Chapter 216: The Gift

A sealed clay jar. Found floating in the strait by a Greek patrol boat at dawn. Small enough to fit in a man’s palm. Wax-sealed. Inside: a strip of leather, rolled tight, covered in compressed shorthand.

Agamemnon read it alone in his tent.

Then he sent for his kings.

The council assembled at the eighth hour. Odysseus. Diomedes. Menelaus. Nestor. Idomeneus.

Agamemnon set the leather strip on the table.

"From the source," he said.

Odysseus leaned forward. "During the siege. How."

"A sealed jar. Floated out on the harbour current. Found by a patrol boat at dawn."

Odysseus looked at the strip. At the shorthand. At the precision of the information.

"Someone inside Troy dropped that jar into the water knowing the current would carry it out."

"Yes."

He unrolled the leather and set it flat on the table. A hand-drawn map of Troy’s harbour. The walls. The barrier pilings. The harbour mouth. And on the eastern section of the harbour wall — below the waterline — a gap.

"Here," Agamemnon said. "Below the water. The harbour wall is built on stone foundations that extend below the surface. The wall curves to enclose the harbour. Above water, solid. Below water, on the eastern side — a gap between two foundation stones. Wide enough for a swimmer."

Diomedes leaned in. "How wide."

"A man’s shoulders. Perhaps less with armour."

Nestor tapped his staff. "How does the source know this."

"The fishermen used it. When the harbour gate was closed — for inspections, for tolls — the fishermen swam through the gap to bring catch in without paying. A smuggling route. Known only to the fishing families."

"And the source knows the fishing families’ routes."

"The source knows everything inside those walls."

Agamemnon pointed to three marks on the map.

"Three storage locations. The northern granary — the largest building marked. The source identifies it as the primary grain store. Western stores — food and oil together. A third location — oil reserves. The source notes these are nearly depleted."

He paused. Studied the map.

"The northern granary is the largest building on this map. If it burns, they lose the bulk of their food. The western stores are secondary — but food and oil together means fire spreads from one to the other. The oil reserves are nearly empty — but one cracked jar in the right place is enough to spread flame through a stone building."

Odysseus studied the map. The locations were not approximate. They were exact. Building positions. Sections. Roof materials.

"This is not military intelligence," Odysseus said. "This is inventory. Someone walked the granary and noted the timber roof sections. Someone knows the guard rotation schedule for the harbour."

"Yes."

"Someone who works in the supply office."

Agamemnon did not answer.

"I will not name the source," Agamemnon said. "I have said this before. The source stays mine."

Odysseus held his gaze. Then he looked at the map again.

"Your source is remarkably useful," he said.

"I know."

Idomeneus spoke from the brazier. "What is the plan."

Agamemnon pointed to the harbour gap.

"Two nights from now. The Cretan divers — twelve men — swim through the gap at night. Into the harbour. Onto the docks. They carry pitch-soaked torches. Three teams. One burns the northern granary. One burns the western stores. One cracks the oil jars."

He looked at the kings.

"At the same time — full assault on the northern wall. All eight platforms. With the new boards. Every man available. The loudest, brightest attack we can mount."

Menelaus understood first. "The wall attack is a screen."

"Every Trojan eye on the northern wall. Every defender. Every archer. Every commander. They fight the platforms. They do not watch the harbour."

"And while they fight, the harbour burns," Diomedes said.

"Yes."

Nestor tapped his staff twice. "The divers. If they are caught."

"Twelve men. If they die, they die. The assault continues regardless."

"And if they succeed."

"Troy loses its food. The largest granary gone. The western stores gone. The city starves while we break the wall."

Diomedes looked at the map. At the gap. At the three storage marks.

"The harbour wall," Diomedes said. "Explain the structure."

Agamemnon pointed. "The harbour is enclosed by walls that extend from the main city wall into the water. The western harbour wall runs from the northern tower into the sea, curving south. The eastern harbour wall runs from the southern tower into the sea, curving north. They meet at the harbour mouth, where the barrier pilings stand."

"The walls go below water."

"Stone foundations. Cut from the seabed. The walls rise from the floor of the strait and continue above the waterline. Above water — solid stone, manned by archers. Below water — the same stone, but the eastern section has a gap. Two foundation stones that do not meet. The gap is hidden at high tide — the water covers it. At low tide, it is visible from inside the harbour but not from outside."

"And the divers enter from outside."

"They swim along the outer face of the eastern harbour wall. Find the gap. Swim through. They are inside the harbour. The northern dock is forty paces from the gap. The granary is behind the northern dock."

Idomeneus nodded slowly. "And the guard rotation."

"The source says the harbour watch rotates every four hours. The gap between shifts — when one group leaves and the next arrives — is ten minutes. Ten minutes of reduced attention. The divers enter during that window."

Odysseus looked at the map one more time. Then he looked at Agamemnon.

"The source knows the harbour guard rotation. The supply inventory. The storage locations. The building materials. The underwater gap." He paused. "This is not a soldier. This is not a scout. This is someone who lives inside those walls and works inside those buildings."

"Yes."

"And you will not tell us who."

"No."

Odysseus was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Two nights," he said. "I will prepare the boards. Diomedes prepares the divers. Idomeneus stages the platforms."

"And Menelaus," Agamemnon said.

Menelaus looked up from the wall he had been staring at.

"You lead the wall assault. The full force. Make noise. Make fire. Make every Trojan on that wall believe the city is being taken."

Menelaus nodded. No words. His jaw was tight. His hands were fists.

The kings dispersed. Diomedes to the carpenters. Idomeneus to the Cretan divers. Nestor to his tent.

Odysseus lingered.

"Agamemnon."

"Yes."

"When the city falls. What happens to the source."

"The source is protected."

"After the city falls, there is no need for a source."

"There is always a next city."

Odysseus looked at him. Then he turned and walked out.

Agamemnon stood alone. The map on the table. The leather strip with its precise shorthand. The three storage marks. The harbour gap.

He folded the leather. Tucked it inside his cloak.

"Build your walls, Lysander," he said to the empty tent. "I know where your food is."