Chapter 100: Six to Three
The vote was six to three.
Sterling's board met for five hours before the resolution reached its final form. I waited in a separate conference room with Rhea because I was not yet a director and had no right to enter the deliberations.
Conrad chaired the first hour.
Celeste presented management's defense.
Nathan advised that existing leadership could cooperate with Northstar without surrendering control.
Then the independent directors asked all three to leave.
The resolution created a special committee with authority over the Northstar transaction review, company archives relevant to the dispute, and safety matters connected to the suspended license. Conrad and Celeste could not direct staff, alter records, approve disclosures, or retaliate against witnesses in those areas without committee authorization.
Nathan remained Chief Legal Officer, but he had to preserve records and report to independent counsel for the review.
Celeste remained Chief Executive Officer for ordinary operations outside the restricted subjects.
Conrad remained chairman.
The titles did not disappear.
Their control did.
The resolution also adopted the core employee protections: protected safety maintenance, a payroll continuity review, nonretaliation rules, and independent reporting channels.
The final section expanded the board by one seat for the duration of the governance review and accepted a nominee designated through Helena Research Trust's independent process. The Trust nominated me.
That did not transfer Trust property to Sterling.
It did not give Sterling control of the patents.
It did not make me CEO, executive chair, or manager of the laboratories.
It gave me one Sterling board vote.
At two seventeen, the directors returned to the main room.
Six voted yes.
Three voted no.
Conrad voted against the resolution that limited his authority.
Celeste voted against the employee protections she had accused me of withholding.
The third no came from a family ally who said independent control would frighten the market more than inaccurate disclosure.
The resolution passed.
Rhea and I entered only after the vote was recorded. An outside committee chair administered my director acknowledgment. I disclosed my Mercer role, Trust observer status, independent improvement patents, and every current conflict identified by counsel.
The committee, not I, would choose its investigators and counsel. My new vote did not give me access to files outside the approved scope.
"Do you accept the seat subject to these restrictions?" she asked.
"Yes."
I did not sit in Conrad's chair.
I took the new seat at the far end of the table.
Celeste looked at me as if I had stolen the company.
"You used the license to force your way in," she said.
"The board created the seat. The independent Trust process nominated me. Six directors voted."
"After you stopped the market."
"After you refused to correct the record."
The committee chair ended the exchange.
Northstar received the resolution before the market closed. It kept the transaction delayed but said the independent process addressed one of its conditions for continued review. The exchange scheduled a decision on resumed trading after the company filed a corrected supplement.
Nothing had been approved.
Nothing had been terminated.
The board authorized the special committee to investigate.
As my first vote, I supported the employee continuity measures and abstained from any decision involving Mercer as a potential counterparty. The abstention entered the minutes beside my name.
Conrad gathered his papers slowly. He was still chairman, but he could no longer decide which transaction file survived, who answered a safety question, or what the archive released.
Celeste left with Nathan.
They were still engaged.
She was still the restricted CEO.
He was still her Chief Legal Officer.
I remained Mercer Nova's chief scientist and Helena Research Trust's scientific observer.
Now I was also a Sterling director.
For the first time since my mother died, my father held the highest title in the room without holding the next document.