Chapter 19

May 1st, the world went nuts. Zwizz announced it had received emergency approval for its coronavirus vaccine the day before, after a 99% protection success rate and no safety issues. Swiss troops had to go to the border to stop traffic because people started driving into the country. Plane service and train service had already been cut back to bare minimum, and what was flying and rolling was suddenly packed as well.

Everyone in Europe, including some on foot, wanted the vaccine. Government officials got on the TV and tried to explain what was going on, and that the vaccine, for now, was limited in supply.

Zwizz had 630,000 doses available that were being rushed to every doctor, hospital, and medical center in the country. That was being followed by the police, and fire services, as well as the military. The Swiss Federal Council promised that they would wait to take the vaccine until there was enough for everyone, but that at current production it would take many months to be able to vaccinate the entire population.

I’m not sure how he discovered my involvement, but Mr Po called me, to ask about the vaccine.

“Mr Barkley, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping that you might share the vaccine with China.”

“My company is helping Zwizz produce the vaccine, but it’s not a fast process. The method we used gets a vaccine very quickly, but does not scale up well. I would be happy to call Zwizz on your behalf, and ask if they might share the vaccine to see if you can replicate it faster.”

“That would be most appreciated. You continue to be one of China’s best friends.”

“Don’t worry, someday I’ll ask for favors in return, I’m sure,” I told him

“I eagerly await that day,” he told me.

I texted Donald, giving him Mr Po’s number and mentioning that the Chinese were interested in producing our vaccine. His reply was a hilarious phone call, “They can get in line with everybody else, I don’t have time for this right now,” then he hung up on me.

My power flicked out to check on him and his offices. Police had cordoned the building off, but crowds had gathered around it. Some had signs demanding the vaccine be given away, I guess that the people didn’t realize we were already doing that. We hadn’t charged for a single dose.

I conjured a quarter kilo of vaccine powder, putting it into a nice glass container, and then wrapped it up in protective packaging, added a thumb drive with all the data on testing, and the structure, added a printed copy, and boxed it all up. I added a nice letter in German, French, and English, explaining the contents, then I stored it, and started printing shipping labels.

I conjured 80 of my selves to get the work done faster. 87 embassies in Bern, plus one Chinese consulate in Zurich where my friend Mr Po worked. Then 53 more for the Embassies in Geneva who did double duty for the UN and Switzerland. 140 packages was a big pickup, but DHL sent someone out, and a courier service picked up the one for Mr. Po.

I figured the vaccine would be on the black market in a few hours after the embassies received it, but it was better to serve as an introduction to myself, my company, and our desire to sell our products in their country. I also hoped it would delay aggressive demands, and spur the copycat approach.

I did arrange for every employee to get the vaccine, and any family they brought to the office themselves, but limited it strictly to Swiss residents. On the next day I got a very nice visit from a man from the US State department. Mr Michaels was very appreciative for the vaccine gift, and wanted to know what could be done to move my company to the United States.

“Mr Michaels,” I tried to explain, “I was raised outside the US. My limited experience of the United States involved having a SWAT team break down my door and arrest me, after spending one night in my own deceased father’s house. I love Zurich, the weather here is very pleasant, my girlfriend is here, and the people I trust the most who work for me are all here.”

“America is the place for opportunity, where young men with big bold ideas, a penchant for technology, and the drive to succeed become billionaires before the age of forty. There is a reason the world’s richest are Americans.” he asserted in response.

I pointed him out the window, “That big black box is a revolutionary material. It’s the ground floor of my new headquarters. It’s bulletproof, fireproof, hurricane proof, and tornado proof. I recently created a prototype airframe for a local airline manufacturer that had all the same qualities.”

He squinted at it, as the crane set it on the block below it. “Very impressive,” he said.

“That block weighs less than five pounds.”

His eyes narrowed as he saw the implications. “Can you make anything?”

“It doesn’t work well for small things, but big things like buildings, bridges, aircraft, it’s fantastic.”

“Would you license this to companies in the United States?”

“Perhaps. It depends on a number of factors. Considering that the technology is currently a trade secret, known only to a couple of us in the company, with most of the production automated, I’d be more inclined to build factories to produce components for others. That would bring good jobs to the States that need them the most.”

“Mr Barkley, as far as I can tell, no one else can come close to producing graphene in the quantity and quality you are doing. You might consider this an offer of a blank check to write your own terms, because America wants a graphene factory up and running before the end of the year. Last year the graphene market was a record 160 million dollars world wide, I know you’ve personally broken that record already, and that the number of companies that want it, faster and at a cheaper price, are huge.”

“I’ll take what you say in careful consideration. Right now I’m focused on the components for the headquarters building, followed by a third graphene plant here, and perhaps a second solar panel factory as well. If there were better incentives for solar in the United States, I would add a plant there immediately. My single production plant here is producing 446 megawatts of solar generation a year, one 850 watt panel every minute, around the clock, 365 days a year. That’s a potential 2.2 gigawatt hours produced each year with 5 hours of sunshine a day.

“I’m also doing it cheaper than the Chinese, without subsidising the industry to undercut American producers. The question really is whether I could build my automated plants without getting constantly bombarded by inspections and intrusive investigations over the technology, which must remain a trade secret. Each plant will have about fifty highly paid workers, plus the installers, and other related jobs.