Smarter

by Laurence E. Dahners

  That evening Smythe took Ell out to dinner with Miller and Exeter. There they discussed strategies for the auction the next day and whether to let the Liqx Venture Capital group bid at all after McIntyre, the blond man who worked for Liqx, had tried to leave with one of the PRG prototypes in his pocket. They decided to require a minimum 10% royalty stream, significantly more than the typical 5-8% and to require an initial “buy in” deposit with the same amount due each year until the 10% royalty was greater than that annual minimum. Ell asked about the annual minimum and why not just go with the royalty alone?

  Exeter said, “We want them to be motivated to develop the technology as quickly as they can. If they didn’t have a minimum annual fee, they could take their time while the 20 year time course of your patent is running out.”

  Smythe raised his glass to Ell, “To the only bona fide genius I have ever had the privilege to know personally.”

  Miller and Exeter raised theirs too, “Hear, hear.”

  Ell blushed, “Hey guys, I just got lucky. And I really appreciate your help doing this part. I surely don’t have the business skills or connections to make this happen without you!”

  That night as Ell was getting ready for bed in her motel room her “Allan” AI said, “You have a call from Roger Emmerit.”

  “Put him on. Hi Roger!” she said, carefully remembering to use her ‘Donsaii” accent.

  “Hello Ms. Donsaii. I’m just calling to thank you for the insights you offered on my research Saturday night. You were absolutely right! The data I’ve been getting does fit your equations. After struggling with this for ages, I’m finally able to make sense of my results and start writing it up for my PhD! I’m going to have trouble because my advisor, Dr. Johnson, is so sure your equations are wrong. But, I’ll wear him down eventually and get it published. And I have you to thank for it. I just can’t express my gratitude sufficiently.”

  “Uh, Roger, I thought we were friends?”

  “Wha… I, uh, hope so too?”

  “Why are you calling me Ms. Donsaii then? I’m younger than you are.”

  “Well, uh, because you’re so brilliant! I should show you respect! I can’t believe how fast you saw what I was doing wrong.”

  “Well, I think you’ll come to understand me when I say that it really wasn’t all that fast.” She said enigmatically, “But, anyway, I’m hoping you’ll call me Ell?”

  “Sure! Ell. But, again, thanks for your help.”

  “Roger, you probably saved my life there on Emerald Isle, I’m pretty sure I’m still in your debt. But I’m glad I could help.”

  After they hung up, Ell climbed under the sheets, thinking about Roger and how much she liked him. Then her “Fred” AI came on, “Ms. Symonds, you have a call from Roger Emmerit.”

  Bemused Ell put on her New York, ‘Ellen’ accent and said, “Put him on, Hi Roger.”

  “Ellen! My experiment is working!”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. The results I’ve been getting all along actually fit, if I use Donsaii’s equations to run predictions instead of classical theory. It’s amazing! I told you I explained my research to her when I met her Saturday and she immediately took a slate and worked out how my problems might be coming from using classical mechanics without taking her fifth dimension into account?”

  Fighting to keep the amusement over this conversation from spilling over into her voice, Ell said, “Yes?”

  “She was right! It is so hard to believe she’s only eighteen!”

  “Are you going all moony eyed over this teenager?” Ell tried to say with a dangerous tone, “I thought we had something going.”

  “Oh, Ellen, I respect her. I like you!”

  Ell put a threatening tone in her voice, “You don’t respect me?”

  “Women! You’re trying to drive me crazy aren’t you!? Nothing I say is going to make you happy, is it?”

  Ell laughed, “Oh, Roger! Relax, I was just busting your chops a little is all.”

  There was a long pause, Ell started to worry that his feelings were really hurt, but then he said, “There! Took me a bit, but I’ve relocated my chops. Hey, did you ever call Donsaii yourself?”

  “Well… we have been… ‘communicating’ but I can’t tell you about it yet.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” She said mysteriously. “Night, night Roger.”

  The next morning the Liqx issue solved itself when McIntyre showed up with a new group of investors that he had assembled overnight. He had separated from Liqx and his new group wanted permission to bid on the tech too. Ell as “Terry” fixed him with a baleful eye, “So you’re telling me that your new investors trust you so much that they are willing to invest in this technology without knowing anything about it, just on your say so that it has value?”

  “Oh no! I completely explained its capabilities to them. Among this group I’ve assembled are people very experienced with bringing major new products like this to market. Here’s a brochure regarding what we have to offer in terms of expertise, experience and backing.”

  “Does the brochure discuss honesty?”

  “Huh?”

  “You signed a nondisclosure agreement yesterday, specifically stating that you would disclose absolutely nothing about this technology, to anyone, without our approval for a minimum period of three years.”

  “Oh! Well sure. But I only disclosed it in order to bring you this tremendous opportunity!”

  “We will not deal with someone we cannot trust. We won’t be accepting bids from your new group. Nor from Liqx unless they agree that you will not be returning to their employ. Sorry.”

  McIntyre reddened, stepped close and seethed, “Terry, you have no idea who you are dealing with do you?”

  Ell looked at him innocently and shook her head with an enigmatic smile.

  “You are going to regret this! I will make certain that Ms. Donsaii finds out that you blew a great opportunity. Even if she doesn’t care, I have the resources to make your life miserable. You, personally,” he hissed, “will be ruined in the venture capital world.”

  Bemused, Ell wondered if he really thought she would back down? Instead she smiled pleasantly and said, “OKaaay. Now if you could excuse the rest of us?”

  Once Ell had ushered McIntyre out, she had Exeter talk to Liqx and determine that McIntyre would not be returning to their employ if they were to bid on the tech.

  Exeter opened the auction by telling the group about the minimum 10% royalty and that they would be bidding on the annual minimum with the first annual payment due within a week of the end of bidding. An older gentleman interrupted, “See here, I can see that you folks don’t have much experience with these types of technology commercializations. Ten percent is much higher than usual. In addition, it will be extremely costly to bring this to market, so our company bears huge risks. It has never agreed to terms like the ones you are proposing.

  Exeter grinned. “Mr. Alexander, your company has never had an opportunity like this before and almost certainly never will again. You may not meet our minimum terms, and I suppose it is possible that none of your competitors here in the room will either. If so we will pursue other investors. We are confident that there are companies forward thinking enough to make this commitment.”

  He looked around the room and smiled, “Now does anyone wish to start the bidding?”

  All six groups had a hand up. The bidding was frenzied initially but then slowed as the representatives in the room reached ceiling limits they had been set and began having to call their companies or major investors for authorization to bid even higher. Eventually companies began asking for more time to bring in funding partners.

  The bidding took almost all day but by the end of the bidding they had all agreed to the 10% minimum and eventually Liqx and Hyperion, one of the other venture capital groups pooled their resources for a winning bid of 12% with an annual minimum of 2.1 billion dollars! Rather than
the requested full annual payment within a week, they negotiated to transfer 210 million that afternoon with the remainder to be transferred within a month. Certain guarantees had been made on the part of PGR Tech, including anonymous access to the inventor as well as the opportunity to consult with “Terry” as an expert in the technology. Finally, there would be a 10% decrease in the amounts owed if the transmission did not turn out to be instantaneous upon testing with their own clocks.

  The company reps left and the crackling tension gradually dissipated from the room. Ell, astonished at the outcome, tried to thank Smythe, Miller and Exeter. Smythe turned to her and said, “You do realize that you’re now paying me 21 million dollars a year? I’m forwarding one million of that to each of these guys,” he said, indicating Miller and Exeter, “as long as they accomplish certain goals, so each of us has our own distinct joy in your success!”

  Chapter Twelve

  Thursday morning, Ell caught a flight back to Raleigh, head swimming when she considered the state of her poor little bank account which had so long been on the edge of poverty but now had a balance of nearly 208 million dollars. Part way through the flight she thought to herself, I could have flown first class! She’d always wondered what life was like, up there in the front cabin.

  She spent the flight wondering what to do next. She needed to tell NCSU and the Air Force about the device and its patent and the income from it. Her Ellen Symonds identity would be blown when she told NCSU about it and their share of the income so she should think about establishing another valid identity if the Marshall’s office would help her do it. She needed to tell her mother and grandmother the good news. Which came first? How would she tell some of them?

  She contacted Gloria at the Marshall’s office who told her to come on in. She said they routinely reestablished new identities for witnesses who had had their secret identity compromised so she’d be happy to help.

  Ell told Allan to contact the Chancellor’s office at NCSU.

  “Chancellor’s Office, Mindy speaking, how may I help you Ms. Donsaii?”

  “I’m hoping to make an appointment today or tomorrow to talk to the Chancellor about making a donation to NCSU?”

  “Well, as you can imagine, she’s very busy. What organization are you representing?”

  “Not an organization, just myself.”

  “Oh, well, I can arrange to accept a donation for the University. In fact we can simply arrange an electronic transfer. No need to come in, or meet with the Chancellor.”

  “Ah, well, that’d be a problem. I would want to speak with the Chancellor in person before transferring any funds.”

  “How much of a donation would you be talking about?”

  “Mmm,” Ell decided to start with 5% of the 210 million that had already been delivered, “ten and a half million right now. Perhaps more, later.”

  “Oh my goodness, Ms. Donsaii! The television stories last year didn’t mention that you were wealthy! Let me see here… the Chancellor has an opening tomorrow at three-thirty, would that be satisfactory?”

  Ell didn’t elaborate on the source of the money. “That will be fine; I’ll come to the Chancellor’s office. I’m hoping that you can arrange for Dr. Albert Johnson and Mr. Wayne Stillman to attend as well? They also work at the University.”

  “I’m fairly sure I can.” She said brightly.

  Thursday afternoon, Roger’s AI said, “Call from Ellen Symonds.”

  “Put her on! Ellen! I thought you’d disappeared! Where are you?”

  Ell’s heart leapt at the excitement in his voice. “I’m in Raleigh tonight. Can I buy you dinner?”

  “No! You’re broke with no visible means of support. I’m buying! How about if I take you to Mitch’s Tavern?”

  Ell grinned at the thought of someone living on a grad student’s salary buying dinner for someone who had 208 million dollars in her bank account, but she said, “Sure, seven?”

  Ell put on her “Ellen” persona and arrived at Mitch’s a few minutes early, wondering if Roger would have invited some of the other physics grads, or was it just going to be the two of them?

  “Ellen!” she heard Roger’s voice calling from the back and saw him waving. Ell was pleased to see that he was alone in the booth. He leapt up to give her a hug, “How are things?” He waited for her to sit and then slid in beside her, rather than across. That gave her a warm feeling too.

  “I’m doing pretty well. How’s writing up your research going?”

  Roger launched into an excited description of his results, finishing with, “Johnson’s being a real prick about it though. He absolutely refuses to believe that my results fit Donsaii’s equations. He spends all his effort trying to fit them to classical theory and making me redo my setup and rerun the tests to see if we can get a different result.”

  “Really?” Ell furrowed her brow, “Johnson can be hard to get along with? Are you sure?” Ell grinned at him. The waitress arrived then, Roger ordered the gumbo and “Ellen” the Reuben.

  Roger asked, “What are you doing now? Have you gotten into grad school somewhere else?”

  “No,” she scrunched her face, “I’ve been trying to see if I can find someone to help me develop my device.”

  “Oh! That must be rough. Are you trying to make applications while you’re doing that?”

  Ell felt a mixture of relief and disappointment that he hadn’t asked whether she’d had any success with selling her device. Well she hadn’t wanted to tell him about her success yet anyway. “Well, not yet anyway.”

  Roger looked down at the table. He quietly said, “I’m hoping that you’ll apply at UNC so you’ll be close enough that we can still hang out together sometimes.”

  Somehow, this simple statement really touched Ell, she started to reply but had a frog in her throat. She put a hand on his arm and, when he looked at her managed to hoarsely choke out, “That’s a great idea.”

  Roger found that the simple touch of her hand on his arm had raised goose bumps. For a moment he wondered dazedly at the realization of just how much this girl meant to him. He desperately pondered what to say next, but was saved by the arrival of their food. He watched in his usual state of disbelief at the way she inhaled her sandwich.

  They spoke of inconsequential matters for the remainder of their meal. Then Ell tried to pay for their meal, but found that Roger had already put it on his credit. Oh well, it will probably be the last time, anyway, she thought to herself. She turned and punched him lightly on the arm, “Hey, I wanted to buy you dinner! You went and paid already!”

  Roger grinned at her. “Just tryin’ to take care of my ‘broke ass’ friend.”

  On the walk to Ell’s apartment Roger’s hand found hers again and the walk in the brisk evening air passed mostly in companionable silence. He delivered her to her door again but this time she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Roger stood uncertainly on the threshold. She turned, “Hey, aren’t you going to come in? You’re letting all my warm air out!” Ell grinned at him.

  Roger stepped in, looking around. Furnished in “student poor” everything in the room clashed with something else. Yet, overall it looked kind of homey. It was a tiny one room apartment with the bed in one corner and a kitchenette in the other. Ell stood in front of the open frig. “I bought a six-pack of that awful dark beer you like, want one?”

  Roger grinned at her, “You trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me?”

  She tilted her head a moment, then said, “Yeah, I just can’t do without those kisses you’ve been giving me.” She shrugged, “And, I know I’ve got to get a beer in you to loosen your inhibitions.”

  Soon, he found himself drinking a beer on one side of her little table, while she drank a coke on the other side. After they’d talked a little more, he looked around the room again. “Wondering how I’m going to make my move when there isn’t a couch to sit on?” Ell asked.

  Roger had actually been wondering how he was going to make his move, but w
ith relief he said, “Uh, yeah. Since you don’t have a couch, I’m feeling pretty safe.”

  Ell raised an eyebrow, then said, “Well then, back to business, I want to show you an idea I had about your research, come look at this.” She walked over to her little desk, pulled out the chair and indicated he should sit in front of her screen which she’d opened. She sat next to him on the corner of her bed and leaned on his chair as she pulled up diagram after diagram of his research.

  To his astonishment, she seemed to already fully understand what Donsaii had told him and she began amplifying on it with elegant little observations as he became more and more excited. “Holy crap, Ellen! This is amazing!” he turned toward her and found her face right next to his. She leaned forward a bit. Her lips met his with an electric sensation. Her hand ascended to the back of his neck and a gentle caress made the hair on the side of his head prickle. She started pulling without breaking the kiss and he found himself slipping off his chair and onto the bed with her, all while locked in the kiss she’d started minutes ago.

  Finally she let go and took a deep breath, “Hah! I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming did you!” She grinned crookedly up at him.

  “No… but it was wonderful.”

  “Which? The idea about your research, or the kiss?”

  “Uhhh, both!”

  “That’s the right answer.” Ell pulled him down for another kiss.

  Roger put his hand on her delightfully firm waist and then slid it slowly down onto her surprisingly soft hip.