Chapter 19

I was shocked and must have had my mouth open when Clovis said, "It is about time that I get the upper hand on you."

"But all these people?"

"Great isn't it."

I had to pause and then said, "Yes but how am I going to feed and shelter them?"

"You did it before."

"But that was when I had only a few at a time."

"We are hearty people and will survive. If they get sick you can heal them."

I just stared at the people seeing new faces all the time intermixed with the old. Just when we were being tied off I asked, "Did all the people from Hildestun come to live here?"

"Only some. I was glad to get rid of a few. We had thousands of people coming to our lands and the city is full and so is Victoria. All the old farms are being worked again but I do not know for how long. We have none of this fertiliser you talked so much about."

"There is no room for all these people."

"Then settle them here and get them to walk to where you are building."

That sounded reasonable but I still had no way of feeding and providing shelter. Healing would physically kill me if a large number got sick. The Germans of this time were hearty and didn't expect too much from the social system. Then I remembered the conflict in Victoria and knew humans would act as animals no matter where and when they were.

I was going to be mobbed but Clovis presence kept them back. I put on a happy face even if it was false. I hugged so many people I thought I was going through a repetitious nightmare. I liked or loved the people, I just couldn't take this many people this quickly. I was surprised to see a lot of old enemies too. Some were from the Pict camps I had attacked but some were from the Roman legion we had decimated. These I acted much more formal with but I still acted friendly. I could get a knife in the back from any of these.

The presence of the Romans had to be because I had told Fidelis about the courting of the Romans. Either he or Clovis had seen the writing on the wall even though Clovis had not let on when I told him myself just a few minutes ago.

Everybody asked questions of me that would take years to answer. If I did it all at once it would take hours. I wanted the people settled first.

My smiling cadets were in front of me now but even with their training they were still children. I gave them an extra hug and said, "We have to get them settled first. There is no room at the school."

Dolf asked, "What should we do?"

"We have to make a tent city like the Romans do. There are enough Romans here to show them how to do it."

I sent the cadets among the people to find the warriors among them. I had to get some work done and I did not want them to feel like they were being abused or neglected. Thinking diplomatically for a change I got Clovis to come with me to a rock so we both could stand on it to be seen and heard.

The people gathered around and I walked to Gnaeus Scipio Magnus and shook his hand again and said in a low voice, "We have to talk soon. Are you here of your own choice?"

"We are prisoners of war and your prisoners."

"Will you assist me in getting all these people settled?"

"I will."

"Will you accept orders from others placed above you and give orders to those below you regardless of race?"

"I am a prisoner and have to do that."

"Then thank you for your help."

Clovis got on the rock and then I got up by accepting his hand. My smile went back on and I said in a loud German voice, "I thank all of you for coming here to help me. I am making a school. I will be teaching Latin, German and mathematics. When that has been mastered we will progress to how the world works. This will lead to how to manipulate our world." I then said the same thing again in Latin.

"I am going to drag this world into the fifth century with my bare hands if I must. Most of you have heard of my dreams of things to come and my visions from the land of the gods. I want everybody well fed and active. I want everybody to be able to read and understand the politics of our own people and that of our neighbours." The Romans were told in their language the same as I had just said in German.

"You may have heard that the power of the gods flow through my hands. This is true and you will be able to see this in the days to come. I do not want to have to do this too much because it is very tiring. You all need homes and food. My father has taught us how to make camps. He has learned from the greatest army in the world. I want that kind of camp set up now and everybody to use the latrines. Disease is hard to control even for me if it takes too many people."

I thought for a moment as I looked at the faces of those in front of me. Many I knew but only a few I knew well enough. "Gnaeus Scipio Magnus will you set up a camp for all the people here. It may not be a traditional camp but I want it safe, orderly and clean."

"I will do so."

"Do you have the tools to do this?"

"Some."

"You will be issued what is available."

He just nodded to me.

"Albrecht, I want you to choose among the Romans and all other races and find the best hunters. We need meat to feed our people."

"I would be happy to do that."

"Dolf, I want you to make drying racks for the meat."

"Yes, Sir."

"Kareltje, gather some of your men and when the meeting is over we will board the barge and take out some very large and heavy pots."

There was a slight pause and he said, "Yes, Sir."

"Cadets, I need an accounting of everybody that is here. People will come to you with their problems and the ones that you cannot handle will come to me."

To the entire assemblage I said, "We are going to be going through a busy time. Please try to handle the problems you have on your own. I will try to help with the ones you cannot. Making camp will take time and I will talk to some of you individually and some as a group when all of this is done."

I was finished for now and Clovis now spoke. "My son," he said loudly as he put his hand on my shoulder. "He is building a new world that I can almost see sometimes. It is a kinder world that what we have now. People are educated and are free to make choices that suit them best. The power of kings will diminish as the power of the people grow. This will take a long time and I will be safely dead before this world arrives. I want this world to come about. You have all talked to me so I would take you here and I have. Now that you are here, I want you to treat my son the same way as you do me." He just peered at the audience to see if anybody was going to object to his wishes.

I had to say, "Thank you Father for your support. I do not know how you are going to manage in Hildestun because you have brought me the best people."

"I brought you a lot of my troublemakers but those are the ones that just need a goal or a good leader and they can do wonders."

"I would not contradict you because I believe you are right."

We went to the barge and I broke out more tools. The leaders either passed them out or delegated this duty. A few Romans had to exchange axes for bows but the weapons had to come from the people arriving.

I was able to get Clovis to one side and asked, "Why did you bring the Romans?"

"Grímkell talked of your prisoners of war. I treated the my slaves well but apparently this was not good enough. Grímkell had a difficult time with them until they settled into a cohort lead by a general.

The Romans had the same freedoms of the land as the free people. They found work and fed themselves. If I had trouble then Gnaeus took care of it. There were travellers or spies and the Romans learned a lot more of you when you went west. I think they knew more than I did. When they heard about you being here they started to say that they were your prisoners and not mine. I do not have them in chains. They stayed because of their word and could leave just as easily as it was given. This way you have them where they want to be."

"What about the Franks and the craftsmen?"

"They simply wanted to come. Most were rich now and could go where they pleased. I think that they see you as the source of many new ideas and a lot more gold."

"There is gold to be made. Most of mine has to go back to the people in the form of education."

"I am a king and I do the same thing. The gold may not be for a school but it goes back to the people."

"I guess that is the way it had to be."

Messengers went back and forth to the camp because Clovis and I were late. Food, large planks and curious people came from the school site as the camp went up. A lot of the goods destined for the school, like the kitchen equipment, came off now so that it could be used.

We walked through the wagons now and Clovis had more of his guards. I didn't think he needed them but then again I had been just been startled by people that I had fought not long ago.

One woman I knew was getting out of the back of a wagon. I stopped to say hello and said, "Hello Mareike."

"Hello Jón. It is so nice to see you again. The children miss you and your tales."

"How are they and your husband Wiebe?"

"The children had the sniffles but Wiebe is not doing well."

"Where is he?"

"Resting in our wagon."

I just climbed up and went in the right one. Wiebe had put on some weight but now lost it all. It was easy to see that he did not have long to live.

"Hello, Wiebe. It has been a while since we have talked."

He tried to sit up and gave me a smile but there was pain there too. "I heard you got yourself captured by that King Celyddon. Your father has been trying to kill him."

"That was a while ago. Some friends rescued me. I have been learning ever since. The gods gave me the ability to heal. Would you like me to see what I can do?"

"My time has come. I can face it like a man."

"Some of your children are young and need a father."

He paused to think and I said, "It is unfair for Mareike to take all of the burden of raising the children."

The pause lengthened and I was familiar with his hard headedness and said, "We have to get some food into you. Your body does the repairing and I do the telling just like in the army. The army needs to be fed though and you are thin."

"I haven't felt like eating for a long time."

"You have to eat whether you feel like it or not." I turned to Wiebe's wife and she just hurried away. The wagon smelt of sickness so I pulled back the cloth covering to get some fresh air to circulate.

I talked to Wiebe and even Clovis talked to him some to find out how he really felt. Mareike came back and Clovis helped her into the wagon and she began to feed her husband. When he objected to the food I gave my own orders and he ate for me.

When the bowl of food was done she got out of the wagon and I took a blanket to sit on and put it near Wiebe. I soon found out that I had my work cut out for me. Wiebe was afflicted with kidney damage, diabetes and a heart problem. I had to do a form of triage and treat the diabetes first. When he appeared to be stabilised I worked on the kidneys. I then had to go back to the pancreas.

I was only partially done and pulled out to find it full night. I was very thirsty myself and had difficulty standing. Clovis hurried into the wagon and assisted me to stand. He asked, "Are you alright?"

"Tired, thirsty and I need to piss." He chuckled a bit and helped me to get to the ground. Wiebe's family looked expectantly at me and I had to say, "He has a lot of things wrong with him but they are getting fixed a bit at a time. I'll come back in a while and do some more."

Mareike said, "My the gods bless you."

I had quite a walk to the latrine and a wide aisle opened before us. The people looked worried but I could not see a reason for this. When I came back I found some food and drink for me and it looked like Wiebe had been changed in my absence.

At the back of the wagon, Clovis asked, "Do you have to do this now?"

"He was dying slowly until I upset the balance and now I have to monitor him so his heart or his kidneys don't get out of hand." He helped me into the wagon and I went back to work. This time I was going to do the bare minium because I was too tired.

I pulled back once more. Wiebe had been stable for a while and I knew that I needed rest. When I looked around I saw that the people were still there. I said, "I am going for a sleep now. You people should too." My voice was odd and I knew it was just from fatigue. I wiggled until I was on my back and went immediately to sleep.

I had to take a piss so bad I got up. It was dark still but everybody had gone as I asked. Wiebe looked to be doing better but I was not ready to take the time to check. It was easier to crawl to the back of the wagon and I held onto an upright as my legs went to the ground. It was good that I held on or I would have fallen. One of the Gauls was awake and he came over and helped me to the latrine. He even waited and assisted me back.

Mareike was awake and handed me some food. "The king commanded me to feed you. He had to bring more of your gifts home."

"Thanks Mareike. Do you have some water too?"

"Yes, Jón."

I felt better in ten minutes and then checked on Wiebe. I got Mareike to bring him some food and adjusted his pancreas to produce a bit more insulin. One kidney was much better than the other because I had only worked on one of them. The heart had scar tissue and some of it was now healthy tissue. After Wiebe was cleaned once more we both went back to sleep.

The camp was making a lot of noise and I woke up to the sun almost directly overhead. Wiebe not only looked better but he was awake and staring at me.

"It is about time you woke up."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than I have in months thanks to you."

"You are welcome but there is a lot more to do."

"Do we have to do it now?"

"No, we can wait a bit."

Mareike brought over Lynet and Fianna who proceeded to feed me while Mareike did the same for her protesting husband. Wiebe chuckled when I was fed by first one sister then the other until is wife put a lot of food in his mouth.

When I finished the girls helped me down from the wagon. I took a look around and saw that everything had progressed very quickly. Not only was there a palisade but there were now cookshacks serving hot food. There was another latrine and this one was a lot closer.

"Gnaeus was pretty busy to get all this done in less than a day."

The girls stopped and I had to as well. Fianna said, "I had been two days not one. You made us sleep in a tent instead of our bed. We want you in there now."

"Two days! I must have been more tired than I thought. No wonder father left."

"He smiled at us and said to tell you that he is having only half the trouble you were having. What did he mean?"

"It looks like his wife may be making up for lost time. I may get a little brother of sister in nine months." Both sisters were surprised and I was surprised that they didn't catch this innuendo.

I was being directed to the ship and got the girls to stop. "Where is Gnaeus?" The girls didn't know but we did turn to where the Romans congregated. I was happy to see no sharp dividing line along racial types.

A Roman stood as I approached and saluted and then directed me to his superior. I saluted in reply but had a smile because my salute was right out of Hollywood. It was also what the cadets used. His salute was genuine and I guess mine was too now.

Gnaeus was busy but came as soon as he could. He offered me a seat which I was happy to accept. I said, "Lynet and Fianna are good at reading Latin but need a bit more practice. As you and I talk, are there two educated men that can talk of politics or any other topic? I do not want my girls being treated as children. They are intelligent and deserve the respect they get."

Gnaeus had a small smile and said, "Some of my officers are very well educated. They would not find it a chore to show these ladies the camp and answer all their questions."

"Thank you." I turned to the girls and said, "Learn what you can. Romans are men and have to be treated delicately. In a few weeks you will be teaching them mathematics. Don't let them treat you like stupid creatures. We all have to learn from each other."

Lynet said, "But you need us."

"I do but I need you to knock heads in this group of men."

Gnaeus waved a man over and told him to take the girls to two officers and how the officers were to act. When the girls were away but looking back, Gnaeus said, "Are you trying to get those two married off?"

"Well... not right away."

"I understand. What would you command me to do?"

"I have to talk about politics."

"An unsavoury topic."

"I agree but still necessary. I want to tell you of my goals for the world and the people in it."

"A very large topic then."

"True. Rome goes to war to gain wealth and slaves. I do not like slaves to be kept. Prisoners of a crime are different. Wars for wealth enrich one country at the expense of another but there is an overall loss. My intention is to educate everybody. People can come to rational conclusions if they are given enough facts. Those facts can only be carried by word of mouth and by reading."

"I can see the education and reasoning but not how it applies to slaves and war."

"If we consider the Roman Empire for a moment, the citizens carry the natural human traits of dominance and submission a bit too far. This I would like muted some. War is driven by dominance as well as greed and need. Slaves can be given some rights making them still submissive but not quite as much as before.

"In place of war and slaves I can show your empire how to be rich beyond their wildest dreams but when everybody is that rich then it does not mean as much. Machines will replace slaves. Free men will be given all sorts of jobs for silver but the empire will produce so many valuable devices that the man will want to work very hard to gain more silver for more products."

"What kind of products are you talking of?"

"The list is very long but I can give a few examples. Glass is very expensive but not in Hildestun. A Roman would love to go there with gold and an empty wagon and go home to become a rich man. I have talked to others of many ways of travel. One uses giant ships of steel with engines like what I have. Another is through the air and Romans are now working on this for me. A third way is two steel ribbons. Carts roll on the smooth track and are pulled by an machine with an engine that is the same as what is in the ship. This might surprise you but this has already been built and working. It is just too small and the track is in a loop at one of my factories."

"What does the factory make?"

"Iron is made so hot it is like water. It is poured into a space between layers of sand. It hardens there and then the sand is removed. The sand is on iron carts that stop in front of the furnace so the iron can be poured into them. They are pulled away by the engine so the iron can cool while more carts are put in position."

"I would like to see that."

"I may give you the chance soon."

Gnaeus looked at me a bit skeptically.

"Why do you say that?"

"I need the Frisians to learn from the Romans but the Romans have to learn from the gods. The only thing that holds you here is your word. The Caesar, Julian, has dealings with me. I am trying to improve the Roman army. You may not believe it but I went on a mission against the Alemmani with them. Instead of bringing back a lot of slaves, we captured almost five hundred men with only a few Alemmani casualties. None of the Romans were killed. You now have the makings of another Auxiliary."

"Tell me about this. It is very interesting."

Instead I talked about how Jón and I had lifted the siege of Hildestun. I went into our capture, torture, memory loss and rescue. This took a few moments. I continued with Lucius and how he thought I would die or be vegetable for the rest of my life. I explained what I had done on the Rhine including corrupting a good Roman officer with the thoughts of flight.

What I had done on Lucius' estate took much longer. The trip to Lutetia was next. I explained my discovery of healing then my run in with an old and rich family. Gnaeus smiled at the outcome here. Now I went into the mission and said in detail what both the Roman army and I had done because of cooperation with Julian.

To finish off I talked of the pirates hitting Roman shipping and then my own. Gnaeus was very intrigued with my new arrows. I continued with the small locomotive, the small completed ship that he saw and told of the next that was twice as long.

"Your story is what I would not even expect to hear in the tales of the gods but there is far too much evidence for me to think that any of this is untrue. You did not mention your reason for coming back now to this area."

"Clovis wrote a letter and it was far faster for me to sail here than to send it. We had not met since before all the battles I was in. I wanted to talk to him as he wanted to talk to me. I gave him the iron products similar to what you saw in this camp. I also provided swords, armour and a cannon with a bore twice as wide as the one you must have seen and a long cannon of half the size."

"Are you going to war?"

"In a way. I am preparing Germania to be settled just like a Roman province. Rome will sign a pact with Clovis one day to watch each other's back. Rome has lots of troops and the Frisians are few. The Frisians have cannon but the Romans can just stay in small groups. What I am getting at is that Rome should not fear Germania too much. Rome was burnt but the army felt the pain."

I was quiet for a while and Gnaeus thought on my words. His legion was the one that had been almost completely destroyed.

Finally Gnaeus said, "Who are you going to war against?"

"Rome needs people familiar with cannons. The Frisians are the only group that can do this. Rome and Germania go to Persia. After Persia the Huns have to be held back. The list goes on and on. We will be somewhat like an Auxiliary but also like a partner."

"What does Germania get out of this?"

"Roman gold for services rendered. Rome will have a small but strong ally when the need arrises. I on the other hand I am going to change the Roman Empire."

"This does not sound like war."

"It isn't. Everything or almost everything the gods have told me will be made in each of the Roman Provinces. I make a lot of gold but I use it to educate the people. Slavery can be made not as profitable and will fade away. People, goods and the army can move a thousand miles in a day. You need less of an expensive army. The army has to learn about cannons from the back not the front."

"You would give us this information?"

"After Germania is accepted as an ally. You Romans will steal the secret anyway." The last was said with a smile.

"Why should Rome trust the Frisians?"

"They don't have to. You would not anyway. We make contracts that benefits both of us. With business and mutual protection we will eventually be married though separate. Rome will grow to need us and we will grow to need Rome. It may turn out to be a marriage of convenience but it is still a marriage."

"Constantius sent us here. Why would he agree to this."

"Do you believe that the gods have spoken to me?"

"Yes, there is no other explanation."

"I have had a glimpse of the future. Events change by even whispering of them but the Augustus will make a contract with us and we will help you defeat your enemies."

In the coming days Albrecht was given command of some Frisian and Frank warriors. One week he would learn Roman ways from Gnaeus but the next he would show him how to make the saddles and lances. Albrecht didn't like this but did it because I said it was the right thing to do.

Our shanty town was built more snugly and then we hacked a roadway to the school. The other roadway had to go five more kilometres through the forest then two more to meet a dirt path that was called a road.

Kareltje and a few of his men that came with him, cut stone and taught others to do the same job. I made more of the scoops that dug out dirt when pulled by a horse or sometimes two. With fire, and manpower we had the basement dug to a depth of nine metres. I wanted to get to bedrock and there were a lot of holes that needed to be filled with the loose soil.

The school was going to be a university too and as such had to be large to cover the population in this portion of Germany. It at first was two hundred metres by one hundred but I expanded it four times in size with provision for further expansion.

Kareltje built a kiln for lime and another for drying lumber. He had lots of practice at this and I called him one of my first teachers. He dropped a bit of his gruff exterior now and tried to get the message across in a nicer way.

Sander made thick and large diameter clay pipe to circle the building and take away rainwater. He was also in charge of glass making. Most of us were used to this form of plate and cup and now could not live without it.

Wiebe worked harder than the rest. He had made a complete recovery and looked much younger. He begged me this time to enrol his children into the cadets. I took two because there were many others to consider. Cadets were everywhere and doing everything. They worked the hardest and actually were the happiest.

Vegetables were always in need and we used the wagons to gather them from those farmers that were close. Rufus, took Gnaeus under his wing and taught him how to sail. The Franks under Albrecht learned too and Rufus enjoyed the opportunity to teach.

The girls did a wonderful job of keeping books and making all sorts of aids so that people could follow detailed instructions. This was done to encourage everyone to learn how to read.

We had a nursery up to grade four being taught in rotation by a series of teachers. The upper grades were a half day where the student worked. I had them out prospecting, camping and hunting with some of the older men so they were not hard done by. The men objected to teaching females but only for a while. Some of the older women were quite capable and took their boys and girls and tried to show up the old men.

Minden became a stop every two weeks where groceries were bought and a portion of the men could let off steam and seminal fluid. Most of these were Gnaeus' men. They always came back though some had to walk after the ship left. Gnaeus usually had a punishment for this.

The large bolt of silk I took as booty from Kirwyn's camp was used to make a kite. I had at least one more Roman captivated by flight. Gnaeus made kites and aeroplanes and this was a favourite topic around the campfires when I talked of WWI and WWII. I told them all I knew about flight but it was very little. They loved the ideas of dirigibles but I had no ready source of hydrogen or helium.

Hafgan was still a very beautiful child. I thought of him much like Forni at times. I took him aside one night and did to him what I did to Clovis. I may not be doing him any favours but he would have the chance now to have children of his own.

I was at the school three and a half months and it was mid February. The foundation was complete including the sewer. This led to a settling pond that was covered over to keep the rain out. The pond was on the side of the hill away from the river. There was nothing mechanical there to stir the liquid but I hoped to get methane from it or at least fertiliser.

Teams had to be sent into the areas of the old farms and clear this land too. Lumber was taken to build homes because the farmers would not be able to make it back to the school everyday.

The floor of the school was put in with squared trees as beams. More beams stretched up for six stories in height. This was possible only because of the availability of such large trees. Horizontal beams were on all the floors and including the roof. The roof would be hot and this would be for storage and a water tank or two.

The roof was in place and overhung the beams by a good margin. The wood would shrink in time and I wanted to bolt it into place only when it had stopped shrinking.

Lynet and Fianna were doing a lot more research in the Roman portion of the camp and I gave them their freedom to do what they wanted. The girls were very strict about their fertile time and I got my chance to make love to them too.

I made ready to leave. There was a very large boiler to make and almost a hundred cast iron radiators along with kilometres of pipe and valves. I doubted if there was an adult in the camp that was not a Wodenist. We were a community now.

There was a large box of letters from Roman husbands to their wives or just to family. They could read now and writing was not that difficult. Lynet and Fianna were offered a ride back to Minden but decided to stay. This was their home now. I would have to stop and talk to Noland about this development. The girls had stopped searching and now seemed to settle down with one man each. I figured that when I came back I would be officiating at their wedding or at a baptism. I was celibate again and this might have been the underlying reason to leave.