Colin asked, “And the patents? The incorporation?”
“Everything will be in place by close of business today, or heads will roll among my firm’s junior staff,” Aaron assured him.
The dean knocked and entered, wearing what Colin thought was the same silver-grey outfit as the first time they had met. The only change was a string of pearls one shade darker than her jacket. “What is this?”
“Aaron Weisfeld and Roland Perez,” Aaron said. “Attorneys representing our client, Colin Eames. A pleasure, Dr. Sykes.”
Her crystal gaze shifted from one to the next as she seated herself. “And the reason for this meeting is …”
“Our client has begun work on a new process, one with unique ramifications. We need to clarify his situation in regard to the university.”
“I don’t follow.”
“He is a student. He is in the process of developing something with, how shall I put it …”
“Far-reaching potential,” Roland offered from Colin’s other side.
“Quite so. Because he is matriculated here, we thought it best to advise you of this situation in advance of our moving forward.”
Colin endured another moment of the woman’s laser-tight gaze. Strong as his father’s, but even here in this room with its gathering tension, there was no threat. No danger. The only emotion he felt was …
Exhilaration.
The dean rose to her feet. “Just one moment.”
Dr. Sykes left the room. They waited. Five minutes later, the receptionist returned to ask a second time if they wanted coffee, water, anything. Five more minutes became ten, then fifteen. Aaron answered e-mails and texts on his phone. Roland received a call and slipped to the room’s far corner. Colin took out his leather-bound notebook and studied his notes. The last five pages contained a list of everything he needed to have in place before tomorrow’s meeting. He had gone over the points so often he read them in his sleep. Those dreams always ended the same, with him discovering a sixth page filled with everything he had forgotten to do. Colin never slept after that dream. He flipped the notebook’s pages back to the algorithms that formed hisbreakthrough. His project felt alive, as if he held something pulsing in his hands. Each shift of the page caused another silent bolt of power to course through him.
When Sykes finally returned, she was accompanied by a technician who managed to cross the room without glancing up from his texting. “Okay, they’re ready in Chapel Hill. Where are the controls?”
“On the credenza’s top shelf, last time I checked.”
The techie slid open the shoji screens, revealing a wall-size monitor. He fiddled with the console until it came to life, revealing an African American man with the rumpled air of a professor facing severe time pressure. He eyed the trio seated at the table’s far end as Sykes said, “This is Dr. Lassiter, dean of Chapel Hill’s law school.” She took the same chair as before, then said, “You may proceed.”
“As I was saying, my esteemed colleague has developed a new process—”
“Based upon his studies here at UNC Wilmington and Chapel Hill,” Sykes interjected.
“Partly, madam. That is most certainlypartlythe case. Which is why we are meeting.”
Lassiter spoke for the first time. “What is the nature of the student’s invention?”
Roland said, “Nothing has been said about an invention.”
He used his chin as a pointer. “Aaron Weisfeld I know. You are?”
Aaron replied, “Roland Perez has been serving as my client’s principal attorney for a number of years.”
Lassiter switched his angry gaze to Colin. “How old are you?”
“That is beside the point,” Roland replied.
“Our client turned sixteen in September,” Aaron replied.
“And he has been a student with us since …”
Sykes replied, “Three years and counting.”
Colin said, “Actually I took my first classes when I was still twelve.”
