Chapter 3: Renaissance Naples

Starting as a clock maker, Alex, who was known in Italy as Piotr Yukov, began to gain money and recognition. On weekends and late afternoons when he was not working, Piotr was trying out new inventions that many of the local nobility took notice of. His first was a rocket propelled glider. Granted his prototype did crash and he was out of work for a week healing his wounds, it had flown for a few minutes before he made too tight a turn and lost control. The incident, though a failure, brought him greater renown not only among fellow of inventors, but among nobles who were looking for an edge against their enemies. Three powerful city-states: Florence, Venice and Milan began to take notice of Piotr and his inventions. Piotr Yukov had no formal education in Italy whatsoever. Taking apprentice jobs when he first arrived, he moved from one to the next after learning enough to understand advances in metallurgy, chemistry and alchemy, and metal working. Those who met him noticed his strong Slavic accent and single-minded determination. Once he started a project, he stuck to it until he finished, despite writing down plans for new inventions during a spare moment when they popped into his head. This made him considerably different to Leonardo Da Vinci, who could be argued as the more brilliant of the two, but was a chronic procrastinator: a large number of his inventions and designs were never built, let alone tested.

Piotr Yukov seemed to suffer from a different problem: his assistants had to remind him to eat and sleep, as he was so driven to finish a project that he would forget. After watching him pass out a couple of times, his assistants kept careful track of these things, and would remind him when he needed to eat or sleep, and sometimes brought meals into his lab to make sure he ate. After the crash of his prototype, Piotr decided to make a smaller model of the manned glider he had built. The small glider's wing span spanned from the fingertips of one of his arms to the other, and the rocket was strapped to the back just as before. Launching from a small hill as a precaution against damaging this one, he lit the fuse and watched the craft take off. It took off into the air before the fuel in the rocket ran out about a hundred feet up in the air, and the wind guided it. Having tied a string to the craft and giving it plenty of slack on takeoff, Piotr guided the glider like a kite. While it was up there, an idea occurred to him and he slowly brought the test glider down.

Going back to his laboratory, Piotr made some additions to the glider before launching it again, carrying a small metal ball at the bottom of a short string. The string itself was attached to a locking mechanism designed to release with a sharp tug on the guiding string he had used earlier. Launching the glider again the next day, he was delighted to see the new mechanism worked perfectly, and the white painted metal ball dropped from a great height to smash into the ground. None of his three assistants understood what this was about, but they knew it must be important, based off his reaction.

Heading back to the lab yet again, as his assistants carefully brought the glider down themselves this time, Piotr included a firecracker with a long fuse in his next experiment. During the third launch he repeated all the earlier steps, and all four of them watched as the fire cracker exploded ten feet above the ground. Startled by the sharp crack, his assistants ducked for cover; none of them had ever seen or heard a firecracker like that go off. The crack had been loud and alarming.

"If I can improve on the explosive device, I think I just created the first aerial bomb." Piotr commented, pleased with himself.

News spread quickly about Piotr's new experiment, and the three city-states quickly sent representatives to offer him a contract to make weapons exclusively for them. All three were surprised when Piotr decided to renegotiate.

"I have no intention of giving my inventions only to one side. Instead I would be willing to offer you each a chance to corner the market on each invention. The winner has a choice of either paying per invention, or an extended contract where I will create and test prototypes and send you new modifications that I come up with over time. You will not have to pay except on delivery." Piotr said to the representatives when they visited him at his place of work.

While Florence refused to take part in anything but an exclusive contract, Milan and Venice agreed, with Venice winning the contract for the unmanned glider and its explosive ordinance, and Milan winning the manned glider contract. Even without the rocket, the idea of having a pilot being able to aim and drop bombs at will was enough for Milan to put forth a considerable amount of money. Between the two contracts, Piotr Yukov was made very rich, and was able to retire from his clock working business and focus all his time and efforts on his inventions. Getting to work immediately, he focused on other designs he had not had time to work on before now. In the mean time, Milan and Venice jumped ahead in the arms race, and Florence found themselves losing key battles that made it hard to expand, or hold onto other cities they had recently captured. Cities such as Genoa and Ferrara were passed between Milan and Florence, until Venice had to expend considerable resources just to keep their rivals at bay. Immediately sending a representative to Piotr, Venice hoped he would have a new invention that would turn the tide in their favor.

"I think I might have something that might help you, but it is in it's early stages of development. I have made an early prototype though." Piotr said.

"I would be happy to see it, if you would." the Venetian representative said.

He was an ambassador of considerable experience. After turning down Piotr the first time, the Venetian government feared sending someone less qualified that might insult the gifted inventor. As it turned out their choice proved wise. Alonzo Vengatti made a good impression on Piotr, so much so, than rather than wait to show them a later model that would have taken months or weeks to develop, Piotr was willing to show Vengatti a very rough prototype. Taking the Venetian out to a field behind the lab, Piotr showed Alonzo his first tank. The vehicle, with its steel tank tracks and one and a half inch armored skin, had a hand crank design, not unlike British tanks used in World War I, to move the tank forward. A lever made it go forward or reverse, and two men were needed to work the crank. A cannon built into the front had a rear loader, where shells could be loaded and sealed for firing. The shell had a self contained propellant of black powder inside, which made using the weapon far easier than the firearms and cannon of the day. A few inches above the cannon, a spy glass built into the tank allowed the gunner to see his target at a distance. The added slits spread across the front, side, an in the rear, kept the enemy from not only firing in easily while the crew looked out, but could allow firearms to be fired back out, while still giving the soldier firing that same protection.

"The explosion from the cannon will of course be very loud while the hatch above is sealed, so I've been working on hearing protection for the crew when it is being fired." Piotr said, handing Alonzo a pair of fur covered ear muffs that would help cut down the sound of the cannon firing.

Alonzo put them on as he saw Piotr and his assistants doing the same. When the cannon was fired, it did indeed noticeably muffle the sound of the blast. Alonzo would have imagined the sound to be deafening, as they stood off to the side as the tank fired on a brick wall that was to be its target. The shell exploded on impact, destroying the solid brick wall before Alonzo's eyes.

"Amazing! You say this is merely an early prototype?" Alonzo said.

"Yes, I've been working on a way to make powering the tank automatic, using certain types of vegetation as a fuel once they are liquefied. It is proving to be more difficult than I had originally hoped, still I believe it can help you in a land war, should you want to by its design. Neither of your rivals are aware of it." Piotr said.

"I should say not!" Alonzo exclaimed.

Vengatti knew he had to buy this design before Florence or Milan did hear of it, and a bad situation turned worse. With this new weapon his master's armies could sweep the enemy from the field. Vengatti gave a visible shiver as he considered what would happen if his state's enemies got their hands on the tank. Making a deal on the basis of his word to get this weapon and any modification, he sent word by fastest messenger back to Venice for the money to make the deal final, and explained what he had found. Recognizing the urgency, his Venetian master ordered the money sent with all speed so he could get his hands on the tank. Once the money arrived, Vengatti set sail with the plans so they could make tanks of their own. Piotr always kept the prototypes, no matter how much he was offered. Bernardo Risso was one of Piotr's oldest assistants, and had been with him for years. In all that time he had learned that while his master showed many things on the surface, his true motives were not always apparent.

With this in mind, Bernardo asked him, "Master, is there a reason why you are prolonging this conflict? With the advances in weaponry you have come up with, you could have easily have handed one of the three rivals a clear victory, and perhaps all of Italy would be under one ruler."

"Ah, but would that be best for all concerned? When one combatant beats the other and does not learn to respect them, they will not learn the fear that is healthy for every soldier and leader. Without that fear, they will be encouraged to continue to make war. I intend to teach them that fear and make them better for it. I think it is time we moved on to my next two projects. When we are finished, have Cristiano and Desi visit their families and stop in Florence and Milan. They should visit a few parties and bars, any place it won't seem too obvious when they let it drop in a drunken stupor that we are working on two new warships that could challenge Venice's supremacy of the sea." Piotr replied.

Nodding, Bernardo headed out to carry out his master's wishes, feeling a slight sense of pity for the three rivals, but he trusted his teacher's judgment. Just as Piotr predicted, Milan and Florence were practically salivating when they heard about a chance to finally beat Venice's unbeatable navy. When the representatives arrived, Piotr took them out to show them each ship. First came the battleship, which they found had been secretly transferred to the sea outside of a shipyard Piotr owned. Once there, they marveled at this new warship, with its unheard of design. Gone was the sail that was used in all of the ships of the day. It had been replaced by an engine that Piotr had originally wanted to put on his tank, and had finally been able to make it work. The engine was able to put out eight knots as it pushed the ship forward. The fact that it didn't require wind energy at all was a major plus for both Florence and Milan. If their enemy lost their wind, whoever used this warship would still be able to continue forward and maneuver unaffected. The weapon systems and armor of the new battleship was also impressive. Rocket launchers and five ten inch individual deck cannons gave it greater range and superior rate of fire. One gun faced forward, with two more facing out toward its sides. One rocket launcher each mounted on the forward and rear decks gave it excellent protection. A bare inch of metal covered the wood that made up the ship, which cut down on weight and made it far more difficult to set the ship aflame. The Florence and Milan representatives watched the battleship fire upon wooden dummy ships, and saw the destruction to warship could dish out. Both were curious as to what the next warship would do, and were eager to see it in action.

"Tomorrow, gentlemen. Tonight you can send your messages home and update your masters on what you have seen already. It will help them better decide which ship they will want to bid on when this showing is over." Piotr said.

Despite their eagerness, Piotr's idea did make sense. By contacting their employers before they would have an opportunity to make a deal on the contract, each side would be better able to determine just how much freedom they would have to ensure they had a better chance to get the battleship, if it proved the better of the two inventions they were here to see. Piotr served them a fine dinner in his humble home, and had ordered the best wine money could afford. The following day they were served breakfast and lunch while it rained outside. Bernardo knew that his teacher did not let weather of any kind stop him unless it affected safety, and rain wouldn't affect the next invention, due to the purpose of its design. The reason Piotr waited was carefully calculated, this Bernardo knew simply from studying so close to his teacher. What his exact plan Bernardo didn't know, but he found himself eager to find out.

When the rains finally stopped in late afternoon, Piotr suggested they wait until the following day because it would take time to set up the showing of the new craft, and by that time it would be dark. Treating them to another excellent dinner, he had managed to delay another day. A day turned into a week as the rains began again and continued, threatening to do so for perhaps weeks more. As urgent messages from Milan and Florence came in, their representatives were pressed to end this showing as quickly as possible so that their side could regain the technological edge once more, as Venice was beating them on land. Luca Albizzi had been sent as the Florentine representative, and now worried about the hold of the Medici on Florence, as they were forced to spend vast sums of money on both their armies and these inventions of Piotr Yukov. It was clear they could not afford to not deal with this man, but even Cosimo de Medici Luca's close friend admitted that this conflict against their rival city-states could not last much longer. They had already been forced to borrow money, hoping to gain victory quickly so they could concentrate on their economy and regain their financial losses. Their mercenary armies were growing weary of this drawn out war, as they were forced to fight with unfamiliar yet destructive machines. Men died by the thousands, and it was getting harder to sign up new recruits to join the war and refill their ranks. What Luca had witnessed in his own country also was happening in both Venice and Milan. By the time the new warship could be shown, Florence and Milan would have been willing to pay any sum for the first warship that they practically overlooked the second.