The Legion Read Free

and it continued to glide round towards the jetty as the men on the tiller steered the liburnian alongside. Philipus could see the officer in the turret clearly now: tall and broad-shouldered, younger looking than he expected. He stood impassively as his trierarch bellowed the orders for the sailors to make ready their mooring ropes. As the ship edged towards the jetty, ropes snaked through the air from the men in the bows and Philipus’s men caught them and heaved the vessel alongside, until the side creaked up against the bundles of woven reeds that protected the jetty’s posts. Another line was tossed to the men waiting near the stern and a moment later the ship was securely moored.

    The officer descended from the turret and strode across the deck as his sailors opened the side port and slid a gangway on to the jetty. A squad of marines had formed up nearby and the officer gestured towards them as he stepped across on to the jetty. Philipus strode forward to greet him, extending a hand.

    ‘I’m the commander of the supply station, Trierarch Philipus.’

    The officer took his hand in a powerful grip and nodded curtly. ‘Centurion Macro, on secondment to the Alexandrian flotilla. We need to talk, in your headquarters.’

    Philipus could not help raising his eyebrows in surprise and he was aware of his subordinates exchanging an uneasy look at his side.

    ‘Talk? Has something happened?’

    ‘My orders are to discuss the matter with you in private.’ The officer nodded towards the other men on the jetty. ‘Not in front of anyone else. Please lead the way.’

    Philipus was taken aback by the younger officer’s terse manner. The man was no doubt a recent arrival from Rome, and therefore inclined to treat the local military with a haughty arrogance that was typical of his kind. ‘Very well, Centurion, this way.’

    Philipus turned and began to make his way along the jetty.

    ‘Just a moment,’ said Centurion Macro. He turned to the marines waiting on the deck. ‘With me!’

    They crossed the gangway and formed up behind the centurion, twenty armed marines, all burly men with powerful physiques. Philipus frowned. He had been expecting to exchange a few pleasantries and some news before he gave the order for his quartermaster to see to the ship’s needs. Not this brusque encounter. What could the officer have to tell him that was so important that it had to be said in private? With a stab of anxiety Philipus wondered if he had been wrongly implicated in some crime or plot. He gestured to the officer to follow him and the small column made its way towards the shore. Philipus slowed his pace until he was at the side of the centurion and addressed him quietly. ‘Can you tell me what this is about?’

    ‘Yes, shortly.’ The officer glanced at him and smiled slightly. ‘Nothing that need worry you unduly, Trierarch. I just need to ask you some questions.’

    Philipus was not reassured by the reply and kept his silence as they reached the end of the jetty and marched up to the gates of the fort. The sentries stood to as the officers and marines approached.

    ‘I don’t imagine you get many ships calling in here,’ said Centurion Macro.

    ‘Not many,’ Philipus replied, hoping that the other man was revealing a more conversational aspect of his seemingly cold character. ‘Occasional naval patrols, and imperial couriers. Other than that, a few ships with storm damage over the winter months, but that’s about it. Epichos has become something of a backwater. I wouldn’t be surprised if the governor in Alexandria didn’t reduce our establishment one day.’

    The centurion glanced at him. ‘Fishing for information about my being here?’

    Philipus looked at him and shrugged. ‘Of course.’

    They had entered the fort and Centurion Macro stopped and looked around. The place was quiet. Most of the men were in barracks. The night watch was finishing off their morning meal and were preparing to rest. Some