As the barge slowly approached the Giza dock, MRed reached into the large shoulder bag by her side, thinking it was hers - and felt a large number of books and scrolls. "Whose are these?" she asked.
Incon sat down beside her. "They're mine," she replied. "That's why I'm here - I've come down to make a substantial contribution to the Great Library."
"What took you so long? The route from the Roman Empire isn't that far," Zen commented.
"I had to make a quick stop in Abu Simbel on the way here," Incon informed him.
"Ah - the Temple of La-Amb-Ah-Dah," Jayhawk winked. Incon blushed and cleared her throat.
"Let's have a look at the titles," MRed pulled out a handful of scrolls. The others followed suit.
"Hm...'No Bad Elephants The Incontinentia Way'", Civis read the title of a thick scroll.
"That's the first piece I ever wrote," Incon said proudly. "Very informative for the first-time elephant fancier."
"'Love Me, Love My Elephant'," Zen read out another.
"'Wild About Pachyderms'," MRed announced the title of another.
"'The Lambada: From Beginner to Double-Jointed in Ten Easy Lessons'," Civis announced yet another.
"The Da-An-Set novices gave me that one," Incon said.
Jayhawk squinted at the small print on the cover of a tome. "The General Migratory, Co-Habitational and Mating Habits of the Common Carthaginian Elephant in Its Natural Habitat from Early Life to Family Unit in Relation to Seasonal Agrarian Conditions of the African Continent..." He narrowed his eyes further - "...Abridged.' Any good?"
"It's rather dry," Incon admitted. "It was a contribution from one of our life members."
"Anything not, erm...elephant-related, Incon?" Civis asked.
"Well, there *is* just one..." she fished around in the bottom of the bag, drew out a small scroll and handed it to him.
Civis took the scroll and read the title. "'The Big Burp'??" he raised his eyebrows.
"It's a mystery thriller I've been working on," she told them. "It's about a private investigator who's looking into the mysterious demise of a famous gladiator, on behalf of his stunningly beautiful wife, a well-known bathgirl. There's even a Senate conspiracy in it."
"Sounds good!" Zen took the scroll and thumbed through it. "How'd you come up with the title?"
"The private dick's partner is an elephant."
Zen rolled his eyes and chucked the scroll back in the bag.
"I think I'll while away the rest of our trip with this catchy number," Mred settled into her deck chair with one of the scrolls. "'The Silence of the Trunks' - sounds gripping."
Everyone else partook of a final cup of poppy-steeped wine before disembarking.
"I *still* think a Great Pyramid would look fantastic on the South Bank of the Thames," Incon muttered as the huge structures glided past.