didn't convince Menedemos. Here close to the mainland, the wind didn't blow steadily out of the northwest any more. Menedemos ordered the sail lowered from the yard. The sailors sprang to obey. They'd spent a lot of time taking turn and turn again at the oars, and were glad to let the breeze push the akatos along for a while. The Aphrodite probably would have gone faster had Menedemos kept the men rowing, but he didn't worry about it. They wouldn't have made Taras before sundown if he'd tried a sprint with a man at every oar. That being so, he was content to loaf along with the fickle breeze. 'Sail ho!' Aristeidas called, and pointed out to sea. 'Maybe we'll see what all that rowing practice got us,' Diokles said. 'Maybe,' Menedemos said. The lookout's call had been plenty to bring the crew back to full alertness. He liked that. But the sail, when they got closer, proved to belong to a little fishing boat. Menedemos relaxed. So did his crew. The fishermen tried to flee, as fishermen usually did on spotting the Aphrodite. The wind, though, chose that moment to fail. Menedemos put some men on the oars and easily overhauled the boat. When the frightened fishermen found out he aimed to trade and not to rob, they were so relieved, they gave him enough squid to feed the whole crew to the point of gluttony in exchange for a couple of jars of wine - not golden Ariousian, but the rough red the men drank at sea. Fried in olive oil on little charcoal-burning braziers, the squid smelled wonderful. Menedemos' mouth watered. His belly rumbled. 'Sitos is all very well,' he said, 'but we can be opsophagoi to our hearts' content tonight.' 'I'll eat bread with my squid,' Sostratos protested. But Menedemos pounced. 'Ha! From your own mouth you stand convicted. If you weren't going to be an opsophagos, you'd eat squid with your bread.' Sostratos considered that, then dipped his head. 'Guilty, sure enough.' He grinned. 'Why not? We've got plenty.' He popped a little one into his mouth. The sun was still low in the east the next morning when the Aphrodite came to Taras. Plenty of ships were on the water there: fishing boats like the one whose crew they'd frightened, beamy merchantmen, and a couple of patrolling fives. One of the war galleys came up to give the akatos a closer inspection. 'We're the Aphrodite, out of Rhodes,' Menedemos said in some annoyance as an officer shouted questions. 'We're not fornicating pirates, and I'm getting tired of being taken for one.' He cupped a hand behind his hear. 'What's that? Cargo? We've got fine Khian wine - the best - and papyrus and ink, and Rhodian perfume and Koan silk for your ladies. And we've got peafowl and peafowl eggs, the likes of which you've never seen here in Great Hellas.' 'We hope they've never seen them,' Sostratos said softly. By the way the Tarentine officer exclaimed in astonishment, that hope looked like coming true. 'Go ahead, Aphrodite,' the fellow called when he'd regained his composure.
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