“It's a good one, Admiral,” Khremes added. “That you, Khremes?” Eudemos said. He might not have recognized Menedemos' voice, but he knew the carpenter's at once. “You've got pretty good sense. If you say it's worth listening to, I'll hear it.” He came down the Freedom's steeply sloping gangplank and hurried toward Menedemos and Khremes. Menedemos got the notion he did everything in a hurry. He was somewhere in his forties, with a graying beard, a jutting nose, and hard, watchful eyes. “Ah, Philodemos' son,” he said to himself, placing Menedemos. “All right— you know a little something about ships, anyway. Say on.” Menedemos did, finishing, “Too many pirates get away. If we had some ships like these, maybe some of them wouldn't. That's what I'm hoping for.” He waited to see how Eudemos would take the idea. The admiral had heard him out without giving any sign of what was in his mind. Once Menedemos finished, Eudemos said not a word to him, instead turning to Khremes and asking, “Can we build such ships?” “Yes, sir,” the carpenter answered. “Yes, sir, without a doubt we can. They might even be cheaper than ordinary triremes. You'd want 'em light—you wouldn't close in the whole deck or build on an oarbox of solid planks, so you'd save timber.” That got Eudemos' attention. “I—see,” he said, and turned back to Menedemos. “You've given me something new to think about, and that doesn't happen every day. A whole new class of warship . . . Euge!” “I was just passing the time of day with Khremes when I said something that struck both of us,” Menedemos said. “That was when we came looking for you.” Eudemos briskly dipped his head. “Having a good idea is one thing. Knowing you've had a good idea is something else again. People have lots of good ideas when they're just passing the time of day. Usually, they keep right on talking and forget all about them. You didn't. A trihemiolia, eh?” He tried the unfamiliar word, then dipped his head again. “A lot of pirates may be sorry you didn't, too.” “By the gods, I hope so,” Menedemos growled. “Yes, you're another one who got attacked, aren't you?” the admiral said. “I certainly am, sir.” “Well, as I say, the pirates who struck you and a lot of their mates may be sorry they did it. That may prove one of the most important bits of piracy since Paris stole Helen, but not the way the pirates had in mind.” Eudemos sounded as if he thought it was. Sostratos thought it was one of the most important bits of piracy of all time, too, on account of that polluted gryphon's skull, Menedemos thought. But then, the admiral has to think straighter than my cousin. “Do you read and write?” Eudemos asked Khremes. “Some, sir. Nothing fancy,” the carpenter answered.
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