"2570-06" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 8 - The Queen Of Time)THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Six "We can't stay `here'," Hope spoke, the flickering light of the small fire I'd made highlighting her attractive young face. I'd built the fire just in front of the long broken out glass pa- tio doors, hoping that we might use the ruined house as a place of refuge until Tais hopefully might locate us. There was no way I could now determine what the actual "year" was here, but I had calculated it to be perhaps three centuries past The War of 2047. The Twenty Fourth Century, although just "when" I couldn't guess. There having been wall scratchings inside the house that hinted I hoped that we were somewhere in the Twenty Fourth Century here... "In my time a wench like you would bring perhaps as much as forty gold crowns in Trella on the slave block," I "smiled" back, watching the steaks I'd cut from the body of the Garth we'd shot. I was worried a lot about what of "things" might come with time when the Garth started to rot, the weight of the body being such that we would have needed horses to drag it to anywhere else now. "How `much' would you `bring'?" Hope "retorted" right back! "A few crowns as some `kitchen drudge' perhaps," I grinned. "I hope my mother found my letter," Hope spoke to me then. "I'm sure that she did," I assured Carol Simmons' daughter. "I'm `scared'," Hope breathed in a soft voice, looking at me. "I'm afraid of what we'll find here in this strange land..." "I am too," I smiled, Hope giving me a surprised look then! "I didn't think you were `afraid' of anything!" she replied. "Fear can either give you strength or `weaken' you," I said. Such is taught to the cadets at the Warrioress Academy as a part of their training. I have at times been a "guest instructor"... There is much more to being a Warrioress than skill with weapons. I believe now that it is more a matter of "attitude", of "under- standing" certain "truths" that those of the past tried to deny. "Is that a `saying' of `Warrioresses'?" she smiled back at me as I now put another stick on our little fire. I'd scouted around, found some berries, dug up some roots, wondered if it was possible to make a "bow" of some sort so that I could hunt game. The pond that had once been on the Simmons property had over the centuries filled itself in and had "disappeared", we'd found out. I had however located a source of water, much to our own delight. I had also seen the remains of an old encampment, which I'd kept secret from Hope, not wishing to worry her about such things now. "A Warrioress is merely a woman who `understands' the `real- ities of life'," I smiled back. "We all die, it is how we `live' that counts," I added, telling her that was one of our "sayings"! "I think my mother was a Warrioress," Hope ventured in turn. "She `was'," I smiled, being well aware of Carol's "caste". "She trained me well in the `use' of weapons," Hope spoke. "You are the daughter of the `Warlady' of Dularn," I said. "Carol was not a mother like any other I know," Hope said. "Her name is honored in Arsana," I said, Hope nodding back. "There have been people living in the house," Hope said now. "There are doubtlessly outlaws living in this forest," I an- swered, wondering if Tais could ever locate us here in this time. Even if she tried "jumping" a few years at a time, the odds of our being in the right place at the "right time" were very slim. The howl of a dire wolf making Hope "start", her eyes wild for an instant as she glanced out into the darkness, grabbing for her spear as she no doubt "inhabited" the darkness with more terrors! Fear often doing that to you, as I can speak too from experience. The cowardly can die a thousand deaths in their own imaginations. "I'm scared, Lorraine," she spoke softly, moving close now. "An M-99 would be a `comfort' right now," I smiled, putting my arm around her, the movement reminding me that it had not been that long ago that I'd been shot with just such a weapon here... "This is my `home', but everything is different," she said. "Hard telling who lived in it after your parents," I mused. I supposed it had been "abandoned" after The War, although it may have been lived in from time to time by various wandering people. The structure having shown signs of such previous occupancy, the various faded scratchings on the interior walls leaving little doubt of that when Hope and I had explored it thoroughly earlier. I had also spotted the little china cat that in 2565 I would take with me, although I dared not touch it now for fear of what might happen should I attempt in this era to alter my own future here!! I'd found a "date" scratched into one of the walls with someone's initials, the dating being in "A.W.", not "N.O." or "A.D.", which I had translated to indicate the year 2297, or about two hundred and fifty years after The War of 2047, from which all time is now "dated". Scribes however often using the old "A.D." system yet. That of Janet Rogers being of interest only to a few scholars. "Where's the nearest town?" she asked, meeting my eyes. "Thistle's our best bet," I answered, pointing there. "How far?" Hope asked, making me stop and think a bit. "Say about twenty miles," I answered, Hope nodding back. "Do you have any money?" she asked now, a "practical girl". "I've got three gold crowns left," I said, having left the rest of my money back in the 21st Century for Bob and Carol here. I supposed we might be able to reach Thistle, but I doubted that I could "pass" Hope off as being a girl of this era, while my own clothing, while closer in style to that of this era, would not be the same, the skirts of women in this time being somewhat longer. Not the stylish "above knee" new style that I'd worn to see Tais. Nor would my "accent" be right, even though I'd lived here in a social order pretty much like this one for the past five years. "What sort of a `job' could you hold?" she then asked me. "There is always `work' for Warrioresses," I smiled back. "Lorraine!" Hope hissed, sitting up, shaking me awake. "Someone out there," I breathed, reaching now for my sword. "I think she's a woman," Hope whispered, the figure that of a blonde clad in little more than just a bit of cloth around her hips, a slave collar of dark iron a darker band about her neck. A low snarl from the darkness making her flee towards our fire! A great shadowy form then moving among the darkness of the trees! The slave girl, nude but for the bit of cloth, shaking with fear. "Tigon!" I breathed, grabbing for my spear as the great cat came into the light, a horrid snarl now escaping from its throat! The slave girl cowering back, whimpering softly as Hope joined me with her own spear, the great cat now furious at being "deprived" of its prey! Its eyes greenish pools of hellfire as the great striped body left no doubts of what sort of creature that it was! The great fangs, as long as daggers, jutting from its upper jaw as it raised its head and gave vent to forest shaking roars now!! "Saber Tooth Tiger!" Hope breathed out, holding her six foot long spear before herself. I did not think that the Tigon would attack us. Such creatures seem to have a "sixth sense" about such things, about facing weapons that can do them great harm... "Steady...," I breathed, following the great cat's movements with my spear point, keeping it pointed right straight at the Ti- gon, secretly wishing too it was steel shod instead of just wood. Tigons are "larger" creatures than the lions and tigers of the past, and stand about three and a half feet at the shoulder, go- ing I'd say in the neighborhood of perhaps seven hundred pounds. They are capable of killing the great bears of this era, a bear I am told by Scribes is similar to the "cave bear" of the Ice Ages. "Are you sure we went `forward' in time?" Hope teased me. I had to smile to myself at that, such a comment being the sort of a thing I might have heard from any of my own Warrioress friends! "First a dinosaur, and then this saber tooth tiger," she added... "My dad used to say that there wasn't any decent game left here." Her words making me smile to myself at the thought of her father. Bob liked to go deer hunting, but Carol would have none of it... "I'm told that there were experiments made with fossil DNA," I answered, recalling what Sanda had told me of such things here. The Women at Leith had also created dinosaurs, as Darlanis found back when she was kidnaped by mutants there in Nevada territory. "Sounds like the `stuff' Janet would try," Hope now grinned. "There are unicorns too," I said, watching the Tigon pace. "Maybe if we threw firebrands at it?" Hope suggested now. "Let's just be `patient'," I answered, watching the cat. "Wonder where she's `from'?" Hope now said, nodding back. "A runaway, and beautiful enough to be `hunted'," I spoke. "You mean people will come looking for her?" Hope asked me. "There are bloodhounds like back in the `old days'," I said. A woman like she now cowering back behind us would be "valuable". Her master, if possible, would no doubt try to get her back too! On the other hand Hope in her 21st Century attire was the sort of a woman that any red blooded man might pay a high price for too! Of the two I suspected that Hope would bring the higher "price"!! "I think the saber tooth is going to give up on her," Hope announced, the Tigon standing there, swishing its tail, watching. I suspected that it was trying to determine whether or not at- tacking us would be worth the risks it would have to take here... The "intelligence" of many wild animals is quite surprising too. "It's going away!" Hope breathed, the Tigon suddenly gone. "Perform the Gesture of Submission!" I snapped, putting my sword to the slave girl's throat as she knelt there before us. I wanted to "pump" this girl of everything she knew, and I wanted her to tell the truth without the least hesitation about it too!! The girl putting her head down, then kissing my dirty bare feet. Hope standing there with a "look" on her face that made me smile! "You will tell me the year, the month, the day this is," I ordered, still holding the razor sharp point of my sword against the softness of her vulnerable throat. Hope at least having enough sense not to interfere or make any "comments" of her own. It being obvious that Carol had at least taught her a few things. THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Six "We can't stay `here'," Hope spoke, the flickering light of the small fire I'd made highlighting her attractive young face. I'd built the fire just in front of the long broken out glass pa- tio doors, hoping that we might use the ruined house as a place of refuge until Tais hopefully might locate us. There was no way I could now determine what the actual "year" was here, but I had calculated it to be perhaps three centuries past The War of 2047. The Twenty Fourth Century, although just "when" I couldn't guess. There having been wall scratchings inside the house that hinted I hoped that we were somewhere in the Twenty Fourth Century here... "In my time a wench like you would bring perhaps as much as forty gold crowns in Trella on the slave block," I "smiled" back, watching the steaks I'd cut from the body of the Garth we'd shot. I was worried a lot about what of "things" might come with time when the Garth started to rot, the weight of the body being such that we would have needed horses to drag it to anywhere else now. "How `much' would you `bring'?" Hope "retorted" right back! "A few crowns as some `kitchen drudge' perhaps," I grinned. "I hope my mother found my letter," Hope spoke to me then. "I'm sure that she did," I assured Carol Simmons' daughter. "I'm `scared'," Hope breathed in a soft voice, looking at me. "I'm afraid of what we'll find here in this strange land..." "I am too," I smiled, Hope giving me a surprised look then! "I didn't think you were `afraid' of anything!" she replied. "Fear can either give you strength or `weaken' you," I said. Such is taught to the cadets at the Warrioress Academy as a part of their training. I have at times been a "guest instructor"... There is much more to being a Warrioress than skill with weapons. I believe now that it is more a matter of "attitude", of "under- standing" certain "truths" that those of the past tried to deny. "Is that a `saying' of `Warrioresses'?" she smiled back at me as I now put another stick on our little fire. I'd scouted around, found some berries, dug up some roots, wondered if it was possible to make a "bow" of some sort so that I could hunt game. The pond that had once been on the Simmons property had over the centuries filled itself in and had "disappeared", we'd found out. I had however located a source of water, much to our own delight. I had also seen the remains of an old encampment, which I'd kept secret from Hope, not wishing to worry her about such things now. "A Warrioress is merely a woman who `understands' the `real- ities of life'," I smiled back. "We all die, it is how we `live' that counts," I added, telling her that was one of our "sayings"! "I think my mother was a Warrioress," Hope ventured in turn. "She `was'," I smiled, being well aware of Carol's "caste". "She trained me well in the `use' of weapons," Hope spoke. "You are the daughter of the `Warlady' of Dularn," I said. "Carol was not a mother like any other I know," Hope said. "Her name is honored in Arsana," I said, Hope nodding back. "There have been people living in the house," Hope said now. "There are doubtlessly outlaws living in this forest," I an- swered, wondering if Tais could ever locate us here in this time. Even if she tried "jumping" a few years at a time, the odds of our being in the right place at the "right time" were very slim. The howl of a dire wolf making Hope "start", her eyes wild for an instant as she glanced out into the darkness, grabbing for her spear as she no doubt "inhabited" the darkness with more terrors! Fear often doing that to you, as I can speak too from experience. The cowardly can die a thousand deaths in their own imaginations. "I'm scared, Lorraine," she spoke softly, moving close now. "An M-99 would be a `comfort' right now," I smiled, putting my arm around her, the movement reminding me that it had not been that long ago that I'd been shot with just such a weapon here... "This is my `home', but everything is different," she said. "Hard telling who lived in it after your parents," I mused. I supposed it had been "abandoned" after The War, although it may have been lived in from time to time by various wandering people. The structure having shown signs of such previous occupancy, the various faded scratchings on the interior walls leaving little doubt of that when Hope and I had explored it thoroughly earlier. I had also spotted the little china cat that in 2565 I would take with me, although I dared not touch it now for fear of what might happen should I attempt in this era to alter my own future here!! I'd found a "date" scratched into one of the walls with someone's initials, the dating being in "A.W.", not "N.O." or "A.D.", which I had translated to indicate the year 2297, or about two hundred and fifty years after The War of 2047, from which all time is now "dated". Scribes however often using the old "A.D." system yet. That of Janet Rogers being of interest only to a few scholars. "Where's the nearest town?" she asked, meeting my eyes. "Thistle's our best bet," I answered, pointing there. "How far?" Hope asked, making me stop and think a bit. "Say about twenty miles," I answered, Hope nodding back. "Do you have any money?" she asked now, a "practical girl". "I've got three gold crowns left," I said, having left the rest of my money back in the 21st Century for Bob and Carol here. I supposed we might be able to reach Thistle, but I doubted that I could "pass" Hope off as being a girl of this era, while my own clothing, while closer in style to that of this era, would not be the same, the skirts of women in this time being somewhat longer. Not the stylish "above knee" new style that I'd worn to see Tais. Nor would my "accent" be right, even though I'd lived here in a social order pretty much like this one for the past five years. "What sort of a `job' could you hold?" she then asked me. "There is always `work' for Warrioresses," I smiled back. "Lorraine!" Hope hissed, sitting up, shaking me awake. "Someone out there," I breathed, reaching now for my sword. "I think she's a woman," Hope whispered, the figure that of a blonde clad in little more than just a bit of cloth around her hips, a slave collar of dark iron a darker band about her neck. A low snarl from the darkness making her flee towards our fire! A great shadowy form then moving among the darkness of the trees! The slave girl, nude but for the bit of cloth, shaking with fear. "Tigon!" I breathed, grabbing for my spear as the great cat came into the light, a horrid snarl now escaping from its throat! The slave girl cowering back, whimpering softly as Hope joined me with her own spear, the great cat now furious at being "deprived" of its prey! Its eyes greenish pools of hellfire as the great striped body left no doubts of what sort of creature that it was! The great fangs, as long as daggers, jutting from its upper jaw as it raised its head and gave vent to forest shaking roars now!! "Saber Tooth Tiger!" Hope breathed out, holding her six foot long spear before herself. I did not think that the Tigon would attack us. Such creatures seem to have a "sixth sense" about such things, about facing weapons that can do them great harm... "Steady...," I breathed, following the great cat's movements with my spear point, keeping it pointed right straight at the Ti- gon, secretly wishing too it was steel shod instead of just wood. Tigons are "larger" creatures than the lions and tigers of the past, and stand about three and a half feet at the shoulder, go- ing I'd say in the neighborhood of perhaps seven hundred pounds. They are capable of killing the great bears of this era, a bear I am told by Scribes is similar to the "cave bear" of the Ice Ages. "Are you sure we went `forward' in time?" Hope teased me. I had to smile to myself at that, such a comment being the sort of a thing I might have heard from any of my own Warrioress friends! "First a dinosaur, and then this saber tooth tiger," she added... "My dad used to say that there wasn't any decent game left here." Her words making me smile to myself at the thought of her father. Bob liked to go deer hunting, but Carol would have none of it... "I'm told that there were experiments made with fossil DNA," I answered, recalling what Sanda had told me of such things here. The Women at Leith had also created dinosaurs, as Darlanis found back when she was kidnaped by mutants there in Nevada territory. "Sounds like the `stuff' Janet would try," Hope now grinned. "There are unicorns too," I said, watching the Tigon pace. "Maybe if we threw firebrands at it?" Hope suggested now. "Let's just be `patient'," I answered, watching the cat. "Wonder where she's `from'?" Hope now said, nodding back. "A runaway, and beautiful enough to be `hunted'," I spoke. "You mean people will come looking for her?" Hope asked me. "There are bloodhounds like back in the `old days'," I said. A woman like she now cowering back behind us would be "valuable". Her master, if possible, would no doubt try to get her back too! On the other hand Hope in her 21st Century attire was the sort of a woman that any red blooded man might pay a high price for too! Of the two I suspected that Hope would bring the higher "price"!! "I think the saber tooth is going to give up on her," Hope announced, the Tigon standing there, swishing its tail, watching. I suspected that it was trying to determine whether or not at- tacking us would be worth the risks it would have to take here... The "intelligence" of many wild animals is quite surprising too. "It's going away!" Hope breathed, the Tigon suddenly gone. "Perform the Gesture of Submission!" I snapped, putting my sword to the slave girl's throat as she knelt there before us. I wanted to "pump" this girl of everything she knew, and I wanted her to tell the truth without the least hesitation about it too!! The girl putting her head down, then kissing my dirty bare feet. Hope standing there with a "look" on her face that made me smile! "You will tell me the year, the month, the day this is," I ordered, still holding the razor sharp point of my sword against the softness of her vulnerable throat. Hope at least having enough sense not to interfere or make any "comments" of her own. It being obvious that Carol had at least taught her a few things. |
|
|