Chapter 21

“No, Jane. These ships number in the thousands. Think of them as electronic people, able to reproduce themselves if they have all the materials. Most of these materials are found in asteroids. The Personalia mother ships are too large to land on a planet; only the Lander ships do that.”

“Sounds highly technical to me.”

“It is too technical for most folk, just like most folk couldn’t build a simple computer. As long as a machine works, be happy. Treat The Personalia the same way, and you’ll be fine. I think it is our turn now,” she pointed to the now empty doorway, and John stepped to the front, taking charge.

“I was here yesterday, so I’ll take you through it, girls.”

They presented themselves to an official. John explained he had registered yesterday, and that the two single girls were the new employees for his pharmacy. The official called up John’s details on his screen, and began the process of integrating the two newcomers. Once the basic personal data was properly recorded, he informed them, “Each new arrival has the opportunity of taking on a free parcel of land to farm and build a home on, though if you have no interest in agriculture you might lend your land to a farmer to use, at a rental to you in recompense. That would give you some annual income besides what you might gain through employment such as has been listed for you by Mr Meadows.”

The two girls looked shocked and stared at each other.

Debbie asked, “Does that mean we will be real landowners? Outright ownership, not leasehold like in England?”

“Yes. Outright ownership. Every new resident of Rehome becomes a landowner. The Governor’s policy is to have every new resident owning a piece of the colony, and thus they will have some input into how the Colony is governed in future. At present, the Governorship is an appointment made from Earth, but eventually Governor Kempe wants his post, and others, to be elected by the people, once there is a large enough population to think in such terms. At the rate we are growing, that should not take very long, but if you want my opinion, Governor Kempe would be elected by a landslide if there was an election today; he does a good job.”

The talk switched to essentials, and at last the trio had been recorded as residents with a land entitlement, so far unallocated. The official handed over the keys to their apartments, making sure the key matched the apartment number. As they left the Admin office, John asked Fiona, “Could we get parcels of land near your family, Fiona?”

“You probably could, but we expect to be moving to a new site some miles distant, next to the new National Park.”

“You have a national park already?” John was astonished.

“The first one, but there should be more later. It has been marked as to its site and boundaries, but nothing has been done to make it a true Park to visit yet. Our Reginald has been appointed to be the Park manager, but we have no staff, no house built, no offices, no rangers, no nothing.”

“Oh. So you don’t know where you’ll be living?”

“Just roughly. We’ll get more details later. The Governor is going to have a rail line built to the entrance to the new Park, and the lie of the land will say where a rail line can go. The rail terminal at the Park will be where our new home will be, so it makes more sense for you to live in the city and leave off choosing your land until later, if you want to be near us. But an apartment in the city will make it easier for getting to and from work, so put off your land grant for now. How about we go find your apartments and check them out?”

They looked at the address given, and Fiona checked that against the online map on her phone.

“That’s interesting. How did they know where the Pharmacy was going to be? The apartments are only a few hundred metres from all three of the shops I have registered an interest in.”

She thought, then said, “You registered yesterday, John? And we told them today we were going to open a pharmacy ñ perhaps you mentioned it yesterday -, so the official noted on his data file the preliminary pharmacy applications for premises, put two and two together, and allocated the accommodation to be close to the possible shops; clever of him.”

John chipped in, “And the shops are all in the central location, same as the Admin offices, so we should be able to walk there to view them,” he looked querulously at Tom in his sling, “As long as it is manageable for you, Fiona.”

“Oh, fine. I am not that ancient, John. Becoming a mother is not disabling, you know. Right, girls? If you get pregnant you can work right up to about seven months of your pregnancy, so not long for John to have to cover in the shop.”

The girls got a startled look on their faces. They had not thought about pregnancy, being single women. Fiona observed this, and told them, “You won ët stay single for long, girls. Getting married on Rehome is very common; there are few single women left in the Colony. For a start, you don’t have to worry about your man being single or married, do you? As long as you get along fine, that’s what matters. You could even both marry the same man if you both liked him enough.

For men, though, it means that available women are becoming in short supply. Take note of that, John; a shortage of women to marry.”

This had an immediate effect on John, who admitted, “I hadn’t thought of that, Fiona. I thought it would be easy to find a woman I could love and marry.”

“Well, as I understand it, the Colony encourages young women to come here, but it is so easy for a man to get work on Rehome, that there is a constant stream of men coming for the many job vacancies, and as usual, the ones that want to move from home tend to be single men. Thus the available women soon get snapped up by the men looking for wives. I read that it was much the same when America was opening up for settlement: easy to find a husband; just don’t be too picky. A man in the hand is worth two in the possible future, if you are lucky.”

“My God!” exclaimed Jane. “I was beginning to think I would never find a good man; that is why I was glad to come to the new colony, for the adventure. I think Debbie was of the same mind.”

Debbie nodded, shyly. “That is correct, Jane. I was either not attractive enough or not easy to take advantage of, back home. I was not first choice for being asked to be a wife, probably last choice.”

John was affronted.

“But you are attractive, Debbie! Not being easy is a positive, not a negative trait.”

Jane interrupted, tartly, “So, I am not attractive, Mr Meadows?”

John had stepped in it and tried to recover.

“No, that’s not what I meant, Jane. You are attractive too, but Debbie needed assurance that she was a good-looking woman. In fact, both of you are, I must admit: damn good-looking, if you ask me.”

Jane relaxed, having gained what she sought. “Any woman needs to be considered attractive, Mr. Meadows. Is that not so, Mrs Robertson?”

“Indeed it is, Jane. Attractive is a matter of being desirable. No matter what a girl looks like, realise that looks aren’t all that matters in being desirable. Personality counts, as does ability to think clearly, and being able to be sociable in all circumstances.

Sometimes men, a surprising number, need to be spurred to be gallant, though. Not many of them are woman-chasers by nature, much though they might aspire to be, and so may need to be gently wooed by the woman. I had to persuade Reginald that I was worth becoming his woman, but that worked out okay, even though he already had several women attached to him. I saw what they saw in him, and that was it.”

John was starting to look downbeat, so she asked him, “What’s up, John? You don’t seem happy.”

He shrugged, then came out with, “Fiona, I am not a woman-chaser. I want to be happily married, but I never knew a way to find the right woman for me. I had no idea how to approach the subject of dating and so on, for I had no sister to tell me.”

“John, what you need is some practice. Jane and Debbie are handy, and I am sure would love to help you get that practice.”

She stared intently at the two girls, willing them to cooperate. Debbie was first to twig and get off the mark.

“John, I would be happy to help by going on a few dates with you and we can each find out what works and what doesn’t.”

Jane was not slow in following her lead.

“Yes, that’s a good idea, Debbie. If we can assist John in learning how to woo a girl, it will help him become more eligible as a husband, and make him a more relaxed boss at work. Right, John?”

John gazed at both girls, as if seeing them for the first time. He slowly came out with, “I would look good, being out with either of you; that’s sure. I’ll take you up on the offer, ladies.”

Fiona was pleased with her ploy and suggested, “As soon as you can, start the process, all of you. John, take one of the girls out first time, then the other next time. It can be as simple as a walk in the sunshine, or going swimming or cycling; togetherness is what you want, and a chance to hold hands and look at each other in the face. See what he or she is like as a person, an individual.

Then at some point you should take both of them out for a meal together. That way, you will look like a man taking his two wives out to dinner.”

All three abruptly gawped at each other. Debbie ventured, “Wives, Mrs Robertson?”

“Call me Fiona, please, but yes, it is normal on Rehome for a man with several wives to take them out to dinner. If you three show in public as comfortable together, all the better. I do not at this point suggest you taking the ëwives’ aspect to the bedroom. That depends on how well you fit together in the first few weeks and months. You will be busy at work, hopefully. Keep the dating for outside work times.”

John was confused. “But, butÖ we have only just met, all three of us.”

Fiona told him, condescendingly, “John history is full of cases where a husband and wife met for the first time at their wedding, when their families arranged the marriage. Spending ages in dating is not an essential for a happy marriage. It is the ability to get on with a partner that counts. Love can come later, when you realise that you want to spend the rest of your lives together.”

“Really?” asked Jane, wonderingly, lacking Fiona’s educational background.

“Really. Jane, the idea of romance came fairly recently to Western civilisation. Most marriages around the world were based on economic necessity and family survival, when illness or poverty could kill you off fairly readily. That was the reason for so many children: fifty per cent would not survive to the age of five, then there was family economics.

A family with many daughters would be desperate to get them married off as soon as possible, and a family with a single son would be seeking to get him married so that they could have grandchildren, preferably grandsons, to bring up in the family business or trade. Practicalities counted far more than romantic ideals.”

“So?”

“So the Colony aims to expand, to make it viable. Don’t waste time expecting romance first and marriage much later. Often in the past it was the other way round, after a man and his wife got to know and love each other. Look first for a man you can get along with, and your chances of happiness together afterwards will be much greater.”

Tom made a sudden loud sound from his rear end, and Fiona went red-faced.

“Oops! Tom needs to be changed. Can we go back to the office to do that, girls, while John waits for us outside?”

Jane said, “You want us to help change your baby?”

Fiona confronted her, “You’ll need to learn that sometime, Jane. Why not now?”

“Okay.” Both girls nodded. Fiona, Jane and Debbie went back into the admin office to ask about baby changing facilities, while John asked locals about the best route to the address they had for the accommodation. By the time the women came back out, he had his directions sorted, and led the way. The route actually led past the first pharmacy shop site, so he pointed it out to Jane and Debbie.

“Oh, it is by the main road!” said Jane.

“That’s what I was looking for,” said John. “A prominent site gets more business. We will have other busy shops near us. There’s a grocery just back there, and a bakery with a small cafe attached next to it. They both benefit from each other. But we should wait until we check out the other two possibles.”

Fiona pointed out the name on the next apartment block. “Ah, here we are: Thames, that’s your block. Let’s go in and get a look-see at the apartments, and find what we need to get to settle you in.”

“Why Thames?” Enquired John.

“Oh, they simply named the blocks after rivers on Earth, so that they would be easy to remember if you got lost in the city. They all have nameplates like that, above the main entrance. If you get lost, just tell a security officer which block you are in, and he or she will direct you there. Once you get a city map installed in your phone, you should be able to find it yourself.”

Identifying the apartments was simple, and the keys worked smoothly, but the contents were minimal. The furniture in each apartment was a double bed, equipped with sufficient bedclothes to be functional, one chair, and a cupboard equipped with several shelves. There was no wardrobe or dresser. Presumably the Colony had determined the basics and left the occupants to provide the remainder.

The kitchen area had a cooker and a sink, and shelves on the walls, but no equipment except for a double set of basic crockery, and two sets of knives, forks and spoons, plus teaspoons for use with drinks. There was a mediocre multi-purpose kitchen table. The bathroom ñ known to Americans as a restroom ñ had all the usual fixtures, so that was normal.

Jane asked Fiona, “I thought you said that the cities were built by aliens?”

“Yes, but the Colony employed tradesmen to convert all the accommodation to suit human needs. They are still working on parts of City Two, but this section is completed. What is provided for initial use is the basics, with the arrivals having to make the rooms suitable for themselves. If you are intending to be here a short time, you will probably not do much in the way of decorating or furnishing; perhaps a cushioned chair for the living room, and a dining suite for the dining room. Some folk might just eat their meals in the kitchen.

You will notice there is no electrical equipment of any sort, not even in the kitchen. Most folk deal with entertainment themselves, using their phone to access anything like news services or the Colony business and community database, but practically no-one spends much time on the old movie films. Life is too busy to waste on sedentary recreations.”

John asked Fiona, “Can we make a start on making these apartments livable? How do we go about it?”

“Oh, it is easy,” said Fiona. “You can do an online search of stores in City Two and the results will give you the locations of the stores or shops. Then we can visit them and gather all the things you expect to need for your apartment. If you don’t have enough credit on your card, I can make an advance on your salary, to be repaid at a rate that is sensible.”

“How are we going to carry everything?” asked Debbie. “Chairs and things, especially.”

“The shop will have a delivery service for a few dollars extra, but if you spend enough in the shop, they will deliver free to your address. You just have to be present to take the stuff in at your door.”

“What about deciding on our pharmacy?” Jane wanted to know. “We need to know where we will be working.”