Chapter 5

After Hortensius left, Ky sat down at the small writing table he spent so much time at every day transferring the data in Sophus’s databanks into something usable by the Romans, when Lucilla unexpectedly burst into his tent. He knew it was her the moment the tent flap opened without the normal introduction by one of his guards, since she was the only one his men allowed in unannounced.

“I thought you left with Hortensius?” Ky said, surprised she was still in the camp.

“He wanted to go close to the line and see the trebuchets in practice before we headed north. Velius tried to talk him out of it, since even out of the Carthaginian range, it can still be dangerous, but Hortensius insisted. He complained that he rarely gets to see his work in the field, and this was one of the few times he’d be close enough to the front line to see it.”

“Tell me Velius sent a detachment with him?”

“He grumbled that it would slow the legions heading out, but he did.”

“Just make sure he doesn’t get too absorbed and loses track of time. We need these new projects started as soon as possible. I’d like to get the first canons in the field not long after we take Londinium. Ramirus says the Carthaginians will be able to have relief forces here in six months, which doesn’t give us a lot of time.”

“He knows.”

“Speaking of Hortensius, he knows you and I can speak over long distances.”

“You told him about the transmitter,” she said, surprised.

Ky suppressed a smile. When he’d given it to her just a few short months ago, she had been astonished by it, treating the small comms unit like a magical talisman. Now she referenced it out of hand, like it was any other piece of equipment she used on a daily basis. It just showed how quickly someone could adapt to even the most radical technology, when given time and regular use.

“No. He figured it out himself. Not that you have a device in your ear, but that you and I can speak over long distances. He attributes it to magic, and I didn’t dissuade him of it simply because the fewer people know about it, the less likely they are to look for the device.”

“I told you he was brilliant. You underestimate him too much.”

“He said the same thing. You’re both right. I guess it’s hard shaking the bias that my technology gives me; that I can’t help but look at everyone who isn’t used to it differently. I’m trying to stop it, however.”

“Good. So what are we going to do about it?”

“Nothing. I asked him to keep it secret, but everything else should be the same. He’s still going to come to you with questions, but you don’t have to pretend you have to look through the notes I left you to get the answer. Try to have your conversations in private, but at least it makes it easier.”

“I told you he wouldn’t be convinced that you gave me information that you hadn’t given him.”

“And you were right, but it was the only reasonable explanation that I could come up with for why he could go to you for answers.”

“I still say you should give her the drone, so we can have access to the cameras and sensors on it to observe the progress of his projects. The tolerances for casting a canon are very slim. Any microscopic cracks or impurities could cause the weapon to rupture under pressure when it is fired.”

Sophus had made the point several times since Ky decided Lucilla should go back to Devnum to act as a go-between for Ky and all of the projects they were about to start. The AI was convinced that it could alter the programming of the drone to use Lucilla’s transmitter as a command bridge, but Ky wasn’t convinced that was the best way to use the drone. He still believed he would need the advantage the drone gave them in combat when it came time to take the city. The legions had already suffered fairly high casualty rates, and they would lose any battle of attrition with the Carthaginians.

“I know, but I still disagree. We’ll be there for the first test firing, and you can analyze the structure of the canon then. Besides, the drone doesn’t have the senses to detect the kinds of impurities you’re talking about. Hell, my optic sensors barely do, and there are a lot of flaws in the metal that we have no way of detecting no matter how we look at it. We just don’t have the equipment for that. We’re going to have to rely on more traditional methods of testing weapons for now.”

The AI fell silent. Ever since it had gained sentience, Sophus had developed an attitude whenever its judgment was called into question. It had a bad habit of believing its data and logical processes were superior to human thought processes, and readily discounted things it didn’t have, like intuition. It had a tendency to become snippy.

“I’m going to miss you,” Lucilla said, putting her arms around Ky’s middle and resting her head on his chest. “We keep getting separated.”

“I know,” Ky said, wrapping his arms around her in turn.

It was strange. He’d grown up in a society that didn’t have much in the way of casual affection among unbonded couples, so he hadn’t realized how much he’d been missing until finding Lucilla. Now he couldn’t imagine living in a world without her touch.

“Once we’ve pushed the Carthaginians off the island entirely and we aren’t in danger of being destroyed at any moment, I think it will be time for us to be married.”

“What?” Ky said, releasing her and stepping back.

“I told you I was going to the Oracle to get blessings on our union, which I got before the raiding party took us captive. I don’t want to have to hide what we have behind closed doors anymore, and besides, we aren’t just any two people. There are a lot of eyes on us. Even if I didn’t love you and want to be with you, it’s still a good idea, politically. The Empire is still young and there are still a lot of people who aren’t sure about it and especially about their new countrymen, on both sides. With my new ... status among the Caledonians and with how both groups view you, it would give everyone something to rally behind.”

Ky wasn’t sure he believed that, but he was a soldier, not a politician.

“You really think the people would care?” Ky said, doubtfully.

“They would. I need to talk to my father about it, and there is a lot of planning that needs to happen, but when you’ve taken Londinium and the last of the Carthaginians on Britannia are dead or in chains, you and I are getting married.”

“It sounds like I don’t have much choice in this.”

“You don’t,” she said with a smile. “There will be benefits in it for you, though.”

She gave him a wink and swept out of the tent.

Ky took a few moments to let her words sink in before pushing his personal feelings aside to focus on his next duty for the day, even though the next duty was also one of his personal favorite parts of his position. He’d found the things he spent most of his time doing were administrative. Either facing the never-ending work of keeping tens of thousands of men in the field fed, focused, and active or the tedious transference of data from Sophus’s database into a form men like Hortensius could use to move Rome into the industrial era.

He had spent his life prior to his sudden, unexpected trip into the past following orders, doing his job, and otherwise being a cog in the imperial war machine. He missed the simple camaraderie and unburdened focus he had from those days. Going out to the line to talk to the men was as close as he could get to his old life, and he treasured it. Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same, since as both Consul and either The Sword of Jupiter to the Romans or a demon of war to the Caledonians, he wasn’t exactly their equal.

Still, soldiers were soldiers, regardless of the millennia they served in, and there was a certain irreverence and commonality to it that Ky still got to participate in, in spite of his newly elevated status.

The men were in good spirits, even with the rather uneventful nature of their current duty. Except for Sepurcius’s artillery men working the trebuchets, most of the legionnaires had very little to do except look at the walls of Londinium in front of them and wait for orders. The legions had stopped at long range for the trebuchets, putting them in range to pound the walls of the city, but outside the ability of the Carthaginians to reach them. The few break-out attempts early on had given the men some excitement, but it had been chaotic and uncoordinated, making the engagements limited. Since then, the legions had only to be enough of a threat to keep the Carthaginians penned up behind the wall.

The Britannians were enjoying the reversal of fortune, however. Especially the Romans, who’d been living under the threat of Carthaginian destruction for their entire lives. It was their chance to feel powerful and unstoppable, and they were reveling in it.

Ky had finished his circuit of the fifth legion and was heading towards the section of the wall held by the third legion when he came across the legates of both legions, who were in deep conversation with Ramirus, looking over maps spread out over a small portable table.

“Gentleman,” Ky said, coming up on the group.

Ramirus had been looking in his direction, but hadn’t said anything as Ky had approached, which explained the small smile the spymaster fought to keep under control as the two commanders jumped at the sound of Ky’s voice.

“Consul,” Ursinus said, saluting.

“Was there a council of war no one told me about?” Ky asked.

“No, sir,” Auspex, who Ky had known the shortest amount of time of all of the legates, said. “We were just discussing deployments when Ramirus showed up and had some questions about possible assaults and the casualties we predicted. We would have informed you before we made any decisions, or if we...”

“I think he’s teasing you,” Ursinus said.

“Ohh,” the younger legate said, looking down embarrassed.

“For that, I apologize,” Ky said. “I was just walking the line and visiting with the men when I saw you three up here. So what was your answer about the predicted casualties?”

Ky already knew the answer, both from Sophus’s estimates and because he and the legates had already had the discussion several times as they debated their next move against the Carthaginians. It was clear to everyone they couldn’t just pound away at the walls with the trebuchets, waiting for a breakthrough and hoping their enemy wouldn’t survive, but every plan they’d looked at involved too high of a price for the legions.