"2566-23" - 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 Twenty Three "Darlanis arrived last night, and has left this morning," I said to Maris as I handed her the declaration of "defense" that the Imperial Senate and Assembly had voted. Holding back for the moment the letter that Darlanis had written declaring that she would never agree to giving up one inch of Californian territory! "I feel you do not `agree' with all this," she said to me. "Darlanis believes that she is `another Lincoln'," I said. "And do you `agree' with her?" Maris suddenly challenged me. "We need to rise above our own history," I said to her then. "I wish you were Empress of California," Maris said to me. I fear that for an instant I stood there utterly "dumbfounded"!!! "I feel in a way you understand us far more than Darlanis does." "I think `others' want war between Dularn and California," I said after a brief moment's hesitation for thought. War can be extremely "profitable" for certain people. One thinks of the "armament industries" of my own era. Such exist in this era too. I had made the suggestion to Darlanis that I "deal" with Maris. Fortunately Darlanis had been thankfully quite "agreeable" to my suggestion. "Peace" had been almost in my grasp before all this! "I think someone wants to see Dularn's culture destroyed," the young Queen answered, walking to the stern windows, staring out. "We do represent a political philosophy that Janet Rogers was strongly opposed to." I nodded, well aware of such things. I suspected that "they" didn't much like my own ideals either! "That would `explain' certain incidents I've never been able to `explain' satisfactorily before," I mused, deep in thought. I recalled the crossbowman who "someone" had hired to kill me. I'd always "blamed" Princess Tara for that, but was she guilty of it? The woman who had "hired" the man had been veiled to the point that nothing could be seen of her face, and she had worn gloves. Could she had been one of the Priestesses of Lys? Did they feel that I was a "danger" to them with my own knowledge of hypnosis? "This gives me no `choice' but to fight," Maris said to me. "I have suggested putting it to a vote of the people living in the area, but Darlanis wouldn't hear anything of it," I said. "That's all that I'm now asking for," Maris answered back. "I fear that neither of us has any choice now," I replied. "We can at least keep the Caste Codes," she said to me then. "They are of `some value', I believe," I smiled back at her. "And worth `keeping' despite what happens," Maris answered. "I'm glad someone knocked some `sense' into Darlanis," Ja- nice said to me as I stepped back aboard the Huntress. The North Star now filling its sails, tacking out further to sea. I had warned Maris to keep well clear of my squadron, as I had no wish to see her die just because "they" wished to have war between us! "When the deck is littered with our own dead, then tell me if you think war is so `wonderful' then," I snapped back at her! ***************************************************************** "We are being followed by a cloaked space craft," the woman told An'na as she nodded. Darlanis standing at her daughter's side, the golden mesh of her attire giving her a "barbaric" look. "A `what'?" Darlanis breathed, looking down at her daughter. "The Priestesses of Lys have space craft," An'na spoke. The "power source" of such craft was now thought to be "anti-matter". The craft had been detected by the Lorr for centuries, but as their performance far exceeded that of any Lorr ship, there had been nothing that the Lorr could "do" about the matter either! A concerted effort by the Women had been put forth to match their awesome technology. Aurora obviously was not going to allow the Priestesses of Lys to have the "final say" if there was anything she could do about it, her lovely daughter thought with concern! "It is a `dangerous game' that Aurora plays," Darlanis said. "I fear so," An'na replied, looking up at her lovely mother. "Mankind once `played' such a `game'," Darlanis smiled back. "They `underestimated' the Lorr," An'na now smiled in reply. "As Aurora now `underestimates' the Priestesses," Darlanis answered back. She had no doubt that Aurora possessed the equip- ment that could produce hypnosis, but few of the Women possessed even the most rudimentary of mental powers like the Priestesses! "Grandmother is a `proud' woman," An'na observed. Darlanis nodded. She feared for the "worst" should Aurora ever attempt to "confront" the Priestesses of Lys, who had only a couple months before demonstrated their power in a way that none could mistake! "Where is Aurora now?" Darlanis asked, thinking that it was perhaps "time" that she had a long serious talk with her mother. "On Mars with Raspa," An'na answered, looking at the view- screen. The sky now that deep azure of some fifty thousand feet. "Send me to Mars with your `Portal'," Darlanis spoke in lev- el tones that left no doubts as to her "determination". An'na nodding, giving orders to one of the Starfire's crew, it being necessary to first put Darlanis through "decompression" so that she would not suffer the "bends" due to Mars much lower atmos- pheric pressure, that of Mars being only a tenth of the Earth's. "And to what due I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Aurora smiled as she took Darlanis' hands in hers, this being the first time that Darlanis had ever "visited" the Red Planet! Its lower air pressure, lighter gravity leaving no doubt that the beautiful Empress of California was now a very long ways from her own home! ***************************************************************** "You are not yourself this morning," Captain Janice Hill of the Huntress said to me as the ship took the waves, the sails drawing well as we raced towards the north. Towards the Isle of Sandor where we would then meet up with the rest of my squadron. "I thought I `knew' Darlanis," I smiled back, staring out to sea. I had originally "feared" that Darlanis would "give" Maris whatever she asked for, but then instead Darlanis had refused to even negotiate with Maris, saying that what belonged to Califor- nia would remain California's. And I wondered what her mother's role was in all this? I had much to ponder over that morning.* * I believed at this time that Aurora had "advised" Darlanis. "We have the `old' Darlanis back," Janice smiled at me. "At least the one we are all `familiar' with," I smiled. ***************************************************************** Captain Mark Berson of the Squala watched Sela Dai as she walked among the busily working crew of the Squala, seeing that the ship was kept up to the "standards" that I required of it. A smile curving his handsome lips as he recalled what this other- wise "prim and proper" Crown Princess of Talon had been like the night before. Her hot squirmy body an utter delight beneath one! And the way that she used her tongue left no doubt that she was a true delight among women! Mark standing there on the quarterdeck admiring that delightful little 5'2" 34-22-34 figure that her own clothing so delightfully displayed as it clung to her sexy body!! "Deck there," the lookout called down. "Signals from Arrow!" Arrow being the companion ship to Huntress that was now in the lead of the other ships as they sailed north beyond the northern border of Orgon. Past the territories that now belonged to their Empire of California after the last war with Dularn. The people of these lands still more Dularnian than Californian. "What do you read?" Mark called up, Sela now at his side. "Enemy in sight!" the man now called down with a cheer! "Squala and Corsica will engage," Sela Dai spoke softly. "You're not taking any chances, are you?" Mark smiled back as he barked the orders to set more sail. Sela's orders being relayed to the Corsica, who was sailing a few miles away from the Squala. Sela had no "doubts" about Valerie Dunn as a captain. "I don't intend to `lose' this one," Princess Sela smiled. "`Enemy' is a `North' class heavy schooner," the lookout called down to the deck there far below, Arrow having so signaled as she now fled back towards her heavier consorts. The enemy turning away as soon as they spotted the rest of the squadron! "Beat to quarters, Rig for battle!" Mark ordered, Squala now raising her battle flags. Corsica had already done so, he noted! ***************************************************************** "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that earlier this morning," I said to Janice as she stood there by the rail looking out to sea. It had certainly not been called for, I knew that. Janice was a true Warrioress, a professional fighting woman. Born and bred down the generations to be exactly what she was. I was not. "I was `out of hand'," she smiled back, touching my arm. I smiled, nodded. There were others watching us. Any display of affection just then would not be proper under the circumstances. "I think Darlanis knows what she is doing," I smiled back. Allowing everyone to "vote" on which country to which they wished to belong could eventually be "disastrous" to someone like Darla- nis. Even a country like Trelandar is not really too "stable". We could end up with a whole lot of little "city-states" that would be "easy pickings" for the first conqueror who came along! That had been the "nature of things" in western north America a couple centuries ago before a King of Sarn, then a "city-state", had started "unifying" the area under his own rule. Only Dularn to the north having been a land united under one ruler back then! "She is the best Empress we've ever had," Janice said to me. As Darlanis was the "first", there was no real "standard of com- parison" here, although I do think Janice was referring to other rulers through out history in which case Darlanis was doubtlessly the "best" that anyone had ever had since the original Janet Rog- ers. There even being some in Trelandar who considered Darlanis a "better" ruler than me, the Empress being extremely "popular"! "The most beautiful anyway," I smiled back. Darlanis was. ***************************************************************** "Making a `run' for it," Mark smiled, lowering his tele- scope. Looking down into those lovely dark eyes there beside him as Sela nodded. Corsica charging along perhaps a mile away now. "It won't do them any good," Sela smiled back. The big three masters were a hair "faster" than a "North" class Dularnian war schooner. And one such ship had no chance against them both! "Valerie's `sharp'," Mark smiled, the Corsica even seeming to draw up a bit, it being obvious that she had been "studying". He glanced up at the sails, tried to remember what Lorraine had said about such things. How one used "the angle of forces" to best advantage. The forces of wind and wave against the ship. "Loosen your jib, tighten your spanker," Sela smiled. ***************************************************************** Raspa quietly regarded Darlanis from compound eyes, her an- tennae gently waving as those of the Lorr do when they are alert. A tall beautiful blonde clad in brief golden mesh striding back and forth as she spoke, speaking now of another time, another world who had once thought to "confront" an "alien civilization". "Man made the same `mistake' you are making, mother," Darla- nis spoke. Aurora's jade green eyes burning up into her child's. "You believe that because a few of you can do little `tricks'," Darlanis added, turning, looking at Aurora and then at Raspa, "That somehow you'll be able to `match' the Priestesses of Lys." "There are `ways' of `shielding' our ships from such things," Raspa spoke in a flat toneless voice from the speaker mounted between her antennae. "We are not quite as technologi- cally backward as was Mankind when you race made war upon ours." "The Priestesses have done nothing but to forbid you inter- stellar space flight," Darlanis answered, "And judging from both our own history and yours, one can hardly `blame them', can we?" 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Three "Darlanis arrived last night, and has left this morning," I said to Maris as I handed her the declaration of "defense" that the Imperial Senate and Assembly had voted. Holding back for the moment the letter that Darlanis had written declaring that she would never agree to giving up one inch of Californian territory! "I feel you do not `agree' with all this," she said to me. "Darlanis believes that she is `another Lincoln'," I said. "And do you `agree' with her?" Maris suddenly challenged me. "We need to rise above our own history," I said to her then. "I wish you were Empress of California," Maris said to me. I fear that for an instant I stood there utterly "dumbfounded"!!! "I feel in a way you understand us far more than Darlanis does." "I think `others' want war between Dularn and California," I said after a brief moment's hesitation for thought. War can be extremely "profitable" for certain people. One thinks of the "armament industries" of my own era. Such exist in this era too. I had made the suggestion to Darlanis that I "deal" with Maris. Fortunately Darlanis had been thankfully quite "agreeable" to my suggestion. "Peace" had been almost in my grasp before all this! "I think someone wants to see Dularn's culture destroyed," the young Queen answered, walking to the stern windows, staring out. "We do represent a political philosophy that Janet Rogers was strongly opposed to." I nodded, well aware of such things. I suspected that "they" didn't much like my own ideals either! "That would `explain' certain incidents I've never been able to `explain' satisfactorily before," I mused, deep in thought. I recalled the crossbowman who "someone" had hired to kill me. I'd always "blamed" Princess Tara for that, but was she guilty of it? The woman who had "hired" the man had been veiled to the point that nothing could be seen of her face, and she had worn gloves. Could she had been one of the Priestesses of Lys? Did they feel that I was a "danger" to them with my own knowledge of hypnosis? "This gives me no `choice' but to fight," Maris said to me. "I have suggested putting it to a vote of the people living in the area, but Darlanis wouldn't hear anything of it," I said. "That's all that I'm now asking for," Maris answered back. "I fear that neither of us has any choice now," I replied. "We can at least keep the Caste Codes," she said to me then. "They are of `some value', I believe," I smiled back at her. "And worth `keeping' despite what happens," Maris answered. "I'm glad someone knocked some `sense' into Darlanis," Ja- nice said to me as I stepped back aboard the Huntress. The North Star now filling its sails, tacking out further to sea. I had warned Maris to keep well clear of my squadron, as I had no wish to see her die just because "they" wished to have war between us! "When the deck is littered with our own dead, then tell me if you think war is so `wonderful' then," I snapped back at her! ***************************************************************** "We are being followed by a cloaked space craft," the woman told An'na as she nodded. Darlanis standing at her daughter's side, the golden mesh of her attire giving her a "barbaric" look. "A `what'?" Darlanis breathed, looking down at her daughter. "The Priestesses of Lys have space craft," An'na spoke. The "power source" of such craft was now thought to be "anti-matter". The craft had been detected by the Lorr for centuries, but as their performance far exceeded that of any Lorr ship, there had been nothing that the Lorr could "do" about the matter either! A concerted effort by the Women had been put forth to match their awesome technology. Aurora obviously was not going to allow the Priestesses of Lys to have the "final say" if there was anything she could do about it, her lovely daughter thought with concern! "It is a `dangerous game' that Aurora plays," Darlanis said. "I fear so," An'na replied, looking up at her lovely mother. "Mankind once `played' such a `game'," Darlanis smiled back. "They `underestimated' the Lorr," An'na now smiled in reply. "As Aurora now `underestimates' the Priestesses," Darlanis answered back. She had no doubt that Aurora possessed the equip- ment that could produce hypnosis, but few of the Women possessed even the most rudimentary of mental powers like the Priestesses! "Grandmother is a `proud' woman," An'na observed. Darlanis nodded. She feared for the "worst" should Aurora ever attempt to "confront" the Priestesses of Lys, who had only a couple months before demonstrated their power in a way that none could mistake! "Where is Aurora now?" Darlanis asked, thinking that it was perhaps "time" that she had a long serious talk with her mother. "On Mars with Raspa," An'na answered, looking at the view- screen. The sky now that deep azure of some fifty thousand feet. "Send me to Mars with your `Portal'," Darlanis spoke in lev- el tones that left no doubts as to her "determination". An'na nodding, giving orders to one of the Starfire's crew, it being necessary to first put Darlanis through "decompression" so that she would not suffer the "bends" due to Mars much lower atmos- pheric pressure, that of Mars being only a tenth of the Earth's. "And to what due I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Aurora smiled as she took Darlanis' hands in hers, this being the first time that Darlanis had ever "visited" the Red Planet! Its lower air pressure, lighter gravity leaving no doubt that the beautiful Empress of California was now a very long ways from her own home! ***************************************************************** "You are not yourself this morning," Captain Janice Hill of the Huntress said to me as the ship took the waves, the sails drawing well as we raced towards the north. Towards the Isle of Sandor where we would then meet up with the rest of my squadron. "I thought I `knew' Darlanis," I smiled back, staring out to sea. I had originally "feared" that Darlanis would "give" Maris whatever she asked for, but then instead Darlanis had refused to even negotiate with Maris, saying that what belonged to Califor- nia would remain California's. And I wondered what her mother's role was in all this? I had much to ponder over that morning.* * I believed at this time that Aurora had "advised" Darlanis. "We have the `old' Darlanis back," Janice smiled at me. "At least the one we are all `familiar' with," I smiled. ***************************************************************** Captain Mark Berson of the Squala watched Sela Dai as she walked among the busily working crew of the Squala, seeing that the ship was kept up to the "standards" that I required of it. A smile curving his handsome lips as he recalled what this other- wise "prim and proper" Crown Princess of Talon had been like the night before. Her hot squirmy body an utter delight beneath one! And the way that she used her tongue left no doubt that she was a true delight among women! Mark standing there on the quarterdeck admiring that delightful little 5'2" 34-22-34 figure that her own clothing so delightfully displayed as it clung to her sexy body!! "Deck there," the lookout called down. "Signals from Arrow!" Arrow being the companion ship to Huntress that was now in the lead of the other ships as they sailed north beyond the northern border of Orgon. Past the territories that now belonged to their Empire of California after the last war with Dularn. The people of these lands still more Dularnian than Californian. "What do you read?" Mark called up, Sela now at his side. "Enemy in sight!" the man now called down with a cheer! "Squala and Corsica will engage," Sela Dai spoke softly. "You're not taking any chances, are you?" Mark smiled back as he barked the orders to set more sail. Sela's orders being relayed to the Corsica, who was sailing a few miles away from the Squala. Sela had no "doubts" about Valerie Dunn as a captain. "I don't intend to `lose' this one," Princess Sela smiled. "`Enemy' is a `North' class heavy schooner," the lookout called down to the deck there far below, Arrow having so signaled as she now fled back towards her heavier consorts. The enemy turning away as soon as they spotted the rest of the squadron! "Beat to quarters, Rig for battle!" Mark ordered, Squala now raising her battle flags. Corsica had already done so, he noted! ***************************************************************** "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that earlier this morning," I said to Janice as she stood there by the rail looking out to sea. It had certainly not been called for, I knew that. Janice was a true Warrioress, a professional fighting woman. Born and bred down the generations to be exactly what she was. I was not. "I was `out of hand'," she smiled back, touching my arm. I smiled, nodded. There were others watching us. Any display of affection just then would not be proper under the circumstances. "I think Darlanis knows what she is doing," I smiled back. Allowing everyone to "vote" on which country to which they wished to belong could eventually be "disastrous" to someone like Darla- nis. Even a country like Trelandar is not really too "stable". We could end up with a whole lot of little "city-states" that would be "easy pickings" for the first conqueror who came along! That had been the "nature of things" in western north America a couple centuries ago before a King of Sarn, then a "city-state", had started "unifying" the area under his own rule. Only Dularn to the north having been a land united under one ruler back then! "She is the best Empress we've ever had," Janice said to me. As Darlanis was the "first", there was no real "standard of com- parison" here, although I do think Janice was referring to other rulers through out history in which case Darlanis was doubtlessly the "best" that anyone had ever had since the original Janet Rog- ers. There even being some in Trelandar who considered Darlanis a "better" ruler than me, the Empress being extremely "popular"! "The most beautiful anyway," I smiled back. Darlanis was. ***************************************************************** "Making a `run' for it," Mark smiled, lowering his tele- scope. Looking down into those lovely dark eyes there beside him as Sela nodded. Corsica charging along perhaps a mile away now. "It won't do them any good," Sela smiled back. The big three masters were a hair "faster" than a "North" class Dularnian war schooner. And one such ship had no chance against them both! "Valerie's `sharp'," Mark smiled, the Corsica even seeming to draw up a bit, it being obvious that she had been "studying". He glanced up at the sails, tried to remember what Lorraine had said about such things. How one used "the angle of forces" to best advantage. The forces of wind and wave against the ship. "Loosen your jib, tighten your spanker," Sela smiled. ***************************************************************** Raspa quietly regarded Darlanis from compound eyes, her an- tennae gently waving as those of the Lorr do when they are alert. A tall beautiful blonde clad in brief golden mesh striding back and forth as she spoke, speaking now of another time, another world who had once thought to "confront" an "alien civilization". "Man made the same `mistake' you are making, mother," Darla- nis spoke. Aurora's jade green eyes burning up into her child's. "You believe that because a few of you can do little `tricks'," Darlanis added, turning, looking at Aurora and then at Raspa, "That somehow you'll be able to `match' the Priestesses of Lys." "There are `ways' of `shielding' our ships from such things," Raspa spoke in a flat toneless voice from the speaker mounted between her antennae. "We are not quite as technologi- cally backward as was Mankind when you race made war upon ours." "The Priestesses have done nothing but to forbid you inter- stellar space flight," Darlanis answered, "And judging from both our own history and yours, one can hardly `blame them', can we?" |
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