Riverworld, Day 71, Morning * * * * Matoaka frowned back and snorted, "Ford decided to make it his property including our lives. The bastard acted friendly and next thing we knew, we woke up about 10 grails north of here. He had murdered us! Give me a knife; I want to skin him alive like you skin an animal. Just leave him to me." Matoaka's eyes sparkled with hatred, she spat on the ground turning her head north and continued in the heat of passion, "He clearly wants the ore to himself. When we floated passed New Detroit, there were men exercising on the shore. He appears to be on the war path." She paused to regain her composure. "There is no reasoning with a man like that. All he speaks of is his darn east and west conflict over those odd looking carriages and seems to want Toyoda-san's skin." "Matoaka is quite correct." Benjamin said. "There is every reason to expect that Ford means to invade, and hopes to take Ferrum by the advantage of Surprise. He slew us that we would be unable to warn you, but somehow we chanced to be near enough here to get back, with the help of this Man's ideas." He indicated the small man who was with them, who quietly introduced himself as Yitzchak Luria. Benjamin continued, "We must prepare for an Attack, and make use of the fact that he thinks you do not know he is coming." Benjamin began walking towards that part of Ferrum farthest from the River as he talked, pondering. "If you wish to strike back at him, it might be best to use this Opportunity to lay him a Trap. Make it seem that we are not prepared, yet in secret, be ready for him to come. Matoaka and Shaw and I should stay out of sight that his Scouts do not know we have returned, and you must keep up the Appearance that all occurs normally. "However, I do not know if it is wisest to use this Opportunity to inflict Death, however transitory, upon him and his Men. I disagree with Matoaka about one thing: I think we can still reason with him, but the Circumstances must be different, and it will be most difficult, but the Rewards will be great. There must be a way to use this Opportunity to create such Circumstances, and if you give me a few minutes, I will think of one, I hope." Benjamin sat upon a grassy spot, sheltered from view from the River, and began to think hard. Matoaka snorted once more. She repeated, "_Opportunities_ ... _Circumstances_ Look where they got us! Why wait for them to attack? Why do we not just attack them ourselves? That would surely surprise them even more than finding us here; besides, I would like to get _my_ Opportunity to take care of him." Ehrich disagreed. "If we go and take war to them, no matter how justified it is, our neighbors will think us the aggressors. Future diplomacy will be difficult, and we may gain many new enemies. If we fight a defensive battle and win, we may gain much respect." Benjamin shrugged. "There was too much War in my last Life, and no one profited by it. In this Life, it is no better. Our most hopeful Outcome would be the Loss of some great Minds. But it will be up to Charles and Diana and the others, not me, whether we make War again so soon." "War? Here?" Louis laughed sarcastically. "Please, what possible good would it do? I know not what you're even prepared to go to war over, and I say it is foolish." "Is your freedom not worth fighting for?" Matoaka spat, turning toward Louis. "Ford may conquer the village and use us to work the mines as slaves, maybe even worse as grail slaves, for his profit. How foolish is that? Or maybe you prefer to put your tail between your legs like a dog and leave? I say, let us do onto them what they would do onto us." "I have had enough of war, of fighting," Louis shouted. "What has it gotten us? I have but one arm. Shaka, a noble warrior, is slain; at one time, I called him friend. I care no more about iron than I do about the water that flows past us in the River." Louis stopped, reigning in his anger. "I give you only one warning: insult me unjustly again, and I will break your neck where you stand. This I assure you. If you wish to converse, discuss or argue a point, I am at your service. But I will not stand for personal attacks. You know nothing of me, and insulting me only displays your ignorance." Matoaka laughed unimpressed and looked at Louis straight in the eyes, "Neither do _you_ of me." She paused looking around, took a few steps as if leaving then stopped and shrugged, "Then explain to me what I should call you if while you stand by doing nothing, everyone here dies in an attempt to defend their right to live and prosper and yours as a result?" Matoaka looked Louis up and down. "The war will come to us whether we like it or not. Why wait for it like old women." Charles was silent for a while, and appeared contemplative. It was plain on his face that he was distressed about the situation developing with Ford. Finally, he stepped forward. His brow was furrowed deeply. "Enough." he said. Surprised to hear an authoritarian voice in this midst, Matoaka stopped doing whatever she was doing and turned her attention to Charles. He spoke in Latin, but mixed in words of English, Celtic, and Japanese. "Squabbling will not achieve our goal. Our goal is to rebuild a civilization, and to found it on the principles of goodness and righteousness which we agree upon. "I am distressed and angered by Ford's actions, and I am sorrowed that our diplomats in good faith were murdered. I am disturbed that they all appeared by a grailstone together, for it seems that is not common here. Though we have seen it repeatedly. Perhaps the game of chess continues in some different form." He turned to Matoaka, "Your need for revenge is understandable, but for the well being of our group. I ask you to put aside those needs for now and work with us together." Matoaka returned his look, but said nothing. He turned to Louis, "The iron in this land and water running by our huts, are the foundation for civilization. They are important. but they are not as important as the People-- Here." Charles turned and looked around, warming to his oration. "In this little village. We are all from many different backgrounds, and have many different ways and customs. Perhaps by working together through trials and joys, we can rebuild a civilization here which will be better and more just than the worlds we all lived in. Charles paused, and lowered his voice, both in pitch and in volume. "If there are those who do not wish to help with civilization, or fear the tasks ahead of us, Then you are free to leave now. This is and never will be a state of Force. We shall not wage war, but we shall defend ourselves." Charles became more focused and directed and pointed to various people as he set plans in motion. "We should post guards, round the clock and send groups of 4 as scouts. Shaw and Matoaka you are head of the scouts. Cixi, Toyoda-san and Culwyn will coordinate the guards, and designate which areas will be guarded and watched. I eagerly await a plan from Benjamin on a sound defense for the village. I ask all others to work on making Bamboo spears, arrows, bows, and other methods of defense." Cixi nods her head after Charles's speech. "There is wisdom yet in a ba gwei... though his selection of partners seems too obviously pointed towards another goal. A goal one may even question." Her eyes narrow for a moment on Charles before relaxing. "To be the first to strike an enemy will only prove to show our weaknesses more quicker." She seems to direct this last part towards Matoaka before turning to Benjamin. In a level voice she says to him, "One need not be of the military to have an imagination. The best plans are laid by those who can dream and know how to use the others to make it all possible." Turning more towards the group, "I will assist in establishing guards." With only a slight wrinkle of her nose she continues, "... with Toyoda and Culwyn." "Me, plan a Defense?" Benjamin was chuckling. "Shouldn't that be left to someone with Knowledge of the Arts of War?" "I have some ideas as to our defense," Ehrich advanced hesitantly. "I have made a profession of fooling and surprising people, and think that these may serve us. If we allow the attackers to become encircled, then we have the advantage. Allow the attackers to enter towards the heart of the village, and then we spring a trap, having hidden warriors appear at Detroit's sides and rear, or even in their center. Cixi chimed in, "And then what?" She waits for a moment to let Enrich catch his breath... and catch her words before asking again, "And then what? We capture Detroit's men. Do we kill? Do we hold them in prison?" Cixi turned her eyes to the others. "He kills our diplomats and they come back more angry. What's to stop that from happening to his men? We try prison before with Helga. She disappear. What good is that? More men who hate and we can not account for. A enemy you can not see is the hardest one to fight." Ehrich shrugged. "One thing at a time. We must stop them from destroying or enslaving us." He continued, pointing to the riverbank. "Men can hide high up in the trees closest to the river, in shallow hidden pits along the shore, in huts, in old firepits, and in trash piles. People will also be moving around and working, as if we are unprepared and ignorant of the attack. They should also have concealed weapons. Scouts can warn us as they approach so everyone can get into position. "We should also act normally whenever outside of the huts, as they may have scouts and spies of their own, and the more we appear to be ignorant, the better. Weapons should be built indoors as well, except perhaps for some half hearted efforts meant to have spies think we are incompetent as well. Those that were killed by Ford's men should remain inside during daylight and keep away from fires at night. Matoaka might easily move around though if she removes her paint, as she appears to be a different person then." Matoaka shifted as if feeling uncomfortable and passes her hand on her bald head. Slowly, she nodded. "Wooden slats can be placed on the chest, hidden under towels," Ehrich continued, "and thus may provide some protection against cruder weapons, such as bamboo spears. Brittle twigs may be placed under leaves around the edges of camp, and thus prevent silent approaches." Matoaka volunteered, "My people used to make breast plates with animal bones to stop arrows among other things. I can show one of you if any good size bones are available." Cixi questioned the people who have returned, "You say you see them practicing on the shores? What types of weapons do you see them have? How many men can we guess is with them? How much they know of ore?" Cixi looked at Enrich, "All suggestions of you make sense. But only if they make sense against what they have." Shaw responded to the question. "They have at least two score men, and spears and rocks. They know a lot about metal, but they don't have any." Matoaka's eyes turned to Shaw and paused on him at length before returning on Charles. Matoaka looked at the warrior in front of her with a pride and admiration, "The scouts will needs knives of some sort to defend themselves in case they stumble upon one of Ford's men. Do we have any available?" The groups dispersed. Matoaka returned to her tent to change into one of her own towels and then joined Shaw to discuss scouting. Cixi approached Toyoda. With a slight bit of hesitation, she began, "You and I. I not view us as friends. Know that now." Her words come out slow and almost painful. Toyoda nodded silently. "But you out of all will understand the urgency I present to you." Cixi paused and lightly licked her lips. "I read from the gods a message. They tell me of Po, being overthrown by the little man. Not signs of goodness." "These are delicate times we have here. Many small men will try to reach out. Outlook may be good if we can act proper. But I need your help. Those white devils will not understand the message from the gods. Only us, closest to the Middle Kingdom, ever truly understands." Cixi paused again, "Will you help?" Again, Toyoda nodded. Cixi motioned to Culwyn and together the three discussed how to post guards. They rejoined Charles, Ehrich, and Benjamin at the grailstone for lunch. All but Matoaka, which initially caused some concern. Her arrival, however, did not improve the group's situation. "There are boats on the River, like those of Ford's," she said. "They are coming."