Pam got off the elevator at the twentieth floor stop for the Director’s office and smiled at his administrative assistant. This visit was very different from the first time she’d been here. Rather than having to ask for money, she was prepared to show him the product of her efforts. A semifinal draft of the manuscript, ready to submit for publication as soon as Holly got back from New Hampshire, and they identified the active drug from her lab notes.

The assistant showed her in and DeSilva got up from his desk to greet her. He led her to the couch in the informal area of his office and took a seat across from her in one of the upholstered chairs. A china tea service and a plate of cookies were waiting on the coffee table between them.

“Everything’s fallen into place beautifully,” Pam said. “The mouse experiments have given the same results as the cell culture system. We’ve repeated it all several times now and the data are clear.” She handed him the manuscript. “The paper is all written up and the lawyers say the patent application is ready to go. We’re just waiting for Holly to get back from a Gordon Conference to finish it off.”

He flipped through the manuscript, pausing to look carefully at the mouse results. “This is excellent, Pam. Very impressive data.”

“Thank you,” she said. “And thank you again for your generous support. We were only able to do this so quickly because of your help financing the mouse work.”

“My pleasure. Very much my pleasure to help both you and the Langmere with this. So when will you submit the paper?”

“Next week, as soon as Holly’s back.”

DeSilva nodded. “Good. Let me know as soon as you get the reviews back from the journal. I don’t expect any problems, but if anything does come up I’ll be happy to call the editor. He’s a good friend and he’ll be sure your paper is reviewed fairly and then published with appropriate fanfare. I’ll also arrange a press release on the day of publication, so we can be sure that everyone knows of your discovery. You should expect to receive a great many invitations to give lectures over the next few months, and you should accept as many as possible. It’s important for you to present your work widely, both in this country and abroad. I’ll also be sure that one of the invitations you receive will be to talk in Stockholm at the Karolinska Institute, and you know the importance of that.”

Pam sat bolt upright. Speaking at the Karolinska was like an audition for the Nobel. “I do, thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. We’re partners, and what’s good for you is good for the Langmere.”

“I understand,” she said. “But I still appreciate the support you’re giving me.”

DeSilva paused to take a sip of tea and reach for a cookie.

“There’s one more thing then,” he said. “You’ll receive many offers for jobs at other places, and I’m sure some will be very attractive. I want to be sure you feel that this is your home and don’t even consider moving. So please rest assured that I’ll provide anything you need or want. And I’ll immediately start the process to make you a tenured professor. You know the first stage is to appoint a committee of senior faculty to evaluate your case, so to make sure all goes smoothly I’ll ask Mary O’Connor to serve as chair. She’s your friend, right?”

Pam was stunned. Her tenure case wouldn’t normally be due to start for another two years. But her dream of a permanent position at the Langmere, a tenured professorship, was about to come true. With O’Connor as chair of her committee and DeSilva behind her, tenure would be in the bag.

Her heart swelled. “Yes, Mary is a mentor to me. She’d be perfect to chair my committee.”

“Excellent,” DeSilva said. “I’ll work closely with her to make sure nothing goes wrong. It’s a lot of work though, so I want to be sure you’re committed to staying here if we go ahead. Can I count on that?”

“Absolutely, I’d like nothing better.”

“Then I’ll get this all started.” He got up and shook her hand. “Congratulations, Pam, soon to be Professor Weller. You can be proud of a most noteworthy accomplishment. And you can rest assured that I’ll help you reap the rewards of your success.”