"2566-13" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bigge Jerome - Warlady 4 - 2566 Ad)2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirteen "Quiet," Valerie said to me in a low voice, staring like me out into the darkness of the night. The men now gathered on deck, weapons at hand as we laid in wait for the enemy to appear. From time to time one could hear soft sounds and sense stirrings. They were well trained, the men and women of the Corsica. Their captain took pride in her command, in her ship. It "showed" too! "Maris will not `surrender'," I spoke, Valerie only a dark shadow there beside me. Like me she wore the black of the Warri- oress. Tunic and hose, the common attire of the fighting woman. A sword at her hip, a long slim fighting dagger in its sheath. I recalled others who had stood at me side. Others who I had later seen slid over the side of a ship with a shot at their feet to speed them to their final destination at the bottom of the sea. "Perhaps it is for the best," Valerie answered me back. ***************************************************************** Suddenly Maris saw a soft glow for an instant there ahead of the North Star, the glow suddenly then winking out, the young Queen having little doubt of what she had seen! A cold shudder going through her as she quickly snapped orders in a low voice to the man at the helm, the stars swinging in the sky as the North Star came about! "Close!" Maris breathed, well aware of what had laid ahead. For a brief moment she saw a tall stern featured brunette standing there on the deck before her, saw the woman's eyes now burn into hers even although it was totally pitch dark! ***************************************************************** "Mistress," I heard Yvette speak softly as she came up on deck with another. The other girl one of those who served aboard the Corsica as a "ship's girl". A collared wench, short skirted. Her legs a pale shadow like her face there in the darkness of the star-lit night. Valerie only a darker shadow standing beside me. "Something wrong?" Valerie then asked from beside me. It was not the time for any slave girls to be up deck. Not now. We had given orders that the collared wenches, including my Yvette, were supposed to obey! I wondered if the Corsica had suddenly sprung a leak and was sinking beneath us! I rather doubted it!!! "I,..I," the other girl spoke in a soft and obviously terri- fied voice, no doubt fearing what Valerie and I might do to her! "She showed a light in the stern cabin," Yvette spoke then. There was no need to "explain" further. At sea even a candle's glow can be seen for miles at night. And if Maris had seen it? "Our stern was pointing south only a minute ago," Valerie pointed out. And I could trust the Dularnians to be "alert" giv- en the situation! And Maris was, if nothing more, "competent"! "Are you aware of `what' you have done?" I challenged the terrified slave girl. The wench going to her knees, putting her head down, making a small ball of her body there before me. She doubtlessly knew as a rightless slave that I would have been com- pletely justified in such a case in actually ordering her death! "I did not think!" she wept there on the deck before me. I had no doubts that she spoke the truth. It did, however, not in the least alter the fact that she had no doubt "cost" us Maris! "Your punishment is for your captain to decide," I spoke. ***************************************************************** "We will sail to the south for the night, then swing north again," Maris spoke, her first officer nodding there in the dark- ness of the night. Hers had been the only eyes to see the light. "It would be `safer' if we put more `distance' between us and their Warlady," the man smiled back. He had no wish to con- front a force such as what the Imperial's Warlady now possessed! "`Safety' is not something found aboard this ship," Maris smiled back, her azure eyes glowing into his as he nodded in re- ply. He thought it might be time to seek a bit of "comfort" in the arms of a slave girl, and try to "forget" about his Queen if only for an hour or so. Maris was obviously determined to die in battle rather than to return to Dularn "defeated" by the Warlady! "You have responsibilities to your people," he replied then. "I am fulfilling them," Maris snapped back at him in reply! "I am trying to give you a `second chance'," Aurora had an- swered only a week before. "I suggest that you sit down with my daughter and negotiate a peace settlement of some sort that both of you two can `live with'." The silvery disc had come floating down from a clear blue sky as the North Star sailed out of sight of land. Maris had no doubt that the Leaderess had used the awe- some instruments on Deimos to find her ship here on the open sea. "The matter is out of my hands now," Maris replied in turn, aware that Darlanis had refused to allow the people living in the "disputed territories" the opportunity to "vote" upon the issue. "I am fighting for `ideals' even older than my civilization," the young beautiful blonde haired Queen of Dularn had answered back. "`Truth, Justice, the American Way'?" Aurora smiled back. A smile curving her near perfect lips as she sat there before Maris now. Aurora recalling with a smile some of her own speeches now. The "Revolution" there on Mars still fresh in everyone's memory. They had "won", but then the Priestesses had come and taken "con- trol" almost like if they had been but children playing a "game". "For a people to live in `freedom'," Maris answered. "To chose the government they wish. To an `end' of Empires like your daughter's based on rule by the sword." Aurora nodded back, her jade eyes glowing into Maris' green above the rim of the goblet the young Queen had given her as they sat in the stern cabin, the ship gently rolling in the swell, the sunbeams moving back and forth on the carpeting that covered the deck planking beneath it. "You wish to go back to an `era' before Janet Rogers?" Auro- ra smiled back. "Back to their delusions of `self-government'?" It had been the near social collapse of that era that had allowed Janet Rogers to be as "successful" as she had been. Man had been "ready" then for a "New Order". And Janet had supplied it too! Aurora perhaps "knew" as much about that era as anyone alive now! About Janet's use of "S-E-X" as a means of "social pacification". "I want what once was for all of Mankind," Maris answered. "A social order where every man and woman had a `say' in things." Aurora wondered privately to herself just then if Maris really "knew" what things had been like back then. She suspected not. Maris, like a lot of "idealists", only "knew" what she wanted to. Democracy had been a failure in the 20th Century, and Aurora had no doubts that it would also be a failure here in the 26th too!!! "I respect your courage, if not your intelligence," Aurora answered, setting down her goblet there on the counter. "You are a woman with `ideals' I can only admire even if you are a fool." **************************************************************** "We continue `on' to Dularn," I said to Valerie before then going below. Signals being sent to the other ships of my squad- ron. I had no doubts now as to "what" had happened to the North Star. "Make all sail reasonable with the weather." I saw her nod back, heard her give the orders as I then went below to my stern cabin, pausing to stare out the windows at the dark sea. I had to smile to myself at the "luck" that had allowed Maris to escape me. I hoped Valerie would not be too "hard" on the slave girl. It had been the sort of a "mistake" anyone could have made. I could not really "interfere" in such matters without having good reason to do since the ship was Valerie's command and while I was both her Queen and "admiral", she was still "captain" of the Corsica and the person who was "responsible" for seeing to it that the ship was fit for battle when such became "necessary". "Come in," I answered to a soft knock on the door, Yvette now preparing me for bed, helping me into my nightshift, the blankets tossed back, my slave girl's dark eyes looking into mine as Valerie then stepped into the cabin. Her hair a warm glow in the light of the lamp swinging from one of the low ceiling beams. "The slave girl who showed a light," she said to me, her eyes on Yvette, "I wish to know what you wish me to do with her." "She is yours to `discipline' as you see fit," I answered. "Do you wish her life?" Valerie asked, her eyes not meeting mine. I suspected that she believed I would have the girl killed for her foolish act. Valerie no doubt was hoping to "persuade" me otherwise. I glanced at Yvette, smiled, and then told Valerie the "punishment" I planned to inflict on the luckless slave girl! ***************************************************************** "Lie across my lap," I said to the girl, sitting there on the stool there on the Corsica's quarterdeck before everyone. I saw the girl's lip quiver, saw the fear showing there in her eyes as she obeyed me. Valerie taking her wrists, the first officer her ankles. I expect he enjoyed the "view" he had of the wench! I raised the short skirt, the sun warm on my cheek as it stood above the distant shore, a few wispy clouds in the sky like mist. The ship rolling gently in swell, hove to. The drummer at my order tapping out a regular steady beat. A gasp from the girl followed the sound of my blow across those two rounded mounds. I have hard muscular hands, rather "unfeminine" hands I suppose. I am not a "feminine" woman. The hilt of a sword had hardened the palm of my right hand to a noticeable degree. It was that hand the luckless slave girl felt. Felt a total of two dozen times!!! "You are lucky," I said to the girl as she knelt before me, her eyes moist with tears. She had not cried out, or begged for mercy. "Another would have tied a shot to your feet and tossed you over the side." She nodded, understanding her Queen's mercy! 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirteen "Quiet," Valerie said to me in a low voice, staring like me out into the darkness of the night. The men now gathered on deck, weapons at hand as we laid in wait for the enemy to appear. From time to time one could hear soft sounds and sense stirrings. They were well trained, the men and women of the Corsica. Their captain took pride in her command, in her ship. It "showed" too! "Maris will not `surrender'," I spoke, Valerie only a dark shadow there beside me. Like me she wore the black of the Warri- oress. Tunic and hose, the common attire of the fighting woman. A sword at her hip, a long slim fighting dagger in its sheath. I recalled others who had stood at me side. Others who I had later seen slid over the side of a ship with a shot at their feet to speed them to their final destination at the bottom of the sea. "Perhaps it is for the best," Valerie answered me back. ***************************************************************** Suddenly Maris saw a soft glow for an instant there ahead of the North Star, the glow suddenly then winking out, the young Queen having little doubt of what she had seen! A cold shudder going through her as she quickly snapped orders in a low voice to the man at the helm, the stars swinging in the sky as the North Star came about! "Close!" Maris breathed, well aware of what had laid ahead. For a brief moment she saw a tall stern featured brunette standing there on the deck before her, saw the woman's eyes now burn into hers even although it was totally pitch dark! ***************************************************************** "Mistress," I heard Yvette speak softly as she came up on deck with another. The other girl one of those who served aboard the Corsica as a "ship's girl". A collared wench, short skirted. Her legs a pale shadow like her face there in the darkness of the star-lit night. Valerie only a darker shadow standing beside me. "Something wrong?" Valerie then asked from beside me. It was not the time for any slave girls to be up deck. Not now. We had given orders that the collared wenches, including my Yvette, were supposed to obey! I wondered if the Corsica had suddenly sprung a leak and was sinking beneath us! I rather doubted it!!! "I,..I," the other girl spoke in a soft and obviously terri- fied voice, no doubt fearing what Valerie and I might do to her! "She showed a light in the stern cabin," Yvette spoke then. There was no need to "explain" further. At sea even a candle's glow can be seen for miles at night. And if Maris had seen it? "Our stern was pointing south only a minute ago," Valerie pointed out. And I could trust the Dularnians to be "alert" giv- en the situation! And Maris was, if nothing more, "competent"! "Are you aware of `what' you have done?" I challenged the terrified slave girl. The wench going to her knees, putting her head down, making a small ball of her body there before me. She doubtlessly knew as a rightless slave that I would have been com- pletely justified in such a case in actually ordering her death! "I did not think!" she wept there on the deck before me. I had no doubts that she spoke the truth. It did, however, not in the least alter the fact that she had no doubt "cost" us Maris! "Your punishment is for your captain to decide," I spoke. ***************************************************************** "We will sail to the south for the night, then swing north again," Maris spoke, her first officer nodding there in the dark- ness of the night. Hers had been the only eyes to see the light. "It would be `safer' if we put more `distance' between us and their Warlady," the man smiled back. He had no wish to con- front a force such as what the Imperial's Warlady now possessed! "`Safety' is not something found aboard this ship," Maris smiled back, her azure eyes glowing into his as he nodded in re- ply. He thought it might be time to seek a bit of "comfort" in the arms of a slave girl, and try to "forget" about his Queen if only for an hour or so. Maris was obviously determined to die in battle rather than to return to Dularn "defeated" by the Warlady! "You have responsibilities to your people," he replied then. "I am fulfilling them," Maris snapped back at him in reply! "I am trying to give you a `second chance'," Aurora had an- swered only a week before. "I suggest that you sit down with my daughter and negotiate a peace settlement of some sort that both of you two can `live with'." The silvery disc had come floating down from a clear blue sky as the North Star sailed out of sight of land. Maris had no doubt that the Leaderess had used the awe- some instruments on Deimos to find her ship here on the open sea. "The matter is out of my hands now," Maris replied in turn, aware that Darlanis had refused to allow the people living in the "disputed territories" the opportunity to "vote" upon the issue. "I am fighting for `ideals' even older than my civilization," the young beautiful blonde haired Queen of Dularn had answered back. "`Truth, Justice, the American Way'?" Aurora smiled back. A smile curving her near perfect lips as she sat there before Maris now. Aurora recalling with a smile some of her own speeches now. The "Revolution" there on Mars still fresh in everyone's memory. They had "won", but then the Priestesses had come and taken "con- trol" almost like if they had been but children playing a "game". "For a people to live in `freedom'," Maris answered. "To chose the government they wish. To an `end' of Empires like your daughter's based on rule by the sword." Aurora nodded back, her jade eyes glowing into Maris' green above the rim of the goblet the young Queen had given her as they sat in the stern cabin, the ship gently rolling in the swell, the sunbeams moving back and forth on the carpeting that covered the deck planking beneath it. "You wish to go back to an `era' before Janet Rogers?" Auro- ra smiled back. "Back to their delusions of `self-government'?" It had been the near social collapse of that era that had allowed Janet Rogers to be as "successful" as she had been. Man had been "ready" then for a "New Order". And Janet had supplied it too! Aurora perhaps "knew" as much about that era as anyone alive now! About Janet's use of "S-E-X" as a means of "social pacification". "I want what once was for all of Mankind," Maris answered. "A social order where every man and woman had a `say' in things." Aurora wondered privately to herself just then if Maris really "knew" what things had been like back then. She suspected not. Maris, like a lot of "idealists", only "knew" what she wanted to. Democracy had been a failure in the 20th Century, and Aurora had no doubts that it would also be a failure here in the 26th too!!! "I respect your courage, if not your intelligence," Aurora answered, setting down her goblet there on the counter. "You are a woman with `ideals' I can only admire even if you are a fool." **************************************************************** "We continue `on' to Dularn," I said to Valerie before then going below. Signals being sent to the other ships of my squad- ron. I had no doubts now as to "what" had happened to the North Star. "Make all sail reasonable with the weather." I saw her nod back, heard her give the orders as I then went below to my stern cabin, pausing to stare out the windows at the dark sea. I had to smile to myself at the "luck" that had allowed Maris to escape me. I hoped Valerie would not be too "hard" on the slave girl. It had been the sort of a "mistake" anyone could have made. I could not really "interfere" in such matters without having good reason to do since the ship was Valerie's command and while I was both her Queen and "admiral", she was still "captain" of the Corsica and the person who was "responsible" for seeing to it that the ship was fit for battle when such became "necessary". "Come in," I answered to a soft knock on the door, Yvette now preparing me for bed, helping me into my nightshift, the blankets tossed back, my slave girl's dark eyes looking into mine as Valerie then stepped into the cabin. Her hair a warm glow in the light of the lamp swinging from one of the low ceiling beams. "The slave girl who showed a light," she said to me, her eyes on Yvette, "I wish to know what you wish me to do with her." "She is yours to `discipline' as you see fit," I answered. "Do you wish her life?" Valerie asked, her eyes not meeting mine. I suspected that she believed I would have the girl killed for her foolish act. Valerie no doubt was hoping to "persuade" me otherwise. I glanced at Yvette, smiled, and then told Valerie the "punishment" I planned to inflict on the luckless slave girl! ***************************************************************** "Lie across my lap," I said to the girl, sitting there on the stool there on the Corsica's quarterdeck before everyone. I saw the girl's lip quiver, saw the fear showing there in her eyes as she obeyed me. Valerie taking her wrists, the first officer her ankles. I expect he enjoyed the "view" he had of the wench! I raised the short skirt, the sun warm on my cheek as it stood above the distant shore, a few wispy clouds in the sky like mist. The ship rolling gently in swell, hove to. The drummer at my order tapping out a regular steady beat. A gasp from the girl followed the sound of my blow across those two rounded mounds. I have hard muscular hands, rather "unfeminine" hands I suppose. I am not a "feminine" woman. The hilt of a sword had hardened the palm of my right hand to a noticeable degree. It was that hand the luckless slave girl felt. Felt a total of two dozen times!!! "You are lucky," I said to the girl as she knelt before me, her eyes moist with tears. She had not cried out, or begged for mercy. "Another would have tied a shot to your feet and tossed you over the side." She nodded, understanding her Queen's mercy! |
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