Chapter 16

The men marvelled at the toilet and Licinia said a bit smugly, "We can leave this room now and you can test it out. All our guests do. Jón said this will keep us healthy because the germs will be carried away."

The men didn't understand but we left the room and I closed the door on Julian. It took a while but we heard the water flow into the toilet again. My toilet tank was high up like the way the English had it at one time. The distance the water fell caused it to go fast and clean the bowl better.

I entertained the officers as Licinia filled the tank from the pump on the main floor. It would see a lot of use today.

Tertius had hurried home. He was even larger now that he was exercising. He had a smile on his face because he always liked a chance to fly his kite.

"Hello, Tertius."

"Hello, Jón. Who is here today?"

"Julian Constantius."

"Oh, I get to use his kite finally."

"Yes you do," I said with a grin.

Tertius was introduced to Julian and the rest of the officers and Tertius shook hands just as I did. Julian thanked Tertius for his telescope and mentioned how he kept it with him all the time now.

Tertius was very pleased at the compliment and I think proud that a Caesar had said such a thing to him.

I talked of how hard Tertius worked to learn all he could. I then said to the young man, "Julian has a son by the name of Aulus. He is coming along quickly now and both of you will make fine engineers some day."

Tertius brought out the large kite we had made. The silk had the symbol of the Constantius family on it. After checking the direction of the wind, Tertius raced his horse and I did the same just behind him. When enough speed was reached I released the kite and it went into the air. Only when it was above the trees did it start to climb faster and by that time Tertius had to come to a stop.

We caught up to him and Julian used the telescope to see the kite though it moved quickly one way and another. When he got close, he was then handed the spool of silk cord and he now flew the kite for half an hour before giving control to one of his officers.

"That was amazing. I read about it and you talked about it but I did not really believe that this was possible. You told me of the forces acting on the kite but now I begin to understand them more."

"There are two little boys that have more to teach you. The trouble may be in getting them to stop talking."

"What do they have?"

"Models that show you more principles of flight. They want to fly soon and I heard that they wanted to be tied to a kite to get into the sky."

"Could this happen?"

"I mentioned this to you before. The kite has to be much larger and stronger. I need young men to test the devices and the men I have control of. If this is not done then there will be many needless deaths. Older men are better only because they will listen."

"My soldiers could do this."

"That is true but I first want to build a ship that the world has not seen before. It has to carry goods that the world has not seen before and then to go where no Roman has gone before. Then I have to build mighty engines that are more powerful than a legion of men.

"There already is a man working on flight as I mentioned before. I send him plans and supplies and he tries what he can. He is the start of your air force but I like the German term Luftwaffe better."

"I have met the man. He has corrupted many of his men to this new study. He does do his patrols and his duty but I think the Augustus would be angry at him for not staying strictly to his duties."

"Many years from now the Augustus will be very pleased with this man. He enjoys learning and as I said what he finds will be used for war one day."

Julian stayed with us to learn what he could. He had to see everything we had built from the apartment buildings to the mill and finally the forge and foundry. I timed the visit so he could see the pouring to be at night. I got Julian to make one particular mould with me.

The mould had been used before to check but none of the cast articles were kept. Four hours later Julian had a fifty centimetre and a full metre disk with his family coat of arms embossed into them. The back of each said that Julian had personally cast these in the year 0002.

"What am I going to do with these now?"

"Clean them up and put them above your fireplace. They could go into the wall at the gates to your home. They rust though and will stain the stone. Another possibility is to make a wall of iron spears with bars running between. The tops are very sharp. Two of these will be your gate and they will still move like the ones you have that are made of wood. If you keep it painted then it and the disks will not rust."

He didn't see this, I guess and used a piece of paper to draw a fancy wrought iron gate with impressive coats of arms on both halves. From his smile I knew that we would be making them for him one day.

The machine shop fascinated him in the accuracy we were able to work too and the intricacy of the machines themselves. He got to see the glassworks and was invited to blow some glass freehand and another where the bottle he made was put into a mould. The steam hammers made him smile in delight. It may have been the power or the noise but they did hammer out steel very quickly.

Julian asked me later, "You have not taken a companion while here?"

This was a question and I said, "I explained to Patricia that the gods had remade me with strong hungers. She understands this. She knows that I am going to be away for long periods of time. She will just have to share. The fact that my body is only thirteen makes it difficult to control and this too makes any relationship difficult."

"Why is it that you have not found a companion here?"

"I can control myself with difficulty but much of the reason is that I am simply too busy."

"Many men could not do this and young men would find it very difficult."

"I will be forced to find a young lady soon. It would be nice if Patricia were here but that gives critics something to talk about."

Seven days had passed since Julian's arrival and I wondered why he was waiting around. He was welcome to but he took up much of my time though I took him to the locations I had to work at.

He talked of a yacht for himself but the best I could do was to train some of his people while working on this ship and provide plans later for them to work on the yacht.

One afternoon a dozen ships pulled in full of soldiers pulling hard at the oars. I had some warning but Julian had me not get into my armour. We waited with his men at the house but he only wore his plain white tunic. This he usually got dirty and the one he wore as Caesar was kept in reserve.

Two hundred and sixty three men marched toward the house pushing everybody they could find before them. They wanted control and were out for bear.

From the colour of the robes of one man I knew that he was a Tribunus Laticlavius. He was probably of senatorial rank but still young. They came directly for me and I guess my blonde hair gave me away. Four burly legionnaires came for me with two of them with swords in hands.

It was Julian that said, "Halt!" The tone of voice actually got the men to stop.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

They looked at his tunic and may have thought him a slave if it were not the quality of the material.

One man said, "Stand aside. This man is a thief and a murderer."

"By who's authority do you come?"

The Tribunus Laticlavius came forward with seven of his officers. "You were warned to stand aside. You will get no other warning."

Julian said, "You are an arrogant pup. Do you challenge me?"

The man started to sputter as he reached for his sword. Julian stepped back and donned his toga with the wide purple bands signifying that he was the Caesar of this area.

Julian's men had their own swords out to stop anybody from hurting Julian as he put on his official robes of office. Julian now moved forward with his own sword in hand.

He said, "Treachery deserves death. Perhaps I will just kill a few before Jón of Germania calls down the power of the gods on your cohort."

The Tribunus Laticlavius got on one knee immediately though he would not be called to do this. He was in hot water now and had to find a way to get out of this with his life. The officers with him did the same thing and so did the four men that wanted to arrest me.

"I am sorry Caesar. I had no idea it was you here."

"You came to arrest a man that has cleansed your nest of pirates. Did the pirates buy you? I cannot see how you let the pirates continue with their raids."

"Caesar, I did not know there were pirates there. My information is that the pirates were barbarians."

"Barbarians that looked like Romans? Few of them had red hair or even blonde. Are your spies colour blind or does the colour of gold give them problems in seeing correctly?"

"Caesar, I have such a large area to police. I can only go by what I have been told. There are many kinds of pirates. We have not been able to trace any of them until now."

"Jón of Germania was recovering his goods with some merchantmen. They found the pirates quickly enough. I do not know how long you were stationed here but you had ships and men to cover all of the surrounding coastline. You did not find them. That smacks of corruption or ineptness on your part."

"Caesar, I try very hard to do my duty."

"You think you do. I think you are too pampered to know what real hardship is. You are lucky that I was here. Jón could kill a simple cohort like yours in an hour if he chose to. He could have destroyed your ships with twelve of his mighty arrows and let the current clean up the mess."

Julian was laying it on thick and I appreciated the help. I may get out of this without having to run.

The Tribunus said, "I had heard that he was very powerful. That is why I brought this many men."

"Thousands would not be enough. Did you not know that the gods protect him? He has the power of the gods running through his hands. He can heal or kill with a touch."

"I had not heard that Caesar."

I knew why Julian had stayed now and I said to him. "You may not be believed but I can prove some of your words while not killing anybody."

"That is a good idea. Start with the Tribunus Laticlavius."

The man said, "Please Caesar. I did not know."

"Remain still. Jón said he will not kill you though I should."

I moved forward and the men got out of my way. I put my hands onto the man's head and after two minutes reduced the control of his arms. The sword had long since fallen and the man was whimpering though I gave him no pain.

When I backed up I said, "Stand!"

The man did with difficulty and found that his arms would not obey him. He may have been brave but now he was faced with what had to be supernatural powers. People believed strongly in deities but nobody really had any experience. Either it was from a charlatan, a nut or hearsay. The man in front of me had it first hand and with witnesses.

Julian said, "What did you do Jón?"

"His arms are like dead things. He can feel them but not get them to do his bidding."

"That is not death but it presents you with a problem."

"What is that Caesar?"

"You have removed some known pirates. There is a standing reward for them. You have only taken compensation for what they have done to you. There is the matter of the reward for their capture and for the names of the other pirates."

"What figure do you think is just?"

"With the names of the others then the figure has to be thirty thousand aurii."

"Is that a fair figure?"

"Yes when you consider that you captured most of them already."

"That much gold would come in handy. There are always more schools to build."

Julian looked at the Tribunus Laticlavius and said, "Is that a fair figure?"

"I cannot move my arms Caesar. The senate will be angry at the way you have treated me."

"I saved your life." Julian turned to me and said, "Could you kill him with a touch?"

"It would take just seconds now. It was difficult to not kill him before and limit the effect."

"Is the effect permanent?"

"It is unless I work to put him back to normal. My healing could be used to get horns to grow from his skull. This takes time but in a year he would look like a bull if he didn't take his own life first."

"A bull! Really!"

"Yes."

"I would like to see that but I will not be around here then."

The Tribunus Laticlavius was crying now and Julian simply told him to act a man.

Julian then asked me, "What do you think to do with him? Try to excuse the rest of the cohort. They are only following orders."

"It has been known that the gods could turn somebody into a heifer. It would be a matter of moments until he forgot all his past as his body slowly changed. He could be placed among the bulls and like it, but again this will take a year or so."

"Are you that angry at him?"

"Not really. I do want more schools and some can be constructed in Britannica."

The Tribunus Laticlavius said, "The reward is just. We can assist you with the schools."

Julian said, "When would the reward be forwarded to Jón of Germania?"

"I could have it here in a month."

Julian looked at me and I said, "I can live with that but I think discipline in this cohort has been destroyed. The men need to feel the power of the gods to know that their leader is not acting irrationally."

"Turn the entire cohort into heifers?"

"No, just heal a few."

The officers were very quick to run back among the men to bring out those that needed medical attention. I cured one man of stomach cancer but he only thought it was a cramp that never left. Hearing was usually a quick malady to repair and after the first few left the rest were eager to get treated.

Bruises, cuts and blisters healed fairly quickly. I worked on the cohort alone while Julian had a talk to the Tribunus Laticlavius. Though it was far away I heard him explain the fact of life.

Two men were partially blind and they got to their knees when their sight came back. One eye from each was damaged either in the retina or the optic nerve. More had cataracts but I had not found a way to work on them yet. I stayed on the first cataract patient for an hour until I saw how to do this. I knew that either the lense was removed and a prosthesis put in its place or the cataract was broken up by sound and then sucked out. I had none of the necessary equipment to do this surgically. I was able to do four more eyes now but I was too tired to continue.

We ate with the cohort and shared their food. Julian did this often and it was good to see him getting along so well with the men. One senator got the use of his arms back and he got on two knees to give thanks to the gods for their forgiveness.

The next day I gave the visiting cohort a tour of my lands and those of Lucius. I wanted them to have a fear of me but also see that I was a builder. This only meant that I would get cooperation when I needed it. The men of course would tell the rest of their legion and the word would spread into Britannia. If and when the ship was completed, western Gaul and Hispania could get tackled.

The day after, the Caesar figured that the troops should return home. Those with money bought steel if they could but I already saw a steel sword at the hip of the senator. He may have bought it knowing it was stolen or not. I had been paid for it now so I did not really care.

When they were ready to take to the ships I showed them how they could have been destroyed with my explosive arrows. I had cheated and placed much more explosive in a bank that I wanted removed. My own arrow just set it off. Only Julian knew this and he had suggested the ploy in the first place.

I was safely behind a tree when the explosion occurred and the soldiers a hundred metres more away. Many were pelted with small rocks, dirt and mud.

An hour later Julian used six arrows to take out trees but there was not much power in an explosive arrow when compared to a light antitank weapon. He too looked to be a true believer and as such took a special case with six carefully wrapped arrows and a sheet of paper with instructions on safety. If Julian failed I would have to start all over again with a new figure that may take the position of Augustus. This was not even mentioning the loss of a friend.

Rufus returned with a good cargo and a smile. He had no problems with pirates and wanted an excuse to use the arrows he was given. The ships were unloaded and then more iron and steel products loaded. Many of the entrepreneurs had come back and bought products wholesale. They where the ones that had to deliver the products.

The families of the men that helped me were going too and that eased my mind. Setting down new roots gave me trained personnel where I needed them. They were apt to stay as well. They were well paid but the amount of gold I was dealing with would tempt almost anyone.

Rufus stayed this time and sent his next in command in overall charge of the little fleet. He wanted to work on the ship we were building and I knew for a fact that he wanted to be her first captain. He did not have to tell me in words. Just the way he looked at the framework was enough.

With the ship progressing fine I went to the foundry with a lot more bronze because I wanted to start the steam engine.

I knew next to nothing about them. I had seen the early steam engines used in trains but I only got a feel for them and the sizes of the major parts. The idea of a steam locomotive or engine for a ship was not new. I had this sort of idea in mind ever since I came back to this time.

A cylinder was easy to make as was the piston and the double shafts, one going forwards and one back. It was the movement of the shafts that forced open and closed the valves that admitted the steam in one side and allowed the air to vent into the other direction. The valves were on the bottom so any condensate could be expelled.

The boiler should have been easier but it wasn't. It was the installation of a rivet that allowed me to think that the tubes could be attached to a thick steel plate by mushrooming the edge into a hole with a hammer and a hard bar. We had to use thick steel too. I was not sure of its strength and steam was very powerful.

There were a lot of dedicated people working on this project and like ants or bees seemed to take two steps forward then one back. Our first boiler was small and I had to make a smaller cylinder to match it. It was three months later that the little one finally worked. It had a massive flywheel. I had the cylinder crank a shaft for rotary power.

The gold from Britannia came with a heavy escort but only a low ranking officer in charge. I thanked him for his effort and made out a receipt and a letter of thanks. They had lots of money of their own and bought all they could. I suggested that the officer set up an office so he or a partner could make some money. Romans are not stupid about warfare nor about business.

Finding proper female accompaniment was difficult. I did not want somebody influenced by my religious affiliations but my description was now very well known.

Licinia found girls for me but she was trying to get me married off. Lucius came twice to visit his family when he got a chance to come this far and tried the same thing. Even Tertius was used to get near me so other girls could be introduced.

A portion of the girls I could sample but none of them were ones I wanted to keep around very long. They never went home unsatisfied though.

The grape press was made with its long and heavy steel shaft. The sides were thick steel too and the idea was to reduce the weight on future models. We at least had a gearbox that could turn the massive press. The small steam engine was suitable for driving the gearbox but we had no grapes yet to try them on.

Some of the men working as machinist built a small engine that could power a small locomotive at our foundry. I encouraged this and had them make soft iron wheels until they understood what had to be made. They didn't need too much direction after they got a look at a working model.

I made other models too of equipment I had to make some day. Power shovels that used cables were very common before hydraulics took over in my day. Farm tractors as I remembered them from history books and all the other tools including the heavy rollers used to level asphalt were shown.

A pump was also made for water and a much larger blower for the bellows. This one was done much quicker. Nobody liked the duty on the bellows. When we were done the blower put out more air than all six billows but I would not allow it to be used until a replacement unit was built. A cupola full of molten metal would have to be ripped apart and rebuilt if the metal froze.

The grape harvest was very good and the press worked very well. This meant that even more juice from the first squeezing was available for fermenting. The watered skins and seeds used to make a sour wine was still there but less of the sugar was available now.

Just after harvest I started on a trip back to Gaul with a small steam engine driven ship of only twenty metres. It was ketch rigged with two sails but I wanted the use of the approximately sixty five horsepower motor. I had hard coal in reserve, but dry wood was my present fuel because it was cheap and readily available.

I travelled like a true dignitary. Rufus was the captain and four of his men were the crew. We had a deep keel because of the sails and just hoped that we did not run aground in low water. Behind us was a barge thirty metres long and twenty wide. As yet it was poorly covered but I did not want to wait much longer because bad weather would soon be coming. It had a great deal of cargo ready for it.

The steam could also power a whistle that would deafen anybody close. I had this muffled with reeds and muffled in a box with the only open face being forward. It was still too loud. It also used so much steam that the boat slowed if we were using the engine.

We stopped at garrisons down the river and sold from the contents of the barge. Every stop was long. They all had to see the ship, the motor and the largest barge on the river.

Lucius was in his camp when we arrived and I took him and a few of the officers down the river with some of their horses on the barge. There was not much room available but I wanted to show them the capabilities. In a half hour we turned around and came back. We were only making about five miles an hour against the current but it was very fast in some respects.

"I will sell ships like the one we are on with no keel and no masts. You would have to rely on the engine alone for power. The soldiers could then watch the shore instead of rowing."

Lucius said, "How much?"

"Fifteen thousand aurii for a complete unit. If I get some Roman soldiers rotated through my yards I can train them. They can then make the complete hull and I will sell the engine, shaft and propeller for thirteen thousand aurii. If the governor will order fifty engines they will cost ten thousand each."

"We have men to row and they are much cheaper."

"They cannot pull the barges. The barges can carry the calvary. With walls around the sides of the barges then you will be protected from spears and arrows from shore. With a wide gangplank two horses at once can leave the barge. With two or more ships pulling, you can get to many trouble spots much quicker. Now you have a way of reinforcing another legion if it is in trouble."

Lucius said, "That is a great idea. How fast can we go upstream and down with three ships?"

Upstream about two hundred and forty miles a day. I will supply a method of casting illumination so the ships can go safely at night."

"Two hundred and forty miles in a day!"

"Ten miles an hour and twenty four hours in a day."

"That means that we can travel most of the Rhine in just four days."

"Yes it does. Downstream you should go three hundred and sixty miles. Now if I can get some officers to think about money for a moment, they can build much larger boats with two or more motors. They can carry freight up and down the river. They are going to compete against me but there is a lot of traffic and we can both make money."

Lucius was the only one with lots of gold. He was the one that helped me and he got a fraction of the wealth I made from his people and property. He also sold for me. He had his own sales staff and bought many of the articles I brought to him. The vast majority of what I had dropped off was to go to his warehouses.

Lucius said, "I can do this but I am not a sailor."

"Hire sailors to help you build. You pay me and I will teach them and pay them too. They need silver to survive. You get a large barge built and put three or four engines on it. Put rooms on it and people can go in comfort. You sell the travellers food that the crew prepares. You carry cargo below decks."

"How much for me?"

"We will have to talk. The barge will be six times larger..."

"Six? It is large now."

"Size counts. I can have one large boiler then that is cheaper than many smaller units. We have three large motors and two tillers. They will be like mine with the captain sitting inside a room out of the sun and rain while still steering the ship."

"Six times will carry more than that massive ship you are building now."

"Not by much more but yes you are right. You cannot go onto the ocean or not far. You need to stay safely in the lea and worry about being flung on the rocks. The river is much safer but you can be hit by an arrow or a spear from the shore."

"What possible cargo could I carry that would justify a ship that large?"

I said, "There are many cities on the Rhine. I talked once about finding goods that are cheap in one city and selling in another. This is like my iron and steel. It is always far more expensive far from the foundry. If you bring rare merchandise then you can have a business selling them to those that wish to have something unique. We make glass and this alone requires transportation. I will be making fertiliser in a few years and this will be a valuable cargo to carry."

"That sounds like it will work."

I suggested, "Find men in every fort and city on the Rhine. You teach them to sell for you. You have a listing of what our products cost and you can pick them up from the forge. You just deliver them. When you get tired of this then you can hire a good captain but I already have the best."

Rufus was too far away to hear but Lucius chuckled.

We left later and a day after that, we reached the English Channel. We would have been faster but we had a lot of people that had to have their curiosity satisfied. We stayed close to the shore and here we had to rely on Rufus' knowledge of shallow water and the tides.

The Seine was much the same as the Rhine but I wanted everybody to see us. We could not get farther than Lutetia Parisiorum because of low bridges. We had to unstep our masts though to get through but I wanted to give the ketch a chance to fly. Being a tug was not what I wanted.

The river into my property was surveyed but it was the keel that could not get us far. I got the ship turned around and with the help of some men and took the barge out to the Seine once more. I now pushed the barge close to the same area and had the men pull it the last few miles to our showroom.

I would like to see if I could dredge the river or find a way to float the ship on the shallow draughted barge itself.

Runners had been sent for Julian's family and especially Patricia. The owner's cabin had a large comfortable bed that just needed to be broken in.

Rufus anchored and I went ashore while still thinking of how to get the little ship home. I had a barge already but now I needed a way of removing the sediment from the bottom of the river. This should be a special purpose barge though and could spend all its time working on the Seine and its tributaries.

I was welcomed home like the prodigal son. I went around saying hi to friends and of course my family. This could take a long time but it was very enjoyable.

Three hours after arriving Julian's family arrived. They were treated like family too and even the guards had their hands shook.

"I have something to show you all." We all rode to the river and they saw the large barge and a great many men and my crane being used to unload the cargo.

Aulus simply said, "Wow. That is big. How did you get that here. I don't see a place for oars?"

Postuma added, "It really is big."

I said, "It is the biggest that will fit in this river until I widen and deepen it. Now let's go see what pulled it here."

It was not long before we found the ketch. The stern was to us and the name was easily seen. Patricia said, "Why is my name on it?"