"2567-36" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 5 - The Warlady Of Dularn)"THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Thirty Six "Making a run for it," Maris spoke. We had all witnessed the scene there on the little yacht's deck. There was something strangely "familiar" about the woman now fleeing us, although in the darkness it was impossible to tell just who she actually was. That she was an Imperial "Lady" was obvious from her fine attire visible there in the little yacht's own helm and running lights. "Got `guts'," Carol spoke, the North Star's forward ballis- tae firing with a thud, putting another bolt into the now doubt- lessly sinking yacht! "And a `head' on her shoulders too," my wife added, more I now think to herself than to Maris or me then. The woman doing the best she could to prolong the final outcome. Men setting the topsails up there in the darkness, working by feel, the North Star heeling a bit, smashing through the waves! "Catapults!" Maris snapped, the North Star's catapults fir- ing this time, the little yacht's foresail now flapping uselessly as one of the shot hit a "vulnerable" spot. Even although it had "slowed" the little yacht, the woman was still yet fleeing us!!! The little vessel was "fast", its main mast tall, the hull slim, well designed for speed. The woman herself obviously competent!! We were chasing the yacht around in a circle, the North Star to the port of the other vessel, the yacht being "handier" than even the North Star in such a "contest" as this. We were faster, of course, but so far Maris had not given orders to fire at any- thing but the hull of the other vessel, or the woman who now so courageously fled us would have been a riddled corpse by now! It was like some "nightmare" from which she could not awake. Sanda could see the big Dularnian there just to port a bit astern as it continued to fire upon her. The fact that the bolts were aimed low left no doubts in her mind that they "wanted" her! And as a slave girl too, no doubt, Lady Sanda Talen knew fully well! And the way that her yacht now sailed left no doubt that it was sinking underneath her from the enemy ship's broadside! A dozen ballistae bolts having pierced her hull, driving right on through her vessel to protrude into the sea on the other side! The dead captain at her feet a grinning corpse she paid hardly any notice! The two sailors of her crew cowering there at the foot of the mast, both useless cowards who refused to even assist their Lady! The damaged foresail making the yacht pull to windward, hard to handle. The big Dularnian three master behind her well handled! "Prepare to grapple!" Maris snapped, the North Star coming about, a dozen men there at the rail ready to throw the grappling hooks that would mean the end of this brave Imperial woman's hopeless attempt to outsail the North Star in a private yacht! I felt Carol's hand grasp my arm, saw the woman there on the other vessel slash her yard rope with her sword and stand there facing us, her long slim blade gleaming there in the light of the lamps! One woman standing against the entire crew of a second rate ship! One against some ninety! I thought then of Lorraine, of Darla- nis. I understood then the true meaning of "courage" as never before. She did not wear the black of the Warrioress, but none of that caste could have been braver than this Imperial Lady!!!!! The impact was sudden, jarring, almost throwing Sanda from her feet. She had seen the name of the other ship, painted there on its bow. The terror clutching at her heart as she knew who would be in command! The one woman who had every reason in the world to hate her for what she had once done there years ago now! The North Star's grapples holding her sinking yacht helpless as a beautiful blonde haired woman, one she knew well from the past, now jumped down on to her deck, her own sword yet in her sheath! Maris Marn, the Queen of Dularn, who she had once "wronged" long ago when Maris had been but a slave girl and she the major domo! ***************************************************************** "Wonder where the North Star is now?" one of the officers on the quarterdeck ventured to another as Janice Hill stared out to sea. Into the darkness, keeping her own thoughts to herself now. "If I was them, I wouldn't even want to be on that ship when the Warlady catches up with them," the other officer now laughed. Janice smiling to herself at the words. At least she didn't have to worry about "morale". Apparently everyone thought that as long as they had Lorraine herself aboard "victory" was assured!!! ***************************************************************** "Draw," Sanda wept, knowing the fate that Maris no doubt had in mind for her. Whether or not she would be a "match" for the Queen of Dularn mattered little here as death would be preferred to the sort of a fate that no doubt Maris would have in mind now! "Perhaps `another time', Mrs. Talen," Maris Marn spoke then. "But for now I only ask that you come aboard as my honored guest." Sanda sheathed her sword, wondering what Maris "wanted"! "I believe you have met Bob and Carol Simmons," Maris spoke, "introducing" us again to the famous Prime Minister of Trelandar. "I see that a Scribe can be as brave as a Warrioress," my wife smiled, Lady Sanda nodding, her "nervousness" now obvious. We had taken aboard the two sailors, cast off from the sinking yacht, the North Star only half a dozen miles from Trella now as Carol and I followed Maris and Sanda down to her own stern cabin. "I don't think I've ever been so `scared'," Sanda admitted. "I wouldn't mind having you on `our side'," Maris added as La-ra poured wine and made herself otherwise "useful" to us now. "I thought you'd be long gone from here now that Lor- raine......," Sanda answered, perhaps not "thinking" right here. "And what has Lorraine done?" Maris asked as we sat there in the captain's cabin of the North Star. Her eyes burning hot into the darkness of Sanda's. I saw Sanda swallow nervously in turn! "I suppose you'll learn eventually," Sanda spoke softly, looking down at her hands, at the drink she held there in them. "Lorraine's already set sail in the Athena," I ventured. "I will `do' for you what I can if you will surrender now," Sanda spoke, looking up. "Lorraine will `listen' to me, I know. There are many here in Trelandar who consider your cause `just'." I was well aware that many in Trelandar had no love for Darlanis and that Sanda was one of them. No doubt with good cause here... "You once `abused' a slave girl placed in your power," Maris spoke in level tones. "You terrified her, made her think that.." Sanda nodding, holding Maris' eyes with her own. I recalled what Lorraine had written. Sanda had been "jealous" of Maris. It had, I supposed, been the sort of a thing meant more to "scare" than anything else. A kind of "practical joke" in a way, I feel. "Lorraine did look like `one'," Sanda spoke softly in reply. "You knew how I felt about such things," Maris snapped back. Carol sitting there beside me looked baffled. She had not read the books as carefully as I had. It had been a "nasty" trick. I supposed on the other hand there were a lot of women who would have done the same thing given the same circumstances. Sanda had been the major domo on the estate. Maris had been a slave girl. Sanda is a good looking woman, but not a "beautiful" one like Ma- ris. I don't think Sanda ever realized what Maris might do then. "You were `blonde', `beautiful'," Sanda spoke softly back. "It is something that any woman might do," I said then, put- ting my around Carol. I knew of what Carol had said to Maris in the hold of the Cleolantis. The Queen had told me the whole tale there when we had been captives on Lorraine's estate. I did not think Sanda was really "guilty" of all that much. It had been, I supposed, a "nasty trick" to pull on a helpless slave girl, but one I also felt that I could "understand" such a woman doing too! "She is a brave woman," Carol said to the Queen of Dularn. There was that in my wife's voice that left no "doubts" either!!! "I will put you ashore in the morning under a flag of truce," the golden haired Queen of Dularn then told Lady Sanda. "I don't think a slave girl's collar would be `fitting' for one so brave and courageous as you," Maris added, giving Sanda a warm smile. I suspected that a certain old "hatred" had been buried. "Lorraine has a new sort of crossbow or ballistae that fires very rapidly," Lady Sanda said. "There is also some sort of `shielding' for the crew," she added, "That can be raised up as needed to protect those on deck from the missiles of an `enemy'". "Machine guns and armor plate," I smiled, glancing at Sanda. She was of the Scribes, an educated woman who would know of such. "Such a ship would be quite `heavy'," Maris now smiled back. "It would be `best' if a `ransom' was paid for me," Sanda said. "Otherwise people might `wonder' a bit about things here." The morning sun was just rising there over Trella when the North Star swung up into the wind just out of ballistae shot, the small galley with the truce flag there waiting for us. I watched Maris give Sanda an affectionate hug before the Prime Minister of Trelandar then climbed down into the waiting boat. It took lit- tle time to transfer the supplies we had requested as Sanda's "ransom". Enough fresh and preserved food to see us safely home even if we took a month or so to get there. Such being necessary to avoid crossing paths with Lorraine out there hunting for us!!! "There is something to be said for Scribes," Maris smiled as the North Star now filled its sails and headed back out to sea. I suspected that Lady Sanda might be a "friend" useful to us now. Maris had signed an "agreement" with Sanda which would no doubt "infuriate" both Lorraine and Darlanis had they known of it now! Dularn would no longer make war upon Trelandarian shipping. In return Trelandar would provide "safe harbor" for Dularnian ships. Lorraine could of course "override" such an "agreement", but it would be "embarrassing" for her to do so as Maris had assured Sanda that no Dularnian ship would now attack Trelandarian ships! "We're going to have to hunt down our own ships now and tell them that Trelandarian ships are no longer `fair game'," Carol noted, the sailing plans of such vessels being kept secret in a way that even Maris herself didn't really known where they were! "The only other ship in this area is the North Wind, and I think Miles (captain Miles Larson from Tvois) knows my `hand'," I heard Maris smile back. Copies of the agreement would be carried on all Trelandarian ships to be presented to any raider captain. While this "agreement" did help considerably, it also pre- sented the "problem" that there were a number of "pirates" oper- ating in these waters who would fly the flag of either side as they saw fit. These of course didn't care "who" they "attacked"! These pirates appear to be under the control of Princess Tara, of whom it may be said that she is truly "THE PRINCESS OF DARKNESS"! While in Lorraine's book (and Darlanis' too) it is claimed that Maris had a number of "privateers" in operation, the truth here is that Maris only had two in operation, these being the "ANISE", which was taken by an Imperial second rate off Sarn, and the "POLARIS", which discontinued operations shortly after learn- ing of the agreement between Maris and Lady Sanda of Trelandar. The other ships attributed to Dularn by Imperial writers were all pirate vessels flying the flag of Dularn or that of the Empire as they saw fit. It should also be noted here that the Empire also had a number of "privateers" of their own, many of who were lit- tle more than "pirates", there being evidence now that many of Princess Tara's organization actually "hired out" to the Empire of California as "privateers" so that they might be "legal". It should be noted here that the Empire suffers from being a feudal- istic society with a weak central government, many of the Lords and Ladies of the Empire being almost little "kings" and "queens" in their own right. I refer the reader here to Lorraine's first book where she notes this in passing, although she does not go into detail here. You might note however, her own activities did indicate that as a "Lady" she had considerable "power" over the people who lived in the hundreds of square miles she then ruled! The fact that she also maintained a warship of her own (the Squa- la) indicates that a High Lady like Lorraine actually did have the power to engage in some military operations all upon her own! "THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Thirty Six "Making a run for it," Maris spoke. We had all witnessed the scene there on the little yacht's deck. There was something strangely "familiar" about the woman now fleeing us, although in the darkness it was impossible to tell just who she actually was. That she was an Imperial "Lady" was obvious from her fine attire visible there in the little yacht's own helm and running lights. "Got `guts'," Carol spoke, the North Star's forward ballis- tae firing with a thud, putting another bolt into the now doubt- lessly sinking yacht! "And a `head' on her shoulders too," my wife added, more I now think to herself than to Maris or me then. The woman doing the best she could to prolong the final outcome. Men setting the topsails up there in the darkness, working by feel, the North Star heeling a bit, smashing through the waves! "Catapults!" Maris snapped, the North Star's catapults fir- ing this time, the little yacht's foresail now flapping uselessly as one of the shot hit a "vulnerable" spot. Even although it had "slowed" the little yacht, the woman was still yet fleeing us!!! The little vessel was "fast", its main mast tall, the hull slim, well designed for speed. The woman herself obviously competent!! We were chasing the yacht around in a circle, the North Star to the port of the other vessel, the yacht being "handier" than even the North Star in such a "contest" as this. We were faster, of course, but so far Maris had not given orders to fire at any- thing but the hull of the other vessel, or the woman who now so courageously fled us would have been a riddled corpse by now! It was like some "nightmare" from which she could not awake. Sanda could see the big Dularnian there just to port a bit astern as it continued to fire upon her. The fact that the bolts were aimed low left no doubts in her mind that they "wanted" her! And as a slave girl too, no doubt, Lady Sanda Talen knew fully well! And the way that her yacht now sailed left no doubt that it was sinking underneath her from the enemy ship's broadside! A dozen ballistae bolts having pierced her hull, driving right on through her vessel to protrude into the sea on the other side! The dead captain at her feet a grinning corpse she paid hardly any notice! The two sailors of her crew cowering there at the foot of the mast, both useless cowards who refused to even assist their Lady! The damaged foresail making the yacht pull to windward, hard to handle. The big Dularnian three master behind her well handled! "Prepare to grapple!" Maris snapped, the North Star coming about, a dozen men there at the rail ready to throw the grappling hooks that would mean the end of this brave Imperial woman's hopeless attempt to outsail the North Star in a private yacht! I felt Carol's hand grasp my arm, saw the woman there on the other vessel slash her yard rope with her sword and stand there facing us, her long slim blade gleaming there in the light of the lamps! One woman standing against the entire crew of a second rate ship! One against some ninety! I thought then of Lorraine, of Darla- nis. I understood then the true meaning of "courage" as never before. She did not wear the black of the Warrioress, but none of that caste could have been braver than this Imperial Lady!!!!! The impact was sudden, jarring, almost throwing Sanda from her feet. She had seen the name of the other ship, painted there on its bow. The terror clutching at her heart as she knew who would be in command! The one woman who had every reason in the world to hate her for what she had once done there years ago now! The North Star's grapples holding her sinking yacht helpless as a beautiful blonde haired woman, one she knew well from the past, now jumped down on to her deck, her own sword yet in her sheath! Maris Marn, the Queen of Dularn, who she had once "wronged" long ago when Maris had been but a slave girl and she the major domo! ***************************************************************** "Wonder where the North Star is now?" one of the officers on the quarterdeck ventured to another as Janice Hill stared out to sea. Into the darkness, keeping her own thoughts to herself now. "If I was them, I wouldn't even want to be on that ship when the Warlady catches up with them," the other officer now laughed. Janice smiling to herself at the words. At least she didn't have to worry about "morale". Apparently everyone thought that as long as they had Lorraine herself aboard "victory" was assured!!! ***************************************************************** "Draw," Sanda wept, knowing the fate that Maris no doubt had in mind for her. Whether or not she would be a "match" for the Queen of Dularn mattered little here as death would be preferred to the sort of a fate that no doubt Maris would have in mind now! "Perhaps `another time', Mrs. Talen," Maris Marn spoke then. "But for now I only ask that you come aboard as my honored guest." Sanda sheathed her sword, wondering what Maris "wanted"! "I believe you have met Bob and Carol Simmons," Maris spoke, "introducing" us again to the famous Prime Minister of Trelandar. "I see that a Scribe can be as brave as a Warrioress," my wife smiled, Lady Sanda nodding, her "nervousness" now obvious. We had taken aboard the two sailors, cast off from the sinking yacht, the North Star only half a dozen miles from Trella now as Carol and I followed Maris and Sanda down to her own stern cabin. "I don't think I've ever been so `scared'," Sanda admitted. "I wouldn't mind having you on `our side'," Maris added as La-ra poured wine and made herself otherwise "useful" to us now. "I thought you'd be long gone from here now that Lor- raine......," Sanda answered, perhaps not "thinking" right here. "And what has Lorraine done?" Maris asked as we sat there in the captain's cabin of the North Star. Her eyes burning hot into the darkness of Sanda's. I saw Sanda swallow nervously in turn! "I suppose you'll learn eventually," Sanda spoke softly, looking down at her hands, at the drink she held there in them. "Lorraine's already set sail in the Athena," I ventured. "I will `do' for you what I can if you will surrender now," Sanda spoke, looking up. "Lorraine will `listen' to me, I know. There are many here in Trelandar who consider your cause `just'." I was well aware that many in Trelandar had no love for Darlanis and that Sanda was one of them. No doubt with good cause here... "You once `abused' a slave girl placed in your power," Maris spoke in level tones. "You terrified her, made her think that.." Sanda nodding, holding Maris' eyes with her own. I recalled what Lorraine had written. Sanda had been "jealous" of Maris. It had, I supposed, been the sort of a thing meant more to "scare" than anything else. A kind of "practical joke" in a way, I feel. "Lorraine did look like `one'," Sanda spoke softly in reply. "You knew how I felt about such things," Maris snapped back. Carol sitting there beside me looked baffled. She had not read the books as carefully as I had. It had been a "nasty" trick. I supposed on the other hand there were a lot of women who would have done the same thing given the same circumstances. Sanda had been the major domo on the estate. Maris had been a slave girl. Sanda is a good looking woman, but not a "beautiful" one like Ma- ris. I don't think Sanda ever realized what Maris might do then. "You were `blonde', `beautiful'," Sanda spoke softly back. "It is something that any woman might do," I said then, put- ting my around Carol. I knew of what Carol had said to Maris in the hold of the Cleolantis. The Queen had told me the whole tale there when we had been captives on Lorraine's estate. I did not think Sanda was really "guilty" of all that much. It had been, I supposed, a "nasty trick" to pull on a helpless slave girl, but one I also felt that I could "understand" such a woman doing too! "She is a brave woman," Carol said to the Queen of Dularn. There was that in my wife's voice that left no "doubts" either!!! "I will put you ashore in the morning under a flag of truce," the golden haired Queen of Dularn then told Lady Sanda. "I don't think a slave girl's collar would be `fitting' for one so brave and courageous as you," Maris added, giving Sanda a warm smile. I suspected that a certain old "hatred" had been buried. "Lorraine has a new sort of crossbow or ballistae that fires very rapidly," Lady Sanda said. "There is also some sort of `shielding' for the crew," she added, "That can be raised up as needed to protect those on deck from the missiles of an `enemy'". "Machine guns and armor plate," I smiled, glancing at Sanda. She was of the Scribes, an educated woman who would know of such. "Such a ship would be quite `heavy'," Maris now smiled back. "It would be `best' if a `ransom' was paid for me," Sanda said. "Otherwise people might `wonder' a bit about things here." The morning sun was just rising there over Trella when the North Star swung up into the wind just out of ballistae shot, the small galley with the truce flag there waiting for us. I watched Maris give Sanda an affectionate hug before the Prime Minister of Trelandar then climbed down into the waiting boat. It took lit- tle time to transfer the supplies we had requested as Sanda's "ransom". Enough fresh and preserved food to see us safely home even if we took a month or so to get there. Such being necessary to avoid crossing paths with Lorraine out there hunting for us!!! "There is something to be said for Scribes," Maris smiled as the North Star now filled its sails and headed back out to sea. I suspected that Lady Sanda might be a "friend" useful to us now. Maris had signed an "agreement" with Sanda which would no doubt "infuriate" both Lorraine and Darlanis had they known of it now! Dularn would no longer make war upon Trelandarian shipping. In return Trelandar would provide "safe harbor" for Dularnian ships. Lorraine could of course "override" such an "agreement", but it would be "embarrassing" for her to do so as Maris had assured Sanda that no Dularnian ship would now attack Trelandarian ships! "We're going to have to hunt down our own ships now and tell them that Trelandarian ships are no longer `fair game'," Carol noted, the sailing plans of such vessels being kept secret in a way that even Maris herself didn't really known where they were! "The only other ship in this area is the North Wind, and I think Miles (captain Miles Larson from Tvois) knows my `hand'," I heard Maris smile back. Copies of the agreement would be carried on all Trelandarian ships to be presented to any raider captain. While this "agreement" did help considerably, it also pre- sented the "problem" that there were a number of "pirates" oper- ating in these waters who would fly the flag of either side as they saw fit. These of course didn't care "who" they "attacked"! These pirates appear to be under the control of Princess Tara, of whom it may be said that she is truly "THE PRINCESS OF DARKNESS"! While in Lorraine's book (and Darlanis' too) it is claimed that Maris had a number of "privateers" in operation, the truth here is that Maris only had two in operation, these being the "ANISE", which was taken by an Imperial second rate off Sarn, and the "POLARIS", which discontinued operations shortly after learn- ing of the agreement between Maris and Lady Sanda of Trelandar. The other ships attributed to Dularn by Imperial writers were all pirate vessels flying the flag of Dularn or that of the Empire as they saw fit. It should also be noted here that the Empire also had a number of "privateers" of their own, many of who were lit- tle more than "pirates", there being evidence now that many of Princess Tara's organization actually "hired out" to the Empire of California as "privateers" so that they might be "legal". It should be noted here that the Empire suffers from being a feudal- istic society with a weak central government, many of the Lords and Ladies of the Empire being almost little "kings" and "queens" in their own right. I refer the reader here to Lorraine's first book where she notes this in passing, although she does not go into detail here. You might note however, her own activities did indicate that as a "Lady" she had considerable "power" over the people who lived in the hundreds of square miles she then ruled! The fact that she also maintained a warship of her own (the Squa- la) indicates that a High Lady like Lorraine actually did have the power to engage in some military operations all upon her own! |
|
|