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The Dark Design
The two riverboats paddle upriver, their ultimate destination being the Dark Tower. The river terminates at the north polar sea, and a few (Joe Miller being one) have glimpsed a building or artifact there. If there are answers to be found, this is the place to look.
King John commands the original riverboat, now named Rex Grandissimus. Sam Clemens is captain of the Not For Hire, the second vessel that he had built in Parolando to aid X, the renegade ethical. What drives him now though is not the mystery of the Riverworld, but the destruction of John. The Not For Hire is heading to the polar sea, but its captain is chasing the dream that was stolen from him.
Richard Burton discovers that Monat and Frigate are agents of the Ethicals, perhaps even Ethicals themselves. They were among the first people he encountered in the rivervalley, and it seems that there was a reason why they have stayed with him for so long. The two escape before he can challenge them. Burton hears of a great riverboat coming from down river, and is determined to get a place onboard.
It has become obvious that something is terribly wrong on the Riverworld. The little resurrections, the steady traffic of people who have drowned or been murdered, have stopped.
In Parolando, they start to build airships to reach the Dark Tower under the guidance of Milton Firebrass, a 21st Century Astronaut. Barry Thorn, Anna Obrenova and Jill Gulbirra sign on as potential crew. All had extensive dirigible experience on earth, if they are to be believed.
Meanwhile, Tom Mix, A Peter Jairus Frigate (what do I mean? read on...), Jack London, a Sufi called Nur and the model for the fictional character of Umslopagaas have found one of the few places other than Parolando that has resources. The state is run by a member of the Church of the Second Chance, a 21st century Czech engineer called Podebrad. He wants to reach Virolando, where La Viro, the founder of the church, lives. In fact he wants to reach Virolando, which is near the headwaters of the river, so much that he steals the completed airship and leaves everyone else behind. Building another boat, or stealing one, is easy enough, but Frigate has an idea for an unstable but workable airship, suggested by Jules Verne but never tried in reality. The agents of X try again.
The expedition from Parolando is a failure - the crew reach the tower, and just as Firebrass is about to land, his helicopter is destroyed by an explosion set by Barry Thorn, who escapes in another chopper. The tower does not give up its secrets. Only one man can get through the force field barring entry, a Japanese fisherman who on this world calls himself Piscator. He is never heard from again.
Onward to: