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"It would take us some time to row to Dularn," she smiled.
"Getting lighter," I said to Maris, wondering why I had spo- ken. I was
sure she could see that for herself. There was dew in her hair, her clothing
damp on her body. She was a different sort of a woman from Carol. More
"feminine" in a way, less "as- sertive" than my beloved brownette. More
"intelligent" too, I suspected from the talks I'd had with her. I looked out
over the sea, faint wisps of fog visible drifting like ghosts over the wa-
ter. There was a noticable "glow" in the east over the land, the Moon now
becoming more "pale" as the Sun below the horizon lit up the sky. We had the
"night sails" still hoisted, not the blue green "day" sails that we used to
avoid being spotted by others.
"Sail Ho!" the lookout called down. "To the southwest!"
"I'm going up," Maris snapped, striding to the rigging.
"I'll call general quarters," I answered, Maris nodding.
"What is it?" Carol asked, tugging at her clothing. She was "sans"
clips, but I felt it wasn't time to "mention" that fact...
"Ship is three masted schooner, same `class' as us," Maris called down.
She had a "head" for heights, something I didn't... "Looks like it could be
the North Wind, under captain Miles!" I could see her looking through the
telescope. Another Dularnian!
"One of `US'!" Carol cried, throwing her arms around me. I felt it wise
then to whisper in her ear that she was bare nippled underneath her blouse and
that it "showed" if you looked "right"!
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Captain Miles of the North Wind was an older man, his red- dish hair
showing just a trace of "gray". He had smiled at all the women on deck there
to greet him, many of them rather briefly clad, I might note, making us look
like some Imperial slaver on its way to market. He was said to be a "cautious"
man, not one to take "risks" unless there was a considerable gain to be made.
"There's `trouble' in Dularn for you," he said to Maris, looking
straight into the azure of her eyes. "Real bad trouble, my Queen. Maybe even
your death if you return to Arsana now."
Chapter Forty Five
"If what you say is true...," Lorraine spoke, pacing the carpeted deck
of Athena's stern cabin, her dark eyes burning into those of the Dularnian
Senator and his companions, "Then this puts an entirely different `light' on
the issue now." Jon sit- ting there quietly, keeping his thoughts to himself.
That the Senate of Dularn was seriously considering deposing Maris Marn in
favor of Darlanis as their new "Queen" was an utter shock to ev- eryone!!!
Arsana visible there through the ship's stern windows.
"We'd be better off with Darlanis than a `radical' like Ma- ris," the
Senator replied. "She's a Lys damned `FEMINIST' who will be the ruin of this
country if she isn't stopped right now!" They had come out to the Athena in a
small vessel flying a flag of truce as the Imperial dreadnought had patrolled
the strait.
"You must value your slave girls highly," Lorraine thought to herself,
regarding the men. That was really the "issue" here, she knew. Maris had
attempted to make a "stand" for women, as she had once dreamed of doing before
learning its "consequences". Sanda Talen had wisely prevented her from doing
so back in '65... The midshipman who burst in just then putting a halt to
things!!!
"The EMPRESS is coming!" the girl squeaked, her eyes big!
"Darlanis may be interested in what you have to say," the Warlady spoke,
"uncomfortable" with the idea of seeing Maris Marn deposed because of her
beliefs regarding the "rights of women"!!!
*****************************************************************
"If we could reach Arsana...," Carol breathed, staring at Maris. The
Queen of Dularn badly "shaken" by the news Miles had just now given her there
in the stern cabin of the North Star!
"Many of those in the disputed territories will support me," Maris
breathed. "It is likely however that the Empire will `ex- ploit' this
situation for their own ends," she added then for us.
"There are the lands to the north of Dularn," Miles suggest- ed. "Ships
like ours would be valuable..." I saw Maris nodding.
"You really don't have any `balls', do you Maris?" Carol suddenly
snapped back. "Maybe that's `WHY' you've been `running' all this time instead
of making a `stand' for what's `RIGHT'!!!"
"You don't understand...," Maris answered, her eyes "moist".
"Do you WANT the Imperials to WIN!?" Carol snapped back! "Are you just a
whipped cur to go running off with your tail be- tween your legs or are you a
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Queen who will fight for something!"
"There is Lorraine...," Maris breathed, not meeting the hot hazel fury
of Carol's eyes. "And you are talking `REVOLUTION'!" I recalled reading in
Lorraine's book that she had considered do- ing something about slavery, but
had decided not to after threats had been made against her. Darlanis mentions
somewhat the same thing in her writings. The men of this era are not the
"wimps" of the 20th Century. They have "drawn a line" none dares cross.
"We won't fight Lorraine `single handed', will we?" Carol snapped,
turning to Miles, who then nodded slowly in reply back.
"Always liked Maris, guess one last battle won't hurt," he answered.
"Then I'll retire from this and let a younger man have the North Wind," he
smiled, grinning up at Maris standing there.
*****************************************************************
"I haven't seen anything of the North Star, have you?" Dar- lanis spoke
as she came aboard the Athena, Lorraine smiling to herself as the Empress'
azure eyes did not "miss" their "guests"!
"Maybe it doesn't matter any more," the Warlady smiled back! Breaking
this bit of "news" to Darlanis with pain in her heart...
*****************************************************************
"I think there is a good reason you are `here'," I heard Ma- ris say to
Carol as captain Miles of the North Wind climbed down the side of the ship to
the boat that had brought him over to us.
"I will be at your side until the `end'," Carol answered...
"I wish to address those aboard," Maris said to me then. I nodded to
Lars, who gave the orders to those gathered below the quarterdeck. Maris then
stepping up to the railing, speaking to them in ringing tones. I thought she
was well worth dying for...
*****************************************************************
"I see," Darlanis spoke, the golden mesh concealing little. Her azure
eyes meeting the darkness of the brunette Lorraine's. She felt as if she was
betraying her own sex doing this to Maris. The enslavement of women by both
sides had been one of the causes of this conflict between Dularn and the
Empire, and now she was going to be fighting on the side of the slave owners
against the rightful Queen of Dularn who sought only to put an end to this...
"You are at least of royal birth, which is more than Maris can claim,"
the Senator continued, feasting his eyes on Darlanis.
"You are `aware' of my true parentage?" Darlanis challenged.
"So what! Your mother is the `Queen' of Mars," he laughed.
*****************************************************************
"You have `reservations' about all this, don't you?" Carol said to me
later on. We had listened to Maris' speech to the "crew" of the North Star.
There was no doubt that they were all prepared to give their lives for Maris.
For the former slave girls there was of course nowhere "else" to go. If Maris
"won", there would be a major historical change like nothing since The War of
2047. Dularn would be the first country where no woman would be a slave unless [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]