Voyage in Time: The Titanic (Out of Time #9) Read Free

theory.”
    Elizabeth wriggled into her dress. “And atomic power?”
    “Yes.” He stood and brushed some lint from his pants leg.  
    “All of that is important.”
    Simon laughed. “You could say that.”
    “But all that stuff hasn’t happened yet. That’s World War Two—his involvement with Tube Alloys and the Manhattan Project. The people who are after him now don’t know all that’s going to happen.”
    Elizabeth turned her back and looked over her shoulder.
    Simon stepped forward and helped her fasten her dress. “This is where the dossier got uncomfortably vague, I’m afraid. Bohr’s a young man right now, but he’s already emerging as one of the leading scientists in his field.”
    “Right.”
    “Apparently, someone doesn’t want him to make this mysterious meeting on the 19 th . It’s possible that it’s the Germans, or someone else, who either wants to stop whatever progress he’s making—”
    “Or make him work for them?”
    Simon fastened the last hook and eye closure. “Possibly. World War One is still a few years away, but the seeds are being sown now. My best guess is that someone sees Bohr as a potential weapon-maker. They want him on their side or on none at all.”
    Elizabeth turned around to face him. “Better living through chemistry?”
    “Precisely.” Simon lifted a few stray strands of hair away from her face. “And if something should happen to Bohr now, the repercussions could affect the outcome of not one but two world wars.”
    “No pressure,” Elizabeth said with a grin. She took a step back. “So how do I look?”
    “Beautiful.”
    “And ready to save the world?”
    Simon smiled. “Aren’t you always?”

    Still having a little time before the lecture, they went downstairs for a light dinner, as light as dinner in 1912 England could be, and then set off toward Cavendish Laboratory.  
    Their hotel was nestled in the corner of a lovely commons in the middle of town. The sun dipped below the horizon and the sky was a bright palette of reds and oranges. The lush green lawns seemed to almost glow in counterpoint. Throw in a few spectacular 16 th and 17 th century buildings and it was the epitome of what Elizabeth thought of as England.
    “It’s beautiful here,” Elizabeth said as they walked toward the New Museums Site and Cavendish Laboratory, and they hoped, Niels Bohr.
    Simon hmm’d in response. “I suppose so.”
    “Suppose?”
    A few young men in the traditional academic dress of hood and gown hurried past them.  
    “It has its charms, but it’s no Oxford.”
    Elizabeth fought down a smile. It had been twenty years since he’d attended Oxford. Despite that, and the fact that the memories he’d shared with her of his time, there weren’t what she’d describe as overly positive, the sense of rivalry endured.
    Elizabeth looked around and couldn’t tell the university from the town. It wasn’t like UCSB or any college she’d been to in the US. There wasn’t a campus with all of the various departments. Cambridge was divided into dozens of colleges, sort of like Harry Potter’s houses, but they were each independently operated. Each college had its own coat of arms, gown and colors and nearly everything else. Not only that, but they were scattered all throughout the town of Cambridge. It was very confusing.
    “Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction?” She could hardly tell what venerable old building was part of a college and which was just a venerable old building.
    Simon glanced over at her. “I’m sure. I used to come here fairly often.”
    “To enemy territory?”
    His eyes slid over to hers briefly. “I had a … friend who went here. Evelyn.”
    Elizabeth nearly tripped, but managed to keep from falling flat on her face. Barely. “Oh,” she said in what she hoped was a noncommittal way. “A friend?”
    “A fairly good friend, actually,” Simon said.  
    Her jaw tightened a little. “Funny, you’ve never mentioned an