THE QUEEN OF SWORDS!

A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN

2566 A.D.!

By Jerome B. Bigge

Chapter Three

      "You gave that woman a hundred gold crowns!" Sharon gasped as the sobbing mother carried off her son in her arms. She had served her country, putting her life "on the line" while others had profited from the war. I saw no reason why she should suffer any further. Now she would be able to give him what she wanted.* * A direct conversion of dollars to "crowns" is impossible due to the differences in purchasing power and the fact that many items in the 26th Century we would consider "necessary" did not exist. We may assume, however, that a hundred crowns was a good amount, probably being somewhere between fifty and seventy thousand dol- lars in its actual purchasing power if not even more here. (JBB)

      "Isn't that what `She-Ra' would do?" I challenged Sharon in reply. Telling those waiting to see me that I would see them all in a private audience later on in the afternoon. I would have an early lunch with Queen Lorraine, and find out what was so impor- tant she had felt it necessary to come flying up from Trella to see me now in her beloved black Beechcraft Bonanza, "Black Lady"! The only surviving airplane in the 26th Century as she calls it!

      "By Lys! It's `good' to see you again!" I told that tall slender waspish brunette as she got up off the sofa to greet me, extending my hands out to hers in a warm joint clasp of friend- ship. The sword at her hip the same one I once gave her long ago. The same blade that has taken the lives of a dozen enemies.

      "I could say the same in turn," Lorraine laughed back, her dark eyes glowing into mine. She was dressed in a black silk dress with leather trappings. A broad brimmed hat and veil there on the table. Her stylish leather jacket flung over the end of the sofa a reminder of the time of year. The silver chain rivet- ed securely about her slender throat marked her as a married wom- an of less than three years. Such is "cultural" in our society.* * It is a practice I believe that dates back to the latter half of the 21st Century according to what information I've been able to obtain from historians of the Teacher caste. During that time when the survivors reverted back to a savage cruel barbarism that had not been seen since the Stone Age, it was a common practice to mark one's woman as a "sign of possession". It is another ex- ample of the cultural customs that have come down to us over the centuries since The War between Earth and Mars back in 2047 A.D.

      "Darlanis gave a woman a hundred crowns just so she could raise her son!" Sharon now interrupted, telling her all about it!

      "It was `nothing'," I said when Sharon got finished telling her stepmother the tale. I felt it the only proper thing I could do. The only decision that Sharon's "She-Ra" could have made! I did not believe that there was another choice I could have then.

      "It makes me proud to have you as a friend," Lorraine said. Sharon there at my side, her arm around me, proud of her Empress. I try very hard to live up to her high opinion of me as a person. To set an "example" for her to "follow" when she grows up to be the Queen of Orgon. I will, of course, "be there" to help her.

      "We have had our times," I smiled back, remembering much. On the sofa behind her was a package wrapped in leather. One that would eventually involve me in some incredible adventures!* * I suppose that is the best term for what happened to me. Lor- raine says it was a typical "dumb blonde" action on my own part!

      "Colder than it was back in my own time," Lorraine smiled to me as we shared an early lunch together. I hoped she liked the salad. I had given orders to the palace cooks not to "tempt" their now overweight Empress if they knew what was good for them! I didn't need to hear any more of those "jokes" about my behind! Or the "fact" that I was now more than a "meter" around my hips!* * As I stand 5'10", I naturally do have "measurements" in propor- tion to my height. My usual "measurements" are around 38-27-39.

      "The after effects of The War five centuries ago," I smiled. The Ice Cap is now retreating back to its former location back in Lorraine's time. The brief Ice Age of the middle 21st Century dropped the temperatures over the entire world to levels not seen for the last twelve thousand years! It is said that it even snowed in many parts of Mexico, although that is hard to believe!

      "Princess Tara is attempting to start a new war between the Empire and Dularn," Lorraine suddenly announced, handing me the package that she had brought with her from Trella near five hun- dred miles to the south. The package being surprisingly heavy!

      "We found this on a pirate schooner that was unlucky enough to run afoul of the Squala while on a training cruise," Lorraine smiled, leaving much unsaid. The Squala being a big three masted schooner, Lorraine's own personal flagship as Queen of Trelandar. Lorraine pouring herself a glass of wine, sipping at it as Sharon nibbled at her "rabbit" food, which she had dubbed our lunch as! Lynn kneeling there on a cushion at my side, ready to serve as needed. Her knees were now pressed tightly together, as was proper being that she was in the company of free women. With men of course they would be spread wide apart, thus "hinting" at the "delights" there underneath. The crotches of slave girls are un- shaved. Usually kept uncovered so that a man needs only to reach up under the attire to "touch". Lynn was intensely "female" too.

      "What is it?" I asked, undoing the leather wrappings. The package inside quite heavy for its size. Noticing then that it was made of two sheets of lead forming a sandwich around some pa- pers. It being obviously made to be thrown overboard in case of capture. Apparently the pirate captain had "forgotten" to do so!

      "Instructions and orders," Lorraine answered, smiling as I saw that the writing was in a language completely unfamiliar to me. One so different from those I was familiar with that I could do little to translate it. Yet, I felt that sometime I had seen writing like this! Long, long ago, when I was but a little girl! Back when I had been tutored in my studies back there in Arsana.

      "The language is `Latin'," Lorraine said to me. "I had it translated in Trella by some Scribes there at the University." The Queen of Trelandar then giving me a written translation of what had been written in the orders. A grim smile now curving her thin lips as Sharon and I then read what the orders had been!

      "These are instructions to carry out pirate raids against both Dularn and the Empire!" I breathed. The instructions went on to state that such raids were to be carried out while flying the flag of the opposing nation. Thus making it appear that they were actually privateers now operating under letters of marquee!

      "And there are also orders that `Imperial ships' are to at- tack the Mexican coastline," Lorraine added as a cold chill went down my spine. Tara could involve us all in a war that would be like something out of the history books. Against the combined forces of Dularn and the Mexican Empire we would be forced into a war that would take thousands and thousands of Californian lives! Cause so much death and destruction that it would take years to recover from it! Perhaps cause the dismemberment of the Empire!

      "We have to STOP them!" Sharon breathed, glancing over at Lorraine as she sat there, then at me. I wondered how we could? I saw Lynn watching us, her dark eyes glowing into mine as she knelt there on a cushion a few feet away, waiting to be of serv- ice if so needed. I wondered too if her lunch would be "tastier" than mine? When we were alone I now often allowed her to sit at the table with me, although I was careful not to let anyone see her sitting there as it would have caused considerable "comment" among "certain people" about an Empress and her personal slave!

      "We three are flying to Arsana as soon as you two can find something warmer to wear," Lorraine said to me. I wondered if it would do any good to present our evidence to the Queen of Dularn. Maris Jord, the new young Queen of Dularn, had little "love" for either one of us. I had refused her most recent "suggestion" of allowing the people in the "disputed territories" north of Orgon to vote on the issue. And the Emperor of Mexico was yet the very same man who had once "offered" three hundred gold crowns for me stripped naked and in close chains kneeling there at his feet!

      "How do we know that Tara's involved?" Sharon then asked me.

      "See that `T' there?" Lorraine pointed with a finger. I recognized her mark. I have seen it enough times before to know. Tara had been my Warlady for a number of years. I knew her hand.

      "There's no doubts about it, Sharon," I said to her. Shar- on's eyes were like deep azure pools as they looked into mine. I nodded. There was no doubt that Princess Tara was behind all of this! That she had given these orders. Orders that would plunge all of western North America into a war that no one could win! I had little doubt there she planned to be there to "pick up the pieces" after everything was over. And Tara might just suceed!!!

      "There's got'ta be something that we can do," Sharon said. Glancing first at me, and then over at her awesome stepmother. Lorraine's "solutions" to problems often involve military force. She had a factory manufacturing compound bows, such being permit- ted under The Edict that limited us to mechanically powered arms. The bows were of a new design, somewhat superior even to my own with a "shelf" that allowed the use of a shorter, lighter arrow. Lorraine has a magnificent mind, better than any other I know of!

      "A quick strike against Tara," Lorraine quickly suggested. "We could land a thousand men off our ships, make an attack from the air with Black Lady. We might just get lucky and get Tara."

      "That would endanger the Princess of Talon," I pointed out. Tara was allied with Talon, and with the Empire of Mexico too. I had heard rumors that she was seeking an alliance with the Neva- das. Offering them modern weapons in return for their alliance. Giving the Empire a new and dangerous enemy there to the east. I did not rest easy at night worrying about what could now happen!

      "You fought a war with Talon about twelve years ago, didn't you?" Lorraine said to me, her dark eyes meeting mine. I remem- bered it all too well still. It had been a crushing defeat for me. For the Empire. The giant birds had been a terrible foe. Not because the archery of their riders was that "good", but be- cause they could soar over our heads and fire down upon us and we could do nothing back in return. Eventually I had withdrawn back into Trelandar. Signed a peace treaty with the Queen of Talon. Hatred was still "strong" on both sides even after twelve years. There were too many widows, widowers, children without parents. It had been an "unpopular" war here too in California. One that had turned many of my people against me. Much like my later war had been with Dularn over the territories to the north of Orgon.

      "I doubt very that Queen Dala Dai will be happy to see me," I smiled back. My Legions had taken a heavy toll of her people. I had no doubts that what had been done then twelve years ago would still yet be vivid in the memories of many there in Talon.

      "I flew Princess Gayle over into Talon yesterday," Lorraine smiled back in reply. Trelandar shared parts of its eastern bor- der with Talon. "Asked her to `explain' matters to Queen Dala."

      "I also sent Jon with the Squala and my other two schooners to patrol off the west coast of Mexico with instructions to in- form the Mexican government of the situation," Lorraine added with a smile before I could utter any comment in reply. I knew that Lorraine had now perfected flamethrowers along with her firebombs of a jellied liquid. Her ships were for the time being almost invincible. All three were also painted with the features of the gigantic mutated shark to help "demoralize" possible foes.

      "You should have asked Darlanis first," Sharon commented. I was Lorraine's "Commander in Chief" under the Imperial Constitu- tion. She had exceeded her own authority by doing what she had. On the other hand she was my Prime Minister and "Warlady", the actual commander of the armed forces of the Empire of California.

      "Why?" Lorraine challenged her back. I smiled to myself. Lorraine tends to "take charge" whenever she gets the chance. I suspect that she also considers me something of a "dumb blonde". That I am "good for" little more than sitting on a golden throne and "looking beautiful". I love her, but yet I wish she thought better of me. I am not as "incompetent" as she makes me appear!* * One wonders a bit here considering what Darlanis later did!

      "Aw--, Hell, she is still your Empress," Sharon protested.

      "I do `trust' your stepmother," I interjected quickly before things "got out of hand". Lorraine can be very touchy at times.

      "And while neither Darlanis or I would be welcome in Dularn, I do think that you, Sharon, would be considered `acceptable' by the new Queen of Dularn," Lorraine replied, smiling at Sharon as she picked at the salad there before her. I suspected that she would have preferred something else, but I hated to sit there with only a salad there in front of me and watch her eating some- thing "fattening" and "tasty" that I couldn't now enjoy too! *****************************************************************

      "Arsana," I said, the Dularnian capital city now visible there in the distance as we flew beneath the dark snowclouds. The weak watery sun did little to warm things. The cabin heater on full blast. Lorraine does not like it cold. Sharon peering over my shoulder there in the plane's back seat behind me as I then eased the throttle back and pushed the wheel forward a bit. I enjoyed flying, feeling the sense that I was in "command" of the airplane. That it does what I wanted to do. I spent much of my last days with my dying mother there in the air, flying over parts of Dularn. She died in my arms at sixteen thousand feet.* * I still think of Tulis as my "mother" although she was not of course. "Motherhood" to me is not a matter of "genetics", but of "love". I still remember snuggling up to Tulis as a little girl. The "warmth" of her body against mine, the softness of her skin.

      "I thought it would be bigger than that," Sharon observed. Arsana being about the size of Porlan, smaller than such capitals as Sarn and Trella. The population is perhaps thirty thousand.

      "Dularnians do not like big cities," I smiled back. My peo- ple are much like those who settled America many centuries ago. Our traditions are similar in many respects. We follow the teachings of Janet Rogers, and read the writings of the Fathers of the American Revolution. We consider ourselves "Americans". Dularnian tradition and culture tends to look far back into his- tory. In school Dularnian children are taught about Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the amazing fantastic Janet Rogers of the 21st Century. Somehow the teachers make it all "fit" together!

      "Like the pioneers who settled the United States," Lorraine added, taking the words out of my mouth. There are a number of cultural similarities. Both societies believed in "doing for yourself". Both societies also distrusted "governments". I do take considerable pride in the fact that I am a "Dularnian". We still have a tradition of "freedom" unknown in the Empire to the south. Dularnian culture is superior to that of California in its traditions of "independence", of "standing up for yourself".

      "Looks `cold'," Sharon observed, there being snow on the ground this far north this time of the year. The world is colder than it was back in the 20th Century. The after-effects of The War of 2047 A.D. The war fought between Mankind and the Lorr.

      "A frigid wasteland," Lorraine smiled, "teasing" me a bit.

      "It's not that bad!" I protested, remembering my childhood. The winter sports, the snowmen, the snowball fights, all the fun! Forcing back out of my mind the thought that I was illegitimate! That I was actually the child of a woman born on another world!

Next Chapter