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

the suspension’s fine, and the ride was smooth, apart from that stretch beside Loch Earn. I can’t promise you anything, but I will recommend it to my colleagues on the council at Stornoway.”
Henry grinned as he got out of the car, and went to open the boot, from which Andrew collected his baggage. At that point, they shook hands and said farewell, before Henry got back into his car and left the airport, as Andrew headed for the departures lounge.
Henry stopped shortly after leaving Edinburgh behind, and contacted Ramondo to let him know he was okay and that everything went well. He then stopped at a couple of service stations on his way back to Ribblehead Cottage, and fell asleep soon after he arrived home. Henry slept well that evening, and much of Sunday, too.

Henry now eagerly awaited the results on planning permission for his Atlantic Sea Turbine scheme. There had been a few meetings on the isle of Lewis, and the final consultation had been due the previous evening. Every time one of his staff came along to ask him something, Henry would get a little grouchy.
Henry was anxious to hear an update on the situation, but continued waiting. And waiting. At around midday, he thought about going out into town to get some lunch, but wanted to stay by the phone. He didn’t want to miss such an important call. Then, Zebrina knocked on the door, to which Henry invited her in his office.
“Yes, what is it?” he asked apprehensively.
“Oh it’s nothing really,” said Zebrina, who could see he was anxious.
“Perhaps you could do something for me,” Henry then suggested to her.
“Oh, certainly,” she replied. “How can I help?”
“You wouldn’t mind getting me some lunch, there’s a good girl?” asked Henry, as he gave Zebrina a five pound note.
“What would you like?” Zebrina asked.
“Oh, anything will do,” said Henry. “A sandwich or two would be fine. I’m not really fussed what variety, Beef, Ham, Chicken, Tuna or Salmon.”
“Would that be all?” asked Zebrina, to which Henry thought to himself for a moment.
“You can get me a can of coke, too, please,” he told her.
“I was going to get myself some lunch, too, so I might be about half an hour, is that alright?” Zebrina asked.
“Yes, yes, yes, that should be okay,” replied Henry, before Zebrina left the office.
Henry sat on his chair, waiting for the all-important call. As he waited, he became even more anxious, and strutted up and down. While he was doing so, Ramondo knocked on the door.
“Come in, come in,” said Henry.
“Are you okay?” Ramondo asked.
“Fed up and frustrated,” sighed Henry.
“Still waiting for confirmation about planning permission on the Isle of Lewis?” asked Ramondo. “If you’re that anxious, why don’t you call the chap instead?”
“Andrew, you mean?” queried Henry. “I already tried about an hour ago. Apparently he wasn’t available at the time.”
“You may as well give him another call,” Ramondo suggested to Henry. “He’s probably available by now.”
“I know, I know,” said Henry. “I don’t want to call him too often, though.”
“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Ramondo said to Henry. “If you’re worried Andrew has bad news for you, it doesn’t help to be so apprehensive.”
“But I don’t know if he has bad news,” said Henry. “I just don’t think it would be right to make the first move in this instance.”
“I think you need a break,” suggested Ramondo. “Andrew’s got your mobile number, I suppose?”
Henry thought to himself for a moment. He’d forgotten to switch his mobile on that morning. Perhaps there were a few messages from Andrew on it. He quickly switched on his mobile, though there were no outstanding messages.
“Why don’t you and get some lunch,” Ramondo said to Henry.
“Zebrina’s gone to get me something,” replied Henry.
“Well why don’t you get some fresh air, anyway?” Ramondo suggested. “It’s not good being couped-up in here all day.”
“I know, I know,” sighed Henry again.
“I’ll tell you what,” Ramondo said to him. “I’ll wait here while you have a break. I should think you deserve one.”
Henry wasn’t sure, but decided to go out for a walk. He was getting rather couped-up in his office anyway. As he was about to walk out of the office, Ramondo reminded him to take his mobile, in case there were any urgent calls.
Henry wandered into town, until he met Zebrina coming the other way. They wandered off to the Leeds & Liverpool canal, where they had a little chat, before they walked back to the business premises.
“That was quick,” Ramondo said to him when Henry went back into his office. “There weren’t any calls from Andrew at Stornoway, by the way. Did you get any messages on your mobile?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” sighed Henry, before telling Ramondo he went to the canal with Zebrina.
“Well I suppose you were too quick to get up to anything,” commented Ramondo for a joke, though Henry didn’t see the funny side of it.
“Okay, okay, I’ll leave you to your own devices,” Ramondo then said to him. “Besides, I could do with some lunch of my own. I’ll see you when I get back.”
As Henry ate his lunch, he heard the phone ring, and jumped towards it to pick it up. To his dismay, however, it was only Arthur, telling him about the previous evening at Frank’s. Henry chatted to Arthur for a short while, but told him he was expecting a call.
Henry then finished his lunch, and waited. And waited. He wandered around the room again, but the longer he waited, the more anxious and frustrated he became. The phone went again a few more times, but it wasn’t the call he had anticipated. Until, at about 3 o’clock that afternoon, Henry heard a strong Scottish accent on the line.
“Oh Andrew, I’ve been waiting for your call all day,” Henry said to him. “It’s not bad news I hope.”
“No, no, no, you can rest assured,” Andrew told him. “Planning permission for the turbine will go ahead.”
Henry gave a sigh of relief.
“I did receive a call from you earlier today, but I was out the office on other matters,” explained Andrew. ”I only just arrived back a little while ago.”
“Has the planning permission gone through, or do I have to submit the request formally?” queried Henry.
“We will act on your original request for the scheme,” explained Andrew. “It may take a day or two before it’s finally rubber-stamped, but I’ll let you know when this is complete.”
“Was there much opposition to the scheme?” asked Henry.
“There was a little more than anticipated last night,” confirmed Andrew. “Overall however, the scheme was relatively favourable. We may have to be careful where the turbine is constructed.”
“Oh, why’s that?” asked Henry.
“Well, the biggest objections were from residents near to where we had originally intended to put the turbine,” said Andrew.
“Oh, I see,” said Henry. “Will this make a great deal of difference? I mean, are there many other places where we can put the turbine?”
“The latest proposals should be okay,” Andrew told him. “We’ll have to avoid moving it a little further south as a second option, should the current site proposed become unsuitable.”
“So what’s the problem?” asked Henry.
“I would have preferred to put the turbine near to the current electricity generator,” said Andrew. “We may have to request planning permission to construct connections along the island, or for a new generator.”
“Will that take long?” asked Henry.
“We may be able to get around those problems,” Andrew suggested. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about the scheme? It’s too late to go into partnership with our current electricity suppliers.”
“I’ll get the turbine constructed myself,” said Henry. “I’ve sorted out the contractors and construction plans, but I think it would be best at this moment to run the whole thing from my business.”
“Give the electricity companies something to think about, eh?” commented Andrew.
“I won’t say my business will provide stiff competition just yet, but if all goes well, who knows what may happen in a few years time?” said Henry. “Especially if the other turbine in Ireland goes ahead, too.”
“Oh yes, thanks for reminding me,” said Andrew. “I’ll have a look on the internet to see how that’s getting along.”
“What shall I do in the meantime?” asked Henry.
“I’ll let you know when the planning permission is all finalised,” said Andrew. “Why don’t we make an appointment for next week. Would Thursday be okay?”
“That’s fine,” said Henry.”I’ll stay over for a long weekend, if that’s alright by you. It’ll give me time to speak to the contractors about the project.”
“Okay then, I’ll see you next Thursday,” replied Andrew before putting the phone down.
At last, Henry was happy.


The Grand Opening

Spring was now fading, as summer approached. Everything seemed to be going well. Major motors were still selling at both showrooms. In fact, Lucas developed a new technique with old part-exchange motors. He took them to the warehouse at Slough in the evening, where, behind locked doors, he replicated them into a Major Motor, before driving the new vehicle back to the showroom the next morning. This reduced the necessity to rely on local car scrap yards, which seemed a good thing. Scrap cars could be used for replicating any future vehicles due to be sent to California.
Though Lucas wasn’t aware of it at the time, there would be no further requirement to send new solar vehicles to California. One morning, Henry received a call from Frank, inviting him to the grand opening of the CAC plant.
“That’s brilliant news,” said Henry. “What did you say was the precise date for the opening?”
“Two weeks from today, Monday, June 8th,” Frank told him. “Will you be coming along?”
“Probably,” replied Henry. “I don’t have any other major appointments in the near future, unless I get a call from Andrew at Stornoway, perhaps.”
“Oh, how is that project going?” asked Frank.
“Not too bad, though we’ve had a few setbacks along the way,” said Henry. “The project wasn’t given a grant by the Scottish parliament, so I’m going to have to finance the project myself.”
”I don’t know if the banks will help much, but you should have a fair bit of money coming in, from what I’ve heard,” said Frank. “I understand you’ve opened a second car showroom in London.”
“On the outskirts, actually,” Henry pointed out. “I’ve sent Lucas to run the place. It seems to be doing well.”
“People are beginning to see the benefits of vehicles which don’t rely on gas,” Frank commented. “Have you thought about opening anymore?”
“I have viewed a few other sites, but I’m not sure this is really the right time to expand the business,” Henry confessed.
“Oh, on the contrary,” said Frank. “I think you need to strike while the iron’s hot. The downturn in conventional motor sales doesn’t mean that the whole market is on a downturn.”
Henry wasn’t too sure about Frank’s comments, so said nothing.
“Sales of the vehicles you sent us are doing well,” Frank added. “With the recent advertisement campaign from the Governor of California, we haven’t many vehicles in stock at any of our showrooms, and everything else is on order.”
“Congratulations,” Henry then said to him. “Do you require any more vehicles from this side of the pond?”
“Probably not,” said Frank. “We intend to start production as soon as the plant is ready.”
“Do you have the necessary staff and management in place yet?” asked Henry.
“Yes thanks,” said Frank. “Vehicle sales from the big three manufacturers here in the US have slumped. They’ve all