"2566-18" - 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 Eighteen Maris stared out over the dark sea, the stars bright in the black vault of the sky above. She was cautious to keep a good lookout for Imperial warships, especially those of Lorraine's. A large bruise there on the side of her head still yet "tender" to the touch reminding her of how close she had come to dying then! Maris' mother had died when she was but a child, the forests of Dularn harboring many dangerous beasts such as dire wolves, one of which had killed her mother shortly after she'd given birth to her younger sister Gayle. While her father had remar- ried, their stepmother had never really been the "mother" to the two girls that their own mother would have been, Maris had felt. There had been a "distance" there, especially between Maris and the woman, although Gayle had "accepted" her without too much difficulty, being much too young to remember her own true mother. Maris had grown up "hard", the sort of a girl who "expects" little from others, and who goes about with a "chip on her shoul- der" expecting trouble and often finding it too! Her relations with men were often stormy, perhaps because of her own problems that led her to seek "trouble" where none existed. She had ended up a slave girl in California, where for the second time she'd known love, but in the arms of a man who was married to another, and she, Maris, now only just a slave! A mere collared wench who was actually the "property" of a lovely little Imperial girl! She had been "happy" as such, despite her low status, until Lady Lana was killed and she became the slave property of the new owner of the estates, yours truly, who had utterly terrified her! Maris believing from what she was told that I wished to "use" her as women sometimes "use" slave girls for their own sexual pleas- ures. The idea of being forced to perform "oral sex" on me ap- parently so terrifying this young Dularnian maiden that she imme- diately sought at great danger to herself to escape me or to ac- tually die in the attempt! Maris being willing to risk "all" in a small boat sailing to Dularn to an "easy" and no doubt comfort- able life upon my estates as a "pampered pet" of little Mara's! "So `where' did Maris get this `idea'?" you ask here. I do have my suspicions, considering what happened afterwards. You do recall here of course that Maris' "lover" was married, and that his wife was very much "aware" of the fact that he was "sporting" with Maris every chance that he got. And Sanda Talen certainly had it "in" for Maris, whom she apparently hated with a passion!! Maris and I once had a long talk about all this, although I fear we will never be "friends" of any sort, Maris and I looking upon things quite differently, but I do understand more now than I did before, including Sanda Talen's own "role" in all this too! Sanda having used another slave girl to "torment" lovely Maris!!! At the moment however her thoughts were not upon me, but upon another, one tall and golden, who had been much "different" than she had first believed from what she'd always heard of her! One with whom she had "shared" so much there last fall in Dularn as the Queen of Dularn laid dying, and subject to wild delusions. "Why are you my `friend'?" Maris mused, looking out over the sea. "And are you truly my `friend'?" the Queen of Dularn mused, recalling all the attempts Darlanis had made to prevent this war. She did not think that Darlanis would "turn the other cheek" any more. Especially not if Lorraine had been killed in the battle!! ***************************************************************** "Darlanis isn't the `same' any more as she used to be," Ja- nice said to me as we shared wine and cheese there in the stern cabin of the Huntress. We had spoken much of things, perhaps be- cause we both had much "bothering" us. Janice's "doubts" at be- ing able to command the ship under fire without me at her side, and my own conflict with Darlanis over the conduct of this war! "I suspect that others have given her `bad advice'," I said, breaking off a chunk of the cheese we were both "working" on. I suspected that Aurora had expressed her "opinions" to Darlanis. Darlanis tended in my opinion to listen "too much" to Aurora now. "I think Darlanis is `weak'," Janice replied, nibbling at the cheese. "She listens `too much' to the `advice' of others." "Her `problems' relate back to her childhood," I answered. "She is a woman with `doubts' about herself," Janice smiled. "We are making good time," I smiled, changing the subject. The winds had been "favorable" since we'd left Sarn, and Janice had put the crew to work getting all the speed out of the Hunt- ress that the ship was capable of. Such was also of course good training for the twenty odd "new hands" that we'd taken aboard. "I wonder what happened to the North Star?" I mused, giving Janice a smile. We had, I hoped, seen the "last" of Queen Maris! With Maris dead and Princess Tara safely in the hands of the Nevadas, I didn't think we had that much to worry about anymore! Darl Jord had never impressed me as being very competent at much. "If they're heading back home we might meet up with them," Janice smiled. I suspected that the war with Dularn was over. "Ship straight ahead!" the lookout called down to us. I wondered if it was some "laggard" from the squadron, although it would have to a long ways behind to be that close to us now! On the other hand it could just be the North Star going back home! "Friend or Foe?" Janice called up, although there was no way of really telling from this far away as yet, I mused to myself. "She's Dularnian!" the man called down after a long look through his telescope. Janice used the big 16x50's as look-out telescopes, which did allow one to identify ships further away. I had a big 24x75 mounted on a tripod there on the Squala, al- though the optics weren't that good, the telescopes of the 26th Century leaving a bit to be desired when it came to such things due to the lack of the proper glass to manufacture objectives. I can actually "see more" with my own Martian 10x60's than with it! "The North Star?" Janice spoke, glancing at me. I nodded. "We'll meet under a flag of truce," I answered her back. "Still flying the flag of the Queen of Dularn," Janice said, the ship obviously being the North Star as it came up into the wind. I could see here and there the marks of hasty repairs, the ship having taken a good pounding from our own weapons. We prob- ably looked better, having spent a couple days in Sarn refitting. "And we didn't kill Maris," I smiled, the beautiful young Queen now getting down into a boat, it obviously being her inten- tion to come to us as we came up into the wind at long bow shot. Janice nodding, her face expressionless as she saw the blonde. "I see you didn't manage to `dodge' all our missiles," Maris smiled as she saw the cane that I used to "ease" my injured leg. I tried not to have to use it any more than what was necessary. "You are a more `capable' commander than I gave you `credit' for," I smiled back. Maris had given me a good fight once she had understood my own fighting style. She was a very capable woman, I suspected, one who I had perhaps underestimated earlier. "And you are as `good' as the tales they tell of you," Maris smiled back. Neither of us actually liked the other, but as we did "share" the same caste, we did have certain things in common. "And this is Janice Hill, my captain," I said to Maris, in- troducing the two women. Janice hesitating for just an instant before taking the hand of the Queen of Dularn. I knew how Janice felt about Maris, but this was not the time to show such emotion. "You are a very `able' captain," Maris said to her with a smile. I was once again struck by resemblance of Maris to Darla- nis. She does look an awful lot like a "daughter" of Darlanis. More so than does An'na or Sharon for that matter, I might add.* * I suspect too that Maris' appearance has had its influence on Darlanis. Maris is just "young" enough, and Darlanis "old" enough that they could have been actually "mother and daughter". "I fear I would not have done as well as Lorraine did," Ja- nice smiled back, giving me a smile. I don't think that Maris really had any doubts as to "who" had been commanding the ship. Two "living legends" had come together in "battle". We had both "proved" little except to prove that we were both good fighters. "You were `lucky' that I picked this ship, not another," I smiled to Maris. With Corsica there would have been no "doubts". It would have been a "bloody" battle doubtlessly, but the outcome would have never been in "doubt". Not as long as I was in con- trol of things. Maris would have ended up either dead or kneel- ing at my feet, a stripped slave. I suspected that she knew it! "Our losses were `heavy'," Janice spoke, changing the sub- ject as Maris and I faced each other there on the Huntress' deck. "The consequences of a war that shouldn't have happened," a beautiful young Dularnian Queen smiled back, glancing at me then. I wondered why Maris spoke with such "oiled" words. The war was after all one that she had "started" with her attacks on Califor- nian shipping. While it was true that she had been "provoked" by Princess Tara, both Darlanis and I had pointed that out to her! "I find myself in `agreement' with you," I smiled back. "You `do'!" Maris gasped softly, perhaps not believing her ears. No doubt she thought of me as a blood-thirsty "Warlady"! I have something of a "reputation" that way. Not all "deserved". "This is not a `war' any of us can `win'," I said to her. 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Eighteen Maris stared out over the dark sea, the stars bright in the black vault of the sky above. She was cautious to keep a good lookout for Imperial warships, especially those of Lorraine's. A large bruise there on the side of her head still yet "tender" to the touch reminding her of how close she had come to dying then! Maris' mother had died when she was but a child, the forests of Dularn harboring many dangerous beasts such as dire wolves, one of which had killed her mother shortly after she'd given birth to her younger sister Gayle. While her father had remar- ried, their stepmother had never really been the "mother" to the two girls that their own mother would have been, Maris had felt. There had been a "distance" there, especially between Maris and the woman, although Gayle had "accepted" her without too much difficulty, being much too young to remember her own true mother. Maris had grown up "hard", the sort of a girl who "expects" little from others, and who goes about with a "chip on her shoul- der" expecting trouble and often finding it too! Her relations with men were often stormy, perhaps because of her own problems that led her to seek "trouble" where none existed. She had ended up a slave girl in California, where for the second time she'd known love, but in the arms of a man who was married to another, and she, Maris, now only just a slave! A mere collared wench who was actually the "property" of a lovely little Imperial girl! She had been "happy" as such, despite her low status, until Lady Lana was killed and she became the slave property of the new owner of the estates, yours truly, who had utterly terrified her! Maris believing from what she was told that I wished to "use" her as women sometimes "use" slave girls for their own sexual pleas- ures. The idea of being forced to perform "oral sex" on me ap- parently so terrifying this young Dularnian maiden that she imme- diately sought at great danger to herself to escape me or to ac- tually die in the attempt! Maris being willing to risk "all" in a small boat sailing to Dularn to an "easy" and no doubt comfort- able life upon my estates as a "pampered pet" of little Mara's! "So `where' did Maris get this `idea'?" you ask here. I do have my suspicions, considering what happened afterwards. You do recall here of course that Maris' "lover" was married, and that his wife was very much "aware" of the fact that he was "sporting" with Maris every chance that he got. And Sanda Talen certainly had it "in" for Maris, whom she apparently hated with a passion!! Maris and I once had a long talk about all this, although I fear we will never be "friends" of any sort, Maris and I looking upon things quite differently, but I do understand more now than I did before, including Sanda Talen's own "role" in all this too! Sanda having used another slave girl to "torment" lovely Maris!!! At the moment however her thoughts were not upon me, but upon another, one tall and golden, who had been much "different" than she had first believed from what she'd always heard of her! One with whom she had "shared" so much there last fall in Dularn as the Queen of Dularn laid dying, and subject to wild delusions. "Why are you my `friend'?" Maris mused, looking out over the sea. "And are you truly my `friend'?" the Queen of Dularn mused, recalling all the attempts Darlanis had made to prevent this war. She did not think that Darlanis would "turn the other cheek" any more. Especially not if Lorraine had been killed in the battle!! ***************************************************************** "Darlanis isn't the `same' any more as she used to be," Ja- nice said to me as we shared wine and cheese there in the stern cabin of the Huntress. We had spoken much of things, perhaps be- cause we both had much "bothering" us. Janice's "doubts" at be- ing able to command the ship under fire without me at her side, and my own conflict with Darlanis over the conduct of this war! "I suspect that others have given her `bad advice'," I said, breaking off a chunk of the cheese we were both "working" on. I suspected that Aurora had expressed her "opinions" to Darlanis. Darlanis tended in my opinion to listen "too much" to Aurora now. "I think Darlanis is `weak'," Janice replied, nibbling at the cheese. "She listens `too much' to the `advice' of others." "Her `problems' relate back to her childhood," I answered. "She is a woman with `doubts' about herself," Janice smiled. "We are making good time," I smiled, changing the subject. The winds had been "favorable" since we'd left Sarn, and Janice had put the crew to work getting all the speed out of the Hunt- ress that the ship was capable of. Such was also of course good training for the twenty odd "new hands" that we'd taken aboard. "I wonder what happened to the North Star?" I mused, giving Janice a smile. We had, I hoped, seen the "last" of Queen Maris! With Maris dead and Princess Tara safely in the hands of the Nevadas, I didn't think we had that much to worry about anymore! Darl Jord had never impressed me as being very competent at much. "If they're heading back home we might meet up with them," Janice smiled. I suspected that the war with Dularn was over. "Ship straight ahead!" the lookout called down to us. I wondered if it was some "laggard" from the squadron, although it would have to a long ways behind to be that close to us now! On the other hand it could just be the North Star going back home! "Friend or Foe?" Janice called up, although there was no way of really telling from this far away as yet, I mused to myself. "She's Dularnian!" the man called down after a long look through his telescope. Janice used the big 16x50's as look-out telescopes, which did allow one to identify ships further away. I had a big 24x75 mounted on a tripod there on the Squala, al- though the optics weren't that good, the telescopes of the 26th Century leaving a bit to be desired when it came to such things due to the lack of the proper glass to manufacture objectives. I can actually "see more" with my own Martian 10x60's than with it! "The North Star?" Janice spoke, glancing at me. I nodded. "We'll meet under a flag of truce," I answered her back. "Still flying the flag of the Queen of Dularn," Janice said, the ship obviously being the North Star as it came up into the wind. I could see here and there the marks of hasty repairs, the ship having taken a good pounding from our own weapons. We prob- ably looked better, having spent a couple days in Sarn refitting. "And we didn't kill Maris," I smiled, the beautiful young Queen now getting down into a boat, it obviously being her inten- tion to come to us as we came up into the wind at long bow shot. Janice nodding, her face expressionless as she saw the blonde. "I see you didn't manage to `dodge' all our missiles," Maris smiled as she saw the cane that I used to "ease" my injured leg. I tried not to have to use it any more than what was necessary. "You are a more `capable' commander than I gave you `credit' for," I smiled back. Maris had given me a good fight once she had understood my own fighting style. She was a very capable woman, I suspected, one who I had perhaps underestimated earlier. "And you are as `good' as the tales they tell of you," Maris smiled back. Neither of us actually liked the other, but as we did "share" the same caste, we did have certain things in common. "And this is Janice Hill, my captain," I said to Maris, in- troducing the two women. Janice hesitating for just an instant before taking the hand of the Queen of Dularn. I knew how Janice felt about Maris, but this was not the time to show such emotion. "You are a very `able' captain," Maris said to her with a smile. I was once again struck by resemblance of Maris to Darla- nis. She does look an awful lot like a "daughter" of Darlanis. More so than does An'na or Sharon for that matter, I might add.* * I suspect too that Maris' appearance has had its influence on Darlanis. Maris is just "young" enough, and Darlanis "old" enough that they could have been actually "mother and daughter". "I fear I would not have done as well as Lorraine did," Ja- nice smiled back, giving me a smile. I don't think that Maris really had any doubts as to "who" had been commanding the ship. Two "living legends" had come together in "battle". We had both "proved" little except to prove that we were both good fighters. "You were `lucky' that I picked this ship, not another," I smiled to Maris. With Corsica there would have been no "doubts". It would have been a "bloody" battle doubtlessly, but the outcome would have never been in "doubt". Not as long as I was in con- trol of things. Maris would have ended up either dead or kneel- ing at my feet, a stripped slave. I suspected that she knew it! "Our losses were `heavy'," Janice spoke, changing the sub- ject as Maris and I faced each other there on the Huntress' deck. "The consequences of a war that shouldn't have happened," a beautiful young Dularnian Queen smiled back, glancing at me then. I wondered why Maris spoke with such "oiled" words. The war was after all one that she had "started" with her attacks on Califor- nian shipping. While it was true that she had been "provoked" by Princess Tara, both Darlanis and I had pointed that out to her! "I find myself in `agreement' with you," I smiled back. "You `do'!" Maris gasped softly, perhaps not believing her ears. No doubt she thought of me as a blood-thirsty "Warlady"! I have something of a "reputation" that way. Not all "deserved". "This is not a `war' any of us can `win'," I said to her. |
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