"A Work In Progress"
Chapter Twenty-One
After walking for what felt like hours, Gaius finally came to a halt in front of an 'apartment house' and breathlessly announced, "My insula is on the fourth floor."
The firemen shielded their eyes from a bright, early afternoon sun and looked up at the four-storied concrete building.
"Looks a little classier than the rest," Claudius quietly commented. "No pun intended."
His skeptical-looking companions couldn't help but grin.
"Not only is it classier," Markus contributed, "but he happens to have the penthouse."
A blast of trumpets suddenly sounded.
Six of the seven men jerked, in startlement, and then began glancing around for the sounds' source.
Stanley watched, as a flood of citizens immediately exited their insulas, and began hurrying off down Stabian Road. "Quaestor Caesaris, Praetor and Consul, Gaius Plinius Cecilius Secundus, where is everybody going?"
"To the Forum Romanum Magnum," Gaius responded. He motioned for his strange visitors to follow him into his building and they started heading up a steep, narrow, curving concrete stairway. "The Emperor is dedicating a Triumphal Arch in honor of Governor Suetonius Paulinus, who recently suppressed an insurrection against the State, in the Province of Inceni. I must attend the banquet tonight in his honor. The Emperor has called for a gathering of all the important political figures—in the entire Republic! He has also declared a general celebration in honor of his Consul, Senator Markus Annaeus Seneca's retirement to private life."
The group reached the top of the long stairway and then stood there, panting from exertion.
"Come!" Gaius invited. "We may watch the proceedings from my balcony." He threw a heavy, wooden portal open and they stepped into a spacious, neatly furnished and modestly decorated 8-room apartment. Their host motioned for the Centurion and his men to set down their shields, helmets, breastplates and lances.
His guests gave him various looks of undying gratitude and quickly relieved themselves of their cumbersome armor. The guys viewed their new surroundings approvingly.
"This is a nice insula yah got here, Gaius," Kelly came right out and told him.
The others all nodded their agreement.
Gaius smiled, pleased that his home had met with his guests' approval. The young man's smile broadened, as a beautiful young woman—wearing an elegant white, empire-waisted, floor-length silk gown with a matching cloak—entered the room, and stole the six strangers' attention.
"Oh, Gaius!" she exclaimed and threw herself into her husband's arms to give him a welcoming embrace. "I was so worried! I do wish you would not travel about the city at this time of day," she chastised. "You could be trampled!" With that said, she stood on the tip of her toes and planted a passionate kiss upon her spouse's still-smiling lips.
Gaius noted that his guests had averted their gazes. The young man's smile broadened back into a grin. "Gentlemen," he said, calling their complete attention back to the lovely young lady that was locked in his arms. "May I introduce my wife…Vanessa."
The six men grinned and nodded their greetings.
Vanessa gave the group a gorgeous, warm smile and nodded in return.
"Father! Father!" a young five or six-year-old boy blurted, as he came bursting into the room, grinning from ear to ear.
Gaius smiled and swooped the child up into his arms, to give him a huge hug. "My son," their host proudly declared. "Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus…the Younger."
The firemen flashed Gaius, Jr. some warm smiles and waved 'Hello'.
Gaius set his young son down and then turned to his wife. "Centurion Lucius Octavius and his men will be staying with us for…awhile," he informed her.
Everyone stiffened, as more trumpet blasts filled the air.
"Come!" Gaius urged. "We are just in time to view the dedication. We shall take our meal on the balcony!" he called back over his shoulder and then disappeared through an open, sunlit doorway.
Vanessa studied the Centurion and his men rather thoughtfully for a few seconds, before grabbing the boy by the hand and vanishing herself, in the direction of her kitchen.
Station 51's crew of six joined their hospitable host out on his broad wrought iron railed balcony. The group gazed out over the clay-tiled roofs of several lower buildings, at an enormous open-air marketplace.
Tens of thousands of people were crowded around the countless marble statues, altars, arches, memorial columns and various other odd-shaped monuments that filled the Forum.
Gaius pointed off into the distance. "Those tall buildings, behind the Forum Romanum Magnum, are the Temples and Basilicas where the Senators meet for General Debate."
The firemen stared disbelievingly down at the scene below them.
"How did they ever find room for another arch?" Marko asked in amazement.
Gaius was forced to smile. "When the center of the Forum becomes so cluttered—so as to seriously obstruct the transaction of business—a general clearance is ordered, and the dedications to past victors and battles are removed…and quickly forgotten." He stopped speaking and pointed to a group of people climbing a tall, wooden scaffolding, to a speaker's platform. "That man leading the procession is my good friend, the distinguished Senator and Consul to the Emperor, Markus Annaeus Seneca. The older couple, just behind him, are the Emperor's parents, Romun Consul, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and his wife, Agrippina the Younger, daughter of Germanicus Caesar, sister of the Emperor Caligula, and great granddaughter of the Emperor Augustine."
Stanley and his men did their Darndest to appear appropriately impressed.
Chet leaned up against the balcony's wrought iron railing for a closer look. "Who's that scrawny little guy, at the very end there?"
Gaius suppressed a smile. "That is Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus," he calmly replied. "The Emperor of Rome."
Kelly gulped. "Oh."
The guys all glanced at each other and grinned.
"That Forum must cover thirty acres," Mike determined. "Where are they going to cram four more?"
Gaius' grin quickly turned upside-down. "The Emperor has ordered it done. So it shall be accomplished. They will tear down entire blocks of buildings to accommodate them, if they must. It seems that both destruction and construction are always going on, somewhere in this city…"
Stanley arched an eyebrow in thought. "No wonder THEY say 'Rome wasn't built in a—"
The remainder of Hank's comment was drowned out, by the loud groans of his men.
One Triumphal Arch dedication—and one memorable meal of roasted leg of lamb, some unidentified steamed vegetables, several loaves of fresh real Roman Meal bread, and a few bottles of fine red wine—later…
Gaius' young wife stepped back out onto the balcony.
The lady said nothing, as the Centurion and his men thanked her—profusely—for preparing such a fine meal for them. Why, the soldiers couldn't seem to stop raving about the quality of her cooking.
But, when two of the men actually volunteered to help her clear away the empty plates, Vanessa could no longer contain herself. The woman waved off their offer of assistance and then smiled, rather wryly. "It is so refreshing to witness such a display of gratitude and gracious behavior from members of the Praetorian Guard," she said, not sounding the least bit sincere. She eyed each of the refreshing fellows critically for a few seconds and then calmly inquired, "What are your real occupations?"
Their hostess' question caught Station 51's undercover crew completely off-guard. The firemen exchanged anxious glances and then turned to Gaius.
Gaius' shoulders sagged and he exhaled an exasperated gasp. "Woman, is there no secret which may pass you unrevealed?"
The woman's wry smile turned smug and she shook her pretty little head.
Her smugness caused Gaius to gasp—again. "Relax," he advised his now nervous guests. "Vanessa would never betray you."
The firemen exchanged glances—again and untensed…some.
Vanessa gave the gracious group another warm smile. "For some reason, as yet unknown to me, my husband has decided to risk both his political reputation—and his life—to help you. He obviously feels that you are worth the risk, and I trust his judgment—implicitly. After all, he was wise enough to marry me…" she paused to give Gaius an adoring glance. "Was he not?"
The wise man couldn't help but smile.
Their guests grinned and became totally at ease once more.
"You are correct," Hank confessed. "We're not soldiers. We're firemen."
Gaius and Vanessa turned to one another, looking at a total loss.
"We fight fires," the fireman further explained. "Surely a city of this size must have firemen…"
A look of dawning understanding came over Gaius and he opened his mouth to speak.
However, before he could say anything, the insula's front door flew open. There was a flurry of sandaled feet across the apartment's floor. A few seconds later, a rather distraught looking Gaius the Younger came bursting out onto the balcony. The child threw himself into his mother's comforting embrace and then clung to her, crying his little heart out.
"What is it, Gaius?" one of the boy's panicked parents quietly inquired.
"Gaius, what has happened?" the other demanded, a little more loudly.
The boy proceeded to blurt out an unintelligible tale, between sniffles and heart-wrenching sobs.
"His young friend has fallen into the river and drowned," Vanessa interpreted, upon seeing their concerned guests' questioning stares.
The firemen sprang to their feet.
"How long ago did it happen?" Hank asked their hostess.
Vanessa questioned her son and then looked up. "It just happened a few moments ago. He has just come from the riv—"
"—Gaius," Stanley interrupted, "you must take us there!"
Gaius just stood there, in a state of utter confusion.
The fireman gripped their young friend's shoulder. "Please? There's no time to explain! Just take us to him!"
Gaius stooped back down to his son's level. "Where did this happen?"
Station 51's A-shift listened as the child gave his father the 'call' address.
Their guide straightened back up and then beckoned the strangers to follow him. "Bring your helmets, shields and lances!"
The firemen reluctantly snatched up the heavy, awkward equipment and then followed Gaius down the building's long and twisting flight of stairs.
The seven men exited the building and then headed off down Stabian Road—at a run.
Less than a minute later, they reached the incident scene—one of the many bridges that crisscrossed the Tiber.
A small group of people was huddled at the near end of the bridge, where a young woman was kneeling beside a young boy's motionless body, alternately screaming hysterically…and weeping bitterly.
Hank and his Engine crew quickly moved everybody back.
Gage and DeSoto dropped their awkward gear and then themselves down onto the red bricks, beside the boy.
"Ma-am," John gently eased the sobbing woman off the child's motionless chest. "Ma-am, we're gonna need a little room to work here, okay?"
The woman gazed at the soft-spoken soldier in blurry-eyed confusion for a bit, but then reluctantly allowed two of the other Guards to gently ease her to her feet and away from her son's lifeless body.
Gage glanced up from taking their drowning victim's corotid. "Weak and thready! Better get 'im ventilated, or we're gonna lose 'im!"
DeSoto nodded. "Pupilary response is excellent. If we can get him breathin' again, there shouldn't be any brain damage."
John extended the boy's neck and pinched his nostrils closed. Then he covered the child's mouth with his and forced air into his no longer functioning lungs.
His partner paused in his initial patient assessment. "His abdomen is rigid and distended. We prob'ly got a lot of water down there."
"I'm getting…a real good…air exchange," Gage announced, between breaths. "I don't think…he's aspirated…yet." He gave their victim another life-giving breath of air.
Suddenly, the boy's body wretched.
The small group of spectators had grown to a rather large crowd of onlookers. The group gasped—in unison, startled by the sudden movement of a dead child.
The paramedics immediately rolled the kid onto his side, to keep him from aspirating.
The victim vomited a great deal of filthy river water onto the red bricks of the bridge.
The moment the boy stopped heaving, he was eased over onto his back and given more forced ventilations.
Gage saw the child's chest heave and halted his AR.
Their victim coughed—violently—for quite some time. The coughing gradually subsided and his short, labored gasps for air became longer, more relaxed breaths.
The dark-haired paramedic placed an ear against the child's chest. He listened to their drowning victim's lungs for about a half a minute. Then he picked his head up and locked gazes with his partner. "Both sides sound relatively clear," he was pleased to report.
The no longer coughing kid's big brown eyes finally fluttered open. He gazed rather dazedly up at the two smiling strangers who were hovering over him for a few moments. Then his peepers widened even further and his face filled with pure panic. He lifted his head and glanced furtively around. The little boy caught sight of his mother and immediately began to cry.
Gage and DeSoto exchanged triumphant grins. Gawd! But that was a glorious sound!
Roy stood stiffly up and then pulled his equally stiff partner to his feet. The pair dusted their bare knees off and then stepped back from the boy. It was now their turn to give the mother some room.
The woman scooped her young son up into her arms and then hugged him so tight he nearly went into respiratory arrest again. She opened her tear-filled eyes and stared up at the two strange soldiers, looking somewhat astounded. "He had no breath!" She pulled back and stared disbelievingly down at her sniffling offspring. "Yet he lives!" She glanced back up and gave her son's rescuers looks of undying gratitude.
The firemen finished gathering up their gear and flashed the young woman back some 'You're welcome' smiles.
Mike and Marko assisted both the mother and the boy to their feet.
The woman picked the still whimpering child up and began carting him off down Stabian Road, all the while chastising him for disobeying her and playing on the bridge.
The large crowd of proud Roman citizens slowly started to disperse. The people gave the strange group of soldiers suspicious stares and began wandering off, whispering amongst themselves.
Gaius just continued to stand there—looking too stupefied to speak. He stared at the strange firemen as though he were seeing them for the first time. "You are physicians, also?" he wondered in amazement, when he'd finally found his voice.
"Quaestor Caesaris, Praetor and Consul, Gaius Plinius Cecilius Secundus," Hank respectfully replied, "where we come from, all firemen are trained to administer Basic First Aid. Some—like Romulus and Julius here—have been trained to administer more advanced life-saving medical procedu—"
"—Never mind, Centurion Lucius Octavius," Gaius interrupted, suddenly sounding anxious. "Come! We must move quickly! When word of this gets out, there will be many, many questions…" he and his words trailed off, in the direction of his insula.
The firemen glanced nervously at each other…and at their strange surroundings…and then quickly followed their fleeing guide back down the red brick road.
Later that same afternoon…
Stanley and his men found themselves back out on Gaius' sunlit balcony. They'd been sitting out there for hours, squirming restlessly in their hard wooden seats.
Every once in a while, one of them would stand and pace up and down along the wrought iron railing.
Gage watched Kelly pace past him.
Chet reached the end of the balcony and immediately did an about face.
As he did so, his skirt flared out, causing John to smile.
"What's so funny?" Kelly grumpily demanded, as he passed the still-smiling paramedic, again.
Gage opened his mouth to explain, but then changed his mind. "Watch," he simply said and got stiffly to his feet.
Kelly watched.
The now-pacing paramedic reached the end of the balcony, spun quickly on his heels, and began heading back.
Chet's grumpy look vanished, as he, too, was forced to smile.
"Everything is now in perfect order," Gaius informed the foreign firemen, as he finally rejoined them on his balcony. "You are now officially citizens of the Roman State—free to come and go as you like…" He saw that his guests were not as excited by this bit of good news, as he had hoped they would be, and turned to their leader. "What is wrong?"
"Ah-ah...We don't mean to seem ungrateful, Gaius. We really appreciate what you've done for us! It's just that…" Stanley hesitated, struggling for the right words, "well, we don't wanna be citizens of the Roman State. We just wanna go ho-ome!"
Gaius saw the others nodding sadly in agreement. He gave each of his home-sick houseguests a sympathetic glance. "I understand…and I am truly sorry…but this is the only way, that I know of, to assist you…" the young statesman finished his heartfelt confession and promptly proffered the important-looking parchment papers, that he'd been clutching in his hands, to the unhappy firemen. Speaking of firemen…Gaius suddenly remembered something and his gloomy countenance brightened—considerably. "I took the liberty of resigning you all from the ranks of the Roman Army. I sensed that your hearts were not really in your work. So you are no longer Praetorian Guards."
The firemen stared down at their citizenship documents were delighted to discover that Gaius had given them back their real names. They glanced up from their official papers, not knowing quite how to cope with the news that their undercover career status had also been altered.
Gaius' eyes sparkled with mischief. "As Quaestor Caesaris, Praetor and Consul of Rome, I have—as of this day—instituted a new public service. This new service shall be known as the Citizen Guard. The Citizen Guard has been established for the following purpose: to assist Rome's existing Vigilantes with the extinguishing of fires, and to provide Basic First Aid to the general public. This special contingent will be based at Rome's Twelfth Vigil, which is located on Stabian Road, about a fourth of a mile from here, and it will be comprised of six men…" he flashed his six firemen friends a rather wry smile. "You men would not—by any chance—be seeking gainful employment?"
The six firemen grinned and—for the first time since their…arrival in ancient Rome—appeared genuinely happy.
Gaius grinned as well. "I shall take that as a 'Yes'. Citizen Hank Stanley, I shall see to it that you are appointed to command the new contingent. Your new title shall be Captain, and you shall be addressed, publicly, as Captain Hank Stanley."
Hank looked a little overwhelmed.
His men grinned again and voiced their unanimous approval of Gaius' appointment.
Citizen Kelly suddenly looked curious. "What, exactly, is a Vigil?"
"Rome is divided into fifteen Districts," Gaius informed them. "There are seven Vigils scattered about these Districts. Vigils are the barracks of the Vigilantes—the firemen of Rome," he stopped and turned to Citizen Stanley. "Yes, Captain," he teased. "We have such men, where I come from." Gaius turned back to the entire group. "I shall propose my plans to the Senators tonight, at the banquet. By this time tomorrow, the Roman Senate shall have issued the edict and appropriated the necessary funds. I shall take you to the Twelfth Vigil in the morning, so that arrangements may be made for your living quarters, uniforms and any equipment you may deem necessary to fulfill your duties as Citizen Guards. If there is anything to be discussed further, we may do so upon my return from the banquet."
The six firemen gave their influential young friend grateful grins and then extended their hands toward him, palms up and open.
Gaius hesitated for an instant or two, but then took and shook each of their hands—firmly.
Hank grinned and then commented to his shift-mates, "Sheesh! He's got a pretty good handshake for a politician, doesn't he…"
The guys grinned and snickered and nodded their agreement.
Gaius returned their grins and then hurried off, to get bathed and dressed for the Emperor's banquet.
TBC