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Core Beliefs – Chapter 31 - New Power It was October 2nd. The weather had turned nasty. A freak ice storm rolled through the Midwest. Chris, Suchet, and Doug fitted the acrylic globe with the superconducting neodymium magnets. Each lab-quality magnet was ring-shaped, encased in a thermally insulated housing with fittings for the liquid nitrogen cooling system. Each assembly was almost 8 inches in diameter and four inches thick. It wasn’t the reason Suchet had ordered the A

Core Beliefs – Chapter 30 - New Key-New Door Suchet, Chris, Doug, and Ellie had been working long hours at a frantic pace. They were so close to starting the next round of experiments that it was almost impossible to get them to stop before midnight. When he could, Charley was there helping. *** On September 2nd, Suchet confirmed they were ready to go. With the modifications to the beam generator complete, they could control every frequency individually. Suchet proposed th

Core Beliefs – Chapter 29 - Wheels keep turning. Charley, Chris, and Doug completed the steel building the first week of August. With the harvest done, Eldridge had time to help, and he and Elvin made a tremendous difference in getting things finished. The roof was on, everything was watertight, and they cleared the scrub from inside the building. The plan was to level the ground inside and pour a concrete floor level with the silo entrance. Doug, Charley, and Chris had n

Core Beliefs – Chapter 28 - The Party. Matt had been up to his ears in things to do when he arrived back in St. Louis. For over two weeks, he visited all the facilities, held meetings with the management teams and councils, and realized that he needed to fine-tune the management structure. Meetings with Marcus Corush led to a list of those people Marcus held in the highest regard. Matt concurred, and with a call to Joe, Matt arranged for the incorporation of another corpora

Core Beliefs – Chapter 27 - Prom Back on the farm, a very special day approached—April 26, a night that Ellie had looked forward to for months, and now, more than ever. It was prom night, and Doug was her date. Charlotte had helped pick her dress and personally escorted her to a salon for the full treatment—hair, facial, manicure, pedicure, and makeup. Once back at the farm, Charlotte and Marcy applied the final touches. Doug arrived in a limo, climbed the steps to the fa

Core Beliefs – Chapter 26 - Finding it all over again. Matt showed up at Lasticorp on Monday and was greeted with a ‘Hello stranger’ from Lucy. She ensured he was up to date on Lasticorp and forwarded messages from others who needed to see him. One of the people on the list was the tax firm that handled his personal returns. Matt wondered why the urgency but drove to their office that afternoon. It seemed the issue was record sales, productivity, and profits. Even though h

Core Beliefs – Chapter 25 - Ellie unleashed. On Monday, at 10:00 a.m., everyone gathered at the Elsberry house—that was everyone except Ellie. “Where is Miss Coblentz?” Suchet asked. “Sorry,” Doug said, “she didn’t have permission to miss school today.” “We need this lady here if we are to proceed effectively,” Suchet said, his eyes roaming the group. *** “Marcy,” Matt said over the phone, “Suchet and Chris insist that we need Ellie at this meeting. Would you be willing

Core Beliefs – Chapter 24 - Repeat Performance. On Friday about 9:00 a.m., the crew assembled in the control room. Joe had brought food, coffee, and water. Matt was relieved when Suchet said, “We will ramp to 75% power and work our way from there.” The feeling today was totally business. Matt recognized that this was how science worked. The glory comes after the grind. They again went through the detailed and precise start-up process, but this time, the team brought power t

Core Beliefs – Chapter 23 - The Scientific Grind Matt rode with Chris to the farm and found food waiting on the table. Marcy had made a habit of having something cooked just in case anyone needed to munch. Eldridge had just finished breakfast. Matt asked how the planting went, concerned if enough rain had fallen. “I think the seed’s in good shape,” Eldridge said. “It’s towards July that I worry the most.” “How’s Doug behaving?” Matt asked with a chuckle. Eldridge smiled.

Core Beliefs – Chapter 22 - Anticipation Matt had finally slipped into a deep sleep, finding himself in the middle of a wonderful dream, when a bang on his door smashed the reverie. Aggravation elevated as the blasted noise continued. “What is it!” Matt yelled. “I’m headed out to the silo,” Chris cheerfully called back. “Do you want to come?” Matt loved Chris dearly, but at that moment, he could have throttled him. “No, I’m going back to sleep! Go on, and I’ll see you la