Chapter 7

Jón had to bide his time. After still another meal with more female intervention and no Clovis in sight, he sent Forni off to take care of the horses and perhaps get Klaes to assist him in exercising the animals. Forni hesitated momentarily seeming unsure about leaving Jon by himself. In answer, Jón smiled at him and gestured to him to go on and leave.

"Tell me about my memories."

Now was a good time to let Jón know the truth or at least a good portion of it. "You were hurt and your father needed some very powerful magic to heal you. Fidelis, by himself, wasn't powerful enough to bring about a cure. A call was sent out among priests, healers, shamans, and the like. Fidelis then had to wait until there were enough of the right people assembled to assist him. The first detail was to look into how this job could best be done."

"I know that much."

"Your father made a treaty with King Gunnarr and King Arnaldr. The Romans didn't want this type of cooperation. The Romans need to keep all of the Germanic people fighting each other, or the Germans will band together to fight Rome and win."

"What else?"

"Because of Roman interference, our King couldn't find any allies to drive out the Romans and the Gauls. The King and Fidelis eventually thought of using magic to find somebody that could help them and to heal you. They wanted an individual who could lead the Frisians to victory over Rome and its allies. Your father had a long list of qualifications he wanted this person to be able to do and so did Fidelis. Are you with me so far?"

"I understand that they must have been looking for a hero."

"I would not use the word hero. A hero has done something noble and risked his life to do it."

"Are you the person they found with their magic?"

Jón was on edge now awaiting my answer. I replied as casually as possible, "I may be. The other me may be still alive in the future. Or, perhaps I will never get to be born, since I have already changed a portion of my history."

The boy had not become more frightened at my revelation and the question he next asked was reassuring. I had to assume it had to do with his age. He asked, "What have you changed?"

"I told Fidelis something that he could use to gain favour with the next Roman Augustus."

"How could you do that?"

"I was always interested in warfare and often studied Rome as a great military power. To me it was an ancient subject. People of my time were interested in warfare and could still learn much from Rome. I followed the historical accounts of their major battles and picked up a bit of their culture. A few facts have stuck in my mind that I may be able to use one day. Some of that information include when important Emperors died, or came to power; also, the times of large wars or battles. This is what I knew in this case that could help us."

Jón was thinking on what I had said and I added, "The history that I learned included the Romans of this time seeing the benefits of cavalry more and changing their tactics accordingly. Fidelis' magic has made me a Frisian. As such, I want Clovis' army to be better prepared and better trained than our enemies in order to deal with what I know will come to pass."

Jón said, "I understand what you are trying to do. In my... our mind, I saw something a man held to his shoulder and smoke came out. A man far away fell down and died almost instantly."

Jón like all boys must love weapons. "That was a rifle. A bit of powder burns more quickly than the eye could follow inside the long tube producing a puff of very hot smoke. That smoke pushes out a small amount of metal-like an arrowpoint without a shaft. The metal goes very far and fast. It will go through an armoured man.

"What I wanted to give your father was a very old type of weapon that works much the same way. It has to be made much larger than the rifle because the objects it propels are far larger than arrow points. So, the larger weapon, which is called a cannon. It's mounted on a carriage between two large wheels. A metal ball or another shape can come out of the much enlarged metal tube that will knock down a solid stone wall. Chain or smaller pieces of metal can fly out and each piece may kill a man, or even more, if it goes in one man and out again.

"Something else I can make will land among men and burn so quickly, it will make a noise like thunder just before bursting outward violently into many jagged bits of metal. The men close by will be thrown around like toys. Most of those in the vicinity will be killed."

"That is a fearsome weapon. Why can't you just use your swords instead?"

I assumed he was talking about the present danger and replied, "The idea is to make Rome stop warring with us. After they are beaten this time, they will retreat, but will come back later with many more men. Rome always did that when there were initial battlefield reverses. Only when we have killed those new larger forces sent at us, will the Romans accept that they cannot come onto Frisian land without a severe punishment. To take care of the Romans the next time they come, even better swords will not help enough because the Romans will bring many legions. We will have to make terrible new weapons for war in order to win despite their larger numbers and teach them the lesson required. They will learn to not try to push their empire this way again at our expense."

"You talked of the future. Did they do that?

"Did they conquer this area?"

"Yes."

"No, they never did. You see, Rome is not our worst enemy. It was other peoples approaching from the east who conquered this land many times. We need to push Rome away permanently and turn to the east to head off those others who would overwhelm our defences and then go on to conquer both the Frisians and th Romans.

"The worst current problem is that there are too many hard-headed Germanic people to make this kind of stand now against any foe. Germans don't understand how to engage in battle as a disciplined unit. The Romans have the same problem to a much lesser extent. Most of their army even now is not Roman at all. The legions are Roman, of course. But, the supporting auxiliaries are much more numerous and mostly like your people. Your own father was one of those auxiliaries in his youth and that is why he and your people are not already dead, or slaves. Clovis took his military training to heart and absorbed all that Rome had to offer. Due to that training he knows how to mount a tremendous defence... if only he could count on his warriors and allies to follow his orders exactly."

"Do you know of me from your future?"

"There very little information about individuals that survived from this time. Your name was common, but I never heard of you. The name Clovis was famous, but it was not your father. The man I know of was a Frank and would not be born for a hundred more years."

"So, we are almost forgotten?"

"Jón, that was my history that I learned before I was brought here. The changes have already begun. In the new history that has begun to unfold, Frisia will be at least as famous as Rome. Now, those who follow will see stone statues made of you and your father in your honour. People for many thousands of years will know all about you."

"Why?"

"I am here to help you bring about even more change. We will make terrible weapons that kill many Romans and Gauls. History as I know it, will change. Rome and Gaul will give way to Frisia.

"How will all that come about?"

"Let's say that you make something new and pay a man to build more of them. Our other ideas mean that more men build some of our inventions. The men pay the money back to you to get those materials he wants."

"I don't understand."

"One man makes a lot of beer in our brewery. I pay that man for his labour. He is not my slave, but is my paid worker. I know of ways to make good beer and do it cheaply. Another man bakes bread in our bakery. This bakery is large and has machines to do the hard work of mixing for him. He is paid just to bake bread all day long. A third man cooks for us in a large kitchen with a much better way of doing his work. He is paid to do nothing but cook all day. A fourth man is a soldier. He has such great weapons that he can kill very easily. He is paid to defend all of us.

"There is only a need for a few of these men in each job. We don't need hundreds of bakers, or brewers, or even that everyone be a warrior. We pay each man and he needs to drink his beer and eat food to live. Their money they pay for our beer and food comes back to us and we hire more men with that money to do other things we require. All it takes is to make it possible for the men we employ to do more useful work than they do now and to do that they need machines which I will invent."

"So your machines make us rich?"

"Yes, they do. Much of our wealth will repose in those machines. They also furnish jobs for the people as they make and operate those machines for us."

"Tell me about this strange bird that flies."

Jón was jumping all over the map in his attempts to understand about our future. I said, "I have very good hearing. Forni is outside and wants in. He knows about me and was told by Fidelis in front of your father that he had to keep the secret. Suppose that we bring him in? I will use your mouth to speak and I get to tell you both at one time so as not to repeat myself."

"Ok."

I took control of Jón's voice and got Forni settled down. I gave him a synopsis of what Jon had found out and my accompanying explanation before going onto the topic of aircraft. I brushed the topic and went right to small aeroplanes like the Cessna or Beechcraft. Canada had contributed half of the tuition money at one time for its citizens to learn how to fly. I had taken advantage of this and spent the next few hours talking about this flying in general from the Wright brothers until the time I had been pulled to this time.

At the end of my lecture, I got the boys ready for bed. They were like my sons in a way, but not quite. Jón's body ensured that I had a large supply of testosterone. I was usually able to submerge myself until it was over, but I knew that I would not always be so lucky, or so inclined.

Jón said with a yawn, "Where do you go when I am asleep?"

Using his voice, I said, "You do the sleeping for both of us. I get to think all night. In a way I would like to sleep too, even if it would only be to have a change."

"Was it because you were awake that we got the two Romans?"

"That's true, yes. My hearing is better than yours, as well as all of your other senses. If I work through your brain, it is the same as what you get if you concentrate hard on something. When I connect directly to your ears I can hear what is said far away, but then it is hard to separate all the voices out."

Forni was very hesitant, but asked, "What about when... when Jón and I have fun."

"When Jón has fun, I will too. It is nice for me to have a change, but usually I hide and make myself not hear or see anything. It is as if I hide in a dark cave. Once in a while, I come out and see if you two are done. Other times, I stay hidden away because it is nice to see you two enjoying yourselves."

"Can we still do this?"

"Forni, Sweetie, hasn't it occurred to you that I love both of you?" Forni smiled and I felt Jón doing the same thing. "Making love to each other is a good thing. Nobody is getting hurt. Have your fun and be very good friends. There are just the three of us in two bodies and we have to take on the entire world soon. Enjoy yourselves while you can."

"Ok," he said in a happy voice.

Jón was horny now and I said privately to him. "It is your body now. Kiss Forni for me and make him happy."

He was not averse to this at all.

I pulled back, but only after the boys began to get very involved with each other. The love was not what I had thought of before, but it didn't seem wrong from my current position as spectator. It was not a mature love. Yet, it was something more than just sex.

I went back to my planning as an excuse to tune out of the physical. Concentration was much easier when I was not distracted. This ability made me wonder just how attached I was to Jón's body. I had not had too many problems when my sexual drive was reduced in my original body by advancing age, but now it was hit or miss and I usually chose to miss. It was like a drug I was afraid would be addictive.

Drifting away slowly, it was my turn to have wandering thoughts. My immediate focus went to the river nearby. It was not fast moving because it had very little declination in its path at this point. It happened to be wide and not very deep. The land around was flat which was good for farming, but not suitable for making a holding dam to create a reservoir. The river was known to flood on occasion and also get very low in some years.

The neighbouring rivers drained into what would one day be the Weser. That large river and the Elbe drained this area. Dams could control the flooding and provide water for the dry seasons. It would give me power to build what I needed built. Others had come to similar conclusions. I had seen dams on the rivers in question in modern times, but I could not remember exactly where. Locks too had been used and these were sometimes in conjunction with the Mittelland Canal system. This east-west system was used a great deal because it was much more efficient than trucks for bulk cargos.

Rome lived by trade and the taxes it collected from subject territories. If it weren't for Egyptian grain, then there was a good chance that the common mob in Rome would starve. Attacking Rome through its stomach was one of my plans, but it would only hurt the poor. Nevertheless, we would do what we had to do to bring pressure on the Roman Senate even if indirectly through rioting mobs of hungry plebeians.

Iron ore, coal, and limestone were readily available locally in Germany. Yet, poor transportation to move those vital raw materials through the thick woods on muddy tracks would quickly stunt my building effort. Steel mills in the 1800s were situated along fast flowing rivers for this very reason. The waterways provided for transportation of raw materials and finished products. The power of the rivers was also used to drive the massive bellows that forced air into the blast furnaces and turned the very wheels of industry.

Coal had to be converted to coke and this took some energy to start, but ultimately became a source of multiplied energy. Only the white hot heat of coke could melt iron and make steel. The requisite equipment required pumps for water to cool vital parts and for many other purposes. Hydraulic power would serve to drive those pumps. Once a coke furnace got hot, it had to be continuously fed fuel to burn, or it would suffer from the resulting temperature changes. Lighting had to be supplied because this was not a job that could be turned off at night. I planned on using natural gas taken from the coal fields supplemented by coke gas emanating from the coke ovens piped into lamps to provide that light. Such were the facts of industrial expansion. All facets were ultimately interdependent.

The requirements of the system also meant that a large well-trained workforce was necessary. I had been a chemist and an engineer and not a metallurgist. Unfortunately, I was all that was available and I had to consider Jón's reaction to boot. He might not want to go along with the program and he might fight me all the way if my demands were seen as excessive. Everyone had to undergo some training and most had to put up with partially educated teachers.

The German warriors of this time were quite hedonistic. Much of the time, the men sat and talked as they drank. All the tribes spoke nearly the same language. This was written in the runes of Elder Futhark, the little that got written down, that is. This effective lack of written word might have been due to the sheer inconvenience to write runes. That fact begged for alteration to a more convenient format. The Latin script was the best alternate choice. My German vocabulary was not great, though I could spell most words in Latin script. The Germannic language was simple to lay down with a Roman alphabet in that what was said could easily be written or printed. My German was High German and not exactly what was spoken here and now.

Books may not be as needed now when so few could read but as time went on, people would have to write down what they had learned. I could point people in the right direction but they would be the ones that had to pursue my goals. They would learn from their own experiments and notes were the way to record their findings.

The metric system had to be adopted. The major reason was that all the constants I knew were in the metric system. It was a well layed out structure. And for information to go from one person to another they had to not only speak the same language but to have the same system of weights and measures. The Roman standards were a second best because of their wide spread used. The problem was that not everybody used them.

At first light, I awoke both boys. They got up slowly and were very groggy. It was their own fault for not stopping their activities soon enough to get sufficient sleep. They groused a bit and I used Jón's voice to say, "This is Vic. Life, I am told, is not fair. There is little we can do about it. Sleepy or not, we have to see that everything gets made and convince the rest to pay for it. A smith has to make our tools and that means another lathe must be built. Get up and get moving! We have much to do and little time in which to do it."

With clean clothing on both boys, we left to eat. This time we ate in the kitchen and chatted with the staff. I only made a few interspersed verbal comments since Jón had to do the eating. Before we left, we had some leather bags packed with food by the staff. I reasoned that eating our mid-day meal wherever we found ourselves would save precious time and needless aggravation on my part by not being here.

"Jón, I would like to talk more today with both of you boys. You can look at this as a tutor talking. What I say will have to be learned by you and Forni, too."

"Can I talk in between?"

"Yes, just as we have before where no one hears us speak. You do a good job of conveying my ideas, but it is faster when I do it directly."

"You can talk if you want."

"Thanks, Jón."

Fálki was up already tending to his own gear. The men in the barracks greeted us with some obvious friendship even though the two boys were young.

"What are we up to today?" Fálki said.

I said, "We have to build another lathe, so that it can clean out the inside of a metal cylinder. In order to do that, we need more advanced help from both of you. That will make the new model lathe construction move forward smoothly."

"What was wrong with the way we did it before?"

"That was for wood alone, or wood and bronze. I need strength for my current planned project and that means iron and bronze rather than mere wood. We have to hold onto an iron bar in the lathe and turn it. That is not much different than what we have done already-though a bronze bushing has to just fit on over this smoothed area. Notice that the stone wheel will spin with the iron being horizontal this time."

"How is it going to turn?"

"I will show you in the dirt outside."

We stepped out into the damp air and I took possession of the body and drew the diagram. When I stood up I said, "It is just a modification of what we did before. This same arrangement allows a large piece of wood to be turned from an iron plate, or a wood board. The block of wood can be turned into a large bowl just like what the potter does."

"That may be fun to do."

"Then let's set it up."

We put the other log in. With a bit of whittling and the sawing of the ends, it too was turned down. I knew where bearings had to be and designed these large. This way small mistakes were less serious. Jón was talking and I got him to say for me, "We need to make more bearings and that means we need to see the potter again."

We measured the circumference with a string and put knots in the right places. Sander was happy to see us. He was proud that he had a lot of very large green-clay work already done. It was as if he had saved himself until his table came back to him.

"This table is the best I have ever seen. I'm very proud to own it. I want to thank you again for what you have done. What may I do for you today?"

Fálki said, "It looks like you are already working on it. Are these the clay pots that were requested?"

"Yes, they are. Would you like to see them closer?"

We had to inspect them and the man was proud of his work. The lids were not made yet, but would be fired just like the jars. Jón allowed me the use of his voice and I said, "These jars are well made for our purpose. They are thick enough to be strong and big enough to hold lots of iron."

"You are going to make your special iron with these jars?"

"Yes, I see no problem other than finding enough people to tend the fire. It has to be both hot and last a long time. The steel made in these jars will be much harder than iron."

"Do you need something else, milord?"

"We need two bushings and I need to do two more that will be similar." I showed him the string and said, "This distance is a bit smaller than the wood we have now." Using my fingers I said, "They have to be this long and with a flange just like the other bushings. The material is this thick. Two will go into our new lathe and the other two will be used to let the grindstone turn."

"The clay part in the middle will be hollow as it was before?"

"Yes, it will."

Fálki got the horse and cart again and we went to see the stone cutter Kareltje. He was working on another project and when we arrived he said, "Your work was done long ago. I am a man of my word."

Jón said, "You certainly are, Kareltje." He walked closer to the wheel and saw that the internal sides were very square. The outer circumference was not as uniform, but we would soon fix that.

Jón continued, "Your work is worthy of your reputation. It is exactly as I asked. Thank you for the fine workmanship. Now, tell me about the cost of a six pedes sized pair of mill stones?"

"I have done a lot of thought on this. I will need three men to assist me to cut the stone and a woman to prepare the meals. Another man to hunt local game is better than carrying food over a distance. The cutting of the blocks will take a considerable time and we may have problems getting a good stone without cracks. There will be further trouble in breaking off these large stones. In some cases the stone fractures wrong and we will have to start over again."

The mill had to be built so that I could work the bugs out of the other water wheels. That didn't mean that early efforts could be inept. Workmanship standards still had to be good with each mill that I built. I could test other equipment in the mill when it was not grinding grain. This meant that on any given day a mill was also my laboratory. Steel and chemicals had to be made and then both had to be worked on to make the implements that I needed. With a bit more thought, I had to increase the size of the building, so that others could safely gather around to learn.

I spoke now, "I am thinking of building the mill enclosure. I need an idea to how much certain required items will cost. You can give me your ideas and this will help me decide to go ahead with this, or not. The first mill I want to construct requires a stone base and a long stretch of wall. This means that you have to cut stone for the wall and floor, too." I pointed to two places on the wall guarding the city and said, "How long to cut all those blocks we see in the wall, but just the ones we can see from here."

The man looked at the wall before us and I could see him using his fingers to count. "We can make perhaps six blocks like those each day, but they will not be dressed." We learned a lot about the time to cut stone and the price in those few short minutes.

My plans for the mill had initially been modest, but as a school it would have to be much larger. The most efficient water wheel would be supported on both sides and the water would run over the top. This meant a lot of digging and a lot of stonework to guide the water. Rivers flood and the mill had to stand high enough to stay reasonably dry. This meant a stone foundation. One day the wood of the wheel would rot and it would have to be replaced with iron. That day may be up to ten years after the completion if I were lucky. Iron rusted but would still last much longer than wood.

"I have another question that concerns cost. Your quarry must be nearby. I would like a large stone chimney made easily accessible from your quarry. It could be made with the flawed stones that crop up as you proceed with the work we already discussed. The inside of that chimney must be lined with clay and then fired. Other people on site at the quarry will then be required to cut wood and throw it into the top of the chimney along with all the small pieces of limestone. If this is built very close to a small hill, it will be easy for them to climb up and then proceed over a walkway to the chimney. A fire will first be set in the base of the chimney. As it burns, more wood and limestone will be thrown in. The fire will never be permitted to burn completely out. Somebody at the bottom will shovel out the warm powdered stone, sift away the wood ash which will be kept dry for other purposes, and put the cooked limestone and the ash into large clay, or wood containers. These containers have to be stored where they will stay dry."

"What is all this for?"

"I want to make..." I had no current word for lime though there must be one. "Kalk" was a word from a newer form of German. "Kalk". It is used by the Romans to harden their roads."

Kareltje said, "I have heard of that. It burns the skin and eyes."

"That's right, it does."

"Are you going to make roads?"

We talked about lime and its uses, but especially what I wanted it for.

Kareltje asked, "When can I begin?"

"You know roughly what I want for this chimney. I am going to have to visit you after the blocks are put together to supervise how you are to build the chimney the way I want. You will be in overall charge of this under my authority and you are required to feed, protect and shelter everyone with you to include the "kalk" making crew."

Kareltje did some thinking and said, "I can do this though it involves many people. We will cut all the stone for your chimney."

My requirements were listed again and he said, "Alright."

"Is there anything that I must do other than guide you and your people in building this chimney and paying the silver." Before he could answer, I added, "Think carefully now. We are making a contract here today. You get exactly what you say you will need and no more. I cannot be at the construction all the time."

"What about silver for food and shelter?"

"You will have to utilize hunters and foragers. Hewn caves or tents can provide shelter for you, as well as for the stored ash and kalk. I can pay some silver before you leave for things you need, but I will not pay it all. This has to be part of the amount you ask."

"When would you come to show us what you want?"

"Five days should be sufficient to give you a start."

"Five days is hardly enough. Give me ten."

"Ten it is. Now give me a price for your work and the number of people you will need."

The man did some thinking and asked for seventeen pieces of silver. He then said, "I think twelve people and a dozen children will be necessary."

"What do I get for the silver?" This was said to clarify my requirements.

"Just what you asked. You get the chimney and a small bridge for people to throw some things into the fires. Small stones will be collected and wood also for the fire."

How much silver do you need to start?"

The man now smiled and said, "Three is enough."

Jón pulled out three of the larger coins and put them into the man's hand. The man grasped them tightly and Jón put out his hand to shake. Again, it took some time to get this custom understood.

As a way of thanking him, we sat there and shared the contents of our leather sacks. Fálki went to a nearby home and came out with some beer. A man stared anxiously at us and I had to assume he was worried about his mugs. The beer was warm, flat and weak, but it was wet.

Fálki said, "You are a trusting person to give silver for a job that is not already done." The stonecutter looked angry at his words, but said nothing.

"I try to think that most of the people in this town are honourable. A man is measured by what his neighbours think of him. This man would no more rob me than you would do the same thing to our King."

Fálki gave me a nasty look. The stonecutter merely sat prouder. Now certainly, he would not sully his name, even if he had to leave for a new town.