"2570-37" - 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 Seven "What did you `think' of our society?" I asked Amethysta, Yvette then pouring a thick brandy into the other Queen's goblet. Amethysta was a "barbarian" both in her mannerisms and attire. A woman who saw things perhaps more "clearly" than one more civi- lized might. I'd done some reading about her, knew something of "what" she'd done. Had not Tais taken her from her own time I'd had no doubt that Trelandarian history would have been much dif- ferent than it had been. And Trelandar would not have been the "easy pickings" that Darlanis found it to be back there in 2553. "You are a `better' Queen than I `was'," she smiled back. "That seems hard to believe," I said to the big blonde. "More `popular' anyway," Amethysta grinned back at me. "Depends on `who' you listen to," I smiled back at her. "You `listen' too much to that Prime Minister of yours," the former Queen of Trelandar smiled back, swirling the brandy there in her goblet. She was a hard drinking woman, one well "able" I suspected to drink me under the table if it ever came to it here. Not a "young" woman as such, being almost as "old" as Tirana was. My "Warlady" having taken the Huntress yesterday back "home". I thought lovingly of my estate, of enjoying "peace and quiet" for a while. Of letting Sanda "deal" with these damn "politicians"!! "I've `relied' upon her for the last five years," I pointed out in reply. I "trusted" Sanda, knew too she was "loyal" to me. She who wears a "crown" often tends to trust very "few" people... "She now `runs' this country," Amethysta spoke to me then. "We're actually a `Constitutional Monarchy' like Dularn," I said. The "role" of the Queen in such a society is one more of a "monitor" to keep the elected officials from getting out of hand. I could "veto" any bill or law the Assembly tried to pass, al- though I could be overruled by a four fifths majority, which was unlikely as even my own worst political enemies had to admit now. On the other hand I couldn't have "legislation" that the Assembly wouldn't "give" me, a fact that I was well aware of here too now. I could "stalemate" the Assembly almost as "long" as I wanted, but on the other hand they could do the "same" to me in return... "So `they' claimed," Amethysta said, sipping at her brandy. "That Queen Barbara of theirs wasn't no `democrat'," she smiled. The Dularnian Queen in question having been a granddaughter of their famous Queen Denise, who had established the social order. "Hard drinking bitch, could cuss better than any man could," the Queen of 24th Century Trelandar smiled back as I nodded in reply. Jon now just then coming into the room with Bob and Carol in tow. "Where did you get those `two'?" Amethysta breathed in awe! "We're `friends' of Lorraine's from the 21st Century," Bob answered, Carol regarding Amethysta curiously, a "puzzled" look on her face. I knew that last night she'd gotten up, wandered out into the hallway, and asked the guardswoman on duty where she could find a telephone so that she might make a call to "Janet"! Bob had come out just then, and had guided his confused wife back to their room here at the palace, leaving my guardswoman standing there stunned, puzzled no doubt at such a strange request here... "Not one of my `better' days," Carol spoke then, "smiling" a bit at Amethysta, who "nodded", looking at the old woman in awe. "Time travelers," Amethysta breathed, giving Carol a smile. "We played our `role' here in this time for Tais," Bob added then, perhaps now even confusing poor Amethysta even more here. "It's a long story," I said, Amethysta nodding back at me. "I've often `wondered' about the Priestesses," she admitted. "There were `rumors' about them that seemed hard to believe too." "They are `mistresses of time and space', allied with alien beings throughout the Universe called the `Guardians'," I smiled. I recalled some of the comments that Aurora had once made there when I'd first visited Mars. About their "mumbo jumbo" they did. How little she'd known of their true nature! I missed Aurora, a "friend" who I often thought about these days now. The thought going through my mind that by now Tais had no doubt approached both Aurora and Raspa about transporting a portion of the human race to Mars. Something I was sure would delight neither either! "The Huntress has returned from your estate," Jon said then. "I am planning an expedition into the `ruins'," I said, June giving me the sort of a look she might have given me had I said I was planning an expedition to the Moon. Although I'd told her of how Hope and I had crossed the ruins in 2365, I don't think she really believed that I'd ever attempt entering them again here... "The dogs and wolves that Huntress brought," she breathed. "I am known as being a `Warlady'," I pointed out to her. "Only `you' would attempt it," she grinned back at me. "Something to get my mind off `politics'," I now smiled. "The `old couple'?" she asked, referring to Bob and Carol. "I'm sure they'll be safe with us," I said. Carol was still "lucid" most of the time, her "problems" being mostly at night... Bob was healthy enough, as long as he didn't "stress" himself. I knew they would appreciate sharing this "last adventure" with me. I wondered "why" Tais hadn't taken them to Dularn instead, but I supposed that she had her reasons here. In any case I planned to give them the best "vacation" that I could as Queen of Trelandar! "Has been getting a bit `boring' around here," June smiled. "We will take my flamethrowers too," I smiled back at her. "I think in the entire history of Humanity there has been but one true `Warlady', and you are `her'," Bob said to me then as he looked over the weapons that I planned to take with us into the ruins there in the morning. The guardswomen well aware too of the sort of "dangers" that we might face here in such a place! "We did `beat' her once," Carol now pointed out to him then. She tended at times to speak without thinking, and Bob admitted that at times she could get rather "snappy", even with him now... "That was `luck'," Bob quickly pointed out to his wife. I felt sorry for them both, especially knowing what laid ahead now. They had enjoyed so many GOOD years together, so many years that it was almost tragic that it had to "end" like this. On the oth- er hand I supposed they each had their memories, Bob having said that Carol still could remember what happened fifty years ago even if she couldn't remember now what she ate for breakfast that morning! The disease she was afflicted with being one that was "unknown" both here on Earth and on Mars, from what Tais told me. There had been some research carried on in the early 21st Century before Janet Rogers put an "end" to such things, but I supposed I was as much to "blame" here as Janet, as I'd maintained back then that attempting to extend the lives of the "non productive" was a waste of money, something for which I had good cause to regret. Especially as it was always possible I could end up like Carol... "I sometimes speak without thinking," Carol said to me. "You did `win' against me," I now smiled, remembering. "The North Star was a good ship," Bob said to me then. "And you commanded her well," I said, Carol nodding. "Dinner time," Jon interrupted, walking over to us. "I've got just over half the Assembly on our `side'," Sanda said to me as we ate, Amethysta giving her a smile from across the table, Bob and Carol there beside my lovely Prime Minister. Jon beside me watching Yvette reaching across the table to Sanda. The slave girl's attire such that much could be seen of her bare breasts beneath her clothing when she bent over like she was now. "Those `Amendments' will have to be voted on by the people," I said. That probably wouldn't be too "difficult", although I was well aware that someone like Les Hawkins could make trouble! "If we can get them through the Assembly," Sanda explained. She'd been trying to "sell" them on the basis of more "freedom" for everyone once the "government" was prohibited by "law" from "interference" in the economy or in relationships between people. "Be `better' if they were both in one," Bob said to Sanda. "You might `have' something there," she admitted in turn. "We could phone..." Carol breathed, then blushing a bit. "She doesn't live in this time," Bob said, touching her. "God Damn This Disease!" Carol wept, tears in her eyes! "Come with me," I said, getting up from the table then. "I'm afraid," Carol said, standing there, my hands in hers. The roof top of the palace was "private", the view one that I've always enjoyed, Trella spreading out there below us, the ocean in the distance, the ships there in the harbor bobbing like corks in a swift breeze from the west. A dark row of clouds on the hori- zon over the ocean leaving no doubts that a storm was coming in. "It is the `separation' you fear, isn't it?" I said to her. "The knowledge that our lives are at an `end'," she replied. "I may some day be `like' you," I said. "And I hope I can face my own death as bravely as you have," I said, Carol nodding. Such things are I think "different" from facing death in battle. I have no "doubts" about the reality of reincarnation, of the "fact" that I've lived before, and that I will live once again... It is, I think, more the thought of "separation" here that hurts. "I remember Maris telling me about Queen Tulis," Carol said. "At that time I couldn't `understand' why she did it, now I do." "We all wish to die with a bit of dignity left," I said. "We still did `beat' you back there once," she smiled. "Yes, I believe you did," I spoke, the tears now flowing. "Funny how `unimportant' it all seems now," she said to me. "You are weeping," I said, seeing the tears running down her cheeks despite the blurring of my own vision from the same cause. THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirty Seven "What did you `think' of our society?" I asked Amethysta, Yvette then pouring a thick brandy into the other Queen's goblet. Amethysta was a "barbarian" both in her mannerisms and attire. A woman who saw things perhaps more "clearly" than one more civi- lized might. I'd done some reading about her, knew something of "what" she'd done. Had not Tais taken her from her own time I'd had no doubt that Trelandarian history would have been much dif- ferent than it had been. And Trelandar would not have been the "easy pickings" that Darlanis found it to be back there in 2553. "You are a `better' Queen than I `was'," she smiled back. "That seems hard to believe," I said to the big blonde. "More `popular' anyway," Amethysta grinned back at me. "Depends on `who' you listen to," I smiled back at her. "You `listen' too much to that Prime Minister of yours," the former Queen of Trelandar smiled back, swirling the brandy there in her goblet. She was a hard drinking woman, one well "able" I suspected to drink me under the table if it ever came to it here. Not a "young" woman as such, being almost as "old" as Tirana was. My "Warlady" having taken the Huntress yesterday back "home". I thought lovingly of my estate, of enjoying "peace and quiet" for a while. Of letting Sanda "deal" with these damn "politicians"!! "I've `relied' upon her for the last five years," I pointed out in reply. I "trusted" Sanda, knew too she was "loyal" to me. She who wears a "crown" often tends to trust very "few" people... "She now `runs' this country," Amethysta spoke to me then. "We're actually a `Constitutional Monarchy' like Dularn," I said. The "role" of the Queen in such a society is one more of a "monitor" to keep the elected officials from getting out of hand. I could "veto" any bill or law the Assembly tried to pass, al- though I could be overruled by a four fifths majority, which was unlikely as even my own worst political enemies had to admit now. On the other hand I couldn't have "legislation" that the Assembly wouldn't "give" me, a fact that I was well aware of here too now. I could "stalemate" the Assembly almost as "long" as I wanted, but on the other hand they could do the "same" to me in return... "So `they' claimed," Amethysta said, sipping at her brandy. "That Queen Barbara of theirs wasn't no `democrat'," she smiled. The Dularnian Queen in question having been a granddaughter of their famous Queen Denise, who had established the social order. "Hard drinking bitch, could cuss better than any man could," the Queen of 24th Century Trelandar smiled back as I nodded in reply. Jon now just then coming into the room with Bob and Carol in tow. "Where did you get those `two'?" Amethysta breathed in awe! "We're `friends' of Lorraine's from the 21st Century," Bob answered, Carol regarding Amethysta curiously, a "puzzled" look on her face. I knew that last night she'd gotten up, wandered out into the hallway, and asked the guardswoman on duty where she could find a telephone so that she might make a call to "Janet"! Bob had come out just then, and had guided his confused wife back to their room here at the palace, leaving my guardswoman standing there stunned, puzzled no doubt at such a strange request here... "Not one of my `better' days," Carol spoke then, "smiling" a bit at Amethysta, who "nodded", looking at the old woman in awe. "Time travelers," Amethysta breathed, giving Carol a smile. "We played our `role' here in this time for Tais," Bob added then, perhaps now even confusing poor Amethysta even more here. "It's a long story," I said, Amethysta nodding back at me. "I've often `wondered' about the Priestesses," she admitted. "There were `rumors' about them that seemed hard to believe too." "They are `mistresses of time and space', allied with alien beings throughout the Universe called the `Guardians'," I smiled. I recalled some of the comments that Aurora had once made there when I'd first visited Mars. About their "mumbo jumbo" they did. How little she'd known of their true nature! I missed Aurora, a "friend" who I often thought about these days now. The thought going through my mind that by now Tais had no doubt approached both Aurora and Raspa about transporting a portion of the human race to Mars. Something I was sure would delight neither either! "The Huntress has returned from your estate," Jon said then. "I am planning an expedition into the `ruins'," I said, June giving me the sort of a look she might have given me had I said I was planning an expedition to the Moon. Although I'd told her of how Hope and I had crossed the ruins in 2365, I don't think she really believed that I'd ever attempt entering them again here... "The dogs and wolves that Huntress brought," she breathed. "I am known as being a `Warlady'," I pointed out to her. "Only `you' would attempt it," she grinned back at me. "Something to get my mind off `politics'," I now smiled. "The `old couple'?" she asked, referring to Bob and Carol. "I'm sure they'll be safe with us," I said. Carol was still "lucid" most of the time, her "problems" being mostly at night... Bob was healthy enough, as long as he didn't "stress" himself. I knew they would appreciate sharing this "last adventure" with me. I wondered "why" Tais hadn't taken them to Dularn instead, but I supposed that she had her reasons here. In any case I planned to give them the best "vacation" that I could as Queen of Trelandar! "Has been getting a bit `boring' around here," June smiled. "We will take my flamethrowers too," I smiled back at her. "I think in the entire history of Humanity there has been but one true `Warlady', and you are `her'," Bob said to me then as he looked over the weapons that I planned to take with us into the ruins there in the morning. The guardswomen well aware too of the sort of "dangers" that we might face here in such a place! "We did `beat' her once," Carol now pointed out to him then. She tended at times to speak without thinking, and Bob admitted that at times she could get rather "snappy", even with him now... "That was `luck'," Bob quickly pointed out to his wife. I felt sorry for them both, especially knowing what laid ahead now. They had enjoyed so many GOOD years together, so many years that it was almost tragic that it had to "end" like this. On the oth- er hand I supposed they each had their memories, Bob having said that Carol still could remember what happened fifty years ago even if she couldn't remember now what she ate for breakfast that morning! The disease she was afflicted with being one that was "unknown" both here on Earth and on Mars, from what Tais told me. There had been some research carried on in the early 21st Century before Janet Rogers put an "end" to such things, but I supposed I was as much to "blame" here as Janet, as I'd maintained back then that attempting to extend the lives of the "non productive" was a waste of money, something for which I had good cause to regret. Especially as it was always possible I could end up like Carol... "I sometimes speak without thinking," Carol said to me. "You did `win' against me," I now smiled, remembering. "The North Star was a good ship," Bob said to me then. "And you commanded her well," I said, Carol nodding. "Dinner time," Jon interrupted, walking over to us. "I've got just over half the Assembly on our `side'," Sanda said to me as we ate, Amethysta giving her a smile from across the table, Bob and Carol there beside my lovely Prime Minister. Jon beside me watching Yvette reaching across the table to Sanda. The slave girl's attire such that much could be seen of her bare breasts beneath her clothing when she bent over like she was now. "Those `Amendments' will have to be voted on by the people," I said. That probably wouldn't be too "difficult", although I was well aware that someone like Les Hawkins could make trouble! "If we can get them through the Assembly," Sanda explained. She'd been trying to "sell" them on the basis of more "freedom" for everyone once the "government" was prohibited by "law" from "interference" in the economy or in relationships between people. "Be `better' if they were both in one," Bob said to Sanda. "You might `have' something there," she admitted in turn. "We could phone..." Carol breathed, then blushing a bit. "She doesn't live in this time," Bob said, touching her. "God Damn This Disease!" Carol wept, tears in her eyes! "Come with me," I said, getting up from the table then. "I'm afraid," Carol said, standing there, my hands in hers. The roof top of the palace was "private", the view one that I've always enjoyed, Trella spreading out there below us, the ocean in the distance, the ships there in the harbor bobbing like corks in a swift breeze from the west. A dark row of clouds on the hori- zon over the ocean leaving no doubts that a storm was coming in. "It is the `separation' you fear, isn't it?" I said to her. "The knowledge that our lives are at an `end'," she replied. "I may some day be `like' you," I said. "And I hope I can face my own death as bravely as you have," I said, Carol nodding. Such things are I think "different" from facing death in battle. I have no "doubts" about the reality of reincarnation, of the "fact" that I've lived before, and that I will live once again... It is, I think, more the thought of "separation" here that hurts. "I remember Maris telling me about Queen Tulis," Carol said. "At that time I couldn't `understand' why she did it, now I do." "We all wish to die with a bit of dignity left," I said. "We still did `beat' you back there once," she smiled. "Yes, I believe you did," I spoke, the tears now flowing. "Funny how `unimportant' it all seems now," she said to me. "You are weeping," I said, seeing the tears running down her cheeks despite the blurring of my own vision from the same cause. |
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