Riverworld, Day 43, Noon


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Louis looked at Sly as if he were insane, something it occurred to
Louis as being quite a distinct possibility. He stepped in front of
Mandragola and addressed the maddened man.  "Calm yourself, Sly.  Do
not be so hasty to turn on your comrade.  I do not see this glow
either.  Perhaps you have had too much dreamgum.  Jeanne's use of it
certainly seemed to plague her."

He glanced at Mandragola, and spoke in French.


"Do not turn your back on him for very long," Louis warned. "He either
borders on insanity or is too prone to folly."

"Shaka," Louis continued, again speaking in English, "I think they
were trying to communicate with their god.  Maybe we should obtain our
grail and move on, for the sake of expediency."

Mandragola watched Sly's antics with a mixture of amusement and
puzzlement. To Louis and Shaka, he said, "What is he babbling about? I
see no glow coming from these people, and I suspect maybe Sly has
overdone the dreamgum. I really doubt it has anything to do with the
ceremony these people are holding, and I would be most suprised if any
God would reveal himself in this way to a barbarian like Sly."  He
paused briefly before adding with a chuckle, "No self-respecting God,
at least!"

Sly shouted at Louis and Mandragola.  "Bloody 'ell, they're glowin'!!
Stay back oi tells ya!"

He turned and looked at the 'glowing people'. Shouting at them now, he
cried, "Ain't gonna blast us wit' yer glowin' powers!"  He took his
spear and hurled it at them, then crouched down low, yelling, "Watch
out, 'ey moit blow up!!"

The explosion was like nothing Sly had imagined. As his spear
hit the glowing man, the glow increased to an almost blinding level,
and the spear bounced off the man with a pyrotechnic flash.

Louis and Mandragola watched Sly's spear glance off one of the seated
group, doing them no harm. Sly, however, appeared even more excited.

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Charles steps forward quietly, "Freud, do you know who I am?"

Freud replied in a monotone. "You are Charles of Aachen."

"Where are you now, Freud?"

"The River-place"

"Do you remember your first words when you first met me?"

"I said, '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.'"

"What are you first memories of this world?"

"I awakened in a place with a grailstone and people began
killing one another. I fled."

"Do you have any dreams of Chess boards and platers?

"No. I have not had any dreams since I woke here."

"If this were a game of chess are you a Pawn or a King?"

"I do not know. I do not feel like a King."

"Do you recognize the Lion man or the mysterious woman?"

"No."

"Do any of us have beasts on our backs now?"

"I do not know."

After hearing Charles' questions and Freud's answers, Benjamin asked
one more question: "Freud, have you any Memories that are hidden
from yourself or us, of things you have seen or felt or thought or
experienced in the River-place?"

Freud stammered his response. "I...yes...but I don't...I can't..."

The others looked noticeably surprised.  "Do you know who or what told
you not to remember these things?" Shaw inquired.

"No one told me not to remember. I just...can't."

"How long do your memories of being on this river go back?"

"Forty-three days."

Charles looks confused and whispered to the Shaw and Benjamin. "I
thought we, I mean you, had only been here 30 days??  Is this longer
than you have memory of??  Could Freud have been 'resurrected' before
any of the rest of us?  If so, fo what purpose?"

Finally, Ehrich raised his voice. Gently, he asked, "Can you hear me
clearly?"

"Yes. I can hear you clearly," Freud replied.

"There are things you do not remember.  Someone does not wish you to
remember these things, because you might accidentally tell them to an
enemy.  Does this feel reasonable to you?"

"Yes."

"We are your friends, and we trust each other.  You have been through
many trials with some of us.  If we make a pledge not to reveal what
you say to an enemy, are there any among us you trust enough to tell
your hidden memories to?"

Freud glanced around the group, his eyes lingering on Benjamin and
Charles.

"I trust you...but...I...can't. It won't come."

"Are you afraid of these memories, or are they just not there?
Do you think these memories are permanently erased leaving only a hole
in your mind, or are they just locked away from you."

"I don't know. I am not afraid."

"I would like you to dream tonight.  And you will remember this dream
when you awaken and have full recall of it.  In this dream, you will
try to paint these hidden memories indirectly with symbols.  This way
you will not be actually recalling your memories and will not be
divulging them to others.  Any fears or restraints will be bypassed
because you will not look at your memories directly.  You will be
viewing Medusa through a darkened mirror.  Will you try and do this?"

"Yes."

Jeanne, who seemed to have overcome her fear of the 'witchery' of
hypnosis, watched the proceedings with as much interest as the
others. "Perhaps if we could find a Pattern. The Lord works in
mysterious ways, but the devil is predictable, once you see his
patterns."  Finally, she voiced a question.  "Have you discerned any
pattern to the selection of the lazari? Any recurrent themes from our
lives -- for you seem familiar with most of our histories -- that
would indicate why these beings have taken such an interest in us?"

Freud mutely shook his head.

At Ehrich's direction, Freud awakened. He seemed to remember the
questioning, and was pleased that he had been helpful. "And we shall
see if I dream tonight," he added.

"And I," Shaw agreed, hopefully.

"Charles," Benjamin said, "I believe perhaps there is yet one piece of
the Urn we have not.  While these Events are fascinating, I believe we
must return to our Search for the source of the Scythe.  I am far less
sure that Shaka's Vision of the Lion-god leading us north to find it
was honest, but north is as good as south to us now."

Charles nodded, and with Shaw at the helm, the boat resumed its
northward journey.

Shaw wondered if he might not be better occupied seeking his visions;
despite Benjamin's doubts, he felt as strongly as ever that they held
the key to the mysteries of the Riverworld.

Jeanne, Charles, and Benjamin shared the prayer that the latter
suggested, and Jeanne again expressed her concerns about finding a
priest.  "Can we even be certain there is one along the River?  And if
so, I do not know how we would go about searching for him. It seems
almost hopeless." 

But hope proved to be with them, for as the afternoon waned on the
River, they came to the fourth grailstone on the west side, and found
there a large steepled building with a bamboo cross attached to the
top.