*  *  *  *

Charles looked astonished. He looked from Jeanne to Benjamin, and then
back at Jeanne with a deep searching gaze.

Charles: "Are you truly a Saint? Jeanne -- were you, are you?" 

Jeanne seemed no less astonished than Charles, her initial shock at
Benjamin's words robbing her, albeit temporarily, of speech. In rapid
succession a series of emotions raced across the planes of her face:
surprise, bewilderment, fear and finally anger. It was the last which
loosened her tongue.

Jeanne: "So! You would add lies and perfidy to the list of sins you
	 gleefully commit! I do not know why I am surprised, but yet I
	 am. Is nothing sacred to you? You would jest even about
	 beatification?"

Benjamin: "I assure you, your Eminence, I do not jest.  Your
	   Condemnation was annulled in 1456.  I confess I cannot
	   remember the date of your elevation to Sainthood, as it
	   happened after my Death, but rest assured, dear Lady, you
	   are quite the Legend in Latter Times.  Teresa, the
	   Professor of History of whom I spoke earlier, thought very
	   highly of you, and had done much Research into your Life."

Benjamin looked at Freud.

Benjamin: "Sir, your Death is from much later than mine, do you not
	   know of the famous Jeanne d'Arc?  Can you not confirm for
	   her that she was made a Saint, in your own Century I
	   believe?  She will not believe me."

Freud spoke with a voice that belied some concern for Jeanne.

Freud: "Yes, Fraulein. You were canonized in 1920."

Benjamin turned to Hypatia.

Benjamin: "Alas, good Lady, the Church offered you no such Honor,
	   deserving though you were.  But..."

He drew himself up as if to make a pronouncement of grand importance.

Benjamin: "Those who would get only what they deserve, probably will."

He seemed quite pleased with himself.

Charles fell to his knees before Jeanne, prostrating himself.

Charles: "Bless us, Saint Jeanne, and the holy mission upon which we
	  must embark. For myself, I swear to protect you as God's
	  emissary, that you may guide us all to his Light."

Louis jumped up from where he sat, and spoke sharply.

Louis: "On your feet, man!  It is clear the woman does not wish to be
        worshiped.  Leave her be."

Jeanne stared at Benjamin and Freud, suspicions playing about her
face. She too reacted to Charles with anger.

Jeanne: "Rise, Charles of Aachen. You shall worship none but the Lord
	 your God in Heaven."

Charles rose immediately, with a serious nod.

Louis sighed deeply and muttered.
Louis: "Religion. Feh."

Jeanne scowled at Benjamin.

Jeanne: "You tongue is facile, to turn a Scripture passage to your own
	 desires.  But like the Sadducees you fail to comprehend what
	 you have read, and so are wrong. Men are part of this age by
	 the fact of physical birth, but in the next they will be as
	 angels, having neither marriage nor this sinful flesh.  The
	 Lord's ways may not be our ways, but this is not His heaven."

Charles nodded.

Charles: "Heaven is supposed to be a place of everlasting peace.  I
	  still maintain that this is an interim spot between our
	  lives, and our final resting place.  And by that definition,
	  according to my views and beliefs, makes this place
	  purgatory."

Shaw whispered to Josephine, and both suppressed a smile.

Shaw: "If this truly is the afterlife, why don't we wait and ask God
       when he decides to show himself?"

Benjamin: "I suppose these Questions will have to wait for a greater
	   Mind than mine.  Please, your Eminence, let us not waste
	   more of the Time we have been given on such Discussions;
	   there are Friends who need our Help."

Charles addressed the group and his voice took on its familiar tone of
confidence.

Charles: "You all have some belief in God, even if you call him by a
	  different name.  We must save our discussions of theology
	  for times when we can sit and talk in peace.  In order to
	  find that peace, we must make secure our land and our
	  people."

Charles: "Since all these "Stealing of Peoples" has occurred at night,
	  we must take the initiative and strike at night."

Shaw: "I agree with Charles, the time to go is this night. We have
       waited too long as it is. We should also send out a diplomatic
       mission to the village that Josephine and I found the other
       day, we shall need allies, and they may very well know much
       about the slavers that we do not."

Louis: "Yes, we should take the initiative and strike!  It would be
        best to attack or enter their camp while they sleep most
        heavy--before the dawn, not in the middle of the night.  They
        sleep lightly then and shall be awakened most easily.  Even
        posted guards tend to be groggy an hour or so before the
        sunrise."

Louis turned to the group.

Louis: "Whether they went forth to be alone as Josephine has offered
        as a possibility or they were taken against their will, the
        fact remains that there are no footprints!  And I am no
        believer in magic.  A group of slavers did not descend from
        the night's sky and carry them away.  I believe, and believe
        firmly, that they must have been taken against their will, and
        the tracks covered over.  There is no other plausible
        explanation.

Charles: "Shaka will take a small group -- Mishima, Shaw, and Jeanne
	  -- and scout upRiver, to learn what they can about the lay
	  of the land and its people."

Mishima nodded his assent: "At last!"

Charles began to translate his words into Bantu, but Shaka nodded with
understanding before he could begin.

Charles: "Josephine, take Freud and Benjamin and scout Temuchin's
	  camp.  Count the enemy, look for forges for weapons.  Look
	  for our friends and report back.  Don't try to get them out
	  yourselves.  We will do that in number."

Charles: "Hypatia, Louis and I will stay here and guard the camp.  If
	  anyone sees anything out of the ordinary, return and tell us
	  immediately.

Hearing that she's to be separated from Shaw in the next set of
missions, Josephine shrugged and offered him a slightly apologetic smile, her
eyes tinged with regret. She whispered to him.

Josephine: "It appears that we aren't to travel together again. A
	    little sad, if I say so myself."

Shaw returned her look with a smile, and whispered back.

Shaw: "True, but it will only be for a short time, and I'm sure that we
       will be able to travel together again soon."

Josephine, still smiling, ran her eyes over Shaw's form, and murmured.

Josephine: "In case one or both of us don't return from our journeys."

Charles: "Until Nightfall, let us prepare for the tasks at hand."

Benjamin nodded, accepting his assignment gladly.

Mishima was the first to pick up a spear and begin to practice with
it, favoring sword-like swings over stabs and jabs. He called out to
Louis.

Mishima: "Louis!  I am not much experienced with these weapons.  Would
 	  you practice with me?"

Louis nodded gladly, and the two began to spar with their spears,
wielding them as swords or quarterstaves. Shaw came to join them and
commented that while each moved his weapon in a different style, the
two seemed generally well-matched.

Louis nodded. 

Louis: "I am experienced with epee, rapier, and sabre. This bamboo is
        less effective than a blade would be for me. Mishima seems
        much more adept at parrying with it than I, perhaps because of
        his two-handed grip."

Mishima: "The movements are called kendo, and derive from the
	  warriors of my people. They are usually practiced
	  with bamboo swords called shinai, made by binding four
	  lengths of bamboo together." 

Shaw: "Perhaps the grasses or the fiber from a towel could be used to
       make one."

Shaka nodded approvingly to the others as he approached them,
interested in the sparring. He demonstrated a more traditional
approach to spear combat, feinting and stabbing with the point. He
worked to help the others improve their spearwork, and soon everyone
in the camp had joined in the practice. While Josephine thrust her
spear in a dance-like fashion, Charles, occasionally glancing
over for a cautious stare at Jeanne, discussed group tactics.

Resting before dinner, Shaka led an impromptu class in the basics of
Bantu. To the rapt attention of Benjamin, Mishima, and Shaw, he taught
them basic nouns for spear, hut, camp, and fire, as well as words to
signal danger, success, and failure.

The evening Grailstone firing produced roast pheasant and asparagus.
At Charles's urging, the group ate lightly, and avoided the wine and
dreamgum they found in the grails. After the quiet meal, during which
each spent more time in thought than speech, the company formed into
its parties. 

Shaw gave his boat a brief glance, and hoped that Josephine's training
would be sufficient to return the boat safely.

Josephine took a moment to wish each of the lazari well on their
mission, and they moved off into the waxing darkness.

			   *  *  *  *

Jeanne, Mishima, and Shaw, with Shaka in the lead, began to trek
northward, taking advantage of the deepening shadows of the
Rivervalley.  Shaka carried the precious scythe with the metal blade.

During the beginning of the march, Shaw asked Jeanne about her life on
Earth.

Jeanne: "What would you like to know of me, sir? My life was fairly
	 ordinary, for the most part, and happy. Was there something
	 specific you were curious about?"

Shaw: "Oh, anything you wish to speak of really.  You see, I was
       something of a historian in my last life, and often the lives
       of the common people are left out of the great histories. What
       ever the reason we were sent here, it is an excellent chance to
       find out what was left out of the books, wouldn't you say?"

Shaka motioned the two to silence before Jeanne had time to do much
more than nod in agreement. Before long, they came upon the next
Grailstone, and, near it, another group of people around a fire.

The people were short, and their skin was tawny-colored. Their eyes
were painted with a dark pigment of some kind, and the fashion of
their towels bared the right breast of each. They stood in a circle,
each carrying what appeared to be a sharpened stone, and chanted in
low voices.

They reminded Shaka of Cleopatra.

As the companions watched silently from their hiding place amid the
bamboo to the west of the group, a woman among the singers pointed
across the circle at a man. He dropped his stone as the others ran to
him, grabbed him, and threw him to the ground. It took no more than a
moment for their sharp stones to pierce his heart, and he made no
sound as his life drained quickly from his body. The others returned
to the circle and resumed chanting, though the tone of the chant had
changed.
				*  *  *  *
At Josephine's instruction, Freud and Benjamin smeared dirt from the
Riverbank on their towels and spears to darken them. They boarded
Shaw's boat and took to the oars, paddling quietly across the dark
and rippled River. Josephine taught the others hand signals that could
be given by pressing them into the palm of the hand, and instructed
them to keep watch.

Little could be seen on the opposite shore. Temuchin's camp emitted
little light and little sound, but the masts of the many boats docked
at his pier provided a landmark they could use to direct their rowing.
Signaling with her hands, Josephine directed them to the north of the
docks, where they might hope to land unnoticed.

Almost shivering from the eerie silence of the fortress, they managed
to bring the boat to shore unseen. They crept quietly to the tall
bamboo fence which bordered Temuchin's encampment to the north, east,
and south. While Freud pressed his ear against the bamboo, Josephine
climbed up a nearby tree and Benjamin drew nearer to the dock to
examine the boats.

Freud shook his head when the other two returned. He whispered into
their ears.

Freud: "I can hear nothing."

Josephine: "I don't think there's much to hear. I saw only a few men
	    moving about, and sleepily. Perhaps we can get inside and
	    find out if our friends are within."

Benjamin: "Was there a Shipwright here?"

Josephine looked at Benjamin strangely.

Josephine: "What do you mean?"

Benjamin: "Unless my eyes mistake me, these Craft are not seaworthy.
	   Some seem to be mere Shells or Images of ships."

	   			*  *  *  *

Charles, Hypatia, and Louis sat together near the fire, clutching
their spears. They soon realized that while Charles and Hypatia both
spoke Latin and Greek, Louis did not. Theirs, accordingly, was a
silent vigil.

After an hour, Hypatia stood and motioned to the bamboo forest behind
the hut, indicating that she needed to relieve herself. Charles
stationed himself near the huts, within her shouting distance, leaving
Louis by the Grailstone to watch the River. When she did not return
for some time, Charles called out for Louis to join him, and together
they called into the forest.

They were answered by the appearance of a company of perhaps 50 men
with spears, daggers, and primitive bows and arrows, each trained on
Charles and Louis. From the back of the troop strode two men: one
short, Asian, and fierce-looking, the other sallow and smiling.
Pointing with his eyebrows toward the shorter man, Charles hissed
quietly at Louis, whose eyes widened.

Charles: "Temuchin."

The pale man, still smiling, spoke to Louis in French, and repeated
his words in Latin for Charles.

Joseph: "And Joseph. And if you cry out, or resist, you will die, as
	 will your friends."

				*  *  *  *