"2568-42" - 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 Forty Two Carol drew back the arrow, released, felt the "jar" of the compound bow in her hand, saw the man she'd shot fall in the darkness there beside the gate. A missile of some sort shot from the fort's battlements zipping on by her to strike an Imperial crossbowman. She heard his "cry" as she nocked another arrow on her bowstring, returning the Mexicans' fire. Lorraine and a few of her own people now were fighting with swords there at the gate against a superior foe. Only the Warlady's awesome skill winning the "match" for them as the Mexicans fell back before this tall black clad "demon" in human form that no swordsman could match... "Dianas! To Me!" Carol cried, leading their assault, now meeting the Mexicans herself blade to blade, driving them back, while others on the battlements poured a steady stream of mis- siles at any they could tell were "foe", not "friend". The melee was such that in the darkness that it was difficult to tell friend from foe, although as the Mexicans were darker skinned for the most part you could usually tell one from the other without too much trouble in the light of the torches. On the other hand some of the Imperials were as "dark" as any Mexican, and no doubt more than one died from "friendly fire" there in the darkness in- side the fort. Carol drawing on all her skills as she led the assault, the men and women around her both Imperial and Dularni- an, former "enemies" now just all "friends" facing a common foe. The women archers pouring a deadly stream of arrows into their enemies there on the battlements, while the crossbowmen returned their fire with their deadly bolts that seldom missed in reply... "Time for `this'!" Lorraine snapped, drawing the weapon from beneath her clothing where she had concealed it. The sharp re- port of the blaster pistol and its explosive bullets driving the Mexicans back, the half dozen rounds left in the magazine just enough to demoralize the Mexicans, and allow them a victory now!! "They've taken the fort!" midshipman Anders said to me, the tone of her girlish voice leaving no doubts as to her emotions. Her skin, hair reddish in the glow of the control room's lamps. "The `butcher's bill' doubtlessly will be `high'," I said. "`Butcher's bill'?" she asked, a puzzled note in her voice. "Slang from a time only `myth and legend' now," I smiled at the beautiful teenage Dularnian maiden. Thinking to myself that such a girl should be thinking of "love", not of killing people! "Let us hope that Lys has spared your wife," she answered in sober tones. Like all of this time she had "faith" in the teach- ings of the Priestesses of Lys that what they taught was "true". "Yes," I answered, wondering what I would do without Carol. I liked Maris Marn, and no doubt she liked me, but she wasn't any thing like Carol, and I couldn't really see being married to the Queen of Dularn even if Maris was willing to marry me, which she might not be from all I knew. The "conditioning" of the Priest- esses having worn off long ago, leaving Maris much as she was... It was true that I did have Kathi, but she wasn't "wife material" in any sense of the word. I recalled Keri Greyson of Trelandar. She was intelligent, beautiful, and doubtlessly "female" enough. A woman who in her way reminded me both of Carol and Lorraine... "You've `lost' your captain," Lorraine said, her eyes meet- ing Carol's there in the darkness, the few torches doing little to dispel the darkness. The bodies scattered here and there were both Mexican and their own, mostly the former, she saw. Carol nodding, "drained" now from everything she'd just been through. The memory of Sandra Steven just another to be "remembered" now. She recalled all the others who had died for one cause or anoth- er. For Dularn, for the Empress of California, for "freedom"... "Another who has died for a `cause' few of us `understand'," the brownette answered bitterly. "In the `service' of one who was just last year our feared enemy," the Warlady of Dularn then added, the tone of her voice doubtlessly leaving no doubts in Lorraine's mind as to her true feelings about this entire affair. "Darlanis did not `provoke' this war," Lorraine answered, holding a cloth against her side where a swordblade had cut her. The bloodstain dark in the light of the few torches yet burning. "So you doubtlessly `believe'," Carol "answered" her back. "What do you mean by that?" the Imperial Warlady challenged. "You look upon Darlanis as `SHE-RA', as a woman incapable of doing evil, as `the Queen of Light'," my wife answered in reply. "As a sort of `second Janet Rogers', one who will reunite Mankind under a single flag, under a single government as once before..." "I know Darlanis, as only one Warrioress can know another," the Imperial Warlady answered. "She did not `cause' this war." "As you wish," Carol answered, tired of this "argument". "If they don't hold...," Susanna said to me, looking up at the fort as the Diana "eased" her way around the opened barrier. "`They' will hold it," I answered. I knew our Warladies. "The Diana is through," Lorraine said to my wife, who nodded in reply. She was tired of fighting, of war, of being a Warlady. "Your majesty!" a man cried, dashing up. "There is a long column of men approaching us from the town!" No doubt reinforce- ments, my wife mused to herself, seeing the Imperial Warlady nod. "Signal the Diana, inform them of the enemy marching on us," Carol spoke, her voice level, almost toneless. In the east there was just now the faintest of glows that spoke of the day to come. "Message from the fort, sir!" midshipman Anders said to me. "They request that we engage a relief column marching to attack the fort from the town!" I nodded, well aware of the Diana's ca- pabilities. What the three catapults and twenty quickfirers a side could "do" to men exposed out in the open. I didn't think the Mexicans knew much of the Diana's capabilities and firepower. Otherwise they would have taken more reasonable precautions... "Open starboard hatches, ready broadside, fire at my com- mand," I barked into the speaking tube that connected me to the "gun deck" as I turned the Diana in towards the rocky shore. I could see a few torches, the glint of weapons just ahead of us! "Select your targets, fire catapults!" I snapped, the three catapults hurling their gallon glass jugs of lamp oil towards the shore. The flames would light things up for us! "Quickfirers! Fire upon anything that moves!" I now barked, my words echoed by the familiar "thumping" of the quickfirers as they opened fire! "I expect `that' taught them a little `respect'," Lorraine said, lowering the 8x50 night glass. She had seen enough to guess at the rest hidden there in the darkness. No doubt some had survived the six hundred deadly missiles fired from the Diana in a space of ten seconds, but not enough to be a "threat" now to those holding the fort. The fort's own weapons would be adequate to "repel" any relatively small attacking force if well served. "I think understand now `why' you are a `Warlady'," Carol replied. "Why you truly `belong' in this era in a way I do not." "I have at times pondered much the same thoughts," Lorraine answered. "Why I risk my life in causes like this," she spoke... "That `did' for them, sir!" Anders said to me. I nodded. I supposed that it had. It was a lot like machine gunning down a marching column of men. The Mexicans had been taken by surprise. I suspected that some of them had survived, but not enough to be a real danger to the landing party now holding the fort there at the entrance to the harbor. Now we would deal with the ships ahead floating at anchor. And strike a "blow" they'd not forget! "I sometimes wonder, Carol, just `who' we `serve'," the tall brunette said there in the darkness, staring out over the harbor. "Why our monarchs `do' the things that they do, especially mine." "You mean like `supporting' Queen Valeris against Dularn?" my wife smiled, seeing the Imperial Warlady nod and smile back. Had it not been for the Diana and Queen Freydis, no doubt Darla- nis' plans would have been successful in "isolating" Dularn from the lands about it. Carol still "wondered" about that. Lorraine was a far "smarter" woman than Darlanis. Far more "dangerous"... "Darlanis is a woman who `dreams' of a world social order," Lorraine answered. "Of being the `second Janet Rogers' who will reunite Mankind under one flag, under one government, one ruler." "You once had `dreams' of that `sort'," Carol pointed out. "I `meant well', I suppose," Lorraine laughed dryly back. "We could do `better' with the catapults, sir...," Susanna said to me, her eyes looking questioningly into mine as the Diana approached her next "target", the last one now a flaming pyre that lit up the harbor like a great bonfire. I was using the flamethrowers, not the catapults, being well aware of the fact that one lucky "hit" through a hatch could be our destruction... "Yes...," I answered, the flames that suddenly washed over the Diana proof that some Mexican had gotten the distance right. Midshipman Anders nodding, now understanding why I did as I had! "Go below and tell the quickfirer crews to fire upon anything that shoots back at us," I added, seeing her nod and then follow my orders. She was a competent wench, and beautiful to boot too! "Their battleship, sir," Susanna said to me, seeing me nod. "Too `complete' to be burned," I answered, seeing her nod. The design was much like that of the Diana from what I could see. A great armored bulk in the dim light like some deep sea monster. "I will lead a boarding party, `take' it for you, sir," she said. I wished she hadn't volunteered. There would doubtlessly be crossbowmen. I remembered Shari Johnson, recalled seeing her body wrapped up in a hammock to be tipped over the side of the North Star with a shot at her feet to speed her on her way to her final resting place at the bottom of the sea. I recalled the words of the "last rites" as Carol had spoken them that day now so long ago. She too had been young and beautiful like this one. "Midshipman Anders," I said, seeing her stop and turn to look at me. Her hair the color of gold, her eyes a lovely blue. "Yes, sir?" she asked, standing there looking at me. "Just come back," I said to her, seeing her nod. "IN HARM'S WAY" AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Robert J. Simmons Chapter Forty Two Carol drew back the arrow, released, felt the "jar" of the compound bow in her hand, saw the man she'd shot fall in the darkness there beside the gate. A missile of some sort shot from the fort's battlements zipping on by her to strike an Imperial crossbowman. She heard his "cry" as she nocked another arrow on her bowstring, returning the Mexicans' fire. Lorraine and a few of her own people now were fighting with swords there at the gate against a superior foe. Only the Warlady's awesome skill winning the "match" for them as the Mexicans fell back before this tall black clad "demon" in human form that no swordsman could match... "Dianas! To Me!" Carol cried, leading their assault, now meeting the Mexicans herself blade to blade, driving them back, while others on the battlements poured a steady stream of mis- siles at any they could tell were "foe", not "friend". The melee was such that in the darkness that it was difficult to tell friend from foe, although as the Mexicans were darker skinned for the most part you could usually tell one from the other without too much trouble in the light of the torches. On the other hand some of the Imperials were as "dark" as any Mexican, and no doubt more than one died from "friendly fire" there in the darkness in- side the fort. Carol drawing on all her skills as she led the assault, the men and women around her both Imperial and Dularni- an, former "enemies" now just all "friends" facing a common foe. The women archers pouring a deadly stream of arrows into their enemies there on the battlements, while the crossbowmen returned their fire with their deadly bolts that seldom missed in reply... "Time for `this'!" Lorraine snapped, drawing the weapon from beneath her clothing where she had concealed it. The sharp re- port of the blaster pistol and its explosive bullets driving the Mexicans back, the half dozen rounds left in the magazine just enough to demoralize the Mexicans, and allow them a victory now!! "They've taken the fort!" midshipman Anders said to me, the tone of her girlish voice leaving no doubts as to her emotions. Her skin, hair reddish in the glow of the control room's lamps. "The `butcher's bill' doubtlessly will be `high'," I said. "`Butcher's bill'?" she asked, a puzzled note in her voice. "Slang from a time only `myth and legend' now," I smiled at the beautiful teenage Dularnian maiden. Thinking to myself that such a girl should be thinking of "love", not of killing people! "Let us hope that Lys has spared your wife," she answered in sober tones. Like all of this time she had "faith" in the teach- ings of the Priestesses of Lys that what they taught was "true". "Yes," I answered, wondering what I would do without Carol. I liked Maris Marn, and no doubt she liked me, but she wasn't any thing like Carol, and I couldn't really see being married to the Queen of Dularn even if Maris was willing to marry me, which she might not be from all I knew. The "conditioning" of the Priest- esses having worn off long ago, leaving Maris much as she was... It was true that I did have Kathi, but she wasn't "wife material" in any sense of the word. I recalled Keri Greyson of Trelandar. She was intelligent, beautiful, and doubtlessly "female" enough. A woman who in her way reminded me both of Carol and Lorraine... "You've `lost' your captain," Lorraine said, her eyes meet- ing Carol's there in the darkness, the few torches doing little to dispel the darkness. The bodies scattered here and there were both Mexican and their own, mostly the former, she saw. Carol nodding, "drained" now from everything she'd just been through. The memory of Sandra Steven just another to be "remembered" now. She recalled all the others who had died for one cause or anoth- er. For Dularn, for the Empress of California, for "freedom"... "Another who has died for a `cause' few of us `understand'," the brownette answered bitterly. "In the `service' of one who was just last year our feared enemy," the Warlady of Dularn then added, the tone of her voice doubtlessly leaving no doubts in Lorraine's mind as to her true feelings about this entire affair. "Darlanis did not `provoke' this war," Lorraine answered, holding a cloth against her side where a swordblade had cut her. The bloodstain dark in the light of the few torches yet burning. "So you doubtlessly `believe'," Carol "answered" her back. "What do you mean by that?" the Imperial Warlady challenged. "You look upon Darlanis as `SHE-RA', as a woman incapable of doing evil, as `the Queen of Light'," my wife answered in reply. "As a sort of `second Janet Rogers', one who will reunite Mankind under a single flag, under a single government as once before..." "I know Darlanis, as only one Warrioress can know another," the Imperial Warlady answered. "She did not `cause' this war." "As you wish," Carol answered, tired of this "argument". "If they don't hold...," Susanna said to me, looking up at the fort as the Diana "eased" her way around the opened barrier. "`They' will hold it," I answered. I knew our Warladies. "The Diana is through," Lorraine said to my wife, who nodded in reply. She was tired of fighting, of war, of being a Warlady. "Your majesty!" a man cried, dashing up. "There is a long column of men approaching us from the town!" No doubt reinforce- ments, my wife mused to herself, seeing the Imperial Warlady nod. "Signal the Diana, inform them of the enemy marching on us," Carol spoke, her voice level, almost toneless. In the east there was just now the faintest of glows that spoke of the day to come. "Message from the fort, sir!" midshipman Anders said to me. "They request that we engage a relief column marching to attack the fort from the town!" I nodded, well aware of the Diana's ca- pabilities. What the three catapults and twenty quickfirers a side could "do" to men exposed out in the open. I didn't think the Mexicans knew much of the Diana's capabilities and firepower. Otherwise they would have taken more reasonable precautions... "Open starboard hatches, ready broadside, fire at my com- mand," I barked into the speaking tube that connected me to the "gun deck" as I turned the Diana in towards the rocky shore. I could see a few torches, the glint of weapons just ahead of us! "Select your targets, fire catapults!" I snapped, the three catapults hurling their gallon glass jugs of lamp oil towards the shore. The flames would light things up for us! "Quickfirers! Fire upon anything that moves!" I now barked, my words echoed by the familiar "thumping" of the quickfirers as they opened fire! "I expect `that' taught them a little `respect'," Lorraine said, lowering the 8x50 night glass. She had seen enough to guess at the rest hidden there in the darkness. No doubt some had survived the six hundred deadly missiles fired from the Diana in a space of ten seconds, but not enough to be a "threat" now to those holding the fort. The fort's own weapons would be adequate to "repel" any relatively small attacking force if well served. "I think understand now `why' you are a `Warlady'," Carol replied. "Why you truly `belong' in this era in a way I do not." "I have at times pondered much the same thoughts," Lorraine answered. "Why I risk my life in causes like this," she spoke... "That `did' for them, sir!" Anders said to me. I nodded. I supposed that it had. It was a lot like machine gunning down a marching column of men. The Mexicans had been taken by surprise. I suspected that some of them had survived, but not enough to be a real danger to the landing party now holding the fort there at the entrance to the harbor. Now we would deal with the ships ahead floating at anchor. And strike a "blow" they'd not forget! "I sometimes wonder, Carol, just `who' we `serve'," the tall brunette said there in the darkness, staring out over the harbor. "Why our monarchs `do' the things that they do, especially mine." "You mean like `supporting' Queen Valeris against Dularn?" my wife smiled, seeing the Imperial Warlady nod and smile back. Had it not been for the Diana and Queen Freydis, no doubt Darla- nis' plans would have been successful in "isolating" Dularn from the lands about it. Carol still "wondered" about that. Lorraine was a far "smarter" woman than Darlanis. Far more "dangerous"... "Darlanis is a woman who `dreams' of a world social order," Lorraine answered. "Of being the `second Janet Rogers' who will reunite Mankind under one flag, under one government, one ruler." "You once had `dreams' of that `sort'," Carol pointed out. "I `meant well', I suppose," Lorraine laughed dryly back. "We could do `better' with the catapults, sir...," Susanna said to me, her eyes looking questioningly into mine as the Diana approached her next "target", the last one now a flaming pyre that lit up the harbor like a great bonfire. I was using the flamethrowers, not the catapults, being well aware of the fact that one lucky "hit" through a hatch could be our destruction... "Yes...," I answered, the flames that suddenly washed over the Diana proof that some Mexican had gotten the distance right. Midshipman Anders nodding, now understanding why I did as I had! "Go below and tell the quickfirer crews to fire upon anything that shoots back at us," I added, seeing her nod and then follow my orders. She was a competent wench, and beautiful to boot too! "Their battleship, sir," Susanna said to me, seeing me nod. "Too `complete' to be burned," I answered, seeing her nod. The design was much like that of the Diana from what I could see. A great armored bulk in the dim light like some deep sea monster. "I will lead a boarding party, `take' it for you, sir," she said. I wished she hadn't volunteered. There would doubtlessly be crossbowmen. I remembered Shari Johnson, recalled seeing her body wrapped up in a hammock to be tipped over the side of the North Star with a shot at her feet to speed her on her way to her final resting place at the bottom of the sea. I recalled the words of the "last rites" as Carol had spoken them that day now so long ago. She too had been young and beautiful like this one. "Midshipman Anders," I said, seeing her stop and turn to look at me. Her hair the color of gold, her eyes a lovely blue. "Yes, sir?" she asked, standing there looking at me. "Just come back," I said to her, seeing her nod. |
|
|