"2568-20" - 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 Twenty "Close to a hundred yards," I said, Sandra herself still sitting at the Diana's controls. "Come to a dead stop." Sandra doing so, the crude "barge" there floating ahead of us as the Di- ana now drifted closer. "Flamethrowers open fire," I ordered... A "blazing hell" spurted from the Diana's twin forward flame throwers, the blazing columns of fire like nothing I'd ever seen since leaving the Twentieth Century. In a few seconds the barge was a blazing ruin, the flamethrowers stopping fire at my order. The Diana then turning her armored bow towards the second barge. A nod from me and a sharp barked order from Sandra brought our four forward quickfirers into play, three missiles a second from each one, the upper turret above us then opening up in addition!! "Impressive," Lorraine smiled, the Warlady's eyes meeting mine. I supposed her battleship would have the same capabilities as mine. The only vulnerability the Diana had was being rammed. And with our watertight compartments the ship could probably sur- vive such a "strike" without being put completely out of action! "We carry twenty quickfirers a side, eight steam catapults, and three flame throwers, as well as two quickfirers and a cata- pult and flamethrower astern," Carol smiled, the Warlady silently nodding back. I do think she was rather impressed by the Diana. "You forgot the rear turret quickfirer," I smiled then. The "test" over, I gave the orders to open all the hatches, orders that were doubtlessly "welcomed" by the Diana's sweating men and women, especially those who served the boilers below the main deck. Someone having already posted a sign at the entrance to boiler room number two, "Lys, be merciful, I've already served my time in Hell!" Our earlier "tests" of the Diana at dock hav- ing quickly shown what it was like to shovel coal into boilers in the confined and poorly ventilated boiler rooms there below deck! Those who served the boilers usually stripping down to straps... "You need to develop a better `ventilation system'," the Warlady of California smiled, no doubt welcoming the cool air as it came through the open hatches. With the hatches all closed the Diana would be like an oven under a more southern summer sun! "We could circulate sea water through radiators," Carol sug- gested, her hazel eyes glowing into mine. "And set up fans," she added, her own features "glowing" a bit as she sat watching us. "Like to take control?" Sandra asked, giving me a smile. "Crafty wench, aren't you?" I smiled, seeing her nod. "I'll check on things," she replied, going below. I swung the Diana around and put half power on all three en- gines, the "thud-thud" of the engines now speeding up as the Di- ana passed out between the breakwaters out into the strait now. "Maybe seven knots," Maris smiled, looking out an hatch. "Think the North Star could make seven in this wind?" I asked, the strait relatively calm, with only a light mild breeze. The Diana cutting nicely into the water, the nearly submerged ram hardly visible there at the bow. Lorraine at my side, watching. "On the other hand the wind is `free', and I don't `smoke' everything up like this does," the Queen of Dularn smiled back. The smoke thrown off by the Diana would also be a "tell tale" to anyone aware of the "nature" of a steamship. On the other hand the Diana laid considerably "lower" in the water than a sailship. I thought what the Diana could have "done" the year before. We could have spread death and terror the length of the Empire, and forced Darlanis and Lorraine to agree to any "terms" we wished... "How's it going?" Jard Sandar asked, sweaty and dirty with grime. Aboard the Diana there was no rigging to blacken with tar like aboard a sailing ship, but coal is dirty stuff to handle and there were always "places" where grease and oil were "necessary". "We're doing a bit over seven knots," I smiled back, pleased as punch with the Diana. If half power gave seven and a half knots, then full power should give something well over ten, which was all I could really ask for given the limitations of technolo- gy in this era. Raising boiler pressure much up over two hundred PSI was likely to blow the boilers and the Diana itself sky high! "I'm keeping boiler pressure at two hundred," he answered. That was the standard "working pressure" of our three boilers. I supposed we could exceed that a bit, but there was no need to do so now, and the engines needed "breaking in" before being asked to deliver full power to the three great bronze screws that drove us through the waves. Captain Steven returning, saying that she had found nothing on her inspection tour that requiring returning to Arsana for repair. It having been my intention here to take the Diana to Sana, Maris' own home village, and stay the night. "Sail Ho!" the midshipman called down from the upper turret, her young feminine voice echoing off the metal plates of the con- trol cabin below. With no masts the Diana had a limited range of visibility of about eight miles at the best, its highest point now being only about thirty feet above the surface of the ocean. That being the tops of the fore and aft quickfirer turrets. The Diana was flat bottomed and now drew about sixteen feet of water. The smoke from our coal fires was vented out through three stacks in the middle of the ship mounted over the "reptilian backbone". "Probably just a merchantman," Maris smiled, standing there. "What sort of ship?" I called, looking up the hatch, the girl apparently standing on top of the turret itself, the hatch being open so that she might stand up on the observation deck. "Two masts, like a fourth rate," the girl called down. "Have `topsails'?" the Queen now yelled up to her. "Yes, your majesty," the girl squeaked back at her. "Could be a `Northman' pirate," Maris answered back. "I'm increasing speed," I said, going to three quarters. "Sea's getting up a bit," Lorraine observed from beside me. "Close lower forward hatches!" I ordered, seeing them swing shut. The Diana "split" a wave, some of it splashing over the low bow. The "thud-thud" of the triple engines now a heavy regu- lar beat. I noticed the waves were growing larger, the wind up. "Gaining on him, but not by much," Maris said, holding the telescope there in her hand as she descended the steel ladder to the control cabin. "No doubts about `what' he is, however," she added, her eyes glowing into mine. The sails there on the hori- zon that divided sea from sky left little doubt as to things now. "I'm going below," I said, stripping off my ornate coat as Admiral of the Dularnian Navy. The boiler rooms would be as hot as ovens despite our earlier primitive attempts at ventilation. "Can we go to full power?" I asked, sweating in the heat from the boiler. Jard's own assistant, a woman, dark haired, now stripped down to strap and clips, her naked body glistening with a film of sweat in the light from the swinging overhead lamps. I wanted to catch that pirate, and I thought the Diana could do it! "Those pirates `come' for only two things, women and gold," she "answered" for him, her dark eyes burning into mine as Jard nodded. "And we'll give you the steam you need," she added, now turning and snapping orders at the men gathered about waiting for orders. The entire crew of them looking like lost souls in hell! I pushed the "repeaters" all the way to "full power", the Diana leaping forward as the thudding of the engines grew louder! "We're gaining on them now," Sandra breathed, Maris nodding. "There's a storm on the horizon," Lorraine pointed out then. The waves were growing larger, the Diana smashing through them. I saw the forward upper hatches swinging shut, it being obvious that the spray was now coming through. I felt a few droplets of moisture on my face, the armored bow of the Diana throwing water to either side as the ram smashed through. The pirate was no doubt well aware of the "nature" of what was now chasing behind!! "About ten and a half knots," the first lieutenant spoke. I nodded, well aware that the Diana was doing as well as I hoped. Our best calculations had indicated a maximum speed of eleven... "Waves about ten feet now, a few larger," Maris spoke. "She'll take a lot larger than that," I smiled right back. "If he can get the wind under his `coat tails' he'll outrun this," Lorraine pointed out then. Right now the pirate was flee- ing to the north with Dularn itself there to starboard, sailing as close to the wind as he could with his handy fore and aft rig. "We'll try to prevent that," Maris Marn answered her back. The Diana smashing through a wave that sent spray into our faces! The shape of the hull such that water tended to flow around the ship rather than be violently thrown to one side or the other. I saw Sandra step about, close the forward hatches, smiling at me. "Was getting pretty bor...," Carol spoke, suddenly gasping! I saw my wife clutch at herself, a look of "pain" going over her face. Lorraine studying her thoughtfully, no doubt well aware of what was "happening" here! My wife was going into labor here aboard the Diana! And we were several hours now from Arsana in pursuit of a pirate! Miles from land, even further from "help"! "You have a Physician?" Lorraine said to me. I knew that she was "one" in the sense that she had once studied medicine be- fore becoming a "shrink" back there in the Twentieth Century. I had a Physician, one of the best in Dularn. She was well paid for her services, the crew of the Diana being all "hand picked". "The aft cabin would be best," I said, glancing at Carol. "I'll take command," Maris Marn smiled, standing there. "IN HARM'S WAY" AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Robert J. Simmons Chapter Twenty "Close to a hundred yards," I said, Sandra herself still sitting at the Diana's controls. "Come to a dead stop." Sandra doing so, the crude "barge" there floating ahead of us as the Di- ana now drifted closer. "Flamethrowers open fire," I ordered... A "blazing hell" spurted from the Diana's twin forward flame throwers, the blazing columns of fire like nothing I'd ever seen since leaving the Twentieth Century. In a few seconds the barge was a blazing ruin, the flamethrowers stopping fire at my order. The Diana then turning her armored bow towards the second barge. A nod from me and a sharp barked order from Sandra brought our four forward quickfirers into play, three missiles a second from each one, the upper turret above us then opening up in addition!! "Impressive," Lorraine smiled, the Warlady's eyes meeting mine. I supposed her battleship would have the same capabilities as mine. The only vulnerability the Diana had was being rammed. And with our watertight compartments the ship could probably sur- vive such a "strike" without being put completely out of action! "We carry twenty quickfirers a side, eight steam catapults, and three flame throwers, as well as two quickfirers and a cata- pult and flamethrower astern," Carol smiled, the Warlady silently nodding back. I do think she was rather impressed by the Diana. "You forgot the rear turret quickfirer," I smiled then. The "test" over, I gave the orders to open all the hatches, orders that were doubtlessly "welcomed" by the Diana's sweating men and women, especially those who served the boilers below the main deck. Someone having already posted a sign at the entrance to boiler room number two, "Lys, be merciful, I've already served my time in Hell!" Our earlier "tests" of the Diana at dock hav- ing quickly shown what it was like to shovel coal into boilers in the confined and poorly ventilated boiler rooms there below deck! Those who served the boilers usually stripping down to straps... "You need to develop a better `ventilation system'," the Warlady of California smiled, no doubt welcoming the cool air as it came through the open hatches. With the hatches all closed the Diana would be like an oven under a more southern summer sun! "We could circulate sea water through radiators," Carol sug- gested, her hazel eyes glowing into mine. "And set up fans," she added, her own features "glowing" a bit as she sat watching us. "Like to take control?" Sandra asked, giving me a smile. "Crafty wench, aren't you?" I smiled, seeing her nod. "I'll check on things," she replied, going below. I swung the Diana around and put half power on all three en- gines, the "thud-thud" of the engines now speeding up as the Di- ana passed out between the breakwaters out into the strait now. "Maybe seven knots," Maris smiled, looking out an hatch. "Think the North Star could make seven in this wind?" I asked, the strait relatively calm, with only a light mild breeze. The Diana cutting nicely into the water, the nearly submerged ram hardly visible there at the bow. Lorraine at my side, watching. "On the other hand the wind is `free', and I don't `smoke' everything up like this does," the Queen of Dularn smiled back. The smoke thrown off by the Diana would also be a "tell tale" to anyone aware of the "nature" of a steamship. On the other hand the Diana laid considerably "lower" in the water than a sailship. I thought what the Diana could have "done" the year before. We could have spread death and terror the length of the Empire, and forced Darlanis and Lorraine to agree to any "terms" we wished... "How's it going?" Jard Sandar asked, sweaty and dirty with grime. Aboard the Diana there was no rigging to blacken with tar like aboard a sailing ship, but coal is dirty stuff to handle and there were always "places" where grease and oil were "necessary". "We're doing a bit over seven knots," I smiled back, pleased as punch with the Diana. If half power gave seven and a half knots, then full power should give something well over ten, which was all I could really ask for given the limitations of technolo- gy in this era. Raising boiler pressure much up over two hundred PSI was likely to blow the boilers and the Diana itself sky high! "I'm keeping boiler pressure at two hundred," he answered. That was the standard "working pressure" of our three boilers. I supposed we could exceed that a bit, but there was no need to do so now, and the engines needed "breaking in" before being asked to deliver full power to the three great bronze screws that drove us through the waves. Captain Steven returning, saying that she had found nothing on her inspection tour that requiring returning to Arsana for repair. It having been my intention here to take the Diana to Sana, Maris' own home village, and stay the night. "Sail Ho!" the midshipman called down from the upper turret, her young feminine voice echoing off the metal plates of the con- trol cabin below. With no masts the Diana had a limited range of visibility of about eight miles at the best, its highest point now being only about thirty feet above the surface of the ocean. That being the tops of the fore and aft quickfirer turrets. The Diana was flat bottomed and now drew about sixteen feet of water. The smoke from our coal fires was vented out through three stacks in the middle of the ship mounted over the "reptilian backbone". "Probably just a merchantman," Maris smiled, standing there. "What sort of ship?" I called, looking up the hatch, the girl apparently standing on top of the turret itself, the hatch being open so that she might stand up on the observation deck. "Two masts, like a fourth rate," the girl called down. "Have `topsails'?" the Queen now yelled up to her. "Yes, your majesty," the girl squeaked back at her. "Could be a `Northman' pirate," Maris answered back. "I'm increasing speed," I said, going to three quarters. "Sea's getting up a bit," Lorraine observed from beside me. "Close lower forward hatches!" I ordered, seeing them swing shut. The Diana "split" a wave, some of it splashing over the low bow. The "thud-thud" of the triple engines now a heavy regu- lar beat. I noticed the waves were growing larger, the wind up. "Gaining on him, but not by much," Maris said, holding the telescope there in her hand as she descended the steel ladder to the control cabin. "No doubts about `what' he is, however," she added, her eyes glowing into mine. The sails there on the hori- zon that divided sea from sky left little doubt as to things now. "I'm going below," I said, stripping off my ornate coat as Admiral of the Dularnian Navy. The boiler rooms would be as hot as ovens despite our earlier primitive attempts at ventilation. "Can we go to full power?" I asked, sweating in the heat from the boiler. Jard's own assistant, a woman, dark haired, now stripped down to strap and clips, her naked body glistening with a film of sweat in the light from the swinging overhead lamps. I wanted to catch that pirate, and I thought the Diana could do it! "Those pirates `come' for only two things, women and gold," she "answered" for him, her dark eyes burning into mine as Jard nodded. "And we'll give you the steam you need," she added, now turning and snapping orders at the men gathered about waiting for orders. The entire crew of them looking like lost souls in hell! I pushed the "repeaters" all the way to "full power", the Diana leaping forward as the thudding of the engines grew louder! "We're gaining on them now," Sandra breathed, Maris nodding. "There's a storm on the horizon," Lorraine pointed out then. The waves were growing larger, the Diana smashing through them. I saw the forward upper hatches swinging shut, it being obvious that the spray was now coming through. I felt a few droplets of moisture on my face, the armored bow of the Diana throwing water to either side as the ram smashed through. The pirate was no doubt well aware of the "nature" of what was now chasing behind!! "About ten and a half knots," the first lieutenant spoke. I nodded, well aware that the Diana was doing as well as I hoped. Our best calculations had indicated a maximum speed of eleven... "Waves about ten feet now, a few larger," Maris spoke. "She'll take a lot larger than that," I smiled right back. "If he can get the wind under his `coat tails' he'll outrun this," Lorraine pointed out then. Right now the pirate was flee- ing to the north with Dularn itself there to starboard, sailing as close to the wind as he could with his handy fore and aft rig. "We'll try to prevent that," Maris Marn answered her back. The Diana smashing through a wave that sent spray into our faces! The shape of the hull such that water tended to flow around the ship rather than be violently thrown to one side or the other. I saw Sandra step about, close the forward hatches, smiling at me. "Was getting pretty bor...," Carol spoke, suddenly gasping! I saw my wife clutch at herself, a look of "pain" going over her face. Lorraine studying her thoughtfully, no doubt well aware of what was "happening" here! My wife was going into labor here aboard the Diana! And we were several hours now from Arsana in pursuit of a pirate! Miles from land, even further from "help"! "You have a Physician?" Lorraine said to me. I knew that she was "one" in the sense that she had once studied medicine be- fore becoming a "shrink" back there in the Twentieth Century. I had a Physician, one of the best in Dularn. She was well paid for her services, the crew of the Diana being all "hand picked". "The aft cabin would be best," I said, glancing at Carol. "I'll take command," Maris Marn smiled, standing there. |
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