"2566-44" - 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 Four "Let loose those yards, helm hard to starboard!" I barked, the ship swinging up into the wind, the bosun throwing the line as the Corsica came up to the woman there in the water. The mys- terious enemy ship now drawing further and further away with ev- ery minute! Then as soon as the woman had been hauled over the side I snapped the orders that put us once again in hot pursuit of the Dularnian schooner now racing for the horizon and safety! "We lost a lot of `ground' there," Valerie said to me as a briefly clad slave girl was hauled over the side to stand drip- ping on the deck. I nodded. I would never leave an innocent to drown hundreds of miles out in the Pacific despite "losing" an enemy ship like now. I am in my way much like Darlanis in this. "I am `Annette', a slave girl of Princess Tara," the drip- ping wench said to me, her soaking wet shift clinging to her body in a way that left no doubts that she was completely naked be- neath it. The sailor at her side holding her left arm grinning. The gleaming steel collar about her throat leaving no doubts ei- ther as to what her "status" was. Her words hitting me like a shock! PRINCESS TARA! That damn "Princess of Darkness"!! "Valerie, we pursue that ship to China if we have to!" I snapped, my captain nodding, her reddish hair glowing in the hot sunlight. Men already racing to reset the sails, the Corsica now once again underway. The flags flapping overhead in the breeze. "You are the `Warlady Lorraine', mistress?" Annette asked. "I have many questions," I said, putting my arm over her wet shoulders, letting her help support me as I descended the stairs. "That is all I know," Annette said, sipping at the wine. I admired her bravery, her courage in casting herself into the sea as she had in the hope that we might stop and puck her from the waves. Many captains, I knew, would not have bothered to do so! "You took a terrible risk gambling that we'd save you," I said to her, the wench naked beneath the blanket I'd given her. "Tara said you were in command of this ship," Annette said, letting me fill in the "rest" for myself. I wondered about that. "I knew you wouldn't let me drown out here," she added, her dark eyes meeting mine as I nodded in reply. We were almost a third of the way to Hawaii now, although our course would take us to the north of the islands by several hundred miles if we kept it. "If I catch up with your former mistress I intend to hang her for a pirate," I said. Darlanis had been "weak" and allowed her to live. I didn't plan to be so "stupid" as all that. I'd have her hung from the main yardarm if she lived to be captured!! "She is a very evil person, but I would not wish to see that happen to her," Annette said softly, not meeting my eyes then... "There will be a considerable interval between the time the Sun sets and the Moon rises," Valerie pointed out to me as we stood there on the quarterdeck, the roll of the ship beneath us something that neither of us even took note of anymore. The Cor- sica had done well for an Imperial first rate, although it was obvious that Maris Marn's former flagship was our equal in speed! "Double the lookouts, put two on every masthead," I snapped. I was not going to "lose" Tara if I had anything to say about it! She had also changed course a bit, heading straight towards Ha- waii now. I supposed it was a "wise" move on her part consider- ing everything. Among the islands she might stand a better chance of eluding the Corsica, although I didn't plan to let her! "I only wonder how `long' this can go on," Valerie answered. "According to Annette Jackson (I had "freed" her) Swiftstar is not in the best of condition," I replied, "While Corsica is." Annette had also told me that Tara's water and food stocks were considerably lower than my own, although that meant little now. "Barometer's now falling," Valerie pointed out to me then. "We could be in for a bit of weather pretty soon now," she added. "Storm's coming down from the north," Valerie said as I joined her there on the quarterdeck shortly after midnight. In the light from the Moon I too could see the storm clouds gather- ing there to the north. The waves were larger now, heavy swells that spoke of bad weather ahead. Through a telescope I could see the lightning flashing in the clouds. A storm was what Tara needed to escape us, assuming that her ship survived the storm... "Rouse the crew, everyone on deck, make ready to take in sail at my order," I answered, feeling the wind freshing a bit. The Corsica heeling a bit more, spray shooting up over the bow. "All hands on deck! All hands on deck!" I heard the two bo- suns yelling, blowing their whistles to hurry the men up a bit. The men dashing up from below, scurrying across the deck, and scrambling up the rigging like monkeys to the yards up above us. I didn't "envy" them there in the darkness feeling their way now! "Tara's shorting sail," Valerie spoke, her eye to the tele- scope. I felt it wise that we did the same, starting with the stun sails and then the top sails. The wind picking up now, the men on the yards now muttering and cursing the rebellious canvas. Once we lost the moonlight it would be almost impossible to see!! "Put three reefs in the main sails," I ordered, studying the wind, the `heel' of the ship. Calculating the "stress" on the three masts. The waves were a lot larger now, the storm clouds covering half the sky. One no longer needed a telescope to see the lightning in them. It was almost possible to hear the rumble of the thunder now over the crash of the waves against the hull!! "I want to take those stay sails down," Valerie volunteered. "The masts will hold them," I answered, feeling the "heel". "We're a long ways from `home'," Valerie breathed softly. "I want reinforcing ropes fixed to the masts," I replied. "Tara isn't worth all of us dying for," Valerie said. "I didn't `hear' that," I answered, touching her then. "We're pulling up on Tara!" Valerie breathed, the Corsica almost lying on her side now, the rigging, reinforcing ropes taut with strain. I had "eased" the yards just a bit, well aware that otherwise the sails would be torn from the yards. I was using the "vector of forces", relying upon the "feel" of the ship, its "heel", the touch of the wind on my cheek, the flap of the flags! "Ease those yards a bit!" I barked, using the speaking trum- pet now. I had everyone on deck, ready to pull on ropes and "do" whatever was necessary. I knew Corsica's "limits", and I was now sailing the ship right to them, her starboard tri-keel now com- pletely out of the water due to the ship's extreme "heel" now! The "easing" of the yards changing the "heel" back a couple de- grees, the striking of the waves against the hull driving us a bit to the south, making it necessary to loosen the jib to "re- balance" the ship. I doubted Tara's captain was as "competent". The Moon was now disappearing behind the storm clouds, leaving us in a darkness that was relieved only by the flashes of lightning! "Damm Dulie holds together good!" Valerie growled beside me. The Swiftstar was falling back a bit, but still driving hard as Tara sought to escape. She was swinging to the south, trying to use the wind to escape us. I wondered if she was in "command" of the ship or its captain. Annette had said that he had seemed to be "competent" to her, but the word of a "landlubber" meant next to nothing in a situation like this. One of the stay sails now suddenly tearing free from its ropes, flapping in the wind like some gigantic flag to port. Men dashing up the rigging, out on the swaying yards, clinging to the safety ropes, well aware that out here in this storm anyone overboard was "lost" for good now!! "Ease those fore and aft sails!" I snapped, the men swift to obey in the darkness as the Moon disappeared completely now. I was willing to "risk" the main mast, its sails in seeking even more speed from the Corsica. We could always get back to Cali- fornia with just the fore and aft masts. I saw Tara's ship per- haps a mile or so ahead now in the lightning flashes, her main top sail now rags, the yard itself apparently broken as the Cor- sica drew up on the other ship! I wondered how much "more" my main mast could take? Was I too reckless with everyone's lives?? "Forward ballistae! Cock and Load!" I screamed into the trumpet. Men now running to obey over our spray soaked deck! I could smell the rain coming in sheets behind us, rain that would conceal Swiftstar from me long enough for Tara to escape! Great waves heaving us up and down, the wind almost due astern now!!! Then suddenly there was a terrible blast of wind, and with a terrible "crack" the main mast, the rigging, everything went over the side of the ship! I saw the wind hit the Swiftstar, the main sail breaking loose of its yard, flapping like some great flag!!! "Loose the fore yards!" I screamed, my mind racing, seeking to hold the ship with her bow to the wind. If we broached to, I didn't give much chances for any of us surviving this storm... "Get that mast cut free!" I screamed, the helmsman fighting the wheel, the drag from the mast now threatening to swing us about!! I saw Valerie down among the men, saw the swing of axes in the almost constant flashing of lightning, the aft sails now flapping uselessly while the aft sails held our bow towards the wind. Tara's ship now was almost hidden in the rain and the darkness!!! Even with the fore sails helping, the ship was still being dragged about, our "drift" now almost half sideways, the waves striking on the port quarter, the heavy "slam" of the waves like that of a gigantic hammer against the hull! Then suddenly the mast was half free, and being dragged alongside the ship! The bow now turning back upwind, the waves striking now once again against the bow! Tara's ship now invisible to the south of us! Then suddenly the last of the rigging snapped and the mast was free of the ship! Like a liberated bird Corsica once again "flew". Not as swiftly as before, but she yet could sail. And "fight", I mused to myself, well aware that damaged as we were, our speed would be far less than it normally would be now. On the other hand I had done what I had with good reason, taking a "calculated risk" that Corsica's own rigging would survive long enough to put us into range of the Swiftstar, where our heavier armament would have quickly brought Tara's ship to heel, I felt!! "We lost her," Valerie now said to me, still gasping a bit. "Maybe," I answered, standing there, soaking wet, chilled. "It was a `calculated risk', wasn't it?" she said then. "That sudden gust was too much," I answered her back. "I never could have done as well," she said to me then. 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Forty Four "Let loose those yards, helm hard to starboard!" I barked, the ship swinging up into the wind, the bosun throwing the line as the Corsica came up to the woman there in the water. The mys- terious enemy ship now drawing further and further away with ev- ery minute! Then as soon as the woman had been hauled over the side I snapped the orders that put us once again in hot pursuit of the Dularnian schooner now racing for the horizon and safety! "We lost a lot of `ground' there," Valerie said to me as a briefly clad slave girl was hauled over the side to stand drip- ping on the deck. I nodded. I would never leave an innocent to drown hundreds of miles out in the Pacific despite "losing" an enemy ship like now. I am in my way much like Darlanis in this. "I am `Annette', a slave girl of Princess Tara," the drip- ping wench said to me, her soaking wet shift clinging to her body in a way that left no doubts that she was completely naked be- neath it. The sailor at her side holding her left arm grinning. The gleaming steel collar about her throat leaving no doubts ei- ther as to what her "status" was. Her words hitting me like a shock! PRINCESS TARA! That damn "Princess of Darkness"!! "Valerie, we pursue that ship to China if we have to!" I snapped, my captain nodding, her reddish hair glowing in the hot sunlight. Men already racing to reset the sails, the Corsica now once again underway. The flags flapping overhead in the breeze. "You are the `Warlady Lorraine', mistress?" Annette asked. "I have many questions," I said, putting my arm over her wet shoulders, letting her help support me as I descended the stairs. "That is all I know," Annette said, sipping at the wine. I admired her bravery, her courage in casting herself into the sea as she had in the hope that we might stop and puck her from the waves. Many captains, I knew, would not have bothered to do so! "You took a terrible risk gambling that we'd save you," I said to her, the wench naked beneath the blanket I'd given her. "Tara said you were in command of this ship," Annette said, letting me fill in the "rest" for myself. I wondered about that. "I knew you wouldn't let me drown out here," she added, her dark eyes meeting mine as I nodded in reply. We were almost a third of the way to Hawaii now, although our course would take us to the north of the islands by several hundred miles if we kept it. "If I catch up with your former mistress I intend to hang her for a pirate," I said. Darlanis had been "weak" and allowed her to live. I didn't plan to be so "stupid" as all that. I'd have her hung from the main yardarm if she lived to be captured!! "She is a very evil person, but I would not wish to see that happen to her," Annette said softly, not meeting my eyes then... "There will be a considerable interval between the time the Sun sets and the Moon rises," Valerie pointed out to me as we stood there on the quarterdeck, the roll of the ship beneath us something that neither of us even took note of anymore. The Cor- sica had done well for an Imperial first rate, although it was obvious that Maris Marn's former flagship was our equal in speed! "Double the lookouts, put two on every masthead," I snapped. I was not going to "lose" Tara if I had anything to say about it! She had also changed course a bit, heading straight towards Ha- waii now. I supposed it was a "wise" move on her part consider- ing everything. Among the islands she might stand a better chance of eluding the Corsica, although I didn't plan to let her! "I only wonder how `long' this can go on," Valerie answered. "According to Annette Jackson (I had "freed" her) Swiftstar is not in the best of condition," I replied, "While Corsica is." Annette had also told me that Tara's water and food stocks were considerably lower than my own, although that meant little now. "Barometer's now falling," Valerie pointed out to me then. "We could be in for a bit of weather pretty soon now," she added. "Storm's coming down from the north," Valerie said as I joined her there on the quarterdeck shortly after midnight. In the light from the Moon I too could see the storm clouds gather- ing there to the north. The waves were larger now, heavy swells that spoke of bad weather ahead. Through a telescope I could see the lightning flashing in the clouds. A storm was what Tara needed to escape us, assuming that her ship survived the storm... "Rouse the crew, everyone on deck, make ready to take in sail at my order," I answered, feeling the wind freshing a bit. The Corsica heeling a bit more, spray shooting up over the bow. "All hands on deck! All hands on deck!" I heard the two bo- suns yelling, blowing their whistles to hurry the men up a bit. The men dashing up from below, scurrying across the deck, and scrambling up the rigging like monkeys to the yards up above us. I didn't "envy" them there in the darkness feeling their way now! "Tara's shorting sail," Valerie spoke, her eye to the tele- scope. I felt it wise that we did the same, starting with the stun sails and then the top sails. The wind picking up now, the men on the yards now muttering and cursing the rebellious canvas. Once we lost the moonlight it would be almost impossible to see!! "Put three reefs in the main sails," I ordered, studying the wind, the `heel' of the ship. Calculating the "stress" on the three masts. The waves were a lot larger now, the storm clouds covering half the sky. One no longer needed a telescope to see the lightning in them. It was almost possible to hear the rumble of the thunder now over the crash of the waves against the hull!! "I want to take those stay sails down," Valerie volunteered. "The masts will hold them," I answered, feeling the "heel". "We're a long ways from `home'," Valerie breathed softly. "I want reinforcing ropes fixed to the masts," I replied. "Tara isn't worth all of us dying for," Valerie said. "I didn't `hear' that," I answered, touching her then. "We're pulling up on Tara!" Valerie breathed, the Corsica almost lying on her side now, the rigging, reinforcing ropes taut with strain. I had "eased" the yards just a bit, well aware that otherwise the sails would be torn from the yards. I was using the "vector of forces", relying upon the "feel" of the ship, its "heel", the touch of the wind on my cheek, the flap of the flags! "Ease those yards a bit!" I barked, using the speaking trum- pet now. I had everyone on deck, ready to pull on ropes and "do" whatever was necessary. I knew Corsica's "limits", and I was now sailing the ship right to them, her starboard tri-keel now com- pletely out of the water due to the ship's extreme "heel" now! The "easing" of the yards changing the "heel" back a couple de- grees, the striking of the waves against the hull driving us a bit to the south, making it necessary to loosen the jib to "re- balance" the ship. I doubted Tara's captain was as "competent". The Moon was now disappearing behind the storm clouds, leaving us in a darkness that was relieved only by the flashes of lightning! "Damm Dulie holds together good!" Valerie growled beside me. The Swiftstar was falling back a bit, but still driving hard as Tara sought to escape. She was swinging to the south, trying to use the wind to escape us. I wondered if she was in "command" of the ship or its captain. Annette had said that he had seemed to be "competent" to her, but the word of a "landlubber" meant next to nothing in a situation like this. One of the stay sails now suddenly tearing free from its ropes, flapping in the wind like some gigantic flag to port. Men dashing up the rigging, out on the swaying yards, clinging to the safety ropes, well aware that out here in this storm anyone overboard was "lost" for good now!! "Ease those fore and aft sails!" I snapped, the men swift to obey in the darkness as the Moon disappeared completely now. I was willing to "risk" the main mast, its sails in seeking even more speed from the Corsica. We could always get back to Cali- fornia with just the fore and aft masts. I saw Tara's ship per- haps a mile or so ahead now in the lightning flashes, her main top sail now rags, the yard itself apparently broken as the Cor- sica drew up on the other ship! I wondered how much "more" my main mast could take? Was I too reckless with everyone's lives?? "Forward ballistae! Cock and Load!" I screamed into the trumpet. Men now running to obey over our spray soaked deck! I could smell the rain coming in sheets behind us, rain that would conceal Swiftstar from me long enough for Tara to escape! Great waves heaving us up and down, the wind almost due astern now!!! Then suddenly there was a terrible blast of wind, and with a terrible "crack" the main mast, the rigging, everything went over the side of the ship! I saw the wind hit the Swiftstar, the main sail breaking loose of its yard, flapping like some great flag!!! "Loose the fore yards!" I screamed, my mind racing, seeking to hold the ship with her bow to the wind. If we broached to, I didn't give much chances for any of us surviving this storm... "Get that mast cut free!" I screamed, the helmsman fighting the wheel, the drag from the mast now threatening to swing us about!! I saw Valerie down among the men, saw the swing of axes in the almost constant flashing of lightning, the aft sails now flapping uselessly while the aft sails held our bow towards the wind. Tara's ship now was almost hidden in the rain and the darkness!!! Even with the fore sails helping, the ship was still being dragged about, our "drift" now almost half sideways, the waves striking on the port quarter, the heavy "slam" of the waves like that of a gigantic hammer against the hull! Then suddenly the mast was half free, and being dragged alongside the ship! The bow now turning back upwind, the waves striking now once again against the bow! Tara's ship now invisible to the south of us! Then suddenly the last of the rigging snapped and the mast was free of the ship! Like a liberated bird Corsica once again "flew". Not as swiftly as before, but she yet could sail. And "fight", I mused to myself, well aware that damaged as we were, our speed would be far less than it normally would be now. On the other hand I had done what I had with good reason, taking a "calculated risk" that Corsica's own rigging would survive long enough to put us into range of the Swiftstar, where our heavier armament would have quickly brought Tara's ship to heel, I felt!! "We lost her," Valerie now said to me, still gasping a bit. "Maybe," I answered, standing there, soaking wet, chilled. "It was a `calculated risk', wasn't it?" she said then. "That sudden gust was too much," I answered her back. "I never could have done as well," she said to me then. |
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