Chapter 7

When we got back to the compound things were back to normal. Crom was still in Vegas and orders were already coming in from companies Sophia had for us. There was a sheet metal shop in Austin she was going to check out. She said that they could provide the fans and shrouds for three or more shops making the generators. They also had an assembly plant nearby to mate the components and ship them. She had also found a place to make all the attachment and set up hardware. I had tried to set things up this way, but too many people put me off that were quite willing to talk to an attractive redhead. It also helped that we were now out in the open and they were aware of the potential of the product.

I was due in Washington next Monday. The ad agency and the legal team were doing all the preparations for that. I would meet with the advertising folks on Friday to get ready for my part. CNN had been approached to cover the hearings for later report. They would be on CSPAN live, but no one actually watches that. My legal team had fought against closed hearings and had won, due to the fact that no federal charges were being filed against me.

In the meantime I tried to put it all out of my mind and spent my time enjoying the company of my new family. There were longs walks, playground time, pool time, and miniature golf. We bicycled around the compound and rowed on the pond. Jessica loved the rowboat and wanted to spend her whole day on it. I was becoming very close with Jess and also with Norma.

Friday I left the family at home and flew down to Shreveport. Grier sent along a young tech that had been working closely with Crom. Sam Bell was a bright nerd with pocket protector and all. When we got to the agency, we were shown back into the room Inez and I had been in just a few months ago. Don Gregory was there with a thin young man and a short chunky woman with mousy brown hair.

"Alex, good to see you again. This is Fred Siefert and Diane Felton. They have been working on this presentation for you and will join you in Washington. I think you'll like what they have done for you." He turned to the young man, "Fred, please give the presentation just as you have it planned. Alex, please wait till they are done to comment."

The two folks went through the presentation, and I was quite impressed. There was some similarity to our commercials, but they also included the larger scale generators we expected to sell to the power companies. They indicated the size of the global market and what it could do for the economy. When the 15-minute show was completed, I turned to Sam.

"Does anything jump out at you, Sam?"

"They have been pretty accurate, Sir. My comment would be that they have given the global market a much more optimistic view than Crom has. He expects Malaysia to start producing cheap copies within the year. We will never see much of the Asian market due to that, and the same thing will happen with Russia. What we will get is most of the European and South American market as well as Australia. Unless we can get some international aide organizations to buy them, we'll end up giving away units to many of the African countries. The way this Congress is acting we don't expect much help from them with the patent infringements. You might want to mention how much we expect to lose from this just to warn them. I know that Microsoft says that they lose a couple of billion a year to software piracy in Asia."

"Good point, Sam. See if you can get some of that in there folks. I want to see more figures on just how much Middle Eastern oil we'll save just from the household units, and then how much when the power companies come on line with the commercial size generators. Don't mention coal though, or we'll have West Virginia jumping all over us. I also want some figures on how much recycling there will be from the old style generators. Also, the IRS has been giving rebates to people for years for buying green technology and supporting things like the ethanol farce. People are buying our units because they are actually saving money, so subsidies and rebates are not needed. We'll save the government a lot of money just with this. Plus we can sell them units for military installations and schools as well, saving them even more money. Electricity is a very large part of the budget for any military base."

The woman spoke up. "That sounds good, Mr. Andrews, we'll get it changed before Monday. Do you want us to meet you in D.C., or travel together?"

"I'll have the helicopter here to pick you up and bring you to the estate Sunday evening. You can give us the revised presentation then and stay the night with us. We will travel by Lear early Monday. Were you able to get me the appointment I requested Donald?"

"Yes, I did, Alex. Representative Gohmert will see you at eleven, and you are scheduled to appear before the subcommittee on energy and power at two."

"Okay. Come on Sam, let's head back."

Sam and I went back up to the roof and soon we were on our way back home. While we were in the air I arranged with the pilot to pick up Fred and Diane Sunday afternoon.

The helicopter let us off in the yard. Sam lived in one of the apartments on the estate. The complex was intended for estate workers, but factory employees were allowed to live there when apartments were available. A couple of the groundskeepers had gotten married and bought a house, leaving a vacancy.

I got an unusual call on Saturday from Crom. He said that he needed a couple of favors. He wanted to buy property near mine to build a house. He was thinking of the lakeshore. He also wanted a house in town that he could rent while the new house was being built. It seemed that as soon as their replacements were ready, Janice and Julie would be joining him here in Texas. He wanted me to take care of most of the arrangements. As long as it was something Inez and I would live in, he would be fine with it. The property needed to be at least 5 acres with lakefront access. He would worry about the architect and builder after he got back. I told him that I would do what I could, but that I would be gone for an unknown amount of time Monday, so Inez would probably take care of it. He said that was fine, her taste was better than mine anyway. I had to laughingly agree. It seemed that my partner and friend was getting some well-deserved joy.

Fred and Diane arrived just before dinner Sunday. They showed the proper amount of awe at our home, and were very please with Marcela's culinary skills. I had invited Sam to dine with us so that we could get to the presentation right after dessert. Inez, Norma, and Steve all sat in on it as well and were suitably impressed. Steve had a couple of minor corrections, but otherwise I thought they had done well.

The parting with Inez and Jessica was bittersweet Monday morning. I might have to stay overnight if the hearing continued, and it would be the first time we had been apart since the wedding.

Once in Washington D.C., I let everyone else get set in the hotel while I went to my appointment with my representative. I had no previous interaction with Louie Gohmert, but my people told me that he was a reasonable guy who had done a decent job. That was pretty high praise from some of staff, about as good as a State Rep is likely to get.

A plump but well dressed matron led me into the Representative's office. Louie stood to shake my hand. I was struck by how much older he looked than in his pictures. "Mr. Andrews, it is nice to finally meet you. What can I do for you today?"

"Well, Mr. Gohmert, you can start by telling just what your associates have in mind for me today. Nothing I have done has broken any laws. I am just a small businessman hoping to become a large businessman."

"Oh. You are much more than that Mr. Andrews. You have taken the poorest section of my district and turned it into one of the top revenue bases. The problem you have is that you have stepped on some very powerful toes in the process, and they have called in favors to try to scare you, or get you to pay them to leave you alone. I'm not sure which of those outcomes they want most. I tried to get my colleagues to stop this, but for some reason your enemies were adamant that you be brought here. I can't see any advantage to it myself. I have kept an eye on you since you first bought the plants in Johnson Creek, and I expect you to knock them on their heels today. The only good thing about this is it gives me an excuse to talk to you, and please call me Louie, its what I'm used to answering to."

"Thank you, Louie, I'm Alex. That's pretty much what I thought as well. I think these power companies have got themselves stuck on "chicken little" and can't see that I am going to end up increasing their profit margin, not destroying it. By the time I am done, they will be able to eliminate the least efficient power plants and increase their supply to the commercial customers which generate the most profits. They won't have to worry about "brown outs" anymore either. I guess I should have explained it all to them, but I expected them to be smarter than this."

"I hate to say this, Alex, but expectations and battle plans rarely survive the first contact. If you have problems with this and there is anything I can do, just say so."

"Thanks again, Louie. The same goes for you." I caught a slight grimace in his face. "Do you need some campaign help?"

"What? Oh no, not at all. I'm doing fine that way. What I was thinking of was that I have a couple of low-income area schools in Houston with some old buildings. I was thinking that they would have more money to spend on books and teachers if they didn't have to pay so much to heat and cool the classrooms. I was wondering if you would be willing to donate a couple of your wind turbines to help them out?"

I didn't have to think about this at all. "Of course I can. That is one of the uses I planned for these things." I pulled one of Donald's cards from my wallet, "Have your secretary call this man to set it up. I'll let him know to expect it, I hope you won't mind if I use it as publicity. I'll get some people involved with providing them to other schools strapped for cash. I'm glad you brought it up. I've been so busy I'd forgotten one of the reasons I got into this mess was to help people." I also realized something else; I needed a PA. I'd have to get Inez to work acquiring me one. No way I was going to do that without her input.

Louie stood and held out his hand, "I have no problem with publicity, as long as you stay with the facts I'm all good with it. I hope to see you again, Alex. My door is always open to you."

I shook his hand and left. I would have to contribute to his election fund; we needed to keep the few sensible people we had in congress. I would never pay out campaign contributions as extortion, but there was nothing wrong with helping a good man or woman succeed.

I met with my people and we had a short lunch while I filled them in on the meeting. Diane called Donald to give him a heads up on the schools and what I expected him to do. The legal staff was waiting for us at the Capital.

The committee room was small by congressional standards, but still seemed quite large to me. There was a CSPAN camera in the corner, but apparently CNN had decided to abstain. No surprise really. Chairman Whitfield started things off by asking me if I had any questions. I'll just get to the point, I thought.

"Yes Mr. Chairman, I do have a question. Why am I here? I am just a small businessman who is tapping into a minor part of a larger business's profit stream. There is nothing remarkable about this, it happens every day in American. Why have you gotten involved?"

"It is hardly an everyday occurrence for one of the major industries in America to be threatened with financial ruin Mr. Andrews. If America's power grid is destroyed all business and commerce will crumble afterward. That is why you are here Mr. Andrews."

"Oh boy, all doom and gloom, aren't you Mr. Chairman? I don't know where your people got their numbers, but they are purest hokey. I have had my folks here prepare a presentation for you, but I think we can do without it. No loss, I'll just use it in commercials. The power grid you are so worried about is at the point of implosion right now. There are rolling blackouts in California and other parts of the country on a daily basis, acid rain is still falling in the northeast from the power plants, and environmental restrictions are keeping many of the power companies from expanding. If something isn't done soon, it will all collapse. I am that something. A&C Genitech holds the promise of the future. We can reduce the grid load of all the power companies without harming the environment and without causing the customers to do with less. Right now the major power companies get less than a third of their sales from residential customers. Our wind turbine units will take only a third of that from them. There will be more power available for the higher profit commercial customers. This will hardly dent the income of the power companies, and when our large commercial generators start to come on line, the power companies will be able to generate more electricity with less cost. Their profits will be more than ever. A&C Genitech is no threat Mr. Chairman, we are the cure."

The hearing had not been closed as they had hoped. We seeded the audience with tree huggers and they all stood and applauded when I finished. The Chairman was pounding his gavel trying to restore calm, but I think he knew that the hearing was effectively over. It was a little more dramatic that I expected, but I still had to wonder why this had played out. I got my answer as soon as the Chairman called a recess to have the gallery emptied. I was out in the hallway and Sam and Diane were pounding my back in congratulations. One of my security guys handed me a phone.