Chapter 11

"You may be right about us humans, but The Personalia have blossomed too. They have become more involved with Earth as time has gone on. They have adapted to capitalism with a vengeance. They own a number of business on Earth, and have almost entirely monopolised the audit sector of business: numbers are their forte, you see, and they have established a reputation for probity. I have heard rumours of them pursuing criminals and removing their stolen assets: much more effective than jailing them, if you ask me!"

"Enough of this bragging, Tom. You can tell me more when I get there. This egg sac intrigues me. I hope I can identify what kind of creature laid it and hatched from it. From the basic description, I would suspect a reptile, but it is early days yet to be positive. How big do your reptiles get, on Rehome?"

"I can't really say, professor. We have not explored the oceans yet, though we do know that there are some pretty large creatures out in deep water. A few have been spotted, and they have been whale-sized monsters."

"Ah, then my assumption may not be too far off reality. Amazing!"

"I shall look forward to meeting you, professor. Phone me when you know your arrival time, and we shall meet you at the beach."

"Beach? I was told you lived in a city, Tom. Doesn't the city have an airport?"

"No airport, because no aircraft, professor. It is a city built by aliens, and they didn't build an airport; I don't know why. The Landerships use the water as a landing strip, and taxi to the beach to offload passengers. You will enjoy the trip. See you then."

Closing his phone, Tom ruminated. Why no airport? Why no spaceport, for that matter? It was a reasonable question that no one seems to have asked. How did the Braalians and Lubarians land and leave the planet, and bring all the materials and equipment for building the cities?

He decided that an enquiry to The Personalia was in order, and reopened his phone to contact them. Getting through, he formulated his query, finishing with, "How then did they land and take-off?"

The Personalia voice sounded apologetic. "We are terribly sorry for not mentioning it, Tom. It did not occur to us that you would not have made the correct deduction. The Braalians used their own version of antigravity, and landed on the sea, just as we do. It was because this is what we do, that we took it for granted that you would appreciate that the same thing was done by the Braalians. After all, you know they are a technological race."

"Thank you for that explanation. You Personalia sometimes forget that we humans can be stupid at times, as well as brilliant at other times. On occasion we cannot see what is in front of us. We have a saying, 'not being able to see the wood for the trees', meaning seeing trees, but not recognising this means wood; which explains our occasional blindness to the obvious."

"Our apologies for this oversight of ours. We tend to forget that humans think in a different way from us. We both derive advantages from this difference of approach, so please do not reproach yourself for this lapse in recognition."

"You are very kind. Thank you for your help with this. Goodbye for now."

Tom looked at Jeannette, who was staring at him in puzzlement. "What?" he asked her.

She frowned. "You never thought it odd that there was no airport or spaceport, nor realised why?"

"No. Why should we? Everything about this city is odd, so none of us noticed that they had no airport or spaceport. The builders were gone, so there was no one to talk to about the structures, or lack of them. We found the cities and the railroad connecting them; there was enough in the way of curiosities in the cities to keep us occupied, without wondering about things that were absent."

"Well, when I arrived on a Landership, I simply assumed this was the standard way that everyone had arrived in the past. If there had been a spaceport or airport, the Landerships would use that, wouldn't they?"

"Jeannette, you saw what was obvious, when others didn't, and you never thought to mention it. What a wonderful and clever woman you are!"

"Right. Can I call you kiddo, then?" She laughed at her own humour, and reverted to work mode. "As soon as you get your newspaper updated for tomorrow, I want you back working on that encyclopaedia. How long ago did you write these entries on each rural community?"

"Oh, six to nine months ago, I think."

"Right, so they will be out of date. I am going to do a rail tour of them, and update the data on them. Do you remember that small village that had to be moved, as it was sitting above a sink-hole? Did you write an entry on sink-holes?"

"Er ... I don't think so."

"I'll get it done, then. Anything else you neglected to cover?"

"Jeannette! Don't be so harsh. Most encyclopaedias are written by a team of writers, advised by experts on each topic. I was doing it all on my own."

"Yes, I suppose that is true. Okay, I'll not talk about neglect, just ask if you know of any other topic that still needs to be added."

"I think of items of that nature almost every day, my darling. Today's additional topics are Spaceport and Airport. For Spaceport, we can write about the sea landings and take-offs by The Personalia, and also by the Braalians. For airports, we simply write that until aircraft are added to the transport mix, there is no requirement for such an air terminal. We should also make changes to the Transport entry, to mention these two future possibilities.

The entry on Exploration also needs to be revised, to add into it the general findings of the exploration groups."

Jeannette didn't seem to be listening, so he queried, "Jeannette?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Tom dear. I was thinking about what you said about being advised by experts. When your marine biologist gets here, perhaps we can persuade her to help us with marine topics for the encyclopaedia. She could start by discussing marine topics with the local fishermen, and they can show her the range of fish species that they catch. Some of the species are not edible by humans, and get turned into fishmeal fertiliser. She will want to see these too, to be comprehensive. She may be able to discover new uses for some of the non-edible species."

As she was speaking, Tom's phone rang again, and when he answered, the Professor was there again.

"Tom, I had a few thoughts, and asked the University Vice-Chancellor if I could have a few weeks' sabbatical, so that I can have a look at other marine life on Rehome. he said 'Certainly, go ahead: make a good job of it. Your department is so new that we need some specialism that makes it stand out. I am sure the Trustees will be keen on that idea.'

So, I shall be requiring longer-term accommodation. The Board of Trustees obviously sees that being the first university to be able to offer a short course on Rehome marine life would be a boost to the academic reputation of a recently-established department. The Personalia have told me where and when they can pick me up. For some reason they said Liverpool. I can't for the life of me think why Liverpool. Anyway, I should be with you tomorrow morning they say, around 10 a.m."

"That is great, Jane. We were about to ask you to do some research while you were here, to help us with encyclopaedia articles on marine topics. The local fishermen would be happy to assist you, I am sure."

"Wonderful! I'll look forward to that. Perhaps you can put in a word with them, in advance."

"Will do. See you tomorrow. Bye."

Tom found a couple of buckets, and a roll of Clingfilm to cover them when full; then went off to the beach to collect seawater. He managed to wedge the buckets between the backs of the front seats and the rear seats, but had to drive VERY slowly and carefully to avoid spillages. The film was not all that successful at holding the water in the buckets.

He and Jeannette later took the car to the beach in time for the arrival of the Landership. They watched as people disembarked from the vessel, but he had no idea which was their marine biologist.

Then the immigration official could be seen speaking to a tall good-looking woman, then pointing in the direction of Tom and Jeannette. The woman picked up her case and started walking towards them. Tom looked to Jeannette for approval, then set off to intercept the scientist and collect her case.

"Professor?" He asked. She nodded. "Allow me to take your case. This sand is a bummer for walking. The car is just up here."

When they reached the car, he introduced the ladies to each other.

"Professor Jane Kelman, of the University of London, this is Mrs Jeannette Pfeiffer, my wife and publisher."

The ladies formally shook hands, Jeannette declaring, "Welcome to Rehome, Jane – if I may call you Jane? Is that all right?"

"It is, provided you allow me to call you Jeannette."

"You would have to do that anyway, Jane. With two Mrs Pfeiffers, forenames are so much simpler. It eliminates confusion. Tom's first wife is Enid, and she is preparing our lunch today, as well as looking after her daughter. My son is at school, of course."

"Thank you, my dear. You are so kind to welcome me. I am so used to the formality of university life, where the hierarchy must be observed, and I must keep my distance from the students. This is a breath of fresh air for me."

Jeannette observed that the professor was taller than herself, and slightly more muscular as well; probably spent time at the gym. Her breasts were not prominent, but were broad-looking. Her business suit tended to hide her femininity. Jeannette suspected a tight bra, designed to suppress her female attributes. She hoped Jane was not a lesbian, but they would see what she was like, as they observed her behaviour.

Tom told her, "We have booked you into a small local hotel, professor. ALL of our hotels are small at the moment, so this is no slight! We'll take you there this evening."

They got home well before lunch, so had time to introduce Enid and Beatrice. Then they went round to the side of the house, to view the bin and its contents, now covered by seawater. Tom handed the professor a pair of dishwashing rubber gloves, and Jane tentatively prodded and pushed, before finally grabbing the rubbery, almost see-through, substance and lifting it up enough to confirm her suspicions.

"It is an egg sac, as I thought, but about a dozen times the size of the largest similar egg on Earth. The egg layer must be of immense size, if the relative sizes are similar. I am looking forward to talking with your sea fishermen, to ascertain what species they bring to shore."

"Fine," said Tom. "I can set that up for you. In the meantime, this afternoon can I impose on you to read through any of my encyclopaedia articles that have any marine connection? It will be very helpful to me. Once you have studied the marine creatures of Rehome, it would be great if you could write short authoritative entries on each creature. Jeannette intends to pay you for your contributions, but can I suggest you make it a small royalty payment, say, a tenth of one per cent of the published price? That way, you will earn more in the long run, particularly if there are subsequent editions. I know that Jeannette is hoping to publish editions in other major languages."

"Tom, that is a great idea! It also postpones my tax liability by spreading the income over several years."

"Actually, if you were to become a resident of Rehome, it becomes more valuable, as we do not have income tax here for individuals."

"Now, that is exceedingly interesting. Is there any chance I could commute to my work from here, or would that be too expensive in travel costs?"

Tom gaped at the professor. "I never envisaged anyone doing that," he admitted. "Wait a minute! Surely you have a tax liability where your payment is made, i.e. at the University of London? I doubt you could work in London and have a tax liability on Rehome!"

"I think you may be right, Tom. That means if I work in the UK, I pay UK tax on my UK earnings. Hmmm. Do you have any universities on Rehome?"

"Not so far, professor. The intention is to establish a university eventually, but our population is still relatively small, so such an institution would not be viable unless ... unless ... unless we had students coming from Earth to study here!"

"Now you are talking, kiddo ... sorry, Tom." She looked pensive for a moment or two. "It is not too difficult to set up a university. The main difficulty is having it certified as a qualified institution, and that can take years to prove your capabilities and standards. I used to lecture at Newcastle University, which officially became a university in 1963. It has a much respected School of Marine Science and Technology. You could probably get certification as Rehome University before too long."

Tom stared back at her, before commenting reflectively, "But that would be certification by the country where the university is located, wouldn't it?"

"Of course, ki ... Tom."

"But, in this case it is Rehome that would be doing the certification, would it not?"

"Ah, I see where you are going! Yes, of course. Rehome Colony could speed up the approval process for degree awarding validation, and get the university up and running much more speedily. Am I right?"

"Well, that is the way I am thinking. It is so long since I was at university..."

"Think nothing of it, my boy. It is more a matter of knowing the routine. I can dig up the way the validation is done normally, and pass it to you for your authorities on Rehome to see how it can be slimmed down to suit your peculiar circumstances."

Tom was getting peeved.

"Professor, I am a married man with a daughter, a son, and two pregnant wives. I am not your "boy". Can you get off your professorial kick and be more of a decent human being, please? Is that asking too much?"

Jane Kelman blinked in surprise. She started to get angry, then kicked herself. This was not the university campus, and this was a professional writer and editor, much respected by his community. He was right: this was not how she should be acting.

"Tom, I most humbly apologise. My reference to you in that way was completely uncalled for, and I shall try not to repeat it."

Tom realised that the professor was close to tears, and then it hit him. She used such language as a defensive measure, to build a barrier between herself and whoever she was working with. He decided to make amends.

"Jane? Truce?" He opened his arms, offering a hug. She leaned in and welcomed his arms. He held her tight, and to his surprise found her softly sobbing. He said nothing, simply held her gently until she felt more composed.

After a minute of two, she pulled herself together, and stepped back, pulling a dainty handkerchief out of her sleeve to dab at her eyes.

"Sorry about that, Tom. It has been a long time since someone called me out on my behaviour. Your reaction helped me release my feelings just now. I hope you will forgive me losing my cool."

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you for the hug."

Tom was serious as he replied, "Jane, my ladies have had times when they needed to have a cry – for various reasons. I see it as my job to be there for them when they reach that point. I thought you perhaps needed a cry too. Feel better for it now?"

She nodded, tearfully. "Yes, thanks. You are a lovely understanding man. Your wives deserve you, if you are that perceptive."

"Enid taught me to be a good husband, Jane. I was a brash young idealist journalist when we married; she was a hard-nosed farmer's daughter, and she decided she wanted me, bless her. Her love showed me how to be considerate of other people, and that made me a good editor when this job came up.

Jeannette had something of a hard life, being a surrogate mother for an alien child while she was in the RAF, and not even seeing the child when it was born. Then losing her first love to a car crash, and no child from that marriage. It was my Enid who saw what she wanted – a child of her own body entirely, and offered my services as the stud. Can you imagine such love, Jane: getting her husband to impregnate another woman, to help the other woman feel more complete?"

"That was not easy, I should imagine. How come you married Jeannette? From what you said, that was not necessary." Jane had found this new topic for discussion as a good way of avoiding her own failings.

"Our first coupling was entirely at Enid's urging, as I did not want to do anything to disrupt our love. She insisted, and once we had obliged, Enid told me I had to continue making love to Jeannette until she was proved to be with child. At that time, Jeannette was still not sure if it was her or her lost husband who was not fertile, so when she found she was expecting, she was over the moon with delight.

In the meantime, I found myself growing ever closer to Jeannette, but Enid, with her usual sharp eye, spotted this and spoke with Jeannette. Although Jeannette did not say – like me, not wanting to cause problems in our marriage – Enid saw through her, and manoeuvred things so that she got us to admit our feelings. Then she suggested we marry Jeannette, so that her baby - our baby - would be born legitimately, within marriage. Thus you find us today: happy together. I am SO lucky!"