On the Rocks

by Peter Rhodan

  Brennus stared at him for a second then laughed out loud. He obviously thought it was a clever and funny trick. Whatever his own thoughts may have been Coel joined in after a moment although he had frowned at first and then laughed a little less enthusiastically and Augustine smiled but did not laugh, but then he had seen half his companions killed or wounded just a little before. “That is marvellous!” Brennus bellowed, slapping his thigh. “I like this Arturo, Coel. He is a smart fellow!” Brennus said loudly.

  The two forces camped and that night commands were sorted. Arturo instructed the new officers, not just the three senior men but all the officers they brought in with them, on the new organisation chart that they had developed in Dervent as well as some of the new tactical formations that were employed given the greater fire power the manuballistas provided.

  Assessing his new officers, Arturo determined that Brennus would be second to Radovas in command of the cohort that was to head back up to Lugowalion and form the basis of the Republican garrison there. He originally intended Coel to serve under Meries in the cohort intended for Dervent but Meries demurred on the basis that Coel was vastly senior, having served under Constans in Gallia some years before. Coel for his part undertook to learn the new methods and consult with Meries about the way things should be done so Arturo was left with little choice but accept their swapping of position.

  Valerius retained command of the cavalry to be stationed at Dervent, with Augustine as his second. Valerius was also promoted to Tribune, giving him command of the eventual cavalry Cohort in Dervent. His armsman, Aurelius Gervonius, was given command of the cavalry force to be based in Lugowalion as Centurion for the moment with Julianus promoted to Optio as his second. Three surviving other officers of the Alae Petrani, as the cavalry had been named, were integrated into the two forces as well.

  The following day was spent re-organising and that evening a large celebration was held. Arturo announced that this amalgamation would form the basis of the new Republican army and in the spirit of restoring the pattern of the old, designated the forces earmarked for Dervent as the First Legion or Legio Prima and the forces for Lugowalion as Legio Secunda. The men seemed happy with the new titles and even more so at the prospect of regular pay.

  Following the new instructions Arturo had issued following the Scotti fight, the dead and captured troop’s belongings were stripped and valued. Some juggling was required but in the end the booty was divided up according to the new regulations, ironically, most of the captives, having elected to join the Republicans, received some of their stripped valuables back or at least some of their value. The amount retained by the State would help flesh out the coffers a bit further, once melted down and recast as coins.

  Maximus had left some troops in Lugowalion as a garrison so the Dervent force was given a bigger slice of the available troops. Legio Prima consisted of four hundred and sixty infantry men after the division, divided into the full six centuries, all rather under strength. The cavalry numbered one hundred and twelve, divided into two centuries although not equally. Eventually it was decided to give Augustine the command of the first century given his experience plus he agreed to learn the new tactics from Valerius as quickly as possible. His century was the main one and was at nearly full strength while the second only had an under strength squad, but these were the bulk of the scouts trained by Julianus and commanded by his former second, now made to Ensign.

  Legio Secunda had only three hundred and twenty infantry organised in four centuries. The cavalry numbered only eighty three, organised into a main century and a scout squad like the other cavalry force. While Julianus was now second to Aurelius he would be mainly responsible for overseeing the training of the largely newly assigned scouts. Radovas, commanding the infantry cohort, was given overall command with rank of Legatus.

  After much fiddling with details the re-organisation was completed and the two forces separated. New flags had been hurriedly ordered and they arrived just as the forces were breaking camp. The musicians were split between both forces as well which lessened their impact but was better for long term morale, Arturo decided. The drums were popular with the original Republican troops and were something different from the norm. The several hornists from the former Imperial troops were likewise divided up between both forces and added to colour parties.

  The march north proceeded quickly. The people of Alladraef came out to watch the army pass north, not appearing surprised by the change of allegiance. Presumably the local grapevine having spread the news already Arturo decided, with some dismay, still not used to how fast news could spread in a farming community. Arturo received the obedience of the local Mair and rode on. They reached Maglona late in the afternoon and occupied the old fort as Maximus had done on his march south.

  Once more the locals seemed to be unsurprised by the change of allegiance. Like every other town in the region it had obviously seen better days with town being in a poor way with the majority of the buildings unoccupied and falling into ruin. The lines of graves on the roads in and out of the town were largely untended and overgrown and the fort was a mess. It was obvious Maximus had made no attempt to bring it into order when he had camped there.

  The men were put to work getting it cleaned up and soon made it rather more habitable. Not much could be done in the time available to fix the falling down masonry so that was left largely untouched and besides Arturo was not entirely sure it was worth restoring the defences of the place properly. His ideas of defence did not include hiding behind the walls of these little forts which were spread around the countryside. Against a properly organised foe all such a plan would achieve would be to ensure the defenders were beaten in detail. That evening he raised the subject at the meal attended by all the officers apart from those on guard duty. Everyone looked at each other in response to his question as to why there were so many small cohort sized forts in the region until finally Brennus answered.

  “I think answer is twofold Dominus Arturo. One, these forts provide obstacles to barbarians coming down from the north. If properly garrisoned they would take serious effort to assault for the Caledoni and Pechti and they possibly would not bother. They would loot the village and move on. Locals lose some goods but hide in fort so still have lives after the barbarians are gone. And that leaves the garrisons free to merge and come join the reinforcements that would be marching up from the south.”

  He paused and considered his next words. “Another thing is supplies. Coel did a study and claims that the garrison in north here was once thirty thousand men or even more. That is a lot of mouths to feed in just this little area. Spreading all those troops around behind the wall and down the coasts would make feeding them easier.” He smiled. “Having good roads means that if needed they can assemble at either end of wall quick enough. Used to have forts manned north of wall too in old days apparently, so Coel says. He is on good terms with old king of the Selgovae and related to the king of Votadini.”

  Arturo considered this. Yes. It did make a sort of sense given their transport problems. Even spread around it must have been difficult feeding thirty thousand men in this region, especially in the winter. A lot of the supplies would have had to have been brought up the coasts by ship he imagined. Well his rail roads would solve that problem soon enough. Communications! He would have to think about semaphore towers or something similar now that the area he controlled was growing. He needed telescopes! Hopefully Gilbyn would come through with the lenses.

  The next day the small army approached Lugowalion. They were met by a small group of cavalry and two officers. The first was an older man dressed in infantry style while the second was clearly a cavalry man with swarthy features. The party halted twenty paces in front of the advancing force obviously puzzled by the changed appearance and possibly also the unexpectedly quick return of the troops.

  Arturo, Coel and Oween rode forward while the rest of the column halted. The two officers came forward from where that had originally stopped
to meet them half way. The older man recognising Coel addressed him. “So Coel, you have returned early?”

  Coel glanced at Arturo who raised an eyebrow but nodded slightly. “Gwalmachi, Frigarnus. This is Arturo Sandus, Primarius of the New Republic and, well, Dux Britannia now I guess. Arturo, this is Gwalmachi of the Novantae, commander of the Lugowalion garrison and beside him is Frigarnus Severus, commander of the cavalry still at the fort north of the town.” Both men looked a little startled, staring at Arturo then looking past him at the column of troops behind, headed by the colour party. The big red with blue diagonal striped flag of the Republic flapped gaily while the new light yellow flag with red rays radiating from the centre that was the design adopted for the second Legion was hidden to some extent by the billowing Republic flag.

  “What happened to Maximus?” Frigarnus asked eventually.

  Coel opened his hand and waved at Arturo slightly. “Arturo here met him to talk about coming to a peaceful arrangement but Maximus would not listen. Instead he decided on charging Arturo’s forces with the cavalry, straight over a crest and into the trap Arturo here had set up out of site behind the crestline. He did not survive the experience. We were persuaded to join this new Republic Arturo is building, or is it to be the restored Republic, whichever. I hope you chaps will be equally amenable.”

  The two men looked at each other and the cavalry troopers behind them stirred a little at the news that Maximus was no more. “So, a new Republic. Seems an out of the way place to start a reformation.” Gwalmachi commented.

  Arturo answered. “All things have a beginning.” He paused and pitched his voice for them men behind to hear. “The emperors have done little good over the centuries they have ruled. The wealthy, healthy Empire that the old Republic had built has been run down and wasted by continual wars amongst themselves. The general populace has been crushed under taxation while the rich pay little and barbarian hordes are allowed to wander the Empire at will.”

  He looked out into the distance warming to his task. “Well enough is enough. The old Republic will be restored, modified to reflect the new Empire, but restored it will be. The economy will be reinvigorated and improved. The wealthy will pay their share of taxes and none will be exempt. The barbarians will be dealt with and once more continued attacks by any particular barbarian tribe will be met with the borders of the Empire advancing over them, as in the days of old.”

  He turned back to the two men in front of him. “So, do we carry out the change of power here quietly or not?” His smile seemed to imply he did not really care whether peaceful acquiescence or the use of force was his preferred method.

  Lugowalion was a real town, the first Arturo had seen. For all that it was a shell of its former self. Just outside the town proper, between the road from Maglona and another south bound road, only more to the east, there was a series of grassy banks surrounding a dirt covered rectangular piece of ground that looked a bit like a horse racing track, except much longer and narrower than the tracks popular on many Federation worlds. Arturo had never really understood the fascination with horse racing that so many people had. The sport was ancient going back to old Earth apparently. All the way back to the Romans, right here, he thought with dismay.

  Down the centre ran a stone wall with strange objects mounted on top dividing the track in two. At one end were some stone gateways and above them some stone seating, presumably where the rich and powerful sat. Noting his interest Coel offered. “There is also an arena, up near the cavalry fort, but that has been out of use for some years now.”

  With a start Arturo remembered his readings about gladiators and Christians being thrown to the lions. He had only read a quick summary of the whole aspect of Roman history, but it seemed pretty horrific. He would have to introduce some less, ah, deadly types of entertainment he decided quickly. The wall surrounding the town was in decent shape and the gateway in from the south was well maintained with rectangular towers rising another storey above the wall framing the entranceway. Inside the town looked far less well maintained and had the usual stink of unwashed humans, horses, rotting refuse and sewerage. Once inside the walls it was immediately obvious that most of the buildings near the walls were not occupied, or at least not looked after.

  The road through the town was cobbled but with potholes and clearly in need of a good deal of work. The few townspeople eyed them sullenly, not looking at all excited by the return of the army. There was a central rectangle bounded by on one side by a colonnaded two storey building that was functioning as some sort of market, a large temple that was clearly unused, a building that had symbols used by the Christians on it and another temple, also unused. The road continued past the square to another walled enclosure which was clearly the military barracks.

  This was laid out on the same pattern as all the others Arturo had seen, but on a larger scale and was still intact, unlike all the others he seen. It could probably hold twice as many men as any of the other forts Arturo had encountered, but like the town looked only half used.

  The rooms Maximus had occupied were surprisingly plain. A few golden trinkets and a chest of silver coins being the only real indications of wealth. The real surprise was the fort treasury. This special room was apparently kept locked and guarded at all times and inside there were considerable quantities of cons, gold, silver and bronze. There were also some gold objects, plates and such like, and many, many torques of the type worn by Brython warriors Coel explained. All this metal is going to help the financial situation, he thought to himself.

  “Maximus was hoarding money?” He asked incredulously, finding the idea unbelievable. Surely he should have realised the benefits of putting the coins into circulation and boosting the local economy!

  “Of course.” Came the laconic reply from Coel. “He grabbed every coin he could. We all have hoards stacked away against a rainy day.”

  “Huh. Oh. Right. Well at least I will be ale to pay them men more easily than I anticipated.”

  Coel looked at him with his head cocked slightly to one side. “You really intend to try and pay the troops with coin don’t you.” He sounded surprised and dubious at the same time.

  “Well yes. It will boost the economy but more importantly I told them I would.” Arturo tried not to sound too indignant.

  Coel studied him for second looking puzzled. “We thought you meant you would give the troops a cash donative for joining you, not that you would pay them with coins all the time.”

  “That’s what I’ve been doing down at Dervent. Hopefully seeing coins in circulation up here will bring out more of the hoarded coins people have been keeping. It did down at Dervent and Wern. Anyway, I am introducing new Republican coins as well now that Maximus is dealt with.” He paused and looked around. “I’ll send all this south to be melted down after paying the troops a month’s pay. Now let’s see what else needs doing.” And he led the officer party back outside.

  The next couple of days saw the families and belongings of those men transferred to the first Legion shipped south, accompanied by a heavily guarded convoy of wagons carrying the hoarded wealth of the treasury room. Hopefully the new Republican coins, the designs of which he had sorted out some time before, would not be long in arriving to pay for his new army. He definitely needed to find the time to pry a big chunk of battle armour off his shuttle to pay for all these new troops over the longer term. He met Isaac’s father, the worthy Jacob, and made arrangements to open a branch of the Bank of Britannia in Lugowalion.

  After three long days of organising, talking, persuading and sometimes flat ordering people to do things he wanted done, on the third night he stood on the ramparts of the fort looking north. It was still going to take him some weeks to sort out all the matters requiring his attention here he had discovered despite his desire to get back to Dervent. He had re-assured the local people in a town meeting, or at least tried to and made plans to change the billeting of the troops. The cavalry fort was even larger than the fort here
in town, and more importantly there was plenty of open land around it, so the second Legion would eventually be based there.

  Looking at the mountains to the north he pondered the journey he had taken. From starting as a star captain to what? Oh yes that was that term they used for those heroic epics on the tri-vid? He had sunk from star captain to be the hero of a swords and sandals epic. That was the term used to describe such movies, the most popular of those made post Empire were the ones about a spacemen marooned on a backwards planet and their efforts to get home, or even just survive. Just like him! He smiled to himself and shook his head in sad reflection of his changed fortune. Of course, none of those tri-vid epics had involved travelling back in time and changing the past so the future would be different.

  He wondered what would happen now that his changes were looking to be something that would actually affect the course of history here and now? Perhaps the northern barbarians would sweep down and destroy it before his timeline was changed too much. Otherwise he could not see any way he could be making changes to the past that would result in a different future to the one he came from. If his future never happened how did he get here to make the changes in the first place? And what was happening to his wife and children? How had they taken his going missing?

  He stared blankly up at the usual cloudy overcast sky, the cloud cover hiding the stars from his view which was probably a good thing as he may well have cried otherwise.

  Thank you for reading this book.

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