Chapter 23: Fallout

Both Catherine and Gretchen downed two straight whiskeys on the mile plus return trip to the hotel, with Cat coughing harshly after each one. The older woman was a wreck. Inside our room, Cat helped her out of her clothes while I ordered room service with a promise of a two-hundred-dollar tip if it was here in less than ten minutes.

The bourbon and croissants arrived before the women were out of the shower. Both received a tumbler of the watered whiskey, a glass of water with ice, a croissant and four aspirin.

“Eat. Drink. Then we will talk.” Cat came out in one of my undershirts while Gretchen wore a spare button down. My student sat on my lap while Gretchen tucked her knees under her and to the side with the comforter from Cat’s bed wrapped around her.

“What happened back there? It was like I got punched in the gut,” the blonde professor finally asked.

“Inhumans have problems controlling their desires. When their desires become too strong, their soul energy leaks. Leonard being the strongest Inhuman, has tremendous soul energy. It spilled over, affecting you and the other four at the table.”

A sip from her glass showed the amazing woman was coping, more than most people could do in a similar situation.

“With someone as strong as Leonard, you would have felt uncontrollable terror. Think of the old black and white movies. Whenever a vampire revealed himself, the people screamed. Those were accurate.”

“I didn’t feel anything besides pressure. Why Master?”

“I protected you with my own energy.”

“Couldn’t you have done that for everyone else?”

“If I would have tried, Leonard would have taken that for an attack. Few at your ball would have survived our confrontation.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t think I like Vegas.”

“Why is that?”

“Every time we come something bad happens.”

“You also met Gretchen. Balance.” The recipient of my compliment smiled grimly.

“Master, he offer...”

I silenced her. “Never mention that to anyone, ever.”

“Did something happen?” Gretchen shuddered at the memory of Leonard of Prague’s soul leaking out, downing another glass of bourbon.

“Cat sold a trip in space to Leonard and Cassandra. Gretchen, please use that bedroom tonight. I will stay up and keep watch. Catherine will be sleeping in mine.” She didn’t argue and immediately entered and closed the door with another full tumbler of bourbon. The light under her door stayed on all night.

As for Cat, she had curled deeper into my lap and wouldn’t budge until I carried her to bed. She made me leave the door open, watching me until she fell asleep.

...

“Moria sent me a ‘well done’ text. I think it’s about the charity voyage.” Cat was scrolling through her messages on the way home. A subdued Gretchen left early after confirming a Wednesday visit.

... “My interview is stickied to the top of my website.”

“Anything else?”

“You mean besides me auctioning off a space flight? And being pictured sitting at the same table as Dr. Death?”

“Someone got a picture of us? I missed that.”

“I think they are from security footage stills. But very clear.”...

“How is the public handling the sudden influx of multiple stories about their favorite teen?”

“I’m getting a flood of warnings about Dr. Death. There is also a separate thread for finding out who our table companions were. Another is asking if I was going to regularly sell flights and what people would pay for it. Some are pretty disgusting.”

“I’ve already received a text from everyone on my list this morning concerned about Dr. D., Rache was freaking out while you were in the shower. Clarissa sent me a pic of the cookie monster in Vader’s helmet with the caption of him enticing me to the dark side with a plate of cookies.”

I understood the cookies and dark side... “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand,” she smiled.

I thought it was very interesting that Clarissa kept in touch with Cat.

“Ambassador Saif offered me asylum from Dr. Death if needed, on the condition that I protected him from Dr. D. He can be funny sometimes.”

“He offered five hundred million dollars for your hand in marriage. Even guaranteed favorable wife status.”

She laughed until realizing that both he and I were serious. “No, thanks.”

“I replied for him to ask you, after you graduated. He will wait.”

“Anyway. I have the info for Sigmun Khun.”

“Who?”

“The guy who won my auction. He’s the UF office head from EHN.”

“The Xhinese Electronics supplier?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s bringing his youngest daughter, Ying. Probably not her full name, but whatever, they will be at our place at ten. You know what I think? I think he is trying to get close to me using her.”

“You think the Xhinese sent him?”

“Maybe not sent. But they haven’t given up.”

Someone was still holding a grudge and projecting a tad bit too much.

“See what happens then decide.”

“I’m going to have to call dad too. Not looking forward to talking with mom.”

...

“Hot date tonight?” asked a smirking Gretchen on entering our house.

“It’s club week,” replied the teen in a semi sheer black shoulderless tank and sequined mini.

“It does look good on you.”

“Thanks. Better than yesterday’s stupid dress. I felt like I was wearing a turquoise cut out balloon. It made my ass look huge. Thanks for coming. Master is in the workshop and won’t be up until dinner.”

The two sat at the dinner table across from one another. “That’s everything. The yellow folder is the operating specs of the new Capacitors, the green has the info for battery conversion. It needs six capacitors to make a standard EV battery. The blue folder has the supplies needed to fabricate each unit, the prices and the licenses needed. The white folder has the process needed to fabricate one sheet of three. The black folder is everything we know right now about the money needed, production levels and pricing. I don’t know what else you need. I wanted to call it ‘Jerks anonymous’ but Master won’t let me. Dad calls it his ‘Retirement Fund’. EPI is what I ended up with; Enhanced Power Inc.”

“Come with me and I will show you how the Fabricator works.”...

...

“I’d like you to see if you can use Rache as your assistant or find a position for her.”

“Anything in particular?” Gretchen asked after they spent half the week reviewing the information that Cat had gathered.

“No. it will be up to you two. I’m not allowed to get involved in personnel decisions besides hiring Dad as plant manager.”

“Tomorrow I get to spend the day with the most exacting person on the planet. Wish me luck.”

“Are you sure you are ready for this?” I asked Cat who sat next to me in the lawyer’s office.

“Yeah. Sooner the incorporation papers are signed and taken care of, the better. I soo want someone else to do all this crap.”

“Good morning Smith, Good morning Miss Larkin. Jacob Peabody is ready for you now.”

...

“God, listening to Mr. Peabody go on for six hours straight is enough to make me go bald.”

“You’re already half way there.” I flicked the side of her neatly buzzed head.

“Shut it.”

“Come on, Moria is waiting, we’re late.”

...

Moria signed the non-disclosure form after a quick read through. Cat passed across a thumb drive. “Trade ya, two hundred million for ten percent of EPI.”

“How was meeting the Big Baddy himself?”

“Scary at first, but I kinda got used to the big Jerk.” After Moria’s laughter, “Scary, really scary. Gretchen wet her panties and ran in terror. The four morons at our table never came back. If it wasn’t for Master. I would have run too.”

“What’s he like?” Moria asked interested in Cat’s opinion. I knew she had met with Leonard more than once.

“Very intense. Very formal. He and Master got along okay.”

“They are both older than dirt, is why.”

“Yeah, probably. I bet neither had changed their styles of suits in fifty years.”

“A good suit never goes out of style,” I replied.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Cat patted me on the arm.

“That was Clarissa with him, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, she’s smart and funny. Has the strangest sense of humor. On the drive home from Vegas she sent me the Vader Cookie Monster post.”

“Hah-hah-hah. ‘Come to the Dark side, I have cookies.’ Fucking hilarious. I love that one.” I wondered if I could get a booth somewhere else.

“No.” “Deal with it.” I guessed I was staying.

...

The meeting with the Kresges’ was the polar opposite. We were in Jacob’s personal conference room. He and one junior lawyer sat across from Robert, Abigail and their three lawyers. Even warned beforehand, Cat was not pleased with the formalities.

What made it worse in the opposing representative’s eyes was that she was seventeen, a popular celebrity figure and a girl who was selling ten percent of a nonexistent corporation for two hundred million dollars with no guarantees. Wearing casual slacks and a silver blouse didn’t help her image in their eyes, nor did the collar and leash.

She showed me her tablet at one point while the discussions were taking place. “What’s the difference between a lawyer and a vampire? A Vampire only sucks blood at night.” It was from Clarissa. A long list of lawyer jokes were then exchanged between them. A very interesting friendship was developing between those two.

Three hours later, against their lawyers’ counsel, the Kresge Banking Group agreed to Catherine’s conditions, giving them thirty days to come up with the funds.

“UGH! I hate lawyers!” she vented, while waiting at the table for our waitress.

“It’s only natural Catherine. They are bred that way,” I noted.

“Sorry, but three times in seven days is cruel.”

“General, Jacob Peabody just submitted a patent for...” The overexcited Captain in charge of the think tank monitoring Device makers barged into his superior’s office forgetting to knock or even notice the guards outside the room.

There were two officers in white, one in green and two more in blue, all with ranks well above his current rank. It flashed across his scattered thoughts that this was possibly the last time he would see these people again outside of a court martial.

Frozen in a salute, “Sorry Sirs and Ma’am. No excuses.” Which is why Captain Steven Collingsworth would always remain a Captain.

“What is so important that you barge into my office Captain Collingsworth?”

“Sirs. Smith’s Attorney filed for a patent on a Device this morning in Central City for Catherine Larkin.”

“Any reason why you could not have waited until later to report this to me?”

“Permission to speak freely?”

“Might as well. It hasn’t stopped you before,” General Jackson frowned, yet gave permission.

“Miss Larkin created a Device that makes capacitors. The specs, which she did not have to supply in the patent application, are closer to a blend of battery and Capacitor with a greatly enhanced density, storage, cycle life, load and charging time. She did the impossible Sirs. Every aspect of her new capacitors are ten to twenty years ahead of current technology.”

“What else, Captain?”

“We are guessing from her latest meetings with Helmut Whurer of BMW that they will be made into electric vehicle batteries.”

“So she made a better car battery. Fill in the blanks for me.”

“Current EV batteries are forty to fifty thousand each. Two hundred thousand electric autos are made each month worldwide. A billion in sales a year for her new company is our estimate. To start.”

“The energy density and storage limits are what really have us interested sir. All indicators are that this is a stepping stone. Her end result should be a Device. These capacitors would be the” he paused to think of the correct phrasing, “early test ones meant to be discarded.”

“How long before she can get into operation?”

“She needs hazmat licenses and clean rooms. I don’t know how long it will take her to build the Devices needed for production. Not less than three months for those. And she will need significant startup capital.”

“What is ‘significant startup capital’, Captain?” asked the sole female General in attendance.

“Three hundred million at least. None of us are business related. It’s not our field, Ma’am.”

“Where would she get that much money?”

“Anyone with half a brain and two cents would buy into her company if she asked them Ma’am. She won’t have any competition.”

“Would you be willing to bet your life on that soldier?”

Nervously, Captain Collingsworth blanched. “Unless someone sabotages her new enterprise, this will make Catherine Larkin a billionaire in less than two years. Maybe one. And for that level of sabotage, it would have to be organized at government level.”

“I’d recommend against that though,” the doomed Captain added.

“Captain, enlighten us.” Admiral Thomas ordered.

“Everyone will dissect her findings and inventions. It will, by necessity, advance our collective understandings of how both batteries and capacitors work. Besides, she has Smith backing her, I doubt that Catherine is anywhere near done learning at his side.”

“If we consider everything that Catherine Larkin did last year including the symposiums, she is going after a new energy source. Something like fusion.”

“Fusion?” the word buzzed around the room.

“We have no idea. She isn’t saying to anyone what her goals are. Only her teacher knows and he isn’t telling either.”

“Gunther Schmidt, a professor emeritus from Max Plank, who Miss Larkin has frequent conversations with may have some ideas, but since his communications are now encrypted, we can no longer intercept their weekly talks.”

“Dear, you have packages from UF.”

“Did it say who the sender is?”

“EPI.”

The middle-aged engineer set down his soldering iron, his G Gauge transformer had a poor connection and he was fed up with the sudden power loss. The letter knife easily cut the transparent tape revealing a coffee can sized silver cylinder packed in bubble wrap. Martha would let the blasted cat play with the offensive material later on when he wasn’t looking if he didn’t hide it.

That suddenly mattered little to the man. BMWs Chief engineer for EVs knew what he was holding. The letter on the first of six of the enclosed capacitors had a simple hand drawn smiley face and a signature.

Catherine.

“Gud!” The sixty-year-old ambassador to the UF sat in her condo overlooking the quaint Georgetown street.

In Norge, a simple letter was enclosed with a coffee can sized object. “Please be patient. Catherine.”

“Mr. Larkin, I have your application here. It says you raised two ungrateful daughters and live with an overemotional basket case.” The teen stuck out her tongue at her parents. “You are going to have to take a classes on chemical handling and other OSHA stupidity. Dad, the company will pay for everything. I gave your signing bonus to mom already, consider it spent. So sorry.”

Someone was having fun with this...

“You aren’t too old to be put over my knee young lady.” Mr. Larkin threatened his daughter.

“Yeah, yeah. Talk to Gretchen if you have any worries. She’s the boss. I’m not even allowed to work there.”

“I’m proud of my little girl.” The big man smiled with shiny eyes.

“Thanks Dad.” She rushed to hug him. “Thanks for helping me out. I really need you.”

“Rache.” The two girls sat face to face in Cat’s personalized classroom slash office. “I want you to come work for me, BUT only if you want to. Gretchen will interview you and give you every chance. I am not allowed to have a say in the matter. Master made THAT perfectly clear. I was sore for three days.” She grimaced at the memory of her second caning.

“Aren’t you worried that it might cause problems with us?”

“Nah. Once the business is started, I am not allowed to deal with it anymore except for fixing the Fabricators. As long as it makes enough money to keep everyone happy, I’m good. Talk to Gretchen and the two of you decide. I’m happy if you are happy.” Tension was clearly visible on the younger teen.