Vitellius bowed his head graciously.

'Mind if my staff and I have a look round before we take advantage of your hospitality? It'll give your men a chance to make the proper arrangements.' Vespasian smiled.

'Of course, I'd be happy to-'

Vespasian raised a hand to interrupt the prefect. 'I've imposed enough on you already.' Vespasian glanced round at Vitellius' officers before he singled Cato out. 'Centurion Cato! Good to see you again. Would you be kind enough to act as our guide?'

'I'd be honoured, sir.'

'Thank you. Prefect Vitellius, we'll join you in a short while.'

'I'll look forward to it, sir.'

Without a further word Vespasian moved off along the beach, Cato at his side, while his staff officers kept a short distance behind. Vitellius watched them closely for a moment, smiling as he relished the harsh punishment that would shortly be inflicted on Centurion Cato. The report he had sent back to Rome had been completely unambigious in pointing out Cato's dereliction of duty. Vespasian would surely be carrying a warrant for the young officer's death. But while the removal of Centurion Cato was a satisfying prospect, it was deeply worrying that Narcissus had sent Vespasian to assess his progress. Clearly the carefully worded description of the early stages of the campaign had not succeeded in pulling the wool over the Imperial Secretary's eyes. Vespasian would have to be handled carefully if the true scale of the disaster was to be concealed from Narcissus. Vitellius turned round and beckoned to Macro.

'Sir?'

'Get back to the prisoner. Clean him up and take him somewhere safe and secure and out of earshot of Vespasian.'

'Yes, sir.'

Vitellius stared in silence at the retreating backs of Vespasian and his party for a moment longer, then he turned away and strode into the camp.

As soon as he had finished inspecting the shore defences Vespasian dismissed his staff officers and ordered Cato to take him around the outside of the ramparts. When they were a safe distance from the palisade Vespasian turned to the centurion and spoke bluntly.

'All right then, time to dispense with the pleasantries. The Imperial Secretary hit the ceiling when he read the prefect's report. An imperial fleet almost defeated by a bunch of pirates. Hundreds of lives lost and valuable equipment sent to the bottom of the sea. And when I passed through Ravenna, the place was on the verge of anarchy. I had to send to Arminium for a cohort of auxiliaries just to keep the lid on the situation. When news of that gets back to the palace Vitellius had better make sure his affairs are in order and his will is written.'

'It's that serious, sir?'

'The prefect might survive if we can defeat these pirates quickly, and find those scrolls. At least his report had the virtue of being honest and not trying to cover up for the mess he's made of things. That might just save him.'

Cato winced. There seemed to be no end to Vitellius' good fortune. You could drop him off the Tarpeian Rock and he would land on his feet.

'Centurion, I need to know exactly what the situation is here,' Vespasian continued. 'Prefect Vitellius is supposed to be on a punitive mission, taking the offensive right to the door of the pirates' lair. Instead, I feel as if I've just arrived in a bloody besieged city. How the hell did it get to this? Speak plainly. I suspect I don't have to worry about you covering up for this particular superior officer, given your past experience of Vitellius.'

Cato returned his superior's knowing smile and quickly marshalled his thoughts as they slowly walked along the perimeter of the defences.

'We've lost a quarter of our strength in total, including wounded. Many of the ships are damaged and since Vitellius has kept on the defensive it hasn't helped the morale of the men.' Cato paused and pointed towards the treeline on a hill no more than a mile distant.'Worse still, the enemy have got troops out there, harassing our foraging parties and having the odd shot at sentries during the night. The pirates have faster ships and better crews and they've eluded every attempt to chase them down.' Cato gestured towards the distant crosses on the headland. 'That's the only success we've had since the start of the campaign, sir.'

'What happened?'

'We set a trap in a cove further up the coast. They took the bait and paid the price.'

Vespasian looked at him shrewdly. 'Whose idea was that? Yours?'

'I was there,' Cato replied. 'It was simple enough.'

'Maybe. But you did it, while the prefect sat on his arse in the camp. That's the point.'

'Well, someone had to do something, sir.'

'Don't be such a fool,' Vespasian said sharply. 'Don't apologise, Cato. As far as I can see, you're about the only one who has done anything useful here. Is there anything else I should know?'

'Well, sir, it's possible we may have discovered where the pirates are operating from.'

Vespasian stopped and stared at him. 'You tell me that now?'

'One of the prisoners we took the other night was the son of Telemachus. The prefect had an interrogator go to work on him earlier this afternoon. He gave us a location.'

'Do you think he's telling the truth?'

Cato shrugged.'I don't know, sir. He's got some guts. He might be lying to us to buy time for his father and their men. On the other hand, the interrogator was doing a pretty good job of breaking him down.'

Vespasian regarded the centurion closely.'Did he mention anything about the scrolls?'

Cato felt his pulse quicken and decided at that instant to chance his arm. He fought to keep his voice calm. 'Scrolls, sir? The Sybilline scrolls?'

Vespasian was silent for a moment before he replied, 'So you know? I was told that only the prefect had been informed.'

Cato thought quickly. 'The Imperial Secretary told us about them when he briefed us for this mission.'

'Us? You mean Centurion Macro knows about them as well?'

'Yes, sir.' There had been no time to think of anything else to say and Cato prayed that he had not placed his friend in any peril.

'I see… You'd best be careful, both of you. Knowledge of the scrolls is a dangerous thing.'

'But, sir, it's not as if no one knows about them, nor what they contain. The priests in the temple of Jupiter have been consulting them for hundreds of years.'

'The first three books, yes. But imagine how much happier they'll be if they get their hands on the other three, and see the full picture.' Vespasian turned to look out to sea, towards Italy and Rome. He sounded wistful when he spoke. 'I imagine that quite a few people would give anything to possess the missing scrolls…'

Cato's mind was still racing to deal with the implications of what Vespasian had just told him. The other three Sybilline scrolls? It was impossible. They had been destroyed, burned by the Oracle. Or were supposed to have been. But if they existed, they would be a potent weapon for any ambitious man in Rome with an eye to exploiting the superstitions of the mob. Any man like Vitellius, or… A cold sensation trickled down Cato's spine as he regarded Vespasian. At that moment, the senator turned back to the centurion and for a moment Cato thought he detected a hint of pity in Vespasian's face. Then the senator's expression hardened.

'Well, Narcissus must have had his reasons for telling you. In any case, you'll understand their importance. And why they cannot be permitted to fall into any else's hands, least of all the enemies of the Emperor.'

Cato nodded.

'Very well.' Vespasian looked round at the hills nearby, at the shadows in the treeline of the wood that sprawled up the slopes. Then he turned and looked at the camp, fixing his eyes on a sentry glancing nervously over the palisade as he patrolled along the rampart. Vespasian shook his head. 'I've seen enough. It's time to act.'