Part 15 (1/2)
”How did they e to do it?” Caesartheir own?”
I called in our engineers, and the ansas soon clear Alexandria's water supply coh the city Gany his own, and pu seawater into ours
”This war has not been easy,” Caesar admitted ”The enemy is resourceful and clever They force us to be ht he sounded tired, and nearer the end of his resources than he would wish to sound
From the upper balcony of the palace he addressed his officers and men, as they waited in the open space below
”The cowardly Ganyether army of pirates and slaves and corrupted Roiant heels to draater up to higher ground,” he shouted ”How clever! How impressive! Does he think by this to conquer us? By a boy's toys?”
Fro, I could see how uncomfortable they were They were thirsty They had probably drunk all the wine available, and now there was nothing
”A boy should not go to war! A boy's toys cannot triue, and the detere of his troops! You see, I knohere there is water to be found, and easily There are always veins of fresh water in beaches, and not far below the surface A few hours' digging will yield us all the water ish!+”
Was this true? Or was he ?
”And furthermore, even if there is no water there, we hold command of the sea, and it is an easyback a supply of water So fear not, but get out your shovels!”
The ive their usual cheers They craved an orderly retreat, to sail away fro your posts! If they see us boarding shi+ps, they will rush our barricades An orderly withdrawal is not possible for us now” He paused ”Nor is it necessary! To the shovels!” He hoisted one up and flourished it ”To the beach!”
Once again, the fair Goddess of fortune looked upon her favorite son, and Caesar's conjecture was proved right Overnight digging yielded several wells, and when the sun ca the problem was solved The enemy's days of labor had been thwarted in only a few hours by Caesar's efforts
News caion, arriving ahead of the overland troops, had overshot Alexandria and were anchored to the west Caesar took his small fleet and went out to meet them It looked as if the end of the as near, but even this simple action turned into a battle, as the enemy attacked the shi+ps and Caesar was hard put to avoid being captured In the end, the seamanshi+p of the Romans defeated the ene has proved harder than I ever expected,” he said wearily ”And this has gone on forI a Alexandria to provide , isn't it?”
Yes, the war had gone on for a long ti, so I had decided not to tell Caesar until the as over But each tiht be over, it proved to be merely one episode that was over It seemed to stretch out inter is that I find it hard toin its turn, one at a time That hat I hadCaesar grow more and more worn and tired, his sleep deeper and his footsteps less springy, ue I also found it harder and harder to keep anything froreat general,” I said slowly ”There is now no one in all the world to challenge you What is occurring here is almost an accident, as if these men have not heard what everyone else knows I have heard of isolated troops fighting on long after a war is ended and their coone home Such is the situation here Do not lose heart”
”I haven't lost heart,” he said, ”so much as patience”
”If you conquered the entire world, it is not too late to found a dynasty,” I said
”Rome does not have ypt joined with Roer Rome And this new creation would need a dynasty”
He jerked his head up and looked at erous in front of hiolden object A sealed will An enorht the quick leap of curiosity and desire there ”What are you saying?”
”I a simply that--if you have an empire to bequeath, then we shall have the child to bequeath it to” It was thus I told hi ”I had not thought to have a child”
”I know It is alhter was born, your only child All the world knew of your sorrohen she died”
He struggled not to show his rising joy ”It is possible?”
”Yes,” I said ”It is not only possible, it is a certainty And it is ypt--for those you could conquer--but a child, an heir of Caesar”
”A gift fro out his arift from the Gods” He held me differently And I was filled with joy that I had not waited any longer to tell hiift, Isis: you, the Great Mother, had decided to bestow this fortune on us It is you who can command barrenness to depart at your will, and you did so for Caesar It was your purpose that--just as your son Horus could avenge his father, Osiris--when Caesar fell, attacked by evil e him I know that nohereas then I only rejoiced in the fact that I was able to give Caesar so that he wanted so badly, which until now had been withheld from him, when all the rest of the world had been laid at his feet
I wished for Olympos, for his medical care, but he and Mardian were still retained behind the lines of the rebel army Hoould shake his head, and say, ”Where was the silphion when you needed it? Why did you neglect it?” and when I replied, ”I am happy hat has happened,” he would be perplexed And Mardian! What would he think? Everything was changed from e had expected and planned for, back in the tent in the desert sand
Caesar could not hide his delight An uncharacteristic ss, until his officers asked hi the buildings of the city in their attempt to replace their navy
”They are determined to build themselves a fleet,” reported one of the centurions
”With what?” scoffed another
”They have doubtless reuard shi+ps at all seven mouths of the Nile, stationed to levy custo fro ”There are also a nu shi+ps These they could lay hands on with little difficulty”
Still Caesar did not lose his pleasant expression ”And they will make these seaworthy--in how many months?”
”Days, Caesar,” said one of the soldiers to whoathered so theoff the roofs of colonnades for the bea readied”
”Twenty quadriremes!” Still Caesar did not lose his composure ”An industrious people”
”How much has been destroyed?” I asked My beautiful city! That they could so wantonly tear her apart! I braced myself to hear the worst
”They have ripped the roof off the Museion, and even attacked the Temple of Neptune,” theporticoes proved to be too great a teuish All that beauty, gone ”The Library? The royal tombs?”
”Those still stand untouched,” he said
”But not for long,” another said, ”if they wish to equip quinqueremes”
”So, if we are to save your city, Queen Cleopatra,” said Caesar, ”ill have to distract them, or make it clear there is no further need for naval vessels The next engagement will be a land one, perforce After all, we caht, in our apartest of the roo doors opened out onto the terrace The s and the lower part of his s--were reflected in it, although the upper parts of him disappeared, dissolved into the dark
”What, troubles you so,over to hiain” In truth, I was not as unconcerned as Idestroyed, and I knew nothing could ever be the saain Those timbers could not be replaced; the forests in the Atlas Mountains and in Lebanon no longer grew trees of such height Skill alone cannot restore the vanished
”The destructiveness of war so what I will leave behind to--to our child,” he said ”But the sailors of the Thirty-seventh told amon, are already on the march The ill indeed end soon”
”Forever,” I said Now there would be no ypt, what its status ith Rome, whether it would remain independent, and what its future was All those questions had been answered, even if blood had been spilled to do it In the future--in the days of our child--there would be no bloodshed necessary, because his parents had already sacrificed it
”Mars is a very thirsty God,” he said ”He never seems to have his fill of blood” He paused ”But, yes, for the tie scroll that he had been keeping in his belt ”What do you advise?” he asked ation of Alexandrians serving in the council of the eneainst Arsinoe and Ganymedes and wanted to follow Ptolen a cease-fire and negotiate with Caesar under the leadershi+p of their King
”This is absurd,” I finally answered ”They can come forward and submit to Ptolemy now There is no need to release him from the palace”