The Twins Paradox, Alan Gasparutti [online e reader txt] 📗

complete, but the plumbing, lighting and heating still needs to be completed. We can’t start preparing for machinery while the other rooms are incomplete.”
Just then Henry came back from the bar.
“Have you made arrangements for the purchase of steel, necessary for the production of your vehicles?” he asked Frank.
“Yes thanks,” he replied. “We’ve signed an agreement with a metals supplier near San Francisco.”
“When do you intend to start production at the new plant?” asked Lucas.
“Hopefully it should be ready sometime in the new tax year,” said Frank. “We’ve signed the agreement to take effect from April, though the plant may not be ready then.”
“Have you any idea when the plant will be ready?” asked Lucas.
“Probably by June,” replied Frank. “Admittedly, things have been delayed in recent months, but if we start to receive metal supplies from April, by the time the new plant is up and running, we should have a large enough stock to commence production immediately.”
“Can we go and see the new plant sometime?” he asked Frank.
“We can go this afternoon, if you like,” Frank suggested. “By the time we’ve had something to eat, the vehicles may be loaded, so we can all go there together.”
“Is the plant near here?” Lucas asked.
“About twelve miles away,” Frank told him. “It shouldn’t take long to get there. Hopefully, we can go there before the afternoon rush hour.”
“There’s no rush,” Henry said to him. “We’re due to stay here a few days.”
“Whereabouts are you staying?” Frank asked him.
“At the Marriott Hotel,” Henry.replied.
“You mean that one over there,” queried Frank, as he pointed towards a large hotel that could be seen in the distance.
“Probably,” said Henry. “I can’t say for certain, but I know it’s near the airport.”
“You can stay at mine,” suggested Frank. “There’s only me and a mate of mine there at the moment.”
“Thanks for the offer, but we’ve already booked to stay at the Marriott,” Henry replied.
“Well you can come over tonight for a few hours, if you like,” said Frank.
“That’ll be fine,” said Henry.
The three of them continued to discuss plans, before they went to the cargo bay, to see how the unloading of the vehicles was coming along. They were informed unfortunately, that there had been a delay. Henry asked Frank if he could take them to the plant, but as Frank looked at his watch, he offered to take Henry and Lucas for a meal.
They ate at a restaurant at the airport, and by 2 o’clock, went back to the cargo bay to check on the vehicles. They could see that they were now being unloaded, so Frank contacted the motor freight company and instructed for the vehicle transporters to be sent to the airport.
They didn’t wait too long at the entrance to the airport, where Frank directed the transporters to the cargo bay. Henry and Lucas each had fobs for the vehicles, and, one by one, they drove them onto the transporters. By 2.45 they were all ready, and Frank directed the three transporters to the plant. Henry and Lucas went with him.
Frank received a couple of calls on his mobile while they were going to the plant, but decided not to answer them. When they arrived at the plant, Frank instructed the transporters to park in the yard outside, as to get into the plant would involve a lot of maneuvering. He then checked his watch again, and called his manager, Steve.
“Did you ring me ten minutes ago?” he asked, to which Steve acknowledged. “We’re here now, so can you come to the gates and help Henry and Lucas unload the vehicles.”
“I’m on my way,” Steve replied.
“I’m afraid I’m in a hurry right now,” Frank then said to Henry and Lucas as he turned towards them. “The other call was probably from Jeanette.”
“I didn’t think you had far to go, and that you had a house near Sacramento,” Henry queried.
“I’m going back to my home in Colorado Springs for the weekend,” Frank told him. “I haven’t yet sold that house. My wife Jeanette is staying there overseeing any prospective buyers, and I’m visiting her at weekends.”
“Does it take long to get there by plane?” Henry asked.
“Not really,” said Frank. “I have to check-in at Sacramento airport, and check-out again at the other end, though.”
“Colorado Springs is east of here, isn’t it?” Lucas queried. “Is it on the same timescale as Sacramento.”
“Fortunately, yes,” said Frank. “I should really check-in with some time to spare, but I know I’ll be okay as long as I do this half-hour before my flight.”
“When is your flight due to leave?” asked Henry.
“Four fifteen,” Frank told him. “I should be okay to check-in an hour before flight. If you’ll excuse me now, Steve will help you with the vehicles, and any queries you may have.”
Frank could see a car coming down the yard, and waved as he recognised it, as the car approached. When it arrived, he introduced Steve to Henry and Lucas, before he waved goodbye to them and drove off.
The three of them drove the vehicles off the transporters, and when the transporters had left, they each drove the vehicles to the showroom, which was at the front of the plant and just off the main road. Steve unlocked the showroom, and drove some of the vehicles inside. Some of the vehicles were left outside on the forecourt, while the rest were stored near the plant, behind the showroom. When everything was in place, Henry asked if they could have a brief look at the plant.
“Can we have a look on Monday instead?” Lucas asked.
“Probably,” replied Steve. “Are you feeling okay?”
“It’s probably just the jet-lag getting to me,” explained Lucas. “Could you give us a lift to the Marriott?”
“Certainly,” said Steve. “It’s no trouble “If you pop inside my car, I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Henry noticed that Steve was walking with a bit of a limp, which reminded him of a man by the same name, which Frank had told him about on an earlier occasion.
“How’s your leg?” Frank asked Steve when he opened the car door after locking the showroom.
“Oh, it’s okay,” insisted Steve. “I had an accident, a while ago.”
“Oh, what was that, if you don’t mind me asking?” queried Henry, to which Steve seemed a little unsure what to say. “Frank told me about a chap who had been blown up in a terrorist attack in Houston last year.”
“Oh, he’s told you about me,” Steve muttered to Henry.
“I can drive the car if you’d prefer,” Henry suggested to Steve. “It’s no trouble. You’ll have to direct me though.”
“It’s no bother. I don’t suppose you’ve heard what Frank refers to you as?” said Steve before stopping at the gates to the plant, and getting out to lock them.
Henry thought to himself with great curiosity, before Steve came back into the car.
“Frank reckons you’re the next British Entrepreneur,” Steve told him. “He says you’ve got your fingers in a few different pies, so to speak.”
“I find that rather flattering,” chuckled Henry, while Lucas was drifting off to sleep. “If only it were true.”
“You have a motor business, don’t you,” queried Steve. “That must be making you plenty of money.”
“Not enough, I’m afraid,” Henry sighed.
“That’s understandable, what with the current global recession,” said Steve. “Frank told me you also have a business in the Canary Islands?”
“Now that is an unexpected success story,” admitted Henry. “I began setting up solar paneling in my premises, after which, when my good friend Arthur found out, he requested if the paneling could be fitted to his house in Tenerife.”
“I hear you’ve had more orders since,” queried Steve.
“Not only have I had to keep two of my men on the island, but I’ve had to send some more men out there to help them,” explained Henry. “I can see I’m going to have to set up premises and offices in Tenerife before long.”
“You mean you haven’t already?” asked Steve.
“I didn’t expect this to take off in quite that way,” admitted Henry. “I’m still a bit wary, in case orders dry up and the recession gets worse.”
“You mentioned a friend by the name of Arthur?” Steve queried. “Is that Arthur….”
“Professor Arthur Wagstaff, you mean,” queried Henry.
“That’s the guy I was trying to think of,” said Steve. “Frank’s told me a few things about him, too.”
“Nothing bad, I hope,” queried Henry.
“That may depend on your way of thinking,” said Steve. “I’ve heard that the guy’s from outer space!”
“Where did you hear that?” asked a most-surprised Henry.
“It wasn’t really Frank who said that,” Steve admitted. “It was actually a friend of ours, Clint, who came to see me last year. Do you know if Arthur really is from outer space?”
“I very much doubt it,” said Henry. “Then again, I’m not an expert on outer space.”
“Clint told me that Arthur was from that asteroid which orbited Earth a couple of years ago,” Steve explained. “I do know that that asteroid behaved very, very strangely.”
“And Clint reckoned that the asteroid was actually a space ship of some sort?” Henry asked Steve in a sarcastic way, fully aware of the true situation.
“Pretty much,” said Steve.
“What did Frank say about that?” asked Henry curiously.
“He didn’t seem to say much at first,” admitted Steve. “He then began to back-up what Clint had been saying, which I found suspicious.”
“They were probably playing a joke on you,” Henry suggested.
“That asteroid acted very strangely, though, and I can’t get that idea out of my mind,” said Steve.
“I’d forget it if I were you,” suggested Henry. “They were probably just teasing you.”
“I guess you’re right,” said Steve.
“You were telling me about your leg injury,” Henry then said to Steve, trying to change the subject of conversation.
“I’m pretty much okay now,” Steve replied. “To be honest, I wasn’t as badly injured as you may have expected. I was about twenty-five metres away from my car when I pressed my fob to open the door. My right leg was okay, though my left leg was damaged.”
“Well I’m pleased to see you’ve recovered from such an event,” Henry replied. “Frank told me you worked for NASA at the time, is that right?”
“Yeah, I did,” said Steve. “I really wanted to get back to work as soon as I had recovered, but when I went there, it didn’t seem the same.”
“Did you miss Frank?” Henry asked.
“Yes and no,” replied Steve. “Frank retired from NASA before my ‘accident’. The new guy wasn’t the same though, and someone else had by that time been appointed into my old post. I still had friends there, but it seemed like I was just doing some job I’d done eight years ago. It seemed like I was going backward.”
“So you decided to make a break for it?” asked Henry.
“Not at first,” said Steve. “This other guy, Clint, came to visit me last year. He told me all about Frank, and took me to see him. Frank seemed pretty relieved to see me, and offered me a job in his new business venture. I wasn’t sure at first, but then NASA announced I was to be made redundant.”
“What are you doing, or what will you be doing, if you don’t mind me asking?” queried Henry.
“I’m what you’d call a Business Analyst,” Steve replied. “Basically, I’m analysing vehicle sales, assessing the popularity of solar-powered vehicles, in an effort to establish the company’s sales prospects.”
“How interesting,” said Henry. “Perhaps you can give me an idea of how sales