Retalio

by Alison Morton

  I gave them a brief rundown of what had happened in my London hotel.

  ‘That was different – a straightforward assassination attempt. A demonstration that I would never be out of Caius’s reach. Needless to say, the British are underwhelmed by a political hitman operating in their territory. However, we must consider a fourth possibility about Lentilius, one that may be very uncomfortable. He may walk in the front door with a perfectly good excuse for his absence—’

  ‘That would be wonderful!’ Silvia’s voice was full of relief.

  ‘Perhaps, but we have to consider that he may have been turned.’

  Quirinia looked appalled, Volusenia shrugged, but Silvia’s face took on an ugly sneer. ‘You always have to see the worst in everybody, don’t you, Aunt Aurelia?’

  ‘I’m just being practical. It’s so common, it’s almost a cliché. Read your histories. Despite the virtue of many noble souls, ancient Romans in the world of power and events changed sides as often as the moon rises.’

  I was tired and didn’t have time in the middle of this crisis to explain to a querulous and ignorant teenager how the threat of extreme violence and pain to you and yours would persuade anybody to take the easier route.

  Silvia glared at me, then jumped up. We all stood up. ‘Well, I for one will welcome him back with all my heart,’ she said and flounced out of the room.

  31

  ‘How’s the operational planning work going?’

  Volusenia and I were strolling in the garden, stretching our legs, mostly to get over the tension of the meeting.

  ‘Mars give me strength,’ she retorted. ‘It’s only been a few weeks since we started.’

  ‘That’s not an answer.’

  ‘You must have been a misery to work for in the foreign ministry,’ she grumped.

  ‘No, I just want an update. Is that so unreasonable?’

  She stamped out her cigarette butt.

  ‘I was going to make it a surprise in the next intelligence meeting but I might as well tell you now.’

  Now what had happened? I was fed up with nasty surprises and she looked grim.

  ‘Don’t look so depressed, consiliaria, it’s good news.’ She grinned, which looked completely foreign on her stern face. ‘The detailed plan is done.’

  ‘Impossible!’

  ‘No, true. Vibianus should be crowned with laurels and put on a pedestal in the forum when we get back. He’s certainly wasted as a diplomat. He’s liaised with his former colleague Grania and Consiliaria Quirinia for costings and supplies. Then he took it to Numerus thinking the old centurion would look at the operational practicalities. Ha! Numerus had plenty to say, but we’ve hammered and tempered it between us and it’s ready for execution.’

  I dropped onto one of the garden seats, ignoring the ice that coated it.

  ‘When I said to treat it as a priority, Volusenia, I never dreamed you would do it this side of Parentalia at best. Bloody well done.’

  ‘And young Regulus, the transport manager, has “Klettermann Spedition KG” bringing in excellent profits. The six small vans he leased for courier work has expanded to twelve. He’s now master of nine medium vans, four fuel tankers and four flatbeds. His overt speciality is “emergency and interim solutions”.’ She snorted. ‘Well, that’s the fancy name he gives it. While this short-term work suits us strategically, he’s also able to charge a bomb for it.’

  After a few moments I stood up and we walked on in silence. This was much more than I could have dreamed of. Could I dare to hope that we could be thinking of setting a timetable, even an actual date?

  ‘Anything else?’

  Her eyes sparkled.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I found the Air Roma Nova pilot. I’ll introduce you to her and her navigator; they’re both here, along with all the passengers. Most of them are of fighting age and have done their national service.’

  ‘I don’t suppose she’s brought her plane with her?’ I asked flippantly.

  ‘Ah. No, it’s been impounded. One of Junia Sestina’s promising recruits who used to work at Portus Airport says that for the moment they will have put it into a spare hangar at the airport while they sort out legal niceties. Unlikely they’ll do anything as they’ll need to write to the company’s head office in Roma Nova asking them to remove it or risk decommissioning. That’ll take ages, he reckons. They have other priorities. Pity.’

  She continued in a very matter-of-fact voice telling me that just over fifty of our people had obtained rifles and were accredited members of different shooting and hunting clubs.

  ‘Numerus has been able to acquire a good quantity of ammunition for them as well.’

  ‘Good grief! I don’t know why I came back,’ I said. ‘You’re obviously perfectly capable of running everything without me.’

  ‘Yes, we can organise the practical things but we need clear leadership, somebody to take decisions, and the responsibility. Somebody who knows the politics of it all. And importantly, somebody who can get outside help and support.’

  ‘I’m not sure of that. Yes, we have plenty of support in words and good wishes, and the British helped with the deception we ran, which is supposed to still be running, but nothing practical. Only Marina’s husband has sent us material supplies.’

  * * *

  Later in the afternoon two gendarmes visited for all of ten minutes to report nothing except that their hospital check for Lentilius was negative.

  ‘We have to accept him as lost and compromised,’ I said to the council of exiles the next day. ‘Our prayers are with him and we will sacrifice to his memory.’

  Silvia looked bullish, but said nothing.

  ‘Vibianus, what was Lentilius working on?’

  ‘Principally on the information campaign, consiliaria.’ He looked at me steadily. ‘We’ve sent coded warnings via radio to those inside Roma Nova who distribute the leaflets. Most have replied.’

  ‘Most?’

  ‘One in the city and one out at Aquae Caesaris haven’t acknowledged.’

  ‘Lentilius will know about the two listening posts, of course.’

  ‘We’ve stepped up physical security,’ Volusenia chipped in. ‘We’re scrutinising the traffic for any changes in volume or frequency and to check for possible disinformation.’

  I rubbed my forehead with my fingertips.

  ‘Very well. It’s imperative that we act quickly. Let’s look at it from the other way. What is actually preventing us from executing our plan?’ I looked round the tense faces. I tried to repress my own excitement, but coupled with it my own fear. I hadn’t used the phrase ‘invading Roma Nova’, but they couldn’t be in any doubt. Silvia looked at me with wide eyes. Quirinia pursed her lips while Volusenia and Junia, who had been drafted in to take Calavia’s place on the council, sat completely still. Numerus looked at me steadily and gave his little smile. I drew a great deal of strength from that.

  Volusenia glanced at Junia, who took a deep breath before she spoke.

  ‘Our second biggest problem is lack of transport. Regulus is doing his best, but acquiring the right vehicles so quickly for the best prices is not easy. Despite Consiliaria Quirinia’s efforts to accumulate budget, our funds are not infinite. We don’t have sufficient vehicles to deploy our forces to the locations in the proposed timescale.’

  ‘And the biggest problem?’

  ‘Weapons.’

  They’d done very well to get fifty people armed and licensed in the time, but it was far too slow and they were far too few. Pathetically few, if I was honest. Damn. I closed my eyes for an instant and slumped in my chair. However optimistic we were about picking up supporters, we’d never make headway against resistance with access to the official armouries. Caius would have locked those down with double physical security and ordered a global change of access codes.

  Volusenia laid her hands palm down on the table. ‘We tried to make contact with the black market but haven’t had time to reach the right people. Unsurp
risingly, they’re a suspicious lot. I didn’t want to push it as we don’t want to start any rumours.’

  ‘Very wise,’ I replied, knowing how cagey Miklós’s contacts were. He’d given me a funny look when I’d asked him once about whether he’d ever dealt in firearms. He’d retorted how could I think he would be that stupid. I never asked again.

  ‘We know one of Caius’s first edicts was to demand all weaponry,’ I continued. ‘Even farmers’ shotguns had to be handed in. Most would have done it, especially in the towns and city, but I’d bet my best boots that many out in the country held on to something, but we can’t count on it.’

  ‘So we’re stuck,’ said Quirinia.

  ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘And the worst thing is that every day we don’t find Lentilius heightens the risk of Caius learning of our timescale and operational targets.’

  32

  I went for a run with Styrax and Junia in tow to work off my frustration. I stopped to catch my breath at the far end of the Prater. I coughed at the freezing air. I’d run here with Miklós trotting beside me on a hired horse when we’d lived like a normal married couple in our suburban house. Well, not quite normal. Most couples didn’t find their bodyguard dead in a pool of blood when they returned after their run.

  I shook my head. Where was Miklós? Such a lot had happened in the months since October when he’d kissed me goodbye as I prepared to go on my sortie to Roma Nova. He hadn’t even come back to Vienna for Saturnalia. Did he know that I was still alive?

  ‘Are you returning to London, ma’am?’ Junia’s voice broke in.

  ‘I don’t know what to do, Junia. Really I don’t. Colonel Volusenia is rightly anxious that Lentilius’s disappearance is a massive security breach. Each day the risk increases. But if I don’t go back soon, then my diversion won’t be any good.’ I wiped the sweat off my forehead with a cloth.

  ‘We’ll go back over our search and see if there’s any chance we’ve missed anything, but…’ She shrugged.

  ‘I’m sure your search was thorough, Lieutenant. But it won’t do any harm to retrace it. Lentilius may have moved or be hiding somewhere new.’ I wasn’t optimistic. I made a mental note to get Edward Soane to ask his commercial banking colleagues about Lentilius’s bank account. They’d never talk direct to me, but he might be able to circumvent their confidentiality rules. ‘Let’s check if any of the groups inside Roma Nova have seen any signs of extraordinary troop or vehicle movements near our targets.’

  As we trotted up the main driveway of the Jagdschloss, a sturdy figure hovered at the main door. Numerus. His eyes were creased to slits and he twisted his head round as if searching. He must have spotted us as he stopped looking, then hurried towards us, waving his hands and breaking into a trot.

  ‘You’ll never guess,’ he gasped.

  ‘Not unless you get your breath back,’ I said and then grinned.

  He flicked his fingers at me. Junia frowned at him for such informality, but I didn’t mind from an old friend. He obviously had something momentous to say.

  ‘We’ve had a delivery.’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘It was labelled “CKD furniture” – you know, self-assembly stuff – on half a dozen crates and “Domestic appliances” on twenty-odd boxes. The van driver and his two mates looked a rum lot, but they had proper paperwork and consignment notes addressed to you here. They unpacked, then pushed off sharpish.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘Did you order some new toasters? If you did, they’re not the usual sort.’

  ‘What the hell are you talking about, Numerus?’

  * * *

  Volusenia scratched her head. I ran my eyes over each container as it was unpacked. Junia poked and prodded at the contents. All three of us were silent. I could hardly believe that Fortuna was spilling the contents of such a generous cornucopia in front of us.

  Numerus and Vibianus had found clipboards and were counting each item to make inventories. Some of the boxes had mixed contents, some more carefully packed in sealed bags looked as if they’d just come out of the factory. But they were all wrapped in fabric or their original packaging with layers of foam in between. After twenty minutes Vibianus handed me a plain white envelope.

  ‘I found this in the wadding at the top of the second box, consiliaria.’

  I turned it over. Nothing. I tore it open and found a postcard-sized piece of paper. On it were two words in Latin: ‘Ex colle’. I smiled to myself, then chuckled, then burst out laughing.

  Volusenia’s head snapped up.

  ‘What is it?’ she said.

  I passed the note to her.

  ‘From the hill. What does that mean?’

  ‘It means that Gerald Hill and the British have sent us enough weaponry to start an invasion.’

  I called Sir Henry Carter in London to ask him to thank his friend for the ‘flowers’.

  ‘It was very sweet of him and I really appreciate it.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad you got back safely. Look after yourself and I hope the birthday party goes well.’

  ‘I’m only sorry you can’t make it, Harry,’ I teased.

  He laughed. ‘I’m sure you have it all organised perfectly, Aurelia.’

  * * *

  Volusenia tasked Junia with setting up controlled access to the cellar that now housed our newly acquired weapons. It took the rest of the day to move and catalogue nearly two thousand pieces – pistols, rifles, light machine guns and the larger more powerful general purpose machine guns and finally rocket launchers – plus the ammunition and cleaning kits. Practice would start the next morning. It would be better to call it familiarisation, as those from the regular military would have used weapons very similar to these. Hopefully, those who had done their national service sometime in the past five years would remember something. But Junia started cleaning drills that evening. She supervised the issue of weapons, her eyes darting everywhere as she watched her two clerks. Centurions and optiones were detailed to show the less experienced or those who had forgotten.

  She handed me a pistol without a word. I was surprised how strange it felt as I began to strip it. But my fingers and some deep memory remembered how to pull the slider off the frame and release the barrel. The methodical cleaning and wiping was soothing, the smell of the cleaning lubricant sharp but not disturbing. Although surrounded by others carrying out the same task I felt a moment of isolation, of quiet. Nobody spoke; it seemed as if they were gathering in their personal strength. Once done, I carried out a function check and pushed the magazine in. A satisfying clunk. Yes, it was ready and so was I.

  * * *

  Somebody was in the room. I lay in bed motionless but suddenly fully awake. No light shone round the shutter edges; it was a moonless night.

  A warm human presence hovered in the space at the side of my bed. It came nearer. My flesh tingled. It leaned toward me. The smell of leather, a tang of sweat and horse. Gods, surely not.

  I shot my hand up. Grabbing the other’s clothing I pulled myself up and prepared to strike with my other hand, but a hard grip stopped me.

  ‘Shh.’ A horseman’s voice calming a nervous animal. ‘Is this a way to greet your husband?’

  Four hours later, my alarm clock rang pitilessly. I stretched over and switched on the bedside light. Miklós stirred beside me. His arm encircled my waist and pulled me towards him. I lay there for a few minutes, content to rest my head at the base of his neck. He moved and I raised my head to look at him. Perhaps it was the dim morning light creeping in, but he looked tired. Brown shadows lined his eye sockets and he hadn’t shaved for a day or two.

  ‘Stop staring at me like that.’

  I started at his voice. It rasped as if worn out. He’d whispered last night, but now he spoke naturally.

  ‘You look and sound exhausted. Where have you been?’

  He smiled and opened his eyes properly.

  ‘Finding you and your band of rebels some special transport.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

&nbs
p; ‘If you shift over and let me out to the bathroom, I’ll show you after breakfast.’

  * * *

  He walked me over to Lúkas’s cottage. I hadn’t mentioned his young cousin’s surly attitude to me, but I had a million other things to think about now. Lúkas wasn’t there, so we went to the back service yard and what had been the enormous stable block built round a separate stable courtyard. Even Regulus’s vans and tankers hadn’t filled half of it, just the carriage houses. Although dressed blocks on the outside, the stable block was lined with utilitarian rough stone inside. The fresh morning light emphasised the irregular contours of each stone; it looked rural, authentic, more than just a rich man’s status symbol.

  In the far corner a group of mechanics was clustered round Regulus’s deputy listening carefully to her orders for the day. Whatever our grand plans, the work of the hundreds of support workers carried on everyday almost unseen. The figures dispersed to their tasks and the deputy spotted me. She looked like thunder and strode over in my direction.

  Miklós chuckled. What was there to laugh about? She looked as cross as Hades.

  ‘Domina, I really must protest—’

  ‘Wait!’ Miklós interrupted, holding his hand up. His voice was commanding and stopped the deputy in her tracks. He took my hand and pulled me towards a large opening on the nearest side of the courtyard. Inside were rows and rows of individual horse stalls, massive wood pillars adorned with elaborate ironwork dipping down to gates in the centre of each stall. To my utter surprise a good dozen of them were filled with black, brown and dark grey horses. I stopped by one and put my hand out and stroked the animal’s head. He looked sturdy with an arched, high-set neck, broad and muscular back, and strong legs. He must have been fifteen, sixteen hands high. No sign of wildness in his liquid eyes. Lúkas was by another stall at the end, his arms almost encircling a horse’s head, his cheek laid against the animal’s, his eyes almost shut. I swore he was crooning to the horse.