Chapter 19

"You ran your own business? I had the impression you worked for a bank on Earth!"

"Not quite. I saved most of my pay during enlistment, so I had a basis for starting a business operation. I set myself up as a money-lender at reasonable rates, to be a benefit to the community I came from. I undercut all the commercial competition and became the lender of choice for practically everyone in the area. Once I could afford to branch out, I helped people to set up their own local businesses, and invested in property improvements as well.

By the time I left, the property market in our locality had moved up-scale and we were attracting the up-and-coming young people who wanted a good place to live at a manageable price. This added more spending in the locality, which helped the local businesses – shops and trades. Then I helped a few people to get jobs outside our community. That resulted in a surprise: I started being asked to find reliable staff for some companies in the city, so we became a recruitment agency as well as a money-lender and property investor.

It surprised me, how much we had achieved by treating people as genuine people; not simply sources of revenue."

Tom looked at his conception of Esme again, seeing her in a new light: as a community activist in a poor district, fighting to help folk improve themselves.

"Esme, whatever caused you to take on that whole concept of shafting the money-lenders? Surely it was a dangerous idea – dangerous to you?"

"That answer is complicated, Tom. I came from a poor family, and my way out of it was to join the army, where I could get a better education, and come out of it as a better person. Apart from having Nargo – I won't talk about that for now – I left the army at the end of my enlistment, better prepared to deal with the world.

As I looked around to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, it occurred to me that most of my home community were in hock to moneylenders. If I could rescue them from that burden, they might be able to do something for themselves. The easiest way I saw was to set up as an ethical moneylender, offering low rates of interest if they were willing to pay it back promptly. It worked. I identified al the people I thought I could trust with money, and offered rates at least ten per cent less interest than the other moneylenders were demanding. If they dropped their rates, I dropped mine as well, for I could afford to do so. I was not in it for the money, but for the principle."

"But the danger, Esme! They might have sent men to put you out of business!"

"Oh, they did, Tom. But the Army toughens you up, and I had become proficient in unarmed combat, so I was not worried too much. One competitor sent two bruisers to beat me up and damage my premises. I hired them instead, at a better salary and conditions than they were getting. I sent them back to pay off the debts their parents owed to the moneylender; or at least a deal of full payback of the original sum, but with a lower interest rate applied. Faced with that or nothing, he accepted the deal.

My heavies had their parents free of debt, and from that point they were my boys. I never had trouble after that. I even got them training. The smaller one was not so bright, and had been given up by the education system, so I got him learning to read and write. I explained that he needed to be able to read to save himself a lot of hassle, and his associate backed me up. A few months later, he could read and was learning to write. That was a great achievement, and these two boys thought that I could do no wrong!"

"I can see their point. But, Esme, what made you give all that up for exile in this colony?"

"Simple: Nargo. The Personalia contacted me and asked if I would like to be reunited with my child." Tears came to her eyes as she remembered. "I had kept that episode in my past secret. On instructions from the Army I was artificially inseminated, and 9 months later I gave birth to a baby. She was immediately taken away from me. I didn't get to hold my baby. I didn't even know whether it was a boy or girl.

Now these alien spaceships were asking me if I wanted to be with my child. Tom, you said once before: Do fish like to swim in water? Well, that was me. It was a no-brainer. They explained that one of the Malan mothers was willing to speak out about her treatment. If the authorities thought I might also go public, they would do their best to muzzle me, The Personalia said, and offered me a night flit off the planet.

I accepted, but asked for a delay to let me find someone to take over my business. They agreed and asked if they could help speed that up. I asked them to find me an ex-US Army woman who would fit my requirements. They searched databases and produced several possibilities. I selected the best one, and persuaded her that life would be better working for herself as my replacement. She came to see the business in operation, and ended up falling for my male assistant, so by now I expect they are hitched and the business is even more secure."

"What a story!" exclaimed Tom Craven. "So if you all went public, why didn't I hear all about these Malan Mothers and their tales of losing their Malan children?"

Esme spoke without regret. "There was a deal done with the authorities, and everyone got a satisfactory ending to the story. We are all safe on Rehome with our Malan children, and the children are developing into pseudo-human schoolchildren. They all speak good English, were well-educated by The Personalia from the time they arrived here, and they are integrating well, as your Fearn has discovered.

A true alien would not be concerned about the parent of a babysitter, but Nargo is so human now that she empathised with Fearn in her distress over you, and did what she could to relieve that distress. You are the beneficiary of Malans in our human society, Tom."

"Thanks, Esme. I can see that as well as thanking The Personalia, as I have done; I must personally thank Nargo for her concern for me and her swift actions."

"I thought you had done that, Tom. Whatever, she will be delighted."

Tom was starting to become confused with Esme. Every day he seemed to be either thinking about Esme, or she was phoning him, or she was being mentioned by other people. It was a roundabout of Esmes. Her name was putting him into a spin.

He shook his head, and Esme looked alarmed at this worrying image on her phone. "You are not having a relapse, Tom? Is your head all right?"

"No," he said, "My head is fine, as far as that goes. It is you that seems to be disturbing my equilibrium, and I don't know why."

"You mean, like me? I keep thinking of you at odd times, quite unexpectedly. It is most peculiar, Tom Craven. What are you trying to do to me?"

"How do you mean, ME trying to do something to you? All I do is find myself thinking of you, in the odd occasion when you are not phoning me, meeting me socially, or being referred to by other people."

"Oh, dear," Esme moaned, "I hope it is not what I fear. Felicity would not be happy."

"You are confusing me again, Esme."

"Sorry, Tom. I have never managed to meet a man who made my heart flip like it is doing now, and you are a married man with a wife who doesn't like you being interested in any other woman. I am doomed to failure, I am afraid."

"Oh. Is that what you are doing to me? When I met Felicity I had a different experience. She struck me as a nice girl, but our love grew slowly over a number of dates. There was no great epiphany for me, such as you seem to have...

Dammit, perhaps that is what is happening to me too. Damn, damn, damn. Felicity is NOT going to be happy; she will notice the difference in me."

"You already ARE different, Tom. Your brush with death made you more assertive, more in charge. I like the new Tom Craven."

"You may not like an angry Felicity Craven, Esme."

"Then I shall have to speak with her and find what I can do to make myself indispensable to her. She might decide I would be better as a second wife than a loose cannon."

"Wife? You mean that, Esme?"

"If you find me suitable to be considered for that position, Tom, I am willing to submit my application. I have been without a man for too many years."

"Consider me persuaded, Esme, but you have to convince Felicity that it would be a good idea."

"Yes, that is the main drawback. You love her, or you wouldn't have put up with her antics for so long."

"Hello, can I speak to Susan Lubbock?"

"Sorry, this is her parents' house. Susan is married and you can get her at the Odumosu phone number. Her husband's name is Olu."

"I heard she was married, ma'am, but I simply wanted to speak to her. I am new to Rehome. My apologies for bothering you by getting in touch."

"If she calls us first, who shall we say was asking for her?"

"Derek. Derek Dearden. She doesn't know me. It is about education. I am told she got a sort of ... sudden education, and it has been suggested that I do the same."

"Agricultural studies?"

"I haven't decided what. At the moment I just want to find out if there are any drawbacks to the process."

"Ah, I follow you. Susan will be happy to oblige, I am sure."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll try to get her on the phone now."

"Goodbye, young man."

Derek made the call, and got through.

A man's voice stated, "Odumosu residence."

"Hi. Can I speak to Susan Odumosu, please? It is to do with her education."

"Hold on, please." The sound wet dead, so he probably had his hand over the phone's microphone, Derek surmised.

A female voice came on the line. "Hello. I am afraid Susan is temporarily unavailable. Can I answer your questions, or would you prefer to phone back when she is available? My name is Tokunbo Odumosu."

"Sorry to be a nuisance, ma'am. My name is Derek Dearden. I have been recommended to embark on an education in the same manner as Susan's agricultural studies. I wanted to discover if there were any associated side effects or other factors that I should be aware of, before I start?"

"I see. I recall that Susan had a headache immediately after the session with The Personalia, but apparently that was just teething trouble with the process. Once they got that sorted, there were no side-effect or aftershocks of any kind. Susan will be happy to confirm that for you, if necessary."

"No, that will satisfy my mind. Perhaps I may ring her some other time, to reassure myself on one or two points if they arise?"

"Quite all right, Mr Dearden. Are you new to the Colony?"

"Yes, ma'am. I am engaged to marry three wonderful girls, so I need to have a career that will earn me enough to look after them. My existing education, to do with computers, is not required on Rehome, unfortunately."

"That explains it. You are fortunate to be able to take on such education, Mr Dearden. Our best wishes for your studies, and for your marriage."

Derek ventured a call to The Personalia.

"My name is Derek Dearden. I have been studying computer security, but am told that this is not required on Rehome. I was told that you could retrain me for some other career, such as you did for Susan Lubbock."

"Ah, yes. That was interesting. We could do a similar induction learning for you as well, Mr Dearden. Did you have some specific subject in mind?"

"Personally, no. I am open to suggestions."

"Perhaps Engineering Geology might interest you. That would be of value to the Colony in its future expansion. That profession checks out the ground structure of buildings and other engineering works, ensuring that the underlying geological structure can cope with the construction without problems arising."

"Now, that sounds worth while. I could get into that."

"We shall check with all the university courses on Earth and prepare a course of similar worth, and install it in your memory. We understand you have already spent some time at a university, so you have absorbed the techniques of learning and applying the knowledge that you have gained. Is that so?"

"It is, surprisingly. University courses teach you to think, more than push knowledge into you."

"Indeed. Susan was lacking in that experience, but she has adapted quite readily to her new circumstances. We understand she has begun to give professional advice to neighbours, to practice her new knowledge."

"If you can give me some sort of reassurance that this will work, without any resulting defect to my brain..."

"While it is impossible to give any guarantee about anything, we anticipate a 100 per cent success rate in the process, now that we have the experience that we needed. Susan gave us that experience."

"Okay. If you get back to me when you have all your preparations ready, I am willing to give it a go."

"Thank you, Derek Dearden. We calculate that we will be ready in approximately eleven hours and twenty-three minutes."

"Eh? That quick?"

"Naturally. We see no need to delay. Putting the course together simply means collecting the data on, we think, eleven university courses, amalgamating them and stripping out the redundant material, editing the remainder to eliminate inaccurate data and errors of one kind and another, then loading the resulting course data into our equipment for the induction process."

"Oh. So you want me available tomorrow? How do we do it?"

"You board a Landership to come up to a Base ship, where the procedure will be performed. You will be unconscious during the induction process, as that will avoid extraneous thought processes getting in the way of an efficient transfer of data. The time taken is mostly taken up with making these memories permanent, rather than the actual transfer of data.

The total time required will depend on your brain's ability to absorb relevant data, and to some extent your mind's interest in the subject. Wanting to learn the subject helps with the process."

"That makes sense, I suppose. So the answer to how long it will take is, as long as it takes!"

The Personalia voice intoned, "That is a fairly accurate rendering of the situation. As soon as the installation of the education course is complete, we will revive you, check that you are happy with the result, then return you to Rehome."

Derek made a point of telling Esther that his new degree-level education was booked with The Personalia. Delighted to hear it, she passed on this news to Jeannette at their first meeting.

Jeannette did not exhibit the cheerful response that Esther expected.

"He what?"

Esther repeated, "Derek Dearden has switched his degree target to Engineering Geology, and The Personalia will have him educated to that degree standard tomorrow some time."

Jeannette spluttered, "But, but, we are just about to set up a University of Rehome. If people can be educated for a degree in one day, what is the point of a University any more?"

"It's a point to consider, Jeannette, but getting a good education doesn't have to mean four years of hard slog, if there is an easier way to achieve the same thing."

"I can see that, Esther, but university is about more than packing information into your brain. It is about learning how to learn; learning how to work with other people to achieve a goal. It is about listening, researching; learning how to see different sides to an argument, and assessing which side makes more sense; and a whole lot more. It is even about socialising: you must see that, Esther."

"I do. However, most of these things don't take three or four years to absorb."

"Are you suggesting a dichotomy between the two? Making University one aspect and the learning another mutually exclusive aspect?"

Esther was unsure what she meant.

"I don't really know, Jeannette. I was just pointing out that the three or four years for a degree are mostly taken up with learning a subject; but the other aspects of university life need not take so long."

"Hmm. This needs thinking about, Esther. Do you mind if I talk it over with Jane Kelman? She is a professor of marine biology and tasked with setting up the proposed university."

"Sounds a sensible idea, Jeannette. I'll leave it with you. I won't deter Mr Dearden, as he has already got some University experience behind him. I'd also be interested to see what the result of intensive education does for him."

"Right. I'll discuss it with Jane. I don't know if you heard, but she is going to join me and Enid in matrimony with Tom. She is a little bit older than me and Enid, but with her education she should be interesting to get along with!"

"Jane? Can you take your eyes off my husband for a few minutes? You will have all your life to ogle him!"

"Oh, sorry, Jeannette. I am just not used to having a fiancé. I hadn't expected my reactions to be like this. What can I do for you?"

"You may have to rethink your university plans, dear. I have found out that The Personalia are now able to pump degree-level knowledge into a person's brain in a very short time. I think it is a few hours, but certainly within a day."

"Eh? You are kidding me, surely?"

"Nope. 100 per cert kosher. They turned a teenage girl into an expert on agriculture within a day, and they propose to turn Derek Dearden from an undergraduate computer systems guy into an Engineering Geology graduate in 24 hours."

"Good grief! Does that process require a high enough IQ level to be able to absorb a degree, or can they do it for anyone capable of using the degree knowledge?"

"Gosh, I have no idea. That question never came up. It must be an important question that should be answered, I grant you. But what does this do to your planned university, Jane?"