The Twins Paradox by Alan Gasparutti (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

to help fund the manufacturing of it.”
“What, do you think he’ll pay for the necessary men, machinery and manufacturing plants?” queried Arthur.
“Possibly,” said Dermot. “As long as you sell the idea to him, and guarantee him a cut of the profits.”
“So it boils down to money again,” commented Arthur.
“I’m afraid so,” said Dermot. “Money may be route of all evil, but it does have it’s benefits. As it happens, that’s probably the easy bit of the equation.”
“Why?” asked Arthur. “What else do we have to do?”
“Sell the new car to the American people,” Dermot explained. “They aren’t exactly the greenest society in the world, and are the world’s worst polluters. The thing is, if we can sell this idea to the American people, this should catch on elsewhere. That’s another reason why we need the support of the Governor of California.”

Frank and Clint had other questions on their minds, in the meantime. They decided to go to a small, quiet, restaurant on the outskirts of town, which they noticed when passing earlier in the day.
“What did you think of Arthur?” Clint asked his colleague. “Do you think he is who he claims to be, or do you think he may be just an eccentric old crony?”
“Well he is a professor of the European Space Agency,” Frank replied. “Beyond that, I can’t really be sure? What do you say?”
“I’m not really sure either,” said Clint. “He looks too much like one of us to believe anything else.”
“We shouldn’t expect all beings from outer space to be short, green and with pointed ears, though,” Frank emphasised. “We’ve got to put that sort of image out of our heads.”
“Yes, but do you seriously believe there are people in outer space?” asked a doubtful Clint.
“Oh indeed I do,” said Frank.
“Do you think man can evolve, leave Earth, and come back again another day?” queried Clint.
“I certainly think it’s possible,” Frank replied. “Think for a minute, the oldest fossils of man are over 2 million years old. That’s how long it’s taken for man to evolve into what he is today.”
Clint just looked at Frank inquisitively.
“Arthur claimed that his ancestors left Earth around the time the dinosaurs became extinct, 65 million years ago,” Frank said to him. “Don’t you see, if man can evolve in two million years, he could have come and gone thirty times over. Perhaps earlier man may have become extinct himself, through pollution or global warming.”
“I suppose even if it took another million years for Earth to revert back to it’s original structure and atmosphere after global warming, man could still have seen the planet on twenty different occasions since the dinosaurs went their own way,” added Clint.
“Absolutely,” agreed Frank.
“But do you really think we are just one of a number of human races to have evolved on Earth?” Clint questioned.
“No, in actual fact I don’t,” answered Frank. “What I do think is that we perhaps don’t know as much about our planet and it’s history as we sometimes like to believe. We must also consider that though man has existed for two million years, 99.9% of his development has occurred in the past ten thousand years.”
“And I suppose over 90% of that development occurred in the past two hundred years or so,” added Clint.
“Exactly,” said Frank. “That’s why I can accept some of the things Arthur told us. What I find awkward to accept is a ship traveling through space at nearly light speed. And not just any space ship, but a whole asteroid.”
“I don’t have a calculator on me at the moment, Frank, but how much is the speed of light in miles-per hour?” Clint queried .
“A little under six-hundred-and seventy million miles,” Frank told him. “That’s about a quarter of the way to Neptune.”
“Geeeeeee!!!” said Clint. “So a space ship traveling at the speed of light could get to Neptune in 4 hours.”
“Just over,” said Frank. “The other thing that fascinates me is that motor of his. If we can keep him on our side we may be able to develop the next big revolution.”
“Do you think that could be produced en-mass?” asked Clint.
“I don’t see why not,” replied Frank. “The problem is selling the idea to America. This sort of invention will have to come from somewhere new. I can’t see any major motor manufacturers taking up the idea.”

The next morning, Frank, Clint, Dermot and Arthur met outside the conference centre. This was due to be the final day, though that would depend on how much the conference would get through on the day, following the abandoned one a couple of days earlier.
Frank, Clint and Dermot were interested in how Arthur was going to inform the Governor of California of his new vehicle, and wanted to chip-in themselves.

“Don’t worry too much,” Arthur told the others. “I know how I can get a message across to the ‘Governor.”
“How’s that?” asked Clint.
“Oh, Arthur has his ways and means,” commented Dermot. “Don’t you, Arthur?”
Arthur simply smiled and said nothing. He had thought about telling them he would use his ‘force’ to get the message across, but as there were other people waiting outside the conference centre, he thought better of it.
The doors to the conference centre were soon opened. Frank, Clint, Dermot, Arthur, and all the other people who had been waiting outside, now went to take their seats. While the audience were in discussion, Arthur explained quietly what he was going to do.
“You’ll have to be careful,” Frank told him. “We don’t want to arouse any guard’s suspicions. If they get wind you’re up to something, they’ll have you.”
“And we wouldn’t want that,” added Clint.
“You’d better make sure you get the ‘Governor at the right moment,“ added Dermot. “You won’t want to make him seem as though he’s lost or in a trance, or peole will become concerned.”
“Trust me,” Arthur just said to the others
Just then, a couple of heavy coughs could be heard into a microphone.
“Good morning ladies & gentlemen,” announced the Governor of California. “Please take your seats for the final day of this year’s International Astronomers Convention. We’ve decided to withdraw a couple of items from the agenda, in an effort to ensure this is all completed on schedule. If anyone would like to raise any of these items, this may be done under the final item, Any Other Business.”
The Governor of California then pointed to the conference screen, which had the amended agenda. Arthur was focusing on the ‘Governor, ready to make his next move, but felt the moment wasn’t quite right.
“So with no further ado, I’ll hand you over to NASA Professor-in-Chief, Dr Graham Ferguson,” the Governor announced, before leading a hand-clap as Dr Ferguson approached. It was now that Arthur ‘read‘ the names, addresses and telephone numbers of Frank and Dermot to the Governor, and told him to consult them about a new, green and revolutionary form of transport.
Briefly, it appeared that the ‘Governor was applauding Dr Ferguson a little vigorously. Arthur was trying to finish his message to the ‘Governor, when Dr Ferguson came across his view to pick up the microphone. This broke Arthur’s ‘hold’ on the ’Governor, and he didn’t manage to complete his message, missing probably the most important name & number of all, his own. Arthur was disappointed, but perhaps there may be another chance to catch the Governor of California’s attention before the conference ended.
Frank meanwhile, unaware that he would hear from the ‘Governor in the near future, had noticed that one of the items taken off the day’s agenda was the ex-new moon, Jenna. Arthur hadn’t really noticed, though would have been relieved about this, but Frank had wanted to discuss it’s disappearance.
This was soon forgotten though, as the future of space travel was raised. Dr Ferguson introduced NASA’s future plans to the audience, before he called some other eminent scientists to discuss their ideas on space travel, Dermot among them.
That lunchtime, Dermot and Arthur went to dine at the conference centre bar, while Frank and Clint went for a wander outside. They met up again after lunch, by which time all items on the agenda had been completed, which left time for general questions and discussions.
Several of the audience gave their verdicts on Arthur’s comments a few days earlier. Most disagreed with his views, but some said they could see where he was coming from, and felt his comments should be given full consideration. Frank put his hand up a couple of times too, but didn’t get much attention.
“What’s your query, Frank?” Clint whispered to him. “Perhaps Dermot or Arthur can raise it for you, as I’m sure they’ll get more attention.”
“I can’t say too much – it’s personal,” Frank replied.
“How personal can it be?” Clint asked him.
“It’s about Steve – you remember, Steve de Pierri,” said Frank. “I’d like to know what happened to him, and how he is.”
“You can’t ask that,” Clint told him. “If you really want to know, why don’t you ask Robert Langman one day. Besides, someone’s already tried to get rid of you.”
“And failed,” Frank replied. “There’s no-one here to get me now.”
“Not now maybe, but what about tomorrow or next week,” Clint quietly emphasised. “Who’s to say someone else won’t try something similar? And Arthur won’t be around to save you next time.”
“Is everything okay?” Dermot turned around and asked. “Is there anything you’d like me to raise on your behalf?”
“No thanks,” Clint jumped in saying, ahead of Frank.
“As a matter of fact, there is something I’d like to raise,” Frank then said a few moments later. Clint turned around as though to wash his hands of what he was afraid Frank would say.
“I’d like to ask about the disappearing moon, Jenna, thanks,” said Frank.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” replied Dermot. “Especially now it’s been taken it off the agenda.”
“All the more reason to raise the matter now,” said Frank.
“I’m sure someone else will raise this sooner or later, don’t you think?” Dermot said, as Clint and Arthur agreed. “Let someone else raise the matter, let them take any possible attention away from you.”
“Like you, you mean?” Frank queried.
“I don’t think I’m the right person to divert attention away from you,” whispered Dermot.
Sure enough, the next question was indeed about the disappearing moon, or should that be asteroid. All Dr Ferguson was prepared to say was that NASA had been unable to trace the asteroid since it’s disappearance. Members of the audience debated as to how it had disappeared, some suggesting that it had imploded abnormally, while others thought it may have broken up into little pieces while under the influence of Earth’s orbit. Arthur knew otherwise, but his lips were sealed. Frank suspected what had really occurred, but he could say nothing before another member of the audience raised a different question.

By the time the conference ended that afternoon, the four of them were all a bit worn out. They all agreed to meet up later that night, however, to discuss other matters, before they all went their own ways. Conveniently, they went to a small, quiet, country restaurant a little out of town.
“So Arthur, did you manage to get through to the Governor of California?” Dermot asked.
“Yes thank you,” Arthur replied. “I didn’t manage to get everything across, as Dr Ferguson got in my way and broke up my rhythm, so to speak.”
“So what did you tell him?” Frank asked.
“I gave him some names, addresses and contacts,” Arthur told him, as he took out a pen and paper, and wrote the details