"2570-20" - 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 Twenty "A lovely girl," I said, Darlanis cradling three year old Artemis to herself, the child a perfect "duplicate" of her moth- er. The Empress "different" as she held the little blonde, whose blue eyes were so much like those of Darlanis. Cloning is noth- ing new in this era, being commonly performed by the Priestesses. At first Darlanis had been a bit "distant" towards the child, but now she seemed to value so much every very moment to be with her. "I `love' her so much...," Darlanis breathed, looking up at me. "Especially knowing what I do..." Artemis being of course Domino Tremaine, who was Leaderess after Janet's death in 2045... Her last remains having been discovered there below Triskelion. The most "puzzling" thing about this all is the fact that Bob and Carol Simmons claimed that they met Domino Tremaine as an adult woman in 1990, whereas the Leaderess was still fairly "young" when she committed suicide in 2047 over her remorse for failing to stop The War between Earth and Mars. As this is a span of fifty seven years, I've always thought that Bob and Carol Simmons made a "mistake" here, but on the other hand it is possible that sometime in the fairly near future a means will be discovered to extend the span of life considerably beyond what we can do today. Perhaps due to the "challenge" that I gave to Tais here earlier. "Mummy very beautiful," the girl spoke, looking at me. Her nanny standing near by, ready to take the girl from the Empress. The child's room much as one might expect, lavishly furnished with everything anyone could think of for a child's own pleasure! That Darlanis "doted" on the girl was without any doubt, I noted. "And daddy will be `back' in a few more weeks I `hope'," Darlanis now spoke, stroking the girl's long blonde silky hair. Prince Serak at the moment leading his people against the Wyo- mings in one of their senseless conflicts the two "nations" had. On the other hand I'm sure Serak didn't look at it that way now! Nor did Prince Paul Blue Sky of the Wyomings, Maris' husband... "Something puzzling me..," I said as we joined Sharon for a late night discussion of what we might "do" here about this issue that threatened to tear the Empire itself apart and doubtlessly would lead to another winless war between California and Dularn. "What's that?" the Empress asked, settling herself beside Sharon, one of the Empress' slave girls quick to be of service to her regal mistress. Darlanis is said to be an "easy" mistress, but yet one who "tolerates" little in the way of "foolishness"... "You and Maris encountered the EVIL ONE there in the north last year," I mused, "But yet Bob Simmons also claimed that Tais took him into the future, and he dealt with the same `being' nine years from now." Bob's description of the EVIL ONE much the same as what Darlanis had seen, although far different here in "size". "And while the Priestesses were able to `deal' with the EVIL ONE here last year quite `effectively', ten years from now they were apparently quite helpless against Him for some `unknown' reason." "No doubt one of those `mysteries' you'll have to ask Tais about," Darlanis smiled back, sipping at her brandy while her slave girl's dark eyes looked down into mine as I "nodded" back. The wench now filling my goblet, her body heavily perfumed. She was dark haired, pretty but not beautiful, a common sort of girl. "Wasn't there something in the 21st Century called `virtual reality'?" Sharon ventured thoughtfully, regarding Darlanis' slim slave girl as the wench knelt there to one side waiting to be of further service to us. "And how much do we `know' of what the Priestesses of Lys can `do' in such fields?" she "challenged" me. "Yes..," I breathed, recalling the "advertisement" I'd seen there in 2018 for just such a "thing" as this. There had also been work going on with "holovision", which was supposed to be far superior to the TriVid that I'd been watching at the Simmons. The Priestesses of Lys had the power to "program" human minds, as I'd seen here for myself. Could it be possible that they could have done something like that to Bob Simmons. Giving him some sort of a "fantasy adventure" that would seem to be so REAL that for the rest of his life he would actually "believe" he lived it! The thought briefly going through my mind that the same thing could have been done to me when I'd seen the "end" of the Earth! "The only question here is `why'," Darlanis grinned at me. "They were having a lot of `trouble' getting the Diana to work," I mused now, regarding the Empress sitting across from me. "And it is just possible that Tais wanted Bob to `see' himself in a different `light', as a man who had `saved' the world," I breathed, sharing my perhaps "fantastic" thoughts with them both. "He later used the Diana to put an end to Imperial involve- ment with Queen Valeris, which was perhaps `fortunate'," Darlanis "smiled" back, having once been the "victim" of the Diana's ram. "And later the Diana was used against Mexico, putting an end to a war that we couldn't win," Sharon ventured thoughtfully too. "Which means that Tais definitely had a `finger' in things," I mused. The thought occurring to me that I'd flown into that thunderstorm like I'd been "instructed" to do so. Had I been "mind programed" so that I'd fly through the "Gateway" into this time? Brought here so that I might "alter" the course of events? "Could she have a `hand' in things here?" Darlanis asked then, her eyes like two azure lasers burning into mine as I nod- ded thoughtfully in reply! Could Tais be the cause of all this? She had even more knowledge of the past than Tara did, the First Priestess being able to travel back almost to the time of the Ro- man Empire from what I understood, and certainly she would be fa- miliar with the political philosophies of the Twentieth Century! "Why would she want to break the Empire up, start a war?" Sharon asked. "The Priestesses aren't interested in `politics'." "Perhaps a `challenge' for us to deal with," I mused back. "Maris and I shared blood," Darlanis spoke, her eyes holding mine. Such is "meaningful" among those of my caste, although it is hard to "explain" to those who are not "barbarians" like us. "Perhaps we are being `tested'," Sharon now ventured here. "Tomorrow we shall fly to Dularn and see Maris," I smiled. "Arsana," I spoke, looking far ahead as Dularn became visi- ble beneath the low hanging clouds between which we were flying, the thought going through my mind again of what Tais had said to me. Words to the effect that Amethysta was "needed" in this era! "I fear `this' is not the `best of times'," Maris smiled as Darlanis took her hands in hers. The Queen of Dularn having had her own "problems" with the "radicals" there in her own Senate... And no doubt a "visit" from us right now might have political re- percussions upon Maris' "relationship" with her own people here! There having been those who maintained that Dularn was far too "friendly" with the Empire of California, that the Queen of Du- larn was herself now far too "friendly" with the Empress herself! "We do share a `mutual problem'," Darlanis smiled in reply. "There is `little' I can `do' about events in Orgon," Maris answered in level tones, no doubt thinking this was the reason why we three came here to Dularn at this time to talk to her now. "Things are not `always what they seem'," I said to Maris. "It does seem a little `far fetched'," Maris smiled at me. A cool breeze off the strait moving the lace curtains as the call of sea gulls flying over the palace now came through the windows. "I feel it is in the nature of a `test'," I answered Maris, suspecting Tais was doing it for some arcane purpose of her own. "To see whether we will work together or fight," Sharon now spoke. "Whether we are willing to see beyond our own short term gains in `exploiting' the `situation' that exists now in Orgon." It would be Sharon's country that we'd be all fighting over here. Dularnian against Imperial once again like it had been before I'd managed to stop the fighting there in 2565. Now five years later it seemed as if we'd all be at one another's throat once again... "Your people are fortunate to have a Queen like you," Maris smiled. I think Darlanis and I also felt that way about Sharon. She was a young Queen, sometimes "inexperienced", but one that I knew her own people thought highly of despite the fact that she was also the Imperial Princess of California, Darlanis' own legal successor to the throne. A beautiful Queen, blonde, blue eyed, a Queen who dressed stylishly, if a bit provocatively at times now. Her attire of silken blouse and hose leaving little doubts as to the sort of a delightful feminine figure that she also possessed! There have been perhaps a hundred men who have already sought her hand in wedlock, but so far Sharon has not felt the same of them! "I have strong emotional attachments to all of you," Sharon said, "And it pains me to think of what another war could bring." Maris no doubt well aware that once again she'd have to "face" me at sea, that once again she would have to face an enemy's fire. And without Carol as her Warlady she would not have it so "easy"! "And a war this time would cost far more lives," I added. "Your `weapons of the past' and those `dogs' of yours," the Queen of Dularn smiled back. Mine was the largest establishment of kennels in Trelandar, but there were others. We were also now breeding the domesticated dire wolf, and even the larger animals that Queen Valeris women had used. And there was also TALON with its great birds against which there was yet no "defense" known! A war this time between our countries would be far more terrible than before, a fact that I was well aware of as were all of us... THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty "A lovely girl," I said, Darlanis cradling three year old Artemis to herself, the child a perfect "duplicate" of her moth- er. The Empress "different" as she held the little blonde, whose blue eyes were so much like those of Darlanis. Cloning is noth- ing new in this era, being commonly performed by the Priestesses. At first Darlanis had been a bit "distant" towards the child, but now she seemed to value so much every very moment to be with her. "I `love' her so much...," Darlanis breathed, looking up at me. "Especially knowing what I do..." Artemis being of course Domino Tremaine, who was Leaderess after Janet's death in 2045... Her last remains having been discovered there below Triskelion. The most "puzzling" thing about this all is the fact that Bob and Carol Simmons claimed that they met Domino Tremaine as an adult woman in 1990, whereas the Leaderess was still fairly "young" when she committed suicide in 2047 over her remorse for failing to stop The War between Earth and Mars. As this is a span of fifty seven years, I've always thought that Bob and Carol Simmons made a "mistake" here, but on the other hand it is possible that sometime in the fairly near future a means will be discovered to extend the span of life considerably beyond what we can do today. Perhaps due to the "challenge" that I gave to Tais here earlier. "Mummy very beautiful," the girl spoke, looking at me. Her nanny standing near by, ready to take the girl from the Empress. The child's room much as one might expect, lavishly furnished with everything anyone could think of for a child's own pleasure! That Darlanis "doted" on the girl was without any doubt, I noted. "And daddy will be `back' in a few more weeks I `hope'," Darlanis now spoke, stroking the girl's long blonde silky hair. Prince Serak at the moment leading his people against the Wyo- mings in one of their senseless conflicts the two "nations" had. On the other hand I'm sure Serak didn't look at it that way now! Nor did Prince Paul Blue Sky of the Wyomings, Maris' husband... "Something puzzling me..," I said as we joined Sharon for a late night discussion of what we might "do" here about this issue that threatened to tear the Empire itself apart and doubtlessly would lead to another winless war between California and Dularn. "What's that?" the Empress asked, settling herself beside Sharon, one of the Empress' slave girls quick to be of service to her regal mistress. Darlanis is said to be an "easy" mistress, but yet one who "tolerates" little in the way of "foolishness"... "You and Maris encountered the EVIL ONE there in the north last year," I mused, "But yet Bob Simmons also claimed that Tais took him into the future, and he dealt with the same `being' nine years from now." Bob's description of the EVIL ONE much the same as what Darlanis had seen, although far different here in "size". "And while the Priestesses were able to `deal' with the EVIL ONE here last year quite `effectively', ten years from now they were apparently quite helpless against Him for some `unknown' reason." "No doubt one of those `mysteries' you'll have to ask Tais about," Darlanis smiled back, sipping at her brandy while her slave girl's dark eyes looked down into mine as I "nodded" back. The wench now filling my goblet, her body heavily perfumed. She was dark haired, pretty but not beautiful, a common sort of girl. "Wasn't there something in the 21st Century called `virtual reality'?" Sharon ventured thoughtfully, regarding Darlanis' slim slave girl as the wench knelt there to one side waiting to be of further service to us. "And how much do we `know' of what the Priestesses of Lys can `do' in such fields?" she "challenged" me. "Yes..," I breathed, recalling the "advertisement" I'd seen there in 2018 for just such a "thing" as this. There had also been work going on with "holovision", which was supposed to be far superior to the TriVid that I'd been watching at the Simmons. The Priestesses of Lys had the power to "program" human minds, as I'd seen here for myself. Could it be possible that they could have done something like that to Bob Simmons. Giving him some sort of a "fantasy adventure" that would seem to be so REAL that for the rest of his life he would actually "believe" he lived it! The thought briefly going through my mind that the same thing could have been done to me when I'd seen the "end" of the Earth! "The only question here is `why'," Darlanis grinned at me. "They were having a lot of `trouble' getting the Diana to work," I mused now, regarding the Empress sitting across from me. "And it is just possible that Tais wanted Bob to `see' himself in a different `light', as a man who had `saved' the world," I breathed, sharing my perhaps "fantastic" thoughts with them both. "He later used the Diana to put an end to Imperial involve- ment with Queen Valeris, which was perhaps `fortunate'," Darlanis "smiled" back, having once been the "victim" of the Diana's ram. "And later the Diana was used against Mexico, putting an end to a war that we couldn't win," Sharon ventured thoughtfully too. "Which means that Tais definitely had a `finger' in things," I mused. The thought occurring to me that I'd flown into that thunderstorm like I'd been "instructed" to do so. Had I been "mind programed" so that I'd fly through the "Gateway" into this time? Brought here so that I might "alter" the course of events? "Could she have a `hand' in things here?" Darlanis asked then, her eyes like two azure lasers burning into mine as I nod- ded thoughtfully in reply! Could Tais be the cause of all this? She had even more knowledge of the past than Tara did, the First Priestess being able to travel back almost to the time of the Ro- man Empire from what I understood, and certainly she would be fa- miliar with the political philosophies of the Twentieth Century! "Why would she want to break the Empire up, start a war?" Sharon asked. "The Priestesses aren't interested in `politics'." "Perhaps a `challenge' for us to deal with," I mused back. "Maris and I shared blood," Darlanis spoke, her eyes holding mine. Such is "meaningful" among those of my caste, although it is hard to "explain" to those who are not "barbarians" like us. "Perhaps we are being `tested'," Sharon now ventured here. "Tomorrow we shall fly to Dularn and see Maris," I smiled. "Arsana," I spoke, looking far ahead as Dularn became visi- ble beneath the low hanging clouds between which we were flying, the thought going through my mind again of what Tais had said to me. Words to the effect that Amethysta was "needed" in this era! "I fear `this' is not the `best of times'," Maris smiled as Darlanis took her hands in hers. The Queen of Dularn having had her own "problems" with the "radicals" there in her own Senate... And no doubt a "visit" from us right now might have political re- percussions upon Maris' "relationship" with her own people here! There having been those who maintained that Dularn was far too "friendly" with the Empire of California, that the Queen of Du- larn was herself now far too "friendly" with the Empress herself! "We do share a `mutual problem'," Darlanis smiled in reply. "There is `little' I can `do' about events in Orgon," Maris answered in level tones, no doubt thinking this was the reason why we three came here to Dularn at this time to talk to her now. "Things are not `always what they seem'," I said to Maris. "It does seem a little `far fetched'," Maris smiled at me. A cool breeze off the strait moving the lace curtains as the call of sea gulls flying over the palace now came through the windows. "I feel it is in the nature of a `test'," I answered Maris, suspecting Tais was doing it for some arcane purpose of her own. "To see whether we will work together or fight," Sharon now spoke. "Whether we are willing to see beyond our own short term gains in `exploiting' the `situation' that exists now in Orgon." It would be Sharon's country that we'd be all fighting over here. Dularnian against Imperial once again like it had been before I'd managed to stop the fighting there in 2565. Now five years later it seemed as if we'd all be at one another's throat once again... "Your people are fortunate to have a Queen like you," Maris smiled. I think Darlanis and I also felt that way about Sharon. She was a young Queen, sometimes "inexperienced", but one that I knew her own people thought highly of despite the fact that she was also the Imperial Princess of California, Darlanis' own legal successor to the throne. A beautiful Queen, blonde, blue eyed, a Queen who dressed stylishly, if a bit provocatively at times now. Her attire of silken blouse and hose leaving little doubts as to the sort of a delightful feminine figure that she also possessed! There have been perhaps a hundred men who have already sought her hand in wedlock, but so far Sharon has not felt the same of them! "I have strong emotional attachments to all of you," Sharon said, "And it pains me to think of what another war could bring." Maris no doubt well aware that once again she'd have to "face" me at sea, that once again she would have to face an enemy's fire. And without Carol as her Warlady she would not have it so "easy"! "And a war this time would cost far more lives," I added. "Your `weapons of the past' and those `dogs' of yours," the Queen of Dularn smiled back. Mine was the largest establishment of kennels in Trelandar, but there were others. We were also now breeding the domesticated dire wolf, and even the larger animals that Queen Valeris women had used. And there was also TALON with its great birds against which there was yet no "defense" known! A war this time between our countries would be far more terrible than before, a fact that I was well aware of as were all of us... |
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