The Twins Paradox - Alan Gasparutti (top ten books of all time txt) 📗

if we could fit the same in his property in Tenerife.”
“And I suppose the idea took off from there?” queried Andrew.
“Yes indeed,” said Henry. “His employers were impressed with the panels, and had some fitted to their premises. Several hotels caught on to the idea, and it all snowballed from there.”
“How very interesting,” said an intrigued Andrew, as the waiter came along with their meals.
After they had eaten, and had a little more beverage, they went to Andrew’s office in the local town hall, to check on Andrew’s mail.
“Is there anything important?” Henry asked.
“Not really,” said Andrew. “Before we go, I’d like to check on any messages I may have received on my PC this morning. “
“You don’t mind if I make a visit to the gents, in the meantime?” queried Henry.
“No, not at all,” said Andrew. “Turn left outside my office. You’ll find the gents at the end of the corridor.”
Andrew had received a few emails, which he read and replied to, before Henry returned.
“While we’re here, would you like to check on the latest update of that sea turbine scheme in Ireland?” he suggested.
“By all means,” Henry replied. “Perhaps we shouldn’t dwell on that too much for the time being, though. I’d like to get out and view the possible sites in which to construct our turbine.”
“Yes, sure,” said Andrew. “We can give the company a call tomorrow.”
Andrew had a brief look at the website, which stated that the project in Ireland was now under construction, but that it wasn’t perceived to be completed until mid July. He then took Henry to his car, and drove him to the site to the north of the island where the turbine was intended to be completed.
“Hhmm,” muttered Henry. “The cliffs are a bit straight.”
“Is there a problem?” queried Andrew.
“Well, I had thought that it would be better to start from where there was a bend in the cliffs,” replied Henry.
“Oh, why is that?” asked Andrew.
“We’ll have to put the ‘shoulders’ of the turbine in from some point. We could then cut into the bend in the cliff to leave a 90 degree angle,” Henry explained. “From there, we can drill a large hole into which the ‘shoulders’ can be placed.”
“Oh yes, of course,” said Andrew. “There are some twists in the cliffs a little further on. You can see them from here, on a clear day.”
“Would you mind taking me there, thanks,” Henry requested.
“I’m afraid the road doesn’t run that far,” Andrew told him. “The cliffs are not far away, so we can walk there.”
As Andrew led the way to the cliffs, Henry told Andrew how the turbine would be constructed.
“A large gap will then have to be drilled into the cliffs, about the same length as the turbine, from the other point,” said Henry.
“From the other point you mentioned, which would be at right angles to the cliff?” queried Andrew.
“Yes, that’s it,” acknowledged Henry. “A large hole can then be drilled from that point to the large gap I just mentioned, in which the ‘shoulder’, can then be put through. At each end would be placed ‘arms’, which would connect the turbine to the ‘shoulder’.”
“Ahhhhh, I get you now,” said Andrew. “I know you’ve told me all this before, but how will the energy be conveyed?”
“There will be two small generators at either end of the ‘shoulder’,” explained Henry. “As the waves sweep against the turbine, turning it vigorously, the energy released will be conveyed through electro-magnetic wiring to the generators.”
“Wasn’t you going to have one generator within the shoulder?” queried Andrew.
“That was the original idea, but I thought two generators would be better in case one develops problems,” said Henry. “There would be a main generator between the ‘shoulders’, which would pick up the total energy. This would then need to be conveyed to the main generator on the island.”
“How long do you think it would take to construct?” asked Andrew.
“I don’t really know, to be totally honest,” replied Henry. “However, if the Irish turbine project is due to take a couple of months, I’d give this scheme a similar length of time.”
“Isn’t the Irish turbine project going to be larger than this one?” queried Andrew.
“Yes indeed, from what I gather, but I’d rather give something like this a longer timescale,” said Henry. “If it’s all completed in a shorter time, all’s well and good. If it takes a few weeks longer, then so be it. As long as it’s completed correctly and is in good condition.”
“Oh yes, indeed,” agreed Andrew. “How long do you think it will take to test the turbine?”
“Again, I don’t really know,” replied Henry. “If it’s all done properly, it shouldn’t take more than a week, I shouldn’t have thought.”
“Good, good,” said Andrew, before he pointed out the cliffs Henry had requested to see, which were now just half a mile away, though they would have to walk a little further to go around the cliffs.
“That looks just like the sort of place I was looking for,” commented Henry, before a strong gust of wind blew across, almost knocking them over. “This should make a pretty good place for the turbine. With gusts that strong the turbine should work perfectly.”
“Oh, these gusts are pretty common here,” Andrew said to him, before turning his attention. “Wait ‘til we get to that cliff edge. You’ll see the power of the waves crashing against the cliffs.”
When they got to the cliff edge, Henry was looking for some make-shift steps, to go down to the bottom of the cliffs, but Andrew informed him that there weren’t any.
“Is there no beach at this point?” Henry asked.
“Not really,” replied Andrew. “Why, what do you think of the place?”
“Pretty good indeed,” muttered Henry. “Are the waves always this strong?”
“Pretty much,” replied Andrew. “The cliffs themselves are relatively low, which may be quite handy itself.”
“You say there’s no beach at this point?” Henry queried. “Not even when the tide goes out?”
“I don’t believe so,” said Andrew. “I don’t know how low the water gets at low tide around this point, though.”
“Hhmmm,” mumbled Henry. “We can’t really go down and find out how far below sea level the surface is, can we?”
“I wouldn’t advise it,” warned Andrew. “The sea is very cold here. You probably wouldn’t last too long in the water before you catch hyperthermia.”
“What, at this time of year?” asked Henry.
“Even at this time of year,” Andrew told him.
“Are there any fisherman around here?” asked Henry
“There’s a tiny fishing village a few miles away,” said Andrew. “Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering whether anyone may know the depth of the sea at this point,” said Henry. “Perhaps a fisherman would have a good idea.”
“Possibly, possibly,” said Andrew.
Henry thought to himself about this, and peered over the rim of the cliffs to see if he could see the sea floor beneath the waves below.
“Why don’t we go back to the car,” suggested Andrew, while Henry still peered over the cliffs. “I can then take you to the village. I suppose it’s more of a tiny hamlet, really. It’s only a few miles away.”
Henry, though, continued pondering to himself.
“You don’t mind if we go back?” asked Andrew. “I can face the gusts when they’re blowing at us from the sea, but if a gust that strong came at us from the other direction, we might just end up in the sea. With a broken neck!”
“Okay, okay,” agreed Henry, before he and Andrew turned around and headed back to the car.
Andrew then drove the short distance to the tiny village of Port Nis. They had a brief look around the village but could see no-one, let alone a fisherman. Andrew then parked the car at the harbour, before he and Henry got out, and walked along the harbour wall. Again they could see no-one, so they decided to walk around. Eventually, they met a middle-aged lady, who smiled at them.
“Can I help you at all?” she asked them. “You look like you’re lost.”
“Oh no,” laughed Andrew. “Are there any fisherman around at the moment?”
“There are no fishermen around here at this time,” the lady replied. “There are very few fishermen left here at all.”
“Ai, I thought as much,” said Andrew. “Thanks very much anyway.”
“If it’s urgent, I can tell my son when he gets back,” the lady replied.
“Is you’re son a fisherman?” queried Andrew.
“Oh no, he works in town,” said the lady. “He owns one of the boats in the harbour. I can give him a message, if you like. Who shall I tell him to call?”
“I’m Councillor MacDonald,” Andrew told the lady, as he shook her hand and gave her the number of his mobile phone.
“Councillor, eh?” said the lady. “You’re not going to build a new supermarket in this tiny village, are you?”
“No, no, no, it’s nothing like that at all,” laughed Andrew. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“About 4.15,” said the lady. “Shall I ask him to meet you here?”
“I think we can wait that long, don’t you?” Andrew queried with Henry, before turning to the lady again. “Ask your son to him to meet us at the harbour, at about 4.30, if that’s okay, otherwise can he let me know on my mobile.”
“Will you be doing anything to the harbour, at all?” asked the lady. “It is getting rather old, don’t you think?”
“Ahh, that’s what gives the harbour it’s attraction,” suggested Andrew.
“What attraction?” asked the lady. “You can see how many visitors we get to the harbour, can’t you!”
On that note, Andrew and Henry said farewell to the lady, afterwhich Henry asked what they were supposed to do for another hour-and-a-half.
“That’s simple,” said Andrew. “There’s a pub at the end of the village. With 24 hour opening times now in operation, I’m sure we can find somewhere warm to sit down and something to talk about.”
In fact, the pub was in the next village, though not that it was far away. Fortunately, they found the pub open, and went inside for a drink or two. Andrew got out his map of the isle of Lewis and showed it to Henry, pointing out where they had been.
“That cliff we visited earlier, it wasn’t very long,” queried Henry.
“That is correct,” replied Andrew. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Probably,” said Henry. “We may be able to place the ‘shoulder’ between the ends of the cliff. That would save the need to drill a gap at one point in the cliffs, from which we can attach one of the arms which will hold the turbine, to the shoulder.”
“So you think that’s the right place to put the turbine?” queried Andrew.
“Well, I can’t really be sure until we’ve had the results of a survey,” said Henry.
“What survey would that be?” asked Andrew. “To check the level of the sea at that point on the cliffs?”
“I’d like to get a better idea of the cliffs themselves, assess what they’re made of,” said Henry. “Not all forms of rock react in the same way, nor have the same strength.”
“Those cliffs must be pretty strong, surely, to have lasted thousands of years, no, millions of years,” pointed out Andrew.
“I know, I know,” said Henry, “but some rocks are hard and cumbersome to break down. I don’t want to spend too much time demolishing a hole in the cliffs, not to mention the cost.”
“I see what you mean,” said Andrew. “I’ll see what I can find out