"2567-52" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 5 - The Warlady Of Dularn)"THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Fifty Two
"She's `good'," Queen Maris said, Darlanis there speaking to
the people of this little city less than a days' sail south of
Dularn. I had to agree that Darlanis was "impressive". Even Ma-
ris, who is a beautiful woman, looked "plain" up beside Darlanis.
The beautiful golden haired Empress was doing her best to con-
vince the people that she, not Maris, could "do" more for them...
"What the people want to hear is the `truth'," Carol spoke.
During the time Carol and I had made our voyage to the south the
Empress had carried "war" north to Dularn itself, using much the
same tactics that Carol had developed for Maris. Such had put a
considerable amount of political pressure on Maris to "settle"...
There had been only three ships, two third rates and one second
rate, but against an unprepared people they had spread terror
along the entire western coast of Dularn in only a few weeks. I
suspected that while the ships had been Darlanis', the "tactics"
had been those of Lorraine, who like Carol and I, understood the
effective application of terrorism against a civilian population.
"Does pretty good once she gets going," I said to Carol, who
nodded in reply. Darlanis was more "popular" than we'd expected.
Sharon had been a big "asset" to her, one we hadn't planned on!!!
Maris was speaking of a time long ago, when men founded a new
country on ideals they had been willing to put their lives on the
"line" for. When they had fought another "empire" now only a few
lines in the history books. Against a "superior" military power.
I listened to her speak of John Paul Jones, of an epic battle at
sea in another era now half myth. Her words bringing back memo-
ries of when I had stood on the quarterdeck of the North Star,
the sails of the Athena towering up into the dark sky before me.
Maris spoke of a flag, one of thirteen stars, thirteen stripes.
Of a country where it was understood that weapons and freedom
went hand in hand, something that another later on "forgot", the
name of Janet Rogers not being all that "honored" here in Dularn!
The "elections" were "closer" than we had expected, although
I suppose there was no doubt that we'd "win" against the Empire.
Darlanis took her "loss" with the regal poise that marks a true
Empress, although we did "sweeten" the loss a bit by agreeing to
certain "terms" that would be of benefit to everyone concerned...
(December 23, 2567)
"There's something `wrong', isn't there," I said to Carol as
she sat there looking out the window at the falling snow, the
streets of Arsana slippery and half filled with slush. I was a
"admiral" now, with the North Star and the new Northlight (the
former slaver) now a part of the squadron that I commanded. We
were having our "problems" with pirates from the north, who de-
scended upon Dularnian coastal villages like the Vikings of old.
I had told Maris only this morning that a "defensive" policy of
the sort she was now using was useless, that we needed to send
enough ships and men to clean out these "nests" of trouble makers
for good! If necessary perhaps seek the assistance of Lorraine!!
"I miss what we used to have," Carol said softly. "I miss
the `love', the little `games' that we used to `play' together."
I knew what she meant. No longer could Carol run around in her
provocatively daring buckskin bikinis, no longer could she "do"
all the things that we'd done in the first fifteen years of our
marriage. Now we had "responsibilities", a "position" to uphold.
It was true that Carol no longer had to concern herself with
"housework" or anything else like that, Kathi being our "house-
keeper and cook" along with everything else, but yet I knew and
understood just what my wife was driving at here. For fifteen
years we had lived a life of "freedom", and now we were "tied
down" with the burdens of our respective positions, with serving
a Queen who in her way could be extremely demanding of our time!!
"Is that `what' you now truly wish, Carol Simmons?" a well
modulated woman's voice suddenly spoke, a shimmering figure of a
blonde haired woman in a long white gown materializing before us!
"Do you wish to again `lead' the life that you led once before?"
"Tais!" I breathed, well aware of "who" this "visitor" was!!
The First Priestess standing there, her blue eyes glowing softly.
The golden ankh on her bosom was set with precious jewels, I saw.
She was, I knew, the true ruler of the solar system. She had the
power to cross both time and space, to travel anywhere, any time!
"You are thinking, Bob Simmons, that I could go back in time
and warn Janet Rogers of what would happen, or perhaps even fur-
ther back in time to other eras, put a stop to the evil, to the
mistakes that the human race has made since the dawn of history."
Tais' eyes holding mine, her awesome power to read minds only one
of the powers that she possessed from what I'd been told earlier!
"I assume you have good reason for what you do," I answered.
"We are not `infallible', but we do try to do our `best',"
she smiled back. "And `history' is not as `easy' to alter as you
may think." I supposed it was true. Such things have their own
inertia. The War of 2047 was not caused by Janet Rogers, but by
others who sought to rid the solar system of the Lorr. What Car-
ol and I had done in this time probably hadn't altered that much!
"I do miss my life that I had back home," Carol said then.
"But here you are important to others," Tais pointed out.
"I think you also know something you aren't telling us," I
said. I suspected that she had the power to see into the future!
"In your time Carol would have never been able to have chil-
dren," Tais answered. This was not true of course in this era!
And with this she was suddenly "gone", just a brief flicker of
light that made you wonder if she'd ever truly been here with us!
"I think our questions have been answered," Carol said then.
She would make a good mother, I thought to myself, kissing her.
We would speak to the Priestesses here in Arsana, have it done...
We had dinner with the Queen of Dularn for Christmas. While
"Christianity" is virtually extinct, the old holiday is still
celebrated on December 25th as it was long ago. Even the Priest-
esses of Lys don't seem to "object" to this holiday although they
claim that Jesus was just another "forerunner" of the "truths"
that were "revealed" to the first of the Priestesses of Lys.
Perhaps they are right. I know that Lorraine once said to me
that she believed in them, even if she didn't "agree" with every-
thing they taught. In any case Carol and I did have a good
Christmas, while gently outside the snow flakes drifted down to
now coat the city of Arsana with a concealing blanket of white...
The End
"THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Fifty Two "She's `good'," Queen Maris said, Darlanis there speaking to the people of this little city less than a days' sail south of Dularn. I had to agree that Darlanis was "impressive". Even Ma- ris, who is a beautiful woman, looked "plain" up beside Darlanis. The beautiful golden haired Empress was doing her best to con- vince the people that she, not Maris, could "do" more for them... "What the people want to hear is the `truth'," Carol spoke. During the time Carol and I had made our voyage to the south the Empress had carried "war" north to Dularn itself, using much the same tactics that Carol had developed for Maris. Such had put a considerable amount of political pressure on Maris to "settle"... There had been only three ships, two third rates and one second rate, but against an unprepared people they had spread terror along the entire western coast of Dularn in only a few weeks. I suspected that while the ships had been Darlanis', the "tactics" had been those of Lorraine, who like Carol and I, understood the effective application of terrorism against a civilian population. "Does pretty good once she gets going," I said to Carol, who nodded in reply. Darlanis was more "popular" than we'd expected. Sharon had been a big "asset" to her, one we hadn't planned on!!! Maris was speaking of a time long ago, when men founded a new country on ideals they had been willing to put their lives on the "line" for. When they had fought another "empire" now only a few lines in the history books. Against a "superior" military power. I listened to her speak of John Paul Jones, of an epic battle at sea in another era now half myth. Her words bringing back memo- ries of when I had stood on the quarterdeck of the North Star, the sails of the Athena towering up into the dark sky before me. Maris spoke of a flag, one of thirteen stars, thirteen stripes. Of a country where it was understood that weapons and freedom went hand in hand, something that another later on "forgot", the name of Janet Rogers not being all that "honored" here in Dularn! The "elections" were "closer" than we had expected, although I suppose there was no doubt that we'd "win" against the Empire. Darlanis took her "loss" with the regal poise that marks a true Empress, although we did "sweeten" the loss a bit by agreeing to certain "terms" that would be of benefit to everyone concerned... (December 23, 2567) "There's something `wrong', isn't there," I said to Carol as she sat there looking out the window at the falling snow, the streets of Arsana slippery and half filled with slush. I was a "admiral" now, with the North Star and the new Northlight (the former slaver) now a part of the squadron that I commanded. We were having our "problems" with pirates from the north, who de- scended upon Dularnian coastal villages like the Vikings of old. I had told Maris only this morning that a "defensive" policy of the sort she was now using was useless, that we needed to send enough ships and men to clean out these "nests" of trouble makers for good! If necessary perhaps seek the assistance of Lorraine!! "I miss what we used to have," Carol said softly. "I miss the `love', the little `games' that we used to `play' together." I knew what she meant. No longer could Carol run around in her provocatively daring buckskin bikinis, no longer could she "do" all the things that we'd done in the first fifteen years of our marriage. Now we had "responsibilities", a "position" to uphold. It was true that Carol no longer had to concern herself with "housework" or anything else like that, Kathi being our "house- keeper and cook" along with everything else, but yet I knew and understood just what my wife was driving at here. For fifteen years we had lived a life of "freedom", and now we were "tied down" with the burdens of our respective positions, with serving a Queen who in her way could be extremely demanding of our time!! "Is that `what' you now truly wish, Carol Simmons?" a well modulated woman's voice suddenly spoke, a shimmering figure of a blonde haired woman in a long white gown materializing before us! "Do you wish to again `lead' the life that you led once before?" "Tais!" I breathed, well aware of "who" this "visitor" was!! The First Priestess standing there, her blue eyes glowing softly. The golden ankh on her bosom was set with precious jewels, I saw. She was, I knew, the true ruler of the solar system. She had the power to cross both time and space, to travel anywhere, any time! "You are thinking, Bob Simmons, that I could go back in time and warn Janet Rogers of what would happen, or perhaps even fur- ther back in time to other eras, put a stop to the evil, to the mistakes that the human race has made since the dawn of history." Tais' eyes holding mine, her awesome power to read minds only one of the powers that she possessed from what I'd been told earlier! "I assume you have good reason for what you do," I answered. "We are not `infallible', but we do try to do our `best'," she smiled back. "And `history' is not as `easy' to alter as you may think." I supposed it was true. Such things have their own inertia. The War of 2047 was not caused by Janet Rogers, but by others who sought to rid the solar system of the Lorr. What Car- ol and I had done in this time probably hadn't altered that much! "I do miss my life that I had back home," Carol said then. "But here you are important to others," Tais pointed out. "I think you also know something you aren't telling us," I said. I suspected that she had the power to see into the future! "In your time Carol would have never been able to have chil- dren," Tais answered. This was not true of course in this era! And with this she was suddenly "gone", just a brief flicker of light that made you wonder if she'd ever truly been here with us! "I think our questions have been answered," Carol said then. She would make a good mother, I thought to myself, kissing her. We would speak to the Priestesses here in Arsana, have it done... We had dinner with the Queen of Dularn for Christmas. While "Christianity" is virtually extinct, the old holiday is still celebrated on December 25th as it was long ago. Even the Priest- esses of Lys don't seem to "object" to this holiday although they claim that Jesus was just another "forerunner" of the "truths" that were "revealed" to the first of the Priestesses of Lys. Perhaps they are right. I know that Lorraine once said to me that she believed in them, even if she didn't "agree" with every- thing they taught. In any case Carol and I did have a good Christmas, while gently outside the snow flakes drifted down to now coat the city of Arsana with a concealing blanket of white... The End |
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