Ian Miller - Legatus Legionis

That meant designing some means of fixing everything, but leaving room for anything that had to move. The valve, or valves, had to connect the cylinder to both the boiler and the condenser, which also had to have a means of returning water to the boiler. That would need a small return valve that might operate by opening the condensate to the boiler when its top valve was closed. This might be drivable through the same rocker arm, but the two valves would have to be some distance apart, so maybe not. Could he design a cylinder-type valve with two paths, one of which would do one job? What would it look like, and how could it be put together. Perhaps he should make wooden models made with his key pieces, and see if that would help his thinking on the layout.

Then he needed to build a much larger version, but out of what? Iron was the most desirable, but maybe bronze would be easier, at least to start with. Could he make a big enough mould? For bronze, at least the answer was yes, and even if he did not know how to do it, the casting of large bronze items had been done many times. If he specified what he wanted, he would find someone to cast it. The next problem was how to fit the valves? Fire-welding? Maybe. But if he could cast his cylinder with the end sealed, but with small piping extended for the valve or valves, that would be a lot easier later, and hopefully a lot stronger. This joining of things was becoming more of a problem than he had considered, largely because if his machine was going to do anything useful, the steam pressures were going to have to be very high, and that very same pressure that was going to do his useful work was also capable of blowing his machine apart.

He would think about it, and record his thoughts.

* * *

"Your engine won't go for long," Timothy warned, after Gaius had explained his latest designs, "if steam is flying everywhere."

"The trick is to recover the steam!" Gaius said triumphantly. "Let me think. I've got an idea on that too."

"And where does this recovered steam go?" Timothy asked.

"To another cylinder," Gaius explained. "There we condense it, and keep the water to reboil."

"And all your steam comes flying out when you try to put the water back in," Timothy pointed out.

"Just need a suitable valve," Gaius shrugged. "A minor detail! The most important detail is can we get anything to work at all?"

"I don't see the point of something that lasts just a few minutes," Timothy muttered.

"The point is, if you can make it work at all, you can work on the problem areas, improving them, and eventually you can make it work well. If you can't get anything out of it, you don't know what to do next, and sooner or later you give up."

"Which, of course, you have no intention of doing," Timothy nodded, almost in dismay.

"Not yet," Gaius shrugged.

Timothy stared at him, then finally asked, "Why this burst of enthusiasm for this steam motor?"

"Takes my mind off my problems," Gaius admitted. "Little Boots is doing what he can to mess up my career, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Slaves tend to have their careers messed up too," Timothy pointed out.

"It seems I never learn," Gaius shook his head. "I should never have given you that opening." He paused and looked ruefully towards a palm tree. "Yes, life's unfair, and I've had a better start than most, but I wasn't complaining. I was merely explaining. I'm really pissed off, but what can I do?"

"You Romans demonstrate interesting logic. You make all this fuss about the principles of the republic and why a king is bad, then you give yourself a bad king and ask, what can you do?"

"We put up with this," Gaius explained, "because the alternative, the end of the republic, was terrible. There's only so much civil war a country can stand, and don't give me all that nonsense about Greece. The only reason you Greeks didn't have civil war was that you were so busy fighting amongst yourselves you never had a nation."

"There's some truth there," Timothy nodded ruefully. "Anyway, about this valve. What do you want done?"

"I'll try to draw something," Gaius said. "You try to find someone to have a go at making it. I know, it'll cost, but I'm determined. Now, let me think about this return system for the water to get back in the boiler. That seems easier. All you need is a cylinder with a valve that lets in steam and a valve that lets out water, and a way of making sure they can't both be open at the same time. It's also desirable to have some way of cooling the steam, because the quicker it can be converted back to water, the more likely it is that the steam will exit the cylinder. Then all we've got to. ." he mused and then eventually grinned as he said, "we've got to find a slave to sit on the contraption and pull the lever up and down from time to time!"

Timothy gave Gaius a look of despair, then he shrugged and walked away.

* * *

Gaius had been in Caesarea less than a week when another boat came from Rome, and it brought him messages. It was with more than a little trepidation that he put a small bag aside and opened the seal on a message from the Princeps .

" To the saviour of temples, I hereby award you something appropriate. As you still wish to serve Rome, proceed forthwith to command Legio XI, usually at Burnum, but currently stationed at Lussonium. Thanks to Calvisius Sabinus, the loyalty in this region is suspect. Bearing in mind your orders from a Goddess, I look forward to receiving your assurances that you will address this problem. G. "

Gaius could hardly believe the message. In principle, his career was back on track. Then there was the question of Rebecca: she had been so certain. Why was she so certain? She said she had prayed, and received a response. Did that mean there really was a God, and these Christians were the favoured people. Or did it mean she had had a vision not unlike his? Was this further evidence of some force at work that was playing with him?

It did not matter. What did matter was that he had orders, and also a small bag from the Princeps . He opened the bag and stared in surprise. In addition to what went with the office, there were two additional vexillae carrying the standards of the Fulminata and the Cyrenaica , showing his experience. There was also a decoration that had the silver spearshaft of the hasta pura. However, that was all that was orthodox, since, instead of the head being a spear, the shaft terminated with a small silver temple. A strange decoration, but since specifically mentioned as an award by the Princeps , albeit an erratic Princeps , he was marked as an unusual Legate.

There was a further message, this time from Claudius. He, Claudius, had heard Gaius, the Princeps , muttering about this position, and the lack of anybody suitable and trustworthy to take it, so he said he could easily find someone to fill it. Gaius Caesar had laughed and said, "Why not! It's about time you did something useful." He sat back and laughed in disbelief at the prospect, then added, "C C C C Claudius, d d d d don't p p p p p p piss yourself. Try not to bring Rome to her knees with laughter."

Accordingly, I appointed you. Little Boots roared with laughter, muttered something about having appropriate religious convictions and divine support, and said that he was always going to make you special. So please, Claudius concluded, try not to be too embarrassing.

Gaius looked at this, and, after a moment's thought, realized a reply was required. He wrote back, thanking the Princeps , accepted the position, and swore that he would ensure Legio XI would be the most loyal of the legions to the Princeps of Rome. He also wrote to Claudius, thanking him, and assured Claudius that he would justify the trust he had placed in him.