Minnicus turned back around. “But I have an idea. One that Ithink will revolutionize this army and force those petulant, pudgy, idiots intop hats and senatorial capes south of the Tiber to pay attention. I’m stealingan idea from the Nortlanders and assigning your cohort the position of visvolatilis incursio, or Rapid Assault Force. I’ll figure out your jobspecifics later, but in the meantime, it looks like you’ll be able to avoidlatrine-digging duty.”
Minnicus leaned closer so that only Constantine could hear.“Besides, no one would dare try to remove you from a position, with your familyconnections.” He winked at the startled tribune, then straightened. “Take therest of the day off, Tribune. You and your men get some rest. We’ll have ameeting tomorrow morning. I’ll send a messenger to confirm the time.” Minnicussaluted.
Wearily, Constantine returned the salute. In the blink of aneye, the fortunes of his cohort had been reversed. Now they were the first oftheir kind in the Roman army, a rapid assault force, whatever that meant.Constantine was sure that, after today, nothing would faze him or his men. Itlooked like lucky Cohort 13 was still at the top of their game.
In retrospect, Constantine thought, he should never havetempted the Fates in that manner. This was definitely the most terrifyingexperience of his life. Yes, he had ridden in a dirigible before, even thesleek, rakish-looking military versions. But why would he want to jump out of aperfectly good airship? It made absolutely no sense.
“So the idea is, sir, we use the ship to get behind theenemy, then drop you guys off with the idea of making mischief or setting up aposition that forces them to divert a maximum amount of soldiers, thus allowingthe rest of the legion to be victorious. We support you with heavier weaponryfrom above, and you hold the line, build a quick fort, and hold out forbackup,” a junior aviator was explaining. The Rapid Assault Force would quicklystrike behind enemy lines, causing as much damage as possible by disruptingoperations, stalling reinforcements, and interrupting communications beforewithdrawing with only a few minutes’ notice.
“I have no problem with all of that,” Constantine said. “ButI do have two concerns. First, how will we be evacuated, or are we expected tosimply stand around, be surrounded, and die? Second, why in Jupiter’s name dowe have to jump out of a perfectly good airship? Couldn’t it simply land andlet us out? I’d much prefer that option.”
The airman smiled and let out a shallow laugh. “You mayprefer that, sir, but I guarantee you, we aviators would not enjoy it. Ourgasbag is a pretty nice, inviting target. Also, do you plan on giving the enemya chance to reinforce an area before you have a chance to do something aboutit? We won’t be sitting ducks.”
He motioned to a small planning table in the middle of thevessel. The men and officers crowded around it. He activated a switchunderneath. A low hum permeated the air and the table seemed to come to life,its surface rippling into contours and small hills, valleys, and otherminiature geographical features.
“This is a Mark II command table. It uses magnets and steampower to create a physical map of the terrain, input from that standardtopographical map.” The aviator’s gloved hand pointed to a palm-sized map beingfed into the machine’s control panel, bumps and grooves indicating mapfeatures. “This will give us visual knowledge of the terrain that would be thebest to screen our movements for hit-and-run tactics. Instead of landing, yourmen will perform a slide-drop onto an objective, or as near to it as we canmanage. The ropes will be used to lift your men up as well as lower them.You’ll be using lockable carpteneo mechanisms to slow and stop yourdescent individually. They are the best version to date, and have a successrate of 98 %. I’ve used them myself many times. It’s how we would evacuate thisbeauty, should the need ever arise. Any other questions?”
Constantine looked up from the command table. His men allwore expressions of nervous apprehension. Even the steadfast Centurion Vibiuswas looking green. “Well, men,” he said, “are you ready to see if a legionnairecan learn to fly as well as he can learn to fight?”
“Sir, yes sir!” the men answered.
“Any man who wishes to back out now will not suffer anyrepudiation or punishment. I’ll gladly transfer you to another cohort in thelegion. This is your chance-once we’re up in the air, you’re coming down thehard way with the rest of us.”
For a moment no one moved. There was a slight shuffle asheads turned to stare at their neighbors.
“Alright then, Airman Souzetio, what next?”
The aviator pulled the plug out of a speaking tube andshouted an order into it. Almost immediately, Constantine felt a rumble towardthe back of the ship. The men crowded to the windows. For many of them, thiswas their first time aboard an airship. The slight jostle and the increasingangle of the floor indicated that the dirigible was indeed airborne.
On the catwalk surrounding the oblong gondola, severalcrewmembers were throwing off lines. A brief, shouted command brought severaltogether at a nearby winch. Together, the men began rotating the winch fasterand faster. A telescoping spindle shot out from below the deck. One of the men,watching a small gauge, held up a hand. The other men stopped the winch. Theysecured it and dispersed. The senior deckhand adjusted a series of brass leversuntil large white sails slid from the side-mast.
“They help with adjusting altitude.” Souzetio had appearedat Constantine’s side. “We can adjust the ballast or helium amount for large altitudeadjustments, but it’s easier to simply use sails and the rudder to make minutechanges to our course.”
Constantine nodded, impressed by the technological know-howbehind the side sails. He discussed the technology with Souzetio for a bit,getting a feel for the man who would be their primary contact person with theair fleet.
“Is there any way I can visit the bridge? I’d like to meetthe captain and introduce myself.”
The airman nodded. “Certainly, sir. Right this way.” The manled him to a hatch in the bulkhead and slid the door aside. They continuedthrough several other compartments, each one holding different systems criticalto their continued ability to stay in the air. Constantine saw the engine room,a storage room, a weapons bay, small crew bunkroom, and a tiny galley. Finallythey approached a wood-paneled door that appeared elegant compared to theexposed steel beams and bolts around it.
“This is the bridge, Tribune Appius. Please give me a momentto ensure that this is an acceptable time to observe.” Airman Souzetio knockedon the door and entered, clicking the door quietly shut behind him.
Constantine took a moment to examine the map of the shipthat was bolted to the wall, tracing his finger along the central corridor thatran like a spine down the middle of the gondola. The gondola’s upper level heldthe living quarters, engineering rooms, and storage areas, while most of theweapons bays were on the bottom level. That makes sense, Constantinethought. Obviously, if they couldn’t see the targets below, they couldn’t shootat them.
His finger traced the open lower level deck, where his menwould descend, precariously strung out along hundreds of feet of wire. Therewere open deck areas on both levels at the back of the ship, meaning a total often lines could theoretically be dropped and manned. It will be like falling…
Pushing that thought gruffly from his mind, Constantine lethis hand fall to his side, and waited. But a distant memory thrust itself intohis consciousness.
“Hurry up, Constantine, you’re going too slow!” came Lucius’high-pitched call.
That was Lucius, always trying to show off how big andstrong he was compared to me. I was seven!