'Atticus!' Cato called the optio over. 'Gather up twenty men. We have to cut those ships out before the fire spreads any further.'
Cato turned and, with Vulso and Musa, made his way across the intervening vessels to the one next to the nearest burning ship. The heat from the flames roaring up from the vessel's hold struck him a stinging blow, and he raised an arm to protect his face as he looked around. Two lines joined this ship to the one ablaze.
Cato crouched down in the shelter of the ship's side to give his orders. 'You two take the aft line. I'll go forward.'
Crouching low, he scrambled to the hawse hole near the bows and drew his dagger. The cable was made from coarse hemp and was thick as a man's wrist. He began to saw at it furiously. The deck around him was brightly lit by the burning ships and the hot air was filled with the roar of flames and the crack of timber bursting from the intense temperature generated by the blaze. Sparks and glowing shreds of sails swirled through the air, and Cato winced as one landed on his back.
He shook it off and continued cutting at the rope, hoping that they could complete the job before the fire spread to any more of the grain ships. One of the strands of the cable parted and the tension instantly increased on the remaining strands, making themeasier.to cut.
Gritting his teeth, Cato worked at them with every ounce of his strength, the edge of the dagger biting through the dense material.
Another strand parted and one remained, thin and hard as bone.
'Come on, you bastard,' Cato muttered. 'Break.'
With a dull crack the dagger severed the last strand and the end of the cable vanished through the hole. Cato rose up and squinted into the heated air as he waited for the burning ship to drift away.
Glancing aft, he saw Vulso and Musa running towards him.
'Cable's cut, sir,' Vulso called out. 'But she's not moving off.'
Cato nodded. 'I saw. We'll have to fend her away' He pointed to one of the sweeps lashed to the ship's side. 'We can use that. Come on!'
They hurriedly untied the simple fastenings holding the long oar in place and then manhandled the broad-bladed end over the rail, against the side of the other vessel.
Cato took a firm grip on the shaft and braced his feet. 'All right then, heave!'
The three of them leaned into the long oar with all their might.
Slowly, slowly, Cato sensed the other ship begin to give, and he shuffled forward a pace and called out,'She's moving! Keep at it!'
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.'