1029. Chapter 1029

After Much Ado About Murder

Part Three

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: The game's afoot. Follow your spirit and upon this fanfic, cry," God for Istria, England and Lady Katherine." Rating: K Time: Immediately following After Much Ado About Murder, Part Two.

Rick and Kate walked to the dockyard where they found Peter. He had a large wooden cross around his neck and a Bible in Latin in his hand.

"Greetings, Sir Richard and Lady Katherine. How are you this fine day? Do you enjoy the warmth of the love of God as I do?" He said loudly.

"That we do." Answered Castle. "But we are worried about the Guelphs."

Peter, as he was now called, nodded solemnly. "As do I, but I may have an answer to our problem."

"What?" Rick and Kate asked together.

"Greek fire."

"What's that?" Castle asked.

"It's a weapon of fire that is shot from one ship to another. Almost impossible to extinguish. It will float on water, and can't be put out with water. Covering it with sand will work, though."

Castle was relieved. "Excellent. How soon can you make this weapon?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. I got the formula from a drunken Byzantine officer when I was in Wallachia some years ago. I don't recall the exact ingredients or the correct proportions. But with the help of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, I'm trying."

"Can we be of any help?"

Peter looked at his two friends and shrugged. "Why not. It can't hurt. First, I'm making the projector. It's easy." He led them to a workshop on one of the piers.

Peter explained the projector.

"This is the easy part. We have a large covered tub, covered inside and out with copper sheathing. That's so none of the flame backs up and sets fire to the tub. On the back end is a large bellows, such as a blacksmith would use, but larger. It pumps the fire mixture out. At the front is a long brass nozzle that shoots the fire. The liquid comes out of the tub and is lit by a fire held in front of the nozzle."

"It looks simple enough." Kate said.

"Now if I could just remember the ingredients and the proportions. "Peter sighed.

"What do you remember?" Kate asked.

"The main ingredient is something called naptha. It's a dark liquid that wells up from the ground along the shores of the Black Sea, and can also be found in the Ottoman Sultan's Arabian domains. But as far as I can tell, none is found around here. I've sent people looking for it as you can find the oddest things sometimes in seaports. I am also looking at pine tar and animal fat."

"What else?"

"Some kind of thickening agent. A resin of some sort."

"Resins?" Kate asked. "You mean like frankincense and myrrh"

"Yes. There should be some in all of Istria, but with no naptha…."Peter's voice trailed off.

"How do you know about resins?" Castle asked his wife.

"You've seen the library in our home. My mother especially wanted me to be an educated woman, like she was."

"You're an extraordinary woman, Lady Katherine."

She smiled at her husband. "You have no idea."

Peter broke in. "You might want to check with Lady Alexis. She's working on something at the foundry of the Terrazzo Brothers on the Street of the Metalworkers."

The two left Peter to his work and headed to the Street of the Metalworkers.

They could hear Alexis before they could see her. She was screaming angrily in Italian and several someone's were screaming back at her.

Alexis was almost unrecognizable. She wore a dirty wool dress and had her long red hair wrapped in a strip of cloth around her head. Her face and hands were dirty and sweat was pouring off her. That was understandable. The foundry was extremely hot.

"Alexis!" Cried Kate. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get these idiots to listen to me." Alexis screamed. "They cast bronze church bells all the time, but can they make a simple brass tube for me? No, that seems beyond them."

Rick, Kate and Alexis were suddenly surrounded by half a dozen sweaty, dirty men, all yelling loudly in Italian.

Kate took Alexis' hand. "Perhaps if we go outside we can discuss this more calmly." Kate said something in Italian to the men and led Alexis outside.

"There's a wine shop across the street, Alexis. I think we could all use a drink."

They sat outside and the owner rushed to bring wine to his distinguished guests.

"Now, what is your problem?" Kate asked.

"I'm trying to build a really big gonne. Bigger than our handgonnes. Something we can use to sink ships."

"An admirable idea. What's the problem?"

"The problem, Sir Richard, is those dolts won't listen to me. I need a big gonne. Something with enough power to sink a big ship like one of the cogs were facing. But those idiots say that they can't cast something that big without the danger of there being flaws in the metal. Gaps and voids they call them. They want to make smaller gonnes. " Alexis took a long draught of wine.

Castle thought for a moment. "Perhaps we should build smaller gonnes. That way we'd have more. Each of our ships could have several. Cogs are heavily built ships, built to sail in the harsher waters of the North Sea, not the Mediterranean. But the Guelphs have more galleys than cogs. An archer can do more damage than a crossbowman because he can fire faster. As long as we get…What are you going to shoot at these ships?"

"I have stonecutters making round shot out of marble." Alexis replied.

"As long as we hit them and keep hitting them, does it matter if we hit them with four twenty-five pound stones or one hundred pound stone?"

"I suppose." Alexis said sulkily. She had really been looking forward to firing one mammoth gonne and sinking a ship with each shot. She finished her wine. "I'll go back and see what they recommend."

Rick and Kate left the two to their work and headed home. They had no sooner finished lunch than a messenger from Duke Rodrigo arrived.

"Sir Richard and Lady Katherine, my master, Duke Rodrigo asks that you join him at the docks at once. I can escort you."

Castle at once sent for three horses to be made ready. By the time the three exited the Beckett's palazzo, the three horses were waiting.

The page stopped and looked at the saddles on the three horses.

"Excuse me, but does Lady Katherine propose to ride astride rather than side saddle?"

"Of course." Kate replied.

"But, milady, people will be able to see your legs."

Kate turned to Castle. "Is that true? Will people be able to see my legs?"

"Not all of them, Kate. Maybe just up to your knees."

Kate nodded. "That's what I thought." She said as she swung into the saddle.

Arriving at the docks, they found Duke Rodrigo, Lord Pietro, Sir James and a dozen of so others gathered around a man seated on a barrel.

"Richard. Katherine. Come over here." Said Sir James. "A merchant galley has just come in. There's bad news I fear." He turned to the man seated on the barrel. "Please tell my friends what happened to you, Captain Leone."

The weather beaten sailor looked up and then spat.

"We had three merchant galleys that, taking advantage of the defeat of the pirates, made a quick trip to Constantinople. We did well there and headed home. Yesterday afternoon, not fifty leagues from here, we were attacked by a fleet of ten ships. Two of our galleys were taken and the crews had their throats cut and were tossed overboard. I put every man on the oars and we ran. Luckily, we lost them in the dark. But they're still out there. Waiting." Captain Leone waved at the dozen or so merchant ships in the harbor, some newly built and some returned from safer harbors in mainland Italy. "None of those will be sailing now. Not while the thrice damned Guelph fleet is out there."

"Richard, my duchy needs trade so that we get taxes to support our military and most importantly now, our diplomacy. Where is the leader of our fleet?"

As if on cue, Peter showed up.

"What is that lovely smell in the air?"

Leone spat again. "That stench? It's naptha."

"My dear captain, please deliver it to my workshop. The Duke will pay you."

Castle and Kate quickly explained what Peter was working on.

Rodrigo smiled. "I have heard of this Greek fire. If Peter can make it work we may have a weapon to defeat our Guelph enemies." Rodrigo directed that the captain be paid for his naptha.

Rick and Kate returned to their home, but decided to check on the progress of Alexis and Peter the next day.

They went to Peter's workshop in an empty warehouse first. Peter had a few workmen with him.

"Sir Richard and Lady Katherine! Have you come to check on my work?"

"How goes it, Peter?"

Peter gestured to three large barrels and two small ones in the corner. "We don't have enough naptha to experiment with a full sized weapon, so my friends and I have made a small model. See?" He pointed to a small barrel shaped object covered in copper sheathing. At one end was a bronze nozzle and at the other was what looked to be a pump handle.

"I have already made one discovery. One has to build up the pressure within the tank to properly force the flame out. I have therefore made the tank as airtight as possible. Observe."

Peter pushed the pump handle several times, then had a workman hold a small torch in front on the brass nozzle. A flame shot out of the weapon and landed on the stone floor of the warehouse, burning for a minute or so.

"Excellent!" Cried Castle. "The weapon works."

"But not perfectly." Peter said. "I still need to find the best mixture of naptha and resins. And I need to establish the range of the weapon. It will do us no good if we have to get right next to a ship to set fire to it. They'll sweep away our weapon's crew with crossbows before we get in range. Or we'll fire from too far away and do no more than set the sea alight." He shrugged. "I must continue my work."

"Let is know if we can be of help." Castle said as they left.

They headed for the foundry where Alexis had been working, but before they got there, the redhead, still dressed in her grimy clothing slammed into them.

"Ow, 'allo, Sor Richard. "She slurred loudly. Then whispered, "I need to keep you between me and that well dressed young man over there."

Castle put his arms around Kate and took a quick look at the man.

"He isn't looking for his money, is he?" Kate whispered.

"Of course not. That's Arturo Rossi. He's one of Vaughn's nephews and a scribe. I don't want to explain why I'm working in a foundry for you. He thinks I'm stupid, rich little Alexis Beckett. He also thinks I speak little Italian and can't read."

Castle watched as the young man met up with two other well dressed young men and the three strolled away.