‘Yes, but not long now.’ Cato glanced at the horizon and thought he detected the faintest loom dividing the sea and the sky. ‘When we get the signal, I want the ship to enter the bay as swiftly as possible. Ajax must not escape.’

‘We’ll do it in good time, sir. The Sobek will be past the headland long before the enemy can put to sea. You have my word.’

‘And I shall hold you to it.’

Neither man spoke for a moment before the trierarch asked, ‘Do you think there’s a chance that some of the crew of the Thoth were taken prisoner, sir?’

‘I doubt it. If I am any judge of Ajax’s character, he will not have spared their lives. And that might be a good thing.’

‘Sir?’

‘Those prisoners he took during the rebellion in Crete were often saved for a far worse fate than a quick death.’ Cato’s tone hardened. ‘Your comrades are dead. Set your heart on avenging them.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Cato turned and looked round at the dark masses of the other vessels. There was no sound from them, even though hundreds of marines and legionaries stood and waited on their decks, while hundreds more manned the oars. Aside from the faint rush of water along the hulls and the splash of oar blades, the ships were like shadows as they stole towards the coast.

‘There, sir,’ the trierarch said quickly. ‘Dawn’s breaking.’

Cato looked. There was a definite glow along the horizon now. He turned towards the watchtower once again. Still nothing. He muttered under his breath, ‘Come on, Macro. It all depends on you.’

Macro lay flat on the ground beside an outcrop of rocks. Twenty paces away the squat mass of the tower on the headland loomed against the skyline. Already, there was a thin wash of light that allowed him to pick out some of the detail in the ground around him. His party had disposed of the sentries in the lookout post and had been about to take their second objective when a small group of men had approached from the direction of the fort. There had just been time to take cover, and a moment later several figures strode past. There was an exchange of words with the men in the tower but the sound of the small waves breaking over the rocks on the headland made it impossible to make out what was said.