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

xml:lang="en-AU">‘No, Rose, there is no mistake. One of the reasons the ship is caught unawares is that there were no waves breaking over the ice to warn of its size. And the flatness of the ocean adds to the optical illusion, which is already being created by the atmospheric conditions. Look at the horizon.’

They all did as he bid them. It seemed obvious where the sea met the inky blackness of the sky.

‘Now look really closely about an inch below the horizon,’ Karl went on.

Lizzie studied the horizon a little more closely and then looked just below it. There seemed to be another line running parallel to the skyline.

‘There’s another horizon,’ Trudy declared first, her face flushed with excitement.

‘Indeed, yes. That is the true horizon. What is above it is a mirage, if you like. And it is in that hazy mirage that scientists believe keeps the iceberg hidden from view until we are within a mile of it. That false skyline will also deceive ships in the area, which might have come to our rescue.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Trudy’s face was suddenly a picture of consternation as theory became truth to her. ‘So, there is no mistake. It is really going to happen.’

‘Yes. But you will not be here to see it. You will already be in your new home,’ Karl reminded her gently.

Lizzie squeezed Karl’s arm where she gripped it. His warm presence was so reassuring. All she had to do was look at him or draw him close and all her worries and concerns were lifted. Tonight she’d begin her new life. Tonight she’d go to her new home with the man she’d come to love more than life itself.

She still remembered their lovemaking as some sweet, perfect dream-come-true. All her concerns that Peabody’s assault would spoil their union, or that her own fears about the act itself would ruin the moment, had been pushed aside by Karl’s gentle pragmatism. His almost clinical approach to that first act had been amusing – and reassuring. The passion had come, but it had not made the inexperienced Karl clumsy or insensitive to her needs. He remained the perfect, considerate lover throughout. And now she held no fears about the marital bed she would share with him. It would always be good between them.

‘Your thoughts?’ he asked her as they walked on.

‘Just thinking about our new home.’

‘The ocean is rarely still at home, not like this. It rages at the cliffs like an army trying to scale a castle wall. And you can watch the storms come in from far out to sea. It is wild and elemental and very, very beautiful.’

‘It sounds wonderful. Everything about your world sounds wonderful.’

‘It will be even more so with you in it.’

She smiled up at him, marvelling at the young, handsome face that hid the truly old man he was. Instead of being concerned by his age, she liked it. He had a wealth of life experience and was very much in control. No young man could ever have his quiet confidence and authority.

As the temperature dropped further and ice drifts started to appear in the water around them, Lizzie felt her fears begin to rise again. Why was the Captain speeding ahead when there was so obviously ice in the waters around them? Surely any sane man would have slowed down when obstacles, even small ones as they were seeing now, appeared.

‘I cannot understand what possesses the Captain to steam ahead through this,’ she muttered.

‘Ice flows are normal for this time of the year. You have to remember that Captain Smith has been sailing these waters a long time and has become complacent. The drifts are bigger and further south than normal, but he ignores that fact. And it is the White Star Line’s representative, Bruce Ismay, who is encouraging him to break the record for the crossing; hence, the speed through these treacherous waters. So many factors contributed to this fateful night.’

Shivering from the horror of it all, Lizzie buried her head against Karl’s coat. He tightened his arm around her and dropped a discrete kiss onto her forehead. Then he addressed the group with forced joviality.

‘Come on ladies, I think we would be better off inside out of this cold. A hot beverage would be useful at this juncture.’

They made their way to the sitting room for a late evening tea. Every so often, one or the other of their group would hurry off to the water closets. Whether it was nerves or babies causing the pilgrimages she didn’t know, but she made her own trip once or twice to allay her fears. She knew that when the time came for them to go down to D Deck and the Dining Saloon there would be no more time for bathroom breaks. Better to be safe than sorry.

Finally, as the lights were being dimmed around the sitting room, Karl helped her to her feet.

‘Ready ladies? We will meet Lucy downstairs in a few minutes.’

Lizzie noticed the fear and excitement in the eyes of the other women. Even so, to a one, they nodded and rose to follow him. Such was the faith he inspired.

They took the stairs rather than try to cram into the lift. And even taking them slowly, they soon found themselves outside the doors to the Dining Saloon just after eleven o'clock by Karl’s pocket watch.

‘I don’t think…’ Trudy began, her hands shaking as she gripped them anxiously in front of her. ‘Maybe I better go back to Oliver. He will be wondering where I have gone…’

Lizzie took the nervous woman’s hands in hers and met her eye. ‘Trudy, it is all right. Oliver will make his own way, you know that. And you will make yours. In a few minutes, we will be peeling off these coats because it will be so hot. And there will be flowers and sunshine and a whole new world to explore. Won’t there, Karl?’

‘Yes,’ Karl said gently, placing an arm around Trudy's trembling shoulders. ‘New Atlantis is warm and sunny all year round. The only rain is the storms that come in off the ocean every week or so and pass in a few hours. You will live in a city of classical beauty where the flowers are so bright and fragrant that you will think you are in paradise.’

His words weaved their magic and by the time Lucy appeared with the keys to the darkened saloon, Trudy was calm and optimistic once more.

‘When will the children be here?’ Lucy asked Karl as she locked the door after them.

‘Soon, very soon. They will come up through the kitchen.’

The saloon was eerily dark and quiet, so unlike the place they were all familiar with having shared their meals here three times a day for five days. They carefully made their way down between the tables that faced the kitchen, and the long tables that ran at right angles out to the ship’s sides, rather like a fish skeleton. Each table was cleared of cloths and utensils and looked oddly naked in the dim light from the few soft-glowing lamps along the bulkhead.

They heard movement in the galley ahead and for a moment, Lizzie thought they had been discovered by staff. They all froze and waited in terrified silence. Then, through the swinging doors a man in rough, workman’s clothing entered. He took one look at their little group and grinned.

‘All okay, Karl?’ The American man asked with a grin.

‘Yes, we are all here, Luke. Any problems your end?’

‘Nope. Not even the Chief Steward to worry about. The kids will be here in a few minutes and the first class will be coming through their Dining Saloon any minute now too. Take a seat, ladies. It doesn’t matter if you disturb the table arrangements. Once we’re gone, there’ll never be anyone to know the difference.’

Lizzie felt a cold shudder run through her. That bare implication of the events to come was more terrifying than anything else so far. She dropped into the nearest chair and clung to its arms until her fingers hurt.

Following her lead, the other women sat down too. Karl remained standing and went to the door to have a quiet word with the man called Luke. Then he came back and smiled at them. Although tense, he didn’t appear overly concerned. Lizzie concluded that Luke hadn’t shared any bad news with him in those whispered moments.

They sat in the silent darkness and waited.

 

 

Pia

 

With her heart in her mouth, Pia knocked softly on the door to the Ahlberg’s cabin on F Deck. She was terrified she would be spotted by one of the stewards and shooed away back to her own cabin. They were sticklers about lights-out on this ship, particularly where women were concerned. It was as if they thought the fairer sex would get themselves into trouble if they were caught out too late at night. That might be the case down at the forward end of the ship once the men had a few drinks at the bar in the third class Open Space, but back here they were as safe as they could be anywhere.

The cabin door creaked open just a crack and a boy’s face appeared. She gestured with her head for him to come and he nodded, opening the door wide enough for a stream of little bodies to file out. The last through was Tiggy, and Pia picked the toddler up and cuddled her close. She had become very fond of the little girl in the last few days and the feeling was mutual. Tiggy clung to her possessively and giggled.

‘We’re going on a “venture,”’ the child said in a stage whisper, her golden plaits wrapped around her head like a hallo.

‘Yes we are! Quietly now children, follow me.’ She took the lead with Tiggy in her arms and the four-year-old's hand gripped tightly in hers while the three older children followed on behind. They were as quiet and as good as gold, and she made it up the stairs to E Deck and along the corridor to where Jac was standing Point without discovery. She could see a group of children moving ahead of them now with Cara in charge. They disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

‘Okay?’ Jac asked softly. Pia simply nodded and hurried on with her charges.

Further along Scotland Road, she saw the young Australian steward waiting at the bottom of the kitchen stairs. He grinned, gave them a bow as if they were honoured guests and ushered them upward.

Pia hurried up the stairs with her gaggle of chicks behind her. At the top of the stairs, she was greeted by more people and a lot of quiet whisperings. A woman reached out and took Tiggy from her arms. After a gentle word to the child that it was all right and that she would be back soon, Pia let the uniformed woman with the kind face take charge of her brood. That must be Lucy, the stewardess from second, she thought, as she hurried back down the stairs.

Half-way down, she passed Eilish with her own brood coming up. They smiled and nodded as they hurried on.

By the time she had gathered the last of her charges and made her way back to the Dining Saloon, she was in a state of high anxiety. Everything was going like clockwork. That was the trouble. It was all going too well. Surely, they couldn’t have it run so smoothly?

However, she didn’t query their good fortune. She simply made her way through the crowded room until she found her little group. They were sitting obediently on the floor around Bart as he told them stories about what was going to happen next, repeating his message over and over in different languages.

‘And a bright light will come on and that’s the door, and we will go through the doorway. It will be very noisy and bright for a minute, but then