"2565-90" - 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 Seven "You can do the honors," I said to Darlanis as she nodded, turning Black Lady's ignition key to "on". The warning light above it glowing for a few seconds as the pre-heaters heated the alcohol in the fuel injectors for starting. The plane was heavy with fuel, with a full one hundred and eighty gallons aboard. A hundred and twenty in the wing tanks and another sixty there in the streamlined belly tank between the floats beneath us. The beautiful golden haired ruler of California pulling out the choke and when the light went out, turning the key the rest of the way. The eight cylinder air cooled engine starting up with a roar. Darlanis easing the throttle back a bit while giving me a smile. Outside to see us off were the high and mighty of the Em- pire, along with our friends and one dear to us both. She would become the new Empress if anything happened and we never returned from Dularn. Sharon was, I thought to myself with a smile, sur- prisingly capable and competent for one so young. Truly a Prin- cess in more than just her own title. I was proud of her. I felt that much had been accomplished. That once again Mankind's footsteps had been set on the path that would lead to the stars. "We are going to make history, the two of us," Darlanis said to me. There was love between us. We were like sisters now. We had stood together against a common foe. Faced death together. "Let us hope that they realize that we tried our best," I smiled back. I thought that was all that anyone could ask for. I waved out the window to Sharon, to Ta-she-ra, to Mara. To San- da, Jers and Lara, to Hara and Tirana. Two who had once command- ed Legions. Sent men to war. I was now Darlanis' new Warlady. I wondered if I would do any better than they had. Darlanis had also made me her new Prime Minister. My powers in the Empire now were second only to hers. I was of course also still yet the Queen of Trelandar too. The Lady Lorraine. I had come far. I thought once more of my experiences on Mars and wondered a bit? "We will be legends," Darlanis smiled back, pushing in the choke and idling the engine. We would let it warm a bit first... I glanced over at Darlanis as she sat there beside me flying the plane, the fleecy clouds like puffs of chilly fog as we flew between them. Her calm confident grip on the wheel left no doubt that she was a "natural pilot". That flying came as naturally to her as swordsmanship had once come to Sa-she-ra, my blood sister. I had a couple days ago performed the same act with Darlanis. Cutting her hand and allowing her to cut mine so that we might taste each other's blood. Such had been meaningful to me. I think to Darlanis too. We were at heart both "barbarians". Sis- ters of the Sword. Caste sisters. Both of the Warrioresses. "I hope Tara doesn't try anything while we're gone," she smiled, seeing my eyes upon her. I wasn't too much worried. The evil Princess had been too much discredited in the eyes of good and decent people everywhere in California to ever have any po- litical role to play in affairs again. True, she was still dan- gerous enough, and her alliance with Talon and the Empire of Mex- ico made her a dangerous adversary, but I did not think that we needed to do more than take the proper precautions that would be needed in any case considering the type of a bitch that she was. "If she does I am sure that our friends can handle it," I smiled back. Sanda was a capable and competent administrator. I had confidence in Hara and Lady Tirana. Unlike Darlanis, Sharon would not be "merciful" if Tara ever fell again into our "hands". "I pity Jers," Darlanis smiled in reply, steering between a pair of white fleecy clouds. We were flying quite high, about nine thousand feet. The air was thin, chill, making the heater a comfort. "He is truly now caught in a situation from which there is no escape." I nodded back in reply, understanding. His own lovely wife had already been the victim of two assassination at- tempts by his own mother, who would no doubt try again if she ever got the chance to do so. And Lara herself no doubt was well aware of the horrible fate that awaited her should she ever fall alive into the hands of the cruel and sadistic Princess of Baja! "I don't," I said. "He has a wife like few that have ever lived." As a matter of fact, I could only think of one other who had the same "qualities" that Lara had, and she'd been dead for over five centuries now! The provocative, sensual Carol Simmons! "I wasn't a very `nice' person when I was young," Darlanis said to me suddenly. "I don't you'd have liked me back then." I nodded, smiled. I knew quite a bit about Darlanis' own history. Darlanis was a very beautiful woman. She was also quite "ambi- tious". The sort who might just do as "they" said that she did. It being said that she "gave" herself to Thar Marden like a slave girl, performing all the "love tricks" that a trained slave does! "He (the King) wanted a beautiful Queen," Darlanis answered. There was that in her voice that left no doubts of her feelings. She had been "ambitious", eager to "advance" herself regardless of what it "cost". The marriage had not been very happy, I knew. "Let's change the subject if it bothers you," I suggested, shifting there in my seat, my eyes glancing over the instruments. "I wasn't a very `admirable' person back then," she said. I knew that. I also knew "why". That was to me more important. "What puzzles me is why Tara was willing to serve you later on," I asked. Wondering if I was now "venturing where only fools dared". There were parts of her life she didn't talk about much. "Why not?" Darlanis smiled. "I was `useful' to her anyway." I was also aware that Tara no doubt had looked upon Darlanis as a "dumb blonde" who could be easily controlled and used as needed. I suspected that many of Darlanis' actions as the young Queen of Sarn perhaps had been suggested by Tara. Tara was an older wom- an, more intelligent than Darlanis. Old enough to be her mother. Darlanis might sit on the golden throne, but Tara would be the true ruler of the Empire of California. Such things have hap- pened before in the history of the human race. There have been others like Tara. I recalled the first time I had seen Tara. I had been horrified by how arrogantly she had treated Darlanis! I had not then understood the "relationship" between the two women. "Until you were provoked enough to fight back," I answered. "You gave me the courage to do what I had to do to regain my self-respect," Darlanis answered. "I feared she would kill me." "It was a close match, but I never had any doubts about you." I answer, seeing her eyes glow into mine as she touched my hand. The sky an azure blue sprinkled with white cottony clouds. Up here we were safe from anything Man could do. I had the only airplane in the world. Only the Lorr had power here in the sky. "You spared her life. I wouldn't have done so," I told her. "I was thinking of Jers. How it would look if I killed his own mother there before his eyes," Darlanis answered softly back, staring out through the windshield at the sky, the clouds, but perhaps seeing something else than what laid ahead just then. I recalled what Tais had told me. She was truly "The Queen of Light". Sharon's "SHE-RA". Something "good", "decent". The "Second Janet Rogers" that all of Mankind had been searching for. "I think long after I am forgotten, they will remember that once there was a `Darlanis'," I said to her. "That `She-Ra' did live." I suppose it was but foolishness on my part, but that was the way I viewed her. There is just something "good" about her. "You are `too old' to believe in `She-Ra'," Darlanis smiled. "It is still nice however that she `exists'," I smiled back. "Porlan," Darlanis announced, pushing in the throttle and putting two clicks on the flaps. The city spreading out below us as we spiraled down towards a landing in the bay. It was a medi- um sized city, perhaps a third of the size of Trella or Sarn. We were perhaps now five hundred miles north of Sarn. A few hundred miles from where the forces of the Empire yet confronted those of Dularn. I thought of Sanda's son. Darlanis had written a let- ter. We had sent it on ahead aboard the Squala. The fighting would stop, although it would take time to get word to the more scattered forces now engaged in battle. Once again I thought of Vietnam. That war too had been "winless". Much like this one was. The people of what once had been Washington hated Darlanis, the area having once been a part of the Dularnian Empire before when Tulis, Warlady of Dularn under "mad Kathis", had made a name for herself much as Darlanis had attempted to do later on here... "Let's hope that we're `expected'," I smiled back. The peo- ple of this era often tend to be a bit "trigger-happy" at times. To most people of the 26th Century an airplane like mine is viewed much as those of the 20th Century would have viewed a "flying saucer" had one suddenly come down for a landing right there in front of them. Even in Trelandar I am viewed as being somehow "different" from other people. Not really quite "human". "Porlan (Portland?) is part of my Empire," Darlanis smiled back. The city was the capital of Orgon. Her use of the term "my Empire" indicated much that made me smile to myself. It is after-all hers. She is our Empress. Our ruler. I suddenly re- membered what had happened there in Sarn when we had come flying up from Trella. Tara could have been here several days ago! "Circle low over the city, but don't land," I said. Darla- nis nodding, her azure eyes glowing with a puzzlement into mine. "Even some old tub like the Ronda would have only needed a few days to make the voyage," I pointed out. Darlanis nodding. Understanding. This time Tara would not make the mistakes that she had before. We would be quickly and quietly taken captive. "And enough people knew of our own plans," she added as we swooped over the city at an altitude of perhaps a thousand feet. Low enough to see what we wanted to see, but high enough that we were in no danger from any missile weapon fired from the ground. "We need to find out for sure," I answered back in reply. The streets beneath filled with armed men, the bay with warships. "I am their Empress," Darlanis said. "They are my people." 2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Forty Seven "You can do the honors," I said to Darlanis as she nodded, turning Black Lady's ignition key to "on". The warning light above it glowing for a few seconds as the pre-heaters heated the alcohol in the fuel injectors for starting. The plane was heavy with fuel, with a full one hundred and eighty gallons aboard. A hundred and twenty in the wing tanks and another sixty there in the streamlined belly tank between the floats beneath us. The beautiful golden haired ruler of California pulling out the choke and when the light went out, turning the key the rest of the way. The eight cylinder air cooled engine starting up with a roar. Darlanis easing the throttle back a bit while giving me a smile. Outside to see us off were the high and mighty of the Em- pire, along with our friends and one dear to us both. She would become the new Empress if anything happened and we never returned from Dularn. Sharon was, I thought to myself with a smile, sur- prisingly capable and competent for one so young. Truly a Prin- cess in more than just her own title. I was proud of her. I felt that much had been accomplished. That once again Mankind's footsteps had been set on the path that would lead to the stars. "We are going to make history, the two of us," Darlanis said to me. There was love between us. We were like sisters now. We had stood together against a common foe. Faced death together. "Let us hope that they realize that we tried our best," I smiled back. I thought that was all that anyone could ask for. I waved out the window to Sharon, to Ta-she-ra, to Mara. To San- da, Jers and Lara, to Hara and Tirana. Two who had once command- ed Legions. Sent men to war. I was now Darlanis' new Warlady. I wondered if I would do any better than they had. Darlanis had also made me her new Prime Minister. My powers in the Empire now were second only to hers. I was of course also still yet the Queen of Trelandar too. The Lady Lorraine. I had come far. I thought once more of my experiences on Mars and wondered a bit? "We will be legends," Darlanis smiled back, pushing in the choke and idling the engine. We would let it warm a bit first... I glanced over at Darlanis as she sat there beside me flying the plane, the fleecy clouds like puffs of chilly fog as we flew between them. Her calm confident grip on the wheel left no doubt that she was a "natural pilot". That flying came as naturally to her as swordsmanship had once come to Sa-she-ra, my blood sister. I had a couple days ago performed the same act with Darlanis. Cutting her hand and allowing her to cut mine so that we might taste each other's blood. Such had been meaningful to me. I think to Darlanis too. We were at heart both "barbarians". Sis- ters of the Sword. Caste sisters. Both of the Warrioresses. "I hope Tara doesn't try anything while we're gone," she smiled, seeing my eyes upon her. I wasn't too much worried. The evil Princess had been too much discredited in the eyes of good and decent people everywhere in California to ever have any po- litical role to play in affairs again. True, she was still dan- gerous enough, and her alliance with Talon and the Empire of Mex- ico made her a dangerous adversary, but I did not think that we needed to do more than take the proper precautions that would be needed in any case considering the type of a bitch that she was. "If she does I am sure that our friends can handle it," I smiled back. Sanda was a capable and competent administrator. I had confidence in Hara and Lady Tirana. Unlike Darlanis, Sharon would not be "merciful" if Tara ever fell again into our "hands". "I pity Jers," Darlanis smiled in reply, steering between a pair of white fleecy clouds. We were flying quite high, about nine thousand feet. The air was thin, chill, making the heater a comfort. "He is truly now caught in a situation from which there is no escape." I nodded back in reply, understanding. His own lovely wife had already been the victim of two assassination at- tempts by his own mother, who would no doubt try again if she ever got the chance to do so. And Lara herself no doubt was well aware of the horrible fate that awaited her should she ever fall alive into the hands of the cruel and sadistic Princess of Baja! "I don't," I said. "He has a wife like few that have ever lived." As a matter of fact, I could only think of one other who had the same "qualities" that Lara had, and she'd been dead for over five centuries now! The provocative, sensual Carol Simmons! "I wasn't a very `nice' person when I was young," Darlanis said to me suddenly. "I don't you'd have liked me back then." I nodded, smiled. I knew quite a bit about Darlanis' own history. Darlanis was a very beautiful woman. She was also quite "ambi- tious". The sort who might just do as "they" said that she did. It being said that she "gave" herself to Thar Marden like a slave girl, performing all the "love tricks" that a trained slave does! "He (the King) wanted a beautiful Queen," Darlanis answered. There was that in her voice that left no doubts of her feelings. She had been "ambitious", eager to "advance" herself regardless of what it "cost". The marriage had not been very happy, I knew. "Let's change the subject if it bothers you," I suggested, shifting there in my seat, my eyes glancing over the instruments. "I wasn't a very `admirable' person back then," she said. I knew that. I also knew "why". That was to me more important. "What puzzles me is why Tara was willing to serve you later on," I asked. Wondering if I was now "venturing where only fools dared". There were parts of her life she didn't talk about much. "Why not?" Darlanis smiled. "I was `useful' to her anyway." I was also aware that Tara no doubt had looked upon Darlanis as a "dumb blonde" who could be easily controlled and used as needed. I suspected that many of Darlanis' actions as the young Queen of Sarn perhaps had been suggested by Tara. Tara was an older wom- an, more intelligent than Darlanis. Old enough to be her mother. Darlanis might sit on the golden throne, but Tara would be the true ruler of the Empire of California. Such things have hap- pened before in the history of the human race. There have been others like Tara. I recalled the first time I had seen Tara. I had been horrified by how arrogantly she had treated Darlanis! I had not then understood the "relationship" between the two women. "Until you were provoked enough to fight back," I answered. "You gave me the courage to do what I had to do to regain my self-respect," Darlanis answered. "I feared she would kill me." "It was a close match, but I never had any doubts about you." I answer, seeing her eyes glow into mine as she touched my hand. The sky an azure blue sprinkled with white cottony clouds. Up here we were safe from anything Man could do. I had the only airplane in the world. Only the Lorr had power here in the sky. "You spared her life. I wouldn't have done so," I told her. "I was thinking of Jers. How it would look if I killed his own mother there before his eyes," Darlanis answered softly back, staring out through the windshield at the sky, the clouds, but perhaps seeing something else than what laid ahead just then. I recalled what Tais had told me. She was truly "The Queen of Light". Sharon's "SHE-RA". Something "good", "decent". The "Second Janet Rogers" that all of Mankind had been searching for. "I think long after I am forgotten, they will remember that once there was a `Darlanis'," I said to her. "That `She-Ra' did live." I suppose it was but foolishness on my part, but that was the way I viewed her. There is just something "good" about her. "You are `too old' to believe in `She-Ra'," Darlanis smiled. "It is still nice however that she `exists'," I smiled back. "Porlan," Darlanis announced, pushing in the throttle and putting two clicks on the flaps. The city spreading out below us as we spiraled down towards a landing in the bay. It was a medi- um sized city, perhaps a third of the size of Trella or Sarn. We were perhaps now five hundred miles north of Sarn. A few hundred miles from where the forces of the Empire yet confronted those of Dularn. I thought of Sanda's son. Darlanis had written a let- ter. We had sent it on ahead aboard the Squala. The fighting would stop, although it would take time to get word to the more scattered forces now engaged in battle. Once again I thought of Vietnam. That war too had been "winless". Much like this one was. The people of what once had been Washington hated Darlanis, the area having once been a part of the Dularnian Empire before when Tulis, Warlady of Dularn under "mad Kathis", had made a name for herself much as Darlanis had attempted to do later on here... "Let's hope that we're `expected'," I smiled back. The peo- ple of this era often tend to be a bit "trigger-happy" at times. To most people of the 26th Century an airplane like mine is viewed much as those of the 20th Century would have viewed a "flying saucer" had one suddenly come down for a landing right there in front of them. Even in Trelandar I am viewed as being somehow "different" from other people. Not really quite "human". "Porlan (Portland?) is part of my Empire," Darlanis smiled back. The city was the capital of Orgon. Her use of the term "my Empire" indicated much that made me smile to myself. It is after-all hers. She is our Empress. Our ruler. I suddenly re- membered what had happened there in Sarn when we had come flying up from Trella. Tara could have been here several days ago! "Circle low over the city, but don't land," I said. Darla- nis nodding, her azure eyes glowing with a puzzlement into mine. "Even some old tub like the Ronda would have only needed a few days to make the voyage," I pointed out. Darlanis nodding. Understanding. This time Tara would not make the mistakes that she had before. We would be quickly and quietly taken captive. "And enough people knew of our own plans," she added as we swooped over the city at an altitude of perhaps a thousand feet. Low enough to see what we wanted to see, but high enough that we were in no danger from any missile weapon fired from the ground. "We need to find out for sure," I answered back in reply. The streets beneath filled with armed men, the bay with warships. "I am their Empress," Darlanis said. "They are my people." |
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