Chapter 64

Once Jason was settled into his regular room there began a steady stream of visitors. Hawk, Maria, and Brenda were the first to arrive, followed quickly by Beth, Zed, Deke, and Elizabeth. In fact, this entire group was still there when Senator McCray arrived. When he was introduced to everyone he was surprised at Deke’s presence. “Deke Templeton! What are you doing here?”

Deke answered, “Senator, Beth, Zed, and Elizabeth have been my closest friends since before college, and Brenda is Beth’s Niece. Plus I’m Jason’s attorney, as well as his friend.”

“Well, if you call him a friend, that says a lot. How have you been doing?”

“Busier than I was while in public service. Also I feel I’m doing more good for the people in this state than I ever did in the Attorney General’s Office.”

“I hope that view doesn’t come across when I relay a message to Mister Magill from the Governor.”

Trying to look and sound puzzled Jason responded, “The Governor has a message for me?”

“Actually more than one. The first is a message of encouragement and concern regarding your injury. She also wanted me to express her deep regret she’ll not be able to attend your wedding tomorrow and to express her best wishes. It seems my colleague, Sarah Tumlin, had a stroke last night.”

“Is she going to be OK?” asked a surprised Deke.

“Honestly, we don’t know, and that’s the governor’s problem. At this point she has to develop all kinds of contingency plans. As part of that she’s requested you call her office Monday regarding an appointment. I know this might be inconvenient the day after your wedding, but when she asked me for a list of names for possible replacements your name was at the top of my list.”

“Senator, tell the Governor I’ll be honored. As for our honeymoon, it’s obviously going to be delayed until this leg gets better.”

“After seeing your beautiful bride I don’t know if I could do something like that. You must be a man of steel.”

Andy chuckled, and embarrassingly confided, “Well, it does get pretty hard.”

The Senator burst into laughter before exclaiming, “I think that’s too much information, but Jason, I think you have a real ‘Jewel’ here.”

“I agree. She’s my pearl of great price.”

Turning to Deke the Senator said, “Deke, since you were once part of this administration you might also put in a good word to the Governor concerning Jason.”

“I won’t have a problem with that, but I’ll warn you this old man is probably even more of a maverick than you are.”

“Is this true?” asked Senator McCray.

“I doubt it. I’m fiscally conservative, but I also tend to be somewhat pragmatic and a populist rather than accepting the strict party line. I’m also very interested in fairness and honesty in government, as well as seeing substance over form. While I’m pro-life, pro-death penalty, pro-gun, and a believer in less taxes and less government control I extend that to include less control of our social lives as well.”

“Such as?”

“Senator, I’d support the approach of creating a government license for interpersonal partnerships to replace the marriage license and leave marriage up to the church, not the government. This would allow the government to treat all relationships the same, no matter what their sexual preference. I’d even support alternative lifestyles, as in group marriages, as long as it was consensual and didn’t involve minors. To quote one friend of mine, ‘I want the government out of my business, my pocketbook, and my bedroom.’“

“Jason, I can tell right now if you end up in Washington it’ll become a more interesting place.”

“I’d hope so. How about you, Senator? Are you planning to run in oh-eight?”

“At the moment it’s up in the air. Friday I thought I’d made up my mind, but I began to have second thoughts on my trip home yesterday afternoon. I may start some exploratory groups, but I don’t know if I really want to fight those battles at my age.”

Jason, knowing this part of the conversation was for the benefit of those eavesdropping on their conversation shocked everyone by sticking his tongue out at the Senator, who burst into laughter. Hawk added, “Yep! It’d definitely be interesting. I can almost imagine seeing Jason giving Senator Kerry the one finger salute across the floor of the Senate.”

Before Senator McCray left he made sure to spend some time with Hawk and Maria. The problem was they insisted on bringing Brenda into the conversation. After a few minutes he began to have a glimmer of the relationship between the three, and it left him somewhat shocked. Uncertain how to respond he left shortly thereafter, claiming he had another commitment to attend.

Not long after that the doctor came by and discussed Jason’s situation. Pleased his patient had his own nurse he agreed to send Jason home earlier than expected. “Though there’s one requirement.” added the doctor. “You can attend the wedding, but you need to keep all weight off that leg, and keep it elevated as much as possible. That means wheelchair, bedpans, sponge baths, etcetera, the whole nine yards. Capiche?”

“He understands,” proclaimed Andy. “I’ll make sure he does.”

“Good. As for his diet, I’d keep it mild for the rest of the day, but he can have some solids as long as his stomach tolerates them. Andy, you know the routine as well as I. Just don’t let him do something stupid.”

“You mean like trying to cut down another tree by himself?”

“Actually, it doesn’t even have to be that stupid.” Jason faked an embarrassed pout while the rest the room burst into laughter.

Less than an hour later Jason, Andy, and Maria were headed to the ranch. They were being driven by Mike Running Deer and escorted by two, two-man security teams. However, Hawk and Brenda returned to the hotel to meet some of the candidates selected the night before. They’d been flown into Phoenix while Hawk and his wives were at the hospital.

The first one Ken brought to the suite was Mark Angry Bear. As the young student looked around the room he was awed by the lavishness of the decor and the splendor of the view from the window. He was pulled back into reality when Hawk entered the room, and said, “Mister Angry Bear, I’m not sure what to do with you.”

“Who are you, and what does your opinion matter?” responded the embittered young man.

“My name is Robert Gray Hawk, but most people call me Hawk. May I call you Mark?”

“I guess so.”

“Good, and why my opinion matters is because I’m the head of the company interested in hiring you.”

“But, you’re an Indian, like me. I’ve never heard of a major company run by an Indian.”

“Well, we are a fairly new company, but we’re going to be a major company in a short period of time.”

“So this is all a pipe-dream?”

“No, it’s a fact. Now, you can put your bitterness aside and help make a difference, or you can return to being a slave of the ‘white eyes.’”

“I’m not a slave to any man!” cried the exasperated young man.

“Then why are you letting Cal-Tech keep you on a string regarding your PhD, yet they have you teaching more classes than a full professor, and for a whole lot less money? Don’t you want to break out of that mess and get on with your future? How about becoming comfortably rich, famous, and be able to rub their noses in it?”

Mark smiled as he replied, “OK, now you have my attention.”

“Good. Now can you set being a victim aside to take up the challenge? I don’t need an ‘angry bear, ‘ I need a wise owl and a crafty fox. Are you ready to change your name?”

“Now, you’re confusing me.”

“Let me say it this way. Your name has been affecting your attitude, as well as the expectations of those around you. You’re proud of your heritage, as am I, but in your case you often allow that to control your emotions. A sure step toward solving this problem would be a name change.”

“I’m still not sure I understand, but if you think that being named Mark Grey Fox is better than my current name, then I’ll consider it - seriously consider it.”

“That’s a start. Now, would you like to come to work for us?”

“In what capacity, and what would I be doing?”

“In the beginning you’ll be doing pure research, pulling together experts in ceramics, polymers, metallurgy, as well as some physicists and chemists. For the present, your title will be team leader, but since yours will be the only team you’ll effectively be director of research. Then, as things progress, and more teams are formed, we’ll determine the best place for you in the expanded scheme. Just remember, I don’t believe in holding people back, but neither do I believe in the ‘Peter Principle’ of elevating people until they’re incompetent. I want you productive and happy, not burdened by a title and expectations you eventually come to resent.”

“This is sounding more interesting every moment. Now, you were saying something about a solution to my degree status and getting back at Cal-Tech?”

“Mark, I’ve information concerning a ceramic alloy that drastically increases the amount of current that can flow through a wire without it overheating or restricting the flow. It’s information that’s never been published. As a result, it’d be easy for you to claim it was a by-product of some of your earlier research and pull it into a doctoral project.”

“Though it wouldn’t be purely my work I guess, since it’s never been published it wouldn’t be plagiarism. At the same time, by the time I do my own extensive research it’ll be my project. My question is why?”

“This discovery, along with others, was made several years ago by my best friend. Unfortunately, he was naïve and an idealist, and it cost him his life. Those who killed him never linked him to me, so they never found the papers and other material he asked me to keep. Also, since I provided the funds he used to do this research this stuff is legitimately mine.”

A concerned Mark responded, “And what’s to keep the same thing from happening to me?”

“A very valid question. First, you’ll only be working on a small part of his overall discoveries, and second, I want you to research how to limit the improvement to only about fifteen percent. That’s too small of an increase to raise any ‘red flags’ and open you up to danger.”

“That eases my mind a lot, though it’s still a lot to comprehend. Now, what role do you play in this?”

“I want your work published, and then we’ll hire you, as well as pay you a royalty for the use of your patent. One of my companies manufactures wire for utility companies, and we’ll introduce your work in a new product.”

A smiling Mark, “And that would place this new product as a modest improvement over existing wire, yet it provides a justifiable basis for additional improvements in the future. It’s a brilliant approach, and I love it. Hawk, I’m in. What kind of money are we talking about, and how can we get back at Cal-Tech?”

“I thought we’d start you at two hundred and fifty thousand plus benefits and a company car. Of course, that doesn’t include the small amount of royalty fees we’ll be paying you. It’s my projection they’ll total more than a hundred thousand annually by the end of the second year. As for Cal-Tech, after you win the Nobel Prize, you can candidly tell the world how they tried to hold you back. At the same time, I wouldn’t say anything without clearing it with our lawyers and the evidence we have to support your claims. Then, if the school sues you for slander and / or libel, your provable counter-suit will make them look even worse than your original statements.”

The shocked graduate student collapsed into his chair. Mark had been living on dry noodle soups and driving a twelve-year-old car with a trunk that had to be wired shut. The thought of this kind of money was more than he could comprehend. “Hawk, are you sure? I’d have been ecstatic at fifty thousand. This is more than my mind can grasp.”

“Mark, I want you happy, and I want you with us for a long time. I want your total loyalty, and I want you to push your research harder than you can presently imagine. Finally, I don’t want you to ever feel you were ripped off or victimized by me, or this company. We’ve the tools to alter the world, but I repeat, we have to be the wise old owl and the sly gray fox.”

“I guess, under the circumstances, I can understand that. It’s just totally different from other companies I’ve dealt with.”

“We’re totally unlike those other companies. Now, we do have an agenda, but we’re not motivated by short-term profits. That’s why, in a short time, we may be doing more pure research in some of these areas than any other company in the world.”

“Hawk, that sounds good, but it’s going to take a lot of money.”

“We know, but let’s just say we’ve some pretty deep pockets. Now, do you have any other questions?”

“A few.”

“Then fire away.”

“OK, how does this Indian thing come into this?”

“Are you talking about our initial interviews being focused on Native Americans?”

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Mike Lowe aka The Scot

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