King of All I Survey-Chapter 114: When Everything You Thought You Knew Was Wrong

"Well, you both certainly look a lot better," I told Dr. Wagner.

"I feel better, already. Sharper, more awake. Millie, too. It’s a good thing there aren’t any squirrels on this island, or she’d be chasing them all over hell and back, even with her arthritis."

"Maybe when you two finish your treatment we can have a squirrel sent over."

"Ha! That’d be a hoot! Imagine the two of them tearing off through the trees at full speed. Just like the old days, hey girl?" Wagner reached down and gently rubbed the back of her neck behind her ears. She leaned into his hand contentedly.

"So, Joe tells me Donaldson has turned into a real slacker since he learned the new physics stuff."

"I went over to see him yesterday and I could barely keep his attention long enough to get two whole sentences out of him. Seems like he gets lost in his own thoughts half the day," Wagner admitted shaking his head sadly.

"Yeah, that’s pretty much what Joe said, too. He thought maybe I could give him a motivational speech or something or we’ll have to consider therapy sessions. I thought maybe if you and I went together, we could get more of a rise out of him."

Wagner smiled, "You mean if the two of us yank his chain hard enough, we might get the donkey to start walking again."

I laughed, "I won’t even tell him you called him an ass behind his back."

"Ass? I said donkey, dammit! If I’m gonna call somebody an ass, I’ll do it straight to their face."

"I bet you would. Shall we go for a walk and see if we can get him to show up for work once in a while?"

"Yeah, let’s go see him. Now, where did I leave my cattle prod...? Can’t seem to find it anywhere."

"Don’t worry, we’ll stop at the cattleman’s store on the way and get a new one," I laughed as we headed out the door.

"So, how do you like the place? Think you could spend the next couple of years on this tropical paradise?" I asked.

"It’s a beautiful Island," he said as he gestured toward the island’s interior, "it really is. Two years is a long time, though. I imagine we’ll get tired of it before too long. I guess the trick will be to get so excited about the work that we don’t even want to walk away from the chalk board."

"Chalk board!" I exclaimed with a feigned panic. "I knew I forgot something when I ordered this place."

"Well, you can’t think of everything," he smirked. "I don’t know, what do the kids use these days, fancy little electronic tablets?"

"Not so much anymore, that’s like so yesterday."

"Really? I remember when dry-erase boards came along and changed the game."

We arrived at Professor Donaldson’s villa and climbed the stairs to the front deck. The lower floor of each villa was completely open, meant for outdoor living. The second floor was walled in, with bedrooms, bathroom and other more conventional rooms. The open deck, however, had a refrigerator, stove and dining table. As we reached the top of the stairs and looked across the open area, we saw Donaldson standing in front of the refrigerator. The door was open, and he had one hand stretched forward as if reaching for something. A perfectly normal scene, except he was motionless. As if he were a wind-up toy that had run out of power in mid-task.

Wagner and I shared a look of concern. Millie must have sensed something wrong, too. She held her ground and began a low menacing growl. Wagner looked down at her and said, "No, Millie it’s just George. You know George. Be a good girl."

"Professor?" I called out. He must have heard me. He lifted his head a little looking to the refrigerator and saw his hand extended into it. He looked at it with a puzzled expression for a second, then pulled his hand back and closed the refrigerator. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Then, he turned as if suddenly remembering that he heard me calling him. He saw us standing there, staring at him with very concerned expressions. His face flickered with recognition, then a faint smile. "Timothy, and Ernst. Hello. It’s good to see you." He took a step toward us then another.

We met him halfway, Ernst stretched out his hand and shook Professor Donaldson’s hand vigorously. When he finished, I did the same.

"You had me worried for a minute, George. Even Millie didn’t know what to think when she saw you standing there staring into the refrigerator as if it were the cold vacuum of space." He grinned at his old friend.

George looked confused for a second, "I... I was just thinking." Suddenly he looked at Ernst directly. "Did they teach you yet?" He said eagerly, leaning forward intently.

"Wagner shook his head, "No, I’m still too old for the advanced learning techniques..." Wagner smiled brightly, "but we’re working on that! I’ve started the first phase of the treatment and I feel like a million bucks. Millie’s on the second phase and she feels like a million barks! Ha!" He looked down at his dog who was standing happily at his side sniffing Donaldson’s pantleg until she heard her name and looked up at Wagner. "Did you hear that old girl, a million barks! I’ll have to remember that one."

George gestured toward the dining table and the cushioned wicker chairs arrayed haphazardly around it. "Shall we sit and talk about it? Ernst, it’s incredible, we were off base. Even Einstein was off-base!"

"Blasphemy!" Ernst shouted, with big grin. "Tell me, maybe I’m not to old to learn the old-fashioned way." We all moved over to the table and sat. I noticed it was cooler here. I looked up and saw a ceiling fan turning slowly overhead. The air coming from it was cooler than the ambient temperature and I didn’t see anything resembling an air-conditioning unit.

I reached out to Joe, mentally, Joe, what’s up with the fan? Did you add some sort of cooling device?

Yes. The blades are absorbing and realigning the molecular motion of nearby air. That cools the air and pushes the blades. The hotter it gets, the better it works. While the principle is widely known and used for a variety of applications, it has not previously been applied to a ceiling fan for personal comfort. I have secured the patent for the application from the Galactic Union as an Earth Product. Already, there is some interest, and we are starting to earn some credits from the licensing fees.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Really? How does that work if, I presume, the heat absorption/ conversion bits are already known?

The license for the entire device shares revenue between the holders of all the patents used. When a ceiling fan like this is licensed, we are one of four patent-holders who splits the revenue according to a complex formula based on the age, previous adoption rates, and a unique contribution attribute determined by the Licensing authority’s AI.

So, using existing alien tech in a unique product that never occurred to anyone except humans can get us more license revenue?

Yes.

And, you created this on your own... What, after seeing a conventional ceiling fan here at the resort?

Exactly.

So, if you invent something, it’s still Earth property?

I am in your employ, King Tim. In the legal framework of Earth, my inventions are considered ’work for hire’ and belong to my employer, The official Ruler of Earth.

Hmm, Well, good work. I appreciate that. Please use your android to explore earth, discretely, and look for other such adaptations. Could someone reverse engineer these fans?

No, but a competent engineer or physicist might recognize it as beyond Earth science understanding.

Can you rig it so the revealing bits disintegrate or something if someone tries to open it up?

Yes.

Ok, plan a factory for these for sale on Earth, like the one we have for bullet-proof clothing. Let’s pick a spot in Chiapas and put some more people to work there.

Acknowledged.

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