by Ken Farmer
The Petrel - and its ancestors at least two vessels back in time - carried a deep fin under the keel runner. Such made the vessel less useful in shallow waters, but over the blue sea the action of the deep and lengthy board turned the tendency to leeward - of any object on the sea to be constantly pushed downwind - into a greater forward motion. Before leaving on the last voyage - the foray to Greece and the doomed city of Salona - Julius had placed an order with the shipyard for a construction to be installed when they returned. Now, such was in place, and apparently with goodly effect.
Rather than the thick board of previous use, this one was thin and sharply edged in both forward and after extremity. Laying on the sand of the shore, more than one man gave opinion that it resembled the fin of a squatina - a shark. Other improvements were that it was deeper than the previous fin, and held to the keel runner with thick dowels of cedrus wood, rather than the copper nails of before. Such should allow the fin to shear away should the Petrel find itself hove into shallow water and rock. Hopefully, rather than rearing at the grounding, and possibly with much damage to hull and mast, the ship would discard the touching fin without harm.
Flavius was still leaning over the side, watching the action of the hull as it pushed through the waves, then stood and replied, "Aye, Capitaneus. There is no doubt that it has much less resistance to the water than the old board. My wonder is of what improvement the bronze fin would make."
That component existed only in their talk and imaginations - thus far. Many times they had given discussion about a metal fin, far stronger than wood, much thinner and therefore with even less resistance to the water, and giving the ship a ballast weight of leverage far superior to the damp sand in the bilge. Alas, thus far it was just gab to fill the evenings on shipboard.
"Your pardon, Capitaneus." Julius turned at the voice of Densus. "Our menial drudge has finished his duties in the galley. Mayhap he might take his midday meal now?"
"Has he dressed down the rope locker?"
"Aye. And his task of scrubbing the privy boards."
"Then let him take his meal."
For the first time in the month, Julius relaxed without need of either thought or planning. He sat in a wicker chair in the waist, watching the idle crewmembers in their gaming and gab. As the Petrel had just come from a thorough mending of wear, there was not even the odd rope in the locker to be rewove. If the men were in worry about being in a ship that was the mark of every aspiring reaver on the waters, they were concealing their fears with goodly skill.
Almost a month after the return of Julius and the Petrel to Capua, the commission for delivering of ransom was initiated. Their vessel was standing at wharf with almost a Century of guards at encirclement, even though the lading line showed that the hull was empty of cargo - or even ballast. Cleaned and scrubbed, the ship had entirely new standing rigging and a new suit of sails, although to the landman, the latter would have seemed to be of oldness and well-used cloth. Such was only to the eye. The sailcloth was expensive, close-weaved and dyed a dull gray by the not-inconsiderable efforts of a local manufactory. Such was a measure for secureness - a new sail was blindingly white in the light of day, and with any illumination from the moon, would be as a guiding lamp across the spanse of the sea at night. The voyage would probably be perilous enough without giving ease to roving pirates in spotting the Petrel far on the horizon.
The ship was fully stocked for standing out, the crew told off and waiting. Aulius had come to Neápolis with Julius, along with several of his office. Even the boy, Pontiki, was allowed to refrain from his trade-learning to attend and watch the Petrel stand out with the unique cargo. Of course, he would not be accompanying the ship on such a dangerous mission, although the Sage would be among the crew. Even at the insistence of both brothers that his old head need not to be placed in such jeopardy, the oldster was indignant that such a suggestion even be made. "I have guided the Petrel - aye, and its mother-ship before it - long before your Pater gave his seed to produce yourselves!"
Standing at the wharf, the untrained eyes of Aulius gave a question to his brother. "Either my memory is defective, or the ship has gained some bulk?"
Julius grinned to himself. His elder brother had no equal in merchantry - knowing the value of any commodity in any land, gauging the price and cost of grain even before it was planted, and in making a golden aureus grow where the silver coin of a denarius was planted. But as a seaman... The younger had often said to the Sage - in private conversation and only partly in jest - that his elder brother would probably capsize a fishing skiff on dry land. But, each man had his skills and strengths, and he replied without deigning words, "Aye, but you see the ship as if it were just built, being shoved into the waters directly from the hands of the wrights. The sand ballast has been removed even to the cleaning of the hull boards of the bilge."
"Because the silver talents will act as such."
"Just so. A heavily laden ship is a slow ship. Fifty talents of silver will take little room, but will easily replace the wet sand, and more." The bilge had been altered somewhat, with extra planking to hold the metal, and courses of lumber to keep such in place, should a storm and high waves be encountered. A chest of such weight - and there would be many - was very small and could easily punch a hole in the bottom hull should it shift and hurdle with any violence.
"Pardon, Sos." This was the boy, giving the correct appellation for a Roman Captain on land. His education - mostly in trade skills and hygiene - had been enhanced by the back of many hands for the lack of use of such honorifics - not such as to cause damage to the youngster, but enough to stimulate his remembering for future need. Julius nodded and the boy asked, "Will such iron-men take a place on your ship?"
His learning of the tongue of this land was progressing with the enhanced ability of youth, but none would yet mistake him of having genitors from this domain. He had been instructed to only use such, rather than falling back into his natural tongue of Greek, that his learning might be hastened. Julius gave the rendering that he was asking about taking the soldiers along as guards. "Nay, boy. If the crew of the Petrel cannot give discourage to reavers, then another handful of Legionaries will be of little assistance. And every extra man is two talents and more of weight that gives diminish to our pace through the water."
Now Aulius said, "Come. Our standing in wait will not give haste to the arrival of the caravan. And my belly is in need of filling."
Julius nodded and as they turned to go, the boy asked, "Sos. Might I tarry with Densus on watch?" He pointed to the ship and the single man standing at the tiller of the docked ship.
There was little harm in such, and Pontiki had no tasks in his need while in visit to the port. "Aye. Give converse with your friend as you will. It will be a pair of months before he returns, at the least." Now he walked to the guard Captain, giving word that the boy had free access to the Petrel.
Both brothers plowed through the crowds standing outside the ring of guards, although there was little to see. Still, all knew that such a departure was a topic to give tales to grandchildren in their olden days, and none wished to miss seeing the greatest quantity of wealth that their eyes would likely ever behold. Of course, they would see nothing but small wooden chests, and little enough of those, but still - the occasion was as one of the greater feast days of the year.
It was midmorning on the morrow before the caravan arrived with the chests of silver coin and slugs. The asses and drovers were far outnumbered by the masses of guards - actually Legionaries from the training fields of Rome. Such brought a greater crowding to the port than even on the yesterday. Julius gave a fleeting wonder as to where the quantity of men would take their night-rest, but quickly dismissed such useless thought-wandering in the necessity of the moment.
Each ass was loaded with two chests, but each only half filled. As they were paraded past the boarding plank, the boxes were set on the sand, then one emptied into the other. Julius had as little knowledge of land voyaging
as his brother did of the sea, but realized that the reason was to distribute the heavy load on the flanks of the animal.
Each chest was carried aboard by two soldiers, and carefully placed in the hold under the eye of Flavius. They had long discussed the loading of such heavy cargo, and made many calculations as to the distribution. In total, the lading would be far less than the capacity of the ship, and indeed, the Petrel would be sailing lightly loaded, but the massive denseness of the metal required careful placement. Any carelessness in stowage would have the Petrel down by the head, or lifting the bow from the water, either giving much impairment to the seaworthiness of the ship. And the pace through the water.
All in the crew were on board, and accoutered with their blades. Such display was unneeded in the presence of alert Legionaries to the count of two Centuries or more, but in the presence of such thief-bait, none would be comfortable without weapons. Pontiki had been allowed to watch the loading, with stiff instructions to maintain distance from the working men. One of the worries of Julius - and the Carpenter - was the possibility of a distracted man giving falseness of step and stumbling to allow his heavy burden to fall. Such could easily punch a hole in the deck and not end its journey until it had smashed a path through the hull to rest in the sand of the harbor bottom.
The loading took the rest of the morning, then more than two hours were consumed in balancing the ship by moving this chest to here and there before both Julius and Flavius were satisfied. Finally, as there was no reason to tarry, he walked to the end of the wharf where the Admiralis of the fleet of Pentaconters was standing with his staff. Seeing him approach, the officer said, "We have seen no signals from the courier boats. Your way will be unhindered at least as far as the straits of Messina."
"My gratitude, Admiralis. You can send the recall if desired. We will stand out shortly that I give farewell to my brother." The presence of the man was proof of the status of the family of Caesar in Rome, as was the huge number of soldiers that made the march to Capua to guard the ship and the caravan of silver. For the fourth part of a month, the small Pentaconters of the Roman navy were patrolling the waters from Rome to the narrow opening of the straits to the south, looking for reavers that might wish to examine the cargo of the Petrel. As the tale of the silver and ransom had probably reached even the shores of Egypt by now, Julius had no doubt that many wishful pirates were standing along the main routes to the east. Hopefully, the designated place of meeting was still a secret, else the Petrel might find itself allied with one band of pirates against many others.
Nodding to the officer, he turned and walked to where Aulius was standing in wait. And not alone. Almost surrounding him were several men - important nobles from Rome, no doubt - come to watch their payment in fee as it was readied for the voyage. Nodding to his brother, he said, "The wind is fair away. I see no reason to tarry, unless you have other orders for me."
Rather than replying directly, he turned to one of the older men and said, with a gesture, "This is my brother, Julius, bound to the instructions of the commission."
The noble bowed and nodded. "Aye. His reputation needs little introduction." To Julius, he asked, "What think you of your chances of making the voyage unhindered by marauders, Capitaneus?"
"My concern is not the reavers on the waters, but those at the end of the journey. One hopes that such are honorable in the way of such. I can only guarantee the delivery of the chests, not the conduct of the receivers." A pause, then, "You have me at a disadvantage, Sos..."
Hurriedly, Aulius said, "This is the honorable Triferus Papius Caesar, patruus to the man you are voyaging to release." Aye. Julius had assumed the man to be of the family of the prisoner, in this case an uncle.
The man gave another bow and a gesture to each man around him. "Aye. This is Hortensius and Marullus, his son, nephew and cousin to Julius. And Publius, Coruncanius, and Paulinus, good friends of the family. All have made their work in the procurement of the ransom silver." Now he waved open-handed to Aulius. "Our gratitude in your acceptance of this need is beyond expressing, and will be repaid with more than just words. We have found few others that would agree to treat with known sea-plunderers for any amount of gold."
Julius took his brother by the wrist, holding it for the moment, the said, "Standing on the wharf will not gain us success. With any assistance from the Anemoi, we should be at the meeting cove by the second Ides." He doubted that any such wind gods existed, but wishing for such assistance cost nothing.
"Fair winds and smooth seas, brother."
To the cheers of the crowd, the Petrel pulled in the wharfing ropes and pushed away from the dock, turning even as the sail was hoisted to catch the modest wind. Their work done, the crew resumed their normal stance while on an easy sea - either jawing tales with each other, or casting the knucklebones in play. Melglos strolled back to the rudder post, standing beside the Captain as the port of Neápolis began to recede. "Romans gain much joy from the departure of a ship, it appears. I have seen less celebration on a feast day in the Agora."
Still looking at the diminishing figures by the wharf, Julius replied in a dry tone, "Aye. This was as a day in the Circus, and no mistake." Turning to Judoc, at the rudder pole, he called, "Follow the coast about five stadia out." This was following their planned course, discussed many times in the taburnae and brothels with any who asked. Down the coast of Latium, through the straits of Messina, then across the waters heading directly into the east - such was the usual route for trade between Latium and the eastern lands.
Now, two hours later, the port of Neápolis was far behind them
Patroclus came on deck, holding his marking board and scribing pen. Julius nodded, and said, "Our pace is about fifty stadia in the hour."
The Sage looked at his map, giving thought for a moment, then said, "We should fetch up to Paestum by nightfall. From there, take a pointing of south by west." As there were none on the ship but the trusted crew, the subterfuge of their actual course was not needed. In the first hour of the night when skulking eyes would be dimmed, the ship would turn from their assumed course, to leave the land and make passage around the island of Sicilia, and from there due east, far - many stadia far - from any coast. Such duplicity would have advantages - firstly, the reaches of the open sea would preclude any galleys from attempting a foray. Row-ships, with the myriad of oarsmen, had very limited range before food hutches were emptied and water barrels became dry, thus the need for such to remain near the coast and their sources of provisions.
Secondly, in the wide spaces of the open sea, even a large ship is a very small mark on the waters. The Petrel might encounter the odd vessel on infrequent occasion, but the chances of a pirate craft finding a particular ship, and without close knowledge of its course, were vanishingly small.
The winds were goodly, the sky clear of all but scudding clouds, and the horizon empty of anything but distance. Thus far, the voyage had been no different than any other. With one exception...
After turning away from the land in the second hour after dark, to make their crossing of the wide waters between Latium and the island of Silicia, leaving any possible followers and miscreants in wait further down the coast, the ship settled down to normal duty. Although little peril was expected in the waters, a double watch was set with orders to immediately report any sighting of a ship, even should such be an unlikely fisher. It was now that Densus made his report, taken with incredulity by Julius.
The cook had walked across the deck with another in the dim light of the crescent moon - his companion being of some unusual diminution in size. It was with total disbelief that the Captain recognized Pontiki - not in accompaniment with the crewman, but being pulled along with a firm grip on an arm. "How in the putrid name of..." He broke off the oath to demand, and in no moderate tone, "Where did you hide yourself, boy?"
"In the sail locker," replied Densus. Aye. Such would have been unnoticeable by the men, preparing for the voyage. The boy had been allowed on board du
ring the loading, and had kept himself out of notice by the busy crew. Certainly, in the tumult of standing out, none would - and did not - give notice of the youngster and his need to leave the ship before the undocking. No doubt he had hidden long before the silver was completely stowed - out of view and remark by all on board.