Chapter 22

The crowd was much larger than usual and numbered perhaps seven thousand people. My acolytes did what they could and I found new faces helping them at the same time.

It would not be long before I had to build a PA system to reach everybody. When the current news was mentioned only the fact that a Courier had been transported with some mail and not the way we foolishly acted. The flame was mentioned and Rufus' term of Woden's Torch was used. It was described with a lot more mysticism than fact but there was a lot of fact too. I was worried that I would have problems now using the gas before the location was converted to a holy relic.

People were picked out from all segments of society for healing but I favoured the children more. Some of the diseases were unknown and I had no time to go through those available to see who could make a more dramatic recovery. I had found that there were no defences in some cases and my patients were not helped much. In these cases I had to try to weaken the disease itself so the body could form antibodies before the patient died. The cures needn't all be spectacular but it was good that some would happen each Tuesday.

The service was over and I just went among the people to shake hands and say a few words to those that were close. Patricia and her family stayed away, knowing that I would get to them when I could.

When I did get close I hugged and gave a small kiss to Patricia then greeted the rest of her family including their escort. This separated me from those that simply would not leave otherwise.

Patricia knew the routine and said, "We came to bring you home so you can tell us of your travels like you said you would."

I had already been asked to go to other houses and claimed a prior commitment. "Yes I did. I have to talk to some of my family first. Won't you come with me while I do this? How is your father doing?"

"Sure, we'll come and father is here in the city. He has some guests as usual that he has to deal with."

Curtius and Atrius joined the guards to get us out of the group of people and I smiled at everybody and touched a few people that seemed to gather comfort from this.

We walked the short distance and stopped in front of a two metre tall shape formed from cast iron. Licinia said, "What is this?"

"An iron bell for our temple."

"But it is so huge. I have seen bells and they are all bronze."

"Bronze is good but I am the only one that can cast iron."

"How much does it weigh?"

"In the new form of measurement, it is nine and a half tonnes."

"Your barge carried this?"

"The barge can carry a very heavy load it is just that it cannot deal with heavy seas."

They took a closer look at the bell and Thor was shown with a hammer in one hand while riding a horse. The rest of the bell was decorated with people learning and doing what were now high tech jobs. On the far side from Thor was a rocket leaving the launchpad on a large flame and much more smoke.

Aulus and Postuma got close and checked out the detail. I waited but the two did not find the area I wanted and I walked to the bell. I explained to Licinia who the characters were and skipped a boy that was doing plumbing work. The detail was not that good but it was what I remembered seeing Aulus doing at one time.

With a squeeze to Patricia she checked the area more then stood up and then looked again. "Who is this boy handling pipe at a house that looks like ours?"

Aulus came close and looked but he was not sure.

I said, "I remember seeing somebody doing this once. I can't remember who it was."

Aulus quickly said, "That was me that did that. I was connecting the pipes for the pump. It was the day we put the pump in. Don't you remember?"

I kept a straight face and said, "It could be."

Licinia and Patricia had to laugh at the young man's expression and then so did I. I grinned and said, "It is you as good as we could make it. Our casting ability is not that good yet."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

Aulus got very close and then used his fingertips to trace the image. I knew he liked the idea of being immortalised.

Our temple was much like the apartment complexes I had built. It was originally one hundred by two hundred metres but had grown with the number of people coming. The second floor only existed as a balcony ten metres wide that ran around the inside of the building.

I usually stood or sat on a simple seat at the front. This was a stage with room underneath for an orchestra when we had time to develop it. The organ though would have to go on the stage. When we had plays then there would have to be a curtain in place to hide it.

The bell could go nowhere except in a new structure. I had not given up on the Eiffel Tower yet but it would not be as high. I had no idea how high I could really go but it would not be the three hundred metres that the real one was.

Usually, like today, we held services in the open air. If we had tried the temple we just would not have enough room. Getting that much of the unwashed and flea ridden humanity in one large room may be too difficult to take without a lot of air being brought into the temple.

Something large like the 'Sky Dome' would be necessary but without the famous sliding roof.

My own house was complete now but it was a simple rectangular shape. It had a lot of amenities that were common in my time along with a laundry chute that was not. Provision though was made for other features that would come along with time.

We all settled into a comfortable surroundings and the servants began their work of preparing a meal. Because of Patricia, none of them were young and attractive females.

Licinia was surprised at all that I had found out about the Frisians. She was very concerned about the cannons but I think trusted me enough when I told her that it was nothing dangerous to Rome.

Patricia loved the school cut out of the virgin forest and loved even more the thought of using the steam operated saw to do what would have been the majority of the work.

I talked about the personalities of the cadets in detail so they would be familiar to them if they met. Some of the more colourful characters were mentioned and I tried to come across as just having a large and extended family.

The open hearth furnace making multi tonnes of steel per day was described then the track we made. They didn't quite see the tractor or its reincarnation as a locomotive.

"We are making a musical instrument. Manlius and Iulius are in charge of it though to hear the Greeks you would hear a different answer. So far we have a forty three key organ. It will grow with time and I hope to provide one for every temple." I looked at the three ladies and said, "Anyone here interested in learning to play? I think the organ made for this city will be very powerful. The person playing it will be famous in their own right."

Patricia seemed interested and I said that she had to talk to Iulius because he had to build one or get one built on the Rhine and shipped here.

Publius was glossed over except where I mentioned about the fish we had caught and then the gold we had made selling even this small amount.

When Licinia asked about Woden's Torch I had to do some fancy footwork to get around lying to talk of its discovery. I did mention that the gas would be useful to me and they were wondering how I could use something holy as a resource.

"Woden did not alter the universe or make it. The gods are a product of the natural forces that shaped all of us. The gas is there to use and in the land of the gods it is used too. We just have to use it responsibly."

"If that is the case, then it is burning away now and being wasted."

"It is better to be burnt. Lighting or a person have ignited it in the past and then it had been extinguished by wind, rain or an earth quake. The unburnt gas harms our air and over a long time does a lot of damage."

I changed the subject and turned to Aulus and said, "I have another of the steam driven sawmills. There are some trees on your father's property and elsewhere that can be turned into silver. I want to start selling lumber here too."

"What can I do?"

"You first have to ask your father if you can help." He didn't look happy at this. "There is work to do around the estate. A person grows with the responsibility they discharge. Loading you down with too much and too soon is not good either. The trees will have to be purchased from people that cut the trees and float them down the Seine to us. The trees get cut into lumber and then dried in kilns and some done naturally. We made a new tool that scrapes the rough boards after they are dried. These boards are easier to work with and will command a higher price."

"What could I do?"

"Anything you want. You are not able to handle management of this sort yet but you may work into it. If your father gives permission then you can try negotiating for timber then move to cutting, curing and finally sales."

"I am sure father will let me try."

We had a nice meal but I felt the need for a pastry but the only thing sweet was honey. It was also quite expensive. Sugarcane and sugar beets would do if I could find them. So far I had been unable to do so. Sugar cane was the better product but I had to find this and it would only grow in warm climates and I think it needed a lot of water. Purifying the raw sugar was easy.

The family departed an hour after the meal but Patricia stayed with me. She was anxious to get upstairs and so was I.

Our lovemaking was torrid to say the least but after a few hours the edge was removed and we just made love. It felt good to hold Patricia to me when we finally decided to rest. I enjoyed the other women too but Patricia was something special and made sure I had told her so.

The next morning Patricia had regained her urges and we had to stay in bed a while longer before getting up for breakfast.

We eventually got up and were having a breakfast of crêpes when we got an unexpected visitor. Julian was ushered in. Patricia was upset but there was no reason to be.

"Have a seat and try the crêpes."

"I have already eaten a few hours ago. I came to tell you that my cousin sent some men to take half of my men."

"When was this?"

"Almost four weeks ago. They left just a week ago empty handed."

"Did the rest of the information hold true?"

"No, it was different and possibly worse." He was looking at Patricia so I didn't ask questions.

"Our new furnace will enable us to make four kilometres of rail per day or half that in track. It would be nice to have that built sooner."

"I would like that too. Do your trains go through the mountains?"

"They can climb a mountain only slowly but one kind has a gear attached to the drive wheels that makes sure there is no slip. The gods usually make a tunnel through the mountains. The snow in the passes is too thick to get through in the winter and too dangerous because of avalanches."

I added, "A better solution would be a very large ship powered by steam. Three thousand men can easily fit but not with a lot of horses."

"You don't have one of those do you?"

"Not for at least a few decades. The government at that time would look around to find who could build such a ship the ask for quotes. The bids are studied and the best one chosen. It should be the one that is the least but some people cannot handle a large contract like that."

"Why are you saying this? You are the only one capable of producing a ship like this."

"Just reminding you to think of ways to get something cheaper. Tax money does not belong to the government but the people that pay it. They need to see value for what they pay. Corruption will always exist but it needs to be constantly hunted out and exposed."

"You would not want to make more gold?"

"Sure I would but I have to gain it ethically. Businessmen have various views on ethics and it is not the same with each."

Julian said, as if Patricia were my wife, "Would you allow me a few minutes with Jón?"

Patricia was happy to comply and left but I pointed outside and we left too. When it was safe, Julian said, "They did not proclaim me Augustus but wanted me to take Gaul from the empire. We just went to war to get Gaul back."

"What did you tell your men?"

"I had to say that I would talk to the Augustus about this matter but everybody knows what he will say."

"The results will be the same I think. The Alemmani are still his best bet."

"He could send assassins."

"You have good protection."

"He can recall me and then kill me."

"Your men would not like that and they would rebel."

"But I would be dead."

"There has to be other reasons he does not kill you. You perhaps wrote letters to explain what you are doing to other important men. Then the Augustus could not kill you openly."

"I would normally send correspondence. Many people are afraid of the Augustus and fight him in almost all matters. Of course the Augustus does that to the rest of us too."

"I do not think that changes. It is a basic quirk of humanity."

"What about the gods?"

"I was there a long time in one sense but I do not know if they are the same as us. They are very similar."

"The Alemmani will start their war if we have not disturbed time too much."

"What is your estimate until they begin?"

Julian quickly said, "Eight to ten weeks. It will be small attacks at first or even to draw my troops elsewhere when the real attacks come."

"I wish I could give you something that would allow you to communicate faster."

"We get along well enough the way we are. I used the arrows you gave me. It helped convince some enemies to surrender rather than fight. Many Romans owe their lives to your weapons."

"I took more though and it will be a long time before I am at least even."

"That is good to hear because I would like more of your arrows."

"We have only two on the barge and those are just a warning to pirates.

"Would you make a lot more for me. I can pay for them."

I had known this would come and said, "I will make more but it is easer and safer to make them on the Rhine. You may need a lot to frighten enough Alemmani to not fight in the coming months."

"Since you insist on accompanying me on this war, I think you could handle the arrows."

"The arrows do not matter much. I just want to keep track of how many are used. I do not want to find one flying at us."

Julian though then said, "I had not considered that either. What can you do Jón to build this rail system you want?"

Julian I guess wanted to get over that morbid thought. I said, "I can build railways all over the empire. They will promote growth and get the army to where they are needed in the quickest time but the cost is very high."

"What would it take to get you started?"

"When the gods built a railway in their youth, those that built it got from ten to twenty square miles of land along the roadway for every mile of track they put down. Money was also given to assist in the construction of some sections and some lines were not taxed for many years. The government also loaned some companies money. It all depended on the time and the need of the government to get the railway built."

"The land is easy to grant but how much gold is needed?"

"I have no idea. My one furnace cannot make enough steel. The furnace needs coal and iron ore. If they are close together then the cost of transportation is not that costly. I built a machine for crushing rock. The rock has to be transported to the place the rails are put down.

"The real heavy costs are in the bridges, pathways across swamps and in the areas where rock must be removed. A train cannot climb very well and it can be done only on a low grade. This is why the hills have to be removed or cut into. We need workers but I do not like slaves."

"So it is the same as building a road but it has to be stronger?"