Alpha 1472 (22 page)

“Today we have three executions by crucifixion. Firstly, we have Jacob of Galilee. He has been charged and found guilty with repeated theft, assault and crimes against the Roman Empire. Secondly we have his accomplice and partner in crime,
Esau also of Galilee. He also has been charged and found guilty with repeated theft, assault, and crimes against the Roman Empire”. It was now the turn of Beth’s brother. “Finally, Thomas of Ganei. He has been charged with, and found guilty of resisting the authority of the Roman Empire, preaching ill against the Empire and repeatedly soliciting support for his cause against the Roman Empire. Let the punishment be carried out without delay by the order of Caesar Augustus, emperor of all of Rome and the known world. Velites commence with your duties.”

At this point the crowd seemed split by their emotions. Some were cheering and whistling. Others seemed to be genuinely upset by what was about to happen.
Thanks to the stage the computer was at extrapolating this new language, they had managed to understand most, if not all, of what had just been said, and now they waited in anticipation. They didn’t have to wait long. The first man was ordered to place his beam on the floor and then lie face up with his arms along the length of the joist. When he was in position, two of the Roman soldiers tied his arm around the beam with lengths of rope. They repeated the procedure with each of the other two. When all three had been tied the crowd fell silent. Then the unimaginable happened. The two soldiers, who had tied the men to the beams, then placed their hands on the upper and lower arms of the condemned and applied their body weight. Two more soldiers approached carrying hammers and roughly made stakes. Anyone who could see the faces of the three men would instantly recognise the look of extreme terror, their eyes wide open and their chests rising and falling rapidly, anticipating the inevitable. They clenched their teeth and breathed so hard that saliva would shoot out and run in rivulets down the sides of their cheeks, tears ran from their eyes and mucus formed bubbles which burst from their nostrils. The two soldiers who attended each of the men then placed the points of the stakes on their arms above the wrists and with one mighty blow drove them through their flesh and into the wood. Simultaneously the men let out a blood curdling scream of intense pain. Once again the crowd were split, cheering and booing. The crew violently jolted in surprised terror as the hammers were bought down upon the stakes. Three more blows were rained down on the three men, which produced more painful screams. As each blow was delivered a portion of the audience would cheers as the hammer drove the stake further into the wood. When they were securely attached to the beams more soldiers approached and hauled them up to the upright posts and secured them in place, as they did so the three men almost passed out from the excruciating pain that was searing through their bodies. When in place the ordeal was still not over. Their legs were then tied and the pain continues as stakes were driven into their calves securing them into their final place. During the entire procedure they screamed the most deadly, painful screams and the crowd cheered, booed and wept. Finally, the ropes that had taken the majority of the strain were cut bringing their entire bodyweight down upon their wounds. Two of them lost consciousness, and the third died instantly from the shock.  Mary could not avert her gaze. She was on one knee with her arm around Beth’s shoulder. Her mouth was agape with surprise and horror. Anne was vomiting violently. And the others just stared in disbelief. It was the most barbaric act they had ever witnessed and it sickened them to the core. JD and Watkins could not believe what they had just witnessed on their view screens as the captain spoke to them. “Err…JD, Matthew, did you get that?” For an instant neither of them spoke. Then JD cleared his throat and confirmed that they had a record of what had transpired he then excused himself and went to be sick.

They had been on their crosses for more than an
hour; most of the crowd had dissipated leaving only a few of the more macabre spectators and the family and friends of the condemned men. The four friends sat, watched and waited for the merciful end to come. Thomas had been conscious for about fifteen minutes and was in pain. It was a pain the like of which he had never experienced before. Never in his darkest hour could he have imagined such horror. He could feel the entire weight of his body bearing down on him his breathing was laboured and he could see rivulets of blood dripping from the wounds on his arms. He wept with the unbearable pain he was experiencing and prayed for the end to come swiftly. Since he had awoken, he had seen his entire life played out for him in his mind. He asked questions of himself, questioned his morality, his ethics, his lifestyle. He wondered if he could have foreseen the outcome of his protestations against the Romans would he have done anything different. After all who would have thought that just for speaking ones mind against acts that were blatantly wrong, that anyone would be so inhumane as to inflict this upon anyone? But here he was and this was clearly the end. He tried to move his body to a more comfortable position, but this was a mistake. His entire chest and lower abdomen seared with the most intense pain which caused him to cry out. It was a hopeless endeavour, there was no escape. By this time, Beth had stopped crying and now, she just sat, drained, not just physically, but emotionally also. She was a shell, just starring at her brother hanging helplessly before her. Her gaze never faltered, she was not going to waste a second of the last minutes, hours or days of his life. She too was reliving times gone by in her memory, asking the same questions as Thomas, but from a different perspective. Should she have been a better sister? Could she have prevented any of his anger towards these oppressors? All of the questions being asked were purely rhetorical and could not change the outcome at which they now found themselves. For the rest of the day they all sat watching for any sign that the end may near. Occasionally Beth would, occasionally, look around at the few people that were left and wonder why. What could they possible get from being here? Slowly it would anger her, but she tried to control here emotions. As dusk fell, so did her spirits. They sunk to a level she did not know existed. She needed something to vent her anger upon. Behind her there sat two strangers. They had been there all day, watching the spectacle. Although they had been together all day, neither Beth, Aaron, Mary or Anne had spoken much and as a consequence they were not too aware of each other. No one noticed as Beth rose to her feet without much attention, until she started running towards the two strangers who were not expecting her onslaught. She threw herself at them fists flailing, venting whatever anger she had. These actions were so far out of character for her she could hardly believe what she was doing. But she could not help herself, she needed an outlet. She pummelled Jason’s chest as hard as she could, all the time shouting.

“Have you seen enough, had you
fill? Or are you waiting for someone else to get hung up?”

The entire tirade lasted only seconds when the other three reached Beth who by this time had been gently subdued by the captain and was being held securely against his chest. Aaron was just about to accost Jason when Travis did almost the same to him. Quickly Mary and Anne entered the affray and when they were both calm enough to get through to they had to explain that Jason and Travis was friends of theirs and had been watching over them all day to make sure that they were safe from the crowd. When Aaron and Beth had calmed down completely, they were released, upon which Aaron took his wife into his arms and they both collapsed to their knees and wept openly.

It had been a great emotional release for Beth who apologised to Jason and invited them to sit alongside the others as they waited. Fires had been lit on both sides of the ravine and save for the sound of burning wood the scene was silent. A lone figure approached the party and asked who represented Thomas of Ganei. Beth replied that she did and that the rest were her supporters. She was then invited to follow this representative and to bring her party with her. They were led around the ravine and taken to where the crosses stood. Only Beth and Aaron approached Thomas, who by this time was only minutes away from death. Thomas opened his eyes and looked down on Beth. His breathing was intensely laboured, and as he spoke, he did so with all of the energy he could muster.

“Aaron, Beth, my beautiful sister.” He almost had to take a breath between every word. “Forgive me, I have been foolish but I need for you to know…know something.
I may not have told you as much as I should have but I am proud of you, I have always been so very proud of you.” He coughed and the pain caused his entire body to spasm. He did not cry out but the grimace on his face was louder than any cry could have been. Blood poured down his chin and ran down his chest. Beth hushed him but he needed to talk and with all of his remaining energy he continued. “I did not imagine that this would be my fate but here we are. It is almost time for me to go but know this. One day there will be someone who will do exactly as I have and speak against these barbarians. It is inevitable. When you find such a person, support them in any way that you safely can.” His body, once more went into spasm. When he had composed himself he found the energy for one last sentence. “My darling Beth, I love you and always have done. Until we meet again…love each other and prosper. Goodbye my love good…”  He never finished the last word. He shook violently for a second, and then his head fell forwards, rolled to one side and he exhaled one last time. He had died. Aaron placed his arm around his wife’s shoulder, who, had lowered her head into the palms of her hands and had begun to sob. The others stood together cradling Luke and they comforted each other. They were left alone for ten minutes, then a medic went over to where Thomas hung and after examining him, pronounced him to be dead. They were given time to spend with their departed then they were joined by an official who said that they could collect the body at dawn the next day and that it was time for them to leave. None of them had any fight left and so, without question they made for the exit path where they had arrived earlier that day. As they were about to leave the arena Beth and Aaron looked back one last time and then left. As they walked away Jason saw someone wave in the direction of the soldiers and became curious. He lingered a little while longer. When they thought that the family of the deceased had left the soldiers went to the body and without reverence removed the stakes that had held the feet which caused the body to fall, leaving all of the weight suspended by the two stakes which held the arms. Then they released the cross beam sending the body crashing to the ground where they used hammers to loosen and eventually free the rest of the stakes. Finally two soldiers stood at either end of the lifeless body and took the hands and feet of Thomas who they then swung back and forth before releasing him. His body flew through the air where he landed on an open back truck. Jason had seen enough, he shook his head in sadness and joined the others. He was glad that, at least, Beth and Aaron had been spared this final indignity.

They did not return to the ship that night. They chose to accompany Aaron and Beth back
to their home where they stayed to comfort them through the night.

The night was dark when they left to collect Thomas’ remains. Only the men went. The
women waited to receive him and prepare the necessary paraphernalia for the burial.

Dawn was breaking when the men arrived back at the place of execution. They had walked for over an hour pulling a small cart to transport the body back to the house where it would be interred. The gates to the arena were closed but cut into the wall outside the gates were a series of
narrow shelves cut into the wall. And there lay the bodies of the three men who were executed on the previous day. A soldier stood guard over them and as they approached he ordered them to stop. Duly they did so and he asked their business there. Having established that they were the family of Thomas of Ganei, he released the body to their care. They approached the body and carefully lifted him onto the cart and started back. They pulled the cart slowly through the town and as they passed people they would bow their head in a mark of respect for the dead. This happened all of the way until they had cleared the populated area. The only people who showed no respect was the Romans. But then, this was only to be expected from this barbaric race. No one spoke during the rest of the journey; it took almost twice as long, pulling the extra weight but the burden was eased for Aaron by having the other two to share the load.

As they arrived at the house they were met by the women who had been busy preparing. They had cleared the main room of the house and had hung coverings over the windows to darken the room. The three men gently lifted the body from the cart
and took him to the waiting room. They laid him reverently on the table that had been placed centrally allowing access from all sides. Before they began to prepare Thomas, Beth and the others had prepared a small feast to celebrate his life. During the meal they chatted and the crew learned more about Thomas’ life and his relationship with his sister. The emotional air of yesterday had long gone and everyone had accepted that Thomas was dead and that now was a time to reflect upon his life and to prepare him for his final journey. The daylight was beginning to fade when they turned their attention to the task at hand. Beth and Aaron had invited the rest of them to be present as she prepared the body. This was indeed an honour to be allowed to share in one of the most important rituals in their lives. The only person who would prepare the body would be Beth. The others were seated around the room. They were there for comfort, support and simply to observe.

She began by lighting several candles and placing them at his head and his feet. The glow from the candles washed the room in a soft orange glow and gave the entire scene an altogether more serene quality.
The only garment he was wearing was the loin cloth which was now stained with the dry blood and the mud from the previous day. She removed the cloth which left the body naked and exposed. No embarrassment was felt or displayed by the assembled party this surpassed the flesh. On a table next to her was several bowl filled with various items that she would need. Firstly she took his hand and proceeded to clean the blood from around his wounds. When she had done this they could plainly see the extent of the hole that was left. There was no further seepage of blood and the wound looked angry but clean. The other wounds were treated in the same way. Having cleaned the visible damage she turned her attention to his state of general cleanliness. This was the point where she needed assistance from Aaron. He handed Luke to Anne and went to help. He rolled the body onto its left hand side allowing her to wash the back. When she had finished he repeated the process and she washed the other side. When she had dried him she began to massage oil into the skin and laid a cloth underneath him. Aaron then rolled him back into place onto the shroud. Having completed his back she turned her attention to his front. She washed, cleaned, dried and oiled every part of his lifeless form until she was satisfied that everything was in order. Next, she went to the head of the table and repositioned the candles either side of Thomas, allowing her access to his head. Once again she tended to his cleanliness, before washing his hair and beard. Taking particular care in his appearance she trimmed his mousey blonde coloured hair until it fell at shoulder length and trimmed his beard. Ironically this was probably the cleanest he had been in ages. The cleansing process was over and Thomas had been covered in aromatic oils. The next stage was to wrap the body in the shroud. Starting at the feet, and working her way up, she pulled the cloth tightly around his legs tearing it as she went equally on opposing sides and tying the two ends together. This continued until the entire body had been covered leaving the head exposed. Aaron then brought more bandage like strips to the table. Between them they proceeded to place bandages underneath the body crisscrossing them along the entire length. With each new bandage they sprinkled a mixture of herbs into the folds of the fabric. When they had completed the wrapping procedure Aaron left Beth to complete the head. She placed a cloth over the face and then expertly bound his head. When the entire process was complete she went to the head of the table leaned down and tenderly placed a kiss on his forehead. At this everyone left the room. During the ritual neither she nor her husband recoiled at the body, it seemed to all witnessing this tender procedure, that it was an honour to service their departed in such a manner. There was no sadness or anger, only a distinct air of love, and respect.