"2569-58" - 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 Fifty Eight "You should have been a `jet jockey'!" Sharon breathed as Darlanis "buzzed" the North Star, almost flying between the masts as she pulled up from a screaming dive Lorraine wouldn't have much "appreciated" the Empress doing had she known of it then... Black Lady was no "jet fighter", and she wasn't built for such! "It's the North Star!" Darlanis cried with joy, coming around in a climbing turn that almost stalled the black V-tailed Beechcraft out then! The Empress' skill at flying not that good! There being old pilots and bold pilots, but never both, Sharon remembered as she then now took over the controls from Darlanis. "You belong in a saddle, not an airplane!" Sharon snapped! "Sorry," the joyful Empress grinned, Sharon nodding back. "Just don't do it again," the young woman smiled back. ***************************************************************** "It's Black Lady all right," I said, the airplane's dive at the ship having caused some of the crew to even duck for cover!!! "And only Darlanis would fly like that," I explained to my crew. "It's coming back," my husband spoke then from beside me. "Flying more `level' now," I observed thoughtfully then. "What do you think Darlanis is up to?" Karis asked me. "I'm sure we'll soon find out," I smiled right back. ***************************************************************** "Water's too rough for a landing," Sharon said to Darlanis. "The North Star can pick me up," the Empress replied, undo- ing her ornate weapons harness and removing her lovely boots. A look of awe in Sharon's eyes as she saw what Darlanis intended! "You'll hit the water at a mile a minute!" Sharon gasped! "Let's just hope the North Star picks me up," Darlanis said, suddenly leaping from the plane as it flew low over the waves!!! Sharon circling about, praying to see that Darlanis had survived! For Darlanis the impact was like falling off a unicorn at full gallop as she slammed into a wave feet first, the airplane having been about a dozen feet over the water when she'd jumped! The Empress, stronger than most women, grunting with the impact! Then she struggled back to the surface and managed to wave to the circling airplane as the North Star came sailing up, the sails a flap as I ordered the ship to heave to and a boat then lowered... "There is only `one' Darlanis," Paul said to me as the boat's crew dragged the dripping Empress over the side of their leaping craft. The airplane circling us like some mother bird. "The term `dumb blonde' doesn't really `fit'," I smiled. I knew of Darlanis' courage, of the fact that she feared no man or beast. The only time I'd ever seen her show fear had been when we'd fled the EVIL ONE, and I think that was a fear not of physi- cal danger, but perhaps of a danger to our own immortal souls! "You're going to get yourself killed doing `things' like that!" I said, giving Darlanis a great big hug before everyone. There is "something" about Darlanis that is very likable too! A sort of "wild recklessness" at times that can be very endearing! "The `impact' was greater than I thought it would be," the Empress admitted with a rueful smile. Black Lady's slowest speed before stalling out was about sixty miles per hour, I recalled... "I `worried' about you," I said, looking into her eyes. "I `too'," Darlanis answered, holding me before her. "I think you did the `right thing'," Darlanis said to me as she sat there in the stern cabin of the North Star. I had cast off the fishing boat this morning, the family eager to leave, saying that hey wanted to return to the school of fish that they had been exploiting before the storm's winds had dismasted them. Black Lady under Sharon's command had left to head for Arsana, a distance of some sixty miles or so, Darlanis had quickly told me. "I wouldn't have been so `cautious' had you been with me," I answered, seeing the Empress of California nodding back in reply. "We could have ended up `kept' by the Japanese Emperor," the golden haired ruler answered, her golden attire "fitting" on her. "And forced to construct for the Japanese ships like our own." A fleet of "steam frigates" that would have been a "telling" weapon in a culture where such vessels were totally unknown, I knew too! "Just like the `ideas' I once held about Lorraine," she added... "We are, as the Priestesses have said, a `war-loving race'," my husband smiled, giving the beautiful Empress a big grin now. That was part of the reason why the Lorr and the Women considered themselves "superior" to us, both being quite "unwarlike" races. "On the other hand we have a `vitality' others lack," the Empress smiled back, her azure eyes for a moment now holding his. She is a strikingly beautiful woman, even perhaps one of a kind. "You plan to sail through the night?" Darlanis asked me. "My lookouts are competent," I smiled. In any case there would be plenty of eyes to seek out the land, which I expected to spot shortly, if only the lights of some fishing boat in the strait, that being surprisingly enough where the North Star was now headed, my navigation having been better than I had thought! There was just enough "wind" to fill the sails, and I had every- thing set, the North Star beautiful with all her sails aloft now. "I also plan to sail into Arsana this very night," I told her. Sharon had gone on ahead to tell everyone that I would be coming. ***************************************************************** "You have no idea then as to just `when' the North Star will arrive?" Sharon asked, Tori Wells' eyes meeting hers as the cap- tain of my guard nodded back. Arsana was all "abuzz" with the news of the unexpected return of the North Star this "soon" after it had been felt by many that the ship and their Queen would nev- er return. The fact that the ship had reached Japan was "news"! This information having been sent by signal light to the airplane as Sharon circled the ship, although "more" than this was beyond the capabilities of the young Queen to understand the Morse Code. "There is the wind, and the tide," Tori smiled back then. "You remind me a bit of Carol Simmons," Sharon grinned. "Others have noted the same thing," the captain said. "You must be `proud' of your Queen," Sharon said then. "All of us are," Tori spoke, her eyes meeting Sharon's. ***************************************************************** "The lookout has spotted lights ahead," Karis said as she stepped into the stern cabin. No doubt those of fishing boats. "I will come up," I smiled, throwing on my cape then. "I see you lit our own running lights," I said to her. "I felt it wise," she grinned in the binnacle light. "It would not do to have an `accident' now," I noted. "It might be wise to get up steam," she "suggested". "Do so," I answered, the wind seeming to die out. "Dularn," I spoke to Darlanis, the Moon now rising over the land, a mist there on the strait as we came in under steam power. "A proud moment for the Queen of Dularn and her people," the Empress said to me, standing there huddled underneath her cloak. "We have learned to work together as friends," I smiled. "Perhaps `that' is more valuable than trade," she replied. "Did you ever note that all our countries are now ruled by women?" I grinned, the thought having occurred to me earlier now. "Perhaps we have `found' our `Janet Rogers'," Darlanis said. "The `lights of Arsana'," Karis said to me as I stood there. "Sharon must have made it O.K.," Darlanis spoke softly then. "You worry about her flying skills?" I asked her in reply. "I know how `poor' a pilot I am," the Empress laughed back. "And I fear a saddle is more my `speed' than a airplane cockpit." "Just a `beautiful barbarian'," Paul grinned from beside me. "I think I prefer being `what' I am to what I might have been in another era," Darlanis spoke, looking at the city lights. "As Lorraine once said to me, it is easy to confuse `technology' with `civilization', something I think we've done in the past..." I suspected then that she was not as "dumb" as people thought! ***************************************************************** "There's the North Star!" someone cried, the cheering echo- ing off the walls of the royal palace as the people gathered on the quays and docks to greet the return of their beloved Queen. "I think we have learned much," Tori said to Sharon then. "I too," the Queen of Orgon smiled back at my officer. "Let us `hope' we do not `forget'," Tori answered back. 2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Fifty Eight "You should have been a `jet jockey'!" Sharon breathed as Darlanis "buzzed" the North Star, almost flying between the masts as she pulled up from a screaming dive Lorraine wouldn't have much "appreciated" the Empress doing had she known of it then... Black Lady was no "jet fighter", and she wasn't built for such! "It's the North Star!" Darlanis cried with joy, coming around in a climbing turn that almost stalled the black V-tailed Beechcraft out then! The Empress' skill at flying not that good! There being old pilots and bold pilots, but never both, Sharon remembered as she then now took over the controls from Darlanis. "You belong in a saddle, not an airplane!" Sharon snapped! "Sorry," the joyful Empress grinned, Sharon nodding back. "Just don't do it again," the young woman smiled back. ***************************************************************** "It's Black Lady all right," I said, the airplane's dive at the ship having caused some of the crew to even duck for cover!!! "And only Darlanis would fly like that," I explained to my crew. "It's coming back," my husband spoke then from beside me. "Flying more `level' now," I observed thoughtfully then. "What do you think Darlanis is up to?" Karis asked me. "I'm sure we'll soon find out," I smiled right back. ***************************************************************** "Water's too rough for a landing," Sharon said to Darlanis. "The North Star can pick me up," the Empress replied, undo- ing her ornate weapons harness and removing her lovely boots. A look of awe in Sharon's eyes as she saw what Darlanis intended! "You'll hit the water at a mile a minute!" Sharon gasped! "Let's just hope the North Star picks me up," Darlanis said, suddenly leaping from the plane as it flew low over the waves!!! Sharon circling about, praying to see that Darlanis had survived! For Darlanis the impact was like falling off a unicorn at full gallop as she slammed into a wave feet first, the airplane having been about a dozen feet over the water when she'd jumped! The Empress, stronger than most women, grunting with the impact! Then she struggled back to the surface and managed to wave to the circling airplane as the North Star came sailing up, the sails a flap as I ordered the ship to heave to and a boat then lowered... "There is only `one' Darlanis," Paul said to me as the boat's crew dragged the dripping Empress over the side of their leaping craft. The airplane circling us like some mother bird. "The term `dumb blonde' doesn't really `fit'," I smiled. I knew of Darlanis' courage, of the fact that she feared no man or beast. The only time I'd ever seen her show fear had been when we'd fled the EVIL ONE, and I think that was a fear not of physi- cal danger, but perhaps of a danger to our own immortal souls! "You're going to get yourself killed doing `things' like that!" I said, giving Darlanis a great big hug before everyone. There is "something" about Darlanis that is very likable too! A sort of "wild recklessness" at times that can be very endearing! "The `impact' was greater than I thought it would be," the Empress admitted with a rueful smile. Black Lady's slowest speed before stalling out was about sixty miles per hour, I recalled... "I `worried' about you," I said, looking into her eyes. "I `too'," Darlanis answered, holding me before her. "I think you did the `right thing'," Darlanis said to me as she sat there in the stern cabin of the North Star. I had cast off the fishing boat this morning, the family eager to leave, saying that hey wanted to return to the school of fish that they had been exploiting before the storm's winds had dismasted them. Black Lady under Sharon's command had left to head for Arsana, a distance of some sixty miles or so, Darlanis had quickly told me. "I wouldn't have been so `cautious' had you been with me," I answered, seeing the Empress of California nodding back in reply. "We could have ended up `kept' by the Japanese Emperor," the golden haired ruler answered, her golden attire "fitting" on her. "And forced to construct for the Japanese ships like our own." A fleet of "steam frigates" that would have been a "telling" weapon in a culture where such vessels were totally unknown, I knew too! "Just like the `ideas' I once held about Lorraine," she added... "We are, as the Priestesses have said, a `war-loving race'," my husband smiled, giving the beautiful Empress a big grin now. That was part of the reason why the Lorr and the Women considered themselves "superior" to us, both being quite "unwarlike" races. "On the other hand we have a `vitality' others lack," the Empress smiled back, her azure eyes for a moment now holding his. She is a strikingly beautiful woman, even perhaps one of a kind. "You plan to sail through the night?" Darlanis asked me. "My lookouts are competent," I smiled. In any case there would be plenty of eyes to seek out the land, which I expected to spot shortly, if only the lights of some fishing boat in the strait, that being surprisingly enough where the North Star was now headed, my navigation having been better than I had thought! There was just enough "wind" to fill the sails, and I had every- thing set, the North Star beautiful with all her sails aloft now. "I also plan to sail into Arsana this very night," I told her. Sharon had gone on ahead to tell everyone that I would be coming. ***************************************************************** "You have no idea then as to just `when' the North Star will arrive?" Sharon asked, Tori Wells' eyes meeting hers as the cap- tain of my guard nodded back. Arsana was all "abuzz" with the news of the unexpected return of the North Star this "soon" after it had been felt by many that the ship and their Queen would nev- er return. The fact that the ship had reached Japan was "news"! This information having been sent by signal light to the airplane as Sharon circled the ship, although "more" than this was beyond the capabilities of the young Queen to understand the Morse Code. "There is the wind, and the tide," Tori smiled back then. "You remind me a bit of Carol Simmons," Sharon grinned. "Others have noted the same thing," the captain said. "You must be `proud' of your Queen," Sharon said then. "All of us are," Tori spoke, her eyes meeting Sharon's. ***************************************************************** "The lookout has spotted lights ahead," Karis said as she stepped into the stern cabin. No doubt those of fishing boats. "I will come up," I smiled, throwing on my cape then. "I see you lit our own running lights," I said to her. "I felt it wise," she grinned in the binnacle light. "It would not do to have an `accident' now," I noted. "It might be wise to get up steam," she "suggested". "Do so," I answered, the wind seeming to die out. "Dularn," I spoke to Darlanis, the Moon now rising over the land, a mist there on the strait as we came in under steam power. "A proud moment for the Queen of Dularn and her people," the Empress said to me, standing there huddled underneath her cloak. "We have learned to work together as friends," I smiled. "Perhaps `that' is more valuable than trade," she replied. "Did you ever note that all our countries are now ruled by women?" I grinned, the thought having occurred to me earlier now. "Perhaps we have `found' our `Janet Rogers'," Darlanis said. "The `lights of Arsana'," Karis said to me as I stood there. "Sharon must have made it O.K.," Darlanis spoke softly then. "You worry about her flying skills?" I asked her in reply. "I know how `poor' a pilot I am," the Empress laughed back. "And I fear a saddle is more my `speed' than a airplane cockpit." "Just a `beautiful barbarian'," Paul grinned from beside me. "I think I prefer being `what' I am to what I might have been in another era," Darlanis spoke, looking at the city lights. "As Lorraine once said to me, it is easy to confuse `technology' with `civilization', something I think we've done in the past..." I suspected then that she was not as "dumb" as people thought! ***************************************************************** "There's the North Star!" someone cried, the cheering echo- ing off the walls of the royal palace as the people gathered on the quays and docks to greet the return of their beloved Queen. "I think we have learned much," Tori said to Sharon then. "I too," the Queen of Orgon smiled back at my officer. "Let us `hope' we do not `forget'," Tori answered back. |
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