The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 14

Ky was surprised when Lucilla stood and left the meeting room with him.

“You aren’t going to stay?”

“No.  The only reason I was there was because you asked for my input, but  they would be uncomfortable if I stayed. Honestly, if the emperor  weren’t my father, they wouldn’t have tolerated a woman in that room at  all, at least not at the table as their equal.”

“That doesn’t seem right.”

“That’s how the world works.”

They  started walked out of the imperial palace and into the complex  courtyard again. Ky had a moment to consider why he kept coming this way  when he needed to think.

“Your presentation was interesting,” she said, breaking the silence.

“Everything  I said was the truth. I don’t know what else I can do to prove to all  of you that I wasn’t sent by your gods. I’m just a man with a past, just  like everyone else.”

“Not just like everyone else.”

“Okay, maybe not like everyone else here, but I’m also not some avatar, either.”

“I  still think you were sent by the gods, and you just don’t realize it  yet, but it doesn’t matter. Things will happen as they will. Arguing  over why things happened rather than discussing what happened is a waste  of time. I’ll leave that to the old me who’d spend all day trying to  pull explanations about the universe from their minds. The rest of us  have too much to do, especially now.”

“I can live with that.”

“Can you tell me what your life was like? You said you came from a place with people, just like here?

“I … I’m not sure where to start.”

“How about with your parents.”

“I  don’t have parents. I mean, I do have parents in that I was born to a  mother and a father, but in my society, people aren’t raised by their  biological parents. Everyone is tested at birth and split into groups,  which we call batches, based on what role they will eventually have.”

“That’s  strange. Kind of like the Spartans, although they live with their  parents until they reach a certain age before being handed over to the  lyceum. I still find the idea that parents don’t raise their children  strange. Don’t the parents feel sad, living without their children?”

“No,  because they don’t live together. Two adults are assigned to procreate  together, based on what type of offspring they are most likely to have.”

“They don’t live together? They breed like … horses?”

“They  do live together. I’m not explaining this well. The entire batch lives  in a dormitory together. They see each other every day, along with  everyone else from their batch.”

“If everyone lives in one building, how do the parents find time to … lay together and have a child.”

“Ohh,  they don’t. We … we no longer procreate in that method. The doctors  take what they need from each parent, and the baby is grown outside of  the mother, in a controlled environment.”

“How?”

“I was not trained as a doctor, so I have no idea how to explain the process. I just know that is how babies are conceived.”

“People don’t fall in love?”

“I’m  not sure. Sometimes there will be one person you prefer over others.  Someone you’ll spend time with alone, talking. If that is love, then I  guess yes, we do.”

“That isn’t love, Ky. Don’t you find someone you can’t live without? Someone who every organ of your body screams out for?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Yet you say you are human. This is the very essence of what humans are.”

“We  are human. Biologically we aren’t that much different from you, except  that our scientists make alterations as we gestate to increase  abilities. Our society is just very different.”

“You grew up surrounded by the same people your entire life?”

“Yes.  We took lessons together, relaxed together, trained together. Except  for times when we needed to work with others, like doctors or mechanics,  the only people we ever saw were those from our batch.”

“Did you have friends?”

“Of  course. There were some people in my batch I preferred over others.  There was Sara, who was a better pilot than me but was always  encouraging and Jax, who died in a test similar to the one I took part  in that sent me here.”

“Your friend died, and you did the same test, anyway?”

“Our  scientists said they’d fixed the problem that killed him. Apparently,  they did, since I wasn’t killed, just sent here instead.”

“You seem so calm about everyone thinking you’re dead.”

“Life is to serve. He did his duty, and I did mine.”

“Your world is so strange. I can’t imagine living the way you described. I am glad you were sent here to us.”

They  finished a loop of the courtyard, having returned to the imperial  palace. Ky was about to change the subject, when a guard came out,  making a straight line for them. Ky had a stray thought that this was  becoming something of a pattern, walking around the courtyard with  Lucilla until a guard was sent to retrieve them.

The Emperor was  alone in the meeting room when the guard brought them to him. He was  sitting, straight-backed, his eyes closed and face turned to the  ceiling. In an unguarded moment the leader of what remained of the Roman  people looked tired and frail. The med-pack may have repaired the  physical damage, but nothing could ease the burdens of leadership.

“Father,” Lucilla said softly as she walked towards him.

The Emperor’s seemed to shake himself as he opened his eyes, smiling at his daughter and Ky.

“You sent for us, Imperator?” Ky said.

“I did. I have more to impose upon you.”

Ky sat on the stool next to the emperor and waited, trying to keep his face impassive.

“You  need to work on your political face. You aren’t as controlled as you’d  like to think,” the emperor said, with a smile to let Ky know he was  teasing.

“I have just come to dread those words.”

“Understandable.  This time, at least, I hope my imposition will be less onerous. The  first thing is more of a benefit of your new station than a task. As  Consul, you are allowed twelve lictores.  They will work not only as your personal guard but as assistants. While  they too are status symbols, I believe you will find them helpful as  aides as well. I spoke with Aelius and Velius yesterday about this.  They, in turn, put out a call for volunteers. Every man of the Seventh  and Ninth Legions has volunteered. I was going to have them each chose  six they felt were appropriate, but I wanted to give you the chance to  choose your own men.”

“I am … surprised that many volunteered. I  haven’t met many of the men, at least not personally. The only two that  I’d ask for I’m not sure if you could afford to give up. I’d ask for Sellic,  Ursinus’s man, and Strabo, one of Aelius’s centurions. I understand if  both are needed in their current position and will trust you and the two  legates to make the best decision.”

“While I’m sure both are important to their commands, especially Sellic,  who is the only member of Lucilla’s guard to survive the trip to  Glevum. I have a suspicion that, once he hears of your request, Ursinus  will find that he can make do without the man. You shouldn’t be  surprised. You’ve done much to earn these men’s trust and admiration. I  will tell Aelius to select four men and Velius to select five men. I am  confident both think highly enough of you to select quality men for your  service.”

“If I am counting correctly, that is only eleven men,  not twelve. Not that I wouldn’t be fine with fewer men. I personally  have no ambition to have soldiers of my own.”

“You will have twelve. The last will be selected later, as I have a few ideas on this.”

“Emperor, please take no disrespect from this, but I feel your hand manipulating events around me again.”

Germanicus  let out a chuckle, shaking his head ruefully, “You’d be a fool not to.  Of course, I’m manipulating events around you, it’s what I do. I hope  you know I think the world of you, even after only knowing you for such a  short time. I promise I will not place more of my schemes on you than I  think you can handle.”

“I did say I was at your service.”

“I’m glad you remember that because I have two other requests.”

Ky  was surprised at what was becoming his automatic response. The  Emperor’s requests rarely seemed to bode well for Ky personally.

When  Ky did not object, the Emperor continued, saying, “Beyond the opening  day of the games, there are two other high points of the Games of Sulla.  The first, called the Tests of Jupiter, is held at the midpoint of the  games. Men perform feats of might and skill, judged by the crowd, with  the winner being hailed Jupiter’s finest. I will be clear, these are not  gladiatorial matches. The skills on display vary from games of boxing  to feats of strength to precision archery. As the officially anointed  Sword of Jupiter, I would like for you to put on a display of some kind.  The choice is yours.”

“My performance doesn’t have to be like the other games I saw, does it? I will not put up with participating in that.”

“No.  Like I said, this isn’t a gladiatorial match. You can choose the  contest, and it can be non-violent, as long as it’s exciting.”

“I will think of something then.”

“Excellent. The second is during the final day of the games when the Plebian Contests are held. This is specifically wrestling. We again ask for you to participate in that.”

“Fine,” Ky said, not wanting to open the door to any other requests the man might have on his mind.

“Father!” Lucilla warned.

“Yes, yes. I was going to tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

Lucilla  blushed and looked away from Ky as she said, “The wrestling is done in  the Greek fashion. All the contestants wrestle nude.”

“Okay.”

“You’re not … shocked?” Lucilla asked, her head whipping back up to look at him.

“No.  I described to you how things worked in my society, at least some. We  are not body-conscious. I have no problem with the request.”

The Emperor grinned widely and said, “I was certain that was going to be a sticking point. Ky, you never cease to amaze me.”

“Don’t  take my non-protest as happy acceptance. While I have no problem with  the style of wrestling required, I am not happy with how frequently I am  being trotted out as a trick pony, sent to amuse the crowds.”

“This should be the last, for a while at least.”

“Then, as long as this doesn’t interfere with what else I have to do, I should be fine.”

“Excellent. With that, I believe you will find Ramirus in the front hall.”

Ky stood and bowed, “Thank you, Imperator.”

Ramirus  was in the front hall, talking with a shorter but significantly  stockier man with thick black hair cut close to his head. They had  tucked themselves in an alcove away from the other groups of Romans  gathered around the front entryway as well as the path of those heading  to various points inside the palace. Ky slowed as he approached. He did  not want to interrupt their conversation, especially if it was sensitive  in nature, as Ky assumed many of Ramirus’s conversations were.

As soon as the imperial spymaster saw him Ramirus waved Ky over.

“I trust everything with the Emperor went well,” Ramirus said.

“Yes. He explained the lictores and that I should see you about filling one of the twelve spots.”

“I did ask him to allow me to talk to you about that. I would like you to meet Kaeso Vedius Carus. At the moment, Carus is one of my best men.”

Ky  and the short Roman exchanged nods of greeting. While Ky towered over  most of the Romans, he had met, even among his countrymen Carus would be  considered small, standing at just at five feet-four inches tall,  according to the data the AI fed him as he looked at the man.

“I have some concerns over how we are going to go about getting everything you asked for today done.”

“I think everyone in the room had the same concerns. We are talking about changing huge sections of Roman society.”

“While  that’s true, I didn’t mean I had concerns over the scope of the work  you laid out for us. I have very specific concerns about some of my  fellow citizens. Specifically, I believe there are men of high rank  inside the Empire conspiring against Rome.”

“Conspiring how?”

“I  am not sure. My problem is that thanks to a law passed during the  Emperor’s great-grandfather’s reign, establishing the first imperial  rule, I am not allowed to collect intelligence inside the Empire itself.  While I do have some unofficial resources in place, I’ve been forced to  keep my activities to a minimum to keep from being discovered.”

“I agree that’s a problem. I’m not sure why you’re telling me this.”

“The  laws were passed as a consolation to naming the first Emperor. Because  they were designed to hem in the Emperor, their language was very  specific. As Consul, you are not restrained in the same way, since you  are technically a separate agent of the state and not a direct  functionary of the Emperor, in the same way, the senators are not  directly answerable to the Emperor.”

“Which means if I employ  agents to spy inside of Rome’s borders, I am not breaking the law. I  also assume that as Carus is one of your best men, you mean he’s one of  your spies.”

“Yes, although from this point, he will become your  spy, not mine. He will answer to you and, while I will be available to  offer counsel should you need it, I will not be actively working with  him. I hoped that he could help you start up your own network.”

“Paying agents sounds expensive. I have no money.”

“You  do, actually. The position of Consul comes with a stipend, and we also  discussed that once payments start coming in for these patents of yours,  a piece of each payment will go back to you.”

“The whole point of  those payments is to make sure the empire has enough capital to pay for  the legions and equipment it is going to need.”

“Most of the  money will go towards that, but knowing what machinations are happening  here is equally important. The Emperor agrees this would be a good use  for that money. Your paying for this directly, without imperial funds,  will also help further support the idea that you are operating  independently.”

“I don’t know how to set up a spy network.”

“Carus does. Since he is one of your lictores,  people will not find it unusual for you two to be in regular contact.  He will be able to do most of the day to day managing of your agents,  under your direction, of course.”

“Won’t people figure out he isn’t a regular lictor?”

“No,  because he will be that as well. Carus was a member of the legion and  is well noted for his martial skill. He will serve as a member of your  guard in addition to his duties as your spymaster.”

“How do you feel about this, Carus?”

“I’ve  been training under Ramirus for a long time. There isn’t a lot of  chances for advancement in our line of work, at least not while the  person running the network still lives. This gives me a chance to take  what I’ve learned and build on it. Also, Ramirus is right. Romans love  scheming, and there is a lot of that happening at the moment.”

“Where would you begin?”

“By  spending your money. We need to start hiring informants as close to the  seats of power as possible and see what shakes loose. If we catch a  whiff of something happening we should know about, we can then bring in  more informants, closer to our target.”

“I assume you know how to do all of this?”

“I do.”

“Okay,  I’m fine with this, but if Carus is going to work for me than I want to  make sure he doesn’t also still work for you. The Emperor trusts you Ramirus, which means I do too, but I don’t want people with divided loyalties.”

“Understandable.  Carus is ambitious. While I will probably still confer with him from  time to time - with your permission, of course - I’m certain he wouldn’t  want me messing with his work any more than I’d want him messing with  mine.”

“Good. I will apparently be getting my first guardsman tomorrow. Do you plan on telling them your real purpose?”

“Not unless I have to tell them. I will take my turn just like all of your other lictores,  just with more visits than the rest. I will, of course, bow to your  wishes, but usually, the fewer people that know of these types of  activities, the better.”

“Do you know who will lead your lictores?”

“I asked the Emperor to assign Canus Laberius Sellic to me, and I was going to put him in command. He traveled with us when I first arrived.”

“I know Sellic. He’s a good man. I will speak with him then.”

“Fine. Keep me informed of what you’re doing to set up the network.”

“As you say, Consul.”

Both men turned and left the imperial complex.

Ky watched them leave and walked back towards his quarters when a thought struck him.

‘The  businesses we’re going to need to change their manufacturing systems  will need to grow, both to handle the changes and the increase of orders  coming from the government, if the new taxes and patent fees go into  effect,’ Ky sub-vocalized to the AI, ‘do they have a way to borrow the  money they’re going to need to grow? Do the banks, or whatever system  they use, have the capital to loan out that kind of money to multiple  businesses all at once?’

“The Romans do not maintain an  organized banking system. They do maintain privately owned banks that  take deposits and lend money, although without the sophistication of  modern banking. While banks in this era use fiat money to allow for  greater cash flow, there are no protections from shortfalls and they  suffer from wide fluctuations in value. There have been pushes by some  Romans to debase the currency to increase available capital, the Flavian  emperors, including the current emperor, have resisted these  pressures.”

‘Meaning they do have a way to get money to build their industries.’

“Affirmative.  Insufficient data available to determine if current lenders have the  available capital to lend in the necessary quantities.”

‘I  guess that is one of the things I need to talk about with them. Another  thought struck me, do they do much trade with outside governments? Is  the entire financial system of Rome based only on an internal economy,  or is there a wider market?’

“Rome is effectively isolated.  While they occasionally trade with Scandinavian traders, those  transactions are limited in scale and have been decreasing over the last  ten years due to military pressure from invading Germanic and Eurasian  tribes moving into their lands. The Carthaginians and their coastal  German vassals prohibit citizens from trading with the Romans while  Irish and northern tribes have maintained a near-continuous state of  war.”

‘Does Rome have a strong enough economy to reach the later parts of our plan?’

“Negative, Commander.”

‘To  make this work, not only do we have to redo their system of taxation  and kick start an industrial revolution nineteen hundred years early, we  have to find a way to get their trade restarted, too.’

The AI had no response to the statement.

Roman Forum, Devnum

While the sun set on the Roman city, bathing the stone and wood buildings in a golden light, the people of Devnum continued the Sullan  celebrations with daytime spectators of the games becoming nighttime  revelers at the various feats and parties thrown by both the city  government and businesses alike.

Compared to the noise from the  streets outside, the floor of the Roman forum was like a tomb. A handful  of men stood in the center of the chamber meant for more than a hundred  and conferred in hushed tones.

“How did he convince the Pontiff,” Marcus Umbrenius Silo said, running a hand across his nearly totally bald skull.

“The  Pontiff has always been in the Emperor’s pocket,” the cloaked man  replied. “I warned you not to put your hopes into the cults rejecting  him.”

“Now he’s named this man Consul. I hear he was in meetings all day with the Emperor and his closest allies.”

“We  need to put a stop to this before he does more to gain the people’s  favor. They’re already hailing him as the savior of Rome. The Emperor  even gave the man a triumph,” Publius Lusius Mutilus said.

“I’ve heard reports from some of the Fifth Legion’s survivors. Globulus had a solid battle plan until the ‘Consul’ got involved and held the other two legions back, forcing the legate to take on the Carthaginians alone,” Paulus Palpellius Mercurialis said.

“He got lucky. Globulus  must have weakened the Carthaginians enough for him to defeat them.  Even in victory, the battle leaves us very weak. Both remaining legions  lost over a third of their numbers, more than that in the Seventh  Legion,” Mutilus replied.

“He will not be lucky again. The mob is  fickle. They just need something to convince them that this man is just  that, and not some messenger of the gods,” Spurius Secundinius Vala said.

“I  just learned the Emperor has scheduled the ‘Consul’ to participate in  the games. He is supposed to compete in two days during the personal  competitions and wrestle during the final day of the games. I will have  men in both events who will make sure he is no longer a problem. If the  first man should fail, the second won’t. The Sword of Jupiter will not be a problem for us much longer.”