CostLess Cosmos

Ellen and I ordered from the restaurant menu and got it as room service. It had been frenetic near the end, the PR lady giving us phrases to memorize and think about.

It felt nice to relax. The dinner was tasty, and afterwards I went to the bar area in our suite and wondered what I should have.

Ellen knew good drinks.

Baileys and Drambuie was her go-to, she said, she couldn't have too many. She also liked margaritas with chips and salsa, but we'd just had dinner. I said I liked 7-and-7's, and once upon a time had liked Tom Collins' but I didn't know how to make them, I'd had them when an undergrad friend made them.

We were getting to know each other, but since the PR lady had warned us to not learn too much about each other that might get us in trouble at the press conference the next day, we talked about people we knew.

I was nervous about the press conference. Ellen was, too.

Just before we called it a night, I told Ellen I would like to have her as a friend at least going forward, and that if I made any money from the flight itself, I'd make sure that she got a share, given that she had a shared risk in going along.

I thanked her, at the end, and we hugged, but it wasn't a long thing. I didn't know if she was interested in me, and I thought I'd better not ask too much.

Chapter: News Conference

The news conference the next day was going to be such a madhouse, we worked with the PR firm to select just 12 major-news journalists and do a conference-table session. That could keep down the shouting, which I'd seen on TV but didn't want to face, and let some of the crowdsourced questions come in, too.

We stopped downstairs to see the large conference room where we'd do the interview / news conference. The lights were super-bright, with stands and draperies all around. I was impressed as we walked in, but quickly saw the traveling cases they had and the way some of the guys moving around had a drudgery-factor, so the magic factor declined.

Dana, our "PR Lady", took both of us down to get haircuts and had a make-up artist do some things to our faces that she said would help us look good on TV. I didn't care that much, but I remembered high school history class talking about the Nixon-Kennedy debate and how Nixon looked sweaty, pasty, and yucky, and it mattered.

We got in and did the conference.

The questions and answers were something like this:

How long have you been working on this? -- Since just after undergrad, 5 years ago. I'm 25. I finished physics undergrad in 3 years because of summer school and AP classes, I was a B student most of the time, always reading stuff besides classes.

How fast does The Fenn go? -- Limited by max airspeed since it's a brick and I didn't worry about that too much. Above the atmosphere, it's max acceleration that matters, and I designed it to handle 8 g's but never took it above 4 since that's a lot of stress to an airframe, and I didn't want to have to do a lot of computer work to validate limits.

How much can she carry? -- Using atmosphere as reaction mass, I can get up to 50,000 feet before cutting to internal reaction mass. In terms of acceleration, technically I could take up 60k kg, but that has no room for safety.

How heavy were you, then? -- I was mostly empty for the flight, except for some reaction mass, the air tanks I brought, and the KostLess stuff. Don't know what max payload to LEO would be, would have to do full structural analysis, and it was just easier to play well inside safety margins.

How much energy do the reactors make? -- Each reactor would max out at 200 megawatts, but I could never use that much, it would rip the ship apart.

What makes the rocket motors efficient? -- Rocket efficiency is all about exhaust velocity, how fast the stuff is coming out of the tailpipe. If I put minimal amounts of material in and accelerate it as much as I can, I can get really efficient. The unit is 'seconds', and as a motor, my MHD makes 8,500 seconds with internal fuel.

What made you choose a female copilot? - One, it's a small cockpit, women tend to be smaller. Two, I didn't want to sit next to an unknown and maybe smelly guy for a long time. Three, most female engineers I've known are smarter than their male counterparts, they've had to work harder to get there overcoming prejudice. So, it makes sense. It wasn't just luck that Ellen's a very capable engineer.

Did you know each other before yesterday? - No, random choice from the crowd in the parking lot in Cupertino.

Have you kissed or been romantic? - No, as far as I was concerned, we were coworkers, though now we're coworkers-slash-friends.

Even considered it? - Not relevant. I wanted a brain next to me, and she has one! Beyond being athletic enough to handle the accelerations, her physical attributes are her business.

How'd it feel to... - Yes, honor, privilege, beautiful experience, glad I got the chance, happy it worked out.

Didn't you risk her life without telling her the risks? - I'd landed in a KostLess parking lot in a homemade spaceship! It's shipping containers, welded with a metal frame. It has engines that look like toy drones. I figured the risk was obvious. I'm very happy she did. I would have gone up anyway without anyone, but it was in fact very much easier with a second person.

What if the ISS rejected your offer? - I would have boosted to a higher orbit, put it overboard as a tied-together bundle, for later use. [I didn't mention I had no way to open the shipping container from the outside without a spacesuit. But, they didn't know about the latching mechanisms.]

What safety systems did you have onboard? - Lots of them, I'm risk averse in general, so I built it to be as sturdy as I could.

Future plans? - Either create a company to make reactors or license tech, goal would be to make money. Use money to fight global warming, save oceanic ecosystems, build rockets, maybe be an astronaut on a continuing basis.

Where to next? - Dunno. Doing patent work will take a while. Will set up a company.

Any message to people? - Yes. Just fyi, seems to me electric power is going to get a lot cheaper pretty soon. Like, if you're remodeling your house? Don't put in a natural gas furnace or water heater, would be incredibly stupid. Electric heat pump for a furnace or water heater. Likewise, buying a gas-powered car. Everything electrical is gonna get cheaper. I suspect I'm making enemies in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Houston right now. But, those places, and many others worldwide, are full of highly capable engineers who can design and build the next world-changing tech.

Any other messages? - Yes. If you're frustrated by math, you're in good company. Lots of people learn math incorrectly. You have to completely learn a topic before moving on. That is, start from really basic stuff, get it so you're just so right you can't be wrong. Then, add a skill, repeating the mastery idea. You'll get faster in the process. If you're frustrated, don't stop, just go back. Have mercy on yourself and figure out what's getting in the way of that skill, it's usually not having enough practice.

I continued, "Kids, all students, really, don't just do the 'even numbered problems'. Do ALL the problems. Check your work by doing it again a different way and see if you get the same result. Make it pass the smell test, does it smell right? Get the teacher's edition of the problem set book, verify your answers before you hand in the homework, and if you're wrong, do them again, it'll be faster the second time through. Memorize handy numbers so you can estimate stuff. Math is like piano, lots and lots of practice. And with engineering, be the change you want to see in the world."

Messages for fellow Canadians? - YES - Thank you! Thank you for a first-rate education system here, even if it sometimes has leftover misogynistic or misguided parts. We're improving it, and we need to keep doing that, it's a process not a destination. I will add that all education in Canada, and everywhere, should be free up through getting a college diploma. No education system should be paid for by local taxes -- it should always be national taxes. Otherwise, how much teachers are paid is dependent on your postal code. Having good schools for rich kids and bad schools for poor ones? That leaves great people in crap situations. They could be building the new world's Best New Stuff.

Thank you, Canada, for being a shining city on a hill, a beautiful land of strong, capable, nice people. Keep it up!

== ==

Dana's PR job had coached us well, given us most of the questions we'd likely be asked ahead of time, and Jason had commented on what we should or shouldn't say.

I messed up with a few tiny points, but when we got out I got high praise from them anyway, and got clues on how to proceed.

The secret weapon I had during the conference was Dana standing in the back.

We'd pre-arranged a set of body-language motions to help me out. She didn't have to implement any besides 'doing-good', so I was relieved.

Ellen, likewise, did pretty well. She deflected the relationship questions similarly, and didn't take the bait when asked a trick question about 'thinking about' more than that.

Even the question about using 'the restroom' (ducking behind a cabinet outside the cockpit to change diaper) was easy to dodge, we didn't feel like talking about it. She just said, "No, private. Not answering that."

About an hour after the conference, we were hanging out in the suite watching cartoons (of all things), and got a phone call on my new cellphone from PM Montclaire. I immediately put it on speaker so we could both talk.

"Great conference! Good answers, too, looks like you had some prep about the questions. The press was going to softball things anyway, I think, people generally like you. Lots easier than some of my press conferences, I can tell you!"

We laughed.

"Speaking of gatherings for me, I'd like to invite both of you to my residence for dinner tonight. My house's name is 'Gorfwista', it's the official residence. I'm going to invite some other people, about 20 total, counting you two. Mostly government ministers. Are you interested? Would you need to make this a different night?"

I shrugged and smiled happily at Ellen. She nodded and said, "We'd like that. What time, and what do we need to wear?"

"Good point. You don't have semi-formal yet. Call the concierge, tell him you'll need dress clothes for tonight, please send up a tailor. It's included in the room costs, don't worry. Ellen, if you want a Vera Wang, you'll have to wait for your own money, but they have nice things. The women will be in semi-formals, some fluff and better than business suits, but not red-carpet stuff."

"Thank you, that'd be lovely. I'll need shoes, too."

"Concierge there is full service. FULL. You need it, you ask."

"Thank you again."

"Oh, and Kevin? I know you'll be the richest man on the planet soon, based on patent royalties. I'm not worried about the room cost. I just want to make sure while you're in this intermediate stage between rags and riches, the extras you're obviously actually needing there aren't going to embarrass either yourselves or our government. If we agree you'll eventually handle the extras on the bill, that'd be great, but in the meantime, I'll consider it kind of a loan. The government shouldn't later be seen as giving things to a super-rich person, you see what I mean?"

"Of course."

Ellen asked, "What time?"

"Be ready to leave at about 5, security will get you here quickly. It's just down the road. There will be press downstairs, and press at my home when you arrive, but you'll drive through those."

He interrupted himself and said, "...Oh, yeah. One more thing. You may need to wear body armor. There are a lot of oil and gas people, roughnecks, who are going to lose their jobs because of this, and they won't see the uptick in GDP when their paycheck declines. So, just nod and accept the body armor if and when they give it to you. Most fits under dress shirts. Maybe not for tonight, but soon, you'll be wearing that in public, I reckon."

"Thank you, sir."

"See you tonight."

We said goodbyes and Ellen and I looked at each other.

Glancing at the clock, it was about lunchtime. My attorney, Jason, was due any minute with lunch. He promised to pick up Thai food, which Ellen and I both liked.

== ==

After both lunch and a measuring-up for both of us, we picked out our clothes and were interrupted several times while they came back for test fittings.

Jason had some things to say, and introduced us to our more permanent security team, as opposed to the hotel security and off-duty cops that had been in the hallways. They came in and we chatted for a while. The head of security was a guy named, "LT", who had the manner of someone who Knew Things and was comfortable in his skin.

About 3 pm, Jason and his two assistants went away for a couple of minutes to give Ellen and I a chance to talk. I had some things he'd told me about, I had to address.

We went into the piano room where there were chairs and some privacy, versus the open room where Jason could technically walk in any minute. I wanted a change of venue for this conversation. I shut the door to the room behind us.

Ellen was confused as we came in and sat. "What's up?"

"So. Jason told me I have a problem. He's paid to look out for my interests, and sometimes those interests are different than yours. So, I want to be really up-front here so we have good communication."

She looked guarded. "Yeah?"

"He wants me to give you either a flat-fee payment, or set of payments, as a gift, to recompense you for going on the trip with me. That would include protecting me by having you sign an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement, that you won't tell any secrets I've discussed about the ship, and to agree to not say bad things about me. It's stupid, and I said so, but he says it's super-important. But, I don't want to do things the way he's suggesting, and I'll tell you why."

"Uh..."

"I've worked the last 5 years, night and day, all-out, used all my savings from my parent's fatal car-crash insurance settlement, and all the patent royalties from the few ideas I had before, it's all gone. So, the Fenn? I was, I am, all in, that's all I have, money-wise. Even my farmhouse is rented."

She got that part.

"So, in that parking lot, I had this super-important ship with me. There I was. I had a risk, going up, but I asked, and you helped. And, you had a significant risk, going to orbit with me, so I don't think a flat fee is right. Plus, Jason said, anything you get now, you might think later, oh, hey, that wasn't enough."

"I'm not in it for..." She looked confused, then it kind of dawned on her and she said, "Okay, I can see that."

"Right. So, my thought is, I can cut you in on the royalties for the two devices, the reactor, and the thruster. Not a lot, just a single percent -- I get 99%, you get 1%. I know, it's not a lot on those terms. But..."

She looked a little incredulous, like she might think that a flat fee was better.

"...It should make you a billionaire."

Her face screwed up in a WTF expression, eyes glancing sideways, mouth falling open, and soon enough tears streaming out, though not a lot of sound.

"You're... you'd do that?"

"Sure. I want to protect my rights as patent-holder, so you wouldn't get voting rights, but I would commit to that 1% for the life of the patents, what, 20 years or so.... That's worldwide royalties, not just Canadian or US ones."

The scale of this was a little beyond her. She got up and paced around a little, eyes crying, hand over mouth.

I let her walk for a while, several minutes, just sitting back. It was kind of fun, actually, knowing what kind of a gift I was able to give her.

After she paused for a while, staring into space, I interrupted her reverie and said, "One more thing. I haven't included you in the discussions about the engineering layouts. You're qualified to look at them, but we had to get the patent stuff going and having you in the room might have slowed that down."

She nodded, getting that part. She was still massively preoccupied with the money.

"I need some help. That is, I think it'd be useful for you to look over the drawings, study up on it, and get up to speed. If you see an idea, a simplification or a good safety feature, something like that, you can use the attorneys to patent it. For anything new you invent, I'd like to do a 60-40 split on the royalties. I'd get 60, you'd get 40. I may bring in more people to do that kind of work, and I want everyone to have the same terms as you. Plus, filing for patents is expensive, so there is that."

She nodded, but didn't say anything. I waited.

After a while, her pacing slowed down, and she came over and sat in an armchair, facing me. "You mean this? I'm going to be a billionaire?"

"Within the year, maybe even in the next few weeks. Depends on how long the patent process takes."

She nodded, digesting. "And, you want my engineering help? Even though I'm just a student?"

"Yep. You're smart, you can do stuff, too."

"But we split royalties on the stuff I invent."

"I want to..."

"I get that part. 50-50."

She was a negotiator.

I liked that, and smiled, "No way I can go that high, one side has to have controlling interest, and as majority holder, I'd need to set overall fees reasonably. I like your style, negotiating, though... How about this, we do 55-45%, after attorney fees."

Laughing at that, she said, "Of course. Lawyers. How much do they get?"

"Their fees pay for administration and enforcement. The standard is about 15% off the top, we split what's left."

"Worldwide patents? All of them?"

"All we can get, for sure!"

She stood up, her eyes still wet, "I'm in."

I stood up to match her, and we shook hands, wildly grinning at each other.

Jason was waiting at the oversized dining room table with a folder. We filled in the percentages and signed, his two assistants being notary and witness. With that, Ellen went from student pauper to paper-billionaire in a couple of minutes.

The look on Ellen's face when she filled out paperwork for a broker account was fun to watch. She had to sign a promissory note for $1000 to Jason's first assistant, as well as a power of attorney for Jason's firm.

They left shortly thereafter, and Ellen and I just sat at the table and stared for a couple of minutes.

I could tell she was frazzled. Too much change in a short time.

Getting up, I said, friendly, "Follow me."

She trailed me as I walked into the piano room again, only this time sitting down in front of the piano and opening the cover.

She didn't know where to stand.

I asked, "Hey, can you look in that file cabinet for Bach? Etudes?"

While she started looking, I set out with an easy Schumann piece, Wild Rider. The piano was... glorious! I'd never played a piano with as good a touch as that. It was silk; I could bang or barely touch and it'd respond to what I was doing. It was slightly 'brighter' than the one I had grown up with, but it also had a resonance that kept going in the lower registers, like you dream of getting from a stereo and just can't.

The room being a dead-zero might have helped, too.

The piece was pretty short, and it'd been 7 or 8 years since I'd played much, so I didn't quite know what to plink out.

Ellen found a book of JS Bach and it fell open to the Minuet in G, a nice simple start. After seeing it, the muscle-memory came back. I remember being able to play it in my sleep because I'd had a recital with it early in my lessons. In later years, I used it to warm up, speeding up gradually. I did that again, at the end getting near 2x speed.

She was smiling at me. Watching my fingers and the keys and my face, lost in the moment.