'All hands! Stand to!' Albinus bellowed to the crewmen gathered on the deck. They scrambled for their weapons and snatched up shields and helmets from the lockers behind the foredeck. The section leaders formed their men up on either side of the trireme and Cato knew that there were too few of them to hold the enemy off. If they had been trained and armed as well as the marines then they might have stood a chance. But they were sailors first, and warriors a poor second. Their desperation to survive would be their only advantage in the coming fight.
Stepping back from the rail, Cato reached for the clasp around his neck and wrenched it free from his sodden cloak, which thudded to the deck. Then he shouted an order to the nearest sailor to fetch his helmet and shield from the trireme's cabin. He turned to Albinus.
'If anything happens to me, and the Spartan wins through, make sure these dispatches reach Rome.' He slapped the wet haversack at his side. 'If it looks like the ship's lost I'll take care of them. Either way, they must not fall into enemy hands.'
'I understand. Let's just make sure it doesn't come to that.'
Cato smiled. 'You can be sure I'll take as many of them with me as I can.'
'We all will.' Albinus nodded towards his men. 'They know there'll be no mercy.'
'Good.'
There was nothing more to say, and the trierarch and the centurion stood side by side as the pirate vessels closed in, the shouts and taunts of the men in the bows of the pursuing ships carrying clearly across the waves. The sailor returned with Cato's helmet and shield. With an eye to the approaching enemy, Cato calmly tied the straps of the helmet and took the shield, shifting his grip until it was most comfortable.
'All right then, let's make sure they don't forget the men of the Spartan in a hurry.'
Even as the words faded on his lips there was a distant splintering crack. Cato looked towards the leading ship,just as its mast shuddered for an instant, and then pitched to windward in a graceful arc, sail and rigging leaping to one side as if plucked by a giant invisible hand. The tangled mess of timber, rope and canvas pitched into the sea, immediately dragging the bows round, directly into the path of the ship surging across the waves behind the leader. It was too late to alter course and the second ship rammed the leader at full speed with a jarring crash that threw the men on both ships to the deck.
Albinus roared with laughter and slapped Cato on the back. 'Did you ever see such a sight? Stupid bastards! Oh! Look there!'
The mast of the second ship wavered a moment and then slid backwards and crashed down on to the men scattered across its deck, eliciting a fresh chorus of cries and screams.
Albinus' face was awash with delight at his enemy's misfortune. 'That'll show 'em.'
Cato was only just recovering from the stunning reversal of fortune. 'What happened?'
'What always happens when you have too much sail in too much wind. Snapped their mast clean off!'
The third ship held its course for a moment longer before its trierarch realised that he could not hope to tackle the trireme alone. He hauled his wind and turned the vessel to go to the aid of his comrades. Albinus rubbed his hands with unrestrained joy.
'Time to finish them off, I think!'
'No.'
Albinus turned to Cato with a confused expression. 'Sorry. What was that?'
'Leave them.'
'Leave them? But they're at our mercy. We just have to turn and run them down. The last one'll run for it the moment he sees us go about.' There was a pleading expression in his eyes that Cato could well understand. After the torment of the previous day the chance to exact a crushing revenge would be sweet indeed. Albinus leaned closer and lowered his voice. 'There'd be no risk, Centurion. I swear… I'd bet my life on it.'
'No. We can't chance it. Our orders are to get back to Ravenna and get reinforcements. I'll not take any unnecessary risks. Our comrades are counting on us.' Cato could see that the trierarch was not convinced and he tried another line of thought. 'Look, supposing we did turn on them and somehow they managed to get men aboard the Spartan. There's more of them than us. And if we're lost what becomes of Vitellius and the others?'
Albinus looked from Cato to the pirate ships, already falling behind, and a look of bitter frustration crossed his features. For an instant Cato was sure that he would have to pull rank on the man. He tensed himself up and drew a deep breath. But before he could speak Albinus turned away from the pirates and called out to his crew.
'Stand down! Stand down!'
The cries of jubilation and excitement on the main deck died away, and at once a low grumble of discontent rippled through the sailors as they turned to face their trierarch.
'Stand down! Return weapons to lockers and get back to your sailing stations! Now! Section officers! Get your men moving!'
With a chorus of shouts and rough handling the junior officers dispersed the men, and the off-duty watch was dismissed below, leaving their comrades to stay on deck ready to respond to any new orders.
Albinus turned to Cato. 'There. Happy now?'
Cato stilled his tongue and stared back in silence, until the other man's gaze faltered, and turned away, over the stern, across the sea to the distant pirate ships slowly rising and falling on the swell.
'Albinus,' Cato said quietly, 'we have our orders. Our duty is to carry them out as immediately as we can.'
'I know that, damn you. It's just that I wanted to see those scum suffer.'
'You will. Not now, but soon enough. Savour that thought.'
Albinus gave a brief nod and then turned away and strode down the length of his ship in silence, glowering at anyone who dared to cross his path. Cato let out a low sigh of relief, grateful that the man had seen reason in the end. But there would be no restraining him next time, and then the Gods better show some mercy to the pirates, because Albinus would spare them none in his desire to make them pay for what they had done to his comrades.
A sudden gust of wind caused Cato to tremble uncontrollably as it cut through his soaked clothing and chilled his flesh to the bone. Then, a dreadful thought struck him and he thrust a hand behind his back and wrenched the haversack round to the front. It was dark with sea water, and his freezing fingers struggled with the straps before at last he could open the flap and peer inside. The scroll with his orders was still in its leather holder and would be dry enough. But the package carrying the report from Vitellius was sodden. As Cato went to lift it out of the haversack, the seal fell off and the wrapping opened a little. Inside he could see the first of the waxed slates that comprised the reports.
For a moment he was still, as the first temptation to do what he knew he should not flickered across his mind. It would be easy enough. He could wait until they reached Ravenna. Then, as the remaining biremes were loaded with men and supplies, Cato could take the opportunity to read the prefect's report, and then reseal it before sending it on to Narcissus back in Rome. It would be a simple thing, and then he would know what Vitellius was up to. Maybe there would be something in the text about the scrolls; something to explain why they were worth the lives of so many men. For a moment some voice inside him reminded Cato that it would be a breach of trust for him to read the report. If it was ever discovered that he had pried into an official imperial dispatch there would be dangerous consequences.