The Titan Drowns: Time Travel Romance by Nhys Glover (highly recommended books .txt) 📕

He didn’t want to see Lizzie over dinner. It was too soon. He needed to get his emotions under control before he did that. And they were being so well fed on this journey that he could afford to miss a meal.

He was lucky in his roommate. Old Mr Bridges spent all his time in the smoking room when he wasn’t sleeping. They'd nodded politely as they passed but had been able to keep their personal lives separate; unlike Lizzie and her roommate from hell. Mrs Duncan was driving the poor girl to distraction. And now he'd made her lot all the more difficult. Oh, he hoped Cara would be able to work some magic with these women, especially Lizzie, because he certainly was making a mess of it.

 

 

Chapter Eighteen

 

Lizzie

 

The dinner group seemed somewhat lacking. The American girls had joined her and the Howards, and though they kept up a steady chatter as the courses of pea soup, followed by roast turkey, cranberry sauce and dessert of plum pudding with American ice cream were served her, it seemed a dull affair. She noticed that the others had chosen different meals to her own but all seemed happy with the standard of their fare. Except for Oliver Howard, of course, who grumbled about each course; however, he did it quietly these days, aware that his criticisms didn’t go down well with his dinner companions.

Trudy had come out of her shell a great deal since yesterday, and it was good to see her laugh with the other women, even under the fierce eye of her husband. Maybe there was hope for the girl yet without recourse to leaving him. Of course, if Karl’s nonsense were to be believed, Trudy could leave her husband here and go to a future perfect world when the Titanic sank. She shook her head in utter bewilderment. How could he possibly believe such nonsense? He seemed so sane in every other respect, even slightly more sober than a young man his age should be, and yet he held these delusions.

‘What is it?’ Felicity asked, as they stood up to leave the table. ‘Are you wondering where Karl is? He is such a lovely man and is quite taken with you, my dear. Is it too soon after the loss of your husband to be considering a replacement?’

‘No, no… I mean yes, it is, and no, I am not wondering where Karl is. I imagine he is keeping his distance from me after we had a set-to earlier.’

‘Do tell; I cannot imagine either of you having words.’

‘Oh, it was silly, really. It all came from that nonsensical conversation over tea in the library.’

‘The time travel one? I found it fascinating. He was really quite taken with the idea, wasn’t he?’

‘So much so that he thinks it is real. He says the Titanic is really going to sink and that we can escape only by time travelling to that world he spoke of – that utopia.’

‘But he was joking with you, of course, Lizzie. He cannot possibly believe such a thing. He is a very sane, down-to-earth young man. I know people. There is absolutely no way that he is deluded or mentally unstable.’

‘But he was deadly serious, Felicity. He really believes he is from the future and we are all doomed.’

Felicity tipped her head to one side and studied her quizzically. ‘Why does this so upset you? Is it because you are interested in him?’

Lizzie shrugged and looked away. ‘I was. I will admit that. He is the loveliest man I have ever met. However, this… this delusion puts him beyond the pale. He might even be dangerous if he tries to pressure me on this.’

‘No. I will not believe that for a moment. He is more likely to fall on his sword for you than injure you in any way. Talk to him again. Try to find out why he believes as he does. Maybe someone has convinced him of this story. Someone he respects.’

Lizzie nodded, frowning. ‘Yes, maybe I should hear him out. I was very rude this afternoon. I dismissed him out-of-hand after all he has done for me. I… I will go and see him now. Will you come with me? I must admit to being a little frightened of seeing him again.’

‘Certainly, I will be your protector.’ She laughed at the absurdity of such an offer. ‘But I am sure there will be no need of it. Do you know where his stateroom is?’

‘Just here beside the reception area. It is unlikely he will be in his cabin at this time though, surely.’

‘We will not know unless we knock.’

At Karl’s door, Felicity knocked out a loud rat-a-tat-tat with her knuckles on the wood. To Lizzie’s hypersensitive nerves, it was too loud and abrupt.

Instantly, the door opened. From where Lizzie stood, she could see a young woman perched on the divan behind Karl, who now stood in the doorway, looking nonplussed by their intrusion.

Lizzie was horrified and humiliated all in one moment. So he was not only insane, but a womaniser, and had replaced her in his affections in a matter of hours. And this woman was willing to come to his room unchaperoned. What kind of woman did that make her?

‘Lizzie, Felicity… Mrs Carmichael, should I say. What a surprise. Would you please come in? There is someone I would like you to meet.’

‘No… we do not want to disturb you,’ Lizzie replied abruptly taking a step back. However, Felicity was quick to catch her by the arm and urge her forward.

‘Certainly. Come Lizzie, let us meet Mr Langman’s friend.’ Felicity glared at her as if trying to give her an unspoken message.

What was she about? Why would she want Lizzie to meet this so-called friend?

Nevertheless, she let Felicity have her way and moved into the small stateroom. Reluctantly, she sat down next to the strange woman.

On closer inspection, Lizzie had to admit the young woman looked nothing like a slattern. She was older than they, possibly nearly thirty, and she was beautiful in the Nordic way of white-blonde hair, pale, perfect skin and bright, blue eyes. Those eyes looked into Lizzie’s now, as if searching for something.

‘I am glad to have this opportunity to meet you, Mrs Jones. Karl has told me all about you. I am Cara Westchester, and my husband and I are close friends of Karl’s.’

‘This is Felicity Carmichael. She is one of the others I told you about.’ Karl introduced Felicity, who sat on Lizzie’s other side. Karl stood, unsure whether it was better for him to sit, stand or go. In the end, with a little nod from his Nordic friend, he sat on the bunk across from them.

‘Karl tells me that he has told you about our mission and that you are understandably disbelieving.’

Lizzie couldn’t believe her ears. This woman was talking about Karl’s delusion as if it were the weather. She looked at Felicity to gauge her reaction. The woman seemed attentive and waiting.

‘Yes… yes he has,’ Lizzie conceded cautiously.

‘There are eleven of us on board who are from the year 2337. We are here to save your lives if that is what you desire. No matter what you have been told to the contrary, the Titanic is not unsinkable. In a few short days, it will hit an iceberg in the mid-North Atlantic and sink with more than two-thirds of the souls aboard. We cannot interfere with that historical event but we can mitigate the outcomes somewhat. We are here to save your lives because, historically, your time is up.’

Lizzie listened to the woman in stunned astonishment. She sounded so sane, so in control of her faculties, and yet she had to be as crazy as Karl to believe what she was saying.

‘Have you convinced Mr Langman of this?’ Felicity asked calmly. Lizzie suddenly realised where her new friend was going with this. Of course! Felicity thought it was this woman who was delusional and had convinced Karl of her story. He wasn’t insane; he was just gullible. Lizzie’s relief was immense.

‘I do not need to be convinced, Mrs Carmichael. I am well aware of the truth of what Cara is telling you. Lizzie, you wondered how I could be a doctor at such a young age? I told you I was older than I look. I have been the Head of the Medical and Research Centre in New Atlantis for more than two hundred years. I am a respected member of our society, a leader if you will, but I have botched this mission badly. I am not a Retriever and never should have put myself forward for this mission.’

‘Retriever?’ Felicity asked, still cautiously attentive.

‘Those who travel through time do so to Retrieve certain people. We are called “Retrievers,” and believe me, I know how you feel right now and what you must be thinking because I was where you are seven years ago. I was Retrieved, and I thought my Retriever was a very deluded young man in need of help. It took him a great deal of effort to convince me of the truth. But now I'm the co-leader of the Child Retrieval Program and we're here to rescue forty-eight children in third class who will not survive the days to come.’

‘Why would you do this? Come back here and rescue people like this?’ Felicity demanded.

‘Our world is sterile. Two hundred years from now there will be a great plague that will sweep across the planet, killing nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every one thousand people. Those who survived, people like Karl here, found they were sterile. In our future, we're all sterile. The only way we can repopulate the world is by bringing people like you to it. We are particularly interested in the children, as we cannot bear them.’

Lizzie tried to take in what the woman was saying but it seemed so far-fetched that her brain just turned off. And yet, she was saying that Karl had lived through this plague 200 years in the future. That he was sterile. No wonder he was so interested in her pregnancy.

‘But we are not sterile, obviously. Is that why you want us?’ Felicity asked, for all-the-world as if she believed what she was being told.

‘We want you because you carry new life, not because you're fertile. Because, even though you are most gloriously fertile at this moment, you will not be so once you cross the Time-Space Continuum. Your child will not be harmed, and you will have a painless, safe and perfect delivery when you reach full-term. However, after that you will bear no more children. On the upside, I can promise you that you'll be treated as goddesses in the coming months and our people will spoil you rotten, as they will the children.’

‘Time-space what? Is this the time machine?’

‘Time-Space Continuum. Time-line, if you will, that links this moment with the next, this place with another. There is no time machine,’ interrupted Karl, impatiently. ‘That was my hapless attempt at introducing the topic. You will walk through a Time Portal… a gateway between this time and ours. It takes no more than a moment.’

‘It wasn't hapless, Karl. You're being too hard on yourself. As I was trying to tell you before the ladies arrived, it's quite normal for those being told about this to react negatively at first. It's a lot to take in. Believe me, I know. Jac not only had to open the Portal for me, but walk me through it to Ancient Greece before I believed him. I use Wells’ book quite often as an intro to the subject.’

‘You have been to Ancient Greece?’ Felicity asked, in hushed, excited tones.

What was this? Felicity seemed to believe this woman. How could she be taken in by this nonsense?

‘Only briefly, unfortunately, just to prove it to me. We