"2567-37" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 5 - The Warlady Of Dularn)"THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Thirty Seven "Was Kathi `good' last night?" Carol teased, her naked body warm against mine as she gently caressed me there under the cov- ers. The gentle roll of the ship there in the dawn was pleasant. Last night Carol had suggested that I try Kathi out before I re- tired for the night. The provocative slave girl had been "good in bed", but no true "match" for a skillful lover like my Carol. I understood too why my wife had made the suggestion that she had now. I recalled too Lady Sanda, Maris. Kathi was a "blonde". "You're `better'," I said, touching that half healed scar. "Love makes a `difference'," my wife observed with a smile. "Fire!" Carol snapped, swinging down her sword. Our broad- side disappearing into the night. I could see the flames of our fire bombs. The boats being released from the tow as the North Star came about half a minute later to fire her second broadside with the port battery. The land breeze now scarcely filling our sails. Lars as second officer in command of the landing party. We were making our "presence" known here in southern Sarn now. I had no doubt that Empress Darlanis would soon be "hearing" of us. The "damage" we did was minor. The political "impact" was major. No longer could the high born Lords and Ladies of Sarn rest easy! We had brought "war" to their shores in a way that left no doubt! "Ready for your `sailing lesson'?" Maris smiled up at me, standing there on the quarterdeck, the wind blowing her golden hair. A big "grin" on her beautiful face. She would no doubt "enjoy" this, I mused to myself. Carol had been smart enough not to "fall" for her offer. I suspected too that I knew the "rea- son" why! There was a "subtle" tension between the two women. Now once again at sea, in "control" of things, Maris had regained her own self-confidence. She was no longer as "deferring" to my wife as she had been earlier on. She now met Carol's eyes more squarely. And I had no doubts that my wife was also very much "aware" too of Maris' beauty, of her "blondness", of her "rank". "Take the wheel," she smiled. I did so. Maris then gave orders, the sails being reset just a bit. It was then up to me to give the orders that would "correct" matters. A sailing ship will "pull" if the sails are not properly set. One must set the jib and the spanker properly. Maris, to make things a bit more "difficult", had also mis-set the main sail which required that I had to also take this into consideration using the "vector of forces" concept which is used by all the great sailors. Using the "feel" of the ship, I then gave the orders which reset the sails, and not back exactly as Maris had them, the blonde being "crafty" enough to have slightly mis-set the sails earlier so that I could not merely "reverse" the orders that she had given! "And now lets see you sail without the rudder," Maris smiled, lashing the wheel. She then made me set various courses without using the rudder, the most "difficult" being actually to tack the ship without the rudder, which gave me considerable dif- ficulty (the North Star being "taken all aback") until I recalled that the spanker tended to push the ship into the wind and the jib pushed the ship away from the wind. Maris now standing there smiling to herself as the sails flapped like crazy in the wind! "I think I can now `trust' you to sail the ship," she laughed as I learned how to control the ship without ever using the rudder. "I'd like to know the `truth'," Carol said to Maris as they stood together on the North Star's quarterdeck, the sea heavy, the ship often taking spray over the bow that wetted almost the entire length of the ship. At some twenty miles out to sea there was nothing to be seen but heaving water there in all directions. To starboard there were clouds, perhaps rain falling from them on grateful Peasants, the summer having been a bit "dry" so far yet. "What do you mean?" Maris asked, well aware of "what" Carol was talking about. Her very presence here on the North Star was "something" that had given birth to fantastic rumors ever since they had left Dularn behind with the last of the winter snows. I myself had "suspected" that Maris was "fleeing" from something. Yet, even when we had been Lorraine's captives she had not shared this with me, saying that it had little "bearing" now on matters. "You're `running' from something, and it's not Lorraine," my wife spoke. Maris nodding, wondering if even Carol should be told. That the North Star was practically a "Flying Dutchman" never to be able to return back to its home as long as she re- mained in command of the ship. The "threat" that had been made there in Arsana had left no doubts! The note that had been wrapped around the crossbow bolt shot through a palace window had been warning enough for her! She had "trespassed" where no Queen of Dularn before her had ever dared to "trespass". She had fled what could have awaited her in Arsana! Back to her beloved ship! "You know of my personal `opposition' to slavery except as a means of dealing with criminals," Maris answered back in soft low tones, glancing about the ship. The brownette nodding in reply, her hazel eyes glowing into the lovely emerald of the Dularnian. "We both `believe' in the same things," Carol smiled back. "I `offended' some very powerful men in Dularn," Maris said. "I think a `contract' was put out on me for what I did." Carol standing there staring at her as if she could not believe her!!! "But you're the QUEEN OF DULARN!!!" Carol gasped in reply. "There are many in Dularn who blame me for this war," Maris replied. "It is `believed' by some that I actually started it." "Lorraine believes that it was started by Princess Tara," Carol answered. She recalled that much of the Warlady's books. Tara had survived the storm there far out at sea, and had managed to reach the mainland again with the Swiftstar, it was known now. "My late husband was allied with Tara, I believe now," Maris answered. "I found `proof' after his death of such `dealings'." "That still doesn't explain why someone wants you dead," Carol protested, although the brownette suspected that Princess Tara would prefer someone else on the throne than Maris Marn now! A Queen who would ask fewer "questions" of the sort that other Queens had never asked. A Queen who was willing to "accept" things as they were without offending some very powerful people! Not even Lorraine or Darlanis had ever attempted to alter things! The recent revolution in Trelandar had made little "difference".* * The reader will recall here that there was an attempt to assas- sinate Lorraine by a hired crossbowman back in 2565 A.D. (J.B.) "I attempted to `outlaw' human slavery in Dularn save for criminals," Maris spoke softly, Carol nodding in "understanding"! Such Carol knew well would have aroused the "ire" of some very "powerful" people. Especially against a Queen who was not of any "royal blood" as such, Maris having been just a simple Warrioress before her marriage to Prince Darl Jord in the late fall of 2565. In a "class conscious" society like those of the 26th Century such had considerably greater "implications" than in our own era. Many Dularnians considering Maris Marn as being a "Vanna White"!! Just another "gold digger" who had "bedded" her way to the crown! "The men of this era aren't the `wimps' of my time," Carol smiled. She had already experienced the "reaction" that a woman got if she "pushed" too hard in certain areas. She had been told that there are certain "issues" that "YOU DON'T EVER VOTE UPON"! Carol had also been "warned" that "feminists" don't "live long"!! "There is a `line', and I crossed it," Maris answered back. "There is a tradition of `terrorism' that dates back to the time of Janet Rogers," Maris added, recalling her own education, her own readings. Even Janet herself had never crossed the "line"!* * It is my "theory" here that much of the present "violence" di- rected against women right now is in a way a form of "terrorism." I suspect that "terrorism" against women may very well be taking the form of sexual attacks (RAPE AS AN ACT OF SEXUAL LIBERATION). If we think of women as "white" and men as "black" this concept becomes much easier to "understand". The fact that in our own society women are "members of the privileged sex" much as whites are "members of the privileged races" perhaps accounts for more here than what we realize. I explore this concept further in my book "M.P.S". The only reason men do not "understand" this today is due to the fact that their "consciousness" has not been "raised". Once this occurs (it occurred in the 21st Century), then men will no longer look upon women quite the same! (J.B.) "It doesn't make any sense," Carol said to me later on as we stood together at the bow, enjoying the spray, the sense of just being together after every thing we'd been through together now. "It makes a lot of `sense' and Maris is going to have `eat crow' if she ever wants to go home again," I answered Carol back. "Because she tried to outlaw the enslaving of women?" Carol protested. "Because one woman `stood up' in this time and said that women are more than just `PUSSY' to be enslaved by the first `hairy barbarian' that happens to come along!" The "tone" of my wife's voice leaving no doubts as to just "where" she stood here! "The men of this era are `men', those of our time weren't," I answered. "And here a `line' has been drawn that no woman, not Maris, not Lorraine, not you can ever dare `cross' and survive." "You always were a `NEANDERTHAL'," Carol answered in icy tones, moving away a bit, the "hostility" showing in her voice. "Perhaps they `knew' a few things we've forgotten," I said. "You always said that you found most men of our time `boring'." What women said they "wanted" intellectually is quite "different" from what their own biological drives actually "responded" to. I recalled the writings of John Norman, those of Carol herself... "I didn't like being a slave girl," Carol protested back. "I didn't enjoy it either," I pointed out then to my wife. "Lorraine once said to me that she thought that the final war on the Earth would be fought between men and women," my wife said, giving me a bit of a wan smile. "And perhaps it has," Car- ol added, staring out to sea. "And my sex has `lost' the war." "I think women `won', but they did it by `example' not law," I said, putting my arm around Carol. "Just look at you, or any of the women here on this ship, and you can see `true equality'." "I don't like the idea of `enslaving women'," Carol said. "Slave girls are often `loved' more than wives," I smiled. "What every man `wants'!" Carol now snorted back in disgust. "A woman who has to `perform' whenever he wants her to, and who must keep her `opinions' to herself for fear of a good whipping!" "And on the other hand she is `loved' far more than any `free woman' ever can be," I answered, "With one exception here," looking into those lovely hazel eyes that looked right into mine. "I never `was' like other wives, was I?" Carol smiled back. "One in a million," I smiled, drawing her close, kissing. "Sail Ho!" the cry came down from the mainmast masthead. The woman up there on watch peering through her telescope at the horizon. We were well out from land. Further out than most ships ever go in this era. Our blue green sails made us hard to spot until we came hull up over the horizon. Normally however we operated mostly at night, being well aware of being one ship off a hostile shore. We were all much "aware" of that fact, I note. "What do you see?" Maris called up, Carol and I coming up on deck from below. A bit "flushed" yet from what we'd been doing! "Two ships, the first a big three master, the second a two master," the woman called down. A low sound of worried muttering going over those on deck. Such could be an Imperial first rate being followed by a third rate similar to the "Huntress" class. "Trouble?" I asked, thinking like everyone else of warships. Maris shaking her head in the "negative", and then climbing the rigging herself for a better look at the distant pair of ships! "The only Imperials north of us would be the Athena," Lars said to me. I nodded. The rest of Lorraine's fleet was some- where yet in the Gulf of Cortez fighting against the Mexicans. I supposed that Darlanis had some ships of her own, but so far as we knew, she had never authorized the construction any first rates as the Empress did not consider them to be of much "value". On the other hand the three master could be one of Darlanis' own second rates, such ships being "copies" of the North Star itself! "Looks like the Sarn to Trella clipper has met up with some pirate!" Maris called down, the clipper ship being considered to be "fast" enough to outsail any "North" class Dularnian raider! "`Who' would have anything `fast' enough?" Carol breathed. The clipper was "fast", but also "clumsy" like all square rig- gers. It was usually towed out of harbor and towed back in by a galley, as it had little ability to tack or sail into the wind. On the other hand with the wind in its favor it was "faster" than any fore and aft rigged schooner due to its greater sail area. I watched Maris come scambling down the rigging, the Queen moving with a sureness that told of long experience. She had also lost weight due to all our recent adventures, and looked "good" too!* * My wife had also introduced a program of "physical fitness" on the North Star which did a lot to help things along here. (R.S.) "It can only be the Swiftstar!" Maris gasped, striding up to us, yelling out orders to have every bit of sail set! "And I'm going to get it back!" she added, her green eyes now glowing hot! "THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Thirty Seven "Was Kathi `good' last night?" Carol teased, her naked body warm against mine as she gently caressed me there under the cov- ers. The gentle roll of the ship there in the dawn was pleasant. Last night Carol had suggested that I try Kathi out before I re- tired for the night. The provocative slave girl had been "good in bed", but no true "match" for a skillful lover like my Carol. I understood too why my wife had made the suggestion that she had now. I recalled too Lady Sanda, Maris. Kathi was a "blonde". "You're `better'," I said, touching that half healed scar. "Love makes a `difference'," my wife observed with a smile. "Fire!" Carol snapped, swinging down her sword. Our broad- side disappearing into the night. I could see the flames of our fire bombs. The boats being released from the tow as the North Star came about half a minute later to fire her second broadside with the port battery. The land breeze now scarcely filling our sails. Lars as second officer in command of the landing party. We were making our "presence" known here in southern Sarn now. I had no doubt that Empress Darlanis would soon be "hearing" of us. The "damage" we did was minor. The political "impact" was major. No longer could the high born Lords and Ladies of Sarn rest easy! We had brought "war" to their shores in a way that left no doubt! "Ready for your `sailing lesson'?" Maris smiled up at me, standing there on the quarterdeck, the wind blowing her golden hair. A big "grin" on her beautiful face. She would no doubt "enjoy" this, I mused to myself. Carol had been smart enough not to "fall" for her offer. I suspected too that I knew the "rea- son" why! There was a "subtle" tension between the two women. Now once again at sea, in "control" of things, Maris had regained her own self-confidence. She was no longer as "deferring" to my wife as she had been earlier on. She now met Carol's eyes more squarely. And I had no doubts that my wife was also very much "aware" too of Maris' beauty, of her "blondness", of her "rank". "Take the wheel," she smiled. I did so. Maris then gave orders, the sails being reset just a bit. It was then up to me to give the orders that would "correct" matters. A sailing ship will "pull" if the sails are not properly set. One must set the jib and the spanker properly. Maris, to make things a bit more "difficult", had also mis-set the main sail which required that I had to also take this into consideration using the "vector of forces" concept which is used by all the great sailors. Using the "feel" of the ship, I then gave the orders which reset the sails, and not back exactly as Maris had them, the blonde being "crafty" enough to have slightly mis-set the sails earlier so that I could not merely "reverse" the orders that she had given! "And now lets see you sail without the rudder," Maris smiled, lashing the wheel. She then made me set various courses without using the rudder, the most "difficult" being actually to tack the ship without the rudder, which gave me considerable dif- ficulty (the North Star being "taken all aback") until I recalled that the spanker tended to push the ship into the wind and the jib pushed the ship away from the wind. Maris now standing there smiling to herself as the sails flapped like crazy in the wind! "I think I can now `trust' you to sail the ship," she laughed as I learned how to control the ship without ever using the rudder. "I'd like to know the `truth'," Carol said to Maris as they stood together on the North Star's quarterdeck, the sea heavy, the ship often taking spray over the bow that wetted almost the entire length of the ship. At some twenty miles out to sea there was nothing to be seen but heaving water there in all directions. To starboard there were clouds, perhaps rain falling from them on grateful Peasants, the summer having been a bit "dry" so far yet. "What do you mean?" Maris asked, well aware of "what" Carol was talking about. Her very presence here on the North Star was "something" that had given birth to fantastic rumors ever since they had left Dularn behind with the last of the winter snows. I myself had "suspected" that Maris was "fleeing" from something. Yet, even when we had been Lorraine's captives she had not shared this with me, saying that it had little "bearing" now on matters. "You're `running' from something, and it's not Lorraine," my wife spoke. Maris nodding, wondering if even Carol should be told. That the North Star was practically a "Flying Dutchman" never to be able to return back to its home as long as she re- mained in command of the ship. The "threat" that had been made there in Arsana had left no doubts! The note that had been wrapped around the crossbow bolt shot through a palace window had been warning enough for her! She had "trespassed" where no Queen of Dularn before her had ever dared to "trespass". She had fled what could have awaited her in Arsana! Back to her beloved ship! "You know of my personal `opposition' to slavery except as a means of dealing with criminals," Maris answered back in soft low tones, glancing about the ship. The brownette nodding in reply, her hazel eyes glowing into the lovely emerald of the Dularnian. "We both `believe' in the same things," Carol smiled back. "I `offended' some very powerful men in Dularn," Maris said. "I think a `contract' was put out on me for what I did." Carol standing there staring at her as if she could not believe her!!! "But you're the QUEEN OF DULARN!!!" Carol gasped in reply. "There are many in Dularn who blame me for this war," Maris replied. "It is `believed' by some that I actually started it." "Lorraine believes that it was started by Princess Tara," Carol answered. She recalled that much of the Warlady's books. Tara had survived the storm there far out at sea, and had managed to reach the mainland again with the Swiftstar, it was known now. "My late husband was allied with Tara, I believe now," Maris answered. "I found `proof' after his death of such `dealings'." "That still doesn't explain why someone wants you dead," Carol protested, although the brownette suspected that Princess Tara would prefer someone else on the throne than Maris Marn now! A Queen who would ask fewer "questions" of the sort that other Queens had never asked. A Queen who was willing to "accept" things as they were without offending some very powerful people! Not even Lorraine or Darlanis had ever attempted to alter things! The recent revolution in Trelandar had made little "difference".* * The reader will recall here that there was an attempt to assas- sinate Lorraine by a hired crossbowman back in 2565 A.D. (J.B.) "I attempted to `outlaw' human slavery in Dularn save for criminals," Maris spoke softly, Carol nodding in "understanding"! Such Carol knew well would have aroused the "ire" of some very "powerful" people. Especially against a Queen who was not of any "royal blood" as such, Maris having been just a simple Warrioress before her marriage to Prince Darl Jord in the late fall of 2565. In a "class conscious" society like those of the 26th Century such had considerably greater "implications" than in our own era. Many Dularnians considering Maris Marn as being a "Vanna White"!! Just another "gold digger" who had "bedded" her way to the crown! "The men of this era aren't the `wimps' of my time," Carol smiled. She had already experienced the "reaction" that a woman got if she "pushed" too hard in certain areas. She had been told that there are certain "issues" that "YOU DON'T EVER VOTE UPON"! Carol had also been "warned" that "feminists" don't "live long"!! "There is a `line', and I crossed it," Maris answered back. "There is a tradition of `terrorism' that dates back to the time of Janet Rogers," Maris added, recalling her own education, her own readings. Even Janet herself had never crossed the "line"!* * It is my "theory" here that much of the present "violence" di- rected against women right now is in a way a form of "terrorism." I suspect that "terrorism" against women may very well be taking the form of sexual attacks (RAPE AS AN ACT OF SEXUAL LIBERATION). If we think of women as "white" and men as "black" this concept becomes much easier to "understand". The fact that in our own society women are "members of the privileged sex" much as whites are "members of the privileged races" perhaps accounts for more here than what we realize. I explore this concept further in my book "M.P.S". The only reason men do not "understand" this today is due to the fact that their "consciousness" has not been "raised". Once this occurs (it occurred in the 21st Century), then men will no longer look upon women quite the same! (J.B.) "It doesn't make any sense," Carol said to me later on as we stood together at the bow, enjoying the spray, the sense of just being together after every thing we'd been through together now. "It makes a lot of `sense' and Maris is going to have `eat crow' if she ever wants to go home again," I answered Carol back. "Because she tried to outlaw the enslaving of women?" Carol protested. "Because one woman `stood up' in this time and said that women are more than just `PUSSY' to be enslaved by the first `hairy barbarian' that happens to come along!" The "tone" of my wife's voice leaving no doubts as to just "where" she stood here! "The men of this era are `men', those of our time weren't," I answered. "And here a `line' has been drawn that no woman, not Maris, not Lorraine, not you can ever dare `cross' and survive." "You always were a `NEANDERTHAL'," Carol answered in icy tones, moving away a bit, the "hostility" showing in her voice. "Perhaps they `knew' a few things we've forgotten," I said. "You always said that you found most men of our time `boring'." What women said they "wanted" intellectually is quite "different" from what their own biological drives actually "responded" to. I recalled the writings of John Norman, those of Carol herself... "I didn't like being a slave girl," Carol protested back. "I didn't enjoy it either," I pointed out then to my wife. "Lorraine once said to me that she thought that the final war on the Earth would be fought between men and women," my wife said, giving me a bit of a wan smile. "And perhaps it has," Car- ol added, staring out to sea. "And my sex has `lost' the war." "I think women `won', but they did it by `example' not law," I said, putting my arm around Carol. "Just look at you, or any of the women here on this ship, and you can see `true equality'." "I don't like the idea of `enslaving women'," Carol said. "Slave girls are often `loved' more than wives," I smiled. "What every man `wants'!" Carol now snorted back in disgust. "A woman who has to `perform' whenever he wants her to, and who must keep her `opinions' to herself for fear of a good whipping!" "And on the other hand she is `loved' far more than any `free woman' ever can be," I answered, "With one exception here," looking into those lovely hazel eyes that looked right into mine. "I never `was' like other wives, was I?" Carol smiled back. "One in a million," I smiled, drawing her close, kissing. "Sail Ho!" the cry came down from the mainmast masthead. The woman up there on watch peering through her telescope at the horizon. We were well out from land. Further out than most ships ever go in this era. Our blue green sails made us hard to spot until we came hull up over the horizon. Normally however we operated mostly at night, being well aware of being one ship off a hostile shore. We were all much "aware" of that fact, I note. "What do you see?" Maris called up, Carol and I coming up on deck from below. A bit "flushed" yet from what we'd been doing! "Two ships, the first a big three master, the second a two master," the woman called down. A low sound of worried muttering going over those on deck. Such could be an Imperial first rate being followed by a third rate similar to the "Huntress" class. "Trouble?" I asked, thinking like everyone else of warships. Maris shaking her head in the "negative", and then climbing the rigging herself for a better look at the distant pair of ships! "The only Imperials north of us would be the Athena," Lars said to me. I nodded. The rest of Lorraine's fleet was some- where yet in the Gulf of Cortez fighting against the Mexicans. I supposed that Darlanis had some ships of her own, but so far as we knew, she had never authorized the construction any first rates as the Empress did not consider them to be of much "value". On the other hand the three master could be one of Darlanis' own second rates, such ships being "copies" of the North Star itself! "Looks like the Sarn to Trella clipper has met up with some pirate!" Maris called down, the clipper ship being considered to be "fast" enough to outsail any "North" class Dularnian raider! "`Who' would have anything `fast' enough?" Carol breathed. The clipper was "fast", but also "clumsy" like all square rig- gers. It was usually towed out of harbor and towed back in by a galley, as it had little ability to tack or sail into the wind. On the other hand with the wind in its favor it was "faster" than any fore and aft rigged schooner due to its greater sail area. I watched Maris come scambling down the rigging, the Queen moving with a sureness that told of long experience. She had also lost weight due to all our recent adventures, and looked "good" too!* * My wife had also introduced a program of "physical fitness" on the North Star which did a lot to help things along here. (R.S.) "It can only be the Swiftstar!" Maris gasped, striding up to us, yelling out orders to have every bit of sail set! "And I'm going to get it back!" she added, her green eyes now glowing hot! |
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