Praetorian Series [3] A Hunter and His Legion (23 page)

I pulled my right hand
from its pocket and immediately felt it grow cold as I pressed the push-to-talk button on my radio.  “Santino, where the hell do you keep telling these guys to put our stuff?”

Santino was still onboard the ship, which had run
aground and sat idle about forty meters from where I currently stood.  I saw a small figure move over to the railing and look down at me.

“Where you told me,”
he said through the radio. “Weapons and gear near the sand dune, supplies and clothing on that clump of grass.”

“No, I said the opposite!”

“Well maybe you should be more specific next time.”

“More specific?  How more specific do you need to me to be??”

There was a pause before he replied.  “How more specific
can
you be?”

“Just make sure they get it right this time
!”  I ordered, very nearly losing my cool.  “I have more important things to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like running an army!”

“Oh, is that what you’ve been doing all this time?  Could have fool…”

“Give it a rest, Santino,” Helena’s voice cut in over the coms.  “Jacob’s got a lot of things to do.”

“I’m just
trying to train him,” Santino radioed.  “Just wait until the little guy gets here.  Then he’s going to have
lots
of things to do.”

“Well, in that case…
” Helena said, but I didn’t hear her through the coms, but from behind me instead.  I turned around and saw her climbing the shallow hill, an amused expression on her face.  She reached up and removed her ear piece, and didn’t say anything else.

“In that case what?”  Santino asked, but we both ignored him.  “What?”

He continued asking as I took my ear piece out as well.

“See,” Helena said as she walked up to me.  “He’s going to make a great uncle.”

“Yeah, he’s exactly the kind of uncle the kid will need,” I said sarcastically.  “Leave him alone with Wang and Santino for a few days and they’ll warp his mind.”

“Aw, you’re being too
hard on them.  I think they’ll be great uncles.”

I looked at her in shock.  “Who are you and what have you done with Helena?”

“Jacob, stop, you know they’d never do anything to hurt her.”

“That’s not exactly what I’m worried abou
t.”

“
I know…” she paused. “But maybe the baby will need personalities like theirs around.”

“You think we’re going to be bad parents
or something?”  I asked, not really knowing how to take her comment.

“Of course not, but…”

“But what?”  I asked, crossing my arms.

“It’s just that we’ve been dealing with a lot, you and
me.  We aren’t the same people we were all those years ago when we first met.  We’ve changed, and it hasn’t all been for the better.”

“Helena, come on, we…”

“No, listen to me, Jacob.  I’m not saying we will be bad parents or that we should hand her off to Bordeaux or Vincent to raise her without us, but I think she’ll benefit from their influence.  All of them, your sister’s too.”

I sighed and reached out to gr
ip Helena’s hands.  “I suppose you’re right.  We’re pretty messed up.  I think me more than you…”

“Well obviously,” she said with a laugh.

“Very funny.”

“So are you ready to
…”

“Movement in the woods!”

I looked beyond Helena to see dozens of legionnaires grab swords and shields as the warning was called out up and down the lines.  Helena was already running toward our supply pile to pull her shotgun from a crate.  She found Penelope as well and tossed it to me, but she caught me by surprise and I almost dropped her.  I glared at Helena for her carelessness but she ignored me.  Together we ran toward the front line of legionnaires setting up a perimeter around the makeshift camp.

It was getting dark
, and I hadn’t had time to grab my NVGs or attach my night vision scope to my rifle, so I couldn’t see much as I peered into the woods.  Bordeaux, Wang, and Brewster joined our position and fell beside Helena, their weapons raised as well.

“See anything?”  Wang asked.

“Not yet,” I replied.

To my left, a centurion crawled his way
toward my position, knelt beside me, and looked off into the tree line.  I immediately identified him as Vespasian’s old first file centurion, Fabius.

“Legate,” he said, referring to me
, which was still weird since I hadn’t had heard it much while onboard our ship. “Two of my scouts report a small band of men on horseback, maybe forty.  They do not appear to be local barbarians, but my men were unable to identify them.”

“Thank you, Fabius,” I replied.  I didn’t know him very well
yet since we’d been on separate ships during the voyage, but from the little time I’d spent with him, I’d learned to trust his instincts and rely on his advice.  “Nothing two legions should be unable to handle, yes?”

“Inde
ed, Legate.  They should be in range shortly.”

“Good.  Tell your men to act defensively only
.  I want to question them first.”

“As you say, Legate.”

I nodded and turned back toward the line patiently, but excitement rarely took its time around here.  No more than a minute after I’d concluded my conversation with Fabius did I see a number of horses materialize out of the darkness.  The troops laid low, not engaging immediately as Fabius had relayed to them, and I waited until the interlopers were well within missile range before I stood and took a step in their direction.

“Halt,” I called out
in Latin, not knowing if they would understand, “you have wandered into the camp of two Roman legions.  If you wish to live, I would advise that you explain your presence here.”

“Gods be damned!”  The man yelled frightfully in a gruff voice.  “Stand down, Hunter!”

I peered into the woods curiously, the voice familiar.  “Identify yourself.”

The voice didn’t reply, but
horses moved in my direction.  Helena tapped my thigh and I glanced down to see her holding a flashlight. I grabbed it, flicked it on, took aim at the man who had spoken, and smiled as recognition set in.  There was only one person I knew who could have so fat and ugly a face, but still have an exceptionally fit build and carry himself with such charisma.

“How did you know it was me?”  I asked.

“Lower your torch,” Servius Sulpicius Galba said, raising his hand to block the light.  When I did, he lowered his hand and stared at me angrily.  “I knew, because only you and your ilk bastardize Latin as horribly as you do, and only you, Hunter, could get me into a situation like this…”

***

“I will inform you promptly that I am not happy with my current appointment,” Galba announced as we stood around my desk inside the
praetorium
that I now got to call my own – which was pretty sweet.

“Aw, and here I thought you missed us,” Santino joked.

“What could I miss?”  Galba grunted, turning a stern look in Santino’s direction.  “Your mere presence in my world has led to nothing but bloodshed and catastrophe, and dare I mention, has been detrimental to my career as well.”

I rolled my eyes.  Ever since we
’d met Galba all those years ago, he’d shown nothing but distrust and resentment toward us.  Yet, every time we’d sought his help, he came through for us and delivered on his promises – although he did so grudgingly and with excessive complaining.

“Galba,” I said, “I already told you what happened to you in my timeline.  Trust
me; at the rate you’re going, you’ll end up better off.”

“
I do not need your help to achieve high station,” he growled.  “Nor do I need your help to be remembered.”

I chuckled but let the man think as he did.  He was an extremely proud and stubborn man, and there was no point trying to reason
with someone like that.  And yet, he was also a good man.  He was a proficient and effective general, a loyal soldier, and a man we could count on to help us, even if he never knew why.  I was glad he was here, despite his own misgivings about us.

“Just rememb
er who’s in command here, Galba,” I told him bluntly. “Vespasian put me in charge.”

“I remember quite well… Legate,” Galba said with a nod in my direction.  He clasped his hands behind his back and tipped what
some would consider his chin at me.  “I still find it difficult to believe that Vespasian has done what he has done, but even you are incapable of forging his seal, and I must believe these orders to be true.  I shouldn’t believe it, but I do.  I must be growing stupid as I age.”

“I’m glad you see it that way,” I said with a nod of my own.  “Now
, what do you say we get down to business?”

“
Fine,” he said unhappily.  “Allow me to discuss the military situation here in Britain first, and then we can decide on what to do with your little mission.”

I did everything I could to keep the annoyance I felt
off my face.  Despite his shortcomings, I had to remember that Galba knew what he was doing.  He had nothing but Rome’s best interests at heart, interests that included the removal of Agrippina from power.  That alone made him a rare ally, and while he’d never respect me, I knew he’d do everything I needed of him.

“Go on then,” I ordered evenly, trying to remember my days as a leader of troops
in another life.  Patience was more than a virtue when dealing with recalcitrant subordinates, and I’d have to earn Galba’s respect in the same way I had with the SEALS under my command a lifetime ago, the ones who had been combat veterans with many more years of experience than I once had.

“Very good,” Galba said as he took a step closer to the table between us.  Upon it was a rudimentary map of southern
Britain, revealing only slightly more terrain than what Rome had already conquered.  Central England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland were nowhere to be seen.

Galba cleared his throat and delivered his report.  “Earlier this year,
four legions under command of Vespasian were finally able to subdue the populace of southeastern Britain prior to his redeployment to Germany.  A number of tribes were offered the olive branch in peace, and many accepted, but most were put down through military force. The area was subdued, and Camulodunum became Aulus Plautius’ seat of power, Agrippina’s chosen governor in Britain.”

I nodded.  In my timeline, Aulus Plautius had been Vespasian’s
superior
during the Invasion of Britain, not the other way around, except under Claudius instead of Agrippina, and was exactly who the emperor Claudius had named its governor once the invasion had concluded as well.

I was not surprised
.

I held up a hand
.  “Whatever happened to Caratacus and…” I snapped my fingers and turned to Vincent, who stood beside Santino.  “Who was the other guy?”

“Togodumnus,” he answered immediately.

“Right, thanks.  My Roman Invasion of Britain history is a little rusty.”

Galba glared at me
, clearly not amused.  “Togodumnus was slain on the battlefield early in the invasion while Caratacus was later captured and sent to Rome for trial.  It happened just before Vespasian and I were recalled to the German front.  I have heard a rumor that he appealed to Agrippina for pity and forgiveness, regaling her with a magnificent speech to sway her opinion.  However, he was unsuccessful, and Agrippina had him crucified.”

M
y eyebrows arched in surprise and I turned to Vincent, who returned my look with a sad shake of his head.  The only reason I even remembered Caratacus’ name over Togodumnus’ was because in the original timeline, Caratacus had given a similar speech, only to Claudius, who spared his life, freed him, and allowed him to live out the remainder of his days in Rome.

Although Caratacus shouldn’t have been captured for another ten years.

Just another interesting parallel derailed because of my meddling.

“So who’s raised up arms against Rome now?”  I asked.

Galba shrugged.  “It’s unclear at this time.  This land is rank with scattered tribes: Iceni, Atrebates, Cantiaci, Catuvellauni, amongst others, and I have not been kept fully up to date on the situation here since my time and attention has been, until recently, rather aptly focused on Germany.”

I nodded absentmindedly as my
eyes stared down at the map of Ancient Britain, my hand cupping my chin in thought.  The map offered little help or insight, doing little more than act as a distraction as my eyes wandered toward where Wales should have been displayed.  If the Isle of Mona was where I needed to go, that’s really all I cared about.  After everything we’d discovered in Alexandria, I was no longer interested in Roman politics, military strategy, or even the realignment of history.

I sighed, pushing
such thoughts out of my mind, remembering that we still had other responsibilities.  Vespasian had sent us here with a purpose, and I wasn’t about to let down the one guy who was risking his life for us.  We had to put down these rebellions so that Rome could establish its dominance here, allowing the English people in the coming centuries to develop a self-identity that aimed to emulate the Romans.  If we didn’t, there was no doubt in my mind that the Britain I remembered would cease to exist, and with it, even more bits of history.