Joe Miller had been told about X by Samuel Clemens. Alice knew about him from Burton. Aphra Behn hadn't been informed until yesterday, but she wanted very much to accompany them on their expedition. De Marbot had heard from Clemens about the Stranger, and he had told Behn about him. Since the Frenchman and the Englishwoman had once been lovers and were again, the others agreed that she could come with them.
Ely Parker, the Seneca, also knew about X from Clemens, and he had wished to go with them. But he'd changed his mind.
"To hell with the Ethicals and the tower and all that," he said to Burton. "I'm going to stay here and try to raise the Not For Hire. It's sunk in only about forty feet of water. Once it's up and repaired, I'll take it down-River. I'm not really interested in dying just to prove something that can't be proved. The Ethicals don't want us sticking our noses in their business. I think that the breakdowns came about because we interfered. Piscator may have screwed things up in the tower. And Podebrad told Sam that the people he left behind in Nova Bo-hemujo may have been responsible for the failure of the right-bank line. He said that before he left on the blimp some of his officers wanted to dig deep around a grailstone and see if they could tap into it to get a continuous source of power. He warned them not to, and before he took off he got them to promise they wouldn't monkey around with it. He said that what might have happened was that they broke their promise and somehow broke the circuit.
"If that happened, the area around it would've been blown up. There'd be a hole big enough to make a new lake on the right side of The River. The explosion could've wiped out Nova Bohemujo on that side. That's where the mineral deposits were, and if what Podebrad said was true, then that's the end of the mines and the New Bohemians.
"Anyway, I just don't like meddling around with the Eth-icals. I'm no coward. Anyone who knows me'll tell you that. But I just don't think it's right to mess around with things we know nothing about."
In addition, Burton thought, you'd like to be captain of the riverboat and live the good and high life.
"You won't get much help from the locals," Burton said.
He gestured at the banks and the stream, which were crowded with people in boats or getting ready to shove off.
"This area will be near-emptied within a month. La Viro is sending almost everybody down-River to restore the faith of the Chancers, to correct deviations from their theology, and to make new converts. The breakdowns have shaken the faith of many."
"Yeah," Parker said, his broad brown face twisted with a sardonic smile. "Yeah. La Viro himself is shaken. I understand he's spending a lot of time on his knees praying. He doesn't look so sure of himself now."
Burton didn't try to argue the Seneca into going on with him. He did wish Parker luck before walking away, though he wasn't going to have any. The Not For Hire was going to stay where it was until the current nudged it off the ledge and it sank to the bottom, three thousand feet down.
When the Post No Bills sank or wore out, its end would be the end of the age of advanced technology on the Riverworld. What few metal tools and weapons existed would wear out. And then the Valleydwellers would be lucky if they had stone artifacts. The entire planet would be in the Wood Age.
The news about Podebrad's story was certainly interesting. Whether or not the Nova Bohemujo had brought about the line breakdown, Podebrad had been an agent or an Ethical. Only one of them could have known where the metal deposits were in that state. Only one of them could have known that trying to tap the power of the line could result in a catastrophe.
But Podebrad, or whatever his real name was, was dead.
Burton wondered if he could have been X.
Hearing a familiar voice hail him, he stopped and turned around. Hermann Goring, thinner than before, and he'd been very thin, approached him. His broad face was grave, and his eyes were rimmed with the darkness of fatigue.
"Sinjoro Burton! Mi dezirus akompani vin."
"You'd like to go with me? Why?"
"For the same reason that drives you. I want desperately to know what has gone wrong. I've always wanted to know, but I told myself that it was much more important to raise the ethical level of the kas. Now... I don't know. Yes, I do! If we are to have faith, we must also have knowledge. I mean... faith is the only thing to cling to if you can't know the truth. But now... now... it may be possible to know!"
"What does La Viro think of this?"
"We've quarreled, something I thought I'd never do. He insists that I go with him down-River. He intends to travel to the mouth of The River, even if it takes him three hundred years, preaching all the way. He wants to restore the faith of • the people..."
"How does he know that it needs restoring?" Burton said.
"He knows what's been happening downstream for as far as a hundred thousand miles. What's happening there must also be happening elsewhere. Besides, didn't you notice that there's been much doubt, much falling away from the Church, while you were traveling on the boat?"
"I noticed some but didn't think much about it," Burton said. "It's to be expected, you know."
"Yes. Even some of the Virolanders have been troubled, and they have the presence of La Viro himself to strengthen them. However, I believe that the best course is to get into the tower and determine exactly what has happened. That will insure that the Church is right, and when that happens, all of the people will have no doubt and all will come to the Church."
"On the other hand," Burton drawled, "what you find there may blow your religion to bits."
Goring shuddered and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he said, "Yes, I know. But my faith is so strong that I am willing to chance it."
"My middle name is Francis," Burton said, grinning. "So I'll be frank with you. I don't like you. I never have. You've changed character, true. But I can't forgive what you did to me and my friends. It's a case of forgiving but not forgetting. Though I suppose that fundamentally the two are the same."
Goring waved his hands imploringly.
"That is the burden I must carry. I deserve it, and I won't be able to put it down until every person who knows my evil deeds has truly forgiven me. But that is not the issue now. What is, is that I can be of great help. I am quick and strong and very determined and not unintelligent. Also..."
"Also, you're a Second Chancer, a pacifist," Burton said. "What use would you be if we have to fight?"
Goring said, fiercely, "I won't compromise my principles! I will not shed the blood of another human! But I doubt very much that you'll have to fight. The area upstream is thinly populated and becoming thinner every day. Haven't you seen the many boats coming through the strait? The news is out that the Virolanders are leaving. The people up-River are deserting their cold land to settle down here."
"There may well be a fight," Burton said. "If we catch up with those agents, we'll try to make them talk. And when we get into the tower.. .who knows what we'll find there? We may have to battle for our lives."
"Will you take me?"
"No. That's final! I don't care to discuss this anymore. Ever!"
He strode away while Goring roared, "If you won't take me, I'll go alone!"
Burton glanced back then. The man's face was red, and he was shaking his fist. Burton smiled. Even the ethically advanced bishops of the Church could get angry.
When Burton looked back orice more, he saw Goring walking swiftly toward the temple, his face set. Evidently, he was on his way to tell La Viro that he was not obeying his orders to go down-River.