Chapter 33

"First, I need to speak with Olu, to sort out the arrangements for his family group. Can you have him phone me from your phone? I will pay for the call."

"That is acceptable, Winston. Next?"

"Do you know if Olu or either of the twins have married? I need to calculate the total number of passengers: it affects the take-off weight. It will also determine how much luggage they can bring."

"The last I heard of the family, there was no suggestion of marriage, or even engagement to marry. The twins seem very close, and are noted as not keen on dating boys, despite the fact that they are seventeen now. There is a dichotomy about twins. They are seen as a blessing, but also regarded in some ways as a liability, to be cared for diligently. It makes for social difficulties. The other siblings are indeed attending school."

"I shall send you my home phone number, sir. Please use it to get Olu to speak to me."

"I shall do that, Winston. I hope that you are using the education you received here?"

"I am sir. I have had to mark out my fields using the mathematics you taught me, and I am now checking the ground PH to determine the acidity of the soil of each field, so that I can work out what will be the best use of each field. I have also noted angles of slope, so that runoff can be included in the calculations."

"Excellent, my boy. I trust you will send me a report of your farming operations, from time to time, so that I can tell our current pupils what a good education can do for your future."

"I promise I will do that, sir. Goodbye for now."

The teacher must have done something spectacular, for Olu was on the phone less than six hours later, just as Winston was having his supper. Winston picked up his phone. "Hello?"

"Winston, is that you, my brother?"

"Olu? Already? That teacher was fast! Thank you for phoning. Listen, man, I want you to come here with your entire family: mother, father, brothers and sisters. I can offer you part of my farm here, and we can work it together, old friend."

"But Winston, your father would never let my father leave his employment, and we can't afford to go elsewhere."

"Forget that, Olu. Times have changed. You have The Personalia on your side: The Personalia, in the unlikely chance that you haven't heard, are an alien race of intelligent spaceships. They provide the transport between Earth and the planet Rehome with its human colony, where I am now. They have offered a great deal for your family, once I asked about getting you here. They will land a spaceship a few kilometres from you, and collect you and your family. You know the hardlands on the estate: that flat, rocky land, where only goats can survive?"

"Yes, I know it."

"Well, they want you to be at the southern end at a time we can fix with them. The ship will land there, pick you all up, and take you up to space, to the interstellar ship in orbit above you. It will transfer you to orbit here, very quickly – quicker than our walk to school – and another ship will bring you down to the beach beside the city of Metropolis. I will be waiting to meet you, Olu, and then as soon as the shops are open, we go and buy clothes and shoes for your whole family. That gear is being paid for by The Personalia, by the way. We then go to my farm and get you settled in."

"But who is to employ my father, Winston? You?"

"It is not like that, Olu. No-one is employing anyone, in this case. We are going to share my farm, and work it together. Instead of being employees, you will become part-owners!"

"That sounds great, Winston, but you need money to tide you over until the crops ripen and can be harvested. We don't have that money, man."

"I have enough to support us for a few months, Olu, but the Colony administration normally hands over a parcel of land to each new settler. You can probably negotiate to have a house and a cash sum instead of land, if you are keen to share in developing the parcel of land I have. It is too large for me to work it, alone, so that is why I thought my old friend would be a good partner to have. Are you up for it, Olu?"

"It sounds an exciting prospect, Winston. I shall have to talk it over with my parents and the twins. The younger brats will go along with whatever we decide."

Okay, Olu. Ring me back when you sort out things. A word of warning: Baggage is very limited, so you can't take furniture and such: just things that are important, such as good clothes, family photographs, and so on. It is cooler here than Nigeria, so that's why we will be getting you new clothes once you arrive."

The call back by Olu came after less than 24 hours. Olu had a problem. "Winston, my parents are interested, but as they would have to sneak away without your father knowing, it would have to be at night. We can leave our home with our baggage – we have a couple of old bicycles we got from you and your brother – w can use these to carry the bags while we walk. We would have to leave in the early evening, to be at the spot you designated by about 9 pm. That is a couple of hours after sunset, but the moon is nearly full, so if it is not too cloudy, we can keep walking. If it is cloudier, it may take us longer."

"Right. I understand the difficulty. Let me ring you back in a couple of minutes, while I check if the land can be done at that time of night."

He closed the call, and immediately dialled for the Personalia. Getting through immediately, as usual, he asked whether the landing in Nigeria could be done at night, about 9 pm, as that would be best for the family to be collected. The response was everything he expected. "That is acceptable. It merely requires a calculation of departure time from orbit. Ask them to start a fire where they are, and we can identify the location exactly. The Landership can come directly to them, using the antigravity to avoid shrubbery and goats. Which night is this to be?"

"I forgot to ask. Give me a chance to get back to them."

He redialled to Olu. "Olu, that plan is fine. You just start a small fire to show where you are, and the ship will find you. On second thought, light two fires, side by side, in case there is another fire elsewhere. The double fire will be distinct. What night do you want it to be. Tonight or when?"

"Tonight is too quick. Tomorrow would be all right, I think. I will make it all right, Winston."

"Right. Tomorrow, it is fixed. 9 pm at the site. Bye."

Winston rang back to The Personalia. "The Nigeria evacuation? Tomorrow night at 9 pm local time, approximately. I have asked them to light two small fires, side by side, so that will be distinctive. Will that suit you?"

"Excellent idea. Our sensors will have no trouble with that, once the Landership is within a few kilometres of the spot. We have noted that appointment, Mr Oluwosu. Goodbye."

The next day, the Odumosu family decided to have their evening meal when they arrived, allowing them to start earlier, as soon as the father got home. Everyone was ready; the bicycles loaded with their bags, and everyone in sandals for the long walk. After a kilometre, the youngest was being carried. The next youngest lasted three kilometres before being lifted, but after ten minutes being carried, he was able to walk again for a while. They made reasonable time, and were at the designated spot by about 8.30 according to Olu's treasured watch. They stopped and ranged around for sticks for the two fires, leaving off lighting them until nearer nine o'clock. Father fished out his small box of matches that he had kept in his pocket for this moment, along with two small bunches of dry grass for kindling. There was no wind to speak of, so lighting the fires went smoothly, and it was just a matter of having a steady supply of wood to keep them burning with a flame that would be visible from above.

Olu was first to spot what appeared to be a shooting star, but instead of a short flash of light, it was longer and less bright, fading away as the surface in contact with the air cooled down. The object vanished entirely, for several minutes, then they felt a slight wind coming from one direction. The wind faded away and a dark object slowly came into view, partially lit by the feeble light of the fires, but made more noticeable by the moonlight. It had a huge bulk, like a gigantic truck creeping up on them.

As it slowed and drawled to a stop, it swivelled round, so they were looking at its side instead of its front. This made it even more imposing, when it settled on the solid ground. It was even more shocking when a voice came out of the night, speaking their own language. "Can you identify yourselves please, and state how many people there are?"

Olu took command, "We are the Odumosu family, and there are eight of us, three being younger children. Our bags are on our two bicycles. Can we bring the bicycles with us?"

"That should be acceptable, it the total mass is within required limits. Come aboard and I shall make that judgement." A hatch opened in the side of the ship, revealing a well-lit interior. Ladder rungs appeared on the side of the vessel, leading up to the hatch.

Father went first to show his bravery, then he leaned down to help mother aboard. Each twin grabbed a smaller sibling, put the child on her shoulders, and climbed up the ladder. Finally Olu did the same with his brother, and when the youngster climbed off him and into the ship, Olu went back to the bicycles. He held on by the front wheel, to drag it up, but could not manage it on his own. His father came down and joined him, so that between them they edged the loaded bicycle up to the hatch. Olu was exhausted, but by now realised his stupidity. He returned to the other bike, removed the bags, and climbed up with the bags, which was much easier. When all the bags were inside, he went back for the bike, which was much lighter now. Between him and his father they got it aboard without much bother, and waited for the verdict about mass. It soon came.

"The total mass is within acceptable limits, so we can take off as we are. Please be seated. There are two unoccupied seats, so fix the bicycles to that, for safety during manoeuvres, please. Say when all are ready to go."

They had no tying material, but the bikes could be lifted over the seat backs and each lowered into position, so that it should remain fixed. Two minutes later, Olu was satisfied, and said so aloud. The machine responded, "Thank you. We are now about to depart from Nigeria spaceport for orbit. Please keep your seat belts on during the flight.

You are unlikely to become space sick during the transit to orbit, and this ship will maintain Earth-normal apparent gravity while in orbit, and this will be maintained during your transfer to the larger vessel, commonly known as a Base ship. There should be no major gravitational stress during our ascent to orbit. It will appear similar to an aircraft flight.

Sorry, my data indicates none of you have flown in an aircraft. Please accept that your flight will appear normal for any form of transit on Earth. Ignore the noises you may hear."

They did indeed hear noises. It sounded like the roaring of rockets, which they had heard about at school, but it was just a background noise to them, and everyone just sat there and put up with it. Slowly the sound decreased and became a vibration only. They were unaware that as the vessel left the atmosphere, there was nothing to carry the sound except the structure of the ship.

The transfer into the other, larger, spaceship was apparently nothing more than walking through a short tunnel into another room (actually an airlock), then sitting in a tiny train as it transported them to another room with seats such as they had utilised in the smaller spaceship. Their bags and bicycles had disappeared, but when Olu asked about them, he was assured that they were in "the baggage hold".

Their trip in the large spaceship was little more than an hour before they were told go through the reverse procedure into another Landership which seemed identical to the first, and their bags and bicycles were found in the same positions they had left them in the other Landership. It weird, they thought.

Their new spaceship glided down through the atmosphere, and a screen on one wall showed them the planet they were rapidly approaching. At last they could see a city in the background as they cruised over an ocean, though it was a city like no other they had seen in Nigeria. The spaceship came down to sea level and slid over the waves like a wading bird about to land. The ship actually stopped moving as it came onto a slightly sloping smooth sandy beach. As it stopped, it sank down to rest on the solid surface, and the voice said, "Welcome to Rehome Colony. The city outside is known as Metropolis, and we will be welcomed first by city staff who deal with migrants. Your friend Winston will then be able to take charge of you and show you around. Please collect your bags and bicycles. A set of steps will be at the hatch in a moment or two, to make your exit simpler than your boarding process."