Riverworld, Day 45, Evening


			      *  *  *  *

Louis smiled in understanding at the priestess.  "Madam, you raise a
good point.  Are you sure you wish to proceed in a direction of a
battle?  Would not in stand you in better stead to learn the ways of
the Zulu so that you may talk with them and win them over as allies?"

Louis stood and began to pace, coming to life with his plan.  "This is
not the birthplace for any of us.  It is not our homeland, and we do
not have the strategic advantage of lands that we are innately
familiar with.  A battle with the Zulu would be a pitched one, neither
side having an advantage.  It would be bloody, and too costly."

Diana shook her head with a touch of sadness under her fierce
countenance. "We must strike at them before they strike at us. And
they will. I have foreseen it."  The chief bowed his head at her
pronouncement when she translated it for him.

"The only means of securing the mine, is to work together.  It does
not imply trust, simply cooperation," Louis insisted.

The chief spoke again to the priestess. "I am afraid that if you do
not leave this hut as one of us, you will not leave this hut," she
explained, as the chief drew his metal knife and laid it on his
lap. "We hoped your would join us, but we can not allow you to act
against us."

			      *  *  *  *

Robbie applauded loudly at Ehrich's performance and shouted, "OCH!!
Bravo! Bravo my good man!"

"Have you ever seen such a thing?!?!?" he asked enthusiastically of
the others. "One would think we were dealing wi' th' eldritch arts
here!" To Jean in particular, he addressed himself in French,
"JEANIE!, Have you seen such a trickster before?!?..."

As he saw the look of fear on Jeanne's face, he cut himself short, his
expression curious and compassionate.  "Jean, sir, madame- is there
something wrong?..."

Benjamin fidgeted, starting to move towards Jeanne, then changed his mind
and stepped back, then changed his mind again.  Finally he went to
Ehrich's side and spoke in a whisper to him.

"It was truly an awe-inspiring Performance, friend.  You must understand,
Jeanne tends to see the Hand of Evil in anything she does not understand,
is not familiar with.  Would you-- ... would you be willing to teach a
small thing to her, so that she may know it is Skill and Showmanship, not
Sorcery?  Otherwise I fear she may shun you and perhaps the rest of us as
well."

Freud looked on with detached concern.  "Jeanne," Charles interceded,
amidst curious looks from the people of New Detroit, "we must try not
to judge everyone through the filter of our times.  Erich is a good
man, he was trying to be a jester, and we see that as witchcraft or
sorcery -- We can mention to him, that such trickery bothers us, and
ask him not to practice such arts around us."

Jeanne stared back at him.  "How can you say such things? What do you
mean by 'the filter of our times'? Has the nature of morality changed
so much? In my day we thought things such as good and evil were
timeless, and not dependent on the fashion of the day. Perhaps you
have spent too much time with Josephine."  She sniffed derogatorily,
and then shook her head, drawing herself up with a dignity almost
comical in such a small woman.

"Have you forgotten the Lord's strictures concerning magic? 'Thou
shall not suffer a sorcerer to live'? How can you see him and do
nothing?"  She fixed a hostile stare on Ehrich, then called for the
priest again.  "Father Gregory! Father!"

Shaw muttered about "superstitious peasants", and returned to the
ship.  Frowning, Josephine trailed behind him, tossing an apologetic
smile at Ehrich.

"Something is bothering you," Josephine said flatly.

"Yes, something is bothering me," Shaw replied.

"I know something is wrong, and you aren't telling me.  What
conclusion am I to draw from this?"

"You want to know what is wrong? Come."

Shaw turned and walked below deck looking back once to be sure
Josephine was following.  Once below deck, he grabbed two spears from
the pile in the ship's cabin and held them up.

"Look, someone has sabotaged this one, see this crack? It would
shatter this first time it was used." He pointed to some notches on
the other spear. "And you see these?  Who, or what put these here?"

Setting the spears down he glanced at the doorway and lowered his
voice.  "And just what was the good doctor doing when he was
supposedly trying to wake me, and why is it that he denies dreaming
when he clearly was. Is he lying, or is who or what ever blocked my
dream blocking his as well?  How are we to know who we can trust?"


			      *  *  *  *

"I was performing only trickery, with no help from the supernatural,"
Ehrich said soothingly. "In my time, it is an art, and the audience
knows it is not real.  I had forgotten that you had no experience with
such tricks.  There were some who tried to claim their powers were
real, so they could take money from their gullible victims.  But I
helped uncover many of these frauds, and my work has never been used
for evil purposes."

Father Gregory nodded, and spoke reassuringly and yet firmly. "In my
age, too, we had court fools who would perform such feats, invariably
through trickery rather than sorcery. Deception is not a fit career
for man," he added, with a look at Ehrich, "but is not
witchery. Jeanne, my child, you must temper your passions or they will
be your undoing."

Jeanne arrested herself at the priest's words. Choking back another
cry, she flushed and, pointedly turning her back on Ehrich, spoke with
Jean for a time.

"I built the boat myself a few hundred grailstones upriver," Jean
explained when she asked, ignoring the scene before with continental
aplomb. "Robbie I met because he was the only French speaking person
in the area we lived in.  How, Jeanne, did you come to be with this
group?"

"I awoke with most of them, together on the other side of the
River. Some of us can't remember our lives before we woke up together,
but we know that we had them - lives on Riverworld, I mean. We all
remember our Earth lives."

"Let's get some sleep," Charles said. "Tomorrow morning we set out
across the River to the next grailstone north."

The others agreed, and one-by-one, set off to sleep in the boat
after bidding Ford good night.

			      *  *  *  *

Before Josephine could respond, Freud entered the cabin. "Excuse me,"
he said on seeing them. "I was going to retire. If I am disturbing
something, I could sleep outside?"

Shaw spoke quietly, "Earlier you said you weren't dreaming, Doctor,
yet it is clear that you were. What are you trying to hide?"

Freud scowled at the accusation. "I hide nothing," he exclaimed, and
then stopped a moment and stared into Shaw's eyes. "Ah," he said, "it
becomes clear. Herr Shaw, I believe you have become addicted to the
gum, and it is causing you to believe things which are untrue." He
cast a glance at Josephine. "I suggest you do like I, and sleep. In
the morning, if you wish to suggest that I have been disloyal, do so
before everyone. I tell you, I did not dream. Good night."

Freud rolled over on his bunk as the others entered, and took their
own positions for the night. Shaw, grumbling, settled down to a
restless slumber; but Josephine's was considerably worse.

			      *  *  *  *

Shaka smiled as Sly signaled his agreement to the plan.  "There is no
better time than the present.  Come with me." With Sly following
behind, Shaka walked into the center of the Asian encampment and spoke
loudly in English.

"Greetings industrious ones!  I am Shaka Zulu, chosen one of the Lion
God of this world.  I have come to lead you to glory!  This is Sly, my
companion through trials.  It is obvious that you are a people with
busy minds and clever hands.  I have come to lead you to the place of
destiny!"

Sly chuckled to himself, as the men looked quizzically at Shaka and
murmured to one another in Japanese, though they obviously understood
Shaka's words.

"If you follow me," Shaka continued, "I know a place, not far away,
where I can PROVE my claims are true.  A mine of metal, where a man
with an iron scythe rules through treachery.  Come with me and help me
reclaim my scythe of leadership, and the metal of the mines shall be
yours for your machines and carts."

At this the villagers became extremely excited, and chattered quickly
with one another. A group of five men came forward, and the others
quieted down as they approached Shaka and Sly, and bowed politely. One
of them spoke. "I am Toyoda-sama," he said carefully. "We will help
you if you will help us. Sleep in peace tonight, and tell us tomorrow
morning where you would go."

			      *  *  *  *

In the morning, the group set off from New Detroit. Robbie and Jean
sailed their own boat. Though there was ample room for all in the
larger sailboat, Jean suggested that it would be beneficial to have two
craft, and the others agreed. They set out across the River, veering
slightly northwards to avoid the Asian village and heading for the
grailstone to its north.

It was Benjamin who spotted them, and called out to the others.
"There! Ashore at the other Village of Engineers. Isn't that Shaka?"
Indeed, the looming figure of the African amidst the shorter villagers
stood out. Changing course, the made for the village grailstone.

			      *  *  *  *

The morning saw a new turn of events; Sly tapped Shaka and pointed at
the River. The boat, with Shaw at the helm, was headed for the
grailstone to the north of the village, with another, smaller boat,
following behind. As they watched, it turned and headed toward the
village's grailstone instead.

The two boats put in at the eastern village's grailstone, and were
greeted by the Japanese villagers, many of whom spoke English, and one
of whom was also fluent in French. Finally, the river-travelers faced
the land-travelers; of the latter, only Shaka and Sly were to be seen.