Chapter 66

"That is a bonus for us, or rather for Rehome," said Helen. "We were hoping for some interesting outcomes of the research, but this is even better. Do we have any more surprises in this download?"

"Give us a chance, Helen!" Robert was looking at the list of results. "We have another twenty-three reports to view, so who knows?"

"Right then, do we break for a snack lunch, or do we continue for longer?"

Mya declared, "I'm for eats. My eyes are starting to miss things, and I am half asleep with the boredom of seeing the same thing over and over again." Her sister supported this proposition, and their husband agreed, with Helen amicably conforming to the group decision. She announced, "I'll go fetch the food. It should be laid out in the kitchen, ready for us."

They were sitting round the kitchen table, munching on slices of Quiche Lorraine, when the door opened and the Governor walked in. "I heard that there was lunch on the go, Helen."

"Hi, darling. This is Robert Smith and his ladies, Mia and Mya. We are the Arborea team, in case you have forgotten."

"Ah, yes. I apologise for butting in. We were having a quiet day at the office, so I decided to come home for lunch and see the family. Are you all enjoying your project?"

Helen spoke for them all, as the others were a bit shy of the Governor. "Yes, we are getting the results of the timber samples, and a couple of profitable products are looking likely. One is an antibiotic, that I think I mentioned to you, but today we found a probable insect repellent inside one of the timbers. These three make an excellent team. Rehome is lucky to have them, darling."

"I am happy that you are fitting in so well. Rehome needs more people of talent, to build up our colony. Helen says you are starting on the next generation, so we need to have a colony that these kids will be happy to be part of. Mind if I help myself? I am a bit peckish; it has been a long morning, mostly signing papers and reading reports. Oh, of course, that's what you have been doing as well. Sorry!"

Robert wanted to be sociable. "That's all right, sir. You are much younger than I expected, for a Governor of the Colony."

"Many folk have said the same thing, Robert. I am Bob, by the way, when I am at home, not Governor or Sir. I was pushed into the job by a loving wife who reckoned I should do better than I was doing before, as a back-room expert on everything and nothing. Truthfully, she believed my talents would get more out of the colonists than an older and wiser head, and amazingly, she seems to have been right. That's my Diane for you: always has to be bossy and right. She is, too."

Mia interposed, "Is that the Diane Kempe who runs the Security Service? A formidable lady, I understand."

"That's her, all right. She is indeed formidable: a former army officer, and runs the family as if it was her own fiefdom. I just do as I am told, most of the time. Is that right, Helen?"

"Yes, darling. That about sums it up. But you make a great Dad for the kids, so you have some special qualities."

Bob looked over at Robert. "Think yourself lucky, Robert. You only have two women to run your life: I have four." At that moment his phone rang in his pocket. "Ooops. Sorry, I'd better take this call." He opened his phone and stepped back to the doorway. "Bob Kempe here."

The others heard a tinny but clear voice. "Governor. Sye Lownie. You didn't tell me you were setting up a Patents office. You know I act for The Personalia on their patents. I should have been informed, in case we have to register our patents here."

"Hello, Sye. I would have informed you, as soon as we were set up, ready to go. George Montford is still sorting out details with Admin, so that we don't go off half-cocked when we launch. If The Personalia ask you, I think it would be wise to have their patents also registered here as well as on Earth. That way, if there is any question about their rights, we will have them recorded here for quick access. I know that it is simple to refer to their patents in England, but with so many jurisdictions on Earth, Rehome makes so much sense for them. In future, we suggest they register new patents with us, and we can copy them to the main patent offices on Earth, for their information. Is that satisfactory?"

"I expect so, Governor. Is it true that the patent office will also be the copyright office for textual media, and the standards office for products of all kinds?"

"Your informant is accurate, Sye. This is one of the reasons for it talking so long. It will be a one-stop shop for all these services. Good idea, do you think?"

"I do indeed. So, if we want anything made on Rehome for retailing, there should be a standard for it?"

"Eventually, eventually. When it is something new, we can get the manufacturer and retailer round a table and agree the standards to be applied in future, so that products are consistent. I am sure that will be a valuable aspect for future sales, Sye."

"I see no reason to disagree, at present, Governor. Just keep us in the loop, please. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Sye."

He came back to the table, and grabbed another piece of the cold quiche. Stuffing his mouth, he chewed and swallowed, and once he felt comfortable, he explained, "That was Sye Lownie. As well as being our major retailing outfit – the Lownie Stores – he and his wives run a business on Earth, exploiting patents owned by The Personalia. They market them for our alien friends, and they make a LOT of money for The Personalia, I can tell you. That is why he wanted to know about our new patent office, as you may have overheard. Sye is always on the ball: a sharp cookie, as someone once said."

"You seem to know him well," commented Robert.

Bob admitted this. "We first met years ago, on a trip on the first Landership mankind encountered. We were both on the international contact team aboard, as were Diane and Ruth. He went his own way afterwards: set up in business in London, met the girls who became his wives, and started setting up the Lownie business that began by buying on Earth and selling in the Colony."

"Ruth? Do I know her?"

"My second wife," Bob said. "She is in charge of social services, including education. She is a psychologist by profession, and a lovely lady to be married to."

Mya said, in a startled voice, "Is she that black lady?"

Bob responded, "Yes, she is black: a South African beauty, is my Ruth."

"But your other wife, Diane: she's an American, isn't she?"

"Yes, but what has that to do with Ruth?" His brows furrowed.

"But she is a white American, and Ruth is black!"

Bob frowned at her. "And your point is?"

"Surely they don't get on, if you are married to both of them?"

"Well, when you understand that Diane was the one who asked me to consider marrying Ruth, I don't think your assumption stands up. They are both professional ladies, and respect each other, and each of them has two of my children, so far."

Helen interrupted, "Ruth is a wonderful woman, Mya. I hope you have nothing against her because she is a different colour."

"No, I don't. I just assumed that because a lot of white Americans are against black and white mixing, that..."

Bob glared at her. "And my kids play with alien children who definitely do not look human. They all get on fine together. The Malans are cute kids. Do you have anything against Malan children, the only surviving Malans in the universe?"

"No, no. Sorry, Governor. It was all based on wrong assumptions. I apologise, sincerely."

Bob looked over at Helen. "Are Tessa and Siyanda at home just now, dear?"

"Siyanda is in the nursery. I don't know where Tessa is at the moment."

"Do you mind seeing if you can bring them through, Helen?"

"Sure. Hang on a minute, folks." She vanished out the door. The Smith family looked a bit unsure of themselves., but waited. Helen returned a minute or so later, with a small child at each arm, and an older girl walking behind. She announced, "This one" she lifted the child higher to indicate the white one, "is my own Hector, and this one is Ruth's Siyanda. This young lady is Ruth's Tessa. Say hello to our guests, Tessa."

The brown girl stared at the Smiths and said with a smile, "Hello to our guests." Helen looked annoyed. "Don't be so cheeky, Tessa. Act normal, please: no need to show off."

"Sorry, Mummy Helen." She looked up and said sweetly, "Hello, people. Welcome to our home." She took a closer look at the two Smith wives, and added, "You both look the same! Are you going to have babies, too? Some of my mummies are pregnant, I know. Are you pregnant, Mummy Helen?"

Helen sighed. "The joys of a precocious child! Yes, Tessa, I am pregnant too, just not so obviously so." She looked over to the Smiths, "I apologise for our daughter's forwardness, ladies."

Mya laughed, "No need to apologise, Helen. She is a lovely child." She faced the Governor. "You have made your point, Governor. You have a lovely family."

"Thank you. I love them all, right down to little Hector". He tickled hector under the chin, causing the boy to squirm, giggling, in his mother's arms. Helen remembered something and said to her husband, "John Frederickson is desperate to lay hands on some timber for manufacturing potato storage boxes. Do you think you can get The Personalia to supply some to his company darling? Probably sample number 26 is best for their purposes, from what we have seen so far."

"Sure, I'll do that. I did notice that the potato fields were growing well, so the farmers will be needing something like that to store their ware potatoes. Potato clamps are fine for storing small quantities, but no use for transportation."

Mia interrupted this discussion. "C'mon, everyone. We need to get back to these reports, if we are going to get them finished today."

Amid minor grumblings, they all finished what they were eating and drinking, and prepared to get back to work. As before, most of the reports were fairly dull in content. One, surprisingly, came with a radiation warning. Mya read out part of it.

"The tree appears to have been struck by a fragment of a meteorite. The damage is relatively minor, so it is unlikely that was a direct impact. More probable is that it was a fragment broken off on landing on the ground, and the fragment penetrated the tree. Unfortunately, the fragment is not within the sample obtained and offered to me, but the track through the wood is peppered with tiny pieces of radioactive rock. It was fortunate that a radiation check was one of the earliest procedures applied to the sample, and thus showed the danger before any harm was caused to researchers. The level of radiation in these micro rock samples suggest firstly that the natal meteorite had a large percentage of uranium within it. The particles found were too small to determine the isotope with any degree of accuracy, but the indications were of uranium-238, which is the most common isotope found naturally. I would recommend future investigations of the asteroids near the planet, as more uranium deposits may be found. Additionally, as a safety precaution, a radiation survey should be made near any site actively being considered for operations involving human beings."

Robert was quick to respond. "Oh-oh. That means we must ask The Personalia to scan all our potential colony sites, looking for high levels of background radiation."

Mia pointed out, "We also should get them to scan the timber they are stacking, in case there are radiation problems with any of them."

Helen added, "That also means any timber they are sending to the box making company, that John Frederickson asked for. He would not thank you for radioactive timber supplies!"

"True." Agreed Robert. "I'll draft out a message to them, and get your agreement on the wording before I send it. I'll get on to that now, and leave you ladies to concentrate on these reports, if I may."

Steve was pleased with his recording. "Ladies, that was perfect. You must have done a lot of practising, to get to that standard."

Amelia was quick to tell him, "Steve, Dinah was the reason for that. She may be our youngest member, but she is a hard taskmaster, making sure we performed to a high standard. She has a good ear for music, so that helped her spot any doubtful singing."

By this time, Steve knew who was who; so he grinned towards Dinah, saying, "Thank you, young lady. You made my job so much easier!"

Dinah beamed. "You are welcome, kind sir."

Steve continued, "I will transmit my recording to Earth at once, so they can start working on it, but there won't be any final editing until I deliver my hard copy to them, so they can compare the quality. 99.9 per cent of the time, there is no difference, but occasionally there is a technical glitch, so this is "belt and braces" work. The recording should be ready for distribution within a couple of days of my getting home. Best of luck with its sales, girls. You can start thinking of your next production."