At the end of the second hour, Gaius had all the information he needed. He approached the Chief and explained that his men had caught these raiders during a routine patrol, and on interrogation they had informed him of their mission.
"They aimed to help a small group of traitors to set up resistance and destroy Roman property," Gaius explained.
"I assure you, I wouldn't. ."
"I know," Gaius interrupted. "There were some who they felt would cooperate with us, and they were to be killed. Your name was top of their list, and you were to be replaced with. ."
"Who?"
"I don't think you need to know. He was one of these, all of whom were traitors."
"Then I'll. ."
"I've got a better idea."
"I can't let them. ."
"Of course you can't, but look at it this way. Your tribe has to pay taxes to Rome, but it can be in kind. Bundle them off as slaves, and with a bit of luck, that'll cover a couple of years of taxes for everybody, and because everybody who's not involved benefits, they'll all be on your side."
"I suppose they would," the Chief nodded.
"What everybody has to see," Gaius continued, "is that they benefit from accepting the Roman presence, and taking advantage of it."
"I suppose," came the less than convinced response.
"Time for you to think about how you can benefit. You realize where you are?"
"Here?" came the puzzled response.
"On the banks of a large river, which happens to be the best, if not the only safe harbour in storms on the lower east coast," Gaius explained. "Now, there are a small number of your men learning how to construct the bridge. You should arrange for them to build a wharf where ships can safely dock, then you can start trading. Shortly, someone I know is coming from Rome, and he will set you up with contacts. You can make a lot of money from this, if you do things properly. Assuming you are interested, that is?"
"I am. I'm very interested."
"Good! Now you should share with the men who will build your wharf, firstly because I want you to reward people who are helping Rome, and secondly because if you don't, they could build another one downstream, which would leave you in unnecessary competition."
"And you?"
"Those men will build a wharf," Gaius smiled, "and I shall personally pay them to build warehouses behind the wharf. I am hoping we can come to amicable agreements as to how to use the wharf and warehouses."
"Of course we can," the Chief nodded. From his point of view, he now understood the deal. As Gaius noted later, had he said all this was for the good of the Celts, or whatever, he would never have been believed. Once he could see a motive that he understood, compliance was no problem. There was a further issue. To do a business deal with an army Legate could never be bad; nobody would dare try stand-over tactics, because no group of criminals could exert more force than a legion. Celts threatening Celts was of little interest to anyone, but Celts threatening Roman interests could lead to slavery or the cross. This was a way of cementing in power and wealth.
* * *
Gradually, the days became longer, the storms less frequent, and ships came from Gaul with additional supplies. It also brought a visit from Plautius, who wished to know how the bridge was progressing.
"Why don't you come and see for yourself?" Gaius suggested. Since Plautius insisted on taking a small group of soldiers who had escorted him, for the sake of formality, Gaius took a similar group of his own soldiers. The bridge was not yet finished, but the pontoons were lashed in place and enough support was in place that a party could cross the river.
"I've also got the Celts to join in the construction, and they are building wharves, and if you look over there, there's a ship unloading right now."
"Well done," Plautius nodded. "You've got all the makings of a transport centre here." He paused, and saw the expression on Gaius' face change. "You see something?"
"Someone," Gaius nodded. "A very good friend." He turned to an Optio and said, "See that older man struggling with those crates? He's a very good friend of mine. Send some men down there to give him a hand, and escort him to my hut. When he gets there, make sure he gets some wine."
"Yes sir!" the Optio nodded, and took six men with him. Plautius continued examining details of the bridge construction, an act that amused Gaius because he was convinced that Plautius really knew very little about engineering or bridge construction, still he seemed favourably impressed, and his rank gave him the right to waste a little time. Gaius looked over to wharf, and smiled as Timothy seemed to step back to catch his breath, and when Timothy looked up, he waved to him. Timothy seemed to notice the bridge for the first time, and he waved back. Timothy then turned back towards his crate, then looked up, seemed to freeze, then he turned and ran towards the bridge. Two men with knives drawn charged after him. Gaius stared at them; he almost seemed to recognize one of them, but from where?
The two men were clearly more athletic than Timothy was, and it was obvious that they would easily overtake him, but fortunately Timothy had run in the best direction. When the two men saw the seven Roman soldiers, it was equally obvious to them that charging towards seven Roman soldiers with drawn weapons was less than a good idea. They turned and ran towards the north.
The Optio grasped Timothy, assured him he was safe, then he sent four men after the other two, however heavy infantry are not fast pursuers, and the men escaped.
Meanwhile, Gaius had excused himself from Plautius and had run towards Timothy.
"You're safe now," he assured the still-panting Timothy. "Who were they, and why were they after you?"
"It's all about the corn," Timothy gasped.
"You mean, they were stealing it?" Gaius shook his head doubtfully.
"Nobody was stealing the corn," Timothy replied. "What happened was this. I informed Quintus that I was going to watch the corn being unloaded at Ostia, I did, and nobody did anything to it. My first thought was that Quintus must be responsible, but I later found that according to the accounts, the corn was still going missing. There was one more shipload coming, so I changed plan. It occurred to me that the right amount of corn might be coming ashore at Ostia, but someone was simply stealing the money later and changing the accounts, so on the last shipment I hid near the granary. The corn arrived, I watched it being recorded, and once it was stored, I sneaked in and brought the records from Ostia. They were ten per cent different. It was then that the two men who had recorded the grain returned. Apparently one had left something behind, and they saw me. Of course, I also saw them. They must have decided that I knew, because they came after me. Fortunately, whatever they forgot was deeper in the granary, and I managed to duck around some sacks and get to the door. I got out and ran, and a couple of soldiers saw me. At that point I thought I was safe."
"So, you think they recognized you?"
"Definitely."
"Do you know who they were?" Gaius asked.
"I had seen them before," Timothy nodded. "One of them was one of Quintus' slaves, and the other I had seen before with Vipsania's father."
"Were either there today?"
"The thinner one was. He pointed me out to the other, who I'd never seen before."
"Optio, get someone to find Matius, and tell him I want some cavalry to go chasing those two. The leaders should come here for a description of who they're looking for." Gaius turned to Timothy, and indicated he should continue.