*  *  *  *

The Japanese man was the first to awaken. He scanned his surroundings
as he slowly sat up.  His eyes lingered on the black man's scythe, but
he remained expressionless.  As he sat, he looked over his own body,
and struggled futilely to maintain his composure.  He quickly stood
and, saying nothing, moved away from the group, where he sat down
heavily and began to weep.

The Caucasian man woke somewhat suddenly, took in his surroundings,
jumped to his feet, and grinned broadly.  As he gathered towels and
wrapped them around waist and chest, he spoke in English with glee and
an almost childlike excitement.

Benjamin: "Incredible!  I could scarce have credited it."

Finally, the handsomest of the new lazari sat up and slowly studied his
surroundings and the people before him.  Tresses of his hair fell on
his shoulders as he calmly regarded his nakedness, stood, and wrapped
a towel around his waist.

Florence gave the weeping man as brief sympathetic look before she
addressed the other two men. 

Florence: "I bid you welcome to our little community. My name is
	   Florence. We will not harm you."

The Caucasian's eyes scanned quickly over his newfound
companions, pausing somewhat longer on the females present, before he
spoke again, also in both French and English, grinning all the
while.

Benjamin: "Greetings and felicitations, my fellow immortal Souls.  My
	   name is Benjamin Franklin, a Printer from Philadelphia.
	   Some of you may have heard of me, if your Origin postdates
	   my own.  If so, I would delight to learn more of my Future.
	   I have already heard much during my Days in this Place,
	   especially about Science and Politics, but there is ever
	   more to learn, especially as there seem to be no Books
	   here!  I would be glad to make your Acquaintances and
	   perhaps accompany you as I am not familiar with these
	   Surroundings and would take it as a great Kindness if you
	   could assist me.  I would do all within my Powers to assist
	   you in your Endeavors in recompense, of course."

A wide-eyed woman answered.

Jeanne: "Bonjour, monsieur Benjamin. You speak French quite well,
	 though I suspect it is not your first tongue, oui?
	 Nevertheless, it trips happily enough from your tongue, and
	 you do it less harm than some might. I bid you welcome in the
	 name of the Almighty."
Benjamin: "You are quite right, my dear, in that English is not my
	   first Tongue.  I learned that most beautiful of Languages
	   towards the middle of my Life, but only came to use it much
	   upon moving to Paris, where I lived out most of the end of
	   my Days."

Benjamin: "Now then, I have introduced myself, but there is no one to
	   properly introduce you to me, so would you be so kind as to
	   introduce yourself?"

When the woman introduced herself as Jeanne la Pucelle, both the handsome
European man and the Japanese man, though still apart from the group,
gave a start at her name.

Upon hearing French and English the handsome man replied, switching
back and forth between the two languages.

Louis: "Hello, my name is Louis-Antoine-Leon de Saint-Just.  It is a
	pleasure to meet you under these...strange circumstances.  How
	did we come to be here?"

Freud looked at Louis strangely.

Freud: "My name is Sigmund Freud. You say you do not know how you came
        to be here? You do not recognize this valley? And you say you
        are Louis de Saint-Just? The Angel of Death of the French
        Revolution?"

Louis: "I was a politician and militia commander for the Republic of
        France. I believe that law should yield nothing to opinion and
        everything to ethics, and I have always acted on my beliefs,
        Monsieur Freud."

During Louis's answer, the Japanese man returned, reasonably composed,
and introduced himself, in Japanese.

Mishima: "What is this?  What brings me here?"

The others shook their heads sadly, but brightened when he continued
in English.

Mishima: "I am sorry.  But what is this place?  The last I . . ."

He trailed off.

Mishima: "What brings me here . . . like this?"

As he spoke he gestured at his body, then seemed to abruptly realize his
nakedness and quickly covered himself with the towels, like the
others.

Mishima: "I am, or was, Yukio Mishima.  A . . . "

He paused and drew himself up.

Mishima: "A man of Japan."

Florence: "Are you all right?"

Mishima: "It was nothing to be concerned about.  Just . . . shock."
	 
Mishima turned to Louis, and a small smile crossed his face.

Mishima: "I think I've heard of you."

Louis: "Oh? Perhaps you remember the Republic more fondly than
        Monsieur Freud does?"

Mishima: "To me, you are a part of history.  You had some interesting
	  ideas, and I will not argue with your opinions about
	  law. But I am not sure that this is the best time to pursue
	  them."

Mishima grinned weakly.

Mishima: "Then again, we may have plenty of time."

Louis: "But how did we come here?"

Jeanne: "Many of us awoke together, beside such a grailstone."

She indicated the remaining original group.

Jeanne: "Others were rescued from a slaver's compound, and another was
	 a freeman who joined us on the River. How is it that you have
	 come to be born here?  Now? We come from different times, and
	 different lands, though all but one of us can share language
	 thanks to Florence, who interprets for us."

Benjamin: "I can perhaps be of Assistance, as I speak English, French,
	   Spanish, Italian, and Latin, to varying Degrees."

Benjamin continued with a mischievous grin.

Benjamin: "People commonly speak of Ten Commandments.  I have been
	   taught that there are twelve.  The first was, 'Increase
	   and multiply and replenish the Earth'.  The twelfth is, 'A
	   new Commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another'.
	   It seems to me that they are a little misplac'd, and that
	   the last should have been the first.  However, I never made
	   any Difficulty about that, but was always willing to obey
	   them both whenever I had an Opportunity.  I was abed,
	   obeying these First and Twelfth Commandments, though it
	   must be admitted, disobeying the Eighth and Eleventh, when
	   that Neighbor whose Wife it was I coveted found me there,
	   and disobeyed the Seventh, and now I am here.  Ah, it is good
	   to be young again!"

Shaka looked the newcomers over with a practiced eye, and nodded
briefly.  He used his scythe to point to the the group's spears and to
the trees near their grailstone, and spoke in Bantu. The man who
seemed to be the group's leader translated.

Charles: "Welcome. I am Charles of Aachen, leader of this group by
	  consent. This man, Shaka, suggests we build shelter and
	  weapons. He will instruct those who are not proficient in
	  the use of spears."

Mishima's gaze followed the Shaka man and his scythe, but he remained
silent.

Tjar turned to Charles, a stern look on his face.

Tjar: "All right, then, your role as provisional leader is legitimate,
       and I will respect that, despite my grave misgivings. I'm ready
       for training and building."

As the day wore on and the group ate their mid-day meal of provencal
cuisine, the new lazari heard about Shaw and Josephine, who were on a
scouting mission by boat. Jeanne drank the full-bodied red wine, but
kept the dreamgum and cigarettes in her grail.

She remembered her conversation with Freud during their scouting hike
the day before.

Jeanne: "I saw before that you threw away the drug that caused
	 Josephine's seizure."

"Yes," Freud had said.

Jeanne: "It is dangerous stuff, I know, but you must not discard it so
	 casually. It has proved useful in the past as a commodity to
	 barter. We may find a people to exchange goods with and the
	 gum is valuable due to its limited, and consumable nature. I
	 myself tried it once; I did not have the reaction that
	 Josephine did, but it was unpleasant enough. I had hoped --
	 there were those in my time that used such things to prompt
	 spiritual visions. I thought, perhaps, in this strange land
	 that it would help me regain my visions... but it appears
	 they are lost to me forever."

Freud: "I have had much experience with these drugs which affect the
        mind. They may bring you visions, but visions are not always
        truths. And once the visions are tasted, one may easily come
        to rely upon them, to need them."

Jeanne had decided to keep her own counsel, but to stay clear of
the dreamgum for a time.

After lunch, Benjamin took a swim, and Jeanne spoke with Louis.

Jeanne: "Enchante', monsieur. My name is Jeanne la Pucelle, from
	 Domremy. I am unsure what you mean by 'The Republic of
	 France', but I welcome you in God's name to our little band."

Louis: "Thank you, Mademoiselle. Great things happened in France of my
        day. I will tell you of them later."

Tjar and a woman, Hypatia, began building simple lean-to shelters.
Jeanne soon joined them, working on a wattle hut with a thatched
bamboo roof. The others followed, and encouraged the newcomers to
build as well. Benjamin threw himself into the project with vigor, and
even Shaka admired the sturdy construction of his hut.

By the evening grailstone firing, the huts were complete. 


			     *  *  *  *

Josephine smiled widely, but stood close to Shaw.

Josephine scanned the faces of the people near the grailstone for the
familiar faces of Glenn and Cleopatra and, almost in a secondary
manner, any of her friends from Earth. She saw neither. Shaw also
watched for the missing pair, and for the spectre of grail slavery,
but was likewise disappointed.

During the meal she ate little, saving most of her food and quickly
handing her dreamgum to Shaw, loathe to touch it for longer than
absolutely necessary. He nodded and tucked it away.

Looking over the woman, she nodded and smiled in a friendly way.
Tilting her head to one side, Josephine rested one hand on a hip and
gestured with the other as she spoke.

With a slow smile and voice as warm and smooth as honey she introduced
herself.

Josephine: "Josephine Baker, formerly of Paris." 

She flashed a smile at Shaw and added:

Josephine: "Early to mid 1900's."

Shaw: "I'm Tom Shaw, same period."

Josephine: "And you are?"

The two passed a pleasant meal with Lila and a few of the others. The
village seemed to be small, but growing, and seemed to operate on a
principle of sharing labor and the fruits thereof. The people did not
seem to eat from their individual grails, but surrendered their
products to a communal hut, and chose their meals from there. Shaw saw
little danger, and the two left in the afternoon.

As they sailed back past Temuchin's camp toward their own encampment,
they noticed agitated activity around the docks.

		      	      *  *  *  *

Hypatia was the first to sight Shaw's boat, and hailed it. The boat
pulled in to the Riverbank, and Shaw and Josephine came ashore, just
in time for the evening meal. They noticed the newly-built huts, and
were introduced to the three newcomers, Louis de Saint-Just, Benjamin
Franklin, and Yukio Mishima, who, Jeanne explained, had been reborn at
their grailstone that morning.

The group sat about the fire and regarded one another over
batter-covered meat which Mishima delighted informed them was
"tempura". Charles asked Shaw and Josephine what they had seen in
their mission to the south.