Praetorian Series [3] A Hunter and His Legion (15 page)

The Lighthouse and Library of Alexandria.

Both were long gone well before my time, the library damaged and then destroyed a number of times, and the lighthouse probably having just fallen away over the course of time. I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to it, but I knew tourists could book scuba dives near the port of Alexandria back in the future to see its ruins.

As for the library, i
f I remembered correctly, it was first put to the torch accidentally by Julius Caesar when fighting a battle there.  It was speculated by some that he had actually destroyed the entire thing, but the subject was controversial, and I’d never put much stock in it, especially since Varus’ note told me to go there now.

“Ten degrees to port,” the Roman standing next to me
ordered.

I glanced at him when his wo
rds broke me from my thoughts, nodded, and did as I was told.

The man didn’t
exactly use such precise terminology, but he knew what he was doing.  He was short and bald, with a slight paunch running through his midsection.  He was the merchant who owned the flotilla of boats we’d procured, but even though I had paid him handsomely for their use, he wasn’t overly fond of being coopted by the military.  He’d just sailed into Caesarea a few days after we had arrived ourselves, having had no idea that it had become a war zone.

And h
e hadn’t been very happy.

“How’s that?”  I asked
once my adjustment was completed.

“Better,” he said approvingly, “but you are still sloppy.  You have to pick a position on the horizon when approaching land and
steer us toward it… not let your mind wander and crash us into very large rocks!!”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Gnaeus.”

He grunted an acknowledgment and went back to ignoring me.

I smiled.  The man
only tolerated me more than my friends because I was the one lining his pockets, but that didn’t mean he was particularly friendly.  He was only tolerant, which was fine with me. I didn’t need any more friends on this trip.  Things were getting crowded enough around here as it was.

“Hunter…
” Gnaeus growled again, spurring me back into action.

I
quickly shifted the wheel in response.  “Sorry.”

“Sorry will not keep us from smashing into
very large rocks!”

“
Enough with the
very large rocks
already, I said I was...”

“Anything the matter, boys?” Came the sweet voice of Helena from the steps.

We both straightened at her voice, and I glared at Gnaeus when it seemed like he was trying too hard to impress her, and he gave me a snobbish look in return.

“Everything’s fine,” I replied
.  “Isn’t it, Gnaeus?”

“Of course,” he replied.

Helena smiled at the Roman and put her hand on his shoulder.  “I hope my dear Jacob hasn’t been too much of a bother.  He can be quite dense sometimes, believe me.”

I tilted my head back and rolled
my eyes, but kept my attention on our course.

“Can’t you, dear?”  She asked, moving to stand next to me and wrap
an arm around me.  She shot up on her toes and planted a small kiss on my cheek.

“Umm…
sure,” I answered.

Gnaeus
grunted and looked away.

“Yes, well, he certainly can
be,” he said.  “Now, if you will excuse me, I must prepare my things before we reach land.”  He paused mid-step.  “Try not to crash us into the lighthouse, Hunter.”

“Yes, sir!”  I replied cheerily.

The cantankerous Roman merchant left, and Helena and I watched him go.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

I chuckled.  “You won’t be when I actually crash us into very large rocks.”

“Oh please, you’ll do fine.  Just don’t let me distract you.”

“No more kisses then, if you please.”

She smiled and kissed me anyway
, but I managed to keep us on course.

Somehow.

***

For the next twenty minutes, I kept my attention locked on our destination
and nothing else: a small dock near the southern edge of the city.  It wasn’t near the lighthouse, much to my dismay, but Gnaeus knew the dockhand and guaranteed us a safe place to keep the legionnaires aboard secret.  Hopefully, we would only need to stay here a few days, but I had no way of guaranteeing that.  If we stayed any longer than that, we’d have to devise some kind of schedule so they could get out and stretch their legs.

But one thing at a time.

For now, I had to make sure I parked this thing in a way that kept it from being smashed to pieces, but thankfully Gnaeus had returned not long after he’d left, and helped me maneuver us in, keeping his comments civil this time, probably because Helena was still around.  He signaled to a man near the steps leading below deck, and a few seconds later I heard the rhythmic beating of the rowers’ drum cease.  They then pulled in their oars so that wind power could guide us the rest of the way in, while sailors collapsed a number of sails as well to slow us down.  I bit my tongue as I made gentle course corrections, making sure I lined up our approach perfectly.  Santino, meanwhile, stood at the bow of the deck with his right foot on the railing, guiding us in with his upraised sword – ever helpful.

“Careful
…” Gnaeus whispered.  “Careful…”

“Yeah, yeah,” I
mumbled as I pulled us in alongside the dock.  “I’ll show you careful…”

“Careful…”

But we were still going too fast.  Unsure if it was my fault or not, I clung to the wheel in a death grip.  A few seconds later, everyone aboard lurched forward as we crashed into the dock, and I watched as Santino was pitched over the railing and a few others on the upper deck fell to the main deck only a few feet below.  I heard something crack loudly as we came to a stop and noticed Helena run forward to check on Santino.

Gnaeus was
already glaring at me.

“Sounds expensive,” I remarked.

He kept his gaze fixed on me for only a little longer before he tore his eyes away and stormed down the steps, shouting for someone to help him survey the damage.  I looked for Helena and found her waving me over.  I ran to meet her and followed her finger over the railing to the dock below.  There I found Santino sprawled out on top of a smashed vendor stall, jumping fish scattered all around him.

“You okay?” I yelled down to him.

He moved his head slowly to look up at us.

“Yeah,
” he grunted.  “Fish broke my fall.”

H
e reached beneath him and pulled out a wiggling fish, and I let out a sigh of relief.

If he’d been hurt,
I’d have never heard the end of it.

Helena
patted my back.

“Ready?” She asked.

I looked at her.  “Yep.  Let’s get this crazy train moving.”

***

Thirty minutes later, every single temporally displaced member of our group was walking through the streets of Alexandria along with Gaius, Marcus, Madrina, and Titus, who hobbled along with Vincent’s help. Much like Caesarea and Damascus, Alexandria had a very Middle Eastern vibe to it, only far more posh and upscale than their modern equivalents, and this city in particular was something special.  Buildings were immaculate, dirt and dust were negligible, people walked to and fro at their leisure, and the city hustled and bustled like any twenty first century metropolitan city.  The buildings were shaded in tans, browns, and whites while red brick and green shrubs littered the streets and walls in an impressive show of opulence.

“It’s beautiful,”
Artie remarked from beside Helena.

“Eh,” Santino
uttered, walking at her other side, “seen one of these stupid cities, you’ve seen them all.  I’m sure we’ll be responsible for destroying it within the week, anyway.”

I g
round my teeth at the comment.

I knew he was just joking, but I wished he’d at least keep comments
like that to himself.

“It is quite
lovely,” Archer said, but no one really cared what he had to say and stayed quiet, so he decided to continue.  “But what exactly are we doing here again?”

“
We’ve been over this,” I replied. “This is where Varus wanted me to go.  We’re to meet a researcher that works at the Library of Alexandria and ask him about what Varus was working on before he was recalled to Rome.  Then we go from there.”

“What
could we possibly hope to find in a library?”  Archer demanded.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Helena mumbled, still not thrilled with the idea of me in a library.

“How should I know?” I snapped.  “But did Varus tell
you
to go somewhere else?”

Archer shook his head, not happy.

“Well there you go!  We go to the fucking library then!  If Varus left us some crumbs to follow, we should be able to figure something out.”

“
Ignore him, Jacob,” Artie said, but then heaved a deep breath.  “I only wish we spoke the local language, or any of these languages for that matter.  I don’t see how I can help.”

“If we come across something technical, your expertise
could come in handy.”

“Then maybe I should stay on the ship?”  She suggested.  “It could be dangerous.  We…”

“You’ll be fine, Artie,” I promised.  “You have plenty of protection.”

“Jacob, I’ve seen your
scars,” she said, but paused to look amongst the group as we walked.  “I’ve seen all of your scars, and I know
you
, at least, didn’t have them before you got here, and I assume they didn’t either.  This place is dangerous and I’m not a soldier.”

“Just stick with Archer and his team.  They don’t understand the language either, but are still fully
capable of defending you.”

“Don’t forget me,” Santino said, sliding up beside Artie to loop his arm through her own.  “Protecting beautiful women is a specialty of mine.”

Artie patted his arm and rested her head against his shoulder momentarily as she smiled.

I frowned, but then thought of something.

“See Artie?  You’re well protected.  You’ve even got your very own pirate bodyguard willing to lay down his life to save your own.  Isn’t that right, Mr. Pirate?”

Santino’s look
wasn’t very confident, but he managed a nod.

Who
the hell did he think he was fooling?  It wasn’t like I was going make this easy on him.  It’s what big brothers are for.

“So,” I started again, “why don’t we
find some kind of lodging arrangements and rest up for a bit. Then some of us will go to the library while the rest of you do some sightseeing.  How about that?”

“I suppose that will work,” Artie agreed
nervously.

“Great.  Let’s get to it then
.”

***

“What am I doing here, Hunter?”  Archer asked impatiently, hours later.

“Providing
backup,” I replied carefully, not wanting to rile him up.

The truth was
that I wanted to keep an eye on him, but it wasn’t like I could just tell him that.  The last thing I needed right now was to alienate him.  I didn’t want to risk open conflict between the two teams, but I still didn’t trust him.  I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had some kind of ulterior motivations here, so the closer I kept my eye on him the better.

“And because I know you,
” I clarified. “At least, I knew a version of you, and I’m confident he, at least, could watch my back.”

“I’m thrilled by your confidence
,” Archer said.  “Your voice is just dripping with earnestness.”

I grudg
ingly held back further comment, as his tone was no more supportive than my own, and I was reminded how careful I had to tread with him.

Luckily, the great Library of Alexandria was coming into view
, and I couldn’t be more excited.  We were still a few hundred meters out, but I could see the complex of buildings in detail already.  It was enormous, with a cream colored façade and large marble columns running along the length of maybe two dozen buildings that stretched out in a semicircle.  Dozens of steps led up to the magnificent structure’s central entrance and there were hundreds of scholarly looking men loitering about, deep in conversation.

It was as if Raphael’s painting,
The School of Athens
, had come to life – only set in Alexandria.

Were these
actual ancient philosophers or historians who’d come to Alexandria to study and cogitate on meaning of life stuff?  Sure the likes of Aristotle and Plato were long gone, but acute thinkers still existed today, and besides Athens, I could think of no better place for learned men to gather.  As we grew closer, I could see some men weren’t simply talking, but were engaged in heated debate, and a part of me wanted nothing more than to jump right in and argue with one of these guys about whatever the topic of conversation was.