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

you add a few young apprentices?” suggested Arthur.
“Yes, I think that would be a good idea,” added Frank. "You are aware that if Gary and 'the Governor' back your project, it will be based here in California, by the way?”
"The thing is, if this all works out, I should come into some much-needed money, from which I can further-develop my own company's resources," Henry said to him. "We can then produce our own vehicles."
"Didn't you say you were considering bringing this to the attention of that Virgin guy?" queried Frank. "He should be able to support a project like this one."
"To be honest, the thing that puts me off that idea is that things take too long in the UK," said Henry.
"You know, you're not the first person to tell me that," Frank said to him. "On the whole, the figures seem okay, for a new business. Gary wants me to look over them, to get an idea of what he may face if he took on this project.”
“Do you think he will take up this project?” Henry asked as his eyes began to light up.
“I can’t say with any degree of certainty, but I think he may do,” said Frank. “What I will say is that if I knew how low this expenditure was, I may have invested in the project.”
“Where do you think the Governor of California fits into all this?” asked Arthur.
“Oh I think he’s behind this all somewhere, lying low for the moment while others assess the situation,” Frank told him. “However, after witnessing certain events over these past eighteen months I doubt I could ever be absolutely certain of anything anymore.”
“Are you referring to that asteroid?” Arthur queried with intrigue, to see what Frank remembered, and whether there may be any hint of what he’d told him at the convention a few months earlier.
Henry, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so intrigued, as Frank recalled the strange movements of the asteroid, that, now unbeknown to him, was the Interstellar Pilgrim.
“No, I don’t think I could take anything for granted anymore,” Frank muttered after he’d finished talking about the asteroid. “Not even that the Governor of California was the target of the attempted assassination at the convention.”
“Do you fancy a coffee?” Henry then asked him, trying to change the subject. “There’s a drinks machine over in the corner.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Frank then said. “There’s a café just across the road – why don’t I treat you two to a coffee, or tea if you prefer. We may even see Dermot and Gary coming back from their current stint.”
Henry and Arthur accepted Frank’s offer and went over to the café with him. There, they talked for a while and watched out for the digital car which Dermot and Gary were travelling in.
When they eventually returned, Henry went over to where they had parked the car, and invited them over to the cafe. Gary asked to be excused as he had other business commitments, but Dermot went with Henry to meet Frank and Arthur.
Dermot told the others that everything had gone well on his journey. The car had got up to 90 miles per hour, with capacity to go faster, and had performed well. He thought Gary had been impressed, as he dangled the keys in front of him. The four of them then began making their next plan.
“In the event of this project going ahead, I’d be prepared to put money into it,” Frank told the others. “Precisely how much, none of us know at this moment.”
“Do we have any idea of how much this will be?” asked Dermot.
“Henry has taken the trouble to print some copies of his current company’s expenditure,” Frank told the others as he handed a copy to each of them. “I’ve had a good look at this, and believe that this project will require at least twice as much money. Agreed?”
Arthur, Henry and Dermot all agreed.
“Now, if this were to go ahead, would any of you be prepared to put any money in?” Frank then asked the others.
The others all looked at eachother.
“Do any of you have any money to put into this project?” he asked them.
“Well, if it were to go ahead, and I’m talking hypothetically you understand, I would like to contribute something towards it,” said Dermot. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a great deal of my own money to put in.”
“I would like to contribute something towards such a project,” said Henry. “Before I commit myself, however, I’d like to first see how much I can borrow at this moment, what with the credit crunch.”
“How about you, Arthur?” asked Frank.
“Well, again, I don’t have a lot of money at the moment, though perhaps Dermot and I could take a stake in this between us,” he suggested.
“That’d be fine by me,” said Dermot.
“So looking at this, if we put 50% of the money into this project between all of us, what would you say if we contribute these sort of percentages?” Frank then asked. “It looks as if I will have to put 30% towards this myself. Henry, how would 10% sound for you?”
“That’s fine by me, providing I can get the money,” he replied.
“That would leave 10%. Would you two be prepared to contribute 5% each?” he asked Dermot and Arthur.
“I think I could muster that amount,” Arthur told him.
“That’d be fine by me,” said Dermot as he nodded in agreement towards his share. “How about your friend who came to the convention, Clint? Do you think he’d want to put something towards this?”
“I don’t know,” Frank said. “Maybe?” he added with a question mark.
The four of them then made a plan of action while they waited for Gary to come back. Frank copied Henry’s expenditure, and decided to double the workforce. The others were in agreement with this, as they were in increasing certain salaries, adding stock and resources. These measures, together with the increased overheads that came with them, increased the total expenditure to 30 million dollars. They then worked out how much this equated to in pounds and euros, so Henry, Arthur and Dermot could assess how much they were going to put into the project. Then, eventually, Frank received a call on his mobile from Gary.
“I’m afraid I can’t confirm any agreements have been made yet, but was wondering if I could borrow one of the motors this weekend?” Gary asked.
Frank mentioned this to the others.
“We don’t mind if you take the solar sports car,” he told Gary after he’d spoken to Henry, Arthur and Dermot. “We really could do with the digital car, as there are more than two of us here.”
“That’s fine,” replied Gary. “I had hoped you’d release the solar car. I need to demonstrate it to a few more people.”
“Anyone we know?” asked Frank.
“Like the Governor of California, perhaps?” added Arthur, to which Frank, Dermot and Henry all told him to be quiet.
“I can’t say just yet, except that it’s someone very important,” said Gary.
“You can come and collect the keys anytime,” Frank told him. “We’re in the café across the road from State Hall.”
“That’s fine,” said Gary. “I’ll see you soon.”
Frank, Henry, Arthur and Dermot all speculated that Gary was going to show the solar sports car to the Governor of California. They also speculated whether he was involved behind the scenes, as Frank had earlier thought.
Gary came to collect the keys about ten minutes later. Frank handed Gary a copy of the new expenditure he and the others had agreed upon, after which Gary said a final consultation was arranged with them on Monday. He offered to take them out for an evening meal, but they all politely declined. Frank took Gary’s mobile number, before they all went back to their motel.

Frank, Henry, Arthur and Dermot each spent much of the weekend speculating on whether the final consultation was just to rubber-stamp the project, who would sign up to it, and whether the Governor of California was involved in this somewhere. Frank already had enough money to put down on the project, but the others each had to look at their finances to see whether they could afford their perceived percentages or how much they would have to borrow from the banks. Then there was the question whether the banks would lend any money to them for such a project.
Henry thought about selling his own business, but it would probably mean that some of his staff would have to be laid off (not that there was a great deal of work there anyway). Perhaps he could take some of them with him, as they were involved in the project. On the other hand, perhaps Lucas and Ramondo could set up their own business. Then there were their partners, Madaly and Zebrina, and Gaspar, Gonchaves, Frickas and Robinson, too.
Arthur and Dermot thought they may be in a better position to borrow money from European banks, as the credit crunch hadn’t hit the continent as much as the UK and the US. The Euro was doing well financially against the dollar and the pound, too.
The four of them went out and about as much as they could over the weekend, to take their minds off the project for a while. However, Monday morning couldn’t come soon enough.
The four of them went to State Hall on Monday, where they met Gary in reception, who led them to a meeting room. Waiting there was Joe, a finance manager, and the PA to the state Governor. After formal introductions, Gary opened the meeting by explaining the project, before he referred the case to Henry, who was by and large, the creator of the project, if not the instigator. Henry wasn't sure whether a presentation was required, as most of those present knew about the project. However, as this was an official meeting which was to be minuted, he decided to put a presentation together.
The PA seemed interested in the presentation. Henry explained the benefits of his vehicles, and the potential for development, plus the possible financial benefits, which could materialise. Gary provided his full backing, and after a brief summary, he handed a copy of Frank's projections, which had now been increased to $10million, and contained details of the proposed contributions from each party towards the project. Gary explained the expenditure to all those present, and answered a few questions, before making one final request.
"Would you mind if we kept the cars you have demonstrated these past few days?" he asked.
Frank, Arthur, Henry and Dermot looked at each other, as they weren't too sure about this.
"We don't mind releasing the solar sports car," Henry then replied. "We need access to a vehicle in order to get back to Colorado Springs, so we would prefer to keep the digital car."
"I would like both cars so as I can arrange for them to be advertised," Gary told the others.
Frank, Arthur, Henry and Dermot asked for a short time alone so as they could discuss the request, and so went out of the room briefly. Arthur, Henry and Dermot could agree to the suggestion if they were given a plane ticket back to Colorado Springs, from where they would catch their return flights to Europe. Frank wasn't too keen on this at first as he wasn't due to go the airport, but the others persuaded him to request a similar ticket.
Now in agreement, the four of them went back to the meeting room and said they would accept Gary's suggestion in return for flight tickets back to Colorado Springs. Frank stated this to Gary but pointed out that they