"2565-84" - 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 Forty One "Be careful all that alcohol goes through that strainer," I warned as the last of the medical alcohol was poured into Black Lady's wing tanks. I hoped the patched wing would hold together. The shipwright thought that it would, but he didn't know anything about airplanes. About the effects of alcohol on the patching materials of the 26th Century. This was not some galley with a hole in the hull from battle! We had to hold liquid in, not out! There was a big crowd to see us off, all the "high and mighty" of Trella. Both our golden haired Princesses, Jon, San- da, Lady Tirana, Delilah, and all the others I had gotten to know during the time that Sharon and I had spent here in the 26th Century. Four months ago to the day I had flown through a strange thunderstorm and ended up here in the 26th Century. Now I was going to fly off again, this time to Dularn with Darlanis to end a war that had taken thousands of lives on both sides. I had left written instructions as what to do if neither of us "came back". If something happened to Darlanis and me in Dularn. Darlanis had a beautifully fitted golden thread dress that outlined the curves of that perfect figure, but also concealed enough of her that her mother might find her more "acceptable". I wore a black tunic and hose suitable for the more cooler cli- mate of Dularn, and had packed a silk gown for the more "formal" occasions. Both of us had taken ample clothing for our stay. For the flight to Dularn Darlanis too had selected black tunic and hose. We had brought our swords and Darlanis' compound bow. Not that I felt our weapons would make any difference, but this is an era where women of our caste are expected to be armed for- mally. I was also taking my force-saber with me "just in case". "I still wish you'd reconsider and take the Squala," Jon said to me. My adventures in the air recently had been enough to deter nearly any body from getting into the plane with me. It would take Squala nearly two weeks to sail from Trella to Arsana or a bit less, depending on the wind. Black Lady could in theory make the trip in ten hours or a bit less, although I did not plan to attempt it, planning to take two days for the trip. We would arrive over Arsana in the early afternoon. I would first circle the city, tell them who we were before landing in the harbor. Have them signal us if they wished us to land. Otherwise I would fly back to California and we'd have to figure something else out to do. I had just enough "range" to make such a flight after our last refueling stop in Porlan some six hundred miles south of Ar- sana. Just enough to get us back home to safety in California! "If something happens to me marry Sanda," I said to him. "There will never be another like you," he answered. "I'll be back," I promised, kissing him before all. "I don't like the looks of that storm," I said to Darlanis as we neared Sarn about three hours later. The thunderheads tow- ering up into the sky there before us like gleaming snow-white fluffy mountains. They are beautiful to look at, but deadly to small airplanes such as mine with their internal wind gusts. You can fly underneath one, but it is not really advisable to do so if you can manage to fly around them instead as I planned to do. "Can't this stand a storm?" Darlanis asked, her hands steady on the wheel. I had been letting her fly, get in some practice. We were flying at about a hundred and fifty miles per hour, which is the plane's best cruising speed. The thought going through my mind that I'd flown into such a storm in 1988 and ended up here! "The last time that I flew into a storm like that I ended up here," I smiled in reply, taking the controls and swinging inland away from the storm. I planned to give it a wide berth. So far the repaired wing hadn't been leaking noticeably, and my fuel consumption seemed normal enough considering that I was burning alcohol instead of gasoline. If I couldn't avoid the storm I'd land on any fair sized body of water and beach the plane until the storm blew over. Staying the night if necessary and then flying back off in the morning. I had packed food, water, if needed. We had our weapons. My force saber. Darlanis her com- pound bow. I supposed there was little to worry about, although one can never tell in this era what they will run into out in the "sticks" now. Especially in areas where there aren't any people. I still recalled that scaly "horror" Gayle and I once had seen. "I wouldn't mind visiting your era although I don't think I'd want to live there," Darlanis smiled back just as the engine suddenly started to sputter and miss for a serious lack of fuel! "Look for anything flat," I snapped, glancing out the window at the ground below. We were flying over forest, with rolling hills ahead. I needed a body of water a quarter mile across or a field of somewhat similar size. I spotted the gleam of water a ways ahead, the water now reflecting the azure sky like a mirror. "We're in `trouble', aren't we?" Darlanis spoke in level tones that betrayed no trace of the terror she must have felt even though she understood as well as I did what would happen if we failed to reach the lake and crashed down in among the trees! "We'll make it," I answered, giving the plane full throttle and pulling out the choke a bit. The fuel line was obviously now plugging up with something. I suspect that the wing tank had not been properly cleaned out when the repairs had been made to the damaged wing. I supposed I should have supervised the repairs myself, but I had thought that Sharon and Gayle could "do" that! "It's going to be a long walk to Sarn," Darlanis "smiled". "We'll fly there as soon as I make repairs," I told her. There was no doubt now that we would make the little lake. "The fuel line is plugged," I told Darlanis, standing on the float with the cowling open, a wench in my hand . The wind blow- ing through the trees. It was starting to spit rain. Cold rain. "There is a big Garth watching us," Darlanis announced in level tones. The fearsome reptile no more than fifty yards off! "We can get in the plane and push off from shore," I sug- gested. I didn't think the creature would come in after us, al- though I didn't really know that much about the habits of Garths. "I have my bow," Darlanis answered, climbing in, getting it. "You'll only irritate it," I warned her, watching the Garth, remembering how Sa-she-ra had killed a similar creature only a month ago. I knew that Darlanis was a skillful archer, better than me, but she was no Sa-she-ra either! Granted that big com- pound of hers would punch arrows deep right into the Garth's vi- tals, but it takes an awful lot of killing to do in a Garth! I told her to wait, thinking of my force saber. Together we might stand a chance up against that 26th Century mutated scaly horror! "You fix the plane, I'll take care of the Garth," she said, stepping down off the float, her boots sinking into the mud, a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulders. Her sword at her hip. "You'll get yourself killed, you big beautiful blonde!" I protested back, jumping off the float, grabbing her, pulling her back. Darlanis' azure eyes glowing into mine as the Garth then lumbered off into the woods, having had little interest in us!* * It is possible that it feared the airplane, which was of course strange to it. I have noticed how animals shy away from the air- plane. It is nearly impossible for example to get Delilah in it! The rain pounded against the aluminum of the fuselage like hail as we huddled inside, sharing some of the snacks I had brought with us and a bottle of wine from my own vineyards that Darlanis pronounced as being "suitable" for our "royal palates"! "You're a lot different than all the `Queens' I used to read about in the story books when I was a little girl," I told Darla- nis as we passed the bottle of wine back and forth between us. I always think of "Queens" as women in long gowns, wearing crowns, with lots of pomp and ceremony surrounding their every activity. "You're no different now as a `Queen' than you were before," Darlanis pointed out, taking a healthy swig of the wine from the bottle before handing it back to me. She is the sort of a woman that you instantly like. There is just "something" about her! "I guess because I really don't `feel' like one," I smiled. "You do get used to it after a while," Darlanis assured me. "What gets me is how Sanda and all the others pulled off what they did without my even suspecting what was going on," I told Darlanis as we nibbled on a bit of cheese and some sausage. Outside the plane the greenery of the forest dripped wetness, the raindrops running down the windshield in front of us as the rain pounded against Black Lady's aluminum fuselage almost like hail. The sky a hazy iron gray reflected off the rippling rain spotted water of the little lake we had fortunately been able to land on. "Just remember what they can `do' for you they can also `do' against you if and when the time comes," Darlanis warned with a grim smile. I supposed that it was true, although I didn't fear that my friends would ever turn against me. Yet, I remembered how easy it had been to suspect Sanda of poisoning me. Of trying to kill both Darlanis and myself with that synthetic Lorr venom! "How do you live with that?" I asked her. Knowing that your life was always in danger from those who sought your death. Who perhaps sought to replace you with another. I have no doubt that Sanda for example would have been happy to kill Darlanis had she had the chance to do so before I came on to the scene. I remem- bered Tara. She was still free to make trouble. To make more attempts on our lives. She had already tried to kill me twice now. She had come close to killing Darlanis. And could I trust people like Sanda? I recalled the French Revolution. The be- headings. The betrayals of the "revolutionaries" by the others. "Live each day the very best you can," Darlanis answered. There was that in her voice that spoke of her own personal expe- rience. "Choose your friends carefully and then stand by them." I was to recall her very words only a short while later on too. "I wonder if it's wise to land here in Sarn," Darlanis said to me as we swooped down over the great harbor of Sarn there in the growing darkness. Her words puzzling as certainly here we had nothing to fear. This was after all the center of the Em- pire! Where Darlanis' own awesome power would be the greatest. "The Imperial Senate may just decide that lopping off your head would be in `the best interests of the Empire'," she said to me with a grim smile. "Especially if Tara got to them first." I suppose I never had thought of that. We had always thought that Tara would flee to Baja, but she was still the Prime Minister of the Empire. Head of the Senate. Warlady of the Empire of Cali- fornia. I SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT DARLANIS TOO HAD NO REASON TO WISH ME TO LIVE! I was a threat to everyone. It would be "easy" to have an "accident" happen. There could be a "crossbowman". I recalled that first attempt on my life. The man had not said that the heavily veiled and disguised woman had a bad hand. What if that woman had been one of Darlanis' own secret agents? I had always "suspected" Princess Tara, but it could have been another! What if it had all been "done" at Darlanis' orders? After-all, I was far more of a "threat" to Darlanis' own "interests" than I had been to Tara's! The Princess and I hardly knew each other! "Lorraine," Darlanis breathed, reaching out, touching me. I took her hand in mine, held it, looked into her eyes. Felt shame for what I had thought of her. I know how my words written here "hurt" my friends. I can only ask their forgiveness when I speak the truth of my own feelings. I have at times even distrusted Sharon! For a few moments as I cleaned out the fuel line I won- dered if she hadn't been just a bit "too careless" about seeing that the fuel tank was cleaned out after having it repaired. Sometimes I even fear that I will someday become another like Queen Tulis of Dularn became before finding that she was dying of an inoperable brain tumor. I am extremely "paranoid", I note. I sometimes fear what I may someday "become". I know too much of history. Of what some did "become" in "positions" such as mine. "At least it will be a fight that the Warrioresses will talk about for a thousand years," Darlanis smiled then. "I've always wondered how well we'd `do' side by side, back to back together." Her azure eyes glowed into mine there in the growing darkness as I reached out and put my arm around her. There was no need for words then! No longer did I "doubt" Darlanis' friendship for me! 2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Forty One "Be careful all that alcohol goes through that strainer," I warned as the last of the medical alcohol was poured into Black Lady's wing tanks. I hoped the patched wing would hold together. The shipwright thought that it would, but he didn't know anything about airplanes. About the effects of alcohol on the patching materials of the 26th Century. This was not some galley with a hole in the hull from battle! We had to hold liquid in, not out! There was a big crowd to see us off, all the "high and mighty" of Trella. Both our golden haired Princesses, Jon, San- da, Lady Tirana, Delilah, and all the others I had gotten to know during the time that Sharon and I had spent here in the 26th Century. Four months ago to the day I had flown through a strange thunderstorm and ended up here in the 26th Century. Now I was going to fly off again, this time to Dularn with Darlanis to end a war that had taken thousands of lives on both sides. I had left written instructions as what to do if neither of us "came back". If something happened to Darlanis and me in Dularn. Darlanis had a beautifully fitted golden thread dress that outlined the curves of that perfect figure, but also concealed enough of her that her mother might find her more "acceptable". I wore a black tunic and hose suitable for the more cooler cli- mate of Dularn, and had packed a silk gown for the more "formal" occasions. Both of us had taken ample clothing for our stay. For the flight to Dularn Darlanis too had selected black tunic and hose. We had brought our swords and Darlanis' compound bow. Not that I felt our weapons would make any difference, but this is an era where women of our caste are expected to be armed for- mally. I was also taking my force-saber with me "just in case". "I still wish you'd reconsider and take the Squala," Jon said to me. My adventures in the air recently had been enough to deter nearly any body from getting into the plane with me. It would take Squala nearly two weeks to sail from Trella to Arsana or a bit less, depending on the wind. Black Lady could in theory make the trip in ten hours or a bit less, although I did not plan to attempt it, planning to take two days for the trip. We would arrive over Arsana in the early afternoon. I would first circle the city, tell them who we were before landing in the harbor. Have them signal us if they wished us to land. Otherwise I would fly back to California and we'd have to figure something else out to do. I had just enough "range" to make such a flight after our last refueling stop in Porlan some six hundred miles south of Ar- sana. Just enough to get us back home to safety in California! "If something happens to me marry Sanda," I said to him. "There will never be another like you," he answered. "I'll be back," I promised, kissing him before all. "I don't like the looks of that storm," I said to Darlanis as we neared Sarn about three hours later. The thunderheads tow- ering up into the sky there before us like gleaming snow-white fluffy mountains. They are beautiful to look at, but deadly to small airplanes such as mine with their internal wind gusts. You can fly underneath one, but it is not really advisable to do so if you can manage to fly around them instead as I planned to do. "Can't this stand a storm?" Darlanis asked, her hands steady on the wheel. I had been letting her fly, get in some practice. We were flying at about a hundred and fifty miles per hour, which is the plane's best cruising speed. The thought going through my mind that I'd flown into such a storm in 1988 and ended up here! "The last time that I flew into a storm like that I ended up here," I smiled in reply, taking the controls and swinging inland away from the storm. I planned to give it a wide berth. So far the repaired wing hadn't been leaking noticeably, and my fuel consumption seemed normal enough considering that I was burning alcohol instead of gasoline. If I couldn't avoid the storm I'd land on any fair sized body of water and beach the plane until the storm blew over. Staying the night if necessary and then flying back off in the morning. I had packed food, water, if needed. We had our weapons. My force saber. Darlanis her com- pound bow. I supposed there was little to worry about, although one can never tell in this era what they will run into out in the "sticks" now. Especially in areas where there aren't any people. I still recalled that scaly "horror" Gayle and I once had seen. "I wouldn't mind visiting your era although I don't think I'd want to live there," Darlanis smiled back just as the engine suddenly started to sputter and miss for a serious lack of fuel! "Look for anything flat," I snapped, glancing out the window at the ground below. We were flying over forest, with rolling hills ahead. I needed a body of water a quarter mile across or a field of somewhat similar size. I spotted the gleam of water a ways ahead, the water now reflecting the azure sky like a mirror. "We're in `trouble', aren't we?" Darlanis spoke in level tones that betrayed no trace of the terror she must have felt even though she understood as well as I did what would happen if we failed to reach the lake and crashed down in among the trees! "We'll make it," I answered, giving the plane full throttle and pulling out the choke a bit. The fuel line was obviously now plugging up with something. I suspect that the wing tank had not been properly cleaned out when the repairs had been made to the damaged wing. I supposed I should have supervised the repairs myself, but I had thought that Sharon and Gayle could "do" that! "It's going to be a long walk to Sarn," Darlanis "smiled". "We'll fly there as soon as I make repairs," I told her. There was no doubt now that we would make the little lake. "The fuel line is plugged," I told Darlanis, standing on the float with the cowling open, a wench in my hand . The wind blow- ing through the trees. It was starting to spit rain. Cold rain. "There is a big Garth watching us," Darlanis announced in level tones. The fearsome reptile no more than fifty yards off! "We can get in the plane and push off from shore," I sug- gested. I didn't think the creature would come in after us, al- though I didn't really know that much about the habits of Garths. "I have my bow," Darlanis answered, climbing in, getting it. "You'll only irritate it," I warned her, watching the Garth, remembering how Sa-she-ra had killed a similar creature only a month ago. I knew that Darlanis was a skillful archer, better than me, but she was no Sa-she-ra either! Granted that big com- pound of hers would punch arrows deep right into the Garth's vi- tals, but it takes an awful lot of killing to do in a Garth! I told her to wait, thinking of my force saber. Together we might stand a chance up against that 26th Century mutated scaly horror! "You fix the plane, I'll take care of the Garth," she said, stepping down off the float, her boots sinking into the mud, a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulders. Her sword at her hip. "You'll get yourself killed, you big beautiful blonde!" I protested back, jumping off the float, grabbing her, pulling her back. Darlanis' azure eyes glowing into mine as the Garth then lumbered off into the woods, having had little interest in us!* * It is possible that it feared the airplane, which was of course strange to it. I have noticed how animals shy away from the air- plane. It is nearly impossible for example to get Delilah in it! The rain pounded against the aluminum of the fuselage like hail as we huddled inside, sharing some of the snacks I had brought with us and a bottle of wine from my own vineyards that Darlanis pronounced as being "suitable" for our "royal palates"! "You're a lot different than all the `Queens' I used to read about in the story books when I was a little girl," I told Darla- nis as we passed the bottle of wine back and forth between us. I always think of "Queens" as women in long gowns, wearing crowns, with lots of pomp and ceremony surrounding their every activity. "You're no different now as a `Queen' than you were before," Darlanis pointed out, taking a healthy swig of the wine from the bottle before handing it back to me. She is the sort of a woman that you instantly like. There is just "something" about her! "I guess because I really don't `feel' like one," I smiled. "You do get used to it after a while," Darlanis assured me. "What gets me is how Sanda and all the others pulled off what they did without my even suspecting what was going on," I told Darlanis as we nibbled on a bit of cheese and some sausage. Outside the plane the greenery of the forest dripped wetness, the raindrops running down the windshield in front of us as the rain pounded against Black Lady's aluminum fuselage almost like hail. The sky a hazy iron gray reflected off the rippling rain spotted water of the little lake we had fortunately been able to land on. "Just remember what they can `do' for you they can also `do' against you if and when the time comes," Darlanis warned with a grim smile. I supposed that it was true, although I didn't fear that my friends would ever turn against me. Yet, I remembered how easy it had been to suspect Sanda of poisoning me. Of trying to kill both Darlanis and myself with that synthetic Lorr venom! "How do you live with that?" I asked her. Knowing that your life was always in danger from those who sought your death. Who perhaps sought to replace you with another. I have no doubt that Sanda for example would have been happy to kill Darlanis had she had the chance to do so before I came on to the scene. I remem- bered Tara. She was still free to make trouble. To make more attempts on our lives. She had already tried to kill me twice now. She had come close to killing Darlanis. And could I trust people like Sanda? I recalled the French Revolution. The be- headings. The betrayals of the "revolutionaries" by the others. "Live each day the very best you can," Darlanis answered. There was that in her voice that spoke of her own personal expe- rience. "Choose your friends carefully and then stand by them." I was to recall her very words only a short while later on too. "I wonder if it's wise to land here in Sarn," Darlanis said to me as we swooped down over the great harbor of Sarn there in the growing darkness. Her words puzzling as certainly here we had nothing to fear. This was after all the center of the Em- pire! Where Darlanis' own awesome power would be the greatest. "The Imperial Senate may just decide that lopping off your head would be in `the best interests of the Empire'," she said to me with a grim smile. "Especially if Tara got to them first." I suppose I never had thought of that. We had always thought that Tara would flee to Baja, but she was still the Prime Minister of the Empire. Head of the Senate. Warlady of the Empire of Cali- fornia. I SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT DARLANIS TOO HAD NO REASON TO WISH ME TO LIVE! I was a threat to everyone. It would be "easy" to have an "accident" happen. There could be a "crossbowman". I recalled that first attempt on my life. The man had not said that the heavily veiled and disguised woman had a bad hand. What if that woman had been one of Darlanis' own secret agents? I had always "suspected" Princess Tara, but it could have been another! What if it had all been "done" at Darlanis' orders? After-all, I was far more of a "threat" to Darlanis' own "interests" than I had been to Tara's! The Princess and I hardly knew each other! "Lorraine," Darlanis breathed, reaching out, touching me. I took her hand in mine, held it, looked into her eyes. Felt shame for what I had thought of her. I know how my words written here "hurt" my friends. I can only ask their forgiveness when I speak the truth of my own feelings. I have at times even distrusted Sharon! For a few moments as I cleaned out the fuel line I won- dered if she hadn't been just a bit "too careless" about seeing that the fuel tank was cleaned out after having it repaired. Sometimes I even fear that I will someday become another like Queen Tulis of Dularn became before finding that she was dying of an inoperable brain tumor. I am extremely "paranoid", I note. I sometimes fear what I may someday "become". I know too much of history. Of what some did "become" in "positions" such as mine. "At least it will be a fight that the Warrioresses will talk about for a thousand years," Darlanis smiled then. "I've always wondered how well we'd `do' side by side, back to back together." Her azure eyes glowed into mine there in the growing darkness as I reached out and put my arm around her. There was no need for words then! No longer did I "doubt" Darlanis' friendship for me! |
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