Chapter 11

The radio abruptly went dead.

Julian quickly said, "What happened?"

I was not too concerned and said, "The device broke. Our radio is very simple. The sound quality is about at its lower limits. The quality of our parts is poor beyond belief. We probably have a failed triode. We cannot hear even static so the problem is at our end."

"What does this mean?"

"Our radios need time to mature. The quality of the sound will get much better as time goes on. The dependability of the units will increase. What it means for you is that there will have to be a full time staff ready to repair the radio every time it stops working."

"I do not understand why it stops."

"My knowledge of the future did not cover electricity to any great degree. I have to learn, the same as the cadets. We build tools then we try to improve on them. We learn from our mistakes and try to build better units. In my time, it took years to make improvements and there were thousands of trained people trying to make radios work better. We have, at best, a few hundred poorly trained students trying to do the same thing."

"So these cannot help me now?"

"You have fast ships now. Your commands and information from your governors comes to you a little quicker than it did before. You just have to hold your empire together for a few years and radios will improve enough to make them reliable."

"What about your telephone?"

"It will work better than the radio but an enemy can destroy portions of it. The cost of putting the wires all over the empire is enormous. It has to be done a bit at a time."

Julian stopped and I could see that he was thinking and then he said, "Let's go talk in my room."

I talked to a few of the cadets to see if they could get the radio working again. I then put my hand on Clovis' shoulder and urged him to come with us. He was a junior partner but I wanted him in this discussion. Julian was not too peeved.

After I made my presentation he said, "Why can't you do this with less wire?"

"I can reduce the wire between cities but the level of technology has to go up. A beam of light can carry all the information we need. This will take centuries to come about. In centuries a small radio in your hand will do the same thing as the telephones and there will be little copper used. That is far in the future but we are living today."

"How can we get all that copper?"

"There are ore deposits in Germania that are large enough to supply our needs. I need other metals too. The Ural Mountains far to the east have a very large deposit of chrome and nickel. Cyprus has chrome too."

"I heard you talk about those metals. What are they for?"

"The chrome is used in steel to make good springs. I am having trouble getting even a little from the minerals I had collected. The nickel has many uses. It is not attacked by chemicals to any great extent so I need lots of this metal. It also can be used to make coins. In the time I came from we had paper money, just like I use on my lands. I can make coins of nickel that say on them that I will trade them for gold. The metal is hard and they will last for a great many years. Gold is not so good for this. People scrape a small amount off each of the coins they get. The coin grows smaller and worth less. My coin will be worth the same even if it is damaged."

Julian said, "Where in Cyprus is this metal found?"

"I know only the approximate area. Drilling crews have to go there and look."

"Is this something that you require a partner in?"

I had to smile and said, "The cost of getting this mine running will be very high and I will be the only one that wants the metal. There are much better places to put your gold."

"Your railway?"

"That is one."

"I have become even more wealthy selling your iron products. My ships make me rich too."

"Buy more of the Endeavour class ships but you can help me with the railway that runs beside the Danube."

"Equal partners?"

"Will you pay for half of the rails, half of the cost for cars and engines and half of the labour? There are giant bridges to be built and they have to be built of steel and concrete."

"How much will this cost?"

"My estimate is from thirty seven to fifty million aurii."

"There is not that much gold in the world."

"You are right. Some of the track is built and the workers spend their money buying what we have to sell. The money I make is used to construct more of the rail line. The track will take perhaps fifty years to complete and only then will it start to pay you back."

"This is something the state should pay for and reap the benefits. We talked of high pay before and I cannot see what the... workers would want to spend their money on unless it is wine."

"This ship will go around Africa and then to the east. I will buy spices, tee, coffee, and more varieties of rice and other grains. All of this will be in great demand. When I come back here, the people will buy them from me. I mentioned before that the ordinary man will become rich and he will be able to afford the luxuries I can provide."

Maps were brought out and I showed Julian and Clovis where rail lines could go in Italia. "You will make money here a lot quicker. You need the rail to transport the steel you want to buy and I need it too. Sapor pays for the use of the track leading to the Red Sea and I will pay for what I use in Italia."

With more talk Clovis said, "I have some gold that can be spent putting down track in Italia too."

Clovis was using my track in Germania but I was using his canals and waterways. He had enough profit to invest from selling glass, hiring out mercenaries, and providing both cannon and powder. I knew that he would have to be a junior partner here because the cost of building a railway in Italia was going to be high as well. There was not a lot of government owned land that could be used to pay for the rails either.

My own rail system was already in central Germania. It went near the Harz Mountains and continued toward what was the Czech Republic in my time. I was having my own troubles with barbarians. To combat the problem. I sent in missionaries of Woden. They went in there first to soften the opposition up. Education was better than conflict and usually worked better too. After a while some barbarians were given train rides to Toronto. This showed the men our wealth and our strength. Their young men were recruited to fight in the east if they wished to test their strength against others.

Clovis' artillery crews showed the barbarians that we would not be a pushover if we were attacked. There was still a lot of theft but we didn't usually have raids. Clovis knew how to handle these men and he did an admirable job with the least amount of bloodshed.

Jobs were offered the barbarians and this was usually cutting sleepers, clearing the right-of-way, building bridges or laying the track. Stores were set up for trading and for a way of recovering some of the gold I spent. This was beneficial to all of us.

The track would not stop here but go through what was Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and continue on to Russia and especially Siberia. The Ural Mountains were far to the east. Further south of them was Kazakhstan and its riches. India and China were very close to this point but the Himalayas were in the way.

This construction and the meeting of different peoples would help me neutralise the barbarians on the steppes but also give me access to the wealth of that area of the world. This may look like greed on my part but the riches I gained would be used for education.

After the meeting, I met Huang in the hallway. It was better to have them where they could be seen anyway. They still suffered from an overactive libido and this was a good way to control them.

"My lord... could you help us again?"

He looked so much like a little boy that it hurt me to restrict them. I always had to look beneath the surface to find a man much older that anyone had a right to be.

We cruised up and down the channel and then approached the refinery. The ship was not able to dock in the basin. It was being dredged once more for larger draught ships but this task was not complete. We would have to make an off-shore pumping station like they had in the Persian Gulf. Now we had to use an Endeavour class tanker to supply us.

Clovis, Julian and I had talked about the threat of the mages and both men admitted that they too kept mages near to protect them. I tried to think if magic was used in my former time line. There was enough control of the news that anybody talking about magic would be ridiculed. This I figured would also suppress people that could possibly practice this talent. I for one knew that if you did not believe in magic, you were hamstrung from using it.

I had to find out how I was able to access the power of the crowds that came to see me and in turn assist them in feeling good. The main difference I felt was that I came into a body but not to take it over. I coexisted with Jón for a long time and tried to get Jón to mature correctly. I was free to do some tasks while Jón did the rest. The mages moved into a body and evicted the previous tenant. This meant the personality died.

I had a chance to keep myself separated from the body long enough to learn from it as if I was an impartial observer. This separation allowed me to not only make minute changes but to see the effect of those changes.

Both men had heard about mages becoming invisible but I was hesitant to show them. Julian I knew would rather kill all the mages so that he would be safe. I did not think any king would allow mages to live unless it was for defence. I had introduced him to the mages but he tried to avoid them on the ship.

We talked about the remaining mages sent to this area but there was little we could do except be on the lookout for them. They were the back up team and not nearly as strong as those that came after me. That did not mean that they would not try for me but they would have less to fight with. I reluctantly knew that they would learn from the mistakes of those that went before. My pistols worked very well now and I would have more leeway in a confrontation.

The trials were cut short because Julian had lots of duties to attend to. He wanted a ship like the Discovery and I traded him some of the price for some land near the mouth of the Ruhr. The dock would be built here and he would have to do most of the construction but with my plans. The other dry dock could still produce the two other classes of ship.

Over the next few months, I worked hard to develop more of an understanding for magic. This was a difficult subject at best. I had to teach myself with only some suggestions from the mages. At the same time I worked harder on my weapons. Many were simple. To be more effective I had to refine them dramatically.

The Discovery had to have another prop cast. The one it replaced needed extensive machining and we did not have the equipment to do this. Mithridates worked hard himself to get the best from his men and his ship. All he had to know is what was needed and he got it done. There were thousands of people to help. The city was growing again and many of the old hands were busy making apartment buildings.

There were just too many places that we could not reach with the Discovery. Dredges would have to be built and then used to deepen the channels of major rivers. The Rhine was not bad but it too had problems especially in the spring. A sand sucker was being constructed. This was a ship with a vacuum system that would sucked the sand and water from the bottom of the river. This came aboard the ship and the sand was filtered out and the water sent overboard.

This provided a good source of clean sand for us but also meant a lot of work designing an auger and elevator system to get the sand from the ship to a storage pile on shore. That same auger and elevator could be used for bulk cargo on other ships.

Another project was a large bucket wheel. It was in the planning stages only. One day this would work like the nose of a giant chain saw that would scoop the soil from a trench and dump it on a large belt that would in turn take the soil away. I did not have a good enough reason yet or the mechanical knowhow to construct this awe inspiring machine.

A large tractor with cleated steel wheels was a common tool. They were now used with a front end loader employing hydraulics. The tractors got very big and we put blades on those so they could serve as bulldozers. I talked about track but we had not employed this system yet.

Thick rubber tires and tubes had been made. Some went on large hoppers for transporting soil. Other units just had the steel wheels. A steam shovel or a front end loader could fill the hopper and another tractor could tow it away to be dumped. This was the best compromise for building a dump truck.

These units were in constant use. There was only a few of each. They broke down often and the complaints were logged so that newer versions would work better.

Most units were delivered to the rail head to help with clearing the right-of-way. This meant they cut through hills and filled in depressions. A road ran besides the rail lines and this area had to be cleared too. The trains broke down too and the roads were even more necessary then.

Tertius was loaded down with work but he found time to work with Bali and Nasim. I okayed the construction of two types of ultralights. One was a kite and the other had the regular wings. The latter was long overdue in my opinion. Model planes had flown for years and most now had small motors to make them work even better.

With a simulated weight of an engine and a brave pilot, the planes were pulled behind a speeding train. A long pole prevented the plane from going too low and crashing and a rope kept the aircraft from going too high. If Sapor were here now he would have both of them and want the boys too.

The kite was also altered for parasailing. Here a flat car kept it from going too low and striking the earth. Everybody and their mother literally flew on the glider. There was some skill involved and soon kites were used for sport as long as they did not go over thirty metres high. This was still high enough to kill people but it was the only method I could use to control this. The hills around the steel mill had people flying all the time. The parasailers soon learned of the updrafts from the mill and soared far into the sky against orders. This was something I could not stop but I could regulate this until the pilot learned more.

On a cold morning, Tertius took to the air in a fixed wing craft. This was not the kite. Photos were taken for posterity and Tertius smiled widely on this historic event. This was not like the town of Kitty Hawk because Tertius flew for an hour and reached a height of three kilometres after he showed that he was stable at low altitudes. This was not much better than some of those that used the parasails but this time it was under power. He took advantage of all the thermals he could but the best was still over the mill.

When Tertius came down he was welcomed by his family and then the rest of us. Photos were taken again and the plane refuelled. Bali then Nasim flew next and then so did others in their flying club. This was hardly exclusive because nearly everybody was in it.

Deaths occurred in both parasailing and powered flight as people learned of what a stall really meant. I did my best to reduce it by putting more limits on people until they had enough hours under their belts but some people refused to listen or were just unlucky.

One big boy could not get airborne and whined so much that a larger plane with two motors was built for him. Clovis was not like Sapor and went through all the regulations that the rest of the students had to do. He was also the test pilot when it flew behind the train.

His plane could cruise at 90 kilometres an hour which was a bit faster than the rest. It could also carry more. He promised to not take anybody up with him until he had two hundred more hours of experience.

I invited Sapor to come before all this became public knowledge. Photos and letters from Persian cadets were sent. A special plane was made that was the equal of the one Clovis received. It took a long time for a reply and people started coming from all over the empire for flight training. They had to have this before they were allowed to fly a plane. Licences were issued but I had no way of enforcing anything I did after a plane left my hands.

Parasails sold at a premium and as usual a picture of a fiery god on the cloth sold the best. Powered aircraft sold for ten of my grams of gold. This was a lot of money but some people were willing to learn how to fly, then purchase one or more planes. Our failure rate was still high so replacement engines as well as tanks of fuel raised the bill considerably.

The largest plane yet held three people and I treated my wives to a trip. I should not have done this. The wives were bitten by the flying bug.

The survey crews wanted planes and I had to let them have them because it made sense. Clovis wanted more for the men that protected the crews building the track. Julian wanted some for him and for his legions.

Almost every project I had, suffered because of those that wanted to fly. One of the ways I used to restrict flight was to make sure people paid for flight time and the use of my planes and materials. I did not charge much but it was in line with the effort to build them in the first place.

Regulations were made to ensure that workers put in their full shift. This helped a lot. I let it be known that I would donate land and materials for an airport if people would donate their time to construct the runways and buildings.

Tractors were being built much quicker now and so were other tools. The airport had short strips because it took very little distance to take off and land. I did make lots of strips though so the aircraft would stay out of each other's way. One large area was levelled and made to land some future planes that would need a longer runway. The asphalt also sucked up heat and let the parafliers have a place of their own.

Hangers had to be built and they had to be built very large. One day we would need them this big. A large hotel was started that would go up twenty six floors. The top was for launching the kites and high speed hoists had to be constructed on the outside of the building. The people though would have to use the steps.

Three landing strips had to be built near the house so the girls could land without too much crosswind. In the end this was good because it allowed me to fly too.

The Discovery made two more trial runs and we found less problems each time. The second time she sailed up the Seine but sandbars stopped her. The river had been recently charted too but it also changed regularly. The last time she had a dredger with her and she made it all the way to Lutetia.

One of the exciting features about this trip was that a wooden platform had been erected over the hatches and planes were easily able to land and take off. Lutetia was all abuzz about what was in the river and in the air.

A flight school was started in this city too and an outlet set up to sell aircraft and parts. The legion in this city had been an experiment and ten pilots had recently graduated from our old flight school. They would now do patrols and cover a much greater area. There had not been much trouble since the last auxiliary was formed. The Alemmani had almost been civilised but I thought it much more likely that it was the education I provided that did the trick. To be honest it could also be that they saw us as too powerful to take on.

While the Discovery was away, I received disturbing news. Sapor was fighting all the time but the battles were usually small. He sent word that Balimir had finally assembled enough men to possibly push us back. Sapor had some advanced warning and was able to flee down river and take refuge in a major city and use its walls to protect his men. In subsequent reports, I heard that Friesian artillery killed untold thousands but there was always more. Sapor now asked for help. The latest dispatch had gone through Julian and he had sent more men and cannon to the scene.

I sent my own dispatches saying I would come with the Discovery as soon as possible.

We went onto a war footing. This day, I knew, would happen at some time and many weapons had been worked on but most were not complete. I had my own ideas about what would be needed. At meetings, others added their thoughts. The Discovery would not be back for seventeen days and we had a chance to prepare. I could call her back sooner but we would not be ready. The materiel that I wanted to sell to Sapor, but he would not take, were set aside. We could make cannons quickly, and we did. Shells were something we made for Clovis and now we took all that we had and tried to make more. These shells though would not be charged with black powder. They were basically antipersonnel in nature.

There were eighty seven planes either ready for sale or used by my people. A second load of bamboo had arrived and had been used to make more aircraft. We could not make any more planes, but we could make the engines.

A few planes were under construction and these were completed. One had four engines and capable of carrying six people. I rushed this unit to completion. Crews worked on it around the clock. If we were fortunate we could produce enough parts to make another two if we could get the bamboo and cotton.

We would need food and my supply of canned goods was readied. Water in a city under siege may not be available so I brought drilling units that could also be used for prospecting. I knew of the city Sapor was in and heard that it was near a river, the water from wells was salty. I hoped to either find a different aquafier or take the water from the river.

Desert and woodland camo suits had not sold but I brought them too. This might not help when we were on the steppes. The hills and the woodlands was a different story.

I had stingers, grenades, claymores, and lots of ammonium nitrate. I may have time to add to this and to possibly make some plastique too. All the ordnance I had was basically going with me. I had experimented with a few rifles. I liked hunting with a bow much better. Hunting Huns would require very good weapons.

The sniper rifle was done as was the M16. The alloys needed to keep the weight down had not been found yet. Three of the sniper rifles had been made but all had some problems. The newer models had tried to overcome the weight distribution or a tendency to climb when in a three shot burst even with the interchangeable shorter barrel. They were intended for single shot mode when sniping and they would be fine. I had fired each only a few dozen times to see how it functioned. They were as good as a sporting rifle of my day but not as good as what a military sniper would demand.

The M16 had ten millimetre shells as did my pistols. It was difficult to make a variety of calibers and I tried not do so unless I was forced. The sniper rifle was one of these situations because I needed a larger cartridge to get the trajectory I wanted. It also took the ball ammunition. There were only five of the latter rifles but they could go full auto if I wanted to risk burning out the barrels.

I only had twenty shells so the tooling to make the cartridges was used once more. This time I got my wives to help because I didn't want this technology to get out.

The powder and the ball had to be special too and these I had to make myself. All this was put together four days later and again my wives helped me prepare the shells. I hoped to have six thousand shells ready by the time we sailed but I could reload the cases at least once.

A request had gone out to Clovis for his powder. What he had on hand I knew would be here before we finished loading.

I had lots of benzene and gasoline. Very little of it was used in the aeroplane engines. I made tonnes of soap, and sold it cheaply so it would be used. The gasoline could be put into a tank which was heated by steam and the bars of soap added. The product had the consistency of jam. The materiel was put into some large containers for use against the Huns. This was one of the surprises I wanted to use on the Huns even since I came to this time. I knew of their cruelty and wanted them to have something to remember.

Another large tank was used to store gasoline mixed with bitumen until it too was thick. This would have to be pumped out quickly but go through an orifice to pick up some velocity. I had no really safe motor to drive a pump but I could use two hydraulic cylinders powered by steam.

I now needed a vehicle to mount all this in. The best solution was one of the dump bodies that would be pulled by a tractor. There were a set of steel wheels and a pair of axles. Men were given rough drawings when I knew that I needed good weapons. They had worked diligently on it. The cadets had worked with the steam lines and the hydraulic cylinders to push out my liquid. Water was used at first but when the unit was done we used the pitch and gasoline mixture.

The cylinders took ten atmospheres of steam and spit out four times that pressure in flammable liquid. The orifice shot the heavy liquid out over thirty metres. The effect was devastating and the cadets were worried about such a powerful weapon being employed.

The dump body had just a thin shell. The Huns would have nothing that could pierce it anyway. There were doors and windows all over and they would be very secure. Tractors were already going but I took two and had them sheeted in with thin metal too. An embellishment was the addition of two sheet metal heads that resembled dragons. The mouths were where we had the additional barrels of the flamethrowers. If the fire did not kill the Huns then they may run from the sight of the machine.

Even I was impressed about what we made and I knew that the Huns would be too. There were gun ports around the trailer and in the tractor too. The trailer also had two mortars using modern propellants and shells. They could move without exposing the personnel but not to the degree I wanted.

The picture of our bunker in Ontario came back to me. I saw in my mind everything it had and then made sure I got what I could to go with us. I was going back and forth between the chemical plant and Toronto by plane now and saw the Discovery on the horizon.

Instead of flying there, I landed at the refinery and began more of my preparations. An hour later Mithridates was near and I sent him a message by radio. The message had not only the reason for this trip but the way I wanted the cargo loaded. He was to proceeded at full speed up the Rhine. He asked a few questions before he approached the Ruhr.

I finished my own task and got the incendiaries ready to be picked up when the Discovery returned for fuelling. The fuelling I figured would take at least a day to load.

I flew back though I could take the train once I crossed to the other side of the Rhine. I constantly thought about all the materiel I needed. I had only worried about my group when I was young and then about the cadets and a few soldiers but never anything this size.

The trip was only ninety minutes because I had a good tailwind. I landed in Toronto instead of home and within minutes I was talking to Mithridates by the more powerful radio in the city. He had more of his own input and I listened to him. I was very busy and when this happened I was more likely to be killed so I always was more cautious at this time to compensate. Bali was in the city and I got him to stay with me to look for threats.

I worked until midnight and found the wives and kids here to see me. Patricia said, "You are not leaving us now."

I was debating this all along. They were safe enough on the ship but on land in a war zone was a different matter.

"I know we talked about this a lot and I will make a deal with you. We all go. You cannot leave the ship unless I say it is safe to do so and then only with guards. The only alternative is to be dropped off in Constantinople."

"Our place is beside you."

"You are not German. Your place is beside our children. These are the only solutions I am offering."

It was much more than what they could reasonably expect to get and KhAvar said, "We will accept that, Husband."

The ship finally pulled into its berth. The present cargo was unloaded and construction began in the holds. Steel pillars would be welded to the deck and the walls then the heaviest cargo put in. When this was done steel beams would form a new floor so that more equipment could be put on top.

The heavy crane was too slow and many articles were hoisted with ropes or chainfalls. The crane on the ship was adequate for the job but it too was much too slow.

It looked like ants crawling all over the ship because we were not set up to handle this much activity. We stayed in Toronto under a lot of security and worked to make more equipment. I practised with the pistols and took the wives away so they too could get a chance to see how they worked. They would not make good marksmen but they would be used to protect the children. The M16 was used too but here it was just to familiarise them with the weapon.