Chapter 17

"Margo Ruiz?", said the voice on her phone.

"Margo Aquino ... no you are right. Margo Ruiz. I no longer regard myself as married to that man."

Thank you for identifying yourself. This is The Personalia. We think it is advisable that you transfer any financial assets to Rehome. Do you have any such assets that we can help you with?"

"I have around a million dollars in US Treasury Bonds, registered in my name. I bought them through a broker five years ago, and I haven't touched them."

"Ah. Excellent. If you gave us authority to act on your behalf, we could deal with that broker and have the bonds sold. The cash realised can be paid into an account in your name in the Bank of Rehome, and it is then available to you to do what you feel is right for you.

"We suggest transferring it to another account without having your name on it, but accessible via fingerprint identification. The main purpose is to prevent the US Government from seizing your assets, which they may try to do when the story of the Malan mothers hits the media."

"How do we go about doing that? Don't I have to sign a form to authorise selling my bonds?"

"We can obtain a digital copy of the form for you to sign, then we can have it delivered to the broker by post. Let us explain our proposal.

"Once the proceeds have arrived at the Bank of Rehome, to an account you will set up using your own name; you then have that cash transferred to another account. This one is solely a numbered account to which only you will have access via fingerprint identification. That makes it as secure as is possible for a human individual.

"Will that be satisfactory for you, Margo?"

"Sounds great. One problem: How do I know that you are The Personalia? This might be a scam."

"A wise precaution, Margo. We suggest you contact the Governor. He can phone The Personalia to confirm that our discussion was indeed by The Personalia. Please do so, before we proceed."

Margo tried dialling The Governor, but had to wait in a queue before she got through to one of the officials. He agreed to put her call through. She explained to the Governor what was needed, apologising for disturbing him.

"Don't worry about that, dear lady. The Personalia always insist on doing things correctly, so stay on the line while I use another phone to contact them."

She waited while this was done. She could hear part of the conversation, but left it to the Governor. He resumed speaking to her.

"I have made that call, dear lady. They tell me that you are Margo Ruiz, married surname Aquino. Is that correct?"

"It is."

"Then you have confirmation that it was indeed The Personalia that spoke with you. They are exceedingly reliable, my dear, and worth listening to. I have just checked your name against our database, and note that you are a newcomer, and in fact a Malan Mother. That makes you very welcome to Rehome Colony. We will do our best to help you settle here. Contact our Administration Department if there is any help needed."

"You have already helped, sir. We were given an account with Lownie Stores, to buy anything we needed for a fortnight. Once I have access to my funds which are still on Earth, I shall repay that bill, sir. My honour requires me to do that."

"Wonderful! I do so like to have honourable people in our population. Thank you for contacting me, Margo. Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye, sir." The line was already dead, she found. He was clearly a busy man, yet he found time to speak to me. Nice guy, she thought to herself.

Esme Limbada heard from Margo about her arrangement with The Personalia, and wondered about her own finances. She remembered she had her bank account details with her, so it was time she visited the Bank of Rehome, and made transfers to a new account here. That went into her "to do" for tomorrow.

She had much of her assets tied up in property in Albany, so she took Diane's suggestion and made an appointment with the small legal section of the Colony.

She was met there by Theodore Tully, who was a lawyer with empathy. He had moved to Rehome to find a more ethical approach to clients than he experienced on Earth.

"Tell me your difficulty, dear lady."

"I own property in Albany, Georgia, USA. Diane Kempe thinks it is at risk of seizure by the government in the near future, so she suggested a trust fund as the titular owner. Is that possible, and is it a good option?"

"I was a lawyer in Canada, so I might have to confirm my assumptions with one of our team who practiced in the USA, but I believe the principle is sound. Perhaps we can ignore Earth's standards this time. The target I assume is to hide your ownership, thus if we set up a trust fund here, under Rehome law, with you as the beneficiary, all the ownership records would be here; not accessible by the US authorities. Our law regarding such matters is much simpler; you can be the beneficiary, rather than your offspring or some other relative. In the USA and Canada, trust funds are aimed at avoiding taxes, but with few taxes here, it can be used simply to hide your ownership of assets.

"What I see happening is that officially you hand over your property to this Trust Fund, and you also set up a bank account in the Bank of Rehome. The Trust can be empowered to pay out regular sums to you over a period stipulated by you; and the Bank acts as your trustee, for a small fee, to ensure that this happens automatically. The cash and property have now vanished from your titular ownership, being now owned by a Trust Fund, and only you and the Bank know who is the beneficiary of the Trust Fund."

"Mr Tully, that sounds like what I need. I am not hiding assets from the Colony, just from the US government."

He nodded sagely, then added, "Of interest to you: this is not an irrevocable trust, so that should you wish to vary the terms of the Trust at a later date, such as adding your children as other beneficiaries, you can do so through agreement with your lawyer and the Bank. Neither will be unreasonable."

Esme remarked, "Let's go for it, Mr Tully. As it is going to be enacted under Rehome law, it is of no interest what USA trust fund law stipulates. Yes, I think I am going to enjoy living here."

Ruth Proctor was similarly concerned with her finances.

Her own million dollars was invested in high-tech shares such as Google, on the US stock market. She had by now been informed of The Personalia's expertise in investing on Earth and elsewhere, so she decided to speak to them. She asked Enid Pfeiffer about this. Enid gave her a phone number to use, and soon Ruth was speaking with The Personalia.

She explained about her share dealings and her current portfolio. She asked what they would recommend in the way of exporting her funds to Rehome.

"Ruth, You have several options: First, you can sell the shares and have the proceeds sent to you at the Bank of Rehome. You may wish to use blind banking to hide your ownership of your assets. Blind banking is currently illegal on Earth due to terrorism or drugs problems, but at present it is legal on Rehome, provided the Bank of Rehome becomes a guarantor of the legal use of the account.

"Option two is to transfer the shares to a Trust Fund, which will be the new owner, but you will stipulate who the Trust pays out to, and in what circumstances. That trust fund may be in the United States or on Rehome, and we would recommend Rehome, for added security.

"Option three is to do a swap with us: your shares for investments on Rehome of similar value. A subset of that option is to sell for cash and then purchase a part share of a Rehome business, such as Rehome Deliveries. That option is only possible if you are a permanent resident. You would have to discuss with the current owners, who are two ladies, what they would be looking for in a new partner. As well as adequate capital, they may value expertise in certain fields."

Ruth was interested. "My expertise lies in security work, tracking down criminal activity, but as part of a team. I expect I would be able to advise the company on ways to prevent fraud and theft."

The Personalia comment was, "Your expertise might be more useful to the Rehome Security Service, as a consultant or adviser."

"I shall consider that as well. Perhaps I could do both."

"Please do whatever seems right for you. We cannot do anything further for you, it seems."

"Oh, sorry. I appreciate the advice you have given me. Thank you."

"You are welcome. Goodbye, Ruth Proctor."

Next morning, Tom Pfeiffer reluctantly set off for his work, leaving his two loves to get to know each other better, from a long-term viewpoint. When he got to his office, he found work piling up, so he set to, keen to get caught up again.

He found his mind drifting back to the story of the Malan mothers, as it was now a woman he loved that was the main focus of the story; not an unknown woman from Earth any longer. How was he to write up the story? He now had four women with strange tales, and an unexpected fifth one on the way.

He decided that the Governor had better be informed of his change in viewpoint. He phoned to speak to him, finding that there was a queue of calls for the Governor. He simply told the Admin staff that his was not urgent, but he would appreciate a word with the Governor at his convenience.

He returned to his normal work of updating the paper. His pattern was to upload a new edition once a day, with special news stories thrown in if the occasion warranted it. What he termed "normal stories" drifted in at any time of day or night. They were mostly about the doings of the local population as individuals, or as business news; sports news; education news, and a regular column or two about what the Colony administration was up to, ; or new laws, regulations, or policies being promulgated.

He was deep in one story when his phone rang. "Rehome News. Tom Pfeiffer here."

"Tom – you wanted to speak to me?" It was the Governor.

"Yes, sir. Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted you to be aware that circumstances have altered my view of how I am going to write the story of the Malan mothers."

"Oh? How?"

"You remember Mrs Jeannette Reagan?"

"The one who arrived first, that you were so keen to write about?"

"That is her, sir. It is a bit embarrassing. I have fallen for her, and Enid is equally smitten by her. We have asked her to marry us, and she has said Yes."

"Tom! I thought you were going to be our prime monogamous couple."

"So did I, sir. Circumstances alter minds somewhat. Anyway, I have to be a bit more careful of what I write about her. Instead of giving her prominence, I will probably write it as a story of the group of ladies, so you will get it the way you originally suggested."

"Thank you for informing me of this news, Tom. I shall look forward to the story when it finally appears. How does the extraction go? Are all the ladies here now?"

"All except one, sir: number five."

"Five? But there are only four Malan children."

"That was what everyone thought, sir, but it seems there was a fifth, kept secret on Earth. I gather that efforts are under way to collect the child, the mother, and the mother's partner."

"Intriguing. That should be interesting to learn more about. That may be a sticking point with Earth, so we should be circumspect in telling the story, Tom; at least until she gets here with the child. You agree?"