The Gladiator

As the first chest came up on deck the mate stared at it and swallowed nervously. 'Sir, you can't throw that over the side.'

'Oh? Why not?'

'These chests are the property of a Roman lord. They contain rare spices. They're valuable, sir.'

'That's too bad,' Macro replied.' Now pick the chest up and get rid of it.'

The mate shook his head.' No, sir. I will not be held responsible for that.'

With a sigh Macro bent down and lifted the chest up, strode over to the side and threw it into the sea. Turning back to the mate, he could not help being amused by the man's horrified expression.

'There you go. See? Not so difficult when you try. To work, the rest of you. I don't give a shit what anything's worth. It all goes over the side. Got that?'

The crewmen in the hold began to work in earnest, heaving the loose items of cargo up on to the deck, where their comrades stood ready to dispose of it all. Macro returned to the mate and muttered in a low voice, ' Now then, if you don't mind, I think you should lend a hand saving your bloody ship.'

The mate saw the serious expression on the centurion's face and nodded quickly before jumping down into the hold to. help the others.

'That's better,' Macro nodded.

As more chests, and bales of sodden material were heaved up on deck, Sempronius and his daughter approached Macro.

The senator cleared his throat.' Can we help?'

'Of course, sir. The more hands the better. If these sailors look like lacking, kick ' em in the arse. We have to lighten the ship as quickly as we can.'

'I'll see to it.'

'Thank you, sir.' Macro turned to Julia. 'You might as well take shelter in the stern, miss.'

Julia raised her chin defiantly.' No. Not while I can do anything to help.'

Macro cocked an eyebrow. 'I know what Cato meant to you, miss.

Best that I let you deal with your loss. Besides, it's man's work. No offence, but you'd just get in the way'

'Oh really?' Julia's eyes narrowed. She slipped the drenched cloak from her shoulders and let it flop on to the deck. Bending down, she lowered herself into the cargo hold, picked up one of the chests with a grunt and heaved it up towards the deck. Macro looked at her and shrugged.

'As you will, miss. Now then,' his expression hardened, 'I'd better see to the dead.'

'Dead?' Sempronius looked at him. 'It's a bit late to do anything for them, don't you think?'

'We must lighten the ship. They have to go over the side as well, sir,' Macro explained gently. 'I'm no stranger to death, so let me do it.'

'Over the side?' Sempronius glanced towards the stump of the mast where Jesmiah's body lay slumped. 'Even her?'

Yes, sir.' Macro nodded sadly. 'Even her.'

'Such a shame,' Sempronius mused as he stared at the body. 'She's not had much of a life.'

'More than some get, sir. And her death wasn't as bad as it could have been.' Macro briefly recalled the siege of the citadel at Palmyra where he had first met Jesmiah. If the citadel had fallen then, she and all the other defenders would have been put to the sword, after being tortured, or raped. But the senator was right: Jesmiah's life had been cut short, just when she might have had some happiness. Macro sighed as he crossed the deck and bent down. She was still fastened to the mast by a rope around her middle, and Macro drew out his dagger and quickly sawed through the coarse rope and tossed the ends aside. Sheathing his blade, he slid his hands beneath the body and picked her up. Jesmiah's head lolled against his shoulder, as if she was dozing, and Macro paced steadily to the side of the ship and lifted her over the rail.

He took a last look at her young face, and then lowered her to the sea, letting her drop with a splash. Her hair and clothes billowed in the water before a slight swell bumped the body against the side of the hull and carried her out of reach. Macro sighed and turned away to find the next corpse. There were only three more ; the rest of those who had been lost had been swept over the side, like Cato, when the titanic wave struck the Horus. Macro paused as he thought of his friend once more. Cato was the closest thing to family that Macro had in the world. In the years they had served together he had come to regard him as a brother. Now he was dead. Macro felt a weary numbness in his heart, but he knew that the grief would come later on, when he had time to think.

'Poor Cato, he never did like the water...'

With a sad shake of his head, Macro turned to pick up the last body, a short, thin merchant who had boarded the ship at Caesarea.

With a grunt he raised the body and tossed it as far from the ship as he could before making his way back to the deck hatch to help the others lighten the vessel.