by Darin Gibby
“H?” Addy said with a grin.
She was seated next to Quinn in an elevated director’s chair in front of her new nonprofit located in Mountain View. The morning California sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Today the doors officially opened for business.
“I love its simplicity. H is the periodic element for hydrogen, which is what our new nonprofit is all about.”
“Well, your adventure to get you here was anything but simple,” Bryant said. “Halftime at the Super Bowl will never be the same.”
“I’m so thankful that Zissy offered to share the stage,” Addy said. “Without her, I don’t think we’d be here right now.”
The camera panned back to Bryant. “Before we get to the question on everyone’s mind, Quinn, tell us how you’re feeling.”
“Fine, probably better than an NFL linebacker after the Super Bowl,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “There won’t be much tennis in my future, but at least I’m alive. Thank goodness Agent Long found me in time.”
“We all know that you’ve both had some legal issues,” Bryant said, moving along the interview. “Where do those stand?”
Quinn looked at Addy. “You’re the lawyer. I think you should comment.”
“After the dust settled, I think it was clear that I hadn’t violated any laws. All charges against me have been dropped. As for Quinn, none were ever filed, and because of his generous donation—and the death of his main accuser—I think it is unlikely that the Justice Department would be interested in pursuing a case.”
Bryant nodded in agreement. “Before we get to the matter at hand, I wanted to express my condolences for the death of your former partner.” “Perry was quite the man,” Addy said. “He gave everything to make sure this technology became public. Thank you for remembering him.”
Bryant paused for a brief moment of silence. “I guess that brings us to what we all want to know—tell us when we’ll all be driving cars that run on water.”
“Hopefully soon,” Addy began. “The support for H, Incorporated, has been overwhelming. We have executives from all over the world who are lending their support, as well as scientists and engineers. We’ve raised enough money to develop three prototypes, and plan to build production lines as soon as the designs are finalized. Even the President has pledged his support.”
Quinn reached out and put his hand on Addy’s knee. “And I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Addy’s eyes twinkled with excitement.
“My former company, WTG, has been meeting with the Department of Energy, and they’ve finally reached an agreement. All of the intellectual property for both entities is going to be donated to H, and I personally want to invite anyone else who is working on other solutions to produce hydrogen to do the same. As Addy announced during the Super Bowl, we want to make this technology affordable for everyone, and get rid of all possible legal barriers.”
Addy reached down and grabbed his hand. Her cast was now gone and she squeezed his fingers tight.
“Before you two get mushy on us,” Bryant said. “We also have a special gift. Quinn, you’ve made quite the sacrifice in donating your technology, and you’ve inspired us here at the network to follow your example. So, we’d like to make a little donation. I’m not sure everyone knows, but Addy’s former partner, Perry, gave nearly everything he owned before his untimely death to enable Addy to purchase her Super Bowl commercial. Well, we just didn’t feel right about keeping that money.”
Bryant waved, and an assistant trotted over and handed him an oversized check. “The network is donating all of it to H, and we’re also going to do a special the day your first car comes off the production line. We also learned that there aren’t many female patent attorneys. To help change that, we are setting up a scholarship fund in Perry’s name to cover law school tuition for female engineers wanting to become patent attorneys.”
Addy’s mouth hung open and both hands flew up to cover her surprise. “I don’t know what to say,” she said when she recovered. “I’m so glad you didn’t forget about Perry.”
“Now, before we go,” Bryant said, “we have one final surprise for both of you. Quinn, there’s a vacant chair next to you for a reason. We have a special guest.”
Addy looked to her right, just as the famous Super Bowl performer emerged. “Zissy!” she said, hopping down and throwing her arms around the singer. Quinn stood as well and kissed her cheek.
Zissy slid onto her chair and crossed her legs. “Look at all this,” she said, opening her arms to encompass the new facility. “You did it!”
“And we have you to thank,” Quinn said. “Sorry I missed your halftime performance.”
Zissy shook her finger at him. “I think you’re excused. And I also have a little present.” Zissy reached down her blouse and emerged with a folded piece of paper. “I told Addy that when your cars start rolling off the line, I’m going to be your first customer. And here’s a check for fifty thousand dollars as my deposit.”
Addy opened the check and smiled. “I think I can make that happen.”
Quinn placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled Addy tight.
“You two are looking very comfortable together,” Bryant said. “Anything you want to share with us before we go?”
Addy and Quinn gazed into each other’s eyes. “No,” Addy responded. “That’s the one thing we won’t discuss.”
Acknowledgments
Over the past fifteen years that it took to write this book, there have been too many people to mention all of them by name. But I would like to thank T.J. Izzo, a long-time client and inventor of the double strap golf bag, for encouraging me to give the manuscript one more try and to use a patent attorney as the main character. That was the missing link that seemed to be eluding me. With that piece in place, I decided to discard all of my previous manuscripts and start from scratch. Chasing Hindy emerged a few months later.