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

Arthur. “I’m more than pleased to see you, and I have brought business your way, but I just don’t think I could cope ‘til the early hours.”
“The Ribblehead Inn is in the wilderness of Yorkshire, or had you forgotten?” said Henry. “This isn’t California, you now. The place closes at 11.00.”
“Oh that’s alright then,” said Arthur. “But I’m not going to drink a lot. When did you say the sports car should be ready?”
“In a few weeks time,” replied Henry. “I hope you haven’t pre-booked a flight to take home any large cargo.”
“No,” Arthur told him. “Can you let me know in advance when the car’s ready, so I can arrange to pick it up.”
“I’ll let you know in a few weeks,” said Henry. “We should have a final date by then. Actually, I was thinking you might like to bring Dermot along with you next time.”
“You don’t mind?” Arthur queried.
“Not really,” said Henry. “I’d quite like to meet him actually. I’d like to get to know the bloke, especially as he’s carrying a very important secret of ours.”
“You mean about the Interstellar Pilgrim?” Arthur queried.
“Yes, amongst other things,” emphasised Henry, before finishing his tea and looking up at the clock in his office. “Come on Arthur, when you’ve finished your cup, I’ll take you downstairs to see our new sports car.”
Arthur finished his cup and walked out the room, with Henry switching off the light and locking the door behind him. Henry then led Arthur through the passageway and down some stairs until they entered a large room, where the model of the sports car lay.
“Hhmm, my, my,” muttered Arthur. “Pretty snazzy, eh? What seems to be the problem in completing the model?”
“We want to make this into a new car,” said Henry. “We’re trying to adjust the engine and bodywork, so as no manufacturer can claim we’re copying their models”
“Yes, that is a bit of a problem, isn’t it,” said Arthur. “Do you think it will be ready in a few weeks?”
“Probably, but I wouldn’t like to guarantee a final date,” Henry replied. “These things are almost as important as manufacturing the car itself.”
“Have you thought about building a manufacturing plant within the building?” asked Arthur.
“I have thought about that, just in case someone wants to come and visit our premises,” said Henry. “Particularly as Top Gear are coming to see one of our cars.”
“What the sports car?” Arthur queried.
“That wasn’t what they arranged to come to view and test, but knowing the Top Gear team, I’d bet they’d like to drive a sporty car,” said Henry. “It may give us a head start over the other non-petrol cars they may view.”
“It looks rather plush inside,” said Arthur. “Can I get inside?”
Henry pressed his fob to unlock the doors, after which Arthur went inside to have a good look around.
“Is it powered by 6 large micro chips?” asked Arthur.
“7 actually,” said Henry. “We’ve given it another gear, but the principal is the same as our other cars.”
“Do they also supply power to the electrics and ventilation?” Arthur asked.
“Actually we’ve designed a new power supply for those parts of the car,” said Henry.
“Oh?” Arthur muttered. “Where abouts is the power supply?”
“Look up at the sun roof,” Henry said to Arthur.
As Arthur looked at the sunroof he could see a small box at the back of it, with a covered wire leading into the top surface and the frame of the roof.
“That stores solar-power,” Henry explained. “We had wanted to develop the whole car to run on solar energy, but we don’t get enough sunlight in this country, even in the summer.”
“I know just the place a solar powered car would be perfect for,” replied Arthur.
“Where’s that?” Henry asked. “Tenerife?”
“Definitely,” said Arthur, “It would be absolutely perfect in California, and Florida, too. We can suggest that to Frank when he sets up the new plant, in conjunction with the Governor of California.”
“I thought you said you were still waiting to hear about the idea?” queried Henry.
“It’s just a matter of time,” said Arthur, as he tried out some more of the electrics inside the car.
Arthur was about to switch on the CD player, when a ditty could be heard coming from the mobile phone which Henry had given to him.
“I think you’d better answer that,” Henry suggested as Arthur looked up at him
“Hello, Professor Arthur Wagstaff, how can I help?” he then announced on the mobile phone.
“Hi Professor,” said Ramondo on the other end of the call. “Can you tell the Major that Lucas and Madaly are checking the building, and are due to lock the premises in the next 10 minutes.”
“Oh, thank you for letting me know,” replied Arthur. “The Major’s here with me, if you’d like a word with him.”
“No, that’s okay,” said Ramondo. “If you and the Major are looking at our sports car for a little longer, can you let Lucas know you’re still in the building. I’ll be waiting for you both in my car.”
Arthur then looked up at Henry, telling the Major what Ramondo had said.
“Don’t worry just yet,” Henry replied. “I’ve got some keys for when we need to get out. If you’re going to buy this sports car, you’d better have a good look at it. Let me know when you’re satisfied with the car.”
“Oh I’ve looked at most of the interior and electrics,” Arthur told him. “If the engine is anything like my current vehicle, I’ve got a good idea how it all works. We may as well get going, particularly if the others will be waiting for us.”
“Oh, it’ll only be Ramondo waiting in the car,” Henry told Arthur. “Lucas and Madaly now reside here.”
“Where, in this building?” queried Arthur.
“Yes, on the top floor,” replied Henry. “We designed some separate rooms, with all mod-cons inside.”
“I suppose they act like security guards,” said Arthur.
“Precisely,” said Henry. “If they hear any disturbance they should call the police immediately. I’m not going to risk anyone breaking into the building and discovering our secrets. Not at any price.”
Henry then looked at his watch.
“While we’re here, do you want to discuss how much you’re prepared to pay for the car?” he asked Arthur.
“Not really,” said Arthur. “We can do that later.”
“Okay then we may as well get a move on,” said Henry, before he locked the car, led Arthur out of the room and locked the door. As they went down the stairs, they waved goodbye to Madaly, who was coming to lock the premises, before leaving.
On the way back to Ribblehead Cottages, Henry & Arthur discussed the new sports car and how much it would cost. They agreed this to be £25,000, though they both realised that it was worth more. They accepted that to market the car, it may be beneficial to sell this at a reduced price. In any case, it didn’t cost a lot to manufacture.
Arthur went along to the meeting at The Ribblehead Inn, the following evening. A few design amendments for the new sports car were agreed. After much debate, it was also agreed that the new brand of motor manufacturer would be entitled Major. Several suggestions were made as to the name the new sports car, which was eventually agreed to be called the Green Machine. Now all that was left was to design the new logo and gain recognised status for the new company. But could it all be done in a few weeks, on top of which the Top Gear team’ were due to visit the Skipton factory the following month.

The Green Revolution Begins

The sports car was ready the following weekend. Checks still had to be carried out, and after it was given the all-clear, it was arranged for Dermot to come and collect it the weekend after that. Arthur flew to Paris to meet Dermot, before they flew together to Leeds. Henry went to the airport to meet them, before taking them to Ribblehead Cottage.
While he was there, Dermot said how impressed he had been with Arthur's digital car. He said it was out of this world, expecting Henry to tell him all about journies through the universe. Henry noticed this however, and while they were talking, Henry stared at Dermot in a particular way. Dermot mumbled something for a second, but had by now totally forgotten what he was going to ask. After thirty seconds or so, Dermot had forgotten all that Arthur had told him at the convention.
Henry then began to discuss the price of the digital car, and suggested Dermot take the car for a test drive. Henry and Lucas went along with him, in case anything went wrong, but as expected, everything was fine. On their return, Dermot agreed to purchase the digital car, and wrote a cheque for £25000.
Dermot stayed at Ribblehead cottage overnight, and made good friends with Henry. Dermot did talk a lot, and often referred to the cosmos, which worried Henry a little, though he never asked Henry where he came from, or even mentioned the renegade asteroid.
Henry raised this with Arthur, concerned whether his ‘focus’ had worked, but Arthur said it was just Dermot’s character to chatter. Besides, he was employed by the European Space Agency, so was naturally interested in the cosmos.
Dermot didn’t stay long the following day, as he drove back to Paris. He would probably have had to go to Heathrow or Gatwick to get his new car picked up, so decided to drive instead. Arthur went along with him.

It took longer than anticipated to get the new company recognised, however. In the meantime, Arthur received a particular call on his mobile while at work one day.
“Hello there, is Professor Arthur Wagstaff available?” asked the voice on the other end of the mobile.
“Yes, thank you, Professor Wagstaff speaking,” said Arthur. “How can I help?”
“Oh hi, it’s Professor Frank Marshall here,” was the reply. “I’m sure you remember me from the convention last month. How are you getting along at work? Discovered any new planets lately?”
“Not really,” replied Arthur. “We’re currently trying to observe the recognised solar system, to see if any small asteroids may be lurking about.”
“Are you in search of that asteroid which seemed to disappear recently?” queried Frank.
“Yes as a matter of fact,” said Arthur. “I have noticed a tiny asteroid which does look rather similar orbiting within the asteroid belt, but we’re going to have to search the whole solar system as far out as the Kuyper belt. I don’t really think we can take this investigation beyond that point.”
“It sounds like you have a large job on your hands,” commented Frank. “Anyway, I rang to tell you that I’ve just heard from the Governor of California.”
“Oh good, good,” said Arthur. “What did he say?”
“He said he’d seen a web-site about a project to construct newly-powered cars,” Frank told him. “He couldn’t recall the web-site address, but could recall instructions to contact me on my mobile.”
“Do you know if that was the file I sent to you?” asked Arthur. “You know, the one with the car on the front, with pages of some of the car’s details attached.”
“I’m not sure if that was the one he was referring to,” replied Frank. “It seemed pretty similar, though I don’t think it was the same one.”
“Good, good,” said Arthur. “I think Henry and his lads must have set up a site of their own. Did you tell him that we didn’t have the funding to fully develop the idea?”
“Yes, that’s what I told him,” said Frank. “The