow me.” He said and led to the building they were using as a stable. Given they only had one horse so far, the one Arturo was ridding. After clambering off the back very inelegantly, he gave the reins to Meries to take the beast to the stables in company with his guests.

  Valerius and Juliannus joined Arturo, Oween, Radovas and Meries at dinner that night. Valerius was interested in the uniform and the rank markings that Arturo had introduced. He was surprised when he learnt that everyone including officers wore the same basic uniform.

  “Well it makes it easier to produce in quantity, not that we have many men yet, and it also means that poorer officers are not shown up by the richer ones or at least not to obviously. Oween told me there was often a vast difference in the armour and other gear officers in the Rufanig army would get about in. And there are other aspects to it. For one it will give the men the idea that they too came become officers.”

  “And will they? Be able to become officers I mean?”

  “To an extent. If they show promise and can learn to read and write then yes. Where I come from being an officer is more about aptitude than birth, ability not wealth. Another point is that our officers will not stand out as much as other people's and therefore be less of a target”

  “Interesting. I will think on the advantage of not being a target as opposed to the disadvantage that will come from the men not being able to see their officers clearly.” Valerius offered after digesting this for a moment. “And do you really think Maximus is going to let you build a private army here and if so, why?”

  “Well. Increased taxation. And no need for him to worry about Scotti raiders. If he is offered more than what he is getting now surely he’ll see the benefit of working with me?” Arturo smiled hopefully at his guest.

  “Unlikely. He is fool. He is greedy to a fault. I can almost guarantee that what you’ll get is him and his cavalry coming down here and taking anything they fancy and conscripting or killing your men. He is not a very educated man besides being harsh and untrustworthy. My son and I are only alive now because my wife was his cousin. She died a week ago just after he left Lugowalion and it was only a matter of time before one of us said something to upset him and he used that as an excuse to kill me.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry about your wife.” Arturo commiserated.

  “Thank you. It was a wasting illness so we knew it was coming. Doesn’t make it any easier really but at least it prepares you. You understand?”

  Arturo did not really. The only relatives of his that had had died were two of his four great grandparents, and that had been when he was little. Still he could imagine what it would be like if his wife had died. “Your loss is felt by all here, Valerius. Julianus.” He nodded to the son as well. The other men murmured their condolences as well. “So why exactly did her death force you to leave?”

  “I am too senior for Maximus to have around if I won’t bow and scrape to him, besides being from a proper noble family. He is paranoid about threats to his position and looks askance at everyone. Also, I served with Constantius when he took the field army to Gallia. I only came home when I received word my wife was ill. Everything started out so well with Constantius and looked so promising. It was a pity it all fell apart so badly.”

  “What went wrong?” Arturo questioned.

  Valerius paused and took a moment to engage in some self-study then grimaced. “Nothing as such went wrong. Not at first. The trouble was Constantius. He was a great orator and leader. He could organise getting the army to the right place, often really good places, tactically, but once in the presence of the enemy he dithered. He could not bring himself to put it to the chance. He kept outmanoeuvring people then once he had them mouse trapped he would begin negotiating.”

  Arturo cocked his head. “Sounds good to me. Bloodless victories.”

  “But they weren’t victories. He would talk and talk and then they’d slip away and we’d pursue and catch them again and then just talk again. His second in command got sick of it and rebelled and eventually they tricked him and killed him. The army was incorporated into the Gallic field army and only a very few came home.” He included his son in this with a small motion of his hand.

  “And while you were tied to Maximus through your wife things were bearable but now you no longer feel safe. Yes. I get the picture. Interesting. Family ties are not something I have had much experience with. I shall have to consider the implications further.” Arturo paused and smiled. “So what are your plans now Valerius?”

  Valerius stared off into space for a bit. “I am no supporter of Combrosius either so we were heading for Londinium and then perhaps Hispania.” He looked around for a moment. “On the other hand it seems to me you could use a good cavalry officer around here. All you have are infantry.” He smiled at Arturo.

  Arturo’s brows narrowed as he considered this. Learning to ride a horse had proved harder than it looked and he was only just beginning to get the hang of. A cavalry force had not been something he had even given any consideration to. Working on getting steel from Ceri’s still building iron works was his current focus. Still, having a mounted recon force might be useful particularly to give warning of the approach of this Maximus person. “I can see certain advantages to having some cavalry I will admit. It is funding said cavalry that will perhaps be the biggest problem in the short term.” He admitted.

  Valerius nodded and waved his hand in roughly the direction of the town over the river. “Collect the taxes from this area yourself. I’ve already explained to you that Maximus won’t agree to share anything and will almost certainly come down here in force to take what he wants.” He paused and looked to Oween. “You know Maximus too don’t you Oween?”

  Oween grimaced. “Oh, aye.” He answered. “He commanded the unit I
was in before I retired, so to speak.”

  Valerius laughed at this and smiled at Arturo’s questioning look. “Tell him Oween!” he spluttered.

  Oween looked reluctant but after a moment went on. “I was a cennard when he was put in charge. He didn’t like me much and took my men away from me which I didn’t like much although it did mean I didn’t go to Gallia with Constantius, but then Maximus came back and was made second at Eboracum and started riding me again, so I gave him a hiding and came up here to where I had family. I didn’t kill him though which is a pity but I saw some of the lads heading that way, so I ran off.”

  “Oh good. So besides him being greedy and mean spirited, my aide once tried to kill him and he thinks my prospective new cavalry commander is after his position. Marvellous. So, given that there appears to be no chance of negotiating with him, what do you suggest?”

  Oween shrugged sheepishly clearly having no idea of what to do. Valerius appeared to be considering things while Radovas suddenly smiled. “Declare yourself Imperator!” He said firmly.

  “Don’t be silly, with what ten men?” Valerius said depreciatingly.

  Arturo smiled. “Greater deeds have started with less but I doubt am heroic enough for the task! Although once I can get some of better weapons in service then things may well be different.”

  “Better weapons Arturo?”

  “Yes. Unfortunately the really good weapons are still a few years away and won’t happen till our technical skills improve but I have an idea for a steel crossbow that should be useful.”

  “What is a crossbow?” Julianus asked looking intrigued.

  “It’s a missile weapon. It’s like a horizontal bow were the cross beam at the front is pulled back and fires a short arrow forward at high velocity.”

  “Sounds like a manuballista or an arcuballista, dad.”

  Valerius nodded. “We have had them in the army for many years. They are not any better than any other bow in practice. They require little training but are slow to load and complicated to make, especially the manuballista.”

  Arturo recalled pictures of primitive sinew powered catapults. “I think I know the sort of weapon you mean Valerius but what I have in mind is something a good deal more effective than a weapon powered by sinew or cord. However we will have to wait till Ceri has his furnace working and we can make some decent steel.” He paused for a moment. “You appear to be an educated officer Valerius. Can you tell me a little history of the Empire?

  Valerius nodded. “It’s a while since my tutor tried to teach me classical history but I think I can remember the basics. Originally the Empire was a Republic and only a small city state like many others, or so I gather. Over time she took over first the similar cities in Italia then expanded around the middle sea. Eventually the Republic was overthrown by a series of strong men and became the Empire.”

  “And how was the Republic governed?”

  “I think that was part of the problem. Originally there was a Senate of nobles and a concillium of the citizens but as the Republic grew it was harder and harder for citizens to have a say as the votes were taken at Roma. So the Senate slowly became the ruling body on its own. The top two senators were the Consuls who were given command of the armies and eventually a series of them overthrew the Republic to hold absolute power themselves. Augustus Caesar was the first true Imperator and since then Senatorial rank has become a sign of wealth and favour rather providing the rulers. Most Imperators these days are generals and often only barely civilised.”

  “I see. So there is no continuous line of Imperators?”

  “Oh no. At the beginning there was but that ended many centuries ago. Some families have managed three or four successors since then but on the other side of the coin at times there have been as many as four or even five contemporary claimants to the rank of Imperator.”

  “I see. Where I come from we have a form of republic. I shall have to think on this further I feel. Also I will consider your idea of taking complete charge of this area and collecting the taxes myself. It does have a certain merit I will admit” Arturo finished.

  “It’s what everyone else is doing in effect. Theodorus at Isca is basically independent. Valentinus still claims to be the Comes Saxoni down at Camulodudum. There was a force still at Deva till Combrosius killed Severus and incorporated most of the men there into his own army. I understand that some men who had been hanging on in Segontium have taken over the fortress at Deva. The Scotti finally pushed them out of Segontium apparently.”

  “Hmm. I think I need better maps. I shall have to think on these matters further gentlemen. Thank you for your thoughts. So tell me something else. No one here seems to have stirrups attached to their saddles. Why is that?”

  “What are stirrups?” Asked Julianus.

  “Well they hang off saddles, one on each side. They are attached by a leather strap on which the metal hoop is hung for your feet to rest in. I have the tanner here making me a set and a saddle designed for them. The saddle tree needs to be made differently to be able to tie the straps to so it’s taken longer to organise but it should be ready in a couple of days.”

  “I am intrigued. What do these stirrups do?” Valerius commented.

  “The make riding much easier by allowing you to rest your feet on something which in turn helps you to stay in the saddle while engaging in activities like combat.”

  “Really?”

  “Apparently. I am no horseman myself as you could probably tell but I remember seeing equestrian stuff on…” He paused realising he would have great trouble explaining what a trivid show was. “On exhibitions of horsemanship. The advantages should be readily apparent once the saddle is finished. You’ll see.”

  “I shall look forward to this revelation.” Valerius said although it came out more like his being polite rather than believing.

  Oween then asked him a question about a mutual acquaintance and the conversation moved away from military matters. Arturo was left to consider his own future. He had thought to work away here on the fringes of this dying Empire out of sight, building up the local economy and technological base and eventually going back to space, maybe, if he both survived and lived long enough. He had thought the advances he would bring would enable the powers that be to maintain their independence and in gratitude would protect and allow his continuing developments.

  Clearly from what had been said Maximus was not a person to try and ally with. Indeed the more he thought about it the less enthusiastic he was with the idea being subject to the power of any local warlord. Being subject to someone else in this barbaric place obviously entailed too much risk of being done away with on a whim. So, what would be the best approach to the matter, Imperator Arturo did have a nice ring to it but went against the grain. He would have to give the subject more thought.

  Chapter 9

  The spreading revolution

  The next few weeks were peppered with a series of firsts. The waterwheel powered bellows that Ceri and the tanner devised pushed air into the furnace much better than anyone anticipated and the iron that was produced had a quality that sent Lewarth hotfooting back to Wern determined to introduce similar methods to his own small iron works.

  Arturo knew that to make steel there had to be a further stage of treating the iron so he and Ceri began experiments on a small scale as to how to achieve this. In the meantime they built a second wheel and used it to power a drop forge on one side of the wheel while Arturo planned a die cutting forge to be positioned on the other side, thus making double use of the wheel. The clanking inefficient method devised to raise the heavy metal head of the forge annoyed Arturo with its primitiveness, but he was resigned to having to crawl before they could walk.

  Word of the developments going on spread by means unknown to Arturo, who had not grown up in a primitive agricultural area, and increasing numbers of people began turning up. A group of four Scotti, all somehow related, with three wives and a gaggle of children in tow appeared from somewhe
re. People looked askance at them but Arturo quickly made it plain that he regarded everyone as equal. Two of them joined the army and the other two went to work in the iron works. A couple of Saxoni turned up and a Pechti who surprisingly could speak Ruman quite well although he said he’d never served in the army. Oween tough he might be a spy but that seemed a bit far fetched at this early stage.

  Jacob spent a couple of days talking to Arturo about banks and companies then headed back to Lugowalion in an attempt to get his father to transfer down to Dervent. Jacob returned briefly a week late to say he hadn’t met with any success and then headed south to talk to his relations in Londinium.

  Lewarth brought a dark haired, stocky man named Hwillam up from Wern. He had some idea of how to make inks and Arturo described paper to him and hired him to begin experiments on making something that could used to write on easily. In the meantime he ordered all the parchment available from the man in Lugowalion who produced the small supply used there. Fuel was found closer home when the man who owned the property next to Arcadius remembered he had an old coal dig on his property and began moves to get this re-dug once he learned of the great need for coal that the coke and brick ovens required. Previously the coal had been coming up from near Wern. Arcadius also began looking into mining the coal on his property although he gave the impression that the whole idea of digging under the ground was beneath him, not that he would be the one actually doing the digging of course.

  Already the town was growing. At least six new houses were under construction and Ceri and he were looking at an area to the east of Dervent to build a new estate for workers in the iron works. The townspeople were for making Arturo Mair which he thought of as equivalent to town mayor, Arcadius called it the Magister Municium, but he resisted, not wanting to be tied to just Dervent. Instead he arranged for the tanner to be given the position. He and Arturo reworked the old Imperial tax rates and after much debate during which Arturo agreed to reduce nearly all of them by some degree, the measures were adopted for all those living in the area.