"2565-76" - читать интересную книгу автора (Warlady 1 - 2565 Ad Book 2)2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Thirty Three Darlanis tried to raise herself from the wooden deck where she laid helplessly chained as we burst into the cabin, my force saber gleaming there in the still air of the captain's cabin. The once beautiful golden Empress falling back, that naked and once magnificent body now a mass of bloody welts, her face like a piece of raw meat from being repeatedly struck. Tara had been obviously tormenting her as she laid in a fever, whipping her, striking her, no doubt making her few last hours here on Earth ones of torment! Darlanis has never spoken much of these mat- ters. I have no doubt that she has no wish to relive again what she was put through at the cruel hands of the Princess of Baja! "Lys!" a battle-hardened warrioress from the Janis gasped, seeing what had been done to Darlanis as I knelt down beside her, cutting her free of her chains with my force saber set on "low". Darlanis whispering my name, reaching out to me, sobbing, her na- ked body burning hot with fever! Sharon beside me, stroking her golden hair as she held the sobbing woman's body in her own arms. "I knew you would come," Darlanis sobbed to me. "I knew you would kill Tara. Avenge me." I told her that Tara still lived, although not due to any lack of efforts on my part. I was still puzzled why the Smith & Wesson had failed me when the other car- tridges in the cylinder had fired without any problems. I re- called what Tais had told me about Tara. It seemed impossible. Mere superstition! Yet Tara even survived the Starfire's awesome energy bolts as Aurora ordered its crew to fire upon the pirates! "I used to be a pretty good doctor back in my own time," I assured the Empress, swiftly checking her injuries. While Tara had badly abused her, Darlanis didn't have any serious injuries that I could see except for that fever that left no doubts in my mind what had been done to the woman! The swiftness of the fever puzzling me medically, although it appears now that human excre- ment had been introduced into the wound. Darlanis confirming my worst fears as she told me what had been done to her. The agony as she had been pierced internally by some drunken pirate with a belaying pin coated with human wastes only hours after capture! "Lorraine!" the warrioress from the Janis screamed, a sudden powerful thunderclap deafening us all! The entire area as seen from the stern windows of the Ronda suddenly as brightly lit up as if some gigantic lightning bolt had just passed overhead! I heard yells of terror, saw another bright flash, then a brilliant beam of light that flashed searingly into action! A Lorr laser! "Bring her, but be careful!" I snapped, dashing out so that I could see. The STARFIRE was floating there in the sky, glowing with infinite power! Another blinding, deafening thunderbolt leaping from its pointed bow to send hell-fire into the forest! I saw the running, fleeing figures of those pirates who had fled to shore there in its searchlights, then that searing beam of light as the Starfire turned "THE LIGHT THAT BURNS" upon them! "We're on fire!" someone yelled, flames flickering from an open doorway that led into the forecastle. No doubt a lamp had been overturned in the fighting. Darlanis in the arms of two men from the Janis as I saw the big ramship edging up to us. Sharon yelling something about "below" as the Starfire again fired one of those awesome bolts of pure energy at the few remaining pi- rates. Its infrared sensors and such being able to see them in the darkness, although its searchlights lit the scene as bright as day. It was, I thought to myself, a fitting end for them all! "Do what you can for Darlanis!" I snapped, aware that my stepdaughter had gone below with several other women. I ran to follow, fearing that we might just find more of the pirates! But none were to be found, only half a dozen women I quickly freed with my force-saber, cutting through their heavy chain with that glowing beam of light as if the heavy iron was nothing but a fog! The Starfire had stopped firing when we came back up on deck, the Ronda's forecastle now a mass of flames, the Janis hav- ing backed away a bit, although there was still a boat left for us! I saw a couple of slipper shaped craft now floating in the air, the sight of them bringing back memories of my adventures there on Mars! Such being used to travel short distances over its surface. They are powered by energy cells, and supported by the Lorr anti-gravity technology. One such craft floating down to examine us closer, the pilot a lovely blonde haired woman that I immediately recognized as Aurora, An'na's own foster mother! "My daughter! Is she all right?" Aurora cried, almost crashing her craft into the deck as she came swooping down. Dar- lanis stirring at her words, a puzzled look briefly in her eyes as she regarded the woman in the silvery jumpsuit of a Lorr serv- ant. I don't think she connected the words with her own "Anna".* * I now know the true meaning behind her words. I did not then. "She is on another ship," I said. "This is Darlanis, her mother." Aurora nodded, understanding why I didn't want to speak further. I prayed that nothing had happened to An'na. That some pirate crossbowman hadn't put a foot of steel through her heart. "She lives?" Aurora asked, looking over at Darlanis there. She seemed surprisingly "interested" in Darlanis for some reason. "We have her, but she is badly hurt," I said, grasping her arm. Darlanis of course knew nothing of what I had learned on Mars. That Aurora had raised her own Anna as her own daughter. "She must not die, not now!" Aurora sobbed, stroking the cruelly battered face of the woman she had so badly "wronged" twelve years ago. "Not until I can explain everything to her!"* * And believe me, Aurora did have a lot to "explain" about things, but that's also "another story" as they say. (Darlanis) "Who are you?" Darlanis gasped, puzzled by all this, Aurora now clinging to Darlanis, stroking her, touching her as the two men from the Janis held the badly injured Empress of California. "I am a woman who did you a great wrong!" Aurora wept then! Perhaps she believed from Darlanis' appearance that she was now dying. "I raised your daughter as my own!" Darlanis giving her a puzzled look, the Queen no doubt quite "confused" by all this! "Later!" I snapped. This was not the time for this now! I prayed we had not been too late to save Darlanis. The pirates were all dead except for perhaps a few who managed to reach the safety of the woods and hide between the trees where the Star- fire's sensors would have been unable to detect them. I hugged Sharon to me, glad that Darlanis was still alive despite whatever the future might bring when she recovered (if she did) from the terrible horrors that had been inflicted upon her helpless body! "`Mother'," An'na wept as she stroked Darlanis' hair there aboard the Starfire. The physician assisting me as I studied the scanning device and what it showed. It was obvious that the Em- press' uterus was infected, and that the infection was spreading through her body. Darlanis reaching up, stroking her face, whis- pering her name as she had once long ago named her "Anna". Auro- ra watching silently, Sharon standing nervously to one side, one eye on me and the other on Darlanis, whose appearance did little to settle my stepdaughter's nerves. I had given Sharon an injec- tion. It seemed to be of little effect despite what the Martian doctor had said. I knew our losses had been heavy. Jon had told me as we took Darlanis aboard the Starfire. Carl Talen was dead, as was Sentis Santa and Stan Holt. Sa-she-ra would be buried at sea with the rest. They would all stand before SHE together. Janet Layton of the Imperial Secret Service was dead of a cross- bow bolt through the heart. She had died in the service of her own ruler. I think that was the way that she would have wanted it to be. We had lost fifty seven to the pirates. The toll might run higher yet. I had given the Janis' physician and my own personal physician that I had brought with me the medicines from the Starfire. Enough of the modified Lorr venom to place them all in that state of near suspended animation until we could treat them all. Some if bad enough might even be put into the "Cold Sleep" and taken to Mars for treatment there, the Star- fire's own medical equipment being rather limited, not all that much better than the Janis'! I wondered what Raspa would do when she learned that Aurora had used the Starfire to rescue Darlanis! "You are my dear Anna," Darlanis whispered in reply, her eyes glowing into those of An'na. She was now paralyzed from the waist down by a medical version of Lorr venom. It is ideal for surgical operations as it slows all body functions considerably! "I am going to have to remove your uterus," I told Darlanis. "The danger of infection is too great to make any other choice medically advisable." I could try to wash her out, perhaps have her taken to Mars under "Cold Sleep", and treated there, but I did not think it would be possible to save her uterus now that I had seen what I had on the scanner. I saw Darlanis' eyes glisten with tears as she heard the news. I took her hand into mine and said, "You have Anna and Sharon. They are yours." I saw the two clasp hands, take Darlanis' hands in theirs. Saw the tears in their eyes as they looked down at the battered body before them. "`Do' what you have to do, Lorraine," Darlanis answered, the tone of her voice one of "defeat". I suspected she had heard of what had happened in Trelandar. Heard that I was now Queen of Trelandar. She had said nothing about it, but I sensed that it had "hurt" her terribly. Her "dream" had been destroyed. Now I would take from her that which made her a woman. Leaving her an empty "shell". I wondered if Tais might be able to help her. On the Starfire was a machine that could reprogram minds. The Lorr version of electronic hypnosis that Janet Rogers had once used to take over the world back in the 21st Century and remake it into what she had believed would be a better world for all of Mankind. "It would be best if everyone left now," I said. I did not wish them all to stand and watch me cut into Darlanis. See the blood, smell the odor of the infection as I cut her open. I asked the Martian physician to cover Darlanis' eyes. She would feel no pain, I knew that from my own experiences there on Mars. "She will live," I told An'na and Aurora as they sat there waiting outside to hear the news of how the operation had come out. I had once considered a career as a surgeon after I got out of the military, but masculine prejudice against women had been too great back then and I finally decided to become a "shrink" instead. "I think she would like to see you both right now," I added with a smile. Darlanis lived, but I did not think we would ever have the relationship between us that we once had. That had died with Sanda's crowning me the Queen of Trelandar. I wondered if my "crown" was worth what it had cost Darlanis in return. There were others who needed my attention, my skills just then. 2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Thirty Three Darlanis tried to raise herself from the wooden deck where she laid helplessly chained as we burst into the cabin, my force saber gleaming there in the still air of the captain's cabin. The once beautiful golden Empress falling back, that naked and once magnificent body now a mass of bloody welts, her face like a piece of raw meat from being repeatedly struck. Tara had been obviously tormenting her as she laid in a fever, whipping her, striking her, no doubt making her few last hours here on Earth ones of torment! Darlanis has never spoken much of these mat- ters. I have no doubt that she has no wish to relive again what she was put through at the cruel hands of the Princess of Baja! "Lys!" a battle-hardened warrioress from the Janis gasped, seeing what had been done to Darlanis as I knelt down beside her, cutting her free of her chains with my force saber set on "low". Darlanis whispering my name, reaching out to me, sobbing, her na- ked body burning hot with fever! Sharon beside me, stroking her golden hair as she held the sobbing woman's body in her own arms. "I knew you would come," Darlanis sobbed to me. "I knew you would kill Tara. Avenge me." I told her that Tara still lived, although not due to any lack of efforts on my part. I was still puzzled why the Smith & Wesson had failed me when the other car- tridges in the cylinder had fired without any problems. I re- called what Tais had told me about Tara. It seemed impossible. Mere superstition! Yet Tara even survived the Starfire's awesome energy bolts as Aurora ordered its crew to fire upon the pirates! "I used to be a pretty good doctor back in my own time," I assured the Empress, swiftly checking her injuries. While Tara had badly abused her, Darlanis didn't have any serious injuries that I could see except for that fever that left no doubts in my mind what had been done to the woman! The swiftness of the fever puzzling me medically, although it appears now that human excre- ment had been introduced into the wound. Darlanis confirming my worst fears as she told me what had been done to her. The agony as she had been pierced internally by some drunken pirate with a belaying pin coated with human wastes only hours after capture! "Lorraine!" the warrioress from the Janis screamed, a sudden powerful thunderclap deafening us all! The entire area as seen from the stern windows of the Ronda suddenly as brightly lit up as if some gigantic lightning bolt had just passed overhead! I heard yells of terror, saw another bright flash, then a brilliant beam of light that flashed searingly into action! A Lorr laser! "Bring her, but be careful!" I snapped, dashing out so that I could see. The STARFIRE was floating there in the sky, glowing with infinite power! Another blinding, deafening thunderbolt leaping from its pointed bow to send hell-fire into the forest! I saw the running, fleeing figures of those pirates who had fled to shore there in its searchlights, then that searing beam of light as the Starfire turned "THE LIGHT THAT BURNS" upon them! "We're on fire!" someone yelled, flames flickering from an open doorway that led into the forecastle. No doubt a lamp had been overturned in the fighting. Darlanis in the arms of two men from the Janis as I saw the big ramship edging up to us. Sharon yelling something about "below" as the Starfire again fired one of those awesome bolts of pure energy at the few remaining pi- rates. Its infrared sensors and such being able to see them in the darkness, although its searchlights lit the scene as bright as day. It was, I thought to myself, a fitting end for them all! "Do what you can for Darlanis!" I snapped, aware that my stepdaughter had gone below with several other women. I ran to follow, fearing that we might just find more of the pirates! But none were to be found, only half a dozen women I quickly freed with my force-saber, cutting through their heavy chain with that glowing beam of light as if the heavy iron was nothing but a fog! The Starfire had stopped firing when we came back up on deck, the Ronda's forecastle now a mass of flames, the Janis hav- ing backed away a bit, although there was still a boat left for us! I saw a couple of slipper shaped craft now floating in the air, the sight of them bringing back memories of my adventures there on Mars! Such being used to travel short distances over its surface. They are powered by energy cells, and supported by the Lorr anti-gravity technology. One such craft floating down to examine us closer, the pilot a lovely blonde haired woman that I immediately recognized as Aurora, An'na's own foster mother! "My daughter! Is she all right?" Aurora cried, almost crashing her craft into the deck as she came swooping down. Dar- lanis stirring at her words, a puzzled look briefly in her eyes as she regarded the woman in the silvery jumpsuit of a Lorr serv- ant. I don't think she connected the words with her own "Anna".* * I now know the true meaning behind her words. I did not then. "She is on another ship," I said. "This is Darlanis, her mother." Aurora nodded, understanding why I didn't want to speak further. I prayed that nothing had happened to An'na. That some pirate crossbowman hadn't put a foot of steel through her heart. "She lives?" Aurora asked, looking over at Darlanis there. She seemed surprisingly "interested" in Darlanis for some reason. "We have her, but she is badly hurt," I said, grasping her arm. Darlanis of course knew nothing of what I had learned on Mars. That Aurora had raised her own Anna as her own daughter. "She must not die, not now!" Aurora sobbed, stroking the cruelly battered face of the woman she had so badly "wronged" twelve years ago. "Not until I can explain everything to her!"* * And believe me, Aurora did have a lot to "explain" about things, but that's also "another story" as they say. (Darlanis) "Who are you?" Darlanis gasped, puzzled by all this, Aurora now clinging to Darlanis, stroking her, touching her as the two men from the Janis held the badly injured Empress of California. "I am a woman who did you a great wrong!" Aurora wept then! Perhaps she believed from Darlanis' appearance that she was now dying. "I raised your daughter as my own!" Darlanis giving her a puzzled look, the Queen no doubt quite "confused" by all this! "Later!" I snapped. This was not the time for this now! I prayed we had not been too late to save Darlanis. The pirates were all dead except for perhaps a few who managed to reach the safety of the woods and hide between the trees where the Star- fire's sensors would have been unable to detect them. I hugged Sharon to me, glad that Darlanis was still alive despite whatever the future might bring when she recovered (if she did) from the terrible horrors that had been inflicted upon her helpless body! "`Mother'," An'na wept as she stroked Darlanis' hair there aboard the Starfire. The physician assisting me as I studied the scanning device and what it showed. It was obvious that the Em- press' uterus was infected, and that the infection was spreading through her body. Darlanis reaching up, stroking her face, whis- pering her name as she had once long ago named her "Anna". Auro- ra watching silently, Sharon standing nervously to one side, one eye on me and the other on Darlanis, whose appearance did little to settle my stepdaughter's nerves. I had given Sharon an injec- tion. It seemed to be of little effect despite what the Martian doctor had said. I knew our losses had been heavy. Jon had told me as we took Darlanis aboard the Starfire. Carl Talen was dead, as was Sentis Santa and Stan Holt. Sa-she-ra would be buried at sea with the rest. They would all stand before SHE together. Janet Layton of the Imperial Secret Service was dead of a cross- bow bolt through the heart. She had died in the service of her own ruler. I think that was the way that she would have wanted it to be. We had lost fifty seven to the pirates. The toll might run higher yet. I had given the Janis' physician and my own personal physician that I had brought with me the medicines from the Starfire. Enough of the modified Lorr venom to place them all in that state of near suspended animation until we could treat them all. Some if bad enough might even be put into the "Cold Sleep" and taken to Mars for treatment there, the Star- fire's own medical equipment being rather limited, not all that much better than the Janis'! I wondered what Raspa would do when she learned that Aurora had used the Starfire to rescue Darlanis! "You are my dear Anna," Darlanis whispered in reply, her eyes glowing into those of An'na. She was now paralyzed from the waist down by a medical version of Lorr venom. It is ideal for surgical operations as it slows all body functions considerably! "I am going to have to remove your uterus," I told Darlanis. "The danger of infection is too great to make any other choice medically advisable." I could try to wash her out, perhaps have her taken to Mars under "Cold Sleep", and treated there, but I did not think it would be possible to save her uterus now that I had seen what I had on the scanner. I saw Darlanis' eyes glisten with tears as she heard the news. I took her hand into mine and said, "You have Anna and Sharon. They are yours." I saw the two clasp hands, take Darlanis' hands in theirs. Saw the tears in their eyes as they looked down at the battered body before them. "`Do' what you have to do, Lorraine," Darlanis answered, the tone of her voice one of "defeat". I suspected she had heard of what had happened in Trelandar. Heard that I was now Queen of Trelandar. She had said nothing about it, but I sensed that it had "hurt" her terribly. Her "dream" had been destroyed. Now I would take from her that which made her a woman. Leaving her an empty "shell". I wondered if Tais might be able to help her. On the Starfire was a machine that could reprogram minds. The Lorr version of electronic hypnosis that Janet Rogers had once used to take over the world back in the 21st Century and remake it into what she had believed would be a better world for all of Mankind. "It would be best if everyone left now," I said. I did not wish them all to stand and watch me cut into Darlanis. See the blood, smell the odor of the infection as I cut her open. I asked the Martian physician to cover Darlanis' eyes. She would feel no pain, I knew that from my own experiences there on Mars. "She will live," I told An'na and Aurora as they sat there waiting outside to hear the news of how the operation had come out. I had once considered a career as a surgeon after I got out of the military, but masculine prejudice against women had been too great back then and I finally decided to become a "shrink" instead. "I think she would like to see you both right now," I added with a smile. Darlanis lived, but I did not think we would ever have the relationship between us that we once had. That had died with Sanda's crowning me the Queen of Trelandar. I wondered if my "crown" was worth what it had cost Darlanis in return. There were others who needed my attention, my skills just then. |
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