The Seven Hills by John Maddox Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

attaching feathers," the young man said, "fancying that these somehow made birds lighter and facilitated their flight. But they did not improve things. But we know that bats have no feathers, yet they fly admirably. Insects have no feathers, yet many have wings, and some of these, particularly the dragonfly, are more agile in the air than even birds or bats." His name was Timonides and he spoke of his passion with single-minded intensity.
    "I determined that the structure of the wings gave the power of flight. Wings take many forms, but those of birds and bats, whether made of feathers or skin and bone, share a common cross-section: semi-lenticular with a very fine, thin trailing edge. I experimented with this shape until I had a structure that would provide flight, but learned that it could not be controlled without a tail." He pointed at the triangular structure at the rear.
    "This stabilized flight somewhat in the vertical plane, but flight was still very irregular in the horizontal. Finally I added this." He indicated a vertical fin protruding above the tail. "Birds do not have this structure, but it is very common in fish."
    "You looked to fish for lessons in flight?" Marcus said, astonished.
    "When you think of it, the swimming of fish shares many things in common with the flight of birds. Fish move through water instead of air, but propulsion and steering are much the same. This vertical fin also acts rather as a rudder does on a watercraft."
    "I know how the underwater boats use those little wings to dive and surface," Marcus told him. "But when I heard you had plans for making men fly, I confess I pictured some thing like Icarus, with great, feathered wings that they could flap."
    The young man shook his head. "That is a silly myth. Men are not built for such effort. Most of the strength of our bodies is below the waist, which is why men can run better than most animals, and soldiers can march bearing heavy burdens. By contrast, our upper bodies are weak. Look at how a bird is built. Its legs are scrawny, puny things. Even its wings have very little muscle. But the greater part of its body is composed of pectpral muscle, what we call the breast." For emphasis he rapped his knuckles on Marcus's breastplate, upon which the muscles in question had been sculpted in great detail and somewhat exaggerated size.
    "Picture a man whose body is three-quarters pectoral muscle. Then you would have a human fit to fly like a bird."
    "So how do the wings of this thing flap?" Marcus asked. "I see no mechanism for the purpose."
    "They don't," Timonides admitted. "It will not fly in that way. It will glide and soar, as gulls and eagles do."
    "Oh," Marcus said, disappointed. "I believe that will limit its usefulness. I'd had visions of winged soldiers descending upon the enemy like a great swarm of hawks swooping upon helpless chickens."
    "Disappointed?" Timonides cried, outraged. "But this is marvelous! For the first time, a man will fly in the air with out falling. It is something no one save a god has been able to do before!" He looked about apprehensively, then crossed the room to touch a statue of Hephaestus, god of inventors. "Not," he amended hastily, "that I in any way compare myself to the immortal gods."
    "Of course, of course," Marcus said. "I did not mean to denigrate your research. It is indeed wonderful. But spectacle and novelty are the things of peacetime. These times call for warlike applications." Peacetime was something he knew only in theory. War had been his whole life.
    Timonides, in the fashion of Greeks, assumed a cunning look. "No military application? My dear General Scipio, do you consider an aerial view of your enemy's dispositions, his route of march, the approach of his fleet, to be useless? Con sider that, with such devices, widely separated elements of your forces can stay in contact and the enemy cannot intercept your messengers."
    "Hadn't thought of that," Marcus admitted. "Of course you're right.