“Search the island. Get the word out, I don’t want any boats leaving the island tonight. Post guards on all of them. And have three galleys ready to sail at first light!”
CHAPTER 30: WORD OF EUROPA
Asia and Africa were docked in adjacent berths in Muziris. Africa had purchased a huge quantity of spices, silks, artwork, and two elephants, loaded onboard and into the forward hold with great difficulty. From time to time, their angry screams could be heard a hundred yards away in the Asia, where Aulus and Lucius Parvus were doing the books in the master’s cabin, trying to eke out a profit margin from the voyage for the two ships. It was not looking good. No matter how Lucius worked the abacus, it came up the same: Aulus would only barely break even, not including a good bit of his own fortune sunk into the venture. The only hope lay in a generous bonus from Trajan for a successful mission to the Hanaean emperor. Their gloomy calculations were interrupted by some cries outside, jabbering in an incomprehensible Indian dialect. Aulus flung open one of the windows to the cabin and peered alongside the Asia’s hull to determine the source of the clamor. An Indian coastal lug was alongside, with the boat’s master, presumably a fisherman, gesticulating to the crew on deck.
“Go topside, Lucius, and find out what that man wants. Probably trying to sell us some fish he caught. Get them to hold down the noise. We’re having enough trouble making the numbers come out right.” Aulus shut the window disgustedly.
Lucius disappeared through the cabin door, but returned, agitated, in just a moment. “Domine! Domine! Your lordship! Come quickly, the man has seen the Europa!”
“The Europa! Where?” asked Aulus, standing up and scattering the scrolls and wax writing tablets onto the deck.
“In port, somewhere in Taprobane! The fisherman hailed us, thinking we were the same ship he had seen there, and wondering how we had gotten here so quickly!”
“Taprobane! That’s only a few days’ sail from here. Let’s go! I have questions for that man.” Aulus hurried out the cabin door, with Lucius in close pursuit.
Dionysius was already on the scene when they reached the knot of sailors clustered about the midships rail. “Captain! Have that man brought on board immediately!” Aulus ordered. “Where’s the translator?”
“Right away, sir!” Dionysius barked some orders and the sailors let down a rope ladder over the side. “The translator is over here. It’s a very different dialect than what he’s used to, but he seems to be able to make himself understood.” Dionysius pointed to a slender, very dark man with a coal-black beard, clad in a dirty grey loincloth.
The sailor clambered over the railing, assisted by several sailors from the Asia’s crew.
“Good! Ask him when he saw the Europa... the ship in Taprobane,” demanded Aulus.
A flurry of incomprehensible syllables, some repeated questions, and the translator replied in bad Aramaic, which Dionysius translated for Aulus’s benefit.
“Several days ago, a week maybe. She was in port in a town called Galle, I believe in the south part of the island. A small fishing village and local trading port, mostly.”
“What sort of shape was she in?”
Again, the three way translation from Greek to pidgin Aramaic to Indian and back again.
Dionysius delivered the final translation. “He thought she was in good shape. Looking for some big timbers for some repairs, but he didn’t see any signs of damage”
“The masts?” asked Aulus. “Did she have any damage to the masts?”
Back and forth again, and the Indian fisherman shook his head. “No,” said Dionysius, finally. “He said the rigging looked good, although he couldn’t tell for sure..”
“Hmm, I wonder what else they could need timber for? The hull? The steering oars? Ask him if her steering oars were in place.”
Pause, then “No, they seemed all right. But if I might add, each ship carries a spare set of two. They may have replaced one or both of them at sea, and need replacements. I would. I would never go to sea without at least one set of spares. And those are hard to make. I wouldn’t count on being able to make a set just anywhere.”
“It’s a possibility. Well, how long would it take to make them?” asked Aulus. “I want to know what our chances are of catching them still in port, Dionysius.”
“I don’t know, sir. If the wood is in hand, maybe a week or so. But the hard part is finding the wood. Those are big blades.”
“Well, ask the translator if by any chance he knew anything about the crew?”
A moment later, the Indian sailor shook his head. “He doesn’t know anything about the crew. They were all foreigners to him.”
Aulus fished out a gold aureus from his purse, and handed it to the sailor. The dark man hefted the bulky gold coin, and his eyes went wide. “That’s generous, sir,” said Dionysius. “He probably doesn’t make that much in a year.”
“He’s earned it,” said Aulus, closing his leather purse. “Give him a good meal, him and all his crew, and bring the navigators and yourself down to my cabin. I need to know more about Taprobane. Have them bring every map they have of the place. It looks like Europa indeed survived the storm.”
A few minutes later, Dionysius came into the cabin with the three navigators. Dionysius brought his periplus sailing directions, ports, tides, winds and local customs. The navigators were encumbered with several long scrolls, maps of Taprobane.
“Spread them out here on the desk” invited Aulus, while Lucius looked over his shoulder.
The senior navigator spoke first, unrolling one map. This map showed the coast of India and the ragged outlines of Taprobane. “Muziris, where we are now, is here,” he said, pointing to the southwest coast of India, near the tip. “And Taprobane is here. There are several big ports, the best of which is Mannar, on the northwest coast opposite India. Mannar is the closest to the capital, Anuradhapura, here.
Dionysius volunteered. “That is the main trading port, and I believe you have a praetor externa in the capital.”
“Yes, we do, and in a minute, I might remember his name. Go on. Where’s this place…Galle? Where he saw the Europa?”
“Near the southern end of the island. There.”
“My periplus mentions the port, but says very little else about it. Seems to be strictly a local trading port. The book does mention, however, that relations between the northern and the southern ends of the island are not good,” added Dionysius. “And Ibrahim has a friend there, no doubt, well away from the capital.”
“Well, let us set a thief to catch a thief,” said Aulus, glaring at Dionysius. Aulus had still an intense distrust of the man, and the captain flushed under the insult. “If you were Ibrahim, what would you do now?”
“I was not privy to the plans between the sailing master and the pirate... sir!” he replied stiffly. “I was following the orders of the sailing master placed over me to divert the remaining convoy north. As I have told you repeatedly, I regret greatly having done so, for I am not a pirate, myself.” He paused to regain his composure, then continued. “But if I were Ibrahim in Taprobane, I think I would offload my haul there, spread some of it around liberally to make good friends, and go elsewhere in India as a legitimately wealthy man.”
Aulus considered his words. “What about going on further eastward with the ship?”
“Unlikely. Ibrahim is, by all accounts, a pirate of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. He would find no friends and many enemies... the pirate would face serious trouble from other pirates, just as we may on the eastward leg. The ship would attract some serious attention.”
Aulus turned to the navigator. “How far from Galle to the capital at... at... “
“Anuradhapura, sir. About two hundred miles overland.”
“He has then, at most, a few weeks’ grace at the most. Let’s lay course for Galle, then and see if we can trap him.”
Dionysius interjected. “May I add some caution, sir? If Ibrahim is in port there, he likely has some local protection. Mig
ht I counsel that you stop first at Mannar, and notify the Taprobanian king?”
“I think not. We’ll test ourselves against whatever local force he can bring to bear on us. Stopping at Mannar would add days to our trip, and the king might very well seize the gold himself. Lucius, leave word for Africa to remain here, continue trading till the fall monsoon shifts, then return home and pay off as many of our creditors as possible. As for us, to Galle, gentlemen! Let’s sail at the next opportunity!”
CHAPTER 31: FIREFIGHT IN GALLE
“Antonius!” barked Gaius, roughly shaking the sleeping centurion awake in his bunk by light of a dim oil lamp a little after midnight. “Antonius, wake up, damn you!”
“Aye, sir,” said Antonius, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “What the hell’s goin’ on, if yer’ll pardon me choice of words?”
“What the hell did you tell that woman?”
“Thani? That was days ago... lemme see. I think I said she had a nice arse. Did, too.” Antonius smiled dreamily.
“Well, the local king is marching his army south. He thinks Rome has invaded Galle with a couple of legions. Get your ass out of that bunk, Centurion. We have big trouble coming. Get your deck guards rousted out, and post a guard. Then meet me in Ibrahim’s cabin in full battle gear in five minutes!”
Antonius’ jaw dropped. “What?! Honest, I just said she had a nice arse. I didn’t tell her nothin’... no’ at all!” He banged his head on the low overhead getting out of the bunk and swore vehemently. “God cursed low hangin’ shit! If yer don’t trip over it on this bloody ship, yer bang yer head against it!” He began rummaging through his campaign chest for his battle kit, but Gaius was already gone.
Antonius entered the master’s cabin, where Gaius, Demetrios, Ibrahim, and Abdi, the head of the Nubian archers, were studying a map of the city and docks, rudely drawn to no particular scale, but it gave them a view of the area they had to control. “Come in, Antonius. As you can see, it’s getting serious out there.”
“Sir, I am truly sorry. I swear I told that girl nothing... nothin’ at all!”
“Let’s deal with that later. Right now, we have two enemies. One is that mob on the docks, and the other more formidable force is a few days out. Let’s deal with the nearest one first. Ibrahim, what does your local friend think?”
“He told me just hours ago that he had heard rumors of this. The king in Anuradhapura is moving several thousand men south to defend Galle against what he thinks is a Roman invasion.” He paused, as chuckles murmured through the meeting at the incongruity, the continued. “And oh, by the way, subdue the local governor. The north and the south ends of the island don’t get along. Galle’s governor is building barricades against the assault but the townspeople blame us for this impending disaster. Fortunately, I had Demetrios keep the crew close to the tabernae and brothels right adjacent to the docks, so when the riots broke out, we got almost everyone back, although one young man was beaten to death, and about five others have broken bones. The rest of the crew came to their rescue and pulled them out. Several locals were down, I don’t know how bad, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we gave better than we got. We are anchored several hundred yards out, but that does not stop them from shouting curses and throwing torches and projectiles at us. ”
“But with locals dead and injured, they probably won’t calm down too easily. They want revenge. How do the local authorities come down on this?” asked Gaius.
“My man thinks the provincial governor has been spoiling for a showdown with Anuradhapura for years, and sees this as a chance to give the king his comeuppance. The governor thinks that when the king’s army shows up, the town will turn and stand with him.”
“Does the governor have forces to control the mob?”
“His army was conspicuously absent during this riot. He wants to rally his townspeople to his side against the king, and he can’t take the side of foreigners against them. At best, he will let us take care of ourselves. At worst, he’ll join the mob and try to seize us. Word’s out, too, that we have considerable money on board, and not well-gotten.” Ibrahim sighed.
“What about our crewmen up in the mountains?” asked Gaius.
Demetrios answered. “That’s our biggest problem. Half our carpenters went with the locals to the central forest to make sure they picked the best trees. They’re not back yet, and I don’t want to leave without them unless we absolutely have to. Not only would the mob tear them to pieces, poor bastards, but we can’t get along without those shipwrights. Some of them helped design this ship, and they’re irreplaceable.”
“What about a rescue party?” asked Gaius.
“Not likely. We really haven’t any idea where they are, and as little as we know the country, we could pass within a mile of them and never know they were there. Could we send a message to the king, telling them we are not invaders?” asked Demetrios.
Gaius answered, “Not until the king is already here, and we would face a large well-trained army instead of a local militia and a mob. If his answer is ‘no’ then we will have to fight our way out against much worse odds. We need to be gone when the king arrives. Antonius?”
“Let me see yer map. Do the king or the governor have any kind of siege engines? I mean catapults, onagers, or ballistae?”
Ibrahim answered, “Fortunately, no. This island doesn’t do siege warfare. Every city depends on irrigation canals for water. Just block their water and they’ll be out in a few days.”
“Well, that’s good ter hear. We can sit tight then, and hold the mob off the docks with the ballistae. We can reach them, but they can’t reach us. And what does get by the ballista, the archers can pick off, and what’s left won’t get on deck. So we just sit here, out of reach, and odds are, in a day or two, they’ll turn their attention to the king’s army. Now our big problem is bringin’ them carpenters aboard.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to that,” said Demetrios. “Partly, because I don’t know when they’re going to come back. Hopefully, they’ll get word of the trouble and slip in quietly and get word to us, then we can figure out what to do. On the other hand, the local lumberers may just truss them up and hand them over to the mob.” Demetrios sighed. “Or kill them. If they aren’t back by the time the king’s army is on scene, then we’ll have to assume the worst, and sail without them. They should have been back today.”
“Very well, then,” said Gaius. “We stand and defend ourselves, but do as little as possible to inflame the situation. Just whatever is necessary to keep them at distance. Antonius, how’s the deck force?”
“Ten men on duty now, the rest in an hour. Abdi’s archers are stringing their bows, and should be in position by now. Everyone is on twelve on, twelve off shifts, so we always have a rested force and good reserves, if we need them. They’ll sleep with their swords.”
“Good. What about the ballistae?”
“Manned and ready. I got a blank for the blacksmith to start makin’ up some more bronze bolts. I figure we have enough bronze on hand to make a few hundred more bolts if we need ‘em. The only problem is, I never had enough bolts to train them. They’ve fired a few wooden ones, but I don’t like to train with them too much, ‘cuz their weight throws the aim off.”
“Good. All right, Demetrios. What else do we need to get underway besides our wayward carpenters?”
“Not much, sir. Just favorable winds and a good tide. Anchored out like this, I don’t need boats to get her head around. Getting the anchor up can take an hour or more, but if I have to, I’ll chop the hawser and go without it. I have spares for both cable and anchor.”
“Very well. Gentlemen, the next few hours are critical. If we can convince the mob that we are too hard to get at, but otherwise no threat, I think they will drift off and start concerning themselves with the upcoming battle with the king. So... let’s go to war!” Gaius dismissed the group, and left the cabin with Antonius.
“Not much of a plan, is it, Antonius?” asked Gaius, on the qu
arterdeck. The warm tropical night, the gentle breeze and the stars flung against the velvet night sky struck a discordant note with the angry mob and twinkling torches on the docks.
“Well, most plans fer situations like this are just pulled out yer arse at best, sir...you’ve done it before a coupla times. All we can do is buy time, but I think we can afford ter buy a lot of that. An’ by the way, honest, I di’n’t tell her nothin’! I wracked me brain, but whatever we said, about what we do an’ all, is what I said with yer right there with me.” Antonius was absolutely crestfallen at the thought that something he said might have triggered this disaster.
“Well, remember what I said about womanizing. See how much trouble you got us into?” But Gaius smiled again.
On the dock, the tenor changed, enough to be noticed on the ship. Instead of the roar of a mob, only a few voices, each speaking one after the other, carried across the dark water to the Europa. Periodically, the mob would roar its approval at what was said, and men could be seen, scurrying to and fro distributing swords among the men.
“Sir, I think it’s gettin’ a bit more serious down there. There’s some leaders now, an’ in a few minutes, it won’t be a mob no more. We should get the ballista crews to push ‘em back.”
“You’re right. It’s getting close. But I want to wait just a bit longer, when they try to actually do something. If you can hit the foe right between the eyes when he is charging, you’ll break up his attack. Right now, they’re organizing but still milling around. If we push them back now, they’ll just reorganize again out of range.” Gaius kept his eyes on the docks, the starlight and torchlight glinting off his armor. “Like the good old days, right, Antonius? Waiting for a crowd of Germans to finish strutting their stuff, drinking their beer, and telling each other how brave they are.”
“Yup. Thought them days was behind me on this trip. Well, I’m goin’ ter check the ballista crews an’ start havin’ em pick their targets.”
The Eagle and the Dragon, a Novel of Rome and China Page 22
