“To business, gentlemen,” Julius said, lowering his voice so that it wouldn’t carry outside their small group. “One of us will have to go back to the men and tell them to come into the port. The soldiers here seemed to have no problem with the ransom story, so we will have them use that if they are questioned. We must be careful there. It will do us no good if a few are held for the quaestor to examine in the morning. I want to be at sea on the first dawn tide, with all of them on board.”

“Can’t we bring them in at night?” Pelitas asked.

“We can get past the few legionary guards, but a large group of soldiers boarding a merchant ship will be reported to the pirates. I’ve no doubt they have spies in this place, reporting which ships are carrying gold and cargoes they want. It’s what I would do, and Accipiter put in here before we were attacked. They have the wealth to pay a few bribes, after all. The problem is getting nearly forty men aboard without making the trap obvious. We’ll be better off with small groups of two or three at a time, over the whole night.”

“If you’re right, they will have watchers at the docks who will see us,” Gaditicus said quietly.

Julius thought for a moment. “Then we will split the men. Find out who can swim and have them reach the ship in the water, where we can bring them up on ropes. There is only a crescent moon tonight, so we should be able to do that without being spotted. The armor and swords will have to be carried on board like another package of goods to be sold. It has to be you, Pelitas. You swim like a fish. Can you bring them around the spit as soon as it gets dark?”

“It’s a long swim, but without armor, yes. These boys grew up on the coast, after all. They should be able to make it,” Pelitas replied.

Julius reached into his belt pouch and withdrew two silver coins.

“I thought you said the money was gone!” Prax said cheerfully. “I’ll have another cup of the same, if you don’t mind.”

Julius shook his head, unsmiling. “Perhaps later. I kept these so a couple of you can come in here tonight and buy a few drinks. I want someone to play the part of a guard on his last night before sailing a valuable cargo—something that will be reported back to the pirates by their contacts. Whoever it is must not get drunk, or killed, so I need someone solid and dependable, perhaps with a few more years under his belt than most of us.”

“All right, you don’t have to beat the point to death,” Prax said, smiling. “I could enjoy a job like that. You up for it, Gadi?”