Burning debris was falling across the bows of the deck around them, but they could do nothing until the blazing wreck of the other ship was pushed to a safe distance. They continued to thrust the sweep against its side, chests heaving as their muscles strained, stiff and glistening from their efforts. Cato glanced up and saw that the gap between the ships had widened to ten feet. All the time the resistance decreased as he and the others steadily approached the side rail. There they fed the shaft along and continued until the other ship eased away from the oar blade. They hauled the sweep back and dropped it on the deck. The current had begun to draw the ship away from the rest of the anchored vessels and it drifted slowly towards the shore.
Cato nodded with satisfaction before turning to inspect the deck.
Burning debris lay scattered about the foredeck, but mercifully there was none around the hold, where the rebels had prepared their combustible materials, ready to set fire to the ship.
'Get these fires out!' Cato ordered, grabbing a length of sacking from a locker in front of the main mast. There was a water bucket there for the crew, and he hurriedly doused the sacking before running to a blackened length of rope, still alight in places. He beat out the flames and moved on, as the others followed suit. Soon the last of the small fires was out and they stood gasping as they watched the burning wreck drift away. Cato grabbed a shroud and climbed up on to the side rail. From his vantage point he could see that Atticus and the others had succeeded in cutting the other two ships free and were also fending them off. He could still feel the stinging heat even where he stood, and he briefly stared at the spectacle in awe as the brilliant flames transformed the surrounding sea into a glittering chaos of fiery reflections.
Glancing back towards the beach, Cato could make out the details of the legionaries as they advanced past the ship that burned there.
He was relieved to see that they had already taken the whole of the area enclosed by the palisade. Beyond that he could see thousands of figures running in every direction in the glow of the rebels' camp fires. It seemed that the attack had succeeded as he had hoped. Taken by surprise, the rebels had broken and were fleeing for their lives. It was true that four of the grain ships had been lost, but that was acceptable given that the whole fleet had been at risk.
'Sir!' Vulso called to him, pointing back towards the mouth of the bay. Cato turned and his gaze followed the direction Vulso was indicating. Back through the rigging of the grain ships he could see the dark forms of other vessels approaching, and the faint sheen of a rhythmic disturbance on the sides of each, which he realised must be the banks of oars. He felt a release of tension in his body at the sight of the Roman warships and called back to Vulso.
'They're ours! It's Navarch Balbus and his squadron.'
Vulso let out a cheer, then passed on word of the navy's arrival.
More men joined in the cheering as Cato gathered Atticus,Vulso and Musa and hurried back across the decks of the grain ships to meet the first, and largest, of the warships to reach them. A bronze-capped ram protruding from the bows was aimed straight at the side of the ship that Cato stood on, and for a moment he feared that the warship might crash into the hull. Then he heard a shouted order, and the oars on the port side dropped down into the water and stayed there while the starboard oars continued rowing and the warship began to swing round, beam on to the grain ship.
'Tribune Cato?' a voice called out. 'Is Tribune Cato there?'
'Here!' Cato waved his arms. 'Over here!'
'Thank the gods!' He recognised Balbus's voice, then the navarch continued,'Have the ships been taken?'
'All but the three on fire. There may still be some rebels hiding aboard some of the ships. Send your marines over.'
'Aye, sir. Have your men ready to take mooring lines.'
One by one the warships came alongside the grain ships and the sailors cast lines to the legionaries to fasten to cleats, then the ships were hauled side to side. As soon as the boarding ramps were lowered, the marines boarded the grain ships and took charge of the prisoners and began to hunt down the remaining rebels. Balbus was one of the first men to cross over from his flagship, and he hurried up to Cato.
'Good to see you again, sir.' He saluted.
Cato could not help grinning. 'Sounds like you doubted that you would.'
Balbus shrugged. 'I'm delighted to be wrong. However, when we saw the fires I feared the worst. How many of the grain ships did we lose?'
'Four — three here and one on the beach.'
'Only four?' Balbus was relieved.' Splendid. We only had a little bit of trouble ourselves. One of the liburnians ran aground near the peninsula. Not bad for a night operation so close to shore.' He puffed himself up with pride in his achievement.
Cato glanced towards the shore. Fulvius and his men had already broken into the rebel camp and were cutting the enemy down in swathes. He turned back. 'You take command here. Secure the grain ships and send some of your marines to reinforce the men ashore.'
'Yes, sir. Where are you going?'
'I still have one job left to do,' Cato said quietly. 'Try and save the hostages. If anything happens, I've left orders for Centurion Fulvius to take command.'
Balbus nodded.' Good luck, sir.'
Cato laughed at the navarch's dour tone. 'You seem to make a habit of doubting me. I'll be back, Balbus. I give you my word.'
'Good luck anyway, sir.'
'Thanks.' Cato clapped him on the shoulder, turned to Atticus and the others and led them off to find one of the tenders moored to the remaining grain ships.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The tender grounded on the small strip of sand with a slight jar that sent Atticus sprawling on to his knees.
'Shit,' he muttered as he struggled up and then climbed over the side with the others.
'Better all speak in Greek from now on,' said Cato. 'If we're going to be taken for rebels.'
They had helped themselves to some tunics from the rebel bodies on the grain ships and fastened their sword belts over the top. If anyone took the time to look hard at them, the Roman swords might look suspicious, but they could pass them off as captured kit if stopped. From the sounds of confusion and panic coming from the camp, Cato hoped that the rebels would be too busy trying to save themselves to be worried about Roman intruders in their midst.
He indicated a rock a short distance away. 'We'll put the boat behind that.'
Once he was satisfied that it was hidden from view and would still be there if they needed to make a quick escape, he led the others up towards the large tents in that part of the camp he had seen Ajax and his escort make for the previous day. The slope was rocky and dotted with shrubs and clumps of gorse that snagged their tunics as they crept forwards. At length the gradient eased and they could hear voices more clearly. There were hurried exchanges of shouts, but none of the panic and pandemonium that was evident in the main part of the camp. The ground here was sparsely covered where the rebels had ripped up the dry plants and bushes for kindling. There was a sudden rustling to their right, and Cato waved his men down and dropped to the ground himself. Ahead of them a small group of figures ran by: a man, woman and two children, all of them clutching bundles. The man looked nervously towards the top of the slope and urged the others on. They passed a short distance in front of the Romans without seeing them, and ran off into the darkness. As the sound of their footsteps faded, Cato let his breath out.
'Come on,' he whispered.
They continued, and now the glow of camp fires illuminated the crest above them. Keeping low and glancing from side to side, they proceeded warily. The ridges of tents were visible over the crest, and Cato made towards a small outcrop of boulders that would conceal them as they took in the situation. There turned out to be a natural gap between the boulders wide enough for two men to lie down, and Cato ordered the legionaries to stay back while he crawled forward with Atticus. The rocks stood on a slight rise and the position gave them a good view over the flat area of ground that the enemy commander had chosen for his tent and those of his bodyguards. The largest tents were surrounded by an open area, then smaller shelters, and off to one side a small shack and pens that seemed to have been abandoned many years ago. A number of camp fires were burning down, having been abandoned in the rush to counter the Roman attack. As Cato surveyed the scene, he could see several figures close to the largest tent; some were armed with spears, and an old woman squatted to one side hurriedly loading possessions on to a blanket that lay open on the ground. Other rebels were visible flitting through the shelters as they ran from the Roman forces advancing round the bay. Cato could not help won de ring what these fugitives might hope to achieve. When they reached the end of the peninsula they would be trapped.