"Gayle! Can you swim?" I hissed, reaching for my sword, the blonde slave girl nodding, her eyes riveted upon the mutated fanged and striped terror slinking slowly towards us. The eyes were like green pools of horror looking straight down into ours.
"Take Mara and swim out into the ocean with her," I snapped, my sword gleaming there in my hand. Knowing it to be nearly as worthless as some child's wooden toy against a Tigon as they are called here in the 26th Century. I remembered Lana's son and the dire wolf. I thought fondly of a double barreled elephant rifle. Better yet a Lorr blaster firing those deadly explosive slugs!
Both the saber-tooth tiger and the dire wolf are creatures that once lived upon the Earth at the time of the last true Ice Age about twelve thousand years ago. They are, I believe from information that I was able to obtain on Mars just recently, the results of genetic cloning done by the civilization of the 21st Century before The War upon the frozen remains of such creatures. I have no information as regarding the "Garth", which resembles no terrestrial animal that I am familiar with except for some of the dinosaurs which have been extinct for sixty million years. I suspect however that the Tarl is the result both of radiation and genetic technology. The metabolic systems of these birds is awesome, as is their respiratory systems. The blood also being "different" in its ability to carry oxygen and carry away metabolic wastes. Their system of double hearts is also something that makes me feel that they are creatures "invented by Man", not by natural evolution. Although doubtless the breeders of Talon have had something to do with things as Tarls in the "wild" are not nearly capable of carrying the weight that Talon's birds are.
"Lady Lorraine!" Gayle cried as I stood there, the blade in my hand, facing the approaching saber-tooth. The slave girl having gathered up Mara and carried her to the water's edge as I ordered. I would have rather faced half a dozen men than this!
"Into the water with you!" I snapped, backing away, my point level with the approaching monster's face. Thirty inches of fine 21st Century stainless steel against the most feared creature of the 26th Century. The blade had been Darlanis'. She had given it to me once as a gift. A symbol of her deep affection for me.
"Can they swim?" Gayle asked as we backed into the waves, my Mara in her arms, the creature almost unknown in her own country.
"Tigers usually can," I told her in a level voice. I did not feel very confident just then. I prayed my voice did not betray my feelings. Mara's young life depended upon Gayle keeping her head and not giving way to the terror that must have filled the girl's thoughts. I hoped she was like Sharon in more than just appearance. Sharon had "proved" herself there on the Ronda!
With the water up to our hips we watched the Tigon sniff at our things, pawing at them, then stop to regard us there in the water, seven hundred pounds of death staring us in the face!
The Tigon is larger than the lions and tigers of my era, a full grown one going as much as seven hundred pounds and standing four feet at the shoulder. The coloring is a bright orange with pitch black strips, the fangs being as much as a foot in length. There is no weapon known here in the 26th Century except for perhaps heavy ballistae that can stop one in its tracks. Fortunately they are rather rare, although the one we faced seemed adequate enough to end all our adventures here in the 26th Century.
"Get out deeper!" I ordered, the Tigon moving to the water's edge, pacing restlessly back and forth. The beast perhaps wondering whether or not we were really "worth" getting wet for.
"Lady Lorraine!" Gayle cried as the Tigon stepped into the surf, butting through the breakers with effortless ease. We were nearly up to our necks now, Gayle a few inches shorter than me, Mara on her shoulders, her arms around Gayle's collared throat.
"Swim for it!" I snapped, seeing the Tigon approach, its head high, its swimming style clumsy and awkward. They are not good swimmers, I understand now. I did not think, however, that we could escape it for long despite its poor swimming abilities.
With Mara clinging to her neck Gayle set out with a good strong stroke, heading for perhaps China or Japan. Countries now nothing but legend thanks to the Lorr. The Squala with its workmen perhaps half a mile away around the bend in the cove. There was little likely hood we could swim that far ahead of the Tigon.
Surging forward to take me for its prey, the Tigon reached for me with its forepaws, but I was no longer there. Taking a deep breath, I submerged before it reached me, my keen point reaching out for its body. I felt the swimming legs brush by me, then I thrust up into its great body as it passed just to one side of me. Feeling my point grate against its ribs, the striped form a moving blur rippling there in the clear water before me.
There was blood in the water now as I surfaced behind the wounded monster, the Tigon then spotting me and turning once again to attack, its vicious snarls horrible to hear. Once more I took a deep breath and dove, driving my point deep into its soft belly as it paddled on past me. In the water I was its master! Its terrible claws and fangs useless against my keen blade!
"Lorraine! A Shark!" Gayle cried, the dorsal fin coming swiftly towards me, the Tigon splashing behind me, its cries of fury terrifying to hear. I cursed my luck. It certainly wasn't my day! Visions of a certain 20th Century movie going through my mind. While my sword was an excellent defense against the Tigon, it would be considerably less effective against a great white!
Holding my sword before me, I dove deep, seeking the sand of the bottom, the shape of the shark suddenly there before me! Instinctively I thrust out my keen blade, the point grating across the shark's skin and doing little more than to just irritate it!
Surfacing, I saw that the Tigon had troubles of his own, the shark busy worrying him, a red stain in the water, the great white as deadly as the Tigon himself here in the water!
It was then that I saw something that filled my heart with true terror, for behind Gayle and Mara there arose a great dorsal fin towering ten feet in the air like the conning tower of a submarine! A SQUALA! The most fearsome and awesome creature that swims the seas of 26th Century Earth! They run up to seventy feet in length and have been known to take down fishing boats!
"SWIM FOR SHALLOW WATER!" I screamed, my voice high pitched with terror. The most dreaded mutated monster of the seas now approaching behind them! The great body like a 20th Century atomic submarine running just beneath the surface! Sixty feet or more of terrifying marine predator! Their usual prey are whales!
"A Squala!" Gayle cried, her eyes wide with terror. To her credit she didn't freeze as another might have, but swam with everything she had towards the shore! Mara clinging like a remora to her neck. I felt totally helpless, my sword only a toothpick!
I saw the Squala slowly approach, the great bulk now visible like some living submarine there beneath the water. The swinging tail foaming up the water like a great propeller behind it. They are relatives to the great whites, but three times as large, running up possibly seventy feet or bit more in length. This was a full size one, probably going about sixty five feet or so, or about half the length of my own ship, the Squala, which is named after the monsters. It made the great white still worrying the Tigon look like some harmless little minnow there beside it!
The great white suddenly became aware of the danger to itself and quickly departed the area. The weakly struggling Tigon suddenly engulfed by monster jaws that opened so wide that you could have walked into that horrible maw with room to spare!
Then the Tigon was gone as if it had never existed, the Squala foaming up the water, the sand from the bottom as it backed out into deeper water, only a growing blood stain in the water telling of the fate of the saber-tooth tiger! On land it had been truly "King of Beasts", but here in the water there was no doubt who was truly the "King of all Predators"! The SQUALA!
"You asked to speak to me, mistress?" Gayle asked in a soft voice as she knelt down before us, the hem of her dark blue silken shift high on her lovely thighs. The rich gold of her slave collar gleaming there in the shaded light of the living room, Sanda Talen sitting at my side. I had given the matter much thought before making my decision. Sanda had advised me against it, but I thought after the affair with the Tigon and the Squala a few days ago, it was the best thing that I could do for Gayle.
"Are you happy here?" I asked the teenage blonde. I thought of Sharon. They were so much alike they could have been sisters. I liked Gayle. Perhaps too much. Sanda certainly thought so!
"Yes, mistress," the girl answered me. "Very much so." I thought she spoke the truth. She did not avert her eyes from mine. I had done what I could to see that she was not mistreated. She was a well-bred, well behaved girl. Much like Sharon.
"Do you like your work?" I then asked. Sanda regarding me from beneath her lashes, looking down at her hands clasped over her leather skirt. She was not a Warrioress, but often wore attire that reminded me of one. She was good with a sword too as I had learned the time that I had fenced with her. For a Scribe she was a rather surprising woman in some respects. Well educated, intelligent, she had become more than just an employee to me. We had spoken of much, of the various political philosophies. I knew she had little love for Darlanis, or for her Empire either!!
"Yes, mistress," Gayle answered in reply. I knew Mara loved her like an older sister. They had become very close in the short time that I had owned the golden haired Dularnian maiden.
"Would you like to be free?" I asked. Gayle's reaction was something to see! She looked first at me and then at Sanda. The shocked disbelief in her eyes fading as she saw us both nod in the affirmative. The look of joy on her lovely face one that left no doubts in my mind that I had done the right thing in freeing her despite Sanda's reservations about the entire affair!
"As a free woman you will receive wages of a gold crown a month plus your own room and board here in return for being my foster daughter's companion," I said before Gayle could answer.*
* As this calculates out to being about $300 a month, it should be noted here that the differences in living standards made it worth considerably more than that in the California of 2565 A.D. Lorraine was quite obviously paying the girl more than what an ordinary "companion" would have been paid. Imperial California having an actual standard of living similar to that found in some South American countries here in the 20th Century. (author)
"Oh, mistress Lorraine, how can I ever thank you!" the girl sobbed there before us, the wet tears of emotion openly trickling down her cheeks. Sanda silently getting up then and leaving the room, knowing I wished to be alone with Gayle just then. I had little doubt I had done the right thing even if she didn't agree.
"There, now that looks nice on you," I said, adjusting her dress, the black leather belt and long dagger at her hip going well with the blue silk of her dress. She was, I thought, a nice girl, if just a bit too beautiful for her own good as she stood before me. Her collar and slave shift now put away for another.
"Thank you, Lady Lorraine," Gayle answered, dabbing at her eyes, the shock of being freed having effected her deeply. I thought I had found me another "Sharon" to replace the one that Darlanis had taken away from me. It helped a bit to soothe me.
"Now I want you to sit down and write your father," I told her, indicating my desk. Gayle nodded, seating herself behind it as I left the room. There is no actual true mail service between California and Dularn, but I had "connections" in certain high places that would get that letter to its proper destination!
"You are too soft hearted," Sanda said to me as I joined her on the front porch overlooking the sun baked fields. I smiled and nodded in reply as I seated myself beside her on the swing. A number of our slaves working the fields, both male and female.
"Mara is better off with a free woman than a slave girl," I pointed out to my major domo. Yvette there at my side setting down a glass for me on the little table beside the porch swing. The gold of her collar gleaming against the deep tan of her skin. The weather had been dry. We needed a good soaking rain, especially for the grape vines. A certain amount of hand-watering could be done by the slaves and farm-hands, but it wasn't enough.
"Would you free Yvette?" Sanda Talen asked, sipping at her wine, one of our products that made our estate what it was. I also raise herds of unicorns and refine oil for lamps. Crops are grown for our own consumption. I employed over a hundred people, both free and slave. Yvette had gone inside the house for the moment to fetch some snacks for us to eat. It is easy to get "lazy", to do little. To let others "take care of things" for you. It was a constant temptation that I had to keep fighting. I fenced daily with whoever I could get to do it to keep myself fit, it being something of pride to my men that I was better with a foil than any of them. Sanda's husband Carl was the best of the lot. Word had gotten around that my skill with a sword was legendary! People spoke of me like I was some "gunfighter" from the 1800's. I once fenced with Darlanis. She had been the best I had met so far here in the 26th Century! I had bested her too, two out of three times, although it had been close. She was strong, but I was "quick". Her endurance exceeded mine, I found.
"Would you free Yvette?" I asked back with a smile, meeting her eyes. I knew her daughter Sara, a teenage delight much like Gayle was. She didn't look upon slave girls like her mother did. Didn't look down upon them as being some sort of female "animal".
"Yvette `belongs' in a collar," Sanda smiled, sipping at her wine. I had to agree with her opinion. Yvette is a true born slave. I watched one of our wenches watering the male slaves working out in the hot sun. If they worked well I would give them a wench or two to enjoy during the evening hours after dinner. Men who become overly sexually frustrated become dangerous. I was "sexually frustrated" myself, and masturbation only eased the physical tension, not the emotional needs that preyed at me!
"Your husband is coming home soon, isn't he?" I said to her, changing the subject. The gold of her neck chain was beautiful against her tanned skin. It is a delightful custom. One deep with symbolic meaning. No woman who wears such and understands its true meaning can doubt that she is beautifully marked as what she truly is. All women, deep in our hearts, want to be owned by those we love. What a woman truly desires in the depths of her heart can be found perhaps only in her dreams, not in the words she speaks with her tongue. Truth is not often easily spoken of.
"I'd like a few days off, if it wouldn't be any trouble for you," Sanda answered, giving me a smile that told much. I knew she had just been to see the Priestesses and had been told that she would be allowed to have a second daughter by her husband. I had no doubt that she would soon be swelling with child, having been given a drug by the Priestess that would both increase her chances of rapidly becoming pregnant and would also insure that the child was of the proper sex. The technology is well beyond that of my own era, but seems to work reasonably well. The Priestesses of Lys maintain the Earth's population at about half a billion or so, with the sex ratio being 1.1 to 1, with women being favored. However if the child was of the wrong sex or defective, it would be destroyed and Sanda would have try again. I should mention here that to Sanda, this was just the way "life" worked and she didn't think anything more of it than a person of my own era would in paying their income taxes or being drafted into the military services. You might not like it, but there wasn't really anything much that you could "do" about it either!
"How do you plan to greet him when he gets off the ship?" I asked, her husband having gone to Trella, which is about a hundred miles from my estates, to recruit some sailors for the Squala. Most travelers here in the 26th Century travel by water if possible, land travel being difficult and slow in comparison. I might note that the former "slave girls" off the Squala had for the most part used some sort of water transportation to get home. A ship will travel a hundred to perhaps a hundred and fifty miles a day or more. On land you're lucky to "do" thirty a day here...
"Oh, I think perhaps just with a strip of red silk around my hips," she answered, matching my smile with one of her own. He would use her well. Perhaps impregnating her that very night!
"No wine or dancing girls?" I teased her. Some of my wenches could dance fairly well, although Yvette was the best of them all when it came to such "talents". Yvette had told me of the questions Sanda had asked her. It is the duty of a slave girl to be "useful" to both her mistress and those over her in any way that she can. Yvette is a very "useful" wench to me in more ways than you would think. Darlanis uses her girls much the same way.
"I don't think they will be necessary," Sanda answered me. Her smile was a delight to see. I did not think so either. He had been away from her for almost a week. "I am not without certain skills," Sanda added with a smile, then setting down her glass and going into the house. She was some Scribe, I thought!
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