"2566-26" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 4 - 2566 Ad)2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Six "We'll keep a good watch tonight just to `make sure'," I said to Janice as I discussed matters with her in the stern ca- bin. I had no doubts that the Dularnians would try "something". I also had no doubts that the villagers would "assist" them too! "You took a hell of a chance back there that someone didn't decide to put an arrow or crossbow bolt through you," the captain of the Huntress answered with a smile, sipping a bit at her wine. Such had been in my thoughts too when I had gone to the village. "Then the village would have `burned', wouldn't it?" I said. "With everything the Huntress could fire," Janice smiled. I had given her orders to that effect in "writing" to do just that. "Legally" the village was part of the Empire of California, al- though I don't really think the people thought of themselves in "that way" except perhaps when the tax collector came on through. Their open hostility to me, their assistance to the crew of the raider left no doubts in my mind as to which "side" they were on! "Coastal villages like this one are also why the Dularnian raiders are so successful," I then said to her, my eyes meeting hers over the rim of my goblet. A sailing ship can stay out only so long. There has to be "support" from shore. I suspected that there were villages all the way up and down the coast of Califor- nia that helped out the raiders. Jon had "hinted" at such once. Raiders can pay well for their supplies. The pirates of the 18th Century were generally successful for much the same reasons too. "And?" Janice asked, regarding me, smiling, no doubt well aware of the fact that her beloved Warlady had another "idea". I wondered if we couldn't do the same thing to the Dularnians too!! "A ship's catapults will fire `shot' almost a quarter of a mile," I smiled back. The people of a village would be utterly "helpless" before the "broadside" of even a third rate like ours. "We don't have enough `firebombs' for that," Janice replied. "More can be made," I smiled back. I also had no doubts now that the Dularnians might attempt to "take" the Huntress tonight. "And I think the captain of the `Northland' will attempt to take this ship tonight," I added, my eyes meeting those of Janice as she nodded back. They would get quite a surprise when they did!! "Quiet," Janice breathed from beside me. We had taken turns dozing a bit. Everyone was armed, the boarding netting rigged. They would no doubt use the fishing boats. We were only a long bow shot from shore. The old "furlong" of Old England that had once been based upon how far a good archer could shoot an arrow. "They will probably come between two and three am," I spoke. "That would be the time that I'd pick for doing `something' like this." I recalled too another time, another place, another ship. "The men with the fire bottles have their orders?" I asked. Janice invisible there in the darkness beside me. We showed only a light in the bow, another in the stern. Common lighting prac- tice for a ship at anchor. I wanted the Dularnians to think we'd never thought that they might attack us. I didn't think that my Dularnian captain would hesitate to try to take the Huntress, not after losing his own ship like he had. Queen Maris would not be too "delighted" at that. He would think that if he could bring into Arsana a captured Imperial, even if only a third rate, it might make a considerable degree of difference in how Maris would see things. I had no doubts that he was a "desperate" man. That he would do almost "anything" to regain his "honor" after the loss of his own ship. He had, after all, turned "tail", and ran! "Fire the boats as soon as they come alongside," she said. That would give us needed illumination, and handicap the enemy!! I didn't want to fight this out "hand to hand" given the "odds"! ***************************************************************** "I wonder what Lorraine is doing right now?" Sela Dai breathed as she snuggled close to Mark, her warm breath tickling his ear. She was warm, cuddly there beneath the blankets. The sort of a woman that could "delight" any man lucky enough to have her. That was what Mark thought of her anyway. Glad that Jers had married Lara and left him Sela, his delightful little Talon Princess. Her kisses, playful little bites, intimate caresses only further proof that Sela Dai did "know her way around a man". "Getting a good night's sleep, I reckon," Mark laughed back, rolling the squirmy little delight over on her back, Sela's open thighs then welcoming him into her moist snug innermost recesses. ***************************************************************** "Something's moving out there," I breathed, poking Janice. Nothing but a darker shadow against the lighter colored sand of the seashore, but I had no "doubts" now as to what it was then! I had no doubts too now that the villagers were "helping" them!!! "I'll pass the word," she breathed, slipping her sword free of its scabbard as she rolled out of the cot. It would be "close work" tonight, I suspected as I followed her down on to the deck. I could hear the creaking as our missile weapons were tensioned. The catapult due to its design cannot be left tensioned for any period of time. The same is generally true of older ballistae. I had a new design under "development" there in Trella, one that was designed much like a gigantic compound crossbow. I also had "information" from my "agents" in Dularn that the Dularians were working on the same type of a weapon, theirs almost "completed"! In military technology the Dularnians always seemed to be a lit- tle ahead now of the Empire of California for reasons more "po- litical" than anything else. Both sides were also "working" on a "steam catapult", but such a weapon made little sense for ships. "There," the first officer breathed, pointing with his sword out over the rail. A darker shadow moving against the sea. The thought going through my mind that the people of the village doubtlessly were happy to be "helping" the crew of the Dularnian raider after the "threat" I had made against their village. If such was the case we could be badly outnumbered, Huntress carry- ing a crew of seventy compared to the ninety or so that a second rate carries, especially if the Dularnians were being "assisted" by the villagers! The "odds" perhaps two to one if not more now! "Hold your fire until you are sure of your targets," I hissed to those with bows. There was no sense in warning the "enemy" that we were alert and "ready". Surprise was all really that we now had "going" for us, I suspected here. I slipped my sword free of its scabbard, looped the lanyard around my wrist. "The dark lanterns are ready," the second officer breathed there in the darkness. Such would used to light our fire weapons we would use to fire the fishing boats the enemy was now using. The stars were gleaming brightly there in the sky overhead. I could see the mastheads outlined against them. A soft splash in the water towards shore spoke of a careless oarsman. I wondered if there would be swimmers. The water was really too cold for it, but the distance wasn't that far from shore for someone to try. Cutting the anchor cables is a trick that dates "WAY" back! "The men are ready at the capstans," Janice breathed. By taking in or letting out we could swing the ship back and forth a bit. The longboat now tied on the seaward side of the Huntress. Such gave us more deck space, and kept it ready at hand for use. "Raise the boarding nets, light and fire the broadside," I snapped in harsh whispered tones. I had no doubts that the peo- ple of the village were actively helping the enemy. Firing the village would also tend to divide our foe's forces, as the people of the village would naturally be more concerned with the safety of their own possessions than helping the raider's crew try to capture the Huntress! Such would of course also confuse the ene- my, make them "less sure" of victory. Much depends upon morale. I felt the Huntress shudder as she fired her suddenly blaz- ing broadside, the ballistae javelins having been fitted with heads of burning oil soaked rags. Such would reduce range and accuracy, but the distance was short enough that it didn't matter all that much now! Yells and cries of alarm from the boats were ample proof that the villagers had been helping the Dularnians!!! "Drop the net!" I heard Janice cry, the boats now firing upon us with bows and crossbows, mostly the former, I noticed. Their marksmanship was poor, although there was of course little to shoot at but the hull of the ship, which arrows couldn't harm. Two of the boats now turning back to shore, leaving three to now face us. I had hoped that my firing upon the village might do just that. The "odds" were now suddenly changing to favor us! I could see flames starting to shoot up on shore, running figures. I saw a grapple coming flying up, catch in the netting. The dark form of a boat there coming alongside. A suddenly blazing bottle of lamp oil flung into it, smashing, flaming up. The faces of the enemy wild there in the firelight. I saw the wife of the headman of the village taking aim with a bow at us. She dropping her weapon, clutching at the arrow between her breasts! The "ship's girl" beside me giving me a grin there in the fire- light from the burning boat as she fitted another arrow to her bowstring. Janice had handpicked her "ship's girls". All were of the Peasant Caste. Well able to use a bow effectively. Busty wide hipped wenches who knew how to "pleasure" a man. We were pouring a steady stream of fire into the boats now. Another one ablaze, men leaping into the water. A third hanging back, its archers busy launching arrows at us as fast as they could shoot!! A sailor staggering back, clutching at an arrow stuck in his throat. He was dead before I could reach him, although there was of course nothing that I could do. We were firing back, pouring our fire into the remaining boat. A crossbow bolt took the sec- ond officer in the forehead. Death was of course instantaneous! I saw one of our sailors take an arrow in the shoulder. We were taking casualties, but inflicting far more there on the enemy! The village was well alight now, the dark shadows of the people dashing about. I had no doubts now that I had done the right thing in firing the village. There was also no doubts in my mind as to how these people would have voted had Darlanis fol- lowed my earlier suggestion to put the "issue" to a vote of those concerned. These people were as "Dularnian" as any of Maris' subjects! Of that there could not longer be the slightest doubt! "Raise the boarding nettings, fire on that boat!" Janice cried, her orders instantly obeyed. The range was too close for our catapults, but we scored several hits with our fire javelins! "Keep up the fire on that boat!" I ordered, the other two drifting, blazing, useless, deserted, men and women struggling in the cold waters back towards shore. I did not think all would be able to make it either! The water was icy cold, too cold for anyone to swim very far in it, I suspected! The boat turning away, almost drifting, Huntress turning, firing once again. The boat now afire, burning as it headed back towards shore. Our longboat, lying on the seaward side of Huntress, now coming around in pursuit. The flames from the burning village now shooting up into the sky. Sparks like meteors blazing up into the heavens. The third boat now burning, turning back, beaten!!! 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Six "We'll keep a good watch tonight just to `make sure'," I said to Janice as I discussed matters with her in the stern ca- bin. I had no doubts that the Dularnians would try "something". I also had no doubts that the villagers would "assist" them too! "You took a hell of a chance back there that someone didn't decide to put an arrow or crossbow bolt through you," the captain of the Huntress answered with a smile, sipping a bit at her wine. Such had been in my thoughts too when I had gone to the village. "Then the village would have `burned', wouldn't it?" I said. "With everything the Huntress could fire," Janice smiled. I had given her orders to that effect in "writing" to do just that. "Legally" the village was part of the Empire of California, al- though I don't really think the people thought of themselves in "that way" except perhaps when the tax collector came on through. Their open hostility to me, their assistance to the crew of the raider left no doubts in my mind as to which "side" they were on! "Coastal villages like this one are also why the Dularnian raiders are so successful," I then said to her, my eyes meeting hers over the rim of my goblet. A sailing ship can stay out only so long. There has to be "support" from shore. I suspected that there were villages all the way up and down the coast of Califor- nia that helped out the raiders. Jon had "hinted" at such once. Raiders can pay well for their supplies. The pirates of the 18th Century were generally successful for much the same reasons too. "And?" Janice asked, regarding me, smiling, no doubt well aware of the fact that her beloved Warlady had another "idea". I wondered if we couldn't do the same thing to the Dularnians too!! "A ship's catapults will fire `shot' almost a quarter of a mile," I smiled back. The people of a village would be utterly "helpless" before the "broadside" of even a third rate like ours. "We don't have enough `firebombs' for that," Janice replied. "More can be made," I smiled back. I also had no doubts now that the Dularnians might attempt to "take" the Huntress tonight. "And I think the captain of the `Northland' will attempt to take this ship tonight," I added, my eyes meeting those of Janice as she nodded back. They would get quite a surprise when they did!! "Quiet," Janice breathed from beside me. We had taken turns dozing a bit. Everyone was armed, the boarding netting rigged. They would no doubt use the fishing boats. We were only a long bow shot from shore. The old "furlong" of Old England that had once been based upon how far a good archer could shoot an arrow. "They will probably come between two and three am," I spoke. "That would be the time that I'd pick for doing `something' like this." I recalled too another time, another place, another ship. "The men with the fire bottles have their orders?" I asked. Janice invisible there in the darkness beside me. We showed only a light in the bow, another in the stern. Common lighting prac- tice for a ship at anchor. I wanted the Dularnians to think we'd never thought that they might attack us. I didn't think that my Dularnian captain would hesitate to try to take the Huntress, not after losing his own ship like he had. Queen Maris would not be too "delighted" at that. He would think that if he could bring into Arsana a captured Imperial, even if only a third rate, it might make a considerable degree of difference in how Maris would see things. I had no doubts that he was a "desperate" man. That he would do almost "anything" to regain his "honor" after the loss of his own ship. He had, after all, turned "tail", and ran! "Fire the boats as soon as they come alongside," she said. That would give us needed illumination, and handicap the enemy!! I didn't want to fight this out "hand to hand" given the "odds"! ***************************************************************** "I wonder what Lorraine is doing right now?" Sela Dai breathed as she snuggled close to Mark, her warm breath tickling his ear. She was warm, cuddly there beneath the blankets. The sort of a woman that could "delight" any man lucky enough to have her. That was what Mark thought of her anyway. Glad that Jers had married Lara and left him Sela, his delightful little Talon Princess. Her kisses, playful little bites, intimate caresses only further proof that Sela Dai did "know her way around a man". "Getting a good night's sleep, I reckon," Mark laughed back, rolling the squirmy little delight over on her back, Sela's open thighs then welcoming him into her moist snug innermost recesses. ***************************************************************** "Something's moving out there," I breathed, poking Janice. Nothing but a darker shadow against the lighter colored sand of the seashore, but I had no "doubts" now as to what it was then! I had no doubts too now that the villagers were "helping" them!!! "I'll pass the word," she breathed, slipping her sword free of its scabbard as she rolled out of the cot. It would be "close work" tonight, I suspected as I followed her down on to the deck. I could hear the creaking as our missile weapons were tensioned. The catapult due to its design cannot be left tensioned for any period of time. The same is generally true of older ballistae. I had a new design under "development" there in Trella, one that was designed much like a gigantic compound crossbow. I also had "information" from my "agents" in Dularn that the Dularians were working on the same type of a weapon, theirs almost "completed"! In military technology the Dularnians always seemed to be a lit- tle ahead now of the Empire of California for reasons more "po- litical" than anything else. Both sides were also "working" on a "steam catapult", but such a weapon made little sense for ships. "There," the first officer breathed, pointing with his sword out over the rail. A darker shadow moving against the sea. The thought going through my mind that the people of the village doubtlessly were happy to be "helping" the crew of the Dularnian raider after the "threat" I had made against their village. If such was the case we could be badly outnumbered, Huntress carry- ing a crew of seventy compared to the ninety or so that a second rate carries, especially if the Dularnians were being "assisted" by the villagers! The "odds" perhaps two to one if not more now! "Hold your fire until you are sure of your targets," I hissed to those with bows. There was no sense in warning the "enemy" that we were alert and "ready". Surprise was all really that we now had "going" for us, I suspected here. I slipped my sword free of its scabbard, looped the lanyard around my wrist. "The dark lanterns are ready," the second officer breathed there in the darkness. Such would used to light our fire weapons we would use to fire the fishing boats the enemy was now using. The stars were gleaming brightly there in the sky overhead. I could see the mastheads outlined against them. A soft splash in the water towards shore spoke of a careless oarsman. I wondered if there would be swimmers. The water was really too cold for it, but the distance wasn't that far from shore for someone to try. Cutting the anchor cables is a trick that dates "WAY" back! "The men are ready at the capstans," Janice breathed. By taking in or letting out we could swing the ship back and forth a bit. The longboat now tied on the seaward side of the Huntress. Such gave us more deck space, and kept it ready at hand for use. "Raise the boarding nets, light and fire the broadside," I snapped in harsh whispered tones. I had no doubts that the peo- ple of the village were actively helping the enemy. Firing the village would also tend to divide our foe's forces, as the people of the village would naturally be more concerned with the safety of their own possessions than helping the raider's crew try to capture the Huntress! Such would of course also confuse the ene- my, make them "less sure" of victory. Much depends upon morale. I felt the Huntress shudder as she fired her suddenly blaz- ing broadside, the ballistae javelins having been fitted with heads of burning oil soaked rags. Such would reduce range and accuracy, but the distance was short enough that it didn't matter all that much now! Yells and cries of alarm from the boats were ample proof that the villagers had been helping the Dularnians!!! "Drop the net!" I heard Janice cry, the boats now firing upon us with bows and crossbows, mostly the former, I noticed. Their marksmanship was poor, although there was of course little to shoot at but the hull of the ship, which arrows couldn't harm. Two of the boats now turning back to shore, leaving three to now face us. I had hoped that my firing upon the village might do just that. The "odds" were now suddenly changing to favor us! I could see flames starting to shoot up on shore, running figures. I saw a grapple coming flying up, catch in the netting. The dark form of a boat there coming alongside. A suddenly blazing bottle of lamp oil flung into it, smashing, flaming up. The faces of the enemy wild there in the firelight. I saw the wife of the headman of the village taking aim with a bow at us. She dropping her weapon, clutching at the arrow between her breasts! The "ship's girl" beside me giving me a grin there in the fire- light from the burning boat as she fitted another arrow to her bowstring. Janice had handpicked her "ship's girls". All were of the Peasant Caste. Well able to use a bow effectively. Busty wide hipped wenches who knew how to "pleasure" a man. We were pouring a steady stream of fire into the boats now. Another one ablaze, men leaping into the water. A third hanging back, its archers busy launching arrows at us as fast as they could shoot!! A sailor staggering back, clutching at an arrow stuck in his throat. He was dead before I could reach him, although there was of course nothing that I could do. We were firing back, pouring our fire into the remaining boat. A crossbow bolt took the sec- ond officer in the forehead. Death was of course instantaneous! I saw one of our sailors take an arrow in the shoulder. We were taking casualties, but inflicting far more there on the enemy! The village was well alight now, the dark shadows of the people dashing about. I had no doubts now that I had done the right thing in firing the village. There was also no doubts in my mind as to how these people would have voted had Darlanis fol- lowed my earlier suggestion to put the "issue" to a vote of those concerned. These people were as "Dularnian" as any of Maris' subjects! Of that there could not longer be the slightest doubt! "Raise the boarding nettings, fire on that boat!" Janice cried, her orders instantly obeyed. The range was too close for our catapults, but we scored several hits with our fire javelins! "Keep up the fire on that boat!" I ordered, the other two drifting, blazing, useless, deserted, men and women struggling in the cold waters back towards shore. I did not think all would be able to make it either! The water was icy cold, too cold for anyone to swim very far in it, I suspected! The boat turning away, almost drifting, Huntress turning, firing once again. The boat now afire, burning as it headed back towards shore. Our longboat, lying on the seaward side of Huntress, now coming around in pursuit. The flames from the burning village now shooting up into the sky. Sparks like meteors blazing up into the heavens. The third boat now burning, turning back, beaten!!! |
|
|