Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
“Coming.”
On their way up, she looked at the numbers breezing past on the screen. “How come no one ever gets on the elevator with us?”
“Magnus has it set so it doesn’t pick up passengers if the fifth floor or basement is selected. He can have it stop for guests if they happen to be in the elevator when one of us gets in, but it will never go to the basement or fifth floor with anyone other than us.”
Once in her playroom, Celeste oohed and aahed over all the amazing things Hawking had ordered for her. She was very relieved he hadn’t gotten her another stuffie. Hades didn’t play well with others.
Chapter Eighteen
Two days later, Celeste felt ready. She walked to Magnus’s desk and asked, “Could you call my Daddy to come down here?”
“Is something wrong?” Magnus looked at her in concern.
“No. It’s finally right,” she assured him.
A few minutes later, Hawking appeared. “Need to take a break?”
“I’ve got everything ready to be released, Daddy. I have a plan.”
“Tell me.”
“Magnus should listen, too. I hope he’ll help.”
“I’ll do what I can, Celeste,” Magnus said, adjusting his baseball cap.
“I would like to send a summary of my research to the three largest scientific journals in the world. Whoever jumps first to cover the news can have the research. In addition, I would like to contact all the major television news carriers and provide them with enough information to prove the research exists.”
“I’m trying to be supportive, CB, but I have a question. When they release the information, won’t your old company simply tell the press that they disproved your research?” Hawking asked.
“That will definitely happen. That’s why I’m also going to send the research to several small cancer research teams. They can’t have control of every single bit of the scientific world.”
Magnus’s lips pursed for a moment. “That could work to circumvent their power. Dispersed this widely, it will be difficult to maintain your name on the research. Everyone will want to claim it for themselves. You could lose credit for making this breakthrough, Celeste,” he pointed out.
“I need to avoid that and keep my name associated with the research. That’s what will keep me safe. If I’m in the spotlight, that will prevent them from targeting me. If I’m reading them right, they won’t risk the negative attention that would come with an attack on a highly talked-about scientist.”
She paused for a minute before adding, “I did have Magnus file a patent for me through some kind of tech that bounces the signal around to different countries to foil someone if they’re watching for me. Who knows? Maybe we can convince them that you snuck me out of the resort without them seeing me.”
Clearing her throat, she added, “I have one final step.”
“Okay. What’s that?” Hawking asked with a smile, letting her know he was impressed with her plans so far.
“I’m counting on the documentation going everywhere to create enough proof that there will be a frenzy for me to appear on the largest morning news shows around the world to share my breakthrough. I plan to share how my research was tampered with and how I was let go from my position.”
“Around the world?” Hawking asked. “You’re going to lose a lot of sleep.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Magnus. Can I impose on you as well? I’ll need your help to protect the signal from their notice for as long as possible.”
“How are you going to convince them you’re not just a crazy woman fired from her job?” Magnus asked bluntly.
“I will send them slides displaying my dismissal report and how the research was tampered with to the first news outlets who request interviews. Thankfully, my old employers always do their reports on official paper with their letterhead.”
“I’ll be here whenever you need me,” Magnus said and shook his head in disbelief at her level of preparedness.
“We start tomorrow?” Hawking asked.
Celeste drew a breath and released it, letting her shoulders relax. “I plan to send my research to the scientific community today.”
“Let’s see what happens. When you have those addresses and the documentation together, send them to me,” Magnus said.
“I’ll do that now.”
Hawking interrupted her path to the computer. “It’s going to get bad, Little girl. Don’t keep anything from me.”
“I promise, Daddy. You’ll know everything.”
Three hours later, Hawking returned to the basement to check on what was happening. One look at his Little girl, pacing back and forth across the floor, told him she hadn’t received any responses.
“Little girl, what would you do if someone claimed to have the solution to stopping cancer in its tracks?” Hawking asked.
“I’d look at every word, formula, and line.”
“How long would that take you?”
“Days,” she answered, looking completely depleted.
“It’s been three hours. You need something to keep you occupied.”
“I’m stuck in here with Magnus.”
The computer genius didn’t even look up. Hawking figured he hadn’t said a single word for several hours. Probably three. “I think you need to get out of this basement. You can come down for a run later if you want, but let’s head upstairs, and you can spend some time in your playroom.”