"Sarn," the Empress of California said to me as I stood at her side, our relationship having undergone a subtle change since the events earlier that day. The lights of the great capital city visible before us as Sarnian Lady slowly approached in the faint breeze. I thought it a lovely city. One that perhaps symbolized much, its appearance there in the distance reminding me of ancient Rome or Athens as they had once perhaps stood in their glory thousands of years ago. Standing on the ruins of what once had been San Francisco before The War. The thought of the mythical phoenix going through my mind as I thought of the stellar fires that had consumed the original city. The War of 2047 had left little. I wondered what new adventures waited here for Sharon and me. Mars high in the sky overhead symbolic of the power of the ant-like beings now the masters of Man. Once again I wondered if Man would ever once again rule his world, or would He be for the rest of time remain the servant of alien masters?
Taking in the great blue green triangular lateen sails, the low curses of the sailors audible to my ears as they struggled with the rebellious canvas there in the darkness, Sarnian Lady proceeded into the harbor under the power of her oars, the beat slow as we exchanged salutes with the forts at the entrance to the harbor and the warships at anchor inside. The Ronda and the Seahawk being towed in behind small galleys, such being used to tow ships in the bay if they do not have the ability to move themselves except by sail, the prize crews being too small to row the vessels themselves. These galleys, incidentally, are rowed by convicts, castrated men, former criminals and outlaws. There are no prisons as existed back in the 20th Century, such having been replaced with the enslavement of criminals early in the 21st Century, a policy that has been carried on through the centuries to the present era. The Empire either fines or enslaves those who turn to a life of crime, a policy that is far wiser than those of the 20th Century who let dangerous criminals back out on the "streets" without any thought as to what they might do next! Here in the 26th Century you are considered responsible for your actions, regardless of your social or economic status or what your "childhood" was like. Poverty is not considered an "excuse" for crime like it seemed to be back in my own era. You are not given a "second chance". I find this social order to my liking. We have finally learned a few things over the centuries at least!
As Sarnian Lady moved slowly through the bay, Darlanis regal in her finest, her golden mesh reflecting the torches set there on the rails of the galley, suddenly there came a yell of warning from the look-out in the bow as a small sailboat came out from between two anchored galleys on a collision course with us!
"OARS REVERSE!" captain Stone barked, the great levers digging deep into the water as the oarsmen threw their entire weight upon the grips of the rowing frame. Sarnian Lady shuddering as she slowed just in time! The tiny vessel nearly struck by our ram! Our captain muttering under his breath words that I'm sure would have been much more audible had not his Empress and her new teenage Princess been standing right there on the quarterdeck.
"What the !!!" captain Stone muttered as the little vessel, not content with nearly being rammed by us, swung around and tried to grapple us. The grapple sailing high and nearly striking Darlanis in the face! Sharon grabbing it and nearly being yanked overboard as the slack in the rope was taken up by Sarnian Lady's slowing forward movement. A heavy galley, even with its oarsmen doing their best, still not being able to halt instantly!
Leaping forward, I jammed the three pronged grapple into the rail before it pulled Sharon over the side. Muttering a furious curse as I did so that made Sharon say, "Oh, Lorraine!" in soft tones. I guess she missed the comment that Darlanis made under her breath! Sarnian Lady now slowing to a halt as the straining oarsmen dragged their blades in the still waters, the Ronda and the Seahawk swinging wide behind their towing galleys as they too slowed to a halt there behind us here in the sudden confusion!
Then our sailors had hold of the rope and swiftly the little vessel was dragged alongside as Sarnian Lady idled in the water. The Ronda and the Seahawk drifting at the end of their tow-lines. Around us I could see people on ships pointing telescopes at us in the light of lanterns and torches. While in the distance I could see the welcoming VIP's of the Empire waiting at the Imperial Palace dock for their ruler, the area brightly lit by torches, the smoke drifting up into the dark star-sprinkled sky above. There is very little "light pollution" in this era, and the night skies are very beautiful, utterly "unlike" those of my own era...
"What In The Name Of Lys!" Darlanis breathed as suddenly the rope was cut and the little vessel swung free of us in the darkness. Taunting feminine teenage laughter coming from it as it filled its sail and proceeded across the bay! It had been nothing but a teenage prank by a bunch of mischievous teenage brats!
"Captain Stone!" Darlanis snapped, "Sound battle horns and give pursuit!" her regal body rigid with fury! "Those brats are going to be taught a lesson they'll never forget!" Her captain barking swift orders as Sarnian Lady became alive under us!
"Port oars forward! Starboard oars reverse!" captain Eric Stone barked, Sarnian Lady swinging around, the heavy "thud thud" beat of her timing drum audible across the water, the loud blasts of her battle horns warning all to steer away from the ramship!
"Maximum beat!" Darlanis ordered, the great oars digging deep into the still waters of Sarnian Bay as the great warship came about, our bodies swaying with the surge of the oars. Even undermanned as we were, the trireme seemed to leap forward with every stroke, the little vessel ahead of us drawing closer with every second that passed. The tone of her voice made me shudder!
I saw the little craft swing around an anchored merchantman, and I thrilled as captain Stone brought Sarnian Lady around after it. Swinging the big 54 like a rowboat around the anchored vessel! Then came another turn as Sarnian Lady seemed to heel around almost in her own length as we wheeled around an anchored 48. A smaller sister to Sarnian Lady, but not as ornate. And then there just ahead of us was the little sailboat that had given us so much trouble! Pursued by the Empire's biggest trireme!
Bearing down on the vessel at a good seven knots if not more, Sarnian Lady must have been a terrifying sight as I saw the five teenage girls there in the darkness suddenly tack off to starboard. Their little vessel was suddenly dismasted and capsized as the starboard oars passed over it, so close had we come!
"Bring them aboard!" Darlanis snapped, the launch already slipping down its ropes into the water. Six burly oarsmen quickly taking their places at the oars as captain Stone sent the second officer in command to help fish the girls out of the bay!
It was five very wet and terrified teenage girls that clung to each other as they knelt dripping before their infuriated Empress. Sobbing in terror as none dared face those blazing azure eyes that burned down upon them. They spoke of how on a dare they had planned to "taunt" the galley, innocently claiming that none of them had known that it was Darlanis'. A claim that none of us believed, knowing far better! Everyone knows Sarnian Lady!
"Spoiled brats!" Darlanis hissed to me as I stood at her side. Sharon looking first at the girls kneeling there on the deck and then at Darlanis, who did not appear just then to be in a merciful mood! I thought of what she might do, and shuddered!
"Darlanis," Sharon pleaded, "You aren't going to have them beheaded or something, are you?" Someone apparently having told my stepdaughter something of the power of the Empress of California. Darlanis smiled and shook her head in the negative, affectionately tousling Sharon's hair with a diamond be-ringed hand.
Then glaring down at the terrified dripping kneeling girls, Darlanis said in a stern level voice, "As the Empress of California, I hereby sentence the five of you to one year of servitude as slave girls aboard the very next warship to be commissioned."
"My father will hear of this!" one of them protested much to my surprise, braver than the others. All five of them being short skirted delights that any oarsman or sailor would enjoy using. The one speaking a ripe bodied blonde whose short wet silken dress revealed much of the feminine delights there beneath it.
"Yes, I plan to speak to him, Shari," Darlanis snapped, obviously knowing the girl's name much to my surprise. Darlanis then ordering the five to strip off everything and assume the position of the female slave as they quickly did, five naked girls now shivering there bare nippled before their Imperial Empress!
Minutes later five new slave girls knelt nude and in collars on Sarnian Lady's quarterdeck, their tears coursing down their cheeks as each was chained to an iron ring set there in the deck. Each had her wrists shackled behind her, her ankles crossed so that she could not rise to her feet. A burly seaman with a whip insuring that none broke her position or spoke. Five pampered aristocratic brats who would learn much in the next year, Darlanis told me with a smile that spoke much left unsaid just then!
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