CHARACTERS:

Greg Porter, reporter at large
Jane Mitie, student anthropologist
Xavier Wang-Ping, head archeologist at the dig site

Rating: PG-13 for some violence and adult situations

Prologue

It was a mid-summer, noon-day sun that beat down upon the small island of Delos. It glittered off the tiny white stones on the beaches and made mirages in the distance. Not even the soft sea breezes could cool the baking heat that made dust clouds rise on the trails that led up hill from the beachead. Into this heat came a small fishing boat, bobbing its way over the whitecaps towards the long, faded wooden pier.

On the bow of this ship stood a man, or rather he was leaning over the side and feeding the fishes his breakfast. A sailor dressed in white pants, boots and a wide-brimmed woven hat approached the man and hauled him up by his shirt collar. He pointed towards the pilot's cabin. The man shook his head and then flung himself back at the side of the ship. The sailor shook his head, waited for the man to finish and then pulled him back again. He dragged the stumbling man along until he reached the cabin door. The door flew open and a hand thrust out, grabbed the sea-sick man and pulled him into the cabin. The sailor made his way to the stern again, towards a group of his crewmates who were laughing. The sailor joined in.

Then, the door to the cabin opened again and a voice screamed in Greek at the sailors. The men sobered and went back to their chores of repairing the fishing nets. Three of the crew approached the bow of the little vessel and as she slid towards the pier, they jumped overboard with a long rope supported between them. The rope wrapped once around their bodies and their feet hitting the rising bottom of the ocean, they began towing the still moving boat to shore. Shouts from other sailors still onboard, made them turn and clamber up to the pier. Two mates at the stern of the boat tossed a small anchor into the water, as the sailors on the pier tied the rope securely to a post. The little boat slowed as she dragged at her anchor and then slowly came to bob gently on the wavelets not far from shore. Large rowboats were lowered into the water, and small nets of fish were tossed to the sailors manning the boats. These parcels were tied to the stern and the little boats set off for the shore, dragging their bounty behind them.

The last rowboat was loaded and about to leave, when the man who had been sick over the side was brought from the cabin. He was thrust rudely into the water and dragged by the sailors manning the rowboat in over the side. He sprawled on the bottom, out of the way of the rowers, until they reached the shore. As the boat hit the sand and was dragged up from the waterline, the man roused himself and stumbled out of the boat and onto the beach. The sailors ignored him as they went about their tasks of hauling their sea bounty from the water. The man groaned once, fell to his knees and kissed the sand with a loud smacking sound. After a few moments of lying prone on the sand, he struggled to his feet, gathered his things that the sailors had ignomiously thrown beside him and staggered towards the trail that wound up the nearest hill.

Twenty minutes later, he stood panting and drenched in sweat at the crown of the hill. His blue-green eyes scanned the vista before him. He brushed sweaty, strawberry-blonde locks from his eyes and sighed heavily. He had arrived at the island, barely alive after three weeks on the fishing boat and now he stood and observed the small fishing village below him. He thought it looked like heaven. Bending slowly, he picked up his small duffel bag and wended his way down the hill.

...More coming soon!

Please take the time to write to Janet at ishtar@golden.net, and let her know how you like the story so far!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, and all other characters who have appeared in either series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. Uber characters appearing in this fic were created by the author for use in this fiction. This story is copyright © 2000 by Janet Elizabeth and is her sole property along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.