The Portal
Author: a_delacroix@hotmail.com
Chapter 21
Lana just keep chanting 'Oh, shit' over and over as Chloe looked over sharply at her. Lana's eyes were fixed with a horrified stare out the coach window. In the brief moment Chloe watched her, Lana went from ghostly white to the slight hint of green that indicated she was about to be violently ill.
It only took a glance out the window for Chloe to realize what was wrong. They were headed towards the docks along the riverfront when they had come upon a row of ten crucified men. Well, what had been men, most of them had been dead for several days. And it was not some sanitized, PG-rated version like you saw in the movies. No, these men had not died pleasantly; their limbs had been savagely broken and were skewed at unnatural angles. The bodies were bloated and darken from several days in the sun. They were covered with maggots and clouds of flies. Each body had three to eight blackbirds or crows ripping at the flesh. The eyes were gone. Sections of white skull showed through where parts of the scalp had been ripped away. Ribs exposed where the birds had worked to get at the juicy internal organs. Genitals pecked away.
And the smell was unbelievably bad. Unfortunately, the coach was passing on the downwind side of the crosses. Even Chloe, who had experienced these sensations countless times before, experienced a brief wave of nausea before her 'bot system attenuated her senses of smell and taste.
Chloe quickly spoke in her most commanding tone to force everyone's attention to her. "Look at me. Do not look out the window. Breath through your mouths."
Chloe quickly reached into the bag of provisions they had bought at their breakfast stop and pulled out an orange. She ripped it open and tried to press a piece against Lana's face to counteract the smell from the rotting corpses, but it was too late. Lana barely got the coach door open on the opposite side from the hanging bodies when she started to vomit.
Lex grabbed Lana around the waist to keep her from falling out. But between the sight and smell of the bodies and Lana's reaction, Lex was rapidly approaching the point of hurling too.
Chloe took the orange she had tried to give to Lana and jammed a large piece into Lex's mouth. After rubbing her sticky fingers under Lex's nose, she turned to Clark and offered him the remainder of the orange. As Clark reached out his hand, the coach suddenly braked to a halt.
'Great,' thought Chloe. 'What now?'
Turning to the opposite door from Lex and Lana, she leaned out through the window to look forward and see why they stopped. With a detached clinical glance she noticed they had stopped next to the last man on a cross, whose body was the most disturbing of the lot. The belly had been sliced open and several large ropes of intestines dangled out. From the clean, sharp edges of the cut Chloe could tell this was not from the activities of the scavenger birds. No, the men who had crucified this man had sliced him open with a sword so he could watch his guts hanging out as he slowly and painfully died.
It had been almost a hundred years since the terror on the western front during the First World War when Chloe had last seen such savage deaths. She thought that by the 21st century she had finally left all of this behind. With a shake of her head she tried to put her thoughts of past atrocities behind her and focus on the current situation.
Chloe looked forward to see that the driver had merely stopped while a wagon ahead of them, filled with wine casks and pulled by eight slow oxen, was negotiating a turn onto a narrow side street. The stop had nothing to do with the crucified men, a scene the driver had doubtlessly seen hundreds of times before.
Chloe yelled up to the driver. Getting his attention she asked. "LDo you know where the Flavian shipping office is down at the waterfront?"
When the driver nodded Chloe directed him to stop there when they reached the harbor. In another minute the coach started to move again. Once they were well clear of the horrific scene, Chloe extracted herself from the window where she had been using her body to block the others' view.
Lex and Lana were back on the back seat of the coach. Lex had his arms wrapped around her and was talking into her ear in a soothing tone, but Lana was still shaking violently.
Chloe looked over at Nicholas who was watching Lana with a mixture of amusement and disgust on his face. When he felt her gaze, he turned to her and she said. "LSometimes I wonder who the real barbarians in the world are. We have art and literature, magnificent architecture, and a continent spanning empire. But Lana's little kingdom doesn't have slavery or death by torture and crucifixion. Who really is the barbarian?"
"LYou can't have luxuries like art and culture without strength. Rome was built on the strength of slaves and sometimes it is necessary to be harsh with the malcontents to keep the majority in their place," stated Nicholas, espousing the standard response of a freeborn Roman.
"LActually, Rome wasn't built by slaves, they were a later development," answered Chloe quietly knowing Nicholas wouldn't believe or care about her first hand knowledge of the origins of Rome.
Lex, who had been following this conversation in Latin even though he had been mainly focused on Lana, asked Chloe in English with just a hint of anger in his voice. "Why did you let this happen?"
"Lex, I had no idea we would pass this on the road today. Okay, I suspected it would happen at some point, but I don't know how to avoid it."
"That's not what I meant. I mean the whole slavery and torture thing. With your gifts and abilities you could have changed the whole direction of mankind."
"I'm sorry, Lex. I just never had the whole 'God' complex thing. It is just not in my nature. Oh, if you live long enough you generally drift to the top of society, but I never had the urge to run mankind. It is not my purpose in life. However if you want to change the world you are welcome to try. Of course, if you try to change the world it will be just the same as letting the Professor and his people overthrow Rome. History will change and we will have no way home. Do you want to spend the rest of your life here?"
Lex knew he wanted to get Lana and the others and even himself home. But still wasn't it the duty of the smart and strong to make the world a better place for everyone? Was he heading in that direction with his life back home? This little incident raised a lot of important questions that he had never spent much time thinking about.
After a couple more minutes of riding in silence the coach stopped again and Chloe recognized her families' shipping office right outside. She leaned over to Lana, "Let's get out and get some fresh air for a minute, it will help."
Lana nodded weakly and Lex helped her to her feet.
As they climbed out they were struck by the strong smell of fish. Overwhelming and normally offensive, but at the moment a definite improvement over the odor of human death and decay seeming to linger in the interior of the coach.
The sun was warm and bright. The breeze was refreshing. After a couple of minutes the look of terror in Lana's eyes finally started to recede.
Chloe tried to lighten the mood by again adopting the bad French accent and continuing her history of Arelate. "Arelate is located about ten miles up the Rhone River from the Mediterranean Sea. Near the sea the Rhone passes through a low, marshy delta area. The town was established on a low hill this far upstream to escape the malaria-ridden mosquitoes filling the marshlands.
"The town grew greatly in importance and wealth starting 100 years ago when the Fossae Marianae shipping canal was dug by the Romans. The canal allows much larger ships to reach the town's harbor."
Seeing that her monologue wasn't having the desired effect, Chloe gave up for the time being. 'I guess I better just focus on speeding us on our way towards our goal,' she thought. 'At least for the moment the fun seems to have gone out of this little adventure.'
From where they stood outside the shipping office, Chloe could clearly make out the twenty nearest merchant ships lined up in the quays. She counted five ships flying her families' naval flags. Hopefully, one of them would meet her needs.
Since a little color started to return to Lana's face, Chloe motioned them over to the shipping office. When they entered one of the clerks working behind the counter recognized Chloe from her last visit just over three years ago. After sending one of the other clerks to find the manager, he quickly came over.
"LMa'am," he began with a very respectful tone. "LWe didn't realize you were in town. Laurentius should be out shortly. Can I get you some refreshments while you wait?"
From her prodigious memory Chloe pulled up the clerk's name. "LThank you, Aegidius Eugenius, that would be greatly appreciated. How are Gratia and the children?"
Aegidius' face took on a very pleased expression. Chloe had long ago learned that sometimes it was remembering the little details that made for happy and enthusiastic employees. And when you had a perfect memory, it wasn't that much extra bother.
"LThank you for asking. My wife and children are all well. I will be back shortly with the refreshments." Then with a quick bow, the man scurried off.
They barely had time to take in the large charts and maps hanging on the walls and the giant chalkboard mounted behind the counter filled with details of shipments coming and going when Laurentius Griselda, the office manager, strode briskly into the room.
"LCoelia Doinysia Flavius, it is a pleasure to see you again," he said with a deep bow. "LPlease come up to my office where we can talk more comfortably."
Chloe nodded for him to lead the way. They quickly followed him up a flight of stairs to a large, expansive room with a beautiful view out over the harbor. Before the introductions had even been completed, Aegidius arrived with three servants laden with wines, fruits, and cakes.
Everyone settled on a semicircle of divans located on a balcony outside the office. The balcony was shaded by a trelliswork of rose vines. The hundreds of pink roses produced an almost intoxicating tea-like fragrance, finally removing the lingering traces from the crucifixions.
After everyone had received the first round of refreshments, Laurentius politely asked, "LSo, I hadn't heard you were in town. What can I do for you?"
"LI just arrived from Tolosa and haven't even been up to the villa yet to wash off the road dust. It is urgent that we get to Rome as soon as possible. What ships do we have heading in that direction?"
"LHmm, the Grey Tabby is headed to Ostia," began Laurentius.
Before he could continue Chloe quickly interrupted him. "LNo, that's not what I am looking for. Are any of the Leopards in port?"
The Grey Tabby was such a benign name for a slave ship. Chloe knew none of the others would understand the realities of these times. Oh, they had been through the shock of the crucified men as they entered town and she had previously admitted to owning slaves, but they would never understand or forgive Chloe's involvement with the slave trade. There were some aspects of her life she wasn't yet ready to share, not even with Clark.
Many of the merchant ships used a combination of oars and sails. Only a few like the Leopard class were pure sailing ships. While the slave transport ships were the worst with up to a 1500 slaves crammed on board, other merchant ships transporting a multitude of other products still might have several hundred slaves acting as oarsmen. Only the sailing ships had much smaller crews and few or no slaves. Traveling on one of these ships would be much more tolerable for the others and raise fewer undesirable questions.
"LOnly the Golden Leopard and she is headed towards Valentia in Hispania," responded Laurentius.
"L Is she still captained by Severus Gallus? What's her cargo?"
"LYes, he is. Do you know him? The cargo is primarily wine from Lugdunum, upriver, and a shipment of silk from the east."
"LOkay, see if you can track him down and bring him here. I want to be on my way to Rome today."
"LToday," said Laurentius with a shake of his head. "LThe Golden Leopard wasn't schedule to leave until tomorrow and her crew is scattered all over town. Plus, if you are going to leave today, it will have to be in the next two hours to catch the tide."
"LThen you better send some people right now to find Captain Gallus. Have them tell him it is me and if he has enough crew to set sail in two hours I will pay each crewman present a bonus of 300 sisterii and Gallus a bonus of 6000 sisterii. Also send someone up to the estate and have him fetch Carinus, the estate manager, back here. I have several tasks I need him to do. Oh, and ask Carinus to bring along one of my flutes. He will understand." At this point Chloe paused and Laurentius realized he was being dismissed to carry out her instructions.
Laurentius inclined his head to her. "LGive me a moment to get things in motion." Clapping his hands he motioned one of the serving slaves forward. "LPlease accept the hospitality of my office and I shall return shortly." Then Laurentius hurried from the balcony, through his office and down the stairs with the clerk, Aegidius, in tow.
Shortly before Laurentius had departed, Clark had risen from his divan and walked over to the railing and started looking up river. With her business concluded for the moment, Chloe wandered over to join him and see what had attracted his attention.
Looking upstream between the forest of masts of the anchored merchant ships, Chloe could just make out the small fleet of six trireme military ships slowly working their way downstream. As she watched the precise, coordinated beating of the triple decks of oars, Chloe slid between Clark and the railing until her back was pressed firmly against his abs. Clark brought his arms around her waist and lowered his head until his chin rested against the top of her head.
"Aren't they beautiful the way the water glistens off of the oars and the insect-like way the oars all move in unison?" asked Clark.
Chloe was silent for a minute and then Clark could feel the big grin forming on her face without even seeing it.
"What?"
"Clark, are you a Three Stooges fan?"
"Not really. Oh, I have seen them a few times on TV, but I was never a big fan. I guess I just never saw the humor of pretending to poke someone in the eye. Why do you ask?"
"They were about more than just poking people in the eyes or bonking them over the head. But anyway, seeing those war galleys suddenly popped into my head one of their later movies, 'The Three Stooges meet Hercules'."
"I guess I missed that one. Did they do a sequel where they meet Xena, too?"
"Not the Kevin Sarbo Hercules. This movie was a parody of the Steve Reeves Hercules from the fifties."
"So why does seeing those ships bring that Three Stooges movie to mind?"
"Well, the basic plot has the boys being pharmacist assistants in Ithaca, New York. They help this inventor friend of theirs, Schuyler Davis, complete his time machine. Of course, through one of their usual slapstick comedy sequences the four of them, plus Schuyler's girlfriend, Diana, all get transported by the time machine to Ithaca in ancient Greece. Sort of like us.
"The thing that brought it to mind was the part where the four guys end up slaves rowing on a ship like one of those. As they supposedly spend months at the oars, the only change in the Stooges is they all grow these enormous fake beards. But Schuyler really bulks up, except he is always rowing on one side of the ship so only one side of his body bulks up. Pretty soon he is rowing on one side of the ship all by himself and he is stronger than the entire team of rowers on the other side and the ship just goes in circles. So the Stooges switch him to the other side and soon he is built like Hercules all over. Eventually, they escape and the Stooges pass Schuyler off as Hercules and actually build Hercules' legendary reputation, because in the movie Hercules is just a lowly thug for a petty tyrant.
"Anyway, Clark, do you think you could do that?" Chloe asked.
"Do what?" Clark was a little confused as to the point of the whole movie synopsis.
"You know, row one side of a trireme while the crew rows the other side?"
Clark shook his head. "It doesn't sound too practical. That much force on an oar would snap it. If not, the blade of an oar couldn't displace sufficient water to equal the force of a hundred or more oars on the other side of the ship. I am afraid the physics of that movie scene just wouldn't work in the real world."
Chloe sighed. "I didn't mean for you to take me literally." Wrapping her hands around his and giving them a squeeze she tried again. "So, Clark, do you think you could do that?"
Clark got into the spirit of the moment. "Of course. In fact, if you got a couple of really long oars, I could just row the whole ship all by myself."
Chloe turned around within Clark's arms and looked up into his eyes. "Can I call you Hercules?"
Clark looked down into her eyes with a slight flush of embarrassment coloring his face. "I suppose, if it makes you happy. Ahh, don't you think that name might imply secrets best left unspoken?"
"I guess," said Chloe as she ran her right hand up the back of Clark's neck and started pulling his head down for a kiss. "Perhaps I'll just call you M.H., for my Hercules."
After a few seconds of an enthusiastic kiss, Clark pulled back and glanced over at Lex and Lana who were still sitting on a divan about twenty feet away quietly talking and holding hands.
"Chloe, we haven't had any time alone since your revelation about the General and his legions marching down from Germany to overthrow Rome. Do you have any ideas on how we can stop them?"
"Not yet. I am going to send some men to watch the three main passes through the Alps. When the Legions are spotted I'll have a message sent to Rome so we should have a few weeks notice.
"Lana was right with her comment last night, the most important thing is to get the meteor rocks from the Professor. Once they are in our possession, I think our options will be a lot more open. Plus, if we neutralize the Professor and Venta, perhaps we can get General Domicius to back down without a major battle."
"Do you really think we can take this general without a fight?" asked Clark with relief showing in both his face and voice.
"I hope so, unless you want to do your personal impression of the 300 Spartans versus the Persians? Do you really want to stand in a narrow mountain canyon and kill wave after wave of soldiers until the bodies are piled up thousands deep? Because that is what it would come to since the method of just tying them up like last night is not going to work against 40,000 men."
Clark shook his head. "I don't want to kill anyone. I sure hope we can come up with a solution that doesn't involve some big battle."
"Me, too. That's why I am arranging a ship to expedite getting us to Rome. If the Professor travels all the way by horseback, we might still beat him. And if possible I would like to deal with Venta before he is in contact with the Professor and finds out we are here or that I am not the same me that he knows. This may be a mean and petty thing to say, but even after two thousand years, I am still pissed at Venta for driving me out of Rome. I think it is time for a little payback."
Clark was a little startled at the level of anger boiling just under her surface. This was a notch beyond the normal 'Chloe feistiness', but he just attributed it to their earlier encounter with the crucifixions. While he hadn't had the violent reaction of Lana, it had bothered him a lot and he assumed it had bothered Chloe too. He thought back to his own experience with being strung up on a cross in the cornfield during homecoming, but it wasn't nearly the same thing. The football players hadn't really intended to kill him or even hurt him seriously.
"If you need any help getting even with Venta, just say the word. I don't like other guys messing with my girl, even if it was two thousand years ago." Then Clark pulled Chloe close and returned her earlier kiss.
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After Laurentius left and Chloe joined Clark at the railing, Lex turned his attention to Lana. Not that he ever took his full attention from her since they had gotten out of the coach, always trying to at least maintain physical contact, if only touching her fingers. But during Chloe's conversation with Laurentius he had focused most of his attention on them.
"Hey, Lana, good news, how much of that conversation were you able to follow?"
"Not a lot, just a few words here and there." Lana looked at Lex with the first glimmer of smile since before they had come upon the crucified men. "So what is the good news?"
"As horrifying as seeing those bodies was, it seems to have really lit a fire under Chloe. She is in the process of commandeering a ship that was on its way to Spain to take us to Rome. If all goes well, we should be on our way today and could be in Rome in four or five days."
Lex shook his head. "I don't know where we would be if Chloe was just the normal girl we thought she was before this whole adventure. Without her knowledge, connections, resources, . . . I am afraid we would still be back in Tolosa or worse, captives or dead."
"Yeah," agreed Lana. "But she could've warned us about things like the crucifixions. I mean I have seen them in some of the old movies, but to just come on them without warning was such a shock."
Lex nodded. "It surprised me too. Sometimes her whole thought process is hard to follow. On the one hand it seems like Chloe is trying to protect us from some of the barbarism of these times. Unfortunately, this might get us in trouble some day when we need to blend in with the locals and we will react badly to a situation that is normal here.
"On the other hand, it is becoming apparent Chloe tends to think and act at a different pace then I would. I mean if we don't keep pushing her, I think she would be just as happy if it took several years to get back home as if it took several weeks."
"Do you really think so?" Asked Lana.
"Yes. I think if it was purely up to her, we would have spent several weeks hanging with her friends back in Tolosa. Then we would have stopped here for a few more weeks before finally undertaking a leisurely trip to Rome."
"What about the whole issue of this army heading towards Rome that shouldn't be? Don't you think Chloe would hurry up to stop it?"
"I don't know," answered Lex. "That's one of the things that is a little scary about her. I get this feeling she doesn't perceive this army as a very significant threat and I don't understand why. Either she has additional abilities she hasn't yet told us or she has more influence here than she has admitted, or maybe she has been through so many similar situations in 17,000 years it just doesn't scare her."
Lana softly reached out and turned Lex's head until he was looking into her eyes. "Does Chloe scare you?"
"Hmm, does Chloe scare me? I never really thought about it before. She certainly intimidates the hell out of me. Face it, for all practical purposes she is the next step beyond Homo Sapiens on the evolutionary ladder. If there were more people like her or if the one person with her gifts had been an aggressive adult rather than a 16 year old girl, the world would be a drastically different place."
"What do you mean, an aggressive adult?"
"Just think if the one person with her gifts had been a Hitler or a Stalin or even a Churchill in their prime. Any one of them with the ability to live forever and instantly heal from wounds would, good or bad, end up ruling the world. Perhaps mankind has been lucky that the one person who has those gifts is a young girl who is more interested in enjoying life than taking over the world."
Lex took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Anyway back to your original question, does Chloe scare me? I guess the answer is yes, at least a little."
Lana ran her hand up and caressed Lex's left ear for a moment remembering his comment from the massage at the baths. Had it been only two days ago? Things had changed so much since then, including her whole relationship with Lex.
"Lex, I'm sure Chloe will put our interests first until we get back home."
"I know. Maybe that's the problem. It seems like only since I have come to Smallville that I have finally gotten out of my father's shadow and taken control of my own destiny. And it felt really good. But now, here, I am no longer in control. Just like with my father, it feels like Chloe isn't explaining everything that is going on, so I can't get a handle on things. It is all very frustrating."
"Chloe is not like your father. If we talk to her, I am sure she will open up." Lana gave Lex an impish little smile. "And if not, can't we just pretend we are on a special little vacation trip? Like the ultimate Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Westworld adventure all rolled into one? I mean between school and the Talon, I can't remember the last day I had off. How about you? When was the last vacation you've had?"
Lex shrugged. "Before I came to Smallville, I guess. So are you really suggesting we let Chloe handle the whole situation and just pretend to be on some exotic vacation?"
"Partly. We need to keep Chloe moving forward and help out where we can, but ultimately she is the one with the financial and political clout here. If we are going to make it home, it is going to come down to her."
Lex marveled how he thought he was the one trying to help Lana through this situation, but at the moment it seemed like she was the one resiliently bouncing back and he was the one ending up needing her support.
Just then the sound of drums that had slowly built in intensity finally registered on Lex's consciousness. Over screeching of seagulls, creaking of wooden ships tied up to the wharves, and noise of workers busily loading and unloading ships and wagons, the beating of drums caused Lex to look north up the river. From his seated position he couldn't see the source, but could see that Chloe and Clark were both looking upstream.
Standing up and pulling Lana to her feet, Lex said. "Come on, let's see what's going on."
They walked over and joined the others by the rail. Following Chloe and Clark's gaze upstream they could see the six Roman men of war that would soon pass their position on their way downstream to the Mediterranean. The ships were rigged to carry one small rectangular sail, but with the current northerly breeze the sails were furled and the ships used the current and their oars for their forward progress. The drumbeats that had attracted Lex's attention were coming from these ships and controlled the cadence of the oars.
"Ramming speed," said Lex quietly.
Chloe glanced over at Lex, "That naval battle in Ben-Hur did a surprisingly good job of capturing the essence of life on a Trireme considering it was all done with miniatures and scaled down ships in water tanks."
" Trireme?" asked Lana.
"I guess we haven't got to that word yet in our Latin lessons. Perhaps we need to spend some time on nautical terms during our next session since it looks like we will be spending a few days aboard ship. Trireme is the term for a ship with three banks of oars like these ships. Most Roman fighting ships have two or three banks of oars. Only the Venetians in the mid 15th century would surpass them with a ship design using four banks of oars, but that configuration was really past the point of diminishing returns and wasn't used for long."
"Was life as bad aboard those ships as it appeared in the movie?" asked Lex.
Chloe gave Lex a look that said that was a particularly stupid question. "Were the crucified bodies more pleasant than you saw in the movies? Of course, life aboard those ships is as bad as the movies, or worse. Only men condemned to death are used as oarsmen. It is the worst punishment assignment available except maybe being a gladiator. And even gladiators spend only a small portion of their time in actual combat. This is backbreaking labor for ten to twelve hour a day. The only good thing is that in the last sixty years, since Augustus became emperor, Rome has not had any serious opposition in the Mediterranean only the occasional pirates. Therefore the number of war galleys has been greatly reduced and the total number of slaves needed has been lessened. During the great civil wars before Augustus obtained control or during the Punic wars with Carthage great fleets with thousands of warships existed. There were several sea battles where the death toll was in the hundreds of thousands."
"God, this place is barbaric." whispered Lana with a shudder.
"Yeah, it is," began Chloe. "Which is why I am trying to speed things up. One of my families' sailing merchant ships is in port. Many of the merchant ships like the warships use a combination of sails and oars, however we do have a class of ships that were pure sailing ships except for a pair of steering oars. These ships are slower, but more efficient over longer distances. While the slaves that man the oars aren't paid, you still have to feed them. We could shave a day or two off the travel time to Rome with an oared ship, but I think the improved smell, lack of crowding, and general quietness will make using a pure sailing ship much more pleasant.
"If I can track down enough of her crew in time, I hope to be on our way to Rome today."
"What about that general and his army?" asked Lana, voicing Lex's concerns.
"I have sent for the man who runs the estate here in Arelate. I am going to have him send some of his most trusted men to watch the three main passes through the Alps. If they spot the army, they will get word to us in Rome. I think we have a few weeks before we need to act."
"How do we stop an army?" asked Lex hoping Chloe would let them in on her plans.
"The best way to stop the army is to convince them to turn around and go back to Germany. I hope we can deal with the Professor and Venta first and then maybe the general will just back down. Failing that, I have had some dealings with Caligula in the past. He might be persuaded to make a tour of northern Italy at the right time. His presence and a few thousand talents of gold might convince the Legions to turn around. If that fails, it may come to an actual fight. With the right words whispered in the right ears, it should be possible to get the general charged with treason. If his troops remain loyal to him, there are other legions that can be used against him, but hopefully it won't come to that. At the moment the key is getting to Rome, the number of options will be greatly increased once I am there."
Chloe looked wistfully out across the calm waters of the river. "There are things about Rome you need to understand before we get there. That small group of crucified men we saw this morning is nothing compared to what you are going to see when we reach Rome. In many ways the provinces we have been traveling through seem more civilized than Rome. With its massive overcrowding, teeming poor living on the free corn dole provided by the government, the gladiatorial games and the cruelty of its upper classes, well, Rome is going to seem a lot more barbaric than anything we have seen so far. If I knew for certain the extent of the Professor's influence and his plans here, I would prefer to leave you here and go on to Rome by myself. But for the time being it feels safer if we stick together. So be prepared to see a lot worse than we have seen today and I hope you don't all end up with a lifetime of nightmares."
'Shit,' thought Lex. 'I guess that addresses a few of my questions. If Chloe really thinks those crucified men were trivial compared to what we are going to find in Rome, maybe ignorance really was bliss.'
Just then Laurentius returned and Chloe walked over to get things in motion for the voyage to Rome.
End of Chapter 21
Author: a_delacroix@hotmail.com
Chapter 21
Lana just keep chanting 'Oh, shit' over and over as Chloe looked over sharply at her. Lana's eyes were fixed with a horrified stare out the coach window. In the brief moment Chloe watched her, Lana went from ghostly white to the slight hint of green that indicated she was about to be violently ill.
It only took a glance out the window for Chloe to realize what was wrong. They were headed towards the docks along the riverfront when they had come upon a row of ten crucified men. Well, what had been men, most of them had been dead for several days. And it was not some sanitized, PG-rated version like you saw in the movies. No, these men had not died pleasantly; their limbs had been savagely broken and were skewed at unnatural angles. The bodies were bloated and darken from several days in the sun. They were covered with maggots and clouds of flies. Each body had three to eight blackbirds or crows ripping at the flesh. The eyes were gone. Sections of white skull showed through where parts of the scalp had been ripped away. Ribs exposed where the birds had worked to get at the juicy internal organs. Genitals pecked away.
And the smell was unbelievably bad. Unfortunately, the coach was passing on the downwind side of the crosses. Even Chloe, who had experienced these sensations countless times before, experienced a brief wave of nausea before her 'bot system attenuated her senses of smell and taste.
Chloe quickly spoke in her most commanding tone to force everyone's attention to her. "Look at me. Do not look out the window. Breath through your mouths."
Chloe quickly reached into the bag of provisions they had bought at their breakfast stop and pulled out an orange. She ripped it open and tried to press a piece against Lana's face to counteract the smell from the rotting corpses, but it was too late. Lana barely got the coach door open on the opposite side from the hanging bodies when she started to vomit.
Lex grabbed Lana around the waist to keep her from falling out. But between the sight and smell of the bodies and Lana's reaction, Lex was rapidly approaching the point of hurling too.
Chloe took the orange she had tried to give to Lana and jammed a large piece into Lex's mouth. After rubbing her sticky fingers under Lex's nose, she turned to Clark and offered him the remainder of the orange. As Clark reached out his hand, the coach suddenly braked to a halt.
'Great,' thought Chloe. 'What now?'
Turning to the opposite door from Lex and Lana, she leaned out through the window to look forward and see why they stopped. With a detached clinical glance she noticed they had stopped next to the last man on a cross, whose body was the most disturbing of the lot. The belly had been sliced open and several large ropes of intestines dangled out. From the clean, sharp edges of the cut Chloe could tell this was not from the activities of the scavenger birds. No, the men who had crucified this man had sliced him open with a sword so he could watch his guts hanging out as he slowly and painfully died.
It had been almost a hundred years since the terror on the western front during the First World War when Chloe had last seen such savage deaths. She thought that by the 21st century she had finally left all of this behind. With a shake of her head she tried to put her thoughts of past atrocities behind her and focus on the current situation.
Chloe looked forward to see that the driver had merely stopped while a wagon ahead of them, filled with wine casks and pulled by eight slow oxen, was negotiating a turn onto a narrow side street. The stop had nothing to do with the crucified men, a scene the driver had doubtlessly seen hundreds of times before.
Chloe yelled up to the driver. Getting his attention she asked. "LDo you know where the Flavian shipping office is down at the waterfront?"
When the driver nodded Chloe directed him to stop there when they reached the harbor. In another minute the coach started to move again. Once they were well clear of the horrific scene, Chloe extracted herself from the window where she had been using her body to block the others' view.
Lex and Lana were back on the back seat of the coach. Lex had his arms wrapped around her and was talking into her ear in a soothing tone, but Lana was still shaking violently.
Chloe looked over at Nicholas who was watching Lana with a mixture of amusement and disgust on his face. When he felt her gaze, he turned to her and she said. "LSometimes I wonder who the real barbarians in the world are. We have art and literature, magnificent architecture, and a continent spanning empire. But Lana's little kingdom doesn't have slavery or death by torture and crucifixion. Who really is the barbarian?"
"LYou can't have luxuries like art and culture without strength. Rome was built on the strength of slaves and sometimes it is necessary to be harsh with the malcontents to keep the majority in their place," stated Nicholas, espousing the standard response of a freeborn Roman.
"LActually, Rome wasn't built by slaves, they were a later development," answered Chloe quietly knowing Nicholas wouldn't believe or care about her first hand knowledge of the origins of Rome.
Lex, who had been following this conversation in Latin even though he had been mainly focused on Lana, asked Chloe in English with just a hint of anger in his voice. "Why did you let this happen?"
"Lex, I had no idea we would pass this on the road today. Okay, I suspected it would happen at some point, but I don't know how to avoid it."
"That's not what I meant. I mean the whole slavery and torture thing. With your gifts and abilities you could have changed the whole direction of mankind."
"I'm sorry, Lex. I just never had the whole 'God' complex thing. It is just not in my nature. Oh, if you live long enough you generally drift to the top of society, but I never had the urge to run mankind. It is not my purpose in life. However if you want to change the world you are welcome to try. Of course, if you try to change the world it will be just the same as letting the Professor and his people overthrow Rome. History will change and we will have no way home. Do you want to spend the rest of your life here?"
Lex knew he wanted to get Lana and the others and even himself home. But still wasn't it the duty of the smart and strong to make the world a better place for everyone? Was he heading in that direction with his life back home? This little incident raised a lot of important questions that he had never spent much time thinking about.
After a couple more minutes of riding in silence the coach stopped again and Chloe recognized her families' shipping office right outside. She leaned over to Lana, "Let's get out and get some fresh air for a minute, it will help."
Lana nodded weakly and Lex helped her to her feet.
As they climbed out they were struck by the strong smell of fish. Overwhelming and normally offensive, but at the moment a definite improvement over the odor of human death and decay seeming to linger in the interior of the coach.
The sun was warm and bright. The breeze was refreshing. After a couple of minutes the look of terror in Lana's eyes finally started to recede.
Chloe tried to lighten the mood by again adopting the bad French accent and continuing her history of Arelate. "Arelate is located about ten miles up the Rhone River from the Mediterranean Sea. Near the sea the Rhone passes through a low, marshy delta area. The town was established on a low hill this far upstream to escape the malaria-ridden mosquitoes filling the marshlands.
"The town grew greatly in importance and wealth starting 100 years ago when the Fossae Marianae shipping canal was dug by the Romans. The canal allows much larger ships to reach the town's harbor."
Seeing that her monologue wasn't having the desired effect, Chloe gave up for the time being. 'I guess I better just focus on speeding us on our way towards our goal,' she thought. 'At least for the moment the fun seems to have gone out of this little adventure.'
From where they stood outside the shipping office, Chloe could clearly make out the twenty nearest merchant ships lined up in the quays. She counted five ships flying her families' naval flags. Hopefully, one of them would meet her needs.
Since a little color started to return to Lana's face, Chloe motioned them over to the shipping office. When they entered one of the clerks working behind the counter recognized Chloe from her last visit just over three years ago. After sending one of the other clerks to find the manager, he quickly came over.
"LMa'am," he began with a very respectful tone. "LWe didn't realize you were in town. Laurentius should be out shortly. Can I get you some refreshments while you wait?"
From her prodigious memory Chloe pulled up the clerk's name. "LThank you, Aegidius Eugenius, that would be greatly appreciated. How are Gratia and the children?"
Aegidius' face took on a very pleased expression. Chloe had long ago learned that sometimes it was remembering the little details that made for happy and enthusiastic employees. And when you had a perfect memory, it wasn't that much extra bother.
"LThank you for asking. My wife and children are all well. I will be back shortly with the refreshments." Then with a quick bow, the man scurried off.
They barely had time to take in the large charts and maps hanging on the walls and the giant chalkboard mounted behind the counter filled with details of shipments coming and going when Laurentius Griselda, the office manager, strode briskly into the room.
"LCoelia Doinysia Flavius, it is a pleasure to see you again," he said with a deep bow. "LPlease come up to my office where we can talk more comfortably."
Chloe nodded for him to lead the way. They quickly followed him up a flight of stairs to a large, expansive room with a beautiful view out over the harbor. Before the introductions had even been completed, Aegidius arrived with three servants laden with wines, fruits, and cakes.
Everyone settled on a semicircle of divans located on a balcony outside the office. The balcony was shaded by a trelliswork of rose vines. The hundreds of pink roses produced an almost intoxicating tea-like fragrance, finally removing the lingering traces from the crucifixions.
After everyone had received the first round of refreshments, Laurentius politely asked, "LSo, I hadn't heard you were in town. What can I do for you?"
"LI just arrived from Tolosa and haven't even been up to the villa yet to wash off the road dust. It is urgent that we get to Rome as soon as possible. What ships do we have heading in that direction?"
"LHmm, the Grey Tabby is headed to Ostia," began Laurentius.
Before he could continue Chloe quickly interrupted him. "LNo, that's not what I am looking for. Are any of the Leopards in port?"
The Grey Tabby was such a benign name for a slave ship. Chloe knew none of the others would understand the realities of these times. Oh, they had been through the shock of the crucified men as they entered town and she had previously admitted to owning slaves, but they would never understand or forgive Chloe's involvement with the slave trade. There were some aspects of her life she wasn't yet ready to share, not even with Clark.
Many of the merchant ships used a combination of oars and sails. Only a few like the Leopard class were pure sailing ships. While the slave transport ships were the worst with up to a 1500 slaves crammed on board, other merchant ships transporting a multitude of other products still might have several hundred slaves acting as oarsmen. Only the sailing ships had much smaller crews and few or no slaves. Traveling on one of these ships would be much more tolerable for the others and raise fewer undesirable questions.
"LOnly the Golden Leopard and she is headed towards Valentia in Hispania," responded Laurentius.
"L Is she still captained by Severus Gallus? What's her cargo?"
"LYes, he is. Do you know him? The cargo is primarily wine from Lugdunum, upriver, and a shipment of silk from the east."
"LOkay, see if you can track him down and bring him here. I want to be on my way to Rome today."
"LToday," said Laurentius with a shake of his head. "LThe Golden Leopard wasn't schedule to leave until tomorrow and her crew is scattered all over town. Plus, if you are going to leave today, it will have to be in the next two hours to catch the tide."
"LThen you better send some people right now to find Captain Gallus. Have them tell him it is me and if he has enough crew to set sail in two hours I will pay each crewman present a bonus of 300 sisterii and Gallus a bonus of 6000 sisterii. Also send someone up to the estate and have him fetch Carinus, the estate manager, back here. I have several tasks I need him to do. Oh, and ask Carinus to bring along one of my flutes. He will understand." At this point Chloe paused and Laurentius realized he was being dismissed to carry out her instructions.
Laurentius inclined his head to her. "LGive me a moment to get things in motion." Clapping his hands he motioned one of the serving slaves forward. "LPlease accept the hospitality of my office and I shall return shortly." Then Laurentius hurried from the balcony, through his office and down the stairs with the clerk, Aegidius, in tow.
Shortly before Laurentius had departed, Clark had risen from his divan and walked over to the railing and started looking up river. With her business concluded for the moment, Chloe wandered over to join him and see what had attracted his attention.
Looking upstream between the forest of masts of the anchored merchant ships, Chloe could just make out the small fleet of six trireme military ships slowly working their way downstream. As she watched the precise, coordinated beating of the triple decks of oars, Chloe slid between Clark and the railing until her back was pressed firmly against his abs. Clark brought his arms around her waist and lowered his head until his chin rested against the top of her head.
"Aren't they beautiful the way the water glistens off of the oars and the insect-like way the oars all move in unison?" asked Clark.
Chloe was silent for a minute and then Clark could feel the big grin forming on her face without even seeing it.
"What?"
"Clark, are you a Three Stooges fan?"
"Not really. Oh, I have seen them a few times on TV, but I was never a big fan. I guess I just never saw the humor of pretending to poke someone in the eye. Why do you ask?"
"They were about more than just poking people in the eyes or bonking them over the head. But anyway, seeing those war galleys suddenly popped into my head one of their later movies, 'The Three Stooges meet Hercules'."
"I guess I missed that one. Did they do a sequel where they meet Xena, too?"
"Not the Kevin Sarbo Hercules. This movie was a parody of the Steve Reeves Hercules from the fifties."
"So why does seeing those ships bring that Three Stooges movie to mind?"
"Well, the basic plot has the boys being pharmacist assistants in Ithaca, New York. They help this inventor friend of theirs, Schuyler Davis, complete his time machine. Of course, through one of their usual slapstick comedy sequences the four of them, plus Schuyler's girlfriend, Diana, all get transported by the time machine to Ithaca in ancient Greece. Sort of like us.
"The thing that brought it to mind was the part where the four guys end up slaves rowing on a ship like one of those. As they supposedly spend months at the oars, the only change in the Stooges is they all grow these enormous fake beards. But Schuyler really bulks up, except he is always rowing on one side of the ship so only one side of his body bulks up. Pretty soon he is rowing on one side of the ship all by himself and he is stronger than the entire team of rowers on the other side and the ship just goes in circles. So the Stooges switch him to the other side and soon he is built like Hercules all over. Eventually, they escape and the Stooges pass Schuyler off as Hercules and actually build Hercules' legendary reputation, because in the movie Hercules is just a lowly thug for a petty tyrant.
"Anyway, Clark, do you think you could do that?" Chloe asked.
"Do what?" Clark was a little confused as to the point of the whole movie synopsis.
"You know, row one side of a trireme while the crew rows the other side?"
Clark shook his head. "It doesn't sound too practical. That much force on an oar would snap it. If not, the blade of an oar couldn't displace sufficient water to equal the force of a hundred or more oars on the other side of the ship. I am afraid the physics of that movie scene just wouldn't work in the real world."
Chloe sighed. "I didn't mean for you to take me literally." Wrapping her hands around his and giving them a squeeze she tried again. "So, Clark, do you think you could do that?"
Clark got into the spirit of the moment. "Of course. In fact, if you got a couple of really long oars, I could just row the whole ship all by myself."
Chloe turned around within Clark's arms and looked up into his eyes. "Can I call you Hercules?"
Clark looked down into her eyes with a slight flush of embarrassment coloring his face. "I suppose, if it makes you happy. Ahh, don't you think that name might imply secrets best left unspoken?"
"I guess," said Chloe as she ran her right hand up the back of Clark's neck and started pulling his head down for a kiss. "Perhaps I'll just call you M.H., for my Hercules."
After a few seconds of an enthusiastic kiss, Clark pulled back and glanced over at Lex and Lana who were still sitting on a divan about twenty feet away quietly talking and holding hands.
"Chloe, we haven't had any time alone since your revelation about the General and his legions marching down from Germany to overthrow Rome. Do you have any ideas on how we can stop them?"
"Not yet. I am going to send some men to watch the three main passes through the Alps. When the Legions are spotted I'll have a message sent to Rome so we should have a few weeks notice.
"Lana was right with her comment last night, the most important thing is to get the meteor rocks from the Professor. Once they are in our possession, I think our options will be a lot more open. Plus, if we neutralize the Professor and Venta, perhaps we can get General Domicius to back down without a major battle."
"Do you really think we can take this general without a fight?" asked Clark with relief showing in both his face and voice.
"I hope so, unless you want to do your personal impression of the 300 Spartans versus the Persians? Do you really want to stand in a narrow mountain canyon and kill wave after wave of soldiers until the bodies are piled up thousands deep? Because that is what it would come to since the method of just tying them up like last night is not going to work against 40,000 men."
Clark shook his head. "I don't want to kill anyone. I sure hope we can come up with a solution that doesn't involve some big battle."
"Me, too. That's why I am arranging a ship to expedite getting us to Rome. If the Professor travels all the way by horseback, we might still beat him. And if possible I would like to deal with Venta before he is in contact with the Professor and finds out we are here or that I am not the same me that he knows. This may be a mean and petty thing to say, but even after two thousand years, I am still pissed at Venta for driving me out of Rome. I think it is time for a little payback."
Clark was a little startled at the level of anger boiling just under her surface. This was a notch beyond the normal 'Chloe feistiness', but he just attributed it to their earlier encounter with the crucifixions. While he hadn't had the violent reaction of Lana, it had bothered him a lot and he assumed it had bothered Chloe too. He thought back to his own experience with being strung up on a cross in the cornfield during homecoming, but it wasn't nearly the same thing. The football players hadn't really intended to kill him or even hurt him seriously.
"If you need any help getting even with Venta, just say the word. I don't like other guys messing with my girl, even if it was two thousand years ago." Then Clark pulled Chloe close and returned her earlier kiss.
---------------------
After Laurentius left and Chloe joined Clark at the railing, Lex turned his attention to Lana. Not that he ever took his full attention from her since they had gotten out of the coach, always trying to at least maintain physical contact, if only touching her fingers. But during Chloe's conversation with Laurentius he had focused most of his attention on them.
"Hey, Lana, good news, how much of that conversation were you able to follow?"
"Not a lot, just a few words here and there." Lana looked at Lex with the first glimmer of smile since before they had come upon the crucified men. "So what is the good news?"
"As horrifying as seeing those bodies was, it seems to have really lit a fire under Chloe. She is in the process of commandeering a ship that was on its way to Spain to take us to Rome. If all goes well, we should be on our way today and could be in Rome in four or five days."
Lex shook his head. "I don't know where we would be if Chloe was just the normal girl we thought she was before this whole adventure. Without her knowledge, connections, resources, . . . I am afraid we would still be back in Tolosa or worse, captives or dead."
"Yeah," agreed Lana. "But she could've warned us about things like the crucifixions. I mean I have seen them in some of the old movies, but to just come on them without warning was such a shock."
Lex nodded. "It surprised me too. Sometimes her whole thought process is hard to follow. On the one hand it seems like Chloe is trying to protect us from some of the barbarism of these times. Unfortunately, this might get us in trouble some day when we need to blend in with the locals and we will react badly to a situation that is normal here.
"On the other hand, it is becoming apparent Chloe tends to think and act at a different pace then I would. I mean if we don't keep pushing her, I think she would be just as happy if it took several years to get back home as if it took several weeks."
"Do you really think so?" Asked Lana.
"Yes. I think if it was purely up to her, we would have spent several weeks hanging with her friends back in Tolosa. Then we would have stopped here for a few more weeks before finally undertaking a leisurely trip to Rome."
"What about the whole issue of this army heading towards Rome that shouldn't be? Don't you think Chloe would hurry up to stop it?"
"I don't know," answered Lex. "That's one of the things that is a little scary about her. I get this feeling she doesn't perceive this army as a very significant threat and I don't understand why. Either she has additional abilities she hasn't yet told us or she has more influence here than she has admitted, or maybe she has been through so many similar situations in 17,000 years it just doesn't scare her."
Lana softly reached out and turned Lex's head until he was looking into her eyes. "Does Chloe scare you?"
"Hmm, does Chloe scare me? I never really thought about it before. She certainly intimidates the hell out of me. Face it, for all practical purposes she is the next step beyond Homo Sapiens on the evolutionary ladder. If there were more people like her or if the one person with her gifts had been an aggressive adult rather than a 16 year old girl, the world would be a drastically different place."
"What do you mean, an aggressive adult?"
"Just think if the one person with her gifts had been a Hitler or a Stalin or even a Churchill in their prime. Any one of them with the ability to live forever and instantly heal from wounds would, good or bad, end up ruling the world. Perhaps mankind has been lucky that the one person who has those gifts is a young girl who is more interested in enjoying life than taking over the world."
Lex took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Anyway back to your original question, does Chloe scare me? I guess the answer is yes, at least a little."
Lana ran her hand up and caressed Lex's left ear for a moment remembering his comment from the massage at the baths. Had it been only two days ago? Things had changed so much since then, including her whole relationship with Lex.
"Lex, I'm sure Chloe will put our interests first until we get back home."
"I know. Maybe that's the problem. It seems like only since I have come to Smallville that I have finally gotten out of my father's shadow and taken control of my own destiny. And it felt really good. But now, here, I am no longer in control. Just like with my father, it feels like Chloe isn't explaining everything that is going on, so I can't get a handle on things. It is all very frustrating."
"Chloe is not like your father. If we talk to her, I am sure she will open up." Lana gave Lex an impish little smile. "And if not, can't we just pretend we are on a special little vacation trip? Like the ultimate Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Westworld adventure all rolled into one? I mean between school and the Talon, I can't remember the last day I had off. How about you? When was the last vacation you've had?"
Lex shrugged. "Before I came to Smallville, I guess. So are you really suggesting we let Chloe handle the whole situation and just pretend to be on some exotic vacation?"
"Partly. We need to keep Chloe moving forward and help out where we can, but ultimately she is the one with the financial and political clout here. If we are going to make it home, it is going to come down to her."
Lex marveled how he thought he was the one trying to help Lana through this situation, but at the moment it seemed like she was the one resiliently bouncing back and he was the one ending up needing her support.
Just then the sound of drums that had slowly built in intensity finally registered on Lex's consciousness. Over screeching of seagulls, creaking of wooden ships tied up to the wharves, and noise of workers busily loading and unloading ships and wagons, the beating of drums caused Lex to look north up the river. From his seated position he couldn't see the source, but could see that Chloe and Clark were both looking upstream.
Standing up and pulling Lana to her feet, Lex said. "Come on, let's see what's going on."
They walked over and joined the others by the rail. Following Chloe and Clark's gaze upstream they could see the six Roman men of war that would soon pass their position on their way downstream to the Mediterranean. The ships were rigged to carry one small rectangular sail, but with the current northerly breeze the sails were furled and the ships used the current and their oars for their forward progress. The drumbeats that had attracted Lex's attention were coming from these ships and controlled the cadence of the oars.
"Ramming speed," said Lex quietly.
Chloe glanced over at Lex, "That naval battle in Ben-Hur did a surprisingly good job of capturing the essence of life on a Trireme considering it was all done with miniatures and scaled down ships in water tanks."
" Trireme?" asked Lana.
"I guess we haven't got to that word yet in our Latin lessons. Perhaps we need to spend some time on nautical terms during our next session since it looks like we will be spending a few days aboard ship. Trireme is the term for a ship with three banks of oars like these ships. Most Roman fighting ships have two or three banks of oars. Only the Venetians in the mid 15th century would surpass them with a ship design using four banks of oars, but that configuration was really past the point of diminishing returns and wasn't used for long."
"Was life as bad aboard those ships as it appeared in the movie?" asked Lex.
Chloe gave Lex a look that said that was a particularly stupid question. "Were the crucified bodies more pleasant than you saw in the movies? Of course, life aboard those ships is as bad as the movies, or worse. Only men condemned to death are used as oarsmen. It is the worst punishment assignment available except maybe being a gladiator. And even gladiators spend only a small portion of their time in actual combat. This is backbreaking labor for ten to twelve hour a day. The only good thing is that in the last sixty years, since Augustus became emperor, Rome has not had any serious opposition in the Mediterranean only the occasional pirates. Therefore the number of war galleys has been greatly reduced and the total number of slaves needed has been lessened. During the great civil wars before Augustus obtained control or during the Punic wars with Carthage great fleets with thousands of warships existed. There were several sea battles where the death toll was in the hundreds of thousands."
"God, this place is barbaric." whispered Lana with a shudder.
"Yeah, it is," began Chloe. "Which is why I am trying to speed things up. One of my families' sailing merchant ships is in port. Many of the merchant ships like the warships use a combination of sails and oars, however we do have a class of ships that were pure sailing ships except for a pair of steering oars. These ships are slower, but more efficient over longer distances. While the slaves that man the oars aren't paid, you still have to feed them. We could shave a day or two off the travel time to Rome with an oared ship, but I think the improved smell, lack of crowding, and general quietness will make using a pure sailing ship much more pleasant.
"If I can track down enough of her crew in time, I hope to be on our way to Rome today."
"What about that general and his army?" asked Lana, voicing Lex's concerns.
"I have sent for the man who runs the estate here in Arelate. I am going to have him send some of his most trusted men to watch the three main passes through the Alps. If they spot the army, they will get word to us in Rome. I think we have a few weeks before we need to act."
"How do we stop an army?" asked Lex hoping Chloe would let them in on her plans.
"The best way to stop the army is to convince them to turn around and go back to Germany. I hope we can deal with the Professor and Venta first and then maybe the general will just back down. Failing that, I have had some dealings with Caligula in the past. He might be persuaded to make a tour of northern Italy at the right time. His presence and a few thousand talents of gold might convince the Legions to turn around. If that fails, it may come to an actual fight. With the right words whispered in the right ears, it should be possible to get the general charged with treason. If his troops remain loyal to him, there are other legions that can be used against him, but hopefully it won't come to that. At the moment the key is getting to Rome, the number of options will be greatly increased once I am there."
Chloe looked wistfully out across the calm waters of the river. "There are things about Rome you need to understand before we get there. That small group of crucified men we saw this morning is nothing compared to what you are going to see when we reach Rome. In many ways the provinces we have been traveling through seem more civilized than Rome. With its massive overcrowding, teeming poor living on the free corn dole provided by the government, the gladiatorial games and the cruelty of its upper classes, well, Rome is going to seem a lot more barbaric than anything we have seen so far. If I knew for certain the extent of the Professor's influence and his plans here, I would prefer to leave you here and go on to Rome by myself. But for the time being it feels safer if we stick together. So be prepared to see a lot worse than we have seen today and I hope you don't all end up with a lifetime of nightmares."
'Shit,' thought Lex. 'I guess that addresses a few of my questions. If Chloe really thinks those crucified men were trivial compared to what we are going to find in Rome, maybe ignorance really was bliss.'
Just then Laurentius returned and Chloe walked over to get things in motion for the voyage to Rome.
End of Chapter 21