"2568-12" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 6 - In Harms Way)"IN HARM'S WAY" AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Robert J. Simmons Chapter Twelve "Guess I never knew `what' they were," Carol said to me, Tais having gone for a walk in the woods down to the little lake. I suppose to her this "land" of ours, this society was "legend". She was not of the Twentieth Century, or even really of "Earth". "We `neuter' dogs, so I suppose it makes `sense' in a way," I answered, soaking up the welcome heat of the sun on the chaise lounge, Carol stretched out on the other one, doing the same now. "But I saw her naked and she didn't look any `different'," my wife protested. I supposed the operation didn't leave scars. The Priestesses had a "technology" far in advance of anything we knew, although the Physicians of the 26th Century could perform operations too without badly scarring a person's body. There was a "mark", but it wasn't anything like that left by surgery of our own time, the "glue" being used sealing flesh together far better than stitches ever could. Tais had the "body" of a woman, but in a way she was an "it", sexless, freed from sexual desires like a dog that has been operated on. I supposed such did have its "ad- vantages" for an "organization" like the Priestesses of Lys were. There would be none of the "problems" that priests and nuns had. "Makes a lot of `sense' when you think about it," I smiled. I wondered why the Catholic Church hadn't the done the same with their priests and nuns? On a woman the surgery is rather com- plex, but men have been castrated since before the time of Jesus. "For `something' like them," Carol retorted, her hazel eyes burning into mine beneath the dark glass she now wore against the brightness of the sun. We were on our patio behind the house, a "spot" that brought back fond memories of other times long past! "I don't think she looks upon it that way," I pointed out. "That also explains why they can `kill' babies the way that they do," Carol answered, lying there, her own bikini concealing just "enough" to accent the sensual provocative "charms" of her. The Priestesses of Lys killing new borns that were "defective" in any way. A wise policy given the nature of genetic damage caused by the long term effects of The War of 2047. When one considers the "social costs" of supporting the "disabled" and the "defec- tive", the policies of the Priestesses do make a lot of sense... The 26th Century also recognized a "right to suicide" and it was the general policy to "put to sleep" those people who in our own time would have filled nursing homes. The Priestesses themselves doing this there in their Temples that dot all our major cities. "They're `superior' in every way to Christianity," I said. "If YOU say so," Carol answered curtly, then getting up, go- ing into the house. I suspected that the "fact" of her own preg- nancy no doubt had much to "do" with all this right now too... "There has been `conflict' between you and I am the `cause' of it," Tais said when she returned from her walk in the forest. The black nylon of her bikini going well with her blonde hair... "Bob brought up a certain `topic' I'm `uncomfortable' with," my wife answered back as we both sat there at the kitchen table. "It would not be `rational' do other than what we do," Tais answered. "In the first century after The War the rate of muta- tion was far higher, and there was no other choice if the human race was to be saved from becoming a race of hideous monsters..." "In this era we don't kill `defective' people," Carol said. "One of the `cultural failures' of your society," Tais said, seating herself at the circular kitchen table there by the slid- ing glass patio doors. The "view" through the doors one of the things that I'd always "admired" about the house since my parents built it back in 1969. "A `weakness', not a `strength' as such." "It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you were `responsi- ble' for Nazism either," Carol snapped back, hazel eyes blazing! "The `parallels' you see are only in your imagination," Tais answered. "In any case as Lorraine understood the human race is far from being capable of self government in the full sense of the term." I recalled the conversations Lorraine and I once had. Lorraine having maintained that what was "needed" now an "organi- zation" standing outside of the political system that would con- trol the "basic operating system" of society much like the Roman Catholic Church had back in the Middle Ages. The Priestesses of Lys are of course the consequences of her ideals expressed here. "Let's go take a walk," I suggested to my wife. Carol's nod leaving no doubt that she was not going to "give in" to Tais now! "How long is it going to take to get those books she wants?" Carol "snapped", tossing an acorn into the lake there before us. She was just "pregnant" enough now for it to "show", especially I thought when dressed in only so "little" as she was just now. I could "understand" her feelings, the "knowledge" that if the baby she now carried was not "perfect", it would be killed at birth and she would have absolutely nothing to "say" about it either... "A week at the most, I guess," my arm around her nakedness. "I don't want to go `back'," Carol suddenly said, sitting there. "I want to stay here, `live' our lives as we planned to." "That `choice' is not ours to make," I "pointed out" to her. "We have `tasted' of the `Tree of Knowledge'," she replied. "And have found the fruit `bitter' in our mouths," I said. ***************************************************************** "Ohh!" Kathi breathed, sitting up, the covers falling away, the golden disks now covering her nipples visible in the glowing light. Through the stern windows of the North Star dawn was just breaking. The roll of the ship beneath our feet a familiar feel- ing... This was our "home", that other "home" now only a memory. "Good bye," Tais smiled, suddenly now "disappearing" then. "Back `home'," Carol "lied", kissing me then before Kathi. "Where the `Warlady of Dularn' and her `Admiral' belong," I said standing there holding her, looking at her in the dim light from the stern windows. Her uniform, mine, leaving no doubts as to "what" we both were. We were no longer just "playmates" as we once had been. Yet in a way like Carol I hadn't wished to return to this time. For a week Carol and I had once again been "home". Unlike Lorraine, neither of us really "belonged" in this "world". "I worry about those steam frigates," captain Sandra Steven said to me as we shared our breakfast with her. Carol and I both were still a bit "out of sorts" from things. Kathi there to one side, eating her own breakfast. I wondered what she would have thought of the Twentieth Century had we been able to take her... "A full ironclad probably would be the best answer," I smiled back, the low temperatures we'd experienced on this voyage having kept our food fresh. "Something built on the hull of a trireme, completely armored, and with a couple of steam engines for power." Such a vessel wouldn't be very fast, but it would be almost invincible by the standards of this era. "One would have both missile weapons and the capability of ramming if necessary." "And you'd have to come to shore every few days for wood," Sandra smiled back, well aware of the "weakness" of steam ships. "Such a vessel could burn coal, not wood," Carol explained. "Wood is `everywhere', but coal has to be mined," Sandra an- swered her. "You would need the capability of using both fuels." I suspected that Sandra Steven was by no means a "dumb blonde". "Extra fuel could be carried on a sailing ship," I said. "Arsana," Sandra said, lowering the telescope from her eye. "Where our `duties' lie," Carol said, standing beside me. I took the hands of the golden haired Queen in mine as she stepped on to the deck, her long silken gown there beneath her furred cloak outlining the ripe curves of her body. Maris tends to be a bit on the "plump" side, a woman who is always "dieting" much like those of the era from which we came. Those lovely sea green eyes now gleaming with deep affection into mine. She is well worth the "risks" Carol and I have taken for her. The sort of a Queen who in any Dularnian's eyes is worth fighting for. We tended to be a patriotic people, more so I think than the Imperi- als, who perhaps "see" their society in a different light. On the other hand Trelandarians greatly respect their "Lorraine". And Darlanis is also highly thought of by most of her subjects. "You recovered Sharon?" Maris said to me. I nodded back. "She is safe with her stepmother," Carol explained to her. "We have `much' to speak of," the Queen of Dularn answered. "I only wish I could have gone with you," Maris Marn said, a fireplace snapping and "crackling" there at the side of the room. It would be the first of April in another couple days, I knew. I felt at "home" here now, Carol at my side, a sword at my hip, the various trappings that go along with being the Admiral of Dularn. Carol and I having told her of our adventures with Tais in 1991. "Do not confuse `technology' with `civilization'," I smiled, hearing a seagull's cry as it circled far above the battlements. They bear only a slight "relationship" to each other, I suspect. One can be "technologically advanced" without being "civilized". The week we'd spent with Tais had taught us both much of things. "I have never been able to `understand' why the people of your time allowed their government to do the things it did," the Queen of Dularn answered. We had told her of our brief trip back through to time to our own era, of our own experiences together. We had however left out our own personal feelings at coming back. "Perhaps because they didn't have anything to believe in or `stand up' for," my wife smiled, her eyes meeting those of Maris. I remembered seeing President George Bush there on the TV. Maris was a far more "impressive" leader, someone with far more "color" and "leadership" abilities even if she wasn't a true "blue blood" like Darlanis or Lorraine in her own way. The Queen of Trelandar having been the daughter of a French countess back in our time. I wondered why the American people had never elected a woman as President of the United States back before Janet Rogers in 2008. And she had been forced to use electronic hypnosis at that too... "I also think they didn't have the `leadership' we have," I said, taking the Queen's hand in my own, and then kissing it. I "loved" this woman, not as a woman as such, but as our own Queen! Knowing people like Maris made it all "worthwhile", I felt then. "Their social ideology was `flawed'," our Queen smiled back. As a point of interest here the historians mark the "BROWN VERSUS BOARD OF EDUCATION" decision by the U.S. Supreme Court as being the first step towards "disaster" for America, the later "civil rights acts" and "gun control laws" under President L.B. Johnson only serving to carry the nation further on towards "disaster". While "racism" as such is almost unknown in this era (there are very few Blacks, perhaps no more than one percent of the popula- tion in the Empire, and far less in Dularn), the idea of "dis- crimination" upon such a basis is almost "unknown" here in 2568. One is "aware" of the race of people, but only in the same sense that one might note hair color, eye color, and their own "caste". There is, I might mention, considerable racial intermixture among the Imperials, although such is much less known here in Dularn, most of Dularn's original inhabitants having come from Canada... "There was a woman found with Sharon who we believe came from Japan," Carol spoke up, changing the "subject". The Queen nodding, Maris being well enough educated to know where Japan was and what its people would look like. With the ending of Lorr control of the Earth such voyages might become more commonplace. "The North Star would be capable of such a voyage," Maris mused thoughtfully, "Although I'm not sure if the Priestesses would `bless' such a voyage at this time yet," Maris then smiled. "And I think it is time that we discussed things with those of the caste of Builders," I smiled, recalling my conversation with captain Steven about the "ironclad". Such a vessel might be an excellent way of "impressing" a certain tall blonde with the idea that Dularn had every intention of remaining a free country! I had drawn up the plans for a "battleship" like nothing that had ever steamed across these seas before, a design so made that from a distance it would resemble some great sea monster of the deep!! "IN HARM'S WAY" AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Robert J. Simmons Chapter Twelve "Guess I never knew `what' they were," Carol said to me, Tais having gone for a walk in the woods down to the little lake. I suppose to her this "land" of ours, this society was "legend". She was not of the Twentieth Century, or even really of "Earth". "We `neuter' dogs, so I suppose it makes `sense' in a way," I answered, soaking up the welcome heat of the sun on the chaise lounge, Carol stretched out on the other one, doing the same now. "But I saw her naked and she didn't look any `different'," my wife protested. I supposed the operation didn't leave scars. The Priestesses had a "technology" far in advance of anything we knew, although the Physicians of the 26th Century could perform operations too without badly scarring a person's body. There was a "mark", but it wasn't anything like that left by surgery of our own time, the "glue" being used sealing flesh together far better than stitches ever could. Tais had the "body" of a woman, but in a way she was an "it", sexless, freed from sexual desires like a dog that has been operated on. I supposed such did have its "ad- vantages" for an "organization" like the Priestesses of Lys were. There would be none of the "problems" that priests and nuns had. "Makes a lot of `sense' when you think about it," I smiled. I wondered why the Catholic Church hadn't the done the same with their priests and nuns? On a woman the surgery is rather com- plex, but men have been castrated since before the time of Jesus. "For `something' like them," Carol retorted, her hazel eyes burning into mine beneath the dark glass she now wore against the brightness of the sun. We were on our patio behind the house, a "spot" that brought back fond memories of other times long past! "I don't think she looks upon it that way," I pointed out. "That also explains why they can `kill' babies the way that they do," Carol answered, lying there, her own bikini concealing just "enough" to accent the sensual provocative "charms" of her. The Priestesses of Lys killing new borns that were "defective" in any way. A wise policy given the nature of genetic damage caused by the long term effects of The War of 2047. When one considers the "social costs" of supporting the "disabled" and the "defec- tive", the policies of the Priestesses do make a lot of sense... The 26th Century also recognized a "right to suicide" and it was the general policy to "put to sleep" those people who in our own time would have filled nursing homes. The Priestesses themselves doing this there in their Temples that dot all our major cities. "They're `superior' in every way to Christianity," I said. "If YOU say so," Carol answered curtly, then getting up, go- ing into the house. I suspected that the "fact" of her own preg- nancy no doubt had much to "do" with all this right now too... "There has been `conflict' between you and I am the `cause' of it," Tais said when she returned from her walk in the forest. The black nylon of her bikini going well with her blonde hair... "Bob brought up a certain `topic' I'm `uncomfortable' with," my wife answered back as we both sat there at the kitchen table. "It would not be `rational' do other than what we do," Tais answered. "In the first century after The War the rate of muta- tion was far higher, and there was no other choice if the human race was to be saved from becoming a race of hideous monsters..." "In this era we don't kill `defective' people," Carol said. "One of the `cultural failures' of your society," Tais said, seating herself at the circular kitchen table there by the slid- ing glass patio doors. The "view" through the doors one of the things that I'd always "admired" about the house since my parents built it back in 1969. "A `weakness', not a `strength' as such." "It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you were `responsi- ble' for Nazism either," Carol snapped back, hazel eyes blazing! "The `parallels' you see are only in your imagination," Tais answered. "In any case as Lorraine understood the human race is far from being capable of self government in the full sense of the term." I recalled the conversations Lorraine and I once had. Lorraine having maintained that what was "needed" now an "organi- zation" standing outside of the political system that would con- trol the "basic operating system" of society much like the Roman Catholic Church had back in the Middle Ages. The Priestesses of Lys are of course the consequences of her ideals expressed here. "Let's go take a walk," I suggested to my wife. Carol's nod leaving no doubt that she was not going to "give in" to Tais now! "How long is it going to take to get those books she wants?" Carol "snapped", tossing an acorn into the lake there before us. She was just "pregnant" enough now for it to "show", especially I thought when dressed in only so "little" as she was just now. I could "understand" her feelings, the "knowledge" that if the baby she now carried was not "perfect", it would be killed at birth and she would have absolutely nothing to "say" about it either... "A week at the most, I guess," my arm around her nakedness. "I don't want to go `back'," Carol suddenly said, sitting there. "I want to stay here, `live' our lives as we planned to." "That `choice' is not ours to make," I "pointed out" to her. "We have `tasted' of the `Tree of Knowledge'," she replied. "And have found the fruit `bitter' in our mouths," I said. ***************************************************************** "Ohh!" Kathi breathed, sitting up, the covers falling away, the golden disks now covering her nipples visible in the glowing light. Through the stern windows of the North Star dawn was just breaking. The roll of the ship beneath our feet a familiar feel- ing... This was our "home", that other "home" now only a memory. "Good bye," Tais smiled, suddenly now "disappearing" then. "Back `home'," Carol "lied", kissing me then before Kathi. "Where the `Warlady of Dularn' and her `Admiral' belong," I said standing there holding her, looking at her in the dim light from the stern windows. Her uniform, mine, leaving no doubts as to "what" we both were. We were no longer just "playmates" as we once had been. Yet in a way like Carol I hadn't wished to return to this time. For a week Carol and I had once again been "home". Unlike Lorraine, neither of us really "belonged" in this "world". "I worry about those steam frigates," captain Sandra Steven said to me as we shared our breakfast with her. Carol and I both were still a bit "out of sorts" from things. Kathi there to one side, eating her own breakfast. I wondered what she would have thought of the Twentieth Century had we been able to take her... "A full ironclad probably would be the best answer," I smiled back, the low temperatures we'd experienced on this voyage having kept our food fresh. "Something built on the hull of a trireme, completely armored, and with a couple of steam engines for power." Such a vessel wouldn't be very fast, but it would be almost invincible by the standards of this era. "One would have both missile weapons and the capability of ramming if necessary." "And you'd have to come to shore every few days for wood," Sandra smiled back, well aware of the "weakness" of steam ships. "Such a vessel could burn coal, not wood," Carol explained. "Wood is `everywhere', but coal has to be mined," Sandra an- swered her. "You would need the capability of using both fuels." I suspected that Sandra Steven was by no means a "dumb blonde". "Extra fuel could be carried on a sailing ship," I said. "Arsana," Sandra said, lowering the telescope from her eye. "Where our `duties' lie," Carol said, standing beside me. I took the hands of the golden haired Queen in mine as she stepped on to the deck, her long silken gown there beneath her furred cloak outlining the ripe curves of her body. Maris tends to be a bit on the "plump" side, a woman who is always "dieting" much like those of the era from which we came. Those lovely sea green eyes now gleaming with deep affection into mine. She is well worth the "risks" Carol and I have taken for her. The sort of a Queen who in any Dularnian's eyes is worth fighting for. We tended to be a patriotic people, more so I think than the Imperi- als, who perhaps "see" their society in a different light. On the other hand Trelandarians greatly respect their "Lorraine". And Darlanis is also highly thought of by most of her subjects. "You recovered Sharon?" Maris said to me. I nodded back. "She is safe with her stepmother," Carol explained to her. "We have `much' to speak of," the Queen of Dularn answered. "I only wish I could have gone with you," Maris Marn said, a fireplace snapping and "crackling" there at the side of the room. It would be the first of April in another couple days, I knew. I felt at "home" here now, Carol at my side, a sword at my hip, the various trappings that go along with being the Admiral of Dularn. Carol and I having told her of our adventures with Tais in 1991. "Do not confuse `technology' with `civilization'," I smiled, hearing a seagull's cry as it circled far above the battlements. They bear only a slight "relationship" to each other, I suspect. One can be "technologically advanced" without being "civilized". The week we'd spent with Tais had taught us both much of things. "I have never been able to `understand' why the people of your time allowed their government to do the things it did," the Queen of Dularn answered. We had told her of our brief trip back through to time to our own era, of our own experiences together. We had however left out our own personal feelings at coming back. "Perhaps because they didn't have anything to believe in or `stand up' for," my wife smiled, her eyes meeting those of Maris. I remembered seeing President George Bush there on the TV. Maris was a far more "impressive" leader, someone with far more "color" and "leadership" abilities even if she wasn't a true "blue blood" like Darlanis or Lorraine in her own way. The Queen of Trelandar having been the daughter of a French countess back in our time. I wondered why the American people had never elected a woman as President of the United States back before Janet Rogers in 2008. And she had been forced to use electronic hypnosis at that too... "I also think they didn't have the `leadership' we have," I said, taking the Queen's hand in my own, and then kissing it. I "loved" this woman, not as a woman as such, but as our own Queen! Knowing people like Maris made it all "worthwhile", I felt then. "Their social ideology was `flawed'," our Queen smiled back. As a point of interest here the historians mark the "BROWN VERSUS BOARD OF EDUCATION" decision by the U.S. Supreme Court as being the first step towards "disaster" for America, the later "civil rights acts" and "gun control laws" under President L.B. Johnson only serving to carry the nation further on towards "disaster". While "racism" as such is almost unknown in this era (there are very few Blacks, perhaps no more than one percent of the popula- tion in the Empire, and far less in Dularn), the idea of "dis- crimination" upon such a basis is almost "unknown" here in 2568. One is "aware" of the race of people, but only in the same sense that one might note hair color, eye color, and their own "caste". There is, I might mention, considerable racial intermixture among the Imperials, although such is much less known here in Dularn, most of Dularn's original inhabitants having come from Canada... "There was a woman found with Sharon who we believe came from Japan," Carol spoke up, changing the "subject". The Queen nodding, Maris being well enough educated to know where Japan was and what its people would look like. With the ending of Lorr control of the Earth such voyages might become more commonplace. "The North Star would be capable of such a voyage," Maris mused thoughtfully, "Although I'm not sure if the Priestesses would `bless' such a voyage at this time yet," Maris then smiled. "And I think it is time that we discussed things with those of the caste of Builders," I smiled, recalling my conversation with captain Steven about the "ironclad". Such a vessel might be an excellent way of "impressing" a certain tall blonde with the idea that Dularn had every intention of remaining a free country! I had drawn up the plans for a "battleship" like nothing that had ever steamed across these seas before, a design so made that from a distance it would resemble some great sea monster of the deep!! |
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