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Mithridates conducted business after he learned what I was doing. We traded molasses and got cane. We also got very favourable terms. We bought other products too if they were cheap because our holds were empty and would stay nearly that way because of their volume. Lazeez and Tertius would take a stab at being middlemen because they would get a chance to do some trading.

I was after old brass or bronze armour. This area was still worried about the Persians so there was little to be had. There was rough bronze and copper to be had though and I traded molasses to get this if there was enough. The takers were sceptical about the black substance but Lazeez had a large sweet tooth so he would gladly show them that it was not poisonous even if he got sick at the frequency of the tests.

Like the Patricia, we had a large galley and a very good stove. It even had the metal rail around it to keep the pots from sliding off. Tertius had not seen the need when I told him of this when they were made but now did.

We had been stopped in every port by the Romans but our papers from Julian got us all the help I could ask for. They could do no more when they found out who I was.

Our holds were far from full when we returned. Rufus had asked about pirates but there were few here and none would take on a ship of our size even without cannons.

Everybody got lessons in ship handling. AsA and her two friends were no exceptions. They got some of the harder jobs but they also got to take the wheel and give orders to the rest of us. Usually they were clustered together with Klement and I hope they were not antagonising the man. He looked worn out after dealing with them.

When we returned to Constantinople, we found a messenger waiting with a note from Julian. It said simply that Sapor was ready to talk.

The cargo was hurriedly unloaded. The Enterprise could carry eighty people in a pinch and double that below decks. There was nobody on the ship now that I really wanted to not come on the diplomatic mission. This would mean that there was not much room to take the soldiers.

We hurried to the palace and Julian was anxious to begin the negotiations. He had plans for the Enterprise but there was little room to spare. He was also going to take the Patricia with even more of his personal guards on it.

I said, "Clovis has to be in charge of the cannons. Lucius is a good captain. There is a garrison in Berytus. If you stay under the protection of the guns and take a small group then Sapor will do the same. I know that both you and Sapor are honourable men. If he gives his word then it is as good as yours. He will also be giving it to me. He has no doubt heard of what has happened."

"I still need my guard. Even if they are not just for protection. I have to show that my office is important."

"Take your best men. I will get word to Sapor to do the same. He will also have priests, diplomats and others that will not fight. I hope that he brings his family because you are doing the same thing."

"She is more of your wife than my daughter."

"Julian, she will always be your daughter. She is just starting a family of her own. In a few years you will see some grandchildren."

"So she has chosen?"

"We will talk of this after our first talk to Sapor. He may have something to say about KhAvar."

Julian cut back on his numbers but not much. He wanted to bring horses too but I convinced him to use the horses he would find in Berytus. My machinery though did go with us. I wanted to be far out of Constantinople when it was used.

We had only unloaded the majority of the food because we would need it ourselves. Many more of the barrels of refined sugar and molasses would go with us too.

The Patricia left the harbour pulling the barge and with more than a full compliment of people and crew. A hawser was now being constructed from smaller diameter ropes. We were far faster than the Patricia but Julian wanted us together on our arrival. Slaves were brought aboard but these too had to be brought for appearance and to do the work. A Roman would not do the menial tasks.

It still took much longer to get Julian and his retinue to gather. He had his own advisers now and they took up much of the room we had made by removing his soldiers. We left near noon and Julian waved to his cheering people as he sailed through the Bosporus. We made very quick passage through the Dardanelles too.

Rufus was the captain of the Enterprise but Mithridates was there to guide because he knew the area. When it got dark we sailed by dead reckoning. It was close to three in the morning that I spotted the Patricia. It was an hour later that we threw them the line and they attached the hawser to their ship.

The wind had died down but was still favourable. The action of the ship was different when under load but not bad. I had a bed that was large enough and I was happy.

In the morning, I showed the slaves how to use the stove to make breakfast. Most importantly I showed them how to make coffee the way I liked it. I was even able to put sugar in it if I chose.

The Patricia was under full sail and had her engines working but the Enterprise was still much faster. The Patricia may have come a lot closer to our speed if she had not been pulling the barge.

Right after breakfast Rufus threw a line to the Patricia and a net was pulled over. I could see both Lucius and Clovis grin. We would have to wait before we could use it.

The trip that took weeks now took five days. The weather was good and the winds favourable. Mithridates was amazed at our speed even with towing the Patricia and her barge.

We pulled into the harbour at Berytus and were greeted by the tax man. Julian's crest was flying from the top of our mast and there was nothing they would not do to assist us. The harbour was too shallow to handle the Enterprise so we had to anchor offshore. The Patricia would take us the final distance.

In almost nothing flat the local commander was in position and his officers lined up for inspection. I was near the end of the line and I shook the man's hand. He remembered me very well. I thanked him in front of Julian because of all he and his men had done to protect the innocent people that were caught up in the conflicts around me.

Julian said to the man, "The empire needs more compassion and it is good to see it coming from a man who's job it is to make war." We thanked the officers too even if they had not helped my people but I was sure they did or they would have faced ridicule.

We found shelter but I took my own people to my property just out of town. To do this we borrowed horses but some were already mine. I missed my saddle that was still hidden outside Antioch.

I found the warehouse completed and hundreds of my people and others living in it. I could not kick them out because they had no other place to go. I was also their patron and I had to look out for them even if I was not here to do so.

Mithridates had reluctantly left the Enterprise to join me and I got him to work organising the people to prepare to make the sugar extraction equipment. I sent people off with more money to buy supplies. This group had lived fairly well off what the farm was producing. They still needed some new clothing and protein. I hoped I could use the Patricia long enough to go fishing.

I had a short sermon and then healed those that needed it. Again it was much easier to do this when I was able to use the power of the people themselves. I stopped and listened to their troubles and nodded my head. This opened old wounds and they cried at the loss of those that had been carried off or died.

KhAvar told them what had happened on Crete and went through the story of Antioch. Mithridates was itching to get into this and he took over with wide gestures and he explained what had happened. Lazeez even brought out a painting that had been rolled up in his pack. He went into the destruction and then how he had painted this at my command.

HidA and Mehrnoosh had stayed with me though AsA and Afrasiab had remained with Julian. They more or less had to stay to show that Julian was not planning something underhanded. The people that I sent off, returned and I gave the clothing to the girls to give to those that needed it. I butchered some sheep and helped to cook the flesh over a fire.

It was that night that I heard people and horses coming near and I got up to investigate. A dozen men stood by their horses but did nothing else. There didn't seem to be anybody else around. When I was close enough I sniffed the air and knew who they were. From the darkness I said casually, "Hello, BamshAd, hello, KavAd. I see you have brought some friends."

They did not jump at my voice and BamshAd said with equal coolness, "We are happy to know that you are back with us." By this time I was in front of them and shook their hands.

I said, "You are looking healthy."

"I feel like a young man again. My two wives are both with child."

"Congratulations, BamshAd. I hope you are not blaming me."

"Of course not."

"HidA and Mehrnoosh are with me. They seem to be upset that so many of the older women found themselves young enough to bear children again."

"It was simply a miracle. The children will be treated better because of the gift that they are."

I asked, "I know you must have a message to give me, but I would like all of you to talk with two old women that are not too old now."

"We will go with you."

The twelve men followed me on foot and I had them tie their horses with ours. Instead of waking the women early, I started breakfast. I had some tea that BamshAd and most Persians liked. I got the names of the rest of the troop and shook hands with them. When I was done I said, "There are a few problems with some of your men. Do any of you have an objection to being touched by our god through me?"

The men simply stood as if they were being inspected by their king. I healed each of them and then gave them the reward simply because they were nice people. It took quite a while until they were able to regain their composure. When they took their seats again, I had to tell them of what I had done since leaving them as they lured the Romans into the trap.

I tried to give just a superficial story but they kept drawing more out until I asked about what had happened to them. My own men were still alive though two were hurt in the battle. I had to assume that they were fighting harder than the rest to prove that they were not siding with the enemy. They would be here now with me except that Sapor wanted only BamshAd's group to talk to me first.

I got the word that Sapor wanted the meeting where we had camped before. I said to BamshAd, "Julian has brought only a few fighting men with him. You already know the strength of the garrison here. Julian commands the two ships in the harbour and they are powerful. Here is where he is safe but the mountains is where your king is safe. I will try to get Julian to send the legion down the coast. Your king can come here with two hundred fighting men plus his advisors and slaves. He will have more swords but Julian will have the cannon. My father is here and he is in charge of the cannon."

When that was digested I added, "I will give my word that your king will be safe. I will bring all twelve of you to Julian and there you will get his word too. Because my father is in charge of the cannon you will get his word not to fire onto your people unless the Romans are attacked first and are in danger of being killed."

"We cannot decide but we will listen to their words."

"That is fair enough." Part of this had already been worked on. The matter of a person's word would be backed up by a document. Julian and I had already draughted one and so had Clovis. All it took would be the signatures of the principles and then the witnesses. This is where KhAvar, AsA and Afrasiab would come in handy.

We talked about personal matters now and I learned that Wodenism had risen from a few hundred people among the Persian population to nearly a third, or that was what BamshAd thought. Among those that were close to the king, the percentage was much higher. I had to thank the men that had originally been with me. They were converting people that had not heard of me.

I learned that kites and model planes were very popular now and I smiled thinking about Lazeez and Tertius. I knew that their kites would be a hit.

Eventually people came out of the warehouse and found me sitting with some Persians. Instead of causing a lot of confusion and less sleep I had them come here to meet the visitors. More than half of the people were Persian or of Persian ancestry but that was no sure sign that there would not be fighting. My word though calmed any anxiety.

When enough time had passed I filled two cups with tea and walked into the building to give to my women.

KhAvar said, "Are you coming back to bed?"

"It is getting late and we have guests."

"Who!"

"The same men that took me to see your uncle the last time."

The girls left their tea and made themselves presentable before leaving the building with me. I introduced the girls. "This is Patricia. She is the daughter of Julian, the Augustus of the Roman empire."

The Persians bowed as if a very important Persian dignitary. Patricia in turn acted very much like a queen meeting important people.

"This is KhAvar. You may know her or of her. These two women are the most significant people in my life."

I got a smile from KhAvar and the men bowed as if their king were present. Powerful queens were not that common in Persian customs but I guess that she gained more status by being associated with me.

In a sweet voice she said, "Please stand. My... Jón does not like bowing. My uncle has to have it to rule." When the men stood, she too emulated Patricia and shook their hands."

She encouraged the men to sit and Patricia went in to retrieve their tea. We sat in a circle around the fire and the girls began to ask questions. This started all over again as Mehrnoosh and HidA came out. The women were also in high regard. The questions they asked were well thought out and dealt with what had happened since they had left the side of Sapor.

The questions were not of a personal or general scope but showed that the ladies were very well informed. The men could not answer many of the questions because they were not in a high enough circle. It was not long until everybody was awake and we moved off to another area so that the people could get their breakfast.

Mehrnoosh told BamshAd, "I have talked to Julian a number of times. He is ethical and if he gives his word then it will not be broken." HidA corroborated her friends words.

When the ladies had cleaned up a bit more we all rode into the city. Everybody knew where the Augustus was and we rode there peacefully. There was no trouble getting into the fort and even the Persians didn't seem to fear where they were. Julian received BamshAd and KavAd in the commander's room and soon AsA and Afrasiab were there too.

The two Persians treated Julian like their king which I felt was very diplomatic. They were soon standing and then stated their king's wishes. Julian gave the one we had worked out and agreed to sign agreements for the safety of Sapor and his family if they chose to come.

It was a while later that Clovis came in and he was introduced to my two friends. Clovis heard Julian's word to not attack. Clovis brought out his own parchment and signed it. My own was also ready and I signed this too. All those that were present that Sapor knew, signed as witnessers. When this was done, I wrote a note to Sapor asking him to bring his best kite makers because he would be challenged by two young men.

BamshAd and KavAd were also given other personal letters to get him to accept the terms of the meeting. One was a letter from Julian that spoke of trust and a possibility of a growing friendship. Friendship here I figured was like the friendship between senators but at least it had a chance of growing.

We saw the Persians off with some food and a letter of safe conduct if they ran into any Roman patrols. The Romans would have to be good to catch these men.

I escorted them out of the city and said farewell a few miles further away. They shook my hand and it looked like BamshAd might hug me the way brothers did.

Back in the fort, the speculation had not stopped yet and I was asked about my opinion. "Sapor is a reasonable man. I am fairly sure that he will accept. He may want his people to search the town first and to surround it so that a large force of Romans is not allowed to join us."

Clovis added, "I still think he may want the population or possibly just the men to leave the city when the talks are going on."

Julian said, "That is what I think too but that would show that he does not trust us or Jón. The latter I think he will believe."

I said, "There are some cannon stationed out of town to give a warning. They may give us some problems. It may be better if a lot of people went fishing."

Julian said, "I could do that."

I said, "Ah, but would you clean fish or just watch? One of your couriers objected to this."

"I suppose I could clean fish and pull in the net if I must."

"Not only that but Lucius will be the Captain. When it comes to safety he is the leader on the ship."

Julian looked at me as if trying to find out what I meant. I said, "There can be but one leader when it gets dangerous. In a storm, or anything relating to the ship he is supreme. When it comes to a battle you will lead. That means you deal in fish guts when you have to."

"I will need a bath when I come back."

"So will all of us. It is nice to have a simple task that will draw us together."

Julian got the number of guards or crew he could take with him after I asked the rest if they were going to come with us. AsA was intrigued. She knew of netting but our net was large. The net we had used between Lutetia and the Rhine was many times larger.

It was a good day to go fishing though we had to ask the locals about the best places to go. It was four hours before we got our first catch, and it was small. Rufus and Mithridates insisted that they come too and they did their best to get under Lucius skin. He was an army officer and not much of a navy man, at least not yet.

It was late in the day when we pulled in a large haul. As we cleaned the net went back out and we soon brought in many more. The next haul was the equal of the last and I could see that Julian was tiring of cleaning fish.

Rufus wanted the net to go out once more and I said, "That may be enough. Not everybody here wants to clean fish from day until night."

"But they are worth a fortune. They come so easy. If we had our other net we would not be able to drag it onboard."

We cleaned quickly as we could. The women worked with us so the men had to do the same. Afrasiab did not think this was proper but did his share. I called it quits an hour before dusk. We cleaned up what was already started but we had a large pile of fish left to do.

I went to the side of the barge, took off my boots and dived in. Soon I had my women with me though they used the life preservers for assistance. Nobody else came in so in a minute we climbed aboard to have the trip back to port.

My girls looked a sight but they were mine. I cleaned them up so they looked presentable and kissed them. They deserved it for being so loyal as to join me.

When we pulled into the dock, Rufus was the first ashore. He was looking to get help in cleaning the fish. Julian came ashore just like a hardworking deck hand. I respected him then for what he had done. Before we left the area I asked Lucius, "What did you think of your crew?"

"I think they were pretty good. Two though I would keep below decks stoking the boiler. You said to them that I was the captain but they didn't believe it."

"You need to rant and rave like Rufus."

"I might have to carry a club when I yell at them."

"Make it a thick one. One has a thick Roman skull and the other a Persian one."

Our meal that night was fresh fish. Some of the fish was sent to my people but we ate with Julian. We regaled each other about the things we had to do. The men fought each other until AsA said that all the men besides Rufus were too slow. The men formed an alliance and attacked the women. In this one sided battle I got Rufus to join with the women and I did too.

I talked about the dexterity AsA used to remove heads, then the way Patricia was able to remove guts. Mithridates got the idea and said KhAvar gutted as good as Patricia but neither could compare to the way HidA did it. He went into detail and conjured up enough detail that the women started to turn a bit green. In the end Julian admitted defeat. "In my long years in the battlefield, I was not able to spill intestines the way the ladies have done today."

The next day we began to make a large barge. I had three steam engines and perhaps I could cast a large enough prop to drive it through the water. The engine would have to power the capstans that would pull rope and haul in the net. I had seen factory ships before and I knew from our own failings some of what was needed, at least in the first version.

The work was contracted out to the people of the city. Now I needed trees that I would eventually cut into beams and assorted pieces of lumber.

I worked with some people to make a prop out of clay. This was the way I made the pattern for the prop now used on the Patricia. I had no CNC machine nor the expertise to make the best possible. I had barely started any of this when BamshAd and his eleven men marched boldly into Berytus.

I met up with them when they were in the fort. They must have changed clothes just before entering the city. Julian was already reading the document in his chambers when I arrived. I had said hello to the men that had to stay outside though they didn't look like the same people. There were three more horses though. I was introduced to three of Sapor's negotiators. I knew one man already and shook hands with him and the two others.

There was a little give and take but I stayed out of it. Sapor wanted the legion out of the city and an equal force of Persians to watch them. Julian handed me the document and I saw that it was written in Latin which helped matters a lot. There were some other details but they were minor. Julian agreed to some but not others. They really didn't matter but Julian I guess didn't want to lose face.

The cannon outside of town were questioned so Julian said he would pull them back. The reason they were there was to provide a warning. We could hear just as well if a small keg of powder was set off. In any case it would just be in case there was an attack.

With the preliminaries out of the way the three negotiators wanted to talk to Afrasiab and the women. Julian called for a servant, and the man took the Persians away to have their meeting.

It was just after breakfast but a meal was planned even if they had to leave. I figured, and so did Julian, that the men would have a lot of questions to ask.

Julian asked me, "What are you building now?"

"I am working on another sugar refinery. It will be similar to the other one until I get a furnace made. The profits will be good. Men are out harvesting trees so that I can start on another barge but this time it will be larger than the one on the Rhine."

"For fishing?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I want to build a ship that is large enough to stay away from the port for weeks. To do this I need to make a compressor to squeeze a gas so that I can freeze the fish. There is no way I can preserve all the fish that are caught by drying them."

"You told me about that. I do not see how it works but I believe you. What can I do to help?"

"I need to make some steel rods and I need a lot of bronze for the compressor."

"How much bronze do you need?"

"A few tonnes to start. There will be waste which I can recover but I need spare parts too."

"I have lots of armour you could have."

"I would take you up on that but you are still technically at war. I would rather find scrap bronze or make my own from copper."

"Do the Persians have a good source of copper?"

"I talked to Sapor about all kinds of metals. I can get the copper but he has to have steel for armour and weapons. He is still fighting other people besides the Romans."

"I would not want him to be well armed while my own armies still use bronze."

"When the cannon and then rifles come out there will be little need to have swords or armour. I mentioned before that the armies of the future do not use steel armour. There is a different armour used but it does not work well with a sword. The killing will be done from a distance."

Julian said, "You said that but you also said that during the transition spears, swords and rifles were used together."

"That is very true. It was the rifle that shoots a new piece of lead every second that makes the sword obsolete."

"Well ask for Persian scrap bronze. After the treaty is signed then you could get more and at a cheaper price."

The negotiators stayed to have lunch. I gave the blessing at the meal then gave the customary surge in hormones but by now it was just a small lift. I did not want people to get addicted to what I did.

The three negotiators were a bit surprised by this but pleasantly so. I broached the need to gather scrap bronze and offered fish, sugar and molasses to get this commodity. I was asked what the latter two commodities were and they had to wait for desert.

The cooks had been practising on the recipes I made and put their wares before Julian. He was the one that cut pies, cakes and sweet rolls for his guests. I had even caramelised some sugar and made toffee and other confections. The men were full before desert and very full after. Julian kept pushing seconds onto them and they were just too polite to say no.

When the men left in the mid afternoon they carried a lot of my concoctions with them along with a good supply of the raw ingredients. This way Sapor would see the usefulness of the sugar before the meeting.

Tertius and Lazeez were making kites and model aircraft but I took them away from those pursuits and got Tertius to find a smith to make some blister steel to make a shaft. Two smiths were already making some of the steel tanks I needed to produce sugar.

Somehow or other I was going to have to make a four cylinder compressor. The best I could do would be something like an old Volkswagen engine. This would cause less strain on the block.

Tertius was not too upset to get into this sort of assignment because he had done lots of this before but he also had help. He still wanted the large kite to be made because he heard my boast at the last meal about a competition between the Persians and the Romans.

"I will do this but can Lazeez work on the kite?"

"Sure he can. Do you remember what I said at one time about what the steam engine would one day be like?"

"You said it would be a turbine."

"True, but I also said that it could be like the compressor. Do you remember with the compressor would lead to."

"Yes, a gasoline, volatile gas or a diesel engine."

Tertius did not see any connection yet so I said, "After we get the compressor, and I did say after, you can make a diesel engine."

"That is a lot of work."

"Your aeroplane needs an engine," I said mildly.

The lights went on then and Tertius had to explain what all this meant. Soon I had two young men working on the compressor that would be a two cycle engine one day then a four when we got some valves and some other complicated parts made.

I presented my drawing and explained some of the points that needed to be covered first. I was going to have hard steel sleeves in the cylinders and a lot of fins so I would not have to work with water, pump or a radiator. The design was very simple. The only complicated feature would be the pump that would squirt the fuel into the cylinder at the right time.

This work was not something that was just started now because I thought of this even from the second day I came to this time. The diesel engine was very important to me. The diesel may be heavy but the British had turbo diesels driving their Spitfires and other aircraft. They were very powerful and light too when you considered the ratio of weight to horsepower.

Mithridates worked with the sugar refining equipment while I helped the boys by setting up the steam engines. More housing had to be built and the logs that came in first, went towards this project instead. Steel shafts had to be hammered as true as possible then turned in the lathe. We had to take off the tailstock to do the long lengths and work from the floor with a steady rest but this had been done many times before.

Sapor came before we had our first shaft turned.

There was an army behind the king and they split up. One group went twenty miles north to meet the Roman legion while a thousand men stayed four miles out of town. Our cannon could not go that far so this was safe for both parties.