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

Doctor Procyon a call, to let him know where we’ll be.”
Henry then led them to his room. When they walked into his room, Henry locked the door, and looked around the room for any micro CCTV or listening devices that may have been lurking.
“Would either of you like something to drink?” Commander Ondichi asked Henry and Professor Schmidt, to which they each declined.
“Can we get a couple of things straight, first of all,” Henry then requested. “We must be careful what we say and who we refer to in public, as we don’t wish to arouse any suspicions.”
“That seems fairly logical,” acknowledged the Commander.
“We must not, therefore, refer to anything relating to the Interstellar Pilgrim, or any of it’s missions,” Henry urged.
“Not even in here?” queried Professor Schmidt.
“We can discuss your views on Mars in a confined environment with eachother, only, perhaps here or in my car,” Henry stipulated.
“Was that what you two were arguing about earlier?” asked Commander Ondichi, to which neither Henry nor Professor Schmidt said anything.
“Perhaps you may wish to explain how do you propose to inhabit Mars?” Henry then asked the Professor.
“Bombard the planet with organic asteroids,” the Professor replied. “This may create a heavier atmosphere, primarily of carbon dioxide. When Mars has enough of an organic surface, we can start to grow fauna, which will absorb the carbon dioxide and dispatch oxygen. That was how life formed on Earth, I believe.”
“It would be a long process, and would take thousands of years, if not millions,” emphasised Henry. “Besides, you won’t continue to live the same length of lifespan while the Interstellar Pilgrim orbits the asteroid belt.”
“Gentlemen, gentlemen – will you two stop arguing!” Commander Ondichi instructed them both, before referring to Henry. “Was there another point you wished to raise?”
“You may have gathered, everyone here has two names, which is why I’ve added the name Henry,” he replied. “Doctors and Professors are regularly used titles, but can I suggest that you adopt a first name. If we refer to you as Commander, people may think you’re on a military mission for another country.”
“I take your point,” said Commander Ondichi, who then pondered to himself for a moment or two. “You can call me Simon.”
Henry and Professor Schmidt acknowledged this, after which there was a knock on the door. It was Doctor Procyon, who was informed of the Commander’s adopted first name, and not to discuss certain matters in public.
“Now we’re all here. Do any of you have any suggestions for today?” the Commander asked the others, to which they said nothing but remained focussed at him. “It was my intention to see if we come across derelict buildings.”
“Do you wish to set up accomodation in such a place?” Henry queried.
“Yes, rather like you’re cottage at Ribblefield,” replied the Commander.
“Ribblehead, sir, the district is known as Riblehead,” Henry corrected him. “I’m afraid it won’t be as easy to rectify a derelict building to accommodate people, here in London.”
“Oh, why might that be?” asked Commande Ondichi.
“London is always busy, as you may have gathered,” pointed out Henry. “You will come across derelict buildings but they will be in largely inhabited areas. Any quick replication of the place into habitable accomodation will arouse suspicion.”
The Commander thought to himself for a moment or two, after which he queried how Henry went about sorting Ribblehead Cottage.
“Riblehead isn’t exactly in the middle of nowhere, but it has little habitation and what there is is spread over a vast area,” explained Henry. “Even the train station isn’t manned. My team and I monitored the situation over a few days before we went ahead to rectify the former derelict railway buildings.”
“And you didn’t arouse any suspicion?” the Commander queried.
“No, not really, sir,” replied Henry. “There may be the odd car or train going past every so often, but very few of the people within make the same journey every day. We checked that the buildings had been left derelict for so long, not even Network Rail were aware of them.”
“So what did you do in the end?” asked the Commander curiously.
“We checked the records online with Network Rail, Northern Rail, and even the local council, but the building didn’t seem to be registered anywhere,” said Henry. “As I understand it, there had been restructuring of the railways in previous years. This may be why neither company claimed ownership of the building.”
“And you don’t think that that sort of thing would happen in London?” queried the Commander.
No,” said Henry. “I very much doubt it. We could check council records for similar derelict buildings in London, but there may then be further problems.”
“And what problems might they be?” asked the Commander.
“All buildings will be registered against one council or another, as the owners are liable to pay a local tax to the council, in which case you’d have to register your ownership of the premises,” explained Henry.
“But you didn’t come across this with your cottage?” asked the Commander.
“No, but we registered the property in my name as the registered owner, otherwise the council may have had grounds to evict us,” said Henry. “Basically, we ‘updated’ council data online, showing the property was sold to me by Network Rail.”
“Do you think there may be better countries on Earth in which we could live?” the Commander asked him.
“That’s hard to say,” replied Henry. “In many respects, this country may have too many levels of authority. On the other hand, countries without the same level of authority are by no means as well adapted and can be over-run by terrorists or dictators.”
“I knew we’d be better off trying to settle on Mars,” commented Professor Schmidt.
“On the other hand again, the UK is probably one of the best countries in which to ‘get lost’ in,” added Henry. “Immigrants come here from all over the planet, and don’t get picked up by authority. If you can develop technology, the UK will welcome you, whatever nationality.”
“Like you, you mean?” said the Commander. “I suppose that would be one way of settling here.”
On that note, they began to discuss ideas, not that Professor Schmidt was interested. Soon it was time for breakfast, and the four men went downstairs to the dining hall, where they spoke to eachother and to some other guests at the hotel.
They then decided to get an early start that morning, and went all around the M25. They stoped off here and there, looking at possible derelict sites, but found that most of them were actually part of a farm or stables. This re-inforced what Henry had suggested, that all property in and around London was owned by someone, and that it would have be purchased legitimately. On their way back to their hotel that afternoon, they stopped at the Rayners Lane showroom, where Henry briefly introduced the others to some new employees, before going into the office to meet Lucas and Madaly.

The following day, Henry drove his colleagues around the north end of the M25, and then to East London, where there seemed quite a few dereluct buildings. There were ‘For Sale’ signs attached to them, though, re-emphasising Henry’s comments. Commander Ondichi was a little dissapointed, but was intrigued with London, and so the four of them took a train into the centre of the city. Henry then led the others around the West End of London, somewhere he’d often heard about but had never seen for himself. They had a snack and a few drinks, but found it rather crowded. They couldn’t discuss how the Commander could return to Earth, so they returned to east London where Henry had left his car. Henry then drove to Essex and Hertfordshire, but found they never went far before coming across another town or village, so eventually returned to the hotel at Uxbridge.
On Thursday, they decided to go elsewhere, and drove north along the A1 corridor, where they stopped at a few cities on the way. Once again though, all derelict buildings had signposts signifying their sale. Commander Ondichi noticed, however, that in the difficult financial climate at the time, very few businesses were buying these premises. This could be an opportunity for him.
It was at about 7pm that night, when Commander Ondichi rang Ramondo back at Ribblehead Cottage, to let him know he and the others were on their way back.
“Where are you at the moment?” Ramondo asked.
“We’re on the M62, approaching Bradford, so Henry informs me,” said the Commander. “You’re at the Cottage, aren’t you? I sense you’re in the bedroom.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said an alarmed Ramondo, as Doctor Gammazeta lay beside him. “I’m getting changed at the moment. We’re going to have a drink or two at the Ribblehead Inn, around the corner.”
“Is that all of you?” queried the Commander.
“Yes, that’s right,” replied Ramondo. “Philpott and Murray are there already. Doctor Gammazeta’s waiting for me downstairs. She says she’s looking forward to it.”
“Looking forward to going to the Inn, you mean?” queried the Commander, who wasn’t too sure what Ramondo may have been referring to.
“That’s right,” replied Ramondo, who felt as though he was in an inquisition, at which point Doctor Gammazeta got out of bed and knocked on the door. “I think the Doctor’s calling for me, you don’t mind if I go now?”
“No, that’s okay,” said Commander Ondichi, who thought he also heard the bedsprings on the other end of the line, though didn’t query this. “Henry tells me that we’ll meet you all in the Inn at about 9’. See you later.”
At that point, Ramondo turned to Doctor Gammazeta, who was standing at the door, naked.
“Did you hear any of that?” he asked her, as she walked back towards the bed. “I think we’d better get some clothes on.”
“I thought he said they won’t be back until 9 o’clock,” she replied. “That won’t be for another two hours yet. That gives us plenty of time to make hay, whether the sun is shining or not.”
“We can’t afford to stay here much longer,” Ramondo emphasised. “I suggest you go and make your bed in another room, while I get dressed.”
“Why are you in such a rush, all of a sudden?” she asked him. “Do you stand to attention for every little thing Henry tells you?”
“He’s my boss,” said Ramondo. “Besides, they may be here earlier than the Commander said. The roads are a lot quiter at this time of night. They could probably get here in an hour.”
“Well let’s hurry up then – why wait?” she said as she pulled the duvet back, after which she was unsure whether to laugh or be disappointed when she saw that his erection had stalled.
Quickly, however, she grabbed it and began pulling it up and down.
“Are you sure about this?” Ramondo asked her. “You may not get into trouble with Henry if he finds us here together, but I will.”
“Oh let yourself go,” she told him. “I’ll still have to face the Commander; if I go back.”
“What do you mean, if you go back?” Ramondo asked with surprise. “Don’t you want to go back?”
“No, not really,” she replied. “I don’t know if I want to leave.”
“Is that because of me?” he queried.
“To a large extent, yes,” she said as she went to sit beside him. “Since arriving here, there are so many more things I want to do, so many places I want to visit.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, as he put his arm over her shoulder. “You won’t be going far – only to the asteroid belt, beyond Mars. At the speeds the ‘Pilgrim and it’s crafts