Muses of Roma (Codex Antonius Book 1) (4 page)

Kaeso's com chimed. “Centuriae?” Lucia asked.

Dariya's lips curled in disgust, and she turned back to the compartment she'd been beating. Kaeso ducked out of the engine room before she could start the earsplitting “repairs.”

“What?”

“Vallutus is at the entry hatch.”

Early…

“Tell him I'll be right there,” Kaeso said. “Have Blaesus report to the galley with his maps and proposal. Make sure he's not wearing that toga. Tell Flamma to heat up some spiced wine. And it wouldn't hurt for you to—”

“I'll take care of it, Centuriae. Now go meet him before he walks away.”

Kaeso stayed on the engineering deck and made his way through the cramped corridor to the main entry air lock at the ship’s nose. He passed the two cargo bays, Bay One on the left and Bay Two on the right, both depressingly empty. At the airlock between the bays, the external monitors showed Vallutus in the way station connector. He was a short man, bald, with a paunch hanging over his jump suit’s belt. His gaze furtively swept up and down the waystation corridor. Kaeso supposed his nervousness was natural considering the job he had for
Caduceus
.

“Salve, Vallutus,” Kaeso said into the speaker. “I'll have this door open in a moment.”

“Salve, Centuriae Aemilius. Thank you.”

Kaeso pointed at a few buttons on the tabulari interface. Red warning lights flashed near the door, and a buzzer sounded as air pressure equalized in the connector. Kaeso then moved a slider on the tabulari, and the
Caduceus's
entry hatch slid open. The way station hatch at the other end of the connector also opened. Vallutus hurried in, and Kaeso went to meet him.

“Welcome aboard
Caduceus
,” Kaeso said, extending his arm.

Vallutus took his arm in a firm grasp. “I cannot stay long, Centuriae, but I thought I should tell you in person. Honor demands it.”

Kaeso did not like the sound of that.

“We can talk in the galley.”

“No, I cannot stay long. I'm breaking the contract. You will get your cancellation fee, as we agreed.”

Kaeso stared at Vallutus. “I don't understand.”

“Centuriae,” Vallutus said in a hushed tone, “I was foolish to hire you to go to Menota to begin with, no matter how many marques are still there. It is a dead planet with a violent, tragic history. If radiation from the Roman diraenium bombs doesn’t kill you, the Cariosus plague will. Now Libertus has its no-landing treaty with Roma.”

“What? When did this happen?”

“Newscriers announced it over the system bands two hours ago.”

Kaeso shook his head. “That doesn't change anything. Landings have always been illegal. Roma patrols the entire system.”

“I have no problem crossing Roma. But Liberti
numina
…”

“My friend, Liberti
numina
do not exist.”

Vallutus's eyes widened. “You should not say such things! Of course they exist. They are what has kept Libertus free since its founding. How else do you explain the Roman fear of conquering Libertus, the one world that has made so much trouble for them for centuries? It's the Liberti
numina
. Everyone knows that. You would do well to respect them yourself—you’re Liberti.”

“Yes, but—”

Kaeso didn’t know what to say. How could he explain to Vallutus the “Liberti
numina
” were not what he thought? That they were not god-like spirits protecting Libertus from the Romans or the Zhonguo Sphere or the other tyrannical empires and governments that coveted its prosperity? How could he explain it to Vallutus in a way that would not kill Kaeso on the spot?

“Vallutus,” Kaeso said slowly, “the Liberti
numina
are a myth. They do not exist. They are just a story concocted to scare off anyone who would threaten Libertus.”

Vallutus scoffed. “Do you think the Romans are afraid of a story? My friend Aemilius, I have personally seen how those who cross the Liberti end up. I have seen ships explode carrying men or cargo wanted by the Liberti authorities. Some of my less savory associates were assassinated in places protected by trusted men and solid security systems. The
numina
are real, my friend.”

“Vallutus, the
numina
are not real. They're—”

Light and pain exploded in Kaeso's eyes and behind his right ear. He shut his eyes and leaned against the connector wall until the pain subsided. When he opened his eyes again, Vallutus stared at Kaeso fearfully.

“Centuriae, are you well?”

“Fine,” Kaeso grunted. “We need this contract, Vallutus. I promise you, with your resources we can bribe the Roman patrols to let us land on Menota. We can get into the vaults. My crew has the skills. We can handle the radiation and any Cariosus. The money is just sitting there, Vallutus, waiting for someone who’s not afraid of shadows to take it.”

“No, you proved it just now, Centuriae. You insulted the
numina
with your denial, and from a son of Libertus. They tried to strike you down.”

“No they didn’t. It was just a headache.”

“I'm sorry, Centuriae,” Vallutus said. “I will deposit the cancellation fee into your ship's account within the hour. Good day to you.”

Vallutus turned and hurried out of the connector. Kaeso watched him leave with anger, sadness, and a little bit of fear.

“Centuriae,” chimed Lucia's voice from Kaeso's collar. “Why did I just see Vallutus leave?”

Kaeso swallowed. “Have the crew meet in the galley.”

“Blaesus and Flamma are already there. I'll call Nestor.”

“And the twins.”

Lucia paused. “I doubt Dariya will listen to me if she's got a leak to fix.”

“Then tell her it's an order from me,” Kaeso said. “You're my damned Trierarch, Lucia, the second-in-command. You shouldn't need the threat of me to back you up. This feud between you and Dariya is wearing on me.”

Lucia paused again. “Centuriae, what just happened?”

“We lost our contract with Vallutus. We have some decisions to make.”

“So that's it,” Kaeso told his crew in the galley. “Vallutus is out. Our funds for the way station docking will run out in three days. We need a contract now.”

The crew’s grim faces reflected Kaeso's mood. Blaesus sat at the table drinking the warm spiced wine Flamma had set out for Vallutus. Flamma and Nestor sat on either side of Blaesus, staring at their cups. Dariya and Daryush leaned against the far wall of the cramped galley with their hands in the pockets of their greasy jumpsuits. Lucia stood beside Kaeso, her arms folded over her Liberti merchant uniform, now unbuttoned at the collar.

Blaesus responded first. “I for one never believed in the Liberti
numina
. Whole lot of rubbish meant to scare Roman kiddies before bedtime. You were in the Legions, Lucia. I suppose you told a good
numen
ghost story around the campfire, eh?”

Kaeso glanced at Lucia, who shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

“Sure, stories,” she said. The set of her jaw told Kaeso she knew more than just stories.

“I am not so sure they are stories,” Nestor said, his quiet Greek accent ominous. “My previous employer once told me he had a partner who killed a Liberti lictor when they raided his slavery stable. He bragged about it, and scoffed at the Liberti
numen
tales. One night, in a tavern filled with over sixty loyal men, he went to the latrine...and never came out.”

Flamma leaned close. “He died on the
cac
pot?”

“No, he just never came out. He disappeared. Many saw him go in, my employer included, but no one ever saw him leave. When my employer went to check on him, all he found was a single drop of blood on the floor.”

Blaesus downed his spiced wine. “Perhaps he crawled down the
cac
pipes.”

“You mock,” Nestor said, “but these things happen to people who cross Libertus. The Liberti have powerful patron gods.”

“Latin myths do not scare me,” Dariya said. She pulled a pendant with a winged disc from beneath her collar. “Ahura Mazda, Lord of Wisdom, protects me and all who acknowledge him.”

“Ah,” Blaesus said, pouring more wine into his cup, “your gods can beat up our gods, eh?”

“All right,” Kaeso said, “before we get into a religious fight, let’s talk about our options. We need money to keep flying. Otherwise, I can't afford to run this ship, much less pay you.”

Lucia asked, “What about the cancellation fee from Vallutus?”

“It’ll cover the cost of raptor gizzards, but not way station docking fees.”

Blaesus took a sip of wine. “Vallutus can't be the only 'collector' wanting to pilfer Menota.”

“He's not,” Kaeso said, “but we don't have time to find another one. It took weeks to build enough trust with Vallutus so he was satisfied we weren't undercover Roman agents. It’ll take that much longer now that Libertus is watching Menota.”

The crew thought quietly for almost a minute.

Flamma broke the silence. “The patrician lady who introduced us to Vallutus. Maybe she's a collector?”

Blaesus snorted. “Old Barbata may be a collector, but she doesn’t have the money to pay for our services. She gambled and drank away her family's fortune and had to flee Roma in disgrace. All she has now are contacts with people who’d rather not hear from her.”

Flamma grinned. “Sounds familiar, eh, Senator?”

Blaesus slammed his wine cup on the table, some of it sloshing over the top. He glared at Flamma, nostrils flaring. “Just what are you implying,
gladiator
?”

Flamma's grin faded. “Calm down, I was just joking.”

“Well your wit is as flaccid as your sword arm. Or other parts of your anatomy, if the gossip columnists were right.”

Flamma jumped up, his lanky frame towering over Blaesus.

“Flamma, sit down,” Kaeso said. “Blaesus, stop drinking.”

Flamma eased back into his seat, eying Blaesus venomously. Blaesus smiled at Flamma, then gave Kaeso an exaggerated salute, a fist to the chest and then a straight arm. “As you wish, Centuriae.”

“Is there anyone else who could finance a landing on Menota?” Kaeso asked.

Blaesus gave a lopsided grin. “The only ones I know won’t return my calls.” He eyed Flamma again, and then took a drink.

“Fine,” Kaeso said. “Then if nobody else has a better idea, I say we go to Menota anyway. Without a patron.”

Now the crew stared at him, shocked. Kaeso didn't look at Lucia, but he knew her officer's reserve struggled to keep her face calm.

As Kaeso expected, Blaesus spoke first. “I applaud you, Centuriae. Your oratory skills are improving. You give us a picture of our dire situation and led us to consider ideas that would never work. Once we realize how neck-deep in
cac
we are, you throw out the plan you wanted all along. Now that we're good and desperate, you think we'll jump at it. Well done, Centuriae.”

“Thank you.”

“Just one question: how does the Centuriae propose we land on Menota? Keep in mind we don’t have a patron to loan us the money to bribe the Roman sentries.”

“We use what's left in the
Caduceus's
reserves, along with Vallutus’s cancellation fee.”

Nestor cleared his throat. “Centuriae, we still need the raptor gizzards for—”

“We'll get those when we come back.”

Nestor paled. “Centuriae, we cannot—!”

“Nestor, Zhonguo ships and ships from a dozen other agnostic worlds zip around the universe without raptor gizzards, and they don't get lost. I think the gods will forgive us for this one trip. If it makes you feel any better, we'll sacrifice some extra gizzards on our next voyage.”

“No, sir, it does not make me feel better. All it takes is one unholy way line jump into oblivion and there will not be a ‘next voyage’.”

Lucia said, “And there won't be a ‘next voyage’ if we don't get the money for these bribes.”

“Granted,” Blaesus said, “the raptor sacrifice is, um, a tradition we can do without—”

“It is more than tradition,” Nestor said. “It is our petition to the gods for—”

“—But we don’t have the coordinates Vallutus was going to give us. I know the vaults’ approximate location on Menota, but not precisely. Menota has a lot of landmass on which we could get lost.”

“Make an educated guess,” Kaeso said.

“Ha, an educated guess, he says. If I’m wrong, we could wander the radioactive ruins for days. The Roman sentries will not give us days, even if they are well-bribed.”

“When are you ever wrong, Blaesus?” Kaeso asked.

Blaesus laughed. “Centuriae, you’re making me look bad. If I wasn't so drunk, I’d easily avoid all your oratory traps. Very well, before you humiliate me again, I accept your challenge and will endeavor to make an ‘educated guess’ regarding the vaults’ location. May the gods have mercy on us all.”

Kaeso looked at the rest of the crew. “This is a dangerous job. We’ll be dodging Roman sentries and the Cariosus plague. Possibly Liberti security of the
human
variety.” He eyed Nestor.

“So I’m going with or without you,” Kaeso said. “Because I’ve nowhere else to go. I’ve never asked for a vote on jobs, and I'm not starting now. But you’re not slaves or indentured servants. Only freedmen on this ship. So if this job isn’t for you, you're welcome to sit it out. No hard feelings.”

Kaeso paused, giving them a chance to get up and leave, or give him better ideas. No one moved or spoke.

“What say you?”

After a silent moment, Lucia said, “I will go, Centuriae.”

Kaeso turned and nodded to her, though she kept her arms folded with an uncertain air.

“Of course I'm going,” Blaesus said. “The promise of riches and adventure is what lured me to this crew in the first place. Flamma, stop giving me that sour face and put your lot in with us. I couldn't bear a voyage with no one to debate the merits of empire versus republic.”

Flamma stared at Blaesus and then shrugged. “Fine, old man.”

Dariya said, “We will go, too. We are not afraid, eh, 'Ush?”

Daryush nodded his shaved head vigorously.

Kaeso looked at Nestor. “We need a medicus. We can operate the delta sleep and figure out the clean suits on our own, but if something goes wrong...”

Nestor sighed. “Centuriae, once again, we cannot perform a way line jump without the proper rituals.” Then he winced. “But I suppose the frozen chickens in the freezers would perhaps appease the gods. Just this once.”

Kaeso grinned. “Good. Dariya, how’s the grav generator?”

“I opened the compartment without too much damage,” she said. Glancing at Daryush, she added, “We should have it done within the hour.”

“Then we leave in six hours as scheduled. Thank you all.”

Lucia waited until the crew filed out, shut the galley hatch, and then turned to Kaeso. “Centuriae, I think this job is a bad idea.”

“Of course it is, but it's the only choice we have. The money on Menota will keep us flying for years. All we have to do is go down and take it.”

“Sir, I understand that, but there are acceptable risks and insane risks. In my opinion, this falls under the latter.”

“Opinion noted. Anything else?”

She frowned. “The Liberti
numina
are real.”

Kaeso closed his eyes. “Lucia, I've told you—”

“I saw one.”

Impossible,
Kaeso thought. “What did you see?”

Her gaze dropped to the floor, as if embarrassed at what she was about to say. “Before the Kaldethi Rebellion blew up, my century was ordered to surround the Libertus embassy on Kaldeth to prevent any dissidents from defecting. One night a Kaldethi mob tried to get a dissident
flamen
into the embassy. My century formed ranks to stop them. The mob threw rocks and firebombs at us. We returned fire. We killed many.”

She stopped, gathering her thoughts. “Then the centurion next to me grabbed my arm. His...his back was arched in a strange angle. Then a red line opened on his throat, as if by an invisible blade. His blood sprayed on me. Some other soldiers behind him suffered the same fate. Their throats just opened up. The mob saw my men fall and pushed forward. Our pulse rifles couldn’t stop them. They stampeded over us and got the dissidents past the Libertus gates.”

Lucia put her hands in the pockets of her uniform. “Once the mob passed us, I saw...a figure. It shimmered like a black road on a hot day. I could only see its arms. They were covered in blood. I fired at it, but it ducked behind a building. I never saw it again.”

Kaeso knew he’d have to be careful with what he said next. The pain behind his right ear had started and would make him pay for revealing too much.

“I don't know what you saw,” he said. “It could have been anything. You said yourself it was a dark, chaotic night. Lucia, I promise you; there are no
numina
.”

Lucia gave a mirthless laugh. “You always say that, yet you never give me proof. How do you
know
, Centuriae? Please tell me, because I want you to convince me they’re not real.”

A quick stab of pain came from the implant. A warning. Kaeso had no intention of saying anything, but the implant never missed an opportunity to remind him of his vows.

“You're right,” he said. “I’ll never convince you with my words alone. Do you trust me?”

She gave a noncommittal nod.

“Lucia,” he asked again, “do you trust me?”

She looked up at him. “I do.”

“Menota has Cariosus and Roman sentries. That’s it. Look to those two problems. They're big enough, so don’t add mythical creatures to your worry list.”

He knew she wasn't convinced, but she nodded anyway. “Yes, Centuriae.”

She turned and left the galley without another word. Kaeso stared after her. His entire crew had a secret past from which they ran, him included. But at least they could choose whether or not to reveal their secrets. Kaeso had no such luxury. If he revealed what he knew of the “Liberti
numina,
” his implant would kill him on the spot and the “
numina
” would track down his crew and silence them to keep Liberti's centuries-old secret.

Because that’s what he did when he was a “
numen
.”