"2569-47" - 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 Forty Seven "There is more `depth' to you than I realized," my husband said as we ate lunch together there in the stern cabin, the win- dows open to catch the breeze as we sailed over a blue green sea. "I whipped that woman as I did for a good reason," I smiled. "Any `slack' now in discipline could lead to disaster later on." "You're the Queen of Dularn," he said, chewing on his food. "I'm also the `captain' of this ship," I pointed out to him. "And the `best' one that I think it's ever had," he grinned. "Except for the storm and that `sea monster' the look out claimed to have seen, this has been an uneventful voyage," Karis said to me as we ate dinner together there, Diane Wells nodding in affirmation. The last rays of the sunset glowing there in the sky ahead of us. According to the charts we were now somewhat south of the Aleutians where they arch out westerly towards Asia. "And the `superior' design of our ships over those of the Imperials is no longer in doubt," Diane added with a grin for me. "A more `competent' officer would have done `better'," I smiled back. Lorraine would not have made the mistakes that Dar- lanis had apparently "allowed" to have made aboard Sarnian Queen. I didn't like Lorraine that much in some ways, but she was at least extremely "competent" at almost everything that she did do. "We're freshly refitted out of the `yard'," Karis smiled back. "No doubt Darlanis didn't have anything done to her ship." "Before you two get too `delighted' over all this," my hus- band then pointed out to them as he sat beside me, "Just remember that we are now all alone out here thousands of miles of land." "We are on course," I said, lowering the telescope. The great "rock" that rose out of the sea there just to the north of us was one of the Aleutians. I saw no reason to try to make a landing at this time, as we were still well furnished with water and food. My husband nodding, the crew at the rail or up in the rigging watching the great "rock" there on the horizon going by. "That strange `sense' of yours, has it detected anything out here?" Paul asked as he held me there in his arms, my naked body pressed up to his. So far I'd been able to hold my weight down, there being a "tendency" on long voyages for me to gain weight. "Just faint `brushings' at the edge of my mind," I said. "We can be all be thankful that the Priestesses of Lys were able to prevent the EVIL ONE from entering our plane of exist- ence," Paul pointed out, kissing me. THAT was an "adventure" I'd never forget, as neither would Darlanis, I strongly suspected. I suspected however that had Darlanis and I not "done" what we did things might have turned out far "differently" than they did. I suspected too that perhaps Lys Herself had a hand in things here! "Shows that the Priestesses were `right' in their teachings against `witchcraft'," I pointed out, kissing back him in return. Lorraine had opposed them on this, but they were obviously right. "You're `good' in bed," he observed, caressing me a bit now. "I was a slave girl in Trelandar," I "smiled" back in reply. When a woman is a slave girl she has no choice but to be "good". "You're `better' than Kathi," he grinned, his fingertip now finding my clitoris. I supposed that it was true. Kathi wasn't "done" like I was. Her "responses" were those of any slave girl. She "did" as she was told, but that didn't mean that she was really all that "good" in bed. When Bob and Carol had owned her I recalled Bob once saying that his wife was noticeably "better". "You `miss' Emily?" I asked, recalling his first slave girl. "More of a `woman' than Kathi is," Paul answered me. A gen- tle knock at the door then putting a quick "halt" to things now. "Yes?" I spoke, holding the robe about myself. Karis stand- ing there with a look on her attractive face that left no doubts as to her own thoughts just then at seeing me so clad just then! "There is a rainstorm coming towards us," she answered now. "Prepare the spare sails to catch the rainwater," I replied. "Be sure we catch every drop!" I snapped, the rainstorm sweeping down upon us from the north. The spare sails now spread to catch the precious fresh water. While I still had nearly ninety days supply of fresh water aboard, I preferred if possible to keep my barrels full, just in case the unforeseen might occur. I could see the rain like a dark mist as it fell from the clouds into the sea. The North Star's crew now ready to catch the rain. "Nothing like fresh water," my husband smiled, the first few drops now falling on the deck. The rainwater cold, the sun now hidden by the clouds. We had been at sea for three weeks now. I suspected also that we'd seen the last of the Aleutians now, the last one having been passed only the day before, a barren "rock" just to the north of us inhabited by nothing more than seabirds. It was "cold" out here, colder than it normally is in spring now. ***************************************************************** (Two Weeks Later) "Is it land?" the look out said to me as I stood beside her, the roll of the ship some eighty feet beneath me disconcerting, not something that I found enjoyable. I am not too "bothered" by heights as such, but I don't like being carried from side to side by the roll of a ship while standing eighty feet from the deck! "Could be," I answered, peering through the telescope at it. It could also be a line of clouds on the horizon, but I didn't think so. Clouds are "soft", and this was "hard" in a way that only land is! Could it be possible that we'd reached Asia now? "We have arrived?" my husband asked as I stepped down on to the deck. According to the charts we were well to the "north" of Japan, and could now sail to the south, keeping the land there to starboard. First, however, I wished to make a "landing" here... "`That' is Asia," I said, the crew standing there listening. People nodding, looking at each other, staring out beyond the bow to where only a dim "line" still could be seen now from the deck. "No telling what the `bottom's' like here," I said, listen- ing to the man in the bow with the lead line making soundings. I could see the trees, the shoreline, clouds in the sky, the sun as back home in Dularn shining down upon us. I saw no sign of life. Human life that is, although animal life was plain enough here... "There's someone!" Karis breathed, looking through a tele- scope as she swept the shoreline. "Some sort of `barbarian' dressed in skins and furs...," she added, turning to tell me so. "No one here now," I spoke, looking about, my husband hold- ing his bow at the ready, an arrow now nocked on the bow string. "There are footprints," Karis said, squatting down then. "We're `sitting ducks' here," Paul pointed out to me. "Back to the boat," I said, eying the thick forest. "We can make a landing in force," Diane said to me as we sat there in the stern cabin, the wind having now pushed the ship around so that she faced out to sea with the stern towards shore. "We are probably dealing with people similar in `culture' to those who live to the east of us," my husband ventured, seeing me nod. Such peoples, as "savage" as any who had ever lived, would have no difficulty at all in destroying any landing party we put ashore now. Granted, our weapons were probably "superior", but I had no doubt as to the consequences of any fight between us and whoever lived here. Karis having said that the man she'd seen had been dressed in animal skins and carried some sort of a bow. Much like the sort of the savage tribes that lived in the interi- or of North America, most of them much like the savages that had once inhabitanted that land many centuries before. Such people I suspected would not be "friendly" judging from the fact that we'd seen no other sign of human life here, the implications of "that" something that "implied" that human slavery was "known" here too. "We could lie here at anchor for a few days and see what happens," Karis suggested, Diane "nodding" in agreement with her. I suspected that these mysterious people feared ships with good reason. Human slavery is no doubt commonplace everywhere now... "We are well `north' of Japan," I answered. I was guessing at the Kuril Islands, one of the more "northern" ones here now. We had sailed almost directly "west" from North America, with a few "glimpses" of the Aleutians as I have narrated earlier here. "Isn't that `warm' here either," my husband smiled back. I had already noted that fact, although we were well to the north. "We will sail due `south', keeping the land to starboard," I ordered, having come to a decision here. Saloma Tora standing by the stern windows, looking out at a land even to her now legend. "And due to the fact that we have no idea as to the conditions of things here, we will keep a closer look out than we have before." "Another one of these islands?" Karis said to me, lowering the telescope. We had passed a number, with no sign of any ships or anything else yet. I wondered if the derelict we'd found had come from Japan or China, or perhaps even somewhere else now... "Sail Ho!" the look out cried, pointing with his telescope! "I think we have just made `contact'," I smiled back then! "Let's just hope they're `friendly'," Karis answered me. "Three masts, square rigged, but funny looking," I spoke, lowering my telescope, the ship obviously much like the "junk" we'd found. I suspected now that it might be a warship. There were flags flying from the three mastheads, the painted eyes now reminding me of old Imperials, which used to be of that design. "Kathi, get out my formal uniform, the attire of a Queen." The slave girl nodding, her eyes gleaming as they met mine in reply. "We know `nothing' of them," my husband warned me then. "And they the `same' of us," I smiled back in reply. 2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Forty Seven "There is more `depth' to you than I realized," my husband said as we ate lunch together there in the stern cabin, the win- dows open to catch the breeze as we sailed over a blue green sea. "I whipped that woman as I did for a good reason," I smiled. "Any `slack' now in discipline could lead to disaster later on." "You're the Queen of Dularn," he said, chewing on his food. "I'm also the `captain' of this ship," I pointed out to him. "And the `best' one that I think it's ever had," he grinned. "Except for the storm and that `sea monster' the look out claimed to have seen, this has been an uneventful voyage," Karis said to me as we ate dinner together there, Diane Wells nodding in affirmation. The last rays of the sunset glowing there in the sky ahead of us. According to the charts we were now somewhat south of the Aleutians where they arch out westerly towards Asia. "And the `superior' design of our ships over those of the Imperials is no longer in doubt," Diane added with a grin for me. "A more `competent' officer would have done `better'," I smiled back. Lorraine would not have made the mistakes that Dar- lanis had apparently "allowed" to have made aboard Sarnian Queen. I didn't like Lorraine that much in some ways, but she was at least extremely "competent" at almost everything that she did do. "We're freshly refitted out of the `yard'," Karis smiled back. "No doubt Darlanis didn't have anything done to her ship." "Before you two get too `delighted' over all this," my hus- band then pointed out to them as he sat beside me, "Just remember that we are now all alone out here thousands of miles of land." "We are on course," I said, lowering the telescope. The great "rock" that rose out of the sea there just to the north of us was one of the Aleutians. I saw no reason to try to make a landing at this time, as we were still well furnished with water and food. My husband nodding, the crew at the rail or up in the rigging watching the great "rock" there on the horizon going by. "That strange `sense' of yours, has it detected anything out here?" Paul asked as he held me there in his arms, my naked body pressed up to his. So far I'd been able to hold my weight down, there being a "tendency" on long voyages for me to gain weight. "Just faint `brushings' at the edge of my mind," I said. "We can be all be thankful that the Priestesses of Lys were able to prevent the EVIL ONE from entering our plane of exist- ence," Paul pointed out, kissing me. THAT was an "adventure" I'd never forget, as neither would Darlanis, I strongly suspected. I suspected however that had Darlanis and I not "done" what we did things might have turned out far "differently" than they did. I suspected too that perhaps Lys Herself had a hand in things here! "Shows that the Priestesses were `right' in their teachings against `witchcraft'," I pointed out, kissing back him in return. Lorraine had opposed them on this, but they were obviously right. "You're `good' in bed," he observed, caressing me a bit now. "I was a slave girl in Trelandar," I "smiled" back in reply. When a woman is a slave girl she has no choice but to be "good". "You're `better' than Kathi," he grinned, his fingertip now finding my clitoris. I supposed that it was true. Kathi wasn't "done" like I was. Her "responses" were those of any slave girl. She "did" as she was told, but that didn't mean that she was really all that "good" in bed. When Bob and Carol had owned her I recalled Bob once saying that his wife was noticeably "better". "You `miss' Emily?" I asked, recalling his first slave girl. "More of a `woman' than Kathi is," Paul answered me. A gen- tle knock at the door then putting a quick "halt" to things now. "Yes?" I spoke, holding the robe about myself. Karis stand- ing there with a look on her attractive face that left no doubts as to her own thoughts just then at seeing me so clad just then! "There is a rainstorm coming towards us," she answered now. "Prepare the spare sails to catch the rainwater," I replied. "Be sure we catch every drop!" I snapped, the rainstorm sweeping down upon us from the north. The spare sails now spread to catch the precious fresh water. While I still had nearly ninety days supply of fresh water aboard, I preferred if possible to keep my barrels full, just in case the unforeseen might occur. I could see the rain like a dark mist as it fell from the clouds into the sea. The North Star's crew now ready to catch the rain. "Nothing like fresh water," my husband smiled, the first few drops now falling on the deck. The rainwater cold, the sun now hidden by the clouds. We had been at sea for three weeks now. I suspected also that we'd seen the last of the Aleutians now, the last one having been passed only the day before, a barren "rock" just to the north of us inhabited by nothing more than seabirds. It was "cold" out here, colder than it normally is in spring now. ***************************************************************** (Two Weeks Later) "Is it land?" the look out said to me as I stood beside her, the roll of the ship some eighty feet beneath me disconcerting, not something that I found enjoyable. I am not too "bothered" by heights as such, but I don't like being carried from side to side by the roll of a ship while standing eighty feet from the deck! "Could be," I answered, peering through the telescope at it. It could also be a line of clouds on the horizon, but I didn't think so. Clouds are "soft", and this was "hard" in a way that only land is! Could it be possible that we'd reached Asia now? "We have arrived?" my husband asked as I stepped down on to the deck. According to the charts we were well to the "north" of Japan, and could now sail to the south, keeping the land there to starboard. First, however, I wished to make a "landing" here... "`That' is Asia," I said, the crew standing there listening. People nodding, looking at each other, staring out beyond the bow to where only a dim "line" still could be seen now from the deck. "No telling what the `bottom's' like here," I said, listen- ing to the man in the bow with the lead line making soundings. I could see the trees, the shoreline, clouds in the sky, the sun as back home in Dularn shining down upon us. I saw no sign of life. Human life that is, although animal life was plain enough here... "There's someone!" Karis breathed, looking through a tele- scope as she swept the shoreline. "Some sort of `barbarian' dressed in skins and furs...," she added, turning to tell me so. "No one here now," I spoke, looking about, my husband hold- ing his bow at the ready, an arrow now nocked on the bow string. "There are footprints," Karis said, squatting down then. "We're `sitting ducks' here," Paul pointed out to me. "Back to the boat," I said, eying the thick forest. "We can make a landing in force," Diane said to me as we sat there in the stern cabin, the wind having now pushed the ship around so that she faced out to sea with the stern towards shore. "We are probably dealing with people similar in `culture' to those who live to the east of us," my husband ventured, seeing me nod. Such peoples, as "savage" as any who had ever lived, would have no difficulty at all in destroying any landing party we put ashore now. Granted, our weapons were probably "superior", but I had no doubt as to the consequences of any fight between us and whoever lived here. Karis having said that the man she'd seen had been dressed in animal skins and carried some sort of a bow. Much like the sort of the savage tribes that lived in the interi- or of North America, most of them much like the savages that had once inhabitanted that land many centuries before. Such people I suspected would not be "friendly" judging from the fact that we'd seen no other sign of human life here, the implications of "that" something that "implied" that human slavery was "known" here too. "We could lie here at anchor for a few days and see what happens," Karis suggested, Diane "nodding" in agreement with her. I suspected that these mysterious people feared ships with good reason. Human slavery is no doubt commonplace everywhere now... "We are well `north' of Japan," I answered. I was guessing at the Kuril Islands, one of the more "northern" ones here now. We had sailed almost directly "west" from North America, with a few "glimpses" of the Aleutians as I have narrated earlier here. "Isn't that `warm' here either," my husband smiled back. I had already noted that fact, although we were well to the north. "We will sail due `south', keeping the land to starboard," I ordered, having come to a decision here. Saloma Tora standing by the stern windows, looking out at a land even to her now legend. "And due to the fact that we have no idea as to the conditions of things here, we will keep a closer look out than we have before." "Another one of these islands?" Karis said to me, lowering the telescope. We had passed a number, with no sign of any ships or anything else yet. I wondered if the derelict we'd found had come from Japan or China, or perhaps even somewhere else now... "Sail Ho!" the look out cried, pointing with his telescope! "I think we have just made `contact'," I smiled back then! "Let's just hope they're `friendly'," Karis answered me. "Three masts, square rigged, but funny looking," I spoke, lowering my telescope, the ship obviously much like the "junk" we'd found. I suspected now that it might be a warship. There were flags flying from the three mastheads, the painted eyes now reminding me of old Imperials, which used to be of that design. "Kathi, get out my formal uniform, the attire of a Queen." The slave girl nodding, her eyes gleaming as they met mine in reply. "We know `nothing' of them," my husband warned me then. "And they the `same' of us," I smiled back in reply. |
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