Chapter 23

Wednesday

I woke up the next morning in sweat. It was not from a dream but the fact that I had both Helen and Laura holding me tight to them. Besides the heat, the position would have been quite comfortable.

The bathroom was my goal and I got there first this time and was out soon. The long procession started and I saw the Linda had not recovered as much as I hoped; even Valerie seemed to be suffering more than usual.

Over our breakfast I saw that the others had seen the problem themselves. I managed to give some instructions to Helen and then rode in the car with Linda.

In the course of the day I had to disperse funds to meet payroll. Mr Creighton had found some help and hired them. Izzy was being inundated with work and I asked him to hire more help. This effectively made him a manager but I didn't tell him for fear of making him nervous.

Mr. Sotola had ordered the appliances I wanted. Now that the exterior of the bus was finished, we could start on where to place the equipment. I wanted the plumbing to go right into the walls and the spaces to be filled with a new foam that had just reached the market but was really old hat by my time. The bus looked like it would be done well ahead of schedule and I would have to gladly pay the premium that I had promised.

Most of my lunch was spent with Linda and Valerie. They were still working but Mr Corfu didn't seem to mind. Linda kept up a smile but I could see that she still had her doubts. A few moments later Laura came to the office to check on the situation herself.

I asked Linda about making scrubs now. Laura would need some and it might be handy having some spares. There were no patterns for this clothing and perhaps the work necessary to figure out the problem would keep her mind off her other problems.

Some last minute tidying-up required that I phone the hotel and leave some messages for my guests. James was at the desk and I asked him to phone me when any of them arrived. Valerie and Linda were given as the names of the people that he could ask for.

During French, I was able to tell Natalie that Linda was still holding up. I would have liked to say that it might have been because she was in a group like ours that could afford to give her the support she needed.

The deal I had made with the school had been completed, except for my paying what I had agreed to and this was the reason for Rita's party. At that time I hoped to have all debts paid. Mr Smith, though, had nothing to do at the moment and I could foresee a job he might be able to do.

Right after the last bell I hurried to the electricity class. "Hello, Mr Smith."

"Hello, Alex. If you will excuse me being abrupt: what brings you here?"

"I like the social amenities but I like the time saved too. I do have another proposition for you."

"What is it?"

"I have to build a technological park." A frown came to his face so I explained. "That is a place where a group of companies can all work like a large subdivision. Mine, though, will all have companies I have an interest in. Tonight some people are coming over. Some are very wealthy and some are in various engineering fields. You might feel out of place but those men or boys still need a guiding hand on practical aspects of getting a job done. I have found that some engineers do not even know which end of a hammer to hold. All their experience comes out of books."

"I will come if you want me to, Alex. When is the meeting?"

"That has not been determined yet. Anyway, it will be at the Clarkson and you will see history in the making, I hope."

"How can I refuse after a statement like that."

I got his phone number and all he had to do was get ready and wait for the call.

Rita was with the other girls at the cars. Natalie and Laura were dressing better now that the threat of Summers was gone. This did bring about some of the grade thirteen boys that just happened to be by the car to talk to the girls. I didn't have all of the prettiest girls but I did have a high proportion of them.

My steps took me around two of the biggest students. These were the ones that usually needed some kind words or some help from Laura. She now smiled more and I think the boys attributed it to their charm and wit.

Rita gave me a rundown on what was happening with her planning. She was actually doing a good job with just her mother's help. I gave her a kiss and said, "I have some business to take care of. There are two business meetings and members from either of them may give us some support for the fair."

"How is this going to help us?"

"The people at the meetings have a lot of influence and can make things happen. One is a bank president and I want him to do something for the fair and for his bank at the same time. I need the city and province to put a large electrical substation close to where the fairgrounds will be. It will help me later, when I need the power for my own needs."

Laura and Natalie saw that I was done and they said their goodbyes to the young men and drove off. Laura went off with Helen to get Aron and probably talk. Laura had the key to Doctor Smiles' office and would put the mail away and check for our reports. I sat in the back seat with Linda and Valerie.

Linda leaned against me and then so did Valerie. Their hands came to my legs and I caressed each of theirs till we got to the hotel. After checking with James we found that nobody had contacted him, yet. We went upstairs to change and I spent my time just holding Linda on the couch.

Ten minutes later a call came and I talked to Martin. He was at the local airport and wanted to know where to go. I asked first, "What did you fly here in?"

"The bank has a leased DC3. You were talking about cargo planes recently and this is a beautiful machine."

"Not bad but small. We will have to see about making something big to make the trips more economical but for now a small plane like that is ok."

"Ok? This is a large plane."

"I will talk to you when you get here. Now, how many did you bring? You would have used a smaller plane, I think, if it was only you."

"I brought eighteen young men. Sixteen of them are the engineers you wanted to interview."

"That is great. Just tell the taxi drivers to come to the Clarkson. I have reserved a room for you and a floor for your people."

I got a short pause and then he said, "We should be there soon."

Twenty minutes later a group of young men came in and set their luggage down. I had all the bellhops at hand. A large man of fifty-five or so came in. The expensive suit told me who he was. He had a full head of dark hair with some white appearing at the sides. He looked quite distinguished.

More people came in and I walked to Martin. I put out my hand and said, "Hello Martin. It is nice to meet you in the flesh."

He was very quick and held out his own hand and said, "Your pictures in the papers don't do you justice. I thought you would be over six feet tall and have the body of a football player."

"I will get that way one day." I called one of the bellhops over and had him take Martin's bags for him and put them in his room.

I was introduced to everybody. None at least seemed to look down their nose at a mere kid. We didn't have any sticky paper to write names on but I was able to remember faces and names. They were all invited up to my suite to get sorted out.

The elevator had to make quite a few trips and I was able to thank Martin for all the effort and expense he went into to help me out. "The President and his son of ChemCorp out of Chicago will be coming too. You might sit in on this meeting as well. The company I am starting in the US will make the vaccine and provide the American field trials. I haven't spoken directly to Connaught yet but I want them to do the Canadian version."

Martin asked, "What about Europe?"

"They will come to me after the announcement is made, first to have a talk to see how I did it and later to get some contracts. You and I will have some problems with our government soon."

"We always have problems. Which ones are you referring to?"

"I will get taxed by both the American and the Canadian government for the full amount. We need to get the governments to agree on a way of sharing the tax, or we will loose a lot of money."

"How will I loose money Alex?"

"Well, you'll see before the night is out what you have to have to supply the delivery service to the American portion of the continent. Soon you will need to have transatlantic flights for your companies in Europe."

"I don't have that kind of money."

"That is why you are going to be like me and go borrow in the United States to finance much of your expansion. As I said before, they are much more receptive to new ideas than us stodgy Canadians."

When we came into the suite, the girls got to their feet. Linda wiped her eyes and I introduced the girls as family. In a few minutes I had to do the introductions all over again. I could see the young men zeroing in on the beautiful women.

The group was sorted into pairs for roommates. James had come up with us, wrote the names on a pad and had the bellhops take the luggage to their rooms.

After a few more minutes James sent up some snacks and drinks for the guests, while I started the meeting.

"Gentlemen, I want to start an electronics company. Mine will be different for many reasons. I plan on making different versions of the transistor that was invented at Bell Labs recently. I need people to help me make the company the premier supplier of these devices in the world. We will lead the world from the time we start and it will not end. In ten years our products will be in space, in all telephones and even in the average home."

They weren't too shy about asking questions. Quality control was stressed. Just like tube manufacture, the characteristics could not be so widely different that the circuit was not efficient. I described smaller and smaller radio receivers, then what could be done to change over the phone systems of the world to digital from the current analogue standard.

Some of the problems I knew about but wanted the engineers to work on them to see what they would come up with. It seemed that our school system, like any other, was sorrowfully behind the times. The transistor had been invented over three years ago and the universities had not done any of their own research on this. The students coming out could make tubes, resistors, coils and capacitors. Everything they needed to know, I found, I had to teach them.

Laura, Helen and Aron came in next and again they were introduced. The girls accepted the looks now and seemed just a bit more grown up about the hungry looks they were getting. Laura waved some papers to show that some information had come in.

Just when the men were getting settled the phone rang and Natalie answered it. She interrupted my talk and after I excused myself I answered.

Silva was on the phone and I found he too had flown in. I directed him to the hotel and said the concierge would look after all the luggage. I opened the reports by the phone and I saw what I had dreaded. Valerie was not pregnant but Linda definitely was. It was hard to think very clearly now but I did phone Mr Smith and asked him to come over to the Clarkson and go to penthouse number three. He sounded more than a bit flustered by the address.

When I returned I told who would be coming to the room at large. It took a while but I did get back to what I expected the engineers to do for me and what I would do in return.

One engineer asked, "What can a transistor do that a tube can't?"

I went into some detail but not much because the variations of the transistors had not been made yet, in fact there was only one kind made. This did not stop me from speculating on what I thought would be made in the near future. They didn't believe the idea about a television that was only a few inches thick or a CCD chip that would power a fax machine, a scanner, or fit into a camera and make film obsolete.

Eventually, there was a knock on the door and Helen opened it. Silva came in with Millie and her father-in-law, Joseph. After shaking hands I introduced the people to the ones that had come first. Before I was finished Mr Smith showed up and he was introduced too.

I started now on the upcoming fair and the need for lots of electrical power. The land outside the city was said to be the fair grounds but also the new technological park I wanted. This was a simple way of killing two birds with one stone.

I talked about the electronics company, 'Intel'. That particular name had no real significance attached to it, yet but it soon would. The need for electricity and gas was pushed, so I could produce the necessary pure silicon that I needed. The processes were not talked about because I didn't know these people. Photo masking and precision x-ray machines would have to be made, for now they were not built that way. The refining of the polysilicon through the RF heating method was a simple process but it had a lot of minor problems to clear up to make it work efficiently.

Silicon, the way I wanted it, meant specific dimensions as well. Here I didn't go into too much detail because they had no use for it and if any decided to leave, they would take my knowledge with them.

We all went downstairs for supper. Even before sitting down I saw Derrick and Tom come in and go toward the elevator. I caught them first and they followed me to the dining room. They sat with Martin and Joseph and I asked the waiter to ask if Jason and Margarete would join us. My family stayed with me but at the other tables. It was a way of sharing me with this entire group.

We ordered and a few minutes later Jason arrived pushing Margarete. The men all stood as I introduced the couple and invited them to sit with us.

Jason asked, "Is this about the medical company?"

"I am afraid it is both yes and no." I turned to the other guests at our table and explained how I was getting into prosthetics and especially artificial joints.

After the meal we adjourned back to my suite to continue our discussion.

Joseph said for the first time, "I am surprised you are not getting into artificial hearts. My own heart has been giving me trouble for years. At the moment I have to take this," he said as he handed me a bottle of pills.

I said, "Mr. Cranz, this digitalis is a good example. It is a very strong poison but in small amounts it is useful for myocardial contraction. If you will try hard to remain with us for a few years, I will have some artificial valves and a much smaller pacemaker. I want to work on drugs to control the body's rejection methods so we can use human hearts. They should extend your life at least ten more years."

Everybody around the table stared at me. I put the bottle on the table in front of Joseph and went into the way the body defended itself against invaders. I then went further into the realms that had not been discovered yet but not too far. This time I mentioned the problems with current heart/lung machines and how they damaged the red blood cells. "This is a necessary machine for open heart surgery and even multiple bypass for those suffering from heart diseases."

Joseph asked, "Who is going to make these machines?"

"You and I will, if you want a smaller portion of a much larger pie. There is work on new anaesthetics that we have to get into. Your chemical company can make them very easily. We could make some for the next hip replacement but this time we will stick with one new procedure at a time."

Margarete said, "We talked to Alex about my getting a new hip and I hope this operation on my brother-in-law's dog with be a success."

Martin said, "It sounded like you were going to do the operation, Alex."

"I am. Mr Slotski, the vet and I hope Mr Smiles will assist. I had plans to have this recorded but the operating room is too small for the filming. It might be fun to do it at the theatre at the University of Toronto. Do you have any pull there, Martin?"

"Well," he seemed to stammer, "I do know some people but I have never asked them for anything like this. Usually it is for a way to relieve some of my aches and pains."

"It is not that important this time but soon we will be doing the procedure on some volunteers and that is a good time for television and film to be used. I would love to go live with the operation and we could make Margarete an instant movie star."

"No thank you Alex. I don't want my body on display to the whole world."