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

do you come from? I mean, you don’t seem very local to this place.”
Henry wasn’t too sure what to say, but decided to say he was from Yorkshire. After all, that’s where he’d been living for the past couple of years.
“You don’t sound like a Yorkie’ to me, either,” Brendan commented.
“Ahh, we don’t all talk like Wallace & Gromit up in Yorkshire,” replied Henry. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, to be honest, and I know a few people who feel the same. ‘You get owt for nowt in Yorkshire’,” he then said in a Yorkshire accent, to try and throw Brendan off of any scent he may have picked up.
“Perhaps you ought to come to Kerry, one day,” said Brendan. “It’s pretty much the same, though we have bigger mountains – proper mountains, I mean.”
“The Yorkshire Dales are mainly limestone country,” explained Henry. “All the rocks have been worn away. It’s full of pot holes – some large enough to land a space ship!”
“You don’t strike me as someone who abseils down pot holes?” queried Brendan.
“It’s not really something I’d fancy, to be honest,” admitted Henry. “I quite like walking up the peaks, though, to pass the time away – what little spare time I get to myself, these days.”
“I know what you mean, I know what you mean, I rather like rambling myself,” said Brendan. “Tell me, you actually designed the turbine, didn’t you?”
“Yes I did,” said Henry, gloating a little in the knowledge that the turbine was now working. “How is your turbine in Kerry operating?”
“So far, so good,” said Brendan. “We haven’t encountered any problems as yet.”
“Did you design that turbine?” Henry then asked.
“Oh no, I was just the Planning Manager for the project,” admitted Brendan. “I think someone at the council designed the turbine.”
“You don’t know his name, by any chance?” asked Henry.
“No, I’m afraid not,” said Brendan. “For all I know, it may have been a lady who devised the turbine.”
“I suppose it could,” mumbled Henry. “I suppose I was politically incorrect, too. It just seems odd that the designer wasn’t involved in the project.”
“Perhaps they wanted to remain unknown,” suggested Brendan, who didn’t feel comfortable with the current line of discussion. “Perhaps they received a financial reward from the local council, and wanted to lye low. Not everyone wants to be famous.”
“Perhaps they’ve gone on to bigger and better things,” said Henry. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve been poached by another company somewhere else in the world.”
“That’s possible, that’s possible,” muttered Brendan, at which point he pulled his mobile out of his pocket. “I’d love to look around the island, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to contact my team back home. It seems like something’s cropped up.”
“Not with the turnbine, I hope?” queried Henry.
“I’m not too sure, just at the moment,” replied Brendan, as he stared closely at his mobile. “I’ll meet you back at your hotel when I’ve sorted this out.”
Brendan never did get back to Henry that afternoon, though they and Andrew met for a drink and an evening meal later that night. Brendan didn’t stay too long, though, as he claimed he wanted to prepare for his journey home the next day.

Henry, too, left on Saturday, happy in the knowledge that his turbine had been in operation, however briefly, and that early teething troubles had been rectified. He had hoped that it may be fully operational, or at least in full testing, though was relieved that a second inspection would be carried out in the following week. He had considered staying at Stornoway until everything was ready, but decided he should perhaps examine his other operations. He could keep in touch with Andrew in the meantime, and re-visit Stornoway when everything was (hopefully) ready.
When he arrived back at Ribblehead Cottage, Henry found Ramondo lying on the sofa, half-asleep.
“Ramondo – are you alright?” he asked loudly, trying to wake him up.
“Hi there, Henry,” yawned Ramondo, before he looked up at the clock. “Is that the time?”
“You seem knackered,” commented Henry. “What have you been up to?”
“Replicating vehicles for the showroom near Leeds,” replied Ramondo. “They’ve shifted all the stock we had at Skipton, along with a few sales there, too. On the whole, motor sales have been going quite well.”
“Have you heard from Lucas recently?” asked Henry. “Do you know how sales are coming along at Rayners Lane?”
“Sales are pretty good there, too, from what Lucas was telling me,” Ramondo told him.
“How are the new salespeople getting along?” Henry asked.
“No complaints on any of them, including those at Rayners Lane,” confirmed Ramondo. “Mind you, they were all car salespersons previously, apart from Richard Copeland at Skipton.”
“Good, good,” said Henry. “Have you heard from Rico recently?”
“Not since you last heard from him, a couple of weeks ago,” said Ramondo. “I would have chased him up last week, but between visiting sites and replicating vehicles, I haven’t had a lot of time available.”
“I’ll give him a call in the coming week,” said Henry. “Where’s Maria, by the way?”
“In the garden,” Ramondo replied.
“What’s she doing there?” queried Henry, “She shouldn’t be doing anything in the garden in her condition.”
“She’s only resting on the hammock,” said Ramondo, who then asked about the turbine.
Henry explained what had happened.
“That’s cutting things a bit fine,” said Ramondo. “I thought the local council’s contract with their energy supplier only ran until next month.”
“It does,” acknowledged Henry. “The Health & Safety Inspector will come and examine the new surge protector next week, so if all goes well, the council should be able to test the turbine for the next three weeks,”
“What did that Irish chap have to say about the turbine?” asked Ramondo.
“Brendan, you mean?” said Henry. “He seemed to be keen on the turbine and said the new surge protector should be fine – it was similar to one that was installed on the Irish turbine. He didn’t say a lot more though.”
“You’re not going back there again, next week?” Ramondo asked him.
“Probably not,” replied Henry. “I had thought about doing so, but I’ll just keep in regular contact with Andrew.”
“Let’s hope everything goes well over the coming month,” said Ramondo. “This may be small in national terms, but it’s a big scheme for you, which could be good for everyone in the long run.”

Henry tried to relax for the rest of the weekend, although he received a call from Arthur the following day. Amongst the topcs of conversation, Arthur complained about the reduction in money to the European Space Agency, and whether he should quit his job. He also asked Henry about the turbine, which he confirmed had worked, but which required a further Health & Safety inspection.
As Henry tried to get back into his regular routine on Monday, and chased Rico for the latest business figures for Gaspar & Gonchaves Solar Panelling, he was asked again about the turbine. When he went for lunch, he passed a few friends in the streets of Skipton, who also asked him about the turbine. Henry was becoming a little embarrased. Later that afternoon, Frank called, to say that the motor sales in California were going well, that they’d have the results for the company’s first quarter by the end of the week, but also asking about the turbine. Henry couldn’t wait until Thursday, for the inspection to be carried out on the turbine, hoping that all would be well and that testing could commence thereafter.

The next morning, Henry rang Andrew just after 9 o’clock, to check whether the inspection was still due to be carried out on Thursday. This was confirmed. On Thursday morning, he rang Andrew’s office once again, but was informed by his PA that Andrew would be away that morning. Henry presumed this was to escort the H&S Inspector to the turbine and to oversee the inspection, so asked if Andrew could call him later to confirm if all went well.
Henry was expecting to hear from Andrew that afternoon, though each time his phone rang, it was somebody else on the other end of the line. Then, after studying the latest results from Gaspar & Gonchaves’, he went to check on his outlook, where he noticed a new message pop up. It was from Andrew, confirming that the inspection of the new surge protector had been successful.
Henry was delighted. The message went on to suggest that the inspector seemed keen on reading the original H&S report, trying to look for other items to inspect, perhaps. The message also confirmed that following this latest inspection, the original report would be slightly amended, and that final testing on the turbine would commence within the next 24 hours.
The first thing he did was to tell Ramondo the good news, before forwarding the email to Arthur, Lucas and Rico. He then thought about contacting California and telling Frank the good news.
“Good Morning, Californian Automobile Company, how can I help?” said the PA as she answered the phone at the other end of the line.
“Could you put me through to Professor Frank Marshall please, if he’s available?” requested Henry.
“I’m afraid Professor Marshall is otherwise engaged today,” the PA informed him. “I can put you in touch with his assistant, Dr Di Pierri. Who shall I tell him is calling?”
“Henry Retono, shareholder,” he told her.
“Please wait a moment, Mr Retono, while I transfer you,” said the PA.
For a short while, all Henry could hear was ‘Born In The USA’ playing on the line, until after about 30 seconds, Steve answered the call.
“Hi Henry, how are you doing?” Steve greeted him. “If you’ve rung to ask about the company’s results for the first quarterly period of our tax year, I’m looking at them right now.”
“How are they, or can’t you tell me, officially, yet?” queried Henry.
“I can’t say too much just at this moment, but they’re looking quite healthy,” said Steve. “We should break even at the end of our financial year. I’ll make sure a report and statistics are sent to you in England.”
“Thanks, Steve,” said Henry.
“Is there anything else I can do for you today?” Steve then asked.
“In actual fact, I have some good news of my own I’d like to tell you about,” Henry said rather jovially. “That turbine I had designed has now passed it’s Health & Safety inspection, and will commence testing tomorrow.”
“Congratulations,” Steve wished him. “I hope the testing is successful. This may lead to bigger and better things for the future. Whenever Frank or Arthur mentioned that project of yours to me, I find it surprising that no-one else ever came up with the idea.”
“You say you’ve heard from Arthur recently?” queried Henry.
“Yeah, he rang last week,” Steve told him. “I think he just wanted someone to pass his thoughts to. Apparently, he’s not too happy with the European Space Agency cutting his budget. He was asking me if there may be better opportunities for professors at NASA.”
“He sounded pretty similar speaking to me, earlier this week,” said Henry. “I told him that everyone’s budgets are being cut at this moment.”
“That’s what I told him, too,” said Steve. “How is the recession in the UK at the moment? Are there any signs of improvement?”
“The markets have improved and customers are beginning to spend a little more,” said Henry. “Employment will take time to fully recover, though. We opened a new branch in the north of England last month, and had eighty applicants for two car salespersons.”
“I’m sorry I can’t stay too long, but I have