Bitter Oath (New Atlantis)

chapter NINE





Even though she planned to rise and remove her dress in a few moments, when she next opened her eyes the world was dark, and she could hear a wild storm beating at her window. Groggy with sleep, she sat up, and looked out at the impressive sight. The huge, grey waves battered at the cliff below, streams of white foam cast into the gale like ribbons. The dark sky loomed low with heavy, boiling clouds. Bolts of lightning, flashing bright as day, zigzagged down to meet the sea. An ear-splitting boom of thunder followed only seconds later. It was close, this storm, no more than a mile or so away. What would happen when it was overhead?

But though she had doubted the window’s ability to withstand the rage of a storm, she realised that the glass was unaffected by the gale-force winds and rain that beat at it. Another magical creation of this time? Was there never an end to what future man had wrought? If she lived here all her life, she would not know it all.

The temptation to do just that – spend her life here with Rene, exploring the wonders, was too strong. Now she knew he was no youth, but an ancient man, she trusted his feeling for her. She also marvelled at the thought that he had never been in love before. How could someone live so long, and not have known love?

How old was he? Lifetimes old. And yet, he could inhabit a body that was so young and beautiful it made her melt with desire. As she felt her cheeks burn with unwanted yearning, she climbed to her feet, still clad in slippers, and made her way to the bathroom. It was time to try out the water commode. She hoped it would be as efficient and clean as she imagined it to be.

Liv was standing by the bed, studying the garment Rene had found for her, when she heard the soft knock at her door. She went to open it, and was inordinately pleased to see Jane standing on the other side.

‘I just thought I’d check on you. This storm is pretty wild.’

Liv moved out of the way and gestured for the other girl to enter. ‘I just awoke. I think the thunder must have disturbed me. It is quite an impressive sight. I have never seen a storm this fearsome before. Is it always like this?’

‘I guess. I never thought about it. We have extremes of weather here. Weeks of sunshine and blue sky, and then storms like this will roll in and drench us. In a few hours it’ll have passed, and the sky will be clear again. I’ve been here since 233 – hmm that’s three years. It doesn’t feel that long, but in other ways it feels as if I have always lived here. Anyway, in those three years I’ve noticed that there is never much difference in the seasons. Summer is hot, but not as hot as it was back home. And winter is cool, but the sun warms everything up during the day, so it’s quite mild. I guess it would be called a temperate climate.’

‘Where is home?’ Liv sat down on the edge of the bed, and began to finger the fine fabric of the tunic Rene had selected for her. It was so soft it felt like silk, but when she scrunched it in her hand it didn’t wrinkle.

‘Sydney, Australia… ummm no. New South Wales. Discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770. I remember that much from school.’

‘Oh yes, I have heard of New South Wales and Cook. My grandfather’s friend, Sir Joseph Banks, took part in that expedition. My grandfather used to say that he was quite miffed that he missed out on that opportunity, but he was laid low with gout at that time. I met Banks several times.’

‘Wow!’ Jane exclaimed. ‘It freaks me out when I meet someone who has actually lived the history I read in books. I mean, I’ve seen a bit of it myself now, being a Jumper. But I’ve never gone further back than 1950. To meet someone so significant… wow.’

Liv liked Jane’s way of speaking. She liked the sound of Wow, as it captured just the feeling of shock and awe it was meant to convey. To her, this place was one of repeated Wows.

‘So you lived in the colonies. What was that like?’

‘Not the colonies when I was there in 1968. We became a federation in 1901 and a member of the British Commonwealth. Sydney was a lot different to what you would have known, and vastly different to here. If I start to tell you, Rene will slap my wrists again for blowing your mind.’ She gave a little laugh, as if a slap on the wrist from Rene would be amusing.

‘He would not actually punish you in such a way would he?

‘Good grief, no. I’d knock him flat if he tried.’

‘I beg your pardon? You lost me there. Knock him flat would mean to me that you hit him.’

‘Yep, that’s exactly what I mean.’ Jane grinned cheekily. ‘I am highly skilled at martial arts self-defence. I remember when I challenged Luke to fight me. Luke was a World War Two American Commando… um… soldier. He was insulted at the very idea of fighting a mere woman. I had him flat on his back twice before he took me seriously enough to try to hit me. He’s learned martial arts since then, and we spar quite often, but I can still beat him, if I set my mind to it. It’s my speed and agility that give me the advantage.’

Liv just stared at her in stunned silence, until Jane became uncomfortable, and dropped her head.

‘That seems unladylike to you, doesn’t it? I can imagine my mother would have thought the same.’

Liv was immediately chagrined by her own attitude. Jane had been a dear friend to her, and she lived by different rules and codes of behaviour. It was not Liv’s place to judge.

‘Does it not hurt to fight a man?’ she asked instead, trying to keep any note of condemnation from her voice.

‘I get the occasional bruise,’ she pulled up the hem of her skirt, and showed Liv a large bluish-green bruise on her upper thigh. ‘But I don’t feel it until later. They’ve got amazing salves here that will remove the pain immediately, and a bruise like this, in less than a day. I got that one just a little while ago. I’ve got a session booked with Luke once a week. Couldn’t miss it. I’ll have to put some salve on before I go to bed to take away the sting.’

‘And Julio doesn’t mind you being hurt by another man like that?’

‘Oh, he complains and threatens to cause Luke pain, but he’s also seen Luke after one of our sparring sessions, and he knows he usually sports worse wounds than mine. They are both rather old fashioned men, and feminism is still more a concept than a reality to them. Umm… feminism… the equality of the sexes. The right of a woman to be treated like a man. Luke was very unimpressed when he found out women went into combat.’

‘Women fought in battles? Alongside men? No, I am sorry, but I cannot believe that. We are weaker and smaller than men. It would not be fair or gentlemanly.’

‘I could tell you about war in my time, but Rene wouldn’t be happy. Just know that here there is no war or conflict of any kind. It is Utopia.’

Liv nodded her understanding. She knew that Thomas Moore had written of a perfect, peaceful society on a fictional island in the Atlantic many years ago. An island like this one. And she had felt that utopian sentiment reflected in this place from the very first moments.

It was reassuring to know there were no longer conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars. But what had Jane said about world wars?

‘This Luke was a soldier in a world war?’

‘The second, yes. The first was early in the 20th Century and they called it “the war to end all wars”. It wasn’t. They got a lot worse. Don’t let’s go there. I notice you’ve got a sleep tunic there. Did Rene find it out for you?’

‘Yes, after I had a fit of the vapours after our luncheon. I was going to put it on, but I fell asleep. I tried the commode – the toilette – and it is a fine device. I have not become brave enough to try the shower yet. I may start with a bath. Can you show me how to put these garments on?’

‘It’s dinner time. How about I get you into a gown, which is pretty similar, and do something with your hair. Then you can join Rene, Julio and I for dinner.’

‘Your Julio is here?’

‘Yep. I think he’s thinking of installing a big lock on my door before he goes home.’ Jane giggled, and shook her head when she noticed Liv believed her.

‘Just joking. You have to watch those two for a while to get what I mean. Honestly, ever since Rene got his new…’ Jane stopped, and looked embarrassed, as if she knew she had said too much.

‘New body. Yes, I know. Rene told me Julio was happy for you to be friends with Rene when he was an old man, but when he was reborn, Julio was jealous.’

‘Oh, good. I thought I’d put my foot in that one. So you are okay with him being nearly eight hundred years old? That still spins me out. I mean, Julio is two hundred or so, but nearly eight hundred? What would that be like?’

Liv felt her head begin to spin again. From Jane’s sudden look of distress, she realised she must be close to fainting again. Jane pushed her head down between her knees, and the spinning stopped.

‘It’s your clothes. You have corsets or something on, haven’t you? That’s why you keep getting light-headed.’

‘I am wearing short stays, as a matter of fact. What has that to do with my vapours?’ Liv looked down the front of her empire line gown, at her tightly cinched breasts, from her bent position.

‘It limits your lung capacity. You can’t breathe deeply. When something makes you anxious, you try to get more oxygen for fight or flight, and you can’t. ‘

‘Oxygen? Flight or fight? Jane, please, I am struggling with all this. Can you speak more plainly?’

Jane drew her to her feet, and began to lift Liv’s morning dress up over her head. Then she systematically began to remove the layers of her undergarments until she reached the stays.

‘Good god woman, how do you breathe at all!’ With quick, efficient fingers, Jane began to unlace the stays that bound her breasts tight, and immediately Liv felt relief. She drew in several deep breathes and sighed.

Then, while she was recovering, Jane continued to divest her of clothing, until she stood naked, her hands covering breasts and the triangle of curls at her nether region. Before she could become too embarrassed, Jane dropped the silky fabric over her head and showed her how the catches at the shoulders worked. Then she held out the strange, stretchy cloth, and showed her the holes for her legs. While Jane watched silently, she stepped into the garment and pulled it up, stretching it over her nether region to her waist.

‘Those are called undershorts. Men and women wear them. One size fits all. If a woman is particularly large breasted, or she is engaging in sports, she might wear a version of those stays you had on. But they are made from the same stretchy material as the shorts, and they just hold the breasts in place, they don’t cut off lung capacity. You’re smallish, so I think we can dispense with a bra. How does it feel?’

Liv looked down her body. The gown was not so different to what she had been wearing, it was drawn in under the breast and fell to below her knees in flattering folds. Although incredibly thin, the fabric was not transparent, so her modesty was retained. And, if she puckered the fabric just so across her chest, the outline of her nipples was hidden.

‘Now for your hair. Sit.’ Jane could be quite bossy Liv had noticed. But she did as she was told, wordlessly. In moments, Jane had her hair free, and she had gone to the bathroom for a brush. She ran the brush through her waist long curls and smiled.

‘This is so pretty. You’re a real honey blonde. Pity the curls will have to go when you start getting out. Fashion dictates that your hair must be straight. You can braid it down your back, if you like, but mostly women wear it loose. Mine is curly like yours, and Julio hates me straightening it. He likes to wind the tendrils around his fingers in bed.’

This was more information than Liv needed, and she blushed at the image of the golden princess before her, and the dark prince she had seen on her arrival, lying together, him playing with a piece of that bright, coppery hair. It was too intimate an image, and she turned her thoughts away.

‘Slip off those slippers. We go barefoot inside and wear sandals, again unisex – ummm males and females wear the same sandals – outside. If you get cold, there’s a stola of a slightly thicker weave you can throw around your shoulders. But I’ve never used one in the three years I’ve been here.’

Liv stood up, and looked down at herself. It felt indecent to have her ankles and calves on display in this manner. And to go bare foot seemed even worse. But she couldn’t deny the pleasure walking on the soft rug with her bare feet gave her. She wriggled her toes into the deep pile.

‘Come look,’ Jane ordered, leading her to the door that led to the bathroom. Once inside, the light illuminated the mirrored image of her. She looked beautiful! Not as beautiful as the young woman at her side, but far more beautiful than she had looked in her morning dress of pale blue water-silk, her hair worked tightly into ringlets in an attempt to soften the lines of her long face.

The glossy waves of hair, which now covered her shoulders, looked lovely, and seemed to frame her face perfectly, without artifice. She looked soft and feminine, in a way she could not remember ever looking before.

‘Rene is going to be gaga when he sees you. Julio will finally get what I’ve been trying to tell him in the last few months.’

‘What is that?’

‘That Rene has eyes for nobody but you.’