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

arrived on a hill above one of the first Olympic games; it was quite a shock to see naked men throwing discuses I have to say.’

‘They really did that? I thought it was artistic licence.’

‘Oh, no. They were all naked. Jac, my husband, who is the Jumper who Retrieved me, said he actually had to run a race stark-naked on one particular occasion. I would like to have seen that to be honest.’ Cara laughed lightly, winking at Karl.

‘I will need to talk to the other two ladies. Is it possible for you to make the introductions, Mrs Carmichael?’

‘Please, you can both call me Felicity. I… I do not know what to say. It is all so much to take in. You are telling me there is no way that I will survive this ocean voyage. That I will drown with the ship if I do not choose to go with you?’

‘That is exactly it. If you choose not to believe us or prefer to take your chances on being saved, then we won't press you further. However, I would ask that you don't tell others what we're sharing with you now. For one thing, it will get us locked up. For another, it might cause a panic. Either option is to be avoided at all costs.

‘We're not allowed to interfere with historical events. We can't change history, even if we wanted to. The only reason you're Targeted is because none of your bodies were recovered nor were you seen by survivors on the decks during the final hours. To us, that means we took you or can take you. The bottom line is, one way or the other, no one will ever see you again after the ship sinks.’

Lizzie’s numbed brain was starting to come back to life. She was starting to consider the possibility that what this woman was saying was the truth.

‘How can a ship that is supposed to be unsinkable sink?’ she asked.

‘An iceberg will tear a hole in the starboard side of the vessel. Water will pour in and fill the water-tight compartments at the forward end of the ship. That will weigh the front down until the ship finally breaks in half. Then both halves will sink. It will take a little over two hours.’

‘When? When will this happen?’ Lizzie asked fiercely.

‘I cannot tell you that until you have made your decision to come with us. But it will only be a matter of days.’

‘What proof have you that what you tell us is the truth?’ Felicity asked.

Cara laughed. ‘Well, I can’t open the Portal for you like Jac did for me. You have to be stationary for that. Let me put it this way, if you accept that what we are telling you is possible then on the night we leave, you will have all the proof you need. If the Portal doesn’t take you to the future, then you have lost nothing. We will simply be poor, deluded souls who have fooled you for a while. You will continue your journey and arrive in New York next week as planned. You will have lost nothing.’

Felicity considered these words carefully. ‘I will agree to remain open. I will need to know more. But as you say, we lose nothing by going along with you. Unless we have to pay for this trip or you will set us off in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean.’

Cara laughed and nodded her head. ‘You're very astute, Felicity. No one could sell you a condo, sight-unseen, in the Florida swamps.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Sorry, it is a confidence trickster’s game in my time to sell land in swamps to unsuspecting marks. And to answer your question: No, this will cost you nothing. And you will not be asked to leave the ship by any means but the Portal. And once that opens, you won't doubt us anymore.’

‘Then I will take you to Rose and possibly Trudy, they will likely be up listening to the band on C Deck.’

‘I am not supposed to be here. I am travelling third class. Could I ask you to bring the ladies to me?’

Felicity nodded and rose. She looked at Lizzie with an uplifted eyebrow.

‘I will stay here if it is all right with you.’ Lizzie tried to smile at her friend but failed. She was feeling quite light-headed.

‘Certainly. I will return shortly.’

After the cabin door closed, a pregnant silence fell.

‘I do not know what to believe,’ she said finally.

‘Have you had any indication that Karl was anything other an intelligent, rather serious young man during the time you have known him?’ Cara asked.

Lizzie looked over at Karl, who was frowning and looking uncomfortable. ‘No. I never took him for deluded. He seemed very nice and normal.’

‘He is. If what we tell you is the truth, then that's exactly what he is. Karl, while we wait for the others do you want to find that stewardess who brought me here? It might be better to include her while I'm telling my story again.’

‘Certainly. Good idea.’

‘I’m full of ‘em doc, you should know that by now.’ Her drop into a strange idiom made Karl smile as he left the stateroom in search of Lucy.

‘Why is Lucy being included?’

‘She told Karl she thought she was pregnant and wanted to see the nurse – that’s me – to confirm it. I’m not a nurse, and I can’t confirm it other than by the usual methods of missed courses, sore breasts and morning sickness. But, either way, Karl seems to think we should take her. She's been willing to step outside the tight constraints of the ship's regulations to help us and seems to have an open, flexible mind. That's all we ask. We don't Target people who we believe will not handle the differentness of our world. Only minds that are flexible and resilient can handle the shift. I was closer to that world than you are, but it was still confronting for me. Especially the clones.’

‘Cones?’

‘No Clones. You might not have worked it through yet, but when I told you Karl went through the Last Great Plague, two hundred years hence, you may not have noted the mathematical difference between 2337 and 2120, which is the year of the plague. Karl, and my Jac, and most of the others on this mission are hundreds of years old. We have not discovered the fountain of youth. Our bodies age normally. When one reaches old age, we simply change it for a new one made from our own cells.

‘I am fifty-two years old… I know; I don’t look it, do I? That’s because I shifted my consciousness, who I am… the thinking/feeling part of me that makes me who I am… I shifted that to a new twenty-year-old body seven years ago. So I look twenty-seven. Up until six months ago, I knew Karl as a middle-aged man. It was a real shock when he shifted into this young body. But he wanted to come on this mission, and I think that, on some level, he knew he was going to meet you. So he took on a younger version of himself.’ Cara was quietly thoughtful for a few moments before she went on.

‘Karl is behaving strangely. And he is worried, very worried. He has always been very serious, very controlled and very proper. A lot like my Jac. But now he is different – emotionally volatile, riding a roller coaster… oh, you don’t know what that is. He is going up and down emotionally. That only happens to these people… the “Old Timers,” as they're called, to distinguish them from us who have been brought in from other times. We’re called “Newcomers.” Old Timers are never out of control and they have little-to-no sex drive. Sorry, don’t be offended. I speak from my own time where such things are freely discussed. So, when Old Timers fall in love it's a great shock to them on all levels.’

‘Fall in love?’ Lizzie repeated breathlessly.

‘Yes, hadn’t you guessed? Karl has fallen in love with you. It might seem fast but it always is for them. Love at first sight. And they don’t know how to handle the sexual arousal or the heightened emotional responses. So be understanding with him. He's the best. And even if you don’t feel the same, just be gentle with him. He's like a teenage boy, all shyness and naiveté.’

‘He loves me?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh. Did he say as much?’

‘He described his symptoms and told me about you. I made the diagnosis. He doesn’t know what to make of it yet. He’s just so worried he blew it with you over the time travel thing. He doesn’t understand that it's hard for everyone when they’re told this stuff for the first time. To him, it's all he knows. For us, it’s as out-there as anything can be.’

‘You speak strangely.’

‘It’s because of where I’m from.’

‘Where is that?’

‘New York State, 2010.’

‘2010?’

‘A hundred years from now. A very different world.’

‘Yes, I suppose it would be,’ Lizzie said politely. She was stopped from going further by the arrival of Karl and the other women, including Lucy.

‘We aren’t all going to fit in here. So Lizzie, will you go with Karl and he can answer any more of your questions you might have. I'll talk to the others. Felicity, will you stay for moral support?’

‘Certainly, and I have more questions I have thought of while I've been gone.’

‘Good, then I'll answer them after I explain the basics to the others. Come in, take a seat. A bit crowded but we at least have privacy.’

‘I'm not sure I should be here. I have work…’ Lucy said nervously.

‘You can be away for a few minutes. This is important. A matter of life and death, you might say. Grab a seat.’

And, as Lizzie closed the cabin door, she heard Cara start to tell them her story.

She went up onto the promenade on the Boat Deck with Karl. It was dark and the stars shone brilliantly from the inky sky. The air was chilly and she shivered. Karl took off his coat wordlessly and draped it over her shoulders.

They walked; nodding at the other couple strolling by. Yet somehow they remained locked inside their own little bubble.

‘Cara says you have fallen in love with me,’ she said at last, settling on the least confronting aspect of the last hour. She didn’t want to think that the man who might love her was hundreds of years old and came from the distant future. She didn't want to think about the strangely spoken, yet compelling woman, who said she was from 2010. And she most certainly didn't want to consider the possibility that the ship that seemed so firm beneath her feet might soon sink into the unfathomed depths below them. It was all too difficult.

‘Did she? I wish she hadn’t.’ Karl pulled at the collar of his pristine-white shirt.

‘It is not true then?’

‘It is true. Well, I am starting to understand that being in love might explain this uncharacteristic behaviour on my part. I do not force my attentions on women as a rule.’

‘You did not force your attentions on me, Karl.’

‘Yes, yes I did, and I am most deeply sorry. I will not let myself lose control again.’

‘You did not force yourself on me. I kissed you back. Surely, you felt that?’

He threw a quick, uncertain glance in her direction and then looked out to the glittering, black sea. ‘All I know is that you pulled away. You did not enjoy it.’

‘I did. However, there is much in my past that I