"2570-21" - 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 One The cool night breezes coming through the window, the odors of the sea not all that far distant wafting in, I unpacked the few things I'd brought with me, among them the diary I've kept ever since I entered this barbaric era over five years ago now. Turning up the oil lamp, I seated myself at the bedroom's desk and began to write up my thoughts for the day, writing in French so that none in this time but I could read what I wrote... "If we can convince Maris...." I wrote when a faint sound caused me to turn, First Priestess Tais standing there smiling! "You might `knock'," I smiled, the white gowned Priestess nodding back at me, her attire, golden hair and blue eyes making me recall now the drawings I'd seen as a child of "angels". Tais in some "respects" being almost as "supernatural" as one of them! "I'll remember `that' next time," the First Priestess said, walking over to where I sat, looking down at what I'd written. "French," Tais smiled, her eyes glowing down into mine. "The language of my childhood," I pointed out to her. "Your `theory' about Bob Simmons is correct," she said. "Building up his `ego' a bit?" I then smiled back at Tais. "I felt it `wise' to `help' out a bit here," Tais admitted. "Why don't you just give `orders'?" I asked her, knowing the sort of "power" that the Priestesses possessed. Even the mili- tary power of the Lorr and the Women had been "nothing" to them! "In raising your `children', I'm sure there have been times when you could have done `something' better than they could, but as a wise mother you knew that they had to learn for themselves," the First Priestess answered. "And if Mankind is to ever `learn' how to behave in a `civilized' manner, then you must learn for yourselves how to resolve your conflicts without resort to force. Or without running to us to solve every little problem you have." "Like `now'?" I challenged, aware that I'd done just that! "I do think you have `learned' a few things," she smiled. "And are `you' at the `bottom' of all this?" I challenged. "Tara had some able `lieutenants'," the Priestess smiled. "You wouldn't be nice enough to tell me `who'?" I grinned. "`That' would be `cheating'," Tais laughed softly in reply. "I'm sure I'll catch up with him or her eventually," I said. "And then `justice will be served'," Tais smiled back at me. "I have my `suspicions' as to `who' it is," I answered her. "Let's change the `subject'," Tais suggested, pouring some wine into a goblet and handing it to me, strolling to the window and looking out into the darkness of the night for a few seconds. "I am a bit concerned about your feelings towards Janet Rogers." "Why?" I asked. "She's been `dead' for five centuries..." "It is `important' that you understand `why' she did what she `did'," Tais answered, turning to face me, her distance from the lamp making her look almost like a ghost standing there now. I suspected she didn't want to talk about what we'd seen there on the Gaia any more than I did. Knowing that this lovely green world of ours was to be dragged to an icy death in only 78 years! "Maybe we just don't `believe' in the same things," I said. "With the exception of her `policies' regarding firearms, which I can `understand' here," Tais spoke, "I find little wrong in what she did. What she was forced to do as world Leaderess." "There is no `justification' for her `policies' regarding those over the age of seventy two," I pointed out, well aware of what I'd learned here both from the TriVid I'd watched back there in 2018 and from what Hope Lynn Simmons had told me about it too! "You don't `deny' people medical care just because they are no longer `productive members of your society'," I now snapped back. "Does a poor person in our society receive the same quality of medical care that say someone in your `position' would?" Tais challenged me back, propping herself there on the window sill. I thought of the "drop", and hoped she wouldn't be "careless" here! "This isn't the 21st Century," I pointed out, Tais getting up and strolling about the room, looking at the various objects. "All societies have `limited resources'," Tais pointed out. "And those in the 21st Century were free to purchase medical in- surance to protect themselves against any future illnesses," she now added. Pointing out something that Hope had also done here. "Not everyone could `afford' to buy such insurance," I said. I'd always been one of the few doctors who supported a system of "National Health Care" much like Canada and most of Europe had... While I often "waived" my usual fees for those unable to pay, it was my own belief that medical care, like police and fire protec- tion, should be made "available" to all without consideration of their ability to "pay" for such care. I'd also shared these be- liefs with Janet Rogers, who I'd thought had understood them too! "For a `libertarian' you hold rather `socialistic' ideas," Tais answered, that awesome mind of hers no doubt hard at work! "I've `learned a few things' since becoming Queen," I said. "We provide our `services' based upon ability to pay," Tais replied. "And many doctors in your time also did the same too." The First Priestess making an "end run" around the point I'd made. Arguing with Tais being much like arguing with a computer! "Your `point' is that Janet Rogers `did' what was right?" I said, wishing to "pin" Tais down here without any more of this going "around and around" the topic like children playing a game! "A society should only provide those services to its members that are of benefit to that society," Tais answered me back then. "And attempting to extend the lives of those past the age of pro- ductivity is not of `benefit' to a society," she now answered me. "Social Darwinism?" I smiled back, drawing upon all my own knowledge of the past. Of everything that I've ever read here. "Social Darwinism", for those of you who are not Scribes is a so- cial philosophy of the 19th Century that teaches that the "value" of people can be determined by their "economic success" in life. "All societies must place a higher value upon their more `fit' members and a lesser value upon their less `fit' members," Tais spoke, standing there, the light from the lamp there on my desk making her look like some "ghost" from the distant past now! "To believe that all human beings are of the same `value' is to fly in the face of reality," Tais added, going now to the window. Looking out into the darkness, perhaps seeing what I did not now. "I believe the founders of the United States of America back in 1776 would have given you an `argument' over that," I retorted with a smile for the beautiful tall blonde. Enjoying this con- test of "wits" here against the First Priestess even if I knew we'd never agree on whether or not Janet Rogers had been "right"! "There was a `delusion' then about the `nature of man'," she answered, turning back to look at me. "One that `persisted' in the French Revolution, and `ended' in the Russian Revolution of 1917 with the Communists. Man is man, and his `nature' is deter- mined by biological forces, not by his `environment'." The tone of her voice then leaving no doubts too that she believed this!! "Only by altering the very biological nature of Man, such as the Lorr did with the Neanderthal women they took to Mars with them to be their servants thirty five thousand years ago, can the bas- ic biological nature of Man be altered into something different." "This has little to `do' with Janet Rogers," I said to her. "I fear you `have' me there," Tais laughed, standing there. "You feel what Janet did was `right'?" I "challenged" her. "I would have made the same `choice'," she now answered me. "You're putting yourself `out on a limb' here," I said then. "The `policies' of the Priestesses of Lys, and `those' over us are based upon these same `truths'," the First Priestess said. There was now in her voice a "note" of distant thunder! "The `philosophy of socialism', which you unknowingly advocate," has been an utter `failure' on over a million worlds," she spoke! "No society that penalizes its more `fit' to `support' its less `fit' has ever for long survived," the First Priestess said then. "And," she added, "There was a woman who lived in your century by the name of Ayn Rand, who understood these `truths' as few have." "According to you then, it is `wrong' to help the less for- tunate?" I challenged, wondering what she'd have to say to that! Enjoying this "duel of wits" as much as any I've ever had here... "No, but it is `wrong' for the `state', using its `legal mo- nopoly of armed force', to take money from its hard working citi- zens to support those who have decided to live at the `expense' of the taxpayers," Tais answered, "shifting" the subject a bit! "Those `senior citizens' paid taxes," I "pointed out" then. "Janet Rogers only prohibited the use of using medical care whose `cost' could not be `justified' as to its `return' here," I listened to her say, wondering if I could ever "win" against her! "You should be aware that we do the `same' here in this era now." "What do you `mean' by that?" I immediately challenged her. "Could you rebuild Trella into a `modern' city?" she asked. "The `cost' would bankrupt the people of Trelandar," I said. "The `same problem' occurred in the 21st Century when the `cost' of medical care due to advances in technology reached the point that Janet Rogers had no `choice' but to `ration' that care to those most likely to be of benefit from it," Tais answered me. "No society in the entire history of the Universe itself has ever been able to provide to its entire population the sort of `unlim- ited economic resources' needed to provide such `services' here." I knew that she spoke the TRUTH even if I didn't like hearing it. "I suppose you are `right'," I smiled, admitting my defeat. "Can it ever be `justified' taking the lives of innocents in order to serve a greater good?" the First Priestess asked me now. "When I ordered the EVIL ONE forced back out of our plane of ex- istence, it `cost' the lives of over a hundred thousand people." The six antimatter missiles used had killed everything within a radius of thousands of square miles of north western Canada then. The Free Women had not been that "many", but sixty gigatons of such force had left little but molten lava and volcanoes behind! "The `greater good' outweighs the `evil' that you did," I smiled. As a Warrioress I was well familiar with such ideas too! During the Second World War the French Resistance had attempted to deal with the concept that many of the German soldiers that they killed were merely conscripts who had no "choice" in the matter either. Men who had no wish to harm any Frenchmen either! Yet it had been necessary to kill these Germans despite all this! "I find your thought processes `interesting'," Tais smiled. "The `war' must be `morally just'," I said, seeing her nod. "A `matter of viewpoint'," Tais "grinned", standing there. "The Germans were the `aggressors'," I pointed out to her. "No doubt they did not see it `that way'," Tais answered. "I think you are `enjoying this'," I said, yawning a bit. "Do you wish another glass of wine?" the Priestess asked. "I haven't been `intellectually stimulated' like this for years," I smiled. Only Janet Rogers had possessed a mind power- ful enough to really give me a good first class "match" here too! And Tais generated enough "mental horsepower" to satisfy anyone!! "As I recall there was a certain `problem' in Trella last winter that gave you considerable concern," Tais smiled back now. "A certain Scribe who was a master of the crossbow, who decided to `declare war' upon the `establishment', and who for a period of two weeks, `succeeded' in a way that seemed `unbelievable'." It having reached the point that I had a full Legion in the city itself trying to hunt down this strange terrifying "terrorist"... "The `Batman'," I answered, recalling the "incident". It had been an "embarrassment" for the entire government, and for me too. Not even my overflights low over the city at night had been effective against this "terrorist" who "hunted" the Warriors and Warrioresses who maintained "law and order" in my capital city! The man had finally been killed by a prostitute who with a "cli- ent" spotted him on a roof top, and naked but for the sword in her hand, killed the black cloaked "Batman" before he could kill again! I'd given her three hundred gold crowns, issued her the Royal Medal of Trelandar, our highest award, for her heroism too! "I found the `incident' of `interest'," Tais smiled in turn. "I was just about to appeal to you, to Mars for help!" I ex- claimed. The man had come and gone without any ever seeing him! "The `example', perhaps `refined' a bit, might be `useful'," Tais mused thoughtfully, once again there by the window looking out into the darkness. "An entire city, a nation itself, opposed by one man who came close to making fools of you all," she added. "One sniper, in `the right time and place', with a good rifle and the ability to use it, can `alter' the entire course of history." And with this "comment" she suddenly disappeared, leaving me sit- ting there with my thoughts, wondering "what" she'd meant here... THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty One The cool night breezes coming through the window, the odors of the sea not all that far distant wafting in, I unpacked the few things I'd brought with me, among them the diary I've kept ever since I entered this barbaric era over five years ago now. Turning up the oil lamp, I seated myself at the bedroom's desk and began to write up my thoughts for the day, writing in French so that none in this time but I could read what I wrote... "If we can convince Maris...." I wrote when a faint sound caused me to turn, First Priestess Tais standing there smiling! "You might `knock'," I smiled, the white gowned Priestess nodding back at me, her attire, golden hair and blue eyes making me recall now the drawings I'd seen as a child of "angels". Tais in some "respects" being almost as "supernatural" as one of them! "I'll remember `that' next time," the First Priestess said, walking over to where I sat, looking down at what I'd written. "French," Tais smiled, her eyes glowing down into mine. "The language of my childhood," I pointed out to her. "Your `theory' about Bob Simmons is correct," she said. "Building up his `ego' a bit?" I then smiled back at Tais. "I felt it `wise' to `help' out a bit here," Tais admitted. "Why don't you just give `orders'?" I asked her, knowing the sort of "power" that the Priestesses possessed. Even the mili- tary power of the Lorr and the Women had been "nothing" to them! "In raising your `children', I'm sure there have been times when you could have done `something' better than they could, but as a wise mother you knew that they had to learn for themselves," the First Priestess answered. "And if Mankind is to ever `learn' how to behave in a `civilized' manner, then you must learn for yourselves how to resolve your conflicts without resort to force. Or without running to us to solve every little problem you have." "Like `now'?" I challenged, aware that I'd done just that! "I do think you have `learned' a few things," she smiled. "And are `you' at the `bottom' of all this?" I challenged. "Tara had some able `lieutenants'," the Priestess smiled. "You wouldn't be nice enough to tell me `who'?" I grinned. "`That' would be `cheating'," Tais laughed softly in reply. "I'm sure I'll catch up with him or her eventually," I said. "And then `justice will be served'," Tais smiled back at me. "I have my `suspicions' as to `who' it is," I answered her. "Let's change the `subject'," Tais suggested, pouring some wine into a goblet and handing it to me, strolling to the window and looking out into the darkness of the night for a few seconds. "I am a bit concerned about your feelings towards Janet Rogers." "Why?" I asked. "She's been `dead' for five centuries..." "It is `important' that you understand `why' she did what she `did'," Tais answered, turning to face me, her distance from the lamp making her look almost like a ghost standing there now. I suspected she didn't want to talk about what we'd seen there on the Gaia any more than I did. Knowing that this lovely green world of ours was to be dragged to an icy death in only 78 years! "Maybe we just don't `believe' in the same things," I said. "With the exception of her `policies' regarding firearms, which I can `understand' here," Tais spoke, "I find little wrong in what she did. What she was forced to do as world Leaderess." "There is no `justification' for her `policies' regarding those over the age of seventy two," I pointed out, well aware of what I'd learned here both from the TriVid I'd watched back there in 2018 and from what Hope Lynn Simmons had told me about it too! "You don't `deny' people medical care just because they are no longer `productive members of your society'," I now snapped back. "Does a poor person in our society receive the same quality of medical care that say someone in your `position' would?" Tais challenged me back, propping herself there on the window sill. I thought of the "drop", and hoped she wouldn't be "careless" here! "This isn't the 21st Century," I pointed out, Tais getting up and strolling about the room, looking at the various objects. "All societies have `limited resources'," Tais pointed out. "And those in the 21st Century were free to purchase medical in- surance to protect themselves against any future illnesses," she now added. Pointing out something that Hope had also done here. "Not everyone could `afford' to buy such insurance," I said. I'd always been one of the few doctors who supported a system of "National Health Care" much like Canada and most of Europe had... While I often "waived" my usual fees for those unable to pay, it was my own belief that medical care, like police and fire protec- tion, should be made "available" to all without consideration of their ability to "pay" for such care. I'd also shared these be- liefs with Janet Rogers, who I'd thought had understood them too! "For a `libertarian' you hold rather `socialistic' ideas," Tais answered, that awesome mind of hers no doubt hard at work! "I've `learned a few things' since becoming Queen," I said. "We provide our `services' based upon ability to pay," Tais replied. "And many doctors in your time also did the same too." The First Priestess making an "end run" around the point I'd made. Arguing with Tais being much like arguing with a computer! "Your `point' is that Janet Rogers `did' what was right?" I said, wishing to "pin" Tais down here without any more of this going "around and around" the topic like children playing a game! "A society should only provide those services to its members that are of benefit to that society," Tais answered me back then. "And attempting to extend the lives of those past the age of pro- ductivity is not of `benefit' to a society," she now answered me. "Social Darwinism?" I smiled back, drawing upon all my own knowledge of the past. Of everything that I've ever read here. "Social Darwinism", for those of you who are not Scribes is a so- cial philosophy of the 19th Century that teaches that the "value" of people can be determined by their "economic success" in life. "All societies must place a higher value upon their more `fit' members and a lesser value upon their less `fit' members," Tais spoke, standing there, the light from the lamp there on my desk making her look like some "ghost" from the distant past now! "To believe that all human beings are of the same `value' is to fly in the face of reality," Tais added, going now to the window. Looking out into the darkness, perhaps seeing what I did not now. "I believe the founders of the United States of America back in 1776 would have given you an `argument' over that," I retorted with a smile for the beautiful tall blonde. Enjoying this con- test of "wits" here against the First Priestess even if I knew we'd never agree on whether or not Janet Rogers had been "right"! "There was a `delusion' then about the `nature of man'," she answered, turning back to look at me. "One that `persisted' in the French Revolution, and `ended' in the Russian Revolution of 1917 with the Communists. Man is man, and his `nature' is deter- mined by biological forces, not by his `environment'." The tone of her voice then leaving no doubts too that she believed this!! "Only by altering the very biological nature of Man, such as the Lorr did with the Neanderthal women they took to Mars with them to be their servants thirty five thousand years ago, can the bas- ic biological nature of Man be altered into something different." "This has little to `do' with Janet Rogers," I said to her. "I fear you `have' me there," Tais laughed, standing there. "You feel what Janet did was `right'?" I "challenged" her. "I would have made the same `choice'," she now answered me. "You're putting yourself `out on a limb' here," I said then. "The `policies' of the Priestesses of Lys, and `those' over us are based upon these same `truths'," the First Priestess said. There was now in her voice a "note" of distant thunder! "The `philosophy of socialism', which you unknowingly advocate," has been an utter `failure' on over a million worlds," she spoke! "No society that penalizes its more `fit' to `support' its less `fit' has ever for long survived," the First Priestess said then. "And," she added, "There was a woman who lived in your century by the name of Ayn Rand, who understood these `truths' as few have." "According to you then, it is `wrong' to help the less for- tunate?" I challenged, wondering what she'd have to say to that! Enjoying this "duel of wits" as much as any I've ever had here... "No, but it is `wrong' for the `state', using its `legal mo- nopoly of armed force', to take money from its hard working citi- zens to support those who have decided to live at the `expense' of the taxpayers," Tais answered, "shifting" the subject a bit! "Those `senior citizens' paid taxes," I "pointed out" then. "Janet Rogers only prohibited the use of using medical care whose `cost' could not be `justified' as to its `return' here," I listened to her say, wondering if I could ever "win" against her! "You should be aware that we do the `same' here in this era now." "What do you `mean' by that?" I immediately challenged her. "Could you rebuild Trella into a `modern' city?" she asked. "The `cost' would bankrupt the people of Trelandar," I said. "The `same problem' occurred in the 21st Century when the `cost' of medical care due to advances in technology reached the point that Janet Rogers had no `choice' but to `ration' that care to those most likely to be of benefit from it," Tais answered me. "No society in the entire history of the Universe itself has ever been able to provide to its entire population the sort of `unlim- ited economic resources' needed to provide such `services' here." I knew that she spoke the TRUTH even if I didn't like hearing it. "I suppose you are `right'," I smiled, admitting my defeat. "Can it ever be `justified' taking the lives of innocents in order to serve a greater good?" the First Priestess asked me now. "When I ordered the EVIL ONE forced back out of our plane of ex- istence, it `cost' the lives of over a hundred thousand people." The six antimatter missiles used had killed everything within a radius of thousands of square miles of north western Canada then. The Free Women had not been that "many", but sixty gigatons of such force had left little but molten lava and volcanoes behind! "The `greater good' outweighs the `evil' that you did," I smiled. As a Warrioress I was well familiar with such ideas too! During the Second World War the French Resistance had attempted to deal with the concept that many of the German soldiers that they killed were merely conscripts who had no "choice" in the matter either. Men who had no wish to harm any Frenchmen either! Yet it had been necessary to kill these Germans despite all this! "I find your thought processes `interesting'," Tais smiled. "The `war' must be `morally just'," I said, seeing her nod. "A `matter of viewpoint'," Tais "grinned", standing there. "The Germans were the `aggressors'," I pointed out to her. "No doubt they did not see it `that way'," Tais answered. "I think you are `enjoying this'," I said, yawning a bit. "Do you wish another glass of wine?" the Priestess asked. "I haven't been `intellectually stimulated' like this for years," I smiled. Only Janet Rogers had possessed a mind power- ful enough to really give me a good first class "match" here too! And Tais generated enough "mental horsepower" to satisfy anyone!! "As I recall there was a certain `problem' in Trella last winter that gave you considerable concern," Tais smiled back now. "A certain Scribe who was a master of the crossbow, who decided to `declare war' upon the `establishment', and who for a period of two weeks, `succeeded' in a way that seemed `unbelievable'." It having reached the point that I had a full Legion in the city itself trying to hunt down this strange terrifying "terrorist"... "The `Batman'," I answered, recalling the "incident". It had been an "embarrassment" for the entire government, and for me too. Not even my overflights low over the city at night had been effective against this "terrorist" who "hunted" the Warriors and Warrioresses who maintained "law and order" in my capital city! The man had finally been killed by a prostitute who with a "cli- ent" spotted him on a roof top, and naked but for the sword in her hand, killed the black cloaked "Batman" before he could kill again! I'd given her three hundred gold crowns, issued her the Royal Medal of Trelandar, our highest award, for her heroism too! "I found the `incident' of `interest'," Tais smiled in turn. "I was just about to appeal to you, to Mars for help!" I ex- claimed. The man had come and gone without any ever seeing him! "The `example', perhaps `refined' a bit, might be `useful'," Tais mused thoughtfully, once again there by the window looking out into the darkness. "An entire city, a nation itself, opposed by one man who came close to making fools of you all," she added. "One sniper, in `the right time and place', with a good rifle and the ability to use it, can `alter' the entire course of history." And with this "comment" she suddenly disappeared, leaving me sit- ting there with my thoughts, wondering "what" she'd meant here... |
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