While finishing touches were being put in place, Alice’s thoughts wandered to her family. Less and less now she thought about them as her new life took over. She must try to accept the possibility her memories were false, and those people, those children and grandchildren, were just the wild imaginings of a mind waiting to remember the truth.
Chapter 7
Patrick arrived at Alice’s suite with his usual punctuality. Sarah let him in, smiling, she closed the door behind her, leaving them alone.
Miss Ling creatively arranged tiny pearlised flowers over the lifted hair on Alice’s forehead. Around her neck, she placed the magnificent pearl and emerald necklace.
The dress, perfectly matching the colour of the pearls, draped in elegant folds away from one shoulder, a slender arm just peeping out from the softly folded sleeve, her other shoulder bare. The bodice tucked into a tiny waistline, showing off Alice's beautiful form before falling away in soft, delicate and gossamer-like folds. With the pearls and upswept hair, Alice's appearance gave her a softness and maturity she loved, infusing her with much-needed confidence for the evening to come. Fortunately for Alice's modesty, the tailor thoughtfully provided an underskirt to avoid revealing too much through the sheer fabric.
Patrick stood in the doorway, hands behind his back. He didn’t move. Alice was a vision. The colouring of her gown, her hair, her eyes matching the emerald green of the jewel in her necklace—to him, she was perfection. He always considered her beautiful, even at their first meeting on Saturn Station, when she greeted him in the too-large shawl, looking frail and bewildered. But now, as they’d become closer, each time he saw her, she took his breath away.
Patrick's usual grey had been replaced with a midnight blue dress-coat, two gold bands depicting his rank running over the left shoulder, the collar raised slightly and folded back to reveal a lace shirt. Exquisite embroidery followed the edge of the jacket and extended around to the tail. A frock coat, her mother would have said. Not a stray strand of hair—his ponytail set neatly in place—he presented a handsome and dashing figure. She'd forgotten the significance of the necklace and just felt happy to have him here to guide her through this evening.
“You are stunning, Alice. I am so proud of you,” he said, not moving.
“Thank you, Patrick, you look wonderful, my goodness—that jacket! It’s beautiful!” Alice looked down at herself. “I’m afraid I’m becoming a farm girl and Sarah and Miss Ling had to buff and colour it out of me!”
“They’ve only highlighted what is naturally yours anyway.”
He couldn't help himself. He stepped forward and took Alice in his arms, kissing her lightly on the mouth.
“Every time I see you, you are more beautiful.”
She studied his dear, handsome face. She hadn't seen him since he took her to his home, where for one day, she didn't have to fight off his advances and found him so easy to be with. He was special to her, but she didn't return his feelings, and it wasn't fair for him to be saddled with a cold fish.
"Enough of that," she stepped back with a smile. "I'm still nervous about this ball, so it's time we made an entrance while I have the courage."
She held onto Patrick's arm all the way down the Great Hall staircase. Her earlier calmness threatened to give way to jangling nerves when she saw how many people were gathering. There seemed to be thousands. She faltered and glanced up at Patrick, he placed his hand over hers proudly, nestling it protectively in the crook of his arm.
"Don't worry Alice," he whispered, his voice reassuring. "To most of these people, you are a dear friend to Principal Katya, few are aware of your origins. Be gracious, smile and don't answer questions if you're uncomfortable. Besides, you're acquainted with many of the councilmen. Just be yourself, and you will floor them!"
Alice took a deep breath. She might not floor anyone, but she also wouldn’t let anyone down, least of all herself. She could do this.
Principal Katya and Principal Ryan stood at the foot of the staircase. Principal Ryan, not a fair hair out of place, was dressed in the same style and colour as Patrick, but sported three gold braids over his shoulder, reflecting his rank. He looked up as Alice and Patrick descended towards them.
Without realising, he inhaled sharply. He hadn’t seen her since the incident in the auditorium and then, she’d been so pale and waiflike. A little sprite dressed in green, who affected him so oddly then, and since, managed to occupy his thoughts more than he would have liked. Now, she was transformed, her hair reflected copper and gold from the chandeliers, just the hint of a smile on her lovely mouth, a smile she directed to him when she saw he was watching. She’s beautiful, he thought, not realising he was staring. When he did, he swallowed and turned away to speak to his aunt. He couldn’t look at her. Beautiful didn’t go far enough; she was dazzling.
Alice saw Principal Ryan’s gaze linger a little longer than she would have expected and realised, for the first time, that for sheer beauty and depth, his eyes rivalled even Patrick’s. Deep set, intelligent, expressive and intensely blue, almost matching the midnight of his jacket. She’d not noticed them before, always too busy either being overawed or intimidated by him. But now, with a sudden boldness, she’d met his gaze and found, in that fleeting instance, a moment passed between them, something not present in any of their past encounters. She knew, somehow, Principal Ryan recognised it too before he turned away. Patrick and Principal Katya seemed unaware of this silent exchange.
When Alice and Patrick reached the foot of the stairs, Principal Ryan, out of respect for protocols, forced himself to look once more at Alice and engage in pleasantries.
“Dr Langley,” he inclined his head.
“Principal Ryan.” Alice noticed he turned his attention to acknowledge Patrick without waiting for her to respond.
“Dr Langley prefers Alice. It suits her much more, don’t you think?” Principal Katya told him, looking from one to the other.
Principal Ryan didn’t answer, just glanced unsmiling at his aunt.
“My nephew is dedicated to protocol, Alice, it is his first love. His own name is used so seldom these days, he has likely forgotten. We may have to dream up a pet name, you and I!”
Alice had to bite her lip to hold back a grin as Principal Ryan's mouth twitched in annoyance at being the subject of his aunt's dry wit. For Patrick, it always amused him to see Ryan brought down a peg by Principal Katya, so he grinned, and was rewarded with a glare from his commanding officer. A glare Patrick chose to ignore; he was off duty tonight.
Principal Katya lifted the sleeve of Alice’s dress and praised both the design and colour.
"You really did choose something pretty to wear, Alice child, this gown is delightful. And the shade is perfect. We are all very dull in comparison, not one here with a dress that reveals a bit of flesh!"
Patrick agreed and added a few comments of his own, making Alice blush with all the attention. Principal Ryan deliberately avoided becoming embroiled in the conversation by catching Statesman Evesham’s eye, extricating himself as politely as he was capable.
Alice took the opportunity to admire Principal Katya’s shawl, crocheted, but quite unlike any crochet Alice had ever seen.
“Did you make this Principal Katya?”
“I did not,” she said, pleased Alice noticed the shawl. “Remember the statesman who created patterns? It comes from those. She made it.”
The shawl was a stunning blend of coloured gemstones, and crochet styles only invented in recent weeks. To say crochet had crossed into another dimension was an understatement. No longer merely a craft for idle fingers—it had blossomed into both a science and an art form.
But Patrick, not at all interested in fashion and being a keen dancer, swept her away as soon as polite. Alas for him, Alice wasn't a dancer. Mary and Jane tried to teach her, but she naturally had two left feet. She might have muddled through with a less accomplished partner, but unsurprisingly, Patrick was a superb dancer. Alice tactfully requested s
he took a rest.
Stepping away to the sidelines, she scoured the hall for people she recognised, the Hennesseys were there, but were standing with a group of people she didn’t know, so she decided not to approach them. Several women, seeing Patrick without his partner, vied for his attention. Like flies at a barbecue, Alice grinned to herself.
A few of the Tabernacle staff exchanged pleasantries with her and one or two senior councilmen's wives, and husbands spoke politely. Dr Grossmith waved from across the room, indicating he would come across to see her soon. A statesman's daughter glanced her way as she danced past with Patrick, a little smile of triumph in her eyes. Alice was untroubled, and when she was sure no-one was watching, slipped out of the Great Hall to make her way to the steps to look out over the lake and enjoy the evening air.
Principal Ryan, caught up in what he considered a pointless conversation with Principal Ahmed from the Accessor, watched her leave.
"So, Ryan, you still have a few months," Ahmed was saying. "Surely you can spare Engineer Oakes for the Accessor's refit? We don't want to have to wait till you get back. We could push out more boundaries if we do it now, particularly with the new communications spreaders on the Significator. What do you say?"
Ryan half-listened, distracted by the sight of Alice disappearing out towards the steps. He raised his hand and started to move away.
“I’ll give it some thought, Ahmed. Would you excuse me?”
Ahmed bowed and turned to the others in the group; he knew there was little point in trying to detain Ryan when he decided a conversation was at an end.
Principal Katya, having moved up the staircase to watch the proceedings, saw her nephew leave and follow Alice outside. She skimmed her eyes over the crowd and located Patrick, currently diverted by Statesman Evesham's wife, dancing and laughing and no doubt being thoroughly charming. She looked back to where Noah had joined Alice. She would keep her own counsel on this. It was between Alice, Noah and Patrick. She didn’t wish heartbreak for any of them, but Noah was dear to her and Alice had become the daughter she never had. She turned away. This situation could not be directed by the World Principal, this she would leave to the universe.
Chapter 8
Alice looked across the lake, facing away from the Great Hall, her long, single ringlet glowing copper in the reflection of the lights. Arms by her sides, she stood completely still, her gaze towards the fountain. Ryan saw her look up at the night sky as the festivities faded behind them. She gave no indication she heard his approach, but responded to his presence without moving, almost as if she expected him.
“Principal Ryan.”
“Dr Langley.”
Women were never one of Ryan's areas of expertise, and now, he found himself at a loss how to engage Alice in conversation or—the thought occurred to him—even if he should. While he frantically thought of something to say, he walked over to the balustrade and half sat, half leaned. He faced her and positioned his hands in his lap, with the idea that in this pose, he might not be so large and intimidating, like he was in the auditorium.
“Are you not enjoying the ball?”
It was the best he could come up with, and she gave him a small smile.
“To be blunt, Principal Ryan, dancing isn’t my thing. Everyone is lovely, I’m welcomed, accepted, but I’ve never had time for social gatherings.”
“I understand,” he replied, thankful for common ground. “It’s the same for me. I overheard Patrick say he would dance every dance with you, so it’s a little surprising to see you out here. This is where I typically end up,” he looked from her to the lake. “That is, before making my escape as soon as I can.”
She glanced back into the Great Hall to where Patrick, unsurprisingly, was charming all the ladies. She laughed a little and Ryan followed her gaze. Patrick always stood out, even wearing the same dress uniform as all the other officers.
“There would be a lot of disappointed females if I hogged Patrick all evening,” she said, turning her attention back to him with a smile.
“You’ve become good friends?”
He congratulated himself on adopting a friendly, conversational tone—not that he had much practice in friendly, conversational tones.
“Yes, I suppose we have,” Alice nodded. “I value his friendship.”
"I know he's visited you here at the Tabernacle and your home."
Half smiling, she widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows, the expression on her face making him feel like excusing himself and returning to the safety of his discussion about refits with Principal Ahmed.
“What is that supposed to mean, Principal Ryan?”
Did it sound like prying? He hadn’t meant to pry. Well, perhaps he had. Ryan, you are a dolt, he mentally slapped himself.
“I apologise, Dr Langley, I wasn’t trying to imply anything. Principal Katya told me he came to see you.”
He'd never previously envied Patrick's ability to place people at ease, a skill he considered superfluous to a career in the military, but right now, wished he'd paid more attention. She said nothing at first, then looked sideways at him, tilting her head to one side.
“Principal Ryan, do you think I could do better than Patrick?” her tone was teasing, light, but he didn’t have the experience to recognise it.
He stood, considering leaving her to her solitude. This was going badly—he should stick to stellar maps. He'd acted out of character, following her out here, engaging her in conversation, just because he was struck by her beauty.
She laughed at his obvious discomfiture. The tables were turned. He made her uncomfortable in the auditorium, and now, she was paying him back, and enjoying it!
“Don’t worry Principal Ryan,” she grinned, “it’s not like that. He likes to think we’re more than we are. To me, he’s a friend, nothing else.”
“I beg your pardon, Dr Langley.”
She’d thrown him a lifeline, an opportunity to apologise. “I didn’t intend steering the conversation in the direction of your relationship with Patrick.”
“It’s OK. I won’t say anything,” she said, giving him the distinct sense she was laughing at him. Unlike their last encounter, she didn’t seem at all intimidated.
“So,” she said, her eyes found his. “What about you, Principal Ryan? Are you married?”
No-one asked this of him before, and the question came out of left field. She waited for an answer, her gaze fixed squarely on his face.
"No, I—I'm not. It never featured in my plans. I only ever wanted to be out there," Ryan gestured lamely, idiotically, towards the sky. "In space."
He cursed himself inwardly for the awkwardness of his reply; she'd think him a complete fool.
“You had stars in your eyes as a child?” she teased, laughing and looking up at the night sky. He was grateful she’d made nothing of his simplistic reply and laughed with her; suddenly, he felt quite comfortable.
“You might say so. I’m the only one in my family who took up a career in space.”
“You’re an astrophysicist?”
“Yes, but as I work in space and study planetary attributes—geology, weather and so forth, I’m referred to as a planetary scientist.”
“Are you excited about your next assignment?” she came and stood close to him as she spoke, so close her perfume reached him, the scent of flowers and spices.
“Excited might not be the word.”
No-one could ever describe Ryan as excited about anything.
“OK, breathless anticipation then!”
“Maybe not that either,” he smiled down at her, everything about her tonight was so unexpected, “but I do look forward to a better outcome than previously.” He resumed his half standing, half seated position against the balustrade.
“Ah, do you mean this time, you will avoid stick-wielding natives?”
"Yes, we handled it badly, but we are novices, Dr Langley. Unfortunately, we can't rehearse our first contact skills on unsuspecting civilisations, we hav
e to get the performance right first time, or we might make ourselves unwelcome."
“You might also make enemies. The A’khet would surely have warned you about hostile species?”
“Not in the sector of space we are heading into this time. A’khet didn’t pass through those regions. We’re flying blind. We’ve only mapped proximal space and some sectors of median space. This time we head out further.”
“Proximal space? I assume that’s charted territory?”
"Yes, we're pushing out the boundaries with the other three starships because in proximal and median space, they're faster than the Significator. We don't take up magnitude, or capacity until we are into far side median and threshold space."
“Why?”
“When magnitude is activated, faster even than the speed of light, it produces a wake. It’s very brief but the prototype, tested by over-zealous officials I might add, produced a wake that affected weather patterns on several planets. Saturn Station needed extensive repairs. An unexpected effect, it happened over 100 years ago, A’khet couldn’t offer a solution other than we don’t engage magnitude except in open space.”
“Such an effect might be viewed as a hostile act by another civilisation.”
“Indeed, therefore, we need to discover ways that show we are not hostile.”
“Well, the old Earth tribes, when a conqueror...”
“…we’re not planning on conquering.”
"…that's what the conquerors told all the people they eventually conquered, that they came in peace, gave fancy speeches and made promises they had no intention of keeping. But what I planned to say before you interrupted…"
Ryan shut up. It was a rarity for anyone other than Principal Katya to put him in his place.
“…the tribes welcomed them. An example would be American Indians; they welcomed the conqueror and traded with him. It wasn’t until that same conqueror took their lands that hostilities began. Australian aborigines suffered the same fate. And other nations.”
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