There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 11

Note: All persons in this novel are fictitious. This story is for your reading pleasure. Its length is undetermined at this time, because I do not know where my mind will take me along the way. If you are looking for a great deal of explicit sexual material, this story is not for you. There will be some scenes included, but they will be evocative rather than aggressive, and not just for the sake of sex itself. I hope you will join me on this journey, until it reaches its inevitable end. P_D10

46. The News Conference

President Atwater finished making his opening remarks. His press secretary had to act like a traffic cop to keep the reporters at bay. He told them if they did not act more civilly towards the guests on the podium and towards each other; this news conference would end, and the only information given out would be on a news release.

A reporter from the largest news conglomerate was given the first question.

"Mr. President, why didn't you do this while you were in office? You said it could be done relatively cheaply. The government never does anything cheaply."

"I am only the administrative head of our organization. I am also putting a great deal of my fortune into this venture. The reason it was not done while I was in office is the person who invented the process of negating Earth's gravity had not completed the testing phase, and was not ready to announce it to the world. When it was ready, if it was offered it to any government, they would attempt to take it, or not offer fair compensation for what the discovery was truly worth.

What amount of money would you offer a person, who could take you to Mars in one hour, instead of 46 days? The United States is spending $1 trillion to get us to Mars by building a new rocket, and a new capsule called Orion. We are going to spend between $270-$350 billion to send between 60 and 80 people on a voyage to the stars.

You recognize these people behind me. Each of them has made their fortunes, either by using their brains. They are not fools, or people willing to part with their money foolishly. Some of them are sending their children on this voyage. Do you think any parent would send their child on a voyage where death was an absolute? Everything has been considered: from the engines; to hovering at a height of a few hundred feet to check their systems, to landing again if they find a flaw. If Challenger had that opportunity, those wonderful astronauts would still be among us.

A police helicopter roared overhead, and landed behind the clubhouse. No one gave it a second thought.

The second question was given to a local television station.

"How will we know these people will actually be going to the stars, and not hiding in the outback of Australia?"

The President said, "I am going to let Dr. Even Luck answer that question."

"Thank you Mr. President. When we take off everything will be folded against the exterior surface of our craft to make it as aerodynamic as possible. When we leave Earth's gravitational field, we are going to extend our outriggers, and deploy our telescopes, cameras, and antennas. We will begin broadcasting live to earth. These views will be both frontal and rearward to show you where we are going and where we have been. You better keep your eyes fastened to the screen, because we will be picking up speed rapidly. Initially we will be traveling at about more than 16,000 mph. As soon as we complete this process, we will be increasing speed at a rate you will not believe it. We will be passing Mars in one hour, at one quarter the speed of light; 46,500 feet per second. When we pass Jupiter we will be traveling at nearly 80% the speed of light, 149,800 feet per second. Then the fun begins, because if we do not reach at least .9 the speed of light, we are going to return home, because we will never reach the next star system.

We will have two engines to deploy at that time: our nuclear engine, and our Ion/H2 engine. I have promised my investors a minimum of 400 patents to come from the research and development of this craft. We have already given them one. Two more will be filed within the next day or so; and we have not put pen to paper yet. These marvelous people have already put $100 million each into the bank. They have not seen a contract protecting their money, or themselves from future liability. That's how much they believe in this project."

From the side of the stage a man asked, "Am I too late Dr. Luck?"

I looked over to the side of the stage, and standing there was William Zabo; Patricia Parent Valentino's father."

"Please join us Mr. Zabo; you could never be late."

Laura, Robert, and Anna Valentino ran to greet their grandfather.

After kissing each of them, he took a seat next to Patti and Stephano, and both greeted him warmly. Many of our other guests did also. They knew him, either through joint transactions with their businesses or by meetings with him around the world. They also knew he played both sides of the law, and treated him very carefully because of it.

I announced his presence, and there was a rumble that passed through the press corps. They knew his name, and the power he wielded in Washington and around the world.

I now had eight extremely wealthy investors for my plan to go to another solar system. However, with the addition of William Zabo, others would follow like water flowing downstream. With each new investor the amount of money they would have to contribute would decrease, but so would their net gain at the end. I was not sure what was more important to them. I would ask them later if they wanted me to limit the amount of investors, or take as many as could afford to join us. It would be their choice, because it was their money as well as mine.

As the press conference went on the questions became repetitious. After each investor made their statement, the first question they were asked was, "Why are you getting involved in such a risky plan?"

Each of my investors became smarter than the reporters by responding the same way as the previous speaker. "Where do you see the risk? Dr. Luck is putting his entire personal fortune into this plan. He is not keeping any of the patents for himself or his family. Before his spacecraft leaves the ground, we will be making money off his patents. If this is not a great business deal, I have never seen one."

When it came William Zabo's turn to speak he was not kind to the reporters. He was brusque and callous.

"There is a reason we are up here, with more money in our bank accounts then all of you will ever make in your lifetime. The reason is we think for the future, while you are stuck in the past and possibly in the present. You take orders; we give orders. Dr. Luck has given us the business deal of a lifetime. Each of you looked at it and called us idiots. Three patents worth billions of dollars on the free market, and all we had to do is put $100 million each into a bank account to get a share of it. I have paid more than that for a ship, and it is still making money for me.

Dr. Luck has already put in $1 Billion of his own money to lead this venture for us. If that doesn't show you how confident he is that this program will be a success, the Wright brothers should not have taken off, in their fabric-covered plane, over a century ago.

This spacecraft will fly into space successfully, with the whole world watching. It will be carrying my granddaughter Laura. I don't like that part of it at all. However, arguing with her is like arguing with her mother. You never win, and you walk away with a headache and heartache. If my son tells me he wants to go along with them, I will break both of his legs, and arms to keep him here with his mother and me. He is just like his cousin, and is as obstinate as a buffalo. I have no idea where that trait comes from; do I Patricia?"

Patti laughed. "No dad, but the next time mom comes for a visit, I'll ask her. I can guarantee you she is going to say it didn't come from her."

"I think we'll discuss that later, in private, later."

"Most of the great thinkers of their times have been proven wrong. As science advances, so does our ability to think forward, and challenge the precepts that came before us. No one believed that Isaac Newton could be wrong. A young person did, and was right. One day you will know that person's name, but not until after our ship has left this tiny part of our universe and traveled to another. This person is donating the patent to the university that had the answer in its hands. They let it slip through their fingers, because they believed Sir Isaac Newton could not be wrong. The best scientific minds in our country were wrong and this person, without a doctorate, and without formal scientific training was right.

Now, go back to your editors and tell them what you've heard here today. You can pick up your paychecks, and think about what is going to happen tomorrow or possibly the next day. Those of us sitting here are thinking about what is going to happen in the next 100 years, and plan for it. This is the reason why we give orders to people like you, and you take them without complaint. You can leave now we have finished with you."

No one dared ask him a question. No one raised their hand to gain his attention. He shut them down, because they did not matter to him or anyone on the dais with him. He was not polite; he did not have to be. He was William Zabo, and they knew it.

***********

Everyone at the dais stood up and went inside the clubhouse, and its air-conditioned comfort. There was no pecking order in here, they were all equals. The children, who were not involved in this venture, were shuttled off to a different room, where food was served. It was a great time for me to ask the question that was rolling around in my head.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a rather important question I would like to put to you. Each of you has agreed to put a great deal of your personal fortunes on the line for this project. After today, and the publicity we are going to get, benefactors are going to come out of the woodwork to join us. In one way this is a good thing, because it will spread the risk and diminish the amount of money each of you would have to put in to finish the spacecraft.

The other side of the coin is it would be the diminished returns you will receive from the patents that will come from this project. For each additional member of this group your return will decrease. I will do whatever you ask, because it will not affect me, but this decision has to be yours.

At this moment we have eight investors, do you want to increase it to 20 or more, or leave it as it is, and get the lion's share of the profits."

President Atwater said, "Let's start to my left and go clockwise with your opinions."

Harold Chase went first. "I think we should spread the wealth around. These patents are going to be worth fortunes of untold amounts. I don't want to have enough money in my bank account to pay off the US debt. I vote we open our group to as many people as can afford it. Considering the asking price, there are only about 1200 people in this country that can afford it. We will exclude everyone from nations that are not friendly to ours and anyone whose background we don't like. We can Vet each candidate, or reject them out of hand if we don't like them."

Philip Castronova said, "I think we should open our group to a maximum of 20 investors. I am not worried about the risk, because I do not see any. The rewards are going to be so great, each of us can control where we want our money to go."

Payne Schneider said, "I know what I'm going to do with the money. If I can't stamp out hunger in the United States with the continuous inflow of that much money, I'm going to want to know why. I would like to keep the investors to a maximum of 20."

William Zabo said, "I will throw my hat into the ring with Payne. There is so much waste in the ethanol project alone, we could feed millions of American's instead of putting corn into cars. I would like to keep the investors down to a maximum of 20, and keep control of where our money goes."

Stephano Valentino agreed with his father-in-law, under penalty of death from his wife. "William, you know my answer, because your daughter has her gun between my fifth and sixth rib. If I don't go along with you, I will have breathed my last breath. I would like to keep maximum of 20 investors also."

"Son, she does have a way of convincing people, doesn't she?"

"If my mother was still here I could ask for advice on calming Patti down. However, since she is not, the only way to do it is to screw her into a coma. I'm afraid to do it, because of what happened the last time. She may get into a helicopter, and disappear permanently. On second thought, that might not be a bad idea."

Stephano did not get shot, but he did get hit very hard, and repeatedly.

"If you do that again Patti, I will spank you all the way home in front of your children."

"You would not do that to me."

"Do you want to bet?"

"No, I don't want to bet."

"Chicken!"

"No, you had that look in your eyes again."

"You can bet your ass on it."

"That's why I didn't bet my ass on it."

"I guess I'll take your ass a different way."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?"

"You have never called it a little head before."

William said, "You two stop it. Laura is sitting next to you, and she's taking notes."

"Thanks grandpa, they were just getting to the good part."

"You're welcome darling; it's what grandparents do, when parents get out of hand."

Turner Stansfield, Boeing's chairman, voted to keep the Association to a maximum of 20 also.

Pres. Atwater said, "With my concurring vote we have a majority of five votes to keep our..., that's a good question, what are we going to call ourselves; a Corporation, a Confederation, an Association, or a Board of Directors. None of us will be drawing an income from this project so there is no tax liability. We will not be able to write our contributions off as a startup, if we don't form a corporation. William you are an expert in these matters; what do you think?"

"Mr. President this is an easy one believe it or not. The money we are going to be throwing into the hat comes off of our taxes because we no longer have that amount of money on our topline. You can't be taxed on what you no longer have. If we form a corporation, that money is taxable, because it is still considered ours as part of the new corporation we are founding.

However, if we are only a Board of Directors, not drawing a salary, and receiving no direct remuneration as a result of the launching of the vehicle we remain tax-free. As each patent begins to pay dividends, we are taxed at a lower rate, as my daughter and Harold have found out, and that money flows in endlessly."

William received a round of applause for his knowledge, and then added one thing. "We need a name for this project so everyone stops calling it by different acronyms. Let's not name it something trite like 'Spaceship to the Stars', because it sounds like were sending grade B actors on a trip to the Badlands of North Dakota. We are in no rush to make an announcement of a particular name, but the sooner we do it the better."

Delicious mumbled, "...for those whose shoulders we stand upon."

"Say that out loud please so everyone can hear you."

"Dad I was just mumbling."

"Then mumble out loud and say it again."

"All I said was, "... For those who shoulders we stand upon."

William said, "It's too long a name for a corporation, but it's a perfect motto for our mission into space."

"Does anyone have an idea for a name for the corporation," Clarke Atwater said.

Stansfield made a suggestion. "I would like to get my company involved in this. I want to make it a nationwide contest for students from middle schools and high schools. I will offer 10 Boeing S.T.E.M. scholarships and internships to the winners. It is cost-effective for us. Our name will be plastered over each competing school in the country. We've had problems getting our 787 into production mode because of a battery problem. I can't think of a way to get more advertising bang for the least amount of dollars. Our project will get more goodwill for my company, then NASA does when they trot out their astronauts once every year. We will put a termination date for this contest as the end of next April, announce the 10 winners in the middle of May, and announce the name of our project at the same time. I hope you will agree with me on this, because it works every time."

President Atwater asked, "Are there any dissenting votes?"

Everyone in the room said, "No."

"The motion passes unanimously. Turner you run with it, it's your baby now."

"Thank you Clarke, it will be my pleasure."

William asked, "Miss Luck did you mumble your way through the proceedings of the University of Chicago, and the Department of Energy files to learn how to defy gravity?"

Surprised, Delicious said, "I never told anyone that except my father."

"You don't have to worry; your secret is safe with us. You can give your work to the University of Chicago as a gift as you planned to do, when you are safely in space. The chief scientist there wants to kill himself because he went the wrong way. When I talked with him about it and showed him his mistake he was inconsolable. He signed an NDA and knows he cannot do anything about it for the rest of his time on this planet, or until you hand him the patent on a silver platter."

"How did you know? How did you find out it was me?"

"I have friends in the scientific community, and they told me that friends of theirs had a meeting with your father. When they returned to work they were no longer themselves. They could not focus on what they were doing. It was obvious to them something earth shattering happened while they were away. None of them mentioned the word anti-gravity, but the word gravity kept popping up. Seven eminent scientists kept saying it. Suddenly, it dawned on one of them to use the word anti-gravity in the same sentence as Dr. Even Luck.

Someone had just tried to keep him from testing radios that transmit sound around mountains. Dr. Luck outsmarted them and did it anyway. Could that same man have come up with a device that defied gravity? It's not possible to defy gravity. Isaac Newton said so, and he had been right for so many centuries, no one argued with his findings.

It's also not possible to transmit radio signals around a mountain, but Dr. Luck did it. Could this same man have found a way to reverse gravities hold on us? It's not possible to do, but his 47^th patent made him a multibillionaire in the process of a few minutes, because he proved what couldn't be done, could be done, if you tried hard enough.

Then I find out he has a niece, who came to live with him, because of the terrible accident. A short time later he takes her to visit Austin Texas. No one goes to Austin Texas, except Texans, or unless they are going to meet a particularly good friend of mine. He is still angry with you, because he had to change his telephone number. We discussed you at length, especially your scores in the science and math area of your testing. The only reason you tied your fathers' IQ is because your mechanical engineering skills suck. If you learned how to draw, you would be smarter than he is. A picture began forming in my mind that it wasn't your father who came up with this formula, it was you. I had to send people to Waterville Maine and change out the school's computers to verify it.

Even though you erased everything you looked for and read; it still remains on the hard drives. I must admit much of what you read was way over my head. However, when I saw you reading the University of Chicago/Department of Energy Minutes, and going through their research for hours upon end, I knew something of great importance had happened.