*  *  *  *

The boat's captain introduced himself as Tom Shaw, using a variety of
languages. He placidly guided the sailboat upRiver, his hand at the
tiller, and waited for the others to speak. 

He recognized none of them, and they did not seem to recognize him.

Jeanne took Shaw's presence with equanimity bordering on arrogance, as
if such aid was her right and just reward.  Her whole outlook had
taken a turn for the better with the success of the rescue mission.

Josephine looked around, eyes wide, taking in the people. Her eyes
lingered on the injured Shaka, Florence and Jeanne. Shaka seemed to be
watching the metal scythe in her hands.

She handed the weapon to Shaka and moved to sit next to Jeanne. She
spoke quietly to the other woman.

Josephine: "Our plan, did it work?  We were so worried!"

Jeanne nodded, flushed with excitement.

Hypatia shivered distractedly as the chill Riverwater dripped from her
body.  Although the dawn had a certain beauty, her mind was still
distracted by the shock of her recent rescue and reunion with her
strange companion, Tjar.  She moved closer to him, reaching a hand out
to touch his arm quickly but with great solemnity.  Her gratitude lent
dignity to her words as she spoke to him in a slightly hoarse voice.
When Florence, listening nearby, realized that they did not share a
common language, she left Shaka in Friend's care and resumed her
function as an interpreter for the others, curious about the newcomers.

Hypatia: "Thank you, my friend."

Hypatia was extremely uncomfortable with the strangers. There was a
palpable tension on the boat which was disquieting and it took some time
before she attributed it to the olive-skinned woman's presence. She
turned her thoughts from this new mystery and concentrated on her
strokes.

Above all else, she needed to find a basis for this strange existence
which she was living.  Without a doubt, she would need to exercise some
powerful rite to discover the true nature of this place and her
relevance within it.

Gratefully, she could finally speak with Tjar.  He must have been held
with the men she was sitting near now and might know more about who
these people were.

Tjar: "You're welcome, Ma'am, but no true man would have done
       otherwise."

Hypatia: "Your companionship and guardianship these last weeks have
	  surely saved my life more than once. You are not injured, I
	  hope?"

Tjar: "No, I'm fine. Rough and ready."

Hypatia: "I'm glad. I thank you again."
Hypatia smiled a tired smile, and returned to her rowing.

Shaka grimaced as Friend tended to his wounds.  He was quieter than
usual, even pensive.  Pulling an oar along with the rest of the crew,
Shaka observed his new companions. The olive-skinned woman elicited
another angry and disgusted glance, and he fingered his knife.

Charles carefully laid his oar down.  He glanced at Shaka and the
others who were being looked over by Friend before turning to face
Shaw. He inclined his head in a small bow, and spoke.

Charles "Captain, your timely arrival is most commendable, as is you
	 willingness to take us away from the barbarian Temuchin.  We
	 are grateful and will help you where we can.  The recovery of
	 our small group of voyagers is a sure sign that God is with
	 us, and guiding us through our travails."

Shaw: "I had heard of grail slavers holding up in a bamboo fort in
       this part of the river. When I saw you fleeing I assumed that
       you had run afoul of them and might need a hand."

Charles paused and pointed to himself.

Charles: "I am Charles of Aachen, otherwise known as Charlemagne. We awoke
	  together."

Charles points to Shaka, Jeanne, Florence, Josephine, the
olive-skinned woman, and Glenn.

Josephine's gaze swept to the unfamiliar faces in the group, and she
introduced herself. She smiled brightly at Shaw.

Josephine: "Hello.  I am Josephine. I suppose I was best known for my
	    entertaining, though I also did other things."

The others Charles had indicated said nothing, by choice or from
fatigue.

Charles: "These others have fled the Grail Slaving Barbarian,
	  Temuchin."

Charles points to Friend, Tjar, and Hypatia.

Hypatia shook herself out of her reverie and turned an ear to the
conversation around her.  With tiring arms, she made another stroke
and watched the dawn.

Hypatia: "I am Hypatia of Alexandria, a teacher and student of
	  mathematics."

Tjar: "Tjar here. Pleased to meet you all in peaceful circumstances."

Friend: "I have called myself Friend, but my name on Earth was
	 Freud. I was a doctor in Austria, and a student of the human
	 mind."

The twentieth-century resurrectees gave a small shock at the man's name.

Charles: "We all awoke together at a grailstone.  This is seemingly
	  strange, though God must have a plan for us. He always
	  does."

Jeanne paid almost no attention to the passing terrain, concerned
instead with the occupants of the craft. Flush with excitement, she
spoke rapidly in French.

Jeanne: "We must stop this tyrant; his petty world will come to an
	 end, and his ungodliness will cease. We are a small band,
	 truly, but see what we could accomplish with even these few
	 hands? Was it not grand?  Would not others join us if we told
	 them of our honorable quest?  We must find others to band
	 together with us and make us strong."

Charles: "While I believe that part of God's plan must be to rid this
	  area of slavery, we must seek out food and shelter.  Then
	  search for more allies, before we return."

Charles looked around, then sat down.  He opened his grail, and shook
it upside down revealing.... nothing, inside.

Shaka gathered that Jeanne was suggesting a return to revenge
themselves on Temuchin, but Charles and the others were demurring.

Charles: "We need a Grailstone -- perhaps one a little safer than the
	  last we used."

Jeanne grudgingly agreed. "So long as we return one day."

Florence frowned.
Florence: "First, what's happened to Maria?"

Hypatia looked at Cleopatra, and then, in confusion, at the rest of
the group.

Hypatia: "Is that the singing woman?"

Glenn nodded.

Jeanne: "I saw...her body. There was no life in it."

The olive-skinned woman pursed her lips and tsked softly.

Hypatia turned to her and spoke sadly.

Hypatia: "Perhaps she should have heeded your words, Cleopatra. Or
	  perhaps she did."

Josephine sighed.

Florence: "After Josephine, Jeanne, and I returned from the river to
	   find you missing, we spent the night around the campfire.
	   We met with the Chinese people near the grailstone by the
	   river in the morning.  They are a kindly folk, who provided
	   us with a little information about Temuchin and his city.
	   However, they could not risk any outward move against him.
	   Therefore we crept up to the village at dusk, and sent in
	   Jeanne under cover of darkness.  Josephine and I waited
	   outside the walls the rest of the night until you escaped."

Josephine: "What did happen in there?"

The others gave a brief explanation in tired voices. The men and women
had been imprisoned in Temuchin's camp, in separate prisons. There,
they had met Tjar, Hypatia, and Freud, who were also imprisoned. The
leader of the village was a man named Temuchin ("Who you saw shaking
his fist on shore," Tjar added) who offered the men a chance to serve
him. Charles and Shaka agreed as a ruse, and later overpowered the
other guards and stole into Temuchin's mansion, the two-story
building. They saw Maria's body carried from the mansion, evidently
victim of Temuchin's notorious practice of taking a captive woman each
night. After freeing the other men, they followed a group of guards
who were leading Cleopatra into the mansion. Glenn and Freud were
captured, but Shaka, Charles, and Tjar faced Temuchin.

Tjar looked over at Cleopatra. She sat at the side of the boat,
trailing her fingers in the water, her eyes fixed upon the depths.  As
her companions had rowed the boat further away from the smoke filled
sky, her eyes had lifted in time to see the figure of Temuchin. She
shivered slightly despite the warm air.

Tjar: "What happened within is too long a story to be told without
       food. We set the place ablaze, and with Jeanne's help, escaped
       with our lives to where you met us."

Shaw looked long and hard at the metal blade, and spoke in a
questioning voice, and held out his hand, slowly.

Shaw: "Another mystery.  How could those savages have acquired a metal
       blade? the highest technology I've seen has been stone
       tools... May I see it?"

Shaka held the weapon possessively, and shook his head. Shaw nodded,
and withdrew his hand.

The olive-skinned woman listened to those speaking and introducing
themselves, yet continued watching the passing shore and made no move
to introduce herself, help with rowing, or care for the injured.

When Charles and Jeanne spoke of returning to the fortress, Cleopatra
had found herself staring at them in disbelief.  She shook her head
slightly before studying the land again. When she noticed a grailstone
on the west side of the River, she tapped Tjar on the arm, and pointed
her chin in the direction of the stone. Florence spoke first.

Florence: "It looks deserted. Let's fill our grails and rest there."

Shaw nodded, and the boat put in at the grailstone. The group filled
their grails at the noon firing, and began to eat. They regarded one
another warily, even tensely.


For Josephine, being on the River was another chance to shine.  While
on earth, she had never regretted anything in her life.  When her
manager stole her money and her friends expected her to be bitter she
surprised them all and smiled with grace and flair.

Josephine knew she was the best kind of friend a person on the River
could have: loyal, kind, and she would give the shirt off of her back
to anyone in need. This group, moreover, had become a sort of
surrogate family to her.

The men, of course, were particularly interesting. Only Cleopatra
seemed to share her interests, and she was a woman to be watched.

			 *  *  *  *