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

way it happens for you Old Timers. It's like a button gets pressed from “off” to “on” with no middle ground, and your wits go south with it too, way south, which could be a big problem for the mission. So I've gotta ask you again, who is he?’ Luke demanded impatiently, scrubbing his hands through his sleep-tousled hair.

He was not sleeping well in the luxurious accommodation and had decided to stay in bed that morning while she was out making first contact with their Target. Eilish thought his sleep problems had something to do with missing Faith and Bart.

‘Our Target, Max Ingham,’ she finally brought herself to say.

‘I thought he was gay.’ Luke plonked himself on the silk covered smoking chair beside the low burning fire the maid had lit some hours before and sprawled out, toasting his bare feet.

Eilish’s felt her eyes pop open wide in astonishment. ‘What gave you that idea? He’s married, after all.’

Luke lifted one eyebrow in cynical response. ‘Since when did that mean anything to people who wanted to stay out of prison? Homosexuality was illegal until 1965 here, and the ‘80s elsewhere in the UK. Our Mr Ingham seems to fit the profile. He didn’t marry until he was thirty-eight. He’s described as mild-mannered and diplomatic, when he ain’t in front of a judge. He sponsors the arts and he packed up and took a trip – what could have been a romantic trip – on the Titanic, without his wife. Not the actions of a devoted new husband.’

‘When did you become the expert on gays? And I will remind you that the Inghams have been married nearly two years. Not exactly newlyweds. And from what he said today, he has no intention of sailing on the Titanic. He is planning to take in the Season with his wife.’

‘So, not gay. But if he’s happily married, why’re you all giddy over him?’

Eilish sat heavily on the overstuffed chaise-longe on the other side of the fire. ‘I do not know. It just seems right. He does not seem like a happily married man. Not like you. He flirted with me, and I gained the distinct impression that flirting is not something that comes naturally to him. He blushed when I first walked in. It was delightful!’

‘Gay. He obviously doesn’t know how to relate to women.’

She sighed heavily, looking to the ornate ceiling above for spiritual guidance. ‘Have it your own way. Does it really matter? I am having dinner with him at his club this evening.’

That got her partner’s attention. Luke sat up abruptly and stared at her like she was some exotic bird that had just flown in the window. ‘Oookay, how’d you swing that?’

‘I was able to get in to see him under my cover as a journalist and we talked a little over tea. Then he had an appointment, so he invited me to dinner at his club to continue our interview. Do you know he has two Monet’s on his wall? Not well-known ones, but they are certainly beautiful examples of his work. Who has Monet’s on their wall?’

‘Who the hell is Monet?’ Luke went back to lounging again.

‘Just one of the greatest painters of the time! Impressionism was revolutionary and it heralded in the age of non-representational art.’

‘I like to know what I’m lookin’ at, Irish. That weird stuff is not art to me.’

‘Monet is not weird stuff. His paintings are beautiful. And Max’s paintings are stunning. He bought them in Paris a few years ago because he liked them. He does not even know what he has!’

‘Whatever you say,’ he finished the line of discussion with obvious disinterest. ‘I’ll take you to this dinner and wait for you outside. I don’t want you out at night on your own.’

Eilish threw herself to her feet with a huff. ‘Luke, I am not a child. I have been doing this longer than you have been alive.’

Luke began to rub at his wrists distractedly. ‘And in all those years did you ever learn to defend yourself?’

‘I never had to. The world is not the dangerous place you think it is.’

‘That’s what Faith thought before her partner was shot in the back and she was almost tortured and killed by Nazis.’

‘This is Edwardian London not Nazi occupied Poland!’

‘Danger is everywhere, doll. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away; it just puts you more at risk.’ He held out his hands to the fire in frustration and then began to work the bones in his wrists again.

‘What’s wrong with your hands?’ Eilish finally became aware that Luke’s pig-headedness might have more to do with some physical ailment than their Jump.

‘Nothin’, just some arthritis the medics say. Only to be expected with all the Jumping I’ve done in the last five years. Body’s degenerating fast. Faster than the clones.’

‘So, if it is giving you trouble, why Jump this time in your Original? You could have transitioned into a clone in plenty of time.’

‘Not sure I’m goin’ to transition. Livin’ inside one of those things… it’s not right for me.’

Eilish sat down again slowly, every sense alert to what she was hearing. ‘Are you saying you are going to let yourself die rather than take a clone body?’

The big man across from her shrugged and turned to stare into the flames. ‘There’s no tellin’ I could do it. I might Crash and Burn. I’m not the most mentally flexible individual.’

‘Maybe not, but you have the willpower of a bull. You are talking about leaving Faith and Bart alone. How can you even consider it?’

Luke rubbed his face with his obviously aching hands. ‘I’ve got some time left still. They say my internals are about equal to a sixty-year-old. If I quit Jumpin', I’d have maybe twenty good years left with them, long enough to see Bart grown.’

‘I cannot believe you are even considering that! For one thing, life would be a living hell for you without the excitement of Jumping. And secondly, twenty years is no time at all. I should know! It passes in an instant. And you have to know that your relationship with Faith will suffer. Sexually, I mean. And how could you even consider leaving her when you do not have to!’

‘Irish, just leave it, will you? This is my crap, not yours. It has nothing to do with our mission.’

‘That is why you are so blasé about the possibility of not coming home from this Jump. You have already given up! I cannot believe you!’

‘Mind your business, Eilish!’ Luke roared at her, jumping to his feet and storming from the room.

For several minutes after the sound of the slamming door faded, Eilish stood her ground in utter, helpless rage. What kind of coward was he to be willing to throw everything away like that? If she had the kind of love Luke and Faith had, she’d fight tooth and nail to keep it. She’d eat human flesh or worms; she'd crawl through an open sewer… anything! Having your consciousness moved into a new body was nothing. Less than nothing. So the clones were lifeless lumps of flesh and bone before Integration, and they had to be kept on life-support until they were put to use. What did it matter if it meant you had the chance at immortality? She had integrated eight times and was on her ninth life. Before Jac Ulster broke the Nine Life Rule to stay with his Cara, this would have been considered her last life, but she had no desire to give up now. All the changes that were taking place in New Atlantis made it a place of unlimited potential. They had new citizens from a variety of backgrounds, they had children and they were regenerating their ecosystems from the seeds from the past. It was a magical time to be alive.

That Luke couldn’t see all that; that he didn’t feel it… seemed like a form of blasphemy. Suddenly, he didn’t seem the larger-than-life hero she had taken him for. John Wayne wouldn’t have thrown his life away for nothing.

The hotel’s lady’s’ maid arrived at six to help her dress. It took quite a lot of insisting to get it through to the girl that she didn’t want her swan bill corset cinched up so tightly she could hardly breathe. Instead, she allowed just enough support to create the odd appearance these Edwardian women seemed intent on creating. To her they all looked as if they were top-heavy Barbie dolls, about to fall flat on their gigantic breasts. The aforesaid breasts were pushed into an oddly low position, like the unsupported bosom of a matron.

The layer-upon-layer of clothing she had to don seemed to go on forever and was heavily scented with violet water. The only saving grace was the delicate, silk stockings that were a pleasure to slip on.

When they had negotiated to a standstill over the different undergarments, the girl reluctantly helped her on with the oriental dressing gown that passed for the latest fashion. It was made of heavy, blue silk with a white border and belt and had wide cuffed sleeves which she hoped wouldn’t droop into her meal. The stiff lace collar started to chafe at her neck the moment the dress was buttoned up.

Then, for another half an hour, Eilish let the girl tease and crimp her hair into a Gibson Girl impersonation, with a swath of peacock feathers fanning down over the left side of her pompadour and reaching to the very edge of her face. Passingly, Eilish wondered if the feathers had been fumigated or whether she would start itching from bugs they carried half way through the meal.

Then came the makeup, to which Eilish again took exception, especially the little pot of ‘enamel’ that would make her skin as pale as a geisha's and she knew contained poisonous lead. Instead, she opted for a little rice powder, rouge and scarlet geranium petals rubbed across her lips. She refused outright the belladonna drops that would have dilated her pupils.

Earlier in the day, she had spent time having her fingernails manicured and buffed. Considering she wore gloves most of the time, this seemed an irrelevant addition to her toilette. However, one thing Eilish prided herself on was getting as realistic an impression of life in other times as she could. If that meant spending hours at a time primping mindlessly, then that was what she would do. It certainly beat reading Luke’s Penny Dreadfuls, at any rate. Of course, Varley, the Vampire had been replaced by more up-to-date literature after their shopping spree, and while she sat through the painfully dreary process of dressing, Luke lounged beside the fire in the sitting room with one of his books.

When she was ready, she left her bedroom to meet her companion. Luke’s double take at her appearance almost made her laugh. Even so, she was still angry with him after their earlier confrontation and so she wasn’t ready to let her guard down quite yet. She felt, in a way, as if she was fighting for Faith’s happiness.

When the maid had bobbed a curtsey and left the room, Eilish rested her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. ‘Well, what do you think?’

‘You look ridiculous, but probably the height of fashion. The colour suits you.’

‘Thank you, I guess. Are you ready? We are walking?’

‘Yeah, I looked at the map and this club’s just a block up and around the corner. As long as those pointy shoes don’t cripple you, it shouldn’t be a strain.’

‘I am getting used to the shoes. At first, my toes felt tortured. But I think they are numb now. I should be fine. Do not forget your bowler.’

Luke grumbled as he ran his palms over the pomade to flatten his longish hair and then placed the bowler on top, rakishly angled over his left eye. Then he saluted her with a wink and offered his elbow. With all the grace she could muster, Eilish bowed her head in response and took his arm.