Chapter 15

The DNA result for Margo had come, but it was decided to wait for the results for Esme and Ruth to be found; then all four children would be united with their mothers at the same time; no-one would be left out.

Jeannette was informed that the legal documents for the sale of the newspaper were completed, ready for signing, and she had to arrange payment to the Colony of the agreed sum. Her application for a company title deed for Nabarro Books to be registered was now complete, so she merely had to make it part of the publishing group that would own the newspaper and the book publisher. She had vague notions of a wider group of companies, but that time was not now.

As soon as she was free she took a walk to the apartment block where Ruth, Esme and Margo would be living. Margo had already moved with her children into one of the flats. She had been desperate to have space around her, instead of her and the two children sharing just one bedroom.

The ladies were delighted to see Jeannette, so that they could show her round the premises. They revealed that their shopping visits to the Lownie Stores were fantastic. The store told them that anything within reason that they needed would be paid for by the Colony for the first two weeks.

Jeannette pointed out to the others that could pay their own costs once they had access to their funds, and got them all to agree to repay the colony whenever they had the cash available.

Having done her good deed for the day, Jeannette walked back to Enid and Tom's house. She was wondering about this supposed fifth child.

Tom was wondering the same thing. It occurred to him that a Malan child brought up among humans would be unable to speak the Malan language. It probably spoke English, if its mother was an English speaker. The sad thing was that it would have no idea of its own Malan culture. It's culture would be solely that of its mother and her friends and associates. It would be stunted intellectually, he feared. Like any child with physical problems, it would have felt the penalty of being "different" in so many ways.

It may have been shunned by other children who had been told by their parents to avoid "that strange child", unlike the Malan children on Rehome who had been treated as honoured guests and brought up in sheltered surroundings, in a Malan environment, with Mother Narech speaking Malan to them from when they were babies. They also were not alone, which was important for self-esteem.

He felt for the poor child. Even if it was rescued, integrating it among its fellow Malans would be difficult, until it learned the Malan language. Learning a language is so much easier when you are very young, at least among humans, and he suspected the same was the case for Malans.

He decided to mention this to The Personalia, well in advance of getting the child to Rehome. When he phoned, he was gratified to discover that they had been aware of the situation.

"Thank you, Tom, for thinking about this matter. We realise that it is a problem we have to cope with. The child will need a lot of loving. If the mother can be persuaded to come along as well, that will ease the transition, but it is important for the child to be introduced to all aspects of its Malan heritage. We have instructed Mother Narech to prepare the other children for what to them will be almost a feral child. The new child will know nothing of Malan customs and social skills, making it very awkward among its fellow Malans. We are researching similar occasions among humans, in hopes that similar solutions can be found for the restitution of this child's Malan background, which it has so far missed entirely.

"We do not even know what experimental tests have been performed on the child, whom we are now certain is a girl. Earth scientists may have been running experiments to test her reasoning, adaptability, and reactions to environmental stimuli such as heat and cold. We regret that it has taken us nearly five years to discover her. We had not considered that Earth authorities could be so duplicitous. The humans, like you, that we have mostly dealt with, have been warm and welcoming to the Malans, and to other space-faring species; so we failed to suspect such underhand behaviour by people in power on Earth. We had evidence in your history for such behaviour, but we thought the people now in power would have risen about such despicable attitudes.

"We are currently making plans for recovery of our Malan charge. These plans may be altered, depending on the attitude of its birth mother. If her maternal feelings can over-ride her commitment to her military masters, that will be good, but if the military mindset takes control, that could be disastrous. Perhaps we should ask Diane Kempe for advice, as she experienced the military environment for many years."

Tom said farewell, leaving the problem in good "hands".

The Personalia almost immediately raised the question with Diane Kempe.

"Diane, the mother of the final Malan child is a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. She appears to have her Malan child in her own custody, so we expect that she has been given that responsibility by her military masters, probably since the child was born. What we do not start to understand, is her mental view of the child, vis-a-vis the military hierarchy. Is she going to be cooperative in our extraction of the child – which we most definitely will perform – or must we assume she will resist our efforts?"

Diane was pensive. "That involves a lot more than the military mindset. Much will depend on how she herself has been treated by her superior officers. Many officers are hidebound by regulations, protocols, and military custom, that they find it difficult to dealt with a female officer, never mind one with a child. That sort of background, as I do recall, makes a woman resentful of authority, even as she abides by it.

"If she is in that sort of situation, she will be amenable to persuasion, and if the rationale shows her that the best logical solution for her and her child is to leave, you will have her cooperation.

"On the other hand, if her superiors have been helpful and encouraging to her, she may feel a strong duty towards her service. In that scenario, she will take a lot of convincing.

"Then there is the matter of her Malan child. If she feels it has been well looked after, she will not want to relinquish her control; but if it has been harshly treated, either physically or mentally, she will be an angry woman, keen to see her child's tormentors get their come-uppance. I really need to speak to her myself, to make a judgment on these factors."

The Personalia offered, "Would it help to listen to our conversation with her yesterday? We posed as a legal firm seeking her as a beneficiary in a will by a great-grandfather."

"What? You tried that old scam? It is a wonder she listened to you at all!"

"We were aware of that possibility, so we prepared our background in depth. Everything we said could be checked and found to be accurate. The voice we used was that of a late teenage female clerk, employed as a researcher for a legal firm, in preparation for a senior Partner to come back to her later."

"Right. Play it back, and I will see what I make of it."

Diane listened patiently as the recording was played back. She listened particularly intently at certain points, but said not a word until it concluded.

"Thank you," she said to The Personalia. "That was interesting to hear. The woman sounds as if not everything in the garden is rosy. That is a step in the right direction, from our viewpoint. Do you think I could pretend to be one of the Partners?"

"That is indeed possible. We can see a scenario where you, as an American lawyer, married a Scottish lawyer, and took on his position with the firm after he died tragically young. That would make you the obvious person to deal with an American will, and so a valid reason for you to speak to her and suss her out."

"I can go for that. I just need to find out a bit more about Scottish law, so I don't get caught out. Can I phone her tomorrow?"

"Certainly. When would you like to make the call?"

"Around lunchtime, in England. Can you fix that?"

"Naturally. That would be around nine a m here. Will you be up?"

"I will. I still get up early, as I used to do in the army. My children now do the job of making sure I am up early."

"We shall phone her and arrange for that appointment. "Guinevere" will make the appointment for you."

Diane made the call, as Diane Spreull. She was able to get through easily, with her American accent paving the way. Esther Price answered.

"Price."

"Lieutenant Esther Price?"

"It is. First Lieutenant. Who are you?"

"Diane Spreull, of Balfour, Spreull, Brodie and Dundas, Edinburgh; Writers to the Signet."

"You have an American voice. I thought they were a Scottish firm."

"We are. My late husband was a Partner, before me. I switched to Scottish law when I married him, and after his unexpected demise from a heart attack I was offered the Partnership. The firm tends to sic any American cases my way, unsurprisingly."

"I understand. I gather my great-grandfather mentioned me in his will. That sounds a bit off, as I was born after he died!"

"You were not mentioned by name, as you surmised, Esther. Your father was named, along with a reference to any issue that he might have at a later date. I am told you are an only child, but my information may be incorrect. One of our unfortunate tasks is to clarify such unclear information.

"Scottish law is so helpful regarding wills, or testaments as they are known here. A holographic will is a testament testamentar, and an inheritance without a will is a testament dative. The proportions left to the spouse and children are written into law, so most helpful indeed. Will you please name your parents, so that I can confirm your identity as a beneficiary?

"Very well. My father was Ernest Price and my mother was Margaret Price, maiden surname Wright, and I am indeed an only child."

"Thank you. That agrees with what we have. As to a further generation, I understand that you are not married, but have a daughter. This is a daughter of your own flesh and not an adopted child?"

"She is. I gave birth to her."

"Because I deal with Scottish law, another factor may apply. If you live with a man as if you were married, Scottish law may regard that relationship as married. Can you make clear if that is the case?"

"I do not have a male partner. I do have a female partner, though."

"Unfortunate. As the UK law now stands, you have had the opportunity to marry that partner, but as you have not, she is not entitled to any part of the estate."

"Oh, dear. Pity. Perhaps I should mention that my daughter, who I gave birth to, does not have my genes. I was a surrogate mother. Does that alter her chance of inheritance?"

"It makes no difference. The law identifies a mother as the birth mother, without any mention of DNA evidence of parentage. Fatherhood is less clear in law. The birth mother remains the mother, unless she has passed that right to another person, such as a foster mother or adoptive mother. None of that applies if she remains with you. I presume she does."

"She does. She is a Malan."

"Good grief! A Malan? I did not think there was one on Earth. I can tell you that there are four in Rehome Colony. I was slightly involved in a legal matter concerning one of them. My understanding is that their birth mothers are also resident there."