“I didn’t know. I thought everyone was equal.” This news came as a surprise to Alice.
“We are equal, but the source of true pearls no longer exists, the pearls on this necklace are ancient. We believe Statesman Patrick's mother is Elspeth Carmichael; her family can be traced to the monarchies of ancient times. If so, she would have owned them under endowment. Their existence falls outside the Assignment Accord."
Patrick’s ancestor’s monarchs? In many ways, it made sense, he had such a regal air about him, but it made Alice uncomfortable, knowing he’d given her such a rare gift. She didn’t want to be beholden to him. She put the pearls back in their box and snapped the lid shut.
“His mother’s family name is Carmichael, and you are both altogether too gleeful about him. He really is just a friend,” she said lightly, to cover her concern.
“Does he know that?” Jane gave her a sideways grin. “Rather a special gift for ‘just a friend’.”
Alice smiled mysteriously and looked at the registry,
“I will have some coffee and that…” she pointed to a cake, “with cream.”
The tailor matched the colour perfectly and constructed a registry image of the dress on a model with Alice’s build and colouring. It looked good on the simulation, but Alice knew that simply putting on something pretty didn’t change how you feel about yourself, so now she would have to work on her anxieties about the ball.
But that evening, to her dismay and after a wonderful day of shopping and horse riding, the blood came back. Alice wondered if she should ask Mary or Jane about sanitary towels, they were doctors after all.
“You must never discuss your pudendals and bodily functions with anyone Alice, do you hear?” — Alice’s mother.
Alice had visions of running out of panties again, so she asked Mary about the mechanics of cleaning clothes. She showed Alice a small room she hadn’t seen before, with several box-shaped structures.
“Your room has its own washer parrulee, Alice. See here?”
She pointed out a small oblong structure with a larger structure above, like an inverted ‘T’.
“Anything you don’t want or need to dispose of in your washer goes into here and on its entry into the parrulee—that’s where Substance drives the mechanisms—its disintegrated instantly. The upper part of the assembly takes anything you wish returned, cleans it and recycles it back to your washer.”
“Our things never get mixed up?”
“Never.”
Reassured she could get her panties clean and unwilling still to share her secret, Alice stuffed the soft disposable fibrelettes into her panties and prayed her period would be as short-lived as the first one.
Alice’s anxiety about the ball grew as it drew closer, despite her best efforts to overcome her fears. Even a long link with Amelia failed to quell her anxiety.
“I bet you’ll have a great time Alice. I wish I could see your dress. It sounds beautiful.”
“It is lovely. I’m just afraid of making a fool of myself.”
“I don’t know why you think such things. Relax, you’re among friends. If you feel a little overwhelmed, ask Patrick to walk outside with you.”
“Where would that lead, I wonder?”
"Don't underestimate him, Alice. You've told him to take it easy. He'll respect your wishes, and I'm sure he just wants to show you off."
“That doesn’t help, Amelia.”
Amelia grinned.
“I have some good news,” she said.
“Do you, what is it?”
“I’ve been assigned to Principality 19. I’m just across from you on the mainland. Would take me no time to visit.”
Alice squealed with delight.
“Come! Now!”
“I’m not actually there yet. Three days. I wondered why I hadn’t received orders and it was because they wanted me at the school there and the post was still assigned. It’s very exciting.”
"I'm happy for you. For me, too!"
“I have something else,” Amelia turned uncharacteristically serious.
Alice waited. It wasn’t like Amelia to lose buoyancy.
“Dr Clere checked in with me, you know, because of the kidneys. He asked about you.”
“Did he? He seemed angry when I last spoke to him. I think I’m a disappointment to him.”
"He referred to you as Dr Alexis Langley, but I pointed out you still call yourself Alice. He tut-tutted a bit. I just said you preferred to be known as Alice; then he said that with help, you would recover your memories. When I said, ‘what help', he said he'd assembled a team of experts who wanted to study the aftereffects of successful cryo-revival."
Amelia's blonde curls bobbed about as she shook her head, her expression was thoughtful and concerned.
“Don’t doctors keep anything confidential in this century?” Alice said. Until now, she’d forgotten her conversation with Principal Hardy back on Saturn Station regarding Clere’s intentions, she wasn’t overly happy at being reminded, even though she was grateful Amelia didn’t keep the truth from her.
“What? No, no of course not, you’ve been public domain for so long, they’ve lost sight of the fact you are now a person.”
"They have also forgotten I was never in cryosleep. It was a different method altogether; I was never revived because I wasn't dead and I was never frozen. Dr Clere is barking up the wrong tree."
"Good point. And one already made. Dr Grossmith and Principal Hardy are opposing him because, amongst other things, Clere is not a cryogenics expert. I know they've both placed objections with the Tabernacle."
“I won’t be agreeing to anything anyway,” Alice said defiantly, but she felt a flicker of fear—yet another discussion that should have included her.
Chapter 5
Alice loved the early mornings. Despite so much being automated, there were still many things to occupy her. Machines didn’t collect eggs, feed chickens or herd the goats for milking, nor could they cuddle a friendly dog or exercise a horse. These simple tasks in her daily life brought Alice immeasurable peace and pleasure.
One morning, first out of bed and already preparing breakfast, Alice saw an automatrans with military markings descend at the far end of the lawn. Walking out onto the verandah, she was surprised and delighted to see Patrick, out of regular uniform, hair flying free, shirt open and loose, jogging towards the house. Just like a film star, she thought, realising that had occurred to her before. As soon as he saw her, he waved.
“Alice!”
She waited for him to reach the steps, happy to see him but unprepared for a visit.
“Patrick, I didn’t expect you until the ball.”
“I’m afraid I was unceremoniously ordered off the ship by Principal Ryan.”
“What on earth did you do?”
“Too much!” he laughed. “Ryan insisted I take a break, sensibly to be honest, so I slept for a few hours then came here to take you to meet my mother.”
He stayed at the foot of the verandah steps, and she looked down at his hopeful face, silently willing her not to refuse, but given the history of the gift he'd given her, she hesitated.
“I’m not sure about meeting your mother, Patrick. I’m happy you’re here but can’t you just visit awhile and then go without me?”
“Not on your life, Alice.”
He took the verandah steps in one stride, scooping her up in his arms and kissing her quickly on the forehead, depositing her back on her feet before she could protest.
She sighed, some display of affection was inevitable.
"Jane and Mary aren't up yet. They were out at the theatre last night, and I'm making breakfast, can we at least have breakfast before we go?"
"We most certainly can; it's late at night at my home, so we have to wait a few hours anyway. I'll show you on the registry if you like?"
Alice showed him into the house, finger on her lips to warn him about making a noise and waking the aunties.
He sat in front of
the registry and whispered a few coordinates to the responder.
“That’s my home,” he said and pointed to the image, then he pulled her down onto his knee to show her his ‘house’. Seeing it, she forgot to wriggle from his grasp.
“That’s not a house, Patrick, that’s a castle!”
“It’s a baronial hall, Alice, not too many castles these days. It’s been in my mother’s family for generations and not as grand as the registry illustrates, it’s converted into apartments.”
“Your mother is related to royalty, isn’t she?”
“My mother is descended from royalty, Alice, we don’t have royalty now.”
Jane came out of the bedroom and Alice wasn’t quick enough in jumping up from Patrick’s knee. Jane beamed at the sight of them together.
"Oh! Auntie Jane, this is Statesman Patrick," Alice's cheeks flushed as she got to her feet, pushing Patrick's hands from her waist. She looked on as Patrick reduced Auntie Jane to a quivering mass of girlishness, kissing her hand and bowing and making a fuss about her home and gardens. Alice knew how she felt, she'd experienced it herself the first time she met him. A few minutes later, Mary joined them, his effect on her no less entertaining. Whatever it was that could charm a woman married to another woman, well, Patrick had it in spades.
As expected, Patrick's cheerfulness and anecdotes made breakfast a jolly affair; the aunties were completely won over. Patrick told them of his plans to take Alice to visit his mother.
“Of course, you must go, Alice. Statesman Patrick’s homeland is beautiful,” Mary urged, not noticing Alice’s reticence.
“I mentioned to Statesman Patrick,” Alice knew her argument sounded weak. “I would prefer to stay here today, his visit is a little unexpected.”
“Oh, well of course, whatever you say, I just thought it an opportunity for you to see something of your new world, we would love to know what you think.”
For once, Patrick stayed quiet. Mary Greer was doing a better job of manipulating Alice than he could.
Alice knew when she was beaten and found herself agreeing. Patrick, unsurprisingly, was delighted.
“You’ll love my mother, Alice. She’s keen to meet you.”
Oh, gosh, Alice thought.
Jane and Mary stood on the verandah as Patrick and Alice headed towards the automatrans.
“Did I speak out of turn, Jane?”
"You might have, I don't know. Alice didn't seem overly keen to go with him, but I'm not sure. She was sitting on his knee when I came out of the bedroom."
“Was she? Then there must be something more than just friendship. I wonder why she hedged about going? Perhaps it’s her shyness. In future, I’ll stay out of it.”
Jane gave her a look that implied complete agreement. Mary huffed a sigh.
“Yes. She may not be ready. It’s early days.”
The automatrans was the swiftest of all vehicles available outside of a spacegoing vessel. Alice had only travelled in the Tabernacle automatrans, but Patrick told her that military vehicles could move hundreds of times their speed, but only out in proximal space and beyond. For most planet-wide trips, he explained, an automatrans reached a very low orbit before engaging limited magnitude. Destination coordinates were programmed. He showed her.
“It’s as simple as using any registry, Alice. We are heading for Principality 17, so I select 17 and enter the coordinates, 03.53. If I didn’t know the heading precisely, I would enter latitude and longitude and a gridline reference and a name. I did that today to make sure I landed in your garden,” he added with a grin.
“It’s very clever, Patrick. I came here on an automatrans, it was odd speeding upwards away from Earth vertically. We left the Tabernacle in the evening and arrived here as the sun was rising, but it took less than an hour. Mary said I’ll get used to time zones the more I travel.”
“You will, it will be early morning at my home, so we’ll have two breakfasts today if that makes sense!”
“It’s starting to, Patrick,” she laughed. “I spend time on the registry, learning new things, but I always end up looking at buildings and history, they’re my favourite subjects. The technology lessons aren’t so interesting and absorbing them isn’t coming quite so easily.”
“Give it time, Alice, have fun learning. I do believe though if history and architecture are your interests, the registry doesn’t offer as much as visiting the sites themselves. Our ability to travel quickly over long distances ensures the heritage of the world is easily available.”
“I know, I’m just a bit nervous about exploring.”
Despite Patrick’s assurances his home was not as grand as the registry displayed, Alice had to disagree. It was grand. Spectacularly grand. Alice thought of the little three bedroomed house she grew up in Brisbane—dilapidated, old, she would never have taken someone like Patrick to see it. But this? She glanced up at him, he was gauging her reaction. He wanted her to like it. And she did. In fact, she loved it.
“It’s beautiful, Patrick, I can’t believe that something this ancient still exists.”
Alice felt her new interest in architecture stirring as she took in the grey stone and square lines of the building. Three stories high, the roof of the hall was adorned with small carved battlements, Alice guessed the original defensive battlements were probably damaged at one time in history and replaced with these, more decorative but still aesthetically pleasing adornments. Half a dozen chimney stacks were set out along the length of the hall, and every window was set back under a hooded arch, typical of Celtic architecture.
“There’s been some changes to it through the ages, Patrick?”
"You noticed that?" he smiled. "Yes, this façade is as it would have appeared in the 16th Century, although the surroundings would have been vastly different. The building’s exterior is maintained carefully to preserve its appeal, the rear of the hall has unfortunately succumbed to time and so has needed repair. Inside, we still have many of the original features, including the limestone fireplaces, which are enormous!”
“I recognise some of these styles from my studies on the registry. What’s the history?”
“The entire estate was a bequest," he said. "A Carmichael was mistress to one of the Stuart kings; she gave birth to a son, John, we believe the estate came into the family after the king declared himself Lord of Ireland. There are a few old documents that suggest John used the surname Carmichael, but he died in his thirties, we don't know a lot about him."
“The hall must have seen so many changes, wars, famines, good times, families. If only it could talk!”
“Well, with my family, I’m not sure that would have been a good thing! But you’re right, much has happened in history since it was built. The hall dates from the early 16th-century at its foundations, the western side, where we live, is part of the original building. As you point out, there’s a mix of styles because it’s undergone extensive modernisation and renovation over the centuries—some just to stop it collapsing into a pile of rubble. There’s a ruin of a castle built in the 12th-century on the grounds,” he pointed further up the hill. “The estate was confiscated by the Roundheads in the 17th-century. They burned and looted the castle—it's just a few stones sticking out of the ground now. The Halla Barúin, this baronial hall,” he inclined his head towards his home, “is all that’s left, we don’t know why it was spared.”
It's wonderful," she said, and she meant it, glad now she'd agreed to come. She felt honoured to be invited to this stately home.
Patrick’s mother lived in an apartment on one side, a second apartment accommodated his sister, along with her husband and son. The rest of the ancient building acted as halls of residence for aptitude students in agricultural sessions at the school. Considering the number of people residing here, it was surprisingly quiet and peaceful. The gardens were extensive and expertly tended. Apart from a few birds, Alice didn’t see any animals, not even a dog.
Elspeth, Patrick’s charming and beautiful mot
her, welcomed her with enthusiasm; she’d been intrigued to meet the woman her son held in such high regard he’d requested some of the Carmichael’s legacy jewels to have fashioned into a necklace, and such an urgent request it had been! She’d longed for the day when her son’s heart would be so captivated, and had responded immediately to his plea—dispatching the precious gems to Principality One’s city in all haste— leaving Elspeth curious and excited to learn about the mystery woman.
She insisted Alice use her Christian name and forget all the doctor/statesman nonsense. Patrick’s sister, Eileen, as beautiful as her mother, greeted her with a hug. Eileen’s husband, Corbin, a statesman to Principality 17, was every bit as welcoming, as was their son, Edmund—handsome, confident and outgoing and six months from aptitudes.
Their apartment was only slightly less grand than the exterior of the hall if she ignored the oak-panelled walls and chandeliers, and the enormous balcony that was laid out for breakfast. Elspeth insisted Alice sit beside her and tell her ‘everything’ about herself.
It hadn't occurred to Alice to ask Patrick if he'd said anything to his family, and for a moment she couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, she looked at Patrick, an unspoken plea for help in her eyes.
“As I said, mother,” he said, seeing Alice’s hesitation. “Alice and I met when she returned to Earth on the Significator after a considerable time on Saturn Station. She still has long-term amnesia, so ‘everything’ might be a tall order.”
“That’s all right, dear,” his mother said. “Now Alice, I know you live in the Calamities in Principality 19, how are you finding it?”
Alice told them about the farm and the views and the animals and the moon making steps across the sea. They asked questions about the aunties, not realising they were a new addition to Alice's life. Patrick's family were lively, interesting and kind, just like Patrick.
The Afterlife of Alice Watkins 2 Page 4
