Chapter 22

Part 1

It was mid-afternoon when the harbor in Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber came into view. Six days had passed since their departure from Arelate. The Golden Leopard could have made the trip in less time, but Chloe had insisted that they put into port each evening. The Italian coast was equipped with a long string of lighthouses; however she had explained that more ships were lost to rocks at night than any other cause.

While most of the crew, except for some guards, disappeared into the taverns each evening, Chloe had suggested they remain on board in the relative safety of the Captain's cabin, which the four of them had usurped for this voyage. The cabin was surprisingly spacious during the day with much of their time spent up on deck, but the first night found them all huddled together on the single bed to stay under the mosquito netting and away from the ravenous hordes.

In the last six days the only time the four of them had left the ship was the second evening when the ship made port in Genua. Chloe had friends she trusted there and they had spent a night in their villa. The baths in this villa were a lot more modest than the large public facilities they had experienced in Tolosa, but after days of traveling by horse and ship, they were extremely welcome.

Leaning against the railing of the ship Lex had to smile as he remembered the evening in the baths in that villa in Genua. A lot of the morals and hang-ups that came with 21st century life had been done away with when the four of them had ended up together in the large warm bath and afterwards in the massage room with lots of fragrant oils. It was definitely the brightest spot on this voyage. Lex was just hoping that the baths in Chloe's estate in Rome were as good as she said. So far Chloe had been right; the Romans were the masters of bathing. He was already planning some serious remodeling of his castle in Smallville when they got home.

As Lex continued to gaze out towards the harbor with its staggering amount of shipping traffic, Chloe wandered up to the rail and joined him. He glanced over taking in the casual robe she was wearing and the flute that seemed to be continuously at hand since they had left Arelate. After a week back here, the Roman Empire was starting to feel real and 21st century Smallville just a dream. Even Clark and Lana's Latin was improving to where they could more or less communicate with the crew.

Lex glanced back to the stern of the ship where Lana and Clark were seated getting the afternoon's Latin lesson from the old Greek scholar, Cyrus, whom Chloe had scrounged up during their stop in Genua. Once Chloe had gotten past the basics she had turned most of the lessons over to him. He had been a teacher for a long time as he had patience not learned overnight.

Both Clark and Lana had spent most of every day of the voyage focusing on learning Latin. And ever since the encounter with the crucified bodies back in Arelate, neither of them had voiced any complaints about the time spent, realizing the importance of being able to communicate.

Not that sitting through lessons was anything like torture as Lex watched Lana stretched out on a divan under a canopy for shade, a young slave girl kneeling beside her feeding her the occasional grape. Chloe had played up the whole Lana as Princess of Caledonia story when they had boarded the ship and ever since the whole crew had gone out of its way to fawn over her. Not that any of them had gotten out of line as Lana had immediately made a point of showing she was with Lex. Still it was interesting to see that mingling with royalty had the same effect on people here as back in his own time.

Chloe had started to play her flute and after a few seconds Lex realized it was the 'Hey, Big Spender' song from the day in the coach. Lex just closed his eyes and listened until Chloe finished.

"Lex, I am curious about this song. It seems important to you, but you never struck me as a show tune sort of guy."

Lex shrugged. "It was one of my Mom's favorites. Towards the end we listened to it a lot. Listening to it now helps me to remember her smile, her laugh, the way the creases formed around her eyes when she was happy."

"You still miss her a lot."

"Yeah, for a long time that was the happiest part of my life."

"Until?"

Lex looked over at Chloe and realized what she wanted him to say. Say out loud. Make it real. "Until this trip back here and connecting with Lana. Here we are trapped in the Roman Empire with a high probability of ending up tortured and killed, yet I am happier now than any time I can remember."

Chloe reached out and rested her hand on Lex's. "It's okay to be happy. You and I never spent much time together since you arrived in Smallville, but I have never seen you so relaxed and comfortable as during the past week. If your Mother was here now, I am sure she would be happy for you and Lana."

Lex smiled. "I think you are right. I realized over the past few days that Lana is the first woman I ever wished I could have introduced to my Mom. I think they could have been good friends. Maybe that's part of the reason Lana seems so special."

Lex sobered up a little. "Chloe, do you think Lana and I can make it work when we get home? I mean the longer we are here, the more this seems like reality and our life in Smallville just a dream. But when we get home, Lana is still just sixteen and in high school."

"Lex, if you both want it to work, you will find a way. You are looking at the all time expert on sixteen-year-old girls. You have two primary choices as far as continuing your relationship when we get back home. The first choice is to be very, very discreet until Lana turns eighteen. The second choice is marriage. If that is the right choice, I am sure we can get Nell's consent. But there is no need to rush things, it has only been a week and it looks like it will still be a while before we can return home. Relax. Enjoy your time with Lana and worry about what happens back in Smallville once we get there."

The M word. It had been drifting around in the back of Lex's head ever since the conversation in the coach about Chloe's double wedding to Julian. Something that would happen somewhere out in the future. But maybe Chloe was right. Maybe the best time might be as soon as they got back home.

"Chloe, thanks for the talk. Why is it so easy to talk to you about this?"

Chloe grinned. "This is not the first conversation like this I have had. I have had the 'love' conversation with lots of daughters and sons. Just follow your heart and always be open with her about your feelings. If you are, I think you will find your life to be much happier."

Lex nodded.

An hour later the Golden Leopard was tied up to one of the Flavian family wharves in the northeast corner of the Ostian harbor. Lex was amazed they had arrived at the wharf without a collision with another ship. He had never seen such a busy harbor. Chloe explained that it was the busiest harbor in the whole Mediterranean with nearly every product sold in Rome passing through it. And Rome consumed a lot of goods. An average day saw 25 ships filled with corn and grain arriving from Egypt alone. Even most goods shipped from other areas of Italy arrived by water due to the reduced shipping costs. Until the advent of trains many centuries in the future, no land transportation method could compete with shipping.

However a large portion of the goods arriving in the port of Ostia did make the final seven-mile journey to Rome over land. The Tiber was a fast flowing river requiring most ships to be rowed or towed against the current by slaves or draft animals walking along the banks. For the larger sea-going vessels this was not practical, so they were off-loaded in the harbor either into wagons or barges for the trip upriver.

Once the gangway was in place Chloe led the others and Cyrus, the scholar, ashore and turned to head for the company office. As they were leaving the ship there were many shouts of farewell to Princess Lana. After she shyly waved at them, she turned back and found Chloe grinning at her.

"What?"

"They might not have TVs, radios, or telephones, but by tomorrow word of the exotic, mysterious Princess Lana will be all over Ostia and much of Rome," explained Chloe.

"What? Is that why you have me wearing this veil across my face? You're not wearing one and neither is anyone else that I can see."

"No, the veil is for a far more practical purpose. Take a deep breath and tell me what you smell."

Lana took a deep breath. "Mostly a very strong lilac smell with just a faint hint of the sea and fish."

Chloe glanced over at Lex. "How about you, Lex?"

"Well, it is not as bad as the crucified men back in Arelate, but the smell is pretty bad and strong." With a grin he concluded, "Hey, could I wear a veil, too?"

"This is one of the areas were male historians get things wrong. In lots of time periods down through history women didn't wear veils because of some male dominance thing. No, they were just smart enough to realize that a scented veil made traveling in public more pleasant. It is just one of those 'woman' things that is passed down from generation to generation.

"Veils were not used by many women in Rome during this time period, but by at least a few. Wearing that will seem a little exotic, but not totally freakish." Chloe pulled a small vial from her robe. "I picked up this special perfume back in Genua to treat the veil and it should last an hour or two. When it seems to be wearing off let me know and I will apply some more. The sense of smell is much stronger than vision as a triggering mechanism, so wearing the scented veil should help to keep from getting sick again if we run into a situation like before."

Part 2

"Wow, that was cool. I actually followed most of the conversation." Clark said as they exited the shipping office. "However I am not clear why we going to Rome by boat. Wouldn't a coach be faster?"

"I'm glad to hear your Latin is getting that good, Clark. How about you, Lana?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah, most of it. Cyrus' methods have been very effective."

Chloe nodded. "Great. Okay, about the boat. Yes, a coach would be faster except for one thing. Rome has this one archaic rule that has been in place since the very earliest days when it first consolidated from five separate hill top villages into one united town. 'No wheeled vehicles inside the city during daylight hours'. It sort of makes sense for all the little back streets and alleys where delivery wagons and coaches would block all pedestrian traffic. But several major boulevards have been created which bisect the city where prohibiting wheeled traffic just seems crazy. Plus by requiring all of the delivery wagons to work at night the city is incredibly noisy when most people are trying to sleep. However, whenever the subject is brought up in the Senate, it is always voted down.

"Anyway, if we took a coach, we would have to walk or take sedan chairs from the city limits to my villa. Unfortunately, my villa is on the far side of the city from where the road from Ostia reaches the city limits. It would take close to an hour on foot. Since my villa is right along the Tiber, if we go by boat, we can pull up right at my dock. I don't know about you, but it will be late in the afternoon when we arrive and I would just as soon hit the baths, grab some dinner, and crash for the night. There will be plenty of time for sightseeing tomorrow."

"Going straight to your villa and hitting the baths sounds good to me," said Clark with a big grin as he recalled their last 'bath'.

Before Lex could join in with his agreement, Chloe jabbed Clark in the ribs. Hard. "We'll have no more of that attitude." Then with a smile she continued. "At least until we are settled in at the villa."

Clark's grin only got a little smaller. "Okay, okay, but can I still put my arm around you?"

Chloe snuggled in close and whispered, "Please do."

Once they had rounded up Cyrus, Chloe led the way to the small dock where the boat, which would take them to Rome, was pulling up. The boat was much bigger than the others were expecting. It had only a single deck of oars, but twenty rowers per side. The stern of the boat had a large passenger area with room for at least ten people in extreme luxury. The boat was painted a festive bright red and decked out with countless brightly colored streamers and ribbons. Three slaves were busy unpacking several large baskets filled with food and wine.

Once Chloe climbed aboard she selected a divan and patted the spot next to her. Clark had barely sat down when a slave was there with wine goblets and a tray of fruit.

Clark knew that slavery was wrong, but at the moment there was nothing he could do about it, but sit back and enjoy it. He had never had a staff of servants like Lex, but could quickly see how this lifestyle could easily become additive.

Lex and Lana settled on the next divan so they would be close enough to chat, while Cyrus selected a seat on the far side of the boat to give them some privacy. After he was seated, he pulled a scroll out of his shoulder bag and settled back to work.

As soon as everyone was seated, the skipper of the boat had the crew cast off. Once the oarsmen on the port side of the boat had pushed off and reset their oars in the sockets, the boat pulled away and headed out towards the center of the river. Besides the rowers and the skipper, the boat had a drummer to keep the oars in sync and two men at the back to man the pair of steering oars.

As they entered the main part of the river it was apparent the Romans had implemented at least a minimum amount of traffic control, all of the vessels heading upstream were on the right side of the river and those heading downstream were on the left.

The skipper set a steady pace the rowers could maintain for several hours. It was fast enough that they started to pass the barges being towed along the shore. The first group of barges they passed were all fully loaded with corn. Each barge was being towed by what looked like 300 slaves. They were all singing songs and no one seemed to be abusing them with whips like in some old movie. With the amount of traffic that needed to be moved up river every day, the Romans had paved the shoreline for maximum efficiency.

Like any modern metropolis, Rome had spread towards its source of supplies until most of the riverfront from Rome to Ostia was lined with buildings - lots of warehouses, but a scattering of villas and temples too.

For the first ten minutes no one spoke. Everyone just relaxed enjoying the pleasant afternoon sun and the food. Lex particularly enjoyed watching Lana's attempts to eat and drink while wearing the veil until she finally gave up and dropped one side. She just hoped nothing too bad would happen out here in the middle of a river.

Finally, Lex broke the silence. "So, Chloe, where's today's history lesson?"

"Umm, let's see. Short version. Rome was founded. Rome grew. Rome conquered. I think that about covers it. Seriously I just don't feel in the mood to play history professor at the moment. Let's talk about something else."

"Hmm, how do you feel about playing science professor instead?" asked Lex.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Your nanotechnology."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "So here we are riding in a boat crewed by slaves on our way to the Rome of Caligula and you want to talk about nanotech?"

Lex shrugged. "We have some time to kill until we get to Rome and you don't want to talk about history or bathing, so why not?"

"What's your question?"

"How long do you think until we will be able to duplicate your gifts?"

"Oh, I would say roughly 34 years if things are left to proceed on their own. If I give the right people a little nudge, perhaps 27 years."

"You mean in 27 years everyone could live forever like you?" exclaimed Lana sharply enough to attract even Cyrus' attention. "So I could stay 43 forever?"

Cyrus had an innate natural ability with languages, which is what made him such a successful teacher. In fact, it almost seemed like he could learn a new one by just overhearing a few conversations. A lot like Chloe although her abilities were all based on the gift of a massive, internal computer processing system. Cyrus' abilities were all natural, just a lucky fluke of the way his brain was wired. Four days of teaching Clark and Lana Latin had also taught Cyrus a surprising amount of English. This group of four young people had the most unique conversations he had ever come across. These conversations were frequently incomprehensible due to the numerous references to things in their home culture that he couldn't follow. However he could follow the comment about staying 43 forever and none of them seemed to be joking.

Intrigued by this conversation, Cyrus got up from where he was sitting, wandered over to the food tray, and after selecting several pastries casually sat on one of the divans much closer to the conversation.

Chloe smiled. "Well, only if current technology stops at the same point technology did in my original civilization. You have to remember I am effectively just a prototype."

"Prototype?"

"Yeah, think of it this way, I am like a 1940's era computer with most of my abilities hardwired as compared to a modern PC with lots of easily programmable features."

"So where do you think technology will go after it passes your configuration?" asked Lex.

"Oh, the next step is probably total body appearance control a lot like our old classmate, Tina Greer. You know, if everyone wanted to look just like Lana or their favorite movie star, they could."

"That would certainly raise a whole new bunch of legal issues," stated Lex.

"I don't care about the legal issues as long as people with those 'bots don't have the homicidal tendencies of Tina and all of those other meteor freaks," exclaimed Lana with a shiver as she recalled all of her near death experiences.

"Hey," responded Clark with a slightly defensive tone. "Chloe has made it 17,000 years with her 'bots and is just as sane as the rest of us."

"Are you sure, Clark?" asked Chloe. When he looked at her she was crossing and uncrossing her eyes and twitching her eyebrows.

"Chloe, that's juvenile, not insane."

Suddenly, Lana was pointing towards the shore. "Wow, Chloe, what's going on over there?"

The others all turned to see what had attracted her attention. At this point a bend in the river had brought it close to the road from Ostia to Rome. A large crowd was gathered around a giant triumphal arch that straddled the road. Musicians were playing and a group that would obviously be local dignitaries in any era were lined up on a raised platform.

"Oh, they are doing the dedication of a triumphal arch to some General." When Chloe realized Lana wasn't following, she continued. "Think of it like getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame back home. To get a star you have to have some 'name' value in the entertainment industry plus you or your people have to pay the cost of the star. This is sort of similar. A general can be awarded a triumphal parade through Rome if he wins a major battle that results in the deaths of at least 5,000 of Rome's enemies. However if he wants a Triumphal arch, he is expected to pay for it himself, which is why the potential for loot and booty drives many military campaigns rather than political or religious reasons. The arches are usually located on the roads leading into Rome to impress visitors. In a couple hundred more years, the routes into Rome started to look down right cluttered. Unfortunately, very few of them survived to our times. Most of them were scavenged for their marble during the Renaissance when the Roman church was going through one of its building booms."

"So, Chloe, does the general who wants his own arch have to arrange for all of the details of the project himself?" asked Lex.

"No, he just has to provide the money and a list of any special features. The Roman civil service department handles the actual construction, just like they handle the construction of other public works like roads, bridges, aqueducts, and temples. Actually, it is a lot like our times with most projects put out to bid to private contractors. For very large projects the contractors even form stock companies to raise capital and spread the risk in return for a share of the profit. These are among the earliest publicly traded stocks and are a precursor of the modern stock market."

"They actually have a stock market here?"

"Yes, many of the business practices of our time have their equivalent here. Banks have checking accounts and make installment loans. The emperor is like Alan Greenspan of the Fed setting interest rates for banks. Different emperors have loose or tight money supply policies, which has many of the same effects on this economy as on ours. Some emperors even try to use inflation and devaluation of the currency to solve their monetary woes."

Chloe could see the wheels turning in Lex's head. "A penny for your thoughts, Lex. Or should I say a sestertius?"

Lex smiled and was about to respond, when he thought better of it. He was going to comment about the business opportunities here for a modern businessman. While Lana had been slowly adjusting to the realities of being here, there was no point in potentially upsetting her with talk of the backup plans Lex had been working on in case they were stuck here permanently.

So instead he responded, "I was just noticing the buildings are getting more closely spaced, so I am guessing we are getting close to the city and therefore your villa. Now, this is going make me sound like a horny teenager, but I was thinking about a couple of beautiful naked girls. Chloe, do you have a massage room in your villa as nice as that room back in Genua?"

Chloe couldn't decide if Lex was joking or if he hadn't believed her comments that night in the coach about the grandeur of her place here in Rome. It looked like Lex might be in for a little surprise. "Oh, I think I can scrounge up a massage table or two. That massage you gave Lana back in Genua looked very hot and erotic. Would you be interested in using my body to teach it to Clark?"

Lex looked at Clark who gave a small nod. Clark had seen the intensity of Lana's response to that massage and if Chloe wanted Lex to teach him how it was done, he was happy to learn.

Next Lex looked to Lana. She leaned over to whisper in Lex's ear while at the same time resting one of her hands in his lap. "It is okay to touch her with your hands." And here she gave a gentle squeeze of her hand. "But some parts of this body are for me only. Understand?"

Lex nodded and brushed his lips over Lana's before turning back to Chloe. "I would be happy to teach Clark the special 'Luthor' massage technique."

Chloe grinned. Clark had a lot of enthusiasm, but a little improvement in technique never hurt. She had thought to use Analisa, her personal masseuse in Rome in this time period, but Lex would be more fun. Or perhaps she would eventually use both. "Great. And you are right, we are about to reach the city proper."

"Cool," said Lex sitting up a little straighter and trying to focus on the novelty of entering Rome. It's not often you enter the capital of an ancient empire. A city filled with gladiators, Praetorian guards, wild beasts in the arena, and untold other dangers, but it was hard not to think about two beautiful, soon to be naked, girls. "Can we see any famous buildings from the river?"

"Hmm, you can just see one end of the Circus Maximus where they do the chariot races. Also the Marcelli Theater and then Pompeii's Theater right before we reach my villa. Probably the most impressive sight is the Capitoline Hill with Augustus' palace, Tiberius' palace, and a couple of very traditional Greek-looking temples. When the late afternoon sun hits them just right they are very spectacular."

"What about the Coliseum?" asked Clark remembering the famous scene from Gladiator where Maximus looked up in awe when he first saw the Coliseum.

"I hate to disappoint you, but the Coliseum won't be built for another 40 years. Even if it was built, you couldn't see it from the river, as it will be located on the opposite side of the Capitoline hill from the river.

"At the moment the biggest 'coliseum' style stadium in Rome is the Statilus Taurus stadium built about sixty years ago. It seats about 22,000 compared to the 50,000 of the Coliseum. It was built mostly of wood and will eventually be destroyed in a fire."

"How about the Pantheon?" asked Lex.

"It won't be built for another hundred years either."

By this point the boat had reached the outskirts of Rome, the density of the buildings was becoming greater as well has their height. The riverfront was lined with two and three story warehouses, but behind them were many six and seven story tall, lower class tenement buildings.

So far in the week they had been back here, they hadn't seen anything that Lex hadn't seen before during the trip he took to the Middle East during the summer following his sophomore year in college. He had toured old cities in Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel that had existed for over a millennia that weren't significantly different from Tolosa, Narbo or Arelate except for the sporadic availability of electricity. But on his first true sight of the heart of Rome, he knew he was seeing something that could be found nowhere in the modern world. The gleaming marble temples. The seeming endless supply of carved columns. The people arrayed in robes and togas. The steady stream of sedan chairs. And not a mechanical sound to be heard, no cars, no buses, no trucks or trains. He really was in ancient Rome.

Lana was in a much less philosophical and much more practical mood. Therefore she decided it was a good time to take advantage of her veil again. Even though daily bathing was more common than in most ancient cultures and Rome's sewer system would not be equaled until the 18th Century, cramming a million and a half people into a few square miles still resulted in a pretty thick aroma.

Soon they were passing under the first of several large stone and concrete bridges. After passing the Capitoline hill with all of its grand palaces, they reached the single large island in the Tiber. Chloe pointed out the bridge extending from right behind the large Marcelli Theater to the island.

"Take a good look at this bridge. It's called the Pons Fabricius Bridge. It is a hundred years old now and it will still be in use in our times. Say what you will about their civilization, but their engineers knew how to build things to last."

"So, Lex, if we carved our initials into that bridge, do you think we could come back in two thousand years and see if they are still there?" asked Lana as she playfully ran her hand up the inside of his knee.

"You mean like carving them inside a heart on a tree? Perhaps if we get time, it might be fun to leave a memento to prove we were really here."

As the boat moved passed the island the buildings along the shoreline began to thin out.

"Chloe, it seems like we're starting to reach the end of the city. When will we reach your villa?" asked Clark.

"It is just around the next bend. Originally, it started as a country estate. As the city has grown it has almost reached it. Of course, as the city has grown and prospered, so has the villa. It has seen several extensive enlargements and remodelings. In another hundred years the city will have completely engulfed it and I will even be compelled to sell off some of the surrounding gardens for new public buildings."

Clark had noticed Chloe had been fidgeting with growing excitement for the past several minutes. "You are really looking forward to seeing this place again aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious? Yeah, I really am. This was always one of my favorite homes. And there are some really good friends here who I haven't seen in two thousand years. I mean when we ran into Marcus back in Tolosa it was such a shock, but I have had a week to anticipate the next few minutes. I am finding it hard to just sit here, my body wants so badly to jump up and down."

Finally, they rounded the bend, but because of the bluff that came down nearly to the shoreline, all that was visible were some rooftops. A quarter mile past the bend was the first of a pair of docks. This one was small and ornate, obviously designed for arriving dignitaries and other upper class guests. The other dock, a couple of hundred yards further upstream, was much more workman-like in appearance, rough hewn timbers and no hint of paint or decorative carvings.

Their boat pulled up at the first dock and several waiting servants lowered a gangway. After a pleasant thank you to the skipper of the boat, Chloe led the others up on to the dock. Before leaving the dock Chloe turned and pointed across the 50-yard wide river and slightly downstream.

"See that low hill over there?" she asked. "That is where Vatican City and St. Peter's Cathedral will someday be built."

After pausing for a couple of minutes for everyone to take in the view, Chloe turned and headed off of the dock and up the grand, fifty foot wide marble staircase, which led to the top of the bluff.

Upon reaching the top of the bluff, Clark, Lex and Lana just stopped and stared in amazement. To their right, separating them from the city proper, was a giant park-like area. Several hundred acres filled with olive trees, grapevines, and an assortment of flowering plants.

However it was the villa to their left that ultimately attracted their attention. A giant mass of sparkling white marble, the front of the structure, an amalgamy of interconnected buildings and porticoes, was several stories tall and extended out in front of them for over a quarter of a mile.

They stared at it in silence for almost a minute before Lana spoke. "Oh, my God. When you said it would make Lex's castle look like a hovel, you weren't kidding."

Chloe laughed. "From here you are seeing only the front facade. It is actually even larger than it looks. The main buildings cover almost two hundred acres. Come on, after we get settled in with a bath and some fresh clothes, I will take you on a quick tour."

Then, clasping Clark's hand, Chloe headed towards the main entrance.

End of Chapter 22