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They Key to Believingchapter 9
The Key to BelievingSloane arrived in the office with Carter at seven on Monday. She wanted to make sure she got there before everyone else. She set Carter up at a desk outside her office; then she started to work. She had some business to take care of. The first voice mail had to go to Tyler, asking him when they were to expect the people from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department. She also asked him to bring her a systems administrator from marketing to take care of some files on the computer system before anyone showed up. Then she went to her file cabinets, found all the hard copies of data she could from the research they had done in the past four months, and placed them all in locked cabinets. Other technicians came in to work as she got things ready. As more people showed up, she pulled them together and gave them the same speech. “I don’t want to sound like I’m overreacting, but I want you all to listen to me very closely. A few people from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department are coming to talk to me. They’re going to be in the lab. I have no reason to expect them to snoop around the lab. But if they do, I want everyone to be as cordial as you can, all without letting them know a single thing. If you have heard what they’re implying, which I’m sure you have, then you understand that they’re implying that they were working on this research before us, and their effort to see our research is a thinly-veiled cover-up to get the information for themselves so they can doctor the dates and make it look like we in fact stole the information from them. The thing is, they haven’t shown anyone that they have had this research. I think they’re going to try to get some knowledge from us, and if they’re ever asked about their own work is, they want to use our work to show as theirs. ” A chemist was with the first people that heard her speech. “Ms. Emerson, the servers have dated the time our research was done, so our dates on our work should be fine now.” “Either way” she responded, “I’ve locked away pretty much all of our current non-recorded notes and paperwork in cabinets, and I’m going to get a systems administrator to help Julie work on eliminating our additional computer files and putting them into a storable portable medium this morning before anyone arrives. “Ms. Emerson,” Kyle added, “you know that we can’t delete those files from our system. We need it dated. If we delete it, the research data is just as lost as if it had never been done.” At this point there was nothing they could do. All of their records were recorded properly for the F.D.A. “What this leaves us to conceal is our unrecorded notes and the samples of work we have done. Now, keep your computers off when any visitors come in, in case they want to see your work on screen. As for the samples, some of the freezers and refrigerators can be locked, but some of them can be easily opened. Some of the containers could have labels turned, possibly, and some of them could be moved to less obvious places. If there is anything you can think of to keep our heads above water, it would be very helpful... Each group asked a few more questions and the same information came up. “Yes, I think they’re really capable of this ... Think about it this way: we know we did no wrong, and they’re coming after us. None of us stole anything, and I’m not going to let them insinuate that we have. Now, there could be a few reasons for this attack. One is that the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department doesn’t really want any advances done in HIV and AIDS research, and I don’t even want to think about that possibility. Two is that they need to save face because this is the second time in a year that a private institution has come up with something before they have, and the same private institution beat them twice. Three is that they really have done very well, they happened to be doing nearly the exact same research as us, and they just want to make sure there was no wrong doing. Which do you think is the most plausible answer? ... Well, if it’s the third choice, then there should probably be a series of press releases about their progress and what a great job they had been doing on the integrase inhibitors. But there wasn’t a single press release out there to that effect, we’ve checked their Internet site and we’re on their mailing list and have no record of it. And if it is the third choice, then they won’t have to snoop around, and they won’t have any problem with releasing their research to any journal this afternoon to show they aren’t lying. They would have published their progress with their integrase inhibitor research at some point in the past few months. But if they get to see our data somehow before they are asked to show their records, they’ll have a chance to doctor up their data to make it look like they’ve been working on this for the past year... If it’s the second choice, and they’re going to have to do something to get themselves out of this before they lose all of their funding... No, I don’t think they were working on this beforehand. Otherwise they would have made an effort to back up their claims in their press releases, with articles from journals, something, anything ... No, I don’t think the first choice is a real option. Why would they not want us to be doing research for AIDS? They’re the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department. They are supposed to have the same goals we do.” She wondered if it was possible that not only did the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department not have any research on integrase inhibitors, they also were making attempts to stop research from being done. If the U.S. government had an agenda that included keeping the AIDS epidemic alive, then they could put government in place to make sure research advances could be stopped, by any means possible. Tyler came into her office as soon as he found a systems administrator that could help her out. “What do you need a systems administrator for?” he asked. She turned to the woman next to Tyler. “Thank you in advance for the help. I need certain files backed up onto archive tape and deleted from the system. All files from the research department under the subheads ’integrase’, ’vaccine’ and ’cure’, as well as outlines of general memos about the research department’s time line for research for the next few months. Could you please make back-ups of these files immediately and remove them from the system? When Julie comes into the office she can help you if you need it, but right now she’s picking up someone from Quentin Publishing. I can hold onto the tape until our visit with the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department is over.” Tyler asked, “Do you think this is really necessary?” “Tyler, I told you yesterday what I think.” “But if they ask to look at our files and we have none, then they can say that we have no record of research, which points to us stealing it instead of us actually conducting the research.” “Tyler,” she answered, “they know we did the research. What they want is all the details so they can doctor their own records. When they ask to do a search, we tell them no. If they do it by force, we’ll tell them we don’t have immediate access files. We’ll tell them our proof is that we reported on our findings in the major journals before they did. Then we’ll ask to see their records.” “What good will that do?” “A lot, when they don’t have any.” Sloane turned away from Tyler and back to the woman. “Did you get my instructions? How long do you think it will take you?” “About an hour.” “Tyler, when are our friends at the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department showing up here?” “In a little over an hour.” “Finish as quickly as you can. And thank you.” “Yes, ma’am,” the woman said, as she left the laboratory and headed for the branch computer server office. Kyle walked over and said, “Ellen Bailey is here, from Quentin Publishing. Julie is showing her to Mr. Donovan now. Is there anything we should do?” “Please tell Julie to see me immediately, we need her here, and take over as acting host for Ms. Bailey and Mr. Donovan. Show Ellen around, don’t get them see the chaos going on here, and give her anything she needs.” “Got it, chief.” She had to stop for a moment, because she always liked it when Kyle called her chief. It wasn’t because she liked being the boss, but that she knew he meant it as a term of friendly respect for her. Kyle knew how she thought and worked, and felt comfortable around her. “And Kyle, thanks for the nickname. It’s friendly, and I like it.” Julie came running up to her. “Kyle said you needed me?” Kyle interjected with a smile and a thank you as she said, “Yes, please go through my e-mails and archive them on disk -- not server -- any e-mails or text files you can find about the conspiracy notes or any current research on the integrase inhibitors, or even on vaccines or cures. Any work on homeopathy you can leave up. But destroy any files from the servers about the topics I just mentioned. Keep the disks in your purse. And Julie, we need to do this as quickly as possible. Got it?” “Understood.” Julie turned around and ran to her desk. Sloane scanned around the lab; everyone was frantically moving. It seemed like everyone was fulfilling their mission. She decided she should meet Ellen Bailey. On her way toward the office and space for Carter and Ellen, she saw Howard and stopped him. “Howard, can you check with Kyle and make sure with him that everything is getting done?” He answered with, “Consider it done.” “You don’t think I’m overreacting, do you, Howard?” “You’re being cautious. We don’t want our work destroyed. I think everyone appreciates your efforts to make sure we keep our work, well, our work.” “What incentive would we have to continue our work if it wasn’t our work, Howard? ... And make sure they wrap things up within a half hour, the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department is due here at ten and will probably be early. Could you also page Tyler and tell him to make sure that the reps are delayed at the front of the office if they do arrive early?” “Consider it done.” Howard turned to the phone at the desk next to him. Sloane walked back toward her office. Carter and a woman were standing outside her office door talking to each other. She walked straight to them and extended her hand to the woman. “You must be Ellen Bailey,” Sloane said as she shook her hand. “I’m Sloane Emerson. Sorry I’ve been running around and haven’t had the chance to talk to you sooner.” “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Emerson,” Ellen answered. “I was just commenting to Mr. Donovan that he must have done a fantastic job of persuading you in order to get you on board with this project.” Looking at Carter, she gave him a sneer that was almost imperceptible to Ellen. “It’s a book I thought needed to be done, and Mr. Donovan is a smooth talker.”
Sloane made sure everyone made progress with cleaning up the laboratory until five minutes to ten in the morning. She kept looking over her shoulders to see if someone that she didn’t know was walking into her office; there was no sign of representatives from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department. Then Mr. Madison’s personal secretary walked into the laboratory and went up to her. “Ms. Emerson?” “Yes?” “Mr. Madison would like to see you.” “Now? Does he know we’re expecting people from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department?” “Yes. He said he wanted to see you immediately. That’s why he sent me down here.” Sloane looked around the room. Everyone who heard the secretary knew that Colin Madison was intentionally pulling her out of the laboratory when the government representatives were supposed to be visiting. Sloane suddenly felt like she was expected to fight a battle with her hands tied behind her back. She looked at Howard, who was standing fifteen feet away and had stopped what he was doing when he realized what was going on. They held their gaze for a moment. “Howard, I want you and Kyle to be in charge while I’m gone.” “Consider it done.” Howard knew what she meant. “If you need any help, pull Kyle from the people at Quentin. Actually, you’ll probably need him. They should just be editing and going over the manuscript anyway. Tell Kyle to get them to one of the small conference rooms to work in while our friends are visiting and have him help you out.” “Got it, chief,” She heard Kyle say from the end of the room. He walked to the laboratory when he noticed it was almost ten and heard the end of their conversation. She smiled and turned past the secretary to walk out the laboratory door, and Colin’s secretary followed. Without knocking, Sloane swung open Colin’s door and walked straight to his desk. “Tell me you’re at least not going to tap dance around what you’re doing,” she said, leaning her hands on his desk. “Tyler told me what you’re up to,” Colin answered. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “And?” “You know it’s going to make us look bad.” “It’s going to protect your property.” “They haven’t said they wanted a fight.” “They implied it, and you know it.” “We just don’t want problems from the government.” “Do you think I’m doing something wrong by protecting your property?” “No. If I did, I would have stopped you sooner.” Sloane sat down at the chair in front of his desk. “I thought so.” “But I did think you’d blow up and say something you shouldn’t say, and then we’d have a real problem on our hands with the government.” “So you had me clean up for you, and then you tuck me out of the way.” “If you got angry, or accused them of anything while they were here, they’d have plenty of time to cover their tracks before you attempted to expose them publicly. Then you would have lost.” “You think they won’t want to talk to me?” “Do you think they won’t want to talk to me?” “Yes, but you have the luxury of a private secretary to tell them you’re in meetings.” “And who am I in meetings with?” “You’re going to keep me in your office until they’re gone?” Colin smiled before she continued. “You’re kidding, right? They could be here all day.” “Why would they be? No one plans to show them anything.” Sloane leaned back in her chair. She was disgusted. “Is there anything we need to discuss while I’m here?” “What sort of research are you personally working on now?” “Kyle is starting some tests to deactivate crucial parts of the HIV virus for possible use as a vaccine. I can’t help but think that this would produce the most effective vaccine.” “I see. How far are we away from testing a finished vaccine?” “I’d say still months until we could be doing animal testing. But there should be a vaccine ready for human testing in less than a year depending on how well things go.” “Interesting. Anything else?” She tried to think of something to answer his question. “I have a theory for how to produce a cure, but I haven’t worked on it.” Colin leaned forward. “Really?” “Yes. I’ll write something up on it for you. There has just been so many things going on recently that I haven’t had the time. The book is being edited in the conference room now by people at Quentin.” “Did your trip to Denver have something to do with the book?” This caught her by surprise. “Pardon me, sir?” She was stunned that he even noticed the plane records of her trip. “You were in Denver Friday. What was your trip about?” “I have a contact there that had some information for me about drugs for HIV. I don’t know how helpful the information is yet; I’ve have to see.” “Good, I’m glad to see you’re using your resources. Don’t spread yourself thin, now.” “No problem. It also might make you happy to know I’m trying to work with Tyler on this problem we’re having with the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department. I’m doing a press conference this afternoon, and I’ve been writing up press releases too.” “Isn’t the ’press release writing’ Tyler’s job?” “If you don’t mind my saying, sometimes Tyler doesn’t write what should be written.” “Sometimes Tyler knows when to not step on toes.” “Sometimes Tyler doesn’t know when to stand up for Madison.” Colin leaned back. “And you think now is one of those times.” “If we don’t stand up for ourselves this time, nothing is going to stop them from trying to get us another time. We have to set a precedent.” Colin leaned forward and pressed his buzzer for his receptionist. “Are our friends here from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department?” “Yes they are, sir, they’ve been here for a half hour now. They asked to meet with you, but I told them you were in meetings all day and could not be disturbed.” “Thank you. Could you keep me informed of their whereabouts?” Sloane heard the intercom click off; her tie to the rest of the world was again gone. All she could think was that she was being held prisoner.
Howard and Kyle got everyone’s attention as Sloane left. “How is everything? Are we pretty much done?” Howard called out to everyone. Everyone pretty much nodded in agreement that everything was put away. “Okay, we should probably prepare ourselves mentally for this,” Howard continued. “I know how everyone feels about their work here, no one wants someone else to claim responsibility for it. So we have to stay here, and be cordial when we are expected to. We’re not going to accuse them of anything. We’re going to keep our heads.” “Most importantly, we’re going to keep our mouths shut,” Kyle chimed in. “They can’t say we said anything wrong if we don’t say anything at all. And they can’t take any information from us and claim it as their own if we don’t give it to them.” “I think they expect us to give them everything they ask for. Let’s act like we’d like to, but that everything is locked up and we just can’t get to it.” “And we’ve got security in numbers,” Kyle said. “We’re all here to support each other and our work.” Everyone stood around the room in silence. “Are we ready?” Howard asked them. No one spoke, but Howard could see some of his staff starting to smile. “Then let’s get to work until they show up,” Kyle said. “What are we supposed to do?” Ellen Thompson asked. “We’ve hidden everything we were working on.” Kyle started to laugh. “I suppose you’re right. Get into your groups and go over -- discuss -- ideas for future work, I guess.” As people started to walk around the room, Tyler came in with three representatives from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department. Jacob Morton walked in the room with Tyler first, then two assistants of his followed through the doorway. Jacob Morton was a short, stocky man with a receding hairline and small round glasses. He seemed at home with Tyler, who was doing everything he could to make sure Mr. Morton was happy. “So where is this Sloane Emerson? I’m very interested in meeting with her.” Jacob Morton’s voice scratched past his vocal chords and out of his mouth. Everything he spoke sounded like a complaint. Everything about Jacob Morton complained. His glasses seemed to complain that their arms were stretched around his head, over his ears. His clothes seemed to complain that they were being stretched tightly around his plump stomach. His shoes seemed to stretch around his feet and complain about the weight they had to bear. And Jacob Morton seemed to complain about everything else as well, even if it only came through in the look on his face or in the tone of his voice. “She’s not in the office right now,” Tyler answered. “She wanted me to apologize to you for her not being here, but she had some business to tend to outside of the city.” Kyle walked up to the group of men. “My name is Kyle Mackenzie,” Kyle said, while extending his hand to Jacob. “I’m the Associate Director of Research here at Madison.” Jacob shook his hand, but showed little interest in what Kyle had to say. “It’s nice to meet you,” Jacob answered. “Are you available to answer any questions if my associates here -- “ he pointed to the two men behind him -- “need some answers?” “That’s what we’re here for,” Kyle answered. Howard walked up along side of Kyle. “Oh, this is Howard Shindo. He is the Manager of the Research Department. If you need anything, he can also help you out.” The two nameless government associates didn’t speak; they walked into the laboratory and looked around the room. Tyler looked at Howard and Kyle. “Call my office when these gentlemen are finished. Mr. Morton will be in my office with me.” Kyle and Howard looked at each other. Howard listened to Tyler and Jacob as they walked out the door. “We just want to make sure that the public good is best served by the medical advances that have been exploding on the market in recent months.” “I know exactly what you mean,” Tyler answered as he held the door open for Jacob. “That’s what we’re concerned with here -- the public good. That’s our business.” Howard looked down in shame and walked back into the lab. She paced in silence as Colin talked on the phone with assorted businessmen. She wanted to leave, but Colin wouldn’t let her. Lifting up her sleeve, she looked at her watch. Ten minutes after eleven. She had no idea what was going on. She felt like a rat in a cage. Colin watched her pace back and forth in front of his desk. “Do you have to do that?” “Oh, am I bothering you?” “You should take up smoking or something. You’ve got too much pent up tension.” “I should smoke? The president of a pharmaceuticals company wants me to smoke? And making me pace... Who do you think is doing this to me?” “You know you’d overreact. You shouldn’t have to worry about these guys. Besides, Tyler is taking care of Jacob Morton, so it’s just some assistants in the lab. Your men can take care of them.” “Colin, you’re letting Tyler take care of Morton? Do you know how much damage we’ll have to undo after this?” “This is Tyler’s job.” “Colin, Tyler thinks I can do my job with a bunch of goons breathing down my neck, under the rule of a bunch of whim-worshipping irrational monsters that want to take what I earn. And you think I can do my work with my hands tied behind my back.” Colin’s phone rang. “Yes? ... Oh, thank you.” Colin set the phone on the receiver and looked up at her. “They’re gone. You can go back to the laboratory now.” Sloane looked stunned. “Was this all necessary?” Colin smiled. “Go to your lab.” All he could hear was the moving of her clothes as she turned around, without another word, and left the room. When she walked into her lab, both Kyle and Howard ran toward her, and half of the staff looked up and got up from their seats. She looked at each of them, to make sure she was reading the expressions on their faces correctly. She managed to stammer out, “You two are positively beaming.” “It was perfect,” Kyle said. “They snooped around, they wouldn’t say a word, then they’d walk over to a cabinet, try to open it, then look up at us because it was locked and say, ’What’s in this?’ and we’d just be nice and short and say, ’Files.’ They didn’t even ask us about the key for anything, because I think they knew we weren’t going to give it to them.” “Yeah, and they were pretty unhappy that they didn’t catch us off guard,” Howard continued, “but what did they expect? We knew about this since Friday.” “What they didn’t expect was that we wouldn’t be so willing to give up our work.” Kyle said, laughing, “Maybe the government breeds the sense of pride out of their employees.” “Oh, you could tell they were mad. Wish you could have been here to see it,” Howard said. “We guessed the executives here kept you away from them, but it was beautiful to watch.” “... Has anyone checked on our Quentin people? Is everything okay with them?” Kyle answered quickly. “They haven’t left that small conference room since I put them in there at ten. Want me to check on them?” “Yes, and I’ll go with you.” She left with him, wanting a chance to walk alone with Kyle for a bit. “Kyle, how are the tests going with the vaccine?” “We should get some results done today. You were right in what parts to deactivate, I think, but we’ll have to see if it worked. Should find out tonight, but we might want to run it a few times.” “Got it. I want to speed up work on this, Kyle. But let’s keep it to ourselves.” “Sure, but why?” “I don’t want to let any government people know what we’re up to, lest they try to take that away from us, too.” “Got it, chief.” “I figured we’d be taking Mr. Donovan and Ms. Bailey to lunch on their first day here. Hopefully Tyler won’t want to go, so it might not be bad. Would you like to go?” “Oh, I’d like to get back to work. Anything I should tell the staff?” “We should work on a new system for filing, now that we’ve had to move stuff around. We should’ve been more protective in the first place.” “Sure. But isn’t that sad? Sad that we have to protect ourselves from someone stealing from us? I think it’s worse to think that the people stealing from us could be our government.” “That’s not sad, that’s frightening.” “A government by the people, for the people,” she said aloud as she turned and continued walking toward the conference room. “You know, I can get them myself if you want to get back to work, unless you want to go in there and check on them. It’s your call.” “I should just get back to the lab, there’s a ton of stuff to do.” “I’ll take care of the Quentin people. Thanks, Kyle.” “Thank you.” Kyle turned and walked back toward the lab. After gently knocking on the conference room door, she slowly opened it. Both Carter and Ellen were intently reading manuscripts. “Didn’t mean to disturb you. Just making sure everything was okay. Need anything?” “No, we don’t need anything at all,” Ellen responded. “We’re fine. Thanks.” “Lunch is coming up soon,” she said, “And I know a few nice places we can go if you’d like.” Carter looked up. “A social lunch doesn’t seem your style, Ms. Emerson.” “And you think this would be a social lunch?” she asked back. Ellen smiled at them. “I could work for a bit, if you want to lunch in a half hour?” “Perfect,” Sloane said, and started to close the door. “Oh, Ms. Emerson?” Carter asked. “I was wondering” he said, as he rose from his seat, “if you would have a few minutes before lunch to answer some questions I have.” “Yes, do you want to go to my office?” “Sure. Thank you.” Carter walked to the door and turned back to Ellen. “We’ll get you for lunch?” Ellen responded with, “Great. Thanks.” Carter closed the door behind him and started walking along side of her. Listening to Carter’s footsteps next to hers, she could tell from the rhythm of his steps that he was walking in stride with her. “What did you have to ask me?” “Oh, well, I wanted to get out of that conference room more than anything else...”, which made her smile. “But I was really wondering how it went with you and the government people. I know it was driving you crazy this weekend.” “Oh, you weren’t around to see the fiasco?” “It went that badly?” “Oh, no, I hear it went very well.” “What do you mean, you hear it went well?” Carter asked. “I was in the boss’ office while they were here, so I couldn’t say anything.” “You’re kidding.” Carter couldn’t help but laugh. “No. I stood in Colin’s office and paced for over an hour while he hid like a little kid, having his secretary say he was in a meeting and could not be disturbed. It was insane.” “And they thought you’d blow up at them?” Carter asked as he tried to stop laughing. “They made a mockery of me in front of my staff. And the worst part of it was that Tyler was there, and he knew about it, Hell, he probably suggested that they do it. And Colin had his personal secretary escort me to his office.” “I’m sorry to hear you had to go through that. But at least it went okay without you.” “But why do they want to silence me? Why do they want to get along with that government department? They were making an enemy out of me by doing that to me. Do you think that stunt was good for my morale? I feel like they know I do good work, but they won’t tell anyone who makes a difference, and they won’t let me defend myself. What kind of respect is that?” “I don’t know what to tell you, except welcome to corporate America.” “Do you have to go through this, Carter?” “This is all I go through. My job is to deal with ignorant people that try to actively stop me from doing an effective job, from making a good product. All they want to do is fight, or else latch on to your coat tails when you’re in the spotlight, if they couldn’t take away your ideas from you before you proved yourself.” “Then why do you put up with it?” “Remember when you asked me in New York why I do the small branch of my own label at Quentin? I told you it was because I knew it was right. The thing is, if I didn’t do it, I would go insane. Because everywhere else everyone fights me, for no reason. There’s no sense in it. But they want to fight me because I’m good. Because I’m a threat to them.” “I still shudder to think that there are people out there that hate the good precisely because it’s good.” “Believe it. Welcome to corporate America. I live it at Quentin.” “Is Ellen like that?” “Well, no, not to me, I’m her supervisor. It’s the other people that are at your level that you have to worry about. Other departments, they try to control your job, or take credit for your work, or try to say your work is under their supervision and they control what you do, even when they don’t. It’s a big power struggle. People search for power because they don’t have talent.” “Are you talking about power or pull?” Carter stopped to look at her when he heard that question. “I suppose pull is a better word. You have power. I have power. Those fools have pull.” “Then if it’s just pull, why do they keep getting by, Carter?” “Because they feed off the fallen,” Carter answered. As they turned the corner, Tyler walked into them. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Tyler said, straightening his jacket. “You know, that Morton guy, he’s not so bad. I talked to him the whole time. I’m sure all of this will blow over. Talk to you later --” Tyler’s voice trailed off as the last words came out of his mouth and he walked down the hallway. “Now he has pull and I hate it.” “And because of it, you have to deal with him. But does he hate asking for your help?” “Oh definitely. I give him Hell about it all the time.” “I’m sure that’s not why he hates it, though. He hates it because he knows you’re the one with the real power. You’re the one that uses your brain to create, not manipulate. And there’s a part of him, a little part, a part he doesn’t want to acknowledge, but a part of him nonetheless, that is aware of that. That is why he hates having to ask for your help.” “Because I’m the only one that can give him the help he needs?” “You know it.” As Carter said those words she opened the door to her office and walked to her closet, opening the door. “Carter, could I just keep you here in my closet? I could pay you, I’m sure we could beat whatever Quentin is giving you.” “What are you talking about?” “Your job would be to stay here in the closet, and when I open the door, you would come out and say something that would make me feel better about all of my problems.” Carter started to laugh before she continued. “Then I’d say, ’Thank you, Mr. Donovan,’ and then you’d go back into the closet until I needed you again.” She closed the door of her office. “...Which would probably be five minutes later.” “You don’t need me to remind you of the answers you already know.” Dropping to her chair in her office, Sloane put her elbows on her desk and rubbed her head with her hands. “What are you thinking?” Carter finally asked. Looking up through her fingers, she answered, “I’m thinking that I’ve got a press conference at five o’clock today. And Tyler is giving me my speech after lunch.” “You’re not reading the drivel he wants you to spoon-feed to the public, are you?” “Of course not. I wrote a statement yesterday. I’ll just have to splice it into his speech somewhere. Should make for an interesting afternoon.” They sat in silence before she spoke again. “Did you call for your hotel?” “Yes, I’ll get a cab from your place after work. I was hoping you would come visit, tell me how the press conference went. I figured you’d be dealing with work late, and you have the press conference when I should be at the hotel, so I could borrow your keys to get my things. If you want, you could visit straight after the press conference to get your keys, visit for a bit, eat or something, and then go home.” “Fine.” Sloane opened her purse and found her keys and handed them over. “Oh, and where do you keep your swimsuits?” “What?” she yelped. “You forgot about my Jacuzzi tub in the hotel room?” “I’m not getting in some chemical-laced bacteria haven.” “It’s my private bath.” “... I don’t care.” “Hey, it’s lunch time.” “You can’t change the subject.” “Yes I can. We need Ellen.” After lunch Sloane got back to the office and worked in the laboratory with Kyle on the vaccine while everyone else worked on other tests for the integrase inhibitor as well as modifying Emivir and reducing side effects of the existing drugs. She enjoyed spending the afternoon in the lab, knowing there was a scientific way to test a theory to prove its validity. She enjoyed the accuracy and the ability to learn by testing. Julie came up to her at two-thirty. “Your speech is here. Would you like it?” “Yes, please.” Sloane took a break to see what parts of the speech she was willing to read and what parts would have to be cut. She printed out her notes and her statement she had written the day before and asked Julie to piece them together. She then went back to the lab. Tyler told her they would leave the office for the press conference at around four-thirty. At four twenty-five she went to her office to collect her things. She saw a few sealed manila envelopes in her briefcase, and it made her think again of Shane. Responding to the message he left over the weekend, she first called Steve. “Steve, it’s Sloane. I hate to ask this, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor, if you have a safety deposit box to store some papers of mine. It’s not related to work, but I could really use the help. I’ll call you later, if that’s okay, and thanks.” After she hung up the phone, she found a number written on top of her copy of the files. She dialed his home in Denver. Only hearing “Hello?” made her hang up the phone without saying a word. She figured she must have dialed the wrong number; a strange man’s voice answered the phone. This stunned her. As she let go of the receiver, Tyler came into her office. “Ready to go?” Looking at her modified speech, she thought about the battle at hand. She took a deep breath. “Yes. Yes I am.” The room was filled with chairs and reporters with tape recorders and note pads. Photographers stood along the walls. Television cameras lined the back of the room. She saw this from the side door, just as she was about to walk on stage. She had no idea the press conference would warrant this much coverage. She looked at the podium, which had over ten microphones attached. Tyler was holding her shoulders. “Ready to go, tiger?” Tyler was latching on to her, she thought. She hated him calling her ’tiger’, or latching on to her, and she consciously chose not to think of him. Sloane stayed fixed on the podium. If the media wanted her, she thought, then she should be prepared to use them to her advantage. She needed them to help her get the government off her back. She kept saying to herself: this is going to work. Tyler walked on stage and made a few opening remarks about his meeting with Jacob Morton. He stressed how everything is going well, how it is everyone’s goal to produce drugs that will help people, and that “we are all working toward this crucial goal together.” Sloane tried to tune him out. “Stay fixed on the podium...” Tyler mentioned to the audience that Sloane doesn’t usually make speeches. Oh, so now he’s buttering them up, she thought. Then she saw him walk off the stage as they applauded. She walked up to the podium. She looked around the room. Everyone became silent, waiting for her to speak. “Hello. I come to you here today to tell you two things. “First, I come here today as a scientist to tell you about the work my staff has done. Since the release of Emivir we have worked on not only trying to improve the effectiveness of Emivir but to also come up with an integrase inhibitor -- a third drug to be used in AIDS cocktails to deal yet a more severe blow to the HIV virus in the human body. Because we had been working on ways to alter natural cells with Emivir, we are using previous tests and samples to come up with an effective integrase inhibitor -- possibly something more effective, because it is not entirely synthetic, like its predecessors. In other words, we used old research in new ways. This is why we came up with these new possibilities so quickly. “But I think that has already been reported on in the general media. If not, medical journals have printed our findings this week. The information is out there. “We have also been looking into additional methods of helping the body fight AIDS -- more natural ways. That may sound like something a drug company wouldn’t promote, if it is something they can’t directly make money from, but coupling good habits with a good drug cocktail would help patients even more than taking the drugs alone. We have researched everything from exercise and weight lifting to yoga and meditation, along with vitamin supplements and diet changes. We have been compiling this data for a book, which should be printed in the next few months to help people fight this battle from every aspect they can, because half of the battle for a patient is showing people that they can do something about what is happening to them, to take control of their life. Combining these things can improve their chances of a healthier, longer life. “But more than all of that, I come here today to talk to you as a citizen. A citizen of the United States of America. You see, that is something I’m proud to say, because this is currently the greatest country in the world. I’ve believed that all of my life. It was this country that laid the groundwork for property rights. It was the idea of owning what you earn that gave people the incentive to produce and excel, and vastly improve our standard of living -- for all people, all over the world, not just for the creators and producers. It was our Founding Fathers that said that they wanted a fair and just government, ruled by the people, for the people. “And these are the things I believe in. I’m sure you all do too. “That is why this is my favorite country in the whole world. Because I love my work. I love doing the research I do. I like using my mind, making something that people need and want. This is the country that lets me work, knowing that it is mine, and that I earned it. “My staff has worked insanely long hours to accomplish what we have, and they are to be commended for it. We’ll all continue to work like this, because this is what drives us. And we didn’t do it for money, we didn’t even do it for the idea of the ’public good,’ although I have to admit, the work is that much more rewarding because people see that it is so needed. But the reason why we put in the long hours, the reason why we do this very difficult work, day in and day out, is because it’s who we are. It’s because we love the idea of doing something, making something, and having it be ours. Every reporter here in this room, every photographer, every cameraman, has to admit that they like the work, but they like their work, they like seeing their byline, not just because it gives them money or fame but because it is their name on their work. You deserve credit for the work you do. Every person out there, from the man at the car assembly line who checks the bolt for the left door hinge of the sedan model on the line to the real estate woman who sees her name on the sign in front of the house that she had just sold. To everyone out there. To everyone out there who loves their work. We like to see a job well done, and we like to know we did it. “This is why plagiarism is illegal. This is why theft is illegal. Because in this country, you have a right to what you produce. “Recently press releases from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department have noted that Madison Pharmaceuticals, and my staff, have been working on our integrase inhibitors at the same time as they had been working on theirs. This is very possible, though I have noted from reading journals in the past months that nothing of their findings has even been acknowledged by any book, magazine, or public means. “The recent government press releases, however, have implied that their work had been too similar to ours to be a coincidence. And to this I ask them to show me proof. “The press releases from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department state that they had been working on an integrase inhibitor for nearly a year, yet they have published no research reports in any medical or scientific journal. It may be possible that they did not publish anything about their research in the journals; but there was never even a mention of it in their almost daily press releases to the media in the past year as well. “This concerns me, because they seem to imply that they have a problem with our research without showing us that they have even done any research in the same field in the first place. “Neither I nor Madison Pharmaceuticals have spoken with anyone from the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department, even though they claimed to have talked to people at Madison in one of their recent press releases. Apparently they visited my laboratory today, attempting to open cabinets and ask questions about our research with no reason. “This type of behavior from our government, our government, is not something that should be tolerated. This is supposed to be a government for the people, by the people. “If the government has concern about whether or not someone’s work coincided with theirs, I believe they have to first prove that they were doing the work in question. If not, then there is an unacceptable amount of government intervention in the private market. “Madison Pharmaceuticals has repeatedly done an excellent job at creating a good, reliable product for people -- the fact that our product sells proves it. We want to continue to do our work. We want to continue to create better and better medicines for patients who need them. We want to continue to fill an urgent medical need. And we want to continue to work, knowing that no one will stop us from doing our best. “That is supposed to be the American Way. This is my way. This is your way. This is the way of everyone who has pride in their work. This is the way of every person in this room who likes to see their name next to their story. “Because our love of knowing that we did the work is one of the things that makes us want to continue working. It is our love of having the right to what we produce and what we earn. “A number of private companies have been working on integrase inhibitors over the past year and a half. And unlike the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department, the progress of private institutions is documented in press releases, news articles, medical journals and press conferences like this one. And no one from any private organization has complained that our work was too similar to theirs; not one private organization has asked to see our offices and expected us to comply. Only the government has the power to do this, if we choose to give it to them. “Our government exists to protect us from the force of others. But who protects us from the force of a government gone out of control? “There is no one to stop them but us. If we care about keeping what we produce and what we earn, then we are the ones that have to stand up for our rights. “I choose to not give our government that much power. The more power you give someone who doesn’t deserve it, the more they will try to take. “I choose to continue doing my work, because it is mine. I speak for my staff when I say that this is our work, and we will not give it away to someone who hasn’t earned it, simply because they make a claim with no evidence to back it up. “I choose to let the government be accountable for what it does. I choose to not take orders from a government agency unless there is a reason I should. Without evidence that their claims are true, there is no reason why we should answer to the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department.” Not believing she read without interjection, Sloane stepped away from the microphone; she then leaned forward again. “Thank you.” Leaning back one last time, she realized that she could’ve hear a pin drop. The room was silent. Usually reporters jumped up asking questions immediately after a speech, she knew this. She stood in silence and looked at the crowd. She didn’t know what to do, so she turned and started to walk off the stage. Then she heard a reporter clapping. Then more joined in. She stopped before leaving, because the entire room was applauding her speech. She bowed her head and smiled, then turned for the side door. She didn’t look at Tyler as she passed him at the side of the stage. Carter sat on the edge of his bed in his hotel room watching the evening news. He had a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket on the dresser with two glasses. He intently watched the news; listening to highlights from her press conference. “Our government exists to protect us from the force of others. But who protects us from the force of a government gone out of control? There is no one to stop them but us. If we care about keeping what we produce and what we earn, then we are the ones that have to stand up for our rights.” He changed the channel and listened to the next news station. “I choose to let the government be accountable for what it does. I choose to not take orders from a government agency unless there is a reason I should. Without evidence that their claims are true, there is no reason why we should answer to the U.S. Scientific Research Advancement Department.” Carter laid down on the edge of his bed and started openly laughing with delight at the news coverage until he heard a knock on his door. He sprung up from his bed and ran to the door and opened it. Sloane stood in his doorway. “Well?” She said as Carter looked at her. Carter stepped out into the hallway, wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up and started spinning in the hallway. Sloane laughed and screamed. “What are you doing? Put me down!” Carter laughed with Sloane and carried her into his hotel room. “What was that for?” Sloane asked as she got down and closed the hotel door. “You know I just want to give you a big kiss right now...” “Carter?” “You know, to congratulate you. Because my darling, it was fantastic! The news is all over it, showing highlights on all the news stations.” “They didn’t even ask me a single question, Carter. You know how they usually badger you with questions after your statement?” “Yeah.” “The reporters just waited for a moment, then applauded. So I just smiled and left.” “They applauded? News reporters?” “You’d think it was a speech to a graduating class, not a press conference.” “Well, angel, you deserve a celebration. Hungry? Either way, want to go out or stay in?” “Oh, I don’t want to move.” “I’ll order something then.” “I didn’t even speak to Tyler. I just walked right out. He’ll be furious.” Three thoughts were racing through her mind: one was that she had finished a fantastic speech, and another was that the government will hate her now because of it, and that Carter just said he wanted to kiss her. She blocked Carter out of her head because he said it was to celebrate, and she let any thoughts go back to the speech. Carter spoke as he poured champagne, “He’s going to have to love you. Everyone is raving about what you said, and everyone that hears the sound bites they’re playing tonight will be on your side. It was perfect.” Her next step was to pull her speech out of her briefcase and threw it in the bed. “If you want to read the whole thing, there it is.” “I’ll save it for the plane ride home tomorrow. Now,” Carter reached over to the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out a bright blue one-piece women’s swim suit, “would you like to go into the hot tub now, or would you like to wait until after dinner?” “Carter, you went through my bedroom drawers?” “I told you I was going to get a swim suit of yours. I was hoping for a two-piece suit.” Sloane threw him a dirty look and took the second glass of champagne from his hand. “Here’s to standing up for what you believe in,” Carter said. “Here’s to getting the vaccine to work. Here’s to getting the proof I need.” “That’s the key to believing, isn’t it?” Carter said, and they touched glasses before they drank together.
Click here for Chapter 10 of The Key To Believing
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portions of this book are in the following books:
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