"2570-34" - 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 Thirty Four "Lorraine!" Mara smiled, looking up at me as I hugged her to me. She was the "youngest" of my three "Princesses", the "daugh- ter" of the late Lady Lana, of whom I'd thought quite highly of. Ta-she-ra, now a lovely girl in her teens standing there smiling. The guardswomen standing there in front of my palace wooden faced as they watched all this, the hot sun no doubt making them sweat a bit, especially as June was going about making inspections too! Seeing that my women met the level of "perfection" she felt those who "served" the Queen of Trelandar must meet to satisfy me here! My own "standards", which June "understood", were more related to "fighting ability" than "spit and polish", I might mention here. I didn't have the best looking, but I did have the best fighters. "Thought they'd be `safer' here," Lady Tirana said to me... "I didn't want to `upset' you, but there was an `attempt'," my husband suddenly spoke up, his eyes looking into mine as I nodded back, well aware that such things came with the "throne"! There are always those who attempt assassinations or kidnaping. "The wolves didn't leave enough to `question'," Tirana said. My estate was now "patrolled" by such creatures along with armed men and women, now of the Warrior and Warrioress castes too here! The wolves, both the giant and the dire, "backed up" by my dogs. "Princess Tara may be back making `trouble'," I said then, "And `information' I obtained in Dularn indicates that her best agent is right here somewhere in Trelandar right now too," I ad- ded, Sanda nodding, perhaps now aware of the implications here... As Prime Minister her authority in Trelandar was second to mine. She also was head of the Revolutionary Party, which ruled Trelan- dar as the "majority" party in the government. I "trusted" her, although we had our philosophical "differences". Sanda as Prime Minister being somewhat to the "left of center", while I as Queen of Trelandar had become noticeably much more "libertarian" here than I'd been back there in 2565 when Sanda and I'd first talked. "Les Hawkins may be a good `rabble rouser', but he wouldn't have the brains for something like `this'," she pointed out then. He was a man of low caste, an "Iron Worker" as I recalled here. "My `thoughts' exactly," I smiled back at my Prime Minister, her dark eyes holding mine. Sanda Talen was a capable, competent woman. The sort who would make an extremely "dangerous" enemy... Fortunately she was also a woman of little actual "ambition" as such, being content to serve me as she had faithfully from the day I'd landed there off the Squala that summer day in 2565 A.D. Except for Lady Tirana she'd been the only well educated woman on the estate I'd "inherited", and we'd rapidly become quite close. Jon and June leading off the others as Sanda and I walked down the lovely great hallway, the tapestries on either side showing "scenes" of past eras of Trelandar, which I have always enjoyed. The thought going through my mind that all of this would be de- stroyed in only another seventy eight years depressed me now too. "There were a number of `radicals' in the `Free Trelandar Movement'," Sanda mused, stopping there before one of the scenes. "And it is my belief that Princess Tara had a `hand' in things. There were `gifts' of money that `came' from persons `unknown'." "Which means that Tara's `Organization' may have gained a `foothold' in the Trelandarian Revolutionary Party?" I ventured, well aware of the "implications" of what she was telling me here. Such "traitors" could be extremely dangerous to my own rule too. It is not hard to make a monarch look like a "fool" if you know what you are doing. Tara did so to some extent with Darlanis... Betraying the Empress, discrediting her whenever she could do so. "Some of those we consider `friends' may not be," she said. "We need to analyze the votes made in the Assembly by members of the party, and compare them to what would be of benefit to Tara." I nodded, well aware that Sanda was "hitting" at something here. "A `traitor' in our own midst?" I asked, Sanda "nodding". "Tara's `Organization' can provide `favors'," she said. "And people can be `bought'?" I said, Sanda smiling back. "The majority of people who enter `politics' do so for rea- sons that have little to do with the welfare of the people," she answered, looking up into my eyes as I nodded thoughtfully back. "Honesty" among politicians is like "virtue" among prostitutes... It is as "true" today as I suspect it was back in Caesar's time. "Back in `the old days' we'd lop off a few heads and put an `end' to this sort of `nonsense'," Lady Tirana exclaimed as Sanda and I told her what our "suspicions" were here. "Mind, I'm not saying that maybe `democracy' isn't a good idea, but you have to see here that most of these `voters' of yours are going to `vote' for whatever they can `take' from those better off." Echoing the thoughts that I'd been thinking just then as we sat and discussed this over drinks after a meal of the sort a Queen might so enjoy! "Same basic argument made by Hamilton against Jefferson back in the late Eighteenth Century," Keri grinned at her grandmother. "I believe Janet Rogers made the same `observation'," Tirana retorted, obvious better "read" for a Warrioress than most were!! In Janet Rogers' "era" only the "taxpayers" were allowed to vote. We did the "same" now, but even so there were "pressures" placed upon our politicians to vote for legislation of the type familiar to anyone from the 20th Century when such ideas were commonplace! There were also the castes and guilds jealous of their own place. In a way my 26th Century Trelandar resembled 12th Century Europe. Mankind has, I fear, learned little from his own history here... "`Supported' by ample historical evidence from the Roosevelt `era' of 1932 to the year 2008 when Janet Rogers was elected," my husband added, obviously having been listening to all this a bit! Jon, like many naval officers, having an excellent education due to the fact that there is often little to "do" aboard a ship but to read books, most captains having rather excellent libraries... "A `consequence' of the fact that in order to get `elected' you must `pander' to the `selfishness' in the voters," Sanda now spoke, no doubt well aware of the "political realities" here too. Most people usually voting for whoever will "give" them the most! This is "why" for example that the United States of America back in the last decade before Janet Rogers actually "voted" itself into "bankruptcy" by just such "short sighted" economic policies. Policies of "rights" and "entitlements" that ruined the country! Spending as much as a hundred thousand dollars to "educate" a child who lacked the "mental abilities" to ever be "productive". A "delusion" caused by the concept that everyone had a "right to a good education" regardless of ability, paid for if necessary by the taxpayers. It is surprising in a way that they "lasted" as long as they did before national bankruptcy put an end to it all! "At least there are no new scars," Jon said, "examining" me. I wore a new silk and lace teddy that didn't conceal very "much". "Yvette will have to sleep somewhere else tonight," I said. "She's not as `good' as you are in bed," Jon smiled back. "Proves that `looks' can be `deceiving'," I noted back. "Doesn't have your `brains' either," my husband said. "A woman of little imagination," I smiled, kissing him. "Glad I never married Maris Marn," Jon said, holding me. "Her `loss', my `gain'," I smiled, Jon picking me up now. Carrying me to the bed, and letting me drop the last few inches. The thought going through my mind that Maris weighed more too... "I've been doing some `thinking'," Sanda said to me the next morning as we ate breakfast. As Prime Minister she had quarters here in the palace, her own suite, and a staff of several people. Ta-she-ra and Mara having eaten earlier and then gone "riding". "That's `good'," Jon grinned, sitting next to me eating. "Go on," I spoke, ignoring my husband's comment here. "If Les Hawkins is someone's `tool'..." she mused. "Yes?" I breathed, thinking of the "implications". "Our `traitor' could be almost anyone," Sanda said to me, chewing on a piece of bacon. Yvette waiting to be of "service". "Say someone `planted' in your organization years ago," Lady Tirana ventured. "Someone we all `trust', someone known to us." I recalled what Tais had said to me. I supposed she knew "who". "Your own personal staff..." I ventured thoughtfully to her. "Or someone high in the ranks of the `party'," Sanda spoke. "If our `agent' is `intelligent', he or she will not make themselves `obvious'," Jon pointed out, regarding Sanda sitting there across from him. "They would not `advocate' the sort of `ideas' that Les Hawkins advocates as a part of his politics..." "A `needle in a haystack'," I breathed out thoughtfully. "`Hopeless'," Sanda answered, regarding both of us now. "You might try an `investigation' anyway," I smiled. "Tara's agent might be `careless'," Jon pointed out. "Or `nervous'," I now added, Sanda nodding back at me. "We can always hope he or she will make a `mistake'," Sanda spoke, regarding me. I would deal with such a person harshly... "Fear often causes people to do such," she said, no doubt speak- ing from experience, having been for a number of years a "wanted outlaw" with a price of a hundred gold crowns on her own head due to her "activities" as the leader of the Free Trelandar Movement. "I wonder what they hope to `gain' by this?" Jon now mused. "There may be those who would `profit' from it," Sanda said. "We might consider such in our investigation," I suggested. "I am glad I didn't have to fight you instead of Darlanis," Sanda grinned, Darlanis having sought the life of the Lady Sanda Harles for years, even to finally putting a "price" of a hundred gold crowns upon Sanda's head as a wanted "outlaw" and "rebel"... "Darlanis would have `won' if she'd had Sharon," Jon smiled back. We'd come closer to "losing" Trelandar to Darlanis than most knew here. The election had been in our "favor", but not to the extent I think Sanda would have expected. I suspect that if Darlanis had tried to make a "fight" of it, which she didn't, it is entirely possible that the outcome of things wouldn't have been as they were. Especially if Darlanis had done her "She-Ra" bit, which seemed to impress people more than Sanda or I liked. Darlanis' biggest "liability" had actually been Princess Tara... It had been Princess Tara who had made the Empress so much hated here in Trelandar. Princess Tara who had committed the atroci- ties against the people of Trelandar that "discredited" Darlanis. Destroyed her hopes of a Californian empire from Baja to Dularn. "I suppose if she hadn't killed my sister I'd think more highly of her," Sanda admitted, digging into her own breakfast... THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirty Four "Lorraine!" Mara smiled, looking up at me as I hugged her to me. She was the "youngest" of my three "Princesses", the "daugh- ter" of the late Lady Lana, of whom I'd thought quite highly of. Ta-she-ra, now a lovely girl in her teens standing there smiling. The guardswomen standing there in front of my palace wooden faced as they watched all this, the hot sun no doubt making them sweat a bit, especially as June was going about making inspections too! Seeing that my women met the level of "perfection" she felt those who "served" the Queen of Trelandar must meet to satisfy me here! My own "standards", which June "understood", were more related to "fighting ability" than "spit and polish", I might mention here. I didn't have the best looking, but I did have the best fighters. "Thought they'd be `safer' here," Lady Tirana said to me... "I didn't want to `upset' you, but there was an `attempt'," my husband suddenly spoke up, his eyes looking into mine as I nodded back, well aware that such things came with the "throne"! There are always those who attempt assassinations or kidnaping. "The wolves didn't leave enough to `question'," Tirana said. My estate was now "patrolled" by such creatures along with armed men and women, now of the Warrior and Warrioress castes too here! The wolves, both the giant and the dire, "backed up" by my dogs. "Princess Tara may be back making `trouble'," I said then, "And `information' I obtained in Dularn indicates that her best agent is right here somewhere in Trelandar right now too," I ad- ded, Sanda nodding, perhaps now aware of the implications here... As Prime Minister her authority in Trelandar was second to mine. She also was head of the Revolutionary Party, which ruled Trelan- dar as the "majority" party in the government. I "trusted" her, although we had our philosophical "differences". Sanda as Prime Minister being somewhat to the "left of center", while I as Queen of Trelandar had become noticeably much more "libertarian" here than I'd been back there in 2565 when Sanda and I'd first talked. "Les Hawkins may be a good `rabble rouser', but he wouldn't have the brains for something like `this'," she pointed out then. He was a man of low caste, an "Iron Worker" as I recalled here. "My `thoughts' exactly," I smiled back at my Prime Minister, her dark eyes holding mine. Sanda Talen was a capable, competent woman. The sort who would make an extremely "dangerous" enemy... Fortunately she was also a woman of little actual "ambition" as such, being content to serve me as she had faithfully from the day I'd landed there off the Squala that summer day in 2565 A.D. Except for Lady Tirana she'd been the only well educated woman on the estate I'd "inherited", and we'd rapidly become quite close. Jon and June leading off the others as Sanda and I walked down the lovely great hallway, the tapestries on either side showing "scenes" of past eras of Trelandar, which I have always enjoyed. The thought going through my mind that all of this would be de- stroyed in only another seventy eight years depressed me now too. "There were a number of `radicals' in the `Free Trelandar Movement'," Sanda mused, stopping there before one of the scenes. "And it is my belief that Princess Tara had a `hand' in things. There were `gifts' of money that `came' from persons `unknown'." "Which means that Tara's `Organization' may have gained a `foothold' in the Trelandarian Revolutionary Party?" I ventured, well aware of the "implications" of what she was telling me here. Such "traitors" could be extremely dangerous to my own rule too. It is not hard to make a monarch look like a "fool" if you know what you are doing. Tara did so to some extent with Darlanis... Betraying the Empress, discrediting her whenever she could do so. "Some of those we consider `friends' may not be," she said. "We need to analyze the votes made in the Assembly by members of the party, and compare them to what would be of benefit to Tara." I nodded, well aware that Sanda was "hitting" at something here. "A `traitor' in our own midst?" I asked, Sanda "nodding". "Tara's `Organization' can provide `favors'," she said. "And people can be `bought'?" I said, Sanda smiling back. "The majority of people who enter `politics' do so for rea- sons that have little to do with the welfare of the people," she answered, looking up into my eyes as I nodded thoughtfully back. "Honesty" among politicians is like "virtue" among prostitutes... It is as "true" today as I suspect it was back in Caesar's time. "Back in `the old days' we'd lop off a few heads and put an `end' to this sort of `nonsense'," Lady Tirana exclaimed as Sanda and I told her what our "suspicions" were here. "Mind, I'm not saying that maybe `democracy' isn't a good idea, but you have to see here that most of these `voters' of yours are going to `vote' for whatever they can `take' from those better off." Echoing the thoughts that I'd been thinking just then as we sat and discussed this over drinks after a meal of the sort a Queen might so enjoy! "Same basic argument made by Hamilton against Jefferson back in the late Eighteenth Century," Keri grinned at her grandmother. "I believe Janet Rogers made the same `observation'," Tirana retorted, obvious better "read" for a Warrioress than most were!! In Janet Rogers' "era" only the "taxpayers" were allowed to vote. We did the "same" now, but even so there were "pressures" placed upon our politicians to vote for legislation of the type familiar to anyone from the 20th Century when such ideas were commonplace! There were also the castes and guilds jealous of their own place. In a way my 26th Century Trelandar resembled 12th Century Europe. Mankind has, I fear, learned little from his own history here... "`Supported' by ample historical evidence from the Roosevelt `era' of 1932 to the year 2008 when Janet Rogers was elected," my husband added, obviously having been listening to all this a bit! Jon, like many naval officers, having an excellent education due to the fact that there is often little to "do" aboard a ship but to read books, most captains having rather excellent libraries... "A `consequence' of the fact that in order to get `elected' you must `pander' to the `selfishness' in the voters," Sanda now spoke, no doubt well aware of the "political realities" here too. Most people usually voting for whoever will "give" them the most! This is "why" for example that the United States of America back in the last decade before Janet Rogers actually "voted" itself into "bankruptcy" by just such "short sighted" economic policies. Policies of "rights" and "entitlements" that ruined the country! Spending as much as a hundred thousand dollars to "educate" a child who lacked the "mental abilities" to ever be "productive". A "delusion" caused by the concept that everyone had a "right to a good education" regardless of ability, paid for if necessary by the taxpayers. It is surprising in a way that they "lasted" as long as they did before national bankruptcy put an end to it all! "At least there are no new scars," Jon said, "examining" me. I wore a new silk and lace teddy that didn't conceal very "much". "Yvette will have to sleep somewhere else tonight," I said. "She's not as `good' as you are in bed," Jon smiled back. "Proves that `looks' can be `deceiving'," I noted back. "Doesn't have your `brains' either," my husband said. "A woman of little imagination," I smiled, kissing him. "Glad I never married Maris Marn," Jon said, holding me. "Her `loss', my `gain'," I smiled, Jon picking me up now. Carrying me to the bed, and letting me drop the last few inches. The thought going through my mind that Maris weighed more too... "I've been doing some `thinking'," Sanda said to me the next morning as we ate breakfast. As Prime Minister she had quarters here in the palace, her own suite, and a staff of several people. Ta-she-ra and Mara having eaten earlier and then gone "riding". "That's `good'," Jon grinned, sitting next to me eating. "Go on," I spoke, ignoring my husband's comment here. "If Les Hawkins is someone's `tool'..." she mused. "Yes?" I breathed, thinking of the "implications". "Our `traitor' could be almost anyone," Sanda said to me, chewing on a piece of bacon. Yvette waiting to be of "service". "Say someone `planted' in your organization years ago," Lady Tirana ventured. "Someone we all `trust', someone known to us." I recalled what Tais had said to me. I supposed she knew "who". "Your own personal staff..." I ventured thoughtfully to her. "Or someone high in the ranks of the `party'," Sanda spoke. "If our `agent' is `intelligent', he or she will not make themselves `obvious'," Jon pointed out, regarding Sanda sitting there across from him. "They would not `advocate' the sort of `ideas' that Les Hawkins advocates as a part of his politics..." "A `needle in a haystack'," I breathed out thoughtfully. "`Hopeless'," Sanda answered, regarding both of us now. "You might try an `investigation' anyway," I smiled. "Tara's agent might be `careless'," Jon pointed out. "Or `nervous'," I now added, Sanda nodding back at me. "We can always hope he or she will make a `mistake'," Sanda spoke, regarding me. I would deal with such a person harshly... "Fear often causes people to do such," she said, no doubt speak- ing from experience, having been for a number of years a "wanted outlaw" with a price of a hundred gold crowns on her own head due to her "activities" as the leader of the Free Trelandar Movement. "I wonder what they hope to `gain' by this?" Jon now mused. "There may be those who would `profit' from it," Sanda said. "We might consider such in our investigation," I suggested. "I am glad I didn't have to fight you instead of Darlanis," Sanda grinned, Darlanis having sought the life of the Lady Sanda Harles for years, even to finally putting a "price" of a hundred gold crowns upon Sanda's head as a wanted "outlaw" and "rebel"... "Darlanis would have `won' if she'd had Sharon," Jon smiled back. We'd come closer to "losing" Trelandar to Darlanis than most knew here. The election had been in our "favor", but not to the extent I think Sanda would have expected. I suspect that if Darlanis had tried to make a "fight" of it, which she didn't, it is entirely possible that the outcome of things wouldn't have been as they were. Especially if Darlanis had done her "She-Ra" bit, which seemed to impress people more than Sanda or I liked. Darlanis' biggest "liability" had actually been Princess Tara... It had been Princess Tara who had made the Empress so much hated here in Trelandar. Princess Tara who had committed the atroci- ties against the people of Trelandar that "discredited" Darlanis. Destroyed her hopes of a Californian empire from Baja to Dularn. "I suppose if she hadn't killed my sister I'd think more highly of her," Sanda admitted, digging into her own breakfast... |
|
|