[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"It is the law," laughed Janina, "slave."
"And, too," said the blond captive, "it was not I who in the darkness, it
seems, licked and kissed at a man's boots!"
"I thought him of the strangers, of the boarders!" said the officer of the
court.
"And what does that matter, slave?" asked Janina.
"I am not a slave! said the officer of the court to the gladiator.
"My plan," said he, "is as follows. We shall descend to the hold, and seek out
Section 19, for there, I think unbeknownst to our friends outside, there are
stored several escape capsules. You may recall them, from the evening of the
contest. Some of these, by Pulendius and others, were, two days ago, taken on
their tracks to the elevators, and conveyed upward to space locks."
"I saw damaged capsules, useless, outside, by the ships," said the officer of
the court.
"It is my hope that some escaped," said the gladiator. "I know that many did
not."
"Why did you not try to escape then?" asked the officer of the court.
"Can you not guess?" asked Janina, angrily.
"No," said the officer of the court. Then she said, frightened, "Surely it has
nothing to do with me."
Janina laughed, bitterly.
Then the officer of the court said, "Oh! for a rope was being knotted about
her neck.
"Kneel," said the gladiator.
The officer of the court knelt. She looked up at the gladiator.
"I do not understand," she said.
She saw the end of the rope on her neck tossed to Janina.
"I do not think it is so hard to understand," he said.
"Please," she said.
"Surely we have much to discuss," he said.
"Please!"
"Janina will wear the royal robes of a princess of the Drisriaks," said the
gladiator.
"What are you going to do with me?" asked the officer of the court.
"We think," said the gladiator, "that with her robes about her face, Janina
may pass for the princess. My garb, I trust, will serve as my disguise. The
princess, gagged, on a neck rope, her hands bound behind her, will be marched
before us, to be taken for a captured passenger. If she should attempt to
struggle or flee, or give any sign of her distress or identity, I will gun her
down
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immediately with the fire pistol. You understand, princess?"
"Yes, milord," she said.
"If she is recognized, she will prove a valuable hostage," said the gladiator.
"You will accompany us as another captured prisoner, one not yet even
stripped, on all fours, on your leash, held by Janina. Perhaps it will be
assumed she may have selected you for a serving slave. Perhaps you have the
makings of a useful serving slave. One does not know. I have the fire pistol,
and a Telnarian rifle, as extra insurance."
"I am to be marched before you, as I am?" asked the blond captive.
"Yes, milady," said the gladiator.
"I am the sister of Ortog, king of the Ortungen!" she said.
"Let him then understand you in a new light," said the gladiator, "a light in
which brothers seldom understand their sisters, that other men might find them
of great interest as slaves."
"Wretch!" cried the princess.
"And I am somehow not overly fond of Ortog," said the gladiator.
"And so you would march his sister thusly?"
"Certainly."
"You are a barbarian!" said the officer of the court, aghast.
"I do not know who I am," said the gladiator.
The officer of the court recalled that Ortog had identified the gladiator,
obviously mistakenly, as of the blood of the Otungen, whoever they might be.
Indeed, the names, to her civilized ear, though clearly distinguishable,
sounded too much alike. The Ortungen was a secessionist house of the
Drisriaks, a tribe of the Alemanni. She had no notion of who, or what, the
Otungen might be. Nor, it seems, had the gladiator.
"I despise you!" said the princess.
"But it will be you who will be naked, on the rope," said the gladiator.
"How dare you treat me so?" asked the princess.
"Do not peoples such as yours often march the women of the enemy, even women
of the royal houses, through the forests naked, on ropes?"
"How dare you do such a thing!" she exclaimed.
"It is in accord with my plan," he said.
"You are a man of no name, of no people!" said the blond captive.
"I have heard," said Janina, "that it is not uncommon for barbarians to march
the captured women of defeated royal houses on the ropes of common soldiers, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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"It is the law," laughed Janina, "slave."
"And, too," said the blond captive, "it was not I who in the darkness, it
seems, licked and kissed at a man's boots!"
"I thought him of the strangers, of the boarders!" said the officer of the
court.
"And what does that matter, slave?" asked Janina.
"I am not a slave! said the officer of the court to the gladiator.
"My plan," said he, "is as follows. We shall descend to the hold, and seek out
Section 19, for there, I think unbeknownst to our friends outside, there are
stored several escape capsules. You may recall them, from the evening of the
contest. Some of these, by Pulendius and others, were, two days ago, taken on
their tracks to the elevators, and conveyed upward to space locks."
"I saw damaged capsules, useless, outside, by the ships," said the officer of
the court.
"It is my hope that some escaped," said the gladiator. "I know that many did
not."
"Why did you not try to escape then?" asked the officer of the court.
"Can you not guess?" asked Janina, angrily.
"No," said the officer of the court. Then she said, frightened, "Surely it has
nothing to do with me."
Janina laughed, bitterly.
Then the officer of the court said, "Oh! for a rope was being knotted about
her neck.
"Kneel," said the gladiator.
The officer of the court knelt. She looked up at the gladiator.
"I do not understand," she said.
She saw the end of the rope on her neck tossed to Janina.
"I do not think it is so hard to understand," he said.
"Please," she said.
"Surely we have much to discuss," he said.
"Please!"
"Janina will wear the royal robes of a princess of the Drisriaks," said the
gladiator.
"What are you going to do with me?" asked the officer of the court.
"We think," said the gladiator, "that with her robes about her face, Janina
may pass for the princess. My garb, I trust, will serve as my disguise. The
princess, gagged, on a neck rope, her hands bound behind her, will be marched
before us, to be taken for a captured passenger. If she should attempt to
struggle or flee, or give any sign of her distress or identity, I will gun her
down
Page 110
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
immediately with the fire pistol. You understand, princess?"
"Yes, milord," she said.
"If she is recognized, she will prove a valuable hostage," said the gladiator.
"You will accompany us as another captured prisoner, one not yet even
stripped, on all fours, on your leash, held by Janina. Perhaps it will be
assumed she may have selected you for a serving slave. Perhaps you have the
makings of a useful serving slave. One does not know. I have the fire pistol,
and a Telnarian rifle, as extra insurance."
"I am to be marched before you, as I am?" asked the blond captive.
"Yes, milady," said the gladiator.
"I am the sister of Ortog, king of the Ortungen!" she said.
"Let him then understand you in a new light," said the gladiator, "a light in
which brothers seldom understand their sisters, that other men might find them
of great interest as slaves."
"Wretch!" cried the princess.
"And I am somehow not overly fond of Ortog," said the gladiator.
"And so you would march his sister thusly?"
"Certainly."
"You are a barbarian!" said the officer of the court, aghast.
"I do not know who I am," said the gladiator.
The officer of the court recalled that Ortog had identified the gladiator,
obviously mistakenly, as of the blood of the Otungen, whoever they might be.
Indeed, the names, to her civilized ear, though clearly distinguishable,
sounded too much alike. The Ortungen was a secessionist house of the
Drisriaks, a tribe of the Alemanni. She had no notion of who, or what, the
Otungen might be. Nor, it seems, had the gladiator.
"I despise you!" said the princess.
"But it will be you who will be naked, on the rope," said the gladiator.
"How dare you treat me so?" asked the princess.
"Do not peoples such as yours often march the women of the enemy, even women
of the royal houses, through the forests naked, on ropes?"
"How dare you do such a thing!" she exclaimed.
"It is in accord with my plan," he said.
"You are a man of no name, of no people!" said the blond captive.
"I have heard," said Janina, "that it is not uncommon for barbarians to march
the captured women of defeated royal houses on the ropes of common soldiers, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]