This exhausted my patience, and I snapped,“Then you better come up with a better idea, Motius, or you won’thave to worry about those fucking pirates.”
Oh, he did not like that, but the look ofanger he gave me lasted for less than a heartbeat before he noddedand said, “No, you are right, Centurion. It is our best chance.But,” he looked up and gave me a sardonic smile, “you are going tohave to be the one to figure out how to make it work.”
It should come as no surprise that the firstperson I turned to was Alex.
Our only chance for escape was to make ituntil dark, then we could change our direction and slip away, butthe challenge was making it to that moment. Even if they had notbeen slaves, and even if they had been well-fed and well-rested, itwas simply beyond their capacity to row at full speed for two fullwatches. My men would not be effective in the kind of fighting thatwe would have to face, although I knew that if we had no choice,they would account for themselves. Frankly, I was the one unwillingto put my men in that position because I knew I would lose so manyof them, understanding Motius was correct in his assessment abouttheir effectiveness aboard ship. However, we could still use thatmanpower. Sixteen rows on each side, three oars per row, and a manon every oar, with the lowest row with two because of the angle,meaning one hundred twenty-eight men, and despite both Centuriesbeing understrength and our injuries from the storm, we had thenumbers. The challenge was how to replace men who were rowing at anaccelerated pace without risking the kind of thing I witnessedduring the storm, because, while it may not be quite ascatastrophic as allowing the ship to turn sideways to a toweringwave, it was not much better since, in simple terms, we could notafford to slow down. To discuss what I had in mind, I called everyofficer from both Centuries to the cabin, making it very cramped,but they all quickly understood the urgency and the importance ofthe task.
“We’re going to have to replace theslaves with our boys,” I cut right to the matter. “But we can’tafford to stop rowing because we don’t have a mast. Whoeverthese cunni are, they havethe same problem with their rowers becoming exhausted…”
“But they’ll still catch us becausethey have their sails,” Columella interjected glumly, and while Iwas irritated at the interruption, I refrained from chastising himfor the simple reason that he was right.
“How many of the men figured thisout?” I asked instead.
“It’s all they’re talking about downbelow, Pilus Prior,” Herennius offered, and the others who had beenbelow nodded their agreement.
My first reaction was that this was badnews, but then I hesitated before I continued speaking; seeingtheir expressions and knowing they needed to hear something, Ispoke slowly as the thought formed, “That might not be a bad thing,actually.”
“How so?” Saloninus frowned. “They’redown there getting ready for a fight, and putting on theirarmor…”
This caused me to react instantly, but whilemy first instinct was to dispatch Saloninus, it was because I stillthought of him as my Optio.
Instead, I turned to Gemellus, knowinghow the Signifer of the FirstCentury was viewed by the men, and ordered, “Go to the maincompartment and stop them from putting on their armor.”
Gemellus naturally respondedimmediately by reaching for the door, but then Saloninus stoppedhim to ask me, “What about their balteae? Should they be armed atleast?”
I was inclined to say yes, and clearly Alexsaw and understood that because he asked me, “Pilus Prior, wouldn’tthat hamper them sitting on the benches?”
As he normally is, Alex was correct, and Iadded this to my internal list of things where I had erred, but Iaddressed Gemellus as my way of answering.
“Tell them they stay in tunics withonly their pugio attached totheir balteae.”
Gemellus disappeared, and we returnedto the matter at hand, trying to figure out a way to do what we hadto do, all of us acutely aware that the moment was rapidlyapproaching. Above us, we could hear Motius shouting what Ipresumed were orders in his tongue, while the Hortator maintained the steady drumbeat that wasthe only thing keeping us out of even graver danger. I would notdescribe it as an argument, but it was a spirited discussion, andthis was one time where I did not feel the need to impose myauthority; frankly, I needed all the ideas I could get. Finally,however, we came to a consensus about what had the best chance ofworking.
“I’ll go tell Motius what his crewneeds to do,” I ended the meeting, “and you go get the menready.”
When I climbed up onto the rear upper deck,I immediately saw that at least two of the other ships of the sixpursuing us had managed to close with us to the point where theywere perhaps three ship lengths behind the vessel leading thepursuit, which was still the same distance to our left, but itseemed to me as if the prow of their ship was now slightly ahead ofour stern.
Motius saw where I was looking and obviouslyunderstood. “The amount they have gained is because of their sails,Centurion. It is not much at this speed, but every bit of it helpsthem. Now,” he asked grimly, “what have you decided to do? How willyour men replace ours?”
I explained briefly, and I was encouragedthat he nodded thoughtfully, although his gaze never wavered fromthe sea ahead of us; only later did I learn that he feared that wewere being driven into an ambush by other pirate ships waiting forus.
When he spoke, it was only to say, “Thatshould work, but I suggest that you reverse it, and start with themen on the top row first.”
“Why?” I was not being argumentative,and he did not seem to take it that way, replying simply, “Becausethey will be the easiest, while the angle of the oars on the lowestrow put the blades closer to the ship. That is why the bottom
