Steam Legion (14 page)

The man nodded, gratefully. Building the dragon’s breath weapons was complex work, and a real challenge, but at least it was possible. Since they’d been seen in battle, the steam cannons had earned themselves a new name drawn from the great gout of steam that rushed from their muzzle when fired, in addition to the startling carnage they brought upon their foes. Heron had brought in some of the best craftsmen of the Library and the city in general to build more of them and to begin improving the usability of the weapon.

One burly bronze- and iron-worker had taken one look at the complex mess of pots and tubes and just snorted in disgust before going to work. It had taken him a week, but when he finally emerged from his shop, he’d presented Dyna and Master Heron with a much cleaner design that did away with most of the complex pipes and had even eliminated one of the pots.

Dyna had clucked and shaken her head when she saw it, swearing that it would never work. He’d even gotten rid of the notched boards used to seal the end of the barrel so that the weapon could build up force, replacing it with a heavy bronze plate that flipped up over the barrel and was affixed with a breakaway catch.

When they tested it, however, the system worked far better than she would have believed. The man had cut out much of the sprawling mess that had been so prevalent in the models they had built in the Library. The bronze plate had functioned almost flawlessly, giving a little too soon so that the weapons had just dribbled out of the barrel, but that had proven to be a simple fix. More tension to the catch and they had finer control over the power released than ever before.

Master Heron pronounced the new design to be an improvement on even Archimedes’s best works, something Dyna could not remember him ever saying in the past.

And so it was that Craftsman Curio Sensus was offered a place in the Library, with his own shop. For Dyna, it was something of a bitter pill to swallow, since she had treated the man more than a little shabbily, but she determined to take it as a lesson much needed.

Her own project was not coming along as well as she would have hoped, however. Dyna had looked on the Master’s automat chariot and seen an instant future in it as a mobile piece of field craft, something they could mount the new cannons to. Unfortunately, while the chariot worked well on properly maintained city roads, the chariot wheels were too brittle to handle the rougher and less reliable sorts of things you saw in even the less well-maintained sections of a city, to say nothing of the long roads of the Empire.

If wooden wheels won’t do the job, what are my options?

Honestly, Dyna supposed that she didn’t have many. She could add more wheels, spreading the weight out, but that would make handling the chariot a nightmare worthy of Phobetor himself. The steering already required impressive strength to control the braking pads, and requiring more of them to operate in tandem would make the device considerably more difficult.

She sighed, smearing the wax back across her tablet to erase the preliminary sketches she had made. She would have to come up with another idea, something that could be controlled more easily while still being able to handle the impressive weight of Master Heron’s steam impulse device.

Speaking of which, we’ll be needing a name for it soon as well,
she supposed. There were no words to describe the device that provided motive force to an automaton in this way.

Dyna chuckled as she walked around the large cart serving as the base for the device, making some new sketches as she considered the wheels in use. From the experiences of the Legion, Dyna was aware that if she enlarged the tires, they would support the weight better, but she was limited by the size of the available roads as well.

The attack on the city had left her and the other craftsmen and scholars of the Library with a one-of-a-kind opportunity. Since the initial strikes of the Zealots had been to assassinate many of the leaders of the city, most of the people currently in charge of affairs for Alexandria and an immense swath of the local countryside were scholars of the Library itself.

The attack had damaged vital infrastructure, in some places destroying centuries-old constructions and in others rendering them useless by the destruction of the buildings they were built to service. Dyna had been quick to point out to Master Heron that since they were being forced to repair large sections of aqueduct, defensive emplacements, and other pieces of the city…well, they may as well create improvements while they had the chance.

Since there were no Roman Senators around to deliberate endlessly on the question, they had quickly decided to make the changes as they saw fit. They would likely only have a few weeks, perhaps months, of autonomy from the bureaucracy of Rome, and every man of the Library wanted to make the most of it.

Which wasn’t to say that everyone had the same ideas. If Dyna had to sit through another interminable meeting where someone advocated some imbecilic thing or another, she would likely snap and kill someone. Not that all of the ideas were stupid in themselves, but she already knew what so many of her colleagues seemed unable to grasp: They only had time to enact short-term measures. Whatever they started had to be finished…or near enough as to make little difference,
before
the Romans sent another Senator to take the place of the Governor of Alexandria.

If they didn’t, he would certainly reverse any rulings made in the meantime and return them to Roman standards as quickly as possible.

She was still working when Cassius walked into the shop, giving the chariot in the middle of the floor a wide berth as he eyed it with clear distrust and confusion.

“Good afternoon, Cassius,” she said as she sketched out a new idea. “How are things on the military front?”

“I’ve recalled sufficient Auxiliaries to secure the city for the moment,” he said, scowling a little. “No word yet on when we might expect a new Legion Garrison, however.”

“I can tell by your tone that it isn’t the
Garrison
that’s preying on your mind,” she said, not looking up from the tablet she was working on.

“Hardly,” he ground out. “No, we have more serious problems, my Lady.”

“What then?”

“Runners are coming in from outlying areas. We weren’t the only place struck by the Zealot raids,” he admitted. “Several nearby towns are screaming for help from the Legion, and we have refugees from others coming our way as I speak.”

Dyna set down the tablet and stylus. “I see. How many Auxiliaries can you summon, Cassius?”

Cassius shrugged and seemed uncertain, in all honesty, but finally ventured a guess. “Perhaps the equivalent of a Century or two, possibly a Cohort if we include Cavalry and Immunes.”

She nodded, considering the issue. “Very well, call them up. We will have to secure the area against the Zealots, one way or another, or they will believe that Alexandria is a fair target again in the near future.”

“My Lady!” he objected. “We won’t have enough to secure the city!”

Dyna did not respond as she finally set aside her stylus and tablet, turning to look the older man in the eye.

“Cassius, the Empire is responsible for the wellbeing of the entire region,” she told him sternly. “And additionally, after what we did to the Zealots who invaded the city, giving them time to assemble and plan is not in Alexandria’s best interests. Call in the Auxiliaries, but make certain to send out messengers tonight. Tonight, Cassius, I want our best riders and fastest horses scouting the region. Have them locate the Zealots’ location and report back.”

She paused, considering. “How many Immunes do you have qualified on the Pharos signals?”

Cassius stammered at first, blinking furiously. “Other than Aelia? I believe we have perhaps a dozen.”

“Send them out with the messengers. Have them array on hilltops between forty and forty-five mile markers of Alexandria. I will have the Pharos Garrison stand watch for signals.”

“My Lady!” Cassius objected exasperatedly. “The Great Pharos may be able to throw a signal that distance, but my Immunes cannot.”

“They can,” she said, nodding across the Library Campus. “Walk with me, Centurion.”

Without waiting for a response, she was off, leaving Cassius briefly behind.

****

Cassius had to jog briefly to catch up to her, as he had taken a couple seconds to understand, and by that time she was clear of the shop and heading across the grounds. He slowed to match her double time walk, irritated that he had probably been seen scrambling to catch up to her, but he knew that it would be pointless to complain.

Whatever else she was, Dyna had always been nobility. It was different for her than for Romans, he was well aware. For a noble of Rome, you relied on your parents, and theirs, for three generations. If they had been recognized as members of the higher levels of society, then you too were nobility. So long as that three-generation line was unbroken, you and your family were considered nobles. However, should your father have lost his wealth and influence, then you would have to rebuild it over three generations in order to fully reenter the highest levels of Roman society.

For Dyna, she was of the royal bloodline of the Agiad. Cassius was well aware that she could directly trace her line to King Leonidas, and beyond him to Heracles himself. The blood of the Gods was something she took for a certainty in her veins, and that tended to have an effect on how a person acted.

Dyna was normally not as bad as many, but she expected and demanded respect and a certain level of deference…at least when dealing within her sphere of control. As her family had maintained enough wealth and influence over the last few generations to secure her position in Roman society, even considering the current marginal respect given to Laconia, even those who normally wouldn’t listen to women tended to give her words a moment’s consideration. For Cassius, who was neither of noble birth nor high enough rank to risk annoying her benefactors, and who honestly had a great deal of respect for the woman herself…well, he just followed and remained silent as she led him to the small tower that housed the Library’s test lighthouse.

She didn’t take them up the ladders to the upper areas, however, instead heading into a lower storage room. Cassius waited while she threw open the doors and unshuttered the windows, letting in the day’s light.

The light streamed into the large stone room, letting him see several wood and bronze devices piled in one corner.

“Give them these,” she said. “These will throw a signal the required distance, though we’ll be forced to communicate only by night. In daylight, the range is less than half, I am afraid.”

Cassius stepped around one of the devices, noting the bronze and wood construction with some distaste. “I’ll have to dispatch at least two men with each Immune just to carry this thing.”

Dyna shrugged. “As you must. Just inform them that if they break or ‘lose’ even one of these, I will see them hunted to the far corners of the Empire…and if I catch them, I will
personally
crucify them. Clear?”

Cassius took a step back from the feral expression on her face, an expression promising nothing but pain. “Clear, my Lady…but, why?”

She sighed, her expression clearing for a moment, only to become deeply etched with concern as she looked back to the devices. “Inside each one is a gemstone crystal used to direct the light. It is…nearly priceless.”

Cassius looked sharply down at the devices, then took a step away from
them
. The last thing he wanted was to take responsibility for anything that someone like Dyna would describe as priceless. “My Lady, I don’t have many men I would trust with anything of that nature.”

“Did I ask you for such men?” she asked coldly. “Immunes are intelligent. They know how to operate these devices and they know their worth. There are no dealers in the Empire who would buy the gems within these. Your Immunes know this.”

“The Empire isn’t the only source of gold for the likes of this, my Lady, and you know that well,” Cassius countered. “We can’t risk losing anything that valuable.”

“They are worthless sitting here, Cassius,” Dyna told him. “It is my responsibility. Issue them to the teams. The Immunes will know how to operate them.”

Cassius swallowed, his gut twisting up, but he nodded jerkily. “Yes, my Lady.”

Dyna nodded, more determinedly than the Centurion but no less nervous deep down in her guts. Despite her words, she knew that the reason the signaling devices hadn’t already been issued to Legion Immunes was the fact that the devices were worth more than a Cohort, fully staffed and equipped. Cheaper to use runners and riders, even if the delay cost lives.

Time, however, was at a premium here, and she was determined to see to it that they could react to enemy movements with speed that no one could hope to predict.

“You have your orders, Cassius,” she said with finality. “Call in the Auxiliaries, send out the scouts. We move on the enemy as soon as we have their location.”

“Yes, my Lady.” Cassius slapped his fist over his chest and half bowed. Mentally, however, he was beginning to worry that he had gotten himself into something deeper than he had initially realized, and was no longer certain that he could get himself out.

Of course,
Cassius supposed,
I didn’t really expect to get out of it that night either. The Zealots should have killed us all then, yet somehow she kept us alive. If I am a dead man, I died that night. Dyna purchased more time for all of us.

Living on borrowed time was an old and familiar sensation, so Cassius actually relaxed as he left the storeroom and headed for the Garrison to issue orders. Dyna of Sparta had bought him that time, and so if she now demanded it back…well, so be it.

****

Dyna watched him go, doing her best not to show the gut-churning emotions making her want to run home and hide behind her mother’s skirts. Cassius barely had an inkling of the value they were talking about, but it was better that way. Dyna had been peripherally involved in the project that created the signaling devices, so she knew precisely what the devices were valued at, and whatever he was afraid of…Dyna was quite certain he was massively underestimating the issue.