Chapter 4

The people present were all aware of the politics behind this though three of us were also influenced but love. I laid down what I wanted to happen. The wedding would be in the latter portion of the summer when the crops were in. The location would be my property on the Rhine but by then I may have some steam powered ships that could take the guests to Lutetia or down the Weser to my school. I was not going to be caught with my pants down when it came to guests because I had to bring some barbarians into the fold and this meant a lot of Germans from other tribes.

The next day and with the level of hostility low enough I was able to meet the Persian army. Part of this was political but I wanted to see what my former bodyguards were doing. They had turned fanatics like a portion of them had been already but for the Christian cause. It didn't matter what I said through my books, they still acted the way they did before.

When I met up with them I hugged them to me. Some saw this as sacrilege and I had to take a few minutes to straighten them out. Even then they were not ready to put down the cause of the Möbius strip.

I now kept the men with me but the ones that acted more sane were allowed a lot more freedom. I would have to find a way to alter the way the rest acted. Some people were predisposed to go off the deep end no matter what the religion was.

I had talked about how their brothers had died in Berytus when it was attacked but they did not seem bothered. The souls would have gone to Valhalla they figured. Kings and others would like this because it gained them strong followers but I wanted sane individuals not fanatics.

They were told they had to learn more than how to guard me and a portion sat with Mehrnoosh or HidA to learn mathematics. Engineering would come next and perhaps their fervour could be used to learn.

I continued to work on other projects too. The alcohol burning engine was difficult to get working. I had to make a still to obtain some higher fractions that would burn better. The engine finally did work though. When it did the noise was deafening but the engine spun very quickly and the needle valve had to throttle the engine back.

The noise inside the room was too much so the motor was shut off and arrangements were made to move it outside with a hastily fabricated muffler of sorts. There was a lot of shaking because the motor was seriously out of balance. We had made a prop to fit the motor. Everything was mounted as firmly as possible or people would get hurt if the engine fell apart.

The engine was much more difficult to start with the prop in place and I had to do some fiddling. A hot block of copper had to be placed over the head so that the cylinder would have more heat to start the dieseling process. Another thin portion in the cylinder was there so it would get hot and keep the process going.

We were trying to start the engine for over an hour and we were getting tired when it finally started then stopped. Ten minutes later it was running again and everybody was out of the way in case the prop had a fault in it. The noise was reduced some but it was still very loud.

There was a lot of wind coming from the machine and it blew toward those that were watching.

It was Clovis that said, "I am very happy to see this. You made the toys in Hildestun but I now see it working. When will you have an aeroplane ready for us?"

Over the noise I said, "This is a poorly made toy. There is a lot of work to do before a reliable engine will be available and perhaps even more work before we have an airframe." The last term had to be explained. There were a lot of words I was bringing into the new Roman language and I had to make sure they were done correctly.

It would not be long before I had to commission a dictionary to be put together that would also have all the terms I could remember from the future.

Few people tried to talk louder than the motor and I gave Lazeez the signal and he cut off the flow of the fuel. My ears were still ringing when the noise slowly abated.

Sapor said, "I will need some of your flying craft too. Could you make them quieter?"

"It will be years before we have a plane. It will be more years to test them. Aeroplanes are not safe until they have been perfected and to do that we need a lot of time. People have to be trained to make changes in an airframe and see what effect the changes do to the plane's stability. I do not know much about this type of construction and we will all have to learn."

Now was a good time to ask Sapor to give me some help. "I need some people like Lazeez and Tertius to work at making better engines. I want a portion of them to be Persian and some to be girls. The future is upon us and I do not want to exclude half of the population. We also need a lot of brass, bronze and copper. To build the engines."

"I can supply both if you wish to have them. I do not know about females. Few parents would allow their girls to come to this place without a chaperone."

"I will accept both with much thanks but I am not going to have chaperones here. There will be no pregnancies. Perhaps you have heard of my cadets. Nobody fools with them."

"I have heard of them. They are all famous because what they have done. Will they be coming here too?"

"Some will come but they also have to do a lot of travelling. Those you send will be assessed. If they pass then they will join the academy. From then on they are in my army. The girls or boys will be sent to the Rhine, Gaul, Britannia, Hispania and here. Those you send will have the same glory attached to their name that the others have. Roman young people will make another portion as will the Germans. As time goes on we will have Indian and Chinese."

"I had thought you were going to do that. Will they learn about the powder that is used in your cannon?"

I had to pause here a few seconds. "They will learn everything. They may take years though. You may not know it but an aeroplane is much more important than a cannon."

"But the cannon is so powerful."

"An aeroplane flying over three miles in the sky can still see those on the ground. Explosives could be dropped from the sky to destroy those on the ground and nobody can strike those that fly. Even without explosives, a man or a woman in a plane can report to their commander where the enemy is and how numerous they are. This leaves the infantry to do the fighting."

"Is this the Luftwaffe you were mentioning before?"

"Yes it is. The people you send will one day fly if they survive but some people are not good at handling a machine like this and they cannot all be pilots."

"All men could do this with practice."

"One mistake means that the plane crashes. Many crashes are fatal. Look at it this way. Some men are naturally good on a horse. Would you like to have a man that is only a mediocre horsemen to be in control of your life?"

"I see your point. But if I were to learn to fly then I would be in charge of my life. Are there not some vehicles that do not fall to the earth?"

"There are some vehicles that are very large. They have a covering like that used on sausage. It is filled with a light gas and it naturally floats in the air. Some engines like we saw today are used to push it from one place to another."

"Build me one of those too."

"The building will take years. You are going to have to help too. Your men will have to build it and help you fly it too. How else can you repair it?"

"I see that. How much gold do you want?"

"I have no idea of the cost. The first one will cost a lot because I have many tests. The covering will be expensive. I have to extract the gas that is lighter than air and store it. Giant engines will have to be designed and many failures thrown away until we get something that is good. In the far future this took a long time and there was still a lot of room to make improvements."

"That is alright. I don't care how much it costs. I want to fly."

"You may think that the 'air ship' will be made of gold before you are done. I am warning you again that it costs a lot to do everything that is needed. Some of that gold will have to be used on your roads and railroads. Not too long ago you wanted a ship like the Enterprise. You could beggar your country as you try to pull your people into the future."

"It would cost that much!"

"Railways cost a lot but I could build them. The problem is in building a large steel plant to make the rails and the things needed to build the train cars and locomotives."

"You said if we lay the track then the country will prosper."

"It sure will."

"I could get more tax then."

"If you do that then the people that want to start a business will suffer. You need a new way of getting tax that allows a person that is running or starting a business to see a way that he will still prosper. When he makes more gold, then so do you."

"That will be hard to do."

"What if you were the one that was starting the new businesses?"

I got a big smile. "That is different. Before we continue I want to know about that sugar and molasses that you gave me."

"What about it?"

"I liked it. I want to make it too."

"I can make you a partner in this. In fact I think Julian and Clovis should do this too."

"Why can I not make it myself?"

"You could. This is a very valuable piece of knowledge but we could all use the gold it brings to expand. You have to grow the cane but you still have to have enough land to feed your people. The cane goes by train or road to a place where it is changed into sugar. You sell the sugar to the people on this side of the Bosporus but not to India and eastward. Julian has the rest of the Mediterranean plus Hispania. Clovis has Germania, Gaul and all he can reach as he goes east."

"Why can't I get India?"

"The Indians will have India."

At mid day we had our kite contest. Lazeez and Tertius showed off with their large varieties that went quite high. The fiery god was prominent on both. Anoushak, Sapor's oldest remaining unmarried daughter was to take Sapor's place. I guess the father did not want to loose to young men so he had his daughter do the honours. The kite though was even larger than the two the boys used.

Anoushak wore a harness much like those used to support a mountaineer. From time to time this was necessary because the silk would cut her hands even with the heavy gloves. She too joined the pilot's club by being carried upward and down wind on occasion.

When she had finished showing off all three tried to outdo each other. I knew that as soon as I talked about box kites that they would be made too. It was much later that the kites were pulled in and I heard Sapor whisper, "Where did that kite come from. It was not mine."

Anoushak whispered back that the women folk had conspired to make sure she won or placed very high. Sapor was not averse to this at all.

The game of one-upmanship had not died because the boys brought out a glider that had a wing spread of two metres. It flew a long distance and looked very graceful. I was surprised that Anoushak had a smaller glider. It was much better than the one we had used with the mouse. It flew just as well but not as far. A few minutes later a gust of wind caught it and it was dashed against the ground and broke.

The boys looked genuinely concerned and tried to not only congratulate Anoushak, but to volunteer to assist her in repairing the plane.

I walked near Sapor as his daughter came with a tear streaked cheeks and a broken plane.

"Look what happened Father. It broke and it was so beautiful."

I suggested quickly, "Will you allow the young men to escort your daughter to the shop? They have the skill and the tools to make a good repair?"

He just nodded his head and Anoushak turned around with tears still in her eyes. The boys and her guards left for the short trip.

I said to Sapor, "The competition was not Romans against Persians but boys against girls. The girls did very well I think."

"I do to."

With the event over I met with Julian and Clovis to discuss sugar production. Julian could see gold in this but not as strongly as Sapor. It was Clovis that saw it only like a spice that was nice, expensive but unnecessary.

I said to all three, "I will build the first mill in this city. My part will be the ideas. The total cost including the land will be split three ways. Each of you will have a portion. The profits will be split four ways.

Clovis asked, "How much will this cost me?"

I gave him the cost and said, "This will be multiplied by the number of factories I have to build to meet the demand. The next factory or the ones after, will probably be built with the funds from the first ones."

Clovis put out his hand and we shook. In seconds the other two did the same then with each other. The cost of this was not that great and any of the men could afford it.

With this out of the way I started on the railway. Maps were brought out and I showed where a short railway would come in handy to tranship goods to the Red Sea or to the Nile.

Sapor asked, "How much will that cost?"

"At a guess I would say that this will be ninety miles long. I would say that I should get a thousand square miles of land for my expenses. I spoke earlier to Julian here about the scale of compensation varying to reflect the cost of building portions of the railway. On top of that land I need a mile on each side of the tracks. More track will have to go in and I will need a place to build some of my industry. I am going to pay to build roads that cross this property but they are not going to be close together."

Sapor asked, "Where will this thousand square miles of land be?"

"We have not discussed this yet. I do not want desert land or swamp but I may take that. One day a major canal is dug twenty metres deep and a hundred metres wide that will link the Mediterranean to the Red sea through the salt lakes. It will be many years until the land will be needed."

"What about the land you would need from me for the cost of the railway?"

"You gave me the Arabian Peninsula. There is a lot of arable land there. All I have to do is claim it. If not I have to purchase it from those that use it now."

"It is yours, you do not have to pay anything."

"You gave me ownership over the land. It may still be owned by others. I do not want sovereignty."

Clovis asked, "What is this about sovereignty?"

"I need the black liquid and the gas that burns when it escapes the ground. Sapor has given me this area." I pointed to the peninsula. "This is mostly sand but there are some areas that can grow crops."

"That is bigger than all of Germania even with the Inferior and Superior portions."

"It is a hard life to live in the desert. An animal needs large areas to graze and to survive never mind flourish. The only arable land is near the coast."

"You can have it if it were up to me."

Sapor said a bit snappishly, "I did give it to him. He said I will get some of the fertiliser from this area."

It was Julian that said, "Why do you want this land? It looks useless."

"The land is worth very little without water. The value is in the black liquid and the gas."

Nobody commented then so I figured they would let it ride. This transaction had to get put on paper soon.

We wrote sugar contracts in Latin and used the simplest terms I could. I wanted no misunderstandings with those in the room or their successors. To make the business stable, my partnership was to the two empires and to Germania. That way the rights could not be sold or stolen. I remember how Egypt had built the Suez canal and when it ran into trouble it was snapped up by the English and then troops came in to 'protect' their asset.

The contract with Sapor that gave me the rights to the Arabian Peninsula were witnessed by the other two men. The contract with three men and me concerning the amount of land I would get when I built the railway was spelled out. I would still get the Ruhr Valley and a goodly amount of land around it.

We had not finished when we heard a disturbance in the hallway. The guards had been told to keep people away but three young people wanted us now.

We adjourned the meeting and went outside. It was a shock to see that it was now night. Lazeez excitedly said we repaired the plane.

Anoushak held out her glider and I saw that it was not a glider any more. A small engine was mounted in the nose. The engine was too large for the size of the plane because it was one that I had been working on to explain how the motor worked when we were not working with the larger engine.

"We will have to try this in the morning. It will make too much noise tonight. I turned to Tertius and said, "Find a strong piece of wood about fifteen centimetres long. I need two silk cords like what you use on the smaller kites. They have to be at least fifteen metres long. We can finish this after everybody gets up in the morning.

Tertius said, "But we worked hard to..."

"Tomorrow Tertius." I pointed to two spots on the plane and said, "You can put something here, and here to tie the silk to."

"Yes sir came from him but he sounded very sad."

When the three left, Sapor said, "Will that thing fly?"

"We are going to have to wait and see."

The room we left, drew us back. The men got construction contracts to build steamers even if they were made of wood. The size I wanted was twice the length of the Enterprise but this would make them difficult to get far up a river. Ships of the Patricia class had already been made. They even had more powerful engines but I doubted if they were any better than the old engine. I wanted a tug and this had to have a few thousand horsepower to push the larger barges up and down the rivers with any speed.

Engine development was linked to the ships but whatever ideas we found would go into the aircraft and other vehicles. The senators would be footing part of this bill so this would reduce the exposure the rest of us received.

Canal traffic was mentioned and I had to use maps of Germania now to show where they would go. Their cost though would be high but this would be something we would only undertake after we had large ships. This lead to roads. I mentioned my bitumen that would be heated in a large drum with a lot of small pieces of crushed stone then rolled with a heavy machine. They liked the idea but could not see the product in their minds yet.

Sapor said, "There is a lake of bitumen in Palestine. You do not have to even dig for it."

"I had already heard of that. It is under the authority of the Romans. My problem will be in gathering it. It is already quite thick but I think it can still be pumped."

Julian said, "What are your plans?"

"It is too heavy to put in carts and carry so the best way is to make a large pipe and force it into a large tank near the shore of the Mediterranean. A metal ship could pick it up and transport it to where it can be stored. Smaller cities could come and purchase some of the bitumen for their own uses. The main highways I want to build will need a lot."

We had not finished by the time Clovis yawned. I said, "Let's discuss this further after we have rested."

The girls were asleep when I got to bed but woke up enough to give me a little bit of lovemaking and then went back to sleep. From the smell in the room, they had been pleasing each other as they waited my arrival. I nestled between them and thought how lucky I was.

The girls got up before I did then they came back to get me. The three anxious people of the night before wanted to try their plane. I had my breakfast as five expectant people watched me chew. Only when I was finished did they describe what they had done to the glider.

I picked the plane up and saw that it was nose heavy and balanced the plane on the wings and told the three where to put some weight in the tail to bring it into balance. I then tried to balance it along the fuselage and saw that one side was heavier. This might have no bearing on the flight characteristics because it was going to be controlled by the silk cords. One day we would have to even compensate the engine torque.

The three ran out and left me in peace so I could have another cup of coffee.

Patricia asked, "Is that going to fly?"

"I do not know if we can start the engine. It worked only some times when we had it on the bench. It has enough power but there are a lot of other considerations that have to make before it can fly."

In ten minutes they were back and I went out with them. I tried to start the engine with no success. As a final resort I went to the larger engine we used before and worked on getting this going. This was almost as bad. Once it coughed then started and I had lots of people around me now. I put the plane backwards to the large spinning prop. The wind was very strong and it turned the smaller prop on the plane until it finally caught. I adjusted the fuel so the engine would not self-destruct. This was done away from the wind but not the noise.

Sapor, Julian and Clovis came out to see what was happening after hearing all the noise. I tied the silk to the two points though it was difficulty because the cord was being blown but the strong little motor.

When it looked like we would make it, the large motor was shut off and the people cleared out of the way as I played out the string as Tertius held he plane. I tied the cords to the end of the piece of wood and looked around before yelling to Tertius, "Let it go."

The plane bounced over the uneven ground but took to the air before we went half of a circle. I got the plane to two metres altitude and kept it there as I turned around to face the plane all the time. Most of the crowd had their mouth open.

I yelled out, "Anoushak, when it goes by next time, run to me quickly."

I had to go around five more times before the girl ran to me. I had difficulty getting her to take control of the plane but she did even as I held her hands on the wood. I finally let go and stayed behind her as she turned slowly. The plane lost altitude and Anoushak brought it up just like a pro without oversteering.

When the fuel ran out the plane finally started to descend and Anoushak brought it to a good landing. It was only the rough ground that made the plane go nose down in the dirt.

Nobody moved but all eyes were on the plane. I put my hand on the girl's shoulder and whispered, "You did a great job."

In a few seconds the spell was broken and both Lazeez and Tertius ran to get the plane.

Sapor hurried to me even without his guards and said excitedly, "I would like to try that."

The ground was levelled by a lot of feet and done so very quickly. Lazeez had the plane fuelled as Tertius did the inspections. Anoushak was giving pointers to her father as if she were an old pro which in a way she was.

The motor started quicker this time because it was hot. Sapor got the plane to lift off in a shorter distance. After only ten laps he tried to gain altitude then bring it down again. Again everybody had their mouths open in wonder. When the fuel ran out the plane landed gently on the ground and Sapor smiled more as if he had done it perfectly.

Sapor had two more turns until he let the Augustus of the Roman Empire have his turn. This man had two turns himself until the king of the Frisians complained and he had to have his turn. It went on until all the fuel was used up and it was well into the afternoon.

I had two emperors and a king that wanted engines and I had to get three young people to get to work making them. Sapor didn't complain when one of them was his daughter Anoushak.