I followed closely on Anso’s heels. Or at least so I hoped. As a Condottiere, I could have had any of my soldiers pursue the fugitive monk, but after going through the papers I found in his desk I wanted to insure his capture. I understood not a single word of his notes written, as they were, in a secret script that undoubtedly only he had the key to. But the diagrams told me enough of his plans, and of his skill in science and engineering.

I would need to find this boy before the Inquisition did. The power source Salonius described would be valuable to a learned general, but I could see a more sinister use for it that the Inquisition would surely understand. While I could care less what they did with it, the Church would be unlikely to give up its secrets once they got Anso to Rome. Without a patron, he would likely disappear into a Vatican cell, and his work be lost to civilization.

The previous night’s storms had swollen the Arno, which now rushed past us urgently as we followed the river to Florence.