"2566-43" - 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 Forty Three The deck was "spotless", the rigging tarred, taut. I was very "thorough" this time in my inspection. The crew standing there watching me. I would pause from time to time, leaning back against the rail, the sweat "wet" on my body beneath my clothing. I used my eyes, my "sense" of how the ship sailed, everything. I was well aware that out here we were completely "on our own now"! "I have no `complaint'," I said to Valerie, who was in her full dress uniform. I had worn my tiara, a black silk blouse, a leather skirt. A sword at my left hip, a dagger at my right. I allowed Valerie to help me up to the quarterdeck, stairs being a bit "difficult" for me yet. I felt it was time that the crew of the Corsica understood "what" our destination could be out here! "We are in pursuit of an enemy ship, perhaps a pirate or Du- larnian raider," I spoke. "They are presently attempting to flee us by sailing directly out into the Pacific, in the mistaken be- lief that we will eventually grow too terrified of sailing so far from land and turn back, letting them go." I could see them look at each other, the ship's girls to one side now whispering among themselves. They were all Peasant girls, and unused to the sea. "I am, as you all know, from the `time of legends', when men flew over this very same ocean in great silvery metal birds, when men like the Lorr could travel to other worlds, to the Moon that shines down upon us at night. Thus I assure you that this world is `round', and if we had food and supplies enough we could sail entirely around it in a year or so coming right back to where we first started." I watched them nod among themselves, perhaps overcoming their "fears" of the "unknown" in their trust in me... "We have a well founded ship, one of the best the shipyards of Trella has ever sent down the ways, and it is up to us to keep it so," I said, standing there, my hands on the railing before me. "We also have the `incentive' now that our lives, yours, mine, are totally dependent upon the seaworthiness of this ship. No longer can we say `good enough' and let it go at that. We all must give our `best', our very lives at `stake' if we fail in our duties." Pausing a second, I then added, "It is now perhaps four or five thousand feet straight down to bottom," seeing them nod. "And I don't think any of us want to go that route as yet now." "You may dismiss them," I then said, turning to Valerie. "How long are you going to keep up this `chase'." Valerie asked early that evening after supper, standing there as I sat on the bench beneath the stern windows sipping at a glass of wine. "We will eventually catch them or lose them," I replied. "I think they may be leading us on," she ventured then. "To where?" I asked. No pirate would have a "base" this far out from land. We were I estimated about four hundred miles now from Trella. Our course was still due west, the setting sun in front of us. We had ample supplies for six weeks, more if ra- tioned. I had given orders to make sails ready for catching rainwater. Such would extend our supply if it became necessary. "No knows `what' is out here now, and our maps are five cen- turies out of date," she pointed out to me. I nodded, and sug- gested that a good lookout be kept. I suspected that the captain of the enemy vessel was still hoping that we'd eventually give up this chase. Most Imperial warships would have done so by now... "All quiet?" I spoke, Valerie standing there in the darkness swaying with the motion of the ship. In the soft glow from the Moon one could still see the enemy there ahead of us. Were they "leading us on" as Valerie thought? That made little sense to me now. At the rate of speed we'd been maintaining so far we would reach Hawaii in another ten days, although our course was now slightly just to the north of that group of islands, I had noted. "I make it five hundred miles from Trella," she answered. The Moon was high in the sky, slightly to the "west" now, I saw. It was just after two am in the morning, "four bells" in the first watch, it being the century old practice to operate ships on a basis of four hours on duty, eight hours off duty. I nod- ded, took the telescope from its peg, trained it on the enemy... "We'll lose them in the first storm we encounter," I said. "Perhaps `that' is what they are hoping for," she answered. ***************************************************************** "They are still following us, my Princess," the Swiftstar's captain said, the brunette woman who looked up at him from the seat below the stern windows showing all the signs of nervous strain. He himself was terrified at the thought of sailing so far from land, but Princess Tara was not one that you dared to disobey. The flags of the pursuing warship left no doubt either! "It is a warship of `Lorraine's'," the former Bajan Princess hissed coldly, her dark midnight eyes blazing hot with anger now. The slave girl kneeling to one side keeping her head well down... Her freshly striped back left little doubt of her mistress' hot temper. Of the "terror" that clutched at the Bajan's black heart as she looked through the stern windows at the pursuing warship!! "The maps we have are five centuries old," he now protested. "The Earth is round, we won't fall off!" Tara snapped back! "We can do no better than just stay ahead of them!" the cap- tain protested. The ship was under considerable strain doing so! "Maris Marn designed well," Tara snapped. "We will escape!" The captain now taking his leave, glad to be away from Tara now. "Annette!" Tara snapped, the slave raising her eyes. "Serve me!" The girl getting to her feet, padding across the carpeted deck to fetch the wine jug. Then filling her mistress' goblet. Keeping her eyes down on her task, well aware of her flayed back. She hated the woman with a passion, but how could she escape her? They were hundred of miles at sea, further out than anyone had dared sail since The War so far as she knew. Tara had once spo- ken to her of a "French prince" who had crossed the Atlantic a couple of years before, but Annette did not believe much that the evil black hearted Princess said. In any case she saw no hope of "escape" from the Princess except to cast herself into the ocean! "You're `worthless', Annette, you know that?" Tara snapped, the slave girl, dark haired, her vision blurred a bit due to the lack of the eye glasses she needed, nodding, kneeling down again. "On the other hand you are almost a dead ringer for Janet Rogers herself," Tara smiled, regarding the wench as she knelt there on the carpet before her. Janet Rogers herself in later years had worn eye glasses instead of the more commonplace contact lenses. Usually the Priestesses of Lys could "correct" most vision prob- lems, but sometimes it was necessary for one to wear eye glasses. "Mistress paid a dozen gold crowns for me," Annette said in a soft voice, kneeling there. She was slender, rather "pretty". "At least ten more than I should have paid," Tara snapped. "The ship chasing us cannot catch us, can it, mistress?" An- nette asked, well aware that Tara perhaps had good reason for her terrors. It was one of the Warlady's, Annette Jackson knew, such having been her name as a free woman of the Scribes before the pirates had come and taken her from the little coastal village. "Leave me!" Tara snapped, her tones making Annette leap to her feet and then dash from the Swiftstar's stern cabin to seek what "safety" she could somewhere else than in Tara's presence... ***************************************************************** "I estimate we are almost six hundred miles from Trella," Valerie said to me as I ate breakfast. The sea air was fresh, brisk this far from land. The Pacific had so far remained so. I wondered for how long? For three days now the Corsica, every sail set, had raced through the waves almost due west, further and further from land. The constant creak and groan of the rig- ging, the hull telling of the terrific strain we were putting on the ship in this mad race across this uncharted, unknown ocean... "Keep the crew hard at work checking everything," I spoke. So far there had not been any leaks or signs of excessive strain. I wondered about the ship there ahead of us. We had gained a bit over the almost three days of our pursuit, the ship now only some six or seven miles ahead of us, well hull up on the horizon now. "According to the chart it is about twenty two hundred to Hawaii," Valerie said. We were a bit too far north for that set of islands, but I supposed if this chase lasted that long we just might end up having to seek the islands for food and more impor- tantly water. Fresh fruits would also be important, I knew too. ***************************************************************** It was a sudden gust of wind, nothing serious, but the Swiftstar's main topsail suddenly tore loose, flapping in the wind as Princess Tara cursed and screamed at the crew to fix it!! The loss of a knot or a bit more of speed was enough to terrify the former Bajan Princess, especially as she had seen the "Cross of Lorraine" flying from the mastheads of the pursuing warship!!! Even with her blurred vision Annette could see the pursuing ship, its tall masts almost concealed by its sails, a mad plan of desperation going through her mind as the other ship "gained" on the Swiftstar. She had no doubt that Tara's crew would make the necessary repairs in time for them to escape Imperial "justice", but Annette had no wish to continue living as Tara's "plaything"! The Princess' disgusting sickening delight at being "lapped out" by a slave girl was something that Annette couldn't take! She would rather be dead than be forced to perform oral sex on Tara!! ***************************************************************** "Something in the water ahead of us!" the lookout called down as Corsica raced through the waves, gaining now on the enemy ship ahead of us! Through the telescope I could see the enemy crew resetting the main top sail, fighting the blue green canvas! "Someone holding on to a life ring," I said to Valerie, who was doubtlessly well aware of the same "fact". The Corsica now cutting through the waves at a good ten knots, spray from time to time thrown high in the air to come raining down on the main deck as we drove the ship in pursuit of this strange enemy vessel. I saw her eyes meet mine. To stop and pick someone up would delay us, allow the other ship to gain badly needed distance on us now! 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Forty Three The deck was "spotless", the rigging tarred, taut. I was very "thorough" this time in my inspection. The crew standing there watching me. I would pause from time to time, leaning back against the rail, the sweat "wet" on my body beneath my clothing. I used my eyes, my "sense" of how the ship sailed, everything. I was well aware that out here we were completely "on our own now"! "I have no `complaint'," I said to Valerie, who was in her full dress uniform. I had worn my tiara, a black silk blouse, a leather skirt. A sword at my left hip, a dagger at my right. I allowed Valerie to help me up to the quarterdeck, stairs being a bit "difficult" for me yet. I felt it was time that the crew of the Corsica understood "what" our destination could be out here! "We are in pursuit of an enemy ship, perhaps a pirate or Du- larnian raider," I spoke. "They are presently attempting to flee us by sailing directly out into the Pacific, in the mistaken be- lief that we will eventually grow too terrified of sailing so far from land and turn back, letting them go." I could see them look at each other, the ship's girls to one side now whispering among themselves. They were all Peasant girls, and unused to the sea. "I am, as you all know, from the `time of legends', when men flew over this very same ocean in great silvery metal birds, when men like the Lorr could travel to other worlds, to the Moon that shines down upon us at night. Thus I assure you that this world is `round', and if we had food and supplies enough we could sail entirely around it in a year or so coming right back to where we first started." I watched them nod among themselves, perhaps overcoming their "fears" of the "unknown" in their trust in me... "We have a well founded ship, one of the best the shipyards of Trella has ever sent down the ways, and it is up to us to keep it so," I said, standing there, my hands on the railing before me. "We also have the `incentive' now that our lives, yours, mine, are totally dependent upon the seaworthiness of this ship. No longer can we say `good enough' and let it go at that. We all must give our `best', our very lives at `stake' if we fail in our duties." Pausing a second, I then added, "It is now perhaps four or five thousand feet straight down to bottom," seeing them nod. "And I don't think any of us want to go that route as yet now." "You may dismiss them," I then said, turning to Valerie. "How long are you going to keep up this `chase'." Valerie asked early that evening after supper, standing there as I sat on the bench beneath the stern windows sipping at a glass of wine. "We will eventually catch them or lose them," I replied. "I think they may be leading us on," she ventured then. "To where?" I asked. No pirate would have a "base" this far out from land. We were I estimated about four hundred miles now from Trella. Our course was still due west, the setting sun in front of us. We had ample supplies for six weeks, more if ra- tioned. I had given orders to make sails ready for catching rainwater. Such would extend our supply if it became necessary. "No knows `what' is out here now, and our maps are five cen- turies out of date," she pointed out to me. I nodded, and sug- gested that a good lookout be kept. I suspected that the captain of the enemy vessel was still hoping that we'd eventually give up this chase. Most Imperial warships would have done so by now... "All quiet?" I spoke, Valerie standing there in the darkness swaying with the motion of the ship. In the soft glow from the Moon one could still see the enemy there ahead of us. Were they "leading us on" as Valerie thought? That made little sense to me now. At the rate of speed we'd been maintaining so far we would reach Hawaii in another ten days, although our course was now slightly just to the north of that group of islands, I had noted. "I make it five hundred miles from Trella," she answered. The Moon was high in the sky, slightly to the "west" now, I saw. It was just after two am in the morning, "four bells" in the first watch, it being the century old practice to operate ships on a basis of four hours on duty, eight hours off duty. I nod- ded, took the telescope from its peg, trained it on the enemy... "We'll lose them in the first storm we encounter," I said. "Perhaps `that' is what they are hoping for," she answered. ***************************************************************** "They are still following us, my Princess," the Swiftstar's captain said, the brunette woman who looked up at him from the seat below the stern windows showing all the signs of nervous strain. He himself was terrified at the thought of sailing so far from land, but Princess Tara was not one that you dared to disobey. The flags of the pursuing warship left no doubt either! "It is a warship of `Lorraine's'," the former Bajan Princess hissed coldly, her dark midnight eyes blazing hot with anger now. The slave girl kneeling to one side keeping her head well down... Her freshly striped back left little doubt of her mistress' hot temper. Of the "terror" that clutched at the Bajan's black heart as she looked through the stern windows at the pursuing warship!! "The maps we have are five centuries old," he now protested. "The Earth is round, we won't fall off!" Tara snapped back! "We can do no better than just stay ahead of them!" the cap- tain protested. The ship was under considerable strain doing so! "Maris Marn designed well," Tara snapped. "We will escape!" The captain now taking his leave, glad to be away from Tara now. "Annette!" Tara snapped, the slave raising her eyes. "Serve me!" The girl getting to her feet, padding across the carpeted deck to fetch the wine jug. Then filling her mistress' goblet. Keeping her eyes down on her task, well aware of her flayed back. She hated the woman with a passion, but how could she escape her? They were hundred of miles at sea, further out than anyone had dared sail since The War so far as she knew. Tara had once spo- ken to her of a "French prince" who had crossed the Atlantic a couple of years before, but Annette did not believe much that the evil black hearted Princess said. In any case she saw no hope of "escape" from the Princess except to cast herself into the ocean! "You're `worthless', Annette, you know that?" Tara snapped, the slave girl, dark haired, her vision blurred a bit due to the lack of the eye glasses she needed, nodding, kneeling down again. "On the other hand you are almost a dead ringer for Janet Rogers herself," Tara smiled, regarding the wench as she knelt there on the carpet before her. Janet Rogers herself in later years had worn eye glasses instead of the more commonplace contact lenses. Usually the Priestesses of Lys could "correct" most vision prob- lems, but sometimes it was necessary for one to wear eye glasses. "Mistress paid a dozen gold crowns for me," Annette said in a soft voice, kneeling there. She was slender, rather "pretty". "At least ten more than I should have paid," Tara snapped. "The ship chasing us cannot catch us, can it, mistress?" An- nette asked, well aware that Tara perhaps had good reason for her terrors. It was one of the Warlady's, Annette Jackson knew, such having been her name as a free woman of the Scribes before the pirates had come and taken her from the little coastal village. "Leave me!" Tara snapped, her tones making Annette leap to her feet and then dash from the Swiftstar's stern cabin to seek what "safety" she could somewhere else than in Tara's presence... ***************************************************************** "I estimate we are almost six hundred miles from Trella," Valerie said to me as I ate breakfast. The sea air was fresh, brisk this far from land. The Pacific had so far remained so. I wondered for how long? For three days now the Corsica, every sail set, had raced through the waves almost due west, further and further from land. The constant creak and groan of the rig- ging, the hull telling of the terrific strain we were putting on the ship in this mad race across this uncharted, unknown ocean... "Keep the crew hard at work checking everything," I spoke. So far there had not been any leaks or signs of excessive strain. I wondered about the ship there ahead of us. We had gained a bit over the almost three days of our pursuit, the ship now only some six or seven miles ahead of us, well hull up on the horizon now. "According to the chart it is about twenty two hundred to Hawaii," Valerie said. We were a bit too far north for that set of islands, but I supposed if this chase lasted that long we just might end up having to seek the islands for food and more impor- tantly water. Fresh fruits would also be important, I knew too. ***************************************************************** It was a sudden gust of wind, nothing serious, but the Swiftstar's main topsail suddenly tore loose, flapping in the wind as Princess Tara cursed and screamed at the crew to fix it!! The loss of a knot or a bit more of speed was enough to terrify the former Bajan Princess, especially as she had seen the "Cross of Lorraine" flying from the mastheads of the pursuing warship!!! Even with her blurred vision Annette could see the pursuing ship, its tall masts almost concealed by its sails, a mad plan of desperation going through her mind as the other ship "gained" on the Swiftstar. She had no doubt that Tara's crew would make the necessary repairs in time for them to escape Imperial "justice", but Annette had no wish to continue living as Tara's "plaything"! The Princess' disgusting sickening delight at being "lapped out" by a slave girl was something that Annette couldn't take! She would rather be dead than be forced to perform oral sex on Tara!! ***************************************************************** "Something in the water ahead of us!" the lookout called down as Corsica raced through the waves, gaining now on the enemy ship ahead of us! Through the telescope I could see the enemy crew resetting the main top sail, fighting the blue green canvas! "Someone holding on to a life ring," I said to Valerie, who was doubtlessly well aware of the same "fact". The Corsica now cutting through the waves at a good ten knots, spray from time to time thrown high in the air to come raining down on the main deck as we drove the ship in pursuit of this strange enemy vessel. I saw her eyes meet mine. To stop and pick someone up would delay us, allow the other ship to gain badly needed distance on us now! |
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