Free Wine of the Gods 1: Exiles and Gods by Pam Uphoff Page B

bit sluggish, must be why we haven't had any up our creek."
    Chris gulped. "I'm surprised there aren't crocs up every creek, they're pretty warm. A lot warmer than here."
    "I'll bet this is just a straggler from the Nile. I wonder if the smaller streams freeze in the winter?"
    " Suddenly, I hope so. However, if the Nile is in the same place as on Earth, we ought to be there tomorrow. Of course, with the days slightly longer, I may not be calculating the distances right." Chris glanced glumly at his instruments and charts.
    By noon the next day they were trying to follow the largest streams through a delta covered with head high grasses and reeds.
    The streams merged gradually into a broad powerful river, and just upstream they found Cairo.
    In Cairo they found religion.
    Chris eyed the twin ziggurats askance. They weren't huge, but they towered over everything else. Looking out across the broad river, the delta, the cliffs that ended the greenery so abruptly, he rather thought that this town was well named. It was the largest town yet, easily double the size of Tripoli. They were farming the east side of the river, and the town was on the east bank, up on a rocky hill. The ziggurats were at the top, with a plaza in between, centering a regular grid of roads. There were no walls around the town. They had sailed pasts hundreds of miles of desert before reaching the delta. The desert must be enough of a barrier to allow control of predators in the valley.
    By the time they’d cruised up river to the docks, two men were waiting for them, with a crowd of onlookers staying well back.
    “Well, well, if it isn’t Massa Harry.”
    Harry blinked. "Drat. One of them had red hair, the other one was blonde. They'll be nearly impossible to tell apart, bald." He raised his voice to carry across the narrowing strip of water. “Barry and Edmond. Figures you two would stick together.”
    “The Sigma brothers, forever together, forever at war. Welcome to Cairo, fellow God.”
    Chris tossed bumpers over board, and leaped out to tie off the boat without any attempt on the part of either brother to help. Harry stepped onto the wharf and looked the brothers over. Chris thought they both looked like they’d been lifting weights, and as if they ought to have gone easier on the food as well.
    “I hope you remember that it was meant sarcastically, when they called us that.” Harry sounded a bit disturbed.
    “Oh, we remember. But it’s such a lovely idea, we’ve de cided to keep it.” The one on the left spoke.
    The other one grinned. “Isn’t that what every country needs? A benevolent God and an Evil God? I’m Barry, the God of Virtue.”
    The first one snickered. “And I’m Edmund, the God of Vice. Very fitting, don’t you think? Come on up, we’ll treat you to a welcoming feast suitable to the God of . . . Travel, I think would fit.”
    "Absolutely not!"
    “Oh yes, very nice.” Barry turned and faced the crowd. His voice rolled over them as if amplified. “Our brother God, Harry, the God of Travelers honors our City with his presence. Prepare a feast!”
    The crowd cheered and started breaking up.
    Chris grabbed luggage and followed Harry, hanging well back. The brother gods were getting his hackles up, and he'd just as soon not draw their attention. He’d felt a lot of spells flowing out with the speech. Are these self-appointed Gods controlling their subjects with magic? The thought sent a chill down his spine. They're not really gods, but they could be damn realistic tyrants.
     
    ***
     
    The party started quickly, with tables being carried out into the plaza with practiced ease.
    A horseshoe of large ones, with covers and flowers and big chairs went up on a raised platform in the middle of the plaza.
    “How often do you have feasts?” Harry watched the people, scampering to obey and felt sick.
    “Once a month, minimum.” Barry grinned. “Everyone has a great time. See? Everyone brings food, the store keepers set up