Kinsella (Kinsella Universe Book 1) (9 page)

Stephanie nodded.  “You don’t want to work for someone else?”

“No, Professor.  I don’t mean any offense, but I’m much better at telling people what to do than following someone else’s instructions.”

“You understand what I’ve proposed?”

Anna nodded.

“I need an assistant project manager.  Candidly, I have other fish I want to fry and I’d like someone to take as much of the day-to-day load off my hands as possible.  If that person does a good job, which I’m certain she will, then likely there will be quite a few projects of a similar nature starting up immediately after the first project finishes, and there will be absolutely zero top managers with experience available.  That someone could write their own ticket.”

Anna was quiet for a minute.  “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“I wouldn’t be doing any research on my own.”

“True, but then, would you be doing research as a lab head?  Or would you be hiring other people to do it?”

Stephanie’s student laughed.  “There’s that!”

Again Anna was silent.  “Professor, why don’t you want your name associated with any of this?”

“Ha!  A good question!  Not even the estimable Captain Gilly has thought to ask that one.  Did you ever take part in a three-legged race?”

Anna shook her head.

“Basically you take two people, usually a parent and kid, and have them both put one leg into the same gunny sack, then tie the sack tightly to their legs.  Then you have them run a few hundred yards.”

“That doesn’t sound very efficient.”

“Well, it’s not.  And if the two tied together aren’t on the same page, so to speak, it can be amusing to watch as they fall on their faces.  However, if you have an anal father and an equally anal daughter, who’ve practiced a few times, you can run pretty fast.”

“And this is a metaphor for what, Professor?”

“If we were going to be discussing Kinsella turbines this week, I’d have my leg in a gunny sack, with fame as my partner tugging me in directions I don’t want to go.  If I was famous in any way, I’d have the same problem.  That’s not something I want, so I’m avoiding it.  I have secured a revenue stream that will last a dozen and a half years and will make me phenomenally rich over that time.  I want to concentrate my attention on the things I want to focus on, not what fame and fortune drive me to do.”

“Do you think they’re going to give you the project?  Do you think they’ll let you pick your number two?”

“It’s a matter of principle,” Stephanie told Anna.  “They have the money to pay for a lot more bells and whistles than I could afford on my own.  But I could afford most all ‘mod cons’ on my own, that’s for sure — but not on the same scale.

“The people here play politics; I submit to you politics is politics — the only thing that changes are the stakes.  Department politics is different only in scope from what they do in this city.  I’m 99.99 percent sure they’ll let me lead the construction project.  I’m 99 percent sure they’ll let me pick my number two.  I’m 99 percent certain that the nice Captain Gilly will be the President’s man on the project.  He’ll have his own box, off to one side on the org chart: liaison-consultant or some such.

“That’s not important to me.  The project is important; what I want the project to accomplish is important.  And I’m not talking about in reference to me, but to the human race.  You know what I want.”

Anna nodded.  “I was a geek in school; I read a lot, I studied a lot more.  I read a lot of science fiction.  I know who said: ‘The Earth is too small a basket for all of the human race’s eggs.’”

“Stranger things have been said in the land,” Stephanie quipped.  Anna giggled.

“You’ll think about my proposition?” Stephanie asked.

“Done did, boss!  You get the gig, I’d be proud to be at your elbow.”

Stephanie flashed her a quick smile.  “Understanding that I don’t plan on being around that much, to be stood next to?”

“Oh?” Anna grinned.  “I’ll just have to make do myself, then!  So sad!  So glad!”

The next afternoon, John Gilly welcomed the group as they stood in the lobby of the Pentagon.  “Good afternoon,” he told them.  “If you’ll follow me, please?”  He led the way, and everyone trailed along behind him.  Stephanie was mildly amused to see a female naval officer and two male enlisted men following them.

They went down a long corridor, took an elevator up, and went through several doors, then another long corridor.  They went through what Stephanie was sure were the same sort of scanners airports and courthouses used and ended up in a large conference room.

Stan waved his wife towards one of the seats, and Captain Gilly spoke.  “Mrs. Benko, Stan, if you could wait a moment.”

Someone came through another door, leaving it open.

Captain Gilly intoned formally, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States of America.”

The President walked in, followed by two aides and his Chief of Staff.

The President nodded at them.  “In a minute, we’ll have a photo session: a group shot, then each of you with me.  A souvenir.”  He smiled winningly at the group.

Stephanie admired how easily it was done.  One second everyone had been either hostile or nervous, or, in Stan’s case, both at once — the next second everyone was at ease, almost preening, looking forward to having their picture taken.

The President walked up to the group and shook Captain Gilly’s hand, then turned to Stephanie.  “Professor, good of you and your friends to come at my invitation.”

“The honor is ours, sir,” Stephanie told him, taking his extended hand.  “Of course, I have to admit a certain degree of disappointment.  What sort of penance do I have to do, to earn a meeting with someone not a giant?”

The President took her hand.  “Professor, about a third of the men taller than I am, which is about half, say, ‘I thought you’d be taller.’  About a third of the rest — I can see what they are thinking in their eyes.”

“And the other third?” Stephanie asked, knowing it was a verbal trap and knowing it would give the man pleasure to spring it.

“Don’t give a good God damn about it.  As do most of the rest.  They know who they are, they’re proud of it, and aren’t bogged down in details that can’t be changed.”

“I think I’m flattered,” Stephanie replied.  “Am I being flattered?”

“You bet,” the President agreed.  The President turned to the others.  “Now, let’s gather together for a group shot.”

A photographer appeared and for the next quarter hour pictures were taken of the group and its members — even Trina Benko and her son.

Then Trina and her baby were whisked away and everyone else sat down at the conference table.  “I want to welcome you all to Washington,” the President said, starting the meeting.  “I hope you had a good tour today.”

There were polite murmurs of pleasure.  The President smiled genially.

“I’m glad you had an enjoyable time.  I had originally hoped for a smaller rather than larger meeting tomorrow, but that’s not going to be possible.  At the upper echelons of government pretty much everyone knows about this and since everyone agrees that it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, they all want to be there on the ground floor.

“Thus, most of my Cabinet will be there, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a raft of people from my staff and theirs, the new Science Advisor designate and the NASA Administrator.  Probably someone else from NASA, but I fired all the deputy Administrators last week.  Call it about forty people.  About the only people missing will be Congress and the Vice President, most of whom are out on the campaign trail.

“I want to assure you tonight, as I will assure everyone tomorrow, that this is a great deal more important than any partisan politics.

“It isn’t that I don’t want to solicit your opinions, that is the reason you were invited.  But while I might tell people this is larger than partisan politics, that’s not what they’re going to think to themselves.”

Anna Sanchez raised her hand and the President nodded to her.  “Miss Sanchez?”

“It sounded to me that all of the people at the meeting will be from your party.”

“There will be a few from the other party.  However while our nation as a whole has a two party system, that’s not so in Washington.  The Army, Navy, and Air Force will have people there.  NASA, the Secretaries of Defense and State.  Secretaries of Labor, Treasury... all will have their own ideas about how to proceed.  All of those people have agendas of their own, party politics aside.

“Professor Kinsella cautioned you earlier about not volunteering anything, except with the greatest of thought.  The same if you’re asked something.  Stay brief, keep it as simple as you can and you’ll be fine.  Professor Kinsella is going to be on the hot seat, that’s unavoidable.  If I were you, I’d watch what she has to deal with and how she does it.

“Now please, return to Blair House and make yourselves comfortable.  You can go out and sample the cuisine at some of the local restaurants or stay in; the chef there is almost as good as mine.  You would be surprised at what he can whip up on short notice!

“Are there any questions?”

“Are we going to get the patent granted?” Stan Benko asked almost at once, without waiting to be recognized.

“Sometime tomorrow the Patent Office will decide.”  The President’s expression looked like a child staring into a candy shop window.  “I’ve explained to them that I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t granted right away.”

“And Johnny Chang and I will be the names on the patent?”

The President shook his head.  “Caltech, your names, then Professor Kinsella’s.  This was supposed to have been explained to you before now.”

“Oh, yeah.  But, I was thinking... Johnny and I invented it.  Why shouldn’t we get the credit and not the others?”

The President’s eyes turned a shade of cold sea green.  “You were contractually obligated to Caltech, Mr. Benko.  You may sue, of course, but I was once an attorney, sir.  I’d advise a client in your shoes not to do so; all you’ll accomplish is poison the water between you.  There is virtually no way you can win and the University will look to get back the costs of the lawsuit at your expense.

“Yes, you invented it.  You used Caltech’s facilities to do so and you had Professor Kinsella consulting with you.  Fair is fair, Mr. Benko.  Don’t get greedy.”

The last, of course, was said with steel in his voice.

“And Professor Kinsella isn’t?”

“Without Professor Kinsella,” John Gilly said levelly, “you’d be standing in a line tonight at a pizza restaurant, talking about lotto picks, the episode of the falling boom box forgotten.”

Stan sat back, looking defiant.

“Do you all understand Professor Kinsella’s proposal?” the President asked.

“I looked at the first couple of pages,” Stan said, still surly.  “She wants to build a spaceship.”

“That’s it,” Captain Gilly agreed.  “That’s what the meeting is all about.  Seeking a consensus on whether or not this is a project the government should undertake and on what terms.  The VW on the moon was a clever publicity stunt, and will be instantly newsworthy once it becomes public knowledge.  It will help a great deal, both to get her project approved and to increase the demand for licenses for the turbines.”

The President looked at Stan Benko for a second, as if expecting him to say something more.  When nothing was forthcoming, he smiled.  “I’ll see you all tomorrow morning, then.  I realize that Professor Kinsella is an early riser, but I like to sleep in.  The meeting will get underway promptly at eight.  Someone will escort you to the meeting; you will need to be ready at seven.”

The President stood, followed instantly by Captain Gilly and Stephanie, a few seconds later by the others.

Monday morning was more of a zoo than Stephanie had anticipated.  The number of people attending the meeting seemed to be closer to sixty, rather than forty.  There were a few photographers but Stephanie was sure they were official and not news reporters.

Promptly at eight the doors opened and the President entered, after once again being announced.  Everyone in the room stood, and the President walked to the head of the table and waved to them.  “Please, be seated.”

He remained standing as everyone else sat down.  “We are here today to listen to a rather remarkable proposal.”  He motioned to Stephanie and she stood up.  “Professor Kinsella, I understand you prefer to be addressed by your professorial title.  Please, Professor, if you would, cover the high points.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Stephanie started speaking, ignoring the Power Point presentation someone had prepared that showed on a series of large video screens around the room.  She spoke a few words about her background and qualifications, then she kept the discovery of the Benko-Chang effect remarkably innocent of discussion of the ad hoc and empirical nature of the discovery.

She mentioned the VW on the moon only in passing as a “basic proof of principle” and again, left out details like the make and model of car that had ascended to the moon.

She slowed considerably as she discussed the ship she wished to build, but even then she just hit the high points.  It took just a few minutes longer than half an hour.