Free Marius Mules III: Gallia Invicta (Marius' Mules) by S.J.A. Turney

activity and also that of the general. They’re friends, you see. The Julii and the Junii go back a way, and Caesar is actually a distant cousin. I shall ‘accidentally’ drop a few hints about what Crassus is doing. You can guarantee that within a week of mother getting hold of the letter, Caesar will know everything.”
    Varus shook his head.
    “That’s a dangerous game you’re playing, Brutus. And anyway, what if Caesar’s not in Rome, but in Cisalpine Gaul or Illyricum or somewhere else?”
    “Then she’ll make sure that word gets to him. She knows Fronto’s mother quite well and Fronto’s in Rome at the moment with Priscus and Crispus. Word will get back.”
    Felix smiled a curious smile.
    “Priscus and Crispus. Every time anyone says that it sounds like two characters from a Plautus comedy to me!”
    “Anyway” Brutus went on, sparing a glare for the primus pilus by his side “on a serious note, the next thing we need to do is anticipate the trouble we’re going to be in when Crassus fails.”
    “You thinking of raising your own legions, Brutus? I’m not sure the general would approve of that.”
    “Not exactly. That would be even closer to mutiny, but the tribes we’re dealing with here are sailors born and bred. The Veneti almost live at sea and all these tribes centre around coastal fortresses and towns. What we need is naval support; to have access to the tribes by land and sea. If Crassus pushes us into open war, we’ll be at a serious disadvantage otherwise, and I doubt he’ll even think about the possibility of naval action.”
    Varus frowned at him.
    “I don’t know much about the navy, but is it feasible to get the nearest fleet all the way from Italia to here in time to help?”
    “Probably not. Plus I have no authority over them and even Caesar would have to apply to the senate for control of them. No. But we can build a fleet and man it ourselves in plenty of time.”
    Felix laughed.
    “Madness. How are you going to build the fleet without Crassus knowing? You’ll need to use the legions and Crassus will find out what you’re up to in no time. Then there’s manning the ships, even if you got them built. How many sailors do you know?”
    Brutus smiled at the primus pilus.
    “We can start constructing a fleet at Turonum. It’s only a day’s march from here, with a mercantile harbour on the Loire, which has naval access all the way to the sea. I’m sure we can siphon a few of the men away from the army to work on them. So long as we can get a few engineers who know what they’re doing, we can recruit the locals to do a lot of the basic labour. I can organise remuneration for them; the Junii are not short of a few denarii as I’m sure you’re aware. As for the crew, we’ll have to send to Narbo. The province is Caesar’s anyway, and the whole land is full of fishermen and sea traders, so we shouldn’t have any problems raising up a crew from there.”
    He turned to Varus and grinned.
    “If I supply you with the appropriate letters and finance, can you organise a few discreet cavalry officers to ride to Narbo and put things into motion?”
    Varus shrugged.
    “If you’re taking the responsibility for this, I can provide whatever you need.”
    Nodding, Brutus turned to Felix.
    “And how about engineers? Think you can spare a few good men from the Eleventh?”
    The primus pilus grinned.
    “You mean give them the option of continuing to dig latrines for the camp or go help design and build a navy away from our illustrious commander? They’ll bite my hand off.”
    “Good” Brutus nodded. “And Galba’s coming any day now with the Twelfth. We can probably rely on some men from him, since Crassus has no idea about the Twelfth’s strength as it is.”
    He stood, stretching.
    “And I think that later I might swing by the headquarters of the Tenth. I don’t know their new primus pilus very well, but people say he’s got his head screwed on right and if Fronto trusts him,