The Berlin Principle (Altered State Book 1) by J. G. Jenkinson

Author:J. G. Jenkinson [Jenkinson, J. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vulpine Press
Published: 2022-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

Malta, 2035

By the time the Herev rounded the Rock of Gibraltar Olga was keeping her own watch.

She could hand, reef and steer in all weathers and she was beginning to grasp the rudiments of celestial navigation. When there was halyard to fix, she lay aloft like a monkey, flying up the rigging without fear.

Sailing was not all she had learned, but it felt like it, with the other new skills she seemed to be discovering old friends; forgotten talents and muscle memories that simply could not exist. When she sparred with Yael, handling herself like she had been fighting her whole life, she could not explain it. Ruth’s weapons felt familiar in weight and her fingers knew just where to find catches and levers. Sixteen hundred miles of sailing had transformed her, shown her – reminded her – who she could be, and under the careful stewardship of her crewmates, it had armed her with some of the skills she would need to travel back in time and save the world from the evil of the Reich.

Yael and Olga became friends, although it was much harder for her to trust anyone since Frieda had betrayed her. She dreamed of Altstötter often. Dark, vivid dreams that left her lying in her berth sweating and terrified, until Yael would come in, lie down next to her and hold her while she found sleep again.

Olga started to open up to Yael soon after setting sail, confiding in her. She spoke openly about her dreams since she had read the distressing report on Rudi and his family. She told her that she felt shame over the joy her newly discovered memories brought her. Of the dreams that she had of Rudi and her time in East Berlin, some were about working on the time machine and others about their escape. The idea that she could handle herself like that excited her.

“I can’t explain it, I… I think I love him,” Olga bit her lip, ready to be scalded for her foolishness, only to find that Yael was smiling patiently and nodding gentle encouragement. “I feel like I would do anything for him, I know it sounds stu—”

“Let me stop you there, Mami, love is never stupid! Love is the strongest thing you will ever know. Love conquers armies and topples empires.” Yael looked away briefly as if she were somewhere else, with someone else. But she turned back to Olga and smiled wickedly, “What else do you remember?”

Some dreams were sexual, and she giggled with embarrassment when she told Yael about the day they had spent making love at the Müggelsee or the way even the memory of Rudi’s touch made the hairs on her skin stand on end.

“Don’t be ashamed Olga, that day is a beautiful, precious memory and you should treasure it and never let it go.” She took Olga’s hand and looked her in the eye. “I will do everything I can to get you back to him.”

Yael told Olga about

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