Core Beliefs - Chapter 25 - Ellie Unleashed

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 to call the school and get her excused from class? We can pick her up.”

“You really need her that much?” Marcy asked.

“Yes, she’s a very important part of the team. Marcy—she’s an amazing girl. You should be very proud.

“I know she’s special, but all this science experimentin’ is so hard to get a hold of,” Marcy sighed. “I’ll call them, but please, Mr. Lehmen, take care of my girl, please?”

“You have my word, Marcy.” Matt heard the disconnect but felt the connection. He realized that this family had become precious to him.

Turning to Chris, “Marcy says she will call.”

Matt spotted the grin spreading across Doug’s face. “So, what are you waiting for?” Matt eyed Doug. “Let’s go.”

Doug knew how to get to Ellie’s school. They were cleared to proceed to the main office and were escorted to the principal’s office.

The principal, a hefty man with a rounded face and mustache, had them sit.

“I have received a call from Mrs. Coblentz requesting that I allow you to take Ms. Coblentz from school.”

The man drummed his fingers on the desk. “I am concerned that this young lady has missed substantial class time over the last few weeks. I keep hearing that she is involved in a science project or something, but I have verified that neither the school nor the county is running any such programs.”

He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “Gentlemen, I need an explanation before she is allowed to leave.”

Matt pulled his billfold, extracted a business card, and slid it across the desk.

“If you would give this young man permission to get Miss Coblentz and bring her here, I will explain why excusing her from her classes is a good thing.”

The principal examined the card. The name Matthew Lehman, President, was prominent, followed by five corporate names.

“We are in the midst of research and development of a scientific breakthrough,” Matt said calmly, in a voice that demanded one pay attention without being offensive. “Miss Coblentz is a vital member of the research team.”

Matt’s voice was calm but authoritative, and almost before he finished, the principal had scribbled a note and handed it to Matt, who handed it to Doug.

“Which classroom?” Doug asked.

The principal tapped his computer keyboard: “Room 460, Computer Science. You bring her straight back here!”

Doug nodded and left, walking briskly.

“Thank you for your concern and assistance,” Matt said. “I assure you that what Ellie is doing outside of class will someday have worldwide benefits.”

The principal sat motionless for several seconds before he asked, “What kind of benefits?”

Matt flashed his patented smile. “Benefits that will make millions of lives better. All I can tell you is she contributes to a team that includes one of the world’s foremost physicists, the most brilliant PhD. Engineer I have ever met and a computer wizard who makes my head spin. These people say they cannot proceed with their work without her. She is that important to the team.”

The principal glowered silently, his eyes fixed on Matt. “And what of her studies here? Are they not important?”

“They are very important,” Matt said. “I promise that though she misses time, she will complete every shred of work required for school.”

Matt picked up on the furrowing of the principal’s brow.

“You may contact any of those companies to verify I am who I claim. I also encourage you to confirm that Ellie wishes to come with us.”

“That I shall do. I will also want authorization in writing from Ms. Coblentz’s parents, verifying that you have permission to interrupt her studies for these-

“Explorations of science,” Matt said.

“Very well,” the principal said.

“To show my respect,” Matt said. “I will make a $50,000 contribution to your school’s science programs with the understanding that Ellie will be excused as needed.

The principal’s jaw dropped.

***

Doug rounded the corner in the hall and located the room. He opened the door and knocked on the doorpost. It was a typical computer lab with the teacher having a master machine and the students all working with slaved computers. Doug spotted Ellie in the second row, looking bored.

The moment she saw him, she grinned and mouthed, “Have you come to save me?”

Doug winked.

“What do you want?” The instructor, an older woman wearing bottle-bottom lensed glasses, asked.

Doug handed her the note. “Miss Coblentz needs to come with me.”

The teacher glanced at the note and suspiciously eyed Doug. “And where is Miss Coblentz going?”

Doug walked over to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and started coding in FORTRAN. He tossed the marker to Ellie. “Finish it to the twenty-sixth increment.”

Ellie stepped to the board and recognized the sequence and quantifying format. She started the next line and nine lines later, had finished with a large =X.

“Sorry, it needed thirty-two increments,” she pitched the marker back to Doug. The low whispers buzzed.

“What does this have to do with my question?” the instructor stared at the board.

“Not a thing,” Doug said. “It’s a simple demonstration showing Ellie already knows more than you are teaching in this class.”

Pointing to the board, “I started a code for complex character coding.” He smiled at the teacher. “Ellie added the identifiers and quantifiers to configure the program to take any text document and scramble letters A through Z and punctuation. With a key that only she knows, she can restructure it to its original format. In simple terms, she has created an encryption code that only she knows how to decrypt. Now, if there are no other questions?”

No one said a thing.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Time to change the world.”

They were out of the class and back to the principal’s office and, in moments, were on their way to Matt’s car.

***

Matthew glanced in the rearview mirror and spotted Ellie and Doug in the back seat, smiling at each other with that lost-in-love look that he once again knew so well.

“Listen, you two,” he said, “We didn’t spring Ellie for a holiday. Suchet and Chris believe that you both are essential to the effort, and that is the only reason that we have superseded your schoolwork, young lady.”

Arriving back at the Elsberry house, Matt feared they had lost an hour of productivity and was surprised when Suchet and Chris relayed they had done some essential planning and were just then ready to begin discussing the scientific elements.

The meeting went on until noon, covering complex concepts. Each of the “Fantastic Four” made contributions. Doug asked if it was possible to isolate individual frequencies. Chris said it would take a major redesign to do that.

Suchet was on Doug’s side, explaining the significant benefits of having control options.

Charlotte hauled in burgers, fries, and soft drinks for lunch. Folks scattered around the house to find places to eat.

Matt, Ellie, Doug, and Charlotte settled in the living room. Matt was explaining the issues with the neuroimaging unit to Ellie and Doug.

“The headgear. It’s almost fifteen pounds and bulky like some overgrown bowl of spaghetti,” Matt said. “In order to get the sensors wired back to the controller, we’ve had to use almost a thousand wire pairs.”

“Have you looked at fiber optics?” Ellie asked. “They’re really thin and weigh nothing and carry a lot more data. The fibers can also be interfaced with all sorts of sensors, including micro-sensors.”

“Hold just a second, young lady,” Matt said. “I need you to talk to someone else about this.” He pulled his phone from his belt and dialed Marcus Corush.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lehman.”

Matt was surprised that everybody seemed to know when he called; it was him.

“Marcus, I have a young lady here who has an idea for the headgear on the Imager. I’m going to put her on the phone. I would appreciate your hearing her out.”

Matt handed the phone to Ellie. For the next twenty minutes, she and Marcus conversed. Ellie was bubbly and animated as Matt watched.

She held the phone to Matt. “He wants to talk to you?”

“Yes, Marcus?” Matt asked.

“Matthew, do we have this young lady under contract? She is amazing!”

“You don’t have to tell me that, but first, I think we will let her graduate from high school.”

Silence ensued. “Matthew, you are kidding me, correct?”

“It’s the truth and the whole truth.”

“Well, hire her as fast as you can. The concept is brilliant. I am deadly serious,” Marcus dropped his voice to make his point.

“Understood,” Matt said as they ended the call.

“He wants me to hire you,” Matt peered at Ellie, “but I think I will make you the same offer as I did Doug.”

Ellie stared, her gaze flipping from Matt to Doug, back and forth.

“You will have a full scholarship from The Inter-Mol Corporation for any college you want to attend, and that includes a living expense and spending allowance.”

***

The scream was deafening. People came running to the living room, thinking something terrible had happened. Dashing into the room, they saw Ellie hyperventilating and sobbing, half hopping and bouncing about, her hands covering her mouth and nose, her face flushed red.

“What’s wrong?” Chris hollered.

Matt pointed to Ellie. “She’ll tell you in a minute.”

Ellie struggled to compose herself and, still fighting tears, blurted, “I get to go to college!” Staring at Matt, she begged, “I really get to go to college?”

“Yes, my dear, you have my promise.”

By now, everybody had grasped what had happened. Matt relayed how Ellie had helped with a project at Inter-Mol and that if Marcus Corush had his way, she would be on his payroll immediately.

Lunch was wrapped, spirits were high, and the group congregated in the dining room to continue the meeting.

They discussed design changes, and Suchet suggested a method that would let them individually modulate the generator elements.

Doug sketched a simple electrical diagram, and Chris added components. It was only a concept, but it was viable. By 4:00 in the afternoon, it was obvious that despite the adrenaline pounding through everyone, the team had hit a wall. They spent the next hour assigning tasks and reviewing schedules.

***

Matt slipped away and called Eldridge and Marcy. “I apologize if I have stepped out of line,” he said, “but I have done something that I should have first checked with you for approval.”

Eldridge was quiet.

“Mr. Lehman,” Marcy said, “after everything you have done for us, I doubt that you could do anything we would not go along with.”

“I had Ellie talk with one of my associates in St. Louis. She had a great idea that could help with the project at Inter-Mol. I didn’t think of asking for your permission. I kinda offered Ellie a full college scholarship for her help?” Matt shied from the phone.

“Another prayer answered,” Marcy screamed almost as loudly as Ellie had.

“Matt, we are grateful,” Eldridge finally managed to get a few words in. “I know she will do you proud.”

***

The meetings continued all week. Each day, Doug took Ellie to school to collect her homework assignments. Doug mentioned to the principal that Ellie had a full scholarship to any college she wanted to attend.

“Most impressive,” the principal responded. “Any school?”

“Her choice,” Doug said. “Including living allowance.”

***

Word spread quickly to the staff to give Ellie every consideration, and she was not to be penalized for missing classes.

Her classmates chattered about the computer coding and the cute guy she was always with.

Some of the girls asked how Ellie could go from a second-hand clothes shy girl to a tower of power in only months.

***

The end of the week came, and Matt knew he needed to get back to St. Louis. Suchet had to head home, and there would be no more tests until they made modifications to the beam generator.

Charlotte was busy with the Big House, and Matt enjoyed time with Jacob and Janet.

The Coblentz family was on cloud nine, and Matt could not think of a more productive two weeks.

Joe had left a couple of days earlier, and Matt was going to drive Suchet to the airport.

***

They were packed and said their goodbyes when Doug asked a question, “Dr. Kumar, why did the orb appear conveniently five feet down from the beam generator, so it was never damaged?”

“I, I cannot say,” Suchet scowled, not at Doug but at the fact that he had missed that bit of information. “I promise to do my utmost to find an answer.” He smiled at Doug. "Your insight and observation skills are much needed in the work we are doing. Never be afraid to question!." Suchet slapped Doug affectionately on the shoulder.

Suchet and Matt climbed into the car for the three-hour-plus drive. Matt noticed Suchet was unusually quiet.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Suchet replied, “I am fine, but Doug’s question is vital, and the fact that we never considered it before makes me wonder what else we have overlooked.”

“We have a door,” Matt said. “We have a key, but we can take the proper time to open it.”

“This is true,” Suchet said, “and I am in total belief that we will find the answers.”

After dropping Suchet, Matt drove to Joe’s for the night. He and Joe spoke about the past two weeks, wondering how much it would change their lives.