Vaz Read online

  Smint sat back in the chair, wondering if he could believe the data. Data could be faked, or made up, or be coming from sources an investigator didn’t recognize. Fleishman and Pons weren’t the only ones that had thought they had data demonstrating positive energy out of “cold fusion,” then later been unable to replicate the data, or to have someone else point out where the extra energy they thought they had, had actually come from. “Ha… have you replicated the experiment yet?”

  Vaz tilted his head, “Well there was the meltdown over at Querx. I don’t have much data from that one except that there must have been a lot of energy released to melt a mostly stainless steel apparatus. Then I tried to replicate it without the piezo electrode and it didn’t work. After that I simultaneously replicated it with a copy of the original Querx device and my new device with a new piezo electrode.

  “So, I guess you could say three successful replications, except that two of those I don’t have much data from. The one at Querx and the replication with the copy of the Querx device didn’t have any internal detectors for the heat, alpha particles etc. because I tried to copy the original device exactly. I’ve been wanting to do another replication, but have been making myself wait until I have the new properly shielded reactor with coils to harvest the energy from the alpha particles. Then I’ll have an even better measurement of the energy output.” He turned almost eagerly to Smint, “Do you think I should do another replication with the device I’ve got? I could buy some lead sheeting to shield the x-rays.”

  Bemused, Smint said, “No, no, I think you should wait and do it right.”

  Vaz sighed, “Yeah, that’s what I think too.” He grinned and rubbed his hands together, “And this time I’ll be able to publish my results! I hated that Querx always wanted to keep the results secret.”

  Feeling like a traitor to a friend, Smint said, “Speaking of Querx. Is there any chance that you’d go back to work for them? They’re ready to offer a lot.”

  Gettnor looked uncomfortable, “Lisanne wants me to. But… you know they sent a guy over here to threaten me, telling me to go back to work. Like I’d work for someone because I’d been threatened!”

  Smint drew back, wide eyed with startlement, “They what?!”

  “Well,” Vaz tilted his head considering, “a big guy showed up here saying, ‘you need to go back to work for…’ He didn’t actually say Querx, but the police figured it had to be Querx. It’s the only company I’ve worked for in years.”

  “Christ!” Smint breathed. “I doubt that Querx authorized that. It sounds like something that idiot Davis would have done on his own once Vangester put pressure on him.”

  Vaz shrugged, “Besides, I like being able to do whatever projects I want. I hated always being told to work on this or that. And it’ll be cool to be able to publish my results again.”

  Smint nodded and sighed, “Why does Lisanne want you to go back to work??”

  “She’s worried about having enough money to send the kids to college.”

  Surprised, Smint said, “But you must have a lot of money from your royalties.”

  Vaz nodded, “About ten million, but Lisanne doesn’t know about that money.”

  Smint was startled on many levels. First, that Vaz would share his net worth so freely. Second, that it was so much smaller than he’d expected, and third that his wife wouldn’t know about it. He addressed the last one first, “Lisanne doesn’t know?”

  “Uh, yeah. When the money first started coming in she’d been pushing me to go on a vacation to the Caribbean or somewhere.” He looked sheepish, “I don’t like strange places.” He shrugged, “So I put it in a separate account, didn’t tell her about the money and she finally decided we couldn’t afford the trip. I haven’t figured out how to tell her about the money without making her really mad about that vacation. And… and…” throatily he finished, “I hate hiding it from her. It’s almost the same as lying I think.”

  Smint resisted the temptation to ask why Vaz was afraid to travel. Then he decided not to point out that Lisanne would almost certainly be more relieved to have money to send her children to college than she’d be mad about missing a vacation. Instead he said, “Still, I would think you’d have saved up a lot more than that from your inventions. Have you been spending the money on something else?”

  “No. The inventions don’t pay all that much. You’d be surprised.”

  Smint sat back, astonished, “Don’t pay that much? Querx has made billions on them. Last I saw, it was over nine billion. One percent of a billion is ten million. Aren’t they paying you…” he frowned, “I thought the company hiring agreement said they were supposed to pay somewhere around two percent of gross to the inventor? And I think 30% of net royalties collected when they license to others?”

  “Yeah, they were paying that much initially. Then they said that after the first five hundred thousand it dropped to a percent and after the first million, to a tenth of a percent. Three percent of licensing.”

  Smint’s eyes widened in dismay. He’d worried that they might not be paying him quite what they should but, if this was true, they had been absolutely screwing Gettnor for years. And he’d had no idea. “Holy crap!” he breathed.

  “What?”

  Smint held up a finger, asking for a moment to think. He was there at Gettnor’s house to negotiate for Querx. He’d taken that assignment in good faith and he liked to think of himself as an honorable man. But it didn’t sound like there was any way that he could talk Vaz into going back to work for them anyway. And, he’d developed a sudden loathing and distrust for the company that he was negotiating for. Finally he turned to Vaz, “They shouldn’t have done that.”

  Vaz frowned, “No, they said that’s how things were done.”

  “Vaz, you’re too trusting about things like this.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes!” Jack said patiently, “They should be paying you two percent on the entire thing. And thirty percent of what Querx gets if they license it to someone else. I’ll bet they show the change to a tenth in their records as a ‘renegotiation.’”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “Because, they legally can’t change it without a renegotiation, but I’ll bet they just told you that was how it was and when you didn’t object called it a ‘renegotiation.’”

  “No, I mean why would they change it?”

  “It probably wasn’t so much for the money.” He frowned, “Though it was a lot of money. But they’re getting plenty after all. I’ll bet that they were worried that if you had too much money, that you’d quit working for them and they wouldn’t have you inventing more stuff.”

  “Really? Why did they fire me then, if they wanted me to work for them so badly?”

  “Case of the right hand not knowing what the left one was doing. They put that idiot Davis in charge of R&D without telling him how important you were. I tried to tell him, but he didn’t want to listen to me.”

  “So, if I went back to work for them, that’s what they mean by paying me more of the royalty?”

  “Yeah, they’re paying you a pittance, so they’d be happy to pay you more to get you to go back to work for them.”

  “So, do you think I should go back to work for them? So that I could ‘renegotiate’ that royalty?”

  “Well… you could. You could also have a lawyer look into the legality of their paying you less than their original agreement. But, you know, if you went back to work for them they’d feel like they owned your new stuff on fusion, assuming it works.”

  Gettnor frowned, “I hate that kind of legal stuff… Do you know anyone who would do it for me?”

  “Do what?”

  “Figure out the legal stuff.”

  “A lawyer you mean?”

  “Well, hire a lawyer, and figure out what’s the best thing to do. Go back or stay on my own.”

  Smint tilted his head, thinking. If this fusion thing actually did work, he’d like to be a part of it, he tho
ught, though he wasn’t sure why. He had already retired. He had enough money to live on. Everything he knew about fusion said it wasn’t going to work. But, the things he’d seen Gettnor do so far were… amazing. Betting against him on something scientific seemed crazy. And it would be nice to have plenty of money, and to leave something of substance for his kids and grandkids. He said, “I… could do it… kind of be your ‘business manager.’ First I’d have to resign the contract work I’m doing for Querx, because it’d be in conflict.”

  “What are you doing for them?”

  “They hired me on a contract, just to try to get you to come back to work.”

  “Really?” Vaz said, a puzzled look on his face.

  “Really.”

  “And… instead, you’d actually work for me?”

  Smint nodded.

  “How much would you charge?”

  “A percentage? Say five percent?”

  Vaz frowned, “Percent of what?”

  Smint wasn’t sure whether Gettnor was kidding or could actually be that obtuse. “Uh, if I negotiate you another one percent on your royalties, I get 0.05 percent. I could help you with patenting your fusion tech, if it works, too. Also for five percent of whatever you get.”

  “Really? But what if you work hard on it and don’t negotiate anything, or we can’t get a patent, or something?”

  Smint tilted his head again, “Then that’d be my loss. An impetus to work hard to negotiate something for you, eh?”

  “OK, if you really want to… sure, I’d appreciate it. I’m really not any good at any of that kind of stuff.”

  Smint left Gettnor’s house with a plan to come back in a few days with a legal agreement for them to sign. First he had to get out of his contract with Querx, then figure out what legal firm to work with. Gettnor estimated it would be several weeks before the parts arrived and the next version of the fusion device was finished. This apparently depended on how many parts he could buy and how many he’d have to have machined or constructed. They’d get together then to see how it worked.

  While Smint was there, Vaz hadn’t been very upset, but after he left Vaz sat and thought over the things he’d learned about Querx. Eventually he was shaking with tension and anger. He couldn’t concentrate on the design of the new fusion test device until he pounded the bag a while and flogged himself doing sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups. Near the end though, he achieved a giant endorphin release and afterward experienced one of his omniscient periods that allowed him to rapidly see the way through to finishing his design.

  ***

  Lisanne sent Vaz a message,

  “You haven’t seen or talked to your children for weeks now. If I promise not to try to talk to you about your job, would you eat dinner with us tonight?”

  Vaz had just finished ordering the last parts for his fusion device and had begun to wonder what to do next, so he messaged back, “Sure.” He climbed the stairs and started looking through the kitchen to see what there was to cook for dinner.

  Lisanne stepped in from the garage and her heart leapt to see Vaz in front of the stove. She took a deep whiff of the delightful smells wafting out of the kitchen and she crossed the room. “Thanks for cooking Vaz.” She put her arms around his narrow waist and marveled once again at how firm it was.

  “Hey, no problem.”

  “What’cha makin’?”

  He shrugged, “I guess you’d say it was Mexican.”

  Lisanne desperately wanted to talk to Vaz about a thousand different things including whether he had applied for any jobs, however, she bit her tongue in favor of having her family together for a dinner. “Can I do anything?”

  “Call down the kids. It’s about ready.”

  Dante came down the stairs and his eyes widened to see his dad dishing up the food. He’d been thinking that his parents were getting a divorce. He hadn’t seen his mom and dad in the same room for weeks now and wasn’t completely sure his dad still lived in their house. As he pulled out his chair he said, “Hey Dad, welcome back.”

  Lisanne’s eyes widened at a cordial greeting from one of their surly kids. Though, upon reflection, the “welcome back” comment might have been a dig.

  Vaz looked a little surprised, “I haven’t been gone.”

  “You haven’t been eating with us.”

  Vaz looked embarrassed, “Uh, yeah, I’ve been… working on a project.”

  “And not eating?”

  “Uh, yeah, I just heat something quick in the basement.”

  “Whatever…” he studied his dad, “I’ve got a wrestling match tomorrow night. Can you come to it?”

  Vaz looked even more surprised. Though Lisanne had badgered Vaz to go to meets and he did go sometimes, Dante had never actually invited him to one himself. He glanced up at his HUD to be sure he didn’t have anything scheduled and said, “Sure. Is it at your school?”

  “Yeah. Five o’clock. Maybe you could give me some pointers?”

  “Uh, I haven’t wrestled since I was in high school.”

  Dante hadn’t known his dad had ever wrestled. But of course, he hadn’t known he fought MMA until recently either. He grinned, “Yeah, but… you know.” Dante shrugged and lifted an eyebrow enigmatically.

  Looking puzzled, Vaz shrugged and said, “Sure, if I see anything.”

  Sounding irritated, Lisanne called up the stairs again. “Tiona!”

  A moment later Tiona bounced down the stairs, still talking to someone over her AI. Her eyes widened when she saw her dad sitting at the table. “Dad?”

  Vaz looked blandly up at her. “Uh huh?”

  “You’re eating with us?”

  Vaz only nodded.

  Tiona looked back and forth between her mother and father. “What’s going on between you two?”

  “Nothing,” they answered simultaneously.

  Tiona rolled her eyes. “So, do you have enough money to send us to college or not?”

  Lisanne said, “Somehow,” while Vaz only nodded.

  Tiona lifted an eyebrow doubtfully, “Okaay. If you say so.”

  With some frustration Lisanne said, “Tiona! Don’t worry about it. We’ll get you through school somehow. Your education is our first priority.” She turned to Vaz, “Right?”

  To Lisanne’s immense irritation, Vaz frowned as if considering, then said, “Uh huh.”

  Dante pointed his fork at his plate, “This is really good. What’s it called?”

  Vaz, looking a little embarrassed, said, “Mexican food.”

  “Well, yeah, I can tell that, but what… what’s its name?

  Vaz shrugged again, “Mexican lasagna?”

  “Oh, with tortillas instead of noodles?”

  “Kinda.”

  Abruptly, Tiona announced, “‘Vita’s parents just declared bankruptcy.”

  Lisanne put her hand over her mouth, “Oh! That’s terrible.”

  Dante exclaimed, “But… they’re rich! They have that big house and… and… her dad drives a Mercedes…”

  Vaz said calmly, “Just because you spend a lot of money doesn’t mean you have a lot of money.” He put a forkful of the lasagna in his mouth.

  Indignantly, Tiona said, “But you guys don’t even spend any money! You aren’t actually going to be able to send us to college, are you?!”

  Vaz looked at her, a furrow between his brows. “Yes we will.”

  Tiona snorted, “I think I’ll be taking out loans if I decide to go.”

  ***

  Vangester looked up as Smint entered his office. “Any luck?”

  “No. Not a chance in Hell. Davis completely burned any chances of your ever getting him back. Do you know a big guy showed up at Gettnor’s house and threatened him if he didn’t go back to work for you? Who does that sound like?”

  Vangester grimaced, “Davis!” He said it like it was an expletive. “Goddammit!”

  ***

  Vaz climbed the stairs from the basement to go to Dante’s meet. When he opened the door, Lisanne
got up off the couch and picked up her purse. He looked at her warily.

  She smiled, “I thought I’d go to the meet with you.”

  “I thought you didn’t like wrestling.”

  “I don’t. But I love my family. This way I get to go with one of them, to watch another and get ulcers about whether or not he’s going to get hurt.”

  “Are you going to badger me…?”

  Lisanne quirked the corner of her mouth. “No. I’d like to, but I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

  “OK.”

  At the meet, Vaz found himself comparing the wrestling moves he saw to the things he’d been learning at Mike’s. Though he thought that some of the things he’d learned would certainly help win matches, he wasn’t sure how many of the things he’d recently learned would be legal moves in wrestling. It felt odd to him to be watching a sport that only had grappling, no striking allowed.

  He thought to himself that wrestling wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying to him. When he fought, the opportunity to actually hit someone provided a huge release.

  If only he could find an opponent that he could hit more than once or twice.

  Then Dante came out into the ring. Vaz leaned forward in excitement; Lisanne gripped Vaz’s hand and gave a little shudder. Dante aggressively shot a takedown but his opponent successfully sprawled and despite valiant efforts Dante couldn’t take him down. The first period looked like a draw to Vaz. In the second period Dante started in the down position. He exploded out of the defensive position, scoring points for that, and then surprised his opponent with a sudden takedown. Vaz rose to his feet in excitement. Lisanne said, “Is he winning?”

  Dante shrugged and said excitedly, “I think so.” Then Dante’s opponent tried an escape that Dante appeared to have anticipated. He caught him mid move and suddenly pinned him.