The Gladiator (2 page)

‘No idea,’ Cato replied softly.

The brief exchange had broken the spell. Macro puffed his cheeks as he let out a deep breath and the ship’s captain turned away from his passengers and scowled at the steersman. The latter had released his grip on the tiller of the great paddle at the stern of the
Horus
and was cowering beneath the fantail decoration overhanging the stern post. Already the ship was slowly swinging round into the wind.

‘What in Hades do you think you’re doing?’ the captain blazed at the steersman. ‘Return to your bloody post and get us back on course.’

As the steersman hurriedly took up the tiller, the captain turned round to glare at the other sailors. ‘Back to work! Move yourselves.’ His men reluctantly returned to their duties as they adjusted the sail that had begun to flutter at the edges as the
Horus
luffed up for a moment, before the steersman leaned into the tiller and the ship settled back on to her original course.

Macro licked his lips nervously. ‘Is it really over?’

Cato sensed the deck under his feet, and glanced at the sea, which looked just as it had before the tremor had begun. ‘Seems to be.’

‘Thank the gods.’ Julia nodded, then her eyes widened as she recalled her maid, who had been resting on her mat in the small cabin she shared with her mistress and the senator. ‘I’d better check on Jesmiah. Poor girl will be terrified.’

Cato released her from his arms and Julia hurried across the deck towards the narrow gangway leading down to the passengers’ quarters, where those who could afford it had paid for a cabin. The rest ofthe passengers simply lived and slept on the deck of the
Horus
.

As Julia disappeared from sight, a faint cry reached them from the shore and Cato, Macro and Sempronius turned towards the land. Though the light was dim, they could clearly see figures stumbling away from the estate’s slave compound. Or what was left of it. The walls had been flattened, exposing the barrack blocks inside. Only two were still standing; the rest were in ruins.

‘Bloody hell.’ Macro stared at the ruins. ‘What could have done that?’

‘An earthquake,’ said Sempronius. ‘Has to be. I’ve experienced something like it before while I was serving as a tribune in Bythinia. The earth shook, and there was a dull roar. It went on for some moments, and shook some buildings to pieces. Those inside were crushed and buried under the rubble.’ He shuddered at the memory. ‘Hundreds died . . .’

‘But if it’s an earthquake, then why were we affected, out here at sea?’

‘I don’t know, Macro. The work of the gods is beyond the understanding of men.’

‘Perhaps,’ Cato remarked. ‘But surely, if the tremor on land is severe enough, it would communicate itself through the water to us?’

‘That may be so,’ Sempronius admitted. ‘In any case, we’re the lucky ones. It is those on land who will have felt the full power of the gods’ wrath.’

For a moment the three men stared towards the ruined slave compound, slowly slipping into the distance as the
Horus
sailed steadily away from the coast. A fire had broken out in the ruins, most likely from the kitchens preparing the evening meal, Cato decided. Flames licked up into the dusk, illuminating the shocked figures of the survivors. A handful were desperately picking away at the rubble to free those trapped beneath. Cato shook his head in pity.

‘Be thankful we are at sea. I would not want to be ashore now. You should be grateful for that at least, Macro.’

‘Really?’ Macro replied quietly. ‘What makes you think the gods have finished with us yet?’

‘Deck there!’ a voice suddenly cried from aloft. ‘Captain, look!’

T h e sailor sitting astride the spar close to the top of the mast had thrust his spare arm out, along the coast to the west.

‘Make your report properly!’ the captain bellowed up to him. What do you see?’

There was a pause before the sailor replied anxiously. ‘I don’t know, sir. Never seen its like. A line, like a wall, right across the sea.’

‘Nonsense, man! That’s impossible.’ ‘Sir, I swear, that’s what it looks like.’ ‘Fool!’ The captain crossed to the side of the ship, swung himself up on to the ratlines and began to clamber aloft to join the lookout. ‘Now then, you bloody fool, where is this wall of yours?’

The lookout thrust his hand towards the horizon, into the fading light of the setting sun. At first the captain could see little as he squinted. Then, as his eyes adjusted to the distant gleam, he saw it. A faint glitter of reflected light rippling along the horizon, above a dark band that stretched from out to sea right up to the coast of Crete. Where it touched the land there was a churning foam of water.

‘Mother of Zeus,’ the captain muttered as his guts instantly turned to ice. The lookout was right. There was a wall ahead of the
Horus
, a wall of water. A vast tidal wave was sweeping along the coast directly towards the ship, no more than two or three miles away and racing towards them faster than the swiftest of horses.

Atidal wave?’ Cato’s eyes widened. ‘How big?’ ‘Big as a bloody cliff,’ the captain replied. ‘And heading this way, straight along the coast.’

‘Then we must alter course,’ said Sempronius. ‘Get out of its way’

‘There’s no time for that. In any case, the wave stretched as far as I could see. We can’t avoid it.’

The senator and the two centurions stared at the captain for a moment before Sempronius spoke again. ‘So, what now?’

‘Now?’ The captain gave a brittle laugh. ‘We say our prayers and make our final farewells and wait until the wave hits us.’

Cato shook his head. ‘No. There has to be something you can do to save the ship.’

‘There’s nothing, I’m telling you,’ the captain said bleakly. ‘You haven’t seen the size of that thing yet. But you will, any moment.’

All eyes turned towards the horizon, and then Cato noticed what looked like a dark shadow on the rim of the world, at the moment only a fine line and one that looked wholly unthreatening as yet. He stared at it briefly before turning back towards the captain. ‘You’ve been in storms before, haven’t you?’

‘Oh, yes. Storms are one thing. A tidal wave is something else. There’s no hope for us.’

‘Bollocks!’ Macro growled, and then grabbed the captain’s tunic in both hands and drew the Greek close to his face. ‘There’s always hope. I haven’t survived fuck knows how many fights and injuries just to die on this tub. N o w then, I ain’t a sailor. That’s your job. You’ve got a dangerous situation on your hands. So you deal with it. Do what you can to give us the best chance to live through this. You understand me?’ He gave the captain a shake. ‘Well?’

The Greek wilted before the intense gaze of the centurion and nodded. ‘I’ll do what I can.’

‘That’s better.’ Macro smiled and released his grip. ‘Now then, is there anything we can do to help?’

The captain swallowed nervously. ‘If you don’t mind, it would be best if you stayed out of the way’

Macro’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is that all?’

‘You could tie yourself to the mast, or one of the cleats, to save yourselves from being swept over the side when the wave hits us.’

‘All right then.’

The captain turned away to shout orders to his crew and the sailors hurried aloft to shake out the reefs in the huge mainsail. At the stern, the steersman strained at the tiller, turning the
Horus
towards the sunset.

‘What is he doing?’ asked Sempronius. ‘The fool is heading straight for the wave.’

Cato nodded. ‘Makes sense. The bows are the strongest part of the ship. If we meet the wave head on, we might break through it, if we can’t ride over it.’

Sempronius stared at him. ‘I hope you are right, young man. For your sake, my sake and all our sakes.’

As soon as the senator had spoken, Cato’s mind focused at once on Julia and he called to Macro as he hurried towards the gangway leading to the cabins. ‘Get yourself tied to the mast, and take the senator with you.’

‘Where are you going?’ ‘To get Julia and Jesmiah. They’ll be safer on deck.’ Macro nodded, then glanced towards the horizon, and now he could see the wave more clearly, rising up in a great bar that extended far out to sea, while the other end foamed and crashed along the coast. ‘Be quick, Cato!’

Cato ran across the deck and jumped down the short flight of steps into the passengers’ quarters, where thin stalls accommodated those who had paid the most for their passage to Rome. Thrusting aside the canvas curtain that formed the makeshift entrance to Julia’s quarters, he ducked his head inside. Julia sat on the deck, cradling Jesmiah in her arms. ‘Cato! What’s the matter?’

‘ N o time to explain.’ He stepped towards her, stooped and drew her up on to her feet. Jesmiah scrambled up at her side, wide-eyed with terror.

‘Master Cato,’ her lips trembled, ‘I heard someone say there’s a monster.’

‘There’s no monster,’ he snapped, thrusting them both out of the stall and up towards the gangway. ‘We have to get on deck, as quick as possible.’

Julia stumbled up the steps towards the deck. ‘Why? What’s happening?’

With a quick glance at Jesmiah Cato replied, ‘Trust me and do as I say’

They emerged on to the deck in a scene of terror and chaos. Macro had tied the senator to the foot of the mast and was hurriedly doing the same for himself. All around the other passengers and crew were doing the best they could to secure themselves to the vessel. The captain had joined the steersman on the small steering deck and both men braced their arms on the tiller and stared grimly ahead.

Jesmiah stared round in horror and drew up. Cato grabbed her arm and dragged her roughly towards the mast.

‘Come on, girl! There’s not much time.’ As soon as they reached Macro and Sempronius, Cato thrust Julia and her maid down on to the deck and took up the tail end of the rope Macro had used to secure himself to the mast. Glancing up, he saw that the wave was much closer now, travelling at an extraordinary speed as it swept along the coast. He snapped round to the two women.

‘Raise your arms!’

Running the rope round their stomachs, Cato circled the mast and tied the end into the loop round Macro’s waist.

‘What about you, lad?’ Macro looked up anxiously.

‘I need more rope.’ Cato stood up and glanced round. Every spare length seemed to have been taken. Then his eyes caught sight of something over the side of the
Horus
, no more than fifty paces away in the sea.The glistening tip ofa rock was exposed above the surface, and as Cato looked, more rocks emerged. Closer to the shore it seemed that some tidal current had drawn the water away, laying bare reefs and even the stunted upper works of an old wreck. The sight astonished him for an instant before a terrified shout from one of the crew snatched his attention back towards the wave. It was visible to everyone on the deck now. A great dark monster, crested with a haze of white spray as it came on in a rippling, glassy mass, straight towards the
Horus
. Ahead of it, the tiny wings of a seagull glimmered in the fading glow of the sunset, then the bird was lost in the shadow of the wave.

‘Cato!’

He turned and saw Julia staring at him, struggling to reach out and grasp his hand. Cato knew there was no time to tie himself down. It was too late for him. He slumped down on the deck and squeezed himself between Macro and Julia as best he could, grasping them both round the shoulders. The light breeze that had been blowing along behind the ship abruptly died and the sail sagged like old skin from the spar, before suddenly being taken aback as the wave thrust the air ahead of it. T h e great mass of water rose up ahead of the ship, high, higher than the mast, and Cato felt his stomach knot as he gritted his teeth and squinted at the oncoming monster.

The deck suddenly lurched as the bows swept up, and the air was filled with cries and wails of terror and the sound of the sea surging past the sides of the
Horus
. Those clustered about the base of the mast clung to each other as the deck canted at a crazy angle and a mountain of sea swelled up above the ship, dwarfing it. For an instant Cato was lost in abject awe before the mighty apparition hanging over the ship, and he saw the spume and spray fringing the top of the wave. With a scream, one of the crewmen came tumbling down the deck, silenced as his head cracked against the deck hatch.

At that moment the
Horus
lost the brief struggle with the wave and slid back. A torrent of water crashed down over the vessel, snapping the mast offten feet above the heads ofthe Romans tied to its base. Just before the black deluge of tons of water smashed down on the ship, Macro shouted up at the wave,’Fuck you!’

Then the sea crashed over them. Cato’s head was snapped back against the mast and for an instant he saw white. He opened his mouth to cry out and at once it was filled with salt water. A great force tore at him, dragging him out of the grasp of his comrades. He tightened his grip on the rope around Julia’s waist while he clamped his fingers into Macro’s shoulder for all he was worth. All sense of direction was lost as the ship rolled over, and his ears were filled with the roar and rumble of water boiling around him. Something struck him, and then thrashed around, tearing at him, and he realised it must be another ofthe crewmen. Fingers groped at his face and tore at his cheek. Fearing for his eyes, Cato had to release his grip on Macro and fight back, desperately thrusting the other man away. Then a fresh surge of water swept up both him and the other man, swirling them away from the stump of the mast in the darkness. For a moment the other man struggled like a wild animal, fighting for its life. Then he was gone and Cato felt himself rolling and twisting, over and over, as he clamped his mouth tightly shut and held his breath as best he could. Then, at last, he could bear it no longer and opened his mouth, desperate for air to ease the fire in his chest. Salt water surged down his throat and into his lungs, suffocating him, and he knew he would die.

The wave swept on, leaving a swirling maelstrom in its wake. The hull of the merchant vessel came to the surface in a froth of bubbles and spray and lay glistening in the failing light for a moment before it slowly rolled upright. As the side rail and then the deck struggled to break the surface of the sea, there was little of the original super- structure that could be recognised. The figurehead of the Egyptian god had sheared off, leaving a splintered stump. The mast, sail and rigging had been swept away and the steering paddles were gone, taking the captain and the steersman with them. As the waters parted across the deck and gushed out of the scuppers, the
Horus
continued to roll, and for an instant it seemed that she might overturn again. Then, at the last moment, she paused and rolled back to settle low in the water, a floating wreck where once there had been a proudly kept vessel. Around the
Horus
swirled the flotsam of the shattered mast and spar, together with tendrils of the rigging. A few bodies bobbed to the surface and then settled on the water like old rags.