Chapter 2

Later in the afternoon we went to see the smith. One of the three clay containers had sprung a leak. The contents was still just iron because the charcoal was gone. The other two were good. The pieces were forged welded and folded many times. A portion was cut off and this was shaped into a wood chisel while another was made into an iron for a plane.

These were finished as smooth as possible and then sharpened roughly. I explained again about hardening steel and quenched them one at a time. Sharpening was now much harder and the smith grumbled. When the chisel was fitted to a wood handle then used the grumbles stayed but I think the man was impressed. He examined the blade after every few strokes expecting it to be dull but being disappointed.

An apprentice was going to get the job of making a wood plane to hold the iron but the smith didn't want to get rid of the chisel yet.

We left the smith with the instructions to get the clay jars with good lids and mentioned that he didn't have to use his forge for this but he still needed a hot fire. Just like Yngvi, he said, "I know all about that."

I started to put on some weight now though it was hard to see. I ate a great deal but the German countryside produced a lot of food. Iulius had to pay for everything so I assumed that Lucius was the one footing the bill.

The men that went to make a bat had come back earlier and I complimented their work but also described how it could be made better in later versions. They didn't have a lathe and they were cut by hand.

I took the ball and swung at it and intentionally missed. After five times I had the carver stand the way I wanted then another man behind him and I pitched. He hit it the first time but not far. On the next pitch he hit it far over my head.

"That is the way to hit it. You would normally run from one base to another while my team tries to catch the ball and throw it back to touch you with it."

"Is that all there is to this game?"

"It is more complicated than that. You have to learn to rub your balls and spit too."

The men with the wing returned and their work looked very poor. The wing was twisted but one half was done fairly. I explained what was wrong and had the wing cut the way I wanted. We could keep one side. A wing could have a flat section on the lower surface or a hollow curve. I had wanted the former because it was easy to make. The men assumed that their quick work would be enough to make a flying vehicle.

While looking at the two wing sections I remembered the boomerang. It was just two wings joined together at a right angle with one leading and one following.

Iulius was always nearby and I decided to put on a performance. I had been working on the ideas for a few weeks and now appeared to be a good time. If I was going to get anywhere other than with the Frisians I would have to evoke the gods. I stood still and closed my eyes. I nodded to myself as if listening to a voice only I could hear then I smiled and said, "Yes, I will. Thank you."

I opened my eyes and with a big smile I said as I took the wing section in my hands. "Cut a piece of light wood like this." The two pieces of wood were at right angles. "This part here is the right shape but has to be cut smaller now. The other piece has to be cut the other way around. I was just told that this is used by the natives of a land on the other side of the planet. This one will spin, go far from me and then return."

The man that gave me trouble with making the wing said, "Who said?"

"Why one of Woden's people, I think."

There was a very pregnant pause and he said, "I heard nothing."

"But I did. I think most of my ideas must have come from his people this way. I just forgot."

Iulius got much closer and asked very earnestly, "What did they say?"

"I was just looking at the wing. They must have been watching me and showed me the wing in a different form. I saw the man's face. He was tall with wide shoulders and the thing he called a 'boomerang' looked small. He threw it and it came back though it didn't come back to his hand. He had a very handsome face with kind eyes. I was going to ask his name but every time I go to do that I start to think of something else."

"What did he look like?"

"He was big as I said but he didn't look German or Roman. His clothes were like the silk I had seen. It was cut and sewn with a lot of care. There were a lot of colours in it but they did not hurt the eyes but fit well together. He wore pants that fit him well but were not tight. It was warm but he wore boots." I looked at Iulius with a grin and said, "The boots were like the kind I must have made once."

I had already constructed the figure in my mind and worked to save it. I now had to go into greater and greater detail.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Yes. He held my face and I felt it tingle to his touch. He said," I paused to get my voice adjusted and in a deeper voice said, "I will repair your body. You have suffered much on my behalf." With another smile I said, "Do you think he can repair my body?"

Now it was Iulius turn to think and he said, "The gods can do anything they wish. If it is their wish then this will happen."

I kept a glad smile like a child and faced the men. "Will you make this for me? If you want you can just make rough piece of wood and I will show you how to shape it later."

The man I had bet with had understood everything and had his mouth open. After a long wait he came to his senses and said, "I will make this for you."

"Thank you."

Iulius pulled me into the tent and had me sit. "Tell me everything again in as much detail as possible." He had to go over this again to explain some of the new words. I repeated his words but he was anxious for the details now and not my grasp of the Latin language.

I started with the scene as if in a movie and added a fade in through a wall of fog. I thought this important. The twenty second time I had used for my conversation lasted nearly an hour as all the details possible were milked from it. I would have to remember all this too. I was sure I would have to repeat it later.

"You said your ideas came this way."

"I think that. How could a boy my age know how to make steel? How could a boy like me know how to make everything I have talked about? I had visions before this one and some are clearer now. I once rode in a giant flying vehicle that I talked about. I saw many strange sights but we were above the clouds so much that everything was hard to see through the glass."

I picked times in my past and just talked about one flight I was on. This way it was much easier to remember. Iulius had to get the boys to bed after I reminded him. I spent at least another hour talking about things that I felt I could let him know without damaging my position. We would have talked longer but I claimed fatigue.

That night I pulled out the stops on my recovery and worked to get everything working. This also meant improved plumbing for me and even some new testicles if I could get them my body to regenerate them.

The next morning Iulius was up early and started to ask more questions. We had not gone far when three men approached. They had the capes and weapons placement of high ranking Roman officers. We had not talked to them before and now the news of my conversation must have reached them.

Horatius Postuma was introduced by the lower ranking officer. The titles went on but he was not from the patrician class but had made it up through the ranks on his own initiative. He said, "I hear that a god spoke to this boy."

Iulius was the one he spoke to so he answered. "That is what I believe, Sir. We spoke last night of vehicles that could fly through the air. Jón has been doing a great many feats that nobody without a god's help could do."

"This is the boy that destroyed Gnaeus Scipio Magnus legion?"

"Yes he did. I heard that he used twelve children to do so. Some eighty men were there but they only escorted the children."

"I had heard that. How did he do it? I know about his weapons."

"We only talked to some of the survivors. They suddenly heard thunder that never stopped. Small spheres of iron came at the legion with such power that they went in one man then through many others. Their bodies simply burst like a ripe fruit.

"When there were no more men before the weapons then the metal flew over a hill instead. Different weapons from overhead came apart very quickly and pierced men even with armour. It went on for a long time but we think it only an hour.

"Camp was made and at night it was attacked with more of the metal that fell on us. None of those on patrol came back alive and all of them were killed the same way.

The next day this young man and his people worked hard to repair some of the damage they had done. Though he killed many, there are many Romans that owe their lives to him including my patron Lucius."

"I heard he ran the first time he had a chance." This was said very angrily.

"My patron had laid siege to Hildestun. There were very few barbarian warriors in the city and it should have fallen easily. The Frisians wore armour so good that our arrows would not penetrate it. They rode horses with strange saddles and used along lance that our men could not stand up to. We had a whole cohort but we were the only ones to suffer casualties.

"When this boy came he slipped undetected into our camp and was in the process of rescuing one of the children from Lucius own tent. Lucius confronted him and this boy said he would be back to talk after completing his mission."

"He allowed the prisoner to escape?"

"The prisoner was a young girl, Sir. She had not even a woman yet. It was much better to learn from the leader of the children instead of one child.

"This young man came back as he said and removed his weapons and offered them to be studied. My patron had given his word and this young man had given his so they were able to talk.

"They talked of things that only a god would know. Lucius knew that this boy was the only surviving son of Clovis, the king of the Frisians. Time was given for us to strengthen our camp without harassment. Later that day this young man brought out twenty of his men and his small group of children. The children controlled the cannons and fired into mature trees at a great distance. When we got close to the forest, we found that the trees had been broken like so much straw. Only a few of the iron balls were found, and one was deep in the ground while another had slowed down enough to be found buried deep in a tree after going through many more to slow it down."

Horatius said, "That is unbelievable. Nobody could do that."

"Then how did over four thousand men of our legion die? The boy killed nearly three and a half thousand Picts and wounded twice that many. Most would die."

When no answer came Iulius said, "The show of power had not ended. This lad cast forth a great many smaller spheres of metal that cut through more trees but not as deeply. No man no matter what his armour could stand up to this.

"After this happened, instead of asking for surrender of our forces, my master was given the chance to honourably withdraw.

"Lucius took this opportunity and went to inform Gnaeus Scipio Magnus Our general did not believe as you do not. At the first sound of the attack we pulled back. Tell me what you would have done? There was no defence possible.

"After the picts were slaughtered like sheep, Lucius got their king to provide some men and we watched as more picts were killed. It was only good fortune that allowed us to fight in the rain at night while cloaked in a thick fog.

"Six hundred and forty picts were killed outright that night as well as half of our cohort. More died in following days from the wounds.

"We managed to kill the Frisian men and they only numbered sixty four. We also killed the three children that did most of the slaughtering of our forces. We captured some of their weapons but the children and some of the weapons escaped. This boy here attacked alone with a flaming lance that could only be used by the gods themselves.

"The powder used to feed the cannon was destroyed all at once. We thought it was the gods' wish that we not gain this. This boy was struck by a piece of wood that penetrated his helmet.

"He was kept alive for days only to be tortured. His legs and arms were burnt but he said not one word. He was then castrated but again said nothing. It was only when the Picts were done did my master gain custody of the boy.

"Tell me that my master is a coward after standing up to the terrible weapons of the gods. We lost half our number and then it was the weather that defeated our enemy not our arms.

"Lastly, Sir, tell me how a boy of almost twelve summers is able to do all this and much more by himself? Only the gods can have chosen him for this task. What he is to do I have no idea but my master says it is not to destroy Rome but to abolish slavery and keep us from going to war to gain more land that we cannot hold."

Horatius just stared at me and so did the officers. I stood like a boy that had little idea of what was before him. I was also going over Iulius' words but there was no additional memories stirred up from them.

Horatius finally said, "I heard that a god may have spoke to him last night. What was said?"

Iulius answered. "The gods were watching over the boy. They must have smiled at what he was trying to do. They told Jón of a new device but not of a reason for making it. Jón wanted to make what he calls a wing. This he claims he has seen in his dreams. It was on a giant machine that carried hundreds of people at five hundred miles an hour and did this for hour after hour. All of this was far above the clouds.

"Jón wants to give us this information. The men I talked to would cut the wood for coin but the ideas come from the gods and through this boy that is before you now."

Horatius looked at me and said, "Is all this true?"

I said for the first time, "I have no idea. I guess I was struck on the head. I know that I forgot everything including my name. Iulius has been trying to help me remember but my past life has not returned. The visions I had of the gods though are coming clearer."

"What about the powder? Can you remember this or are you trying to keep it hidden?"

With a serious voice I said, "That has been lost. I may remember it later but to be truthful the powder is supposed to be weak. The gods know a great deal and give some of the knowledge to me freely. Some weapons I have seen but not understood that can destroy a legion very easily and by only one man. Getting away from war, I also see not only ways of moving through the sky but across the ground very quickly.

"The new type of iron I make will be made in such quantities that it can be used for a road. A giant machine will pull many large carts from one place to another. They can carry food or goods to sell or people. The roads you now use, can be improved. Bitumen is mixed with small stones and compressed into a hard surface. Giant vehicles travel on this carrying people and cargo. They move at fifty to a hundred miles an hour.

"The gods have shown me a kinder Rome that has no slavery. There is still a need for the legion but now they are to keep order. The soldiers are much more educated and they operate giant machines that make the simple cannon look like a toy. Rome is not ruled just by Romans but by everybody according to their numbers.

"I have seen us all becoming fabulously rich. We still have to work but our pay allows us to have so much more. We do not have slaves but machines are able to do much of the work.

"The gods use a device that they pick up and talk into. The voice can be carried at the speed of the lightning bolt around the planet. Think what this device alone could do for Rome."

The men looked at me in silence then Horatius said, "What can you show me?"

"I can show you a small model of the machine that will fly us from one part of our planet to another. It is being built now. I was also promised by the god I spoke to that my burns, face, teeth and my testicles would be repaired." I showed my scar tissue on all four limbs and pushed my face forward. I even dropped my pants to show that I was truly without a scrotum or even much of my penis. "You see me now much as I was. Surely nobody has healed from wounds like this. If I do then it has to be a god that has done this for me."

"When with this begin?"

"He already has. It may be very difficult to do this all at once. He is working slowly but I feel that it will only be a week before you can see some of the changes."

During the day many people came by to see me and my scars. I knew that they wanted to see the before picture so they could judge the after. Good skin was just under the scars and a week would be enough to shed my outer skin like a snake to reveal healthy skin underneath.

My aeronautical engineers came with more of their friends with some hastily made products. The wings were too poor to use but there were some blanks for making a boomerangs. I got a few of the men seated and got them to shape the two arms on the boomerang. One man was left handed and I had him cut his differently because it would spin the other way.

The other men went to find more wood and cut it before my eyes. This way I could make them right the first time. The ball and cup came back too but the ball was too big for the cup though it was close. The inside of the cup was enlarged instead.

I only smiled internally as I saw Roman legionnaires playing with a child's toy.

The boomerangs were roughed out and then rubbed down to smooth them out. Rather than go to an area outside the fort to test our devices we stayed to work on the wing. I went into the training I had to learn to fly a small fixed wing craft. There was no sense going far because I was only dealing with the wing itself now.

A much smaller wing was done that would be the tail. The horizontal and vertical stabilisers had no control surfaces and as a matter of fact neither did the wings.

A thin branch was cut like an arrow shaft and one of the men was able to get some of the glue from the fletcher. This was also used on the vertical stabiliser. The glue had to dry so this glider was put in a jig of stones to hold everything in position and additional hot rocks put close to dry the wood and set the glue sooner.

The boys now got a chance to play with the cup and sphere but more had to be made so they would get one. They had one of their propellers and launchers and this soon got copied too.

Two dozen men along with the carving crew went out to the field close to the fort. I explained about the boomerang and then threw it. It was like the frisbee in a way. You could do tricks with it if you played with it long enough.

The boomerang went out and it took a while until I got it to work right. The man making a left had version got his to work first. He was as excited as a boy and was telling everybody what had to be done to do it right. Those throwing it right handed failed utterly and they could not throw it with their left very well.

I was not that bad after ten throws and my casts got better the more I tried. Eventually I was the first to catch it as it came back to me. The two boys were dying to try but the bigger boys had to go first. It was getting dark and that was the only reason we had to go back.

Horatius Postuma and his two officers came back that night and he asked questions. Most of them were related to warfare in one way or another. He was told about larger cannon that could shoot over twenty miles but questioned this figure then questioned the accuracy especially when you could not see who you were shooting at.

Radio was explained like cell phones I had talked about earlier. They knew nothing about electricity so it was difficult without them knowing at least some of the intermediate steps.

They saw the model plane by torchlight and they at least knew about glue drying. I said, "The wings are still much too heavy. If the plane does not fly right we will have to cut large areas out of the wings to make it light then cover the wings with light cloth. Glue will have to be used again to make it stiff enough."

I had to get into the lift theory of a wing again but they questioned each and every assertion I made.

Horatius brought out his own version of the propeller and then I had to talk about what it did and why. This at least he understood because he had an example in his hands that actually did what I said.

It was difficult to get rid of the man that night and said that I would be around tomorrow to answer more questions. It was only when I said that the gods also talked to me in my sleep that he let me rest.

During the day I had been stimulating the skin and other organs to grow the way it should instead of the scar tissue I had. This was slow and I could do better with nothing else to distract me. My face though had to most work to be done. It was disfigured with a vengeance. Not only bone had to be sculpted but cartilage and skin. At least the skin grew much quicker. To mark the transition I decided to change my hair colour. I was now going to find out if platinum blondes had more fun than the shade of blonde I now had.

The next morning I itched all over but instead of scratching I just cut back on my sensory input. I had used a lot of resources so when breakfast came I ate ravenously.

Iulius was looking at me oddly and I said, "What is it that you find interesting?"

"You have changed already but I cannot see how just yet."

"Perhaps in a few days you will see some changes." I had wanted to say this in other words and asked about the words that may fit my ideas. I found a few more and tried to file them away to when they were needed.

I spent the morning making another plane but this time the wing was lightened when large rectangular sections were cut out of it. Horatius reluctantly donated some silk which I glued over the entire wing area. He even helped me when I said I was tired. We had no trouble getting more glue from the fletcher.

The mounting of the wood rod was now easier because it was slightly adjustable in relation to the tail section.

That afternoon I got Horatius to let me have eleven men while he had eleven of his own. All I had to say was that I had seen this in my dreams with the gods. It was a given that he would try. Outside the fort we made a pitch that was sixty paces by thirty. The goals were set up at each end and they were as tall as what a tall man could reach and five paces wide.

I kicked the ball around then kicked it to the men. I told them the rules about no hands except the goalie and then only in his area. Everybody wanted to play skins so one team got a white cloth and the other got any colour they could find.

I was the referee too and I had to be impartial even though this was just to get used to the rules. The Romans thought this a sport for sissies because they could not foul anybody. They could not use a knife or even punch anybody.

Soccer in my time had the players barf with the amount of running they had to do. The Romans were used to this treatment already and only one had to get rid of his last meal.

At half time, Horatius was excited. The sport was to his liking. He looked at my expression and asked, "What is wrong."

"I am worried about what will happen in a few years."

"Do not worry. Nobody will attack you."

"It is not that. You have the Roman soccer team already started. I have to get the Frisians to do the same thing. Then I have to get them to play without killing each other. Your team looks both very rough but also very good. Germany may not be able to compete as well."

"Do you think your people will play this game with us?"

"Oh yes they will. We are bigger and stronger but your people need less muscle to run all over the field. We cannot use the strength of our arms and have to rely on our legs. Then we both have to worry about the Picts. They are like you and will give you more of a challenge."

"You talk as if we will not be at war with anybody."

"Empires are always at war even if it is to keep their own people in line. I can go to Rome and challenge your empire to series of games in the Colosseum. I have to think of a suitable prizes for the winners."

"What do the gods give?"

"Gold, lots of gold. I talked about radio sending your voice for thousands of miles well in a very complicated process your picture could go too. It is almost like being at the game. When the games are played the pictures could go to everybody in the empire."

"That is amazing but do you think others will be interested?"

"The gods are crazy about soccer." I got close as if telling a secret and said, "They act like some of the people in the Colosseum might act."

The man looked at me and tried to fit this new piece of data into his conception of gods. I continued, "Television will make a lot of gold for some people."

"How?" He was even more interested now.

"If I show you a picture that reminds you of your favourite type of wine, you will want to drink it a little bit more each time it is shown. If I own the vineyards then you will want to buy my wine. If I pay to have my pictures shown to everybody then they will all want my wine. If I make bread or anything else I can have the pictures shown or have people talk about my products and say how good they are. I could be very rich."

Horatius said, "You would have to be rich already to have your wine available to everybody."

"That is very true but I would be very much richer."

"How do you send these pictures."

"This is a very complicated subject. No man can know everything. Some men know how to do one task while others do something different. You need to have power again and this means that you have to turn a machine and it makes harnessed lightning. The lightning goes through silver wires but it is too expensive. Very pure copper works just as well. Then there are many parts that have to be made. Some use up the power of the lightning while others change it a little bit."

I stopped and looked at him with a put on face. "I just thought of something. There is a type of iron that sticks to another piece of iron. Have you heard of this?"

"Yes I have. It is said to be bewitched."

"It isn't. It is natural. Do you have any or know where some is?"

"No, why?"

"I was going to make something for you. It always points north so you know what direction you are going."

"I can tell by the sun and the stars."

"With the sun almost right overhead you cannot tell. On a cloudy or foggy night the same thing is true."

"I don't need it then."

"You are a soldier. You may be attacked at any time or have to attack in turn. You have to be ready all the time too."

"What would you know about fighting? You..." He seemed to catch himself and was quiet. Eventually he said, "I will see if I can find some."

"Thank you and in return I will make you something to point north. I need a small amount of steel and a very small cup made out of bronze, brass or copper. Wood or clay works too if necessary."

It was late in the day that we found the second model dry enough to test. Horatius and I went alone for a secret trials. The model flew but not the way I wanted. Horatius and I went over it and I mentioned what might be wrong and he started to make his own suggestions.

The tail was brought closer and the dowel was pushed further forward to shift the centre of gravity. After that it flew very well with just a small push. It wasn't quite gossamer light but we could work on it.

Horatius said, "We should make a very large one of these. If only I had more silk."

"I will tell you a secret that nobody knows."

He very eagerly said, "Yes?"

"Silk comes from the east but nobody knows how it is made. It is a secret that is jealously hidden from everybody."

"Yes?"

"You have seen different kinds of long green worms. When it is time they find a place to rest. They attach themselves to a plant then spin a material that goes completely around them. Inside this new home and over a period of time the worm's body changes until it becomes a moth or butterfly."

Again the conversation was long. I had to describe around some of the words to get the appropriate word. I was learning the language but not quickly enough.

"One worm in the east spins its home and before it can chew its way out after becoming a butterfly it is put into boiling water. The end of the thread is found then and pulled off slowly."

He looked at me so oddly I added, "I am not lying. Only you and I know this. Some people have been known to be killed to keep this secret."

"Why did you tell me?"

"A strand of silk is very strong. Rope made of this will be even stronger. If you get some strong but light wood you can make a frame. This needs to be covered in one large piece of silk. A man can hang below this and jump off a very hill in the morning where wind is blowing. The man will fly for a long time until he lands. All that he needs is an area where the heat from the sun makes the land hot enough to make the air above it rise. A man simply stays in this air going up and he goes up with it.