by Sam Barone
“I’ll work them as fast as I can, Engineer.”
Alcinor and Jahiri returned to finish their work on the first beam. Using a plumb bob made from a smooth cord and a pointed, finger-sized length of polished bronze, they made sure the beam stood perfectly straight. Once again they used the half circle tool, this time tapping gently with the hammer, to adjust the base of the log. The hammer struck with a ringing sound, again and again, until the plumb bob, attached to a small nail at the top of the beam, hung down in a straight line and nearly touched the ground.
Satisfied at last, Alcinor and Jahiri moved onto the second beam, locating this one exactly five paces from the first and deeper underneath the cliff wall. Before midday, the second log had been fitted into position. The crews managed to get a third beam in place before darkness fell.
For the next three days, Alcinor’s men labored from earliest light until the sun set in the west. He worked as hard as any of them, moving from crew to crew, helping or making suggestions, and ensuring that they accomplished every task as soon as possible. Nevertheless, setting the beams required an unusual amount of precision. Any mistakes would be costly in both time and effort, or even take a man’s life.
That resulted in many delays, but Alcinor insisted that every task be done with all the skill each man possessed, exactly as he and Jahiri had demonstrated. His craftsmen labored and sweated in the heat of the rocks, but they never stopped their efforts. They, too, understood what was at stake in the Jkarian Pass.
The morning of the fourth day, under Alcinor’s watchful eye, Jahiri tapped the twelfth and last beam in place. This one, smaller than the others, stood over sixty paces from the first, near the deepest recesses of the overhang. A few paces farther, and the overhang curved down and merged with the rock floor. Alcinor told his men to drag the four unneeded logs aside, out of the way.
The twelve beams formed a portico that stretched overhead and in as straight a line to satisfy any rich merchant in Akkad.
“Well, that’s done, then.” Jahiri climbed onto the ladder, stretched up, and unfastened the plumb bob. Coming down, he wrapped the cord around the bronze, and handed it to the Engineer.
Alcinor shoved the plumb bob into his pouch, retrieved a piece of chalk, and turned to face the cliff wall. He marked an outline on the rock about two paces wide, directly behind the twelfth beam. “Start the men working here.”
Jahiri, standing beside him, studied the rock face, his hands on his hips. The cliff wall, where it merged into the overhanging shelf, already had multiple cracks and even a few open rifts. “This section will be the most dangerous. If the cliff is going to come down by itself, it will be here. I’d better start the chiseling myself.”
“Take care, Jahiri. Stop at the first sign of danger.” If this were any other task, Alcinor would have let some less experienced man take the risks. But his master apprentice understood the danger, and the need.
“I’ll start my crew chipping away at the rock face. As soon as I’m sure they know what they’re doing, I’ll move back toward the slope.”
Alcinor nodded. Each blow of a chisel would weaken the rock face, and his men understood all too well the peril hanging over their heads. If part of the cliff faced collapsed prematurely, at least Jahiri would have a chance to scramble back to safety. Most of the laborers would not.
All the same, they put aside their fears as much as possible, and continued on with the work. Only Alcinor and his master apprentice, however, knew exactly how dangerous it really was.
The two men returned to the staging area just outside the overhang. The crews stood ready with their hammers and chisels. Alcinor ordered all the unneeded workers away from the cliff, and told Jahiri to start.
With a crew of four men, Jahiri disappeared under the overhang and went to work. Using hammers, chisels, and pry bars, they began to attack the back wall of the cliff, where the overhanging portion met the ledge. Soon chunks and splinters of stone flew off the rock face, weakening the cliff wall with every stroke.
Alcinor stood well away from all of this, watching. This was indeed dangerous work. The stone cutters might chip away too much of the cliff, and part of the rock face might collapse on Jahiri and his men. While Alcinor didn’t expect that to happen with the first effort, the risk would grow as they chipped away more and more of the limestone.
Jahiri and his crew spent the rest of the day weakening the cliff wall behind the twelfth post. The men all gave sighs of relief when Jahiri led them out into the fading sunlight.
The first part of the overhang had been chipped away. Alcinor ordered the crew out and back to camp. Then he and Jahiri went back to inspect the work before the last rays of the sun disappeared.
“It looks deep enough.” Jahiri rubbed his jaw as he studied the rock face.
Alcinor examined the last beam, the one farthest from the opening. At the top and bottom, the tiniest trace of splintering had appeared. He touched the top of the log, where a small crack had appeared. “This wasn’t here this morning.” He knelt down and studied the ground, where the beam rested. “Give me the hammer.”
Jahiri hesitated. “Are you sure you want to do that? Anything could shake the cliff loose.”
“I don’t think so.” Alcinor took the hammer from his assistant’s hand and tapped the base of the log, softly at first, then harder. “It feels different from the other logs, denser. It’s holding some of the weight of the rock.”
Jahiri glanced upward, then shivered. “Then let’s get out of here.”
“Yes. Tomorrow, before we start work on the next section, have your crew bring in the fire wood. Better to get that out of the way. Use only two men, ones you can trust.”
“I’ll do it myself. I don’t want anyone making a mistake now.”
“It will get worse with each section, Jahiri.”
Jahiri looked at him and shrugged.
Alcinor rose and the two men hurried from the gloomy recess of the cliff. Neither took a deep breath until they made their descent all the way to the trail. But at least the end of their labors was in sight, and still Draelin’s scouts hadn’t reported seeing any Elamites moving toward them. Alcinor considered today’s extensive progress a good sign.
Over a meager supper that night, Draelin disagreed. “We arrived almost twelve days late. We don’t know how much time we have before the Elamites arrive. Eskkar believes that they will probably send men through this Pass first, since they’ve got the farthest to travel.”
“We’re going as fast as we can,” Alcinor said. “We should be able to chip away at the cliff’s wall more rapidly now. But it still will be two or three more days before we’re ready.
Draelin shook his head, but said nothing. There was nothing to say.
In the morning, Alcinor kept the crews waiting at the opening while Jahiri built a fire base of kindling and wood staves the thickness of a man’s arm around the twelfth beam. Only two men carried the firewood, an armload at a time, to the master apprentice. Working with care, Jahiri arranged the dry wood around the base of the beam, layering the sticks and making sure every section of the upright log would feel the effects of the fire.
When he finished, Jahiri returned to Alcinor’s side. “The wood is in place, and I set out a line of stones. I’ve ordered the men not to cross that line. We’ll do the beams one by one, as we chip out each section.”
“Then let’s get on to the next one,” Alcinor said. “Make sure the men take care with their chisels. I don’t want to gouge a large chunk of stone out of the overhang now. Just have them slice it away, a little at a time.”
Midday approached when Jahiri ordered the laborers out from under the overhang. Alcinor, watching from the opening, saw the fear and relief on the men’s faces as they trotted past him. Chipping away at the cliff, all the while knowing that the next blow from the hammer might bring the entire cliff wall crashing down on their heads, made for nerve-wracking work.
When the men were all out, Alcinor and Jahiri
made their way in. The men had chiseled their way deep into the cliff, and Alcinor nodded in satisfaction. He stepped over the line of stones and examined the farthest beam, but saw no further signs of splintering.
“It looks good, Jahiri. Bring in the next load of firewood.”
“Will it be enough?” Jahiri kept staring at the rock face just over his head.
Now was not the time to reveal his own doubts, Alcinor realized. “Yes, the fire will work for us when the time comes.”
“I’ll start them on the next section at once. This is one job I want to finish as soon as possible.”
“It won’t be any too soon,” Alcinor agreed. “Draelin is getting more and more worried. He thinks the Elamites will be here any day now.”
The next day passed, and the next, while the men, divided up into work crews, risked their lives again and again by entering beneath the overhang and chipping away at the base of the cliff. The men scarcely spoke any more, afraid that the least sound might drop the massive slab of rock upon their heads, crushing them to death in an instant.
Alcinor and Jahiri, standing a hundred paces away, felt the men’s eyes watching them. “They think we’re safe out here,” Alcinor said, “while they’re risking their necks.”
“That’s what they’re getting paid for,” Jahiri answered. “Once this is finished, none of them will have to work for a year.”
Trella had assured the laborers triple wages, with a bonus when the cliff wall came down. Of course, that assumed any of them got out alive to return to Akkad. More important, in the event of their death, the coins would go to their families. Lady Trella had also given that promise to them.
“Another two days, and we’ll be finished.” Alcinor, too, felt the fear from the cliff. “The sooner we’re away from this place . . .”
A shout interrupted him, all the more dramatic since the men working on the cliff seldom spoke above a whisper. Alcinor turned to see Draelin scrambling up the ascent path.
The soldier wasted no words. “My scouts have seen the Elamites approaching.”
Alcinor felt a wave of despair pass over him. He needed more time. “Are you sure? Maybe it’s just a scouting party.”
“Well, scouting party or the whole army, there are horsemen coming down the trail, and they’ll be here soon enough. How much longer before you’re ready?”
Alcinor considered. “Even if I worked the men as long and hard as I can, it’s going to take at least another day and a half.”
“Curse our luck. We’ll just have to hope it is an advance party and pray to the gods that they don’t find us. When I send word, you stop working. Meanwhile, send anyone you don’t need as far back into the rocks possible. I don’t want to hear a sound, not even a cough, until they’re past.”
“We’ll be quiet, though I don’t think they can hear this far from the trail.”
“Horses have good ears, and can smell, too,” Draelin warned. “Just keep everyone quiet.”
“And if they find us?”
“Then I’ll bring my men up here, and we’ll try and hold them off as long as we can, or until you bring the mountain down. Better to die fighting or beneath the cliff than under torture.”
Alcinor watched Draelin move back down the cliff. The soldier had his own problems. He had to keep more than a hundred men and horses quiet.
Word spread to cease working. Alcinor made all the men set their tools down gently, then sit on the ground. They could only whisper among themselves. After a few moments of staring at the cliffs, Alcinor crawled out along the ledge, to the same place where he and Draelin had lain the first day.
The part of the Jkarian Pass Alcinor could see remained empty. Looking around, he couldn’t detect any sign of Draelin or his scouts, though the soldier must be watching from some hidden vantage point.
“Is anything happening?” Jahiri slid alongside. “Some of the others wanted to join you, but I ordered them to stay behind and keep silent.”
Alcinor smiled at his apprentice’s eagerness. “Nothing on the trail yet. Let’s just hope they don’t see us.”
“Why would anyone stare into these rocks?”
“They’re soldiers. Who knows what they stare at.”
“Look!”
Three horsemen, shields slung across their backs and wearing swords on their hips, rode into view. They didn’t look particularly alert, but they did glance around from time to time. They rode leisurely, little more than a slow walk. Alcinor reminded himself that they had been traveling uphill for at least three or four days.
The enemy disappeared from sight, but it wasn’t long before more Elamites appeared. Riding in a double column, the horsemen soon filled the trail from end to end.
“Count them, Jahiri.”
The column seemed endless as it plodded across Alcinor’s field of view. At last he saw the pack animals that carried the men’s supplies. Two livery men, each leading a string of three horses loaded down with bulging packs, brought up the rear. They, too, finally disappeared from view.
Alcinor realized he’d been holding his breath and he let it out. Obviously a scouting party, but comprised of a lot more men than Alcinor expected.
“One hundred and ninety-six, including the packmen,” Jahiri said.
The sun moved overhead, but no word came from Draelin to resume work.
“We’re wasting time,” Jahiri said.
“Draelin will tell us when it’s safe to resume.”
A few moments later, Alcinor heard Draelin’s voice as he climbed to the base of the cliff.
“Did they see us?” Alcinor couldn’t keep all the anxiety out of his voice.
Draelin grinned. “If they did, we’d be fighting them off right now. But they’re only the advance party for the main force, which can’t be more than a day behind.” The smile faded from his lips. “You’ve got to work even faster.”
Alcinor glanced up at the sun. Only a little past noon. “So the main force could be here by midday tomorrow.”
“Don’t count on it. They’ll probably make camp at the crest, which means they’ll reach this place earlier, perhaps by midmorning.” Draelin sighed. “Can you still do it?”
The man was nothing if not direct, Alcinor realized. “Perhaps. We’ll have to work through the night, by torchlight. It will be more dangerous.”
“The Elamites may see the glow of your torches.” Draelin took a deep breath. “That doesn’t matter now. Get your men to work, and let me know if any of my men can help.”
“You heard him, Jahiri.” Alcinor didn’t like this. He, Jahiri, and all their men would have to work on the cliff face at the same time. If anything went wrong, they would all be dead, crushed by the unimaginable weight of stone overhead. And if the cliff didn’t come down, they were likely to die from the swords of the Elamites. Either way, they would be just as dead.
Alcinor had to appeal to his men. None of them wanted to work at night, let alone all of them up there, crowded underneath the shadowy overhand, bumping into each other and the beams. In the end, he had to promise them more coins. They finally agreed, but by then Draelin had sent ten of his bowmen up to the ledge, ostensibly to guard the workers.
The grim soldiers looked just as capable of shooting Akkadians as Elamites. The craftsmen and laborers understood the silent message, and Alcinor didn’t bother to ask what the soldiers’ orders were.
Torches, water, oil, the rest of the firewood, four stout ropes, and the two heavy bronze chains soon arrived, lugged up the ascent by sweating soldiers. Jahiri placed the men and got them started. This time neither he nor Alcinor dared watch from the safety of the ledge. Only the presence of the Engineer and his master apprentice convinced the workers that it was still safe to work.
By sunset, they had gouged out a considerable portion of the cliff. The tap-tap-tap of the hammers striking the chisels seemed almost continuous now. More soldiers were pressed into service, and they used empty sacks to sweep away the debris carved out of the solid ro
ck, saving the workers one task.
As soon as it grew dark, Alcinor ordered the torches lit and the hammering continued. In the torchlight, with the shadows flickering through the rock dust, the overhang looked like a demon’s pit.
No man liked to work at night, when the spirits of the evil dead emerged from their subterranean lairs to wander the earth, seeking to steal men’s souls. He heard the faint muttering of prayers to Marduk and Ishtar. Whether the men asked the gods to protect them from the demons, or to keep the cliff from coming down, he didn’t know.
Alcinor paced back and forth the length of the overhang, constantly inspecting the beams. Even in the torchlight, all the logs now showed signs of the weight of the mountain they supported. Alcinor wondered if he should have used more beams. Alcinor knew oak was the strongest of the woods, but even he couldn’t guess if they would hold.
He thanked the gods that he and Jahiri had taken the extra time to get the beams properly positioned. If any of them weren’t perfectly vertical, they would have already split under the weight.
Jahiri did his share, moving from group to group, making sure they chipped where he wanted, and that they did not go too deep into the rock. By midnight, even the presence of their masters couldn’t overcome the fear of the workers. Coated with dust, hands and arms bloody from the flying chips of stone, the men labored on, and by now influenced more by the sight of the armed soldiers than by any idea of possible reward.
Alcinor ordered a rest period, but didn’t let the men leave the overhang. Water and food were brought to them by the soldiers. He knew if his workers ever got out, not even the soldiers could force them back. However the rest helped restore their strength.
The endless hammering soon resumed. Post by post, section by section, the cliff was being weakened. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, and five were finished to Jahiri’s satisfaction a little before dawn.
“Time for another rest,” Alcinor said. The men looked ready to drop. Wielding a hammer and chisel continuously was exhausting work, and he didn’t want some weary man to make a mistake. “It’ll be morning soon, and the men will be able to see better.”