Chapter 29

We had breakfast the next morning, then we all got into the van. We drove down Palm Drive, then had to turn onto Campus Drive, to Galvez Street, to work our way over to Jane Stanford Way, before turning onto Lasuen Mall, and pulling up outside Wallenberg Hall, on the east side. It didn’t look like we were supposed to park there, but we did, anyway. One of our guards stayed with the van, while the other two accompanied us.

A flight of stairs led up into a Spanish style building, then into a courtyard on the other side. There were a variety of people walking around, looking like they were going to different classes. I led us to a door on the left, then immediately to the right. Sandy and Len were in the hallway, waiting on us. There was a closed door with a small sign on it that I opened. Inside, a woman was sitting at a desk, typing something onto a computer.

“Are you folks lost?” she asked.

“Cal Lewis and party, to see Don Kennedy, at 9:00. I know we’re a few minutes early, but our hotel was right across from the campus.”

She blinked, then did a double take. She looked down at her notepad, then back up. “Um, I know this is his office, but you’re meeting President Kennedy next door, in Building 1. I’m sorry if that didn’t get communicated to you. Uh, please follow me.” She got up, then led us down a hallway. There were large doors at the end that she opened. I could see a large conference table, with a number of men seated at it. “Sir, the Lewis party is here.”

“Send them in.”

I was expecting at least ten men to be in the room. I wasn’t too surprised that there were fourteen of them, sitting at the table. They thought there were only going to be six of us, so when we walked in with ten, there was a scramble for more chairs for our side of things. We only needed eight, as the guards took up standing positions by the door. The Stanford people hadn’t wanted it to happen, but I purposely made sure I was right across from Kennedy.

“Mister Lewis, the young ladies may take a seat,” Kennedy said.

“Not and stay in compliance with their orders. They’re on my security staff.” There were a couple of murmurs from the other side. “Not that we particularly expect to have any trouble while here, but I’m paying experts to make sure of our personal and corporate security, so I figure I ought to listen to them.”

“How much can a sixteen-year-old be worth?”

“I’m sorry, you are?”

“Preston Campbell. I’m one of the Legal Counsels for Stanford.”

“I see. Margaret, do we have enough forms now?” She nodded, bringing up her case and sitting it on the table. She opened it, handing a folder to me. “Gentlemen, if you’ll all sign and print your name and title on that form, I’ll be more than happy to discuss things with you, such as what Mister Campbell asked.” I passed the forms out.

Campbell looked at it. “This is a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Where in God’s name do you come off, asking for us to sign this?”

What I found interesting was that seven of the men simply scanned it, then signed it. The eighth man, who was not dressed in a suit, saw what the others had done, and then signed his as well. Kennedy saw how things had gone, nodded to the man beside him. They both signed. Kennedy then said, “Preston, your services are no longer needed here today, thank you.”

“Fine, I’ll sign the damned form,” he said.

I shook my head. “No, you won’t. You’ve been dismissed. Please leave this meeting, or I will contact security and have you removed from here.” I saw the other three men sitting at the table smile at my comments, then sign the form.

One of them said, “Thank you for your service to Stanford University, Mister Campbell. Please leave the facilities by the end of the day. Your services are no longer required by the University.”

There was an awkward silence as he gathered his papers and then stormed out. One of the other two men followed him out, saying, “I’ll be back in a few minutes, I’ll have our security take care of things. Try not to give the whole campus away before I get back.”

That made everyone chuckle and lighten up.

“I’m curious as to why two of our professors are on your side of the table, Mister Lewis. Oh, I’m Jim Gibbons, Dean of the School of Engineering.”

“Len and Sandy have started up a little company of their own, called Cisco. We ... meaning CEDEM Financial ... own 30% of that company, and are working to develop a production facility for them in Hutchinson, Kansas, where they’ll make networking products used by both business and personal computers around the world.”

“John Ely, Dean of the School of Law. Who wrote that NDA?”

“I did. But I also had both the Reno County Circuit Judge and the Federal District Judge for Kansas review it, to confirm the actual legality of it. That’s our standard NDA, for general terms. If I have to dig deep into corporate issues, then I have a second one for that. I don’t think we’ll need it today. Later? Who knows?”

“Robert Jaedicke, Dean of the School of Business. Since we HAVE signed the NDA, I’d like to paraphrase the question that our former general counsel asked. How are your assets assigned?”

I looked at Margie. “I’m Margaret Miller, CFO of CEDEM. And before you ask, yes, we need a CFO. I earned my MBA from Wharton in 3 years. Currently CEDEM ... which, for general conversational purposes, I’m just going to say Cal, since he’s the main driver ... has a hundred fifty million in a diverse portfolio of stock, 30% ownership of Cisco, current valuation of twenty-five million, 20% ownership of Microsoft, with a value for them of five hundred million, partnerships with Hess Corporation and Hunt Oil, current value of three point four billion, control of fixed assets located within the State of Kansas with a value of two point two billion, sixteen patents, currently valued at five hundred million in income per year from licensing, and ... presuming the test on Tuesday works, which it will, 10% ownership of Siemens AG, current value of fourteen point two billion, and an additional seven hundred fifty million in liquid assets, in addition to the eighty-five million remaining after spending or allocating seventy-five million for a new, 4 lane highway that’s 38 miles long, development of housing for 4,000 single family homes, three factories designed to produce products for Siemens, Microsoft, and Cisco, and the purchase of two corporate Gulfstream II aircraft.”

“And that, gentlemen, is why I have security guards,” I said.

The door opened and the man who’d left walked back in. “What’d I miss?”

“Sit down, George. There was a question as to whether the three of us, representing the Board of Trustees, would need to be here this morning. You missed the answer to that question. Which is, not just yes, but hell, yes. Mister Lewis, I’m Henry Wilcox, one of the Board. Um, you don’t plan on buying Stanford, do you?”

I grinned. “No. Unless you’ve got it for sale, that is. I’m always looking for a good investment or two, since my projected earnings over the next ten years are about 10% of the annual GDP of the State of California. Sandy, don’t look at me like that. You and Len will be worth close to five hundred million or more in those same ten years. That’s why I invested in your company and wrote that software for you. I’m not greedy.”

Kennedy said, with some disbelief, “You’re talking close to sixty billion in earnings in the next 10 years?”

“Which one of you is Allan Cox?” He raised his hand. “You’re Dean of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, right?” He nodded. “What’s the current for sale price of a 5 megawatt wind turbine? If you wanted to go buy one, what would it cost?”

He frowned. “They don’t exist. The largest turbine in existence is 2.4 megawatts, and the figure I saw said it cost six million to erect.”

“Sorry, Doctor Cox, but you are slightly out of date in your information. For sale and installed price should be right at two million, each. I believe Margie did mention an experiment next week. It’s not really that, it’s more a case of simply sizing up the 625 kilowatt turbine I built two weeks ago, and then sticking it onto a 200 foot tall tower, then watching it generate power.”

“Five megawatts? That’ll pay for itself in a year. Lifespan, and annual maintenance costs?”

“30 years, easily. About fifteen hundred every five years, to put a new coat of anti-icing agent on the blades. That’s the raw material cost, so with labor, call it ten grand. With inflation, maybe a hundred thousand dollars over the 30 year lifespan. That’s it.”

Dean Gibbons said, “What about replacing bearings as they wear out, or parts in the transmission and gearbox?”

“No ball or race bearings. Complete magnetic bearings all around. Including magnetic parts in the transmission and gearbox, so you have a whopping six moving parts total that could potentially wear out. With those engineered out of a titanium-tungsten alloy, that’s not going to happen.”

He frowned. “How large of magnetic bearings are we talking about here?”

“The largest one I currently have built is four feet in diameter, so that the entire turbine can sit on it, on top of the tower, allowing the whole thing to freely spin. I have patents covering them in all sizes, including all industrial and commercial uses.”

“Norman Wessells, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. My specific field is Biology, but Chemistry comes under our school. What do you mean, anti-icing?”

“Oh, yeah, just a simple thing I cooked up. Apply it like a coat of paint, which means roughing up the surface a little if it’s smooth. Spray it, roller it, brush it on, as the top coat. Once it’s applied, it’s temperature sensitive. It gets cold enough, ice particles will not stick to it. I figured the material cost for doing a 747 is about twelve thousand, each. But they could probably just do the wings and leading edges, and then there’s no worry about airports using deicer agent. Lifespan is 5 years, then it needs reapplied. Of course, it’ll also be useful for a lot of other things, too.”

Wilcox said, “You’ve done all this, and you’re ... what, sixteen? Still a junior in high school? Please don’t take this the wrong way, but what do you want from Stanford?”

Beth smiled. “Thank you. Someone finally asked the right question, instead of, very bluntly, looking at us as just a bunch of kids. I’m Elizabeth Watson. This is Dora Menendez, Eve Patrick, and that’s Marcia Kaufman. Sandy and Len already know this, but the five of us are Cal’s girlfriends. Yes, that’s right, that includes Margie. Between the six of us ... well, Margie already has an MBA from Wharton, as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Sociology. Marcia has two Bachelor’s from CalTech, in Mathematics and Physics. Oh, Margie earned all three of her degrees in three years, Marcia did the same with both of hers. They both graduated Summa Cum Laude.”

“Now, Dora, Eve, and I are also like Cal, and technically, we’re high school juniors. Simply put, the six of us wish to enroll in whatever classes, basic or advanced, that we can, for the semester starting in January. A perfect score for all six of us on the SAT would have been 9,600. Our score was 9,580. A perfect score for all six of us on the ACT would have been 216. Our score was 215.25. The lowest interpolated IQ for any of us is in excess of 200. We’re really not juniors, though, as we will all graduate from Hutchinson High School in December, as we’ve all completely tested out of all requirements. We will also graduate from Hutchinson Community College in December, with between two and ten Associates degrees. Each. We’ve all already passed all scholastic requirements for a degree in Mathematics. It’s simply a case of what else can we learn in the next 7 weeks.”

“Cal wants to come here, because he considers this one of the best schools in the entire world. Therefore, the other five of us will also come here. We anticipate attending for two full calendar years. During that time, we will devote as much time as possible to learning whatever we can, to earn however many degrees that we can. Margie is the oldest of us, at 25. Marcia is 22. The rest of us are 16. You, all of you, have reacted first to our ages, then to our intellect. In two years, the four of us will be 18. Based upon my knowledge of Cal’s intellect, if he only has six doctorates awarded by Stanford at the end of those two years, I’ll be surprised. For the rest of us, I think we’ll be perfectly happy with maybe one Doctorate, and a few Masters. Each.”

Eve then spoke up. “Cal is already changing the world with his inventions, his patents, and his knowledge. We are his support team. We have helped him with them, doing some of the lesser tasks and things that he gives us direction to complete. Oh, and for some reason, he likes the game of football, because it builds teamwork. He’s taken one of the worst teams in Kansas and turned it into a team that will, in five weeks, win the state championship. He wishes to play here, although he doesn’t have to do so. We could just enroll, because he thinks playing the game is fun. For your information, as of yesterday, when we left, 628 colleges have contacted us and attempted to recruit him. 142 have stated that he would be their starting quarterback, with no tryout needed, because they’ve ALL seen him play, either live or on tape.”

Dora said, “That play includes three times being on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. That also includes both the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs offering him the position of quarterback for their teams as soon as he is eligible, which will be three years after he graduates high school in December. Cal wants to go to school, and play here. Thus, we all will go to school here. Of course, anything that we happen to invent while here, will remain our intellectual property.” She paused, then looked at all of the men, one by one. “Those items, and one other, are what we want from Stanford.”

“As you’re aware, we have security requirements. While we are here, we will require secure living facilities, as well as additional security, simply because ... well, if you were worth about fifty billion dollars or so, I think you’d want a bit of security as well. There are approximately 22 acres on the south side of Junipero Serra Boulevard. Basically everything between the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, and Reservoir Road. Stanford will provide the land, water, and utility hookups, we will pay for our houses, the fencing we will have to install, and the land improvements. With seven weeks until the end of school, we plan on simply installing a large modular home on site. That will require minimal land interruption. At the end of our time here, we will pay to remove the home, unless the University simply wishes us to donate it to them, for its own use.”

Marcia then put the fork in. “As I am originally a native of Southern California, I already own two homes very near CalTech. I am also quite familiar with the staff of that institute, as that is where I earned my two degrees. We will be here, in the Stanford and Santa Clara area, today and tomorrow. We have a meeting this afternoon with another large technology company in this area, one that we already own more than three million dollars in stock. Sunday, we are going to visit my homes by CalTech, simply because we’re on this side of the country for now. I can easily make contact with Marvin Goldberger. He was friends with my father when my parents were alive. Gentlemen, the ball is in your court, as it were.”

We all started to stand up. Kennedy sighed, then said, “Please, don’t get up.” He turned his head. “George, Henry, Patrick? You’re here for the Board.”

The three of them looked at each other, and it was pretty obvious to me from their body language what their decision would be. “I’m Pat Dillon, I’m actually head of the Board this year. I’d like to ask our respective Deans what they think, if you don’t mind. I note that two of the schools didn’t ask anything, nor did Coach Elway.”

“Um, Cal ... Mister Lewis ... already told me on the phone that he’d lead our team to back to back national championships. I’ve seen him play on the tapes. He’s the best ... I was going to say high school, but realistically, he’s better than any college player out there, and I’m including my son, John, in that mix. If he wants to play here, I’ll coach him as much as I can.”

“I’m Myron Atkin, Dean of the Graduate School of Education. Based upon what I’ve heard, we’ll be assisting, more than anything else. For example, we’d be where you’d get your doctorate in Sociology. I have no objections to their requests.”

“Doctor David Korn, School of Medicine. I specify my title, because I am an MD, not a PhD. I’m a pathologist by trade. My only ... concern ... is that if you wish to enter our medical program, I will not cut the hours you will have to work in either our research or medical facilities, simply to facilitate an early graduation. Plus, you would need to take the MCAT, of course.”

“Doctor Korn, I wouldn’t expect you to do otherwise. If it’s not an issue, I’ll take the MCAT tomorrow morning. I wouldn’t expect it to take more than an hour, so I can be back here at 9 in the morning, if that works for you. One thing I did not mention, is my own background. I am an orphan. My parents worked for a research laboratory that you will not find on any lists that you could get from the government. They were killed in an accident that totally destroyed the facility. My parents homeschooled me, but I also learned from the other scientists there as well. My father was an astrophysicist, literally a rocket scientist. My mother was ... probably the best biologist in the world that you would never have heard of, due to ... well, again, there are secrets, and then there are THOSE kind of secrets. I’m sure you all know what I mean.”

Korn said, “Son, that test takes all day.”

“Well, it took me 15 minutes to take the SAT, another 20 to take the ACT, so I’m thinking an hour should be about right,” I said.

He looked bemused. “I’ll be here, tomorrow morning, this office, with an MCAT. If you do well on it, then I have no objections, and I find I’m curious to see you in our labs. I suspect that you know much more about medicine and biology than any of my regular first year students.”

“That’s actually a point we didn’t mention. We know that classroom and laboratory work are mandatory in learning. At the same time, a lot of classroom stuff can be tested out of. Once we come back in January ... if you allow us to do so, of course ... we’d like to test out of as much as we can, to maximize our time in, well, the important stuff.”

Ely laughed. “If you can parse sentences and paragraphs like you did in your response to David, then I look forward to your legal briefs. Tell me, have you read any law books?”

“About 400 of them. Including a couple you’ve written. I failed to mention one thing. I have a perfect photographic memory, and I’m a page at a glance reader. Beth ... Elizabeth, Dora, and Eve are almost as fast at reading as I am.”

He looked intrigued. “Have you read this book?” He pulled out Constitutional Law, second edition, showing me the cover. I nodded. He opened it randomly. “Page 145, the top paragraph.”

“The first full paragraph, or the continuation from page 144, that begins, ‘Consider Currie, The Constitution in the Supreme Court: The Powers of the Federal Courts, 1801-1835, 49 U Chi L Rev., 646, 685-686 (1982), suggesting that Story’s conclusion’, otherwise it’s ‘4. Cohens v. Virginia. In Cohens v. Virginia, 19 US (6 Wheat), 264 (1821), the Court reaffirmed Martin in the context of review of state criminal proceedings.’ Shall I go on?”

He looked stunned. “No, that’s ... fine. I’m almost scared, now, to have you take some of our tests.”

I laughed. “The Reno County Circuit Judge, Elroy T. Bannister, said he never wanted to face me in his court.”

He blinked. “You know Elroy T. Bannister? Do you know Judge Earl O’Connor?” I nodded. “Frank Stilton?”

“Frank is my patent attorney. Both Elroy and Earl sort of consider me their grandson, and Margie is Elroy’s niece, just as a point of reference.”

“I got to clerk with Earl Warren because Elroy recommended me, when I met him while I was at Fort Gordon. I was on the Faculty at Yale, with Earl O’Connor.”

I frowned. “Wait, that would have been, what, around 1964? Why was Elroy at Fort Gordon, he was an Armored Sergeant during World War II? What’d that devious bastard not tell me?”

“Yes! You DO know him, if you call him that. 1963, and he was helping teach us military law, actually. He served in the war as a Sergeant First Class, certainly. He’s never told you this?”

Margie said, “No. I am going to give him a piece of my mind when I see him Tuesday if he’s held MORE secrets back from us.”

He laughed. “I’ve a better idea. Tell him John Ely said to tell you his reserve rank. And ... I’ll be here tomorrow morning as well. Do you feel up to taking the LSAT as soon as you’re done with the MCAT?”

“Sure.”

The other Deans just nodded when they were looked at by Dillon. He sighed. “There’s only one thing I can think of that puts a kink into your requirements. The land you’re talking about isn’t ours to do with what we want. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we control it, but it’s not eligible for housing.”

Margie grinned. “I bet it’s eligible for a research facility, though. One that’s sponsored by a private group, only allowing certain people in, and that could justify the chain link fence with razor wire that will be going up around it, as well as the armed guards. The CEDEM Research Facility for Advanced Studies, operating under strictest privacy. In two years, Stanford gets a new facility, and we get the tax write off for two years as a research park, before donating the whole thing TO Stanford. I’m thinking two or three triple-wide modular homes, because we really are going to end up with a tremendous amount of books and research materials.”

Dean Jaedicke smiled. “Miss Miller, you’ve just set forth your thesis for your DBA. Write everything up, including the plans for CEDEM Financial to pay for, while at the same time, receiving credits for these actions. The minor detail that you’re already the CFO for an organization that has donated hundreds of thousands to a worthwhile charity, and has also been the direct cause for tens of millions to be donated to that charity as well, makes me look quite favorably upon all of you.”

“Thank you, Dean Jaedicke,” I said. “I do, however, also feel the need to point out one relatively minor detail that may, or may not, affect your decisions, in the interests of full disclosure. As Dean Ely might agree with this statement, at times, the law is an ass. The six of us are legal residents of the State of Kansas. We are 16 years of age, or older. The age of consent in the State of Kansas is 16 years old. We shall be visiting the State of California for purposes of pursuing education, but we shall not reside here. The age of consent in California is 18. During the time we will be visiting the State of California, we shall not be celibate. Therefore, as we are non-residents of California, I want to confirm that Stanford shall not have any issues with ... us.”

Dean Ely smiled, like he was arguing a case. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Miss Kaufman, but did you not state that you owned two homes here?”

“That is correct, Dean Ely. However, when I graduated from CalTech in May of 1982, I took a job with Microsoft, in Redmond, Washington, and established my legal residence in the state of Washington. I was a full time resident of the State of Washington for all of 1983. Since I have moved to Kansas, I have changed my residency to Kansas. At best, I would be, for tax purposes, a resident of Washington, partial year resident of Kansas. The age of consent in the State of Washington is also 16.”

He nodded in acceptance of her comments. I added, “That’s actually one of the reasons we’re visiting the houses this weekend. The current plan is for the title and ownership of those homes to be transferred to CEDEM, so they can be used for our business purposes as well. As our interests grow, I can see us acquiring property in Redmond, as well as other areas of the country and world.”

“Thank you, both. I’m ... eager ... to see the results from your LSAT test. I at least hope I get to have you attend at least a couple of classes before you earn your JD from here.”

President Kennedy shook his head. “I’m stunned, I think. I had thought I was going to find this whole morning to be a waste of time. Unless the Board of Trustees has anything they wish to add or ask...”

Wilcox looked at him. “Are you kidding? We’re known for what our graduates end up accomplishing. Hell, the only question I have is why Mister Lewis is the only one taking the tests tomorrow morning.”

Beth said, “We haven’t had a chance to read the books yet; Cal has. When we come back, to actually start classes, then we’ll take them, if that’s not a problem.”

“Not at all,” Wilcox said. “Anyone have anything else?”

Rosse spoke up. “I hate to be the stick in the mud here, but ... who’s paying for this? It’s quite obvious we’re going to see all sorts of fees and expenses here that are in no way covered by regular out-of-state tuition. Which, by the way, means that California will also have to recognize your Driver’s License as well as your living arrangements. I’m sure you’re all used to driving whenever you wish, but the age for an unrestricted license here is 17.”

I chuckled. “That’s funny. I’ll be stuck under restrictions for half the month of January, because Kansas is 16 years, 6 months. As far as paying for things ... how about we simply give you a check for, oh, five million, and then you let us know when that money is gone, and we’ll give you some more. Would that work for you? Since you control the land, we’ll pay for the ‘research buildings’, fences, and such, anyway, but you provide the electric and water, since you’ll get to keep them.”

He looked at the three members of the Board.

“Since I didn’t get to introduce myself, I’m George LeClerc. One of the items that Miss Menendez mentioned is something that normally does not happen. Specifically, if you invent something here, we at least get a cut, as it were. However, I have a proposal. You keep everything, but if you invent something while you’re here, we get to use that in our publicity, and if possible, you mention that you created that while at Stanford. For arguments sake, let’s say you invent a cure for male pattern baldness.” Everyone laughed at that, as he was quite bald. “You get to reap the billions from it, but when we put your picture in our newsletter, we get to say that you created it while here. On your packaging, you might say, invented at Stanford University.”

I looked at Margie. “I don’t think that’s too onerous for us to agree to, Mister LeClerc,” she said. “What was it you talked about before, Cal? An effective morning after pill, as well as a medication to allow for shedding of the uterine lining?”

Doctor Korn sat forward as I said, “Yes. Medroxyprogresterone can have unwanted side effects, plus it can take up to two weeks to act. I obviously didn’t make any of what I know how to make, since Emily didn’t want it ... oh, by the way, gentlemen, the main reason I’m VERY much concerned regarding age of consent is quite simple. Margie is pregnant, and any hint of a statutory rape charge will result in a ... well, I’m from Kansas, so if I say shitstorm bigger than a tornado, you’ll understand what I mean. But in any event, my medicine should work within 24 to 48 hours, with no physical side effects. I leave mental side effects from aborting a pregnancy up to the individuals involved.”

Doctor Korn said, “How long would it take you to create a sample of that, for research study?”

“With appropriate chemicals available in almost any high school science lab, about two days, simply due to the various processes involved.”

His nostrils flared. “I am DEFINITELY looking forward to tomorrow morning. I don’t suppose I could tempt you to take that test this evening, could I?”

“Sorry, no. Thank you, though. And Mister LeClerc, I agree with your terms.” I looked around the table. “If we don’t have any further business to discuss, then I propose that we part company for now, with all of us accepted as students at Stanford, placement in assorted grade levels to be determined. Tomorrow morning, I’ll show up here for the tests, while the ladies ... go find us someplace to live, and make arrangements for it to be delivered to the properties in question. I presume there’ll be no issues with site work or other idiotic building permits?”

“Um, no. And ... um ... normally I run the meetings. I am the President of Stanford, after all. But ... if I may, damn me if I don’t think this is going to be a lot of fun.”

With that, the meeting broke up. Margie tapped her watch. “Len, Sandy, you know the traffic situation here. Do we have time to get a good lunch and change, back at our hotel, or do we need to head to Santa Clara?”

“If we leave here by 2:30, we should be good.”

“That gives us an hour and a half, let’s go,” Margie said.