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

And even though it was only one kiss, it felt world-shattering. And I had to get away because I thought he would have to be left behind and that we could never be together. Now… now I am happy and scared. I have to find some way to tell him, but I am not good with such things.’

‘Do not put yourself down so much. You are as good as any of us. Convincing people that we are time travellers from the future is not easy. The children are so much less trouble.’

‘Yes they are. Thank you.’

‘For what?’

‘Talking like this to me. I feel a little better about what is happening now. You see, I never thought I would meet someone I felt like this about. I thought I was too damaged. So when it did, I did not trust it. Now, hearing what it is like for you, I feel more confident to go with it.’

‘How are you damaged?’ Eilish asked gently.

For a moment, she wondered whether Pia would reply. Then she gave a little nod, as if giving herself permission, and started to talk.

‘I was in my twenties when the LGP took place, living in a village in Norway that had been the home of my family for generations. It was once a thriving city, but by the end of the Dark Age it was not much more than a village of white wooden houses around the harbour side. When I woke up to find everyone dead, I thought I was alone in the world. Something broke inside me in those weeks before I was found. I do not even know what it was that broke.

‘I felt rejected. That sounds wrong, but that was what it was like; as if I was left out of something that everyone else had been included in. That I was not good enough even to join them in death. I wanted to kill myself, but I felt as if that would make me the uninvited guest at the party. I did not know what I had done to deserve my fate, but I decided it must have been something very bad to be so excluded. I went mad, I suppose, and never fully recovered. Even now I wake up each morning and my first thought is to check that there are others alive nearby.’

‘You are not alone in that last habit. One of the best things about sleeping with Max is that I am always aware of him there, alive beside me. I do not wake up with that fear anymore.’

‘You feel like that too?’ Pia’s face was a picture of stunned happiness, as if she had discovered a miracle.

‘Of course. I imagine many of us Old Timers feel that way. All of us woke up to find ourselves alone, Pia. You may have just been alone longer than the rest of us. For me, living in a city, I found the few other survivors pretty quickly. Faith told me that she was alone in her little fishing village until a man from another village up the coast passed by in his boat looking for survivors. Most of us do not talk about those times because they are still too painful to remember, but maybe that is wrong. Maybe if we talked about it more, we would realise that we are not as different as we think we are. And maybe we could let our ghosts finally sleep.’

Pia’s eyes filled with tears and she brushed them away absently. ‘You might be right. I feel like a load has lifted off my shoulders just by telling you. I didn’t think anyone felt like me. Everyone seems to cope so well, even back then. It always felt like I was the only broken one.’

‘Not broken, just a little dented around the edges. Maybe now you can smooth out the dents and start to really live with Marco’s help.’

The smile Pia gave her was like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day. She was radiant.

 

 

Chapter Twenty-One

 

Lizzie

 

‘If it’s true, I will never see Freddy or my parents again,’ Rose said with a sad little sigh, as she leaned over the railing on B Deck promenade and looked down on the open decks below.

It was late afternoon and they had just shared tea in the library. It had been as different an occasion today from yesterday as it was possible to be. The five of them had sat quietly sipping tea, deep in thought. Even Trudy had seemed troubled and reflective. It was only now that they were out on deck without Karl that their worries seemed ready to be exposed.

‘If it is true, this ship will be gone and so many people dead.’ Felicity gave a little shiver.

‘I tried to tell Oliver that the ship was going to sink, but he told me not to talk rot and would hear no more.’

‘Oh Trudy, you know you were not to mention this to him. What other reaction did you expect to get?’ Felicity scolded.

‘I know, I know, but it is hard to keep something like this from one’s husband. I know he is not perfect… All right, I will be honest; I know he is not likeable, but he is my husband. For better or for worse, you know. And it feels a little like I'm murdering him by omission.’

‘So you tried and failed; be content with that. You did what you could. And maybe this is all balderdash and we will arrive in New York just as planned.’ Even as she said this, Lizzie knew that there was no chance that they would be arriving in New York. Somehow, in the last day, she had come to believe what Karl had told them without doubt.

It was the stories of New Atlantis that had convinced her. He had such an easy way of telling them, as if they truly were memories of his past. They were far too elaborate to have been the concoction of an insane mind. And Cara’s no-nonsense support only made his position stronger.

‘Is it awful of me to hope we do not land in New York?’ Trudy asked tentatively.

‘Not at all. The idea of New Atlantis is very appealing. And I would much rather believe it exists than believe that Karl is a mad man.’ Lizzie gave a little, jerky laugh.

‘You are in love with him, aren’t you?’ Felicity asked.

‘Yes, I do believe I am. Is it too sudden do you think? I only met him Wednesday, and yet it feels like years since then.’

‘I do believe in love at first sight. I have never experienced it myself. My feelings for Maurice are much more pragmatic. He was a good man who offered for me, and as there was no one I liked better at the time, and I was rather interested in the travel marriage to him would include, I said yes. Nevertheless, I do believe people can meet and fall helplessly in love at first sight.’

‘I came to love Freddy as I watched him work with the natives in the Congo. It was never a grand passion.’ Rose sighed again, and Lizzie noticed a tear at the corner of her eye.

Lizzie placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘Freddy will live on in his child, Rose, just think of that. And he would want you to be safe. Why else did he send you home when he found out you were with child?’

‘I know… I know… but I will miss him terribly.’

‘Let us not dwell on what we may lose. Let us think about what we might be gaining. New Atlantis sounds wonderful. Karl has told me such stories.’

‘It does sound amazing, doesn’t it?’ Rose perked up a little. ‘To think that they have no need of ships like this. That they can move through space in a blink of an eye from one side of the world to the other.’

‘And no disease or illness. To be able to live indefinitely in those clowns.’ Trudy clapped her hands like a little girl.

‘Clones, Trudy. Karl explained cloning to me. It is very interesting. To think that inside a little drop of my blood is a blue print of every aspect of who I am, right down to my preference for using my left hand rather than my right. And that they can build a whole new body from that blue print, not in nine months like we are doing now, but in a month – fully grown to adulthood. It is incredible.’

‘Is it too incredible, do you think?’ Felicity ventured. ‘Are we being too gullible, letting ourselves be drawn into the possibility of this world?’

‘Does it hurt to imagine it if it turns out not to be true? It will provide a wonderful tale to tell our grandchildren in years to come. We sailed on the maiden voyage of the grand Titanic with people who thought they were from the future and believed the ship was going to sink. What a laugh we will all have then.’ Lizzie gave a little giggle. ‘I am enjoying imagining that world. It is better than reading a romance novel to while away the hours.’

‘True. It is something to think about, isn’t it?’ Trudy pulled at her hat that was being dislodged by the wind. None of the others had worn hats because the wind made it a precarious activity. However, Oliver insisted Trudy maintain the proprieties, and so she wore her hat outside and bore the consequences.

‘How is your little stewardess holding up? She cannot talk to people as we can with each other,’ Felicity asked Lizzie.

‘She looks very drawn and serious; not the smiling lass she was the first day. I have told her she can talk to me about it all if she needs to. I have to wonder if she feels it is her duty to tell someone about what is going to happen.’

‘But they will think she is mad. Who would believe her?’

‘Precisely. I think that will be what stops her. However, she has more of a duty to this ship than we do. It must be extra hard for her.’

‘We will try to support her a little, shall we?’ Rose suggested stoutly.

‘Yes, I think we should. Safety in numbers, as it were. If we all stick together, we will at least not feel like raving lunatics, even if others might see us as such.’

The four of them gave a little laugh, each wondering just how far from the truth that statement might be.

 

 

Max

 

The quiet was getting to him. Maybe he needed to go out on deck for some fresh air. But Eilish might arrive while he was gone, and he might miss valuable time with her. His note had said to come up for dinner and she knew she had to get dressed beforehand. She might arrive any time.

Max had set Hughes to keep him posted on news via the network of stewards they had established in each class. It was all rather like espionage, if you could escape the fact that they were not spying so much as formulating an escape plan. Each piece of the plan had to work or the whole thing would come crashing down on all their heads. And the days were passing so fast. It was already Friday evening. That left two days for everything to be put in place.

Funny, when he thought that way, time did seem to be passing far too quickly. Yet, when he thought about Eilish, then it felt like time was dragging its heels like a reluctant school boy.

The sudden knock on the door had him jerking to his feet in an instant. He spun around to see Eilish, dressed in