"We should never have got on board," Quintus muttered.
"You might be right," Gaius shrugged coldly, "but if we had stayed there we would be dead by now, and you know what would have happened to your wife. We don't know what's happening, but we are still alive. Now, above all other times, we must behave like Romans. We must not lose control, and we must be ready to do what we have to do, on orders only."
"You don't order me around. ." Quintus started.
"Right now I do," Gaius said firmly. He paused and then said more softly, "Quintus, the only way we can survive is if we act together, in a disciplined way. If you want to suggest something, I'll listen. What I'm saying is that nobody must start something on their own.
"You men," he continued to the soldiers, "I'll admit I don't know what's going to happen, but the only way we are going to survive is to behave with dignity. Unless any of you know how to fly, these creatures have to take us home. We have to persuade them to do so, and we're hardly likely to do that by making nuisances of ourselves."
The soldiers nodded.
It was then that the door opened, their creature stood up and walked out. There seemed to be a silence, then began what appeared to be a very heated debate in another language, with another quite strange and different voice. The debate got stronger, then it stopped, and shortly after, there appeared at the door another. . what? It had two arms, two legs, was made of metal and glass, and had a sort of mouth, and eyes. Its torso was a cylinder, with odd-looking fastenings holding bits together.
"Follow me!" it said. It spoke Latin, in a rather strange metallic tone.
"Do so," Gaius ordered. "Same order as entering. Quintus, please behave with dignity. You men surround him. If he behaves, treat him as of senatorial class. If he. ."
"Gaius," Quintus said firmly and arrogantly. "There will be no need for that. Personally, I was completely opposed to getting on this flying ship, but since we are here I agree with your proposal. We must work together to persuade these people to return us."
The party slowly made its way though the doorway into a large corridor. They marched along, following what Gaius called the Tin Man. They stopped in front of a wall that slid open to reveal a small room.
"Four in, the rest wait here and I shall come back and get you," the Tin Man said.
"You men wait," Gaius ordered. "Timothy, Vipsania, Lucilla, let's go."
They entered, and the door closed. Then the whole floor moved.
"What's happening!" Lucilla said, a touch of fear in her voice.
"We're just being taken somewhere else," Gaius said calmly. He hardly felt calm, but he had to give the impression that he was not overawed.
"Correct," the Tin Man said calmly. "Don't be afraid. You will not be hurt." He stopped, and then said to Gaius, "You find something fascinating?"
"I am curious to know how those pieces of metal are joined so finely together."
The Tin Man stood motionless for a moment, then said, "We are there." The door opened.
"You are not going to tell me?" Gaius asked, "or don't you know?"
"I may show you later on," the Tin Man said. "Follow!" They walked along a corridor, and to the right there were cages, with animals. Animals that Gaius had never considered possible. Then through a door to more cages. There were two lions, two zebras…
Then an empty cage, with straw on the floor.
"I am sorry that I do not believe this is appropriate," the Tin Man said, "but it is the only place I can put you where you cannot do harm."
"Gaius," Vipsania said with fear in her voice. "If we go in there, we can't get out again. ."
"We'll get out," Gaius said. "Please do as he says."
"You are cooperative," the Tin Man said as he closed the door behind them and locked it. "That is good. Tell me, why do you cooperate when you know you are prisoners."
"Because I can't do anything to remedy the situation," Gaius replied simply, "and there's no point in my doing something when I cannot gain."
"Logical," the Tin Man replied.
"What will happen to us?" Lucilla asked.
"I will let you know later," the Tin Man replied. "I must get the other four."
"What's going on?" Lucilla asked when the Tin Man was out of sight.
"You want my guess," Vipsania said softly. When nobody replied, she said, "We're being collected."
"Collected?" Timothy frowned.
"Didn't you notice all those animals? Two of everything. And some of them are weird and frightening. I think we're going to end up in some sort of games."
"Oh God!" Lucilla shuddered.
"The last bit doesn't follow," Gaius said in as comforting a tone as he could manage, and placed his hand on her arm. "I'm sorry for getting you into this mess," he said. "I think Quintus might have been right, at least to the extent that these creatures are not here to help us."
"We would have all been killed down there," Lucilla reassured him.
"Anyway, all's not lost," Gaius tried to reassure them all. "I'll get you out of this."
"Any idea how?" Vipsania smiled.
"Not the slightest," Gaius admitted.
"That's my Gaius," she said, and hugged him.
It was shortly after this that the others marched past. Quintus gave Lucilla his best effort at a reassuring smile, she waved a kiss. Then he was out of sight. They heard a door close, then silence.
The Tin Man reappeared, with four cups, some apples, and a jar of water. They ate in silence. Gaius felt a trace of vibration through the floor. They were being taken somewhere, but where?
After they finished eating, they stared at their surroundings. Gaius confirmed that the door was closed. He tried to look out, but the lights were dimmed. He checked his sack, untied it, and could feel his metal fittings, his scrolls, and most of all, his alien weapon. It was there. What could he do with it?
They tried talking about anything but their present predicament. Somehow the social life of Rome held little appeal. They began staring vacantly at their surroundings. Gaius gave Vipsania another hug, and suggested they all get what sleep they could.
They lay down, and tried to sleep. It was difficult, but eventually they drifted off. What they were unaware of was that a vapour had been introduced into their air supply, and it would be quite some time before they woke.
Chapter 33
Princeps
It is with regret that I must advise you that Gaius Claudius Scaevola, Legatus Legionis, Legio XX Valeria, must be presumed dead. Scaevola and a small party of soldiers were travelling south to coordinate the westward thrust with Vespasianus and the Augusta. One exploratore from the party has survived, and his account is as follows.
The party marched south and ran into a small squad of Celts who were attacking a squad of Roman soldiers, together with what the soldier called a demon. Scaevola's squad quickly disposed of the enemy, but the soldier informed him that other Celts had attacked and captured a small group of Roman citizens, one of which I understand was his wife. Scaevola sent this exploratore off to get help from the Augusta, and apparently set off to rescue his wife.
It is unclear what happened next. It is presumed that the rescue was successful, because a number of dead Celts were subsequently found. The party then appeared to flee from about four hundred Celts and formed a defensive position on a high hill. The Celts attacked, and while our soldiers fought valiantly, as judged by the dead Celts left behind, it is unclear what happened to the party of Romans. A cohort from the Augusta was sent and it encircled the Celts and disposed of them. However, no trace of the Romans could be found, apart from dead soldiers left at the top of the hill. It also appears that Scaevola had bags of objects that were to be sent to Rome. Nothing even close to the descriptions given to me by the Tribunes of the Valeria were found, either at the hill, or anywhere that could be described as a reasonable path along which they could have travelled. I presume they must have buried these objects to prevent the Celts from accessing them.