*  *  *  *

Charles and Jeanne walked around through Temuchin's camp - Jeanne as
if in a daze, Charles viewing places that were, for a few days, his
prison too.  They spent much time among the corpses, looking at their
faces for signs of the lost companions, but finding only unfortunate
strangers.  Jeanne's relief was evident. Charles only sighed, placing
his hand over his eyes and rubbing them. He spoke quietly to himself.

Charles: "Even if I am the only one to define this place so, it is
	  Purgatory for me.  Here too, my friends die through my
	  decisions, and through fate.  It is not always the evil who
	  perish, and the just who survive.  Perhaps if we, or any man
	  ever attains heaven, there that creed will hold true."

Mishima: "Were any of these your friends?"

Jeanne: "No, thankfully."

Freud: "I don't know whether you should be thankful for that. We still
        do not know what has become of them, and death here seems to
        be impermanent at best."

Jeanne shot a sidelong glance at Shaka.

Charles turned to the others.

Charles: "These people died in captivity, let them find freedom in
	  death.  We have no tools with which to bury them, if that
	  was their custom.  Let us instead consign them to the
	  freedom of this great river."

Charles: "Shaw, are those boats with false facades capable of floating?"

Shaw nodded, and Mishima roused himself.

Mishima: "Yes; consigning them to the river is a fitting disposal in
	  this place.  Let them find more to their next lives here.
	  The river will carry them to their fates."

Together, the group carried the bodies to the false boats. Their
expressions varied from Shaka's look of distaste to Jeanne's almost
reverent posture as she murmured over each corpse.

Jeanne took Charles aside for a quiet word.

Jeanne: "It is not right for them to have died so, unshriven and
	 alone. I know you are a man of God, will you not say
	 something over them to speed them on their way to their
	 reward in Heaven?"

Charles nodded.

When the bodies were gathered and placed on the makeshift craft,
Charles stood.

Charles: "It is our sad but honorable duty to shrive these fallen men
	  and women, so that when they reach the afterlife, the True
	  afterlife - not this purgatory -- they will arrive with
	  clean souls."

Charles: "By the power that was vested in me by the Holy Church of
	  Rome, I absolve these souls from all sin, and commend their
	  spirits into the hands of our Holy Father. Amen."

While Charles paused, looking about, Jeanne crossed herself and
whispered "Amen."

charles: "If these people were not Christian, then I beseech our Lord
	  to give them haven and succor in heaven before they return
	  to their own place of rest."

Charles: "If these people do not attain Heaven, let it not be for the
	 sins they have committed here, and let the next life they are
	 brought into, be more peaceful and prosperous than this."

Charles: "Go now and Journey on this river to the better life which
	  awaits you."

As Mishima, Louis, and Charles began to push the boats out onto the
River, Josephine and Benjamin ran between them and used their
firelighters to set each boat ablaze. They burned quickly and
brightly, the flames licking up the weak masts as the craft drifted
out into the current. Charles spoke to Jeanne in a reverie.

Charles: "It is strange... In my First life, I would never had thought
	  of what might become of a soldier or fallen friend, when
	  death came.  I thought always of striving for heaven.  I
	  never thought of being born again.  I know that God guides
	  our way, and my faith is strong.  In time, I hope to see the
	  wisdom of his plan."

When all the boats were launched, he turned to the others again.

Charles: "Let's search the camp. We must take anything that the
	  slavers left for us. I would like to hold a council tonight
	  to share our thoughts and ideas on where and how we should
	  proceed.  I would that Tjar could see me now -- perhaps this
	  is something of his 'democracy' "

He grinned wryly and set to work rummaging through the camp with
Mishima and the others.

Josephine: "Perhaps while the others discuss you could show me what
	    makes one boat more seaworthy than another?"

She half smiles and glances between the 'acceptable' craft and one of the
others, looking back at him she arches an eyebrow.

Shaw nodded and smiled, and they examined the single seaworthy vessel
from top to bottom, Shaw, at Josephine's encouragement, going into
great detail about its careful construction and the rigging of its
sails. Josephine listened raptly, smiling prettily all the while.

Benjamin approached the two at the ship's bow, and pointed to the
circle painted around the prow.

Benjamin: "Shaw, do you know what that Circle signifies?"

Shaw: "Hm, circles stand for many different things in many different
       cultures, it is hard to say what this stands for with out
       knowing more about who build this ship."

Benjamin: "Joseph?"

Joseph shook his head.

Jeanne: "Perhaps it did not belong to Temuchin's people at all, but to
	 a third party who arrived in this camp while Temuchin was
	 stalking ours.  It may be that person who killed the slaves,
	 for surely Temuchin would not do so himself."

Louis: "Why slaughter the slaves?  If Temuchin or his followers knew
        we were coming, why not ambush us?  Why leave and kill their
        workers?  This makes no sense."

Louis: "I have had no dealings with Temuchin, or for that matter
        anyone else in this place.  Can someone explain who Temuchin
        is and how he is involved with Joseph, if at all?"

Louis addresses Joseph.

Louis: "Is this your work?  Are you involved, indirectly or otherwise,
        in this wanton slaughter?"

Joseph: "I had nothing to do with this. Temuchin met me, with his men,
	 at the appointed place outside your camp. I do not butcher
	 men without cause."

Shaw stepped off the boat and joined the others searching the camp. 

He found no signs of what he was seeking, however...evidence of metal
or its forging.

Mishima shrugged to himself as he searched the huts. He wondered why
he was involved in this matter of the slavers; it did not seem to him
to be part of his story, though perhaps his was a supporting role for
Shaka. He was about to give up on his search when he found a bamboo
box hidden in a corner of one of the larger huts.

Mishima called out to the others. "I've found something!" The
something turned out to be a cleverly crafted bamboo box. Inside were
20 cigars and a passable drawing of the face of a woman. Showing it to
the others brought a gasp of recognition. It was an image of
Cleopatra. Mishima brought it to the grailstone where they gathered
to await the evening meal.

Charles: "I would like your council tonight -- We must decide our
	  course of action, and our traveling companions.  We should
	  choose our next goal, how we will provide food and water for
	  ourselves, What we should do with Joseph of Stalin, and
	  perhaps attempt to reason out what is in store for us, and
	  if we have any say in our destiny here on this great river."

Shaw: "We should not leave right away, we should take at least a day
       to familiarize our selves with this craft, and learn how she
       handles. I can also teach every one the basics of ship
       handling"

Shaka: "Why expose ourselves to the risks of travel by water? A man
        walking can run, can fight. We need no boats."

Jeanne's eyes moved across the group, lingering on Shaka's face as she
passed it.
Each time she saw him, she could not help but shudder slightly.  It
simply could not be that he was Jesus reborn; this must be a test of
her faith.  She would eventually find a crack in his facade, and
perhaps she could even find a way to make this creature of Satan
reveal his true nature.

Finally, she nodded at Shaw.

Jeanne: "I too prefer to travel on the River."

Mishima: "And I agree with Shaka."

Before the others could continue, the grailstone spouted its
fire. As they retrieved their grails from the stone, Freud jerked back
in surprise. 

"There are two new bodies here!"

That was the first thing they heard as they awoke, the two men lying
naked next to one another under a grailstone. Oddly, it was not
morning, when the lazari were usually resurrected, but evening, and
standing around them were a group of people, men and women of a
variety of heights and complexions. The man who had spoken, in
accented English, was light-skinned. Behind him they could see a tall
muscled black-skinned man, a dark-skinned woman, a Japanese man, and
two other light-skinned men and a woman. A man sat on the ground, his
arms and legs bound, with another man watching over him.

The new resurrectees opened their eyes and fastened the ubiquitous
towels beside them into simple garments. Both were fair-skinned. The
taller of the two had dark hair and dark eyes; the shorter also had
dark hair, but his eyes were a piercing blue in color.

			      *  *  *  *