Chapter 6: Get Her Out
"This meeting is over."
Nathan closed the patent file as if the sound could make his decision official.
The partitions around the board table did little to hide us from the reporters in the lobby. Camera lenses pressed toward the glass. Every raised voice would become a silent clip before morning.
"The board has not adjourned," the audit chair said.
"We have an unauthorized competitor inside a privileged meeting."
He meant me.
Julian had already moved outside the partition with the other nonparticipants. Rhea remained because the trust had called the review. I remained because my name was on the patent Celeste had claimed in front of six hundred witnesses.
Nathan looked toward security.
"Escort Dr. Sterling from the board area."
The same two officers from the aisle hesitated at the opening. One of them had returned my invitation. Neither wanted to decide which executive mattered more.
Rhea slid a single page across the table.
"Before you remove anyone, read paragraph three."
Nathan did not pick it up.
My father did.
The page was the trust's designation of its scientific representative for a license compliance review. It named me, defined my access, and cited the clause that required Sterling to provide a seat during any meeting where disputed rights were considered.
"This does not waive conflicts," Nathan said.
"No," Rhea replied. "It discloses them."
Celeste removed the crown at last.
She set it on the table between us, careful enough that the silver made no sound.
"Evelyn works for the company trying to take our program."
"Which is why Mercer Nova left the table," I said.
"But she didn't."
"The patent did not leave when I joined another company."
My father read the designation twice. "Who appointed you?"
"The acting trustees, after independent counsel reviewed my conflict."
"I should have been consulted."
"That would defeat the word independent."
His thumb pressed into the paper. I remembered those hands guiding mine around a microscope when I was nine. I also remembered them signing the statement that ended my career.
The audit chair turned to the corporate secretary.
"Is the designation valid on its face?"
Ms. Vale checked the seal and the electronic verification on her tablet. "Yes."
"Then Dr. Sterling stays until independent counsel advises otherwise."
Nathan leaned toward her. "You are allowing an adverse party to hear confidential company information."
"I am allowing the licensor's representative to hear information the license requires us to provide. If you believe a specific item is privileged, identify it when it arises."
Specificity was the enemy of men who survived by making broad claims.
The security officers stepped back.
The younger one avoided Nathan's eyes as he returned to the lobby. He needed written authority before touching someone. Five years ago, no one at Sterling had asked for it when they walked me out.
Celeste stared at the empty chairs. The nearest had been reserved for Sterling's largest investor, whose representative had left when the trial hold appeared. A printed place card still sat before it.
The audit chair lifted the card and handed it to Ms. Vale.
"Give Dr. Sterling a copy of the board packet."
Celeste's voice dropped. "Not that seat."
No one answered.
I walked around the table and sat where the investor had been expected to praise her appointment. Ms. Vale placed a black binder in front of me.
It was thinner than the one Nathan held.
That told me almost as much as the first page.
My binder contained the public license summary, the current trial notice, and Celeste's appointment resolution. Nathan's contained four additional colored tabs. He shifted one hand over them when he saw me looking.
"Same packet?" I asked Ms. Vale.
She checked her distribution list. "It should be."
"Then preserve every version distributed tonight."
The audit chair nodded before Nathan could object. Ms. Vale collected the electronic identifiers from both binders and added them to the hold.
"We will proceed with the license history," the audit chair said.
My father remained standing.
"Helena transferred the technology to Sterling before she died."
Rhea opened her second case.
"Then it is fortunate," she said, "that Helena kept the original."