"2569-10" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 7 - The Dularnian Queen)2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Ten Suddenly there was A GLOWING BEAM OF LIGHT that "slashed" through the door, the door, oak and steel armor, cut apart like a piece of paper, smashing open! Lorraine standing there, a glow- ing weapon of some sort in her hand! Her Lorr built FORCE SABER! "Aii!" the assassin screamed, and before I or any one else could stop her, she leaped head first from the window to the hard flagstones of the quay before the palace thirty odd feet below!!! "See if she lives!" Lorraine snapped, that awesome competent mind instantly sizing up the situation, giving orders, my own guardswomen obeying as swiftly as if I or Tori had given them... "Tori!" I breathed, a guardswoman holding up a lantern, the Warlady kneeling down at my side, her strong fingers pulling at my captain's nightshift, tearing it away with the dagger that had laid at Tori's side, the same dagger that had pierced her breast! "What happened here!" Darlanis cried, suddenly running in, a naked sword in her hand, her own attire a half open silken robe. Sharon following behind, along with two more of my guardswomen. "`Assassination attempt!'" Lorraine snapped. "Someone get a Physician!" she added, looking up, her long deft fingers pressing against Tori's bleeding breast, my poor Tori moaning with pain! "Lucky she's got big boobs," Lorraine breathed, adding that the dagger had not penetrated as deeply as it would have done had Tori not been a full breasted woman. Tori, barely conscious now, trying a feeble grin as I took her hand, held it in mine, hoping that she would live, that Lys would not take her now from me... "Will she...?" I "breathed", looking into Lorraine's eyes. "Be off her feet for a few days, but she'll be O.K.," the Warlady assured me, Lorraine being also a Physician as well as a Warrioress. She is also a "Scribe", and also something of a "Priestess" in a way, I might mention, having been the "founder" of the religion. A most "amazing" woman, if I may say so here. "There's a lot of blood," I said, Tori bleeding a lot. "Knife wounds `do' that," Lorraine smiled back at me. "She `saved' my life," I said, seeing Lorraine nod. "The Physician is here," a guardswoman said then. "Won't get anything out of `her'," Darlanis said, the woman having died of a broken neck from the fall. I had already deter- mined that she was not a member of the Royal Guard, but just a woman who had dressed in the uniform of one, fooling the others. The Empress had "dressed" a bit, at least to "cover" herself now. "We might not have `gotten' anything," Lorraine smiled back. "Whoever `hired' someone like `that' probably was careful enough not to let this assassin know anything more than she needed to." "You have `enemies' who want you dead, and a new Queen for Dularn," Darlanis ventured, regarding me as I stood there now. I had ordered the body brought inside, a couple of my guardswomen having stripped it in their search for anything that might lead to finding out "who" she was. "Why" she'd been sent to kill me? "You have made yourself some very `powerful' enemies with your `stand' on the issue of slavery," Lorraine spoke, "Including I might note enemies within the Empire of California itself now. And `one' who is quite capable of ordering Queens assassinated." "Princess Tara Bisan," I "breathed", remembering the papers I'd found among Darl Jord's effects. Proof of his own involve- ment with the evil Bajan. With the criminal underworld of Dularn itself. I wondered if there were any "limits" to Tara's power. She was also called "The Princess of Darkness" with good cause. "A very `unpleasant' person," Darlanis "smiled" at my nod. "Diane Wells, third midshipman of the North Star," the guardswoman said to me. Tori's daughter stepping into the pal- ace's sick room where poor Tori now laid sleeping, her husband there at her side, her son sitting to one side, now half asleep. "My mother...," she breathed, looking at the still figure. Diane did look much like her mother, but yet somewhat "slimmer". "Saved your Queen's life tonight," I said then to the girl. "I never realized until now how much she meant to me," Diane said softly, looking down at her father sitting there beside the still sleeping figure of Tori. "How much I've `hurt' her by all the things that I've done," the girl added, her eyes wet now with tears as she stood here in the uniform of a Dularnian midshipman. "She loves you very much," I said, taking my leave of them. I recalled then that there had been a woman who had loved me very much. One who like Diane I had hated for what she had done to me in trying to teach me the meaning of discipline, of honor, of do- ing one's best regardless of what the "reward" might be. A woman who I had "hurt" both by my cruel words and my thoughtless acts! "You said that when you first saw the assassin you believed that it was just another one of your `nightmares' you've been having?" Lorraine said to me, her dark eyes glowing into mine as we ate breakfast together, all us Queens along with Darlanis her- self tall and golden, looking truly the "part" of "what" she is. "I've been thinking of visiting a Priestess, see if she can `do' anything about them," I answered, chewing on a bit of bacon. The thought going through my mind just then of the experiences that the Simmons had with the High Priestess here in the city... "You once said that everyone living in this time, with the excep- tion of you and Sharon, has been `mind programmed' by the Priest- esses of Lys," I added, aware that this was "something" I'd bet- ter be careful to see never got to any ears that it shouldn't. As La-ra and Kathi were our only "servants", I felt "safe" here. "The concept was `invented' by Janet Rogers and me in the 20th Century, but we lacked the computer technology to make it work, the Motorola 68000 series and the similar Intel series of computer chips lacking the necessary `real time multi-tasking' capability to make it possible," she spoke. The look of "awe" on all our faces leaving no doubt we hadn't understood a word of it! "I take it however that Janet Rogers did `perfect' it," the Empress ventured, regarding Lorraine just a bit of "awe" here... "`Sometime' in the 21st Century before The War," Lorraine smiled back. "I know the Priestesses of Lys possess the device." "Last year, the High Priestess of Dularn attempted to kill two `friends' of mine, and I helped dispose of her body," I said, well aware of the penalties involved in killing a Priestess too! "She had some sort of weapon that burned things," Kathi now spoke up, the wench having been an "eye witness" to the affair! "There was also a flying machine of some sort," I said. "The Women of Mars possess such devices," Darlanis spoke. "I doubt that any of this is `related'," Lorraine spoke up. "However, it would be a simple matter to `program' a person to have nightmares, although what value it would be is another ques- tion unless you wished to eventually drive the person insane." "`Who' would be your successor?" Sharon then asked me. "She would be `appointed' by the Senate," I answered back. I had neither children or a "Warlady" who might take my place... Hope was still a baby of eight months, which meant that I had no actual legal "sucessor" as such right now, I might mention here. "Doubtlessly a woman more `reasonable' than you," Lorraine smiled, her dark eyes "glowing" into mine from across the table. "And it is `possible' from what Darlanis found below Triskelion that Princess Tara could have had a machine capable of producing electronic hypnosis left over from the time of Janet Rogers if we consider the fact that we found the last remains of Domino Tre- maine in that same spot, the woman who was Earth's last ruler." "I would certainly `know' that such a device was used on me," I pointed out. I had no idea of what such a device would look like, but I expected it would have to be something that was placed around my head or something I had to look into, recalling how Lorraine had instructed me in the art of hypnosis one time... "A `command' would be given for you to forget all about it," Lorraine answered. "And you would have no way of ever knowing if such a machine was used upon you unless you were put into a deep state of hypnosis with another machine and then well questioned. As a child you were `mind programmed' by the Priestesses of Lys. You have no `memories' of that `event' because you were told not to remember. In fact you were `ordered' not to ever recall it." "Those `nightmares' were getting pretty bad," I answered. "That's part of the reason too why Tori was sleeping with me last night." There were even times when I feared to go into dark parts of my palace, just because "something" might be waiting for me. I was getting terrified of "shadows", of even going to bed! "And you said that when you saw the assassin that you didn't even realize that she was `real', and not a part of a dream?" the Warlady asked, her awesome mind no doubt hard at work right now! "It wasn't until Tori screamed that I knew she was real," I said. I think I could have laid there and allowed her to kill me without even making an attempt to defend myself against her then! "Post hypnotic suggestion," Lorraine mused, regarding me... "That assassin," I breathed, remembering "how" she'd died. "Mind programmed to `self destruct' in case of failure," the Warlady smiled back. "Which leaves us with either Princess Tara or some `fraction' among the Priestesses of Lys who are in league with her," the Queen of Trelandar said, her eyes meeting my own. "You know how to `make' someone's morning," Darlanis said. "Bob Simmons said he knew how Tara got the Evil One here," I spoke. "He never told me, however, just `how' she did the deed!" And, I thought to myself, we weren't likely to ever find out now! 2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Ten Suddenly there was A GLOWING BEAM OF LIGHT that "slashed" through the door, the door, oak and steel armor, cut apart like a piece of paper, smashing open! Lorraine standing there, a glow- ing weapon of some sort in her hand! Her Lorr built FORCE SABER! "Aii!" the assassin screamed, and before I or any one else could stop her, she leaped head first from the window to the hard flagstones of the quay before the palace thirty odd feet below!!! "See if she lives!" Lorraine snapped, that awesome competent mind instantly sizing up the situation, giving orders, my own guardswomen obeying as swiftly as if I or Tori had given them... "Tori!" I breathed, a guardswoman holding up a lantern, the Warlady kneeling down at my side, her strong fingers pulling at my captain's nightshift, tearing it away with the dagger that had laid at Tori's side, the same dagger that had pierced her breast! "What happened here!" Darlanis cried, suddenly running in, a naked sword in her hand, her own attire a half open silken robe. Sharon following behind, along with two more of my guardswomen. "`Assassination attempt!'" Lorraine snapped. "Someone get a Physician!" she added, looking up, her long deft fingers pressing against Tori's bleeding breast, my poor Tori moaning with pain! "Lucky she's got big boobs," Lorraine breathed, adding that the dagger had not penetrated as deeply as it would have done had Tori not been a full breasted woman. Tori, barely conscious now, trying a feeble grin as I took her hand, held it in mine, hoping that she would live, that Lys would not take her now from me... "Will she...?" I "breathed", looking into Lorraine's eyes. "Be off her feet for a few days, but she'll be O.K.," the Warlady assured me, Lorraine being also a Physician as well as a Warrioress. She is also a "Scribe", and also something of a "Priestess" in a way, I might mention, having been the "founder" of the religion. A most "amazing" woman, if I may say so here. "There's a lot of blood," I said, Tori bleeding a lot. "Knife wounds `do' that," Lorraine smiled back at me. "She `saved' my life," I said, seeing Lorraine nod. "The Physician is here," a guardswoman said then. "Won't get anything out of `her'," Darlanis said, the woman having died of a broken neck from the fall. I had already deter- mined that she was not a member of the Royal Guard, but just a woman who had dressed in the uniform of one, fooling the others. The Empress had "dressed" a bit, at least to "cover" herself now. "We might not have `gotten' anything," Lorraine smiled back. "Whoever `hired' someone like `that' probably was careful enough not to let this assassin know anything more than she needed to." "You have `enemies' who want you dead, and a new Queen for Dularn," Darlanis ventured, regarding me as I stood there now. I had ordered the body brought inside, a couple of my guardswomen having stripped it in their search for anything that might lead to finding out "who" she was. "Why" she'd been sent to kill me? "You have made yourself some very `powerful' enemies with your `stand' on the issue of slavery," Lorraine spoke, "Including I might note enemies within the Empire of California itself now. And `one' who is quite capable of ordering Queens assassinated." "Princess Tara Bisan," I "breathed", remembering the papers I'd found among Darl Jord's effects. Proof of his own involve- ment with the evil Bajan. With the criminal underworld of Dularn itself. I wondered if there were any "limits" to Tara's power. She was also called "The Princess of Darkness" with good cause. "A very `unpleasant' person," Darlanis "smiled" at my nod. "Diane Wells, third midshipman of the North Star," the guardswoman said to me. Tori's daughter stepping into the pal- ace's sick room where poor Tori now laid sleeping, her husband there at her side, her son sitting to one side, now half asleep. "My mother...," she breathed, looking at the still figure. Diane did look much like her mother, but yet somewhat "slimmer". "Saved your Queen's life tonight," I said then to the girl. "I never realized until now how much she meant to me," Diane said softly, looking down at her father sitting there beside the still sleeping figure of Tori. "How much I've `hurt' her by all the things that I've done," the girl added, her eyes wet now with tears as she stood here in the uniform of a Dularnian midshipman. "She loves you very much," I said, taking my leave of them. I recalled then that there had been a woman who had loved me very much. One who like Diane I had hated for what she had done to me in trying to teach me the meaning of discipline, of honor, of do- ing one's best regardless of what the "reward" might be. A woman who I had "hurt" both by my cruel words and my thoughtless acts! "You said that when you first saw the assassin you believed that it was just another one of your `nightmares' you've been having?" Lorraine said to me, her dark eyes glowing into mine as we ate breakfast together, all us Queens along with Darlanis her- self tall and golden, looking truly the "part" of "what" she is. "I've been thinking of visiting a Priestess, see if she can `do' anything about them," I answered, chewing on a bit of bacon. The thought going through my mind just then of the experiences that the Simmons had with the High Priestess here in the city... "You once said that everyone living in this time, with the excep- tion of you and Sharon, has been `mind programmed' by the Priest- esses of Lys," I added, aware that this was "something" I'd bet- ter be careful to see never got to any ears that it shouldn't. As La-ra and Kathi were our only "servants", I felt "safe" here. "The concept was `invented' by Janet Rogers and me in the 20th Century, but we lacked the computer technology to make it work, the Motorola 68000 series and the similar Intel series of computer chips lacking the necessary `real time multi-tasking' capability to make it possible," she spoke. The look of "awe" on all our faces leaving no doubt we hadn't understood a word of it! "I take it however that Janet Rogers did `perfect' it," the Empress ventured, regarding Lorraine just a bit of "awe" here... "`Sometime' in the 21st Century before The War," Lorraine smiled back. "I know the Priestesses of Lys possess the device." "Last year, the High Priestess of Dularn attempted to kill two `friends' of mine, and I helped dispose of her body," I said, well aware of the penalties involved in killing a Priestess too! "She had some sort of weapon that burned things," Kathi now spoke up, the wench having been an "eye witness" to the affair! "There was also a flying machine of some sort," I said. "The Women of Mars possess such devices," Darlanis spoke. "I doubt that any of this is `related'," Lorraine spoke up. "However, it would be a simple matter to `program' a person to have nightmares, although what value it would be is another ques- tion unless you wished to eventually drive the person insane." "`Who' would be your successor?" Sharon then asked me. "She would be `appointed' by the Senate," I answered back. I had neither children or a "Warlady" who might take my place... Hope was still a baby of eight months, which meant that I had no actual legal "sucessor" as such right now, I might mention here. "Doubtlessly a woman more `reasonable' than you," Lorraine smiled, her dark eyes "glowing" into mine from across the table. "And it is `possible' from what Darlanis found below Triskelion that Princess Tara could have had a machine capable of producing electronic hypnosis left over from the time of Janet Rogers if we consider the fact that we found the last remains of Domino Tre- maine in that same spot, the woman who was Earth's last ruler." "I would certainly `know' that such a device was used on me," I pointed out. I had no idea of what such a device would look like, but I expected it would have to be something that was placed around my head or something I had to look into, recalling how Lorraine had instructed me in the art of hypnosis one time... "A `command' would be given for you to forget all about it," Lorraine answered. "And you would have no way of ever knowing if such a machine was used upon you unless you were put into a deep state of hypnosis with another machine and then well questioned. As a child you were `mind programmed' by the Priestesses of Lys. You have no `memories' of that `event' because you were told not to remember. In fact you were `ordered' not to ever recall it." "Those `nightmares' were getting pretty bad," I answered. "That's part of the reason too why Tori was sleeping with me last night." There were even times when I feared to go into dark parts of my palace, just because "something" might be waiting for me. I was getting terrified of "shadows", of even going to bed! "And you said that when you saw the assassin that you didn't even realize that she was `real', and not a part of a dream?" the Warlady asked, her awesome mind no doubt hard at work right now! "It wasn't until Tori screamed that I knew she was real," I said. I think I could have laid there and allowed her to kill me without even making an attempt to defend myself against her then! "Post hypnotic suggestion," Lorraine mused, regarding me... "That assassin," I breathed, remembering "how" she'd died. "Mind programmed to `self destruct' in case of failure," the Warlady smiled back. "Which leaves us with either Princess Tara or some `fraction' among the Priestesses of Lys who are in league with her," the Queen of Trelandar said, her eyes meeting my own. "You know how to `make' someone's morning," Darlanis said. "Bob Simmons said he knew how Tara got the Evil One here," I spoke. "He never told me, however, just `how' she did the deed!" And, I thought to myself, we weren't likely to ever find out now! |
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