*  *  *  *

Josephine tensed as she watched the exchange on the riverbank.
Benjamin whispered to her.

Benjamin: "Clearly we must save them, but mayhap it would be wise to
	   allow Herr Stalin to ask his Questions first?  We may learn
	   more about him and his plans from the Questions than he
	   will learn of us and ours; and we may be able to follow
	   them and discover the true Locale of their Camp and their
	   Forges.  Furthermore, it's clear we are too few to save
	   them without some Device to make them believe we are many.
	   Given our Circumstances I can think of no such Device which
	   will not greatly endanger Louis and Charles."

Motioning for everyone to remain silent and still, Josephine pressed
the signs into their hands to show that she was going to swim and
observe.

Freud frowned, but didn't interfere as she slipped into the water on
the far side of the boat. She glided around the boat and disappeared
into the darkness with barely a ripple.

Freud turned to Benjamin.

Freud: "We must do something...When I give the signal, we both shout
        'Fraer' at Joseph."

Benjamin: "What's that?"

Freud chuckled grimly.

Freud: "It'll get his attention."

Benjamin nodded.

From Joseph's demeanor, Louis assumed that Charles' bluff, whatever
it was, had been unsuccessful. Louis lowered his spear, but did
not relinquish it.

Louis turned to Joseph and spoke boldly. His tone began defiant, but
gradually became less strident.

Louis: "What makes you think you can force our--my--cooperation?  We
        died once, knowing nothing of this place.  I will not be
        interrogated at your whim.  Go ahead--fire.  I might just be
        able to run you through."

Louis: "One usually is able to garner more information through
        diplomacy than terrorism. I might even find your endeavor to
        be of interest and voluntarily assist you. We can discuss it
        over our grail."

Joseph turned to Charles, and spoke in Latin.

Joseph: "I'm happy to see that at least one of you seems to be reasonable."

Charles planted the butt of his spear into the ground at his feet and
frowned before he spoke.

Charles: "Joseph, I seek no war here.  I will answer what questions I
	  can. I ask for freedom for my people, and perhaps myself,
	  though I will stay hostage if you have needs of such."

Charles: "I seek answers too, Answers to why our friends vanish in the
	  night, leaving no track, or trail.  Answers to our lack of
	  memory of lives previous to this one, here on this great
	  river.  Some remember other lives, I do not.  I would also
	  know what your purpose is here, and what purpose I am being
	  asked to serve.  Know you this, I won't consent to Evil.  My
	  soul is tainted enough already, and this is my purgatory."

Joseph laughed. He spoke in both French and Latin.

Joseph: "It is not your place to demand answers, Charlemagne. But I am
	 pleased that you both seem willing to give them."

Joseph: "Let us begin simply, then. Where are your companions now?
	 Which of them can remember their past lives? What dreams or
	 visions have they had?"

In the trees, Shaw paused in his whispered translation of the
interrogation. Mishima looked at the others.

Mishima: "We must move for this quickly.  With the slavers here,
	  Franklin's group has almost certainly been captured by now.
	  We must assume we are the only ones still free."

Shaka held up his hand to his party.

Watching the conversation, Shaka, while unsure of all that was being
talked about, understood the situation clearly, and decided
that it was time to act.  Better to inspire others to fight bravely
and in doing so dying than to live as a coward, he thought.

Signaling the others, Shaka indicated that Jeanne and Mishima should
surprise and kill a bowman each, and that Shaw should take Joseph.
Shaka's eyes were afire at the prospect of finishing his fight with
Temuchin, this time in control of the deadly metal scythe.

Mishima nodded his acceptance.

Shaw whispered to Mishima and Jeanne.

Shaw: "The archers are the most dangerous, you must keep them from
       regrouping"

Jeanne muttered hurriedly to her companions, and gestured at Shaka.
Four fingers, pointed at her and her companions, then a double handful
of fingers, and touched her ear.

Jeanne: "Charles says we are an army, let us sound like one. Make
	 noise but stay out of sight or they'll know we're less than
	 we sound."

The others nodded, and they crept forth into positions around the camp.

The soldiers jumped as the sound of a war cry, unheard by any save the
Zulu before, echoed across the companion's camp, followed by a mixture
of Arabic and French orders to advance. Shaka sprang from the bushes
like a dark shadow, charging Temuchin. As the bowmen turned to face
the enraged warrior, Jeanne and Mishima dived at them from the bushes,
and fouled their bows. In moments, a general melee had ensued.

Shaw approached Joseph warily, as Louis and Charles prepared to begin
their own sortie. Joseph, however, fell back and ordered Temuchin's
men into battle with the three.

Jeanne rapped her spear against the heads of the bowmen and took
possession of their bows.  Mishima fought like a man insane, swinging
his bamboo and knocking soldiers to the ground. He fought his way to
Louis, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder, hacking and stabbing
their way through a mass of soldiers.

Shaka and Temuchin were again locked in a battle to the death. This
time, however, Shaka held the metal blade and the advantage. Temuchin
was not prepared to suffer defeat easily, however, and even as Shaka
backed him toward the common hut, his dagger nicked the Zulu's arm.
Nearly frothing with rage, Shaka swung the scythe in a wide arc, and
tumbled Temuchin's unbelieving head from his body. He turned to face
the soldiers behind him and had just begun to engage them when
Joseph's dagger entered his back. Still yelling Zulu cries, he fell.

Joseph began to run from the camp, when two voices from the River
shouted "Fraer! Joseph! Stand, fraer Stalin!" At the sound of Russian,
Joseph paused a moment in his flight, and was simultaneously tackled
by Shaw and a dripping Josephine who had emerged from the River
minutes before. The two grinned at one another and exchanged a few
words.

Shaw: "Welcome back."

Josephine: "I knew you'd be a good one in a tumble."

With Temuchin dead and Joseph captured, the few soldiers still living
after Jeanne, Mishima, Louis, and Charles' onslaught fled, many
diving into the river where they encountered the bamboo oars that
Benjamin and Freud were using to paddle Shaw's boat back to the
Grailstone.

Shaka felt a icy hand grip his back, and the cold moved quickly
through his body. He savored his battle-lust and his revenge on
Temuchin as he slowly sank into darkness.

A look at Shaka's wounds convinced Freud that he was dead.

Freud: "Florence might have been able to help him, but I could not."

As the exhilaration of the battle left them, a few shed tears, and
others glared angrily at Joseph, groaning and prone on the ground with
Shaw and Josephine standing over him. Mishima shook with rage.

			    *  *  *  *