"2566-24" - 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 Four "This one is `ours'," Mark spoke, looking at the enemy schooner there through his telescope. Corsica a mass of sails as Valerie drove her ship as hard as the wind would bear. The Squa- la doing the same, the rest of the squadron now falling behind. "I don't `envy' them," Sela breathed, wondering how it would feel to be the captain of such a vessel and see your death sail- ing closer and closer. The vessel now hull up on the horizon. "I wouldn't want to be their captain," Mark smiled back. "What would you do?" Sela asked, touching his arm. "I think Lorraine would use fire," Mark answered. "I asked `what you would do'?" Sela smiled back. "I don't know," he answered, looking down at her. "They are changing course," the Princess observed. "There's no escape that way for them," Mark breathed. "Perhaps there is," Sela spoke, looking towards the land. ***************************************************************** Upon another world only a point of light in Earth's night sky a tall golden haired woman stood before two others. One a yet lovely blonde haired woman clad in silver, the other a horrid creature like some gigantic carpenter ant ten feet in length! A pair that between them now ruled a world millions of miles from Earth. One Aurora, the lovely Leaderess of the Women, the other Raspa, First Princess of the Lorr. And speaking in heated words to them both was Darlanis, Queen of Sarn, Empress of California! "Once Man believed as you, and He sought to `rid' himself of an `alien presence' by a hopefully `surprise attack'," Darlanis spoke. Raspa nodding her horrid head in agreement, her great compound eyes like multifaceted jewels seeming to almost "glow" into those of Darlanis! Her great mandibles, each tipped with a paralyzing sting, for a moment spread wide as she recalled the history of her race. Of the sudden swift attack by Mankind upon the Lorr by the alteration of a comet's orbit. And of the sudden realization that this golden haired "barbarian" from Earth spoke the TRUTH! That this woman, "uncivilized" as she might be, the sword at her side visual "proof" of her status as a "barbarian", still yet could teach them both the "consequences" of their acts! "Your daughter is `wiser' than either one of us," Raspa said to Aurora, who nodded back in agreement. Neither had perhaps ever thought what the ultimate "consequences" of their acts might be. But yet, this very "barbarian", this "uncivilized savage", this "Earthwoman" with a sword there on her hip had "understood" what the finest minds among both the Women and the Lorr had not. That this would be a war from which there would be no "winners"! ***************************************************************** "They're going to run aground!" Sela breathed, the Dularnian raider now only a mile or so from shore. Corsica perhaps only half a mile behind the enemy ship now, ready to make the "kill". Mark could see the men on her decks at their battle stations there in his telescope. Valerie Dunn there on the quarterdeck, her hair now glowing like a beacon there in the bright sunlight. "Signal Corsica to hold off," Mark barked to the signals midshipman. There was no doubt now what the captain of the Du- larnian raider planned to do. He wondered to himself if it would have been his choice too given the same circumstances under which the enemy captain found himself. The enemy ship now less than half a mile from shore, the Corsica holding back, but still ready to attack should the enemy suddenly decide to fight. Sela grasp- ing his arm as they watched the sudden puff of black smoke sud- denly rise from the enemy ship. It being obvious to the Princess that the enemy captain had ordered his ship set afire to insure that it would not fall into the hands of the dreaded Imperials! "Any minute now," Sela breathed, the enemy ship only a few hundred yards from shore now, trailing a haze of white smoke as a few flames shot from its stern, while smoke now wreathed the ship as it raced towards its own destruction there on the rocky shore! "There he goes!" Mark breathed, watching, seeing the ship swing about, one of the three masts falling, the flames now even visible without the aid of a telescope. Corsica turning away like a jilted lover, resetting her jib as she went about on the other tack. He could see the enemy's crew throwing themselves into the cold waters, leaping from the burning decks of their ship as the flames now bit deep into the painted wood, the tarred rigging, the canvas of the sails. The ship now dying there on the rocks, a cloud of smoke from its passing rising up into the azure of the sky like some grave marker marking its final end. A number of naked women among them fleeing off down the shoreline. "Send a boat in," Sela spoke. "We will pick them up." Mark nodded. They might have useful information that they could use. ***************************************************************** "I keep thinking that you were `right' and Darlanis is `wrong'," Janice said to me as we shared a late lunch together. I had suggested that the people living in the "disputed territo- ries" be allowed to "vote" as to which nation they would belong. Darlanis had pointed out that such would set a very "bad example" for the rest of the Empire. That it might even result in its own disintegration back into a group of warring little city-states! There are "parallels" in history to back up Darlanis' "theories". "I'm a `reluctant Warlady'," I smiled back. There is a tendency by some to believe that I "glory" in war, in seeing peo- ple die. That I actually take "pleasure" in such things. I fear the reality of the matter is that I do not. I am "good" with a sword. Perhaps as "good" as any woman who ever lived. I also do a good job of commanding armed forces in battle. Of guiding the crew and officers of a ship in a ship to ship battle on the seas. "You `licked' Maris and her North Star in battle," Janice smiled. I didn't think so. I think Maris would have "won", but at a very high price. One so "high" that there would have been hardly enough "hands" to sail her ship back to Dularn. And I do not think she would have been one of those to ever see it again! "I am a `crafty old bitch'," I smiled back, sipping at my wine. We still had plenty of fresh food yet, although the time would come when we'd have to start relying upon the salted stuff! "And the best Queen that Trelandar ever had," Janice smiled. "Sanda should be having her baby any day now," I commented, changing the subject, remembering the good times we'd both had. "An impressive woman, but no `Lorraine'," Janice answered. "I've been `lucky'," I smiled back. I considered it that. I remembered that Aurora had asked for one of my ovums to clone. "No one else could have done what you've did," she replied. "At the time I didn't consider I had any choice," I smiled. ***************************************************************** "One less," Valerie Dunn said as the captains of the squad- ron gathered there about the table in the Squala's stern cabin. The end of the Dularnian raider having "sobered" them all a bit. With them were several women, Californian women who had been cap- tured by the raider, and then freed from their chains when the captain had decided to destroy their ship. They had been taken off the rocky shore by a boat from Squala at Sela Dai's orders. "If your ships could patrol up and down our coasts?" one of the lovely former captives ventured, her attire ill fitting, but the "best" that could be done under the circumstances just then. "When one has a nest of wasps in your house, it is futile to kill the individual wasps, you have to get the nest," Lara smiled back, her blue eyes holding those of the lovely brownette as the other nodded in understanding. She was Sarnian, another Bajan. There were about a dozen such women. Others had been dragged into the forests with the fleeing crew of the Northland, there to share their fate. Some would doubtlessly make it up to Dularn. ***************************************************************** "Darlanis! You're Back!" Sharon exclaimed with delight, throwing herself into the welcoming arms of her beloved Empress! The strong muscular arms drawing her close against that magnifi- cent perfumed body. Against the beautiful golden mesh that ac- cented it like nothing else could have. Those lovely clear azure eyes glowing with love down into hers as she clung to her beloved foster mother. Darlanis being the sort of a woman with whom she could "share" everything any teen girl might. Her beloved "She- Ra"! The woman, Sharon felt, who might someday found a new world civilization. One that would be free of all the mistakes made by the old "democracies" of the past or the world dictatorship that had replaced them there in the first decade of the 21st Century. "`She-Ra' has had her own `duties' to perform," Darlanis now laughed, recalling her long conversations with her mother Aurora. With the First Princess of the Lorr, that horrid alien creature that looked like something out of a nightmare. Stroking her be- loved Princess' golden hair as she looked down into her eyes. Remembering all that had transpired there on Mars just that day. She suspected that she might have averted something that could have left only ten dead lifeless worlds circling their own star.* * The "tenth planet" was discovered in 2037 A.D. by a lunar based telescope there on Farside, the famous "thirty meter reflector". "I love you so much," Sharon breathed, looking up at her. In her high heeled boots Darlanis stood well over six feet tall. She was a woman that people looked up to. She tried to live up to their "expectations". To what Sharon yet "believed" of her. "You are becoming a `woman'," Darlanis smiled, holding the beautiful teenage Princess there at arms length. The "jut" of her breasts and buttocks beneath her royal blue silken tunic and matching silken hose leaving no doubts either about that "fact". She was five six, perhaps 36-24-36 or a bit more, one might note. Her beautiful golden hair now beneath a jaunty feathered cap, her azure eyes, well shaped face made her the sort of a "Princess" who never lacked for suitors among the sons of the Imperial no- bility. None of them however being able to yet "win" her heart. "You were `with' a man not long ago," Sharon teased, the swelling on Darlanis' lower lip where her beloved Nevada Prince had playfully bitten her during their love-making yet noticeable. "Serak `uses' me well," Darlanis laughed, hugging Sharon. It had been only a hour ago that she had laid hot and sweaty in his arms. The Starfire could travel swiftly when one wished it. After the nervous strain she'd been under on Mars, she had needed to be "held", to be "used" as a woman by her beloved "barbarian"! "You declared war against Dularn," Sharon spoke softly, the tone of voice leaving little doubt as to how she felt about it. Darlanis had expected Sharon would view it so, not understanding. "Against Dularnian aggression," Darlanis then smiled back. "You did what Lorraine `wanted'!" Sharon cried. The tone of her voice "accusing". Sharon had claimed that Maris didn't want another war with the Empire of California. Darlanis suspected it wasn't really all quite that "simple" from what I had told her of Maris' own demands for the "return" of the disputed territories. She also suspected that Sharon had been too "awed" by the Queen. "I did what `needed' to be done," Darlanis answered, nodding to the woman on guard there. Opening the door, stepping inside. "You listen too much to Lorraine," Sharon then accused her, closing the door behind herself. Recalling what Maris had said. "Lorraine suggested that the issue be put to a vote of the people living in the area," Darlanis smiled, settling herself. "Why didn't you do it!" Sharon breathed, wondering why! "You remember your American history?" Darlanis smiled. "Yes," Sharon answered, sitting down beside Darlanis. "The American Civil War," the Empress smiled back. "That was `different'," Sharon breathed in reply. "`History will be my judge'," Darlanis smiled. ***************************************************************** Hundreds of miles from the Imperial palace in Sarn First Priestess Tais greeted the slim brunette in her silvery attire as she stood there in the middle of the room like some "ghost". Only a "fool", and Tais was not one of those, would have allowed the Women and the Lorr to go "unchecked". The work of the Women in counteracting the "mind-technology" of the Priestesses was one good reason "why" it was wise to keep a close "eye" on matters! An observer would have hear nothing, for neither Tais or the woman there yet on Mars needed to speak aloud. With the linking of their minds one could communicate far swifter than with words! Tais smiling to herself as she heard the latest "news" from Mars! 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Four "This one is `ours'," Mark spoke, looking at the enemy schooner there through his telescope. Corsica a mass of sails as Valerie drove her ship as hard as the wind would bear. The Squa- la doing the same, the rest of the squadron now falling behind. "I don't `envy' them," Sela breathed, wondering how it would feel to be the captain of such a vessel and see your death sail- ing closer and closer. The vessel now hull up on the horizon. "I wouldn't want to be their captain," Mark smiled back. "What would you do?" Sela asked, touching his arm. "I think Lorraine would use fire," Mark answered. "I asked `what you would do'?" Sela smiled back. "I don't know," he answered, looking down at her. "They are changing course," the Princess observed. "There's no escape that way for them," Mark breathed. "Perhaps there is," Sela spoke, looking towards the land. ***************************************************************** Upon another world only a point of light in Earth's night sky a tall golden haired woman stood before two others. One a yet lovely blonde haired woman clad in silver, the other a horrid creature like some gigantic carpenter ant ten feet in length! A pair that between them now ruled a world millions of miles from Earth. One Aurora, the lovely Leaderess of the Women, the other Raspa, First Princess of the Lorr. And speaking in heated words to them both was Darlanis, Queen of Sarn, Empress of California! "Once Man believed as you, and He sought to `rid' himself of an `alien presence' by a hopefully `surprise attack'," Darlanis spoke. Raspa nodding her horrid head in agreement, her great compound eyes like multifaceted jewels seeming to almost "glow" into those of Darlanis! Her great mandibles, each tipped with a paralyzing sting, for a moment spread wide as she recalled the history of her race. Of the sudden swift attack by Mankind upon the Lorr by the alteration of a comet's orbit. And of the sudden realization that this golden haired "barbarian" from Earth spoke the TRUTH! That this woman, "uncivilized" as she might be, the sword at her side visual "proof" of her status as a "barbarian", still yet could teach them both the "consequences" of their acts! "Your daughter is `wiser' than either one of us," Raspa said to Aurora, who nodded back in agreement. Neither had perhaps ever thought what the ultimate "consequences" of their acts might be. But yet, this very "barbarian", this "uncivilized savage", this "Earthwoman" with a sword there on her hip had "understood" what the finest minds among both the Women and the Lorr had not. That this would be a war from which there would be no "winners"! ***************************************************************** "They're going to run aground!" Sela breathed, the Dularnian raider now only a mile or so from shore. Corsica perhaps only half a mile behind the enemy ship now, ready to make the "kill". Mark could see the men on her decks at their battle stations there in his telescope. Valerie Dunn there on the quarterdeck, her hair now glowing like a beacon there in the bright sunlight. "Signal Corsica to hold off," Mark barked to the signals midshipman. There was no doubt now what the captain of the Du- larnian raider planned to do. He wondered to himself if it would have been his choice too given the same circumstances under which the enemy captain found himself. The enemy ship now less than half a mile from shore, the Corsica holding back, but still ready to attack should the enemy suddenly decide to fight. Sela grasp- ing his arm as they watched the sudden puff of black smoke sud- denly rise from the enemy ship. It being obvious to the Princess that the enemy captain had ordered his ship set afire to insure that it would not fall into the hands of the dreaded Imperials! "Any minute now," Sela breathed, the enemy ship only a few hundred yards from shore now, trailing a haze of white smoke as a few flames shot from its stern, while smoke now wreathed the ship as it raced towards its own destruction there on the rocky shore! "There he goes!" Mark breathed, watching, seeing the ship swing about, one of the three masts falling, the flames now even visible without the aid of a telescope. Corsica turning away like a jilted lover, resetting her jib as she went about on the other tack. He could see the enemy's crew throwing themselves into the cold waters, leaping from the burning decks of their ship as the flames now bit deep into the painted wood, the tarred rigging, the canvas of the sails. The ship now dying there on the rocks, a cloud of smoke from its passing rising up into the azure of the sky like some grave marker marking its final end. A number of naked women among them fleeing off down the shoreline. "Send a boat in," Sela spoke. "We will pick them up." Mark nodded. They might have useful information that they could use. ***************************************************************** "I keep thinking that you were `right' and Darlanis is `wrong'," Janice said to me as we shared a late lunch together. I had suggested that the people living in the "disputed territo- ries" be allowed to "vote" as to which nation they would belong. Darlanis had pointed out that such would set a very "bad example" for the rest of the Empire. That it might even result in its own disintegration back into a group of warring little city-states! There are "parallels" in history to back up Darlanis' "theories". "I'm a `reluctant Warlady'," I smiled back. There is a tendency by some to believe that I "glory" in war, in seeing peo- ple die. That I actually take "pleasure" in such things. I fear the reality of the matter is that I do not. I am "good" with a sword. Perhaps as "good" as any woman who ever lived. I also do a good job of commanding armed forces in battle. Of guiding the crew and officers of a ship in a ship to ship battle on the seas. "You `licked' Maris and her North Star in battle," Janice smiled. I didn't think so. I think Maris would have "won", but at a very high price. One so "high" that there would have been hardly enough "hands" to sail her ship back to Dularn. And I do not think she would have been one of those to ever see it again! "I am a `crafty old bitch'," I smiled back, sipping at my wine. We still had plenty of fresh food yet, although the time would come when we'd have to start relying upon the salted stuff! "And the best Queen that Trelandar ever had," Janice smiled. "Sanda should be having her baby any day now," I commented, changing the subject, remembering the good times we'd both had. "An impressive woman, but no `Lorraine'," Janice answered. "I've been `lucky'," I smiled back. I considered it that. I remembered that Aurora had asked for one of my ovums to clone. "No one else could have done what you've did," she replied. "At the time I didn't consider I had any choice," I smiled. ***************************************************************** "One less," Valerie Dunn said as the captains of the squad- ron gathered there about the table in the Squala's stern cabin. The end of the Dularnian raider having "sobered" them all a bit. With them were several women, Californian women who had been cap- tured by the raider, and then freed from their chains when the captain had decided to destroy their ship. They had been taken off the rocky shore by a boat from Squala at Sela Dai's orders. "If your ships could patrol up and down our coasts?" one of the lovely former captives ventured, her attire ill fitting, but the "best" that could be done under the circumstances just then. "When one has a nest of wasps in your house, it is futile to kill the individual wasps, you have to get the nest," Lara smiled back, her blue eyes holding those of the lovely brownette as the other nodded in understanding. She was Sarnian, another Bajan. There were about a dozen such women. Others had been dragged into the forests with the fleeing crew of the Northland, there to share their fate. Some would doubtlessly make it up to Dularn. ***************************************************************** "Darlanis! You're Back!" Sharon exclaimed with delight, throwing herself into the welcoming arms of her beloved Empress! The strong muscular arms drawing her close against that magnifi- cent perfumed body. Against the beautiful golden mesh that ac- cented it like nothing else could have. Those lovely clear azure eyes glowing with love down into hers as she clung to her beloved foster mother. Darlanis being the sort of a woman with whom she could "share" everything any teen girl might. Her beloved "She- Ra"! The woman, Sharon felt, who might someday found a new world civilization. One that would be free of all the mistakes made by the old "democracies" of the past or the world dictatorship that had replaced them there in the first decade of the 21st Century. "`She-Ra' has had her own `duties' to perform," Darlanis now laughed, recalling her long conversations with her mother Aurora. With the First Princess of the Lorr, that horrid alien creature that looked like something out of a nightmare. Stroking her be- loved Princess' golden hair as she looked down into her eyes. Remembering all that had transpired there on Mars just that day. She suspected that she might have averted something that could have left only ten dead lifeless worlds circling their own star.* * The "tenth planet" was discovered in 2037 A.D. by a lunar based telescope there on Farside, the famous "thirty meter reflector". "I love you so much," Sharon breathed, looking up at her. In her high heeled boots Darlanis stood well over six feet tall. She was a woman that people looked up to. She tried to live up to their "expectations". To what Sharon yet "believed" of her. "You are becoming a `woman'," Darlanis smiled, holding the beautiful teenage Princess there at arms length. The "jut" of her breasts and buttocks beneath her royal blue silken tunic and matching silken hose leaving no doubts either about that "fact". She was five six, perhaps 36-24-36 or a bit more, one might note. Her beautiful golden hair now beneath a jaunty feathered cap, her azure eyes, well shaped face made her the sort of a "Princess" who never lacked for suitors among the sons of the Imperial no- bility. None of them however being able to yet "win" her heart. "You were `with' a man not long ago," Sharon teased, the swelling on Darlanis' lower lip where her beloved Nevada Prince had playfully bitten her during their love-making yet noticeable. "Serak `uses' me well," Darlanis laughed, hugging Sharon. It had been only a hour ago that she had laid hot and sweaty in his arms. The Starfire could travel swiftly when one wished it. After the nervous strain she'd been under on Mars, she had needed to be "held", to be "used" as a woman by her beloved "barbarian"! "You declared war against Dularn," Sharon spoke softly, the tone of voice leaving little doubt as to how she felt about it. Darlanis had expected Sharon would view it so, not understanding. "Against Dularnian aggression," Darlanis then smiled back. "You did what Lorraine `wanted'!" Sharon cried. The tone of her voice "accusing". Sharon had claimed that Maris didn't want another war with the Empire of California. Darlanis suspected it wasn't really all quite that "simple" from what I had told her of Maris' own demands for the "return" of the disputed territories. She also suspected that Sharon had been too "awed" by the Queen. "I did what `needed' to be done," Darlanis answered, nodding to the woman on guard there. Opening the door, stepping inside. "You listen too much to Lorraine," Sharon then accused her, closing the door behind herself. Recalling what Maris had said. "Lorraine suggested that the issue be put to a vote of the people living in the area," Darlanis smiled, settling herself. "Why didn't you do it!" Sharon breathed, wondering why! "You remember your American history?" Darlanis smiled. "Yes," Sharon answered, sitting down beside Darlanis. "The American Civil War," the Empress smiled back. "That was `different'," Sharon breathed in reply. "`History will be my judge'," Darlanis smiled. ***************************************************************** Hundreds of miles from the Imperial palace in Sarn First Priestess Tais greeted the slim brunette in her silvery attire as she stood there in the middle of the room like some "ghost". Only a "fool", and Tais was not one of those, would have allowed the Women and the Lorr to go "unchecked". The work of the Women in counteracting the "mind-technology" of the Priestesses was one good reason "why" it was wise to keep a close "eye" on matters! An observer would have hear nothing, for neither Tais or the woman there yet on Mars needed to speak aloud. With the linking of their minds one could communicate far swifter than with words! Tais smiling to herself as she heard the latest "news" from Mars! |
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