otherwise you wouldn’t have asked Torbidda’s help.’
‘Torbidda’s
help,’ she replied, then softened. ‘Oh all right, I’ll bite. How do I get noticed?’
‘Say you design a great bridge. What good is it? The last thing this city needs is another bridge.’
‘So?’
‘So I grew up in a legion camp, and a better bridge is exactly what the
legions
needs. Momentum’s the key thing in any campaign, but if you think Etruria is bad, look at a map of Europa: rivers, rivers and more rivers. You know what’s involved in building a pontoon bridge? Tying boats together, making it level so carts can cross, keeping it stable so the animals don’t take fright – all that fuss, and Madonna help you if a storm hits. And then you have to dismantle the bloody thing. Design a bridge with practical military application and they won’t just make you Candidate, they’ll throw you a Triumph.’
After a pause, Agrippina smiled. ‘Not a bad idea, Spinther. I’ll keep you close when I wear the red.’
Leto gave a courtly bow. ‘I should be honoured.’
Torbidda said, ‘Well then, for starters it’ll need to be quick to assemble and disassemble …’
For the next few days they met in Drawing Hall to discuss ideas; working closely for the first time with Agrippina, Torbidda at last understood what was meant by the old saw, ‘Sober as an Anatomist’. She was practical as sinew and bone, and got quickly to the nub of engineering problems. Working beside first-years lacking his grasp of Wave Theory, Torbidda was used to stopping to explain himself. Collaborating with someonewith an understanding equal to his was novel and fun. Both had initially thought of a portable, pre-fabricated truss bridge, but they rejected it because of the lifting equipment needed – and because both felt that something more ingenious was required.
Agrippina finished outlining her new idea and said, ‘Got anything better?’
Torbidda shyly showed his sketches. The idea had struck him during Ballistics: the arches of a bridge could be drawn by the arced path of a disc skimming across water, the supporting pillars forming wherever the disc hits the water. A stable surface, say tightly bound logs, could be rapidly unrolled and fastened to the arches before the army marched over.
Agrippina studied the sketches for a long time. She looked up at last, and said flatly, ‘A bridge that makes itself.’
‘Exactly!’ Torbidda said excitedly, ‘and it can be swiftly dismantled when the last solider crosses. One could bridge any distance of water, simply by shooting the disc further and—’
‘Torbidda, Torbidda, even if that were possible,’ she cut him off, ‘we don’t have the ability to make something like this.’
‘We don’t have to
build
it. You’re just trying to get noticed.’
Agrippina made a face. ‘The Apprentices won’t be impressed with a clever design if the theory’s unsound.’
‘It’s sound. Remember the first week I was here you sent me to Flaccus’ office?’
‘You sure can hold a grudge.’
‘You’ve seen that egg on his desk? It was designed by Bernoulli’s grandson. They say he showed potential.’
Agrippina’s lip curled. ‘That burn-out—. Yes, I’ve seen the egg. It transmits a phased current that repels pseudonaiades – nothing special.’
‘No, but think about how it works: by inducing density in water. Take that a step further and you could create a temporarystructure, like foundations. Why not? Everyday ice is just one type of water polymorph. There’s no reason that we couldn’t create a more stable crystal structure.’
Agrippina shook her head. ‘Ice is weak, but that’s precisely why it forms. Ice, rivers, bones; nature always finds the quickest way. At low temperatures, controlled conditions, your polymorph would hold for a few seconds,
maybe
, but in the real world, in running water with applied pressure, forget it. Military engineering isn’t the rarefied theory of the
‘Torbidda’s
help,’ she replied, then softened. ‘Oh all right, I’ll bite. How do I get noticed?’
‘Say you design a great bridge. What good is it? The last thing this city needs is another bridge.’
‘So?’
‘So I grew up in a legion camp, and a better bridge is exactly what the
legions
needs. Momentum’s the key thing in any campaign, but if you think Etruria is bad, look at a map of Europa: rivers, rivers and more rivers. You know what’s involved in building a pontoon bridge? Tying boats together, making it level so carts can cross, keeping it stable so the animals don’t take fright – all that fuss, and Madonna help you if a storm hits. And then you have to dismantle the bloody thing. Design a bridge with practical military application and they won’t just make you Candidate, they’ll throw you a Triumph.’
After a pause, Agrippina smiled. ‘Not a bad idea, Spinther. I’ll keep you close when I wear the red.’
Leto gave a courtly bow. ‘I should be honoured.’
Torbidda said, ‘Well then, for starters it’ll need to be quick to assemble and disassemble …’
For the next few days they met in Drawing Hall to discuss ideas; working closely for the first time with Agrippina, Torbidda at last understood what was meant by the old saw, ‘Sober as an Anatomist’. She was practical as sinew and bone, and got quickly to the nub of engineering problems. Working beside first-years lacking his grasp of Wave Theory, Torbidda was used to stopping to explain himself. Collaborating with someonewith an understanding equal to his was novel and fun. Both had initially thought of a portable, pre-fabricated truss bridge, but they rejected it because of the lifting equipment needed – and because both felt that something more ingenious was required.
Agrippina finished outlining her new idea and said, ‘Got anything better?’
Torbidda shyly showed his sketches. The idea had struck him during Ballistics: the arches of a bridge could be drawn by the arced path of a disc skimming across water, the supporting pillars forming wherever the disc hits the water. A stable surface, say tightly bound logs, could be rapidly unrolled and fastened to the arches before the army marched over.
Agrippina studied the sketches for a long time. She looked up at last, and said flatly, ‘A bridge that makes itself.’
‘Exactly!’ Torbidda said excitedly, ‘and it can be swiftly dismantled when the last solider crosses. One could bridge any distance of water, simply by shooting the disc further and—’
‘Torbidda, Torbidda, even if that were possible,’ she cut him off, ‘we don’t have the ability to make something like this.’
‘We don’t have to
build
it. You’re just trying to get noticed.’
Agrippina made a face. ‘The Apprentices won’t be impressed with a clever design if the theory’s unsound.’
‘It’s sound. Remember the first week I was here you sent me to Flaccus’ office?’
‘You sure can hold a grudge.’
‘You’ve seen that egg on his desk? It was designed by Bernoulli’s grandson. They say he showed potential.’
Agrippina’s lip curled. ‘That burn-out—. Yes, I’ve seen the egg. It transmits a phased current that repels pseudonaiades – nothing special.’
‘No, but think about how it works: by inducing density in water. Take that a step further and you could create a temporarystructure, like foundations. Why not? Everyday ice is just one type of water polymorph. There’s no reason that we couldn’t create a more stable crystal structure.’
Agrippina shook her head. ‘Ice is weak, but that’s precisely why it forms. Ice, rivers, bones; nature always finds the quickest way. At low temperatures, controlled conditions, your polymorph would hold for a few seconds,
maybe
, but in the real world, in running water with applied pressure, forget it. Military engineering isn’t the rarefied theory of the
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