"2569-20" - 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 Twenty "Getting dark," my husband smiled, the sun now gone, the last glow of the sunset fading away there in the west over the ocean. I thought I could see the harbor light of Sana ahead, but I wasn't sure. The derelict was slower towing than I'd planned. Without the steam engine it would have been far more difficult with this crew of clod hoppers and "never do wells" from Arsana. Even the "ship's girls" looked like "rejects" from some brothel! "I don't envy Diane," I smiled, thinking of the midshipman. I'd assigned her the task of watching over the tow rope where it was tied to the stub of the derelict's foremast. It was a simple enough task, but on a ship filled with the dead, no doubt nerve racking a bit. Especially now to a young girl new at her "work"! "I'm sure she'll keep a good eye on the tow rope," my hus- band smiled. The rope being her only "link" with the North Star. I could see the lantern she had there on the deck beside her, it being apparent too that she was rather "nervous" about all this!! "Give her something to tell her children some day," I said. "I keep thinking of what it must have been `like' for them," he said, standing there, looking astern at the tow there behind. "Death by thirst isn't `pleasant'," I answered him back. I would much rather die of starvation than of thirst judging from people who have been "rescued" after drifting about in boats... "The officers committed suicide, the crew didn't," he said. "Cultural differences, I suppose," I nodded, glancing back. "Stars are coming out now," Prince Paul Blue Sky observed. "Looks like Diane is having a bit of a `problem'," I said. "Scared shitless," he grinned, the girl now doing just that judging from her position as she propped herself there on a rail. Obviously she had no intentions of using the junk's own "heads"! She was also carrying her sword drawn there in her hand, I'd saw. "Fear can `do' that to you," I smiled back, remembering the first time I saw combat ten years ago in the war between Dularn and the Empire of California when Darlanis started making trouble over the "northern territories" which she claimed were hers now. "She's a nice girl," he smiled. That was my opinion too. "You know, some of those bodies looked `gnawed'," he said. "Rats," I smiled. "They would have survived the longest". "There wasn't any sign of cannibalism," he observed now. "They didn't have water to drink," I pointed out to him. "You could spread sails, catch rainwater," he pointed out. "No doubt they tried," I answered, wondering if the ship's log would tell us anything once it was translated if it could be. The ship had remained afloat, I had determined, due to the cargo of some sort of a very light wood, now held only by the fabric of the vessel, the seams no doubt having opened up during a storm. "I can think of more `pleasant' ways of dying," he smiled. "No doubt Diane over there wishes she'd stayed in Arsana," I grinned, recalling what her mother had "said" about her then. On the other hand I thought it would probably be good for her now. Many young girls, especially if they are beautiful, get rather swelled opinions about themselves. I speak here from experience. "How did it go?" I asked, pouring the whiskey into the glass and giving it to Diane, who drank it down like a veteran sailor as we now laid there at anchor there in Sana's small bay. It is not my policy as a rule to give "spirits" to teenage girls, but in her case I didn't think it would really do any "harm" now! My husband sitting under the stern windows, an arm around Kathi and another around Emily, the slave girls in their attire "delights". "I've learned what being `scared' means," she smiled back. My father, the mayor of Sana, giving me a smile and a knowing nod as he sat there smiling to himself, "sipping" at my royal brandy. Most of the crew of the ship now ashore, no doubt glad to be so. "Those `Chinese' have been dead for a long time," I said. I suspected several years, judging from the looks of the remains. "Maybe their `spirits' are still around," she volunteered. "Your Queen assures you that they are not," I smiled back, my father quietly sitting to one side, leering a bit at Kathi. "And Miss Wells, I have a little task for you in the morning," I smiled, the brownette girl nodding, her dark eyes meeting my own. "There is a ballistae stored in one of the holds. I want you to locate it, get in touch with the ship's carpenter, and place it on a swivel mount of some sort there on the foredeck between the fore mast and the bowsprit and ahead of the quickfirer there." "Aye, your majesty," Diane smiled, setting down the glass. "There is also another such weapon that could be mounted on the quarterdeck so that it could be fired astern," she "suggested". Such weapons, like gigantic crossbows, could hurl a bolt about a quarter mile or so. They were thought "obsolete" compared to the steam powered quickfirers we carried, but those required steam to operate, whereas the ballistae could still be wound up and fired if so necessary by only one person using the windlass provided. "She is of the Warrioresses," my father, Tarl Marn said as Diane now took her leave of us. I nodded, thinking now of Tori. Being a Warrioress is "more" than just having skill with weapons. I also thought how much Diane reminded me of myself at that age. We had both been "cocky", too "proud" of our own looks, resentful of those who loved us, who saw the pitfalls that laid ahead then. "I trust you do not object to having a ship full of very dead men here in your harbor," I smiled, the derelict having come to its final resting place here on the shores of Dularn where it would doubtlessly remain until broken up after we had learned all we could of it. Those aboard the North Star had not been very delighted at the idea of towing it here and then anchoring along- side it. The fishermen of Sana having dragged it as far towards shore as they could, where it would be safe until those of the "learned castes" could come from Arsana to study this strange "visitor" of ours from a land many people considered only "myth". "`They' are not likely to be going anywhere," my father the mayor smiled. "And in any case I will post a guard to be sure." My father then continued on, saying, "I am sure that Marta would like to see you now," his eyes holding mine as I nodded back. My stepmother and I have never been "close", but I supposed that the Queen of Dularn could be "polite" and say a few words to a woman who no doubt tried her best to raise me despite my "hostility"... Who painfully taught me things that have made me what I am today. A woman whom I had hurt terribly by my cocky, arrogant attitude! I thought then of Diane, of Tori, and how I had treated the woman who had tried to raise me into a proper young woman. I didn't feel so good then, knowing how I had caused pain to those who had loved me. Who had done their "best" to give me a "loving" home. "I am very `proud' of what you have become," she spoke, her reddish hair still much as I remembered it as she stood there be- fore me holding on to the cane that she always used because of her wooden right leg there below the knee. I still had to look up a little at her, my stepmother being as "tall" as is Darlanis. Her clothing an attractive leather tunic and green woolen hose. "And perhaps in a few years there will be a grandchild to sit on my knee," Marta smiled hopefully at me, regarding my Wyoming Prince as he stood there now beside me in his leather. "A son or daughter to teach the `ways' of the sea as I once so taught you." There was Hope, but she wasn't really "mine" so far as I saw it.* * She is with Carol now, where I think she always "belonged". I think someday I will see her again, but she will be a grown woman then, and not the little baby girl that I knew her as here. Tais told me that it was for the "best", and I do agree with her here. "I'm sorry I was such a `bitch' back then'," I said, seeing her nod, well aware of the "pain" I'd caused her in the past. I was, I suppose, one of those girls who is too "beautiful" for her own good. I resented my father's remarriage, felt a sense of be- trayal that he would marry this woman, take her into the bed my own mother had given birth to me in. Unlike Gayle, I still could remember my true mother, slim and golden, much unlike this woman! "Steel must be `tempered'," she answered, a Warrioress yet. Once she had been Dularn's most famous sea captain, the first of her sex to stand on the quarterdeck of a ship of war in battle. I knew she was older than my father by a dozen years, a "fact" I had also resented, wondering "why" he had married this "old" sea officer. This "legend" that I cared little about then in my pain at the loss of a woman who I had loved like no other. Now I was a "legend", Dularn's finest sea officer, much as she once had so many years ago when triremes and biremes were the ships of war... "I wish now it could have been `different'," I said to her. "I wish I had understood then what I do now about what you tried to do for me." It had been her teachings that had allowed me to steal a small sailboat from Lorraine's estate in Trelandar and sail it all the way north to Dularn, to this very village of Sana where I'd once been born thirty years ago! Her teachings of wind and wave, of the knowledge of currents that had stood me in such good stead later when I had been the captain of the North Star. I had drawn then upon the knowledge she, once Commodore Marta Dan had given me in my ship to ship battles against the Imperials... "It is `good' that we are among `friends'," she spoke, hob- bling forward, brushing away the tears that now filled my eyes at the thought of how I had "hurt" her by my words and actions here in Sana as a teenage girl. I had been a "bitch" in the full sense of the term, another like Diane, too impressed with herself to understand the realities of life. I held her then to me, and wept on her shoulder, caring little then too that I was a Queen. 2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty "Getting dark," my husband smiled, the sun now gone, the last glow of the sunset fading away there in the west over the ocean. I thought I could see the harbor light of Sana ahead, but I wasn't sure. The derelict was slower towing than I'd planned. Without the steam engine it would have been far more difficult with this crew of clod hoppers and "never do wells" from Arsana. Even the "ship's girls" looked like "rejects" from some brothel! "I don't envy Diane," I smiled, thinking of the midshipman. I'd assigned her the task of watching over the tow rope where it was tied to the stub of the derelict's foremast. It was a simple enough task, but on a ship filled with the dead, no doubt nerve racking a bit. Especially now to a young girl new at her "work"! "I'm sure she'll keep a good eye on the tow rope," my hus- band smiled. The rope being her only "link" with the North Star. I could see the lantern she had there on the deck beside her, it being apparent too that she was rather "nervous" about all this!! "Give her something to tell her children some day," I said. "I keep thinking of what it must have been `like' for them," he said, standing there, looking astern at the tow there behind. "Death by thirst isn't `pleasant'," I answered him back. I would much rather die of starvation than of thirst judging from people who have been "rescued" after drifting about in boats... "The officers committed suicide, the crew didn't," he said. "Cultural differences, I suppose," I nodded, glancing back. "Stars are coming out now," Prince Paul Blue Sky observed. "Looks like Diane is having a bit of a `problem'," I said. "Scared shitless," he grinned, the girl now doing just that judging from her position as she propped herself there on a rail. Obviously she had no intentions of using the junk's own "heads"! She was also carrying her sword drawn there in her hand, I'd saw. "Fear can `do' that to you," I smiled back, remembering the first time I saw combat ten years ago in the war between Dularn and the Empire of California when Darlanis started making trouble over the "northern territories" which she claimed were hers now. "She's a nice girl," he smiled. That was my opinion too. "You know, some of those bodies looked `gnawed'," he said. "Rats," I smiled. "They would have survived the longest". "There wasn't any sign of cannibalism," he observed now. "They didn't have water to drink," I pointed out to him. "You could spread sails, catch rainwater," he pointed out. "No doubt they tried," I answered, wondering if the ship's log would tell us anything once it was translated if it could be. The ship had remained afloat, I had determined, due to the cargo of some sort of a very light wood, now held only by the fabric of the vessel, the seams no doubt having opened up during a storm. "I can think of more `pleasant' ways of dying," he smiled. "No doubt Diane over there wishes she'd stayed in Arsana," I grinned, recalling what her mother had "said" about her then. On the other hand I thought it would probably be good for her now. Many young girls, especially if they are beautiful, get rather swelled opinions about themselves. I speak here from experience. "How did it go?" I asked, pouring the whiskey into the glass and giving it to Diane, who drank it down like a veteran sailor as we now laid there at anchor there in Sana's small bay. It is not my policy as a rule to give "spirits" to teenage girls, but in her case I didn't think it would really do any "harm" now! My husband sitting under the stern windows, an arm around Kathi and another around Emily, the slave girls in their attire "delights". "I've learned what being `scared' means," she smiled back. My father, the mayor of Sana, giving me a smile and a knowing nod as he sat there smiling to himself, "sipping" at my royal brandy. Most of the crew of the ship now ashore, no doubt glad to be so. "Those `Chinese' have been dead for a long time," I said. I suspected several years, judging from the looks of the remains. "Maybe their `spirits' are still around," she volunteered. "Your Queen assures you that they are not," I smiled back, my father quietly sitting to one side, leering a bit at Kathi. "And Miss Wells, I have a little task for you in the morning," I smiled, the brownette girl nodding, her dark eyes meeting my own. "There is a ballistae stored in one of the holds. I want you to locate it, get in touch with the ship's carpenter, and place it on a swivel mount of some sort there on the foredeck between the fore mast and the bowsprit and ahead of the quickfirer there." "Aye, your majesty," Diane smiled, setting down the glass. "There is also another such weapon that could be mounted on the quarterdeck so that it could be fired astern," she "suggested". Such weapons, like gigantic crossbows, could hurl a bolt about a quarter mile or so. They were thought "obsolete" compared to the steam powered quickfirers we carried, but those required steam to operate, whereas the ballistae could still be wound up and fired if so necessary by only one person using the windlass provided. "She is of the Warrioresses," my father, Tarl Marn said as Diane now took her leave of us. I nodded, thinking now of Tori. Being a Warrioress is "more" than just having skill with weapons. I also thought how much Diane reminded me of myself at that age. We had both been "cocky", too "proud" of our own looks, resentful of those who loved us, who saw the pitfalls that laid ahead then. "I trust you do not object to having a ship full of very dead men here in your harbor," I smiled, the derelict having come to its final resting place here on the shores of Dularn where it would doubtlessly remain until broken up after we had learned all we could of it. Those aboard the North Star had not been very delighted at the idea of towing it here and then anchoring along- side it. The fishermen of Sana having dragged it as far towards shore as they could, where it would be safe until those of the "learned castes" could come from Arsana to study this strange "visitor" of ours from a land many people considered only "myth". "`They' are not likely to be going anywhere," my father the mayor smiled. "And in any case I will post a guard to be sure." My father then continued on, saying, "I am sure that Marta would like to see you now," his eyes holding mine as I nodded back. My stepmother and I have never been "close", but I supposed that the Queen of Dularn could be "polite" and say a few words to a woman who no doubt tried her best to raise me despite my "hostility"... Who painfully taught me things that have made me what I am today. A woman whom I had hurt terribly by my cocky, arrogant attitude! I thought then of Diane, of Tori, and how I had treated the woman who had tried to raise me into a proper young woman. I didn't feel so good then, knowing how I had caused pain to those who had loved me. Who had done their "best" to give me a "loving" home. "I am very `proud' of what you have become," she spoke, her reddish hair still much as I remembered it as she stood there be- fore me holding on to the cane that she always used because of her wooden right leg there below the knee. I still had to look up a little at her, my stepmother being as "tall" as is Darlanis. Her clothing an attractive leather tunic and green woolen hose. "And perhaps in a few years there will be a grandchild to sit on my knee," Marta smiled hopefully at me, regarding my Wyoming Prince as he stood there now beside me in his leather. "A son or daughter to teach the `ways' of the sea as I once so taught you." There was Hope, but she wasn't really "mine" so far as I saw it.* * She is with Carol now, where I think she always "belonged". I think someday I will see her again, but she will be a grown woman then, and not the little baby girl that I knew her as here. Tais told me that it was for the "best", and I do agree with her here. "I'm sorry I was such a `bitch' back then'," I said, seeing her nod, well aware of the "pain" I'd caused her in the past. I was, I suppose, one of those girls who is too "beautiful" for her own good. I resented my father's remarriage, felt a sense of be- trayal that he would marry this woman, take her into the bed my own mother had given birth to me in. Unlike Gayle, I still could remember my true mother, slim and golden, much unlike this woman! "Steel must be `tempered'," she answered, a Warrioress yet. Once she had been Dularn's most famous sea captain, the first of her sex to stand on the quarterdeck of a ship of war in battle. I knew she was older than my father by a dozen years, a "fact" I had also resented, wondering "why" he had married this "old" sea officer. This "legend" that I cared little about then in my pain at the loss of a woman who I had loved like no other. Now I was a "legend", Dularn's finest sea officer, much as she once had so many years ago when triremes and biremes were the ships of war... "I wish now it could have been `different'," I said to her. "I wish I had understood then what I do now about what you tried to do for me." It had been her teachings that had allowed me to steal a small sailboat from Lorraine's estate in Trelandar and sail it all the way north to Dularn, to this very village of Sana where I'd once been born thirty years ago! Her teachings of wind and wave, of the knowledge of currents that had stood me in such good stead later when I had been the captain of the North Star. I had drawn then upon the knowledge she, once Commodore Marta Dan had given me in my ship to ship battles against the Imperials... "It is `good' that we are among `friends'," she spoke, hob- bling forward, brushing away the tears that now filled my eyes at the thought of how I had "hurt" her by my words and actions here in Sana as a teenage girl. I had been a "bitch" in the full sense of the term, another like Diane, too impressed with herself to understand the realities of life. I held her then to me, and wept on her shoulder, caring little then too that I was a Queen. |
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