‘And if it doesn’t work?’ asked Vespasian.

‘Then I’ll save you a space on the cross next to me.’

===OO=OOO=OO===

Once the Second Legion had settled down for the night and the sentries had been issued with strict orders not to permit any men to move in or out of the camp, Vespasian summoned Macro to make his full report. He had received a preliminary account earlier but, in the present hush-hush atmosphere dominating army headquarters, Vespasian wanted to glean as much information as possible. Night had long fallen when the centurion was quietly ushered into the tent and stood at attention before the legate’s desk. Vespasian was catching up on some paperwork by the guttering light of a pair of oil lamps. Once the leather tent flap had fallen back into place, the legate set down his stylus and closed the ink pot.

‘Tough journey, I hear?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Lose many men?’

‘Eight killed, six of the wounded are still in the Ninth’s hospital recovering.’

‘The losses will be made up from the recruit pool.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Now I want the full story, Centurion. Leave nothing out and tell it just as it happened, no embellishments.’

With Macro standing at attention and staring at the back of the tent above the legate’s head, the tale of the march, the ambush and the final day’s journey to Gesoriacum was delivered in a prosaic monotone while Vespasian listened attentively. When the centurion had finished Vespasian looked sharply at him.

‘And you told no-one the nature of your mission?’

‘No-one, sir. The orders were very clear on that.’

‘So we can assume that your attackers were not acting on inside information?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Macro nodded before committing his own opinion on the matter. ‘They were no ordinary bunch of thieves and crooks. Those men laid on an excellent ambush and fought like regulars. It was clear they were after the imperial secretary.’

‘I see.’ Vespasian nodded, hiding his disappointment; nothing the centurion had said added significantly to what he already knew. If Macro was to be believed then Narcissus’s attackers had acquired information about his route from outside the Legion. That should narrow things down for the imperial chief secretary — if the centurion was telling the truth.

‘Centurion, may I ask you for a personal opinion — strictly off the record?’

Macro shifted uneasily. He would like to have replied ‘It depends’, but a soldier did not set conditions for his response to a superior officer, so he had to agree — while emphasising his reluctance as far as possible. ‘Yes, sir, I suppose so.’

‘Do you consider the invasion of Britain to be wise?’

‘That’s state policy, sir,’ Macro replied warily. ‘Far too high up for me. I guess the Emperor and his staff have thought it all through and made the right decision. I don’t even have an opinion.’

‘I did say it was off the record.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Macro inwardly cursed his legate for placing him in this tortuous situation. Nothing a subordinate ever said was ‘off the record’, if a superior chose to change his mind later on.