"2566-35" - 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 Thirty Five "Twentieth Century Warfare?" Maris "snapped", the anger showing now in her voice as she stood there. That of the 26th usually didn't kill civilians as a rule, although Princess Tara had made "war" upon most everyone. My husband had lost his first wife to Tara's bloodthirsty attack upon a small island south of Dularn. The evil former Bajan Princess was well known to be the sort that left nothing alive behind her! I was however also well "aware" that Maris' own forces had attacked several coastal vil- lages in California. Taking gold and women as their "booty" like the pirates of the Seventeenth Century. While Maris herself had never done anything of the sort, others certainly had! I didn't consider her "outburst" as being anything but her own emotions! A woman, older, crippled, sitting there quietly watching us both. Maris' own stepmother, once a commodore in the Dularnian Navy. I suspected "she" was the source of much of Maris' "abilities"... "Sela destroyed only property, and nothing more," I said. I took a considerable degree of pride in her amazing self restraint considering the degree of "provocation" she had been given here! Many would have spread "death and destruction" like some plague! Apparently the "discipline" I had tried to instill in my own peo- ple had been more "successful" than I had hoped at the time then! "They could have taken all our young women," Tarl Marn pointed out to his royal daughter. "Took everything of value," Such was commonplace in warfare in this era. The women would be taken to slave markets, sold. Few if any would ever see their own homelands again. Even as Queen of Trelandar I had not been able to "do" anything about the matter. The men of this era are not the "wimps" of my own time. They are "aware" of being "men". They are willing, if necessary, to use "violence" to "protect" their own "interests". Even Sanda Talen had opposed me in this. There are "issues" that can be "settled" only on the battlefield. This was not clearly "understood" by the democracies of the past. Not all "issues" can be "decided" with the "ballot box". There are in all these matters "winners" and "losers". I understood, I believe that Janet Rogers "understood". I doubt that others did. I once pointed out to her that if the white race ever became "ra- cially aware" as it once was, the various "minorities" might find things just a bit more "difficult" than they had in the past. It should be noted here that here in the 26th Century there are no "civil rights laws" or anything like them. One "earns" one own status in society now. There is much to be said for our system. The "status" of women, for example, is probably "higher" than it was back in the 20th Century, but women have had to "earn" their status, and it was not "given" to them by some "Supreme Court" as was done back in my own era. There are far fewer blacks, but this is mostly due to the after-effects of The War and the "race war" that followed just afterwards. Most of the black population in the 21st Century United States was killed in the bombings when all the major cities were destroyed by the orbiting Lorr battle- discs in 2047 A.D. At the present time there seems to be very little "racial" prejudice as such any more, perhaps because the "blacks" of the 26th Century have learned over the centuries to "behave" in ways that do not trigger off any such reactions.* I * I do not "count" the "niggers" living in the ruins of Muskegon as they appear to have been effected by both radiation and AIDS. Aurora says "genetic deterioration". She is probably "correct". strongly suspect that the blacks of the 20th Century would have done much "better" than they had they taken some "concern" about controlling the "activities" of certain members of their race. I note here that other "groups" in the past faced much the same sort of a "problem" and resolved it quite well by social control! Had the blacks of the past done the same they probably would have had much less "problems" than they did by taking the route they did of using "laws" to force people to behave in ways that they would not have behaved in otherwise. One does not "solve" racial problems by passing laws, although those of the 20th Century did not understand such things. Janet Rogers did, and Darlanis does. And with these "truths" stated, let us return now to my story... "I suppose so," Maris admitted grudgingly to her father. I could understand how she felt seeing the ruins. Sana was the village of her birth, of her childhood. She had emotional "ties" here. I had, or rather Sela had, destroyed all that she had held dear here. She still yet looked upon herself as "Maris Marn of Sana". That was her own "identity". How she "thought" of her- self as. Now Sana was but smoldering ruins, the rain now pouring down finally quenching the last of the fires my own forces had started with their missiles and firebombs. I had seen such be- fore, a long time ago, in another land now "legend". "Technolo- gy" changes, but war remains the "horror" it has always been. This was not clearly understood by some back in the past. Death is death regardless of if it is caused by swords or perhaps by some energy beam fired from a spaceship above the atmosphere! "Which way did the ships sail when they left here?" I asked. My original plan had been to sail around the island in a clock- wise direction, doing as much "damage" as I could while doing so! Hopefully this might cause Maris to come to some sort of "terms". "To the north," the woman answered, regarding her step daughter. I suspected that there was "bad blood" between them... There was about her a "competent" look, making me wonder to my- self just a bit then if perhaps she was another a little like me? "We will set sail at first light if possible," Maris said. I could hear the sound of repairs as we spoke. Maris was not one to waste time. I considered her one of the most "competent" peo- ple I'd ever met. I had no doubt that she was an "able" Queen. "I am very proud of the woman you've become," her father said to her. Maris nodding, blushing a bit, much to my surprise! "I've always wondered what you would be `like'," Tarl Marn said to me as we ate. La-ra at my side helping me as I hardly yet had the strength to chew my food. Even carrying on a conver- sation for any period of time exhausted me. I was sleepy, tired. I suspected I was running a fever, but that was to be expected. "I fear I don't look like a `living legend'," I smiled. "She is `that' and everything more," Maris spoke up. "I once had a `dream'," I said to them. Maris smiled. "She is perhaps `responsible' for `everything'," she said. "You are in our history books," Tarl Marn said to me. I had been quite surprised when I first learned that from Princess Ja- nis there last year aboard the Ronda. Janet Rogers of course had thought highly of me. Perhaps she had tried too hard to live up to what she thought I would have expected from her. Unfortunate- ly she did not follow all my advice! I suppose such is to be ex- pected. Neither Darlanis or Sharon always follow my suggestions. "I fear the `truth' does not match the `legend'," I smiled. Maris' step mother giving me a smile as she nodded in reply then. Marta Marn being the sort of a woman who I suspected might well have been a "legend" back in her own time, I mused to myself now! "There was one of `wrote' of you," Maris smiled. "She was perhaps an enemy of yours back in your era, although on the other hand her descriptions of you in some ways seem quite accurate." "And just `who' was that?" I asked her, quite puzzled now. "Did you know a `Carol Simmons'?" Maris asked me. I nodded. "She was a woman I `knew'," I replied, recalling her well. I also remembered the incident between her and Jack that had ended my "relationship" with her husband. My husband having put his hand underneath Carol's skirt when she bent over her oven, the "touch" having made her "jerk" and burn herself on the edge of the oven! She had whirled about, seized a large meat fork, put it up to Jack's throat and warned him in no uncertain terms what she would "do" if he ever "touched" her like that again! I tried to "soothe" things over a bit, but Carol already "had it in" for me because my "friendship" with her husband and I never saw either her or Bob, her husband, ever again. They no doubt now lie together in some forgotten grave, one of the most loving couples I've ever known. Carol was a true female much like Lara! "She wrote three books about a `NEW AMERICA' that existed in the Twenty Second Century after some great natural disaster," the Queen of Dularn explained, "And you were the `Princess Tara' in each one of them!" My character in the books being "Queen Lor- raine of New California", said "Queen" being a most "unpleasant" person in some ways, although she was also said to be "the great- est swordswoman of all time" which may just be "possible" too!* * I could be "modest" and deny it, but it is probably true. (LR) "I do have my `fans'," I smiled back, a bit "uncomfortable". I supposed however that Carol had her "reasons" to dislike me. I was something she could never be. The novels do exist, although they are only now in fragments and the entire series is "lost". In reading these, I have however formed the theory as "fantastic" as it may sound that Carol Simmons is the very same "CAROL" who wrote that famous book, "A KEY TO A WOMAN'S HEART" which is prob- ably the most widely read book in existance if you exclude "THE BOOK OF LYS" which is the "Bible" of this era. "A KEY TO A WOM- AN'S HEART" is the book every mother "hands" to her son when she sees that he is starting to "notice" that there are "two sexes"! I doubt that there is a married couple (assuming they are able to read) anywhere in the civilized world that doesn't have a copy!* * The "author" in my opinion may well have been Carol Simmons as she was in many ways much like "Lara". This was of course also the "book" that Gayle and Carl read that got them into "trouble". The book, I should note, was obviously written by a woman! (LR) In the "NEW CALIFORNIA" novels Carol Simmons introduces the concepts of "clips" and "strap", of "neck chaining" women, al- though the "neck chain" was the "mark" of a slave girl, and not that of a wife as it is now. Her women are also "shaved", I may note here, although this is also a part of her famous treatise. If my "theory" is right here, and I don't see any reason to be- lieve otherwise, given the evidence I now have, it appears that a certain "brownette" I once knew, and rather unjustly "hurt" by my own actions, judging from what she "wrote" of me, actually did influence the "future" as much as I or even Janet Rogers did! "Perhaps she `knew you' better than you thought," Maris said, I fear a bit unpleasantly just then. While I had not been "responsible" for the burning of Sana, I had of course been Sela Dai's superior officer, the one responsible for bringing her here to Dularn in the first place. On the other hand I think Maris' own reactions were a bit "unfair" to me as I was certainly doing the best I could to put a halt to things as quickly as I could! "We all have our `enemies'," I smiled back at the Queen. 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirty Five "Twentieth Century Warfare?" Maris "snapped", the anger showing now in her voice as she stood there. That of the 26th usually didn't kill civilians as a rule, although Princess Tara had made "war" upon most everyone. My husband had lost his first wife to Tara's bloodthirsty attack upon a small island south of Dularn. The evil former Bajan Princess was well known to be the sort that left nothing alive behind her! I was however also well "aware" that Maris' own forces had attacked several coastal vil- lages in California. Taking gold and women as their "booty" like the pirates of the Seventeenth Century. While Maris herself had never done anything of the sort, others certainly had! I didn't consider her "outburst" as being anything but her own emotions! A woman, older, crippled, sitting there quietly watching us both. Maris' own stepmother, once a commodore in the Dularnian Navy. I suspected "she" was the source of much of Maris' "abilities"... "Sela destroyed only property, and nothing more," I said. I took a considerable degree of pride in her amazing self restraint considering the degree of "provocation" she had been given here! Many would have spread "death and destruction" like some plague! Apparently the "discipline" I had tried to instill in my own peo- ple had been more "successful" than I had hoped at the time then! "They could have taken all our young women," Tarl Marn pointed out to his royal daughter. "Took everything of value," Such was commonplace in warfare in this era. The women would be taken to slave markets, sold. Few if any would ever see their own homelands again. Even as Queen of Trelandar I had not been able to "do" anything about the matter. The men of this era are not the "wimps" of my own time. They are "aware" of being "men". They are willing, if necessary, to use "violence" to "protect" their own "interests". Even Sanda Talen had opposed me in this. There are "issues" that can be "settled" only on the battlefield. This was not clearly "understood" by the democracies of the past. Not all "issues" can be "decided" with the "ballot box". There are in all these matters "winners" and "losers". I understood, I believe that Janet Rogers "understood". I doubt that others did. I once pointed out to her that if the white race ever became "ra- cially aware" as it once was, the various "minorities" might find things just a bit more "difficult" than they had in the past. It should be noted here that here in the 26th Century there are no "civil rights laws" or anything like them. One "earns" one own status in society now. There is much to be said for our system. The "status" of women, for example, is probably "higher" than it was back in the 20th Century, but women have had to "earn" their status, and it was not "given" to them by some "Supreme Court" as was done back in my own era. There are far fewer blacks, but this is mostly due to the after-effects of The War and the "race war" that followed just afterwards. Most of the black population in the 21st Century United States was killed in the bombings when all the major cities were destroyed by the orbiting Lorr battle- discs in 2047 A.D. At the present time there seems to be very little "racial" prejudice as such any more, perhaps because the "blacks" of the 26th Century have learned over the centuries to "behave" in ways that do not trigger off any such reactions.* I * I do not "count" the "niggers" living in the ruins of Muskegon as they appear to have been effected by both radiation and AIDS. Aurora says "genetic deterioration". She is probably "correct". strongly suspect that the blacks of the 20th Century would have done much "better" than they had they taken some "concern" about controlling the "activities" of certain members of their race. I note here that other "groups" in the past faced much the same sort of a "problem" and resolved it quite well by social control! Had the blacks of the past done the same they probably would have had much less "problems" than they did by taking the route they did of using "laws" to force people to behave in ways that they would not have behaved in otherwise. One does not "solve" racial problems by passing laws, although those of the 20th Century did not understand such things. Janet Rogers did, and Darlanis does. And with these "truths" stated, let us return now to my story... "I suppose so," Maris admitted grudgingly to her father. I could understand how she felt seeing the ruins. Sana was the village of her birth, of her childhood. She had emotional "ties" here. I had, or rather Sela had, destroyed all that she had held dear here. She still yet looked upon herself as "Maris Marn of Sana". That was her own "identity". How she "thought" of her- self as. Now Sana was but smoldering ruins, the rain now pouring down finally quenching the last of the fires my own forces had started with their missiles and firebombs. I had seen such be- fore, a long time ago, in another land now "legend". "Technolo- gy" changes, but war remains the "horror" it has always been. This was not clearly understood by some back in the past. Death is death regardless of if it is caused by swords or perhaps by some energy beam fired from a spaceship above the atmosphere! "Which way did the ships sail when they left here?" I asked. My original plan had been to sail around the island in a clock- wise direction, doing as much "damage" as I could while doing so! Hopefully this might cause Maris to come to some sort of "terms". "To the north," the woman answered, regarding her step daughter. I suspected that there was "bad blood" between them... There was about her a "competent" look, making me wonder to my- self just a bit then if perhaps she was another a little like me? "We will set sail at first light if possible," Maris said. I could hear the sound of repairs as we spoke. Maris was not one to waste time. I considered her one of the most "competent" peo- ple I'd ever met. I had no doubt that she was an "able" Queen. "I am very proud of the woman you've become," her father said to her. Maris nodding, blushing a bit, much to my surprise! "I've always wondered what you would be `like'," Tarl Marn said to me as we ate. La-ra at my side helping me as I hardly yet had the strength to chew my food. Even carrying on a conver- sation for any period of time exhausted me. I was sleepy, tired. I suspected I was running a fever, but that was to be expected. "I fear I don't look like a `living legend'," I smiled. "She is `that' and everything more," Maris spoke up. "I once had a `dream'," I said to them. Maris smiled. "She is perhaps `responsible' for `everything'," she said. "You are in our history books," Tarl Marn said to me. I had been quite surprised when I first learned that from Princess Ja- nis there last year aboard the Ronda. Janet Rogers of course had thought highly of me. Perhaps she had tried too hard to live up to what she thought I would have expected from her. Unfortunate- ly she did not follow all my advice! I suppose such is to be ex- pected. Neither Darlanis or Sharon always follow my suggestions. "I fear the `truth' does not match the `legend'," I smiled. Maris' step mother giving me a smile as she nodded in reply then. Marta Marn being the sort of a woman who I suspected might well have been a "legend" back in her own time, I mused to myself now! "There was one of `wrote' of you," Maris smiled. "She was perhaps an enemy of yours back in your era, although on the other hand her descriptions of you in some ways seem quite accurate." "And just `who' was that?" I asked her, quite puzzled now. "Did you know a `Carol Simmons'?" Maris asked me. I nodded. "She was a woman I `knew'," I replied, recalling her well. I also remembered the incident between her and Jack that had ended my "relationship" with her husband. My husband having put his hand underneath Carol's skirt when she bent over her oven, the "touch" having made her "jerk" and burn herself on the edge of the oven! She had whirled about, seized a large meat fork, put it up to Jack's throat and warned him in no uncertain terms what she would "do" if he ever "touched" her like that again! I tried to "soothe" things over a bit, but Carol already "had it in" for me because my "friendship" with her husband and I never saw either her or Bob, her husband, ever again. They no doubt now lie together in some forgotten grave, one of the most loving couples I've ever known. Carol was a true female much like Lara! "She wrote three books about a `NEW AMERICA' that existed in the Twenty Second Century after some great natural disaster," the Queen of Dularn explained, "And you were the `Princess Tara' in each one of them!" My character in the books being "Queen Lor- raine of New California", said "Queen" being a most "unpleasant" person in some ways, although she was also said to be "the great- est swordswoman of all time" which may just be "possible" too!* * I could be "modest" and deny it, but it is probably true. (LR) "I do have my `fans'," I smiled back, a bit "uncomfortable". I supposed however that Carol had her "reasons" to dislike me. I was something she could never be. The novels do exist, although they are only now in fragments and the entire series is "lost". In reading these, I have however formed the theory as "fantastic" as it may sound that Carol Simmons is the very same "CAROL" who wrote that famous book, "A KEY TO A WOMAN'S HEART" which is prob- ably the most widely read book in existance if you exclude "THE BOOK OF LYS" which is the "Bible" of this era. "A KEY TO A WOM- AN'S HEART" is the book every mother "hands" to her son when she sees that he is starting to "notice" that there are "two sexes"! I doubt that there is a married couple (assuming they are able to read) anywhere in the civilized world that doesn't have a copy!* * The "author" in my opinion may well have been Carol Simmons as she was in many ways much like "Lara". This was of course also the "book" that Gayle and Carl read that got them into "trouble". The book, I should note, was obviously written by a woman! (LR) In the "NEW CALIFORNIA" novels Carol Simmons introduces the concepts of "clips" and "strap", of "neck chaining" women, al- though the "neck chain" was the "mark" of a slave girl, and not that of a wife as it is now. Her women are also "shaved", I may note here, although this is also a part of her famous treatise. If my "theory" is right here, and I don't see any reason to be- lieve otherwise, given the evidence I now have, it appears that a certain "brownette" I once knew, and rather unjustly "hurt" by my own actions, judging from what she "wrote" of me, actually did influence the "future" as much as I or even Janet Rogers did! "Perhaps she `knew you' better than you thought," Maris said, I fear a bit unpleasantly just then. While I had not been "responsible" for the burning of Sana, I had of course been Sela Dai's superior officer, the one responsible for bringing her here to Dularn in the first place. On the other hand I think Maris' own reactions were a bit "unfair" to me as I was certainly doing the best I could to put a halt to things as quickly as I could! "We all have our `enemies'," I smiled back at the Queen. |
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