This was a rare day off for Dag. It was turning out that the environmental officer had a lot to do when industry and residence were all on the same ship. The gases and fumes from chemical processing had to be gotten away from the passengers. A new smoke stack had been added near the stern of the ship, which worked fine while the ship was underway, but not so well in dock or at anchor. Though, at anchor, they could mostly put the stern downwind. Plus Dag had his duties as the commander of this contingent of the Silver Shields.
Dag put away thoughts of his jobs and looked around the food sellers’ carts to see what was on offer. There was less variety than would have been seen in the twenty-first century, but more than he had been expecting.
☆ ☆ ☆
Panos Katsaros headed for the nearest brothel, as was his habit. And, as was custom since The Event, he was followed by a group of the crew. After this amount of time, some of them spoke Greek, but none of them spoke it well. Panos had managed to parlay his skill at parlaying into getting the other guys to pay for his entertainment.
What he didn’t know was that a Greek soldier had been sent ahead to the brothel to make sure that things went well and to encourage the girls to question Panos and the others about anything they could find out. The girls, and their pimps, would make more from reporting on Panos’ discussion than they made from Panos directly, and the ship people were overpaying in the first place.
Tyre
May 3
Nedelko met the boat in person, and was just as happy to see that Evgenij was still beside the big Gaul. “So, how are the ship people?” he asked.
“Crazy to a man. They have outlawed slavery. I think they plan on outlawing sex next.”
“No,” said the big Gaul. “Sex is natural.”
“You’ve been learning,” Nedelko said. Then he pulled a small clay jar from his cloak. “So have—” He stopped speaking and moving. He almost stopped breathing at the reaction. Evgenij had his crossbow pointed at Nedelko. The big Gaul had a little thing pointed just as unerringly. “I was simply pointing out that we had been learning too.” Very carefully, Nedelko put the jar away.
“How did you figure out the formula?” Dag asked.
“Trial and error. With one of the errors blowing up several buildings. We have the powder plant out of town now.” Nedelko wasn’t going to explain about buying the formula. Tyre might want to buy more information from Keith Seiver.
Roxane didn’t accompany them. For this first trip, at least, Roxane and little Alexander were staying on the ship. Well, mostly. She did take one of the boats in and sail along the dock, waving at the crowd. She had done the same at Alexandria and Ashdod. But she was being very careful not to put herself or her son anywhere they might be grabbed by any local potentate. She wondered how Eurydice was doing in Mugla.
Mugla
May 4
“The packet boat from Rhodes was carrying the ship people’s schedule,” Trajan told Eurydice. “I got it from Niko, Antigonus’ clerk. They are making a loop around the sea, then going back to the colony they set up on the other side of the world.”
“Roxane?”
“She was seen and so was King Alexander, but they didn’t leave the ship. No one is sure whether that’s because they didn’t trust Ptolemy or because they weren’t allowed to.”
Another guard came in and Trajan shut up. The Shields in her guard were paid by Antigonus, and some of them reported anything she said to him. This was one of his spies, Jovan. “The general wants to see you,” Jovan said.
☆ ☆ ☆
“The Queen of the Sea will be passing near here with the false king,” Antigonus said. “For your safety, we are moving you and Philip inland for the next few days.”
“I take it that is from the boat that just arrived.” The boat Eurydice spoke of was a small thirty-foot lateen-rigged sailboat with only four oars on a side, and those not used save in harbor or in dead calm. The rig had been changed since the Queen of the Sea visited Rhodes the first time, and the boat was faster than before.
“Yes. They announced their schedule to the world. They don’t appear to be concerned about pirates.” Antigonus sounded annoyed.
Eurydice laughed. “I wouldn’t be concerned with pirates either, if I owned such a ship.”
“Then you’re as much a fool as they are,” Antigonus said. “Any ship can be taken or destroyed if need be.”
He sounded even more irritated as he said that, which Eurydice took to mean that Antigonus hadn’t figured out a way to take the Queen of the Sea. Eurydice was starting to wonder if these great generals of Alexander’s were so great after all. Yes, Alexander had conquered half the world with them, but without Alexander to do their thinking for them, it seemed they couldn’t accomplish anything.
Eurydice was not modest. In fact, she was about as arrogant as a seventeen-year-old girl could be. But even she was surprised at the level of success she’d had. She’d ousted Peithon and Arrhidaeus from command of the army, and stopped Antipater from getting control. She had only fallen into Antigonus’ hands through bad luck, and what advantage had the man gained from her? Not much.
“When will they be arriving?”
“They aren’t coming here. They expect to be at Rhodes in eleven days. From there, they will go to the port of Izmir. From Izmir to Macedonia, then to Athens.”
“Did Roxane send any message to me?”
“No,” Antigonus said, but Eurydice didn’t believe him.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Can you find out what word Roxane sent me?” Eurydice asked Trajan.
“Maybe. What’s in it for me?”
Hesitation warred with Eurydice’s need to know and—as was usual with Eurydice—hesitation lost. She slipped a small gold ring from under her gown and passed it over.
“Thought so,” Trajan said. “How many of these did Roxane give you at Triparadisus?”
“A few,” Eurydice admitted. “There will be more if we flee. I am a member of the Argead dynasty.” Assuming Olympias didn’t have her killed, she was a member of the royal family. “And Philip is the king of Alexander’s empire.”
☆ ☆ ☆
Three days later she got the letter from Roxane. It was written on the back of some of Philip’s scribblings, so she knew it was genuine. The letter read:
Eurydice,
There may be help for Philip. The ship people were rich in their time, and their time was rich in wonders developed over the centuries. They may have a treatment for Philip’s condition. I don’t know the details and there are no promises. All I know of it is from a movie, a sort of recorded play, that you will have to see to understand. This movie, Temple Grandin, is about a woman who had a condition that at least seems like Philip’s, if not quite so severe. She found treatments for herself and became a successful scholar in her field.
Eurydice wondered what that field was, and why Roxane didn’t mention it.
One of the treatments was a hugging box that Grandin developed. Another I’ve heard about is weighted clothing, which was described to me by Doctor Laura Miles. It is also a possibility, though she doesn’t have much faith in their effectiveness. But there are educational techniques that will make it easier for him to interact and might allow you to have sex with him and produce an heir.
Eurydice stopped dead. Why would Roxane offer that? If Philip had a child, that child could inherit. Wait…maybe Roxane was hoping for a daughter who could marry her son? But that would be a risk unless Roxane had a means of insuring that only daughters survived. No. Roxane was conniving enough for that, but not brave enough to try it. At least she hadn’t been.
The ship is safe, and as long as I stay on it or in Trinidad, I am safe, as is my son. You could be safe here too, though I know that safety was never your goal. But there is much for you to learn and experience should you find yourself able to take the risk and trust me a little.
Roxane, Regent to Alexander IV,
Co-king of Macedonia and Persia
Queen of the Sea, Off Tyre
May 5
Epicurus, one of the university students, was a stocky young man with a large nose that had apparently been broken at least once. He looks like a thug in a dirty bathrobe and he is interested in food, whatever Marie Easley says, Patrick Gouch thought as he led the group of Greek philosophers and scholars on a tour of one of the Queen of the Sea’s kitchens. The other guys were interested in the induction stoves.
“No,” Pat explained “It’s true that they are efficient but because of the loss in running the generators, they aren’t actually more efficient than direct flame would be. The real reason the Queen of the Sea was designed with so much of the cooking done with induction and microwaves is because of safety. Even on a steel ship like this, open flames can be dangerous. Induction heats the pots and pans directly. A towel left too close to an induction heating element just sits there. A towel left too close to a gas burner catches fire and people get hurt.”
Epicurus motioned for the use of the translation app and asked, “What are those brown tubers?”
Guillaume Dubois came over to look at the party. He was a short man with a shorter temper. He had spent twenty years working his way up to master chef of one of the restaurants on the Queen, only to be dumped in the third century BC and lose three-quarters of his staff to the colony. The staff had been replaced by natives who didn’t speak English, Guillaume’s native French, or German or Italian, Guillaume’s other languages. After giving Pat an irritated look, he said, “They are tova, which are a sort of potato grown in this time in Venezuela. They managed to get lost somewhere in the two thousand years between now and then. They have an almost nutty flavor and our dietitian says she thinks they may be higher in protein than modern Irish potatoes.”
“If they are so good,” asked Aristippus, “why did they die out?”
Guillaume sniffed. “There could be any number of reasons. The Irish potato famine happened because a variety of potato was subject to a disease. That sort of potato is rarely grown anymore. Or it could be that the people who are eating these now switched over to corn for some reason.”
Epicurus asked about cultivation and asked to try one. “These are marvelous.” He grinned.
“You should try them with sour cream and chive dip,” Guillaume said.
“I will,” Epicurus said with a big smile.
Queen of the Sea, Port of Izmir
May 17
After a week in Tyre, they went to Cyprus, where they spent two days, then to Rhodes, where they spent four days and left with full holds. From Rhodes, they went to Izmir, near Sardis.
In Izmir, they were met by Eumenes.
“Welcome aboard, Strategos Eumenes,” Queen Roxane said as Eumenes boarded the Queen of the Sea. Cleopatra was not with him, which disappointed her a little bit, but didn’t really surprise her.
“It’s interesting to finally see it,” Eumenes said with a smile. “You are lovelier than ever, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you. The beauty shops on the Queen of the Sea are something no woman should miss.”
“And how is His Majesty?”
“Quite well, even if he spends altogether too much time in time-out.”
“What’s that?”
Roxane explained and Eumenes asked, “Can such a gentle reproach truly do any good?”
“It seems to,” Roxane said. “He spends less time in trouble than he used to, and he seems to be learning quite rapidly. He is starting to recognize his letters.”
“I look forward to seeing him.”
“You will. Don’t worry, Eumenes. The ship people are not threatening me or little Alexander. I can leave any time—” Roxane stopped for a moment. It might be worth it. She gave Eumenes a very measuring look.
“Your Majesty?”
“I trust you, Eumenes, I do. But to put myself in the hands of one of my husband’s generals after the partition at Babylon and what happened at Triparadisus…I’m not sure if I can bring myself to do that.”
“It would help, Your Majesty. In fact, it would help a great deal. It would even help were you to come ashore for a few days, examine the army with your son, then come back here. That last might help most of all. It would be proof that I am willing to let you come and go as you see fit. Please consider it.”
“I will. But why is Cleopatra not with you?”
Eumenes nodded. “For the same reason you are hesitant to go ashore. She wanted me to make sure that the ship people didn’t hold you against your will, and that they wouldn’t kidnap her if she boarded.”
“In the meantime, come with me. We will sit in the Royal Lounge and converse as though we are civilized people.”
“Aren’t we civilized?” Eumenes asked.
“I used to think so, but I am beginning to wonder.”
☆ ☆ ☆
“I am here to coordinate a little demonstration, just in case some of your troops are getting ideas,” the short woman told Eumenes.
He’d been told she was Dr. Marie Easley, an expert on this time. He found her appearance somewhat disorienting, even disturbing. The gray hair drawn back in a bun and the stern demeanor suggested a woman old in both years and authority. But that fit very poorly with Easley’s superb even white teeth and rather attractive appearance. She had the complexion and clear hazel eyes of a woman in her thirties or possibly forties, not a woman whom he guessed from her bearing to be well into her sixties; at the very least, in her late fifties.
“We failed to do that in Alexandria,” she continued, “and that had unfortunate results. Not for us, you understand. For Ptolemy’s army and the ships carrying his soldiers,”
“What sort of demonstration?” he asked.
“Pick a place in sight of the ship. Any place. It doesn’t matter to us. Make sure that it is empty of people. Put up some targets, shields, that sort of thing. Then we will demonstrate the guns. After that, perhaps Roxane will visit your army.”
Port of Izmir
May 19
Roxane rode in a carriage. It was a wheeled carriage, with latex tires and shock absorbers that had been made up by the ship’s machine shop. It was pulled by two white horses. She waved as she passed the lined-up phalanx of Alexander’s army. Silver Shields, in armor, stood guard in the carriage, and seated next to her was Dag Jakobsen. Alexander, in his walker, was standing in the opposite seat and waving at the army too. The carriage was a combination of ship people tech from their century and earlier centuries. When she had it made back in Trinidad, she’d doubted she would ever get to use it. It was trimmed and inlayed to look as royal as she could make it, and there were platforms for the guards to stand on. All the pomp and ceremony needed to impress the troops, and comfort as well.
The demonstration had gone very well. Eumenes put his target on a hilltop almost a mile inland, which was rather clever of him. But when he heard about the distance, Dag just laughed. They angled the guns up almost thirty degrees to get the range, and accuracy suffered. But they walked their shots across the field and the targets were ripped to shreds.
Eumenes’ army was impressed. “In shock” was probably a more accurate description.
So Roxane decided that she could afford a demonstration of her own. A demonstration of trust. Hence the inspection of the troops, and the waving happy little Alexander.
And that demonstration too was going very well. Her personal Silver Shields standing on the corners of the carriage were important to that, almost as important as Alexander was. These were men who would be recognized. Not by everyone in the army of Eumenes, but by enough so that everyone would believe that the Silver Shields did indeed support Roxane and Alexander, and by extension, Eumenes. They reached the end of the infantry phalanx and were now passing through the cavalry, the young men of noble families from all over Macedonia, and by now the rest of the Greek states and half of Persia.
Roxane kept waving and thanked the gods she wouldn’t be expected to speak.
☆ ☆ ☆
&
nbsp; The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the house Cleopatra had taken as her residence while in Izmir. The door opened. Roxane picked Alexander up from his walker and the tall, blond Gaul stepped out of the carriage and handed the queen down.
Cleopatra watched them and wondered. There were rumors about the ship people Gaul who was now one of Alexander’s bodyguards. Cleopatra was fairly sure that the interest was there, whether they had acted on it or not. She considered the advantage that might bring. Roxane was already a foreigner. If she married or became pregnant by someone from the ship, especially a blond barbarian, the army might rebel. She glanced over at Eumenes. He was frowning slightly. He saw the problem too.
Eumenes spoke, “Please come in and we’ll talk.”
Roxane carried King Alexander into the building, and the blond Gaul followed. Eumenes entered behind Dag, and Cleopatra followed Eumenes. The Silver Shields split up, two following them in and two taking up positions by the door.
☆ ☆ ☆
Everyone except the Silver Shields was seated, and Roxane looked over at Cleopatra. “You should come back to the ship with us.”
“Why?” Cleopatra asked. She was seated in an ornately carved wooden chair. Ornately carved, but with no padding. The room was open to the air. The day was a bit chill and the fireplace fought the cold breeze from the windows.
“Because if you are on the ship, you will be able to visit every port in Alexander’s empire, and be safe in them all,” Dag said. “On land you are, to some extent, under the authority of a general—whichever general happens to have an army close to you. On the ship, you are in a citadel that can keep you safe while letting you move around.”
“You will go where I tell you?” Cleopatra asked, disbelief clear in her voice.